"Gonna make a pie from heaven above, gonna be filled with strawberry love . . ."

[sugarsyrup]

Since dawn there have been wonderful smells floating in the air, all warm and lovely and creating a wave of extra heat radiating from the kitchen

Comments

[i_flynomore]

Lynette comes into the kitchen a little while later, to make herself a sandwich before she goes back to work. There are smudges on her face and a streak of grease in her cropped hair, rust stains on her clothes.

She has never had pie before; pie is an anomaly. Also to-day has been fraught with tape-flash, and she's skittish and on edge, and could desperately use someone to gentle her.

[sugarsyrup]

"Why did you take it?" Deliverance asks, as casually as if she were asking what someone needed from the corner store, and utterly without judgment.

[i_flynomore]

"We didn't know what it was. We never got to have tape before, only Elaine, and it was just lying out in her locker, and Percy picked it up--"

[sugarsyrup]

"But there have been negative effects since?" She gives Lynette an examining look.

[i_flynomore]

"It's in my head, sera. All the time. It never goes away."

[sugarsyrup]

"I see." Deliverance sips her lemonade contemplatively. "What does it feel like?"

[i_flynomore]

"I--I don't know. It's pictures. Flash. They come sudden and they feel real, like tape, and I forget--I forget who I am."

[sugarsyrup]

"Do you know anything about how it works?"

[i_flynomore]

"I don't know. It's just there. It's stuck in my head."

[sugarsyrup]

Deliverance says nothing for a moment, just nods. Then, "We'll see what's to be done," as if she has no doubt something can be.

[i_flynomore]

Lynette looks at her a little trustingly. "Yes, sera."

[sugarsyrup]

"Can you tell me any more?"

[i_flynomore]

"I don't know. It's just there. It's there. It splices with my memories."

[sugarsyrup]

Another nod. "All right." She smooths her apron, grandmotherly again, the examining look fading. "Will you have some iced tea?"

[i_flynomore]

"Is it any trouble, sera?"

[sugarsyrup]

"None at all. It's brewed up already."