January 14th, 2186. It's a day off at the Mercier household. As has been a common occurrence lately, Tara has been spending the day with the language-learning VI that she got for Christmas, practicing her English - not just spoken, but reading and writing - with the pre-installed module. A little while ago, however, she disappeared into Leah's then-empty room while searching for Zoe, and now her quiet but alarmed voice sounds from within,
#Leah'sHouse – March 18, 2025
Leah has spent most of the day doing chores around the house but with everything finished, she's seated on the edge of the couch, preparing to head out to the recently-cleaned makeshift gym in the backyard. Before she gets a chance to start putting on her boots, she catches Tara's voice, causing her to furrow her brows. She sets her boots aside for now and begins to make her way towards the source of the sound. As she nears her
room, she tilts her head towards her room to better hear the commotion going on over the muffled sound of the TV coming from the other side of the door to Francois' room. "Tara?" she asks as she comes into view in the doorframe to her room.
Tara 's voice becomes clearer as Leah approaches. "...that, Zoe! You c-" She cuts off with a gasp when she hears Leah, turning around on the spot. She's seated on the floor near the wardrobe, and seems to be holding something behind her back. The look on her face is pure, wide-eyed panic. A fluffy blue tail indicates that Zoe is behind her, attention seeming focused on her hidden hand.
Leah blinks a few times. Her green eyes move from Tara to the blue fluff behind her, then back to Tara, amusement turning to worried curiosity. The look on Tara's face elicits a small sigh from her as she starts to put two-and-two together, and she leans against the doorframe. "Alright. Give me the damage report. What did she eat?" she asks expectantly, bracing herself for the bad news.
Tara swallows. "I-... i-it's not her fault," she blurts out, before her gaze falls and, with a grimace, she presents one of Leah's heels for her inspection. It's mangled pretty badly, absolutely covered in teeth marks. "I am sorry. Please, I-... It is my responsibility," she insists with an apologetic tilt of her head. "She didn't know."
Zoe rounds Tara in pursuit of the shoe-turned-chewtoy for the teething young gzzk, but quickly gives up and offers Leah a chipper "Chau!", four big black eyes staring at her obliviously as her tail swooshes along the floor.
Leah deflates a little, frustration flashing across her face for the briefest of moments. She steps into the room, lowering into a crouch as she reaches out to collect the shoe from Tara. She looks it over with a frown, another heavy sigh escaping her. Zoe has certainly been a handful, but Tara's not wrong. It's not her fault. "Our responsibility." she corrects through a frown, eyeing the mangled shoe for a moment longer before
bringing her gaze to meet Tara's and offering her a small shrug. "She's just... being a gzzk." Another sigh, but she manages to force a small smile into place, helped by the annoying little critter's cheery demeanor, causing her to roll her eyes and shoot Zoe a brief sideeye. "I should've closed my door. Because you-..." her attention shifts to the adorably annoying little creature as she points a finger at it, gently
prodding it on the nose which quickly turns into a few pets atop its head, "...are a menace!" she teases playfully. She scoops Zoe in close to rustle her fur and turns her focus back to Tara, smile slipping slightly. "But I think it miiiiight be time for us to accept that we're not properly prepared to take care of Zoe."
Zoe 's nose twitches after being prodded, pulling back in surprise, but she's quickly mollified with some pets, purring happily in Leah's grasp.
Tara 's shoulders sag with relief when it seems like Leah isn't too upset, and she dares to meet her gaze, but her final words make her eyes widen with renewed concern, gaze darting between her and the gzzk. She waits for her to elaborate, not daring to speak.
Leah settles into a seated position on the floor now that she's been suckered into petting the little monster. Tara's apparent concern makes her realize how her words might be misinterpreted, causing her to give a swift shake of her head, ponytail bouncing behind her. "Oh-... no, no, no, sweetheart! I didn't mean-..." she trails off. "Dad is barely housetrained and we haven't gotten rid of him yet, have we?" she jokes, switching
gears in an attempt at alleviating Tara's worries. That bright smile of hers slips out once more and is accompanied by a snicker. "I just meant it's probably a good idea if we do some more research on gzzks. See what we can do to make sure stuff like this-..." she lifts the mangled heel, careful to keep it out of Zoe's reach, "...doesn't keep happening. Maybe there's some-..." her nose scrunches up in though as she
Zoe makes a brief attempt to reach for the chewed-up heel, but soon settles down again, content in Leah's arms.
Tara 's worry starts to dissipate as she listens to Leah, a quiet breath slipping out. She offers a firm nod of agreement with her suggestions, a small smile crossing her lips, slightly shaky from her earlier fear.
Leah gives a nod in turn. "We'll get started tonight. Butspeaking of training, I was just about to head out back." she says, her attire confirming her statement. A long sleeved shirt and black pants have replaced her earlier attire and thick, wool socks are pulled up over the legs of her pants, nearly reaching her knees. "Do you and Zoe wanna come with? Maybe it'll give her a chance to burn off some of this energy..."
Tara 's smile grows a little firmer, and she nods again. Given that she's in pajama pants, a sweater and cozy snowman slippers she's not quite dressed to head out just yet, however, and she's just opened her mouth to say as much when a pair of knocks sound from the front door, immediately drawing her attention towards the entrance to the room.
Leah's attention is tugged in the general direction of the front door, Zoe pets coming to a stop. Her brows pinch together as she tries to recall whether or not they're expecting any company today. When nothing comes to mind, she begins climbing to her feet, feeling rather ridiculous that a simple knock at the door is enough to put a touch of anxiety in her. But who could blame her? Unexpected visits have rarely been a good thing
in her experience. But she hides those concerns behind a smile for now, well aware that Tara is probably having the same kneejerk thoughts after their last unannounced 'guests'. "Go ahead and get dressed, I'll get the door." she says while placing the destroyed shoe down on her desk for now. Once she disappears into the hallway there's a brief exchange of quiet chatter between her and her father as she passes by his room,
the knocks seemingly having gathered his attention as well. The sound of his bedroom door closing is followed by Leah's footsteps disappearing further down the hall. When she reaches the living room she grabs her jacket that was already slung over the arm of the couch and slips it on before answering the door.
Crux is standing on the porch just outside, wringing the beanie in her hands restlessly as she waits. A swirl of snow has blown past the roof and scattered some flakes over her dark curls. She's wearing the yellow jacket that formerly belonged to Rae, and under it the same set of clothes as before - quite possibly the only ones she has. While waiting, her gaze has wandered to the pristine snow behind her, looking for stains that are no
Leah wasn't quite sure what she was expecting, but still looks a bit surprised to see the young woman. Her gaze pushes out past Crux, obviously making sure she's alone. That there's no signs of another ambush. It's equal parts paranoia and training, but undoubtedly justified after their first encounter. When she's satisfied that there's nobody else out there, she opens the door fully and lets out a breath that crystalizes into a
puff of smoke in the winter air, her hand slipping from the pocket of her jacket. "Hey..." she offers softly.
Crux 's gaze darts briefly down to the hand in Leah's pocket, but doesn't linger on it. She seems unsurprised by the little visual sweep of their surroundings. "Hey. Hi," she replies, immediately seeming a little unsure of how to continue from there. "I, uh, I realized on the way over that I... maybe... should've messaged before... showing up like this," she admits with a slight wince.
Leah props up a heavy smile, dismissing Crux' concerns with a shake of her head. "It's fine. Really." she assures. Her hand rises to her face to tuck rogue bangs caught in the wind behind her ear. Before she can say anything else, something seems to occur to her, causing her eyes to widen. "Is everything alright with RC...?" she asks, the worry of unforseen complications unspoken. Despite everything that's happened, her concern is
Crux nods a few times. "Yeah. Yeah, he's good. He wanted to come, but... I talked him out of it. Still healing." The question has made her expression soften a little, and she presses on. "Wanted to, uh, apologize. To you and... to your family," she explains with a brief glance past Leah into what she can see of the house. "Know you said we don't owe you, but..."
Leah lets out a sigh of relief, smile returning at the mention of him wanting to get back on his feet so soon. The apology is met with a small nod of her head, a small, sincere, "...Thanks." slipping between the younger woman's words. But when Crux continues, Leah is quick to interject, gesturing with a wave of her hand. "Crux, they were coming with or without you. If it wasn't you, it would've been someone else looking to make a
few credits. And if it had been someone else instead of you and RC? Who knows how things would've played out. When he realized he was on the wrong side of things, RC put his life on the line to make things right. And it might be because of that choice that me and my family are safe and healthy and together today." Whether or not it's an exaggeration of how large of a role RC's sacrifice played into how things shook out,
Tara emerges from her room after changing, Zoe in her arms as she steps into the living room, watching the open front door with a cautious curiosity to see who the visitor is.
Crux ' gaze goes past Leah again when she spots Tara deeper into the house. Her attention returns to the woman in front of her, hoping she might be allowed to say her piece.
Leah casts a glance back behind her as the sound of Tara arriving reaches her ears, she passes her a reassuring smile before her green eyes come to rest on Crux once more. She seems to relent once it's clear that Crux has more to say, silently stepping aside and, once she's no longer a physical barrier to the living room, urging her out of the cold with a wave of her hand.