maude gotti (morgause). (orcadian) wrote in fableless, @ 2016-11-04 05:10:00 |
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[ Bone has just unlocked his door when the familiar urge hits him. Before he even realizes what has happened his hand is already in his pocket, pulling out his phone, as he closes the door behind him and switches the lock with his other hand. For a moment, he resists. He’s not sure he wants to speak to her right now; the fight with Roz is still fresh in his mind, and even after taking a walk to attempt to clear his head he still feels like a mess. But he doesn’t resist the call much longer than that. ] CADENCE: [...] Hi Mom, it’s me. MAUDE: [ Low, quiet. ] Hello, baby. Are you at home? CADENCE: Yeah, I’m here. I — [...] Is everything okay? MAUDE: Everything's okay. Don't you worry. I'm glad you're at home, though. Do you have a moment to talk? CADENCE: Oh. Yeah, I can talk. MAUDE: I saw your interview on Wake Up Woodsbridge, honey. CADENCE: Uh huh. [...] Sorry. [ His intonation rises at the end, like it’s a question. ] MAUDE: Sorry? No, don't be sorry, it's okay. I was just surprised, is all. I didn't know you were planning to vote for Mayor Coleson. CADENCE: I guess we haven’t really talked about it, or anything. Too much else going on. MAUDE: True enough. [ She sighs. ] It's been a rough few months, so maybe we haven't been making as much time for talking about important things like this. [...] Have you talked to Roz yet? CADENCE: Ye— [ His voice threatens to break; he stops and tries again. ] Yeah. She came to see me this morning. She was angry. MAUDE: [ Again, she sighs, slower and deeper this time. ] You wanna talk about it, baby? CADENCE: Mom, it was — I don’t know — maybe. I mean, it was… we tried to talk, to talk about it, but it just kept getting worse. Her powers… MAUDE: Her powers? [ Alarmed. ] Are you okay? CADENCE: I’m fine, but the apartment is a bit… wet. You remember, how it used to be. But it hadn’t happened in a long time. It’s fine, I’m fine, except… [ Shame cuts him off before he can tell her. ] MAUDE: [...] It's okay, sweetheart. Take your time. What happened when you tried to talk? CADENCE: The bathroom was flooding. She freaked out. MAUDE: Freaked out…? What happened then? CADENCE: I told her it was fine. I tried to, at least. MAUDE: But? CADENCE: It didn’t work, she came over to me and I — I — MAUDE: Cadence. CADENCE: I guess I was sort of freaked out, too. MAUDE: [...] Because of the argument? Or her powers? [ She sounds uncertain. ] CADENCE: I don’t know. Either, maybe. Both. I didn’t mean to, Mom, I swear I didn’t. I would never — I didn’t want to. But I knew she was going to come, I knew something would happen, I didn’t want her to be mad at me but I was af— I was afraid she would be. MAUDE: What exactly did you do, Cay? CADENCE: She tried to touch me, and I [...] moved. MAUDE: [ Ah. Now she's getting the picture. ] So Roz lost control of her powers and you were a little afraid. It can be startling. CADENCE: She left. I think she was crying. MAUDE: [ Sighs. ] Well, sweetheart, I think it's been a hard month for all of us. I think she's probably a little overwhelmed by everything, too. Did you have any trouble getting the apartment cleaned up? CADENCE: I haven’t touched it yet, I just… I hate this. I wish I could take it back. I really didn’t mean to, Mom… MAUDE: I know you didn't, baby. And you can tell her that — soon. Give her a little time. I can come over and help you clean up. How bad is it? CADENCE: It’s okay. It could be worse. Tyler already noticed, and Kit says we have renter’s insurance. We’ll get started on it soon. Thanks, though. MAUDE: Good, that's good. Let me know if I can get anything. Or call a plumber — I think your father still has one on speed dial. [ She laughs, albeit quietly, then takes a deep breath. ] About Coleson, honey… CADENCE: Yeah? MAUDE: Are you sure? CADENCE: I honestly don’t care that much. If just voting for Danby meant Roz wouldn’t be upset with me, then… sure, I guess. But, I mean, just what I think between them, yeah. MAUDE: But what Coleson's proposing, the partial registration — honey, his platform rests on you. On us. He's been using your name as a justification for everything he wants to do. CADENCE: I don’t really care what he does with my name. I just don’t want it to happen again. MAUDE: [ Sharply. ] Cadence, you should care. You saying that you support him is going to affect people, how they vote, what they think. And registration is — not the solution. Enforced registration? Come on, baby. You know your history. CADENCE: It probably won’t be a solution but at least he’s trying. I don’t want to fight about this again, Mom… MAUDE: I know, I know. I'm sorry. I don't want to fight. [...] But I don't agree with Coleson. If I really thought that it would make a difference, you know I'd vote for him in a heartbeat, honey. CADENCE: I know. I just [...] I know. Maybe we can talk about it another day. MAUDE: Okay. That's all right. [ Deep breath. ] I love you very much, you know. And so does your dad, and your sister, and your father, too. We're going to make sure it doesn't happen again. Okay? CADENCE: [ Quietly, with a little relief. ] Okay. I love you too, Mom. All of you. MAUDE: Things are going to be okay. I know it might not feel like that always, but… [ Changing tacts, suddenly. ] How many people would you say you helped today, honey? CADENCE: Me? Oh. I don’t know. I’m really not that helpful yet. I did a couple of physicals today by myself. MAUDE: So say you gave those people a little bit of peace of mind. It might not seem like much in the grand scheme of things, but that's the thing about the bigger picture — it only happens one small piece at a time. [ Gently. ] Try to remember that being okay happens day by day. Some days it's harder to see than other days, but you can't let that stop you. CADENCE: There’ve been days that were better than others. And I’m trying to think about that and believe that things will work out. That there’s hope, I guess. But things haven’t looked very hopeful around here lately. MAUDE: Having belief in hope is probably one of the hardest things to hold onto. Focus on believing in the things you can do, the things you can control, to remind you that the world keeps on moving to get you through the worse days into the better ones. CADENCE: I just feel like there’s not much that I have any control over at all. MAUDE: There's your job. Doing what you do, that's absolutely something you have control over, honey. CADENCE: Not always. Not in this profession. Sometimes there’s nothing you can do. [ A brief pause, followed by a sigh. ] Too fitting. MAUDE: [ Firmly. ] There's always something you can do, even if it's just giving someone answers. Or being there for them. Making them feel a little less alone. CADENCE: Or just studying harder? [ Laughs, a little haltingly. ] It’s something. [ Another pause. ] I should get to mopping up this water. I’ll call you tomorrow? MAUDE: Good. Yes, call me tomorrow. And text me, you hear? I love you, baby. CADENCE: I love you too. I will — promise. |