7031/Touch Base, Touch

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Touch Base, Touch
Date of Scene: 22 July 2021
Location: Upstate New York
Synopsis: A quick teleport to a rural town finds Clarice in the company of the wandering Rahne Sinclair. Not a lot happens, but to them it was the world.
Cast of Characters: Rahne Sinclair, Clarice Ferguson




Rahne Sinclair has posed:
Rahne 'Sinner' Sinclair sits by the clock tower in some smallish city, sipping on a glass of water. She sighs, she waits. She checked in at the school and was told to stay put. Which honestly almost had the complete opposite effect, but she's still kind of willing to hang tight. Especially since it was Clarice who sent the message.

She's gotten a few odd looks, but she isn't that strange a sight. The fact that she's only having water is likely a bigger tag than anything she might wear, or the hair.

Clarice Ferguson has posed:
    A short distance from the arranged meeting place, a white colored portal opens, and Clarice steps through - making a face at the jarring and nausiating sensation caused by using this particular portal. Ugh. She wants her own abilities back so badly... She looks around, her bright, magenta-colored skin tone quickly earning the attention of many of the local residents as she makes her way towards the clock tower - offering a small smile to anyone who happens to make eye contact her. No one seems openly hostile - though more than a few of the faces seem wary of her unusual appearance.
    Great. This is why things were better in Genosha, and Bushwick, where no one's bothered by her appearance. But it's fine - at least no one's trying to punch her, or shoot her.

Rahne Sinclair has posed:
There are definitely people in the town, enough to block Clarice's vision a bit. Blonde lady, basketball team, mom an her kids. A businessman type walks into her path, looking a bit surprised by her appearance, but when he's gone she would spot the short red hair that signifies so well.

The little lady is already looking Clarice's direction. Little cheater is probably sniifing the air. She has a half-smile on her face as she watches Clarice's arrival, and seems to sigh. Then she starts to walk, to join her purple friend.

"Ye dinnae walk, did ye?" Silly question, but she's talking at least.

Clarice Ferguson has posed:
    "I mean - just from a few blocks that way," Clarice answers, gesturing back the way she came. "But - no. I didn't walk from the Asteroid." There's a friendly, teasing note in her voice on that comment. Though really - there's almost certainly a mutant power that could make such a feat reasonably feasible. She shoves her hands into the pockets of her jeans before adding, "This little town is, uhhh... quaint. Where should we go, though? To, umm... talk?"

Rahne Sinclair has posed:
Rahne offers a hand, linking arms with Clarice if she'd be allowed to do so. "Not a clue," she says happily. "Innit grand? Ah hae nae t'ken th' place yet, an feels pure wonderful." Still, she guides toward a side street where there's less traffic.

When she finds a tree to sit under, she leans in to nuzzle at Clarice's shoulder a bit. Then she frowns. "Ye smell off." Only she'd notice that quickly.

Clarice Ferguson has posed:
    Clarice allows the woman to take her arm, and walks alongside her in silence for a while. It's something she doesn't understand - striking out like this, completely on her own, and so vulnerable to whatever fate may befall her with no one to watch her back? But then - Rahne isn't //purple//.
    She sits under the tree, wraping her arms around her legs - stiffening a little as the smaller girl nuzzles into her. The comment draws an uncertain and puzzled look from her. "What do you mean, I smell 'off'?" she asks.

Rahne Sinclair has posed:
Rahne semi-kneels, allowing her bottom to be on the ground and her right shoulder against the tree, then looks at Clarice with a quiet expression of curiosity on her befreckled face. "How would ah know?" she says, grinning just a little too much. She's concerned, and confused. "Ye came all th' way out here tae talk though. E'en if ye can jus' blink tae get tae me. But ye smell like panic. Es a bit like paprika."

She might be joking. Or she might actually...you know what, nevermind. :) Paprika.

Clarice Ferguson has posed:
    "...o- ohhh," Clarice answers quietly. Okay, that makes some degree of sense. "I, uhhh... got hurt the other day. My powers aren't working right now - it's a temporary thing. But it's- I mean, I just feel on edge without them. You know? Normally I can throw up a portal in front of me as a shield, or disappear in and instant, and knowing I can't do that leaves me feeling trapped, and vulnerable," she admits - her finger tracing idle patterns in the dirt in front of her. "...is that what you're smelling?" she asks.
    Which means Mister Creed must be able to smell it all the time, too. And he just hasn't commented on it. //Great//.

Rahne Sinclair has posed:
Yes, but Rahne is actually nice. She loves people strongly, and believes in honesty in all things. Including body odor.

Rahne peers at Clarice, the purple skin not even something that's ever come up between them. "D'ye ken it be...y'know, permanent?" she asks, her hands reaching to offer touch. Comfort. It's all that she normally has to offer. Benefits of being a superpowered comfort animal.

She doesn't glance about, not looking for trouble, her eyes on Clarice's face. Though with the cheaty level of her nose she probably would smell it before it became an issue anyway. That, that's how she can do it alone. She can probably scent trouble and just not be there.

"How did ye get here?" she adds.

Clarice Ferguson has posed:
    "No, not permanent. My powers should be back in a week or two. It's just- it's a pretty uncomfortable feeling. You know, for now." The movement fromt he corner of her eye catches her attention and she turns towards Rahne - reaching out to take one of the girl's hands in her own. She gives is a squeeze. "I'll be alright," she promises. "Don't worry about it too much. And don't let it on to any others, yeah? I'd rather it didn't get out to anyone that I'm an easy mark for a while," she explains.
    Her gaze going back to the idle doodles she was scratching in the dirt she adds, "The Brotherhood's second-best teleporter is named Ritz. She gave me a lift. Mystique has her on standby for me - I can call on her to get me out if I land myself in any trouble."

Rahne Sinclair has posed:
A slight raise of a skeptial eyebrow and a snort is Rahne's response. "Th' day when you're an easy mark es th' day when ye dislocate both hips. Ah've seen ye kick, Clarice." Given that Rahne herself tended to skip the hand to hand sessions, preferring to rely on her hybrid form, she likely would be jealous of Clarice's kickboxing ability. Still.

"Still," she says more softly, "yeah. Ah do know how et feels tae be weak." She says it so softly, her eyes lowering. One can never really forget how her life was before her mutation. The beatings, the starving and entrapment. By her own father, yet.

Clarice Ferguson has posed:
    "I know how to fight," Clarice agrees quietly. "But I've always counted on my ability to run - as a back up."
    She gives the other girl's hand a squeeze before adding, "I could always show you how to throw a punch, or a kick, you know?" she offers. "In case... anything ever happens. It's- it's just a good thing to know. It's hard for people to take your fists away from you."
    She turns her gaze back towards Rahne, studying her in silence with puzzlement and curiosity on her features. There's so much she wants to ask, but it's hard sometimes to find the words.

Rahne Sinclair has posed:
Rahne doesn't respond to the offer to learn to fight. At least, not at first. She takes a moment, she sighs, then looks up. "Part o' why ah left was t' get away from that, Clarice. Thaur be better ways nor fighting." She still believes that. Hopefully someday she won't be made to pay for that belief. Unfortunately, life has a tendency to do exactly that.

Then, with a customary Rahne shift, she lifts her chin with steel in her gaze, and says, "Ye did nae come tae offer me lessons. Talk tae me, Clary. Please?"

Clarice Ferguson has posed:
    "No, I guess I didn't," Clarice agrees, shifting uneasily, and letting her gaze drop once more. It's easier - so much easier - when she isn't looking at people to talk about things like this.
    Well. Still not //easy// - but easier. "I don't understand..." she starts uncertainly, then lets out a sigh. "Why did you kiss me?" she asks bluntly. "You, umm... Do you //like// me? I mean- you're... interested in me?" she asks, with her gaze firmly locked onto the dirt.

Rahne Sinclair has posed:
"Well, that one be easy," Rahne says, her tone completely different. She's not uncomfortable on that topic at least. The tone of her voice alone would be a bit of a shock, what with how much Clarice has clearly been thinking about this. "Ah dinnae hae a god damn clue."

She's smiling, if Clarice looks. She's smiling. When that kiss has likely had Clarice in knots for days. Thinking it through from all the angles, likely more than is even possible or real.

"Clary, ye dinna ken how cute ye be, do ye?" She lets that sink in, then shifts her shoulders to the left a bit so she can see Clarice's face better. "Ah been at th' mansion for four years noo. Ne'er once been kissed, no boys, no girls. Ah do nee know wot ah like. But you be sweet, an...well, ah needed tae know if ye liked me. An, ah was about tae leave, an thaur was no time, an...well, et wasn't somethin ah exactly thought about b'forehand."

The grin goes a little mischievous, before fading. "I mean, of course ah like ye. Do ah want more than that? Clary, ah be a complete virgin, ah dinnee know WHAT ah want yet!"

Clarice Ferguson has posed:
    Clarice's gaze flicks towards Rahne for a moment, then back to the ground, then back at her friend another time, lingering there as a small, embarrassed small grows on her features - tinged with a little relief. "I haven't the first notion what I want, either," she admits. "I mean, I do... //want//. I know that." A little color rises to her cheeks, deepening their color as she speaks. "But- I mean, I wasn't really a person for half of my life - you know, up until 5 years ago. I didn't have a chance to be a teen, and hang out with friends, and go on dates, and- I- honestly, I'd never been kissed before, either. So... So I'm just confused. And I was surprised, and I just reacted, and I didn't mean to hurt your or drive you off or anything like that I just- I don't know. I don't know what I want."

Rahne Sinclair has posed:
"That's it, ye ken et exactly," Rahne says without even a hint of exasperation or paprika in her tone. "Look, ah be sorry thae ah worried ye, but ah DO really like ye, pure an true. Do ah want tae do ..you know, -things- wi' ye?" She pauses, then shudders a little. "Ah dinnae e'en know wot tha means! Et all sounds...sticky," she says, kind of like a person who doesn't know. Who hasn't ever.

Oh wait. She hasn't.

With a healthy pause, and a smile slightly less upfront and more Rahne the Timid, the werewolf says, "Ah needed tae go find out a lot o' things. Ah guess et would be fair tae say that that'd be one'o them. D'ye ken?"

Clarice Ferguson has posed:
    "Probably a bit sticky," Clarice confirms uncertainly, and without much more knowledge than Rahne possesses herself. She glances over at the other women again - somehow managing to find a truer, and wider smile. "I like you well enough too, you know," she adds. "Umm, but I guess it's only fair to mention that there's this guy, too. Robert. I mean, I've told him I don't know what I want, or if we'd ever be more than just friends, and that I'm not even all that good at - you know - friends, and he's... he's been pretty understanding about it, you know? I just- I don't."
    She lets out a frustrated sigh. "I don't want to hurt anyone. All I really know is that I do want someone... special in my life. I just don't really know how you get there, and how you know if it's right, and- I don't know."

Rahne Sinclair has posed:
Rahne squeezes Clarice's fingers gently. She was always a good listener, and the honesty that's her birthright likely helps. "So, enjoy et. I likely will be gone awhile, an' maybe ye'll find ye dinnae like girls. Or I will, or somethen totally different." She seems okay with either, though the chance of her not liking girls is fairly low likelihood. But she's not going to stand in Clarice's path, not if she can be happy.

"Honestly ah be plannin' tae not plan things for a little while. So, maybe thaur be somethin' nice waitin for me too." She sounds like she finds -that- unlikelier than the other, but brushes it off. It's been a long time since Rahne was Timid Rahne, and she's on an adventure of her own choosing.

"D'ye want tae stay awhile, though?" That offer, there's something that's hopeful in it. Maybe she is a bit homesick after all. For all her...you know. Swagger.

Clarice Ferguson has posed:
    "I can stay for a while, yeah," Clarice confirms. "I mean, without my powers... I'm officially on a forced holiday. I have more free time than I know what to do with. And I'm really, really bad at it - free time. There's nothing that terrifies me more than vast swathes of time and nothing to fill it with," she remarks with a frustrated huff of air.
    She squeezes Rahne's hand back as she adds, "Though - you don't need to be //gone//. I mean - once... once I'm myself again, you've got my number. I can blink over any time. Blink the both of us anywhere in the world that we want," she offers simply. "I mean - if you wanted."

Rahne Sinclair has posed:
Rahne smiles. The offer makes her grateful, but also sad. "No," she says, mostly to herself. "Not yet, a' least. Feels like, um..." She pauses, trailing off. Then she holds her breath a moment, puffing out her little cheeks.

When she blows it out again, she seems to slump against the tree. "See, um...that's...I mean, you can come, of course. I...just..."

Her nose is twitching, and she seems distracted. She frowns, and pulls her feet up to her bum, while her face seems to change. Suspicion evident on her, she likely smells oregano now.

That's when some boys on bikes come by. No, boys and girls both. The boys were first. One screeches to a stop, then they're all there. "Blue face." "Makeup?" Other noises, as they talk amongst themselves. None of them seem overly friendly.

Rahne's face looks dark, and she glances at Clarice.

Clarice Ferguson has posed:
    "Do they mean Mystique?" Clarice asks quietly. After all - she does regularly hang out with someone who wears a blue face - and that is now the focus of her attention, rather than the conversation the two had just been sharing.
    Without her powers - without her ability to retreat at will - she climbs cautiously to her feet in order to be better prepared if the //children// decide to make a go at them. Part of her wonders if she should start carrying throwing knives to better defend herself.
    And part of her knows that might be an awful idea. What if she escalated things because of them? "Stay - or walk on?"she asks her friend quietly, leaving it up to her. After all - if Rahne was out here to avoid fights...

Rahne Sinclair has posed:
"Ah'll keep ye safe," Rahne says softly so that Clarice can hear her. She apparently has doubts, that the kids are as childlike as they seem. Which is borne out by the largest girl's sudden comment. "Hey, they're mutes!" No, she does not mean that they're unable to talk. No, it is not said in a complimentary fashion.

Two of the boys frown, then another says, "Cool! That's cool!" While another peels out on his bike, leaving without a word. Every person is different, it seems. Or he went to tell his mommy.

One girl gets off her own, then starts to kick dirt in Clarice's direction. There are some other words, but the reaction of Rahne is so fast, it leaves her shirt torn on the ground.

The wolf standing between the kids and Clarice is growling, and dangerous.

Clarice Ferguson has posed:
    "Rahne... It's okay. They're just kids," Clarice tries to reassure the girl. "Look - we're not going to convince them that they're pig-headed, ignorant, backwater asswipes by getting into a fight with them. We should just walk away," she encourages the other girl - reaching down to put a hand on her shoulder reassuringly, while shooting dark, angry looks towards the teens.
    Yeah. Probably neither of them are reacting very helpfully to the situation.

Rahne Sinclair has posed:
Kids have met dogs. That's a reality, and kids on the street are more likely to have done so. They know what a growling dog means, and they back off as fast as their bodies will allow. More of them are gone, two of them dropping their bikes and leaving them to die. Poor bikes.

Rahne is human again the moment they're running, her shoulder underneath Clarice's hand, but she's still growling. "I know," she says. "I know, I know. It's just, you were here, and you're helpless." She sighs, then turns and buries her face into the tree nearby.

Clarice Ferguson has posed:
    "I'm not... helpless. Just-" Clarice lets out a sigh. "I don't know. Less capable?" She hesitates a moment, then puts an arm around Rahne - gently, and slowly. "They're just a bunch of kids. If I can't take a bunch of kids - well, I'd sure hear about it from Mister Creed, powers or no powers. He's taught me better than that. Yeah?"
    She flashes Rahne a smile then adds, "Maybe we should move, though. Before they come back with - I don't know. Their parents. The sheriff. The local branch of Human's First. Who knows what they have..."

Rahne Sinclair has posed:
Apparently Rahne is okay with walking, as she indicates a direction with a hand. Then with them moving, she sighs. "Did nae mean helpless. Es a bad term. But ah cannee find out all th' things with ye here." She doesn't say 'and I'm hoping to get drunk later' but she's absolutely hoping to get drunk later.

"Hopefully they'll all think et was jus' a dog anyway," she adds, then shrugs a little. For all that this was meant to be a friendly talk about kissing and potential love, it spiralled downhill quickly when life intruded.

Clarice Ferguson has posed:
    "Hopefully," Clarice agrees. "Or at least that they didn't get a good enough look at you to ID you," she muses in a thoughtful tone. She goes back to walking arm in arm with Rahne, though she glances over her shoulder a few times as if expecting the kids - or some adults they summoned - to come up behind them. She's glad to see no signs of trouble - yet.
    She lapses into a moment of silence though, her lips turning downwards, propelled into dark thoughts by this brief encounter with biggotry. She couldn't help but let her thoughts be drawn towards 'Reverend Sinclair' - even if the name was surely a coincidence - and his own attitudes towards mutants.

Rahne Sinclair has posed:
Rahne has her own thoughts. Not a mindreader, she doesn't comment on the Reverend. She isn't even talking, her thoughts dragging at her as she goes, no destination or plan in mind. She isn't sure what to say, what to do. Or...how to say it, so she looks up at Clarice.

Then it becomes clear. "Ye should go home, for now," she says softly. Softly but firmly. "I mean, unless ye want tae lay on th' grass an' sleep. Ah'm gonnae turn dog, an curl up." She looks tired. Not by the event, but by a lot of things.

Clarice Ferguson has posed:
    "I'm not particularly fond of sleeping on the grass," Clarice remarks wryly. "I get itchy." She hesitates a moment before adding, "You're sure you're okay here? I mean - I could have Ritz move us both somewhere else. Maybe 20 miles? Far enough those kids won't have a chance to find you," she suggests. "...I don't like leaving you on your own if they're hostile to our kind here. You know?"

Rahne Sinclair has posed:
Rahne is grinning again, now. She stops, then with a gentle hand she slows Clarice just a bit. Then leans up, close. "I might kiss you again," she threatens. She would, she's totally mean and cruel enough to do that kind of thing.

Clarice Ferguson has posed:
    Clarice stops beside Rahne - concern still foremost in her expression, despite the grin Rahne is giving her in return. The playful threat earns a surprised look, and for a moment Clarice freezes up, her posture stiffening her expression changing to one of surprised uncertainty - before she does something rather daring, herself. She leans in abruptly, giving Rahne just the briefest, and most tenative of pecks on the lips, before immediately pulling back again.

Rahne Sinclair has posed:
Rahne Sinclair is stunned a moment. She raises her right hand to her lips, the tips of her fingers brushing where Clarice had kissed. A few brain cells may have shorted out from the poleaxed look on her face, but with a moment's patience and four years of combat conditioning, she manages to say something.

"Okay, that's fair," she breathes into her fingers. She just learned what it's like to be on the other side, and it's very very different than being the one who decided to give the kiss. Maybe she does owe Clarice an apology after all.

Or you know, other things. Nothing sticky though. Maybe watch a movie together.

Seeing that Clarice is a few steps away, Rahne brightens. "Next time I'll ask first," she says. But then she offers her hand. Just to hold, as they walk toward a pickup point.

Any pickup point. Rahne has a lot to think about, this night.