164th Page

[ladybirdcrap]

You've made it out of the prairie and underbrush, congratulations! But with the lack of supplies from the journey around Alderwood has left you beat. Your horses hate you, you've got sand up in places where it's not welcome, you're hungry, cranky, and if you've been riding you'll be walking like Dean for a little bit. Lucky enough for you, the next town isn't much of a detour, so you can restock, trade, and try not to burn anything down.

[Mission: Stock up, let the horses rest, treat your cholera, etc]

Comments

[recurred]

[just kind of sits there for a moment with her knife and fork in hand watching him devour his plate. don't choke there buddy]

[this is like the weirdest twilight zone date]

[slowly cuts steak]

[sawedoff]

[this is not



this is not a date]

[already has half of the steak down by the time he reaches for beer. washes delicious seasoned meat down. and points at plate with knife with an emphatic nod, mouth still half full and grinning]

I don't even care what weirdass animal had to die to make this because it's awesome.

[i mean the surroundings are suspect. where's the cattle. he's seen like a grand total of 0 cows since he's been here. fuck it though.]

[recurred]

[uhuh okay]

[cutting through daintily in comparison to his near literal inhalation. almost stopping mid chew to consider what it was, but really at this point no she wouldn't care. she's tried space fruit.]

[takes a long pause to watch him in his happy happy moment before paying attention back to her plate. sort of laughs in response instead. was going to tease, but she won't take this moment away from him]

It's almost like you can close your eyes and pretend things aren't all weird.

[sawedoff]

[pulls a bit of steak sauce off his thumb and looks up at her with raised eyebrows]

I don't know about all that. Last people thought that ended up getting too comfortable.

[with sookie and derek and jessica and cowboy guy and all them. besides, he doesn't like to think about how easy it is to fall into old habits with new clara or thinking about getting cozy anywhere that's minus a sam. he'll keep stubbornly hating everything here thanks. except the steak. for now.]

[recurred]

[matches his raised eyebrows, still cutting into steak]

I don't think it'd ever get to that, but I guess you're right. You get comfortable, lose focus.

[pops piece in mouth and stuffs it to one side to chew and speak while she focuses on cutting a bit of gristle out of the way on her plate]

Just sayin'. You know. Alien planet, alien people. It's easy to be attracted to what's...familiar.

[sawedoff]

This is familiar for you?

[pauses as he's wiping his palms off on jeans because fuck napkins, watching her freaking julienne her steak with a cautious stare. we all know it's familiar for him.]

[recurred]

[pauses as if she's trying to pick her words carefully or maybe pick a piece of steak out of her teeth with her tongue]

The little things.

[sawedoff]

Wait like smelling the roses little things or twilight zone-specific little things?

[stopped moving altogether to give her the most scrutinizing look. temporarily forgot about his steak.]

[recurred]

[trying to focus on hers so hard, mostly trying to come up with an explanation, but eventually her knife falters and she looks up and away. maybe to walk away, but stays put and looks back at him finally with a huff]

Why do you think I was so easy to trust you?

[sawedoff]

I'm a trustworthy guy.

[in a dismissive, offhanded way, like it's not important or more like he doesn't want to dwell on it. leans forward with his elbows on the table, bringing a hand up to gesture at her as he quickly devolves from mild curiosity to fullblown im onto something mode, mixed with a healthy dash accusatory because he's wellversed in the people hiding shit from him song and dance]

Are you telling me you're going full-on deja vu Long Kiss Goodnight? And it's been happening since you met us?

[recurred]

[puts utensils down as she slightly leans back as he leans forward. it's not like she's been trying to hide it to be a dick or anything, but mostly because she's been having trouble coming to terms with what it is and if it's at all connected to everything else that's happened here.]

Not entirely, no. [realizes she's tensed up and takes a breath] Look, I don't know what's going on or even how to begin to explain it. [gets up because she needs to get out of the squatty chair and expressive hand gestures]

I didn't say anything because, I don't know, it was bizarre. I wanted to give you, everyone their space because what else am I supposed to do. I didn't know what to do, I still don't know what to do.

[sawedoff]

[gets up after her, following her around the table. good thing the tiny little diner is empty except for them cus they'd be causing a scene. i'm sure the innkeeper is thrilled.]

Well welcome to the club sister, none of us know what we're doing. Maybe that's because this group keeps more secrets than an episode of Lost? And now you're telling me you might be connected to her more than just wearing her face and you didn't say anything cus it's bizarre? What is not entirely?

[way to tap into a goldmine of issues with an off the cuff comment clara]

[recurred]

[can we pls move this conversation elsewhere. lowers her voice once he gets closer even though they are alone..sort of. its just common courtesy and holds a hand up a little to keep her space]

From day one you decided I wasn't her, so I tried to respect that. [shakes her head] I didn't want to be her, but I don't know anymore. I can't say I'm not anymore. Because it's the same with him. With the Doctor. Looking at me like I'm a ghost, saying things that don't make sense.

[sawedoff]

[leans back a little to reel in the confrontational hands, pulling them back to rest at his hips as he shifts his weight restlessly like he's parsing. the fact that she might actually be her after everything he went through to get to a place where he could be convinced she wasn't is kind of like a slap in the face and it's bringing on the woobie lip wibble]

I mean I knew the whole alternate reality clone crap was a line of bull but now you're Mr. Buddwing? I mean- this isn't.. this isn't 50 First Dates here, this isn't cute. I thought you were dead.

[she, you. whatever. he's confused now. and upset. good job.]

[recurred]

[welcome to the confused party. she feels bad now, wondering if it was even best not to say anything until now or even if it will be better to have said anything at all. her expression falls to something a compound of sympathy and confusion.]

I'm sorry. [she moves to take a step forward and rethinks it, raised hand finally curling back and rest at her stomach instead]

The more I try to reason with it, the less it makes sense. I don't know what to tell you. I don't want to get your hopes up...I just-I don't..I don't know what to do. [she starting to sound like a broken record. sort of shakily gives him a half shrug]

[sawedoff]

[holds a hand up to stop her broken record rambling after pulling it away from his face where he was fiddling with stubble to waylay the emoting]

Don't. Let's just stop this horse right out of the gate, before it gets way out of hand.

[you have no idea. i have no idea. standing here going over the same shit over and over isn't going to change that. turns away from her to drop some cash on the table before the innkeeper sics the dogs on them so they can get out of here]

[recurred]

[they'll probably get blamed for scaring off patrons, even though no one is there]

[takes herself back a notch when he stops her and folds her arms a bit uncomfortably. rubs at one of her temples as she turns to head out before he's finished paying for their poor half eaten steaks. she needs herself some fresh air anyway.]