does it cause me scarring if the words stay true

[23rd]

Who: Laura Kinney & OPEN
What: Laura leads a busy life. Also, fuck the police.
Where: Specifically mentioned are Aspic, the Arena in Griss Twist, and the Spatters, but she can be anywhere.
When: Ruudary 19th-22nd
Notes: Laura is a highly unsocial character -- I WANT YOUR CR /GRABS HEADS but like, she won't strike up conversations with strangers and she won't say very much at a time if she does speak, so uh. There's that. Doing Stuff she can respond to is probs better.
Warnings: Violence is very possible! Otherwise, to be added as needed.

Laura is not bored. Her days are too full for that, although if asked, she'd have very little to show for it -- because most of it she can't tell anyone about. She leads people to think that she doesn't do much except wander and acquire money from some mysterious sources -- people probably think she's hooking again, but she isn't.

She prefers to get food from the various street vendors, especially down in the city's center; to be polite, they're more colourful than restaurants that tend to play down unique flavours to attract human Earth-native customers. Of course Baedal has very little in the way of food regulations so God only knows what all they're actually serving, but she is neither squeamish nor easily scared, so she tries everything. Every time, she asks for peppers or hot sauce; they sometimes try to talk her out of it, it... is never very successful. Sometimes she stays and chats with them (or rather, lets them chat at her), and she hears a lot of interesting things this way. Small things, like the right way to season wyrmbeast meat, and bigger ones -- missing people. Who's been arrested for what. ... dognappings.

She stops a purse-snatcher in Aspic -- by running after him, breaking his arm, and driving her clawed fist into the wall by his head. He drops the purse and wets himself before the Sheriff gets there and reads her the riot act over it (apparently authority figures dislike it when people take the law into their own hands; who knew?) but she more or less just shrugs and walks off.

She has started visiting the Arena. She doesn't participate and she doesn't bet, but she watches and thinks about it. That kind of organized bloodsport makes her sick -- it's hard for her to extricate her memories of what was done to her -- but she tells herself these people chose this... until she sees the brands on some of them. Hands. Chests. Faces, sometimes. She leaves angry and sometimes she picks fights that she never loses, and after which she never has any bruises. The memory of scars is not enough; there is enough rage and pain in her to flood the city streets, but she does nothing about it.

She has a friend in the Spatters -- a teenage xenian girl who was born a Stranger, her family having refused to integrate into normal Baedal life. Laura visits her a lot, listens to the way she talks about how things are there -- and more importantly, she gets a couple of interesting names. Corruption on this scale can never be stopped by picking off a couple bad apples (they are all bad apples, nobody has ever been able to convince her otherwise) but it's still a good idea to have specific names and faces in mind. It's still imperative to be aware.

The more she sees of Baedal, the less she likes it.

Comments

[23rd]

"Yet." She sounds confident, which -- it's hard to tell if it's an affectation, Laura could very well be the type to bluster because she's a bit Alpha Female, but there's a stark honesty to her that belies that.

She climbs up on the railing and balances precariously on her feet, crouched, like she's ready to launch herself off. It used to drive people crazy at the school when she'd do that, but her balance is good and she suspects Steph isn't like that.

"Do you want to?"

[controlledvariable]

Affection or not, it makes Steph smile, "I hope you're right."

"Sure. I'll race you there?" She barely even registers the fact Laura is perched precariously on something, Steph hangs out with Robins. She also isn't bothered by the fact she only vaguely knows where the pools are, she's confident she can keep up in a race anyway.

[23rd]

The look on Laura's face cannot accurately be described as a smile, but her severity softens enough to imply that -- that's as far as she gets, most of the time, the last time she tried to smile it was actually kind of terrifying.

"Yes." Without any further ado, she leaps off and makes a run for it, heading southwest, towards Sobek Croix. It's hard to keep track of her for long, she blends in so seamlessly in crowds when she wants to, and she's quick, quicker than even someone of her size has any right to be.

[controlledvariable]

Steph's only moments beyond; she'd expected Laura to take off as soon as she'd replied. There's no point trying to keep track of Laura, so she just heads in the same general direct, figuring she can find Laura again once they get closer to the pools and in a less populated area.

She'll goes up instead of down, she doesn't want to draw too much attention to herself and anyway, rooftops are what she's used to. It's easier for her to travel quicker this way.

[23rd]

No one pays much attention to one running girl -- although a few passersby who manage to catch a glimpse of her probably vaguely think that she's running from the law, which is kind of funny -- and Laura is surprisingly well-versed in the smaller side streets and back ways even though she doesn't come here often. Her memory is more or less perfect; if she's been there once, she remembers it.

Anyway, she has a good sense of direction.

The moonpools deep within the forested areas of Sobek Croix are much harder to spot at this time of day than they would be at night when they glow, but there's a slight difference between them and ordinary ponds to anyone who is observant enough -- like both of them are. Laura has the advantage of having been here before, though not often. Sobek Croix is Hellsing territory and she's not sure how she feels about them.

She's not anywhere to be found by the nearest set of them. At least, not if anyone's looking ground-level; she's treed herself.

[charismatic]

Will frowns at the small collection of wallets he's holding. It's probably not as easy to return things to their owners here as it is at home. He supposes he could try the cohort post thing again and see if he can locate who these belong to, if nothing else. “Sorry to bother you,” he says, mostly because she doesn't really seem like she wants to be talking to him. But he's already there and pestering her, so he might as well see if she has any better ideas before he either leaves or finds someone else to ask. “But do you know if there's any other way to find out who these belong to?”

[controlledvariable]

Once she's nearer the forest, Steph has to get down to street level too - it's harder to run across the rooftops of single houses - and she gets a lot more looks than Laura does. It's easier again once she's in the forest, now she just has to make sure not to trip over tree roots or anything.

Searching for the moonpools requires her to slow down a little, but she makes her way to the first set. For a brief moment as she catches her breath, she hopes she's beaten her, but quickly dismisses that as highly unlikely, considering how fast Laura is compared to her.

"Laura?" She wonders if she's jumped into the pools, and steps closer to peer over the edge of the nearest one.

[23rd]

Suddenly: "Hi."

Death from above, mutant edition.

(She does like areas like this -- the wooded parts of Baedal. They're pretty and they make her feel safer than the more densely populated urban and suburban areas -- the Northern Woods are better because there's barely ever anyone out there, but generally speaking the forested areas in the city limits proper are also safer. Less chance of encountering stray fog monsters.)

[23rd]

"No." After a moment, she adds, "Is there a name?" People in Baedal use their CiDs as identification rather than license cards, but it's generally a good idea to have your contact information in your wallet anyway, in case it gets lost or stolen -- at least, that's probably how normal people think. She wouldn't know; she would never want anyone to be able to connect her to her things, in case they use it to track her down and attempt to murder her, but not everyone is so paranoid as Laura.

[controlledvariable]

Steph is used to be snuck up on, so a brief moment of tensing is the only reaction she shows before looking up at Laura, "You won."

Steph hasn't had much of a chance to explore the forest areas; the urban areas are her main focus for now because it's where she'll be spending most of her time. That, and she has a bit of an instictual Gothamite reaction to densely forested areas -- they contain nasty things like Poison Ivy.

[charismatic]

Oh. He probably should have thought of that. He'd just assumed people used the CiDs for that purpose and Will's not in the habit of carrying a wallet at home. He just got one here, for all the coins. He's not really used to physical currency. It feels strange to dig through other people's belongings, too, but that's the only way anyone is getting theirs back. “There are in a couple of these,” he says after a moment. “Not all of them, though.”

[23rd]

"Ask the network," she suggests after a few moments of thoughtful silence, and it comes out nearly a question, like... maybe? Yes? Is that the right thing to do? Possibly? That is the extent of her usefulness -- Laura will stop pickpockets and purse snatchers, half on instinct, and then when she's won, she won't know what to do with the stolen stuff. She'd be inclined to just leave it there, which sort of defeats the purpose of stopping thieves to begin with.

God only knows what she does with cats stuck in trees.

[23rd]

She climbs down to the lower branches, although she stays in the tree, her combat-boot-clad legs dangling over a couple feet over the ground. It's quiet out here, although even from this distance she can pick up normal city sounds from nearby buildings in this canton, and a little chilly. "They glow at night," she says, presumably of the pools -- they're pretty even by day, they have a sort of milkiness as luminescent things tend to in the light. In the dark, it's better.

Harder to find, though.

[controlledvariable]

Steph walks over to lean back against the trunk of the tree Laura is in, so she can talk to Laura and look at the pools.

"I've heard you can go swimming in them, but it looks kind of daunting."

[bangyoudead]

Remy doesn't track Laura - he can't - and when he looks for her it's not exactly manhunting, either. If she doesn't want to be found, he's not going to find her, but he knows a thing or two about her habits and preferences, by now.

Still, it's mostly coincidence that some guy ends up sailing headfirst off a building into a dumpster at around midnight in Aspic. Remy was just hanging out up here, jeez. Go try and pick somebody else's pocket. (Or.. go to a hospital now that you've been thrown off a building, whatever.) He peeks over the edge of the rooftop to check for signs of life, and is greeted with a few club-goers on their way down the street at the end of the alley shouting at him. A brief incredulous exchange occurs, after which apparently they decide this weirdo on the roof with faintly glowing eyes was just doing his civic duty, and they move on.

Remy laughs to himself and goes back to the other side of the roof, to nab the cigarette he'd put down on the ledge.

[23rd]

Laura stops where she is when she sees some guy come flying off a building, an eyebrow quirking upwards when he lands only a couple feet to her left. She can guess what happened there, and it only takes a moment of catching the scent on the wind to know who it was.

She doesn't bother seeing if the guy is okay -- she doesn't care, he almost certainly deserved it -- but she does stop and stare at him while he hauls himself out and goes slinking off when he doesn't get any sympathy. The rest of the people milling around don't even see her there, and she makes it a point to keep it that way as she climbs up the side of the building away from the street. It's not a big deal if people see her, certainly weirder things happen every hour in Baedal than some goth chick scaling buildings, it's just a habit of hers to not be noticed.

Result: she pops up seemingly out of nowhere, her hands in her pockets. "Hi."

[23rd]

"They are deeper than they look."

Laura is not a huge swimmer -- she sinks in water, you only have to drown once before you decide you hate it -- but she likes to look at them. Sometimes she even puts her feet in, she is super adventurous.

[controlledvariable]

"I can handle deep. I'd be more worried about monsters."

Because they're in Baedal :|

Steph can swim, and she kind of enjoys it, but it's not really a popular pasttime for Gothamites so she hasn't had a huge amount of experience.

[23rd]

Laura leans forward, peering into the water -- there's nothing visible to human eyes and even her enhanced sight, smell and hearing don't pick up on anything. That doesn't mean anything; water muffles sound, there could be something deeper there where even she can't sense it.

"I don't think there are many."

... 'many'. Thanks, Laura, that's reassuring!

[controlledvariable]

"I think I might pass on going for a dip, then." Fish are kind of creepy in her general, she doesn't want to imagine what's lurking in the waters of Baedal. Not that it stopped her jumping in the river, but that was for survival purposes, "I'd rather not become dinner for some creature."

[charismatic]

Hopefully something that involves no claws on either side.

“That's a good idea,” Will says, and his instinct is to try to sound encouraging, even though that doesn't make sense. There's just something in her tone that makes him want to reassure. Oh, right. He juggles his handful of wallets around – maybe he should just shove them in his bag. He's still getting used to carrying one around. It's probably a better place for his own wallet too. Anyway. Once he's done shoving everything into his messenger bag, he straightens up and offers the girl a hand. “I'm Will,” he says. “Sorry for just dropping random questions on you.”

[bangyoudead]

"Hey, petite." Of course he isn't surprised. (Sometimes he is - sometimes he jumps nearly out of his skin, but this time he expected her. So there.) "Out enjoyin' the nightlife?"

Sure, that's totally what she was doing.

[23rd]

"No." No you're not enjoying it or no that's not what you're doing, Laura? The world will never know, because she doesn't dwell on the subject. Sad.

She glances back down at the street where people have long since dispersed before crossing the distance between them and standing next to him. "What are you doing?" Is it something useful, can she help -- is it going to be something with action because she's still all angry nerves, hours after watching at the Arena.

[23rd]

There's a pause as she looks at his hand like she's not sure what to do with it, and -- right. Yes, shaking hands. Years later, she's still not in the habit of doing that, so when she puts her hand into his her grip is a little unsure, which... to be strictly fair is partially because she doesn't want to apply too much pressure and break all his bones. You're welcome, Will!

"I'm Laura. It is all right." Not that she's a huge help, but...

[23rd]

"Okay." It's really hard to tell when Laura is feeling anything, she looks about the same whether she's happy or angry or bored, but it seems like she's amused right now. She picks up a little pebble and tosses it into the pond, watching as it makes pretty, vaguely shiny ripples.