That Within That Passes Show

     Black Robin, satyr highwayman and lover extraordinare, leaned on the door frame, watching the stars overhead with a surprisingly pensive expression. Arms crossed, he didn’t bother straightening the ruffles on his white poet’s shirt when the breeze kicked up suddenly. It was late, long after midnight, and he considered it safe to be morose when no one was around to see him.

     "Doesn’t work, you know." Aeneas stepped out of the hallway, a squat glass filled with amber liquid in hand. "Every time you try looking dashing and depressive, it just clashes."
     "Hey, Aeneas." Robin turned to face him, shifting to remain leaning while looking into the house. The sidhe walked to stand beside him, looking out through the open French doors to the backyard.
     "Seems weird, doesn’t it?" Aeneas took a sip of his drink. "All of this, I mean. Just about everyone else has this whole "end of the world" thing down pat, and we’re the ones left freaking the fuck out."
     Robin laughed. "Yeah, no fuckin’ huh. Even Seraphie’s mellow about it. She’s more worried about grooming her legs than the Fomorians coming."
     Aeneas sighed. "I don’t think about that if I can avoid it. I’d rather drink." He looked at his glass. "And drink some more."
     "That why the liquor cabinet has an ‘IOU’ in it?"
     The sidhe laughed. "Yup. I couldn’t get to the store before Bertram came back. I did the next best thing."
     Robin shook his head. "Until the rest of us kill you for drinking all the booze."
     Aeneas shrugged, taking another deep drink. "Like it’ll make much difference? This is going to be crap, one way or another. We’re just fucked. I’ve accepted it, you’ve accepted it. So why worry?"
     "Because I like my head on where it is, and if you raid Foster’s house for the booze like I think you’re going to do, your head will be up your ass."
     The sidhe laughed. "Yeah, that’s true too. I guess I’ll be a good boy then so I can watch the world blow up."
     The satyr sighed heavily, his eyes fastened on the stars. "Do you think death really hurts?"
     Aeneas shrugged, sliding down the wall to sit on the cold floor. He was considerably drunk, having been imbibing all day, and any drunk is susceptible to the changing mood of a room. His handsome face fell into depressed lines, and he curled his arms around his knees. "Hell if I know. I think it does, for a minute, and then you don’t feel anything. We could ask Honoria. She’s died before."
     "Yeah, and come back pissed off as all hell after. I don’t think that really counts," Robin said. He ran a hand through his thick hair, looking down at Aeneas. "All I know is much more of this’ll kill someone before the year is out."
     "Who, you?"
     Robin shook his head. "No. Hell, I’ve been around Seraphie and Jaime after they both lost boyfriends. That was dangerous, my friend, believe me." Aeneas laughed. "No, I think this’ll end up breaking a lot of people, this kind of stress," Robin said. "Especially with things being weird with the Dreaming and all." He leaned down and snagged Aeneas’s nearly empty glass, draining it with one swift motion.
     "Then who, dammit?" The sidhe’s poor temper was showing through as he flailed in an attempt to retrieve the glass.
     "Everyone else," Robin said, looking into the empty glass. Aeneas stopped, blinking up at Robin, then sighed heavily as he slumped.
     "Yeah…I guess." He blinked rapidly, blurring the tears from his eyes before they glinted in the faint moonlight. "What the hell do we do, then?"
     Robin laughed bitterly. "You think I know how to fix things? All I know how to do is make people laugh, or take their money. Both of which are going to be both a: really hard and b: totally pointless. The only thing we can do is piss them off so they get mad at us and don’t think so much about the future."
     "Wouldn’t that just stress them out? Dealing with us while trying to plan ahead and all?"
     Robin huffed, sliding down the opposite wall to sit facing Aeneas. "Fine, be sensible about it." He sighed again, then flashed his characteristic grin. "Eh, what the hell…let’s just be total jackasses and then when the end comes, we go out yelling courageously."

     "While wetting our pants?" Aeneas asked, smiling crookedly.

     Robin nodded. "Damn straight." They toasted each other by connecting fists, and then settled down to watch the night pass.