[open] dancing queen young and sweet

[dancingmd]

who: Beverly Crusher, as a teenager
what: Flower-swap that leads to a deaged Beverly
when: April 9
where: Riverview Central Park
warnings: n/a


i. blossom picnic

[All of this is... weird, to say the least, waking up on a strange planet with no memory of how she got here, with only the word of a very concerned-looking older woman clutching a bunch of blue flowers (Nana would know what they were, surely, but it doesn't look like anything they grow on Caldos) that she's safe. She can't say why exactly, but she does trust this woman implicitly, as if she's known her all her life. So when Lucretia (the woman's name - she really is very nice) tells her she's actually thirty years older and that a magic flower turned her back into a teenager she accepts it much more readily than she ought to or normally would.

And now she's here, at a picnic, wondering if there's anyone else here that she's forgotten, anyone else who knows her as Dr. Crusher (which is cool as hell, by the way - and she's in Starfleet!!!), not plain old Beverly Howard. It's an uncomfortable thought but ice cream always makes everything better, right?

She stands staring at the menu, taking an impossibly long time to decide.]

I don't know which one I should get...

ii. dances

[Once she starts feeling more comfortable with this whole situation, she can't help but be drawn to all the dancing going on, especially out on the streets. And while adult Beverly is an excellent dancer, teenage Beverly is simply phenomenal (After all, it isn't that long ago that she won several big championships). Pretty soon, she's got a little crowd watching her tap dance on the sidewalk, her feet going at a frantic pace and her grin as big as they come.

Or perhaps later you might see her outside a jazz club arguing with a bouncer.]

Come on, I'm seventeen, that's practically the same thing! [Sorry, kid, but he remains firm. She huffs.] Yeah well... your music probably sucks anyway!

[Great comeback, A+]

iii. wildcard

[Got another prompt in mind? hmu!]

Comments

[franciscoramon]

[ Now there was something about her voice that was even more familiar than her face. Cisco's heard that voice before. What had he heard it say? Had she recorded some sort of audio message for the city? The instructions for getting on and off the sky train? After all, it sounds very familiar. Not like something he'd heard only once, but multiple times. Lots of times ]

Okay, have you ever had, like, a really good honeydew melon? It's sort of that, plus a tiiiiny bit of bubblegum, and also spicy. You'll like it, promise, or the ice cream's on me.

[ After all, it's not that expensive, and he wants this girl to know how confident he is that he's not just telling her two random gross flavors in some sort of strange prank. ]

I'm Cisco, by the way. This your first festival?

[dancingmd]

[Wait a minute... or the ice cream's on me?]

We have to pay for it?!

[Something that Lucretia apparently forgot to mention. Beverly had been so focused on the ice cream tubs at the counter that she didn't even look at the menu above, which lists the price per scoop. Her face falls.]

But I don't have any money...

[Actually, she does, she just doesn't realize it's on her phone. Welcome to the confusing world of Federation economics, Cisco! Just don't ask too many questions.]

[franciscoramon]

[ Cisco, being a decent person, does the right thing. He raises his eyebrows at the girl in surprise, but pulls out his wallet without objection, handing over enough currency to cover a double-scoop of ice cream. While he's at it, he orders one of his own - the same thing - and while their ice cream is being fixed up, he asks: ]

You must be really new here, huh? You come from a world without money or somethin'?

[ She did at least understand the concept of money, but just assuming there's free ice cream... that's indicative of a mindset that is just really really foreign to Cisco. Sure, there are some free treats available here, but not anything and everything! ]

Well, you're in luck. Today's the one year anniversary of when I showed up here, and I definitely didn't have any money or a clue then, either, and I did just fine. Don't worry, this is a good place. People here are... kinda freakishly nice, actually.

[dancingmd]

Yeah, I see that. [Her brow furrows as she watches the server scoop up their ice cream before she turns her attention back to Cisco.] Thanks. I'm sorry, I'll make it up to you sometime later. I just... didn't think... I mean, I've never even seen money before, besides in textbooks, I guess. Like freshman year when we were doing Earth history we had to learn about all these ancient economies and stuff so they had pictures of money but it all just seemed incredibly stupid, you know? People fighting whole wars over it.

[The server hands her her ice cream and she takes that moment to pause take an uncertain lick. But then oh! Her eyes light up!]

Hey that's really good!

[franciscoramon]

[ Cisco laughs at her little story, but there's a hint of discomfort audible in it. It's not this girl's fault, of course, and in a way he's glad that at least a few versions of Earth get to a place where they no longer need "stupid" things like money. But there's a prickle of defensiveness at the back of his neck that he can't ignore.

He knows that he's more sensitive than most, to accusations about the era he lives in. Eobard Thawne was to thank for that, of course - calling 2016 (and by extension, everyone who lived in it) barbaric, seeing them as disposable and less-than-human because of it.

And even though his family hadn't been poor - at least, not compared to some people - things hadn't exactly been easy, either. ]

Don't sweat it, kid. It's just an ice cream.

[ He's not going to insist she pay him back... but he doesn't imagine that's going to be a quick transition for her. Learning how to live in a world that runs on money, figuring out how to manage it herself, if she's that completely ignorant of it. She'd learn one way or another, though. And at least in this place, that would probably be easier than it would've been, back on the Earth that Cisco knew. ]

Told you you'd like it.

[dancingmd]

[Give her thirty more years and she'll be a lot better at understanding the nuances of such things. And while her adult self would have quickly picked up on his discomfort, her teenage self is sometimes rather dense about the effects her words have on others.

(She does mean it though, she fully intends to pay him back!)]

You've got good taste!

[She smiles, goes to take another bite, then suddenly remembers:]

Oh! I'm sorry! You asked me my name and I never told you... it's Beverly!

[franciscoramon]

[ Cisco forgets his annoyance the instant she says her name. He had been just about to say a polite goodbye and walk off, but he stops, pivots on one heel, staring openly. No. There's no way. This can't be a coincidence. She's from the future. A utopian future, no less. She's got bright red hair, and her name is Beverly.

Now that he's scrutinizing, though, he sees the resemblance. How could he have missed it? Sure, her face is younger, but the shape of her brow and nose, the brightness of her eyes, her chin: it's Beverly Crusher all over. Just... as a teen?! ]

Beverly Crusher?! Seriously?!

[ You'd think, after a while, that Cisco would get used to weird stuff like this happening, but it still manages to catch him off-guard now and then. This isn't even the first time he's run into Beverly in some kind of altered form and not recognized her. But the last time, she'd recognized him. Unless she's an amazing liar, and playing some kind of prank... ]

How- you're- what's... you're a kid!

[dancingmd]

[This is no prank. Her eyebrows go up, startled as she is by his unexpected reaction. This must be one of the other people her adult self knows. Wrong last name, but it's the only explanation. The question is, how well and in what way? She shakes her head in response to his assumption.] Not Crusher. Not yet, anyway. My last name is Howard. [She shrugs.] Lucretia told me that's how people will know me here though. Kinda weird last name if you ask me.

[franciscoramon]

[ Oh, good. Lucretia already knows. Which means Cisco isn't going to have to tell her. That's one awkward conversation he'll be spared, at least. ]

Right- of course. I knew that. Well, I mean, I didn't know what your maiden name was, but. Beverly Howard. Got it.

[ The idea of talking to a Beverly who is younger than him is really making Cisco's head spin. How much does she know? It sounds like Lucretia's told her a few things, but does she know she becomes a Starfleet doctor? That she has a kid? That she's been dating Lucretia for a while now?

All he can do is laugh, shaking his head in surprised wonder. ]

I'm sorry, this is just... so bizarre. I bet it's twice as trippy for you, though, huh?

[ The two of them are blocking traffic, along the street and from the other patrons of the ice cream stand. So Cisco nods his head in the direction of a nearby bench, going over and perching on it, so eager to talk to Beverly that his own cone of ice cream is going unnoticed in his hand. ]

I guess you don't remember me, but we're friends. How long have you been... like this? Was it some kinda spell?

[dancingmd]

[Doctor and Starfleet, yes, Wesley and Lucretia, no. That might be a little much for Beverly to try to take in. As it is, she seems rather nonchalant about the whole thing, shrugging in response to Cisco's first question.]

I think it's a lot weirder to have to meet a younger version of someone you know than to be that younger version. To me, I'm still just me, like I've always been.

[His ice cream may be going unnoticed but hers certainly isn't. She continues to lick at her dessert as she follows him to the bench and it takes her a moment to answer his next questions.]

Couple of days. Lucretia said it was some magic flowers but I don't know if I believe that.

[franciscoramon]

[ Well that he has to smile at, just a little. He remembers, for the first time in a while, the first time he'd ever met Beverly. It had been in a dream, that was actually a memory of hers. She'd been a total stranger, but she'd accepted his explanation of what was going on, had faced it all with an unflappable resolve and pragmatism. Cisco had just been assuming that that was a product of her maturity. But, it would seem, there are some germs of that, even in this much younger version. ]

Point.

[ When she blames magic flowers, Cisco gives an immediate nod-shrug of acceptance. ]

Honestly, this is the first I'm hearing about it, but that sounds about right for this place. I can't think of any reason why Lucretia'd lie to you, and there's so much weird shit here, 'magic flowers' would fit right in. When I first showed up there were magic fireflies. I've run into magic candles... magic incense too... potions that can change you into a cat or a vampire or whatever.

[ It all sounds so silly, summarizing it like that. Cisco only realizes that now, imagining how it must sound to Beverly. ]

[dancingmd]

[Even at a young age Beverly's been through a lot, more than many people experience in a lifetime. Pragmatism has always been a necessity, ever since she was little. So sure, this situation is strange and more scary than she wants to let on, but freaking out isn't going to help her or anyone else.

Plus right now he's saying some pretty ridiculous things. She raises her eyebrows in perfect imitation of her older self.]

Vampire potions?

[franciscoramon]

Sounds fake, I know. But trust me.

[ Cisco really is getting a kick out of how her skeptical face has not changed. He doesn't go out of his way, anxious to make her believe - and that chill attitude is probably more convincing even than his words are that he's not lying right now. ]

Okay, I didn't try one of the vampire ones, but I was at a party where people did. It was just a Halloween thing. Nothing permanent, just a bit of fun.

[ He finally remembers that he has ice cream, then, which is starting to melt a little in the warm sun. So he begins to eat it, but of course keeps talking between bites, because that's just the sort of person he is. ]

I'm not a magic guy or I'd do a cantrip and prove it to you. But you can ask anybody. This is a place where weird stuff just kind of happens every now and then. You get used to it, eventually.

[ Then, Cisco has a great idea. He pulls out his phone and starts flipping through his pictures. It takes a little while, but then... ]

Ha! Yes, okay. Found it. I knew I had one. See?

[ And then, by way of proof, he shows Beverly a picture on his phone. It's a selfie he'd taken, with Beverly and an unintentional photobomb by Magnus in the background. In it, Cisco is beaming at the camera, while the older Beverly contents herself to a small half-smile half-smirk. The angle is a bit goofy, and it's not in the absolute best focus. But it's there. Proof, that at least parts of the story are true. ]

[dancingmd]

[Meanwhile, she's gotten down to the cone of her ice cream and she nibbles at it contentedly while she listens to him. Though, she has to wonder in the back of her mind how temporary this situation is too. Will her adult self remember? Will she remember? Or will she just go back to Nana as if nothing had happened?

She leans over to look at his phone, gasps, and takes it from him.]

That's me?