Wyches' Waltz
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Wyches' Waltz
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Robyn
Evening, Saturday, December 25, 2077, Seattle Opera House, SeattleRobyn grins. “Those are some very interesting questions, my love, but no, there is nothing about me that needs hiding. My life is pretty much an open book, either as Robyn Lysander or Alyce Krait. After the past couple of minutes, you will probably be asked lots of questions about us and you should feel free to say what you want to. The simple truth is that we are lovers that have been separated by bad luck and are now together, again.”
Robyn pauses and softly whispers, almost afraid to hear the answer. “We are together again, are we not?
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Calista giggled. “Gods, I hope so!” She exclaimed, wiping tears from her lashes with one immaculately manicured hand. “Otherwise my entrance was a bit overdramatic, don’t you think?” She placed a hand on Robyn’s bicep. “I will do my best not to embarrass you, love, and I’d be happy to socialize with you.” She sighed theatrically. “Alas, I am working a job here tonight, and I may have to vanish from time to time in order to help oversee it. It shouldn’t be long, and I won’t leave the grounds without telling you.” Calista generated an ARO and flicked it to Robyn’s PAN. “Here. My new commlink address, personal file, the usual. I still maintain the old comm, but I don’t always carry it. Until a few days ago, I couldn’t even remember I had it. But with this, you can reach me once more, darling.” SHe gestured toward the crowd. “Shall we?”
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Robyn
Evening, Saturday, December 25, 2077, Seattle Opera House, SeattleRobyn wipes at her own tears. “I am not sure that you could embarrass me, Cali. But you are on a job? What sort of a job, if I may ask?
She takes Calista’s arm and they walk off towards the steps leading from the small stage.
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Calista shrugged one shoulder, smiling and nodding in all the right places as they exited the stage to mingle with the crowd. Switching to Russian, she said, “A run. A simple snatch-and-grab job, nothing too impressive, no pain involved. It seems that the client wants to make the target something of a better offer. It doesn’t sit quite right with me, but I’ve got friends- hell, family, really- to think of, and a job set up by a fixer like Torrent is worth a lot to my street cred. I’m new in the biz, and the only high-profile run I’ve done was down in the Caribbean league.” Calista kissed Robyn on the cheek. “Like I said, its nothing major, not this time. And I’m hardly the only one working it.”
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Robyn
Evening, Saturday, December 25, 2077, Seattle Opera House, SeattleRobyn easily switches to her native Russian. “Torrent? I know him. Good reputation, too. You could do worse, much worse. Still, I agree with you about snatch and grabs. The target may not want to go to the new employer. But what is this about family? You never mentioned having a family, other than the bitch witch, of course, and I thought that you were free of her.”
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Calista laughed lightly. “I think you misunderstand, love.” Calista said, relishing the word. “Fox and I are not related. I first met her in Tel Aviv six months ago, when my memories started to come back. I was being…taken care of? Held prisoner? Something. Anyway, I woke up to some ass hat trying to make me over into his good little shadowrunner slitch, and after one too many presumptions and him calling me a whore one too many times, I decided to tell him to frag off.” Calista stopped her story for a moment as an immaculately dressed woman in a twinset and pearls came up to gush about Robyn’s playing. She stayed silent, curtsied when she was introduced, and when the woman moved away again, Calista continued, “You know me, I don’t like being told what to do outside of the bedroom. While I was leaving, I met Foxglove at the border. She had wheels, and I had a way through the checkpoint. We’ve been together ever since, done a few runs, became close.” She stopped and put her hand on the small of RObyn’s back, her expression suddenly chagrined. “Not close-close. She’s hot, but she doesn’t swing my way and I’m not inclined to try. Besides, I was pining after you. No, we’re more like sisters, which is what I mean by family. She taught me to drive, taught me guns, and I’ve been teaching her spirit lore and arcana and the like. We have a place together, a garage. Its been…nice.”
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Robyn
Evening, Saturday, December 25, 2077, Seattle Opera House, SeattleRobyn smiles at the various people who come up to greet her and introduces her very good friend to them. In between these conversations, she listens closely to what Cali has to say, chuckling at the “I don’t like being told what to do outside of the bedroom” comment. “Hey, I would like to meet this Foxglove sometime, if that is possible. Is this garage of yours in Seattle or somewhere else and you are just in town for your run?”
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Calista chuckled, scanning the room, but she wasn’t able to see her friend, or at least not able to pick her out of the crowd in her working guise. “Well, she’s around here someplace, so I’m sure that could be arranged.” Calista said, taking Robyn’s hand for a moment. “And yeah, the garage is right on the edge of Puyallup. You can’t miss it, the sign is two meters high. And purple. And on fire.” She did her smile and nod thing a few more times, careful not to show off her fangs before glancing over at Robyn. “So what brought you to the Emerald City? I mean, I came here because every ‘runner does, eventually, so it seemed as good a place for a new start as any. But you, you were established in London, had the favor of Earl’s House. Hell, you had friends and a life, a job and a bookstore. Why are you suddenly in Seattle?”
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Robyn
Evening, Saturday, December 25, 2077, Seattle Opera House, SeattleRobyn is momentarily lost in the sensation of holding Calista’s hand. “Well, I am quite good friends with Lady Tanya Marisart, a Brit noblewoman ex-pat who lives in Seattle. She is a well known philanthropist who sits on the boards of a number of charitable and civic organizations here, to include the Performing Arts Center. They had timed the grand opening of the new center to be at Christmas and she kindly thought to invite me to be the guest soloist for the concert. As it happens, the kids and Grace were planning a holiday away from home with some of their student friends and I had the time free, so I said I would come over. I am expected to return to London after the New Year.”
She glances over at her friend before continuing. “However, my schedule there is pretty blank right now and I could be easily convinced to extend here a bit longer. I would like to see your friend and your garage. If you have nothing to do after your run, maybe the two of you could come to Cornwall for a few days. I purchased a manor right on a cliff overlooking the sea with the moor right behind.”
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Calista’s heart soared, at both the casual invitation and the idea of seeing Britain again. “I’d like that, I really, really would. It’d do Fox some good, too. I don’t think she’s ever traveled except for work or fleeing the authorities. Her tale is as strange and convoluted as yours and mine are, I think.” Calista was silent for a moment as she considered what Robyn had said. Kids? Grace? Had Robyn mentioned them before? Her memory was mostly back in place, but there were holes, and she was patching them as fast as she could, but everything was still so raw. Finally, she remarked, “I saw the concert. I was in a box seat, stage right. You were wonderful, of course. As always.” She smiled, raising Robyn’s hand to her lips so that the other woman could feel the expression. Then, “The kids? I’m sorry, darling, but my memory has a few empty spots yet, a legacy of what was done to me. I don’t remember you talking much about your family either.”
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Robyn
Evening, Saturday, December 25, 2077, Seattle Opera House, SeattleRobyn smiles at Cali over her raised hand. “Several years ago I was in Cambodia looking for an artifact of power. At one point, I stumbled on a burning trading post along a river and found a young girl of eleven years old hiding in the bottom of a small boat. Her parents had been killed at the post and I tool her back to civilization with me. I sent her to London and had my solicitors look for her family. They informed me that none could be found and I adopted her. Her name is Gemma, Gem for short. She is now up at Cambridge studying pre-med so she can follow in my footsteps. Her roommate and best friend is Lydia and I have taken her under my wing and unofficially adopted her as well. It might as well be official since she spends all her time away from school at one of my houses or another. Grace is another young woman I have befriended. She is of the same age as Gem and Lydia but is up for pre-law, and all three are fast friends.”
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Calista gave Robyn a long, level look. “You…collect wayward girls around university age.” She said slowly. She blinked a few times, processing, and she chewed the corner of one lip thoughtfully before stopping when she realized it was revealing one fang. “I cannot help but notice that I fit that profile, dear heart.” Calista pointed out to Robyn. “Am I another of your foundlings, a project made good that you fell in love with?” It wasn’t the most delicate way to ask, certainly, but Calista was suddenly uncertain. This was new information, or at least information new to her, and it cast a different light on what she had with the blind elf. Was she simply the elf’s first project? Or her last? Was she…good enough? These other girls…they sounded so well adjusted, and smart, and successful, and they shared some similarities with Calista herself. What did this mean, if anything?
At heart, Calista was still desperate for approval, and it warred terribly with her desire to be her own woman, twisting her face into an expression of unease.
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Robyn
Evening, Saturday, December 25, 2077, Seattle Opera House, SeattleRobyn shakes her head even as she gently squeezes Calista’s hand. “No, you did not hear what I said, my love. In the first place, Gem was eleven when I found and adopted her, Secondly, Lydia is Gem’s roommate at university and her best friend, not mine. I only count her as a quasi-daughter because of all the time she spends at my house with Gem. Thirdly, I met Grace while on holiday in Cornwall. She was earning money as a guide to help pay for her schooling. We became very close for the few weeks of my holiday. I introduced her to Gem and Lydia due to their closeness in age and the fact that they were all already up at Cambridge. Now all three are friends. None of them were, or are, wayward, except in the normal fashion of college age girls.
She puts a hand to her lover’s cheek. “I do not make projects of people, Cali, unless you call trying to give my daughter the tools she will need to survive in this world and hoping that I do not screw that up, a project. When you and I met at that party, both if us already had lives. I saw something special in you and wanted to know more about you, and not as some project, some broken thing that needed putting back together. To me, you were, and still are, the most intriguing person I have ever met and I could take a lifetime to try to know you and still miss something. Taking you home that night was the best thing I ever did and you are still the best part of my life. Even in my darkest time, it was our shared love that kept me going. If anything, I rather expect that I was your project, not the other way round.” She swings about to face Calista and puts her hands on the other woman’s face. “Think on it, Cali. Let your heart tell you what is true. You have nothing to be concerned about. Are you questioning my love for you? If so, then let me try to reassure you that my love for you is stronger right now than it ever was at any time in the past. Does that scare you? Is that what your question is really all about?”
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“I…I..” Calista stammered, shaking in place. By now, she knew the signs of a breakdown, and she concentrated on fighting it, swaying for a moment as she fought the fear back down. She took a deep breath and reached up to place her hands on Robyn’s arms. “I guess it is.” Calista admitted quietly. “I’m scared, Robyn. I love you, but I left you. You have a family in Britain, and I don’t have anything but pain. I don’t…I don’t know what to do.” Her voice was choked, and her grip on Robyn tightened, as if afraid to let her go for fear that she would be gone again. “For the last six months, my entire driving force has been to get back to you, even before I remembered who you were and what we had. I’m terrified of losing you, I’m terrified of losing us, and I didn’t stop to think if…” She trailed off, trembling. “I didn’t stop to think at all, I guess. Is there even a place for me in your life?” She raised one finger. “Think before you answer. I know that years have gone by. I know that while you never stopped loving me, never stopped looking, your life has moved on from what we were. Just look at you!” She gestured about herself. “This is your life and I’m…poison. I know you would risk it for me, but can you? Can you really? What about Melissa, or all the other baggage I bring? Can you bring your daughters into this, or are we doomed to this? To brief moments together, always loving but always passing each other to protect those which need protecting?”
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Robyn
Evening, Saturday, December 25, 2077, Seattle Opera House, SeattleSensing a crisis of sorts, Robyn drops her hands from Calista’s face and takes her in a hug and whispers into her ear. “Oh, Cali. You don’t know what to do? Then let me help you with that. You can love me. Pure and simple, just love me. Let me help you remove the pain. This is not a task for Pax, but it is something I can do. Yu left me to protect me, but I do not require that sort of protection any longer, and neither do you. There is no reason for either of us to run away, ever again.”
She breaks the hug and leans back a bit, using a finger to lift some of Cali’s hair that has fallen in front of her face. The other hand reaches for and covers the raised finger as her face scrunches up into a thoughtful look for about two seconds. “OK, I have considered things very carefully and have come to an answer to your question. You did not need to stop and think if there is a place for you in my world because you already know the answer in your heart. We are both part of each other in a way that almost no one else could be nor would they understand it when they see it. You are not poison to me and you are right that I would indeed risk everything to have you back in my life. And I really can do that. I am wary of the bitch witch, but I refuse to let her rule my life through fear. My daughters and staff will love you. They are as well protected as I can make them without putting them in iron boxes, watched close and far by professionals. I do not want to be limited to brief moments together. I understand that our lives may require us to be apart at times, but I want those times to be few and short in duration. Bloody Hell, Cali, I want you in my life. Can I make it any plainer?”
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Calista didn’t answer immediately. She wanted what Robyn was offering, longed for it in a way she couldn’t fully describe, or even understand. It was the siren call of home, of stability and love and acceptance and a balm for all the pains and fears of her life.
But family was here. Foxglove was here. The girls from KillAssist were here. She had friends, a home, a business even. Could she leave it behind?
Calista trembled as she warred with herself, unsure of what to say. She couldn’t split from either one, she feared. In seeking out her life, she’d found another one. She’d built a life without ever realizing she was doing it, and now it seemed that she might have to choose between the two. Gods, what the hell was she going to do?
Calista had to say something. “No, I suppose you can’t. And you’re right. I can love you, and I do, and I want you in my life too.” The words were halting and quiet, but firm, and she clutched at Robyn as she spoke, afraid of what was going to come out of her mouth. “I want you in my life, too, honey. The only difficulty is that our lives are thousands of kilometers apart now, and if I set foot in the British Isles, Melissa will know. She’s got long arms, and other nameless appendages. A visit may have to wait.” There, she’d bought herself some time, without saying anything that would cause her to stick a foot in her mouth. “I’d love to see your home, and your family. I just don’t know when I can come to you.” She smiled impishly. “Have the stuffy pre-med student and her friends ever been here? You know how kids are, raised on trids and stories. Have they ever been to the real Emerald City?”
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Robyn
Evening, Saturday, December 25, 2077, Seattle Opera House, SeattleRobyn’s mutated brain accesses her implanted deck and the world of the matrix is open to her. She makes and rejects suggestions with the speed of thought then smiles at Calista. “I would need to find somewhere to live in. Does your current place have enough space or would we need to relocate you and your friend to somewhere else? I am sure that I could transfer my medical practice and necessary licenses, and there is some vacant private space available at the airport for my helicopter, so that should not be a problem.”
She taps her right foot on the floor. ‘“The girls are settled in Cambridge for now and we can talk with them about whether or not they want to transfer to the university here. If not, they can always come over for school holidays and such. I will probably need to travel to Britain now and then, but I am sure we can work that out.” Robyn pauses again and points to the huge Hell Houndound still at her side. “No problem with Alfie staying with me, is there?”
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“Whoa whoa whoa!” Calista said, laughing. “Pump the brakes, babe. Let’s not get ahead of ourselves here, okay?” Calista kissed Robyn on the cheek, suddenly all smiles again. “No need to uproot the girls’ lives. I meant, have they been here on vacation? You know, come see the Seattle Ballet, take in a show, really get the whole ‘Emerald City’ experience. Let’s meet them together before we start talking about life-altering experiences for them, maybe?” She grinned and shook her head, warmed by Robyn’s exuberance. She gestured around her. “This is my life ow. I don’t want to give it up, and you have your own. Let’s not play the game of who can sacrifice what they’ve worked for first, hmmm? Stay in town a little while longer, see if the girls want to meet me, reconnect. No need to rush.” Calista caressed Robyn’s cheek, her thumb trailing over the other woman’s lips. “I’m here to stay, love. It’s alright. As for where to stay, my place has space, but there’s a few of us there, and it’s really Foxglove’s as much as it is mine. It’s a garage, not exactly the most private or salubrious place, but she’ll give it up when hell freezes over, and I’m pretty partial to the place myself. How about we find you a nice place nearby-ish, and I can split my time? I don’t want Fox to think I’m abandoning her. She’s my best friend, and we’ve been through a lot together.”
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Robyn
Evening, Saturday, December 25, 2077, Seattle Opera House, SeattleRobyn grins. “Got you to smile and laugh, though, didn’t it? I have no intention of uprooting the girls’ lives. I think that they are quite happy where they are, but who really knows people of that age, anymore. I was thinking of having them come over to visit on their next school holiday, though, to meet you and your friends. As for me, I am less tied down than you seem to think I am. Sure, I have homes in Britain, a bookshop, and a good medical practice, but I could find all of that here, I am sure. God knows I spend about a third of my time in one bloody jungle or another, so I do not require salubrious, so just about anything where I can rest is fine with me.”
She puts a hand on one of Calista’s. “I certainly do not want you to leave your friends. In fact, I hope that you introduce me to them and that they become my friends, too. So, what is our next step?”
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Calista laughed again, a light, breathy, silvery little sound. “Gods, um, get through tonight intact, I think?” She said questioningly. “I’ve got this job to think about, but once that’s done, I should be free. Hopefully it won’t take too long. Grab the target, talk to her a bit to make sure we’re on the straight and narrow, and get the hell out of dodge. Once we deliver the principal, we should be good to go, and the delivery is, at least, in this town.” Calista looked around the room for signs of her fellows or their target, masking the search with a few handshakes, curtsies, and murmured pleasantries. She drew in the power for a spell, even began shaping it, then stopped again, letting her aura surge and fade back down. That should get heads turning.
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