RVA: Blank Slate
Jan. 7th, 2015 07:57 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
jeriendhalRandom Salli and Ali bit.
Salli sat on the edge of Ali's bed in her room, looking around. Even taking into account that Ali spent most of her sleeping time in Salli's own bedroom, it was a remarkably Spartan space. Four blank walls, devoid of any decoration besides a large display screen for the entertainment center on the wall opposite the bed, not even a smaller display screen to show favorite photos or decorative landscapes. Besides the bed, there was a cheap fiberboard dresser for Ali's clothing, the only thing laying atop it a discarded pelt brush, the entertainment center's remote, and a personal massager they'd both been using earlier. On the other side of the bed was Ali's weapons locker, made of steel and painted institutional beige. A door led to the Necessary, where, Salli knew, all of Ali's personal grooming kit was in the cabinet above the sink or neatly lined up with military precision on the counter top. The floor was tiled in flat ceramic the same color as the weapons locker, without even a carpet to soften it. Nothing in the space gave any indication of personality, the area remaining blankly anonymous, like a cabin on a remarkably cheap liner.
Or a cell, Salli thought, feeling suddenly uncomfortable.
Ali finished dressing, pressing her thumb to the weapons locker's security scanner, unlocking it and retrieving her stunner, making it disappear up the sleeve of her blouse. She turned back to Salli, apparently seeing something in the older vixen's face that made her pause. “Is everything all right” Ali asked.
“I'm fine,” Salli said, trying to draw herself out of her disturbed state of mind. “I was just thinking... Ali, do you have any hobbies?”
“What do you mean?” Ali asked, ears pricking up in curiosity.
“I mean... things you like to do when you're off duty.”
“Umm.” Ali's ears flattened and her brow wrinkled, as if she didn't quite understand the question. “I don't know. Watch vids or the news.”
“Aside from that,” Salli said, trying not to sound impatient.
The bodyguard shrugged. “Exercise. Doing my katas. Practicing my marksmanship.”
Salli waved that off. “That's just keeping in practice for your job. What do you do for fun?” She cut off Ali's slight smile with, “Aside from the obvious.”
“I... er....” Ali shrugged, looking uncomfortable. “It's my job to watch out for you, Salli. I can't get distracted.”
“You can't guard me twenty-one hours a day, dearest. Who is Ali, when she's not being Ali the Bodyguard? Did Melanie just keep you in a box, when she had no need of you?” A sudden thought occurred, making Salli's stomach twist in a knot. “She didn't make you stay in a cell, did she?” If Ali had been as truly feral as Melanie claimed, when the latter had found her...
“No!” Ali exclaimed. “It's just... I do my job. That's enough.” Apparently sensing in Salli's expression that was enough of an explanation, she went on, “It's just.... easier for me.... if I can stay focused on that instead of... instead of...”
Instead of thinking too hard about if you didn't have that, you'd have nothing, Salli sensed was the answer behind that hesitation. How could the poor girl know what she was, what she wanted to be, when her mentors had either been twisting her into a monster or using her as their personal property. “It's all right,” she said instead, before Ali could try and mumble through more troubled self-examination. “You're with me now. You've got plenty of time to work it out.”
Salli sat on the edge of Ali's bed in her room, looking around. Even taking into account that Ali spent most of her sleeping time in Salli's own bedroom, it was a remarkably Spartan space. Four blank walls, devoid of any decoration besides a large display screen for the entertainment center on the wall opposite the bed, not even a smaller display screen to show favorite photos or decorative landscapes. Besides the bed, there was a cheap fiberboard dresser for Ali's clothing, the only thing laying atop it a discarded pelt brush, the entertainment center's remote, and a personal massager they'd both been using earlier. On the other side of the bed was Ali's weapons locker, made of steel and painted institutional beige. A door led to the Necessary, where, Salli knew, all of Ali's personal grooming kit was in the cabinet above the sink or neatly lined up with military precision on the counter top. The floor was tiled in flat ceramic the same color as the weapons locker, without even a carpet to soften it. Nothing in the space gave any indication of personality, the area remaining blankly anonymous, like a cabin on a remarkably cheap liner.
Or a cell, Salli thought, feeling suddenly uncomfortable.
Ali finished dressing, pressing her thumb to the weapons locker's security scanner, unlocking it and retrieving her stunner, making it disappear up the sleeve of her blouse. She turned back to Salli, apparently seeing something in the older vixen's face that made her pause. “Is everything all right” Ali asked.
“I'm fine,” Salli said, trying to draw herself out of her disturbed state of mind. “I was just thinking... Ali, do you have any hobbies?”
“What do you mean?” Ali asked, ears pricking up in curiosity.
“I mean... things you like to do when you're off duty.”
“Umm.” Ali's ears flattened and her brow wrinkled, as if she didn't quite understand the question. “I don't know. Watch vids or the news.”
“Aside from that,” Salli said, trying not to sound impatient.
The bodyguard shrugged. “Exercise. Doing my katas. Practicing my marksmanship.”
Salli waved that off. “That's just keeping in practice for your job. What do you do for fun?” She cut off Ali's slight smile with, “Aside from the obvious.”
“I... er....” Ali shrugged, looking uncomfortable. “It's my job to watch out for you, Salli. I can't get distracted.”
“You can't guard me twenty-one hours a day, dearest. Who is Ali, when she's not being Ali the Bodyguard? Did Melanie just keep you in a box, when she had no need of you?” A sudden thought occurred, making Salli's stomach twist in a knot. “She didn't make you stay in a cell, did she?” If Ali had been as truly feral as Melanie claimed, when the latter had found her...
“No!” Ali exclaimed. “It's just... I do my job. That's enough.” Apparently sensing in Salli's expression that was enough of an explanation, she went on, “It's just.... easier for me.... if I can stay focused on that instead of... instead of...”
Instead of thinking too hard about if you didn't have that, you'd have nothing, Salli sensed was the answer behind that hesitation. How could the poor girl know what she was, what she wanted to be, when her mentors had either been twisting her into a monster or using her as their personal property. “It's all right,” she said instead, before Ali could try and mumble through more troubled self-examination. “You're with me now. You've got plenty of time to work it out.”
