Participants:
| Scene Title | Dumbass Luck |
|---|---|
| Synopsis | … brings two acquaintances together, and may, as Delilah suggests, be the downfall of the government in the end. |
| Date | April 8, 2011 |
It is the middle of the morning on an early April Saturday- the weather is cool, the sun is out, the birds are chirping, the hemisphere is waking up from Winter even as the day goes by. It's finally an occasion where Delilah is able to take Walter outside and not have to worry about keeping him bundled up with her. The stroller he is lying inside of even has its hood partially lowered, so that he can see the blue sky and puffy white Spring clouds. He seems to like thunderstorms, and these clouds, though terribly different, are regarded from far below by a discerning eye.
Delilah had needed to stop in the pharmacy on the corner, and it took just a few minutes to get in and out, only needing to pick up a couple of things while on her walk. Her dress is bright cream and yellow against the dusty colors of post-winter, even when half hidden under her jacket. Her hair is braided back, more out of being practical than not. She's been letting Walter taste test soft food, and to put it easy, sometimes things don't agree with him. No need to get it literally everywhere.
Time goes by much to slow in this place for Daphne — she can speed around but there's really no where to speed to, and the anklet she wears is a physical reminder not to test her boundaries. The petite blonde — less blonde now that her dark roots are about two inches long, the color beneath a brownish red that matches the brown eyes and freckles well enough — is walking at a normal pace, hands shoved deep into the pockets of a red hoodie that's too big for her. Capri-lenth yoga pants and tennis shoes let that anklet be seen easily. She makes no attempt to hide her status here: she is not a willing guest.
Coming around the corner, her eyes quickly catch sight of Delilah, and then the baby, bringing a rusty smile to her impish face. It's the first time she's smiled since she's gotten here. "Dee," she calls across the short distance between them, and suddenly blurs into movement to arrive at the redhead's side, peering down at the baby and fluttering fingers at him.
Everyone on the street knows her name by now, but even out along the other blocks it comes as a surprise that someone calls her; the redhead glances up from running a tissue over Walter's nose- snot bubbles are lovely. She turns her head just as the little speedster blinks forward. Dee jumps a little in response, and it turns into laughing. "Whoa, now. I am never ready for you, am I?" She turns herself to find the curbside garbage can, tossing the tissue out.
"I'd think you'd be too slippery to catch…" One of Delilah's hands motions to Daphne's anklet, halfhearted in the face. Walter's expression as someone suddenly blocks the view is puzzled- where did she come from?! When the speedster flutters her hand, he reaches out for it, tiny brow creasing. "How are you though? And gads, look at your roots-" Thank you for the input.
The speedster is a little thinner than the last Delilah saw her — perhaps not as thin as when they were ill from the flu. She presses her lips together and her eyes drop down. "Apparently not. Musta forgotten to coat myself in Crisco that day," she says wryly, to make a joke of it, nose wrinkling at the thought of being covered with shortening.
A hand runs through her hair and she laughs. "Raquelle'd kill me, huh? That's the real reason I'm here. For my own safety from horrified salon owners."
She turns her eyes back to Walter and smiles. "He's adorable, for a munchkin. What's his name again?" Did she know it? She can't remember.
"If it's naturally that color you could always replace the rest. Let it grow out." Lilah remarks with a gentleness, not quite in the making light of Daph's being here. "This, Daphne, is Walter." He is still reaching up, fingers curling into fists before he pulls them back to grab at the sucker in his mouth, yanking it out to look at it instead. "He's five months old now, just about on the dot. Like a weed, too, aren't you?"
"I was living on Roosevelt, and they just moved me here in the last couple of weeks. I live over on Holly Avenue, number twelve. If you're able to come visit, that might be nice. Get your mind of the ball and chain?"
"Hi, Walter," Daphne says softly, and she smiles in regards to her hair, reaching up again to touch it a little self consciously. "I guess maybe. I might be a little too old these days for the look, but it seemed to fit the lifestyle."
One she no longer has.
I'm on Number 9 Scarsdale," she offers back. There's no need to hide where she lives or who she is anymore. It's a strange freedom, in that it comes with no freedom. "I'd like to visit. It's good to see a friendly face. So you can come and go if you want?" The question seems to imply another one: why would you stay?
"In and out of Eltingville, yes. I can't be running around too much, so I do keep it to a minimum." If Dee felt the question behind the other one, it is hard to tell- there is a half answer in her words. "It's a nice enough place, for now." For now indeed. She leans in to take the rubber-tipped sucker from Walter, replacing it with a stuffed animal produced from under the blanket. The puffy red fox sends a little vibrating giggle through him, fur soft and prickly on his hands.
"I find myself trying to be a friendly face more often than not, there seem to be a lot of people that need one in this neighborhood."
Daphne nods, slowly (especially for her). "You were always good at that," she murmurs, watching Walter with the fox, which brings another slight smile to the place. "Not everyone is here willingly, so I'm sure a lot of us need cheering up," she adds. "Sorry you always seem to catch me at my worst, too. Bad luck. Would you believe me if I said I am usually a bright and cheery ray of sunshine?"
Apparently it's a rhetorical question, as she doesn't wait for the answer. "I've been out of town a while, actually. I got caught in Alaska. How are … things?" Code for Ferry and its allies, apparently.
"Caught in Alaska? What were you doing, following the salmon?" Delilah tries not to laugh more than she needs to. "Things are… complex." That is as unspecific as she can be, considering the inferred subject. "Keeping out of sight, keeping people okay. Same shit, different day, less numbers. More wolves." If Daphne gets the drift. "But hey, there's a couple of 'em we trained. Long in the tooth kinds."
"As for here, I've been thinking about volunteering for something. Mostly so I can keep tabs, you know? It sounds right, we'll see."
"More wolves for sure," Daphne agrees, shoving hands back into her pockets. She exhales, the puff of hair blowing through her too-long shock of white-blond bangs in her face, lifting it for a moment. "If you hear of any good volunteery things that'd work… to keep tabs and all… lemme know. I donno if they'd let me, on account of me being restricted, but doing nothing is gonna drive me batshit, you know? I have too much energy for this kinda life."
She glances down at Walter, tilting her head sideways to catch his gaze and grinning. "Or even if you need a babysitter, I guess, if you do get something to do. Or need to run some errands." Errands.
"There's a community center here, maybe they'd at least let you help there. It'd be like getting a hamster and taking its wheel, if they didn't let just anyone help out. We'd find our own shit to do, mark my words." Delilah knows she isn't too far from the truth- it happened in ThomJeff too, people finding things that bred from discontent. "Last thing anyone needs is Eltingville to turn into something worse than the trailer parks."
"I have no shortage of sitters, at this rate I'll have to get someone new every time just so all of you can spend time with him." The redheaded teenager laughs, giving Daph a fake bewildered look. "I appreciate that everyone is so supportive though. I really do."
The community center comment gets a nod from Daphne, though she smirks wryly. "I'm one of the ones that they need to help, I think, sadly. Not much more than the clothes on my back and the house they so kindly let me live in," she remarks. "But I'll see. And you're well loved, so it makes sense you have lots of people wanting to look after the baby. Doesn't hurt that he's quite a charmer himself."
She tips a head in one direction. "I'm gonna go see if I can scare up some books or something, since I have some time on my hands." Too much time. "Come say hi or I'll do the same, I guess, if you get bored."
Delilah makes a mental note to take some books if she goes to visit at some point. She has no shortage of them, and Sable isn't the type. Walter says something from the basket of his stroller, nonsensical in its raw burbles but to him it could be waxing philosophical. "You take good care of yourself, alright? If you need anything, lemme know. The flock in here is kinda bigger than I expected." More allies than Daph might know, too.
"Might turn out to be a mistake for them and dumbass luck for us." She gives Daphne one last smile.
"Good to see you, Dee," Daphne says with a little wave as she begins to walk along the sidewalk once more, before tossing over her shoulder in agreement, a hint of the speedster's mischievous smirk alighting on her face, "Dumbass luck is better than none at all!"