(no subject)

[sunbaked_baker]

Rae knows her mother is upset and worried, that she stays upset and worried. She knows her mother is under a lot of stress, with the Wars worsening and Kenny being sick. Rae wants to help make things less overwhelming. She wants to be a comfort to her family in these bad times. She wants them to know they don't have to worry about her - she can take care of herself and help take care of her family, too.

Today, her mother had reluctantly let Rae cook lunch while she took care of some belated paperwork from the coffeehouse. Charlie was planning to have the kitchen expanded so that more cooks could be hired to take care of the increasing mob of customers at mealtimes, and the remodeling was likely going to be costly. Rae had been delighted by the opportunity.

Nothing had burned; that wasn't it. But apparently, something had gotten too hot on the stove and the fire alarm had been set off. The loud noise had woken up Kenny, and disturbed Rae's mother from her work. Amid the sound of the baby crying and the frying pan sizzling, there had been yelling, even though Rae knew nothing was hurt and the noise would soon pass. Her mother was overreacting, which just made Rae upset in turn. Nothing was burning. Nothing was hurt. Why couldn't she see that? The situation may have otherwise defused quickly once the alarm turned off... but Rae had made the mistake of yelling back.


The door to Milliways is pushed open by the teary-eyed, red-faced ten-year-old, her head down. She shuts the door quickly behind her, wanting to hear the latch catch so she knows it's closed. Wiping her eyes, she passes through the bar room without stopping, slipping out through the back door and out into the weak autumn sunlight.

She isn't dressed for such chilly temperatures, but that doesn't stop her. She doesn't settle until she reaches the bit of lake shore where everything turns warm and tropical again. Then, sheltered by a large stone warmed by the sun, she lets herself stop. Her eyes are still red-rimmed and her nose stuffed up from crying, but she doesn't let herself continue to cry. She just sits, curled up with her arms around her knees, wishing fiercely that her grandmother was there.

Eventually, to make herself feel better (and perhaps to get back at her mother) she begins quietly transmuting one of the pebbles from the lake shore into other things, her hands cupped around it as it shifts between pebble-ness to acorn-ness, from acorn to a twig, a twig to a leaf.

Comments

[manofbusiness]

There's a man not too far off, enjoying the beach himself with long thin legs sprawled out carelessly in front of him.

He looks like the kind of man her mother probably warned her about, but when he looks at her, there's no hint of meaning her any harm.

"Afternoon, miss."

[sunbaked_baker]

The girl looks over at him with red-rimmed eyes. This isn't someone she knows, so there is a certain amount of wariness in her look, born of the frequently repeated lesson that she shouldn't talk to strangers.

But some spark of resentfulness remains; maybe it'd serve her mom right if she did get kidnapped. She's practically kidnapped already, being in Milliways instead of being grounded and sent to her room.

"Afternoon," she replies, her voice scratchy.

[manofbusiness]

That sound in the child's voice makes him sit up slightly, pushing his hair out of his eyes.

"Are you well?"

[sunbaked_baker]

The girl gives an awkward, half-hearted shrug, twirling what is currently a leaf between her fingers. "I'm fine."

The tears have stopped, but the signs are still there. The red-rimmed eyes, the flushed cheeks, the occasional sniff, the lingering downcast, tired look.

[manofbusiness]

"Forgive me", he says quietly, "but I do not believe you have been."

[sunbaked_baker]

She can't meet his gaze, instead looking down at her hands.

"Then I'll be fine." Even if she isn't, at the moment.

[manofbusiness]

Childermass considers and nods.

"Yes, most likely you will. Tell me only - no one has hurt you?"

[is_the_motion]

Bonnie comes down to sit next to her.

"You cold honey?"

[sunbaked_baker]

The girl sniffs, and shakes her head. She knows it's cold out, but it's not too bad - for now, Rae is being kept warm by the righteous fires of the unfairly wronged.

"I'm okay," she protests, trying not to sound too much like she's sulking.

[is_the_motion]

"Missed you at the canoein'." Bonnie says. "You have a rough week?"

[sunbaked_baker]

"Oh!" she says, distressed anew. "I missed the canoe outing? I'm so sorry - I meant to be there."

This is icing on the top of what can easily be termed a rough week, yes.

[is_the_motion]

"Now don't you fret about that." Bonnie slips an arm around her gently to draw her into a hug if she'll let her. "We can do it again another time, or I'll take yer out myself. What's been happenin'?"

[sunbaked_baker]

Rae accepts the hug gratefully and leans against Bonnie.

"Mom's been yelling. She let me cook lunch so she could catch up on paperwork for the coffeehouse, while Kenny took a nap. The smoke alarm went off from the steam while I was cooking lunch, and woke Kenny up and made him cry."

[like_quicksilver]

Gyda's dressed for winter now. She was taking care of the goats when she saw Rae walking past, noting her posture and stance.

She follows her over to the beach, taking off her overtunic and handing it to her. Then she sees what she's doing. "Oh..you do magic?"

[sunbaked_baker]

Rae hides the small object - currently an oak leaf - between her hands and looks up in surprise, glancing from Gyda to the overtunic and back again.

"Um, don't tell anyone, please?" she requests, hurriedly. "I'm not supposed to. And I'm fine - I'm not cold."

Not yet, at least. The righteous internal fire of the unfairly wronged is keeping her warm at the moment.

"Thank you, though. For the offer."

[like_quicksilver]

"I promise." She wouldn't say anything to put her friend in harm's way, but that doesn't stop her curiosity.

She sits down next to her. "Why're you not allowed?" Seemed a handy thing, turning something into something else-she wondered if she could turn objects into gold.

[sunbaked_baker]

Rae winces slightly, and ducks her head. Her tears are over, but her eyes are still red-rimmed. "Mom doesn't know I can do it, and she stays angry enough with me as it is. I don't know what she'd do, if she found out."

[like_quicksilver]

She had to remember that Rae wasn't from her world. Maybe magic was forbidden to some? "Is magic forbidden in her family?"

Her voice lowered, suddenly not wanting anyone else to hear them. "We have volvas back home..women that are said to be blessed with the Sight."

[sunbaked_baker]

"Mom's family doesn't have magic," Rae shakes her head slightly. "Magic-handling is something that's only passed down from parent to child, through the blood. My father's family were magic-handlers. My father's magic... it put us in a lot of danger, Mom says, and that's why we left. He wouldn't stop."

And she never saw him again. How quickly would her mother abandon her, too, if she knew her daughter took after her father?

"Do they, the women with the sight, help people?"

[runningred]

"Princess?" Jay sheds his brand new Scout hoodie and offers it to her.

[sunbaked_baker]

Her hands cover what currently appears to be a leaf, hurried, when she notices his approach. There's a watery-eyed look of gratitude for the offer of the hoodie; when she has accepted it and wrapped it around her, she leans against him, sniffling.

"Thanks," she murmurs. The girl is still upset, but the horrible rush of it is over by now, leaving exhausted misery lingering in its wake.

[runningred]

Jay offers her a warm hug and stays there for as long as she needs. "Want to talk about it?"

[sunbaked_baker]

Rae gives a non-committal shrug and leans into the hug.

"Mom's just upset again."

She worries, so she yells. That's just the way it goes. There's nothing more to it, really. Usually it doesn't end in tears, but this was a particularly bad incident.

"The smoke alarm went off while I was cooking lunch, and it woke up Kenny."

[runningred]

"Ah." Jay nods, rubbing little Rae's back. "I take it nothing was actually on fire but she got upset anyway?"

[sunbaked_baker]

She nods, subdued. "I hadd offered to cook lunch, since she was busy, and we had just gotten Kenny to sleep. He's getting over an ear infection, and it hurts him."