12526/The End or The Beginning

The End or The Beginning
Date of Scene:	21 August 2022
Location:	Sherwood Florist, Second Floor Apartment
Synopsis:	Arthur and Dinah come to an understanding. They walk away as friends.
Cast of Characters:	Dinah Lance, Arthur Curry

---

Dinah Lance has posed:
Things had gone well in the shop today. Plenty of foot traffic and several big orders for upcoming special events. So when it was time to close up, Dinah was more than ready to head upstairs and relax a little. She'd put away the flowers in their chillers to keep them fresh and left the rest of clean up for later tonight or in the morning.

Dinah was still tired from the night before, which had been quite the adventure. Werewolves sucked. Thus, now she went straight upstairs, changed in to a pair of shorts and a tank top, then sprawled on the couch with a beer in hand. Though she was more holding the beer at this point as she lay on her back with her eyes closed. Mentally, she was running through what she had learned the night before, even as she tried to plan for the next week.

Arthur Curry has posed:
    Isn't it always the way?
    Just as she's getting settled, just as she's got sprawled out on the couch and started taking her ease when she gets a quick little trill from her phone that announces a text message has come through. That quick flicker on the screen showing the image of Arthur Curry from contacts, even as the phone gives that secondary beep a few moments later letting her know that 'no really, you have a message.'

<< Hey, Dinah. I'm in the area, cool if I stop by? >>

    Which is true to be fair, best not to just drop on in. Especially with some of the things she's been working on in Gotham of late. As for where the man is when he sends that message? It's only a handful of blocks down the way near the harbor.

Dinah Lance has posed:
Dinah let out a little groan as she heard the phone. She opened her eyes and glanced toward where it sat on the coffee table. Just out of reach from her current position. To say she glared daggers at it might be more fitting. Then she noticed the image on there and she rolled onto her side, stretching out her upper body to grab the phone and pushing the button. Just as it stopped beeping. She allowed herself time to sit up and set the beer aside then that little message beep came through.

A quick scan and she opened up the text option and her thumbs flew over the virtual keyboard. <Sure, come on by. Grab a six pack if you plan to stay long, I only have two left.> Otherwise they'd just have to go back out for it.

Arthur Curry has posed:
    No return message, only a handful of minutes before there was that short resonant thump-thump-thump at the door that likely is enough to get her to /leap/ into action to open it. Or perhaps more lazily ramble over toward the door to open it. However it happens, however, when she does in the doorway stands that tall Prince of Atlantis.
    "Hey," He says with a smile, lifting his chin a little and then starting to step through. Arthur takes the time to slip his arms around her in a hug and a small smooch to the side of her head before he is moving past to get inside as he walks. "Figured I'd swing by, not going to stay long."
    He turns back around and meets her gaze, eyes lowering to be level with hers as he says, "So some things are going down, and it spurred me to feel like I need to talk to you some. And I hope it isn't a shitty thing or I screw it up."

Dinah Lance has posed:
It was kind of in between. She didn't run to the door at high speed but she also didn't meander in her trip there. She had stood up and walked at a normal pace, opening the door and greeting him with a smile. The tank top was black, the shorts were green, falling to about halfway down her thighs. Her feet were bare. The hug was returned and she let him in before closing the door behind him and locking it automatically. It was a thing one did when they lived in a big city, especially if that city was Gotham.

She moved into the living area of the big studio style apartment though she stopped partway. He seemed unusually serious and that stopped her in her tracks.

"I know you've been busy with a lot of things happening. The investigation. Other stuff." She wasn't sure what all the stuff was. They had their own lives, after all. She tilted her head a little. This sounded far more serious than she had originally thought.

"Would you like something to drink? Or just want to get to it while you have it in your head?" She understood that. Sometimes one planned things out to be sure they hit all the points so time might be of the essence.

Arthur Curry has posed:
    "Atlantis," He says as she mentions 'other stuff'.
    He shakes his head and then waves off her offer of a drink as he murmurs, "Nah. If we both have drinks you might just throw it in my face." Which might trigger a lil bit of a warning sign. Though he takes a deep breath and says, "I was just lookin' at how some things are goin' down. Namor, my white whale, the starport. My attention keeps... getting' drawn more and more under the water. I find myself spending less time up here meeting with the people that are close to me. Family, friends. You."
    He scrunches one eye up and frowns as he soldiers on, trying not to look directly at her for too terribly long, "And I think I'm realizing that this isn't going to get any better. For probably a long time. And if things fall a certain way you'd end up just... doing a lot of sitting and waiting and."
    Arthur looks back and takes a deep breath as he says, "I think I would hate it if you ended up resenting me. For wasting your time. For putting you in a position like that."

Dinah Lance has posed:
And there were the alarm words. Throwing a drink in someone's face generally had certain triggers. As they were not fighting, Dinah had a feeling she knew where this was going.

She listened attentively, nodding here or there, making sure he knew she was paying close attention. The destination was presumed and she was waiting to get there.

Yet when he got there, she didn't react as she had expected. "I see." And her face scrunched up a little, as though she were in deep though. She was running through her feelings and finding herself not angry. Not upset. And that seemed odd for some reason. Then it hit her why.

"Huh." She sounded a little surprised. "I think I knew this was coming. Not exactly." She shook her head and tried to explain it better, running a hand back through her short hair as she gathered those thoughts.

"I knew you'd been getting pulled back there a lot. It's your world. Your birthright. I understand. So I'm not angry. Will I miss seeing you as much? Of course. But I think I realized this would happen sooner or later. Two different worlds and I couldn't really ever truly be a part of yours. I mean, I've never been able to go stay over at your place for a night," she adds, trying for a lighter tone.

She reached out a hand for his, giving it a gentle squeeze. "I'd already accepted this would probably not be long term. The romantic side of it. Make sense?"

Arthur Curry has posed:
    "I still want to be friends, Dinah." Which even as he says it Arthur closes his eyes and winces a little. "I mean... shit."
    He shakes his head, then opens his eyes and meets her gaze. "I mean I talk to you easier than I talk to just about anyone. But yeah..." Since she seems to have it rather concisely. He hadn't even gotten into the more difficult elements of the Atlantis issue that might well come up. So he nods and murmurs, "I think..."
    He takes her hand and gives it a squeeze in both of his, "I've been avoiding a lot about my life since my parents passed. And I'm... gonna have to face it sooner or later. And the way Namor's been so... damn schizophrenic. I don't know, I worry that if I don't do something soon then when it's time to do something or when it's obvious then a lot more people might get hurt. But still, time will tell."
    He pauses then looks into her eyes, "You are... being very good about this."

Dinah Lance has posed:
"Of course I'm being good about this. Because I'm awesome that way," Dinah quips as she squeezes his hands again. "We are still friends. Always will be. We'll go for beers and hang out anytime you want. Maybe start some bar brawls for fun."

But her expression and tone shift back to serious a moment later. "I think we both knew the time would come though. Atlantis would need you. Especially with everything at play there, with Namor and his attitude toward the surface. I know you mentioned lots of politics at play down there as well. Having been part of both sides, the land and the sea, you are perhaps the best prepared to try to help while keeping peace with the surface. Or at least coming to an understanding between the two sides."

She gives him a soft smile then brings up a hand to touch his cheek. "They need you. It'd be selfish of me to stomp my feet and have a tantrum over that. But if you ever need help, someone's ass kicked," she smiles as she moves to drop her hand. "You know who to call. Just drag them up on the beach first."

Arthur Curry has posed:
    A small laugh comes from him, barely an exhalation as he shakes his head, then he takes her hand on his cheek and squeezes it. "You're too good for this world, Dinah. Though for sure... if I need someone's ass-kicked on the surface I'll totally tell the people of Atlantis I know someone who can get the job done."
    He lowers their hands and takes a deep breath, "You know this mighta been easier if you got all mad and threw stuff or kicked my ass as you threw me out. But... you are pretty awesome. That's true."
    That said he steps back and to the door, lowering her hands further and releasing them. "We'll have beer some time, and for sure. Talk about all the crazy we're dealing with. Ok?"

Dinah Lance has posed:
"But it's my stuff. I don't want to go breaking it. Should've rented one of those places where you can just destroy stuff at will for this chat if you wanted thrown stuff."

Dinah lets go of his hands as well. The two of the apart instead of joined. Though there would always be love there. Just the love of a great friend. It was right. That's why it wasn't upsetting her as much as it might. He had the ocean, Atlantis, an entire place she could never be part of. They'd never have been able to last in the long term.

"Sounds great. You know where to find me. Just don't go telling everyone what a psycho I was and stuff, like most people do when they stop dating. Cause then I'll find a way to your place and start breaking stuff," she added with a wink.

Arthur Curry has posed:
    "Alright, alright." Arthur says as he backs to the door and rests a hand on the knob. He looks around, then back at her and says, "I'll catch you later. Call soon." His lips part as if he was about to make another comment, his style would be to crack some joke.
    But he stops himself, seems like he doesn't... want to.
    So he shakes his head and opens the door. "See you."
    And that's all that was said as he headed on out.

Dinah Lance has posed:
As he slipped out the door, Dinah walked the distance to it to put the locks into place. Then she leaned her forehead against it, closing her eyes as she digested everything that was said. Went through all the words. How they had both been adults about it and that was the way it should be. She stood there about two minutes.

Then she padded silently over to the couch and picked up her bottle of beer. She took a long swig. Then just stared at the bottle. Not seeing it. Her mind was on the talk. On Arthur. On the choices made. As good adults.

Suddenly she flung the bottle at the front door. CRASH! It shattered, glass showering and liquid showering the floor. She watched as the droplets began to slide down the wood. Until the moment they began to fall to the floor, like teardrops. She frowned at that visual analogy.

"Shit."

She rose and moved to the kitchen, to find something to clean up the mess.