Who: Echo and Priya Where: Echo’s cabin When: Sunday afternoon, during the SoTC! Rating: Low Status: Complete
Priya dropping by had been a surprise to Echo, but a welcome one. She’d said nothing about Boyd’s ghost showing up during the mass hauntings, and had been more or less alone ever since. While the knock at the door had almost landed an arrow in one of her only friends, she had relaxed after hearing the other woman’s familiar Aussie accent through the door, and tugged it open to let her in. By then, the snow already seemed to be coming down and the brunette studied the sky for a moment after Priya entered, thoughtful. None of her hundreds of personalities had any experience as a meteorologist, but more than a few were from the general area, and told her what she needed to know. After shutting and bolting the door, Echo set her crossbow down and turned to the other woman while giving her a small smile.
“I don’t think you’ll make it back to the prison for a couple days. This storm’s going to be a bad one, I’m thinking.” Pushing a few strands of dark hair behind one ear, she nodded towards the fireplace where she had a pot set up with some soup in it, courtesy of the survival skills well known by Jenny, taught to her by her four older brothers. “You hungry?” She asked as she stepped over to get herself a bowl. It was probably the last bit of fresh meat they’d see for a couple days, at least.
Priya hadn’t left the prison in far too long. She was getting a bit stir crazy but she wasn’t up for another trip to the Seattle Dollhouse either. There were too many memories there, too many regrets especially with Tony’s constant trips back and forth. Or should she say Victor? She wasn’t even sure he knew who he was on some days. She had tagged along with one of the many vampires protecting the prison after kissing Tony goodbye. She knew he would worry about her absence but she was perfectly safe with Echo. Priya was a force to be reckoned with herself but Echo was like nothing they had ever seen.
“Sure,” she said. “I guess I could eat.” She smiled slightly in Echo’s direction. “I have been getting a bit tired of the same old thing in the prison cafeteria.” Not that she would complain about anything any of the cooks came up with. It was their area of expertise. Some of Sierra’s imprints knew how to cook but somehow it seemed less important than her medical knowledge.
“How is it? Living there with all of them?” Echo asked that out of curiosity as she turned towards the fire and began to ladle soup into two bowls, dividing it evenly. Reaching into a jar on the mantle above the fireplace, she dropped a pinch of herbs into each bowl to add a bit more flavor, then grabbed two spoons. Bringing them back to Priya, she passed her one as she sat at one end of the couch and gestured for the Australian to join her, absently kicking off her boots and tucking her feet under a large fur blanket that rest there. “Is it anything like before, in the Dollhouse?” Large dark eyes studied Priya as she dipped her spoon into the bowl and began to eat slowly, not seeming to notice the heat. She was careful, generally, to try and maintain a solid “Echo” presence around others, but the wild taste of the soup caused a couple of her imprints to stir in discomfort, and she carefully quashed them with a mental admonishment.
“No,” Priya said. “It’s nothing like The Dollhouse.” It wasn’t. The Dollhouse had been so calming and soothing. Like an overpriced spa full of helpless children. The prison was not like that at all. People had their wits about them but the amenities had also gone to hell. Priya supposed she couldn’t complain. Most places didn’t even have hot water for showers these days. She had no real complaints about the prison. At least she had Adelle for a roommate. Some of the people in that place were a horror show although she kept her opinions mostly to herself. She saw a lot of people in and out of the infirmary so she tried to keep them at a bit of a distance. “How’s living out here? How do you keep the zombies from breaking down your doors and windows?”
She nodded slightly at Priya’s words. To her, the Dollhouse had been a home and a prison at the same time, as her own mind had previously been. The thought of living with so many people in an actual prison unnerved her on several levels...and not just because more than one of her imprints was of a more criminal element.
At the question, Echo gave a faint, wry smile and followed it up with a shrug. “Just lucky I guess.” She let that hang for a beat, then continued slightly more seriously. “There are a few traps here and there, but mainly? It’s not so hard to hear them coming. And as long as I don’t leave my door open, they don’t even know I’m here or try to get in. I might kill them through the windows, but I try not to go looking for trouble too much.” She gave a second shrug. “Living out here is...almost peaceful, most of the time. Quiet.” Which left her plenty of others to talk to, in her head. “I kinda like it.”
“I can understand that.” Priya sometimes longed for the solitude herself. She had heard rumors that there were beings who could read minds and emotions and thoughts and Priya couldn’t imagine how any of those people could stand to be in the prison. It felt like almost constant chaos and while Priya’s senses may have been extra alert thanks to her many imprints, she had no ability to read minds. “Sometimes it feels a bit crowded but it’s safe at least. Won’t you consider coming to live there too? I would fee even safer with you around to watch our backs.” And maybe, just maybe Echo could talk some sense into Tony.
She sighed quietly, shifting a little. “I’ll think about it. I’m not too keen on the idea of living in close quarters with a lot of other people,” she said quietly, then looked over at her friend. “Besides, it sounds like they have plenty of people to handle the heavy lifting. it might be better if I stayed out here to keep an eye on the perimeter and so forth for you.” Lifting another spoonful of soup, Echo blew lightly on it, then swallowed. “Is that why you came out here? To try to talk me into moving there?”
Priya considered Echo’s sentiment. That somehow she could stay on the outside and keep a lookout from there. Maybe she could but it was dangerous out in these woods for anyone. Even for someone with the many varied talents of Echo. “Partly,” she admitted. “It would be nice to have another friend inside but I understand why some people find it suffocating. I still think you could be a great help on the inside but I won’t push the issue if you really are happier out here. You had just better not let anything happen to you.” Because Priya couldn’t stand to lose another person. Her family was all back in Melbourne and she had no idea what had happened to them. Tony and Echo and Adelle were all Priya had left and she wasn’t letting any of them go. Ever.
“You know me...nothing could happen if I wanted it too. I have come back from the dead a couple times,” she said with a small smile. “But I’ll think about it. And I may go and stay for a while, just to help out, and see what it’s like.” Finishing her dinner, Echo set the bowl aside. “You’ll have to live with that for now,” she said lightly, softening the words with a slightly wider smile. Echo had no intention of letting her friends down, though she wished still that Priya and Tony could go off alone somewhere and just be. Together. It was all she’d ever wanted for them, and sometimes still wished they hadn’t gotten caught up in her battle.
“How’s Tony?”
“He’s Tony. Or Victor, I never can really tell anymore. You know how he is. He thinks he can save the world with the tech.” Priya made a face. She could understand why Tony felt the way he did about it but she just didn’t agree. Uploading personalities and skills into people just wasn’t natural. It also wasn’t supernatural which left it in a completely disturbing grey area. Priya was aware that both she and Echo fell into the grey area as well but that didn’t mean that they had to drag other people down with them. “He takes trips to the Seattle Dollhouse at least twice a week now. I can only imagine how far he’s come with the tech.” She didn’t ask a lot of questions about it because they only lead to arguments.
While Echo didn’t think the tech was the answer, she did feel that it was part of the answer, but she could understand why Priya felt the way she did. Shifting to draw the blanket a little more over her legs, she leaned against the back of the couch, resting her elbow there so she could lay her cheek on her fist, studying the other woman with a faint look of concern in her eyes. “Do you want me to talk to him? Get him to back off? Or I could go with him and make sure it’s on the up and up?”
When it came right down to things, Echo probably wouldn’t actually stop Tony. They lived in a different world now, and if the tech was allowed to evolve the way she’d seen in the attic...it wouldn’t matter anymore, what any of them wanted. They’d have to use whatever resources they had.
“Do whatever you think is right.” She trusted Echo. And she highly doubted that if Tony was getting The Dollhouse up and running again that Echo wouldn’t be a part of that in some way. Priya supposed that in some way they were all always going to revolve around that wretched place. She loved Tony and Echo was her closest friend. It wasn’t as if she could turn her back on it. It would mean turning her back on those closest to her.
She stirred at her soup a bit, she still hadn’t eaten a bite of it. She forced some down and found it strangely palatable. “Maybe I should get more involved too. You know, just to make sure he’s alright? I keep thinking that if I ignore it, it will go away.”
“It probably wouldn’t hurt, actually.” She watched Priya for a moment, then continued. “If you’re there, you’d be able to be an anchor for him. He knows you don’t condone it, but at least he wouldn’t be alone, and think that he has to decide it all for himself. You could help influence his decisions, somewhat.” It may have been a little callous, but considering their lives now, Echo figured they could afford that.
“You’re right. I should get more involved. I just don’t want my involvement to signify approval. I know I was in The Dollhouse for different reasons than Tony. They helped him. He sees the tech as a good thing. I can’t afford to take that position.” Because if she thought of The Dollhouse helping her it made her sick to her stomach. The Dollhouse had helped Nolan and the pain was fresh after he had haunted her last month. “Have you seen Paul?” she asked curiously. “Any idea where he might be?”
“I’m fairly sure he knows you don’t approve, Priya.” Echo kept her tone light and easy, almost teasing. “And, yes, they helped him. Maybe not in the best way, but they did. As much as I hated that place, they did actually help a lot of people. If Machiavelli was around, he’d have been their number one fan, probably.” Her own feelings were too mixed and too complicated, so she just shook her head over the entire issue.
When Priya mentioned Paul, her eyes flickered briefly, sadness, loneliness, loss, and love all showing for an instant before she shut that away and looked over to the fire, keeping her face expressionless. “No, I haven’t. For all I know, he could be one of the walking dead, by now.” But a part of Echo didn’t think so. She thought that, just maybe, she’d know if he was gone. Hopefully he was still out there somewhere and heading towards her.
“Don’t think that way,” Priya scolded Echo. “If anyone can make it out there it’s Paul. He’s probably searching for you right now. He was always searching for you.” Priya thought Echo and Paul were a beautiful love story. The haunted FBI agent searching for the missing girl, obsessed with finding her and saving her. The white knight, the fairytale prince. He and Echo were meant to be together the way that Priya was meant to be with Anthony. And that was the problem with Priya’s blind hatred for all things dollhouse. The Dollhouse had brought Tony into her life. She was lucky for it.
“I’m sure you’re right. And...yeah, I guess he was.” Thanks to Alpha, but she didn’t mention that. Alpha was way too twisted to bring into this conversation, or any conversation, really. “He’ll find me. Someday.” Because there was no way he was dead. Sometimes, she felt bad because he had always been looking for her, but she’d never gone searching for him. All Echo ever did was her own thing, and made him come to her. It’d always been that way. “Who knows, maybe he’ll show up after the storm?” Echo flashed a faint smile, trying to keep up with Priya’s optimism. She didn’t want to kill the comfortable mood.
“It could happen.” Priya smiled encouragingly at Echo before finishing her soup. She glanced out the window and saw how hard and fast the snow was coming down. She could hear the wind whistle through the cabin when it really picked up and she sighed. “I don’t think I’ll be making it back to the prison for the party in this weather.” Priya got on her phone to message Tony that she wouldn’t be coming back but frowned when she tried. “The network is down.”