[Introductions are made, hurried explanations made, and Jamie and Claire head off to see about horses and a trip to Lallybroch. It leaves Fergus and Bree standing alone in the print shop, the shock and awe still clear on his face given how his eyebrows seem to be permanently elevated. Claire returning was one thing--but with a daughter? A miracle, truly. She takes after her parents in every way Fergus can name, and it's a wonder to simply watch her movements and expressions and pin where she got each one.
He's not often at a loss of words around girls, especially pretty ones, but here he is. He's supposed to be showing her around the shop and town, but currently, he's rubbing the back of his neck and trying to find something to say that isn't a variation of wow. He's already done that several times, including some in French, rattling off his questions so quickly that Jamie had to put a hand on his shoulder and remind him to speak English so that she'd understand.
Strange for her to not know French like her mother, but perhaps things are that different in America. It would explain the accent, too...]
[ Bree, at first, is so excited to be simply doing something that she leaves Fergus to gape, wandering around the shop, imagining Jamie here, working, lost in his thoughts as he methodically prints pages for books and leaflets. It's amazing to her, knowing how much hard work goes into it, knowing machines do it in 1968. But of course, she can't say any of that to Fergus.
When she turns her attention back to him, she can't help smirking a little. ]
I can tell you're still curious. Go on, ask whatever you want about me.
[ She sits, making herself comfortable on a stool. ]
[Jamie had given him a look that most certainly communicated to not ask too much, but he's not here, is he? And if Brianna's inviting him to ask, there can't be any harm in it. So, with a grin, Fergus sits.]
Did you really not know about Milord being alive until recently? Milady did not speak of him?
[The most important thing, really. Claire's explanation had been hurried and brief, but it still baffles him that two decades were lost. He remembers Paris well despite being a young boy at the time. The loss of their first child changed the Frasers forever, and he knows how much Jamie longed to have a child of his own.]
[ This one at least, might be somewhat easy to answer and Bree looks down for a moment, pressing her thumb into her palm. ]
I think it broke her heart to think of him. Every time she looked at me, she already saw someone she thought she wouldn't ever see again. I think talking about my father would have hurt, too much.
[ She believes that, forehead creasing a little bit as she looks up at Fergus. ]
To be able to be there for me at all, I think she had to...push the pain away somehow. And that meant never talking about her past. Not because she didn't love him.
[ Maybe because she never stopped and nothing, not even Bree, could fill that hole in Claire's heart. ]
[Strange, seeing that touch of thumb into palm. A thing Jamie often did, from an old injury long healed, but Fergus saw him do it without thought. A coincidence or something passed down in blood? He's not sure.]
He... did not speak of her much, either. [Never uttered her name, though now and then he could tell where his mind was. Fergus himself had so many questions, but Jamie never answered them, and after a time he resigned himself to never knowing the true details of what happened at Culloden.]
They were very happy together. I think that they can regain that, no?
[ Or going back in time is really going to suck. ]
I didn't know anything at all until a little while ago. When she found out Jamie lived for a while, she never hoped he'd actually still be alive today. Prison isn't exactly forgiving, I've heard.
[ Brianna stands again, just pacing idly, one hand very lightly moving respectfully over one of the presses. ]
But then someone showed up with something printed by Alexander Malcolm. All she really had was hope to go on. and I think if that hope was enough to bring us both here, it has to be enough.
[An incredible tale, he says wistfully, never breaking that habit of slipping into French despite being away from Paris for so long.]
I think the prison was a comfort to Milord. Before, he was living in a cave, near Lallybroch. He was not happy. Later, when he came back to Lallybroch... things were better. And now he will be whole again.
[ Bree lets out a short laugh and shakes her head. ]
I don't even know what I imagined other than red hair. And a Scottish accent. I knew he was a printer already, obviously. But I feel like there's so much I couldn't imagine because my mother never talked about him.
[ Facing Fergus again, she leans carefully against a machine. ]
I want to spend more time with him. We're both a little awkward right now. But he's my father, we have to have things in common, right?
[ He's a part of her, he's in her blood. And at least she wants to try. ]
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givingback) wrote2018-01-06 09:51 am
no subject
He's not often at a loss of words around girls, especially pretty ones, but here he is. He's supposed to be showing her around the shop and town, but currently, he's rubbing the back of his neck and trying to find something to say that isn't a variation of wow. He's already done that several times, including some in French, rattling off his questions so quickly that Jamie had to put a hand on his shoulder and remind him to speak English so that she'd understand.
Strange for her to not know French like her mother, but perhaps things are that different in America. It would explain the accent, too...]
no subject
When she turns her attention back to him, she can't help smirking a little. ]
I can tell you're still curious. Go on, ask whatever you want about me.
[ She sits, making herself comfortable on a stool. ]
no subject
Did you really not know about Milord being alive until recently? Milady did not speak of him?
[The most important thing, really. Claire's explanation had been hurried and brief, but it still baffles him that two decades were lost. He remembers Paris well despite being a young boy at the time. The loss of their first child changed the Frasers forever, and he knows how much Jamie longed to have a child of his own.]
no subject
I think it broke her heart to think of him. Every time she looked at me, she already saw someone she thought she wouldn't ever see again. I think talking about my father would have hurt, too much.
[ She believes that, forehead creasing a little bit as she looks up at Fergus. ]
To be able to be there for me at all, I think she had to...push the pain away somehow. And that meant never talking about her past. Not because she didn't love him.
[ Maybe because she never stopped and nothing, not even Bree, could fill that hole in Claire's heart. ]
no subject
He... did not speak of her much, either. [Never uttered her name, though now and then he could tell where his mind was. Fergus himself had so many questions, but Jamie never answered them, and after a time he resigned himself to never knowing the true details of what happened at Culloden.]
They were very happy together. I think that they can regain that, no?
[A small smile. He can already tell it's there.
... he just hopes it can last.]
no subject
[ Or going back in time is really going to suck. ]
I didn't know anything at all until a little while ago. When she found out Jamie lived for a while, she never hoped he'd actually still be alive today. Prison isn't exactly forgiving, I've heard.
[ Brianna stands again, just pacing idly, one hand very lightly moving respectfully over one of the presses. ]
But then someone showed up with something printed by Alexander Malcolm. All she really had was hope to go on. and I think if that hope was enough to bring us both here, it has to be enough.
no subject
I think the prison was a comfort to Milord. Before, he was living in a cave, near Lallybroch. He was not happy. Later, when he came back to Lallybroch... things were better. And now he will be whole again.
Is he what you imagined?
no subject
I don't even know what I imagined other than red hair. And a Scottish accent. I knew he was a printer already, obviously. But I feel like there's so much I couldn't imagine because my mother never talked about him.
[ Facing Fergus again, she leans carefully against a machine. ]
I want to spend more time with him. We're both a little awkward right now. But he's my father, we have to have things in common, right?
[ He's a part of her, he's in her blood. And at least she wants to try. ]