| Frustrations |
| Summary: | They are born from babies. They are born from men. Especially That Man. |
| Date: | 15 Jun 2042 AE |
| Related Logs: | Annual Performance Review: Jugs (Why Quinn is on edge); All Bets Are Off (Sawyer and Trask's latest fallout); Somewhere Over The Rainbow (Sawyer seeks out Evan to cheer him up). |
| Players: |
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| Guest Quarters |
| The area here has been spiffed up for the Delegates. Bunks are kept neat as a pin, the lockers are brand new and have a beautiful shine on the fake wood. A table sits in the center with a vase of fake flowers resting in the middle. The deck has been mostly covered with a round, braided rug of multiple colors. To the back of the area, there is a private shower area. This is just one of five separate areas along Deck 3. |
| Condition Level: 3 - All Clear |
| Post-Holocaust Day: #474 |
It's a vicious cycle. Maggie is cranky for whatever reasons, so the baby reads it off of her mother, feels the tension in Maggie's arms and walk, and she gets cranky. Which makes Maggie crankier, which feeds into screaming.. Which is what has been going on for the last 45 minutes. The redhead finally put in a desperate call to any of the people on the ship that she trusts to hold her baby — who isn't the useless, frustrating Trask — and now she's waiting. Pacing, trying not to cry, waiting.
Evandreus hasn't been around an awful lot, for reasons which most people are well-acquinted with. But look, the months turn, and by the Ides of June Bunny's peeking out of his rabbithole again, shuffling into the guest quarters barefooted and in a pair of pale pink mesh pants that must be some manner of pajamas, the letters of some fraternity (or sorority?) printed across the butt, hopping to at mumsie's beck and whatsit, moving in close to tsk quietly at the little girl and give mumsie a kiss on the cheek. "Are you being a fussybritches for mommy, Shortie?" he asks the baby, nearly cooing even as he scolds. "C'mere, you can annoy me for a while, how about that?"
Cue the steadfast reporter (who despite her 'hiccup' with none other than the same frustrating Trask) made the commitment to Quinn about the care of Kalli and so has never waivered when she's been sent for by the infant's mother. She pushes through the hatch, still dressed from her day in the News Room, which is to say there is a silk blouse, wool trousers and heels involved. "Sorry Mags," She calls as she traipses through the hatch, habitually looking around to make sure Kal isn't lurking. She's been doing well to avoid him the past week, should their babysitting times overlap. "I realized when I went to pull my lighter out my pocket at lunch, that I walked off with her binkie."
Quinn looks over to the first entrant almost desperately thankful, blinking against that touch of frustrated moisture in her own eyes as she hands the fussy, squirming, screaming little pink bundle over towards Evan. Of course, she's not quite so little as she used to be, putting on weight and length quite well according to all the proper charts. Maggie breathes in deep. "Yes… she's just… having a fit today, it seems…"S he speaks to Bunny, and then Sawyer comes in with the pacifier, one of very, very few Maggie has, and her eyes widen, "Oh, thank the gods…I thought we'd lost it. WE'd be down to one then and… that'd be bad news. I'm just glad you have it. She…" Maggie just shakes her head. She has no words.
Evandreus gets the squirming, screaming bundle up against his bare chest, trying to soothe her with skin contact, even if it's rather fluffy skin contact, and his legs, as if with a mond of their own, begin to do the bounce-and-sway. It only elicits further screams from Short Kal, though, despite its general efficiency. "She's just sad," he coos down to his little sister, lips rounded to make the words sound uber-cute. "Life sucks, doesn't it, Shortie?" he asks of her. "Yes, it does. Oh, yes it does. Everything just blows." Words like that shouldn't be voiced in baby-speak. The discord between tone and content threatens to tear apart the universe. "Hey, Soybean. Gimme a couple of minutes with her and we'll see if she'll cry it out." And then it'll be time for drastic measures like the binkie, presumably.
"…is just being a baby." Sawyer finishes Quinn's sentence, but is kind enough to leave off the 'demon' part. "And you're just being a tired mommy in need of a belt of whiskey and a good long nap. Look, Evan's got her now. Sit down, put your feet up, cry your eyes out. Whatever you need to do." The binkie is dangled from one finger at Bunny while she tries to sweep Quinn towards the table with the other arm. She stops partway though looking down at Bunny's bottom half, with a quick 'are those my pants?' look.
Quinn gives a quiet, almost whimpering little sigh as she rubs away the moisture from beneath her eyes and does step over to her bunk, collapsing down into sitting there, legs tired and a bit shakey. She nods to both of them. "Yes… yes. What you all said. And.. Sorry I called. Just… Frak…it's been a bad bit here… and I don't even want to let Bootstrap back in this room for a while, so… jus' us three for a bit." A touch more anger and frustration lines her voice there. Ahh, Bootstrap must be the core of all this miserable tension.
Evandreus hooks the binkie on a pinkie and begins to patrol the perimeter of the room, walking with a subtle bounce and hitch to his step to simulate a bumpy ride for the screaming Short Kal. The pants are almost definitely not his, originally, as, though the legs are a loose enough fit, the waistline is lower than one would expect on a guy's jammies. On the plus side, this means that all and sundry can see that, to whomever the pajamas belong, Evan is not going commando in them, the tops of underpants clearly visible above the waistline. He lets Soybean go and help mom while he's walking in circles, only glancing up from over there as he thought he heard something about Boots being in the doghouse over the screaming.
With the baby in such capable hands, Sawyer sits down on the bunk next to Quinn and reaches over to pat the Captain's shin, then pats her own lap in a silent bid for Quinn's feet to occupy it. "That's sweet, Maggie, really. But Kal and I will have to cross paths eventually. You don't need to banish him on my behalf. Either he'll put on his big boy pants and try to work it out with me, or not. It's going to suck, but I did just fine before Kal Trask waltzed into my life, I'll be just fine now that he's chosen to waltz back out." Because this is all about Sawyer, isn't it? Or at least so she presently thinks.
Quinn looks up towards Evan, "Thank you… bunny, really… I just… couldn't any more…" She confesses tiredly. She then looks back to Sawyer and sighs, slipping her feet up into the woman's lap since the offer has been made. "Oh, it's not just for you, Sawyer…. seriously. He's pissed me off too right now. So… it's for my sanity, for now. He…" She shakes her head, swearing beneath her breath. "That man." Like tall Kal, like short Kal, it seems… cranky bitches, both of them.
Evandreus gives Quinn a finagled thumbs-up and a crooked smile as he waddles in circles with baby in arms, trying to quiet her with a soothing hand on her back, but, no, she doesn't like that, either, tonight. None of the Bunny's normal tricks are working. But he keeps at it, unable to efficiently eavesdrop with such a loud baby writhing in his arms.
Sawyer works on undoing Quinn's shoes and slipping them off her feet. "That man." Sawyer echoes, having nothing to expound on in relation to that particular sentiment. No doubt she could, but she doesn't. Not yet having the repoire with Quinn that she would go so far as to deliver a foot massage, instead Sawyer is gently placing Quinn's bare tootsies into the folds of her blanket. "But he loves Kalli, and just the three of us on baby rotation won't be good for anyone's nerves. If anything, you should be exposing him to /more/ dirty diapers and /more/ projectile vomitting, not less."
Quinn gives a slight groan…"If I don't strangle him first… fuck… you'd think -my- getting married revolved around his entire world." She shakes her head, just sort of spurting out that frustration then breathing through it, looking back up towards Evan for a moment. "If you want to bring her over. Bunny… she's just not going to stop. She's… just in a mood… I don't know if the binkie will help or not…" And then Maggie looks up at Sawyer, her brows furrowing. "Why are you pissed?"
"Well, let's give it a go," Evan murmurs, wriggling his shoulders as he comes closer to the pair, lowering himself to his knees at the side of the bunk and then getting Short Kal in one arm while he tries to encourage her to grab onto the paccie in his other hand, wiggling it up and down in her wailing mouth to try to get her attention. Then, pausing in his efforts, he squints down at his little sister, "Hey, mom?" he asks gently. "Do you think there's a tooth about to come in?" That'd explain the fussy. It's about time for them to start popping up, too.
"Pissed? No, I'm just…done. He seems to believe that me loving him somehow makes me less of a person. He also said things along the lines of not being worth his affections, so…Uncle Kal can just bend over and shove it up his ass." Speaking of things that should never be said in babyspeak, Sawyer delivers the last of her explanation while reaching out to wiggle Kalli's foot. "When I was a teething baby, my mother used to soak a washcloth in bourbon and just let me gnaw on the thing to my heart's delight. I used to question her motherly wisdom, but now I only wish I had a new tooth coming in as an excuse."
Quinn looks over to Evan, her eyes widening just a bit as he mentions the possible teething. She just quitely groans. "…That is… probably… exactly what's going on. Gods, I didn't even think. This is gonna be a fun few months…" She admits with another soft groan, eyes apologetically gracing upon both of them. At least the pacifier seems to have slightly calmed the now hiccuping baby. "Heh… anyone got some bourbon? Or even ambrosia, to donate to the cause? Just a bit won't hurt…" And then she hears the rest of the woman's words and she sighs…"Kal… has… a lot to get over. Too much. He'll either wisen up or… well, you do need to step back, Sawyer. Let him wake up and fight for you."
Evandreus presses the paccie to the top of Short Kal's mouth in that way that drives babies crazy to latch on, but, in this case, he's also doing so to try to get a peek at them gums. "Her gums do look a little red," he diagnoses gently, then, looking up to Sawyer, his own brows cloud even as Short Kal seems for the moment to be quieting down. "I thought you said it was just a hiccup," he points out.
"Because it wasn't about me that night." Sawyer tells Evan with as much of a smile as she can muster. "Besides, the Yellow Brick Road leads to Emerald City. Not Sawbone's broken love life." She reaches over and pats Quinn on the leg. "Kal fight for me? You mean the way Clive fought for you? That'll be the day. Old dogs don't learn new tricks, Maggie." Sawyer slips to her feet, reaching out to tug on Evan's earlobe affectionately. "You two have this under control, but if you need me back, I'm just down the hall. I've got something to get to press."
Quinn looks momentarily to Bunny as he inspects his sister's mouth. She winces. Definitely a few fun months ahead. And then it's back towards Sawyer, though the commentary about Clive is more than enough to send Maggie dead quiet a few heartbeats. She has no clue what to say to that. It drops lead in her stomach. She finally just breathes out and nods. "Thanks for… for coming, hun. We will talk again… soon, hopefully. You go take care of yourself." Then it's Maggie and Bunny alone wit the cranky, miserable little girl.
Evandreus looks to Soybean, all sad-eyed and registering just a little guilt at having had the woman doting on him while her own heart was hurting. He blows her a warm-hearted kiss by way of a gesture of affection and pledge to do the same for her in some significant way in future. When he looks back to his mom, he takes a deep breath. "We should see about getting one of her paccies a home in cold storage," he suggests, trying to be helpful.
"You can have some of my extra drink vouchers. I have it on good authority if you pair those with something a little sweeter, the bartender at Pete's will give you something from a real bottle instead of the still. Just tell him I sent you." Sawyer offers back belatedly about the request for alcohol. It seems the blonde no longer keeps her own personal mini bar in her desk for the cause. "Call me!" She lobs back in a sing song voice as her heels click merrily towards the hatch in a grand show of 'I'm OKAY'. But who believes that story.
Quinn gives a lsightly skeptical look to Sawyer's back, but she doesn't protest the woman's going. She lets her leave then gazes back up towards Evan, a faint smile crossing her lips. "…thank you for coming, really… The pacifier seems to have helped, at least… Maybe we can trade off tonight, both get about four hours sleep, if you're up for it?" SHe asks with an almost wince. She knows this isn't pleasant.
Evandreus turns his bashful smile onto his mom, then looks back down to Short Kal. "I'm just sorry I haven't been around a lot, recently. I know Soybean's been taking good care of the little girl, but… she's my little sister. I don't get to bail on her and you just because I have to go be sad. I'll stay with her tonight. We can be sad together."