(no subject)

[tibetanmethod]

Seven forty-five in the morning, when Moiraine Sedai comes to Twin Peaks, and the very first thing Dale Cooper does is drive her to the Bookhouse, funny sound in his engine be damned. Once she's safely asleep in the back room, under the guard of one of the boys, Cooper calls the sheriff's station and tells Lucy that they'll need to get somebody else to make the donut run, and he needs to see Harry, immediately.

Hours pass. Cooper conferences, explains what he knows, tells Harry and Hawk what they'll need.

The small bed is behind a wall dividing the back room into two sections. Cooper sits on the other side of that wall with a book and a cup of coffee to hand. He's begun to get his concentration back; he hasn't had to restart a chapter in several hours.

Comments

[tibetanmethod]

Cooper doesn't miss any of this.

He doesn't press her. Not yet. "I'm commuting forty miles down the road a few days a week to help out with an ongoing federal drug investigation. Harry is going a little farther to provide some stability for another town's law enforcement agency while they transition to a more ethical approach to their job. Beyond that..." He shakes his head. "Here, at least, it's been very quiet."

[blue_ajah]

"Quiet."

Moiraine looks back up at him.

"Peaceful?"

[tibetanmethod]

Cooper returns her gaze.

Moiraine looks terrible.

Moiraine doesn't miss much, either.

Let her read into it if she wants. "Quiet."

[blue_ajah]

She nods.

"It is good to know."

[tibetanmethod]

Is it? he thinks.

Rather than let it go on --

Cooper nods at the bowl. Mild: "You didn't eat much."

[blue_ajah]

This time, her fleeting smile is unquestionably amused.

"Enough, perhaps, for now."

[tibetanmethod]

Dale Cooper raises his eyebrows.

[blue_ajah]

Moiraine shakes her head.

"Let it suffice, Dale, please. I do not think I could manage much more, at present."

[tibetanmethod]

"Would you still like tea?"

[blue_ajah]

"I would," she replies.


"Thank you."

There is a shade of meaning in her tone, somehow, encompassing things beyond tea alone.

[tibetanmethod]

He shifts, turning to pour water in the teapot.

With his back turned: "Guard," Cooper says, "but not Warder."

"Even now."

[blue_ajah]

"Even so," the Aes Sedai agrees, softly. "Even so."

[tibetanmethod]

A soft clink as Cooper places the lid on the teapot.

Clarice Starling, as Harry pointed out, was able to start over just fine.

There is no room for fear. Cooper takes a moment -- a brief one -- to settle himself.

When he places the teapot on the table in front of Moiraine, the porcelain doesn't make a sound.

[blue_ajah]

There is only one cup, but she has already observed that he has coffee, which remains near to hand.

Moiraine inclines her head in acknowledgment and takes up the teapot with accustomed skill.

Her hands do not shake, as she pours, nor do they tremble beyond a slight quiver. It is progress, of a sort.

[tibetanmethod]

After a moment, he sits.

After another moment, he says, "There's a suitcase. Harry -- arranged for it. I'd imagine you'd find the contents to be of interest."

[blue_ajah]

She follows his glance, spotting the suitcase nearby.

"Is it so?" Moiraine murmurs. "Very well; I shall see what may be found, then." Setting her teacup aside for the moment, she moves to rise.

"If you would excuse me, for a moment or two."

[tibetanmethod]

"Certainly," Cooper says, and reaches for his coffee.

[blue_ajah]

She removes the suitcase to the other side of the room, out of sight.

Some minutes later, she returns. There is a flicker of uncertainty in her dark eyes as she pauses at the edge of the wall.

"Would you say that this is suitable?"

Out of the variety of available options, the Aes Sedai has selected a long denim skirt and a fitted blue plaid flannel shirt.

[tibetanmethod]

Cooper nods immediately. "You could walk right in the Double R and no one would think you were out of the ordinary." He puts down his cup. "Was that what you had in mind?"

[blue_ajah]

"Something of the sort, yes."

Moiraine hesitates, then indicates her kesiera with a gesture and looks a question at him.

[tibetanmethod]

Cooper hesitates.

You don't wear a piece of jewelry every day, in every circumstance, without it meaning something very personal.

(There's a gold ring on his little finger; it belonged to his mother; it has disappeared, and reappeared, in dreams, more than once.)

"It isn't typical," he says finally. "It will draw some attention. But not the dangerous kind. At worst I expect you'd be regarded as a little eccentric -- no more so than several other people who've lived in town all their lives."

[blue_ajah]

There is no mistaking it; a flash of relief is clear before she nods and glances away, running one hand over the side seam of her skirt as if to smooth it.

"That is something with which I can cope."

[tibetanmethod]

"I thought you might be able to." It's accompanied by a very small smile.

[blue_ajah]

Moiraine nods a second time, then returns her gaze to him.

"What is there that I should know to expect? You have told Harry, obviously..."

[tibetanmethod]

"You won't get any questions from anyone attached to the sheriff's department."

Cooper is sitting up very straight in his chair. "Or from the Bookhouse Boys, for that matter. The questions you will get aren't likely to spring from any sinister intentions. Rather, more natural curiosity than anything else -- where you come from, what you do, why you're in Twin Peaks, how long you plan to stay. There's an easy way to forestall all of that for the time being, but I don't know if that's what you want."