Fifth Floor Common Room - Monday Evening

[boywonder03.livejournal.com]

Tim had blown up a papaya, defended the cafeteria from redecorating Vikings and had generally had a pretty interesting day, not even considering who his P.E. teacher was. He just wanted to relax for a bit without worrying about the space-time continuum, so he microwaved a meal he'd found in the freezer and turned the TV on to a NASA special on Discovery Channel.


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[boywonder03.livejournal.com]

"Turkey and green beans," Tim said. "What do you usually eat around here?"

[wantstocheer.livejournal.com]

"... that doesn't look like turkey and green beans," Claire said. "I usually just cook something or grab takeout. Do you want me to make you real food?"

[boywonder03.livejournal.com]

"You don't have to go out of your way or anything," Tim said, giving her hopeful eyes. In other words, yes, please, but I don't want to be all rude about it.

[wantstocheer.livejournal.com]

Claire recognized that look and chuckled. "What kind of big sister would I be if I didn't make sure you were properly fed?"

She wandered over to the fridge and cabinets to see what options she had.

"Hmm, how do you feel about spaghetti?"

[boywonder03.livejournal.com]

"I'm very pro-spaghetti," Tim said. "Do you want me to help?"

[wantstocheer.livejournal.com]

"You don't have to," she said, taking a drink of her soda and putting it down so she could grab a large pot. "But if you want to watch, it's super easy to make."

[boywonder03.livejournal.com]

"Sure," Tim said. "I don't really know how to cook much. At all."

[wantstocheer.livejournal.com]

"My mom's been teaching me since I was young," Claire said. "Who does the cooking for you at home?"

She filled the big pot with water and grabbed the salt shaker, adding a dash to the water before setting it on the stove to boil.

[boywonder03.livejournal.com]

"Mostly the housekeeper, Mrs. Mac," Tim said. He followed her into the kitchen to watch. "My dad's girlfriend, Dana, cooks for us sometimes."

[wantstocheer.livejournal.com]

Claire nodded. "So it's just you and your dad?"

She didn't want to ask outright where his mom was in case it was a touchy subject.

[boywonder03.livejournal.com]

"Yeah," Tim said. "My mom died a couple of years ago. Why do you add the salt?"

[wantstocheer.livejournal.com]

"Oh, I'm sorry," Claire said. She knew what it felt like to lose a parent. Multiple times over in fact.

"I... am not really sure," she admitted. "But my mom always does."

[boywonder03.livejournal.com]

"Sounds like a good reason," Tim said.

[wantstocheer.livejournal.com]

Claire grabbed a box of spaghetti noodles out of the cabinet and looked to see what kind of sauce options they had.

"Okay, do you want spicy red pepper, alfredo or tomato & basil sauce?"

[boywonder03.livejournal.com]

"Tomato and basil sounds good right now," Tim said. "I heard there's people from different timelines and stuff around here."

[wantstocheer.livejournal.com]

"There definitely are," Claire said, grabbing the right jar and putting it next to the spaghetti noodles.

She leaned her hip against the counter while she waited for the water to boil. "When I got here last summer, I ran into a younger version of my uncle. He's from a different universe but some of the same things have happened."

[boywonder03.livejournal.com]

"Okay, that had to be really weird," Tim said.

[wantstocheer.livejournal.com]

"Considering I had watched him die a few months earlier in my universe? Yeah, really weird is kind of an understatement," Claire told him.

[boywonder03.livejournal.com]

"Wow," Tim said, assimilating this information. "That's kind of huge. Did - did you tell him?"

[wantstocheer.livejournal.com]

"Kinda had to," she said with a shrug. "I was a blubbering mess in his arms. He knew something was up. Of course, in his universe, I'm way younger but apparently there had been another me here from a third universe so at least he knew who I was."

[boywonder03.livejournal.com]

"That's a lot of yous," Tim said. "Do you think it'll change anything? Telling him?"

[wantstocheer.livejournal.com]

"It didn't," Claire said, her voice quiet as she checked the water.

Oh, look. It was boiling. She focused her attention on opening the box of spaghetti and taking it out in small handfuls, which she broke in half before tossing in the pot.

[boywonder03.livejournal.com]

"I'm really sorry," Tim said quietly.

[wantstocheer.livejournal.com]

"As it turns out, he didn't actually die," Claire said. "At least the Peter I met here didn't. I'm still trying to find my Peter and see if the same thing happened to him."

Her life was confusing, yes.

[boywonder03.livejournal.com]

"Good luck," Tim said. "I hope you find him."