xp_logs | Beneath the godforsaken stars... [Sarah, Betsy]

Backdated to Wednesday. Betsy goes down into the tunnels to make sure Sarah's alright. Sarah's sent Shinobi away so he doesn't go stir crazy in the tunnels. She's writing, and Callisto just won't shut up. Betsy is there for her.

I, Emily, would like to make it known that I love these two.

Sarah was sprawled out in the far corner, a notebook on the floor in front of her, and chewing on the end of the pen in her hand. The stars can all but disappear... Hmm. It was promising enough. A quick glance up to the wall and she was back to scribbling in her notebook again. I have no use for them here down below.

After walking the labryinth hidden below the streets of Manhattan, Betsy closed her eyes, her mind traveling beyond the dank walls of the New York sewer system. She honed in on the voice echoing off the walls that lead her closer to the source of that voice. Sarah. Betsy sighed. Maybe it would be better not to reveal herself to the young Morlock, she had asked for her privacy and Betsy had to respect that.

This place was haunted.She trudged through the tunnels, wondering how could anyone still call this place home with the blood dried on the walls.

Down below in the muck and the mire, in blood and bones and angry fits... The sound of her pen scratching the page was the only sound for a long moment, followed by the low murmuring of the words before her. Tommy would have liked this, she thought, radiating flashes of anger and pain.

She was alone. Odd, that. Betsy stood amidst the shadows and watched Sarah. She looked so young here and at peace. It felt wrong being here and violating that, Betsy turned to leave.

Sarah's head snapped up, dropping the pen and reaching back to grab a bone from her shoulder blade. "What the fuck do you think you're doing down here?" She could barely make out a figure on the other side of the room, and she sent the bone sailing dangerously towards it. "Go the hell away."

Betsy's hand shot forward and caught the bone in her hand. She studied the bone shard in her hand, turning it over with an intent curiosity. "I think....if you'd want to scare someone away....

Betsy stepped forward. "You'd have to put a little more effort into it."

"I don't have to try," she growled, "They're normally jumpy to begin with." A moment of glaring up at the other woman, partially upset at the invasion, and even more angry at the part of herself that was so very happy to see Betsy. She crossed her arms in front of her. "Hello Betsy."

"Hello Sarah." Betsy moved in closer, the smile on her face apparent. Her hand going over her knuckles, she realized that they were still healing. "I would've rang, but I was afraid you might turn me down."

"And we can't have that, can we?" came the dry response. "Come to bring me my make-up work?"

Betsy quirked her head at that. "No," she said tersely. "I came to see you, to make sure you were alright. No one knows that I'm here and nor did I care to tell them."

"I'm fine," she insisted, picking her pen back up, and scribbling idly in one of the margins. "I thought we'd been over this, before. There is nothing down here that's going to hurt me. I'm fine."

"I'm glad." Betsy moved over to Sarah. She found a crate, turned it over, and sat down. "But, I'd rather have seen for myself. I almost didn't let you hear me, but I didn't think that would've been entirely fair."

"You let me hear you? How generous." She went back to chewing on the end of the pen, letting the silence hang again. Unholy fire. Damning all. She scrawled the words on the page, and stared at them for a moment. "The mansion blown up yet?"

"I did. You can't say you were being overtly aware of your surroundings." Betsy smirked at Sarah's indiginance. "No, the mansion is intact, surprisingly."

"Fuck off," she grumbled, giving Betsy another glare. She ran her bony fingers against the floor, as if she were working out the wording of the next line. She immediately thought of poetry in blood. It seemed she worked better that way. "So. I'm disappointed that you all haven't had the sense to throw a good riddance party yet."

"They miss you." Betsy paused, studying Sarah's face. "So, is this move permanent?"

Sarah shrugged, not bothering to look over at Betsy. "I've got stuff to do before I can go back. I'm not making any promises right now."

"Alright," Betsy stood up and moved over to her, embracing Sarah in a hug. "If you need any help, you know how to find me."

The hug took Sarah -completely- by surprise and she stiffened in Betsy's arms, but didn't try to pull away. "I don't suppose you could warn me the next time you do that?" she muttered, relaxing a bit as she resigned herself to the contact.

"And ruin the fun? Definitely not." Betsy withdrew herself, holding Sarah at a distance, and smiled. "I'm glad I did this."

Sarah glared, hunched back over her notebook for a minute to scribble two more lines down, and then sat back up, wrapping her arms around her knees. "What, managed to scare the hell out of me? Yeah it's been fun."

"Don't act like you haven't enjoyed this. Behind that sarcastic visage, you're just brimming with joy." Betsy sat down next to her, an amused smirk on her face. "As long as I know you're alright, I'll be fine. If that's outside the Manor, so be it. Just try and keep touch, alright."

"Quit being so damn smug," she grumbled, the pen restless in her hand. She could just hear Callisto now. Another uplander? Oh, right, this is the one who knocked you -on your ass- twice. Sarah shook her head and gripped the pen tighter. "I've been keeping in touch."

"If that were the case, I wouldn't be here now." Betsy's smile grew. "So, where's Shinobi?"

"You just haven't been talking to the right people. Ask Sparky if I've been keeping in touch. Angelo too." She shrugged, and dropped the pen to the floor. "I can't ask him to stay down here with me all the time. He doesn't belong down here. Told him to go spend the day upland before he went crazy."

Betsy understood Sarah's need for peace. Sending Shinobi was just another indication for her yearning, Betsy collected herself and stood up. "I should leave you to your notes. I'm not that thick to realize you are in need of some space."

"You don't have to-- well, I'm just writing." I need to hear somebody who -isn't- dead, please? She shook her head, taking the pen again and scribbling more on the paper. "She's angry." The words were quiet, almost an aside as she wrote.

"Who is angry, Sarah?"

"Callisto. I haven't done anything but bring a bunch of pretty uplanders down into our home." The pen continued to scratch against the page, the words 'snarling' and 'fighting' coming out almost bold with the pressure of the pen on the page.

"I see. I think it would be better than being alone, wouldn't it?" Betsy waited a moment, caught off-guard by the open emotion. She rejoined Sarah on the floor and took Sarah's hand in hers. "Maybe I should stay here, at least until Shinobi gets back."

Sarah shook off the feeling of complete self-revulsion as she nodded slowly, admitting weakness and worthlessness, character undeserving of being called a Morlock. Just another monster who wants to be pretty. How disappointing. She finished out the last line, mumbling something about the 'fucking stars', and then dropped the pen onto her notebook like it was something she didn't deserve to touch. Curling up around herself and clinging to Betsy's hand, the gratefulness washed off of her in waves, but she didn't say a word.

The stars can all but disappear,
I have no use for them here down below
in the muck and the mire,
in blood and bones and angry fits of
unholy fire, damning all who ever crossed her path and
pushed the little girl down to her knees,
Snarling and fighting for survival down below
the godforsaken stars.