[PRP] The Maury Show (Horace & Silk)

[The Semblance of Unity]

It was done. He'd sent a quick mental message to Ollie and Eli, telling them he'd be back, needed to talk. And then he'd strode off to find Silk. Surely, since it was done, maybe she'd be less busy... Surely. Well, maybe not, he thought, but ever since the Burning Man had mentioned his father, it was weighing on his mind and slipping through his thoughts like frosting on an uncooled cake. Slippery.

Horace stepped briskly through the turning hallway, spying someone kind of fetch-like. "Hello," he called out. He was still wearing the clothing from the casting. "Do... do you know where Silk might be?"

shibrogane

 

[shibrogane]

"She's gonna be in her office, probably," said the fetch, and they directed Horace through the halls, leaving him just outside Silk's office door.

She was standing behind the desk, an illegible expression on her face.

"Horace," she said, "Hello."

The Semblance of Unity

 

[The Semblance of Unity]

"Thanks," he said to the fetch, hiding his anxiety behind an easy smile. "Next time I bring stuff by, I'll try to make sure you get something." It was how Horace repaid favors, it was how Horace showed appreciation, it was how Horace apologized for even taking up people's precious time - baked goods.

He didn't have any cake to hide behind now, though. Horace smoothed his hands down the front of his pants. "Hi, Silk. Sorry to keep on bothering you. If now's not a bad time, I was wondering if I could ask you something. What I'd, uh, mentioned briefly before."

shibrogane

is the geas still in effect?

 

[shibrogane]

"No, it's alright, I have time," said Silk, rounding the desk, taking a seat in one of the chairs on Horace's side of the room. "What do you need?"

The Semblance of Unity

Horace will still experience some pain but it is like accidentally scratching a mild sunburn

 

[The Semblance of Unity]

Horace swallowed and took a seat near Silk. "So... you know about the fingerprints, right?" He rubbed his hand absently, waiting for the burn to truly kick in. "I was... he told me my... my dad could be here." A beat, a pause for breath. His wrist began to tingle. "And like, I realize he could be lying, because that's what people like him do, but I really thought I should check because I don't know a lick about my dad. My mom died, and my grandma never spoke about him or her, so I don't know a-anything, and I figured if anyone would know it would be you. The court and all... Though do I really wanna know, and yeah."

He took a breath, cutting himself off. "Sorry."

shibrogane

 

[shibrogane]

Silk tilted her head forward, a finger up against her mouth as she thought. Melany did the same thing, sometimes. "You're a native of the new world that the recreated sigil attached us to," she said, finally. "And there have been no fetches who came from your world, so it shouldn't be possible, but..."

She looked up and stared at Horace for an awkwardly long time, mouth pinched.

"...You look terribly like Odal, at certain angles..."

The Semblance of Unity

 

[The Semblance of Unity]

The long silence had him resisting the urge to fidget. Then, when Silk finally spoke, he blinked owlishly. "O-o-o-o-odal?" He sounded ridiculous.

"He said there was a way to cross realities, to-" Horace just kind of sat there. "I thought Odal didn't like me. How could we know for sure? I... I mean, if he knew my mother, maybe, but I don't know a lot about my mother, just her name, really."

shibrogane

 

[shibrogane]

"There'd have to be some kind of test for it, wouldn't there," said Silk. "It's not something we've needed. My situation was unique. But if it's true, and you two are related, then you would have been just as viable an option for this as Melany, if you-as-you existed in the other world at all. But I would have known if Odal had children in the original time that we were tied to. We became fetches at the same time."

She sighed. "What was your mother's name?"

The Semblance of Unity

 

[The Semblance of Unity]

"I think there was a me in the world that you guys came from. My friend Jordan told me... Apparently, I was even worse off in some ways." Mainly, the touch thing. But Jordan and that other him hadn't been very good friends. What if he'd been even more alone there? What if that version of him was still there, alone... He hiccuped out a weird noise before he could help it.

Then he took a deliberately deep breath. "Her name was Marigold. Marigold Nokoni - they... they didn't put my dad on the birth certificate." Or his grandmother had made sure it didn't get on there. He'd never know for sure. "What would we have to do to make a test? I mean... does Odal even want to know?"

shibrogane

 

[shibrogane]

Silk held out a hand, in case Horace needed the support. "Of course he would want to know! If Odal is your father, Horace, I know he will hate nothing more than the fact that he wasn't there for you."

It was a long moment before she said, "It would probably involve some sort of DNA evidence. Blood is a powerful magical conductor, and if you are Odal's son--by that I mean, I know that Odal has not been siring child after child in each cycle, so you would be the only one--then it would be simplest to use that..."

the Semblance of Unity

 

[The Semblance of Unity]

He reached his hand out, then pulled it back. Horace shot Silk a rueful smile. If he touched her, he'd surely shock her, and the anxiety from the touch might outweigh any benefit.

"But... would this even mean he's my father? He was... other me's father, probably. He wouldn't want a sudden kid from nowhere." Horace swallowed. He'd let his hopes climb up foolishly, as always. "I... I'd be okay giving my blood for that..."

shibrogane

 

[shibrogane]

"That's part of why I think it would involve blood," said Silk. "To be sure. Even though magic isn't genetic, you would still have a shared resonance that someone tangentially related would lack. If you're Odal's son, that would show it for sure..."

She paused. Then shook herself. "We couldn't do it now," she said. "We don't know what changes the magic will bring. But I promise you, if you want to know who your father is and it's within my power to find out, you'll know."

The Semblance of Unity

 

[The Semblance of Unity]

"O-okay. I think I want to find out, Silk." It felt kind of like signing a contract, only he wasn't sure what he was signing away or getting in return. He'd have to deal with being from an entirely different universe when they crossed that bridge. If Odal cared. If Odal was some version of himself's father. If.. if.... if.

He glanced around her office. "Has anything changed yet?" Suddenly, he remembered how Silk had talked about resting, finally.

shibrogane

 

[shibrogane]

Silk shrugged. "It's very soon. Honestly, I'm just glad there's still a Court space. I don't relish having to sit in the town square waiting for the magic to reform."

The Semblance of Unity

 

[The Semblance of Unity]

He smiled faintly. "Sounds uncomfortable. Will you continue on as the chatelaine, then?"

shibrogane