5991/Nightmare Nurse Meets Mania

Nightmare Nurse Meets Mania
Date of Scene:	20 April 2021
Location:	NYC food carts, and an alley
Synopsis:	Andi (and Mania) learn the demon they encountered last year is not the only one out there. Asa, or Nightmare Nurse, is quite different as well.
Cast of Characters:	Andi Benton, Asa

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Andi Benton has posed:
Nighttime in NYC, but one wouldn't know it from the hustle and bustle that goes on. There's a reason it's called 'The City That Never Sleeps.' There's always a place open for food, a shop that doesn't close, a club that remains open into the small hours of the morning, and not just for the weekend.

Andi's gone out for a bite to eat, crossing over to the city from home in quieter Happy Harbor, though the truth of it is it may be a good night for a little patrolling. Just have to make sure her 'friend' doesn't have too big an appetite, and this time around that means finishing off a couple giant burgers along with fries and a double chocolate milkshake. Chocolate always works on Mania. It is one constant.

Having finished all of that, she plants her back against the wall next to an alley a few blocks from a line of food carts. Blue eyes survey the area, a hand guiding purple hair away from an eye after a few strands tried to get caught up in a piercing. Idly, she rolls a tongue stud around, hands stuffed into the pockets of a leather jacket she may or may not have 'acquired' from some random street thug.

Asa has posed:
Nighttime in NYC is when many people would say, all the fun begins. It certainly is for Asa. She just got done having fun of all sorts at one of New York's many nightclubs and has decided that she feels a little peckish and knows from past experience that the food in this club really, really sucks. This finds her dressed to kill at one of the many food trucks scattered around the city.

She's currently wearing a nearly skin tight black strapless dress, whose hemline is short enough to be called scandalous. Lord knows how she dances in that thing. The black sequins make the material glisten in the light, as if the material was wet. Black heels compliment the dress, causing her calves to be more defined and her butt to be more perky. Oddly enough she doesn't seem to be carrying any kind of clutch or purse for cash or identification.

She takes a moment to consider her food options, and finally decides on gyros. She's always been a fan of gyros, back when she was introduced to it by an unfortunate suitor back in the 1900s. It may end up being a little messy, but that's nothing a little magic couldn't fix. She orders her sandwich, and when asked for payment she seems to produce some cash out of thin air, placing it on the counter of the food truck. "Are you a magician?" the owner asks in aw. Asa lets out a low chuckle, "Something like that." She turns and walks away from the food truck, putting a little hip in her walk to give the poor guy a show. If you're going to have a human body this young, you might as well show it off.

At first she passes by Andi, concentrating on her meal, but there's something about the girl that catches her attention. She's not entirely sure what it is but there's something /off/ about her. Not a sickness per se but something .... else. She turns and doubles back until she standing right in front of her and says, "You're interesting. Tell me about yourself."

Andi Benton has posed:
The direction Andi was looking in caused her to miss the woman getting her food, the one who'd been out clubbing. There are a few down the block, so people in all sorts of attire pass by. Some are overdressed. Some, underdressed. Then, there's Asa.

Already, Andi's attention pauses and shifts back in the woman's direction upon noting what she's in. For comparison, she's got some blacks and purples beneath the jacket, clearly not cut to fit, but definitely cut in places. As in, holes. Slashes. Tears. It's a long purple dress, styled in a punkish way, with a ratty, snagged black leotard beneath it, tucked into purple Chucks.

Then there's that woman right in front of her, asking a pointed question. "Uh, what? Where did that come from?" Tell the woman about herself? "You know how vague a question that is, lady?" There's a mix of surprise and an attempt at taking offense, but the former wins out as she straightens her back a bit.

Asa has posed:
Asa delicately plucks a slice of onion drenched in tzatziki sauce and, tilting her head up, very languidly puts it in her mouth, making a show of sucking the sauce off her fingers. Her grey eyes glitter in amusement to Andi's questions and she answers, "Well. There's something about you that's different." Before Andi can respond the Nurse shakes her head and gestures at the girl from head to foot. "No, not about your aesthetic, though it /is/ very punk chic. No. There's something else that people can't see that sets you apart from humanity." She smiles languidly, "And I wish to know what that is."

Andi Benton has posed:
Andi Benton's eyes narrow at this woman. Now there's a flash of curiosity, but also suspicion. Has she perhaps spotted Andi having a Mania moment in the past and recognized her somehow? That's the only thing that could possibly come to mind, so naturally it's what she tries to steer Asa away from.

While, naturally, raising an eyebrow at the display with the fingers, the way the woman seems to be showing off in her party dress. "Is it the hair? Yeah, I know. It's purple. I like the color." She attempts to sound blasé about it, which would be true enough. It's been that way for quite a while now. But, that wouldn't set her apart from humanity, and that's such an odd way of stating things.

So, she asks a question common of the more youthful people: "Why?"

//She is strange, Andi.//
<<Yeah, no shit. Do you think she knows?>>
//We have not shown ourselves to her. How would she?//
<<I have no idea.>>

There's a very quick internal back-and-forth that goes on, outwardly silent.

Asa has posed:
Asa scowls a bit at the obvious deflection, her gyro momentarily forgotten. Her tone grows serious. "I sense a parasite within you, feeding off your life energy. It's not earthly, yet it's not mystical, and you seem to be none the worse for wear of it." She cocks a hip out, placing a hand on it "I had hoped to have gotten a better handle on it during our little tête-à-tête, but its nature still eludes me."

She studies Andi for a few more moments and sighs, "Perhaps you are unaware of it but I find that unlikely. Come. Let's remove it before it ends up doing any kind of permanent damage."

Andi Benton has posed:
//We are not a--//

"--parasite?" Andi..laughs. She actually laughs, but in that moment there is a darkness that runs behind the whites of her eyes, momentarily turning them black before it passes. Even in the lack of light here, if Asa is paying close enough attention, it's tough to miss.

When the woman's hand goes to her hip, Andi's arms cross defiantly in front of her. "Lady, I don't know who you are or what you think you've seen, but there's nothing that's feeding on my..life energy, and there's definitely nothing that needs to be removed, so don't even think about it."

She's moving enough to create a little more space, while the voice inside her head grows concerned but also protective.

//How does she know about us, Andi? We will fight her! We will make her stop talking about separating us!//
<<Calm..calm down. I got this. She's not taking you away from me. I won't let her.>>

Aloud, she changes tactics, if slightly. "You want to know what's going on? Fine. You're right. There /is/..something, but it's not what you think. So get the idea out of your head that you're gonna do anything about it." The eyes do narrow, ever so noticeably.

Asa has posed:
"So explain it to me," Asa says impatiently. "I want to know what it is, in case there are more of it out there. If this is the beginning of a threat to humanity, which I am quite attached to, the Nightmare Nurse needs to know." At the sound of her name, she is surrounded by a hellish yellow/orange glow, and her outfit changes to that of her uniform. Asa is >< this close to sending this human asleep so she could remove whatever it is that's inside her but decides to give the girl one more chance.

Andi Benton has posed:
Andi Benton takes another step back at the glow, at the reveal that this woman is more than she seems. "What the hell are you, some sort of fetish nurse?" she blurts, upon getting a better look at the...costume? Nightmare Nurse?

Her expression twists toward something..annoyed. She really does not like being approached like this and essentially forced into revealing anything. "We will show you, but not where they can see," she says, gesturing at a few people on the sidewalk who have begun to look. 'We?'

She steps deeper into shadow, and in the process she allows the symbiote out. It comes from seemingly within her, flowing and wrapping around her with countless tendrils until the whole appearance is changed. Little evidence of a face, just pointed white eye spots. Black all over, except for a large white spider of some design at the torso, front and back. And, no small amount of spikes.

"You wanted an answer?" she asks, the voice now a mix of her own and something more feral, animalistic, alien. "We are a symbiote, a host relationship. A bond. You can call us Mania. We fight crime in this city. Spider-Man is our friend. Now back off. We don't want to have to hurt you."

Asa has posed:
Asa watches with more than a little curiosity as she's lead back into the alley and seems a bit surprised when Mania comes out. "A symbiote!?" She blinks a couple of times and then bursts out laughing at herself. "Oh thank the seven hells," she says, sounding relieved. "I've never come across one of you before, so you'll have to forgive my rudeness."

She takes a step back, "Let me introduce myself. I am the Nightmare Nurse, mystic medic from hell. I took an oath before Apollo and Panacea to cure those who were ill and heal those who were injured. You can see how your ... unique nature would come across to somebody who wasn't expecting it."

Still chuckling to herself she takes a bite of the gyro that's still in hand, managing to keep it from dripping onto herself. She spies a drip of sauce threatening to spill onto her dress and a tongue languidly snakes out and suggestively licks of off. "Mmm," she says. "I bet it must be nice to always have a warm friend on a cold night."

Andi Benton has posed:
Mania's eyes narrow with open suspicion, and with the lack of other features to give things away, the eyes are especially revealing along with any body language shown, which is still guarded, not trusting much at all. 'Hair' is spiky, but doesn't appear rigid. Forearms and shins sport spine-like spikes, and there's a similar belt that doesn't seem to serve a purpose other than being there. The body shape is lithe, nimble-looking.

"You have heard of symbiotes?" comes the question, one of those eyes enlarging while the other remains more narrowed, arms crossing again. The fingers certainly look clawed enough. "So..you're from hell and you're magic?" This is not high on the list of things Andi /or/ Mania expected to encounter on this night, though in hindsight it shouldn't be that shocking to be dealing with at some point. "We're serious about not separating us, though. We rely on each other."

The gyro, seemingly forgotten until the woman goes back to it, gets a glance before Mania is squinting again. Whether it's from the licking of the sauce or the observation is yet unclear. "We are..never alone," Mania states, sounding caught off-guard by the remark.

Asa has posed:
"Only by reputation," Asa admits. "I had heard that they started showing up on Earth, but never expected to see one up close." She smiles as Andi asks her questions and takes another bite of the gyro. Unfortunately, there's just no way to make eating one sexy, even though she does try.

"From hell, yes," Asa answers. "I'm a demon, and I am magic in every way." The lasciviousness of her voice is hard to miss. She raises a hand and orange and yellow sparklies follow in it's wake as she whispers, "Magic."

Back to business. "Unless you've been going on a murder spree which, if what you say about being friends with Spider-Man is true, is rather unlikely, or your symbiote is actively harming you, I have no reason to separate the two of you."

Andi Benton has posed:
Mania keeps those arms crossed. Inside, there is probably further conversation going on about how to handle this, but it's kept that way at this point. Venom has been seen in the news. So has Mania, for that matter. If one has been paying attention, figuring out there's something going on wasn't that difficult.

"You don't look like a demon," Mania remarks, and the eyes squint at the visual demonstration, like something a stage magician might do. "Impressive," symbiote and host state in a deadpan, calling into question the sincerity of the observation.

They're quick to add, "We do not kill." Let's just leave out the fact there have been a few close calls. The angle of her head tilts in the direction of the Nurse, perhaps a way of getting a closer look. "We have no plans of being separated, so that is good."

//Why is she trying to eat that like she's in a commercial meant to make your planet's males aroused?//

Rather than saying anything back internally, there's just a sudden cough and a clearing of the throat.

Asa has posed:
Asa rolls her shoulders in a languid shrug. "Exactly how many demons have you met?" she asks slyly. "Believe me. We come in all sorts of shapes and sizes." She bends over oh so slightly to take another bite of the gyro. "I just happen to like this shape," she says after swallowing. "And size."

When Mania points out their unwillingness to kill, Asa nods in agreement. "That's one thing we have in common, then."

Andi Benton has posed:
"We..actually have met one. He was much more.." Mania begins to explain, and a hand slips free to gesture as if trying to find the right word. "Feral," is what she settles on. "And he had three eyes. And he crawled around on his hands and feet more than he walked like you."

A considerable difference, in that case.

The way this demon is acting is not lost on Andi, even with Mania's not-so-helpful observation still in the center of her thoughts. "Are you..flirting with us?"

Asa has posed:
Asa lets out a disappointed sigh. "Yes. Most demons are like that, I suppose. There are a few of us who like the subtler approach but the rest are all, 'Rawr! Arg! I will consume your soul!'" She says this distastefully, as if it's the last thing on the earth she would like to do.

When asked if she's flirting, Asa cocks a hip out, "Why?" she asks, then lowers her voice to a husky tone, "Do you like it?"

Andi Benton has posed:
Mania guides that hand up to the side of her head, which she rubs slowly. It shows those hair spikes are, in fact, not rigid, just stiff enough to hold shape. "He wasn't exactly like that either, but..it was complicated. The Hellfire Club has a place for younger people. They call it Purgatory. We met there." Shoulders, which also show hints of spiky protrusions at the moment, shift in a shrug.

The gesture with the hip, the question, then the follow-up, leads to a surge in curiosity, mainly from the symbiote, who is quick to respond before Andi can think better of it. "Yes. We like it."

Asa has posed:
Asa slowly struts up to the pair, "Then don't complain." She seems to be aware of the effect that she's having on the Symbiote so she backs off, but only just a little. "Purgatory," she muses. "Aptly named then. I /am/ curious what a demon was doing at a..." she stops, her eyes narrowing when she remembers the summoning at NYU just a few days prior. Somebody has been giving out books about summoning to people who have no idea what they're getting into.

Her posture stiffens and her brow furrows. "Tell me about this demon. There may be more to this than you think."

Andi Benton has posed:
"Who was complaining?" Mania wonders.

<<Why did you say that? About the flirting?>>
//Because it is true, Andi.//
<<But...damn it, don't speak for me all the time!>>
//We do not, all the time. Only when you need us to.//

Outwardly, Asa will see Mania give herself a facepalm, rubbing over the eyes that don't seem to need to close in the process. "Yes, Purgatory. And he said his name was Levian. We only saw him a few times, and not for months now. We don't have more information for you about him, just that we think he was some kind of 'lesser' demon."

By now, this Nightmare Nurse has Andi quite confused as to how to handle things. Mania..is following more basic feelings.

Asa has posed:
An eyebrow lifts at Andi's facepalm. She can only guess at the inner monologue that's going on between them. "Levian?" she asks, making sure she heard the name right. She rubs her chin thoughtfully. "I haven't heard of him. Hm. If he's running around going to kids nightclubs, then odds are he wasn't summoned by one of the books." She pops the rest of the gyro into her mouth as she continue to muse about this.

"Well." she concludes. "There's nothing to be done about it, then. Battling hellspawn is /not/ in my job description." Now with that out of the way she can turn her full attention to Mania. "Now. Where were we? Ah yes. Flirting."

Asa slowly starts to walk around them taking in the pair. "So you were at Purgatory. How old are you, exactly?"

Andi Benton has posed:
"We have not seen him in months. He is probably long gone, or banished, or dead, or whatever else," Mania suggests, some hint of less interest in continuing the Levian side of the conversation, which is subsequently waved off with a hand.

All-white eyes track Asa's movements, sizing her up as Mania herself is. "Old enough to be there. We forget the age rules there. 18, 21, somewhere in there with an older guest allowed. They have a website." But they are not at Purgatory, or in it. Either/or. Hands come to rest at her hips. Certainly athletic enough. It'd practically be a requirement to run with Spider-Man. Or swing, with the webs. "We hear someone coming. Let's go somewhere else."

Asa has posed:
Asa doesn't question Mania's warning, and she gestures to herself, dismissing the nurse uniform and leaving her back in the black sequined dress. "Lead on."