Participants:
| Scene Title | Bearers of Bad News |
|---|---|
| Synopsis | After being released from lockdown, Daphne and Koshka bring their findings to Delilah. |
| Date | August 16,2011 |
Eltingville Blocks : Trafford Residence
By the time Daphne and Koshka are back outside, the temperature has dropped and the sun is low in the sky making its way toward the horizon. It won't be dark for many hours yet, but two long hours in a small building with frightened strangers was much too long — especially for those worried about their friends on the other side of the fence.
Whispered conversations between Daphne and the teen have determined their next course of action — which hardly feels like any action at all, but helpless people do anything to try to regain control in a situation they have very, very little.
Daphne is once again walking normally, the pretense no longer necessary, as they approach the building Sable and Delilah call home. "I hope they're all right," she says, not for the first time, to Koshka as she reaches to rap knuckles on Delilah's door.
The booming, porch-shaking bark that vibrates through the door a few seconds later gives the sign that someone is home- even if it is Samson, and he has been waiting in the front hall for Sable to get back. Why? The whining of a baby in another part of the house increases when he barks, and from there he only scratches at the doorjamb- there are already older marks that look more like a werewolf was trying to get out. Dee has tried to mask it with an umbrella stand, but Samson is valiant in pushing it away.
"Fine! Fine! Stop scratching at the bloody door!" Delilah stamps her way down the stairs, Walter on one hip, red-nosed and drippy. "I've had it with both of you boys today, I swear…" A moment passes, a shadow flits about behind the glassy hole at about eye level. The door locks click open one at a time- there are three- and when she opens it up, they get a prompt wave inside. "Come inside, will you? Give me a moment with this." 'This' likely the snot-nosed, splotchy-faced thing in her arms- or rather, whatever it was that caused him to start.
"This isn't a bad time, before you ask. The men in this house have their days." Samson has retreated from Walter again, hanging around at the back of the foyer, tail tucked.
More willing to say nothing at all, there wasn't much in the way of input from Koshka. A couple of nods, repeating of ideas as they're presented in the form of agreement. There really wasn't much to say, just as there's little that can be done. Both she and the speedster still sport the latest Eltingville fashion encircling their ankles.
The teen, keeping with the silent treatment — though toward no one specifically — hovers just behind Daphne. A nod meets the words of hope, eyes watching the streets rather than the door itself. And as Dee answers, Koshka's eyes flick toward the interior of the house, then up to the speedster, to follow her inside.
"Hey, Delilah," Daphne says, and there is a weariness in the small blonde's demeanor, her eyes tight with worry and fear. "Sorry to impose, good time or not. Take your time with the rugrat," she says amiably enough, stepping into the home and glancing about.
Her hands fold over one another behind her back, as if to keep herself from picking up anything that strikes her fancy. Delilah, after all, is a friend — not the local merchant who Daphne's not opposed to burgling once in a while.
They don't have many nice things out in the open, other than household items- a coat rack inside, a small table with a dish for bits and pieces and vehicle keys- in the living room, where Delilah hopes they follow her into, mostly pictures and books, and a small television set. Lots of baby things all over the floor, of course, which Dee knocks out of the path on her way in to land herself and Walter on the sofa. Clutter, not so much a mess.
"I haven't picked up for a couple days, you can tell." She hoists the baby boy up in her hands, standing him on the knee of her skirt and giving him the usual cooing and bobbing. "I told you Samson doesn't like it when you get at his doggie-bits, hm? Then he runs away. Looksee, he's right there"
The poor dog, the victim, inches his face nose-first into the doorway to peer inside. Only to find that Dee is pointing at him, and the baby is gesturing.
At least Walter stops bawling, long enough for her to peer over his head at the girls with a wary smile. If they came unannounced, it might be something important. "Your turn."
Arms go from a casual rest at her sides to folding over her chest as Koshka steps around Daphne and into the house proper, a shoulder used to push the door closed behind her. She looks from Delilah and Walter over to Samson as though the events before the interruption were highly important in themselves.
A look raises to Daphne when the floor to speak is handed over, Koshka's brows furrowing slightly. "There were gunshots outside the gates," she explains, her attention turning to Dee again. "And …some names over the soldiers' walkies. We heard them before they locked us in a building."
"It's nice," Daphne says of the homy interior. Her own apartment is much more bare, and she refuses to let Amadeus put up any "art" on the wall. It'd be AC/DC posters and naked women, she's sure.
The speedster moves to take a seat, smiling over at Samson and then Walter, sobering when talk of gunshots proceeds.
"They said they had 'visual,'" the 'military talk' seems awkward to her mouth, "on Beauchamp and Spurling. Heller wanted them to make sure no one left. It was over on the forest side."
She reaches to pick up one of Walter's toys, offering it to the baby for something to do.
Daphne frowns. "I thought you'd wanna know. I'm not sure if they're okay. I mean, I don't think there's much you can do from in here, but…" her dark eyes drop.
Delilah has mostly calmed Walter, even though the dog is still not coming inside, and a tissue only mostly gets dribble off of his nose. She keeps one hand around him, as she listens, eyebrows knitting first at Koshka, and then to Daphne when she explains further. The speedster's explanation is far more troublesome. Even moreso when names are indeed named. While the baby takes up the colorful toy that Daphne offers to him, his mother is left with a dry mouth as she absorbs the news from over his head. She sits him down on her lap, to fiddle with the plastic toy.
"Are you absolutely certain of what you heard?" Delilah begins, though her doubts are very limited. Daphne is capable enough. "You don't know if Heller succeeded or not?" Which, honestly, is a relief on one account, though now her stomach boils with a mix of rage and concern.
"There's nothing I can really do from in here, no. But I'd sure like to." Dee sounds bitter about it, of course. In the privacy of her home, the bubbliness can be pulled aside for a manner of any number of normal emotions. She does, however, embody the reactionary Irish ways of temper and bravado- including for the sake of others within the 'family'. "Delia warned me about something that might be happening soon, telling us to sit tight. I hope this wasn't it. If they had wanted in, I have faith in them doing that much. But if they were in the forest, it could have been scouts."
"Fucking hell. Is there any way to find out more, do you think?" Frustration ekes out far more easily than any type of panic.
Koshka's head tips in a nod, confirming what they heard over the radios though it comes slow enough that she could be nodding to any of Delilah's questions. Her lower lip is pulled in and toyed with, teeth pressing into the skin until it whitens. Her eyes slant toward Daphne, recalling the woman's warnings. One foot lifts to rub against the back of the other leg, turning the band clasped around her ankle.
"…I… might be able to find out," the teenager offers in a small voice. She watches for Daphne's reaction before shooting a glance toward Delilah. "I… I've been working for the guy who lives at the church," she continues. It's a hedge of truth, without giving away many details.
The church gets a platinum-headed tilt from Daphne, and she nods to Delilah. "Delia was there, too. I didn't know she was… you know. One of you." Ferry, that is to say — Daphne isn't quite Ferry herself, so she's not entirely sure on who's on the metaphorical roster.
"Maybe one of you that can leave can use a pay phone, or something, to check?" Daphne suggests. "I don't know anything other than that, that they said those names and it was close to the woods. I hope they wouldn't try to break in to rescue you guys — not that it wouldn't be great if it worked, but negation gas and robots… it's so dangerous." She sounds disheartened, and she shakes her head at her pessimism.
"At any rate," she adds, "if they have any reason to suspect your ties, be careful."
Delilah knows who works at the 'church', nowadays. At first she was not impressed, no, but over time has realized that it is probably a necessary evil. "I hope you're working for him, and not at the church." The look that Koshka gets is dubious, at worst. "She's kind of- fringe? I guess. I am not sure she is in on some things, but she's a dreamwalker." Implying that even if she didn't, she'd be able to find out.
"You're not the only one that's told me to be careful." Delilah purses her lips a moment, deciding that Daph isn't the one deserving of any ire. "I can't call right away, even so. It's too soon. I know who to call about it, but if I called him right away, it might damage any doubts people have about my connections." And part of her doesn't want to find out what happened. She is trying to not imagine what it would be like without either of them to call friend.
"Ew no." Koshka looks… well, horrified at the idea that she'd be working at the church and not for Logan specifically. "I'm a courier. I make deliveries for him outside." Outside, as in beyond the fence. And she's still wearing an anklet. With a small shrug, she ducks her head and shifts her feet. "Just thought… No one knows about me. Might not raise suspicions."
Another shrug and a scuff of her shoes against the carpet precedes Koshka's glance between Daphne and Delia. Lacking anything else to offer, she looks to the floor again, sidling away from the doorway to sit on the floor near the speedster's feet.
There's a fleeting look of envy on the speedster's face — that Koshka too, despite her anklet, is allowed out and into the world beyond. "That would work if you're really careful and go somewhere public enough that it doesn't draw any attention, in case they're tracking you at all via that." A jab to the anklet.
Daphne reaches to pat Delilah's shoulder a little awkwardly, then to tickle Walter's chubby knee, offering a smile to the baby. "It'll probably be okay. They probably got away. I'm sure they had a plan of escape," she says, though there's doubt in her voice too. She didn't escape, after all.
"If you think you might be able to actually find something out, Koshka, you have my blessing to do so." What else is she supposed to say? Koshka isn't under her care, but Dee doesn't want her to get into danger either. Walter kicks his foot up when he is tickled, reaching out for Daphne's fingers. Dee moves her arm around him so that he can probably succeed.
"Eileen is slippery, I'm not as worried about her as I am Abby. Not that anything is impossible. They probably had a plan, yes. I don't think they'd go without one." Still, things happen. The big dog wanders his way closer, edging into the picture and setting himself down beside Koshka, nose snuffling into her personal space.
Drawing her knees to her chest, Koshka wraps her arms around her legs. When Samson nears, she looks up at the dog and lifts a hand tentatively to scratch where his neck joins his shoulder. "Hey," she says quietly to the dog, looking back to Delilah. She can pretty well guess what Brian and Sami would tell her. Neither of them would appreciate her running off again; but then they haven't yet found out about her 'job'. "If you know what to ask, or messages to pass on. Maybe…"
"If Delia's a dreamwalker, she can maybe get in touch with people, too," Daphne says, glancing at Koshka, while letting Walter grip her fingers, waggling them to tease the baby, "so if there's anything at all risky, don't break your neck for information, kiddo."
She stands, then, rubbing her knees where they are scraped raw from her fake fall. "Sorry to be the bearer of bad news — hopefully it turns out not to be so bad at all," she offers Delilah with a helpless shrug, before turning to Koshka again. "If you do pass on the message, I guess just ask if there's anything they want us on the inside to do that might help whatever they're doing… aside from seeing if they're okay."
The baby latches onto her hand, dropping the toy in his lap in favor of trying to investigate. He babbles something to her, that only he can translate. Delilah runs a palm over his hair, smoothing a curl of orange down onto his head.
"The basics, if it comes to that. I hope that maybe Delia finds me again, or I find out another way." Even though somehow they keep doing it, Dee hates to make others stick their necks out for her. It happens a lot more than she might like it to. "I hope it turns out okay too, Daph. I don't know if I'd be ready, if it didn't."
"I'll ask if going that far, to a payphone or… if I can get away far enough to make a call." Koshka fondles Samson's ears, scratches the top of the dog's head, before she stands also. She doesn't know how possible it is, or how far the protection of Logan's ability reaches. True, it kept her covered as far as the house in the woods, but how much further does it extend?
Hands returning to her pockets, Koshka looks at Delilah. "Are you going to talk to Delia? I'll… I can wait to see if she can dream anything. —Or maybe Kitty or that guy knows something."
Her duty as bad-news-messenger done, Daphne edges toward the door, nervous feet blurring as she shifts them while the conversation continues. "If you need me…" Daphne offers to Delilah, and she gestures vaguely to fill in the blanks. Being there for someone isn't an easy thing for the speedster to do, and she knows she isn't likely to be called on for such, not when Dee has Sable here with her. But normal people offer, right?
"Right. I'm gonna go lock myself in my room for the rest of the night," she says quickly, and out the door she goes, a blur of black, teal, and the creamy color of skin and hair.
"Provided that either I can find her, or she contacts me. I'd like to talk to her to see what she knows, but it may not happen." Delilah lifts her shoulders in a resigned little motion. There's not a whole lot that she can do here, and it pains her to know it. "Thank you for telling me, girls." She gets that much in before Daphne zips away from them. Samson is impassive with people doing weird things, but for Walter, seeing the woman turn into a blur and disappear is pretty much entertainment.
Dee turns her smile on Koshka instead. "Take care of yourself too, Kosh. "
Slower, and not just because of the speedster's ability, Koshka also turns for the door. "I'll try," is more an offer of appeasement than a promise. "If I hear anything or… I'll find you." The teen looks back to Dee and Walter, offering them a half grin that seems more worried than happy, before letting herself out of the house, too.