[ oh God. John stills, a new sort of steadiness coming over him. memory of stripes across a back, or never asking, not really. of knowing, through the tone of silences and the vast stretches of unsaid things, that the scars aren't the worst part. gentle, but not any weaker in intent for it: ]
Does he need checking over? [ not that Claire isn't perfectly capable of that herself, not that having a stranger anywhere near him would necessarily be the best, but it's an offer all the same if she needs it. John'll do what he can to take off pressure from Claire, including removing the need for her to ask. quietly, John's sensitivity to her expands to make room for a husband recently tortured and everything that entails. ]
[She doesn't take any offense at the suggestion. In fact, it seems to calm her, a shuddery sigh exhaled before she makes another wipe at her eyes. She's no surgeon, no doctor.]
Perhaps in a day or two. He needs to settle, I think, before I throw something like that at him. Fraser's are stubborn as mules sometimes.
[ a small smile, Frasers are stubborn as mules sometimes, and John fishes into his jeans pocket to pull out a mostly empty packet of tissues he'd forgotten about before, fish one out and hand it out to Claire. ]
If he needs to talk to me before he meets me, he's welcome to call.
It's a long story, a very long one actually, but I found myself a few hundred years in the past in Scotland and... that's where I was, before I came here. It's just always easier to say where I was before that--1945.
[She takes another steadying breath, an apologetic smile on her lips. Sorry, John.]
That's one way of putting it. [This sort of calm acceptance is a little funny, and she hides her smile by pretending to dab at her mostly-dry face.] It's probably a good time to mention that I'm pregnant, at home. Just to get it all out there.
[So it's even worse that you didn't get her flowers, John.]
Explains the weeping into my drink situation when we first met.
[ well, this is a lot in one go. John stops. stares at her. pregnant, at home. so this place is capable of suspending pregnancy, too.
it's none of it anything she's ever been obliged to tell him. with a huff, he nods, small and slight and drawing an underline. grateful to know, no need to comment. ]
It does a bit. [ he'd laugh, but... probably not the time ] ... Hand brace, then?
Hand brace. [She appreciates the lack of commentary. Claire, independent as she is, very much worries about the people she cares about thinking she's insane. She sometimes thinks she is.]
It's his left. His middle and ring finger were set and sewn. [So they need to be kept still. Claire grabs the two braces she'd found. Really, either would do--she knows it, and he can probably guess as much once he sees how similar they are. She just needs the reassurance, the talking to someone that isn't Jamie, and that brief cry.]
What he's got now is... wood and cloth, basically. It does the job but it's massive. He can't go about like that.
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Does he need checking over? [ not that Claire isn't perfectly capable of that herself, not that having a stranger anywhere near him would necessarily be the best, but it's an offer all the same if she needs it. John'll do what he can to take off pressure from Claire, including removing the need for her to ask. quietly, John's sensitivity to her expands to make room for a husband recently tortured and everything that entails. ]
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Perhaps in a day or two. He needs to settle, I think, before I throw something like that at him. Fraser's are stubborn as mules sometimes.
[Explains her a little.]
I trust you. He'll trust you, too.
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If he needs to talk to me before he meets me, he's welcome to call.
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After I teach him how to use the thing. Have I mentioned [she wipes at her eyes and nose], that he's from 1744?
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1744.
[ you neglected to share that tidbit actually claire ]
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At least she almost laughs.]
It's a long story, a very long one actually, but I found myself a few hundred years in the past in Scotland and... that's where I was, before I came here. It's just always easier to say where I was before that--1945.
[She takes another steadying breath, an apologetic smile on her lips. Sorry, John.]
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[ Claire. but it's alright. by this point, he's used to pretending he's not had his worldview tipped on its axis. ]
So you've travelled about a lot then. [ through time ]
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[So it's even worse that you didn't get her flowers, John.]
Explains the weeping into my drink situation when we first met.
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it's none of it anything she's ever been obliged to tell him. with a huff, he nods, small and slight and drawing an underline. grateful to know, no need to comment. ]
It does a bit. [ he'd laugh, but... probably not the time ] ... Hand brace, then?
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It's his left. His middle and ring finger were set and sewn. [So they need to be kept still. Claire grabs the two braces she'd found. Really, either would do--she knows it, and he can probably guess as much once he sees how similar they are. She just needs the reassurance, the talking to someone that isn't Jamie, and that brief cry.]
What he's got now is... wood and cloth, basically. It does the job but it's massive. He can't go about like that.