Participants:
| Scene Title | Bonds That Never Break |
|---|---|
| Synopsis | Liz drops by Harmony's place per her usual, but this time to ask how things went with Cardinal's return as well. The two seal a friendship that grew from a tough situation, and Liz is given another reason to come back safely |
| Date | October 8th 2011 11AM |
Harmony's Hideaway Apartment
She had some time in the morning after the night that she had a very pleasant and unexpected visitor. It's like clockwork, and Harmony has fallen into the swing of routine so easily that it kinda scares her. Cardinal threw it a little off track by staying the night. But Harm would not have had it any other way. She had time to make a list in the morning just before Card had to get going. And of course Harmony made him promise to bright a gift for the twins next time he comes, because Liz is way ahead of him in that race.
Oh that's right! Liz! As soon as Cardinal left, Harmony tossed on clothes, a bit of a disguise and hit up the store for a couple of things. Getting back with bags in her hands, "I'm back!" she announces to the appointed nanny, looking at the clock, "Just in time. She should be here" Harmony squints, bobbing her head side to side in calculation, "Bout 30 seconds to 2 minutes." she starts unpacking her groceries, "Twins have had their after breakfast nap, so they'll be a little more awake when she gets here. That'll make her day." Harmony chuckles.
It's funny… Richard had been so worried about how Liz would be with the kids. And true, the news of them hit her hard. But his disappearance hit her harder still. They are all she had left — and the promise she made him that if Harmony ever needed ANYTHING for the those children, she'd be there. And now Elisabeth is a regular face — minimum two days a week, sometimes 4 or 5, depending on what Harmony needs. Having a nanny is the only thing that really gets a woman through the day with two infants. Especially when one is especially demanding!
The knock at the door happens exactly when Harmony expected, and when she comes into the apartment, the blonde audiokinetic looks just a little worried — she knew Richard was coming, and she made a point not to come until she knew he was gone. "Hey," she greets Harm. "I just… wanted to make sure you're okay."
Yup, leave it to Richard male heir to be the difficult one! He lives up to his first name for sure. But nothing that the various women in his life can't handle! With Card's sisters, the womenfolk will outnumber the boys! Speaking of which, the knock to the door Ricky doesn't like. Sleeping, he wouldn't have heard it, but Liz being greeted by the fussy sound of a cranky baby boy indicates that they're awake. Harmony smirks, separating produce from products. "You know, I think he knows it's you, and only does that to get you to pick him up." she shakes her head. "Come on in, I just got back from a quick trip to the store." Yeah, Card is long gone.
Elisabeth smirks even as the baby starts up. "Of course he does — cuz he knows he already has me wrapped around his little pinky." She leaves her jacket on a chair and heads into the bedroom to pick up her godson, burying her nose in his neck to take in the scent of infant. A quick glance shows her that Lili is wide-eyed, though quiet, is also already awake. And with a sweep of her arm, she gathers up the baby girl as well for a nuzzle.
Coming back out into the main room, she isn't quite ready to relinquish the babies to their respectve swings and bouncy seats. Instead, she settles on a chair and maneuvers the kidlets to comfortable positions in her arms until Harmony can come rescue her from one of them.
"You're really getting the hang of this, you know," Elisabeth observes with a smile. This is the one place, generally speaking, where Liz's subtle hum is just not present — she's not anxious here. Even when Ricky is starting to make the really unhappy sounds that mean she's going to have to walk with him, she never seems worried about it. "So…. did it go all right?" she asks. "I would have warned you, but … he wanted to tell you himself." She grins a bit.
Harmony has to laugh at the irony of Richard finding a new way to entrance the women. It's not even him doing it, it's a product of him. "Yeah, I know what you mean. I was worried he might go colic, but his fits only last as soon as he get what he wants." she smiles, watching Liz hold them, "That one right there is his weakness. He hates to hear her cry, and she can sometimes be soothed once she hears him start crying." The look on Harmony's face shows that she is mystified by just how connected she is to them.
"Yeah…" she snaps out of her daydreaming trance, smiling, "I'm just as surprised at how I took to it myself. I think…" and she tries to formulate what she intends to say, "I think that something stuck, or was created when I had that telepathy and felt their thoughts the whole time. Not anything like an actual power but like… it left— not a scar, but left a pathway open or strengthened the natural bond, even though I don't have telepathy anymore. I get them. It's great, actually." Something Harmony does not want to ever end.
"Wellll…" Harmony says with uncertain amount of tension, like maybe there might be some bad news. But she can't keep up that ruse, and just gives in to a grin, "It was more than alright. It was great." remembering it, she laughs, shaking her head, "You should have seen Richard's face when I handed Lili to him! He was so scared! I thought he was gonna start pulling a Ricky himself right there!" By the end of her explanation, Harmony is already laughing almost to hard to get it all out. She cackles for a couple moments and regains her composure, taking the diapers out from the third bag, "After that, he fed Ricky, and then he passed out with them on the bed." Another fond memory, "He left just a little bit before I went to the store."
Her mirth fades however, looking at Liz a little sympathetic, "He… sorta told me about Joshua." Harmony admits.
As she listens to Harmony talk about the children and her tie to them, Elisabeth is grinning at the babies. Ricky's not having any of it, but Lili is just such a laid-back personality. Liz kisses her softly on the forehead and actually surrenders the little girl the bouncy seat where she can see her mama, then starts the walking with Ricky — the boy may not have colic, but he's definitely high-maintenance. She chuckles at the fact that Harmony 'gets' them. "I'd have to say that it's a really GOOD thing that you get them. It'll come in handy. Cuz this one? He's gonna make us all bonkers," she opines mildly even as she smooths one hand along the soft back of the baby's head. She's become adept at the walking sway.
Joshua's name, however, brings a pained expression to Liz's features. "I'm surprised," she admits quietly. "He's pretty set on … not acknowledging that Joshua's a future where we both screwed up so badly that our son came back to kill him." She doesn't look at Harmony, instead letting her lips touch Ricky's head. "I … have no idea how I could have let Joshua hate him like that," she murmurs. "It's not right."
"He didn't cry with Richard once. Not one time after he fed him. Till the time that he left. I was sure he was a momma's boy in the working, but Richard has a second power, I swear. Or it could be that Ricky, as young as he is just likes to sway women. Which is not entirely difficult to believe, now that I say it out loud." Harmony looks perplexed at just how much that sentence makes perfect sense. But on the same token, Harmony seems at peace with the fact of the immediate relationship that was forged from the first time the children met their father. She, Liz, the children and Cardinal especially need that bit of good right now. And another pin to keep Richard firmly in place.
Seeing her pain about Joshua, Harmony softens in great sympathy, "Oh Liz, I'm so sorry that you had to go through it." not even asking— as if she ever would, she hugs her, minding the infant in her arms. "You know what I think?" Harmony looks Liz in the eyes, "I don't think you let him get that way. If it were you? There would only be two things that would ever let that happen. One of them is that you would die first. The others? Just as bad. You'd have to be broken and out of your mind, or separated from him through the most difficult of means. Something really messed up had to happen." Harmony says this with a much confidence as anything else she is passionate about.
"Have you talked to him?" Harmony asks carefully, "Maybe asked him what happened?" However after saying that, she kinda rolls her eyes, "Well, I dunno how reliable or useful that would be. If he's that upset, he probably has some warped sense of the truth in his head." Harmony blinks, gasping, "Hey! That's it! Mental tampering." she point at Liz, "Some evil, crazy Evo with funky mind warping abilities must have scrambled his brain to weaponize him. In an effort to weaken you and Cardinal here for a tactical strike from the real threat! Those are the only things that make sense in my head. Cause you'd never let it happen otherwise. And Richard is hell bent to not let it come to pass."
Wow…. that's getting into deeper territory. And Liz has come to appreciate Harmony's ease of touch, accepting the hug without strain. She forces a small smile at the staunch support. "I know at least part of what happened, yes," she admits. And now that she's in motion with the baby and he's content to lay with his head tucked under her chin sucking on his fingers, she pats his butt absently as she looks at Harmony.
"In the future that we're so hell-bent to stop, Ezekiel had me killed in those riots last November, because Edward Ray had a list of people who supposedly needed to die and gave it to Zeke. Given …." Elisabeth pauses and says, "Given that he loved me, he couldn't bear it. And he found someone to bring me back to life. But that power had a cost… after a time, the person's body … I guess decays, for lack of a better word. You're on borrowed time, and time catches up. In the intervening years, I'd stayed with Zeke and helped him become the monster we're fighting. When I realized what happened, I ran… I was pregnant with Josh at that point. We stayed underground for years. But Joshua watched me die in agony. Because of the choices that Zeke made. And…"
Elisabeth bites her lip and says, "I can't blame the kid. Hell… all of them came back here knowing that they were likely unmaking their own existances. Josh… came back to make sure Richard couldn't kill me, not knowing — maybe not willing to BELIEVE — that this Richard never had any intention of allowing it to happen."
Harmony looks horrified by the bigger bulk of that story, "Oh my god are you serious? That's just— I don't even have the words." She looks disgusted by the concept, working it in her head, mouth slightly agape, "I mean… how can you call that love, to bring someone back, just so they can decay to death while alive? That's— obsession! I mean… I guess it could be love in a way, and a child came from it sure but…" Harmony is more applauded by the situation than shaken. "Tea." she decides randomly, going into the kitchen area to fetch the supplies to make it. "There's your answer right there then. It's like I said, you probably weren't in your right mind." She takes two mugs out of the cupboard, setting them on the counter.
"If you slowly decayed, then at some point— probably closer to the middle— you gotta think that your brain would have rotted. Which would have really messed with your activity. Call it a— necrotic lobotomy of sorts, yeah!" Harmony bobs her head, gathering the kettle for the hot water and the tea bags. "The way I see it? It sounds like Joshua never actually got to know family, at all. He had to spend his childhood taking care of you. So he wouldn't have one, he would just know only strife. Something like that would clearly cause something like this."
Quirking a brow, Elisabeth has to grin at the championing of her that Harmony is doing. "I dunno… from what I gathered in the brief time I got to meet him, it rather sounded like I did a pretty good job with him. I mean… I taught him to drive a tank, taught him to use his powers. It didn't sound like he had to take care of me until the very end." Elisabeth smiles slightly. "Honestly? It seemed like maybe the problem was that I *was* a good mom… and he had to watch his mom die, so he's *very* pissed off at the man he views as responsible. Seems… pretty normal, truth be told. Kids of divorce are often pretty pissed at one parent over the other. Annnnd…. it probably doesn't help that in that future, his father is a massive effing eff-head."
She's always careful about her language around the babies! It's hysterical.
Blowing out a heavy breath, Liz just shakes her head. "It's neither here nor there. I've only met Joshua once, and I'm basing my thoughts here more on … some amount of assumption and a few bits of information, some dreams of the future, and the kid's general overall demeanor. How the heck do I know?" She pats Ricky, shifting his tiny weight just a little, and nuzzles the boy as she continues to walk with him.
Comparing the two theories side by side, Harmony has to concede, "Yeah that kinda makes sense too…" She was really just looking to ensure that neither is to actually blame for the result. Sighing, and just wowing at the scope of it all, Harmony goes to retrieve Lili, carefully raising her up to rest against her shoulder and check her bottom, "Well, it's still an issue? Or he's gone now? Cause that's a loose end I'd think you'd both wanna deal with. Maybe it's not too late to fix it? I mean, what if what he's doing isn't even gonna effect anything because it's like… not his past or something. I mean, there isn't any mention of me or the twins right? And Richard is different too so we might not have even happened. I've seen movies about alternate timelines before. Could be something like that. If he's still a problem, show him it's not his reality and past?" The blonde shrugs,
"That would be so awesome if you got him to settle down and you had a son here. Probably a farfetched thing, but it'd be more favorable than the alenative, sheesh." The whole thing stinks, and Harmony is getting sick of time-travellers from just hearing about them.
She, along with feel, also checks scent. "You know… I never thought that I would ever get desensitized to the smell of poop. But it doesn't even make me gag anymore at this point. it's like changing a lightbulb." Luckily, she doesn't smell a mess with the slumbering girl, "Forget all this macho, male driven crap. The stuff that we do? What we put up with from pushing them out to changing diapers? That's what real toughness is. Like I told Richard, I can't wait for the first time he has to change them. And I'll be filming."
There's a flash of something that's not quite amusement and not quite sadness across Elisabeth's face. "Well… see, before you came along and the two of you managed to create these adorable bundles of 'what the freaking heck,' … we were talking about having one," she admits softly, her cheek pressed to Ricky's soft head. "And then … things went a little sideways, and then you turned up pregnant, and then TIME TRAVEL."
She rolls her eyes. "I don't know if Richard would ever even want that now. I know I'm … it breaks my heart to see Joshua. Because in all? I'm… damn, Harmony, I can't help it. Seeing who he grew up to be? What he's willing to do? I'm proud of him. But it makes me sad, too. Because I look at him and see all the things we must have done wrong too. I…" She shrugs a little. "I don't know if either of us will want to take the chance, I guess? It's not even really something that's come up anyway. He just got back, we've got a hell of a fight ahead, and… maybe we both always knew it would be a pipe dream."
But it might explain why Elisabeth loves Harmony's children the way she does.
And then the blonde audiokinetic laughs. "You *better* have video. Cuz I'll pay money to see that one. Especially when Lili gets done with him." She snickers. That baby can make a MESS right up the back of her sleeper.
"It's really not too late you know." Harmony assures her, "These two right here? You give it 2 years and Richard will be wanting more, trust me." Harmony shakes her finger knowingly, "I mean I'm done with this unless— Well if I don't screw things up with Curtis, and if by some miraculous act of God or whatever, the knot gets tied? And he wants kids? I'd be open to do it again. But you know who he'll look to when he gets the daddy urge in him, since the shop is closed here for the foreseeable future." Harmony may have caught some information that indicated the possibility. She had telepathy when she was around Richard after all. But she is doing the right thing in not saying it outwardly.
"And yeah," Harm nods supportively, "I can see how you would be really proud of him. Despite things. He had to really have loved you to transcend time and space just to make sure you were alive, healthy and happy. Even without him." the blonde looks at the two that belong to her, hoping they won't have to make that kinda sacrifice.
"I told Richard that I want to fix all of this insanity so Ricky and Lili have a world that they can feel safe to grow up in. I don't want the type of struggles we face now to be put before them." Her brows turn and knit towards each other. "I know I would even go as far as to kill for them, if I had to." A shiver of ever having to see them suffer, has Harmony cradling Lili a bit closer for a second. "And I don't want to be the reason they get hurt, either. Which is why I'm taking steps to learn to gain full control of my ability."
"Oh god, Lili is just—" Harmony rolls her eyes hard with a look of bewilderment. "I don't understand it! They both eat the same. Exact. Thing. And her movements are almost ten times worse than his! It's both fascinating and frustrating, having twins. It's a good thing they're different sexes, cause man…"
The little boy curled up against her heart? Yeah — the stinker might be working on a load, but he seems quietly content to just suck on his fingers and cuddle. Elisabeth just laughs softly. "I have no words, Harm — I mean, I *see* what she puts out. I swear to God, I have no idea. Maybe she does it for both of them!" And her nose wrinkles on a giggle when the bundle in Harmony's hands makes the SOUND of filling a diaper. "Oh, ew." Not that Liz hasn't put in her own time changing diapers and dealing with spit-up.
While Harmony deals with the mess that is Lili, Liz just keeps doing what she's doing — walking with Ricky. "We're making a move on Ezekiel. Soon," she tells Harmony quietly. "It's for all the marbles, Harm. And it's not just us. It's a monster of an attack plan. You *cannot* say anything to anyone, including Curtis. I promise you that I'm keeping tabs on the squad and I'll make sure they know what they need to know." She trusts the other blonde nowadays to know when to keep her mouth shut. Protecting the babies has made Harmony cautious in the extreme. "But I do need you to do one thing for me, okay?"
She waits until Harmony's full attention is back on her after the diaper change. Elisabeth says very seriously, "I need you to pack an emergency bag for you and them. And I need you to be ready to move literally on a phone call's notice. One of ours has gone missing. And more and more people are being "voluntarily"," and Harmony can hear the air-quotes around that word, "being shoved into Eltingville. I'm really afraid things *are* going to get worse and that we may not get much notice. If I call you and tell you to get the hell out, I need you ready to move right then and there into the evacuation plan, okay?"
Harmony can feel it, cause her hand is there. Her eyes roll back into her head, lips purse together and she nods, waiting, "Yuuuuup. Never fails. I dunno why I thought I got lucky this time." Harmony gets right up to go to the changing station, "Better put a mute field around those cute little ears." Harmony wiggles her finger pointing at Ricky as she passes, "Got about 5 second before she starts fussing about the mess she made. And the moment he hears her…" It goes without saying, really. They play off of each other.
She sets the infant down on her back at the changing area she has set up. There is a second where Harmony pauses in undoing the onesie as what Liz says hits her. "You know, part of me wants to beg you to take me along. But that's not gonna happen, and I couldn't bring myself to do that unless it's absolutely necessary." Harmony sounds a bit upset about it, Lili starting her bout of screaming about a mushy bottom.
Harmony sorta sings in coos to soothe her while she cleans. "There, there, it's okay. It's just a little mess, right? Happens all the time. And mommy is always right there to make you feel all sweet and fresh again. Cause nobody likes a stinky girl, no they don't." And by the time she's done cleaning, drying, and making sure the moisture is all gone, making her fresh. She has her fixed all up and up on her shoulder, rocking and bouncing her to calm her down.
"Don't worry. I won't say anything. But if you guys need me in an emergency please do not hesitate to call me." she walks over to Liz, and reaches Lili down to trade, because she knows the pattern of cause and effect with these two. She went, and Ricky hasn't. And he's never far behind her. By the time she walks him over to the station, she will have a mess on her hands, she knows it. "Or yeah… call me then too. The emergency bag is in the closet." Harm nods, "I've been ready since I regained my strength." she can't think of that happening because it will make her cry. She is quite afraid of the worst. "Oh," she says distractedly, "I decided on Elisabeth for Lili's middle name, I hope that's okay." she just mentions offhandedly in a distracting way.
Elisabeth knows the drill as well as Harmony does by now, so as soon as Harmony starts heading for the changing table, she's got Ricky's head all muffled. He doesn't care — he's all cuddled up against her heartbeat, right where he likes to be. And Liz has to laugh at the cooing and baby talk over there.
Honestly, her own brain is on autopilot right at that moment, running through departure scenarios for Harmony. There are three in place for the woman and her children — three ways to get them out of town, hopefully ahead of any problems. Although admittedly, Elisabeth is really hoping not to ever have to call upon the third one. Phillip is still a *really* touchy subject for her.
She trades babies absently and then smiles at the baby girl in her hands. "You did good, Harmony." She has to marvel at the tiny miracles whenever she sees them. Who knew she would be all mushy about babies?! She's a freakin' SOLDIER. But what started out as a way to keep her promise to a man she loves has turned into a hell of a lot more. Bringing Lili up under her chin in the space that her brother so recently vacated, Elisabeth is brought back around as Harmony talks of the emergency bags. And then drops a bombshell on her.
Elisabeth looks up and stared dumbly at Harmony. "What?"
Harmony makes a casual process out of changing Ricky. She's very settled and very comfortable. In just a month she has managed to not freak out when they start crying every time. And Ricky starts up while he is still going. Harm is already halfway at the diaper when he begins, "Yeah, I mean… Richard Lamont Roberts and Liliana Elisabeth Roberts," Harmony shrugs, "Lamont after Cardinal's—" she squints trying to remember, "Grandfather, I think? Liliana's my mother's name, and well, Elisabeth is her godmother's name." Harmony looks over and curls a smile in one corner of her lips, "Sounds perfect when you say it out loud."
Harmony returns to Ricky, and she plays that role, "I mean it's not a big deal really. If you're rather I didn't… well I suppose I can just pick something else." she contends, but obvious that it's BSing, light teasing. She's already decided.
Oh dear…. How to make Elisabeth Harrison cry? Yeah… Harmony just managed it. She turns her face down to put her lips against Lili's head and rocks a bit on her feet with the baby. "No…. No, I think… it's beautiful," she manages in an almost-whisper. You know that sub-audible buzz that happens when the audiokinetic is anxious? It's still not happening, even now when she has tears getting ready to make silent inroads down her cheek.
"Your mommy is an evil beast, Lili," she informs the baby, her amusement rather watery. She doesn't even mention that 'Lamont' is actually the name of an old comic book character called 'The Shadow.' Richard once told her where he got the name, and it amuses the hell out of her that Harmony wants to use it. Kissing the baby's head, she rests her cheek there and looks at Harmony.
"You know that I couldn't have walked away from helping even if they weren't his, don't you?" Elisabeth asks the woman who has become a friend. She's not sure she's ever said that to Harmony out loud, but she hopes that her actions have shown it. "But that means a lot to me."
Harmony is the one that did it, and even she can be found with tears on her face. "I thought it was beautiful too. There was really no contest. And just like Richard, I need you to come back alive and safe. And victorious of course," The blonde huffs out a chuckle through those emotions, "I um— I'm not ready to deliver a eulogy, or have to explain to them down the line why you aren't there. And come on, you can't fall out now. Right now you're the best chance for Ricky and Lili to get a brother or sister. And yes, I know that even if they weren't his, you'd be just as crazy over them." The warm tears drop one after the other from her face.
And Ricky takes his screaming up to an octave, as if to say 'Yeah, hello? Me? Attention? Now?'. And Harmony can't help but give him what he wants for right now, "Ohhkay ohkay," she coddles and lifts the youngling against her shoulder, "Mommy will leave her moment to shower you with allll the attention in the known world. Which for now, means that you get to go to sleep!' Harmony using motherese, "How does that sound? We'll leave the big broody boy all by himself in his crib for a couple hours, instead of loving and kissing on his little tiny head." she dips her head down and kisses the top of his head a couple times.
Laughing, Harmony works to settle him down, "Ok," she sighs out, "Come on, let's get them put down so that I can get me something to eat."