trans_9 | Snips and Snails and Puppy Dog Tails [Open]

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Snips and Snails and Puppy Dog Tails [Open]

Living in the TARDIS isn't all it's cracked up to be. Everyone there is busy a lot, it seems, and there's only so many questions Jamie can ask before he finds himself shooed away or set to doing something to help. He doesn't mind that once in awhile, but there's only so much 'helping' he can do, and only so many places they'll let him go in the TARDIS alone.

Today he's not in the mood to sit around there and do nothing, so as soon as the opportunity presents itself, he takes off, wandering through the hangar a bit and looking at all the strange ships before eventually making his way through to the other parts of the ship just to try and find something to do.

He's got a few things with him to keep him company, though. One is a small sack that he's put some important things in - some snacks, a nice rock from his room, and the morphers. They're too big for his wrists now, and he doesn't remember what they are any more, just that it's important he has them with him. Since his super sporran is with his adult clothing, the bag is the only other reasonable place for them to be. The other item he has with him in one of those horseless carriages he's been told about, a wee one he found somewhere and decided to keep. He likes the way the wheels spin, and it moves pretty nicely even without the horses - or one of those engine-things. That toy he's been keeping out so he can play with it when the mood takes him. Of course, sometimes the mood takes him so he sends it careening down one of Stacy's hallways, but that shouldn't be a problem, should it?

((OOC: Bendytime to fall in between the Oryan mission and the crew negotiating with the Time Dragons. Feel free to run into him anywhere - just mention in the subject line where it is.))

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The man looks awfully shocked for some reason, but since he's saying not to worry about it, it can't be from the fall. Maybe it's the kilt, Jamie thinks. He hasn't seen anyone one else on the strange ship that wears one, except for Kang.

While Billy is looking over the car - which is a bit scuffed, since Jamie hasn't been particularly careful about what he's been running it into - he looks up, wondering at the rest of the statement. Before he realizes it, he opens his mouth to ask a question. "Did something bad happen?"

There's a faint confusion for a moment at that - as he hadn't quite meant to ask that out loud. He had wondered, but was planning on keeping the through for himself. For some reason, though, it had just come out of his mouth without him intending to. He covers it by taking the car back and clutching it possessively to his chest.

A smoother surface would be nice, though, and he nods a little. "Aye." There's a pause, and then he asks another question - on purpose, this time. This way, Billy doesn't have to answer the other one if he doesn't want to.

"What's a track?"

How much could Billy tell the boy? He always trusted Jamie...his best friend, the one he confided in about nearly everything, but that Jamie wasn't here at the moment. Would he ever be again?

"Let's just say that I got into a fight with a rope and lost," Billy shakes his head, glancing down as his wrists for evidence of rope burn. There doesn't seem to be too much, actually.

Answering questions, huh? Billy can do that much, just as he always has. "A track is like a road," he starts to explain. "It's smoother than the pulsating plant surface here, it's narrow with rails to keep the car moving along the line, and it slopes down so the car can pick up speed."

Considering this, Jamie nods again, accepting the explanations. Ropes are tricky things, after all. He's just been learning to tie knots himself, and he's not very good at it. He's going to get better, though. Someday he'll tie knots that not even the King of the Beasties will get out of.

And what the man says sense - although Jamie isn't sure what pulsating means exactly. It actually sounds pretty good. When the horseless carriage - well, car, but he's still thinking of it as a horseless carriage - gets going, it's pretty fast but even he can tell the hallways are slowing it down some.

"Is there a track somewhere here that we could use so we could try it?" There's a pause, and then he turns an expectant look up at the friend he doesn't remember he has. "Please?"

Edited 2011-06-06 09:11 (UTC)

How could he deny the boy? If this was all Billy was allowed to have with Jamie, he would accept it behind a smile.

"There sure is. Come on, I know the perfect chunk of metal in the scrapyard." He does wonder why the young boy is so willing to follow a stranger, but that can be figured out later on. For now, they have a track to hunt down!

"Are you living with someone?"

Perhaps it's some lingering knowledge of Billy being his best friend - something coming from some deep level of Jamie's psyche - that caused the reaction. Or maybe it's an indicator of why his 17 year old self was willing to go into the unknown with a group of people he barely knew - well, beyond the very real possibility if he had stayed he would have been captured or killed by the English. Whichever it is, Jamie offers out a hand and looks up at Billy, trustingly. "Aye, lets go!"

As they walk and the question comes up, he nods. "Aye, I'm living in that great blue box where they have the horseless carriages and the ships that don't use water. The TAR...tar something. Rory and Amy are looking after me. They're very nice."

Billy is happy to take the smaller hand, squeezing it gently to reassure. How scary this is. It's all wrong. Jamie's supposed to be bigger than him, grouchily waving off offers of help, and occasionally asking questions. He still does that last bit, but it's not the same.

"The TARDIS," Billy confirms. "I've heard of Rory and Amy, they're friends of someone else I know. Did they show you your way around here?"

Soon enough, they're at the place Billy affectionately calls the junkyard. Signaling for Jamie to wait just outside the pile, he heads right in. Locating that track bit could take a while.

"Some," the young Scot admits as he walks along, hanging on to Billy's hand as long as he can. "They're busy a lot, though. I wanted to look around on my own."

He might get scolded for that, but he's seen lots of other kids his age on the ship, and they've been able to look around. So why couldn't he?

The place he's been brought to is a good example of that - somewhere he's never seen before, like so much on this ship. There's all sorts of...well, he doesn't know what. But they're in there all the same - bits of metal, and squiggly little spring-like things, and who knows what else. Jamie watches Billy sort through it with a growing curiosity.

"Can I come help?"

Billy has to wonder about that. Jamie off on his own? Who knew what could happen? "You're careful when you do that, right?"

Kids. Billy knows he was just as bad as a child, but he'd lived in a considerably safer environment. Jamie could get into just about anything aboard the ship. These sharp items, lasers...especially lasers, if Lash was currently trying to be his friend.

As for Jamie's request to help? Billy looks him over carefully, getting a feel for just how serious the boy is. As serious as his best friend, he supposes. "As long as you promise to be careful. You know what to look for, right? A mostly-flat surface that looks like a metal road? It might be low, so you might find it more easily than I can."

"Aye, of course I am," he says indignantly. Mostly, anyway. At least he's not trying to squeeze himself into the vents. He did try and catch some of the animals in Hydroponics, though. The operative word being 'try'. His sneaking abilities aren't quite as good at eight then they were at twenty.

However, he's quite quick to seize on the opportunity to get into the pile, and he's already picking his way over so he can join his new friend in looking for things. A metal road, specifically, although other things could be interesting, too. But just to reassure the man, he nods quickly.

"I'll be careful, mister." He seems nice, Jamie thinks, but a bit of a worrier. The young Scot's not worried, though, and starts sorting through some of the lower bits, looking for that flat piece of metal. "How long should it be?"

Billy has to hide a smile behind his mouth at that indignant protest. Even in this situation, some things about Jamie don't change at all. It'd be cute if the consequences weren't weighing heavily on Billy's mind.

He glances down at the pile when Jamie joins, searching for a comparison. There's a piece that's too bumpy to use but otherwise the proper length, so he holds that one up. "This length should carry it as far as it's going to go with a decent push. And...I don't think I qualify as a mister. You can call me Billy. Everyone does."

Why does that sound sadder than usual?

"Aye, all right." The length of metal road is noted, but he doesn't immediately go back to searching. Instead, he looks over at Billy, head tilted in a somewhat thoughtful sort of way, trying to figure out why he doesn't seem happy. After a moment, he opts to give his name in return, since it's only polite - and it gives him a bit to try and figure things out.

"I'm Jamie. They call me Wee Jimmy sometimes back home, but I like Jamie better."

Just because he's little (and a bit short) doesn't mean he has to be called by a name he doesn't care for as much. He still can't quite put his finger on why the man's tone of voice is the way it is, however, and decides to just go ahead and ask anyway.

"Why do ye sound sad, Billy?"

Edited 2011-06-12 07:22 (UTC)

Billy didn't have a problem calling him by his name. It helped to keep some things the same, after all. "No, Jamie, I understand. My real name's William. I've just been called Billy for so long that I can't imagine anything else."

He continues shuffling through the pile, having almost snagged a suitable piece when young Jamie's words cause him to drop it. Uh oh. Billy quietly scolds himself. The young Scot's not supposed to know about this. He'll have to hide his feelings better in the future, but for now...how can he lie?

"A few friends of mine are very sick," he replies. "I don't know if they're going to make it through, and even though there's not much I can do...I can't help but think about them. You remind me of one of them, that's all."

There! Technically not a lie.

Well, Jamie's real name is James - which he's mentioned before, but doesn't think to do so now. He really does prefer Jamie, and it makes everything much easier.

The dropped piece startles him, though, as he wasn't expecting that reaction to his question, and he starts to look rather distressed. He hadn't meant to upset Billy, and he's about to say something when the explanation comes. He's silent for a moment, then says earnestly, "I'm sorry. I hope they'll be all right, though."

Reaching down to the piece that Billy dropped, he picks it up, tugging on the end a little. Once it's free, he holds it up, almost as if it were a peace offering of sorts. Maybe it is, in a way, as it's an indication he's willing to drop the subject so as not to upset Billy further. "Will this one do?"

Billy nods gratefully, oddly reminded of his first meeting with adult Jamie. The younger boy is just as kind. "They will. I'll find a way to cure them, I promise them that."

It takes all his effort to avoid looking at Jamie as he says that. There's no need to scare the boy with something he has no knowledge of. Jamie deserves a simple chance to play with the car, carefree for a little while.

Relief crashes over him once Jamie finds the track. They'll be able to play and forget these worries. "It'll work! It's perfect," Billy smiles, running a finger over the metal to ensure that it's smooth. "We can prop it up by the couch and get started, come on."

He's bouncing up, all ready to go. Let's do this.

"Aye!" Billy's enthusiasm is contagious, as Jamie is already halfway to taking off before realizing he's not sure what couch is being referred to. He stops himself, circling back and trying to contain his impatience. Honestly, it's a wonder Jamie survived childhood the first time around, given his propensity to go off places at the drop of a hat.

At least he's managed to curb it this time around, but he wants to know where they're actually going, and as always, isn't afraid to ask.

"What couch?"

"The first one in front of you. It actually doesn't really matter which one."

To prove the point, Billy hurries up in catching up to his younger friend and quickly props the track up. With some help from other random objects around the area, it's soon ready to go!

"It's all yours now, Jamie. Ready to try it?"

There's a rapid bobbing of Jamie's head at the question - that would definitely be a yes - and then he carefully lines up the car on the track to make sure it won't go off the edge.

Pulling the toy back, he then shoots it forward with the biggest push he can manage, and is rewarded by the sight of it zooming down the track at a much better rate of speed than he was able to manage in Stacy's hallways.

"Hey!" he says, pleased. "That's not bad!"

Billy considered giving a lecture about friction and resistance, but he forcefully reminded himself that Jamie was just a boy trying to play. These were the types of discoveries he'd loved to make and figure out as a kid, because they were the most fun.

"And it changes if you adjust the angle, see?" He moved to lift up the track a little, leaving the very end pointing upward just so. A car pushed along this track would build up enough momentum to make a big leap at the end.

The young Scot narrows his eyes thoughtfully, trying to see how that would be possible. It looks different, but will it work differently? Well, nothing to do but to try it. Retrieving the car, he puts it back at the other end of the track, repeating his earlier actions and letting go.

This time, the car sails off the end of the track, soaring through the air in an impressive way before crashing to the ground. Jamie is all smiles. "Aye! It made it jump!!"

Edited 2011-06-17 05:42 (UTC)

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Snips and Snails and Puppy Dog Tails [Open]

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