tampered | Log; ongoing

Log; ongoing

When; Monday morning
Rating; G? PG? It couldn't possibly be worse than the latter.
Characters; Toshiko Sato (

warped_inside) and Martha Jones (

miss_jones)
Summary; Started with a phone message from Tosh that said, "Have I got a story for you." Ended up with plans for coffee and conversation for two.

The morning was bright already, regardless of the early hour, and having arrived a bit earlier than she meant to, Martha sat at a corner table of the cafe patio, watching the increase of activity around her with an interested eye. This City functioned in ways that, in so many other places, would not be possible. Even for Martha, who had seen her fair share of strangeness, it was a bit much to get one's head around. Maybe it was the combination of so many unbelievable things. Then again, in ways, she wasn't complaining. Privileged to have met quite a number of people she both found interesting and admirable, Martha had, for some time now, taken herself with the perspective that while she was here she would make the most of it and try not to dwell on when next she might go home.

In a way, this was much like home, with a fair few of the people she held dear: the Doctor, Jack Harkness, all of Torchwood really. Then there were the new additions in her City life, but that was another matter altogether.

Stirring her coffee, adding more sugar, Martha checked her phone to make sure she hadn't gotten any messages from the clinic, or Tosh for that matter. Message field clear, she tucked her phone away and took a sip of the coffee, waiting with a mild calmness.

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Tosh rolled her eyes a little, expecting this one was going to get her some good-natured teasing. "Artichoke. Because they're prickly on the outside and sweet on the inside. And that's to be the name of the restaurant."

She spooned just a little bit of sugar into her own coffee, which at least helped to offset the coffee-to-sugar ratio being consumed at their table. "Yeah, it was a date. I think we were both trying to insist that it wasn't, but I bought a new dress and the most expensive pair of shoes I've ever owned, and he dressed up casual but nice, so I'm pretty sure it was a date. Made the most fantastic sea bass I've ever tasted."

"Insisting it's not is a pretty fair way to tell it is, yeah," Martha laughed at that, smiling brightly at Tosh now. It was one of the best things, no matter where they were, no matter what they were doing, to know things of good interest and point were happening for friends.

"Seafood, that is, well prepared and presented seafood, I figure it was, is also a good tip off," she added as a point. "Artichoke isn't a typical nickname," she mused and shrugged a bit. "But it can be argued that that's just another reason it suits you." It was meant as a compliment, which was apparent by her tone.

"It was thoughtful," Tosh mused. "He asked what I wanted, and I said I wasn't awfully choosy but I didn't really care for very heavy foods, and he remembered that. They both have this intensity about cooking that's really intriguing." That level of passion for something scared her a little, sometimes, but she had to admit it was part the appeal too.

"Started off with Flower, which I didn't care much for. Just...silly, you know? I don't think I'm a flowery type. I was pretty indignant about the whole thing at first, which only egged Jack on, but it's surprising how fast you get used to a nickname when it's used repeatedly and in good humor. And how do you argue with them when they've gone and used the name for their new business? I think I could put up with being called just about anything if a place were named after me."

She shook her head in amusement, leaning forward a bit, not quite in a conspirator's way, but a similar feel. It was fun to just talk about what people were up to on a social level, without the other issues weighing them down for the moment.

"So," she paused for effect and then, "Is this more likely to become a...boyfriend-type?" It wasn't an unwarranted question, though perhaps she was jumping the gun a bit in excitement for Tosh and general excitement for girl-talk which was something that walked right off the face of the planet for her for some time now.

It was a nice break from discussing work, or curses, or what mischief the city's criminal minds were up to lately. Tosh shook her head adamantly at Martha's question, laughing softly.

"No no, nothing like that. He's not the boyfriend type, and there's already a sort of...thing, between him and Jack. Chef Jack, not our Jack. They do this...sharing thing. Both of them are also completely off their heads."

There was a moment of perplexed silence until Tosh clarified the 'Chef Jack' bit, to which Martha gave an 'Oh, I get it' look, and then took another drink of the coffee.

"Sharing thing?" she repeated, not quite sure she understood.

Maybe the bright red flush creeping into Tosh's face was a clue?

"I get the idea that, unless you're talking about semi-anonymous one night stands, they might be something of a package deal. I get this idea because I might have spent Thursday evening at their flat."

Oh my, what a fascinating reflection in the coffee.

"Package dea---" she broke off laughing, but not to be mean at all. It was just something Martha didn't quite have the words for at the moment. Amusing? Sure, but that wasn't the word she was looking for. Sweet? In its own way, yes. Weird? Well, not nearly as weird as some of the other things and situations she'd been privy to.

"Oh Tosh," she calmed down a bit, trying to regain a sort of calm by sipping coffee a few times. "Really? That sounds...interesting," she paused. "And, really, nice, if they're sweet enough to give you the reason that they did for the nickname. So..." and she trailed off, leaving it up to Tosh to expound upon this new relationship or not. She didn't want to seem too nosy. Of course, she was, but that was a bit beside the point.

Tosh would have been very quick to point out that there was no 'relationship' here, just...well she wasn't sure what to call it, but it was definitely not a relationship, because Jack and Steven didn't do those she was quite sure, and Tosh didn't do them anymore.

"Interesting is a good way to put it," she replied, looking up with a little grin. "They're bold and rude and incorrigible, and fun. And I think they're sweet, in their own odd way. Steven especially, he's kind of a doll."

"It's interesting, meeting all of these people we never would have gotten the chance otherwise, probably, to even run across at all, if we had never been brought here," she said, settling back in her chair a bit. The second cup of coffee now gone, she was refraining from another as she folded her arms across her chest, still looking directly at Tosh.

"It might be strange to some people, but sometimes, I catch myself actually liking the opportunity here, not all of it, but some of it." With that she glanced down for a moment. Strange, and stranger.

"Yes, exactly," Tosh agreed, nodding enthusiastically. "Before coming here, I didn't know anyone outside of the team. It was too difficult to try and maintain a friendship, let alone any kind of romance. Not when you've got all these secrets to keep, and the strange hours. But here, everyone has some kind of odd angle to their story, and no one cares. And you haven't got to hide, or worry, and if you try something and it doesn't work out...what does it matter? You get another chance at something else, and for most people it all fades away when they go home anyway."

It was pretty plain Tosh was embracing that aspect of City life, the opportunities it afforded a person, and the variety. "Which reminds me that I'm a bit curious as to how things are going with a certain Doctor Suresh?"

"Well, that," she picked up her yet untouched glass of water and took a sip to buy herself thinking time. "That is," another pause, "In no rush," and pause again. Truth be told, Martha wasn't exactly sure what it was, between herself and 'a certain Doctor Suresh'. He had said he didn't want to rush into anything, but still seemed earnest in the advance. She too felt no desire to rush into anything, bad enough that she was interested at all.

"I like him," she decided on. "Of course, in our world, I have a fiancé," and she lifted her hand in meaning, ring apparent. She wasn't sure if it was worse or better or neither that she wore it still. "So maybe it might very well be I've no business liking him, as such," she gave a sort of half-smile, apologetic and unsure, brushing some hair behind her ear, fidgety suddenly.

"No reason for there to be any rush," Tosh agreed, watching Martha carefully, and then dropping her eyes to the ring on the other woman's hand. That was a situation she couldn't help be grateful not to be in herself.

"I'd think..." she said thoughtfully, "that you could still enjoy spending time in his company, no matter what. Part of me wants to say that engagements can be postponed, or that what happens here won't ever make a difference to the rest of your life at home anyway. But part of me is ashamed for even thinking such a thing. So I guess I'll just say that he seems he'd make a good friend, if nothing else."

"I really do like the people I've met, and it's wonderful getting to know them more," Martha stated, hoping she hadn't given the wrong idea at all, that she would take it back or that she regretted anything. "And yeah, he is, and also, I think he needs a good friend or a few, even if I get the feeling sometimes he has no idea what to do with them, or himself even." She was well-meaning when she said that and her smile softened a bit.

"I guess we'll see," she said, a stray glance down to her ring finger again before she folded it nondescriptly under her other hand, bare of any jewelry. "...but it's kind of a relief it's not completely crazy sounding to you," she continued. "I can't really explain why. I love Thomas, really, that hasn't changed. And Mohinder isn't just a convenience, at all, which might be part of the problem," and at this she laughed a bit, quietly.

Tosh smiled, nodding her understanding. "Well, I know where he's coming from there. I still marvel once in a while at how not alone I am here."

Another nod, this one more thoughtful. "Maybe I'm just selfish, but I think it's entirely possible to love more than one person at a time. And I'm not trying to suggest that you and Mohinder have got anywhere near that stage, but I just..."

She takes a deep breath and looks up at Martha. "When I fell in love with Tommy, I didn't stop loving Owen. I haven't stopped loving either of them. And I don't think that's strange, or wrong."

Her gaze sharpened at the mention of being alone from Tosh. It was a feeling that seemed like all the people they knew well had experienced in full at one point or another. In the City, she had many people she knew and cared about, which was more than she could say for a majority probably of this place. Somehow, regardless of that, that feeling of being alone staved, the feeling of being lonely invaded in its stead. The oddness of it wasn't lost on her, and she tried not to think about it too often, or as much as she was at this very moment. Sitting back up, she rested her arms on the table edge.

"I don't think that's selfish of you, Tosh. I think it's very kind," she said at last, when the silence verged on strange, proving she had been thinking on it a bit too much. "And it's a little weird, I mean, he did say that if we were ever separated, not to wait, but you know, even with our lives, and how they run, I never really thought that offer would mean anything. But now," she paused. "Well, I mean not love, but care, and, want to be around, qualify," she said, pursing her lips and lifting one hand to put under her chin again.

"Thank you though again for that," she nodded. "It's something I needed to hear from something other than the voices in my head."

Edited 2008-08-25 20:41 (UTC)

There was an oddness to the way a person could be surrounded by friends and yet still sometimes feel lonely, wasn't there? Tosh would have understood, had Martha mentioned it.

"Sometimes I think it's not very smart," Tosh remarked wryly. "But I don't think it's something that can be controlled, either. And if controlling it meant giving up ever having the experience of being in love, then I don't want to be able to. Your fiance sounds like a good man. I think I'd agree with him, given the kind of lives we all lead. You have to take your experiences when you can get them, while you have the chance. That's what people keep telling me, anyway, and it sounds like good advice."

She smiled at Martha, because yeah, she knew how it was to need validation from someplace besides inside your own mind. "If they're anything like the voices in my head, they probably have terrible judgment and turn out to be usually right in the end anyway."

"They do tend to be that way," she affirmed at the detailing of the voices and then went on, "Confusing things. I'll rely on friends opinions over theirs when I can though." It was an indirect compliment, though she wasn't sure it carried across in that way. One could hope.

"Thanks for the offer for help with Luke and I know you and the others have probably been helping to keep Ianto less antsy. I haven't been in there more than necessary, I'm afraid to say. Once two of the others are released, it won't be so crazy," she said, referring to Lucy Saxon and Touya Kinomoto, but she wasn't sure Tosh really knew the latter. "I'm sure they're both grateful, going bored and all that, better to have company," she said.

"Yeah, mostly my friends have far better opinions and make more sense," Tosh agreed.

She waved the thanks away with a gesture of her hand, simply grateful that Martha was allowing her to visit. "I'm worried sick about Luke, and grateful that you put your foot down and insisted he get some rest. And Ianto's probably going to be a handful soon, but we really are trying. I know what it's like to feel cooped up and bored when you wish you could be doing something."

"Speaking of him though, I do think I should get back," she said, standing politely. "We should do this again," she smiled. "You're a pleasure to be around, Tosiko Sato."

For some reason, calling people by their full names was a rather telltale sign of affection from Martha to whoever she chose to speak to that way.

"I'm going to come by in a bit and have a visit with Luke, and then maybe later on today with Ianto," Tosh said, standing as well. "You have my word that I won't help either of them in any kind of prison-break plotting."

She smiled at Martha's comment, recognizing the compliment in the use of her full name, and held out her hand. "So are you, Martha Jones. I really enjoyed this, and I definitely agree we need to do it again."

Martha gave the hand a brief look before coming around the table in full and pulling Tosh gently into an embrace.

"Don't work too hard, Tosh. I don't want to have to come after anyone like I did Luke for a while now," she grinned, stepping back. "I'll tell him and Ianto to expect you though."

Tosh returned the hug, giving Martha a not-too-tight squeeze. "I have too many people distracting me with fun things to do, and obviously a lot less willpower than Luke has, for that happen. But I promise to be diligent about giving myself a break now and then. You do the same, all right?"

"I'll try not to be too much of a hypocrite, yes," she laughed, setting down enough currency to cover her coffee, and pushing her chair in. Branching out toward the clinic, as far as direction, she paused in walking away to turn and wave.

"Keep me posted on Artichoke," she called back toward Tosh.

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