oh, i don't think i bested you. i know i bested you a master of cake warfare is nothing next to a goddess of cake warfare better luck next time, mrs. doctor
ribbons for your hair, i'm assuming? i suppose if we run out of things to bet, then secrets are a fair exchange for losing fortunately for me, i picked up a few card tricks in braccia
why don't we just skip betting and trade secrets over cards? we could do each other's hair, drink the last bit of tea I brought with me. you could stay over. the doctor would love to see you
really? perhaps that's not so surprising. all of that attention he pays strange experiments must work well with hair. and it keeps him busy too, as a bonus.
oh, that's easy. a tent.
[ deliberate torture via withholding information from curious clara at this point? it's more likely than you think. 😇 ]
[while that news makes her pause, it isn't surprising. And while she knows she needs to say something, she's just going to take a minute to feel warm and happy because finally alina is confiding in her. So often it's just clara confiding and telling her bits and pieces of herself, while Alina never feels comfortable to do the same.
But if she's saying this now, then it must mean she sees Clara as worthy of trust. And that means more than any details she's just been told.]
the only thing I'm gonna say is that I hope he's able to keep you warm. it gets cold here at night
[ surprise unruffles all of her defensive blustering. it's not a tacit understanding she truly deserves — but she's grateful for it, all the same. even more grateful that clara isn't pressing for answers even alina herself doesn't have. ]
um. i don't think that's going to be a problem.
[ — not the right phrasing, even if the implications are accurate. hastily, her next message pings through. ]
[there's just giggling on her end of things for a moment. yes, it comes through voice bc she's not trying to keep a control on things in a moment of pure amusement.
and you know what? since alina's already heard her giggling, she'll just keep it on voice]
Alright, alright. I won't tease you anymore.
But...thank you, Lina. For trusting me enough to tell me at all.
[ don't mention it to anyone else seems, to alina, a surefire way to shatter any trust that's just been built between them. she clamps down on that paranoid urge, letting the trickle of clara's bubbling giggles wash over, before she sighs out a purposefully put-upon exhale.
still, there's a noticeable warmth that wraps itself around the words. ]
I interrogated you for half the night. It seemed only fair.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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you think you bested me?
me, clara oswald, master of cake warfare?
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a master of cake warfare is nothing next to a goddess of cake warfare
better luck next time, mrs. doctor
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and i demand satisfaction
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shall i find you a stool so you can reach my face?
[ alina, you're only two inches taller. ]
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you can't be taller than me if I knock you to the floor
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isn't that the equivalent of climbing a mountain for you?
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and right now spite is the only motivation my small legs and i need
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alright, defeat me if you can
but first you have to catch me 😊
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when i already have two other jobs here to keep up with
which reminds me
are you popping by the saloon after your performance tonight?
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i can find time to stop by
do you want me to bring anything?
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bring some of those ribbons you have laying about in your dressing room
and things you don't mind betting. we're playing cards tonight
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ribbons for your hair, i'm assuming?
i suppose if we run out of things to bet, then secrets are a fair exchange for losing
fortunately for me, i picked up a few card tricks in braccia
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[ teasing aside — ]
i'd say we should make the doctor do our hair, but i'm almost afraid what the results would be.
i can stay for a bit, at least. there's somewhere i promised i would spend the night, but i'm all yours and the doctor's until then.
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though i'm hardly interested in hair. not when you need to tell me where you promised you'd stay the night
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all of that attention he pays strange experiments must work well with hair.
and it keeps him busy too, as a bonus.
oh, that's easy. a tent.
[ deliberate torture via withholding information from curious clara at this point? it's more likely than you think. 😇 ]
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[Alina Starkov, you are rude.]
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i thought the promise of tea was included.
[ but humor can only stall for so long. eventually, after it seems she may have fled from her earpiece altogether: ]
kirigan.
don't say it.
[ — whatever she's about to hear from clara, after the last loop this same conversation had spiraled into. ]
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But if she's saying this now, then it must mean she sees Clara as worthy of trust. And that means more than any details she's just been told.]
the only thing I'm gonna say is that I hope he's able to keep you warm. it gets cold here at night
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um.
i don't think that's going to be a problem.
[ — not the right phrasing, even if the implications are accurate. hastily, her next message pings through. ]
sun summoner, remember? i've got warmth covered.
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oh look at that, my earpiece is mysteriously malfunctioning.
i didn't catch that. what were you saying?
text -> voice
and you know what? since alina's already heard her giggling, she'll just keep it on voice]
Alright, alright. I won't tease you anymore.
But...thank you, Lina. For trusting me enough to tell me at all.
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still, there's a noticeable warmth that wraps itself around the words. ]
I interrogated you for half the night. It seemed only fair.
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[It feels important that she ask that, even as she feels the conversation winding down.]
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