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You mean after our stay in the hospital?

I am used to nightmares here. The imprisonment was not entirely new either.

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Being used to it and being alright are two different things, though.

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Perhaps.

No one would be all right with this.

But I am not hurt.

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Nor should they. I'm really relieved to hear that, though. I, uh, I guess physically I'm unscathed, just not handling the mental portion so well. Or the sleeping, which is just the most ironic thing.

[ A beat. ]

If you need anything, you'll let me know?

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I will. Thank you for offering.

And the same in return.

[Diana pauses at that, but it does not seem enough. Not with what they've been through.]

Are you busy now?

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No. For you, I am not busy now; what are you thinking?

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Only that it might be nicer to talk face to face.

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Yeah, okay. Where would you like to meet?

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The lobby? We can decide from there where to go.

Maybe just for a walk.

→ acton ;

[chaos_magnet]

Sounds like a plan. I'll head down now.


[ James changes out of the clothes he'd been lounging in and waits between the stairs and elevators. ]

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Diana arrives not long after. She hasn't thought to change her clothes beyond putting on a jacket, but she's not so insensitive to fashion that she doesn't smile slightly when she sees him.

"I didn't distract you from going somewhere else, did I?"

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"You know, I was thinking of heading into town and finding a cozy restaurant with some decent pasta, but..." James leaves the sentence to hang between them, features shifting into something cheeky because it's nice to pretend sometimes. Pretend that they're not restricted to a few locations in Hell, that they could grab food and drinks from whichever place caught their eye as they walked past the menus on display.

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"I would not mind pasta," Diana says—playing along. As little experience as she's had with the world of men, the chance to explore would have been lovely. "Pasta and a glass of wine—somewhere quiet rather than the bar."

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James smiles and paints the picture a little further. "Mm, and outside. With those soft, white lights, and some kind of giant leafed plants. Maybe a bonfire in the center of the eating area?" More for the aesthetic sake of things.

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"You have a very vivid imagination," Diana says with a smile, genuine despite the signs of fatigue that line her face. "It is a beautiful image, though. Will there be candles too? And a view overlooking the sea?"

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He somewhat squints an eye at her as his mouth moves a little to the side as well on the same half of face. "I'd be lying if I didn't admit that I was kind of picturing it on a cliff that overlooked the ocean," Jim sheepishly admits. "If you don't think that candles would be overkill, then, yeah. There will be those too." But no live music, just something neutral and quietly playing in the background for ambiance.

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"I enjoy the sea," Diana says, in case it was not clear before. She appreciates the image he paints for them both. "Even at night, we'd be able to see it, the moon reflecting off the water. And I see no reason why there should not be candles."

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"Yeah? Me too. Didn't see much of it when I was living in Montana, and now it's mostly seen spaceside, but you don't get the sounds and smells that way." He briefly averts his gaze to give Diana a subtle onceover and then shifts to be beside her with an offered arm. "Still up for that walk? We can pretend we're just close enough to arrive by foot and skip the public transportation."

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A brief pause, not hesitation, but consideration. Surprise, perhaps.

Definitely surprise, though it passes quickly. Then Diana takes his arm. After the Mares, she finds she could use a pleasant daydream.

"I grew up on an island," she says. "The sea was never far. Always bright and blue. It's easy to miss that, here."

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He sets an easy pace and leads them outside, adding to the emersion of walking to their pseudo dinner date. And it's a perfect segue to remark on the lack of blue, the lack of bright. "I get that it has to be fire and brimstone, but I would give just about anything for us to have a view of stars. Any stars, even the kind I wouldn't know." Knowing there's nothing there but various hues of red, Jim still cocks his head back to look skyward.

After a moment and looking back at Diana, he asks, "Did the sea have a name?"

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He's not the only one to miss the stars.

"It was the Mediterranean," she says, and she imagines he knows if. If he knows Earth then he must. "And the island was Themyscira. The home of the Amazons. Hidden from the outside world by the power of Zeus."

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"We more or less have the Mediterranean. It's just that it melds into the Atlantic far more than it did during your timeline."

Now that they're outdoors, James stops at a crossroads point and silently asks with raised brows which direction Diana would like to go? And while she's deciding, he's tiling his head curiously. "As in the Grecian God? Or is that a codename for something else?"

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The god, yes.

[And Diana's father. That's a revelation she's finally come to accept, though it is still rather new in the grand scope of things.

She angles away from the hotel after a brief deliberation. A longer walk this way.]

One of many, though few of them still remain in the world.

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"I have enough on my plate with aliens and portal rings; can't imagine adding confirmed deities to the mix." Religion still exists in the twenty-fourth century, but James has never given any of them enough thought to commit. "Have you met any of them?" There's a touch of awe in his curiosity thirst. The topic is foreign and fascinating, and if it means filling Diana out more, then James welcomes it all the more.

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"Ares," Diana says, and there is no awe in her voice. Only frustration. "The God of War. He is the only one left, the only one who I know of. But he is gone now too."

And good riddance.