[forty] This so isn't going to work.

[goodgrasshopper]

I try this every time this static stuff happens, but no luck so far. Any little Carpenters out there?

Comments

[sonofaknight.livejournal.com]

But are you okay?

[goodgrasshopper]

I'm okay--more or less. Sometimes things go to Hell around here, but we manage to pull through. Kind of like home.

[sonofaknight.livejournal.com]

Yeah.

[Sibling bluntness]

You're not looking as anorexic anymore.

[goodgrasshopper]

A couple of months of good meals will do that.

[beat]

You're looking a lot less pissed off.

[sonofaknight.livejournal.com]

I. After. Dresden. I talked to dad some. I've been praying a lot.

[He looks a little awkward saying that.]

[goodgrasshopper]

...Yeah.

I... haven't. In a while.

[sonofaknight.livejournal.com]

[Awkwardface]

I figured. Neither had I. But it's not like I'm-- [hands.]

Mom's going to be so glad to know you're eating.

[goodgrasshopper]

[PARENTAL CONCERN. Much easier topic. She laughs.]

Yeah. Tell her I'm back to eating like the daughter she raised. [Nowhere near as much crap, now that she doesn't need to just GET FOOD.]

[sonofaknight.livejournal.com]

Like the daughter she would totally cook for if you would just eat dinner with us once a week? [NO ESCAPE FROM THIS]

[goodgrasshopper]

Daniel. I get it, okay? You want me to come home. Everybody wants me to come home.

[sonofaknight.livejournal.com]

Then why won't you? [Frustration face. You are seriously hard sometimes, big sister.]

[goodgrasshopper]

I can't. I just can't. Okay? Drop it.

[sonofaknight.livejournal.com]

[RRR]

[But]

[ARRGH]

[He rubs his head with a hand]

I just. Miss even having a little bit of normal.

I, uh. [Man up, Daniel. Even if she looks so normal and non-insane that it makes you hurt for how things were.] I miss you, big sis.

[goodgrasshopper]

You and me both, little brother. I... You know I miss you guys, like, all the time right? I don't stop thinking about you.

[sonofaknight.livejournal.com]

Me either. None of us. I'll tell everyone you're okay. Okay?

[goodgrasshopper]

Thanks. And you... take care of yourself, okay? I worry myself sick about you.

[sonofaknight.livejournal.com]

I'm not going out there to get hurt. But... I have to do it, like you. I'll try to keep safe. [Nod.]

[goodgrasshopper]

Thanks. I know you can take care of yourself, but... I worry anyway. Big sister's prerogative. It would kill me if something happened to you.

[PRIVATE THREADJACK] ...sorry, I couldn't resist!

[cisskabob]

She won't come home because she's trying to protect you. All of you. She thinks staying away will keep you all safe. Or safer.

...Um--sorry. I probably should have done this part first: I'm Cissie, I'm a friend of Molly's here. ...Don't tell her I told you all of that, because I really need her to keep talking to me.

[Private] HI MOLLY'S BUD!

[sonofaknight.livejournal.com]

I know she thinks she's keeping us safe but it's like she thinks that because we aren't magic-- that I'm not magic-- that I can't handle myself. Like because Dad's hurt he's stopped being Dad and I just want my family back together.

I'm, uh, Daniel. Daniel Carpenter. [Weak sorry for yelling at you smile. Sorry I've been having temper problems that have become a tactical weakness smile.]

[Private]

[cisskabob]

Hi Daniel; it's nice to meet you. Molly talks about you guys all the time. ...Well, she used to talk about you more. Now it makes her sad.

Listen, I don't think it's that she doesn't think you can handle yourselves. I think... I don't know what happened, but something did. Something big. She was here and then she went back home, and came back... different. Do you know what happened? All I know is that Harry died, and she won't talk about it. And that she ate about a dozen hamburgers her first night back here.

Re: [Private]

[sonofaknight.livejournal.com]

[Oh his sad face]

After Harry died-- Chicago got bad. There were a lot of monsters waiting in the dark, and then suddenly some of the vampires were dead and there was a power vaccuum and things were clawing in to fill it. It's like the worst high school civics lesson ever, with cat-monsters.

Molly... she left home. She's a vigilante now. A really, really scary one.

[Private]

[cisskabob]

Being a vigilante's tough. [THE VOICE OF EXPERIENCE.] She's probably trying to keep the fallout from that from landing on everyone at home. It's not really a job where you make a lot of friends.

...Karrin Murphy was here, for a little while. She mentioned it was bad, but she wasn't much more forthcoming with details than Molly. They... didn't really get along all that well.

[Private]

[sonofaknight.livejournal.com]

Murphy's still doing her best to keep it. Organized, I guess? To let mortal people have power. Molly's scary and magic and sometimes her work undermines Murphy. And vice versa, I guess. It just sucks for all of us.

[Private]

[cisskabob]

It sounds like it. There must be some kind of middle ground in there somewhere, though? I mean... Harry dying really screwed everything up that much? Not just for them, but--everyone?

...Is there anything I can do? For Molly, I mean. While we're here.