[D5 LA] Tiff's Tiff and other Miscellany

[Tiffani]

"Hmm, okay," Tiffani shrugged as they exited the pizza parlor and began walking down the sidewalk. "I saw some furniture place down here a ways. They offer free local delivery, so ...which reminds me, I should look into getting a car. Just a cheap thing, nothing fancy. I don't have that much money. but walking everywhere is, well, tiring."

She falls into a comfortable silence at this point, not wanting to talk Jack's ear off. Maybe Chantelle would be relieved when the delivery van pulled up in front of the apartment to deliver all of her stuff. Or she would dread it. Hmmm. If all Changelings are empaths to some degree, Jack would sense her uncertainty without having to try. It probably showed plainly on her face, for that matter.

[Jack Doyle]

He reached out to take her hand, much like a little brother might. "It will be okay. We're all new at this, but we do want to help each other."

[Tiffani]

Tiffani gives Jack's hand a friendly little squeeze, her eyes scanning the storefronts as they walk by, searching for the furniture store.

"I know I may sound ... unappreciative when I argue with Chantelle. I know she's done a lot for me, and I'd probably sleeping under a bridge if not for her. Believe me, it has nothing to do with a lack of gratitude - or even friendship. As she said, we're family, yes? Have you ever known a family that didn't fight? I sometimes got into fights with my father that would peel paint off the walls. He was always so ... over-protective."

Her pace slows just a little as a thought hits her like a truck. "Heh, yeah, and when I went missing, he probably stomped around the house saying 'I warned her! I warned her!'"

Then she resumed her normal brisk pace - but not too fast for Jack to have trouble keeping up.

"But yeah ... I want to help everyone. I guess it's just in my nature."

[Jack Doyle]

"It's in Chantelle's nature to be protective." Jack said. "That's the impression I've gotten from watching and listening to her. I know she didn't want me to go back to the orchard. She probably wanted to protect me from myself."

[Tiffani]

"Yeah, well ..." Tiffani said, her voice full of doubt and skepticism. She fell silent again and didn't resume speaking until they both stood outside of a small furniture store that looked family owned and operated - she would need a car to get to a "big box" store anyway as they were all outside of town.

Before she pulls open the door, she stands off to the side and changes the subject to a somewhat related point.

"What's the deal between Chantelle and Marcus? I can tell there's something ... deeper there than just being roommates. I can't say for sure if it's romantic, per se, but ... well, whatever. Normally I don't pry like that. But the kind of bias a relationship within the motley can cause is ... regrettable. Oh well, I guess it doesn't matter one way or the other."

She opens the door to the store but, before going in, says, "I think it's time I change my nature."

And then walks in.

[Jack Doyle]

"I have no idea." he answered. "I met him just before I met you."

He looked around as they entered the store. "What will you change?"

[Tiffani]

Tiffani made a beeline to the bedding department - obviously unlike most teenage girls, she was not one to dilly-dally when shopping, going right to what she wanted, wasting no time looking at things she had no intention of buying.

She hovers around a queen-sized bed with a headboard divded up into a myriad of little shelves and compartments. "Ah, this is what I want - a bed I can spawl out in with a headboard where I can put my phone, a light, the books I'm reading, the TV remote, and any other thing I want easy access to without having to get up."

Gesturing toward a roving salesmen, she finally gets around to answering Jack's question. "I'm too nice, too soft, I let people take advantage of me. I make too many sacrifices just to be liked and to fit in - and, well, that may have to change."

[Jack Doyle]

"It's best to be careful in this world, to be guarded." he nodded. "But, it can be dangerous in its own way, too."

[Tiffani]

Tiffani sits down on the bed and bounces a few times to test how comfortable it would be. Then she swivels her whole body and lays down - but it looks as if she's laying down out of exhaustion as much as she's testing the bed. Her stormy eyes close as she folds her hands serenely across her chest.

"Maybe I shouldn't care about being accepted - or wanted - anymore. Maybe those are things best left to the past - like the rest of my life. Nice or not nice. Sociable or anti-social. Self-sacrificing or selfish. Altruistic or greedy. Does it really matter in this new life which I choose? The results are the same no matter what choice I make - as if everything thus far has been preordained. That choices nor behavior really make any difference."

She bounces to the edge of the bed and sits there for a minute.

"I have a really bad feeling about how this is going to pan out, Jack," she says in a small little whisper - a whisper born of emotion, not because she was afraid of being overheard. At that moment she couldn't have cared less who might be eavesdropping. "I have a feeling that whether I lower my guns first or not, nothing will change. And so ends the choices. Things will then be set in stone."

Suddenly, she begins singing - softly, almost to herself and, perhaps surprisingly, her voice is actually pretty good - maybe not quite as good as Chantelle's, but better than a lot of pop divas on the radio who can't sing without an auto-tuner.

"Oh the nights I spent in danger
With strangers I thought were friends,
Only to wake in anger
For the pleasure they swore they'd send.

"I think it's time I move on like a rolling stone
Cuz I got all the broken dreams I can buy
Tryin' to sell the ones I stole ..."

Then she looks up at Jack. "Oh, sorry, just thinking of some old song lyrics I used to know - from a band before, well. Before." She gets up and breezes past Jack, putting a trailing hand on his shoulder. "C'mon, I still need a decent desk and a chair ... and a television and stuff."

Singing to herself: Presence + Performance 7d10o10h8: 3

Just in case you're bored enough to want to hear the whole song Tiff was singing

[Jack Doyle]

"If you feel that way, then don't buy any of this." Jack finally said after a long silence. "If you feel staying with us will lock you in stone, then walk away."

"This was a misunderstanding. If you feel so strongly that it's something more that you won't consider accepting it without worrying over 'lowering your guns'." he shook his head sadly. "Then I don't think you'll find any peace or happiness with us."

"You are very clearly a free spirit. Stay that way."