entrancelogs | i'm guessing targets

Entry tags:

i'm guessing targets

Who: Martha Jones & Robin Hood
Where: Starting at the target range, then probably moving into the mansion from there.
When: 10/7
Rating: PG
Summary: Robin needs a distraction after his sudden return to Wonderland, and what better way than through archery lessons and a meal with a certain doctor?
The Story:
Martha and Robin have done what they can to work in her archery studies in between Wonderland's events and that hunt for the sword -- one which failed, and that's still got her nervous. She had been one of the people who said that maybe it wouldn't make a difference which side had the sword, given that the Queen of Hearts has killed the jabberwocky in the past. But now that it's come to fruition, she's less certain. With any luck, the Queen still wants the beast dead, the same as them. If only they could stop it from reviving entirely, then they would truly have something to celebrate.

In this case, when she got the call from Robin it had been something of a shock, as she hasn't heard much from him lately. As it turns out, he'd actually been gone from Wonderland for the past week, which is something Martha feels bad for not noticing. It can be so difficult to keep up with everyone, considering how many of them are trapped here.

The lesson itself goes well. Martha's hardly an expert, but she's gotten comfortable with drawing the bow and she actually hits the target some of the time, even if it's not with all that much accuracy. Still, this is something she finds relaxing rather than nervewracking. The concentration it takes to stand in the right position and to keep her form strong, then to line up the shot -- it's almost like meditation, and feels very different from target practice with a gun.

Robin decides they've done enough when Martha's arms start to quiver from all the strain, and she has to admit she's relieved. She always walks away from these lessons sore, and she'll no doubt soak in the bath tonight. At least she'll feel accomplished in her soreness, though.

They're busy packing up all of their supplies (she has her own bow, quiver, and arrows now) when Martha glances over at Robin. He's been just as polite as always, but she can tell that he's distracted and he's not as conversational as usual. It may not be her place, but now that the lesson's done she has to say something. "Did you want to talk about it? Whatever happened while you were gone, I mean." She frowns at him and worries her bottom lip with her teeth. "If you don't, that's fine too... I just know when people leave and come back, usually something big happened back home."

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Considering everything that happened right before he was sent home, Robin certainly isn't surprised that people are still reeling from that event, trying to contend with some of the emotional turmoil dredged up by everyone's mirrors. Certainly for him, seeing Regina's mirror was incredibly unpleasant, although right now, everything else rather pales in comparison.

Martha is doing quite well with her lessons, and generally Robin tries to be effusive, giving out praise generously. He's not even aware that he's more withdrawn today until she mentions talking about what's troubling him. For a moment, he considers not dragging someone else into his rather complicated state of affairs, yet on the other hand, he's come to appreciate Martha's company quite a lot, and this is the sort of thing friends do for one another.

"Something rather unpleasant did happen. Though...I can't say it wasn't wonderful as well." Which just...makes it even more complicated. His wife is alive, and he's so happy about that, and yet...he's in love with another woman, because his wife actually...died.

"Perhaps I could make us something to eat and we could talk?" He has been meaning to cook for her, and cooking is cathartic.

While Martha has had plenty of bad run-ins with Mirrors in the past, this time around actually went surprisingly well. It may have something to do with how she'd made it clear she would offer medical aid even to their kind. She'd met face-to-face with Mirrors who had terrorized her in the past, and they'd actually behaved themselves. It's changed her outlook on them just slightly.

Something unpleasant, but wonderful? Mixed feelings are often the most difficult to contend with, and hearing that only makes Martha more curious. She's had enough chats with Emma after she's returned from a trip home to have an idea of how this goes, and so she's prepared to go through it with Robin too.

When Robin suggests that he cook for them, Martha breaks out into a smile and nods. "Perfect!" She's not sure what it is, but plenty of her male companions here have offered to cook for her. Souji, Blake, Hannibal, and now Robin. Martha's not about to complain, and she's curious what someone from the Enchanted Forest will come up with.

"To the kitchens, then?" She slings her quiver over her shoulder and then nods back toward the mansion.

"Yes," Robin smiles softly over at her, following her towards the mansion. The walk over there, he is again a bit more reserved, sorting through his thoughts and thinking about how best to explain it all to her. He feels terrible that his wife is back and he's not even in love with her, yet for the last...well, many years, he's known her to be dead, and he's let go of her and fallen in love with Regina.

That...makes this all so very painful and uncertain. But for the time being, he keeps that to himself, figuring he'll approach that topic of conversation a bit carefully and slowly.

Once they make it to the kitchen, he sets everything down and washes his hands, grabbing ingredients.

"I suppose before I get started on anything, I should ask if there's any sort of flavor you detest entirely? Any meat you don't like, anything at all I should know?"

The walk back to the mansion isn't tense, exactly, but Martha can tell that whatever's happened back in Robin's world, it's eating at him. He's willing to tell her, it seems, but she also hopes that she hasn't pressured him. Surely he realizes that he's not obligated to tell her anything. She can only assume he's sorting that all out as they walk, and so she remains silent until they reach the kitchens.

Today it's on the simple side, almost rustic, and Martha has to wonder if it's because this is the sort of environment Robin's used to cooking in. Then again, wouldn't he be far more familiar with living on the land, out in the woods? She really does need to ask him more about his life, now that she has the chance.

When he asks those questions, Martha crosses her arms over her chest and considers. "I'm not too picky. I'm not really a fan of anything pickled, to be honest, but most kinds of meat should be good. Fish, pork, beef, and chicken are all fine. Turkey, too."

He may cook with some less common meats, such as rabbit or venison, but if he wants to try something like that, he need only ask. Martha's willing to give anything a try at least once.

"Did you have something in mind?" She smiles softly at him. "I tend to be the adventurous sort, so..." Go wild.

Robin does spend most of his time outdoors, he has since his arrival in Wonderland, and that hasn't changed much. He only sleeps in the mansion due in part to the unpredictable nature of Wonderland itself. Certainly, the Enchanted Forest wasn't without its dangers, and having magic, those dangers could often be numerous if one wasn't careful, but the magic here is something else entirely, and he's pragmatic, above all. He hunts in the forest here, though, even cooks outside when it's just himself, but he hasn't really offered that to anyone, recognizing most people don't really...eat like that. It's certainly simpler, perhaps, to just cook in the kitchens, or use the magic of Wonderland to get any food one might want. But in general, when it's just him, Robin tends to prefer cooking where he's always cooked: outside, by a campfire.

For Martha, though (and other friends), he adapts by cooking inside today. He's not an expert with all the gadgets and equipment, by any means, but he'd much rather make something from scratch than conjure up a meal by thinking about it. There's something far more wholesome and satisfying in it, doing it himself.

"I do, in fact," he smiles, and he grabs some meat he caught, skinned, and cleaned only yesterday. "It's a bit like a stew, but won't take terribly long to make. We tended not to have many vegetables on hand for meals, so the food we ate was often centered only around meat, adding in a few spices. Simple, but good. I hope."

Martha, on the other hand, is a born and bred city girl. She's used to getting takeout back home and eating meals others have cooked for her, which means she's never really picked up the habit of preparing food for herself. So she has no real qualms about asking the closets for a meal, or with going to the dining hall and having a hot plate appear in front of her. Though she does understand that it is a bit strange if you think too hard on where it all comes from.

There may come a day when the closets here stop working, and then Robin will have the advantage, given that he knows how to live off the land. Martha's slowly learning a thing or two from him, at least. Sometimes she wonders if it's a bad thing for her to try and make any part of that future she saw come true, but she wants to be ready if the worst comes.

"Simple food can often be the best," she points out. She takes a seat at the dining table, which is right next to the cooking area, so it's still easy for them to talk. "Thank you again for taking the time to teach me, by the way." She feels like she can never thank him enough. He'd offered it to her when they'd only just met, and he's followed through on it. Not many people would do that.

He could survive, he thinks, if things go bad here, and he's glad to be prepared. Even more than that, he's willing and eager to help others learn skills they don't have, things he can teach them. Yet he's also cognizant of the things he could do with learning as well, knows there are gaps in his knowledge and it's a reciprocal thing, in a way, a continuous cycle of growing and learning from one another. Even if Martha doesn't realize it, she's helping him, too, in ways she might not ever imagine she could.

"I agree with that," he smiles. "And not only because I happen to be making a simple meal." He gets everything heated, begins chopping up the meat, and looks over at her. "Well, you're quite welcome, of course, but I have to thank you as well, for your company, your friendship." He takes a deep breath, and though he's focused on his task, he doesn't want to keep her completely in the dark.

"When I returned home, quite a lot happened...many good things, and some distressing things." He has to pause again before revealing, "My wife, whom I had previously known to be dead, was returned to me. Emma went back in time through a portal and stumbled across my Marian, bringing her back to Storybrooke with her. She...was dead, and I let go of her, and now she's with me again."

...And he's in love with someone else.

"Let me know if you need any help, yeah?" Martha may not be much of a cook, but it feels strange to sit there while Robin slaves away. Even if all she can do is hand him ingredients or grab a pot or get the stove going, she's ready to contribute in some small way. Though Robin looks comfortable with what he's doing, and Martha imagines he's done this countless times before and could probably manage it with his eyes closed.

Her company is something that she offers happily, and it's hardly the sort of thing that he needs to thank her for, so Martha only shakes her head. Then he starts to explain his trip back and while at first he only repeats the vague details he'd hinted at before, then he gets more specific.

Robin Hood and Maid Marian. It's a story as old as any, with countless variations, but Martha doesn't think a common story thread is her death. Reality is often crueler than fiction, though. From what Martha can tell, Marian returning from death (or from the past, at least) should be a good thing. To be reunited with a lost love really does sound like some kind of fairy tale, and no doubt Emma had the best intentions in mind.

But Robin doesn't look thrilled, and there must be a reason for that. Martha wrings her hands together on the counter. "I get the feeling there's a 'but' just around the corner."

"I will, I promise." He understands wanting to feel helpful, so he wouldn't deny her that for the sake of his own pride or anything similar. If it were a larger meal, he'd take her up on the offer, but as it is, he can get everything going quite fast, so there's no need. He gets everything chopped as they talk, keeping the onion in large chunks just to flavor the broth.

It's not just the fact that he's in love with Regina that makes it complicated, but that having Marian returned to him is what he had always wanted. And even just a year ago, if that had happened, he would have been happy and content. Emma was saving someone's life, as she's so often wont to do, and he feels no ill will towards her for that at all. He's grateful, and yet, his heart aches.

Washing his hands after he gets the meat into the pot to boil, he looks at her and sighs softly as he admits, "I'm in love with someone else."

He might as well tell her the truth, he's not the type to be duplicitous; if they were in Storybrooke, he'd be far more quiet on the matter in an effort not to hurt Marian, but they're far from Storybrooke now.

In love with someone else, is it? That does make things complicated, and yet it's understandable. Marian had been dead, and eventually Robin would have moved on. You can only grieve someone for so long.

Come to think of it, Martha remembers something from her very first conversation with Robin. He'd mentioned that he was with Regina, hadn't he? She recalls being shocked by it at the time, because they don't strike her as a good mix. Then again, she really doesn't know Regina all that well. They've spoken once, when Regina first got here. Otherwise it's all hearsay from Emma.

Still, could it be anyone else? It's doubtful. "It's Regina, right? You mentioned before..."

It's an impossible situation. Martha doesn't envy him. How's he supposed to reconcile his feelings? No one really has control over their own heart.

More than he knows how to say, Robin is grateful that Martha doesn't immediately react with reproach of any sort. Not that he's expecting that from someone like her, but he's grateful all the same. Some people do love just one person their entire life, and there's nothing at all wrong about that, just as he doesn't think it's wrong to eventually move on, and not only because he chose to.

Of course, it makes it hard that such little time has passed for Marian, that from her perspective, they're still married, and he hates the thought of hurting her at all, not after what she's been through.

He moves and sits with her, folding his hands together, then nodding. "It's Regina. I know how she must seem to so many people, and I assure you I'm not naive; in fact, I once had to run from her black knights quite some time ago. But she's changed, I simply think she...hasn't yet figured out how to show everyone." He sighs softly, not meaning to make excuses for her, just to explain why he loves her. To Robin, life is all about the present, and what's yet to come, not getting mired in the past.

"I won't forsake my vows to Marian, and I do love her," he declares, meeting her gaze, his jaw more tense than he means for it to be; he just hates the idea of hurting anyone.

It appears that the stew can cook itself without much supervision for the moment, if Robin is willing to come join her. Martha twists in her seat to face him head-on. It's an impossible situation that he's in, the sort of thing that no one could ever predict or prepare for.

Emma has mentioned to Martha that Regina is trying to change, and it goes to show that Robin is a very forgiving and accepting person, if he's able to love someone who's done so much evil in her life. Then again, anyone who wants to change deserves a second chance. Martha considers the Doctor and some of the horrible things he's done in his past, and yet she'd still been able to love him.

From what Martha can see, it doesn't seem likely that there's a way to navigate this situation without someone being hurt. And her guess is that Regina won't react so well to having her heart broken. They'll need to be careful.

"How aware of all this is Marian?" Martha asks. "Have you explained it all to her?" It seems to her that Marian deserves to know.

Robin is one of those rare people for whom the past doesn't have as much importance as the future. He's not blind to it, and if he were, he knows that wouldn't do anyone any favors at all. What matters most to him is how a person presently conducts themselves, and what they're working towards, and he knows Regina.

He also knows Marian; she was his first love, the love of his life for what felt like decades, but was only, tragically, a few years.

"We've had the chance to speak, thankfully. She's just come from the Enchanted Forest, from seeing Regina as only the Evil Queen, and I completely understand her perspective. But Regina saved her life in Storybrooke, and it's...given her pause, I think. We didn't have the chance to talk again about that before I was brought back here to Wonderland."

Martha can hardly imagine how Marian would feel to suddenly end up in the future, only to learn that her husband has fallen for a woman she only knows as being capable of cruelty. Robin has quite the task ahead of him, trying to explain that and also sort out his own feelings.

Because he can't just turn it off, can he? Granted, Martha had done that with her feelings for the Doctor. She'd crushed them underfoot and moved past them because she'd realized they weren't doing her any good.

But if what Robin and Regina had was actually good and more than that, if his love had been reciprocated, that's a lot more complicated.

"What do you plan to do?" Martha asks at length. "Are you going to try and keep both of them in your life?"

Robin also worries about Marian possibly arriving here. There seems to be no way to tell if someone will be brought here or not, and also no way to tell which timeline they'll be taken from, so he has to be extraordinarily careful. The last thing he wants is for Regina to feel as though she's the "other woman" caught in some sort of love triangle between two people still technically married. It's not fair for either Regina or Marian, two women he loves dearly, but in entirely different ways.

"I'd like to, I'm just having second thoughts about the best way to do that. I also don't want to make things at all different for my son, he's been through enough as it is."

With a child in the mix, it makes it about ten times more complicated. This is far, far above Martha's pay grade and while she wishes that she had some good, sound advice for him, she's not sure that there's any neat and simple way to fix this.

Still, she has to try, and so after a moment of quiet she speaks up again, making certain to find Robin's eyes before she does so. "Well, he's not here at the moment, so you should just focus on what you can do here. It's just you and Regina here, so why not work on sorting things out with her at the moment? After that, you'll have plenty of time to figure out what to do about everything else."

The only problem being that any work he puts in here will be undone when he goes home, but he's still got to live here in Wonderland, so ignoring it won't do any good.

He's always been rather open with his feelings, not seeing anything productive in hiding them, but now that everything's completely out in the open, he wonders if he ought to have reigned some of it in; not that he can change it now. But he can at least make sure she knows how grateful he is.

Smiling softly, he reaches out, just to squeeze her hand briefly before pulling away. "Quite right. I'm sorry to put all of this on you." Sometimes things just come tumbling out all at once. "But I do very much appreciate you listening."

When Robin's hand reaches out for hers, Martha glances down and then squeezes back. It's not much in the way of comfort, she wishes she could do more, but it's something.

"Oh, please, don't apologize," she says, waving him off with her other hand. "I'm the one who asked. Besides, it's the least I can do given that you're giving me archery lessons and cooking me meals."

Speaking of which, that stew smells amazing and Martha can't do anything about the way that her stomach rumbles with hunger. She laughs sheepishly. "I guess shooting all those targets worked up an appetite."

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i'm guessing targets

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