May 1st, The Haven
Foaly gave her the movies as a joke, that's how it all started.
'He-ey there Capitano, I've got a surprise for you.'
'Astound me Foaly,' Holly rolls her eyes as she slips into the chair beside him, 'What is it? A new deep space probe? A surveillance system Artemis'll never be able to hack? Inquiring minds are dying to know.'
'You don't need to be facetious. Don't worry, I won't be confounding your tiny mind with my brilliance today. This is something much more mundane,' he flips her a CD case.
'CDs? Wait, no, DVDs. Is this a joke? I don't even think I have a player for something this antique,' Holly spins one on her finger.
Foaly huffs, 'Not my fault. Those are the originals. Don't worry, I transferred the movies onto a plugger.'
'Pluggers' was LEPese for Foaly's ultra refined version of a flash drive. Really, there was no comparison, but for the sake of explanation.
'Tell me what you think, when you've done watching them,' Foaly gives her what he believes to be a mischievous wink, but it only makes him look twitchy.
Holly laughs, mystified, 'Ok. Will do. Uh, thanks, I guess.'
Foaly just smiles. It's his unusual caginess that Holly finds more mystifying than anything else.
Curled up on her futon at the end of the day, she props her laptop plasma screen on her knees, sliding in the plugger. Whatever she had been expecting, it hadn't been this.
Juliet is wearing tights and a mask and somehow still managing to look stunning. Her hair is back in her trademark braid, jade ring swinging from the tip. Her opponents are huge men who don't look nearly as good in their costumes and always end up lying, stunned, on the mat. Spectators scream and wave and excited Latino men shout into microphones, riling up the crowd.
Holly watches all the clips in succession and, when are they done, she goes back and watches them again. Then she goes and looks her up on the internet.
Juliet.
It's been months. Years, for Juliet. Holly hiccups quietly, tracing her fingers along the contours of the face she has blown up to fill the screen. She'd nearly forgotten.
Foaly is still smiling when she comes back the next day, knowing he's surprised her.
'How did you like 'em?'
'They were great. She's really good isn't she?'
'Seems like. But then again, she is a Butler. Poor suckers probably didn't even know what hit them.'
'Yeah,' Holly drags her fingers along the surface of his desk. 'Doesn't seem so impulsive anymore, either. She's pretty grown up.'
'Sure thing,' Foaly snickers, 'Pretty pretty too, for a mud girl, wonder what dear Arty thinks of that.'
Holly's face freezes, jealousy flaring suddenly behind her eyes. But Foaly is tapping away at something on his screen and doesn't notice.
'Who knows,' she manages at last. She clears her throat, running a hand over her uniform, 'I don't suppose you know where she's living these days, do you? Somewhere in South America isn't it?
Foaly gives her a sharp look, 'She's been wiped, you remember that don't you? She's a human, you do-'
'Frond, Foaly, I'm only curious! But, I mean, if you don't know, I'll understand. Don't worry, I won't tell,' she winks, goading him on.
Works everytime. Gaping incredulously, Foaly sputters, 'I know where she lives. Somewhere in South America! Ha! I can give you her room number and everything. Don't make me laugh, Holly.'
'Oh yeah? Can you really?' She puts a hand on her hip, raising a sceptical eyebrow.
He whinnies indignantly and grabs a nearby booklet, tearing out a page and scribbling out an address, 'Go see for yourself, ye of little faith: Trouble's looking for someone to do a maintenance check on the station in Yucatán.' He shakes his head, 'Do I know where she lives...'
Holly nods along, trying not smile.
