#anywhere

He takes a shot

"Yeah." She drinks.... it's starting to catch up with her.

"So... the mission can't wait, can't take breaks?"

"maybe zara could help? It's not like that bastard isn't after her already"

She drinks. All of it. Squints up at Emmitt. "She helps. Can't know it, though. "

"Seeeee.... he's lookin' for her, he's not watchin' for me."

"mm" he says

She blinks at him with a crafty grin. It was probably meant as a wink, gone awry.

"heh... if I were twenty years younger.." a drink "Young lady, how.. how hard are you hitting Paler? I eman, it can be hard to gauge success, but.. besides taking that tower down? How goes it? How can you be sure you're really doing damage?"

A heavy sigh. "I come close a few times. He likes to hide in the Dreamin'. More powerful there, right? Tryin' ta get him ta slip...."

"I still think you'd have more success coordinating." He admits

"He likes a long game. Gotta get him ta act impulsively. " she says the last word very carefully.

Another shot filled for her and him "Right... but if zara knew the best time to peek her head out, or maybe that Vashti girl.. well. "

"you know, stalking horse time"

"Yeah, just what any lovin' mom'd do...."

"Well, Vashti isn't yours ,and seems willing maybe.. and Zara's taking risks anyway. Hannah can't stop her. Earl can't stop her. And you can't stop her, but maybe coordination would help GUIDE her, young ones pull hard, sometimes you just have to hope if they've got to run, that you can get them on a path that increases their chances when the charge off."

She finishes the third drink. "Gotta stay.... whatsit? Aggie. Agile. Ya know, flexible. Work alone."

"Half the time, dunno what my next move is an'way."

"Well, I won't tell you're a bad mother, because you've never had the chance to be one before now. I won't tell you're a bad tactician, because so far, you're alive and that's not nothing. " warm to the toes himself "But I do think your daughter and son need you more than you realize, and not just as an attack dog on a bad man. I think war is easy for some, easier... peace? Peace is scary shit. But I think you'd be better at it than you believe."

"Wouldn't really know." Slipping a bit maudlin "Can't remember that far back." She sniffs and looks at the bottom of her glass.

"You know, Micheal Jordon once said he was a winner because all the shots he took and missed... that by trying again and again, that's how he got those shots he DID get in the basket in there, or something like that. Wise fellow, Jordon. Would have made a good troll"

"Tall enough." Mumbled.

"Yup. Now, as for Jacob... if you want, we can..."

"If you want, we can offer him a spot here, heck , if you change your mind we can even find space for you"

She shakes her head. "Nah. I mean, not me. Gotta keep moving. But him..." Helpless. "A kid like that? I got... Nothin'. I can't take care of him... or Zara. I can't.. nah."

"You would ddo better than you think. Why, he was already behind you as if you were a life line and a shield. He heeded you. on some level, that boy feels that you wouldn't hurt him."

"Gave 'im Glammer an' .... ya know." She waggles another empty glass at Emmitt.

"Glamour is good stuff," He pours and fills "But you know I got a donut at a mall once, I didn't automatically trust the lady behind the counter with my safety after. Jacob trusts you, even over the 'slaugh' that was with you, then clem."

"He'll trust Zara." DRINK.

"So you want zara to be his mother?" A drink

"No." A snarl. "I'd like the kid to have a good mother. Someone that... that furkin' cares, right? That.... " She drinks.

"AN' WHAT'S ZARA GONNA FEEL?" She surfaces. "Two of 'em 'an he's a cute kid an' both sluagh an' .... an'.... an'.....

He lets her scream at him, takes a sip "Zara will be envious that he gets to have you in his childhood years, but she's a good person, and that envy won't be as strong as her joy for you and the boy. You want to make it better with her? Visit her often, or let her visit you often. Let her watch you craft. You know she can watch Earl paint for hours without saying a word. Or she'll read book quietly around a loved one without a peep but happy to be near? you deal in textiles, so, let her be around for that. Let her close. Yes, she puts you on a pedestal, and that's..damn uncomfortable for those of us with a nervousness about heights and our failings. " A shot "But you wouldn't be th

this scared if you didn't care for her, and worry for her, and worry for Jacob. You're going to keep that fear and worry even if you don't see them. Maybe even worse because imagination in a parent is a dark thing. So why not reap some of the benefits? And I think you'll find you've got some good things to share with both of them too? I'm not saying get a picket fence if you don't want to, but don't be a stranger either."

The nocker... disssolves. "I jus... I wan my baby... I dunno... I ... wanna my......"

She puddles where they sit, the glass spilling from her hand.

He prepares his bed, clean sheets ,and blanket its, and then he lays her on it gently, making sure she doesn't get spilled ON. "I'm sorry, Darling. Mountains are supposed to be wiser, but what I offer you don't seem to want to hear. And I've never been a mother. My own ..father hood sure means I wasn't always the best." Then he lays her down on the bed, comfortable like. "I think you're a good woman, Miriam. I think you'd make a decent mom, and I think you've got the idea you'd make mistakes so less than perfect so ergo bad. " He blinks "but no parent is perfect. No kids are. We all get by, and you? You'd get by. And you have lots of folks who would be there when you stumbled. And they'll cheer when you triumph. .. or maybe Kvetch jovially ..like I know nockers. Point is, you're underestimating yourself and maybe others. Sleep it off. May the Dreams you have bring you answers"

And he cleans the spill and takes a spot by the fireplace in a chair .He feels pretty buzzed himself. He eyes the whisky, "Now that's really magic. "

(End Scene)