Feeling down? Need someone to talk to confidentially? Reach out to Heather Mason. Appointments not necessary but appreciated. In person at Robin Deli/Sessions with Heather or over network. Video, text, voice, action accepted.
[She doesn't mind stretching her legs any chance she gets, anyway.
But — before she commits, an important topic must be broached.]
If we talk about troubling thoughts, I think... I will need to explain more about me than you know. And I am afraid it will make you and Mr. Cheese not want to talk to me any longer.
( if only she knew the terrible things heather herself had gone through really, how much guilt she felt about having even just a small role in maria's ordeal.
she herself felt the same way when she bonded with the woman, revealing her past. not that she would with laura unless it truly helped her. with a soft sigh, she spoke once more. )
I don't think there's anything you could do or say that would make me not want to talk to you anymore.
( unless she outright hurt heather or someone she loved, but even then...laura was a child. she could come to forgive her, surely. )
Actually I was hoping you were hungry. I finally got my own space where people can come and talk with me. It's above a new bodega called Robin Deli in Charronway. Do you know how to get there?
( coincidentally heather was now running most of the building alongside maria. if laura was craving a cuban, she would have one ready for her. )
Mr. Cheese will be there too to give you comfort so don't be too worried, okay?
[It's strange. She's never really nervous about telling people things about her. Or she hadn't been before, anyway. Her life was very much an open book — her bluntness had sometimes thrown adults off-guard, because she didn't understand that some things were not meant to be said aloud.
Or rather, some things would only make people uncomfortable.
But she's never explained it like this. It feels strange, like a photo where you're asked to smile, and the result is never quite native to your face. She's not sure if any of the children at Transigen knew that you were supposed to smile in pictures. She catches Heather's scent just outside of the Robin Deli — a tricky feat, with the smells of delicious food hindering her — and she's able to follow it all the way to Heather's door.
( during the time the call ended and laura was to arrive, heather had made her way downstairs into the deli and began to prepare two cuban style sandwiches based off a recipe book she found at the library. things had just been built, supplies freshly provided and laura would truly be the location's first customer―
for both the deli and her office. it was a bit exciting for heather but she also had to balance keeping things cool and serious for whatever it was laura wanted to discuss with her. by the time the knock came to the bottom floor, heather tore her gloves off and set them aside, walking to the door with an apron and hairnet on. )
Hey you, welcome. I just finished making us a sandwich, come in and let me get the stuff.
( once inside, heather tore off her apron and net, setting it on a chair nearby before she walked back behind the deli counter to grab the sandwiches. )
You see those stairs on your right? Just go up them into my office, I'll meet you there.
( once laura did go up, she would find a potted plant, a table, two chairs, and a bunch of different items scattered and disorganized for now. it was going to take heather some time to get everything in order but time truly was what she had the most of here in between the missions. )
[Oh, you certainly know how to butter someone up. Her anxiety doesn't entirely dissipate... but she would be lying if she said the smell of that food wasn't very distracting. With the promise of a meal, she quickly makes her way up the stairs. A nice little place, the kind for talking.
Laura walks over the slightly crooked plant, adjusts it a little, and then plops down on a chair.
When Heather finally appears, she glances up patiently, her feet dangling a a bit off the ground as she kicks them.]
( once heather finished up, she came upstairs with two plates and two sodas for them both and set them on the coffee table before she sat across from laura on her own chair.
she won’t be digging in now, but laura wanted to eat and talk, she’ll certainly forgive her for it. )
Well that wasn’t my original plan but requesting this building with a bodega in it was a favor for a good friend of mine.
( she will however take a sip of her drink. )
So what’s on your mind? I’m free all afternoon, so I’m all yours.
She reaches to grab her own drink, clicking her boots together at the heel.]
It is complicated.
[And sad. But that was the point, wasn't it? It's not like Heather is offering her services if she wasn't willing to hear the bad things. She has to remind herself of what she'd said: that she would still talk to her, be her friend.]
Before I came to Etraya... I was not a normal little girl. I did not get to do the things other children did. Before I finally left where they made me, I didn't realize what normal things even were.
Now I see the normal things. All the time, I see what is real and true. Things I never knew I was missing before.
if she wanted to go at it, heather would follow along. if she wanted to eat first, she would do that. whatever made the other happy and if she wanted to hold mr. cheese for comfort well...
heather might wait on that but she'll do what she can to keep her feeling safe. for now though she listens, her words reminding her of how she was before. )
They made you?
( that's all really heather can say, keeping thoughts and opinions to herself for now. )
(cw: conversations about child abuse/experimentation/etc.)
[Indeed, she's already reached out and collected Mr. Cheese in her grasp, gently petting the crown of his little head. It's a good way to stay calm and comfortable; she sees why he is here.]
Mm... In a lab, with other mutant children. The scientists who worked for Transigen used genes from older mutants to make us; they wanted to sell us to other people, people who would want to use us for fighting. There were a lot of tests... a lot of things we had to do, or we would be in trouble.
... I didn't like it. But I did not know that it wasn't what life was supposed to be like.
( although heather was unaware of what exactly laura had gone through and where she had come from, the little details in what she said and she knew about this world seemed to fall into line like pieces of a puzzle.
a while back someone had asked why there was a building for mutants, something about a school and heather had actually come across it in her own research to further educate herself. she hadn't thought much on it, opting to just shrug and set that little oddity aside for now. when she thought back on it, she also recalled laura mentioning she had been here before.
she supposed somehow the two things were connected. )
Of course not, and you...you have powers then? Those 'mutants' you speak of, were they experimented on too?
( she wasn't a license professional by any means, so she was sticking to what she knew from her own youth counseling experience back home [which wasn't much, but she knew she couldn't give advice]. )
... Most mutants were born in normal families. They didn't know they had the mutant gene until they were older. But others were scared of them, because of the things they could do. That's when people like Transigen started putting medicine in the food, without anyone knowing. So that no more mutants could be born.
[She looks at her hand, running her fingers near her knuckles.]
... That is why I was made. When mutants stopped being born in families, the doctors started making their own mutants in the lab. They wanted people they could sell... People that could be weapons.
[Glancing up, she frowns.]
I do have powers, like my father. He is one of the reasons we were able to get away from them.
( it was difficult for heather to truly be completely unemotional about this, to not feel a strong sense of anger over the things laura faced and her own treatment. long ago, when heather was alessa, she had also been born with powers, and while she hadn't been called a mutant, her own experiences felt far too similar to what laura went through.
there was nothing more that heather wanted to do than to jump up and give the other a hug, but she remained seated, biting her lower lip instead as she heard more. it was only when laura mentioned father, that the connection began to become more clear. )
I've been a bit busy lately, but you're still the only one here from your world right?
( not that anyone has mentioned being a mutant or having powers to heather directly. )
Not that I'm upset or anything about it, Laura I want you to know...I'm really happy you feel safe enough to tell me all this.
Some mutants were brought here, but from other universes.
[Which is definitely better than nothing, honestly. It had been nice to hear that another version of herself had managed to flourish despite what they'd endured in their youth. It gives her a little hope that she really could be okay, at the end of everything.]
... You are a good person, Heather. There are good people, people that just want mutants to be safe. The nurses that had to take care of us... they were good, too. They were scared to get hurt, but they helped us get out anyway.
[Those people make such a difference.
It just hurts to know so many had been hurt or killed because they just wanted to do something good for someone else who needed it.]
( given how complex james arrival was when he was here, and the time difference between maria and herself, heather could easily comprehend what laura was getting at.
with a soft nod of her own, heather simply smiled at her words and finally reached for her sandwich, holding the plate in her hand. she wasn't digging in just yet, instead using it as some of kind of thing to grip as she worked her way through laura's story with her. )
Thank you Laura, you are too no matter where you came from or what you might have done. How does it feel for you to be really be here, away from that. If you go back home....are you safe?
... I think so. We were granted — 'asylum'. In Canada. That's what the radio said.
[She's still not completely sure what it means, but... do most children understand that when it's offered to them? She's reminded of the meal offered and picks up her own, though unlike Heather she's immediate in the bite she takes.]
I like it here. I like it a lot. And I miss my friends, but I know they'll be safer now. Etraya can be bad sometimes, but it's... somewhere I don't mind staying, because it also means I might get to see my father again. Or other mutants.
( there was some comfort in knowing that laura was safe if she was ever returned back home, but even heather had her own reservations about hearing her feel some sense of comfort in being here.
she had her own conflicted feelings about it, and while she wanted to make and help others feel comfortable in being here, she also wondered if she should get comfortable here. her own world was in chaos, with her life back home ruined by the cult and the birth of god.
all she could do was think about what laura said, closing her eyes briefly before she began to take a bite of her sandwich. with one piece down, she spoke back. )
I really hope your father shows up then, and I'll keep an eye out too. What's his name?
( well that was certainly one unique past that only someone like heather, who had gone around collecting names could understand. she's positive there's no connection between her world and laura's, but even heather couldn't help but wonder if there was a method to the madness of this world here. )
Was that his ability as a mutant? Being able to live forever?
( she had sworn to herself she wouldn't give advice, that she would keep her thoughts to herself. yet as someone who had lived for quite some time now whether in her current body or her past one, she knew what that was like—
it was often a lonely existence. so she decided to say something that had kept her sane for so long, that pushed her to strive for more. )
You know Laura, that sounds like a heavy burden for someone your age to deal with. I know what it's like to be different....to be someone hated by others for things outside of your control.
I just want you to remember this when things get tough. A little girl like yourself told me this long ago in a letter....'we were put here on this earth to feel joy and be happy'. So try and be happy Laura, in spite of those people who wanted to hurt you.
Because nothing will hurt them more than for you to be happy and find peace in life.
[It has been hard. It's been a strange, difficult thing, to step out of one place full of people who see you as lesser — and then into a complicated world full of people who may hate you with the same kind of vitriol. But... if there's one thing she'd learned, it was that the world wasn't only full of unkindness. People had helped her and her small, strange family.
(And they died for it.
Innocent people died for it, and she still things about that every day.)
( and she genuinely meant it. with a soft smile of her own, she looked off towards her pet rat, a small idea coming into her mind. )
You know, if you're feeling lonely or anything, you can always babysit Mr. Cheese for me if you want? I'll even pay you in snacks or candy, given we don't really use money here.
( obviously heather didn't need that service but it was clear she wanted laura to feel wanted, needed. that she was someone important to heather even if they haven't known each other for very long. )
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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[She doesn't mind stretching her legs any chance she gets, anyway.
But — before she commits, an important topic must be broached.]
If we talk about troubling thoughts, I think... I will need to explain more about me than you know. And I am afraid it will make you and Mr. Cheese not want to talk to me any longer.
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( if only she knew the terrible things heather herself had gone through really, how much guilt she felt about having even just a small role in maria's ordeal.
she herself felt the same way when she bonded with the woman, revealing her past. not that she would with laura unless it truly helped her. with a soft sigh, she spoke once more. )
I don't think there's anything you could do or say that would make me not want to talk to you anymore.
( unless she outright hurt heather or someone she loved, but even then...laura was a child. she could come to forgive her, surely. )
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But if Heather says so, who is she to doubt her?]
Okay.
Then I'm ready. Tell me where to go, and I'll be there.
... I'll bring us cookies.
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( coincidentally heather was now running most of the building alongside maria. if laura was craving a cuban, she would have one ready for her. )
Mr. Cheese will be there too to give you comfort so don't be too worried, okay?
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[It's strange. She's never really nervous about telling people things about her. Or she hadn't been before, anyway. Her life was very much an open book — her bluntness had sometimes thrown adults off-guard, because she didn't understand that some things were not meant to be said aloud.
Or rather, some things would only make people uncomfortable.
But she's never explained it like this. It feels strange, like a photo where you're asked to smile, and the result is never quite native to your face. She's not sure if any of the children at Transigen knew that you were supposed to smile in pictures. She catches Heather's scent just outside of the Robin Deli — a tricky feat, with the smells of delicious food hindering her — and she's able to follow it all the way to Heather's door.
A soft knock follows.]
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for both the deli and her office. it was a bit exciting for heather but she also had to balance keeping things cool and serious for whatever it was laura wanted to discuss with her. by the time the knock came to the bottom floor, heather tore her gloves off and set them aside, walking to the door with an apron and hairnet on. )
Hey you, welcome. I just finished making us a sandwich, come in and let me get the stuff.
( once inside, heather tore off her apron and net, setting it on a chair nearby before she walked back behind the deli counter to grab the sandwiches. )
You see those stairs on your right? Just go up them into my office, I'll meet you there.
( once laura did go up, she would find a potted plant, a table, two chairs, and a bunch of different items scattered and disorganized for now. it was going to take heather some time to get everything in order but time truly was what she had the most of here in between the missions. )
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Laura walks over the slightly crooked plant, adjusts it a little, and then plops down on a chair.
When Heather finally appears, she glances up patiently, her feet dangling a a bit off the ground as she kicks them.]
It must be nice, to be so close to sandwiches.
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she won’t be digging in now, but laura wanted to eat and talk, she’ll certainly forgive her for it. )
Well that wasn’t my original plan but requesting this building with a bodega in it was a favor for a good friend of mine.
( she will however take a sip of her drink. )
So what’s on your mind? I’m free all afternoon, so I’m all yours.
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She reaches to grab her own drink, clicking her boots together at the heel.]
It is complicated.
[And sad. But that was the point, wasn't it? It's not like Heather is offering her services if she wasn't willing to hear the bad things. She has to remind herself of what she'd said: that she would still talk to her, be her friend.]
Before I came to Etraya... I was not a normal little girl. I did not get to do the things other children did. Before I finally left where they made me, I didn't realize what normal things even were.
Now I see the normal things. All the time, I see what is real and true. Things I never knew I was missing before.
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if she wanted to go at it, heather would follow along. if she wanted to eat first, she would do that. whatever made the other happy and if she wanted to hold mr. cheese for comfort well...
heather might wait on that but she'll do what she can to keep her feeling safe. for now though she listens, her words reminding her of how she was before. )
They made you?
( that's all really heather can say, keeping thoughts and opinions to herself for now. )
(cw: conversations about child abuse/experimentation/etc.)
Mm... In a lab, with other mutant children. The scientists who worked for Transigen used genes from older mutants to make us; they wanted to sell us to other people, people who would want to use us for fighting. There were a lot of tests... a lot of things we had to do, or we would be in trouble.
... I didn't like it. But I did not know that it wasn't what life was supposed to be like.
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a while back someone had asked why there was a building for mutants, something about a school and heather had actually come across it in her own research to further educate herself. she hadn't thought much on it, opting to just shrug and set that little oddity aside for now. when she thought back on it, she also recalled laura mentioning she had been here before.
she supposed somehow the two things were connected. )
Of course not, and you...you have powers then? Those 'mutants' you speak of, were they experimented on too?
( she wasn't a license professional by any means, so she was sticking to what she knew from her own youth counseling experience back home [which wasn't much, but she knew she couldn't give advice]. )
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[She looks at her hand, running her fingers near her knuckles.]
... That is why I was made. When mutants stopped being born in families, the doctors started making their own mutants in the lab. They wanted people they could sell... People that could be weapons.
[Glancing up, she frowns.]
I do have powers, like my father. He is one of the reasons we were able to get away from them.
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there was nothing more that heather wanted to do than to jump up and give the other a hug, but she remained seated, biting her lower lip instead as she heard more. it was only when laura mentioned father, that the connection began to become more clear. )
I've been a bit busy lately, but you're still the only one here from your world right?
( not that anyone has mentioned being a mutant or having powers to heather directly. )
Not that I'm upset or anything about it, Laura I want you to know...I'm really happy you feel safe enough to tell me all this.
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Some mutants were brought here, but from other universes.
[Which is definitely better than nothing, honestly. It had been nice to hear that another version of herself had managed to flourish despite what they'd endured in their youth. It gives her a little hope that she really could be okay, at the end of everything.]
... You are a good person, Heather. There are good people, people that just want mutants to be safe. The nurses that had to take care of us... they were good, too. They were scared to get hurt, but they helped us get out anyway.
[Those people make such a difference.
It just hurts to know so many had been hurt or killed because they just wanted to do something good for someone else who needed it.]
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with a soft nod of her own, heather simply smiled at her words and finally reached for her sandwich, holding the plate in her hand. she wasn't digging in just yet, instead using it as some of kind of thing to grip as she worked her way through laura's story with her. )
Thank you Laura, you are too no matter where you came from or what you might have done. How does it feel for you to be really be here, away from that. If you go back home....are you safe?
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... I think so. We were granted — 'asylum'. In Canada. That's what the radio said.
[She's still not completely sure what it means, but... do most children understand that when it's offered to them? She's reminded of the meal offered and picks up her own, though unlike Heather she's immediate in the bite she takes.]
I like it here. I like it a lot. And I miss my friends, but I know they'll be safer now. Etraya can be bad sometimes, but it's... somewhere I don't mind staying, because it also means I might get to see my father again. Or other mutants.
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she had her own conflicted feelings about it, and while she wanted to make and help others feel comfortable in being here, she also wondered if she should get comfortable here. her own world was in chaos, with her life back home ruined by the cult and the birth of god.
all she could do was think about what laura said, closing her eyes briefly before she began to take a bite of her sandwich. with one piece down, she spoke back. )
I really hope your father shows up then, and I'll keep an eye out too. What's his name?
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[She sighs.]
He went by a lot of things. Logan is the best one to use, I think.
[Laura may not have been legally named, but at least she tries to stick to one.]
... I think he lived so long, he just started collecting them.
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Was that his ability as a mutant? Being able to live forever?
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It was one of them.
We have the same powers. [She looks down, thoughtful.] I guess I will live for a very long time, too. Longer than normal people.
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it was often a lonely existence. so she decided to say something that had kept her sane for so long, that pushed her to strive for more. )
You know Laura, that sounds like a heavy burden for someone your age to deal with. I know what it's like to be different....to be someone hated by others for things outside of your control.
I just want you to remember this when things get tough. A little girl like yourself told me this long ago in a letter....'we were put here on this earth to feel joy and be happy'. So try and be happy Laura, in spite of those people who wanted to hurt you.
Because nothing will hurt them more than for you to be happy and find peace in life.
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(And they died for it.
Innocent people died for it, and she still things about that every day.)
But even after all of that pain...
She offers a smile, thankful smile in return.]
... I know. The people here help me feel joy.
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( and she genuinely meant it. with a soft smile of her own, she looked off towards her pet rat, a small idea coming into her mind. )
You know, if you're feeling lonely or anything, you can always babysit Mr. Cheese for me if you want? I'll even pay you in snacks or candy, given we don't really use money here.
( obviously heather didn't need that service but it was clear she wanted laura to feel wanted, needed. that she was someone important to heather even if they haven't known each other for very long. )
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I wouldn't need to be paid in anything. I like him enough to do it for free.
[Though... one has to wonder if it's actually free, if she's getting quality time with a cute animal as technical payment.]
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