Sorrow Knows How to Swim (Door/Open)

[door]

None of this was connecting. Door felt like they were speaking two different languages and yeah, sometimes they were, but they weren't really right now. If they had been, that would explain a lot but no, just talking. And not understanding.

Why wasn't he understanding? She was understanding. She answered the melty question! She was trying her best to offer him what little help she could and he kept staring at her like she had four heads or something. If she had for heads could she have four conversations? Would each head have a different personality?

And she was a bit insulted with the knee thing. What, this guy couldn't take a little physical support? It wasn't like she was hitting on him! She let out a frustrated, strangles noise in the back of her throat. Okay, one more time with feeling. "Who said anything about spells? I wasn't talking about a love spell, love spells are stupid. I was talking about finding the Anya from this world and bringing her back." She drank the rest of her scotch, the buzzing her head getting lower and lower. She was trying to hard to explain. And the fact that he said that thing about not liking himself made Door want to cry. She'd hug him if he wasn't being such a jerk about touching. "I'm offering help. Calling in favors."

[Dimitri]

Who said anything about spells, she asked? Well, what else had she been offering when she started talking about her good magic friend and how much the magic professor liked her? Was she just making conversation that had nothing to do with anything?

Oh, she wasn’t talking about love spells. Okay, that he could buy... maybe. Mostly. Mostly because finally - finally - they were getting somewhere! She finally understood what he was saying, and not only that but she was offering to help him. She was going to call in her favours from her magic people and she was going to help him get Anya back where she belonged. He could have kissed her then, so happy was he with the alcohol flooding his brain and the spark of hope that she had given him.

Why the hell not?

Grabbing her face between his hands, Dimitri kissed her right on the lips; it was quick and accompanied by a loud ‘mwah’ noise. “Finally!” he exclaimed, suddenly grinning very widely and, well, drunkenly. “Although she’s not really from this... he started to explain but thought better of it. None of them were really from this world or this place, but certain ones seemed to belong here, right? “Nevermind. A toast!” Grabbing his glass, he held it out to her.

[door]

Door started giggling after the kiss, covering her mouth with her hand. For a moment, she contemplated telling the man that he had just given her her first kiss but decided against it. She wasn't in the mood to be regarded as childish, not when they were making such wonderful progress together. Besides, she didn't plan on having it count.

She couldn't help but match the man's smile. Sure, she was taking on my responsiblity than she already had. And yes, her own problems were still very firmly a problem - but she had made him smile. She had given him some sort of hope that his world might get better. And that's what Door lived for.

She picked up her glass, not clinking it yet. They had to toast first, of course. "What are we drinking to? Your Anya?" She smiled happily. She liked seeing someone in love with a smile on their face.

[Dimitri]

What were they drinking to? That was a good question; he hadn’t exactly thought that far ahead, it had just seemed like a toast was in order. Drinking to Anya just didn’t seem quite right. They could drink to ‘love conquering all’ or some other such sappy sentiment, but while he suddenly felt hopeful, he wasn’t ready to throw that out there yet. No, it had to be something else...

“How about this,” Dimitri began. Holding his glass between them, he pointed to her with one finger of the same hand. “To you,” he waved his other hand in an all encompassing gesture, “to us, and to a beautiful friendship!”

Holding his glass up again, he paused with a thoughtful expression before a more devilish one replaced it. This place had jerked him around constantly since he’d come here. With the spells and the injuries and the crazies running amuck, it was about time someone used its own power, its own magic, to reverse something that had been done.

“And to kicking the system right in the... nose.” He grinned widely again. He was definitely bordering on the cut-off point, but if the bartender was going to keep serving him, then he was going to keep drinking. All thought of retaining his control had been drowned in alcohol a long while ago.

[door]

Door laughed happily, enjoying the idea of being toasted. She hadn't been making people (Caz) feel better so immediately and it was nice to have helped someone so thoroughly, so quickly. It was nice to have something of an uncomplicated moment with a fellow. She raised her glass and clinked it against the man's, smiling. "To friendship and taking some damn control!"

Door downed the rest of her drink in one go, signalling the bartender for another one. What the hell - she was going to be sick in the morning anyway, might as well enjoy the feeling at the moment. Some of her depression had disappeared in the alcoholic haze and the easy laughter that was coming from her drinking pal.

She took the next glass given to her by the bartender (who was rapidly becoming her favorite person) and turned back to the man. "Wanna know what's funny? Names. We didn't introduce ourselves." She couldn't stop herself from giggling again. "We talked about being in love and we didn't throw out our names!"

[Dimitri]

Control, ha! Dimitri laughed loudly at that. That was why he was here, wasn’t it? He felt so out of control about everything already that, for one night, he didn’t care about being in control of himself. Funny how giving up that control, giving into the drink and eventual oblivion he hoped it would cause, had led to him possibly regaining control of everything else. The world certainly worked in mysterious ways, and this world more mysteriously than any other.

Clinking glasses with her he finished his drink and ordered another. He had lost count of how many he’d had, how many he had bought for her, and how many she had bought him. He figured it would all even out in the end, and at this point he didn’t really care if he wouldn’t have enough to cover his rent this month by the time the night was through. He was actually, dare he say it, having a decent time. He certainly hadn’t felt this carefree, relaxed nor hopeful for a very long time, and all thanks to this lovely little pixie beside him who was just pointing out that they had never actually introduced themselves.

That couldn’t be right, could it? Surely he had told her his name... and he knew that she had said something about her name earlier.

“Sure we did,” he returned, his brow creased hard in concentration. Leaning in close to her he focused on her face as he tried to remember. “You said you’re called... Window?”

Then he laughed. Again. What kind of a stupid name was that?

[door]

"No no no, we haven't done the names thing. Because I have noooo idea what your name is. Like none. I would have to guess. And I don't wanna guess because there are a ton of names and I don't even know all of em." She shook her head suddenly, realizing that she had been rambling again. Her drinking mate didn't seem to mind though. Which was sort of cool.

She liked that he laughed so easily. It was nice for a moment to just be a happy one, with no looming clouds of disappointment and terror. She could make this man happy with ease. And that was just really something that was making Door feel a bit more confident. If someone had said that this was how her night was going to go when she first walking into the Stab Wound, she would have called them crazy. Who would have thought that she would actually be having some amount of fun with a nice guy.

"Nooo! I'm not Window! That would be stupid. My name is Door." She had been laughing pretty hard, shaking her head and smiling widely. She stopped suddenly though,l seeming to think about the word that just left her mouth, contemplating them carefully. Her face fell suddenly, her smile disappearing and a look of utter terror coming over her face. "Oh my God! My name is stupid."

[Dimitri]

Door. Her name was Door? What kind of a name was Door? Sure, she could be lying, but who would make up a name like that? Door. Dimitri laughed even harder.

“No, no, it’s....” he started to protest, but it was really no use. It really was a stupid name. What had her parents been thinking? “It is. It really is,” he admitted through his laughter.

Finally taking a moment to focus on her, Dimitri managed to get his mirth under control. She really wasn’t looking too good. In fact, she was looking pretty upset. It had taken her this long to realise how stupid her name was? Luckily, even drunk and finding the whole thing hilarious, he wasn’t completely heartless.

“Hey. Hey. Hey.” Scootching his barstool closer to hers, he threw an arm around her shoulders. “At least it makes sense, right? You do the door thing with the other worlds. It’s fitting. Dimitri means ‘Earth Mother’ or something stupid like that. It doesn’t fit. At all. In any way. Your name may sound stupid but it means something important. My name sounds cool but it means something stupid.”

Believe it or not, that was supposed to be a reassuring pep talk.

[door]

She really wasn't taking the whole thing well. She was supposed to like her name, right? It had meaning, it had character. It was something else too, something special...it was her GRANDMOTHER'S name! That's right! It was her grandmother's and her great-great-grandmother's name! It was a family touchstone! That's right! It wasn't weird, it was special!

Door couldn't help but crack a smile. "My name might be stupid but you are really bad at pick me ups." Her sadness melted and a full smile returned to her face. She looked over at the bartender and got two more drinks, wanting to get in as many as she could before they closed for the night. If she was going to hate life in the morning, might as well really hate it.

"Well Dimitri, giver of lame pep talks and man with the stupid meaning, it is a pleasure to meet you." She smiled, turning to face him. Her face was pretty close considering they were sitting in such a proximity. "Thanks for drinking with me tonight." She moved a bit and put her head on his shoulder. "It was a lot more fun than drinking alone."

[Dimitri]

As soon as Door smiled again, so did Dimitri. He liked to see her smile; he liked to make her smile; he liked to smile; he liked just about everything right about now, but more than anything he liked the liquor the bartender was once again pouring into his glass. Oh yes, he liked that most of all.

“Hey, I wasn’t trying to pick you up,” he defended himself, completely misconstruing her words. “Believe me, if I was trying to pick you up you would know it. Because you would be. Picked up. ‘cause I would succeed.”

Grinning widely and lopsidedly, Dimitri took another drink and stiffened for about a fraction of a second when Door suddenly leaned her head on his shoulder. Looking over at the top of her head, he chuckled at her description of him. “Most things are more fun when you’re not alone,” he admitted, another rarity. When sober, he usually prided himself on being independent and never needing anyone, or he used to. Shaking off the threatening melancholy, he clinked his glass against hers.

“Well Door, offerer of magic friends and opener of stupid namesakes... I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship.”


((finis?))