2007-07-02: Invisibled

Starring:

Portia_icon.gif Desiree_icon.gif Ramon_icon.gif

Summary: Portia needs to talk to her mother, who gets one heck of a surprise. Ramon… has interesting timing, as usual.

Date It Happened: July 2nd, 2007

Invisibled


Gomez Apartment, Queens, New York

Sitting in on the couch, Portia's got her knees drawn to her chest as she scribbles a few things on a notepad. She's waiting around, however, anxiously looking around every once and a while.

Tada: the door bursts open! In truth, it's not as easy as that, because the person who bursts through said door first has to tell the security system that she is, in fact, authorized, then find her keys (this is the longest part of the whole ordeal) and /then/ open/ the door. After the door to the apartment does, indeed, fly open, Desiree waltzes in, a hot pink blur. She's wearing pink scrubs trimmed with purple; her hair is pulled back into a messy knot which may or may not have ever been neat, there's a purse and a few other bags over her shoulder and she's in a hurry. She nearly forgets to lock the door behind her, spinning around after getting two feet inside to finish the job. "Hey honey!" she calls out, spotting Portia somewhere during this whirlwind of arrival. "You home alone?"

"Yeah." Portia responds, watching her mother during her who process of appearing. She neatly puts her notepad aside, closing it to cover up the lyrics and she sets her pen down on top of it. She speaks slowly, after a moment. "Mama, we need to talk."

During that moment in which Portia doesn't speak, her mother is in the process of ditching her sundry belongings on the floor beside the couch. They probably won't stay there long; she keeps everything outside her personal space neat and tidy, at least. She's turning, on her way to … somewhere, when the tone of her daughter's voice gives her pause. Whatever else she had to do, it can wait. Dezi regards Portia carefully, peering at the girl's expression. "Okay," she says slowly, taking a seat beside her on the couch. "Talk about what? What's up, sug'?"

"I know about your meeting with Jane." Portia states, not quite looking at her mother as she says this. "I know because I was there. I heard you two talking." It's not a confession of what she can do in and of itself, but it sort-of prepares the way.

Desiree settles in, although she's still on the edge of the couch; but she faces Portia now, which is the important thing. "My meetin' with--?" It takes a moment for her to clue in, simple as it is. "At Oldcastle?" The woman's brow knit together - in confusion more than anything. "How come you were at Oldcastle? Thas' all the way— you were home when I left." Wait for it, wait for it… "Portia, did you follow me?"

Portia glances back over to her mother, glancing at her expression. "Yeah. I followed you." She admits, then pauses before continuing. "I know you and Jane have abilities."

A still-frame photograph of Desiree may as well be staring back at Portia for all the woman moves. She's frozen, hazel eyes wide, mouth agape in what started out as a response but now simply hangs in shock. Her expression is one part uncomprehending and one part surprised. The sum?… "Hunh?"

"You and your.. crystal ball stuff. Or whatever you said it was. And Jane's got that super voice thing." Portia peers over at her, watching carefully for a reaction. "I know cause I was right there next to your table. I was invisible."

In real life slow motion, Desiree's shocked expression melts away. That's not to say that she isn't still in shock; oh, she is. It's an effort to stop gaping at her daughter. Jane may have brought up the possibility, but it wasn't true then. It was just a big pile of coincidences and maybes. For a moment, when her mouth clamps shut so hard that her jaw muscles visibly tense, the look she gives Portia is very serious, very concerned - and then the warmth rushes in. "… oh, honey," she scooches closer and reaches to take one of the girl's hands, giving her a little smile. "You shoulda told me, I woulda understood. How long've…?"

Portia leans in against her mother, letting out a breath that she'd probably been holding in this entire time. "I know, but.. I mean, I didn't know if I should say anything, and I wasn't planning on telling anyone til I ran into Peter and /he/ was invisible too…" She seems a bit relieved to have gotten it out. "It started a few months ago while Parker and I were in France."

Desiree wraps an arm tightly around Portia, resting the side head on top of her daughter's. Her daughter who can turn invisible. "We ain't alone, that's for damn sure," she tells the teenager. "I jus' can't believe— invisible?' She's tryin' to process this doozy of a fact - her daughter can turn invisible! "Sweet Jesus. Thas' - thas' somethin' else, miss. Does Parker…?" Know? Also do something crazy? It's vague.

"I know, it's pretty weird. Not as weird as what Parker can do." Portia glances to her mother. "I think you'll have to talk to him about that, though.. it's kinda complicated. Not even sure I understand all of it myself." She looks back at her mother. "Besides, you got something much cooler than being invisible, huh?"

Parker can do what now? Desiree's eyebrows quirk upward at once, but she just smiles and settles back against the couch. Given that she's sitting on the edge, she slumps down 'til she's magically shorter than Portia. Excellent posture there, Dezi. "Are you kiddin'?" she breaks into a silly, incredulous smirk. "I don't know how you get somethin' as neat as turnin' invisible with my genes. I can't do anythin' fancy. I jus' see pictures. Sometimes they come true." She looks up at Portia. "It started happenin' to me while y'all were in France, too. At first I didn't notice it. Thought I was goin' crazy. Needed a break, so that's why I agreed to go along to New York when my frien' was havin' her baby here, and then… well."

Portia laughs. "Mama, being invisible isn't that great. It's great when you don't wanna be bugged, you just wanna be left alone or something, but… Jane says it'll be great when I'm famous and have to worry about paparazzi. But it's kinda cool that we got it around the same time, y'know? Can you control it very well? I'm kinda crap at it. Almost got in a lot of trouble the other day when I couldn't turn all the way visible or all the way invisible, but I met some nice people who had powers too."

Desiree laughs whole-heartedly and gives her head a little shake. Her smile turns lopsided. "I'm kinda crap, too." She shoves up on her palms to squirm into a more properly upright sit. "It don't even work half the time and half the time it does work I don't know what the hell it means." She looks over at Portia, taking her in, up and down, seeing her in a new way, maybe even trying to picture being able to, say, see through her. "Invsible." She grins mischievously. "I wanna see it." Pause. Dezi's brow furrows. Waitasec. "Or… not… see." She waves a hand. "Invisibility's confusin'."

Glancing back at her mother, Portia can't help but giggle. "You sure you wanna see it, I'm liable to only turn half-invisible and look like somethin' scary." She giggles, though she is a lot more excited about her ability thanks to the fact that Desiree actually seems excited about it.

"It don't hurt you, does it?" Dezi is concerned for a moment, but only for a moment, flashing another toothy grin at her daughter. She gives Portia a friendly shove on the shoulder with her thumb. "If you get stuck half-invisibled— " Is that a word? She ponders this only briefly. No, it can't be a word. Doesn't matter! " —I'll stick you in the closet so no one sees you," she jokes. …One would assume, at any rate. "You know, I been invisible before, too. Mmhm. Peter," she nods to punctuate.

"Oh, no, it doesn't hurt!" Portia assures her mother. "So Peter made you invisible?" She grins. "Peter's a really nice guy. I like talking with him."

"Yeah. Yeah, and he is a nice guy. I think he's special, y'know? He can do more'n turn invisible, he's got a buncha tricks when everyone's else jus' a one trick pony." Desiree cants her head to the side. "Nah, I shouldn't say that. Some people seem real good at what they can do so that they got all these different ways to use 'em. All these crazy amazing things, it's like a storybook. Sometimes I forget it's all real but then I remember it's why I'm here." She smiles softly at Portia and bobs her head. "Well, if you wanna, I wanna see. Go on! Try it out."

"I think he's special too." Portia giggles. Seems she doesn't mean in the same way though. "He's got more than one ability?" She frowns. "I thought he said the only person who had a lot of abilities was the guy who stole them…" She focuses while she's talking, trying to turn invisible as a demonstration for her mother. However, once again, she has the horrible luck of only losing a few limbs to invisibility. Such as her arms and torso. "Oh, it's doing it again!"

Shelving discussion of things like ability-stealing serial killers (and 'special Peter') for another time, Desiree smiles a silly smile, biting the tip of her tongue as she watches her daughter… partially disappear. "Hey, there ya go! … uh. Yeah, you know," she reaches back to tousle the knot of hair at the back of her head as she winces slightly at Portia. "You're right, that does look … uhm. Your head… is… Oh Jesus. Well, maybe if you— y'know— concentrate some more. ..aieeeee."

And in Ramon comes. He looks drained and tired, having pulled three double shifts at work after the excitement of their findings. Because he's had to take off so much work, and because he's trying to Accomplish Things. He comes in, stares at Portia, and then points his finger at her, growling. "I thought as much."

And in Ramon comes. He looks drained and tired, having pulled three double shifts at work after the excitement of their findings. Because he's had to take off so much work, and because he's trying to Accomplish Things. He comes in, stares at Portia, and then points his finger at her, growling. "I thought as much."

Frowning at the fact that it's not entirely working, Portia looks a little awkward. "I'll get it, I just gotta.." And then there's Ramon coming in the door. AND POINTING. He's kind of scary, even if she does approve of him as a potential match for her mother. With a squeek, she's suddenly not there anymore. In fact, she scrambles across the floor to try and find a better spot to hide. Even if that's.. kinda redundant since she's /invisible/.

Desiree, from her spot on the couch beside Portia the Half a Girl, is left staring at Ramon. " hi Ramon!" Awkward. Cheerful, but awkward. By the time she looks back at Portia, her daughter is not there to look at. Or is she? She looks down at the floor and up to the couch and— "Did it work?! Well, obviously. You can— you can come back now, is' okay. If— if you can. … Portia?!"

Ramon, in the absence of a Portia he can see, addresses the wall near her last known vicinity. "Young lady," he growls, "if you ever use that power of yours to sneak away from the adults responsible for your safety and well being again…I'll…talk your mother into doing something drastic." He eyes Desiree sidelong, realizing this isn't his kid. "And I'm a telepath, so I can find you."

Way to freak the girl out. "I didn't use it to sneak away from anyone! If you're talking about Paris, I just went on the 'net and changed the tickets to New York." Portia frowns a little and isn't sure if she wants to be visible at the moment. Ramon's making a scary face.

And after Portia's defended herself, Desiree looks around the general area of the floor and couch to pinpoint where her voice is coming from - then promptly looks back at Ramon. "Keep your socks on," she holds a hand up to him casually (yes, she dares to do such a thing casually without thinking anything of it, toRamon). "She's just learnin'! And I jus' found out. Besides, Portia wouldn't do anythin' sneakin' around." Pause. "Except-except for that." And didn't Portia just admit to something very nearly like sneaking around invisibly not fifteen minutes ago, too? Never mind that. She was, at least, following a responsible adult.

Ramon lets out this long grunt-harumph sound. "Fine. As long as we're all on the same page. Being as that's the case, I have bought ice cream." He holds up his hand to display a plastic bag full of what is, indeed, ice cream.

What a weird man. Angry one minute, and then ice cream the next. Well, Portia's a little less freaked out. Least Ramon doesn't make her cry like Lance does. In a brief second, Portia becomes entirely visible again. "Well, I think I'm getting a little better at this.." She murmurs.

"… whoa." Desiree stares at her daughter, double-taking. "I ain't ever gonna get used to that, for the record. It's just. It's weird. But I gotta admit," she begins during the process of standing up. "Is' pretty cool, huh?" She grins between the both of them and reaches out to ruffle Portia's hair, even if it is immaculate. "Hear that, darlin'? Ice cream!"

Ramon goes and sets it down, then gets out three bowls and scoops it, sliding it across his counter like a bartender. The truth is, the man has a secret sweet tooth. It is not just to comfort upset girls that he keeps a copious amount of ice cream in the house. Twice as many scoops somehow, mysteriously, land in his own bowl.

"You should see what Parker can do. It's weirder." Portia murmurs, but she smiles at her mother. "Ice cream sounds good." She glances over at Ramon, trying to figure him out as she goes to retrieve her bowl of ice cream. "Thank you."

"…Yeah, I bet. I'm gonna hafta have a talk with that boy." Desiree heads on over to the kitchen and thus, the ice cream, just behind Portia. After grinning at Ramon, she drapes an arm around her daughter's shoulders, kisses the top of her head, and steps away. "Y'all start without me. I gotta pee like a racehorse." On that oh-so-eloquent note, Desiree leaves Portia Ramon aaall alone — at least for a minute.

Ramon just isn't flustered by this announcement. "You're welcome," he says. If a conversation is going to get started though, it is not going to come about via the efforts of Mr. Taciturn, who seems to speak exactly when he's got something to say and at no other time.

Glancing after her mother hurries off to the bathroom, Portia does look a little nervous. She pokes at her bowl of ice cream with a spoon, then clears her throat. "So you are a mind reader or something?"

"Yeah," Ramon says. "But I try not to do it for the most part. Not to people I like. I won't go digging in your head or your brother's head or your mother's head without permission unless there's some kind of emergency or something. I used to do it by accident but now its mostly under control."

After what is, in fact, less than a minute, Desiree makes her triumphant return. In the kitchen, she flops down beside Portia and claims the unclaimed bowl of ice cream, which she wastes no time in digging into. She has no clue what the two of them are talking about - she can just tell that they were communicating at all. A good thing, so she doesn't interrupt!

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