[ closed ] this life's our greatest project.

[17thcenturyboy]

CHARACTERS: CLAIRE BENNET & ADAM MONROE
LOCATION: holodecks
WARNINGS: two regenerating people in fake new york idfk
SUMMARY: ^ this
NOTES: probably backdated, but does anyone expect anything else.

Adam looks out past the roof of the Deveaux building, hands clasped behind his back as he surveys the streets below. It was amazing how real it felt; how accurate it was. And while he holds an extreme emotional connection to this exact spot? He feels nothing for it now. Not just because they're (mostly) all dead, either. It's because it isn't the genuine article. There are no pigeons and Adam's arms unwind to clench his fist at his side. If only he wasn't so powerless here. If only the Petrellis didn't hold all the cards.

He couldn't understand why Peter was so attached to these things -- well. He could, because Peter was an empath. He drew from these holograms to fill in all the blanks, but Adam was much more pragmatic than that. He doesn't want to drive his car or go shopping or bump into fake strangers on the street. He wants to not be airlocked, but he knows his time is running thin.

There's a rustle behind him that takes him out of his reverie immediately and he whirls to face the source of the noise. A girl. But not just any girl. A girl he recognizes as if she were his own niece, though they've never met before now. A smile tugs up one side of his mouth as he looks from her to the fake sky. It's overcast, in a pretty sort of way, like right before Spring showers. "I'm sorry, was I thinking too loudly?"

Comments

[pushfall]

She didn't like the holodeck. Not initially, at least. Something about generating artificial images in a way that inspired some sort of respite or means of forgetting or imagining yourself beyond the scope of what was already around you just didn't sit right with her. It felt too much like stepping into that house of mirrors willingly, a three hundred and sixty degree tailspin into the past. Claire didn't want to think about the fact that she wasn't at home, doing what she was supposed to be doing, being with the people that she was supposed to be with. Sitting down and forcibly reminding herself that she wasn't where she was meant to wasn't her idea of spending a Saturday afternoon - or whatever constituted as a weekend activity on the Tranquility, never mind what actually constituted as a weekend.

She's warmed up to it a little more, now, if only because she's been here several times looking for people. Or not looking for people. She's not sure what her sleep scheduled as devolved into but it isn't something worthy of evolution and it definitely isn't something worthy of facilitating anything other than staring blankly at the ceiling. Though she's come across a number of faces while traipsing through landscapes, Claire on the whole tries not to be too much of a bother. There are certain situations she can't help but fall right into, however, and in her defense... well, she can cross that bridge when she comes to it.

Trespassing here feels a little bit too much like digging into someone's head, even if Claire is already managing to put pieces together. Blond hair, British guy. Could be anyone. She shrugs. "I think I was eavesdropping a little too quietly, actually," she says, which Claire realizes doesn't actually make a lot of sense, but, hey, when in holodecks.

[ ooc: sorry sorry it has taken me ages to get to this. I've been having a tough week with work and am preparing to start a new job Monday so it's been a little hectic. ]

[17thcenturyboy]

A puzzled expression comes over his face then, but he doesn't try to dismantle her comment. It must be within her DNA, to completely confound him. In any case, it isn't her fault and he's hard pressed to hold her accountable. He can't be sure if she recognizes him, but if she doesn't the problem arises of what then to do about it. If he introduces himself as anyone but himself, she will find him out, but if he's able to string her along far enough with a false identity, well. It could indeed be worth the risk. Then again, for all that they were extremely adept at it, Petrellis didn't take well to being lied to, in Adam's experience.

"Well, I certainly don't mind the company," he's assuring her, squinting a bit as he looks out over the city. "Have you ever been here? The real here." That seemed like a nice easy starting point.

[pushfall]

She has and she hasn't, and how can that begin to be explained? Half of the places that she's been in her life were probably places that she was and wasn't supposed to be, when she was and wasn't supposed to be there. If Claire stops and thinks about the whole of it and what it entails - from Hiro to New York all the way back to homecoming in Odessa - she inevitably ends up tripping over something that probably on her father could explain, and even then probably not very well.

It's easier to smile, a little, guarded and unsure of the solidity of the ground she's walking on with him, and say, "You mean New York? Or the holodeck." Claire knows what he's talking about - classifying it as 'the real here' can only mean one thing really - but she tries for sarcasm all the same. "Some people like their privacy, whether it's real or not."

[17thcenturyboy]

"Privacy is overrated," he's quick to dismiss, leaning over the fake railing as he turns back away from her and purses his lips. "You don't seem like much of a big city girl, forgive me for my presumption."

He pretended to think about it, still watching the hustle and bustle below.

"The south, perhaps? Am I way off?"

[pushfall]

He's alarmingly close, is what he is, and Claire rolls her eyes and crosses both arms over her chest. For barely breaking five feet tall, she at least has a general idea of how to pretend to look imposing. "I know that you know who I am," she says, throwing it out there with a certain degree of exasperation.

What he knows about her, exactly, is of more interest than trying to guess that she's from Texas.

[17thcenturyboy]

"Oh." It's part surprise and part bemused self-deprecation. He had a feeling he wouldn't be able to fool her, she is technically a Petrelli after all. Adam smiles without being smug and shrugs a shoulder in response. "Which I suppose means that you know who I am."