coppelganger | ic contact; MoM

[ Forgive her for sounding suspicious, but she doesn't get a lot of calls from unknown numbers. ]

Uh, hello?

Sarah.

( the voice on the other end of the line is cheerful, artificially bolstered by the liquor in her system, and also probably the last person sarah wants to speak to lately. at least she's not slurring her words? )

Can I tell you something, sister to sister?

[ Oh. Sarah hesitates, not sure where to go with this new, cheerful, (drunk) Beth. ]

Beth. Go ahead.

MK doesn't know me. ( this is, of course, not at all news to sarah, but the information is presented as though it's some kind of revelation all the same. there's a pause, the background sound of a big swig of a drink, and then she laughs. ) Isn't that funny? She's- god, she's the closest thing to a friend I have, and she had no idea who I am!

Yeah, I know, she's... [ Sarah sighs and rubs at her face. ] Some shitty teenager right now. It might not last. I mean, she might port out and come back older.

She hit me with a trash can lid. Were we all that shit at eighteen?

( yes )

Uh, I mean, I definitely was... Don't know about you.

[ There's still so much she doesn't know about Beth, even after everything. ]

Well.

( there's about 0.5 seconds of indignant huffing, and then a pause. a long exhale, and then she chuckles. )

Yeah, you know what? I was too. Maybe we've all got more in common than I thought.

Even Alison dated a shithead in high school. Could be a trend.

See? We're all idiots. ( Another not really funny joke for Beth to laugh at, this is becoming a trend. )

Can I ask you a question, Sarah Manning?

Go on.

[ She owes Beth this much, if nothing else. ]

Was Art okay? You know, when it all came out.

[ Oh. Fuck. ]

Art... He loved you a lot. [ No, he wasn't really okay. ] He knows now. What we are. He's been a good friend to me. But it's not—it's not the same as it would've been if you'd been with us.

I tried to tell him. It's not his fault, I wouldn't have listened to me either. ( She was hardly the most reliable source by that point, was she? God, she misses Art. If there's anyone she'd give everything up in a heartbeat to bring here it's him, and that's selfish as shit and she doesn't really care. )

I'm... shit, I'm sorry. You didn't deserve all of this. None of us do. I shouldn't have left.

( left is a nicer way to say it than 'jumped under a train' but sure. )

No, Beth. I'm sorry. For what I did.

[ Beth can't see her, but she's leaning forward with her head in her hands. God, this is all so fucked up. It's horrible, what their creators have done to them, unwittingly or not. Turned them loose on the world, a bunch of depressive addicts, and called it a scientific breakthrough. ]

Look, I know I was... ( harsh is one word. a bitch is another. ) I flipped out a little. But I get it.

( she pauses, considering leaving it there, but then she adds, quieter. ) Sarissa told me you have a daughter. Is that Kira?

Yeah. She's eight.

Eight. ( If there is any attempt to hide the emotion in her voice now it's clearly not working. Her words catch in her throat, and Beth knows exactly why she's softened on Sarah so quickly and it's got everything to do with that one little fact. She would have done anything to try protect her daughter, Sarissa said, and just like that any hope of Beth holding onto a lifetime grudge had started to wear away. ) Will you tell me about her?

She's... she's smart, and she loves to paint. And she likes, uh, computer games. Minecraft? [ Whatever the hell Minecraft is tbh. ] I've got some pictures. I could send you one if you wanna see her.

[ Sarah has no idea if this is overstepping or... or what. Beth is drunk, and Sarah is grasping for anything that will make Beth hate her a little less. ]

( She knows it will ruin her, and yet there's absolutely no hesitation in her voice when she says: )

Yes, of course. If...you don't mind.

( Just casually trying to dial it back an inch. )

Okay.

[ There's the sound of Sarah getting up and moving through the house. The first picture she sends is this one, which is hanging framed in the living room. Then a couple more—they look like candids, because they're stills taken from memories that Sarissa had made up for her. Kira looks happy in all of them. ]

I miss her.

( Beth is quiet for a long time as she looks at the pictures, and the muffled sound of a couple of drinks and the even quieter sound of her breathing are the only indications that she hasn't passed out or hung up yet. How much would her own daughter look like this little girl? Not the same, of course, but there'd be a resemblance, right?

This way lies only madness, but Beth can't help but examine the slope of Kira's nose, the bow of her lips, and see herself in every tiny little detail. )

She looks so much like you. ( When Beth finally breaks the bordering on awkward silence her voice sounds hoarse, and she quickly clears her throat. ) Thank you. For sending me these, for picking up, whatever. Just...thanks, alright?

I think she looks like her dad.

[ She bites at her thumbnail. It makes no sense for Beth to thank her, but here they are. She wants to say she's sorry again, but she can't force the words out. Sorry doesn't mean shit. It's just a word. ]

Sure. [ Her voice takes on a note of concern. ] Take it easy, Beth. [ She knows more than any of them, she thinks, about how deep Beth was into the drugs. ]

I always do.

( Is this a joke? Wry irony? Meanness? All of the above? Who the hell knows - not Beth, and certainly not Sarah, since it's at that moment that Beth chooses to hang up. Good chat. )

ic contact; MoM

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