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[forestcrap]

After the hole is sealed and Ninurta's done away with, your entire party is bippity bopped to the other side of the forest. If there were stragglers that got separated, you're all in one place again. If you lost gear, weapons, phones, whatever, it's back on your person, functional again. If you lost any organs you're on your own though. No but basically you've been bewitched to safety out of the forest and the evil noises have stopped, you're homefree, homies. There's a crow perched on a rundown fence post along the road watching you with beady little eyes before it takes off back into the forest.

The map takes you to a rundown little bed and breakfast not but a fifteen minute walk out that looks like it was abandoned a while ago. No foul play, just closed for business, the economy is rough when you're located next to a haunted forest. Feel free to avail yourself of its beds, there's no room service but least you don't have to pay.

[Mission: get your bearings, make sure all your shits there, do a headcount, follow the road. call dibs on a room. rest up]

Comments

[recurred]

[apparently. takes his bottle to swipe a swig. holds back a face as she swallows and sets it back down.]

Maybe I just like giving you a hard time.

[sawedoff]

Yeah, you always did.

[eyes the bottle in protest but kind of trails off when he realizes he fell into the talking about her like she's old clara again thing and kind of looks down embarrassed-like. it's harder to get away from it now that she blurred all his carefully constructed lines. grabs it back to busy himself with tipping it back]

[recurred]

[sort of stops herself and looks up to watch him try to shuffle it away. not quite sure whatever to say in these sorts of situations. to just try and change the subject like they're so good at doing or finally turn to tackle it head on.]

Do you..want me to give you space?

[sawedoff]

Good's that gonna do?

[glances to her over the bottle before polishing it off and sliding it away a ways down the bar, propping a hand against the edge to lean against it again]

I don't need time. I need answers. You don't got em, you avoiding me is just gonna weird things up even more and it's sure as hell not gonna do anything for answers.

[recurred]

[shuffles a little on elbows. watching the bottle as she thinks]

Would knowing even change anything? I mean, if we knew, do you think you could fix it?

[sawedoff]

Fix what? You? Your- memories, or whatever? I don't know.

[taps fingers restlessly against the edge of the bar. screw daryl for cleaning out the good liquor. he better go halvsies on that stash.]

Maybe if I had any idea what I was dealin with.

[recurred]

[not really paying attention as she reaches out and places her hand on top of his to still it]

It's a tall order, either way. I get that.

[sawedoff]

[looks down at her hand before glancing away and down, clearing his throat and easing out from under hers to rub at the back of his neck. nooope. can't handle it. crosses his arms instead after a beat]

Do you even want it fixed? I mean you're not- it's not like you're any worse off for not knowing.

[recurred]

[hand kind of just hovers for a second before retracting back into a fold with her other arm before shifting her weight a little off the bar]

It's not about whether or not the memories are good or bad, it's something that's missing and staring me in the face every moment of my life. I want to remember.

[sawedoff]

And if you don't remember for a reason?

[leaning hip against bar so he's kind of half turned towards her, arms still crossed very guarded-like]

[recurred]

[well, that's a fair point. one she can't quite answer]

What, like I'm repressing a trauma?

[sawedoff]

In layman's.

[looks to her with the one eyebrow up deal, like he's not sure if that's what'll get her off the trail but at this point he's almost hoping it will because he's not seeing the advantages to opening that floodgate]

[recurred]

[tilts chin up a little, like she's studying him and drawing a conclusion. then her gaze falls and she takes a breath, shoving herself off the bar stool]

Okay.

[sawedoff]

Okay? Just like that?

[too easy. it's a trap.]

[recurred]

Goodnight, Dean.

[she's upset. its totally a trap]

[picks her bag up too and turns to head upstairs]

[sawedoff]

[fucking traps.]

[sighs and watches her upset her way to the stairs, dropping his hands to the counter top with a little defeated flop]

Wait.

[bitch don't angst away from me]

[recurred]

[but she's storming out so good. almost so good she debates stopping, doing that kind of shift of her weight back onto her heels as she grabs the doorframe. takes a deep breath and looks back over at him]

[sawedoff]

[tilts his head back and blows out an i really don't want to do this kind of breath before reaching into his jacket pocket and setting the recorder on the bartop, sliding it over to the other side with two fingers

i'm not explaining it just take it]

[recurred]

[looks down at it then up at him slightly confused and doesn't move for a moment, because she can tell a tough move when he makes it. its not like they're obscure.

walks back to the bar and reaches out to pick it up, hovering and watching him before finally doing so. turning it over in hand until she recognizes what it is,thumb hovered over the play button but not pressing it. stops and looks back up at him.]

[sawedoff]

You still want those memories after listening to that, we'll find a way to make it happen.

[holds a hand out to gesture at it before dropping his hand back down to the counter again. it's not his decision to make to tell her she can't have her memories, even if it's easier for him if she doesn't.]

[recurred]

[now she's looking at it like he just gave her a loaded gun, but she's not going to give it back now. thumbing the edge of it with some idle motion, expression growing slightly troubled.]

It's not that you don't want me to remember, you're afraid, aren't you.

[sawedoff]

Course I am.

[defensively, slides hand away from counter to take a step back and square off to look at her, down to the recorder and back up with like a little resigned shake of his head]

Y'lose your memories but come back fine otherwise? Why look the gift horse in the mouth? Don't know what can of worms you're gonna bust open if you go digging.

[he gestures with a hand pointedly at the thing but his tone of voice has less conviction, like he's not trying to convince her, just rationalizing the surface level of it. not getting into anything else that probably implied]

[recurred]

[this conversation feels recycled. she just worries at him for a moment over what he's said, like she's not convinced. taking a step forward, meeting the bar unable to go further.]

You'd think it'd be really bad. But you knew me, you know what's on this. What else is it? There's something else. [dont make me hop this bar, winchester.]

[sawedoff]

[you can hop all you want shorty. drags a thumb over his scratchy jaw and just keeps shaking his head like an anti-bobblehead]

Clara I'm sorry. For what happened to you. I'm sorry it was my fault and I let it happen. But I gotta second chance, so no matter what you hear on there. It's not gonna change anything. I mean it can't.

[drops hand to rap knuckles lightly against the countertop where it'd been. he kind of speaks slower than he would usually like he's thinking about it, choosing his words]

[recurred]

[shakes her head slightly like she's about to rear up and say something along the lines of 'no i dont care' stops, swallows back. itches at her temple a bit]

I know, I mean I figured. [smiles a little. trying to shrug it off like 'of course, duh' but one of those masking smiles that gets a little creaky. pushes herself away from the counter again because what else is she going to do there, and starts forcing herself away step by step.]

You know I hardly know a thing about you, but I feel like I know you so well. And even though I know what's missing, it's still so shocking that it...hurts this bad. That I can't make you happy. I don't want to be a ghost anymore, all I want to do is make it all better but I can't..can I?