Chương 1089: Day One Thousand And Eighty-Seven

Dear Diary, Sometimes I think I get wrapped up inside my own head so badly I completely miss what's going on around me. Well, really, I think I miss minor things that turn out to be less minor than previously assumed, or things that everybody else sees that don't really change my own position on something, but make me feel a little sheepish when I eventually catch on. So yesterday I spent most of the afternoon translating from English to Celtic.

Which wasn't really as bad as it might have been, since now that I've gone public about being Mimic, I can drop my Blend far enough to see the Celtic I'm writing while I'm writing it. Of course, I'm still nowhere as fluent in written Celtic as I am in English. Interesting thing; when I dropped my Blend and got fuzzy, I heard the tiniest intake of breath from where Aisling rested against my side.

"Fuzz...

'Nomi." I smiled down at her, gave her a quick squeeze to let her know I hadn't taken anything about her comment badly.

"Yep, just like Isnomi."

"... soft." She buried her face in my side, and I went back to translating. Got maybe a third of the way through it before it was time for everybody to wrap up for the night. I could have maybe used some kind of Woo to do the translation, but honestly I thought doing the work the hard way, with me hopping over to the library or asking Doc Roberts for the right Celtic word for something, wound up giving me a much solider grasp of the material.

Okay, I always used to understand shit better back in the day when I got an explanation in English and Spanish, and I figured I'd at least try that here. I put my books and writing away, squirrelling it away in my office when Doc Roberts told me he'd wait until I had both copies done before looking at either one. That done, I hopped the two of us home to dinner.

I respected Aisling's preference for yams and chicken, but I worried a little about her getting all her vitamins and shit, so tonight's dinner had a whole variety of roasted veg. Mostly root vegetables, like yams, carrots, beets, what I think was some variety of turnip, onions, garlic, and leeks. She did not like the onions or garlic, but tolerated the leeks okay. She seemed to genuinely enjoy the carrots, but she liked the beets so much her lips wound up as red as Aoibh's.

I think she's into sweets, maybe, although maybe not as much as Saffron. Then again, maybe she's just still shy. She ate until she fell asleep again, and mostly snoozed through me scrubbing her clean and soaking her in the bath. She curled up next to me in bed, where I Dreamt of my ladies putting on another show for me. Lots of 'notice us, sempai' details going on, which I totally appreciate.

When for whatever reason I can't join in, it's nice to know they're both enjoying themselves, not to mention each other, but also remembering that I'd like to be there, and hoping I return soon. Wow. I think I just admitted that someone wants my presence, even though it's not absolutely needed for something. Then again, maybe Aisling's doing some good for my whole 'being wanted' thing. At any rate, in the morning she joined the rest of the kids cycling through the toilet.

She even let Marie fit her with a new little dress. A fitted one. Not like the one she'd had at the Temple was super shapeless or anything, but I guess there's a difference between 'the right size' and 'bespoke tailoring'. Of course she did all of that more or less within reach of me; whenever I got even a little further, she started drifting over to me. After the first time that happened while Marie was sizing her, the look Murder Mittens shot me got me to stop getting further away.

Right as lunch time rolled around, Karen stuck her head into my classroom.

"Goddess?"

"S'up, Karen?"

"Doctor Glass would like to talk to you." I nodded, but stopped myself. Have you told him what's going on? I've given him a brief synopsis, but I think he has concerns over her reaction. I Co-Located into the hallway out of line of sight, then thought, lead on. The Docs, both G and Z, were in a cozy little room with a pair of chairs, a game table in between them, a love seat, and a kind of half bed thing.

I'd heard them called futons back in the day, but they were nothing like the futons I'd seen in anime, so I really don't know what they're supposed to be called. Kinda funny, I half expected the Docs to be snuggled up on the love seat, but they'd each taken a chair opposite the game table with the little eight by eight grid on it. Of course, they'd moved the chairs just a little so they could hold hands. You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

I stifled my smile at that, at how Doc Z looked utterly at peace with me noticing, and especially how Doc G looked almost rebellious about it, but didn't say anything.

"What's up, Docs?" Both of them stood, and if it was a little weird shaking Doc Z's left hand, because his right remained firmly clutched to his husband's, I thought it was too cute to say anything about.

"We came as soon as we heard," Doc G said.

"Did you want me to bring her here?" They looked at one another in one of those moments of wordless spousal communication, then nodded.

"Not quite yet, and..." Doc Z finished the thought with, "we're concerned about her outbursts when her parents or New Year's is mentioned. We don't want to endanger another child, but being alone in a room with four strange adults might be a different kind of traumatizing." My eyebrow rose at their mention of endangering other children, but I figured some of the kids were pretty small.

After a moment's thought, I said, "Karen, I'm good here; that'll leave three of us, and I'll bring Isnomi and Hailee along to even the numbers."

"Hailee?" Doc G asked.

"My daughter." My face warmed as I said, "mine and Marie's." They both looked like their flabbers had been gasted more than usual when they grokked what I meant. Then again, maybe they were just thinking about the potential for having kids of their own or something. Not like Cherry was a secret or anything.

"Are you certain?" Doc G asked.

"We don't want to traumatize either of them." I shook my head.

"Hailee has dealt with more trauma than I'd like, but she's not exactly innocent. Isnomi..." Doc Z chuckled, "I strongly suspect any trauma around her is typically done by her, not the other way around."

"Hey! Menace is a good kid!" His chuckle got a little sillier.

"And yet you call her 'Menace'." I shrugged.

"I mean, she is." He shook his head and held up a hand.

"I meant no harm or accusation. Simply that she is a strong willed and formidable young lady."

"So... Hailee and Isnomi to escort Aisling and be the kids in the room?" The Docs looked at one another, then nodded. I said, "I'll be right back," and collapsed into myself, waving Isnomi and Hailee over.

"Mother?"

"Nothing bad, Hailee. I need you and Isnomi to come with Aisling and I. Doctors Zeccardi and Glass want to talk to her."

"Doc Zeccardi!" Yeah, no lisp for him. She practically dragged us down the hall, fuzzy and sniffing, until we got to that room. A few moments later I sat on one end of the love seat with Aisling next to me, Isnomi on the far side of her. Hailee perched on the edge of the futon thing. Doc Z had greeted Isnomi with a hug, but directed her over to where she sat. Good kid that she is, despite being a menace, she caught on right away.

The Docs slid their chairs around, with Doc Z raising an eyebrow and miming an Assess while Doc Glass bent down to speak to Aisling face to face. I nodded, at which point Doc Z waved his hands through an Assess while Doc Glass spoke.

"Good Afternoon, Aisling. My name is Doctor Glass." He held out one hand.

"Go on, it's okay. He's safe." Aisling looked up at me, then back to Doc G. She reached out and squeezed two of her fingers in his hand, then snatched her hand back the moment his thumb touched her fingers.

"... lo." Doc Z nudged Doc Glass, who sighed, then said, "I'd like to ask you a few questions. Is that all right?" Aisling looked to me. I nodded, trying to look confident and supportive, and she turned and nodded to Doc G.

"Do you remember what happened to you?" She shrugged.

"Do you remember what happened to the people with you?" I felt her tense.

"Doc?" He sighed and looked at me.

"Highest Priestess Smith has informed us of what happens. I'm not... I would rather not do this, but it is her considered opinion is that little Aisling may be a danger to herself and others." He looked both regretful and annoyed as fuck that at what he said next.

"Unfortunately her description left a lot to speculate upon, so..." I hugged her to me.

"Yeah. Yeah, I get it. I don't like it. But I get it." I turned to look down at her.

"Just remember, you're safe. I've got you. Okay?"

"... kay." Doc Z was clearly actively Assessing Aisling, watching to see what happened. Doc G started again.

"Aisling?" She nodded.

"Can you tell me what happened to your parents?" I felt something through the hand that clutched at me, a kind of unsettling vibration.

"Can you tell me what happened on New Year's? What..." He trailed off, eyes crossing, as that vibration reached audible levels. Okay, I'm pretty sure it was audible. I could hear it. Feel it, anyhow. I looked down at her; she had her eyes scrunched closed, her mouth open the tiniest bit as her head shook back and forth. Isnomi'd gone fuzzy the moment the keening started. She held Aisling's other hand, repeating, "ith otay, Athlin. Ith otay." Kid managed to keep her voice calm even as the volume ramped up.

Of course, at that point I had to catch both Docs with tentacles as they half toppled. Not unconscious, but clearly not fully aware of their surroundings, and definitely not able to remain upright. The volume kept going up until Hailee, hair poofed out, lay a gentle hand atop Aisling's head. The moment she did, the sound cut off, the little one going out like a light.

"Well. Yeah. Danger to herself and others. I guess Karen wasn't kidding."