12311/After Nightmare Reunions

After Nightmare Reunions
Date of Scene:	05 August 2022
Location:	The Velvet Room - Sitting Room
Synopsis:	No description
Cast of Characters:	Gabby Kinney, Rien D'Arqueness, Robbie Reyes

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Gabby Kinney has posed:
Gabby Kinney sits in the velvet room on one of the nice couches near Hanako. The poor Japanese doll had not gotten a lot of attentio lately with everything going on. Right now it seemed as if Gabby were trying to make up for it in some small way judging by the small array of toys and food that she had at the little mini-altar that she'd set up on a side table closest to where the doll liked to lounge. A little mini-teddy bear, clearly hand sewn by Gabby herself, sat among other goodies like a cupcake, an orange (because every shrine image she saw had a bloody orange), Goldfish crackers, and a rice cake. Maybe the only actual traditional thing there. The smell of mild incense burning wafted away from that little offering table while the teddy bear was being examined by Hanako herself.

Satisfied that she's done her best for now Gabby reaches over to snag a can of Red Bull to crack open and chug with a few quick gulps. Judging by the array of empties around her, and the fact that she had an entire case of the energy drink with her, she wasn't messing around with drinking them.

Rien D'Arqueness has posed:
The door to the sitting room opens to admit Rien, looking vastly better than she had the last time Gabby saw her. The real her, not the fake not-her. She pauses at the scent of the incense, glancing around, then smiling at the sight of the small altar/shrine that Gabby has set up for Hanako. "You know, Elizabeth and the others can probably interact with Hanako directly, since she's in here. I'd bet she can make requests just like we can."

Approaching her sister, she can't help but notice the energy drinks, pausing and looking at Gabby sympathetically. "I understand the urge, but sadly, it won't help. You're better off getting what sleep you can scrape together between nightmares." Says the voice of most recent experience.

That doesn't stop her from moving in to give Gabby a hug, however, squeezing her sister tight. "You can tell me about if you want, but you don't have to."

Gabby Kinney has posed:
Gabby Kinney glances over to Rien watching her a long, quiet moment as if she were seeing her for the first time. There's a look in her green eyes that was rarely there: One of being tired. Of seeing too much. Yet her lips are still pulled into a soft smile in spite of it all. Or maybe TO spite it all.

"Takes the edge off for a few seconds if I keep it going," she reasons about the drinks only to smile broader. "Ah, Hanako can't really request anything. They don't consider her a resident to make requests. I've had to request on her behalf... but she's doing okay." A quick sip is taken of the drink that wasn't really doing a lot of good before she sets it down on the coffee table to free her hands up, so she can stand and return the hug. Tight, firm, unwilling to let go for a few moments.

"Think they tried their final push with me last night," she explains with a little sharp-edged laugh. "I was forgetting the dreams before. I'd just wake up tense and ready to fight. Figured it was just nerves." She knew better now.

"Told them to fuck off."

Rien D'Arqueness has posed:
"Hm. I'll have to talk to Elizabeth and see if we can't negotiate something for Hanako to be able to voice her own requests. We can't have someone here 24/7 to request on her behalf and I don't like the idea that she's sitting here for hours on end with no way to communicate her needs." Rien shakes her head, then makes the mental note to talk to the denizens of the Velvet Room.

She holds onto Gabby tightly when the younger woman doesn't realease the hug, trying to provide that needed extra bit of comfort and affection. When Gabby does let go, Rien smiles at her, "Perhaps so, but you can't continue to leave a train of aluminum in your wake just to 'take the edge off' for a few seconds." She motions to all the cans lined up. "Besides, it's better to keep facing it, keep telling them to fuck off. At least then you know that you're standing firm and not just.. running from it."

There's a small frown to suggest she had to find that out the hard way, and doesn't want to see Gabby have to go through the same.

Gabby Kinney has posed:
"I burned, Rien. For days... weeks? Burned and beaten. Two of them fighting over me. A soldier and a black flame."

Stepping back she gazes up at Rien not looking away. Not flinching. Not shying away from talking about it. That was how things got bad in the first place--Not talking. What happened wasn't her fault. All the more reason to talk about it. "They had me fighting in a war where no one would win. Everyone was dead and gone, and I had to abandon those few left to try and complete the mission." Here she smiles, a bit unhinged perhaps but not so far gone that it didn't seem like HER. It was just so laughably like old times in some ways, yet. Not.

"I'm not going to avoid sleep and I'm not going to shy away from it, but I'm also not going to turn into a hermit and avoid everyone. That's what kept me going, everyone. You and Laura and Wade and Logan and... Thomas and others." People Rien didn't know.

"I'm sorry I couldn't be there to help rescue you. I'm glad you're back."

Rien D'Arqueness has posed:
"A soldier, a black flame, a stranger... hm. We should start cataloguing all this. When we all sit down to talk it over as a group, make sure to mention what was fighting over you. We need to start figuring out who's pulling all the strings. I know of one, but there may be more." Rien frowns faintly, then shakes her head and looks back to Gabby, features softening, "I'm sorry that this touched you."

She lets out a sigh and shakes her head, "That is /not/ how things got bad in the first place, Gabby. They got bad because of something we did. We opened a door, just a crack. Just enough that they found me, and were using me as a doorway to get into this world, to get to everyone else." Rien looks at her, "/That/ is why I was trying to stay away from everyone. It wasn't spreading because people weren't talking, it was spreading because people had contact with me."

Letting out a breath, she smiles, "It's okay. You had an important task, to track the Not-Me so we can put it down for good before it can do that to someoen else."

Gabby Kinney has posed:
"That wasn't quite what I meant," Gabby responds reaching up to wipe a hand over her face. Turning back to the coffee table she ducks down to reach out snagging the open can of Red Bull to continue drinking it. Even if it didn't do much she had to admit she enjoyed the taste. It wasn't too sweet, or too sour. It still had a kick to it.

"I mean if we'd all talked and shared what was going on we might be a leg up on it. No way to know for sure, it's done now. But I talk. I always talk. Because it's not MY fault and I'm not gonna cower from what was done to me." Her head tips back taking another chug, and she adds quietly, "Not the labs, not some elder gods, nothing. My voice is still mine."

Robbie Reyes has posed:
The Velvet Room admits another resident while Gabby and Rien are engrossed in conversation, this one tall, dark and.. well, weary looking. Which seems to be going around, these days.?

Scrubbing his fingers through slightly rumpled curls, Robbie slouches his way toward the bar in search of alcohol. He's dressed in what passes for casual attire, for him: black skinny jeans with shredded knees, battered old combat boots, and a black hoodie with MEGADETH and what looks like a space ninja with a flaming sword on the back.

"Hey, babe," he greets Rien while waiting to get Igor's attention. Gabby gets a once-over and, "You look like shit." After all, what are friends for?

Rien D'Arqueness has posed:
"And that is /my/ point, Gabby. Everyone else didn't start getting touched by it until after I started trying to talk to people about it. Robbie got it first, we live together, unavoidable there. Then Jon, Cael, and Lydia. Then you. Every time I reached out is when it got worse. When it spread to someone else." Rien stares down at her hands, then shakes her head.

She looks at Gabby and lifts a brow, "Gotten a leg up on.. what? We still don't know what /it/ is. It isn't as though they're walking up and introducing themselves and monologuing about their evil plans." She pauses, then clears her throat, "Or, they weren't. I learned a few things in the ivory tower. But that was long past the point where I could have talked to anyone if I'd wanted to. By that point I'd already been replaced. And nobody knew that was it's goal until after it happened. Sometimes, Gabby, sometimes we just don't know until afterwards."

Leaning in, she bumps her shoulder against Gabby's, "Not to say you shouldn't talk about it. It's good to talk about the things happening with and to you. But neither talking about it or not talking about it made any difference. I tried both ways and it got worse regardless. This isn't something we could have halted at the start. It's something we're going to have to fight through."

Rien smiles at Robbie's appearance, watching him head towards the bar, "I would have thought you'd prefer pirates to ninjas, querido." To the comment towards Gabby, she snorts, "There's a lot of that going around lately. And probably to continue for at least the near future."

Gabby Kinney has posed:
Gabby Kinney flashes a smile at Robbie's statement with a salute of her red bull can his way. "Fuck you too, Reyes," she offers in a cheery enough tone. She was joking but it was...Rougher than her usual joking. She keeps using her right hand, too, instead of reaching for thing with her left. Every now and then her fingers twitch while speaking to the pair, and she clenches her hand at her side. Or runs her fingers over her pant leg. Or just digs her fingernails into the pad of her thumb. All on her left hand.

"Them. They're Demons, right? The flame thing called the soldier 'The Eternal Fight', and talked about how I was violent but not for the sake of senseless violence and destruction. The flame was wanting to roast marshmallows on the destruction, watch everything burn. That's something more to know at least. Two more to add in."

"But," she adds waving her can toward Rien, "I'm not arguing over it whether sharing is good or bad. Or whether you staying away would have kept anyone safe or not. Like Jon said it's targeting all of us. If it wasn't you it would have found something or someone else to latch onto. Just that right now we need to share as much info as we have."

With a sigh she bumps Rien's shoulder back giving a weak smile. Then she looks over to Robbie again thoughtfully. "You doing okay Robbie? That not-you really messed with him, Rien."

Robbie Reyes has posed:
The beer bottle's handed over without a word, and Robbie pushes off the bar with it to approach the other two. He doesn't seem inclined to weigh in about sharing vs not sharing; or maybe he's just not paying enough attention to give an opinion. As to his hoodie, he gives Rien a shrug and pops the cap off his beer. "Are you dissing ninjas? What's wrong with ninjas?" He leans in to kiss her cheek, then take a swig of his drink. "Pirates," he explains after swallowing, "Are smelly. You think those guys bathe regularly?"

With that point left for consideration, he summons something like a smile for Gabby. "I'm here to help." It fades quickly, and he furrows his brows as he looks her over. Watches her twitchy hand for a moment or two. "Seriously though, you haven't been sleeping, have you? I'm all right. Like I said, I think they got what they wanted from me." His apartment burned to the ground; and more than that, the fact that deep down, he blames himself for it.

Rien D'Arqueness has posed:
Rien lifts a brow at Robbie and smiles, "Ninja are honorless cur that were kicked out of their own families for their despicable acts. Historically, speaking, that is. Think of them like... today's yakuza. Except sneakier, obviously." She returns the kiss to his cheek, then curls a hand into his hoodie and tugs him down onto the couch so she can lean back against him. "And pirates had one of the first societies that treated women as equals, to say nothing of their progressive form of government."

Tipping her head back, she grins briefly, "But yes, I imagine pirates were pretty smelly." Looking back to Gabby, she lifts a hand and wobbles it side to side, "I don't think they're demons. The one that came for me literally rewrote reality to make you all think that thing was me. It wasn't just like.. a mass hallucination, it literally rewrote reality. That's beyond the power level of any demon that I know of. Beyond most things, really. I think we'll know more once Jon returns and we can all sit down together." She smiles faintly, "He's been getting plenty of extra attention just to make up for having had to live with that thing." She reaches down to take Robbie's free hand, lacing her fingers through his and tugging the arm around herself.

Gabby Kinney has posed:
"I've been sleeping," Gabby assures with a grin as she moves to sit down as well allowing the couple to have a bit of space. She's on the same couch but not edging in on either of them. Close but seperate. Leaning forward she rests her elbows on her knees reaching up to wrap both hands around her Red Bull can. Even then her left hand twitches a moment. She curls her fingers carefully as if relearning how they work.

"It was only last night. I just didn't really *rest* during it," she explains pointedly while her eyes skim over to watch the couple with a smile.

"Good. I took care of him while you were gone," she assures Rien. Then she adds, a bit teasingly, "Made sure he was nice and comfy and safe in my bed." Of course she knew Rien would know nothing had gone on--it was mostly to tease Robbie with. Her head lifts again to take a sip only to find the can already emptied. It's tossed to join the other empties on the coffee table with a sigh.

Robbie Reyes has posed:
Robbie's expression shifts to one of comically exaggerated horror. She's not WRONG, of course, but who doesn't think ninjas are the coolest of the cool? Nine year old Robbie sure did, twenty-two year old Robbie is offended on his behalf.

He's tugged down onto the couch by his hoodie though, and makes a grumbly little sound in the process, like he's pretending to be irritated still about the ninjas thing. "Definitely not demons," he agrees. "Rider's sure of it." And while he and Eli don't agree on a lot of things, this is one area he tends to defer to him on.

Rien's pulled close with that arm she claims, and given a tight squeeze that banishes any notion of him *actually* being irritated. Though he does snort softly at Gabby's teasing, and knocks back another swig of his drink. "What happened to your hand?" he wants to know, maybe in the hopes it'll distract from the faint flush that's appeared under his freckles.

Rien D'Arqueness has posed:
Rien laughs softly even as she settles in against Robbie, leaning up to burh sa kiss to his jaw, "There's nothing wrong with liking ninjas." She sets her head on his shoulder and smiles softly, enjoying the cuddling. She gives a nod towards Gabby and offers, "Well, you're welcome to claim one of the rooms upstairs at the safehouse for a bit if you want. Might help you sleep a little better."

She nods to Robbie, "I'd agree, and you know I hate agreeing with that asshole." She looks back to Gabby, to her left hand, because of course she noticed. But it was Gabby's to tell when she was ready, or until Robbie asked.

TO Gabby, she chuckles, "If I didn't trust him implicitly, we'd have some pretty huge issues."

Gabby Kinney has posed:
Gabby Kinney glances down to her hand. The talk of the safe house is heard with a mute nod from her as she continues to stare at her hand a long moment. Still thirsty, she reaches for another of her drinks. Fingers scratch against the cardboard of the box before she finds and withdraws one to crack open. Beer did nothing. Red Bull did nothing. She may as well drink one she enjoys of the two if neither were going to do anything.

"Lost it in the war," she explains as if she were some old jaded soldier telling a tale. Her voice is... Different. Rougher. Tired. The nightmare had left her with a lot of memories and impressions of a world not her own but one where things were so very, very different. "One of the tubes malfunctioned. Never grew back. Had a spike put on instead so I could still fight against the ..." Here she falters a bit. The enemy wasn't something she could put a name to, not exactly, though she new they were constructed soldiers. A small 'hnn' comes to her while staring off into space holding her drink.

She almost looks and sounds like Logan right now. Other than not being a gruff old grizzley guy.

The thoughts are shaken off as she looks back to them forcing a smile while trying to get back to the 'here and now.' "They hurt me, even with the nanomachines. The hand is... Feels numb? Like I'm not sure why it's there half the time, even though it didn't actually happen to ME. Just. Else... where. When?" Her words trail off uncertainly.

Robbie Reyes has posed:
Robbie's expression becomes increasingly concerned as Gabby relays her fragmented account of what happened in the dream. The arm around Rien tightens a fraction-- as if, somehow, it reignites his fear of losing her to whatever's been tormenting the JLD.

"Hey." He bumps his beer bottle against her thigh lightly. "Think about Rien's offer, huh? You don't have to go it alone."