Participants:
Scene Title | I Need to Go Fishing |
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Synopsis | Even a wounded and disintegrating Ferrywoman has her uses, it seems |
Date | March 3 2011 |
Le Rivage - Ygraine's apartment
A comparatively large and well-maintained apartment occupying one corner of its floor. Windows dominate two sides of the living room, illuminating it brightly throughout most days. A kitchenette occupies one corner of the lounge, while several doors offer exits.
Luxurious but slightly worn brown leather furniture is arranged around the television in the main room, with a small dining table and high-backed chairs diagonally opposite the kitchenette. Wall-mounted shelves and stand-alone cases take up a lot of space along the walls, almost wholly filled with books. A collection of full-size geographic, political, and historical atlases have been given pride of place - though academic texts on history, international relations, conflict theory and linguistics are also prominent, alongside a fair collection of DVDs. The one sizable decoration is a blown-up photograph of mist-shrouded Edinburgh castle at sunset, a black silhouette rising out of white and luminous gold.
Of the exits, one (with an extra lock, deadbolt, and a sturdy chain) leads out of the apartment; another to the bathroom; and the next to a small room that has been converted into a rather cramped home gym. A computer desk, filing cabinet, and a single bed take up most of the space in the next room, while the last is the master bedroom - dominated by a double bed (upon which sits a two foot tall cuddly penguin) and more bookshelves (these holding a jumble of magazines, art books, Neil Gaiman graphic novels, and a collection of science fiction and historical novels), with a clearly well-traveled laptop resting on the bed-side cabinet. Here, high-quality art-prints of dragons decorate the walls, while a small cabinet holds a collection of cycling trophies.
Scattered throughout are a variety of ornately-framed photographs of a striking, curvaceous brunette, the shots ranging in style from the candid to the artfully glamorous.
Phone calls and errands seem to be the lot in life for one particular teenager. Though while some would revel in the illusionary feeling of popularity, Koshka isn't quite so much. Even being released from grounding had a tainted mark to it, though she took a mark of pride at being asked to help, to pull more weight and contribute more.
So Koshka called Ygraine. The courier being the only Ferry member she had contact information for and therein being the target to get more contacts. She'd told Sam that the information surrounding Brian would reach the network, though finding the lone number made this call come later than she'd wanted. With as few details as possible, untrusting of phone lines and preferring to exchange information in person, the teenager had worked out an invitation to Ygraine's place.
The hour appointed to meeting is quick to arrive, with Koshka showing up at the woman's door. With a casual glance the direction she'd come, the girl knocks upon the door. And waits.
There's a distinct pause… then some rattling and clunking, and finally, with bolts and chains pushed aside, the door swings open. The woman revealed is rather different to the one Koshka met in the ruins - her extravagant mane of hair flows unbound well past her waist, the red dye now sadly faded. Her attire is shapelessly loose and dark in colour, while one arm is tightly secured in a sturdy sling. She looks tired, wan, and is visibly thinner than she used to be - pinched in the face, with stress having left its marks around her eyes.
But she does manage a smile - one that softens her eyes - before swinging the door further open and stepping back and to the side. "Come in, please. Come in. It's good to see you", she says quietly.
Taking in the tired and wasted appearance brings a frown to Koshka's face. If she'd known the state of the woman, she probably wouldn't have made the call, not wanting to add to the problems. "I'll keep things brief," she offers to Ygraine, stepping inside. "So… you need to rest from… whatever happened." She's curious, but not wanting to pry, eyes lingering on the sling before flicking up again.
Closing the door behind Koshka, Ygraine goes through the somewhat laborious process of restoring the security one-handed. As she does so, however, she flashes another weary smile at the young woman. "Feel free to make yourself at home. Grab a drink, if you like. I'm… not about to fall into bed or anything, so you're not keeping me up…."
A shoulder lifts and falls, half a shrug and about the only argument or insistance that she's fine Ygraine will receive. "I can't stay too long. I have to get back to the house." Koshka pauses to glance around, taking in the furnishings before stepping fully away from the door. "Thanks but… Actually. I need to go fishing. Before the kids get hungry." Okay, so it's a lame attempt at coding her words, but it's not as though she'd ever had experience getting messages through.
Ygraine lifts an eyebrow, then chuckles softly, finishing with the door before padding barefoot through to the living room. She thumbs the control of the stereo - Stiltskin's anthemic Inside starting its famous introduction - before moving to press another button: this one on a much smaller little box, that lights up a green LED on one side.
"White noise generator. And if we're bugged beyond the level that it can cope with, we're frankly totally fucked already", Ygraine informs Koshka, waving her one available hand grandly towards the furniture. "Grab a seat, make yourself comfortable. I splashed out on leather 'cause it's good for flumping into. Now… what can the Sailing Club do for you?"
Koshka's eyes follow Ygraine's movements, feet carrying her a little further into the sitting room. But still she stands. Her hands tuck into her coat pockets, a faint grin pulling at the corners of her mouth. With the amount of sound generated, it's unlikely they'd be overheard. Still, she keeps it simple. "I don't have a lot of details, but… Brian's gone." Or a Brian. "I need to contact the others to let them know something happened."
Ygraine looks thoroughly startled… then calms a little as she settles herself carefully into an armchair. The whole Brian-gestalt disappearing would be… well. She wasn't here last time it happened, thankfully. "I can pass word along, certainly. Can you give me any details? Time last seen, any hints of trouble, any strange people around, unusual behaviour…?"
Koshka shakes her head, looking briefly helpless. "I don't know much. He's gone and… I'm picking up some of the slack." She hesitates, certainly unsure of how much to divulge, only certain that the Ferry needs to be told. "If… if a message can get through, they can talk to me. Or to Sam. She knows more than I do."
Ygraine nods quickly, expression concerned. "I can try to get hold of someone right now, if you want. It won't be a detailed message, but I can fire one off immediately and… it should get through to relevant people pretty quickly. Quite when, I can't promise, but soon."
"That's fine," Koshka says quickly, nodding. "That would be good. Just… something." Something enough to get the message through as quickly as possible. "Thank you, Ygraine. That helps a lot."
Offering Koshka another smile, Ygraine leans over to pick up a cheap-looking cell from the coffee table, thumbing it into life. "Are you sure that you don't want a drink, or anything?" she asks, sounding a touch worried about the girl, before lowering her head to set about carefully punching in a text message, firing it off to one of the contact numbers she has for Barbara.
Keeper gone. Check with relatives, please.
Hopefully, that'll be a clear enough indication of what the problem is and who Ygraine's worried about…
"I'm fine," Koshka says with a small grin and a nod. "But thank you. It's… just a little crazy right now. Everyone's okay." Mostly. "We're just… busy." She hesitates, then nods again. "You have my number if anyone needs to talk to me. Or I can direct them to Sam. And… thank you. I'm sorry I bothered you. You should be resting or something."
Ygraine offers a low, weak laugh. "In all honesty? It's… very welcome indeed to have someone come to me for help. Even something so simple as sending a message." She eyes the phone, to double-check she's not turned it off on auto-pilot, then sets it aside. "And I spent most of my first week out of the Dome resting. Much more rest, and I'll waste away to nothing."
"Well, eat something and… just recover." Koshka shrugs, still a little curious but equally unwanting to pry. She hadn't known anyone in the dome, or had assumed she hadn't known. She didn't even know it had come down, having been grounded for the last two weeks. "You… you're not looking too bad for… being there. I guess."
Another laugh, and Ygraine cracks a rather blackly amused smile at Koshka. "I've lost a lot of weight. I was within a few feet of being fire-bombed. I had PTSD even before I got shot while trying to negotiate for people to get food… and then got pushed into what you could call a breakdown a couple of days ago. And that's the family-friendly version of it. But… thank you. I've been told I "look like Hell" of late, so being told I look good for it is a nice change."
"Yikes." Koshka winces. And suddenly the pranks she'd played with the Dome don't seem so funny. She'd heard people were hurt in there, it's all over the news, you'd have to live under a rock to not hear it. But to know someone that went through it? Little bit different. Unsure of how to respond, the teenager shrugs and edges a half step back toward the door. "Well… you got my number, and… you can give that to the others. I need to get back and let Sam know I got the message out."
Ygraine glances to the phone once more, just in case it should want to spring into life at that moment… then rises to her feet and pads over to Koshka. Slightly tentatively, she brings her free hand up to rest upon the girl's shoulder. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to dump that on you. And if you need help, let me know. I'm not quite totally useless at the moment. I'll let you know as soon as I have anything - though I suspect you might be hearing from people directly, soon."
"Thanks, Ygraine." Koshka says a little more sincerely, less tentative. "I… might. I don't know yet. But… Likewise, yeah? You need something, if I can make it out here, I'll see what I can do." She turns to unlock the door herself, saving the woman from that much. "I'll be in touch," she continues, opening the door and stepping out of the apartment.
Ygraine escorts her young acquaintance to the door, silently grateful for her handling of the task of removing the security. "Thank you", she murmurs warmly. "It's… very much appreciated, I promise. Very much." An encouraging smile, then she closes the portal once more… and sets about locking out the world again.