8342/A place to belong

A place to belong
Date of Scene:	20 October 2021
Location:	Flushing Meadows Park
Synopsis:	Demona is invited to meet the Shredder and talk. No seriously, they just talk!
Cast of Characters:	Susan Sullivan, Shredder

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Susan Sullivan has posed:
    Demona sits under a tree. Rather than her usual yoga pose, today, she's reclining against the tree. One knee is bent, her arm resting on it. The other leg is slightly bent and draped on the ground. It is not a particularly ladylike way to sit, but she's not dressed in a particularly ladylike fashion, and it's comfy AF. The local wildlife seems to just treat her as part of the tree.

Shredder has posed:
    A young woman approaches. Her Japanese features are very decided, and she wears a red scarf with her all black attire. Black jeans, a black formfitting shirt that shows a rather atheletic build. She's small, just a little over 5' tall. She walks with a purpose, and seems to be ready to walk past Demona when she stops full halt, and turns to look in her direction. "Hello," she says, her tone friendly, but hardly warm. There's a hardness about her, as someone who has to fight for what she has in life. There doesn't seem to be any motivation at face value that piques her interest toward Demona, though. She just turned and greeted.

Susan Sullivan has posed:
    Demona notices the youth and at first, discounts her as just another passer-by. However, as she turns so abruptly to face Demona, the Jiangshi takes notice. "Hello," she replies, pushing off the tree with a full body movement that somehow carries her to her feet. "Am I in your spot?" the undead tries. "I'll move on if that's the case. I don't want to ruin your routine."

Shredder has posed:
    "No," the response is simple. The young woman shakes her head. "Though my routine might include the conversation right now," she says. "My name is Karai, and I've heard of you. I hear you have a remarkable talent for electronics, is that true?" She seems to take no interest in the fact that Demona has such an overly covered body, but extends a hand to shake. "Do you spend much time here?" she asks.

Susan Sullivan has posed:
    "I dabble," Demona says, not shaking the girl's hand, but bowing. "I'm not trying to be rude, but you really don't seem like just a random passer-by. You seem like you were sent here specifically to talk to me." She spreads her legs to shoulder width and places one hand in the other behind her back. Essentially, she stands 'at ease'. She then says, "You seem nice, but very disciplined. Karai, I value you as a person enough not to lie to you. Why don't we start over? Just be yourself and tell me why you're here."

Shredder has posed:
    Karai smiles again. "I like that," she says. "You're right, I'm not here randomly to pass by. I'm afraid I'm not always the best at social graces." She nods, "And you are also right, I live by a great deal of discipline," she agrees. "I've come on behalf of my grandfather, actually. He has created a community, one that values people for who they are and what they can do instead of their social standing. He's heard of you, and he would like to meet you. It sometimes can be difficult to find a place to belong if you aren't quite like everyone else." Karai's stance doesn't really change much, while she's not at attention, per se, she's at a very ready position, a tension in her muscles that says she'd be ready to move if she needed to.

Susan Sullivan has posed:
    Demona's eyes narrow as she looks at the girl's posture. She's only barely listening to her words. When Karai finishes speaking, Demona is quiet for another moment. She raises a hairless brow. "Are you here to fight me?" she asks. "You're someone who fights as a way of life. I can see it written all over you."

Shredder has posed:
    Karai looks mildly surprised at the response. "Fight you?" she asks. "I practice martial arts, and use them regularly, but I'm not here to fight you, quite the opposite." She gives a mock frown, as if in her own thoughts on how she can better express herself. "Perhaps I'd do better just to ask if you'd like to meet my grandfather," she decides. "Like I said, many of us are not quite like everyone else. In my case, my social skills lack a little. But we've made a family, and we seek out other people who might also be without support. People the world rejects because of their personality or appearance. Or other factors." She arches her own brow. "Would you like to meet him?"

Susan Sullivan has posed:
    Demona considers the girl for a bit. "I'll be your friend," she says. "I will also meet your grandfather. I'm not as alone as he might think I am, though, so I can't promise I'll join." She gestures. "Lead on, Karai."

Shredder has posed:
    Karai nods, though it comes in the form of a minor bow, an instinct surely of being genuinely Japanese. "Wonderful!" She begins walking. "I'm sure that grandfather will be very excited to meet you," she says as she starts heading toward the edge of the park. She seems comfortable to walk in front, though not in a hurry. She has the confidence that she does not seem to feel the need to check behind her to ensure that you are with her still as she takes a moderately brisk pace.

    "It's good that you're not completely alone," she says. "You are frequently around the university I understand. You'll pardon if I already know a number of things about you. Some of our family attends the school." Though Karai herself? She looks like she's probably a few years away from college.

Susan Sullivan has posed:
    "Oh," Demona says. She considers people she's met. A sickening feeling washes over her, but her self-control leads her to maintain her friendly exterior. "Is one in reporting?" she asks.

Shredder has posed:
    "I can't say," comes answer, "It's possible, why?" she asks, pressing the light and waiting for the walk signal. "Do you have a friend in reporting?" Karai asks. "Hopefully no enemies."

Susan Sullivan has posed:
    "Hopefully," Demona echoes. "Just you remind me of someone I met once," she lies. It's not a big lie. Mostly, it's true. Demona watches the signal with Karai. Perhaps next to Karai was more accurate. "Is your grandfather far?" she asks as they wait.

Shredder has posed:
    The light changes. "Oh I see," Karai says. "I hope that's a good thing." As she starts to cross the street, she shakes her head. "No, he may be meeting with someone now, I'm not sure," she admits, making her way down the street until they come to a small dojo. The Immortal Dragon Dojo. Inside, a man with a traditional Japanese top knot, strong and tall, stands before two other students. One is clearly a mutant, leathery skin covering his body, and the other seems to be a regular human. A scar is across his left eye, which long ago looks as if it must have been a rather nasty injury, but it's mostly healed now. His dark purple gi fits him, and with his particular hair, it may be hard to imagine him in any other wardrobe.

Susan Sullivan has posed:
    Demona leans down and turns her speaker off in her gas mask. She says to Karai, "Is that your grandfather?"

Shredder has posed:
    Karai nods.

    "Hai!" a punch from the two students. "Hai!" Kick. "Hai! Hai! Hai!" The mimick comes as best as the two boys, maybe fourteen years in age, can manage. The routine is finished, and they bow to their teacher. He gives a slight bow back to them, and looks over to Karai and Demona. "Dismissed," he says, walking to the edge of the mat. "You are Demona," he says. The man has a significant presence. Powerful and comfortable. His immediate energy says that he has absolutely no fear, possibly of anything. "I have expected that I would see you. Granddaughter, you have done well." Karai bows as to a master more than as she might to a grandfather. "Tell me, Demona," he says, "What brings you to see me?" he asks, as if her arrival was an idea all her own. "Would you like some tea?"

Susan Sullivan has posed:
    The old man asks her what brought her there, and Demona instantly tenses up, ready for more. She reaches up to behind her head. "Yeah, no," Demona says, followed by two clicks. She pulls off her mask and continues, "You asked for my presence. I'm here as a favor to Karai. It was clearly important to her, and I value her enough to do this for her. So, you tell me: What about me got your attention?"

Shredder has posed:
    "I see," the sensei says, and seems to make no reaction either to her tensing, or to her appearance behind the mask. He looks her straight in the eye as if there wasn't a thing odd in the world. "And so you came," he comments. No smile nor frown crosses his face. "So you came out of a desire to do good to my granddaughter, very kind of you," he says. "I've not made a decision on what has caught my attention regarding you," he answers. "We've only just met, after all. But in these brief moments, if I must answer, I find your willingness to give such respect to a stranger interesting, and somewhat surprising. Which brings me back to the question in perhaps a more specific tone. What is it in your heart that caused you to want to come to me?" he asks, the scarred eye quirking up. Clearly, it's a question of a deeper nature than someone might ask someone they only met moments ago. Still, his confidence states that he has no concern at all with the question, as if he were asking her favorite color.

Susan Sullivan has posed:
    Without missing a beat, "Wary curiosity," comes the response from Demona. "Karai doesn't have the vibes of someone who is loved and respected. She gives off the energy of a fighting dog you don't actively hate." Demona is very deliberate with her posture. She doesn't cross one leg behind the other, nor put her hands behind her back. She doesn't spend time placing her gas mask somewhere, lest her hands not be available. As one who does martial arts, that deliberateness would be evident to the teacher as being ready to defend one's self.
    "You are a sensei to youth," Demona continues. "I get that Karai may have a bad situation outside this place. I get that I'm picking up signals from all that she is, not just her relationship with you. It's clear that, even if you are accepting and caring, you're not the majority protector of her, or she would not look like she's ready to fight all the time. I want to make sure she's safe and in a good situation. She came to me, and I would die if that death protects her. All I know of her life is you. I have no reason to suspect you of wrongdoing, but I wanted to make sure."

Shredder has posed:
    Steel eyes shift to Karai, who looks like she wants to say something, but holds her tongue, and the sensei's gaze shifts back. "Karai's story is her own to tell," he says. "You would die for a stranger?" he confirms with the question.
    He stands a little straighter, looking down at Demona with narrowed eyes. "It is rare for a person to die for one they love, or a friend, though perhaps for a good friend they are willing to die. She is a stranger to you, and you declare your life forfeit for hers so easily?" It's a challenge in his tone, trying to seek out if she wishes to double down on the claim, or confess it as bravado.

Susan Sullivan has posed:
    Demona's feet leave the ground and her arms part some from her sides. She angles her face upward slightly as she looks down on the sensei. She is not going to be dominated, it seems. "Do not doubt me," she says, her voice holding the power of her qi. It holds no power over him in that moment, but every sounds he makes is felt in the life force of everyone that can hear it. "Karai's safety, in this moment, is of the most dire importance to me. I do not lay my life down like a bug to be stepped on," she insists. "I set it up as a wall that any who are against her will have to break through me to harm her."

Shredder has posed:
    Karai takes a step back, as if ready to fight at the presence that Demona starts to exhude. The sensei holds up his hand to still her, and even in this presence, he seems unmoved. Truly a difficult person to intimidate. "I have not seen a jiangshi in many years," he says, a certain tipping of his hand. He's familiar with her type. "And in my many years, I have never seen one who desires to protect others." He is quiet for a moment, clearly contemplating this interesting reveal.

    "Can you share with me why you changed your name to Demona? I presume that is not your given name," he offers, changing the subject as if the matter had closed. Whatever that is, he refrains from pursuing that question.

    There's definitely something about him. The man is fully human, yet...there's something else about him. A presence that seems hidden within him, lurking behind his humanity. Neither malevolent nor benevolent, at least not that is detectable. The qi that comes from him is equal to many people.

Susan Sullivan has posed:
    Demona doesn't seem bothered to float. "Liked it," Demona says, curtly. "She picked it, I picked it." The man has great strength of will, which is fine. He teaches mutants. To be so easily intimidated would mean his students would reign over him. Her peripheral vision picks up the affect she's having on Karai, but she doesn't back down just yet. While she floats over him, the situation reads as though he's standing on higher ground yet and she's still not quite hovering at eye level. The look in his eyes tells her he has not wavered. Good? Maybe good.
    Demona's feet lower as she forces herself back down to the ground. "I am not an idle force to be trampled over," she says, "and you've done little but evade my statements about Karai. I have no evidence one way or the other, but it doesn't make good implications," she says. She turns to Karai. "What did you want to say?" she asks, very calmly. She can't lower herself in tone as much as she wants to, for Karai's grandfather is quite a force of presence, but she attempts to project as much kindness as possible. "I'm sorry for talking about you like you aren't here."

Shredder has posed:
    The sensei folds his hands behind his back, remaining silent patiently. There's a hardness to him, though, the condescending position does not look appreciated, and a mild frown crosses his face.

    Karai, who looks mildly annoyed, not as stoic as her grandfather, answers. "My grandfather is a great man. He does not tell other people's stories," she says, her earlier friendly demeanor replaced by something that almost seems protective of the man she claims as grandfather, though he doesn't truly look old enough to be that. He can't be past forty years of age if his appearance is anything to trust.

    "He has given a home to those who have no place to go, and gives purpose to those who are floundering. He takes from them weakness and gives them strength. He-"

    "Karai." The tone is a reprimand when the man interrupts. "I need not to be defended." He looks back at Demona. "Clearly we have met a uniquely selfless individual. A ruby in a sea of quartz," he says, drawing a color contrast. "Most often I invite those who cannot stand on their own, or have been knocked down so many times they have lost the will to stand. I have need for you," he admits. "People like you. Who will stand in the gap between despair and hope, and will give the lost safe passage across."

Susan Sullivan has posed:
    Demona smiles deliberately and politely. She bows slightly to the older man who looks nearly twice her apparent age, maintaining eye contact. "I am still mentally prepared for the other shoe to drop," she says. "Trauma is a complex issue, and I'm no psychologist."
    She turns toward Karai. "If you come to me, Karai," she says, "I will protect you from everything I can. I will make sure you're safe." She turns back to her grandfather and says, "The road back from abuse is a difficult one. I don't know why you make me uneasy, but I am choosing to take what you say at face value. I will consider your...offer," she concludes after brief hesitation.
    Demona lifts her gas mask to her face. "You're wrong, you know," she says through the speaker as she clips it closed. She makes eye contact with him before she says, "I was Jiangshi. I'm very much so more than that, now." She smiles in a way that makes it reach her eyes, then aims herself out the door. She walks into the sun before turning back toward the dojo, looking into the window, and waving at the two living humans.