YOU. ME. WE.
We cut to Anna Daniels. The Muse is walking towards the staging area. Her face shows nothing but determination. That is, unless she looks down to her right. Walking alongside her is one Bucky Rex Daniels, thankfully unarmed at this moment. Being the good boi he is, even his mother can’t stay too serious when looking down at him. As they draw close, Bucky stops, ears perked up. He turns around and stares for a moment before bolting off, barking as he does.
The Time Lord calls his name and starts pursuit as the quick canine darts around the corner. She catches up a few seconds later. By that time, Bucky is on his back, down, tongue hanging out of his mouth… As he gets a wonderful belly rub from a woman with pink hair.
“Who’s the goodest boi?! Is it you? Yes it is!” Ria Lockhart coos as she expertly gives Bucky’s tummy delightfully scratches. As Anna draws near, Ria stands up, leaving Bucky disappointed. She offers Anna a warm smile. “Hey.”
The warm smile is echoed in Anna’s face as Bucky scampers back to her side, proud that he found his friend. There’s a small bit of discussion within the Multitudes considering how to respond. Should they be reserved? The question comes and goes quickly and passively. Ria is still Ria, even after everything she went through. Best to be casual. The Prime holds her hand up towards all the others. She can handle this. The vessel’s mouth forms words.
“Hey, sis. How’s tricks?”
Who in the everlasting fuck did that come from? Somewhere, the Prime shrugs. Stuff pops out when it needs to. Unconsciously, she gives ear scratchies to her pup which make the already wagging tail go even faster. Lockhart tilts her head and sends a pleasantly confused glance back towards Anna.
“I dunno what that means. Unless you’re talking about the cereal, in which case, decent!” Ria chuckles after speaking. “We haven’t really gotten to see each other much since I left… I know it doesn’t have to be said, but you know I’ll be cheering you on tonight. You got this!”
Ria’s words echo through the hallway, her tone excited. Big events like Ultraviolence require big energy. Though unlikely that the Prime would need such motivation, her mutually adopted sister was clearly making sure Anna would have it one way or another.
A shake of the head. They briefly consider telling her what the phrase meant but overall decide against it. “We figured you would!” The smile turns into a grin as Anna suddenly steps up and ruffles Ria’s hair playfully. “And you’re right! We haven’t seen each other as much since everything happened.”
This is said as they know full well that it’s every bit their fault as it is hers. Perhaps even more so. Yes, the little sis Anna never had was in a facility taking care of her issues. But they could’ve stopped by. Hell, they thought about stopping by. Then the flurry of thoughts hit. Would that have hindered her progress? Could it still? In the end, they chose to just let things play out as they should without any input from the Multitudes. Let Ria decide her own fate. Running around other universes and dealing with Mephisto only made the wait last a bit longer.
Then another thought struck. “Did we tell you that we missed you yet?”
Ria beams. “You didn’t. I figured that was the case… But it’s still nice to hear!” She pauses for a moment before locking eyes with the Muse. “I admire you, ya know? I can be a mess at times. Even now, I struggle. I’m better, but I’m not perfect. I look at you… You’re strong, you’re confident. I used to be a bit envious of you. But I realized, I could be like that. I’m still working on it though.”
Quiet takes over the area. It’s not an awkward silence or any kind of unfortunate effect of emotion. Things that could, and maybe should, have been said were coming to the forefront. Pent up positive emotion, flowing out like water from an opened gate. Ria steps forward, wrapping her arms around her big sister.
Somewhere in the background of Anna’s mind, Firebug lights a cigarette and snarks that perfection is a myth. Everybody else rolls their eyes, having heard this particular rant more times than they care to count. There is also a temptation to tell her that it took a lot of time, way too much thinking, and a massive amount of work to get to this point. Another shakes her head, muttering that there’s nothing to admire…
But they opt for something simple. A return of the hug. “You’ll get there. We have faith in you.” And they all do have that faith. Meanwhile, Bucky looks at this and whines. Anna’s eyes dart over to him. “What? We can’t help it you don’t have arms!”
“Yeah! It also doesn’t help you might be the only one in PRIME shorter than me!” Ria playfully chides the canine. Both bend down to give Bucky some attention. Remember, good boi, deserves pets. While still gently scratching the dog’s ears, Lockhart’s eyes again meet the Time Lord’s.
“Speaking of having faith in someone… I know I said you got this. I truly believe that. Take Mephisto’s ass down so you can move on to bigger, better things!” The Rainbow Rock emphatically states. She flashes Daniels one last encouraging smile.
A confident smirk pops up in response. “Thank you. That’s the idea, anyway.” But of course, there are many different ways this can go. Maybe they will beat him. Maybe he’ll beat her. Maybe she ends up broken. Maybe he crumbles under the weight. Maybe shenanigans will ensue and a blood lava monster shows up to ruin the whole thing. It is this uncertainty and the scope of endless possibility that makes living like the humans fun, in a way.
Another quick hug from the Muse and then… “We gotta go, Bucky. Gotta see this through to the end.” The black lab barks in approval as the vessel’s eyes look at her little sis again. “And remember, we’re drinking after all this. We have some catching up to do.”
Anna blows Ria a kiss as she walks off straight towards another fine mess she’s gotten into.