Players:
Summary: Tara goes to get Ice Cream. Fiona helps.
Date: April 3, 2012
Log Title: Ice Cream in the Dark
Rating: PG
Westchester - Cold Stone Creamery
Coldstone Creamery is always chilly inside, even in the winter months, to accommodate for the variety of ice creams they offer. A big sign with all there ice cream specials sit on the wall, and all the different ice creams and toping can be seen in the counter windows. This Coldstone is unlike the rest with its red color scheme. A few tables sit inside the Creamery for customers to sit and enjoy their cold treats.
It seems all too often that Fiona finds herself up in Westchester - for whatever reason. Maybe she came up here to see Jules - though he doesn't appear to be around. It's late afternoon, so he SHOULD be out of class… regardless though, she does seem pretty happy. Which is an odd contrast with her deary obviously goth clothing, as she sits at a table outside, nibbling away at a concrete filled with little bits of what are probably M&Ms.
You know who else is here? That's right. It's Tara. She comes tapping along the sidewalk, making a beeline for the most scrumptious icecream of the world. She's dressed comfortably with tight fitting jeans, a loose sky blue blouse with a picture of some sort of anime on it, and a bright pink hoodie that's obviously designed to blind anybody that would look upon it. Judging from the cane that she's swinging back and forth as she walks, and the purple sunglasses that she's wearing, she's probably immune to her own clothing choices. She pauses as she reaches the tables, and tilts her head. "This is the Cold Stone, right?"
Fiona stares at the girl for a moment, mouth hanging open slightly with some ice cream melting on the spoon. "Er. Yea, it is," the sorceress just kind of grins. At least she doesn't care. Right? "Door's… over there," she points with her thumb, out of habit, before realizing the obvious and adding, "Just behind this table."
"Yes!" the girl says. "Tara wins again!" There's a sudden change in the ambient air pressure as the girl turns on her strange fifth sense, and manoeuvres her way around the table. "Thanks!"
Fiona almost drops her ice cream when the pressure changes, "Wha?" she asks, startled. She's really not sure how to respond. "Wait - do you need help?" she calls after the other girl; though it's partially rhetorical. Something tells her that 'Tara' probably does not need help - she got here by herself, after all.
"Sure," Tara says. "I'm going to need somebody to read the menu to me. They have way too many choices for me to memorize. C'mon." she says, and enters the store itself, not waiting to see if Fiona is following her. "Ice cream won't eat itself, you know."
Fiona follows after Tara curiously, nibbling on her ice cream as steps into the shop, standing beside the other girl. "You know… there are a LOT of choices on there… are you sure you want someone to read them ALL to you? I mean, if you came here, you must have /some/ idea what you want, right?"
Tara just shakes her head. "Well, yeah. But if I get the same thing every time, then how will I know if they've gotten something new," she asks, as if that's a very obvious question. "Unless you're saying that because I'm visually impaired I shouldn't have the same options as everybody else?"
Fiona and Tara are standing in front of the counter inside a Cold Stone Creamery… "Grah… You know what? This is ridiculous. You can get one of the cashiers to do it. They get paid! I'm not doing it." She folds her arms across her chest defiantly. And that's that!
Tara tries really hard to suppress a smirk as she says, "Well, you did volunteer, aaaand you do know that helping blind girls get ice cream gives you good karma." She rocks back and forth on her heels as she adds, "You do want good karma, don't you?"
"Well, yes, but-" Fiona sighs, looking up at the giant menu, and then down at Tara, "I thought maybe like, you needed the door opened or something when I said that. But you seemed to do that just fine, neh?"
"Doors are easy," explains Tara patiently. "I do have opposable thumbs after all." She gestures expansively at the signage (mostly to make sure she actually gestures at them), "But reading is hard when you don't got eyes that work."
Speaking of doors, the one leading into this particular establishment opens, and in meanders a fairly familiar rat girl. Familiar to Fiona as Tabitha Jones, and possibly familiar to Tara as one of the mind-controlled mutants that attacked Xaviers a couple of times last summer. Either way, Tabitha makes her way up to the counter, where she joins the lineup behind the other two girls, such as it is. "Hello, Fiona," she greets. "This a friend of yours?"
"Not exactly," Fiona says offhand, peering back up at the menu, and then back down at Tara. And then back up at the menu, and then back down at Tara. "Fine, you win," she tells the mutant, reading her off the choices, one by one. When she's finished, she turns back to Tabitha, "So what's up? I guess we're pretty far out of our neck of the woods, huh?"
Tara nods and listens patiently as Fiona rattles off the menu choices. Sure enough there's actually one or two things there that she didn't know was here before and adds them to her order. When done she takes the huge waffle cone filled with delicious ice creamy goodness and turns back to Fiona, a $5 Cold Stone gift card in hand. "Here," she says. "Your good karma. Even if I did have to guilt you into it." She shrugs at the rat-girl, "I wouldn't say we're too far out. After all, we're in a Coldstone and there's at least three Starbucks around here."
Tabitha ehs, and shrugs lightly. "I have wheels," she points out, "So I can go pretty much anywhere I'd like. …or if I copy a mutant with flight or, as now, a teleporter." She pauses, and giggles softly. "You'll note I didn't bring my car. Teleporting is a hell of a way to save gas." She pauses, and stuffs her hands on her pockets. "Sorry, don't mean to go spouting off. …And anyway, my neck of the woods is in Idaho. …You gonna order, Fiona? And introduce me to yer pal?"
Fiona holds up her ice cream that she already has in her hand, "I was just helping her order," she grins, peering at the gift card… "I… um… wha…" she replies, gingerly picking it out of Tara's hand. "You didn't have to do that," she blushes, then looks over at Tabitha, "This is um… Tara. We just met a few minutes ago," she offers. "Don't get too comfortable with my boyfriend's powers! He's mine, you know," she jokes, poking the rat girl softly in the side.
Tara gives Fiona a shrug. "And you didn't have to help," she replies. "But you did. You'd be surprised at how many people would just ignore me and hope I'd go away." She, then, waves at Tabitha's general direction. "Howdy."
Tabitha bobs her head once. "Howdy back," she replies. "I'm Tabitha. Tabitha Jones, or Patches. Or Tabs. …I'll respond to any of those." She reaches up and scratches the back of her head lightly. "And I wouldn't turn my back on you, if you needed help. That would be so uncool." The rat girl purses her lips, and shakes her head before turning to Fiona. "You don't have to worry," she replies, managing to smile again. "I have a girlfriend, remember? Boys are safe from me." She pauses. "Unless one is being a dork. Then I get to kick him in the nuts."
"Well, you can kick him in the nuts /after/ he's a jerk," Fiona grins a little, pausing and looking at Tabitha for a moment thoughtfully. She opens her mouth as if to say something, and then stops, "Aaanyway."
"Anyway," echoes Tara, taking a lick of the ice cream. "Thanks for your help. Now to walk back to the bus stop." With that the perky young blonde mutant leaves the establishment.
Tabitha pauses, watching the other mutant go. "You know," she observes, turning back to Fiona, "I could've teleported her to the… uhm… oops." The rat girl pauses, before holding out her hand. She pauses, then pulls her phone out of a pocket, and tosses it up in the air; it stops at the apex of the toss, and just… hovers there. "It's been a long time since I've copied someone by accident," she grumbles, "My self-control is supposed to be better. …At least I didn't suddenly collapse in agony before sprouting wings while my bones hollowed out, though." The phone slowly floats back down to her hand, and she slips it away again. "Anyway, yeah, so there is that. …I suppose I ought to order, rather than standing here like a dweeb."
"Hehe. Dweeb. Nobody says that anymore, neh?" Fiona smiles, leaning on the counter as she eats her chocolate & M&M concrete while they dish up whatever Tabitha chooses to eventually order. "So, telekinetic huh? Crazy the number of mutants just wandering around everywhere…"
"Yes. Dweeb. …I am from hick-ville, y'know," Tabitha replies in a teasing tone of voice. She turns, and orders up a waffle cone with three scoops of ice-cream; double chocolate, cherry, and white chocolate, in that order. Also chocolate sprinkles on top, and chocolate syrup. Mmm. "Actually, what's really crazy," Tabitha adds, turning to face Fiona once more, "Is that I'm actually copying two mutants at once, now.""
"Wha?" Fiona appears kinda confused. "Yeah, hickville…" she responds, also, shivering a little. "I can't imagine what /that/ musta been like… I stopped in a couple small towns along the way but… I don't know that I could have LIVED there…"
Tabitha smirks, "Okay, not really hickville," she replies. "But my Dad lived there, so in my mind, it's a dump. Even though I lived there too." She takes her cone, and starts towards a table. "Wanna sit, for a bit? Or go outside?"
"We can sit," Fiona gestures at a table, where she slides onto a chair and crosses her legs, "What did you mean, copying two mutants? Did you mean… the whole rat thing?" she wonders.
Tabitha hunhs? She shakes her head slowly, as she takes a seat. "No, the rat thing is permanent," she replies. "I'm currently copying your boyfriend Jules, and that girl Tara, at the same time. Cool, hunh?" She flicks her tongue out, lapping a bunch of sprinkles and some syrup off the top of her ice cream.
"Nn… Wha? How? I didn't know you could do that. Isn't that, I dunno, hard? Are you sure that's safe?" Fiona looks worried. But then she knows next to nothing about mutant powers nor specifically Tabitha's for the most part…
Tabitha humms softly. "Well, I don't know. I feel fine." She licks a generous dollop off the top of her ice cream. "Actually, I feel badass. Like I haven't felt since the summer, when Upgrade was messing with me." She pauses, and bites her bottom lip. "Don't worry, I'm not about to lose my marbles and go on a rampage. …Oh, and, other thing?" The corners of her lips quirk upwards. "I'm not gonna jump your bones, you don't have to worry."
"I… wasn't worried about that!" Fiona laughs, almost snorting up ice cream, "I just…" her face flushes red for a moment, "Wondered if you thought I was attractive or not. That's all… I guess that's a little vain… but it's not the kind of question you can get an honest answer out of just anybody from!" she digs around in the the ice cream cup some more, coming up with M&M fragments, which she eats. Delicious distraction.
Tabitha pauses, and peers over the top of her ice cream cone. She eyes Fiona up for a long moment, before leaning back in her seat. "I'm no fashion expert," she replies, "And I try not to drool over my friends. But, you have a good figure, Fiona; and your eyes are just awesome. If you wanted to be really drop-dead gorgeous, though? You need new threads. You could get bras that would give you better support than I think you're getting, there are shirts and pants that would fit you better, and you're not in boot camp; army boots aren't necessary." Her tone of voice is quite cheerful and friendly while she tells Fiona what's wrong with her wardrobe. "You need to find a style tha tworks for you… like, goth, or chique, or something. And yes, I know it's hard."
"Really? But… I like my boots…" Fiona wiggles her toes, "Do you think… maybe we could go shopping sometime? I don't usually go shopping with other people. Maybe my mom. But nobody I can really trust. I mean my mom is /old/ and all, and well, I can't even talk to her anyway. Oh well, there's Stormwaltzer also, but I get the impression she doesn't care about that sorta thing…" she bites her lip.
"Hunh? Shopping?" Tabitha's ears perk up, and she nods her head. "Sure, we could go shopping together, no problem. Just don't feel compelled that you *have* to take my advice; you don't. I'm just saying what I think." Tabitha proceeds to demolish half of her upper scoop of ice cream, but almost a minute later, she adds "By the way? Purple eyes? Completely awesome, like I said. Get clothes that work with that and you'll be smokin'."
"Well, I mean, they're… part of my whole… curse thing…" Fiona smiles faintly, blushing pretty madly at this point. Does she like it? She likes it. What is it though? "Yeah but… It's easier… that way. I guess. I guess I never really hugely thought about looking good before but… Sometimes I get the impression… I dunno. You know, Jules. I love him. But lately I've been getting the vibe that maybe he's not really interested that much. Or I'm boring. Or /something./"
Tabitha snorts, an rolls her eyes. "You're not boring, Fiona. Maybe a bit low on self-confidence, and I can totally understand that." The rat girl pauses, and points towards herself. "At least all that changed was your eyes — I wasn't born a rat chick, y'know. And just because it's a mark of your curse, which I won't pretend to understand… doesn't mean you can't use it to look good."
"Well it's not that difficult to understand, really. Just imagine a really annoying, powerful voice in your head that doesn't tend to shut up. Like, you have a conscience, right? It's like having an evil one of those in addition to a good one," Fiona smiles a little, "Only it's actually a demon, instead of that. It's pretty annoying. But, with D- er, Stormwaltzer's help, it's just that, an annoyance. She's taught me how to control it, to a degree, and with more physical confidence I can control it more… that's what it's all about. Confidence and not fearing."
Tabitha hunhs softly. "Well, I don't envy you that," Tabitha replies. "That sounds like a tough thing to have to deal with, Fiona. I'm willing to bet most people can't hack it; you must be plenty tough already if you're beating it." She leans back, and by now is on to the second scoop of her ice cream. "You know what would build physical confidence for you? …Well, getting cute clothes and turning yourself into a hottie would help, but… take up Kung Fu or something. Learn how to handle yourself, you'll get confident."
Tabitha hunhs softly. "Well, I don't envy you that," Tabitha replies. "That sounds like a tough thing to have to deal with, Fiona. I'm willing to bet most people can't hack it; you must be plenty tough already if you're beating it." She leans back, and by now is on to the second scoop of her ice cream. "You know what would build physical confidence for you? …Well, getting cute clothes and turning yourself into a hottie would help, but… take up Kung Fu or something. Learn how to handle yourself, you'll get confident."
"Right! Yeah. She's already teaching me a form of Judo… but… pressure points and whatnot," Fiona nods, "It wasn't just about dressing myself up or anything. That was just… aside. Something I was thinking about. I guess physical appearance does help with confidence, but it's not social situations where I usually lose my grip…"
"I think confidence is a pretty complex issue," Tabitha replies. "After I first got turned into a rat I was a wreck. I couldn't even bear to look in a mirror, so I smashed every one of 'em in the house. It's taken me a long time to get to feel good about myself." She slurps noisily on her ice cream, and humms softly. "I've been meaning to learn something like that, actually. …I could try to teach you some Kung Fu, but you'd be better with a proper teacher." She humms softly, and bites her bottom lip. "You know, Fiona, you've no reason not to be confident about yourself."
"I know! But. Well not visually. But it's hard. I can make this voice in my head go away if it gets too bad, but only for a little while. It's a meditation technique, but you can't be meditated all the time. You know when my teacher did that spell on you? She was doing it then." Fiona begins licking the bottom of her cup, to get the ice cream out. She looks silly. "
