Rebellious (Jason: November, 1988)
"Hello?"
"Hi, Trina?"
"Hello, Marvin." Hand over the phone. "Mendel, put the cake down, damn it." A brief pause. "What's on your mind?"
"Do you ever worry you weren't a good mother?"
A brief fit of coughing. "Once in a while. Why?"
"Well, Jason called me the other day."
"That was nice of him."
"Not really."
"No?"
"He told me he voted for Bush!"
A long pause. Anguished, "Oh, Marvin. Where did we go wrong?"
"I don't know, Trina. I just don't know. Maybe if we'd introduced him to more Democrats --"
"Maybe -- maybe it's genetic."
"Maybe." Sniff. "Recessive?"
"Of course."
Exhausted (Charlotte: February, 1986)
"They have a drug to fight it."
"To cure it?"
"To fight it. For a while."
A pause. "Does it help?"
"For a while." Charlotte sat down heavily in a chair.
"But not enough?"
"No. It has side-effects -- the drug is just the lesser of two evils."
"It makes them not die. How can it be bad?"
She shook her head. "God, even saving people is horrible. You give one guy a drug, and he wants to know why you couldn't save his lover, his best friend, and all of them."
"You can't fix everyone, sweetheart."
"I wish I could."
Whiny (Mendel: March, 1984)
"I can't take it anymore!" He threw himself on the couch. "Not another four years of Reagan economic bullshit and all those self-important bastards whining."
"Okay, honey. What will you do instead?"
"I don't know. Maybe you should get a job."
"Doing what?" aghast. "I don't have real job skills."
"You cook really well."
"Yes, so?"
"You could go into business with that -- that lady, Cordelia."
"Only if I can stomach her cooking."
"You could make it great. You really could."
"Are you really quitting?"
"If we have enough money. I can't -- I just can't."
"Okay, okay. I'll call Cordelia."
Lonely (Marvin: June, 1982)
He knew it was a bad idea, calling a male cat that, but the twitch of its tail demanded the name, even though he never said it aloud.
He knew he should have the cat neutered, but he couldn't do it, not when he felt like he'd been gelded himself.
He knew it would be hell to get the fur off his black pants, but the cat liked sitting on his lap and kneading his leg possessively.
He knew he was imagining a resemblance, but when the cat stopped peering at him suspiciously and started purring, he couldn't help crying.
Tentative (Trina: August, 1989)
"You've really never --?"
"No! Never. And I don't want to," defensively.
"Why not?"
"Look. Cordelia. You're really nice, and sweet, and a good friend, but no."
"You might like it."
"No."
"Just once. Just to see."
"What about Charlotte?"
"Not much to tell her yet. Just once. Please?"
The kitchen was blistering, even with the air conditioner running. Cordelia grinned and kissed her. She tasted of matzoh ball soup, incongruously comforting, soft, warm, homey.
"Oh, God." Trina covered her eyes. "That was -- too nice."
"Just once," Cordelia said softly.
"Why?"
"What's the worst that can happen?"
"Okay. Fine. Just once."
Wistful (Cordelia: September, 1989)
Every time Trina punched her bread dough, Cordelia sighed.
"Okay, what?" exasperatedly.
"Did you mean it, really?"
"Mean what?"
"When you kissed me. Did you mean 'just once'? Because you --"
"I'm married," coldly.
"So am I, basically."
"I don't do that kind of thing."
"Neither do I. I mean, other than that once. But you seemed like you liked it."
Trina shrugged. "Maybe I did."
"Maybe we should try it again?"
"You're burning the onions."
"Oh, shit."
Later, "Please?"
"I thought you said 'just once.'"
"I did. But maybe I lied to both of us."
"Just twice?"
"Just for now."
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