love conquers all

but sometimes what you really need is a good kick in the teeth. (RP blog for a semi-OC for MGS.)

[welcometonowhereland-blog]

++redhead-psychic++

[As usual, she’s up a tree, watching the late-afternoon sky and minding her own business - or trying to. Someone’s making an awful lot of racket down there. Stasi frowns and looks down only to see a very familiar red head passing underneath, surrounded by a very familiar flame-shaped indigo aura.]

Hey! Iraaaaaaa! [She considers waving, but opts instead for plucking a cone off the branch next to her and tossing it down next to the bobbing figure below. It’s not necessary what with her sister being psychic and all, but her aim needs practice anyway.] Irisha, up here!

[redhead-psychic-blog]

[She looks up, smile bright as her hair, and waves cheerfully.] Hello to you too, Stasi! Though is that any way to greet your sister?

[She fakes a pout, but giggles and wanders over to stand closer under her. It's not rare to see her little sister up a tree, so she doesn't question, but she grins mischievously after a moment and levitates the pinecone, tossing it right back up at the blonde. Her aim needs practice, too.] 

[themothersoldier-deactivated201]

[She’s going to assume that that prickly feeling on the back of her neck was Irina just checking her memories (lucky duck), especially since it was followed by more hysterical laughter. When Irina says that, though, she bursts out grinning even wider and hugs her impulsively.]

I would love to be your auntie. Your dad’s kind of like my big brother, so it works out. You don’t know how much I wish I could actually be there for you when you’re younger. 

…oh, um…and actually, you know he sometimes calls me Alexa, so…you could use that instead of Joy if you liked. It’s short for my real name.

[redhead-psychic-blog]

[Irina hugs back, grinning so hard her face hurt. Wow. Real name. Wow wow wow. Wow. Holy crap wow.]

Auntie Alexa. I like it! [She laughs happily, letting go and wiping at her face which is most definitely not tearing up a little shut up.] And that would make them all Uncle Sorrow, Uncle Pain, and Uncle Inácio. Awesome.

[Very awesome. Slightly heartbreaking, but very awesome. What a great family. BUT back to business.] So did you remember any more embarrassing stories~?

[themothersoldier-deactivated201]

[She giggles along shamelessly.] He did, he absolutely did. I wish I could show you just so *I* could see it again. And Fear, believe me, was NOT happy about it. But they’ll get around to talking it out sooner or later, I’m sure.

[She grins, thinking back.] Well, it’s my duty as your…sort of aunt…to tell you this stuff, so let me think a moment.

…meanwhile, feel free to enjoy the mental image of your dad with pressed white gloves, a pencil mustache, and about two gallons of grease in his hair.

[redhead-psychic-blog]

[Practically shrieks with laughter and nearly falls over.] THAT IS THE BEST MENTAL IMAGE PLEASE TELL ME YOU HAVE A PICTURE. [Wait what the fuck she's psychic she can just look-- oH MY GOD OH MY GOD and there she goes into another gale of laughter.]

[She covers her mouth with her hands, shaking with the force of keeping her giggles in.] S-Sort of aunt is, cool though. Can I call you Auntie Joy?

[That would be lovely, really. She already kind of considered the unit distant family because of how much her dad told her about them, and how much he cared, but it was nice to hear the sentiment returned.]

[redhead-psychic-blog]

Oh, wow, I think I remember dad telling me about that! [She shivers, grinning slightly.] Scared the hell out of me hearing about it.

[Her eyes widen at the question, and she busts out the most wicked grin you can possibly wear - we’re talking Fear brand grin.] He miiiight have mentioned it happened, but nothing besides that. Do tell me the details~!

[themothersoldier-deactivated201]

[She grins back just as terribly.] Well~. We had an assignment to assassinate a Nazi officer, and I got invitations to a party he was giving under aliases, except for Fear and End and I’m sure you can imagine why. It was all quite stressful not being sure who could actually handle the acting. Anyway, Dmitri was in disguise as the rich son of an Italian officer, and I’m afraid I made him flirt with all the girls to draw attention away from the rest of us. [She snickers.] Flirting with the men too, however, was all his idea. The look on Pain’s face…

[redhead-psychic-blog]

[She starts laughing, hard, (nearly hysterics, or a Fear-level laughing fit) and it takes her a few minutes to recover.] He-- He flirted??? With PAIN???? Oh MY GOD, how did Fear react?! Oh my GOD that is absolutely beautiful, oh, I wish there was some way I could see it!! [She's grinning like an absolutely loon, and giggles are still slipping out of her every so often.]

--Do you know any more stories?! I know Dad didn't tell me any of the embarrassing ones, he's really easily flustered. [A snicker.] But I know you know that.

[redhead-psychic-blog]

Hehe, nope! I’m okay. I went home for a little, if you could call it a home. [She snorts.]

But with that over with, here I am again! I missed you, Joy! Did I miss anything interesting?

[themothersoldier-deactivated201]

Hm…well, thankfully you missed our…haunting the other week. That was horrible and I’m glad you weren’t here for that. And then this last weekend we weren’t here anyway because of a mission on the Continent. [Her eyes suddenly sparkle wickedly.] Did your father ever tell you about the time he was Italian?

[redhead-psychic-blog]

Oh, wow, I think I remember dad telling me about that! [She shivers, grinning slightly.] Scared the hell out of me hearing about it.

[Her eyes widen at the question, and she busts out the most wicked grin you can possibly wear - we're talking Fear brand grin.] He miiiight have mentioned it happened, but nothing besides that. Do tell me the details~!

[redhead-psychic-blog]

Hey, guys! 

Surprise, I’m not dead! Sorry if I worried anyone~

[themothersoldier-deactivated201]

I was wondering where you’d got to! Glad to see you’re not dead.

[redhead-psychic-blog]

Hehe, nope! I'm okay. I went home for a little, if you could call it a home. [She snorts.]

But with that over with, here I am again! I missed you, Joy! Did I miss anything interesting?

[redhead-psychic-blog]

[Cups hands at her mouth.]

I think your ponytail is cuuuuuuuuuuuuuute.

[redhead-psychic-blog]

Hey, guys! 

Surprise, I'm not dead! Sorry if I worried anyone~

[redhead-psychic-blog]

{It’s something, and it means a lot, really.} [She smiles, and the mention of her father doesn’t go unnoticed. Which makes it mean more.]

[She hesitates, looking away, before looking back slightly nervous.] {S-So where should I start? Papa?} [She’s kind of glad he’d never gone into detail about what happened to the Cobras, so she didn’t have to hide that.]

[themothersoldier-deactivated201]

[She just has to hug her again, she looks so uneasy and grateful at the same time. She’s so much like her friend, it’s almost but not quite unsettling. Just right at that spot where she’s automatically fond of her and rather worried as well.] {Wherever you like.}

{Would you like to sit down?} [She gestures gently toward the nearby couch. It won’t be comfortable to have such a conversation just standing here. ] 

[redhead-psychic-blog]

[She nods, moving to the couch and sitting down, bringing her legs up to her chest and resting her head on her knees. She waited for Joy to sit down, and then began as best she could.]

{He told me about you, you know. About the Cobra unit. I loved listening to stories about all of you - you and Sorrow and Pain and End, and especially Fear. Even when I was little I could tell all of you meant a lot to him.} [She stopped, biting her lip.] {He never told me what happened, though, so...I don't know. All I know is he missed you guys a lot.}

[themothersoldier-deactivated201]

[She smiles, as much as she can smile right now.] {Of course…it’s the least I can do for your father, and the least I can do for you. Probably the only thing I can do for you, I guess.}

[At least the hug seems to have done Irina some good. Poor girl, you’ve been carrying around an awful lot, haven’t you? But you just keep coming back.]

[redhead-psychic-blog]

{It's something, and it means a lot, really.} [She smiles, and the mention of her father doesn't go unnoticed. Which makes it mean more.]

[She hesitates, looking away, before looking back slightly nervous.] {S-So where should I start? Papa?} [She's kind of glad he'd never gone into detail about what happened to the Cobras, so she didn't have to hide that.]

[themothersoldier-deactivated201]

[She wraps her arms around the other girl gently, petting her hair a little, mothering instincts kicking in even though technically she can’t be any more than a few months younger at the moment. (I’ll be something like almost thirty when you are born, Joy tells herself. That’s old enough to actually be your mother. So it counts.) She obviously needs comforting, and she’s certainly not going to get it from anyone else here - or, given the Mama was part, more than likely not at home either. Are we simply born for tragedy?]

{It’s okay. I understand that…look…you can tell me anything, if you want to. I’m not going to pass it on and I don’t think it can do too much damage just with me.} [At least, she hoped so.]

[redhead-psychic-blog]

[She couldn't care less if she and Joy were currently the same age - that she was being hugged and comforted at all was absolutely wonderful. No one had done that when her mother had died, and she hadn't had it in...four years. Wow. She returned the hug with as much force as she dared, but pulled back in surprise at Joy's words.]

{Really? You-- it's okay?!} [That meant the world to her. She needed to talk to someone, ease the burden of her knowledge - a girl her age shouldn't carry as much as she did as it was. And she was honestly glad it was Joy of all people.] {That means a lot, thank you!}

[redhead-psychic-blog]

Joy: ...OH HOLY @#$q!#@

Fear: omg what

Fury: ????????

Joy: I'm going through Irina's blog at the same time as doing this and not only are she and Joy the same age now, they're going to be the same age when they have their sons

Fury: AGH

Fury: AAAAAGH

Joy: WAILS

Fury: WAILING

Fury: MORE MANTIS OCELOT PARALLELS I DIDN'T ASK FOR

[themothersoldier-deactivated201]

{ -how do you know.} [It’s surely not that evident on her face? All she did was think...Joy reexamines Irina’s shaken expression. Aha. That’s the other reason she seemed so familiar. There’s something in her aura, of sorts, that says ‘psychic’, which Joy should hope she can recognize on account of being so…close…to her own psychic now.] {Ah. Never mind. I see.}

[Despite knowing she ought to repress the thought, she can’t help but feel a stray sort of satisfaction in seeing proof that, whatever happens, Dmitri will at least be able to move on a little from what she still sees as an unhealthy situation with Fear. It may be helpful now, but it bothers her on a deep level because she just knows that it won’t be good for him in the long term. But then, she’s one to talk.]

{Thank you, but…I’m sorry. This must be even harder for you. You know everything he doesn’t, after all, and like you just said, you can’t even talk about it.} [The other young woman actually looks more miserable than anything now, and she can’t stop herself from reaching out to put a hand on her shoulder. The thought strikes her, then…I don’t get to know her, do I? She’d be the closest I’m sure I’ll ever get to actually having a child, and…but…no, I don’t want to think about that. No. Let’s no even go there.]

[redhead-psychic-blog]

[She nods quickly.] {Y-Yeah. I'm. I'm psychic. Mama was too, that's where- that's where I got it. That and the hair.} [She manages a tiny, sad smile with some amusement in it.] {They would joke, red hair and psychic powers from her, everything else from Papa.}

[Her next words shook her, and the hand on her shoulder made her just...throw her arms around Joy's neck, burying her face in her chest - for height was another thing she got from dad. She's quiet, trying not to cry, for a while.]

{I haven't even seen him since I've been here, I've been too scared. I've talked to- to Sorrow and Fear, though - Sorrow knows who I am, but I'm not- I can't. I can't tell Fear. And I'm too scared to go see Papa.}

[themothersoldier-deactivated201]

[…and with that, two and two makes four. The ugliest four you ever saw and you were right, you wish you hadn’t seen it now that you have, but it’s still four and the longer you look at it the more and more obvious it is that it is four, and four alone, and never can be anything else. Now that she realizes what’s so familiar, it’s like watching Dmitri if he were a redheaded girl. Girl, she says - but they’re actually about the same age, aren’t they? Which means, Irina, that you’ll be born in about…six years? Give or take…oh, fuck me. We all know there’s no such thing as coincidence.]

{I…understand that. I don’t really like it either.} [Understatement of the century, accompanied by a vaguely miserable gesture. She can’t find a proper response to that second statement at the moment, though, and has to make do with a slight nod. God damn it. Even that accent is so similar. It’s not - absolutely not possible. Except that it is.]

[redhead-psychic-blog]

[Ah. Her smile quakes, and she is sorry, she is so, so sorry, because she knows what she means, what her existence means for not only the unit but for her father and the man he currently (and always) loves. She means nothing good, and with her age, there's obviously not a big gap between now and her birth, and God, if there was anything she could do she'd do it. But she doesn't want to make paradoxes...]

{You figured it out.} [It's not a question, it's a statement, and she swallows emotion in her voice.] {I'm really sorry. I wish it weren't so easy to notice, but I'm Papa's little girl and it's so obvious. I'm sorry.}

[She really is genuinely sorry, but there's nothing she can do about it. She's still torn between telling her everything and not telling her another word, really, and neither is a good option.]

[themothersoldier-deactivated201]

[It’s in her eyes - something in her eyes. They flash with the same kind of - as - it’s - something - Joy can’t quite get hold of it and it is excruciating. She knows she’s making a bit of a face, and sighs as she turns away to set the box down before turning back with a slightly-sad smile now, eyes still sharp nonetheless.] Mhm…twenty-six years ahead. Just a skip, really - well within our lifetimes. I hate that. It makes it too dangerous to ask questions, even though I really want to know what’s become of the world. [Come on, it’s at the tip of her fingers now. There was something in that I-don’t-really-want-to-let-go-yet look…she slides into Russian as a side effect of deep thought on the subject.]

{But that’s hardly your fault, of course. You can’t help where you come from anymore than I can. I hope your Father’s Day was nice?}

[redhead-psychic-blog]

[She's happy to return to Russian, and she easily slips back into it as well, though the question isn't as nice.]

{It was...it was as nice as expected, I guess.} [She shrugged slightly, biting her lip.] {It's not really my favorite day of the year anymore.}

[She's fiddling with her fingers, twisting her hands reflexively, unsure whether to say or not say - the news wasn't good, and she didn't want to upset Joy, but oh man she needed someone to talk to and she knew Sorrow wasn't the comforting type. It was lonely having this secret around the people in concerned.] 

{It really is, is it? And it's just as hard to keep them, too...}

[themothersoldier-deactivated201]

[Oh, no. Time travelling again? The girl - Irina - certainly looks like she could be. Joy smiles back at her despite her apprehension, taking everything in one thorough look up and down and processing it as quickly as she can. Fireworks for Father’s Day, hm? That was sweet of her. And sweet of Sorrow as well to help out, not to mention Fury from whom they almost certainly came. There’s something that seems intensely familiar about her and she fixes Irina with a deep look into her eyes for another moment while she tries to identify it, but nothing comes straight to the surface and she lets it slide for the moment. Perhaps it will become evident later.]

Irina, hm? I’m the Joy. I’ve been abroad for a bit, but I suppose you’ve heard I’m normally in charge around here…when they actually listen, anyway. Here, I can get those for you. 

[She holds out her hands to take the box, still trying to work out not only what’s so familiar about Irina but also what’s bothering her.] So where are you from, then? Or should I ask ‘when’?

[redhead-psychic-blog]

Yeah, yeah I did, I-- I knew that. [She smiles. She's familiar with the stories, the praise, all the good things that her father had said about her - and so far it all seems true.]

[She hands the box to her a little hesitantly, reluctant to let go of something with her father so ingrained into it - but she had taken several sparklers and rockets for herself to keep, so she does so.]

Where- oh. Russia. I'm from Russia, 1968. [She smiles slightly. She knows what Joy's thinking, and she doesn't want to say, so she'll leave it to figure out for now.]

[redhead-psychic-blog]

[It’s really late, she knows, but she’d stayed up ‘til midnight to launch a few final rockets - it had been a full moon, perfect. But now of course she brings the box back. She’s partly hoping she runs into her dad so she can return them personally (and see him), but at the same time…nah. 

She’s still a little red-faced from crying, and not all together, so she really doesn’t notice the new presence in the base.]

[themothersoldier-deactivated201]

[She’s not going to be able to sleep after that twenty-hour nap, not to mention, well…it’s only barely not Father’s Day anymore and it turns out that pretending it wasn’t happening doesn’t actually keep her from thinking about it. Well, damn. In any case, that’s why she’s actually awake and about to hear a noise in the next room and go see what it is, to find a strange young woman carrying a box and looking as though she’s quite upset. Joy can’t stop her heart from throbbing a little at the sight, though she has no idea what she’s doing here.]

Hey…is there something I can help with?

[redhead-psychic-blog]

[She jumps at the voice, mentally kicking herself for not noticing, and turning to the voice-- oh. Oh. Oh!!!! It's Joy- Boss- Joy. Joy. Her dad's boss. She'd been gone, hadn't she? She must have gotten back. She smiles slightly at her, genuine despite her hell of a day.]

Oh, uh-- I just came to return these. I borrowed them earlier for- for Father's Day. Sorrow said I could.

[She jostles the box carefully, and it's made obvious from the movement what's in it. Oh, wait--]

Oh-- I'm Irina, by the way, I've been, um. Hanging around? For the past few weeks. I'm not from... around here.