Molly Carpenter (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
talentsgirl) wrote2012-10-15 09:32 pm
talentsgirl) wrote2012-10-15 09:32 pm
[ Voice, Action ] "That's a miracle pill?" "The chocolate coating makes it go down easier."
[Today, Molly is on a mission. She is raiding the Item Shop. It. Is. Going. Down. She can be seen tearing through the modest toy section and pondering for a long time over a set of Legos. She can also be found in the paints-and-dyes section. And staring far too speculatively at bleach for anyone who knows her to be truly comfortable.
In the end, she'll leave the store with a packet full of jacks, along with any other toy she's been convinced to consider, some dark blue and red dye, and... yes, some bleach.
In the afternoon, she makes a voice post.]
Hey, everyone and anyone - here's a question about your wings. I know they're sensitive to all the usual things, but who's tried dye? Or... bleach? Because I'm getting tired of wearing the colors that someone else picked out for me.
[But she has plans for twilight - a special time of balance and with what she had in mind? She could use all the help she could get. She'll be in the room in her apartment she's designated as her workshop, meditating in preparation for the magical experiment she was about to perform.]
In the end, she'll leave the store with a packet full of jacks, along with any other toy she's been convinced to consider, some dark blue and red dye, and... yes, some bleach.
In the afternoon, she makes a voice post.]
Hey, everyone and anyone - here's a question about your wings. I know they're sensitive to all the usual things, but who's tried dye? Or... bleach? Because I'm getting tired of wearing the colors that someone else picked out for me.
[But she has plans for twilight - a special time of balance and with what she had in mind? She could use all the help she could get. She'll be in the room in her apartment she's designated as her workshop, meditating in preparation for the magical experiment she was about to perform.]
[Voice]
... Okay, that sounded lame. What I had meant was 'With whatever is making you so damn edgy lately,' but I couldn't exactly come out and say that.
"If, y'know, you need anything."
[Voice]
And where was this coming from anyway?]
I know that, Harry.
[Her voice was quiet - if there was anything she believed, it was that Harry would always try, even if he couldn't see all the consequences, even if he failed, he'd always try to be the one who was there for the people he cared about. Even if it cost him his life. And she would always affirm that trust in him.
But she didn't understand why he was saying all this - or why he was saying all this so publicly. What did he expect her to say?]
But you're sounding kind of funny. Maybe you should get some rest.
[Voice] 1/2
"Yeah. Yeah, you're probably right. Sorry. Night, kiddo."
I closed the book, sighed, and turned back to my carving.
[Action] 2/2
I set down the knife and the block of wood. This, this was going nowhere on its own, and I couldn't just let her evade the conversation forever.
So I went down to her unit and knocked.
[Action]
Harry.
Molly unlatched the door, but didn't immediately let him in, instead she peered one blue eye through the crack in the door. "Everything all right?"
[Action]
[Action]
[Action]
I was never much for diplomacy, but I was going to have to try for this one. Try to go easy on her, and not to make her feel attacked-
"You've been avoiding talking to me."
... or that. Good. Good job, Harry.
[Action]
"We talk every day!"
[Action]
Molly understood people a hell of a lot better than I ever did, she knew exactly what this was about...
Then again, I had come on kind of sudden.
"You've been edgy ever since we took down Apep, maybe even longer. I just wanted to make sure everything was okay, that's all."
[Action]
...well, she could play this. She'd just have to be careful.
"Okay, sure. You can come in, I guess."
Molly stepped away from the door and opened it up, allowing him to get the full view of her in a towel, her golden hair tumbling in curls over one bare shoulder, tattoos trailing off beneath where the towel formed a flimsy, short barrier to his gaze. She paused a moment before shifting a little awkwardly.
"Just have a seat. I'll go get dressed."
[Action]
I forced myself to avert my gaze, again. It occurred to me that I'd seen this girl in little to no clothing entirely too many times over the years.
At least she was of age, unlike the first time it happened.
I found a seat and waited for her to get dressed.
[Action]
[Action]
[Action]
[Action]
I glanced at her, my mind rolling over the possibilities. Had I done something to offend her since I was here? I couldn't imagine what. The Shifts, maybe? But no, Molly was a smart kid. She knew we couldn't control those, that she could fall victim to them as easily as I sometimes had. Had I said or done something else? I couldn't think of what.
Of course, that's the problem with screwing things up, is that you usually don't realize you've done it until you find out the hard way.
"If there's something you know that I don't, please, tell me."
[Action]
She wouldn't say anything, wouldn't commit herself to anything, unless she knew what it was Harry thought he knew. This was too important for her to make any mistakes.
[Action]
I sighed. I was terrible at the whole forthright emotional confessions thing.
"And I think you know what I mean. You don't tell me what's going on. Half the time, I feel like you don't even want to be around me any more than you have to. And I know it's not getting better. I just want to know why."
[Action]
The name was said with a small, pained, quirk of her mouth. She and Thomas had laughed about that nickname during their War Council. What she wouldn't give for someone else to bounce a perspective off of right now.
"I know that I was all suited up and ready to go with you to rescue Maggie," she said the name softly, with a certain kind of tentativeness. "From where I was standing, there wasn't any choice about it. I thought I'd gotten stronger, and even if I hadn't, it didn't matter. I had to help."
She looked back up at him then, eyes wide and vulnerable, "I haven't gotten stronger, Harry. Not with this. I shouldn't have gone with you. The maliciousness of their attacks, the darkness of Apep's power and the... primal nature of Saori's... It messed me up for a long time. I didn't want to say anything, and you never asked. But it was bad. I'm better now. But... I can tell I'm not the same."
And Harry would know - he'd know her fear of being taken by the darkness which had tainted her. He'd know how scared she was of that one mistake defining her life. And maybe he would see the connection between this alteration and that fear, and maybe he would latch onto it as the reason - it was deep enough, shameful enough, after all.
[Action]
Dammit.
"Molly, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have dragged you into that."
She'd been the only one I knew who could get us the element of surprise, the only element in the village I could trust. I'd been too wrapped up in what I needed to think about it.
And of course she'd gone along. She trusted me. Dammit.
"... You could have told me. It's nothing to be ashamed of."
[Action]
She closed her eyes, exhaled, and shifted tracks, "There wasn't anything you could do, Harry."
[Action]
My veils weren't the greatest, nowhere near as good as hers, but it would have been something. Hell, maybe a potion, or- hadn't Sue Richards been around back then?
Still. Couldn't undo it. That's the bitch about mistakes.
"But thanks. For telling me."
[Action]