Early December 2012: Leena's B&B

[damncompass]

December is damn cold in the badlands. Good thing the B&B has a good heater. Due to the cold and Joshua's typical inclinations, he has been getting up a bit earlier than usual to make breakfast for Morning Meetings, which he's been running more often than not because Artie just doesn't want to leave the Warehouse in the cold. (Not that Joshua blames him in the slightest).

So this particular morning, Pete and Myka were already on a case from yesterday involving rather frightning office supplies, so Joshua was making tea instead of the usual coffee, and much less bacon.

It still smells damn good, though.

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[damncompass]

He goes upstairs, and gently pushes Claudia's door open. Walking over to her bed, he shakes her shoulder. "Claudia?"

[claudiometer]

Claudia smacks her hand in the direction of the disturbance, and wakes up a tiny bit when she realises there's something there.
"wha... oh. hi. what're y'doin'?"

[damncompass]

He pulls his hand back before she smacks it. "Hey. Sorry to wake you up. Helena and I are going to Minneapolis. Knowing her, we'll be back tomorrow at some point."

[claudiometer]

"oh. 'k." She rolls over.
...And then she rolls back over and frowns. "'s in Minneapolis? ping?"

[damncompass]

"No. Don't worry about it." He shrugs, and ruffles her hair, pulling up the covers over her. "We'll be back tomorrow."

[claudiometer]

"'k. love you."
When she wakes up more fully and realises what this must be, he can expect some texts.

[damncompass]

"Love you too, baby sister." He leans down and kisses her forehead, and then goes back to his room, gets dressed, and heads downstairs with his bag on his shoulder and waits for Helena.

[timelessinventor]

Helena, meanwhile, took the time to wash the dishes they'd used (might as well save Leena a bit of bother) and grab the bags she'd packed. "Shall we?"

[damncompass]

"Yeah, I think we should." Joshua takes the bags on instinct, and goes out to the car, packing it, and turning on the heater. "Alright, you're going to have to tell me where to go, if we're flying or driving, or what."

[timelessinventor]

"To the airport. If we don't fly, we won't have time to do a bloody thing once we get there."

Some time later, their plane lands in Minneapolis; once they're out of the airport, Helena flags down a taxi and gives the driver the name of a hotel. That done, she turns to Joshua. "Once we've set up shop, I've gathered a list of formal wear shops. I don't know how many we may need to try before we find something that fits your specifications and something I like. And at some point today, we are getting you a haircut."

[damncompass]

"... eesh. You've really made plans for this." He sighs. "I admit, I did get tickets to Sweden leaving Monday. I... well, I thought I should probably at least get that. They're putting us up in some hotel, but... yeah. Plane tickets." He's rambling, not really making much sense, but he feels so far out of his element that he's not really sure what to do.

[timelessinventor]

Helena shakes her head. "Oh, darling. You're over-thinking this. Breathe. You're going to be fine."

[damncompass]

"I'm trying to breathe. It's just... I don't know. I just feel so overwhelmed with it all."

[timelessinventor]

"And if you don't think about it so hard, you'll be fine. The less you get preoccupied with what's actually happening, the more you'll be able to act naturally."

[damncompass]

"Yeah, yeah." Joshua falls silent, watching the city go by outside of the taxi. He's always been bad at not thinking about things.

[timelessinventor]

When they get into the hotel room, Helena pulls Joshua into a hug.

[damncompass]

He attaches to her, burying his face in her shoulder. "I'm sorry, Helena. I know this makes no fucking sense, but I'm just so damn overwhelmed."

[timelessinventor]

"Recognition can do that, darling. I know that very well." Even if Charles usually did take all the glory for it. "But that doesn't make it a bad thing."

[damncompass]

"I think some of it is just that I'm the opposite of most people when it comes to my science. I don't want to be recognized for what I'm doing. I want to help people understand the world, to make it a better, or really just more awesome place." He sighs. "I just... I don't know."

[timelessinventor]

"You've still earned it, and after this you can go about your business in peace." Helena smiles. "Now, shall we head to the shops?"

[damncompass]

Joshua runs a hand through his (really floppy at this point) hair. "Alright. I guess I can at least drag myself to shops."

[timelessinventor]

She pulls on a lock of Joshua's hair (it's falling over his eyes; this is really ridiculous). "And a barber, once we've seen to the clothes. When did you last get a haircut?"

[damncompass]

"Uh. To be completely frank, I have no fucking clue." He sighs, running a hand through his hair again. "I just... I haven't paid much attention to my hair."

[timelessinventor]

"Well, we'll see to that later. Come along, darling, no dawdling."

[damncompass]

"Heeeeey." He makes a face at her, but shakes his head and follows along. There really isn't any turning Helena down.