Clarice is working with portals (lostinexile) wrote in valarlogs, @ 2012-06-20 22:48:00 |
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Entry tags: | !complete, clarice ferguson (blink), neena thurman (domino) |
"Who names something Pinkie Pie"
Who: Clarice and Domino
What: Domino spent all night in Wal-mart
Where: Wal-mart
When: After this log
Status: Complete
Rating: PG-13 for my little pony toys
Status: complete
It was early morning, at Wal-mart. Clarice had needed some dog food, or else face the risk of her husky chewing her arm off.
There was a woman wandering around Wal-mart. She had shoulder length hair that was dark, almost black, and appeared to be really, really lost. Her tank top was a little askew, and there was dust smudged across her face in a thick smear. There were paint sample cards in one hand, and the other one was holding onto a my little pony.
There was dog food in her cart, and Clarice had turned to make her way and pick up some other things that she hadn't thought about until she was at the store. She stopped at stared at the woman. That was odd. She looked around. They were alone in this section. She really should just leave it alone, but she couldn't help it, "Are you okay?"
Domino wasn't even sure she remembered why there was a pony in her hand. She wasn't sure where the last few hours had gone, either. She'd been looking at paint samples, but then had gotten distracted with some paint cans that weren't lined up correctly.
She blinked at Clarice, and smiled a bit, "Oh ... I'm fine."
It was about 4am, and she wondered how long the woman had been wandering around in a daze. Because a daze was exactly what it looked like, "You're straightening the cat food."
"I am?" Dom looked down at her hand, which had at somepoint reached out to start making the cat food bags line up right. It was still also holding onto the paint samples, and she remembered that she probably had some paint cans waiting for her, somewhere in the store still.
She stopped, and eyedarted, "Habit of mine, I guess."
Clarice walked over, and casually turned a can of wet food so that it matched the rest, "There, you're all done." She glanced at her, eyes looking the other woman over, "Long night?"
"Hey, look at that." Dom blinked a bit and stepped away from the cat food, planting herself firmly in the center of the aisle. It was a nice safe place to be, hopefully.
She looked down at the My Little Pony in her hand, and nodded, "I was here for some paint, but I got a little lost. That sounds crazy, I know."
"And Pinkie Pie, apparently." Clarice smiled, "Late night emergency paint run?" Well, Sherman Williams wasn't open this early or that late, so it made sense. But this woman was clearly frazzled. She reached over to put a hand on her shoulder, "Why don't we go sit down somewhere."
"Who names something Pinkie Pie," Domino mumbled, while continuing to look the pony over, "Balloons on her butt. She's probably a party girl. But no, I think I picked her up somewhere in women's clothing actually."
She looked reluctant to put the pony down anywhere, too, because this wasn't the toy department. "I should get my paint cans ... they probably threw them away by now, I don't know how long I've been in here. ... Coffee might be nice."
Now Clarice was wondering when the woman had last slept, and what her real story was. Normal people don't spent all night in a wal-mart. She found herself saying, "I'll buy you a cup."
And Domino was wondering what kind of woman buys a crazy lady she ran into at Wal-mart a coffee, but she wasn't about to turn down a free one, "OKay."
A woman with issues about curiosity and helping people, both of which were triggered by the frazzled raven-haired obsessive-compulsive, "You can put those in my cart."
"Oh, thank you." The raven-haired obsessive-compulsive woman looked incredibly relieved, and set down the pony, along with a neat stack of paint sample cards, then ran a hand through her hair, "There's a McDonald's that way, I was there at some point I think."
"Lets swing by and get your paint, it's closer." Clarice leaned on the card, pushing it along past Neena, "I'm Clarice."
"Neena," Dom replied, while trying not to look at the aisles they passed on the way. She'd neaten the headcaps if she paid attention, she was certain of it.
No one should show Neena what the underwear aisle looks like right now.
They made it to the paint, and Clarice looked down at the paint sample cards, curiously. Colors could tell you a lot about a person. Then there were the colors you liked in secret. Pink was Clarice's.
The cards had been stacked so neatly that it was impossible to see what color was on each one, but the top range was a set of warm blues. They weren't the colors Dom had ended up going with, however. She'd settled on a softer, somewhat desaturated blue-green that reminded her of beach glass, along with some cream paint for the trim, which was at least better than blank old white.
The cans were still waiting on the counter for her when they arrived in the hardware department, and she lifted them up, then glanced at Clarice's cart, "Mind if I put these in there?"
"Go ahead, all I've got is dog food and some make-up." It was a bit over the top make-up, but she needed it for the show, and it was cheaper than buying specialty. Why should she when she can be creative? She helped Neena get the paint into the cart, and then led her off towards Mcdonalds.
It occured to her that she'd need things like drop cloths, painter's tape, brushes, and rollers, but she'd pick them up after the coffee. Domino was certain she was going to need a lot of coffee. In fact, she was so certain of it that she wondered if she shouldn't just pick up more while they were there.
And maybe get some more eggs. She still needed to clean all that other shit out of her fridge.
She pulled her phone out and started making a list.
Clarice eyed her again, then ordered the largest coffee they had, "What do you want in it? Iced? Hot? Are you sure you shouldn't go home and sleep?"
"I am never... going to sleep...again." Domino stated, matter-of-factly, then shook her head, "I'm absolutely certain. Everything's fine. Black, no sugar. No ice. Just coffee."
"Okay. Large coffee, black then." Clarice got herself an iced mocha, deciding since she was already up she might as well stay up. She had dress rehearsal later.
At least she hadn't come to the store in her costume. She brought Neena the coffee, and then took a seat to sip at her own, "That's a tall order, never sleeping again."
Dom took the coffee cup in hand and lifted it to her mouth, stopping halfway to squint at her, "Are you saying I can't do it?"
Because she could totally do it. It was easy. She'd once been on a stakeout where she hadn't slept for a week, so how much worse could it be if she never slept for the rest of her life?
Maybe she could pull a Pete and walk off the pier after this mission was over. Just make sure that her brother was finally safe somewhere, then bang. How long could that possibly take? She was going to be perfectly fine.
"I'm saying it's not possible. After the first week you'll start taking catnaps."
"...Are you sure? Have you ever done it?"
"I went about four days once, during heavy rehearsals for a play," Clarice admitted. "Then I slept for about fifteen hours and nearly missed the opening curtain."
"Well,shit," Dom sighed, but took a long drink of coffee anyway, "I don't know whats worse, then. Never sleeping and then dreaming for 15 hours, or just getting the 5 I usually get."
Ah hah! Now they get down to it! Clarice shrugged a shoulder, "If you get a deep enough sleep you won't remember any bad dreams, sometimes."
"These ones are different," and Domino wondered why it was easier to tell a complete and total stranger about it than the man she let sleep in her bed and cuddle her at night. Maybe because he was getting too close to the insides of her. He'd certainly gotten under her skin lately.
Enough that the thought of going home to an empty apartment was as scary as the dream she'd had there. She twitched a bit at the memory of how hurt she'd been hours earlier. It wasn't solving anything to drag it back up again, and she couldn't blame him for giving her space either. Mainly at this point she just felt numb about it.
"Different? Well I'm taking a pysch course as part of my degree but that's not really going to be useful here."
Clarice had only signed up on the net to promote the theatre. Which she wasn't having that much luck or. Or maybe people weren't as interested she could have hoped. It was bothersome.
Although that idea of a naked play was interesting. If she could find the right play for it.
As such, she had no idea about any dreams!
"I don't know how long you've been around or how squeamish you are. People everywhere are having these dreams, but they end up being more like memories," Dom's lips thinned into a line, and she ducked her head a bit to avoid eye contact, "You feel everything. You remember or know things, in the dream, that you've never known in your life. Remember people you've never met. Taste, touch, you name it. All 5 senses."
That was the third craziest thing Clarice had ever heard. The other two had both been from the class clown in high school, and one of her best friends at the time, "....sometimes dreams can be very realistic, if they are memories. Old ones drudged up by something you saw in the waking world."
"I think that's what I'm worried about the most," Dom admitted, softly, "And I don't know why I'm telling you this. You could be someone dangerous. I don't know you from adam. For all I know you're an enemy."
She was half tempted to pull a gun on the woman, and in fact reached a hand around to where her holster normally would have been. It took her a few seconds to realise her hand was hanging there in the air, and on top of that, she'd left the house unarmed.Oh Domino.
"They must have been disturbing..." Clarice's mind could be over thinking what that could all mean, but it didn't register because of enemy, "I'm not going to do anything to you. I work in theatre, I'm harmless!"
There were a tense few moments of Domino squinting at Clarice, like she was trying to get a read on her. The young woman was the sort that the Illusive Man liked to work with, but she seemed generally far too innocent, and there wasn't even any hardness to her eyes. She couldn't believe that anyone would hire her to tail her, or that she was actually someone in disguise.
Of course, she could be a sleeper agent, or brainwashed, or just a really really good actress. But Dom was unarmed in a Wal-mart drinking coffee that might even have roofies in it - you could never be too sure when someone would slip you something damn it - and at this point she wasn't sure she cared.
"...Sorry. They were very disturbing. And I don't remember my childhood, and there's parts of my life I have blackouts over, too, so I'm really worried that some things have happened to me that I was trying very hard not to remember."
Might as well be honest.
Well it certainly was a coincidence she was here in this wal-mart, and so casually expressed concern. But maybe that was just the kind of person she was, "That's not uncommon. Not really fun either. I'm sorry."
She put a hand on Neena's arm.
The muscles underneath the hand tensed up momentarily, then relaxed. Domino wasn't much for physical contact with people you don't know, but the girl was just trying to be nice.
She sighed, and took another sip of her coffee, "But hey. If it happened, then it happened, and that's the end of it. You said you work in theatre?"
Clarice had enough psych to detect deflection, but she went with it. It wasn't a degree she was going for; just enough to really help her in getting into the minds of the characters she played, "Yes! We do primarily Shakespeare but I'm trying to get us into doing some other things. We're doing Wicked later this summer."
"Are you hoping to make a career out of it, or is it like a hobby for you?"
"I'd be happy doing it the rest of my life," Clarice replied, grinning. "I like some of the more obscure roles, but there are a few big ones I like as well. I'd like to gain the gravitas for Lady Macbeth, some day."
"Playing the more obscure roles and doing it well is the sign of a good actress," Domino liked the show-stealers that hid in the background and were awesome. They were the kind of roles that vanished into obscurity when done badly or without any passion, but could be memorable in good hands.
"They're fun. Well so is Puck. I always snap that one up when I get a chance." She winked at Neena, "It's acrobatic, and a deeper role than people give it credit for."
"Acrobatic, eh?" Dom finished her coffee, and started spinning her cup around on the table.
"Yes. I probably could have done gymnastics. I'm double-jointed. But for being a sport about flexibility it's so...rigid." She smiled thoughtfully.
"Heh. You should poke around on that Valarnet thing. I swear half the Olympic Gymanstics Team is registered on that thing. One of them was squealing about London the other night."
"I'm not olympics material!" She laughed, "but it might be good to talk shop, or play around." The truth was, Clarice could probably stand to find other interests besides the theater. It pretty much consumed her life outside of college. She hadn't even dated someone in over a year.
And that conversation had started with 'hi, I'm double jointed' and ended in his bed.
"Maybe not, but friends never hurt?" Dom tried not to eyedart over the irony of that sentence.
"No, they don't. But I don't really know anyone outside of theatre or school." She looked suddenly guilty, "I haven't even spoke to my best friend from high school in two years. Granted, he went out of state."
"Life gets crazy and it's hard to keep in touch with people that aren't around sometimes," Dom shrugged her shoulders. There were plenty of friends she'd made as a merc, and most of them she hadn't spoken to in years. Granted, some of them learned she was CIA and decided to go to ground, but the ones who still cared? She hadn't even sent any emails in a while.
"Hopefully Kevin forgives me." Sighing, the woman hit the bottom of her cup and slurped up the rest, getting some mocha on her cheek.
"You got a ... " Dom pointed at her cheek, then pointed at Clarice.
"Hmm? Oh!" She grbbed a napkin and cleaned it off, "Thanks."
"Do you need help getting everything to your car?" Clarice found it difficult to want to leave her. She was concerned. This was also the longest conversation outside of the rest of the theater group she'd had in a month.
"Oh ... well I still have a lot of things I need to buy. Paint supplies, coffee. I have a list." Dom patted her pocket, where her trusty phone kept its lists, "But thanks. I probably just need to get my own cart."
"I should probably get in line with my things." Clarice grinned, getting to her feet.
Dom got to her feet and dusted herself off, finally noticing her shirt was askew and fixing it. The coffee made her feel more like a person again, and the talking had certainly helped, though she was still a little worried that she'd just admitted a weakness in public. That was stupid. Oh well!
"I'll look for you on that Valarnet thing later on maybe. When I'm done painting. Let's go get me a cart."
"Hey, if you want help painting, let me know. I can stop by after practice."
"I appreciate the gesture, but this is something I need to do on my own."
Painting is srs business.