Momoko's place, El Paso, Texas, late Monday night

[lovemykilt]

Priestly tended to go a little extra scruffy in times of emotional stress. Especially ones like now, where he decided a good way to deal with it was to spend a long weekend out in a national park living in a tent and "communing with nature".

It seemed like a Trucker-y thing to do, okay? And when he tried to kill his best friend, following the presumed example of a former assassin turned hippie-peacenik seemed like a good plan.

Alas, he did not find peace in the desert. He found sunburn and a lot of sand and some spiny lizards and what he was reasonably certain was an old coyote campsite and very, very little water. Which, okay, yeah, desert, but. California had deserts, too! Admittedly, not very near to the coast, where he spent 98.763% of his time. There'd been a school trip to the desert once in middle school.

He hadn't much liked it then, either.

"Momo!" He called, hanging out in the doorway as he tried in vain to get a little more of the dust and sand out of his boots. "I'm back!"

[ooc: mainly for one, but also open to phone calls/emails/etc.]

Comments

[blondecanary.livejournal.com]

"Ooooo. Did you see your spirit animal? Was it a chameleon or a blue-toed booby?"

Hi to you too, Priestly.

[lovemykilt]

"Neither. It was a horny toad." That joke wasn't getting old any time soon, no. "I don't know how much wisdom I got out of it, though."

[blondecanary.livejournal.com]

Dinah cackled, because sometimes she was 12.

"You didn't feel enlightened and made whole and one with the desert and the stars or anything? Awwwww. Maybe you should ask the toad for a refund."

[lovemykilt]

"I'm not sure I'd want to be one with a desert, anyway. It's all dry and dusty."

[blondecanary.livejournal.com]

"And arid. Lifeless? ... the hot part would be fun." Could this metaphor be wrung out any more? Naaah. "So was it a bust aside from the toads, or did you at least get some cactus wine out of it?"

[lovemykilt]

"You know, I'm thinking I'm just really not the cactus wine type. Sand's supposed to have an ocean attached. There's just no way around it."

[blondecanary.livejournal.com]

"Awwww." Dinah grinned, then sobered a little. "But, does the ocean have to have sand attached?"

Because New Gotham? Mostly had rocks.

[lovemykilt]

"Hey. I'm not running away." Since he'd just had this conversation with Momo, after all. "I'm coming back. I'm just . . . clearing my head, first."

[blondecanary.livejournal.com]

"I am really relieved to hear that." Dinah sighed, pushing a hand through her hair. "I mean, I know you said that, but... It's a lot to take. And I know you've got a life here now, and all. And yet."

[lovemykilt]

"And it's not like I haven't done it before." Made it halfway around the world on that one, too. "But you know I always tell you where I'm going. That's not going to change unless you stop wanting to know."

She still wanted to know, right? He was pretty sure, but -- he'd tried to poison her.

[blondecanary.livejournal.com]

"Like that'll ever happen," left Dinah's mouth without any thought whatsoever. Then she paused and added, "I am totally okay with you, I've just been worried that you weren't okay with life in New Gotham or me or metas and stuff."

And she just had a couple too many false memories, real memories, and nightmares leftover not to pace the floor when he was outside whatever world she was in. She was just kind of resigned to that by now.

[lovemykilt]

That was probably good; Priestly did a lot of world hopping. He'd kind of gotten travel into his blood.

"I will never have a problem with you," Priestly said. "Not you as a whole. I might not always like everything you do and say, but you're my Dinah." Somewhere, not even that far away, Momo was shrieking in delight. "That's not going to change. Even if your home town is deeply creepy."

[blondecanary.livejournal.com]

Okay, those words were a hug, how did you do that, Priestly?

"Ditto. Very ditto. Yaaaay. I'm so, so glad you're okay, did I mention that?" She was beaming at the phone now. "And yeah, New Gotham kinda is the poster child of urban insanity," Dinah admitted, although she was so used to it now, she never thought of leaving. But there was no denying that there was a lot of corruption, craziness, and just plain crime, and she was one of the people lucky enough to be able to dodge all that if she wanted to. "Which... there are cool parts! That, you know, I don't think we visited when you were just visiting, because we hit the tourist stuff. But it's not all the Narrows and the Arkham Asylum, so when you get back, maybe we could field-trip a bit?"

[lovemykilt]

It was a gift. Mostly from Trucker and Zo.

"That depends," Priestly said. "Is there a warm front expected? I have a new rule: if the temperature is lower than Ellen Degeneres' age, I'm not going outside."

Did you know Ellen just turned 57, Dinah? Did you?

[blondecanary.livejournal.com]

"That is a silly rule, and first we need to get you all those cold-weather clothes we were planning on, and then we are taking you to Gibson's place, and a couple other safe areas, and ... how old is she, anyway?"

Dinah had no idea, the woman looked forty to her, but maybe she was older?

[lovemykilt]

"She's turning 57 this week. I got the policy from her." SHE WAS A WISE WOMAN.

[blondecanary.livejournal.com]

"Fifty-seven is *spring* in New Gotham! You are not allowed to hibernate until then!" Nope nope, too much togetherness with his roommates would have them dangling him off a balcony, maybe. "Warm clothes and gear first, stat!"

[lovemykilt]

"You know, there are whole sections of this planet that are above that every day. Why did people ever leave them?"

[blondecanary.livejournal.com]

"They were *too* hot. Also, boring. Also, tourists," Dinah said, grinning. "I mean, you left that desert eventually, didn't you?"

[lovemykilt]

"I'm sorry, boring?" Priestly rolled his eyes. "Right, not having the terror of blizzards or freezing to death several times a year is totally boring."

[blondecanary.livejournal.com]

"We are going to find something fun about winter no matter what." Dinah changed that phrase from if it kills you at the last second. "But that's for when you get home... are you gonna stay in El Paso much longer?"

[lovemykilt]

Priestly shrugged. "Dunno. I might try and get to Glacia before I head back, meet the new tiny person." Sorry, Dinah, tiny person made cold place slightly more bearable than the promise of proper gear did. "Karla promised magic ravens who'll bring me directly inside."

Also, there was that.

[blondecanary.livejournal.com]

"Magic ravens? Why didn't I get... magic ravens..." Ohhhhh. Dinah stifled a snicker, and didn't correct Priestly's explanation. "Hunh. Take pictures? Of the ravens. And of course, more Kayla pix are *always* good. It's not fair how fast she's going to grow at Glacia double-time."

[lovemykilt]

He'd figure it out eventually! Possibly when Raven was standing in front of him looking impatient. "See, and I look at that as 'we'll get to the fun stuff so much faster!'"

Toddlers were way more fun than babies. Why did she think Fandom never brought them potential future infants?

[blondecanary.livejournal.com]

"Okay, that's true," Dinah conceded. "And less time in diapers. Less time in the 'why' stage." But still, less tiiiime!

Then again, she had all of Kayla's life to be Aunt Dinah, and the little thing was still going to outlive her. Just like her mom.

"But yeah, be ready to duck if Morton or Julian start demanding their baby-time. They're pretty ridic that way."