Richard Howell (
smokingtomb) wrote2014-08-16 10:36 pm
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[for
boom_kaboom and
superfluity.]
"Give Papa kiss for me," are Beth's last words to her father before he heads out the door, finally convinced that the stress of looking after his daughter won't make Smith's head explode or something. Beth thinks that's very silly; Uncle Smith feels more normal than he has for a long long time. Can't Daddy tell?
Beth runs to a window to watch her father walk down the sidewalk and waves down at him. He only looks up and waves back once, but she keeps waving until he's out of sight. Once he is, she turns to look up at Smith.
"You have ice cream?"
Beth runs to a window to watch her father walk down the sidewalk and waves down at him. He only looks up and waves back once, but she keeps waving until he's out of sight. Once he is, she turns to look up at Smith.
"You have ice cream?"
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"Do I have ice cream? Oh, Bethy. I have three flavors you can pick from." He scoops her up like he always does, heading to the kitchen. "You like my new place?"
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"You got chocolate? And vanilla? Can I mix them? Please please pleeeeeease?"
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He's definitely feeling her feelings. It's one of his less controlled abilities, where emotions can transfer, but so far so good. he knows he can't keep himself locked away from the world just to keep it at bay.
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Grabbing a spoon, he sets her down on the counter. "You wanna see something cool I can do?"
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At the mention of a neat trick, Beth starts nodding quickly. "Uh-huh! I wanna see, pleeeeeease?"
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"Okay, here we go." He concentrates on the cabinets, opening them up with his TK. That's the easier part. The harder part is when he tries to get two bowls off the shelf. Luckily, they're both plastic, because they go crashing down against the sink. "Whoops!" He laughs. "So close!"
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The laughter stops abruptly when he drops the bowls, then returns as a fit of giggles. "Oops! Uncle Smith needs lotta practice. Bowls okay?"
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"You're right, though. I need practice. I'm a little rusty, it's been a while." He carries the bowls back over to the counter, setting Beth down on it as well, then picks the spoon up. "I think that's my favorite one."
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When set down on the counter, Beth scoots herself far enough from the edge that her back rests against the cabinets. Wrapping both arms around Hairy, she blinks up at her Uncle Smith. "You can use if its your favorite. I use another spoon."
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He laughs lightly as he serves out the ice cream. "The floaty powers, I mean!"
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She starts bouncing inpatiently when he dishes out ice cream, resting her chin on Hairy's head. "Ooooh. Can you fly Uncle Smith?"
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He leans in and kisses her forehead. "No, I can't fly. That one would be cool though, right? It's cool enough that I can make other things fly, though."
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Beth beams up at Smith, chocolate already all over her teeth. "Be really cool! You make me fly one day? Oh, an' you have a big mirror?"
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He nods, grabbing some napkins and wipes both of their mouths. "Yup. I got a big tall one. Are you gonna introduce me to her?"
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She turns her face when he cleans her mouth, so he can easily get both sides. "Uh-huh! She said is okay, she was aspecting that." The word is 'expecting', Beth.
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He cleans both sides well enough, then tosses the napkin away and goes back to eating, watching her. "She was? How did she know?"
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She punctuates the statement with a huge bite of ice cream, somehow managing not to dribble it out of her mouth. She isn't so skilled as to eat at the same time, and so Beth only shrugs in reply to Smith's questions.
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He takes a few more bites as well, then waits for her to finish. He's looking forward to meeting this mirror lady. Or, anxious, really. "Want some water to wash all that down?"
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She shakes her head, then remembers her manners. "No, thank you."
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He kisses her head, then grabs some more napkins to wipe her hands. "Ready to introduce me to mirror lady?"
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Beth offers up her hands to be wiped off. "Uh-huh! Where's big mirror?"
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"Alright, off we go to my room. I have the biggest mirror there cause I like checking my butt out," he chuckles, carrying her to his room.
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She giggles, laying her head on his shoulder. "Like Daddy? Daddy hogs the bathroom when he's putting on his make-up."
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He laughs and nods, "Yup. Just like that. I'm pretty sure we have the same getting ready time." When they get to his room, he closes the door to reveal the full length mirror on the back. "Here we go. Is that big enough?"
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When she sees the mirror on the back, Beth grins ear to ear. "Is perfect! Just right for mirror lady!"
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He's a little nervous. This can go well, or not, depending. He's nervous about what it'll mean in the long run too. Or if he'll have to explain any of it to Richard.
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Beth plops down in his lap. "I gotta call her. Hope I don't gotta spit on my hands, that gross." The little girl leans forward, firmly planting both little hands against the glass. Her face screws up in concentration, and after a few moments the glass fogs and appears to ripple.
Aaaand mirror lady
The fog soon follows, revealing what appears to be a young Asian woman sitting cross-legged on a wooden floor. The room behind her is covered in greenery, plants having overgrown their pots and little trees in larger pots. There's the fabric covered corner of what might be a bed behind her, to the far left of the mirror.
She smiles, a closed-mouth expression that still manages to be warm. "Good job, Bethie. I'm so proud of you."
Lowering her hands to her lap, the young woman looks up from Beth to Smith. "Hi--Smith. Are you freaking out yet?"
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"Hi.... hi." Words will find him in a moment. "Not... well... a little, yeah." But he's seen a lot of things. He knows this isn't beyond the realm of impossible. He furrows his eyebrows, leaning in a little closer. She looks familiar. He glances at Beth, then back at her. "Holy sh...whoa."
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The woman on the other side of the mirror smiles, showing a mouth full of sharp teeth that are nothing if not bigger versions of the ones in little Beth's mouth. "That's right honey, we're the prettiest goddesses ever."
The older Beth looks back up at Smith, her expression turning distinctly wistful. She chuckles and waves at him, eyes gleaming with amusement. "Hi hi, Uncle Smith. Do you need a few minutes?"
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"Hi," he says again, then laughs, wrapping his arms around little Beth in front of him. "Mirror lady. It all makes so much sense now. Oh my god... hi!" He waves back. "How are you doing this? A portal or something?"
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"There's always someone stronger than you, Bethie," the older Beth corrects the little girl with her name and face. "But if you listen and practice, you'll grow up to be very strong."
The little girl nods and sits down on Smith's lap, laying back against his chest. The young woman sitting across from them both laughs softly, almost giggling. "Something like that. I wouldn't try to reach through the mirror; you might come through and I don't know what that would do to the space-time continuum. I like existing, I don't want to vanish."
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"Don't worry, I wouldn't wanna cause any paradoxes or anything." He pauses, then adds. "I wanted to make sure she was safe, you know? Especially since she asked me not to tell your dad."
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She nods, leaning forward slightly. "I remember. I'm sorry I scared you, but I couldn't take the chance that Dad would find a way to shut me out. There are things she--we--had to learn as a child that Dad and Papa can't teach us."
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He nods, because that all makes sense to him now. He feels a lot better about this whole situation, and about what little Beth has been learning. "You really think he would shut you out?" He thinks about how worried Richard is about sending Beth off to school and having her go through life. "How.. um... old are you?"
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Beth glances down at her younger self who's been watching the interactions like a hawk. "He might. Neither of you have any reason to trust me, and I can't do anything to prove it without putting myself at risk." There's a faint note of chastisement to her voice, a little like a kindergarten teacher really.
"Uncle Smith! I thought you knew better than to ask a lady her age."
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He chuckles, covering his mouth. "Sorry! Just.... you know! Extenuating circumstances?"
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She pauses, then flashes a smile that's as much sheepish as hopefully reassuring. "Sorry, I'm used to lecturing little Beth. She wants to come through and visit me. You probably won't ever have to know that."
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Smith does trust her. He can't imagine anyone wanting to make something like this up. "Well, Bethie is a good listener, then. Cause if it was me I probably would have had restraint at her age."
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She glances down and side-eyes her younger self, who is all of a sudden very interested in the wall. "She tried, and she's very lucky I caught her."
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He pats her little head. "It's always good to listen to your older self, kiddo."
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"I said no, Bethie. Not until you're old enough to understand what you see."
The little girl hrmphs, muttering very bad words in a language older than the country they're in. The other Beth snickers, shaking her head as she looks back at Smith.
"Or worse. I don't know what would happen if you changed anything; maybe nothing. Maybe everything. I'm already changing the past, as close to what I remember my mirror lady doing."
She bites her lower lip, as though to tug at a lip ring she's never had. Then she shrugs, and raises both hands to press them against her side of the mirror. It ripples, just as it did when the little Beth called her.