#verbena.

[choicescreen]

@quantumleapt said: it's like i've been asleep for nine years.

scarecrow.

"five," she corrects lightly, hand gentle yet firm where it briefly lands on sam's shoulder, squeezes. "welcome to the new millennium, dr. beckett. how does your head feel?"

[choicescreen]

@quantumleapt said: this is something real recent with me. this bursting into tears at the slightest thing.

marty.

it’s acknowledged in the meeting of their eyes. her buffed nails gleam in the low light when verbena's fingers reach to enclose and cradle the proffered wine glass into her palm's hollow.

a thin exhale bleeds between her teeth.

"sam." there is something in her tone that sounds a little like when she needs her wife to listen to her, an undeniably gentle firmness, "that's normal. maybe… expected is the better word. for the record, i'm telling this to you as your friend, not the project therapist."

[choicescreen]

@bluedprints

mr. rodriquez? dr. rodriquez?

"control," she settles on that, he seems to take to it better than any other name, "welcome to quantum leap. dr. beckett and the admiral send their regards, but," she smiles, a little rueful, from some airy place in the back of her skull, "we can't seem to pull them away from their work."

[choicescreen]

@quantumleapt said: “better put your coat on. it gets cool mighty fast after the sun goes down.”

jack series.

her lips form to make an m, but she busts out laughing, instead, in a way almost wholly unlike her. okay, she could be the tiniest bit tipsy.

" mighty fast? " she can play along, although she's at least ninety-nine percent sure sam's not being anything but himself. " sure thing, partner. "

once she's got her coat on, and she can feel her skin and bones warming up underneath the extra layer, she hums. " do you take all the girls to this particular spot, dr. beckett? " it's a joke, clearly -- sam isn't her type, to put it in no uncertain terms, and she's engaged to a woman who is.

her eyes drift skyward to that brillant, unbroken expanse of starry sky. " -- or just ones you're going to be building a secret laboratory here with? "

[choicescreen]

@quantumleapt said: i don’t know how many times i’ve started this puzzle, then i lose interest and put it away.

marvin and tige.

" oh? "

verbena's brows lift, neatly, half an inch. her hands fold together tidily against the press of her waist. she watches from an airy place in the back of her skull. gently expectant, entirely teasing. 

" hard to believe it would be a puzzle that stumps you. "

[choicescreen]

@alavicci said: somebody’s feeling better.

the birdcage. 

she knows, by now, that this is just how al acts -- but it still flutters something small and warm in verbena’s chest that threatens a tightly reined-in composure. 

“ mm. and someone’s better at the mushy stuff than he thought. guess my intervention worked, somewhere. “ the flicker of a wink softens and strips any bite from the words, makes it plenty clear she doesn’t mean it -- though something goading rests in the corner of her smile’s sharper curve. 

she crosses her legs, sets aside her wine glass. now, back to business. her face grows concerned, soft about the edges. therapist-concerned. colleague-concerned. friend-concerned. “ al, if there’s anything you want to talk about ... about sam, about -- anything he sees, or anything you see, when you’re out there with him, i’m always here. you know that? “ 

[choicescreen]

@quantumleapt said: beeks, you never looked lovelier!

singin’ in the rain.

she hums, tipping her head, pleased. “ flatterer. “ 

if there were ever a woman underneath the definition of dressed to the nines, verbena would be it. bejeweled accessories dangle from her ears, hang around her neck, and glint on her fingers. (one of those rings is, of course, her wedding band.)

she squeezes his left hand from where he’d taken it in his earnest admiration. “ you’ll be the first to know the psychiatric association’s gossip, dr. beckett. “ her smile warms, something visibly mischievous girding it. “ keep your line open for me. “