Stolen Voices ✓

July 10th

"You're lucky I love you, Mar," Ryn groans, shaking her head unamused. Mara smiles, jumping up and down as she claps her hands excitedly. Falling onto Ryn's lap, Cairo glares at her, having been dragged from his cartoons. The two acting like children, Ryn feels like their mother.

Mara clutches Ryn tightly, who shakes her head, holding her coffee away from the girl with too much unkempt energy. They have an understood relationship that, although Ryn will act as if Mara's ideas were the worst in the world, they support each other through it all. Ryn is there during all of the episodes; and Mara is there with everything between Ryn and her parents.

"Love you too, Ryn," Mara beams cheesily.

---

Mara spots Elias first, rupturing through the unlatched door. The library isn't open yet, but Mara knows the jammed door that is open at any hour. Skipping towards a working Elias, she wraps her arms around his waist from behind. He smells of coconut shampoo, his clothing warm and just out the dryer smelling.

"Why am I not surprised to see you," Elias sighs with a soft smile, turning around in her arms so he is hugging her back. He is working at the main computer, checking who has overdue books so he can send out a notifying email. 

He is, admittedly, bored.

"You just disappeared," Ryn breathes a puff of air, walking around the corner. She stops in her steps, her high tops squeaking against the tiles. Taking a glance at their embrace, a smirk falls on her lips. Her expression turns wicked, her sharp eyebrows raising, her lined lips pull upright.

"I'm Cathryn Raja," she nods knowingly, extending her hand out towards Elias. He takes it hesitantly, glancing at Mara, who was looking over his shoulder. Her attention was directed towards the resource center, more importantly, the computers. "You must be the Elias she spent a whole week at my place talking about."

"So are you two here for a reason..." Elias trails off, his eyes flicking between Ryn and Mara. Although Mara has many inches of height on Ryn, it is blatantly obvious who is the more dominant. It surprises Elias to see Mara so submissive towards another person. Mara always radiates an air of confidence, she always seems to know what she is doing.

But here, she walks behind Ryn, who leads the way.

"Can we use the computers?" Mara points in the region, smiling coyly at Elias. He shrugs, following them along as they walk in the direction of the glassed-off room. She won't take no for an answer, he decides it will be better if he acts as damage control.

"What are you looking for?" Elias mutters as Mara logs into a leftover account. Someone named Nancy had forgotten to log off, videos of dancing cats bursting onto the screen. Each of them laughs at the video itself, their voices mixing into one harmonious unison.

"We're looking for my birth dad," Mara replies, looking upwards at Elias. She's taken the wooden chair, Ryn sitting on the edge of the table, while Elias stands behind Mara. Each huddled over the small screen, her fingers flying over the keyboard as she searches.

"Give me that," Ryn's manicured finger flicks towards the keyboard and mouse. Mara moves over, Elias's hand now on her shoulder, soothing. He can feel her tension, her anxiety rolling in crashing waves creates an air of tension around her.

"What's his name?" She glances over her shoulder at the couple.

"Garrett Delarosa," Mara tells her, her mood sad. She is angry, too, that her mother withheld this information. Thomas Gray, who Mara believed was her father for years, never paid her any attention. Maybe had she known, she would have had a chance of having a real father. But as always, Genevieve Gray has to keep her perfect image intact. Even if that means hurting those closest to her, including herself.