oswinforthewin | ( impossible darkness ) noir nights.

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( impossible darkness ) noir nights.

DUE TO DELAYS THE 7:00PM BUS IS CANCELLED. PLEASE REROUTE.

Annabell sighed in irritation, looking at the watch on her wrist. For all the advancements The Conclave spoke of? Things were constantly breaking down. Still, they were led to believe this was life as normal. Only those from The Belly (as it was oh so affectionately called) knew different. She had been born in The Belly, and when she saw the world up above for the first time? She couldn't believe it. Now it made her skin crawl, but she had to keep the role up.

Even if she did miss teaching.

Her legs uncrossed and Annabell pushed herself up from the bench in the bus station. She straightened her dress and grabbed her coat. From the pockets she pulled out a small case of cigarettes and started to light it. It would be a long walk back to her apartment, so she might as well enjoy herself. Maybe she'd see some of the sights on her way back. It was a dream of hers as she chased the imaginary amber leaves that they said fell from real trees in the fall. A dream that soured and dried up when she finally got to the surface.

She almost regretted the decision to move upwards. Regrets, bitterness, and cheap wine was the life that Annabell lived, when she wasn't singing for the people she couldn't stand. They said she was a rising star in the music scene. Not that she cared. Her dark red lipstick stained the end of the cigarette as she shrugged on her coat. All she hoped for at the moment was that some fan wouldn't find her. Unless, of course, they wanted to offer her a ride home.

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"Of course. I'd be a terrible savior if I didn't." He was being facetious, but left that up to Clara to decide.

He decides to walk her home. It was well into the night, and things weren't going to be miraculously changed in the next few hours. If he was going to use her help, he needed her rested. It was a human quirk he had learned and understood, though some of his friends required more time to sleep than others. (Sorry Donna).

Slowing his pace, he has his hands tucked away in his pockets, "Could you always sing like that?"

"Savior? Bit of a complex there." Clara tilted her head towards him with her eyebrows raised.

Though the question managed to take her off guard. He was very good at that. Better than she wanted to admit.

"It took some practice." She shrugged and crossed her arms over her chest. "Mum was very insistent about it when I was a kid. All I ever wanted to do was teach."

Clara bit her lip. "It came in handy when I had to make up another life though."

"You can still teach; you'd be a lovely teacher!" He complimented, nudging her arm with his, "Maybe after all this rubbish..." Hey, it was a suggestion.

It didn't take much longer until they were back at her doorstep. The Doctor turns to her and offers her a smile, "I can meet you in the morning, if that's OK with you?" He didn't want to impose himself on her, plus all his senses were telling him to look around anyway. Maybe he'll find some answers while she slept.

That actually made her crack a smile. A proper one at that. "I was teaching before all of this started." She gave it up to do something that she thought would help.

Her hand clasps around the door handle as she looked up at him. "Don't go getting into trouble without me. Got it?"

"Oh, I'll try not to." He offered a smile, nodded, and headed off.

His first plan was to see the barriers to the city. It was an expansive city, no doubt, but he started back to where he entered through the city, looking around at the possible connection to the other world, before actually dashing around and seeing if he could find the edge of the city.

After sprinting on and off and trying to get answers from others, the night was growing thin for people to approach. He knew he must've looked a lunatic as well, but then when he thought he had reached the end of his rope, he manages to find another connection to the other world.

"This... might be exactly what I'm looking for." And with that, he meandered a bit before shops began to open and he found breakfast for himself and Clara. He waited outside her door for her to wake up.

Clara watched him leave and only entered her apartment once he had disappeared from sight. She quietly stepped inside and pushed the door closed. It was odd how lonely she felt and empty the flat seemed now that she had actually involved herself with someone else. That was just the way it was. Spies didn't necessarily get to have proper lives.

She took up her makeshift bed on the couch again. It was just a few more hours of sleep before she found herself tossing and turning. There was too much on her mind and too many worries to go along with them. Eventually she pushed off the blankets and took a bubble bath. It helped a bit but not as much as she had hoped it would. She really needed to invest in finding ways to turn her brain off.

Clara opened the door, intending to head to the store for some breakfast. Which meant she wasn't entirely expecting the Doctor to be standing on the other side of the door.

"How long have you been out here?"

"Erm... 40 minutes?" He hands her a paper bag with some pastries inside. "I didn't know what you'd like, so I got a few." He personally had already eaten two while waiting.

"While looking around last night, I found another entrance to the Above... It might be our ticket to getting these people out."

Her eyebrow raised as she took the pastries. That saved that trip at least. "You could of knocked." Clara stepped back inside her flat and opened the door for him to join her.

"I'm guessing that is a different entrance than the one we used to get back down here?"

"Yes it is." The Doctor's eyes nearly glistened with excitement at her remark. "It's near the outskirts of town, and whether there's other entrances to go with, remains to be known. I'm thinking of testing it out."

He waggles his brows in Clara's direction, as if daring her to comment.

Clara popped one of the pastries in her mouth as he talked. It was far too early in the morning to be excited, but at least his mood had brightened from the night before.

"What if you end up outside the Above?"

"As long as we're up there, that should be fine." There's a shrug, "Or risk not trying and let everyone burn."

Because he did indeed know that much, fire will be involved.

"Do you have any tea?" A cuppa before chaotic running around always settled his stomach and nerves, not that he was particularly nervous, mind you.

It didn't sound like a good option either way. It wasn't quite a full proof plan, especially with how the Above had no idea that the Belly properly existed. The government did but everyone else thought it was some sort of scary legend you'd tell the kids at night to give them nightmares.

"Of course I do. I wouldn't be very British if I didn't have any."

He gladly parks himself leaning against the counter in the kitchen, watching her move about. There was temptation to search for the cups himself, but he resisted, realizing he liked watching her being domestic. That was never in his nature to be such a thing.

"I want to explore that entrance way, see where it heads out and how safe it'll be. I have a feeling that'll be our best shot at this escape."

Then it was a good thing she was extremely domestic. Although she did love an adventure every now and then.

"Alright then. How do you plan on not being caught?"

"Oh...." He didn't have an exact answer. Really, he just made everything up as he went along. "I have some ideas." Which were actually quite few and far inbetween.

"Track down the sensors, take them out, then see where the door leads us." It was the basic idea, really. Hey, he could at least vouch that he was very good at running when the time came.

Ah, she was waiting for that part. Which is exactly why Clara leaned against the table with a bit of a smirk on her face. There had to be a hole in the plan eventually. It was just finding it so they could fix that.

"It sounds like you might need some heavy tech for that. Have you got any on you?"

"What sort of 'tech'?" The Doctor looked questioning towards her as he dug around in his pockets, feeling if anything that would resemble whatever it was she was talking about.

"'Fraid not." He replied pleasantly, almost innocently, much her possible chagrin. But he knew what she was talking about. They would have to take out the sensors that might be remaining. Afterall, it was a wonder that he hadn't triggered anything when alone.

"The doors aren't just sealed by a few codes. There is a reason why we have to sneak out of here." Clara gestured to the world outside her window. The world that had no sky and smoke filled the air from everything. "They didn't mean for us to ever, ever leave. Generations living and breathing and having babies and dying down here. The thing is we can't figure out why."

Her head tilted to the side and her eyebrows raised. "So. How are we going to get out of a prison that has every exit sealed? You're clever. Aren't you?"

"Oh, very clever." He leans forward, imitating her pose towards him with a smirk on his features.

He was able to go in and out of the location without any trouble or questions, but it didn't mean they hadn't noticed his curiosity. He debated whether or not to knock down or turn off the cameras, but figured that'd draw too much attention right off. Perhaps they'd have to set this plan of action all at once.

"You might get dirty from this." It was a tease, given she seemed dressed to the 9's. "Think you can handle it?"

Her nose scrunched up at his imitation. He was such a flirt!

Clara crossed her arms at that. "Just because I'm a pretty face, Doctor, don't think that I'm just that. If I've got to get my hands dirty than I will. Unless, you've got a thing for seeing girls all dirty. Then you might want to slow down."

He pauses a moment, widening his grin that could be interpreted as just about anything. "Then it's settled!" He nearly bounced in excitement as he finished his cuppa, placed it in the sink, and was half out the door, expecting her to be just as excited.

"It'll take some time to reach there. I don't want to give the impression that we're up to no good." Which was him 90% of the time, really.

It was definitely a good thing she decided not to interpret that smile in any other way other than him just being completely strange. Not that strange was bad. It was good. Especially if it brought someone like him along to help.

"Of course not. Two people out for a morning stroll. It'll look completely normal... and probably a tad suggestive." Even with that, she was already headed to the door.

"Suggestive. I like that word." He agreed as he fixed his jacket and followed her out.

They take the scenic route, but it didn't take long before they reached the area he had mentioned among what appeared to be abandoned factories. It was dark, even for the new day, more or less deserted other than for cats, rats, and bugs. But there was a door that looked cleaner than the rest, one the Doctor had pushed opened the previous night that lead to stairs and more.

"That's it."

Clara stepped over the rats and bugs, making sure not to trip on them. She glanced at him before walking up to the door. Her hands went up to the door before pressing in. No luck of course, but her hands came back covered in... it felt like oil.

"Oil, on the door."

"Oil?" The Doctor moved over, swiping the handle with a finger and sticking it in his mouth, testing it. Indeed it was oil.

"That wasn't there last night." So he had been seen. He had a feeling he had, but he was pressing his luck.

"What does that mean?"

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