Participants:
| Scene Title | Light to Home |
|---|---|
| Synopsis | Koshka practices her abilities and makes a decision about her future. |
| Date | January 2, 2011 |
Looks like the new year has brought in some warmer weather. Much of the snow from Christmas has melted, and though nights are still cold, daytime is warm enough that the fires don't need to be burning so hot. The embers in the hearth have been well banked to stave off the chill and keep until evening without going out.
The living room stands empty at the moment. Various other inhabitants of the Garden out and about on their own business. But Koshka's at home. She's in the kitchen eyeballing a small handful of dirt. There's evidence of similar piles scattered around the kitchen. No worries, the food is safely put away and at no risk to the teenager's activities. Pawprints and small scuffles are in evidence of the mess as well. It appears as though she's been at it for a while, with varying degrees of results. Most of which seem to have ended somehow with the kitten jumping into the mess.
Koshka holds a hand out toward the latest pile of dirt and focuses. Bob, for his part, seems to watch with disinterest until something seems to move within the targeted medium. Then, kitten like, he prepares to pounce, hind quarters wiggling and ears and whiskers quivering excitedly. Just as it seems the teenager would succeed, the pile of dirt just beginning to venture upward, the kitten pounces and succeeds in thwarting her attempt.
"Damn," Koshka sighs and sags against the table. "Bob, you putz.."
There’s a loud creak as the front door opens and there’s the rustle of one entrant who’d finished errands for the morning. With a loud THUD and the rustle of outside too warm for inside coats are removed. More rustling, another THUD followed by another, and a distinct, “Oowwwwwww!” as she slides along the hall, finally catching her balance along the wall.
”Come on— “ she speaks to the groceries she’s spilled along the hall floor thanks to running into the wall after hitting her head on the doorframe coming in.
Her face contorts uncomfortably under the duress as she begins to collect the groceries again. This is when she catches a glimpse of Bob which automatically earns a, “Freakin razzlefrats! Cat food.” Her eyes roll dramatically as she slides to her feet, temporarily abandoning the groceries to shoot a wave to the kitchen’s occupant, “I think I need to go back out, I forgot Bob’s food…” Her lips twist to the side momentarily until she examines the dirt, “What’s going on— “
"Putz and razzlefrats are banned words in this place."
The decree comes from on high as Brian makes his way into the main room. Loose clothing, a white button-up that's only been done up half way and some loose fitting pajama pants, Winters is dressed for comfort. And despite his clothing he looks like he is finally gathered back up all his strength. No dark spots, no falling over. Winters' hand slides down the railing as he arrives.
Smiling gently at Samara, his eyes then swing over to Koshka. "What is going on?" He asks, making his way over to aid Samara with her groceries. "I can get the catfood." He offers, leaning in to kiss her cheek briefly.
Bob entertains himself despite Koshka's admonishments, skittering through the dirt and making even more of a mess. The teenager just shakes her head tiredly and pokes a finger at him. Hearing the thuds, as well as Samara's voice, the girl lifts her head to look toward the main room, spying the woman and then a second or so later, Brian.
"Just practicing," Koshka explains, pushing herself upright. Or trying to practice, next time she'll have to find something else for Evil King Bob to amuse himself with so she can concentrate. She picks up the kitten with a slightly shaking hand, depositing him onto her shoulder. "Sorry.. I was going to clean it up when I was done."
”There’s absolutely nothing wrong with razzlefrats,” Sami replies idly as she finally presses a hand to her forehead to feel the forming lump after hitting it against the door frame. “How about the word klutz?” she asks with a flicker of a smile. “And it’s okay, thank you— I actually like grocery shopping, even though — “ she shrugs a little and glances back to her random fall spot in the hallway. If she’s honest, she was mostly annoyed with herself that she banged her head. And then her shoulder against the wall. The kiss on her cheek earns a warmer smile though and a quiet, rather contented sigh.
Sam’s head tilts a little, “Practicing is good. Don’t even worry about the mess, just— yeah.” She waves the hand not pressed against her forehead. “I should practice more…”
"You should." Brian hastily agrees with Sam. His eyes flicking to Koshka. "You're a good influence." He's not so sure about the oddly named cat though. Making his way closer to Koshka, he gives a bob of his head. "Let's see what you got." He waves an inviting hand signalling for a demonstration.
"Don't worry about the mess." He reiterates. "I know you'll clean it up." He smiles gently, going to perch on the kitchen counter and watch Koshka expectantly.
"I like razzlefrats," Koshka interjects quietly, glancing up at Samara. Her nose wrinkles slightly at the bump starting to form. "You alright, Sami? You should… maybe.. probably put ice on that or something. Or take an aspirin."
Brian's request turns the teenager onto an oddly shy demeanor. Blue eyes drop to the table and then surreptitiously turn toward the man. Yeah, great, demonstration. Could always show him the way she showed Sable… Koshka gives a small shake of her head, dismissing the mischievous thought, and focuses on the sand. "Just.. okay."
Her hand, still shaking faintly, lifts again, and Koshka concentrates on what remains of her pile of dirt. Bob paces along the teenager's shoulders, ignored as she makes yet another attempt at lifting the dust from the table. The small load shifts as her brows knit together, just barely lifting off the table before scattering into a faint cloud of dried earth that settles almost as quickly as it's spread.
Koshka's arm drops to her side and she sinks backward, leaning against the wall behind her. "—Yeah."
”Right! Ice!” Sam agrees with a flash of teeth as she moves to the freezer but her hand lingers on the door of the freezer while she watches the dust moves, earning a brighter smile. While Koshka may be unhappy with her lack of control, the auburn haired woman seems more than pleased. In fact, she claps. “That was phenomenal! Seriously! One day I bet you’ll be ablet o create an entire dust cloud and we can like walk through and no one will see us.” Of course some people can walk without being seen regardless.
The display leaves her all the more determined, taking a very purposeful choice as she reaches into the freezer without opening the door. She can feel the ice pack on the other side, but pulling it out doesn’t seem to work, and only serves to make her hand cold. With a tiny sigh she tugs her hand out of the freezer and opens the freezer door to take out the ice pack on her own to press against the bump on her head.
Brian however isn't so easily impressed. Watching the dust, he tilts his head and narrows his brows. The emotions displayed on his face are hard to discern. He's thoughtful that much is clear. Like most of his allies, Koshka is being considered for what she could do. What advantages she could have, how she could help. "How tired does that make you?" He asks abruptly.
His eyes flick over to Samara momentarily, giving her an encouraging yet slightly sad smile. Turning some, he motions for her to come to him. "I'll make you better baby." He murmurs, gesturing for her to bring the ice to him.
Lifting her head, Koshka grins slightly at Sam. "I can do that already. That's easy." And useful, too, depending on the outcome. "Trying to make it do specific things is way harder." Like specifically making it lift off a surface. Maybe she should focus just on controling the clouds first, making them do what she wants them to do.
Brian gets another sidelong look from Koshka as she reaches up to scritch the kitten. "Been at it for a while," she explains, vaguely descriptive of what 'a while' is. "And… it's not tired so much as just… I should eat something."
Brian’s murmur and invitation wins a dimpled smile from Sami, “You always do~” She slides next to him, passing the ice gel pack that she’d gathered from the freezer. Her chin lifts to look up at him as she brushes her auburn hair away from her forehead to show off her earned lump on the head. Her fingers move from her hair to his cheeks, fingertips yielding unspoken tenderness before dropping her hand back to her side.
The comment about Koshka needing to eat something alight’s Sam’s eyes, her ADD persists beyond the grave it seems. “I can cook something for us!” That may or may not be edible. “What should I make?” she taps her chin with her finger.
Pressing the recently received ice pack against her forehead, Brian smirks a little bit. Closing his eyes for a moment when her fingers touch his cheek. He glances back over to Koshka, smiling gently. "So you could fling it in people's eyes pretty easily?" He asks, arching a single brow. Reaching for a towel, he wraps the ice pack in it to dull the stinging cold, then replaces it on Sami's forehead.
When she mentions cooking, he leans back slightly to get out of her line of vision and visibly blanches. Giving Koshka a very adamant shake of his head. He does not want the ghost girl's cooking. "Well.. It is a nice night. Maybe we could go get Chinese instead." He offers.. in a very diplomatic way.
Someone hasn't forgotten that attempt at sugar cookies, if the pointed look Koshka now directs at Sam is any clue. "It's okay, Sami," she says, hopefully sounding consoling, though she'd likely eat whatever was made anyway, just to put something into her stomach. As it is, the teenager steps away from the wall to find something.
"That's pretty much it," the girl replies to Brian as she pokes into a cabinet. She stares at the contents, pushing things about with an idleness. "Sometimes it like.. cuts skin and stuff, other times it's just really irritating." Like when you get sand in your eyes and mouth and nose. With an 'Ah!', the teenager comes up with a jar of peanut butter. Some minor fighting follows before she's got the lid off and a finger covered in the gooey stuff.
"And Chinese food sounds great." Just as an aside from Koshka, as she puts the jar on the counter to eat the peanut butter off her finger.
Sam winces as the ice is pressed to her forehead again such that her eyes close underneath the cold. Despite the wince, she manages a gentle smile once it’s there. “Chinese? Really? Are you lsure…?” Her eyebrows arch a little, only causing the bump on her head to hurt more. Her lips twist to the side, “Well if you reeeeeally want Chinese…”
”We could like— call ahead or something? I always end up talking forever to the people at the place when I pick it up and then a like twenty minute trip turns into three hours so sometimes it’s better to order ahead so people don’t get really chatty…” she nods sagely as an eyebrow is arched at the peanut butter, but it’s accompanied by a grin. She takes a single step away, “I can get the phone or something…”
"Those chatty people."
Brian smiles lightly, giving a conspiring grin over to Koshka. "We could be over there forever if the people who work there just keep talking and talking." A grand smile curls up his lips as he looks adoringly at Samara. "I'm already on the phone." Not in this body obviously. He gives a little shrug, splaying his hands out. "It's good to be me." Sliding from the counter, he allows Samara to take charge of ice pack holding.
"So. Kosh. Have you thought at all about the Lighthouse? Remember it's no pressure. But if you do go under the Lighthouse.. I'm in charge. That means we don't have to wait for the Ferry council to decide where you can or cannot go. You'll have more freedom.. But again, like I said. More responsibility."
Koshka grins up at Samara after cleaning the rest of the peanut butter from her fingers. "You, chatty? No way…" After rinsing her hands in the sink, she replaces the cap on the peanut butter and then sets that away in the cabinet. After that, and before answering Brian's question, the teenager begins cleaning up the dust. Really, she's just buying time to think about it.
Bob, through all this, has slipped down into the hood of Koshka's hoodie, nestling himself in for a catnap.
"—I've.. been thinking about it," Koshka says as she uses a sleeve to brush the dirt on the table top into a pile. "I think.. that'd be a good thing for me to do right now. With the learning and working and stuff." Especially since she's not sure how long the Ferry's going to keep her. There's been no word on anything.
”That is awesome! Yaaaaaay! Lighthouse has lots of good kids and so many awesome people you’re going to love it so much seriously! And like the kids are super cute and crazy but really good and then we can like play tag and stuff and you’ll have so much fun and like it’s work, but it’s really really good!” Sami absolutely beams as she bounces on the balls of her feet once over. “You’ll love it!” She nods firmly with a big grin. “And I think we’re kinda fun sometimes. Sometimes.” There’s another nod as she quips, “And you can practice your ability and get really good.”
”And someday we’ll have a building and everything and you’ll really like it! And I’ll be lots of fun!” Her smile turns dimpled.
”We need to do something to celebrate…! Any ideas?!”
"Eat chinese food." Brian offers plainly to Samara. Grinning, he looks down to Koshka. Taking a step forward, his arm extends to gently pull her into his chest. "I know things are hard right now. But you're a good kid. And the Lighthouse isn't going to just be helping you. You're going to be helping us." He smiles lightly. "All the kids are with the majority of the Ferry. Out across the river. If you want to go there, we can. Or you can stay here, on the mainland and wait for us to come back."
"I say us because I'm out there." Squeezing her back gently, Brian releases giving Koshka a gentle smile. Looking over to Samara he lets out a little laugh. "You're a hyperactive chiuaua right now."
Koshka smiles at Sam, stifling a laugh over her excitement. Great to see someone's extatic about it, for herself, she's a little nervous. That emotion pours over as Brian approaches and then draws her into a hug, the youth tenses, hesitantly returning the affection. She steps back once released, and becomes even more interested in cleaning up the dirt from the table.
"Being out here's kinda… grown on me a little," the teenager admits quietly. Despite how little there is to do around the Garden, the company is pretty good. "When would I go out …wherever?"
"I'm excited. Like a chiuaua," Sam replies with a crisp nod and an equally bright extended smile. "And I think it's awesome you like the company around here. Sable is really great." She knows no details, however, and randomly recalls the groceries she'd not yet put away. She twists around on a single foot and disappears to the kitchen table where she begins unpacking her finds only to wrinkle her nose.
She hadn't collected all of the groceries in the hall. In her little bit of reverie, she skips towards the hall, still holding the ice pack to her forehead which actually has a randomly negative effect on her depth perception and how far she is from the wall leading to the hallway. Her little bit of clumsiness has her catching the wall with her shoulder and actually disappearing through it.
Unfortunately, her clothes and ice pack are left behind. Yeah. She certainly didn't mean to do that.
"Good girl." Brian reports to his little chiuaua, grinnign as she makes her way down the hall. Looking back to Koshka, Brian tilts his shoulders a little bit. "I mean. I would need to know where you're going.. Stuff like that. Get you a cell phone. Be able to keep tabs on you. But yeah.. Pretty much. I mean.. You're not exactly a law abiding citizen anymore so. You have to be careful."
He gives her a gentle smile, his brows arch nearly off his forehead. Head whipping down the hallway annnd.. Samara's naked somewhere in the house. Pulling his lips back, Brian can't help but laugh. Doubling over he swings his hand in Sam's direction. "Kosh.. Would you mind helping her."
Koshka trails after Brian, nodding absently. "Right, registration garbage and the whole hospital thing." Amongst other things, she's sure. "I can get a phone, though, or… I can pay for it at least. But… you said about going someplace else, across the river?"
Coming up to the clothing, and Brian laughing, Koshka pauses and eyes the clothes on the floor. Well, you dont' see that every day. "Poor Sami," she muses, then turns to find the woman. "When'd I be going there?"
Fortunately, Sami is nothing if not resourceful. She'd found a thick red blanket in the room adjacent, a useful find for such occasions as these. After having securely wrapped it around herself she taken a deep breath and tried to reenter the kitchen as casually as possible. Unfortunately her skin is nearly the same shade of red as the blanket she's dawned in. Her smile though, carries her casual act further, particularly as she raises her chin nearly like she meant to do that. Which she didn't.
The bump on her head is long forgotten in her small embarrassment. She holds the blanket with one hand while she carefully bends down to retrieve that small pile of clothes, only, unfortunately she can't seem to grab and hold at the same time. Clearing her throat her hazel eyes tick downwards, "Could one of you just… be a dear?" if at all possible her cheeks redden further, but her tone manages to stay even.
"I love you." Brian says with a large smile as he straightens. Leaning against the counter he folds his arms over his chest and watches Samara adoringly. He'll allow Koshka to help out. He's too busy laughing and smiling. "I'll pay for the phone Koshka. They have to be the right kind and all that.. Too many technopaths around. There's a safe place.. A ways out of the city. But we don't travel there and back a whole lot. You can go there. But if you do.. You will be there for a while. So.. It's up to you. Or you can stay in the city with the naked wonder."
The teenager pokes her toes at the clothing once Samara's reappeared. She could help. But… Alright, she'll help. Koshka bends down to snatch up the clothes, then grins, cat-like, up at Samara. "This is a ways out of the city," she points out, wadding the clothing all together. She's not sure about going back to the city right away, though, not sure if she's ready to run into her father again.
Blue eyes dart past Samara and Brian, going for the door to the outside. Koshka calculates her chances of getting out there without getting caught, then looks up to Sam again, once more grinning. "Can I stay here a little longer? A few days, then go?"
Samara's hazel eyes tick towards Brian with a good humoured, albeit somewhat embarrassed and sheepish smile. Her dimples crater her cheeks as she manages to press her free fingers over her lips to seal in a faint chuckle followed by a shake of her head. The chuckle actually extends to her stomach, spilling into bouts of unuttered laughter underneath the bobbing of her shoulders. With a gasp of breath she beams again, "I guess I got too excited— " which actually cracks her up again, louder this time, and somewhat more unbidden.
Finally, after a few moments, Brian is shot an equally adoring smile as she tugs the blanket tighter to her skin, "I love you too," she counters as her free hand reaches towards the clothes, "Can I have those back?" One of her eyebrows arches expectantly. In mock defense of her new title she counters, "And the Naked Wonder is fun!" Beat. "Clothes or no— " it isn't until the words are halfway on her lips that she realizes how that can be taken elliciting an even heavier blush to her cheeks.