[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]

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.

[sonofaknight.livejournal.com]

I hate it when you pull that card. [:/]

Take care. Please.

[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.

[Private]

[sonofaknight.livejournal.com]

It's. Everything changed. It used to be that magic was just this thing over there that Harry and Molly did. Now it's important, now the worlds are smashed together and we haven't found equilibrium yet. [Like it? He got that one in physics last semester.]

Just be her friend. She doesn't really have anyone at home. She won't let anyone look out for her or help her. So if she's letting you do that here...

[He gives her a pleading look]

That's great.