Participants:
| Scene Title | Bitch What |
|---|---|
| Synopsis | …Bitch WHAT. |
| Date | May 31, 2018 |
It's the usual for the resident “Cat Lady” of the Safe Zone. Perched on the couch that faces the crumbled wall of her apartment emerald green eyes are on trees that have grown inside the space, her feline friends lounge around. On the counter, the stairs, around her ankles.
Meows and yowls, hissing and the like surround Tibby and she's never felt more at home. Arm draped over the couch as she tokes a spliff and takes gulps out of her bottle of whiskey. Making a face as she sets the bottle down. “Fucking Christ.” Breathing in deep before stretching her arms out.
Clad in a loose long sleeve red shirt and a pair of black short shorts, her tan legs are splayed out on the couch. Smoke hovering above her head. It's been a long fucking day.
Shit has been going down lately. Tibby’s BFF has been missing for…well, most of the month of May. No note, no correspondence, just…gone. It’s not wholly surprising — she’s done that in the past, usually when she’s up to something, though she usually thinks to drop a line every once in a while to let Tibby know that she’s alive.
The cats probably smell the dog, first. Kaang has been reunited with his Person, and he is quite firmly attached to her side, happily panting as his nub of a tail wags behind him. Then, looking a bit different from normal, Keira approaches the building she’s supposed to be sharing with Tibby, a half-smoked cigarette dangling from her lips. In one hand a brown paper bag is carried, obviously containing some kind of spirit or another.
There’s no hesitation, and Keira, complete with her new eye patch, climbs the steps and slips into the house, heavy boots making loud footfalls upon the old wooden floor. She’s not wearing the concealing clothing any more, her jacket (with the sleeves rolled up) spread open to reveal her tattooed midriff, and that soft cloth eye patch she sports over her left eye is definitely new.
She greets her best friend with a sheepish smile, spreading her arms wide. “Honey, I’m home.”
“What in Oya’s name happened?” Flicking the ash off of her joint and into the opening in the wall.. Tibby looks at the eyepatch and the clothes.. and while blinking. The felines come to rub on the legs of Keira and her Caine friend. The South African woman seems nervous when she sees Keira.
“Key what the fuck?!”
Standing up to rush over Tibby takes Keira by the arm without thinking of the skin to skin contact.
Nothing happens.
No flicker, and the woman doesn’t flinch like she used to. In fact, Keira promptly hugs her friend right back. “A lot of shit, if it’s not obvious.” The gangster offers a sheepish grin. “I didn’t waste any time dippin’ my feet in all of the fuckin’ insanity goin’ on in this place.”
After a beat, she pulls away from the hug, holding up the bottle in offering to Tibby. It’s an extremely good bottle of whiskey.
“So I’ll start with th’fun fact that one Emile Danko, of Humanis First fame, is alive and well, on Staten Island.” A pause. “I found him.”
There’s a look of shock on the other woman’s face and Tibby looks confused after. No flickering.. “Fuck me..” She hugs her friend tightly, closing her eyes in relief for her. “This is good news ya? What happen-”
Danko. Everyone knows that name. Around the world.
“Wait a damn minute tho, Key ain't he dead or something?” Clearly not catching on to what is happening exactly. There's a dangerous look in her eyes and the tiny woman looks a little scary.. Humanis First… “Did you end him all over?”
After giving her friend a rather tight hug, Keira moves across the room to sit on the couch, slumping a bit and just…enjoying the feeling of being in her house. Kaang busies himself with lovingly grooming a few of the cats, probably much to their chagrin.
“Loooooong fuckin’ story. Sit down, have a shot and a few tokes.” Another peace offering in the form of an expertly rolled blunt is produced and lit up. “So a friend of mine mentions the fact that th’fucker has been spotted, so I went t’find him. And did.” She takes a long pull off of the blunt, before offering it up to Tibby.
“I was gonna waste him, but th’hypocrite is a fuckin’ Evo. Regens, heals up when you stab him and cut him. I was tryin’ to figure out how t’off him, and I was about to just pack ‘im up and ship him off t’SESA all anonymous-like.” She pauses a beat, opening the bottle of whiskey and taking a swig.
“Unfortunately, he’s got some kinda mental bond or implant or somethin’, and someone in a fuckin’ FRONTLINE suit showed up to rescue him. Killed four of m’boys.” She lifts her eyepatch, then, revealing the sunken-in socket beneath. “Took my eye, and snapped my spine.”
She doesn’t look like she recently got her spine snapped.
More blinking and the South African woman looks even more confused. “How do you go from Non-Expressive to Expressive..” Ah fuck , what is going on. “Maybe he manifested later ya? A true late bloomer.” A snort as she continues to chief on her spliff she has rolled. “You need all the favors more than me babe, chug a lug while I chief this shit.” After her spliff is finished it's Blunt O’clock though of course.
The utterance of SESA and Frontline get a flash of emerald green eye from Tibby. They are both criminals but Tibby isn't a citizen.. she has a lot to lose with those kind of folk poking around.
Shuddering involuntarily the bleached blonde takes another toke of her joint before blowing the smoke up to the ceiling. Oya leaps onto a nearby end table to be nuzzled and scratched behind the ears, Tibby wearing a faint smile on her face. There is worry behind those eyes for her friend. Who always seemed to be the one in more trouble than she herself.
Rearing back with wide eyes, “Oi oi wait what, snapped your spine.” Shaking her head, Tibby rubs the back of her scalp, the shaved sides needed to be re cut soon. “How- how’d you get out of there? How.. the fuck are you walking Key?”
To her credit, Keira seems to have accepted the weirdness of her new reality rather well. “It’s possible, I s’pose. I mean, I thought I was a non-evo until I manifested…took one bad SLC test that gave me a negative, never bothered to take another.” She frowns. She’s a hypocrite too, but at least she didn’t commit genocide — she mostly just did gangster shit and acted as arm candy to Walsh.
The one-eyed thug takes another long draw off of the blunt. “I woke up in the hospital.” Here’s the nerve-wracking part for Keira. “Caspian kinda rescued my ass.” She’ll get into that more in a moment. “That fuckin’ Russian asshole, Sasha Kozlow, healed me a little bit. Made it so I could kinda walk, but my leg was paralyzed.” She pats her left leg.
“Found another healer, though. He works through Staten. Thinkin’ of offerin’ him another fulltime job, ‘cause he fixed me up.” She rubs at her low back. “I’m still kinda healin’, but at least I can fuckin’ walk.” She then tilts her head. “Unfortunately, in all of that, my ability got all kinds of fucked up. Dunno if it was Kozlow or the other guy, but it doesn’t work like it used to.”
She pauses, and grins. Suddenly, she stands, reaching into her purse and pulling out a rather large poncho. She promptly changes into that, for…whatever reason. It only takes a second before she’s standing in front of Tibby, nude of all but the oversized black poncho. Even the eyepatch is removed.
“It got better.”
Suddenly, she changes, this time at will. Her form expands, gaining a good half of a foot in height and a good 200 to 300 lbs. And then, suddenly, there’s a hairy fat man in a barely-big-enough poncho standing in Keira’s place. He even has two eyes.
As Keira recounts her tale Tibby puffs evermore on that joint, her neck cranes to look over in the direction of the felines and their new/old buddy, a wave of calm spread out among them. To swiping at the poor dog’s nose okay. A tan hand twitches as emerald green eyes narrow. “Cas? How the hell..”
It would seem that Keira will get to that in a bit because next she's explaining about a Russian and another healer. “They could be the richest of us all bloody hell.” Shaking her head, though being able to spy like she can with the use of her ability has its merits too.
There's a poncho and a nude Keira who she's seen naked more times than she can count. But the way she changes, “Ah fuck!” Leaping to her feet and landing in a crouch on the couch, the felines bristle as one no longer playing and turning their heads as one to look towards their “master” (she likes to say Main Bitch).
“Ya.. fucking leveled up Key.” Eyes wide, she walks in a circle to study her friend’s assumed shape. “Whose this ol bloke? You couldn't have drugged someone that was prettier?” Tibby teases.
The man grins, watching as Tibby circles around him. After a moment, the man kind of…melts back down, shrinking into Keira’s shape, her tattoos blooming back to life. The eye is weird — it shrinks down, her socket hollowing out. After replacing her eye patch, she goes about redressing.
“Well, I kinda got that face on accident when I was checking out a place in th’Bronx. I’m movin’ in up there, setting up shop and hiring some motherfuckers. I’ll take Staten eventually, but right now, the Bronx is ripe for the takin’.” She smirks, pulling on her top.
“In any case, the motherfucker you just saw had the gall t’try and raid my van, and then tried t’kill me in th’process.” She gestures to a stitched up wound on her arm, a graze from a bullet. “I killed him, shot his jaw off…and suddenly, I could turn into him.” She watches her friend for a moment, before clarifying, “Pretty sure I can only turn into someone if I, like, kill ‘em. Happened as soon as he dropped. Ripped up my clothes.”
She pulls on her pants while taking a long puff of the blunt. “The eye comes back for real. It feels fuckin’ weird, suddenly havin’ an eyeball inflate in there and bein’ able t’see all of a sudden. Weird when it goes away, too.”
A stiffening of Tibby’s back at the mention of how she's come across this.. new facet of her ability. “Oh ah.. fuck.. well fuck him for trying to rob you.” And she means that, reaching over to rub Keira’s shoulder with a sad look. How awful though, this turn of events for her friend. “I'm happy you've got an eye every now and then. Though the pirate jokes ain't gonna end anytime soon Sista girl.” A cackle of laughter and Tibby comes to lean against the table facing her friend.
The reverting to her original body is crazy to watch and she watches without turning away, what happens to her eye is most interesting and Tibby breaks out into a grin, “Wicked. Hot damn. Bladdy doos ain't no what hits him aye?” She wants to spit over her shoulder in disgust to the dead mugger so she walks over and spits in the sink with a wink to Keira.
“I'm worried though Key,” her expression transforming to accommodate the emotion she's feeling currently. Worry. “That's a shitty thing, having to kill someone to turn into them ya? I mean you can't just go around killing folk all willy nilly!” Right??
What Keira does not mention is the fact that the act of killing him and suddenly being able to change into him…well, that felt kind of good. Like a warm feeling coming from her core and radiating outward. It was almost like a drug. She probably won’t mention that part to anyone — it disturbs her, it will surely disturb others more.
“I probably wouldn’t have killed him if he hadn’t tried to kill me for catchin’ him.” She frowns, pulling on her boots. “I don’t really cherish the idea of killing people, no.” Though it does make for rather seamless impersonation, so long as the body is properly disposed of.
“I’ve done it b’fore, obviously.” You don’t get to be a higher up in her line of business without killing your fair share of people. “But I’m not evil.” She tells herself this as much as she tells her friend. “I’m not gonna go murderin’ a whole bunch of innocent people.”
There’s also the elephant in the room. “So, change of subject…how are you and Casp doin’? I haven’t really had th’chance t’talk t’you since you went off to talk with him.” She reaches out for Kaang, who gladly returns to her side and sits, leaning against her legs. In turn, she reaches down to scratch at his ears.
“Course you wouldn't! And ya duh I've had to do the same.” Kill people that is, pretty much always out of necessity. Her brow furrows as Tibby thinks back on those past deeds and situations. Including the one that involved that panther.. in Madagascar. She still didn't speak about that day very often.
The feline lady stretches and shakes her head. “You ain't evil babe, shush that.” Puffing in that joint she throws the roach in the sink and looks over to her friend. Things have changed. There's an uneasiness inside of her about the nature of her friend’s ability but the desire to believe in the Keira she knows wins over any doubts about whether her friend will stay on.. whatever moral path the two criminals are even on.
Ah, returning to the topic that piqued her interest and was briefly shelved.
“We.. reunited.” Well that's short. Probably because the reunion is short. “I'm not the same anymore, I.. I thought it best to step back. He deserves a good woman.” Easy as that.. there's a flicker of something in her eyes and she turns towards the sink to grab a beer that sits unopened. Unscrewing it with her teeth and spitting the top back into the sink before hopping onto the counter to sip at the beer. Slow and steady, her hand isn't shaking thankfully. The shock of him actually being alive is still fresh, her confusing emotions about him and their relationship still weighed heavy in her mind. “You said.. he rescued you?” Her eyebrow raises. “How?” Because that's just.. so strange! “Lucky he was there though.”
Hopefully, Tibby’s faith in Keira is well placed. Hopefully, Keira doesn’t go down a much darker path than she’s been on. But that, of course, all remains to be seen, doesn’t it? The woman puffs at the blunt, before standing and crossing the room, offering it to her friend.
The explanation of what happened with Caspian prompts a slow nod. That lets her feel at least a little bit optimistic about Tibby maybe not mauling her to death.
“Yeah. I ran into him at th’memorial wall, chatted with him a bit and he kinda gave me th’idea to behead the Danko statue when I told him about that fucker.” She carefully lifts herself onto the counter next to her friend. “I texted him about what I was doin’ with Danko, and when shit went south, I didn’t really have much time t’choose who t’ask for help.”
She turns her gaze toward Kaang, who has followed her and settled on the ground below her feet again.
“He’s been a big help since then. He was there at th’hospital when I woke up. He…was there when I first found out that my ability was different. I thought it was broken.” There’s a long pause. “Please don’t kill me, but when it happened, I kinda had a crazy moment and kissed him. If you hate that and want t’punch me, I get it.”
Upon taking the blunt and puffing on it she laughs. “He's about defacing property!” She loved that about him once. The graffiti. Artistic, she described him to her family.
Those emerald eyes go from squinting to widening, to squinting, to widening until she eventually just blinks and takes a long gulp from her beer. One by one the felines, who have been suspiciously quiet get up and trot out the room. Silent. Much like Tibby, who is still drinking her beer until she stops and stares up at the ceiling.
Eyes are closed and she rocks from side to side a bit.
Oya and Adze are the only felines that remain, both lounging on the couch near Tibby’s weed and bag. “Maybe I should have taken a gulp of that whiskey..” she finally says before still puffing on the blunt, she passes it to Keira while not really looking at her. Going to sit on the back of the couch, the look in her eyes is one of hurt. Which is to be expected. Uncomfortable because what the fuck is this? And something else that she couldn't yet identify. “..I don't know what to say..” face screwed up in confusion.
Yeah. There it is. That awful feeling that she’s let down her best friend. “I wish I could take it back, Tibs,” Keira murmurs, her face falling. It’s rare for her to show too much on her face, but this is an exception. “I was freakin’ the fuck out, I thought my power was gone, and it just kinda…came out.” Her teeth worry at her lower lip.
“To his credit, he wouldn’t go further than that — he doesn’t want to hurt you either. And I don’t, either.” She fidgets a bit. “If you want me t’stop talkin’ to him altogether, I will. You’re way more important t’me than anyone else, Tibs, and I don’t want t’hurt you or lose you.”
She lowers her head, looking not unlike a dog who has just been told that it is a Bad Dog.
A grimace and Tibby nods her head but doesn’t say much, wheeling around she digs into her backpack as Oya hisses at Keira before turning her attention to her human friend who is hurting. After fiddling around, Tibby turns to face Keira and she holds in her hand a joint and a lighter. Walking towards the door the south african calls over her shoulder. “I need to smoke outside, catch my breath. A second.” She doesn’t look at Keira, doesn’t acknowledge the rest of the woman’s reasons and pleads.
She’s angry. And as she and the last two felines of the house leave to run down the steps. There are hot tears running down her face. Tibby’s face screws up into a strange expression and she looks over her shoulder with a glare.
The house is silent, nobody but Keira and her caine friend. Tibby isn’t really one for killing as she has said before. Not unless in self defense. Not when she’s at her clearest head and self. Unfortunately, hearing that her best friend has been cozying up to her ex-boyfriend. That shit hurts. And so, she left.
Someone that was like a sister to her. Tibby feels sick to her stomach but she also feels.. rage.
And she never came back.