gotham_knocking | Housewarming

The hard part, Alex thinks as he heads over to greet Rachel, wouldn't be explaining her costume. It would be explaining her entrance.

"Not bad. And you didn't even set fire to the couch." He reaches out to hug her. "Thanks for coming, Rae."

She could explain the costume, honest. She was...a dancer! She'd come from a dress rehearsal, in costume for kicks and giggles. After all, she moved far too smoothly anyway right?

She hugged him back fiercely, a smile in her words "I'd hate to charred your home, Alex, especially at the party. We'll wait at least a few months until then."

"Maybe I should buy fireproofing?" He smiles back at her as he lets go of her. "How are you doing?" He gestures to the food, though by now he's noticed how little she ever seems to eat.

"From me?" she asked "Like protection money?" yes, she was probably teasing. "Or is there an actual fireproofing material?" not that she'd ever suggest he invest in either.

She drifted over to the snacks, to pick something interesting looking to nibble on. Politeness, yes, plus people would fuss if she didn't.

"There's this stuff they put on kids' pajamas that's supposed to slwo down fires. I don;t know if you can get it for couches, though." He's not entirely serious, but he does wonder why such things aren't used on a regular basis.

"You mean to tell me no one has ever tried to fight you with flmae retardants? Seems kinda obvious." He picks up a slice of salami.

"Really?' she'd never heard of the stuff really! "Most the things I know that slow flames aren't very safe...kids PJ's probably aren't the best place for it. Why not just spray the areas likely to catch fire instead?"

"No...wouldn't do any good, but no one's even tried. Could have been fun" she sighed.

"You know, I have no idea. I don't really know much about it, and what I do know is from something I wrote back in the late 70s. They had to ban a flame retardant because it could cause cancer. Not my usual kind of story, but I used to get assigned things like that." Maybe this is a topic for a column, he muses.

"Fun. You have a weird idea of fun."

"Cancer huh? That isn't ever good either. Maybe this spray stuff has something like it, would explain why it's not widely used..." she mused. Cancer was on of those things that was horrifying to her, the body turning against itself. It could be fixed, yes, but she hated to see it.

"Well, I have to. It's not like I have much exposure to the standard definitions" she teased.

"We have to change that." He roams over to a very nice home entertainment center, circa 1990. "If you ever want to get away from the Bar, you can watch a movie or listen to a little music. Sorry that it's not a DVD player or an IPod, but how do you explain having tech 10 or 15 years early?

"You ever have that movie night with your friend?"

"I'm not sure how often I could get here without you to drag me, but I'll try to show up?" she offered with a grin, trailing fingers over the woodgrain of the entertainment center. "I don't really keep track of technology, so I'm sure that it's okay that you don't have either!"

"No...I had to go,m and she had to go...and i need to poke her about it." she admitted.

"It happens. Heck, I told you I was awy from the Bar for a month." He looks through his sparse but selective choice of video tapes. "You have any idea what kind of movie you'd like?"

"Yeah, still doesn't mean I should have forgotten about it"

"Nope!" she admitted cheerfully, peering over his shoulder "Nothing with superheroes I guess? I'd either end up laughing...or know them."

"Superheroes? Not lately. Funny thing about having real superheroes. The movies don't feel the same. They made a few in the 70s, but after Supes showed up..." He smirks, and keeps looking. "I got a couple of adventure films. I bet you never saw this." It's Raiders of the Lost Ark. "This one is a lot of fun. But stay away from the sequels."

"Adventure is always good" she agreed simply. Not that her brain could grasp the idea of adventure without time-slides, aliens, random long lost family members and something furry that talked...but! She'd enjoy it.

"The funny thing about superhero movies...they'll stay away from the main heroes, but after awhile, they'll create stories of what so and so's life is like, and they'll make drama...and yeah. Movie makers get out of hand."

It's possible that somewhere in the Multiverse, Rachel's ideas of what makes a good adventure are leaking across to a George Lucas, who in turn incorporates them into one of his films.

"Thta's fiction for you." He wanders away from the tapes and towards the kitchen. Where the "No Rachels Allowed" sign is quite visible and glittery.

Either that or somewhere, a man named George Lucas lived a life much as Rachel had, and his mild mannered, screen writer alter-ego decided to quit lying to the public!

Normally, she'd have crossed her legs at the kitchen entrance and sat in the air...but this wasn't her world or party, so she teasingly stuck her tongue out at Alex (across the forbidden threshold!) and slipped back to the living room to take over a couch.

"Well, you warned me!" He smiles at her, grateful that the crudite isn't likely to come to life.

Housewarming

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