8216/In Christa's office

In Christa's office
Date of Scene:	12 October 2021
Location:	Mairin Moran's office.
Synopsis:	Mairin and Demona had a heart-to-heart and encouraged each other
Cast of Characters:	Mairin Moran, Susan Sullivan

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Mairin Moran has posed:
    Mairin is sitting in her office, head cradled in one hand as she stares at her desk and the paper in front of her. Occasionally she points to somthing, as if keeping her place, but more ofted she just stares.

Susan Sullivan has posed:
    Given the propensity of the Jiangshi to float rather than walk, even when she is walking, she doesn't necessarily make the same amount of sound as others do. Approaching Mairin's office, Demona waits outside the door. She's been invited in with a standing invitation, but she waits outside for a moment and looks at her. "Can I come in?" she asks, just loudly enough to be heard.

Mairin Moran has posed:
    She looks up and gives a weary but genuine smile. "Of course." She gestures to the seat opposite her, and leans back a little in her chair. "Feel free to close the door..." She doesn't say anything else, but she is obviously pre-occupied.

Susan Sullivan has posed:
    Demona closes the door and shrugs off her backpack. Demona floats gently to the chair near Mairin, and her backpack floats gently down beside her. "Are you working on something?" Demona asks.

Mairin Moran has posed:
    Mairin shrugs, "Just some grading." But the sheet in front of her doesn't have anything marked on it, and Demona has seen her grading. There are *always* marks. Even if just to compliment good work.

    She gives a deep sigh and rubs her eyes before leanng forward again. "Demona... I want to say I'm sorry."

Susan Sullivan has posed:
    Demona has a concerned look on her face, but that turns to confusion as Mairin apologizes. "What?" she says. "Why?"

Mairin Moran has posed:
    "I just.. I don't feel like I've been the best friend to you. I... I'm not very good at it. I know. Nancy always told me I could find a mistake in a page of calculations, but miss the most obvious gesture." She frowns, as if wondering where that came from... "But, specificly, I haven't been thinking of how the situations I get you into will effect you. I've just been thinking of me. I brought you to Gotham because *I* wanted company. And I brought you to Nettie because *I* wanted my friends to be friends." She shakes her head, "But I neither time did I think about you and how it might effect you. And I know that isn't being a good friend. So, I'm sorry."

Susan Sullivan has posed:
    Demona looks on Mairin with sympathy and compassion in her eyes. She stands calmly, her muscles making the effort. She reaches out her hands toward Mairin in a silent gesture of invitation. "Come here," she says, gently.

Mairin Moran has posed:
    Mairin's brow furrows in curiosity, but she stands and walks around to take Demona's hand.

Susan Sullivan has posed:
    Demona pulls Mairin into a hug, wrapping her arms around her. "Just because things turned out badly doesn't mean your intent was bad," she says, quietly. "I'm a monster. Bad things happen to me, no matter what."

Mairin Moran has posed:
    Mairin's hug is tight, almost desperatly so, but she pulls back at Demona calling herself a monster. Her eys, moist with tears, stare into Demona's with fierce intensity.

    "No! You are not. I don't care what that jerk, Thomas says, or what Nettie says, or what *anyone* else says. You are *not* a monster. You are a smart, kind, exceptional young woman who just wants to make the world a better place for you having lived in it. And you deserve for people to treat you the same as everyone else."

Susan Sullivan has posed:
    Demona continues to hold the other woman as her stocking cap slips from her head. It floats like a dandilion seed down onto the chair Demona was just sitting in. Demona's eyes betray a bigger effort on her part. There is a click, followed by another. The mask comes off and lifts off of her face, floating over her head before taking the path and following down her hat. "If I wanted to," Demona starts, "I could suck your qi out with your breath and you would call me Master...or Mistress, I'm not sure if you'd auto-fill an assumed gender. I said Master when it happened to me. I knew how to meditate and center myself so I didn't get lost in this. I had to fight to take myself back from that master. I had to play qi tug of war with him until sunrise. I only just barely won. I spent years locked up in a sunless place, blind to the world while starving of qi. I have my head above water, but one undertow, and I'm a monster again."

Mairin Moran has posed:
    "That only proves I'm right," she says softly, her voice still edged with conviction as her face hovers, unflinching, inches from Demona's "A monster wouldn't have fought to keep their head above water. A monster would have just accepted what they were. Like that... beast, Thomas. Like every monster that walks the streets of Gotham taking what they can because they can. The very fact that you fight it, that you struggle against it every second of every day is what makes you *not* a monster. That... *thing* might have changed what you look like. But I know *who* you are. And who you are is the woman who fought her own identiy away from the thing that would have trampled it into the ground."

    She reaches up to lay a palm on Demona's cheek. "I would rather be devoured and proven wrong, then live my life treating you like the monster that thing tried to make you into."

Susan Sullivan has posed:
    Demona's hand goes to Mairin's wrist. She holds it but doesn't pull it away. "I hate what I am," she says. "Every breath you breathe is a temptation. Every puff of an exhalation carries your qi to my nostrils. I'm mostly full, and I still would find room if I let my new nature have its way for even a second." She reaches up to mirror Mairin's gesture, caressing her cheek in her palm, her thumb brushing over Mairin's cheekbone. "Don't be sorry people react strongly to me. You are an exception."

Mairin Moran has posed:
    Mairin leans her head into Demona's hand ever so slightly, her eyes locked on Demona's. "I..." She leans forward ever so slightly, "I don't want you to hate who you are," she whispers. "I don't."

    Somewhere, in the far reaches of Mairin's mind. There's a voice telling her to stop. To pull away. That what she's doing is foolish... stupid even. But it's so far... and so distant... and it's just so easy to ignore.

Susan Sullivan has posed:
    Demona guides Mairin's head forward, moving her own as well to touch foreheads with her. "Not who," she says. "I maintain my Disney Princess morality." She takes in a fresh breath for speaking. "What. It takes effort to maintain myself, Mairin."

Mairin Moran has posed:
    Eyes closed, Mairin's whole body relaxes against Demona's. As if the stress of an entire night, maybe an entire month, of worry and doubt and uncertainty were draining from her. "And you make that effort," she whispers. "You make it every day. You're so strong. I... I can't even..." She sighs, a deep thing drawn up from depths as she hugs Demona tighter. "You're exceptional, Demona. A complex system perfectly balanced. The world needs more people like you."

Susan Sullivan has posed:
    Demona is quiet for a few minutes, pulling Mairin into a tight bear hug, putting her chin over Mairin's shoulder and holding her as she still seems like she's falling apart, even if the stress is less. "I'm glad somebody thinks so," she says, quietly.

Mairin Moran has posed:
    "I do," Mairin answers, and repeats it softly a few times, as if trying to hammer the belief of it into Demona's psyche as she hugs her back. Then she's silent for a moment, aside from a sniffle or two.

    And, after a few more moments, she pulls back again, her hands still on Demona's waist. "I'm sorry I'm such a mess today. Last night..." she sighs. "Well it brought up a lot. I didn't get a lot of sleep."

Susan Sullivan has posed:
    Demona playfully smiles. "I didn't sleep a wink," she teases. "Okay, we've gotten the apology out of the way." She lets go of Mairin and plucks up stuff out of her chair. She scoots it forward and sits down. "Talk to me."

Mairin Moran has posed:
    Mairin laughs, and sits back on the edge of the desk. Why does Demona pulling away disapoint her so much? But she covers it up with a tired laugh and shrugs. "About what?"

Susan Sullivan has posed:
    "Feelings?" Demona says. "You're upset." She pulls the other chair to rest in front of her and pats the cushion while looking up at Mairin. "Come on. You're falling over yourself trying to make sure I'm okay, let me make sure you've got the support you need."

Mairin Moran has posed:
    She drops into the chair and folds her hands in her lap. "I... I don't know." She looks off to the side, for some reason look at Demona right now just confuses her. "I'm just... mad at Nettie, I guess," she finally lets out. "And... disapointed. And..." She pinches the bridge of her nose. "I just wish she would trust me. I wish... I wish I was braver. Like you... Or her... or Ty... But I'm not. I'm just as scared as I was when I was a little girl in Gotham running from street gangs and terrified they would catch us."

Susan Sullivan has posed:
    Demona nods. She puts her hands forward, resting them on Nettie's knees for emotional support. She says nothing, just listening as Mairin opens up some. She finally says, "Try not to be mad." Her chair scoots forward as she lifts up and crosses her legs. Her shins touch Mairin's knees as she takes Mairin's hands in her own. "Most churches don't want something like me, so I made up my own morality based on Disney Princesses. It seemed like a good set of morals. Anyway, most of the time, if you get angry at someone, you're against them. Are you against Nettie?"

Mairin Moran has posed:
    Mairin blushes, as she looks down at Demona's hands holding hers. "What? No. I care about Nettie. She's... She's increadible. I mean, she can be cranky. But she has something else when you get to know her. This.. quiet strength. This determination. And kindness." Mairin's face lights up as she speaks, a smile spreading across. "She's gentle really... and..." Mairin sighs. More than a little wistfully.

Susan Sullivan has posed:
    "Oh!" Demona says, a sly grin crossing her features. "Well, then you're DEFINITELY not against her," she says. "Don't be mad. It's natural to have feelings, but a Disney Princess uses compassion and understanding and her words. Even if she never apologizes to you, forgive her and do your best to reconcile. Yes?" she concludes, waiting for Mairin's response.

Mairin Moran has posed:
    Mairin looks up at the 'Oh!' and her brow furrows. "What? I... Of course I'm going to forgive her..." She looks at Demona with obvious confusion. "I don't know what you mean by 'It's natural to have feelings'."

Susan Sullivan has posed:
    Demona shakes her head. "Sorry, not like that," she says. "I mean it's natural to have anger pop up from time to time. We react. We're--" She pauses and has to correct herself. "You're alive. That's good. Just remember not to let that anger have its way." She looks down at Mairin's hands. "Sorry. I'm glad you like someone, but thinking about you and that woman...she felt unsafe to me, and I don't want you to get hurt. I know she feels the same about me."

Mairin Moran has posed:
    "I.." Mairin isn't sure what to say for a minute as she too looks down at their hands. "I guess in a way she isn't safe. I mean," she speeds up, "Not in that she would hurt me. Just... Well it's like you I suppose. She could, for sure. She could probably do all kinds of things to me. But..." She squeezes Demona's hands. "She's actually gentle. Like you."

    Something else Demona said just sits, hovering in Mairin's mind. 'I'm glad you like someone..' She couldn't deny it. And why would she? Demona was obviously happy for her...

Susan Sullivan has posed:
    Demona continues to hold and stare at Mairin's hands. "I feel like, of anyone I've ever met, she has the biggest chance of being able to raise me from the dead," she says. "And I hate that, because of everyone I've ever met, she's the one I want the least to meet again." She runs her thumbs over Mairin's knuckles as she struggles in her mind. "It will be a long time before you're to that point, and when you are, will you still be my friend?" she asks.

Mairin Moran has posed:
    Mairin reaches up to lift Demona's chin, then folds Demona's hands inside of hers, grasping them tightly. "Demona," she says, her voice gaining that determined intensity once more as she looks her friend in the eyes. "I swear to you that I will do everything I can to reconcile you with Nettie. But if I can't, if she wont or can't help you, or if you can't trust her... I swear I will always be your friend, and I wont *ever* stop trying to find a way to bring you back from the dead. I *swear*."

Susan Sullivan has posed:
    Demona puts on a kind expression like someone looking upon a child with good intentions they didn't know they couldn't follow through with. "I accept that sentiment," she does say. She looks at her hands again with an entirely different expression. "I don't want to ruin the moment, but would you mind if I take my hands back, now? I don't want to discourage you, but I lost hope of finding a way back a while ago. It's only by pushing off of what I am now that I can keep my head above water, to go back to our previous analogy."

Mairin Moran has posed:
    Mairin lets go of Demona's hands with an embaressed sort of smile and folds hers back in her lap. "It isn't sentiment, Demona. It's a promise. I don't know that I'll ever be that powerful. I don't know that I'll ever have that knowledge. But I can promise you two things. I will always be your friend. And I will never stop looking for a way to help you." She gives a small, pained smile. "But I understand. Sometimes hope can be more painful than just pushing forward and making the best of what you have."

Susan Sullivan has posed:
    Demona nods. She takes a few slow breaths with closed eyes, centering herself. "If things go on as they have been," she says, "I will be here in a thousand years, or perhaps flying among the stars in huge ships full of millions of people." She opens her eyes and looks over at Mairin. "Always is a long time," she informs the other, as if it's a new concept. "I'm going to get to see the equator turned into an uninhabitable wasteland, the ice caps melt completely, the technological singularity, and humanity march into space to join the alien civilizations out there. I'm still young, but if I want a forever friend, I should look up some of the immortals protecting Earth, now. I have you for a little while. For a little while, you will have me and try to find something to help me. Right now, forever is staring me in the face. Nettie's little blow up doesn't bother me as much as it would have a few years ago, because I know I will get to wait until she passes away at a ripe old age, and if I still haven't gotten over it, I can dance on her grave just as young as I am right now." She huffs out a breath through her nose and furrows her brow. "Does that make sense?" she asks.

Mairin Moran has posed:
    "It does," she says with a sad nod. "But it doesn't change my promises." She considers for a moment, her eyes drifting off to a corner. "Perhaps... Perhaps its best to focus instead on the now. You don't know what the future will bring. No one does. But you do know what you have now. And what you have now is a friend who cares about you. And... And work that interests you." She shrugs a bit. "I'm not any kind of expert. I'm really bad at advice actually. But I think all any of us can do is live in the now. To do our very best with what is right in front of us. And let tomorrow take care of itself."

Susan Sullivan has posed:
    "Sage advice," Demona says with a smile. "Okay, so, I know it's not been that long, but what's the status of getting me some clearance so I can work on stuff with your projects?"

Mairin Moran has posed:
    Mairin laughs. Whether at the idea of her giving 'sage advice' or at the idea of their being progress on the clearance is hard to tell. "I heard it from a god once," she answers casually. "Now let me see what I can find out." She reaches over to pick up her phone.