abraxaslogs | april catch all

[Crane smoothes his trousers and adjusts his hands in his lap. The depths of humanity is one side of the coin, their achievements the shining example of the other. There is plenty to talk about in both cases.]

Same as anywhere, really.

[He looks inside himself, distracted.]

Regardless, I am glad you have found yourself some appropriate company. The soul does long for the comfort of home, after all.

[ The comfort she wants is her husband, but John will have to do in a pinch. She has suspicions about that anyway and has refused to think about it. ]

Home isn't strictly a place for me. I grew up nomadic and lived that way until I was thirty or so.

[ Setting down her teacup, Claire looks up at him, curious. ]

Do you have anyone from home you would want here? Not that I wouls wish all this on anyone, necessarily.

[Crane looks down at his tea. He imagines sitting opposite another person, speaking less about home than work. He is a man whose work is home.]

There is a man I respect. One who educated me on the inner aspects of human behaviour. His company here would be interesting if nothing more.

[Seeing Ra's here would certainly be fun.]

At the very least, a well-known familiar face. For me, at least, this isn't the first time I've had to figure things out in a place I never intended to be.

[ Looking at the hearth she watches the flames as she chooses her words before her attention focuses on him again. ]

When I was much younger, or perhaps not much older than you are now, I traveled in time quite by accident. I knew no one, I was lost. A stranger in a familiar, yet unknown place.

[His gaze directs to the warmth of the fireglow. Her words seep into his mind as flames crackle in his ears.

He lifts a brow as what she said rises to the surface.]

That sounds like quite the table.

[Travelled in time? Is everyone in this place insane?]

It is, though I don't want to bore you. In fact, I wouldn't dare to be so cavalier about it in my own time lest I find myself one of your colleague's patients.

[ She smiles with the understanding of exactly how crazy it sounds. ]

But there are so many different people here from different walks of life, I'm not quite as worried.

That's good to hear.

[He listens with the patience of a psychiatrist waiting out a reluctant patient.]

We're all worried but you have a healthy way of making sense of the transistion. In the face of losing our loved ones, it's worth finding other relationships that hold meaning.

There's no shortage of people here who are merely trying to cope the best they can. Nothing about how we've arrived makes logical sense; if it's science, then it's beyond any from either time period I've lived in. There's a particular bond, that all of us are in the same boat, so to speak.

[ Of course, there needs to be a willingness there from both parties. ]

Have you met any others with strange tales?

[ Because certainly, she isn't the only one. ]

[Crane leans back in his chair, a confident pose tempered by legs and arms that refuse to spread.]

I have. This world has plenty of strange tales, though I am loathe to admit not all are fascinating.

[Some people, Blake, are boring and annoying.]

Well, surely we can't all be time travelers.

[ She gives him a cheeky little smile, knowing how ridiculous it sounds. ]

And my life wasn't all that extraordinary before, either. This, I think, will be one for the record books.

[ Abraxas as a whole, she means. Nothing can top this, and if it can, she doesn't want to know what it is. ]

No doubt all of us will have something strange to tell those we left behind when we eventually leave this place. Would you tell anyone, with the knowledge you have and the work experience? Because surely a patient who told you they were brought nude and unwillingly into a new world after being pulled from water would be written off. A creative birth story, perhaps.

[He closes his eyes and listens to her words, lulled by the crackling sparks of the fire.]

Or a symbolic one.

[His voice is relaxed and calm. Thoughtful with a pinch of authority and knowledge.]

Water can embody the flow of life. A nude state of being indicates vulnerability or the need for humility. There are plenty of ways to explore a tale without outing one's self as a sociopath.

[ It's nice to have a conversation like this, casual and contemplating without the heaviness that usually surrounds the topic of Abraxas. Claire hums in agreement with his last statement, nodding a bit. ]

You're the expert on this topic, and I agree with what you said.

[ No buts, sometimes new perspectives and a fresh voice helps think of things differently and she's always open to that. ]

When you first arrived, what did you think? I'm only curious because coincidentally, I was drowning at the time I arrived. For weeks, I thought I might actually be dead.

[Bravo. Her respect earns a rare laugh: an honest smile brightening his face.]

Honestly? I imagined I'd banged my head.

[He shakes it instead. He knows what she means, what answer she seeks. What answers she might possess to that interesting point she raised.]

Once the initial shock wore off, I found myself a fish out of water: a man thrown back to a bygone age. Now there's something we have in common.

[One simply doesn't outright ask what it's like to drown.]

[ His laugh is a pleasant surprise, and she smiles in return, the corners of her eyes crinkling. ]

And you have the advantage of knowing a future beyond my own, no matter which time I claim. It was only a few weeks after Neil Armstrong walked on the moon that I traveled to the past a second time. For all I know, Mars is colonized in the year you've come from.

[ She wouldn't be surprised given how much she's learned from other people either about their own worlds or a future on her own she can't wrap her mind around. ]

Heavens, no. Mankind is too busy squabbling to ever band together and accomplish anything so progressive.

[He shrugs.]

Not that I can complain. Those petty squabbles keep me in business, after all.

[ That first comment makes her laugh this time, tipping her head back. ]

Do you know, some things never seem to change.

[ Her laughter tapers off a bit and she has to give him a point there. ]

You and I might have some of the best job security around. Although, perhaps not in this world when it comes to me. I've seen people heal others with a simple touch. That makes me a bit antiquated.

[Crane offers a small smile and relaxes in his chair. Some things never change? He changes his patients all the time. Blake would consider it a boost to his ego. He considers it what they deserve.]

Does it? Some patients prefer homeopathy. At least the "antiquated" treatment you offer has a medical basis.

[Because magic, you know, doesn't.]

[ He isn't wrong there, and Claire nods in concession. ]

You're right, although even I might suggest magical assistance for critical injuries. Even if it's only to conjure something I might need to take care of another. The two could work side-by-side, at least on this star.

[ She isn't opposed to that, just as she wouldn't be opposed to homeopathy and traditional medicine working together. ]

[Crane lifts his chin - his contempt for homeopathy masked by curiosity - and crosses one leg over the other. Hands clasp over his knee.]

Well, I would be wrong to argue against that, wouldn't I?

[He laughs and smiles: a gentle sound emanating from his throat.]

Not when there's evidence.

If the science is there, and all else has been exhausted, why not use other non-traditional options? Especially if they can't hurt.

[ It isn't a question to his question, more an agreement to his second statement. ]

Then there's the pure and simple fact that not everything works for every individual's body, both traditional medicine and non alike.

april catch all

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