August 12

[a_littlefaith]

It's been over two months since she realized she was dead. Almost eight weeks since Daryl disappeared. A little over four weeks since he had come back and she'd realized he was another person entirely, not the man she had been set to marry. It's a lot to have happen to anyone in a two month period and for a time she'd felt completely lost, faltering in a way she hadn't liked. It had just seemed easier to crawl into bed and pull the blankets over her head so she wouldn't have to face the world or maybe to take after her father and drink herself into a state where she wouldn't have to care about any of it.

In the end, it's Maggie's example she'd decided to follow. One morning about two weeks ago, she had taken off the moonstone ring Daryl had given her, taken it off for good, and placed it back in the box it had come in. Then she had carefully, lovingly tucked the box in the drawer beside her bed and closed it away. It's what Maggie would have done. It isn't giving up, because Maggie never would have done that, but it's accepting the reality of what is instead of what used to be. Nothing she can do will change the Daryl who's here into the Daryl who left, she has to accept that.

Her sister would have told Beth to look after herself, not to forget about her own needs, so she'd put the ring away, knowing it's the fairest thing she can do for herself and for Daryl. Until she can talk to him about what they used to be, having that reminder of what had come before doesn't do anyone any good. So she takes the ring off and she tries to get back to normal.

Friday night rolls around and she has a gig at a small bar, about thirty minutes worth of material she's written in the past several months. None of the songs are about Daryl, she's been very careful about that, but she likes what she's written. Maybe some of this pain is worth it if it gives her good song writing material. When she sings she feels a little less childlike, a little more like an adult, and she has to wonder how much these past few months have forced her into growing up.

It's scary to think she hadn't felt this much like an adult before and it's sad to think that's what pain does to a person.

But she's smiling by the time she wraps up and her heart feels lighter than it has in some time. Her curls are clinging to her cheeks and her forehead and the back of her neck, the bar hot and damp, the night air warmer still, and as she heads away from the bar -- maybe she'll go home or maybe it's time for a weekend visit to one of her friends -- she finds she actually feels good. Not better, not normal, but good.

[I set it up to let people find her in a variety of places, whatever works best. Out on the street, in the bar where she's playing, at her apartment or their apartment if they'd want her to come visit.]

Comments

[hadtheshot]

Had he known Beth would be playing in this bar, he wouldn't have come. It isn't that Chuck is still resentful — as far as he's concerned, they've mended fences, or at least come as close to it as he can get — but it's a complication, a reminder of something he doesn't like to be reminded of. The way he let himself feel about Beth is nothing he's felt before or since, and whatever peace they've made, that's still something he prefers not to think about if he can help it.

He's sitting at the bar, though, when she gets up to play, and he thinks it'll be too obvious if he leaves as soon as she does so. Instead, he orders another drink, a stronger drink, and downs it gradually through her set. She's good, he'll give her that. It isn't really his kind of music, but early on, back when he barely knew her, he'd stopped to listen to her sing and play guitar, and if anything, she only sounds better now. She seems happier, too, than he's seen her lately. Whatever instinctive bitterness he might feel, he's glad for that. After what happened to her, what she found out, she should get to have that.

It's probably a stupid idea, but drink in hand, he walks up to her when she's finished and packing up, a thin smile on his face. "Hey," he says. "You sounded good."

[sicparvasmagna]

Beth always shines when she's up on a stage, that's something that Nate has noticed, but he thinks she looks a little extra special tonight. The songs she's singing are pointed in that they're not about someone in particular, but it's a good set and Nate's not about to bring it up if Beth doesn't want to. He'd come tonight because he'd heard she was playing, because she'd seemed pleased enough when he suggested going along. With all of the sadness lately, he likes to see her smile.

Nate drinks his beer and watches her come down from the stage, flushed and smiling, and once she's done thanking various people he waves her over.

"That was really good," he tells her honestly. Bars like this and Beth singing on that stage are more his scene than Poison and his nightclubs, but he likes to be there for both of his friends just the same. "You get even better every time you play."

[willnothide]

When Beth is finished with her performance, Kili is waiting for her with an enormous arrangement of flowers that he very nearly struggles with carrying.

She's been through far too much in recent days, what with Mister Daryl disappearing and returning as a completely different person. The heartache that'd come with it, that lingers, is something Kili selfishly hopes he'll never have to experience but he can, in theory, relate to it. Dwarrows only love once, after all. If anything were to happen to Tauriel, if she were to be taken from him, he would never love like that again. He wouldn't want to.

Men and Women are different, he knows. He's heard it said that time heals, and he does wonder if that's true. Kili hopes it is, if only because he hates to see Beth upset, but he knows better than to tell her she ought to move on. It's not his place, and he wouldn't be able if anyone were to say that to him. So instead, he's been there when she's asked to him to be, he's done what she's asked him to do, and he hopes that even if in just a small way, he's helped her feel better.

Tonight, she looks happier than she has in weeks, a genuine smile gracing her pink cheeks, and Kili grins at her as she leaves the stage and heads toward him.

"You're radiant," he tells her, holding the flowers out for her to take, "and you sounded wonderful, as always."

[scruffy_looking]

At first, Han thinks he should be waiting for her to get off that stage with shots of tequila in hand, a little wink to the way they'd spend the Fourth of July, but he thinks better of it. Getting Beth drunk after she's just performed a great set isn't the best idea and even though Han's had a lot of best ideas, he's willing to let this one go.

Instead, he shakes a cold bottle of water at her as he meets her halfway across the room after she leaves the stage, and Han gives her half a smile.

"Not bad," he says, taking a sip of the beer in his other hand, which is a severe understatement but he figures she'll hear it for what it is. "You might've even been able to fit one more song in if all your adoring fans would've just shut up between the breaks."

[super_kara]

Kara is at a loss. No matter how much flying she does, how much she beats on the invisible barriers with all of her strength, she can't get out. Between her brawn and Barry's brain, all their powers combined, there's nothing to be done.

It's devastating.

Even though she isn't happy about it, she's settling in. Barry helped her with a new pair of lead-lined glasses and she's gotten some clothes. After a pretty spectacular crash landing as Supergirl, she's spending most of her time as Kara. Supergirl will be there if people need her, but she isn't the only hero here.

There's a bar near her apartment that does good, cheap food. The lack of money and her incredible metabolism are becoming something of a problem, but she doesn't want to get a job. She doesn't want anything resembling permanence here just yet.

She only plans to get her food and go home, but she recognizes the girl up on the stage. Beth, her name was. She was kind to her when she landed here, and Kara finds herself sitting at the bar as she listens to the songs. She's really good, and Kara finds herself relaxing for maybe the first time since she got here.

Beth comes over when she's done and Kara waves, only to then realize that Beth has never actually met her as anything other than Supergirl. Now, with her glasses on and hair in a messy bun while wearing leggings and a tunic, she looks much different. Which is the point. "Um, hi! You were really good."