5076/An Unusual Houseguest

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An Unusual Houseguest
Date of Scene: 08 February 2021
Location: Strix's safehouse apartment
Synopsis: Later that night after Strix takes Irina home, they get to some talking. Strix learns some very disturbing things about the raccoon girl, and vows to free her of her masters.
Cast of Characters: Strix, Irina-As17




Strix has posed:
It's been a few hours since Strix came creeping home with a large racoon woman tucked under her arm. She isn't sure what kind of security devices Batman had placed on the apartment, but she disabled the ones on the window so she could sneak out without freaking anybody out. Now that she snuck back in, she reactivated the security measures just in case the Court came looking for her, or whoever might be looking for Irina.

Strix had placed Irina carefully on the couch. She had injured the raccoon greatly, and for the first time, felt a little guilty about it. She looked at the sleeping form and decided to go and get a blanket out from the too soft bed in the bedroom, and laid it out over the unconscious form.

Currently she's sitting on the coffee table, watching Irina sleep. She's got a huge bowl of cereal and a gigantic spoon that she's eating off of. She has no idea how to cook for herself, so cereal is one of the few things she can make.

Irina-As17 has posed:
Irina-AS17 sleeps soundly, she makes faint raccoonish chittering noises from time to time, instead of snoring. She twitches a bit occasionally too, and her body heats up massively, it's like having a fever. In her case it was quite safe though, as her body temperature was much higher than a human's at base. It was getting rid of all the possible infections quite handily and closing the wounds at a speed that was, well, extremely slow for super standards, but ridiculously fast for humans. Still it would be about a week before the cuts were mostly healed.

Slowly she opens her eyes, seeing the bowl and the cereal and also Strix. She didn't even know cooking as a concept, so they were quite similar in that regard. She slowly blinks but avoids moving. "Uhhhh, where's this?" She asks looking around.

Strix has posed:
Strix is out of her costume, and instead is in a t-shirt and a pair of overalls. Her head is wrapped haphazardly in gauze, hiding most of the scars that mar her brown skin, and black, curly hair poke out here and there.

When she sees that Irina awakens, she puts the bowl down beside her and waves jauntily, smiling to see that the raccoon is going to live. She reaches down to the other side of her and picks up a notepad and a marker, and scribbles a note.

YOU ARE
IN MY HOME

She holds up the notepad for Irina to read. The letters are big and blocky, like what a third grader would produce.

Irina-As17 has posed:
Irina-AS17 frowns a bit, this was a strange situation, she expected to have been left over at the rooftop since the woman had no reason to care for her. She starts carefully removing her shredded armor, revealing a tight black jumpsuit beneath. She sets her chest piece next to herself and her helmet atop of it. "Thank you for taking me to shelter." She says very nervously, twitching a bit, she was not used to social situations at all. "Uh. I'm not sure how to proceed. I don't think I can return to my home yet. You are a very capable fighter, though."

Strix has posed:
Strix bobs her head in acknowledgement of her skills. She picks up the cereal and picks up shoveling it into her mouth before it gets all soggy. Her head tilts quizzically when Irina mentions she can't go home yet. Why not?

Irina-As17 has posed:
Irina-AS17 shifts a bit more. "Well my wounds would make the trip quite difficult, but I'm not due to return for a few weeks more. I just physically can't." She replies with a low, upset chitter. She was sure the doctors she had at home would fix her up in no time. It wasn't entirely right but it would definitely help. She shifts to a sitting position and feels her wounded areas, checking how they were doing. "Why do you write your speech?"

Strix has posed:
Strix nods in understanding. She too had been sent out on missions and would have been disgraced if she had to return back to the roost early. She gulps down another spoonful of cereal, lifts her chin, and taps her throat. With a shake of her head, the meaning is clear. She can't speak.

Irina-As17 has posed:
Irina-AS17 tilts her head, she had never met a mute person before. She knew not of a lot of things of the world. Like how money worked, or why cars sometimes stopped and sometimes moved to let people pass. "Huh, that is strange." She extends a hand to try and feel Strix's throat as well, to see if there was something wrong with it. It was particularly weird to her because of her mutation, resetting her genetic code to get rid of any imperfections, unless blocked like right now. She tries to feels for a wound or scar.

Strix has posed:
Oh there are scars. There are *lots* of scars that visibly criss cross the skin of the assassin, despite Strix's childish way of trying to hide them. She shies away from Irina's touch, though, scowling. She sets the bowl down and picks up the pad of paper.

PLEEZ
DON'T
TOUCH

she scribbles out.

Irina-As17 has posed:
Irina-AS17 nods once and retrieves her hand, she too, was shy, she was incredibly nervous, visibly so, in this right moment. She takes out a nutrition protein bar from her pack on her armor and starts nibbling on it, offering one to Strix as well. She then tries to get up with a wobbly movement but, with the blood still not being properly recovered, she ends up just flopping sideways with a loud chitter.

Strix has posed:
Strix sets the bowl aside and curiously takes the offered protein bar. She sniffs it carefully before taking a bite out of it, finding that they're not unlike some of the nutrition bars the Court gives the Talons instead of real food. It probably tastes a lot better than that though, so Strix chows down on it.

When Irina flops over, Strix stands in concern, and leans down to right the poor raccoon. She retrieves the pad and marker and jots down:

WHAT IS
UR NAME?

Irina-As17 has posed:
Irina-AS17 frowns, looking horribly, deeply troubled by this question. She waits before answering. "Alpha, you can call me that." She replies, it was nice and simple, and was what she had more or less been instructed. Actually she had been instructed not to talk to people at all, but interaction of this level was something she had hardly had before and was just irresistible to her. "Are you a hero or a villain?" She asks then, her tone changing instantly, from nervous and unsure to almost professional and harsh.

Strix has posed:
Strix nods accepting the name without question. Irina's question, however, takes her by surprise. Her face screws in as she thinks about this. It's not something she ever considered before and, now that she's considering it she supposes there's really only one way to answer:

VILLAN?

After all, up until recently her entire life has revolved around murdering people.

Irina-As17 has posed:
Irina-AS17 takes a deep, very intense breath, suddenly pushing herself off to her feet with a surprising burst of determination. Her face becomes hard, cold, her demeanor is almost robotic, almost as if she had been programmed for this. She heaves a bit, trying to ignore the searing pain, and points out towards Strix. "'O villain, you, the scourge of society, shall be cleansed today by my hand. No longer shall the innocent suffer your sins." Unlike the nervous, nearly panicky tone she had been using so far, it now sounded unshakably firm and determined, also very intense.

However, in the depths of her mind she was very confused. Based on what she had been told none of this should have happened. Why did the villain even care for her. Why were they having that kind of tender conversation before? It made her brain hesitate, but her body was moving, it was hard to resist the programmed impulses. She speeds up towards Strix and takes a swing, promptly passing out and falling forwards again. The wound on her left arm reopens and trickles blood onto the floor.

Strix has posed:
Strix just blinks in confusion. She's hasn't heard anybody speak like that in /ages/... not since the fifties at least. When Irina takes a swing at her she leans back out of the way, without doing any real kind of martial arts, and watches as she passes out.

She takes another spoonful of the cereal, and makes the face. The soggies have finally arrived. She carries the bowl over to the sink and dumps out the rest of the cereal before heading back to the living room. She picks up the unconscious raccoon and carefully puts her back on the couch, covering her again with the blanket.

Irina-As17 has posed:
Irina-AS17 awoke a few minutes later, looking around. Her head was very confused, did she lose? What was she even doing? Strix had now taken a mixture of friend and enemy in her head that was very polarized and split in the same way her personality and brainwashing was. She sits up and rubs her temples painfully. "Ughhh. Are you sure you're a villain. Actually I think I'm qualified enough to say you are not."

Strix has posed:
Strix has been waiting patiently to see if Irina would wake up, once again taking up position on the coffee table. When asked if she's sure she's a villain, her response is to shrug, unknowingly. This isn't something she ever really defined herself as. When Irina concludes that she's not, she grins, pleased. Nobody likes to think of themselves as the villain.

Irina-As17 has posed:
Irina-AS17 seems satisfied with the reaction, confirming her thoughts. "Very well, you are most certainly not a villain. You match none of the things that are required for villany." This is why she was told not to talk to people. There will be consequences in the future, most likely. "Um, so, you must be a hero then. Not that I think too highly of them, but now that means I don't have to kill you!" She says with a very excited chittering at the end.

Strix has posed:
Strix isn't entirely sure what things are required for villainy. She thought murdering people for a living would have been one of them, but Irina certainly seems to be the expert on this so she's content to let the point stand.

When Irina announces that she's a hero, however, she looks doubtful. But this /does/ mean that Irina won't try to kill her, which causes her to grin, and clap her hands. Hooray! No killing today!

Irina-As17 has posed:
Irina-AS17 smiled a Strix, perhaps this could be a new friend. Her last friend turned out to be really helpful, but also really messed with her directives and what her view was of the world. She gives the woman a thankful nod. "So, what do you do? I saw you were checking out that loud group before. That must mean you were gonna target them, right? I'm not supposed to kill off the small thugs but it's difficult not to sometimes.

Strix has posed:
Strix shrugs. She picks up the notepad, and scribbles out:

WATCHING

Which is pretty much all she was doing. She didn't seem all that interested in what the thugs were doing, one way or the other, but sometimes real life is more entertaining than television.

Irina-As17 has posed:
Irina-AS17 tilts her head at Strix, pondering. "Hmm, you are a strange one. You don't really fit any of the descriptions I've been given. Maybe you're more like me, sort of detached from the usual hero-villain world." She stares at her for a bit before smiling. "I kind of want to bring you back with me but that is very forbidden. Well, you'd have to be compatible anyways. Not sure if you are. It's rare from what I heard. But I think you'd fit in well." She was in inner conflict, but she was trained to not break certain orders under any circumstances.

Strix has posed:
Strix bobs her head up and down, and points to Irina when she manages to suss out that Strix really doesn't fit in the hero/villain dichotomy. Her head tilts, however at the mention of being taken home and being 'compatible,' whatever that really means. She very hesitatingly goes to scribble something down in her notepad, struggling with the spelling.

COMPATABEL?

Irina-As17 has posed:
Irina-AS17 goes into a state of deep thought, pondering so hard it clouds her entire face with intense concentration. She stays like that for roughly 20 minutes. It's how much time it takes for her to try and come up with a way to explain that wouldn't compromise her. "Uh. The people I work with. They take some people who are special. Compatible with uh, some stuff they do. So you'd have to be one."

Strix has posed:
Strix must have the patience of a saint because she sits there, silent, for the entire time Irina is thinking about her reply. Once she gets it she nods, accepting this answer for what it is. She has another question, though.

WHO?

Who are the people that Irina works with? Making a strange raccoon person go out and fight for them sounds an awful like what the Court did to her.

Irina-As17 has posed:
Irina-AS17 gets incredibly serious. That was the big nono. The one and absolute most incredibly forbidden secret. Do not under any circumstances reveal the organization. She shakes her head, relaxing after a while and letting out a deep sigh. "Can't say. It's dangerous for them. Lots of people want their technology. We are working to save the world after all." She says with several nods. "It's okay, they're all wonderful." She adds with a beaming smile.

Strix has posed:
Strix looks doubtful about them being all wonderful. She knows a thing or two about secret organizations and 'wonderful' generally isn't a word that's associated with them. She purses her lips together as she studies the raccoon across from her. Turning to the notepad she scribbles out:

WHAT NOW?

Having a roommate is fun and all, but sooner or later these people are going to come looking for her.

Irina-As17 has posed:
Irina-AS17 shrugs, dragging herself to a more comfortable position. "I'll wait here for a few days until I'm good enough to move back and then continue my mission. Probably won't fight for a week or two, though. Then eventually I'll move on with it. THere are yet so many people I've got to test myself against, I have to work really hard to get this accomplished. So don't worry, I won't bother you for long."

Strix has posed:
Strix looks thoughtful. There's been something that's been bugging her about this mission thing. She takes her notebook and starts flipping through the pages she's already wrote on until she finds the one she's looking for.

WHY?

It's a big question, though perhaps a little vague. Why fight? When she was sent out to fight, it was for a purpose. Sending somebody out to fight just to fight just seems off to her.

Irina-As17 has posed:
Irina-AS17 nodded, she was allowed to reply to this one if it meant it would get her the fight encounter more easily, many would simply avoid her entirely if not urged on. She holds up a finger. "To push myself. When you fight your body goes into stress, it makes all your cells understand the danger and the need for combat. When you elevate that stress to the maximum level you get the best response from your cells, life or death situations are what cause the best evolution. Through those means I will grow my powers and determine what my maximum limit truly is." She replies, but does so in a way that is clearly memorized word for word, repeated over and over again, she even changes the way she talks.

Strix has posed:
Strix scowls doubtfully, and looks a little frustrated. Yes, she understands this but...

WHY?

She taps the word, holding it aloft again. She doesn't seem very satisfied with the answer given to her. Her own training didn't constantly put her in life or death situations. She became one of the circus' best acrobats without doing that kind of thing, and the only reason why they didn't let her perform was because of her scars. And all of this was /before/ she was made a Talon.

Irina-As17 has posed:
Irina-AS17 frowns, she didn't quite understand the question. "I told you, this is to save the world. We are on a very important mission that will change how everything works, and rid the world of villany." Or so she had been told, over and over. It was not quite the case. "I am the most special and important one, because I will set the limit and open the way for others" She lets that one slip accidentally actually. She looks firmly at Strix, hoping that this would satisfy her.

Strix has posed:
Rid the world of villainy? Strix may be naive in many ways, but she knows that the world is hardly the black and white that Irina is making it out to be. She gives Irina an incredulous look, which only deepens when it's declared that Irina is the 'most special and important one'. And what is this whole thing about testing the limits? There's just so much of this that doesn't add up, Strix doesn't even know where to begin.

She stares at her notepad blankly, trying to figure what to write. Only so much can fit on a page of notebook paper. Eventually, she settles with:

I KILL
PEEPOLE

and then flips to a previously used page, and adds to the top of it

AM I
VILLAIN?

At the very least she wants to make sure she knows where she stands with this organization of Irina's.

Irina-As17 has posed:
Irina-AS17 still smiling, shook her head, she then stares up into the woman's eyes. She goes to plant a hand on her shoulder, something she had seen people do as a comforting gesture, but stops when she remembers the request not be touched. "No no. It's not like that at all. It depends on what you are killing for. I kill people too, well, I would, I haven't been able to yet. If it's for good and justice, then there's no issue. It's a necessary thing, and the only way to truly rid the world of villany."

SHe says with her almost robotized tone again, repeating the words that had been repeated to her so many times. "Even if you've killed someone in the past for selfish reasons, as long as you give up your past and start following the road of good, all is forgiven."

Strix has posed:
Strix is kinda getting weirded out about these robo-Irina outbursts, and it shows. There's not much out there that can unsettle the Talon, but they... whoever 'they' are... have clearly messed with the mind of this raccoon person, and that just doesn't sit well with her. Irina's idealism and stature reminds her too much of a child's and the one thing that Strix just does not stand for is people harming children.

She studies Irina for a few minutes before nodding to herself. She picks up the notepad again.

I WILL
HELP U

she writes, though what Strix means is that she'll help Irina get away from her masters. She takes up one of Irina's paws in both of her hands, and pulls it close to her chest in a solemn vow.

Irina-As17 has posed:
Irina-AS17 is visibly absolutely shattered by this gesture. She's rarely ever had human contact that wasn't medical or training. That is where much of her social issues come from. She sniffles, moved deeply by this, and clutches very tightly against Strix's own hands. THe last thing she expected to find going in her missions was someone willing to help. But that was the least of it

She beams, nodding a few times, trying to keep some tears away. "TH-thank you I uuh, uhm, yeah. I didn't...I don't." She didn't know how to react. "I've heard hugging is a way of showing appreciation, if, um if you're okay with it?"

Strix has posed:
Strix nods, letting go of Irina's hands and opens her arms wide for a hug. She's knows what it's like to go without positive physical contact for a very long time, and it's something that she's healing from herself.

Irina-As17 has posed:
Irina-AS17 smacks Strix's back with her arms with the speed of the hug. She then cries out in pain, remembering her own wounds, all of which bleed onto Strix due to the force she's hugged with. She squeezes the owl for a few more bloody moments before letting go and grimacing from the pain. "Iahgh- I should not have done that."

Strix has posed:
Strix whoomphs, not quite expecting such a high impact hug. She wraps her own arms around Irina for a big hug of her own, and when they part, she gives her a big grin and a pat on the head. She doesn't seem too phased by the blood, though. Still, it's something that needs to be attended too.

Once the hug is over, she gets up and moves to the bathroom, where a rather sizable first aid kit is being held under the sink. She brings it back to the living room with her and pops it open, staring at the contents. She has absolutely no idea how to perform first aid. Never needed it for herself with her healing factor and her profession usually ended up with the people that she meets being dead.

Still. She has to do /something/ so she brings out a big roll of gauze, and starts wrapping up Irina's wounds as best she can, silently fussing over the raccoon.

Irina-As17 has posed:
Irina-AS17 had never tended to herself either with a bunch of doctors available and scientists. She had seen it done many times though and so she instructs Strix to the best of her ability, managing a decently packed and tied gauze wrapping. She does so for each of her limbs and tears open the midsection of her jumpsuit to get to the torso slashes

At that point Strix can see an enormous number of tiny scars. They look like incisions, cuts made on purpose to extract material or inspect things. Except they run her entire torso and suggest up her arms and other spots too. Once the wounds are done she smiles and nods firmly. "Thank you. This will speed things up."

Strix has posed:
Strix listens to Irina's instructions, carefully following them to bandage her up. When she comes across the scars that aren't from fights, her fingers lightly trace them and a scowl darkens her face. Somebody is going to pay for this. There /will/ be blood.