FLUFF BREAK

[acautionarytale]

Astrid hadn't been kidding when she said this house had plenty of room. It's a big, sprawling, two-storey... thing on a corner in a residential district that's slowly putting itself back together. Sure the place looks a little worn on the outside....

...But on the inside she's managed to make it an actual home. The place used to belong to a Loyalist couple who, sadly, no longer need it. Astrid has, interestingly, made a habit of appropriating abandoned Loyalist property, mainly because the current provisional governmant considers them forfeit. First come first served, and it seems the Fringe team won't ever have to pay for anything again in this area. So she moved out all the Loyalist propaganda and managed to get in some real furniture and decor. It's a warm and inviting and roomy place that needs explored.

Comments

[acautionarytale]

"No, she never tells me," Astrid answers, her voice small.

She's dreading the question about Peter, but she knows it's going to have to be answered sooner or later.

[tookhishand]

"I... suppose I wouldn't have any luck asking either."

Maybe not today. It's all very sad.

[acautionarytale]

"I don't think she really wants to tell anyone, just yet. She keeps saying that she'll come back when she's gotten her head in order, and I want to believe her, but... I just don't know."

She sighs again, curling her arms around him. Looks like she's serious about this snuggling thing.

[tookhishand]

Part of him wanted, and still wants to go be alone, although he knows he's needed. He can sympathize.

"She will. I'm sure."

No, he's not.

[acautionarytale]

If he was going to do that he'd have to detach himself from Astrid, which would be like trying to remove oneself from under a purring cat. An... adult human-sized purring cat.

Besides, they're getting to the meat of the film, now, where all the plot elements start coming together. October looks a bit confused.

[tookhishand]

Long term alone time, like Olivia is. But... there's a world to fix and old 'friends' to save. Innocent people tricked like he was into helping the invasion.

He doesn't look forward to trying to explain how a rat controls a human being via his hair. Weiiiird logic.

[acautionarytale]

Chalk the hair-puppeteering up to that particular human just being weird. Maybe he's got extra nerves in his scalp.

If Astrid knew of Donald's apparent desire to become a hermit, she'd be a very sad fluff. And would also most likely rack her brain in an attempt to figure out a way to convince him to stay... beyond a perceived duty. She likes having him around, as if the snuggling wasn't enough to tell him that.

[tookhishand]

The cuddling is nice. Nice, new, and neat. She must be terribly lonely.

And the movie wraps up with a happy ending ...

[acautionarytale]

Good. Maybe he'll come to like it so much that he won't want to go be a hermit.

Why, no, she hasn't got a terrible agenda that involves him staying forever so she can snuggle him and bake cookies for him. Nope.

The happy ending is why she picked the film, after all. She didn't want to further confuse October with sad things. Still, as the credits finish, October sits back into the sofa cushions, a thoughtful look on his face.

Presently, he speaks, looking at Donald. "Do you experience such... sensations? Colours and scents and flavors? Is it true that food is an important component in human bonding?"

[tookhishand]

He knows how to think like October, if there's one thing. Walter and the others had it harder all those years ago.

"Yes, I do. All the time." To the point where he takes it for granted now. Good for him.

He nods, "And yes. One of the many ways to make someone feel welcomed and cared for."

[acautionarytale]

"Does it not become... overwhelming?"

Astrid hasn't let go of Donald, and shifts slightly so she can still snuggle him and also watch October's reactions.

[tookhishand]

"Sometimes. Sometimes you need to take a step back and... be alone."

And make yourself cry on purpose, deliberately. Or hit things. Or both.

[acautionarytale]

"Does solitude help to ease overstimulation?" He seems a little dubious, especially seeing how everyone in that film seem to prefer to blurt out what they were experiencing, often in elabourate detail. "It appears as though it is preferable to describe the sensations aloud, but..." the hint of a thoughtful expression twitches at his brows. "Perhaps the variable between the two decisions resides in whether there is someone to listen to one speak."

[tookhishand]

"I kept up my journal after my device was removed. Writing down my thoughts and sensations helped as much as conversation did."

Odd to keep blabbering with Astrid being so quiet.

"What are you feeling right now?"

[acautionarytale]

She's listening and watching October, quietly filing his reactions away in her memory so she can figure out what to do next on this apparent road to humanity that these people are going to end up walking.

October stops and thinks, gauging his own condition. "I feel... I do not know if I have the right words. I... wish to experience taste and smell but I know that I cannot and it is... slightly painful?" His hand absently rubs his chest.

"That's regret," Astrid says quietly.

"Does it occur often?"

"Yes. But it's not necessarily bad. It can make a person more determined to fix whatever is wrong."

"But this... cannot be changed..."

Astrid opens her mouth to speak, but stops. She's out of her depth, now.

[tookhishand]

Astrid has someone to help, this time--which is good, she can't possibly remember the first case of contagious humanity.

"It's been done once before, though I don't remember what equipment they used, how they did it..."

[acautionarytale]

She doesn't. The memory-wipe was very good, after all.

Still, she winces slightly at the mention of what had been done to him and her arms unconsciously tighten around him even though she keeps her head turned, watching October.

October goes very quiet for a moment.

"I..." he starts, then stops. "I am conflicted..."

He looks a bit frightened, actually, but only a bit.

[tookhishand]

He looks sideways at Astrid, curious as to where that came from--her sudden protectiveness? If that's what it is.

"Perhaps... if someday we can find a device, an implant left behind in the world, I can find a way to modify it a little."

Honestly, he doesn't know that much about they're made. It wasn't his job, nor October's. And without the 2600s' equivalent of factory machines... it's like trying to cobble together a computer chip by hand.

[acautionarytale]

It is a bit of a protective streak, isn't it? She doesn't want to see Donald hurt... and she's starting to feel the same way about October.

Observer den-mother? Probably.

October looks a bit puzzled at the idea and Astrid sighs, leaning her head against Donald for a moment.

"Walter could have figured it out..." and then the morose mood lifts, just like that. "But we probably could, if we can find the right notes."

[tookhishand]

October's rather like a child discovering new things... so why shouldn't she be?

"We can only do so much. First we find the others... and get you all well."

[acautionarytale]

He is, isn't he? It's also strangely and vaguely familiar to her, though she has no idea why.

The look on October's face, however, stops her musings. There's something resembling... fear. He'd shown it before, in Peter's home, that deer-in-headlights stare. It's back again.

"What's wrong?"

There's a pause before October answers. "We can... save them? I have... I have doubts. They are troubling."

[tookhishand]

"With good planning, we can." He's firm on this, he has to be. "Look what's already been done, all the people they've saved."

Sure, they're down Olivia and Walter... but they can. He has to keep on hoping.

[acautionarytale]

"Exactly," Astrid chimes in. She's been trying to get her optimism to rub off on other people. Maybe it's working. "If you feel up to it, we can start figuring out where everyone is, tomorrow. Does that sound good?"

There's a pause, and then October nods once. "That will be... that is... that is good. Yes."

Astrid smiles and reaches out, patting October's hand. He looks down at it curiously.

[tookhishand]

Optimism isn't hard, if he logics himself into it. He's alive, he's healing, they can save what's left of his team, and one of them will surely be able to zip him off to Oslo, where Michael and Walter are. It can still be okay.

"Peter was mistaken about me. I won't let the others suffer."

[acautionarytale]

Astrid looks back at him, smiling. That why she likes you, Donald. You're a good person.

October manages to not so much look relieved as to cease looking worried, returning to his usual expressionless state, albeit a rather sleepy variation on it.

"Thank you," he murmurs. "It is... good to hear such things."