[GP/EP] Check-in Day

[st_oneswidow]

The woodwinds in her collection were for noodling mostly, and the violin was for memory of her family, but when Curnen really wanted to play she turned again and again to her guitar. This would probably always be her best instrument. It was the first of the month, she’d been here over a year, and it was probably a check-in day. So she sat on the lawn with her instrument in her lap, sending out a subtle magic to call anyone stranded in their little world this way.

At one point, though, she set aside the guitar and turned her face to the sky. For just a few minutes she required a different kind of magic.

It had been a week now since Scanlan had vanished in the battle. And Pike, too, though Curnen honestly couldn’t have cared less about her going away if she tried. Still. The two of them were family to people very dear to her, people who missed them. And Scanlan had been her friend. You marked something like that with a song.

Of all the money that e'er I had
I spent it in good company
And all the harm that e'er I've done
Alas, it was to none but me
And all I've done for want of wit
To memory now I can't recall
So fill to me the parting glass
Good night and joy be with you all

It was a traditional Irish goodbye, a farewell to friends said with love, drinking, well wishes, and the hope of meeting again. She couldn’t think of a better one for the occasion. And as she sang she twined her magic into her voice in a new way, sending the song to any ears that needed it, ears of those who knew and missed the departed. Not all of them might understand it, not all of them knew what she was, but she didn’t particularly care about that right now. The song was more important than the hiding.

Once the last note had dissipated she picked up her guitar again and resumed her work. If there were anybody out there, they had to know where to go.

Comments

Re: Assigned threads - Meet w Vax

[st_rongliketeflon]

Maria followed, but her eyes were ever watchful. She kept her eyes open for anything that might indicate aliens.

"Liz?" She replied. "Not in trouble. Well, I don't know. It's complicated. It's this whole thing."

She threw her hands up and rolled her eyes.

"Boyfriend's and pregnancies and... Other things." She said with a sigh. Murderous bitch aliens

Re: Assigned threads - Meet w Vax

[st_abby]

He stopped, staring at her a bit. Her face, then, very briefly - involuntarily, really - her belly, before picking his eyes hurriedly back up again. "...Yours? Or hers?"

Re: Assigned threads - Meet w Vax

[st_rongliketeflon]

Maria took a full ten seconds to realize why he was looking at her belly. Her hands went to her belly and her eyes widened.

"What?" She said incredulously, "No. No, I am so not pregnant, thank you."

Maria was a virgin and as far as she knew, Liz was too.

"Not Liz either. Some other girl with Liz's used-to-be boyfriend. And she's a total bitch." She said with narrowed eyes. "She's not here, is she? Tess Harding ring any bells?"

Re: Assigned threads - Meet w Vax

[st_abby]

"No?" He turned back the way they'd been headed, and maybe it was something to do with her reactions... But no, it was a gut feeling, more than any reason. He decided to trust that feeling. "Ah... I think your friend has been here a while. Liz I mean."

Re: Assigned threads - Meet w Vax

[st_rongliketeflon]

"Wait, Liz?" She asked. "She's here? Wait. Did you say 'a while'? I just saw her."

Maria followed with an inquisitive look.

Re: Assigned threads - Meet w Vax

[st_abby]

He stopped, again, and asked himself why he was doing this. Not in general, not at all, not a 'maybe there's still time to be a cobbler' - just why he thought it was a good idea to be the one to have The Talk with someone when what he wanted was to indulge in a full-on pity-party of a Brood.

Because Pike would want you to do the right thing and be kind to someone in need. And Scanlan would find humor in the irony.

He took a deep breath. "The Madonna Inn - where we're at now... It's not my world, my time. It's not yours either. So I believe you when you say you just saw Liz, and you were somewhere else. But the Liz here, our Liz, has been here for months. And she might remember more or less about things you did together, because she maybe has or hasn't done them yet."

Re: Assigned threads - Meet w Vax

[st_rongliketeflon]

"Months?" She repeated.

Maria had no idea what Vax meant, but she had a feeling it might not be the best news.

"You know all this sounds like it's straight from a sci-fi movie, right?" She asked.

Re: Assigned threads - Meet w Vax

[st_abby]

His expression turned puzzled. 'Sci-fi.' Wasn't that- "Like the Star Wars? The ones with the glow-swords?"

He shrugged, not understanding the comparison. "I don't know about all that. But I do know it's a lot to ask you to believe, and who am I? Just a weirdo in feathers. Doesn't mean I'm lying though." He nodded in the direction of the front desk. "Let's introduce you to Darryl."