4890/Afterlife: A Little Quiet Time

Afterlife: A Little Quiet Time
Date of Scene:	26 January 2021
Location:	Afterlife
Synopsis:	Matt and Daisy talk about her training with Jaiying and Daisy shares the Song of the Universe with him.
Cast of Characters:	Daisy Johnson, Matthew Murdock

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Daisy Johnson has posed:
Morning has been spent in training, first with Jiaying, then out on her own, learning more about the place, meeting other Inhumans before she went on her own to focus on what Jia said was the Song of the universe. Granted, there was quite the similarity to how she had learned with Matt, but at the time they were testing unknown waters, not exactly certain on what awaited them ahead. With Jia, she just seemed so sure on her powers, and what she could do.

She had come back to the house bearing gifts. Food, because she is the great Bringer of Food. But most of the meal she had spent quiet, perhaps gathering her thoughts, being sparse in her responses.. Yet eventually she had suggested that they go take a walk up around Afterlife, maybe a small trek near the mountain. Just the two of them.

So setting off down the road she eventually spoke up, "I spoke with my mother this morning.." she says. And by her tone, more than just about training.

Matthew Murdock has posed:
Matt gives Daisy her quiet to think, feeling some of the visceral signs of her mulling over her thoughts. When she suggests the walk he goes along willingly, cane in one hand the other offered to Daisy to hold. He nods at the news she brings, "And what did your mother have to say?" he asks.

Daisy Johnson has posed:
"Where to even start..." Daisy even chuckles a touch to herself, not exactly because of being amused but rather nervous. A lot of it had left her wondering.. But after taking in a breath she says, " ... she wants me to come live here with her." exhaling. "To leave SHIELD .., to join Afterlife." the hand on Matt's squeezing his gently. "She isn't the type to compromise, and I feel torn." she murmurs.

Gaze goes over to the beautiful mountains nearby, snow-peaked, a faint breeze going through the encampment while they make their way across a path who is currently not being walked by anyone, leaving them fully alone.

"She .., really doesn't like SHIELD."

Matthew Murdock has posed:
Matt can't see the beauty of Afterlife, but he can smell the snow on the mountain wind, can feel the peace and quiet in the few people he'd seen in the place and so can conjure an image of their surroundings, though for the moment his attention is on Daisy and Daisy alone. "I wondered if she would want you here," he says, it made sense, this was her people, her family, but then SHIELD was her family too. "And did she say why she didn't like SHIELD?"

Daisy Johnson has posed:
"Many reasons.." Daisy says, gaze returning to look at Matt, smiling faintly as she finds some solace in his warmth, head resting to his shoulder while they walk, "She thinks they believe themselves to be superiors to others, dictating what they should or should not do. That they meddle in what they don't undertand." a brief pause before she adds in a more grave tone, "She told me a story about SHIELD and a couple of inhumans .., one of them had an .., uncontrollable power. SHIELD got to them first and the only solution they had was kill them, instead of trying to control. She says here they find ways to contain powers, or help Inhumans use them.."

She is in silence for a small while longer before adding, "Like she is doing with me. Teaching me again." but then she shaking her head, "I know she isn't telling me everything though."

Matthew Murdock has posed:
Matt slips his arm around Daisy's shoulders as she leans against him, taking his own share of solace and warmth from her presence. "I admit it sounds like your mom and I have the same reservations about SHIELD as an agency, but maybe you can help her see like you did for me, why SHIELD has your love and trust, despite some of the things they've done,."

There's a nod about the powers. "How is that coming?" he asks her.

Daisy Johnson has posed:
"So it's official that we are on blind jokes this week?" Daisy says quietly, trying to perhaps inject a bit of humor to her stress when Matt says Daisy could have her mother 'see' like she had done with Matt, "But yes, she.. She has gone through a lot. And for some reason I feel she's the one I inherited my stubborness from. It didn't feel like I could budge her." she murmurs, "But with me being her daughter, maybe she just assumes she knows better. I am not sure." hand brushing up over her hair, "I am not too used about this mother daughter dynamic.."

"Still, I feel there is something wrong. She was talking .., as if they here in Afterlife were the ones that should decide who should or should not have the gift. There's just something ..., that doesn't compute. But I will try talking with her again soon."

The question about the training has her smiling. "That part is going great. There was so much I didn't know about what I can do, how I can access it. We thought the power was coming from inside me but .., that's not true. I am reaching out to what exists and simply playing it. It's a very different paradigm to what I was doing before."

Matthew Murdock has posed:
Smiling over at Daisy, Matt says, "Guess we are," of them being on blind jokes just now realizing his little verbal slip. Nodding he continues, "Well mother daughter dynamics are new one for me too, on both sides," he says with a little bit of a wry grin. "But the two of you are feeling your way through this relationship, she does seem very sure of herself and her views but maybe with enough time she'll see you're her daughter but not a child anymore and learn to trust your opinion."

Matt nods again about Daisy going to talk to Jaiying again "If there is anything I can do to help, let me know, though I suspect the less I say to her the better things will go."

Matt's expression becomes pleased at the word about her training. "Glad to hear it, what are you learning?"

Daisy Johnson has posed:
"You know you will have to talk with her sometime." Daisy says with a soft chuckle. "Meeting the parents, isn't it what normal couples do?" even if their relationship was anything but normal. Besides Boxer, their cat. That had been one of those more traditional choices in their relationship. And one she was loving. "But I know what you mean. I wish I had more time, but if SHIELD is coming here soon .." she shakes her head. "Maybe we should make an effort to discover however they communicate and call off anyone coming here."

"Or maybe I am just being selfish and wanting to spend more time with my mother before ..." She seemed a bit afraid of what would happen. Would Jia think she had betrayed her? She wasn't sure..

The talk about training has her feeling more happy though. "Let me show you.."

She takes a step aside from Matt, closing her eyes. Nothing happens at first, no sound out of the ordinary but then a note is heard, not inside her but all around the place, as if she was tuning in with their surroundings. "She calls it the song of the universe." she explains, "It's everywhere, not just inside me." the sound of the wind vibrating, shifting a gentle tune that only them are able to hear, "And with this, I don't have to strain my body as I was doing." but then she gasps as if pained, the sound on the wind disappearing, "I am still learning though.."

Matthew Murdock has posed:
"I've met your dad," Matt jokes. "That has to count for something. And I'll let her come to me, I think she's happiest when she feels like she's the one in control." His relationship with Daisy was indeed unconventional, but he enjoyed almost all of it. As for their 'child' Boxer, he had the good sense to call Claire about coming up and feeding him before he and Daisy had gone to meet Bobbi. "We definitely need to find out how they communicate, it gives us options," he agrees

As for Daisy's powers he nods, "So less pushing out from yourself and more?" he considers "Playing with the song of the universe?" he asks, flinching as she hurts herself.

Daisy Johnson has posed:
"I think we had done something similar when we were training, when were tuning ourselves to the surroundings, listening... But then instead of *pushing* out of myself I just use what's around us, I tune myself to it's resonance and have it sing as I want. It's not .., something I can explain too well yet, a lot of it is instinctive too. But .., seems to be working." And for Daisy that seemed to be what mattered. She rubs quietly at her wrists, apparently some issues still with trying to push out of herself to correct. But there had been quite the advancement considering she couldn't even use her powers a while back.

But then she beams a wide smile. She almost forgot! So she shares with Matt. "We will have to change my birthday arrangements too. Jiaying told me my .., real birthday." she says, "The nuns didn't know so they most likely put me on a random date. It's July second. She told me a bit about that day, how Cal went around the village looking for help without knowing a word of mandarin." she grins a bit at that thought.

Matthew Murdock has posed:
Matt nods thinking over what Daisy was saying about her powers. "Makes sense, it's like certain throws in martial arts where you work with the enemy's energy and re-direct them instead of going force on force."

"This song though, think you could tune into you right now and let it resonate? I'd love to hear what you hear," he says speaking of the way they had shared her other vibrations.

"Wait, what?" Matt says about Daisy's birthday before he grins, "July second, well think you can wait an extra couple of months for gifts and cake?" he teases. "And I could definitely see Cal doing that. So glad you're getting to learn this stuff, Daisy."

Daisy Johnson has posed:
Daisy purses her lips as Matt speaks about her waiting a couple of months for gifts, "Mmm, good idea. I like where your mind is at.." she says, "Keep it quiet so as to celebrate it in May and *then* announce it's on July second." because cake and gifts? Daisy doesn't mind those! She grins, bringing one hand to rest on Matt's shoulder, "I am glad you are here and I can share it with you, Matt." she leaning up to place a kiss on the man's cheek.

The request to resonate is met with a thoughtful look but she nods her head. "I will try." she taking a step further back and bringing her hands behind her back so as to keep them still and not be tempted to try and force it.

She takes in a deep breath, unmoving for a few until she finally lifts her head, tuning herself to what is around them, to the way the wind feels and the earth rests, how the water ripples.. She takes it in, listening instead of forcing anything and gently having it resonate within her own self, body brimming with the song.

Matthew Murdock has posed:
"Sounds like a solid scam," Matt grins about Daisy getting two birthdays. "And if they both go how yours went last year, I don't think I'd mind celebrating twice," he says with a grin returning that kiss on the cheek with one brushed against Daisy's lips. "Glad I'm here to share it too," he says then with a warm smile and a squeeze of her hand.

Moving his hand from Daisy's to rest it on her shoulder, Matt clears his mind and lets his senses bring him the song as he could hear it through Daisy. Slowly he smiles as it fills his senses. "Daisy, this is amazing," he says remembering their time on the rooftop and letting the city in, it was similar to that but the song Daisy was tuned into now was deeper and far more powerful.

Daisy Johnson has posed:
The sounds that now go through her sound simpler, not with the complexity of what Daisy's feelings can usually bring up. Instead it touches those simple things, the elements themselves, those simple sounds which many usually discard as something banal but have an hidden beauty beneath. She lets it all go about her, she not manipulating it in any way and just letting it flow, free and unhindered..

"This brings me hope that I will be able to recover my powers.." she whispers quietly while continuing to resonate.. One hand is brought from her back and she points towards a tree, the resonating life within joining in the 'conversation' with the rest of the song that is going in.

"It's mostly like ..., finding and discovering all the separate instruments in an orchestra and making sense of their music." she eventually comes to a stop though, letting out a low breath, some sweat falling down her brow. "It still tires me but..., with enough time.."

Matthew Murdock has posed:
Matt listens, eyes slipping closed by reflex more than need, the song filling his head as his brain tries to make sense of it all. "It's beautiful Daisy," he tells her. "And what you're talking about, not trying to force things, it sounds a lot like what I do with my powers, the trick is letting it in more than anything." He smiles "I'm glad," he says of her powers. "It sounds like they were never gone you just needed to learn a new way to use them, a safer one."

Daisy Johnson has posed:
"That's how I feel too. I needed this to truly discover on how to use my powers." Daisy lets her arms rest to her sides and re-opens her eyes, stepping closer towards Matthew, the breeze of her passage felt while arms go around her man, "Now .., lets enjoy some of this mountain air, take a walk, enjoy the sights." an amused little grin in her voice. "We will tell Bobbi we were hard at work."

Which in a way they would be, discovering more about Afterlife, maybe even coming across other people that lived here. They'd just do it in a very ..., vacation setting.

Not all missions need to be in harsh environments!

Matthew Murdock has posed:
Matt smiles warmly as Daisy puts her arms around him, "Thanks for sharing that Daisy, and I'm glad your mom was able to help you find this part of your powers," he says before he kisses her softly on the lips and bumps his nose to hers as he pulls away.

"Sounds like a plan," he says of the walk, stepping away enough he can turn and put his arm over her shoulders again. "And Daisy, I'm going to do everything I can to help your mom and your people, you know that right?" he says, the song he'd heard giving him an even better picture of the beauty of this place both inside and out.