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Post by Madame HYDRA on May 17, 2017 14:40:14 GMT -5
1932 - An apartment in Hightown, Madripoor
Viper had stopped off at one of the local safe points to meet with Seraph to check and make sure she wasn't too seriously injured from her latest mission. Luckily, she wasn't. Some minor bruising, but there weren't any gunshots or knife wounds this time. She was thankful for that, at least. It meant Jessica wouldn't have to worry about her.
She was trying to be more careful on missions now that Jessica was getting older. She couldn't just rely on her daughter's young memory to forget everything. As a baby, it didn't matter if she'd come home covered in her own blood or someone else's. But now? Now Jessica was starting to remember. She was old enough to be worried and horrified at the state her mother was coming home in. She couldn't do that to her anymore.
She breathed a heavy sigh of exhaustion as she stood at the door to her apartment. Seraph had gone ahead to check on Jessica, and Viper had stayed behind to take her time getting home. She was wiped out from this mission, but it meant more than enough money to keep her daughter in a luxurious apartment atop one of the nicest towers in Hightown. Jessica deserved the very best, and Viper was going to give it to her. She had to. If she was going to subject her daughter to the pain of having to see her mother disappear for days at a time on missions, she might as well have the very best to live in.
Finally, she opened the door, and put on the brightest smile, pulling her hair out of her face and into a pony tail so she could swoop down and sweep Jessica off her feet. "There's my angel!" she declared, kissing all over her daughter's face. She held Jessica in a close hug and nuzzled her face obnoxiously into her cheek. "I hope you've been cooperating with Aunt Seraph."
Seraph smirked and leaned against the door frame. "She's been a Wánměi de tiānshǐ."
Viper's head snapped to look at her, eyes wide. "Seraph!"
"Relax, Viper. It just means 'perfect angel'." Though, clearly from Seraph's howling laughter, she had quite enjoyed getting that reaction from the mercenary.
Viper turned her attention to Jessica again and gently ran her hand through the child's hair, a warm, motherly smile on her face. "I'm so glad to hear it," she said, though she was apparently still upset from Seraph's little joke. "I can always count on you to be my best, most well behaved girl, can't I Jessica?"
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Arachne
Neutral 
I didn't think I'd make it... And I was right. Again.
Posts: 41 
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Post by Arachne on May 21, 2017 14:21:37 GMT -5
Jessica had been busy playing with her dolls when she heard the front door open. All she could do was gasp in delight before her mother picked up and held her close. She giggled as her face was kissed and she happily returned the favor, wrapping her little arms around her mother’s neck. “You’re home! You’re home!” It was always a wonderful moment when her mother returned. That meant she was safe and the bad people she was sent out to beat up had been dealt with. Jessica wasn’t entirely sure why there were so many people her mother went after, or what they did to deserve her attention, but it never mattered so long as she came home.
Greetings over, Jessica carefully looked over her mother, or as carefully as a seven year old being held by an adult could. There were no large bruises and her mother didn’t wince as she lifted her up, nor were there any dark red stains on her clothing. That garnered Viper a second, tighter hug, one filled with more worry and happiness that the little child worried over nothing than the previous one. Jessica vaguely remembered seeing her mother come home late one night in a terrible state. It had been past her bedtime and a loud noise, shouting or the slamming of a door, woke her. She had wandered into the kitchen to find her mother being stitched up by Seraph; a bloody gash along her side. Jessica panicked up seeing that, not know who hurt her mother or why it had been done, but she climbed up into her mother’s lap, crying, and refused to let go of her until the wound was bandaged up and Viper managed to rock her back to sleep. As a result, Jessica refused to sleep in her own bed for a week, afraid that the bad men would come back and hurt her mother. It was after that point that Seraph began teaching her a few, minor lessons on defense; useful techniques a child could master. Weapon training would happen when she got older.
“Yes, I’m a wahmaiden ten-she,” she replied, trying to copy what Seraph had said. She grinned at her mother’s reaction, knowing full well that she didn’t like some of the sayings Seraph often spoke. But what she was unaware of was that her daughter was a fast learner of dirty words in foreign languages, because, naturally, those were the fun words to know. “I’m glad that you weren’t hurt this time, mama. I don’t like you hurt,” she said, giving her another kiss on the cheek. “And of course I’m the best behaved girl, mama. Aunt Seraph is too old to be a girl and I’m your only daughter,” she informed her matter-of-factly. “Where did you go tonight? What did you do? Aunt Seraph left a little while ago, saying she was going to get groceries, but she forgot them and won’t tell me what she did instead.”
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Post by Madame HYDRA on May 30, 2017 19:16:39 GMT -5
Seeing her daughter play with dolls and smile like that when she walked in the door really gave Viper all the strength she ever needed to keep going. She let Jessica look her over and hug her a second time. The second hug, she could tell, was a hug of more worry than a seven year old needed to feel. But such as life was for them right now. Viper wanted to keep under HYDRA's radar for now, and she especially wanted to keep her daughter secret. She had no way of knowing how the father would react to knowing he had sired a child into this world, and frankly, she didn't want to find out. Jessica was all she had right now, and she would die before she let anything happen to her.
And she hated that Jessica was starting to have more memories of her being so injured. She felt like a horrible mother, bringing her child such a fright. She remembered one night she had come home, and Seraph had sworn she had put Jessica to sleep. It was one of the more difficult jobs to date, and her target managed to take a piece of her side with him as he choked out his last breath. And Jessica, bless her heart, had walked in while she was being bandaged up. It tore her heart to pieces to see her in that state, but there wasn't much she could do about it. All she could do was coo her and calm her and rock her back to sleep. That was when she had decided that her reckless days were behind her. She became more subtle in her approach, which saved her a lot of bruises. Instead of a regular mercenary, she became more of an assassin in the shadows. Anything so she didn't have to see that heartbreaking look on her daughter's face again.
Of course, then Seraph had started teaching Jessica some self defense techniques. Viper wasn't very appreciative of that, because she didn't want to see a world in which her daughter would have to defend herself. She wanted to be the protector, so that Jessica would never know fear. But she could hardly control Seraph, especially when she was out on missions.
And she could hardly control that Jessica was fixated on learning Mandarin with Seraph.
It wasn't a bad word, but Jessica had picked up on such filthy language from Seraph, it annoyed Viper to no end. And she knew Seraph knew that. She was sure Seraph was doing it just to see the look on her face, and it was working beautifully.
"I'm glad I'm not hurt this time, too," she said, smiling brightly. "Those bad guys didn't stand a chance against me." She playfully tickled Jessica and nuzzled her face into her daughter's neck before hoisting her back onto her hip.
"Let's see... This time I went to the far away, magical realm of Egypt. I swashbuckled with pirates on the Nile, and waved to the pyramids as I closed in on my target." She always liked over aggrandizing her tales for her daughter, making them sound far more spectacular than they really were. "We battled on the Sphinx. He had a near neverending supply of goons and henchmen trying to take me out, but they were no match for me! I fought my way valiantly through them, and when my foe and I met on the head of the Sphinx, he offered me gold to spare him. I refused. He offered me diamonds. I refused. He offered me anything I wanted. I refused. You know why?"
"Because you don't negotiate with terrorists." Seraph interrupted, bluntly.
"No, Seraph," Viper playfully sneered before looking back at Jessica. "Because all I could ever want was waiting for me back in Madripoor." She kissed her daughter's forehead and smiled.
"And as for Seraph? Well, I'm sure she just forgot the groceries. She's getting quite old, you know."
"Bùyào zhèyàng de bit zi!"
Viper's eyes went wide and she covered Jessica's ears, but it was too late. She'd heard more filthy language, and she had only Seraph to blame for it.
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Arachne
Neutral
I didn't think I'd make it... And I was right. Again.
Posts: 41
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Post by Arachne on Jun 6, 2017 6:07:05 GMT -5
Jessica playing with her dolls hadn’t exactly been as innocent as many would think initially. Like all child, her imagination was colored and shaped by events in her life, and, at the moment her mother had walked in, they were currently in the midst of a sword fight for the plans to a weapon that would either save the world or blow it up. To be honest, Jessica hadn’t decided the outcome. Saving the world would have just been as likely a thing to happen as a pack of tigers and elephants appearing and trampling the whole lot, or a group of wild women tying everyone up for sacrifice. Such was the imagination of a child.
“They never do against you,” Jessica answered, trying to banish the fears of her mother not coming home. She knew Seraph would raise her and be the aunt she had always been, but it wouldn’t be the same. Jessica only had two family members; her mother and Aunt Seraph. To lose either would be devastating, but if she were honest, she’d rather lose Seraph. Not that she would ever tell. Thankfully, her mother’s playful tickling drew Jessica out of the dark and sobering thoughts. She giggled and shrieked, trying to squirm away from the invading fingers until her mother finally stopped and told a story of her last adventure. Jessica always was enraptured by these stories, whether they were exaggerated or not.
She listened, entranced, having had known some things about the land of Egypt. It was a place of sand and pyramids, where bandaged mummies walked and people wrote using pictures. They also had people with animal heads there that they worshipped as gods. As Viper spoke, Jessica’s imagination ran with the story, picturing her mother fighting pirates with peg-legs, eye patches, and hooks for hands. They battled on the Sphinx, a giant cat statue that guarded the pyramids and, in her mind, came to life at the right moment to eat one pirate that tried to stab her mother in the back. In the end, her mother was victorious, standing on top of a pile of beaten pirates, cutlass raised high, gleaming off the sunlight as the Sphinx purred happily, with the treasure-laden pirate ship somewhere along the Nile. Jessica started to ask about the treasure, but her mother had probably given it to the people because everyone knew pirates had a tendency to burn towns and villages they plundered. Either way, this was definitely a story she would have to draw later on.
Seraph’s exclamation drew Jessica’s attention, though the words came out so fast that she had no time to understand them or try to copy what was said. All she knew was that it was quite the profanity laced swear, otherwise her mother wouldn’t have covered her ears. “Don’t worry, mama. I don’t know that one,” she told her. She would have to wait until it was just her and Seraph to find out what she had said.
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Post by Madame HYDRA on Jun 23, 2017 14:05:02 GMT -5
Viper seemed satisfied that Jessica didn't know what Seraph was saying, and so she removed her hands and smiled at her daughter. Seraph smirked and went into the kitchen, satisfied with herself for making Viper react the way she did.
Viper lifted her Jessica up with ease and held her above her head before lowering her back down and tickling her.
She was sure it was an odd image. A mercenary with as feared a reputation as she had, playing with a child the way she was. But the fact of the matter was, she didn't much care. Jessica was now her reason for living. Jessica was her reason to come home alive. She didn't have one eight years ago, but now? Now, she had someone that needed her alive. It was a satisfying feeling, and it was more than she could have ever wished for.
When she was done tickling her daughter, she nuzzled her nose against the little one's and held her close. Right now, she was sore and exhausted, and she wanted nothing more than to spend time with the one person in the world that meant the most to her. She beamed at Jessica and brushed some hair out of her face.
"How do you feel about curling up in a mountain of pillows? I can braid your hair and read to you. How does that sound to you?"
Under normal circumstances, of course, she might not have offered it. But it was almost their ritual. After every mission she came back from, they would curl up in a pillow fort, eat a huge dinner, stay up late, and read Jessica's favorite books. Viper put her own spin on it, because the women needed to be stronger. There were hardly any good female role models for her daughter, so she would change the story as she read to give her daughter exactly that.
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Arachne
Neutral
I didn't think I'd make it... And I was right. Again.
Posts: 41
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Post by Arachne on Jul 10, 2017 23:07:46 GMT -5
Jessica tried so terribly hard to figure out just what it was Aunt Seraph had said, but she had been so fast with her words, and the fact that she just left with a smirk infuriated the little girl so much that she was about to run after the older woman and demand an explanation. Or at least she would have had her mother not swung her up into the air with such ease and began tickling her. That was truly, truly diabolic. Jessica laughed and squealed as she was tickled, her little body trying to evade the attacks; a futile effort, of course. After all, she was in her mother’s grip.
Once the tickling had subsided, Jessica caught her breath and rested against her mother, just content to be this close to her. She loved her tremendously, and Jessica couldn’t wait for the day that she was old enough to help Viper on the missions that she took on a regular basis. She didn’t exactly know what she would do on those missions, but it would most certainly be a very important job. However, Viper’s next words seemed even more vital. No matter how much ritual it was for the two of them, Jessica was always happy and excited to have evenings like this with her mother. “Yes, I would like that very much, mama. But I also want you to sleep, because you’ve had a long day fighting pirates.” Whether or not her mother would listen, Jessica had no idea. She at least wanted her to sleep in tomorrow. Them spending the night together usually ensured that Viper did that, mostly because Jessica had become a light sleeper, able to woke up at the slightest noise if she was worried enough. Yes, it was a bit of a manipulation, but then again, she did learn all of these techniques from her mother and aunt.
“And Aunt Seraph can join us if she wants to,” she told her mother and then looked in the direction the shorter woman went, adding in a louder voice. “But she has to do the voices of whatever characters I want. That’s the rules.” Whether Seraph would take her up on the offer, Jessica wasn’t sure, but she knew that it was nice and proper to ask her aunt that, in case she did want to join in on the fun. Viper had instilled manners in her daughter, after all.
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Post by Madame HYDRA on Sept 2, 2017 21:27:49 GMT -5
Viper smiled and held her daughter close to her. She always cherished these times with Jessica, when just the two of them could be together. If she could have her way, Jessica would never grow old and have to be witness to the horrors she herself had to be witness to on a daily basis. In truth, her missions were hardly the swashbuckling tales she portrayed to her daughter. They were horrific, and there were some days she was lucky to make it home alive.
Luckily, she wasn't contracted to go out on any missions for a couple of weeks, so she had this time to be at home with Jessica. It didn't always happen, so she was going to make the best of it.
"Oh, don't worry about me. If I fall asleep in our mountain of pillows? I can think of worse fates." She smirked and gently kissed Jessica's forehead.
Seraph smiled a wry half smile, knowing better than to intrude on Viper's time with her daughter on her first night back. "You two go on ahead. I'll clean up out here," she said, understandingly.
She turned and headed back into the kitchen, smirking to herself as she did.
Viper clutched Jessica to her as she got up, expertly hiding her wince as she stood. Still being sore, it was rough carrying her daughter around, but she wanted to until she was unable to anymore. She was hardly ever home, so she felt it was the least she could do.
When they got to Jessica's room, she set her down and started gathering pillows.
"Here, Jessica. Help me with this." She started handing pillows to Jessica one by one. "Firmer pillows on bottom, softer pillows on top. I'll let you arrange them however you want, alright?" She smiled cheerfully and messed up her daughter's hair playfully. "Do you want blankets too?"
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Arachne
Neutral
I didn't think I'd make it... And I was right. Again.
Posts: 41
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Post by Arachne on Sept 17, 2017 22:16:17 GMT -5
Was Jessica mad that Seraph decided not to join them for stories? Yes and no. She loved the woman she called her aunt, but at the same time, she did was time alone with her mother. Though she would never tell anyone this, Jessica often worried about her mother never coming back from her adventures. It was a quiet little fear, but one that always gnawed away at her insides if her mother was ever late coming back or if she missed a phone call during those times she was away. Her mind would always immediately rush towards the worst solutions possible, causing her to ask Seraph time and again where her mother was and when she would be back. It was wrong for a girl her age to worry, but it was just something she did. Most seven year olds worried about school or having friends. Jessica worried about not being able to keep her mother safe.
Reaching her room, Jessica almost automatically began putting pillows where she knew they should go. This wasn’t the first time they had built her pillow fort, and she didn’t want it to be the last. She took each pillow with a growing fervor until she was practically yanking them out of her mother’s hand and slamming them down upon her bed in a stack. She didn’t know why, but she felt like she was about to cry, and moving the pillows was the only thing that kept her from breaking down and doing such a thing. Or at least that’s what she thought up until her mother tossed her hair.
Jessica reacted quickly; a brief yell escaped her throat, though it remained muffled since her mouth was closed, and she pulled away from her mother’s touch, burying her face in the pillow she clutched. She held it tight to her body, curling up and around it. She felt sick. Her stomach hurt and hot tears slipped past her scrunched up eyes. Small whimpers escaped as well and she hated herself for that. Her mother never cried, Seraph never cried, but here she was, holding a pillow to her face because she was crying. Slumping to the ground, she curled up against the foot of her bed, legs crossed and body rigid, wanting to both scream and cry and hit and run and crawl back and away into the smallest, quietest, darkest corner of her room she could find, preferably under her bed or in the closet. But instead, she just held the pillow tight and hid her face and her tears, knowing she wasn’t at all brave or strong like her mother, and wishing she could be.
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