entrancelogs | Well. Shit.

Who: Michonne + 2 closed starters (for Regina Mills and Rick Grimes) and 2 very open starters!
Where: Open sections = beach and bar. Two best things that start with a B.
When: Around the month of December
Rating: PG-13 to start? Yeah, sure.
Summary: Michonne gets the 411 from Regina, confronts Rick, then takes to the beach and drinks at the bar. Typical.
The Story:

☠ Closed to Regina Mills

[ Things really have a way of fucking up at the exact wrong time, and how is it that after a couple years of being here and being alone, two people Michonne loves are suddenly here at the same time, one right after the other? She knows what she's about, she knows where she stands, knows what she isn't going to do (leave Andrea), but it's still a situation. One she's been avoiding. She hasn't even faced Rick because what's the point? He doesn't even know her which should make it easier, but instead she sent a text to Regina asking to meet in a tea room.

It's definitely not tea in the (hypothetical) cups, but she doesn't want to talk about all of this and possibly (maybe?) upset Andrea, and she doesn't want to go to the bar where Rick might be or intrude in Regina's space when she knows her kid is around, so. Tea room. And nothing too hard this time, just a pack of Stella to split between them. ]

Wonderland has the shittiest sense of humor I've ever seen.

☠ Closed to Rick Grimes, post talk with Regina.

[ Well. She can't avoid this forever. Or maybe she could - until Rick got sent home and returned and the situation was even more comically complicated when he came back again. If he came back again. If he ever left at all. After this long with no one showing up and staying longer than a week or two, now it seems like people are sticking and she's remembering, telling herself, she asked for this. For the people from home to stay.

Michonne actually can't decide if him not knowing who she is, is good or if it's making her feel like she's been punched in the gut. It doesn't matter either way, and right now maybe it's good. He doesn't know what's coming. He doesn't even know about Lori, if his initial message is any indication.

Outside of his door once she finds it, she knocks, katana wisely left at home for now, and when he answers, she tries to smile but it comes out a little wobbly. He never looked this unweathered, not once from the moment she met him. And now his hair is more gray in places back home but not in Wonderland because he hasn't lost and lost and lost. She knows she's been looking at him too long so she clears her throat. ]

You don't know me, but. Wonderland's a weird place that brings people from the future, people from the past, even dead people. I'm someone you'll meet. Eventually.

[ This isn't awkward at all. ]

☠ Open; beach

[ Michonne can be found on the beach doing one of two things: running or standing and staring at the water. Sometimes she comes to a dead stop when she's running and finds herself looking out at the water, squinting like maybe she can see something on the horizon, but of course she can't. When she's running and sees someone she knows, she'll veer toward them just to chat, but otherwise, she'll go past unless someone calls out to her.

At some point she winds up sitting, taking off her shoes and digging her toes into the sand, resisting the urge to talk to ghosts. ]

☠ Open; bar

[ The bar is a good place, a safe space, full of her apocalypse family most nights. So, that's where she is now (now that the fear of an awkward run-in has gone away), sitting at the bar and still not going for the hard stuff, just sipping beer. The nicer Stella was for Regina, now Michonne's drinking whatever's on tap. It's development, she's not dealing with this issue at least by getting totally shit faced! ]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[ Michonne can't help but think, had it been her and Rick that Eugene met first, they wouldn't have fallen for his shit. But there's no way to know that for sure, either. Maybe she's wrong. Maybe they'd be desperate enough to believe him. ]

We have a good group now, and he's a part of it. No one's in 'hope for a cure' mode anymore. Now, it's just...try to avoid the next asshole that wants to kill us and take what we have.

Good. Hopefully you guys stick together. Harder for someone to use you then or get the drop on you, but they still can. Is this the first group you've been with?

[Clementine finds herself wondering how long her current one will last because of how completely her last one broke up, one death at a time.]

[ Michonne nods at the question, then shakes her head slowly, contradicting herself. No one else from home knows this; not Rick, not Andrea. ]

I was with my boyfriend, our best friend. [ She pauses for a beat. ] And my two-year-old. Then I was alone. Until I met the group I've been with ever since.

[ Clementine knows about loss, though, young as she is, and Michonne knows she won't have to go into more detail than that. ]

[Clementine lifts her gaze up to Michonne and then she- she reaches over, resting a hand against her arm, because I'm sorrys sure as hell don't cut it, and she gets not wanting to talk in detail about something that hurts so damn much. The understanding is in her expression even as her head lowers. Her chest aches in that funny, distant way that warns there'd be more there (too much) if she ever really pulled apart the feeling.]

I was with a babysitter when it all started. My parents were gone on a trip, and then a man found me. We ended up with a group. Then I was with one person and we got separated, and I found another group, but the same thing's happening all over again.

How long were you alone for? Was it easier?

[ She didn't even have her family when everything ended. Fuck, how shitty. She wants to slip an arm around her, just...be something for her, but she refrains and sighs softly, letting herself think about the question. ]

I was alone about...four, five months. Then I met Andrea. Saved her in the woods. Met up with her group when she and I got separated and I've been with them ever since. Been a couple years now.

[ There was a time when Andrea died, when Herschel died, that Michonne thought she'd be alone again, but in the end she'd found Rick and Carl. Her family. Her home. ]

A couple years?

That's good. Scary too. [Clementine shakes her head and then swallows through that feeling in her chest as she looks up at her, and then leans against her a little, just a little. Her gaze is drawn back to the water.] I hope your group stays together. People will still die all the time but if a group can mostly stay together that long... That's when we can start hoping again, right?

[It'd be nice to have that sort of security, to have at least one or two people to count on for that long. It's what she's aiming for back there herself.]

[ Michonne can't help but smile softly at that. ]

I think so. The group's changed, but we add people, too. Good people.

[ Maybe they've lucked out. Maybe between her and Rick there's a gut feeling; look where it took them when she trusted Aaron. Or maybe all that good luck has finally run out now that they've met Negan. ]

Makes me wish I could find you. Add you to the group.

[ Michonne just really hates that Clementine is out there, and she protectively brings an arm around her shoulders, though not tightly. Any time Clementine wants to move away, there won't be any offense taken on Michonne's behalf. ]

[Clementine moves in closer as Michonne's arm settles over her shoulders. It feels nice. It feels good in this moment. She's not a kid anymore. She hasn't felt like one for a really long time, but this moment is- It's really nice. With the group she's with now, they need help. She holds it together. At first, it was because she wanted to prove to them she was worth saving. She was worth the medical equipment they finally used on her when they realized she wasn't lying about the dog bite. She was worth using resources on.

Her words make Clementine seize up in her chest. Something tightens there. She breathes in and then breathes out. Her little hand's a fist at her side.]

Yeah. I wish that too. [More than she can put to words, more than- more than she can let herself feel because it won't be reality if she's sent back there. It'll be right back to that moment with Sarah screaming, Carlos falling, Sarita screaming because Clementine just chopped her arm off.] What's left of my group could mix up with yours. They're good. I-

[She feels responsible for them, doesn't she?] I helped them get out of the place we got trapped at together or... we were on our way out. It just all went to hell. It'd be nice if what's left of us could go with all of you.

Listen, Clementine.

[ Michonne looks at her seriously, wanting her to see that she means what she's about to say. ]

A friend of mine is trying to figure out a way for us to keep our memories. And she's not working alone. So if that happens, then I can remember where you're at. And I'll come get you, Clementine. Even if that means going all the way back to Georgia. I'll find you.

[ She knows, beyond a shadow of a doubt that Rick will back her, and they'll go together. Maybe all of them will, pack up and go in the middle of the night, far, far away from Negan. ]

[Clementine sees the seriousness in Michonne's expression. Something lodges in her throat, and she ducks her head then. Her little fists shake at her side before she leans the rest of the way against Michonne. Her eyes burn, and she's afraid to hope but she nods.]

Okay.

[Even if she can't make it so, even if it never happens because the world is cruel and none of it works out for the best, Clementine presses her face against her and then nods, fighting back tears.]

Thank you.

[ Michonne completely wraps Clementine up in her arms, pressing her cheek against the top of her head and holding onto her tightly. ]

You're welcome. You're so damn welcome.

[ Maybe it won't happen, maybe no one will ever figure out a way to keep their memories here, but Michonne's not lying about this. If she remembers, she's going to find Clementine. With or without anyone else's help. ]

Well. Shit.

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