Little Women

Participants:

abby4_icon.gif colette_icon.gif delilah_icon.gif eileen_icon.gif fox_icon.gif hailey_icon.gif

juniper_icon.gif liette_icon.gif mala_icon.gif raith_icon.gif tasha_icon.gif

Scene Title Little Women
Synopsis On the eve of Aida at the Metropolitan Opera, Ferry chaperones put the finishing touches on their wards and answer a slew of earnest questions.
Date June 21, 2010

Gun Hill


The show starts at seven.

It's already quarter to six. The Ferry chaperones in charge of tonight's expedition to the Metropolitan Opera should probably be worried, but running a few minutes behind schedule is also a welcome change from the difficulties they typically encounter. They aren't pinned down by gunfire, no one is bleeding out on the apartment floor, and the worst that can possibly happen is needing to bribe the doorman if they get shut out of the theatre.

"I don't speak Italian, so how am I gonna know what they're saying?" Hailey is asking from her perch on the edge of the bathroom counter as she smoothes invisible wrinkles from her pale blue dress with her small hands and studies her reflection in the mirror. At twelve, she's a little young to be wearing makeup, but a light dusting of rouge along her cheekbones courtesy of Eileen makes her feel like more of an adult.

The Englishwoman, unfortunately, does not have an answer for her — she's preoccupied with finishing the girl's hair using bobby pins and white gerbera purchased from her favourite florist on the way to Gun Hill.

Hopefully, someone else will.

"Opera is more about expression and the costumes and stuff than what is actually being said," Tasha explains, where she stands clasping a black velvet choker around Liette's neck, tilting her head as she studies the effect in the reflection. She's brought over a whole tangle of jewelry for the girls to choose from — old stuff of her mother's and her own. "You can tell by the way they sing and the motions they make — and there's usually a little summary in the program, too, to help you out."

Tasha herself is dressed in a simple black sheath dress, hair pinned back with a silver headband, and strappy heels bringing her height up to closer to Colette's. "Do you like that?" she asks Liette, touching the choker with the small star pendant dangling from its center.

"Tasha is completely right," Jensen Raith offers from a point more removed from getting the girls pretty, "It's opera. The music, the gestures, the actions will tell you everything you need to know about what's going on." It isn't often that the ex-spy can be convinced to wear a tuxedo: 'Too cliche,' he says. But this is the opera, and Liette's first Big Night Out (TM), and for an occasion like this, he'll wear one. Besides, he doesn't have another suit to wear, and with a European-style neck tie rather than a bow tie, no one is going to notice the difference. "And if you absolutely have to know what they've saying, you can ask me. I speak Italian."

"I do too, so you have me or Raith to ask what's being sung" Abigail chimes in, putting one last bobby pin in her pink hair, the light floor length lavender dress she's wearing - She'd called Caliban to inquire about what was appropriate for the opera at the met - falling around her hips in a chiffon splendor. "So you're covered. But I think, this is the first time that a whole bunch of us have been, so it'll be lots of fun!" She's craning her neck to look for Fox and figure out where the girl is in the crowded room.

The EMT had made the rounds at walmart, getting the necessary sizes for the girls, buying colorful dresses a plenty for them to choose from and age appropriate, raiding the sale rack for cheap jewelry to go with Tasha's stash and little fake crystal tiara's. She's taken Eileen's words to heart it seems. That and sometimes, it's good to feel like a beautiful woman or young girl as the party at the Corinthian had shown her.

Fox is looking somewhat awkward in a yellow dress, as she adjusts it this way and that, standing in front of a mirror. After getting tired of fussing with it, she decides to pay some attention to her hair instead, and reaches up to try to do it in a chic french braidbut her attempts are a bit lacking. She still needs some dress shoes, tooshe doesn't have any of her own.

It is a wonder that Mala hasn't torn a door off of its hinges by now; Delilah has taken up wrangling the little supergirl, and judging by her own mood, Mala must be totally wired if it so pleases her. Regardless of degree of Dangerous- Dee has found a fluffy pink dress for Mala, a pair of white dress shoes, and out of Tasha's tangle of jewelry, they found a little string of faux pearls. Delilah, to another degree, is wearing a sage green dress, its loose fabric belted around the bump of her forming belly. It's still a modest curve, but only for so long. Her red hair is pulled up, and there is a similar string of pearls around her own neck. They look quite real, however.

"I don't know Italian either, but I'm not worried." She has in one hand a mirror for Mala to be looking in, while her hands fuss a little with the brushing of her shiny, dark hair. "You have such lovely hair, Mala, I'm a little jealous!"

"Sorry! Sorry!" Is the immediate and exasperated comment from Colette Nichols as she comes blundering into the first-floor apartment. In Lynette's absence the only fully-furnished apartment in Gun Hill has become something of a meeting ground and congregation area. To say that Colette doesn't quite look like herself is rather spot on, given that she's slid into a sleek black sleeveless and strapless dress that trails down to her ankles, making her look like a single brush stroke of dark ink.

A pair of short chunke heels are held in her hands, stocking-clad feet treading across the floor hurriedly. Behind Colette, a somewhat flustered looking Juniper looks far more put together and ready to go, though the carnation red dress she wears is a bit loud, it matches with her hair color in a complementary way much like Abby's impossible pink and lavender combination. Throwing a lacy black shawl over her shoulders, Juniper is chasing Colette with hair pink and a brush. "Your hair's not done, we don't have all day!"

This should technically be the other way around, but it's somewhat unsurprising that someone has to teach Colette how to dress and look like a lady rather than a teenage boy.

The subject of much attention between her father and Tasha, Liette Fournier looks unaccustomed to the situation she's found herself in. Brows furrowed and head quirked to the side, she offers blue eyes up to Raith, then down to the star pendant necklace, fingers with unadorned nails brush over the bauble and a confused smile crosses her lips. "It's a first…" she explains in quiet contemplation, "so, it's the best." Looking up to Tasha, Liette's smile is small, though appreciative. She has every reason to be nervous about going out in public like she is.

"Is it going to be safe?" Is not the question Jensen wants to have asked of him by his daughter, and there is every bit a mature seriousness in Liette when she meets his stare. The way teeth pensively tug over her lower lip comes between her teeth, tugged pensively right up until Colette plows into her chair in her frantic fashion.

"I know Lynette had some eyeliner in here I can't believe I ran out this is retarded!" Colette hollars as she hustles across the apartment like a black and white tornado towards the bathroom with Juniper trying to keep up behind her, brandishing the brush and hairpins in each hand.

"Splendide," says Eileen, pinning the gerbera in place, and while this might not be Italian, there's no mistaking the sentiment. Her voice is full of quiet approval, making Hailey blush.

"Do you know if it has any animals in it?" is the next thing Hailey wants to know as she offers Tasha a shy sort of smile, question at the tail end of Liette's and addressed to the room at large rather than any one individual.

Mala, meanwhile, has her nose to Delilah's hand mirror, breath fogging the glass. "Thank you," she says demurely and tips up her chin to get a better look at the necklace around her throat. This is all very new to her, and it's possible that she doesn't know what exactly to make of it, but she is smiling. Toothily.

Hailey hops down from the counter without any help from Eileen, whose dress is also black and matches the heels she wears on her feet but not the gardenia she chose for herself. The flower's linen-coloured petals compliment the shade of her skin, pale as it is, and contrasts with the darker tones of her hair, which she wears twisted back into an elegant knot at the back of her head. "Try the medicine cabinet," she suggests to Colette.

"There's some right here, Colette. And lipstick, too, if you're gonna be all fancy," Tasha calls teasingly, her eyes full of affection for the frantic awkwardness. She smiles at Liette in the mirror, but she decides to let her father do the reassuring.

"Animals…there are animals in Aida. I'm not sure if there are real animals in this one or just dancers dressed up like animals, because it's supposed to take place in Africa," Tasha explains, glancing over at Eileen. "Do you know, Eileen?"

"Completely safe, tesoro. You know me. Would I take you to the opera if it wasn't completely safe?" It's very, very true that Raith is banking on Liette's lingering naivete to keep her from realizing that he has a bad habit and long history of doing unsafe things. He's also banking on the other women present- particularly Eileen, Colette and Delilah- not to say anything about this. "But that is now aside. Come here, let me see you. Give me a spin." Now, the ex-spy approaches, but only just slightly, gesturing with his hand raised and index finger pointed towards the ground to emphasize his verbal request for a spin.

Poor fox. Abigail slips over, gently swatting at hands and with a quiet humm to herself and a brush, she's setting about to putting the twelve year olds hair into a french braid like she wants with the swift efficiency that has been borne of no one to help Abby do it on herself. A lot easier doing it on someone else. "There's some shoes in the box over there, should fit you, a few pairs to choose from." Flashing the young girl a smile. Strange to hear though, throught he din, someone else call someone Tesoro and it wasn't coming from Teo's accented lips.

It really is. For a second, Delilah spares a look over her shoulder towards Raith as if to make absolutely certain Teo hadn't somehow materialized. She listens to him a moment and lets out a bit of a snort. Banking on Delilah keeping her opinion completely to herself is like banking with Bernie Madoff-with-your-money. "I hope you girls can come out with us more often." Delilah shrinks down to Mala-level to peer in the little mirror with her.

"Would you like something for in your hair?" There are surely headbands and those weird little tiaras- probably ribbons too.

Fox is more than happy to relinquish the task of braiding her hair over to someone with more experience, and glances over to the indicated box of shoes while waiting for Abby to finish. When she's done, she studies her reflection in the mirror. "Thank you, that would've taken me forever and not looked half as good," she says to Abby. Then she pads over to the box of shoes and tries holding several up to the sole of one foot in turn, until finding a pair that's about the right size, and slips them on. "What do you think?", she asks of nobody in particular, but in Abby's general direction, as she twirls.

Jolting out of the bathroom in time to bump into Juniper, Colette affixes mismatched eyes on Tasha and slides between the door frame and Juniper's redheaded figure, hustling over to where the brunette is. "Oh— thank you. Just the eyeliner that's all I need Juniper my hair!" Colette exclaims as pulls a chair away from the kitchen tabel and drags it over to where Tasha is, settling down on it and plucking up one of the tubes of eyeliner and a small mirror, trying to handle her makeup while Juniper is left with the tankless task of getting her toussled mop of a haircut into some semblance of order.

While Juniper is considering a blowtorch and scissors to handle Colette, Liette seems more impressed with her father's linguistic plays. "You've been hanging around with that nerdy guy again, haven't you Dad?" And by Nerdy guy she means Teodoro, likely much to his chagrin. Though complying with her father's orders, Liette rises up from sitting and smooths out the front of her dress before tossing her hair back with both hands and giving a deliberately theatric twirl and then a bow, grinning all the while.

"I feel weird, goin' out into public without really any abilities." Liette's nose wrinkles slightly, blue eyes askance to Eileen, then back to Raith. "I guess this is what a normal girl feels like, isn't it?" Teeth tugging at her lower lip, Liette scuffs her heels against the floor, then furrows her brows. "Is mom going to meet us there?" is said with every bit of a child implying with a pout that if she isn't she will be so very sad.

Thankfully for Liette, her mother is good at dividing her time.

"I'd heard they've hired an illusionist for the season, so I imagine there will be. Animals and more." Eileen picks up the glossy brochure that Hailey abandoned on the counter and offers it to her. "Grigorovich, I think is his name. He used to work with the circus in Moscow." Which is a lot kinder than saying he used to work at the Pancratium, but she doubts that anyone else in the apartment is familiar with Muldoon's good friend Vasya outside of the crisp black-and-white photograph on the inside of the brochure that Hailey is now reviewing for the sixth time tonight.

"So cool." Hailey flips the brochure over, pauses, lifts blue eyes back to the adults, and this time she does single someone out. "Tasha, what's the difference between a soprano and a mezzo-soprano?" Coming from another child, the incessant line of questioning might be annoying — and maybe it's annoying with Hailey too — but there's also something very earnest about the almost tentative way she's asking them.

Mala presses her cheek to Delilah's and nuzzles at her throat with her nose as if suddenly embarrassed to be caught looking at herself in the mirror. "A butterfly," she whispers, and her request is possibly a little more specific than what Delilah might've been anticipating.

Eileen won't be of any help here, either. The pearl necklace she's fastening around her own neck may or may not be real. If a reminder of her years with Kazimir Volken's Vanguard, then both it and her matching earrings almost certainly are. Like Abigail, the last opportunity she had to dress up was at the Corinthian gala, and for reasons known only to herself she's taking extra measures to appear presentable, including manicured nails and strategically-applied perfume that pays tribute to the flower in her hair. But just to be sure, she rubs her wrists together and then curves the left along the shape of her throat from ear to collarbone to diffuse and further soften the scent.

"You look gorgeous, just do it the way you always do it," Tasha tells Colette. Now that Liette's taken care of, she leans across the counter to apply some wine-colored lip stain, her eyes already made up in the smokey-eye technique. She chuckles a little wryly at Liette's words. "It's not so horrible to be normal. I don't have any abilities at all, and I go out in public all the time and I manage to only fall down once a week," she teases, applying the lip stain with her ring finger across her full lips, then wiping her hand off with a tissue.

"A soprano is a female who sings high — a mezzo-soprano sings not quite as high, but higher than an alto, which is a woman with a lower voice. There are others, like a contralto and such but that gets pretty complicated," Tasha tells Hailey, with a grin. "My joke, however, is that mezzo-soprano is Latin for no range because that's what I am… I can't get the really high notes and I can't get the really low notes, I'm just kinda stuck in the middle."

Finally she picks up a little bottle of Chanel No. 5 given to her for her high school graduation. "Line up and everyone gets a little spritz," Tasha says, flourishing the bottle. To the "grown ups," she adds under her breath, "I figured one perfume instead of five would keep us from smelling like a Bath and Body Works shop and making everyone in the row behind us sneeze."

Liette gives a spin and a bow, and in reply, Raith gives his hands one enthusiastic clap. "Brava." When Loraine comes up, he still doesn't miss a beat. "You'd better believe that she will," he says with a smile, "You think she would miss this for anything? I promise you she would not.

"And for your information," he adds slyly, "I was speaking Italian before that 'nerdy guy' was even born." Because Liette's dad is just so awesome, he knew he would have to speak Italian years before he would ever have to. "And now, fragrance time. Get a good spot in line while you can."

Abigail is, acquainted with the man on the brochure for the opera. Someone she's seen before, in a life past almost and for once, it's someone from there who doesn't make her shudder or incite her body temperature to rise. A twitch yes, as she's putting the finishing touches to Fox's hair, but she keeps silent, choosing instead to stretch her neck a fraction, gold cross on her neck - Yet another new one - and nods.

"You are breathtaking Fox. Soon we shall have to buy baseball bats and Brian will have to replicate and then beat the heck out of any boys who come near you. Now, Tasha's got some perfume and you are good to go" Shooing motions made with her hand, fingernails all french tipped and ready to go herself. "Anyone else need help?"

"Well, we can try that. I'll do my best." Delilah answers Mala with a grin into the handheld mirror, patting the smaller girl lovingly at the back of her shimmery hair. She moves off for a few seconds to find as wide a ribbon as she can; Mala, in turn, ends up with a white ribbon in her dark hair, the bow tied into a big-winged shape. A butterfly- as much as she can make it one. "How's this? I think it looks like a butterfly…" Delilah seems confident enough about it.

Fox stops twirling and beams to Abby. "Oh, your nails are really pretty," she replies, noticing them for the first time. Her own nails are trimmed very short and undecorated. She then proceeds to get in line in front of Tasha to get spritzed, and watches the other young girls as they too get nearly ready. "Have you ever been to an opera before?", she asks Hailey, the one Lighthouse kid she's closest to.

At the notion of perfume, Juniper flicks one brow up and leans over to whisper something to Colette, and the dark-haired girl offers a not quite full look over her shoulder and a smile. Pinning back Colette's bangs and sweeping her hair back from its normal mess in front of her face, Colette looks, or at least feels, less disheveled than normal. With the hair work done, Juniper brushes her fingertips under Colette's jaw as the scent of lilac rises subtly into the air around her, the same scent radiating off of Juniper as she cants her head to the side.

"You are my favorite perfume bottle," Colette notes with a nod of her head, grinning crookedly at the redhead's use of her ability. "Get her too," Colette insists with a point towards Tasha. "I demand citrus," is playfully afforded before Juniper gives a giggle and steps away from Colette while the older girl is pulling on her heels. Juniper slinks over to Tasha, brows lifted and dabs fingertips on the underside of Tasha's jaw thoughtfully, then touches of her fingers to the teen's wrists and the subtle scent of oranges emanates from where she's placed her fingers. Not only that, she seems to have changed the scent of Tasha's already present perfume entirely, as well as the scent of her perspiration. There's no telling how long that will last.

"I'm terribly dangerous," Juniper offers in teasing explanation, though at the display of the ability, Liette looks concerned. It's not a wide-eyed fear, just a subtle look of furrowed brows and a side-long stare offered to her father, something conspiratorial. Liette looks back to Juniper, managing a subtle smile with distracted quality to it.

"Both moms or just one," is Liette's question that masks her unspoken concern for however she interprets Juniper's ability.

Mala tucks in her chin, holds the mirror at arm's length and peers into her reflection from beneath her lashes, dark eyes focused on Delilah's makeshift butterfly. It might not be as colourful as the real thing, but the shape is right and it doesn't take much to please her. Wordlessly, she sets down the mirror, turns around and pecks Delilah on the nose before taking her by the hand, squeezing her small fingers around the redhead's much longer ones, and tugs her gently toward the bathroom, mindful of her ability.

It would ruin everybody's evening if someone dislocated an arm.

Hailey gives Fox a shake of her head. "I've never worn perfume either," she confesses, looping her arm around the other girl's. She passes her the brochure. "We should sit together."

A glace at her pocket watch informs Eileen that it's rapidly encroaching on six o'clock. She snaps it shut, and tucks it back into the silk lining of the overcoat now draped over her slender arm. Downstairs and outside, a horn is blaring. At least one of the taxis Raith called for is already here.

The brushing touch of fingertips under her chin gets a giggle from Tasha and she grins at Juniper. "I don't think anyone ever told me what you could do. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to discount your ability. It's way better than this Chanel No. 5 by the way. Girls, you can have either this perfume or Junie can make you smell however you like. I think someone should smell like snickerdoodles," the teen says with a grin.

"You all look beautiful… we need a photo, but I think our chariot awaits, so maybe we'll just wait til we get there for your closeups," Tasha says with a grin, grabbing her purse from where it hangs on a doorknob and pulling it over her shoulder.

Without even second passing after Liette asks which of her mothers, or if both will be there, Raith says, "Yes," with a grin. "And she'll be in for a very pleasant surprise when she see you. Like Tasha said, beautiful. And like Tasha said, we need to get going. Don't want to be late for the opera, you know." As if to signal he is ready, Raith gives his tie one last adjustment, pulling it just a bit tighter. All set.

No alteration of personal scent for Abby, just a pause to grab a glass of water, swallow something down, grab her clutch - this was what she carried to the corinthian - and checking that her own hair is still up and fine, she's grabbing a shrug, sequins adorning it in a pink not unlike her hair, and stepping into tow behind the others. Delighted not to drive. To the Opera. Only thing better would be if a certain blonde haired someone came but life is busy and there's other things to do like chaperone children.

Mala may be small for her age, but her carefulness is much like someone older. She knows better, thank goodness. Delilah follows Mala, unsure about why exactly she is being tugged into the bathroom. "It's about time to go- what's up, buttercup?"

Fox smiles as Hailey hooks her arm, and she gives her a playful tug. "We'll be each other's dates, then," she declares, before glancing down to look at the brochure. At least at the pictures therein, since reading is difficult for her and she's disincliend from attempting it unless it's necessary and she's not pressed for time. Glancing up at Tasha. "Wasn't there a study that said the scent that gets guys' attention the quickest is cinnamon? Or was it…," she smirks, "…bacon?" Giggles ensue.

"Juni's got the coolest power ever, the power not to shower," Colette explains teasingly, eliciting a wide-eyed stare from Juniper and a slap to Colette's shoulder followed by another slap, slap, slap. Giggling furiously, Colette's smile spreads from ear to ear as she slinks away from the redhead, stepping beside Tasha in their near matching black dresses, hooking arms with her and leaning slightly against her. "I haven't— ever— done anything like this before so… so…" Colette's mismatched eyes flick over to Tasha and there's a smile as she leans in and whispers, "I'm calling it our first date."

Juniper is delighted to be able to apply her ability here, and while only Hailey gets a touch of the redhead's scent manipulation, Raith happens to find himself on the receiving end of Juniper's ability as well. Just a touch across the back of his neck as she slinks by is all it takes, and Old Spice is a distinctive if not slightly amped up smell that clings to the old spy's silhouette.

Apparently, Raith Jensen is the man your man could smell like.

Who knew?


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