“I am in a story. Hurrah, I am in a story, Nibs.” [Complete]
Location: Everywhere! All over Aternaville! But starts out in John's bathroom. Nekkid. *grins*
Time: I suppose it begins on Thursday, the 4th of January, the 5th being John's 40th. The scene below takes place first thing in the morning, about 8am (so I don't know why Rodney's so chipper), and then the thread will move from there
Characters: ( Read more... )
Time: I suppose it begins on Thursday, the 4th of January, the 5th being John's 40th. The scene below takes place first thing in the morning, about 8am (so I don't know why Rodney's so chipper), and then the thread will move from there
Characters: ( Read more... )
"Did you wake up this way? How long has this been going on? The clock says it's still early morning, but what day is it? Do you have any ideas?"
Simon pressed her and realized that she was likely as clueless as he was and he was being a ninny.
Then he pouted because she was likely to call him a ninny for the way he was practically hyperventilating on her.
Simon didn't remember feeling quite this alive with energy when he was a child. When had he lost that hyper energy? When had all that enthusiasm turned into tension and anxiety? Simon wasn't sure that he could pinpoint an exact date, but he thought it was long before River had gone to the Academy. He thought that his own growing up was most likely to be linked to his enrollment in the MedAcad program, following in the footsteps of his father as the dutiful son who was meant to succeed.
Simon wondered what he was supposed to be succeeding at this time around and if this was a game, what were its stakes?
"River, do you think this could be a dream?"
Simon's voice sounded very small even to his own ears.
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"No, no dreams. Too loud. Too real. Can hear you, feel you, even reversed, she's still broken. Ninny." Her hands rubbed up and down his bare back, smooth for that or a child, and she was tempted to tickle him. Still, she didn't. He'd only whine. Her own voice sounded small, unsure, like she felt like she was insecure. And maybe she was. This was new territory for her.
"Woke up like this, a few moments now. Time is irrelevant. Should see if others are similar."
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Untangling himself from River as much as the sheets, Simon fisted a handful of his underwear and pajama bottoms to try to maintain some dignity as he went after the phone.
"We can call---who can we call?"
Simon's mind had gone blank of options. He didn't even know where to begin. What would his boss think?
He had a job. He was a doctor. Simon was shifted from foot-to-foot uncertainly as he considered the limited options available to them.
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"Don't you have a boss? House..." She smiled. "Call him? I'm sure he'd love it to hear from you, silly Simon." She crossed her arms in front of her chest, watching him. Usually he was much smarter than this. She rolled her eyes at him.
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He looked at her in horror as he realized what he'd been thinking. Could it be possible that his thought patterns were reverting to those of a child? River seemed normal enough. For River. There was that to consider. She'd never been normal, per se.
"I think I should wait. Just to be sure. I don't want to go and tell if this turns out to be something that only we're suffering. I don't want more agents interested in us when we've only just---"
Simon stopped and scrubbed a hand through his hair only to have his pants drop down embarrassingly. Lucky for him, his shirt was now long enough to cover his decency, but that didn't make it any less ridiculous.
"And stop staring. It's not nice."
Simon's face felt hot enough to melt butter. He had forgotten how easily he'd blushed once upon a time.
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Then, she heard the part about agents. She jumped off the bed, screaming, covering her ears. "No! No, keep them out, keep them out. Two by two, hands of blue. You can't take her away from him, she loves him!" She moved over to a corner of the room, slinking down and sitting in it, burying her face in her hands.
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He slid to his knees and grabbed her shoulders to shake some sense into her, "River! No. No one's coming for us here. We're safe and you're safe and I won't let anyone hurt you. I won't. I swear I won't."
He meant that. Simon would see that River was safe even if he was small and scared now. He still had his mind and he still had his memories. There was something to be said for that. Maybe it was a device of some kind. A mental device that tampered with a person's concept of reality. Or maybe they had been transported through one of those highly-experimental dimensional portals that allowed a person to experience alternate timelines. Or maybe----Simon's mind was buzzing with ideas.
He drew River closer to him and tried to reassure her, "We'll think of something. There has to be an answer to this if we just think."
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She looked up at him, taking a deep breath, trying to calm down. "You take care of me. Always take care of me. Wish I could take care of you." One hand moved up and down his arm, petting it.
"Could be anything. Won't know unless we explore."
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Simon knew they couldn't take any chances now that they had finally found a place to be free. He would take whatever cautions he had to in order to ensure their continued freedom.
"We'll do that," Simon decided.
"We can find some clothes, then take a walk. We look like children. We could just be any children out for a walk on a nice day. If it's a widespread phenomenon, we should be able to see easily enough. If not---"
Simon paused and toyed with a lock of her hair.
"Well, we'll just have to figure something out on our own."
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She giggled. Was that even a word? Didn’t matter, because she used it now. She nuzzled Simon, resting comfortably in his arms. He always took such good care of her, even at the cost of his own happiness. That in itself made River feel a little bit bad, like it was her fault that he was here, not where he should have been in the core. A great doctor with such potential, and it was wasted because of her, because she was broken. Reaching up, she took one of his hands in hers, twining the fingers, kissing his knuckles.
“Walking can be fun. No ape man to yell. Sun drifting down, kiss the hair and the ground. Can run and play, like before, before they took her away from you.”
She looked up at him, rubbing his knuckles with her thumb.
“Let’s go play.”
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They could play now.
What was there to stop them besides his own priggishness?
Simon tugged his hand from hers gently, a wicked grin slowly stealing over his face.
He rose into a crouch and pushed her suddenly, racing away with a shouted, "Tag! You're It!"
They could play first and find clothes later. The mystery might just solve itself if they gave it enough time.
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River jumped to her feet, taking off after him, out of the bedroom and down the hall. She hadn't played tag, not with him, not with anyone, in so long. She loved the idea of them just playing, being kids again. Her smile was wide on her face, as if she was beaming, glowing even.
Nothing to stop them.
No parents to yell at them.
No saying that they had to be more mature, look what family you're from.
"I'll get you," she yelled as she took off down the stairs.
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Simon laughed loudly, as loudly as he felt like laughing without caring at all who could hear or that he was being quite uncouth, and slid down the banister to reach the bottom of the stairs first. He raced around the corner to slide through the kitchen.
Panting, Simon looked around swiftly and tried to control his hysterical snickering.
He decided to hide behind the door, thinking only of staying ahead of River and not where he was so he wouldn't be giving her that advantage at least.
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She creeped into the kitchen, giggling.
"Come out, come out, wherever you are."
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Laughing like a lunatic, Simon turned and ran back through the door River had just followed him through. He couldn't believe how much fun this was and wondered why they hadn't just played before.
Simon found he couldn't worry for long. He had made it back to the small foyer and had the option of going back upstairs or rounding in on the living room. There was a closet? No. He went into the living room and hid behind the couch on his hands and knees, muffling his giggles with his hand.
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Grinning, she creeped up behind him, till she was standing right beside him. With his giggling, he hadn't heard her approach. Laughing, she tapped him on the shoulder, then ran for it. "You're it," she yelled in her wake.
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