5463/Afterlife: A stroll through the village

From Heroes Assemble MUSH
Jump to navigation Jump to search
Afterlife: A stroll through the village
Date of Scene: 06 March 2021
Location: Afterlife Settlement - Nepal
Synopsis: Elena goes for a walk with Mark and they talk about what their expectations, life, faith and how it's all a game of Poker.
Cast of Characters: Daisy Johnson, Elena Rodriguez




Daisy Johnson has posed:
Tension was visible on Daisy while they were making their way to the village, away from all the quinjets and SHIELD technology. It was like entering another world, a place of quiet, away from everything. There was little in the way of technology here, replaced by idyllic landscapes and silence. As they made way past the houses there was barely anyone visible in the streets.

"I wonder where everyone went out to hide.." Daisy comments, making way to the guest house. "This is where we have been last couple of days." about the house. "We can wait here until we are called."

It's a wait that doesn't take long, eventually the door opening and one of the men that had been near Jiaying when SHIELD arrived stepping in, now without his doctor's coat. He smiles faintly. "Your mother will see you now." a beat, "Just you." a look given to Elena.
Daisy does leave to meet with her mother, leaving Mark in the room. A moment of hesitation and then he asks. "You are one of us as well, aren't you?"

Elena Rodriguez has posed:
Elena has her hair tied back, loose jacket, cargo pants and her boots. Walking with Daisy showing her the quiet little reclusive home of the inhumans. "Reminds me of some of the jungle around home." Motioning around with a twirling finger, "Villages instead of big city. Quiet.." Not peaceful, though. She never specifically uses the word peaceful. Neither place is peaceful, but certainly not here.

Ever since they'd gotten here it has been on edge.

An ever present storm cloud hanging over Elena's head that things could continue to deteriorate to the point of overt aggression. So, she's been quiet. Staying close to camp, keeping her head down when not with Daisy..

Now standing outside the guest house with one eye squinting against the sun coming through a cusp of trees until Daisy is summoned away, leaving her alone with Mark. "Hm?" Glancing over, "Si, I am. This why I come to be with SHIELD." Pointing her pinky in the direction Daisy went to meet with her mother.

Daisy Johnson has posed:
The man is dressed in a loose flannel shirt, jeans, hair cut short and just the faintest traces of a beard wanting to crop up. Blue eyes do seem kind, yet who could tell considering what this place was all about? People with powers, hiding themselves from the world, trying to live quietly. Who could tell what lied underneath? Yet reports did say he was one of the few wishing for a peaceful resolution. A moderate vision so to say.

Mark's gaze follows Elena's finger when she points to where Daisy went to, "Ah..." a faint smile on his lips, "She is finding her purpose." whatever that means! But then he introduces himself. "I am Mark. I'm the doctor here." he says, extending a hand for a handshake. "I wish we could meet under different circumstances. But such is life.." a resigned sigh. "I have learned to accept things cannot go as we want all the time.."

He then finally asks, "Would you care to walk with me?"

Elena Rodriguez has posed:
Elena takes the offered hand, "Elena." Said with the hint of a smile, not yet subdued, but certainly welcome to see a look that's not scornful directed at her. She casts a glance after Daisy when it's mentioned that she's finding her purpose, but only briefly. "A doctor? Bueno, bueno.. Good that there is a doctor here, but that is the foundation of any community."

Like Mark, Elena's been vocal in wanting to find a peaceful solution to all of this, though it has been done out of view of the inhuman inhabitants of Afterlife. Perhaps the occational worried look cast when both of the two groups are together, but never speaking out against anything her higher ups are doing.

"Si, yes." Motioning for him to lead on, "Where do you come from, Mark? Do not look like you from this part of the world."

Daisy Johnson has posed:
The man turns to start leading them through the village at a slow pace, not appearing to be in a big hurry. Small villages, everything is done at it's own pace. And normally it's a slow one. "Our people need a doctor as much as any other. Or even more... Many do not really come to terms with their powers, or are able to control them at the start. I try to help in what I can." he says, "But it is getting harder." he admits. A brief look of sorrow crosses his gaze but at those last words from Elena he smiles again.

"Was it the blonde hair that gave me away?" he asks, somewhat good-naturedly. "But you are right, I am American. Used to be a doctor in New York until my change happened. Afterlife found me shortly after." he explains. "I have not been here ever since. I have tried returning to my former life but ..." he trails off before finally asking.

"Do you truly think SHIELD can help us? That we should be able to live out there with the rest of humanity?"

Elena Rodriguez has posed:
It's a sentiment that Elena understands completely, "Where I come from, there are not many doctors... at least there are not many who are not controlled by powerful men." Always looking around herself, something she's picked up over the years from various sources, but most notably May recently. Filing small details away, whether she wants to or not. It's becoming almost habitual. "Having a doctor means everything. Especially..." Well, she understands the way powers can manifest sometimes comes at great price.

Following Mark's rhetorical question, there's a short laugh. "It was first clue, yes." Teasing grin, picking through the brush with a wave of her hand. "Mm.. It would be bueno if it is only that simple. Return home, go back to what is comfortable and known." It's just not.

Not for them anyways.

Not for that question either. She scratches behind her right ear and squints, "SHIELD is like any organization or agency. You take the good with the bad... but the good outweighs the bad by a large margin." Dangerous that question. Elena hates deception, and almost never lies. "I absolutely agree that we should be able to live out there with the rest of humanity. That is why I am joined with SHIELD, to make sure that the world that I live in, in as much as I can make it so, is safe and protected."

Daisy Johnson has posed:
"South-american?" Mark says in ways of guessing, not that he can pinpoint the exact country, but the accent does give it away. He inclines his head in agreement, "But the world itself now appears controlled by powerful men. But you mistake my intention about wanting to return to America." he says, looking towards the mountains as if he was recalling something, "I thought I was going to make a difference for our people. I was not alone in my .., quest." a faint smile. "But I was the only one who made it back. We do have many enemies in the end, and powerful men are some of those." a faint frown following. "Like Hydra."

Looking about the village shows the small houses, quaint, the fields in the distance now not being tended to. A glimpse of someone watching from nearby can be seen though. That wolf-like man that was looking mightily aggressive to SHIELD before. He doesn't seem as aggressive now, simply just watching. And not even trying to hide himself that well.

Mark considers Elena's answer, "That is my hope too. That the good can outweigh the bad." but then a shake of his head. "I am just not convinced we will be able to live safely though. I have seen how mutants are treated. Bushwick, Genosha..." he runs his hand through his hair.

"We are not so different from them, or different at all."

Elena Rodriguez has posed:
"HYDRA is everyone's problem." Elena says with a sigh, rubbing at the back of her neck and nodding agreement in that same instance. Though she does offer a small smile at his accurate guess of her origins, "Columbia." Further pinpointing.. With a glance over at the hawk-eyed individual who watches them without really trying to hide the fact. She doesn't even blame him, this is his home. Why wouldn't he watch her?

"To be perfectly blunt, being treated like coolo is the natural order of this world. The blacks, the Jewish, the Native Americans.. Mexicans, Arabs.." She could literally go on forever, "If your goal is to be like the rest of the world, you are already well on your way.." There might be a bit of frustration, but it's certainly not directed at Mark.

"I want everyone to be treated //better//. Everyone. Mutants, Inhumans, minorities, different nationalities, races, sex's, genders, religions... I just want bad people to stop hurting good people for stupid reasons.. and the only way we do that is if the good people, at the very least, can agree to work together. Otherwise..." She maks a pfffffff sound, with flapping lips. "Might as well just poison the well and hope for the best."

Daisy Johnson has posed:
"You are very direct." Mark notes with a brief chuckle, "And idealistic perhaps." a nod given, the man then adding, "Somewhat like me, or like I was at least. But what can guarantee to us that this won't go the way it has in the past? I still want to believe but the state of the world makes it hard to. In here at least we have peace." he gesturing with his hand, "We don't mess with anyone, noone disturbs this place. We can simply live and let live."

He rounds his way around a pair of houses that gives way to the edge of the village, the high mountains full of snow visible through the trees. "But then I get to thinking about others like us, or like you who weren't found by Afterlife. You were able to adjust, but how many don't?"

Hands move to rest over his front, clasped together, "And we should be able to do more than we already are to help them."

Elena Rodriguez has posed:
"I don't think it's idealistic to try to make the best of a situation.. Even poker players do this. You get delt a hand of cards and you play that hand as best you can. Against better players, against cheats, against liars.. If you just hold your cards tight to your chest and fold out of the game everytime you think it is too hard to trust the cards you get, then you may as well just slide the whole pot over to people who are willing to. There is no wait and see in this world."

Elena shakes her had, rubbing her palms down the back of her legs. "It is beautiful here and I wish that the reality of things is that it remains this way, but that is never going to happen. It is impossible. SHIELD found Afterlife, how long until another group does? One with fewer intentions of trying to be peaceful?" She glances around at the vista of mountains with a long sigh, wish that the beauty of it would settle her mind.

"What you are all doing here is amazing. Helping inhumans come to understand their abilities, taking care of them, welcoming them, it is a wonderful thing. I wish the world were simple and the decision to hide away from everyone was an option, but it isn't. Pretending that it is assures that eventually, when some other group finds this place, and SHIELD has been pushed away because of a desire to be left alone, there is only these people here to contend with whatever threat comes."

"I am not idealistic. I'm a realist. If good people do nothing, bad people win. Period."

Daisy Johnson has posed:
"But it is idealistic to believe people will be able to work together without those conflicts arising. Still, I agree that staying put is not the way to handle things. Not that I am poker player, I couldn't bluff to save myself." Mark says in a soft manner, that last part added with a hint of amusement. Blue eyes turn to look at Elena again, "You are a good person. I see why you are with SHIELD now. Maybe you will be able to do what I couldn't." he says, nodding in a respectful manner to the woman.

"Yet if someone does try to take this place they will discover that we are not as defenseless as we seem to be. Afterlife is still playing, even if they may not show their hand completely." but he shrugs, not really going further into that.

"Lets go back. We should--" a small rumble is heard, some snow seen in the distance start stumbling down the mountain. "An avalanche.. They happen here sometimes."

Elena Rodriguez has posed:
"Nothing is easy or perfect." Elena isn't nieve, she's been fighting a war like this for years. Most of her adult life.. long before she was inhuman. But she still nods with Mark, wiping her cheek against her raised shoulder, "Me either. Not very good at lying, I never have been. Despite everything, I still believe in God." Pointing up, mostly symbolically. "Realistic, there's no rainbow and pot of gold, but if I do right by people for the best possible reasons..."

It guides her hands, without forcing them.

Smiling at the small compliment. "I try to keep them honest." It doesn't always work... but someone has to.

Then glancing off in the direction of the rumbling, "Are there people there? There is nobody in danger?"

Daisy Johnson has posed:
"What kind of world would this be if there wasn't faith left in it, mmm?" A darker place for sure. And the man's words implying he believes in God just the same. Mark smiles more openly at the Columbian woman before turning to look up at the mountain, "No, noone lives up there. Not for many miles around this place in fact. And the snows never reach the village." the mountain still being quite a ways away. "One gets used to these after living in here for a time." he says, "Like the city noise. It was quite the contrast when I left New York to live here, I couldn't bear all the silence until I got used to it. Ironic what we can get used to if we live it for a time, mmm? Or what feels alien to us."

The man starts leading them back towards the village itself again. As for the wolf man? That one appears to have disappeared from sight.

Elena Rodriguez has posed:
Elena lost sight of the Wolf Man some time back, but as soon as they start moving again she's hunting for him. Half expecting him to be standing right beside them in the brush, but not at the exclusion of returning Mark's grin. "I am still getting use to many things, if I am honest.. but we have to adapt. Staying static, especially in a world that doesn't, is dangerous. For ourselves and our loved ones." Most of whom, at least for Elena, are agents in SHIELD.

She glances over her shoulder again, frowning, but takes Mark at his word that none would be in harms way. Would be hard to convince people to stay if they had a village near the end of a mountain frequented by avalanche. "So, do they have any games they play here? Baseball? Futbol?"