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Tweak says, "Shoe me your toolbelt of love."

ashley magnus is more badass than you (choseherside) wrote in colligo_threads,
@ 2012-01-26 14:17:00

Entry tags:

ashley magnus, john druitt

WHO: Ashley Magnus and John Druitt
WHAT: A reunion.
WHEN: Immediately after this.
WHERE: The steps of the Grand Library, to start with.
RATING: TBD
STATUS: In Progress

There were a fair number of people in Ashley's life that she missed terribly but the two that were easily at the top of that list were her parents. Yes, it was true that her mom and dad could pretty much write the book on angst whenever they interacted. However Ashley loved them both and really and truly wanted them to return to Colligo, especially because there was no chance of her ever seeing them again back home.

So when she heard her dad's voice over the PDA, she had been so thrilled at the realization that he was back that it hadn't occurred to her that he clearly didn't remember being there before. In fact, that didn't register until he had sounded so very confused when she'd spoken to him. Of course, as much as it sucked that he didn't remember the time they'd spent together in the city, she was hardly going to let that stop her from seeing him. If anything, she used that fact as a reason to see him even sooner, not even taking the time to shut off her PDA before teleporting to the steps of the library where she was all but certain he would still be standing.

Sure enough, there he was. Ashley felt her eyes sting with tears at the sight of him but forced the reaction away as best she could. Stating a simple, 'Turn around', she finally shut off her PDA and slid it into her pocket, making sure to stay where she was and give him a second to adjust to what was happening. It took everything she had within her not to approach him and drag him into a hug whether he wanted one or not, but she stayed her ground. Because now that she could see it was clearly him, and now that the initial surprise had given way to the reality of him being back, she knew that there were any number of points in time he might be from and that some of them might mean this conversation was going to go a lot different than she had first planned.

Not sure what to do while she waited, Ashley finally - after a second or two - offered him a smile and a simple, "It's me, dad." Then she waited for his response, not sure what to expect but knowing, just knowing, that she'd figure out some way to make him believe her if only because the alternative simply wasn't an option.

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exquisiterush
2012-01-27 05:02 am UTC (link)

John was completely baffled. One moment, he'd been leaving Helen, going to take back his parasite and sacrifice any chance at a real life of his own to protect the Sanctuary. The next, he'd arrived somewhere entirely different. A strange library with suits of armour that moved on their own. He hadn't accidentally teleported to the wrong place in almost a century, and it was disconcerting to have it happen now of all times. He tried to leave, to head back to the Sanctuary and Helen, but just found himself back in the library. He was then led out, a device shoved in his hands before the doors closed. He must have turned it on accidentally, because moments after he spoke he heard a voice.

And not just any voice. Ashley. His daughter. He was stunned, frozen in place by disbelief. Ashley was somehow alive. How was that even possible. Helen had believed it, but he had never dared to hope. His daughter was lost to him, and that was something no amount of false hope could change. He couldn't fathom it. This had to be some strange dream. That was all it could be. He tried to speak to her, but words failed him. Then he heard the distinct, unmistakeable sound of teleportation behind him.

It was really her. He didn't know how, but it was. And she was calling him dad. She'd never done that before. She'd never moved past her disdain for him enough. He wasn't sure what had changed, or why she seemed so happy to see him, but he didn't want to fight it. He'd lost so much in his life that having something, even if this was all some strange dream or fantasy, felt almost too good.

"Hello, my dear girl," he said hesitantly, frozen in place even as he wanted to move toward her.

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choseherside
2012-01-27 06:54 am UTC (link)

Okay this, Ashley decided as he replied, was pretty much the definition of the term 'awkward'. In fact, she was pretty sure if you looked up the meaning in a dictionary, you would find a picture of her and her dad, standing on the steps of a library, frozen in place and wholly unsure how to proceed. Which was ridiculous, at least as far as she was concerned, because before he'd been sent back home they had been close. Really close, truth be told of it, to the point that she had almost been more at ease around him than she had her mother. Which was saying something considering her mother was the one who had raised her while her dad had... not.

Still. For all of the awkwardness, Ashley couldn't help the smile. Yes, he clearly didn't remember the bonding they'd done while she'd been shrunken down to kid size in Colligo before, or the time they'd spent together after that. However he did know who she was, and he wasn't trying to attack her for some crazy reason or another. Those were both very good things, in her opinion. And the rest, while not necessarily able to be duplicated, could definitely be mimicked at least in some way, shape, or form.

For now, she simply stuck with nodding at him. "Hello yourself," she replied as casually as she could muster, which wasn't very casually at all. Pausing for a second, she drew in a breath and exhaled slowly. Then... well, then, Ashley promptly lost any pretence of composure that she'd had.

"I know this is all a lot and I promise I will do what I can to explain, but first I just have to say that I missed you. A lot. And you are not allowed to leave again. Ever. Because I am pretty sure that I could not handle that. And can I hug you now? Please?"

It was all said in a rush, with tears blurring her vision and her throat thick with emotion. She knew, distantly, that she was opening herself up to what could amount to a world of hurt if he turned down her request. But she couldn't help it and knew even if she could somehow keep her request to herself, she still still wouldn't.

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exquisiterush
2012-01-28 04:02 am UTC (link)

There were so many possible things John could focus on in what Ashley said. The fact that she seemed to expect him to just know that she was alive. The fact that she actually seemed to have genuinely missed him, even though nothing in their relationship or interactions thus far pointed to that kind of reaction to his presence. The 'again' that clearly said he had been here before. Any of those things could have, and maybe should have, caught his focus. But they didn't. They all faded away in the face of those last words, words he had never expected to hear from his daughter.

Can I hug you now? Please?

He could hardly reject the request and, in truth, he did not particularly want to. Even though everything in him said that this couldn't be Ashley, that she was dead and his daughter would never behave like this toward him - that he hadn't earned her love and acceptance - in spite of all of that, he wanted to believe. Because all he had ever wanted was to have a family. He had thought, once, that he would have that with Helen. Though that was no longer in the cards, both through his own actions and the passing of time, he had always wanted a relationship with his daughter. It had hurt that Helen had kept the truth from her, and even more that they'd had so little time together before her death. Even if this wasn't Ashley, it was what he had always wanted. A daughter who truly seemed to care for him.

"Of course," he said softly, still a bit dumbstruck. "Of course you can. You needn't even ask."

His questions could wait.

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choseherside
2012-02-17 11:53 am UTC (link)

Half of her expected to receive a knife to the throat the second she got close enough, along with demands as to who she really was and why she was pretending to be his daughter. In truth, she couldn't have blamed him at all if that's precisely what he did, either. She knew she wasn't making any sense to him and certainly wasn't acting the way she'd acted when they'd been back home. However, the memories of that time were so distant to her that she could no sooner rely on those than she could forget the memories they'd forged together in Colligo.

When he agreed she could hug him, she wasted no time in closing the distance between them and doing just that. The contact was more than enough to reassure her that yes, this was her father. Arms wrapped around him, she could practically taste the relief that finally, finally, he was back. He was here again and, if she had anything to say about it, he wasn't going to leave this time.

Drawing away before the embrace could become too awkward, she smiled up at him. "So," she said, always good at understatement, "you probably have some questions, huh?"

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exquisiterush
2012-02-28 03:07 am UTC (link)

It was strange, having his daughter so close. To receive such affection from her. In all the time he had known Ashley, she had rejected him. And rightly so. And then she had died and any opportunity had been lost. Holding his daughter in his arms this way had never been in the cards for him, and it left him feeling unbalanced. This wasn't real. It couldn't be real. Everything in him fought against the urge to accept it, rejected the very possibility that Ashley could feel anything for him beyond contempt. It was a dream or some crueler madness than the one that had plagued him for more than a century.

Pulling away from the embrace, he stared at Ashley for a long moment. His mind told him this was a lie. His senses and, more importantly, his heart told him it was the truth. The problem was that he did not know which to believe. He was quiet, trying to sort it all out, and Ashley's question was a welcome distraction from his racing thoughts.

"That," he said quietly, "is quite the understatement, my dear. Could you please explain this place and, more importantly, how you are alive?"

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