It was a sunny mid-day, the weather being the entire opposite of the mood.
Tabitha in her casual slim jeans and sleeveless shirt was walking about the
outdoors, and for once she actually wasn't wandering aimlessly. She
approached Lorna, who was sitting on steps and huddled over with despair.
She took a seat beside her. There was initial silence. Tabs inhaled.
"I knew you'd snap." Were considered kind words coming from the lips of Tabs.
Lorna didn't respond, it was as if she didn't even notice her.
Tabs felt awkward. And considered just walking away, but what else did she have to do? Now her and Lorna were on more of the same level, first isolationists and now troublemakers. Of course Tabs merely had vandalized things, nothing close to a vicious assault. That was slightly intimidating for her, but she could read Lorna easy, and knew she wouldn't try it again so soon, no matter how much her buttons were pushed; Lorna was too broken.
"Hey, wanna hop a bus? Get into the city." Suggested Tabs.
Again Lorna wasn't responding. Tabs gave her a shove. Lorna looked up with a cold and confused look.
"Sooo? What's it gonna be?" Tabs eyebrows raised. "Stay here, subject to abuse and the constant reminder of your 'error'. Or.. get out into a world that isn't this. You like humans, don't ya?" her mouth smirked. She wanted to go, but not alone, and Lorna was a perfect candidate.
Silent Lorna looked at Tabs with thought in her mind. 'No, maybe, yes? Ah, what the hell.' She thought not so thoroughly. Her eyes looked down again, showing waiver, but then rose back up to Tabs. Lorna sighed and stood up. Tabs grinned and lead the way.
* * *
Tab's sharpie marker graffiti was potent in the thick air of the stuffy, but less crowed bus. Lorna just gazed out the window, she hadn't said much. A lot was on her mind and she began to put the pieces together. She'd lost it and screwed up, so badly. Nothing could erase or even smudge what she did, for it was like inoperable tumor. It wouldn't leave her. She thought of Bobby, always going back to moment in which so much overwhelmed her she couldn't move, no matter how much her brain strained itself to. And he held her. She felt apart, corroded instantly, and he was there to scrape up every tainted fragment. But she couldn't pin point the exact reason why. She denied his affections for her, and was looking too hard for a motive or logical reason. Nothing like, 'funny', 'smart', 'cute' or 'great personality'. No it had to be something else. Uh huh...
Tabs was highly on the defense of boredom, and couldn't take that brooding and thoughtfully tragic look on Lorna's distant face anymore. And she'd already covered half the bus in marker. Did that ever get old fast.
"I forgot, what did you say happened in the danger room 3 days ago?" Tabs had been eager to know the details, at least from Lorna's point of view. She spoke casually, so even if Lorna didn't want to talk about it, most likely she would slip and say something.
"That is because I have not spoken of it." She responded with prestige.
"Oh well EXCUSE me." Tabs shook her head. She layed back horizontally on the seat and put her feet up. Kicking back. She starts to look very smug, premeditating words to soon speak. Then the bus hits a pothole and she goes flying on the floor. Lorna is jumbled but smiles and exhales a laugh at how clumsy Tabs looked. Tabs seats her self back up with chagrin look on her face. "Ya know," Tabs began, and could see Lorna's eyes rolling in dread of this topic, but it was a big reason for Tabs to even spend time with her, "I don't blame you for chopping up Jubilee." She smiled and spoke lightly about such a heavy subject for Lorna. It pissed her off, the way Tabs said it, although her intention was to be calm, there wasn't much to please Lorna in a bad mood, in a bad predicament, and in an overall bad situation. The words she used, so lightly 'chopping up', oh goddamn Tabitha. "She had it coming to her." Tabs added, thinking this was supportive enough to initiate Lorna's talk of what really went down. "Jubilee really was a bitch-"before Tabs could even muster up more words Lorna intervened.
"C'mon! Drop it. Just fucking drop it!" Lorna nearly screamed with a frustrated tremor, running her hands through her hair.
"No fucking way." Tabs dauntingly leaned towards her. She had that smug look control on her face, the one that set off Lorna to the highest extremes.
Lorna was cornered. She was on a bus, with nowhere to run or hide or any way to shut Tabs out. Her head droped in despair and she exhaled any hope of holding it in, hope that it'd fade it away and she wouldn't have to deal with it in herself. Dealing with it with other people was bad enough, just look at this scene. "What." A Plain and simple word, Lorna said with her head still down, and her hair cascading down like a green curly veil.
Tabs grinned gleefully. She rubbed her hands together, pinched her lips inward and exhaled forcefully through her nose.
"Okay," she said in preparation, "Why?"
"She pushed me too far, it got out of hand. I shoulda just stayed on the ground." Lorna shook her head.
"Stayed on the ground?" Tabs inquired.
"In the danger room, we were doing combatant rundowns and restraint situations," Lorna sighed, "I had Cannonball 10 maybe 15 feet in the air. The gun wrapped around him like boa. That panzee was flipping a shit about it. I let him go when told to, and hoped it would be left at that. But he bitched and moaned to those fuckers."
"Who?" Tabs eyes narrowed, absorbing the story.
"Wolfsbane." Lorna thought back.
"Barf!" Tabs interjected.
"Havok."
"Duddddee..." Tabs impersonated him.
"And," Lorna paused and rolled her eyes, "Jubilee." She said that as it were a curse.
"* cough * BITCH * cough * "
Lorna laughed at Tabs' humorous take on those people, to the subject even for that matter. She just finally appreciated that Tabs didn't remind her of the weight of that issue upon her shoulders. Smiling in thought as Tabs waited more patiently than normally for the continuation of Lorna's side of the story. She began to think of how she got here. 'I'm on a bus ride with Tabitha, solely Tabitha; going into a city to hang out with Tabitha, solely Tabitha. What the hell am I thinking? I hate her, I can't stand her and why the fuck is she listening to me, why does she even bother to pretend to care.' Lorna thought and the smile faded.
"I knew you'd snap." Were considered kind words coming from the lips of Tabs.
Lorna didn't respond, it was as if she didn't even notice her.
Tabs felt awkward. And considered just walking away, but what else did she have to do? Now her and Lorna were on more of the same level, first isolationists and now troublemakers. Of course Tabs merely had vandalized things, nothing close to a vicious assault. That was slightly intimidating for her, but she could read Lorna easy, and knew she wouldn't try it again so soon, no matter how much her buttons were pushed; Lorna was too broken.
"Hey, wanna hop a bus? Get into the city." Suggested Tabs.
Again Lorna wasn't responding. Tabs gave her a shove. Lorna looked up with a cold and confused look.
"Sooo? What's it gonna be?" Tabs eyebrows raised. "Stay here, subject to abuse and the constant reminder of your 'error'. Or.. get out into a world that isn't this. You like humans, don't ya?" her mouth smirked. She wanted to go, but not alone, and Lorna was a perfect candidate.
Silent Lorna looked at Tabs with thought in her mind. 'No, maybe, yes? Ah, what the hell.' She thought not so thoroughly. Her eyes looked down again, showing waiver, but then rose back up to Tabs. Lorna sighed and stood up. Tabs grinned and lead the way.
* * *
Tab's sharpie marker graffiti was potent in the thick air of the stuffy, but less crowed bus. Lorna just gazed out the window, she hadn't said much. A lot was on her mind and she began to put the pieces together. She'd lost it and screwed up, so badly. Nothing could erase or even smudge what she did, for it was like inoperable tumor. It wouldn't leave her. She thought of Bobby, always going back to moment in which so much overwhelmed her she couldn't move, no matter how much her brain strained itself to. And he held her. She felt apart, corroded instantly, and he was there to scrape up every tainted fragment. But she couldn't pin point the exact reason why. She denied his affections for her, and was looking too hard for a motive or logical reason. Nothing like, 'funny', 'smart', 'cute' or 'great personality'. No it had to be something else. Uh huh...
Tabs was highly on the defense of boredom, and couldn't take that brooding and thoughtfully tragic look on Lorna's distant face anymore. And she'd already covered half the bus in marker. Did that ever get old fast.
"I forgot, what did you say happened in the danger room 3 days ago?" Tabs had been eager to know the details, at least from Lorna's point of view. She spoke casually, so even if Lorna didn't want to talk about it, most likely she would slip and say something.
"That is because I have not spoken of it." She responded with prestige.
"Oh well EXCUSE me." Tabs shook her head. She layed back horizontally on the seat and put her feet up. Kicking back. She starts to look very smug, premeditating words to soon speak. Then the bus hits a pothole and she goes flying on the floor. Lorna is jumbled but smiles and exhales a laugh at how clumsy Tabs looked. Tabs seats her self back up with chagrin look on her face. "Ya know," Tabs began, and could see Lorna's eyes rolling in dread of this topic, but it was a big reason for Tabs to even spend time with her, "I don't blame you for chopping up Jubilee." She smiled and spoke lightly about such a heavy subject for Lorna. It pissed her off, the way Tabs said it, although her intention was to be calm, there wasn't much to please Lorna in a bad mood, in a bad predicament, and in an overall bad situation. The words she used, so lightly 'chopping up', oh goddamn Tabitha. "She had it coming to her." Tabs added, thinking this was supportive enough to initiate Lorna's talk of what really went down. "Jubilee really was a bitch-"before Tabs could even muster up more words Lorna intervened.
"C'mon! Drop it. Just fucking drop it!" Lorna nearly screamed with a frustrated tremor, running her hands through her hair.
"No fucking way." Tabs dauntingly leaned towards her. She had that smug look control on her face, the one that set off Lorna to the highest extremes.
Lorna was cornered. She was on a bus, with nowhere to run or hide or any way to shut Tabs out. Her head droped in despair and she exhaled any hope of holding it in, hope that it'd fade it away and she wouldn't have to deal with it in herself. Dealing with it with other people was bad enough, just look at this scene. "What." A Plain and simple word, Lorna said with her head still down, and her hair cascading down like a green curly veil.
Tabs grinned gleefully. She rubbed her hands together, pinched her lips inward and exhaled forcefully through her nose.
"Okay," she said in preparation, "Why?"
"She pushed me too far, it got out of hand. I shoulda just stayed on the ground." Lorna shook her head.
"Stayed on the ground?" Tabs inquired.
"In the danger room, we were doing combatant rundowns and restraint situations," Lorna sighed, "I had Cannonball 10 maybe 15 feet in the air. The gun wrapped around him like boa. That panzee was flipping a shit about it. I let him go when told to, and hoped it would be left at that. But he bitched and moaned to those fuckers."
"Who?" Tabs eyes narrowed, absorbing the story.
"Wolfsbane." Lorna thought back.
"Barf!" Tabs interjected.
"Havok."
"Duddddee..." Tabs impersonated him.
"And," Lorna paused and rolled her eyes, "Jubilee." She said that as it were a curse.
"* cough * BITCH * cough * "
Lorna laughed at Tabs' humorous take on those people, to the subject even for that matter. She just finally appreciated that Tabs didn't remind her of the weight of that issue upon her shoulders. Smiling in thought as Tabs waited more patiently than normally for the continuation of Lorna's side of the story. She began to think of how she got here. 'I'm on a bus ride with Tabitha, solely Tabitha; going into a city to hang out with Tabitha, solely Tabitha. What the hell am I thinking? I hate her, I can't stand her and why the fuck is she listening to me, why does she even bother to pretend to care.' Lorna thought and the smile faded.