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Post by Ginny Sulai on Aug 16, 2012 17:59:37 GMT -8
Ginny shuffled the stack of papers to her hip as she rang the bell for Xaver's apartment. He hadn't been into work today, and she needed to get this stuff signed by him before tomorrow.
She'd been working for him just about a week now, and enjoyed the job hugely. Much better than skulking around with Larus and his crew. She'd also abandoned the sling her arm had been in, though against her doctor's orders. But she was taking it easy on that arm, and it made her feel less vulnerable.
The chimes of the doorbell could be heard as she stood there still in her work outfit, a simple black skirt and white blouse. Her red hair was pulled in a low pony tail, a few locks that refused to be restrained framing her face.
She hadn't wanted to intrude. Since her first day of work, when she'd come home with Xaver to help him with his sister, she'd only seen him now and then around the office, even though she was his secretary. He'd seemed busy. And then today, he hadn't come in at all.
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Post by Kylie Xian on Aug 16, 2012 18:44:45 GMT -8
Kylie had been perched on the end of the couch for the better part of the last three hours, chewing on her lower lip and glowering at the clock to pass the time. Her large raven feathered wings were folded behind her comfortably, and though the one was still bandaged considerably, the gauzes were loose and disheveled and looked like they had been all but forgotten about. Her black hair streamed in loose, thick waves over her slender shoulders, her petite frame clad in a loose band tee and fitted denim shorts. Her legs twitched impatiently where they hung over the side of the sofa and she dug her fingernails into the fabric in an effort to not bite them in her anxiousness.
The doorbell rang and she let out a squeak, all but falling over herself in surprise. Blue eyes wide, she raced barefoot across the cool floor to the door, peering through the peephole for a moment before twisting the latches and tugging the chain fixtures loose. She opened the wooden door to the apartment only wide enough to peek her head out, her brow furrowed and cheeks gaunt with exhaustion.
"Hey, Ginny," she said softly. Smelling the woman now, she suddenly seemed to relax slightly. "Come in, come in, let me shut the door."
She ushered Ginny inside quickly then shut the door again and restored all the locks.
"How can I help you?"
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Post by Ginny Sulai on Aug 16, 2012 18:53:36 GMT -8
Kylie ushered her in, with an abruptness that Ginny noticed immediately. She stepped in, turning in time to see Kylie sliding all the locks.
"I have some papers for Xaver to sign."
She didn't try to disguise her staring. Kylie was a pretty girl, one who would surely break many hearts in due time. But she looked anxious, and Ginny could sympathize with such feelings, living in this city. She noticed the dressing on Kylie's wound looked like it hadn't been touched in a while.
"Are you ok?"
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Post by Kylie Xian on Sept 9, 2012 3:34:41 GMT -8
Kylie nodded quickly, her blue gaze flicking to the papers in Ginny's hand.
"I'm fine," she said off-handedly, nodding her head. "Xav's just been really busy with all the work stuff and counsel meetings on top... of that..."
She chewed her lip and eyed Ginny with a new curiousness, not quite sure how much the pretty redhead actually knew of her brother (or how much he would even like her to know).
She sighed, and sagged slightly against the door, happy to just have someone else as company.
"I'm okay, really. It's just... not a safe time out there right now."
Kylie's gaze lifted from where it had fallen to the floor, the blue jems of her eyes weary and frightened.
After a pause, she said, "...Xav didn't come home last night. Or today. Or anything."
She looked away again almost sheepishly, embarrassed for her fear and awaiting the amusement and retribution she knew was sure to come.
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Post by Ginny Sulai on Sept 17, 2012 16:50:17 GMT -8
Ginny knew about the city being unsafe. She'd spent more time in the unsafe parts than she'd like to admit. Not exactly as a choice, but she's been part of what made the city unsafe.
"...Xav didn't come home last night. Or today. Or anything."
Kylie looked away, as if expecting a scolding.
Instead, Ginny set the papers she'd brought on a small table by the door and touched Kylie's arm.
"C'mon. Let's go get that dressing changed."
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Post by Kylie Xian on Sept 18, 2012 1:14:07 GMT -8
Kylie blinked at her owlishly, then nodded after a glance over her shoulder at her wing. Ginny was right, of course. Her wing wasn't bothering her as much these days, and though the wound was still significant enough to cause the doctors worry and keep her out of the skies, it was easy to let her mind become preoccupied with other things again. Also, Xaver was almost always the one to change her dressings anyway. She could barely reach it due to discomfort and pain, and he was well versed in bandages and battle wounds.
Kylie shuddered as she led the way into the back bathroom. Battle wounds? She wasn't much of a fighter, and could hardly become a warrior. She wouldn't be much use if a race war broke out between the nons and the humans.
Giving Ginny a sidelong glance, Kylie sighed and lowered her butt onto the edge of the large white tub. Like the rest of the apartment, the bathroom was modern, shiny, and new, all whites and ornate silvers. But in here, Kylie had slowly introduced the odd cheap, cheesy knick-knacks she favored, and there was everything from little bobble heads to pink wands tucked in most corners. She reached into a nylon backpack left undisturbed in the belly of the tub, and withdrew a roll of fresh bandages and a slightly blood stained tube of antibiotic ointment.
"Thanks for doing this," she said, shifting so she could see Ginny better. "But.. why do you keep doing these things? I don't know many, I guess, but you're the nicest human I know."
She smiled as she said it.
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Post by Ginny Sulai on Sept 18, 2012 16:23:58 GMT -8
Ginny followed Kylie into the bathroom, and gently began to unwrap the wounded wing. When Kylie shifted, and asked why, only a slight pause was noticeable in her hands.
"I had a little sister."
She was quiet for a moment as she leaned over to the sink and wet a rag to dab at the wound. Then she took the antibiotic creme from Kylie;s hands and began to apply it.
"And until recently, I spent a lot of time looking after different sorts of wounds."
Gunshots to the arm, stabs to the side, concussions from a crowbar. Life in the dark shadows of the street had given her one thing, a bit of healer's knowledge.
She began to wrap the new bandages around Kylie's wing.
"It's just something I do."
Ginny tied the bandages off and smiled,
"After all, you'd do the same for someone who was hurt, wouldn't you?"
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Post by Kylie Xian on Sept 19, 2012 2:02:45 GMT -8
Though Kylie could be called many things, young and naive being among them, there weren't many things that slipped past her. The tense of Ginny's words didn't go unnoticed, but Kylie let it go as she continued to talk, becoming more and more interested in the woman with each line.
"After all, you'd do the same for someone who was hurt, wouldn't you?"
"Yes," she replied without pausing to think about it. "Xaver likes that about me. He says I remind him of his mother."
She plucked absently at a loose thread on her shorts, swallowing the sudden rise of pain and pushing away the homesickness. If not for her big brother, she would have been completely orphaned not yet a year ago; she still hurt for the loss and was easily susceptible to the random overwhelming of emotions.
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Post by Ginny Sulai on Oct 3, 2012 13:48:14 GMT -8
Ginny gently patted Kylie's shoulder, offering up a smile. She could tell the girl was upset and at odds today.
"I'm sure that is the highest compliment he could give."
She was taking a guess, but she had no doubt that Xaver loved his mother and his sister.
"Have you eaten yet today? We can go a few blocks down and get something from the cafe."
Just trying to keep Kylie's mind off of the fact that Xaver hadn't been home.
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Post by Kylie Xian on Oct 7, 2012 6:29:12 GMT -8
Ginny's hand gently patted her shoulder, and Kylie's bright gaze flickered upward to meet hers. She met a smile and reassuring eyes, and couldn't help a small one of her own in return.
"Yeah.."
Suddenly thinking about it, she realized Ginny was actually really spot on. Xaver talked very seldom about his mother and only in quiet, affectionate tones. He had a reserved respect for her memory that always left Kylie with a sort of wistful dreaming after his stories, and looking back on it now she felt a sudden surge of pride in her breast that he thought of her in sort of the same light. She smiled at the thought.
She looked up to Xaver and his opinion mattered dearly to her; he was some mix of a brother and father figure in one to her, and she truly loved and respected him. To think that he respected her back was important to her young soul. He never lied to her and always kept his word. ...At least, until he hadn't come home to take her out to dinner last night like he'd promised. And Xaver always kept his promises to her. Which to her made the whole situation stink of foul play. She of all people knew how dangerous it was out there...
At the mention of food, her belly rumbled back to aching life. Loudly.
"No, I haven't eaten..."
She pursed her mouth indecisively.
"I'd love to go. Do you think it's a good idea, though? I mean... I can't hide them.."
Her light blue gaze flickered quickly to her wings then back to Ginny's face, her own twisting into something akin to embarrassment.
"People will know what I am."
She winced at her own words, her cheeks reddening slightly.
"Not that I'm ashamed of what I am. But I mean, the last time I went outdoors..."
Kylie blinked. She'd been sleeping heavily and quite often after the accident, and between her bed and the couch more than two weeks had gone by. It was the longest period of time in her life that she'd been indoors, and the most amount of time she'd ever spent out of the sky since she'd learned to fly as a young child.
The urge to feel fresh air on her face and socialize with other people dawned quite heavily, and she felt herself nodding vigilantly.
"Yes. Let's go. I want to get out of here for a little while."
She felt safe with Ginny. ...And what could possibly happen within a few small blocks anyway?
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Post by Ginny Sulai on Oct 9, 2012 7:49:09 GMT -8
Dangerous.
Kylie hadn't said that word, but she'd inched around it. But Ginny wasn't awfully worried. They were in a vastly different neighborhood than where she spent most of her time.
And while bigots and jack-offs don't exactly conform to a specific set of socioeconomic definitions, they were way more unlikely to run into a dangerous situation in this neighborhood.
Kylie made up her mind and Ginny nodded.
"Good. I could use a nice break, too."
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Post by Kylie Xian on Oct 9, 2012 8:05:35 GMT -8
Ginny nodded and Kylie allowed herself a grin, nodding back.
She was doing this.
She dabbled little in the bathroom, leaving the rest of the bandage tape and ointment in the tub. She led the way back into the living room, finding her long discarded sneakers by the sliding glass door to the balcony, and her purse in the kitchen. She grabbed only some cash and her newly minted copy of Xaver's apartment key, before looking to Ginny.
She was doing this.
She locked the door behind them and tested her weight against it a few times to be sure it was locked, then stowed the key and the cash snugly in her pocket.
"You know," she said idly, delicately squishing the enormities of her wings into the elevator, "This is actually the first time I remember taking the elevator. I always flew. ...When I got here straight from the hospital I was too doped up to remember anything, so I don't count that. It's awfully inconvenient, isn't it?"
Kylie passed a curious sidelong glance to the pretty redhead squished in beside her amongst all her feathers.
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Post by Ginny Sulai on Oct 9, 2012 8:37:03 GMT -8
Ginny laughed, shaking her head in amusement.
"The inconvenience of being human, I suppose."
She had never really considered it before, but she could see why an elevator would seem a pain as opposed to just drifting down to the ground. For one, it took several minutes from the top of high risers such as this building in an elevator. For two, they were always small.
They reached the lobby floor and Ginny led the way out the door and into the street.
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