Participants:
| Scene Title | Not As Awkward As You'd Expect |
|---|---|
| Synopsis | Katherine is released from Homeland Custody, and Veronica takes her home to Brian. |
| Date | October 4, 2009 |
Katherine has been told to gather her things together. Someone is coming to pick her up and take her home.
Home.
Where would that be? She's no clue. She's been dead, or so everyone thought and so she's certain there's no apartment left in her name. She has no job, so there's no money even if she wanted to find one. These are things she never considered when she thought she was June, but have become important to her since things have started to unravel for her. The unravelling itself isn't necessarily a bad thing, but part of her misses the naivity that was June, where the most she worried about was using her ability to fix things, and she had a place to stay. The duffle bag that Veronica brought her sits on her bed, filled with the few things that she owns. Things brought to her by Veronica and Minea. The only other thing on her bed is herself, as she sits and waits for someone to pick her up and take her out of here.
She's finally getting out.
There is the "whoosh" sound of the door opening, and in steps Veronica. It's a weekend, and her day off, so she's in her usual jeans, boots, and black t-shirt, a pair of black sunglasses up on her head. "Hey, jailbird, let's spring you," she says with a smile, dimples flashing. "We have a couple of options. You can stay with me until you get back on your feet, get a job, get some money, all that, or I'll put you up in your own apartment. I think if we press, the Company might give you some cash, like severance package, since after all, you were working there, and now you're not, but until then, it's no big deal to me. I have lots of money in the bank and nothing much to spend it on." Her tone is breezy and confident, hoping to instill the same in Kat, that this is nothing to worry about, no big deal. "Whatever you want to do is cool with me. There's just something about my place that you should know — Brian's there. And people don't know, really. So it's sort of a secret. And I don't want you to feel strange about things." She picks up Kat's duffel bag for her.
Kat stands as Vee enters the room and reaches for her bag. She moves to follow, when Veronica gives her some options. These days, decision making it not necessarily Katherine's strong suit as she chews on her lip as she lets the possibilities flounder around inside her head for a moment, then things come to a stand still. It's as if she considers them, then comes up with nothing. "I.. I don't know. I don't know what to do.." she says as she drops her gaze to the floor, trying to will her mind to work. To make a decision. She's been so excited for this day and while she can visualize the possibilities, it really becomes clear to her that she's broken when she can't make up her mind about something as important as this. "What do you think I should do?" she finally asks, looking at Veronica with wide, pleading eyes.
Veronica's brows knit for a brief moment. This is not Kat, some part of her whispers. Kat was the confident one, the one who knew what to do, the leader of the two. "Let's start small, then," the agent says with a smile, that confidence swelling in her voice. She might have had a good career as an actress, if she hadn't been put on the path she now follows. "It's Sunday — not a good day for apartment shopping anyway. We'll go to my place first. You can stay there as long as you need. Then we'll decide; if you want your own apartment or just to stay in a hotel or whatever, we can do that." She glances at Kat's hands and takes one, giving it a squeeze. "We'll find a job for you. Your ability is amazing — someone will want to hire you. Mechanics, repair shops — can you fix electronic things? You could be a PC tech person. A Maytag repairwoman. You could work for NASA and fix all their rockets." She winks. "Or be a stain remover… I don't know. Really, your options are probably endless." She heads for the door, tugging Kat along.
Returning the squeeze, there's almost a sense of relief as Veronica makes the decision for her and Katherine reaches for her duffle bag, ready to go. As they head out of the building after checking out through security, Kat is answering Vee's questions. "I can't really fix anything electronic. I can only make things look better. Cosmetic stuff, really. If you have a scratch on your paint job, then I can help there." They walks out of the building and towards Veronica's car. "Thank you for doing this. I'll try really hard to find some work to do. I can probably do most of that stuff you said. If you need me to fix something for you, then just tell me, okay?"
The shorter woman reaches to ruffle Kat's hair. "Everything that's broken in me is unfortunately not cosmetic. Can you fix people's scars and such? That would pay big money." She doesn't know the limitations of Kat's power now that it's more developed. "But if not — still. A body shop or something; man, they could charge people for labor and supplies when really it was just you. Or you could be your own boss, and be one of those people who go out to repair scratches and windshield cracks or whatever, charge $200 a scratch." She unlocks the car, one of the Company's generic sedans.
Kat slips into the vehicle and closes the door, almost immediately securing herself with a seatbelt. When Veronica comes in the driver's side, she nods. "I'll look around tomorrow and see if I can find something. I could probably even just be a janitor." It's not an assured guess for an occupation, but Katherine doesn't make many decisions on her own these days. If she had, she might not have been locked up for the number of days she had been in the first place. "You're sure it's okay for me to be at your place. I don't want to intrude. Or for Brian to be upset." The name comes out of her mouth, but she still can't picture the man's face in her mind. She has no idea if seeing his face will connect the name with the face or if any additional memories will come after seeing him again.
Veronica drives; while she's a daredevil when it comes to leisure activities, and would speed if she were back home in California, the streets of New York are dangerous on a good day, and she's rather conservative, using her turn signals, driving just a touch over the speed limit when the traffic allows. "Yep, it's fine. He knows, and he's okay with it." Or so he said. "I wouldn't want you to be on your own right now, Kat. Not unless you wanted to be."
It's not too far to the apartment building she lives in, and she pulls into the subterrian parking. "By the way, we can go shopping and get you some more clothes, or you can borrow anything of mine. You don't have to ask, all right?" Veronica leads them to the lobby, to the elevator and to the apartment, where she unlocks the door, then opens it, to let Kat enter.
Kat nods as the talk turns to talking of borrowing clothes and as they go into the parking garage, her eyes are all over the place trying to determine if she's been here before or not. "As long as I don't make things hard for you." At first glance, nothing seems familiar to her, much to her disappointment. It seems her every waking moment hinges on trying to get her memory back and when she gets nothing, it can be a little irritating. As Veronica leads the way into her apartment, Kat gets a sense that perhaps she's been here before or maybe she just wants to remember so badly. But nothing specific is recalled. "I like your place." she comments offhandedly as she sets her bag down and continues to look around.
In the apartment, Brian is on the couch, a to-go box from a restauraunt sitting beside him. His feet are propped up on the coffee table, and has a few books spread out on the table. All in different languages. He's only wearing basketball shorts, and when the door opens and someone enters that isn't Veronica he arches a brow until Vee steps in behind the first woman. "Kat." Brian greets softly, going to set the first book down. Standing up he takes a few steps towards her, reaching out with his hand. "It's good to see you again, I'm guessing you probably don't remember me?"
Veronica closes the door behind them and she offers an appreciative smile to Brian. "Hi. Studying?" she says with a curious nod to the books on the coffee table. "There's not much to show — it's one of those big airy apartments designed to be able to see everything without moving from the couch I think," she says with a wink. "The couch is a pull out, so you can sleep there. It's actually really comfortable. Do you want something to drink or eat?"
"Brian Winters." The words come out of Katherine's mouth before she even knows what she's saying. As it's been since she's been approached by those she recognizes, she knows their names, but not necessarily anything else about them. "Sorry.." she apologizes up front. "Habit." At least a new one. She shakes her head at the offer of something to eat and drink. "Thanks for letting me stay. If I start to impose, please let me know." Awkward. Just a little bit. Even knowing what she knows about her and Veronica, she doesn't have many specific memories of any of it. She drops her gaze to the floor, then back towards Vee as she stands there fidgeting, before reaching down and pushing a coaster to the center of an end table. If there's anything out of place, you can probably expect that it'll be fixed within the first 24 hours of her bring there.
"Yeah." Brian answers to Veronica, before looking back to Katherine. "Oh. She's staying here?" They never talked about that. Mentioned going and trying to help her but not having her live in their apartment. A glance is sent over to Veroncia then back to Katherine. He quickly gives a nod and a smile. "No it's totally fine. Make yourself at home." He says with a smile quickly going to grab his to-go box. He offers it over to Veronica, then thinking better offers it to both of them. "Half eaten quesadillas?"
"Yeah." Brian answers to Veronica, before looking back to Katherine. "Oh. She's staying here already?" Maybe he lost track of time, or wanted to lose track of time, but Winters at least gives a show of not having realized today was the day. A glance is sent over to Veroncia then back to Katherine. He quickly gives a nod and a smile. "No it's totally fine. Make yourself at home." He says with a smile quickly going to grab his to-go box. He offers it over to Veronica, then thinking better offers it to both of them. "Half eaten quesadillas?"
"Uh, no. I'll make something for dinner, unless you want something from a restaurant?" Veronica says with a glance toward Kat. "Yep. There's no reason for them to keep her. Her power is useful, nothing harmful. By the way, do you know anyone who could use someone who can fix things, on the cosmetic level? No one in your little tribe of miscreants, though. I mean, legit stuff. "
Kat glances from Brian to Vee as they talk of dinner and of Katherine's powers and Brian's tribe. She lets them talk as she starts to walk around the room and look at things, picking up things here and there and then setting them back down. She doesn't seem to have an opinion of dinner. She can hardly make important decisions for herself, she'll probably eat whatever is served for dinner without complaint.
"Don't look at them like they're poisonous." Brian frowns going to set the to-go box back down. When she asks if he knows anyone his mouth starts to open but when she says the word 'legit' his mouth slaps back shut. Hmph. Looking over his corner at Katherine, he slowly turns back to face Veronica. "So… Kat. Do you uh. Like movies?"
Veronica raises a brow at the non-response from Kat and goes to the kitchen. She pulls out some pots and pans and soon has ground beef browning, pre-jarred tomato sauce ready to add, a pot of water set to boil while a package of spaghetti waits nearby. "Spaghetti will work." Veronica and Brian would starve or eat out every night if it weren't for pasta. "A movie's a good idea," she says, opening the refrigerator and pulling out a couple of diet sodas, handing one to Kat.
It takes a moment to realize that she's being addressed. The name 'Kat' and 'Katherine' still foreign to her in some ways. She turns to look at Brian and hms? before responding. "I.." Well, it seems to be a good question because she has a hard time answering it. "I might?" She hasn't actually seen a movie since she's been out of the hospital. Never thought to do it. "I don't really know. I mean, I haven't since I.." You know, since she.. "But I could try it and see if I like it." she offers, more like a question instead of an actual idea. She sniffs the air and smells the cooking and considers for a moment before nodding. "That smells good."
"Good. A movie. I could go out and rent one or we could choose from Veronica's stupid way of aphabetical order." He gestures at their DVD collection sounding just a tad bitter. Brian offers, going to throw away his to-go box. "Spaghetti." Brian pipes brightly. "Always spaghetti." Though he doesn't seem sad about that.
"I only know how to make like five things, and you don't like two of the other four," Veronica points out with a smirk. "Kat, go look at my movies and see if there's anything interesting there." There's about 200 movies to choose from; odds are something is of interest. "And we have mint chip ice cream for dessert." It's not too awkward, and in a way it's almost nice, having two people she cares about in the same place at the same time. It's been a long time since that's happened.
Not /too/ awkward. Katherine is mostly just listening at this point. She reaches up and scratches at her hair, as it's getting far too long for her liking and she may have to get it cut before it really starts to bother her more than it already is. "Okay." is the response when she's asked to pick a movie. This ought to be good. She starts at the first movie, pulling it out and reading the back, then putting it back in its place. Then the second and the third. None of these movies seem remotely familiar to her, nor has she any inkling to choose something. She can't seem to make up her mind about much these days. After about ten DVDs are checked out, she finally pulls one out and after reading the back, turns to Brian and asks. "Is this any good?" Maybe she won't have to make this decision after all.
Brian arches a brow at the movie she pulls out. "Gigli. I didn't even know we had that." He shoots an accusatory glance over his shoulder at Veronica before looking back. "No. But we can watch it anyway, maybe make fun of it the whole time." He offers hopefully with a bright smile.
"I don't think that's mine," Veronica says with a frown. "I've never even seen it. But sure. We'll watch it and then watch something good so that Kat can see that not all movies suck," she says. "Go ahead and put it on, and I'll finish up dinner here in a moment."
And soon, the three are sitting on the sofa, Vee between Brian and Kat, eating their spaghetti and garlic bread while watching a movie about a very different trio.