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CHARACTERS: Clara Oswald & Sebastian Castellanos

DATE: uhhh backdated to the 19th or so

WARNINGS: Seb doing Seb things, probably (so, heavy swearing).

SUMMARY: Seb shows up a little late to the party and the first person he runs into is Clara. He can accept a lot of really weird shit being randomly heaped on him, but this whole Christmas thing is leaving him a little mystified.

It was hard for Sebastian to determine just how long he'd been stumbling through the hellscape he'd come to know as STEM -- and maybe it was naive and stupid of him to have thought that he'd reached the end of it. After all, it certainly wouldn't have been the first or even the second time that the doors to Beacon Hospital opened to anywhere but the building's front porch. This whole mission and debriefing shit, though? That was definitely a new one, and it was somehow more suspicious than anything else he'd encountered in the last 24 hours. All things considered, that was saying a lot, considering the last 24 hours had involved him being kidnapped and hooked up to some fucked up brain machine by some shady organization who's apparently been pulling this kind of shit for years.

The first thought through his head had been that these ALASTAIR people had been that exact shady organization, though something was tugging at the back of his memory and telling him that that wasn't accurate -- and that only made it worse. To think that there could be an actual third party involved in all of this bullshit, to think that it hadn't ended with Ruvik and Beacon... Now he was supposed to take orders from someone else? He must've still been in STEM, right? So how --

No. He shook his head, trying to clear the thought away for now. This didn't look or feel anything like STEM, and that was what worried him the most. The idea occurred to him that maybe he really had finally just lost his mind, but he wasn't sure what to do with a notion like that, so he simply placed it on the backburner for now. His priority now was to just make sense of when and where he was. While he didn't recognize this town at all, what really struck him as odd was the way it was decorated. He was sure it was still the middle of October, so what the actual fuck was this place doing covered in snow and dressed to the nines in Christmas shit?

All he could do now was just ask someone. Thankfully, the people here didn't seem hostile -- not outwardly, anyway. The first person he found seemed unimposing enough: a young woman quite a bit shorter than him who didn't appear to be brandishing any sort of a weapon. If Sebastian was going to start asking around for information, she was as good a place as any to start. He strolled up to her casually and gave a modest gesture to catch her attention.

"Excuse me," he said as he approached. "Can I ask you something?"

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Clara had always been a fan of Christmas, but she currently was apathetic toward everything that was happening. It wasn't that she hated the holiday now, it was more or less she wasn't in much of a mood to celebrate. She did, however, appreciate the copy of Pride & Prejudice that had been given to her. So she spent most of her free time lazily reading, which was exactly what she was doing when she was interrupted by someone she didn't know yet.

"Hm?" She turned her head to look up at him, and offered him a slight smile.

"Course you can ask me something. Don't know if I'll have an answer, though." It's a joke, because even if she doesn't know the answer, she's bossy enough to come up with something off the top of her head that sounds like an answer.

It was kind of alarming, how much of a relief it was just to hear a sane, rational human being's voice again. Sure, Sebastian hadn't been alone all this time in STEM, but as far as sane and rational went... Well, he didn't really like to think about it.

He was more than aware of the fact that he was currently standing in a glass house, though, so he let the memories disappear from his mind for the time being. This girl was going to think he was crazy, and part of him didn't even want to ask her the question that was burning at the forefront of his mind. Sebastian did his best to hide his confusion and discomfort from his expression, though he wasn't sure how good of a job he was actually doing. It was probably pretty telling, the way that he opened his mouth twice to try to speak, but no sound actually came out.

Eventually, he found his voice.

"What..." he started awkwardly, "... day is it?"

Just saying the words made him feel stupid at best and disoriented at worst. It was like some bad dream that he couldn't wake up from -- some practical joke that'd stopped being funny hours ago. He swore, if a little kid popped his head out of a window and announced to him that it was Christmas morning, he was going to fucking lose it.

Given the things that had been happening around her lately, her mind instantly went to Scrooge waking up on Christmas Day in a state of shock. He seemed shocked, or at least in a state of being disoriented, but he was too young and handsome to be compared to an old miser. Still, that didn't stop the corner of her mouth from quirking upward, as she folds her book over her chest and looks up at him as seriously as possible.

And despite having an accent to begin with, she made sure hers was thick and Cockney as she responded, "Why sir, it's Christmas Day!"

And then she laughed and gave a roll of her eyes, saying she thought that line was rubbing. Her fake accent was dropped then, giving way to her more clipped and fast paced northern tone. "It's a handful of days before, actually. The nineteenth or twentieth, I wager. You tend to lose track when time doesn't matter. And just between us, since you seem like a new arrival, it's best you watch out for the mistletoe. You don't seem the type who'll make it out of an encounter with it unscathed."

It was one of those moments that Sebastian had to wonder just how much could be conveyed in a simple facial expression. Given all that'd happened to him, he wasn't quite sure if he and this girl were just on the same page or if she was actually literally reading his mind, but there was no part of him that was even remotely amused. He gave her a flat, annoyed stare, but he otherwise ignored her little joke. Maybe he was more composed than he originally gave himself credit for.

Her next statement was the one that caught his attention. Sebastian's forehead wrinkled as his brow knit together in confusion. There was really no reason to doubt her, considering the blanket of snow beneath his feet and the steam escaping from his nose and lips with every exhale, but all the same...

"But it was just October a few hours ago," he said. "How can that be...?"

It was a question directed more at himself than at her. Just by habit, he reached into his pants pocket for his pack of cigarettes, and without thinking, flipped the lid open and caught a cig between his lips --

-- and immediately regretted it. The taste was something vile, and he couldn't pull the thing out of his mouth fast enough. He hissed a simple "fuck" under his breath and shook his head ruefully, staring at the cigarette as though it had personally betrayed him somehow.

"Time's relative, when you cross dimensions and find yourself in other galaxies other than the one you're used to. Falling through portals is one hell of a ride." She dryly retorted, eyes glancing downward toward the cigarette in his hand. She never particularly cared for the habit, but wasn't about to get onto him for his vices. It was just interesting that he had such a reaction to something that should've been familiar to him.

"Is something wrong? Most people who put those things in their mouths, they don't react with that much disgust."

The left corner of her mouth quirked upward briefly, almost as if she were sadly amused by his reaction. She found so many things here to be strange, and it seemed that with every person she met, things just became more odd. She almost wished she had a notebook and a pen, or her old mobile back, so she could properly take notes and record all of it.

Normally, Sebastian wouldn't have reacted with that much disgust. Truth be told, there was a lot about his own actions that didn't seem to add up right in his head -- too much about this scenario that seemed impossible (or at the very least implausible), even beyond the obvious. He glanced at her with a wilting expression on his face as he tried his hardest to put the puzzle pieces together through the thick, dizzying fog that had settled inside his skull.

And suddenly it hit him.

This cigarette in his hand shouldn't be in his hand. It shouldn't exist. The last time he'd reached for a pack, it'd been empty. And things that he should have on him, he no longer had. All of his weapons and supplies that he'd gathered through STEM -- they were all gone. So, that left him with two possible scenarios: either he was in a new simulation in someone else's head, or this was actually really real. Between this revelation and the crazy shit that'd just come out of this girl's mouth, he didn't know which was worse.

All the same, he wasn't about to let this cigarette go to waste now that he'd pulled it out. Even if it was coated in whatever weird shit that'd filled the STEM terminals, it probably wasn't immediately fatal -- and he'd stopped caring about the health repercussions surrounding his smoking a long time ago. Sebastian placed the cigarette back between his lips and pulled out his lighter to light it. The first inhale tasted like nothing, and he wasn't sure what to make of that.

"Nothing," he murmured around a mouthful of smoke. "So I take it that you're just willing to buy whatever shit these ALASTAIR people are trying to sell to us?"

The question wasn't meant to be insulting. He hoped she didn't take it that way, though he was also aware that he had a tendency to offend even without meaning to.

"Sorry?" She wasn't offended, but shifted from amused to confused in a matter of seconds. She tapped a few fingers along the spine of her book, regarding him with a near scrutinizing gaze. She had been through so much the past year, and she was attempting to figure out if she should have more of a reaction than she currently was.

"I don't really know what to believe. We're in a place where the sun's gone and it's snowing, and no one's managed to freeze to death yet. Bit strange and completely improbably if you ask me."

And then, just as quick as her smile had vanished, it was back. She always enjoyed puzzles, and figuring out this place was one gigantic puzzle. "In the end, I'm not on anyone'e side but my own. I'm going to do whatever it takes to suit my own needs. Which, at the moment, I'm not exactly clear on, so I'm gonna have to ask you to avoid asking what they are."

Her mouth always had a tendency to keep going, and she was tempted to talk more simply because she could. But it'd just be idle chatter at this point, and she liked watching his reactions to things, so she bit at her lip and waited to see what he had to say about her rather egocentric point of view about being here.

Sebastian quirked an eyebrow at that. She wasn't wrong -- at least, not with that first bit. Now that she mentioned it, he really felt like he should've been much colder than he was. Even with the heat of his cigarette, he should've been close to freezing to death out here without his coat on, but while he was a second away from shivering, he wasn't desperate for an immediate reprieve from the elements.

It was the second half of what she said that really caught his attention, though.

"Which part aren't you clear on?" he asked. "Your needs, or what it takes to suit them?"

In spite of the stern, no-nonsense look on his face, there was a bit of an amused glint in his eyes. He knew better than to be deceived by her appearance -- young and petite didn't always mean harmless. But on the same token, she didn't really seem to be actively malicious, either. To hear her make a declaration like that was a bit at odds with her general tone and demeanor. And while Sebastian was aware that approaching this conversation as a detective rather than just a person asking for directions was a bad idea, he just couldn't help himself.

"Both," she started to respond, smirking a bit, up until she realized it sounded as if she had no control over things here. While that was essentially the case, she didn't want to project it to someone else. So her smile melted away, leaving her cheeks turning pink, and she took on a more flustered and cross look.

"Or neither." And before he had time to respond, she was even more flustered and quickly got out, "Shut up!"

She attempted to cross her arms over her chest, which caused the book she had been holding there to fall down to the ground. She ducked down to quickly retrieve it, so the snow wouldn't soak into any of the pages, and took a minute to dust off the book before she looked up and over at him. She realized he must think she was completely stupid, or just a silly girl who was in over her head here. But she hoped he realized there was likely more to her than met the eye.

"I've only just arrived here a few weeks ago. Before that, I was occupied with dying. So I'm really just grateful to be alive. Once I figure out what I want to do, I'll figure out what it takes to make it happen."

While she was busy fussing with her book, Sebastian took another drag from his cigarette and watched her impassively. It'd been entirely too easy for him to break her exterior and get under her skin. Either this was a very elaborate act, or she really was harmless. He wasn't ever willing to rule out the possibility of the former, but the latter was seeming more and more likely with every passing second.

... And then that last little statement piqued his suspicions again. This was the second time now that something had come out of her mouth that'd made almost no sense to him, but this one was a little easier to wrap his head around than shit like time travel and portals. The possibility existed that she was simply just a little off, but it wasn't a stone that Sebastian intended on leaving unturned. Not while the opportunity to poke into it was presenting itself.

"What does a young girl like you have to worry about dying for?" he asked.

That last part got her to pause, and she decided to be flattered by his question rather than amused. Holding her book close to her chest, she practically preened, taking a moment to push some hair behind her ear.

"If I had made it any farther, I'd be almost thirty. Trust me. This - " She took a moment to gesture toward her face, signaling her youthful appearance. "Isn't as young as it wants you to think it is. I'm two days away from twenty-nine. Or would be, back home."

She found it hilarious how most everyone assumed she was so young and potentially afraid of things like dying. Luckily, this guy didn't seem too concerned over whether or not she was afraid. He was just curious about why she was worrying about death in the first place.

"And I know for a certainty that I'm going to die. It's a fixed point. Everyone's is. It's not really that big of a deal."

Two days from twenty-nine still wasn't old by any means, and the thought in and of itself was slightly worrying to Sebastian, who was nearly ten years beyond that point. If this girl thought that she was close to death at her age, then what the hell did that mean for him? Not to mention, that last bit was way too cynical for someone of her age and friendly disposition. Of course, the possibility remained that she was or had been a soldier, but even still...

"That wasn't what I asked you," he said. "You have another fifty years ahead of you before you should start worrying about that. By those standards, even I'm too young to be thinking about that kind of shit, even in my profession. So, what would cause someone like you to be so concerned about death?"

At this point, it was nothing but sheer curiosity for curiosity's sake. Given their circumstances, it probably didn't really matter one way or the other who she had been or what she had been doing before she got roped into this ALASTAIR bullshit, but Sebastian couldn't let the question go unanswered. He wasn't entirely sure if he was going to buy into this bullshit and actually help out in this little team activity that'd been put together, but it still would be nice to know a little bit more about the kinds of people he'd be working with if he did.

"I'm not randomly worried 'bout dying, if that's what you're thinking," she slowly drawled out, trying to get him to understand what she was saying without having to actually come out and say it. But as she stared up at him, she realized that wasn't going to work. So she sighed and glanced down at the book in her arms,

"I know the exact moment I'm going to die." It was said as flatly as possible, her accent thicker as she attempted to rush through the words. And just so he'd understand what she meant, she found a safe place to set her book aside and turned her back to him. Her hands went to gather her hair and she lifted it up, revealing a large black tattoo on the back of her neck that read 000.

"It was a countdown, not a tattoo. A chronolock, one I can't escape from. It's frozen for now, but when I'm finished here and leave this place, I go back to face the raven." Which sounded like a potentially beautiful metaphor for death, but no, she really was going to go back to a trap street in London and be killed by a raven. Which really explained her desire to make her time here all about her own whims, rather than follow whatever agenda anyone else set or expected of her.

Sebastian's kneejerk reaction was to reach out and touch the numbers on the back of her neck just to verify if it was a tattoo or not, but he stopped himself before he actually made contact. Sometimes it was hard for him to remind himself not to lay his hands on people, no matter how innocuously, especially when it came to bizarre bullshit like this. The urge to inspect it closer only got worse the longer he stared at it, though, because no matter how hard he looked, it never looked like it was anything more sinister than simple ink needled into her skin. All of it just made the alarm bells in his head sound off even louder than before -- this woman was probably fucking crazy, in spite of how normal and friendly she seemed. He pulled his hand back completely and lightly ashed his cigarette into the snow as a nervous reaction.

"It's something you can't escape from," he said, "except, that's exactly what you did. If you knew the exact moment you were going to die, then it wouldn't have frozen. It would've happened regardless."

Maybe it was futile trying to speak some logic into this situation, but he just couldn't help himself. Because, in his mind, the only way that her explanation would make any sense at all -- disregarding all of the other bullshit that was clearly fantastic and impossible about the whole thing -- would be if this place, wherever it was, somehow existed outside of time and space. Not even STEM could claim that, because their real, physical bodies would still be hooked in somewhere outside.

It was difficult to try and explain things further than she already had, if only because he clearly didn't know about time travel or the rules around it. So she dropped her hair and turned around to face him once again, giving him a look that conveyed she knew he thought she was completely crazy. It quickly melted into a stern look that said she thought he was narrow minded and stubborn.

"It's still going to happen, regardless. This place exists in a place where the rules of what's going to kill me can't reach. It's really not that complicated, if you understood the way time travel works."

She was feeling restless just standing here, with his judging her, so she took to walking. She figured he'd follow in order to keep giving his opinion on her situation, particularly since she had mentioned time travel and that was something everyone generally had things to say about.

"If you say so," was his only response.

Whether she expected him to follow or not, he had no real intentions of doing so. The whole thing seemed like a circular conversation to him, where he would insist no it won't and she would come back with yes it will while he won't have the heart to tell her that he thought she was crazy. At this point, it seemed like he got about as much information out of her as he was going to get -- it was probably better if he went and asked someone else.

Though, of course, he was in no hurry. It was nice to be in a place where everything and everyone around him wasn't trying to kill him for a change, so he figured he ought to make the most of it while he still could. Sebastian simply took the woman's seat as she walked away, settling in as comfortably as he could while he enjoyed (if that was even the word for it) the rest of his cigarette.

She started walking, up until she realized he wasn't following. She was so used to the Doctor trailing along after her that it damaged her sense of egomania to realize this new guy wasn't hanging on her every word. Huffing a bit, she turned and about faced, and marched her way back over to him. There was a chair across from him and she slipped into it, setting her book on the table. Her arms folded up on the table top and she observed him quietly, a single eyebrow arching as she attempted to decide the right level of offended to be.

"I do say so," she informed him, tones clipped. "Because that's what I do. Back home, I teach English at Coal Hill Secondary School, and I travel through time with my best friend. You can think I'm crazy if you'd like, but it's the truth. There are people here with stories that sound more ridiculous than that, so I suggest you get used to things that sound improbable and open up your mind a bit. Or you're going to wind up shellshocked and lost in the crowd." It was a calm sort of retort, a simple stating of facts.

All seriousness was dropped after that point, as she looked him over and her eyes focused in on his face, causing her to smile. He was quite handsome, even if he was stubborn and narrow minded. "I'm Clara, by the way. Clara Oswald."

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