Interactions: Catherine. - Tumblr Posts
she tucks an errant strand of hair behind her ear before settling her hands back into her lap. where could she possibly begin? when she closes her eyes, her daughter's face burns into her mind — all that horror and fear, the tears brimming from eyes so much like james's.
❝ she wouldn't even look at me, ❞ she says after a heartbeat, her gaze affixed on the wall behind jamie. when her gaze finally flickers to him, pain fills her eyes. ❝ my being alive, it ... it hurt her. ❞
she knows she isn't catherine, at least not in the ways that count most. that doesn't change the way she aches to comfort her daughter, to make up for the thirty years lost to them.
❝ madison creating me was bad enough, but it was never supposed to harm eliana. i was never supposed to leave the institute. ❞
to simply cease to exist is not in catherine's nature. her mind, however splintered it may be, still possesses knowledge to help the wasteland. if she can use it without causing further harm ...
❝ chris said you would understand what it was like to wake up again, but i think what i really need from you is a purpose. you found one for madison, didn't you? let me help your mission. i know i'll never be her mother, but i can at least make this world a little better for eliana. ❞
@nuclearbinds said:
❛ I have questions. I have doubts. I don’t know what is right and what is wrong anymore. ❜ - from catherine to jamie!!
He pauses briefly, eyes focused on what he'd been doing before turning his attention to her. He had been ASKED ( by Chris no less ) to speak with her. He hadn't really realized who she was until her name came up.
She's Eliana's Mother. Or rather...AN ECHO of her perhaps. She hadn't spoken about her mother much, and judging by what Jamie knew, she died giving birth to her, so it was HARDLY a surprise that she was a point of distress & tension.
Her being a synth certainly complicated matters further ( he'd be having a discussion with Dr. Li about this later ). When she'd entered she'd been SHEEPISH, almost unsure. According to Chris & June they'd found her and Eliana went into a near catatonic state, seemingly unable to respond at all.
He gestures, a seat before him on the other side of his desk, and when she finally finds it he begins. Hands fold first onto the desk as he speaks evenly.
"Yes. I imagine...I imagine you are feeling overwhelmed."
He could relate. He distinctly recalls his OWN experiences with...an afterlife and waking up immediately following it by being very much "alive". It was a point where it gave him CLARITY on how Danse felt when the revelation came out.
"Mr. Wells thought I might be able to give some...HELP on this matter considering I have an intimate understanding of what you might be going through. Now I am not one to mince words, nor am I especially apt on...this. But if you have any questions, this is a safe space."
@bldrdsh said: ❛ do you think we're gonna survive this? ❜ dorothy @ catherine
❝ yes, yes! of course, ❞ she says, reaching out to lay a reassuring hand on the young woman's forearm. ❝ this storm will pass us right by. we'll be fine. ❞ she gives her arm a gentle squeeze before releasing it, walking a few steps away to peer out into the street. any creature or human with any sense has stowed away like them, leaving an eerie silence and a rapidly darkening sky in their wake.
❝ don't worry your pretty little head, sweetheart, ❞ catherine continues, turning on her heel to go back to dorothy. ❝ you'll be home and safe with your family soon enough. ❞
goodneighbor draws her in like a moth to flame; it promises a place for misfits, and heaven help her, catherine certainly feels like a misfit these days. a faint guilt gnaws at her, though it's been a couple weeks, now, since she left madison and escaped the institute.
the railroad told her of a place called the memory den, suggested she go there to have her memory wiped and start a new life, free of the bonds of the institute and the real catherine's life before it.
tempting as it is, she can't go through with it, can't erase what little identity she has. she passes the business right by.
it's when she's looking for a semi-friendly face to act as a guide that a shock of red hair, not entirely unlike her own, catches her eye.
she turns, eyes widening. she knows that face, once saw it through the static of the gene projector.
her girl. her baby girl.
❝ charlie? ❞ she blurts out the name before she can help herself. her fingers rise to her mouth, as if she can usher the name back between her lips. / @arcanumsolitude
@butnobodyhome liked for a starter from catherine!
❝ hm. ❞ catherine tilts her head upwards, wide eyes watching the airship float past. she recognizes the brotherhood insignia, even before they begin declaring themselves. the brotherhood of steel she knew ( the one tainted by madison's disdain for the faction ) never wielded such firepower. ❝ what do you make of that? ❞ she asks, leaning back against the power noodles bar and reaching for her half-finished bottle of nuka cola.
❝ looks and sounds like trouble to me. ❞
her brow furrows, frustration etching itself into the faint lines of her forehead. it smooths as quickly as it appears, and catherine slumps in her seat.
❝ it used to be much easier, ❞ she says, letting out a humorless laugh. ❝ i had james and project purity, then eliana. i knew where i was needed. ❞ now, her baby is grown, her husband dead and the purifier up and running, all without her interference. ❝ but now, i'm not a wife, or a mother, or even a scientist. ❞
she thinks of madison, tries for the millionth time to reconcile her with the little girl she once knew and the ambitious woman she last recalls, prior to these last few months in the institute.
❝ i hope you won't be too hard on madison, ❞ she adds quietly. ❝ she was lonely, and, well, no one knew her like me, i suppose. ❞ in another life, it might make her chuckle, to think of the stoic dr. li foregoing all rationale to recreate her best friend. ❝ we grew up together, her and i. goodness, i don't know that we were ever apart until -- ❞
she catches herself reminiscing and flashes jamie an apologetic smile.
❝ it sounded as if you and eliana have known each other for some time, too. are you from the capital wasteland? ❞
It's hard for him to deny that this was all feeling INCREDIBLY familiar, especially considering the fact that beyond the simple fact that he had already lived through experience, this had more than a little rippling impact on everyone involved. Her very presence had sent Eliana into a practically catatonic state the moment the came face to face.
HE LISTENS, something he is typically much more sparing with, but as per the special request, he was treating this as what it was. A special edge case in an otherwise largely clear experiment of how to bounce back from the apocalypse.
"It...you, you're complicated for her. Though she never told me much, the information I did gather is something that would take a NORMAL circumstance years to untangle. I want to be clear, you are of no fault in this, and despite how she might act and how...EXTREME her reaction was, she is unlikely to hold any of this against you."
He clears his throat, trying to figure out how to navigate this fully. It's a hard situation to understand, especially considering the fact that she didn't have ANY CHOICE. One could be forgiven for thinking she was right to feel overwhelmed.
"That's different, Dr. Li's mind is brilliant, and despite her flaws I have always respected her for her pragmatism when it came to science. And while she had a lapse in judgment, you're not to blame for that."
BEFORE HE CAN CONTINUE, her response comes. Purpose. It's ironic to him that PURPOSE is what she seeks answers on, when in truth even he couldn't answer that for her. He pauses once again, hands folding before him before he exhales quietly.
"...I'm afraid I can't answer that for you."
perhaps her quick identification of charlie proves that her maternal instincts remain, somehow ingrained into the scattered version of herself that madison's pieced together.
she freezes, hand falling away from her mouth as she surveys her daughter. she looks so much like james, but catherine can see bits of herself, too.
❝ i — ❞ she begins. her mouth moves but no further explanation comes out. ❝ i suppose you don't. ❞ she finally manages. ❝ but i know you. ❞ out of muscle memory, her right palm grazes her stomach. how many times has she reached down, surprised to find the flesh beneath her hand flat? she wouldn't wish that hollowness upon anyone.
❝ do you remember a woman named madison li? ❞
Similarly, Goodneighbor was a place that captured her interest from the ever instance she set foot in the Commonwealth, rumors of a location with the means to glance into one's memories and with the lack of many, it'd been a opportunity that she couldn't afford to pass by her. Irma and Dr. Amari were helpful in the procedure which turned out to be a success, but Charlie was admittedly struggling with wrapping her head around everything she got back.
The Third Rail was a comfort amidst it all and for that, she was thankful, between the music and the company. She enjoyed sitting and talking with Magnolia and Whitechapel Charlie. But nobody can take the place of the friends she'd made over in the Mojave - or the ones from her birthplace in DC's ruins.
She missed them and sticking around Goodneighbor moping wasn't an option. Sooner or later, Charlie planned to go back home.
It was in the middle of a quick run along to the bar that she heard her name being uttered, not Aries but Charlie, and she couldn't help but turn towards the source, eyes equally widened but with mild confusion.
"Do I know you?" She didn't intend to sound blunt. Catherine's face wasn't one she recognized - as much as James had spoken highly of her over the years, he never had any pictures to show Charlie.
a low rumble of thunder hums through the air. catherine swears she can feel the electricity, coiling like a snake, building around them. despite her own unease ( she never much liked storms herself, though they were few and far between in d.c. ), she keeps her expression cheerful.
❝ well, i'm no replacement for your dad, of course, but i'll sit with you, ❞ she says. ❝ you know what, how about a distraction to pass the time? why don't you tell me about yourself, rose? about your family? ❞
She pauses momentarily, glancing at the other woman as she tries to think quickly. Storms always made her so nervous, and while usually Rose was able to quell it, she'd been venturing forth further without the protective stance of her sister to make her feel more at ease.
She frowns a little, looking at the other woman for a moment before drawing in a quiet breath and rubbing the back of her neck.
"I know I know, I just...storms aren't really my favorite thing. Ever since I was a little girl, and normally my father will sit with me until I'm able to sleep properly."