ArchivedLogs:Problems

Problems
Dramatis Personae Anette, Ion, Simon
In Absentia	2015-09-30 "I was doing just fine before you came along."
Location <BOM> Compound Grounds - Ascension Island
In some places, reaching the main grounds of this island takes a precarious scramble up from the rocky-craggy shore; in some places, just a short hike away from the beach. Once an old homestead, most of the 28 acres of property are taken up with forest, a dark thick sprawl of greenery through which a small stream winds crookedly. Under its shady canopy, myriad buildings are tucked away, an eclectic mix of sheds and tiny sturdy log cabins that give the area a rustic feel. Centrally, a wide clearing has been cut out of the trees. A large sweep of lawn has had a metal swingset -- two swings to either side of a small trapeze bar -- set up to one side. The lawn leads up to a cabin bigger than the others, a squat one-story building. Long and low, its wide front porch and cheerfully-painted yellow and pink shutters lend the building a welcoming air. It's late afternoon and the weather is clear, if a little chilly. Anette is currently relaxed on the swingset, slowly rocking back and forth with a coffee mug of hot cocoa in her hands. For the first time in roughly a month, she is finally cast free and is also wearing one of her many leather coats which cover her wings, coupled with jeans and boots. She appears to be lost in thought, simply staring out into the trees. Either that or she finds the trees absolutely fascinating. "Oh," comes a slightly surprised voice that might just be as surprising as it sounds. Simon just rose from the ground a few steps awau from swingset, dressed in some plain black slacks and a deep purple jacket over a button up red shirt. The younger man is carrying a mug of hot cocoa as well and offering an apologetic smile. "I apologize if I disturbed you. I didn't think anyone would be out here right now," he greets Anette. There's a low humming that comes from overhead, a faint glow in the sky that grows closer as the humming does. As the sound nears the tiny speck in the sky overhead resolves into a clear shape -- one that might be kind of /bizarre/ to see overhead: a /motorcycle/, or something that looks near enough to one, mostly black though highlit in glowing electric blue in a pattern rather reminiscent of a Tron lightcycle. The hovercycle sets down nearby the swingset. Its rider is clad also mostly in black, tall knee-high biker boots and black jeans, plain white undershirt but a veeeery beaten-up black kutte over top (emblazoned with his MUTANT MONGRELS MC logo, inhuman BEADAZZLED glittering skull-and-crossed-lightning-bolts Jolly Roger, bleached handprints, many toothmarks, claw marks, singe marks, his vest has Been Through Things), large black motorcycle helmet with tinted visor (and similarly BLINGed lightning bolts streaking its sides) obscuring his face. "Yo shit! No cast? You a free bird again, sweet-/ass/, put one here eh?" Ion hops down off the bike, stretching a fist (wrapped in fingerless leather glove) out towards Anette. Behind the helmet his grin isn't visible but it's easy enough to /hear/ in his voice. "Oh...hey," Anette says, blinking herself back into real world as Simon appears. "Just...getting some fresh air," is all she says, taking a sip from her mug. "Don't worry, you're not really disturbing. I wasn't really doing anything, anyway." That is, until she gets distracted by the Tron cycle floats down from the sky. She raises an eyebrow, clearly confused by the chain of events until its rider dismounts and speaks. Though she can't see his face, she recognizes his voice instantly and that dreamy, distracted look on her face sudden'y turns into a glare. She doesn't return his high-five. "No thanks to you, you're half the reason I was in the fucking thing! I wouldn't have been shot at if it weren't for that little stunt you suggested when I was drunk!" Simon smiles at the answer, hoping not to get anyone on the island too annoyed at him. When the noise from the hovercycle gets his attention, Simon looks arouns in confusion. When he finally spots the bike, Simon takes a step back and his jaw drops. "My god...a flying motocycle?!" he gasps out, eyes locked on the bike as it lands. He almost misses the fact that there's a rider at all until he moves. Of course when Ion speaks, Simon just blinks. He recognizes that voice alright and decides a flying motorcycle is the perfect vehicle for Ion. He jumps a little at Anette's reaction though, glancing her way. "You were shot?" Ion takes a rapid half-step back, tugging the helmet off his head to tuck it under one arm. His eyes have widened, his brows raised. He seems kind of caught in between looking at Anette and Simon with equal confusion, though. "-- Holy shit it's the /fun/ police?" He scuffs a hand through his hair, shaking his head with a series of blinks. "Whaaa hey hermana you was well on the way to drinking yourself to goddamn death bullets or no bullets. You looking /way/ the hell healthier now than before we fucked the Sentinels the hell up. If you worried about getting /shot/ at you maybe-maybe in the wrong line of /work/ here?" "Mutant went nuts in Central Park. Brain-dead cops thought they can control it, I relocated them to safer locations, and took a bullet to the thigh as a thank you," Anette rattles off to Simon as he asks about the shot, her eyes never leaving Ion. "I was doing just fine before you came along. Instead I get labelled a terrorist and I can't leave the fucking island because my face has been all over the six o'clock news. /Twice/. Jesus, I figured it'd happen eventually but I was hoping it would be for, you know, actually doing something instead of drunkenly dealing with a break-up." She takes a large gulp of her hot chocolate, gently rubbing her eyes. "What the hell ever happened to having drunk sex?" She suddenly looks up, frowning slightly. "Um...did we? Between the booze and the Sentinel dart, the rest of the night was a little blurry..." The shock of a motorcycle dropping out of the sky is slowly wearing off as Simon listens to Anette. He frowns deeply as she describes the event that she got shot in but then something clicks and he just stares at Ion. The other man's entrance had delayed it but now he's shocked by Ion showing up on the island at all. "I had no idea you were one of us..." he trails off, shifting his wait and feeling awkward. Anette's anger has him finding the ground very interesting and his cheeks flare a little red when she brings up drunk sex. He takes a long sip of his drink in effort to hide that though. "So if you knowed I was would you have let me worship how I damn pleased?" Ion sounds amused moreso than anything else, leaning back now against his no-longer-glowing bike. "Shit, yo, if /I'd/ knowed I would --" But /what/ Ion might have done in church is lost, for the moment, because his words sputter to a halt as Anette speaks. "Oh-ho-ho-/what/?" His brows just hike up higher. "How you expect me to remember? Every damn day a blur for me, yo. But you seriously trynna blame me for for some fuckshit you got yourself into when I weren't even /there/? I got you /away/ from the cops, /I/ didn't push you in front of no damn bullets. You gotta own your own shit, yo." "Well, if I weren't being labelled a terrorist, the cop wouldn't have felt the need to try to kill me for saving his life, so yeah, I do blame you actually," Anette responds, her anger leaning more towards the cold, quiet type than the loud, shouty type. "What's there to own? That I tried doing something good for once? That I tried to save someone's life? Don't worry, I'm aware I fucked up. I forgot the world hates us and humans don't derserve our help." She leans back and begins swinging again as she sip from her chocolate. "So...you two have met before then?" "I wasn't trying to stop you from worshipping..." Simon trails off. "I just was worried there'd be trouble," he adds. He looks away while Anette and Ion argue more, trying not to listen in. His expression darkens when Anette speaks about humans though. "Hate us no matter what," he mutters. He nods when spoken to though. "We met briefly. In church." "Dude, you fuckin' /met/ cops lately? I /saw/ the damn video, you can't pull that bullshit on me. They shot at you, they shot at fuckin' /Rasa/ who's a goddamn /Xavier's/ school for /saints/ babygirl, they woulda shot /any/-damn-body there mutant or /not/ who was coming at them." Ion shakes his head, throwing his hands up in something akin to exasperation. "Who said anything about fucking up, man, you /should/ keep on at doing what's right. What you gotta /own/ is your own damn /life/, hermana. In the bar then /and/ now all you want to /do/ is blame other people for every thing. Guess what, the world? It's shitty! But you got a whole island here full of people that love you and taking care of you and got your /back/ when shit's dangerous. And it's always gonna /be/ dangerous for us, you knowed /that/ when you threw your lot in with us. But we gonna /be/ here for each other through all the fucking bullets." "They shot at me when they recognized me. And that still doesn't change the fact I've left the island once in the last two months. Some of us have a harder time blending in," Anette says, pressing her feet into the ground and braking her swinging. "Anytime I do what's right, it blows up in my face. It's why I joined you guys." As she's accused of not owning up to her life, she quickly rises to her feet. "I know what I did and I know I screwed up. But all I wanted to do was drink away my feelings, maybe go home with someone, and repeat the next day. You're the one who had the brilliant idea to destroy /Sentinels/." She limps a few steps closer to Ion. "And don't go on about the island caring for me and being one big family. Don't you think I know that? Believe it or not, I care about everyone here, too. And I know the world is shitty and that's why I'm here. But between being screwed over in the future by our own, the constant shit with Daken, and now this, forgive me if I'm a little pissed." She lets out a breath of air before turning to face Simon, forcing somewhat of a smile of her face. "Met in church, huh? Interesting place. Didn't think there'd be many religious types on the island." Simon fights the urge to sink into the ground. Instead he moves to take a seat on the swing. He's silently agreeing with Ion but doesn't want to risk Anette getting angry with him so he stays quiet. Of course Ion describing the Brotherhood makes him smile. The idea that they're all one big family is one he likes and one of the things that convinced him to join in the first place. He gets about half way through his drink before looking back up with a small smile. "I met the Brotherhood for the first time in a church. I asked God for something to believe in and then the people that recruited me showed up." "Ay, Dios mio." Ion shakes his head, hopping back onto his bike when Anette's tirade continues. "Been through seven hundred /fifty/ hells, but --" He tips his head towards Simon in acknowledgment. "God, He always surrounded me with family enough to carry me back out, yeah?" Though there's no evidence of a /key/ anywhere to be seen on his bike, the lights come back on when he leans forward to grip its handlebars. "And shit, pajarita, I'd go right the fuck back and smash up /more/ goddamn those genocide-bots today. Those things they fucking created to kill us all the fuck to death, I ain't apologizing for that. I love you to death but you need to get the /damn/ hell out my face and step the fuck off now. /I/ didn't make your problems. I sure the fuck ain't sitting here no more so you can take them out on me." "Well, that's a bit more poetic than my recruitment. They asked me to join after I helped rescue people from the apartment complex that blew a couple years back," Anette says, mulling over their discussion of god thoughtfully. "I'm always amazed by people who's faith gets stronger the harder their lives get. I stopped believing in him ages ago." As Ion walks over and mounts his bike again, Anette remains where she is, her face showing no emotion as if she doesn't care one way or another. "Well, I'm not about to thank you for that little adventure. Though I have to question your love after your attempt to get us both killed." "Sometimes, faith is all we have," Simon answers quietly. Looking past Anette, Simon's expression is serious. "If those machines are really a threat, destroying them would be a good move." In contrast to Anette's stoicism, Ion is as expressive as ever, brows furrowed deeply, shoulders slumped heavily, creases pressed into the corners of his eyes and his mouth twisting down in concern. He doesn't bother to answer her, though. He /does/ say to Simon: "You looking for a good-community, that church we meet in, s'my parish /alla/ time. They solid as fuck. Pastor done tooked /bullets/ for us, wouldn't turn our girl J.C. over to the fucking /cops/ when they was camped out-side his damn church for weeks. I there every week." Briefly, the worry etched into his features dissolves into a quick grin. "-- And hey if you ain't the fun police alla time, my cabin it's easy to find yeah? Look up the /burn/ marks. Maybe we crack open a beer or three." And then the bike is humming again, lifting up into the air to take him off towards the woods and disappear down into the trees. Anette sighs as Simon asks about the Sentinels. "Yeah, no, they're a real threat. I'm not saying they shouldn't have been destroyed. I just...ugh, nevermind," she responds, turning towards the house and walking off, still limping. "I'll see you around." Simon just smiles as Ion talks about his church. "I would love to attend with you," he replies. "The Pastor sounds like a very good man," he adds. He's surpised by the offer and nods. "I will stop by sometime," he agrees, looking forward to it. He watches Ion fly off and then looks to Anette. She has him confused but he still nods. "Alright. Have a good evening," he offers as Anette walks off.