Participants:
| Scene Title | And Lose You |
|---|---|
| Synopsis | Niki wakes up after Gina's night out. Jessica fills her in on the gaps as little as possible. She conveniently leaves out how their troublesome counterpart decided to blow off steam after she abandoned the club. |
| Date | May 28, 2010 |
Niki's Home
Even these days, it's not entirely uncommon for Niki to lose chunks of her time, or have gaps in the portion of her memory that seems to be wholly her own. When she opens her eyes to the muted sunlight splashed across her face, further muted by the gossamer-like fabric of the curtains over her bedroom window, Niki knows she spent the evening drinking.
Well, someone else spent the evening drinking. She spent it apparently sleeping in the recesses of her mind. The dull ache behind her eyes is fortunately not as bad as she thinks it could be. Nothing a couple aspirin and a large bottle of water shouldn't fix, hopefully.
She knows who must have done the drinking, but that leaves her with a small bit of confusion. There's no way she fell asleep in these clothes. Not unless…
"Someone decided to misbehave last night," comes a voice from the mirrored closet. At least, in Niki's head, that's where it sounds like the voice is coming from. Jessica has dressed for the day already, it seems. By proxy, this mean Niki's dressed as well, in black cargo pants, a white tank top layered over with a black zip-up sweatshirt. The hood is pulled up over Jessica's head to ward off the lingering morning chill.
"Where was I?" Niki rubs her hands over her face and rolls over onto her back to stare at the ceiling. The pillow beneath her head is still slightly damp. At least she got a shower in before bed. Stretching slowly, she's waiting for her limbs to feel less like they're going to protest the process of her getting up to start her day.
"Sleeping." Jessica's reply is so simple. It doesn't make sense that one would sleep inside their own head, but there it is. She writes a lot of nonsensical ideas off as “a given” these days. "Unless she deleted it, one of her little friends sent her a text message on your cell phone about a night club opening up again. She almost got into a fist fight."
Really? Niki lifts her head at that, propping herself up to sit and stare at Jessica in the mirror. The early morning light and reflections play tricks on her eyes, leaving the white pillowcase looking faintly pink in the pale sunlight. "Gina almost got into a fight? That's not normal for her."
Jessica shrugs her shoulders, crossing her arms just under her chest. "She's laying low for a while, at any rate."
"That's not always a good thing," Niki is quick to point out. "Every time she decides she's going to “lay low,” she comes back in full force and I lose gaps of time. Maybe she needs to take a more active role?"
"Or maybe you just need to deal with your unresolved issues," Jessica counters flatly.
"And lose you?" It's a sure sign that Niki's come to terms with her multiplicitous situation in how she teases the woman in the mirror. "Sounds like a lonely existence, if you ask me."
It isn't very often that Jessica's stunned into silence by the counterpart she treats as her younger sister more than her other half. This is one of those times. She might actually be touched by the sentiment that Niki wouldn't want to live without her. And after years of being at odds with each other, she isn't quite sure how to respond.
So she doesn't.
Niki rolls out of her bed and makes her way past the closet, briefly distorting Jessica's image when she pushes the door closed.
"I'm staying right here," Jessica muses, tracking Niki's movements through the room with her eyes.
Niki pauses in mid-step, sending a quizzical glance to the woman in the mirror. "Why?" she asks cautiously.
"Gina has a surprise for you. I'm staying out of it."
A surprise? That's never a good thing. Niki furrows her brows and shakes her head as she continues her journey to the bathroom to start her morning hygiene regimen. She doesn't pay any mind to her reflection at first, out of habit. It generally isn't her anyway. No until she folds out the sides of the mirror to allow Jessica and Gina to occupy either side while she has the segment straight ahead.
Today, all three display only herself. She brushes her teeth, swishes mouthwash. It's only when she reaches for her brush that she actually gives attention to her own reflection.
In the bedroom, Jessica can hear the brush clatter as it falls against the porcelain of the sink, bounces off the edge and slaps against the floor. Niki's shriek is soon to follow.
But first there's a gasp and what Jessica can only assume is a sputter of disbelief and anger keeping words from forming immediately. Any time now…
"Gina!" There it is. "What have you done to my hair?!"