( clementine noticed when klaus was absent (and it scared her. in the same breath she hoped he got to return to his daughter. she also didn't want to lose that relationship in her life. it's not fair- it's not fair because he does have a daughter, and he seems like he'd be a very good father to her, and she deserves to have that). she checked into his room to find out his stuff was still there, but- but that's not always a guarantee she's learned. a week passed she figured out he came back, but she also knows adults well enough to understand. they need time to themselves. they only let out certain emotions alone or among others of their own age.
it can be hard being around kids, especially when one's separated from their own kid. so she gives him time to recover, to get back into the groove of everything.
it's not until a week later that she sends a message. )
( he hasn't forgotten her, but she would be right to consider he needed space. he hasn't forgotten her, but amidst the five years past and the loss of his brother, he has wanted to keep so many things at arm's length. shame prickles over him at the sound of her voice, because he did. he did, but it's not her responsibility to suffer his silence —
she has. it's not fair. it's not fair because he does have a daughter at home, he has many things at home, and clementine does not have a father. (at the moment, he hardly feels strong or worthy enough to be anyone's father.)
his exhale is quiet, shaky. after a beat, he says, ) I'm all right.
( he hesitates, a suffocating feeling weighing down his voice: it's worry, guilt, love. ) I trust you haven't been up to too much trouble in my absence?
( clementine rests her back against a wall, but doesn't speak at first in response to when he says he's all right. she believes him, but she also believes going home was hard and coming back was harder. people can be all right in the face of a whole lot of painful shit.
they have to learn how to be.
and her heart sort of gives a little stab of pain at the realization, at the weight. she doesn't want him to go through painful shit, but she also knows wanting doesn't change anything. )
Didn't you hear? ( she smirks because she's joking to make it easier on him. ) Got together a group, threw all the Queens off their thrones. We're all in charge now. Big trouble but the good kind.
( he appreciates the effort. it reminds him of hope; that kind impulse reminds him of his daughter not in the abstract way it used to, but as a visceral ache. (she would, too. she would be kind. she would want to protect him, like she protected him before he returned here.) klaus' eyes sting, but it is not the grief that wins in the battle of his feelings, it's bittersweet joy.
here still is this bright, beautiful little girl who cares for him, who he cares for.
he tempers his tears, injects a sober playfulness into his tone. ) That is edifying, though I am disappointed I wasn't included. I assume you're a princess? ( pause. no; ) A queen? How you will organize your new regime?
If you were here, you would have been included. ( clementine smirks a bit, resting her back against a wall. sometimes it's good to just talk, to catch up, to let him know she is here still and she cares about him whatever the hell happened where he went and whatever the hell happens in the future. because she does.
she makes a bit of a face then at the mention of her being queen. wonderland's sort of messed that up even in a joke. )
Not a princess, not a queen. I'm tired of queens. Maybe I'll be a president or supreme leader. There'd be a council. People would get to vote unless they voted something really stupid, and then I'd say hell no.
People would get to choose when they came and when they left. They could bring people here or take people to their own worlds.
( he concurs; it's especially good to talk and catch up now, with such separation between them. he listens attentively, his smile genuine, amused, and proud at her insistence of veto-power. ) So a sanctuary, ( he summates. it's not what he would have in mind; there's a goodness to it. an idyllic and generous nature. just like her. ) I like the way you think. And would the closets actually work?
I don't know. The closets always seemed too easy, but I don't want it to be as hard as it is in my world either. ( clementine knows what it feels to be starving, and she's not looking to put anyone else through that unless she really hated them. there's no one here she really hates in wonderland. at least not yet. )
...you really think people could actually do that? ( maybe without walkers around, people are less likely to need to only act for themselves all the time. people in wonderland seem more giving than she's used to. if people could choose to be here, if they could-
clementine shakes her head. she doesn't do imagination often, because her realism gets in the way. ) There's still people needing to die and lose their memories to keep this whole place running. ( carver said she was like him for a reason, because she is. she'd make those choices to keep this place running. ) I could make those choices too, but it wouldn't make this place a sanctuary ever, huh?
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audio. backdated to the 10th. ish.
( clementine noticed when klaus was absent (and it scared her. in the same breath she hoped he got to return to his daughter. she also didn't want to lose that relationship in her life. it's not fair- it's not fair because he does have a daughter, and he seems like he'd be a very good father to her, and she deserves to have that). she checked into his room to find out his stuff was still there, but- but that's not always a guarantee she's learned. a week passed she figured out he came back, but she also knows adults well enough to understand. they need time to themselves. they only let out certain emotions alone or among others of their own age.
it can be hard being around kids, especially when one's separated from their own kid. so she gives him time to recover, to get back into the groove of everything.
it's not until a week later that she sends a message. )
Hey.
You're back. Are you... okay?
audio
( he hasn't forgotten her, but she would be right to consider he needed space. he hasn't forgotten her, but amidst the five years past and the loss of his brother, he has wanted to keep so many things at arm's length. shame prickles over him at the sound of her voice, because he did. he did, but it's not her responsibility to suffer his silence —
she has. it's not fair. it's not fair because he does have a daughter at home, he has many things at home, and clementine does not have a father. (at the moment, he hardly feels strong or worthy enough to be anyone's father.)
his exhale is quiet, shaky. after a beat, he says, ) I'm all right.
( he hesitates, a suffocating feeling weighing down his voice: it's worry, guilt, love. ) I trust you haven't been up to too much trouble in my absence?
audio
they have to learn how to be.
and her heart sort of gives a little stab of pain at the realization, at the weight. she doesn't want him to go through painful shit, but she also knows wanting doesn't change anything. )
Didn't you hear? ( she smirks because she's joking to make it easier on him. ) Got together a group, threw all the Queens off their thrones. We're all in charge now. Big trouble but the good kind.
audio
here still is this bright, beautiful little girl who cares for him, who he cares for.
he tempers his tears, injects a sober playfulness into his tone. ) That is edifying, though I am disappointed I wasn't included. I assume you're a princess? ( pause. no; ) A queen? How you will organize your new regime?
audio
she makes a bit of a face then at the mention of her being queen. wonderland's sort of messed that up even in a joke. )
Not a princess, not a queen. I'm tired of queens. Maybe I'll be a president or supreme leader. There'd be a council. People would get to vote unless they voted something really stupid, and then I'd say hell no.
People would get to choose when they came and when they left. They could bring people here or take people to their own worlds.
audio
audio
audio
a family. )
audio
clementine shakes her head. she doesn't do imagination often, because her realism gets in the way. ) There's still people needing to die and lose their memories to keep this whole place running. ( carver said she was like him for a reason, because she is. she'd make those choices to keep this place running. ) I could make those choices too, but it wouldn't make this place a sanctuary ever, huh?