Of Monsters and Men

          “I suppose that’s subjective. Seeing as you also failed to move, does that mean you also lack common sense?”  It could be seen as a naive question from a clueless android, if it weren’t for the quirk of his brow and smirk on his lips.

𝐇𝐄𝐀𝐃 𝐒𝐇𝐎𝐎𝐊 𝐀𝐓 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐎𝐅𝐅𝐄𝐑𝐄𝐃 𝐄𝐗𝐏𝐋𝐀𝐍𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍, silently disagreeing with that; he’s fairly certain he would have seen a Jedi like him amongst the war if they had crossed paths. No. This was something different. Something 𝐍𝐄𝐖. And that made the knight uneasy. As far as he was aware, all the known Jedi were dead and any that had once been a Jedi have long since gone into hiding. This one, however, did 𝐍𝐎𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐍𝐆 to hide the fact he was a Jedi.

Confusion melted from features as the name was spoken, a 𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐋𝐈𝐒𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍 dawning on him. No, that couldn’t be right. Obi-Wan died before his time. It was not possible to be standing in the company of a dead man, and he certainly didn’t 𝐋𝐎𝐎𝐊 like a force ghost either, lacking the ethereal glow to his skin.

A step was taken back, 𝐀𝐋𝐀𝐑𝐌𝐄𝐃 gaze taking in the room around him again, as if he’d somehow find the answers to his confusion and to this meeting, or perhaps he was looking for something that was out of place, something that’d tell him this was just a 𝐓𝐑𝐈𝐂𝐊. Hand instinctively reached for his lightsaber, grip firm around the hilt as it activated at his side, some part of him 𝐂𝐎𝐌𝐅𝐎𝐑𝐓𝐄𝐃 with something familiar in his hand.

❝ You’re 𝐥𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠. You 𝐜𝐚𝐧'𝐭 be him. ❞

He spat out, lightsaber raising to point accusingly at Obi-Wan, fury sparked within him. If this was some kind of joke, Kylo 𝐃𝐈𝐃 𝐍𝐎𝐓 find it funny. Though deep down, he knew that this Jedi was not lying. He could feel the sincerity in his words and yet, he was unable to believe it.

❝ Whatever trick this is you’re playing, I will 𝐧𝐨𝐭 stand for it. ❞

          obi-wan felt the shift. — saw the provoked look on the younger man’s face. the stranger moved fast, but the jedi knight moved just as quickly, his saber ignited in hand barely a moment after. eyes narrowing, he frowned disapprovingly but made no move to be the first to strike. something about this person felt... off. his reaction and behavior, odd. even the saber he wielded was out of place. — a unique design that he had not seen before.

           ❝  calm yourself, ❞ the tone in his voice was similar to the one he tended to use when scolding his apprentice. ❝  you are strong with the force. you know i speak the truth,  ❞ he reasoned, perhaps still holding on to the hope that the situation could be deescalated. he would fight if he must, of course, but he was in no rush. he had been looking forward to having a day without the need for his saber, but in times as these, he supposed he asked for too much.

          he pointed his chin toward one of the chairs in the room.  ❝  you could always sit,  ❞ he replied drly, inconvenience clear in his voice. ❝  i’m assuming you didn’t come to kill me. — unless, of course, the sith like the extra challenge of guessing the faces of their targets.  ❞ not many people could tail him, especially without being noticed. no... it was like this person’s presence had materialized suddenly and without warning. could such a thing be possible?

haha, omg yes! xDDi have the same feeling tbh. she’s p much forgone a childhood and quickly adopted an adult mentality, so it’s no wonder she doesn’t feel her age. i absolutely adore her as well.

“ yeah , i’ve got a better idea 。 why don’t you shut your mouth for a second and let the rest of us think for ourselves 。 the last thing we need is you blabbering us to defeat 。 unless that’s what you’re planning 。”

clara extended her arm out to shake his hand in return. however, she immediately paused when he introduced himself. dark eyes wide and she simply stared at him for a moment. hesitant, wondering if she’d heard right. “the doctor?” she echoes the word as if she can hardly believe it. “well–DOCTOR, people don’t really seem to go by simply a title. surely there must be a name attached with that title, not just ‘the doctor.’” 

if she gets the answer she’s expecting, then surely, she can’t be wrong. she should expect this by now, after all, she’s seen various regenerations of the time lord before. but not this one. but why? why him? why now? and why is it always when it seems like her life is getting back to whatever NORMALCY it’ll alow. she doesn’t hate the idea of it though. after all, a life with the doctor was hardly anything forgettable. 

“a lift’s a good a place as any–so, do y’ live ‘round here doctor? or are ya’ just VISITING?”

          the doctor knew the question was coming. it was one he received all the time. maybe there was once an answer to it, but not anymore. that had died along with everyone on his planet. he was just ‘the doctor’ now. so, he gave clara an almost indignant look. ❝  well why not? what are ya the name police?  ❞ he tutted, brows raising as his voice took on a matter-of-fact tone. ❝  stranger things to go by. once met a man named bum, unfortunate that.  ❞

          he nodded in agreement at her words. ❝  s'pose it is.  ❞ at her question, he shrugged a bit noncommittally, his eyes surveying the elevator as she spoke. ❝  visitin' you could say. seeing the sights. never know when adventure will find ya.  ❞ a curious smile stretching across his face, he fully turned to her. ❝  for example, clara, notice somethin' about this lift?  ❞

          ❝  — ten floors. four away from the ground floor once you came on. and we've been talking for... what, four minutes?  ❞ he took a look at his watch to double-check himself and then pointed to the display on the elevator that was frozen on ‘G’ even when the contraption showed no sights of stopping. ❝  should've stopped forty-two seconds ago... so why are we still moving?  ❞

the silent moments that followed felt like ages to him. hiccup wasn’t sure if he should say something or simply give her time to look for the words she needed. his mouth opened more than once, false starts dying out on his tongue. thankfully, alice spoke no more than a few seconds later     though there was no denying her words brought a twisting sensation of sorts to his stomach.

“     oh.” his gaze fell to their joined hands, and he hoped she wouldn’t the light reddening of his cheeks ( NOT the time, hiccup! ). it made sense for alice to want to go back home and to feel distressed over not knowing how. he selfishly hoped she could stay longer, but he knew it was wrong to do so. berk was not her home, after all.

“well…” he started, exhaling heavily as his hands moved tentatively to hold hers. “i don’t know how to get you back home…” bright green eyes looked up to meet hers. “but i promise i’ll do everything i can to help.” he smiles softly. “and, like you said… it is getting dark     so how about we do it tomorrow, soon as the sun is up? you can stay at my place, there’s plenty of room for one more.”

          there was a tingling sensation that followed when hiccup’s hands moved to hold her own. it moved it’s way up her arm and warmed her chest. it was new, but not unwanted. in all honesty, it gave her a reassurance she hadn’t known she needed. a reminder that she was not alone. that there was someone beside her. it was a nice feeling. almost... secure. she liked it and so she kept her hands in his.

          her smile brightened at his promise.   ❝  truly?  ❞ as much as she didn’t want to cause him to go out of his way, alice could not deny that she appreciated hiccup’s offer of help. it would be silly to turn him down just for the sake of politeness. one shouldn’t let one’s pride get in the way of a helping hand, especially one from so generous a person as her new friend. ❝  i do suppose two heads are always better than one,  ❞ she agreed before toothless interjected a noise that made her giggle, ❝   — oh pardon me, THREE heads.  ❞

she could feel her anxiety grow with each second, heart hammering in her chest as she watched warren walked further into the lab. “ scientist, yes. mad… not really. ” was this really the time for jokes? probably not, but olivia was hoping to relieve even the smallest bit of tension that had set in the air     a failed attempt, for warren looked just as worried as he did a moment ago.

“ what? NO, this has nothing to do with drugs! ” she shouldn’t be surprised he immediately thought of that. being a movie and tv afficionado, it made sense for warren to default to something straight out of a tv show.

in retrospect, perhaps fibbing something drug-related might’ve been better than the truth. her entire body freezes once he notices the piece of the armor she had been working on. “ it’s not! ” liv rushes over to him, trying to put herself in between him and her table. “ look, this is just. something i’ve been testing. to keep myself busy     it’s not for real. ” she lets out a nervous laugh, trying her best not to break eye contact and appear as believable as possible. “ why would i need a real gauntlet with a thermal blaster? ” yeah, she really shouldn’t have called it by name.

          warren wasn’t convinced. nothing that left liv’s mouth matched the strange behavior that she’d had ever since he’d stepped into the room. it was clear this was something that he had never been meant to see, and the fact that she was so jumpy about it made it all the more obvious that she was lying to him. it hurt a bit, in all honestly. he had thought that they were starting to get closer again, but to think that there were still things she seemed insistent to keep from him. he knew friends didn’t need to tell each other everything, but... well, this didn’t seem like just anything.

          he didn’t try to hide the doubt on his face as she tried to make her excuses.  ❝  yeah, right...  ❞ he frowned, running a hand through his hair as he momentarily thought about going along with it and playing dumb. it was a short-lived thought, however. this wasn’t something he could just let go.