[IC] Hopefully Sanctuary

[KatherinWinter]

"In the row closest to the wall I need the top box." Roxy answered as she went to the wall to get her tools. She knew what was wrong. It wasn th the first time the couple had come in. She quickly took the side of the chair apart.

"Who's your assistant?" The woman asked in a soft shaky.

"Oh Devika isn't my assistant. The unfortunately Empath that ended up with me as her anchor." Roxy answered. She knew she had failed. She had no idea how to fix it. It was something was working on.

"I'm sure you're a great anchor. You're a good person." The man argued.

Roxy snorted. "Ask her yourselves. The bubble that's supposed to protect her doesn't."

[Mistress Dizzy]

Devika took several moments to find the right box, and grabbed it, slowly coming down the ladder.

"It's not your fault, Roxy." She stepped off the ladder with the box that Roxy needed. "I've done some research, and at least 35% of anchor-empath pairs do not 'click' immediately. With me being an outlier, having to be on my own for so long while they found you, it's no wonder that it's not an absolutely perfect situation. But we'll get there, don't you worry." She grinned a bit at the old couple.

"How long have you been married?"

[KatherinWinter]

"I've done my research to Devika." Roxy growled as she too the side of the chair off. She reached into the machine to find the wire she needed to replace. "The anchor is responsible for creating and maintaining the bubble." In the research she had done it was more the anchor struggling to adapt to having the empath in their life then the empath struggling to adapt to a part of society.

"Forty years last month." The man answered. He didn't know much about the program. It had never affected him or his family so he hadn't seen the point but he knew that ZRoxy was a good person. She always helped them and never charged them much. He knew other mechanics would have charged them twice, if not more, than she did. He thought she deserved a good life.

[Mistress Dizzy]

Devika waved Roxy's comment away. "But you were alone, like me. It makes sense that it's imperfect. The more you worry about it, the longer it will take."

She turned back to the old couple with a smile. "Forty years. Wow... that's quite an accomplishment." Imagine loving someone for 40 years, through thick and thin and all sorts of changes. But what was she thinking? With her situation it'd be hard enough to make friends, let alone a lasting lover. Maybe someday they'd cure empathy and she'd be free of it.

"How long have you been coming to Roxy's shop?"

[KatherinWinter]

Roxy couldn't argue that. She had no statistics fo eff how many of the anchors in the research had been alone before they were matched. She doubted that it had been many. She avoided people because it made her life simpler. The less she interacting with people the less risk of them being pulled into her world. Her customers were the one acception to that rule. Mostly because even though many of them were repeat customers so didn't allow them to get too close.

"We've been coming to Miss Roxy since she started working here. I think she was all of sixteen. So about five years. She is the only one who will fix Tilly's chair without it costing us a fortune." The older man replied. He admired Roxy. Even if she acted like she didn't care. The fact that she charged them so little proved that she did even if she didn't want to admit it.

[Mistress Dizzy]

"is that so?" Devika looked over at Roxy, very curious. She'd suspected as much, but it was nice to know there was a good heart underneath all of the lone wolf gruffness that Roxy put out. It still amazed her that Roxy had her own business at 16. But some people were just meant to be stronger than others.

"Well, that's definitely good to hear. Roxy is a great person, and I'm sure she'll figure out what is going on with the chair." She smiled warmly and tried to exude a sense of calm. This was a good starting point for her, and she wondered in the back of her mind if Roxy had sort of screened this gentle-hearted couple for her first outing among regular people.

[KatherinWinter]

"Really." The older man chuckled. He knew that Roxy came across gruff. She tended to growl more than talk. He figured she had a reason but he never pushed for her to tell him what they were. Roxy never pried into their past so he no reason to pry into hers. Now he wished that he knew a little more. It was clear the younger woman was struggling with having an empath in her life.

"Wire frayed. It not that big of a deal. Easy enough to fix." Roxy replied as she removed the old wire. She handed it to Devika. "Put this in the tote that says sculpture." She used whatever she could. She figured if she was using it it wouldn't be rusting somewhere. She wasn't big into the environment but she didn't see the point of wasting something when she could use it. "Just a frayed wire. With a chair this old it happens. No biggie."

"How much do we owe?" Tilly asked softly.

"You don't own me anything." Roxy assure them as she put the new wire in.

"Nonsense we have to pay you something." The old man insisted.

"Next time you make an apple pie bring it by." Roxy replied with a shrug. She knew they would anyway. They always did. "Devika would enjoy having real food that she doesn't have to make."

[Mistress Dizzy]

Devika went back up the ladder with the wire, her ears open to the conversation as she did. Roxy was so kind - she figured that no one else would help this sweet old couple for free. After locating the correct tote and putting the wire away, she carefully climbed down with enough time to hear the rest of the conversation.

"Now, pie is something I can't make. I would love to have a fresh pie - everything I've had for the past few years has been boxed and frozen." Roxy was certainly correct; real food she didn't have to make herself was always welcome.

"I'm glad to hear everything is working with the chair." Funny enough, she didn't want the old couple to leave. Partially because it would leave the door open for more people, and who knows how she'd react to them.

[KatherinWinter]

Tilly smiled. "You know I would have made you one anyway. We'll make you two. So that your friend can enjoy something she doesn't have to make."

"Try it now Tilly." The older woman pushed the joystick forward the chair moved forward smoothly. "As good as new."

"Thank you. We appreciate it Roxy. We won't take up more of your time. We'll bring the pies in a couple of days." The man assire them as they headed towards the door.

"Anytime."Roxy nodded. She was glad that she could help. It was a simple repair. It only took her a couple of minutes. Definitely not something that was worth the money most garages charged. She lost little by doing the repair so she had no problem doing for the couple free of charge. She knew their funds are limited.

[Mistress Dizzy]

"Thank you for the pies in advance." Devika said cheerily. "Have a great day!" She walked them to the door, and sighed faintly when they left.

"Well, that wasn't so bad. I didn't think you could do things like that too, Roxy. I just kind of assumed it would be people with cars." She was also surprised at how organized everything was. Even she, who had never been in a mechanic shop before, was having no trouble finding things. "You're really something, you know that?" There was a cheeky little smile on her face. She knew by now that Roxy disliked compliments for some reason.

"You've got a big heart, you know that? It makes me happy." Just once, she wanted to see Roxy smile, really smile. But she had a feeling that would take a lot more time.

"So, who is next?"

[KatherinWinter]

Roxy shrugged. "There isn't much difference between that chair and my bike." She wouldn't admit that she had looked up how to fix Tilly's chair the first time the couple had come to her. She knew most people wouldn't have done that but for her it hadn't been that big of a deal. She knew what it was like to have no one who was willing to help you and she refuse to do that to someone else if she could do something.

"I don't have anyone scheduled to come in so that might be the only customer we have." Roxy replied. She hadn't wanted to overwhelm Devika. It was one of the reasons the bays weren't open. She wanted to make sure that the empath could handle it. Most of her customers were decent people but she didn't know what kind of emotions they would bring with them. Since she couldn't protect the other woman from them she wanted to expose her as little as possible.

[Mistress Dizzy]

Devika smiled a bit and nodded. "I could try to handle one more person. I get that we're going with baby steps, but I don't want to hamper your business. I think our bond is only going to improve with practice." She plopped herself down in one of the available chairs.

"I know you're beating yourself up about not being the perfect anchor. But I think you're doing a great job." She smiled, but it faded fast. "Let's face it. I've basically invaded your life and your privacy. I don't know if I could have done better than you're doing if it was the other way around." She sighed faintly. "It's one of the major drawbacks of the empath program. What if two people really don't mesh?" She winced a bit, waving her hands in a defensive manner.

"Not saying that we don't mesh! I think we both need more time, that's all. So... so don't kick yourself, okay? It will all be alright."

[KatherinWinter]

Roxy snorted. She shook her head. Devika was a people pleaser. That much was clear. She wanted everyone around her to be happy. Roxy had no use for happy vibes. Life was anything but sunshine and roses. "We don't mesh. I don't know if we will but right now we don't." She pointed out. She blamed herself for the fact the bubble that was supposed to protect Devika not working. From what she read that was rare. Very rare.

"The empath/anchor program has been around a few years. They had done a ton of research on it. It's rare for the anchor not to be able to protect the empath from their emotions. Sure sometime the bubble only covers a small area so the two have to be close until they trust each other or mesh or whatever but the times that an empath has felt an anchor's emotion is very small."Roxy shrugged. She didn't know if allowing more customers to come or not was a good idea but she wasn't opposed to trying.

"I'll see if anyone else wants to come in today. Maybe open the schedule so that I have two or three jobs a day if you think you can handle it. Most don't wait here for the work to be done but some of them do. I don't want you to push yourself too much." Roxy suggested. She was in no hurry.

[Mistress Dizzy]

Devika sighed faintly, her smile fading. Nothing Roxy said was wrong. She just didn't want to think that way. "Like I said, we'll only get better if we practice. And I want to get better." Quickly, too. She was going to feel like an interruption for a long time, and so the sooner they got their connection right, the better. That way she could give Roxy the distance she seemed to want.

"Let's try another person. If it doesn't pan out, I'll give you some kind of signal, and I'll just leave for a bit. How does that sound?" She wasn't smiling this time, and her voice had lost some of the joy. It was hard being so matter-of-fact, but she could tell the situation sort of called for it.

[KatherinWinter]

"Where would you go Devika? You can't go more than a few feet from me. The further way you are the weaker the bubble will be." Roxy pointed out as she moved to the desk. She was going to need access to it to see who might be able to come in. She would look through her list of upcoming jobs for someone whose emotions wouldn't make Devika too uncomfortable. There should be a few they could start with.

She pulled the chair up to the desk and pulled up her list of jobs that were on hold. She too the one who been waiting the longest and sent them a message. She was sure she would get a response within an hour. She stood up and went back to the other side of the garage. She wanted to stay as busy was she could. "Do you want to start lunch while we wait for a response?" She asked.

[Mistress Dizzy]

"But being farther away helps me affect others less, if I do lose my control. I- I don't know, it wasn't a very thought out plan." Devika threw her hands in the air, rather frustrated. She really wanted this to work, and having her only plan shot down was less than helpful. With an exasperated huff, she leaned her forehead on her hands. "I'm just trying to come up with a plan for me to cause the least damage to your customers."

This time, she had to force the calm onto herself. Having a task would definitely help. "Lunch. Lunch sounds good. I'll go make us some cheeseburgers. Unless you want something else?" She figured Roxy wouldn't care much, but she felt wrong not leaving the option open.

[KatherinWinter]

"Again Devika you aren't inconveniencing me in anyway. I always knew that this could happen. I let my customers know that I am unavailable for the time being and giving the name of another mechanic. Most of them indicated they were willing to wait as long as necessary since most of the work I do for them is customary." Roxy explained. She didn't know how to make the empath feel better about this whole situation.

"I don't depend on the shop to support myself Devika. You're not hurting me financially. The only thing you need to worry about is adjusting to being around people." Roxy assured her. She turned the sign over so that they could go upstairs to have lunch. "Cheeseburgers are fine." She assured the other woman as she headed to the stairs. She figured she would practice while Devika cooked.

[Mistress Dizzy]

Devika listened to Roxy’s words, and tried to really absorb them. The most surprising thing she’d learned was that Roxy didn’t need the shop to support herself. That was odd. Maybe there was another source of money somewhere? But it wasn’t her business – she figured Roxy would not answer if she asked about it. Besides that, asking people about money was kind of rude.

“Cheeseburgers it is.”

She let Roxy lead the way up the stairs, and once they were both up she made a beeline for the kitchen. There she started pulling out ingredients. The hamburgers themselves were frozen, but everything else was fresh. Cheese, tomatoes, lettuce, onions, pickles. She pulled out a small cutting board and got to work. Soon the kitchen had the delicious scent of burgers flowing from it.

[KatherinWinter]

While Devika was in the kitchen Roxy went to her workout area. It had been a good morning. The test was off to a good start. Like she told the empath she was in no hurry to reopen. It was important that they didn't mess this up. If they moved too fast Devika's mind could be damaged. The other woman was too important to the world to risk. It was important she do whatever she could to protect the empath.

She worked out. Today she wasn't working out frustration or stress. Today she was doing it out of habit. She worked out at lunch time. She felt it was important that she not only stay in shape but she stay as sharp as she could. Especially now that she was responsible for Devika's safety. The empath didn't know it yet but she had been pulled into an unsavory world. One that would use her power without mercy.

[Mistress Dizzy]

Devika hummed as she cooked. She usually did, a nameless cheery tune that usually sprung to her mind. She gave the two burgers one last flip, then turned off the stove. She piled two plates with bun and toppings, then slid the two burgers on. After topping them with cheese, she started to go to Roxy’s workout area, where she could hear the other woman working out.

Meanwhile, Roxy’s phone would get a text. It was one of the long time customers she had messaged. “Hey Rox. I think I sucked a diaper or something into my exhaust pipe – bike is smoking and I can’t figure out why. I’m coming over. -J”