Oh dear god she was actually talking about the fucking dolls.
He fought back the urge to roll his eyes, especially when she started on about inanimate objects having ‘personalities’…. Every single time he thought he could get over Donna being batshit fucking crazy she pulled something like this…
Remember the plan, Karl. Befriend the wench. Harness her power. Kill Miranda.
“Mother Miranda tends to zero in on only one aspect of things… It is her greatest shortcoming, despite her wondrous power.” He fought back the urge to vomit at his own words. He hated this little act, the song and dance he had to do around the others to keep them in the dark. “She sees the work I have done at the factory because it billows smoke and flame, screaming and bleeding before her very eyes. It blinds her to other things worthy of her attention. There is just as much potential for destruction in a slowly smoldering ember as there is in a spark, given the proper environment.”
He chose his words carefully. He was treading in dark water and he knew it; there was no telling when exactly the sharks might attack…
He takes a drink of his coffee as though attempting to sequester that part of the conversation away, locking it in the ruined, snow-covered bathroom down the hall to be revisited later, when he could bend and twist it into something that better suited his purposes.
Angie is reaching for a sweet from the metal tea tray; her tiny arms stretching, falling just short of her goal. Karl smiles, and the tray slides several inches closer to the doll untouched. This part should be easy. Gaining Donna’s trust, establishing himself in Angie’s good graces… He was already chalking both of those pieces of the plan up as wins. But turning them against Miranda would take far more time, and it was not a subject he was prepared to broach today.
“You know… I have a foundry, back at the factory. It’s small, but… Given a sample piece, if you needed some parts cast for the dolls.. Hinges, joints, things like that… I could make them for you.”
Donna’s head lilted to the side ever so slightly. Listening to his words and storing them away for later pondering. And they were ponderous. For all her shortcomings Donna had at least the self awareness to know of her status as a miserable, worthless child. What did Karl see in her that Miranda didn’t? The dolls perhaps? Her innate artist’s touch? Her kindly spirit? Doubtful, but it was curious.
Angie on the other hand, was not one for pondering. Her desires were simpler and the invisible push to the sweets tray would have split her porcelain face with a grin if she had the capacity to smile. Her prize, a freckled cookie, was snatched and crammed into her jaw, crumbs spat outward as she squawked.
“DO IT AGAIN! MAKE IT MOVE, MAKE IT MOOOOVE!”
Donna had little time herself to process the party trick when, once again, Karl piled on this sudden and strange generosity. The Lord was speechless for a moment, her outstretched hand withdrawing to pick at its twin.
“...first I am delighted by your company, then you pledge to fix my neglected restroom including sourcing the materials, design and labour yourself, then you deign to compliment me and now you offer to aid in my craft...”
She rose stiffly, closing the distance between them in two smooth strides and eased forward as if she might rest her palm on his forehead. Her fingers halted at the brim of his hat, a clear boundary, and so they shifted to awkwardly hover above his shoulder.
“...Are you feeling well? Has some illness claimed you? I am versed in herbal remedies of many varieties if they are needed...”
She chewed on her words now, unwilling to even broach the barrier of being disagreeable.
”...You are... if I may be so bold.. acting rather... odd.”