(Untitled)

[lastof_five]

HELP NEEDED

Veterinary Offices have recently been built on the island and are in need of capable individuals with a love for animals and the willingness to learn. No experience is necessary, merely the desire to do well. Twelve and older, please. Contact Dr. Helen Magnus either via mail or at the (human) clinic on Mondays and Wednesdays.Helen

Comments

[justsookie]

"Not a problem; it's my fault for wantin' to read that as soon as it went up," Sookie said, voice admittedly distracted as she took a half-step around Helen to look at what was being posted on the bulletin board. When the words sank in, she could only grin widely as she turned to look at Helen with a smile stretching across her face, and hands clasped near her chest with a soft sort of happiness.

"Oh my stars, a vet's office," she beamed. "I'd never thought of that, but you know, it really is perfect. There are so many animals here on the island that I can't believe no one's thought of it earlier, or well, been qualified to care for them."

She marveled a little; if she thought that she'd admired Helen as much as was possible before, she certainly found herself corrected now.

[lastof_five]

"Sorely needed, for both animals and doctor," Helen agreed, grinning a little when she saw it was Sookie behind her. She hated she'd nearly stepped all over the poor girl but she couldn't help but be happy to see a friend.

"Will suggested I get out and do something with myself since I was moping about with not much of a purpose and I saw a void. Besides, a boy showed up with a dragon last month. I can't wait to get my hands on it and study it."

[justsookie]

Laughing, Sookie couldn't help but feel elated upon hearing that the idea was brought about by Will; of course, she'd been one of the people most eager to see those two start a relationship, but even Sookie ha to admit that she had been worried for a time, wondering if Will's concerns were founded and things would begin to unravel. Any sign to the contrary was one she quickly ate up. (All things considered, there weren't too many of her friends back home who were in successful relationships, so maybe it was understandable that her expectations were somewhat skewed.)

"Oh, so this was Will's suggestion, huh?" Sookie grinned from ear to ear. "The two of you are so cute together, it makes my teeth ache. But wow, really? A dragon?"

She turned to stare at the paper again, as though it'd give her answers. "Like... fire-breathin' dragon?"

[lastof_five]

"No fire, as far as I'm aware," Helen said, tilting her head a little as she thought that out. "Flight, certainly, and an abundance of sharp teeth but I haven't seen any signs of fire. It would be an interesting experiment."

At the other, she blushed, because if there was one thing Helen Magnus was not used to, it was being referred to as one half of something called "cute."

"Hopefully not too much of a toothache. No dentist about and I'd hate to be responsible for that. He's very busy these days, Will. I'm glad to have something to occupy me."

[justsookie]

"Whenever I think this island's already as amazin' as it can get, somethin' else comes up to prove me wrong," Sookie marveled, speaking in part to herself as she ran through a million mental images of dragons, the sharp teeth enough to make her shiver a bit before she reminded herself that this dragon was at least partly tame, with a caretaker who knew its temper well. "Dinosaurs, now dragons. Who knows what's gonna be next?"

It was certainly a few steps up from a tumbling space station.

Her smile widened. "He's teachin' some classes, isn't he? I'm sure that's gotta keep him busier lately. But no, not too much of a toothache, though I wouldn't mind us having a dentist on the island."

[lastof_five]

"He teaches and sees patients nearly every day of the week," Helen confirmed, pulling a little face at that. Truthfully, she was envious of Will's ability to adapt to the island and find a niche, something she hadn't really be able to do just yet. He seemed happy enough, and occupied, and she was going stark mad with boredom.

Besides, she missed him, stupid as that sentiment was, but that was hardly a conversation to be had in public.

"Hopefully I can keep myself just as occupied as he has."

[justsookie]

"But you were hopin' to occupy yourself with him a little more, mm?" Sookie asked, mischievous glint in her eyes. Sometimes, she wondered if keeping so busy on her end frustrated Mitchell at all, but for the most part, it seemed like he was perfectly accepting of the fact that his girlfriend wouldn't stay still, and freely came around whenever he did need any level of attention. Truth be told, she would have found a bit of whining on his end more romantic, in the same way that she thought Helen pining after Will was cute. Healthy, when at moderate levels, when she found healthy ways to distract herself like starting up a practice on the island.

She laid a gentle hand on the older woman's shoulder. "You're insanely talented though, and capable, and I'm sure that you'll be able to keep yourself distracted this way. No matter how wonderful a guy is, there are still some ways that they just can't match up to a dragon."

[lastof_five]

Helen gave her a wry smile, surprised at just how on the nose that was. Will was wonderful, it was true, but in some ways the promise of sex and companionship paled to getting to examine a dragon up close. Helen Magnus had always been married to her work.

"My daughter would have had the same sentiment, I'm afraid. Then again, Ashley was never overly fond of any man I attempted to date, which is how I fell overly out of practice."

[justsookie]

Sometimes it was startling to Sookie, how easily certain people could speak of loss. Of course, she understood that time made that easier. On the island, she was now able to talk about her gran pretty freely, to look back upon her gran with fondness rather than never-ending regret (even though the regret was still there too, surely). But she had to think that losing a child must have been different, unnatural, gutting for the way that a child was undeniably a part of the parent. It gave her hope, though. Helped Sookie believe that people could heal, that Neil could climb up after his loss, and that maybe Sookie would be able to more fully manage the same, herself.

"I think, within reason, that's a good sign," Sookie pointed out with a small smile. "It shows that she cares, and that she thinks you deserve to be able to have high standards. An extra pair of eyes lookin' out usually doesn't hurt, either."

[lastof_five]

"Ashley's taste was dubious at best," Helen said dryly, a fond smile crossing her lips as she thought about how Ashley would talk about her schoolgirl crushes while Helen brushed out her hair for the night. She missed those times, even if they were often punctuated with the typical mother-daughter headbutting, because she'd always snatched those moments few and far between.

If she'd known what she knew now, she would have spent more time with her. Time. The one thing Helen had always had in spades and seemingly squandered all the same.

"You remind me of her, sometimes. Coraline reminds me of Ashley when she was younger and still growing into herself but you, Sookie, you remind me of how she was when last I saw her. I suppose you probably find that strange, don't you? I'm quite sorry if it feels that way, I only mean it in the best way possible."

[justsookie]

Unsure why the confession was coming as such a surprise to her, exactly, Sookie merely blinked for a few seconds, a light dusting of pink rising to her cheeks, and a wetness in her eyes as she looked at Helen. Of course, she wasn't that naive. She couldn't expect that Helen would suddenly become a replacement mother figure to her, if indeed Sookie even needed that at all. The void left behind by her parents after they passed had slowly grown smaller over the years (or perhaps it wasn't that, so much as the fact that Sookie had undeniably grown), to the point where she didn't need to fill it so much as she needed to respect it and the memories of her parents. But still, to have any kind of role model in that sense at all, it was something that Sookie wanted. Direction. She'd never been without it for so long before in her life

[lastof_five]

"Ashley and I were more friends than anything else," Helen admitted, glad to finally have gotten to the point where she could talk about her fondly and not have tears prick her eyes or grief twist her heart. Perhaps that meant she was moving on and if this place had given her that, she supposed it couldn't be all bad.

"I had a lot of trouble with her as a child, trying to relate, but when she grew older I understood her better. I've never been one for babying a person or treating them as less than a rational adult with fully-formed ideas, so Ashley and I had spots of trouble here and there."

[justsookie]

"Sounds like the way I was with my gran," Sookie confessed, brows raising as she thought fondly back to the way things were back in Bon Temps, before everything turned tumultuous. She tilted her head, trying to figure out how to describe it exactly, the way that gran made her stand up tall and look everyone else in the eyes, the way that gran left the house to her when she had to go out with friends, whereas Jason had never come even close to getting that responsibility even after he'd graduated and found a job. "Not that she didn't know when to baby me, I guess. She was actually real good at that. But even when I was tiny and barely able to reach up onto the kitchen counters, she let me do things. One of my first memories is of bakin' pies with her. She was always my best friend."

Her eyes felt slightly warm, itching at the corners. "Which meant more than anything to me."

[lastof_five]

Helen smiled a little wider, thinking about those memories of she and Ashley within the halls of the Sanctuary when she was younger. Did Ashley have those nostalgic thoughts from time to time when she was still alive? Helen hoped so.

"Let's...let's go bake, Sookie. I won't force you, clearly, but I thought, since we both liked to..."

[justsookie]

Even though her heart was still aching, Sookie couldn't help but think that it felt... good. Proper. The sad sort of ache that came from missing home and missing people, but that didn't gut her or leave her unable to go about her work. So she smiled and held out a hand toward Helen, for the older woman to take, figuring that if they both needed each other a little, in ways meant to close the gap left behind by family, maybe that wasn't a bad thing.

"Let's go bake," she agreed with a widening smile. "Can we bake pies? I just... I like bakin' pies. Or bread."

[lastof_five]

Helen took her hand and squeezed it, smiling wide enough to flash the dimple in her left cheek. It had been a long time since she'd baked anything, pies or otherwise, and it seemed like such a nice, normal thing to do. She and Ashley wouldn't have baked, they would have cleaned guns or done kickboxing, but maybe it was time to do something new. Something different.

"Pies would be wonderful. What do we even have around here to put in them, anyway? Mangoes, I presume?"