Yeah, I know. He seemed to be, though. A lot of people think there's good in him.
[She doesn't say it, but she's seen glimpses of it too. Even if he generally tries to bury it again immediately.]
I wish he'd prove them right a little more often.
I don't think he'll really listen either, and yeah, like some of the others have said, it's time to start trying to get some protections in place, do we can all rest a little easier.
[It's not just her she's worried about. She has seen Maul threaten to go after people through their friends, and the idea of one of them getting caught in the crossfire worries her far more than Maul coming after her, herself.]
[ Is Ange surprised that Willow is immediately turning this from a conversation of concern for her into a conversation of concern about everyone? Of course not. Willow is just like that, one of those types who'd think of other people before herself.
But Ange can roll with that. ]
I have to admit that I'm unfamiliar with how strong exactly he is. [ Mostly because she has been avoiding Maul like the plague whenever she was able to do so. ] Have you been able to cast protections strong enough to keep him away?
Ohhh, he's strong. And pretty scary when he's angry. He's got some telekinetic powers. First time I ran into him in Deerington, he pulled a limb off a tree without touching it to try to corner me, and he almost outran my horse. If I didn't have wards up around my old house, and TRUST...
[Willow switches the feed to private, and she's a little bit more hesitant when she speaks as she tries to find the right words.]
Hey, um... Tara doesn't know. About a lot of the Deerington stuff - like what happened with Salem. It's not that I don't want to tell her, it's just... she died, at home, and she's. I think that's part of what's going on with her here. I think she's having a tough time with it.
I don't want to. You know. Be insensitive, or traumatize her all over again with telling her what happened to me. She seems pretty fragile right now.
I did cast some protections around my house, and TRUST, and here. But they broke when. Well. You know. Even if I could cast them here, with me being on Maul's list, it probably wouldn't be smart for me to do it. Just in case.
[ She's a little surprised to suddenly see the feed switch like that.
On the other hand, when Willow starts talking.. Ange gets it. Why this is private, and why this is a sensitive subject. It's easy to see just how much Willow cares about Tara - of course she'd want to be careful about this, just so she doesn't hurt the other while Tara is already having a hard time.
It's also one more reason to make absolutely sure to keep Maul out of the house. And away from Willow, since Ange isn't sure if Tara could handle something happening to Willow on top of it all.. ]
... so.. should I try to do it?
[ Even though she's sure she wouldn't be as good about it as Willow. That's Ange's main worry. ]
That shouldn't be a problem, right? If she wonders why you didn't do it, you can just.. just say that I'm better at it. Or something. [ Even if that is a bold-faced lie, but still. ]
[Willow shifts a little uncomfortably. She does not like not telling Tara things, but it's not that she doesn't have any intention of telling her, just not now.]
Well, she knows I'm... not using magic here. So she can handle the spell itself. It's just the other stuff I'm kind of trying not to say a whole lot about just yet. But I mean, really, it doesn't matter much who does the spells, as long as they get done.
[ There's that pause before she says it. Ange doesn't mean to butt in, but on the other hand.. She can't help but say it, even though she does get why Willow is doing this the way she is doing it. It's pretty obvious that something about Tara isn't entirely okay.
And since the protection spells will end up being done either way, it's not as productive to talk about those as it might be to talk about this - especially with the Maul situation growing so dire. If Tara doesn't know, then things might just get even more awkward or complicated. ]
You know, keeping that much from her, if you guys are so close.
[It is extremely awkward. Willow, of course, has told Tara a lot about Deerington, save for her death, and nearly killing Ford, but then again, she also hasn't told her about almost ending the world at home. The first for Tara's sake, the latter for her own. She doesn't think she could bear the look on her face.]
I hate it. I want to tell her everything, Ange. I love her. More than anything, and it's hard to keep secrets from her. I just - She seems kind of, I don't know, fragile right now. I don't want to make that worse, so I've been trying to, you know, go slow, so it's less of a knowledge overload.
[She's lost track of how many times this has happened - that either Deerington or Trench has forced them into a situation where they had to talk about their problems, or their trauma, or their secrets.
Willow hates exactly everything about all of this. It's hard to know what the right thing to do is.]
And I have been telling her stuff. Just not everything about everything all at once. I mean, she already hates it here, I think.
[ Well, it's not like Ange can really blame anyone for hating it here. It's not like Trench is exactly ideal. ]
.. do you think there's any way to help her? [ It's not really like they can do much about this place, but.. There's got to be something they can do, right? ]
I don't want her to just keep feeling crappy.
[ At least they can try to Maul-proof the house with spells. That's doable.
Cheering someone up? That's harder. You can't just do that with magic. ]
[Willow sighs. There was a time where she would have reached for a spell to try to fix whatever's going on with Tara, but she's long since learned her lesson on that one.]
I guess all we can do is be the supportive and help as much as we can.
[ It's a little disappointing, that answer. Ange figures that Willow would know how to deal with this for sure. After all, who here knows Tara better than she does? It'd be like Ange not knowing what to do if Ruby was that far gone.
It'd feel awful. ]
I'll make sure to help out with that then. And the spells.
[It's not an answer Willow finds particularly satisfying either, but at least for the moment, it's all she has. Especially with Tara not telling her exactly how she's feeling.]
Thanks, Ange. I'll let you know if I find out anything else too, of course.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
no subject
[She doesn't say it, but she's seen glimpses of it too. Even if he generally tries to bury it again immediately.]
I wish he'd prove them right a little more often.
I don't think he'll really listen either, and yeah, like some of the others have said, it's time to start trying to get some protections in place, do we can all rest a little easier.
[It's not just her she's worried about. She has seen Maul threaten to go after people through their friends, and the idea of one of them getting caught in the crossfire worries her far more than Maul coming after her, herself.]
no subject
But Ange can roll with that. ]
I have to admit that I'm unfamiliar with how strong exactly he is. [ Mostly because she has been avoiding Maul like the plague whenever she was able to do so. ] Have you been able to cast protections strong enough to keep him away?
1/2
2/2 [Private]
Hey, um... Tara doesn't know. About a lot of the Deerington stuff - like what happened with Salem. It's not that I don't want to tell her, it's just... she died, at home, and she's. I think that's part of what's going on with her here. I think she's having a tough time with it.
I don't want to. You know. Be insensitive, or traumatize her all over again with telling her what happened to me. She seems pretty fragile right now.
I did cast some protections around my house, and TRUST, and here. But they broke when. Well. You know. Even if I could cast them here, with me being on Maul's list, it probably wouldn't be smart for me to do it. Just in case.
[Private]
On the other hand, when Willow starts talking.. Ange gets it. Why this is private, and why this is a sensitive subject. It's easy to see just how much Willow cares about Tara - of course she'd want to be careful about this, just so she doesn't hurt the other while Tara is already having a hard time.
It's also one more reason to make absolutely sure to keep Maul out of the house. And away from Willow, since Ange isn't sure if Tara could handle something happening to Willow on top of it all.. ]
... so.. should I try to do it?
[ Even though she's sure she wouldn't be as good about it as Willow. That's Ange's main worry. ]
That shouldn't be a problem, right? If she wonders why you didn't do it, you can just.. just say that I'm better at it. Or something. [ Even if that is a bold-faced lie, but still. ]
[Private]
Well, she knows I'm... not using magic here. So she can handle the spell itself. It's just the other stuff I'm kind of trying not to say a whole lot about just yet. But I mean, really, it doesn't matter much who does the spells, as long as they get done.
[Private]
Isn't it.. a little awkward?
[ There's that pause before she says it. Ange doesn't mean to butt in, but on the other hand.. She can't help but say it, even though she does get why Willow is doing this the way she is doing it. It's pretty obvious that something about Tara isn't entirely okay.
And since the protection spells will end up being done either way, it's not as productive to talk about those as it might be to talk about this - especially with the Maul situation growing so dire. If Tara doesn't know, then things might just get even more awkward or complicated. ]
You know, keeping that much from her, if you guys are so close.
[Private]
I hate it. I want to tell her everything, Ange. I love her. More than anything, and it's hard to keep secrets from her. I just - She seems kind of, I don't know, fragile right now. I don't want to make that worse, so I've been trying to, you know, go slow, so it's less of a knowledge overload.
[Private]
[ Especially since Ange has seen Tara, has seen how the other acts. It makes it a lot easier to understand why Willow might want to go gentle on her.
That's not Ange's worry, really. ]
It's just.. you know how this place is. [ They know too well, unfortunately. ] Sooner or later she might find out anyway.
[ Because Deerington and Trench don't like them keeping things to themselves. It's been a running theme. ]
And I wouldn't want things to get strained between you guys just because she might feel like you kept things from her, you know?
[Private]
[She's lost track of how many times this has happened - that either Deerington or Trench has forced them into a situation where they had to talk about their problems, or their trauma, or their secrets.
Willow hates exactly everything about all of this. It's hard to know what the right thing to do is.]
And I have been telling her stuff. Just not everything about everything all at once. I mean, she already hates it here, I think.
[Private]
.. do you think there's any way to help her? [ It's not really like they can do much about this place, but.. There's got to be something they can do, right? ]
I don't want her to just keep feeling crappy.
[ At least they can try to Maul-proof the house with spells. That's doable.
Cheering someone up? That's harder. You can't just do that with magic. ]
[Private]
[Willow sighs. There was a time where she would have reached for a spell to try to fix whatever's going on with Tara, but she's long since learned her lesson on that one.]
I guess all we can do is be the supportive and help as much as we can.
[Private]
[ It's a little disappointing, that answer. Ange figures that Willow would know how to deal with this for sure. After all, who here knows Tara better than she does? It'd be like Ange not knowing what to do if Ruby was that far gone.
It'd feel awful. ]
I'll make sure to help out with that then. And the spells.
[Private]
Thanks, Ange. I'll let you know if I find out anything else too, of course.