21:11 <VoxPVoxD> Christ. 21:16 <VoxPVoxD> Willie gets home around 7:30, having driven slowly because her vision's still a bit blurry from the chemical weapons attack and her back and shoulder are still sore and stiff from the spaceship explosion. The hand with Kaga's leash is curled up in a sling Aaron had. She gets more than a few stares, this battered woman in her unblemished emergency post-hellfire clothes. 21:17 <VoxPVoxD> She slumps against the wall of the lift as it bears her home. Her keys are in the wrong pocket; Willie has to reach across herself to get them in the lock. 21:17 <VoxPVoxD> The door swings open. She is going to draw herself the hottest bath, and not look at or think about a screen for 24 hours. 21:17 <VoxPVoxD> Everything can wait. 21:17 <banana> There was no-one there. Willie's eyes aren't deceiving her - the space behind the door was genuinely empty seconds ago, it's just that the shadows have coalesced into a figure of menace, *depositing* a human shape in the air like it fell out of another singularity. She hears a hiss - that's not the air escaping; it's coming from a once-human throat. 21:17 <banana> It isn't Fortunato. 21:18 <banana> It's a medical student in a jean skirt and a Five Damians shirt. She's shorter than Willie, but it's hard to take that in, the jerky way she starts forward. Mari's hair is in a tight ponytail and her eyes are faceted, utterly inhuman, many panes coming together in crazy-patterned edges that briefly read as alien, more aliens - but the most evocative science fiction is based in biology. 21:18 <VoxPVoxD> Willie screams. 21:19 <VoxPVoxD> The dog pokes his snout past her legs... but it doesn't growl or bark. 21:19 <VoxPVoxD> It just stares at the intruder. 21:19 <banana> Mari startles and leaps back, into the apartment - it's not a human movement, either; she does something with her legs and then springs onto a wall, clutching at it at a way that doesn't quite make sense. 21:20 <banana> "What- oh my God, what's happened to you?" This is a bit rich. 21:20 <VoxPVoxD> Willie looks up and down the hall, half in hope that a bystander is there to get help and half praying that no one's heard her. 21:22 <VoxPVoxD> Willie braces herself against the doorway with her good arm. She wedges her eyes shut and takes a long, deep breath. Then she can steady her shoulders and look head on at "Mari." 21:22 <VoxPVoxD> She almost closes the door on Kaga, but he pushes inside. 21:22 <VoxPVoxD> She takes a step into the hallway, dropping her keys by reflex, not taking her eyes off the other woman. 21:22 <VoxPVoxD> Well. 21:23 <VoxPVoxD> Not taking her eyes off the woman. 21:23 <banana> Mari shies away from the dog, but won't stop staring at Willie. "You- I need to know..." 21:23 <banana> ... 21:23 <banana> "You need to lie down. The sofa.. have you got gauze in the bathroom? Those look like third-degree burn effects on your jacket, but I need to get it off to see the skin.." 21:23 <VoxPVoxD> Willie looks slowly from Mari to the mirror. Her apartment's got good light. She really does look awful, doesn't she. 21:24 <banana> Kaga looks considerably less demonic right now. 21:24 <VoxPVoxD> To her reflection: "Would you like some tea?" 21:24 <VoxPVoxD> "Or coffee?" 21:26 <banana> Mari: "If you can actually make it to the machine?" 21:27 <banana> "Tea would be... great? I'm going to get some water and bandages and iodine." 21:27 <banana> She turns to head into Willie's bathroom, having apparently familiarised herself with its layout and contents. 21:27 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "Oh, you don't need to trouble yourself. It looks worse than it is." 21:27 <VoxPVoxD> "You're my guest. I am at your service." 21:28 <banana> Muffled bathroom voice: "That's clearly not the case." 21:28 <VoxPVoxD> If she wanted to hurt her she just spoilt her best chance. 21:28 <VoxPVoxD> Would she think to make it look like a vampire did it? 21:29 <VoxPVoxD> Willie unleashed Kagemenauch, who goes to watch Mari in the bathroom silently, assuming she's got the door open. 21:29 <VoxPVoxD> Willie's not sure precisely how to interpret what Mari said, so she doesn't. She puts the kettle on. 21:31 <banana> Mari returns after a moment, looks at the dog oddly - it is an odd dog - and sets the basic supplies on a high table by the sofa. She watches Willie, silent for a moment, but Kaga can see expressions crossing her face - then she sort of stalks into the kitchen, more wisps of shadow appearing and trailing behind her. 21:31 <banana> "You should.. really sit down. I've just seen what you've done to your back." 21:32 <VoxPVoxD> Willie keeps her back to Mari. "Milk?" 21:33 <VoxPVoxD> She didn't take milk at teatime but this is a morning cuppa. Different rules. 21:34 <banana> "Blindness, Willie. This isn't an immutable ritual, you're not serving the Royal Family." 21:35 <banana> Very exasperated tone, but if Willie continues she'll pick up the carton and pour a little bit of milk herself, standing uncomfortably close. 21:37 <VoxPVoxD> Willie puts two spoons of sugar in her cup but no dairy. Taking it up with her good arm. "Thank you for your patience. Please sit." 21:39 <banana> Mari trails after her and looks for a moment as though she's going to stand out of sheer stubbornness. Then she finds a better excuse. "...Thanks, but I really need to take a look at your back first. Would it be okay if I roll this up?" 21:40 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "That's very kind of you, thank you." 21:42 <banana> Mari starts to say something but doesn't complete it. She puts her teacup down beside a chair that faces where Willie's sitting, then goes around the back of the sofa to roll up her shirt and jacket a bit. 21:43 <VoxPVoxD> Willie'll take the jacket off, though it's a bit awkward with the shoulder. 21:43 <VoxPVoxD> "I had some attention on site. There was an explosion." 21:44 <banana> With the jacket gone, Mari folds up Willie's shirt - neither rough nor enormously gentle; she tugs at the material enough to move it past straps and over what is presumably the scar from the flying debris. Now she's just standing behind Willie, apparently staring at her back. 21:44 <banana> "Are you sure it wasn't weeks ago?" 21:44 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "I didn't drive that slowly." 21:44 <banana> The voice comes over Willie's shoulder. "How tough are you? Why does he think you're the one that needs to be protected?" 21:46 <VoxPVoxD> "One of--" The explanation stops dead. "I'm not going to talk about this while you've got your fingertips on my bruises." 21:46 <banana> Mari: "I'm sorry. Just a few minutes more, then." 21:48 <banana> She dabs antibacterial where the scars are, which barely stings thanks to the Arrow mages' regrowth of a skin layer. It takes a couple of minutes to put in place a basic dressing with gauze pads and a wraparound bandage - Mari does fumble a little as she runs it around Willie's front, passing her the ends to tie off. 21:49 <banana> She's silent the rest of the time, then: "Could you just hold that in place while I come around?" 21:49 <VoxPVoxD> Willie imagines, distantly, that when she looks back on this, that will be the funny bit that sticks out in her memory. 21:49 <VoxPVoxD> She follows directions. 21:50 <banana> The changeling's averting her eyes in a way that reminds Willie of, well, Bob. She tucks the loose ends together and uses reef knot with a pin in it. "You could change that after twenty-four hours, or just take it off entirely if there's no further bleeding." 21:51 <VoxPVoxD> Willie, softly: "Thank you." 21:51 <banana> "I'll.. let you get your shirt back on." Mari doesn't look like she has any idea what the hell to do, so she sits down and drinks tea. 21:52 <VoxPVoxD> Willie does it slowly - the dressing makes dressing awkwarder still. "Did you look in the bag on the floor next to the sofa there?" 21:53 <VoxPVoxD> She means the canvas shopping bag, the handles sort of flopped disconsolately over the bag like a dog's ears, unless it was disturbed. 21:53 <banana> Mari: "No." There's a pause where she might have added 'what's inside'; she does look curious but also.. wracked. 21:55 <VoxPVoxD> Buttoning up: "I'd meant to give it to Bob to give to you. But it slipped my mind the night of. Happy belated." 21:55 <VoxPVoxD> She turns around. Her voice is warm; her face is merely burned. "That's the last delaying tactic, I promise." 21:56 <banana> "Ohh my God." Her eyes are back to normal, although that doesn't actually obviate the breaking-into-Willie's-apartment thing. "The night of what? Do I ask that?" 21:56 <banana> Mari collects the bag and peers inside. 21:57 <banana> Surely it's not another green dress. 21:57 <VoxPVoxD> Inside the bag is a bag. 21:58 <VoxPVoxD> White calfskin, silver trim. The handbag's clasp is a delicate silver affair that spirals out in a crooked but symmetrical fashion. It looks a bit like the laurels on her new hat. It looks a bit like the limbs of her pendant. It looks a bit like bare branches in winter. 21:59 <banana> Mari starts crying a little. Sniffles and a couple of big gulps. She's not wearing makeup, but the artificial lighting makes tears stand out on her dark skin. 22:00 <VoxPVoxD> Willie, to her arguable credit, only has to sniff sharply once to banish the same urge. 22:00 <VoxPVoxD> "I don't know where to start." 22:02 <banana> Mari: "I don't wanna take this.. I don't wanna give it back but I feel like.. it's like trying to buy off guilt, but you were trying to do good things, but that's not how it happened.. I don't know what's going to happen. I don't understand Bob." 22:03 <banana> She glares at Willie, as if she does. 22:03 <VoxPVoxD> Willie looks back. "What did he tell you?" 22:05 <banana> Mari holds the beautiful bag to one side on her lap so that it doesn't get wet. "He says you're in love with him and some vampires tricked you into admitting it and that he doesn't know what love is and that he will never hurt me which means losing everything else and that he would die for Carnelia and he's trying to copy what you're supposed to do in a relationship." 22:06 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "It was a short conversation, then?" 22:07 <banana> Sniff. "We got interrupted." 22:07 <banana> "He said you won, but it looks like you got hit with a tractor that was on fire." 22:08 <banana> Mari: "I'm sorry about coming here!" 22:09 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "You should have told me you were coming. You should have told me you were here." 22:09 <VoxPVoxD> "But you're here now... so let's not waste it." 22:10 <banana> Mari recovers herself a little. "I was, and am... angry. Even though I've done the wrong thing here, I want.. I want to know what you want." 22:11 <VoxPVoxD> Willie look down at her mud-scuffed chlorine-smelling socks. 22:11 <VoxPVoxD> "I want to go back in time a week and tell Bob he couldn't come." 22:11 <VoxPVoxD> "I want none of this to have happened." 22:12 <VoxPVoxD> "Failing that... as I must... I want to avoid causing either of you any further pain." 22:13 <VoxPVoxD> "At the same time, what I need is to know whether I can continue to work with him." 22:13 <VoxPVoxD> "Which is not up to me." 22:13 <banana> "Would that solve everything?" Mari considers her own question. "It would actually. I guess that was a piece of real shit luck. Bismillah. But I wouldn't know.. except I still don't know anything." 22:13 <VoxPVoxD> "Do you want to? Do you think the specifics matter?" 22:14 <banana> She pays attention to Willie again. "Huh? Um... no, the only thing that matters, well, you can't give me that." 22:14 <banana> "I just want my boyfriend to be my boyfriend and not a piece of shit and not be in pain and torn between whatever the fuck he thinks he's torn between." 22:15 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "He's not that second thing. He didn't do anything wrong." 22:15 <VoxPVoxD> "The fault is entirely, entirely mine." 22:15 <banana> Mari spreads her hands helplessly. "Bob insists it isn't, and I'm having trouble believing it too." 22:16 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "Why?" 22:16 <banana> "What did you actually do other than talk to the wrong mind-control bastards?" 22:16 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "Okay." 22:16 <VoxPVoxD> She takes a sip of her tea, thinks about how to formulate this. 22:17 <VoxPVoxD> Takes another sip. 22:18 <VoxPVoxD> "For several weeks now I've been working with some researchers affiliated with the Wise and Solemn Court. Vampire blood experts. They've been helping me understand my condition - the character of my blood - because it's a matter of great interest to them." 22:18 <VoxPVoxD> "Their methods are unorthodox. It seems to be a deeply inward-looking, psychological process for them." 22:18 <banana> Mari looks surprised, like this isn't the thing she expected explained, but she doesn't seem inclined to interrupt this time. 22:19 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "Mostly they've been trying to test for a hidden self, a possessor or passenger that was... more purely demonic." 22:20 <VoxPVoxD> "Mostly they do this by trying to draw it out in various ways. To bait the demon forth." 22:20 <banana> "Not something I've seen in the ICD." 22:20 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "They call themselves scientists. I'm not sure I would do the same." 22:21 <VoxPVoxD> "I had an appointment on Monday. At lunch that afternoon Bob asked if he could come. Said he'd cleared it with Aaron." 22:21 <VoxPVoxD> "I thought, what's the harm?" 22:21 <VoxPVoxD> "We get there, and there's an audience. Mostly vampires I'd never met before. Mostly juniors in the organisation." 22:22 <banana> Mari's fascinated, possibly despite herself. "This sounds so damn ominous." 22:22 <VoxPVoxD> "The supervising researcher has me stack a hierarchy of needs, as a psychological exercise. A means of ordering myself, of self-apprehension." 22:22 <VoxPVoxD> "As I said, very inward-looking." 22:23 <VoxPVoxD> "So I did. I put the desires and needs that were least preoccupying at the top of the deck, and the most distracting at the bottom." 22:24 <VoxPVoxD> "Then they told me to stand down in the seating area, with Aaron and Bob nearby, and to wait a moment." 22:24 <VoxPVoxD> "There is an alien will inside every vampire, thought by some to be a curse from God. They call it the Beast, and the put it inside me." 22:25 <banana> Mari catches enough implications that instead of crying she's starting to blush and look away. The mention of the Beast changes that, and her face goes flat with shock. 22:25 <VoxPVoxD> "So what I wanted at first was blood. And there were two sources on the floor with me." 22:26 <VoxPVoxD> "The only amount of thought I could get past the hunger was, Bob's easier." 22:26 <VoxPVoxD> "Now I didn't get any stronger or faster. I didn't become a vampire. So Bob wasn't in any danger. But he was frightened." 22:28 <VoxPVoxD> "The supervisor offered to take the hunger for blood away from me. And I agreed, insofar as I could." 22:28 <VoxPVoxD> "But the supervisor only took the 'for blood'. The hunger remained." 22:28 <VoxPVoxD> "The bottom card on the deck was sex." 22:29 <banana> Mumbling: "I guessed." 22:29 <VoxPVoxD> "Again, I had the same two options. Again, it didn't seem to be a choice at all." 22:30 <VoxPVoxD> "Nothing happened - nothing would have happened - but the atmosphere was unmistakeable. Bob backed away. I forced myself to regain my composure." 22:31 <VoxPVoxD> "It's not clear what, if anything, anyone learned... except that Bob learned he could never feel comfortable around me again, and I learned that I had not been honest with myself about my feelings." 22:31 <banana> Mari looks a bit like crying again. 22:31 <VoxPVoxD> "I am - for whatever it's worth - truly sorry." 22:31 <VoxPVoxD> "I would give anything to get that night back. I would give anything to be his friend again." 22:31 <VoxPVoxD> "To spare you both the hurt my actions caused." 22:32 <VoxPVoxD> "But all I can do is this." 22:33 <banana> Mari: "I don't see-" She coughs and starts again. 22:33 <banana> "...I'm not seeing the part where you did anything wrong. Okay, it was stupid to put yourself in front of vampire quacks, but that's.. what you guys do. That's the hero thing. I wish... I wish I didn't feel like I want to, to duel you to the death, pistols at dawn or something." 22:34 <banana> "The trouble in my mind that I can't get past is that you could take him away. Whenever you wanted, if you wanted it." 22:35 <VoxPVoxD> Willie sniffs again. "Yeah. I get it. And my assurances are water on an oil fire." 22:36 <banana> Mari waves her arms randomly, creating little gusts in the air. "You're more beautiful than I am and more exciting." 22:37 <banana> "Bob says he loves me and it... feels true.. but he says it like he wants a damsel in distress, to save, again." 22:37 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "Yeah." 22:38 <VoxPVoxD> "He does. That's not all he wants. That's not all he is. It's not as much who he is as he thinks. But he does." 22:38 <VoxPVoxD> "It's the only thing he does that makes him feel human." 22:38 <banana> "But it's not a bad thing. He wants to save people and he does it. Making the world safer and more normal for everyone else." 22:39 <VoxPVoxD> "It's not enough." 22:39 <VoxPVoxD> "It's not enough for anybody." 22:39 <VoxPVoxD> "That's why the need never goes away." 22:40 <banana> Mari: "There's not much point telling you this stuff instead of him, is there? But like..." 22:40 <banana> "Who even understands themselves." 22:41 <banana> "I'm even mad that you know him so well." 22:41 <banana> She doesn't sound mad. 22:41 <banana> Well, not anymore. 22:42 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "I can't do anything with what you tell me, but there's a lot to be said for having a sounding board to clarify your own thoughts." 22:43 <banana> Abruptly: "You said stuff like, Bob can never feel comfortable around you, you can never be his friend, that it's not up to you whether you can work together." 22:43 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "I did." 22:44 <banana> "It's not up to me," Mari points out. "That's not what I want, some sort of.. conditional relationship, promise not to see the rival, what's the point in that? I would never try to..." It's not clear what she wouldn't do. She's done things today she didn't expect to ever do. 22:44 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "I suppose not." 22:45 <VoxPVoxD> "That's a concern, because after you and after me the list of women Bob tries to get to make his decisions for him deteriorates rapidly in quality." 22:45 <banana> Mari stares at her, or through her. "Do you know what he would mean when he says, 'I just can't bear to see a woman cry.'"? 22:46 <banana> "I don't understand it, like, because obviously if you were to string a bunch of women along that's a good way to make all of them upset, like." 22:48 <banana> "Not that I think he's doing that, so... what does it mean." 22:48 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "I don't think it's entirely rational. I think a lot of men see themselves as fundamentally broken, fundamentally violent, fundamentally unsaveable. And I think they look for something outside themselves to to do what they think is beyond them." 22:49 <VoxPVoxD> "Sometimes it's a job. Sometimes it's a principle. Often it's a woman. Often it's more than one." 22:49 <banana> "Yeah, well, there's no way a chromosome does that to you, so... that's why men need feminism." 22:50 <VoxPVoxD> "Among others, yeah." 22:50 <VoxPVoxD> "Bob thinks the only thing he's good at is hurting people. He's wrong, but you can't argue him down from thinking that." 22:50 <banana> Mari: "It FUCKING SUCKS because if I feel hurt, I'm playing into it." 22:51 <VoxPVoxD> "Bob thinks he's too stupid and stunted to be a whole person. He's right, but only because it's a self-fulfilling prophecy." 22:51 <VoxPVoxD> "Yeah." 22:51 <VoxPVoxD> "Suddenly you have to police your emotions because you can't count on him to do the same." 22:51 <banana> "I'd do that if it means we get a life together. I'd do.. a lot." 22:53 <VoxPVoxD> That's the one that finally gets her. Willie reaches for a handherchief that still has his blood on it. Balling it up in disgust, she uses her sleeve to dry the tears. "Yeah. Yeah." 22:54 <banana> Mari rubs her eyes as Willie does the same. "Here's an actual question, do you think you could be his friend? Just that, and if it was just up to you?" 22:56 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "I don't know. I really don't." 22:56 <banana> "Well, you should figure that out." 22:57 <VoxPVoxD> "I don't trust myself very much right now. And I am very strongly motivated to act as if I could, despite that." 22:57 <VoxPVoxD> "That's why I'd really prefer to operate by some rule besides my own desires." 22:57 <VoxPVoxD> "I've never been any good at that." 22:58 <VoxPVoxD> "I'm not as smart as you are. I don't find I learn by thinking through things. I don't make better decisions." 22:59 <VoxPVoxD> "Right now, I feel like I'm too afraid of hurting him, of causing myself the pain of knowing I've hurt him." 22:59 <VoxPVoxD> "But... that's an assertion as much as it's an observation." 22:59 <VoxPVoxD> "I declare my fear so that I can hide behind it." 23:00 <banana> Mari: "We're low on rules. What kind of moral authorities speak to people like us? Heaven-obsessed wizards and threatening star-whispers. Hunters and Huntsmen. I just want to help people and hide away from this... pandemic of mortals." 23:01 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "There aren't any. If there were, they would be our enemies." 23:01 <VoxPVoxD> "So all we can do is trust that we can look out for one another." 23:01 <banana> "I'm being fucking pushy here, which is funny coz Sumi would be proud but actually, I hate it. What I think you should do is figure out how to be friends, which would be good, for him and maybe you, and then try to do it. I think you should try very hard." 23:02 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "Why?" 23:04 <banana> Mari: "Because you're good at difficult things, it gives you something to do, it maybe helps Bob learn new ways of knowing people than saving or fighting them, and I get to be happy as long as I can get over myself." 23:05 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "You're quite good at concise explanations. I think your patients will appreciate that." 23:06 <VoxPVoxD> "As one of your patients, I certainly do." 23:06 <VoxPVoxD> "I have to talk to Bob about this. Is that alright with you?" 23:08 <banana> Mari: "It's necessary, so yeah? I've got to deal with... I guess I wanted a hero without thinking about whether he'd be work . I can do it. I could use help." 23:08 <banana> "I also don't want you to get hurt anymore, if that's on the table." She's glaring again, at emotions. 23:10 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "I don't think it is. Which is one of the main reasons I'm very glad Bob has you." 23:12 <banana> Mari: "Okay, I'm not going to be happy about that until it's a less self-sacrificing thing, but thank you." 23:13 <banana> She hugs the calfskin bag. 23:13 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "I think you should keep it. It's far too pretty to return." 23:13 <VoxPVoxD> "That said... the receipt's in the bag." 23:14 <VoxPVoxD> "The big bag." 23:14 <banana> Mari nods. "That's just common sense." 23:14 <VoxPVoxD> "I'm not entirely unfamiliar." 23:15 <VoxPVoxD> Big, cathartic sigh. "That wasn't as bad as I'd feared." 23:18 <banana> The tea's done, too. Mari pulls a face, but does not choose to state the meaning of the face she is pulling. 23:19 <VoxPVoxD> Willie won't press. 23:19 <banana> "I had a lot on my mind earlier, so I didn't make it clear what the bandage is for.. you need to wear it for a day or two because the new skin is, um, the technical term is 'sticky'. If you put on a cotton shirt or lie down on grass it'd pick up impactors." 23:20 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "24 hours, right?" 23:20 <VoxPVoxD> "Then I can re-evaluate?" 23:20 <banana> Mari: "Yes, that would be okay. You... can call me if you need to. Gargh." 23:20 <banana> "I don't hate you or anything Willie." 23:22 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "I'm glad. That mirror's terribly useful and I'd hate to have to take it down." 23:23 <VoxPVoxD> "How else would I spot check my hair for spaceship shrapnel?" 23:23 <banana> Mari: "I'll go out the door." She stands, brushing herself off and putting things back in the carry-bag. 23:23 <banana> "There's one more thing I want to know though." 23:24 <VoxPVoxD> Willie starts to tidy up immediately, but stops when Mari speaks. "Yes?" 23:24 <banana> "When's your birthday?" 23:24 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "May Day." 23:25 <banana> Mari: "This one will be hard to beat... but that's pretty auspicious." 23:26 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "This is the good kind of competition." 23:26 <banana> Is that still true if she means to compete on the field of relationship drama? 23:27 <VoxPVoxD> Let the judges decide.