Who: Lina & Genkai (plus a bit of Amelia) What: Genkai stalks an old friend - and in turn Lina insults her age, a lot When: Earlier today Where: Boardwalk Rating/Warnings: Mentions of murder, shady criminal underworld things, and language Status: Complete!
It wasn’t a hot as balls scenario today, with summer beginning to slowly wind down. Though keyword was slowly, and it was still beach weather, but not enough for the sorceress to be sweating buckets just by standing outdoors. Clear skies as blue as her daughter’s eyes, a breeze that cooled the skin. Today was a good day to get some much needed fresh air and a nice dose of mundanity while Orange County kept its shit together.
Accompanied by some mother-daughter time, of course. Running parallel to the beach was a bustling boardwalk of several shops (some touristy, others were genuinely local vendors), and there’d been some cheesy outdoor puppet show event for children she’d brought Amelia to. It bored her to tears but had the kid cracking herself up so much she shat herself (toddlers were great, weren’t they?), so that had Lina occupied plenty - and eventually, the two found a bench facing the oceanfront to settle down in for some grub.
Amelia remained in the stroller, mostly distracted by her own jar of sustenance - mashed sweet potatoes that were causing a mess but thankfully, mommy had expected that - and there were times Lina offered her some of what she was eating, just to satiate that curiosity. It was all fun and games anyway, up until the hairs on the back of her neck stood erect and she felt a set of eyes on her.
Someone’s being rude and about to get yelled at.
It was then she turned around, devilishly red eyes fixed into a glare meant to melt the skin off bones because who the fuck was being a creep here.
Behind Lina was an older woman; one she hadn’t seen in several years. Genkai stood casually a few yards away, a small bag thrown over her shoulder and her hand on her hip. She had been watching the young woman and her daughter with a smirk on her face. While she had no real way of knowing it, she could tell it was Lina’s child. It amused Genkai to no foreseeable end to think of Lina as a mother. Ass end of 12 years old looking Lina Inverse had aged far more than just 3 years since she had seen her last. That wasn’t the look of a babysitter. That was the look of a mom. She had seemed like such a little snot herself just a few years ago. Young. Smart. Passionate.
Loud.
“If looks could kill.” Genkai mused, the smirk deepening as she approached the two. “That any way to greet an old lady?”
Huh. Well, goddamn. Definitely not what or who the sorceress expected, but it was a million times better than an asshat who’d decidedly creep on a mother and her goddamn child. Lina’s glower vanished and her stare rounded to express genuine surprise. It was true - she looked older, happier. Less weariness, less anger, and very much maternal.
A lock of hair was tucked behind her ear, gold earrings revealed. “Apparently I need to teach the old lady the art of texting,” snarked the redhead. Her ensemble was comfortably casual, with leggings and a summery blouse that left her shoulders bare. “Did you stalk me on purpose or is this one of those ‘random encounter’ scenarios?”
“Hiiiiiiiiiiiii,” Amelia babbled happily. She was petite like her mother, and had her smile and voracious appetite but her hair was dark with eyes that were the spitting image of her father’s. “Hi, hi, hi.”
“Ah - yeah, this is Amelia, by the way. She’s learning to talk. Careful what you say around her because she will parrot it right back to you.”
“Sorry, kid. My rotary phones and carrier pigeons didn’t quite reach your new fancy touch screen ifads. And yeah, I stalked you a bit on purpose. You’re the only person I really tolerate here and I wanted to see how you were doing. I left you at a bit of a bad time. I wanted to apologize for that.”
This baby wasn’t with the man she was with when she had left Lina. The eyes didn’t match. A lot had gone down in such a short time. She wanted to hear this story.
Despite the change in tone Genkai perked up surprisingly upon being greeted by the baby. She closed the gap between them, crouched down to the toddler’s height, and grinned. She did not, however, touch or pick her up without expressed permission.
“Konnichiwa, Amelia-chan. Hajimemashite.” Because it’s never too early to learn a new language. Gotta start em young.
Ho ho, seems like nothing’s changed in regards to sarcasm with this particular woman. Lina was glad to see old habits died hard. “I survived without you, didn’t I?” she countered, mouth twisted into a smirk. “Considering what was going on I didn’t blame you.”
Meanwhile the baby girl giggled, mouth and fingers an orange mess and it was time for the parent in the picture to reach for some wipes and clean her up a bit. Amelia spat a bit at the tissue but grinned toothily at Genkai nonetheless.
“What’s brought you back after all this time, anyway?” was her actual question, and she waited to hear the story of her explanation as she readied some watered down milk for Amelia to nurse through a bottle. Nowadays she wasn’t really finnicky about wanting it warm, and was eager to have something to drink from and be comforted by. “You know how this place works. Are you here to satisfy some weird curiosity?”
Genkai stood up when asked the question to make sure she was heard and her seriousness expressed. “I didn’t leave because of your lovers quarrel. I left because…” She trailed off a moment and glanced down at the baby. She wasn’t sure Lina wanted her giggling and yelling ‘assassins!’ at playdates. Though, with Lina’s life, she was sure that was already an issue. “Let’s just say your old employer found out I moved to the OC. Don’t think I didn’t know you and the purple people eater were on Shabranigdo’s payroll once upon a time. And don’t think I didn’t hear what you did to him. So, big thanks from me. He and Ganon were becoming annoying.”
Genkai hadn’t really explained much of who she was to Lina. She didn’t think she’d ever have to. Perhaps that was wishful thinking on her part. Or perhaps uncharacteristic naivete.
“I came back when I was sure they were both out of the picture and the OC. Not that I expect I can still retire in peace in this,” She glanced down at Amelia again and decided to trade in the word ‘shitshow’ for something tamer. “--hot mess of a town.”
Things had been dicey back then, real dicey - with a price tag on her head, bloodhounds of the criminal underworld sniffing around, and everything about this place being so new to all of them? Lina knew. When you had to run, you ran. She’d done plenty of that to know that sometimes getting away was the smartest thing to do in order to survive.
Genkai knew enough of the game to know exactly how it was played, too.
Amelia was content where she was, with toys hanging from her stroller and a bottle in her grabby hands. With a full belly and such an active day the kid was on the road to a nap. It’d give the two women here a chance to really just chat, catch up, and morbidly reminisce.
“The fact that you know it was me has me only a little paranoid,” admitted the sorceress, crossing her legs and picking at the basket of fries she refused to neglect. “But nothing’s come from it in years now so you’re welcome. He had it coming. And I’m glad it’s brought people some ease. I didn’t kill him just for me, either.” Not that it had brought her the closure it wanted, but it had brought her the closure she needed and she was better for it.
The little one in the stroller and the ring on her finger, the metal shaped like a dragon, was proof of it. “I also can’t see you retiring somewhere too boring. You’ll rest here and see some action along the way every now and again. There’s still some spirit in you left for fights, you hag.”
“Not nothing.” Genkai commented casually, gesturing to the sleepy toddler. “You’ve built yourself a life on the ashes of the old one. It’s the strongest thing I’ve ever seen anyone do and you’ve shaped more lives from that one action than you will ever know.”
She watched the woman pick at the fries as they spoke. She hadn’t changed much after all. Genkai never seemed to see her without some form of food. She smirked and cocked her head playfully at the hag joke. It would seem old and young jokes would forever be their dynamic. Too bad she would only get older and Lina would never get younger. Gave her a bit of an unfair advantage.
“There’s more spirit than you know, dimwit. But you’re right. Can’t seem to shake this place. That dream I had… As strange as it was I want to see more.” More of him. Whoever he was. “I’m back at my old house. A bit dusty and not without a few stray bullet holes but nothing I can’t have fixed up in a week or so. Bring the runt by sometime.”
Hah. Lina’s giggle was muffled from the mouthful of fries stuck in her mouth now, but she chewed quickly, successfully swallowed without choking, and slurped her fingers clean like the goddamn lady she was. “You sound like you’re complimenting me with some pride there, Grams.”
No way was she ever going to let what happened get to her, stop her from wanting a life for herself - and she’d found someone to share it with, and from that came the little shitter in the stroller watching them oh so curiously. Things were starting to get a little dark again (the resurgence of a cult with the goal to awaken a piece of Ruby Eye), but there was no doubt they’d figure things out like they usually did - middle finger held up high and everything.
“I can’t turn down an invite like that. Things might get a little weird here sooner than you think but it’s nice to see an old face around again,” she grinned, cheekily. “Pun intended, sorry. I have about three years of sarcasm just ready for you but hell yeah, I’ll bring her around. I can’t promise she won’t break anything.”
“Don’t read too much into it.” Genkai narrowed her eyes but couldn’t hide the smirk on her lips. She shifted her weight to her other foot and flung the bag she hadn’t put down yet to her other shoulder. She could tell their reunion was wrapping up. After all, she had to get that baby home. She briefly wondered who the father of the child was but let the curiosity slip from her as quickly as it had arrived. She’d find out sooner or later. Couldn’t be so bad if he managed to handle Lina and make such a cute baby.
“Gotta make up for lost time, right? Prepare for endless whippersnapper comments and pockets full of werther’s originals, you jackass.” The smirk that formed was followed by a look of concern down at the baby. She hadn’t had to censor herself in a while and it was honestly a lot harder than she thought it would be. “Dont worry. My house will probably break her right back. I don’t believe in babyproofing. Keeps em weak.” She winked. It was unclear whether or not she was serious, however. “It was good seeing you, Lina. Get that baby home before it gets dark.”
Thankfully Amelia was getting pretty milk drunk there, with the nipple of the bottle half-out of her mouth and her sleepy eyes about to roll into the back of her head. Their conversation involving murdering ringleaders and assassins really must have bored her - what a hardcore baby, right?
“You almost sound a liiiittle like my sister,” Lina suspiciously eyed. “But alright, grandma, I’ll work on bringing my own kid home but that’s because I want to, not because you told me to. Go home and fix your dentures, they’re starting to look a little crooked.”
There was a pat-pat she delivered to Genkai’s shoulder. It was her own way of saying good seeing you, I might have actually missed you.
“Just gonna go ahead and warn you, I’m drawing the line at dentures and I will hit you for it in the future.” As playfully as she said it, she meant it. 100%. She’d hit people for less and while she knew Lina was far more capable of taking care of herself than her past opponents, she wouldn’t let that stop her. Lina was more magic than Martial Arts anyway.
Man, that thought still excited her. There was magic in this town. She had almost forgotten in her absence as she hadn’t really experienced a lot of it before she left. She’d have to have Lina show her some spells when she visited.
She turned from the young girl, the young mother, and began walking back toward town. She still had to pick up some cleaning supplies if she was going to fix that damn house up. Stupid assassins trying to pull her back into that life. At least she was glad Lina made it out. Took a lot of murder but it seemed worth it. Maybe it will be for Genkai too.