Tu Shanshu thread with jirk

[parallels]

[When one of the parents who helped volunteer at the welcome center told her that she looked like she needed a vacation, she nearly laughed in their face. A vacation when you were trapped on a turtle with nowhere to actually get away? Didn't that defeat the point?

But the words and the tone stuck with her and the next day she noticed in the mirror how thin she'd become. Her ribs were visible and her collar bones protruded sharply. She hadn't been this thin since her mother died nearly exactly ten years ago. So maybe that was when it started. First Spock left, then Scott, then there was the swamp and the bombings and so many new scars. So many things festering beneath the surface that ate away at her mind and subsequently everything else.

So she packed up a few books, some clothes, and some tea and headed to the edge of the turtle. It wasn't really remote but it was quieter and there was a little cottage where she could hide away from everything. No one to knock at her door to ask if she was okay out here. Plus she loved the sight of the sea. It reminded her of home, not of London, but of Blackpool and when her mother would take her to the beach and they would build sandcastles for hours, making up stories of princesses and dragons.

But it's March and while everything is starting to turn to spring, she just feels cold from the inside out. So she bundles up in a coat and hat and sits on the beach feeding the birds the bread that she'd forgotten to eat and had long gone stale. Relaxed by the sound of waves crashing up against the sand as the turtle slowly swims through the salty smelling sea, she sits there for hours, just holding her childhood travel book.]

Comments

[parallels]

[She catches that, glancing to the side and then out the windshield as she moves the car into the first gear.]

Sorry.

[jirk]

Naw, don't apologize. It's nothing.

[He offers a smile, though it doesn't quite reach his eyes.]

[parallels]

It isn't nothing. Sometimes I just say things and I don't even know why I said them. It's like my mouth's gone rogue.

And I'm sorry.

[She avoids looking at him, not wanting to see if he's smiling or frowning or cross. It's funny that something like that is more terrifying than an army of Daleks.]

[jirk]

It happens. Doesn't make you into some terrible person.

[And he is frowning just slightly, but he rubs at his face after a moment.]

You really think one little off colour comment is going to get under my skin? Come on. You know me better.

[parallels]

I do. And you'd never.

You're a bit too generous with me sometimes, I think.

[She finally glances to the side and gives him a crooked sort of smile.]

internet too slow to pick icons /HITS RANDOM...

[jirk]

No such thing between friends.

[He points forward, through the windshield.]

And keep your eyes on the road, huh? If you ding up my car you are so on the hook for hamburgers and beer while I fix her.

[parallels]

And if you want beer and burgers, I can treat you.

[She stares out the window, looking at the road but it's clear her mind is somewhere else. Somewhere deeper. There's a pause and a purse of the lips before she continues.]

It's the least I could do for a good friend. A best friend.