[ TLV | Video/Spam ] 013 - A whole different Claudia

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[Oh look, Claudia's back on the network. She looks pissed. There is no vibrant color streak in her hair. If one were to look closely enough there may, in fact, be tear-stains on her cheeks. Obviously this visit home went very not-as-planned.]

I'm back. Willow, we need to talk. I gave you an assignment before I left. Did you do it?

Tim, thanks for watching.... [She looks down. Swallows. Like this is hard to say.] Jinks.. for me. You can drop him back at my cabin whenever...

[Private to Admiral]

I'm changing my deal. I'm bringing Steve back.

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[One might see Claudia around, yes. Though she's a very angry whirlwind right now, hurrying from place to place without so much as a friendly smile to anyone. The snarky fun girl has turned into all-business plus a side of rage girl.

Even at the dining table, she practically inhales her meal in order to leave and go somewhere else.

Most often, she's found in the library doing research or running laps in the gym (it helps blow off steam, okay?). Catch her if you can!]

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[Something very bad had definitely happened. He knows that look, knows what it's like to be reminded by everything - God, did Artie--?

He shifts Jinks, holding him in one hand so he can reach out for her shoulder, then brush his hand over her cheek.]

What happened?

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[It's a gentle gesture she honestly wasn't expecting... and it makes the tears fall faster. She closes her eyes for a moment, brings her hand up to the SD card on a string around her neck. When her eyes open again, she takes his hand in order to lead him into her cabin, explaining quietly:] Not out here.

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[His eyes drop down to follow her hand, but only for a moment. It's an understandable request, and he lets her lead him inside, closing the door quietly with his foot once he's past it.

He doesn't press, doesn't push for answers; Tim knows how to be patient, even when he's worried. He just holds Jinks in one hand, balancing the kitten against his chest while he waits for her.]

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[She looks down at the kitten, and scratches him beneath the chin for a moment, until Jinks starts purring. Then she gently takes him from Tim and sets the white ball of fluff on her bed, sitting down beside him.]

...I know I've mentioned Steve's name before, and that he was my partner for a while back home... But he was also.. Is. He is... my best friend. [She seems determined not to use the past tense with that.]

But, uhm... [She bites her lip a little, and looks down at her hands.] He left. They'd told me he'd been fired, for insubordination. But the truth is he was spying on our enemy. I didn't find that out until my trip back home. [Fidget, fidget.] The last time I was here I... I felt a little like he'd abandoned me, or maybe that I'd driven him away. That's why I never spoke of him very much, because it... Well, it hurt...

[She glances over at the kitten, who has made a little nest of her pillow. She stares at him for a moment, silently, before squeezing her eyes shut.] ...They killed him.

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[Tim knew what had happened from the second she shifted tenses; he'd done that before, how many times had he done that? His head lowered a little, but he kept his eyes on her as she spoke, and went to sit next to her once the cat had moved.

And when she finally gets it out, Tim wraps an arm around her shoulders, pulls her toward him. He doesn't often initiate hugs, but he knows how hard this is, and how all he wanted to do by turns was shut the world out, then cling to it, to remind himself there were people around who still cared.]

I'm so sorry, [he murmured, and he hated those words because they aren't enough, they don't change anything, but there's never anything else to say.] You came back for him? [Because he would have, in an instant just then, and sometimes even now he wants to, but he's moved past that...for the most part.]