Clara Oswald is going the long way round (alwaysbeenthere) wrote in valarlogs, @ 2018-09-18 18:27:00 |
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Entry tags: | !complete, !partner thread, clara oswald, veronica mars |
Who: Clara and Veronica
What: Catching up
When: Recently (before the plot)
Where: Random restaurant
Warnings: Low
Status: Log | Complete
It seemed the older she got, the more responsibility she took on, the more difficult it got to find time for friends. It wasn’t just because of her schedule, it was theirs too. Finding a time that worked for both was difficult. But still Veronica did her best to make time for her friends, even if it took a few weeks to find the right time. Today she was finally meeting Clara for lunch.
Veronica arrived at the restaurant a little early. She told the hostess she needed a table for two and was seated almost immediately. Veronica texted Clara letting her know where the table was. Just as she sent the text the waiter came by asking if she wanted anything, Veronica decided to go with two waters for now. Ordering before her friend arrived was just rude, but really who didn’t want water? It was sort of a given.
It wasn’t the first time Clara’d had repeat dreams. Far from it, then again it had been nearly three years now since she’d finished her dreams. It only made sense that she would get repeats. Usually the more traumatic ones. Even the ones of different ‘Echo’ selves and how she would be more like that ‘her’ than how she normally was but they always seemed to mostly fade. But never this particular dream. Perhaps it made sense, talking about reckless decisions to save the Doctor with Rose, having to tap into Oswin to help Jim with his cloaking device, of falling back onto Clara Oswin Oswald while she and Laurence had been at the Battle of Trafalgar.
They were facing off against the Great Intelligence, and the Doctor was dying. Dying over and over and over again. Each victory now failure in his Time Stream. Entire races wiped out that had once been saved. Stars going out…. She’d already dealt with dizziness and the strange sensation of remembering things that had been erased. Of seeing what maybe she had always known. What the Doctor had seen, the hers he had met before… it was from this very moment. She was the governess from Victorian London. The girl from the Dalek Asylum. All she had to do was take that last step. River’s warning that she wouldn’t be her anymore, that she would be ripped apart… she heard them but it didn’t matter. Because she’d already done it.
“Well would you look at that. I’m souffle girl after all.” She could hear the Doctor pleading with her not to do this, but she didn’t listen. No. This was the one chance they had to save him, to save all those he had saved before. “If this works, get out of here as fast as you can. And spare me a thought now and then.” As she spoke, Clara made her way to the time stream, pausing, “In fact, you know what? Run you clever boy, and remember me.”
With that, Clara leapt into the Doctor’s Time Stream. And River was right. She could feel herself being pulled apart, not physically. But it was as if everything that was her was being ripped from her, leaving her hollow. Cold. Lost. Flashes. So many flashes. Being born. Living. Dying. And always running towards the Doctor to save him. All his faces, she saw them even when they never saw her. From the day he started running.
When she woke up, Clara winced and held her head. She was confused. She didn’t know where she was, or who she was. There was a strange sound as if something were missing, a hollowness in more ways than one. Letting herself settle, some of the answers came to her. She was Clara Oswald (at least that was what she seemed to remember), the strange sound was her not hearing her heartbeat. She’d had a dream.
A dream. That explained it. Getting up, she went to the bathroom and splashed water on her face, hoping that it would shake her out of the haze she now recognized. With a look up, she noticed once again that her reflection seemed off. Faded.
“No no no...you don’t have the time for this.” Well she had all the time in the world but she had plans to meet up with Veronica and she needed to be herself. Setting a focused look at the mirror, Clara took a breath she didn’t need but it was more psychological than anything. “You can do this.”
Once she finished getting ready, Clara made her way to the restaurant Veronica had chosen for their lunch. Getting the text just as she was arriving, the brunette headed to the table with an apologetic smile.
“I’m not late am I? Time moves so strangely sometimes.” Between general time travelling and then the frozen in time thing, time really did have a different sense to it.
That was an odd comment to make. Veronica knew Clara dreamed of time travel. Hell she even had her own time traveling spaceship, or whatever you wanted to call the TARDIS. So yes, Clara definitely had more experience with time and how it moved than Veronica did. But still, the comment felt off. Still Veronica wouldn’t question it too much. Maybe it was just a thing time travelers said.
“Not at all,” Veronica assured. “I was early. Figured I might as well get us a table. I ordered us some waters too.” As if on cue the waiter came by and set down their glasses. After telling him they were going to need a minute before ordering Veronica turned her attention back to Clara. “So how have you been? I feel like it’s been forever.”
Catch the Doctor talking about how boring and slow living life in a linear timeline was and comments like losing track of time? Really not odd at all. Especially given the time travelling thing. Either way though, Clara didn’t think much of the comment. True part of it was more lost her sense of self and less time but...irrelevant. It would pass. It just had to.
With the reassurance that it was fine, Clara sat down with a nod. Just in time for water. And then needing to figure out what to eat - or if it would even taste like food. She still enjoyed food and drink even as she didn’t need it but if she remembered, her being off like this following the torn apart sensation, food had also tasted off. No matter. She’d deal with it when she got there.
“It really has been. But you know, the usual. Diner is randomly open to see who comes in, travelling. Bucky and I have apparently been together over a year now.” Which...was not something she had anticipated given her rather horrid luck with boyfriends dying on her both here and the dreams. So the fact that - despite the whole kidnapped by Hydra thing and experimented on and then Bucky’s dreams activating the Winter Soldier and all that drama - they were going strong? It was shocking but also nice.
“That went by fast.” Or maybe it just seemed that way with how busy they both were. How busy Orange County seemed to keep people in general. She didn’t bother to ask if they celebrated. Veronica herself didn’t care much for celebrating anniversaries. Hell she didn’t even know when hers was. And with the ‘apparently’ in Clara’s comment it didn’t sound like she did either.
“What about investigating? Are you still consulting?” Not that Veronica had a case she needed help on at the moment. But it was always interesting to hear about other cases. Well except the ’I think my spouse is cheating’ those got old real fast.
“You’re telling me.” All of a sudden it had been the end of August and a year had gone by since she and Bucky officially started to see one another versus the flirtation they’d been doing for months before. But given there was also the whole first part of their first ‘date’ involved time travel, that probably had something to do with the slight knowing of when their officially anniversary was. No matter.
“When cases come my way. Weird things catch my attention, go to investigate. The usual.” Or well..usual for Clara given her area of expertise of investigating the weird. “Last one ended up seeming to tie into the last invasion since I needed to prove Kirk wrong about the meteors being harmless.” Never let it be said that a need to prove someone wrong wasn’t good motivation for things.
“And what did you find?” Veronica replied with a raised brow. “Other than that they seemed to bring on demons and sickness.” Veronica sometimes found herself wanting to investigate all the strange things that seemed to go on in this place. If only there was enough time. She had her own cases not to mention a fourteen month old to take care of. Too bad she didn’t have a time machine.
“Radiation readings. Nothing that would cause immediate harm, but enough for concern. Green goop. Ever read Never Ending Story? There were marks as if Rockeaters had come out and walked away. Which now I guess were the demons or whatever we had to fight.”
Not a good time really. She knew that her dad, Bucky and Kirk had seen Oswin which...odd. She’d seen Samuel as well. But that was in the past.
“So you had a feeling what was coming before it happened,” Veronica replied. There seemed to be something more Clara wasn’t saying but before Veronica could comment on it waiter came by for their orders. Veronica went with a bacon cheeseburger and a coke. She was never the type to count calories or monitor what she ate. Whatever she was craving, she went for.
“Bucky, Diner, cases,” Veronica summed up once the waiter walked away. “I feel like I’m pretty caught up… unless there is something else?” Veronica questioned going by her earlier feeling.
“Pretty much, wasn’t sure what exactly it meant but passed the information along to people who would have a better idea. Because the readings definitely didn’t bring up any information in the TARDIS.” Which was annoying but oh well. Orange County was weird like that. She could get the alcohol of another planet from someone’s dreams but it wouldn’t let her know about what exactly to expect with the invasion.
As the waiter came, Clara put in an order for tea and a panini. The whole frozen in time thing meant she didn’t need to worry about calories as she was always going to be as she was the day she ‘died’ until she dreamt of Trap Street once more and was no longer frozen and her last heartbeat occurred.
“That’s pretty much it.” While Veronica was trying to press for information, Clara wasn’t going to give it up easily. Plus she didn’t necessarily see the point of it. She’d done this whole thing before, being unsure on who she was, the feeling of being off, shifts in personality as she was more one Echo self versus another. The dreams were annoying like that but it didn’t seem (to her at any rate) that big of a deal.
“How about you?”
“Pretty much?” Veronica questioned with a raised brow. She couldn’t shake the feeling that there was more. If there was one thing Veronica was good at it was reading people. Especially her friends.
“Same as usual for me. Doing the P.I. thing and the mom thing.” It was a bit exhausting but Veronica wouldn’t have it any other way. The few months she had stayed home just being a mom? It had her bored out of her mind. She’d take exhaustion over boredom any day. “Did the lawyer thing for a minute to help a friend.” Given all the crap Leon had given her when she was a defense lawyer, she was not going to let him live it down that he had come to her either.
Last Clara checked, she was fairly certain that ‘pretty much’ was a common enough phrase that didn’t have any hidden meaning to it. Even if she was off, she hadn’t really been implying anything and so she ignored the question. Because well, it was what it was. She had meant nothing by it, things were as they were. So from her vantage point, even knowing what she was dealing with, there wasn’t anything else to discuss on that front.
“Fair enough.” It wasn’t like there would always be some major thing going on. Most of the time in the linear timeline, life was just life. Normal. Basically the same thing with different days.
“How is the mom thing?” It was one thing that Clara herself would never really get. Maybe adoption at some point, but that was a big if given all that happened in her life and her whole...being. But that didn’t mean she disliked kids. Far from it. She was good with them and while she didn’t teach anymore, always wanted to ensure their well being. So she would live vicariously that part of a life through Veronica.
“Oh? How did that go?”
It was true that pretty much was a general statement for saying ‘that’s it.’ But Veronica still felt as if there was something off about Clara. Something the woman wasn’t telling her. So of course she questioned it. Because it did leave it open to a sliver that wasn’t included in the ‘pretty much.’ However Clara didn’t even bother to respond. Sure that could just be because there was nothing more to tell. But Veronica had the feeling she was avoiding something.
However, the conversation was back on her. “The mom thing is good,” Veronica replied honestly. “Liam’s walking around now.” It was crazy how fast kids grew. “It’s weird watching this little person that came from me grow.” Veronica still wasn’t quite used to the idea, even if it had been well over a year now.
“It went,” Veronica replied. “I was getting a whole case prepared and I ended up only needing to file a motion to get the guy released from jail when another suspect turned up.”
With Clara it was mostly a combination. There was the fact that she didn’t want to talk about it because in her mind there just wasn’t anything to talk about. It was just frustrating and she would need to find her footing but if it only ended up being a day thing and she dreamt the rest of it all that night then really, not a big deal.
That Liam was walking though? All the more proof time was just going by quickly with that and the fact she and Bucky had been together over a year now. “Wow, but that’s exciting. I mean sure weird because when you get older it isn’t as obvious as it is with kids, but also exciting.”
As for the going back to the lawyer thing, Clara could only nod.
“Well, at least he was able to get out.”
“I’m just ready for him to be in school,” Veronica quipped. “Or potty trained.” She was so over the diaper changing. And honestly once Liam was old enough to be in school, it would help so much regarding child care. But as much as Veronica joked about it, part of her wanted to keep him a baby forever. God, what had happened to her?
“Yeah, that’s the important thing.” It was difficult for Veronica to not look into it further. But whatever this ‘friend’ did, she wasn’t about to get Leon in trouble over it. So for now, she’d just leave well enough alone.
“I can only imagine.” She had done the babysitting thing. Potty trained was definitely a good thing. Though she did imagine that it was a typical feeling for a parent. Wanting their kid to grow up but also wanting the to stay a baby forever. It wasn’t something Clara knew for certain, but she had a feeling that was the way it went.
“Was it dream related?” It tended to be in Orange County. That and Clara didn’t really see Veronica going back to the lawyer thing unless absolutely necessary and well…. Dreams were usually why things like that became necessary when it was impossible to explain to non-Dreamers something that might have happened.
“Yeah,” Veronica confirmed. “Friend of a friend,” technically friend’s boyfriend. “Went to jail for shooting my friend when it came from the dreams.” The shot that was. But she was sure Clara knew what she meant. “First time I heard about something like that happening. People get dream injuries all the time and no one goes to jail for it.”
Clara nodded some. It did tend to be Dream things that would lead to that sort of confusion. But even she was startled by that fact. Because really. There were plenty of people who mentioned major dream injuries crossing over. Hell, she was pretty sure people waking up shot from the dreams was one of the more common of injuries to cross over.
“Yeah, I haven’t heard of anyone going to jail because of something from the dreams before.”
The waiter brought over the food and Veronica popped a fry into her mouth, waiting till the waiter walked away before replying. “Right? Just when I thought the dreams couldn’t do any more.” Not that it had really done anything to her. But still, dreams had caused damage to someone she cared about.
Clara could only nod in agreement. Because really now. The Dreams liked to mess with people, change them. But someone going to jail because of them? That was new.
“They like to surprise you.” Because that was the obvious continuation of the comment on how they couldn’t do much more.
“Just like this place,” Veronica quipped. While she still had a feeling there was something Clara wasn’t telling her she didn’t want to push too much. She knew if Clara wanted to talk about it she would. So for now she would just enjoy her lunch.