17968/Telepathic Aftermath

Telepathic Aftermath
Date of Scene:	16 May 2024
Location:	Abandoned Rectory - Derelict Church
Synopsis:	Ty goes fully intangible after the telepathic contact in Mutant Town. Eventually Tandy is able to get him to talk.
Cast of Characters:	Tandy Bowen, Tyrone Johnson

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Tandy Bowen has posed:
In the aftermath of being shock-ported back to the rectory, Tandy hadn't focused on anything but their immediate safety. It was late, they were exhausted, the day had one too many unpleasant events, of course Ty was going to withdraw. She knew - she KNEW, and she was kicking herself mentally for it - that he didn't handle cop confrontations well to start, and she probably should've just gotten a few more blocks away and had him come pick her up instead of joining in. Shit. She was so angry at herself, and that she had to leave him early the next morning to work a double: intangible, just Cloak. Ty not even present enough that she could feel his comforting darkness. It hurt, and it was lonely. They'd talked about this, but she knew he needed some time. Still. She'd wanted to be able to hug him before work, assure him of her love and constancy in whatever form they worked out for themselves. That he could have some time, as long as he came back to talk. Saying all of that to what was effectively an empty room felt dumb, but she hoped - prayed - that he could hear her words and take comfort in them.

When she got home, he was still fully intangible, and there was no sign that he'd heard her words at all, just a too quiet hole and a too cold cloak and no way to chase him or seek his comfort. No way to lend her own, to share the sorrow and the fear in a burden halved. She curled around the cloak to sleep. It didn't offer the usual comfort, and sleep was fitful. Strained.

Tandy woke up Thursday morning with an aching face and an even more aching head, turning away from the cloak and moaning into her pillow. She was supposed to work today, but there was no possible way she'd manage it in her current state. She curled around her pillow, hunched miserably under the light blanket, and wondered how long Ty would be gone this time. If he would bother to come back.

Tyrone Johnson has posed:
Ty was lost. He had to be just _losing it_. Gone too far. In too deep. He had heard _voices_. In his _head_. That _were not his_. Maybe the monster in the darkness had grown tired of Ty thinking that he could keep things under control. That it was time to take everything, not just the scraps of life-force Ty was providing it. He glanced over at the clearly miserable Tandy, and part of him ached for her. But the larger part was determined that he would never, _ever_ drag her down with him. Bad enough that he needed her for more than just her smiles, the sleepy look on her face first thing in the morning. Silly smiles painted in drugstore makeup. Those things were precious. Inviolable. He'd rather starve to death than destroy those things.

The only answer he could think of is that he was _damned_.

Tandy Bowen has posed:
Tandy sighed at the still-silent, still-cold room a few minutes later, groaning loudly into her hands as her phone chimed. If the diner was asking her to pull another double... no. She didn't have the mental or emotional energy to get through 12 hours of being even minimally polite. She flipped her phone open and checked the text.

'Was this a moment of God's grace for trying to stop Ty from breaking their code last night?' she thought to herself, reading the brief text asking her to work a half shift in the back instead so they could train a new waitress. "Thank God and whoever this.. Brittney person is," Tandy said out loud, struggling upright and zombie-shuffling to put clothes on.

"Ty. I get off at 3. If you aren't at the diner to meet me, I'm going to go out and do something. I don't know if you can hear me, if you're even here, but. Please come back, if you can. Leave me a note. Something. Please." Her voice was a little choked as she talked, muffled for a moment as her shirt shrugged over her head. "Just think about it. I can't - I don't - PLEASE don't do the running thing again, I can't handle it."

Tyrone Johnson has posed:
Ty ... moved. Shifted, so he could look at her. His expression through the Darkforce was shattered. Haunted. "Okay." he said quietly. "Hey. Before you go, gotta ask you a thing. After yesterday, on the trip back ... did you hear voices? In your head?"

Tandy Bowen has posed:
Tandy shrieked, startled, a hand pressing to her suddenly furious pumping heart. "Oh fucking GOD what-" as her head popped out of her shirt, she spun to stare at the cloak on the bed, and Ty's barely tangible form. "Babe?" It was a quiet, cautious ask as she knelt on the mattress, sliding her hands along the cloak that suddenly had a hint of form. The look on his face was terrifyingly heartbreaking as she shook her head. "Just... just your screams before you pulled us out of there. I'm so sorry I called you to come."

Tyrone Johnson has posed:
So it wasn't the Darkforce - or else her Light had shielded her. Now there was a fucked-up thought to dwell on. "I heard a voice. In my head." he admitted quietly, trying to slowly shift back to a more tangible form. But it was hard, so very hard. "Wasn't mine. Was something else. Telling me about the situation. Giving me orders." he said, voice thready and weak. "I think I'm losing it, babe."

Tandy Bowen has posed:
She was cautious as she sat, watching her other half try - fail - try - fail again - to shift into a more tangible state. Her hands were still curled around the Cloak, and she shook her head at him. "I'd love a hand. Or shoulders," she admitted with a shaky laugh. "But don't stress yourself, please. Face and voice is... it's enough, that you're still here right now." Her body took on a soft glow, offering him the sustenance she was sure he needed between the fight and this morning. "There were... a lot of mutants there. I don't - are - can people read minds? Project... into minds?" She shook her head. "People that can do what Opal does. Fuck, I feel unclean thinking about it."

Tyrone Johnson has posed:
"Not taking anything. Can't." he said, remembering the Opal drug thing from a while back. "You think someone slipped me a Mickey or something? Making me lose my shit, hear voices?" he said. At least his anger was lending strength to his voice. "For fuck's sake, I thought it was the Predator!" he exclaimed as his body _drank_ in Tandy's offering of Light.

Tandy Bowen has posed:
Tandy shook her head slowly. "No. No, I think someone there could do something similar, and did it to the cops. I don't know WHY. A child DIED, and-" Her face pales. "Whoever did that is a monster, and they will face Our Justice," she snaps, glowing brightly in righteous anger. "Mutant, non-mutant, other. Children are to be protected. Not used as a disposable tool." Her arms wanted to cross, but instead she pulled Cloak a little closer. "I think one of the others - the ones trying to keep the bystanders safe - talked into your mind. Maybe... maybe that Alex guy would tell us? Or I could ask Shadowcat? They both run with the X-Men."

Tyrone Johnson has posed:
"Uncle Tom motherfuckers." he growled under his breath, but only softly. "Yeah, OK. You think it's a good idea, go reach out to the rich muties upstate." he said. "Hey, babe. You know as well as I do that we got each other's backs on that score. Kids are off-limits, now and always. Kids need to be kids, to grow up. Then, they fuck their life up, it's on them." he said. At least he was making process on pulling himself together. Righteous anger and Tandy-snuggles were good for that kind of thing.

Tandy Bowen has posed:
"I know," Tandy replied softly. "Look, they were there. Wouldn't you rather it be one of them trying to step in than something worse? Or have the knowledge that we need to round up people and have another go at That Asshole trying to use you as a meat sack?" She wondered what that Hellstrom guy was doing these days, if it was actually that Thing deep inside of Ty.

Tyrone Johnson has posed:
Ty sighed. "Go ahead and talk to that fuzzy blue guy or whoever." he said with a wave of his hand. "They don't know us, don't know what we deal with down here. Too busy waiting for their Vanity Fair shoots and for their investments to mature." he grumbled. Grouchy Ty was both hungry and grouchy, although Tandy's light helped with the former.

Tandy Bowen has posed:
Tandy frowned, laughed, and pushed a hand into the mass of Cloak that was gently reforming. Not a hand smack - she and Ty tended to avoid things that overtly looked like violence, but a subtle sort of "You're funny but you're being an asshole, so behave" that works well with their oft-unspoken communication. "Some of them actually come into the community. We can give them a chance. Resources are good, it's not like they're gonna ask us to move in and drink the kool-aid. We're experiments, not mutants. Even though bigots won't care about the subtleties."

Tyrone Johnson has posed:
Ty worked on going more solid. "I'm serious!" he protested. "Maybe they come slumming down here but it's not like they're going after the people who are really hurting people." he said. "But maybe you can convince them to give a shit about regular folks."

Tandy Bowen has posed:
"Not everyone fights. Some bring food. Healing. Support. You know those things are just as important to contribute." She lets out a sigh, dragging her fingers through her hair. "I know. You know. There's always more to be done. Never ending. We can only do what we can do. At least they're not bringing drugs and shit into our city like some of the other rich fucks."

Tyrone Johnson has posed:
"Small blessings. They're not actively fucking people over and they throw scraps from their plates. Guess we should shut up and be grateful." he said, then lookeed irritated with himself. "Ahh, ignore me. I'm still a little fucked-up from whateverinthefuck happened in Mutie Town." he said apologetically. "Sorry. I know better than to give you lip when I'm cranky. I'm sorry." he said.

Tandy Bowen has posed:
Tandy flopped her hand tiredly. "I know, I know. But I am tired, and trying to focus on something that is not terrible." A child, potentially killed by one of the very adults that should have treasured their tiny kin and would have sacrificed more people like them just trying to live their lives in "Mutant Town" for what? A few dead cops? More rigid patrols, more profiling, worse conditions? Maybe it was simple of her, but the way 2 and 2 were adding up meant she and Ty might have to put hunting mutant on the menu.

Not all of them, of course. But certainly the ones that would use their own children and peace-seeking neighbors as fodder. A flare of light burst around her, quickly sucked into Ty's Darkness, and she slumped against him with a tired whine. "I don't want to work today."

Tyrone Johnson has posed:
"You work doubles for them all the damned time. Call in dead, take it easy today." he said, then made a quick mental calculation. "We should have enough for you to go get something nice for dinner tonight, even." he said, even if it would cut their finances down to the bone. "But we're gonna need to go hunting soon."

Tandy Bowen has posed:
"It's just a half shift in the back, there's finally a new waitress being trained." Tandy wasn't glowing anymore, her hair lank, limp against the pillow. "There's uh. An open house day at the Happy Harbor place that's supposed to help people with irregular schooling. D'you - I mean - Can we go? See what it would take for at least me to finish school, maybe get some technical training?" Her voice was cautious, but hopeful. Almost wistful as she thought about the chance of a job that paid better in 40 hours than the 50 or 60 she frequently pulled at the diner.

Tyrone Johnson has posed:
Ty blinked. That ... came out of nowhere. "Uhhh..." he said as his thoughts raced. "I mean, I'm glad you're lettin' me know and all but, like, I don't own you. We need each other, sure, but it ain't on me to be tellin' you you shouldn't finish up school. You wanna go, we'll go." he said. "Just, uhh, make sure you're nice and charged up because still a little ... OK, a lot ... weirded out by the voices thing." he said with a shrug. Then he paused for a painfully long moment. "They do speech therapy?" he asked, crushingly embarrassed by asking the question in the first place. "Because, uhh, if you're goin' back to school, maybe I can too. But I gotta be able to talk good."

Tandy Bowen has posed:
"I don't know, but I thought we could ask at the open house? And just. It's a big thing, of course I'm gonna talk to you about it. They have dorms. We could... maybe have a safe place to live for a while." Tandy bit her bottom lip. "Could be nice. Would be a bit out of the way of having the pulse of the street, but."

Tyrone Johnson has posed:
"One thing at a time, babe. Let's go check them out, see what they got, and if we decide we're gonna go for it then we can have the place discussion, kay?" he said. He wasn't sure he wanted to move in with Other People (tm). Hells, some days he could barely make Tandy understand him without cheating. And he had come to agree that No-Cloak Days were important. Even if they tended to suck. A lot. For him.

Tandy Bowen has posed:
"Yeah, yeah." She buried her face in the pillow for a moment, seriously contemplating a power nap. But no, she knew if she managed to doze there was no way she'd make it to work on time. Money. Money, sleep. Tomorrow they could go bring justice. "Ugh. Okay. Come pick me up after, even if you don't want to full manifest yet?" Just a little. She'd be fine with just a little until he could bring himself all the way back. She'd text Kitty and Hank while she worked, see what she could find out.

Tyrone Johnson has posed:
He gave her the best smile he had - which wasn't great, truth be told - but he made up for it when she finally dragged herself out of bed. One good swat, nice and solid and firm, right on her backside. He was so gonna pay for that, but he thought that they both could use it. "Go make us some money, babe." he said with a mock-leer. "While I get the fuck over myself."

Tandy Bowen has posed:
Tandy gave him an eyebrow and a smirk. "Hope you enjoyed that swat, because it's the last time you get to touch below the waist until you've managed to stay solid for a week, baby," she sassed, blowing him a kiss as she gathered up her things and headed towards the diner. She was still exhausted, but today was looking up.