Mary is in her room, reading the Bible. The Bible is super interesting. The Bible is so much more interesting than the pervasive wrong feeling in her head. Her assignment for her sub's Bible study group this week is practicing gratitude, and she's currently endeavoring to do so without lying to herself. She is grateful that she can get away with being alone when she reads the Bible. She is grateful that the Scripture is distracting. She is grateful that she might be able to get away with sneaking out to the library in a few days and reading something she hasn't read like twenty million fucking times okay this is against the spirit of the exercise. The fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control...
Well she's a girl so probably she's a sub or else she needs to find Jesus and then she'll be a sub.
Mary stands up, startled, and moves towards the girl as if to help steady her, then stops because she's not sure if that's what you're supposed to do in this situation, then says, "Do you, um, need help? Also how did you get here."
Well that's new. Is that just what phones look like in Europe? She doesn't have another explanation ready. What would someone who'd randomly been teleported here from another country need, a place to stay? Someone to help with travel plans? Well, Mary isn't in charge of any of that, is she.
He probably wouldn't do anything untoward. Not to a sub with a baby.
"I don't know how to help you, we should probably talk to my dom," she says, aware that she's mostly talking to herself. She steps out the door, then gestures for Peka to follow her.
John's in the kitchen.
"Sir," she says. "This sub appeared in my room out of nowhere, and she doesn't speak English. Her name's Peka."
"Appeared," he says. "As in teleported?"
"Yes, sir," she says, more quietly. He moves towards her. She freezes. He kisses her on the forehead. She holds perfectly still.
Then he turns to Peka, smiling. He has a very nice smile.
"John Nesbitt," he says, pointing at himself. He extends a hand.
He withdraws his hand graciously.
"We'll do everything in our power to help you get back home, Peka," he says reassuringly. (He figures the reassuring tone is helpful even though she can't understand what he's saying). "Now, let's figure out where you're from."
He opens his laptop and pulls up a map of the world.
"Well, we don't have any baby things in the house." This is very pointedly addressed to Mary.
Mary is given a strict time limit and instructions not to speak to anyone other than the cashier and some money and a kiss on the forehead, and is told to pick up some formula and diapers and other assorted baby materials.
And in the meantime John can help Peka get acclimated to the language! He starts by teaching her the names of various items in the kitchen--"table," "chair," etc.
John beams at her whenever she gets something right.
When he sees the battery, he winces. "I can't help you there." He holds up his phone next to hers and shows her that the charger ports look different.
He can get her a pencil and paper if she wants to continue to take notes without running down her battery!
"She can't understand you, idiot," John says pleasantly.
He starts pulling things out of the bags and laying them on the table in front of her. Formula! Diapers!
"For baby," he says. (He considers asking her if any of these things look familiar or if aliens have different diapers or whatever, but figures she doesn't have the vocabulary and decides against it).
He is extremely patient with her when she forgets words!
(She only needs to know enough English to interact with him and Mary, anyway. She'd need more if he were planning to let her leave, but.)
He attempts to teach her adjectives. For example, he shows her pictures of sunsets and models and similar and says "beautiful." Then he uses it in some sentences--"Peka is beautiful, Peka has beautiful hair, Peka has beautiful eyes."
Mary's there. She watches him go to the closet and get his things.
"John," she says. "We're going to call Pastor Dan in the morning, right?"
"No," says John. He walks past the bed and towards the door.
"Where are you going with that?"
"Not your concern."
Mary grabs him by the wrist. "You," she says, her voice shaking, "are not going to...to sleep with her."
He jerks his hand away. "You don't give orders," he says, softly. (He expects her to flinch. She doesn't.)
"We're married," she says. "You...you stood up in church in front of God and everybody and you promised you'd love me and only me forever, that's not... you can't just decide to break the sixth commandment like it's nothing."
He slaps her. She staggers back. He turns, expecting that to be the end of it. So when Mary picks up a lamp and swings it as hard as she can into the back of his head, it takes him completely by surprise.
She walks to Peka's room and opens the door.
"What? Don't--" Mary says, then remembers that, right, there was a baby.
(She feels like such an idiot she can't do anything on her own--)
"Sorry," she says to Peka when Peka gets back. She's tearing up a bit. She's not even sure if Peka will understand the sentiment, but she doesn't really know what else to do.
She shepherds them car-wards again, a bit more shakily this time.
Mary drives. She's very focused on the road and doesn't seem to be paying attention to Peka or Katin.
She stops at a gas station and makes a phone call. Then she returns to the car.
"Um," she says. What the hell did John even teach Peka. "There are...people who can talk to you. In your words. Coming to find us."
Mary doesn't have enough energy to try again. Shouldn't be long before magic translation gets here anyway.
In fact it is only a few minutes, because the recipient of the phone call also employs a teleporter.
The polyglot knocks on the window, then, when Mary rolls it down, says, "Hello! I'm Jen, it's nice to meet you, what's your name?" in perfect Tapap, though without the accent.
"All right! Casey can teleport you and your baby by touching you, it may be disorienting."
Teleporting. They are now in the living room of a nice apartment. There is a very comfortable-looking couch and a TV and some glass artwork.
"So, welcome to the planet Earth! Do you want me to answer your questions now, or would you rather wait until later?"