"Oh that is disgusting." Becca tries not to gag as she watches Beth in the garden.
"Well how else am I supposed to check for alien contaminants in the area?" There is still dirt on her chin from where she had stuck a clod in her mouth. "Want to have a go?" She holds out a handful to Alec who quickly steps back, hands held up between them.
"No, no, i'll, uh, trust your judgement." He looks slightly panicked. Clearly not thrilled about the idea of having to literally eat dirt.
"You sure?" Beth extends her arm further, grinning at him.
"Probably not a good idea." Becca is doing her best to come to Alec's rescue. "I mean with his heart surgery and all."
"Heart surgery?" Beth raises an eyebrow.
Alec makes a face, not too keen on divulging personal information, but not seeing a way out of it now. "Had a pacemaker put in a little while ago." He grumbles, arms crossed over his chest. It wasn't something he thought was appropriate to trouble the Latimer's with, or was any of their business to know anyway.
"Seriously?" Beth Scoffs, shaking her head. "Only having the one's bad enough but don't tell me you got stuck with rightie! That one was always a bit faulty after the lightning strike in New York. You Remember New York don't you? The original New York. Just the one New, not the New New New New New New New New New New New New New New New York we took Rose to."
"That's erm." Becca clears her throat. "That's a lot of 'News'."
"Fifteen! Quite a mouthful, that's why they just called it New New York."
"Never been to New York." Alec grunts out.
"Right." Beth grins at him. "Alec Hardy's never been to New York, first or fifteenth." She ends with a conspiratorial wink. "Never seen the cats in nuns habits running human experiments either eh."
"God's sake." He mutters under his breath, eyes turned upwards. As though if he took his gaze off of the loon in front of him somehow this nightmare would end.
- Meanwhile on the way to the Cottage -
Ellie's driven Alec around plenty of times, especially since his medical condition barred him from being able to drive himself. All those times he's mostly slumped back into the seat for the ride. There might be an occasional tapping of fingers on his leg or the door if he's anxious, but otherwise he's not moving much.
Today though, as they drive towards the cottage to see Claire Ripley, Alec in the front seat and Beth seated in the back because he insisted she come along for some god forsaken reason, Ellie is about ready to pull the car over and give him a tongue lashing. He's worse than a toddler, especially considering you could at least strap a toddler into a car seat and know they couldn't reach anything.
Fingers are drumming on every surface, knees are bouncing, feet tapping. He's fiddling with anything within arms reach, which given his lanky build is practically everything. When Ellie's finally batted his hands away from continually changing the radio station 'With just a bit of jiggery pokery I can upgrade it to pick up signals from Mars.' he pulls out that led flashlight of his and keeps messing with it. The constant whirring is setting her teeth on edge, and it's lucky for him she has to keep her hands on the wheel because otherwise she would be throttling him.
Trying to go for a distraction she un-grits her teeth enough to attempt to start a conversation. "How's the heart?"
"What?" He glances at her briefly before returning his attention to the current bane of Ellie's existence.
"Your heart." Beth prompts him, sensing that Ellie is 0.5 seconds away from flipping her lid.
This time he pockets his device, turning to give Beth an icy glare. "Oh Right." He's sneering at her. "Rub it in why don't ya."
"I was just-" Beth is cut off before she can defend herself.
"Poor little metacrisis only got the one heart. No more binary vascular system. Well I'll have you know I kept leftie so don't you go pitying me!" The car jerks to a stop as Ellie pulls up the drive.
"Now Listen here mister!" If he's going to act like a petulant child Ellie Miller, Detective Sergeant and single mother of two is going to treat him like one. "I don't give a fuck what kind of mid life crisis you're having but that does not give you the right to speak to Beth that way."
He's backed up against the door, cowering in fear as Ellie leans in, finger in his face. "I have had a hell of a day and I am not going to be putting up with any of your shit." He looks rightly terrified of her as she pokes him hard in the shoulder. "Now say sorry." She punctuates each word with another hard poke.
"I'm sorry." She has never heard Alec Hardy squeak before.
"Not to me." If looks could kill he'd be dead a hundred times over. "To her."
He shifts slightly until Beth is in his line of sight. "I'm sorry." His voice only slightly below a squeak now.
Ellie gives him one last glare before storming out of the car and slamming the door. "Arsehole!"
- Meanwhile at the Cafe -
Rose has settled into one of the two large comfy arm chairs flanking a small table. She's letting Paul relax a bit as he sips his cuppa. After a few moments he places it on the table and gives her a smile. "New in town?"
"Just passing through." The look he gives her is odd, guarded.
"Just passing through Broadchurch." She can see him visibly tense. "You the press?
"Why? There something going on?"
"The trial?" When she doesn't respond he presses on. "Seriously? You haven't heard about the trial?"
"Nope." She pops the p for emphasis.
"Blimey you must have been living under a rock." He collapses back into his seat.
"You know if my friends were here, they could probably give you a lecture on the benefits of living under rocks." She watches his lips quirk slightly at the corners. "Seriously. You get them started on one thing and they'll go on about it for hours."
"Well what else would your friends say." He's got that small smile back now.
"They'd say there's nothing like a good infusion of free radicals and tannins to help the synapsys get firing again."
"What?" She's seen the look he's giving her before. It's the same one she's given the Doctor(s) on more than one occasion
Grinning over the rim of her mug she looks down at where his stands on the table. "Tea. Good for the brain."
He's giving a genuine smile now. "You're friends sound interesting."
"Well that's one way of putting it." If only he knew the half of it.
"You here by yourself?"
"Nah." Rose shakes her head. "Came here with my friends, they're around town somewhere."
"And what are your interesting friends up to."
Rose shrugs. "Probably licking things and eating dirt."
Paul chokes on his tea. "You can't be serious."
Rose lets out a hum. "You'd be surprised." She grins at him again. "Seriously. I've watched them do it." She waits a beat before leaning closer to him. "And they have the audacity to complain about my mum's cooking."
Paul clasps his hand over his mouth, trying to smother the laughter coming out. "Well to be fair she's a bit of a rubbish cook. And it's a tough call, but I'd still rather eat her shepards pie over dirt."
It takes him a few minutes before he can finally speak. "Rose that is the hardest I've laughed in months."
"Must've been some rough months."
"Well you know, or I suppose you don't know." With a sigh he glances back at Rose, searching her face for any hint of ulterior motives. He's learned to be on guard with the press swarming daily since news first broke all those months ago. "There was a murder awhile back. Local boy. Really hit the town hard, and the trial just concluded today. The killer got off." It's nothing the press wouldn't already know anyway.
Rose reaches over to gently squeeze his hand. "M'sorry."
"Yeah. Me too." After a beat he squeezes her hand back before letting go. "If you're not the press, what are you in town for?"
"Would you believe me if I said I was looking for an alien?"