Kaz gave Emre the recorder. Listening was best done alone, Kaz had advised, after some petulant fussing from Emre. There’d been something indiscernible about Kaz’s expression, as he handed the recorder order. His usual neutral expression, but a distinct, shiny flush at the tip of his nose that indicated heat. A heat that translated to: better isolate yourself first. Because they both knew: Emre was volatile, and prone to kill the messenger without a second thought.
Right. So off to the Fisher’s Hut, where the only damage he could cause would be to the ocean and himself.
The recording was about Lina - that was the most information Kaz provided. Other questions crowded Emre’s mind as he ploughed to the Fisher’s Hut during low tide, imagining Kaz skulking about Linalex Manor, searching for his stolen zippo. Only to discover something else about Lina, something pertaining to him. The baby?
Was Lina keeping the baby?? Terror and excitement filled Emre, by the time he reached the Fisher’s Hut. Emre settled inside its hollow, decrepit bones, and gave the recording a listen.
–
It was pure luck(?) that by the time Emre returned to shore, he could spot Lina in the distance. He didn’t call out to her, and instead dove into the rising tide, swimming the distance. The water felt glorious, practically shoving him to his destination. And once Lina was only a few metres away, Emre emerged from the waves almost directly in her path..
“Pretty funny joke, then? We have a good laugh about it? You and Alex both, I suppose, the little fucking wag to your tail, yeah.” Emre strode swiftly towards her as he spoke, the intention to give Lina little chance to react. He knew how clever she was; he suspected even moreso when cornered.. “You get what you wanted then? Which is what. What. What the fuck was your goal here, sweetheart.”
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If Lina was being honest, she knew that she couldn't outsmart Kaz. He didn't care to give her the attention that she desired or play into her games. He was straight to the point about what he wanted and that he was going to get it. So she knew that when he left her hut that she wasn't going to have as much time on her hands as she would like. She assumed he would at least wait a day or two, the dream scenario was that he realized he didn't want to be in Emre's line of fire and would leave Lina to be messenger.
Unfortunately for her, it seemed like Kaz didn't bother to wait very long before sharing her secret with Emre. As she walked along the beach and found him coming straight towards her, Lina was pretty sure that he wasn't looking to have a friendly chat or a quick fuck. "That little rat..." She muttered under her breath as Emre got himself started, turning her head around to see if Kaz might have been lurking in the distance to watch the show. Surely he would get a kick out of this.
She crossed her arms over her chest, knowing now that she had no defense with everything being spilled for her. So what else could she do with Emre getting closer, the anger in his voice clear as day, and no way to diffuse the situation? Play her role, of course.
"We had a pretty good laugh, yeah. Alex can't really seem to stop laughing, I think I can still hear him from here." She couldn't, but she played it up, putting her hand up by her ear and leaning in to the absent sound of laughter. He asked what she wanted and her hand dropped down to her side as she took a few steps closer to him. Her eyes were glazed over, emotionless as she looked into his eyes, deciding on which answer to go with. "Payback." She settled on, hissing the word out softly just for the two of them.
"You think you can get away with trying to make a fool out of me? Saying you’re bored of me, calling me desperate? You think you can talk to me like that? Well whose the fucking fool now? Thinking I'd be happy at the thought of having a baby with you? Thinking you could actually be a good role model to a baby? At least I’m well aware I’m not fit to look after a child, but you? How delusional can you get?"
@kazxraval overhears the truth about Lina's "pregnancy" and tries to convince her to come clean before he does it for her.
In light of recent events, the smokehouse sat neglected. He assumed the next several hours would be spent to prime, clean, stoke a fire, check on stock. Mindless work to clear out any remaining cobwebs in his mind from long months of not being himself in so many ways.
Almost there, he slowed his walk. Years of practice allowed Kaz to tune out non-essential nonsense around him. Sounds, voices, conversations he had no interest in. Two voices floated through the static. Lina in whispered tones to Alex. He pulled that convo to the forefront-- if they were bragging about what they stole from his grotto weeks ago, he absolutely wanted to hear.
He got more than he bargained for in eavesdropping. Dark brows pulled tight together in focus. A hand brushed several times over his beard. Fuck. A shock, a certain disbelief settled in to process what he heard. Alex left for somewhere, and then silence. Kaz turned, cloaked in his own quiet, and walked towards their house. "What in the fuck is wrong with you," a message on the air found its way to Lina.
~
"I mean, it kind of worked out perfectly. At some point I was gonna have to explain why I didn't have a baby bump. That was gonna be annoying to fake, so better I got out of it this way." Lina explained to Alex, sounding more exhausted than anything. It was hard to lie about ending a pregnancy you didn't have in the first place. But her plan so far seemed to be going smoothly, nobody seemed to be coming for her to call her out on everything being fake so even if Emre was pissed, she still got away with it.
That is until the familiar voice came flitting by on the air with a harsh accusatory question. Great, of course Kaz was lurking around, eavesdropping with impeccable timing. "You know it's not nice to listen in on other people's conversations." She answered back, as if she didn't do that on the daily, as if she hadn't already done much worse.
"Why don't you mind your own business? This doesn't concern you so you can just move along." She waved her hand in the air as she sent her message his way, as if a verbal message on the wind would pick up her hand movements as well. But she knew that Kaz wasn't going to simply leave her alone, whether she asked him nicely or not so Lina at least sat up to prepare herself for Kaz unnecessarily stepping in.
~
Kaz walked to Lina's front door and pushed it open. He leaned against the frame. "It's not nice to listen to conversations," seemingly an agreement. Then a beat. "It's also not nice to lie to people and tell them you're pregnant with their kid."
Georgie pulled the same shit on a teenage Kaz. Early on, her first lie and, all things considered, the least harmful of the them. He was smart enough to leave her for a while. Dumb enough to go back, his own fault.
This wasn't Georgie-- her level of lying near delusional. To hurt herself, mostly. Kaz couldn't say what Lina's aim was. "You've got to tell him."
~
Yeah, it didn't seem like Kaz was going to be minding his own business here. Lina crossed her arms across her chest and when he said that she had to tell Emre that she was lying, she raised her eyebrows at him, giving an indignant look.
"Excuse me? I don't have to do anything." She protested, because who was he to tell her what she should do. "It's already settled, why should I say anything? It's not like it'll change the outcome, he's still not getting a baby." To Lina, her little pregnancy era was over, and she successfully pulled off this lie, so there was absolutely no reason to come clean. Even if Kaz knew it had all been fake, he wasn't going to make her fess up.
"And why the hell do you care? Hoping to be an uncle or something? There's no reason to tell him I was lying, what's done is done and I have no interest in saying anything when it was executed so flawlessly." She shrugged, knowing in her mind she had a good reason for doing what she did, and owning up to it would be like admitting defeat. "So like I said. Mind your own business."
~
Kaz watched Lina's train barrel ahead with no care if a car had stalled on the tracks ahead or not. Let her go on. That old saying, you can live without sex but not without a good rationalization. Or something like that.
Lips pursed, his head wobbled. "Doesn't matter why I care. But now three people know the truth. Or more?" Who else might be complicit, he didn't know. "Not fair to let him walk around not knowing."
Kaz stayed glued to the doorway but his eyes scanned around, in case something of his, that they stole, happened to be lying around.
And then his attention returned to Lina. "But if it's settled, well. Then how was it settled?"
~
"I'd say it matters seeing as you're here to bother me about it." Lina shot back, annoyed and much more interested in turning things onto him rather than be stuck on her misdeeds. She nearly scoffed at his reasoning that it wouldn't be fair to leave Emre in the dark about all this, as if she cared about what was fair. "Right, like he deserves fairness. Like he doesn't thrive on lying and hurting people."
Lina easily believed that she had been wronged by Emre, so of course what she did was justified. Telling Emre the truth didn't need to play a part in this and Kaz wasn't going to suddenly change her mind about that.
"I don't need to tell you anything about what happened, you know. It's none of your business! And you don't need to come here and save Emre's feelings either. He's a big boy and I'm sure he's gone through much worse things than being lied to by someone he's slept with." He threw his little temper tantrum, sure, but he would get back to his normal swagger and attitude soon enough. "He'll get over it. And frankly, your idea of telling him the truth is just gonna make it even worse for him. Let him move on and forget about it instead of upsetting him even more."
Of course, Lina didn't care about more hurt feelings, but maybe the heart Kaz had that wanted her to fess up so badly would also care about Emre's wellbeing.
~
Brows rose and fell to her first remark. One did not need to get in the weeds of picking apart every comment. The second one though... "He lied and hurt you then? How? So this is your revenge?"
Kaz bobbed his head. "He is a big boy. But if I heard what you said without even bothering to listen, other air attuned in the area did too. Ones even nosier than me."
Let him move on and forget. He paused, the heat of Emre's viciousness flashed over his neck. "See, that's the real problem here. Could've not bragged about it. A secret is only kept by one, yeah? Now more people know. Not right to let someone walk unaware around while others have heard all this."
His teeth scraped over his lower lip. "And, frankly..." to echo Lina. "You'd do better to explain it yourself. Now, if you absolutely don't want to, I'm recording this." A hand rested over a pocket of his shorts. He had been a journalist once. Accuracy came straight from someone's mouth versus paraphrased words. "You don't want to bother? I can let him listen to this conversation."
~
Kaz continued to stand there in her doorway, asking her question after question as if Lina had any interest in giving him any more information than he already picked up on. "I'm going to say this again. This-" She swirled her hands around, gesturing to refer to the situation she was in. "Is none of your business. Coming to my place to ask me questions like this is some kind of interview? Why would I tell you anything?" Why would he believe anything she might come up with to explain why she pretended to be pregnant in the first place?
"Please. First of all, I have a feeling most of the other air attuned people aren't as savvy with the hearing thing as we are. And second, nobody could possibly be nosier than you."
Maybe he was right that she shouldn't brag, if anything, she was just expressing relief to Alex that she didn't have to put up the facade anymore. But now she was being faced with a taste of her own medicine it seemed. "Didn't realize you were such a force for justice around here. There's no baby whether I lied about it or ended the pregnancy for mine and the child's safety, so why get in the way of whats already done?"
Her eyes narrowed as they darted down to the pocket he was gently patting. No way he was recording them right now. "You're bluffing." She scoffed as she took a step closer to him. He had to be, he was clever, sure, but Lina didn't even walk around with recording devices on her so why would he? "If you're recording this why even give me the ultimatum, then? Just go play it for him if you want him to know the truth so badly."
~
“Oh, I’m finding out there is someone much more nosy than me.” The identity clear in a mirror, if Lina had one. She kept wanting to know why, and Kaz had already given the answer. And Lina wasn’t an idiot.
She accused him of bluffing. Even his basic phone had voice memos on it. Kaz kept his gaze firm on her. “Guess you’ll find out when I play it for him. Thought you’d want to do upfront damage control. Handle it privately.” Kaz most definitely would, but alright Lina. “I was trying to spare you…” A quick smile sharp around the edges, there one second and gone the next. “Titanic lady was really on to so much, damn should’ve listened to her.” A nod. “But what d’ya think would happen if everyone found out about these lies you tell? No more people to play with, hm?”
His fingers snapped in decision. “Okay. We can do that too. I gave you choices and you give me none, so guess that’s the deal.” Kaz took a few steps backwards out the door. “I’ll play everything back for him and it’ll be all over. Like ripping a band-aid off. You can even thank me for saving you the trouble.”
~
Lina was still trying to figure out how she wanted to handle this. Obviously she didn't want Kaz going around outing her for what she did. But it wasn't like she wanted to tell Emre either. He was already pissed off that she didn't want him to be around for the fake procedure, she wasn't sure she wanted to see what he'd do to her for making the entire thing up. So maybe private damage control was the best solution, but she was pretty sure telling Emre anything wouldn't control any of the damage that had been done.
"You keep yourself busy around here your way, I have my own ways. Sure, maybe I keep myself entertained in a less...conventional way. And this one went a little too far, I'll admit that, but is it really such a big deal that you need to try and expose me to everyone? Nobody is dead. Or physically injured. Emre knows I'm not having a baby, this is probably the best outcome for everyone so why ruin that?”
She assumed Kaz had a heart, that he didn't want to be the one to unveil the truth to Emre out of whatever loyalty he had to him. But Kaz agreed with her, deciding he would let Emre know the truth. He didn't look like he was bluffing and if he was really recording and ready to take her down, she didn't want to test it. "Fine, fine! You want options? How about we make a deal then? I'll get back that thing Alex stole from you, because that's what you want, right? You're pissed about us snooping in your things and taking something. So I get it back to you, you delete your recording and we're even."
~
Lina did her best to reason, and Kaz had reached the end of the line on the conversation. He turned to walk back and stood steps away. A message whispered so only she could hear, through gritted teeth. "Here's the thing. It's not entertainment to fuck with someone's head with that kind of lie. And it's no longer a secret. Because more people than just you know."
And secrets tended to spread. Today three people knew, tomorrow who could say. Kaz didn't want Emre to walk around like that. Alex was enough, and holy shit. A disaster waiting to happen.
"Once again, you are not going to trade me what is already mine. My property, that you stole. Same answer as last time. No." The admission was excellent though. "Tell him. Today. Get it over with. I got nothing more to say." He didn't.
~
Lina had no way to argue. They had much different ideas about what they considered to be entertaining. So what was she going to say? Actually, lying about being pregnant with someones baby is a lot of fun and everyone should try it? No, obviously not. This wasn't even meant to be a fun lie for her when she blurted it out in the first place. It was petty of her to accuse Emre of getting her pregnant after he embarrassed her and insulted her, laughing in her face when she was at what she considered a low point.
But it wasn't something Lina could explain and be met with understanding. She made a bad, impulsive decision, and she followed through with it. She couldn't expect anyone to feel bad for her so it made more sense to play it as an intentional attack on her part.
She wasn't going to stop Kaz from storming off, even if she felt like her trade was a good one. If this zippo was so important it shouldn't matter that she was trying to trade him for his own belongings. It was in Alex's possession now, not Kaz's at the very least he could have gotten it back sooner and easier if he just agreed.
"Nice chatting with you then. Have an invitation next time you show up on my doorstep, though." she sent back to him, letting out a scoff at his demands that she tell Emre immediately. Get it over with. Right. If she was going to tell him, she'll tell him if and when she damn well felt like it.
Her embarrassment was palpable, and the sight of her shame comforted Joaquin immensely. He felt shame too, so at least they were in the same place, he believed. Both of them terribly sorry for what happened, and neither of them at fault. “Sometimes I wonder if this place is populated by demons. Those imposters were truly evidence of that…and if my fellow holymen were here. Well.” Then it would’ve definitely been an uproar of praying and cleansing. Joaquin alone couldn’t do much, and sometimes he missed his brethren.
But he nodded firmly. “Yes, it is in the past, and we will forget about it. A sound plan, my dear.”
He smiled, much happier to hear about her past. “An adopted child is a blessed child,” he warmly said. “But never mind, we can stick with English. If you ever wanted to learn more Spanish though, I’d be happy to converse with you!” Joaquin was proud of himself for making the offer. It was not just generous, but also a demonstration that the incident with the imposter-Adelina was truly in the past. He was offering to spend time with the real Adelina, a good step forward.
Given the initial confused doubt in Adelina’s voice, Sisco was worried that she’d turn around and see nothing. That he was just having visions again, minus the clarity of before. Now, Sisco found himself doubting his own interpretation of things. Ever since arriving on South Beach, he’d been mistakenly seeing things that weren’t there. With dire results.
So an apology was on his lips for wasting Adelina’s time - only. Only. She saw it too! “You can see Her? You can see la Madre - um - Mother Mary? Holy Mary Mother of God?” Joaquin shuffled forward, excited and elated now, pointing to the blue-cloaked woman slowly disappearing into the jungle. “We can both see her? Qué miracle! We should-”
But Adelina cut his ravings off with a suggestion of her own: follow la Madre. Joaquin’s eyes widened and he looked from the jungle to Adelina, and back. “Ohhhh….oh I don’t know if that is a good idea, my dear. If la Madre wanted us to follow…” Joaquin squinted then, looking confused. Tentatively, he asked, “It was la Madre, was it not? You…you think it was another woman.”
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Lina didn't really have any thoughts about what was going on with this place. She had a feeling none of them would ever figure it out so why bother dwelling on it or theorizing? Maybe when she started out she wanted to believe that this was something, some kind of punishment for the life she lived, a purgatory of sorts. Not that she was particularly religious, but it might have been easier to assume than magic being the cause. She dropped that thought rather quickly though, and gave up on any assumptions. Magic, demons, whatever.
For some reason, he seemed to be happy about her being adopted and if she wasn't playing up her sweetheart act, she surely could have unloaded about how that claim of his couldn't be further from the truth. At least in her case, she never really considered herself blessed, especially when she looked back on it now as an adult through a much more jaded lens. But Lina didn't say anything, all she did was smile and nod, seemingly in agreement with him. "That's so kind of you to offer." The easier comment to focus on, even though she wasn't used to someone offering to do something for someone else without expecting something in return. "I may take you up on that. At some point. Maybe."
There was this moment of shock, as Lina stared out between the trees, her eyes just missing her sisters before she turned around and fled and into the jungle. But Lina was sure it was her, there was no doubt about it. Her older sister was probably the only person from her family that she actually liked, actually cared about, so to find her here...at least that meant she would have one person by her side. Yet, for some reason, her and Joaquin weren't seeing the same thing.
"La Madre? No, what? That was my sister. My adopted sister, but still." Clearly, Lina's interpretation had to be the correct one. The fact that he was seeing a biblical figure rather than an actual person made it obvious he was the one who was confused, not her. "I don't know how she got here. Obviously, something must have happened, but I'm not going to let her run off into the jungle alone."
“Adelina, yes, thank you my dear. So pleased to meet you. For the first time despite…ah. Ah! You remember what your imposter…um…the actions of your imposter! Oh I am so sorry that you had to recall such an unfortunate incident, when it was not even you. I can understand how frustrating that must be for you, to know what a person did who looked like you but wasn’t you. Doing all those…things.” Joaquin shook his head vigorously, in sympathy now. “Pobrecita. Perdóname, pero. ¿Eres de la raza? Do you speak Spanish?”
The more Adelina rambled in a way that was comforting for Joaquin to hear, the more he relaxed. Clearly the poor thing was as frazzled as he was, and embarrassed as well! Her embarrassment made him more embarrassed; not in a bad way, but his face did turn rosy red. He chortled. “Ohhhhhthen I suppose we are both in something of a pickle over that experience. I am sorry you had to remember it, and you are sorry I had to live it. But. It was not you. You seem very kind and lovely, my dear. You have nothing to apologize for.”
Joaquin beamed, trying to reassure her that he was feeling better now. “I heard the disturbance within those who were in the trees, has also dissipated? How are you feeling now? Are you well…rest…hm.”
Joaquin’s sentence trailed off, as he looked distractedly over Adelina’s shoulder. On a hill behind Adelina just overlooking the jungle, stood another figure. With a shaky finger, Joaquin pointed. “Um….Adelina. Do you perchance…can you see a figure behind you? On that hill? A woman?”
︶꒦꒷♡꒷꒦︶
@manojoaquin
Lina nodded along as he spoke, her eyes still wide, filled with the shyness that must have been coming from how embarrassed she was by her doppelgangers actions. As he continued to point it out, how all of it was still so clear in her mind, she raised up her hands and covered her face, letting out a soft whine like a disgruntled child. "Ughh, I don't even want to think about it! It's just so embarrassing! I don't even know you and it feels like I put you in such an uncomfortable position even though it wasn't even me. We should just never talk of it again. Never, ever. For our own sanity."
Joaquin seemed to understand that as he changed topic and even language. "Un poco." she answered, bringing her thumb and index finger close together to demonstrate how little she knew. "I was adopted so it wasn't something spoken much, just something I picked up a bit later on." a surprisingly truthful statement, not something she ever really bothered to share with many people. Mostly because, why would they care? It wasn't necessarily something that ever came up and discussing her family was always her least favorite topic to get into. But if it helped her case here, she might as well use it.
Clearly, being called kind and lovely meant that it was working. In an attempt to check up on her wellbeing since the trees, his sudden fear and worry seemed to have returned and Lina wondered if he somehow picked up on her being untruthful. That was until she realized he was looking behind her rather than at her and pointed out to what he was seeing. "A figure? A woman?" she asked, confused about why a person would freak him out so much and turned her head to see what he was talking about. She assumed she would see someone that she recognized, someone she had seen walking around the beach before who she could remind Joaquin they weren't a threat.
But when she turned, the woman was familiar, but this was the first time seeing her on the island. That...couldn't be right. Lina blinked a few times, squinting as if that would make this person look any different before traipsing into the jungle. The resemblance to her sister was striking but...how the hell did she get here? "We need to follow her." she claimed, turning back to face Joaquin. "What, we're just going to let a woman walk into the jungle like that on her own? We have to go get her."
Time: Early
Location: The apothecary
Status: Closed with @lina-delgado
If Lina comes to the apothecary looking for Tomas, that’s not who she gets. It’s Libby puttering around in there, searching for something to clean up her eyebrow. Flora in all of her sweet, eager grabby-handedness had managed to reopen the old cut that had situated itself above Libby’s brow again in all of the time-swapped weirdness, so here she is. Currently she’s squinting in a small mirror she’d found on one of the shelves, wondering aloud in a mutter if she should actually get it stitched up this time around, when movement in the doorway has her setting the mirror aside.
She and Tomas haven’t discussed the pregnant woman on the island – they’ve had bigger fish to fry and, frankly, that’s still a sore topic for her, even now, all these years later. Him, too, she assumes, not only for their reasons, but due to the people he’s lost to childbirth here. So they haven’t touched it. But that doesn’t mean that Libby doesn’t know, even having been gone in the Labyrinth. The Meridium rumor mill runs rampant. Her look at Lina is maybe too lingering, thoughts clearly tumbling around behind her green eyes as she takes her in. Not showing, but that doesn’t mean anything, necessarily. Not everyone is her, sporting what felt like a giant bump impossibly quickly.
“You alright?” That’s what Libby finally says by way of greeting, after way too long of a pause. “Need me to go find Tomas or Hazel?”
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With her newfound freedom, Lina could do whatever she wanted now. It felt good to know she got away with it, especially with Nesh's sudden disappearance. Maybe it was wrong to be completely unbothered by it, but with how they left things Lina had no remorse and now there was nobody to prove her story as false. And now that she was no longer "pregnant" the first order of business honestly should have been to stock up on the tea. She wasn't going to actually get herself stuck in this predicament, Lina wasn't mother material, obviously she wasn't so if she was going to go back to her old ways and get back to sleeping around, she needed easy access to the tea at all times.
The apothecary had to have the most supply of the stuff so she can just buy in bulk and not worry. The worry ended up being the presence of someone else in the apothecary with her. Lina hadn't actually been formally introduced to Libby but was well aware of who she was since she had been considered one of the leaders after all. Not that Lina had seen her around the island much lately until now, though that could also be blamed on Lina's lack of venturing out very far the past couple months.
Maybe Libby wouldn't even acknowledge her or talk to her, and she could just quietly grab what she wanted and leave. That hope was short lived though as, without even a hello, Libby inquired about how she was feeling. "I'm great. Never better." Lina replied, a little annoyed that yet another person was in the loop when that was never the plan...now where were those tea leaves? "News travels fast on this island, I see. Didn't think someone so busy would have time for gossip." she remarked without looking back, her eyes still scanning through shelves looking for what she came here for.
Joaquin was humming to himself gaily as he strolled around the bushes and shrubs, not really doing anything. At least it seemed that way; but the old monk was actually just communing with nature. Living and working on the upper farm was rewarding, but sometimes Joaquin truly did miss the thick, lush foliage of the jungle, which were somewhat more sparse on the higher levels of the island.
So he’d come down for a daytrip, to immerse himself in the jungle’s beauty and wonder. He stayed far away from the Bridge, had little interest in the Obelisk or the new amphitheatre. He just wanted to touch dewy leaves and listen to the birdcall and chirping of insects, perhaps forage for a few mushrooms. Enjoy the path of a snail on a log.
Instead, he ran into that….young woman. The one who put her hands on him (among other things) and then yelled loudly at him when he rejected her. Sisco immediately reared back in alarm even though they hadn’t even really touched or gotten within a foot of each other.
“Oh dear, oh dear! Lo siento, I am just - I was not - “ But Joaquin reminded himself of the reality: “But you were not her! That is to say, the imposter was not you. You are simply you, are you not? Perdóname, I am babbling. And also, I have forgotten your name, my dear.”
︶꒦꒷♡꒷꒦︶
@manojoaquin
The sudden fear in the man's eyes when he saw her approach was understandable. Lina recalled the way he freaked out at being touched and complimented by her duplicate. He seemed simple-minded enough that maybe by now he would have forgotten what had happened, but the way he moved away from her before they were even anywhere close to each other proved otherwise. But with the doppelganger being almost a test run for her, she realized she had to play him differently.
"I'm sorry! Oh, please, I really didn't mean to startle you." She apologized, her hands out in front of her defensively, a sweet but somewhat worried look on her face as she timidly approached. "I know what you must think of me after the whole...fake people thing, and I just–oh, I promise that wasn't me, not at all!" Technically, not a lie. It wasn't her, it was the fake, and if he assumed that she would never come onto someone like that herself, that was on him.
“It’s Adelina. I don’t blame you for forgetting. Honestly, if I was in your position, I’d want to forget too. For a little while I didn’t even realize what happened but then the memories of it all just came to me and...well, I was just so embarrassed! I just- I knew you wouldn’t want to be anywhere near me!” she rambled, doing her best to copy that signature, exhausting Madi style of rambling that she hated so much. “So, yeah. All of this is just...it’s a long winded way of saying that I came to find you to apologize for...all that.”
Lina shouldn’t have been surprised at Emre’s question, it was understandable to be curious about with the way she paraded herself around. Surely the only reason she was one of Will’s favorite’s was because he fucked him. But she huffed a little laugh and shook her head as if it was an insult to her that the two of them hooked up at some point. “No, I haven’t fucked him yet. And if that’s the case that he’s desperately horny and needs someone to marry him before he can get laid, I’m sure he would have tried to propose to me countless times by now.” But instead he ran away from her to hide when she was going to give him a blowjob. So clearly he wasn’t focused on marriage because of his own pent up sexual frustrations.
She wasn’t intending to start problems. He was the one who responded with such a casual response. Yet now he was mad because she pointed it out? “ I’m not asking you to start trouble. I just want this to be over with, don’t start acting like some petty child.”
But that was exactly what he did. The two of them seemed to know how to easily rile each other up, she pissed him off so that he could do the same thing right back. “I’m useless? Fuck off with that, what the hell is your presence going to do for me? I don’t need you there to hold my hand while it all goes down, and I don’t need you there tossing around insults because you’re not getting what you want anymore.” Because that’s what was happening right now, wasn’t it? This baby he seemed eager to have, no longer an option so suddenly she was useless. “My body, my choice, right? So it’s my choice who I want doing this to my body. And it’s my choice to go alone.”
And then he went ahead and began acting how she expected him to act from the start, getting angry and frustrated and punching against her hut in his fit of rage. Was she meant to feel sympathetic for him now? She already said her apology so it wasn’t like he was going to be getting one now. “Alright Emre, that’s enough! Try to break down your own place instead of trying to punch a hole through mine. I made my decision and you throwing a temper tantrum isn’t going to change it. So just go! Fuck off!”
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
@lina-delgado
Lina’s brag technically should be appreciated - and the idea of big Willie legging after Lina, begging her to be his loyal little wifey was an entertaining thought - but Emre wasn’t in the mood to appreciated Lina at this moment. He knew he shouldn’t be resentful. It was her choice after all, it was all unplanned. It was his own stupid ideas and stupid fantasies that had gotten the better of him, as usual. Emre had no right to hope for a baby of his own. Dreams of family died the day his own left him.
So he just snorted at Lina’s dismissal of poor old Willie, knowing if he said anything it would be too mean-spirited for the moment.
“Yeah, of course, because you’re the height of maturity,” Emre groused, got a word in before Lina started laying into him, dismantling his own complaints about her. “I’m not trying to bloody stop you, am I? I just want to be there. I was a part of this too, no matter how much everyone says I got no role in this. You what. I’m not allowed to be sad about it, is that it? This innt about you, you daft twat.”
The punch to the wall gave way to a blast of pain, which gave way to a disgustingly stunning clarity. What the fuck was he even thinking. That he and Lina of all people, could bring some child into the world. Emre’s fantasies twisted and shifted, playing out real-time into two parents who hated each other but fucked feverishly anyway when they weren’t bickering about the child, minding it, caring for it. Children knew, they could pick up on this sort of loveless upbringing. Even island babies would know, and it would be bad. Lina was irresponsible and Emre was…Emre.
It never would’ve worked. Lina was right. Emre wanted done with it entirely.
“Fuck you. I hope it hurts you,” Emre spat at Lina’s feet, then stalked away.
He’s useful. Right, well at least that made more sense, when it came to Lina. People liked being useful and Lina liked using people. It was a win-win that Emre couldn’t fault her for, in all honesty.
“You fucked him yet?” Emre had to ask, because he was curious. “Reckon Willie’s all up in chat about marriage because the big man’s proper horny innit. Someone’s got to give it to him, poor sod. Maybe then he’d be less in your business innit. Oi - let’s get him married and then he’ll stop bothering you. Likely if he’s an old timer, he probably thinks is sex after marriage any that innit. Imagine living a century with no shagging, flipping hell.”
Enough disparaging the big old man, Emre figured then. It was all in good fun; Emre harboured no ill will to Willie. But slagging was just what Emre did with acquaintances and mates alike.
“Would you rather I make trouble?” Emre snapped, hearing some strange sort of sarcasm in Lina’s voice. “I could make it harder for you. If you really want me to, right. I could give you real problems, Lina. Don’t push me.”
Except Lina did,. She refused to let Emre come, on account of precious little Nesh’s petty little feelings. “Fuck him, leave him out of it then! Make Tomas do it. He’ll do it if I ask him. He - “ Owes me that much. Tomas didn’t owe him bollocks, but desperation clawed up Emre’s throat. “I’m sick of all this, you’re useless. Right. I’m going to tell Tomas to do it. He’s doing it, I’m not arguing with you.”
Only - Emre just had to pivot to see Lina’s home in shambles, and only seconds later back up again. Imagine Tomas trying this delicate procedure, and his…instruments or tea or whatever he used, disintegrating in his hands. Or inside poor Lina…
“Fuck. FUCK!” Emre yelled, and punched a wall.
︶꒦꒷♡꒷꒦︶
@akbartheolder
Lina shouldn’t have been surprised at Emre’s question, it was understandable to be curious about with the way she paraded herself around. Surely the only reason she was one of Will’s favorite's was because he fucked him. But she huffed a little laugh and shook her head as if it was an insult to her that the two of them hooked up at some point. “No, I haven’t fucked him yet. And if that’s the case that he’s desperately horny and needs someone to marry him before he can get laid, I’m sure he would have tried to propose to me countless times by now.” But instead he ran away from her to hide when she was going to give him a blowjob. So clearly he wasn’t focused on marriage because of his own pent up sexual frustrations.
She wasn’t intending to start problems. He was the one who responded with such a casual response. Yet now he was mad because she pointed it out? “ I’m not asking you to start trouble. I just want this to be over with, don’t start acting like some petty child.”
But that was exactly what he did. The two of them seemed to know how to easily rile each other up, she pissed him off so that he could do the same thing right back. “I’m useless? Fuck off with that, what the hell is your presence going to do for me? I don’t need you there to hold my hand while it all goes down, and I don’t need you there tossing around insults because you’re not getting what you want anymore.” Because that’s what was happening right now, wasn’t it? This baby he seemed eager to have, no longer an option so suddenly she was useless. “My body, my choice, right? So it’s my choice who I want doing this to my body. And it’s my choice to go alone.”
And then he went ahead and began acting how she expected him to act from the start, getting angry and frustrated and punching against her hut in his fit of rage. Was she meant to feel sympathetic for him now? She already said her apology so it wasn’t like he was going to be getting one now. “Alright Emre, that’s enough! Try to break down your own place instead of trying to punch a hole through mine. I made my decision and you throwing a temper tantrum isn’t going to change it. So just go! Fuck off!”
“You’s are! Best for t’both of you’s.” Do them good, the both of them. Willie could tell Emre were the sort that needed time to be settling down, could see himself in the young lad. Well Lina, she was so far from any woman he’d ever known but she needed protecting. Especially now. “Stop you’s having child of wedlock int’t?” That was bugger trouble enough, especially on an island so vengeful. But Lina wasn’t having none of it and she hadn’t just stopped, she was backing away from him. Almost fear in her voice as she repeated the same word over and over. Will looked forlorn, had he buggered this right up? She seemed displeased with the whole idea. He thought she would’ve been enthralled by it. Eager to marry and do it all properly. That’s how all women were.
Then Lina disappeared into a hole with a shriek. Will leapt forwards, grabbing her fast enough to hold her by the wrist, not fast enough to save her from falling part-way into the hole. “Bugger!” He gripped onto her real tight, hauling her, and himself, backwards until he was flat on his back. Holding Lina atop of him. “Bloody hell, you’s don’t half–-”
Willie blinked, first of all he’d been helping out Mrs. Maja and then he’d been trying to cajole Wenny into helping out weeding. Now Lina were laying on the ground with him. “Ay’up! Lina!” He pulled her into an ungodly tight embrace, “missed you’s, lil rascal. Bugger you’s doing on t’ground.” Though they were both there together. Will hauled himself up and then offered her out a hand. “C’mon with you’s. Bet Mrs. Maja is cooking up a storm by nows, you’s hungry?” He rubbed at the front of his brow, his stomach gurgling at the mere thought of being fed –––
The world shrunk, or rather the world got a whole lot bigger. William had been leaning up against a bar stool chatting to some fair looking bird, hoping to cop off. Now, however he was faced with a much fairer bird. Willie smoothed back his hair which had grown now that he had the freedom, and no money nor scissors to cut it back. “Ay’up ducky, you’s real fine!” He whistled, long and low, never seen a lady in such a short frock before. Now that was really something to behold. Willie could scarcely take his eyes off her! Bloody hell how was a lad of twenty-two supposed to think if the city-girls dressed as she did. “How ‘bout take you’s for a drink? Got me a good shilling, ‘nuff for t’two of us.”
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Lina couldn’t understand this definitive stance on being married before having a baby. It had to be some sort of religious nonsense but when had Will ever been so religious? He had been around for other island baby births on South Beach, where was all this marriage demands then? It seemed ridiculous that he was so adamant on this for her but she knew explaining it to him why it wasn’t happening would be in one ear and out the other.
So that’s why walking away and ignoring it was the easier solution. Until she started falling into a freshly dug hole that appeared out of nowhere. Luckily Will was fast enough to grab her before she plummeted down, though he still managed to make them both topple to the ground anyway.
“Fuck...” she groaned as they hit the ground, doing her best to pick herself off of Will. While she was trying to get off of him, he suddenly wrapped his arms around her, hugging her tight, talking to her as if she was away for a while instead of right in front of him this whole time. Lina was trying to understand what was going on, just staring at him with furrowed brows as he mentioned Mrs. Maja. “What are you talking about? She’s not even here anymore.” Lina told him even though he should know that.
While she didn’t pick up on this first change, the next one was more obvious. After brushing off any dirt from her dress, she looked back up at Will who had longer hair and was...hitting on her? Not that she was complaining but what was going on? “Where exactly are you going to take me for a drink around here?” She asked in an attempt to figure out where this was coming from. It wasn’t like Will was clever enough to make a point by tricking her. So obviously she was going to play along. “But how can I say no to a handsome guy like you? You can take me anywhere.”
Emre snorted a laugh, as Lina went off on Willie’s ways. “You honestly think I’d marry you just because some geezer said we have to? The fuck is marriage here anyway? Darling, it’s fine.” Emre belatedly realized that Lina and Willie were both South Beach residents, originally. “You and him good mates or something? You both lived here before the beast innit. You two get along and that?” Emre grinned. “Maybe Willie can marry you himself. Odd couple and that.”
But the mirth was short-lived. And maybe Emre had just been trying to bring levity to the moment for his own desperate delusion, because he could read Lina’s sweet, pretty face, so expressive when she wanted it to be. So mesmerizing, overall. Even when one knew she was a snake, it was hard to remember when she looked at him like he was the only person on the planet. It wasn’t love. It was that thrill, that promise. Addictive as poison.
But he needed to hear Lina say it, and she did.
Emre looked down immediately, not saying anything as Lina continued to explain, lay out her plan. At least it would be safe. Tomas would take care of it, like Tomas had done this many times before. Emre trusted in Tomas, and if Nesh got off his high horse and assisted, then all the better.
He pat Lina’s hand compulsively, and shrugged. “Whatevs, it’s fine. I’m not bothered. Your body your choice - that’s how it goes innit, inshallah. Whatevs. Right.” Emre stood up then, and rested his hands on his hips, as he turned away from Lina. He looked at her home, without actually looking at anything. The blipping things around them, it all seemed so bloody unimportant and irrelevant at this moment. Things could change in the blink of an eye. Yeah - so it can. So what.
“Right. You want me to - “ Emre turned to look at Lina. “Can I keep you company? While you - for the, erm. Procedure and that. I’ll be good, I promise. I’d - I’d like to be there.”
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abortion mention tw
@akbartheolder
"Fuck, no! I know neither of us are the marriage type. It doesn't mean anything here or out there." If anything, a marriage between two people who don't actually want to be married would be worse for a child. Lina knew that firsthand. She wasn't in love with Emre and she knew she never would be, and he definitely wasn't in love with her so any implication that they should vow to always be together and love each other for a child (that didn't actually exist) to grow up right was ridiculous.
"I don't know if I'd say that." Because Lina didn't really jump to calling anyone her friend. "We knew each other before from South Beach. Yeah, we get along, he's useful. Nobody would mess with you if you had Will to call on." She made a face and groaned a little at the mention of marrying Will. "Yeah, no thanks. That's not happening. If I ever did get married, I'd prefer if it was to someone that wasn't growing up in the 1800's. Sorry that's kind of a deal breaker."
"Right. Whatevs." She didn't necessarily believe that it didn't bother him, he went around telling people that she was pregnant with his baby, that sounded like something someone excited for a baby would do. But Lina wasn't going to make a big deal about it. This was probably the best outcome for her, he wasn't arguing, he wasn't trying to convince her to keep it or make her feel bad about it. Emre accepted it and if he was going to be disappointed or bothered by it, he can whine about it to Madi or something instead of depending on her to make him feel better. "Glad we've got that settled so easily."
But he still wanted to be part of it. Be there with her for the procedure. "You don't have to." She tried to interject before he told her he wanted to be there. Lina shook her head. "I don't think it would matter if you were on your best behavior. I think your presence would be enough to put him on edge. He's better with me when you aren't around, so I think it would be safer if I go alone."
They needed to get out. Whatever was happening - Madi’s first thought was earthquake of some sort, but really things have been weird around the island, maybe this was part of it. On one hand, old pictures and belongings of Williw appeared in her home, now another home was crumbling to dust. Sure, it all made sense. It was Meridium, all of it had to make sense.
But the fact that Adelina was pregnant just raised the stakes and seeing themselves being walled up did give Madi a moment of panic. She promised Emre she’d help and look out for Lina, if they wouldn’t come out of here all okay… But no, lina was panicking next to her, she wasn’t going to let it overtake her. She did these kinds of things for a living one time, even if it felt like an entire lifetime ago, she was going to get the two of them out. “You’re not going to get buried alive in your own home, I promise, we’ll get out of here even if I have to break through the rocks myself.”
She was looking around, trying to assess what she could work and use to get them out when Lina looked up and suggested the ceiling. Madi followed her gaze, “Yes, that– we can definitely try that. We need something to climb onto, the both of us, and then I can help boost you up for the rest of the way.” Moving around the rubble wasn’t the easiest thing, though, and it took Madi a bit of time to get over to where she remembered seeing a couple of wooden crates, probably for storage. “These, Lina, we use these and get closer up, we just…” she looked up at the ceiling again. It was an opening, sure, but it wasn’t big enough for either of them to safely climb through without getting hurt. “Do you think you can open that hole in the ceiling bigger while I move the crates?”
︶꒦꒷♡꒷꒦︶
@madibyrd
Madi was doing her best to reassure Lina that they would get out of this and Lina just hoped she was right. Madi was concerned for the baby but all Lina cared about was herself, getting out of this unscathed. But she had to be careful with her movements and attempts to get out. Maybe Madi would be to occupied trying to be a hero to notice Lina moving around in a way a pregnant woman never would but she wasn’t going to risk getting questioned once they got out.
There were a few things still intact that they could use to get higher up, so she was going to let Madi handle that. Lina decided to stand back, hand on her “aching” back, not wanting to push or move anything that might put strain on her and the baby. Her gaze drifted back up to the ceiling, because if anything was going to start breaking apart again, then she wasn’t going to be in the line of fire when it dropped. “Are you sure you can do that on your own?” she made sure to ask so it at least sounded like she might want to help, even if she might not physically be able to while ‘pregnant’.
Instead, Madi suggested that Lina try to make the ceiling opening bigger for them. Her brows furrowed as she considered how she was going to go about that. Safely at least. “I don’t want to tear the entire ceiling down.” Lina responded, shaking her head. “With the way this place is deteriorating, I can’t imagine a gust of air would be all that helpful to us.” Maybe once they were closer up she could she could get a chance to break the ceiling some more, but from down here that sounded too dangerous. “We need to come up with something else, or wait for it to break off more on it’s own.”
“Right it were. Them changelings.” Willie echoed. Horrid things, he had decided, as of now. They were gone now, if Tomas was to be believed and Will trusted him with his life, so they could all rest easy. “Bet you’s ‘cause we be having bad luck I saw a black cat in them trees. Bad luck it is, if I do say so myself. Now’t don’t you be missing with…” Will faded, his train of thought ebbing and flowing down an unmarked path, much unbeknownst to even himself. Until Lina plucked him out of his nonsensical reverie to remind him of what was at stake here. What was really important.
“Emre did! Bloody hell ducky, dangerous it is. Not be having more bad luck on this here island. Bugger us all, you ’n’ him marry good and proper, you’s hear me? Make this right.” That had been after all well and truly ingrained into Willie, and over the years had never quite shed that outlook. One way or another, be damned for Lina, or for them both. Will gave her a gentle pat to her shoulder. “You’s be alreet, won’t you ducky. Good in t’ end, always is.”
Except when it wasn’t. But William was doing his best not to think about the life-shortening possibility of Lina being with child. Will sniffed, and tore away to power forwards and tug Lina along with him. “Right ducky, so you’s be saying yes? Told him he best be doing right. Not having your babe be born wrong cause of sin. Bugger what them new-folk say. Dangerous, int’t? Babe be with horns! All sorts if you’s don’t marry proper. Ain’t be having that. Keep up…” Lina, right he should be using her name as Tomas had drilled into him. He cleared his throat. “Lina we best be finding Emre!”
︶꒦꒷♡꒷꒦︶
@willieshaw
Lina had no idea what Will was talking about if she was being honest, but she wasn't planning on telling him that. Instead she just nodded along as if she totally agreed with everything he was saying. Though what she did understand was his musings about their bad luck coming from a black cat, as if they hadn't all been experiencing bad luck and torment since they arrived here.
Of course Emre told Will about this, he seemed to be telling just about anyone he could rope into a conversation about it. She was sure that most actually pregnant women would be thrilled to have a baby daddy who was so excited to share this kind of news with the world but for Lina it just caused more problems. She was worse off the more people knew, but at least she was working to get out of it and-
She nearly choked on air at the mention of the word marry. Her eyes widened, horrified that this was where this conversation was going. "I'm sorry, what? No, no, no, Will that is not-that's not happening, we're not getting married." She told him as plainly as possible, waving her hands in front of her knowing there was absolutely no chance she was getting married, let alone on this god damn eternal island. "I don't see what getting married is going to do, it's not going to change or fix anything." she tried to explain, but Will continued on, sounding positive that marriage was what needed to be done.
We best be finding Emre. Lina started shaking her head, backing away from Will as she just repeated, "no, no, no, no." She was trying to figure out how to say this in a way that Will would understand but before she could think of anything else to say, she started to stumble. There was a shimmer along the ground that Lina didn't notice, and suddenly where there was solid ground behind her foot, was now a deep hole that had seemingly been dug out all of a sudden. She let out a little squeal once she realized her foot wasn't touching solid ground and began to fall backwards into this pit that was definitely not there before.
Emre was about to protest that everything on this bloody island was weird - but Lina conveniently had another good point to make, about screwing something up. She just had to press that button in Emre’s mind and his paranoia did the rest: the current island shifting causing trouble, or him accidentally freezing her….Emre shuddered and snatched his hovering hand back.
“You’re right, soz luv. What was I thinking.”
Had he made it sound more optimistic? Emre was pretty sure he’d given the proper warnings, not that he didn’t think Lina already knew all of them. There was a part of him that protested that maybe she shouldn’t have to need convincing, just like she didn’t have to need him reminding her every single time to drink the bloody tea. Didn’t she have some responsibility in this too? She wasn’t stupid, so why was she employing all this willful ignorance, Emmy?? What could possibly be the reason for a wily minx like Lina to play dumb????
But Emre ignored that protesting voice, chalking it up to the tiresome waswasah in his head, always obfuscating things.
Instead he nodded and listened, as now - four months down the road - all the horror stories and tragedies had finally instilled fear in her. “Fine time for this to be happening,” Emre gargled roughly, clearing his throat even though it just thickened back up again. A distractor when Lina mentioned Willie, and Emre gave a rueful, huffing smile. “Yeah, Willie tried to urge me the same. C’mon luv, like we got to listen to what anyone says about old fashioned bollocks like that. Is sweet of him, but pointless innit. No arranged marriages here.”
Emre shrugged off Nesh’s hate. “That’s fair enough. I know the Doctor hates me. If he can’t understand the difference between bloody waswasah and people poisoned by it, that’s on him innit. I apologized for that night, didn’t I. I feel terrible…” Emre gave a ruefully ironic smile. “But to be honest - if I truly wanted to off the little bugger, it would be me deciding to do it, not bloody tree-whispers fucking up my head.”
Emre tapped Lina’s nose. “Our Nesh was well protective of you, to me anyway. But to your face, he treats you like dogfood, he does. In your condition, no less.” But then Emre circled back to Lina, looking intently at her. “Right. So what’re you saying about the baby, then. Tell me exactly what you’re going to do, Lina. I feel so fucking confused right now.”
︶꒦꒷♡꒷꒦︶
@akbartheolder
pregnancy talk tw, abortion mention tw
There was a moment of relief as he apologized and decided against his own ultrasound, she didn’t need his attunement to detect that nothing pregnancy related was going on in there. She was going to get herself out of this hole she dug herself in rather than be caught in it. So of course the talk about Will and his desire to make sure they got married before having this baby was a deflection she would allow to take over. “I know, it’s not like I’m saying his word is law but, he was so serious about it, it’s crazy! I mean, I know he’s old as shit but he made it seem like if this baby is born and we’re not married, it’s going to be a devil child. Horns and all.”
Lina wasn’t necessarily trying to egg Emre on, make him feel bad for being hated by Nesh but she did want him to keep it in mind. To remember he wasn’t liked and not to overstep when the time came.
She didn't comment on his observation on how she was being treated, she wasn't exactly sure what to say about it. Bad boys, nice guys, all men were the same, that was about it. She was accustomed to this sort of treatment anyway, her type was never the kind of person who would send her flowers or write her poems. Those weren't the type of people she deserved anyway, so complaining about the poor treatment she may have received just seemed pointless. She simply shrugged it off, like it wasn't a big deal because she wasn't going to make it into one.
Instead she focused on his question about what she was going to do. She took a deep breath, tilting her head up to avoid looking at him as if this was difficult for her to say. "I don't think I can go through with this, Emre. I've been trying to be all cool and confident about it but I can't do it. Tomas said terminating the pregnancy would be the safest option and...I already talked to Nesh about going through with that option."
She absolutely did not talk to him about that at all. But Lina very well couldn't have said she asked Tomas to do this for her because they were too close. But Nesh didn't like or trust Emre so she anticipated their interactions being incredibly minimal and she might actually get away with this. "Sorry." she said next, her voice soft as if she really was apologetic for the choice she made. "I know you’ve been so willing to help and make sure everything was safe and to actually be a father. But I can't do this."
“Hm,” Emre hummed, pursing his lips in a frown as his hand spanned her tummy. He couldn’t feel anything, but then again Emre wasn’t sure what he was supposed to feel. The baby books had pictures, but also stressed how ‘every pregnancy was different and unique’. To trust in doctors visits to give proper assessments. But Nesh was being a big stuck-up baby himself about Lina - his ‘friend’, supposedly, except when she needed it him seemed. Not that Emre was pissed about it or anything - and Emre couldn’t help feeling slightly worried that he couldn’t feel anything on Lina’s pretty flat tummy. He wanted to kiss it; but apparently according to books, it might not be what mummy wanted.
They weren’t in love or married, after all. But Emre felt a surge of love that he refused to register as simply desperate. A love this strong couldn’t possibly be delusional.
“I can do an ultra-sound of my own,” Emre happily suggested. Behind them, Linalex manor turned into a heap of wood and straw. Then it blipped back. Emre ignored it, mooning only after Lina. “If I focus and concentrate, I could sense the water inside you. Your blood and that. Maybe I can sense the, erm…namiotic fluid, the baby,” Emre attempted, meaning ‘amniotic’.
Fortunately, there was Tomas. “I told you I should come with you. Tomas could take all his anger out on me, innit. I’m used to it, the old geezer’s always going at me.” He nodded, uncomprehending of Lina’s new angle. “Yeah, I know it’ll be well dangerous, he’s given me all the facts before. Yaz did too innit. Three medical types on the island but no guarantees, not for you or the baby. I told you this too, didn’t I.” But Emre didn’t push the point because it was always better hearing things from a doctor.
Tomas was no professional doctor, but he was a professional at baby and mummy deaths. And the real doctor Nesh was being well mature about it himself. “Honestly right cold of Nesh, if I do say so myself. You could die and all he wants to do is treat you badly for it. Shame you and that, innit. How’s that a friend.”
︶꒦꒷♡꒷꒦︶
@akbartheolder·
pregnancy talk tw, abortion mention tw
Hearing Emre’s explanation of how he could probably use his attunement to do his own makeshift ultrasound was concerning for more than just the obvious reason of her potentially getting found out. Her eyes widened, the expression on her face looking a bit uncomfortable over the thought of it as she tried to turn down the idea. “That sounds...super weird. I don’t know how I feel about that. And what if you, like, accidentally do something to the water in my body? I don’t want something to go wrong, especially if you don’t know what you’re looking for.” She said, as gentle as she could.
Lina waved her hand as he said he should have been there. Honestly, if Tomas wasn’t making his way around she was sure the talk never would have even happened. But in a way it did help her, if the doctors thought it was so unsafe that ending a pregnancy was better than having a baby, who was she to tell them they’re wrong? It was an even bigger lie to play around with, but maybe she could get lucky and pull it off just right.
"Well, yeah, but you at least make it sound more...optimistic. Like going through with this wouldn't be so bleak." She gently shook her head, pausing before letting herself talk into a downward spiral about this baby. "But it is. It's terrible, there were those outlier positive outcomes where everything was alright and the kids were born and the mother was fine and you can only hope to be that lucky. Who knows, even with all the help and preparations it can all still end horribly, and then what? Everyone wasted their hope and energy and time over something that would never be a sure thing. And don't even get me started on the fact that Will wants us to get married."
Lina huffed, and then Emre decided to bring up Nesh and how he treated her, and she had moved past the way he acted the day he found out. She was way over that, but his recent lash out on the other hand was enough to keep her feeling sour. “It’s fine. I’ve dealt with worse.” Which was true, Lina has had people say terrible things to her that she could brush off with ease. But if they were going to talk about the doctor, she thought she might have her in to start weaving her way out of this mess. “We had the chance to talk after. I just think he doesn’t really like you all that much. Really hates your guts. I mean, you did nearly drown him. That is a pretty messed up thing to go through. I can sort of understand why he doesn’t want to be around you or talk to you.”
Madi gave a reassuring smile to Lina. If she could reassure her even just a little, that she considered a small victory. And she’d continue to try to do this, continue to reassure Adelina and help her in all the way she can. Something that thankfully Adelina wasn’t resisting, and Madi was glad of it. Others might have insisted on doing things on their own, not wanting to burden people and the such, and Lina not putting up those walls Madi felt grateful for.
In fact, she was about to tell her what Madi could help her with when suddenly the walls around them were shaking and Madi immediately jumped towards Lina, looking around, ready to move Adelina even if she wasn’t so quick to get–
she pulled Lina out of the falling rubble’s way before either one of them could get hurt, and suddenly Madi felt like she was right back in her old work. They had to deal with situation like this on a semi-regular basis. “Stay away from the walls - in fact, we should not be in here at all. We need to get out of here before something else falls and you get hurt.” Only Lina, she wasn’t thinking of herself in this moment. Lina and the baby. They needed to get out of here before either of them would get hurt.
“Whatever this is, whatever the island is doing, we need to get out, Adelina, we can figure the rest out afterwa–” Madi said, standing near Lina, her arms resting on the woman’s arms from the back to both guide Lina out and shield her at the same time but couldn’t finish the sentence because then everything shook again and another part of the ceiling dropped right in front of them, barely avoiding the two of them and blocking the door around them. “Not that way, we can’t go that way, let’s–” but then she turned them around and as she looked out the window, there wasn’t actually anything there. No opening to the outside. Madi turned around, looked all around them, but any opening they had were gone now - all built in.
They were stuck with no way out.
︶꒦꒷♡꒷꒦︶
@madibyrd
Lina wasn't prepared to suddenly be pulled backward in time by Madi just as much as she wasn't prepared for the roof to come crashing down. She also seemed a lot more intense about it all than Lina who was just more annoyed than anything. The hut wasn't that poorly kept that the wood of the roof should have been breaking and falling apart, and the vines growing along the walls was something that she didn't see until now. It seemed to be growing way too quickly to be normal and the wood was looking like it was rotting.
She was a little too focused on the way everything looked like it instantly decayed and Madi's voice about them needing to get out of there helped her snap out of it. "Right yeah, let's get out before this whole thing collapses." she agreed, having to restrain herself from not pulling herself out of Madi's helpful grasp. She was trying to keep Lina safe for this fake baby's sake. Lina was already willing to let Madi do whatever she wanted as a way to help her so why reject this help to escape the collapsing building?
Another piece of rubble came crashing down, narrowly avoiding them but of course, blocking their way out. Great. She let out a sigh, still just letting her body follow Madi's lead of where they should try to go next. No way to exit, so what they had to sit in here and wait for this thing to cave in on itself? "I'm not sticking around in here to get buried alive in my own house. There's gotta be some way out of here." she complained, leaning her head back in exasperation, her eyes locking on the open spots that were there now from the fallen ceiling pieces. "Do you think...maybe we can get up there?" she asked, pointing up to show Madi the opening they might hopefully be able to fit through. If they could find a way to get up there, that was.
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