2013.04.07 - Roses Always Have Thorns

The bike was a good investment! Maybe not at this season but it aided in haggling the price down a bit as well as left her plenty leftover for a place to rest. Priorities were a bit out of place, but she had them at least. Pulling up along a strip of buildings, they were old, likely at once derelict, but then restoration seemed to pass through this area and the downstairs were small shops while small 'shotgun' like apartments were above. A cafe, a bar, a pawn shop, and a soul food restaurant, all singularly owned and operated.
Turning the corner the wheels of the bike spun, swirving the end to a paralell position and making the tight parking job seem easy when they skidded into the fit. Powering the bike off, Rose leans back and smirks at Nate while tugging the folded paper free of her inner jacket pocket. "This is the neighborhood..."
Not everyone can be out apartment hunting.
But in a neighborhood like this there's always a reason for someone to be around. Especially on the weekend. Hence why as the motorcycle passes by, there's a certain someone at the cafe, buying... A bottle of water.
Yeah. Laura Kinney is out of the school. And is out and about the city. More than likely searching for something. Or someone. But good luck on getting her to say who or what.
Nate looks around and nods in approval. "Looks good," which in Nate-speak means that it is not a total wreck, he is used to really poor living standards. Just to make sure, he makes a brief telepathic scan of the area. What he is looking for is not clear, there are too many minds to sense hostile ones easily given his current skill level. He blinks surprised when he finds someone familiar nearby.
"Yeah, just around this block," he replies to the white-haired girl. "And I just saw someone I know right there. Interesting girl, I think you would like her too. Let me see if..." he pauses, "actually, I am going to bet she knows I am here already."
Rose could afford more, as long as the contacts kept on calling, but she did not tend to like the upper-crust, nor would they like her - as well as all of her quirks. At least here, her business was her own, and she would give them the same etiquette... For the most part.
Opening the paper she pauses as Nate speaks up, casting blue eyes out across the street and down along the sidewalk. No one she recognized, but with a roll of her shoulder in a shrug she dismounts the motorcycle and stuffs the keys in her pocket. Her eyes are still a bit reddened from the night before, and memory just as hazy so in this her eyes wandered towards the cafe and coffee. Hangover cure number one... Caffeine and water. Number two... Fried food. "Lead the way then. I insist on coffee, though." She murmurs.
Does Laura know? Maybe. But if she does, she doesn't show it. Not as she heads for the exit of the shop. Only she does pause for a moment as she looks directly at who's headed her way.
Nate greets Laura raising a hand. "Yeah, that is Laura, the short brunette in dark clothes," he tells Rose. "More coffee? Sure," he is always up for more coffee, although it is not hangover what drives him, but a general lack of sleep due to chronic insomnia and too much telepathy in a too large city.
One brow raises as she nods, flicking her gaze to the paper once more and then tucking it away as she follows the gestured greeting to Laura. A slight up-nod is offered with the rising of her chin towards the other with a wavering half-cocked grin, not bothering to inquire on where he had met her. Rose was not the most social of butterflies outside of Stormwatch. Pausing just before the entrance she waits for a more formal introduction, rockign abck and hooking fingers into the loops of leather pants.
For the briefest of instants, it's almost as if Laura does a barely noticable sniff of the air as Rose gets closer. That is before she tilts her head to the side for a moment at the other girl, before she glances at Nate.
All though as the air do get close enough...
The mutant girl offers them a slight nod in greeting. That is before, with no warning, she says, "You need to introduce her..." She points at Rose. "To Scott."
Yeah. Take that as you will.
"Rose, this is Laura. Laura, Rose." Nate eyes Laura, frowning slightly. "I need to? Maybe I will at some point, but I doubt it is necessary." He opens the door of the cafw for Rose. "Want to join us? Rose is looking for a place to live in the neighborhood." That is, they are not doing anything potentially dangerous, so it is unlikely they will get shot while drinking coffee.
Rose pauses, watching the way Laura assesses her while she does so in her own way. Coolly. Not a reaction came from her as she inspected what she could of Laura's actions, not until her words. Moment broken to offer a blink and then a shift in gaze between Laura and Nate.
Explaination needed? Not likely, but then again she didn't state out she needed to introduce any one of them to her contractors either. Likely not the same scenario, but none the less... "Who is Scott?" She asks lowly as she steps through the door and towards the counter, watching Laura now speculatively.
"It is. Family is important. They need to meet your girlfriend."
Yes. Laura /DID/ just say that. Out loud. In public. Be afraid. Be very afraid.
Oh, and would her saying that be considered dangerous right now?
But anyways... *COUGH* Then there's a shrug, and a nod at the whole 'joining' thing.
Yeah. All that while her body language remains neutral, and her voice utterly devoid of emotion.
Rose was in the mindframe Scott was an employer, one that gets you to travel around the world, see the sights, meet important people... And end them. Not what came from Laura's mouth right after, not in the way it was said, rather devoid of emotion, humor.. Or anything that would say she was -remotely- joking.
Rose's spine now is ram-rod straiught, shoulders squared and the money she had brought out *pinched* neatly between fingers as it is handed over to purchase two coffees. No words right now, nothing, apparently the look on her face doesn't even have the latino cashier bothering to make small talk at the platinum haired woman.
Once the coffee's are in hand Rose turns and only seems to be bearing a smile, one that doesn't reach her eyes as she looks at Laura and then Nate, holding the coffee to him in an almost snappy, mechanical motion. "I'm not the kind of girl you take home to meet the family..."
And here's where Laura just offers Rose an odd look, and for the briefest of instants an insanely faint smile. That is before said smile vanishes even more quickly than it appeared.
"Neither are most of the other girls he knows. Me included."
Yeah, the white haired girls body language is hard to ignore. But still...
The cloned girl jerks a thumb at Nate.
"Family is important. But... Strange."
"I think Laura is teasing me," mentions Nate when he sees Rose reaction. "She is still working in her sense of humor. And considering his line own of work, Rose, I don't think you would worry Scott much." He glances at Laura, "you know, you need to meet my pal Conner, you do have a lot of common with him."
An inquiring look is sent to Nate. One that bears both that tension, ire, and curiousity all mixed into one terse package. To be honest, that came as a shock and Rose did not know -what- to say, instead she tried to take the easy out, and it fails with Laura's response.
"Apparently, I have missed quite a bit being busy with work.." Rose's tone is now flat, not trying to give way to what her mannerisms display, breathing in a pace now that was akin to the calm you bring in before you fight. This is not a normal/everyday situation with Rose and it was more unexpected then a pile of ninja's falling off the roof to attack them. Seriously.
With no family to speak of to even try to ante up against what Laura said she could at least empathize with the strange part, nodding. When Nate mentions Conner in measure to Laura, Rose just smiles. "He's not as dead-pan, but I see it in bits." In regards to line of work, Rose says nothing, simply sips her coffee.
At the suggestion of meeting Conner, Laura all but rolls her eyes. That is before she casts a brief glance back at Rose, as if she's just silently asking what she and Nate be referring to there.
All though as she notices that body language from the other girl, the mutant clone just says one word, before kicking out a chair ever so slightly.
"Sit." is said before a second or two later, "Please." is added to that.
And then she... SHrugs at Nate. As if to say maybe she was teasing, or maybe she wasn't.
"He is a schoolteacher," explains Nate to Rose. He is maybe enjoying too much confusing the white-haired girl. "Except when he is being a mutant vigilante, of course." So complicated family, indeed. There is no explanation about Conner for Laura, however. Not yet. Instead he touches her mind. |"Your secrets are your own, but Rose is also a meta-human and a friend/ally of mine. She might have information useful to you, if you want to talk about it"|
Help a girl out? The look was taken for just that, but if Rose is going to be the butt of some jabbing, she only offers Laura a smile. Maybe later she will go more in depth with precisely the likenesses -she- sees between the two, but then again, she did not know Laura like Nate does... But she -knows- Conner, and his secrets are her own.
With the gesture from Laura, Rose's gaze rolls from the seat to the girl, as well as her mannerisms and the way it is stated, now preferring to stand and remain as such either by stubborness or the turn the conversation took, instead moving to the chair and curling fingers in a grip upon the top of the backrest, spinning the seat to face her but not yet claiming it.
The school teacher part has Rose sputtering on her coffee, holding it out to the side as she tucks her face in to the shoulder and arm of the leather and maille plated coat, pausing for a breath when she hears the latter. "I like my nun look by day myself." Oh yes, the jesting sarcasm is -very- evident.
There's just a slight nod at Nate, as if Laura is silently thanking him for something, before she blinks at just what Rose does. yeah, between the coffee and the 'joke' she makes...
"I would not have guessed a nun." is said before there's a shrug. "Then again very few things are what they appear to be."
Nate looks up at Rose and smirks, "sit down, please. This conversation is getting hilarious in a the weirdest ways. Look, Laura here escaped from an agency called Weapon X, her circumstances were almost identical to Conner's. Only she got it even worse, because she was there far longer and they deployed her for wetwork several times. I don't think it was Cadmus, but the parallels are alarming."
"I was... jo--" Rose has a hiccup in her speech, barely even a heartbeat of time passes as she assesses Laura once more. The tone, the lack of body language, the consistency of it all. Curiouser and curiouser, but she was -getting it-. "--king." And at times she thought she was bad in regards to staying all business. Blame the change in life and sudden recent events for that, Rose was beginning to find some semblance to her own version of humanity again.
As Rose is asked to sit by Nate, she begins to lower into the chair, straddling the backrest of it, but then pauses. Nate knew quite a bit about Conner, so he has opened up far more then Rose has, how much of her life has he let slip? Though the words to Illyana just last night may clue her in enough. "Nate, you do know my role with that agency and Conner, don't you?" Now it is her turn to become deadpan and glance between Laura and Nate, standing fully again as her comfort level shifted.
"The Facility. Weapon X." Laura supplies as she rests her hand on the table, before she makes a fist, and a *SNIKT* can be heard as a pair of claws pop out. That is before just as suddenly as they appear, they retract. And as they retract there isn't even a trace that they were ever there.
All though as that talk about what Roses role was is brought up, the cloned girl does tilt her head to the side ever so slightly, not even hiding her curiosity.
Nate shakes his head at Rose. "Not the details, but you were friends... did you help him escape?" After all Conner brought her into Stormwatch, and Cadmus was chasing her too. He sips his coffee, giving Laura a look for her display of claws. Fortunately no one seemed to be looking, but if Rose is moving to the neighborhood it would be better not to start freaking out the neighbors so soon.
It was apparent the conversation took a turn, if Conner had been so blatantly open, and others were as well perhaps her secrets should be known - the reason why she felt so awkward of a fit with this group that Conner had brought her into as well as Nate's furthering introductions.
When Laura moved to show her hidden weapons, the display of what The Facility had expanded her into, Rose's hands drop to her sides, that coffee carefully held by the lid with the grip of fingertips. Yes, all too familiar.
Looking at Nate then Rose's smile is only half-present in the uptilting of one corner of her lips and just as quickly as it was there, it fades with the shaking of her head. "I was his... Off switch." The last two words breathed out in a sigh, though they held a neutral tone, one lacking any emotion, much akin to how Laura spoke naturally. This was business. "I was trained to shut him down if he got out of control, if Cadmus couldn't stop him - I was their hand. He escaped. I was sent to shut him down and bring him back. Dead or alive. Dead... Preferably. I didn't. If you don't do what these 'facilities' want of you, they kill you. I wasn't their experiment. I was the end to an experiment." Now her gaze is cold as she looks between them, shutting off the lightness to bring out reality. "It's why they want me dead. Not because I escaped, because I let him escape and live."
How do you like me now?
If Rose really wants to move into this neighborhood, then she really shouldn't have said that. Because well...
There's a growl from Laura. A flat out growl as she all but shoves the table as she ends up on her feet. Odds are if Nate doesn't stop her, she may even be trying to go directly at Rose, and popping her claws again.
"Kimura."
Ravager's body language shifts right along side of Laura's. When the table goes to slide aside Rose slams a hand down on top of it, ceasing the legs from their dragging screech across the floor, leaning there as if in repose. No sip of her drink though to make it seem casual, instead her eyes remain right on Laura, trained, studious down to the very core. Not one move to run or react though aside from keep the table from bumping its neighbor.
"I know what they do to people in those facilities. I was part of it in more ways then one becausae of my 'specialties'. They went too far, and it started becoming 'Do it or die'. My life became his in a different light."
Now she looks at Laura, tilting her head at the name she had spoken. "Not a name I know, but I see we have more in common as well." Pausing, now she took a seat, dragging it across the floor to spin it and straddle the backrest, her arms propped over the top, but it showed she is ready to move if Laura makes it necessary. "Now you know why I operate how I do. Until Conner... People like Laura here... I didn't know how, and am still learning." Somewhere in there she seemed a bit lost, but Rose manages to hold that emotionlessness well, a blanket of security there. "I won't take Conner back. Would Kimura take you back?"
Despite what Nate says, Laura can't help but view Rose as he enemy. At least for the moment. It's possible only because she knows what Nate can do, and would do if need be to stop her that she doesn't launch herself into an all out attack.
"Yes. Odds are she would have some... Fun first before doing it. Then they'd let her have some more 'fun' after bringing me back to 'punish' me."
"She was designed for me. She is the only person I can not harm. But the same is not true for her when it comes to me."
Nate glances around. The staff is calling the cops. Some customers have noticed the confrontation and are looking curious or worried. Just wonderful. "Laura, stop. Think. She is not Kimura and she is fighting the bastards that did this to you and to others. And we need to leave." He could try to blur the memories of the people in the store, but that is a trick he has hardly mastered. And neither Rose of Laura should draw attention to themselves.
Shaking her head Rose rises, catching bits and pieces of the cashier on the phone - staring directly at them. "Sounds like they did to her what they should have done to me if they expected me to kill Conner. Instead they threatened -my- life." And when you stop really caring about your own head, that tends to not matter.
Tugging the paper from her jacket, she drops it on the table and makes for the exit. "Now, you know why I am not the girl to take home, or bring around friends." Pausing at the door she disposes of her coffee, having acquired another taste for the nightlife. The most pure cure for such a splitting headache. We'll blame the hangover yet again! More to drink.
"I didn't like this neighborhood anyway." She mutters as she holds the door open with the toe of her boot.
"No." Laura says as she follows after Rose, heading for the door, before she just shoots Nate a quick glance. After all, she does have questions, but she's also confident that he'll do what he has to do here and now.
"You're definitely the girl for him to take home."
Nate picks up the paper and follows Rose out. Laura gets an annoyed glance, for her outburst and for her cryptic final comment. Outside, he quickens his pace to reach Rose, but then walks at her side without saying a word. He already knew Rose was a mercenary and had worked for Cadmus. That she was supposed to kill Conner was new, bad news, but Conner clearly got over it, right?
Rose pauses at a newspaper dispenser and gets a new one, letting the door to it slam shut and groan from long worn and rusted hinges, bypassing any news for the classifieds but pausing with Laura's words. Glancing between her and Nate once again, eyeing the paper he held. "Why is that? There's no mystery to me now, nothing but the plain truth.." Though parts were lacking, that sealed a few holes in the large swiss cheese like story she had been going on. "Or do they want to bring an end to these places too and I'm the only ticket talking?"
"Trust me. You're just like almost everyone his father knows." Laura says with a shrug. "You'd fit in."
And with that the cloned girl just turns, and slowly starts to walk off on her own.
Oh really? The X-Men must be weirder than they look if Laura statement is true. Something to worry some other time, though. "We haveto bring those places down, Rose. Sooner better than later. But you are a friend, you can trust me. Laura has problems talking to people, but she is trying. Give her a break, okay?"
Rose watches Laura, mouth opening and then closing while brows furrowed together in thought. Those words were strikingly familiar - similar to what Conner had said when he took her to Stormwatch, under certain pretenses and caution. Her eyes snapped up, looking around the buildings, along the ledges and then amongst passing faces and those who still watched from inside the cafe.
Casting a glance to Nate, Rose exhales, a few stray strands of that white hair fluttering from the fall over her face, only to return with the light nod. "You're hunted by this Kimura, and yet you still walk about like you do?" Gesturing to her motorcycle. "Can give you a ride." Give the girl a gold star, she knows Nate's capabilities, he could keep up, and since Laura was trying, she could too.
Yes, the X-Men are that strange. After all, just look at Logan, or the whole 'family' thing Cyclops has. Heck, it's almost too bad no one knows about Pixie and/or Kurts parents, Storms ancestor, or any of the upteen odd things that the X-crowd has in their collective closets.
"I'm good." is said to Rose, before Laura... Grins?
Yeah. She may have strong feelings regarding Kimura, but well...
"I'm doing what I am for a reason."
Nate shakes his head. Laura is usually quiet as a mouse, easy to overlook. Whatever is hunting her shouldn't be able to find her in a city the size of New York. Unless they do things to draw attention, like they just did. Nate frowns. Rose is much easier to find, as a matter of fact, and perhaps still hunted. "Actually, we should all get out of here as soon as possible. Come, I'll take you two at least to Central Park."
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