Players:
Summary: Tabitha, Fiona, and Rashmi get some introductions in.
Log Title: We Are All Funny Looking Here
Rating: PG
NYC - Mutant Town
Mutant Town, also known as District X, has become a haven for mutants. This section of town doesn't care what you look like, accepting all mutants no matter what their appearance. Most of the businesses in this section of town are mutant run ranging from small convenience stores to clothing shops to restaurants to night clubs. The buildings here aren't the high rise buildings you might find in mid-town but most are about 5-6 stories high. Mutant Town might not be the most luxurious section of town, in fact it's fairly run down, but this section of where mutants are safe and welcomed regardless of race, religion and culture.
Scene
The high-pitched whine of a motorcyle engine heralds Tabitha's approach down the street. The rat girl, clad in riding leathers but lacking a helmet, weaves in and out of traffic and earns the occasional honk from an irritated driver, until at last she pulls into a parking spot and draws up to a tire-scraping halt. A few coins are fed into the meter, and she stands there beside her bike, brushing her hands through her hair as she stretches.
Stepping out of the Embassy, a young red-headed woman in white-collar business clothing pauses to adjust the strap of what looks to be a rather heavily-filled messenger bag. Pausing to smile and nod to one of the security people, she descends the steps of the building in what seems to be quite a good mood, the smile on her dusky face bright and cheerful.
After taking the time to lock up her bike so it can't easily be stolen — not by normal people, anyway — Tabitha stretches once more, and hops up onto the sidewalk. She glances over her shoulder, and looks around at the people walking past in either direction; and then, quietly, she slinks her way up against the buildings as if hoping the walls might protect her. She walks towards the Genoshan Embassy, with her hands shoved firmly in her pockets and her shoulders hunched over, apparently losing a measure of confidence now that she's off her bike and on foot.
Rashmi pauses, exchanging words with a lizard-scaled sandwich cart owner, and nodding in thanks as she purchases herself a banh mi. Picking at the saran-wrap covering, she ambles through the crowds down the sidewalk, charcoal-grey skirt swishing over her ankles as she heads toward the nearby park.
As chance would have it, Tabitha is also walking towards the park entrance; albeit from the opposite direction. As she nears the entrance, something catches her attention behind her. Her ears perk up, and she looks over her shoulder as she cranes her neck to see what's going on. Unfortunately, her feet continue forwards, even though she doesn't happen to be watching which way she's going.
And the inevitable takes place; with a few inches and a good few pounds in Tabitha's favor, Rashmi is the one to fall onto her rear with a sharp, startled cry, the unwrapped sandwich tumbling from her hands. Pausing for a moment to make sure she's still intact, she starts to pick herself back up, reaching out for her light dinner. "…Um. Sorry, I wasn't watching where I was going… You okay?"
A sharp gasp comes from the rat girl, as she turns her head just in time to see herself collide with Rashmi. She staggers back a step, holding her hands up in front of herself protectively. "…Oh! I'm sorry, that was stupid of me, I wasn't watching where I was going either." She pauses for a moment, the wheels visibly turning. At last, she holds her hand gingerly out. "Let me help you up? If… like… you want," she trails off in a mumble.
Rashmi chuckles, rising her free hand to grip Tabitha's without the slightest bit of hestiation. "Thanks… I guess you're new to the City, then? Only most people who live in Mutant Town for very long wind up distracted by the sights…" Leaning down to brush off her skirt, she rises, looking around a moment. "…Though honestly, there's a *lot* to distract you if you haven't seen it much before… oh! Um, sorry. I'm Rashmi, by the way. Rashmi Franklin."
Tabitha gives a light tug to help Rashmi to her feet, before thrusting her hand back down into her pocket. "Uhm… Patches," she replies. "Or Tabitha Jones," she mumbles. "Whichever you prefer, I guess. I'll respond to either." She tilts her head to look around again, before returning her gaze to the young woman in front of her. "Pretty new to New York, yeah. Only been here a couple weeks, haven't come down this stretch before at all. I'm not getting quite as many funny looks as I usually do, which is pretty nice."
Rashmi bobs her head. "It is… I didn't actually spend a whole lot of time around here growing up… but, y'know, then I found out I *was* a mutant. …So now I do volunteer work around here Saturdays.
Rashmi bobs her head. "It is… I didn't actually spend a whole lot of time around here growing up… but, y'know, then I found out I *was* a mutant. …So now I do volunteer work around here Saturdays." Tilting her head, she smiles, nodding to the rat-girl. "Good to meet you, Tabitha. Where'd you come from?"
Tabitha nods her head slowly. "Idaho," she replies, albeit in a guarded tone of voice. "It's… good to meet you, too, Rashmi. Sorry if I seem kinda nervous." She glances over her shoulder, before looking forwards once more. "There are a lot of mutants here," she observes. "Well, more than anywhere else I've ever been to before. I haven't been counting, but it's like… I dunno…" She shrugs, and pulls her hands out of her pockets to hold them up in the air and drop them back down against her hips. "A bunch," she says at last. "Why do they… uh… we all come here, in particular?"
Rashmi lifts a shoulder. "It's an old city, honestly… You get a lot of neighborhoods like this. Jamaica Queens, Harlem, Little Italy, Chinatown… Folks just sort of have a habit of clumping up together, y'know? …But, well, being mutants makes it a little extra necessary. Sometimes it's reasonable, sometimes… not so much." Her face softens as her mind rewinds to the misplaced pronoun. "…I guess you're pretty new to the whole being a mutant thing?"
Tabitha pauses, and then nods her head just enough to indicate that Rashmi is correct. "Am I that obvious?" she asks. "I didn't always look like this. I used to be perfectly normal. …It's a long story, though." She shifts her weight to one leg and rests a hand on her hip. "I guess I'll get used to it eventually though." She glances to her side, and peers into the park briefly. "I think I like this part of town better. The drive over here from Idaho wasn't a lot of fun, to be honest. It's a good thing you didn't meet me a couple of days ago, I was feeling pretty bitter, but I've met some people here who've been really awesome."
Rashmi nods slowly. "Yeah… it was pretty hard on me my first few months, too. It's good to have a decent support network. And New York is a pretty great place to live, I hope you like it here."
Tabitha manages to smile, and thrusts her hands back into her pockets. "Well, nobody's stuffed a shotgun into my face for trying to buy a bag of chips so far, so it's a vast imprrovement over Wyoming." She shakes her head slowly. "Oh well, whatever, that guy was a dork-cheese anyway. …Do you go to school around here, at all? Someone's trying to help me get into a good school, so I don't… uhm… end up falling in with the wrong crowd."
Rashmi chuckles. "I graduated, actually," she says, smiling. "I go to law school now. I *used* to go to a place up in Westchester, it's a really great school. If you're looking for a place to go, that's probably where you'll be." Tilting her head, she raises her eyebrows at the rat-girl in front of her. "…Unless you're close to graduating? You could probably get your GED by correspondence, honestly, if you didn't want to go farther."
Tabitha uhms softly. "Well, I'm seventeen," she replies. "Though I sorta had to quit school in the middle of grade elven when… well… this happened." She gestures towards herself. "Funny thing, I don't think anyone in my home town actually knows what happened to me, I'm pretty sure they all think I'm dead. That's… kind of liberating, somehow." She gestures helplessly with her hands. "I guess we'll see what happens. Tony Stark has been helping me out, and I don't care what anyone says about his ego, he's been great."
Rashmi nods, smiling. "Yeah, Mr. Stark really is a great guy. I'm sort of surprised, though…. you really lucked out, to happen to run into him. Say hi for me next time you see him, will you?"
Fiona comes wandering down the street - she's not exactly a mutant, but she has always liked going to Mutant Town; it's full of tons of different people, so well… her own /slight/ differences don't really stand out at all. Well, except to Tabitha perhaps…
Tabitha's ears lay flat, and she coughs softly. "Yeah… uhh… really lucky I ran into him indeed. Considering I was breaking into one of his business assets at the time." She bows her head, and gazes down at a spot around about Rashmi's knees. "It's amazing the things you'll do when you're hungry and desperate. And I'm really lucky that Mr. Stark understands that." As she looks up, she glances at the passers-by; her eyes might rest briefly on Fiona, but she doesn't know her; at least not yet.
Rashmi nods slowly, sighing. "Yeah… I can really imagine," she says quietly. "Well… at least you don't have to worry about that so much, yet. … …Actually, if you need a job sometime? Maybe once you've got your school stuff done, go to the Embassy and apply? It's probably not the work you're used to, but I can *definitely* tell you Mr. Lensherr won't turn you away for being a mutant."
Despite all the stuff she's seen, Fiona can't help but glance at the humanoid rat girl - her appearance is quite striking, obviously. Maybe she looks for longer than what might be considered acceptable; some people might call this 'gawking' but the violet eyed teen hardly looks like your average douchebag tourist.
Tabitha ahehs, and shifts her feet sheepishly. "Uhh… yeah, well, about that. I've got about six hundred bucks left to my name, which is cool and all, but I'm going to have to spend it all on clothes. Unless I want to be wearing this day in day out, like I have been for… longer than I'd like to admit to. So yeah, a job would be pretty cool." She tilts her head to glance over to her side; and this time someone is watching. She gives Fiona the hairy eyeball for a moment. "Hey… did you want to take a picture?"
"We-e-ell," Rashmi says, chewing on the inside of her cheek, "I'm *pretty* sure you can shave a lot by going to secondhand places. I mean, that's pretty much what I did growing up, but yeah… that's not going to stretch *too* far. Well… hm. If you don't get a job right away, have him let me know? I'm pretty sure I could talk to some people, I just have to know—" The redhead trails off as Tabitha's attention wavers, following her gaze to the new teen and clearing her throat. "…Hi," she says lamely, raising a hand in Fiona's direction.
"Er, no, I just, um… Hi!" Fiona greets Rashmi brightly; she seems to be in a fairly good mood right now, despite just having gotten caught staring at someone. "You're um, a rat! That's cool!" she finally musters up some words to say in response to Tabitha, then mentally facepalms at herself for her idiotic remarks. Her eyes flash. "I mean, erm, uh…" Oh yeah, this is going just /awesome!/
Tabitha sighs, and thrusts her hands back down into her pockets. "Yeah, it's cool," she replies with a distinct lack of enthusiasm. "Sorry, Rashmi, I was listening. I still am listening, please, keep going. Second hand stuff is probably the best way to go. Mr. Stark is going to help me get into a school, I can't expect him to buy my pants, too. And I really don't think I want him to anyway." She lifts a hand to scratch the back of her head, behind one of her ears. "Anyway, I'm not a rat, I'm a mutant, I just… look like a rat. Sorta. At least you didn't call me a mouse."
"Probably a good idea," Rashmi says to Tabitha, drawing in a deep breath. "So!" she says to Fiona, holding out a hand. "I'm Rashmi, this is Tabitha. You don't come to Mutant Town much, I gather?"
Tabitha glances back and forth between Rashmi and Fiona, and the strange looking mutant bites her bottom lip. She clamps her mouth shut and falls silent for the moment, as she shuffles her feet about a bit.
"Well, only every now and then…" Fiona grasps Rashmi's outstretched hand, shaking it. "I like it here, it's easy to blend in and not get noticed, erm, that is, unless I start saying stupid stuff to people!" she looks very apologetically at Tabitha.
Rashmi's lips twitch upward, the redhead scooting over to stand next to Tabitha. "…'Sorry' *usually* helps a lot, too," she notes, her voice amused. "Since a lot of mutants *really hate* being gawked at, y'know?"
Tabitha's eyebrows rise. "Yeah, funny that," she says in a dry tone. "I didn't like being gawked at when I was still an ordinary human, either… and my personality hasn't really change all that much, just my appearance." She pauses, and shifts her arms to cross over her chest. "Well, actually, I guess it has changed. I'm a lot more wary than I used to be… especially after that incident with the shotgun."
Fiona blinks, violet eyes flashing with purple energy again, "Sorry! Sorry! I'll, erm, I'll leave, I swear, I don't want any trouble." Her face is quite red by this point, and she's backing away slowly upon the mention of the shotgun. It didn't occur to her that people might be armed!
Rashmi pales slightly, lifting a finger. "…Um! She meant she had a shotgun pointed *at* her, um…" She winces internally, biting her bottom lip. "Well *this* is turning out really well, isn't it…"
Tabitha nods, "yeah, I had a shotgun pointed in my face at a convenience store in Wyoming. All I wanted was a bag of chips. Which I didn't get." She shrugs her shoulders dismissively. "At least I didn't get a buckshot shampoo either. Nor did I have to pay for hte gas, funny enough, I think he was just happy to see me leave. So whatever." She brushes her fingers through her hair lightly. "So… you're not a mutant," she observes, "But you've got some pretty unusual eyes, if you don't mind my saying. What's your story?"
"What is WITH everyone lately, are you all psychics or something?" Fiona says a little bit defensively - she usually likes to pass herself off as a mutant if anybody asks; but obviously that doesn't work out all that well. "Would you believe they're contacts? Porbably not…" she trails off, "Anyway, they're um, magic. I drank a demon's blood. So my eyes turned the same color. Sorta like a flower when you put it in water dyed with food color."
"You…. um…. h-h-huh." Clearing her throat, Rashmi smiles widely. "That sounds like a *really* interesting story, and I *really wish* I could stick around to hear it, but I need to feed my awkward exit and check to see if I left my obvious excuse on while I was out. I hope you don't mind?"
Tabitha's eyebrows rise. "Uhh… yeah, that definitely sounds like a good idea." She flicks her arm out and glances at her watch. "I uhh… yeah, I'd better be going, I've got shopping I need to get done. Been a pleasure talking to you both." She starts backing away, as she heads back towards where she left her motorcycle. "Been fun, both of you. Bye!"
Fiona just sorta frowns, "Well, you asked…" she trails off, staring down at the sidewalk before shaking her head. "I guess next time I should just lie. That might be the best course of action," she mumbles to herself, before sighing and starting to wander off in the opposite direction. At least that crazy Kalindi girl didn't run away!
~ Fin ~
