(D4 EM, Machalilla Park) Mother Knows Best

[Lenore Gauvreau]

Lenore wore a freshly purchased set of casual wear, impossible to carry the stench of all the vices she partook in life. She'd rinsed out her mouth after taking her morning shot of vodka and hadn't smoked a single cigarette.

Is she really going to notice just one?

Deep breaths. That way, she could be the mom her little girl deserved. And yet, she couldn't escape the itching of violence. She still kept a couple of her weapons tucked deep in her clothes. An idle observer certainly wouldn't notice them but someone who'd known her habits for so long, well, would have an advantage.

The ex-something... I'm at a loss of what to say to her.

[Boogiepop]

For a woman who was always concerned about responsibilities and planning, Rosalind always did find a way to keep Lenore waiting when it came to these visitations. Lenore would be kept waiting at the area, perhaps long enough to make her consider a cigarette or a swig or something to pass the time. Maybe Rosalind knew exactly how Lenore ticked and was indirectly tempting her to wander off and have a cigarette, catching her in the act.

However, it was perhaps 15 minutes after on the dot that Rosalind would make her appearance in some form. There was a familiar black SUV hopper that would make its way down from the skies and to the waiting area where Lenore was. The door would open and a clone would emerge from the back. It was Hemal Desai, the clone that Rosalind got to homeschool Delphine.


Hemal Desai

"Good morning, Miss Gauvreau. I hope you are doing well today?" She gave polite nod at Lenore before making her way to the other side of the vehicle.

[Lenore Gauvreau]

Lenore leaned against the entryway, her head tilted back and facing the sky. If she just stared at the sky or perhaps closed her eyes, then perhaps she could avoid the nagging thoughts of temptations.

Desai Model. Good choice.

Spending too long with that thing is going to corrupt the girl.

Still, it wasn't like she was going to beat up a docile clone senseless. It hadn't tried to run away yet, from what she'd seen, and she didn't want to do that in front of little Delphine. "Hey," she said, as only a way to acknowledge the clone's presence.

[Boogiepop]

Hemal Desai

Hemal didn't seem to push her luck on the matter. Even as a clone who was removed from whatever madness transpired in her owner's relationship with Lenore (likely not even having been born yet), she still knew full well what she did for a living. After all, it was still a major issue in their rift. She just prepared Delphine for her trip, who was yet to be in view through the blackened glass fo the vehicle.

The driver-side door did lift up and the occupant did emerge from it. Her hair was blonde and she had g-modded good looks. She fitted into a black little dress with a plunging neckline with a cape. It was Rosalind.


Rosalind Carlisle

Rosalind let out a sigh of disgust. "Really? I thought you had made this trip up. Honestly, maybe staying at home would have been better, just very barely."

[Lenore Gauvreau]

Such beauty. We were never going to be prepared for this. Just look away. We can try another time.

No, no, we... we can't do anything.

Lenore kept her eyes averted, hands deep inside her pockets. "Our daughter is into nature. Maybe she'll grow up to be some sort of botanist or zoologist, you know?" She scratched the back of her head. "Gotta nurture that sort of thing."

[Boogiepop]

Rosalind Carlisle

Her arms left the confines of her cape to only cross them in disappointment at Lenore. "It almost sounds like you've made that up on the fly. You know, it's fine if you take her to the garden again. She might be bored on her second trip but at least she'll be nice and safe."

She gave a roll of her eyes as she looked behind Lenore, the wilderness of the park promised past the winding cement path, the shrubs, and all of the tropical trees. "It's kind of dangerous there and you'd had better hope that she doesn't come back with some sort of illness, disease, or some sort of sickness. You're really putting your neck on the line here and you can kiss those visitations goodbye if anything happens."

[Lenore Gauvreau]

"I brought some insect repellant," Lenore said, more sheepish than she'd wanted. She pulled out the bottle and shook it a bit. Indeed, she'd brought all sorts of things like sunscreen and snacks. Couldn't be paying for any food at a venue like this... way too expensive.

"I'll look after her, seriously. I wouldn't have tried so hard if I wasn't going to." Rosalind had to know that... Lenore didn't just do things randomly. Always desire behind her actions, for better or worse.

Where is she, anyways? Still in the car? Why doesn't she want to see us?

[Boogiepop]

Rosalind Carlisle

"Insect repellant?" Rosalind sneered with some clear disgust and suspicion on her face as if Lenore had presented a bottle of snake oil. "There's trying to look out for her and looking out for her. You should know that she could be allergic to that, depending on what brand you have. There's something in the recent batch that's not good at all and causes her to break out in hives or something, it's also very sticky too, even more so in this weather. Why couldn't you get one of those Haas-Bioroid insect dispersion emitters instead, especially with your salary?"


Hemal Desai

Hemal would eventually come around the vehicle with Delphine sitting on her shoulders, who apparently wanted a ride to take her where she needed to go. An awkward request but she was a clone and Delphine was the princess. It seemed that she was still dressed in a sleeping onesie of an animated green allosaurus character.


Delphine Carlisle

"Rawr! I"m Dinosaurus, mom!" Delphine announced with her arms stretched out like claws.


Rosalind Carlisle

Rosalind would immediately adopt her 'happy mommy' face when Delphine appeared into view. "Aww, angel, you look so cute like that. Aren't I the best mommy for letting you wear that all day?"

Her gaze would turn to look at Lenore, almost saying 'your move' with her expression.

[Lenore Gauvreau]

Is that true? Could she be allergic to insect repellant? Oh no.

Lenore looked down at her bottle. Well, it was still better than nothing, but she still put it away for the time being. "Our little girl is tougher than you think. She's got my genes, right?"

Why did you say that? Why would you ever think that she'd roll with that?

But at least the sight of their daughter alleviated things. She warmed up too, enough so that touching a clone in such a matter barely even phased her. "There's the vicious beast! I've been looking all over for you." Playing along, well, seemed to be the best way to go about it at the time.

[Boogiepop]

Rosalind Carlisle

Rosalind would obviously not take the comment about the genes with any amusement. She did step closer to Lenore, close enough that the other woman could get a catch of her perfume but mainly because Rosalind wanted to see if she could get a scent of nicotine or alcohol. "I would hope not," she said under her breath.


Hemal Desai

Hemal would smile and play along as well with Delphine's act. Thankfully the clones were made with good backs.


Delphine Carlisle

"Rawr!" Towering over Lenore, Delphine's 'claws' would make short work of her hair as she played around with it. "Lookit me, mommy, Imma so big now!"

[Lenore Gauvreau]

That smell... kiss her.

NO. DO NOT DO THAT.

Fortunately, Lenore chose to listen to the voice of reason here. She looked away awkwardly, definitely bereft of the smell of her vices. That did remind her that she could try to pick up something that didn't have such an odor.

That and their child. Even though Lenore loved to make sure her hair looked so freaking awesome, she was willing to let Delphine have her fun. "Ahhhh! Well, perhaps I should have come better prepared. Last I saw you, you'd been so small!"

[Boogiepop]

Rosalind Carlisle

"Hm," Rosalind would murmur in disappointment as she didn't find what she suspected, almost felt like she was outsmarted if anything else. She took a step back afterwards before Lenore got any ideas on turning her back from her discipline.


Delphine Carlisle

Delphine should shoot a look of bemusement at Lenore, as if she said the strangest thing in her life. "Small? I'm not small! I'm almost five!" She would announce very proudly her age, including the right amount of digits for show. The money spent on Hemal was definitely not wasted at all.


Hemal Desai

Speaking of Hemal, she continued to carry Delphine on her shoulders and soon looked to Lenore. "Would you like to take her, Miss Gauvreau?"

It wasn't a complaint carrying her, not at all, just an offer. She was supposed to be more tutor than nanny but it's not like she got to pick her duties here.

[Lenore Gauvreau]

Lenore smiled ruefully. "Ah, yes, but you weren't so tall before." Good to see that she was getting brighter. If there was anything she'd rather be inherited from Rosalind, it'd be smarts.

"Oh I suppose you won't be accompanying us," she said, though she broke back out into a forced smile afterwards. She couldn't be so adversarial to the clone in front of her daughter. With that out of the way, she reached up to take Delphine onto her shoulders.

[Boogiepop]

Delphine Carlisle

"I"m the tallest!" She announced the obvious triumphantly with her arms in the air. On the shoulders of the clone, she did indeed feel like she was standing on top of the Beanstock. She giggled as she switched mounts as Hemal was sure to aid Lenore however she could with the exchange. After all, Delphine wasn't just the daughter of a clone retrieval employee but also her student.


Rosalind Carlisle

Rosalind mustered a smile as she heard the giggles from Delphine but also to see her now mounted on Lenore's shoulders, playing with her hair joyfully. It wasn't something she would have tolerated from Delphine but she imagined that Lenore being a wreck had some advantage when it came to letting Delphine have her way. "Well, it's not like Hemal is doing anything else today, anyway. I'm sure you two will have plenty of fun..."


Hemal Desai

After handing Delphine successfully to Lenore, she would make her way to the hopper quickly and bring forth Delphine's backpack. "Here are Delphine's things, Miss Gauvreau."


Rosalind Carlisle

"There's Delphine's lunch, in case you don't find something suitable for her. I won't have her eating any of that processed gog meat, only meat from animals who've been able to roam in their life and plants that are grown close to the ground. There are few juice boxes but she should only have these after she had at least half of her sandwich. She can have a few gummy health tablets too. Kim Koala is also in the backpack too, you know...in case she gets bored and wants to learn instead." She gave a shake of her head. "In case you find yourself at a complete loss of what to do with her."

[Lenore Gauvreau]

"You're definitely heads and shoulders above all of us right now," Lenore said, sure that her kid was too young to really understand sarcasm. Maybe it was that silly, stupid wit of hers that'd gotten her and Rosalind together in the first place.

Could that happen again? What happened to us?

"Hm? Oh, no, I don't need the help. I'd think that you'd want to give her a day off." Though said with a pleasant smile, that was definitely meant to be a jab at Rosalind's silly notions of treating property nicely.

As her ex-something listed off all of the various doodads available for their daughter, Lenore bit her lip in thought. She didn't remember their daughter being so... high-maintenance.

Will she turn out to have such high standards as her other mother? Goodness...

[Boogiepop]

Rosalind Carlisle

"Ugh, stop it," ordered Rosalind at the sarcasm she caught from her ex-something. The tone didn't exactly indicate anything hostile, perhaps there was indeed a hint of amusement in it but not one she would make obvious or admit to. She would flash a momentary resting ristie face only at Lenore after her warning.

"Well, you are right about that," she would find herself agreeing to her point as she turned to look at Hemal, who seemed wholly indifferent whether or not she went along. Well, maybe avoiding Lenore was the better choice here. "I'll take you back home after Hemal, you don't need to go shopping with me. They offer free drone shipping at the mall, anyway."

It seemed almost likely that these standards are things that Rosalind had tacked on to Delphine, especially as a ristie and having full custody...


Delphine Carlisle

"Do you think we're going to find dinosaurs?" Delphine would ask curiously as she looked to Lenore. The adult talk went completely her head and she was more interested in getting on with her day than hearing the two bicker.


Rosalind Carlisle

Rosalind looked up and smiled at her daughter. "I don't know, angel, they don't really exist in the wild anymore...but maybe mommy can help you find them. She does like to hunt."