[Thread] But there's no need for turning back...

[phd_query]

Who?: Tenth Doctor, OPEN
Where?: Around the compound.
When?: Roughly "now." New character, new thread, please.
Summary?: Ten's out for a walk, being listless.
Warnings?: None.

Comments

[jesusstick]

The church had not been harmed in the invasion; in Mr. Eko's mind, that was all that mattered. The building was as old and run down looking as it had been before, but that was a welcome alternative to the vision of destruction. The priest was currently working to fix it up, having spent most of the day climbing around on the roof to repair a few holes. Now he was back down on earth, sweeping out the interior and just generally making himself busy. He always needed something to do with himself, to keep his mind off other things.

The sound of footsteps drew his attention away from his work and he nodded a greeting to the other man. "Hello."

[phd_query]

Strange that the Doctor hadn't noticed the man in the church. He did live there, after all, up in the balcony, by himself, sleeping on two pews and using cinder blocks and planks for bookshelves. He'd even had a rug made from torn up rags and shirts. The church hadn't been harmed, and in fact, there'd been a few holes in the roof that had been neatly fixed up - not all of them, and they really weren't a noticable improvement.

"'Allo," replied the Doctor, canting his head to the side. "Sorry to trouble you, but what are you doing?" He leaned up against the inside door that lead from the narthex. Tucking his hands into the pockets of his coat, the Doctor ambled from the doorway towards the man. "Don't bother sweeping, the entire place just fills up with leaves again from the cemetery. There's a young girl that lives in rectory - that's Helena Campbell. I live in the balcony. Oh, I'm the Doctor, by the way, who're you?"

[jesusstick]

Eko gave the man one of the looks he was so good at; the calm, slightly amused one that seemed to say he had a giant plan that no one else really needed to know about or mess with. Clearly the news that people were living in the church did not affect him a bit. He was new here after all, and could easily have asked about the living spaces he had come across in his cleaning, but had not.

"I am cleaning the church." He replied with a small smile, looking faintly amused, nothing more. "It is a church first, after all. Perhaps with a priest here people will use it for things besides a home." No, he wasn't kicking anyone out or bashing in heads with his stick just yet. If they wanted to stay in a house of God who was he to argue? "I am Mr. Eko. I did not move the things in your balcony, although I did sweep." Yes another smile, this one clearly more joking, or as close to that as he got.

[phd_query]

"Well, I can see that, yes," the Doctor quirked an eyebrow, gesturing to the swept floor. "And probably not. You'd be surprised at how many people run into the waiting arms of atheism. Not so sure there's a god myself, but there was a physical embodiment for the Devil, and after all, for every action, there is an opposite and equal reaction, so really, who has a clue at all? I've just always found religion to be sort of mask to pull over one's eyes when everything goes pear-shaped."

Talkative, this one. The Doctor perched on the back of a pew, gangly legs stretched out in front of him.

"Ah, could have used some dusting too, up there, I usually take care of that, but with circumstances as they are, been collecting a bit of dust myself these days. Seems like all I ever do is prattle off into a communicator."

[cinqtioned]

Relena had gone back to her apartment for a while after the whole false death ordeal had been done and over with, but a feeling of restlessness combined with a desire to make sure there were no people in need of assistance motivated her to leave and venture out into the compound. She was unprotected and it was probably foolish of her to go wandering by herself with both the Entropi and un-cuffed hostile residents at large, but for the moment, she didn't care. The princess was still a bit shaken, as much as she refused to admit it. Like she often did during speeches and other public appearances, she plastered on a mask of calmness that helped her keep her emotions in check.

While she normally kept to herself outside of those she already knew here, Relena felt the need for conversation and so when she came upon a man she was about to pass on her way to the shops, she smiled kindly and uttered, "Hello there."

[phd_query]

The Doctor had a sort of restless gait to his walk - he was clearly deep in thought, hands in his pockets, dark eyes focused on the sky. Spikes of brown, mussed hair shot from the top of his brow - desperately, desperately in need of a trim. It looked like he'd had some sense of style before arriving in Econtra, but now he simply wore a rumpled, white collared shirt and a pair of black dress slacks that had - of all things, dust practically stained into them. The recent attacks had not shaken him too terribly, but they had made him dreadfully curious. At the sound of the young woman's voice, his head shot up, and an alarmed expression crossed his slender features.

"Sorry, um, but I don't think I know you? Which is, of course, quite alright, but ah-..." The man wasn't quite used to people simply randomly approaching him for conversation - most tended to either overlook him or purposefully ignore him. Que the friendly-yet-bemused grin.

[cinqtioned]

Relena shook her head. "No, you do not. I’m Relena Darlian-well, one of the Relena Darlians here. I’m the politician version, though, not the pilot." Her counterpart had been in the compound far longer than she, so she often offered up a distinction between herself and her double, even when it wasn’t asked for. It was best to put a stop to any confusion regarding that before it arose.

(( ooc: sorry about the late!reply. the wifi i'm using atm was being a pain the past few days >< ))

[phd_query]

"Oh, alright then, well! Nice to meet you Relena Darlian, and frankly, if your other you turned up I probably won't be able to tell the difference. Didn't you ever find politics to be just awfully boring? I never could stomach the courts and all the nattering on and the doublespeak."

"Ohright, sorry! I'm the Doctor. Just the Doctor, absolute pleasure to meet you."

[never_stay_home]

For want of many other options, Rose was fussing with her communicator. With its settings, to be specific. It had a few, and she'd not really sat down to fiddle with them much. To this end, she'd taken up a perch on the rim of the fountain, a little grateful for once that it seemed to be permanently off. The damp spray would have pushed the late-October chill past the point where her jacked could ward it off, and she didn't really feel much like rummaging through her things to find something warmer just to sit around.

Her grin when she spied the Doctor was almost reflexive, and she raised one hand in a wave, hopping down from her perch and pocketing the communicator. "Hullo there," she called. "Missed a bit of a show the other day."

[phd_query]

Jolted out of his thoughts by the sound of Rose's voice, the Doctor snapped his head to the girl's direction. "Rose!" The smile that followed brightened his expression for about three seconds before his expression turned to something of absolute and total terror for about half a second before being damped an uneasy grin. "Rose! You're alive! Well, of course, you're alive, but we're still both here, isn't that grand?"

The Doctor stood with his hands in his pockets, rocking back and forth on the heels of his feet.

"What kind of a show?" Headtilt. "I don't assume you mean the entire, oh, you know, compound being stripped of their powers, no? That's not something I'd like to repeat, frankly."

[never_stay_home]

"It is, really. I mean, it's still a bit hard to believe, but it's...good. Really good." Rose's smile, in contrast, remained bright. It was a giddy, half-desperate sort of brightness, as of someone determined to force themselves to be just fine without actually being near it, but it was bright nonetheless.

She stopped dead in surprise, brow furrowing in puzzlement, then shook her head sharply. "What? No...not that. D'you think I'd mean that? Really?" She was too puzzled yet to sound truly hurt, but there was a note of it there, half formed.

[phd_query]

The Doctor watched Rose for a few moments, dark eyes lacking any sort of emotion save faint bewilderment.

"Honestly, Rose, I don't know. I'm sorry, I really am, but I have no idea what you're talking about," He bit his lower lip, unmoving from his spot a few feet away from the fountain.