Chilly Boulder, Saturday Afternoon

[glacial_queen]

Karla was back on Fandom again and, oddities of the morning aside--like waking up in the dorms--was pretty excited to be back on the island. After a brief practice with sticks in the preserve, she'd decided to look up some of her favorite places from her time here.

...Which had her heading to the ice cream store, obviously. Well, with a quick stop at the Perk for coffee. Funny how neither store had changed a bit. Even her coffee-maker back home looked more modern than that.

Of course, she had a Skywalker with a tinkering fetish in her Court, so maybe she wasn't the best judge of that.

Ordering a GIANT sundae for herself (she was a grown-up, she could have ice cream for breakfast if she wanted to), she made her way over to a table near one of the windows and settled in, looking for familiar faces.

Well, probably not so familiar anymore.

[Open like an ice cream store. FYI, Karla still looks pretty young, in her mid-twenties.]

Comments

[momslilassassin]

And here came her visibly agitated First Escort!

"Guess who I just ran into," Ben said, sliding into a chair across from her.

[glacial_queen]

Karla ate a spoonful of ice cream before answering. "That Russian model that Tony hooked you up with," she guessed. "The one who was convinced she could 'fix' you and start having all the grandbabies that her mother wanted, even though you stayed up all night crying on her shoulder about Ender."

[momslilassassin]

"There wasn't crying!" Ben insisted, reaching for a spoon and her ice cream.

[angelo_wings]

"Okay," Rinoa said, appearing behind Karla's table with a laugh. "Every time I see you, you actually look younger. That's just cheating."

[glacial_queen]

"Blame my husband!" Karla said, jumping up to give Rinoa a hug. "He still gets carded when we visit different Earths!"

Of course, her youth was directly related to her ability to jump up at all. The healing factor in Warren's blood kept her young even as it repaired the damage from the poison that still lurked in her veins.

"Of course, I have several children who are doing their best to age me, so I doubt you'll have to be jealous for very much longer."

[angelo_wings]

"They're great at that, aren't they?" Rinoa grinned, returning the hug eagerly. "I feel like I could name my gray hairs. 'The time someone decided to play with Daddy's gunblade.' 'First day of school.'"

Not that she had many gray hairs. In fact, she could probably have stopped aging entirely if she had put real effort into it, but that seemed ... like a really bad idea. So she was rolling with it, instead. The temptation was still there.

[bitten_notshy]

"You're going to have to start passing yourself off as your own daughter if you keep up with this not-aging," Jack groused, as he came away from the counter with his own more modest ice cream order. "And hello. Good reunion so far?"

[glacial_queen]

"Oh don't you start," Karla said with a laugh. "Cora's already grumpy enough about that as it is."

Cora had been twelve when they'd adopted her, with Agio six years behind her. More like a little sister than a child, she was in her thirties now, with a husband of her own. Made Karla rather nostalgic.

"Kiss kiss, darling; I've missed you," she said, tilting her cheek towards him. "And of course! I've had the Perk's coffee and Chillr Boulder's ice cream. You know, they both taste exactly like they did when we were here."

[bitten_notshy]

Jack obediently kissed the offered cheek. "I think that clerk has the same piercings as the one who worked here 20 years ago, too," he claimed. "Either some things never change, or they went all out to make us feel at home."

"And I missed you too," he added. "I need to find a reason to get to Galcia sometime soon."

[notmyownage]

"Okay, seriously," Claudia said, entering the shop. "The island's like, the land beyond time or something."

[glacial_queen]

It took Karla a minute to recognize Claudia, trying to place the face and failing, and then trying to remember the psychic scent.

Scully? No. Then it had to be... "Claudia?" she hazarded, not completely sure.

[notmyownage]

Claudia'd almost be offended, except that she and her big sib had really never hung out. "Got it in one. And you are so very obviously Karla. You been getting questions about moisturizer, too?"

[Claudia's ain't nearly so dramatic, but she stopped aging six years ago, and looks 30.]

[sorella-vecchia.livejournal.com]

Triela looked twenty years older.

That was probably to be expected, except that during her years as a student, Triela had never actually looked older. At least not really. Cosmetics and clothes had allowed her to look more mature on occasion, but she'd never really aged.

So it was possible she wouldn't be recognized.

Especially since Triela had never worn anything like the flowing robes that the thin-faced blond woman sitting in the corner picking at the smallest sundae on the menu had on.

[glacial_queen]

Karla wasn't shocked to see her, not exactly. There hadn't been many letters over the years, but there had been enough to explain about Leto and the clone and the death of the...original Triela. It had been easier to accept and understand over letters, now seeing this Triela, Karla was slammed with conflicting emotions.

"Kiss kiss," she said quietly, making her way over to the table. "You look good. Somehow, I was expecting you to still look like you did in high school."

If anything, now Karla looked to be the one unaging.

[sorella-vecchia.livejournal.com]

"You do look like you did in high school," Triela pointed out with a smile.

"And kiss kiss yourself, Karla." Triela stood up and reached out for a quick hug. "I'm pretty sure that means you're the one who looks good."

[ancientbschamp.livejournal.com]

Would Karla object terribly if her old roommate came in and immediately went to try to hug her?

Gabrielle hoped not; that was exactly what she was doing.

[glacial_queen]

If anything, Karla objected to the question!

Or would, if she wasn't clinging like a limpet to Gabrielle. "Hell's fire and Mother Night," she whispered. "I'd heard--" she cut herself off. "I missed you so very much."

[ancientbschamp.livejournal.com]

Gabrielle clung right back, and there was an apologetic note in her voice when she answered. "I missed you too," she promised. "I'm sorry I didn't get a chance to warn you I was back -- things have been busy since Xena and I, er . . . woke up."

[trigons_child]

Karla probably felt Raven coming before she reached Chilly Boulder. She'd gone looking for Karla and tracked her down here, needing to talk to her friend, not her Queen. She just wasn't sure how old Karla was going to be, if she was going to be the woman she just spoke to last night or the girl she knew 20 years ago. To her relief she recognized her as her older self.

"Karla," she greeted her calmly, in contrast to the chaos of emotions inside her.

[glacial_queen]

And it was Karla, not the Queen, that sensed the turmoil beneath that calm and stood up. "Raven," she said, already sending out soothing tendrils towards her friend. "Darling what is it? Come sit down."

[blondecanary.livejournal.com]

After a long brunch catching up with Priestly, Dinah had threaded her way around the island for a bit, and finally headed to catch up with other people.

"Hey, blondie-blond," she teased, wandering in wearing warm-up gear. "Should've known I'd find you here."

[exspeedydotcom]

"Well, I'm not a blonde, but I also like ice cream," Roy said, grinning at Dinah.

[glacial_queen]

"Where else would I be?" Karla asked with a laugh. "This isn't Glacia. No one's willing to bring the ice cream to me." She got up to give Dinah a warm hug and a kiss on the cheek. "How've you been?" she asked. "It's been too long. And how's my little niecelet?"

Besides not so little, sigh.

[exspeedydotcom]

"Okay, you did catch the memo about this being the twentieth reunion, right?" Roy had to ask when he saw Karla. She was from Crazy World. He didn't know how things like 'time' worked there.

[glacial_queen]

Karla dimpled up at Roy as he came in. "Kiss kiss," she said with a wink. "Of course I know! Or do I look so old you're worried about my failing memory?"

Hey. She was allowed to tease, especially if he was going to accuse her of being from Crazy World.