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Having heard from Kay that Mary wanted to talk to her, Fox sent a text offering Mary dinner. She went to pick up pelmeni from the food truck which offers them by Temple's campus, and flew home with them, because being an owl is lovely.
And so she waits, having left a message in the lobby that Mary is an approved guest.
Mary considered taking wing herself, but she lacked the ability to come out of it with clothing, and turning up butt naked might not be the best impression to make when you're after advice. And so she makes her way into the lobby in a blue dress and a smile, checking in before heading on up and knocking on Fox's door, rubbing her hands a little nervously.
The elevator comes all the way up and opens into the penthouse. This sure isn't anything that Fox bought for themself! It's huge and ridiculous. When the elevator doors chime, Fox calls: "I'm in here!"
Down the hallway - is this thing the WHOLE FLOOR? (It is) - is the living room, which smells of the delicious pockets of dough stuffed with meat and spices which are Fox's favorite food. "I got pelmeni," she offers from where she's curled up on the big couch, wearing a loose oversized shirt that reads NO ONE'S SEXIER THAN A DETECTIVE. Her arms are opened up for a hug.
She looks about, taking in the place with a huge, beaming smile and moving further inside, toeing her shoes off to leave by the door so she can feel the floor under her feet as she pads barefoot into the living room. Her nose wrinkles in delight at the rich scents in the air and she heads over to Fox, reaching out to give and receive that offered hug, eyes half closed as she takes in Fox's familiar presence. "It's all fancy." She tells him cheerfully, nodding.
A tight hug from Fox and she pats the couch next to herself. There are sodas and delicious pelmeni. "Zoya bought it, I could never afford anything like this." She snags another pelmeni and bites it in half. "How are you?"
Settling on the couch and drawing her legs up under her to get comfy, Mary takes one of the available sodas after glancing at Fox to make sure that's okay. "Who's the detective?" She asks wryly, before nodding with a smile. "I'm mostly good. Still rattled by what those motherfuckers tried. But, coping with it." Her eyes shift Fox's way. "How's yourself?"
A confused and dismissive gesture. Of course it's okay - the sodas are there to go with the food! "Oh, this might be Vasha's or it might be Leta's. I stole it out of the laundry. I don't think it's Zoya's. Actually it might be Mei's."
A pause, and she frowns. "How did I end up in a cadre that's all detectives but me?"
Her thoughts do seem to run away with Fox right now, which is what happens when your Intelligence goes up by 7 for a while. She smiles lopsidedly then. "I'm worried. But we will be us. Did you read the reports?"
Speak of a detective and she shall appear: Leta Abbott in rare, sober form. The stick-thin Mastigos descends from the rooftop hot tub wearing a black bikini, and a sheer, black sarong featuring little sunflowers. She's also wearing a pair of little sunglasses -- even though it's definitely night time -- and carrying a sun hat in one hand, along with a half-empty can of Arizona Green Tea.
"Oh, look. Food!" Leta stops in the doorway, tossing her hat onto a nearby flat surface. "... that's my shirt, Fox." A beat passes. "Or maybe it's Vasha's." Another beat. "... or Mei?" There's a little hrrrm sound as she deliberates before crossing the room to give Fox a smooch on the cheek. "Can I steal some pelmeni?"
"I think you'd make a pretty good one at that." She tells Fox cheerfully. "We can don enough sensory input on ourselves we can hear a insect stumble from a mile off." She takes a good sip of soda. "We'll make it." She agrees softly. "And I've been going through them. Some of them kinda go over my head, but I think I'm making progress. Mark sounds.." She rubs her mouth. "Feel sorry for him, he's clearly gone through hell."
Leta receives a wide smile and a cant of her head as she takes in her appearance. "Hey, you've got detectives, I'm sure you'll find out whose stash it came from." A quiet laugh before she waves at Leta. "Hey."
"I dunno! But it's comfy so I'm happy," Fox answers contentedly, snagging another pelmeni. "Yes, steal away, my love. I bought plenty." She shoves another pelmeni into her face and smiles lazily. The kiss to her cheek turns into a proper smooch for one of Fox's detectives. "Mark is a Trojan horse of a human being and I want to punch the Seers in their collective genitals. It's so wrong." A heavy sigh, there.
"Kay said you wanted to talk to me about something, Mary. Is that true?"
A brief frustration taints Leta's expression when Mark, and the Seers are mentioned, and she sets the pelmeni back down with pursed lips.
"I'll be back in a few minutes," Fox gets a little pat on the shoulder, and she flashes a smile and wave at Mary. "Let me go change into proper clothing. That way I'm not intruding on whatever you need to talk about."
... she is wearing a swimsuit, so. Probably for the best that she changes clothes.
Taking a bite of a pelmeni herself and chewing slowly as she savours the flavours, Mary nods. "See you when you're back." She offers Leta another smile, turning a quiet look to Fox. "I'm gonna try and do what I can to help him too. I saw your suggestion about a new body, and.." She waves a hand, stopping herself from rambling. It wouldn't be the first time. "The attack kinda knocked some things into perspective for me, and how much they meant to me, mostly to do with the Tree. It's a big decision, so, I'm needing more time to consider it, but, I am giving thought as to whether I should apply for a place with the Children."
"Okay, babe," Fox offers, her gaze following after Leta for a moment or five. Maybe just watching Leta's ass. That's very likely. Whatever the case, she basically has heart eyes the whole time.
And then her attention swings back to Mary. "What do you think you can accomplish with the Children that you cannot with the Arrows?"
Leta sticks her tongue out as she looks back over her shoulder at Fox. Maybe she even wiggles her butt a little on purpose. Eat your heart out, Fox... and then she disappears around the corner on the way to her room.
Mary twitches a grin at that interaction, drinking down more soda but nodding at Fox as his attention moves her way and a question is posed. "The Tree has a lot of people tending to it, and it's well cared for and guarded. I'd add to that, but, I would as an Arrow too. What I hope I can bring to bear is my blend of knowledge of Life and Spirit. I saw it in the Shadow Fox, and I know it spreads through multiple other worlds. I can help efforts to care for it in the Shadow.
Beyond that, I agree with a lot of Arrow philosophy. Checks and balances, opposing forces holding one another in check. But where the Arrows fight, the Children guide and nurture. Sometimes fighting is needed, but.." She waves a hand, trying to centre her thoughts. "It feels to me like the Arrows aim to act as a shell for us, while the Children are the heart. You need both, and the parts of the other Orders beside, but, I'm starting to think I might make a better nurturer than a warrior." Her cheeks pinken slightly. "And that sounds kinda arrogant."
"I mean, I don't disagree with what you're saying. It's a lot easier to stop being a Mystagogue than it is to stop being an Arrow, that's part of why I ask," Fox explains, rolling her shoulders thoughtfully after blowing kisses at Leta as she leaves. She snags another pelmeni. "I look at it very much as... why do you feel you must, you know? I know you'd make a fantastic Sibling, that's not a question. But it's a big, big change, you know?" Absently, she scratches her cheek. "Have you talked at all with Esther or Master Yoshitsune about what that might mean for you?"
"It is, and even if I make that jump, it can't be right away." Mary nods. "And I've not talked to them yet, but I know I need to." She chews on her bottom lip. "I don't want to think I'm turning my back on them. They've taught me a great deal, so.." She ducks her head. "As for the rest of it." She muses quietly after a moment. "Because going by recent events, they'll come at us again and again, and we'll be sore and battered. And I think I can help soothe that, and stop them leaving us with too many internal scars. They targetted the Tree for several reasons, I'm sure. But one of them is that losing it would shatter us." Her eyes move to Fox's, suddenly more fierce. "If I can help stop them, I will." Alright, so something of the Arrow might be there too.
The fierceness of her reply makes Fox smile just a little. "What of our precepts calls to you more strongly? You're potentially making a life change in response to a temporal crisis. What will make you want to stay when that crisis is over?"
"Nurture the soul in all things." Mary answers. "Though humanity is the family of all also stands for a lot for me. I see how warm you and Kay are, so I've seen the second in action. And the first, of course." A warm smile. "You care and support others, pick them up or give them a push to get moving, whichever they need. So the first, yes." She rubs at her chin, considering other replies. "I hope the crisis ends, but there'll always be dangers. But if I do make this choice, I'll stay because I've realized it's where I belong. It's why I don't plan to join until when, if, I have that realisation in full. I'm still working to unpick my own thoughts and feelings, but I'm making progress."
Their smile stays in place, there. "I see," she agrees. "Those are good things to want, and good precepts to adhere to. You know I'll support you in all things, Mary. I just want to be sure that with a big change I am supporting you doing things for the right reasons."
"I trust you to say the things I need to hear, not just what I want to hear." She smiles warmly at Fox, opening her arms to echo the earlier offer of a hug. "And I am gonna work through it, figure it out. Things are chaotic right now, like you said. But, I'm hoping to still work on clarity."
Hugs are things that Foxes like very much, and so Fox takes up that offered hug, burying her nose in Harmony's hair for a deep breath in. "Good," she agrees. "I will always tell you the truth as I see it, Mary. I don't much care for lies." How on earth she survives being in the middle of all this Guardian nonsense if that's the case...
Mary smiles, eyes closing with a slow nod. "I try to keep myself honest." She agrees quietly. "Thank you, old friend. I'm always glad to hear your thoughts and advice." A quiet smile. "I saw your report by the way. I'm gonna try to do what I can to help him. Mark, I mean." To explain her sudden shift in direction. "No one deserves what they did to him."
A kiss for Mary's temple. "I want little more in this world than to see you succeed," Fox answers, squeezing Mary again before letting go and snagging another dumpling. "It is terrible, and he is a time bomb," comes her sigh. "And there are over ninety others. It's just terrible."
"They let us take him. That's the only answer. The idea that we got out of a Seer facility that easily? No. We were meant to take him. He's a Trojan horse. He keeps saying so."
"They're trying to use our compassion against us." Mary states softly, frowning. "Even knowing he's set to.. no, that's not right. Even knowing the systems they installed are set to act against us, despite his own wishes, we'll still try to help him. That's not a bad thing though. We know the danger, so we can keep him from anywhere critical, and we know to be careful." A gentle nudge. "Your part about trying to manage a new body him, that is something I want to delve into."
"Weaponized compassion, yes. I want to talk to him, and tell him that I believe him when he says that, but ... " Fox pauses. "I will die as myself before I live as someone I am not." A small smile. "Good. It will take a great deal to do that. No one person can do it alone."
"Mm." She nods. "I'll talk to him, I don't know him myself yet. I'm gonna ask Kay for help there, and I'd like to ask you the same." A thoughtful smile. "Could be the Seers have outsmarted themselves in the end. We can hope, for sure."
"He is kind, and I think they meant that to act as bait. That we couldn't hurt him - and we can't. But our Wisdom and our kindness is strength, not weakness," Fox answers. She flops over onto her side and drops her head into Mary's lap with a yawn. "I'll help," she agrees, her eyes closing. Talking time is over, apparently.
"Agreed." Mary nods, then smiles, patting gently at Fox as she yawns and gets comfortable. "Food was good, mm. Thank you for sharing." A warm tone as she settles back in the couch herself. "Always good to see you."
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