ic contact; MoM

[coppelganger]

Hey, it's Sarah. Leave a message.

Comments

[magnitudes]

Forget it.

[coppelganger]

[ jesus GOD sarissa ]

fine. I'll go stay in a hotel if that's what you want. hope you find her. bye.

[magnitudes]

( first lines of three texts that she does not send;)

I'm trying to help

Please don't be mad

I'm really sorry

[doubleblind]

I do love a good riddle.

Uh, speaking of MK, we telling her what happened to us?

a text, probably sent from the kitchen as she cooks, while sarah is upstairs. like a loser.

[magnitudes]

Found a guy that can put magical wards on the house and make it like a fortress. Magically, not physically. Gonna whip up a saferoom, so there's somewhere we can hunker down when shit goes south. Keep it supplied and good to go for when there's crazy shit going down. Would something like that be okay? I can cover the maintenance costs and that.

Speaking of which, I registered with the government, today. Gonna go legit.

Food'll be ready in twenty, by the way.

[voice, 2/10]

[puppydoctor]

YOUR SISTER GOT MURDERED?????

[Hey babe.]

[coppelganger]

[ Oh, god. ]

I was going to tell you, I just— [ wussed out, more or less. ] I didn't want to bring more drama so soon after you came back.

post-report voice because YEAH

[notsheepish]

[Sorry for the surround sound.]

Hey, I, uh... just heard what happened. I wanted to make sure you were- you were all okay.

[Which maybe could have been thought out better? Too late now.]

Just let me know, alright?

[puppydoctor]

Someone being murdered isn't drama, it's serious!

[He's only freaked out because he cares.]

Are you okay??

[coppelganger]

No, I know that. I was... [ A sigh. ] Really busy dealing with it all. I'm fine.

[coppelganger]

[ Ohh boy. ]

Hey. I'm okay. Everyone's okay.

[notsheepish]

Good. That's good.

[Hey, you know what's fun? Tense, awkward silences. Let's have one of those for a second here!]

So what happened?

[coppelganger]

[ What a question. Time for the tense, awkward silence to drag out a little longer. ]

This guy Sarissa dated for a few weeks is some kind of secret psychopath, and he killed her, and told her if she named him he'd hurt the rest of us. So she didn't say anything, and then he ended up going after us anyway. But it's over now.

[coppelganger]

I wasn't planning on it. Were you?

[coppelganger]

[ There's no answering text, but a few minutes later, Sarah wanders downstairs, stepping carefully around the Sarissa-sized hole, and into the kitchen. She leans back against the countertop so she can both slouch in a cool, punk way and watch Sarissa as she cooks. ]

So are you gonna be superheroing, now you've gone legit?

[magnitudes]

If they ask me to. Figured it'd get us more protection, y'know? People looking after their own. The memory thing'll be good for checking witness claims, and that, if they want me doing that. Very least it's a pay cheque.

( Sarissa chews the inside of her cheek, turning to look at Sarah. She's abandoned the ridiculous tank tops with slogans and cartoons in favour of a plain grey one, for now. Her tanlines are less striking, in winter, but still linger stubbornly, and her hair is pulled back into a messy looking bun. )

Thinking about becoming a cop again, actually. Dunno if I'll be eligible or whatever, but... ( But there it is. )

[notsheepish]

Jesus. [What do you even say to some shit like that??] You're sure? You're really safe now?

[puppydoctor]

[He tries to believe that. He tries so hard.]

Can I, uh, come over? Bring you guys dinner, or something?

[coppelganger]

Yeah. Yeah, you know, I was gonna invite you for dinner sometime soon, so that'd be great. I think you should get to know Sarissa.

[doubleblind]

I don't know. I don't want to scare her, but what if he tries targeting her next? She could use a warning.

[coppelganger]

[ "Oh. Maybe you could... not do that," is what Sarah wants to say. She gets that Sarissa wants to protect them all, she really does, but Sarah's not a fan of the idea of her sister purposefully running towards more dangerous situations as a way to achieve that. Thing is, though, she doesn't fool herself into thinking that she can control what her sisters do. Not really, anyway. ]

Oh. That's—you wanna be a cop again? [ Probably not the enthusiasm Sarissa wanted, but what the hell. ]

[coppelganger]

Yeah... [ She sighs, and when she speaks again, she sounds tired. ] Sarissa reported him. He's on the run, I guess. Doubt he'll come back this way.

[coppelganger]

If you wanna get in touch with her, Cos, be my guest. Knowing what we do about MK, chances are she probably has more information than we do right now.

[magnitudes]

( Sarissa stops her cooking fussing, at that. It's really all just needing to simmer or bake or whatever the hell it is that whatever she's cooking needs to do, so she's wiping down the counters before she looks over her shoulder at Sarah. )

I was good at it. ( Her gaze drops, and she resumes cleaning - it's not a sad gaze dropping, really. Sarissa sounds matter of fact as she continues, ) Wasn't good at much else.

[notsheepish]

Good.

[A pause.]

But... look, if he does, you know you can still call me, right? Wherever you are, I can be there in no time.