InsaneJournal

Tweak says, "That's an embuggerance..."

John Connor (johnbaum) wrote in omega_reality,
@ 2013-03-03 13:34:00

Entry tags:

*complete, 2013 03, character: claudia donovan, character: john connor

RP: John and Claudia
Who: John Connor and Claudia Donovan
Where: The Safehouse
When: Sunday, March 3, 2013 - late afternoon
Summary: John does some checking up on a teammate.

Sundays were, historically, a day to sleep in. The Sunday after spending all night at a club was a day to practically sleep away. It was the first time John had relaxed in weeks and while he'd woken up briefly with each interruption, such as children waking early, people coming and going, staying curled up asleep against a wall -- because he'd made sure they staked out a section of the room where they had the cover of a wall at their back during the night -- let him sleep for hours around all the activity.

But, now he was awake and hungry. He was heading for a snack and considering bringing back a simple meal for both himself and Brian when he noticed a lone red tail hawk in the sky through the window. The sight drew him outside for a moment. It was one of those things he missed about Echo Park. There'd been hawks in the Hollywood Hills that would drift in lazy circles over the house in the afternoon, probably looking for field mice. Like the stars at night, John had found watching them soothing.

It was as he was turning to go back inside that he noticed Claudia was outside as well. She'd been coming outside more since they got there, he'd noticed. John assumed to practice her power, which really required outdoors in a way, like his. But, as he felt a little responsible for her after she'd reached out to him about getting ready to leave this world and he hadn't checked in with her or most of the others the night before and she was right here, he detoured for a moment. "Hey, you have fun last night? I'm glad you could come along even if I wasn't as good a host as I should have been."

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_claudia_d
2013-03-03 11:38 pm UTC (link)

Claudia was more staring at the sparse trees than practicing with them today. She hadn't drank much because she was too aware of rifts and governments lurking to want to let her guard down. She was still tired, though, from being out late. The fresh air was keeping her from becoming zombified.

She smiled at John's approach and question. "Yeah, I did. Friends and eye-candy all in the same place. A woman needs a good ogle once in a while," she said. "How about you, birthday boy? Did you have as much fun as Nick apparently did on his errand, judging by the dopey smile on his face when they returned?"

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johnbaum
2013-03-03 11:55 pm UTC (link)

John laughed and shook his head. He was not going to think about that dopey smile and what could possibly have put it there. He was actually feeling a little sorry for Deeks and Marks having to be bodyguards for that. "I won't make comparisons, but yes, I did enjoy myself. And it's better knowing my friends had fun celebrating, too. I'm pretty sure Nell would agree with you about the ogling."

He yawned widely, then grinned sheepishly. "Sorry about that. Must be a sign it was a good night. I'm glad you enjoyed yourself, though. I haven't been sure how much space to give you since leaving the island and what happened to Eric and all. I tend to pull in and not do well with people hovering about. And you're pretty good at acting like everything's fine, so maybe you don't need it, now. But, I want you to know you have friends here still, if you need someone to talk to about anything." Rubbing the back of his neck, he shrugged. "Okay, so maybe this is my way of checking up on you, too. Make sure you're really as okay as you seem."

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	_claudia_d 2013-03-04 12:22 am UTC (link)
	"I won't say everything's fine, because that would be a lie, but I'm managing. It's one day, then the next, and the next, and at some point you reach the bittersweet part," Claudia said. "At least we're relatively busy to keep me from dropping into the doldrums. The move and the new covers and environment will help." (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

johnbaum
2013-03-04 01:21 am UTC (link)

John nodded. "Yeah, keeping busy is good. When Derek's power first came through, we thought he'd died. Throwing myself into training, some extra sparring one-on-one with Sam, was what helped me work through it. That was when I first really got it that the others considered me a friend, too. Troy and I...we'd had a huge argument not long before. But, he was still there for me, along with the others. They threw a wake and it made me talk about Derek, give myself permission to miss him openly. It helped more than I thought it would."

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	_claudia_d 2013-03-04 03:11 pm UTC (link)
	"I asked Marty to see if we could get Eric's surfboard and go surfing one time if possible, for him. Eric loved surfing even more than computer stuff." Claudia's smile was wobbly. "Those seals really bummed him out." (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

johnbaum
2013-03-05 10:47 am UTC (link)

"He was definitely a product of L.A., sun and surf. I'm pretty sure he hated every moment of snow in New York the first time we were there." Normally John wasn't that demonstrative a person. Not that he had the same aversion to hugs and kisses on the cheek a lot of people seemed to -- at least if you listened to Savannah when she was talking about 'closed off men'. He just didn't come from a background where it was done. He hugged his mom a lot, but that was about it. Still, there were times it was the more natural response.

Like now.

Putting one arm around Claudia's shoulders, he pulled her into a one-armed hug. "It's okay to miss him, you know, to let us see it. No one's going to blame you if you have moments when it's too hard to smile because of the memories. We've all lost someone. Life goes on, but that doesn't mean everything has to be okay all of the time. You don't have to keep up a brave with your friends. If anyone gets how you feel, it's us." He smiled. "And if anyone has a problem with it, you can just point me at them."

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	_claudia_d 2013-03-06 02:18 pm UTC (link)
	Claudia leaned her head briefly against his shoulder. "Thanks. It's both good and sucks that you guys understand." (Reply to this) (Parent)