milliways_bar | (no subject)

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Cooper has a map of Twin Peaks and the surrounding environs sitting on the table in front of him. Maps are a good thing to study.

Unfortunate, isn't it, that the map is not always the territory.

There is an absence of coffee.

Who am I trying to kid. Of course there's a cup of coffee. A damn fine one.

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Clarice is in a damn fine mood, as it happens.

A friend's return will do that.

"Hey there, Cooper," she says with a smile as she passes, plate of food in one hand.

"... You okay?"

She hasn't seen him since their last conversation.

"Clarice," he says, looking up, smiling. "Can't complain." Beat. "Headed somewhere in particular, or can you stop a while?"

"Nope," she says, sitting down and setting her plate in front of her. A smile. "My schedule is pretty flexible."

So's Cooper's, officially.

But that's not something he's very likely to bring up.

"Things have been going well, I hope?"

"Better than usual, actually."

She twirls some pasta onto her fork.

"Do you know Alanna at all?"

"No -- can't say I do." He shakes his head.

"Well-- she's a friend. She just got back."

Clarice pushes the pasta around her plate a little bit, not exactly wanting to eat when Cooper isn't.

It'd be rude.

"Are you hungry at all?"

Cooper is aware that lots of people don't like to be watched while they're eating. Besides -- always room for pie.

"This is something that should be remedied," he says, cheerfully. "If you'll excuse me...?"

Clarice can probably overhear him giving very specific instructions to Bar.

" -- two eggs, over hard, don't tell me, I know it's hard on the arteries, but old habits die hard, just about as hard as I want those eggs... bacon, super-crispy, almost burned: cremate it -- "

Clarice does hear, and she smiles to herself a little.

It's the kind of breakfast she likes every now and then.

... Which Cooper, being Cooper, has apparently decided to order for dinner.

Why, yes. Yes he has.

Eggs, and bacon, and grapefruit juice.

Freshly squeezed.

Cooper is beaming as he settles back in. "Alanna. Where had she gone?"

Clarice (finally) takes a bite of her pasta, finding it only slightly cooler than she would have liked.

"She ... got into some trouble back on her world," she tells him. "She's been out for two months-- still looks pretty exhausted."

"What kind of trouble?" Curious, and concerned.

Knife in one fist. Fork in the other. Both pointing toward the ceiling.

... He is so strange.

"I'm not sure," Clarice admits. "She was attacked ... she's a knight, so I assumed--"

And what happens when you assume, Starling?

"I figured it was in the line of duty."

It didn't help that Alanna hadn't seemed very willing to go into it.

"That certainly seems like the most likely explanation," he agrees, shaking his head. "She's expected to make a full recovery?"

She nods.

"Oh, yeah." A wry half-grin. "Even if their idea of 'good medicine' over that way includes suffocating the patient with incense."

"Admittedly suffocation is a little extreme..."

She looks at him askance.

"Only a little?"

For a moment he just looks at her.

And then he beams.

"You got me there, Clarice."

She laughs, though she's slightly confused.

"Alanna wasn't a fan, anyway."

"So it's a good thing that she's back here." As though a question has been answered. "Excellent." Beat. "The two of you are close friends?"

Clarice hesitates, then shrugs.

"We ... we have been. We worked together for awhile."

She smiles, because she doesn't want to not smile.

Cooper is in the process of picking up his glass of juice; his hand stops.

And he looks at Clarice -- closely -- and his smile is a little thoughtful. "I wouldn't have thought of it at first, but I think I might understand." Beat. "What's it like, being a knight?"

She blinks.

"... What?"

"You worked with her, didn't you?"

Oh.

Clarice can't help laughing a little as she shakes her head.

It might be the image of herself in a suit of armor that gets to her.

"No, no, sorry-- we worked together here. On Security."