"Sorry for making you drive a whole hour, again."
Clark glanced toward the passenger seat briefly with an 'oh, please' kind of look. "You're not making me do anything. Besides, I get something out of this too."
"Which iiis...?"
"Free supper. Which I don't have to prepare," Clark grinned.
Clark glanced toward the passenger seat briefly with an 'oh, please' kind of look. "You're not making me do anything. Besides, I get something out of this too."
"Which iiis...?"
"Free supper. Which I don't have to prepare," Clark grinned.
"Are you nervous? I know I'm a little nervous," he
said after a moment. "I certainly didn't meet your father's
approval the first time we met."
"He can take his approval and—" she snapped, then
stopped herself short. "Ugh. I really hope we don't
talk about that. I'm increasingly getting the sense that it might
be what our last argument was."
"Your mother seemed to like me alright, but tended to defer to
him back then. Maybe their dynamics have changed a bit, and I can
work with her to steer the topic elsewhere if necessary?"
"Yeah, maybe. I would appreciate neither of us blowing our tops..."
"Yeah, maybe. I would appreciate neither of us blowing our tops..."
Rowan woke up, sat up, and spoke the phrase to change back to human
form at the same time as checking the clock. It was...getting close
to when Dawn and Cynthia were supposed to meet their prospective
therapist for the first time. They had been made aware of the
appointment, but there was a good chance neither of them had at it
the forefront of her mind, nor was really paying attention to what
time it was. And they probably didn't know what room to go to just by
its number anyway.
He tried Dawn's room first. The door was open, and she was sitting
alone in there, staring at a wall. "Dawn?"
Even though she must have heard him walking up, she jumped slightly
before turning—evidently expecting whoever she was hearing to not
be for her. "Oh..hey." Her voice was still slightly hoarse,
but seemed mostly recovered. "What's up?"
"You and Cynthia have an appointment, remember? Unless you want to call it off, of course."
"Oh...nah." She shook her head slightly, and went to get up. "I, dunno where Cynth is, though."
"You and Cynthia have an appointment, remember? Unless you want to call it off, of course."
"Oh...nah." She shook her head slightly, and went to get up. "I, dunno where Cynth is, though."
He nodded, gesturing that he would lead the way. "We'll ask
around."
As they walked through the hallway, Dawn said slowly: "I...told
her. What I done. Why..her house ain't there anymore. Dunno if she
even wants to see me again."
"What was the last thing she told you?"
"Jus' that..she ain't even mad anymore, and needed some time
alone." Dawn sighed. "In a way, y'know, that's worse. If
she got real mad, even if she killed me for doin' it, that'd be okay.
If she hated me—I'd know how to feel about it. I just...
"..I can't convince myself I did anything wrong. The way he
treated her, all those years...that night, she was hurt, the
pain in her eyes..." She trailed off. "What would you do?
If the only way to protect someone you cared about a whole lot
was...to hurt someone they still loved?"
"I don't have a good answer for that," Rowan said. "Nobody
should ever be put in that position in the first place. There are
supposed to be laws and support systems to keep people from being in
the position she was in. But sometimes the ones who are
supposed to enact those laws don't do their jobs for one reason or
another. Sometimes people just slip through the cracks. Sometimes
people..prefer the bad situation they're in to something unknown,
which as far as they know could be even worse.
"Still...it's hard to go through life caring about other people
at all, without sometimes having to protect them by doing something
they see as hurting them. Sometimes even, by actually hurting
them. It's not something I have an answer for. As former law
enforcement, I can tell you that it was against the law—that there
should've been a way within the law to fix the situation. But
just as a person, and knowing what I do about the situation—I don't
know that I can judge what you did as 'entirely right' or 'entirely
wrong'."
"Hmmh."
"Sorry—there are a lot of things I still don't know," Rowan said.
"Hmmh."
"Sorry—there are a lot of things I still don't know," Rowan said.
"Nah, it's...I'm glad you're bein' honest," she said.
After asking a few people, he located her in one of the lounges. Dawn
hung back while Rowan walked toward the door, and he nearly bumped
into Simon, who seemed to be in a hurry. "Ah—'scuze me, off to
work!" He brushed past Rowan, giving a brisk wave and running
off in vaguely the direction of the department he was supposed to be
working for. After watching him for a second, Rowan just shrugged and
continued inside.
Cynthia was busy closing a sketchbook and putting a pencil away in a
small holder built into it. "Hey," she said. "Guess
it's time, huh? You get Dawn already?"
He nodded. "She's waiting out in the hall."
"'Kay." She stood up. "Let's go."
He nodded. "She's waiting out in the hall."
"'Kay." She stood up. "Let's go."
Neither of them talked on the way there, although they did glance
each other's way more times than Rowan could count. Maybe convincing
someone to talk to have a few initial sessions with both of them at
once hadn't been the right call..but it was what they had wanted.
After Amory's call, Emma scrambled to clean up the apartment for
guests, even splitting into two bodies to accomplish it. It was
especially important that she did what she could to seal off
access to the empty bedroom. She thought about trying to make some
kind of snacks or dessert or something, but concluded that there was
no way she had enough time to bake (including half of learning how
to); she would probably screw it up and leave the apartment with a
burning smell anyway; and even if she pulled it off perfectly,
it would really be more suspicious for her to go to that
much trouble. So she wound up just sitting on her couch waiting for a
knock.
It felt like hours, but couldn't have been more than twenty minutes.
When there was a knock, she realized that she hadn't even
shifted back to human form, and spat out the necessary phrase in a
panicked whisper before getting up, stumbling slightly at the sudden
change in her height and balance, and called out "Uh, c-coming!"
while nearly falling right over the coffee table and barely managing
to catch herself. Then she carefully made her way past the
couch before running for the door to unlock it and carefully open it.
Amory's dad was tall. She was taller than she'd been before, yes, but
he was tall. And yet he didn't look particularly imposing, at
least not at first glance; there was instead something mild-mannered
and friendly about his build, his stance, and his expression. The
thing that kept her panic going despite this was the fact that when
she glanced across both of them she noticed that Amory, standing next
to his father, was nervous. He was almost never nervous!
"U-um, hi!"
"Hey, Emma," Amory said, keeping any nerves he felt out of
his voice. "Sooo, this is my dad," he said with a slight
gesture
"N-nicetomeetyou, Mister—uh, Doctor Baker?" she offered her hand to shake, and he took it. His grip was firm but not painful, instead seeming precisely measured: just enough to assure a proper shake took place.
"N-nicetomeetyou, Mister—uh, Doctor Baker?" she offered her hand to shake, and he took it. His grip was firm but not painful, instead seeming precisely measured: just enough to assure a proper shake took place.
"Just Emmett, please—I get enough of 'doctor baker' at work,
and it just sounds like a pair of occupations stuck together anyway,"
he said with a slight chuckle.
"Oh, u-um, sure."
After the handshake, she stood there awkwardly for several seconds
before realizing she was supposed to say something else. "Um,
won't uh—you, want to come in?"
"If that's all right with you," Emmett said neutrally, but
when she made way, he strode confidently inside, looking around as if
he owned the complex and wanted to assess the place for any feeable
damages. Finally out of his eyesight for a moment, Amory gave her an
apologetic look, and she shrugged nervously back with the kind of
slight grin that doesn't necessarily express happiness.
"I didn't really um. I mean, I'm not used to having guests much,
exactly," she said, turning back to the tall surgeon. "Theere's,
some seats, at least?" she gestured toward the couch and chair
on rent from the apartment complex. "I-if you want.."
"Sure, thank you," he nodded. "It's all right, we had a big meal before coming," he added, seeming to anticipate the meaning of her first half-sentence, if not read her mind about having considered making snacks and decided against it. He went for the couch, and Amory came and sat next to him, so she went and stood in front of the chair for an inordinate length of time before finally sitting down herself.
"Sure, thank you," he nodded. "It's all right, we had a big meal before coming," he added, seeming to anticipate the meaning of her first half-sentence, if not read her mind about having considered making snacks and decided against it. He went for the couch, and Amory came and sat next to him, so she went and stood in front of the chair for an inordinate length of time before finally sitting down herself.
Not seeming to mind this, Emmett went straight into conversation: "I
wasn't sure if my son would find anyone he liked before graduating,
but it sounds like you found him instead? I'd think someone as
good-looking as you would have your pick."
"Uuhh..th-thanks. But uh. I-I'm not really used to uh. I-I had
kindofa growth spurt recently," Emma said. "Uh—here.."
She got out her phone and flipped through a few things quickly before
pointing the screen his way. "Th-this is..a family shot from
last winter break. T-the uh, short girl, in the front row, on the
right..is me." She offered him the entire phone, and he took it,
looking at the picture with his head slightly titled.
"Huh. You had anyone check on your health since all that started? I know it can seem like a good thing, but it could be some sort of hormonal imbalance..."
"Huh. You had anyone check on your health since all that started? I know it can seem like a good thing, but it could be some sort of hormonal imbalance..."
"Dad," Amory elbowed him.
"Oh, excuse me—my education talking," he said, offering
the phone back.
"I-i-it's okay," she said. "I'm p-probably overdue for
a checkup anyway."
"Do you have a roommate?" Emmett asked, changing the
subject.
"Yeah, but she's..not here, much, at all," Emma said.
"She's a senior in culinary arts, but I th-think she's got some
family in town she stays with a lot of the time. Um, she likes to try
new recipes out on me sometimes, and..they're good, usually, but also
kinda spicy." This was good; she was able to recover her
composure some by answering a question she'd planned for.
He nodded. "I guess after she graduates, you'll be the
upperclassman for whoever moves in next to look up to."
"Uh-huh..I-I'm still not really used to the idea."
"So, how'd you two meet anyway?" Something fired off
briefly, in Emma's brain, about this question: It was..an odd thing
for him to ask, but exactly what made it odd escaped her
initially.
"Well uh..I'm majoring in English," she said, "and I
was struggling with...pretty much all my math and science stuff.
Amory..helped me get through a lot of that. I-I mean it wasn't just
me! It was like, he was one of the people helping out a whole
group of us. But..."
"He stood out somehow?"
"Y-yeah," she nodded. "It was—I mean, it's not like this is the first time I've ever had trouble getting this stuff. But he..Amory had a way of explaining things, and just being kind and not like he was better than us for understanding it better." Emma had briefly forgotten that Amory was in the room at the moment, and noticed him flushing slightly from the compliment. But, whatever, it was true! "I d-didn't ask him out at the time or anything. I mean, it wasn't something I thought about wanting to do until this semester. But I..."
"I've never really..dated anyone before? And we hadn't really talked outside of the study sessions. I had no idea how to even approach him. My roommate tried to help, but uh, her way of 'helping' just made me even more nervous. I-I feel pretty terrible about it, but I um..I would just look at him from a distance sometimes, trying to plan out how I'd go and ask him out, and then I'd get terrified that things would go badly, and I'd bail. It was..I mean, I kinda have a habit of thinking things will go really badly, like the worst I can imagine, and the longer I hesitate to do something the more and worse things I can think up.
"He stood out somehow?"
"Y-yeah," she nodded. "It was—I mean, it's not like this is the first time I've ever had trouble getting this stuff. But he..Amory had a way of explaining things, and just being kind and not like he was better than us for understanding it better." Emma had briefly forgotten that Amory was in the room at the moment, and noticed him flushing slightly from the compliment. But, whatever, it was true! "I d-didn't ask him out at the time or anything. I mean, it wasn't something I thought about wanting to do until this semester. But I..."
"I've never really..dated anyone before? And we hadn't really talked outside of the study sessions. I had no idea how to even approach him. My roommate tried to help, but uh, her way of 'helping' just made me even more nervous. I-I feel pretty terrible about it, but I um..I would just look at him from a distance sometimes, trying to plan out how I'd go and ask him out, and then I'd get terrified that things would go badly, and I'd bail. It was..I mean, I kinda have a habit of thinking things will go really badly, like the worst I can imagine, and the longer I hesitate to do something the more and worse things I can think up.
"But, Blake—who's uh, his roommate..um, I-I guess you already
knew that. Well—he, kinda noticed me, doing that, and confronted me
about it. I felt awful once I realized what I'd really been
doing—I think I even said I didn't deserve to even talk to
him after that, but he said..um. S-something like, 'Never mind what
you deserve. What do you need?'. No no, it was a lot cooler
than that," she shook her head. "A-anyway, he kinda
re-introduced us. And helped me actually ask him out."
Right...it was odd for him to ask how they met because what he'd said
a moment ago suggested he already knew—at least that she'd
asked Amory out and not the other way around, which meant Amory must
have told him. That meant...what, that this was a test? He wanted to
know if she'd tell him the same thing Amory had. In which case, who
was he testing—her, or his own son?
If someone had failed the test, Emmett didn't give any obvious signs.
He said, "Well, I'm glad to hear things turned out all right.
You both obviously like each other, too—that's good." He
paused, slowly nodding...to himself? Then he continued, "Well, I
don't want to take up too much more of your time, but would you mind
speaking to me alone for a couple of minutes?"
"U-um, no, that's fine," Emma said, so he turned to his son.
"You mind waiting in your apartment for me? I'll be back with you in a jiffy."
"Sure," Amory nodded, hopping up. He went over to Emma, gave her a brief hug and an encouraging look not quite in his father's eyeshot; she read it as something like 'I think it's working'. Then he made his way out of the room.
"U-um, no, that's fine," Emma said, so he turned to his son.
"You mind waiting in your apartment for me? I'll be back with you in a jiffy."
"Sure," Amory nodded, hopping up. He went over to Emma, gave her a brief hug and an encouraging look not quite in his father's eyeshot; she read it as something like 'I think it's working'. Then he made his way out of the room.
Despite any prior signs of success, this was the part Emma
found the most terrifying. It was worse that Emmett stayed quiet for
a long moment, his expression..not quite as much of a smile as
before, but otherwise completely inscrutable to her. Finally, perhaps
after concluding that enough time had passed for Amory to be
completely out of earshot, he mercifully broke the silence.
"I know this might be a bit of a strange question, but..what do
you think of my son?"
"Uh..th-think of him?" Emma was somewhat thrown by the question. She'd expected something about herself, maybe a challenge of one of the several not-quite-whole-truths she and Amory had fed him so far.
"Uh..th-think of him?" Emma was somewhat thrown by the question. She'd expected something about herself, maybe a challenge of one of the several not-quite-whole-truths she and Amory had fed him so far.
"Just your opinion of him," he nodded.
"W-well." She couldn't do better than being honest here.
"Amory is..a wonderful person. The best person, to me.
He's, smart, and kind, and gentle, and brave. Even when he doubts
himself, it's only about how much he's helping other people. He's..."
She felt kind of embarrassed to put it this way, but it was true.
"He's my hero."
Emmett nodded again, and she thought she sensed some kind of approval in it. "I'm glad to hear anyone say something like that. We lost his mother when he was very young, and I've never been entirely sure that I was raising him right. It's really difficult being a parent sometimes, you know? You just want the best for your child, but it's very hard not to just pass down your own trauma instead..."
Emmett nodded again, and she thought she sensed some kind of approval in it. "I'm glad to hear anyone say something like that. We lost his mother when he was very young, and I've never been entirely sure that I was raising him right. It's really difficult being a parent sometimes, you know? You just want the best for your child, but it's very hard not to just pass down your own trauma instead..."
If his last question had thrown Emma for a loop, this
completely confused her. It seemed like he was being entirely candid
with her, opening up to her about something he wouldn't even tell his
own son—at least not this way. They'd barely met, and
he was opening his heart just enough to show her where he was most
vulnerable. This was nothing like what Blake had warned her to
be prepared for.
And now he was being really quiet again. It felt like he was deciding
whether to say something or not. It was some thirty seconds of
agonizing eternity before he began, quietly: "I wonder, whether
I'm doing the right thing."
"Um..?" By letting her date his son? Emma didn't understand; it didn't feel like that was what he meant.
"Um..?" By letting her date his son? Emma didn't understand; it didn't feel like that was what he meant.
"You seem like a pretty smart young woman," he said. "And
I'm sure you have a lot more evidence to work from than I do."
"Uh..." Now she was really lost.
"Early into the monsters' attacks, certain individuals seemed to
be particular targets of theirs," Emmett continued. "Every
single person who received a power in the so-called 'second round'
was one of the ones targetted. There is an obvious correlation, and
reason to believe the two are causally related in some way,
especially based on some of the press releases from the VI on the
matter since then—if one knows how to read between the lines. Amory
was among those attacked: He was on the news—besides which he was
in the hospital, for which I received the bill. Therefore, he must
have been offered a power in the second round, and I know my son well
enough to know that he wouldn't pass up an opportunity to help in a
situation like this. In fact, I know he hasn't, based on how
serious he's gotten whenever the subject of just coming home to wait
this disaster out comes up."
Dawn and Cynthia both shuffled uncomfortably into the room, taking a
couple of semi-cushy chairs opposite their host. She was sitting in
another, similar chair not far from them, with no desk or anything in
between: a somewhat older, somewhat overweight woman with a visibly
cheerful demeanor. She didn't say anything until after the door
behind them had closed. After that, she introduced herself.
"..And you two are Cynthia and Donald, right? Or do you prefer
other names?"
"Uh..Don, usually," the taller vixen said. "But—lotsa
people mishear me when I say that..'Dawn' ain't so bad." Cynthia
just shook her head.
A brief silence hung over them, before their host decided to continue
talking: "I appreciate both of you agreeing to see me—or
someone like me, even if it's just the once. Sometimes even the
strongest of folks need help. I apologize for knowin' more about both
of you than you do about me, but it comes with the territory—you've
had pretty rough lives so far, for sure. I can tell ya mine hasn't
been all sunshine and roses, either.
"I'm fine with having you two together for now, but sometime,
you ought to talk to me—or someone like me—one on one. It's hard
to be totally honest around someone you know—even harder if it's
someone you care about. You keep secrets 'cause you want to protect
each other. Sometimes you won't say somethin' 'cause you know it
might hurt. And sometimes folks who've known you a long time will
keep secrets they don't even mean to, 'cause it's something they
assume you already know.
"Anywho—if you don't mind, I'd like to hear it from your
mouths. What you've been through, what's going on now? Seems like a
good place to start."
"Uuuuhhh..." Well, now Emma didn't know what to say for an entirely different reason! Her heart was racing and her eyes bugging out while she scrambled to think of some kind of clever response to deflect suspicion.
Emmett didn't seem to notice all of this, instead continuing on as if halfway talking to himself. "The only thing that doesn't fit is that there are no second-rounders in this city at all. He would have to be one of the ones the next town over somehow, or possibly Magus—but not only should he have started using his powers much earlier if that were him, but her powers obviously work in a fundamentally different way from normal vixens. Anyway, she must be completely exhausted after today's events, but Amory is perfectly fine. The only conclusion I can draw is that he must have been given some kind of background, support power...which would allow him to help while remaining out of view, especially with Light's help." He nodded.
"Iii hadn't thought of any of that before," Emma said.
"B-but I uh, definitely h-haven't noticed anything weird.
I-I mean, I've been with him around some of the times um,
at-attacks were happening, and he d-didn't go running off or
anything..." Some of that being technically true didn't prevent
her from sounding completely unconvincing.
He nodded again, the meaning of which escaped her. But he didn't call
her out on her lie, instead saying: "I've decided not to say
anything about it, so...I'd appreciate it if you don't tell him that
I suspect anything. I spent...so many years of his life not trusting
him to make his own decisions, and only the last two or three
learning to let go. It's hard, very hard for me, but..I want
to trust that he won't put himself in too much danger, or...that if
he does, it's for the right reasons. As badly as I'd rather he was in
no danger at all."
"Uh. S-sure, I, won't say anything, then," she said,
weakly. When was he going to say something about her being
completely full of it? But he didn't, instead slowly pushing himself
up to his feet.
"Thank you. I hope you're both happy together," he said,
coming over and offering her a hand. "For however long you
decide to keep dating."
"Um. T-thanks..." She took the hand, letting him pull her to her feet before shaking her hand again, fixing her face with a serious but still difficult-to-read look. Then, he turned and walked out of her apartment.
"Um. T-thanks..." She took the hand, letting him pull her to her feet before shaking her hand again, fixing her face with a serious but still difficult-to-read look. Then, he turned and walked out of her apartment.
Emma remained standing there in front of her chair for several
minutes, intensely confused. It felt like she was acting in a
play, and the other actor had walked offstage right before the moment
when he was supposed to have his biggest scene. Like he'd forgotten
all about several pages' worth of lines, mostly consisting of himself
talking, and skipped straight to the part where he left the room.
What she had said hadn't been the slightest bit convincing,
especially not with the way she had said it; why had he bought
it? Or—had he bought it? He could've continued on the exact
same way if she'd been completely silent, or if she'd told enough of
the truth to confirm his suspicions.
And...without thinking about it because she was still reeling from
everything that came before, she'd just agreed to keep his secret for
him, from Amory. Not that that would be..hard, since it
didn't seem like Amory thought he knew anything. Or, at least, it
wouldn't be hard for anyone normal. For Emma to manage it,
she'd have to push this entire part of the conversation far
out of her mind...after, possibly, lying to him just once about what
his dad had wanted to talk to her alone about. Hopefully...she could
manage that much. It wouldn't do any harm, right?
On his way back to his office, Rowan got out his phone and looked at
it. At first, he wasn't sure why he was doing that, but then he
remembered what had happened before he went to get Dawn and
Cynthia to their appointment.
Dr. Bridges was the only other person who knew about his suspicions
before, although assuming that he, Rowan, was the sole person
who'd noticed the worrying trend would be thinking far too highly of
himself. Maybe Ezekiel was hoping to find out the answer, or whether
or not he'd even gotten an audience with the Giver at all; maybe
knowing something about how the monsters sensed magic would be useful
to the research department in some way.
But he pocketed the phone again. If he really wanted to know
or thought it was important, Ezekiel would ask; in Rowan's own
judgement, keeping what she had told him a secret would be easier the
fewer people knew about it.
I hope these "in between action" episodes aren't too boring. There's just a lot of things I need to set up that will be pretty important the next in-story day. Anyway, the next episode was written in tandem with this one, so it's already queued up.
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