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Summary: Two people who probably should never have met do so again. Echo insults Fiona's friends and Fiona politely ignores the whole attempted robbery thing.
Date: March 30, 2012
Log Title: Sound Advice
Rating: PG
NYC - 34th Street
34th Street stretches from East to West across Manhattan and leads into the Lincoln Tunnel, which brings you towards New Jersey. 34th Street is a major shopping street and is home to Macy's, Pennsylvania Station, Madison Square Garden, and the Empire State Building.
Winter is slowly and grudgingly being shaken off, the weather warming and the sun peering shyly from behind sporadic cloud cover. The intersection of W 34th St and 5th Avenue is busy this Friday afternoon, pedestrians choking the sidewalks and crosswalks alike under the shadow of the Empire State Building, everything a blur of noise and constant motion. Walking with the flowing tide of humanity, a black-attired woman with shoulder length brown hair and steel blue eyes goes unnoticed as she matches the pace of the people around her. Shoppers and tourists provide an ever-changing screen of anonymity, the perfect place to hide in plain sight.
And of course, Fiona is out and about as well! She doesn't really blend in anywhere near as much as Echo, however. In fact, she's quite visible, threading her way through the rather slow moving crowd. Places to be, people to see, things to eat! Yes! She can move a lot faster on account of not really needing to carry any bags. She moves just past Echo like a shark, not noticing her as she makes a beeline towards a small coffee stand. She's addicted to that stuff!
There are a few people already in line at the small mobile coffee stand. Hot dog-based carts just haven't been doing the same brisk business they used to, but coffee is always a commodity in demand. The din of cars and crowd and people talking self-importantly on their phones makes for an easy approach and a woman in black steps up behind Fiona in line. "Your friend is not very smart," she says casually to the back of Fiona's head, as if continuing a friendly conversation they were just having. "Not very good looking, either."
Apparently, Fiona thinks that Echo must be talking to someone else, as she casually turns around to see the argument going on - and then she finds herself face to face with the robot woman from the other night, backing up slightly and bumping into the cart. "You," she blinks, as if astonished to find the woman there, "Why're you here? I mean. Tabitha's fine! What would you even know-" she cuts herself off. "Why am I arguing with you anyway? What do you want?"
"It's a free country," Echo replies coolly, like it's all the explanation she needs. Without the black fatigue cap and with her hands casually in her jacket pockets, she looks alarmingly at ease for someone who threw a grown man through the window of his own truck just the other night. The woman's head lifts slightly to indicate something behind Fiona, though her eyes don't leave the girl. "He's waiting for you to order. You shouldn't hold up the line."
"Yeah… yeah I suppose it is," Fiona turns towards the cart, ordering a cold frappichino, then turns back towards Echo after stepping out of the way, "It is a free country. But that doesn't mean you have to go around insulting my friends. Or, saying it to me…" she trails off, looking annoyed and slightly scared. Tabitha had powers - she could have easily fought the android but… Fiona /doesn't/ really. If it were to come to that.
The woman in black orders a bottled water and pays the outrageous price for it from a small roll of ones. "I thought you should know. That kind of behavior is going to get her killed." Stepping aside for the next customer, she twists off the plastic cap and pauses, eyes on Fiona. "You're not like that, are you?"
Fiona shrugs, "I am what I am. I don't go around attacking people… or anything like that," she eyes Echo cautiously, sipping on her drink. "Not lately anyway. But acting like that, you're /gonna/ make people afraid of you, and they're gonna react like she did. Then again…" she takes another sip, "Let he who has not sinned cast the first stone, eh?"
"Are they?" quietly asks the woman rhetorically, taking a swig of her bottled water. Standing casually on the sidewalk, out of the flow of traffic, she doesn't look like she's going anywhere. Her free hand slips into the pocket of her coat. "Why would you want to throw rocks? And who would you throw them at?"
"I wouldn't… all I'm saying is, I used to be a bit like Tabitha in the past. I've been taught better self control since then. For the most part," Fiona nods; not having superpowers to throw at people really does help with the whole self control of superpowers thing! "The saying just means, don't criticize people for stuff you've done yourself, I guess. That's all."
"Mmm," the woman seems to agree, looking up to the Empire State Building looming far overhead. "Then maybe she could learn from your example. I don't hold it against you that you tried to call for help." Slowly, her gaze lowers back to street level. "It was the smart thing to do, Fiona."
Fiona shrugs, "…" she opens her mouth and then realizes that the woman knows her name. It must've been because they were shouting at each other… Reeeaal smart there… "Yeah I 'spose…" she trails off, watching Echo intently. "So I guess you know my name at least… What's yours?" she asks hopefully - not really expecting anything. "Perhaps we all just got off on the wrong foot?"
Steel blue eyes fix on Fiona's violet ones, holding there for a few seconds in silence. Long enough for the woman to blink a few times and for the moment to stretch awkwardly. "Six," the woman says, breaking eye contact to drink from her water bottle again.
Fiona just blinks awkwardly. "Six?" she asks, looking pretty confused about that. "T-that's your name?" she asks, just to be sure. "That's a really odd name. Are you really a cyborg, like Tabitha said?" she ponders. "You don't really /look/ like a robot."
"It's what my friends call me," the woman in black offers with a slight apologetic shrug. "Or Echo, if you prefer that instead. I'm used to both." She screws the cap back onto her water and stashes it into an inner pocket of her jacket. "But no, your friend was wrong. I'm not a cyborg."
"Oh… well, I like Echo better! I don't think anybody should have to be called by a number. Numbers aren't really a name," Fiona laughs, "Oh yeah? Then… what? 'cause with those moves you sure aren't gonna tell me that you're a regular old human."
"Well," Echo says with a frown and shows the first visible sign of awkwardness by rubbing at the back of her neck and not meeting the girl's eyes. "It's complicated. I am what I am," she concludes, repeating Fiona's own words.
"Well, I guess that works out for both of us then," Fiona nods, "But hey, at least you didn't throw me through a window! That's a good start. A better start…" Slurp! The last of the coffee is downed.
"There was no reason to," Echo says without a hint of irony. She sidesteps a little to make way for a jaywalker to cross in the middle of the street, folding her arms under her breasts. "You weren't a threat."
"So, those guys jumped you, and that's why you stole their stuff in the first place?" Fiona murmurs, "'cause Tabs, er, we thought you were trying to shake us down for cash. Which neither of us have much of anyway! So, that woulda been sorta silly."
"They had more money than they needed," Echo says, nodding and not actually answering the question. "And I had less than I needed. It would have worked out beautifully if I'd gotten both of them. I can't afford to stay where I am for very much longer." The woman in black spreads her hands and shakes her head.
"Hmm…" Fiona trails off, staring down into the bottom of her cup. She's not entirely sure what to say about that - it sounds like the other woman has hit some rough times, but then again, she herself is going through some of those too! Not to mention Donna being incredibly unhappy about that. "Well that sucks," she says finally, shaking her head.
Echo nods and draws her coat her coat closed as a police car rolls slowly to a stop at a red light. "Yes, it does. Seventy-five dollars a night for that shithole isn't a good long-term plan." The traffic light changes to green and the blue and white NYPD car rolls away eastward. Reaching behind herself to the waistband of her pants, Echo draws out the black fatigue cap she was wearing when Fiona and Tabitha first met her. "I should be going. Be smart, Fiona. Don't try to take on anything you can't handle." Pulling on the hat, she touches the brim with thumb and forefinger, favoring the girl with a slight smile.
Fiona smirks a little as she watches Echo walk off - noticing the cop car a second later. She herself doesn't wanna hang around the car too much - though she looks enough like a lot of other people, and figures the priority for finding her to be relatively low… Yeah, she won't get caught. "Take it easy, Echo… I'll talk to Tabs," she gives the other a small wave, waggling her fingers a bit as she walks off.
