Manager's Suite, The Arms Hotel, New Year's Eve
There was a big, comfy couch set up in front of the wide-screen TV, and on the nearby coffee table, there was an assortment of sandwiches, popcorn and soda and bottled water.
Mary had picked out a couple of movies but first up was Die Fast, Die Furious. "I thought I'd show you this one first because they actually filmed it at the casino I worked at in Las Vegas," she explained to Simon. "In fact, my friend Delinda went out with the lead actor a few times, but then he died in a botched stunt. She was pretty broken up about it for a few days."
Simon
"But they managed to finish the movie without him?" Simon asked, taking a seat on the couch while glancing around the room. He smiled at Mary. "I used to go to the theater occasionally when growing up."
Mary
"Actually, they had to finish without him or the director. It turned out that the director had rigged the stunt to kill the stunt double, but Jean Claude insisted on doing his own stunts," said Mary, frowning.
"Now that I think about it, I'm not sure how they scraped together enough footage to put the final thing together. All I remember is how busy I was for a couple of days, trying to manage all these crying fans who set up a shrine in the middle of the lobby."
Simon
"Oh," Simon said. "If it's any comfort I think people are very much the same in my time." He smiled a little. "Las Vegas is known for its casinos?"
Mary
"That and other things. They call it Sin City," said Mary, laughing. "Gambling is legal, so everyone is trying to build a bigger and better casino to draw people in. They take excess to new extremes."
Simon
"Oh," he said again, getting an impression of the city. "We have those kind of places where I'm from too." He smiled, picking up a popcorn.
Mary
"It used to be a pretty cheap place to live. Gambling fed the economy and the casinos offered cheap food and drinks to lure people in. Then the big corporations came in and raised all the prices," said Mary. "I miss the old Las Vegas, but sometimes it's nice to not have to listen to all the noise from the casino."
Simon
"So why did you come here?" he asked. "Quite a contrast, I imagine."
Mary
"It's pretty complicated, but essentially what happened is that I took care of something that posed a threat to my little sisters. Then I had to leave town to avoid getting arrested," explained Mary.
Simon
"Helping a sister. I understand that. I had to give everything up to save River." He smiled again. "This seems to be a good place though."
Mary
Mary grinned. Sometimes the weight of keeping her secret about her father's murder really got to her, and there weren't a lot of people she could talk to about it.
"After everything that happened in Las Vegas, I needed time to heal. Fandom gave me the chance to do that," she said.
Simon
"It seems to enable people to do that," he said, thinking of River. "Time for the movie?"
Mary
"Yes, time to start the movie," said Mary, popping the DVD in the player before getting settled on the couch. "How's the popcorn? Not too salty?"
Simon
"They're good," Simon said. "Not that I'm an expert on popcorn." He offered the popcorn bowl to Mary.
Mary
"Popcorn is one of those treats that's easily made in a hotel kitchenette. You can actually make it in a microwave," said Mary, taking a handful of popcorn for herself. "Although admittedly, popping it over a stove tastes a little bit better."
Simon
"Perhaps it would be something to bring on a spaceship," Simon mused. "The food leaves a lot to be desired, unless you own a luxury cruiser."
His attention was drawn to the TV screen as the movie started.
Mary
"It must be kind of cool, living in a space ship," said Mary.
"Oooh, see that guy in the corner, right there? That's my old boss, Ed Deline."
Simon
"Well, it's kind of... Not much space. And then there's space outside, of course, which kills you." He tried to focus on the man. "Was he a good boss?"
Mary
"But it probably has a killer view," pointed out Mary. "And Ed was a very good boss. He treated employees like family and he was a better father than my own. When I needed help, he came through for me. I really miss him."
Simon
"It depends on if you like darkness and stars," Simon said. "It sounds like a good person to work for. Have you stayed in touch?"
Mary
"I didn't get to see the stars that much in Las Vegas. Way too many lights on at night," said Mary.
"I tried to stay in touch with Ed. He even came to visit me once. But then he had to go into hiding because of what he did for me." Mary was being deliberately vague and knew that she was probably inviting a lot more questions.
Simon
"What did he do?" Simon asked quietly, hesitating a little. He could feel it was a sensitive subject, but he also felt that Mary was a good person, and it wasn't like he wasn't used to people doing things not quite legal.
Mary
"My stepmother and I had reason to believe that my father was... hurting one or both of my half-sisters," said Mary quietly. "He went on trial and I testified against him, but they found him not guilty, and he insisted on trying to get custody of the girls if my stepmother divorced him. So I took matters into my own hands and tried to kill him."
Mary sighed. "But Ed found out what was going on, even though I tried to hide it from him. He followed me out there, and when my shot missed, Ed took another shot and killed my father. When ballistics tied him to the murder, he had to go into hiding."
Simon
Instinctively Simon placed a hand over Mary's. "You were trying to protect you sisters," he said quietly. "I'm sorry about your former boss."
Mary
"It worked, at least. The girls will be able to grow up without living in fear like I did," said Mary. "And maybe it gave Ed the excuse he needed to go back to his undercover work for the CIA."
Simon
Simon smiled a little. "Sometimes excuses like that come in handy." After a pause he added, moving away his hand: "I have had no contact with my family since I rescued River, and I don't expect to. She's all I have now."
Mary
"It must be really tough, worry about what's happened to her," said Mary. "But I think you made the right decision to stay in Fandom. I thought I would be all alone here, but everyone treated me like family."
Simon
"River said something similar to that too," he replied. "And I'm beginning to see it myself."
Mary
"We all tend to stick together here. I guess it has something to do with all the weird stuff that happens," said Mary.
Simon
"I guess I still have plenty of weird stuff to happen to me," Simon said with a laugh, throwing another popcorn in his mouth. "Thank you for trusting me with your secret."
Mary
"Thank you for not freaking out," said Mary, flashing Simon a relieved smile. "It's been weighing on me and I'm glad to be able to tell someone."
Simon
"Some secrets just weigh too heavily on you," he replied quietly.
[Pre-played with fancypantsdoc]
Mary had picked out a couple of movies but first up was Die Fast, Die Furious. "I thought I'd show you this one first because they actually filmed it at the casino I worked at in Las Vegas," she explained to Simon. "In fact, my friend Delinda went out with the lead actor a few times, but then he died in a botched stunt. She was pretty broken up about it for a few days."
Simon
"But they managed to finish the movie without him?" Simon asked, taking a seat on the couch while glancing around the room. He smiled at Mary. "I used to go to the theater occasionally when growing up."
Mary
"Actually, they had to finish without him or the director. It turned out that the director had rigged the stunt to kill the stunt double, but Jean Claude insisted on doing his own stunts," said Mary, frowning.
"Now that I think about it, I'm not sure how they scraped together enough footage to put the final thing together. All I remember is how busy I was for a couple of days, trying to manage all these crying fans who set up a shrine in the middle of the lobby."
Simon
"Oh," Simon said. "If it's any comfort I think people are very much the same in my time." He smiled a little. "Las Vegas is known for its casinos?"
Mary
"That and other things. They call it Sin City," said Mary, laughing. "Gambling is legal, so everyone is trying to build a bigger and better casino to draw people in. They take excess to new extremes."
Simon
"Oh," he said again, getting an impression of the city. "We have those kind of places where I'm from too." He smiled, picking up a popcorn.
Mary
"It used to be a pretty cheap place to live. Gambling fed the economy and the casinos offered cheap food and drinks to lure people in. Then the big corporations came in and raised all the prices," said Mary. "I miss the old Las Vegas, but sometimes it's nice to not have to listen to all the noise from the casino."
Simon
"So why did you come here?" he asked. "Quite a contrast, I imagine."
Mary
"It's pretty complicated, but essentially what happened is that I took care of something that posed a threat to my little sisters. Then I had to leave town to avoid getting arrested," explained Mary.
Simon
"Helping a sister. I understand that. I had to give everything up to save River." He smiled again. "This seems to be a good place though."
Mary
Mary grinned. Sometimes the weight of keeping her secret about her father's murder really got to her, and there weren't a lot of people she could talk to about it.
"After everything that happened in Las Vegas, I needed time to heal. Fandom gave me the chance to do that," she said.
Simon
"It seems to enable people to do that," he said, thinking of River. "Time for the movie?"
Mary
"Yes, time to start the movie," said Mary, popping the DVD in the player before getting settled on the couch. "How's the popcorn? Not too salty?"
Simon
"They're good," Simon said. "Not that I'm an expert on popcorn." He offered the popcorn bowl to Mary.
Mary
"Popcorn is one of those treats that's easily made in a hotel kitchenette. You can actually make it in a microwave," said Mary, taking a handful of popcorn for herself. "Although admittedly, popping it over a stove tastes a little bit better."
Simon
"Perhaps it would be something to bring on a spaceship," Simon mused. "The food leaves a lot to be desired, unless you own a luxury cruiser."
His attention was drawn to the TV screen as the movie started.
Mary
"It must be kind of cool, living in a space ship," said Mary.
"Oooh, see that guy in the corner, right there? That's my old boss, Ed Deline."
Simon
"Well, it's kind of... Not much space. And then there's space outside, of course, which kills you." He tried to focus on the man. "Was he a good boss?"
Mary
"But it probably has a killer view," pointed out Mary. "And Ed was a very good boss. He treated employees like family and he was a better father than my own. When I needed help, he came through for me. I really miss him."
Simon
"It depends on if you like darkness and stars," Simon said. "It sounds like a good person to work for. Have you stayed in touch?"
Mary
"I didn't get to see the stars that much in Las Vegas. Way too many lights on at night," said Mary.
"I tried to stay in touch with Ed. He even came to visit me once. But then he had to go into hiding because of what he did for me." Mary was being deliberately vague and knew that she was probably inviting a lot more questions.
Simon
"What did he do?" Simon asked quietly, hesitating a little. He could feel it was a sensitive subject, but he also felt that Mary was a good person, and it wasn't like he wasn't used to people doing things not quite legal.
Mary
"My stepmother and I had reason to believe that my father was... hurting one or both of my half-sisters," said Mary quietly. "He went on trial and I testified against him, but they found him not guilty, and he insisted on trying to get custody of the girls if my stepmother divorced him. So I took matters into my own hands and tried to kill him."
Mary sighed. "But Ed found out what was going on, even though I tried to hide it from him. He followed me out there, and when my shot missed, Ed took another shot and killed my father. When ballistics tied him to the murder, he had to go into hiding."
Simon
Instinctively Simon placed a hand over Mary's. "You were trying to protect you sisters," he said quietly. "I'm sorry about your former boss."
Mary
"It worked, at least. The girls will be able to grow up without living in fear like I did," said Mary. "And maybe it gave Ed the excuse he needed to go back to his undercover work for the CIA."
Simon
Simon smiled a little. "Sometimes excuses like that come in handy." After a pause he added, moving away his hand: "I have had no contact with my family since I rescued River, and I don't expect to. She's all I have now."
Mary
"It must be really tough, worry about what's happened to her," said Mary. "But I think you made the right decision to stay in Fandom. I thought I would be all alone here, but everyone treated me like family."
Simon
"River said something similar to that too," he replied. "And I'm beginning to see it myself."
Mary
"We all tend to stick together here. I guess it has something to do with all the weird stuff that happens," said Mary.
Simon
"I guess I still have plenty of weird stuff to happen to me," Simon said with a laugh, throwing another popcorn in his mouth. "Thank you for trusting me with your secret."
Mary
"Thank you for not freaking out," said Mary, flashing Simon a relieved smile. "It's been weighing on me and I'm glad to be able to tell someone."
Simon
"Some secrets just weigh too heavily on you," he replied quietly.
[Pre-played with fancypantsdoc]