Parasite Parent

Writers: AL, Heather
Date Posted: 24th December 2015

Characters: Irabel, Thayde, Meridisa
Description: Thayde overhears a critical exchange between Irabel and her mother.
Location: Dolphin Hall
Date: month 3, day 16 of Turn 8

Thayde

"I'm surprised you haven't progressed further by now." The unfamiliar
voice was followed by that was a lot more familiar.

"Mom." Irabel's single word was sharper than she normally spoke. Of
course, she didn't normally speak to her mom in general.

"It's a shame you lack motivation." Meridisa crossed her arms and peered
down at her daughter her gritted her teeth and turned to set a stack of
parchment upon the table. The classroom was currently empty save for the
two of them.

The classroom was empty, but the door was not closed completely. Thayde had
taught a class in that very room earlier and he was fairly certain he'd
left some of his notes in there. The familiar voices had caught his
attention, however, and now he found himself hovering, unable to move as he
listened to the conversation.

"Mom." Irabel's voice was a half whisper, yet it carried easily despite
it. She opened a file and began to carefully place pieces of parchment
into it.

"You should have come back with me. You might have made something of
yourself by now." Meridisa sniffed and stood. "You've got a decent
partner, so that's something at least."

But not enough. Irabel winced and did her best to ignore her mother, but
the other woman was unperturbed. "I'm happy here. I have friends. Good
friends. Friends who might…" Who might what? Be something more? She
hoped so, but Thayde hadn't seemed particularly happy with her the other
night. Irabel wasn't sure what to do about it and, for some reason, they
hadn't run into each other since. Or he was avoiding her.

"Sometimes _friends_ can be a distraction." Meridisa crossed over to draw
alongside of her daughter.

Thayde's eyes narrowed a little as he leaned closer to the door. He wasn't
sure if it was a result of what had transpired on their one and only date,
but he wondered if he was one of the "friends" that Meridisa so pointedly
mentioned.

"You have too many distractions Irabel. You need to focus more on your
craft." Meridisa leaned into her daughter. "Seeking out anything more is
just asking for trouble."

"I'm working as hard as I can." Irabel finished filing the papers, but she
pointedly refused to look at her mother.

"Not hard enough." Merdisa huffed.

Thayde rolled his eyes. It was no wonder why Irabel didn't know how to let
loose and have fun.

Meridisa continued even as Irabel remained silent in her wake. "If you
were working as hard as you could, you'd be better at it."

Irabel closed her eyes and silently counted. "I need to go. I have another
class in a few minutes."

"I'm surprised the Hallmaster is allowing you to teach your mediocrity to
others." Meridisa's arms crossed over her chest as she peered at Irabel.
"You need to retake some of those classes yourself."

"Mom." Irabel gritted her teeth and turned her back upon the older woman
to head for the door. "I need to go."

"Of course you do." Meridisa shook her head, though her daughter wasn't
even looking at her. "We'll continue this conversation later and find some
way to get you back on track."

Realizing that they were very likely going to be coming through the door he
was standing at, Thayde quickly took a step back and retreated down the
hallway, lest he be caught eavesdropping.

Irabel escaped the confines of that temporary prison and hurried down the
hallway. So consumed with her desire to get out of there, she didn't even
notice Thayde skulking in the shadows. Tears clouded her eyes and she knew
she was going to have to get herself together before she could face her
students.

>From within the room, Meridisa emerged and watched her daughter with a sigh
and a shake of her head, muttering something softly to herself.

Thayde watched Irabel quickly leave the hall, and then his eyes focused on
Meridisa. How could someone be so cold to their own daughter?

"Excuse me," he approached, "I just need to get into the classroom," he
said, trying to slide past her.

Meridisa turned her gaze toward the other dolphineer who suddenly appeared
and noted the knots. She nodded once curtly, then stepped to the side. As
he passed by her, she frowned, then turned head down the hallway. She
stopped about halfway, then turned around and aimed for the classroom once
more. Eyes narrowed, she studied the young man. After her arrival, she
had heard a rumour - an event that wasn't surprising considering how
rumours passed quickly whenever a bunch of people lived in the same area.
Generally, Meridisa would take little note of such things, but as that
particular rumour involved her daughter, she'd paid more attention. The
other person mentioned in the rumour had been the Hallsecond, and the
description given had matched that of the young man she'd just passed, but
he lacked the knots. "Excuse me." She stated after a moment. "Would you
tell me where I can find the Hallsecond?"

Thayde looked up from the papers he was straightening on the desk. "There
isn't one, at least not since I resigned. What do you need?"

Resigned? Meridisa's chin lifted and she studied the man a little more
intensely. "I see. So you're the one who's been distracting my daughter."

"I'm afraid I don't know what you're talking about." He turned his
attention back to the papers. Irabel was nearly forty and her mother was
still trying to interfere in her life? Why didn't she tell this crazy woman
to beat it?

"You know exactly what I'm talking about." Meridisa crossed her arms over
her shoulder. "Stop interfering and let her do her craft."

Thayde stopped all pretenses of fixing his papers and speared the woman
with his gaze. "I could ask you to do the same thing. Stop interfering in
Irabel's life and let her live it. Thanks to you she doesn't know how to
lighten up and _enjoy_ life. She's going to wake up old and alone some day
with nothing but a few rank knots to show for it and you'll be the one to
thank."

"Rather wake up old and alone than old knowing you once had something only
to lose it. The Craft, that will be with her forever. It'll never be lost,
never desert her, never be destroyed. It's the only thing she'll ever be
guaranteed. Stay away from my daughter." With that, Meri whirled about
and stomped out of the room.

Teeth clenched, Thayde grabbed up the papers he had been so neatly
stacking, crumpled them between his hands and tossed them in the
wastebasket. "I have got to get out of this place." He fumed, stalking from
the empty classroom.

Last updated on the December 29th 2015

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