ic contact; MoM

[coppelganger]

Hey, it's Sarah. Leave a message.

Comments

[puppydoctor]

... Oh.

[Funny how cutting that off before the "for a stranger" part really changes the meaning.]

Um. There was- It was gonna hit somebody. So I tried to...

[Awkward.]

I'm sort of realizing now that the whole part about the bus just... didn't come out right.

[coppelganger]

You didn't kill yourself?

[ She puts her face in her hands, letting out a huge sigh of relief. ]

Jesus...

[puppydoctor]

No! No, it wasn't- God, Sarah, I'm...

[If her hands weren't on her face - which they are due to his stupidity - he'd be reaching for them.]

I didn't kill myself. I was just... I was stupid, and slow, and I...

[He shakes his head, his eyes wide with sadness.]

And this isn't about me, it's about you.

[coppelganger]

[ Slowly, she lowers her hands. She can feel herself starting to cry again, but she manages a tiny smile when she sees his stricken expression. ]

I'm sorry. I'm just relieved.

[puppydoctor]

[And he immediately reaches out and grabs those hands between his. He's silent for a moment, still processing what must have just gone through her mind. Comforting words aren't coming to him, so his default is to joke.]

... See, you aren't all bad. You care.

[coppelganger]

Yeah. I do.

[ She sounds like it's still a surprise to her, that she really does care about people. ]

[puppydoctor]

[He squeezes her hands, and gives her the smallest smile.]

So. You're a clone, and you're a bad person, and I still want you to be my girlfriend.

[coppelganger]

[ Looking at him, she can almost make herself believe that everything will work out for them. But even if it doesn't, he's still the best thing that's happened to her since she showed up in this universe, and that has to count for something. ]

Okay.

[puppydoctor]

[Excuse him while he just mentally processes what she just said.]

Okay...

[Wait.]

Wait, you mean yes?

[coppelganger]

Yes.

[ And then, because it needs to be said again, but fondly: ]

You tit.

[puppydoctor]

[He runs his thumb over her knuckle. If there wasn't a table between them he would scoop her up and kiss her right now, but he doesn't want to throw too much at her at once. They still have more to talk about. He knows there's more he needs to understand about her - about what being a clone entails, why she had to protect him from it like that. But looking at her face, he can see happiness, and he believes that she wants this.]

Huh. Well, that went better than I thought it would.

[coppelganger]

[ Still smiling, she looks down at their hands. ]

Me too. You, uh... took the news better than I thought you would.

[puppydoctor]

I guess I was imagining something worse.

[SHALL WE COUNT THE WAYS.]

Like, I still want to talk about it. I want to understand more. But for now... I just needed to know this first.

[coppelganger]

You're gonna have to be patient sometimes. The whole... not dating arseholes thing, it's still new to me, yeah?

[ And actually, it's fucking terrifying. ]

[puppydoctor]

Hey, I get it. No worries.

[At least, no worries that he's currently aware of and anticipating. He knows she's scared, and he'd be lying if he said he wasn't concerned about how this is going to go. But he knows how he feels.]

We just need to talk about things. And not run away to De Chima to get drunk and feed the homeless.

[coppelganger]

Is that where you went? I was wondering.

[ She had a lot of time to think over Christmas, okay, especially after she called him and learned that he was out of town probably just to avoid running into her. ]

[puppydoctor]

[His eyes dart away from her, and his smile falters just a little.]

Yeah. I, uh, wasn't super excited about being alone. It was nice, though. We saved some puppies.

[coppelganger]

Cute.

[ And not to get super depressing, but she does feel like she ought to let him know this sooner rather than later. ]

Helena got Ported out. I found out a couple days before Christmas.

[puppydoctor]

[Oooooh shit, and now he feels awful.]

Oh my god, Sarah... ["You should have told me", he almost says, but he doesn't want to seem critical. He knows why she didn't.] I wish I'd known. I'm so sorry, that sucks.

[coppelganger]

It's alright. Shit happens, yeah? She didn't even remember most of what we've been through. It's probably better...

[ She takes a sip of her drink, even though the ice has mostly melted, just to have something to do. ]

She really is my twin, you know. That wasn't a lie. She's left-handed, I'm right-handed. Like a mirror.

[puppydoctor]

[He threads his fingers through hers, listening aptly.]

You're allowed to be sad and miss her, okay? You don't have to rationalize it. I only met her a couple of times, but I know you care about her, and I'd be pretty gutted if I was in your position.

[Of course, putting himself in her shoes just makes him think of Ronny and Jerry, and he tries to imagine what Sarah would even think about them. They'd probably drive her crazy in under an hour.]

[coppelganger]

Yeah. I guess I thought if we were both stuck here we'd have a chance to get to know each other better.

[ Since they haven't exactly had much of a chance to do that at home. ]

[puppydoctor]

Well, one day you're gonna get out of here, and you'll see her again. Hope, remember?

[Except, there are a lot of implications there that he either doesn't know about or doesn't want to consider. But they can talk about those later, right? Right?

He pushes back in his chair a little, and gestures into the living room.]

Couch?

[coppelganger]

Yeah.

[ She gets to her feet, still holding his hand. ]

[puppydoctor]

[He lets go of her hand only so he can slide it around her waist, and as soon as they get to the couch he pulls her down close beside him.]

I'm so glad I spilled my beer.