Participants:
| Scene Title | A Lot To Live Up To |
|---|---|
| Synopsis | Little dogs, little lions, and little rabbits all have a lot to live up to when it comes to family, friendship, and other things. |
| Date | April 18, 2011 |
Union Square Farmer's Market
The cool weather of spring along the eastern seaboard is somewhat erratic. What could be chilly one minute is sweltering the next, when she was younger, Delia used to blame it on homeless evolved people that had nothing better to do than torture her with rain when she needed sun and sun when she was already too hot. Today it's chilly, chilly with a chance of more chilly.
Dressed in her long grey cardigan over a pair of faded jeans, a long sleeved t-shirt that was salvaged from somewhere (maybe Logan's closet, or Sasha or Tania's) and a pair of old runners, she leads Rhett around the stalls to the market. They've been up since 8am, waiting for the stalls to open up so they can get everything they need and go home again. It's Delia's day off and she's planning to enjoy it. "C'mon Rhett, let's go find some roses, I bet Mister Logan would like roses." Of course he would, they're like the royalty of flowers… except for orchids, but they're too delicte. Roses are beautiful and untouchable all at the same time.
With limited days to do things, not wanting to stay Manhattan side too long lest she run into Magnes, Abigail has been trying to whip through her list of things to do. Collect Kasha. Heartbreaking as it was, that was done and she was safely in the arms of Huruma and heading back to the island with her 'aunt'. She'd be safer there. The next was to fetch Rhett. Much to her dismay, she had found out that Rhett wasn't on the island anymore and had little clue as to where Delia was. But a text message had solved that and had brought Abigail to the outside market, layered up herself, two t-shirts of different length, scarf, jean jacket, hat, cargo pants, messenger bag and hiking pack. Might as well make the most of a trip to the market, bring back things that were fresh, things for the kids.
Barbara is somewhere, in the mess of people, off doing her own thing, Abby having a bit more strength in her today. Recovery is slow and would be faster if she were behaving, doing what Megan demanded of her. She couldn't do three flights of stairs to save her life, but slow meandering of the stalls in search of delia - and another text message to locate where - is pushing herself just a little.
getting roses
The return text is short and not very informative, then again, Delia doesn't know who might be listening. There's only a few places where they're selling roses, after all, and she's not going anywhere anytime soon. She needs to pick the perfect one for Mister Logan, the perfect color.
Rhett is looking off to the other side, practically sitting on the redhead's foot as she tries to come to a conclusion about five different plants that are lined up in front of her. All of them are roses, three of which are tea hybrids, one is climbing, and the last promises to stand out to the entire neighborhood.
Delia's not sure which one Logan would like best.
If you ask Abby, black roses, or dead roses. One of the two.
But Abby's oblivious and locating where the flower stalls are located, she's heading there. Boots clomping lost in the sea of people, and a little clueless to Delia. There's a finger gingers about. But there's only one Rhett and it's as she's going down the third line of stalls that she spots her dog, and his rump parked on Delia's feet. She'd give a sharp whistle but that might get unwanted attention, so the former blonde slides up to come to a stand beside Delia and her dog, see how long it takes for either to notice the wan and gaunt EMT, with brown eyes instead of blue.
"What do you think Rhett? The Marilyn Monroe?" She reaches forward and pulls the potted plant a little more forward to get a better view of it. It doesn't have flowers yet, but the picture on the side promises a pale apricot flower, something that makes Delia's nose wrinkle a little. "I don't know if he'd like that color… but it's pretty. What about this one?" Plucking up the largest of them, she holds it down to the dog so it can get a sniff of the stems, Rhett isn't as interested in flowers as he is the person standing beside them.
The leash gets wound around the redhead's legs as the dog lunges toward Abby, he's definitely not shy and in turn, Delia almost tips forward and crashed into the spiney bushes she's trying to look at. "Rhett no! Sit!" It's one they've been working on a lot. He knows all three of those words, whether he choses to listen or not is another story.
Oh this can be bad, this can be real bad. "Rhett, Heel" Southern drawl, Abby's hand comes out, palm down and lo…Rhett heels, settles his haunches down on the ground and looks up with head cocked to the side, waiting, for Abigail who's then reaching out to try and steady Delia, a wince on her face for what nearly happened. "He's been a real handful hasn't he?" Apologetic, hoping that Delia hasn't hurt herself.
Delia's knees are still locked tightly together by the thick flat cord and she slowly duck walks in a small circle to try to get out of the tangle. Apparently, she's been in this situation with the dog before. "Hey uhm.. it's okay, he's been good for the most part. Tania and I have been taking good care of him." Knowing that the Southern Belle is familiar with at least one of the redhead's room mates makes everything a little easier on the Ryans girl.
The expression that first greets Abby is two eyebrows twitched up in concern while teeth catch her lower lip between them to start chewing. "How are you? You're good? Is everything good at home?" Abby's home, not Delia's anymore. "We've been worried," she doesn't say who we is, not entirely.
"I tired easy. Loose my breath sometimes, but I'm good. We're good at home too. I think pretty soon there won't be a trace of sickness of that kind" Of the H5n10 variety one hopes. She waits till Delia's done her twirling, to reach down and latch a hand onto the leash, take over the job of controlling the energetic teenage canine. "Tania" Tania, not Katya. "Is she getting her medication? If needs be, I can make sure that some gets to her, we can get it somehow" She doesn't know who the pair of women are living with, just that they are in Staten Island and Delia is someone not allowed to have information passed to. Abigail understands that far too well.
"Just getting some things done before I head back home." She roughs up the back of Rhett's head, fingers digging into the brown fur, scratching, lavishing love and affection on the dog who's trying to divide his attention between both women.
"I don't know," Delia says in a low tone, lifting one shoulder in a shrug. "I didn't know she was supposed to be getting medication, I'm sure if she needs it her brother will get it for her. He's a doctor, you know, gentle hands." To punctuate it, Delia holds up both of her hands and wiggles her fingers somewhat, like jazz hands. The twitch of a smile that Abby's given is crooked and doesn't move past the left corner of her lips. "I don't think he likes me so much…"
Turning back to the roses, Delia grabs three of the pots, balancing two of them between her body and arm while the other is held in her hand. "It's okay though, not everyone can like me, right?" Spoken like a girl who needs everyone to like her, someone who goes seekig for approval even where she doesn't need to. Hence, the roses.
"Sasha doesn't… take to everyone" This after a startled look, that Delia's living with Koslow. Skoll. The myriad of other names that he's been given. "Mores the pity to the ones who don't like you because then they don't know what they're missing out on" She wraps the leash around her palm a few times, Rhett's shuffle sitting, ready to get moving and going, a bundle of energy he always seems to be. "Remember to cut them back in the fall, before winter" A gesture to the roses. "Makes them grow, Momma always did that. Cut em back, cover them in a burlap sack and then hay around the bottom, protects em through the winter, in case we got snow"
And she digging into her bag, grab out the wallet, moving forward to pay for the rose bushes that Delia's doing a balancing act of. irregardless of price, taking the written receipt and shoving it in her pocket. "For taking care of Rhett. I know he's not easy"
The young redhead's hand is already dipped into her pocket when Abby reaches forward with the money. A little unsure of how etiquette dictates handling this sort of a situation, it's a gift after all, unlike allowing Nick to pay for Eileen's gift, this one is different. It's all from Delia. "It wasn't any trouble," she mumbles finally, looking at the bills in her hand and then the other rose bushes. "Thank you though, you didn't have to." It makes the choice easier, why go through the difficulty when you can just plant all five. Mister Logan will be so happy.
"What's wrong with Tania? Sasha told me there was something wrong with her lungs before, I just… is it asthma or something like that?" Or more serious is the bit left unsaid. "I read in a book that sometimes some plants can help relieve the symptoms, like eucalyptus and things like that… Do you think I could get some to grow in the garden?"
"I don't rightly know if there's plants that can help with Addison's Disease Delia. Her body I think, doens't produce enough adrenaline, she could better tell you. She was in the network, I was meeting up with her once a week for Russian lessons and have lunch" She doesn't say that she knew Tania as katya up until a dream she had with the teenager. "So long as she takes her medicine and doesn't get into situations where she'll trigger a crisis, she'll be fine. But she has her brother, she'll be good"
Delia's glance to the other two pots of flowers are not unnoticed and she plucks them up into her own arms, the plants not weighing too much, she can handle them and her dog. "Pay for them. I'll help you carry them. Barbara's around here, babysitting me, so I don't collapse. The flu's done a number on my lungs"
Addison's.
Delia's eyes shift toward Abby and she takes in a small breath of air before grabbing her lip between her teeth to start chewing on it nervously. "Abby… I uhm.. Could you tell Dad about Tania? Maybe she can visit with Lu or something sometime? I think— I think Lu could help her, a lot. Maybe." Her sister's ability anyway. "I didn't know— she always came for walks with me and Rhett and Cheza." She won't be asking the younger girl if she wants to play soccer anymore, that's for sure.
"I'm learning how to speak Russian too, so I can at least show that I'm making an effort to get to know them.." She says quietly, not that learning their language has much to do with getting to know the siblings as people. ".. or something. It's pretty neat how her brother is a doctor though, I wanted to be one."
"She's fragile Delia, but not china or crystal fragile. Long as she takes her medicines. Walking and that, she likes that, and playing. Piano, you should hear her on the piano. she plays it goo" Her brother. Always her brother. Not really a doctor, but a doctor none the less. That's what he was practicing in Ryazan.
"Tell him the little rabbit says hello to Skoll, when you see him and let Tania know I'm sorry for missing lunch. Don't tell her why just… that I was sick, but I'm all better now and that…" Stuff that she's better off meeting with Tania to tell her than passing it through Delia. "Just that we'll have lunch again soon"
What Lucille has to do with Tania, who knows, but She'll inquire of what with Benjamin. "You're dad's doing good. I saw him the other day."
"She already knows, Abby, she's not stupid, she's been worried." Delia's wry comment on Tania's intelligence, wisdom, lack or not comes right at the tail end of Abby's lecture about her physical state. "Rhett and Cheza are both big, is all I meant and Rhett wasn't really that good when we saw Amadeus on the street. He pulled on her when he lunged at him." Which, if the teen is delicate enough, could cause damage.
They don't have a piano at the house, "Sasha bought her a harp, she plays it. She's really good." Delia doesn't bother to hide the envy in her voice, she's always been jealous of people with talent.
Well. "If that's who I think it is, then yeah, no, Rhett does not like Amadeus. Always trying to bite his hand or something. If it's the one i"m thinking of, last name Deckard." Poor Rhett, poor Tania. She can also hear the emotion in Delia's voice, looks over at her as they stand there with the rose bushes in hand, dog wagging his tail, ducking head to sniff at people who pass by. He's being a good boy, see? worthy of treats and more love! See!
"Her brother is treating her good? Behaving? Not mistreating her?" There's a reason for Abby's concern but she's not giving it voice yet.
"No!" The shock in Delia's voice is quite apparent when she answers that series of questions with a little more revolt than necessary. "He's really nice, very nice. To her. He's not— unnice" not a word "— to me, just… I dunno. I guess we don't run into each other very often." She shifts and places two of the plants into a canvas tote that she brought along from home. She's got a few of them in her bag.
"I'll let Tania know that you want to see her, for lunch. I'll see if she'll leave Eltingville." Because the young girl hasn't yet. She hasn't even left the house without someone with her as far as Delia knows. "And yeah… Amadeus Deckard… He can be a creep but… eh… Maybe there's hope for him. His dad is…" Scary, likes to touch women inappropriately in his dreams— Then slice their hearts out. "… nice?"
"I know his dad. We used to…" You know… that thing. Between two people. "Anyways!" Anyways. "I'm glad that Tania's doing good and you too. "Tell Tania I'll leave a message when I'm back here and can meet up for lunch, if she can leave the blocks" Leave Staten Island. She's not going to put too much faith in that. "How are you Delia? I mean, everything, living with them, and just things these days"
"Mister Logan is very good to me," The same automatic and defensive answer that she gives everyone is what Abby gets. Though once Delia's blurted it out, she takes a little breath in and gives the brunette an apologetic glance. "I'm sorry, I— it's good. It has been really good. Just hard because I can't see my family and friends. I'll make new ones though, right?" A wane smile is delivered but it fades like the sun behind a cloud. "I sort of feel like I'm a part of a family where I'm living though… Just a really weird one."
She's living with Logan. Delia can see that - Abby wears her emotions and her heart on a sleeve - dislike, disgust, horror. That anyone would live with Logan. She knew Logan was taking care of Tania, she should have known better. But she keeps her tongue - pun intended - to herself with any thoughts on that. "I bet" Fake brilliant sunny smile. "You'll make friends, you don't always need many, just a good few who will have your back. I hope that you count me in that pile."
"I'd like to," the hurt on Delia's face is plain as day as she sees the expression on Abby's and her blue eyes drop the ground. "Just hard to know who will and won't have my back if things get rough. Dad won't." Turning on her heel, her shoulders hunch a little as her tall form shrinks into a rather self conscious posture. "I did it for him, you know. He owed Mister Logan a favor… and he got hurt and almost died. I— I needed a place to go anyway, so I'm paying the favor back. So Mister Logan won't ever bother dad. I thought he'd understand, instead I'm not allowed to talk to anyone or see anyone."
She takes a few backward steps before her eyes fall on the dog and she gives it a small nod, like he'll understand or something. "You've been a good boy, Rhett. I'll see you around." Her eyes lift toward Abby and she lifts her shoulder in a shrug. "Anyway, I'll see you around too. Maybe."
Ryans owed Logan a favor for what? "Logan is a friend to some Delia, and I'm not one of those. We have a history. For better of worse, that is it. Same as Tania's brother and I have a history. But I'm glad, like i told her, that Logan takes care of her, that he's nice to you. Means somewhere in him, there's good. I hope it stays that way with you. You have the number, when I'm back in the city, i get the messages so, if you want to meet up for a lunch or a dinner or.. there's something you need just.. just leave a message. I don't judge a person by the company they keep, just the person" Abigail pauses, deciding whether to reach out or not, but she does, shifting around those pots of roses to give a brief hug, to initiate physical contact. "God bless, and thank you, again, for taking care of Rhett. I owe you"
Delia shifts the pot to wrap her free arm around Abby's back and she leans her chin on the shorter woman's shoulder briefly. "Sorry, just.. I shouldn't have taken it out on you. I'm sorry for what Mister Logan did to you, I'm trying to— trying to help in my way. If he'll let me in. I know there's more to him than what everyone says, Hokuto said he can be noble… I know he can." The redhead pulls back, looking much better than when the hug initiated. A small smile on her face that actually puts a glimmer of happiness in her eyes. "Sasha too, he loves his sister. He's protective of her."
There's a small nod in answer to the subject of lunch and phone messages but Delia's eyes are no longer on Abby at that point. "I try not to use my iPad or the little phone I have. I never know who might be listening. If you want to get a hold of me… I work at the Apothecary in Greenwich Village, you can leave a message there for me." She takes another couple of steps away from the woman and raises her hand to wave. "He wasn't any trouble, really. Mister Logan's dog is bigger, so Rhett had a lot to live up to."
"I'm sure" Before she parts, there's a kiss, to Delia's cheek, a squeeze. Meant to convey that she understands. She understands. "Apothecary it is. I'll see you around Delia, I'll leave messages from Martha" Not Ferry messages, Delia's been cut off, but she can still be a friend. In the world of terrorism and living on the run. Everyone needs friends.
"Sorry but.. I won't be holding my breath, I don't think Sable, Delilah, and Brian are either." When Delia walks away, she's rubbing her cheek off on her shoulder. She doesn't stop anywhere else along this aisle, rounding a corner and then finally pausing near a cotton candy machine. It gets a long stare before she shifts one of the pots again and raises two fingers. "I'll take two in bags please," in other words 'to go'.