25 - You can't be a Queen, you know, till you've passed the proper examination

[notdreaming]

[ Video ]

[ Kara is as chipper as the day she left, though the sigh of relief that escapes her suggests that this is a recent change. Kryptonians do get headaches, it turns out. Especially when they argue with their own Council. ]

Hello again, barge! I can see I've only been gone a few days in this timeline. It's been more like a year and a half, in mine. Superman says hello, and so does Mother. They practically insisted I take Krypto with me.

[ Hearing his name, the big white dog barks cheerfully from his place at his mistress' side. She smiles and reaches down to scratch his ears, which quiets him down. ]

I brought some... interesting souvenirs. [ She snickers, glancing off-screen to look at the small pile. ] See, everyone on Earth is really excited about Krypton, and everyone on Krypton is really excited about Earth. And I get free merchandise, because everyone wants an endorsement. A lot of it has pictures of places the artist has only seen from other pictures, and the result is... well, like I said, interesting.

Who wants a volcano snow globe, or a cat light chime?

[ She holds up one of each: A snow globe depicting a very shiny gilded gold mountain with red "lava" snow, and what looks like a Hello Kitty wind chime in orange, but instead of metal bars something that looks like tiny lines of light. These are in fact very small metal bars. They reflect rainbows all over the place, it's great. ]

Comments

[babyfacedkiller]

[ Lloyd hasn't been feeling his most social lately, what with the being recently deceased, so the communicator thing has gone mostly ignored. But now this blond girl is on there, glowing like she just birthed Jesus or something. And good for her, if that's the case, but that's not what gets Lloyd's attention. ]

Did you say Krypton?

[ He's not really a great reader of anything, including comic books, but he was a kid once, and then he read his share. Or paged through, anyway. He doesn't remember a whole lot about the actual stories, it's all a mishmash of WHAM and KAPOW in his head, but come on, who doesn't know about Krypton? And fucking Superman, for that matter. ]

[notdreaming]

[ She just escaped a shitstorm of politics and diplomacy. Which is a lot like birthing Jesus, to be totally honest. She blinks at him for a moment. She hasn't run into many people who know of her from other worlds, so it takes her mind a second to register the question. ]

My home, yes. That was my deal, before I left: bringing Krypton back.

[babyfacedkiller]

[ Right, he remembers. Krypton got blown off the map somehow, and that's how the whole alien in tights story started.

He's not sure what to try to wrap his head around first, the fact that this girl is actually from Superman's world or that she apparently managed to bring a whole planet back from the dead. He gives a short, incredulous laugh. ]

Shit, that's a hell of a deal.

[notdreaming]

[ She grins widely in response. She had her doubts that it was possible, that it would last, that there wouldn't be disastrous consequences somewhere else in the universe. A year and a half later she's confident that everything's sunshine and rainbows. ]

Yeah. The Admiral is pretty impressive.

[babyfacedkiller]

[ Yeah, he can't help but smile back a little bit. She's got plenty to be happy about, it sounds like, and honestly, he can't remember the last time he's seen anyone grinning so wide without the threat of sharp teeth behind it. ]

Way people keep talkin' about him, he's Santa Claus, the Wizard of Oz and the Tooth Fairy all rolled into one. But kind of an asshole.

[notdreaming]

[ She laughs outright - she finally gets these sorts of references. ]

That sums it up pretty nicely, actually.

[babyfacedkiller]

Right.

[ If it sounds a little dry it's because he's already got one all-powerful (except not really) asshole to worry about, and this Admiral guy... well, let's just say Lloyd's not ready to believe he's all he's cracked up to be. But hearing that he at least occasionally holds up his end is reassuring. ]

Well, congratulations, I guess. Bet it wasn't easy gettin' there.

[ Not that he really gets what it is exactly warden work entails. The closest he can figure is that they're something like parole officers who actually give a shit, which in his mind isn't so much an endangered animal as it is a mythical creature. ]

[notdreaming]

Thanks. Kyle did most of the work. I just tried to learn patience.

[babyfacedkiller]

That ain't always easy to learn.

[ Especially when you're trying to get your planet un-exploded, he supposes, but still, if that's all she had to do, then she got an even sweeter deal than Lloyd thought. But maybe she's just being modest. He kinda likes it, that she doesn't try to take all the credit. ]

Kyle, that your guy? One you were assigned to?

[notdreaming]

[ Modest, but also very fond of her former inmate. ]

Yeah, Kyle Blackson. He came back just a few hours before I did, apparently.

[babyfacedkiller]

Came back, but playin' for the other team now, right?

[ She wouldn't be so chipper if the guy had gone and relapsed, he bets. ]

[notdreaming]

Yeah, he's a warden now.

[babyfacedkiller]

Well, good for him. Never thought I'd see a prison that had field promotions, that's for sure.

[notdreaming]

You may have noticed, this really isn't an ordinary prison.

[ She smiles sympathetically. ]

I'm Kara. What's your name?

[babyfacedkiller]

Yeah, I've been sort of getting that impression.

[ It's not real sarcastic, just faintly wry, and his smile matches. ]

I'm Lloyd. Nice to meetcha, Kara from Krypton.

[notdreaming]

You, too. How long have you been here?

[babyfacedkiller]

Couple of days.

Got caught in a big goddam' explosion, and ended up here.

[notdreaming]

[ An inmate, then. ]

I'm sorry. Are you settling in alright? Do you need anything?

[babyfacedkiller]

Thanks.

I'm doing okay. Can't really think of anything I need, except maybe directions on how to get one of those deals you guys have.

[ It's clear from the offhand way he says it that he's not really being serious. He knows it's not going to happen. But he sure could use one. ]

[notdreaming]

[ She smiles sympathetically. ]

You'll have to figure graduating out on your own, for now.

[babyfacedkiller]

Yeah, I guess so.

[ It just happens to be a pretty tall order, asking him to figure out something that big. He has no idea where to even start.

Instead of dwelling on it, he tries to brighten things up a bit, by changing the subject: ]

So what's Krypton like?

[notdreaming]

Oh, Krypton is wonderful! People say its more colorful the earth, but really it just doesn't have so much green and blue. Our technology is a lot more advanced than yours, too. We're still working on collaboration agreements.

[babyfacedkiller]

It sounds nice. I kind of pictured it with a lot of silver, white and purple. [ He doesn't know where he's getting those colors from. Maybe from a movie. Or maybe that's just how imagines a science fiction planet. ] Collaboration agreements, you mean with Earth?

[notdreaming]

[ She has to wonder why he'd think anything like that, but she moves on quickly. ]

Yes, with regards to scientific research.