complicated situations -- Billie/Open

[KARINA LI ITO]

I'M H E L L ON H E E L S, SAY WHAT YOU WILL

I DONE MADE THE D E V I L A DEAL. HE MADE ME PRETTY HE MADE ME SMART
AND I'M GONNA B R E A K ME A MILLION H E A R T S

Karina had about had enough of Persephone.

There was just nothing here for her anymore and it was aggravating in the worst way. She tried to get on, working at her boring job, eating her protein in varying flavors and color, occasionally even dipping into her substantial savings to splurge on something like fresh produce. It wasn't enough though. Not after everything. It was hard to admit that she'd become accustomed to living a certain way. A way that was a far cry from this monotonous life of blah.

Her only saving grace was her books. Now that she could read, and read well, she indulged in doing so at every opportunity that was presented to her. It only kept the niggling feeling of restlessness at bay for short periods of time though.

Kara was bound and determined to get off Persephone. The problem was figuring out where she was going to go from there. She supposed she could take up with a ship for a while, but she'd never lived long on a ship before. She'd only ever used them to travel from point A to point B.

Heaving a sigh, Karina fidgeted with her hair-- book in hands. She was precariously seated on a stool near the ship dock, watching the people (and ships) come and go. Nothing called out to her in particular, so she waited.

Something would come along eventually. If not today, then another day.

Hopefully.

[BILLIE-LYNN CLARKE]

I never thought they'd mean everything to me

I miss the years that were erased
I miss all the little things
outfit


She didn't make it a habit to be on Persephone. Billie rarely ever came back, and she made it a point to only be there for a day, maximum. If it was sentimental or just mental, it was unclear why she came back. It had been two years since her last visit. Four years since she had seen anyone worth noting. It would be a lie if Billie said she didn't miss some things about her home. Like her old friends. The market. Things that someone of her previous social standing shouldn't have ever become attached to, really. 

But the dirt crunching under her boots was comforting. She could feel the hot wind on her face and smell the dusty air. Hear the sounds that used to ignore back when she would run with the 'wrong' crowd. Now, ships were her home. Short stays on rim planets were home. It made her heart ache a little, but Persephone could only be a memory. It had to stay that way, until her sixteen year old face disappeared from new feeds for good. 

She was headed back to current ship, one that would take her to a rim planet, after simply walking the busy streets. Keeping to shadows for as long as she could. The hood of her jacket was pulled low over her face and she kept her gaze on the ground for the most part. She could see the top of the ship she was traveling on just ahead of her, and glanced up just to keep an eye on it. If she just kept moving, then no one would give her a second thought. 

At least, she had the intention to just keep going, until she saw a shock of red hair that belonged to a familiar face only a few feet in front of her. And Billie stopped. Causing someone behind her to almost collide into her back, but Billie didn't even notice. She was thinking about the handful of kids she used to run with. And there was no mistaking it, this was Karina. Someone she used to call friend, and then Billie had disappeared without much of an explanation. Her thoughts froze and she just stood there, staring with wide eyes. There was no telling where Karina's allegiances lay now. Part of Billie wanted to run up to her. But the smarter part was absolutely terrified.  She lowered the hood of her jacket against her better judgment and took a stiff step forward, before wincing at herself and standing still again. For Billie, this was like seeing a ghost. 

[KARINA LI ITO]

Kara had been staring off into the distance, not really seeing anything-- when she saw her. They're had been a pack of street kids she'd run with as a youngster, and though she rarely saw any of them these days it would be completely impossible to forget their faces.

The woman shifted, trying to get a better look. It had to be her.

Same skinny frame, same brown hair, same eyes.

Her old friend seemed to shrink under her scrutiny, pulling the hood of her jacket up and over her slender face. Like that would help. Karina wondered why she was acting so sketchy... then again-- wouldn't be the first person on Persephone to be on the wrong side of the law.

As the other woman took a jerking step forward, Karina darted off her stool-- half worried that her former friend would bolt like a rabbit.

"Billie?" She asked, her voice barely audible over the noise of ships unloading and hundreds of conversations taking place.

[BILLIE-LYNN CLARKE]

I never thought they'd mean everything to me

I miss the years that were erased
I miss all the little things


Billie didn't hear her name so much as see it. She could tell exactly what the other had said, and she visibly winced, snapping the hood of her jacket back up so her face would fall to shadows. Billie had no idea, however much she had trusted this girl years ago, how much she could trust her now. If there was even a drop of doubt, Billie knew she was going to have to run. So she didn't exactly move from where she was. And she also knew that she couldn't just stand there staring all day.

“Are you still a friend?” She asked, only loud enough for Karina to hear, and maybe a few strangers that passed around her. But not loud enough to raise suspicion or draw unwanted attention. Her thoughts darted to the fact that she had no gun. Just a small knife hastily shoved into the inside pocket of her jacket. And then she scolded herself for immediately thinking of her own preservation. This was someone she used to run around with. Used to tell silly secrets and view Persephone as an oyster ready for the taking.

The past four years may have not been kind, or comfortable. But they certainly didn't warrant the use of weapons on someone she knew, or at least used to know, well. Even so, caution was Billie's new best friend. Clamping her lower lip in her teeth, Billie took a few steps forward. Enough to show Karina that yes, she was Billie. But allowing herself room to flee if the situation ever called for it. Billie sincerely hoped that it wouldn't. She had lacked companionship from anyone since she left, even if it was her doing. She missed laughing with someone, or just talking to them in a manner that was comfortable and known. She missed having someone by her side that knew what she liked and what she didn't. How high she could jump or why exactly she had a fondness for small, furry animals when no one else seemed to. Billie missed the simplicity and complexity, of friendship, both.

“I know it ain't the most normal question, but I need to know.” She added, trying to swallow the lump in her throat that had decided to form out of her fleeting panic.

[KARINA LI ITO]

OOC: It's short, and overdue-- I'm sorry. I just got home to LA from New York last night, and I'm flying out tomorrow for Hawaii.


"Are you still a friend?" Her childhood companion called, wariness coloring her voice. Karina paused for a moment, looking at the other young woman with curiosity. Who'd she run into that'd made her so damn jumpy? Alliance maybe? No, most folks didn't get out of Alliance scuffles with as little damage as a jumpy disposition.

Billie's wariness made Karina uneasy. She wasn't trying to get wrapped up in anything dangerous. There were certain codes she followed-- set for by herself. Her number one rule was not to do anything that'd get her killed.

"The answer kinda depends on why you want to know." Kara shot back, edging away from her once friend ever so slowly. There were some things in the verse that one just didn't want to get caught up in. Things that made other people nervous did so for a reason.

“I know it ain't the most normal question, but I need to know.” Billie elaborated, sounding (mostly) sincere. The redhead surveyed the woman in front of her, green eyes flicking left and right for any signs of danger. Slavery wasn't common on Persephone, but it was a booming industry on some of the outermost planets. Karina had absolutely no intention of getting robbed, raped, or picked up and sold off by anyone that Billie might be running with now.

"I'm a friend to you, so long as you're still one to me." The woman hedged, shuffling nervously from foot to foot.

[BILLIE-LYNN CLARKE]

I never thought they'd mean everything to me

I miss the years that were erased
I miss all the little things


Billie pulled her bottom lip through her teeth. She doubted Karina had reason to hide. She almost found herself wishing she could sit out by the docks with a book too. But that would mean she would have never left Persephone in the first place, and leaving was the biggest decision Billie had made. And even if there was the ever looming chance of being carted back to her family, it was a decision Billie didn't regret in the slightest. For one, she would have never felt the joy of flying a boat. And for another, she would still be under the crushing thumb of her parents, forced into custom dresses and act like she had class. 

A rush of emotion washed over Billie in the course of a few seconds. Relief that the girl in front of her was still her friend, still the girl she had run around with. Sorrow, that she had left without a word. And because of that, she was being looked at as if she might disappear again. Which Billie would do, inevitably that was just Billie's nature. But she wasn't just going to shimmer away this time without reason. She could at least give Karina some small insight as to why she had done it in the first place.


"You grew up since I last saw you. I'm surprised you're still here." Billie said with a gentle and familiar smile, nodding in response to still being a friend. Her posture relaxing and she walked up to Karina in a comfortable manner, shoving her hands into the pockets of her jacket.  "It's real nice to see you, Karina. I'm sorry it didn't happen sooner." Her smile dimmed a little and she glanced down at the dirt under her boots. She probably should have apologized for leaving in the first place, but she wasn't sorry for it. She was just sorry that she hadn't kept in touch with the few people that had known her best.