InsaneJournal

Tweak says, "BLINK 182 - NEIGHBORHOODS"

Simon Tam (can_swear) wrote in silverage,
@ 2011-08-11 07:12:00

Entry tags:

!log, cameron, simon tam

...what?
Who: Simon, Cameron
What: a chance meeting / mistaken identity
When: afternoon
Where: on the streets
Rating: Low
Status: --

Simon was no expert on the matter, but he was pretty sure that snow in August was against the norm. Everything he'd seen on the television seemed to indicate the same. He wasn't exactly prepared for this weather, but he'd managed to find a coat in the lost and found, and he'd watched through a window as ill-prepared city workers did their best to clear the snow off the streets and sidewalks.

He didn't understand it, but he'd seen a note on the board about ... magic users. It still boggled his mind, and he'd rather believe it was a weather anomaly than think someone had the power to cast a blizzard in their cage. As far as he knew, at any rate, it encompassed the entirety of their cage. He was more concerned with the immediate area, however, and how he was going to handle being outside in these temperatures.

Either way, he did intend to get outside and see what help he could offer to people who'd gotten into accidents, or slipped and fallen on the ice. So it was that he made his way out of the welcome center in the afternoon. He had no real plan just then save to wander around (or head to the hospital and offer his assistance there), but something happened that derailed his plans entirely.

He saw River.

Well, no. River had never moved quite like that, but maybe it was the snow? From this distance though ... she looked just like her. "River!" he called out as he shoved his hands deeper into his pocket, his medkit banging against his side as he moved carefully in her direction. "River!" He called again, in case she hadn't heard the first time.

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cameront888
2011-08-11 04:56 pm UTC (link)

It had been a good day for Cameron. Costume fitting had gone well. Her afternoon rehearsal too. And she found out she was getting a solo in Nutcracker in the fall. Another step up the dancer's ladder and a new part to learn. Something to keep her interested for a while, anyway.

The cold weather was irritating as far as getting around town, but she could walk if not drive, and there was always the subway. She didn't really need a coat, but wore one anyway to blend in with everyone else on the street.

Then a man was coming toward her, calling out what she assumed was a name or something, River. Something else new to arouse her curiosity. A quick scan showed that the man was unarmed, so she put a puzzled look on her face.

"No," she replied slowly, "my name is Allison. Allison Young. Can I help you?"

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can_swear
2011-08-11 08:07 pm UTC (link)

No, it wasn't River. Of course it wasn't. Still, even close up, this girl could have been her twin. There were differences, of course, but not things easily spied.

Simon felt disproportionately disappointed that this wasn't River. "Sorry," he replied. "It's just ... I have a sister and she ... you ..." Simon struggled to find the word he was chasing. "You look like her," he finished as he studied the young woman. Allison. Not River.

He stood awkwardly for a moment, torn between wondering how this was possible and actually asking about it. It wasn't likely that she'd know though, so he shook his head. "Sorry," he repeated before drawing his hands out of his pockets. He transferred his bag to the left, extending his right to her. "Simon Tam," he introduced himself. It only seemed fair he knew her name, after all.

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cameront888
2011-08-11 10:05 pm UTC (link)

Cameron shook her head. "No, sorry. I'm from California, and I think I'd know if I had a brother."

She shook the proffered hand. "Do I really look like your sister?" She smiled. "Pleased to meet you then, Simon. Like I said, I'm Allison Young."

Thinking for a moment, she continued, "Are you one of those new arrivals and looking for your sister? I've met a few before."

"And what do you think about this crazy weather?" He was young, reasonably attractive for a human, and might just know something she didn't. Cameron might as well talk to him, at least for a little while.

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can_swear
2011-08-12 12:43 am UTC (link)

He shook his head. California. No, of course not. "Not ... I mean, there are differences. Not ... something others would necessarily spot. Physically, I mean. I'm sure mentally you're ... obviously, two completely different people." He studied her. "But you resemble her a great deal," he admitted. Almost painfully so, if he was being honest. Like a sane River, one who hadn't been tampered with and broken.

Simon did nod to her question about being a new arrival. "Just ... a few days ago," he agreed. "Are there a lot of people looking for siblings?" He inquired, wondering if she'd meant she'd met new arrivals or specifically arrivals seeking siblings. Either way, he couldn't imagine anyone who arrived here wasn't missing someone at home.

"Someone said it was ... magic?" He regarded her skeptically before he shrugged. "It's unnatural, anyway. The temperature and ... the sudden snow in summer. It's ... unexpected."

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cameront888
2011-08-12 01:33 am UTC (link)

"I'm so sorry. I hope you find her, or get back to her, or... whatever."

"I don't know about siblings so much." Cameron shrugged. "But I have seen notes on the bulletin boards looking for friends and husbands and the like. This seems to be a messed-up situation all around for a lot of people." Like here, but she wasn't going to say anything about that if it could be avoided. "Have you tried a notice yourself?"

"There were some things posted about magic, too, that I read. And some complaints about the weather. I guess there's magic in New York now. Funny, isn't it?"

"I'm done for the day. Were you going anywhere or just taking a walk to enjoy the snow? I could probably use something to eat, and you can tell me about where you're from. There are so many interesting places I've never heard about before."

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can_swear
2011-08-12 01:52 am UTC (link)

"Thank you," he said. She even sounded a little like River. The tone was off, her speech pattern wasn't fractured like River's was, but ... it wasn't so far off from how River's had been before the Academy. It made him miss her all over again, but there was no sense to it. She wasn't here, she might not be here, and he couldn't bank on anyone he knew showing up, ever.

"I ... posted on the boards, looking for a job. For anyone in need of a doctor. I've been ... following up on that." Sporadically. He was still trying to decide how much ignorance he thought he could put up with and still be a good doctor, and whether he'd be better suited at the big General hospital, or if a smaller but still busy place was the one for him.

"I haven't ... had any experience with magic. Before I came here, that is." He was still having trouble wrapping his mind around it completely, but ... there it was. It was part of life here.

"I was just ..." Simon gestured down the street. "Going to try to be helpful. If there were injuries caused by the snow or slipping or ... the cold." He exhaled, watching his breath plume the air. Maybe going inside somewhere wasn't a bad idea. "That ... sounds fine," he said. "I didn't think to eat lunch before I came out."

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	cameront888 2011-08-12 02:09 am UTC (link)
	"Maybe you should ask about some of the people from the future that are here if they need a doctor or something. Wouldn't they be more used to the way you practice medicine?" Cameron grinned. "I have a job at least. Why don't you let me buy you something to eat? Then we can sit and talk. There are a couple of places not far from here." (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

can_swear
2011-08-12 02:20 am UTC (link)

"It's been suggested a time or two," he agreed. "I ... it's hard to say. If they're from a completely different galaxy, things might be different enough that their methods are just as foreign as mine would be considered here." He smiled. "I'm sure I'll ... eventually I'll find something. Somewhere."

He was still holding out hope he'd wake up back home, or they'd find a way there.

Simon, even now, was unaccustomed to accepting charity, but he nodded slightly to her offer. "If you'd like," he agreed.

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cameront888
2011-08-12 03:01 am UTC (link)

"Different galaxy, different universe." She waved a hand to indicate herself. "Isn't the human model pretty much the same everywhere? I'd think people from the future would be more used to advanced techniques."

Cameron stepped closer and took Simon's arm. She really did want to hear about where he came from. A world where there was no Terminator threat, no John Connor to defend.

She looked around. "There's a little cafe right there. The other girls at the Theater say the food is pretty good." She gave his arm a tug. "What do you feel like for a late lunch today?"

"So where and when are you from and what sort of a place is it?"

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can_swear
2011-08-12 03:14 am UTC (link)

"Yes, but ... if one assumes that evolution proceeded differently in different universes then it's possible that a human shaped being is different internally, depending on how the species in this other galaxy evolved." It was theoretical, of course, but if they were going to have people here with magic, why couldn't they have people from other galaxies that were human shaped but alien on the inside?

He shook his head and shrugged. "It ... anything. Whatever you're having. On the ship we just had ... protein, mostly. I mean, Kaylee ..." He trailed off, struck by a wave of homesickness and sorrow. Kaylee. "She did what she could," Simon continued in a slightly more subdued tone. "But when you don't have much to work with, there aren't many places to go."

Simon gazed down at the ground for a moment to watch his step before he glanced back over to Allison. "2518 for the when. As far as the where ... that's more complicated. I was born on a planet called Osiris, but I ... lately, we've ... Serenity's been home to us, and that ... she's a space ship. We fly. That ... we don't have a planet. I mean, everyone's from somewhere different.

"As far as what sort of place ..." He shrugged. "Diverse. The core planets are rich and advanced in technology. The planets closer to the rim are ... more primitive, less refined. More manual labor and less ... fewer upper class sorts of jobs."

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cameront888
2011-08-12 03:37 am UTC (link)

Cameron shrugged and waved to the waitress, reading the menu posted over the counter. "Cheeseburgers and chocolate shakes for both of us," she told the girl."

"All that technical stuff is way beyond me," she told Simon. "I'm just a dancer with the Civic Ballet. It sounds like you've thought a lot of it out."

She led Simon to a booth and pushed at him to sit, then sat down herself. Cameron wanted to sit across from him so she could keep close watch on his eyes, face, scan if he was telling the truth or not.

"So you were a doctor on a space ship? That sounds exciting enough to me. But it doesn't sound like you doing very well. What happened, and who was Kaylee? Your wife?"

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can_swear
2011-08-12 03:49 am UTC (link)

"We had a lot of discussions of theory in study groups during school," he said. His eyes took on a slight distance as he reflected on days in school. "A ... several brilliant minds in the same room, there was bound to be outlandish speculation," he continued. "Especially when so many of them were from different planets. Different backgrounds."

He smiled a little and let Allison direct him into the booth. He rested his hands on the table after tucking his bag between himself and the wall of the booth, disinclined to leave it somewhere it might be snatched.

"Not ... no. We were ... seeing each other. Dating," he said, though even that wasn't quite right. How did you date on a ship, after all? But they were together, and that was what mattered. "It's ..." He exhaled softly.

"I was a doctor at a hospital on a core planet. I graduated in the top three percent of my class. Was a very gifted surgeon. And ..." Simon gazed out the window, watching the snow for a moment. "And then I found out that my sister wasn't at school. Not a real school. She was being ... hurt. Experimented on, by the Alliance. People who wanted her for her brain."

He lapsed into silence, reflecting on everything that had happened in regard to River. "I gave up everything to get her out. To free her. We ... were fugitives. I had no money. My accounts were frozen. My parents wouldn't help us. I had nothing but her, but ... she was all I needed."

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cameront888
2011-08-12 04:12 am UTC (link)

"Oh," Cameron said. "That must have been exciting. I'm afraid being a dancer doesn't require a lot in the way of deep thinking, and most of the girls in the cast certainly couldn't have a deep thought with a shovel."

"It must be hard to lose a girlfriend and your sister - your entire life, even if it wasn't the best, and find yourself here. I can only imagine. It certainly sounds like family meant everything to you. I don't have any family since my parents died. And you were going out to see if you could help anybody that hurt themselves with this storm. That sounds like a pretty rare sort of man to me, Simon Tam."

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can_swear
2011-08-12 04:21 am UTC (link)

"River loved to dance," he said softly. "There wasn't a step she couldn't learn in minutes." He half-closed his eyes as he thought about it while simultaneously trying not to think about it. He'd go mad with worry if he kept this up.

Simon shook his head, but it wasn't like he could actively argue against her statement. River meant everything to him, and she was his family. He also guessed extreme self-sacrifice really wasn't that common. "I don't ... really think of myself that way," he said. "I just ... she had to get out and my parents weren't taking me seriously. I had to save her. No matter what it cost. She ... she would have done the same for me."

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cameront888
2011-08-12 12:10 pm UTC (link)

"Ballet takes a lot of hard work and practice to get everything right. I've been dancing for years. But its interesting that someone who looks a lot like me was also good at dancing."

She smiled softly. "You are a good man, and have a good family. Maybe she'll find you here, or maybe nobody will even notice you're gone. I haven't heard that anybody knows what is going on with all this."

"What was it like living on a space ship? What did you do and what did you see?"

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can_swear
2011-08-12 02:31 pm UTC (link)

Not for her he wanted to say, but he could barely believe River's aptitude for ... everything, without trying to make a stranger believe how easily everything came to his sister. "It's interesting that someone who looks like her was drawn here," Simon countered as he regarded Allison.

He nodded slightly, but it wasn't as though he could know what was going on at home. Was he gone? Was this place actually outside of time and his absence wouldn't be noted because he'd be returned? He wished someone had the answers -- and that he knew who they were.

"It ..." He shook his head and frowned. How to even describe it? "We had a lot of ... adventures," he said. "I ... well, we ... the crew ... they were ..." Simon sighed. He didn't want to say criminals -- though it was truth -- because that just painted the wrong shade of a picture. "We did odd jobs," he settled on. "I ... wasn't on the field so much. Not great with guns, and they needed me inside to treat the ... injuries that did occur.

"But we traveled all over the galaxy, taking work where it was. Saw ... everything. Core planets, border moons." Whorehouses. Death. So much death. Reavers. He half-closed his eyes before he opened them again. "It's a very busy life. What ... what about yours? What was your life like at home?"

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