sixwordstories | (no subject)

[Comment overheard as she passes by. Freya stops and smiles.]

It's said that we are the heroes of our own 'movie' after all, the camera's always on us and we can never see from anybody else's point of view.

[Malcolm turns and smiles.]

That's true but I was thinking more in terms of something else actually.

Oh?

[Head tilting, expression open, she invites him to elaborate.]

Well not everyone sees what I do as an asset to the city and the people in it.

[Nods.]

The masses like black and white, even though the world is shades of gray. If something good happens, usually there is something bad to accompany it. A soup kitchen puts a little corner grocery store out of business. A park means that a housing unit is not built there. Cost cutting puts people out of work...nothing is all good.

You are very wise for someone who looks so young. Most people your age don't see the darkness in the world they just walk on by.

[The light in her expression is quickly fading.]

Would be nice to do that, wouldn't it? But sometimes the dark reaches out as you go past and pulls you in.

[Smiling again, it's a forced thing.]

I look for both.

As do I though the dark seems to be winning at the moment.

There are months like that.

[Bites the center of her lower lip for a moment before inviting,]

Sometimes sharing the burden makes it easier to keep going. The dark can be a lonely place.

I'm not sure sharing with you would be a good idea....my darkness is very dark.

Especially when you're in it with the door closed.

Even a little pilot light in a pitch black basement can be a relief.

[Speaking from experience.]

I suppose that's true.

[He extends his hand slowly.]

Malcolm Merlyn

[A further step is taken towards him. Cool fingers slip against his palm, accepting the social gesture]

Freya.

[A half second pause indicates that her last name is an afterthought.]

Freya Cousland.

[Her grip is firm. The technique of a good handshake is rarely taught from father to daughter. But in her case, a Senator's child, it was.]

Were you walking, Mister Merlyn?

[A gesture to the path running by them, one that winds through the park.]

[Malcolm knows and respects a strong handshake when he feels one. He nods.]

Pleasure Ms. Cousland...I was jogging actually. I enjoy running at night.

It is certainly cooler and easier to think without the press of people.

[A smile tucks in the corner of her mouth.]

I was on my way home from a class. Clearing my own head, as it were.

It is indeed. I'm a business man during the day so running at night allows me time to think before bed.

[He smiles.]

May I walk you home?

If it does not interfere with your run or your thinking,

[Nose crinkling as she smiles]

That would be very nice.

It does not. And this is not a city you should walk home alone in after dark.

So far I haven't found any reason to be afraid.

[There were plenty of reasons to be afraid, very true. Fear was in her mind, in a closed in space, in a place she could not escape. But not trapped, with air around her, there was freedom and security in movement.]

Then you haven't truly looked at Starling...she has her dark corners.

[Smiles but it doesn't quite reach her eyes. She knows.]

So I've heard, but is light pollution really the right answer? It is getting so we can hardly see the stars.

[Voice is light and teasing, deliberately dodging the issue of being out alone, at night...something her family might take her to task about.]

[He smiles too, but like her it doesn't reach his eyes.]

I doubt the stars would want to come out for us anyway.

[Head tilts in the direction she was originally heading before stopping to reply to his not-question. She starts off down the path.]

Have you ever gotten to the point that their are so many monsters that holding still isn't the answer. They're going to find you anyway. Why stay locked up and isolated? Why not get out and breathe? Life is a zombie movie. You're going to be bitten, it's only a matter of time... Remember what Joe Bob Briggs said about any horror movie, 'Anyone can die at at time'. So why not stop being afraid and enjoy what you can?

[Copies the Texas drawl.]