Shirking Responsibilities Who: Cillian and Clementine Where: The train
When the group from below finally made it up to the amusement park, Cillian faded into the background, watching everyone for a bit before heading to the train. Maybe he could help out there, make it easier for people to get back down, if that's where they wanted to go. It was a far more sophisticated machine than he was used to working on, but he figured that if he tinkered with it long enough he would be sure to get it working. At least, he hoped so. Going back down the tracks the opposite way, by himself, really wasn't an option.
Clementine had asked around for Cillian and finally someone mentioned they thought they'd seen him head toward the train.
Hoisting her basket up into the crook of her elbow again, she headed to the train and found him without too much worry. "Cillian!" She greeted with a smile, gliding toward him. She knew most people had been scared when they found they were stuck on the top, but she loved it up here. It was where her farm was and she could happily spend every hour at her farm.
Cillian looked up from his work, smiling when he saw Clementine and wiping his hands on his pants. Her presence never failed to make him smile, even when he found himself in a bit of a funk. He knew he had no reason to be, that things were fine, but he couldn't seem to help the state of his own mind. "Hey Clem," he smiled, wrapping her up in a hug, hoping she didn't mind the smell. The lack of showers wasn't his fault. "What's in the basket?"
Smiling, she leaned in to kiss his cheek before stepping g back to offer him the basket. "Provisions. Vegetables and fruit and weed. Would you like to smoke with me? It seen too long."
Looking past him at the train, she tilted her head. "Do you need help?"
Cillian considered the offer and chose an apple instead. "I'd love to, but there's no way I'll finish this if I'm high," he said. "But soon? I could use some time out of my own head." He spent too much time in it, which was fine when he was in a good frame of mind, but lately he'd be stuck. It felt like months of the same internal discussion, over and over. "I could use some company, if you don't have anywhere else to be."
"For you, anything." Clementine said, a soft smile on her lips as she texted out to gently squeeze his shoulder. "What are you trying to do with the train?"
"I was hoping to get it up and running again, so people could get back to their pods, or those that are below could come up," Cillian said. Being stuck there, he wasn't sure there was any need for people to come up to the surface, since there wasn't really an escape, but there was at least the ability to move between the two. "It's a little more complicated than hot-wiring a car though."
Clementine moved, surveying his work even though she didn't know what it was he was doing exactly. "well, I might not have much skill at this but I have a feeling you're a good teacher. What can I do to help?"
"Umm... This would be easier if I knew what I was doing," Cillian said, giving her a smile before settling down on the floor of the train. "So, in cars, you'd be working with the wires beneath the steering column, specifically the ones that lead up to the ignition switch. We'd pull out the bundle that has the battery, ignition, and starter wires, then we'd use the battery wire and the ignition wire to start the car." He paused, looking at the mess of wires. "Unfortunately, there's no steering column because this train goes from point A to point B, so I'm trying to find the wires that lead up to the ignition switch blindly."
Clementine, admittedly, knew nothing about fixing anything mechanical. She listened, trying to absorb what Cillian was saying and what he needed to do, but none of it made sense to her. "You're very intelligent," She said with a soft smile. "I don't know what you just said but if anyone can fix this, it's you. Put me to work, I can hold things. Let's keep trying to fix it?"
"You can hold my flashlight," Cillian smiled. It didn't sound like much, but it really did help. He offered it to her, then looked back at the wires. "Just keep it shining in here," he pointed, then went back to trying to pick through them, tracking them to their source. "Have things been okay lately?"
Clementine took the flashlight and pointed it where he motioned, holding it still without any sign of wavering. It wasn't something she even realized, the lack of little human tendencies like that. "Things are fine lately." She said, smiling again. "I wish there were more people who would like to dance. Maybe you and Sion will consider coming to dance with me sometime?"
Cillian smiled at her and went back to work on the train, able to see what he was doing now. "We'd love to. We both like to dance, so that'd be fun." He didn't think he'd have to ask Sion about an offer like that, fairly certain the answer was always yes to dancing.
"Good. Then you'll come over for dinner, I'll cook us a meal with these beautiful vegetables, and we'll go dancing! Perhaps we can find someone for me to go home with." She laughed a little. "Will you be my wingman?"
"I'll always be your wingman," Cillian smiled up at her. It sounded fantastic, so long as he didn't stress about Sion and Clementine together. Well, not together. "Anything in particular you're looking for?"
"Not at all. It's more about a feeling for me." Clementine smiled back at him, watching him work, her head tilting. "Do you know you have a very green aura?"
"Me too." Cillian had been thinking a lot about that lately, feelings. He glanced up at her, then back at the wires. "No," he smiled. "I can't see them like you can. What does that mean?"
"It's good. It means you're very creative, but also very down to earth. Your creativity is more practical than abstract, like... This." She said, gesturing to the wires beneath them. "Your practical creativity will find the solution for this train."
"I've never been called creative," Cillian smiled. He liked it, though, mostly because it meant she saw him differently than everyone else. Most people would have said it was his analytical brain that would figure it out. "I've always admired people that could do the abstract. That's something that just seems intuitive to them. It can't be taught."
"But is there not a part of you that sees the wires and connections and feels that same intuition?" She reached out to rest her hand on his shoulder. "You are absolutely creative. And to me, what you are doing is abstract. I don't think I could learn how to do what you are doing."
"That's true," Cillian said, looking at the wires. Something about it just made sense to him. He knew parts of it he'd been taught, that he didn't just know how to hot wire a car or a train, but the part that allowed him to figure it out was all him. "I've just never thought of myself like that," he said, smiling up at her. "I like how you see me. It's... better than I see myself."
She softened again, a smile on her lips. "It's often very hard for us to see ourselves the way others see us. But you are intuitive and creative, Cillian. You're also practical and hard working, and the most reliable person I've ever know."
"Thanks," he said, a slight blush climbing his neck. Those were good things. He knew they were. But they sounded so boring. "I've always wished I was more... I dunno. Spontaneous. And exciting. I try sometimes, but I know the fact that I'm working at it makes it not really me."
"Then maybe you just need a friend to help you with that. We all gravitate toward others who have the qualities we want to see in ourselves."
Putting down the flashlight, she held her hand out. "Stop working. Let's go to the carnival!"
"But people are waiting to get home," Cillian laughed, then bit his lip. It was horribly irresponsible, but it wasn't like anyone had assigned him to this task. He'd just taken it on himself. Would it hurt to abandon it for a little whilte? "Maybe just for a bit? But then I should come back and work on this."
"Just for a little while, and then you and I will come back to the train with clear heads. I promise not even to smoke until the train is fixed." She said, beaming a grin at him. Reaching out, she waited for him to take her hand."Let's go be spontaneous."
"Let's go," Cillian grinned, taking her hand as he jumped to his feet. The train needed fixing, but it wasn't like anyone was waiting on him to do it. It could wait a little longer.