Summary:Social awkwardness, a fast bike ride, and shared details of a hellcat. Log Info:Storyteller: None |
Related LogsTheme SongNone |
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With the official (it was official, wasn't it?) after action report out of the way and the others having all drifted on to tend to their various business the newly returned albino takes a while longer to get herself moving again. All of the extra calories help but there's a weariness surrounding her like a dark cloud. Life should be returning to normal but it's as if a switch had been flipped which got stuck in the wrong position.
There is also..of course..more personal business to tend to. Because there -always is.- Leave it to the likes of Hank to drastically accelerate that timetable. Neena won't forget how that all played out.
With Karl the escort in tow she seeks out not the big furry blueberry but the chief of security, hopefully resulting in a 'changing of guard' so that Karl can go be somewhere else for a while. She doesn't really care where that might be so long as it isn't -here.-
"Posse. You free?"
*
Contrary to some impressions the chief of security isn't /always/ working. Sometimes she's getting ready to work! Or eating or sleeping. The woman's only half robot, after all.
Stepping out of the Proving Ground's shooting range and dabbing her shemagh against her brow, the green-eyed vet notices Neena about as quickly as the albino speaks up and pauses in her walk. Her gaze flits ever so briefly to Karl standing at her side. Good work, escort.
"Got a little time, sure. What's the mission?"
*
Right back to the shooting range. These two do have a habit of meeting up at places where live fire is common. Though upon seeing Posse there Neena's first thought isn't to crack a joke or reach for some ear pro but to shy away with a 'nevermind' and forget the whole idea.
What the hell is she even hoping to accomplish?
"Pretty sure I owe you a beer" she suggests while completely dodging half a dozen other detours. If there's any weapons laid out nearby they'll prove to be another helpful and timely distraction, too.
*
"Ya might," Ava considers with a nod of agreement as she eyes the albino. "I'm not so keen to drink on duty but we can do a snack break. Or if you'd rather meet after my shift?" she offers.
*
Oh, right. Normal people have shifts, don't they? Neena momentarily looks annoyed, probably more at herself. "It can wait" she suggests, hinting at waiting for Ava's schedule to clear up. "I'll just..go do a thing."
*
"A thing," the bionic woman repeats with amused skepticism. "Sure. Occupy yourself until 1700 and I'll find you."
*
Neena only dips her head in response before moving along, back to having a Karl at her side. Some of that time will likely be spent in the medical wing but if the path of her tracker is at all observed during this span there's going to be what seems like a lot of aimless wandering taking place.
*
At 1708 sharp, the albino's aimless wandering is interrupted out of the blue by a sharp whistle from the woman's six. Standing to her back, Ava's dressed down from her armor to her denim jeans and jacket, and the cyborg nonchalantly raises a metal water bottle in greeting.
*
Did the albino just jump a little? The whistle has her shoulders tense as she digs a heel in and pivots about to face the cyborg before a held breath is visibly released. It's possible that Ava won't catch the muttered "Goddammit" which follows.
Karl had prepared for this moment a little better. "She's all yours, Ma'am" he says to Posse with a friendly head-bob before moseying on.
Neena watches him go, as still as a statue until he's rounded a corner then holding her ground for a bit longer. Still bowstring-taut her head hangs forward a few degrees, hands coming together for a count of five before she turns back to Ava.
"Got somewhere better than a hall we can go?"
*
"Thanks Karl. Enjoy the time off," Posse nods to her fellow REACT and hooks her thumbs in her pockets while leaning casually back and waiting for Neena to collect herself. The vet smiles sympathetically and tips her head down the hall. "Mess hall, my quarters, or a ride down the highway?"
*
The albino perks slightly with the thought of going for a ride. It might make conversation difficult but hey, the bike's electric. No engine noise! No effort is made to hide her look of relief when it comes up as an option. "Ride first, drinks later." Only because -some- people aren't as crazy as her to go in the reverse order. "Let's get the hell out of here."
*
"Thought you might like that," Ava answers knowingly as she steps to the side, clearing half the hallway for Neena to pass beside her. "Race ya' to the parking deck?"
*
Wait..what? Dom gives Ava a look like the cyborg has either just lost her mind or suddenly turned twelve. "You..want to…" she starts in with clear confusion before rolling her eyes. "Fuck it."
She may be worn the hell out but the sooner they can get outside the better it'll be for her. Ava'll get a quick slap to the back of her shoulder if she waits around long enough.
If it turns out Posse is just messing with the merc then it won't take long for a whole lot of embarrassment to find her!
*
Despite appearances, Ava keeps pace when Domino takes off - and seems to only do just that, not pushing or not able to get too much ahead of her as she turns and takes them up the stairs and down the hall to the garage. "Get your body goin' and you forget your heart was up for somethin other than exercise," she hints while running.
*
Anyone else in the area might be concerned that there's an emergency when these two go flying past but damn if it doesn't do the trick. "Might have to join you for morning PT" Neena thinks aloud while similarly working to keep pace with the other woman rather than charge on ahead. The feeling of -movement- is more of a reward than trying to take point.
"I wasn't planning to keep it a secret" she says out of the blue while those peculiar eyes narrow. "Hank had no business letting it out."
*
"If you mean your cat, I found out my own way. I asked to learn how much he was hiding from me. It doesn't take CIA training to sniff that out," Ava answers with relative comfort. As fast as their pace is, it's also too short to leave her breathless by the time she enters the parking garage and slows to a trot upon reaching the motorcycle parking where her distinctive black electric cycle sits pretty and waiting.
"If you want in on PT I'll hold ya' to it," the cyborg responds while catching a breath around a smile before bending over to retrieve her helmets from the rear storage.
*
"Now thanks to him the entire fucking team knows about it" Domino says just above a slight growl. "I figured you would have gotten a hint or ten but the matter of its origin is another story."
While waiting for a helmet she offers "Then hold me to it" without giving the subject any real thought. "If I'm going to be a part of the team then some manner of routine'll help me fit in."
"Look..Ava. Everyone already had enough to deal with, dumping yet another personal problem in front of you all didn't seem like the right play. But it still has nothing to do with being compromised."
Further details there seem destined to wait until they're out on the open road.
*
Ava stops as she lifts the helmets out while stooped over and turns back to look at Neena with a suddenly cheerless flatness. "Is it anything that endangers this base right now?"
*
The sudden hesitation in Ava catches Neena by surprise. The helmet is just landing into her hands before any thought of wearing it are aborted, the protective piece instead slowly brought in toward her stomach.
The question also leads to some consideration as if she's choosing her words carefully. "No immediate threat."
*
Posse holds her gaze a couple seconds longer then straightens up and takes a deep breath. "Good. We'll cover that later." Donning her own helmet, the cyborg clips her chin strap and walks a quick circle around her motorcycle, giving both tires a squeeze and checking a couple caps before mounting the saddle.
*
The gaze is returned, Neena seemingly keen on allowing Posse the chance to 'read' her over. Does she look troubled? Hell yes. Does she look like she's in any danger of suddenly flipping out and going on a murderous rampage? No. Really not. If anything she looks more inclined to curl up in a dark corner and drink her troubles away than to go for any form of weapon.
At the cyborg's call to cover it later the albino gently dips her head then also tucks into the helmet. She'll wait to hop on the bike until after Ava's settled then give her flesh and blood shoulder a squeeze as if they were forming up to push up a flight of stairs. 'Ready on your six.'
*
"Comm check," Ava responds, muffled by two helmets but clear through the intra-helmet radio linking them. Rocking the bike level, she knocks the kickstand back and slowly rolls the vehicle out of its parking space as her gauges all light up at once. No engine rumble or vibration precedes the initial movement and startling to life of the vehicle.
*
"Five by five, chief" Neena replies with a thin smirk. "All that's missing is a couple of rotors and a hardmount M60."
"Been a while since we've hit the streets on your green machine. First night out. Feels like we've gone full circle."
*
"I'll get us good n' lost then. I can't stand downtown traffic," Posse replies as her bike briskly accelerates, only holding back long enough for the guard arm to raise for the exit before rushing up the ramp and down the winding pathway to RESCUE's main entrance. From there it's a quick dash down the bridge and a turn onto the first interstate out of the Big Apple.
*
"Please do" Neena replies with a rare showing of some hint of manners. The process of getting out onto the road proper goes easy enough but as soon as the open road beckons the pale lady leans closer and hooks her arms around Ava's waist. A bit more snugly than necessary, at that. It isn't accompanied by any idle chatter or good natured humor, she merely hangs on.
*
Tucking against the sculpted body of her motorcycle, Posse doesn't comment any as Neena squeezes against her from behind. This time - for the first time - the albino doesn't run into a hard shell of steel. There's denim, there's the *poke* of what's almost certainly a pistol, and then there's only the resistance of natural flesh.
There's also no warning when the cyborg's motorcycle banks across the on-ramp at a suspiciously reasonable pace before /jumping/ forward and cresting highway speed in the span of a breath. The high rises of New York City at their backs, Ava weaves her way from lane to lane jockeying through the evening traffic in its daily exodus out of the city.
*
The beauty of instant torque from an electric motor can be a lot of fun. It can also catch a passenger -completely- by surprise when they aren't the ones hitting the go switch. What starts as a "Whoa!" immediately blends into a "Woo!" as the same breath covers surprise and glee in equal proportions. "Drivin' it like you stole it, hell yeah!"
Running down the halls had helped before. Getting up to highway speeds helps even more.
"Hey," she voices without warning. "Which Navy officer did you lift that Sig from?"
*
"Speed is security," Ava answers back as she makes an aggressive weave to clear a clump of stuck cars. "Too many ers think they own the roads around here," she adds in a mutter.
"That? Open market. SOWF used it as a fund-raiser, but it's close kin to the real thing."
*
"Yeah, no shit" Neena grunts at all of the crazy and rude motorists. "We run into any trouble I know where to reach."
Right to Ava's concealed carry piece, of course!
"Nice catch. You put some thought into that op."
She falls silent for a few seconds before adding "Thanks for getting me out of there. Any time you want to talk about the cat situation…"
*
"I needed something that'd punch deeper than my .45 and I figured it'd be familiar for ya as a SIG girl," the cyborg answers back. "Plus it felt wrong never usin' the thing on a live target. Thank that barbed wire b for the opportunity," she adds, as if the two were on speaking terms… or both alive.
The mention of Neena's cat draws a momentary silence, then the verbal equivalent of a shrug from Ava. "It's not an imminent threat and I've got plenty of charge. Talk when you're ready."
*
"It was nice having something familiar in my hand. Be happy to give 'er more combat time if you'd like."
The momentary silence soon brings with it an opportunity. "Right now, huh" Neena deadpans with a gentle breath. She -did say- there wouldn't be any more secrets between the two!
"Alright. Now that you've met Thea, at one point during our other-dimensional walkabout we fell into a cave and couldn't see shit. I stumbled across an amulet aaand..then I could see. Don't ask me how it worked, I just put it to work. In a world of darkness being able to see under any conditions was kind of useful so I wore the thing and left it alone."
"Turned out there was something else somehow living inside of it. Thea noticed the changes to my teeth and eyes over time but whatever was in there was -helping- us get through. Some form of language existed out there and the critter in the gem actually knew some of the words. It kept us safe..when I bothered to listen to the warnings."
"There was a catch. It didn't want to let go. Thea pried it off of me once, long enough for us to have a little chat. She gave in. Years later the damn critter found us a ride home. Now it doesn't need that amulet. It's fully riding shotgun with me."
Neena falls silent again as she drums up the nerve to continue. "It wants to be free, Ava. It helped us get out, it's STILL helping me out. It wants the favor returned. It somehow feeds off of the energy of other things as they die. The nova hounds. Other metas. It's..already claimed a few of each. What it's building strength for I don't know but I at least have a name for it now. 'Syk'raal'" she says in what could have been a mix between a sneeze and a snarl.
"Others have insisted this thing is some sort of parasite but I'm not sold on the idea. Whatever it is..it's become a part of me."
*
"You just can't have simple problems can ya', Spot?" Ava blurts when she's done listening. "I got some of the backblast off that story but maybe you should start from the beginnin'. You were in /literal/ hell?"
*
"Or something approximating it" Neena confirms with a gentle sigh. "I've been led to believe that there's quite a few realms which can be referred to as a 'hell dimension.' I think we found ourselves on the equivalent of some backwater spin of it."
"If you feel like a detour while we talk, take the next exit. Maybe I can add some more clarity."
*
Glancing over her shoulder to check traffic, Ava pulls her bike out of the high speed lane she'd been cruising in and tucks into place for the coming off-ramp. There's no question of why; maybe she's learned to trust the albino's luck powers at least. "Go ahead," she offers.
*
"Take a left then three blocks down" Neena directs. Further instructions will be provided as they get closer.
"I want you to know that if I saw this 'hellcat' as a legitimate threat I would have already said something about it. Everyone who hears about it makes a huge deal but for me it's been a constant companion over these last four years. Sure we've had some misunderstandings but it had gone a bit stir crazy in that amulet and came out paranoid and starving. A lot like me stepping out of the Project."
*
"That's still a big detail to leave out. And I'll be reaming Hank separately,"Ava critiques as she steers by direction and slows down to a speed that's a little less likely to start a cop tailing them. It might be 'normal driving' if not for the jarring and sudden way she takes every turn and lane change seemingly as sharp as possible. Even at low speeds riding with the cyborg in control is hardly a relaxing experience. "How'd you end up there in the first place? What all went down?"
*
There isn't any complaint about the ride from the passenger, largely because she's driven like this plenty of times as well. With the hold Neena has on Posse anywhere the cyborg goes she's also going, no risk of being left behind here!
"Would any of you believed me if I mentioned it?" she inquires in a half challenging tone. "Besides, I'm still brought in as outside assistance. There was no mandatory history check or psych eval. Not that any part of this hints at being a regular occurrence."
As for the how, "You remember the first night back at your quarters? I mentioned something about the amulet being a souvenir from a former gig. A call went out for added security, was supposed to be a milk run. Park your butt in the back of a LAPV and keep everything safe until it reaches its destination. No one told us we were part of a teleportation experiment. The cargo we were there to protect had been all of the scientific shit along with our survival gear. They tricked six of us. Only Thea and I made it out, the others didn't last two minutes."
*
"We've got aliens and people that can fly by thinking about it. 'Sides you've got the eyes and teeth to prove it," Ava points out in dispute of the albino's skepticism. "And you know damned well I took you through campus multiple times and in that last op teamed you with half a dozen mutes, so yeah, I think a time share with a demon who's got a sweet tooth for fancy powers is a big detail to leave out in that crowd."
"We /did/ run a background check before clearing ya for Ukraine, but you built a good cover," the cyborg adds, almost snippy at the implied slight to her security measures. Whether she likes it or not three blocks of city traffic take time even outside of the Big Apple's heart, although a fortunate light change prevents the bionic woman from having to stop her motorcycle completely. "So your ride got teleported to canebreak hell and you were stuck there for /four years/?"
*
"Fair" Neena simply replies at first. "Maybe I'm the only one that had trouble accepting something like Hell really exists. Also, I didn't think I'd be with your crew this long. Things have changed, so..consider this chapter one of my tell-all experience."
Three blocks down goes to a right turn. In short order the city starts to change, the usual evening energy of a grungy but populated segment giving way to less energy and more grunge. Older buildings with an abundance of that run-down charm take over the scenery. The sort of place only urban explorers and people with a purpose tend to venture.
"Ish. Honestly it was hard to tell. The days all blurred together. No obvious passing of time, no day/night cycle. It's my best guess."
"The part that really fucked with my head was that when we came back we hadn't missed years of reality. We missed about one hour of it. Over there" she points over Ava's shoulder to a dark and grungy alley. The bike won't have any trouble passing through. Further in the space opens up to a loading bay which looks like it hasn't seen an actual cargo delivery in decades.
*
The change in scenery doesn't draw a comment from their driver or even a change in posture. There's no shift in alertness to take in the new surroundings, no new fleeting inspections of alleyways and shadowed awnings. No, the cyborg was already holding a taut core and keeping an alert scan since they started riding.
Turning into the alley Ava flips a switch on her controls but instead of lights turning on, they turn off; the bright white logo on the side of her bike vanishes and the display below her windshield dims to a nearly imperceptible level. Eyeing their destination, the cyborg chimes in over their radio again. "If we're trespassin' somewhere I'm out. That ain't a thing for me to do."
*
"I'm current on the rent" Neena easily replies while waiting for the bike to roll to a stop. She'll hop off first, taking off the helmet then suppressing a shiver while waiting for Ava to fully secure the bike and follow.
"I don't have 'a' home so much as 'homes.' Similarly, I don't have 'a' cache."
Taking point, the albino moves toward the back of the building and down a concrete lined staircase to a door with a keypad outside of it. The system looks like it hadn't had any power in some time but it still works when she punches in the code and opens the way inside.
Beyond is the basement for whatever manner of factory the place used to be. Digging into the history would show it used to be a bottling plant. Large vent pipes and pressure gauges covered in gunk line the narrow and pitch black walkways. Leave it to Miss Cat-Eyes to not need a light.
At the end of the maze-like path is..another door. A door which is quite reinforced, though subtly so. Another keypad awaits, this one connected to a much more substantial sounding lock. Dom glances over her shoulder with a humorless smile. "Given your connections to the more lawful side of things it's really not the building which should be of concern."
She steps inside and flicks on the lights. The room is solid concrete, probably reinforced. The space is about twenty feet in length and width. It's also filled with various crates, cases and containers, some bearing the telltale signs of military fonts and codes spraypainted onto their exteriors. Without opening anything Ava will recognize some stuff in here which anyone outside of the special forces should NOT be sitting with.
*
Despite the location, "securing" her motorcycle seems to take Ava no more effort than setting it upright and flipping the master switch to OFF, killing what little indication of life remained upon the vehicle. Doffing her own helmet and accepting Neena's, the green-eyed vet stores them both in the rear compartment of her bike and locks it shut. Even so, the vehicle looks to be an easy target, which makes it all the more noticeable how nonchalant Ava is to leave it in the open as she follows Neena to the door.
"All I need to cover my ass," she assures without the faintest hint of further concern. Descending to the entrance, the cyborg looks away and fills her attention with the surrounding alley. It could be privacy, it could be covering the albino's six. Honestly, it's probably both.
As they make their way inside, Ava spares half attention to the door shutting completely behind them and moves instinctively with a quieter step than Neena might expect. It's not quite a silent tactical shuffle but the dark and quiet ambience of the abandoned space is given reverence in preserving its silence. There's not even a jingle from the zipper of her jacket - which the albino might only now notice is padded by tape. And of course, the bionic vet doesn't ask for a light; all she does is close her now nearly-useless right eye.
"Hey, I'm no narc. I only have a badge because they sign my paycheck," she reminds while once more taking up post by their second and last doorway. Stepping inside, there's a pause when the lights come on as the cyborg squints and regains her bearings, and then?
"Daaaaamn, and I thought my collection was expensive."
*
"Most of it is overseas" Domino offers. As if this bunker wasn't already full of enough hardware!
Ava has a moment to look around as she pleases while Neena does the same, finding one of the smaller cases to haul out and flip open. Nothing too fancy in this one, it looks like an off the shelf smartpad. She's probably already disabled its ability to communicate so it can't be traced. Also in the case is a micro SD card which she slips into the pad, tapping at the screen once it's powered up. Then she hands it to Ava.
"The phone didn't survive the trip but I got a few pictures while the battery held out."
The first image easily sets the tone for the setting. There's so much red in the picture that the camera must have gone bonkers trying to auto correct for color. The swirling clouds in the crimson sky, the rust orange/red hue of rough rock formations jutting like broken spears out of rippling orange dunes of sand… It's Hell, alright. Or one version of it.
About the only color to be had in there is a picture of Neena, herself. Black and white and red all over but with completely uninterrupted sky blue eyes, made all the more brilliant being surrounded by so much -red.- The look of her physical and emotional state tells the story quite well.
Curiously, there's also one of -her- completely covered in red. Not a hint of white skin anywhere on her. Mud, maybe? The amulet's in place and already her eyes are starting to look otherworldly.
The few creatures she managed to get pictures of make the nova hounds look downright cuddly.
With the pad left for Ava to look through Dom's back to digging through crates, hauling out another one sized for a rifle before sitting upon a couch -made entirely of more crates.- The latches are popped and the lid opened to reveal the remains of an FN SCAR-L. It's been beat to within an inch of its life, the black finish scoured away to reveal bare steel and aluminum. Polymer bits have cracked. Other pieces are straight-up missing. There's a jagged piece of shiny black crystal affixed to the end of the barrel by what sure looks like what used to be a magazine spring.
With a distant sigh Neena hesitantly reaches in to take the rifle-turned-spear. "We were completely out of ammo before the first month. Everything was fucking hostile and hostiles were everywhere."
*
Still taking some time to look over the various crates and their markings, Ava… almost seems to smile at the spartan dwelling. It's probably just a trick of the light.
Accepting the pad, the cyborg's brow leaps immediately at the first picture and she begins to swipe slowly through. "Sheee-ite, this is some straight-up Heart a' Darkness. How long ago were you in there?" she asks while studying the selfie and fixating naturally on the striking blue of the albino's eyes. "Y'aged well," Ava asides.
*
"Thanks" Neena says with a light chuckle. "Hmmh. That charity shoot where we first met? Thea and I had only been back a couple of days, if you can believe it. My nerves were so shot and I hadn't pulled a trigger in so long, couldn't hit the broad side of a barn from the inside. As you had noticed," she adds with a more legitimate smile.
"Whether you knew it or not you're what got me back up to speed, so..thanks for that. Call it a lucky break that the first person I bump into turned out to be such a great catch."
*
"Damn that soon? Guess I caught ya on the rebound," Ava muses as she keeps flipping through one picture at a time before pausing to look over. "Nothin like a little group therapy to make the demons put their heads down. Yer not the first person I've seen who looked a little zapped; we've all been there."
Chuckling quietly to herself, the green-eyed vet returns to Neena's photo album. "See any Marines down there with ya?"
*
"You really did" Dom confirms with another smile. "Just what I needed and exactly when I needed it."
As Ava turns back to the photos Neena's attention wanders back to the 'spear' in hand, frowning a little as she brings the jagged crystal closer for an experimental sniff or two. Following the sniff test her eyes narrow, pointy teeth baring slightly before she can shake herself out of it.
"Is that a Doom joke?" she asks with a grin. "Nah. I'd like to think that a Marine would have had a bit more sense."
"Some of the others had training but I think it all went out the window as soon as we went through. Some building-sized plant..thing picked up the entire LAPV, had a clear twenty foot drop from the back bumper to the hill. Never saw so much testosterone lose so much of its shit so quickly before."
Frowning again, this time in thought, "There was some dude and a gal up front who couldn't exit. Think they got stabbed through the glass. Two others fell out the back including one jacked-up fool who really liked to yell. I think they both got picked up and torn apart by a swarm of flying bugs. It was over before it started."
*
"Nah just proof you got budget-hell. Marines go to real-hell to regroup. Pretty sure some day I'll find their batt in the most ugly, rat-ass swamp in the dimension, while NAVSPECWAR does overwatch from some cushy high ground," Ava considers before shaking her head. "Damn shame. No small miracle you got through four years of that. How did you reckon time?"
*
The pale lady laughs at the thought of a budget-hell. "Speaking from personal experience? We may have fared better with some actual Marines. I don't know, we were all mercs lookin' for some bucks. Normally if it sounds too good to be true then it is but that's kind of the norm for me. Can't win 'em all."
As for timing she taps her left wrist, currently not adorned with anything. "Had a watch. It helped."
*
"Lucky that," the cyborg notes as she looks over at the woman's pale wrist and grins lightly, then reaches over to offer back the tablet. "So what's your vibe on that hellcat so far? And ya got any clues on who might know how to exorcize it?"
*
The tablet is accepted and quickly powered down as if its owner doesn't want to be reminded of the pictures it contains. Both it and the mangled rifle are gently set aside on the 'container couch' then Neena leans forward with elbows on knees. Before any response comes she flinches slightly as Ava drops the 'exorcize' word.
"..I don't know. It's dangerous, though not any worse than the nova hounds. But… This is a delicate situation, Av. It isn't a parasite, it isn't some kind of 'infection' to rid me of. It's a part of me. I don't hope to understand how any of this crap works but getting rid of it would be like cutting out a piece of myself. It wants to be free and dammit if I don't know -exactly- what that feels like."
Splayed fingertips tap together a few times before she looks toward the cyborg. "It doesn't want to stay in me but it won't take banishment without a fight. I think it wants its own form. But I don't know if it's something we could trust. I've never had a pet 'demon' before. I mean, what would I even feed it? Virgins? First borns? Goat blood?"
*
|ROLL| Posse +rolls 1d10 for: 3
*
"Nova hounds and dead mutants, apparently," Ava quips as she unzips and slips off her jacket, exposing a small fanny pack and a black t-shirt with the iconic red and blue with white silhouette of the Major League— no wait, that silhouette's got a gun. White text underneath identifies it simply, [ansi(hw,Major League Infidel).
The cyborg bends over to drape her jacket across Neena's shoulders, then turns and takes a seat beside her. "I don't mind the cat touches but you not havin full control of yourself is a problem," she explains. "And how sure can ya be it won't decide to take a bite out of one of tha mutants floating around HQ? And if it's gettin stronger every time it has a snack, one a these days you won't stop it. Dead, banished to the Hi Point of hells, or air dropped in a backwater nowhere halfway round the world all count the same to me."
*
It's perfectly clear that Neena's not proud of the dead mutants riding on the back of this dilemma. When Ava stands all eyes are on her — then on her shirt with a thin smirk — before coming to land on another honest smile as the cyborg offers her jacket. It's another reminder that the merc isn't in this alone and that she needs to consider that it affects more than just herself.
"Brass tacks. It's been feeding quite a lot with the hounds but in doing so it's been able to establish a better link with me rather than one ruled by instinct. I guess you could say we've had a heart to heart somewhere after the kennels detonated. However… You aren't wrong. If it wants to take over it -can- take over and I'm not going back to wearing a damn shock collar."
"If we find some way to give it another form that would free me of being controlled but there's still the chance that it'd go off the rails. ..I don't know what to do. Every bit of this is beyond my realm of understanding. It seems like we're getting a better connection but there's still no way of being a hundred percent."
*
"Has it expressed any hunger for something that wasn't a nova hound or a mutant?" Ava questions as she shifts a little to get comfortable on the hard surface. "And how needy does it get with that?"
"Nice furniture by the way," she smirks dryly. "Brings back memories."
*
Neena hangs her head a bit lower, sliding face through palms in another obvious tell. This time it's 'you aren't gonna like this.' "Blood. Though it's more of an appetizer or dessert to the main course. Uuh… Sporadic at first. Time spent in the kennels and fight club seem to have scratched that itch in spades. Not sure how long it might last. Worst part is with the Spiders. You know, those masked sorts that swing around the city on weblines? It apparently enjoyed dining on spiders back home and never lost the taste, so… It gets a little dicey around them."
The subject change brings her attention back to Ava with a lopsided grin. "Necessity is the mother of invention," she kids.
Fingertips drum across legs once before she slowly leans back. "My plan with McCoy was to look for some alternate means of feeding this critter to start. Maybe some kind of energy that could be replicated synthetically. Could we keep its proverbial tummy full without giving it more power?"
*
"That'd be a good answer," Ava ponders as she folds her arms thoughtfully. "Ya don' want to feed it and make it stronger or you'll start losin your votes, and if you go after one of the Spiders that would land ya in hot water fast. You know I wouldn't be able to ignore that," she reminds seriously.
"If it just wants blood go see a butcher. They've got that stuff in buckets full; make ya some black puddin or somethin," the cyborg suggests, tapping her bicep before looking over. "What's it think of churches?"
*
This serious reminder earns the cyborg Neena's undivided attention for a few seconds, the albino reading her in the same way that Ava had read Dom before starting the bike.
"Yeah, with any luck I can get the beast its -own- skin before washing down every meal with a vampiric shot."
Churches? "I don't think it cares but it's an untested theory. More on account of my own dislike of 'em. That's another story."
*
"We can see what holy water does to ya'," Ava suggests simply. "And blood's palatable if ya cook it first, don't let Hollywood fool you."
*
"Just because it can be done doesn't mean that I suddenly have an interest," Neena deadpans. "Rumor has it you can even use the stuff to bake a cake. Still don't want to eat one."
Getting back to her feet she starts to put away the few relics of her other-dimension time but pauses when the broken rifle gets placed back into the case. Tucked away in a small vertical slit is the badly battered remains of a STANAG magazine for it. A thoughtful "Hmmh" slips out before she puts the mag in a back pocket before closing the SCAR away.
"Well. You should be up to speed on the hellcat situation, Av. We can hit the road again."
*
"If it can take the urge off a hunger to eat Hank and Io that'd be worth knowing," the bionic woman advises as she watches Neena put away her things. Her eyes flit to the mag as it's pocketed instead of stored. "This place's got some meaning to ya doesn't it?" Ava guesses.
*
"It's already tried a time or two" Neena nonchalantly replies. "Hank's proven too difficult a prey to be worth future consideration. In fact…" she pauses "I think 'Raal' is kinda fond of the guy."
The next question brings another soft "Hmm?" as she looks up and around. "-Here?- Not really. Before I took the job which landed Thea and I in the abyss I was out of the country. Made a few calls after I got back to the correct reality, did a little fancy footwork, and here we are. This place is disposable as hell, just somewhere to dump extra gear. Got hideaways like this all over the globe."
*
"But only one hide-away with that SCAR and SD card I'll bet," Ava counters, then screws her face up in genuinely bewilderment. "Your hellcat's got a crush on /Hank/? You're pullin my leg again…"
*
"Had to store it somewhere" Neena suggests with a partial shrug. Immediately following this is an equal look of surprise before she falls back onto the 'couch' laughing! "Holy shit, Ava, no, I didn't mean THAT kind of fond! I meant a …ah… was really referring to … the other …" she trails off as her expression goes from surprised amusement to, little by little, a dawning look of concern.
"..Oh fuck me running."
*
Now it's Ava's turn to heartily laugh at the albino's expression. "Wait you didn't know? How do you miss that?!" Another bout of laughter follows as the comedy of the situation gives way to stress-relieving catharsis. "Damn that's gotta be awkward for you… What I'm not special enough for it? No super powers so I'm yesterday's news?"
*
Neena just sits the hell back and ever so gently clears her throat. "Too gentle" is the only meek response she's going to offer to THAT question.
"So hey, the open road beckons! Let's get the hell outta here" the albino suddenly announces while hopping back to her feet and going -straight to the door.-
*
"Too gen— The hell you smokin' and where can I get some!?" Ava shouts as she jumps up and chases after the spotted albino - who is still wearing her jacket.
*