ArchivedLogs:Work to Do

Work to Do
Dramatis Personae Nox, Tatters	2013-03-13 Tatters returns from Xavier's to Take Care of Business.
Location <MOR> The Darkroom
It is pitch black. You are likely to be eaten by a grue. As word spread about the manhunt for Nox--and about there being /things/ in the tunnels--the mood around camp has diminished. Normally Nox would be the one to flit from person to person, cheering someone here, reassuring another there. But the shadow lady has withdrawn to her abode and no one's quite dared to enter in after her. Not least because it's pitch black in there but also because no one quite knows what to make of this oddly silent, subdued mother figure. "Knock knock." The croaking greeting comes from outside the alcove, in lieu of a more suitable door. Something stirs in the darkness at the entrance, shadows reshaping themselves until voila, there is Nox's face peering out from their center. She looks wary and then she looks surprised and pleased. "Tatterhood! Oh, dear, you live...I knew you lived but I was so worried and I had meant to come see you but..." Her expression clouds. Literally. She withdraws for a moment and then the shadows begin falling in on themselves, pulling back to let more of the external light fall inside of the entrance of Nox's little cave. "Please," she murmurs, "come in. I have missed you. I have worried so." "Nah, s'okay, you've been, like, busy." Tatters shifts her duffle bag off of her shoulder and steps inside, pushing back the hood of her navy blue sweatshirt, both of which look new and neither of which she'd left the city with. Her features are softer, newer, less leathery and craggy than they were a few days ago, but she looks reasonably healthy -- except for the eyepatch, but that mostly just looks /cool./ "Sorry I've been out of town. Should've been back sooner." Nox arranges herself before Tatters, avatar shaped to appear a woman in half-lotus with her back portion still submerged in that absolute darkness. She wastes no time in studying what she can see of the young woman and it's probably not surprising that her attention lingers on the eyepatch. She sighs. "You have nothing to apologize for, dear. You were...you were doing what was necessary. /I/ am sorry. Is...is that permanent? Are the others...?" Tatters sighs in annoyance and leans back against the wall, crossing her arms over her chest. "Nah, it's...I made a new eye, but it doesn't, like, focus right and the dilation's all weird. Figure putting a patch over it's better than having a weird crazy-eye." She's silent for a moment longer, then glances back up and shrugs. "And we're mostly alright, I think. We had a few casualties, but, like...friends of friends mostly? I didn't really spend a lot of time, like, getting to know the team. The rest of them probably feel differently about it. I think we won, though." After another pause, her blank look turns back to annoyance. "Friggen blood-thing followed us back, though. I'm gonna head out after it soon as I'm done here." "It is not a bad look," Nox assures her, gamely trying for something light and fond. But the mood defies that and she falls silent for a time, keeping her thoughts to herself. Then, quietly, "I had wondered if the two were connected. He...it...was not a rescue, then." Oddly enough, what she adds to that statement sounds mildly guilty. "I am sorry for pulling us into this, Tatterhood." "No, it's--" Tatters bl--winks? HER EYE CLOSES AND OPENS AGAIN in bafflement at the sentiment, making a face. "Would've happened whether you were involved or not, and blood-guy'd still be here probably. Only difference is more've our friends'd be dead 'cause I wasn't there to soak up bullets and crap, and -- I mean, I'd've been /here/ when blood-guy got here but since I wasn't forwarned or anything it could've gone badly." She straightens slightly, and gives Nox an awkward if reassuring smile. "Protecting our folks's what I'm here for, and that means fighting the people who mean us harm. And those folks pretty definitely mean us harm. Ergo, etc." "They do. They very much do." Nox isn't really the shivering sort but her shadows all shift together and give the impression. "It is not the threat though but the...the attention," she explains. "He needs to be killed. To be removed from our tunnels. But I am so visible and now they think...it is a problem." "I was hoping we could drag him back upstairs, give him to the police. To take some heat off of you by, like, giving them the real monster." Tatters rubs at her forehead. She'd make a face, but her face is already in the one she wants to make. 'Grar' is a pretty appropriate expression for most of this situation. "They'd probably just take him /back,/ but...eugh. It might be worth it. I'll send Lily to see if Jax will help." She leaves the worry about attention unaddressed -- it's not something she can do anything about. (And can't be solved by hitting things.) "Or give the right monster, rather," Nox says, finally able to muster up some thin humor. "Would you like me to help as well? Or would you rather I "sit this one out"." Tatters snerks a little snerk. A /slight/ snerk. Then allows herself a little bit more of a smile. "I could definitely use your help, if you're willing to risk it. You might need to keep, like, a safe distance if Jackson is helping, but I'll feel a lot more confident with the shadows and stuff helping out." There's that not-really-a-shiver again. Nox's lips curl up in a reluctant smile. "He could do a great deal of damage, yes. But I would /like/ to help. What he did to that child..." She breaks off, hesitates, then shakes her head. "Even if it leaves me a suspected murderer, I want him gone from my tunnels. Gone from everywhere." "That's the plan." Tatters nods, solemly. "I consider my, like, purview of responsiblity to extend to children in the geographical area. I wouldn't it roam free even if it /wasn't/ an immediate danger to us and our folks." Nox reaches out, her arm extending easily so she can dust her fingertips over Tatters' brow, above the eyepatch. Her smile is stronger this time. "And that is why we are fortunate to have you. Thank you, Tatterhood. For looking after us. For righting wrongs." The corner of Tatters mouth twitches. "Eh, you can thank me when we're done? The wrongs aren't actually /righted/ yet or anything. I still need to go out and hit them." It's /so/ close to being a one liner, but she kept talking and ruined it. And now she's ducking back towards the door, with an inclined head. "So I should, like, go do that. Is there anything else before I go?" "Modest," Nox accuses fondly. But she lets her go, fading back into that wall of darkness. "Only that I am grateful to know you. Be careful." With a nod and a wave, Tatters slips out. There's work to do.