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[Clara extends her arms to receive the puppy and then pulls them close to cradle the little pup against her chest. It sniffs a little at her chest but is mostly still. She gently strokes its back with her thumb and coos too it before looking up at Nathan.]

This is wonderful.

Isn't it? It's nice to know that this ship isn't all death, isn't it?

[ Nathan sits back down in his chair, exhaling a gentle sigh. ]

Even if I wouldn't wish it on anything. It's almost sad.

I suppose amazing things can happen anywhere. Even in the darkest of places.

[Clara follows suit and slowly sinks onto the floor next to him. Better to keep the puppy close to the floor and it helps with her vertigo. She continues stroking the puppy's soft fur, finding a strange sort of comfort in it.]

It's hard. I don't want to be here without friends and yet I hope never to see any of them show up here and I know missing them is selfish.

[ It is reassuring. The whimpering of the puppies and soft breathing of happy mum Izzie had put him to sleep the first night. There was a newborn smell, too. ]

You're not here without friends. But I know what you mean. I wish I could see my kids, but I don't. Izzie's lucky. Every year she has here is an extra year than she had at home.

Are you alright? You miss them, huh?

Oh, poor Izzie.

[Clara reached out to pet the dog's nose. Izzie raised her head and licked Clara's hand a few times before lying back down. Clara sighed and leaned her head against the edge of his chair, suddenly feeling worn out.]

I'm alright. I've got to be. Feeling sorry for myself isn't going to bring the Doctor here. [She exhales through her nose.]

Tell me about your family. I didn't know you had a brother or children.

Something tells me the Doctor goes where he's most needed.

[ He reached out, brushing a strand of hair back from her forehead. ]

Well there's Claire. She's my illegitimate daughter. Beautiful girl, blonde, tiny as a spring pea. About your age. Then Simon and Monty, my boys from my marriage. Seven and nine when I saw them last. My brother, Peter. I think you'd like him, if you haven't met already. He's not a doctor, but he is a nurse.

Which isn't here. I can handle things without him.

[She gives Nathan a tired smile which morphs into a real one as he describes his family. Her eyebrows raise at the TMI of an illegitimate child but she says nothing.]

Sounds like you have a pretty decent sized family. I'm a bit jealous. [Her lips twitch when he mentions a brother.] I'll track him down.

The last thing you should be jealous of is my family. My mum's an evil, manipulative woman who tried to get her own son to blow up Manhattan, and my father faked his own death to run his own sinister organisation of supervillains.

I wish I was kidding.

[ But he looks like he finds it ironically funny anyway. ]

Well.

At least your kids and brother. They sound nice.

[she winces and tries to recover that one.]

Though supervillains? Really?

Really really. I mean my power, flying, it's not really that villainy. But he could steal other people's powers, and the more he took--well, the more of an asshole he became--not that he wasn't already an asshole. Had a grand vision of building an army of people with abilities and selling them to the government, but it was going to rip the whole world in half.

[Wait wait wait.

Back up the truck here.]

You never mentioned flying before.

I didn't? Huh.

[ He grins, glances down at Clara and then shakes his head. Probably best not to lift her off the ground when she might throw up at any second. ]

I'd show you, but I reckon it'd set you off. You wanna see anyway?

Definitely forgot to mention that one. Somehow. Though I suppose it doesn't go well after "my name is Nathan and I can fly".

[She blinks a few times so her eyes aren't so wide they could pop out of her sockets and then nods.]

Of course I do. And when I'm not sick, you'll show me properly.

Edited 2014-03-04 21:30 (UTC)

When you're not sick, I'll take you flying around a city of your choice, my treat.

[ His hand touches her shoulder. ] Lean off the chair a moment.

Holding you to that one.

[she obeys and lifts her head off the chair and holds the puppy tightly, clearly she's expecting a show.

[ He closes his hands gently around the bottom of the chair, and a moment later it lifts off with him still on top of it, raising about a foot off the ground. ]

How's that for a magic trick, huh?

One of the best I've ever seen.

[She laughs a little but it hurts her stomach so she stops.]

So were you born that way or bitten by a radioactive bird?

[ He puts the chair back down on the ground, and smiles kindly at her. ] No, unlike my brother I was born without them. My parents gave them to me.

My brother was born with them, my parents, my daughter, but not me. Claire's invulnerable, my brother Pete, he does much cooler things. Electricity from his fingers, mindreading, invisibility.

I dunno, flying sounds pretty cool to me. Not that I'm the go to on super powers.

[She returns to resting her head against his chair.]

How'd they do that? Give you powers, I mean?

I don't really use it. Not much. It crippled my wife, almost killed her--my power, I mean. I flew out of our car.

[ But that's very grim. ]

Science stuff. Genetics. Then they split the formula up to make sure it couldn't be used again. It had the potential to change the world...or destroy it.

[Her face darkens. She can't imagine going through that. And so, though it's a little awkward, she touches his knee to show her solidarity.]

Nathan, I'm so sorry that happened. I didn't mean to pry.

It's fine. [ His smile warms, and he turns the full heat of it down on her. ] I wouldn't talk about any of it if I wasn't comfortable doing so. It's in the past.

Your Doctor, I had the opportunity to talk to him a few times, while he was here. You knew he was here, right?

Yeah.

[She nods knowingly. Some things are just like that. In the past and their barbs don't hurt anymore. While others still do, but you don't talk about those unless you have to.]

I knew he was here, yeah. Though it goes back the "you wish your friends were but also that they weren't".

[She shrugs as best a girl can with a little puppy in her arms.]

Smiley would tell you that he'd never left. Not very reassuring, I know.

Not at all.

[Clara shuddered and held the puppy closer to her chest like a little security doll. His statement, or it seems like it was, makes bile rise in her throat.]]

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