Mara Meme

[kol]

8 questions, answered in the form of drabbles, because I am a rebel!
Mara Meme 1.0!

1. Do you like this character?

"Why would anyone want to live in the Bay Area?" Mara's face was scrunched in obvious distaste as she surveyed the endless road lined with too-green trees and perfect suburban homes, each of them alike in banal normalcy. It was like being trapped in a lame TV show, and until they caught this daemon, there was no channel change in store for her. "Everything about this place stinks."

Reed, ever the conversationalist in her company, shrugged, shoulders remaining high and defensive. Plantboy obviously hadn't gotten enough sun today, she sneered at his profile, because he hasn't grown a spine yet.

See? Everything about the Bay Area sucked, even her jokes.

The car continued on for miles and miles, all horrifically alike, until Reed let out a very narrow sigh and pulled the Volvo over.

She got a little satisfaction in watching him flinch at her glare-- it never got old. "I think we're lost." Reed managed, his eyes on what Mara assumed to be the sidewalk just beyond her head.

"Of course we're lost! We've been on this stupid street for HOURS!"

"There really is no reason to shout, I'm only a foot away," Reed said mildly, his shoulders very close to his ears. "I think we should ask that girl for directions."

Mara sniffed-- she didn't like the look of the girl. Who wore a gray sweatshirt proclaiming PINK across the back? Especially with it this damned sun blasting? But there was always a slim chance Reed was interested in the girl for more than directions, and that could finally give her a chance to get rid of the guy. No matter how much sense he occasionally had.

Still, she couldn't let him win this argument without a little blame game. "Well, we wouldn't be in this position if you hadn't lost the google map I printed up."

It was, apparently, the last straw for Reed. He leveled Mara with a glare worthy of her grandmother, throwing his thin arms up in the air with a dramatic flair she never thought he'd possess in his otherwise boring frame. "I said I was sorry five times already! And it was your defensive driving that caused me to drop that loaded hot dog in my lap-- what was I suppose to do, let the condiments get all over your car? You'd have killed me!"

Mara rolled her eyes. Like that alpha male posturing was going to work on her. "Whatever, macho man, lets just ask this girl so we can take out the stupid daemon and I can make it back to Happy Hour."

The window didn't roll down fast enough; it was barely open an inch before she shouted at the girl, who was walking unusually fast. Suspicion flared, until she remembered this was the Bay Area and everyone was crazy anyway. "Hey, you in the stupid sweatshirt, with the weird bun thing!"

That brought the girl up, and made Reed whimper in the seat beside her. "It isn't like we're in Oakland, Reed, grow a spine already." Mara hissed, watching as the girl slowly turned.

The girl squinted, looking into the car's interior, eyes widening as her face grew worryingly pale.

"What? No, no, this can't be happening." She said in a rush, both hand's flying to her chest. "Oh God, I knew I never should have gotten off Diet Pepsi!" With crazed eyes, the girl twisted around and ran surprisingly fast for her heft, arms flailing.

Mara quickly rolled the window back up. She was not going to get whatever germs caused people to go crazy up here. She twisted in the seat, surprised to see Reed's lips twitching around a badly suppressed grin. "Get back on the road. We'll have better luck doing it ourselves than depending on crazy Bay Area people."

2. What name(s) do you call this character?

It was a Thursday night, and Deon and Mara were doing what had become an uneasy habit since her return to the Hunting fold: knocking back shots, pointedly not looking at each other, while some sports game blared in the background. Mara suspected the not looking at one another was for very different reasons, but she wasn't drunk enough yet to start diving into Deon's psyche. She could still clearly make out Reed and Peter in front of the television, so that definitely meant she hadn't suffered enough poorly filtered shots of the booze Deon had brought.

She should have known better than to trust him to pick up anything good, especially when she'd won the last shot wars match.

She was startled when Deon quietly set his shot glass down and spoke. "Do you have any nicknames?"

Mara set the glass down, not caring that half the contents splashed onto the coffee table. It was already stained with daemon blood, after all, and she hoped Deon was too distracted to notice her cheating. "What?"

"A nickname." Deon said impatiently, his lips tightening. "And I saw that-- double shots next round, cheater."

"I have a short name, why the hell would anyone give me a nickname?" Mara huffed, obediently knocking back two shots. Her vision blurred, and when her eyes cleared up, she realized she was looking right at Deon's face. "Are you trying to throw me off balance? That's not technically cheating, but it is a cheap shot."

He shrugged. "I don't know why I thought it."

She stared at him for a long moment before smirking. "Stop delaying, it's your turn, Deon."

The rest of the night passed in a blur, but it had the familiar, pre-normal feel and Mara stopped worrying about nothing. She was too pissed she lost the latest round of shot wars and the klutzy duo had managed to get her tv stuck on Lifetime.

3. What image / color do you associate with character?


This was beginning to become a lame habit.

She wiped the mirror carefully with the edge of the towel, staring at her reflection for the fifth time post-shower. Yesterday the last of the light brown had left, but she couldn't help but check to make sure it hadn't returned. She ran a wavering hand through her thick hair, but no amount of boring brown could be found in the uniform lavender.

"I'm being so lame." She whispered, leaning forward to rest her warm forehead on the damp mirror. "But I-"

The door began to violently shake. She thought it an earthquake for a long second, but Lynn's voice boomed, frustrated and threatening further violence. "Get out of there Mara, other people need to use the bathroom!"

"What, you just need it for primping for that boyfriend of yours! You can roll around in dog crap and that guy would still think you were hot!" Mara yelled back, gathering up her clothes and heading to the door.

But her hand stilled on the door knob, and she couldn't help but twist back to the mirror, eyes resting on the waves of lavender framing her reflection.

The banging resumed, door threatening to fall off its hinges, and Mara opened it, wincing as her cousin pulled Mara firmly out into the hallway and slammed the door.

Yep, everything was back to normal.

4. What would this character rescue if their house were burning down?

"Wake up!" Mara screamed, pounding on her cousin's door. "There's a FIRE, Lynn, we need your waterworks!"

Looming silence was her only answer. Suspicion and angry flared, and she was oblivious to the shouts of the teenagers downstairs. She leaned her ear against the door, lips curling as she heard absolutely nothing.

"That sneak!" She raged, banging her foot against the door, howling as her flip-flops did absolutely nothing to shield her from the pain stabbing at her toes. "I'm going to make your boyfriend heal this!" She tossed a fist at the door, knowing the curse to fall on deaf ears.

She stopped hobbing, steading herself against the cool hallway wall. "Okay, the house is burning down Mara, stop yelling at abandoned doors and move!"

She could still hear shouting downstairs, and very clearly Loni's wail of sorrow. She'd give the kid plenty of sorrow for lighting Mara's kitchen on fire!

Looking up at the stairs leading to the attic, she realized there wasn't anything essential up there and hobbled back down the stairs.

The only thing she'd save in a fire was gone already, and when she got back they would be having words, provided the teenagers Lynn had abandoned the powerless Mara with hadn't destroyed the entire house.

5. What blood type do you think this character is?

"A negative." Mara supplied, her voice barely stretching the foot separating her from the nurse. "He's A negative, just like me."

The nurse reached across the table to pet Mara's arm; any other day she would have shrank back, tossing a remark in the woman's face. But the gesture was comforting, somehow, and she let it slide. "He's going to be fine, Ms. Thompson."

But they both knew it was a lie. This was the second time the cancer had come back, and the chances just weren't in his favor. Especially not with someone as drawn to unfavorable odds as Mara was.

"We can wait to fill out the rest of the paperwork if you'd prefer. Your mother-"

Mara straightened, snapping the pen from the woman's hand, hands twitching for the thick file. "No, I'll do it."

If anything, it would keep her mind from wandering... or her eyes from focusing on the burn still scarring the wall, marking forever the first manifestation of her powers.

Some powers I have. Mara snorted, pen scratching away at the papers, refusing to think of anything beyond her father's medical history she'd memorized four and a half years ago.

6. From all of the titles that feature this character, what other character do you think makes a good pairing with this character?

It had been too long since she'd felt warm hands against her skin. Mara's back arched as a mouth pressed against her stomach, her hands dragging the heavy body down. Without her glasses she could see only a flash of gold, but it was enough to tell her just whose body was--

And then she was in the middle of a field, staring down at her fatigues, wondering what the hell just happened. "What?"

"Mara!" Dusty's friendly face came into focus, his hand tight on her arm. "You almost missed our training!"

She flushed at the contact, trying very hard not to stare at her tenant, who wasn't wearing a stitch of clothing, but utterly failing. "Um-"

And then the field fell away, and she fell on top of an equally naked Reed.

"Maarra," He moaned into her neck, and she shivered in spite of how wrong it felt. And then--

And then her damned alarm went off before things got real messed up.

Mara smacked the clock, not caring that the motion sent it sailing across the room, and panted heavily. "What the hell did I drink last night?!"

Flushed with shame, she buried her head under the pillow, trying to cast out the very hot images from her mind.

It wasn't as if she hadn't had naughty dreams about guys she knew before. Sharing a house with attractive guys tended to put thoughts in her head, and it was only natural they'd come out when her control slipped. Dusty probably wouldn't care if she told him about his staring role, and she knew better than to tell Deon because he'd never, EVER let her forget about it.

No, the real problem was, how was she suppose to face her cousin after having a sex dream about Lynn's boyfriend?

She was going to kill her brain one of these days, especially if it ruined her enjoying the one non-healthy thing Lynn ever made, Sunday morning pancakes!

7. What would you want to say to this character?


The stairs shook with the force of Mara's feet pounding for all they were worth, but she'd had them fixed last year and had no doubt they could withstand her fury. Remembering that particular bill just added more force to her stomps.

Above the stomps, Mara could clearly hear the underlings scattering. That wouldn't save them. Nothing could save them now.

She burst into the living room, crumpled note in hand. "WHO PUT THIS ON MY DOOR?!" She demanded, glaring at the upturned couch (as if that would shield Peter and Reed from her wrath!), the coffee table with pink hair, Deon's easy form lounging on the other sofa, totally ignoring her wrath.

"I WANT TO KNOW WHO WROTE THIS RIGHT NOW OR I AM BANNING PIZZA FOREVER."

"What does it say, cuz?" Lynn came out of nowhere, grabbing the note from her trembling hand before Mara could react.

"What! No! Come back!" Mara protested, reaching for the paper but Lynn had pounced to the other side of the room and begun reading already.

"GET OVER YOUR DEAD BOYFRIEND ALREADY." Lynn read, the light in her eyes dimming and smile fading. She didn't read the rest, but it didn't matter because the damage had been done.

Mara refused to give into her quivering insides, begging her to run for her attic and never come out. Damn it, she was Mara Thompson, and she wasn't going to let a stupid note turn her yellow! "Whoever wrote that note is a coward and has no place in this house." She hissed, feet firmly into the carpet least they betray her sudden weakness.

"Mara," Lynn began to step forward, only to be blocked by Deon's leg.

"Mara, sit down and shut up."

"But!"

"There's a lot of drunk stupid people in this room right now, Mara, why don't you join us and beat up the person tomorrow when you can match up their handwriting?"

And that was how Deon accidentally saved Loni's life for the first time.

8. What do you want to do with this character?

It had been a long road to get here, and sometimes she'd thought for sure she wouldn't make it, but there she was, parked outside the Zingel estate in San Francisco. Her husband was beside her, pressing her hand, but she didn't need to look at his face to know he was pushing her to get the hell out of the car already.

"I'll be back in a few." She whispered, leaving the keys in the ignition.

Her grandfather might be long dead, but she could feel his presence everywhere. The lawn where he'd remarked there was no point in her practicing for soccer tryouts-- she'd just fail anyway with those stocky legs of hers, and did she really want to trouble the gardener with fixing all those holes her shoes would inflict upon his lawn? The porch where she'd lost her first tooth, only to have it taken away because no grandchild of his would believe in something as stupid as a tooth fairy. The drive where she'd last seen him, stubbornly refusing to say goodbye even though they both knew it would be the last time, the oxygen tank glaring into her eyes when she turned back at the gate and saw him staring at the house, not at her.

Never at her.

She took a deep breath and pushed those memories aside. The old man was gone, but his money had saved a lot of lives by funding Hunters in Sunset City. This house was more than the old man, just like the business she'd be taking over the next day, a business she never knew she had wanted until she'd stopped running and learned to listen.

Pressing her hand against the gate, she pushed her way through the past and stepped into the beginning of a new adventure.