The Revived Scientist

Hello, there! My name is Claire Folley, and it's a pleasure to make your acquaintance. I begged Dimitri to stop his work. Tampering with time can only result in more anomalies. There's no telling what chaos we could unleash upon the world if we tried to save the dead from their fate. The flow of time must remain linear. We all know the consequences of changing its course. What Dimitri, Bill, and I did ten years ago broke the laws of nature. And now, we must pay. We had so many plans for the future. Do you remember, Hershel? I'll miss you, and our...unwound future. {Sidebar Credit: http://www.pixiv.net/member_illust.php?mode=medium&illust_id=2696168 }

[mamatriton]

rewoundfuture started following you

[Visiting London wasn’t something unsual for Brenda to do at this point in time. There was a time where she couldn’t bear the thought of visiting the city, deciding to instead try to obtain all what she needed from the towns and cities in the vicinity of Misthallery. But, now that communication had been reestablished, Brenda found herself returning. It was hard to stay away. There were many memories for her there.]

[That day, she was visiting a special place. A bench that was under the light of a somewhat skewed lamppost. Many conversations were held here. Between her and…]

[rewoundfuture]

[Yet another slight warp through the timeline brought Claire to a spot in the middle of London; she recognized the road past her rather well, as it lead to her old university, though as much as she wanted to reconcile with the fond memories of hers, memories of adventures with Brenda, Clark, and Hershel, the redhead was still as a statue. Of course, that was a somewhat natural process with regards to time travel; she had to give her body time to materialize, for every molecule of hers to be transported into...whatever time frame she'd automatically been brought to.]

[Once she felt herself stabilize, Claire glanced around and inhaled deeply, the process of time travel being...exhausting, to say the least. Even now, after these random warps, she felt herself growing a tad dizzy, yet she ignored that and pressed on. At the very least, she'd take a seat, but the nearest bench was at her old university--which, fortunately, wasn't too far away.]

[She felt a hint of guilt towards "breaking in", but right now, she really needed a rest; gingerly, the redhead sat herself down on the nearest bench available, and took a bit of a breather before glancing around again and spotting--]

[Brenda...! Her old college roommate and best friend, right across from Claire's current dwelling place atop the bench, beneath the crooked lamppost where they used to host some of their favorite conversations during break. With a grin, all dizziness and discomfort from the sudden warp completely eradicated, the redhead rushed over to the brunette.]

Brenda, is that you...? Gosh, it's been such a long time! [Whoops; in her complete giddiness towards seeing her old best friend again, Claire had entirely forgotten that Brenda had most likely thought the redhead to be deceased. "It's been such a long time"--no shit, Sherlock.]

[silkentophat-archive-blog]

[Hesitantly, he allowed her to slip from his grasp and enter the room, and he closed the door behind them with a soft click. Ah, he had missed her laugh… It was so horribly contagious that he couldn’t keep his own smile from growing. Oh, that was right, he had only just gotten his professorship when she…and as a result she had never gotten the chance to see his office.]

Ahah, yes, well…

[Still hovering by the door, the professor tugged at his hat brim, a wince in his smile. He gently pushed aside a stack of books that piled up by the door with his toe.

Tidiness was never one of his strong points. He didn’t know how many times he had gotten chewed out for it, but no matter what he did, the clutter always piled up again soon after it had been cleared. For goodness’ sake, Hershel, you’re a 37 year old man and you can’t even keep your office in decent shape, and you call yourself a gentleman. Oh, well, at least she was smiling.]

No. No they haven’t.

[It could be worse, though. Much worse. At least it was only books and papers and not filth and grime. Rosa would surely have his head if that were the case.]

[rewoundfuture]

[Claire's smile brightened as she saw the expression on his features shift from their original state of shock to the contagious upbeat grin that she displayed; it actually felt rather pleasant to put the past behind them, for now, and at least live in the moment. They were both overwhelmed, and yet overjoyed to see each other again, and though that was partially due to the fact that the redhead had been revived...it was still nice. Even more so to actually see for herself the pigsty that Hershel had turned his office into; ah, some habits never change...and that was how she liked it.]

[Honestly, she never wanted Hershel to change from his gentlemanly demeanor and his adorable awkwardness; even shifts in his cleanliness would have been a tad uncomfortable, but it was much like confirmation that this was her precious Hershel. At least his unkempt living conditions weren't as terrible as they possibly could have been, and it was still...possible to move about the room.]

Well, then, I'm glad you haven't changed! You're still the old, untidy and adorable gentleman that you were back in college, Hershel...as silly as it seems, I've missed how you keep your living conditions less spic and span as they could be. [Claire recalled fantasizing, once upon a time, that she would be the one to clean up after his messes if they ever...lived together, under the same roof, p-possibly married...she'd never shared it with him, of course. It was embarrassing to speak of something that wasn't likely to become reality.]

[Regardless, Claire returned to her spot beside Hershel and gingerly pecked him on the cheek, a slight blush returning to her features. Another reminder that she was actually alive...and it felt rather nice.]

[stmysteres]

"Oooh, yes! Yes yes yes, of course I’d like to hear about it!” Despite the fact that Claire had started out pretty glum, this reunion was going even better than Flora could have ever hoped for. She’d often thought about what her life would be like if Claire had never died; how she would have lived with two adoptive parents. Not that she minded having just a father! She adored the professor, but she couldn’t help but wonder what things would be like if Claire was there, too. After all, all she wanted for the Professor was for him to be happy since he’d done so much for her.

And as great as the Professor was… well, she couldn’t help but long for a mother like she used to have. Someone to talk about romance novels and fashion tips with… Someone to confide to when she got a crush on someone. And Flora adored even before now, much in the way she adored Emmy although they’ve never met.

It was almost hard not to adore someone from Layton’s past with the way he talked about them. He just surrounded himself with such nice, sweet, caring people; it was incredible and she wanted to meet them all! Henry, Angela, Aurora, Desmond… All of them! But Claire and Emmy had always been the top two, if you wanted the girl’s honest opinion. There was just an extra tone of endearment when he spoke of the two girls.

It was similar to the way he spoke about Randall and their adventures together back in high school, and she longed to someday care about them as much as the Professor did; to form similar bonds with them because they seemed almost like famous actresses in Flora’s mind, and it was absolutely amazing to her to actually be given a chance to bond with Claire, especially in a Mother/Daughter sort of way.

[rewoundfuture]

[Claire's smile turned to a grin as Flora displayed such excitement towards hearing a story of her and Hershel's romance; the redhead was always pleased to describe tales of her own memories with her old sweetheart. Gingerly, Claire raised the pocketwatch and held it close to her chest with a delicate smile; it brought back so many vivid, delightful memories of hers, and it took her back to the very day Hershel had given it to her. It was, quite possibly, the key to her existence in the present now, if her theories proved true.]

I remember it as though it was yesterday... [Though, considering the way she'd been transported throughout the timeline, it technically was only a couple of days ago, despite the fact that it was actually ten years prior.] Hershel and I were dating at the time, and Hershel had just gotten his job, about two days before the experiment I got involved in. We were going out to dinner, and he got me this lovely pocketwatch as a surprise gift--the very next day, I gave him that hat of his. I'm so glad he's taken such good care of it... [Too bad that her own gift was somewhat malfunctioning due to the blast it had been involved in, though...that caused it to be even more important than Hershel or Claire ever could have imagined.]

Hershel knew that I was rather fond of the concept of time and that it was the primary field of study that I was intrigued by, so he chose that as his present; I chose his because it fit the role of a true gentleman like himself, and since it suited his new occupation as an archaeology professor. Oh, I was so proud of him...he'd always wanted to be involved in the field of archaeology, especially because of one of his friends he always used to talk about...Randall, I believe.

[A delicate smile came across her features, and she lowered her hands so as to gaze at her precious gift one last time before returning it to its location in her pocket.]

I have plenty more stories about Hershel and me, if you'd like to hear them, Flora. I'm always happy to share them.

[silkentophat-archive-blog]

[A part of the professor continued to mutter that this was too good to be true, that there had to be some sort of catch to all of this, to the woman he loved being miraculously alive and in his arms. Before he went off over analyzing everything, though, he wanted to allow himself this one moment of happiness that she was here at all.

He pulled back slightly so he could look at her, though he was reluctant to lessen his hold, and gave a weary smile. He reached up to tuck a stray russet lock back behind her ear. The telltale sting of tears prickled in the corners of his eyes.]

No need to apologize, dear. There was nothing either of us could do to stop what was inevitable. I’m still…utterly dumbfounded that you’re here, but…I honestly couldn’t be happier.

[The memory of that horrid night still hurt like a slowly healing wound, but now they may finally have the chance to make up for at least a little of the time they had lost.]

Ah, why don’t we have a seat? No need for us to just stand in the doorway like this.

[rewoundfuture]

[It was understandable for Hershel to be doubting what he was seeing, even feeling; Claire was supposedly dead, was supposed to have returned to the very moment of the blast, and yet she'd somehow managed to miraculously escape her fate...again. Of course it would seem as there had to be some sort of catch, especially as the last time she'd escaped her own time, she'd faded away yet again. Though, after that had occurred, she ended up in the same place, it was possible that next time, she would be gone forever.]

[With what little time she had, the redhead wanted to at least enjoy herself, unlike last time; Claire had been given a second and third chance, after all, so she might as well make it last. While she hadn't been able to really interact with Hershel or his disciples in the "Future London", she intended to this time around; they could finally be together again without any nefarious plots in the background, without any interruption. While it was a tad selfish, she did intend to eventually return to the blast she should have been killed in...otherwise, she would cause too many disruptions in the timeline.]

[Regardless...Claire offered Hershel a soft smile; she may not be there for too long, but she was going to ignore her thoughts of the future return and simply focus on their current reunion. She didn't want it to be riddled with the issues she caused with regards to the space-time continuum.]

I couldn't be happier, myself, Hershel...I'm not quite sure how it's possible, but I'm back and...I intend to spend whatever time I have left with you. [Towards his invitation inside, Claire nodded, reluctantly releasing her grasp on the professor and taking a step inside. She glanced around, and with a lighthearted giggle, the redhead turned back to Hershel; he really hadn't changed. Just as cluttered of a "living space", just like back in college.]

Heehee, I see your cleaning habits haven't changed much, either.

[numberoneapprentice-old]

"Well, as much as I’d like to say I understand the whole thing, I don’t suppose lying would be very gentlemanly." That was sure an awful lot to take in, after all. Luke didn’t understand most of it, but he got the gist of it, he thought. Science wasn’t one of his best subjects, despite the fact that he loved puzzles. Physics and fossilization made sense, but time vortexes and all of that complicated stuff? It was way beyond his comprehension, unfortunately. As bright as he was, he wasn’t a genius, and the kind of things Claire was talking about were simply way above his grade level.

He could wrap his mind around the concepts, he supposed, but understanding the exact science of it all was bound to give him a headache if he thought too long about it. That was okay, though. The important thing was that he could understand what Claire was going through, despite how confusing it all was.

"You don’t need to apologize, though! I mean, you were only trying to explain it to the best of your ability! I hope you’re okay, though, if it means anything at all." He didn’t know Claire nearly as well as the professor did, and he wasn’t even sure if he could consider the two of them friends at this point, but the professor cared about her which was enough for Luke to care about her, too.  

After all, the professor had already lost so many people, so if Claire was all right, or even anything close to all right, then that was good! More than good, really. It was a miracle, honestly.

[rewoundfuture]

[Claire offered a bit of a wry smile as he mentioned how lying about understanding would be ungentlemanly; he really was Hershel's apprentice, and the way he behaved proved it. The ginger figured that neither brunets would really be able to comprehend what she was getting at when she attempted to explain her reappearance, especially since not even she, a self-proclaimed expert in the fields of research dealing with time travel, could exactly understand what had occurred. Time travel was a rather complex field of study, after all, so it was understandable how a thirteen-year-old wouldn't necessarily grasp the concept.]

[Regardless, when Luke attempted to reassure her, that wry smile grew a tad merrier. It was really a gesture that the ginger appreciated; despite how they barely even knew each other, Luke had gone that extra mile to hope she was alright. Honestly, the redhead wasn't necessarily certain as to whether or not she would be, considering how she was technically still in an unstable condition with regards to the timeline itself.]

It is a rather difficult concept to grasp; I don't blame you. Though...thank you for hoping I'll be alright; I'm a bit...unstable in my current state, but I'm sure I'll figure out what happened, and I'll be alright. [Well...the alright part was a bit of a lie. She sure talked plenty about being gentlemanly, even if she occasionally deceived others, herself.]

[After all, if Claire did manage to discover what happened...then she would most likely return to the moment of the blast. Her presence created nothing but alterations in the timeline, despite how it must ideally remain linear, so her simply being there would cause too many complications, no matter how much she wished to stay.]

[silkentophat-archive-blog]

[Perplexed. Yes, perplexed was a good way to put how he felt. They stood in silence as he tried to process what in the world was going on here, the gears in his mind chugging away at lightening speeds but yielding no results. He wanted to say something, anything, but this seemed to be one of those rare moments where words failed the typically eloquent professor. It seemed forgivable, though, considering before him was the woman whom he thought was lost to him forever twice now, yet here she was at his door.

Still in a daze, he had barely registered when her arms wrapped around him, but he jarred back to reality when she spoke, said his name, and he felt warmth begin to replace the numbness in his limbs. He returned her embrace, never wanting to let her go again lest she fade into golden light like on that night…]

I…I’ve missed you as well.

[More than you could ever imagine, he wanted to add, but he settled on holding her tighter. She was so warm…]

[rewoundfuture]

[Hershel had missed her, as well...Claire felt a tad of the tension she'd felt before ease up, and she managed to cling as tightly as she could to the professor. There were so many things on her mind, so many things she wanted to ask him; about how life had been treating him, his adventures with Luke and Flora, and eventually...their future together. Of course, this dream wasn't meant to last, unfortunately; the redhead knew how much her physical presence caused the timeline to stray from its linear path, the path it should have been following. No matter how much the redhead wished to stay, to be with Hershel, she'd inevitably have to leave, though...she might as well stay in the moment, for now.]

[After all, before she could return to her own time, Claire would need to discover what had prevented her from returning to the moment of the blast. That would take time, luckily, so she could stay...even if it was merely for a short time. At least she'd be able to be with Hershel, for just a bit longer, right...?]

...I'm so sorry, Hershel. I wish I could have stayed longer before...before I was supposed to have returned to my own time. The important thing is...I...I'm here now, even if it doesn't seem possible.

[stmysteres]

Flora couldn’t help but smile even wider at the fact that Flora’s words seemed to be reassuring in one way or another. Honestly, she thought it was silly that Claire would need reassurance about that, but hey, that didn’t really matter so long as she was over whatever was bothering her now! And she seemed a bit more than reassured, really. She seemed happy to talk about the professor which, of course, make Flora pretty happy as well.

I mean look at that, Claire was even smiling! She probably had a lot to worry about right now, what with the way she was still alive and all. Why worry about a miracle, though? That was Flora’s intake on all of it, and she took Claire’s smile to mean that the ginger was starting to think the same way.

"Well, I’ll admit that I had to prod him quite a bit before he would tell me anything at first, but yes! Oooh, he told me all about the two of you and how cute you were in college." And there was still probably a whole lot she didn’t know. Claire had been a painful memory for the man for a long time, so no matter how much Flora asked about her, he was bound to leave a few things out. And she secretly hoped that she could figure all of those things out now that Claire was back! What was their anniversary, who asked who out, what classes they’d shared together… She just wanted to know all of it! Layton and Claire were a pretty perfect love story, after all.

"Oh!" In all of her excitement, she’d completely skipped over how Layton always wore that hat of his! "He really does wear that hat an awful lot, though. Once Luke told me that he refused to eat at a certain restaurant because they told him he’d need to take it off to enter!" She really did regret missing most of the Folsense adventure. Goddamn it Don Paolo.

[rewoundfuture]

[That happiness of Flora's truly was contagious; Claire's smile widened as the brunette spoke of how Hershel had spoken so fondly of his sweetheart, and that made aforementioned sweetheart absolutely giddy, despite Flora's mention of his reluctance. Anybody would be hesitant to be reminded of someone so close that they'd lost all those years ago, but Hershel had shared them, despite that, and that made Claire happier than he could imagine. That meant he was strong enough to get past her supposed death, and that he was able to pursue other interests; her death hadn't even shattered his dream of becoming an archaeology professor, and here he was, still wearing that top hat. Words couldn't describe her pride.]

[Not only that, but he'd even refused to enter a restaurant because he would need to take off his hat if he did; Hershel must have cherished that hat as dearly as Claire treasured his gift to her--an antique pocketwatch. Though it might not be of value to anyone else, the ginger absolutely adored it--and, since they were on the topic of her and Hershel's past together, she might as well show Flora, right? She did seem rather intrigued by their stories after all.]

[With that, Claire dug into her pocket, revealing the watch that she'd kept for all those years when something about it caught her attention. The watch's hands were frozen into place around certain numbers. Was it broken? It was perfectly fine before the blast--wait. Before the blast...that gave Claire an epiphany about how she'd managed to survive, but she'd have to pursue that lead later. For now...it was bonding time with Flora; she'd give it a look later.]

That reminds me...Hershel gave me something, as well. [Claire's smile turned a bit more wry, but she held out the watch in her hand towards Flora.] Unfortunately, it must have broken after the time machine did, but it's still in rather nice condition. It's just as precious to me as that hat is to Hershel... [Especially if her theory regarding the watch proved correct.] Would you like me to tell the story behind it, Flora?

[Hopefully, she'd agree; Claire would love to tell a tale about their time together in the past. Perhaps it'd act as a method of cheering the ginger up even further?]

[stmysteres]

She couldn’t even believe she had to ask about that! Why wouldn’t the professor be happy to see her? The two of them were soul mates, after all! Like Romeo and Juliet but without all of the death. Well. With half of the death? But Claire wasn’t actually dead, so yeah, no death sounded pretty good. Honestly, though, Claire didn’t have a single thing to worry about in Flora’s mind!

Yeah, so she’d kind of been dead in the Professor’s eyes for ten years, but that didn’t matter! It wasn’t as if he’d dated anyone else; not in Flora’s knowledge, at least. He never really seemed like the romancey sort of guy. Unless that romance was with Claire, anyway!

It was true that the two of them hadn’t talked much when they had originally met, but Flora liked Claire an awful lot! She made the professor happy, after all. And if her adoptive father was happy, then Flora was happy as well.

"Oh, of course!" She exclaimed, clasping her hands together and smiling brighter than Luke Triton. I bet you didn’t think that was possible, but it is. Amazing. "He’s missed you so so soooo much. Oh! And he tells me stories about the two of you sometimes! Like how his tophat was a gift from you! That’s really sweet."

[rewoundfuture]

[Flora, at first, seemed to be in disbelief after the redhead asked if the professor truly would be happy to see her; though it was a conceivable question for Claire, it may not have been for Flora. She was young and didn't have as much to worry about as a time-traveling scientist that was supposed to die in a blast ten years ago, and that in itself came along with plenty of worries; would her presence cause instability in the timeline? What had even occurred to cause her current position in time, and why hadn't she gone into the continuous loop she was supposed to? Heck, the world may never know.]

[Though, when the brunette mentioned how Hershel told her of his past with Claire, the redhead couldn't help but smile. At least he hadn't purged himself of her memory, so that was a relief, right? Well, unless it would have made him happier to do so...honestly, all she wanted was for the professor to be happy. He was the most important person in her life.]

He really tells stories about me? Hershel always was a sweetheart...so I suppose I can see that, hee hee. I still can't believe how well he's taken care of that hat...has he really not taken it off for ten years? [God, Hershel, she told you not to take it off, but you didn't have to leave it on for ten years, you dork.]

[Still, it was a pleasant surprise to hear how that top hat was much like a trademark symbol of his; his gift from his old sweetheart being the very thing that others recalled him for? That was so cute, what the heck.]

[stmysteres]

rewoundfuture

It’d been a long time since the professor’s last big adventure. He’d solved little mysteries here and there, of course. There was plenty of drama with Don Paolo after everyone’s little trip to “Future London.” Flora really did miss the bigger mysteries her adoptive father was known for solving, though. It was likely the absence of Luke had the girl a bit down, as well. She might not have been her best friend, but Luke was probably hers, in the long run.

Flora let out a small sigh as she walked down the busy London streets, heading home with a bag full of groceries she planned to use in some of her recipes which were on no way awful. Why did people think her cooking was awful? Her cooking wasn’t awful, it was awesome. Or to her it was, at least. Why didn’t more people like fish flavored cake, the world may never know.

Lost in thought, the girl lost track of where she was going and wound up turning the corner straight into another person. She went to apologize, dusting off her dress as a bit as she turned to see who exactly it was she’d run into. She wasn’t expecting it to be anyone she knew. Why would she be? It wasn’t as if she was acquainted with every single person in London and, if she stopped to think about, the percentage of people she was acquainted with in the city was a rather small percentage of them.

Flora instantly recognized the person in front of her, though. Celeste! Or really Claire. Realizing this, Flora opted to clap her hands together in an excited sort of way as she gave the professor’s old girlfriend a huge smile.

"Claire! Oh, Claire, you’re back, the professor’s going to be so happy!!!” She didn’t even stop to think about how the heck Claire was alive, she just wanted to hug her and drag her home and watch her reunite with Layton. What a romantic sap.

[rewoundfuture]

[Claire couldn't deny that she had jumped once she heard her name; of course, she wasn't aware as to the source of the voice, and if she had been, she definitely wouldn't have been so startled. Rather, she would have been overwhelmed with excitement--it was Flora, definitely a sign that she was close to the professor. From what she'd heard, though Hershel often forbade her from accompanying him and his apprentice, she did manage to find her own methods of tagging along, as she had during their adventures in the Future London; Claire and Flora hadn't spoken much, but the redhead had heard much about her, especially due to the way she dug around for information regarding Hershel when she first realized she was in the future.]

[Though most information was a bit irrelevant to her original questions, such as the ones regarding Hershel's location and where he worked, though she discovered much about his adventures with Luke, Emmy, and Flora. Claire was so glad to see that the professor had been treating himself rather well and even behaving like a true gentleman; she was rather worried that he would...be much too distressed by her death that was supposed to have occurred ten years ago. Though the redhead didn't know much about how she'd managed to survive, she was simply glad to be back, glad to receive the opportunity to finally interact with Hershel and his "family"...starting with Flora here.]

Flora...! [Claire couldn't resist the smile that grew on her lips; perhaps Flora's cheeriness towards her presence was contagious.] My, do you really think he will? To be rather honest, I...I'm rather excited to tell him the good news. [Excited and anxious; how would he react? What if he had moved on from her after accepting her death...?]

[Of course, Claire attempted not to let that anxiety show. This was a delightful moment, not one to be ruined with her own worries towards their hopeful reunion...hopeful, meaning that she was internally praying for aforementioned reunion to occur, not to mention how she prayed that she wouldn't...warp back to her time. Though it was what fate intended, Claire did want to be here; it was merely that her presence may create more anomalies, and that was one of her biggest fears due to coming back. But, perhaps, since she was still here...fate intended something different.]

[silkentophat-archive-blog]

[The professor’s gaze snapped up from the essays he had been grading that littered his desk when he heard a faint knocking on his office door. He pulled the pen he had been subconsciously gnawing on the end of from his mouth and glanced toward the clock on his desk, then to the door. Strange. He hadn’t made any appointments to meet with his students.

He placed a hand on the back of his chair and rose from his seat, a few joints popping here and there from being stationary for so long. Stretching, he made his way across the room and seized the doorknob, turning it and opening the door to greet his visitor.]

What c-

[His blood ran cold at the sight before him. No…no, it couldn’t be, he tried to reason. He blinked, sure that his eyes must be playing tricks on him. However, unlike those horrid dreams where he would look away for a mere moment and she would be gone, she was still there. Her hair, her eyes, her…everything. His fingers tightened on the doorknob when he felt his hands begin to shake. He couldn’t breathe, couldn’t think. Her name escaped him in a whisper.]

Claire?

[rewoundfuture]

[Despite her original thoughts, Hershel was there, in his office; as he stood there in shock, Claire's first instinct was to hug him, as tightly as she could, never wanting to let go, though her anxiety prevented her from doing that straight away. The way he'd whispered her name, how he merely stood there in both denial and distress; it made sense if she simply assumed that he was shocked to see her, but she wasn't entirely sure whether that was the case. To be honest...the redhead feared that he might have moved on. Even though that would make her happy, had she truly died in the blast, it would...be heartbreaking now that she knew she was alive, to say the least.]

[Regardless, whether or not he really had decided to move on, Claire loved him with all of her heart; she was happy so long as he was. The redhead took a single step forward, heart pounding, and then wrapped her arms around him once she was close enough. She couldn't help it; goodness, she would have missed Hershel so much had she gone back to her own time. Thank goodness she was here to experience this moment, to have her precious sweetheart back...]

Oh, Hershel, I...I've missed you so much. I'm so glad that you're here...!

[Though her words were true, she still felt a hint of concern--what if she managed to glitch, which would take her to another time and place, without Hershel beside her? God, she hoped she wouldn't--even though facing Hershel again was its own fear, being torn away from him again was an even greater dread that consumed her.]

[rewoundfuture]

silkentophat started following you

[Finally, Claire was on the right track; the very first place she'd wanted to visit after realizing that she was finally back, solidified, and though she still had a few leftover...side-effects from the machine, she was in Hershel's present; and that meant...they had a chance to be together, without their time being riddled with secretive collaborations on the demolition of London and time-travel machinery. They...had a chance to speak again, even after Claire had been certain that she would have returned to her time, having been killed by the blast in the laboratory.]

[Claire couldn't help the hesitation before she knocked on the door to Hershel's office; what would he say, or do? Would he reject her very presence, or...what if he didn't want anything to do with her anymore? Her fist trembled, hovering above the door, and then--three steady knocks, each one causing her heart to pound. Maybe he wasn't even here--perhaps this was a mere waste of time--]

[And then, she heard the door creak.]

...Hershel?

[numberoneapprentice-old]

Luke had about a billion and one questions for Claire of course, but he didn’t want to trouble the lady at all! After all, she probably hadn’t been back for very long, considering the amount of time that’d passed since the day he’d met her. Then again, time travel was pretty tricky, so could Claire have been back longer than that? No, no, that didn’t really make any sense even if you did throw science fiction into the equation.

Besides, it was likely Claire didn’t know many of the answers about what had happened, either, and the last thing he wanted to do was to stress her out by giving her question after question that she didn’t know the answer to! That wasn’t very gentlemanly at all!

Oh, but he was too curious to simply deny the offer to ask about some things. So, although the expression on his face wasn’t going to change from anything awkward any time soon, he did his best to, at the very least, keep his voice at a regular tone when he spoke.

"W-Well, I certainly don’t want to bother you about any of it, especially if there are parts you don’t want to talk about, but I guess I am pretty curious…” He paused for a moment to think of how he wanted to continue. “I mean- I’d like to know how you’re still here, but I’m not sure if you know the answer to that, either.” 

[rewoundfuture]

[Ah...Claire figured that would be one of his first questions. After all, she'd made such a display, even vanishing to what she'd assumed would be her own time, though the incompletion of the time machine all those years ago itself was likely the source of many, if not all, of the after-effects it had on Claire; the test subject herself.]

That's a bit complicated, but I suppose I can try and explain it to the best of my ability--or, at least, my theory on what happened. The blast all those years ago; its source, the time machine I was being held within, awaiting my first passage through the flow of time. I didn't even feel the explosion; by then, I was already being transported, though part of my body wanted to stay. I showed signs of molecular instability, according to Dimitri himself; I was lost in a sort of vortex, swirling all around me; that was most likely the wormhole to the time I was going to transport to.

Now, when you said your goodbyes, I had vanished; I was lost in that same vortex, until something happened. It was...much like a glitch in the flow of space time; electrical flashes, even small specks of what appeared to be fire. I thought I was done for, but rather than going back to my own time, I ended up back...here. In London, in the same alleyway that I'd vanished from. Since then, I've...been rather "glitchy", myself. There will be times when I could be walking around, and then I'll feel myself begin to fade, only to be transported to mere moments from now. Personally, I believe most of these side-effects to be a result from the time machine's incompletion...

...My apologies. I tend to ramble sometimes--did...did that answer your question? [Likely, no, though she couldn't say she didn't try. In fact, Claire had most likely raised more questions from her story...whoops.]

[numberoneapprentice-old]

Be cool, Luke. Be cool. It’s only your mentor’s supposedly dead time traveling girlfriend you’re talking to. Nothing out of the ordinary there. Only- Okay, no, that was completely out of the ordinary in every single way. How had she survived? And even if she had, how had she been able to stay in this time? If there was any chance of Luke meeting Claire again, she was sure to be ten years older than she’d been when he’d first met her, right? Then again, that might cause some sort of time paradox. Maybe. Okay, Luke actually had no idea how time travel worked.

It’d be rude to jump right in and start questioning her on all that though, wouldn’t it? Ugh, and he was so curious, too! Being gentlemanly is suffering as heck. He put on a bright smile as Claire talked to him, either way, although it looked rather awkward and a bit flustered, as well.

"Oh, no, it’s alright! I mean, I suppose if it was the fault of both of us, neither of us should apologize too much since it was sort of unavoidable?" Okay, he wasn’t making any sense. Talking to people is hard. Especially when that person is Claire. What the heck. What’s even going on. Get your head in the frickn game, Luke. Okay. Here we go. Let’s just try that again.

"A-Anyway, in all honesty, I think it’d be a bit hard not to recognize you. I know I only knew you for part of a day, but you left a rather big impression on me! Clive, too."

And in all of his confusion, he forgot to say that yes, his name is Luke. Way to go. A plus apprentice right here.

[rewoundfuture]

[Claire couldn't help noticing how the poor apprentice was being so awkward; she was partially to blame for that. After all, her mere existence was like another paradox, and that only complicated matters; to be honest, time travel was extremely complicated, and Luke must have been curious. It simply wouldn't make sense if he wasn't; the redhead was supposed to have died in that experiment, yet it did work, even if only slightly; she was transported ten years in the future and then was meant to have faded back to her own time. Most likely, that in itself would create a loop--a wormhole that transported her to and from the different timespans repeatedly; there would be no end to it. And yet...]

[Here she was. Was it due to the incompletion of the time machine that her molecular structure was so unstable? Claire had been like a "glitch", if one could call her existence such; she wasn't meant to be there, and because of that, the world rejected her from time to time--and, therefore, she was teleported to various times, even without the use of a time machine. Of course...it was somewhat inevitable for the time machine to create such anomalies. If only she had realized that before that dreadful experiment...but, it was no use worrying over such now.]

[She was here, for now; she could see Hershel once more, and even chat with his apprentice for a bit, as she was doing now. It...it felt so liberating to be freed from that chasm of death she'd once witnessed; she was alive. At least, for now, she was, and she was going to enjoy what little time she had left here.]

Ah, well, I suppose I did meet with you under such bizarre conditions. It seems reasonable that I would have left quite a bit of an impression, especially with how I had to leave you two. Oh, and--I figure you must be rather curious by now. I'll...try to answer any questions of yours that I can, but I can't guarantee I'll have the answer to everything. I'm not even entirely certain as to what happened...

[numberoneapprentice-old]

rewoundfuture

At this point, Luke had grown rather used to walking around the streets of London without paying too much attention to his surroundings. He knew where everywhere was without so much as a second thought by this point in his life. Unfortunately, though, with this mindset, the boy didn’t usually pay all that much attention to the people moving past him, and it wasn’t uncommon for him to bump into someone every so often.

It normally wasn’t any sort of big deal. Just a small brush of his arm against someone else’s, usually. He’d always announce a quick apology, of course. After all, it was the polite thing to do. Sometimes, though, usually when the apprentice’s mind was wandering, he ran straight into another person, interrupting the walk of both parties.

And this just so happened to be the case today, and Luke quickly waved his hands in apology, moving a hand to fix his hat as he opened his mouth for the verbal apology. “Gosh, I’m so sorry, I swear I’m not usually this oblivious to where I’m going! I-I suppose I was just letting my mind wander too much, is all. I guess that’s sort of a problem I have and I’m-“

Luke cut himself off, realizing who the person in front of him was for the first time.

“C-Claire?…”

[rewoundfuture]

[Claire had barely even noticed the fact that she'd bumped into another; her mind was on other things. She'd been in an entirely different location of London mere moments ago, but then everything went dark, and the redhead found herself stranded in another area. These bizarre occurrences had been leaving her in utter confusion, not knowing the day or time, though she could sometimes recall specific areas in London.]

[Anyway, when the young duckette began to apologize frantically, Claire swiveled around to face the blue-clad child. She'd met him before; Hershel's...apprentice, was it? His name was Luke, wasn't it? The redhead couldn't help the wry smile that formed on her lips as the brunet's eyes widened in shock--she could understand how that would be his reaction.]

[After all, she'd been thought to be dead, and Claire herself was uncertain of whether or not she remained in the realm of the living. Either she was dreaming, or she was real and here, but she couldn't tell. Nobody knew what death was like, did they?]

[She was merely speculating at this point, so she returned her focus to the issue at hand.]

There's no need to apologize--I was a bit distracted, myself. And I'm surprised that you recognize me...Luke, was it?