Where Everybody Knows Your Name

by **Will Stanton** » Tue Jan 19, 2021 11:59 pm

Was it working? The growing frame began to pull Will together, attempting to enforce a sense of structure on the sagging pool. But it was being pulled against -- the surface seemed to want to spread out and flow; fighting against the straining tension.

It was a battle -- the wooden frame creaked as it strained against the flowing substance, trying to keep it together, trying to connect the prongs to one another and complete a frame. Will seemed to expand and contract, as the push and pull of chaos and order fought in the battlefield of Miriam's construct.

Around her, at least, it seemed that Will had stopped actively expanding -- if anything, it was consolidating a little more, flowing underneath where she sat, coming to connect itself into a larger circle rather than the rivulets and chaotic tendrils that had originally flowed out.

by **Miriam Bell** » Wed Jan 20, 2021 3:29 pm

So close... yet anytime Miriam focuses her attention on one area the whole construct threatens to slip in another. She can see how it needs to fit together but as the frame connects a the top the prongs slide apart on the ground and one of the upper corners comes loose again, forcing her to mentally scramble to keep it together, which looses her progress elsewhere and suddenly the left side of the frame buckles, snapping in half as her concentration falters, making the whole construction lose cohesion and begin to disintegrate back into nothing.

by **Will Stanton** » Wed Jan 20, 2021 6:33 pm

Before the construction can entirely disintegrate, however, it began to sink into the mirrored surface of the clay. To speed it along, tendrils -- no, after a moment's reflection, arms -- came out of the formerly flat service, grabbing and preserving the pieces that were left, dragging it into the clay before they're lost to time.

And then, with the frame gone, and nothing else in the room to focus on, those arms started wrapping themselves around Miriam, attempting to drag her closer.

by **Miriam Bell** » Wed Jan 20, 2021 8:40 pm

"Bloody h--" she's in the middle of cursing when Will latches on to her. "Aah! Will!" Miriam tries to pull on the limbs encircling her, uncertain how conscious Will is right now and how much they're just lashing out.

by **Will Stanton** » Wed Jan 20, 2021 8:48 pm

Will didn't seem to respond to Miriam's cry, continuing to reel her in. The mirrored surface was beginning to return to it's normal, clay texture, as the spreading pool retreated into the lump that was there before Miriam started pulling.

And, as everything retracted, the limbs tried to draw Miriam into the mass, as well.

by **Miriam Bell** » Thu Jan 21, 2021 5:35 am

Miriam tries to scramble for something to hold on to, but the bare concrete floor does not provide a lot of traction and the thought of snapping her fingernails while trying makes her hesitate. At least being enveloped by Will is relatively soft.

by **Will Stanton** » Thu Jan 21, 2021 5:54 am

Miriam's hesitation is all the blob really needed, and, with a bit of a *schlorp* sound, Miriam was pulled into the clay blob.

The first thing was the darkness. Light didn't penetrate Will's clay form very well, if at all, and so Miriam would find herself unable to see things. Her other regular senses were decently overwhelmed as well, though at least breathing wasn't a problem -- both from being dead, and some (residual?) courtesy from Will. So, she had that going for her, which was nice.

The second thing was the warmth. When Miriam was first pulled in, the clay was cool, like the surface of the mirror had been, but as she naturally struggled a bit inside, the area around her warmed up. Much like the oil from the massage, contact with the clay provided something of a replacement for the lack of circulation in her own body, fighting against the cold that penetrated her very core. A sense of pressure came along with it -- as if the clay was actively being pressed against her, attempting to hold her tight.

The third thing was the thoughts. It wasn't just the five standard senses surrounded by clay. With Will all around her, her telepathy had almost no chance of blocking out Will's intrusive, busy mind -- thoughts, ideas, desires, fears, all flooding through her, threatening to overwhelm her. She knew they weren't her ideas; she was an experienced enough telepath to know this, but at this range, and at this intensity, it was harder to differentiate between what she was thinking and what Will was thinking, and whether there was actually a difference at all in the long run, or if she had always been thinking what it was thinking...

The thoughts around her turned...calmer. More positive. Thoughts of consolation, of promise, of hope, of encouragement. That it was OK that her construct had failed and collapsed -- that it wasn't a failure, or even a setback; that it was a promising start.

MiriamMiriamMiriamMiriamMiriamBellVampireMuseMistressBunbunMnemosyneFriend

ShhhComeListenStayBreatheFeelThink

The thoughts surrounded her, threatening at points to pull her under like waves crashing into a drowning man. But, at least, it was clear that Will...or some aspect of him, at least...was here; it wasn't some reflex action that had pulled her in. It may not have been conscious or logical, but it wasn't just instinctual.

by **Miriam Bell** » Thu Jan 21, 2021 6:12 am

Miriam has some experience with a range of physical sensations getting mixed with thoughts and emotions but 'comforting' is a rare one. It reminds her of cookies, of Wanda and bittersweet failure and loss. A train of thought that circles the abyss of a catatonic telepath cradling her sister, but instead she's awash in Will and a comfort she's never really received or learned to give. Deep regrets come loose, just a little, a sliver of forgiveness and she's surprised when the salty taste on her lips turns out to not be Will's clay but tears.

by **Will Stanton** » Thu Jan 21, 2021 6:27 am

CalmHomeSafeCaredLovedOursFriend

The pressure increased and decreased with Miriam's tears, shifting and twisting around her in rivulets and flows, even in the solid mass of the clay. Like someone squeezing her hand, only...everywhere. And while her comforting thoughts did occasionally turn to thoughts of family and friends that were not her own -- or, at least, not her own experiences of them -- most of the thoughts around her tried to be welcoming and comforting, as opposed to overwhelming, even if they didn't always succeed.

Miriam. You are alright.. It wasn't a question. It wasn't even part of the crashing waves of thought. It was...deeper than that. Some overarching...something. Sense of order? Sense of purpose? Miriam could feel the strain required to pull it all together, at the very least -- to try to have one message rising out of the chaos. You are more than you. You are us. We are strong.

by **Miriam Bell** » Thu Jan 21, 2021 3:39 pm

The urge to just lose herself in this feeling is strong and she does cry herself out for a good while, enveloped in welcoming, happiness, the sheer effort it must take Will to provide her with this respite. But she can't let herself drift off too much, she'll lose herself if she does, it's already getting hard to discern where she ends and Will begins and so she clings to the morose core inside of her, relishing the contrast but not letting go, not letting herself dissolve into it and surrender the hurt entirely. She's wound up too much of herself in it to relinquish it.

by **Will Stanton** » Thu Jan 21, 2021 6:36 pm

For a while, Will just lets Miriam hang there, stewing in her own hurt, sending waves of comfort towards her, and only occasionally letting other stray thoughts poke through -- with so much mental activity, it wasn't a perfect seal, and Miriam was fairly sure that the sudden thoughts wondering if she'd be happier as a maid or a bear-skin rug were coming from outside the head, but for the most part, Will let Miriam be Miriam.

After a while, though, the thoughts headed her way began to change, and become more insistent, eventually building and helping break through. Like when she was bumping against spores in the sewer, Miriam found herself remembering memories that were not hers; places and times where she new, for a fact, she had never been. Miriam was clinging to her moroseness, but...

...She was also lying in bed, gently running her fingers through her wife's hair after a long day, gently talking as they spooned under the covers. A fond memory, a warm one -- but one tinged with its own sense of melancholy, a warm, familiar ritual that was, for the moment, lost beyond dimensional barriers...

...She was bounding down the corridors, bouncing off walls and sliding under furniture, with her daughter (still a child; she'd always be still a child in her head) laughing and shifting trying to catch her. Teaching by example, like any good father would, and also making a game of it at the same time. A playful, exciting memory -- and one that firmly existed in the past; Robin had grown up to be a remarkable woman in her own right, and no longer needed Daddy to show her the ropes...

...She was laughing and taking questions at a press conference, dressed in her finest X-Team uniform, serving as a public face for the growing acceptance of mutants and mutantkind. Joking and happily answering questions, doing her part to make the world a better place for everyone. A confidence that she worried she would never find again; a world which no longer existed as such, not here...

...She was being pulled out of the washing machine she had specifically chosen for it's roominess, and being gently chided by Onyx for letting her get this stained to begin with -- a feeling of being taken care of by a missing friend...

...Handing out coffee at yet another meeting between headmistress Samantha McManus and some boring, grey-suited officials from god only knows what governmental department this time, letting her hand gently rub against Sam's as she did; a shared glance, the hint of a feather poking out from the edges of the power suit and a slight brush of mental contact being the reminder that this wasn't just headmistress and secretary; this was Morrigan and Champion, even if this particular battle didn't have quite as much bloodshed as either would have liked; a role filled by others in this universe...

And they kept coming. Smoking pot with Byrna and Nina until the early hours of the morning. Roaring down the interstate at well over a hundred MPH, her tires gripping the road as she chased down the baddies. Playing video games with Simon and trying not to get distracted by his tail wrapping around her thigh. Memories of friends, of family that were gone -- Will's own morose core.

...And then she found herself dancing in Syn, looking into her own face, heart racing as she realized that Miriam, of all people, got her. Tinged with fear that she had let it all slip away; ruined it by storming out on her...

...And then she was lying in bed between Sam and Tereza, crying softly as, touch-starved, she let herself be cuddled by the wolfpack; their feelings for one glorious moment lining up with her own. Tinged with worry that that sort of moment would never come again; that she wasn't the Wolf that they wanted as part of their group...

...And then she was laughing as she had dinner with Natalie, the two friends joking and talking. Tinged with concern that, having misread Natalie's intentions, that she had damaged a friendship before it began...

...And then she was riling up her team before the big fight, encouraging Nailah and Haley that they could be champions, too, if they just listened to her. A team that broke apart nearly as soon as it began...

Puttering around in the tech bay with Tosh. Obediently following ASHLIE around. The memories flowed and washed over her -- positive ones, for the most part, but always feeling just a tad out of place; the puzzle piece that didn't quite fit, with worries that her own strangeness had let those brief positive moments slip away.

And then, finally, she found herself in the music room, with three other Wills, all singing in harmony, their voices blending together. And soon, the doors opened, and they were joined by more Wills. Some of them in shapes that were very familiar to Miriam; others she had never seen before. Wills of all genders, shapes, sizes. Even non-human forms somehow joining in the chorus; the throbbing of a engine and beeping of a computer somehow finding their place in the vocal tapestry. And then Sara walked in, and Robin, and Simon and Onyx and Bear and all these remnants of Will's old life, all wearing something green and letting their own voices join the growing cacophony. The last one to enter the room, of course, was the Morrigan herself -- it always seemed to come back to her, didn't it? And that chorus held a note together, stretching through a moment in time...

...And they were suddenly joined by another Sam -- Miriam's Sam, younger, brasher, both more and less sure of herself at the same time. And Tereza. And Natalie. And Tosh. And all the people Will had met in this world, all coming together and joining in...with finally herself entering the room last, taking her place among the group, and joining in.

The voices mixed together and blended, four distinct parts becoming one. And from the combination, a fifth part formed -- an overtone, caused by the interactions of the parts creating a note higher than anyone was singing alone. Together, they had created something new, and harmonic, and it bounced off the walls and resonated in the room, lasting longer than it had any right to, the note being held longer than people's lungs could possibly hold together. Greater than the sum of their parts; all part of the greater whole....

And then Miriam would find herself lying on the floor in the bare room, the last bits of clay receding back into the blob sitting next to her. Back into her reality, back with only her own thoughts in her head.

by **Samantha McManus** » Fri Jan 22, 2021 1:31 am

As Sam makes her way down to the point, the impressions she's getting are... confusing, to say the least. Still, there's a better than average chance that Will or Miriam would feel the flock encroaching well before the redhead physically arrives.

by **Miriam Bell** » Fri Jan 22, 2021 2:42 am

Miriam is too emotionally and telepathically exhausted to notice Sam from a distance. For a couple minutes after Will releases her she's not even entirely sure where she is, too many places and people still lingering in her mind like a fading dream. Otherwise she might try to put herself back together some, but as it is, she looks a mess.

by **Will Stanton** » Fri Jan 22, 2021 3:17 am

As Will, too, began to rejoin the world of the conscious, the room began to shift again, the clay blob undulating somewhat as paint come out to cover the walls, marble came out to cover the floors -- making it a functioning room once again, and not just the remnants of a torn-apart office.

Underneath Miriam, a sort of marble plinth grew, raising her up into the air in the center of the room. Will, dressed in a sharp black suit and white gloves, came over and straightened her hair out some before letting her rest, adjusting a small placard on the base of the plinth and closing some velvet ropes behind him. Painting appeared on the walls -- portraits (mostly of Will and people Will cared about), landscapes (mostly of campus or woodland scenes), abstract art -- very heavy on the green. He carefully laid out small sculptures -- all in fired clay, naturally.

In short, he was also apparently too distract to sense Sam coming up to the point. From Sam's point of view, she would sense not only a befuzzled and belumped Miriam, but also dozens of Wills -- or was it one Will, in dozens of places? -- at varying levels of consciousness.

It was a weird room.

by **Samantha McManus** » Fri Jan 22, 2021 3:57 am

"This... feels a bit like I walked in on something," Sam says as she enters.

by **Will Stanton** » Fri Jan 22, 2021 4:26 am

"Samantha!" Will said, looking up in surprise. "You're back!

How was your trip? Did you get to Fae alright? We would have sent you a postcard, but we don't believe the mail service has figured out orthogonal dimensions yet."

If he found anything odd about the current situation, he certainly didn't let on.

by **Miriam Bell** » Fri Jan 22, 2021 6:58 am

Miriam's not unconscious, but she does spend most of the time that Will is reforming the room with her head in her hands. When Sam enters the room she lets out a startled noise and scrambles to put up her defenses, wiping at her face and turning her back tot he red-head.

"Bloody hell, what are you doing here!?" she snaps out of embarrassment, still sniffling. "I thought you were... you know... gallivanting through mystical forests and all that shite."

by **Samantha McManus** » Fri Jan 22, 2021 12:28 pm

"Tereza wanted to work on the car a bit after we got Viv."

"Are you... okay?"

by **Miriam Bell** » Fri Jan 22, 2021 3:25 pm

"Yes, I'm just great." she says, her voice dripping with sarcasm before she seems to recognize her falling back into her pattern.

"Actually, I... I am, just..." she takes a deep breath and turns to face Sam. "I was trying to help Will. Things got a little..." she makes some vague gestures at her head to indicate 'telepathy-stuff'. "Raw."

by **Will Stanton** » Fri Jan 22, 2021 6:21 pm

"We believe she'll be alright, though. We may just have...slightly overwhelmed her," Will said, slightly abashed, turning to adjust some of the picture frames.

by **Samantha McManus** » Fri Jan 22, 2021 6:40 pm

"Yeah, Will's felt pretty... uh... busy since the MGH thing."

by **Will Stanton** » Fri Jan 22, 2021 6:54 pm

"Yes, and we...apologize for being so hard on you back then. We're loathe to admit it, but you may have been right to be concerned."

by **Miriam Bell** » Fri Jan 22, 2021 7:03 pm

"It's a mess. I tried to fix it but... Actually, I think for once I didn't make it worse, at least."

by **Samantha McManus** » Fri Jan 22, 2021 7:05 pm

"I mean I'm not blaming anyone here. It's... it's a lot."

by **Will Stanton** » Fri Jan 22, 2021 7:08 pm

"Well, WE'RE a lot, so we suppose that's a fair enough descriptor.

Tosh said he was working on figuring out what was going wrong with us; we haven't heard back yet. We've heard plenty of things, but they all originate from in here, not out there," Will said, tapping the side of his own head.

"Miriam knows what we're talking about -- it is loud in there."

by **Miriam Bell** » Fri Jan 22, 2021 7:22 pm

"There's a lot of them and not in a just-want-a-seat-at-the-table kind of way."

by **Will Stanton** » Fri Jan 22, 2021 7:34 pm

"Miriam has been attempting to provide some...structure, we think she would put it. She came close, but it was a tall ask."

by **Samantha McManus** » Fri Jan 22, 2021 7:39 pm

"They don't just want a seat at the table, they want to be the table too."

by **Will Stanton** » Fri Jan 22, 2021 7:44 pm

"This is where we say 'don't knock it unless you have tried it'," Will said, with a wry laugh, patting the plinth Miriam was still sitting on.

"But, seriously, there's...more to us than that. More to us than we thought before. Parts of us we thought were lost. Parts of us we never knew existed. Parts of us we are, frankly, fairly sure never had existed before. We have been...opened to something.

Perhaps it was the MGH. Or perhaps the MGH only...accelerated it. Accelerated us."

by **Miriam Bell** » Fri Jan 22, 2021 7:56 pm

"It doesn't feel wrong, just extremely chaotic. So many emotions and facets unrelenting in their... expressiveness."

by **Samantha McManus** » Fri Jan 22, 2021 7:58 pm

"I guess it's like... well, if you had something that frustrated you for a long time but you couldn't do anything about it..."

"And then suddenly you had a taste of what it'd be like if you could."

by **Will Stanton** » Fri Jan 22, 2021 8:00 pm

"We have no idea how you would know what that would be like, O Baby War Goddess."

by **Samantha McManus** » Fri Jan 22, 2021 8:14 pm

"Are you being sarcastic? Sometimes I can't tell with you."

by **Will Stanton** » Fri Jan 22, 2021 8:17 pm

"Yes, sorry, we are. That was a joke that didn't land," Will said, rubbing the back of his head.

by **Miriam Bell** » Fri Jan 22, 2021 8:34 pm

"Well, maybe our Chosen One here can help hold my mental construct in place so it doesn't get torn apart again."

by **Samantha McManus** » Sat Jan 23, 2021 1:07 am

"See, Miriam I can tell when she's being sarcastic."

"And yes, I'll help."

by **Will Stanton** » Sat Jan 23, 2021 1:17 am

"We're glad to see the two of you working together. So very gl-gl-gl-gl-gl..." Will began, his head shaking to one side.

The gloves melted off of his fingers, the suit he was wearing twisting around and altering itself into a more casual, red-and-white striped button-up shirt with a corporate-branded nametag.

"Gl-gl-gl-glad. We know the two of you don't always see eye-to-eye, so if we can be of any help to improve your relationship, we're more than happy to help," she finished.

by **Miriam Bell** » Sat Jan 23, 2021 2:41 am

"You can help by realizing this is about helping you. If I have to swallow my pride and accept the fact that Sam is better at this than me and probably has a bit more clout in there due to who she might be some day then so be it. I'd be lieing if my idea didn't at least in part come from that box we cracked open."

by **Will Stanton** » Sat Jan 23, 2021 2:47 am

Will shook her head no. And then she shook her head yes.

"It's still your idea, Miriam. And you, and all the variations of you, have had their own share of clout on us.

You're not Melpomene. Just like Sam's not my Morrigan. But both of you are important to us. And we trust you.

...Most of us trusts you. It's a complicated voting scheme at the moment."

by **Samantha McManus** » Sat Jan 23, 2021 3:10 am

"So what were you trying to bind Will to?"

[Plot] Where Everybody Knows Your Name

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