1793/Genoshan Sundown

Genoshan Sundown
Date of Scene:	04 August 2017
Location:	Genosha
Synopsis:	Summary needed
Cast of Characters:	Sabretooth, Blink

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Sabretooth has posed:
Genosha.

Sure, it's an economically impoverished island that was largely reduced to rubble. Sure, the island is a geopolitical hotspot for potential terrorist action. And sure, it would only take a slight spark to start yet another bloody war that would decimate the island. But sitting on the calm, warm beaches of Hammer Bay, it's almost possible to forget the island's many problems and see it as the tropical paradise that it really is.

It helps if you're halfway through your third bottle of whiskey, which Sabretooth definitely is. His enormous clawed hands wrap around a whiskey bottle the way most men's hands wrap around a beer bottle. He's also drinking the whiskey the way most men would drink their favorite fizzy yellow concoction. But the whiskey only seems to be helping him stay mellow, and his cat-like eyes are as clear as ever.

"Damn. This Genoshan tobacco is garbage..." Puffing on a giant, slightly misshapen cigar, one might think that Sabretooth was the world's biggest baller. However, Genoshan tobacco isn't exactly a coveted export. Still, it'll have to do, even if Sabretooth reflexively turns up his nose with each puff. "Wait... is this... is there SEAWEED in this?"

With a look of disgust, he puts the cigar out on his bare chest. 'Bare' in the sense that he's not wearing a shirt, but he's almost hairy enough to not even need one. He doesn't seem to register the pain as he leans back in his beach chair. Indeed, the giant cigar burn starts to disappear almost immediately.

Blink has posed:
It's her favourite spot to return to, that remote beach in Hammer Bay. Swimming, practicing, friends and laughter. It's all happened on that very beach, at least to the young mutant called Clarice. Which is probably why a tear in the fabric of space forms only ten feet from where Victor lounges, and maybe eight feet up. High enough that most folks wouldn't have to worry about the edges of her portal. And from this mysterious rent drops the girl herself, landing in the sand with a soft -thump!- of simple soft leather boots.

Having been out 'shopping', the young mutant's wearing dark green skinny jeans and a plain black tee. Both of which look a little damp from wherever it is she's just come from. For the moment, her back's to the big man as she checks her aquisitions.

"Me, me, me, Mister Creed, Mister Creed, me, me. All there!" Her bright grin is unfeigned, another successful trip off the island and back, and no one's the wiser!

Sabretooth has posed:
No one's the wiser, indeed. Other than the man with heightened senses who has been looking for her for more than an hour.

"Seems I remember a certain young lady makin' a solemn promise not to run away again." He doesn't turn his head when she teleports into existence behind him, or really offer any reaction at all. It's almost as if he knew exactly where she would materialize when she finally came back from... wherever it was she took off to.

"Course, it's possible I'm misrememberin' the actual wordin' of the promise. What with me gettin' old, and all." There's no anger in his voice, and there's not really even any disappointment. If anything, there's a subtle undercurrent of sarcasm mingled with... concern? It's certainly not something that anyone else on the entire planet would expect to hear in his voice, that much is certain.

With a disdainful flick, the cigar disappears into the ocean, where it will almost certainly kill any fish that get within a few hundred feet of it. Seriously, Genosha really needs to step up its tobacco game while there are still smokers left on the planet.

Blink has posed:
Blink winces, turning slowly with a large paper bag held in both hands against her chest. The man really /did/ seem to get everywhere. But then, that's one of the things that she admired about him. Being able to read his quarry and know exactly where they were going to jump. It was something she still had to work at.

"I didn't /run away/. I went shopping." She answers with typical teen pedantry. "And Magneto said that going out was okay, so long as I was careful..." Did she just scuff her boot in the sand? How was it he could still make her feel like a little girl with her hand in the ration box... Time for distraction! Closing the distance, she reaches into the bag.

"I even got you some things, bottle of whiskey from Scotland..." She can't pronounce the name, some Glen or other, the price had certainly made it /seem/ a good brand. And it says twelve years on it... Shrugging she holds out the bottle. But that's not likely what will catch his attention... There's a smell in the bag. A quality tobacco sort of smell. "And I got you something speciaaal..." The purple mutant's face is set in that pure blase grin... Whilst internally she's silently praying this works.

Sabretooth has posed:
The smell that Blink gives off when she teleports is strong enough to futz with Sabretooth's senses, at least for a few seconds. But as it rapidly fades, some other scents start to work their way into the warm beach air.

Sniffing a few times, Sabretooth raises one of his thick blond eyebrows in surprise. "Santo Marco? But they haven't had enough rain for a crop in almost five years. Which means... you had to have gone..." Sniffing again, Sabretooth's slight grin of surprise slowly morphs into a frown. Turning his head to the right, he's able to get a good look at the closest thing he has to a daughter, out of the corner of his cat-like eyes. "Scent's unmistakeable. You've been to Madripoor." The way he says it, it's clear that it's on the list of places he definitely doesn't want her going. "You know what they do to mutants that get caught in Madripoor? Especially the girls."

Blink has posed:
"Maybe I just found someone who had?" Her wide eyed, open palmed (at least one of them) innocent look doesn't seem to have any effect on the older mutant. Clarice's breath comes out in a whoosh as she gives in. "Okay, /fine/. But I was only there for minutes! Well... Quarter of an hour. But that's because I only had photos! You /know/ it's more difficult then." She's pacing now, gesturing with her free hand - small footprints left in the sand.

"And we missed your birthday because you were off on some mission or other, so it had to be a /perfect/ gift!" She turns, pulling out a foot long box of polished mahogany. The scent of the tobacco growing infinitely stronger as she does. One thumb does it's best to hide the Chancellor's seal imprinted on one corner.

"Why don't you give the lid a lift?" Her voice is small, head bowed in what he'll hopefully take as submission on her part. Nervously, the young Brotherhood member worries at her lower lip, hoping he doesn't notice that one lock of shorter hair on her head...

Sabretooth has posed:
"Damn it... I know I oughta give you a scoldin'...." Slowly, the cross look on Sabretooth's face melts away, replaced by a grin that's wide enough to show off his extremely sharp canines. It's a terrifying thing to behold, Sabretooth's smile. Unless you grew up with it, that is.

He sits up in his folded-out beach chair, and swings his legs over one side. Even sitting, he's nearly as tall as she is. He sets the bottle down with the rest of the empties, and lifts the lid with one of his claws, leaving scratch marks on the mahogany despite his best attempts to be gentle. His claws cut through pretty much everything these days...

"Wow. I ain't had a cigar from Santo Marco since the Brotherhood occupied it. Really brings back memories." Most of Sabretooth's memories involve bloodshed, even the ones triggered by the smell of cigars. Fortunately, he doesn't say which memories are brought back...

"A few puffs from one of those, and I'll stink up the whole island. Magneto will have to declare another state of emergency." The idea seems to tickle his fancy, and he nods to the space next to him. Folded out, the chair is basically long enough to serve as a bench, as long as nobody tips it over.

Blink has posed:
Clarice lets out a breath she hadn't realised she'd been holding, peeking up in time to catch the nod. That had gone better than she'd expected so it's with a light step that the portaller makes her way over to plonk down onto the chair.

"So where've you been Mister Creed?" She's already pre-emptively plucking one of the cigars and handing it to him, her own fingers having no problems with not destroying the beautiful wooden box. "I mean, it's been /weeks/. I've had to find my own training!" And hadn't that been /fun/!? She's back to grinning smiles again, the scent of orange blossoms and amber filling the space around her. "I might've even missed ya a bit." She adds it like an afterthought, her soft Barbadian accent keeping it light. The closest they get to open affection.

Sabretooth has posed:
As he takes the cigar, Sabretooth is careful not to tear it, or the pink hand that's offering it to him. If literally any other person saw how delicately he behaves around her, they'd think he'd been replaced with a Skrull.

Tucking the cigar between his fingers, he holds it up under his nose and takes a whiff. The look on his face tells everything: she chose wisely. "I missed you too, kiddo. One of these days I'm going to have to retire and open up a bait shop here on the beach."

He bites off the end of the cigar, and spits it out into the ocean. The water is starting to get closer to his chair with each new incoming wave, and soon Blink will have to buy a new pair of boots if she's not careful.

"But you know I can't tell you where I've been. The kinds of things I've gotta do to keep you safe... I'd rather you never had to think about it."

Blink has posed:
"Yeah... About that..." Clarice's gaze flicks up to his face, teeth worrying at her lower lip in indecision. On the one hand, this was pretty important to her. But on the other, he really did look happy with the cigar. After a few moments, she decided he /did/ have the whole box.

"The more I get out and about, the more I hear people say things that the Brotherhood have done." Her eyes drop to soft leather boots, briefly guaging the tide - before she starts to tug one boot from her bare foot.

"And I know it's /crazy/ to believe them. I mean, like you said..." The freed boot now gets dropped onto the chair behind her. "You said that it's all goverment spin, media bias. I get it, I know." The other boot is tugged from her foot, bare pinky-purple toes wiggled into the sand. Her green painted nails glistening softly.

"But... Well there's videos on the net. And they look pretty real..." Her tone drops, worry and doubt clouding the teens face. "You didn't do that stuff right? I mean you /couldn't/ have done all of it. Right?" That's not what she'd been /going/ to say... Not really. But there it was, out there. And she realises she's blushing a deep plum, cheeks burning with embarrassment at having even asked.

Sabretooth has posed:
Internally, Sabretooth is glad that he's got a cigar to light. It gives him a bit of time to think before answering a question. She's a smart kid, and it's only a matter of time before she starts questioning the white lies he's told her to keep her from leaving the island.

"Thing you've gotta realize, Squirt, is that a lot of the things that people say about the Brotherhood are true. From THEIR point of view, anyway. We're in a war, and there ain't any good guys and bad guys in war. There's just winners and losers." Silently, Sabretooth curses Magneto for allowing MeTube on Genosha. What happened to all the Genoshan propaganda?

The cigar takes a minute to light, but when it does thick clouds of smoke start pouring from Sabretooth's mouth and nostrils. Almost thick enough to choke a donkey. He seems to be fine.

"But when you hear those things, or see those videos, you've gotta remember what it is we're fighting for. Do you know how many mutant women and children are on Genosha? Just imagine what would happen to them if we don't fight our hardest. You remember what it was like when the humans ran this island, right?"

Blink has posed:
"Yeah, I remember." Blink's voice is small. It's not like she could ever forget, what with seeing the criss crossed scars on her back in the mirror every morning. Let alone the needle marks from the 'enhancement' treatments.

"That's what I tell people. I say, Magneto's a visionary. He /saved/ us, libarated even. We fought as hard as anyone else that day." It wasn't the first day she'd killed with her dispersion waves. But it was the first day she'd done it /on purpose/. Even the memory made her stomach threaten to rebel. And yet as she swallowed, she knew she'd do it again if she had to. Never again would she be caged.

"You're right, I know. Thank's Mister Creed, you always know just what to say." If she believes a little too easily? Well for one, it's easy to believe what we /want/ to believe is true. And two, she also remembers who broke through the door to her cell. Who saved her from the evil minded men with the whips and control collar shock buttons. The very same man that sat next to her now.

Sabretooth has posed:
She might believe him a bit too easily, but that's only because Sabretooth has spent the past few years trying to protect her as much as possible from the harsh realities of the world. She'd had enough 'harsh realities' as a young girl, after all. But her naïveté isn't going to last forever, and Sabretooth is already bracing himself for the day when she decides to see the world completely on her own.

He's a bit dismissive of her thanks, however. "It's amazin' how much wisdom you get when you're older'n Magneto. But one of these days you're gonna have questions that I'm not gonna be able to answer. When that happens, I just want you to promise me one thing..."

He inhales deeply from the cigar, and exhales through his nose, pointing his nostrils away from Blink, of course. Putting an arm around her pink shoulders, he looks down at her with a smile that's almost... paternal?

"Promise me you won't ever go to Madripoor on your own again."

Blink has posed:
Really? He's going to use /that/ sort of misdirection? It's almost as if he thinks she won't remember the training on 'interrogation techniques'. She's pretty sure despite the harshness of the lesson, he'd left a lot of even worse stuff out.

"You could'a just asked." Her barbadian accent warms the words somehow, a trick of the accent; "I promise I won't go to Madripoor again Mister Creed. But you promise me, when I've got those questions. You don't let me get away alright? Not stay away I mean." Because somehow, she suspects her temper might get in the way of reason if something that even he wouldn't talk about happened.

And this is when Clarice retreats behind that old Blase Grin. Bright and beaming it's directed at the worried old man in a young man's body. "I bet I can freak you out even more than Madripoor..." It's almost a sing song voice, purposely light. "I had a sorta-daaate!" Her cheeks flush a soft plumb, but the grin remains!

Sabretooth has posed:
"Nope! Nope nope nope! I'm gonna cut you off right there..." It's all that Sabretooth can do to keep from covering her mouth with his hand. If he didn't have a cigar burning in his hand, that might have been exactly what he did.

Despite his emphatic rejection of her announcement, he doesn't look like he's really all that serious. She's legally an adult, and he has to know that she's going to date every now and then.

"I appreciate the uh... transparency. But there are some things that I'm gonna be much happier just not knowing about. So maybe I don't need an update on your romantic situation until you're thirty. Or until you're getting married. Whichever comes first."

He takes his arm away, and takes a few more puffs from the cigar. It's the perfect compliment to the whiskey he's been enjoying the past few hours.

"Besides... I can promise you that you don't want to compare romantic notes with Ol' Mister Creed. My sex life is downright disgusting."

Blink has posed:
"Lalalalalala!!" Twin pink hands cover elfin ears as he starts talking about sex. Only when his lips are closed around the hogie does she take her hands away. "I do /not/ want to have /that/ talk with you thank you very much!" She can /feel/ the heat radiating from her cheeks. Goodness knows how far the blush goes at this point.

Another quick topic change, that's what she needed. Aha! Yes!. "Sooooooo, /anyway/! I've met this girl, she's got some power control issues and needs someone to spar with that won't get hurt." The girl smiles up at the closest thing she'll have to family in this lifetime. "Think you could help us out? I said I'd go on a few patrols with her in Gotham, but only after we'd practiced together first."

Only at that point does she stop for breath. But only for half of one, as she rushes to add; "See? Totally repsonsible! Training first, butt kicking later." And whilst she's been talking? Well there's a can of cherry soda in her hand, fetched from the paper bag. Pulling the ringpull with a sharp 'hiss' she adds finally; "I've been getting better at accuracy too..." A beat, "Soaked a group of mutie haters with their own soda cans." Her grin is genuine now... Their faces!

Sabretooth has posed:
"Heh. Figured." That's one way to keep your kids from giving you a heart attack: Just remind them that you're still 'dating.' The look on her face was definitely worth whatever psychological trauma he's just inflicted on her. After all, she started it.

He gets very slightly more contemplative when considering her request. Sure, getting fried by some new mutant isn't exactly his idea of fun. But... it DOES sound like it's important to his 'daughter.' "I guess I can help you girls out. I'd rather have you sparring with me than some slack-wristed Gothamite, and the last thing your 'friend' needs is to get bad advice." From the way he says the word 'friend', it's clear that he thinks her friend is the person she went on a 'sorta-date' with. It's impossible to tell whether this makes him more or less relieved not to have to hear any details.

"Just be careful patrolling in Gotham. Everybody there has an exploding whoopie cushion."

Blink has posed:
It is clear what he thinks the 'friend' means. And that makes her blush all over again; "/Different/ friend Mister Creed..." It's almost squeaked, and there's a good few seconds after where all the swallowing in the world doesn't seem enough to clear the lump in her throat.

"This friend is called Dana, she was a human, then stuff happened that's left her a shape shifter." The intricacies of the situation don't really matter. "She doesn't want to really /hurt/ people, her reaction when I tried to tell her sometimes it was neccessary... Well I think she's going to be more Batman than Deadpool if you understand me." It's unclear whether Clarice thinks this is a good thing, or a bad thing. Maybe because she's not sure herself.

"As for patrolling in Gotham, I already took out a weapon smuggling group with Nighthawk the other week." There's a slow count of five as that hangs in the air; it might be that she realises the blunder as she quickly rallies to the defensive. "Hey, I /said/ I had to find my own training! He's pretty good in a one on one. But he'd have had his head blown off by a sniper if I hadn't stepped in." She taps a finger to her nose. "Always look /up/. I remembered see?"

Sabretooth has posed:
The look on Sabretooth's face is pretty close to being one of abject horror. He probably wishes that she'd talk about her dates instead. Most fathers would probably freak out after hearing that their daughter had put herself in a sniper's crosshairs, but Sabretooth is able to take a deep breath and try to think what he'd want 'his' dad to say in this situation. It's not an easy mental exercise, but he gets through it.

"Sometimes I really wish you weren't too old to ground. But, hell, even when you weren't too old to ground, you were still damn near impossible to ground. So I'm gonna try and be supportive here, because I really do want you to learn how to protect yourself, even if it means you've gotta put yourself in a little bit of danger."

It was hard to say, but it's obvious from his tone of voice that he meant it. "BUT... just remember one thing when you're out there stretching your wings: If anything ever happens to you, I'll kill every man, woman, and child within a thousand mile radius of where you got hurt."

It's obvious from the tone of his voice that he meant THAT as well.

Blink has posed:
Well /that/ worked. But, he wouldn't, would he? Clarice decides not to take that risk. "I'll remember, I promise." There's a moment's hesitation, and then the teen leans to the side, resting her head on his upper arm. As far as she reaches on him.

"I /am/ careful though, you know? I mean, I've /seen/ what happens when I'm not..." Best to brush over that one quickly. Plenty of worries already on deck as it was. "You've trained me, ever since you got me out Mister Creed. I'm ready to get my feet wet, you know?" She's /eighteen/ after all. Totally an adult!

"You've gotta be careful too though you know. Because dropping those AIM commanders through those jet engines is /nothing/ compared to what I'll do to avenge you Mister Creed." Perhaps in all his teaching her, just a little of his killer instinct had been imparted as well. If the soft growl to her voice is anything to go by.

Sabretooth has posed:
It's true that Sabretooth is a pretty dangerous guy. Still, if the bad guys of the world have anything to fear, it's probably from an unhinged Blink. Sabretooth has never teleported anyone's body parts to the Moon, and isn't likely to start now.

"Can't tell you how much I appreciate the sentiment, little one. But if somethin' ever happens to me, I can almost guarantee that I deserved it. So don't waste too much time avengin' me when I'm gone."

He takes another puff from his cigar. It's well-rolled, and will probably last for at least an hour. Plenty of time to hang out on the beach, and possibly watch the sun set.

"Well... Maybe just a couple of weeks. We can't let 'em off too easy, right?"

Blink has posed:
"A couple of weeks is all I'll need." Because when you can effective open a window into anywhere, there's nowhere you can't go. At least that's the idea. "So is there anything you've been doing you /can/ talk about? Seems we're kinda stuck on me saying what I've been doing, and you telling me I shoudn't'a done it." It's not a petulant voice /exactly/, Blink didn't /do/ sulky. Not /really/.

Her feet come up off the sand when it becomes obvious they're in it for the long haul. They'd still be able to walk off the beach even with the tide in here, so whilst she makes herself comfortable, she asks; "Meet anyone I might have heard of even? I mean, did you see anything interesting you can tell me about without saying /where/ it is?"

Sabretooth has posed:
"Let's see... stuff that ain't classified and also won't give you nightmares..." Sabretooth looks over his shoulder at the girl who's resting on his arm. There's a twinge of nostalgia as he notices just how much higher she comes these days. She really is all grown up, and he missed way more of it than he ever wanted to. Of course, when he met her she was the last thing he thought he needed in his life.

"I had to go to New York for an old friend's birthday... but you don't wanna hear about that..." Yes, definitely not that story. "I did a little bit of cage fighting not long ago, trying to find some recruits. Actually met this crazy frail with mirror eyes... "

On and on he goes, giving a slightly edited account of the past few weeks. She might be an adult, but she's still too young to hear the R-Rated version of the story. So he sits there with her, smoking, drinking, and most of all talking. After all, it won't be long before she's way too busy to catch up with her old man, and then all he'll have is the memories of days like this, watching the sun go down with the closest thing he's got to a daughter.