Who: Maleficent and Jane Shepard What: Meeting for lunch When: [Backdated] Early December Where: Random Cafe Rating/Warnings: Low/None Status: Closed/Completed GDoc
One of Shepard’s biggest mistakes lately had been to close herself off. It wasn’t just that she was handling a break up or that she didn’t feel entirely involved in her friends lives, but she didn’t feel like she connected with people any more. She spent more time on the Normandy than she did on the ground but at least up there she felt like she belonged.
It was probably unhealthy and she should probably take steps to address it, and having lunch with someone was probably a good first step.
She only murdered two hedgerows and a single trashcan on the way to the cafe, and only had one wheel over the line when she parked her SUV (a new record for her). She slid out of the vehicle, boots crunching in the snow. She’d bought an N7 jacket, because the irony amused her and she’d finally accepted that she was a video game. (at least that’s what she kept telling herself). It looked good on her, and it was warm, and it was like a piece of home.
The dreams had also shut Maleficent off from the world. If she wasn't working, she was at her parents, and at work she was constantly worrying over what was going on with her and Hansel. She kept pushing those thoughts to the back of her mind, however, it still bothered her sometimes.
Getting out to have lunch with a new person was welcome. Even if they never spoke again after today, at least she could say that she tried to make a new friend. She was already standing in front of the cafe, having booked out of the store a little early because she hadn't had any more clients to deal with.
Her hands were stuffed down into the pockets of her newly purchased coat since it'd started snowing. Nothing really surprised her any longer in the OC. She curiously turned her head as a woman arrived, her parking job a little less than desired, but it could've been worse she supposed.
Maleficent smiled, "Hello." She greeted her with a small nod of her head.
"Afternoon." Jane nodded at Maleficent. The woman had an interesting face, she thought. Very sharp features and the hints of otherworldliness to her eyes. Jane decided she liked the look. Her own face was criss-crossed with a network of faint scars. Very rarely, in the right light, they almost seemed to glow in places. It wasn't as bad as it had used to be. Maybe she'd finally discovered the right balance between doing the right thing, and doing the right thing in the wrong way.
She held out her hand and flashed her a toothy grin. "Lets make it official. Jane Shepard. Nice to meet you, Maleficent."
Such an odd name, but that was a regularity in the OC.
Chuckling, Maleficent took Jane's hand and gave it a firm shake. "Nice to meet you as well, Jane." There was something very strong about this woman before her, and she'd not just gathered that from the short discussion they'd had via the Network. Maleficent wondered what her full story was. No one appeared to escape the Network without dreaming, although some didn't dream right away.
"Now, let's go have some lunch hm? I'm pretty hungry." Most of the time Maleficent was too busy to worry about feeding herself, so she sometimes skipped meals not even realizing that she had. She opened the door to the cafe, and went inside. Going over to the counter, she ordered her usual turkey on rye with a variety of veggies and a small tea. "How long have you been living here in the OC?" She asked while she waited on her order to be prepared.
"Starving. Had a small breakfast." She still had that grin on her face as she went inside. The smell of food made her realize just how starving she was. It all looked so good, and she settled on a sandwich as well. Roast beef. She leaned against the counter as she considered Maleficent's question. "About 18 months now. After I was discharged from the Marines, a cousin suggested I come out here to recover."
And she still owed her cousin a punch in the nose for that. She still didn't understand that part. Her cousin was also a Shepard, who'd also dreamed, but their dreams had turned out so different. Tyra had also tended to be a lot more relaxed and flippant than Jane was.
Maleficent could understand that. She hadn't actually eaten any breakfast that morning, so lunch was definitely important to her.
Curiously she canted her head to the side at Jane's response. It wasn't an awful place to live, although the dreams were questionable, but Maleficent found that she was enjoying her time here in spite of them. "That's a good while. I've not been here that long, about six months now." She hadn't joined the network right away once she'd moved there, but someone at work had mentioned it so she figured it would be a place to meet new people. "I moved here to help take care of my mother, and help my father out. She has alzheimer's." Maleficent lifted a shoulder, and then took her sandwich once it was up.
“I’m sorry.” It was the sort of thing you were expected to say, but Jane sounded genuine. She’d had friends who’d gone through that with family, and then illness in general was something she understood - she’d lost friends to things before. “That must be difficult sometimes.”
Jane took a bite of her own sandwich. “Sometimes I think I shouldn’t have come here. Or at least been warned I might start dreaming some really traumatic things.” She couldn’t generally compare different dreams. Who’s dreams were worse wasn’t a very fun game to play and Jane never wanted to downplay someone’s bad dreams.
Maleficent gave a small nod, "It's hard sometimes, I won't deny that, but she has good days too." The hardest part was watching the woman that had raised her deteriorating right before her eyes, and seeing her father be a mess.
Tipping her head, Maleficent took a sip of her drink to wash down her food before speaking again. "That would've been nice." She'd thought people were crazy when she'd first joined the network about the dreams, but time had proven her to be a fool. "That's why I think it's a good thing when others warn the newcomers to the network."
"Of course the problem there is getting them to think you're not crazy." Jane shook her head, but there was a smile on her face. "Easier for those of us with physical proof of impossible things." She had a space ship. Advanced weapons. And most special of all, her biotic powers. Suddenly glowing blue and doing what almost looked like magic would convince most people.
"That is very true." Maleficent gave a small inclination of her head in Jane's direction. She could definitely understand that since she'd felt that way. "Then they start to believe, and it's too late by then." She gave Jane a wry smile, and reached up to tuck some hair behind her ears revealing that they were now pointed. "That's my physical proof that I'm willing to show, though I'm sure most people would assume that I'm just a Tolkien fan and had my ears done." There were other scars on her body that she wasn't willing to show, and after the scars on her back had appeared Maleficent had taken to wearing t-shirts instead of tank tops while she worked.
“They’re very nice ears,” Jane said. She gestured to her face, and the scars on her cheeks. “Got these in my dreams, but they’re a lot harder to show as proof.” There was damage to her body too. But her hand glowed blue briefly. “I’ve got other ways to prove it.”
It seemed as if many people bore the burdens of their dreams upon their skin. "Thank you." She replied with a nod, studying the scars for a few moments until the blue glow from her hand caught her attention. "Looks like you do." She chuckled softly, "I've only gotten an aversion to iron from mine. None of my magic has crossed over from my dreams...yet." She added as almost an afterthought before taking another bite of her sandwich.
“Yet,” Jane echoed. A wry note entered her voice. “Chances are you’ll get a taste of it soon. Mine started out weak. A little bit at a time. Enjoy being relatively normal while you can.”
With a sigh, Maleficent nodded. "I figured as much." She worried about the day when her powers fully came. Would she know how to control them? Would she know anything about them? She didn't know, all she knew was that it terrified her to think that she could accidentally harm someone. "Did you know how to control them, or was that something that you learned here?"
“At first, things were a little explosive. I understood how they worked from my dreams, but it took a few weeks to get them under control.” She flexed her fist, then rubbed her knuckles with the fingers of her other hand. “I’ve heard other people have a harder time. I think it depends on the nature of one’s abilities.”
"Well, that makes sense." Maleficent agreed with a nod. She thought that she did have the basics from her dreams, because in them her powers were a part of her. Still, she would just have to wait and see what happened if they did manifest. "I suppose I'll just have to wait until they manifest here to see what happens."
Shepard smirked. “Hopefully you won’t wreck anything important in the process.”