(no subject)

[lastgunslinger]

Roland, in his room, is still plugging away at Green Eggs and Ham...or at least that's what it would look like to the observer. In reality, Roland is seeing bats coalesce into a woman-shape. Over, and over, and over.

And then there was the man with red eyes and fangs.

And then there was Joe...defending the bat-thing-woman.

And Meg.

And Anthy, standing there. Just standing there. With...purple hair.

He pulls himself out of his thoughts, and running a finger under the text, reads out loud, "I do not like them, Sam-I-am."

Concentrate, gunslinger.

Comments

[lastgunslinger]

Another silence.

"How often does she become bats?"

[joewithnoname.livejournal.com]

"She has never done it in front of me before. I think she likes to fly from time to time."

"She was very very angry at Anthy." A pause. "An' so was I, come to that. I just understand Anthy a little better, I think."

[lastgunslinger]

"What happened, to make her do that?"

[joewithnoname.livejournal.com]

"Anthy can change her shape. She became Mina last night, and found me. We..."

"We kissed. If we hadn't been interrupted, more could've happened. Would've. We were interrupted, luckily, and Anthy got found out." Joe's voice remains controlled throughout, but it's apparent he's turning the dials higher and higher to keep it that way."

[lastgunslinger]

Roland's eyes narrow more and more as Joe speaks.

"You were both right to be angry." Is Roland sorry he pulled his gun in defense of the bats now? Never in life.

[joewithnoname.livejournal.com]

Joe nods. "But Anthy can't be killed. She's some kind of immortal. Meg claims she wishes she could die, but Meg... Meg likes 'most everyone. She rescued Anthy because Anthy needed rescued. She's never thought for a moment if Anthy deserved it or not."

[lastgunslinger]

The alternative, Roland supposes, would have been leaving her with Todd.

Roland's not a particularly nice person, when the mood takes him.

"Why did Anthy do what she did? Is she mad?"

[joewithnoname.livejournal.com]

"She's certainly mad. She's also in love with me. She did something to the... consort of Desire of the Endless and that's how she was punished. But she chose to take it that way."

[lastgunslinger]

"A shame she doesn't know as well as Meg not to truck with the Seven." Roland is indeed sorry that Joe got caught in the middle...but they're the Seven. They can do that sort of thing.

[joewithnoname.livejournal.com]

Joe sighs. "Anthy don't seem to know better than to do anything. She ain't right in the head. All I want to do is not truck with her myself."

[lastgunslinger]

"Think she'll try anything, after this? Everybody seemed to be concerned with what happens to her next. She didn't seem to care much."

[joewithnoname.livejournal.com]

"She normally doesn't. This is very strange for her--she hardly ever seems to want anything or care what happens to her."

He frowns. "I don't know what's left for her to try. Mina an' I have a code phrase, to know for sure when we meet."

[lastgunslinger]

"Good." Joe's not stupid. And neither's Mina, it would seem.

And because it's got to be said: "This place keeps trying to give me a headache." He lifts his left hand, rubs his left temple briefly. "A Dream-lord. A shape-changer. More wizards in one place than have been seen in all In-, Mid-, and End-World in a thousand years. A cloud of bats that turns into a woman. God and the Man Jesus."

[joewithnoname.livejournal.com]

Joe chuckles. "An' a man from another world, who's half like myself and half a legend out of my world's past, on a quest to save all the worlds by finding the Tower at the center of the universe."

"You're preachin' to the choir, gunslinger."

[lastgunslinger]

"You're listening, aren't you?"

[joewithnoname.livejournal.com]

Joe nods. "But I've heard it before, from my own mouth. This ain't where I belong. Even more so than you. I never heard of Endless nor vampires before I set foot in this place, an' I'd always taken magic and possession to be stories."

[lastgunslinger]

Roland inclines his head. "You say true. In some worlds they are stories. In Jake's world."

"And in mine..." He shrugs. "What magic there was in my world died a long time ago, though the Manni still have faith in its persistence. It was replaced with machines. There are such stories in my world, as well, although magic is...more common."

[joewithnoname.livejournal.com]

Joe frowns. "Here at Milliways, I ain't sure if what they use are machines are magic. Maybe by the End of the Universe things have gotten to the point that you can't tell the difference."

He sighs. "I should go." He pauses. "Thank you. I know it ain't easy to look past the way things are in your world."

[lastgunslinger]

"If I don't, I'll make enemies. And I have plenty enough."

And now it's Roland's turn to pause. "Wish you joy of your woman, Joe. For as long as it may last."

[joewithnoname.livejournal.com]

Joe nods gravely. "Well said." He stands. "Long days and pleasant nights, gunslinger."

[lastgunslinger]

Roland's smiling a bit. "And may you have twice the number."

He reaches for Green Eggs and Ham again. Might as well finish the story, even though he knows how it ends.