InsaneJournal

Clara Oswald is going the long way round (alwaysbeenthere) wrote in valarlogs, @ 2016-06-07 16:11:00

It wasn’t that Clara wasn’t expecting it. She had been. She had known that, even though her dreams were now done, her dad would continue to dream. Without her. He would have adventures and she, well… she had those adventures with Me, but then she also was to return to her death. She knew (or was at least fairly certain) that the day she dreamt of the Raven once more, that would be it. There would be no second, now third, chance. She would die and stay dead.

That didn’t change the fact though, that when she had seen her dad dream again, that it hurt. And when Clara was faced with loss or something that hurt (which really, it was a combination in a very strange way), she avoided. There wasn’t much she could do in Orange County. She took her TARDIS out, travelled. But it didn’t work all the time. So she had gone to a club. Yes, she was a teacher, but it didn’t really matter. She just wanted to dance and forget for a few hours.

It was all going fine until she had gone outside to get some air and some jerk had followed her. Clara could flirt with the best of them, but sometimes they were far too persistent. Sometimes she got a bad feeling about them. Like this one, she had determined it would be better to ignore him instead of engage. Only he hadn’t wanted to accept that and had followed her outside. Honestly, she was getting ready to kick the jerk in the shins.

Cloud had been… well he was there for a reason, mostly because it was good cover while some of his co-workers moved a few things around in the back. A club wasn’t really his usual scene so he’d danced awkwardly a bit with someone. He noticed the way some creep followed that girl and while he had some problems with making Good Life Choices he still had some standards.

He grabbed the man and pinned his arm behind his back painfully. “Might want to rethink your life choices.”

Good Life Choices were overrated. Goodness knew Clara was pretty bad at them herself. Admittedly, Clara hadn’t been expecting anyone to interfere. They usually didn’t. Though it was how she met Buffy. Note to self, meet people by getting harassed even though she could handle herself? Right. Not the time to be contemplating these things.

“Hey man, we were just talking.”

“No. We really weren’t.”

Of course the guy would try to make it seem as though they knew one another even though they didn’t. Clara was reckless, she knew it. It was how she was in her current situation in the dreams. Recklessness and trying to protect someone else and she didn’t regret it. Not for an instant. But just because she was reckless didn’t mean she was going to lie for some jerk who wasn’t leaving her alone either.

Good Life Choices would mean that Cloud wasn’t working for a terrorist organization, and they weren’t the ‘good’ guys like Avalanche. Which he’d probably find out when his life imploded. Not that he cared as long as he got paid (at least until he started caring. But Cloud doesn’t care, that’s why he’s most certainly not helping this woman).

He twisted tighter, then snapped his head into the back of the man’s and shoved him forward. “Go away, or you’ll regret it.”

No, he clearly didn’t care about other people. That was why he was interfering with a stranger, someone he didn’t know. She knew there wasn’t dream crossover, she’d never met him and her dreams were now over. But it seemed the guy got the message as he sent a scowl at the two before going off, rubbing his arm in the process.

“Thanks. You didn’t have to do anything, so… yeah. Thank you.” Smiled to him some. It wasn’t even that she was startled or anything. She’d been annoyed with the guy but would have handled it otherwise.

“No problem,” Cloud said, rubbing the back of his neck. He didn’t take compliments well. Especially since he’d done something for free. Oh, the agony. Local Man Helps Someone and Surprised It Feels Good.

Funny the way things worked. Though if she knew that he was actually shocked that helping someone felt good, Clara didn’t show it, instead she just brushed her hair behind her ear and tilted her head to the side some. “You look familiar. Are you on any social network sites?” It was an easy enough question, those on the network would certainly pick up on it. And if not, she could brush it off.

She was a brilliant liar.

“Uh. Yeah, I might be.” He squinted at her. He wasn’t sure he recognized her but then he was terrible with faces.

Nodded some. “That explains it.” Smiled and held her hand out, “I’m Clara.”

“Cloud.” He took her hand. “Two C names. Nice.” It was random and it amused him, but most importantly it was something to say that didn’t sound entirely too awkward. “Do you have someone who can come get you?”

“Nice to meet you, Cloud. C names are the best names.” Winked and then shrugged as he asked if she had someone who could come get her. “If necessary but I can get back to my flat easily enough on my own as well.”

“Well, I was going to offer to walk you, but that sounded creepy.” Cloud shrugged his right shoulder. “Just no telling if he really will leave you alone.”

“Mm… maybe a bit but probably not as bad as you were thinking.” He did have a point though. There was no telling if the jerk would actually have left or if he was one of those persistent ones waiting at the corner for when she was alone. She could handle herself, yes. But after the whole thing with Anakin and her very protective family and friends…. “Valid point and I wouldn’t turn down a walking companion if you’ve nothing better to do.”

He glanced back towards the club, then shrugged. His job was done there, they’d be fine. “My plans are done. Nice weather for walking.” Cloud did like to mosey.

Plans? Interesting. But really not her business so instead just nodded. “Well, I’ll gladly walk with you then. The weather is nice.” Smiled and moved away from the wall she’d been leaning against so that they could mosey on to her flat.

Cloud made a little gesture that was supposed to mean ‘lead on’ but really came out kind of flat and sad. “Uhm. Which way?”

Amused but motioned her head in the direction they were to walk. “So, what brought you to Orange County anyway?” Since usually there was a reason they showed up. Specifically on the network, which was it’s own bag of complicated but also not something to just jump right into. Clara could have some tact, thank you very much.

“Job offer. Good money. Most of it is...guard duty type stuff. Boring, but…” He shrugged. “Good money.” Once he had money he didn’t know what to do with it. But getting money was kind of a goal into itself and he’d figure that out once he had a lot banked away.

Nodded some, “Ah, makes sense.” Wasn’t that why she’d gone to Orange County as well? Or at least what she used as a reason since running away from pain and loss didn’t sound all that well and that had required her admitting to the loss in the first place. “Sort of required here as it’s pretty expensive here.”

Cloud had been running from things too, but he’d never outright admit that. Not to Tifa, let alone a stranger. “Everything is more expensive than I thought it would be. I don’t buy much though.”

He didn’t usually talk that much, but something about the county made him a little bit more chatty. That, and he enjoyed trolling people a little too much.

Because why would anyone actively admit to the fact they were running from things? Oh no, that definitely was not a thing that happened. Usually. Some were more open about it but Clara ran from her pain, locked it away to the best of her ability and kept with the story that it was a job opportunity and chance to start a new adventure.

Then again, she always was pretty talkative as well, which was why she didn’t mind the company on her walk home to make sure no creeps followed.

“That helps. And yeah, it can be a challenge. And sales tax. I’ve been here over a year and I still forget about that sometimes.” Shook her head some.

“It’s pretty high. Not sure what it goes too. Not like the roads get any improvement or something.” At least his employers paid well. He should memorize the front name. They didn’t even tell him who he was working for. That should raise red flags. But Cloud? Didn’t really care.

“Most items don’t have an added sales tax in England. What’s on the label is what you pay.” Made planning shopping out much easier as there were no sudden ‘oh this is actually 3.22 even though the price listed is 2.98’ for tea. As for not knowing the name of your employers? Definitely a red flag if ever there were one.

“Don’t you have that value added tax?” Cloud asked. He knew that was a thing. But he hadn’t been in Europe in awhile so he couldn’t really remember what it was for. It was different from a sales tax, he guessed. “But that would be really nice.”

“Sure, but it’s still already known. It’s not added at the end of the transaction. So you take a top, right? The tag is what you pay. The VAT is already included in the price.” There were some items that then had an added ‘luxury’ tax but it was still done in a way that you could anticipate the cost because it was already there. Then restaurants which showed you the VAT. “It is. Much easier to plan for.”

“Oh. Okay.” That made sense. Cloud thought that sales tax should just be a flat percent and displayed on the price. Not everyone could translate 7.5% of 19.99 on the fly. Cloud mostly just assumed 10% and then got pleasantly surprised when it was less than that.

That was the main thing that managed to still throw her. The added sales tax at the end instead of just...having it displayed on the tag from the get go. But America was America and she had gotten better at knowing that it would be more than what was added up while going along. Annoying, but that was the way it was. “Oh well, not much to be done about it. Just annoying.”

But she now had her TARDIS, which meant that she could just pop back to England or wherever to get things without having to worry about the annoying issue of sales tax being added on after the fact.

There was probably something illegal about that but really, who would know? Cloud walked along in silence for a bit, before trying to fill the air with something, so he asked. “What do you do? For work. You probably don’t...hang out in clubs all day.”

Probably. Companies and workers were still paid though. Silence was also fine, even if Clara tended to be talkative. It was a nice night despite what had happened at the club. Why not enjoy it? But then she was being asked what she did and she shrugged. “Teach secondary school, advanced placement literature.” She still had her qualms with the school, things she thought would be interesting not ‘fitting the criteria’ even though it was just new ways of looking at things and in depth analysis. But whatever. Perhaps she’d look into what it might take to teach a course at a community college. For now though, she would stick with what she was doing.

“So like, honors english?” Cloud asked. It sounded like that was what she was talking about. “Sort of, anyway. Do you like it?” He’d been the quiet student, did his work, kept to himself, avoided answering questions like the plague. Volunteering in school was almost as bad as volunteering in the army. Almost.

“Sort of? Though advanced placement means students can receive university credit depending on how well they test.” There were levels. Remedial, regular, honours, advanced. Advanced was when the testing and college credit could be earned, which was when the students seemed more motivated and focused. “I do for the most part. Sometimes there are quibbles on expectations and narrow thinking, but mostly I do. I have good students which certainly make it more enjoyable.”

For Clara, she’d always been a reader, especially once she was in the foster home before her dad adopted her. Change your story. Stick up for the littler kids (even though she had always been on the small side). The foster home hadn’t really known how to handle her nor had the school and it had left an impression on her. It was why she was so adamant about helping her students so that they didn’t feel so alone as she had when she was younger.

“That’s useful. I skipped that. Went into the army.” Even if his education had been mostly on how to kill people, it was useful in some occupations? Usually the seedy ones, anyway. A lot of kids didn’t get that kind of support. Cloud had been one of them. But then things had gotten weird for awhile there.

Okay, was there some sort of cosmic joke out there that meant Clara kept running into people from the military? This was something she was seriously beginning to question. But not much that could be done, instead just nodding. “Just a bit. And well, that’s also an option, a good one.” Smiled, “Thank you for your service.”

“Don’t need to.” He didn’t deserve his medals, he didn’t deserve any praise or thanks. But Cloud had learned when to keep his mouth shut about that sort of thing. Clara didn’t need to know the sordid details of his last tour. “It got me where I am today. That’s both good and bad.”

A shrug of the shoulder and he left it at that.

“You still served.” And that was all there was to it in Clara’s mind. She knew too many military men, had lost Samuel to war. Even Danny Pink, only in a war he never signed up for. The fates were taunting her by having her path constantly cross with those from the military but all she could do was go with it, “That can be said about anything though. All the choices we make, good and bad. They make us who we are.”

It was why she had fought for her memories in the dreams. She would have lived, but without the memories and experiences that had shaped her. She’d sooner die as herself, go back to that fixed point than always be hiding and never knowing. Of forgetting the Doctor and all the experiences she’d had with him.

“Might just be life then.” Cloud just wasn’t proud of his service. Once, he had been. When he’d been a little more idealistic and when he’d felt like he’d found a place to belong. And had found Zack. He’d lost Zack, and Aerith (or so he thought). It was only a matter of time before he lost Tifa too. He avoided friends.

Yet seemed to talk to people anyway.

“It usually is.” Clara herself knew all about loss, far too much if you asked anyone who knew her history. Far too young to have so many ghosts. Not just in real life, but the dreams as well. It would make sense then for her to avoid connections. Instead she made friends and latched on. She was too social to actually stop making friends, and instead she just had a complicated relationship with death and loss. No. She would get neurotic and worry, but she would never let it stop her from befriending people. It just wasn’t in her nature.

Looking up, she paused and smiled to Cloud, “Well, this is me. Thanks again for helping and then walking me home.”

The funny part is Cloud was anything but social. He didn’t mind people around him but it didn’t mean he was going to interact too heavily unless he had to. A solitary people person?

Cloud nodded at her, then awkwardly held out his hand. “It was nice meeting you, Clara.” One could almost say it had been pleasant. Plus two to Cloud’s social stat.

There were also people like that. Clara also had a tendency to get grumpy people to talk. It was a gift. And the lonely god types who just needed companionship. It was all part of her winning personality, or something like that. As it was, she just shook his hand and nodded.

“Likewise.” With that she headed into her flat. Well, that had been a much more dramatic day than she’d been initially anticipating but wasn’t that always the way?