As requested
Liar, Liar, pants . . . are fine! 3 suxx
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For a moment it looks like the deception might have worked. Lying is the old Changeling stand-by after all. Aside from silence, but silence isn't really an option when you want to convince a person of something. Then her eyes narrow. There's too many logical fallacies. There's no special upcoming event. Even if there was, the family didn't have the budget for an expensive gift right now, not with their medical bills and Robby's therapy. Besides, Robby hasn't shown the... initiative to do something like that on his own since his hospitalization last year. And here is this woman, a complete stranger, trying to separate her from her son. "W- What is this?" She asks, hesitantly, her head whipping first one way, then the other, as she tries to keep her eyes on all the Lost despite their positions surrounding her. Her voice grows more insistent, "Who are you people?" She clutches Robby to her side, fingers bunching in his clothes, as if the strangers might rip her son away from her. In this day and age, a very reasonable concern. Of the child himself, there is little reaction, but he stiffens a little, trying to retain his balance as his mother clings to him, and keep his feet.Robby's Mom rolls Wits + Empathy. Result: 3 Successes. Defender wins tie.
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Lynn drew back, allowing a look of confusion to cross her face. "Nothing is going on. I was just trying to help. I'm very sorry that I misunderstood the situation." She nodded her head to the both of them and took a step back, turning on one heel. "I'm sorry I upset you." Turning away, Lynn crossed the path and went to wait in the line for the coffee cart, deciding that her continued presence would only make things more difficult for anybody else trying to help the boy.
OOC
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Alex wants to cringe at her reaction, and can't help but wincing as Lynn's lie gets caught. He breathes in, though, and shoves some of his curls back from his face. "Sorry, Sorry. That's - not actually what was being talked about. I'm not even sure what was said, fully, but... I can tell that both you and your son are tired, tired in a way like even when you do get sleep it's horrible sleep, plagued by dreams that don't let you rest at all. And - Sorry, I have to ask, was Robby one of the group of kids who fell into a coma a year or two ago?" He watches the mother's face for a reaction, hoping for some sign that his suspicions might be right, but glances down to Ava for confirmation, before barreling on.
Not just with words, but with the slight hopping from foot to foot and furrowed eyebrow of mixed concern and bad memories. "Because if her was, you need to know - really know - that no medication will help with what he's going through. And I'm talking from experience. I've been where he is now, I've wound up in a coma like his - and err. Well, things happened, then, that changed me and woke me up, but I know... I know that it didn't matter what was prescribed to me, and that my parents didn't know where to find the help I needed."
Alex trained his eyes back to the mother, pleading with her with everything he had to hear what he was saying. "Please, I don't want what ultimately happened to me to happen to him, and Ava I'm sure can help him in a way I was never helped. Will you let us speak to him a bit longer? Please?"
It took a lot to resist the temptation to reach out a hand to the boy, to squeeze his fingers and reassure him somehow. But she wasn't about to extend her arms to an unattended child, no matter the circumstances. Mouth open to respond, Robby's mother returned in time to shut her up. The woman seemed appropriately concerned and equally wan, and which was probably more than just a staple of family resemblance. The pill that rattled out of the bottle and passed between them meant nothing to the Nix; she knew enough to recognize a prescription bottle, but it could be full of anything. Still crouched, she waved a hand with a small smile to dismiss any worry of Robby causing them trouble.
The other members of the Freehold came out of the woodwork at the mother's arrival, and despite the ache of knowing the Sandman was still victimizing children, she felt a small warmth at their willing intervention. Clearly they had heard enough to know what this was about. She couldn't really blame the mundie woman, though, for being hesitant when so many strangers suddenly being so solicitous. Holding Robby's gaze, she bit her tongue lightly as Lynn lied. That wasn't how she would've done it, but it was already said.
Slowly standing and brushing off her knees, Ava did her best to remain unthreatening. Alex's heartfelt plea for the woman to listen based on his experiences was compelling, though he flirted with giving up a little more information than she might have; the wording was vague enough and she was in a high enough state of alarm that it didn't seem to matter much. Plus, it gave her something to build on. A kindly smile on her face, Ava raised her hands slightly in a gesture somewhere between 'stop' and surrender, pacifying. "Hi, I'm Ava. I'm sorry if we've startled you. Alex is right, Robby and I were talking about his dreams- he and I met once before, awhile ago. He was alone so I wanted to make sure he was alright."
Trying to skate on by the stranger-danger aspect of the whole encounter, she continued. "I do think we could help your son, if you let us. You don't have to go anywhere with us or pay us or anything like that; there are no prescriptions we can give. We'd just like to talk to him. Sometimes who you're talking to makes all the difference." Her hands moved gently through the air as she spoke, quietly illustrating her sincerity. She really did want to help this boy, though if she was being honest with herself helping him was a by-product of getting the Sandman. Two birds, one stone, several less suffering children. Everybody won but the Sandman, and nobody was going to be sad about that.
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Even wan as she is, in the face of strangers telling her what is best for her son, crowding around her like wolves around a buffalo, Robby's mother draws herself up to her full height, and lifts her chin. Nothing is going to happen here without her consent. And if they try to take Robby, she'll tear their eyes out. Her eyes focus on Alex when he he asks about her fatigue, and frowns when he mentions the coma. "How did you know about that?" She asks quickly, hackles raised. But she blinks when he explains how he went through a similar experience. "What?" She asks, confused. Truly, this is all very strange.
Ava had been silent until now. Her voice, new to the conversation and distinctive enough to draw attention, becomes the mother's focus for the moment, and she turns to face the Scrivener. She clutches Robby tighter when Ava mentions having met Robby before. But then she mentions helping Robby. Without going anywhere or paying anything. She frowns, "I don't understand. What do you mean, you can help? Help how?"
Well, at least she was listening, sort of. While it didn't help them, Ava was actually a bit pleased by the mother's response and her unwillingness to leave her child alone with strangers, no matter how nonthreatening she imagined they would look under other circumstances (aside from Mal). She was paying attention, though unfortunately what had gotten to her child was much more insidious than a group of people accosting her in the marketplace.
"I'd just like to talk to Robby about his dreams," she repeated calmly, "And give him a little advice. I've done a bit of work with lucid dreaming and a lot of reading and I think some of the ideas could really help him." That was really as specific as she wanted to get, though plenty of hippies and kooks were into lucid dreaming, right? Half of the stuff she recoiled at mentioning probably didn't even register for some folks, namely non-Lost. As long as she could stick to the harmless, fluffy new-age vibe...
"If he doesn't want to talk to me, though, no problem. We're not trying to make anything harder for you." No problem, she'd just have to find another way into Robby's head. If she could just have a few minutes to ask about the Sandman, maybe slip a pledge in there... she might really have something to work with. She just needed a chance.
And just like that, Mal's worst fears were realised. Small child. Protective parent. Crowd of clearly associated strangers all trying to separate the two. You didn't have to have the ears or nose of a canine to smell the torches and hear the sharpening pitchforks. Things could easily blow up into A Scene in no time at all. Ava, Terri, the other guys... they had enough of an uphill struggle ahead of them trying to talk their way out of this mess, without having to explain away the presence of the battered, grumpy hunterheart. And what could she even contribute? Knock the woman out, grab the kid and leg it was about the limit of her options. If they couldn't talk the mother around, there was no way in hell Mal's presence was going to tip the balance in their favour.
The teeny tiny Beast tried to make herself as unobtrusive as possible. No sudden, obvious moves. Just fade away into the backdrop; Stealth was not a skill exclusive to prey species...
Declaring Perfect Stillness
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Alex wasn't sure what else to say to the mom. He'd been treading close enough to the truth, and if he tried to explain... no, he really couldn't say anymore to her, luckily Ava knew more of what to say, and Alex nodded along, adding his unspoken confidence in the Scrivener.
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Lynn paid for her coffee and turned around, glancing at the small group out of the corner of her eye. She didn't want to scare the woman away, but she wanted to know what was going on, in case she could help. And since she'd stuck her foot so firmly in her mouth, the nice lady would run for the hills if she approached again. Luckily, the Lost had more options. It was difficult in the full light of the day, but she wrapped herself in the distraction of the crowd and slowly approached until she was close enough to hear what was going on, making sure to stay out of the mother's direct line of sight. It wasn't as good as true invisibility, but anyone looking at her would simply be distracted at the crucial moment.
Hey, look over there! 1 Suxx
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