(no subject)

[ladyfirestarter]

Every so often, Charlie's called to the home office in New York. She tries to arrange a day or two extra before and after the scheduled meeting, just to walk around and see the city.

The desert has become her heart's home, but ... once or twice a year she starts to sicken for the sight of skyscrapers and yellow cabs, the way some people sicken for mountains or the sea.

It's a brisk day in early September, cool and breezy, ideal for walking.

Comments

[ladyfirestarter]

"-- Was that you just now? Talking about the Flatiron building?"

Charlie sounds startled.

[notboundnow.livejournal.com]

"--I didn't say I was in New York? Oh." A smile! "I'm in New York."

[ladyfirestarter]

"You neglected to mention it."

That's amused, rather than annoyed.

"And seven or eight blocks north of the Flatiron Building? We're practically on top of each other."

Half a beat.

"Don't touch that one."

[notboundnow.livejournal.com]

He holds up a hand. "No touching, but I'm thinking it pretty loud, don't you think?"

The crosswalk changes. He steps into the street. "This is going to be a recurring theme, isn't it. The there-but-for-the-division-of-the-multiverse thing."

[ladyfirestarter]

"Works for me." Smiling. "What's the weather like in your New York?"

Another pedestrian gives her an odd look at that, and walks on.

(Later in the week, the line will show up on www.overheardinnewyork.com.)

[notboundnow.livejournal.com]

"I'm trying to remember the words. Hang on."

A pause, then: "Sunny day, sweepin' the -- clouds away!"

The words fit: New York could have been painted by Vermeer today, if he were more given to outdoor scenes. The light shimmers over a vivid sky-and-stone palette.

"On my way to where the air is sweet."

Prometheus would look like Gene Kelly, given a little more rain and a little more room to dance. He cranes his neck, only half paying attention to where he's going.

"Can you tell me how to get, how to get to Sesame Street?"

[ladyfirestarter]

Yep. Charlie's laughing again.

"You are a loon."

She can picture him, dancing along the sidewalk, the crowd of pedestrians eddying around to give the crazy man a wide berth -- kind of like that sudden bubble in the crowd two blocks down, on the other side of Broadway --

-- wait.

[notboundnow.livejournal.com]

He barks a laugh mid-stride. "I am nothing more than an enjoyer of fine public programming! Don't tell me you're immune to the charm of muppets, now."

[ladyfirestarter]

"Nobody's immune to the charm of muppets."

She's slowed down a little, studying the movement of the crowd.

It can't be. It's a coincidence.

[notboundnow.livejournal.com]

"I'm glad some things are a universal constant."

He sails over the sidewalk, not even pretending to hold a phone, just talking out loud and smiling.

New York is heady. He's only observant as far as it keeps him from walking into people.

[ladyfirestarter]

By now Charlie's standing still, tracking the mild disturbance as it heads toward her. It's trailing off, hardly a disturbance at all now. Because the crazy man has stopped singing, perhaps?

One way to find out.

"How did the other one go? It's time to get things started...?"

[notboundnow.livejournal.com]

Across the way, someone with a healthy set of lungs has just chosen to demonstrate his triune command of street preaching, rock music and Jim Henson productions.

"On the most sensational! Inspirational! Celebrational! Muppetational! This is what we call the Muppet Show!"

A grin, to punctuate the emphatic hand gestures. "I did that right, didn't I?"

[ladyfirestarter]

"Oh yes."

She can see him now, as pedestrians scatter before the noise.

Coincidence, as so often happens, has been cancelled.

"Prometheus?"

[notboundnow.livejournal.com]

"I got a whole repertoire--" he starts.

"What?"

[ladyfirestarter]

"Look across the street for a second and tell me what you see?"

[notboundnow.livejournal.com]

He plants his feet and peers, shielding his eyes.

"I see a Starbucks, and somebody wearing a leopard-print jacket, and... and..."

If the passersby needed any more proof of this fellow's unhingedness, his sudden stillness is more than sufficient.

"I see a redhead standing there waving at me." He knits his brow. "But that doesn't make any sense."

[ladyfirestarter]

Charlie keeps waving.

"The redhead's wearing jeans and a grey button-down shirt," she says cheerfully, "and she can see you now."

[notboundnow.livejournal.com]

His jaw moves soundlessly for a moment.

"The redhead may not want to be seen with me, considering the ruckus I was making a moment ago. It's a very fetching look on the redhead, though, I've got to say."

[ladyfirestarter]

"The redhead is currently occupied by bigger questions, such as how the hell is this even possible."

These questions evidently don't preclude an uncontrollable grin, though.

[notboundnow.livejournal.com]

"Hang on."

Prometheus looks both ways -- it pays to stay safe, and provide a good example, after all -- and ventures out into traffic. A quick jog and a little darting later, he hops up on the curb beside Charlie.

"Hmm." An experimental poke at her shoulder, still disbelieving. "You don't seem to be an optical illusion."

[ladyfirestarter]

She fists him in the ribs, gently.

"Neither do you."

[notboundnow.livejournal.com]

He has to laugh. He has to. There's nothing else for it.

"Where are we?"

Something's certainly off, though he can't quite pinpoint it yet.

[ladyfirestarter]

"New York, obviously -- but I don't know whose."

Charlie looks around.

"I don't suppose you have any way of telling?"

[notboundnow.livejournal.com]

His eyes seem to lose focus for a minute. His gaze drifts somewhere over Charlie's left shoulder, before it snaps back into place on her face.

"Yours," he says wonderingly. "Radio silence from the old lady -- I don't hear a thing. That's so funny. I didn't notice any changeover..."

[ladyfirestarter]

"From Gaia?"

She's studying his face. He doesn't seem distressed, but ... it sounds like something that should be disconcerting, at the least.