Summary:
February 14 2015: Lunair and Columbia both have some questions for X-Red
X-Red HQ
The main floor of the X-Red HQ is full of monitors, lounge space and other accountremounts necessary for a hero team.
Characters
NPCs
- None
Mood Music:
[* None]
Bobby is up in X-Red HQ. Which isn't exactly a super secret clubhouse. X-Red is well known and publicised, Berto saw to that. So while it's not exactly open to the public they don't really turn people away if they have a good reason for being there. The ice nerd is burning he midnight oil a bit… well the 7PM oil anyway as he works on these Yakuza connections. Stuff needs to be dealt with soon. But… nothing horribly pressing right this second.
Recent events in New York, and in particular M - town have caused the heroic paramedic Cameron Tenoaks to be a bit more on her guard of late, and she's chosen this dramatically inappropriate time for a meeting in the belief that most of the media WON'T be watching her on Valentine's Day, nor understand her reason for coming here.
She's actually a bit more concerned about a news item she saw a few days or so past, about some sort of violence being on the uptick. The last time that happened, HYDRA attempted to unleash a bio-weapon at a protest. So… better safe than sorry, she's just touching base…
Lunair /would/ be kind of worried if they had a hand painted 'no girls allowed' sign with a backwards s or something. And Lunair herself is hardly a public mutant, if she can help it. Sure, there's probably odd reports and her exploded car likely had to be hidden or deal with (must get Jeri something cool for that. she probably has a trenchcoat full of sticky post-it notes somewhere). And frankly, being in hiding all the time gets really, really old.
Also, just sticking to secluded places is dangerous, too. Sometimes melding into a crowd and dressing differently will do. She actually has a nice long, military style jacket with manacle-style bracelets that have a single chain off them. Did she go to the internet for fashion advice?
… do geese attack HP employees?
Yes.
Also, she is a bit curious.
Bobby looks up. That's… Columbia… and Lunair? Interesting pair to be arriving at the same time but he buzzes them both up when the receptionist rings back. Columbia isn't someone he's had a lot of exposure to but she does good work so if she's here to talk she's more than welcome. Lunair? Well she's family. Might as well be.
The statuesque orange - haired woman makes her way on to Bobby's office. If Lunair is also along for the ride, she'll give a bit of a shrug and a smile. "Hey."
It's almost encyclopedic for Cameron in non - crisis or open social situations. Not quite as laconic as some, but still, very curt with the words even when she's polite.
Lunair likes the other mutants she meets. She seems pretty friendly, aside from the violence and all (though, it seems to run in the family and it /is/ the purpose of her creation). She smiles faintly, waving to Cameron. "Hello." She is indeed, along for the ride.
She accepts the quiet, although there's an unnerving blankness to her expression. She doesn't seem to show a whole lot of emotion unless she actively works at it, it seems. A distant stare. "How are you?"
The elevator opens into the main room of X-Red HQ which it must be said is rather spacious… and devoid of people not named Bobby. Said Bobby is sitting near a monitor bank. He waves to the other two as they come in. "Hey Columbia. Lunair. Come on in. There's stuff in the 'fridge if you're hungry or thirsty. Help yourself." A few more keystrokes and he looks up apologeticaly. "I wasn't actually expecting anyone." He says a bit sheepishly before closing out his app.
"So. What can I do for you two?"
" 'm doing good, thanks."
Cameron doesn't have the stare, and she does look like she wants to conversate, but.. isn't quite sure how to strike up the conversation. So it is probably a bit awkward fror the remainder of the trip upstairs.
"Careful. I could bankrupt you with that offer." Was that a bit of a chuckle? The mountain of a woman does have a sense of humor, it seems!
She heads on over and pokes around in the fridge.
"I can go second."
Lunair nods. She does have the stare. She seems friendly enough, if - really awkward and more than a little off. Her work and life have taken a toll. Everyone pays the bills at some point in their life. She smiles at Bobby. It feels a bit weird here somehow. "Maybe just a soda and a snack," Handwave. "It's good to see you. How are you? And we're sneaky that way." She has a sense of humor, at least.
A look to Cameron. Smile. "It's okay. Mine's a career question. So … I don't know…" She fidgets a bit. Clearly, this is not something she discusses lightly. "I'll get my soda and we can do rock-paper-scissors for it?"
"Why don't you both ask me your questions and we can talk about both of them, mmm?" Bobby looks amused. He doesn't usually have anyone asking him questions unless it's Berto saying 'what does this do?' whilst fiddling with something that could freeze him solid.
Cameron pulls out all the cold cuts, a few bottles of water, and what appears to be a bag of apples, carefully setting them on the counter over the fridge.
He did say to help themselves.
She opens one of the bottles and takes a sip.
"Few months back… the riots… they ever find the stuff?"
The stuff she's referring to, of course, is the virus that some terrorists had cooked up, in an effort to commit genocide on a significant scale.
Lunair will take a single soda and maybe a - well, she's not sure. But she has a soda and that's quite alright. She listens as Cameron asks her question. "I was mostly going to ask about a couple of things I was considering doing. I really don't think I'm suited to being a classic hero." She falls quiet. "… but not like, Gotham angsty. Not yet."
"The Hydra Virus fiasco you mean?" Bobby sighs. "Sort of. It was cached around the world. I know the X-Men went after it pretty hard. Everything we could find. But it's impossible to say if we got it all. There probaby is some of it left out there somewhere. Why do you ask?"
Lunair gets a considering look. "Well what were you thinking? I take it you don't want to keep taking… contract work?"
The Metropolis - based paramedic grabs some of the cold cuts and gnoshes on them. Because that appetite isn't one for nibbling at things.
"Yeah. That one. The recent riots got me thinking? What if that was the first wave?"
It is a bit of a terrifying prospect on the surface, if one thinks about it for more than a second.
She glances over at Lunair.
"Find something you're good at that isn't violent and helps people, and focus on that? Like me being a paramedic?"
Well, she didn't mention the question was to anyone in particular, right?
Lunair is quiet a moment. She listens to virus chat. "Contract work is okay, but I think I'd like something more steady. Mercenary work is okay, but it's hard to pick out just the good contracts and honestly, my grandpa has job in a town now. I figure if I can visit more, that'd be alright. I had a few ideas, but it feels weird talking about it in front of someone."
There's a long moment. "Because I am not meant for that sort of thing. I'm sorry. I think it's quite nice, but the world needs sheep dogs and wolves, too." She falls quiet. "People look away when they see your distant stare. And you are the fighting dog. How many of them get adopted? Go back to being just a dog? I don't think many. And I'm not sure that I am that different. So it's okay. I apologize - and will talk another day if it's disturbing." Smile. "I have been doing botany in school and some craftwork. But it feels odd."
"Could be. But if it were… that'd be a job for information folks to go poking at." Bobby nods to Cameron. "We've got some people for that… I'll talk to them. Or you may know some."
A job mmmm? "Well…" Bobby scratches his head. "I'm sure Berto could find you a position here at X-Red if you wanted. Security possibly. But can't you make a lot more than guns. Maybe you could summon, I dunno. Firefighting equipment or something. Seems like your talent could be pretty versatile."
"I see. I was considering signing up with the government, maybe," She shrugs. "I am uncertain." Lunair is probably somewhere between fighting her nature and accepting. "My family seems mostly to be soldiers. I was created to be a weapon. It is not ugly or sad. It simply is." She falls quiet. "I don't know what I can and cannot make." She doesn't even seem entirely aware of her superior intelligence. Her training was /focused/.
"But I don't want people to think less of others because of me." Her stare is more distant. "… I shouldn't have said anything."
"The others? Others like you or just other mutants?" Bobby pats the seat next to him, inviting Lunair to sit down. "I don't really think you're going to be hurting anything. And there are plenty of things to do with weapons that don't involve killing people. Or hurting people, you know?"
… quiet mental note not to mention the offer Midnighter made her and contacts… She sort of stays silent. "Just other mutants," Smile. "And generally, yeah." She carefully moves to the seat patted. "It's nothing odd. I'm used to being a fighter. Sort of like one is a soldier or a paramilitary person. I like peaceful hobbies, and that's fine." She's not murdering people for fun or at random. "Maybe they'd have me doing other work. Government and stuff isn't all super spies, suits and humming the Men in Black theme." She has a sense of humor about it.
"Well no. Though it's a lot more likely for someone with your abilities." Bobby notes. "Still, if you like, Berto's got a hell of an imagination for things like this and I'll bet he can think of something. Alternately… weren't you in with Nancy's friends? The quiet ones? Maybe they can find something for you."
Lunair hms. "Well, er. I don't know. I didn't see her much," She considers. "But she is pretty nice," She remarks. "I just wasn't sure if mutants could work quietly in the government or something. I really don't want to be outed. Not when a certain group is already paying out the nose to get me back."
"Sure, I'm sure they can. It's just hard to know who to trust." True enough, Bobby's experiencced that more than once. "But there have to be good people out there in the government, same as everywhere else." Beat. "All the same might want to hold off on that 'till there's not a price on your head."
A soft sigh. "Honestly, I don't know if or when they're going to stop," Lunair frowns. "That's what bugs me." She admits. "I don't know. Maybe being an off-the-books worker is just where I belong, you know?"
"If anyone can get them to stop we can. Or your other friends." Bobby seems confident of that. "Hey, it's happened before. Ask Nan. Anyway if the off the books thing bugs you, Lunair, we'll work on it. Honestly. I know we can find you something a bit more… legit."
Lunair is just quiet. She nods. "Yeah. Hopefully." Smile. "But when you invest that much… I guess they're serious," A soft sigh. "I mean, my first - original name - is legally dead. I've been recreated, so - we'll see. There is freedom in not existing. It is kind of liberating in a way. I'm not really obligated to a 9-5." Pause. "Although, was that you who made a calender? It was really surprising." Oops.
"Calendar?" Bobby quirks an eyebrow. "Um…" He may or may not know what Lunair's talking about. And if he doesn't know, he certainly wants to now…
"…" Confusion. "I guess the internet is a strange place. But all of that aside, do you think it's awful to accept one's nature or should you fight it?" Lunair asks.
"What… what calendar, Lunair?" Bobby swivels his chair to face the younger mutant. "Well… I think accepting one's nature is good… but I also think understanding what one's nature is might be important before you go all 'accepting'. People say lots of things and they're not always right, you know?"
"I think it was a joke or a photoshop," She admits. Lunair looks to Bobby. She inclines her head a little. "I see. And that's true. Do you like it here?" She seems curious. "I feel strange talking about myself."
"I do. Honestly this is nice. I'm a normal guy, for the most part, except I'm not and I get to use that to help people both here and work and then whenever the X-Men get called." Bobby grins. "What about you Lunair? What makes you happy?"
"Really? That's pretty cool," She smiles. "You do seem pretty nice." Lunair does seem happy for him, but it gives way to a quiet, distant stare. "I don't really know. I like being around people, around Princess Starfire and some others. I feel restless when I do not work. And that feels wrong somehow. I am a monster. Girls should have friendly, healing powers. But I do not."
"Nah. The best girls kick ass all the time. I mean look at Starfire. Or Nancy. Or Storm. Or Kitty. Or Illyana." Or May. Or Partisan. Or… Bobby could go on but he thinks he's made the point. "And I think you can kick ass with the best of them. Thing is most of them do it on the side. Like, they're heroic but it's not their life. I just think you need to find something that makes you happy and realize that you are not your power."
Smile. "That's true. I don't know some of them very well. Who knows? But to be entirely frank, I don't think a peaceful desk job suits me. I think much like my grandpa, I am a weapon and a fighter at heart. It is an ugly truth, but a truth. I like people. I wouldn't go overboard around people who object. I try to think about their feelings and tactis when I fight." Lunair inclines her head. "It's just hard to think past that."
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