fandomhigh | Library, Wednesday (3/16)

Gabrielle, let's be fair, didn't look like someone who'd been washed up on a beach more than once in fairly recent hours by the time she made it into the library, a tiny bit later than she usually did. Yes, her hair was still damp, but she'd showered and changed clothes (into an outfit that was identical to her usual one, although the top might have shrunk a little). It wasn't the washing up on a beach in Greece and then, shortly afterward, the one in Fandom that was noticeable; the return to her customary good cheer, on the other hand, was.

Someone had made up with her best friend, yes. It had involved falling off a cliff and then being pulled out of a river, and a lot of singing and bizarrely staged recreations of recent events, but it had happened. That was the important part.

. . . so yes, it had been an eventful visit home, but that was always the case, and if it was one of the most bizarre ones she'd ever had -- she was learning to take those very well in stride, too.

She was sitting at the desk and reading through stacks of books on musical theater and tarot card symbolism, but still taking it in stride.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Let's not be diplomatic about those songs. They were awful.

"Only after we saw visions of ourselves betraying each other," Gabrielle told him. "That was . . . incredibly unpleasant, but -- I think -- necessary, to face up to everything. It all gets a little bit fuzzy toward the end. I just remember taking Xena's hand and stepping through a curtain of water, and seeing her smile again for the first time in so long . . . and then we woke up on the beach again."

Awful did not mean it could not be interesting.

"And you found then that she had shared the dream with you," Faramir concluded. "That is a strange tale, but one can not argue with the results."

Interesting like a trainwreck, to use a figure of speech that wouldn't mean much to either of them.

"I've lived some really interesting stories, but this one might beat them all," Gabrielle said thoughtfully, unaware that she'd just gone and set the bar even higher for herself now. "Have I missed anything interesting here?"

"Not much. At least not to me," Faramir said with a small shake of his head. "Many people had visitors come during the weekend."

"But not you?" Gabrielle guessed. "I don't know how I always manage to miss these things . . . but it was worth it this time."

"Not me," he confirmed with only a small shrug that belied how he did feel about it. "As long as it was worth it, that is all that matters."

"That is the important part." Which was restating the obvious, but Gabrielle did that sometimes. "Were you hoping for a visitor?"

"No," he shook his head. "I had word beforehand from Boromir. His presence was required as Osgiliath. It seems the enemy's troops have been very active near the city."

Gabrielle remembered him saying something, once, about how it was his people's job to hold back this enemy of theirs. "More so than usual, then? Is it a bluff, d'you think, or does the enemy have something bigger in mind?"

She didn't like war. That didn't mean she was unfamiliar with the concept of strategy.

Faramir shook his head. "I do not know and Boromir is not very forthcoming with information. I believe he does not wish me to worry when I am somewhere where I cannot help. Not that it keeps me from worrying," he admitted with a crooked smile.

"Because you know just enough to keep the questions coming, and not enough to answer any of them." Gabrielle reached over to pat his hand. "I know just how that is. 'An old friend needs me, Gabrielle, so I'm going to drop everything and race halfway across the known world right this second,' and no explanation. At least, not until we're on the way if I'm going along with her."

It also all seemed to have happened ten winters ago. She hadn't gotten an explanation for that yet.

"That does sound like something Boromir would do," Faramir agreed with a laugh and he reached to catch her hand and give it a reassuring squeeze. "I say we have our revenge and go off on an adventure of our own. Let them do the worrying for once!"

"I say we should do it," Gabrielle agreed, smacking her free hand lightly on the top of the desk for (enthusiastic) emphasis. "But first, we should make sure the two of them never meet, or we'd never see the end of that kind of hassle. I have enough of that to deal with, whenever Hercules and Iolaus come around."

"If they not kill each other first," Faramir chuckled. "Such stubbornness should never be allowed to turn towards the same goal. And now you must tell me who Hercules and Iolaus are."

Gabrielle pretended to sigh. "All right, I'll let you slide on that since you're not from this world." Although really. Why had people heard of them, but not Xena (and her)? This continued to make no sense whatsoever, despite what Ender had said about alternate realities. "Hercules is the son of the god Zeus, and one of the great heroes of our time; Iolaus is his ~~boyfriend~~ best friend. They travel together a lot like Xena and I do, and help people. Hercules has a special interest in making sure mortals get a fair shake when the gods are out to get them."

Library, Wednesday (3/16)

Re: Talk to Gabrielle [3/16]

Re: Talk to Gabrielle [3/16]

Re: Talk to Gabrielle [3/16]

Re: Talk to Gabrielle [3/16]

Re: Talk to Gabrielle [3/16]

Re: Talk to Gabrielle [3/16]

Re: Talk to Gabrielle [3/16]

Re: Talk to Gabrielle [3/16]

Re: Talk to Gabrielle [3/16]

Re: Talk to Gabrielle [3/16]

Re: Talk to Gabrielle [3/16]

Re: Talk to Gabrielle [3/16]

Re: Talk to Gabrielle [3/16]

Re: Talk to Gabrielle [3/16]

Re: Talk to Gabrielle [3/16]