InsaneJournal

Tweak says, "Who said I was double-jointed?"

poeticmisery (poeticmisery) wrote in mirage_rpg,
@ 2008-07-20 14:06:00

Entry tags:

clark kent, complete, day 8, katara

Restlessness
Who? Clark Kent & Katara
Where? The Dude Ranch
When? Day 8
What? TBD
Rating? TBD
Status: Closed

Rest was surprisingly easy to come by inside of the fortress of solitude. After a bit of exploring Clark found a bed, filled with a material that he couldn't quite place. The fibers of it felt out of this world, and yet it was comfortable, almost like sleeping in a sensory deprivation chamber. For once the crickets and the noise of the farm wasn't there to prickle at his mind as he was trying to sleep, there were no restless sheep that he could hear all the way inside of the barn, or the light snoring sound of his father or restless breathing of his mother. There was just peace, and quiet...

And yet that in itself was lonely, and though he drifted off rather quickly in that bed which felt more comfortable than he'd felt a bed before, he would have traded it to sleep back at home again. When he woke, he got a better look at the thing, the shimmering sheet over it, and had to wonder if the bed itself was there in the Fortress of Solitude, or if it was something else created by the planet to make him feel better.

Wandering about the icy cave in his boxers, clark discovered a nook which held a set of worn looking jeans and blue and red t-shirts, the type he commonly wore at home. There was even flannel in there. This, he knew for a fact, wasn't the type of thing that would be present in Jor-El's stronghold. Then again, it wasn't as if he could really go around naked. Despite the fact that his body was well muscled he imagined that the other denizens here would more than likely object to it, and he certainly would be embarassed.

"Kal-El..." came the disembodied voice of Jor-El, and caused Clark to sigh lightly midway through putting on a brightly colored red shirt. "Upon... thinking..." the computer said, as if it meant more 'calculating', but thought better of it, "over the situation for the evening, my Son, I've come to realize that this could possibly be a training ground for you... perhaps you should consider this as an experiment, to show others your true heritage..."

"My true heritage was being born on Earth, Jor-El..." Clark replied testily, not used to having to deal with this sort of things so early in the morning. "And call me Clark, if you really care about me that much. You said yourself, you have no idea who's listening in on our conversation..."

"Kal-El-"

"Clark!" Clark snapped back. "They said I can change this place whenever I want, that means you as well, Jor-El." the youth growled and walked up to the main control panel. Not that he had any idea where Jor-El really was in this place, but it seemed as good enough a place as any to storm up to.

"Clark..." the voice of Jor-El replied, though it showed a clear distaste at the sound of it. "My son, I only meant to suggest that here you could potentially show these people who you REALLY are..."

"I really am Clark Kent, and that's the end of it..." Clark said as he stormed out of his room, slamming the door behind him.

-----------------------------------------------

Glaring a little at the open hallway that seemed like any other resort would be on Earth, Clark began to make his way around the resort. He avoided others, though he may have been seen, until he finally came towards what looked like a barn. In fact it was a little ranch. Not as well up kept as his farm, but it was enough to make him feel a pang of home sickness as he walked up to the animals, looking at them chewing their food.

One of the horses in the stable lightly reared at his touch, but soon calmed down as he stroked it under it's chin, reaching into one of the nearby pails to grab a small treat for it, watching as it happily munched on it. It's teeth looked in perfect condition, and Clark for a moment was reminded of the fact that there was no guaranteeing that any of this was actually real. For all he knew he was hooked up to some machine somewhere, attached to his brain, or this was some trick by a Meteor freak who could read his mind.

"Did you get kidnapped here too, girl?" he asked the horse, not really expecting a reply. "Or are you just like my room, something that I want to see?"

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k_waterbender
2008-07-21 06:05 am UTC (link)

Katara awoke feeling refreshed. She had had quite a pleasant afternoon with a new friend the day before, and she hoped she could see him again some time. He really had been quite sweet. Though a thought occurred to her that she might want to try to find this Temperance woman Miguel had mentioned, she found she really didn’t want to try to escape today. She wanted to get to know the strange horse animals she had seen before. An ability to get used to them and ride them really could end up becoming useful later.

As was customary, Katara spent the first part of her morning getting ready for the day. She styled her hair much as she had done before, with a portion of it tied up, while the rest of her thick, chocolate waves fell around her shoulders. Two loops of hair were clipped to the bun she made of the hair she put up. Today she dressed in a dark blue version of her normal, Water Tribe attire.

When she was finished, she left building E to go to the main building. Her eyes were dazzled by the sight. It must have been over night that the scenery had changed. What had once been a lake had become a vast ocean with a salty scent that teased her nose and a sandy beach. The buildings had changed their outer coverings and were now some sort of white material. The sun was warm on her tan skin. The trees she saw were no longer like the ones before but palm trees. It was beautiful here. A smile moved over her lips, lighting her silvery-sapphire eyes as she moved into the main building for a quick, light breakfast.

When she reemerged into the fresh, salty air she had to restrain herself from running straight to the beach to splash through the water. She could do that later. Katara still wanted to see if the horses were still there, or if the Planet had gotten rid of them with the scenery change.

The waterbender moved to the building that had once been the stable, pleased to see it was at least still there. It was a good sign. She entered it, half expecting to see something other than horses, but they were still there. Just as her eyes moved over a fine steed, she heard a voice, and her attention was drawn to a young man who spoke to a female horse. “Actually, I think they’re real. They may be here just to appease us and not because they were stolen from their world, but I think if they were fake they would look something like the golems instead of living, breathing creatures.” The Water Tribe girl walked toward him and extended her hand with a bright smile. “I’m Katara.”

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poeticmisery
2008-07-21 07:37 pm UTC (link)

Clark heard her before she spoke, and turned his head slowly and felt his breathe catch in his throat. For an instant the lithe figure with slightly asian features and dark hair looked as if it might be the girl of his dreams, wandering up the way that she usually did to say hello to him with a bright smile. But as he opened his mouth to speak his eyes adjusted and he saw that it wasn't who he had expected. If she was quick to catch it she would see the slight look of disappointment on his face, which lingered there for a moment after she finished talking, creating something of an awkward silence between the two of them as they stood there in the barn. Clark's bright blue eyes looked away for a moment as he tried to think of what to say.

"Uh... Sorry... for a minute I thought..." his hand strayed up behind the back of his head to scratch his raven locks of hair as he offered a rather charming smile to Katara before letting his hand drop, shaking his head at his own silliness and stupidity. Lana was the world to him, but it wasn't as if aliens or random forces of the universe were going to be interested in her enough to kidnap her the way he'd been, right? Then again, Katara looked normal enough, maybe the rest of the people here really were human, and not aliens after all.

"Sorry, I'm Clark... nice to meet you Katara..." he said, and took her hand, not to hard nor too soft, but perhaps exactly the right amount that he should have. It was something he practiced, not gripping hard enough to hurt someone. As he let her fingers fall from his hand after a light shake however, he began to wonder if she in fact was real herself. After all, how far did the illusion extend? But as he tried to think about that, he shook his head slowly. It was silly to go around thinking that everyone was fake, wasn't it?

"Were you kidnapped too? To this place, I mean..." Clark asked as he turned back to the horse as it nuzzled his shoulder, clearly looking for another treat. "Does anyone come here by choice? Have you ever seen whatever it is that runs this place?" he stopped then, realizing he was asking too many questions for her to answer at once, and gave her a moment to breathe as he leaned down to grab another treat from the bucket for the animal.

Were Katana the type to check another out, or even if she were observing him it'd be hard not to notice the way his firm muscles moved on the inside of his shirt, which was almost too tight, or the way his jeans hugged in all the right places. Still, there was a sense of bashfulness about the young man, as he seemed to have a presence that was more meek than the standard jock or warrior.

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k_waterbender
2008-07-22 03:25 am UTC (link)

Katara was very perceptive sometimes, and this was one of those moments. The look of disappointment that settled over his visage for a second immediately after he had looked so happy had her feeling strange. Maybe he had expected to see someone from home, or he simply didn’t want to see her. The waterbender had never seen this man before. She wondered if he was new, or if she had simply never been in the same vicinity as him all this time. It wasn’t impossible. Miguel had been around the same amount of time as her, and she’d only just met him the day before.

The Water Tribe femme bit her lower lip as her hands clasped in front of her, and she looked away from him for a moment. She felt rather awkward in this position, and wished for a moment that she hadn’t spoken. When he spoke, Katara’s grey-blue eyes returned to him. What had he thought? She must have been right to assume he had momentarily mistaken her for another, perhaps one who he’d met here earlier or something.

When he told her his name, she unlaced her fingers and gripped his hand. “It’s good to meet you, too, Clark.” Retracting her touch from him, she spoke again. “I’m sorry if I startled you.”

Then the questions began. She opened her mouth to respond to the first one, but he had already rattled off a couple more before she could speak. When he seemed to catch himself, she answered. “Yes. I was taken from my own world and brought here. I don’t really think anyone has a choice in the matter, but I have met someone who wants to stay here, along with some others who want to find a way back to their own worlds and times like me. I believe we’re standing on the ruler of this land. The Planet controls the happenings of this place. Did you read the plaque? I don’t think any mere person could have so much power. Yesterday this place looked like a farm, now it’s a beach. I’ve never known any who could earthbend to such a degree- not even a friend of mine from my home.”

Katara moved closer to him, reaching out to stroke the neck of the mare to whom he attended. Her gaze flickered to his face again, and she noticed he was a rather attractive man, though he looked a bit younger than she’d first perceived him to be. “How long have you been here so far?” The waterbender asked.

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poeticmisery
2008-07-22 09:51 pm UTC (link)

Clark was often rather clueless, but sometimes he had his perceptive moments, so a light frown touched his features as he thought about the way that Katara was looking at him. Sort of the way most girls did in high school that 'what the hell is wrong with this guy?' look, which made him want to start stammering the way he did around Lana when he'd first met her. A part of him just thought that the best idea might be to burst away as fast as he could at super speed and pretend he'd never met her... but then he couldn't really hide from the world here, now could he?

"Oh... No!" Clark said and his blue eyes looked away from Katara as she looked into his eyes, somewhat bashfully. "I... it's just unusual getting used to this world. I'd thought for a minute you might have been someone from my home town..." Clark's tone dropped off halfway through it and it spoke volumes about the way that Lana not being in this world was depressing to him. While he was good at hiding his identity, Clark had never really been that great about hiding his feelings, even when he'd tried to push Lana away for her own safety.

Clark had no issues about rattling off questions, though inside a part of him felt a little like he'd become Chloe, interrogating the first poor victim he'd found with any information whatsoever more than he had. The dark haired girl seemed to take it rather well, however, and Clark listened to her speak, opening his mouth to interrupt once before thinking better of it, his blue eyes looking down as she mentioned the two of them standing on the ruler. For a moment he considered using his X-ray vision in an attempt to see what was in the core of the earth, but given the rude welcome he'd got the last time he'd tried to resist, he thought better of it. Something to do on his own time rather than drag Katara into... and he was trying to keep his identity a secret... sort of hard to do if he was taking punches which sent him flying...

"I've met people who thought they were plenty of things, from Gods to the next rulers of mankind..." Clark said, shaking his head. "So I wouldn't be surprised at all if the 'Planet' was really some psycho thinking that they were in control of the whole world..." But even after he said it, he realized, whomever was running this whole show seemed to have no problem whatsoever dragging him in and keeping him. It wasn't exactly a bluff the sort of power that was being tossed around on a whim here, and that was a frightening concept.

As Clark came up with the treat he saw that Katara had moved a little closer, unfortunately he'd taken a step towards her as he came up as well, making the somewhat closer distance now a bit awkwardly close. His blue eyes flew open for a moment as he stared at her, not leaving her face though his body reminded him of the lithe form that he'd seen walking in the doorway, and caused his breath to still in his chest for a moment, while the horse to the side munched contentedly.

Finally, after a moment of lingering Clark stepped back and looked away. "er... Sorry, I... I... I didn't answer your question!" he said, clearly trying to change the subject.

"I just got here yesterday, actually... you?"

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k_waterbender
2008-07-22 10:41 pm UTC (link)

Katara nodded as he spoke. “I’m glad I didn’t startle you. I’m still getting used to this place, too. I haven’t seen anyone who even remotely resembles someone from home. Maybe it’s easier that way.” She had heard the way his tone lowered, and knew that he, like her, must feeling a similar pain in having had to leave his loved ones without a choice in the matter. “I’m sorry you thought I was someone I’m not, even if it was only for a moment.” She hated being the cause of someone else’s unhappiness, and this was no exception.

“In comparison to one woman I had the unluckiness to meet, this Planet is relatively sane.” Katara said, thinking of Azula. Becoming powerful had come at a price for the woman who became mad with it at fourteen- the same age Katara had been. “As far as I know, if the Planet isn’t just a… well… planet, then whoever is behind all of this really is in control of it. If it were a person, though, it would be so much easier to get home once we found him or her.”

When Clark neared to feed the horse, she realized he was close enough that she could feel his body heat. Katara was aware of the sudden tension in his well formed muscles, most likely from being in one another’s personal space. Silver-blue optics lifted to look at him, and a deep blush began to colour her cheeks as she noted the look upon his chiseled visage. Almost at the same instant as him, the waterbender stepped back and looked away. “I… uh…” She stammered, though he brought up the question she’d asked which alleviated the moment of its awkwardness.

“Wow. You really haven’t had time to get used to this place. I’ve been here for seven days. As far as I’ve seen, there isn’t a way out of this place, but I figure I just haven’t looked hard enough.” Katara decided it might be best if she didn’t think about that right now because it left a bitter feeling inside her.

“You seem really comfortable with these creatures. Are you experienced with horses? We didn’t have these animals where I’m from, though there were a couple kinds that were similar- like the ostrich-horses in the Earth Kingdom(even though they don’t really look anything like this) and the buffalo-yaks in the Northern Water Tribe.”