[And because he's good at doing what he's told, and there's no reason not to, he follow just behind. He guesses that not having elevators isn't so bad. At least it's a way to keep fit. And where he might be lacking in strength, he makes up for in speed. There's not much to do in a hospital. Running had become something of a meditation when he had the energy for it. A little patch of clear sky through thick, medically induced fog.]
I'm from Harmony, Pennsylvania. It's a mining town in the middle of nowhere surrounded by more nowhere.
[He speaks as they go, his longer legs not finding it difficult to two-by-two the stairs. Something sparks in the back of his head. Growling hellhounds and the scraping of an axe against the wall. He'd been bounding up these stairs not too long ago, but it wasn't to get burgers. It was to seek safety. None of which he found- waking, instead, a day later on the floor soaked in blood. He had to assume it was his own but he wasn't hurt enough for it to make sense. In fact, he didn't seem to be hurt at all. All the muscle pain, the whiplash, even his stitches seemed to have healed up considerably and the cut on his face was all but gone. Only lately had it dawned on him that River might have been right. Maybe he had died, but at Harry's hands? He couldn't, wouldn't accept that. He'd need proof.]
I've traveled a little. Went on the road for a few years, just kind of traveling around to see what was out there. Get a change of pace.
[Only it was somewhere out there that he'd lost his way. Sarah had moved on, people had picked themselves up and gotten on with their lives, but him? He couldn't. He'd spent so much time running that he hadn't laid any breadcrumbs to find his way back.]
Harmony, Pennsylvania. You know, think I've been by there?
[Work took her all over the place, and she rarely got the opportunity to stop and sightsee. Still, it was worth noting, right?]
Didn't get to stop, just drove through on my way to a job, but if it's the same one, it seemed nice.
[Seemed nice. There was clearly something about home that made him uncomfortable. She'd put that much together already. It had that same, too-personal small town feel that most of them seemed to have, but it had to be more than that. It has to be more than the fact that he just felt trapped or stifled.]
So where have you been? Sounds like it was an aimless sort of roadtrip, but someplace must have stuck with you, right? I travel a lot for work, but I don't usually get to experience many of the places I go to. Too busy with other things.
[They're nearing the diner now, and once they're through the door, Jo holds up a finger as if asking him to give her a minute, heading over to the counter and leaning across it to give their order to whoever's working that afternoon, then walking over to one of the booths and motioning for him to join her.]
Seeing as it's your first time, you're getting the house special.
[Not that there were any sights to see in Harmony. She wasn't missing anything by not stopping.]
I was kinda all over, but mostly up and down the east coast. Stayed in New York for a while. It's the biggest city I've ever seen. You can understand why everyone goes there.
[And it was easy to get lost there. If you didn't want to be found, you went to New York. Not that he was actually actively hiding from anyone in particular, but it seemed the best place for anonymity.
He nods and waits for her as she approaches the counter and orders, then followers her to the booth. How had he never known this was here?]
Should I be worried?
[Teasing. Oh god the smell of food reminds him of just how hungry he is. This morning's poptarts had just not cut it.]
[She'd been all over in the past few years, anywhere her car would take her after she first showed the roadhouse her tail lights, but the major cities? She'd never taken the time to stop and see them for herself. Nobody there needed people like her. They seemed to have their own hunting communities -- either that, or the monsters just preferred the quiet, but she was banking on the first.]
I hear it's amazing. [Not that she'll ever see it now, even if she wanted to.] Would have loved to have had the time to stop for awhile and maybe walk up and down Broadway or something. So you liked it there?
[She cracks a smile when he asks if he should be worried, leaning against the table with her hands folded and lowering her voice to a whisper, as though it were some great conspiracy.]
Unless you hate bacon cheeseburgers, I think you're safe.
Easy to get lost in the crowd there, I'd imagine. You can do whatever and nobody would even notice, right? I think I know what you mean. Funny how sometimes you find the most peace and quiet when surrounded by other people.
[She adopts a thoughtful expression for a moment, considering that before giving another smile, her mouth quirking up a bit higher on the right side.]
Chicago. I didn't have reason to go to big cities very often, but I was in the area for awhile on a long hunt. I liked the pizza.
[Shallow reasoning? Sure. But when you never stay in one place for long, the little things stick with you.]
Pretty country when you got out into the sticks, too.
[On all accounts. He thinks it's a far cry from the best pizza, but he'd never been to Chicago and she's never been to New York, so they would just have to agree to disagree on the subject of pizza.]
They say Colorado is good for pizza, too. Can't say I ever made it out there, though. I googled it and they do them by weight instead of size.
[But, he digresses.]
I went through a thing when I was a kid. Felt like I needed to get away and be a nobody.. The 'Big City' seemed appropriate.
I've been through a bunch of times, but never stopped for pizza. Sounds like I was missing out.
[She pauses when their food comes, and a moment later they both have a burger and fries in front of them, along with an almost obscenely tall glass of soda. She picks up a fry and bites into it thoughtfully, nodding at his explanation.]
You've had it rough. I'm sorry.
[She's apologized before, but it's obvious that whatever happened is no small thing. Whatever it was had been life-changing.]
[OHM NOM NOM FRENCH FRIES IN HIS MOUTH IMMEDIATELY. Chew chew chew, swallow, pause.]
Don't be sorry. [He purses his lips for a moment. It's got nothing to do with her and this isn't going to be The Big Tom Pity Party.]
I think so. Honestly I don't know what else I would have done. Jumped off a bridge, maybe.
[He's kidding with the last bit but, really, he couldn't have stayed in town. Not when they'd all but disowned him. What kind of life would he have had? He'd gone and still turned out twisted. Imagine living in that pressure cooker. He probably would have cracked and killed himself.]
I left home at at 18. It gave me the space to try and figure out who I was. What kind of man I wanted to be.
[She rests her chin in one hand and leans against the tabletop as she helps herself to another french fry, frowning for a moment. Jumped off a bridge. It was a joke, sure, but most people didn't make jokes like that unless the situation was bad. Real bad.]
Did you find out? What kind of man you wanted to be, I mean.
[Time to focus away from his sob story for a second and eat this cheese burger. Come to papa. He takes a bite or two, unable to stop the happy man noises. It's the little things in life that make it worth while. This burger, and present company, are one of them.]
[She grins at his open appreciation as she takes a bite of her own burger, covering her mouth with one hand when she finds herself unable to keep from laughing.]
Told you, didn't I? They have just about everything here, but you can't beat a perfect burger.
[The smile that earns is open, genuine. She's been getting pretty comfortable here, herself, events aside. In all honesty? As bad as some of them had been, James had assured her they're not all like that, and it's still less dangerous than what she willingly did with herself back home.
A huge part of her misses hunting, but another part of her is happy to have a chance to fit in all the things she missed before the lights go out for good.]
I can't say I don't like your company. Think you'll stay awhile?
[They don't have a choice, of course, but that's not the point -- it's light, teasing.]
A barn? That some kind of lifelong dream of yours?
[She bites her lower lip, stifling another laugh before she takes another bite of her burger. At least he has a sense of humor about the whole thing. Most people don't.]
Most people are pretty fond of the local bartender, no matter where you go. We're popular folk.
I'm sure that helps a whole lot with the bar's popularity.
[She likes to think her stunning personality has a little something to do with it, thanks.]
Yeah? Have you done construction before, or is just something you've always been interested in? [She's genuinely curious, here. That's an interesting want.] I think it would be nice to design your own house. Everything just the way you like it.
I did some odd jobs for a construction company when I was younger but I just think it would be fun. I'd like to make something I can be proud of. [And then, with the appropriate hand gestures. Notice how strong his hands are?] Go out there and cut down the trees and plane the wood and dovetail the joints together. I want to make something simple but really high quality.
You could probably do it here, you know. I mean, it's not like supplies are hard to come by.
[Those closets sure come in handy.]
People used the closets to make the bar and the diner. It's a little different, since the rooms accommodated them pretty well, but if you don't mind lugging things outside, why not?
You know, I think I heard something about someone wanting to put together a playground, too.
[He thinks about it through another bite of burger. Really he can't get this in his mouth fast enough.]
People made them? Huh. [He's just thought they were already there. Being Wonderland and all.]
I don't mind carrying stuff. [But he didn't suppose there was an elevator around somewhere.] Maybe I could get someone on the first floor to pull it from their closet.
[Ohm nom more fries.] Why do people want a playground? Are there kids here? [Something he hadn't even stopped to think about. Just who was here? Adults only? Families? The young, the old, the sick? What was the selection process? Did anyone know? Had there been a census to track who was here?]
That's what I hear, anyway. Both of them were up and running before I got here. Some of the decor was done by hand and pulling stuff out of the closets, but I guess you could also just sit on the floor and think about what you wanted for awhile and next time you walked in, the room would change. I think that's how the clinic was put together, too.
[Moving or remodeling was so much easier in Wonderland.]
At least one I know of. I think his name is Henry? There might be more.
[She's not sure. Some teenagers, definitely, but she can't think of any other younger kids she's spotted on the network.
She pauses to take another bite, swallowing before offering him a smirk across the table.]
We have a dragon, too, you know. Likes playing fetch.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
timeasmymeasure
action;
Date: 2013-08-13 11:09 am (UTC)[And because he's good at doing what he's told, and there's no reason not to, he follow just behind. He guesses that not having elevators isn't so bad. At least it's a way to keep fit. And where he might be lacking in strength, he makes up for in speed. There's not much to do in a hospital. Running had become something of a meditation when he had the energy for it. A little patch of clear sky through thick, medically induced fog.]
I'm from Harmony, Pennsylvania. It's a mining town in the middle of nowhere surrounded by more nowhere.
[He speaks as they go, his longer legs not finding it difficult to two-by-two the stairs. Something sparks in the back of his head. Growling hellhounds and the scraping of an axe against the wall. He'd been bounding up these stairs not too long ago, but it wasn't to get burgers. It was to seek safety. None of which he found- waking, instead, a day later on the floor soaked in blood. He had to assume it was his own but he wasn't hurt enough for it to make sense. In fact, he didn't seem to be hurt at all. All the muscle pain, the whiplash, even his stitches seemed to have healed up considerably and the cut on his face was all but gone. Only lately had it dawned on him that River might have been right. Maybe he had died, but at Harry's hands? He couldn't, wouldn't accept that. He'd need proof.]
I've traveled a little. Went on the road for a few years, just kind of traveling around to see what was out there. Get a change of pace.
[Only it was somewhere out there that he'd lost his way. Sarah had moved on, people had picked themselves up and gotten on with their lives, but him? He couldn't. He'd spent so much time running that he hadn't laid any breadcrumbs to find his way back.]
action;
Date: 2013-08-13 02:09 pm (UTC)[Work took her all over the place, and she rarely got the opportunity to stop and sightsee. Still, it was worth noting, right?]
Didn't get to stop, just drove through on my way to a job, but if it's the same one, it seemed nice.
[Seemed nice. There was clearly something about home that made him uncomfortable. She'd put that much together already. It had that same, too-personal small town feel that most of them seemed to have, but it had to be more than that. It has to be more than the fact that he just felt trapped or stifled.]
So where have you been? Sounds like it was an aimless sort of roadtrip, but someplace must have stuck with you, right? I travel a lot for work, but I don't usually get to experience many of the places I go to. Too busy with other things.
[They're nearing the diner now, and once they're through the door, Jo holds up a finger as if asking him to give her a minute, heading over to the counter and leaning across it to give their order to whoever's working that afternoon, then walking over to one of the booths and motioning for him to join her.]
Seeing as it's your first time, you're getting the house special.
[Deal with it, Tom. It's going to be delicious.]
action;
Date: 2013-08-13 05:26 pm (UTC)I was kinda all over, but mostly up and down the east coast. Stayed in New York for a while. It's the biggest city I've ever seen. You can understand why everyone goes there.
[And it was easy to get lost there. If you didn't want to be found, you went to New York. Not that he was actually actively hiding from anyone in particular, but it seemed the best place for anonymity.
He nods and waits for her as she approaches the counter and orders, then followers her to the booth. How had he never known this was here?]
Should I be worried?
[Teasing. Oh god the smell of food reminds him of just how hungry he is. This morning's poptarts had just not cut it.]
action;
Date: 2013-08-13 07:46 pm (UTC)[She'd been all over in the past few years, anywhere her car would take her after she first showed the roadhouse her tail lights, but the major cities? She'd never taken the time to stop and see them for herself. Nobody there needed people like her. They seemed to have their own hunting communities -- either that, or the monsters just preferred the quiet, but she was banking on the first.]
I hear it's amazing. [Not that she'll ever see it now, even if she wanted to.] Would have loved to have had the time to stop for awhile and maybe walk up and down Broadway or something. So you liked it there?
[She cracks a smile when he asks if he should be worried, leaning against the table with her hands folded and lowering her voice to a whisper, as though it were some great conspiracy.]
Unless you hate bacon cheeseburgers, I think you're safe.
action;
Date: 2013-08-14 01:24 pm (UTC)I think the best thins about New York was that there were so many people you could do what you wanted and no one cared.
[He tries to shrug it off. Truth be told, he'll most likely never see it again, either.]
Your go, best place you've been and why.
action;
Date: 2013-08-14 04:09 pm (UTC)[She adopts a thoughtful expression for a moment, considering that before giving another smile, her mouth quirking up a bit higher on the right side.]
Chicago. I didn't have reason to go to big cities very often, but I was in the area for awhile on a long hunt. I liked the pizza.
[Shallow reasoning? Sure. But when you never stay in one place for long, the little things stick with you.]
Pretty country when you got out into the sticks, too.
action;
Date: 2013-08-14 04:24 pm (UTC)[On all accounts. He thinks it's a far cry from the best pizza, but he'd never been to Chicago and she's never been to New York, so they would just have to agree to disagree on the subject of pizza.]
They say Colorado is good for pizza, too. Can't say I ever made it out there, though. I googled it and they do them by weight instead of size.
[But, he digresses.]
I went through a thing when I was a kid. Felt like I needed to get away and be a nobody.. The 'Big City' seemed appropriate.
action;
Date: 2013-08-14 07:59 pm (UTC)[She pauses when their food comes, and a moment later they both have a burger and fries in front of them, along with an almost obscenely tall glass of soda. She picks up a fry and bites into it thoughtfully, nodding at his explanation.]
You've had it rough. I'm sorry.
[She's apologized before, but it's obvious that whatever happened is no small thing. Whatever it was had been life-changing.]
Did it help?
action;
Date: 2013-08-14 08:11 pm (UTC)Don't be sorry. [He purses his lips for a moment. It's got nothing to do with her and this isn't going to be The Big Tom Pity Party.]
I think so. Honestly I don't know what else I would have done. Jumped off a bridge, maybe.
[He's kidding with the last bit but, really, he couldn't have stayed in town. Not when they'd all but disowned him. What kind of life would he have had? He'd gone and still turned out twisted. Imagine living in that pressure cooker. He probably would have cracked and killed himself.]
I left home at at 18. It gave me the space to try and figure out who I was. What kind of man I wanted to be.
action;
Date: 2013-08-14 10:02 pm (UTC)Did you find out? What kind of man you wanted to be, I mean.
action;
Date: 2013-08-14 10:05 pm (UTC)I thought I was starting to but somewhere down the road I got a little lost.
I'm still looking.
action;
Date: 2013-08-14 10:07 pm (UTC)[She smiles again, reserved but encouraging.]
Maybe you'll get lucky. Figure it out here. This place can offer people all kinds of perspective.
action;
Date: 2013-08-14 10:22 pm (UTC)[Time to focus away from his sob story for a second and eat this cheese burger. Come to papa. He takes a bite or two, unable to stop the happy man noises. It's the little things in life that make it worth while. This burger, and present company, are one of them.]
You weren't kidding about the special..
action;
Date: 2013-08-14 10:34 pm (UTC)Told you, didn't I? They have just about everything here, but you can't beat a perfect burger.
action;
Date: 2013-08-14 10:41 pm (UTC)You know, I think I could get used to being here.
[Truth be told, all the hideous shit he'd gone through since showing up aside, this was still better than anything he'd done in the last ten years.]
Go figure I finally catch a break and all it took was being snatched into another dimension.
action;
Date: 2013-08-14 11:04 pm (UTC)[The smile that earns is open, genuine. She's been getting pretty comfortable here, herself, events aside. In all honesty? As bad as some of them had been, James had assured her they're not all like that, and it's still less dangerous than what she willingly did with herself back home.
A huge part of her misses hunting, but another part of her is happy to have a chance to fit in all the things she missed before the lights go out for good.]
I can't say I don't like your company. Think you'll stay awhile?
[They don't have a choice, of course, but that's not the point -- it's light, teasing.]
action;
Date: 2013-08-14 11:07 pm (UTC)[The irony isn't lost on him.]
I might get a time share. Maybe buy some land. Build a barn.
[Because that is clearly what you do. Or he could just put some down roots to keep himself anchored in the inevitable storm.]
You're not so bad, yourself, you know.
action;
Date: 2013-08-14 11:41 pm (UTC)[She bites her lower lip, stifling another laugh before she takes another bite of her burger. At least he has a sense of humor about the whole thing. Most people don't.]
Most people are pretty fond of the local bartender, no matter where you go. We're popular folk.
action;
Date: 2013-08-14 11:48 pm (UTC)[He rests the burger for a second. Can't let these fries go cold.]
I dunno. We had a barn when I was growing up. I've always wanted to build one, I guess. Or a house, maybe. I like making things.
action;
Date: 2013-08-15 06:02 am (UTC)[She likes to think her stunning personality has a little something to do with it, thanks.]
Yeah? Have you done construction before, or is just something you've always been interested in? [She's genuinely curious, here. That's an interesting want.] I think it would be nice to design your own house. Everything just the way you like it.
action;
Date: 2013-08-15 09:10 am (UTC)I did some odd jobs for a construction company when I was younger but I just think it would be fun. I'd like to make something I can be proud of. [And then, with the appropriate hand gestures. Notice how strong his hands are?] Go out there and cut down the trees and plane the wood and dovetail the joints together. I want to make something simple but really high quality.
action;
Date: 2013-08-15 04:39 pm (UTC)[Those closets sure come in handy.]
People used the closets to make the bar and the diner. It's a little different, since the rooms accommodated them pretty well, but if you don't mind lugging things outside, why not?
You know, I think I heard something about someone wanting to put together a playground, too.
action;
Date: 2013-08-15 08:41 pm (UTC)People made them? Huh. [He's just thought they were already there. Being Wonderland and all.]
I don't mind carrying stuff. [But he didn't suppose there was an elevator around somewhere.] Maybe I could get someone on the first floor to pull it from their closet.
[Ohm nom more fries.] Why do people want a playground? Are there kids here? [Something he hadn't even stopped to think about. Just who was here? Adults only? Families? The young, the old, the sick? What was the selection process? Did anyone know? Had there been a census to track who was here?]
action;
Date: 2013-08-15 10:39 pm (UTC)[Moving or remodeling was so much easier in Wonderland.]
At least one I know of. I think his name is Henry? There might be more.
[She's not sure. Some teenagers, definitely, but she can't think of any other younger kids she's spotted on the network.
She pauses to take another bite, swallowing before offering him a smirk across the table.]
We have a dragon, too, you know. Likes playing fetch.
action;
Date: 2013-08-15 10:57 pm (UTC)Henry huh.. That's shitty.
[How incredibly cruel.. Tom thought he had it bad but to be a child and here alone? What was the fucking point of tha-
wait.
Wait a second. The needle on his record player is skipping over here.]
Did you just say dragon.
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