milliways_bar | (no subject)

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Due to certain events involving Sarah Jane Smith, James Bond's stay at Milliways has become longer than expected. It's all right, he supposes, but he's itching to return to work and that lovely song and dance of being uncertain about his return. He's a little less uncertain now that there's a regular door in his flat, but he doesn't cross out the other factors that might bar him from returning to Milliways.

Luckily for him, most of these thoughts are not on his mind. For some reason Bar has provided him with the Associated Press Reporting Handbook, and James, having not much else to do, is reading it by the Observation Window. He wouldn't mind a distraction.

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He gets a distraction in the form of a Sarah trying to make her way into his lap, pushing the book aside and wrapping her arms around his neck, careful not to tip the chair over.

Someone's still not fully recovered from yesterday.

Some people have lapkitties. James, apparently, has a lapsarah. That's fine enough for him.

He puts the book aside without marking it, pushes the chair back so that Sarah's not squeezed in between him and the edge of the tabletop. His arms go around her waist to hold her in place.

"Hello."

"Hello," she says back, resting her head against his chest and closing her eyes.

There aren't any fifty billion questions today on what he's been up to. Just a comfortable silence instead.

Which means James has to make up for the deficiency in questions.

"Feeling better?"

"Mmm," Sarah murmurs against him, bring an arm down to place on his waist instead.

The real answer of the matter is not quite. Asking questions and poking her nose into other people's buisness is her life. Well, partially. It's still hard to come to terms with everything Spoon had yelled.

"Hmm."

He's not going to press her for a clear answer. His mind searches for something else--an inquiry into whether she wants tea, for one. Not a good idea, no. She might spill hot tea all over him. He rests his cheek against her hair and is silent, waiting for her to signal when she wants to talk.

There really is only so long she can stay quiet or stay still, and after minutes pass, Sarah Jane does open her eyes again and looks around the bar cautiously.

She hates feeling like the sort of woman who needs to hide behind a man and she keeps reminding herself that that's not what she's doing right now. She's only seeking security and security can come in multiple forms, eh? Including burrowing up in the lap of her boyfriend. It totally counts.

Still, she lets out a small sigh.

James takes that as a sign. He moves his face so that his chin is resting on her hair.

"Ready to talk?"

"I can't keep hiding from my problems, can I?"

Although a part of her wishes she can. It's that rather feminine and girly part of her that just wants to hide away from the universe in James' arms. It is, however, a part of her that's in the minority.

"No."

Says the hypocrite.

Sarah nods, which turns more into her rubbing her temple against his shirt.

Softly, "I suppose I never really consider what I do wrong. The questions, that is. I figure if people don't want me to know something, they'll tell me to go away and not blow up at me like that."

James' expression turns wry. "I think it works differently for different people."

"I apologised though," she says, letting her eyes close again. "I didn't mean for my questions to hurt him or anyone. But I still don't see anything wrong with pursuing the truth."

"There's nothing wrong with it, Sarah, but some people have triggers. They don't like going near anything that will set them off. Doesn't give them the right to guilt trip another person when they do unintentionally cross the line, though."

"It hurt, James," she whispers, blinking back tears again. "I was just curious. And then when he mentioned what they did to him, well, shouldn't people do something about it?"

"Yes, but sometimes there's nothing you can do."

"You can still try. There's absolutely nothing wrong with offering up suggestions and trying."

Sarah frowns, pulling her head up to finally look at him. "It's what the Doctor does, everywhere he goes. He tries to make a difference and help people, James. I'm...I just want to be able to do that too."

James keeps his expression neutral, no matter how much he wants to frown at the mention of her damn Doctor.

"Some things can only be helped by being left alone."

She shakes her head. "I don't see how that works."

His eyes flick to the side as he considers. "Because--" He looks back at her. "There are things that are out of your control, and if you try to meddle with them you'll only make them worse."

"I wasn't going to meddle," Sarah Jane retorts stubbornly, a bit of a glare coming to her eyes. "I was just...oh, just trying to be friendly and helpful!"

James sighs, narrowing his eyes slightly. "And sometimes being 'friendly and helpful' means knowing when to back off when somebody's upset."

"That's why I apologised," she mumbles, shifting in his lap. Her head bows down again, this time finding a spot along his shoulder to hide in. "It just...it took me a while to realise I was wrong."

Despite all her experiences, Sarah Jane is still rather young. Being twenty-three is good for some things, like fueling her never-ending idealism. But when it comes to something like backing down? Well, that's a much harder task to comprehend doing.

He nods, placing one of his hands on top of her hair. "Then you've done your part. If the other man won't accept it, that's on him."

She doesn't like having to end something on that note. It just doesn't seem right.

But James does have a point no matter how loathe she is to admit it. "Well, I don't like it."