Who: Kimiko Proudfoot and Tho Ford Harper What: Hero the bulldog wants to meet a familiar stranger. When: Thursday, 16 May 2019 | morning Where: Snowcap Warnings: None really
Kimiko had a routine that only varied infinitesimally from day to day, and the variation was all down to what route Hero chose for their morning walk. Today she'd pulled toward town, and they were just finishing their circuit and were crossing the street to head for home again when the bulldog's tail started wagging so furiously her entire backside vibrated, and her expressive face broke into a panting grin.
"What is it, Hero?" Kimiko asked her, scanning the street, and Hero whined and pulled toward McDermott's on the corner, toward a young man who was sitting on a bench looking down at his phone. Kimiko followed her, and frowned in puzzlement when the young man on his phone looked up. "Thorne? What are you doing back? Joe didn't tell me you were coming home." She approached the bench, letting Hero greet him with her normal excited panting and headbutts for petting. Clearly the trial had taken its toll on Thorne -- he looked off, even more than he had since their father had brought him home in February. "What happened with the trial?" she wanted to know immediately.
A couple of days ago, Ford probably wouldn't have even looked up, but it was becoming quickly apparent to him that his twin was far better known in town than he'd expected, with a mix of results. "Oh, hi. I'm actually not—" He was cut off by the arrival of the very enthusiastic dog, who was just large enough to be intimidating as hell, but just slobbery enough to be a little ridiculous, too. "Okay, yeah, hi, ew," he stammered as he attempted to pet the bulldog without actually getting his pants dirty. No such luck.
"I'm not Thorne," he finally managed, finding a good spot behind the dog's ear that seemed to distract him well enough. "I'm Ford, and I don't know anything about the trial except what I've read in the Ghost."
Kimiko stopped when she caught a good look at this young man's face, and even as he said I'm not Thorne, she already knew this was not her youngest brother, though he looked just like him. Her eyes narrowed. "Ford who? Hero, off. Sit," she added to her dog, who obediently sat down at the stranger's feet, her tail still thwacking enthusiastically against the ground and her tongue still hanging out of her doggy grin.
Kimiko folded her arms over her chest, looking narrowly at the young man. It probably would have been more intimidating if she had been in her pumps and suit instead of track pants and trainers, but that look on her face was one that had made many an opponent quail during her duelling days in school. "Please explain who you are and what you're doing here."
He'd had to tell this story a few times now, or bits of it, but Ford hadn't managed to feel any less awkward about it, despite the repetition. This woman was the picture of everything that tended to set him off balance in social settings: supreme confidence, a pretty face, and directness. "Ford Harper?" And, stupidly, it came out almost as a question. It occurred to him belatedly that he didn't really owe her any explanation, demanded or not, but he wasn't here to annoy people by withholding blatantly obvious facts. "I'm here for work, sort of, but mostly because I just learned I have a twin brother, and he lives here. So."
Kimiko stood stock still, and the expression on her face didn't change, but her hand tightened on Hero's leash. She watched him silently, considering every angle of this frankly outrageous claim. Thorne having a secret twin no one knew about was straight out of one of those silly TV dramas she never watched or novels she never read, and she was suspicious of anything that looked like coincidence. Ninety percent of the time, it wasn't.
"Thorne," she said after that long pause. Hero slobbered happily at that name and rested her chin on Ford's knee, looking up at him adoringly. "Does he know that you're here? Does he know that you exist?"
Ford swallowed hard and shook his head. "No. I mean, I don't know if he knows I exist or not. I guess he could and maybe never wanted…." He looked down at the dog and patted its head. There was something soothing about it, despite the drool. After a moment he marshalled his courage and looked up at her again. "Beyond that...I think I'd rather talk to him about the details first. You know. It's weird enough relating it to a stranger who happens to look just like you, much less anyone else."
He couldn't bring himself to say it wasn't really anyone else's business unless Thorne decided to make it so, but that didn't keep the thought from crossing his mind. Nor could he quite find it in himself to demand her identity.
She looked down at him, frowning for a moment. It was difficult to know what to say to this stranger wearing her brother's face, or do, until she'd talked to Joe and to Thorne; this was an unprecedented situation that dealt with emotions, history, and other messy subjects she didn't particularly enjoy thinking about.
Kimiko finally held out her hand to him. "I'm Kimiko Proudfoot," she told him, her voice even, without giving an inch. "Thorne is my youngest adoptive brother. As you can imagine, this will come as a surprise to my family, all of whom currently live in the area. You will almost certainly run into our other brothers. I want to let them know about you. May I?"
"Oh, wow, hi." Ford shifted in such a way that he could give her hand a firm shake (thanks, Dad) without dislodging the dog. "I don't actually have any siblings. Or, you know, the adopted, not secret kind. I didn't know that—well, anyway, yeah, that would be great." Though, in his head, great was something rather nerve-wracking. Just what sort of gauntlet was he facing here? "I didn't actually realize just how small this town was until people starting thinking they recognized me, or how big it could still seem when trying to figure out how to get in touch. Though I knew he wasn't here right now, so I had some time to figure it out."
"No, he's not." Kimiko frowned again; it was unsettling how little this person talked like her brother, despite looking just like him. She folded her arms over her chest again. "You said your work brought you to Snowcap. That seems very coincidental." Her tone made it clear that 'coincidental' was a mildly politer way to say 'unbelievable'. "What do you do?"
"I'm a public speaker, of sorts. I have a podcast." That explanation was easy enough; he'd given it to plenty of his parents' most friends who wanted to know a little more about their sick slacker son. He didn't usually elaborate with them, and he certainly wasn't going to now. This witch didn't seem like the sort who'd appreciate a fake-vampire's life story any more than the country club moms did. "My primary platform is Being rights, so not that coincidental. One of my business partners saw the news about the trial, caught the resemblance...and here I am."
That explanation was not wholly satisfactory and did not quiet her unformed suspicions about his intentions in the least; Kimiko eyed Ford without blinking while her dog attempted to press her head further into the young man's hand. "Here you are to do what?" she persisted. "Interview Thorne for your podcast? I would say he's had enough publicity for one week. Are you involved with NABE?"
"Yeah, um, no. I'm not a journalist. And if I was, I wouldn't be the type to lead a sentence with 'Partial vampire, Thorne Proudfoot, blah blah blah.'" Ford dropped into a voice that was only a few degrees off from the one he used in his podcast for Gawain's best friend, Adam, because it seemed moderately well-suited as a snooty reporter persona. "But I am sourcing content."
Her last question hit some wrong notes with him, and it was enough to keep him from elaborating. Just being Thorne's adopted sister was suddenly no longer enough to endear her to him. He hadn't considered whether Thorne actually got along with her or not. Maybe not. "I'm not a terrorist, if that's what you're asking." He said this looking down at the dog, who was definitely the less hostile of the two, giving it some good scratches. "It's impossible to be in this arena and not be involved with NABE in some way. I just prefer different methods of getting my message across."
Kimiko's eyebrows drew together just the slightest bit. He hadn't answered her most basic question of what he was actually doing here, which did nothing to quiet her immediate suspicions about his intentions toward Thorne. She needed to speak to Joe.
"I see," she answered after a brief pause, and gave him a little tilt of her head. "We need to be going. I'm sure we'll run into you again. As you said, this is a very small town. Come, Hero."
Her dog gave Ford's hand one last enthusiastic lick before trotting after Kimiko as she walked away, not looking back.
"Okay, right. Bye then." Ford raised his hand, but only ended up giving half a wave, because he wasn't really sure whether this conversation merited it or not. He only hoped she got the word around so that the meeting of real importance could be a bit less awkward.