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]

"I... I am not certain what happens..."

With that, October stands, takes a breath, and... blurs. His form and nothing else goes almost completely blurred and then snaps back into reality. His legs immediately go out from under him and he is spilled onto the floor, arms hitting the table with a loud clatter that causes Astrid to jump awake with a squeak.

"What happened?" She blinks at October, who looks very dazed.

[tookhishand]

"I don't know." He looks a bit shocked himself, and worried. "October? Are you alright?"

[acautionarytale]

"I am not injured," October answers, picking himself up off the floor. "I do not know how it appeared to others, but when I attempted to move through time, everything went black for a moment."

He starts putting things back onto the table while Astrid sheepishly detangles herself from Donald, occasionally giving him a shy smile.

[tookhishand]

"Blurry, as it looks when you hyperattenuate time." To catch bullets! "You're metaphorically running in place..." His brain isn't 100% awake yet. He can pick himself up though!

[acautionarytale]

October returns to his chair and drops himself into it, looking a bit deflated.

Astrid quietly busies herself with gathering blankets. This is their conversation, and she really hasn't got anything to contribute to it at the moment.

"It is... disconcerting. Something is missing. I..." He looks at Donald and suddenly realises what he's saying. "Apologies."

[tookhishand]

He really should get up off his bum. It's cozy here.

"What?" It takes a moment to dawn on him what October could be sorry for. "...No, don't apologize. It's been so long since I could travel, it seems normal enough now. I don't miss it."

So worth it to really feel alive.

[acautionarytale]

This makes October think. His gaze goes far away, like it did when remembering the other Observers.

"It sounds as though... they wished to punish you and yet... you are...happy?" His gaze refocusses on Donald. "There are advantages? What are they?" He really wishes to know.

Astrid finds a chair and sits, listening.

[tookhishand]

How to explain feelings to his own former kind...

Keep it short and simple, that's how. "You gave yourself the answer right there. Being happy with it, because happiness comes... easily, sometimes."

'Sometimes'. Not now, after who he lost.

[acautionarytale]

October is really thinking, now. His brow has furrowed ever so slightly.

"Even though it is painful...? The... happiness makes up for the pain?"

He looks at Donald again, as though to see if he was right.

[tookhishand]

Awkward things to talk about in front of Astrid, not that it's October's fault.

"It's the way I want to be." Vague answer good enough?

[acautionarytale]

Apparently it is at the moment, because October nods and leans back in the chair. He's gone and not only exhausted what little empathy he's managed to grow but himself as well.

He looks a little lost, the colours and warm fabrics he is clad in now still looking incongruous around his own hairlessness, giving him the appearance of a cancer patient.

He needs to learn to smile, this one.

[tookhishand]

That October asked at all is surprising. He's come a long way for an Observer, it's nice. Emotions by osmosis.

"Don't worry about it, you should go back to sleep."

[acautionarytale]

"Sleep. I am... unaccountably tired," October murmurs. "These thoughts... are draining." His eyes fall shut. "I do not understand. They are only thoughts, and yet...." His speech slurs and trails off. A few beats later that quiet snoring starts again.

Well, that was quick.

Astrid leaves the chair and walks over to October, draping a blanket over him. She pauses and puts her hand to his face for a moment, her thumb brushing moisture from his eye.

[tookhishand]

Sad, bittersweet smile, while she's not looking. He's getting off his lazy bum now.

"Thank you for helping him too." She has 'a care', as it was phrased in an old book he read once.

[acautionarytale]

Some folks would say Astrid cares too much. But there's nothing wrong with that in her mind. Donald's comment makes her smile.

"Of course," she says softly. "He's..." here the smile fades a bit. "...kind of sad, isn't he? Like you were. Like he's looking for something, but he's not sure what it is." It's unclear whether she's referring to October or to the Observer Donald used to be.

[tookhishand]

Sad as in unhappy or pitiful?

"It's rather like... being half a person. I don't know. It was a long time ago."

They missed twenty years of his life, and they've forgotten the first year of it.

"You don't remember my change."

[acautionarytale]

If he asked, she'd say sad as in unhappy.

She can only imagine what it'd be like, having no emotions, only a job--a very important job, but still... just wandering through life witnessing things but never connecting.

She blinks when Donald mentions her not remembering his change, especially when she finds she was unconsciously stroking October's cheek with the back of her fingers in a soothing gesture. It seems... oddly familiar, though.

"No, I don't remember. I didn't even know I was there for it. I thought Walter..." she trails off, confused.

[tookhishand]

He finds himself sitting back down, nowhere else to go.

Distantly and haltingly, "I was around for almost a year before you Ambered yourself, I couldn't avoid meeting up with all of you."

"And I wanted to see you and the other again. But then the Invasion came around... we all choose to suppress your memories of me and of the plan so that you couldn't be read. It was your decision more than mine."

[acautionarytale]

Astrid's eyes are wide and sad, her lips pulled into a slight frown. She sits down next to him.

"I'm so sorry. I know it was the right thing to do under the circumstances, but... I feel like we all abandoned you."

She reaches out and curls her arms around him in a warm hug. "We'll make some new memories, okay?" She looks up at him with the same expression she used to use with Walter when determined to make things positive. "This is your home, now."

[tookhishand]

That's absolutely not what he meant. Shame on him for making things sad.

"I'm not blaming you, I suggested it originally."

What is it about sitting down that makes the hugs so awkward? "Yes, it's going to be fine. No need to save the world anymore."

[acautionarytale]

Bah. You have to deal with the sad in order to make room for the happy. Astrid hasn't exactly let go of him, and she squeezes him gently.

"Exactly. Just between you and me, I think we can all use a break from saving the world." She stands, looking over at October again, a grin stealing across her features. "And if I'm going to start collecting Observers, I'm gonna need a lot more food."

[tookhishand]

"The four of you did do it more than the average person does." Juuust a bit.

"More meat, more pepper. One side effect of all the technology we crammed into ourselves... something has to power it." Bioelectricity from the stomach!

Astrid, have you overdosed on weird humor yet?

[acautionarytale]

She hasn't overdosed, really. In fact, she kind of misses it.

A giggle results. "Good thing I know a guy who knows a guy who knows a guy."

After a beat, she impulsively leans in and kisses his cheek. "I'm glad you're here, Donald."

[tookhishand]

Don't they all. He'd love to be watching goofy musicals with Walter again. Oh, the nostalgia.

"No shortage of meat and pepper as it is, I'd think." Observer restaurants were weird.

He's caught off guard when she does. It also drags out a smile. "Glad I chose to move into your home."

Was that really only this morning?

[acautionarytale]

It was, wasn't it? Then again, it was early this morning. Maybe they'll watch something later and Donald and Astrid will get to explain comedies to October.

"I'll be back in a little bit," she says. "Keep an eye on that kitten, he's a tiny terrorist."

Said kitten is, at this moment, chewing industriously on a curtain cord.

Astrid then bustles out of the room. There's a few noises from the kitchen and then the front door closes.

The kitten rolls about on the carpet. October snores. Exciting, no?