Who: Marian & Mary What: Meeting and discussion of a new place to live When: Mid February Where: Baxter's Bakery Rating: Low Status: Complete!
Mary Poppins seemed very prim and proper, the kind of British woman that Marian couldn’t claim to be at all. But they were from the same place, and Marian couldn’t help but feel a little responsible for making sure that her fellow countrywoman felt right at home here.
Well, as right at home as you could feel when England was nothing at all like Orange County, anyway. Still, there was Baxter’s bakery, and that was an excellent place to start. Baxter’s was, as far as Marian knew, run by a fellow Brit as well. The selection of Teas was extremely respectable, and Marian was certain that Mary would approve of that, at least.
She got them a table and ordered herself a coffee, as well as a variety of scones for the other woman to choose from. Baxter’s had the best scones in the area. It took every ounce of Marian’s will not to start eating them before Mary arrived.
Mary prided herself in her punctuality and was surprised to see that her new found friend had beaten her to the meeting destination. At least, she was sure this woman was the same. She fit the description and had a rather large array of scones around her. Mary approached the table, a smile on her face. “Marian? I’m Mary. You were kind enough to meet with me and help ease me into this new area.”
In truth, Mary was not the most sociable person. She wasn’t into the same kind of social culture the rest of her generation seemed to enjoy or find the same humor as most. Still, she had a kind disposition that she had going for her and for the most part, it worked. She only hoped it would continue while she was over here. Americans seemed to have an even more repugnant sense of humor, one she hoped would not rub off on her.
“Let me just grab a cup of tea and I will be back in a jiff.” She gave her a small nod and walked over, looking up at their array of teas. It was rather impressive, she was happy Marian suggested this area. She ordered an Earl Grey, a simple tea that could be found almost anywhere, but she was eager to see how their preparation would be. She enjoyed a very strong tea and was hoping they brew it just right.
She brought her tea back to the table, made to perfection. “I’m already impressed with this spot! Very good tea.” She smiled, setting it on the table and folding her hands. “So sorry it was a hurried introduction! Thank you again for meeting with me today.”
"Oh, no worries at all! I didn't mind. Yes, I am Marian, though, in case you were still uncertain. But I sort of imagined that you'd want to go get a cuppa before sitting down, and took no offense."
Marian liked to think she had an encouraging smile. Plenty of people in her dreams seemed to think she had the kind of face they could unload all of their woes onto, anyway. And it seemed to be the case here, as well.
"You can call me Hawke if you like. Many of my friends seem to prefer it, and I'm getting fond of it, too. Would you like a scone? They've got the best in town so I ordered up a few. I wasn't really sure what flavor you fancied."
Mary nodded her head in thanks, cupping her drink and taking a small sip. Perfection. “Marian is such a beautiful name. You won’t mind if I call you by your first?” Mary always thought it proper to call people by their birth given name, but didn’t want to sound prudish about it.
Her eyes lowered to look at the variety she had placed between them and smiled. “Thank you for getting us some food as well! They all look delicious. Which would you suggest?” She guessed any of them would do as Marian had picked them all, but it was polite to go to the hostess for guidance. Sometimes Mary felt completely at a loss in her new home, but knew she would have to branch out to really learn about this new place. She hoped she could do so without lowering any of her standards.
Traveling as much as someone like Mary Poppins had admitted to and keeping her standards intact this far was a very admirable quality, or so Marian thought anyway.
She looked the plate of scones over while shaking her head, "I don't mind. Not enough people call me by my first, since... most of them call me Hawke. I'm a little worried I'll forget who I am at this rate, so it's good to have someone willing to help me remember. As for scones, my personal favorite is their vanilla bean."
Marian indicated it with a finger, though she didn't touch it - she thought Mary wouldn't eat it if she did, "This one here. It's got little flecks of vanilla in it and the icing on is just sweet enough."
Mary smiled, already finding herself taking a liking to this young woman. She seemed to earnest and honest, traits that seemed to be fading from this generation. “Marian it is,” she said, nodding her head. “I take it your last name is Hawke? At least you will always have a little bit of yourself, despite being called your first or last name.” Her eyes made contact with Marian, her smile growing just a little before her eyes went back down to the scones.
“Vanilla bean? Would it be alright to share?” Mary picked up a knife and waved towards the scone. “May I?”
"Oh, by all means!" Marian grinned and nodded, indicating another vanilla bean scone in the pile, "We don't actually have to share, as it turns out, you can have one all to yourself if you like. I knew I'd want one for myself so I got a few extra of them. We've also got blueberry and lemon, orange and cranberry, one that's just got lemon in, a caramel apple one, and this one I think is some sort of take on strawberries and cream. They make carrot cake ones sometimes, too. Those ones are iced with cream cheese icing and they're really good, I was sad none were in the case today."
“Ah, very intuitive of you to think of two!” Mary set down her knife and placed one of the vanilla scones on the plate. “And you’ve gotten such a collection, I’m not sure if we can eat them all!” She smiled all the same. She was touched how Marian would go out of her way to help her feel more at home in this new area. “I think you and I will have that in common, these vanilla bean scones. I may tell my charges and students to eat healthy, but I do have a sweet tooth!” She smiled, tucking in to her scone.
“Delicious!” she said, taking a napkin to wipe at the crumbs on her face. “I can see why this spot is so popular! I’ve seen its name floating around the Valarnet as well.” Ah, the Valarnet. She had met many people on there, but some of the things she read were so strange. The dreams, abilities...sometimes people spoke and she had no idea what they were talking of! Vampires, werewolves, aliens, elves...it was such a fascinating place, yet hard to believe people thought these dreams to be real.
“So Marian, please tell me more about yourself! You’re so kind to meet with me and help me with the move here. I’m afraid everything seems so foreign and…” She squinted, trying to think of the right word. Vulgar? Dirty? “Overwhelming.”
"It's likely to stay a little overwhelming, I'm sad to say," Marian replied, sounding just as sorry as she said she was. The dreams were a very real thing and she was certain that Mary would soon find that out, all on her own. She picked up the other vanilla scone and took a few bites, waiting to chew and swallow while she thought about what to say, exactly, about herself. Sticking to the less strange details was probably best, "I'm a private investigator. My brother started the business a few years back, then decided to move back to London. I took it over for him, since I wasn't really ready to move back home yet. I've got a boyfriend... Thackery Binx. He's a vet and he tolerates me and my cat, so that was an instant win for me. My cousin, Maia, lives in town here but the rest of our family is still in London."
She decided to leave out what had happened to her mother, or the reason why the rest of her family had moved away. Mary was still new to town and she didn't want to scare the woman off.
Mary raised her eyebrows, surprised by that answer. Most people said it only took time for someone to settle in and become acquainted with everything, but Marian seemed to believe it would stay as such. Mary was almost afraid to ask why, but it came out nonetheless.
“Stay overwhelming? How so?” Perhaps it was something Marian had experienced in her transition from England to America.
Mary took another sip of her tea, enjoying the taste as it ran down the back of her throat. It was always such a comforting feeling. “A private investigator? That’s very different from what most people work. I hear many desk jobs, teaching, retail. Do you get a lot of business?” It may have sounded a little ruder than Mary had meant it, but she was actually quite interested. Anyone that was able to maintain a profession that wasn’t at a high demand impressed her. “Do you go back often to visit your family?”
"Well, overwhelming because... Orange County is known for a bit of strangeness, is all. You'll probably experience it for yourself sooner rather than later. We've got some odd encounters with lucid dreaming, and some other things. We probably need a voice of reason like you in town, really."
Marian broke off another piece of scone and waved the waitress over for a refill on their drinks. Once the girl was gone, she continued, "As for being a PI, well... It's not exactly always lucrative, but I make enough to keep myself afloat. I do get more business than people anticipated. Most of it of the cheating-husband-and-or-wife variety. Sometimes something a bit more complicated. Recently a young girl hired me to try and find her mother for her."
"I try to make a trip at least once a year. I'll probably pop over again, sometime after the summer's over."
Mary could only nod her head, unsure what she might have meant by their residence having a bit of strangeness. She had heard about the dreams on the Valarnet, but had brushed it off. What were a bit of strange dreams every now and then? That was the essence of a dream.
Nodding her head and giving the waitress a smile in thanks, Mary turned her attention back to Marian as she described her job. “Ah yes, I suppose I can see people needing one on a more daily basis for things such as that. Although if there is strange things going on in Orange County does that give you some interesting things to do every now and then?” Again, she had no concept what strange things could be, but perhaps it had an active gang life that needed some undercover research.
“I’m already trying to plan a trip myself,” she said. “The one nice thing about being a teacher is having a summer holiday like the children.”
"That does seem like a nice perk, though of course it also comes with the side effect of having no pay for several months. So..." Marian chuckled a bit, "I guess that's actually a bit like my own profession, though. You learn to set aside some money for the lean weeks."
After taking a sip of coffee, she continued, "But you do get some odd cases, every once in a while. The one case i'm on is because this young girl's discovered she's someone else's doppleganger. She's curious now if they're somehow related in the distant past. It's possible, of course, but it's just as likely that it's more of the strangeness. I'll do a thorough investigation, regardless."
“Oh dear, I opt to receive a paycheck for 12 months! It is a possibility that I could only receive a nine month paycheck, but I’m afraid I need to budget myself as you said and need to keep it to 12.” Mary couldn’t imagine having three months without a paycheck! While she wasn’t frivolous with her spending, she did enjoy taking shopping trips for herself and her home.
“She’s someone’s twin? Or actual doppleganger?” Mary frowned, trying to picture it. “And I’m guessing this is a discovery she had through a dream?” She realized her questions were a little pushy and she held out a hand in apology. “I’m so sorry. I’m sure there’s some sort of client privileged silence. I did not mean to be so nosy!”
"I'm not offended by your questions, but you're right. I probably shouldn't say much more about the details of it. But I think she found out about it on the net, not in the dreams."
Marian felt bad, though not being able to give Mary further details about such an interesting case. So she dug through her memory, and grinned, "But I can tell you about this one case I had last year, now that it's closed."
She waved a hand in the air, as if painting a scene before Mary's eyes. This was going to be a long tail, but the glint in her eye said that it was an amusing one, "It was a normal Saturday morning, and I thought I'd just get some paperwork done. I hate it, so I always wait until the last minute. But then, in walks this man with a handlebar moustache..."