Coming Home (Mara, Milada, ST) (Summer 2014)

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Songbird

Nov 11, 2014#1

It is perhaps fortunate that Mara's family has not moved in the time she has been gone; the small, cozy house on the outskirts of San Antonio's suburbs is still there, and clearly still occupied by Mara's family.

When Milada and Mara pull into the neighborhood and park some distance away in order to observe, they do in fact see a striking mirror image of Mara, standing impatiently in the entryway to the house, apparently hurrying on a person or persons. In her Mask, the woman looks as strong as Mara, as confident and capable in a fight, and just as deadly as the young ogre, even if she is not covered in the same permanent bloodstains.

But the copy of Mara is not without her own mien. She seems to be composed of strange and sundry army supplies, all bundled together in a twisted caricature of a doll. A green backpack, lumpy and misshapen, comprises her chest. Her arms are whorls of medical tape and bandages. Her head is a helmet turned on its side, the smooth top perched where a face should be. Two machine-gun barrels act as spindly legs for the monstrous creature spun from fae magic and pieces of Mara's soul.

The woman does not look directly at them when the car pulls up, but something in her shoulders tense. "C'mon, babe, c'mon," she urges, her voice drifting on the wind to Milada and Mara. The woman is clearly trying to be jokey and pleasant, but there is fear and urgency in her voice.

"We're coming, we're coming," comes a man's voice, laughing and gentle. "I don't know why slumber parties had to happen right this very minute, babe, it's not even dinnertime yet. If you just wanted to get the kids out of the house and me all to yourself, you only had to ask..." From the cool darkness of the house emerges a man who Mara will undoubtedly recognize as her husband. Behind him, bringing up the rear, are two children--or, rather, one child and one creature in the shape of a child, but who unmistakably has the mien of another fetch.

The smaller fetch is a young girl, maybe 10 or 12 in age, and her mien is that of a tangle of silk ribbons and plastic barrettes. "Mom, aren't I getting a little old for slumber parties?" she teases, her voice not quite a good-natured grumble, as she clutches a purple backpack to her chest.

"Hush now, don't argue," the woman replies. "Off you go, and take good care of them, hon." She shoos the man and the two children into a parked mini-van, and watches with fearful tension in her face as they drive away. Then, with a stubborn set to her jaw, she turns and looks directly at Milada and Mara.

Pisha

Nov 11, 2014#2

Milada gasps, touching the other woman's arm gently, but doesn't take her eyes off the Fetch-woman. "She knew you were coming," she says quietly.

itokro

Nov 11, 2014#3

[OOC: Omen 3 on Mara's family (no glamour cost for the children, since they're under 18), if they're close enough for this to work. Otherwise, Omen 3 on the Fetch. Mara will decide what to do based on what she sees from this]

Songbird

Nov 11, 2014#4

The visions that Mara receives for the two children and her husband are not traumatizing, and indeed reveal that the family seems currently-destined for a fairly banal six months.

The most emotionally charged event for the little boy will occur on the first Sunday after 3rd grade starts: he will have an emotional meltdown in the afternoon and flatly refuse to go back to school, ever, even after having enjoyed the first week just fine. Mara receives the sense that after a nap and a nice lunch, the boy can be coaxed into calming down from his jitters, and after that he settles into a school routine without much trouble.

The girl-fetch's most emotionally significant event will happen three months in to her 7th grade year. A boy that she has been crushing on for over a year will ask her best friend to be his 'girlfriend'. The child will try to be happy for them both, but will hide behind the bleachers at school during gym period and will cry for an hour. She will feel better after applying glittery stickers over all the places where she's secretly written his name in her notebooks.

Mara's husband will receive a promotion at work; the increase in job title will not come with a commensurate increase in pay and will only burden him with more responsibilities, but he will feel pride in the recognition of his employers, and the new job title will look good on his resume if he ever does decide to look for work elsewhere.

None of these visions include either Mara or her fetch in them, which could indicate that the fetch is still a part of their lives, or could indicate that Mara has replaced the fetch. Either way, the banality of the visions does indicate that probably one or both of the women survive this encounter, since presumably the known death or disappearance of the family's wife/mother would have more emotional impact than, say, a promotion at work.

The vision Mara receives as the most emotionally significant event in her fetch's life for the next six months is an image of Mara, right now today, stepping out of Milada's rental car and walking up to speak with the fetch.

You are now down from 10 glamour to 6 glamour, since the fetch-vision and the husband-vision both cost 2 glamour each. And your fetch does not look defenseless in the slightest.

itokro

Nov 11, 2014#5

Mara hesitates, then hands her club to Milada. "Look after this for me," she tells her. "And... stay in the car, please?"

She steps out of the car, empty hands held up in front of her where the fetch can see them. "Can I talk to you?" she calls out. She approaches her fetch slowly, as calmly as she can manage. "I'm unarmed," she states, "and I don't want to fight. I just want to talk to you."

Songbird

Nov 11, 2014#6

The fetch eyes her warily. "I'm not," she says warningly, in response to Mara being unarmed. "And I don't want any trouble." She hesitates a moment, and then adds, almost defensively, "This isn't my fault."

itokro

Nov 11, 2014#7

"I don't blame you," Mara replies. "And I'm not here to make trouble. I came because I wanted to make sure that they were safe." She nods in the direction taken by the mini-van. "And you... you want that, too, don't you?"

Songbird

Nov 11, 2014#8

The other woman sighs, and a very small amount of tension drains out of her shoulders--but not much. "Yes, I want them to be safe," she says firmly, holding Mara's gaze steadily with her own. "All of them," she says, watching Mara's reaction to the reminder that at least one of her family is no longer human.

itokro

Nov 11, 2014#9

"Then you're not my enemy," Mara replies quickly.

She pauses, then sighs. "Can we talk about Jenny?" she asks, naming the daughter who's been replaced. "What do you see when you look at her?"

Songbird

Nov 11, 2014#10

The fetch sighs, and her face looks drawn. "I see what you see," she says tiredly. Then, holding Mara's gaze carefully and with no trace of dishonesty, "I see what I've always seen."