[Backdated to August 18]

[sallyslingshot]

The walk back to the hut from the beach wasn't a particularly long one, but it seemed somehow longer, Alex's head spinning as she tried again to process everything, to keep all the facts straight in her head. After two months here, she had begun to grow accustomed to the idea of people coming from different universes, but this was something else

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[gotanymilk]

Ben hadn't anticipated Alex to return so soon; as he lowered the battered copy of Philip K. Dick's Tim Out of Joint, he flashed her a look of mild surprise, then set the book aside on the armrest, pulling his round-rimmed glasses from his face. Curious as to what this was all about -- and, perhaps, a bit pleased by the fact that she'd referred to him as Dad rather than by his given name -- he gestured for her to sit down on the opposite chair.

"By all means, Alex. What is it?"

[sallyslingshot]

For a moment, Alex hesitated, not out of any doubts, but simply because she wasn't sure how to explain something like this. Even for them, even here, it was incredibly bizarre, far weirder than anything she would have imagined on her own. When she spoke again, however, it was quickly, not at all held back, confusion already evident.

"I saw Juliet on the beach," she told him, almost a question, only then crossing to sit in the other chair. "Except she wasn't... her. She didn't recognize me at all." There was more to it than that, and she had to all but physically bite her tongue to keep from telling the rest, but it was better to pace herself, to give one piece at a time. Something this weird called for it.

[gotanymilk]

"Juliet," he echoed, eyes widening almost comically. While he'd made note of a Juliet Carlson's mailbox some weeks prior, he hadn't yet manage to glimpse the woman in question, to confirm whether or not the name was a simple coincidence. "Are you sure?"

[sallyslingshot]

"Positive." Without a bit of uncertainty, Alex nodded once, lips pressed together. "I mean, I would've recognized her anyway, but we talked for a while. She didn't even know who I was. So I figured I should try to find out as much about it as I could. And, let me tell you, it's definitely one of the weirdest things I've seen here so far."