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[The six hour cart ride from shore left Hellboy with a crick in his neck and a bad taste in his mouth. Not much surprises him anymore, and after spending who the hell knows how long being hunted by the Baba Yaga, he was glad to be out of her reach, even if he knew he was nowhere near familiar ground.

The guys who fished him out of the ocean had no problem telling him where he was or how he got there, but after a few moments of conversation, Hellboy realized that he just didn't give a crap. Wherever this "In Between" was, he knew it couldn't be good. It was only a matter of time before the real reason he was here reared its ugly head.

Until then...]

Anyone know where a guy can get a drink around here?

[He looks like utter crap, every inch of him cut and bruised, his hair falling out of its knot at the base of his neck, and his jacket blood-soaked and tattered to pieces, but looking presentable is obviously the last thing on his mind.]

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[He just nods. And drinks, knowing full well that it's something she can't promise. But her speech at least seems to bring him into a better place than he was before. That better place is greatly enhanced by the sheer amount of alcohol he's consuming. Soon enough he's feeling pretty tipsy.]

I'll tell you something that wasn't so bad.

And what would that be?

[Earlier she extended the offer to tell his end of the story after she filled him in about everything he missed. He figures he owes her something. He just needed a few drinks in him to finally spit it out.

He's still not going to go into the horrible crap. But there was something not so horrible.]

Africa. Good people. Lots to see. And the desert's pretty quiet most of the time.

Hm. Sounds nice.

It'd be good to go one day... without it being on business, I mean. [Nearly all of their travels have been tied to the B.P.R.D., or the paranormal. Liz can't remember the last time she went somewhere for no reason other than to just go and enjoy the experience.]

Yeah. [He pauses to finish off another glass.] Just watch out for haunted banana trees.

I'll be sure to remember that. [It's almost funny, talking about things to do back home while they're stuck here.]

I'm serious, Liz. [He slurs a bit, but don't mind that. This's important, okay.] One banana and bam! A whole week of garbage getting thrown at your head.

[... She's going to have to carry you home, isn't she.]

Hey, I never said you weren't. I'm trusting your guidance on this one.

[Y U P.]

All right. [He nods, satisfied that she's thoroughly warned.] But if you do, you have to give it a chicken. It only likes chickens.

In that case, I'll make sure to always keep a chicken nearby. You never know when it'll come in handy.

[He dismisses her with a wave of his giant-ass stone hand. Luckily he's still pretty coordinated. If this wasn't Liz, that gesture would probably come off as something entirely different. But yeah. Dismissive.]

Nah, the villagers have plenty of chickens. Like I said, good people.

I guess we won't have anything to worry about, then.

Yeah. [He takes another swallow from his glass. After this one he's done. He swears.] Except mermaids. You know they have mermaids in Africa? I always thought it was more of a European thing.

[He probably would've known if he did his homework every once in a while, but who has the patience for that?]

Considering they live in the ocean, I'm pretty sure they wouldn't all stick to living in one area. There's lots of water, which means there's lots of places for them to swim around and make a home for themselves.

[Well aren't you just miss smarty pants. Hellboy just shrugs.] Makes sense. But I didn't think I'd spend all that time in the desert just to end up fighting mermaids.

[Damn right, she is.]

Yeah, life can be surprising like that. [Don't worry, H.B., she's not about to get all philosophical on you. She hasn't had anywhere near enough drinks for that to happen.]

Yep. [Oh, but he's had plenty, that's for sure.] Next thing I knew I was thirty feet under water, fighting off three of them, and one of them's pounding a goddamn nail into my head.

[...]

A nail? [Well, she's certainly heard stranger.]

Cursed nail. [He taps the stub of his left horn.] Right here. The big talking fish must've been some kind of witch. She said she was gonna cut me up into little pieces and eat me and send the rest to all her friends.

Huh. Any reason why she wanted to do it, or was it just for kicks? [Part of her will always feel odd talking about witches, demons, ghosts, and monsters so casually... but it's a part of the everyday for them. It's a surprise when something doesn't try to start something.]

[Hellboy, on the other hand... this is his element. It will always be his element.]

Beats the hell out of me. [But his frown deepens. It's only a half-truth, but he definitely doesn't want to talk about that stuff right now. This's the type of thing he's trying to push out of his mind, not entertain as casual conversation.] She probably could have done it if one of the mermaids didn't come back and cut me loose.

Thank goodness for changes of heart, then.

[He nods.] She was a good kid. She just didn't know what she was getting herself into.

[He ends up with another drink in his hand. Apparently the bartender didn't get the memo that the previous one was supposed to be his last. So he waves off the guy, telling him he's had enough, but finishes the glass he was handed anyways.]

So I'm beating the crap out of this giant fish lady, take care of her, save the kid, then we're standing in this chamber full of jars. That's when she tells me the old witch is getting her power from the souls of drowned sailors. But because the witch is dead, they start to crack open.

[He makes a vague gesture with his flesh-and-blood hand.] Birds. The souls of those sailors flying up like a flock of white birds.

Edited 2012-09-18 12:03 (UTC)

[Liz listens quietly as Hellboy proceeds to explain everything that happened to him.]

... Birds, huh? [Hm.] Must've been pretty.

Yeah. It was something.

[He turns the empty glass in his hand, mind buzzing with alcohol. This's a good place. This's where he likes to be, where he can take things at face value and let anything deeper just fade into that pleasant hum.]

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