#elsewhere

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"What the LIVING HELL" Serenity said as she looked down at the guy with the broken nose whimpering on the ground.

Dirk didn't even bother to wipe the blood from the guy off his fist, "What?"

"Why did you DO that?" she asked.

Dirk snorted, and began to walk, expecting her to follow. Much to Serenity's annoyance, she did. Once they were further way from the Son of Adam, Dirk actually answered, "For one thing, I'm a Redcap. We don't need reasons to bully or hurt people, remember that if you ever meet another of my kind. Second,, you told him to leave you alone, and he didn't. He kept making like he was pawing at you..."

"He didn't actually touch me" She pointed out "Just.. you know, 'air gropes'"

"Well, in that case," Dirk gave another snort , "I meant to 'air punch him' and missed. Also he said he thought he saw you somewhere before..."

"Yeah, that's why I didn't want to fuss too much, I didn't want him to out me," She said.

"Then you were willing to give up the power you had out of fear. Which is great for redcaps, we love that stuff, but you shouldn't take that from regular people. Have you ever BEEN in the real world?"

"I thought the Dreaming WAS the real world" She countered a bit saucily even as she realized Dirk could kill me , couldn't he? I mean, he'd get in trouble, but he could do it

Dirk grumbles at her legit point "I mean, were you ever OFF the set?"

"Not.. really" She admited "I mean, we had soem privacy but in public we were on all the time. Kinda. "

"Right, so you had your mom and dad guiding who you spoke to, talked to, eeither they did it, or they left orders for a teacher or other escort who or what you got to see and interact with. You were always cotton balled" Dirk said, "But the world, dreaming or otherwise, doesn't work like that. Immediately showing your belly might work with some, but most , when you give them the inch they claim they want, are going to push for more... Give an inch, they take a mile" He says to clarify

"I've heard the phrase," She says testily

"What if he calls the cops?" She adds "And reports me, what I look like and..."

"First, the cops here are going to take down some report, but unless they are a RASH of broken noses, they're not going to do SHIT. Second, if he tells the story about how he tried to dry hump a girl your age, HE'S right there and easy to put in cuffs. WE're long gone. Third, eye witness accounts are actually terrible, 60% failure rate I think. We're not as on the ball as we think we are" A beat "Except maybe for trolls and sluagh. Anal bastards as a rule. Fifth ,I told him to keep his mouth SHUT and that he never saw you as he lay on the ground. Redcaps are pure intimidation. He didn't wet himself because of a bloody nose, he did it beccause he knows if I hear he crossed me I'll break every bone in his body. He wanted you afraid of him well, I am his fucking god of fear now. I will be in his nightmares waiting for him. He won't risk that"

For a moment Serenity is chilled by the truth of his words, then she blinks "You skipped fourth."

"Huh?" Dirk was pleased with his phrasing, he thought it was pretty bad ass, "Skipped 4th?"

"Yes, you were counting first, second, third, then went to fifth! What's the fourth?" Serenity smirked just a bit, but she also was out of punching range.. for now.

Dirk's brows narrowed, Damn it. she was right. That was the problem with chicks around here,, most of them were smarter than him. Olgar would have told him to curb the sexist talk about smart women being a pain, but then Olgar was so wiped he had a permanent big K on his back .. not that Dirk would say so out loud wherre Olgar, or worse, the Hearth could hear. He needed a fourth "The fourth is..." he thought about it, then realized "Your blending lessons from Jimmy are paying off. You don't look the same, still pretty, but more ijn the crowd"

"Well, yeah, for Jimmy it's a kind of flaw, he can't turn it off" She admits "Like being low grade invisible /forgetable. He says most Piskies aren't as 'intense' as he is, and have more control. I'm trying" A thought occurs, "You think I'm pretty?" She immediately regretted saying it.

DIrk looked over at her, and gave a delilberate appraisal "Yeah. I know you are. THen again don't get a swelled head, because a lot of girls here are pretty tight bodied but if youre asking would I smash with you? Yeah, sure. Pass the time, burn off energy" He shrugs and keeps walking

"WOW" she blurted stopping, and forcing him to stop too "Just..WOW. Are you like, a poet on your side job? I mean, talk about ROMANTIC" her tone drirpped with sarcasm so tangible it almost created a chimera

Dirk rolled his own eyes "You asked I thought you were pretty after I already said so. Seemed fishing for a compliment. Don't bitch at me if you caught a pike when you were hoping for salmon."

Serenity saw that he had a point, and decided she didn't LIKE it when Dirk had points. It was annoying, and frankly, he was enough of a jerk that she didn't want him to 'win', but the fact was she had pressed. She didn't even like Dirk. Had years of being an icon made her vain and needy despite her desire to get awaay from it all? It was something to consider, but then, that wasn't ALL it was, "Yeah, but this is a FAIRY tale I'm in now. A young lady, even a princesss, faces a monster, she's rescued by a handsome knight, and she falls in love out of gratitude and goes ot his castle..."

Dirk nods as she talks, listening, nodding , then says "Yeah, fuck all that."

She blinks "And we're back to you being romantic" She snorted.

"No we've gone on to you having dangerous stupid ideas in your head. They've told you what we are, but missed a lot of what that MEANS. You say Fairy tales. Ever hear of Grimm's originals? What happens? Snow White's enemy the evil queen? Ends up having hot irons strapped to her feet and dancing at Snow White's wedding until she dies! Cinderella's wicked step sisters CHOP OFF their toes to try to make the shoes fit. Later, their eyes are plucked out by birds. Don't get me started on the betrayal of the little mermaid who knows only pain on her legs and is destroyed to sea foam... though I think that's anderson.. not grim. What you're thinking of is a PART Of our world, a small part. If it were all sugar coated water downed Victorian prudery bullshit half of us wouldn't exist. I'll tell you something, in our world? Steven King and Dr. Seuss BOTH are right.. at the same time. YOu're not a princess... you arer common kith like me. What the pretty boy sidhe knight would likely do is save you, possibly for his own glory, charm you, not hard to do as you'll never see anyone more beautiful, and make you feel like you OWE him sex. You give it up, and he goes back to his REAL princess the day after bragging about he saved some peasant. In fact, it sounds like somewhere in your head is the idea that if a guy does something amazing or saves you, you owe him a toss. " Damn it, he hates that Olgar has gotten to him, "Sex CAN be transactional, and if that's how you wanna live, knock yourself out, but don't pretend it's not whoring if you do. It's not love, it's not even real romance in my book . Courtly love is a sidhe thing and i think it's stupid. Play it if you want but recognize it for the mind game it is. A mutual mind game maybe " A shrug again "The Dreaming is terrific, it is also terror. It is love. It is also intrigue and manipulation. It is cruel and kind, but the one thing the dreaming, near or far, is not? Is NICE. It is not nice. It does not want to be NICE. Nice is one dimensional, Nice is BORING, the dreaming can't stand to be bored. YOU can be nice, that's fine, but the Dreaming? Is not, nor is how it works."

It comes so rapid fire that Serenity feels as IF she is taking punches! Wait, the wicked step sisters cut their TOES off? That can't be right. The lIttle mermaid on land was in PAIN? Then.. then he calls her a whore , and a naive stupid whore at that!

"Did you just call me a whore?" She got up to his face, and a part of her regretted it. It was a frightening face as a default setting.

She also is angry that she'ss come to this world, this WONDERFUL world, and he's trying to turn it into a nightmare

He IS a nightmare, She realizes.

"No, I'm saying that if you want to be a whore, hey, chase your dreams, just turn on the crimson colored light nearby and be an honest one" He says. There, he thinks, that settles that right? He's like being fucking tolerant of all life styles and choices

She almost slaps him, though that would be insane. She ALMOST CURSES HIM OUT with a rage she hasnt' felt before with both halves of her two halved soul. She ALMOST ..breaks into tears.

Of the three, the last would be the worst of all

She'd rather die than show DIRK that weakness right now.

"You're a pig, and I don't want to talk to you anymore" She says simply, "Let's go some place where I can meet other NICER kithain"

Dirk is confused. Folks ASK him things, and he answers and then they get all mad. It is indeed, a conundrum. "Fine, I'll get you to Goldfinch. Not all all of them are nice, but plenty of wusses there too"

The perhaps less than aptly named Serenity (Given she is currently livid) , does not TALK to him, but rather NODS and follows five feet or more behind him. Stomping a bit as she does.

To Dirk's credit, it can be said, nothing and NO one is going to get in Serenity's way to Goldfinch, thanks to the scary guy who just screams 'want to be in a true crime episode? No, not as a cop'

(End Scene)