and did they get you to trade your heroes for ghosts?

[parallels]

Characters: Clara Oswald meeting up with Jim Kirk, Rose Tyler and maybe even YOU!
Date: July 17th
Location: Her flat and around town
Situation: Clara is distressed over the Doctor not remembering her and is wandering around town trying to clear her head.
Warnings/Rating: PG?
Notes: I have a few thread starters up!

Comments

OPEN [on the streets]

[parallels]

[Eventually Clara's apartment becomes too small to contain her in her agitated state and she ducks out onto the streets. But she's not really going anywhere in particular. She wanders through the streets like she's in a daze, her mind focusing all of it's energy on processing the fact that her best friend doesn't remember her. Or even know her yet.

She's barely paying attention to where she's going and might end up walking right into someone else.]

[faceofbeau]

[When she does, it's a broad chest she hits, one that belongs to a taller man in an old style greatcoat. He reaches out instinctively to steady her, make sure she doesn't fall, and recognition hits him after a second. They've spoken over the network, when Jack first arrived on the turtle, but he's also seen her more recently, when he was monitoring the older Doctor's post.]

It's Clara, right? [He looks down to her with a smile, because he has a feeling she needs it. What he'd seen of her conversation with the Doctor was rough, their timelines mish-mashed, and that's a feeling he understands very well, especially since he's come here. He's puts a hint of a tease into his voice, hoping to lighten the heavy look on her face.] You should be more careful. The next chest you walk into might not be as quick to catch you.

[parallels]

[Clara blinks and reaches out to grab the arm of the person she bumped into to steady herself. But she's beaten to the punch by this man. She recognizes him as a companion of the Doctor and a friend of Rose. She blinks for a few moments and then nods.]

Right. And you're... Harkness, right? Jack?

And I'm alright. Just having a bit of a think and a walk.

[faceofbeau]

In the flesh. It's a pleasure to meet you in person. [A twinkle shines in his eye as he reaches for her hand, to lay a gentlemanly kiss across the back of it. Then, once she's sure-footed again, he shifts so that if she continues walking, he'll walk alongside her.]

Lots to think about, I take it?

[parallels]

[She just stares at him as he kisses her hand. Clara is not so easily charmed and once he's done, she pulls her hand back.]

...Saw the network, didn't you?

[faceofbeau]

[He takes note of her reaction, of the look on her face, and let's the light-heartedness fade a bit. Instead, he gives her a more solemn express at her question, and a nod. It wouldn't be any use to deny it at this point.]

I've been keeping an eye on the network. [He pauses a moment, to find the appropriate wording.] We seem to have found ourselves in a situation that needs to be handled delicately, if our timelines are to be preserved. None of us want a paradox on our hands, and it's not always easy meeting someone in the wrong order.

OPEN [Near the edge of the turtle]

[parallels]

[Eventually she keeps walking until she reaches the edge of the great turtle and ends up staring out over the sea. It's kind of mindblowingly incredible if she thinks about it. An entire world on the back of a turtle. It was something not even the Doctor had shown her.

She inhales and exhales the sea breeze and sits down beneath a tree to just stare out over the sea that's stained red with the setting sun to be alone with her thoughts. She cuts a sad and solitary figure; with her legs pulled tightly to her chest with the occasional sigh. Eventually she pulls a notebook out of her bag and begins sketching.

If you're also someone looking to be alone with their thoughts or just plain curious about the edge of the turtle. You might run into her.]

CLOSED [For Jim Kirk]

[parallels]

[After Clara gets off the console with the Doctor, she begins pacing her the length of her apartment. It's hard to breath, she feels like the walls are getting closer and closer together and the entire flat is just uncomfortably small. She twists her fingers through her hair.

It's a nightmare. The Doctor doesn't know her. And yet she needs to deal with it, to accept it. She'll tell herself she does. That's fine and they'll work things out but she's afraid. She wanted to be with him, to talk about Trenzalore and the things she saw and to have him help her through that. Find her like he always did. Now he couldn't.

She inhales and exhales shallowly, fist pressed to her mouth in distress.]

[jirk]

[There are tribbles literally everywhere. One had actually managed to clog his shower head for the half an hour Jim took for himself at home, which resulted in some impromptu plumbing before he could even take a damned shower. He hasn't even slept since McCoy's little announcement. Or ate. Or done much of anything but run himself ragged trying to help with the procurement of a gigantic freezer and the containment of the little fuzzballs.

Instead, he'd rounded up a group of kedan, organized them, told them what to do and how to do it, and then parked himself, exhausted, in front of the console, scanning new posts to see if anyone had anything new to add about the tribble infestation. The Doctor's post is the first thing he sees, and in it, Clara's comments.

He spends like, .06th of a second torn between duty and friendship, but the latter wins out, no contest. There's thousands of people here who've all been informed about how to deal with tribbles, but Clara has only a few close friends who actually know and understand her situation.

He heads to her place, so damned glad to have that cast off he actually relishes being able to run, and isn't even winded when he gets to her door to knock.]

[parallels]

[She jumps when someone knocks on her door. Twisting around to face it from the opposite side of her flat as she trapped mid-pace. Who could it be? The Doctor wouldn't come to speak to her further, would he? So she calls tentatively.]

Who is it?

[But the door is open if he wants to enter.]

[jirk]

Hey, it's Jim.

[He tries the handle, but doesn't open the door just yet.]

Mind if I come in?

[parallels]

[There's a pause where she considers trying to convince him to leave and then decides that, from what she knows of him, that would be a damn near impossible task. So she stands there, gnawing her thumbnail down to the skin in the meantime]

Yeah. Door's open.

[jirk]

[So he pushes the door open and shuts it behind him, going for 'casual' rather than 'cautious'. She's not the kind of woman who really appreciates being treated like glass, so he isn't going to. But that doesn't mean he can't offer comfort.

He kicks his boots off and comes over to where she's standing.]

C'mere.

[It's an offer for a hug, if she wants it.]

CLOSED [For Rose Tyler]

[parallels]

[Clara is slumped at her kitchen table. Her energy has been drained from dealing with yesterday's stresses with the Doctor. She no longer feels upset or finds herself crying unexpectedly. She just feels exhausted.

She tried to come into work at the cafe and the manager sent her home because customers were concerned she was ill. And when she'd tried to explain the situation, the Kedan had sent her home anyway. With a bottle of wine as a gift to "get it all out".

She stared blankly at the bottle in front of her. She didn't really drink that often, only if she was out with mates and strongly pressured. And even then it had been nearly a year since she'd drank more than a glass.

A soft sigh. It was awfully tempting though.]

[refusing]

[After seeing the other Doctor show up here, Rose knows that it's Clara's version. She isn't sure how things stand between the two, but she does know that the Doctor mentioned something about leaving her on a beach and then tried to take it back. So she's pretty much convinced herself that at some point she makes the Doctor angry enough he up and leaves her behind. Which, of course, makes her pretty emotional. She doesn't want to knock on Clara's door and be emotional in her direction, but she's the first person she thought of when she realized she needed to discuss Doctor related issues.

So she knocks, and awkwardly stands there, shifting her weight from one leg to the other.]

Clara? You in? It's me! Rose?

[parallels]

[Clara jumps at the sound of someone knocking at the door and pauses when she hears it's Rose. She and Rose get on but they don't exactly come to call on each other quite yet. So if she has that means that something is wrong. It doesn't sound urgent like someone is injured so likely it has to do with the Doctor. Which is the last subject she wants to talk about. Then again, talking about someone else's problems might put her own out of her mind.

She walks over and opens the door.]

Hey.

[refusing]

[She tries to judge Clara's mood by the way she looks upon opening the door, but it's a bit of a puzzle to figure out. So she just smiles and nods toward inside, a way of asking if it's okay if she enters.]

Figured I'd come by and check up on you, since the Doctor's here and everything. [There's a pause, and she looks genuinely perplexed at the statement that just came out of her mouth.]

Again.

[She looks more perplexed and almost bothered by it.]

Twice.

[parallels]

[Clara steps aside and lets Rose inside. It's a tidy little apartment. Filled with books and bowls for cooking in.]

I really don't need checking up on.

I'm fine, really. Always expected he'd show up eventually. How could he resist a place like this.

[Keep it casual.]

[refusing]

Don't need it maybe, but I wanna see you. So I'm checking up on you.

[Rose laughs, giving a slight shrug of her shoulders. She wants to point out that Clara couldn't possibly expect two Doctors to show up here, but she doesn't. Instead, she takes it far away from casual, and just jumps right into the problem.]

Thing is, there shouldn't be two of 'em here. Isn't that gonna cause all kinds of problems?

[She's worried about him coming in contact with himself, and it's only a matter of time before they do face to face conversation.]

OPEN [For Kyle Rayner]

[parallels]

[Clara is sprawled out on the grass in a park in the wood sector. The grass is amazingly soft and the sun casts everything in just the perfect amount of warmth and the tree across the way keeps the sun out of her eyes. It's a perfect day.

Or at least it's a better day. After bawling over Jim one day and getting completely drunk with Rose the night after, the mess of feelings from the Doctor's arrival had untangled slightly. She no longer feels heartbroken but simply... numb. It's a bit of healing. But she's been continually touched by the kindness of the people she'd met here. She was grateful for Jim, Kyle, and Rose. She'd never had people she could count on.

Clara stared up at the sky, her good hand on her forehead and her broken one resting on her stomach. Definitely pretty lucky.]

[imaginate]

[Kyle's flying. He still has some of Damian's cookies, and he's made some attempt at a flavoured tea, so after all the chaos of the tribbles and the clinic, he's taking the day off. Training's been going well and he's sleeping better due to the exhaustion, so he can afford it. A picnic. All by himself, but a picnic nonetheless. It'd been years since he'd had the time.]

[As he passes over the Wood Sector heading for his usual clearing, the ring alerts him to a familiar presence down below. He stops, and hovers, watching her from a distance. Eleven's here, and... he thought they'd have caught up. It must not have gone well for her if she was by herself.]

[And if it was one thing he stuck to, it was that people shouldn't be alone. He lands, where she can see him, and holds up the flask and cookies, expectantly.]

[parallels]

[She blinks and sits up slowly when he lands, her hair slightly mussed with bits of grass in it. It;s still super weird to her that he has a magic ring that allows him to fly. ...Even if she is the girl that travels with an alien in a police box. But she likes Kyle a lot and would gladly spend time with him.

She pats the ground beside her to indicate he can sit near her. Even if her tummy is a little funny from the wine she and Rose drank, she'll never say no to tea.]

Picnicking alone?

[imaginate]

Beautiful day for it.

[He flops down on the grass next to her, making a green mat, plates, and cutlery so he can take out the cookies.]

You a tea person?

[parallels]

[she smiles at him and nods. It is a beautiful day to just curl up in the grass and relax. Then when he asks about tea, she laughs softly.]

I am British, remember.

[imaginate]

[He pours her a mug and hands it over.]

You realise you did just ask me to stereotype?