March 15, 2017:
Kazumi's apartment wakes up to the aftermath of a blizzard… and a surprisingly persistent creep outside. Most of them wake up - some just didn't sleep.
Andie and Kazumi's Apartment -- Lower East Side -- NYC -- New York City
Characters
![class="image1"](http://cmbeta.wdfiles.com/local--resized-images//class="image1"/medium.jpg)
NPCs: None.
Mentions:
Plot:
Mood Music: [*\# None.]
Fade In…
So after dinner, some music, and some simple girl-chatting, Andrea and Kazumi got the sofa all made up for 'Artemis', including sheets, extra blankets, pillows, and anything else they could seem to think of to help the other woman feel comfy. No one even tried to demand 'Artemis' take a bath or a shower first, though access to the facilities, including her own washcloth, towels, scrub brush and toothbrush. Then the two roomies headed off to bed.
It's a cozy, warm little apartment. And isn't that a good thing? No matter how the wind howls, how the snow flies, they are snug little bugs in their happy little space.
Come morning, and not too terribly early or late in the morning, there are the sounds of stirring and activity. Andrea is the first one up, wrapped in a super-thick fluffy blue robe, wearing grey wolf slippers as she shuffles into the kitchen and loads up the coffee maker, queuing things up so that there will be hot caffeinated goodness soon. Then and only then does she peek into the living room to check on their guest.
Asked or not, Artemis did find some time to bathe before bed - a lot of time in fact, reinforced by how pruned she was getting out of the tub. She even came out in a fresh, if identical, change of clothes.
Sea-blue eyes stare back when Andrea looks into the living room and there's a little residual warmth to the charafe. The brunette was not in fact the first one up.
After a moment of silence, the Italian turns her attention back to the old smartphone in her hand and flicks its screen. She pauses, then takes a slow sip of the thermos beside her - the flautist's backpack propped nearby.
"Hi. You're up early. Did you sleep OK?" Andrea asks, quite solicitously - and with genuine warmth - as she comes padding into the living room to check on their guest while she waits for the coffee maker to work its wonderful magic and create the gods-given elixir that will enable her to continue with life. She doesn't take a seat on the sofa with 'Artemis' or crowd her, but sits and curls up, tucking her legs into the seat beneath her rump, facing the other woman. "If you didn't spot them, there are outlets at both ends of the sofa and here under the side table for your charger." Because the one thing that can drive one nuts with smartphones is getting them recharged when they finally do need it.
"I've been up for a time," the blonde drawls in an unhurried way, still wearing her hood up. The waif's eyes aren't quite as alert as last night and her head is bowed slightly forward as she glances over.
"I found one earlier, these don't last as long as I thought," she adds, holding up her phone.
"Especially when you have to use cellular data, they burn through their battery charges really quickly. There's a guest network here in this apartment. That'll use a lot less battery." Andrea offers. She smiles at the blonde floutist - something she does not know. "Anything I can get you? We'll have breakfast in about an hour."
"Oh, no cell phone data, just a phone," 'Artemis' answers. She pauses for a moment in thought then tucks the phone away in her hoodie before leaning back, propping her hands behind her head while draping herself across the couch and letting her feet dangle off one arm rest, wiggling thick wool socks in the air. She's not quite long enough for her head to reach the other one.
"You said at dinner you had some kind of power… what is that like?" She asks curiously.
"Weird." Andrea answers, honestly. "We grew up without powers. They're a really recent thing. About six months ago, we were in Metropolis when the Mists hit." How much 'Artemis' knows about the Mists without regular access to news and such is up for debate. "Mine is density shifting. I can ghost out, insubstantial, or get super-dense and incredibly hard and strong. Bad thing is, I really can't breathe worth a darn in either state, so I don't last very long. And it can tend to freak out patients, so I have to work really hard to keep it under wraps, so I don't cause panic. They need my help, so I have to do what I can to be supportive."
"You can turn so light you go through things?" Artemis repeats, giving Andrea an incredulous, cock-eyed look.
The brunette nods. "I can. Why?"
"It's surprising. Even a feather stops when it hits a wall," the Italian reasons simply.
"But that feather is still solid matter." Andrea explains. "When you reduce density sufficiently, something most human science cannot do yet, the substance opens up on a molecular and atomic level, such that it can then pass through the gaps in other matter's molecular and atomic structures." 'Cause that all made sense, right?
"Oh… wow," Artemis blurts simply. A few seconds pass while the gears in her head churn. "So you don't use doors then."
"If I'm intangible? I wouldn't need to, no. But I don't do that if I can help it." Andrea answers, honestly. "Who needs to see ghost girl phasing through the walls?"
Artemis thinks for another moment and lets her head fall back, eyes wandering somewhere on the ceiling. "…Small children?"
Pop goes Kazumi's door. She walks out, dressed in the same tank top and boy shorts she was wearing when she went to bed. Nothing is said. Not a word. Not until she walks to the fridge, opens the door, and pulls out a bottle of chilled coffee. Nothing is said until she twists the cap off. Nothing is said until she guzzles it all down and closes her eyes, shivering as the life giving but cold liquid fuels her body. Then, finally, Kazumi speaks.
"Morning."
Kazumi's skin, it might be noted, is HEXCODE #4CE8C0… better known as teal.
"Morning, Zumi. Have another." Andie calls from the living room. Then she untucks her legs, stands from her chair and pads on wolf-slippered feet into the kitchen to pour the steaming hot coffee, just brewed, into her thermos. And then she adulterates it. Don't ask about the proportions; true coffee drinkers would blanche in horror. The brunette inhales deeply of the thermos, then closes it, shakes a little, turns, hugs the other woman in the kitchen, and then shuffles her way back to her seat with the thermos in both hands, a new gleam in her dark eyes. "Small children would generally scream in terror at the sight of me ghosting through a wall for no reason."
Artemis spares one eye lazily towards the kitchen and snerks when she sees Kazumi. "Buongiorno," she offers.
When Andrea wanders off, the blonde takes the opportunity to grab her own thermos and take a good drink. There's no new spark of alertness that shines in her eyes, but the waif does admit a quiet sign before she sets the vessel back down.
"Just one for now." Kazumi says, leaning into the hug. "At least, like, until I have food in me." She drops the empty bottle in the sink so it may be properly rinsed out and recycled, then lashes her fingers together, raises her hands above her head and stretches. "Ugggggghh…."
She says before returning to a less acrobatic pose. "Andiebug, when you get a chance I need numbers on biometric fluctuations displayed when a diabetic has too much or too little glucose in their system. Same for if there are any biometric differences for women undergoing hormone replacement therapy who need their next dose or transgender women undergoing transition. If we pinpoint, you know, specific biometrics for the Butterflit to read we can offer more options. It won't be perfect but it'll give enough warning for a real test."
"Hang on." Andie comments, and out comes her own StarkPhone, into which she quickly enters notes on these latest biological requests. "I believe with heat profile and electromagnetic profiles, we should be able to do most of those. I'll need to confirm some of the latest literature. But since we're not going to the office today, that shouldn't be too bad." Of course, she's a doctor. She may have to go to the hospital regardless of the weather. But not thus far, at least. "I'll start breakfast after I finish this coffee." Then Andie settles in and starts drinking her coffee. Warmth. Caffeine. Sugar. Caffeine. Warmth. Bliss. Caffeine.
Artemis jolts from her reclined pose and there's a moment's pause before she coughs into her hand and rolls sideways, adjusting herself for better comfort. The waif pulls her feet back in and flicks the disordered pile of blankets over herself again, then turns her attention to watching the pair. It's no purring space heater, but it will do.
"Morning, Artemis." Kazumi says, stopping briefly to touch Artemis on the shoulder before she reaches the window. "Guy across the street still, like, has his telescope trained on our apartment." She notes. "Snow's deeper. More than we ever saw back home. Couple of cabs actually trying to, you know, get through it."
"Crazy people." Andie comments. More sips. More bliss. Soo happy. But yeah, she makes quite the 'ick' face at mention of the telescope-using creeper across the street. "Any requests for breakfast? I was planning on omelettes, turkey sausage and waffles." Big breakfast, but they're trying to generate warmth, fuel those bodies and their brains, and it is the first and most important meal of the day.
Also, a cold weather treat.
The visiting youth whips her head around and tries to scoot out of view of the window. "/Che cosa/?" she exclaims. For once a translation might not be necessary.
Don't worry. We've installed, like, a smart film on the windows." Kazumi taps the window three times and it goes completely dark. She taps it three more times and it is once more transparent. "We can see out. No one can see in, no matter, like, how much the creeper tries. Kord tech. Brilliant stuff. Breakfast sounds good, Andie. Three cheeses and spring onions in my omelete, please."
"We don't care for creepers." Andie offers, softly. "What do you like in your omelette?" she questions 'Artemis' as she rolls out of her chair, finishes her coffee, and shuffles on little wuff slippers towards the kitchen. "Keep our guest company, Zumi." she murmurs, and starts.
Artemis sinks back down against the couch and murmurs something unflattering in Italian.
"Anything for me; grazie," she adds distractedly before rubbing her eyes with a tired grunt.
Kazumi sinks down into the chair once occupied by Andie. She curls up a little, since its large enough to do so in, then checks her phone. "City's ordering everyone inside if at all possible." She says as she flips through the news and her email. Lady Jaye says the Disney contracts look legit but she wants to, like, run them by another expert. Big corps like to hide nasty surprises. "I've got an invitation to do a reality show on SyFy."
"Reality show? Doing what?" Andie questions, back turned to the living room as she starts cooking. There will be yummy smells soon; for now, just noises.
"E inside for what, a little snow?" Artemis tacks on from her spot on the couch. With just her face poking out of her sweater and the blankets piled on top of even that, she looks a little more like a caterpillar in a cocoon than a person.
"Andie and I are from North Carolina. For us, this is, like, more snow than you see all winter. Three winters in a row, some stretches." Kazumi says with a laugh. "Looks like they're having one of those, you know, reality TV contest shows. Get a bunch of cosplayers, each day give them a challenge, they need to build their costumes and then, like, do a performance in them. Loser goes home. Everyone else advances. They want me to be one of the judges."
"Wow. That sounds pretty good." Andie offers to Zumi in response to her news. "And she's right. This is a crazy crazy amount of snow for us." More sounds. Including some sizzling. There will be smells soon. Yummy delicious breakfast smells.
Artemis quirks an eyebrow. "What is a ''cosplayer''?"
"Short for costume play." Kazumi explains. "People make costumes, dress up as their favorite characters from comics, video games, movies… geek stuff. There's, like, often pageants and contests to see who has the best ones. I'm sort of famous even though I don't have the experience some cosplayers have."
"Does this mean i'm trying on another of those outfits and going to one of the Conventions?" Andie questions, as the scents of yummy yummy breakfast waft out of the kitchen.
"That sounds… interessante," Artemis muses. She pauses and untangles herself from the blankets before getting up from the couch. "Bagno, excuse me," the blonde murmurs before plodding in the direction of the restroom.
"Maybe." Kazumi admits. "Like, I won't be doing any real cosplay. I'll be the judge. Its the contestants who do it. But I do want to see you dressed up like the girl from Dark Matter. You're a dead ringer." She slides from her seat and walks into the kitchen. "Smelling good. I'm starved."