“Yeah,” I told Bitch.  “We’ve been over this.  I really don’t know how to make it clearer.  If it came down to it, I’d risk my life to save yours.”

That is how Taylor does things.

“Why?”

But yeah, why is that, exactly, besides her tendency to value other lives above her own?

“I- I don’t know if I can really say.  You’re my friend.  We’ve been through a hell of a lot of crap together.  We back each other up because we have to.”

That doesn’t sound like friendship, that sounds like the Travelers.

“You think I’d back you up?”  The question was a challenge, brusque, barely-but-not-quite-anger.

I don’t.

Maybe these days we’re getting close to that point.

“Don’t know.  Does it matter?”  I glanced at Brian.  He was paying attention to what I was saying.  I felt momentarily self-conscious, struggled to find words that wouldn’t provoke a negative response from one of them.

It kinda does, though I can understand if part of Taylor’s motivation is that if she backs Rachel up, Rachel might one day grow to return the favor.

I settled for a middle ground as I thought aloud.  “Life’s not fair.  It’s not even, not balanced, not right.  Why should relationships between people be any different?  There’s always going to be an imbalance in power.

Holy fuck this is an unhealthy message.

I mean, sure, things are, in practice, going to be that way quite frequently, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t strive to make it healthier, more fair.

The other person might have a higher social standing, they might have money, or more social graces.  Isn’t it better to stop stressing about quid pro quo and just do what you want or what you can?”

Alright, fair enough. With the full quote, it works.

“You’d want to know, right?” I asked.  “You wouldn’t want to give her the benefit of a doubt if she was playing you.”

Makes sense to me.

“You assholes are saying I’m gullible.”  If Bitch had hackles, they’d be standing on end.

No, they’re saying “better safe than sorry”.

Her fists were clenched at her side, her feet planted apart, as if she’d be ready to start swinging, whistling for her dogs to attack, at any moment.

“Hey,” I raised my voice.  “Answer the question!  Would you want to know?”

Firmness. Even in the question itself, she’s enforcing that.

“Yeah, but-”

“Then we get in touch with Cherish.  We get an answer from her.  She’d know.”

Nice, I was right about the method. And hey, I’m down for some more Cherish.

The difficult part is going to be getting it out of her, though.

“No.  It’s not-”  Bitch stood abruptly, and Bastard yipped.

It’s not what? Fake?

“Rachel,” Lisa tried, but Bitch turned away.

“There’s one way we could try to find out,” I said.

Interrogating Cherish?

Bitch turned at me and glared.  There was a viciousness in the look that I couldn’t blame entirely on her grudge against me or the current conversation.

Come on, Rachel, Taylor’s throwing you a bone here.

No dog pun intended, but if a doggy brain were to make her like to chew on metaphorical bones, that’s a bonus.

Just like Brian, there was a minefield there.  I couldn’t hope to guess at what would press her buttons.

Yeah, I’m sorry, I don’t think I can help you much. I’m a cat person.

“No,” Bitch clenched her fist, and I could see her dogs responding to her body language, tensing.  “Don’t buy it.”

…why not?

Is it that you wanted there to be someone who actually could relate to your animal-like mind, even if it was Siberian?

“Why not?”  Lisa asked, her voice gentle.

“What she said made too much sense.  She said things and she understood.  I’m fucked up.  I know I’m fucked up.

Maybe she’s actually like that, regardless of how real her body is. But conversely, maybe she’s just really good at acting.

Maybe she’s Maybelline.

Not good at dealing with people.  But I could deal with her.  I understood her.”

This would require quite a solid understanding of Rachel to act, though. I’m inclined to believe Rachel’s right, that it’s not entirely an act.

“That doesn’t mean she didn’t lie, Rachel,” Lisa said.  “It only means she understood you well enough to know how to deceive you.”

The question then is how? She’d been following Rachel, spying, yes, but a lot of it doesn’t really spell itself out without watching for a long time.

Cherish may be key to it, I suppose.

BLAG.