because the lives of the wicked should be made brief

[somanyadjectives]

Comments

[blackstarred]

Oh, Buffy was there. And Faith was the one setting the fires.

[Mia smirks a bit because the boss as Hope put it isn't usually one to worry too much about property damage.]

No, this was more about making sure they paid for the people they killed.

[bereavements]

And couldn't row their little boat around after.

( She flags down the bartender, ordering a martini, turning to Mia. )

And whatever she wants, but her money's no good here, so ( she leans in, her eyes dilating ) don't let her slip you her credit card. ( and then she's back, smirking. ) Mia Queen's persuasive. Let me treat you.

[blackstarred]

[Mia holds up her hands as she leans back.]

Believe it or not, I know how to let someone buy me a drink.

[Usually not under these circumstances, but she did date once. She in theory could date again. She orders a rum and coke, and waits until the bartender leaves before turning to face Hope.]

Looks like you have a good group of friends.

[bereavements]

What I feel like I have is a slightly dysfunctional rotating cast of characters ever since I made it to college, and - well, my family. But, Jed, I knew at boarding school. And I met Josie there. And, the more I let myself, the more I can say that, yes, I have friends. ( A little reflection. ) Colm and Ivan are new. Colm and Josie were in the same class ( and likely won't be again ) and we met Ivan at a party we were invited to. And there's Josie's sister, Lizzie. You met her in Prague. And her new roommate Alice who is my aunt's stepdaughter, and yes, that's a coincidence. Friends, yes. But, like I said. Feels like a rotating cast.

[blackstarred]

Sometimes that's what friends are.

[Mia knows that circles can change. Whether it's family friends or friends who are like family, or the college friends you call on when you happen to bein the same place.]

Having people you can count on who can pop up anywhere.

[bereavements]

I definitely have that. And sometimes they pop out of nowhere.

( But, she's there to help them when needed and vice versa. Taking a sip from her martini, she turns contemplative, not having ever done research into her famous friend. Hope's famous herself in her own way. )

Did you go to college?

[blackstarred]

I did.

[She makes a small face.]

Don't remember a lot of it. But I definitely went.

[She even has a degree to show for it, though it likely was something generic like liberal arts. She had a place in the world, she didn't need college to make it for her.]

[bereavements]

Josie's thriving. Getting involved on campus, got us trapped once in a traveling exhibit, making friends.

( She watches her girlfriend laugh at something Ben says, like it's a joke, right, but then Josie's laugh tapers off as she realizes Ben is saying something literally and she sips from her drink politely. But, that's Josie. The more she finds herself, the more she fits in and she loves that for her girlfriend.

[blackstarred]

[Mia hears how much Josie is doing well. But she doesn't think that Josie is the thing that Hope pulled her to the side to talk about.]

But you not so much?

[bereavements]

I hold my own, I like the people Josie doesn't, and that balances. But, Josie has campus clubs - and - direction?

( Is that the word for it? )

I felt lame majoring in general studies before I got here, and I still feel lame now. What should a girl with the rest of her eternity ahead of her really be studying? I lost the first guy I thought was the love of my life. Nearly lost my family, like, five times, all because of who I am. College just seems so...

[blackstarred]

Trivial?

[Mia can see that. It was kind of that for her, and she's not effectively immortal. You get raised by a family of superheroes and there are always bigger problems than going to class.]

I get that. And one could argue that if you are immortal you could theoretically go back whenever you want, when you know what you actually do want.

[Hope should do whatever she wants to do. That's part of the fun of being young, for better or worse. At the same time:]

But what will you do if you drop out? Because sometimes having nothing to do can be worse than having only trivial things to do.

[bereavements]

I didn't say anything about dropping out. Could I? Drop out?

( She thinks about that, what that would even look like. )

I know it sounds trivial and I know it's also important to people. It's a rite of passage. But, I feel like I've had, like, five? First betrayal. First love. First big bad.

[blackstarred]

Rites of passage are different for different people. You don't have to hit all the same ones regular human eighteen year-old girls go through because to put it bluntly, you're not. Most of them don't have a big bad to contend with.

[For starters.]

I'm not advocating you should go one way or another on dropping out. Maybe it would be better if you shift up your course load for things you feel better about spending your time on. Maybe it would be easier if you found campus things that you really liked. But if none of that sounds appealing, you also don't have to stay. I'm sure your dad would appreciate saving the money.

[bereavements]

Or, their big bad is, like, their advisor. Or their absentee father. Which, I also had.

( She sips, again, resting an elbow on the bar. )

I'm sure my thousand year old father and his neverending coffers probably wouldn't blink. But, I don't know how he'd take it. Or, like you said, what I'd even do. Instead. ( She shrugs. ) I do like art. A lot. And I'm good. Maybe that's an avenue I can take. At least learn some real fundamentals.

[blackstarred]

Exactly. Follow your bliss. You don't need college for the practical reasons that most other people do, so might as well have fun with it.

[And if immersing herself in art is what she feels a good way to spend her time, then why not.]

[bereavements]

And if my bliss isn't in college?

( She has to hear the answer out loud, so she still asks. )

[blackstarred]

Then drop out. Do other stuff. Travel. It's your life, Hope.

[And it's a very, very long one, so do what you want with it.]

[bereavements]

It's also Josie's life.

( She should be a factor. )

[blackstarred]

[Mia pauses, because she knows how these kinds of relationships can feel. Josie's not her first, but she's a young, intense relationship between two people who have known each other their whole lives.

Mia had one of those herself, and while fate interfered and she's still sorting out all her feelings there, Josie and Hope could be heading towards their own crash and burn.]

And you feel like Josie is forever?

[Josie is not a vampire. That's something they'll eventually have to talk about.]

[bereavements]

( How is that a fair question. )

I want her to be for however long we have.

[blackstarred]

[Mia nods, because okay, that's fair. She's just gauging feelings, she actually hasn't spent that much time with Josie and Hope together.]

Then talk to her about it. Talk about your feelings. And trust her to help you figure out solutions together.

[Basically, be partners. Sometimes that's all you really can do.]

And if things get too real, don't trash your phone and fall off the map as a way of breaking up with her.

[Because she can poke a little fun at herself too.]

[bereavements]

If I did do that, I could crash, right? Just for twenty or thirty years.

( Full 100% up and down joke. )

[blackstarred]

Totally.

[Mia flashes her a grin.]

Star City has many hiding places.

[bereavements]

I was thinking, the Penthouse.

( Mia Queen has in's right? And money? )

Should we join everyone? Jed grows on you, but Ben says really interesting things on account of him being like a bajillion years old. I was secretly sipping every time he said something... old.

( Or, overly formal. )

[blackstarred]

Yeah. Oh, but before we do that.

[Better to get this ask out now before they head back to her friends.]

Are there some kind of rules for daylight rings? A vamp friend of mine was asking about them.