i told you i would be there

[theluckygirl]

WHO: Claire and Matt; CLOSED
WHEN: June 28th
WHAT: An old friend arrives
WHERE: At the sign and then Gazin
WARNINGS: None yet, will update

[ cont. from here ]

It's hard to say whether Claire is happy to see him or if seeing his familiar face helps ground her, makes her remember that she's from somewhere and not endlessly floating between universes. Seeing him should make being homesick less intense and yet, home is a direct reminder of the days leading up to arriving at the settlement; the place where she was before here.

No matter how she was feeling, Claire instinctively moves closer, actually into his space and lets her eyes rove over his face as if he's a figment of the imagination or an imposter. He should be dead.

"Yeah," Claire sounds quiet, tears threatening in her eyes. "Funny how that keeps happening, too.

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[aworld_onfire]

Claire is now in full care of Matt's focused awareness, but inch by inch, the perimeter of his ambient awareness starts to constrict, and very gradually, the explosive boom of clangs and creaks and neighs starts to subside. His headache starts to numb at the edges.

He hears then, the tightness in Claire's chest, the change in her swallow, and he follows that reaction all the way to the extra warmth now flowing on her face. If he didn't know better, he'd think she was crying, or just about to. People have cried enough around him over the years for him to know the reaction, even if his own sense weren't so fine-tuned that he could sense individual tears.

Instinctively, he reaches for her. She had already placed herself in reaching distance a moment ago, and when she steps completely into his space, Matt's hand lifts to meet her at the ankle, or maybe the knee — he isn't exactly aiming with precision.

"Funny," he repeats, before swallowing again. "How you always show up when I'm unconscious — or nearly there."

A beat later, Matt takes a big, deep breath in, and then takes his time exhaling, letting the air flowing out of his lungs take some of the pain out of him too.

"I think I might be ready to sit up," he reports, a small smile curling up onto his lips. Basic functionality. Gotta start small.

[theluckygirl]

When he reaches for her, she responds by lowering down more to face him. She can't help but look him over, especially when he talks about being unconscious; a habit that corners her in a state of worry and has her gently reaching out to check for injury. But there's no blood that Claire can see, nor any cuts or bruises that should concern her to any further injury.

Moving a soft hand over the top of his, fingers curl around it and she can't help but smile.

"Call it my superpower," Claire laughs, pushing up to her feet but doing it slow enough that if Matt falters, she'll be able to brace him better with her other hand. "So, what do you remember last before arriving here?"

It wasn't lost on her that he was able to sense all the things he likely already sensed with her so close. So, to move the topic to something else before questions could be asked was good for her. She wasn't ready to open that metaphorical box with Luke's initials on them anyway.

[aworld_onfire]

As she rises, Matt follows. He's a little wobbly at first, which causes his grip on her fingers to tighten for a moment, but as he regains his balance, it's almost as if gravity has helped clear the imaginary water from his ears. All the world's noises soften to a faint and consistent hush in the background.

"I remember ... Foggy. I'd just been talking to him about... something."

It feels like the memory is just at the rims of his brain. Matt furrows his brow, trying to reach for it.

[theluckygirl]

He remembers more than most. Memories upon arrival were always more hazy than not due to the interdimensional travel that gave her a headache if she thought about it too much. Sooner or later, that something he was talking to Foggy about would come back, along with everything else.

Watching him, Claire notices the way his brows dip below the rim of his glasses and in response, she gently squeezes his hand again.

"It'll come back, Matt," Claire reassures him confidently, looking him over now that he's standing and realizing that out of everyone she knows, he's the one she's missed the most, which was ironic given how frustrating being around him got.

She's missed him. Terribly.

"I bet you have a lot of questions. Let me get us up to the pathway and while we walk to town, I'll answer what I can." Adjusting her arm to link his, she asks, "Ready?"

[aworld_onfire]

The squeeze is nice. It pulls his attention and grounds him in a way that only human contact would — that contact with Claire would.

Even though their ... ah, relationship, was over, Matt's always felt like Claire will be the one who got away. He appreciates her, a lot, but he knows better than to try again, even if that's what he wants. His own feelings for her are still simmering, quietly, and it doesn't necessarily feel bad. In fact, by now, it feels kind of nice. Like the small torch he carries for her warms him, as he hopes that Claire finds the man she really wants.

It's one of the reasons why her assurances are reassuring, and not painful.

"Ready," he says, more confidently than he's said anything else. Slowly, too, as they begin to walk, Matt's body and muscles fully turn on, realizing with every step that there's nothing wrong with him, even if he has been teleported to somewhere completely new.

As Matt thinks through what to ask first — because he does have a million questions — he settles on the easiest one: "For starters, where are we? I don't recognize anything from this city. Honestly, Claire—" He lowers his voice. "I can't even hear the sound of electronics anywhere. Never thought I'd see the day, so to speak."

[theluckygirl]

Talking about relationships wasn't anything Claire was willing to do. Not at the moment. Not when she feels that twist of foolishness in thinking that 'helping' them only constituted help in the physical sense of the word. But that had less to do with Luke and more to do with Matt. Did she miss him? Absolutely. Did she still care about him? Beyond words. Even despite knowing where Matt's focus was back in their world, she knew it wouldn't be long before this place pulls that focus, too.

No, feelings were better left reined in. They were too much trouble.

She smiles. It never fails to amaze her how his senses work.

"Nothing gets past you, does it?" she laughs softly. "If I had to guess, we're in the medieval era of this world. Gazin, so far, is the only bigger town in the area and it's in a province called Farsennia, in a place most around here just call the 'World'.