Lost at sea, time and space

Killian and Skye got their hands on an ancient magical doohickey that suddenly carked into life and sent him down the worm hole of time and space and after at some point during this slip saw a TARDIS and a couple of OOD ended up finding himself in a comfortable enough apartment heavily influenced by a love f the sea. Claire has been working at the FBI for a number of years now after escaping Ices rule, coming home late one night she finds the pirate that she knows exceedingly well despite never having met him before. Finally poor innocent flower crown lamb hearted baby nathan got himself sent back in time because of the ancient magical doohickey and landed face first on skyes ship with his only belongings being what he had in his pack at the time and the clothes on his back. With the doohickey broken and in killians possession for now Ices shadows have picked up on what happened and are now searching for him and the magical doohickey.

^ said ancient magical doohickey

Smiling quietly when he relaxed and settled down, Claire continued gently stroking his head thinking about how she was going to work it, she’d probably start by gently getting him used to the rug being put on and once he was ready work on doing it up. Talking through it was her main trick that she had in her tool box, he seemed to listen and relax when she spoke it helped that he wasn’t a dull lightbulb either. Remaining there quietly letting him relax and start to let down, he hadn’t figured out how to mind speak yet but that would come with time as she was rather confident that she could teach him how when he was ready. The fact that he hadn’t bolted when she’d mentioned also boosted her confidence that the man merged with a horse agreed what she had to say, she’d been keeping her own thoughts and feelings to herself and quite honestly it’d been rather lonely, she’d gotten so used to spending time with Killian that now without the irritating bastard it felt like some part of her was missing. After about an hour and a half when he’d licked, chewed and yawned, Claire stirred “Its getting dark now dad, I need to head inside, we’ll work on rugging tomorrow yeah?” her fingers were starting to grow a little numb from the cold, and she wanted to make dinner before Melissa attempted to, bidding him farewell she headed inside. She showed up next after everyone had been fed and worked the next day with his rug under her arm folded up neatly. “Heyo ponies!” calling out cheerfully and setting the rug down on the ground, Claire leaned against the fence watching them.

Rose had stuck close to the stallion, naturally one to run hot she had been happy to let him steal some of her warmth, glancing up when she heard Claires voice, the red mare determined that her services weren’t needed and so resumed grazing letting the appaloosa go over to her of his own accord. Reaching out with a hand when he came up so he could feel for her hand with his whiskers, she’d placed a small bit of carrot in the center of it “Hello Jules” when he’d nibbled it she continued talking “I brought your rug out to try it on and do some practice” she fully intended to do what he taught her and reward him with a small bit of carrot when he showed the reaction she was wanting. “Just going to lift it up onto the fence so you can have a good old nosey” warning him before she reached down and pulled up the heavy canvas to swing it over the size of the fence, letting it settle then she slipped through the fence and stood next to it briefly glancing over at Rose when the mare ended up wandering a little closer as if the only thing on her mind was fresh juicy grass that there was to be had near the water trough.

Once he seemed to settle with the rug, Claire talked him through what she was going to do before she did it, taking her time lifting the rug and touching it to him before backing off, once he seemed ready she opened it and touched the inside of it onto him carefully sliding the rug onto the stallion. Leaving the straps done up on the rug but not on him so if he took off the rug would simply fall off and not spook him further, speaking soothingly she gently stroked his neck “See, its not that bad, nice and warm. That’s proper wool that’ll keep you warm and wick away any sweat if you get a bit hot before I can get to you to take it off. No belly straps to be extra fiddly nice and simple” she knew that Melissa was planning to come out later and teach him how to mind speak if he was ready for it so she didn’t want to push it too far and drain too much of his energy so once he was alright with the rug being set on him several times she placed it back over the fence and rewarded him with a piece of apple.

Watching him she couldn’t help but burst into laughter at the goofy but cheeky look on the horses face “Alright Alright I get the point dad” it seemed like her father was in charge over Spotty so she referred to the horse by the term she believed to be correct. Moving over to the rug she picked it up and put it on him carefully doing up all of the straps, keeping a hand on him wherever she was so he knew here she was at all times. Done she stood up and backed up a few steps “Well it fits pretty good” hearing footsteps Claire didn’t bother turning around guessing that Melissa would be the owner of the steps. The woman had thrown herself into the work at the farm as if it was the only thing that mattered, eating only because Claire insisted upon it, standing watching the horse in his rug through the fence her face was its usual expressionless self. There were so many things she was feeling underneath that she had no idea how to show and didn’t really want to, feelings would just complicate things, it was much more effective to shut down and keep working so that the farm kept on track. Claire was better with the horses than she was so she stuck to the things she was good at like mixing feeds, feeding out, fixing things and the like. Claire still refused to let her cook, which Melissa expected and accepted, she didn’t really understand why something in her chest hurt and ached while looking at the horse only knowing that she missed her Julian and everything about him from his hugs to his cooking to his laugh. She’d never really experienced feeling like this to the extent she was, she’d felt missing her brother but that was a candle that paled in comparison to the burning blaze that consumed her. There was no point standing here there was work to be done, she should go and just do the work instead of trying to process what she felt, people like her didn’t have feelings or empathy, she was something broken that was why she couldn’t read or understand people. Remaining rooted to the spot as her body would not listen to her, Melissa frowned and took greater control of herself she was not a servant to her emotions like other people that sort of thing did not happen as it placed her life in danger when she was doing work for ice. Ripping herself from the spot, Melissa turned and left going far away from the rest of them where she busied herself with the monotonous work of fixing a fence. Watching her go Claire didn’t really say anything, she wasn’t that close with Melissa, the woman had always been uninterested in her so in short she was a bit of a mystery to her, although she was certain that she felt more than she showed about what had happened to Jules.

At the moment it was easiest to break the impossible up into possible smaller steps, that foot and now the other, lift this move that, she’d never been much of a talker to start with however with what had gone on she’d become even quieter only speaking to Claire when she absolutely had to. Everything was wrong and she felt so isolated and alone, shutting everything else out apart from her work, when she curled up in bed that night, Melissa squeezed her eyes shut tight and wriggled onto his side of the bed that still smelt like him although the familiar scent was fading. It was hard to sleep that night so the next day she worked harder and later, up at half past four and going to bed well after dark, she’d never been one to carry much weight but the way she was pushing herself stripped her of any fat leaving just muscle before, food had no real taste to it and the textures only made her want to be sick yet she forced herself to eat. She had to keep focusing on the next thing, keeping away from the paddocks where rose and the others were, weeks went by and soon months, Melissa continued to do more and more jobs around the place as Claires pregnancy began to impact what she could and couldn’t do, despite the other womans attempts to talk her around to going to see Rose, Jules and the others she just couldn’t. It felt like she’d fall apart if she did and that scared her, she wanted her brother, she wanted Julian back properly with his hugs and way of making everything make sense. Worry for her brother also consumed her, he was supposed to have come back by now, why hadn’t he? The idea that he might have forgotten about her didn’t even enter her mind, when Claire had asked her about it Melissa had informed her that even if he had forgotten about her, he would not abandon his sister, they’d been through too much for that to be a possibility. Perhaps not the answer Claire wanted but if she wanted soothing responses then she needed to go elsewhere, unfortunately there were times where her mind wasn’t busy where her own doubts started to blossom, there was no way things between herself and Julian were going to last, he was so good with people and she well, wasn’t. He would grow tired of her and her uncompromising ways and want someone who smiled and laughed, not someone who was broken and wrong who couldn’t communicate what she felt. The smarter thing to do would be leave before she got hurt, however her brother had fallen in love with the girl that was stubbornly doing what she could, Melissa couldn’t abandon her to deal with the farm on her own. Although she didn’t have any real relationship with her, her loyalty to her brother meant she would not abandon her girl and his child she carried, behind her usual expressionless features none of the internal turmoil showed, straightening up from what she’d been doing, Melissa brushed the few strands of hair that had escaped her pony tail out of her face and stared up at the sky noting with some disappointment that there still hadn’t been any rain. Claire was sitting in the paddock on the rug she’d pulled off Jules still coming to grips with the idea that in the bump on her stomach was a daughter that was half her and half Killians, it didn’t even occur to her that it might be twins as those were supposedly rare “you ready to be a grandpa dad?” now that she had more leisure time than work time she had decided that she should teach him how to mind speak, perhaps he’d be able to talk some sense into Melissa because nothing she said seemed to be registered.

Smiling up at him when he nudged her, it was some surprise that she watched the blind stallion lie down next to her, reaching out to gently rub his neck she continued  “I was thinking I’d teach you how to mind speak today, then perhaps you can talk some sense into Melissa, she won't listen to me. She’s putting all of her energy into running the farm, only stopping to eat or sleep” she hadn’t told Jules much of this for a while as she hadn’t wanted to bother him however with Melissa driving herself into the ground her concern for the other woman had become greater than worrying and stressing Julian. Getting a little more comfortable on the rug she lay back to study the clouds in the sky, humming to herself for a moment trying to organize her thoughts so she could explain things to the horse beside her. Finally some ideas came together  “You have to reach out with your mind, focus your energy into like, a tendril of mental energy reaching out towards me and my mind, you can’t rush it, it takes time and the first time is never easy it gets easier with time so try not to get too frustrated” closing her eyes enjoying the warmth of the sun and the slightly cool breeze she didn’t say anything more intending to let him puzzle it out himself and reach out when he was ready. She felt very safe with him there, he was Spotlight, he was her father two of her favourite beings, despite appearing very relaxed and content there were many worries churning underneath the surface mostly to do with her baby and keeping her safe from Ice.[/color]

Glancing over at him when she heard his voice for the first time in months, she smiled slightly  “A  bit of everything, keeping the farm going, you, the horses, Mel, Ice, the baby” she shut up for a few minutes before reluctantly adding “And Killian” he still hadn’t returned, maybe he’d forgotten her. “Mostly Mel and keeping my kid safe” Ice knew where this place was, while she may have decided she was no longer interested in Rose, Angus, Renee, Julian or Melissa Claire was very certain that her grandmother would want to get her hands on her great-granddaughter. That couldn’t happen, she wouldn’t be able to stay here anymore, she’d already made up her mind that she would have to leave and go into hiding. “I’ll have to leave” was all she said, without realizing that she’d even said something, feeling a lot less content all of a sudden she turned onto her side and curled up as much as she could around her stomach wanting to keep her daughter safe. She was a fair way along now and every day grew more protective over her unborn child, she hadn’t really expected the strength of emotions that filled her whenever she thought about her daughter, she’d already picked out what name she was going to be called as well but she was going to keep that a secret until she was born as she wanted to surprise her father with it. The few times she’d left the farm in recent months she’d dipped into her own savings to collect some baby things, and had them set up in her room, so she was getting prepared slowly but things were the way they were, a stubborn part of her had kept her from using anyone else's money apart from her own, it was her responsibility after all she wasn’t about to go around asking for charity. Wishing he was human-shaped again so she could have a proper hug, Claire squeezed her eyes shut tightly “Mel is probably the most pressing concern at the moment anyway” making herself bring that back up to turn attention away from herself and her problems, she could wait, Melissa seemed dangerously close to burning out.

Smiling a little she lifted her hand to stroke his nose “ice will want her, and Killian hasn’t been seen in months now. I can’t risk her coming here and laying waste to everything or taking her from me. I’ll stay for a little while after having her then will start roaming until things are safer, I’ll stay in contact I promise” he mentioned that he would go find Melissa to which Claire replied “I’ll unlock the gate so you can, and will have to lock it after you or Rose will go straight for the roses” aware of how fond her father was of them she presumed he would agree with her that rose should probably stay in the paddock. Explaining things made her resolute, she’d do this, it was the safest thing she could think of for everyone involved, besides by then Melissa hopefully would have the ability to run the farm if Jules hadn’t figured out to shift back by then before she left. “it's still a few months away yet” she meant the due date, she’d had to go to various appointments alone, deal with well-meaning idiots until she’d gotten sick of it and had instead focused on teaching her shadows how to do scans and teaching them the things they needed to know and so far that had all been going really well and it had made life easier.

She wasn’t so sure, it’d been a good five hundred or so years, long enough to forget her, people were fickle they could claim they loved someone then three years later divorced and never want to have anything to do with each other. Still, the only thing that supported her father's suggestion was that even if Killian had forgotten her he wouldn’t have forgotten his sister, and yet he hadn’t been to visit Melissa either. So she kept her fears to herself, instead, she scratched him where he wanted to be itched “Three months, no sorry two and a half” there wasn’t much time left indeed it was like time was slipping through her fingers which meant sometimes she lost track of exactly how much time was left. Soon the comfort and security of home would be gone, jerking her thoughts away she sat up a little more and sighed stretching as much as she was able to “Its gonna be okay, Melissa will be able to run the farm in my stead now you can mind speak, I’ll send through letters and photos when its safe to and I’m able to” things would work out she had to believe that or despair would threaten to take over and that’d get her nowhere. Thankful for the rare warm day despite it being winter she yawned half tempted to sleep there, she hadn’t slept that well the night before, no matter how she had lain she’d remained uncomfortable and either too hot or too cold. Yawning again she wriggled a little to lean against the horse, trusting him, he’d come a long way, and spending time like this with him was almost just as good as having him in his human shape with her. “Love you dad” murmuring quietly Claire relaxed against him wondering for the billionth time what Killian was doing with himself, the familiar sharp pain of missing him and wanting him here too made her heartache, she continued to refuse to even entertain the notion of her partner perhaps having died somewhere between now and then, such a thought wasn’t allowed, he had to be because as much as she was bad at admitting it she loved the sarcastic shit and while she didn’t need him to be whole she was a whole person on her own, she still needed him.

The red mare in question was grazing nearby, she’d recently started learning how to give the animal the reins every now and then instead of being rigidly always in control, letting the animal take charge was something she was starting to find soothing and the development had lead to her mellowing out a bit. Stirring slightly Claire reopened her eyes “mmm, she was talking about fixing something, a fence needed repairing, something had made holes in it, I think it was an excuse to get out and away from me” not bothering to move just yet she added “It was out in the north paddocks” she didn’t bother to move until he showed interest in getting up, and only then did she move to get up herself since she had to let him out. “Do you want me to come with you” since he was blind she couldn’t help but worry about him a little, he knew every inch of his paddock but the trail out towards where Mel had gone was a little treacherous however she had no intent of fussing over him too much knowing he didn’t enjoy it, she didn’t either to be fair.

Heading for the gate with the rug slipped over her shoulder, Claire set it on the gate before opening it and letting Julian and herself out, locking it securely behind her. She normally would have asked for a ride but with how far along she was, Claire was not about to risk anything, so she walked ending up very out of breath, pausing a few times when they were heading uphill they finally made it to where Melissa was. Ned was standing ground tied while she was bent over the fence, her hat on shielding her face from most of the suns rays and rather sweaty from her mornings work. Managing to finally fix this part of the fence she turned intending to head back to ned and continue riding along to check the rest of the fence since she was already here, seeing Claire and Julian standing next to ned. Instantly looking slightly wary, Melissa did her best to hide how uncomfortable she felt, walking over to ned and picking up his reins she touched a hand to his neck seeking the familiar animals comfort. Wanting to just swing up onto the calm animal and flee, she was about to do so when Claire moved, brushing her hand over Julians shoulder in a silent farewell before turning and heading back home without a word, she didn’t want to intrude on the pair of them. Her departure left Melissa feeling very unsure of what she was supposed to do next, not having a pair of eyes watching her made things easier, leaning against Ned silently feeling that at least without being watched she could breathe.

She didn’t move when Ned moved away to groom the other horse, feeling more than a little disconnected from everything, she’d been coping by doing so subconsciously. She didn’t know how to deal with how she felt, she had no words for how she felt it just felt like a big black hole had opened up in her chest enveloping everything greedily, what was she supposed to do? Wrapping her arms around herself securely she watched him and did the only thing she really felt she could do “yes” short and blunt as ever, watching him intently feeling tangled and knotted on the inside.