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[He takes his beer with a nod]

So how's humanity treating you?

[The question is part genuine interest and part stalling tactic.]

[ She smirks a little. ]

What, the people here? They're okay.

[ That's not what he's asking and she knows it. ]

[If he had glasses, this is where he'd be looking over them at her.]

More the eating, sleeping and having to take a shit kind.

[It was easy enough for him to get used to it again. He wasn't sure if she'd ever spent any significant time... embodied? If they did to her what they had to him.]

[ She shrugs, taking a sip of her beer. ]

Church, you never even asked me what happened to me after the emp. You're just assuming I died and that was it until I woke up here?

[He gives her a confused look.]

Well, yeah. Why? Did you sneak off and have a bunch of crazy adventures when I wasn't looking?

[You know, now that he says it... it doesn't sound all that unbelievable.]

Edited 2021-05-19 02:15 (UTC)

[ She lets out a light scoff. ]

Yeah. Sure.

[ She shakes her head a little with a roll of he eyes. ]

It's just that this isn't the first world I was brought to before ending up here, that's all.

Really?

[He believes her, but honestly he's not sure how to feel about it.]

Was it like this place?

[Clearly this is the more important thing to talk about.]

Not really. It was on a spaceship, called the Moira.

We stopped on a lot of different planets and ended up quite the little community.

[ There's something else she should probably share—mentioning her boyfriend there—but she holds off on it, at least for now. She quirks an eyebrow, considering it for just half a second, then meets Church's eye again. ]

Anyway, I'm not there anymore.

[There's a lot there to unpack. She called it a community, so obviously she was there for quite a while. Gotten to know people... He picks up his beer with a thoughtful scoffing sound.]

Tex's big vacation...

[She's here now and that's what counts, right... He takes an experimental sip and nods approvingly.]

That's pretty good. Good choice.

[ She snickers. ]

Sure.

[ She nods when he compliments her choice of beer, and she gestures toward the coffee. ]

Now try that.

[ After a pause, she decides to press on with the conversation. ]

So the last thing you remember is the emp, huh?

[He gives the coffee a skeptical glance before picking it up. Guess he can't really back out now, can he... He tries not to pull a face as he judges the mix.]

Well... it's not the worst thing I've ever had. That honor still goes to the shitty Chili Mac MRE.

[Seriously, that was fucking disgusting. Whoever okayed it should be kicked in the balls. He shrugs.]

Yeah. I thought it might not have worked for a moment there.

[ She goes ahead and tries a sip of the coffee after a sip of the beer herself. The main issue with it is the temperature change, though the flavors themselves are pretty good together. ]

Mm. Too hot.

[ She tilts her head in response to what he said. ]

I've learned a lot about these alternate universes in the time since then. Whatever forces there are out there that can pull us in can time it so it looks like we're dead at home. And...

[ She extends an arm and glances at it. ]

...clone us bodies. Though I guess this world we're in now is a simulation of some kind.

[Yeah... it's never really occurred to him that she might not know that he'd been unknowingly tooling around in someone else's body before she arrived. And it's something that part of knows he shouldn't think too closely about.

Honestly, he just assumed they did the same thing to her.]

You know, for all they fuck up here- at least they got the bodies part right.

[He smiles and takes another drink.]

[ She snorts at the expression on his face. ]

Was that meant to be a compliment?

Uh... I mean, you know- in general.

[Crap.]

If it was though- just hypothetically... would it piss you off?

[ She lifts her beer glass just enough to tap one edge of the bottom on the table. ]

I like it when people say what they mean and mean what they say.

[ Which is something he should know. ]

[He snorts.]

And I prefer not getting hit if I can avoid it.

[She can't deny that it's a valid concern.]

But yes. For the record... I do -in fact- think you're hot.

[ She smirks. ]

I happen to think so, too.

[ She eyes him for a moment. ]

They didn't skimp on yours, either.

[ Since the subject would have been likely to come up. ]

[He flushes just the faintest bit and gives her a crooked grin.]

You should see the rest of it.

[He says it without thinking -that same bravado that teased Tucker about his switch. But, as soon as his brain catches up, he pauses and clears his throat.]

[ She raises an eyebrow, but it's a cover-up over a suppressed mirth that she isn't entirely able to hide. ]

Aren't you the brave one?

[ She reaches forward and puts a finger on his chest. ]

We have to get some things clear before it's okay for you to talk like that, okay?

[ She removes her finger, raising her hand enough to flick him on the chin, before setting her hand back on the table. ]

First of all, no matter what you're thinking about how well you know me, we've barely spent any time together.

[It's almost funny how quickly that bravado evaporates when she does that. The touch a concrete reminder that this is Tex he's dealing with. Not Allison and sure as hell not Tucker. The flick is oddly reassuring though... even he does flinch just a little bit.]

Right. Sorry.

[He nods and takes a deep breath.]

It's just... it's hard to ignore all the memories.

[He runs a hand through his hair.]

They feel more real than the actual truth.

Then that's the first thing we need to work on.

[ She pauses, a slight frown crossing her features before she evens it out. ]

Depending on how much you even want to know about... You know. Before.

[He snorts]

I don't want to know any of it. That doesn't mean I don't need to know some things.

[He sighs and takes a drink from the beer.]

Wash took me to Epsilon.

Edited 2021-05-20 20:13 (UTC)

[ She nods. ]

I had the feeling you'd had an encounter with him.

[ A finger traces the rim of her glass. ]

Was it okay? Or not so much?

It was... a lot.

[He isn't quite sure how to explain it.]

Like being hit with a truck- if that truck was actually made of images and feelings.

[Most certainly 'not okay'. He takes another breath and a drink.]

I've been trying not to think about it all at once.

[He'd rather not think about it at all... but that's the problem with dreams isn't it. Can't control what you brain chooses to process when you're asleep.]

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