(no subject)

[trollverine]

WHO: Laura Kinney and a creep with no friends
WHERE: Laura's dojo
WHEN: when the dojo closes, this evening I guess?
WARNINGS: idk
SUMMARY: Daken drops in to say hi/remind Laura that morals are dumb and no one should have them.
FORMAT: QUICK?



[A part of him wants to show up earlier, to stand in the back of the room and watch her teach. He can remember things he's seen her do--merciless, lethal things--and he can imagine her in front of a swarm of impressionable children, explaining in easy-to-follow steps: the best defense, boys and girls, is a fatal offense.

But by the time he finds a parking spot, kids are pouring out of the place; first in a wave, then in ones and twos. He heads up to the door and lets himself in when the last of them seems to have left.]

Comments

[girlverine]

[Laura wasn't certain when she had stopped minding cleaning up after class. There was a certain order to it, really, and while at first it had just been a distraction, now she took her time making sure everything was back where it should be. She was pushing a set of kick-targets back into their spot against the wall when the smell hit her.]

[A quick spin revealed Daken by the door, her green eyes narrowing. She knew the rest of the students were gone, though she wasn't sure the building was empty. Hrm.]

What do you want?

[trollverine]

[He moved further into the room, hands in his pockets, and cast a look around, as if in approval.]

To congratulate you. This is yours now, right?

[girlverine]

[Laura hesitated. It was, in a sense...]

Partially.

[trollverine]

[Daken nodded. He knew; he had seen those conversations with her friends.]

Was that your last class?

[girlverine]

Yes. The advanced class, they come in after school.

[As she spoke, she half-turned from him, moving back to finish pushing the equipment against the wall. She wasn't going to stand there staring at him, and he was far enough away that she'd know if he tried to attack.]

You could have congratulated me by phone.

[trollverine]

Yes, I could have, but I chose to come here.

[Let her make of that what she would. He came closer, slowly.]

Is there anything else you need to do before you leave?

[girlverine]

[She looks over at him pointedly as he approaches, eyes narrowing again, in a 'stay there' sort of way.]

Once I have put the equipment back, I'm finished. Why?

[trollverine]

[He stops where he is--if she's that uncomfortable, that's fine--and pulls his keys out of his pocket.]

Let me give you a ride.

[girlverine]

[It's not that she's uncomfortable with him...though she is...but rather that she doesn't particularly want him in this place. Her place. Where she teaches children. Like she expects him to break it somehow. Her frown gets a bit worse at the keys, gaze flicking from them to his face and back.]

I do not have far to walk home.

[trollverine]

[He's not expecting her to say yes--it's not what a cautious girl would do, and she's been nothing but cautious with him--but backing off would gain him nothing.

He dangles the keys from his finger, offering.]

You can drive.

[girlverine]

[She doesn't answer as she rolls up one of the mats and lifts it up to press into a space on the wall, and then she turns back to him. Her eyes are narrowed, considering. Daken is...a puzzle, to her. He's family, in a sense...in a very real sense, frankly...but he's also basically an evil jackass.]

[But then, she'd been an assassin until she was fourteen...]

Fine.

[trollverine]

[For a few seconds he's content to watch her put away mats, and to soak in the feeling of having won, small victory though it is.]

Do you like it? [He gestures to the room.] Doing this.

[girlverine]

[When she finished she turned to approach him, holding out her hand for the keys. She was tense, expecting an attack perhaps..]

Yes. It is...rewarding.

[trollverine]

[He just looked at her for a second--rewarding, really?--before tossing her the keys and heading outside.

His car was parked down the street, standing out like a yellow Porsche should (it was part of why he'd bought the thing). Since she hadn't indicated otherwise, he was assuming she could drive. He leaned on the roof while he waited for her to unlock it.]

Do you live by yourself?

[girlverine]

It wasn't a word Laura would've used six months ago, but now? It...fit. And it carried a lot less 'mission completed' connotations than other words for success, really. Not that she thought about that sort of thing.

"No," she said as she paused on the far side of the door. She could've just gotten in and driven away, though...that was rather juvenile, probably. "I have a roommate." She added, unlocking the doors finally and slipping into the car.

[trollverine]

She wasn't subjecting herself to the no-doubt constant sanctimonious bullshit of the Xavier Institute, then--presuming they had that kind of campus.

He pulled his door shut and studied her and the way she acquainted herself with the car, watching for hesitation or familiarity. "I don't understand you," he said, finally looking away.

[girlverine]

[Laura had known how to drive since she was nine years old, although each car was slightly different, so she spent a second figuring out where each dial and switch was before she started the machine up. And then she paused without actually pulling the vehicle out of the spot, glancing at him for a moment.]

What?

[trollverine]

You do a lot of stupid things for someone who isn't stupid.

[He was looking out the window, through his own reflection. It could have been said about a lot of people, but it was different in a way he couldn't have explained; it was somehow less acceptable for her to do these pointless things, to give in to the world's arbitrary needs and wants and infirmities.

It was also the most honest thing he'd said to anyone in a long time, which made him want to change the subject--but she needed to hear that much.]

[girlverine]

[Laura frowns at that and turns back to the wheel, and a moment later they have started out onto the street.]

I don't know what you mean.

[trollverine]

[He thinks for a moment about explaining it, all the reasons she doesn't make sense to him, but there's been too much truth in this conversation already. He shoots her a knowing smirk.]

I didn't think you would.

[girlverine]

[That just gets him a narrow-eyed glare, for a second, since...driving. Not that a car accident would cause any long-term harm to them, outside of destroying his car.]

[It was almost a tempting thought, really.]

Why are you here, Daken?

[trollverine]

Because, Laura, as a human being, I occasionally suffer from curiosity.

[He settles back in his seat, turns on the radio. Janis Joplin's on the station he'd last been listening to, just barely louder than the engine.

It doesn't surprise him that Laura can drive any more than it surprises him that she essentially lives on her own, apart from the mutant crowd. He's learned to expect her to be self-reliant.]

[girlverine]

You could have asked me these questions over the phone. You are lying.

[Sitting at a stop light. Dooooo be do.]

[trollverine]

[He grins--it's funny that she's both not wrong and not going to get a straight answer.]

It's called spontaneity. You should try it; it's fun.

[A pause.]

For instance: are you hungry?

[girlverine]

[Laura nearly stopped the car, though she hoped she managed to hide that reaction. Why could Daken surprise her so easily? It couldn't be genetic, that was ridiculous. He just insisted on being...unpredictable.]

I usually eat at home. Are you asking if I wish to now?

[trollverine]

[He hadn't said it specifically to surprise her, but that was almost worthwhile on its own.]

I know a few places. [A calculated pause.] If you want.

[girlverine]

[Laura was quiet for what felt like a long time, as she considered it. Daken was not evil, but he was certainly, well...close to it. Unrepentant? A huge flaming ball of murder? But then, she had been that once, too. And he was as close as she was going to get on this world to a blood relative, as unsettling as the thought was.]

There is a Pancake House a few minutes from here.

[trollverine]

[He had expected her to say no to that, too, but it was useful to know where one's boundaries were, and, from time to time, to push them.

Surprise, surprise.

On the other hand, her choice of restaurant was kind of perplexing.]

I wasn't going to say Jean-Georges, but we don't have to go to a pancake place.

[girlverine]

[She shrugged without looking over at him.]

I like pancakes.

[trollverine]

[Where they went didn't particularly matter, but he shot her a patronizing look anyway. It was easy to play the part of the mocking older brother--or whatever this was.]

Can't argue with the driver.

Oh my god I thought I tagged this. I'm so sorry.

[girlverine]

[Laura was silent again after that, though her gaze would flick towards him occasionally, as if not content with just using scent to know he was still there. After a few minutes she did indeed pull the car into a rather upscale family-establishment...pancake house.]

Unless you want to go somewhere else.

THAT IS TOTALLY OKAY

[trollverine]

[He was smiling as he got out.]

Next time.

[And to preempt any possible argument for that--there would be a next time--he shut his door and kept right on going.]

Besides, we all have our vices. I'm in no position to judge.

[girlverine]

[Laura does, in fact, start to say just that before he was out of earshot, and she frowned as she climbed out of the car, intent on saying it again before he cut her off.]

Pancakes are not a vice.

[She almost, almost sounded indignent as she started towards the restaurant.]

[trollverine]

[He shot her an exaggerated yeah, okay look before heading in.

Once they had a place to sit--a little away from other people, as Daken had requested--he came back to it, peering at her:]

It's interesting. Most people want to impress, show off how worldly they are. It doesn't matter who they are or who they're dealing with; it's a constant. But you don't bother.

[girlverine]

[Laura sank into her seat opposite his, her hands resting on her lap as she adjusted to the squeaky seats. At his question she was silent for a long moment, her eyes slightly distant. She knew what he meant, really...it had just never been an issue for her.]

Why would I want to?

[trollverine]

[He shrugged.]

Good question. It doesn't seem logical, does it? But then, neither does spending all your spare time teaching kids karate.

[girlverine]

[She frowns faintly, and starts to say something when the waitress arrives. Pancakes and milk were ordered, and then back to him. Why did she always feel a need to defend herself around him?]

They need to know how to defend themselves. Especially with us in the city. [Imports weren't exactly a stabilizing factor.]

[trollverine]

[Scorning altruism would have been his kneejerk response, but that would win him no points here.]

Of course. And they always will. And there'll always be people to teach them the futile basics--but you. That's like da Vinci teaching grade school art.

[It was a fact, not flattery.]

[girlverine]

[Laura knew that, from a logical standpoint, what Daken was saying was right. She was probably one of the best fighters on this entire world, and her talents were essentially wasted training children. And yet she didn't actually care.]

That doesn't matter. [She finally says, quietly, and there's another hesitation before...] I like doing it.

[And there weren't a lot of things she could say that about.]

[trollverine]

[There was no arguing with that, predictably misguided as it was. He was quiet for a second, apparently accepting that answer.]

What else do you do?

[She was hard to read, so different from most others her age. It was impossible to tell whether she would want that kind of interest, that kind of connection (a family connection, as much as the thought of even trying to pull that string irritated him)--but it couldn't hurt.]

[girlverine]

[Laura's answer was interrupted by the waitress coming by to take their order, and when the woman was gone she shifted, leaning back slightly as she considered what to say.]

I teach self-defense at the institute during the school year. I patrol.

[That...was it, really. She's in a little bit of a rut.]

[trollverine]

[The only thing he had asked for was a cup of coffee, and--in typical American fashion--it was the least distinctive coffee possible. Dubious cream in little plastic containers and sugar would not help, but he stirred it idly anyway.]

What are you, sixteen? Seventeen? That's depressing, Laura.

[girlverine]

[She shrugs. She knew it was a bit more empty than some people, but she was relatively happy. And it could have been much worse. And yet she was curious, suddenly...]

What do you think I should be doing?

[Not that she would take his advice, of course.]

[trollverine]

[Putting those skills to better use.

One of many things he couldn't say.]

Living, if I may be obvious. How often to do you get out of the city? Never?

[girlverine]

[She shrugs.]

I don't leave.

[She hadn't been out of the city proper in months, frankly. Everyone she knew and everything she did was here.]

[trollverine]

You should. I don't know enough about you to say what I think you'd like, but there are places you should see before you decide to do nothing but hang around a dojo.

[And the X-Men, he didn't add.]

[girlverine]

I have been all over the world.

[Granted, she was a little killer assassin then, but still.]

[trollverine]

Really? Have you been to...Malta? Or Santorini? Or Marrakech? Or Kyoto?

[He stirred his coffee innocently.]

[girlverine]

[She frowns.] I have been to Kyoto.

[But she saw his point, even if she wasn't saying it out loud.]