a busy lady and her fourth wall

[evanesced]

It's a nice idea! Really. But I already have a job. [ A headtilt. ] Or two-ish. [ And another in the other direction. ] Three and a half if you count keeping the dadchildren out of trouble - which I do.

Plus there's discovering the lost city of Atlantis. [ Is she joking? Who knows. ] Find me Milo Thatch or several, you never know when they might come in handy.

Comments

[inequal]

Oh, let's just go with three. Surely I don't need the watching over as much as your dad does.

What idea would this be? The one your mun has.

[evanesced]

[ Disbelieving look! ] If anything you're the entire one and a half, plus the ish! Have you met yourself?

Following you around everywhere, obviously. The both of you. I'm not your daughternanny.

[inequal]

Several times. Had lovely conversations and all that.

That would be a bit hard, wouldn't it, what with my travel plan. Wouldn't mind having you around more, though, maybe just as a regular ol' daughter.

[evanesced]

I hope you gave yourself a good scolding.

What does a regular ol' daughter do? I may have outgrown tea parties.

[inequal]

I've done nothing to deserve that. When have I ever? Don't answer that.

Why, be her beautiful and amazing self. Not very complicated, is it?

[evanesced]

Would you like that list arranged by date or severity of offense?

Well, I'll just stand here then. Posing. [ She strikes a dramatic, Hamlet-ish pose. ] Good?

[inequal]

By date would be horribly inaccurate.

I think it would be better if you... [ He moves in, wrapping her arms around him so he can do the same, leaning forward to give her forehead a kiss. ] Perfect.

[ Yeah, Liam is a bit of a huge sap in private. So sue him. ]

[evanesced]

Severity it is, then.

[ She allows this with a minimum of eye-rolling and rewards him for his secret sappiness with a peck on the cheek. ] Missed me, have you?

[disparates]

You think we need to be kept out of trouble? I would have thought that boy of yours would rank higher than that, what with his antics. [...not that he's ever enabled this or anything.]

I doubt you'd need the assistance of a fictional character to help you with that, dear. You're doing just fine without his help.

[evanesced]

Maybe he just likes to make you look normal and ordinary by comparison. And he's not a boy, he can vote and drink and everything, practically adult by now.

Sure, but it's the big kahuna, you know, and he's got maps. Maps, Dad! - Which take all the challenge out of things, so maybe not.

[disparates]

While I can pass for boring and ordinary, the same cannot be said for your father. No one can really outdo him in troublemaking and acting like a madman. Though Derek does come in a close second, from what I've seen. And he'll be a boy to me until he decides to stop acting like a child.

We wouldn't want that to happen, now would we? Finding one of the lost cities should be exciting and through hard work. Cheating with someone else's maps would take all the fun away.

[evanesced]

You might have to wait quite a while for that, boring and ordinary father-of-mine. Incidentally, Papa's claimed that you make most of the trouble of the two of you. What do you think of that? I think I ought to just keep score and tally it up yearly.

Exactly, thank you. And then I can make my own maps to give out to the worthily curious.

[disparates]

That's what I thought he would say. If you ask me, he's just jealous I'm a far better actor than he is when it comes to hiding what little trouble I get into.

You could make a decent profit selling those maps off to those wanting to visit.

[evanesced]

You're both trying to run rings around poor little me, aren't you.

I could! But I'd have to get someone else to play tour guide while I discovered new places. Too bad they already found Troy, I could've made a mint on that.

[runeskin]

Atlantis? How did that happen?

Don't worry too much, sometimes these people get... sidetracked. You may not end up anywhere at all.

[evanesced]

It hasn't yet! I'm working on it.

I'm not actually worried, I'm more . . . explaining. I'm actually quite a good multitasker.

[runeskin]

Well, good luck with Atlantis, then!

Multitasking could be useful, depending on where your mun decides to send you.

[evanesced]

You ought to wish Atlantis good luck with me. [ This grin conquers undiscovered continents, you know. ]

Where are you, then? And most importantly, do you also have a bird?

[runeskin]

[She believes it.]

Oh, right now I'm on an island where your soul becomes an animal. My soul's a cat, though, not a bird. And I have a puppy that I'm training not to chew the furniture.

It's not too bad, really.

[evanesced]

Sounds like a task. The puppy, not the cat. Cats take care of themselves.

[runeskin]

Daemons aren't really animals, they just sort of look like them. But they can eat if they want to. The extraction process isn't very pleasant, though. Lots of weakness and bed rest.

The puppy in question can bite through metal, so I'm finding him a bit difficult.

[evanesced]

Boring. I'd just get a motorized scooter and roll around 'til I could stand. Lying in bed is dull.

. . . Where can I get one?

[canfindrope]

What's a nice idea?

[evanesced]

Taking me places. All the places. She gets overenthused, I think.

[canfindrope]

Don't all of them? Mine has me almost everywhere.