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Tweak says, "Soon."

Helena Wells-Quinzel is H.G. Wells (indelibleink) wrote in makebelievelog,
@ 2013-05-28 19:43:00

Entry tags:

h.g. wells, padme amidala

Who: Padmé and H.G.
What: Having tea and a friendly chat.
When: Monday afternoon (just a bit backdated!)
Where: H.G.'s sitting room
Warnings: Should be low

Slowly, Helena was adjusting. Adjusting to loss was nothing new to her. In fact, it was something the Victorian woman was far too used to. Sometimes it really did seem as though she should stop trying to be happy because it was always somehow taken away from her in a bad way. Helena really could only handle so much loss before she wasn't going to bother putting her heart back together. This place had given her a chance to be with Myka, to finally act on the love she'd kept silent in her heart. Just when she'd let herself dream of a future, Myka had been taken from her. Hope and H.G. Wells never went well together, not any longer. She should have learned her lesson in hope when she'd failed to save Christina with her time machine.

Claudia's visits were more than welcome, Helena needed them more than she would ever actually say. The companionship did help keep her from falling within herself, from keeping herself from closing off emotionally. The only thing that it didn't do was give her reason to put the effort into putting her heart back together. That would be a topic she would need to approach slowly, and once she was further removed from having Myka taken from her. So for now, she simply vented her grief, anger and pain in inventions and writing. Several inventions hadn't survived, having been destroyed in fits of frustration. Helena's writing also had suffered some of the same treatment. She would run with an idea, but when she grew disenchanted with it, or frustrated with it, she would tear the pages from her notebook, crumple them up and cast them aside.

Despite having just moved to a different room, Helena had still managed to turn her sitting room into a disaster area. Crumpled paper was strewn everywhere. Bits of machinery and scrap metal and other such spare parts were also strewn on the floor. So when Helena had made plans with Padmé for tea, she had quite the cleaning job to do. Helena started with the discarded balls of paper, gathering them all and tossing them into a proper waste bin. She then spent ample time crawling around the floor of the sitting room to gather all the bits of broken inventions. Once she was certain she'd collected all the bits that had been cast aside, Helena took them all into her bedroom, setting them all on the bed. She also took whatever inventions were currently being worked on and set them in her room, closing the door. She then took her tea pot and went to the kitchens to boil the water for tea. When that was ready, she took it back up to her room and added the tea leaves, leaving it to steep as she put the finishing touches on straightening the furniture.

Grappler was draped on the back of the couch, lazily watching Helena fluff the throw pillows. The cat's tail flicked back and forth, clearly knowing company of some sort would be arriving given the fuss Helena was making.

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i_cannot_follow
2013-06-09 07:47 am UTC (link)

"I actually die, after giving birth, in my own galaxy. I'm -" Padmé paused, trying to think what words she could even use to describe the feelings that the knowledge gave her. She knew there was likely other details, other things, at play. The loss of Anakin, the physical stress of being choked, the work load she would've kept up until that stage... but it still left some unsettling sensations for her to deal with. She assumed most everyone knew the details, of course, given how widely known Star Wars seemed to be. It was almost a little comforting to acknowledge it as a matter of her bringing it up rather than someone just knowing. "While there will be other things at work as well, I must admit the idea of horrors isn't something I find myself wanting to dwell on even amidst knowing the possibilities are there." It wasn't denial so much as a wish for the positive. "I'm a bit more fearful of my parenting abilities after the birth, though, really."

"Your brother? What were the social constraints that let him take credit? And do you have any other siblings?" Padmé's mind, of course, had gone to her own sister. The mention of siblings perked her interest. "And mostly work, really. Sorting through a good deal of paperwork is mundane, but occupying. Unfortunately, I can't bring any of it home with me. My time here, outside of work, has been turned toward trying to find new hobbies to take up time... I've tried archery, so far."

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indelibleink
2013-06-09 08:45 am UTC (link)

Hearing that Padmé would die after giving birth in her own world saddened Helena. She herself had come close to such a fate with her own child birth, and she knew mortality in child birth had been a leading cause of death for women in her day. Reaching out, Helena set her hand on Padmé's arm in a display of empathy. "Fear not, I will not dwell upon such unsavory details when there is no need." There was a difference between denial and wanting to simply focus on the more positive aspects. And with pregnancy, there were plenty of positives. "From what Anakin has told me of you, I believe you will make an excellent mother. It is not always an easy transition and it does take time to settle into it. But give yourself time and trust your instincts." Helena smiled warmly. "I was only 17 when I had my daughter, so I was somewhat still a child myself yet I adjusted well." Though that also partially had been due to the fact Helena had a strong bond to Christina even before the girl had been born.

"Women were oppressed, to put it lightly. A woman was not to have any fanciful ideas or knowledge of things such as science. A woman's place was in the home raising children and no where else. When she married, she was little more than property to her husband. There were female authors both in my time and before, but I wrote a type of fiction that women weren't supposed to have ideas about. My brother, Charles, took all the credit much to my abject ire. I did, yes. There were four of us altogether, I had two brothers and a sister. I was very much my father's daughter, much to my mother's abject horror." Helena wasn't certain what all Anakin had told Padmé about her, but she did wonder if the fact she used past tense about her family would be caught by the other woman. "Archery? That is certainly a good hobby to take up. How are you doing with it?" Archery was not something Helena had ever learned, but she knew it was a skill that took a lot of effort to learn.

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i_cannot_follow
2013-06-11 03:50 am UTC (link)

Padmé smiled at the empathetic motion and, genuinely, did mean it. "I've been able to meet both of my children, as adults, here. It's been - sad, in some ways, but it's hard to hold onto it. This place has been an unexpectedly positive thing for me, in many ways." That wasn't mentioning her time without the war, her added time with Anakin, or the child on the way. But there were so many good things, as well as meeting Luke and Leia, that Padmé couldn't bring herself to loathe the Land of Make Believe in the way that so many seemed to do.

"Anakin is capable of so many things, but the one thing I think him incapable of is saying something truly negative about me. He's - so sweet." Padmé remarked with more than a small hint of a goofy smile; it was a bit comedic, given how Anakin could come off amidst attempted Jedi stoicism, but she knew that Anakin was sweet. And she highly doubted Helena would disagree, given her friendship with Anakin. "I think part of my worries stem off of the culture I was raised in. I have the ideas of how I was raised - but I'm not sure I buy entirely into some of them being good ideas. For instance, the idea that the cause of adulthood is based on showing oneself to be mature, rather than age." It meant that children, in some ways, didn't get to be just children.

"That sounds - horrid. And completely unjust." Padmé was very firmly for equality. Sentient beings, no matter their gender, deserved equal opportunities. "You said the 'social constraints of your day,' but you are from Earth - right? Are you from a notably earlier or a notably later date than most here?"

"And I'm - well, I've been told I was a good student. It's a challenge, however. A good one, though. It's fun to fire something where there's no melting or other destruction." Padmé admitted. "I hope to do a bit of - baking adaptation, trying to change recipes I know to more readily available ingredients. And I've written a little, though more to organize my thoughts."

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indelibleink
2013-06-11 05:18 am UTC (link)

"At least in being able to meet your children as adults you know that they will be alright in their lives." Helena smiled, appreciating that this place was certainly one of new opportunities, even giving some a second chance at having the lives they wanted to have yet in their worlds due to one reason or another they weren't able to have it.

When Padmé spoke of Anakin, she well saw the smile and how Anakin made Padmé feel. It had always been obvious to her of Anakin's feelings for Padmé. "He is most certainly sweet and kind. You have a good man, you both are fortunate to have each other." Helena truly meant that. She was ware of Anakin's future, they had swapped their own stories. But the Anakin that was here was a good man and obviously a loving husband. Love at times seemed to be fleeting, yet Padmé and Anakin's seemed to run deep. Deep down, Helena did envy that given she'd been given a taste of mutual love with Myka only to have it taken from her. "That is certainly a strange notion, basing it upon maturity. We all have ways we were raised and things we would rather not pass onto our children." Helena had certainly raised Christina differently than she'd been raised.

"It truly was. I most adamantly hated the double standards of society. Women were expected to only ever lay with their husbands, yet a man could have as many mistresses as he wished. The mistresses obviously would lie with more than just their husbands." Helena rolled her eyes a bit. She could go on quite the in-depth and heated discussion on the topic, but she was going to save Padmé from having to listen to that. "Earlier. I am from about a century before the majority of those here. The time I was born into was rather primitive, even by standards a century later. We did not yet have antibiotics." It was sometimes a wonder that people had survived given the number of nasty illnesses that plagued the Victorian era.

"A challenge is always a positive, I find." Helena said with a smile, brushing some hair behind her ear. "You bake? Though it must be difficult for you to have to adapt recipes. How different is the food here from the food in your world?"

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i_cannot_follow
2013-06-11 07:46 am UTC (link)

"It is based on maturity, yes; I never questioned it deeply until the younger selves and the idea of being a mother in the future came up. I was in politics at eight, and I had been educated in it well before that age. I was an Apprentice Legislator by eleven, and the Princess of Theed at thirteen. I don't regret any of the good I was able to do, but - the idea of how most on Earth raises their children, among other cultures' customs, leaves me wondering about it." Padmé admitted, pausing to sip at the tea. All she had been able to do at the mention of Anakin being a good man was nod and smile.

"It sounds - absolutely primitive, to be honest." Padmé wasn't one to condemn other cultures unless something was absolutely unjust, but in this case it sounded utterly unjust. "And worrying."

"I do bake. I rarely had time to indulge in it, but I do bake. And there are - I mean, it's still bread, but it's Five Blossom bread, or Wastril bread, or Haarshun bread." Padmé tried to explain. "It really is trying different ingredients and figuring out what the closest is to the ingredients. I also don't remember some of the recipes, exactly. It's - a slow process."

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indelibleink
2013-06-11 09:17 am UTC (link)

Hearing that Padmé had been in politics when she was eight was incredibly astonishing to Helena. She blinked in surprise, her mouth opening slightly in awe. She knew the world Padmé and Anakin came from was vastly different from the one she knew, but she found that particular fact mind-blowing. "Every culture has its own customs, though I think it is up to the parents how they wish to raise their child." She wasn't about to sit and give Padmé lectures over what she should teach her child, that was not Helena's place.

"It was. I was fortunate. People died from diseases in my day that are highly treatable in this day. Though I enjoyed breaking social standards wherever I could." Helena couldn't help a smirk at that admission. It was true. Helena seemed to have lived for breaking social standards. She had been a woman far ahead of her time.

"Should you ever wish someone to try your recipes out on, I would be willing." It was interesting hearing about the different foods that existed in Padmé's world. "At least it is something you can work on and do your best to have that part of your home with you as much as possible. There are times when it is almost necessary to have something familiar in such a way."

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i_cannot_follow
2013-06-11 10:09 am UTC (link)

Padmé, indeed, wasn't looking for parenting advice. But she found Helena to be an extremely intelligent woman and figured that she wouldn't mind the explanation of Padmé's musing and pondering. "Thank you - I agree. Though I will admit, how I was raised is part of why I've been trying different hobbies. It's proving a little more difficult than I anticipated to find new ones, but the idea of expanding my horizons and trying things I hadn't before... it seems something perfect to pass onto a child as well as something worth considering, regardless."

"It sounds like you were a person ahead of your time." Padmé remarked, but nodded, then smiled at the mention of trying out the recipes.

"Thank you. I suspect having a few people willing to try them will be to my advantage, so I greatly appreciate it. Otherwise - even if I figure it out, the tests may get... old, quickly." She laughed a little, then paused before curiously asking, "May I ask - did you have any 'unusual' cravings when you were pregnant?"

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indelibleink
2013-06-11 10:29 am UTC (link)

"Trying new things is sometimes more difficult than it sounds. Though the work put into it will pay off. I do agree, it is a good thing to pass on. One is never too young or too old to learn something new." Helena was rather adamant in that belief. She was closing in on being one hundred and fifty years old, yet she was still learning, or attempting to learn, new things when she could.

"That was something I realized when I was unbronzed in 2010." Helena had said that without giving it proper thought. Though as soon as the words left her mouth, she wondered if Padmé would know what that meant or not.

"You are most welcome." Helena did enjoy trying new things, so long as they were within reason. She still believed barbecue food was completely uncalled for, however. At the question about cravings, Helena couldn't help but laugh. "Oh yes, I had a few of those. That was one thing I never actually grew accustomed to during my pregnancy."

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i_cannot_follow
2013-06-11 10:52 pm UTC (link)

"Unbronzed?" Padmé didn't know what it meant, nor what was implied in relation to it. "It sounds fortunate that you ended up in a time closer to what matches your personality, your desires. It's also quite fortunate that things adapted and grew... of course, that's the way of society, but I can't imagine if this place were like you described. And I've been told this place is quite like Earth."

"I've been craving citrus." Padmé admitted with a hint of a embarrassment, but a little amused at the same time. It was a quirk she had to give into and that was all there was to it. Still, it occasionally made her feel a bit insane. "Including in other dishes where it doesn't quite go."

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indelibleink
2013-06-12 03:17 am UTC (link)

"Bronzing is a process where a person is encased within bronze and are immobile but fully conscious. The place I worked at used the process for dangerous and rogue agents, and while I was dangerous, I'd requested to be bronzed. So I remained immobile but fully conscious for an entire century until a man unbronzed me." The effects that having been bronzed had on her was a topic she rarely spoke of. It connected to too many unsavory topics to go any deeper into detail about it than she just had. "It is very much like Earth, and I am certainly glad it is very similar to modern Earth and not one from further back in time. It is very refreshing to be in a place where women can do what they want and not suffer the harsh social restraints of my day."

Helena couldn't help a smile. "That is how the cravings go, they demand you put things together that should not go together. It will pass, it is just one of those quirks of pregnancy that one must take as it comes. One of my most prominent cravings was for cinnamon." Helena wasn't certain whether Padmé knew what cinnamon was or not, but she was offering up her own experience in hopes to ease the hint of embarrassment she'd seen.

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i_cannot_follow
2013-06-13 08:25 am UTC (link)

Padmé wasn't aware of the idea as being even remotely possible and, in truth, she preferred to think that it (hopefully) wasn't possible in her universe. She knew that some things that were utterly horrifying were done with cloning, most specifically in relation to the Emporer, though the state of the clone troopers was ethically questionable at a glance. (In retrospect? In the future? It was hard to classify the timeline.)

"What is cinnamon?" Padmé didn't need another thing to crave, but she was consistently curious if there was something new she should and could try. She tended to look up everything new before she tried eating it, to ensure it was safe, but it was a slow process. "And again, thank you for having me over for tea, Helena. It's always nice to take a moment and get to relax like this."

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indelibleink
2013-06-13 09:34 am UTC (link)

"Cinnamon is a spice that comes from some varieties of trees on Earth. It has a spicy, bitter and sweet taste to it. It is used to add flavor to various foods. Cinnamon is not one of my favorite flavors, but it is not one I hate. Though I credit that to the fact I ate a lot of it during my pregnancy." Helena commented with a chuckle. She didn't mind cinnamon, but she preferred other flavors before it.

"You are most welcome, I do enjoy taking these moments as well. I would even go so far as to say we should do this again." Helena suggested with a smile, looking at Padmé. It would certainly be nice to make another friend here, and Padmé and Helena obviously got along well. So why not pursue a friendship instead of simply maintaining an acquaintance?

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