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[youngtimer]

NeverAcorned - Standard UN || HoratioV - Fog/Lighthouse UN || 5ofDiamonds - Casino Business || Odyssean - Anonymous/Sock UN

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Comments

[youngtimer]

It's neat. Please don't be embarrassed about it.

[when she makes the inevitable comment about his appearance, he chuckles, leaning back in his chair]

It's because when I tried to travel back to the time I left, I messed up the equation that made it possible. My consciousness came back through in one piece, but my body reverted to the age I was when I first moved through my timeline. Think of it like coming back home from a trip and only having your baby clothes to wear, only ... it's your whole self.

[isawallflower]

[ To go back and everything... All of it being like when she was even younger...

Riley shivers. ]

That...sounds genuinely awful, I'm sorry. [ She hesitates. ] So... Does that...mean you're...like, an adult...?

[youngtimer]

[her reaction catches him by surprise: Riley is the first person to actually say 'wow, that sounds awful'. everyone else either doesn't believe him, or thinks he's lucky to get a second chance. his careful, cheerfully-acerbic mask falls for a moment and he lets out a huff of disbelief.]

Yeah. It's even worse when all you have to wear is a closet full of school uniforms. I was honestly relieved when I showed up here, it meant I had options. But - yes. I was fifty-seven when I showed up here. Which means there's a forty-four year disparity between what you see and what's going on between my ears most of the time. It's also how I wound up being a bartender and, eventually, the manager of the Lucky. I don't blame you for judging me a bit on that. Most people do when they look at me.

[isawallflower]

[ After everything she's seen and been through, frankly she'll believe anything with little convincing. Once a staunch "ghosts probably aren't real" person, she's learned to roll with the punches. ]

O- oh, I definitely wasn't— [ judging him, but...she was, wasn't she? ] ...Okay, it wasn't really...judging, I just...don't have a good relationship with alcohol.

[ This is weird. Knowing he's an adult... That changes this but she's not sure in what way. She's all thrown off-guard. You have to signal different things to adults and other kids...right? ]

[youngtimer]

Noted.

[their drinks come, and he raises his to her in deference]

Here's to my not pressing about that unless you actually ever want to share, then. People have enough shit to deal with here, without having to dredge up their past.

[isawallflower]

[ A toast to something like that? How...strange. Strange but welcome. Her smile's caught between the mask she puts on for adults and a genuinely grateful twitch of her lips, as she raises her cup in return. ]

Yeah. Here's to...letting people take that first step. When they feel like they can. [ A moment later, quickly: ] To, uhm, you too? I hope- I don't wanna pry, like, about any of the...sensitive stuff.

[youngtimer]

[so there's a crack in that mask, he realizes, his own smile growing. good. he takes a sip of his coffee and pauses a moment to critique the brew. not bad, but not the best, his expression plainly says as he shrugs]

Honestly, there's not much I won't talk about. From before I got here, or after. I'm not really big on the mushy, feel-good conversations where everyone pours their hearts out, but ... If anyone asks me something, I tend to answer. And I'm a fairy, so ...

[a little wave of his hand takes the place of finishing the sentence: she's probably well aware that fairies can't lie]

[isawallflower]

[ And yet. She's not! So, he trails off, and Riley tilts her head in that birdlike way of hers. ]

So...? I'm sorry, the, uh— I've only really spent time with Miss Lusamine and- well, Celeste while she's been one, in terms of like...fairies.

[youngtimer]

[he makes a little sound of mild surprise as he tilts his head in the opposite direction to her, smiling a little]

Aha. Celeste already knew because of me, and Lusamine's pretty new to it, and she doesn't seem like the type of person who'd find out by example, so that makes sense.

[he shrugs]

Fairies can't lie without feeling really serious pain.

[isawallflower]

...Oh.

[ Well. First of all, poor fucking Celeste, and second of all— ]

I...genuinely had no idea, uh. That must be... Wow.

[youngtimer]

It sure was annoying to find out, let me tell you.

[he takes a sip of his coffee, thinking for a moment]

Do harpies have anything that inconvenient?

[isawallflower]

Um... No?

[ But she doesn't sound so sure. Being a harpy... In only a year—less than, if you deduct the time it took for her to change, the time she spent a manticore—it's become an intrinsic part of her. ]

The most inconvenience was really just...the change itself, um... Like, I get distracted by shiny things, sometimes? But I don't really mind that. It doesn't sound as...difficult to deal with, as being literally unable to lie.

[youngtimer]

I got lucky, some fairies with moth wings get the whole 'mesmerized by light' thing, too. I missed that one. Good thing, with the casino being full of all that neon and shit.

[he chuckles a little to himself]

You know, the changes are hard, but ... they're not the hardest part, sometimes. Sometimes it's more ... [he pauses, trying to put his words in order before he finishes the thought aloud] ... knowing that you have to live here, the best way you can, and deciding what the hell that even looks like.