Stella Garrick

But her hand finds his again, slipping her fingers between his if he'll allow it.

"I want to remember, and I want to be here again." She huffs what could almost be a laugh if she weren't so frustrated. "At this point, I think I'd try anything."

But I know I miss you every damned day. I don't bring it up because I don't know if the memories will ever come back. And it felt like you had enough disasters to deal with."

Her gaze drops from his, and by the time she's done, she's staring at the floor in front of them.

And if nothing else, she knows she doesn't want that same rift between her and Jon. Her offer already seemed to open the door she'd stared at the last few years. If she'd just step through it, be open with him about this mess for once...

"Jon, I...

I can't remember more than how we started.

Jack hadn't spoken to Jon.

She had no memories of that particular member of the family.

And whatever had happened that cast Tobias into the unknown, it seemed that the crumbling bridges between their families had played their part.

Our thoughts move fast, but the rest of the world is slow, mostly. He'd have more time to hear things, process them, and... I don't know, set aside distractions? I don't know exactly how [anyone] manages that power."

And with the same speed they're discussing, she has time to consider:

"'Were?' I don't remember that changing much." She's smiling before she can even get the joke out. The man beside her, leaning on her, is no small part of that. She nudges back, flicking her hair back so she can better look at him.

"With those powers... I'd wonder if it might have been [easier.]

Are you a voice or an echo?

||Comin' to getcha!

||what did i mean by this

that seem so close behind her, his distraction in all the pressure they were both under.

Somehow, that life still felt less complicated than the ground they stood on today.

I think I've dug up all I can, and you're the extra-sensory detective, after all."

And one of those extra-senses was the cause of her deep blush, just now. No wonder he'd misunderstood, with her thoughts apparently broadcasting like a klaxon. If nothing else, she remembers their early days

"I didn't mean a quick visit, Jon," she gently corrects. "I'm saying that if you need to take some time to travel, if you want some time to investigate their disappearances yourself, I can come along for the ride...

...or I can watch the kids while you're out of town.

You only find ways to complicate things for yourself.

But there's something more difficult before her, an offer she's not too sure of, and it's suitable enough to retrain her focus.

"If you need it - and if you think it wouldn't make more of a mess for you - I could watch them. Or I could come along, and we could see what four eyes make of it."

It's hard, letting go. Those extra seconds give her time to convince herself that releasing his hand is in everyone's best interest.

There's a quiet voice in her head lately, hopeful & unassailable, that likes to add, '𝒶𝓉 𝓁𝑒𝒶𝓈𝓉, 𝓃𝑜𝓉 𝓇𝒾𝑔𝒽𝓉 𝓃𝑜𝓌.' She's never considered how loud that thought might be.

a teddy bear is walking down a hallway in a building . ALT: a teddy bear is walking down a hallway in a building .

||

||felt, I'm still trying to figure out how Stella gets her groove back.

||TWELVE YEARS WYM WHAT

||WHAT THE

"The shortcut is going through Gotham instead of staying well upwind.

The "shorter"cut goes through Blüdhaven, but I wasn't in [that] much of a rush."

I took a shortcut through Gotham and now I've got a migra-

Aaand it's gone.

–And I'm [refusing] to start now!

I haven't known what's going on in about a decade.

And I'm not about to start now!

if you really loved something, wouldn't a little bit of it always linger?

There was chili on that thing?

Wellandbecauseyouaren'tbuyingstuffcooonstantlyand-

Well. Yes, you get the idea.

*ahem*

Well since you asked. Backinthedayyoucouldgetqualityclothesforafairlyaffordablepricethatmightlastyoutenortwentyyearsandit'sasignofourdeclineasasocietythatthat'ssomuchhardertoattain.YougetthreegoodLEATHERjacketsandit'sbetterforyouANDtheplanetthansomesyntheticnonsense.Corporategreedandmisinformation-

Yeah, but listen, clothes these days–