It sometimes amazed Susan, how easily her Governess Mode switched on. There were very few children at Hogwarts--and most of those she'd met had really been adults under the influence of magical chocolates--so it was easy to forget that it was her default state of being when around a child.
"The application wasn't even designed for most grown-ups," she said--she spoke to Molly as she would to an adult, with no condescension, no patronization. She sat on the desk beside Molly, folding her arms. "You know, you don't have to be scared of bogeymen. I used to be a governess, back home, and I always told the children it was better to be angry than scared. Bogeymen can't handle anger." She thought Molly's might be something like the garden-variety type she often saw back on the Disc, though the idea of one killing someone was rather outside her experience.
...Wow. This lady had cool hair. "Is that...is your hair real?" she asked, staring--bits of it had just moved. The only time Molly had ever seen hair that white was on an old person, and this lady wasn't old--she couldn't even be as old as Molly's parents had been.
She frowned, and shivered at the mention of her bogeyman--and she'd said 'bogeyman', hadn't she, rather than 'boogeyman'? He was here--she'd seen him, and though she knew he couldn't kill her here, she had a feeling getting angry at him wouldn't do any good. Probably quite the reverse, in fact. "I don't think that would work with mine," she said quietly, and shivering, added the words she'd said to Mohinder: "He looks into your soul, and then he eats your brain."
Eats your...? Something in Susan's mind flipped over. Surely this little girl couldn't--well, but why not? So many people here wound up around others they'd known...it certainly wasn't unheard of.
"Molly," she said, giving the little gir's hand a squeeze, "does your bogeyman have a name?"
Molly squirmed. Something told her this was actually an important question, rather than one of the empty ones grown-ups seemed to ask so often. She didn't even want to say his name aloud--not after she'd seen him, right in this very room--so she leaned in to whisper in Susan's ear.
"Sylar," she said, the word little more than a breath. "And he's here."
Sylar. Sylar. Of-freaking-course. Susan was actually mildly surprised that even Sylar would go after a little girl, but then again he was willing to attack a near-stranger with the intent of stealing their brain, so...gods, she'd like nothing better than to strangle that damnable wretch.
Strangling was not an option at the moment, however; governessing, on the other hand, was. She tucked a lock of hair behind Molly's ear. "Well, all right, he's a bit nastier than your average bogeyman," she admitted. "But he's still a bogeyman, and bogeymen can always be dealt with. You're here all alone, are you? Your parents aren't here?" She was certain they weren't, but it never hurt to check.
Molly shook her head, her eyes fixed on the toes of her sneakers. "My parents are dead," she said, so quietly even Susan could barely hear her. "The Boogeyman killed them."
Susan fought an urge to simply go hunt down Sylar and choke him to death. Good gods, it seemed there were no depths the man wouldn't sink to.
She reached out and touched Molly's chin. "Well, Molly, my name is Susan, and I was a governess back in my own world--I'll look after you, and keep you safe from your bogeyman." And thump aforesaid bogeyman upside the head next chance she got. The whole thing was very matter-of-fact, as if there could be no question that things would not be as she said they would.
"The application wasn't even designed for most grown-ups," she said--she spoke to Molly as she would to an adult, with no condescension, no patronization. She sat on the desk beside Molly, folding her arms. "You know, you don't have to be scared of bogeymen. I used to be a governess, back home, and I always told the children it was better to be angry than scared. Bogeymen can't handle anger." She thought Molly's might be something like the garden-variety type she often saw back on the Disc, though the idea of one killing someone was rather outside her experience.
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She frowned, and shivered at the mention of her bogeyman--and she'd said 'bogeyman', hadn't she, rather than 'boogeyman'? He was here--she'd seen him, and though she knew he couldn't kill her here, she had a feeling getting angry at him wouldn't do any good. Probably quite the reverse, in fact. "I don't think that would work with mine," she said quietly, and shivering, added the words she'd said to Mohinder: "He looks into your soul, and then he eats your brain."
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"Molly," she said, giving the little gir's hand a squeeze, "does your bogeyman have a name?"
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"Sylar," she said, the word little more than a breath. "And he's here."
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Strangling was not an option at the moment, however; governessing, on the other hand, was. She tucked a lock of hair behind Molly's ear. "Well, all right, he's a bit nastier than your average bogeyman," she admitted. "But he's still a bogeyman, and bogeymen can always be dealt with. You're here all alone, are you? Your parents aren't here?" She was certain they weren't, but it never hurt to check.
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She reached out and touched Molly's chin. "Well, Molly, my name is Susan, and I was a governess back in my own world--I'll look after you, and keep you safe from your bogeyman." And thump aforesaid bogeyman upside the head next chance she got. The whole thing was very matter-of-fact, as if there could be no question that things would not be as she said they would.
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