Participants:
| Scene Title | Siblings |
|---|---|
| Synopsis | But — not quite. |
| Date | May 3, 2009 |
The Bedroom of Mallory Allistair
It's been a while since Simon has actually visited the rest of his family in the city. He and Mallory would meet up, but never at home. So, he figured it was time to make an appearance, though he was expecting to get an earful, especially from his uncle, about his little disappearance a few months past, and the fact that he's moved out. Apparently that's not something a smart kid like him is supposed to do. Whatever.
He's on the hunt for Mallory now, having said his hellos to the cousins who are home. Her door is knocked on red and peeling knuckles. Maybe he just got back from the gym? He waits, and if there's no answer, he'll knock again, louder. "Hey, open up. It's me."
Reed as Mallory is just getting home from meeting April. She's going to have to keep a better eye on the net traffic for the next few days. Fucking Niles. She makes her way inside and towards her room and she sees Simon standing there. She barely greets him as she opens the door and steps inside. "What's up?" she asks as she sits down at her computer, peeling off her jacket and tossing it onto her bed.
The usual dry greeting he gets from his sister is shrugged off as Simon follows her into her room. "Ugh, man they won't leave me alone about the moving out thing. It's bullshit," he says, flopping onto his back on her bed. "I mean, it's not like I won't be coming back for school in the fall." A sigh escapes from him and he pushes himself into a sitting position, looking over at Malloreed with a serious expression on his face. "How have you been lately? Nothing - weird has been going on, right?"
Well, other than she's not really Mallory? "Nah. Nothing too weird. And fuck them. They can't tell you what to do now. You live on your own, so what do they have to say about anything you do?" There are subtle touches to Mallory's memory going on as Reed tries to keep up appearances. She seems to be a bit focused as she holds a hand over the keyboard as windows pop open on the screen. "Why should there be something I need to be looking out for?" Looks like she's possibly opening up something related to the NYPD as she speaks.
"Yeah, exactly. Still, I want to be able to come over without getting yelled at," Simon says scooting down the bed to get a look at what Mallory is doing. His brow furrows a bit and he straightens up a bit. "Maybe. I know that you tend to get pretty paranoid, but I just want you to be on the lookout. I've heard something from a friend of mine and, well, it didn't sit right with me at all," he says. Lots of words, without a direct answer. "What are you doing, anyways?"
She stops suddenly, looking at Simon. "Nothing. I am just looking up something for a friend of mine." she rushes out the explanation. She shuts down the windows and gives her attention over. "What do you mean paranoid? And what exactly am I keeping a lookout for?" This might be something she needs to know. Reed glances at Simon as she waits for the scoop.
Simon eyes Mallory faux-suspiciously, with a grin on his face. "Please, you don't have friends," he says, glancing at the screen once more, briefly, before turning back to his sister. "Just, people, you know? I think I may be on to whatever happened to us at the bar. The whole - blacking out experience," he explains, leaning in some and lowering his voice so that nobody outside the room can hear. Sometimes the littlest cousin can't resist the urge to eavesdrop. "It might have been Homeland Security."
There are some widening of her eyes as she listens. "Wait. What in the hell does Homeland Security want with us? We haven't done anything." Have we? She doesn't recall anything. Of course, that's the problem with having to try and dig for information in someone else's brain. Sometimes stuff is triggered and sometimes it's not. This is the last thing she needs right now, to have Homeland coming around and snooping. "You better spill everything you know right now." she insists.
Simon lifts his shoulders in a shrug and says, "I don't know I guess because we're both evolved. I've heard for a while about abductions and stuff like that. Apparently it's true. They do it, and so does something called The Company. Ever hear of it?" he asks, lifting his hand to scratch at his neck, right about where his isotope tracing mark is.
Well. April was very forthcoming when discussing 'The Company', so really there's nothing more she can do but lie. "No. I haven't heard about them — wait, aren't they that urban legend that everyone kind of talks about. I am not entirely sure I believe that shit exists." Reed shrugs nonchalantly. Really, she's been given no guidance on what to discuss as far as the Company goes, but she's not going to get into it now. "Why? Has someone gone missing from the Lighthouse?"
Simon shakes his head and thinks for a moment. "I don't think it's an urban legend, Mal. You must be getting it mixed up with something else." As far as he knows, The Company is very hush-hush. "No, I'm mentioning them because someone I know said that, well, we may be targets, or may have been at the bar that night." Simon sighs and closes his eyes a moment. "Just, don't freak out, ok?" eyes open again to look at Mallory for some kind of reaction.
Narrowing her eyes, Reed glances at Simon. "Why would I freak out? I'm not scared of them"
"Um, you may not be scared of them, but you're always so nervous. I didn't want to get you even more paranoid," Simon says, because he knows Mallory has trust issues without knowing some shadowy organization may be interested in her. "Anyways, just be careful. I wanted to tell you in person." He smiles slightly and inclines his head a bit. "So what are you looking up for your friend?"
Reed considers how much to say without giving too much of it away. "Some cops were tailing my friend and I was checking them out. It's no big deal. No one you know." Okay. A sliver of truth is better than no truth at all.
"Really? Are we talking dirty cops here?" Simon asks, scooting even farther down the bed now, closer to the computer. He's used to sharing everything with Mallory, which might not be something Reed likes. "Or is your friend just some dirtbag criminal?" The boy eyes Mallory, curiously and unsure about this new friend of hers. He's playing the protective brother here.
"Fuck you." she smirks, rolling her eyes. "Like I go around hanging out with criminals all the time." Granted, Reed actually does hang out with criminals, but Mallory is probably not the type. She shrugs. "They might be dirty, I dunno. Could even be something else altogether. My friend is just a little worried about it. It's no big deal. I'm just looking up something for her."
"Alright, whatever," Simon says, lifting his hands in the air defensively. "You don't have to be weird about it," he tells her. His hand drop onto the bed and he pushes himself off the mattress. "I'll leave you to it, if you want. I'll be in the city till the end of the day, so we should catch a movie or something later, ok?" He backs away a bit, towards the door, wondering why Mallory doesn't seem as worried about this Company business as he thought she would be. Oh well, she obviously has things on her mind.
Turning back to her computer, Reed waves to Simon — well, waves him off is more like it. "Sure, just call my cell and we'll try and hook up." She is obviously less concerned about it than the /real/ Mallory would be, if the real Mallory was here right now. She doesn't catch the worried glance, nor any other forms of body language as her eyes go right back to the computer screen as she pulls up her searches again. "Don't let them give you shit when you leave. You're living your own life now." she adds, eyes straight ahead onto the computer screen.
Simon's eyes narrow a bit, because he's trying to peg what could cause Mallory to act like she is. It's not different, exactly, but it's not right. He doesn't assume possession, of course, and instead figures she might be dating something, which is even scarier. "Yeah, I'll give you a ring. And I won't. They'll get over it soon," he says, referring to the angry aunt and uncle. "I'll see you later, Mal," he says, lingering in the doorway a moment before turning to leave. Weird.