Participants:
| Scene Title | Personal Truth |
|---|---|
| Synopsis | After the White Knight gives Anna a phone number, Sable and Anna meet up. |
| Date | November 21, 2010 |
It's a good thing Anna didn't euphemize like the 'White Knight' did. 'The truth about yourself' can be interpreted any which way, and had Sable received a reference through Magnes about some lady needing help with coming to grips with 'the truth about herself'… well, Sable's interpretation would have been something else entirely.
As it happens, this is some sort of Evo thing, which makes somewhat less sense to Sable than the possible miscommunication but- she is never so ungallante as to refuse the request of a lady. Thusly, Sable lounges in a boot seat at the cafe in the Brooklyn library, her increasingly worn BU hoodie crumpled up on the spot next to her, letting her arms - which her tanktop leaves bare - enjoy the ample heating of the space. A cup of coffee, still steaming, sits before her and she stirs its dark contents idly with a plastic stirrer.
Well, Anna isn't so much a lady as a teenage brat with a criminal record. The latter is especially hard to tell over the phone. The teenage Evo girl heads on to Sable's table, recognising the eyes out of the group. "Hey, I'm Anna."
The girl seems more than a little nervous, but she takes a seat next to Sable at that table, "Sorry to spring that on you… I'd have thought the White Knight would've told you about it…" Anna scratches her head, "But I guess if you're still willing to help, that… well… he at least estimated right." A faint, nervous smile… "It's… kind of hard for me to, well… admit I'm… you know…" And then, almost inaudibly, "Evolved."
Anna's teenagedness is about the first think Sable notes about her. Jesus, how young is this one? A double blessed thing that Anna was clear on the phone. If Sable thought Magnes was sending her jailbait…
But, weirdly enough, the situation is close enough. A secret, inadmissable - a membership with an oppressed group. Sable cricks her neck and leans forward, extending a hand to Anna, offering it in a shake.
"Hon," Sable opens, "I don't know nothin' 'bout you, but I aim t' change that, startin' first with yer name. But I ain't gonna ask f'r what I won't offer m'self. I'm Sable, 'n' it's a fine thing t' meet y'.
"As f'r bein' Evo, came as a surprise t' me as well," the rocker adds, "though I guess everyone I knew already was, too, so it wasn't so tough, like," she cracks a crooked smile, "Comin' out."
When the hand is offered, Anna shakes it, her smile coming more naturally now. Handshakes are something she can do. "Like I said on the phone.." Anna starts, "My name is Anna… Anna James." The girl sighs a little, "I.. well.. I admittedly kind of hate the Evolved… and well…" She lets that statement hang.
"Anyway… nice to meet you, Sable." Another nervous smile, "Mind lowering your voice a little, though… I don't need everyone to know…" Pause, "Not that that isn't an issue of time anyway…" She sighs more deeply now.
"Name's 'r' somethin' t' be given face t' face," Sable says, dipping her head, delivering the line like it's proverbial, "calls c'n be cranks." She draws her coffee towards herself and takes a sip through the stirrer, using it like a little straw. "Now… hold on up here, Anna James," she interjects, a brow lifting, "hate's an awful strong word t' use f'r folks as wide rangin' as, well," she smiles, just a little, "th' kinda folk we're talkin' 'bout at a reasonable-type volume. 'course, I figure, what? Y' hate all people who are f'r bein'? Or is this a 'love th' sinner, hate th' sin' kinda hate? Make it clear f'r me, hon. Matters."
"I'm an orphan." Anna starts to explain, "My folks were killed by, well… the midtown man." Anna looks down at the table, "I.. kinda drew the conclusion that Evos are all monsters, and that when they seem nice, they just pretend to be…" A sigh, "A Survival of the Fittest, and humanity ain't gonna win kind of deal… fear played a big role, I guess…"
Anna looks up again, "I'm not sure what to think anymore…" She shrugs, "I know I'm not a monster, but I have to be, it… it just doesn't make any sense… I don't want to be… to be what I seem to be… what the blood tests say I am…"
"Gimme yer hand, honey," Sable says, sliding her own across the table, palm up, offered to Anna. "Got some things t' impart t' y', but I want y' t' feel me as I do. Gotta have y' know I'm flesh 'n' blood, frail and fair and foul as any, 'n' not just talk talkin' at y'."
Anna places her hand in Sable's, but doesn't quite look the older woman in the eyes. In fact, she looks down at the table again. "What is it…" The girl asks, sounding timid… scared, perhaps. Definitely not happy. "Why do I need to touch you..?"
Sable's other hand moves around to capture Anna's between both of her eyes. "Lookit me, hon," she says, bidding Anna gaze into the very marker of Sable's own SLC expression, "we gotta touch 'cause y' gotta know it's human hands what are claspin' yer own. Yer own human hands. Now, you tell me, hon, whosit y' admire most, in all 'f history that's come b'fore us? Answer me that, wouldja?"
Reluctantly, Anna looks up. "Jesus Christ…" The girl answers the question, immediately revealing some important facets about herself with that answer. "If only I could be a little more like him… but then.. I guess I'm not even human…" She sighs again, and her eyes break contact.
"Now hold on a moment, hon," Sable says, head ducking over to try and regain that eye contact, "Christ is a fine example t' be sure. But, if ain't misrememberin' my Sunday school, surely the Lord was human, but he was a sight something more th'n human as well, eh? 'n' he was kind 'n' just t' those that, at th' time, weren't thought properly human th'mselves. Lepers 'n' th' like. The Lord saw humanity in all folks, saw the goodness therein, eh? Love is what th' Lord preached. Which is th' precise opposite 'f hate, ain't it?"
As eye contact is regained, Anna smiles weakly. "I guess you have a point…" The girl admits, "But it's hard… it's hard to love those responsible for yourself losing everything." Still blaming the group for the crimes of the one, apparently, "If … if it wasn't for the evolved… my parents would still be alive.. and my life… would've been very different… better…"
"Sure thing," Sable says, nodding, not contesting alternate histories, "but y' live now with what y' got, such as we all do. 'N' what you are is part 'f that. So people are wicked, 'n' people with great power t' do wickedness do great wickedness. But like you said, you ain't a monster, 'n' neither 'm I, eh? 't least, we ain't monsters 'nless we let ourselves be. So, bein' as we are, best we c'n do is t' be better th'n those who do such ill. T' see no others orphaned. Dig?"
ORDER: It is now your pose.
"Maybe…" Anna responds, sighing yet again… "Life was easier when I could just tell myself that the Evolved were all monsters…" The girl hangs her head, breaking eye contact again, "I… didn't have to think about all this…"
"Easier?" Sable says, arching a brow, "what's easy 'bout spendin' all that energy hatin' 'n' fumin' 'n' ragin'? Gal, I dunno you, but I know that y' loved yer family dearly, 'n' all that love, with nowhere t' go, turned all poison t'wards those y' deem responsible. But that ain't an easy way t' live life, not in th' long run." The older girl squeezes Anna's hand. "Evo's are just people. Stupid, cruel, lovely, wild, unhappy, messed up, just 'n' unjust people. Jus' like you. 'n' jus' like me."
"I dunno… it just… feels easier?" Anna responds, having her hand squeezed and smiling faintly, "But perhaps I'm just scared of what I am…" That makes a lot of sense, probably. "And I didn't want to face it.. so I told myself I couldn't be… and came up with reasons why I couldn't…"
"Life's too short t' run about livin' in a lie," Sable says, making a sympathetic by wry face, "fact is, though, honey- y'all just are what y' are. 'N' always have been. Sure, y'all got somethin' now that y' c'n do, 'n' that's mighty strange at first, but I think y'll find it all makes sense, givin' time t' get used t' it."
Anna shakes her head, "Haven't… uhm… manifested yet." She admits, "Just… those fancy blood tests telling me I'm not human.." There she goes again, calling evolved non-human, even if indirectly, "And I'm kinda scared of that happening…"
Sable notes the attribution of inhumanity and gives a sniff. "Knock that off, hon," she says, "'human' 'n' 'not human'. Shit. Don't insult me, 'n' don't insult yerself. Nor flatter yerself, neither. We're humans, stupid 'n' crazy 'n' prone t' either fuckin' 'r killin' at the drop 'f a hat. Havin' some strange ol' superpower don't change that none, which is precisely th' goddamn problem."
The girl looks back up at Sable, sighing a little… "I guess." The girl forces a smile, "It's just… I'm so used of thinking 'us' vs. 'them', that being one of 'them' is still a very scary thought.." Anna shrugs, "I know that it shouldn't be… but it's the way I'm used to thinking…"
"Give it time, hon," Sable says, finally relinquishing Anna's hand in favor of grasping her coffee and taking a sip. Still hot. She purses her lips at the sting of near-burn, heat past pain's threshold. "Real trouble, what gets people so darn scared, is that figuring what's 'us' and what's 'them' gets so hard. Ain't no easy way t' tell, straight away," unless you have metal skin or really strange eyes, "figure, 'stead of tryin' t' sort one from th' other, best t' not pay it no mind. What makes a person's a lot more th'n some trick they c'n play. Same person's same person, power 'r no. Same power, two different people- that's when there's a real difference. Character."
Anna winces as Sable does the same, the girl sighing faintly, "Hot?" She asks carefully, but then the subject goes back to the serious matters, "Yeah… I guess you have a point… it's just, understanding you have a point and accepting you do are two wholly different beasts…"
"Always," Sable says, with an off kilter smirk. Whatever that means. She shifts in her seat, fixing Anna with a steady look. "Ain't gonna come all at once, 't least not through any effort 'f yers. If y' get struck all revelatory-like, that'll be 'cause the universe wills it. 'Til then," she dips her head, "Y'all c'n call me up if y' need someone t' talk t'. Don't mind shootin' th' shit a bit. Damn fool boy made me a fuckin' therapist, figure I ain't gonna disappoint 'im."
Anna rises, "Well, I have to run… it's almost time for my work shift." She looks at her watch again, "I hope I won't run late…" And with a faint shrug, she turns around, "And I'll call you when I need to… see you again, I think!" And off she goes.
