Players:
Summary: Robin and Star talk of life, children, and Hounds.
Date: July 7, 2020
Log Title Simple Discussions
Rating: G
The Future - The Underground - Living Area
Army barracks would seem like a five star hotel compared to this place, but cots and hammocks seem to fill the area. There are some side rooms where mutants tend to fit four to six to a room and there are even some holes in the wall a mutant or two seems to have made home. Like the rest of the tunnels, its damp and musty in here and not much light save the same electric and gas powered lamps found in the rest of the tunnels. Everything from small children to older mutants sleep in here and it can be seen from the people who cant get out of bed. In this room there is a small corner thats been sectioned off with old sheets and blankets to form a medical area with what stolen medical supplies the mutants have managed to gather.
Late evening has fallen outside the tunnels and many of the residents have either turned in for the night or are returning from daily expeditions into the world above. A few children still play in the clear spaces, crashing beaten up toy cars together, drawing on the floor with rocks to leave white outlines scattered between the various little living spaces that people have claimed, or just playing games of pretend. The clear, high voice of a five year old girl rings out as she and a small group of others do battle against an imaginary enemy, "Knock him down!" The children are watched by the five year old's mother, her dark hair pulled back into a tail with a piece of cord scavenged from somewhere.
Star shakes her head sadly as she watches Emory and her friends play, managing to keep her regret for the fact that they know so much about violence from tainting the air around her too badly. A loose lock of hair is tucked behind the empath's ear as she goes about tidying up the little living space she shares with her daughter, getting ready for bed as the tiny girl gets in a last few minutes of playtime.
Robin is rarely seen anymore without a laptop computer tucked beneath her arm. She is terribly protective of the device, and why shouldn't she be? She is taking care of all kinds of notes and maps for the resistance and the computer is the best way to do that. She moves with mechanical motion, her puppet occupied elsewhere, leaving Robin looking like some kind of undead. Her glasses lie crooked on her face, almost exposing the eye that she normally has covered by the painted lens, but she does not seem to notice. A small smile creeps on her face as she sees the children, a kind of creepy expression on one whose eyes appear completely dead.
A glance is tossed Robin's direction, and a little shudder runs through Star for finding her old schoolmate without her constant companion and looking like the walking dead. She's lived in the tunnels since the day her daughter was born, but there are some things that she just can't get used to. She offers Robin a small smile and focuses on projecting her most calming aura, both to keep herself calm and to try to keep those around her at least a little content with their situation, "Good evening." She only spent one year at the school before she went off to college, but she did keep going back to learn how to control her powers for a couple of years after. That was before she got married, though. Her eyes are perpetually tinted with gray now, worry eating away at her over her daughter's safety.
"Star. It's evening? Good evening," says Robin, her tone just as dead as her features. She doesn't leave the tunnels much, her use being more intel oriented. She watches the children for another few moments before turning her head back towards her former classmate. "Are you alright today?" She asks this after only a moment's hesitation, assuming the answer to the question should automatically be no, but that it's polite to ask anyways. She lived at the school even while she went to college, and even joined with the X-Men for a little while and taught classes at the school, so she's familiar with most old Xavier's students by name.
Star nods, "Yes, it's evening." She grimaces faintly at the question and tries to force a smile, but it falls a little flat, "Oh, I'm fine. Emory is healthy and we're both alive." She closes her eyes for a moment and focuses on calm so as not to unintentionally upset everyone else, "Even my husband is alive." Though he's not the same man she married anymore: He belongs to Ahab now, body and soul, apparently. She wilts a little and shakes her head, amending her statement about being 'fine', "At least I'm functioning, anyway…" She looks up at the other mutant, her expression concerned, "How about you?" Judging by her walking dead appearance, it doesn't seem likely that the other woman is even as good as she is.
Robin peers sideways towards Star and smiles again, just slightly, "Surprisingly well, lately." She opens up her laptop and starts updating the map, something she does constantly. Recently, though, she's also taken to sleeping at night, a habit that she did not previously possess. "I envy that you still have someone to care about, but I don't envy the worry. It's a double-edged sword, isn't it." She bites her bottom lip for a moment, even her habitual tic seeming forced. "I hope you don't mind me sitting here. I've always wanted kids and I like to be around them. It just wasn't in my cards, I guess."
Star's smile is a little more natural when she hears that the other is doing well and she nods, "Well, that's good. I'm glad to hear you're well." If Robin is well, then her puppet must be in working order, too, so the empath doesn't feel the need to really ask about the 'disposable' half of the other woman. She grimaces faintly at the mention of envy an worry and sighs, "Yeah… I wouldn't give up having my daughter here for anything, but it would be nice to have Embry whole and with us… She really does need her father." And it would save Star a lot of worry that either her husband will hurt someone she cares about or that someone with hurt him. She shakes her head and smiles faintly, "No, you're welcome to. I was just getting things straightened up before bed."
Maybe it's the mention of the word 'bed' that summons the little girl, but the game suddenly dissolves into further chaos and Emory races toward the adults, "Mama, Mama! I beat the badguy!" She doesn't notice who the woman seated with her mother is at first and Star gives her an amused, tender little smile, "That's wonderful, Em. Good job!" And then Emory recognizes her adopted aunt and her face lights up, though she stands at a respectful distance due to the computer, "Hi, Aunt Robin." She simply grins at the adult with her hands clasped behind her back and waits. Star chuckles softly and shakes her head, "Well, you might not have any children of your own, but it looks like you've got at least one that loves you." In spite of her zombie-like appearance.
"Hiya, Emory," says Robin, smiling her mannequin smile and reaching to pat the girl gently on the shoulder, "You must be getting pretty tough with all these badguys you're beating." She adjusts her own glasses so that her dead eye is more completely obscured. Her attention turns back to the child's mother after a few moments and she says, "I think that works fine for me." A thin smile before her expression becomes flat again, lively as a marionette. "Ever since he left," by he, she means Skyler, her longtime boyfriend who she was in a dysfunctional relationship with, "I guess I don't really think about kids or romance anymore. It's too harsh a world for it. I sincerely hope that Embry can be brought back here…" In other words, turned into a normal person again. "It's important to find out if we can, too…"
The little girl beams even brighter, if possible, when her shoulder is patted and gives up her patient waiting to flop down between the adults, nodding enthusiastically, "Uh huh! I'm going to be Captain America when I grow up." Star winces a little at the mention of the late superhero and reaches over to ruffle the little girl's hair, "I'm sure you are, honey." She just hopes that the world is a better place when the children are all older. She leans over to plant a kiss on the child's head, "Why don't you get ready for bed? It's almost time to be asleep…" There's a pout, but Emory does as she's told and leaves the two women to talk. Star nods, sighing softly at the thought of the other woman's ex-boyfriend and nods, "I know… I wouldn't give her up for anything, but I wish the world were a better place." Her expression hardens, "That's just something that we're all going to have to try to fix for her- for all of them, though."
A hint of heartbreak leaks out before she can tamp it down and the empath nods, "It's been five years… I've only seen him once in all that time and he didn't seem to know me." And he's never seen their daughter. The beautiful little girl that Star has always called her miracle since she survived a premature birth and has thrived other than being small for her age. Her voice lowers almost to a whisper so that Emory can't hear, "It was almost better thinking he was dead. Then, at least, I didn't worry about him hurting someone or getting hurt himself."
Robin smiles slightly when Emory expresses her desire to be Captain America, her expression seeming almost human for a second before slipping back into the robotic trance. She taps some keys on the keyboard, marking the presence of a Hunter with a timestamp in a particular area where Blank is off scouting. "I can understand the feeling there… Hounds are the most difficult to see out there. It breaks my heart. But sometimes we have to do what's necessary…"
Star nods and shakes her head sadly and remains silent for a moment, struggling to contain her emotions and not spread them around to everyone else. She may have better control than she did so many years ago, but she still slips occasionally. No one is perfect, after all. She glances at the computer screen curiously for a moment as the mark and timestamp are added, her expression turning thoughtful for a moment, "So where are you looking right now? Anything interesting up there?" She's been told that she'd be a liability on any sort of a mission, but that's never stopped her before. It sure didn't stop her from trying to find her brother when he vanished into thin air, and it's not going to stop her from doing what she feels needs to be done to bring her family back together.
"Mapping patrols. I'm just in the city, as usual. This is the epicenter. This is where the most reinforcements are flowing. It's a sign that they're scared," says Robin, nodding her head slowly as if in agreement with herself. "Mostly trying to find Heather Brown. I haven't come across her on my own charting, though Theo caught a glimpse. I think it's just because of how she was drawn." She points out a single spot on the map. She shrugs and adds, "Patterns are cropping up, I think. I have to make some predictions and see if they are confirmed before I know for sure."
Star's eyes narrow at mention of Heather and she nods. She's another one that's on the empath's list of people to hurt or rehabilitate if possible, "Any sign of Embry lately?" Probably not. It's even odds that he's been moved to another area or killed, but that's not going to make her give up hope. She nods at the mention of patterns, "Let me know if there's anything you need. I've kept myself cooped up down here for too long now." And she's determined that she's going to be more than just a babysitter now.
"Me too. I need to get a breath of fresh air one of these days… And no, I haven't seen Embry lately. I'm sure he'll turn up sooner or later, though I doubt that's much comfort. I haven't heard much intel about him…" says Robin, sighing softly. She blinks a few times and Blank suddenly appears next to her, her expression immediately becoming more lively. "Wait a second…" she says, adjusting her glasses before righting herself, "I have some predictions that I need to get to Rashmi. I should go. Star… sleep well, and keep hope alive." She nods once, closing the laptop and rushing off.
