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wrfmlogsarchiveWho: Mabry and Song
What: take a wild guess...
Where: Rainbow's End
When: late Thursday night, after Song's sparkly announcement
Mabry sighed and tapped on the door that lead to Song's suite. This once she brought no tea or goodies to tempt her little sister's tastebuds. she hadn't taken the time to go to the kitchen to prepare them. She had headed straight up the stairs and knocked on the door.
"It's not locked!" A more polite 'come in' was slightly beyond Song at the moment. She was sitting at her little table, doing apparently nothing except trace patterns into the woodwork with a fingertip. Amy's laptop was in front of her, but closed.
Mabry stepped in and took several steps towards the younger girl before stopping awkwardly. "You know . . . I'm a little hurt that you announced to the entire community before telling me."
"Mrrr." Song didn't look up or give an decipherable response to that.
"Song . . . ?"
"Are you going to sit down?" Apparently the tabletop was a very fascinating thing to look at.
Mabry shrugged and plopped directly down on the floor.
Song glanced at Mabry from the corner of her eyes, just long enough to see what she'd done. "Mrr," she said again.
Mabry waited in silence for a moment to see if the younger woman would begin on her own.
Song tilted her head slightly and squinted at a pattern on the table. It seemed Mabry would have to start this if she wanted anything productive out of it.
"Since it's you, I'm sure you've considered all your options, yes?" Mabry asked softly.
"Obviously." Her tone was perhaps a bit more rude than she'd intended.
"Have you ruled any of them out?"
She frowned at the table, considering her wording... She decided to stick with bluntness. "I always thought if it happened, I'd kill it."
"It's not really killing," Mabry replied. "You're what, one or two months? It hasn't been that long since Josi's visit."
"I know. I've never had any moral issues with it." She was still being shorter than usual, leaving her sister to pry for each answer.
"But even if that were the issue," Mabry went on. "We live in a world of magic now. I expect there is even a magic that would take the fetus from your womb and put it in another woman's."
That startled Song enough to make her finally look at Mabry straight. "Okay, that's just weird."
Mabry nodded. "I know, but the magic probably exists, if you wanted to pursue it. We did say we were going to discuss all the options. And this one leads into a similar one that differs only in that it follows carrying the child to term yourself."
"But it's mine." A couple seconds after saying this matter-of-fact statement, she removed her hand from her abdomen and wrinkled her nose in frustration, waving an arm to emphasize her little rant. "This is the problem! There is no logic or common sense here! Stupid emotions. Damn maternal instinct..."
"I see." Mabry looked at Songbird with sympathy. "I suppose it is hardly surprising that you take after me in yet another way."
"Mrr." She was emperimenting with how many different moods could be expressed with that phrase. This one was particularly grumpy.
Mabry rose and put her arms around her sister gently. "Then what do you intend?"
Song remained carefully still. "I don't know."
"You know that I will give you whatever help you need whatever you choose," Mabry said softly. "It's what I'm here for. I'll hold your hand through whatever medical or magical procedures you choose. I'm a midwife, for goddess sake, if you end up needing that set of skills. And my home and care are open to you and any child you might have, now or in the future."
"Cut the sap, please." She bit her lip, regretting her snippiness, but not quite enough to apologize.
"... I wanna talk to Josi, but he might not come back in time."
"Does he not answer his e-mail wherever he is?" Mabry asked drily.
"There's some kind of range on the network," she said. "I don't know about now, but there've been a couple times when he was too far away to get in touch with."
Mabry looked thoughtful. "It must be some sort of function of how close we are to each other. If you get far enough away from the others it breaks down."
"Or else it just doesn't expand past our region of gummi space, since it's connected to Earth. Most of us don't go out beyond the major Disney worlds. I think if you go farther, there are different kinds... maybe not even originated from Disney. That's the sort of place Ryuu went out to explore." The subject of cosmology got her opening up more, predictably.
Mabry's change of topic had been completely deliberate. "I don't know. I'm not certain that the connection to Earth is what is relevant. After all, we had access when Earth didn't exist. I think people are more relevant than geography."
"Hmm. Maybe. It depends on the nature of the network, but I still think it's tied to a certain area." She pulled the laptop closer to her and opened it. "I'll send a message to Josiah just in case."
"Exactly. And there must be some magical way of getting a message to him as well. I mean, you got dream messages to us from a considerable distance even if they were a bit muddled. We haven't yet figured out the range of that power, have we?"
"There is that... It'll take a bit more work before I can get the person I'm aiming for, though. Last time I got Brandon instead of Josi." She clicked through a few things and then typed a short message, glaring at it for a moment and correcting something before sending.
Mabry only barely managed to contain her curiosity and did not read over her sister's shoulder. "Song . . . I'm going to be serious now. I want you to approach this the same way you would any other challenge in your life. You didn't give up when you thought you could get your heart back, you didn't give up on saving the good that was in Xemnas, you didn't give up on finding a way to make your dreams come true, on saving Josiah from Calum, any of it. This is something you can do."
Song snorted irritably. "What, decide what to do with the kid? Or make Dreamira work? I think you're getting a little overenthusiastic with the pep talks."
"I think you're in a bad mood, so you're feeling cynical," Mabry mussed Song's hair slightly. "I mean that you can go through with whatever you decide to do. Either way, this is something that's making your life more difficult. But I just want you to know that it isn't really different from any of the other difficulties that you've overcome."
"Tch." She scowled at the computer screen. "Heartless? No problem. Organization XIII? Awesome. Pirate ghosts? Whatever. Babies? .... Oh god just kill me now." The last was said as monotonously as the rest, of course.
"You love Ashlyn," Mabry pointed out. "And Eli."
"But I'm not responsible for them."
"If something happened to me and Brendan or Amy and Jalen, you'd take care of them, and you know it."
"It's not just that..."
"Then what is it?"
"If I have a kid, it has to have the best childhood ever. And a mom who won't ever screw up or neglect it. I'm not sure I can manage that."
Mabry stared at her sister and burst out laughing. Soon she was doubled over and then she was rolling on the floor howling with mirth.
Song rolled her eyes. "Yeah, you're real damn supportive, Sis."
"I'm sorry," Mabry choked out. "But I think you're being a little hard on yourself. For godsake, I screw up all the time, but Ashlyn's okay for it. I think she's having a pretty good childhood, for what it's worth. I certainly don't neglect her. But sometimes good enough has to be good enough. Sometimes my hands are full when she trips, so she skins her knee, and sometimes we have food she doesn't like for dinner. No one can manage the best childhood ever and no one can manage never screwing up. If that's the standard you're holding yourself too . . . "
"That's not what I meant," she reiterated. "Anyone with common sense knows that. I'd boss the brat around for its own good and probably delight in it. But... I'm flighty. And impatient. Suppose something comes up and I want to leave? Or I have to?" She pulled a scenario off the top of her head. "What if Orpheus shows up and asks for my help with some big problem, and I'm torn between saving some far off world or staying home with a kid?"
Mabry put a hand on her sister's shoulder. "You do one of two things, and I've done both on various occasions. You bring the whippersnapper along--like I did when I was healing on Haiti, do you remember? The whole time, I was carrying Ashlyn around in a sling and letting her play in the grass with the local babies--really helped me to connect with people there, actually. Or you leave her here for the rest of her family to take care of while you're out doing other things--I've left Ashlyn with Brendan a time or to since we finished weaning. And she didn't suffer for either option." Mabry pulled herself up from the floor. "I'm also flighty and impatient sometimes . . . but there's something about a baby . . . that brings the patient side out of you. Not just about a baby, either, something about acting as a mom and choosing to do so. It first started happening for me when I started taking responsibility for you. Remember what I used to be like?"
Song chewed on her lip, apparently having run out of arguing points for now.
".... I just don't know. Remember what I was saying about marriage? It's not Josiah I doubt..."
Mabry paused for a minute. "Did you know that I had similar worried before my handfasting?"
"Anyone with sense would, I guess...."
"And since you have sense, you're in pretty good company." Mabry smiled. "You know, you could do that instead . . . try a traditional handfasting, binding you for only a year and a day, see if you can manage for that long, before making a permanent decision. And children born in a handfasting are considered legitimate."
"Sure, whatever. If Josi wants to." She sounded like she just didn't feel like arguing about that point anymore. "I still don't know if I want the kid..."
"Decide soon," Mabry advised. "The sooner you choose, the easier it will be, if you don't want to keep it. And otherwise, it will give us more time to get everything else ready."
"Josi better get my message..." was her response.
Mabry nodded, then changed the subject again. "So have you had any weird cravings yet?"
Song shrugged. "I'd hardly have noticed if I did."
"Huh. I got those early. Someday have Brendan tell you about the bacon ice cream incident." With which enigmatic statement, Mabry gave Robin a final hug and exited the room.
She gave the closed door a befuddled and slightly miffed look, then retreated to her bedroom to practice the dream spell. She didn't need Josiah's input to make the decision, but it would certainly help.
What: take a wild guess...
Where: Rainbow's End
When: late Thursday night, after Song's sparkly announcement
Mabry sighed and tapped on the door that lead to Song's suite. This once she brought no tea or goodies to tempt her little sister's tastebuds. she hadn't taken the time to go to the kitchen to prepare them. She had headed straight up the stairs and knocked on the door.
"It's not locked!" A more polite 'come in' was slightly beyond Song at the moment. She was sitting at her little table, doing apparently nothing except trace patterns into the woodwork with a fingertip. Amy's laptop was in front of her, but closed.
Mabry stepped in and took several steps towards the younger girl before stopping awkwardly. "You know . . . I'm a little hurt that you announced to the entire community before telling me."
"Mrrr." Song didn't look up or give an decipherable response to that.
"Song . . . ?"
"Are you going to sit down?" Apparently the tabletop was a very fascinating thing to look at.
Mabry shrugged and plopped directly down on the floor.
Song glanced at Mabry from the corner of her eyes, just long enough to see what she'd done. "Mrr," she said again.
Mabry waited in silence for a moment to see if the younger woman would begin on her own.
Song tilted her head slightly and squinted at a pattern on the table. It seemed Mabry would have to start this if she wanted anything productive out of it.
"Since it's you, I'm sure you've considered all your options, yes?" Mabry asked softly.
"Obviously." Her tone was perhaps a bit more rude than she'd intended.
"Have you ruled any of them out?"
She frowned at the table, considering her wording... She decided to stick with bluntness. "I always thought if it happened, I'd kill it."
"It's not really killing," Mabry replied. "You're what, one or two months? It hasn't been that long since Josi's visit."
"I know. I've never had any moral issues with it." She was still being shorter than usual, leaving her sister to pry for each answer.
"But even if that were the issue," Mabry went on. "We live in a world of magic now. I expect there is even a magic that would take the fetus from your womb and put it in another woman's."
That startled Song enough to make her finally look at Mabry straight. "Okay, that's just weird."
Mabry nodded. "I know, but the magic probably exists, if you wanted to pursue it. We did say we were going to discuss all the options. And this one leads into a similar one that differs only in that it follows carrying the child to term yourself."
"But it's mine." A couple seconds after saying this matter-of-fact statement, she removed her hand from her abdomen and wrinkled her nose in frustration, waving an arm to emphasize her little rant. "This is the problem! There is no logic or common sense here! Stupid emotions. Damn maternal instinct..."
"I see." Mabry looked at Songbird with sympathy. "I suppose it is hardly surprising that you take after me in yet another way."
"Mrr." She was emperimenting with how many different moods could be expressed with that phrase. This one was particularly grumpy.
Mabry rose and put her arms around her sister gently. "Then what do you intend?"
Song remained carefully still. "I don't know."
"You know that I will give you whatever help you need whatever you choose," Mabry said softly. "It's what I'm here for. I'll hold your hand through whatever medical or magical procedures you choose. I'm a midwife, for goddess sake, if you end up needing that set of skills. And my home and care are open to you and any child you might have, now or in the future."
"Cut the sap, please." She bit her lip, regretting her snippiness, but not quite enough to apologize.
"... I wanna talk to Josi, but he might not come back in time."
"Does he not answer his e-mail wherever he is?" Mabry asked drily.
"There's some kind of range on the network," she said. "I don't know about now, but there've been a couple times when he was too far away to get in touch with."
Mabry looked thoughtful. "It must be some sort of function of how close we are to each other. If you get far enough away from the others it breaks down."
"Or else it just doesn't expand past our region of gummi space, since it's connected to Earth. Most of us don't go out beyond the major Disney worlds. I think if you go farther, there are different kinds... maybe not even originated from Disney. That's the sort of place Ryuu went out to explore." The subject of cosmology got her opening up more, predictably.
Mabry's change of topic had been completely deliberate. "I don't know. I'm not certain that the connection to Earth is what is relevant. After all, we had access when Earth didn't exist. I think people are more relevant than geography."
"Hmm. Maybe. It depends on the nature of the network, but I still think it's tied to a certain area." She pulled the laptop closer to her and opened it. "I'll send a message to Josiah just in case."
"Exactly. And there must be some magical way of getting a message to him as well. I mean, you got dream messages to us from a considerable distance even if they were a bit muddled. We haven't yet figured out the range of that power, have we?"
"There is that... It'll take a bit more work before I can get the person I'm aiming for, though. Last time I got Brandon instead of Josi." She clicked through a few things and then typed a short message, glaring at it for a moment and correcting something before sending.
Mabry only barely managed to contain her curiosity and did not read over her sister's shoulder. "Song . . . I'm going to be serious now. I want you to approach this the same way you would any other challenge in your life. You didn't give up when you thought you could get your heart back, you didn't give up on saving the good that was in Xemnas, you didn't give up on finding a way to make your dreams come true, on saving Josiah from Calum, any of it. This is something you can do."
Song snorted irritably. "What, decide what to do with the kid? Or make Dreamira work? I think you're getting a little overenthusiastic with the pep talks."
"I think you're in a bad mood, so you're feeling cynical," Mabry mussed Song's hair slightly. "I mean that you can go through with whatever you decide to do. Either way, this is something that's making your life more difficult. But I just want you to know that it isn't really different from any of the other difficulties that you've overcome."
"Tch." She scowled at the computer screen. "Heartless? No problem. Organization XIII? Awesome. Pirate ghosts? Whatever. Babies? .... Oh god just kill me now." The last was said as monotonously as the rest, of course.
"You love Ashlyn," Mabry pointed out. "And Eli."
"But I'm not responsible for them."
"If something happened to me and Brendan or Amy and Jalen, you'd take care of them, and you know it."
"It's not just that..."
"Then what is it?"
"If I have a kid, it has to have the best childhood ever. And a mom who won't ever screw up or neglect it. I'm not sure I can manage that."
Mabry stared at her sister and burst out laughing. Soon she was doubled over and then she was rolling on the floor howling with mirth.
Song rolled her eyes. "Yeah, you're real damn supportive, Sis."
"I'm sorry," Mabry choked out. "But I think you're being a little hard on yourself. For godsake, I screw up all the time, but Ashlyn's okay for it. I think she's having a pretty good childhood, for what it's worth. I certainly don't neglect her. But sometimes good enough has to be good enough. Sometimes my hands are full when she trips, so she skins her knee, and sometimes we have food she doesn't like for dinner. No one can manage the best childhood ever and no one can manage never screwing up. If that's the standard you're holding yourself too . . . "
"That's not what I meant," she reiterated. "Anyone with common sense knows that. I'd boss the brat around for its own good and probably delight in it. But... I'm flighty. And impatient. Suppose something comes up and I want to leave? Or I have to?" She pulled a scenario off the top of her head. "What if Orpheus shows up and asks for my help with some big problem, and I'm torn between saving some far off world or staying home with a kid?"
Mabry put a hand on her sister's shoulder. "You do one of two things, and I've done both on various occasions. You bring the whippersnapper along--like I did when I was healing on Haiti, do you remember? The whole time, I was carrying Ashlyn around in a sling and letting her play in the grass with the local babies--really helped me to connect with people there, actually. Or you leave her here for the rest of her family to take care of while you're out doing other things--I've left Ashlyn with Brendan a time or to since we finished weaning. And she didn't suffer for either option." Mabry pulled herself up from the floor. "I'm also flighty and impatient sometimes . . . but there's something about a baby . . . that brings the patient side out of you. Not just about a baby, either, something about acting as a mom and choosing to do so. It first started happening for me when I started taking responsibility for you. Remember what I used to be like?"
Song chewed on her lip, apparently having run out of arguing points for now.
".... I just don't know. Remember what I was saying about marriage? It's not Josiah I doubt..."
Mabry paused for a minute. "Did you know that I had similar worried before my handfasting?"
"Anyone with sense would, I guess...."
"And since you have sense, you're in pretty good company." Mabry smiled. "You know, you could do that instead . . . try a traditional handfasting, binding you for only a year and a day, see if you can manage for that long, before making a permanent decision. And children born in a handfasting are considered legitimate."
"Sure, whatever. If Josi wants to." She sounded like she just didn't feel like arguing about that point anymore. "I still don't know if I want the kid..."
"Decide soon," Mabry advised. "The sooner you choose, the easier it will be, if you don't want to keep it. And otherwise, it will give us more time to get everything else ready."
"Josi better get my message..." was her response.
Mabry nodded, then changed the subject again. "So have you had any weird cravings yet?"
Song shrugged. "I'd hardly have noticed if I did."
"Huh. I got those early. Someday have Brendan tell you about the bacon ice cream incident." With which enigmatic statement, Mabry gave Robin a final hug and exited the room.
She gave the closed door a befuddled and slightly miffed look, then retreated to her bedroom to practice the dream spell. She didn't need Josiah's input to make the decision, but it would certainly help.
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