[ota] It leaves us with regrets and picks apart the threads

[shorthair]

Who: Clementine + you
Where: Mansion
When: April 5 - 12. Plus, all of April and May
Rating: PG-13
Summary: Clementine returns from her canon update. Feel free to reply to the network post here since I won't actually spam the network community too. Action spam or prose is totally cool with me.
The Story: First week and a half

It's warm.

She's felt like she was freezing since she fell into the lake of ice. Was that really just yesterday? It's warm here. Her hands press to grass, and she stares at the ground, shuddering because she thinks the frozen water might have seeped into her blood. She knows it's warm but she still feels cold.

She's back in Wonderland. A rush of memories, of emotion hits her. There are so many people she cares about here, and she hasn't seen them since she left, and it feels like she's been gone for years instead of- days. Weeks? Time is funny.

AJ isn't in her arms anymore. It's just him and her now. Seems right. She can't trust people anymore.

Now that the adrenaline has faded away, the bullet wound in her shoulder hurts like fucking hell. She killed someone else she cared about. Again. Does she even belong in this place with people who are good, who do what's right? If they knew, what the fuck would they think of her. She feels like she might be sick, but there's nothing in her stomach to puke anyway so it's just her insides twisting around like knots.

She pulls her network device out, texting a quick open network post, because she won't remember everyone she'll want to text to let them know:

It's Clementine. I'm back. In my room.

If anyone is up at night, they might run into her, a child with blood on the shoulder of her jacket with a very clear hole through it. No gun for once. She left it with the last dead body she's left behind her.

When she finally makes it into her room. She writes the names of more dead people on the wall (Sarita, Sarah, Luke, Rebecca, Kenny). She pulls out blankets from the closet and piles them on the bed and puts herself underneath them, but it doesn't help with the cold. She tries to get out of the damn jacket, but she hisses out pain and stops midway. She stays there for a week and a half without leaving.

Rest of April/May

Eventually, later in the month, she finally leaves her room again. She's got the small shot gun from Christmas with her, holstered to her back.

She's in the cafeteria in short sleeves, which means she's revealing a certain scar for the first time since she came to Wonderland. Sometimes she's reading books about taking care of babies as if osmosis will happen if when she's sent back. Somewhere in between reading how often they have to feed and sleep, she tosses the book away from her so hard that it almost hits somebody.

Then she picks up baking. She used to with her mother all the time, and if she can kill people and survive walkers and gun shots and ice lakes, she can make some cookies if the recipes right there, right? Maybe.

She ends up making a big mess in the kitchen as she tries to spoon big chunks of cookie dough out on to pans, smirking at her giant mess. It's kind of hilarious she can survive so much and fight so hard and then get defeated by cookie dough.

Comments

[thesamurai]

[ Michonne doesn't even respond to the text. The only reason she wasn't outside of Clementine's door waiting on her was because Andrea dragged her away, insisting she had to sleep and eat. But all of that goes out the window and Michonne makes her way over as fast as she can. Pausing, she takes a breath before knocking. It's light but urgent, needing to look her over, make sure she's okay, see what the hell of their world did to her.

Because one thing she knows for certain: Clem isn't unscathed. ]

It's Michonne.

[ Just in case she's screening visitors. Hopefully, Michonne's on the list. ]

[seeingthings]

You know who tends to be in the hallways at night? Vampires who can't be in the sun.

Richard is also very good at smelling blood. Call it an important survival instinct, even if right now it's not being used for its intended purpose.

He sees her down the hall, can smell the blood before he sees it, and it's a damn good thing that he's better fed these days.

"Shit."

His long legs carry him quickly down the hall toward her, brows furrowed. He's had too many bullets go through him, too, and they fucking hurt. He can already tell that, based on the location, it shouldn't be life threatening, but she's a fucking kid.

He crouches down on one knee so he's not looming over her, his face calm as he looks her over. He doesn't ask if she's okay. He knows damn well she isn't.

"What happened?"

[demonstrate]

Early morning after Clementine's arrival, Iris is mentally kicking herself for going to bed early and missing the network post. It would figure that she's paid such close attention throughout the week and then the one time she dozes off, Clementine returns.

Iris discovered Clementine was gone mid-event, after attempting to contact Clementine via omni-tool to no success; she never stepped foot inside the Citadel. Ever since, she's been sick with worry. There's no way to know what Clementine went back to, but Iris doesn't need the details to understand it wasn't good. The kind of world Clementine is from is brutal and unforgiving, and Iris wants nothing more than to protect her from it, even knowing she does not have that kind of power. It doesn't change that she wants it to be true.

They both live on the same floor, so it doesn't take long for Iris to reach Clementine's room with breakfast for them in tow. The knock on Clementine's door will be soft, but no less determined for it. "Clementine? It's Iris."

[poppycock]

He checks on her. It's something he does each day, since their conversation: a simple scroll through his contacts to assure himself she's still here and breathing. He's not quite sure why he does it, other than the instinct their conversation had stirred in him to do so: to care, to care for. To be a father, in the absence of a daughter. For her, in the absence of a father.

What he wants is Clementine to be all right, and when she disappears from his phone his throat closes with a deluge of smothered emotions; panic, anger, sadness. He searches the mansion high and low but there's nothing else for him to do: so he waits.

He waits until she's in his contacts again. He waits until he wakes one morning to see her message.

Then he paces. He thinks about her, alone. He thinks about the world she must have gone back to, and hopes she wasn't alone, all the while fearing she was. He thinks about what he could possibly say or do, how he could help with a helplessness that could drive him mad. Then he doesn't pace anymore, is out the door and searching the mansion until he finds her.

Holed up in a room. He knocks gently and steps back.

[manipulative]

It doesn't matter how dry or thin that layer of blood happens to be, Katherine's nose is as sharp as any shark in a pool of water with a simple drop of it. She doesn't quite track it as that kind of predator would, but she does let it guide her as she navigates her way through the mansion at night. Sometimes sleep evades her, and sometimes she evades it.

Though she'd seen Clementine's message on the network, she hadn't replied. Katherine doesn't quite know how to — people don't often express to her that they're back, preferring to keep that hidden away out of fear of how she'll retaliate against them.

Besides, she's never quite had a friend to wait for the return of.

Turning a corner, Katherine sees the back of Clementine in the hallway. The blood's a lot richer there, and she can easily surmise it has to be coming from her. Strides long and heels purposefully clicking along the ground to announce her arrival, Katherine sidles up to her and reaches out to gently touch her fingers to the good shoulder of her jacket. Her primary concern isn't what she believes she can smell, ripe and possibly new. Katherine knows what it's like to walk around with open wounds.

Gently, she suggests, "Come with me."

The kitchen; later in the month

[mr_englishguy]

Without a guide on how to care for the pyjak that had returned with Newt somehow from the space station, he's still working on finding the proper diet and care for the creature. Which truly has him happier than he's been since he arrived in Wonderland. This is what he does best, what he loves, and he is constantly out and about with the creature, trying to learn the best things for him.

Which was what led him to the kitchen that afternoon. Standing in the doorway with Andy standing at his side, he watches the young girl for a long time, smiling at her activities. At least until the pyjak scurries forward, reaching up to try and snag a spoon, or a cookie, from the counter.

"Andy! No! Manners."

[circlejerked]

He and the young Clementine have been like two ships passing in the night for a while, and today is no different. While Clementine is dragging herself to their floor, Anders is in the diner, satisfying his belly after a vigorous training session and a shower.

Clementine, back again? These people from zombie-inhabited worlds seem to ping pong across the multiverse faster than Anders can keep track of them.

You missed some kind of event. Space happened.

On a scale of 1 to 10, how terrible was the trip home? 1 being "bearable if grossly unfair" and 10 being "human extinction"?

[krmvgivv]

[It's not long til Dipper runs up to her room, breathing hard. He knocks, trying not to be too frantic about it and sort of succeeding.]

Clementine! I saw your text. You okay? What happened? I was worried!

[choosetruth]

Georgia deliberately does not run to Clementine's room when she sees the message. The temptation's there, but the fact is, there are plenty of others who will want to check in on her too. Clementine's alive. For the moment that is sufficient information.

That being said, she's certainly pleased when late at night, she sees Clementine alive for herself. A corner of her mouth twitches up in a restrained smile and she approaches, only to freeze several feet away.

"Clementine. There's blood on your jacket." Different worlds, she has to remind herself. In Clementine's world, smearing yourself with zombie guts is a good plan to not be eaten rather than suicide. Different worlds, and Georgia's dealt with blood before. It's fine, alarming or not, Clementine is alive and won't turn into a zombie from a little bit of blood.

Georgia doesn't come any closer.