Esmeralda dances to the rhythm of the tambourine (changewillcome) wrote in valarlogs, @ 2017-09-04 19:52:00 |
|
|||
Kitty wouldn’t ever be able to entirely change her viewpoint. There was too much evil in the world that just letting it slide wasn’t the answer.
But she’d known she’d been wrong and too hardline with Esmeralda and in general, and that Esmeralda deserved an apology. Maybe Diana was being a good influence on her. Certainly Peter had helped her with a good outlet for taking care of some of the local neo-nazis, without either killing anyone or bringing any more heat down on the Court.
A small part of her would probably never entirely be over Esmeralda either, but she just wanted her friend back. She thought they agreed on more than they disagreed, and it had been eating her up inside for weeks and months. Had it been months? Time didn’t always seem to flow naturally in Orange County.
She ordered her coffee and some scones and waited in a booth impatiently.
“You know you don’t need to follow me, right? It’s day and I’ll be fine.”
“You could say you would be fine while bleeding out and, oh wait, you did say that to me last month.”
Shooting a look to Clopin, Esmeralda just sighed. She supposed it wasn’t so shocking that he’d want to keep an eye on her now. Always paranoid and always concerned. She appreciated it, she did, but honestly she was meeting up with a friend (former friend?) in the middle of the day. Yes it was true that anything could happen in Orange County but really now.
“Fine, but--”
“I’m only looking out for your well being.”
“I know.”
And she did. Just like Clopin was concerned about Esmeralda’s physical well being, he also knew that the fight with Kitty had been hard. Yes, she was used to losing friends - that was nothing new - but it had still been hard. But while they did agree on more than they disagreed, that particular disagreement? It went to her core of who she was, of why she fought and how she did and those who came to her and the Court for help who needed that protection which their way of surviving and not throwing the first punch afforded them.
Kitty had also been her first and really only friend in the area, someone she didn’t know from before, and so it had definitely been hard even as she worked through it.
Arriving at the cafe, Clopin seemed to disappear into the shadows - he’d show up somewhere as he was apparently planning to keep an eye on her all the same - and Esmerelda went inside, spotting Kitty and going to sit down, uncertain of what exactly to say. “Um. Hi.”
Sure. That worked.
"Hey!" Kitty straightened up, giving her a nervous smile. She'd actually been unsure of Esmeralda would even show up. Not that she could blame her. She just had to fix this, somehow. The closest she could come to this feeling in her chest had been her falling out with Logan in her dreams. Or maybe Illyana. She had to fix this. Or at least try.
"Have a seat. I got us some scones, but you can order a coffee or something if you're hungry."
Esmeralda nodded as she sat down. And there was a server, so she put in an order of coffee for herself as well. With scones already being ordered, it wasn’t like she would really need anything else. Plus there was plenty of food at the Court as well. But they were at a cafe and if anything, it would give her something to do with her hands.
While Clopin and Madellaine had their own opinions on if Esmeralda should show up (both were paranoid and both were worried), she didn’t let them talk for her or make decisions for her. So even if she appreciated the concern, she was going to show up. Even if the disagreement had hurt, Esmeralda was always going to give Kitty a chance. It was her nature - no matter how much she got knocked down, she still found it in her to forgive and believe in others.
She just didn’t know what to say so once her own coffee was there, she wrapped her hands around the cup and took a sip.
Kitty rubbed her thumb around the outside of her cup, looking down at it, then the table, then looking at Esmeralda. "So... I'm just going to.. I'm sorry. For the things I said. For pressuring you. For getting you hurt. Mostly for getting you hurt. And the words. Everything."
Esmeralda stayed quiet as Kitty spoke and then nodded some. “I understand the why I just…” Sighing, Esmeralda looked out the window before back to Kitty, “It’s not just me who would be at risk.” If that were the case, she wouldn’t care as much even if others felt she should. Esmeralda though would worry about those who came to them in need, those who lived there.
“It’s… not okay exactly. But I understand.”
“I know it’s not okay.” Kitty caught herself as her fingers were peeling the label off of her cup. She wet her lips, lowering her head so her chin rested on the brim. “And I’m not going to give you a bunch of excuses.” She had explanations, but she didn’t think that mattered, not here and not now. Esmeralda got the why, and that was what actually mattered.
“But I want to.. Make a start. Make it up to you and the Court.” She was already working with Peter on some of that. Chase the bad guys away by playing on their own nature. She smiled. “Mostly you, but can’t have you without the Court.”
Esmeralda was relieved that she wasn’t about to get a bunch of excuses. Those tended to undermine an apology, no matter what the intent. Of course she understood the why of it, she felt the anger. But there were other ways and other considerations. The question was if Kitty actually understood where she and the Court came down on things, on why they responded and lived as they did.
Though at least she also knew that Esmeralda would always be part of the Court. So she nodded some.
“I think that is possible.” She didn’t know how exactly. But it wasn’t like Esmeralda was one to turn someone away. And it wasn’t like she liked losing friends. There was a difference between being used to something and being okay with it.
“Okay..” Kitty rubbed her fingers on the table. She wasn’t even that fidgety of a person but she was really fidgety today. It honestly came down to wanting to help people, but Kitty sometimes forgot that not everyone wanted help. She looked at Esmeralda again. “I’m so glad you’re okay.”
Something still felt awkward, which Esmeralda supposed came with the situation. It had been a few months, and the argument had come down to a basic belief on how to handle situations. Esmeralda understood where Kitty was coming from but didn’t agree and had felt pressured and also put down, like she and the others were in the wrong because they had their own way. And that came from Kitty not truly understanding. So… in that it made sense it would remain awkward, things couldn’t just go back to how they were before.
But for now, she would take Kitty at her word. She obviously wanted to make amends since she had reached out. That was important.
“So am I. I am just happy it was only me targeted. Though it was strange. A man calling himself the Doctor showed up...but he looked like Frollo.”
"That's a little weird." The Doctor? As in Doctor Who? Kitty's eyebrows raised, but she didn't say anything. Esmeralda probably didn't need to know she was a book and also a Disney character. And a play. Among other things.
She started to relax, though she had to force her shoulders to not be so tense. She couldn't forgive herself for what had happened. Rash actions tended to have consequences. But maybe she could move past it. "The Frollo thing not the timing. The timing makes sense.”
“Right?” Admittedly, Esmeralda was running on adrenaline and pain at the time so she hadn’t put too much stock into what was going on. Just that she needed to get back on the offensive and fight back. But seeing a man who looked so much like Frollo there had thrown her.
“He wasn’t French, Scottish accent if I remember right.”
Twelve. Okay. Kitty had seen him on the network. “I should buy him a cake.” Cake was a sincere offer of gratitude, right?
She debated telling Esmeralda what she and Peter were planning, then decided to wait until after it was over. Or let Peter do it. But that did remind her of something else. “Your friend Peter was the one who told me you got hurt. I don’t know how, but he kind of helped talk me down. He’s a good guy. Kind of cute, too.”
“You know who he is?” While Esmeralda was moving on with her life as she always did, the fact that there was a man who looked like Frollo did sometimes bother her. It was stupid, but it did. That and she had told Peter she’d point him out if she ever saw him on the network since she figured he was on it given the whole metal dog and phonebox.
Instead she blinked as Kitty mentioned Peter, though she supposed it made sense he would be the one to talk to her about what had happened. Clopin wasn’t the type to reach out to gadje, and Peter had been the one she had told about the argument and what had been said when she’d been attacked. He had the pieces to put it together.
“He’s a good person, even if he will say otherwise. I’m happy he could help talk you down.” She didn’t need to know from what. Based on what had already happened, it wasn’t too hard to figure out what might have happened “He’s the one Madellaine had been singing about.”
Which still was strange to her but Madellaine was weird like that. All Esmeralda knew was that she was able to feel completely at ease and relaxed around Peter and was happy that their paths had managed to cross again.
“I see.” Kitty leaned back, steepling her fingers together. Like she was getting ideas. At least these ideas were a lot better than some of her other ideas lately. She’d have to interrogate him on Esmeralda. In a friendly jibbing way. Surprisingly enough she wasn’t even jealous. Probably because she liked him and also Diana but still, she was proud of herself.
“I think so too. He’s got a way of… seeing the truth of the matter.” She’d appreciated that he’d gotten where she’d come from and had offered an alternative. Kitty hadn’t even realized she’d desperately wanted an alternative until it had been presented to her.
Whatever Kitty was planning, Esmeralda had no idea. Instead she was content with her coffee and one of the scones. Then again, she wasn’t really aware of anything that was or was not going on between her and Peter. Other people clearly had ideas on it, but it was currently not on Esmeralda’s radar.
“He does.” And it helped. The two had an understanding. She was the optimist and he balanced her out, or so he liked to claim. It especially helped Esmeralda when sometimes she felt like she was missing things because of language or culture barriers.
“I’m glad you have more friends.” Kitty smiled at her, perhaps the most relaxed she’d felt around/about Esmeralda since before the fight. So she couldn’t help teasing a little. “He really is cute though. I’d make a move but I’m already seeing someone.”
Kitty relaxing did help Esmeralda relax. Oh, she knew that Clopin was still around somewhere so she wasn’t worried, not that she had been before. But there were different levels and with Kitty being tense, Esmeralda had been as well. True, she didn’t have many friends but the ones she did? Those were the ones the dancer held onto.
“Really? I’m happy for you.” And she was. Just because Esmeralda had never seen herself as one who would see someone in the sense of a relationship (and at least she had managed to catch that reference now), and thus it was something she had made her peace with. Even with what the dreams had shown her… Even so, she was happy for those who found it. Though she completely missed the fact that Kitty was teasing her about Peter.
Kitty nodded, letting the teasing drop for now. If anything happened for Esmeralda it would happen, and she knew her friend was content with her life as it was. “I met her at the museum. She works with antiquities. She’s like… sunshine.”
Esmeralda nodded as Kitty spoke, though she had to wonder if it was the woman who had come into the Court soon after the fight with Kitty. She remembered something about an interest in history however so many people came and went she could never be certain until they became regulars.
“Well, she sounds lovely.”
It might have been. And she was a good influence, but Kitty shut up before she started gushing. “She is...You’d probably like her, too.”
She popped a scone in her mouth, and once she was done chewing, she asked, “Can I bring the kids down sometime? It might be good for them. But I’m not sure the policy on kids.”
“She sounds like someone I’d like.” Then again, Esmeralda was pretty easy to get along with. She might not make friends even though she was personable. She just liked talking to people and learning from them or just making connections in her own way.
As for the kids.
“Of course.” After all, while they served alcohol, they had plenty of non alcoholic drinks, and none of the dances or acts were inappropriate. Tavern or not, the general feeling meant was one of camaraderie and family. Usually it was just adults. But there were no rules against children.
Kitty figured it was impossible not to like Diana. But she was biased. She perked up, smiling widely. "That's great! I just think, it's good to see different cultures besides their own, and mine and the general American one. Especially since there's a lot of misinformation and slander about yours in media."
Esmeralda returned the smile and nodded, “It is good to see different cultures and learn. I’m not surprised that there is.” She had heard more stories again mentioned while walking, people discussing the stories they heard by the likes of some Tucker Carlson and Fox News and just general things that were wrong.
“Whenever you wish to bring them, feel free.”
.
Fighting with education would help. And once the assholes were scared off, the Court wouldn't have to worry about anything like that for awhile at least.
"Thanks..." She nodded at the scone. "So does that scone pass muster?"
Laughing some at the question, Esmeralda nodded.
“Yes, yes it does.”