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Post by skybright on Jan 30, 2008 23:03:38 GMT -5
Marla smiled thinly. "Then he was lucky . . . and so are you." She shrugged and toyed with her water glass. "The downside to growing up around Hollywood types is that most of them care very much about appearances . . . and I found out exactly how much pretty quickly."
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Post by Jordanna on Jan 31, 2008 23:22:22 GMT -5
"I never could like those celebrity types." Nate frowned. "No offense."
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Post by skybright on Jan 31, 2008 23:34:51 GMT -5
Marla shook her head. "None taken. With a few exceptions, I pretty much agree with you." She shrugged one shoulder. "It's just a lifestyle that tends to attract vain, selfish people, I guess."
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Post by Jordanna on Jan 31, 2008 23:43:30 GMT -5
"I've never exactly seen the appeal," Nate confessed. "I mean, I'm sure it'd be nice to have enough money that you don't have to count pennies, and you can buy nice things once in a while. But the buying ten houses around the world, and having chauffeurs and private jets, and wearing outrageous expensive clothes just because somebody decided the designer was famous..." He shrugged. "I don't see how anybody like that could really be themselves."
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Post by skybright on Jan 31, 2008 23:53:35 GMT -5
"Most of them can't." Marla replied. "Most of them have their real selves buried so deep they wouldn't know how to start finding them.
"I . . . my parents threw a dinner party a few months after I manifested -- when I didn't really know how to block people out yet. I stayed out of sight the whole time -- but with all the coming and going, I still 'heard' a lot of stray thoughts." She shook her head sadly. "I never realized until then how desperately unhappy most of the people I grew up around really were."
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Post by Jordanna on Feb 1, 2008 23:04:11 GMT -5
"Well, I have to admit, I think some people deserve what they get." Nate rested his chin on his hand. "I guess it's another one of those questions of deciding what's important to you. You pick what really means something, or all that other stuff."
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Post by skybright on Feb 1, 2008 23:33:39 GMT -5
Marla nodded. "They're right when they say money won't buy happiness. All the money in the world can't get you those things that really matter -- too many people find that out too late."
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Post by Jordanna on Feb 1, 2008 23:46:58 GMT -5
"Yeah." Nate grinned. "Then again, I'd say I was more lucky than smart to make the right choices."
He stretched and looked down at his now-empty plate. "Like I said--that was fantastic. I'll help you with the dishes when you're done."
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Post by skybright on Feb 1, 2008 23:53:27 GMT -5
"Oh, uh," Marla grinned crookedly, "Thanks . . . I'm finished." She pushed her plate away and stood up. "I appreciate you offering."
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Post by Jordanna on Feb 1, 2008 23:57:11 GMT -5
"No problem." Nate chuckled. "I'd let the specter do it, but I don't think I'm ready to trust him with breakables yet."
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Post by skybright on Feb 2, 2008 0:04:42 GMT -5
Marla grinned. "Yeah . . . not somebody else's breakables, anyway. I wouldn't want your resistance friend to have any trouble over us being here."
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Post by Jordanna on Feb 2, 2008 0:16:43 GMT -5
"Definitely. Sid's a standup guy." Nate picked up the plates and headed toward the kitchen. "I've only met him at a couple of meetings, but he's the kind of guy I'm looking forward to knowing better. You know the Paragon Club? That's his place."
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Post by skybright on Feb 2, 2008 0:24:35 GMT -5
Marla nodded. "Marcus has told me a little about it. A real old-fashioned nightclub, like the ones in those period-piece movies Mother used to act in . . . it sounds great."
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Post by Jordanna on Feb 2, 2008 0:35:49 GMT -5
"I've only gotten to see it once for a few minutes, while it was closed. But it's really something." Nate set the plates on the counter and turned on the faucet. "Now that guy's pouring most of his profits into the cause. He's not one of us. His daughter is--but I get the feeling he'd still care about people like us, even if she wasn't."
He shook his head as he squirted dish detergent into the water. "Where could you possibly find any more people like that? Because we need a hundred of 'em."
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Post by skybright on Feb 2, 2008 0:46:05 GMT -5
Marla smiled thinly. "I'd . . . like to think they're out there. Somewhere." She shrugged. "Enough people voted for my brother to get him into office. I think that's a good sign."
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Post by Jordanna on Feb 2, 2008 0:55:15 GMT -5
Nate glanced over his shoulder at Marla, and frowned uneasily.
"Well, I've gotta tell you... that wasn't all his sparkling personality. The fact is, Nick Tiernan did a lot of bribing and bullying to get some of those votes. Maybe your brother could have done it on his own--I don't know," he admitted hastily. "But I do know that the way things are in the city, he's there because Tiernan wanted him there."
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Post by skybright on Feb 2, 2008 1:01:37 GMT -5
"Oh. I see." Marla pulled a clean dishtowel out of a drawer and turned back towards the sink. "I . . . suppose that shouldn't surprise me. Not seeing Marcus' memories of Nicholas Tiernan's mind."
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Post by Jordanna on Feb 2, 2008 21:50:46 GMT -5
With an uncomfortable shrug, Nate began scrubbing at a plate.
"Well, whether my dad and the rest of the resistance wants to deal with your brother or not, he's going to have Tiernan on his hands--expecting him to play ball, and not asking nicely. That was a tricky enough tradeoff even before he went and complicated things. And if Tiernan starts coming around to collect on that debt... well, we're all going to have some problems."
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Post by skybright on Feb 2, 2008 23:38:04 GMT -5
Marla nodded. "Marcus always wanted this so badly." She said quietly. "He felt like he'd really be able to help people this way. But what it might cost him . . . what it might cost all of you . . ." She shook her head. "I just hope it will be worth the price."
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Post by Jordanna on Feb 2, 2008 23:43:42 GMT -5
"Personally, I've never had much of an idea that politics was worth any kind of price," Nate admitted candidly. "That 'by the people, for the people' stuff is a fairytale."
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