A Little Birdie Told Me

Participants:

genevab_icon.gif kaylee_icon.gif

Featuring:

barazani_icon.gif carl_icon.gif

Scene Title A Little Birdie Told Me
Synopsis Geneva shows up at Raytech seeking help from the resident telepath.
Date December 19, 2019

Raytech Industries - Parking Lot


Only moments ago a black SUV pulled into the parking lot of Raytech Industries. A few moments more, before one of the back doors pops open and boy no more than six hops out. With the door held open, he looks into the car and hos a bit with excitement, “Come oooon, mommy! I want to see if the raptor is there!”

“Carl, wait,” comes the muffled sound of a woman’s voice, before she too gets out of the backseat of the car. Kaylee Ray-Sumter, one of Raytech’s founders and executives, doesn’t look like she is really dressed for meetings, more of a casual friday look. Coming around the side of the car, she offers out a hand to the boy. “So what do you want the cafeteria to make for lunch?” she asks Carl, waiting for her bodyguard, Bob to get out of the drivers seat.

“Grilled cheese!” Carl declares happily.

“Hey kid,” Bob calls from behind them, a grin tugging at the older man’s features. “You think you can convince them to make me one too?”

“Of course, Mr. Bob! Doris like me…” Doris was a grouchy old lady that looked after the cafeteria. Carl continues looking back over his at the man, while Kaylee guides him towards the entrance. “She even uses the good cheese.”

There is no raptor occupying this parking lot, but there is a ruby-throated hummingbird that comes to rest on the roof of the vehicle nearly as soon as it finishes rolling into place, little claws stubbornly latching onto place on the ice-laden roof. The bird looks insistent. Cold, from the way the poor creature is shuddering first to burst. How long had it been waiting for them here?

What's more, in the middle of its mad shivering, it looks directly at all of them in turn in frantic hummingbird fashion, jerking its head first from Carl to Bob and then to Kaylee. What the two non-telepaths get from it is nothing but typical bird-chatter: "Chi-chit-chi-chit-chiiiiiiiiii."

However, Kaylee hears a familiar teenaged voice resonating inside her mind. Kaylee? Kaylee. Please, for the love of Jesus, tell me you can hear me.

“Mommy! Look!”

Carl turns more and plants his feet, keeping his mother from moving any further from the car. He points at the humming bird on top of the car even before Kaylee sees it.

Bob turns to look as well, “Well, would you look at that,” he comments with amusement. “Don’t really see that in the middle of winter.” He shoos at it with his hands, “Go.. go… find a warm spot, yeah?” The action is arrested by Kaylee’s hand grabbing his wrist.

“Stop a second,” the telepath sound confused and a bit in awe. Stepping back over to the bird she stares at it and Geneva and feel the brush of Kaylee’s ability against her mind. Suspicions confirmed, the older woman gasps. “Geneva?! What happened?”

She gets an odd look from Bob, who looks from her to the bird and back. “O-kay… This is getting a bit weird for me,” he steps away and watches for a moment.

Instinctively Geneva turns to snap at Bob with a razor-sharp beak when he attempts to shoo her off, and it is a good thing that Kaylee stops him in the act. She promptly rises back into the air right afterwards, though it is only to settle into a hover right in front of Kaylee's face, wings beating furiously. It seems that she cannot remain still long, lest she want to freeze.

Kaylee, thank -God-. The relief in Gene's mental voice is so strong that it practically echoes inside Kaylee's skull. Listen. You know one of those people that's wanted for Remi's murder? Eileen Ruskin. She did this to me. I don't know what to do, and it's so fucking -cold— please, help— Weakly, she drops herself mid-flutter so that she is about level with Kaylee's chest, making unhappy peeps.

Instinct has hands cupping under the little bird; but, not interfering with it’s flight… Almost as if afraid it is going to drop right there.”I had no idea, Eileen could even do this,” is the first thing Kaylee can even think to say at this predicament. Geneva can feel the telepath testing the feel of the young woman’s trapped mind. “I’m not even where to even start…” she trails off.

Carl tries to crowd in and get a look, but Bob’s hand on the boys shoulder stops him. “Come on, kiddo. I’ll take you inside so that your momma can talk to the bitty birdie.” Bob really isn’t sure what to think about that… might even be a little nervous about it.

Kaylee looks at her companions, “Probably a good idea,” she comments with a nod, Carl’s face falling into one of disappointment. He gives a sad wave goodbye to the hummingbird as he’s being directed away. Distracted, the telepath is already thinking of who to contact, to include Gillian. “What in the world were you doing tangling with Eileen? You’re lucky, you realize that? You could be dust in the wind right now.” It isn’t really a lecture, it is just a statement of fact.

Kaylee is no empath, but it is hard to mistake the way that this tiny bird seems to instantly bloat into a rage. Literally. Her brightly colored chest feathers puff indignantly in every direction possible, and she emits a SQUEAK. Birds do not have eyebrows, but if ever Kaylee and her entourage had seen a real-life Angry Bird, it would be now.

Listen, all I wanted was to -save- the life of a little girl Eileen wanted to murder. Wants. She’s still -out there-. Look, I didn’t even -do- anything. Nearly bursting with hysteria, Gene encircles the top of Kaylee’s head in a little fluttering war dance of avian frustration. Just please, please, please… tell me you have a way to get me back to normal.

“Get as angry as you want, Geneva, but it's the truth and I won’t apologize for it,” Kaylee comments firmly in that ‘mom’ tone; but, then sighs watching the little bird fluttering around. She may not be an empath, but she still perceives emotions in the tone and hum of people’s minds, even experiences them through memories. Kaylee’s brand of telepathy is… complicated. “This isn’t like being in the head of another human.” Eyes unfocus again as she looks at the mind of the other in a different way.

Blue eyes suddenly refocus on the bird, “Wait. That girl wouldn’t happen to be Sibyl would it?” Kaylee’s heart is suddenly in her throat. “She had been staying with me when she vanished. I- I was so wrapped up in…” She looks up as she trails off. “I thought she was with Ga-” again sh trails off and looks at the bird. Clearing her throat, she asks…“Do you remember where your body is?”

Was I… supposed to let her die? Sibyl. She’s… Gene-bird is all set to make another retaliation to Kaylee, but her stamina is swirling away as though somebody had pulled a gigantic plug on a bathtub. She had been expending so much energy hovering in desperation, attempting to keep herself warm in the wintery air, to survive, that it is doing her body severe damage. Hummingbirds are not meant to stay in constant motion, and her recent furious outburst had certainly not helped. In the wild, they necessarily spend most of their time resting between flights— and she had also not eaten in many, dangerous hours. But the girl, unfortunately, is not yet familiar with these particular aspects of hummingbird physiology.

As Kaylee watches, her wingbeat decreases from a rapid thrumming, to a stuttering stammer, and to a standstill. Then, her fast-fading little body plummets towards the hard asphalt.

She hadn’t been lying about being cold.

“I am not saying…” Kaylee starts, but notices something is wrong, almost immediately. Thankfully, with the body gives up, the tiny bird doesn’t reach the ground, gloved hands catch it and cup around it. Encased in the telepath’s hands, Geneva will be safe at least. The situation this woman was in infuriates the telepath, she looks around at the buildings at the trees. Somewhere there is a bird that belongs to Eileen. She wants to yell at it, but… the tiny warm body in her hand, pulls her attention and reminds her that… there was a body out there that could still be destroyed by the avian telepath.

A glance goes to the car as her first thought of refuge, but Bob has the keys.

So with no other recourse, the telepath turns and hurries for the buildings; but, instead of going in the front door, she hurries for the onsite apartments. “Hold on, sweetie.” It will be several minutes, but eventually, the telepath finds her way to the apartment she occasionally uses. It’s quiet and a bit cold. The furniture is covered by sheets, clearly not used often.

Flipping through cabinets in the kitchen she finds a clean dish towel to gently place the tiny delicate body in, after making it a sort of nest. A small desk heater is found next and set on the counter next to it and plugged in. Once it is started, Kaylee watches anxiously. “What a fucking predicament,” she murmurs under her breath. Taking a moment to let Bob know she’d be there shortly, to shoot a text to Gillian… Looking up from her phones, brows furrow. Who else?

For the entire trip, Gene lies quietly nestled in Kaylee’s palms as she is rushed off… somewhere. Tiny bouts of shuddering periodically come from inside those cupped hands; though she is struggling to hold on, she can at least appreciate the gentleness with which she is being held. Never had the girl felt quite so fragile as she does now. This is now a perpetual reality for her.

That feeling is not lost even as she feels the blast from the space heater that has been placed next to her, and then, slowly, the texture of something soft beneath her numb wings: sensation is returning to her, parts at a time. Muffled, vibrating “brrrr” sounds resound from within the impromptu nest Kaylee had made her; her attention is temporarily diverted from anything of note the telepath might be saying. This is actually quite comfortable.

Shortly a flat dish with a sugar solution is added to the area near the bird bound Geneva. No time to boil it, but it should still do the trick. “Here, that body is going to need nourishment.” The words are gentle and motherly. Kaylee rests elbows on the counter and studies the little bird now that it is a little warmer.

“Do you remember where you were?” Kaylee asks after a moment. It would be the best point to start for looking for a body. As much as she was worried about Sibyl, the first thing was to get that body back. “If we can get you..r body back… maybe I can get a friend of mine to put you back. He has avian telepathy too. I might be a telepath, but… this might be beyond my skill.” She’s never done it before, for one.

Peep peep. Gene peeks out of the dish towel she is nestled into. There are a few quick headtilts as she susses out the mystery solution that is placed before her. A satisfactory level of verification only takes a split second, and she dips the tip of her beak into it with eagerness: she is famished. This at least will her keep from dying.

….Emily’s apartment. She should be taking good care of my body, um, hopefully. Ugh god, that feels so weird to say.

At this point it almost seems like Gene has to take a mental breath; if she could rub her forehead with human fingers right now, she would. For the moment, she has to be content with consuming her sugary meal, which she is doing speedily for such a small thing: the dish is already only half full. Em arranged for Sibyl to be… taken away. I don’t really have any idea if she’ll stay safe, though. I’d bet you anything the bitch queen Eileen wil go looking.

“Of course, she will,” Kaylee sighs out, pacing away from the bird, her anxiety clearly mounting. “Jesus… Gabe’s gonna kill me, I thought she was with him.” A hand rubs at her neck as the telepath stares out the window, eyes slightly unfocused. Her words are half thoughtful and frustrated. “We worked so hard to get Sibyl away from that damnable woman…” Half turning she looks back at the bird and it’s meal. “Eileen kept Sibyl locked in a shipping container for several months and had her slotted to be killed.” There is a long moment, maybe Kaylee is letting that information sink in.

Turning fully towards the bird, Kaylee sighs, “You need rest and I need to get in contact with some people. Will you be okay here for a time?” So much to do and literally no time to do it in.

She did WHAT? If there had been any remaining doubt in Gene’s mind of Eileen’s status as a complete monster, this not only confirms it but seals the matter in a triple layer of duct tape. She spits out the globule of sugar water currently in her mouth, a projectile which -blips- onto the surface of the counter as the world’s tiniest puddle.

Listen, you gotta make sure that kid gets away from her. I’ll be good. A beat, and then the hummingbird tits her head the other direction as she snuggles her temporary bedding more cozily around her. …Could I have some more of that sugary stuff before you go, though? It is amazing how quickly hunger asserts itself in this body.

There is a soft smile for the young woman. “Of course.” It won’t take too long for Kaylee to accomplish that. Just in case the telepath runs late, she makes sure there is extra.

“I’ll be back as soon as I can, try to get some sleep,” Kaylee says this while punching numbers into her phone; a few steps already being taken towards the door. “If I can’t make it that older gentleman you saw me with, will come check on you.”

There is no further explanation as the woman hurries towards the door, listening to the sound of the telephone ringing on the other end. “Hey, it’s Kaylee. I.. uh… I have an Eileen sized problem…” That is all Geneva will hear before she is left to enjoy the warmth and quiet.


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