Gentrification

Posted on Aug 22, 2014 @ 12:08pm by Captain Kassandra Thytos

Mission: The Tangled Webs We Weave

"Gentrification"
(Cont. Homecoming pt 2)
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Location: EARTH
Stardate: 2.140806.2152
Scene: San Fransisco downtown

Kassandra grimaced as she lagged behind her niece and nephew like a
woeful puppy. She watched the youthful spring of the two as they
walked ahead of her, seemingly unflagging despite the heat and having
been at the process of shopping for the last five hours.

Biologically hers, Kassandra couldn’t help but wonder how the two had
turned out as they had. Tall, graceful, elegant, and undeniably good
looking, it was as though being incubated in her sister Cyril’s womb
had somehow burned away all Kassandra’s faults and reshaped the two
children into perfection. Asta features favored her father, Erik
Elgin, in her strawberry blonde hair, a regal nose, high cheekbones,
and pillow-y pouty lips. Her piercing blue eyes were all Kassandra’s,
as well as her powerful, Amazonian build. Lysander, on the other hand,
was a perfect masculine copy of Kassandra in features, though the
stubborn chin, and angular jaw that were faults in a feminine face
were dashing in a man’s. His build was willowy, lean, and he moved
with a sort of languid fluidity.

She sighed as Lysander motioned her up to yet another store.

“Remind me again why we’re out shopping again?” Kassandra sighed,
shifting the bags in her hand from one hand to another.

“Replacing some of the stuff that got blown up with your ship?”
Lysander said as he held a leather jacket up to her. Asta made a noise
of agreement, and then put up a blouse in some color Kassandra wasn’t
entirely sure she knew the name of.

“I don’t need that.” Kassandra protested. “I have a replicator and I
really only need uniforms, bein’ back in the service an all.”

“You’re not on duty 24-7.” Lysander pointed out. “You’ve got to have
something nice to wear if you, say, meet someone? Want to go on a
date?”

“I’m too old to be meetin’ people.” Kassandra rolled her eyes. “But
since you’re bound an’ determined to spendin’ my allocations, you have
fun playin’ dress up with a hologram. I’m out for a smoke.”

She ambled over to the scanner and let the computer take her
measurements to project a holographic mannequin the twins could use to
try outfits on her. It was a familiar ritual- her room back on the now
immolated DISCOVERY had been full of unworn outfits the twins had
bought for her to wear in an attempt to polish her rough edges. She
let them do it, she knew it pleased them to fuss over her like an
improvement project, and it was their way of taking care of her, much
as she had taken care of them after her sister’s death.

Kassandra tucked herself into the lip of the alley way that ran down
the side of the shop and lit a cigarette, ignoring the dirty looks
that she received from passersby. She directed her eyes towards her
feet, and used her sensor nets to people watch.

She froze, the cigarette perched haphazardly at the corner of her
mouth as a tall, elegantly dressed gentleman began to head her way. It
wasn’t overt, rather casual, and to anyone else the motions of the
dark skinned man would have been aimless, their meeting incidental.
She knew better, she knew the pattern, the overly relaxed, overly
random way he stalked her, moving closer and closer through seemingly
guileless movements.

She forced herself to relax, give the impression of rapt attention to
the ritual of her vice, make him confident in her surprise and
unpreparedness. She focused her sensors on Lysander’s shopping bag,
hoping to find something of use for self defense. Paranoia, it seemed,
would have to be a way of life for her for the moment. She made a
noise of satisfaction as she found something she could use, and slid
it up her cuff where she could get it easily.

She turned her focus to the man who was now half a block from her. He
was chatting with a woman as he pet her dog- a little Boston terrier-
but his eyes were fixed in her direction. He had nothing as crude as a
knife or phaser on him, but her sensors made out a hypospray filled
with a compound she wasn’t familiar with, and in her book, unknown
meant probably dangerous. Or at least, very suspicious.

He stood up and sidled over to her.

“Miss Thytos, my name is Mr. Johnson.” The man deftly blocked her exit
from the alley and invaded her personal space, forcing her to take a
few steps deeper into the alley. Now she wasn’t visible to the
passersby. Kassandra felt a twinge of respect- the man was good. “I
have some… Issues to discuss with you on the behalf of mutual
friends.”

“If you’re talkin’ bout who I think you are, then you can tell em they
ain’t no friends of mine.” Kassandra kept her posture relaxed, loose,
and non threatening. “I don’t appreciate bein’ put in the position
they put me in- ‘specially without knowin’ I was being put there in
the first place. I told ‘em from the start that I don’t kill non
combatants.”

“They do regret that you were not given the easy induction into the
cause that we had hoped for.” His fingers curled around the hypospray
in his pocket, and Kassandra slid her impromptu weapon into the palm
of her hand. “They would like you to reconsider. They could still use
someone like you, and that our beliefs are much more aligned than you
seem to think.”

“You tell ‘em to fuck off. If there were any chance I’d have joined
their club, they ruined it.” His hand arched up, but Kassandra was
ready. The slender piece of metal in her hand flashed in the sunlight
as she drove it into Mr. Johnson’s wrist as it came towards her,
hypospray at the ready. He make a squealing noise and the hypospray
dropped from his numb fingers. She was pleased to note that the
knitting needle had neatly slid into the radial nerve. Kassandra’s
foot came down on the hypospray. “You’re gonna have to do better than
that if you want to kill me.”

The man’s face twisted in pain and anger.

“This isn’t the end of this. Don’t forget why you’re even back in
uniform, Major! If it weren’t for our friends you’d still be a lowlife
contractor drifting and living off of the charity of old buddies.” He
spat. “Do you still want a career?”

“Yeah, I mighta gotten the job cos of them, but I definitely remember
the part where I could possibly lose it right now because of them
getting’ me caught up in their cockamamie, ill planned and conceived
plots. Fortunately for me Kane is a decent sort, and has my back which
is more than can be said about our friends. So please spare me the
threats, I’m not a complete moob.”

“Your kids.” His eyes glinted with cunning. “They will come after
them, you know. You’re a loose end and they don’t like those. It’s
join the fold or watch them destroy you.”

Kassandra grinned, and gave a sharp bray of amusement.

“You think that’s an idle threat, Major? Do you care so little that
you find it amusing?”

“No, I just think you’re an idiot. If you guys know so much about me
and my kids, then what in the seven rings of hell makes you think I
never taught those two how to protect themselves?” She stabbed a
finger to point over his shoulder. He turned around to see the twins
standing at the mouth of the alley. Asta had a small phaser leveled at
him, while Lysander held a wicked looking blade used to trim his cello
strings in a confident and practiced grip. “They’ve been learnin’ all
I know since they were seven. If they ain’t learned how to protect
themselves by now, I ain’t done right by them.”

“I think you need to leave now.” Asta said, her voice liquid nitrogen
cold. “Auntie Kass would be pretty upset if we killed you, so it’s
really better for everyone to go away and forget you were here.”

Mr. Johnson glared angrily, and strode past the two, knocking into
them as he went.

“Was that my 1.5 millimeter knitting needle?” Lysander turned to watch
the man as he disappeared into the crowd. “It’s going to take me
forever to put my knitting onto a new pair of needles.”

“Yeah, sorry.” Kassandra paused thoughtfully. “Those things are pretty
handy, maybe you should teach me how to knit.”

Lysander buried his face into his hand with a smack.

“You know they aren’t weapons, right?” He said around his palm.

“Maybe not, but they’re pretty handy, and you can bring them anywhere.
Teach me tonight.” Kassandra picked up the shopping bags and hustled
them out of the alley. “Now can we go get lunch and gelatos? You
promised me gelatos if I went shopping with you. I want to go to that
place that does chestnut and that tasty pear and crunchy gingery burnt
sugar thingie. And Indian food, I liked that Soggy Pan Ear thing.”

“It’s Saag paneer.” Lysander said with a somewhat amused and resigned
glance at his sister. “And alright."

* * * * * * * * * * * * *
NRPG: Total fluff. Been kinda burned out, also entering the endless
wedding season, so I'm gone on the weekends, but hopefully another
longer one out soon.

Alix Fowler
The frazzled voice of:

Captain Kassandra Thytos
Marine CO
Unassigned