[b]Scene Title:[/b] Ordinary World

[b]Characters:[/b] Kitten Arbore and Azumi Ian

[b]Context (Situation):[/b] One and a half weeks into the seven-week training in Mayor Callaghan's New City under the guidance of the Runners, Azumi and Kitten have a talk to get to know each other.

[i]Azumi and Kitten's room
10:00 PM[/i]

The training was going pretty well. Aside from that embarrassment with Abigail that one time, Azumi was getting on her way easily enough. It wasn't too much of an adjustment to her normal work, just smoother, more versatile. She even got a lot of time in to help Kitten with some close combat, a much slower process. Still, she was patient, willing to help. Not everyone was an expert.

The soldier was finishing her shower, dressed again in her kevlar undergarments and putting on her shirt to hide the armor and a towel around her waist, when she knocked on the door to the bathroom they shared. "Kitten, someone, are you there? I'm coming out, just making sure I don't walk into something." As per usual, she was slightly tensed, as if ready to fight at a moment's notice if the City Protection Force had found this place.

While Azumi had been in the shower, Kitten was out leaning against the side of a wall, looking out at the large window that seemed to make up a whole wall of the room. On one side the blinds were closed, barely recognizable from the other wall. The side the young girl was nearest to was wide open. She looked over at the darken city, everything covered by a blue and purple cover with little squares that showed the blinding light that over took the city during the day. Even now the city was brighter than most places, almost highlighted by the lack of stars or a moon.

Not for the first time, Kitten massaged her cramp legs and rubbed the tattoo on her left arm. While the leg was in pain, the tattoo just felt itchy. The girl thought that, once again, this was Sedna trying to contact her but couldn’t get through whatever force took their powers from this world. She could not be allowed to enjoy this prospect. Even if the summon couldn’t talk to her, that didn’t mean that she didn’t know what was going on in Kitten’s head.

Kitten had not told anyone about the goddess in her head. She didn’t want to. That would only lead to many uncomfortable questions which the girl didn’t want to answer. Still, she hated how alone she felt, how powerless she realized she was without her summon. Kitten barely did well in the hundred yards dash, let alone running across roof tops and having to grab onto things. She also knew how horrible she was doing with Azumi and their close combat training. The soldier was patient, but believed that she must get at least somewhat frustrated by their progress. Azumi must wonder how Kitten has survived all this time…

Kitten jumped as Azumi called out from behind the bathroom door. “I-it’s fine Miss Ian. I-I’m not d-doing anything,” the girl said, limping over to her bed.

Azumi stepped out, walking over and waving to her with a slight smile, trying to cheer her up a bit as she ran a hand through still-damp hair. She knew that Kitten was often awkward around her, but she was awkward with everyone in some degree. Kind of like some other civilian's she'd seen in her missions. "Hey, it's alright. I might try to get changed, but there's nothing wrong now. On my end, anyway. We're both women, anyway." The smile faded a bit.

"...is something wrong? You can talk to me. I don't tell secrets to anyone unless it's a serious danger, and I doubt I'll need to make any kind of exception here. How are you?"

“…No…nothing’s wrong…” Kitten said simply, sitting down on the bed with a wince as her muscles complained. “It’s…it’s just that,” oh no, she was reaching dangerous territory now. She didn’t want to reveal too much.

“Well…I just feel so out of place,” the girl finally admitted. Though she didn’t really want to talk, it’s been so long since she has talk to anyone or thing and she felt as though she needed to get something out. “I mean, everyone here is either part animal, full animal, has had training similar to this before or even at least held a gun. But me…I haven’t really been through anything. Sure I’ve been an Interference but I’ve ha-“ she stopped herself suddenly. “I mean…I haven’t been one for long and…I don’t even know what I’m doing.”

Azumi sighed, sitting next to her. "It's okay to feel like you can't fit in. I won't lie, I feel the same way a lot of the time. The only way I get even close to keeping up is staying like this constantly." She did notice Kitten's problems were pretty big, but didn't want to bring too much attention to them, instead saying her closest justification. "If this is about your training, I'm not mad at you. People have different paces. Some are more magically based, and I haven't even seen you out of here, so I don't know. It's a slow process, but you're definitely learning. I just worry about how you'll handle yourself out there. How is it for you? How do you handle yourself?"

She put a hand on her further shoulder, rubbing softly. "Maybe I'm pushing too hard. Do you want something to relax? And you don't need to be so formal, I told you. Feel free to call me whatever you feel like. As long as it's not an insult, of course."

Kitten flinched when Azumi sat on her bed but didn’t say anything. Very nearly jumped up when the soldier suggested that the girl was magic based. How did she know? What else did she know? Did she, did she…oh, yeah, horrible physical abilities. Of course she would come to that conclusion.

Kitten just lowered her head as the soldier continued to talk about things. She lowered her guard a bit and didn’t see the hand coming towards her. When it did land on her shoulder, the girl pushed the arm off of her and jumped up. She was breathing rapidly as she curled up into a slight ball, awaiting retribution for her action. When nothing came, Kitten just rushed to the bathroom and shut the door.

The girl rested her back against the bathroom door and slowly slides down to the floor. Raising her right hand, turning it into a fist and banged it against her forehead a couple times.

[i]Damn it Kitten, what are you doing? What was that all about?[/i] She yelled at herself mentally, soon lowering her fist and banging the back of her head against the door.

[i]Why, why, why? She isn’t…isn’t like that. She’s nice…and pretty. No, that’s an insult. She’s so beautiful and…she doesn’t do any of those things to me. It felt good when she…[/i]

Kitten let out a frustrated cry and dug her nails into her left arm. Tears soon streamed down her face, both with sadness and anger and a lot of other things. She raised her knees and lower her face to them, sobbing with all of the pent up emotions.

Azumi winced a bit as Kitten forced her off and ran into the bathroom. She was quiet for a few moments, only barely resisting the urge to call out to her, not wanting to upset Abigail nor her. She remained quiet for a few moments. Worry filled her as she heard the shout, but she remained quiet for just a little longer. Had she been abused? That was one reason she could see her being afraid of being touched. It was best to treat her as if that were the case. Finally, the soldier spoke.

"Kitten..." she whispered, not walking to the door in case she would slam it open. She raised her voice only slightly, trying to remain calm, but just loud enough to hear through the door. "Kitten, I'm sorry... I won't touch you. Please come out. I won't touch you unless you tell me. Please talk to me."

Kitten heard the soldier apologize but didn’t respond right away. She continued to sob, though they did subside a bit. Though now she had the hiccups and she knew they won’t be gone for a while. When Azumi said that she wouldn’t touch the girl, fresh tears appeared in her eyes.

How could the soldier know? That the solution she gave was the exact opposite of what Kitten wanted. What she wanted…and maybe what she needed.

[i]No, no! Don’t think like that Kitten![/i] Kitten yelled at herself mentally and bang her head against the door a couple more times. [i]What if Sedna is listening to this? If she knew…I would never be allowed to go anywhere.[/i]

The girl shivered as that prospect of that went through her and stayed quiet. She didn’t dare say anything; for fear that she would show her true feelings towards the soldier. Kitten didn’t want anyone to know anything about her…she wanted to just blend in with the wall paper. Go unnoticed, to live and then die. That’s all she ever wanted, why did this have to happen to her?

Azumi was silent for a few moments. She didn't know how to handle this. She wasn't a psychologist. Just a soldier, and not a very good one if her time as an Interference thus against villains meant anything. She heard nothing, however, no response. She just wanted to talk to her. So she tried a different route. Maybe she could coax her out, let her know things about herself.

"I wasn't always like this," she said, looking at the ground. "All fight, no talk. Just training, fighting. It wasn't always like this. All I have..." She took a breath. "Would you believe I've only been to Earth for less than a day in my entire life? My Earth, anyway. My home universe." She fiddled with her hands, resisting the urge to take her handgun and strip it. "I was born and raised on Jericho VII. Outer Colony. Two silver moons, palm trees, green oceans... I miss it sometimes, I won't lie." She took a breath. "It's just glass now. The Covenant made sure of that, just like an increasing amount of colonies. I don't have a family to go back to, never even told them goodbye. Ran away some stupid kid who lied about her age to get into the Marines, then worked her way up as it broke her idealism down in stages. Had a boyfriend there once, but he died when the Spartans took down the Insurgency rooted there. Nothing serious, just a first try. But I still miss them all, in different degrees. Had to learn to fight off bullies just for my views."

Finally she looked to the door again. "Kitten... please, you're not alone. Please talk to me. I'm getting worried."

Kitten staid as still as she could as she listened to Azumi explained her past life. Her tears soon ended and even the hiccupping was steadily getting less violent. So she was from space? That made some sense, with what the soldier's weapons. The girl winced as the soldier explained about what happened and everything she lost.

Kitten felt the same way at first, but then remembered her mother and father. Sure they were not her biological parents but they raised her when everyone else just left her behind. At least she had a place to go back to when this was all over…if it was ever over. Kitten slowly turned her body over to look at the door before slowly standing up.

The girl gently opened the door and stepped out. She hovered neared the entrance and looked at the ground. There was silence for a while as Kitten struggled to work out what she would say.

“I…I’m sorry,” Kitten said, “I…I don’t know what came over me. I didn’t mean…to make you worry like that. I’m…I’m so selfish. I didn’t know…I’m so sorry. Everything’s just been…just been so hectic, ever since I came here. I’m sorry…Azumi…”

The soldier smiled softly, sighing with relief now. "It's okay... it's okay. I understand... somewhat. Just tell me what you need to help calm yourself down, and I'll try to get it for you. You can sit with me if you want to, but I promise, I'll ask before I touch you, if I do. Is there anything you wanted to talk about?" It was then that she saw the nail marks on one arm, eyes widening slightly. "... Kitten, are you okay? I think I might need to get that looked at if you caused some internal damage. I don't know what it's like on other worlds, but I want you to be safe, and that means medical attention if you need it."

Kitten looked down as Azumi mentioned the marks and tried to cover them with a hand. “It’s nothing, I’m fine,” the girl said and looked away. There was no way that Kitten could tell the soldier what was really bothering her, there was just no way.

Regardless, Kitten walked over and sat down next to Azumi. “I…I’m sorry,” she repeated, “I guess I’m still just freaking out…its all been so much in so little time…”

Azumi nodded slightly, lowering her head. "No, I'm sorry for being forward like that. All I want to do is help you, Kitten. I just want you to tell me if something is wrong... anything. I'll listen."

Her hand instinctually went for her shoulder... but she stopped herself, lowering it. "No... no, I promised. Feel free to ask me anything, anything I can help you with, anything you want to know about me, anything."

Kitten flinched a bit as Azumi reached a hand out but immediately calmed herself. She curled her knees to her chest and once again rested her head against it. She was quiet for a while before saying: “If you…want to touch me…you can. I calmed down a bit…I’m just…I’m just such a mess. I’m useless, clumsy, and Allah knows what else…I hate everything about myself. I’m just such a mat…”

Azumi sighed, reaching over. She stopped, though, speaking first. "I'm going to put my hand on your shoulder. I just want to warn you." And she did, wrapping around her again, rubbing her opposing shoulder. "Kitten... I..." She stopped, unable to think of what to say. She didn't exactly have any evidence against what she said, after all. All she could say wasn't directly for it. "Kitten, even if you are, I'm here for you. I can tell you need help, and you've listened to me..." She smiled slightly, looking to her from closer. "Would you believe some of my old squad mates on some of my teams were also not the greatest at close combat? You're doing fine. This is my first time teaching, believe it or not."

With that, she went back to rubbing, sighing. "Please... just talk to me. Anything at all you think can help..." She was silent a moment again, but then spoke. "Whoever hurt you... I'd make them pay if I could see them, I wish I could. I hate seeing someone like this. You're stronger than you think. Just... tell me what's wrong, okay?"

Kitten flinched as Azumi said that she would lay her hand on the girl, but at least she was able to calm down a bit when she actually felt the hand on her. Kitten lowered her head more and closed her eyes as tears threatened to break out, a few did. Sure she had just said all of those things, but it was still hard to hear her own faults coming from someone else. It also didn’t help to hear that trained soldiers weren’t so good at close combat.

Then mention of someone hurting her and Kitten unconsciously moved a hand to touch the scar on her neck and shoulder. But that scar was fairly hard to see with her clothes on and when the alternative of who was hurting her came to mind, she immediately started to shake. Now she couldn’t hold back the tears as they fell down her face. She didn’t want to think about this! She wasn’t suppose to think about this! She needed to change the situation, change it to something, anything!

Azumi was concerned as she saw Kitten crying. She didn't want this, didn't want to upset her, but knew it had to come out some way. "Look, I--"

Kitten did the thing that first came to her mind. The girl suddenly turned and lifted her head, placing her lips on the soldier’s.

The sergeant's eyes widened as the kiss came. Now [i]that[/i] was unexpected. She didn't know anything about this, anything about... She gave the softest of returns, more to help her feel better than to reciprocate anything... and backed off, blushing wildly, looking down and stammering. "I-I... I mean.... um..."

Now she was off guard. Kitten was nice, but she didn't like her like that or anything. More like a charge as a bodyguard or a teacher than a girlfriend. "Um... d-do you... I mean... god, I...." Her cheeks were hot with blush, but she couldn't even look up, shaking a bit still. "Haven't... I mean.... erm.... haven't since..."

It took a bit for what Kitten did and the consequences of it to reach her brain. When the action did reach it, Kitten also blushed madly and shivered in fear and embarrassment. Her tattoo started to itch more than usual but the girl ignored it for now, stuttering as she tried to explain herself again.

“I-I-I’m sorry! I-I don’t know w-why! Well…I-I d-do know why but..y-your just so n-nice and…b-beautiful! No! That’s not…it’s not…oh dear Allah!” Kitten put her hands on her head and rocked back and forth. “Oh Allah…Sedna…Sedna is going to kill us…she’ll never let us get away with this! Oh Allah…oh Sedna…forgive me for I have sinned!!”

Azumi took a few moments to come to. She finally registered what Kitten was saying as she started speaking. "Kitten..." she whispered softly, putting a hand on her back. "Kitten, please calm down... it was nice, and I've never had a girl feel that way, but... but please calm down. I'm sorry, but I don't feel that way, but there's nothing wrong with it... Take a deep breath... I'm right here... I'm not going anywhere..."

Kitten continued to cry her heart out as the soldier tried to calm her down, but did stop shaking. Not seeming to care about being touch at the moment, she threw herself at Azumi’s chest and cried into it. “I’m sorry…I’m sorry…I’m sorry…”

She took a deep breath, as Azumi suggested and just stiffly nodded to what she said. “I…I know…that…you’re not…like that…I-I understand…” Kitten said, clenching the soldier’s clothes. “Y-you’re so…beautiful…h-how could y-you? I’m so…average, e-even worse…than ugly…I’m sorry…Sedna…was right…I’m so…pa-pathetic…”

Azumi shook her head, though she did blush a bit again at the comment on her looks. She only got that from guys. Hearing it from a woman was different. "If it helps any, I'm bi. I just... avoid getting too close like that unless I know someone for a few months to a year." She stroked Kitten's hair as she hugged, massaging her back with her free hand. "Kitten... please tell me... you say that name, Sedna. Who is that?"

Kitten half closed her eyes as Azumi did her best to sooth the young lady. This was the most relaxed she has been since…actually, she didn’t think she had been this relaxed. She really liked the feeling and wanted it to last forever. Naturally, this was the perfect time for Azumi to ask about Sedna. Kitten’s eyes immediately opened and she stiffened.

[i]No! Can’t talk! Sedna will be angry. But…Sedna isn’t here…at least, I can’t hear her…can she hear me? Still…I don’t have to reveal too much.[/i] Kitten thought then, after taking a deep breath, looked up at the soldier.

“Sedna is…my summon,” Kitten said, unconsciously touching her tattoo. “I got her when I first became an Interference. She…helps…me…”

The soldier looked to the tattoo, then to Kitten again. "Kitten..." she whispered. "Kitten, it's okay... you can talk to me..."

She took a breath, running her hand down Kitten's back in the process. "I can tell you tensed up. That's not the kind of thing someone who helps you would cause, is it? Even a summon, and I don't know much about magic, shouldn't cause that kind of reaction if she helps you." She held her close, though, not letting go, but letting her know she could be loosening her grip. "You can tell me... whisper if you want to... I want to help you."

Kitten grabbed Azumi in a death gripped and struggled mentally for the longest time as she tried to figure out what she wanted to do. Sure Sedna wasn’t here right now but that didn’t mean that she wasn’t listening or that there wouldn’t be repercussion later. At the same time, she needed to tell someone, anyone. It was killing her that all of these things were happening to her…it was just killing her inside. So…after long minute thinking about it…Kitten leaned up and whispered into Azumi’s ear.

The shock trooper, was.... well.... shocked, for lack of a better word. She listened, tensing as she heard some of it, but... Then she embraced her fully, pulling her close, taking breaths to keep from breaking down into a shout of rage, or perhaps just crying for her... [size=1]"I'm here..."[/size] she said softly. "I'm not leaving... I'm so sorry... I'm so, so sorry.... I didn't know it was..." She couldn't finish the statement, just holding her, trying to keep herself together.