Summary:Hours away from Posse's surgery the cyborg and albino have a talk in private. Log Info:Storyteller: None |
Related LogsTheme SongNone |
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The others have all moved on, Hank only having returned with the cot as promised before disappearing back to the mountain of prep work left to process. After the earlier commotion, some of which had absolutely been Neena's fault, everything quickly goes quiet.
"Full transparency, it wasn't my intention to flashbang the room" she suggests with a sheepish look. Dipping her head forward with some embarrassment, "Aaand I thought we were a lot closer to go time. Still, high marks for being dramatic."
Looking back to the cyborg with sincerity, the merc asks "How are you holding up?"
*
Ava looks over and down from her hospital bed and pauses in reading from her tablet. Inclined forward, the soldier looks reasonably comfortable even if she's still in a thin gown and showing more bare skin than usual. "Not my first time under a knife - won't be my last," she answers, giving the albino a casual reply first along with a grin. Ava too dips her head a little. "Yeah ya shocked a few people good - not sure /how/. Roni's my doctor, she'll only be surprised to hear we've fucked twice."
*
"They're not particularly observant for being so damn intelligent" Neena suggets with a lopsided grin before correcting "Thrice. Not counting repeat offenses."
Compared to Ava's position of comfort Dom looks like a proper wreck. Something's gotten her all strung out, it's entirely likely that she'll start pacing at any moment.
"I get that you've racked up some frequent flyer miles here but that doesn't mean I'm going to feel any better about it. It's only because you trust these people… And because you need it," she acknowledges with a gentle sigh. "Look. Whatever happens, I've got your back."
*
Ava's expression softens and the amputee's grin balances to form an even smile. "So what you're my buddy now?" she asks while tapping the power button of her tablet and setting it on her blanket.
*
"Last I checked we were a few degrees beyond 'buddies.' Dammit Ava, I'm trying here" Neena grumbles. "If you need some space then I'll step out but something told me here is where I should be. This whole 'caring' matter is kind of a bitch" she jokes with a thin smile. Glancing back to the door, "Besides, I think Karl needs a break. Guy's been getting his steps in trying to keep up with me today."
*
"You've been runnin him through his paces huh? Well he's tasked with keeping your butt in his LOS so he can't complain too loudly," the green-eyed cyclops teases lightly before pulling the blanket off herself and climbing out of bed. Any shock or shudder of feeling bare feet on a cool tile floor is lost; the cyborg's prosthetics don't notice a thing. Swinging her arms overhead, she bends to one side to stretch.
"I guess that didn't translate. I mean like a battle buddy. You know, second set of eyes and ears to keep you squared away, head-counts for you in a room, second pair of fists in a fight, pulls you out of the eight foot yard hole you fell into in the middle of the night - that sort of thing."
*
Talking about Karl has Domino's eyes going wide as they roll off to one side, slowly nodding. "If he doesn't keep hydrated he's gonna wake up in the middle of the night with a nuclear cramp."
As Ava stands away from the bed her motions are visually followed. The next time Neena sees her those more basic implants are all going to be quite different. For a moment a frown can be seen on her face.
"Aw c'mon Av, that should go without saying" she challenges with a quick smirk. "I got my back-stabbing quota out of the way early. We're good. Any time I'm on the grounds and you need something then I'm your retriever. Well..me and Karl" she corrects while a fingertip absently ticks against the surface of the orange badge.
Her attention splits away to dart across the room. Searching for something? "I'd offer to take on the position full time but there's a fair bit on our plates lately. Especially with you not being a hundred percent."
*
Ava switches sides without a pause, though the surprise shows on her face. "Really? What about all that sweet merc money? Roni might pay good but I know she doesn't pay you that good."
*
"It's..a work in progress" Neena carefully replies. "Right now the help is needed on the home front." So that's what she's going to do. It seems like her mind has already been made up on that matter. "I can't just..walk away when you're all in a tough spot" she mutters while rubbing a hand across her face.
*
"And I think Roni wants to back you with our firepower to go after whatever those dog-things are," Ava note casually. The cyborg bends over to continue stretching, though more for her back than her legs.
"This is your first taste a' stability in a while-and-a-wake-up, ain't it?" the amputee wonders, only to pause and add, "Wait - do you even /have/ US citizenship?"
*
Neena looks back to Ava with some surprise upon hearing that Roni wants to back her -with their firepower.- Such a reaction pretty well answers Ava's next question but she still voices a blunt "Yeah."
Then… The albino visibly stills as she thinks the question over. When she looks back to Ava there's what could well be some concern in her eyes.
Dom's voice is kept low and spoken softly when she answers, "Not technically."
*
Ava's silent at first, her attention and eyes still on her own body as she moves through her stretches. "Where from then?" she asks, still in a relaxed, conversational tone. "You know working' RESCUE's a path to a green card, but we've got some ops that are citizen-only."
*
Remaining still but continuing to watch Ava through all of her stretches, Neena answers in the same tone: "Florida."
*
"They're weird but they ain't 'their own country' weird," Ava chastises lightly as she peeks back up. In spite of the gown, or perhaps because of it, she's giving the albino plenty to watch - and it's so far all robotic. "Be real with me, Tamara - er, Neena. Where're you from?"
*
"I am" Neena claims as both her voice and her head drop slightly. "Southern Florida. I wasn't lying about being a snowbird. Av..can we not do this right now?" she asks while returning her focus to the bendy 'borg. "I know that I owe you some answers but let's try for one thing at a time here, I don't want to be fucking with your head before surgery."
*
The cyborg quirks a brow at the request, then tips her head to one side in assent. "Sure, but you act like this is some major op for me. I'm not the one workin a scalpel. I've just gotta lay on a bed and stay put for a day while my innards get cyberized."
"But hey," she adds, straightening back up and locking eye to eyes with the albino. "You need someone to talk to, I've taken tea with a chaplain before; I can fill in. The buddy system goes both ways."
*
"Fair point" Dom drily replies. Ava's been plenty calm this entire time, even discussing specifics with those about to perform the surgery like it's no big deal. -Dom- has been the spazzy one.
Even while Ava's putting the offer out there the albino's eyes suddenly can't seem to sit still. They start leaping all across the room, starting high then working downward in circular sweeps. She's definitely looking for something now.
Then she's out of her seat and coming to stand right in front of the cyborg, moving slower but with some amount of restraint. With Ava upright and the two eye to eye with little room to spare the albino's voice falls lower still, meant to be kept solely between them both.
"I'm government property."
*
Ava waits patiently, seeing the gears spinning in the albino's head and letting them run their course. She stills and her posture subtly straightens as Neena approaches, sensing the shift in mood. The albino gets her attention, green eye to dotted eye, and the sotto voce admission is met by a slight furrowing of the brow, a moment's thought, and then a gruff crease of her lips.
"Aww shit, really? You're one a' those?" she grimaces while her lone eye grows larger and sympathetic.
*
Neena's expression remains neutral as she gently nods in confirmation, carefully observing Ava's every move. The sympathy, though… It cracks some of the pale lady's defenses.
"This," she points toward the eye patch, "is a mark of ownership. I might still be there if I hadn't been considered a failure, slated for destruction. That's why I have the combat training but no squad training. That's why I don't trust the military and why I hate facilities like RESCUE. At least most of the rooms here are -above- ground."
*
"I figured you had a bad run-in with somethin medical. I figured it was drugs or some forced-op," Ava responds, her voice mellow and unthreatening and her face expressing regret before her lone eye glances past Neena to her bed.
"Hey at least don't say all this standin up. You're not reporting your life story to first sausage," she advises, beckoning the albino to the mattress behind her then moving to take a seat to her left. Thankfully all the railings are down.
*
Leave it to Ava to do something else unexpected when offering a seat on the bed. A thin smile ghosts across ebony lips before Neena turns about and hops back onto the raised ledge. After the cyborg follows she reaches out for Ava's right hand, seeming to appreciate having a route to direct skin contact rather than something artificial.
"There's plenty more to say but I'm not sure if anything more needs to be said. Becoming a merc seemed the best option, in Madripoor there's always work to be done. Don't know if anyone might still be looking for me. Can't let my guard down."
Releasing a heavy breath while slowly rolling a thumb in a circle within Ava's palm, she offers "I'll tell you anything that you want to know. I'm done keeping secrets from you."
*
Ava smiles and her eye is naturally drawn to the the path Neena's finger is tracing on her skin before it lifts back up to her face. "Well… that's a nice start," she considers warmly - thinking, then following with nothing. "You're right that now's not the time to grill ya, and honestly who gives a ? But ya' know, might be worth havin Hank make you one of those fancy hologram things he talked about, or at least ask Roni to remove that spot. Trust me she can patch a lot worse, and with a little pigment mixed in your bath soap I bet you can de-albino yourself for disguise. Either way if that dot means ownership I'll need to find a new nickname. This is exactly why the alphabet boys and me never got along."
*
Ava's hand gets a little squeeze. "The nickname's okay," Domino reassures her. Smiling lightly, she adds "Especially from you. That damage was over with a long time ago. Seeing it serves as a reminder of where I've been and how far I've come. Being albino, well… That's just me. Got that bit from my mom. I shouldn't -have- to hide it. There's no shame in who I am. If they do ever come for me?" she considers with a slight pause. "Best of luck to them all."
Ava's hand is brought up long enough for a kiss to be placed upon its back. "For a while I wasn't sure if I'd have to keep hiding from you, too. Instead, you and this crew have turned into my strongest allies. Fancy that."
*
The green-eyed amputee grins at first, ready to go alone with Neena's reply until she feels the kiss on her hand. Ava smiles again and dips her head. In the dim evening light, it's a little hard to tell the color of her cheeks. "You're with good stock now. You've seen my ink: Never leave a fallen comrade. That's what it means to be a soldier, that's what it means to be a doctor, and all the rest of 'em are good people for a good cause too. Like it or not Roni is as stubborn as I am so you can expect she will mother-hen-peck anyone that comes after you red n' raw."
Ava's hand slides itself out of Domino's grasp and glides down the albino's back, wrapping around her waist as the tawny vet makes tender eye contact and smiles. "And she'd hen-peck me if we got carried away but I know what we can do without rufflin her feathers," she hints before leaning over and meeting Neena lip to lip.
*
Neena quietly requests "Please stop talking about chickens now."
*