Magdalene Grace Garcia (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
talesuntold) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
entranceway2018-04-17 04:07 pm
talesuntold) wrote in entranceway2018-04-17 04:07 pm
04 | Video
Good afternoon, my darlings.
That last event was a rough one for a lot of people, and I know some of us are also bracing for what comes next. I'll be in the kitchen for the next four hours, and I'll take requests the whole time I'm there. I think we could all use a little comfort food, or some distraction.
Requests don't necessarily have to be culinary in nature. I'd be delighted to improvise a poem or tell you a story. An off-the-cuff Scheherazade, with bonus cookies.
Come keep me company for awhile.
[Of course, certain people don't have a choice in the matter. She has conchas baking for Seth, cookies for Wirt, all her teammates' favorites, and so on. Friends and acquaintances who fail to show up may well find Maggie at their doors afterward with a plate in hand.
Even a few people who might not expect it, if she's ever had reason to worry about them.
Maggie is going to start climbing the walls if she doesn't find meaningful ways to fill up her days here. This takes care of one day.]
That last event was a rough one for a lot of people, and I know some of us are also bracing for what comes next. I'll be in the kitchen for the next four hours, and I'll take requests the whole time I'm there. I think we could all use a little comfort food, or some distraction.
Requests don't necessarily have to be culinary in nature. I'd be delighted to improvise a poem or tell you a story. An off-the-cuff Scheherazade, with bonus cookies.
Come keep me company for awhile.
[Of course, certain people don't have a choice in the matter. She has conchas baking for Seth, cookies for Wirt, all her teammates' favorites, and so on. Friends and acquaintances who fail to show up may well find Maggie at their doors afterward with a plate in hand.
Even a few people who might not expect it, if she's ever had reason to worry about them.
Maggie is going to start climbing the walls if she doesn't find meaningful ways to fill up her days here. This takes care of one day.]
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"Exactly." Chocolate and coffee are much easier requests to grant. But Georgia is worth the challenge.
"Cookies for Wirt," she tells Becks, grinning. "I'm going to lure that boy in as one of our Fictionals. My department in Wonderland is sadly lacking. He's sweet and shy, and I like his work."
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Friends are always worth their weird hurdles, really. Especially to someone like Maggie, so caring, so giving, a people pleaser down to her bones.
"I don't think I've met him," she admits, leaning back on her arms against the counter where she's sitting, making sure she isn't putting a hand in any of Maggie's treats. "but if you like his work, he deserves a spot in your department." She smiles. Maggie was sort of thrust into the position after everything that happened during the Ryman campaign, but if anyone had to fill the space as Head of Fictionals left behind by Buffy, it was her.
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"Wirt's young, but he's good. His biggest flaw is a lack of confidence." Maggie is doing her best to work on that. She'll never go into harsh editor mode on him, because it isn't what he needs.
"I'll do another staff dinner sometime. Or just a dinner party, since not quite every one of my friends here is part of After the End Times. I think Seth would like to meet you. He knows everyone else from back home. Even met Buffy when she was here." Her smile falters very briefly on Buffy's name before she centers herself.
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"A dinner party sounds awesome," she says with a slight nod. There's a little bit of falsification in her words, there, because there's still a little more of her that's not ready for people like usual, but it wouldn't hurt. And probably wouldn't be so huge Becks couldn't handle it. It would be fine.
She can't hide the way her face falters at that admission at the end, though. "Buffy was here?" She isn't entirely sure how to feel about that.
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Maggie has no intention of overwhelming Becks with a massive group of people. She just thinks it might be good for her to meet a few others, either part of their Wonderland team or close enough. And Seth... well, he's pretty much her best friend here. "We'll make it happen at some point, then."
She pauses when Becks asks about Buffy, though. She didn't realize that was left out of Georgia's briefings.
"Yeah, she was. Apparently I just missed seeing her again." Which Maggie has not coped with particularly well. More importantly, though, it reinforces the idea that Becks is on borrowed time here, for which she's sorry. "Are you alright?"
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Becks likes a party as much as the next guy. And the idea is a good one. She does need to meet more people, and a simple gathering like that would be a good way to do it, at least.
To be fair, Becks mostly skimmed the notes. She's only just started going over Georgia's notes in a more properly detail-oriented way, so she probably just missed it, before. Most of their initial couple of conversations had been more about the way Wonderland works.
"Oh, shit, Mags, I'm sorry...that sucks." Not the most eloquent thing she could have possibly said, but apt all the same. "Me?" She echoes, almost incredulous, "Maggie, what about you?" Even if she'd had time to process it, adjust to it, that was still awful.
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"Pretty terrible, actually," she admits softly, finally dropping the front she's been keeping up. "It's April 17th by the calendar we use here, not that dates mean much in Wonderland. She died two years ago. By my accounting of time, which seems more relevant than hers considering she isn't counting anymore. The anniversary of Dave's death was this week too."
Which explains why she doesn't intend to sit still or be alone at all today.
"But I've had time to get used to it, and I'm not the one who's in the same position she was."
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Everything makes a little more sense now with the added layer of perspective. The post. The insistence on being in the kitchen. And not alone. Anniversaries like this are the worst.
"Oh..." it's the only thing that she can even manage at first. Her heart sinks as Maggie continues. "God, April sucks." she mumbles, staring down at the floor under her feet still hanging over the edge of the counter.
"Time only does so much." She may have only been here for a short while yet, but she's lost in the past. She knows that from prior experiences. "And being used to it doesn't mean being okay."
The last comment hits Becks in all the wrong places. And not the too-close, too-personal ones. She knows it's just what happens with a group's Mom Friend, and Maggie is exactly that, if ever there was one, but it isn't fair. Becks shakes her head. "Maggie, you take care of everybody... who's taking care of you?"
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"It's definitely not my favorite month," Maggie agrees. She hates feeling fragile and twice as lonely as usual.
Becks gets it, though. "No, it doesn't mean being okay. But it means I know how to get through the day." This day's just harder than most of them.
Maggie manages a small, affectionate smile, because it's incredibly endearing that Becks made that leap. Yet another reason to be grateful she's here. "You could. I could really use a hug right now."
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Maggie's breath hitches and she leans into the hug, clinging to Becks like a lifeline for a second before she loosens her grip enough that her friend can decide how long to stay. Maggie probably won't let go on her own just yet.
"Thanks, Becks. I really didn't want to be by myself today. You are helping a lot."
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Becks clings to her tightly for a few more moments before finally letting go. Maybe she needs this just as much as Maggie.
"Hey, I'm glad to help." She smiles up at her. "Any time. You always know where to find me."