Just keep your head above Who: Brendan and Fable (and Fable's familiar Yoko, NPC'd) Where: Fable's greenhouse When: Afternoon
You should get some sleep, child.
Fable didn't need to see her familiar to know Yoko was nearby, nestled among the plants in her greenhouse. She could feel the dove's worry from here, almost tangible in the silence. Ziggy was still locked in the high school, alongside his students, and they were still no closer to rescue than when she'd first gotten the phone call on Sunday night. She'd stood, with worried families and friends alike, awaiting word that never came. Ainsley spent most of that time with the Morrisons - it was too cold for the baby to be out all day - and Fable weathered the storm alone, save for Yoko.
The dove had made a point to stay nearby since that phone call, always checking in. Perhaps it was their telepathic connection, but Yoko knew what Ziggy meant to Fable. He was her brother, her littlest brother, the only one who came to see her in Michigan. He was her sunshine when the darkness and grief over Tim's death threatened to be too much. Fable couldn't bear the thought of losing Ziggy, too. Yoko knew all of this, and was smart enough not to say it aloud.
In the end, it was her mother-in-law who convinced Fable to come home for a few hours. "Your daughter needs you," Mary Anne had reminded her, gently. "And you're no good to Ziggy if you're so exhausted you can't stand on your own two feet." Mary Anne was right, and Fable knew she was right, but she didn't eat, or sleep, like she should have. Like she needed to.
Instead she was out in the greenhouse, repotting a few plants that had outgrown their current homes. Fable needed that connection to her element, something to ground her when times were bad. It had always worked before. Just a few minutes of feeling the dirt, the life, beneath her fingers, and she'd be all right. Then she'd gather up Ainsley, dress the baby in something warm, and head back to the school, to wait some more. Maybe the baby's presence would do more to soothe her than anything else could.
Child - Fable. Yoko's wings fluttered as she landed, softly, on the counter where Fable worked. You can't keep doing this forever.
Fable wiped at her eyes, leaving behind a streak of dirt along her cheek. "I'll only be here a bit longer."
Not this. You know just what I mean.
She didn't answer, focusing on pressing her hands in the soil. Fable would do what she had to in order to get from one day to the next, just as she'd been doing since Tim died. It wasn't living, but surviving. She knew how to do that.
There was a soft click as the greenhouse door opened, but Fable ignored it. Yoko heard it though, and took off again, settling in a higher perch, above Fable's head. She's back here. Who was Yoko talking to? Should Fable have expected company?