#following the mother and her inevitable daughers

[killer-orca-cosplay]

Star Commander Sealth, I wonder if you and Tolkitai are aware of the history of my 'Mech - and history it contains. I imagine it may of particular interest to Tolkitai.

https://www.tumblr.com/is-the-battlemech-cool-or-not/747420840960933888/hgn-732bm-old-birds-nest

(OOC: I know you're familiar, but in-universe, Melissa would be curious about their reactions)

(A long silence from the orca, which is currently floating in a tactical interface tank, essentially a large mobile fish tank for an apex predator. Sealth looks for a moment at the cetacean, who suddenly begins to move, the indicator lights on his cybornetics flashing.) "He says...it is good to see the bones of the Colonel reaping once again. Here spirit will not be sated unless this new Highlander draws as much blood as hers did. There's a very good chance some of his flesh may be in there as well, depending on where her Highlander collapsed and was later recovered. He hopes you use it to bring further honor to his matri-line." (More flashing from the orca) "He notes that it is a mild shame there is not a piece of General Dechevalie's Atlas as well, so that it would be a walking monument to the final fall of the Usurper. With you representing Elizabeth Hazen, of course. You will have to forgive him for the social faux pas, no one informed him of the fate of the Grandfather's right hand until recently. He has been on ice practically since the Star League fell."

(Sealth looks up) "Personally, as a pilot of a very slow and not particularly agile artillery Mech, the presence of additional anti-missile systems and the sheer force it can bring to bear is a comforting thought. If I am to march with a Star, I like knowing there is an umbrella of missile protection above me, and that our missiles will strike even more true than before."

[marxsgrandson]

Memories at the park with Sham and Nabil

A couple of years ago, when Sham and Nabil were really little, I took them to a park by their house. And I’ll never forget the excitement on their faces as they blew their first bubbles (I taught them myself 😉).

Out of nowhere I see a mom and daughter who was right in between Sham and Nabil’s ages enter the park. Sham and Nabil didn’t know much English at this point, and I wondered how the interaction would go.

In the two miliseconds that followed, the following thoughts went through my mind:

Will this be a playmate situation?

Do I introduce us or wait for them to?

*scopes out the situation, sees that my two (s+n) were entranced with the bubble mix I gave them, paying no attention to the little girl who had arrived).*

*Sees that the little girl and her mom are on the swing set which is far enough away that if an interaction were going to occur, I’d have a few seconds to think about how to handle it*

I hope I’m not being rude by not introducing myself and the kids to these two people who just entered the park. I don’t know if that’s how people do things at playgrounds.

If she introduces herself and asks my two some questions and they don’t know how to respond because they didn’t know much English yet, how would I keep the kids from getting panicked or dejected like I did at their age when I didn’t understand what someone was saying to me.

How far do I wait for the kids to run off so I could explain to her the situation lest she try to interact with them more?

How can I even possibly explain that these kids don’t speak English because they’re Syrian refugees without violating a fundamental part of theirs and their family’s privacy? How do I proceed with the interaction now?

Meanwhile my brain detects movement within my periphery; Sham and Nabil had wandered to a hill where Sham picked flowers and Nabil found a six foot long stick with sharp, jagged branches and splinters and successfully lifted it several inches off the ground, which in my opinion is way too close to that boy’s eyes, so I run over to get it.

Meanwhile, the mother pushes her daugher wearing a pink princess dress, a chipped and falling off plastic princess crown and two mismatched power rangers light up tennis shoes, on the swing. An iconic combination of clothes, you go girl, never change. Anyways out of nowhere I hear this child yelling the word “vagina” very clearly and very loudly, over and over. I figure that if the mom isn’t reacting to this in any way, she probably won’t interact with us.

A few minutes later, one of my kids tugs on my arm because they’re thirsty. We search the park for water fountains and for some reason they’re all out of order. Oh no, now I must do the inevitable to save my children from dying of thirst: interact with the mom and hoping that nothing specific has to come up and ask her for water.

Turns out, she was more than willing to run to her car with me and my little ones and let us drink from the jug of water in her car. Sham takes a sip of water before tilting Nabil’s head back so he can drink from the water. The interaction goes well. She doesn’t comment on the English, but she does ask if they’re mine 😂. I tell her that I’m just the babysitter, we chat. She asks me where their names are from, I say they’re from the Arabic language. I can tell she is curious about a lot of things, so I tell her that the kids moved here from Syria a year ago. Our eyes met. I knew she had more questions, but we just stared at each other.

Right as I work up the courage to break the silence with my own breath so I can come up with some excuse to get nearer to Nabil who has become re-invested in that large, pokey stick, I hear the mother: “so they’re—”

“Miracles,” I say, interrupting her, hoping this word alone tells her everything I don’t want to say.