Log: Madin and Sharon.
Nov. 13th, 2023 07:49 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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xp_logsMadin meets the new, bipedal version of Sharon. (Also, they're back from Haven's ruins.)
"Have been gone for some time. You are returned?"
The question came from a tall, plain-faced young woman standing in the entrance of the weightroom. She was lounging against the doorframe as if she had been there long enough to get comfortable, although of course it could have been carefully posed for maximum effect. Her face wore an expression of intense scrutiny.
Madin was at the bottom of a squat and gave a strangled nnngh as they saw a person appear in the mirror. They straightened and took an awkward step forward, followed by a second one to slot the bar back onto the frame and finally said "What? Huh?" A moment later, they followed with "Who are you?"
"We are known to each other." The girl turned to the doorframe and arched her back in a stretch, reaching her arms over her head and dug her fingers into the frame. Claws extended from her fingertips as she kneaded them against the frame. From the base of her spine a long purple tail rose almost vertically, curving so the end nearly touched the top of her head. After a few seconds of stretching she relaxed and turned slit-pupiled yellow eyes back on Madin.
"Unless I am so forgettable?"
"Oh, what the fuck?" Madin asked. "You could have mentioned that you were a shifter." The hypocrasy of the statement was lost on them.
"When last we met I was not. I have evolved." Without waiting for an invitation, Sharon pulled away from the doorframe and sauntered into the room. She came over to join Madin by the racks. "Is more weight than last time," she observed, tail twitching.
"For real?" Madin shook their head, slightly awed. "I never. You never see those, you know? Late mutations." They ignored the comment about the weights.
Sharon gave them an appraising look, then seemed to decide further teasing wouldn't be enough of a challenge. "No, is not for real. I am opposite of late mutation, able to shift since birth. But was too weak when I arrived here. Only after you left was I able to change again. But you are correct. Secondary mutations, I have heard of only one. A telepath here who may turn to diamond. Manifested much later than initial mutation. Where did you go?" The shift in topic happened without any preamble whatsoever.
"New York. Oregon once I decided I didn't want to be dealing with you all all the time. And now I'm back, because apparently I have bad taste in exit plans. I'm seeing how it goes. Might leave for Vegas or Miami. I haven't decided."
Large yellow eyes watched them curiously. "Absence was because of interpersonal conflict?" she inquired, with the feline ability to hone in on the one thing you wished they wouldn't. "Because so many pass, and we do not? I recall mention of such issues. Attitudes such as this?"
"No. Because I used to be a card carrying member of the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants." Madin sighed and looked away. "We were mostly active in Central Africa and worked as mercs. Sometimes I spent time in the Underground instead, because I'm. You know. Purple. Young. Unthreatening. And then I'd go back to the field and we'd do another contract raising money for them. So, yeah you might say I was worried about attitudes here."
Sharon's face assumed the blankness characteristic of those times she was unsure what facial expression was required in the moment.
"I did not hear of this." She dropped into a crouch, hands pressed to the rubber mat as her tail swished in small, slow arcs. The younger mutant regarded them thoughtfully. "Yet you are here, and so you must be deemed no threat. You were harassed, maybe?"
Madin sat on the mat and shook their head. "No. Yes. I mean, they questioned me but everyone was fine after that." How did you explain that you had thought it was going to be absolutely fucked and then it hadn't been?
"So it was not bad?" Sharon tilted her head, clearly trying to follow Madin's logic without much success. "Information was received without prejudice, but still you left?"
"Yeah." It felt like Sharon wanted more. "I figured they were fucking with me."
"Oh." The blank look on her face indicated she was still working through the mental math and had just pulled out the abacus.
"Does not seem to be the nature of this place," she said after some consideration, "but understand, maybe. At first I did not say I could shift because no one was known to me. This is only logic. But once I was comfortable I began to feel guilty. Worried they would become angry because I did not disclose. Became bigger in my mind than the reality, maybe. In the end was no matter to anyone else. Very confusing experience. I did not enjoy."
Madin blinked. The girl sat like a damp cat. Uncomfortable. Like she wanted to drop. It was a lot to work though. "You weren't wearing clothes but?"
That part stood out. "You fucking hid you could go human and just walked around naked for months?" Madin began to laugh.
The look Sharon gave them contained many things, but shame featured nowhere among them. "I would walk around naked still were this place was not so easily scandalized, but is high probability Match or Rictor might suffer fatal medical event. For human form I have made this promise. Anyone who finds feline genitalia similarly erotic is welcome to lodge public complaint."
"There was a -- Thornn always wore clothes. You can't just be naked. It's fucked."
"Believe we have already established I have no interest in this." Sharon sat back and rolled onto the floor. She gazed up at Madin, her cheek pressed to the rubber mat with no concern for how many feet had certainly been walking on it. "I cannot be compelled. I will be as naked as I please."
"Uhuh. Look, did you want something or?“
"You are interesting. I was curious. Is not complicated." The only obvious sign of Sharon's engagement was the slow flick of her tail against the floor. "You will stay now, or go again?"
"I don't know!" Madin snapped and sighed. "I'm sorry. I just. It depends, I guess. I don't know. I mean, what would I even do? My only marketable skills are hooking and killing people. I didn't even finish year nine. So I guess it's crime if I Ieave." They sounded almost hysterical.
Slowly, Sharon pushed herself into a seated position.
"Sex and death, both are useful skills," she observed, "but is understandable if you prefer different employment, maybe." For a moment her teeth worried at her lower lip. Madin seemed distressed, but she had no good frame of reference for offering comfort. She thought back to what Darcy had said to her.
"I have no skills also, but I was told here is a place where I can learn. There are people to help." The girl looked down and worked her clawed hands against the mat. "But starting, this is hard. When you have never done anything . . . It is so much."
"Yeah. I don't even know where to start. I thought Warren wanted a hooker when he said I should come about the job."
"Warren is known to me. Mistake is understandable." Sharon continued to fidget, extending and retracting her claws against the rubber padding. "Alani, she says the community center offers work placement courses. Start there, maybe." The last statement sounded dubious.
"I don't want anything to do with the community centre." On that, at least, Madin was certain. "They have all these policies to make it inclusive for everyone but really they're just making it unsafe for mutants by inviting humans in."
"Is true. But is Alani. She will provide materials upon request." Sharon considered, then nodded to herself. "Yes. Alani would help. When I murdered her pet she apologized and asked if she should buy me more."
"Hang on. When you what?"
"When I painlessly killed and consumed a domesticated chicken because I was new and hungry and knew no better," Sharon replied without missing a beat. "Is not important. Apologies were made, and it no longer wakes us with daily screams."
"That's bullshit. You're smart. You knew it was a pet. That's really not cool."
Sharon combed her hands through her unruly purple hair noncommittally. "Admit nothing. But restitution was made and I have eaten no more named animals. No matter how delicious they would be."
"Seriously though, eating someone's pet is really fucked up." Madin wasn't able to let it go.
A long purple tail coiled primly around Sharon's knees. "It is not enough I will not do it again? I am cat. If I were to apologize for every human crime I would have time for nothing else."
Madin laughed briefly. "What am I gonna doooo?" they asked. "I got no ideas. Crime spree? I don't want to just do cans like Match. I could rob a bank? I don't know how, but I could probably knife hands my way into an ATM and not set all the money on fire." There was a beat. "Seriously, though. It's probably my best option."
Sharon leaned forward, suddenly much more interested. "You will also do crime? Husband takes only cans, yes.This is just and legal, but not so interesting. Air conditioning units, maybe. When on the street I saw these stolen for scrap. Copper, aluminum. These may be found in the condensing unit. Is not so profitable, but with commensurate reduction in risk." The girl tapped a clawed fingertip against her lips and made a clicking noise with her teeth. "Plasma knives, these would be perfect for severing lines, which would not burn, only melt. If caught you could say with honesty you have no tools of vandalism on your person. Yes. Is much better crime for you than ATM."
"I never really thought about that," Madin said. "I guess we have a plan B when this inevitably goes to shit, huh?"
"Have been gone for some time. You are returned?"
The question came from a tall, plain-faced young woman standing in the entrance of the weightroom. She was lounging against the doorframe as if she had been there long enough to get comfortable, although of course it could have been carefully posed for maximum effect. Her face wore an expression of intense scrutiny.
Madin was at the bottom of a squat and gave a strangled nnngh as they saw a person appear in the mirror. They straightened and took an awkward step forward, followed by a second one to slot the bar back onto the frame and finally said "What? Huh?" A moment later, they followed with "Who are you?"
"We are known to each other." The girl turned to the doorframe and arched her back in a stretch, reaching her arms over her head and dug her fingers into the frame. Claws extended from her fingertips as she kneaded them against the frame. From the base of her spine a long purple tail rose almost vertically, curving so the end nearly touched the top of her head. After a few seconds of stretching she relaxed and turned slit-pupiled yellow eyes back on Madin.
"Unless I am so forgettable?"
"Oh, what the fuck?" Madin asked. "You could have mentioned that you were a shifter." The hypocrasy of the statement was lost on them.
"When last we met I was not. I have evolved." Without waiting for an invitation, Sharon pulled away from the doorframe and sauntered into the room. She came over to join Madin by the racks. "Is more weight than last time," she observed, tail twitching.
"For real?" Madin shook their head, slightly awed. "I never. You never see those, you know? Late mutations." They ignored the comment about the weights.
Sharon gave them an appraising look, then seemed to decide further teasing wouldn't be enough of a challenge. "No, is not for real. I am opposite of late mutation, able to shift since birth. But was too weak when I arrived here. Only after you left was I able to change again. But you are correct. Secondary mutations, I have heard of only one. A telepath here who may turn to diamond. Manifested much later than initial mutation. Where did you go?" The shift in topic happened without any preamble whatsoever.
"New York. Oregon once I decided I didn't want to be dealing with you all all the time. And now I'm back, because apparently I have bad taste in exit plans. I'm seeing how it goes. Might leave for Vegas or Miami. I haven't decided."
Large yellow eyes watched them curiously. "Absence was because of interpersonal conflict?" she inquired, with the feline ability to hone in on the one thing you wished they wouldn't. "Because so many pass, and we do not? I recall mention of such issues. Attitudes such as this?"
"No. Because I used to be a card carrying member of the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants." Madin sighed and looked away. "We were mostly active in Central Africa and worked as mercs. Sometimes I spent time in the Underground instead, because I'm. You know. Purple. Young. Unthreatening. And then I'd go back to the field and we'd do another contract raising money for them. So, yeah you might say I was worried about attitudes here."
Sharon's face assumed the blankness characteristic of those times she was unsure what facial expression was required in the moment.
"I did not hear of this." She dropped into a crouch, hands pressed to the rubber mat as her tail swished in small, slow arcs. The younger mutant regarded them thoughtfully. "Yet you are here, and so you must be deemed no threat. You were harassed, maybe?"
Madin sat on the mat and shook their head. "No. Yes. I mean, they questioned me but everyone was fine after that." How did you explain that you had thought it was going to be absolutely fucked and then it hadn't been?
"So it was not bad?" Sharon tilted her head, clearly trying to follow Madin's logic without much success. "Information was received without prejudice, but still you left?"
"Yeah." It felt like Sharon wanted more. "I figured they were fucking with me."
"Oh." The blank look on her face indicated she was still working through the mental math and had just pulled out the abacus.
"Does not seem to be the nature of this place," she said after some consideration, "but understand, maybe. At first I did not say I could shift because no one was known to me. This is only logic. But once I was comfortable I began to feel guilty. Worried they would become angry because I did not disclose. Became bigger in my mind than the reality, maybe. In the end was no matter to anyone else. Very confusing experience. I did not enjoy."
Madin blinked. The girl sat like a damp cat. Uncomfortable. Like she wanted to drop. It was a lot to work though. "You weren't wearing clothes but?"
That part stood out. "You fucking hid you could go human and just walked around naked for months?" Madin began to laugh.
The look Sharon gave them contained many things, but shame featured nowhere among them. "I would walk around naked still were this place was not so easily scandalized, but is high probability Match or Rictor might suffer fatal medical event. For human form I have made this promise. Anyone who finds feline genitalia similarly erotic is welcome to lodge public complaint."
"There was a -- Thornn always wore clothes. You can't just be naked. It's fucked."
"Believe we have already established I have no interest in this." Sharon sat back and rolled onto the floor. She gazed up at Madin, her cheek pressed to the rubber mat with no concern for how many feet had certainly been walking on it. "I cannot be compelled. I will be as naked as I please."
"Uhuh. Look, did you want something or?“
"You are interesting. I was curious. Is not complicated." The only obvious sign of Sharon's engagement was the slow flick of her tail against the floor. "You will stay now, or go again?"
"I don't know!" Madin snapped and sighed. "I'm sorry. I just. It depends, I guess. I don't know. I mean, what would I even do? My only marketable skills are hooking and killing people. I didn't even finish year nine. So I guess it's crime if I Ieave." They sounded almost hysterical.
Slowly, Sharon pushed herself into a seated position.
"Sex and death, both are useful skills," she observed, "but is understandable if you prefer different employment, maybe." For a moment her teeth worried at her lower lip. Madin seemed distressed, but she had no good frame of reference for offering comfort. She thought back to what Darcy had said to her.
"I have no skills also, but I was told here is a place where I can learn. There are people to help." The girl looked down and worked her clawed hands against the mat. "But starting, this is hard. When you have never done anything . . . It is so much."
"Yeah. I don't even know where to start. I thought Warren wanted a hooker when he said I should come about the job."
"Warren is known to me. Mistake is understandable." Sharon continued to fidget, extending and retracting her claws against the rubber padding. "Alani, she says the community center offers work placement courses. Start there, maybe." The last statement sounded dubious.
"I don't want anything to do with the community centre." On that, at least, Madin was certain. "They have all these policies to make it inclusive for everyone but really they're just making it unsafe for mutants by inviting humans in."
"Is true. But is Alani. She will provide materials upon request." Sharon considered, then nodded to herself. "Yes. Alani would help. When I murdered her pet she apologized and asked if she should buy me more."
"Hang on. When you what?"
"When I painlessly killed and consumed a domesticated chicken because I was new and hungry and knew no better," Sharon replied without missing a beat. "Is not important. Apologies were made, and it no longer wakes us with daily screams."
"That's bullshit. You're smart. You knew it was a pet. That's really not cool."
Sharon combed her hands through her unruly purple hair noncommittally. "Admit nothing. But restitution was made and I have eaten no more named animals. No matter how delicious they would be."
"Seriously though, eating someone's pet is really fucked up." Madin wasn't able to let it go.
A long purple tail coiled primly around Sharon's knees. "It is not enough I will not do it again? I am cat. If I were to apologize for every human crime I would have time for nothing else."
Madin laughed briefly. "What am I gonna doooo?" they asked. "I got no ideas. Crime spree? I don't want to just do cans like Match. I could rob a bank? I don't know how, but I could probably knife hands my way into an ATM and not set all the money on fire." There was a beat. "Seriously, though. It's probably my best option."
Sharon leaned forward, suddenly much more interested. "You will also do crime? Husband takes only cans, yes.This is just and legal, but not so interesting. Air conditioning units, maybe. When on the street I saw these stolen for scrap. Copper, aluminum. These may be found in the condensing unit. Is not so profitable, but with commensurate reduction in risk." The girl tapped a clawed fingertip against her lips and made a clicking noise with her teeth. "Plasma knives, these would be perfect for severing lines, which would not burn, only melt. If caught you could say with honesty you have no tools of vandalism on your person. Yes. Is much better crime for you than ATM."
"I never really thought about that," Madin said. "I guess we have a plan B when this inevitably goes to shit, huh?"
