video & log;

[totalmilf]

VIDEO; OTA

( When the feed comes up, Darcy is still in the car on the way to the housing for Displaced Supers. It's loud in the background between one of her children shouting excitably about all the things he sees out his window and the other repeatedly asking "Mommy? Mommy? Mama? Hey Mommy?" as her attention goes to the camera instead of him. Darcy's an expert at ignoring her children when she needs to ignore them.

She neither looks panicked nor upset, just a little tired and a little annoyed. Darcy liked her life in Lawrence and she's hardly in the mood to have to create a whole new network of people to keep herself safe. In the meantime, the tattoo on her hip and the boys' amulets will just have to do. )

So, okay, what's all this about superpowers? That's new.

( In the background, the child trying to get her attention quiets briefly before asking "Who's got superpowers?!" Darcy's attention turns briefly to the child. )

Don't worry about it, baby.

( Her attention turns back to the camera. )

That's not real, right? Also, what's the longest anyone has been here, so far?

LOG; CLOSED TO ALLISON HARGREEVES

Once they arrive at the housing, Darcy helps the boys out of the car and takes their hands in hers to lead them through the front gate and up the steps to enter the building. Admittedly, these digs are a lot nicer than the apartments back in Lawrence. That said, she moved out of those goddamned apartments years ago and into her own house, one which might or might not have been best described as a McMansion. This is definitely a downgrade as far as that goes, but certainly an upgrade from what she started in, anyway.

As she moves through the lobby and then down the hall for the first-floor apartments, her boys are chattering animatedly and swiveling their heads to take in everything around them, and Darcy's just trying to keep herself calm. This is beyond obnoxious.

When she reaches apartment 102, Darcy lets go of the boys' hands. "Don't move, Clark," she says, already knowing that Conner won't. She fishes the key to the apartment out of her jeans pocket and is surprised to hear the sound of dogs barking behind the door as she turns the knob. Looking up at the apartment number, Darcy's brow creases. Definitely the apartment they told her...

Before she actually opens the door, Darcy just cracks it slightly and calls out. "Hello...? Anybody home?"

Comments

[rumores]

Allison is finishing putting groceries away in the kitchen when she hears the dogs barking. She knows it's not her brothers, because both Zeus and Apollo are so used to them walking in unannounced that they don't ever bark anymore, so for a moment she frowns slightly as she walks towards the door.

As she does so, though, she sees the way it cracks slightly and the sound of the unfamiliar voice makes her stop. Before Zeus or Apollo can bark again, she motions for them to stay, and opens the door to let the other woman in.

She has a key, so...new roommate, she's assuming, and she smiles. Friendly and polite, looking all too casual in her jeans and black t-shirt that easily shows the umbrella tattoo on her forearm, and the only jewelry she's wearing is the wedding band on her finger. It's not that surprising that someone is moving in - after all, she doubted that she would keep the apartment all to herself - but the sight of the two little boys with the other woman definitely manages to surprise her.

"Hi. I'm Allison." She stands aside to let them in, peeling her eyes away from the boys, trying to ignore the pang of jealousy that kids had managed to come through the portal and it hadn't been Claire. She ignores it, because Allison is a pro at that now, and smiles at the other woman. "Welcome. Just arrived?"

[totalmilf]

The dogs stop barking and, a moment later, as Darcy lets the door shut softly without it latching so that she can take the boys' hands again, it swings open to reveal a pretty woman Darcy can't place; nobody from Lawrence, at least not as far as she can tell. Over the years and in her personal growth, Darcy has learned to be more observant of her surroundings. The way that the woman stares briefly at Darcy's kids and the wedding ring on her finger suggests that maybe she has children of her own and wasn't fortunate enough for them to come through with her. That happened to some people back in Lawrence, too, but Darcy is a helicopter mom. She's seldom without her children unless she's sleeping — hell, even then, sometimes they're with her — so she imagines that plays a hand in the reason they've gone through the Seal with her twice now. Three times, if this counts.

While the other woman has to tear her eyes away from the kids, Darcy has to force her eyes away from the wedding band — something Darcy does not have, anymore. Her first marriage crumbled before it became a legal union and, yes, she's still heinously bitter. Her second ended unofficially when she got dragged back through the Seal a few years ago. When the one year anniversary of her second arrival in Lawrence hit, she'd given up; once people were there for a year, they often stayed a lot longer. She'd finally taken off her wedding band and accepted her singledom. Marriage doesn't seem to work out well for Darcy. Apparently, it works better for Allison.

"Hi Allison, I'm Darcy. And yeah...yeah, sorry," she says, letting go of the boys' hands to usher them in by the smalls of their backs. Conner stays close to his mother, a little fist snagging on the bottom hem of her top to keep her close while Clark wanders further inside and stops short of the two dogs sitting at the far end of the room obediently. "Sorry, I just kind of assumed they'd give me my own place so no one had to deal with my little monsters. This is Conner," she introduces, sighing slightly and relenting, scooping her son up and settling him heavily on her hip. He's getting too big for this... "That's Clark," she adds, gesturing. "Baby, don't bother the doggies, remember the rules."

The little boy whirls in place to face the two women. "Like with Krypto?" he asks, apparently looking for clarification. Darcy nods and he shifts his attention to Allison. "Can I pet your dogs?" he asks.

"You can say no," Darcy offers softly to the woman. "This is a lot, I am so sorry... Should I...like, is there someone I should call and see about finding me a different place? I feel bad..."

[rumores]

“Oh no, please, no need to apologize.” She smiles at the boys, giving them a little wave as Darcy introduces them. They’re adorable, and even with the brief moment that they’ve been here, Clark already reminds her so much of Claire. The lively attitude, the never ending curiosity, the way he’s not shy about walking in and wanting to pet the dogs even if he just met them.

“It’s okay,” Allison assures her with a small chuckle, with a level of patience and understanding that makes it obvious she gets it. Not to the same degree as Darcy, considering she has never had to deal with twins, or even a solo parent to one, but still. She’s a mother. She gets it. “I mean if you’d prefer it, I won’t take it personally and I think you can call the office but please don’t do it on my account.”

She means it, too. Maybe she shouldn’t stop her from leaving, because it makes her very painfully aware of the part of her that’s still mourning the fact that her daughter is lost or gone after everything that happened, but it’s not Darcy’s fault.

“If your mom says it’s okay, yeah you can pet them,” she answers Clark as she crouches near Zeus and Apollo, almost as a way to reassure Darcy she can interfere if the dogs misbehaved - even if she knows damn well that they won’t. “This one is Zeus,” she says as she scratches his ear, and then does the same with his brother. “And this is Apollo. They’re very friendly and well behaved, I promise.”

[totalmilf]

The level of patience that the other woman shows for not only Darcy's being frazzled but for Darcy's son just making himself immediately at home in her space only serves to further Darcy's intimation that the other woman has children of her own. If that's true, having Darcy around could complicate things, since Darcy has her kids and Allison, presumably, does not. "Oh, I don't mind, but they're five and they're boys and rambunctious is putting it really mildly," Darcy hedges with an apologetic smile. "They can be a handful and we're invading your space."

Allison moves to crouch near the dogs which Darcy appreciates. Her boys are pretty good about being careful with dogs. Being as close to Clark and Kon Kent as they are means plenty of exposure to Kon's (flying) dog Krypto, and Kon taught the boys well. All the same, these dogs aren't Krypto and it's nice to see that Allison is aware of the potential for a child to dog introduction to go awry and is preparing, just in case.

When Clark looks back at her, Darcy nods. "If she said it's okay, then it's okay, we just always have to ask the doggies' momma first, that's the rule, right?"

"Right," both of them reply in unison, even though Conner is still staying close to Darcy while Clark approaches the dogs and offers his hand, palm down and fingers curled in to look like a paw, just like Kon showed them, to let the dogs sniff. "I like your dogs," he tells Allison, "they got cool names."

"I don't suppose you have a coffee maker in this place?" Darcy asks hopefully. "Once this," she gestures toward her little boy and Allison's dogs as Clark finally reaches to pet Zeus first and then Apollo with gentle strokes and a bright smile, "is finished, I'd love to make us some and see if I can pick your brain a little bit about this place? I'm kind of old hat to the concept, but I've never been to this place before." Darcy can get information from Cindy, sure, but it'll be nice to get several perspectives.

[rumores]

Allison waves a hand, as if to say that it really isn't a big deal. "Technically it isn't my space, I was assigned here, just like you were. Roommates come with the territory, so really, it's not my space. And, I'm one of seven kids - five of which were boys, so trust me. There's not a whole lot that your boys can do that will shock me."

If Darcy decides to move, Allison wouldn't take it personally; she'd get it. She'd probably want her own place with Claire if--

Nope. Not going there.

Allison smiles as Clark introduces himself to the boys. "Thank you, I think they like you, too. You ask them to 'shake,' they'll introduce themselves to you and offer their paw. They're pretty polite."

She sounds like a proud mama, because she is. She may not have adopted Apollo and Zeus from the beginning, she has Diego to thank for that, but they mean a hell of a lot to her. Especially after coming back, they've been a great source of comfort and companionship, so to say that she's the type to brag about them is a complete understatement.

With a smile, she nods at Darcy as she stands. "Matter of fact, I do. And yeah, that works. Why don't you guys settle in first, though? I can get that coffee going." Since Allison hasn't had roommates for a few weeks now, especially after her trip back home, she had moved to the primary room. Considering the dogs and their beds - plus the private bathroom - it felt like an easy move.

"Just join me in the kitchen when you're ready. The dogs won't follow you guys into the room unless you invite them in," she assures her, just in case, "they really are pretty polite."

[totalmilf]

Darcy looks less surprised by the flexibility the other woman is showing than she is to hear that Allison is one of seven children. Jesus, that's a lot of kids. Two is more than enough if you ask Darcy. "Oh wow, yeah that's a lot of siblings. I think I'd have gone crazy with that many. I have one little brother and that's more than enough for me. It's hard enough keeping the spotlight when a new baby comes in, forget it if there's more...where in the hierarchy are you?" she asks, smiling. "Oldest? Youngest? Somewhere in the middle?"

It's always endearing to Darcy to see people who like children interacting with her boys. Allison is no exception. Clark's smile broadens and he holds out his hand. "Shake!" he says and giggles when the dogs offer their paws to him just like she said. He knows that trick because Krypto does it, too. "Mama look!" he cries out, beaming as he looks back around at her.

"I see, baby!" she says cheerfully back, rolling her eyes and shaking her head a bit, grinning with endeared amusement when his attention turns back to Allison's dogs. "Oh, are you sure? I don't mind, honestly," Darcy protests. She doesn't put a lot of weight into it, though, because Allison is already on the move.

Darcy gives her a grateful smile. "That would be great, thank you. We'll be in in a second." It's not like they have anything to unpack, but she does want Conner to introduce himself to the dogs, as well, so that he's not a strange scent for them. If they're going to be sharing the same space, she wants to make sure that everyone is properly introduced so there's no issues.

A moment later, Darcy wanders into the kitchen after getting the boys onto the couch in front of the television, having looked for a kids' channel and leaving them there for a moment to be entertained. It's not that she lets television be their second parent, but every once in a while, Darcy needs a minute, too.

"You're being remarkably cool about this, so I appreciate it," she starts, smiling apologetically. "I'm not sure I'd be quite as cool about it if it were me."

[rumores]

“The hierarchy is complicated. We’re all adopted, all the same age. But you could say I’m the third.” It’s not a lie, technically. And, while they’re all the same age, they did all fall in some sort of hierarchy anyway. “Four of them are here in Eglaf, so I’m sure you’ll get to meet them at some point.”

Klaus and Ben have a key, after all, and Klaus comes to hang out a lot even on days when they don’t have plans. Considering the children, though, she’s already planning on moving their trashy television days to Klaus’s place instead.

Allison finds herself grinning at Clark as he discovers the way that Apollo and Zeus introduce themselves, and she gets them a treat from a nearby jar for being so good.

“Yeah, it’s really not a problem,” she assures Darcy before moving towards the kitchen to get the coffee going. By the time Darcy joins her, there are already two cups served at the small table that’s in the kitchen, and a plate of cookies in between. She had just got grocery shopping, and Allison tends to have snacks and treats to indulge on during the week, although Darcy and the boys will get to enjoy some of the stuff she bakes or cooks whenever she can’t stay still, or can’t sleep.

At her comment, she breathes out a small chuckle before she moves to sit down. “I’ve dealt with a lot of crazy stuff in my life, some of it relatively recently, so...having a roommate move in with two adorable little boys isn’t really too shocking.” She tilts her head slightly, curious. “You mentioned you were an old hat to this. You’ve ‘traveled’ to another ... I don’t know what to call it. Place? Timeline?”

[totalmilf]

Darcy laughs a little, her eyebrows lifting. Yeah, at this point in her life, she knows all about crazy. "You say that now, but give them a few days to start fraying your nerves and then hopping up and down in tandem on your last one," she says wryly, only mostly joking. Darcy loves her boys; they'll forever be her whole heart and soul, but they can sometimes be A Lot, even for her.

She takes a sip of the coffee and nods a little, humming an affirmation as she swallows. "Mmm, mmhmm, yeah. You can call it either and probably be just as accurate," she replies. "I use the two pretty interchangeably in describing my own experience, personally. Although, I have to say, you really have to use 'traveled' as an incredibly loose descriptor since 'travel' makes it sound voluntary," she laughs. The thing is, she's pretty sure that she and the boys are marked with the Seal. No matter how long she ends up in other places, including her original home, she always ends up back in Lawrence. It's home, now.

"Why, is this your first time?" she asks, reaching for a cookie — hey, she deserves some sweets right now, dammit, fuck the calorie count for the day — and snapping off a little piece to pop it into her mouth.

[rumores]

Allison laughs lightly. “Oh I believe you. You must have the patience of a saint with twins.”

God knows she herself didn’t have it, and she only had one child to contend with. She couldn’t even manage without rumoring her.

As Darcy speaks, Allison takes a sip of her coffee before she smiles in agreement at her comment about this not necessarily being considered ‘travel,’ since it most definitely wasn’t voluntary.

“Mine is a little complicated,” she admits with a small laugh. “I got here a few months ago, got sent back in time, and then came back again recently. So...this is the first place I’ve visited where this kind of thing happens, but I’ve ‘arrived’ here twice. How about you, how many times have you been displaced?”

[totalmilf]

"You have no idea," Darcy laughs, taking another sip of coffee and looking over her shoulder at the couch where the boys are sitting. She can't see them from where she's sat, but she can hear them talking to one another. That's good enough for her. "But, actually, you know how they say 'it takes a village to raise a child'? I literally had a village to help me back in Lawrence, so it wasn't ever that bad. Here might be a challenge," she confesses with a shrug. "I mean, Cindy's here, so that's a huge relief, but I had a whole, like, mom network back there and now I kind of feel like I'm on an island, you know?"

It's something she's already anticipating how much she's going to miss because it's hard work taking care of two little boys all by herself and it's going to be made worse without their friends around to play with, here. So much for playdates with Svetlana's girls, or Jo's. Cindy here made no mention of Aaron, so Darcy assumes that that's not a thing in Cindy's timeline, yet. Or, if it is, Aaron isn't here. That means Darcy is going to have to be completely in charge of keeping the two of them entertained and she has no idea how to do that for elongated periods of time, anymore.

Darcy sighs a little and nods. "Oh, boy, do I know that particular song and dance. Fun fact: I've actually given birth to those little shits twice, thanks to time travel shenanigans, would you believe that?" she asks, almost incredulous even though she absolutely experienced it.

Frowning slightly, Darcy shrugs, snaps off another piece of her cookie.
"Twice to Lawrence from home, once outside of Lawrence to a place called The City, briefly...back to Lawrence, and now I'm here. It's actually kind of gross how many times I've done this," she mutters, wrinkling her nose with distaste and popping the piece of cookie in her mouth.

After a moment of chewing and swallowing, she goes on, "I think once the Seal gets ya, you're linked to the multiverse forever because it seems like every time I wind up in a place like this, there are other people from Lawrence there. Or there were if they aren't anymore. We're like magnets for this crap, now."