ikissdhimbck | OOM: Green Lake, upon a visit from Doc Scurlock

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OOM: Green Lake, upon a visit from Doc Scurlock

As Katherine steps through the door, she is surprised and pleased to see that they've exited right into her schoolhouse. Since it's the day before the town picnic, school is canceled--the room is empty.

When she'd entered Milliways she had been coming out the front door of her house, so she expected that's where she would exit. But this is good; it will be much easier to explain if someone sees she and Doc coming from the schoolhouse instead.

"Ah. Welcome to our little schoolhouse, Doc," Katherine smiles, though there's a hint of embarrassment behind it.

The wooden slatted walls are yellowed and dirty, paint peeling in places. A long blackboard on the wall opposite the front door is filled with Katherine's prim chalked cursive, and a long desk sits just in front of it with a beat up wooden chair tucked behind it. A small table stands in one corner, covered with flowers and peaches and warm little things, and seven desks span the length of the room in rows. Each desk can seat two. The bookshelves sit against one wall, between two smudged windows. There are two windows on the opposite wall as well, and two more windows frame the door. A wood-burning stove sits in one corner, and in another is a special desk and chair, intended for a teacher's assistant. Picture frames, lanterns and shelves line the walls in an attempt to make the beat-up little room look more inviting.

But the beat-up little room still looks just that: beat-up. There are holes in the roof and dust coats the floorboards--bowls and basins are everywhere, to catch rainwater when the roof leaks.

Katherine grimaces and gestures around the room. "...Such as it is."

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It's her schoolhouse. And it may not be the fancy brick and stone building that he taught in while he was in New York, and it's her delicate cursive lining the blackboard instead of his own, but it's a schoolhouse. A place for students to learn.

Doc removes his hat, since they're indoors, and his bag rests on the side opposite the gun in the holster beneath his coat.

"It's wonderful," he says quietly. "I mean that," he adds, over his shoulder, as he walks along the aisle of desks, fingertips lightly trailing across the wooden surfaces.

He glances up towards the roof.

"What's the date, here? Suppose I should know so I don't go callin' it the wrong day or month," he admits.

He's also predicting what to focus on patching up first, as he does intend on fix up something while he's here.

She watches patiently as Doc takes a look around, wandering among the desks. There's a fond smile on her face, though inside she's hoping a desk doesn't suddenly collapse under his touch.

"You're too kind," she says, absently shuffling some books and papers around on the desk by the door. "And it's July the third. I honestly hadn't thought of the time difference at all; thank you for reminding me."

"No worries, it ain't like you get visitors from a magic bar at the end of the universe too often, I would think," he teases quietly.

July. You get summer thunderstorms but based on the dust it seems like it hasn't rained in a bit of time. He's making notes in his head and picturing the lesson plan he wants to teach, and his mind wanders back to that day in New York City.

"Josiah Gordon Scurlock? Don't you move."

He glances over at the door idly.

"I like it. It's got charm."

"Charm's the one thing it has in spades," Katherine agrees, chuckling softly.

She watches quietly as he looks around, and again she can see the wheels turning in his mind.

"I imagine it must be quite a bit different from your classroom, though. New York must afford for something fancier than this little place."

"The building I taught in was a couple stories, brick an' mortar but it was...it was New York. This ain't New York an' I...I grew up in a town like this. Lot of charm. Brings back good memories, this does."

A smile over at her.

"Tallapoosa, Alabama. Small town. Real small."

Doc walks over her direction.

"Can already see your touch on it though, and it ain't hard to picture your students learnin' in a place like this. Fine schoolhouse."

She matches his smile, leaning on the desk she had been fussing with as he speaks, soaking everything in.

"Can't say I'm not sorry this place reminds you of the school where you grew up," she laughs good-humoredly. "But I'm glad for the fond memories. I forget you're a small-town boy yourself."

She ducks her head a little as he approaches, fingering a wildflower she has set in a vase on the desk behind her. There are, of course, books all over the place; certainly on the long desk at the head of the room, the desk behind her, along the walls on hanging shelves and more in shelves at the floor. She smirks, thinking over his last statement.

"I try to make it a welcoming atmosphere for the young ones. You know how it is, being stuck at a desk all day while the day passes by outside."

"We had a lake within a few minutes runnin' distance," Doc says. "It was always awful temptin', rather than sitting inside at a desk, to go swimmin' instead."

He glances around the schoolhouse again.

"And ain't nothin' a little elbow grease can't fix, but first I hear that this little town called Green Lake is havin' quite the annual picnic tomorrow," he teases.

"You mean to say you weren't always the perfect student?" she questions with one quirked brow. Her expression dissolves into a teasing smile.

"It is at that. I hear, too, that if you step outside you can even see some of the festivities today as they're setting up."

"Well I did skip outta the school of medicine, you've gotta recall," he drawls quietly. "Ain't always been the perfect student, but I think the important thing is that you're never too old to be learnin' from a good teacher."

If it was an actual schoolteacher, or Mr. Tunstall, or hell, even Billy's taught him some things. As much as he would like to deny it at times, he has.

"And is that so? I'd reckon that a tour of your fine town would give a chance for those social butterflies to get to talkin'," and he smirks because he's excited to be here and excited to be able to walk around a town without having to duck gunfire.

"I suppose that's true," she chuckles softly, shaking her head. "My philosophy has always been that it's never too late to learn a thing or two. I imagine I'll be learning new things up 'til the day I move on from this world, and that's quite all right with me."

The smirk and the spark in Doc's eyes makes Katherine blush just a bit, and she has to bite back her own smile before she starts looking like the Cheshire Cat.

"I reckon it would. Shall we, then?"

Doc offers her an arm, like the proper gentleman that he is.

"Miss Katherine, if you would feel so inclined to be my guide on this tour, then I would be honored to follow along."

A beat.

"Can't promise I won't be askin' questions, though."

She accepts his arm and laughs brightly.

"You should know by now, Doc, that questions are one thing I'm always all right with," she says. She is a teacher, after all.

As they walk out the front door they will see a dusty little town spread before them. The dirt road curves away beyond various shops and storefronts, and there are many folk out today busying themselves with picnic preparations.

There are peddlers with their goods by the side of the road, carpenters hammering together tables and booths, and a few men erecting a maypole off in the grass, among other things.

Off behind the school, a shimmering blue-green lake sprawls across the landscape, reflecting the light so it's almost painful to look at it. Mountains fade into the distance beyond it.

"Dr. Hawthorn's family has agreed to have you stay with them while you're here," Katherine says, taking him along the dirt road. "I hope you don't mind, but we don't have an inn of any sort in town; Doc Hawthorn's is where most folk stay when they're passing through. And they're good folk; been like a family to me."

One thing Doc will learn during his stay is that's the closest thing to family Katherine has anymore.

"If you'd like, we can stop over there and drop off your things first."

"Probably be best," Doc agrees, as he settles his hat on his head again and then looks around as they walk down the road, taking it all in. "And I don't mind at all, I'm grateful for you makin' arrangements and such, I appreciate it."

And he understands. It just would not do for the young schoolteacher to have that sort of rumor running around the town, and he knows how the ladies in a town can talk.

Lincoln was no different, after all, if just a bit rougher 'round the edges.

His eyes however, can hardly stay still, as he takes it all in.

"All right, then," Katherine nods as they set off toward the Hawthorn residence. "And it was no bother at all, honestly. I'm glad you were able to make the time to come."

She chuckles softly as she watches his skittering eyes, wondering if he's noticed the attention he's been getting from the townsfolk ever since they stepped out of the schoolhouse.

"How did we meet, Doc?"

She smirks at him in a long-suffering way. "It won't be long before someone wants to know."

Doc's noticed, definitely, and the few people that he's noticed giving him extra long looks have gotten a polite tip of his hat and nod in their direction in greeting.

"Did you go to school anywhere away from the area for anything? Either that or we met when I passed through someplace you were at in the last while."

A smile, as he tips his hat at someone else then turns to her.

"Don't think tellin' your small town that I'm a friend from a magical eatin' house at the end of the universe would go over too well, after all."

The corner of her mouth twitches as she meets his gaze. "Yes, I would like to avoid having you tarred and feathered while you're here. At least, not on your first day."

"I attended a university in Louisiana before I started teaching," Katherine nods, following his line of reasoning. "Tulane University, over in New Orleans."

Doc laughs gently.

"Should I be worried 'bout this picnic tomorrow, then?"

It's a joke, obviously, but after she mentions where she did her university schooling he turns and looks at her, eyebrows rising towards his hairline just a bit.

"...did you say Tulane University?"

She was just about to tease him a little more about the picnic tomorrow when he suddenly stops and looks at her.

Eyes wide, she replies, "Yes, I did. Do you know it?"

...Wait, didn't Doc tell her he attended school in New Orleans as well?

Her eyes grow a little wider.

"I studied medicine at Tulane, in New Orleans."

Doc looks like he can't believe it.

"Fall of '74 and into '75 for a spell."

There's two words running through his mind:

Fuckin' Milliways.

Blink.

And then Katherine can't help it. She laughs.

"Be forthright! You mean to tell me we attended the same university?"

Well that makes their story a little easier to tell.

"Fall of '84 for me," she says, shaking her head like she can't believe it either.

"I'm not hackin' on you! Swear it on my ma's heart," he promises, with a nod. "And that does make things awful simple, don't it. Milliways."

Doc resumes their walk and glances at the people who are now chattering about them again, what with their laughing and animated conversation.

"Think we're gonna get plenty of folks askin' the question," he agrees, as they continue on.

"Awful simple, indeed!" she laughs, head still shaking. As if the circumstances surrounding their meeting weren't mind-bending enough.

Perhaps stopping in the middle of the road to talk wasn't the best of ideas, if discretion was their goal. Katherine is wincing dramatically at his last statement, when Mrs. Tennyson and Parker start making their way over.

If Doc is listening carefully, he might hear Katherine groan. This is like trial by fire, poor boy.

"Good morning, Mrs. Tennyson; Mrs. Parker," Katherine greets sweetly.

"Mornin' Katherine," they both nod, and immediately their gaze shifts to Doc.

"And who might this be?"

If there's one thing that Doc knows how to do, it's charm people with his words when he needs to in a pinch, and that hint of Louisiana southern drawl does the trick more often than not.

He reaches up and removes his hat, and nods his head respectfully.

"Ladies, it's a pleasure to make your acquaintance. The name's Josiah Scurlock -- I'm a former classmate of Miss Barlow's back from my days at Tulane University, down in New Orleans."

He smiles, that pretty boy smile, as he replaces his hat upon his head.

"And well, when I heard that your fine town of Green Lake was puttin' on a right proper fandango for Independence Day, I couldn't pass up the chance to stop in on my way through."

It takes a lot of effort for Katherine to keep her eyebrows from arching at him, and she has to purse her lips together to hide the smile just threatening to break through.

Impressed is an understatement.

"What a polite young man," Mrs. Tennyson remarks to Mrs. Parker, as if Doc and Katherine aren't even there anymore.

"Welcome to Green Lake, Mr. Scurlock," Mrs. Parker smiles. "And, uh, where might you two be headed this fine day?"

"Thank you, Mrs. Parker," and a nod to the other woman as well. "It really is a lovely town, what I've seen of it so far. Miss Barlow was just showin' me to Dr. Hawthorn's place -- I'm going to be stayin' with him while I'm here in town."

A calm glance over at Katherine, then he looks out towards where people are setting up for the festivities.

"And then I believe we were going to find some way to help get ready for tomorrow, help set up for the picnic. I'm sure there's somethin' you fine folks can set me to work doin'," he laughs quietly. "Not that it'd be a spot of trouble, with how kind ya'll have been so far in welcomin' me to your town."

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