bigapplesauce | What to Expect [closed]

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What to Expect [closed]

Andrew's unease about his pregnancy has not abated despite James's best efforts to comfort him. Multiple scans have conclusively shown that he is not, in fact, falling apart on a cellular level, and furthermore that he does, in fact, possess the internal structures necessary to carrying a baby. On the other hand, he feels terrible all the time and a male, half-Time Lord pregnancy is -- much like a meta-crisis in general -- a medical mystery. He's been reading up on human pregnancy, which has mostly convinced him that he's in for nine months of pain and bloating. Lately, too, his trousers have started to feel tight, which can't be right at only five weeks in.

Getting out and walking seems to help with the sickness and the general malaise, so today he's set himself the goal of making it to and from the library without calling a cab despite the feeling that he'd really rather take a nap, eat some ice cream, and watch five hours of cartoons. The first half of the operation has been a resounding success thanks in part to automated check-out stands that don't ask questions or make comments about his stack of classic sci fi, trashy romance, and books on pregnancy.

Fruits of his labor in a canvas bag, Andrew slips out the library doors and points his nose toward home. He yawns and rubs his eyes as he goes, ready for a sit down but not sure he'll be willing to get back up once he does. His stomach is starting to act up, too, and less than half a block on his way he pauses and leans against a building, wrapping his free hand around his gut and willing it to pass. The wave of nausea only intensifies, though, and he grits his teeth and looks around for a trash can. He does hear the creak and crunch above him that signifies something more than a little important, but doesn't succeed in separating it from the general noise of the city.

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Weirder than an alien-human hybrid? She'd beg to differ. She might have a poltergeist on an invisible leash, but there's nothing weird about her.

Well, except for the telekinesis. And seeing dead people. But she's still just human.

"I don't know," she says, drawing her knees up and looping her arms around them. "I haven't been getting out much. You might be the weirdest."

If she only knew. Best not share his other secret.

"Well, that's what you get when you go meeting people in dreams," he grins. "Do you mean to tell me you haven't met any of the really odd people? No little green men, no fairies...no anthropomorphic ducks?"

It'd be kind of hard to miss Howard if she's ever been in the undergound base.

Her expression pretty clearly indicates that the answer is 'no.' Gabriel was weird - and, okay, Zagreus was incredibly weird - but she's yet to see anyone on the street who couldn't pass for human. It hadn't even occurred to her before this conversation that the rift would suck in any non-humans.

Aiden lets out a quiet murmur that might contain: ducks?

"There are really people like that here?" she asks with a skeptical little shake of her head. "Where the hell do they live?"

Andrew wishes he knew more about ROMAC. Do they segregate their obvious non-humans? Could she be asking because she lives in their apartments and hasn't seen anyone who doesn't look like her there? Or is she unaffiliated?

"Certain groups of people tend to hide them away," he says carefully.

Any lingering skepticism in her expression vanishes along with all traces of amusement. That sounds pretty fucking familiar: tucking the weirdos away so normal people won't have to deal with them. Aiden makes his displeasure known via a faint chill in the air - not enough to cause their breath to fog, but enough for them to notice.

"Of course they do," Jodie mutters, looking away.

Andrew's mouth tightens. For a moment he considers reaching out and taking her hand. Instead, he asks, "You're not with ROMAC, are you? You don't seem the kind."

Jodie hesitates. The truth, in this case, might be safer than a lie. It doesn't sound like Andrew's with ROMAC, but even if he is - or if he's with the rebels - the least offensive position she could take is that of someone unaffiliated with either group, right?

Aiden gives her a nudge. She has to say something.

"I'm not with anyone." Not even Johnny, anymore. She shrugs, as if it's not a big deal. It's not a big deal. She and Aiden are getting by - not with much grace, but they're managing.

"Neither are we," says Andrew. "Not really. Not going to take up arms one way or the other, at any rate. How are you getting on? I can't imagine you had much with you when you got here."

Just gonna keep picking away at your 'we're fine, everything's fine' cover, Jodie. Pick, pick, pick.

Another shrug. "We're doing okay," she says with a trace of defiance, though she's not sure how to elaborate on that without revealing that they're hitting up ATMs for cash. "Just staying in a motel for now."

This would normally be the part when Aiden gets huffy - even the most well-meaning prying tends to be met with disapproval. But even he's starting to chafe under their collective lack of any kind of plan, and he's more willing to entertain the idea of help from Andrew than help from Gabriel or Johnny.

Andrew nods thoughtfully. "We did that, too, right at first," he tells the pair of them. "Course, it's a little easier when one of you can talk to ATMs."

What's she going to do, turn him in? Touching the tip of his tongue to the roof of his mouth, he says conversationally, "James makes a very good curry. Very good everything, really. I know Aiden doesn't eat, but I'm guessing you do."

That detail is so spot on that for a brief moment, she wonders if Andrew's been tailing her or something. Almost immediately, though, she realizes that's ridiculous. Even if his initial failure to remember her was an act, she and Aiden are collectively sharp enough that she's confident no one could have been tailing her without her notice. They've been too careful for that.

Aiden, meanwhile, is making the tether hum with excitement. Can Andrew talk to ATMs, too? Or is it James? Even if all they're doing is comparatively run-of-the-mill hacking, it's still right up his street. And they're being invited to dinner. This, as far as Aiden is concerned, is good. And if it turns out to not be good, he'll get Jodie out.

Despite Aiden's earlier behavior, Jodie's still a little surprised to feel his approval for the idea. "Um… yeah," she says with tentative enthusiasm. Is he seriously inviting them over? They only just met.

She only just saved his life. And alright, maybe she's got a being of great and terrible power he doesn't understand tethered to her, and maybe she's edgy and obviously doesn't trust him even if she does like him enough to keep him from dying in a very messy way, but Andrew also remembers the little girl who had never been to Disney World and whose dreams were full of monsters and frozen corpses.

"Brilliant," he says with a grin. "He'll want to meet you...but maybe we shouldn't tell him I almost died. He already worries too much."

As if it isn't Andrew who does all the worrying.

Edited 2014-04-24 04:41 (UTC)

Don't take it personally, Andrew. Jodie doesn't trust anyone.

"Okay," she agrees, and her smile is genuine, if still a little incredulous. Her post-rift life has been largely neutral or bad; she doesn't know what to do with good. So she takes a breath, and decides to take it at face value. If they don't screw this up, maybe she'll even have a couple of new friends by the end of the day - and Aiden feels unusually cooperative. That in and of itself might be cause for concern, but she doesn't want to piss the entity off by doubting his intentions.

"Hang on, let me text. He might have started cooking already." More like Andrew wants to be sure James will hide the bondage gear and the high tech nonsense before they get there. The high tech nonsense she might get to see later; bondage gear not so much. He gets out his phone and taps out a message to James and tries to ignore how his stomach is twinging again.

"Come on," he says when he's done, standing up and brushing off the seat of his pants. "It's not far from here."

Jodie gets to her feet as well. She's still a little bit concerned about Andrew; the way he's holding himself suggests that he's still not feeling great. Nodding at his bag, she asks, "Can I help carry your books?"

Andrew hesitates a moment, then hands it over. He's never been all that keen on carrying things in general, and he's never seen the point of gender-based chivalry. "You'll like James," he decides in lieu of properly saying 'thank you.' "And his curry, if he makes curry. He hasn't been, but you'll still like him anyway. Have you met any of the other rifties yet, or is it just me?"

She hefts the bag with ease - perhaps more than one might expect, given how petite she is - and follows Andrew back to the sidewalk while Aiden ranges around above them. He's keeping an eye out for trouble, though he doesn't wander far enough to lose track of the conversation.

"A couple," she acknowledges. She doesn't really want to name names, but she does add, in a somewhat sheepish undertone, "You weren't the only one crashing my nightmares that night."

While he's not up for his usual ~~speed walking~~ brisk pace, Andrew toddles along well enough once they're on their way. He makes a face that might be sympathetic or might be a bad taste in his mouth. "The rift will do that. If it helps, yours isn't the first nightmare I've been dropped into." And frankly, compared to the TARDIS hers was a walk in the park.

"Lucky you," Jodie mutters. Well, she's crashed her fair share of nightmares, too, if that whole Jurassic Park thing counts. "Does that kind of thing happen a lot?"

It's probably just as well that Andrew's moving at a slower pace than normal, given how much longer his legs are than hers; if he was speed walking, she'd have to trot to keep up.

"Dreams, yes. Nightmares, sometimes. If you work out you're in a dream, chances are the people around you are real." Which is more than a little disconcerting when you think about it. "Bunches of people all at once, sometimes. I think it's less that we're in each other's heads than that we're in the rift's."

"Christ," she mutters under her breath, not really liking the sound of any of this. She knows better than to presume that dream encounters would be harmless - even aside from the possibility of someone like Zagreus actually fucking her up in the dream itself. If the goal is to keep a low profile and try not to be noticed, the last thing she needs is for the rift to just randomly hurl her into the same sandbox as a bunch of other people. "That's just… rude."

Well, rude, sure, but also not without surprise benefits. "Though it hasn't been a total loss," she acknowledges with a small smile. At least they met Andrew.

"It's an interesting way to meet new people, I'll give it that," Andrew agreed with a lopsided grin. "Not the best for keeping secrets, though. Still, I should probably thank the rift for introducing us, don't you think?"

Jodie readjusts her grip on the bag and wonders if Andrew would still be smiling at her like that if he understood what he was seeing in that nightmare. The tether hums with Aiden's indignation - they were following orders, and when they realized how bad it was, they left. That has to count for something.

"Well," she says, smile widening a little, "it does kind of owe us."

Andrew nods. "Consider your debt partially repaid, rift," he tells the air around them. "Just a tiny, teeny part of it, mind; it's likely your fault I nearly got squashed anyway."

No, he doesn't understand. He remembers mostly the little girl; she can hardly be blamed for anything that happened to her at that age. Aiden, either, for that matter. His tone is cheerful as they converse on the way home, and while he's certainly curious about the pair of them he seems to view Aiden as some sort of benevolent...well, spirit would be a terribly unscientific way to describe it.

Jodie doesn't let her guard down entirely - she's not sure she's even capable of that anymore - but she does loosen up a bit more as they walk. Andrew's easy to talk to, and while she still instinctively hesitates to share too much about herself, there's some comfort in the knowledge that, unfortunate dreams aside, all he'll ever know about her is what she tells him. She's largely put aside her earlier fear that anyone from the CIA or DPA could find her here (the DPA, as far as she can tell, doesn't even exist in this universe). It's good news for her, because it means she doesn't have to look over her shoulder all the time… but it's good news for the people she meets as well, because it means she's not necessarily endangering them by the mere fact that she's associating with them.

Aiden, for his part, is enjoying the positive attention. Most of the people who know he exists regard him with, at best, a good deal of wariness. Even Jodie tends to assume the worst about him. It's strange, having anyone default to thinking he's nice, and he decides he doesn't want to give Andrew any reason to think otherwise.

By the time they reach the apartment, Jodie's feeling tentatively enthusiastic about meeting James and getting a home-cooked meal, but she still can't help giving Andrew an uncertain look. "You're sure this is okay? It was kind of short notice."

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bluesuit_handy - 2014-05-24 04:41 (UTC) - Expand

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