13689/The Great Outdoors

From United Heroes MUSH
Jump to navigation Jump to search
The Great Outdoors
Date of Scene: 02 August 2021
Location: Campsites - Breakstone Lake
Synopsis: Logan lays a mystery at his clone's feet of Morlocks and missing children.
Cast of Characters: Wolverine, X-23




Wolverine has posed:
    The way fire crackles as the wood surrenders to the char of embers can be a lovely thing. Confined and restrained to a burnt kingdom behind small rocks in the circle of an old bonfire, the current camp blaze lends a hint of orange to the otherwise monochromes of the night. From off in the distance one can see it dancing, can see its reflection in the water trying to keep up but failing as the ripples in the lake ruin the shared rhythm.
    But the fire is not only a source of comfort and reflection for the man who built it as he sits there at the edge of the light it sheds. Oh it provides some heat against the faint chill of the night, but it also served as a beacon to draw a passerby that like the man seated there... has perhaps lost its way.
    "Go on, get." Logan's voice is gravelly, rough, a scowl is settled there on his face. He's seated on an old log in those work jeans he wears so often for when he's dealing with the landscape of the mansion. It's matched with the white t-shirt that is tucked into the waist of those jeans, and complemented by the brown cowboy boots on his feet. The fire before him continues to crackle even as the object of his command refuses to pay him any attention.
    For it is a goose. Canadian like the man there as well. And just like him they are both no good in the eyes of some people.
    "I'm serious, you got a long way's to go and this ain't your stop. Get."

X-23 has posed:
Two pinpoints of blue catch the firelight in the trees behind the campsite. Laura is expected. But stalking is as engrained in her bones as her gene donors' - her father or whatever you call him. Clone. Father is still not an easy fit for her; admitting the comfort it affords goes against the grain. So, she watches him and the silly goose and learns about a gentleness that she might possess as well.

Dressed for hiking in lace-up boots, olive drab cargo pants tucked into their tops; she comes out of the shadows with a jacket hanging over her shoulder on one thumb, a backpack slung over her other arm. Without a word, she seats herself a quarter of the way around the fire, careful not to unsettle the bird.

Wolverine has posed:
    The goose does look quite out of place. Standing there by the fire and occasionally grooming itself. It sometimes starts one of those wiggles at the tip of its bill that shakes all of its body along the line until its rear is wiggling and then it abruptly stops. The stop is, of course, punctuated by a 'honk', timed perfectly as if it were back-sassing the Canadian mutant.
    "You're off course, by a good hun'red miles or so."
    Another honk.
    But then the two of them turn their attention to the new arrival. Logan's nostrils flare slightly, taking in the scent of the moment, his own dark blue eyes settling on the younger gal version of himself. He lifts his chin. Acknowledgement. Then he looks over toward the goose.
    "Either this thing is lost, or it's one of the students shape-shifted."

X-23 has posed:
Laura sniffs instinctively, tracking a piece of fluff loosed by the butt waggle caught in an updraft from the fire. Animals of any kind mesmerize her - discovering another lost part of herself. "Dunno," she admits, leaning closer.

"Maybe it was raised by humans. It certainly made a mistake landing next to you," her eyes slide to his face to watch his reaction, expression neutral as one of the stones around the fire.

"It should be headed south, right?" Oh, she had read about birds and migratory patterns. She would read anything given to her in her former isolation, ravenously.

Wolverine has posed:
    A tilt of his head is given to signal his agreement with her statement. If there's anyone in the Xavier school that screams 'predator' it's likely him. A few could give him a run for his money, but no matter who it'd be a tight race. Though he doesn't often hunt gooses. Geeses. Gooselings.
    "Could be." He says, leaning forward as the avian seems set to make itself at home, squatting down and now biting at its feathers while the campfire continues to crackle nearby. Logan, for his part, leans forward to prod at some of the wood in the fire with a charred stick he'd been using for just such a purpose.
    Then without looking at her he changes the topic, offering his first sally as he murmurs, "So you back in town for a while or just passin' through?"

X-23 has posed:
A shoulder lifts in a laconic shrug, neither of them are talkers. The fire gives her complexion a reddish glow of health. "Stupid bird should be afraid of both of us. It had to have been raised by somebody." Laura settles herself more comfortably, legs crossed Indian style to watch him poke the fire higher.

Another shrug, this one with an echo of the teenaged girl she was never supposed to be. "Maybe. I haven't decided yet. Anything happening?"

Wolverine has posed:
    "Yup." The way he says that it might give one the idea that that's all he's going to say on the matter and just leave it at that. So the silence grows for a time even as the flames cast those curious shadows behind them, while the goose just tends to its feathers, groom-groom-groom.
    Until finally, If yer gonna be around there's a thing I'd aim you at." He then looks at her sidelong, down, then up again as if taking her measure all anew. "Something up with the Morlocks, could use someone they don't know."
    There's a beat, then he adds. "You know the Morlocks, right?"

X-23 has posed:
It's not as though he could out silence her, for all his wrinkles. Laura sneaks a glance up at him from under eyelashes while he does his silent bit, content to listen to the goose work its beak through its pinions. She rocks a bit in place and waits, fascinated by the shift of firelight iridesceing in the feathers.

Sitting a bit straighter, she shakes her head no. Not pretending to know something she doesn't. "I mean, I've heard of them. Don't /know/ any. Why?"

Wolverine has posed:
    A nod is given as Logan takes that opportunity to dig into the pocket of his jeans and finagle a cigar out of the depths. The stogey finds a place in the corner of his mouth as he leans there then eyes her sidelong while another flame from the end of a lighter is applied to the smoke. A few moments pass and then another tang of scent is added to the night even as he sets the cigar there and seems to forget about it.
    "Mutants who have a hard time making it on the up and up. Mutations more severe than most, or not exactly family-friendly. They'd take shelter in the sewers of New York. Since things got a bit better after the alien invasion thing, a fair number of them have gone main stream. But still, some are down in the depths."
    He takes a drag on the cigar, then exhales a puff of smoke out his nose as he makes a face. "There's been some shenanigans goin' on. Got word from one of their own that somethin' is up. Each time we head down there though, they get a heads up somewhere, somehow. Might be somethin' even you can't elude. But figure if you get the time..."
    He doesn't say the last bit, leaving it at that. But clearly wanting her to go take a look.

X-23 has posed:
A psychologist would admire his adroitness with Laura. Wild and skittish, still rebelling against the yoke of the people who 'raised' her, she doesn't take orders gracefully. But mutants in trouble is a good hook. A whiff of cigar smoke eddies her way, she wrinkles her nose and shakes her head.

"Yeah. Yeah? I hate that city. Like in the sewers? What kind of shenanigans?" The old fashioned word is as bad as his cigar smoke. She knows what he is up to but mutants making trouble or in trouble has a special appeal to her.

Wolverine has posed:
    Lifting his chin a little, Logan takes a breath and seems to hesitate. But then the next instant he brushes past whatever might have hindered or granted him hesitation and tells her, "Some children went missing a few weeks back. Police haven't turned anything up, no leads, or rather what ones they had ended in dead ends."
    He turns to look over at his cloneish descendant and murmurs, "Then one of the Morlocks came a'knockin', Marrow. Said there was somethin' goin' on back in her ole stompin' ground." He uncurls a hand. "Went down there to take a gander, but they got some... presence, some mutant or powered person that can shift perceptions. Illusions maybe. But figured with you being an unknown factor, mebbe you can get farther than we did. They might be lookin' for us. You... mebbe not so much."
    That said he shrugs and then leans forward to ash his cigar and idly press the toe of his boot into the dirt where the ashes fell.

X-23 has posed:
Laura's eyes glitter in the firelight, he has her attention now that murder is in the air. "Gone, huh?" She chews on that a moment, picking up a piece of kindling to poke the fire. Sparks disappear upward into thin air like the missing children.

"So, you've been down there? Know them, do you?" She nods her head to herself, "Did they smell you coming? Or have some kind of alarm?" She leans back as he leans forward, looking up into the darkness and the stars she can see through the circle of trees. "How old were the children?"

Wolverine has posed:
    "I took precautions, we tried several approaches." There's a shake of his head as he considers that, eyes flickering with that campfire's light. Then he turns his head to the side toward her, "No alarms that we could tell, no scouts, no spotters. And yet..."
    Clearly something had their number.
    "Eight, ten, and twelve." Answering her about their ages. The goose, for some reason, decides to honk in that moment, turning its head to them as it looks back and forth, then hisses as if warning them for whatever reason.
    Logan, for his part, scowls. Though that's not a rarity.
    "Anyways. Come up to the mansion, I'll give you the brief." He looks toward the school, visible from where they are, but only as a tower and the roof of the largest building. "You should check in with Jean though, let her know yer runnin' around."

X-23 has posed:
Logan has his progeny hooked. All the elements are there. Missing children plays to her developing empathy for others, touches the lingering resentment she holds for the innocence robbed from her. Difficult puzzles intrigue and excite her. There might even be a bit of one upmanship. She scowls a question at the goose, identical to her father without the cigar weighting down one side of her mouth.

"Yeah," she avows. "I haven't checked in. Didn't know if I'd be staying."

She gets to her feet and looks toward the school, lips pressed together as she considers the tower peaking above the trees. Then with a shrug, "That goose is weird."

Wolverine has posed:
    "Yup," Again the single word answer, then Logan makes a face. "Still, be nice, might be Mystique."
    The Canadian mutant pushes himself to his feet and then starts to walk down to the shore of the lake, his footsteps quiet. Impressively quiet this time of night, to be fair. Over his shoulder he says, "Lemme put this out, and we'll head on up."
    And with that he moves to put words to action.

X-23 has posed:
"Oh, yeah?" One blue eye closes in a wink, "Hey, Mystique!" She asks the retreating back of her father. "Does this mean she's been goosed?"