LOG: Betsy and Dani - Sunday afternoon.

[x-psylocke.livejournal.com]

When you think things are going bad and can't get any worse. Here's the log to cap off Betsy's beautiful streak of foot-in-mouth syndrome this weekend.



"Mind if I join you?" Betsy's words echoed through the heedy silence in one of the school's most bright spots. Dressed in black pants and a white tank top, Betsy slid comfortably next to the pregnant woman on her perch. "I don't think we've met," she added, extending her hand to Dani. "Elisabeth Braddock, but most people 'round here call me Betsy."

"Danielle Moonstar," she introduced herself, shaking the offered hand briefly. While she didn't normally feel underdressed at school, the other lady, and she was a lady Danielle was sure, would never be caught dead in jeans and a mickey mouse t-shirt. "You're..." Not Mr. Summers' girlfriend or the semi-crazy teacher that no one ever saw..."back," she finished lamely.

Betsy's eyebrows raised slightly, but she simply let the long running list of adjectives brush past her. "I hadn't realized too many people took notice when I left," Betsy said with a slight shrug. "Though, yes, I am."

"Welcome back," Dani still hadn't quite turned to look at her, preferring instead to continue to look out on the school grounds.

"Er, thanks," Betsy said, unsure if the other girl's attitude was one of indifference or was only the quiet yearning for solitude. "If I'm interrupting..."

Finally turning to face the teacher, Dani's eyes widened slightly and she blushed, surprised that Ms. Braddock would think that coupled with a reassuring realization that she still had her manners, "Oh, no. Sorry. Cultural thing," it was a beautiful day and sitting in the sun was peaceful. "Um...how're you?"

"Very well, actually." Betsy said, taking a seat next to the young woman, her eyes dropping down to her stomach before quickly coming back to her face. Well, some had started earlier than others. "I think I understand, actually. It's a beautiful day out."

"Yeah, I'm glad it warmer out now. The winter's good, but it ain't friendly," Dani commented, trying to surripetiously admire the older woman's hair. It was gorgeous and..."Why don't the color fade?" she asked, giving in to tempation.

Betsy laughed out loud, her laughter reverberating against the high ceiling and walls. "Oh well, um, yes." She coughed loudly, trying to clear her throat. "Actually, it does fade if I don't stay on top of it. I'm quite dedicated to my colorist, Daniel, and because of it, he has his own stock of dye in his salon for me. But, I usually go to Daniel, if I can't manage to do my hair myself for whatever reason."

"You disapprove," Dani stated, changing the topic. It was almost coming off in waves it seemed, making her nauseous. Or it was her lunch a couple hours ago trying to resurrect itself, she wasn't entirely certain.

"No," Betsy said, reminding herself that making a pregnant and hormonal teenager uncomfortable was probably not a smart move. "Your question simply caught me offguard. I don't mind talking about my hair, or anything else really."

"Well, almost anything," Betsy amended.

Dani didn't reply, not knowing what to say. She knew what she felt, but she also wasn't certain she was interpretting it correctly. "Someone said you were a model."

"For a time," Betsy said, nostaglically. "But while I still carry some tendencies from those glory days, I've pretty much walked away from that part of my life."

"Why? Ain't being a model really great, meeting all those beautiful and famous people?" she asked, curious, trying hard to imagine how such a reserved person could ever have been a model, even though she was beautiful enough.

"My life went down a different path and before I knew it, I wasn't that person anymore." Betsy leaned back against the sill, her head looking up at the ceiling for a moment. She looked back down at Dani with a calm smile on her face. "Funny, that."

"Happens," Dani agreed nodding wisely. "but then you ain't the old you and you ain't sure who the new you is."

"I'm not so sure I follow," Betsy said, quirking her head at Dani.

That was unexpected. "It's like...you know who you are, what to expect. Then you realize you ain't the same person, so you don't know what to expect anymore," Dani tried to explain awkwardly, gesturing to the world in general.

"Seems like you know more about what I'm talking about," Betsy said, impressed. "I think I'm simply along for the ride, luv."

"Heh. Seems that way, ain't it?" Dani grinned, rubbing her stomach and lapsing into silence.

Betsy shifted uncomfortably. Her eyes dropping to Danielle's stomach before shaking herself out of it and staring out into the open space. "Felt anything, yet?"

"Uh...yeah..." what kind of question was that? She'd been getting kicked and the like for months now, it wasn't anything new, "Sometimes. When I want to sleep ususally."

"Oh no, dear." Betsy laughed outright. "It's my own fault for.....nevermind."

"What?" Dani asked, confused. Ms. Braddock may have been staff, but she was the oddest person Dani had met since coming to the school.

"Nothing, Dani," Betsy said, snorting. Her face flushed. "It's a bit complicated from my end."

"You mean empathically," Dani replied, finally figuring it out. "Yeah, some. Basic stuff mostly. Happy, sad. Irritation that I ate something it didn't like, but nothing too complex. It ain't a person, yet. Not completely."

"Yes, empathetically." Betsy began fanning herself with her hand, trying to cool down. "The whole idea of something, excuse me, someone growing inside a person, forming their consciousness. Well, it has always left me feeling alittle uneasy, from a telepathic point of view, that is."

Shrugging, Dani didn't really see what the big deal was. It was a baby regardless of whether it, or she, was was telepathic, empathic or a toad. I never really thought about it. I knew I was a mutant before I got pregnant, but my powers weren't nothin' big like they can be now. Ain't like I get full thoughts or anything, it ain't like Look Who's Talking."

"That movie...." Betsy shuddered. "....is scarily accurate."

Oookay. Sure. "If you say so."

"I'm serious." Betsy protested. "Behind their cute button noses and cherub cheeks lie shifty-eyes waiting for prime opportunities to soil their pants. Haven't you ever walked into a day care center?" She looked to Dani for a moment and as Betsy continued speaking, she crossed her arms over her chest. "All those eyes, looking at you.....like food. It's unnatural.

"You were a sheltered child, weren't you?" Dani asked, wondering just how crazy Ms. Braddock was on the 'crazy psi scale'. "You give kids too much credit."

"I'm not scared of them," Betsy insisted. "They're just abnormally disproportioned. Small arms....and legs with large heads." She couldn't help the goosebumps forming on her flesh.

She shook her head, snapping out of her trance. "But don't be silly, I'm not scared."

"Not scared, of course," humour the crazy lady, it's what everyone else did to her sometimes and it seemed to work. "So then you'll babysit if needed?"

"Um, right, yes." Betsy stammered. "I'm sure I can manage something.....if you're really pressed for someone."

Dani laughed taking an absurd amount of pleasure from watching the older woman squirm. Served her right for thinking babies were gross, "Nah, I think it's all under control. Would hate for it to throw up on your recently-dyed hair."

Betsy's mouth snapped shut with a loud click. "Right, I'll just be going then." Standing up with still some dignity left, Betsy walked out of the sunroom. There was a reason she stayed away from the student population. This only proved it.