Late Night Castle Company

Participants:

abby6_icon.gif koshka_icon.gif

Scene Title Late Night Castle Company
Synopsis Abby seeks out Koshka, to see how she is and have some late night tea.
Date January 11, 2010

Pollepel Island - Dining Hall


While she may not be on the mainland anymore, her father having turned his back and casting her out to be caught up in the net that is the Ferry and the Lighthouse children - some teenagers - Koshka finds herself quite surprisingly in a castle, on an island in what seems the middle of nowhere. Drafty, oft times cold, teeming with a surprising amount of people, the rules were already explained to the young girl likely by Brian and whomever else brought her to the docks and through the woods that populate the sparse grounds of the Pollepel Island.

Rooms are a commodity, and no one gets one to themselves. Well wrong, benji did but there was a reason. Now he's not all by himself. Koshka has to share one with some of the other kids and teenagers that comprise Brian's brood. Cots, blankets, pillows, space under cots to stow personal belongings, camping lanterns to provide illumination and a piece of paper taped to a wall with a strip of duct tape that professes when showers are open, when meals are and the a reminder of the rules that come with her new choice in habitation.

It also comes with one Brunette who's thumped her way on a set of crutches this evening to the room that Koshka's been assigned, knuckles rapping softly on the door and peering in to see if someone's home. Abigail Beauchamp. One of the Council members it seems. One of the ones who approved the young girl coming onto the Island. 'Hello?" Her southern accent soft in the air, worried she might be disturbing someone.

While the others in the room might mumble in their sleep only to roll over drowsily and go back to sleep at the rapping against the door, Koshka's wide awake. It hasn't been too long since she'd been shown to the room she's to share, hasn't been long at all since she'd left one world behind and entered into another. Enough to set her stomach into knots, the teenager had resigned to sitting on her cot while the others chased their nighttime dreams.

But it's the soft knocking that draws the girl's attention to the doorway, Koshka looking in askance at the silhouette. She stands, unfolding herself from the cot to approach the councilwoman, a touch of caution in her movements. "..Hi," the youth responds, conversationally but quiet. Blue eyes take in the woman's appearance, question and polite concern over her state. Abby wasn't on crutches the last time she'd seen her.

"Hey. Someone said they still saw you up" So low is her voice that Koshka might almost have to strain to hear her. "I want some tea, want to come to the dining hall with me?" New to the island, young, she might be lonely, intimidated by it all. IT's nto so late at night but for kids, it's well past time to sleep. "Brian object he can kiss my arse, and come fetch you himself"

Koshka nods, hands tucking into her pants pockets. "Sure, I'll come with." Tea sounds good, even for one who's not often a tea drinker, and the company sounds even better. There hasn't been much of it, so many new faces after leaving the Garden. Abby's remark about Brian succeeds in pulling a near grin out of the youth. "Don't think Brian'll mind much if I'm out."

"I never know with Brian. I think it depends really on what Brian it is that you get. I find there's something a little different about them all. Either that or it's just whatever mood that the one seems to have been made in. I've known Brian a long time" Abigail gesture down the hall, they'll have to drop down a floor to the dining room and there will be hot water for stuff other than tea if Koshka wants. 'Megan is heading to the mainland if there's anything special that you want, or need from there, to help out here."

Departing from the room, Koshka moves down the hall, her pace somewhat on the slower side. "Never noticed any difference," she comments. Though thinking back it does seem there's often a little something different. No matter. "Nothing there for me," the youth continues with a shrug. Nothing that she'd want or need, everything she'd had was brought with her. "Megan's another… like ..everyone else here?"

"Nurse. She pretty much runs the infirmary. If she's not there, then it's myself. If you're hurt, come find me, her or Eileen or just head down there and someone will find one of us" Abigail thumps along softly, keeping weight off of one slippered foot, warmth rolling off the brunette like Koshka was standing next to a very feverish individual. Little bruises here and there, a few scratches dot Abigail's face when they hit better lighting. "There's a lot of people here, some of them Ferry, most of them not. Caught up in the Riots and they haven't left. Scared to. Think of this like a much bigger Garden"

Lots of new names, faceless at the moment, but Koshka nods as though she knows exactly who's being spoken of. She'll hopefully have it all in mind, who's who, in time. "Like the Garden, no one but you guys knows I'm here." It seems important enough to mention, especially after having stayed at the other safehouse for so long. A sidelong look is cast up at Abby, then blue eyes retreat to the ground. "..How'd you get hurt?"

"I fell off a horse on patrol. My horse spooked, tossed me over an embankment. Megan's ordered me off it for the week, see if I did something worse than just wrench it. Don't worry, just means you hear me coming a mile away" She tries to offer a friendly smile to the other girl, heading to the stairs and taking them slowly till they're at the bottom. "So just Brian and the other at the safehouse. It's good. This place is pretty secret. We brought you up at a council meeting, Colette did. She wanted to make sure that you got here and had a stable place, some place safe"

Keeping in step with Abby, Koshka moves with an idle readiness to try and catch the councilwoman while she maneuvers down the stairs. "Just Brian, unless he told people. And whoever sees me here." The second part should be obvious, she wasn't told to avoid even casual notice here. "That's… I didn't think Colette.." She gives a small headshake. "Huh. Well, no one'll hear secrets from me."

"Colette can be a real ditz, an idiot and a selfish little jerk. But she has a heart mostly in the right place and some real perturbing priorities that one can understand why they are the way they are. But she took over the Garden and you were at the Garden. You were her's and she wanted to make sure you got to a new place safe" The dining hall is just ahead, stairs safely navigated. "So. You're here. You get chores. There's the kitchen, there's laundry, there's chopping wood, there's… cleaning, not to mention school, they still have school out here. Where do you want to stick your hands and help out? There's the infirmary too. Someones always falling down and needing to be patched up"

Koshka looks up at Abby. "That's… I didn't mean to.. just she seemed kind've…" Distant? Aloof? Standoffish? Any of those could work as her impression of Colette. With a shrug, she turns her attention to the dining hall. And the idea of chores. "I did a little of everything at the Garden," chopped wood and cleaned and… just whatever had to be done."

"Her father's been kidnapped and her one girlfriend is kidnapped and her other…" What is Tasha to Colette? She's something. "She's got issues. Colette and I have a history that doesn't exactly trend towards us much liking each other. Won't find us taking tea with each other" There's no one in the dining hall, there's no dinner being served and people drifting off for the night.

"How are you? It can't be easy. If you want to talk, there's a blonde woman, her name is Liza and she's the person everyone comes to talk to. You might like her. Firecracker in a good way"

Pulling her hands from her pockets, Koshka trails one across the back of a chair after entering the dining hall. "That's.. I guess makes more sense. Sort of." Not really her business, but she can guess a little better at things. "You can stick me wherever for working, too. I'll do …whatever's needed."

The next question is a bit of a surprise, Koshka turning to look at Abby again. "I'm fine.. I guess. Things happen and… we move on."

"I call bull hokey at that. We don't move on, we just shove it all down and ignore it till it pops" In through the doorway the two go, a room with many long tables, chairs, meant to feed as many as possible and Koshka's already seen that. There's an industrial coffee maker and everything that one needs to make a variety of hot drinks.

The teenager sighs and looks down at the table. Easier to ignore things and pretend they never happened. Instead of continuing down that line, and putting more truth to Abby's words, Koshka turns away from the table and heads for the coffee maker. While filling a cup with hot water, she picks out a selection of teas and sweeteners. The motions seem habitual, focusing on something else instead of what she doesn't want to. In just a moment's time, the items are brought over and offered to the councilwoman.

Deflect, ignore, hope they don't ask the question before. She and Teo did this dance before many times and usually respected each other to just keep doing the dance unless it was important. "Your not fine, I'm not fine. I'm so not fine. But promise me that, you know, if you start to hit the point where you might implode that you go find Brian or find Liza and just sit and talk. I have the option of literally just going outside and imploding, but I doubt that you do in truth" Abigail murmurs, working her way around the kitchen till she too has a cup of hot water, a tea bag and a little bit of sugar for her tea. No honey at the moment, something else to ask Megan if she might bring back with her.

"Just because you're not fine doesn't mean I'm not," Koshka states in firm retort. Probably a bit more snappish than intended, but it's been a trying few days. She knows she isn't fine, that everything with her isn't rainbows and sunshine, but no one else has to know that. If it's ignored it all just goes away. The teenager lets out a breath, and turns her attention to a very interesting spot on the table top. "Sorry… Everything is okay," she resumes, more evenly.

nudge Abby's elbow comes out, nudging the blonde teenager, before she pulls her elbow back, looking oh so innocently down to her tea, crutches put off to the side where she's sitting and out of the way. Koshka is forgiven her snap. Abby's done her fair share and let he without sin cast the first stone means that she's not got any right to toss a boulder at the teenager.

She just gently elbows her, giving her a bit of a shove.

A small, unsteady step is taken in response to the shove. Koshka's expression is one of accusatory askance, the sort a stray might give when nudged aside with a foot, with brows knitting together as she looks up at Abby. Some strange lady with crutches just elbowed her. How do you respond to that?

"What was that for," the youth settles for asking. She pulls out another chair as though to sit, then pushes it back in again.

Hip now, Abby's hip comes out, gently nudging Koshka's with her's looking oh so innocent again despite the accusatory tone that the teenager throws at her. 'I don't know what you're talking about. Drink your tea"

Opening her mouth, after another unplanned step, Koshka seems ready to toss up some kind of unpleasantness. The words mutate before they're spoken, turning into a huff instead. Pulling the chair out again, and setting in a packet of randomly chosen tea to steap, the teenager sits. Sidelong glances are sent Abby's way, from an expression not quite a glower.

"Okay, I failed. That was supposed to make you smile, but I don't… I have a strange and often time lacking sense of humor" Now Abby looks sorry, using the table to hop around to the other side so that she can pull out a chair and sit. "I'm sorry, I just annoyed your little dear heart haven't I?"

Now is Koshka's turn to look apologetic. With a sigh, she shakes her head, turning a blue-eyed gaze onto her cup of tea. Fingers poke and pester the teabag floating within. "…I'm sorry. I.. It's…" She suffices with a shrug. In a teenager's mind, it's all complicated, even though nothing should be taken personally. "..Sorry."

"It's okay. Not your fault. I'm used to the other kids I guess. Do you hunt? Have you ever been hunting?" She asks of the teenager. "Or do you have an aversion to knowing where exactly it is that your food comes from?" Why on earth, Abigail's inquiring, maybe so she can figure out what can be done with Koshka, draw her out.

"No, my… it's not something that ever came up." Koshka glances toward Abby, though her head comes to rest against an arm propped up on the table. "I guess.. I mean I know where eggs and beef come from. I don't think I'd get grossed out or anything." Could she hunt if that's what's asked? Probably. Doubtful the teenager would have issues with hunting and meat processing.

'Well, next time we go hunting, you can come with us. I liked to do that, I still like to do that. We don't hunt with shotguns or rifles though, too noisy. We can give it a try if you like. We don't go out every day, but it's something done to plump up the supplies here"

No guns or rifles? "What d'you use then," Koshka asks. A brief pause follows then, "Sable started showing me how to shoot with one of the rifles. She wouldn't let me carry when we left… but I think I was doing okay at it before." It may be odd to bring that up, but at least she's talking. "And.. It was kind've fun. Not that… they aren't toys or anything, they're dangerous. But.. still fun to learn."

'Crossbows. Silent, deadly, kills the animal and you don't gotta be plucking up buckshot outta the poor beast. We can practice if you like. Monica's really good with it. Huruma when she gets back, she's someone to learn from. I'm partial to a rifle or a shotgun, that's how my dah taught me. No, they aren't toys, but… when you're in the middle of nowhere, and there's a big ol bear charging you or you need food, it's your lifeline" Or if there's a two legged dear with a machine gun mounted on a motorbike sidecar…

Abby gets a bit sober looking at whatever through is going through her head. 'So. SO. so."

So.

"Never shot one of those before." So it might be good if Koshka at least tried her hand at it before going hunting. How much different could it be? The teenager pokes at her tea again, leaning forward to sniff at the translucent liquid before trying a sip. "There wasn't a whole lot to do, Sable thought it'd be a good idea for me to know how to use one. Just in case."

"Smart woman, Sable. Little crazy, but then, to be in the Ferry I think you gotta be a bit on the not so sane side of things. We can find a place for you to practice if you like. Raith if you find him, Huruma, Monica, they'll help you learn the cross bow. " Abigail dips her teabag, stirring her spoon around then taking it out. "I am… thinking of heading back to my corner of the castle. You good to make your way back when you want or do you want an escort?

A slight grin makes its way out at Abby's assessment of Sable, and of the Ferry in general. It's something Koshka's managed to figure out as well. To the question, she nods and pokes at her tea again, using a finger to prod the teabag. "I can find my way." Blue eyes lift to look toward Abby. "..Thanks. For… stuff."

"I have some extra chocolate bars, if you ever got a chocolate craving. There's a lamp in the kitchen if you want to use it to get back to your room, you should be fine. If you get lost just ask someone for directions." She's wondering if there's any more warnings. "Welcome to Pollepel Koshka. I'm glad you're here. I think you'll like it here. You seem a little bit… different, like the rest of us. We may not be blood family but… but they're a pretty good second place to the real thing"

"Thank you," Koshka says again, quieter and this time without looking at Abby. She hooks a foot around one of the chair legs, chin coming to rest on the crook of her arm. Almost like a second family, a community sustained by itself with little outside influence. The youth wonders how she'll fit in here, if she's found her niche. But those are wonderings she'll plague herself with, for a while at least. "Night, Abby. —Thanks for the company."

Abigail pauses at the doorway, mug in hand, looking over her shoulder. Blue eyes searching Koshka's own before she nods. "Thank you Koshka. I forget how much I need the company these days. Don't stay up too late, but if you do, tell Brian to come see me" She offers a wink, and with crutches in motions, starts to work her way back to her corner of the castle.


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