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The Perk, Thursday Afternoon

Didi was a bit distracted as she arrived at the coffee shop to meet Karla. She'd realized when she looked at her calendar that Jono was turning 19 today, and she had no plans at all for what to give him. She'd have to come up with something special quickly.

She pondered that as she sipped her tea, watching people pass along the street outside.

[OOC: Didi's here for Karla, but the Perk is open for your other coffee needs!]

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Didi could always ask Karla, who was walking through the door of the Perk and waving. She always had lots of good ideas!

Err, 'good.'

Karla held up a bag from J,GoB she'd brought for them to share as she headed over to the table Didi had snagged. "You'd mentioned wanting more today, so I stopped and picked up a few," she said, giving Didi a bright smile. Few was kind of a relative term.

"I did," Didi admitted, shaking her hair out of her eyes and giving Karla a genuine smile. "Thanks. See, if I'd been smart we could have just met there."

"But then I wouldn't have had a reason to stop eating the pastries," Karla said with a smile. "They would have been there, taunting me from behind the glass. Here, at least, once we're done with the bag--" roughly the size of a grocery bag "--we're just done."

She set the bag down on the table between them for Didi to look through. "Mind waiting another minute or two while I run up and get something to drink?" she asked.

"Take as long as you want," Didi said, with a totally straight face. She was already pulling the bag toward herself. "I need some time to pick out all the chocolate ones, right?"

"I see how it is," Karla said, grinning. "This is all a scheme to get me out of the way, so you can eat all the pastries yourself. I'm onto you."

Not that that stopped Karla from heading over to the counter to order a large iced coffee. Very large. She was still really hot.

A few minutes later, she was back. "See anything you like?" she asked. "I tried to get a variety."

"I was going to try the orange one," Didi said, holding up a citrus-colored muffin studded with candied fruit. "I know I said chocolate, but I figure it's better to try something new. Which kind is your favorite?"

"I like the ones with the crumbly tops, all studded with cranberries," Karla said, slipping into the chair across from Didi. "The contrast of the sweet of the muffin and the slightly tart of the cranberries. At least, if we're talking muffins. If you're asking me about all of the pastries..." she shook her head. "That would require a lot more thought. And sampling."

"One of these days," Didi vowed, "I'm going to order one of everything, even if I can only eat one bite of each."

She eyed Karla, wondering if she should banter more about muffins or ask about the weekend.

"I'll help you," Karla promised. "Should that day ever come, I'll be right there next to you."

Such a good friend, that Karla.

"So..." she said, playing around with her straw. "Was it you? This weekend, I mean? I mean, the power didn't feel like you do, but..."

Didi shook her head vigorously. "Uh-uh. I wouldn't have played around with things that way, even if I had the power right now. Dead people are dead for a reason. There was this rock that did it."

Ah, Fandom logic.

"I went looking in the woods for it," Karla said. "I never could find it though. Probably because I wasn't out looking in the spirit of peace and comfort or whatever. I was in a pretty pissy mood. It kept humming in my ear, you know? It got kind of distracting--at least, when I wasn't daydreaming about my parents."

"It was distracting," Didi agreed. "In a good way, but ... it made the whole island feel different. I wish I knew where it came from, or where it went."

She frowned in thought. "Why did it piss you off?"

"I don't like someone else manipulating my emotions," Karla said, tearing little bits off her muffin. "Dreaming and day-dreaming constantly about my parents falls under that category, at least for me. It took a long time for me to get to the point where I don't do that anyway, so I didn't appreciate an outside source bringing that all back."

Plus, her relationship with her parents--and their death--was kind of complicated.

"Huh." Didi seemed thoughtful. "Maybe I haven't talked to enough people. It seems like most people are grateful for the time, no matter what the cost. The stone was trying -- as much as it had a conscious wish -- to do something good."

"It was!" Karla said, glancing up at Didi with concern. She didn't want anyone to think she hadn't been grateful. "It did! Having them back for those few days was worth every minute of aggravation beforehand. But, when I was out searching, I just hadn't realized what was going on yet."

She vanished the crumbs off the table and grabbed another muffin, this time making a conscious effort to eat it, rather than toy with it. "Everything with my parents is just...kind of complicated, I guess. This past weekend was wonderful in a lot of ways, but it wasn't easy."

"Family is complicated," Didi observed. "I'm not trying to lecture you on gratitude, or ... anything. But they have to love you. They wouldn't have come if they didn't."

"I've never doubted that they love me," Karla said. "And I've never had a moment where I didn't love them. But that doesn't uncomplicate things." she struggled to put amorphous feelings into words. "She was the Territory Queen and he was her Consort. They had a lot more to focus on than one grubby little girl. And then they died and Glacia became...different...and now I find out they knew, somewhat, of what was happening and didn't stop it, and--" she shrugged. "Complicated."

"It is," Didi agreed, gently. "They probably did what they thought was best. Most people do. That doesn't mean it was best."

"No, it wasn't. It really wasn't," Karla said. "But that's all we ever have to go on, isn't it? That's why I didn't tell them the truth about why I'm here and what's going on back home? I thought it was better just not to say anything at all. They were here for such little time--why burden them with things they couldn't do anything about?"

Didi shrugged, bringing a hand up to play with her necklace. "Unless it would make you feel better, there probably isn't one. Not really. Not unless your world is one where the dead can change things."

"It depends on how dead," Karla said. "And since they didn't say anything about it, I don't think they're in Hell. So...probably not."

"Where do people go after Hell?" Didi asked, not flinching. Belief systems in different worlds fascinated her; call it a professional interest,

"Hell is where the demon-dead live," Karla explained. "The dead who have too much psychic strength to fade. After some time, that psychic strength dwindles and we fade back into the Darkness from whence we came."

It was Christian's fortune to meander past the coffee shop round about midafternoon, singing a few lines relatively loudly. He didn't realize how loud his voice had gotten; he was singing to try to work something out, and had totally lost track of who might overhear.

I, I wish you could swim
Like .... the dolphins!
Like dolphins can swim

Inside the shop, Didi lingered over another mug of tea at an outside table after she and Karla had said her goodbyes. She wasn't sure why; the tea was pleasant, and she had a feeling she wasn't truly done in the shop.

The boy's voice roused her from her seat. "Hi," she said, falling into step beside him. "You have a nice voice."

"Thank you," Christian politely told the pretty dark-haired girl. "I -- I didn't realize I was singing aloud. I was just working out the words, and the melody .... sometimes, you can't help but sing. Do you ever feel that way?"

"Sometimes," Didi allowed. "Not often, though. Mostly I like to sing to myself."

She eyed the young man. "What's your name?"

"Christian," he told her, sounding uneasy -- or, more precisely, as if he felt he should be uneasy but wasn't.

"Well, Christian," Didi said, "how would you like to give someone a very happy birthday?"

Before he could start to blush and stammer and wonder what kind of young lady she was, Didi quickly explained what she had in mind.

"That -- that's lovely," Christian beamed. "Your boyfriend is a very lucky man. Nothing would make me happier than helping. I'll be there at eight, then?"

"See you at eight," Didi confirmed, and gave Christian a quick hug by way of thanks before she headed back to the cabin. There were still preparations to be made.

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The Perk, Thursday Afternoon

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