Logs:Wherever you go, I won't be far to follow
| Wherever you go, I won't be far to follow | |
|---|---|
| Dramatis Personae | 2020-10-28 Don’t walk up here and tell me how news is impacting her. I’ve been here. I know." |
| Location
'<NYC> Kitty's Apartment - Inwood' | |
This two bedroom flat in Inwood has seen better days, but the current occupants have worked gamely to make the space cozy. The window in the living area looks out onto an alley, but the sill is spruced up with rock lamps and succulents. There is a dusty television pressed up against one blue-painted wall, opposite a faux-leather couch covered in throw blankets. The walls are covered in posters - bands, mostly, leading toward Anya's room, and astronomy event toward Kitty's. The kitchen is clean and barebones - some dishes are always in the drying rack, and a fruit basket is generally full of apples and bananas. It is an hour to noon, an as usual — Tabitha is nowhere to be seen. The remnants of her existence can be seen by a tornado of clothes and makeup trailing from her room to the door, but otherwise, she could be considered a vampire. There was a knock on the door — one two, one two. “Hello?” An unfamiliar voice calls out. “Katherine Pryde?” When the knock comes, Kitty had just laid down on the couch, groaning with relief after an early morning patrol. It startles her - a bowl clatters to the floor as she knocks it off the coffee table. When the door finally opens, Kitty is there, hair loose, curls sagging, flannel pajama pants and Disneyworld t-shirt, bare feet. The chain on the door stays put, and Kitty talks through the opening. "Can I help you?" Sylvia straightens her posture as she hears the door open. She stands at around 5’9”, with a lean muscular build. She has a deep brown complexion with blue undertones that are complimented by the large blue-and-black monarch butterfly wings folded flat behind her. Her eyes are strikingly blue and seemingly sparkle in the light. Her black hair is styled into long, intricate braids with some pulled back to keep them out of her face. Currently, she is wearing a white pea coat that was buttoned, black jeans and brown boots that went to her knees. “Hi,” her lips curl into a polite smile, “I’m looking for Tabitha Smith. I heard she was staying here for the time being. My name is Sylvia Okorie, I’m her partner.” Her voice is equally polite, although — calculated. Kitty has sleep in her eyes until she hears the word ‘Sylvia’. Suddenly she is alert, eyes wide, lips pressed together in a thin line. She tilts her head up to look at the woman better, lets the silence hang in the air. “She’s not here.” Sylvia takes a step forward, brows furrowing in worry. “I know that you are trying to protect her, but what she has told you is wrong.” A beat. “Tabitha is not well, I’m sure you’ve noticed. I-I don’t know what lies she’s told you about me but I promise if you let me explain myself, you will understand my position and how much Tabitha needs help.” “You can make your pitch from the hall, thanks.” Kitty moves the door, not quite closed but shrinking the gap available. “She’s a grown woman capable of making her own decisions.” Sylvia lets out a breath. “I’m not trying to patronize her, not at all. But... she has Borderline Personality Disorder, if you do not already know. While she was in California — when I met her, she was... destructive, towards herself. Drugs, sex, self-harming behavior. I helped her out of that. She was on medication, going to therapy, and doing very well for herself.” A soft smile, but it fades. “She... began to stop taking her medication, I-I didn’t know this, but I began to notice a return of her erratic behavior. I didn’t intervene until it was too late. She had convinced herself everyone was against her, working against her. This — this delusion that I was working with a hate group, that we were all apart of some large conspiracy against her. I tried to confront her,” she unbuttons her pea coat and slides off the left sleeve, revealing her light blue t-shirt. But, more shockingly, an array of deep scars. “She used one of her bombs to throw me into a table. It broke and the wood splintered into my skin.” She puts her sleeve back on. “I know you care about her, and I do too, but she’s dangerous to her and herself. Especially if she is off her medication and trying to self-medicate.” A careful pause. “And with the news of Flicker... she is even more unstable.” On the other side of the door, out of Sylvia’s line of sight, Kitty has raised her phone up sometime after “Borderline Personality Disorder” and started recording the conversation. The hard resolve in her face wavers a few times, especially faces with the scars on the other woman’s arm. It’s the mention of “Flicker” that shocks her back into distrust. “The hell you know about Flicker and Tabitha?” The gap gets smaller. “Don’t walk up here and tell me how news is impacting her. I’ve been here. I know. The whole city is unstable.” A beat. “If you’re worried about her meds, forward the prescription out here.” “I am her partner. She has told me about you, about Flicker, the X-Men—“ She chokes up, tears beginning to form in her eyes. “I’m not trying to, to rally you against her, or try to — to make her a villain. But I know her. She’s — she’s my other half. I know she’s probably out there right now, hurt, scared, and continuing her self-destructive tendencies. And I just want to help her. But right now, she’s thoroughly convinced that I’m the villain in her story, so no matter what I try to say to her, she won’t listen. I was hoping that you would be able to talk to her, tell her that I love her and that I’m ready to help, we all are — all of us back home.” The tears are convincing- Kitty falters a little bit. “I can pass on the message, I guess.” A beat. “You in town for a while? Where are you staying?” “I’m staying with a friend, I’ll be here as long as I need to be.” She clears her throat and wipes her eyes. “Thank you very much for listening. That’s all I can ask of you.” With a small nod, she turns around. Wings flutter behind her as she walks away from the apartment. The door shuts behind Sylvia. Kitty takes a moment to redo all the locks before hitting STOP/SAVE on the recording. “Jesus,” she mutters, clearly rattled. Still standing barefoot in the doorway, she stares at the door before returning to the couch, tapping out an email. from: Katherine Pryde <kpryde@xaviers.edu> to: <xmen@xaviers.edu> date: Oct 28, 2020, 11:12 AM subject: heads up There is a Sylvia Okorie in the city right now. Tall woman with a butterfly wing situation going on. Tabitha thinks she's part of a west coast anti-mutant hate group. She found my apartment and knew Tabitha was there, despite having no contact with Tabitha. She knows about X-Men membership at least current to when Tabitha left the team. I got a weird bad feeling about her. Please be on the lookout for her at protests and actions. -Kitty | |
