alderwitch
-
Posts
5,245 -
Joined
-
Last visited
Content Type
Profiles
Forums
Freedom City Guidebook
Freedom City PBP: A How-To Guide
Gallery
Events
Everything posted by alderwitch
-
"Yeah, it's not quiet," Robin agreed, at least in a voice that sounded more her own. She remained tense for a moment before deliberately - almost cautiously - forcing herself into relaxing into the arm around her shoulders. She turned her head slightly, scrunching down to lean against the shoulder that was offered. "Yeah it's probably pretty different here. Most people don't live in the Fens - not if they can live somewhere else. You get people, you know, misusing drugs and being kind of awful but there's a whole lot of people with no where else to go. My folks - my mom and dad - they worked hard but I don't think they ever managed to get out of there. Its loud and filled with people. There's a lot of crime that happens at night." Robin paused for a moment before adding, slowly, "It's why I go back there, you know, every weekend. Whenever I can. Somebody... someone has to keep people safe and it's what I do. I mean, it's what I've been doing but Ms. Summers - she, uh, said they'd help me be better at it if I came here." That was a great deal more than Robin had really ever said about herself in one stretch and she ground to a halt at the end, unsure of what to say next. "I'm still not sure they can. I don't like this place most of the time."
-
Natalya had never, ever failed to take all advantage of a presented opportunity so when Min stepped close, her lips curved in a slow smile although she let Erik's bride set just how far she wanted to take the embrace. She had no idea exactly where this was leading - despite the evidence, Talya didn't actually know Erik's wife although she was certainly enjoying the process of rectifying that. Talya's fingertips grazed along one of the woman's fine, high cheekbones, her thumb against Min's jaw. When Min pulled back, Talya let her fingertips linger for a moment before falling down to curve around her shoulders, "You. Are delightful." Laughter made Talya's voice husky and she turned her head to catch Erik's brief and quickly recovered stumble. Her expression was bemused.
-
"Oh, I'm cross with Ace at the moment but that generally fades given a year or two. I don't care for his father, no, but that's more due to my friendship - such as it is - with Ace. The man was a dreadful father. Honestly, no one takes their seven year old to disarm crusty traps in temples." Talya's voice was well under her control once more. Certainly, there was more under the surface, but sharing the most superficial of why Johnny Danger was a terrible person was easy enough. Honestly, even odds that Ace himself would mention it. There was little love lost there. "But he's also a sexist ass. I mean, I might be a century old but at least I don't let the narrow minded views of the era I was born in color my ethics. Or my politics." Talya's smile was sudden and bright, animating her features at the question, "Sometimes. I have met some of my very favorite super heroes when stumbling into them on rooftops but those are better stories told after more than a glass of wine," Talya admitted with a light laugh, "It depends, usually you end up working with one or two heroes - or ending up on a team - and then once you've gotten past who's behind the mask the social networks begin to develop. I can ask around in my admittedly very small circle but I'm afraid my lack of being a proper team player has somewhat narrowed the field of contacts that I have. There are also a few superheroes with public identities; Torpedo Lass. That AEON girl."
-
The hit connected squarely, if not all that strongly, with the blonde's braced forearms. Talya dropped her arns after the swing and gave Raina her attention entirely after her verbalized concerns, "Dear girl, I will laugh my head off when Erik falls on his very toned backside because he's one of the most skilled fighters I've ever seen. It is funny when he falls over. You, however, are here to learn. Sometimes that means falling down but I assure you - you will only get mockery when you've mastered the art and not along the way. Everyone looks ridiculous at some point when learning something new." Talya turned then to watch Erik making faces at the monkey, "... And some of us look ridiculous most of the time but manage to make it work anyway. It's a very nice monkey, yes," she agreed dutifully, her lips quirking before she turned back to Raina and lifted her arms once again, "Now, this time, more pivot in your hips - like you'd like your fist to end up some where past where my breastbone is. Punch someone at the right moment dead in the chest and it can stop their heart. Go ahead." With that cheerful thought, Talya added, "Keeping your eyes open will also probably help, it's true."
-
Talya's smile was pure innocence at Tracy's statement, although there was a glint of amusement in her blue eyes at the challenge of being called on her antics. Letting her gaze drop demurely, Talya touched her fingertips to her breastbone, "Ah, would that I was half as skilled as legend purports. But, if one can't be underestimated, then overestimated is almost as good." The fencing was almost good natured, after enough decades ex-spies get more than a little bored without the cloak and dagger of their career. Idle hands had never been good for Talya. They led to things like agreeing to help Frost in drunken shenanigans. There was, however, no malevolence here as Talya turned to give Klara a hug. She offered Tracy her hand, moving to take a seat next to her as if they were dear old friends catching up, "So, you HAVE to tell me what's been going on since I went AWOL. Tell me, who's taken over the reins... Oh, I should see about fetching something to drink." Talya turned slightly in her chair then as if she were moving to get up as her gaze traveled up (and up) to Klara. The deliberate manipulation would likely be obvious to Tracy - perhaps also to Klara - as she left an opening for Klara to offer to fetch a server.
-
Talya turned her head to the side as well to look at Erik's lovely wife with a smile. As Talya had made a career, really, of being caught in compromising positions, she'd seen the gamut of reactions and Minerva Espadas had none of the hallmarks of 'might in the very near future blast her right off the roof'. Which was why she commented to Erik, "I don't know. I'm comfortable here. Unless you want to say uncle?" She grinned, the expression briefly wicked as she added, "You could admit I have you dead to rights. I can be graceful in victory." Despite her teasing, however, Talya unwrapped her leg from Erik's waist at his urging and rose to her feet in one smooth motion, offering one slender hand to the lady of the household. "I've been trying to get him to kiss me for years, I'm afraid, to little avail. I could kiss your wife instead, Erik. She's lovely. You're lovely, you know. I have the worst weak spots for ancient immortals, I'm afraid." Talya added with a sidelong smile, "It's a pleasure to meet you."
-
Talya gave Frost a negligent shrug as she rolled to her feet and then, without so much as a by-your-leave, stepped off of the rooftop - vanishing to most perceptions as she did so. It was a few moments before Talya came strolling up from another direction, her saunter jaunty as her heels clicked on the pavement but little gave away her intoxication except for, perhaps, the more exaggerated swing of her hips as she sashayed up to the couple. "Klara, twice in the same week - what are the odds," Talya offered her most charming greeting, flashing a bright smile as she turned to offer her hand to Klara's wife, "We were just talking about catching up about what all was going on in England - it's been ever so long since I've been back. Mind, that's been the preference of about half of MI:6, but - regardless - one does eventually miss the interminable rain and smog of London. How have you been? I was promised stories of grandchildren, I think. Oh, where are my manners. Natalya Browning - Klara and I worked together ages and ages ago but I fear I was in the field when she switched allegiances. And then, alas, persona non grata for the next few decades."
-
"I know you are. It's very sad. No one will complain if you want to take it off and perhaps do some push ups," Talya suggested, laughter clear in her tone. She watched the monkey crawl out without really batting an eye at it, as she turned back to Raina. Her expression gentled at the embarrassment clear in the teenager's features. Sixteen was not an easy age. It might have been a while - a long while - but Talya remembered sixteen. She took a step in towards Raina, her movements matter of fact as she reached out to adjust the younger woman's stance. She nudged her feet slightly further apart with her toes and reached out to adjust Raina's shoulder's with her hands, "Now, you're a lady so most of your strength is going to be below your belly button - it's most unfair, but true - so any punch you make needs to come from your hips, not your bicep." Once she had Raina better positioned, she mirrored the girl's stance and lifted her own hands up, curling them into fists. "Curl your fingers, thumb outside - if you tuck it in, you'll break your thumb and that hurts, believe you me. You're aiming with the top of your knuckles and hoping to hit, well, any part of me really. Don't worry about hurting me." Talya quickly demonstrated the punch, twisting to show the follow through in slow motion before she brought her arms up to guard. "Go ahead."
-
Talya, personally, enjoyed the unintentional show from her position slightly behind Raina's shoulder. She stepped forward slightly to touch Raina's arm, "Why don't you come see if you can punch me in the nose while Erik watches. Delightful man but he's been over-blessed with good genetics, I'm afraid, and is relentlessly distracting when one is trying to focus. Besides, he can watch and get a better idea of what you might be better suited towards. I imagine we'll eventually be teaching you mostly how to break away from close combat to get to a place you can use... other skills, but right now we need to see how you throw a punch and how you balance." She gave Raina's arm a light pat and then headed towards the center of the mat, before turning to face the others in the room once more with her usual relaxed stance. "Have you danced at all - with a partner, I mean. It's not all that dissimilar at least in the balance." Of course, Talya tended to fight in heels so her opinion on how one ought balance in a fight might be a little to the left of most folks. "Also in the trying to put your partner on the ground but that's a far more advanced lesson. Balance first, really!"
-
"There was a lovely bust. I stole it for the Scarab. Ah," Talya paused, although whether it was to remember fondly Alexander Rhodes or a particularly pleasant heist, that was slightly in more question. She arched a brow at Set's commentary about introductions and held the door open for them both to enter. Walking into Talya's apartment was like walking into a movie set or a very nice catalog picture. It was very well apportioned and the taste was impeccable but a close examination would reveal the living room utterly devoid of any of the personal touches that actually make a place, a home. Still, it was a very pleasant, pretty facade not unlike the hostess herself. "But I don't imagine you're here to stroll down memory lane so much as take advantage of my wet bar with Dimitri. Come in." She turned then, her heels clicking on polished floors towards where Dimitiri was making himself at home. Talya accepted the shot that was offered, holding it still in her elegant fingertips, "So, come, tell me of your troubles. Someone called Set a 'whore' I gathered as much. Care to elaborate on the troubles that have caused you both to turn to drinking before," she glanced to the clock, "three o'clock in the afternoon?"
-
Bombshell was laying on her stomach, her chin pillowed on her folded arms as they conducted surveillance. Really, Talya was there for the vodka and was likely no longer sober enough that she really OUGHT to be swinging around the city on jump lines. Should, however, was not a word Talya had ever done well with and there was no one there to tell her not to. Not that it had ever done much good when there was. Her blue eyes were heavy lidded, and she made a soft, "Hmm?" noise at Comrade Frost's question that showed she was clearly not as invested in the endeavor as he was. She shifted, rolling to her side to eye Dimitri and make a rude noise. "That," she said with the over precise enunciation of one focusing on her words, "is easy. We'll divide and conquer. I'll go talk to the wife while you go do your Russian bellowing and punching thing with Klara. Just tell her you want to clear the air, or apologize. Just like that time in Olsztyn. But without the murder, clearly." Talya paused for a second and then clarified, because she wasn't that drunk. "But make it more believable, of course." Because no one would think Dimitri had come to repent a few decades of ideology.
-
If Erik's flaw was being overused to a sword in hand, Talya's was that most of her opening moves relied on an element of surprise that she straight up lacked in sparring. She was used to taking the first shot, not recovering from it. "Darling, they don't make any models like me these days," her voice was a throaty hum, wicked promise implicit which - in its own way - was just as pat a defense mechanism as Erik's jokes. There was nothing in her movements, however, but serious lethal intent as she reversed the hold. Bending in ways a woman should not be able to bend, Talya twisted at the waist, one leg scissoring up towards Erik's undefended nose as she left her arm locked around his shoulder. The agile swordsman twisted back to avoid a boot to the face but Talya took advantage of the moment to twist around on top of him in an effort to lock the pin. "Who's rusty now?" Talya was not above taking the moment to gloat, nose to nose, with Erik as she was well aware it was only a momentary victory.
-
Robin's shoulder didn't have the extra padding of her jacket this time so the muscle against his cheek was firm - though not with the too-tightly-wound tension he'd felt in her frame earlier. She shifted, turning her palm up under his hand, listening to the cadence of his voice with only the occasional thoughtful noise of agreement. As the silence stretched on, Robin made no move to break it. She was comfortable in the silences. It was speaking that caused her far more stress than any long silence ever could. As the topic shifted to her parents, the shoulder Riley leaned against tensed before Robin forced it to relax. For a long moment, Robin didn't answer. It seemed like she might not say anything at all until she shifted to drag her leather jacket over with her free hand. Without saying a word, she fished around in the worn jacket until she found the inner pocket. With careful fingertips, she pulled a worn picture, torn along one edge, that was safe inside a plastic ziplock bag. Robin held it out towards Riley, still silent, to show him the old family portrait. The man in it was slim, handsome - with skin several shades darker than his daughter but the same light grey eyes. The woman was tall and blonde, standing at least as tall as her husband, possibly taller, with a wide grin. The picture was old as the young girl in her father's arms couldn't have been more than five or six. "My folks were mugged in the Fens when I was ten," Robin's voice was low, detached, as if she were reciting names and dates of something in history class, "They never came home. I don't have a lot left from them. They were... They were good people. They deserved something better than what happened."
-
"Only throw fireballs at Erik. He's much more flame retardant than I am," Talya suggested as she followed Raina back to the room with an amused look on her aristocratic features. Leaving Erik to shake hands, Talya headed for the side of the room to put down her batons and find a towel to wipe off her hands with. Her amused gaze traveled to the swordsman as she added, "Also far more invested in not letting the walls catch fire. He's the one paying the mortgage, after all." The broom garnered a bemused look from Talya, "As much as it might be nice to have someone else clean up the place - menial labor is ever so tedious - I am certain that your headmistress will be most put out if we treat the students she's sent over as servants." Dropping the towel back on her bag, Talya dusted her hands off one last time to rejoin Erik and Raina, "I'm Natalya." She offered her first name and her hand. Her grip was surprisingly firm for how fine boned and delicate her hand was.
-
"Raina kissed the statue you were stuck in when I dared her to," Robin told Fred helpfully, "And then it exploded. But Raina's magic so its probably because of that. She knows spells and stuff and I'm pretty sure there a whole bunch of fairy tells about waking people up with kisses." She paused and added, "But there wasn't like, tongue or anything, really. Much." Robin gave Winifred's shoulder a gentle pat as the Headmistress arrived, "She's okay. She's not thrown up or passed out or anything. Winifred was stuck in that statue a really long time. Almost a hundred and fifty years. We're taking her back to the school, right? I told her that you could help her." The challenging tone was back, but this had less to do with the headmistress and entirely came from Robin's inherent mistrust of anyone who smacked of the system. She wasn't sure herself whether or not to buy into the promises that Claremont made. The Fens native remained distinctly on the fence.
-
"Best two out of three? Though, honestly, it's hardly fair. I know you can trounce me with a weapon in hand... Well, of course I cheated!" The lower pitched responses were muffled by the door and distance but Talya's clear, clipped tones came through as she approached the door to open it. The woman who opened the door to Raina's knock was of average height but, really, that was the only thing average about her. Blond, barefoot and dressed in yoga clothes, she looked more like a movie version of a fitness instructor than any sort of self defense expert. But for the faint sheen of sweat from working out and the escrima sticks resting against one shoulder, Talya didn't exactly fit the part. "Can't expect to win without cheating," she commented, although whether it was directed to Raina or whoever she'd been talking to was more of a question. Talya offered the girl a friendly smile, "Hello, my dear. Come in. The dojo is open." Talya held the door open to punctuate her statement ushering the girl in before she let the door shut behind them.
-
"Believe me, that's unusual even for my life. Ace Danger is a whole different scale of bizarre," Talya said with utter truthfulness. "But the whole Danger family is really a little bent. His father is a real piece of work, let me tell you." That seemed to be genuine disdain that colored Talya's voice for a moment before she smoothed her inflection over, a ripple in an otherwise still pond. Either it was the best act in the world or she had some genuine loathing for Ace Danger's father for whatever reason. Giving a shake of her blond head, Talya flipped her curls back over one shoulder with a flick of her fingertips, "No one's seen Dark Star, as far as I'm aware, in ages. There was some dust up in the tabloids a while back about it but I only give the sleezy papers the most cursory of followings. If I were you, I would seek out the newer heroes that might be less prone to have poor memories of your past exploits. There's a surprising amount of churn in the super hero community. Well, not too surprising I suppose. It's a hazardous occupation, really, although even with all the ugliness that happens in Freedom City, people rarely stay dead forever. Well, super heroes. Normal people aren't quite so lucky."
-
"Ah, no. My spy days are behind me. Which, really, is what I'd tell you even if they weren't but it's been a long time since I answered to MI:6. Thankfully," Talya said as she too reached for her wine. She lifted it up slightly, "To fresh air." She added, with a knowing little smile before taking a small sip. Talya set the glass back down on the table. "An old colleague called in a favor that I owed him so I went off to help with some 'minor issue' he had," the quotes around her words were clear. Talya's expression turned briefly long suffering. "Minor issue, ffft. Three years later and we're in some alternate reality, or it might just have been a part of Earth that I've never been to - and have no idea how to get back to, mind - with some sort of insurrection against totalitarian authority. I'm still annoyed at Ace for it. Not all of us enjoy hieing off for a handful of years for antics. He's fine. Enjoying his just rewards as the figurehead of their rebellion but I decided to come back here and see if I can sort things out. Thankfully, I have a trustworthy accountant that would need more than a few years of radio silence to have me declared legally dead." Talya paused and added after a moment, amending, "Well, again."
-
"Which is such a pity. I have so very many nicer ways to ask than 'please'," Talya fired back with a wicked grin that promised a great many things. She rose slowly from her seat, the gesture graceful as she went to collect the mugs and set them out of the way. Talya reached up to pull her pony tail out, running her fingers through her hair once to fluff out the worst of it. One might think that Talya'd prefer her hair up rather than down for a fight but with it gathered into a pony tail it made far too good a handle to grab if one was willing to fight dirty enough to do so and while Erik was usually above that sort of thing, she planned on giving him at least one good shot for the crack about being rusty. Talya wasn't willing to stake her scalp on whether Erik would or wouldn't sink to her level given enough impetus. Talya turned then, her hands at her sides and her posture relaxed, her eyes twinkling with humor and challenge, "Rusty? Sweetheart, like you've even scratched the surface of all of my tricks," Talya retorted in kind. She finally brought her hands lightly up in front of her, hands curled but not fully fisted. "Though I suppose we're sticking to the basics. No cheating?"
-
Robin sucked in a breath; a soft, strangled sound as she realized that part of his training had apparently involved demonstrating 'mercy' on small, childlike ferals. For a moment, her throat worked silently as she tried to find phrasing around the horror. "Hey, I know that," Robin said finally, the words a little hoarse. She left her fingertips lightly in place on his arm. She let her hand relax until the soft cloth wrapping her palms came into contact with his skin, her fingers circling around the still tense muscles in his forearm, "If I though you thought murder was a joke, well, I wouldn't BE here. This would not be the conversation we'd be having. My folks were murdered. It's not something I really take all that lightly." Her fingertips squeezed then, the pressure light, "We could see your face, you know, it was almost like you, just, went away. Like you retreated into your head into what ever place you have to go to do really unpleasant things. No one there thought you ENJOYED that. Not even Raina. You know these people don't know what that's like. Most of them don't come from a place where you have to make hard choices. I'm not sure any of us come from a place where you have to make the kind of choices that you did. You know that simulation was designed to push you back there, push your buttons and send you down to your darkest place."
-
"So the people that Freedom City expects to keep them safe became the worst of a bad situation. That's... really, really awful," Robin said baldly. She swallowed once, "And nothing fixes them at all? There's nothing you can do to make them not, you know, crazy evil cannibals?" Robin didn't flinch away, watching his expressions as he talked about the world he knew. Her grey gaze tracked the muscle twitches and tension in jaw, and neck, and shoulder. It really was awful, but it explained a lot how the test could have set him off, sent him back to that space. Robin reached out finally, uncoiling one hand to touch Riley's forearm with light fingers. She hadn't even taken off the tape around her joints and knuckles from the simulation, "You know, it's not like that here? What happened to your world; it's awful. It's a terrible, terrible tragedy and it sounds like you've done what you had to in order to survive. What you've been trained for? But here, there's no Ferals. Here, heroes don't HAVE to kill. You don't have to, Riley. Not here."
-
Talya's slow blink was her only tell as to how genuinely that observation startled her. Rusty. She was clearly getting rusty at filtering her banter if idioms and turns of phrase were starting to permeate her vocabulary. Sloppy, Talya. If it had been decades ago, that sort of mistake could have cost lives. Today, though, it was only her ego at stake. She arched one golden brown to cover and said easily, "It isn't as if Jack of All Blades has cornered the market on terrible jokes and puns. He could hang up the sword if that were the case and wouldn't that be a pity." She glanced down, her fingertips on the wine glass before she met Eric's gaze with acute interest, "Rich and brilliant. Honestly, you have very little to worry about. You're a rich, white male with brilliant inventions and genuine regret for your actions. Give it a year or two and they'll be wanting to write the biopic of how you turned your life around. Everyone, as I said, enjoys a redemption story. Especially the redemption of your particular strata of society. Public perceptions are very, very easy to adjust and address. Your personal emotions and regrets - those are far more tricky," Talya said and then offered a slow smile, "For what its worth, I think the plan sounds both interesting and sound. I am looking forward to watching it play out."
-
"Sure it could," Robin countered as she adjusted course. Her gaze landed on Riley's profile, her expression a little wary before she headed towards him resolutely. She dropped down next to him gracefully, folding her legs up under her as she dropped. Robin tossed her leather jacket over her lap, almost forgotten. Her hand lifted up, stuttered as if uncertain before she let it drop back to her lap. Touch wasn't always comforting for her, perhaps it wasn't for Riley either. She didn't actually know. There was rather a lot, it turned out, that Robin didn't know about Riley. "It'll help you here, though, for certain. You deserve to be here, Riley." She shifted then, twisting so she could watch his profile, "Can... can you tell me about it? The place you come from, I mean? I don't think I really understand it other than it's a lot different from here."
-
Of course, she was sleeping. Sure, it was the middle of the day, heading towards afternoon, but contrary to the image Talya tended to put out into the public realm, even she had to rest sometimes. Thankfully, part of what she paid the unholy rent for was to have doormen that notified her when people were in route. So, when the phone rang, Talya reached out a hand to try and turn the alarm off only to eventually grope for the phone. She answered in a cool, crisp voice that sounded nothing like she was currently buried in layers of bedding and gave permission for guests to come up just as smoothly, despite the reality that she'd not yet gotten both eyes open. After she hung up, Talya laid there for a long moment before kicking the covers off. The woman who answered the door, however, showed none of the signs of having just rolled out of the bed. From her on point pin curls to the peep toed shoes, Talya was in full hostess mode when she walked to answer the door for a 'Dimitri and guest'. "Dimitri, honestly, I know it's hard to fathom but I really am a mere mortal that actually sleeps sometimes, and--" Talya broke off before she could get to the point where while the vodka really was very good, sometimes one needed to recover to stare delightedly at Set, "This is Set. The Set. Well, the latest incarnae. You Egyptians and your reincarnation. Come in. Do come in."
-
On her way out of the awful test from hell, Robin hesitated in her blue and yellow uniform, debating for a moment whether she out to give Riley a bit of time or head directly after him. She could pause and change, but the memory of Riley's stricken expression decided her. Pausing only to grab her worn leather jacket, Robin headed up from Claremont's underground tunnels until she could reach a level where there was window access. There were many weirder sights than a student in a training uniform sprinting through the halls and diving out a window so Robin only garnered an occasional look as she ducked outside and scaled up the side of one of the dormitories to reach the roof. She wasn't trying for stealth although her boots weren't all that loud as she landed on the shingles. "Riley?" Robin's voice floated out as she straightened up, her concern apparent in her tone.
