[ Then sees Claire up in the tenth floor's kitchen, having made the executive decision to not subject him to the fifth and its inhabitants following waking up in emergency mode. Literally and figuratively. She's made a one pot primavera, which is deceptively easy and does not contain any of the aforementioned requested items on the list, but she'd found some pasta shoved into the back of a cupboard on her floor and decided it was free for the taking.
She'd tapped out a disclaimer - ] Your floor. [ - and made sure the dogs were sufficiently tucked in her room and everything eatable was put out of reach before locking them in safely and taking off. Now it's just a matter of waiting, so she scrolls through the network while she does, half expecting Smiley to show up with another riddle to solve. ]
Edited (everything is not really italics ) 2014-10-10 02:16 (UTC)
[ Level 10 is still blissfully near-empty; Severus thinks one of the women that Black cheats on his girlfriend with is on this level, but she seems to frequently be elsewhere.
He preferred the original layout of rooms and levels. Woe for responsibility; if he wasn't a department head he'd never have moved. ]
Have I missed anything? [ On the network. His low voice is quiet as he enters the kitchen, unsurprised to see she's been cooking something. Back and forth with them, a ritual of normalcy. Somehow. ]
[ There's a post that she's flagged, calling out other non-normal people but not in the same obtrusive way as posts past. It's the only thing that she's found since she sat down and started looking a couple minutes ago, but, as always, there's plenty left to go through. Not that it would make a difference, everything is always so encrypted or layered underneath metaphor and Greek mythology.
Claire sets her device down on the counter and rubs her heels into her eye sockets. ]
Just the usual. People coming, people going. Some other stuff. Smiley hasn't shown his face. [ Claire folds her hands in front of her, bare arms chilled against the surface. ] Couldn't find any bacon. Sorry.
Noble of you to have looked. [ Severus drifts closer and touches her shoulder, the movement feeling slightly experimental. He drops his hand after only a moment. ] Is there anything I should finish?
[ Cooking. Since they're used to each other's methods by now. He's going to get glasses of water, anyway. ]
[ The stool drags loudly against the floor as she stands and moves away in an automatic step, guided by routine and quickly slipping back into focus from her haphazard browse of the system. ]
No, I think - plates? Actually bowls would be better.
[ Since he's over there. She's just going to find silverware, already having mapped out the drawers in search for utensils to stir and drain with. She grabs the bowl and utensil she'll be using to portion out the pasta. There are no thoughts spared for how surreal this is. This has been a part of her life for months, now. At this point it's too familiar to feel strange. ]
[ It's more normal than what Severus has at home. He can barely imagine doing this with anyone; a witch would never tolerate him. Not with who he is. Not with how he is.
Bowls, glasses of water. He sets them out. ]
I'm not altogether thrilled about anyone going back into the corridors, [ he says to the tune of space-porcelain clinking into place. There's no explanation why. She knows why, they were both there. ] I want to ask something of you.
[ Claire doesn't have to agree out loud for him to know that she agree with him. It isn't necessary a smart idea, and it's never going to be, but if it ultimately means that they're able to figure something out about this place, then it's worth it. She isn't afraid, maybe irresponsibly, but she's hardly bouncing around in her seat at the prospect. It's a duty, a job to do; she does feel proud that someone picked her to do it, even if it's dangerous.
After setting down the silverware, she puts some pasta into his bowl and then into hers, wiping imaginary sauce off on her pants and glancing up at him. The question can't be anything arbitrary or he wouldn't have brought it up in the first place. ]
I don't want you to go into the white doors if you find them.
[ It could come off like an order, but in his tone it sounds like a request even with the lack of question mark. ]
Everyone will hear about it before you go. But what's happened to the ones who've already been in them - they're changing. Things wrong with their minds. Whatever it is, going in blind will only turn you into someone else.
[ Claire folds both of her hands on the counter and faces him. ]
I hadn't planned on it.
[ Her answer is automatic, though not defensive. That was the reason for the recommended medical exam, after all, and regardless of her own opinions regarding her physical state and capabilities, Claire knows better than to plunge headfirst into the absolute unknown. Oncoming buses? Sure. A shark tank? Yeah, okay. But she's not interested in having the core of her person fucked with, not after what she's seen following the initial venture into the corridors and what she had encountered while she was down there. ]
And I know better than that. Even for regenerating girls, there are some things you just don't try without a better understanding of what's going on behind the door. I plan on putting anyone who wants to in a headlock to try and discourage them.
[ Knowing what they do, knowing he'll be urging them not to, she can't imagine that anyone would try, but if she's being honest that is the only thing that might persuade her to go in. Fortunately she doesn't like Erik that much and barely knows Natasi. ]
[ Severus watches, eyes on hers, as she answers. His expression is unreadable. Finally, he nods. ]
It's not recklessness I expect, [ he says, picking up a fork. ] It's your tendency towards fearlessness.
[ It may end up seeming like a good idea to go in there, if they find it. The right idea, or something inexplicable, demanding. But Severus still has to hope fiercely that she - and Lily - won't.
[ How many times has she looked her father dead in the face and expressly told him that she wouldn't do something and then turned around and did it anyway? She has to be past fingers and onto toes by now. Maybe even beyond that. But those circumstances have always been different, more tangible and definite. At home, Claire knows that there's nothing that can stop her. Here, the same can't be said with any degree of positivity. She's come out okay so far, but that's so far. Everything else is a nebulous unknown. ]
Okay, if we find a white door, I promise - [ Pause for dramatic effect. Or so she can stand a little closer and put her hands on either side of him, fingers curling into his shirt. ] - I won't open it.
[ He is right, though, in a sense. She's not afraid of it of what's behind it, but she would be worried about the outcome for him if she did go in and something happened. ]
[ Severus slides one hand to close over one of hers, pale fingers entwining. ]
Thank you. [ A concession to dramatic effect, but it's also sincere. He really is very serious about this, and not just because of the results. Shepard and Javik are dead, not just gone, they're smears of matter somewhere out there, obliterated by the jump.
The white door is the key. But they need to know more first. ]
[ Privately she does wonder how they're ever going to find out more about this mysterious and aptly named white door if they're unable to do anything with it, but there's no hazmat suits in existence to place an effective barrier between them and whatever it is that door does to people. If they come across it, maybe they'll be able to glean something just by standing in relative proximity, but she's not going to go looking specifically. Not until there's no choice left, and not when he's made it a point to directly ask her not to.
She's up on her toes to press her lips to the corner of his without ceremony or hesitation, using his shoulders for balance, an implicit expression of her overall understanding and acknowledgment of his concern. Slowly, she moves away and occupies herself otherwise. ]
There's a good chance we won't even find one of those doors. Or anything at all, for that matter.
It'd be counterproductive to hope for that, [ he murmurs while she's still close. Severus brushes his hand against her upper arm, but doesn't grasp on to anything, instead returning to finish the table set-up when she steps away. Because nothing would be safer, but a waste of time. Of course they all want to find something or else there's no point in trying. But it's hard to hope for results when the results are bullshit. ]
I've decided to hope for nothing and just watch. And maybe that'll be better.
Edited (i forgot half the tag i guess) 2014-10-11 18:13 (UTC)
At least you won't be disappointed, taking that stance.
[ And stressed out, if her experience with running comms is anything to go by, but then he isn't exactly her so he's got that going for him. Claire finishes portioning out the food and climbs onto one of the stools, crossing her legs at the ankles and leaning with her hands in her lap while she waits for him to take his seat. No elbows on the table. ]
I think I'm paired up with Erik and Natasi. [ She hopes that she's saying that correctly. She hadn't gotten Ilde's name completely right the first time, even after hearing it pronounced. ] Any tips?
[ Severus sits down around the corner from her, table manners refined occasionally, and occasionally not. He does that slightly cheating thing of forearms angled on the table.
There's no correction on Natasi's name - he'd have to say he thinks the way it sounds in the Texas almost-accent she has sounds cute, and then he might have to kill himself. ]
They both feel passionately about the way humans have treated their respective people. Different levels of anger, and hurt. They are dedicated, but it's difficult to be trapped here and to work to help people who hate you.
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Recon is soon.
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It is. Erik said you're running comms on your own.
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I'd like to see you before then.
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What a coincidence. Me too. When and where?
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[ Jump shit, or it'd be sooner. ]
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Any requests?
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She'd tapped out a disclaimer - ] Your floor. [ - and made sure the dogs were sufficiently tucked in her room and everything eatable was put out of reach before locking them in safely and taking off. Now it's just a matter of waiting, so she scrolls through the network while she does, half expecting Smiley to show up with another riddle to solve. ]
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He preferred the original layout of rooms and levels. Woe for responsibility; if he wasn't a department head he'd never have moved. ]
Have I missed anything? [ On the network. His low voice is quiet as he enters the kitchen, unsurprised to see she's been cooking something. Back and forth with them, a ritual of normalcy. Somehow. ]
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Claire sets her device down on the counter and rubs her heels into her eye sockets. ]
Just the usual. People coming, people going. Some other stuff. Smiley hasn't shown his face. [ Claire folds her hands in front of her, bare arms chilled against the surface. ] Couldn't find any bacon. Sorry.
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[ Cooking. Since they're used to each other's methods by now. He's going to get glasses of water, anyway. ]
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No, I think - plates? Actually bowls would be better.
[ Since he's over there. She's just going to find silverware, already having mapped out the drawers in search for utensils to stir and drain with. She grabs the bowl and utensil she'll be using to portion out the pasta. There are no thoughts spared for how surreal this is. This has been a part of her life for months, now. At this point it's too familiar to feel strange. ]
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Bowls, glasses of water. He sets them out. ]
I'm not altogether thrilled about anyone going back into the corridors, [ he says to the tune of space-porcelain clinking into place. There's no explanation why. She knows why, they were both there. ] I want to ask something of you.
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After setting down the silverware, she puts some pasta into his bowl and then into hers, wiping imaginary sauce off on her pants and glancing up at him. The question can't be anything arbitrary or he wouldn't have brought it up in the first place. ]
What's that?
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[ It could come off like an order, but in his tone it sounds like a request even with the lack of question mark. ]
Everyone will hear about it before you go. But what's happened to the ones who've already been in them - they're changing. Things wrong with their minds. Whatever it is, going in blind will only turn you into someone else.
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I hadn't planned on it.
[ Her answer is automatic, though not defensive. That was the reason for the recommended medical exam, after all, and regardless of her own opinions regarding her physical state and capabilities, Claire knows better than to plunge headfirst into the absolute unknown. Oncoming buses? Sure. A shark tank? Yeah, okay. But she's not interested in having the core of her person fucked with, not after what she's seen following the initial venture into the corridors and what she had encountered while she was down there. ]
And I know better than that. Even for regenerating girls, there are some things you just don't try without a better understanding of what's going on behind the door. I plan on putting anyone who wants to in a headlock to try and discourage them.
[ Knowing what they do, knowing he'll be urging them not to, she can't imagine that anyone would try, but if she's being honest that is the only thing that might persuade her to go in. Fortunately she doesn't like Erik that much and barely knows Natasi. ]
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It's not recklessness I expect, [ he says, picking up a fork. ] It's your tendency towards fearlessness.
[ It may end up seeming like a good idea to go in there, if they find it. The right idea, or something inexplicable, demanding. But Severus still has to hope fiercely that she - and Lily - won't.
He doesn't know what he'd do. ]
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Okay, if we find a white door, I promise - [ Pause for dramatic effect. Or so she can stand a little closer and put her hands on either side of him, fingers curling into his shirt. ] - I won't open it.
[ He is right, though, in a sense. She's not afraid of it of what's behind it, but she would be worried about the outcome for him if she did go in and something happened. ]
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Thank you. [ A concession to dramatic effect, but it's also sincere. He really is very serious about this, and not just because of the results. Shepard and Javik are dead, not just gone, they're smears of matter somewhere out there, obliterated by the jump.
The white door is the key. But they need to know more first. ]
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She's up on her toes to press her lips to the corner of his without ceremony or hesitation, using his shoulders for balance, an implicit expression of her overall understanding and acknowledgment of his concern. Slowly, she moves away and occupies herself otherwise. ]
There's a good chance we won't even find one of those doors. Or anything at all, for that matter.
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I've decided to hope for nothing and just watch. And maybe that'll be better.
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[ And stressed out, if her experience with running comms is anything to go by, but then he isn't exactly her so he's got that going for him. Claire finishes portioning out the food and climbs onto one of the stools, crossing her legs at the ankles and leaning with her hands in her lap while she waits for him to take his seat. No elbows on the table. ]
I think I'm paired up with Erik and Natasi. [ She hopes that she's saying that correctly. She hadn't gotten Ilde's name completely right the first time, even after hearing it pronounced. ] Any tips?
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There's no correction on Natasi's name - he'd have to say he thinks the way it sounds in the Texas almost-accent she has sounds cute, and then he might have to kill himself. ]
They both feel passionately about the way humans have treated their respective people. Different levels of anger, and hurt. They are dedicated, but it's difficult to be trapped here and to work to help people who hate you.
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