[Milliways] OOM: James' Flat, London, 2006

[his_sarah_jane]

Even though the icon above shows Sarah Jane sitting, that is in fact not what she is doing right now.

Sarah Jane? Is pacing.

Pacing because, while James has been at work for the last few hours, she's slowly been realising what a rash idea this was. She doesn't belong here; this isn't her world. There's no Metropolitan and certainly no journalist by the name of Sarah Jane Smith and she doesn't have any way of supporting herself here.

She's dependent as long as she's here, and dependent in a way that she isn't when living on the TARDIS because that doesn't involve money and day to day expenses. Less than a day in, and it is already starting to irk her.

Still, there is that gym membership he promised - they were going to deal with that during his lunch hour tomorrow, weren't they? And shopping and maybe a bit of redecorrating (as she refuses to live in a dull flat) and other things, she's sure of that.

It's all a matter of waiting for James to flipping get home soon. She's not going to start preparing dinner until he's there to share the task with her.

Comments

[callitavesper.livejournal.com]

Eventually, as he always does, James Bond returns. Despite knowing exactly the type of woman Sarah Jane is, he expects to smell dinner as he enters the flat. He grins at himself for thinking this. She's not a housewife and she never will be. Dinner, for them, will be his task, or a joint effort, or outsourced to one of the many restaurants willing to prepare dinner regardless the expense or the healthiness of the meals.

He's comforted by the presence of another person when he returns, though he suspects the novelty will wear off when Sarah Jane runs out of things to do. Thinking on that wipes the smile off his face. Had she done anything today?

"Sarah?" he calls out, peering around a corner. He can hear the shuffling of her feet. Pacing. Not a good sign.

[his-sarah-jane.livejournal.com]

The pacing stops for a moment when she sees James face peer around the corner and she crosses her arms over her chest, eying him.

"Oh, it certainly took you long enough to get home from work," she mutters without even a hello.

It's the restlessness. The fact that she wasn't sure what to do with herself today and wound up spending most of her time thinking and the results she came up with weren't good. Not good at all.

[callitavesper.livejournal.com]

Okay. James walks from behind the corner and tilts his head.

"Are you all right?"

[his-sarah-jane.livejournal.com]

No.

Sarah Jane shakes her head, and its only seconds later that she starts to pace again. "What am I doing here, James? It's not as if I'm from your world. I'm not housewife material and you know that and I don't have a job and nothing to do except that gym of yours and nothing!"

Beat.

"We didn't think this out, did we?"

[callitavesper.livejournal.com]

James folds his arms and leans against the nearest wall. Where Sarah is restless and nervous, James is completely calm.

"Did you bring your typewriter with you?"

[his-sarah-jane.livejournal.com]

She doesn't see how that's relevant at all.

"You're avoiding the question."

[callitavesper.livejournal.com]

Duh.

"Did you?"

[his-sarah-jane.livejournal.com]

"No."

Sarah Jane stops pacing again to stare at him.

"Answer the question, James."

[callitavesper.livejournal.com]

"I am answering the question. You write. Why not do that?"

[his-sarah-jane.livejournal.com]

"The Metropolitan isn't here." Sarah shakes her head. "What would I write for?"

[callitavesper.livejournal.com]

"Yourself. And if that's not good enough, you could freelance."

Sarah Jane's profession is far more flexible than his. If their situations were reversed, James would be at a loss for what he could do. Sarah Jane could just as easily pick up a pen and paper, write a spectacular article and submit it anywhere. Sure, it'd be a while before she could be able to live off her writing, but he had no doubt that she would eventually reach that point. If she tried.

[his-sarah-jane.livejournal.com]

She looks at him, still slightly doubtful about the whole idea. But it has potential, and it is a place to start.

"Freelance reporting? Well, it's not something I've ever considered."

[callitavesper.livejournal.com]

"Well, maybe you should. That failing, you could always write fiction."

[his-sarah-jane.livejournal.com]

"Both have a possibility, I suppose," Sarah answers, smiling softly.

She's had enough experience in what most people would probably consider fiction that surely something would strike her fancy for a story. And freelancing...well, loads of journalists did that these days. It couldn't be too hard, could it?

[callitavesper.livejournal.com]

James tilts his head in her direction, brows raised. He doesn't look stern at all; in fact, a grin is just itching to break out. "So...?"

[his-sarah-jane.livejournal.com]

Sarah laughs. "You just want me to move in with you, don't you?"

[callitavesper.livejournal.com]

"I want you to be happy," he replies, the grin finally emerging.

[his-sarah-jane.livejournal.com]

"Happy with you you mean," she teases, changing her direction to walk over to him. "Manipulative old man."

[callitavesper.livejournal.com]

"Me? Manipulative?" he replies, stepping closer to her. "I would say tricky, yes, but not manipulative. Never manipulative."

[his-sarah-jane.livejournal.com]

"So you claim," Sarah replies in a skeptical tone.

She smiles and stops walking in the middle of the room, waiting for him to come to her. "If I recall, me moving in here was your idea. And yet, you haven't done a single thing to make me more comfortable in your flat aside from going off to work. I wouldn't even be surprised if you were expecting dinner on the table just now."

[callitavesper.livejournal.com]

Shifty look. It's amazing how James can walk in a straight line without looking directly in front of him.

"...maybe I was."

[his-sarah-jane.livejournal.com]

When he comes close enough, Sarah Jane jabs a finger into his chest.

"I am never going to be your housewife, James. Or anyone elses."

[callitavesper.livejournal.com]

"I know."

[his-sarah-jane.livejournal.com]

"You better," she answers, jabbing her finger into his chest again.

[callitavesper.livejournal.com]

He chuckles, grabbing for her finger. "So you're a writer and not a housewife. What's for dinner?"