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Tweak says, "Bom-chicka-wow-wowww!"

the inestimable irene adler . iris thorpe (nightmrholmes) wrote in bellumlogs,
@ 2010-04-02 15:11:00

Entry tags:

irene adler

Who: Katya and Iris
What: Tea. And vodka. Definitely vodka.
Where: Katya's apartment, #207.
When: Well, after she's invited. To make it interesting let's say after Micah's visit, but not before her present.
Warnings: Doubtful.

The days previous had left Iris too tired to pursue more difficulties from anyone in Bellum Letale. Sixteen hour workdays tended to do that to her, and she came home with leaden feet and in no mood for either conversation or the mind games that she would find engaging in other circumstances. Still, her curiosity about the odd phenomenon named Irene Adler continued to engage her mind during the menial work that required no mental energy, so much so that she had left off her headphones, Mozart, and collegial lectures to ponder it through the growl of grinding coffee beans. She was having an easier time of it than Eliot, she imagined. Irene was so much akin to Iris that she did not feel alienated by the woman's presence, and sometimes she felt herself react to things as Irene would, and her Victorian sensibilities amused her greatly.

Today was a better day. The sun was out, much to the native New Yorker's chagrin, and Iris felt flush with a long overdue spring, aided by a relatively short nine hour work day. Iris was indebted to her neighbor for a combination of good herbal smells and a relative dearth of noise that made it through their dividing wall, and she did want to discuss Irene with someone who was not devastatingly male and infuriatingly intelligent. She considered contacting the old woman before she dropped by, but she surmised that this late in the evening there was hardly anything she could be doing but sitting at home, perhaps watching the nightly news. Stopping at her apartment to slip into flats (God be praised) she knocked on #207, a package of scones from the coffee shop in her hand.

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redhorse_tea
2010-04-04 08:13 pm UTC (link)

Katya was sitting on her couch in comfortable sweat pants, watching a Hitchcock movie when the knock came. There was no need to pause the movie. With her dictionary in her lap, Katya had been looking up several words, trying to understand what was apparently a joke, when the knock came. Somewhat grateful for the distraction, she closed the dictionary and stood, Babushka spilling from her lap in a stream of fur.

The cat mewed indignantly at her before skipping into Katya's bedroom, and Katya went to the door, opening it. It took her a second to recognize the woman there, but when she did, she smiled. "Da, you are Iris," she said, letting the woman into her apartment. She noticed the scones in Iris's hands and resisted the urge to lick her lips. The sweets she had made most recently had gone to her tea shop. And she did love scones something fierce. There was also that new tea she had that, mixed with a bit of alcohol (or a lot of alcohol), would go wonderfully with the scones.

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nightmrholmes
2010-04-05 10:09 pm UTC (link)

Iris didn't feel she was going to have to be doing very much pretending, scripted or otherwise, in this engagement. Thank God. Even Iris had her limits, and she was utterly tired of thinking and re-thinking every little thing she did. She could do it, of course, but she wasn't typically around so many people that constantly noticed. She let her surprise at the youthful appearance of the woman inside show, flicked a glance behind her, than back. "Oh," she said, smiling, "Did Katya tell you I was coming?" She hadn't known the old woman lived with a relative, but she didn't object to another acquaintance in the building.

She let the scones precede her entrance, handing them over as her smile turned indulgent. "She invited me over for tea a while ago but I haven't had a chance to stop by until recently. Sorry I came unannounced." She softened her speech until she used a generic eastern American lilt, nothing too strong, but adequate for most of the New York state without getting too far into the city regions. She pronounced the name with the right Russian brevity, though--and that was thanks to Irene, not Iris.

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redhorse_tea
2010-04-05 11:42 pm UTC (link)

For a moment, Katya was startled, though she hid the reaction. Then she remembered that, like Eliot, Iris had no reason to think she wasn't the crochets old woman they had met that Saturday night. Katya took the scones and shook her head. "Net, I am Katya," she said. "That strange night, I became old woman. She is Baba Yaga, from Russian fables. But this is how I am usually looking. I was forgetting you would not know."

All that she said as though she was talking about the weather, as though it wasn't a strange conversation at all. As far as Katya was concerned, it wasn't.

Moving into the kitchen, Katya set the scones down. She grabbed the vodka from the cabinet where she kept her liquor and set it on the counter. She took mugs and a glass from another cabinet. She intended to have her vodka in her tea; she didn't know if Iris would want the same. So she asked. "Would you be liking vodka with tea, or net?" She indicated a large group of loose tea contained in individual tins. "You may choose, if you are liking."

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nightmrholmes
2010-04-07 05:50 am UTC (link)

Iris previous surprise was nothing compared to the expression that took over now. She was absolutely stunned, and for a moment, disbelieving. She remembered to get the expression off her face just after she felt her eyes narrow, but it was a bit late. Irene would be amused. Iris was too surprised to be amused, and too embarrassed to admit to being her suspicious self five minutes into a meeting. (Not that it was anything new. She just didn't like being so obvious about it. "Well you... you look very well." She smiled. "Better than me, in fact." It was a smooth recovery, and she was proud of it. Everything was relative, after all. She trusted this particular environment enough to get drunk in it, after all.

Iris nodded solidly. "Vodka. Please." She drifted over to the tins of tea and admired them for a little while before moving over to the herbals and choosing a rooibos for her vodka. "This one smells good," she volunteered.

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redhorse_tea
2010-04-07 03:18 pm UTC (link)

While Katya noticed Iris's momentary lapse of control, she made no comment on it. It wasn't, after all, her place to point fingers. And everyone was having the same reaction. It wasn't their faults, at all, that they had no idea who she was under all those wrinkles. Although, were she honest, she would admit that it was becoming quite amusing as well.

"I would not be saying that," Katya said, her tone mild. She scooped up the tea Iris had chosen with an infuser but left both in the tin for the time being. She did the same for her tea, a cherry flavored green tea, and then set a kettle full of water to the stove. "You are looking still as good as that night." She paused. "But perhaps you are a best less..." She struggled to find the right word, one that wouldn't have her come off as needlessly cruel. "Less arrogant? Net, that is not right word." With a dismissive gesture, she said, "It is not of the importance."

Leaning against the counter, she offered Iris a small, friendly smile. "It is nice to finally be meeting you. The few I have met, they have been men, and it is always good to be having the women friends," she said. And, in truth, she was more than a little relieved to be meeting another woman. Though she would never voice it aloud, Katya quite desperately hoped they would become at the very last fair-weather friends.

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nightmrholmes
2010-04-07 07:33 pm UTC (link)

"Worldly," Iris offered, for Irene's adjective. Irene was indeed wordly, an American opera singer in Europe was a unique thing, and like Iris Irene had the gift of tongues, though she used it to increase her musical stature. She had traveled much in Russia where Iris had not, which explained some of her comfort around Katya that had no other explanation. "Or maybe just Victorian. She's very caught up in manners." So she could break them skillfully, but Iris didn't mention that bit. She also decided to refer to Irene in the third person as much as possible--no one needed to know how alike they were.

"I don't have any of those," Iris admitted freely. "The women I work with are not very friendly. I work part time, I take their hours... they are not happy about this." She shrugged, as if she could hardly blame them. "I can bribe you with more sweet things." Iris smiled back. "There are always leftovers from the coffee shop."

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redhorse_tea
2010-04-07 10:22 pm UTC (link)

"Bah, coffee!" Katya made a dismissive noise. "Coffee? It is the enemy. Should we be friends, you should not be drinking it." Her tone was light, her lips turned up in a wry smile. She was joking, something she hadn't done in years. And it was... refreshing. So very refreshing. While she had seen many posts on the forums talking about how dreadful a place Bellum was, she couldn't help but think it was doing her a great deal of good. She had already met more people at Bellum than she had on her own, at least in terms of forming friendships.

When the kettle whistled, Katya removed it from the stove top. She poured vodka into the teacups and then added the hot water. Placing the infusers into the cups, she leaned against the counter and smiled. "But you are working at this coffee shop?" She leaned over, watching the infusers. Just a little longer, and the tea would be ready.

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nightmrholmes
2010-04-08 01:32 am UTC (link)

Iris grinned at her. "I make it, I don't necessarily drink it." Caffeine served Iris more as a supplement, not as an addiction. No point in mentioning that, either. "I only have instant, just because that's left over, too. I'm not refined enough for tea." She made a quick pose with her chin up and her eyes vacant in a nice lofty position, then flashed a grin again.

Iris watched her dose of vodka with definite pleasure, putting her palms against the counter and relaxing backward as the steam spiraled up toward the ceiling. "It's not classy," she admitted, of the shop, "but it pays. Sort of."

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redhorse_tea
2010-04-08 02:58 am UTC (link)

"Da, the money, it is good to be having," Katya agreed, thinking of her own bank account and how difficult it could be to keep dollars in it. Between rent, food, car payments, insurance, and a myriad other necessities, it surprised her whenever she could spare enough for a new outfit. She supposed she was lucky that she wasn't one of those women who had to have new clothes all the time.

Removing the infusers from the tea cups, she set them in the sink. "It is ready for drinking," she told Iris as she closed her fingers around her mug and lifted it to her lips. The vodka had cooled the hot water slightly, and she took a long sip. The bitter tang of the alcohol complimented the sweetness of the tea she had chosen. "This? This was good idea."

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nightmrholmes
2010-04-08 04:20 am UTC (link)

Iris only smiled. She liked having money too. Lots of money. Why? Because she hated living exactly the way she was living right now: hand-to-mouth, month-to-month, paycheck-to-paycheck. Iris was lucky she had clothes, period... well, it wasn't just luck, but the devil is in the details.

She took her time sipping her doctored tea. Not her typical beverage, but she could already feel some of the knots high in her shoulders relaxing. "Da," she said, mimicking Katya's chosen phrase of agreement without any mockery and a small smile. "I needed it. Thank you."

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redhorse_tea
2010-04-08 03:46 pm UTC (link)

Setting down her teacup, Katya pulled plates from the cabinet and opened the box of scones. She picked one at random and began to munch idly on it. "How long have you been living here?" she asked, curious. People seemed to be moving into the apartment in waves, something she found interesting. For a building so old, it seemed as though it would be full all the time, and it wasn't.

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	nightmrholmes 2010-04-10 05:44 am UTC (link)
	"I moved in..." Iris lifted her eyes to the ceiling, as if she needed to think, though she did not. Her memory was exceptional, and she hadn't had enough vodka to change that. "--in February." She nodded to herself. "Yes. In February. I remember because it was Valentine's Day that week." She smiled again. "You?" (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	redhorse_tea 2010-04-10 06:05 pm UTC (link)
	"From the middle of March," Katya replied. "Not too long before everything became very strange. It was interesting reception." She smiled very slightly around the edge of her tea cup and took a sip. She gestured toward the couches in the living room. "You would like to sit?" (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

nightmrholmes
2010-04-10 06:30 pm UTC (link)

"Oh, please, I'd love to get off my feet." She took her tea and ambled out into the living room, gypsy skirts sweeping behind, small amber beads winking at her ears when she turned her head quickly enough. Iris liked color, and fortunately they were past the times when color cost more than quality. True to her word, she curled up like a pleased cat on the couch, sipping the vodka and feeling warmer by the moment. "You have friends, family here?" she asked, with nothing more than innocent curiosity in mind.

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redhorse_tea
2010-04-10 06:56 pm UTC (link)

Katya followed Iris into the living room where she sat at the other end of the couch. A moment later, Babushka poked her head out from behind the curtains, trotted over, and joined them. The cat stretched out between Katya and Iris's bodies and promptly began to kneed Katya's legs.

"Net," Katya said. "I was leaving Russia for someplace new, so there are no families here for me. But friends, da, I have made a few." Not nearly so many as she implied, but Katya didn't mind that. She preferred solitude and found too many people overwhelming and overstimulating. Still, she found herself enjoying the connections she was fostering between Micah, Eliot, and Iris. "And you? Have you been living here for all your life?"

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nightmrholmes
2010-04-10 11:17 pm UTC (link)

Iris politely held her fingertips out for the cat to inspect if she so chose, but otherwise didn't molest her. She had never attached herself to any particular animal before, and in her experience the majority had let her alone if she let them alone, and no great rapport nor distaste had developed in any area. Animals could be a great difficulty in Iris' former pursuits, so she felt this was a fortunate thing.

"I'm from Chicago," she said, seamlessly slipping into the story she had given Shane Marion when they had met the second time. "Bit far from home too." She smiled for the camaraderie element, though she had neither home nor family to miss.

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redhorse_tea
2010-04-11 03:57 pm UTC (link)

Katya watched Babushka's attention shift from her leg to Iris's fingers. She almost warned the woman against Babushka's ridiculous friendliness, but decided not to. Most people didn't mind. So Babushka, ears lifted slightly in curiosity, twisted around as she examined Iris's fingers. Clearly liking what she smelled, though Katya suspected there wasn't a smell on the planet Babushka didn't like somewhat, the cat climbed into Iris's lap, reared back, and put her paws on the woman's shoulder. Purring loudly enough for Katya to hear, the cat rubbed her head on Iris's jawline.

"I am sorry for Babushka," Katya said and she took another long sip of her tea. "She is always of great affection."

By no means terribly familiar with the geography of the United States, it took Katya a moment to place Chicago as a city somewhere in the Mid West. Perhaps the state of Michigan. Or Ohio. "Da, I have heard is lovely city. Are you missing it?"

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nightmrholmes
2010-04-12 07:23 am UTC (link)

Iris was taken aback by the show of affection from the creature and blinked in surprise, but after a moment's pause and the warmth of the cat's fur against her chest, she carefully curled an arm around the animal and patted it on the back ever so gently. "She is very friendly." The pat became a tentative pet from neck to tail.

"Not really, no. The architecture is nice but there's no one I miss there. My family is all gone now, so it's just me." She smiled down at the cat.

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