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Post by skybright on Jan 25, 2008 23:36:32 GMT -5
Marla shook her head. "And I certainly couldn't take that. You're a lot braver than I am."
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Post by Jordanna on Jan 25, 2008 23:41:05 GMT -5
"Nah... I doubt it." Nate shrugged. "I think you just find out how far you'll go when you really have to do something about what you believe in."
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Post by skybright on Jan 25, 2008 23:50:11 GMT -5
"I . . . I guess I wouldn't know." Marla colored slightly and glanced away, fixing her attention on adding cream and spices to the beaten eggs. "Marcus has always had the monopoly on that, I guess."
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Post by Jordanna on Jan 25, 2008 23:56:16 GMT -5
Nate frowned and debated with himself for a few moments before he answered.
"Have you ever thought about just... cutting him out of things for a while?" He folded his arms. "I mean, going someplace where nobody'd know who you are, and just seeing how it is figure things out for yourself. Even for a while."
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Post by skybright on Jan 26, 2008 0:04:14 GMT -5
Marla ducked her head, almost flinching at the words. "I . . ." She hesitated for a long moment, then sighed and set the mixing bowl aside.
"Yes." She admitted quietly. "When we were younger . . . especially when I still lived in California, with our parents. I . . . thought about it."
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Post by Jordanna on Jan 26, 2008 20:58:01 GMT -5
Nate shrugged. "Well... maybe it wouldn't be a bad idea to think about it again." He grinned hesitantly. "I'm just saying. You know."
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Post by skybright on Jan 26, 2008 22:11:30 GMT -5
Marla blushed darkly. "I'll . . . keep the idea in mind."
She turned back to the stove, stirring experimentally at the boiling pasta and saying nothing for a long moment. "I . . . I'm not a coward." She blurted out suddenly. "It's not that -- it's just . . . it's complicated."
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Post by Jordanna on Jan 26, 2008 22:36:00 GMT -5
"Oh, I know how it is." Nate slouched his shoulder against the wall again. "You get so used to things a certain way that you don't know where to start changing them... and you don't want to hurt your brother."
He raised an eyebrow. "But you suppose he'd like it if somebody handled him the way he's done with you?"
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Post by skybright on Jan 26, 2008 22:46:46 GMT -5
Marla shook her head with a short, humorless laugh. "Marcus never let anyone 'handle' him any way at all. He wouldn't put up with anyone trying."
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Post by Jordanna on Jan 26, 2008 22:50:10 GMT -5
"Well. There you go." Nate smiled and shrugged.
Then he stepped toward the counter again. "Anything else I can help with?"
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Post by skybright on Jan 26, 2008 22:54:17 GMT -5
Marla relaxed, glad to be off the subject. "Um . . . well, the pasta's almost done." She switched the heat back on under the chicken and bacon, "I guess we just need plates and silverware and things."
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Post by Jordanna on Jan 26, 2008 23:06:40 GMT -5
"Right," Nate answered with a small salute, and turned to the cabinet to take down plates.
"Pretty fancy." He rubbed the gold trim on the edge of a plate with his thumbnail. "And real, too. I know this isn't much fun for you, but I gotta admit--it'll be none too hard for me to stand for a few days."
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Post by skybright on Jan 26, 2008 23:10:26 GMT -5
Marla smiled crookedly as she took down a colander to drain the pasta. "Oh, I don't know. I, uh . . . I kind of like having someone to talk to for a change."
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Post by Jordanna on Jan 26, 2008 23:25:09 GMT -5
"I guess whatever household help you have isn't much good for that, then?" Nate asked quizzically.
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Post by skybright on Jan 26, 2008 23:35:18 GMT -5
"Oh, there . . . um, there isn't anyone like that at the estate, actually." Marla waved away the cloud of steam rising from the draining pasta. "Ruth came with me when I moved away from my parents. But she died . . . it's almost five years ago, now."
She shrugged slightly and transferred the pasta into the skillet with the chicken and bacon, then added the egg-and-cream mixture. "My parents usually bring someone with them if they're visiting for very long, and Marcus makes a fuss every once in a while about hiring someone new. But . . . I don't know. I don't have any trouble looking after the place by myself, and it just doesn't seem right -- having someone take Ruth's place."
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Post by Jordanna on Jan 26, 2008 23:50:14 GMT -5
"Well, I can't say I don't admire loyalty like that." Nate smiled ruefully. "Of course, I'm in no position to judge, but I don't suppose she'd want you to be alone."
He tilted his head. "You know, there are some nice folks in Mutietown who could stand to have a better job. Even some of those Spook refugees aren't so bad." A grin crossed his face. "Just a thought."
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Post by skybright on Jan 26, 2008 23:57:06 GMT -5
Marla glanced at him thoughtfully. "You know, it . . . it never really occurred to me. Hiring another mutant, I mean." She smiled self-deprecatingly. "The truth is . . . well, aside from Marcus, you, and a few of Mother and Dad's acquaintances who weren't open with what they were . . . I haven't really been around very many other mutants."
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Post by Jordanna on Jan 27, 2008 0:13:19 GMT -5
"I hadn't been either before I got into the resistance business," Nate admitted. "But I'll tell ya--it's been a good thing. Just being around people I don't have to hide anything from. I think you can deal with the rest of the world better when you get that 'time off' from worrying about it."
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Post by skybright on Jan 27, 2008 0:19:23 GMT -5
"I bet." Marla stirred the chicken carbonara one more time and then transferred it into a serving bowl.
"Marcus told me about campaigning in Mutietown, and seeing people who . . . who show, just standing in the crowds with everyone else." She smiled ruefully. "It . . . really sounded wonderful."
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Post by Jordanna on Jan 27, 2008 0:29:00 GMT -5
Nate nodded. "It's the same way in my dad's organization--at least as far as the accepting-each-other part. The only reason we have to lay low--even if we don't show--is because the mutant bad guys are keeping an eye out for us. But between ourselves, everybody's a big happy family."
He shook his head. "Come to think of it, I can't understand why your brother wouldn't have introduced you to some places and people like that. He must've known they're out there."
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