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]

"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."

[wantstocheer.livejournal.com]

"Me too," Claire said. "I spent my whole shift reading back issues of Ninth Wonders looking for clues but I've been coming up empty."

[boywonder03.livejournal.com]

"Is that a science magazine?" Tim asked.

[wantstocheer.livejournal.com]

"No," Claire said, looking sheepish. "You're going to think I'm crazy but it's a comic book series. There was this guy who had the ability to see the future but he could only express what he saw through paintings and drawings. He published this whole series of comic books that basically tell the entire story of my life for like, a year and a half."

[boywonder03.livejournal.com]

"Okay, I know I'm saying this a lot, but wow," Tim said. "Really?"

[wantstocheer.livejournal.com]

"My life is very strange," Claire said with a smile.

Strange didn't really begin to cover it, but it worked well enough. "And stop by the shop next Monday when I'm working and I'll show you the issues."

[boywonder03.livejournal.com]

"I'll do that, if you don't mind," Tim said. "I've never heard anything like that before."

[wantstocheer.livejournal.com]

"You're probably going to find that happens a lot around here," she told him.

[boywonder03.livejournal.com]

"Yeah, I'm getting that sense," Tim agreed.

[wantstocheer.livejournal.com]

Claire nodded and then turned her attention back to the spaghetti. "Okay, so the most difficult part of making pasta is knowing when the noodles are done. It's a fine balance sometimes, especially with the thinner pastas. One minute can turn something that isn't quite tender enough into a gooey, sticky mess."

She grabbed a fork and pulled a couple of noodles out of the water. "I usually do a taste test. If it's almost soft enough, I'll drain them because they retain the heat and keep cooking for a couple minutes after they're out of the water."

[boywonder03.livejournal.com]

"Can I try some?" Tim asked, holding out his hand for the fork.

[wantstocheer.livejournal.com]

"Of course," she said, handing over the fork which had a few noodles dangling from it. She grabbed one and left the others for him to try.

[boywonder03.livejournal.com]

Tim ate one, carefully testing the texture with his tongue. "Are these cooked enough?" he asked.