Feb 17 21:57:33 105 PA

From Chronicles

Katsumi arrives to the AIM huge hangar. She is wet from the outside rain and snow, holding her hands in her leather jackets pockets. She lets away a few sneezes, and a cough; but those couldn't stop her from the aim to find Cali. There is a huge robot in one side of the wall, several workers try to repair the damage that it has suffered. Katsumi eyes wonders in the steel-man, studying it carefully for a minute before she continues her pursuit.

Near the truck, a blanket is on the ground, with a motorbike one side, and a hover bike the other. The motorbike is missing most of it's engine, and the hover bike's innards are spread over the blanket, surrounding a Caliopa. She is working on one piece, her hands moving swiftly and easily. Her forehead is wrinkled in concentration.

Katsumi walks near to the pocket venus, still holding her hands in warm. She stares from a safe distance before call her name. "Hey Cali. Put every tools down before you want to use it to kill me." The Asian woman comments with a sad playfulness in her deep voice. "But I guess you have a lot to say to me."

Caliopa 's head jerks up and she twists, resting her arm on her bent knee. "Katsumi." Her voice is flat, unemotional. "What makes you think I've got one single thing to say to you?" She clicks the two pieces in her hands back together and rises from the blanket, turning to face Katsumi, her hand resting on her hip. "Don't believe I got a reason to want to see you."

Katsumi smiles faintly, keeping her eyes on Cali. "Well if you don't have any... I have a reason to talk." she kneels down, still holding her smoldering grey eyes on the operator. "I know that Robert was here, and told you some things. And I know that you live in a wonderland, but you need to know the truth. After that you could do anything you want, even go to the police and tell them my murder. I will face any consequence that you see fit to my crime. Just listen me carefully once." she speaks calmly in her deep voice.

Caliopa turns away, bending over the hover bike, her plait falling forwards, "Busy." She comments abruptly, no hint of any friendliness in her movements, "I ain't got plans on handing you in, given that it was me that done the actual thing. So if that is what you wanted, you have it." She is putting the engine together as she speaks, her hands moving automatically.

"No. That is not I want." Katsumi answers. "I want your attention just for a half-hour. It is important Cali!" she straightens up and steps closer to the girl. "You have full of righteous anger, don't hold that back. It will eat you away."

Caliopa glances over, her face expressionless. "My feelings are my business, and mebbe that of those I count as friends. Don't figure I count you as one because it ain't so, least I figure it so. What is important to you, ain't so to me." She fits a final piece into the bike with a satisfied grunt and straightens.

"Fine. I don't need your friendship Cali." Katsumi agrees calmly. "I just want to you to listen. I loved Perry, like you. But you don't know him as I do. You don't know how much people he has murdered without any remorse. People like you and me. Who posess something other than the normal humans haven't. Tell me, do you know what is the role of the psi-stalkers in the Coalition?"

Caliopa swings a leg over the bike, giving Katsumi a blank look, "Ain't enough to kill him, you gotta murder his memory as well?" She turns the bike's engine over, listening to the roar, and then the purr, her eyes narrowed in concentration. "What he did don't change what I did, and what I felt."

Katsumi raises her eyebrows, showing a clear suprise. "Cali, you couldn't so blind. You lived in Chi-Town. You know what fate lies to us. We have to be regitrated and treat like a second class citizen at best." she hesitates a bit, glancing somewhere else. "You just changed something. If you did not do that in time, you had to face something horrible. What do you think, how would he reacted if he would know that you are abnormal like me?"

Caliopa tilts her head slightly, listening to the engine, her eyes narrowed. The concentrations lasts a moment before she looks up at Katsumi. "Reckon he would have told them, just like anyone else who didn't want something from me, just like happened to my pa. Which is why he wasn't told, nor was going to be." She hesitates, a small frown between her eyes, "I ain't as stupid as you think something, Kat, but I had hopes of having someone, that as liked me for me, not for what my brain and hands can do."

"Cali. He was a Colonel in the secret police." Katsumi explains, kneeling down once more. "He worked with mutants like me. It would only take a time when somebody would sense your abilities, like I did. Our orders was clear, we had to neutralize any threat like you. And that was in my mind when I first sensed your presence in Perry's room. But I wanted to see my rival first." she stares at the engine now. "I disobeided my orders firt at that time."

There is a flinch behind Cali's eyes for a milisecond before she covers it with a hard look. "And this time I should believe because this time you are telling me the truth...on the say so of a woman who lied to me." She turns the throttle on the bike, eyes narrowed, listening to the roar intently, before turning it off. "You'll do,..." She murmurs, dismounting and facing Katsumi face on, her hands resting on her hips. "Got more you want to say?"

The Aisan woman nods. "I do." she glances at Cali once more. "What do you think, what would they do if they find out that I have talked you? We would be both executed. It was much safe that you did not know my plans. It was enough to me to know." Katsumi balances with one of her hand in the ground, or perhaps she just want to feel something stable. "The whole system there was a lie. What did Perry told you about his work? Did he ever told that he ordered us to produce the allocated crime investigation? That we put false evidences to innocent people, just to meet with numbers? I feel no regret what I did with Perry, and you too shouldn't. I loved him also, he was my first lover, and educated me many things. But he was a cold-blooded murderer. If you wish, you could hate me as much as you like." it seems she would like to say something else as well, but instead she remains in silence.

Caliopa tilts her head before she lifts both eyebrows slightly. "You done now?" She bends, kneeling on the blanket to collect tools, fitting them precisely into a tool chest. Each piece has individual places made for it, "I ain't a killer, no reason made me before you did." She glances up, "What he done, he done himself, and ain't none of me in it. What you and I done, it took a bit of me, and that ain't shiny." She shuts the lid on the chest, clicking a lock into place. "Ain't in me to hate, not right now, but I ain't naming you friend. Don't look to me for food nor comfort, because it ain't here."

Katsumi gives out a depressed laugh. "I don't need your energy to feed, as I don't need anyone comfort." she straightens up. "I am trained to be a murderer and I don't feel a regret to count one more to it, especially when I know that Perry wasn't an innocent man. If I feel any regret it is for those I had to neutralize, yet I know that they where innocent. I am glad that I have not to do it again" The Asian woman still watches the girl. "But you are my pack mate now, want it or not." she says with a serious voice, like if that concept mean a lot to her.

Caliopa picks up her tool chest, moving it towards the other bike, her plait swinging with the moment. She opens it, starting to set out tools and bike parts before she replies. "I ain't trained for anything but which you see me doing, Kat. Things that I done, they are going to stay with me." She turns, her eyes shadowed, "And the things that might have been too. I'm glad that things are all shiny for you, truly, but you can't expect your fella to come and tell me things and me not having feelings over them."

"Do you truly thinks it is only about me?" Katsumi replies with some annoyance in her voice. "I am not glad what I did, but I know you would ended in a much harsh treatment than I. You feel bad that you killed your lover, that you even don't know. Do you know how it is to arrest young children, knowing that their only crime is to possess something beyond the human average? Knowing that they will be murdered? You could act like an innocent creature, lured into a trap, but let me ask a harsh question. Don't you think that your ignore of Perry's work was a much more crime than to help to murder him? It is so easy to dig your head into the ground, enjoying the temporal warmness of love. I don't blame you to ignore it that time, but now."

Caliopa sits down on the blanket, tossing her plait over one shoulder to clear it from her way. "What makes you think I knew about it? All he told me was that he taught, nothing more. We didn't spend our time together talking over work, see." She reaches for a tool, her face intent as she begins working on an engine part. "Can't ignore what I don't know, and I only got your word that tis so." She looks up, her eyes hard, "Why would I believe you?"

"Fine. Don't believe me." Katsumi smirks sadly. "Ask around, perhaps starting with Kaomas. He know what are the method of the Coalition. Or you could ask Renos, or that cat-woman officer. Perhaps even that young teenager called Kid would tell you about the crimes what the Coalition does to the non-humans." she takes back her hands to her pockets. "Did you ever was with Perry in a restaurant? Have you seen that machines in the entrance? Every of us who is different have a small chip inside somewhere in our body. It bibs when we try to enter the 'clean' areas. I have a barcode as well, registering that I am not a human. Have you never noticed all of those in Chi-Town?"

Caliopa puts her tools down with a heavy sigh and looks up at the other woman for a long moment before she speaks. Her face is sad, the corners of her eyes and mouth pulled down. "Kat, it ain't that I never noticed, it ain't that I saw it, even. I worked all the time, slept when I wasn't working. I know they took folks, hell, they took my parents for the same work I do, same things." She picks up one tool, turning it over in her hands. "Mostly, since they got took, I worked. Didn't go out much til Perry, and it wasn't the places we were in that mattered. I know what the Coalition did, I just ain't sure Perry was as dark as you're painting him..."

Listening but bending her head over the work in front of her, Caliopa glances up quickly, "I ain't saying it ain't true, just that it ain't something I knew, nor something I'm sure of." She speaks gently, her hands working on cleaning the piece in front of her, "Just you got to realise that it weren't work Perry nor I were talking about. Not mine, nor his." Her face softens at the memories, and she half smiles, "Just us, and the future." She shrugs, turning her attention back to the bike.

Kid comes into AIM at pace, blissfully unaware. After a brief pause to divest herself of those winter articles and unzip her jacket, she takes her standard route right over to Cali's truck. She has a plastic bag in hand today and is in the midst of scanning the remainder of the great building when she hears.. that name.." And at a distance greater than the norm for sure. Her head cocks and her eyes dart toward the truck. Her approach stilled, she takes careful stock before approaching closer.

Katsumi kneels in the near of Cali and her engine. "I do understand that you couldn't aware of that side of his life." she keeps her grey eyes on the gorgeous girl. "If he would be just that person that you loved... that I loved... I would be glad. I never wanted to hurt you in any way, after I met you in the first time. But it wasn't what happened. I am deeply sorry for your loss. I've lost that person that I've idealized as well, long before we met." she speaks calmly in her deep voice.

Caliopa sits back, resting her elbows on her bent knees, her boots nearly touching. "For me, he is that. You keep pushing your picture of him into my head and I don't want it. You got yours, I got mine. Ain't it enough that we done what we done without you taking whats good of him from my head and turning him into a monster there?" Her attention is totally on the girl, the bike actually forgotten. "You couldn't leave that bit of him to me even."

With focus, Kid hears more. Her mind goes from neutral to 60 in a blink as her forward movement resumes and she makes an open, casual approach. She even manages to school her expression toward the neutral, though not quite the clueless oblivion one might wear when walking into the middle of a talk like this. Nearing into a normal hearing range towards the end of Caliopa's words, she carefully takes on an uncertain expression and putters to a pause nearby where the two discuss.

Katsumi clenches her fists in her pockets, raising once more. "If you would to think in that way, then it is fine." she hisses with anger. "I told you that I do know Perry good side. I've enjoyed his care as well. But I know the Colonel as well. I don't want to take away his memory. I just want to tell you that the world isn't black and white. It isn't a candy shop." she turns away from the little venus, just to glance somewhere else. That robot in the other side is a nice object to examine, so she stares there.

Caliopa rises to her feet, anger showing on her face for the first time, her cheeks colouring in two red spots. "I ain't stupid, Kat and I ain't wanting no candy." She takes a step forwards, actually standing on a tool, her eyes narrowing, "But sometimes its needful to have something that ain't made of death and loss to hold you to this world, and Perry was mine for that, til someone made it otherwise. What's it matter to you if in my head, sometimes he ain't the person you make him out to be, but the man that took me out of work at times and tried to make me see the importance of folks and feelings?" She opens her mouth to say more but stops abruptly when she sees Kid, and falls silent.

Kid lets slip the confusion then. Unneeded. She gives Caliopa a knowing look, her features cooly set. To let her know that she understands what is going on. She moves closer to the blanket and remains silent for now. Shrugging off her bag, letting it and the plastic bag drop nearby the blanket, where she'll linger as she crosses her arms over her chest.

Katsumi glances at Kid now. Her eyes glittering from the heat of passion, yet she seems to hold it back, taking a deep breath instead of responsing to Cali. But the aim was unsuccessful. "Fine, I let your dreams untouched by the reality that both I and the Colonel was in the walking death, hiding in the skull faced helmet. Indeed he was a grandious man. Did he showed you his collection of champaigns? Did you seen his collection of literature? He even was so kind to let me practice reading from prohibited books, that others has died just to possessing those. Indeed he know the true importance of folks and feelings. I felt. You just needed to be in the right side. You just needed to be a pure human being, not an animal like me." she hesitates, with her fists in the pocket. "I am deeply sorry." she adds and turns away, aiming her way to the entrance.

Caliopa puts her hands on her hips, her cheeks colouring a bright shade of red, "You ain't sorry for anything you did, nor this. You ain't wanting to let anyone be having an ounce of happiness in their memories." She throws an oily rag towards the other girl's back, the moment conveying the fury. "It ain't enough that you got what you wanted, but you got to take the little bit I got left in my head that ain't to do with death and loss?" She turns on her heel, "Ain't happy til you take every bit of him off me, you jealous bitch."

Kid tilts her head slightly, musing the words bandied back and forth. A slight arch of her brow coming at the last from Caliopa. She'd like to say something.. oh, she burns to make a certain comment, but she manages to keep it down, with a brief tightening of her expression. Instead she turns toward Cali and goes over to her, letting a hand slip forward to lightly touch her palm with fingertips. Head cocked slightly to have a look at her.

Katsumi turns back with a few dance-like steps when that rag hits her. "Yeah, jealous bitch. Fine." she express her anger. "What do you expect from an animal? We have only instincts you know. We are far from the pure humans like you and your Perry. We are just a bunch of savages." there is some dark sarcasm in her tone, keeping her smoldering grey eyes on the operator. "Hide in your memory forever if you wish!" she turns back once more, hurrying to the other side of the hangar.

Caliopa moves forward, grabbing the cloth and moving back to the blanket in an angry movement, "Ain't never called her an animal, not ever. Ain't said nothing about that and I ain't exactly pure." The burst of words is aimed at Kid, as the girl moves back to the bike she was working on. "It ain't fair to be lumping me in with those that done that, when alls I want is to be left with a few good memories."

"True enough from what I heard, but emotions are rarely a rational thing," Kid replies, turning as Cali heads back to the bike. Her eyes lift toward Katsumi, her voice kept on the low side as she adds, "Makes a bit more sense now, this." She's thoughtful in expressing that much. "Her anger is understandable, if not the actions that spawned from it."

Caliopa shrugs, the movement entirely angry as she grabs up a tool and drops to the blanket. "I ain't angry with her for her anger. She got a right to it, if he done what she said." She lifts her eyes to Kid, "Ain't a person alive that ain't got a bit of good in them, and I got just that off him." She rests an elbow on her bent knee, her expression thoughtful, "Could be like she said, but ain't just, trying to make me see him as all black."

Kid nods her head in response to that. "I understand." And it sounds like she does on some level, if her tone were a proper gauge. "That's 'her', huh?" She pauses to consider yet again. "Makes more sense now. I don't suppose you two are going to be too friendly now, eh?" She heads back to where she dropped off her two bags, casually bending to snap up the plastic one again.

Caliopa glances at the bags, briefly, disinterestedly. "That's her." She agrees flatly. "I ain't as daft as she thinks, trying to think of the past as shiny. It ain't so, but that bit of it, before we did it, that bit was a shiny bit for me. Same as before they took my pa." She picks up tools and begins work properly, her forehead wrinkling. "Ain't going to be too friendly, no. Ain't that I hate her, nor her kind."

"Just a sore spot." Kid ventures as she ambles casually to where Cali works, moving right up beside her to make a mild pest of herself by 'shoulder looking'. She decides to drop the trouble for now and teases, "I got you something too." She grins a little and gives the plastic bag a shake. It's one of those unmarked sorts, the opaqueness of the bag veiling the small contents within.

Twisting a piece into attaching itself to another, Caliopa glances up with a faint smile, "I got something to ask you, too. Got something that tis needful I do." She glances at the bag, eyebrows raised. If Kid was looking, she would see the pieces click together in a perfect fit and Cali briefly gives a satisfied noise.

Kid does look, but only casually so. "Ask then," she prompts lightly. Curious in an instant at that. She slips the bag behind her back, as if to keep the contents secret until after this little diversion. "Isn't about that ditzy elf, is it?" The thought of it rising quite suddenly. Her lips curling into a wide grin at the potential in that.

There is only the faintest trace of colour in Caliopa's cheeks as she ducks her head over her work, "Only a bit. We're just friends, before you go making leaps to other things." She shakes her head quickly, "Ain't nothing like that but I need to buy myself a dress, something for dinners out." She reaches for another piece, beginning to take it apart slowly. "He ain't as ditzy as he sounds."

"Oh, I'm sure he's smart enough. Being a ditz isn't about how smart you are." Kid smirks faintly as she swings the bag out into place again. "Good thing you've me looking out for you, I pretty much expected this. I got you some makeup, figuring you'd be needing a little soon enough." The bag swung like a pendulum. "I can help you find a dress to.. something that's pretty, but not too racy. I don't suspect you want to give off that kind of vibe, yeah?"

Caliopa 's blush deepens, "It ain't something like that, Kid. He even said it, just friends. Ain't nothing like..." She laughs and shakes her head, reaching for the bag. "Make up, is it? Ain't never worn that, ain't planning on looking like a clown." She looks up, meeting Kid's eyes, "Even if it tis just friends. Something pretty, nothing that screams anything I don't want said."

Kid chuckles lowly and gives up the bag without a struggle. "That's why I'll teach you how to use it right. The key to good makeup use is augmentation. Done right, most won't even realize you're wearing it. I went to one of my girls, told her about your complexion, hair and eye color. She said these would compliment you best. I'll help you with it before you two go out, alright?"

Caliopa peers into the bag, putting down the tools. Her hands leave smudges of oil on it as she opens it. "If you say so..." Her doubtful tone is matched by a rising colour in her cheeks, "Ain't nothing much, just friends having dinner of sorts. Ain't even sure where..." She takes an item, turns out to be mascara, and looks at it blankly. "All this stuff is needful...?"

Kid only got her the basics. Mascara, two shades of lipstick and some blush. "In careful ammounts, they are," she confirms. Tapping the mascara with a fingertip she states, "This is for your eyelashes. Mascara. Makes them look fuller and darker." She slips out the blush. "This is blush, to give your cheeks some red." She pauses and eyes Cali thoughtfully. "Though you do that enough all by yourself sometimes." she prods lightly.

Caliopa colours up nicely, the red spreading to her throat and ears. "Got something to make the colour go?" Her tone is dry, humour in her eyes. "You just slap it on, like oil?" The self depreciating humour is obvious and she reaches for an oil can, aiming it at Kid, teasingly.

Kid smirks lightly and gives Cali a little shoulder bump. "Not yet, just being less embarrassed by every little thing. But I think that's part of your charm," she murmurs playfully. "A lasting, natural blush to the cheeks is attractive. As is one for the lips." She reaches in to slip out one of the lipsticks. "Which is what the lipstick is for."

Caliopa returns the bump with a grin, her cheeks losing a little of the flaming red. "Charm, is it? Ain't got a bit of it." She reaches for the lipstick, her eyes narrowing. "You don't think biting them will be enough?" She asks doubtfully. "Next you'll be saying a man wants me to wash and oil ain't sexy."

Kid smirks at that. "Washed with the good soap and a good shampoo for the hair," she confirms. "And you shouldn't make a habit of such archaic ways as that. There are far better means, like the lipstick." She turns it over to Cali then. "Don't worry, I'll show you how to get it done and after that you can give it a try if you want. Or I can help you further."

Caliopa laughs, twisting the lipstick until it appears, "Reckon I can cope with a bit of painting..." She murmurs, slanting Kid a faintly amused look. "Guess I best get washed off then, ain't going to look so well over dirt and I've been working all day." She rises from the blanket, beginning to collect the few tools she took out.

Kid grins and collects the items back into the bag, casually taking it toward the back of Cali's truck. "We'll see how you like it. I don't think it will be a problem, though, cause I've been doing this sort of thing since I was a kid." Not that she's very far past the 'kid' stage in age at the moment. She'll drop the makeup into the back, tucked away in a corner before she comes back around to the work area.

Caliopa has the tool chest in her hands, resting it on the bike for a moment before she walks towards the truck, resting it against her stomach. "And you with your ancient years..." She mutters, pushing the chest onto the truck's tailgate. "I'll wash up, get this off me and then I guess I'm all yours." She moves to the sink, running water over her fingertips until it reaches the right heat.

Kid goes to retrieve her bag, then follow where Cali's gone off to at a sedate pace. "No problem. I think I know a nice little place where we can find you something cheap and modest, but flattering." She pauses a moment, then queries, "What's your favorite color?"

Caliopa is splashing her face with water, and scrubbing it, with the soap from Kid. She turns a wet face towards Kid, "Uh, red. That dark one, you know?" She reaches for a towel, patting her face, as she tosses the soap on a dish. "Uh, Kid." Her cheeks gain colour, either from the patting or natural, "Not too modest. I ain't lookin' for some folk to think I'm a nun."

"Trust me, Cali.. putting a body like yours into a modest dress would be a shame and a half," Kid states as she leans against Cali's truck to wait. "Well, it might be an interesting style to toy with now and then, but on a date, just wouldn't do." She pauses, closing her eyes as she considers. "Something a bit clingy.. gotta flaunt the shape a bit. Knee length skirt.. a good compromise, I think.." Her eyes slip open. "Not too 'open', but showing off a little leg. Maybe later we can step up to something more risque."

Caliopa tosses the towel on the side by the sink, then hesitates for a second before moving to hang it on the hook, neatly. "It ain't nothing special, just a body." She mumbles the denial, her cheeks flaring again, "Sounds fine, something pretty, nothing overly...that says..." She stumbles over the words, searching, "I want to look nice, not like a street walker of types."

Kid sighs and gives Cali a -look-. "Cali, sometimes you make me want to slap you a good one. You really have to stop denying those curves of yours." she states. "Some modesty is nice, but you're lying to yourself and no one should be doing that. In fact, once we get you that dress, you're coming to my place. Cause once I get you all dolled up, I'm going to make you look into a full length mirror so you can see some truth."

Returning the look with one of her own, Caliopa shakes her head, the plait moving like a tail. "I ain't something special, Kid, just some mechanic who is passable." She laughs, shaking her head again, "I got a mirror, Kid, tis the shine in the metal of the truck." She makes a small ducking movement, her eyes dancing.

Kid purses her lips, but decides to let it slide for the moment. "C'mon, you. Lets go get you something nice. Maybe we'll get you two, one that's a bit more advanced for when you're feeling like flaunting a bit more." A wicked little grin rising as she approaches to curl her arm lightly with Cali's.

Caliopa giggles, nudging the other woman with her shoulder, a grin on the girl's face, lighting up her dark eyes. "Advanced flaunting dress, is it? Do I need to take a class..." She hesitates, tilting her head, "Reckon frills? Mebbe pink..." She muses, her eyes the only sign that she isn't that serious. Only perhaps a little bit.

Kid glances at Cali with a lift of one slender brow. "Pink and frills? Ugh.. no. Not for you, girl, oh no. Me.. I could pull it off. You need some dark, bold colors with a low cut neckline and a high cut skirt." She pauses and gives a more serious look. "I don't suppose you shave your legs?" It might be obvious she expects a negative answer on that mark.

The look returned to that comment is completely blank, a complete lack of understanding. "Shave them? Why would I do that? Ain't never got a beard there or anything." She laughs, shaking her head quickly, "Now I got an image of you in my head of you in a pink, frilly dress. Ain't something to sleep at nights with."

Kid sighs slightly, but leaves future concerns to the future as she states, "I have one in my closet. Sweetest thing you've ever seen, though it only makes appearances for costume parties," she states, starting to lead Cali out by the lightly curled arm. "Lets get a move on, want to make sure you're ready for your man."

Caliopa shakes her head, the plait flicking, "Ain't my man, we're just friends I done told you that. It ain't nothing like that. He even said it, in your hearing, Kid." The protest finishes, with a laugh, "Ain't nothing wrong with looking fine for yourself..."

"He says, he says.." Kid sigh melodramatically. "Guys say a lot of things, but they don't always mean them," she informs Cali as they head out. "You just watch yourself. A guy that knows what he's doing will start it slow like this. Then slowly ramp it up. Only question is, how far you want to go with him." Yes, she knows relationship, this young slip of a girl.

Caliopa gives Kid a look of worry, "Why would he say something that ain't so? It ain't like he is lookin' out for a relationship of no type, ain't nothing like that. Kid, you ain't half cynical about things. Have some faith." She actually means it, "And I ain't interested neither." she tosses her head, causing the plait to fly. That bit might not ring so true.

Kid only smiles as they walk, stating, "I'm all cynical, Cali. I've had a few boyfriends, so I know how the mind of a guy works most of the time. Maybe what you say is true, maybe he's not looking for more. But it's easy enough to say that. Just what he does will show the truth." She gives Cali a sober little look from beneath fanciful hat and between starkly colored earmuffs. "I'm just telling you what can be. Not what is and will be. So you don't get surprised if things turn out one way or another."

Caliopa sighs, and shakes her head quickly, "We'll see. Mind, I ain't saying that if he did want something that I'd be interested, neither, nor that I ain't, but it ain't something to think about until the ..." She trails off, colour in her cheeks, "You ain't half got some thoughts in your head, girl."

Kid smirks slightly as she watches Cali's train of thought switch tracks. "You don't know what you want, but that's perfectly fine," Kid states with authority. "Best way to be is cautiously open. The caution being the most important part until you get a real sense of what a guy is like, over time." Another sober look as she notes, "For some, you never can tell. One of the past boys in my life was a hitter when his emotions ran high. Didn't find that out 'til after we were pretty hot and heavy. What he didn't know is I hit back." That last coming with a casual smirk. The outline given without any lingering emotion about the incident.

Caliopa chokes a laugh, shaking her head quickly. "Kid, you ain't half one. Guess I ain't so good at judging men neither, if you listen to Kat." The humour is only part there, "I'll figure out what I want, and I ain't being pushed into nothing I don't, not til I'm ready. Ain't the type to jump from one bed to another."

Kid smiles as she looks forward, both headed into the city's center now. "Good, that's how you should be. Don't let any of the boys push you around none. Cause what you have is yours to give or deny as you see fit." Spoken like a personal creed by the young woman. She won't lead Caliopa into the main districts, however. Their path will curve away from the more popular, upscale places into a side region of the downtown shopping scene, where smaller stores eke out what profits they can in the shadow of the more popular places.

Caliopa follows obediently, her mind on the conversation. "Ain't none that are likely to push me, Kid. I ain't some prize that is special enough." She grins, utterly unaware of the dimples in her cheeks deepening. "Seems he is a nice bloke anyhow, talks a lot of sense when he slows down." The colour in the cheeks rises a little.

Kid gets curious at that, though first she states, "Keep an eye on him anyway. Even nice guys can be fresh. And what kind of sense is he talking? Most I've heard out of him is babbling. He calm down some after the last time I left?" Even though she's speaking with Cali, she has an eye on the street itself, observant to both her companion and to her surroundings in equal measure.

Caliopa lifts one shoulders slightly, aiming a bump at the other woman. "Just stuff about feelings and life, and how it ain't all complex." She smiles, the expression affectionate, "Talks just as fast but he takes breath now and then." She grins brightly, glancing around. "Ain't a part of town I've seen...."

Kid doesn't look surprised by what Atticus and she were talking about, as summarized. Still, she decides to keep more comments to herself for now. "This is where the mom and pops try to stay afloat You won't find name brands around here, but that don't mean what's in the big stores is better." She then motions ahead and to the right, where a shop is coming up on the right. "This is the place." The sign on the outside, which is as weathered and in need of repair as the storefront itself marks the place as "Genn's Gear". "That's the place," Kid says. "Genn makes some great clothes, all with her own two hands and the right equipment, of course. Half the stuff I have, I got from her."

Lifting both eyebrows, Caliopa moves towards the shop, "Seems she makes nice enough stuff then." She comments, "Dresses...mebbe a skirt or two, see how we go." She looks in the window, narrowing her eyes at the display there. "She makes it herself? That is a talent to have, useful.." She comments glancing over her shoulder at Kid.