6547/Swallowing Pride, the Adult Response

Swallowing Pride, the Adult Response
Date of Scene:	13 June 2021
Location:	Nicolai Codona's Quarters
Synopsis:	Pride swallowed, truth admitted, sometimes it stuck being the leader... but at least, for now, Nicolai is staying.
Cast of Characters:	Raven Darkholme, Clarice Ferguson, Nicolai Codona

---

Raven Darkholme has posed:
It was a looong night.

Mystique spend most of the night going between pacing her room and punching things in her room, which is what lead to an early morning visit to the med-bay. After that it was her turn in the training room, door looked, beating the ever living shit out of multiple opponents over and over again. She would have done so earlier, but the room had been occupied.

As the afternoon hour rolled around, she made her way back to her room for a shower, let Clarice know she was heading to Nicolai's room to speak to him, then did just that.

Clarice Ferguson has posed:
    Clarice's night was not exactly untroubled, either - between the frustration over Nicolai's desire to leave the Brotherhood, and the discoveries of the day before. She split her time between sleeping, //trying// to sleep, and figuring out the details of her hunting trip with Mister Creed.
    Honestly, she thought she had the perfect prey.
    She was just finishing lunch when she got Mystique's message - and quickly discards her tray, to move towards the living quarters, meeting the shapeshifter in the hall. "Hey," she says simply by way of greeting, offering a small, brief smile.

Nicolai Codona has posed:
    For his part, Nicolai is pretty well rested. He got a good, solid five hours and that's all he needs typically. The time he spent in the training room last night was more to bring down his level of agitation than anything else. He also managed to get his mess of a room picked up. Now he's just waking up, or that is to say he's just getting out of the shower. If there's a knock, he'll answer the door in a towel. If the girls just walk in, well... they may get more than an eyeful of Nicolai.

Raven Darkholme has posed:
Mystique knocks. There is no way in hell she would ever walk into someone elses room, unless they were in there screaming for help, but that was entirely different. She knocks once, then rings the chime just in case he is actually unable to hear the knocking, but that's it.

Her expression is the same one that it always is, but the tired is in her eyes. There's no way to conceal when the body is exhausted and her's is.

Clarice Ferguson has posed:
    Clarice studies Mystique's features for a moment - a faint frown tugging at her lips, but she doesn't ask. Was it just the trouble with Nicolai? Or had something else exhausted the woman? She takes up a position beside her, managing to get a small, somewhat concerned smile back on her features as the chime is rung. After all - who knows what sort of mood Nicolai will be in today?

Nicolai Codona has posed:
    And there he is, in a towel when he opens the door. Nicolai's wounds from the other night are visible, not bandaged since he just got out of the shower. They look none the worse for his late night training session, likely because he had his midsection not just bandaged, but taped to keep the sutures from pulling badly.
    "Come in." He steps aside to allow the to do so and adds, "Let me get some pants."

Raven Darkholme has posed:
First a nod is offered to Nicolai, acceptance of his offer to enter, and then Mystique steps inside quietly. He can take all the time he wants to get dressed, tap dance, climb the walls, she's already worked out what she will say, how she will say it and how it won't change a damn thing.

Clarice Ferguson has posed:
    Clarice enters on Mystique's heel - perching herself once more on Nicolai's desk, as she had the night before. "Take your time, Nicolai," she calls after him, leaning back on her hands and falling quiet.
    The lack of mess was nice. Would things stay that way? She hopes so.

Nicolai Codona has posed:
    It really only takes him a minute or two. When Nicolai comes back out he's wearing a pair of silk - not that fake satin shit, real silk - lounge pants. That's it. He stands and points to the desk chair and the wooden chair in the room, "You wanna sit?" For his part, he's just leaning against the wall after the offer, arms crossed over his chest but casually, not defensively.

Raven Darkholme has posed:
Mystique shakes her head as she offers a quiet, "No, but thank you for the offer." She glances for a moment to Clarice, remembering her words and that expression last night. 'Fix this', it keeps repeating through her head, even though she's convinced, nothing will fix it.

"I will get right to the point," she begins. "Yesterday while you returning with an injury you didn't get checked, another younger mutant was returning, and did the same. Your failure lead to no harm no foul, no worse for not following the rules, his lead to him dying in his room." She takes a slow, deep breath. "The key difference here is that he was a idiotic child, and you are not. I was..." she pauses, seeking that word that always kills her inside. "... grieving, and angry when I came to talk to you, and I said things I shouldn't have said. For that, I am truly sorry."

Clarice Ferguson has posed:
    This is news to Clarice - and it shows in the surprised on her features. "Who died?" she asks, running over in her mind a list of the younger members of the Brotherhood, her fingers curling and nails dragging lightly over the surface of the desk, as if she's trying to grasp the smooth surface.
    Living a life like this - people die. It's just part of the reality. But did you ever really get used to that?

Nicolai Codona has posed:
    Nicolai takes in the news, lets it process and never outwardly shows a thing about how it makes him feel. That's unusual for him. "I accept your apology," he offers quietly and sincerely. "...but..." There's always a but isn't there. "If I'm to stay here, there are lines that can't be crossed. The first one... I don't need to be 'watched'. I don't need to have my every move reported back to someone."
    He uncrosses his arms and then pushes off the wall to snatch up the Gibson in the corner. Since the offer was refused, he settles down in the wooden chair and starts strumming idly over the guitar's strings. "Back home, we didn't have the Brotherhood or the X-Men. Mutants suffered in smaller numbers because the population is smaller, but their suffering was... is... great. Superstition added to the typical bigotry ... it's not a nice mix." He's going somewhere with this, honest. "... the main line of defense was me and Cristian's other charges. For whatever reason, I was the only one he adopted, but he trained many over the years. "I kept them all alive... save one, so I do know what it means to lose someone in that way. But I also know... that you can't lead without having the trust of your people and you can't gain their trust without trusting them." He pauses his words, but the soothing, soft music he's coaxing from that perfectly tuned instrument continues for a long few moments. Then, "I can't stay where I'm not trusted."

Raven Darkholme has posed:
Mystique offers to Clarice, "Mace." He was newish, about eighteen, a hot head who could turn his hands into club weapons or spiked clubs, of bone.

She looks back to Nicolai, "You think my concern is from a lack of trust? That's not the case. I trust you to do the best you can in any situation, to know your limitations and not exceed them for any reason, and to know when to retreat. I've seen you do all those things with my own eyes. This isn't about trust Nicolai, this is about being part of something larger than just you. You aren't alone, and being here means part of the Brotherhood, and being part of the Brotherhood means following certain rules and meeting certain expectations."

She looks over at Clarice now, as if the woman can some how give Mystique a way to explain this that won't piss Nicolai off, but there is no answer there. The cobalt mutant was tired, angry, grieving. "I'm afraid it comes down to this. Are you part of the Brotherhood or merely a guest of the Brotherhood?"

Clarice Ferguson has posed:
    "Damnit," Clarice mutters under her breath. What had that idiot been thinking? She reaches up with one hand to pinch the bridge of her nose for a moment, then lets her fall once more as she lets out a sigh.
    "It's like I was telling you last night, Nicolai. It all falls on Mystique's shoulders - one way or another. Even with me in charge of the patrols on Bushwick - if something goes badly wrong, if I put together the wrong team... if I get someone killed?" She hopes that never happens, but she knows it might, "It's still on her. She trusted me to run things. The rules, the few that we have, are for everyone. It has nothing to do with respect, or disrespect. Trust, or lack of it... It's just necessary. Or more of our people will die. And you accomplish more here with us - and we accomplish more with you to make us stronger."

Nicolai Codona has posed:
    "...and the rules include people watching?" Nicolai asks incredulously. He's still strumming the guitar though, he hasn't looked up from it. "Going to the infirmary, yes, I can do that. But I can't live somewhere that makes me feel like I'm on constant 'watch'. You either trust me to do right without having your..." He searches for the right words and struggles until he finally settles on, "...minions, report my every move to you or you don't..." Lord God, please don't ever ever ever let him figure out the camera thing! As to Brotherhood membership or Guest... seems they both depend on the solution to this Very Important to Him issue.

Raven Darkholme has posed:
Mystique sighs softly, "Yes, everyone watches everyone else, it's called 'having your back'. Sometimes they get a little over zealous and think they can score points by narking on someone breaking the rules, and other times new people get watched because they fail to follow the rules. In this case, no, I didn't and don't fully trust you because I don't know you. Clarice does," she gestures toward the woman. "And I trust her word about you, which is why after last night no one will be watching you for my sake. What they do on their own, I can't stop, but no one will be keeping a look out for you."

She casts her eyes toward the floor, trying very hard not to let Clarice's words effect her, but she's tired so the walls that usually form to block the revealing of emotions aren't as strong. Her body language is even different, there is grief and sadness and anger and frustration, if an empath was in the room their head would explode. "I can't promise you that the other's won't watch out for you Nicolai, because that is what we do, we look out for each other, but I can say that if they come to me about something they saw, I will speak to you first. Is that acceptable?"

Clarice Ferguson has posed:
    "I, for one, would definitely tell Mystique if I thought anyone here was putting themselves, or others of the Brotherhood, at serious risk," Clarice states simply, giving a shrug of her shoulders. "I'd rather have them mad at me than let someone get maimed, or killed." That's all she seems to have to say for the moment, as her gaze turns towards the unusually emotive Mystique. Sure - it's still relatively subtle. But for Mystique, it was tantamount to screaming. Or lapsing into sobs. ...it was a little disconcerting.

Nicolai Codona has posed:
    Nicolai hears Mystique's words and he's nodding, about to answer when Clarice speaks up. He feels the need to address that first. "I wasn't putsting anyone at risk, not even myself," he points out. "The *only* thing the people that ran to her over this managed to do is cause a bunch of shit over nothing. But... if I was to choose to do something that puts myself and only myself at risk, then isn't that *my* decision to make?"
    He looks up at Mystique, but his fingers still work those strings. Could be that's the only thing keeping him as totally chill as he seems to be. Dude is super big on free will it seems, even if free will means walking in front of a bus to see if it hurts or not. "I can accept that, or better you just tell them to mind their own damned business unless I'm going postal in the cafeteria with a semi-auto." Not that he'd likely even know how to fire one, but a point is a point.

Raven Darkholme has posed:
There is an actual soft, tired chuckle from Mystique. "No one minds their own business around here Nicolai, because we are much like a family and we look out for each other, while at the same time they are trying to jockey for better positions within the Brotherhood ranks." She glances to Clarice again, rather proud of the woman for speaking up like that, admitting the way it was and that she would still follow it.

Slowly her head turns back to Nicolai, "You can do with your time what you want to do Nicolai, endanger yourself and only yourself, if that is what you want to do, but you have to understand that if you are part of the Brotherhood, what you do is a representation /of/ the Brotherhood, but more than that, if you are injured while doing what you do by yourself, with only yourself, you leave the Brotherhood 'down a man' in plans, missions, assaults, patrols. Now, that doesn't mean you can't do it, you just need to be aware that that is part of the concern that lands on my shoulders, and the number one reason that going to the med-bay is required. So I know, hey Nicolai was doing his thing and got hurt, needs a couple days to recover, I won't plan for him to be available and will get someone else."

Clarice Ferguson has posed:
    "Well. Seeing as I neither blinked you onto a medical bed, nor reported on you to Mystique, myself..." Clarice gives a shrug of her shoulders. "But if I really thought you were endangering things, and I couldn't change your mind? My loyalty is to the Brotherhood, Nicolai. Not that I anticipate the need to act against your wishes as being a likely scenario." She lets Mystique answer the rest, one foot swinging as the other woman talks. She's restless. She wanted to be out on the hunt by now.

Nicolai Codona has posed:
    Maybe the bottom line is just that Nicolai is used to working mostly alone, or taking lead on things when he's not working alone? He's used to holding himself accountable and does so, but being accountable to someone else... it's just different. Without looking up from the guitar he says simply, "I'll see how it goes for now." It's really the best he can do.

Raven Darkholme has posed:
Although surprised, Mystique manages to conceal that and nods as she says, "Thank you."

Stepping away from the wall she was leaning against, she moves toward the door. "If there is anything else I can help you wish, let me know. I don't want to take any more of your time." A quick look to Clarice, "Just go already, I'm sure Victor is waiting."

Clarice Ferguson has posed:
    Clarice flashes Nicolai a broad smile, adding a simple, "Good."
    She pushes herself to her feet at Mystique's words, starting towards the door. "That's the plan," Clarice answers - raising her hand to toss an almost negligent wave back towards Nicolai.
    As they move out into the hall, she adds more quietly, "Mystique - a word?"

Nicolai Codona has posed:
    Still strumming because he's still having all kinds of mixed up feels about all of this and the music keeps him ... grounded. "No, I'm good. I need to go planetside later today though, looking at some properties." Nicolai looks up in time to barely catch that wave from Clarice and he just watches her leave.

Raven Darkholme has posed:
Mystique pauses for a moment to look to Nicolai, "Speak to Rhonda or Jose in the landing bay, they will get you a teleporter to go planet-side. They are the regular contacts for teleporters." She then looks to Clarice and follows her out of the room.

Clarice Ferguson has posed:
    The door slides closed, and after a glance to make sure the hallway is empty, Clarice fixes a concerned look on the other woman. "Do I need to order you to take a day off?" she asks.
    On what authority?

Raven Darkholme has posed:
The look that Clarice gets is a mixture of complete and utter amusement and surprise. Clarice couldn't make her do a single damn thing, but an imagine passes through her mind at that moment that actually makes her laugh, and not some little laugh either. She laughs hard enough that Nicolai might actually be able to hear it inside.

"Christ," she breaths, wiping her eyes. "I just pictured you blinking me into my room and every time I tried to walk out, you blinked me back inside, all the while praying I didn't figure out another way to get out and find you."

Reaching over, she lays her hand on Clarice's shoulder. "Thank you for your concern. As soon as I see to Mace's last rites and cremation, I am going to bed."

Clarice Ferguson has posed:
    There's a moment of puzzlement tinged with amusement as Mystique bursts into laughter - and she responds with a nod of understanding. "Alright," she agrees. "But I //could// do it, you know," she says confidentally.
    You know. Right up until Magneto decided to make her //stop// doing it.
    "Rather not have to. Anyways. Time to go kill somethings. But... I'm sorry about Mace, you know."

Raven Darkholme has posed:
Mystique catches her breath and the mention of Mace grounds her back into this reality, and not the one in her head. "He was stupid," she comments quietly. "Go hunt."

Clarice Ferguson has posed:
    "That's the plan. I think I've got the perfect prey," Clarice remarks - giving a nod and a small, sympathetic smile to Mystique. She turns to stride down the hall towards Victor Creed's door, rapping on it loudly once she reaches it.
    //This// was going to be //fun//. And very cathartic.