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| Scene Title | Through a Mirror Darkly |
|---|---|
| Synopsis | After lunch at the Cathedral soup kitchen, old friends and new acquaintances meet, greet, and go their separate ways. |
| Date | October 25, 2008 |
Cathedral of St. John the Divine
The largest Gothic cathedral in the world, the Cathedral of St. John the Divine remains partially unfinished to this day, despite its construction having begun in 1892 - true to form for buildings of its type. Nonetheless, it is a grand and imposing sight; possessing the characteristic grand arches, pointed spires, and beautiful stained glass windows, including a large and striking Rose window. Where the walls aren't covered with old and meticulously preserved tapestries, they are often ornamented.
Guided tours are offered six days out of the week. Services are open to all. Since the bomb, the main nave is open at all but the latest hours, though the smaller subject-specific chapels close in the evening. The cathedral is also a site for major workshops, speakers, and musical events - most especially the free New Year's Eve concert, which has been held without fail each year since the bomb.
St. John's has long been a center for public outreach and civic service events, but since the bomb, those have become an even greater part of its daily affairs. Services include a men's shelter, a twice-weekly soup kitchen, walk-in counseling, and other programs besides. These are open to everyone - non-Evolved, unregistered Evolved, registered Evolved… the philosophy is that they're all children of God, and that's what matters.
The lunch-time rush in the great church's underground soup kitchen has passed, the flow of people receding to a trickle, with most of the tables now largely free - save for the scattered detritus of many diners. Helpers move to and fro, starting to clear up around the remaining visitors, the atmosphere one of fatigue and relief mixed with the pleasure at a useful job successfully completed.
With a canvas bag and her flag-decorated biker's jacket both slung over one shoulder, Ygraine emerges from the rear of the serving area, shaking her head in mild disbelief as she navigates her way past the tables and peers quizzically around the hall.
"Seriously," A whining voice calls out from behind the steam-tables and serving area, "Next time you're going to pick a fight with a guy over something stupid, warn me so I can leave?" Wiping her hands with a dishrag, Colette circles around the edge of one of the long tables, shooting a piercing stare at the young man on the other side, who grimaces somewhat awkwardly, scratching at the back of his neck with one hand.
"Hey, you could've voiced your opinion." Trent eyes Colette with a side-long stare, "I gotta help Darcy out with the stockroom work. You takin' off?" He leans over the table, tipping his head to one side at the question. Colette gives the young man an assessing stare, one brow raised as she purses her lips in thought. It's right around then when she spots Ygraine passing through the dining area.
"Not right away, maybe though! Don't miss me too much!" The girl chirps, bouncing across the room to stop square in front of Ygraine with her arms thrown to the side and a grin spread across her lips. "Heeeey there Henchwoman!" She clicks her tongue and smiles, shifting her weight to one foot and resting her hands on her hips after a moment. "Did'ja think you could escape from me so easily?" Her bangs shift slightly from the angle her head is at, hiding her blind eye.
One of the helpers hasn't been here long at all — but about the time everyone else was leaving, she quietly slipped into the room. Now Tamara picks her way alongside one of the lunch tables, collecting — well, at least some of the more disposable debris that's been left behind. She seems to be fairly random about what gets picked up and what's ignored, but whatever Tamara does collect is appropriately filed. File 13, that is. The teen is, of course, well aware of Colette and Ygraine — cleaning up isn't really her purpose here. But she does some anyway.
Ygraine giggles, as the person for whom she was searching makes her presence known, shaking her head at the younger woman. "If I'm anyone's henchwoman, I suppose it'd be Jennifer's", she teases. "How're you doing? It sounded like things were starting to get a little… involved when I left. For my part, I found myself "involved" in helping with the washing up…."
"Maybe so, Jen seems like a good person — " Colette squints, "A little young," Her tone becomes mildly teasing to Ygraine as a smile creeps up on her lips. "But a good person. She's, like, totally helpful. I'm hoping Professor Gilbert knows something 'bout Nicole…" Then, in the middle of her sentence, Colette's eyes narrow as she looks past Ygraine, peering around the cyclist towards one of the steam tables as she spots the back of a familiarly toussled mop of hair. "On — One second…" She says with a remarkably distracted tone of voice, eyes wide as she wanders away from Ygraine and across the cafeteria floor.
Her pace picks up, head tilting from one side to the other like a confused puppy as she uncertainly calls out, "T-Tamara?" Her voice is quiet, then again with a bit more confidence as she catches the wayward girl's profile, "Tamara?" Firm in her disbelief. She always seems to show up at the strangest of times.
The older teen pauses, tilting her head slightly, letting Colette get a good look at her profile. Yes, it's me. Tamara smiles, and resumes her picking up, moving on to some of the dishes that have been left behind. Those are moved to a cart. "I think so. The water's quiet enough." A glance over her shoulder at Colette. "You don't think so?" Blue eyes flick past the younger girl, and Ygraine is offered a quick wave.
Ygraine trails along behind Colette, giving Tamara a warm smile and a wave when the blonde turns her attention to the Briton. She doesn't interrupt the younger pair, however, positioning herself close by Colette, as if for support.
Well, this is far enough that Fel's willing to burn precious petrol. Because he spent his childhood and adolescence without a car, and public transit can be a huge pain. So an ancient black BMW sedan gets parked by the Cathedral, as close as his feasible, and Fel goes nosing around to try and find a way to the basement. He's caught by the spectacle of the inside of the nave, however, and spends a few moments frankly gawking. Since it's not a work day for him, he's in long-sleeved t-shirt and jeans, though he's still wearing that rather formal overcoat. After a minute or two, he finds a convenient usher to direct him down to the soup kitchen.
There's a noticable smile that spreads rather immediately across Colette's face when Tamara gives that smirking confirmation, and the dark-haired girl takes no pause in hurrying up behind the other girl, wrapping her arms around her shoulders and broadly beaming a smile, "You should've told me you were here sooner!" She gives another squeeze, albeit lingering just a touch, then takes a step away, teeth drawing across her lower lip as she watches Tamara work. "You… you really just," A snorted laugh escapes the girl. "You know exactly how to bright up my day!" One hand immediately moves to brush her bangs away from her blinded eye, if only because Tamara had done the same thing to her several days ago. If Tamara likes it that way, it stays that way. With her back to the entrance to the cafeteria, Colette doesn't notice Felix's arrival, far too transfixed on the girl nearby.
With her hands full, Tamara can't exactly hug Colette back — even if she intended to, which prospect is anyone's guess. But she smiles at the younger girl, before regarding her quizzically. "Was I sooner?" After a moment, the teen shrugs, looking over to where Felix is just now entering. "I guess so." She steps away from Colette to put these dishes with their fellows, then turns to face Ygraine, just looking at the Brit. Neither curious nor expectant, that look, but a rather simple, steady regard.
Ygraine quirks another smile at Tamara, bringing up her free hand to flip back the lapel of her jacket - revealing a blue star-shaped sticker. "It's still safe", she says gently to the blonde. "And it's good to see you again."
Felix looks more tired than impatient, peering around for a moment until he spots Colette and heads for her. He doesn't seem particularly shocked to see Tamara, either - they are sort of some odd version of Tweedle Dum and Tweedle Dee,and Tam has a standing invite on that spare bed. Ygraine he doesn't know, so she gets a polite nod, as he ambles up, hands buried in his pockets, hair wind-ruffled. "Done feeding the hungry, Mother Theresa?" he teases, one brow raised. By his tone it's intended as gentle teasing, anyway.
Mis-matched eyes blink as Colette sees Tamara stare beyond her, and as she turns and notices the gaze is leveled on Ygraine, it elicits a momentary confusion until there's that recognition of familarity that the Brit shares with Tamara. "You…" Her eyes dart over to Tamara, "You know her?" It sounds almost incredulous, as if she feels that is somehow not within Tamara's ability. Her nose wrinkles, smile growing, and as she looks back to Ygraine, there's an inspecting stare there. "I… I had no idea you — " Then in comes Felix, and Colette's expression just lightens up again, though it's a more smirking and jovial expression than the warm one she greeted Tamara with.
"Heeey there Taxi-Man!" She cracks a smile, "Yep, I think I'm pretty beat after how hard it was this afternoon." She gives Tamara a side-long stare, just watching her for a moment, then slips away to head in Felix's direction, giving the unpredictable one space to maneuver and wander as she is so prone to doing.
She stops next to Ygraine, and motions over to the man chiding her so, "This wonderfully blunt gentleman is Felix, I mentioned him to ya earlier?" One brow raises as a smile creeps up on her lips, eyes diverting to her erstwhile guardian. "Felix, this is Ygraine… er… Ygraine." She can't recall a last name, though it's likely just because of a faulty memory. "She's a bicycle courier and evil henchwoman," The young girl's tone turns mercilessly teasing, "And of //course //a friend of mine."
Tamara smiles at Ygraine, equally gently. "I know," she assures the woman. One hand comes up to push loose hair back from her face, as the older teen watches Colette make the rounds with a faint smile. "Thinking isn't much of being," the girl remarks obliquely. "No matter what they say." Her gaze flicks back to Ygraine. "Are you happy?" An odd question, perhaps — but put forth by an odd speaker.
Ygraine offers her free hand to Felix as Colette introduces the pair - but almost immediately thereafter has her attention captured once more by Tamara. "I… sometimes", she says gently, expression momentarily flickering into something darker. "And with some things in my life. Why… why do you ask?"
"Felix Ivanov," Fel says, putting on his most amiable expression. It doesn't clear the watchfulness in his eyes, but at least he's trying. "Sounds like a tough job," he says commiseratingly. But his gaze is mostly following Tamara, as if she werea puzzle he were desperately trying to solve.
Good luck on that one, Felix. The thought crosses Colette's mind as she watches the look he gives the girl, though it's Ygraine's distractions that seem to catch her attention the most. Had Tamara woven the Brit into that same tight and strange net as well, the way she was reacting seemed to indicate so. Her eyes linger between the two for a moment, something guarded, and something very intent, as if searching for meaning in words unsaid. She. however, finds little more than a headache.
"Hey, lemmie go get my stuff from out back and we can swing back to the apartment?" Her eyes flit over to Tamara for a moment, even if she's addressing Felix. Without really waiting for him to give her an answer, she begins making her way to the area behind the steam tables, talking to a handful of the much older volunteers as she wrangles up her hooded sweatshirt, bag, and then heads into the stock room for something.
The smile given to Ygraine broadens slightly, and the girl bobs her head. "Good. You should be. Even in the forest, there was plenty to like." Apparently that was the answer she wanted to hear. Tamara watches Colette retreat to the back of the room, then shifts her regard to Felix. Her head cants to one side as she watches him in return. After a bit, she looks between the two adults. "Awfully quiet. But they're your shadows."
Ygraine blinks in surprise at Tamara, and clearly wants to ask more - but the strange girl has already turned her fractured attention elsewhere so she closes her mouth again… only to open it in response to Tamara's last comment. "Who are our shadows, Tamara?"
Felix merely lowers his head, eyeing Tamara over the tops of his glasses and from under his brows. It inadvertantly gives him the air of a teacher about to lecture a student, but he says nothing to her directly. Colette gets a murmur of agreement - but he's in no apparent hurry to bustle her on home.
When Colette slips out of the storage room, she's in mid-conversation, talking over her shoulder to someone out of sight, "…don't know, maybe? I'll see if I end up making plans. I live all the way out in Queens though, so like…" Her lips purse and she pauses in place, holding what looks to be a brand new laptop against her chest. "I dunno, I'll poke you online or something, okay?" There's a reply hollared from the kitchen, but only Colette seems to hear it, "Alright — And no more harassing the homeless!" She exclaims to whoever it was she had her attention grabbed by.
From around the steam-tables, Colette watches Ygraine and Felix, head tipped to the side. She sets her laptop down on the table with her messenger bag, opening it and sliding the new hardware carefully within before pulling the straps closed and buckling the front shut. She then takes up her black hoodie, throwing it over her shoulders and zippering it up, though leaving the hood down. There's no commentary, right now she seems content enough to give a smirking and silent reply to Ygraine's question. She knows that the answer won't be something Ygraine can put into any meaningful answer.
Satisfied with her warmer attire, Colette grabs her bag and slings it around her shoulder, walking up behind Tamara, coming to stop at the older girl's side, "Try not to confuse her too much." She says softly, leaning over to rest her shoulder against Tamara, head tipping to the side to lightly knock against the older teen's head. "I think she's had a long day." There's teasing there, happy and amused, and her stillness seems to have been fleeting, meandering back towards Felix and Ygraine with a clearly playful attitude.
Tamara tips her head the other way, looking at Ygraine as though she asked the most obvious question in the world. "You were." Of course. Since Felix chooses not to say anything, Tamara just gives him a look in return. You could ask, you know. Not that the answer would likely clarify much — but he could. Finally, the girl turns to face the younger teen, huffing softly. She recognizes the teasing mood, and so doesn't say what she might have otherwise… though a shadow of what might be regret flickers across her expression when Colette's attention is elsewhere.
Ygraine watches Tamara intently, frowning a touch in response to her comment… then a look of understanding passes across her features, and she laughs softly, glancing away for a moment. "I… think I see what you mean, albeit through a mirror darkly", she murmurs to the young blonde. "The fractures get in my way… but perhaps you see through them…"
Felix flicks a brow up, but doesn't ask. Apparently he figures it's on a need to know business. He smiles a bit to himself, though Tamara's glance at Colette has him frowning to himself, a little ruefully, before finally commenting, "I've got shadows enough. That they're quiet is only a blessing, I suppose," he says, one hand snaking into his pocket to pull out his battered pewter cigarette case. Not that he'd smoke -in- the church, of course, but…
"Hey, Felix, you wanna do some civil disobedience next week?" It's not exactly the kind of question most people would ask a Federal Agent. Colette is not most people, though, "There's a huuuuge protest that's gonna happen on thursday down in the Financial District. Trent wants me to go with him, I'm thinkin' about it, but I figured maybe you wanna go? It sounds like it'll be cool, all like down with the man and stuff, except you can be the man!" She grins, teasingly, "And, I dunno, be ironic?" She's obviously been reading, at least some. Her vocabulary has been growing incrementally since she's been living with Judah and Felix respectively.
When Ygraine speaks in that cryptic way to Tamara, she immediately earns Colette's focus, stolen away from Felix entirely, and her eyes dart back to Tamara. She gapes, just a little, when the two seem to be having something of a conversation of words that don't quite make sense to her.
Eyeing Felix, Colette gives him a bear with me smile, and begins walking back to where Tamara stands, smiling hesitantly to her, only to look from Tamara's perspective to Ygraine, squinting slightly. "Are you two conspiring about me?" She asks quietly, a crooked, playful smile on her face. Ygraine notices, as does Felix, that Colette seems just a little more bubbly today than usual, and it all — perhaps unsprisingly — sprang up when Tamara made herself known. She hasn't been quite like this in a while.
"No," Tamara says softly, shaking her head. "But even the broken mirror holds pictures." The smile turns crooked, wry. "The pieces get hard to find, but there's enough. Mostly." Her attention redirects to Felix, and the teen shrugs. "Sometimes, yes. Depends on the quiet." To Colette, Tamara simply smiles. She doesn't say anything about her attendance at the protest, which could either be a good or neutral sign. She tucks her hands loosely into her pockets and looks down at the floor, idly toeing the stones. Starting to fidget.
Ygraine shoots Tamara a deeply sympathetic look, worriedly biting her lower lip. "I… hope that you manage to keep hold of enough of the pieces, and can fit them into a frame", she ventures, tone concerned. "If… should you want to get hold of me…."
Well, not lighting up will have to do. Because Fel delicately plucks one of those black cigarettes from the case, and slips the case back into his pocket. He lets the cigarette dangle from the corner of his mouth. "Way back when I was first a cop," he says, reminiscently, "I used to wear a Rage Against the Machine t-shirt. I once ran into a guy I used to have to keep arresting on a day when I was off-duty. He looked at the shirt, and said, 'Man, do you not realize you -are- the Machine?' Are you talking in the evening, or during the day?" He fishes another scrap of cloth out of his coat pocket, removes his glasses, and polishes them, though the lenses are already pretty flawless, really. "And what's the protest about?" He subtly motions them towards the way out.
"Night, same time as uh… something, I think the Debates? It's protest against the whole Linderman act thing, and support for… uhh…" She glances to the stockroom, anxiously, she seems to not be the most informed on the topic. "The, uh, good guy in the election." Noticing the fidgeting, Colette takes the opportunity to have her ignorance of relevent issues no longer on display. The sight causes her to make a soft sound in the back of her throat, mis-matched eyes flitting back over to Ygraine for a moment. "So, I guess you already know my guardian angel then." She says this with a very proud tone of voice, one arm sneaking around Tamara's shoulders, again, just sort've pulling the girl close, although it's a bit awkward. She glances up at Felix, the look in her eyes difficult to read. It's not directly about what he said, so much as what he's implied before, and there's a very simple, if not somewhat masked look of nervousness, as if admitting something to Felix that goes well unsaid. In that moment, the arm slips away from Tamara's shoulders reluctantly.
She turns, looking back to the older girl, she was about to say something, but Ygraine's words give her pause, eyes drifting back to the Brit with an intent look, as if searching for something. In these few moments, there's a more serious look mixed with the odd dichotomy of Colette's stare, something protective, if not perhaps somewhat nervous.
"It wasn't very hard," Tamara informs Ygraine with a smile. It amounts to a promise to talk with her again at some later date. She leans into Colette for a moment, and when the arm falls away, the precog smiles at her. "Don't make him impatient. There's other days." Taking the younger teen's hand, Tamara gives Ygraine a parting smile, then helps Felix with the task of getting Colette out the door.
 October 25th: One Person at a Time |
 October 25th: Latin Lesson |