riverview | Audio/Video --- un: L.Mills

Something like that. It's way more complicated, I don't think Dad or Regina told me all the details.

[Lucy is guessing he doesn't believe her. Not that most adults would believe her anyway. Not even her mom believed her. She's sort of used to it by now.]

I can figure it out. It's not different from any of the others app back home. [Wait a moment...]

This...isn't some kind of trap...right?

[Stupid question to ask, and while she wants to believe in the good of person, she isn't stupid.]

It does sound pretty complicated.

[ He's glad that she seems confident in her ability to figure it out (though is he making the wrong call, taking a kid's word for it that she's got things under control? he's not prepared to make decisions in this situation!). When she asks if it is a trap, he responds quickly. ]

It's not. It's a good idea to be careful, though. I'm a stranger and everything. You can also use your phone to look up where the police station is and check that the addresses match. Or you can look up their number and call and ask for somebody to come walk with you or pick you up.

[ It is some comfort, knowing that the kid at least has some idea not to blindly follow advice from total strangers. Even if he is one of those at the moment. ]

I hope you find your friends.

Yeah, there's a lot of different parts and I wouldn't be able to tell the whole. Regina, if she's here, would have to do that and that's if she wants to.

[She's figuring out where to go, using the address he sent over to the map and, what do you know? It does show the police station right there. Okay, so he wasn't an evil person or anything. Just someone willing to help. That's good to know.]

I did, and the addresses matched up. I wouldn't want to call them though, they'll walk me over and then ask questions and I really don't want to answer them right now.

[If she has an adult, if she's living with someone, all those things that she could figure out later on.]

Thanks. Hoping I can find them too, they're my family. [And not just in the 'friends are the family you choose' kind of way. Nope, bloodline relation.]

So...what's your name?

I totally get that. Detective types can be awfully nosy, can't they?

[ He says it with a great deal of fondness, thinking of Eddie, of course. But apart from the joking, Cisco thinks that chances are those questions would probably be necessary ones. Even if she is just a little kid, walking in and asking for information on people is a little bit suspicious. They'll no doubt want to know why she wants to find them, what her relationship is to them, etcetera. ]

I hope you can find them, too. It's really hard being separated from people you care about.

[ A part of him is worried, though. It's rare, that he hears of people meeting up with family members, in this place. Sometimes friends reunite, yes. And there had been a few cases - Taako, and Lup. Ragnar and his children. But mostly, it doesn't happen. But this kid doesn't need to know that. ]

Cisco. And if you do go to the station and they give you any trouble, you can tell 'em I sent you there and they ought to be extra nice to you or I'll put itching powder in all their uniforms.

[ Cisco laughs, then, shaking his head. ]

I'm just kidding. I'd never do that. Or would I...?

They can be and they want an answer to everything. Or, maybe they won't even pay attention to me, cause little kid and all.

[And who would really listen to a child ask for a list of people who could or were here on this place? It was a long shot, really. And even then, she has to wonder if the records could be or were altered. She's trying to be optimistic, but after what happened back home, it's waning.]

Yeah, it's harder when they don't know who you are.

[Like with her parents being cursed, and then seeing her mom kiss the person who was her 'cursed' dad. That was heart breaking...and she's trying not to think about it now.]

Why would you have access to their uniforms? Do you do their dry cleaning on the side?

[She kind of gets the joke and tries to offer one in return.]

But, really, why would they be nicer to me if I tell them I know you? Are you..like their boss or something?

Edited 2018-01-09 16:35 (UTC)

[ For a moment, Cisco is about to insist that of course they will pay attention to her. But he catches himself, and thinks back to when he'd been young. The truth is, Lucy might not be wrong. He remembers being her age, feeling frustrated and hurt by the way adults would treat his feelings and concerns and questions as superfluous, as necessarily unimportant.

Then he frowns, because he is paying attention right now and what Lucy just said makes very little sense. ]

Why wouldn't they know who you are?

[ It seems like a strange thing to be concerned about, if she didn't have a concrete reason. Is it an issue with the timeline? Or something more sinister? ]

No, I don't do their dry cleaning. I was mostly kidding, though if I set my mind to it I betcha I could find a way.

[ He's resourceful like that. As for the other thing: ]

I work with them, sort of. My job's to make them machines and armor and shields and all of the stuff that keep them safe.

Edited 2018-01-09 17:45 (UTC)

Because, my family and friends were cursed. They don't remember who they are--really are. And my parents aren't together, and my dad doesn't think I'm really his daughter, all part of the curse.

[Now will come the true test if Cisco will believe her. He could say he did, but it could be for humoring her, and then try to figure out what exactly was going on. No one ever wanted to take what she said at face value. They thought it was her vivid imagination, but she knows its the truth.

She continues to walk from one block to another, making sure to look both ways before crossing the street and being careful.]

So....like a blacksmith? But, with more technology and stuff, right? [Because that's the only thing she could really equate it to. He's gotta be really smart then.]

[ There was a time when Cisco would have doubted her, would have assumed she was spinning a story to protect herself from the truth. But he's heard wilder things, since coming here. And he has heard a similar story, plenty of times, from plenty of points of view. The voidfish's effects weren't a curse, but they'd been enough to rob Magnus and Taako of themselves - to make Taako forget Lup, for god's sake. If that was possible, it was possible that a curse could make a man forget his daughter.

That doesn't make it any less heartbreaking to hear. There's a pause, before he responds, because he needs to sit down, honestly. This conversation has gotten a whole lot heavier than he'd expected. He doesn't even know this kid's name yet, but he feels awful for her. What must that be like, for someone her age? Hell, he'd felt so abandoned by his own parents, but at least they never forgot who he was.

When he speaks again, it is quietly, with gravity and sympathy in his voice. ]

Kid... I'm really sorry. That must be really, really awful. Do you know if there's any way to break the curse?

[ One of the hardest things about this place is wanting to be able to fix people's problems back home, to give them some real and concrete aid, but being unable to do so. If things were different, if her parents were here, he would suggest taking them to the magical institute. ]

Sort of like a blacksmith for technology, yeah. Officially, I'm a mechanical engineer, but it adds up to about the same thing at the end of the day.

[It's....a relief to hear someone actually believe her. Someone who seemingly understands how hard it is to see their parent and know they don't recognize it's them. Or maybe to be denied belonging to someone. It's rough, and Lucy was still trying all the way up to speaking to her step-grandmother and learning Henry went away. Her belief was shattered then...and it was still there, but in fractured pieces.]

There is...and it involves my parents falling in love with one another again and sharing True Love's Kiss, because that can break any curse. It's the strongest magic out there.

[And with Henry gone, and her mother seemingly falling in love with her cursed!dad, it made things all the more complicated. Maybe this was the curse that no hero can break. Lucy wasn't The Savior. She wasn't an Author. She was just....Lucy. That was it.

Maybe they should just focus on the blacksmith/engineer part of the conversation]

So...do you also make swords and shields too? Or something like that?

So it's like Parent Trap but with ridiculously high stakes?

[ All that magic that Cisco has encountered in this place has operated under pretty different parameters to what Lucy is talking about right now. She's staying stuff that sounds like it belongs in a fairy tale. Then again... Lucretia had mentioned the idea of bonds, once or twice, and how magically potent they were. Is it really so different?

He realizes a moment too late that she might not understand his reference, and so he explains: ]

That's a movie where two girls get their divorced parents to fall back in love again.

[ He wants to encourage Lucy and her attempts to understand his job but he thinks it's stretching the definition of "something like that" too far to say that he makes swords. He's a little baffled - she knows enough about tech to work a GPS app, but when he says he's an engineer, she asks if he also makes shields? Very strange. ]

Not really. More like body armor, and stun guns, and comms systems, and a bunch of other stuff that helps keep them safe while they're keeping people like you and me safe.

[Lucy is appreciative of the clarification because she hasn't seen that movie before...]

Yes, if I could get my mom and dad to fall in love with each other, and if they kiss then the curse will be broken. Everyone would remember who they are, and hopefully move back to Hyperion Heights and we could figure out a way back to our realm.

[She might have lost him there considering she spoke about people moving back to a place that was cursed, and then figuring out how to get back into the realm they all came from.

And hey, he's indulging her curiosity and explaining things. Lucy does have an inquisitive mind.]

Okay, then more modern stuff rather than ancient stuff. Gotcha. I only ask, cause I never got to learn how to fight with a sword and still think that would be pretty cool.

[ Yeah, that's all sounding like some fairy tale logic, but she seems pretty certain about it, and what reason does he have to doubt her? Nothing but her age, and Cisco distinctly remembers hating being questioned and underestimated just because he was younger, so. True love's kiss it is. ]

Your realm? So you'd already traveled between dimensions, before you ever came here?

[ It's just a guess, but it would potentially explain those strange incongruities - the whole blacksmith versus smartphone thing he'd just been wondering about. And he's met a lot of people here who had jumped between worlds even before the portal brought them here. ]

I think learning how to fight with a sword would be pretty cool, too. I bet they've got classes, here. Or you could find somebody willing to teach you. There's lots of sword... people.

[There's a shake of her head.]

I hadn't. My Dad has, and other family members on my Dad's side, but not me or my mom. We were living in our realm when the curse was cast, and then we were in modern times in a different realm and no one remembered who they were or their connections to one another.

[Hopefully that made sense. A girl that lived in a fairytale only to be brought into a world that had more technology in it. Coupled with a father who seemed to be from the modern world who went through portals and explored different worlds.]

Think they wouldn't mind a kid signing up for classes?

[ The situation is confusing, but Cisco is sharp, and not unaccustomed to the idea of travel between universes. It's all a bit strange, but he thinks he's following along - and it certainly explains the thing with the names. Fairy tale characters that had, through some kind of magic, ended up in a version of reality that's closer to his own. Bizarre, but his best friend's an elf, so. Clearly there is some precedent. ]

But you remembered. And now you're trying to see if any of them are here, and then find out how much they know.

[ That's a whole lot for someone her age to deal with, if you ask Cisco. But there wasn't much to be done. ]

No clue! Can't hurt to ask, though, can it? Might as well use your time here doing something fun, and awesome.

[Lucy waits for Cisco to start arguing with her, to tell her it's all nonsense or that it couldn't be real. However, he doesn't. Which is rather shocking. In her world, she was having a hard time getting Henry to believe her, to have him work past the curse and yet here Cisco was...and he simply accepted it.]

Yes....exactly. [Whoa, she is impressed with him and herself for making great progress in less than a day. That's a new record!] And also tell them that I'm related to them, so there's that too.

I could ask! Though....I'm wondering if I'll need a parent or guardian's permission in order to sign up... [She'll figure that part out later.] Any idea where to go to sign up--assuming it's available.

[ The degree of Lucy's surprise and gratitude is lost on Cisco; he merely nods, glad to hear that his summary is not inaccurate. He thinks, but of course does not say, that the chances of Lucy running into people she knew back home are relatively slim. No reason to rob the kid of hope. Besides, it's not impossible, though statistically unlikely. ]

Yeah, you would probably need whoever's in charge of you here to sign some kinda paperwork, yeah. We adults can be fussy like that sometimes.

[ He just assumes that there is already someone fulfilling that role; it wouldn't occur to him that the people in charge of this place would let a new arrival her age loose without nailing that sort of thing down. ]

Uh, no clue, but I might know somebody who knows. I can ask around, see what's available, and get back to you.

[ Magnus might have some idea, or he could ask around the Perimeter Guard. It seemed likely to Cisco that there would be some significant overlap, between the sort of people who would give sword lessons, and the sort of people who would volunteer for the Guard. ]

'Fussy' is a good way of putting it.

[She's also heard the phrase 'pain in the ass,' but she doesn't want to get into trouble by saying that out loud. But, paperwork is an adult thing. There were some papers that Lucy had to read, and they had the nerve to ask her if she could, but it was overwhelming and now she just wants to explore.]

Wonder who that would be, they didn't exactly tell me.

[Never mind that her grandma is already here and she'll be meeting up with her sooner or later.]

Sure! That would be cool. I wonder what other classes they offer--do you think they offer a dance class too? My step-grandmother was the one who put me into dance class and I didn't like it at first because I don't like her too much, but ballet is fun.

[ Good news, now it is Cisco who is going to be a pain in the ass and asking all those hard questions. ]

Wait- are you telling me they didn't- you've got no idea who your guardian's supposed to be?

[ There's an air of distraction in his next reply, because he's talking while writing something down - probably a note to himself about this very problem. ]

I'll make some calls about that, see if we can't get the matter straightened out. You definitely shouldn't not know the answer to something like that. I can't believe this. I mean, sometimes I really wonder about the people running this place...

[ He doesn't think there's an evil conspiracy, the way he'd worried about when he first arrived, but there are definitely areas in need of serious improvement. ]

I'm sure there's a ballet class available, too, but I'm not really the guy to ask for that one. I'm pretty clumsy.

I know where I'm living, and I think they said there would be someone checking in on me? I kind of didn't pay attention to that.

[Because, well, children do have a short attention span but in reality Lucy couldn't really take too much information in. It was information overload, and she was able to listen to a few things and everything else fell by the way side.]

I think I should be fine? I mean, I miss my mom a lot....but I should be able to figure things out. [And while they have been talking, Lucy has been talking to someone else and suddenly there's a grin on her face.]

Actually, I might have figured it out. I need to head back to the community housing, but I think my grandma's here.

[Hooray for small miracles.]

I'll ask my grandma about it. Though, I probably shouldn't call her that right away...I don't want to freak her out too much.

Oh! Oh, good.

[ Thank goodness. He isn't going to have to go on the warpath to whatever this place's equivalent of CPS is. If she's found one of her relatives, that means there is at least someone who hopefully has this girl's best interests at heart. Not a guaranteed thing, and Cisco will definitely remember to check in at some point later down the road and make sure things are okay, but it is some relief. ]

She had her memory erased, too?

[ It's a logical leap to make, after what Lucy had said about nobody in her family remembering one another, and how she is the only one. ]

Not really, that's a story for another time.

[Her grin is a bit cheeky there, because, pun. It's funny to her.]

I'll talk to you about it later. I'm at the police station, so it's time to play detective. Operation Family Tree is a go.

See you soon!

[She waves to the camera and turns it off, if she needs anything she'll contact him about it.]

Audio/Video --- un: L.Mills

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