12259/A Walk in the Park with Fuzzy and Light

A Walk in the Park with Fuzzy and Light
Date of Scene:	28 September 2020
Location:	Bushwick (Mutant Town), Brooklyn
Synopsis:	Incidental dates in Bushwick are a Walk in the Park
Cast of Characters:	Nightcrawler, Dagger

---

Nightcrawler has posed:
    It's a beautiful, if warm fall afternoon in New York City, and on the edge of Bushwick, Maria Hernandez park offered the backdrop of some foliage and greenery in the city.

    Mind, at the *edge* of Bushwick, it's also a place that some folks like to pile on some hate. At a former STEM school across the way, someone was busy spouting out anti-mutant rhetoric in the afterwards of Magneto's re-appearance, holding signs with 'ALL MUTANTS WILL BURN', surrounded by crosses and scripture.

    It didn't precisely sit well with Kurt, whose frown was palpable around him as his tail curls, his demonic visage watching him use out-of-context scripture to condemn and encourage hate.

    Kurt himself was... himself. He wore jeans and a T-shirt under a light jacket. He had a canvas shopping bag looped over one arm.

Dagger has posed:
"You know." Is Tandy's voice from behind him as she reaches out to slide her arms around his waist from behind, leaning in to give him a hug. "That guy is a moron. I am sure only a couple of mutants have fire powers. Just shows how ignorant he is and has no clue how to Google."

The blonde haired, blue eyed angel of light gives him another squeeze before she lets him go. "Do you want me to blast him? I can hit him from here. I even got a sweet curve to it now." She says as she gives a wiggle of her fingers, causing them to light up.

Nightcrawler has posed:
    Kurt gives a slight smile as Tandy gives him a hug from behind, and his ears darken a little.

    "Ah, Miss Bowen, imagine seeing you here! It's almost as if I sent a message out into the world saying 'allo! I am in Brooklyn today!'" Kurt lilts gently, before motioning with his hand across the way.

    "The gentleman you see is full of a different darkness, one that consumed him, but he is not yet lost. He is scared, but comfortable in his ignorance. /And/ using the wrong psalm for what he's trying to get across." he gives a small smile, and as if to stop her from actually launching light daggers at the protester, he takes the wiggling hand in his other hand.

    "But he has the right to speak his mind."

Dagger has posed:
Sliding her hand into his, Tandy curls her fingers around his digits as she leans into him from behind. She props her chin up on the top of his shoulder gently. "I was on my way to get some food and I saw you. Figured I'd stop by and say Hi."

Her other hand wraps around to settle about his stomach, narrowing her eyes at the man ahead. "My light does a lot more than just.. taser.. people. I can cure sickness, drugs .. poisoning.. fill someone up with hope again. My light can heal and not just hurt. I could give him a small blast and open his eyes a bit."

She tilts her head a bit to peek at him. "You want to get some food with me? I'm thinking street tacos .. or hot dogs.. or burritos. Whatever is cheap."

Nightcrawler has posed:
    "Far be it from me to tell anyone how to think, if they are not ready and open to change their mind, though I imagine if I could inspire hope with a touch?" he smiles, his hand squeezing at hers a moment. "I would have had far less students try to drop out of class!"

    He turns, the canvas bag over his arm as he considers, glancing about. "Well, I could do with something to eat -- but I must insist -- my treat." he states sternly, "While I understand that no woman these days needs anyone to pay for her meal, it simply wouldn't be the gentlemanly thing to do." he states, making a sweeping, playful bow!

Dagger has posed:
"You also know that I can only afford food if I'm looting bad guys." Tandy says with an amused smile to him as he bows before her. "But, yes, you can treat me to dinner, that's fine. It's a date." She says as she tips a wink to him. Her hand stops glowing after she gives a few wiggles of her fingers.

"Though, it would make me feel better to give him a little tiny blast." She mumbles gently in an amused noise in her throat as she bumps her shoulder into his. "So, what have you been up to lately? I've thought about you quite a bit."

"Not every day you meet handsome swashbuckling men who have a love of pirates and adventure."

Nightcrawler has posed:
    "No, it's not, we generally meet on Tuesdays, but the Large Russian Wrestling Club sometimes runs late." Kurt replies with a playful tone, offering his arm to her, polite and dandy as all get-out in spite of his casual clothes. His tail sways behind them.

    "Ah, mostly? Work. So much work. Running the occasional advanced swordplay lesson. Following up on a couple of leads -- ah! Just the other day I helped a young man scale a building quite quickly, after some Stark technology failed him."

Nightcrawler has posed:
    He turns to Tandy. "And of yourself, Tandy? Keeping out of too much trouble?"

Dagger has posed:
Curling her arms around the offered one, Tandy leans into him as they walk. "Um.. I'm .. always getting into trouble. Cloak and I's mission is never ending and we have a few more leads on whoever is stealing kids. I am hoping one day Cloak and I can have a normal life, but I doubt it. Not as long as there is so much evil in this world."

Squeezing his arm a bit closer, it's almost as if she is trying to absorb some comfort from the touch. It's most likely been awhile since she's had a proper hug at that. "Stark Trechnology failing? Is that even a thing? I thought that stuff was the best of the best. Batteries run out?"

Nightcrawler has posed:
    "Ah, a never-ending cycle." is all the reflection that Kurt offers, though it's apparent he doesn't precisely approve -- but it's not like there's any choise in the matter. He has his arm up as he walks, considering his words as he purses his lips.

    "Something like that." he replies, mysteriously as he guides Tandy through the park, pausing a moment to watch some teens play basketball with a little smile.

    "Would you even want to be normal, Tandy, if the opportunity arose?"

Dagger has posed:
"Yes, I would give anything to be normal again. To not have these powers that will one day burn me up from the inside and kill me. I would love to be able to go to college, go out with friends, enjoy some time on a beach maybe." Tandy says as she presses her lips together.

"But, I feel that I was given these powers for a reason and I can't simply ignore them, or those that need help. Not while I have them. I just .. keep hoping that maybe after we are done with our mission .. they'd go away."

"Yeah, right. I don't think.. that will happen either." She says as she brushes her hand along his arm gently. "And I feel bad for Cloak. We're bound together like a cord and he doesn't even have a body .. he can't eat .. touch people. It's not fair for him."

Nightcrawler has posed:
    "... but there is always another evil to fight." Kurt gives a small, sad smile, his other hand coming up to pet Tandy's hand as he exhales.

    "Always another turn, another who thinks he's got it figured out, or that she has the only answer. HIstory is full of them, but it does seem like there is an awful lot of them now, doesn't it?" he inquires.

    "It must be very lonely for Tyrone. I can certainly appreciate that I have opportunity; I grew up never feeling I was so different, in the circus, in the dark of Munich, but once a certain age comes about... heh. Even walking in a park, with a beautiful woman walking with me, is a luxury I did not imagine ten years ago."

Dagger has posed:
"I can see that." Tandy says in regards to Kurt's own history. "But, I don't see .. whatever everyone else sees when they look at you. I see you. The you that people are supposed to see. I also really like what I see." Sliding her hand down into his, she squeezes it tightly.

"I am all that Cloak has now. Without my light, he would starve and go insane, swallowing everyone around him. It is lonely for him. He could use some friends outside of me. Maybe a handsome swashbuckler who knows what it's like to be in his shoes?"

Giving him a grin, her shoulders lift upwards. "But yes, there will always be another evil to fight. It doesn't mean I won't ever have hopes and dreams to live something more mundane. I am homeless, living in a cold church. You get to go home to your big fancy school." She grins at him.

Nightcrawler has posed:
    "I doubt Cloak would find me nearly as engaging as you do." Kurt replies with a rueful smile, though his hand holds hers. "And I do not know exactly what it is to be in his shoes -- I have always been this way." He motions to his face with his free hand -- very nearly clocking himself in the head with the canvas bag, but his tail loops around the handle and grasps it just in time.

    And then... that last comment. His shoulders sag a moment, and he looks to her.

    "You do not have to live in the church, Tandy... I could... I could do /som,ething/ about that." he comments quietly.

Dagger has posed:
"It's okay. It keeps me grounded. I grew up rich and powerful in Boston. My mother is a famous actress. You'd know her too." Tandy says as she squeezes his hand. "Poor rich girl Tandy, ran away from home because her mother never loved her and her daddy left years ago. I could have lived in my mansion and continued to go to the top ballet school in the country and my prep school, but I wanted attention, the type that a mother could only give."

With a long sigh, she frowns visibly. "I ran away from home in hopes of getting her attention, thinking I could make it out on my own. Within a day my wallet was stolen and I was penniless on the streets of New York. I found Cloak.. Tyrone shortly after. He prevented me from being jumped by some jerks. Shortly after, we were kidnapped and put on a boat where they put experimental drugs in us. All the kids on Ellis Island died that night, all but us. Our powers erupted that night, nearly killing us both."

Giving a shake of her head, she sighs. "Tyrone was a poor kid from the streets. Before his powers, he couldn't talk without a bad stutter. He was a basketball prodigy, sought out by colleges, but he ran away from home when cops murdered his best friends, mistaken him for a thief and he was unable to shout out to stop them, to tell them they had the wrong guy."

Taking in a deeper breath, she swallows down her emotions. "That was the night Cloak and Dagger came to be. How our mission started."

Nightcrawler has posed:
    "... I can see why you feel so strongly for the children who were taken." Kurt replies gently, and he pauses a moment, leaning over the fence. He crosses his legs slightly. His face, usually cheerful, turns maudlin as he peers out over the city, and briefly the sunny afternoon turns to a rainy memory and a promise fufilled.

    "Perhaps, then, He has a plan for you beyond even this mission." he gives a small smile. "Why else could someone be awarded gifts such as yours that compliment so well?"

Dagger has posed:
"They aren't gifts if they will eventually kill us without the other. It has made Cloak and I co-dependent on each other, for the rest of our lives. When I grow old and die, he'll be left alone, to grow insane from the cold hunger. What kinda life is that? That's not a gift, Kurt. It's a tragedy." Dagger says with a frown. "But yes, that is why we feel so strongly about children. Adults can at least make decisions for themselves, but children who get roped into this life, stolen, sold .. "

Gritting her teeth, she leans in to squeeze Kurt's arm again for a moment. "That was us. Treated like rats to experiment on. I wouldn't wish that on anyone. The pain that we were in, watching those other kids die around us." Her face scrunches up. "I'll never forget their faces, their screams, the smells. It was terrible, Kurt."

Nightcrawler has posed:
    The faces. His face. The scream. The coppery taste of blood.

    Kurt's expression falters another moment.

    "You lived. You continue to be able to make choices with what to do with your abilities. That is a Gift, Tandy." he replies quietly, then turns to take both her hands in his.

    "While you live, then, there is time to find a solution. And you will have my help -- as much as I can help." the German mutant replies, and gives Tandy's hands a soft squeeze.

    "SO! Burritos? I think there is a good place around that side of the block that shouldn't look at me too strangely should I order. Their carnitas is very good!"

Dagger has posed:
As she listens to him, Tandy nods her head slowly, letting out another slow breath. She gives his hands another firm squeeze in return and says, "I don't know. Maybe one day I will see them as a gift. Perhaps the day I stop using them on bad guys."

"But, thank you, Kurt. For saying you will be there for me, and for Cloak. It means a lot that we have people like you in our lives." Glancing up at him, she blows some blonde hair away from her eyes, then steps in closer to him. She pulls his hands around her waist as she leans forward, looking to press her lips against his for a kiss.

"Burritos sound great."

Nightcrawler has posed:
    Blue Elf has Bluescreened.

    He seems a little bit surprised that someone put the moves on him (though, truth be told, he played with the idea before deciding against!), and as Tandy draws in for that kiss he stiffens, his eyes going wide in surprise -- and then lips touch. He reciprocates -- a little -- and his tail apparently has its own plan, and loops loosely around her knee.

    "Oh.. uh... well then..." he stammers. Speak, Kurt!

    "... do you like yours spicy?"

Dagger has posed:
"Yup."

Tandy reaches out to brush a hand along his chest for a moment, giving the fabric of his shirt a little tug before she leans back. Her blue eyes have a sparkle to them as she steps back, sliding her hand into his again as she gives it a gentle tug and leads him down the path towards burrito goodness.

"I like them really spicy. Covered in hot sauce, lots of cheese." Her hand tightens over his for another squeeze again, swaying them a bit. If people stare, she will revel in it. She's happy tonight.

Nightcrawler has posed:
    "Ah, luckily for you I am very cheesy then." he offers as a joke, though the fuzz on his tail is standing on end.

    .... let them stare.