2150/Let Sleeping Tiggers Lie

Let Sleeping Tiggers Lie
Date of Scene:	25 August 2017
Location:	Woods outside Xavier Mansion
Synopsis:	Lexi comes to check on Tigger Momma, and finds Diya. This clears up a few things, and creates new problems. She calls in Yana.
Cast of Characters:	Okhotnik, Tendril, Black Rose

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Okhotnik has posed:
When Lexi finally returned to the spot near the hidden campsite where she had left her lovely tigger momma, she found something only mostly unexpected: the sleeping form not of a giant tigress, but of a naked Okhotnik, or Diya, her homeless Russian friend from Mutant Town.

Tendril has posed:
    At the time, Lexi is lugging a very full duffle bag back over when she returns, then slows as she sees who's lying where the tiger was sleeping, getting a low flush as she steps up closer. Diya is her friend, but...well, it's hard not to at least glance as she sets the duffel down quietly, then unzips it, before rummaging inside. Mind, most of the duffel is foodstuffs of various types. A LOT of ziplock bags.

    But she also brought something in case she was right...which is a soft, fluffy blanket, sage in color. She lets it unroll, then peers at Diya, before she decides to use her tendrils, four sprouting from her back, each one taking a corner as she very so gently lowers over her friend's nude form, letting it gently settle over her as she retracts her tendrils. Then finds a small boulder at the edge of the campsight to perch on, pulling her legs up to sit crosslegged as she patiently waits.

Okhotnik has posed:
The settling of the blanket does not awaken Diya. Despite being a hyperaware, hypervigilant vet with supersenses, she's freaking tired, and needs //some// sleep, so she is getting some and her body has erected a gentle 'do not disturb' over her senses. Lexi is no threat, after all, or so her instincts have decided.

A couple hours later, however, when the first rays of sunlight start breaking through the overhead canopy, the Russian vet stirs. A few minutes later, her eyes drift open, one hand splaying against the soft blanket. Her blanket was most definitely //not// that soft. And she can tell she's not nestled in her hollow under her tarp, either. Those hard green eyes sweep her surroundings, and alight on Lexi, perched on that boulder. A tightness forms there and her expression tightens as well, clearly not pleased.

"Vat are you doink here, Lex?" she questions, her Russian accent noticeably stronger as she shifts position. She doesn't have much body modesty, but she doesn't just throw the blanket away while looking around for the clothes she was wearing yesterday. Damn things are somewhere different every night, lately. There's little hope denying Mercy's suggestion; she definitely seems to be changing. But she still has no memories of her nights.

"You are supposed to be in your school, girl." Diya grumbles. Oh. There's the clothes.

Tendril has posed:
    The girl shrugs slighty, smiling. "Some things are more important than class. Besides, it's th' first day they've let me out of th' wellness center anyway. I already got makeup work either way." That is to say, it's all one more brick in the wall, and she don't need no education. Today, anyway.

    She watches softly, if a bit affectionately. Well. Now that she looks at Diya...she does sort of look like a mussed cat waking up. She idly play with some strands of her hair, the thin strands winding around her fingers slowly letting you get yourself back in order, before she decides to say something again.

    And perhaps not what Diya was expecting, either. "...do you remember last night, Hottie?"

Okhotnik has posed:
"Stop calling me that." Diya growls, as she drops the blanket and gets herself dressed, sliding into the old, broken down, worn out military surplus clothing. There's not a whit feminine in there, and she makes a point of checking the chamber and action on the pistol before tucking it all away under that olive drab jacket of hers.

"I remember getting back here about an hour before the sun started to set, patrolling around the fence. I remember getting tired, and coming close to the camp, figuring to rest for a few hours before a midnight patrol. Other than that, no. I don't remember last night." At least Diya doesn't bother to argue the point, or why Lex wants to know. And she doesn't interpret it as anything else.

"You OK?" Diya asks, eyeing the girl carefully. "You didn't get hurt, did you?" She hasn't said "I think I turn into a tiger at night," but she clearly thinks there's something to be worried about, here.

Tendril has posed:
    Those golden eyes twinkle a bit at the protest. "If ya told me your actual name, I'd use that." she says, perhaps unexpectedly. She -has- been really enjoying teasing her, but after finding out more, she feels...a bit odd calling her Hottie. Also, it's going to make her mind jump back to intitially seeing her now, and...uff. A change may be appropriate, she feels!

    "No." Lexi says immediately, then pauses. "Well yes, but I'm fine now, but no, not from you, ya didn't hurt me last night." She scratches her cheek a bit. "...um, kinda th' opposite, really."

Okhotnik has posed:
"I told you to call me Okhotnik." Diya offers, grumbling and shrugging her shoulders a bit. She seems relieved to hear that she didn't hurt Lex. "You got hurt, but I didn't do it. In fact, I helped, somehow?" How the Frell does a tiger heal wounds? Please, let the girl not be saying she afflected her. Diya well remembers that all of her various devastating wounds healed all too well after her attack. "I ... I take it, you saw?" she asks, softly, uncertainly. It's the most uncertain Lex has ever seen the Russian war veteran.

Tendril has posed:
    "Yes, but that's not cute or easy to shorten. Unless I use Hottie." She shrugs impishly, then slides off the rock. "No, it wasn't from anythin' ya did. I can tell ya 'bout it later, it's not important now." she says more seriously.

    She peers up at the taller woman. "I did see, yes." she says simply. "Actually, I met ya at night before too...I just didn't realize it was -you-." She pauses, then smiles at the other woman. "...yer a beautiful tiger, Okhotnik." she says gently. "I didn't realize it was ya, till last night when I found your camp here with some friends." Her nostrils flare, then she taps her nose. "I'm gettin' better at pickin' out scents with this...now I'm wonderin' how I didn't realize before. You smell like the tigress too. So did your clothes."

Okhotnik has posed:
"It means 'Hunter'." Okhotnik grumbles at Lex, sighing. Then she mutters something about 'arrogant monolinguistic imperials', mostly under her breath, while she checks her boots and finally stands to snap and dust out the blanket, then fold and finally roll it up quite neatly, then steps over to hand the tightly-bound roll to Lex.

"Well, at least the damned beast didn't hurt you. Small miracles." Diya offers, clearly not pleased about the tigress, but glad that Lex wasn't hurt. "I've had to get very good at understanding scents, as well. I was never as good as I have become." She sighs, and then sits back down in front of the tarp-covered hollow that was supposed to be her bed last night. "You'd best be careful with the damned tiger, Lex. It's very dangerous. I tangled with one and got mutilated. That's how I ended up like this, apparently."

Tendril has posed:
    The girl holds a hand up. "First, that's a gift, keep it." She makes a shooing motion to the blanket, then clasps her hands behind her back, following you over then seating herself across from you.

    And get a flush as you tell her to beware the tigeress. "Ah, well...secondly...she...really, really didn't seem like she was interested in hurting me, don't worry." Oh, this is TOTALLY awkward, but. "...I think she, um, thinks I'm her kitten, actually." The blush gets worse. "...she's mostly wanted to pin me and groom me so far."

    Lexi fidgets a bit. "Umm...thiiiiird....' she says, a bit more tenatively. "Do you...want to see her?: She tugs out her phone and waggles it slightly. "I...I took some pictures after you fell asleep as a tigger...er, a tiger." she corrects herself quickly.

Okhotnik has posed:
The Russian woman eyes Lex for a few moments, trying her best to keep an impassive face as her stomach growls voraciously and not subtly at all. But she seems to ignore it despite the noise. She does tuck the tightly rolled blanket into her little hollow, though, and then faces Lex.

"It ... what?" Diya queries, eyebrows raised, eyes wide. "Damnit." She really does seem upset by this; flummoxed, and upset. And the woman she would ask for advice is a good ways away. She can only hope that Mercy and her wolfen friends can help her. Or perhaps can manage to kill her. That would probably be best.

"I ... " Diya starts to answer, and then she shuts off whatever vulnerability was showing, shaking her head sharply. "No. No, I do not want to see it." Under her breath, she mutters something about 'foul beast'. "You shouldn't play with it, Lex. I wasn't kidding about the danger."

Tendril has posed:
    Lexi tilts her head, gold eyes narrowing slightly at the mutter, but in response to the tummy grumble, she sprouts a tendril from her back, the purple length curling around the duffel and picking it up to set beside Diya, before it retracts again. "I brought food." she says simply. "Eat something an' let me talk for a bit, okay? Cuz I need ta explain things, an' it'll go faster that way." She pauses, then say softly. "Ya trust me, don't you? Ya know I wouldn't lie to ya, or tell ya somethin' I don't believe. Not if it's important like this. So just...listen?"

Okhotnik has posed:
Diya's paranoia is a hard pill; she doesn't want to trust anyone, for fear of being betrayed (again). But after a long, long wait, she finally nods. "I believe that you believe." That's the best she can offer, right now. But offered a duffle full of food, she does not argue. She accepts, nodding, and opens it up to take a look inside. Clearly, much of what is in here was prepped for the cat; but she makes due, and starts eating slowly, trying not to interrupt.

Tendril has posed:
     Admittedly, the lion's share is for the big cat, but there's also a bundle of yesterday's lunch sandwiches and some water bottles and such. Lexi smiles a bit at Diya, then pulls her knees up against her chest, hugging them absently. "I ran into the tigeress last week for th' first time. She kinda scared th' crap outta me; you're a -really- big tiger. Stumbled over her eatin' a deer when I was practicin' climbin' out here. She chased me down an' I thought that was th' end, but she just...really gently pounced and pinned me." She's getting an embarrassed flush again as she remembers. "Then she just started purrin', all happy. And started lickin' and groomin' my hair until I calmed down." She looks down, a definite hint of embarrassement entering her voice. "It...it felt...really good. N-not just th' groomin'!" she quickly adds. "But, um..." She sighs out in a little huff. "I felt really, really safe. Like...like somethin' in me, like...instinct, had been waitin' for her...a momma cat." she says, sheepishly. "An', well...when I was calm, she kinda laid down an' I kinda snuggled her an', um...well, I fell asleep with her paw over me."

    She fidgets a bit. "I, um, woke up in a little hollow on the school grounds...not sure how I got there exactly, but there was a lil' pillow an' branches pulled over it so I was comfy. She protected me.'

    She shakes her head. "Then, stuff happened, I got hurt, an' I had to spend some time in th' infirmary, so I didn't get a chance to look for her again, but, she was there, when I tried ta sneak out that night ta go into town." She eyes the other woman. "...pretty much like you, really." She grumbles a bit. "An' she wouldn't let me leave. She kept pushin' me back towards the mansion, then when I tried to use my tendrils to get past her, she pounced me and, ah...' Bright red. "...she scruffed me until I stopped strugglin', then she swatted me lightly when I tried to edge past her after she let me up, so I gave up an' came back here."

    There's a bit more uncertain, hesistation as she picks her words carefully. "I...I think she's still -you- inside. She had no reason to do any of that. But...she kept me safe. She brought me inside when I fell asleep. She stopped me from goin' inta town, just like you've been wantin' me to not do. An' she hasn't attacked anyone. Just hunted animals. Pigs an' deer an' stuff. I even heard her tummy rumblin' last night when we found her, an' she didn't show any sign of wanting to attack any of us.

Okhotnik has posed:
Diya manages to devour all of the sandwiches and a few other bits, while listening to Lex's description of her interactions with the tigress. When it's over, and she's done eating, she looks up, shaking her head. "I don't quite believe it, honestly." She does; Lex wouldn't lie. But it beggars her mind. Her own encounter with a tiger resulted in profound injury and should have ended in death. How is it that beast was so vicious and murderous, and her own tiger is instead ... affectionate and mothering? "I know you wouldn't lie. But ... I don't get it." How could she?

Tendril has posed:
    Lexi nods solemnly, tilting her head, before she asks. "Which part don't you get? Why she didn't attack me? Or why she's behaving herself here?" The girl shrugs her shoulders a bit, then waits to hear from Diya what's bothering her. "Tell me...and maybe I can help you get it?" she says hopefully.

Okhotnik has posed:
The Russian woman shakes her head. "I don't understand why she didn't attack you, //and// I don't understand why she would be behaving herself." She growls and tears open a bottle of water, draining it dry and then sitting there, grimacing, for a bit. "Lex, the reason I am what I am. Why I'm on the run. Why I'm hunted. All comes down to one encounter //I// had with a tiger."

Diya pauses before continuing. "I didn't threaten it. I didn't attack it. I barely moved. And it tore me apart. It shredded me to pieces. I should have died. And it turns out the only reason I didn't die is becomes somehow in the process of all that ... I caught it. So when I healed, I didn't heal up scarred and broken and crippled. And it didn't take me months. I healed in a few days injuries that should have taken almost a year and dozens of surgeries."

Hanging her head down, she continues. "When I was healed, I followed my team to Chechnya. I started noticing things that were off. Different. But I was there to do a job, and I did it. Until men came and ordered my team to let them have me. I don't know who they were, or why they had that authority. But I didn't wait to find out. My team turned me out, didn't help me. So I ran. And I have been running ever since."

Tendril has posed:
    Lexi's eyes widen a bit as she listens quietly, not interrupting. Her eyes watch Diya, taking in the confusion, her eyes softening as she talks about the attack, then the betrayal of her team. When she stops explaining, the girl nods slowly.

    "Okay. So..." She pauses, pondering how to say this. "If yer tiger cares for the things -you- do, an' is part of ya...maybe th' tiger that attacked ya, th' person that it was part of was...not a good person? Or maybe a little insane, bein' out in the moutains by themselves? I mean...maybe tigers are reflections of th' people they are, y'know? And not all th' same."

    She frowns softly. "...I'm sorry about your team." she says, with a bit of sympathetic pain for the other woman's pain. "But...but bein' attacked...that wasn't yer fault. An' just because that tiger was like that, doesn't mean ya gotta be the same."

Okhotnik has posed:
"I can feel the power of the tiger. Her anger and rage." Diya comments, shaking her head. "It's why I had to go away, that night, after the battle. I didn't know, then, it was a //tiger//." She found out later, apparently, but doesn't seem terribly inclined to explain how, or why. "But I've known that I can lose control. When I'm hurt and angry."

Diya doesn't explain exactly what happened in the past. But it had to have been bad, because she honestly considers herself a monster. And yet she has tried to use the power she is cursed with to protect others. But it has left her with emotional and mental scars, and a lack of trust in herself.

"I do not like that you seem to have this affection for the tiger. I worry it will make you less aware of the risks, the threat it represents." Diya offers, honestly.

Tendril has posed:
    Lexi starts to say something, then pauses, biting down her first though, forcing herself to think first. "I'm not unaware that she might be dangerous. But I haven't seen nothin' that suggest she's just gonna attack without warning. She seemed pretty chill, but I'm sure if she felt threatened she might bite or paw or stuff."

    She watches Diya quietly. "I mean...who doesn't get upset when they're hurt an' angry?" She shakes her head, stepping a bit closer to Diya. "I think it's maybe..I dunno...worth...tryin' ta remember, maybe? If some part of you is still in there, maybe yer just kinda...asleep. An' somethin' can wake ya up so you're part of th' tiger when you're awake?" She shakes her head. "But, I'll be careful of her. If she seems touchy or bitey I'll stay away from her, okay?" She peers up at Diya.

Okhotnik has posed:
Diya considers Lex for a while, and then just sighs. "I'll be working on that. I found someone who thinks they can help. They're the one that told me I ... I 'smelled' like a cat. They know other ... they called them 'shifters'." Diya clearly finds all of this distasteful; not because of who this is, but because it still bothers her tremendously that she has //become// like the creature that very nearly slaughtered her. It is an irony and agony of a curse she cannot even put into words. Of course, it is also why her mind blacks out her time as the tiger; she's not mentally prepared to make peace with that part of herself.

"You just be careful. It's a tiger. It's a monster. Whether or not it's me, too, doesn't matter." Of course, Diya is a grumbly, grouchy, bitchy Russian hardass. By comparison, the tiger is snugglesome and friendly, even playful. Too bad the tiger can't teach Diya a thing or two.

Tendril has posed:
    "I am, like, intimately aware of what a wild animal can be like." Lexi says solemnly. "And I will be careful. But." She meets Diya's eyes. "If ya want to work on that...I think ya should start by just seein' the tigress." She points at her. "Cuz th' tiger ya got in your head, when ya think of it...I bet it's th' tiger that attacked ya. An' if that was the tiger, I'd be scared of what it might do too. But it's not.' She lifts her phone, tapping it. "This one is -you-, not that one. Think of it as a good first step?" she offers softly. She knows she's pushing a bit...but she really does think it would be healthy for Diya to do.

Okhotnik has posed:
Diya doesn't even try to deny it; it's absolutely true that what she thinks of, what she sees in her mind's eye at the mention of 'tiger', is the behemoth Siberian that tore her to ragged shreds in the depths of the Siberian mountains. "I know what you're saying, Lex. But I can't." There's a haunted edge to her words, even more to her expression, as she looks down. The fearless and intimidating Russian soldier ... is afraid.

Tendril has posed:
    Lex steps a littel closer. Like she's dealing with a wild animal. Slow movements, trying not to startle. "...you can." she says softly. "I'm right here with ya. Take the first step...an' th' next will be a little easier." She waits, patiently. "Ya can do it, Diya. Don't let that fucker who clawed ya up haunt ya, or control ya."

    That few steps further, and she's standing right in front of the other woman, her phone craddled in her hands. "You can..." she says softly.

Okhotnik has posed:
Diya keeps her eyes closed for a while. She really, really doesn't want to see this. She wasn't playing about being emotionally scarred by all of this. But, she does eventually get over it. She does eventually open her eyes, staring balefully at the phone, at the images of the tiger on it. Images of a peacefully reclining, heavy-lidded, almost somnolent tigress. All things considered, she looks beautiful, and harmless.

Okhotnik has posed:
Eventually, Diya lifts her gaze back to Lex. "You just keep your promise, girl: you be damned careful of that tiger. It may look beautiful. It may be friendly. But it's deadly, and ought not be trusted."

Tendril has posed:
    Lexi's lips curve up in a quiet smile. "See?" she says softly. "Yer a beautiful tiger. Not murderous. Not vicious. Not even angry. Just...a lil' hungry, maybe." She frowns. "Maybe cuz you're not gettin' enough food in town..." She smiles a bit, then sighs at the reminders. "Yes. I'll remember."

    She pauses, then flips to the text function. "Now comes th' tricky part..an I think we need Yana for it..."

Black Rose has posed:
    Since Yana had - with Dani and Sam's help - more or less wedged herself into the New Mutants, at least on a trial basis, she'd been really, really busy. Really busy doing Danger Room sessions, and training her ass off. She'd of course mentioned to Lexi that she was undergoing a massive training, said it was something about getting into some advanced power training. There hasn't been much down time, but, Lexi's text comes in the midst of some of that.
    "You've got to be kidding me," she grumbles, eyeing her phone that went off, just as she'd laid down to try and get a little bit of sleep. But, she kept her promises.
    And, it's not -too- long after getting the text that she's wandering to where Lexi's Follow App is leading her.
    There is a click-click-clicking. And Yana's steps are slowing, almost - and Diya's senses would regard this as a measure of caution. As if Yana wasn't entirely certain there wasn't some kind of trap. Not entirely out of the realm of possibility, given who her father is, and the number of enemies he might have.

Okhotnik has posed:
"What? Why do we need the Princess?" Diya questions, well aware that her Russian-accented voice will carry, and that Yana will hear it. But right now Diya wants to hear an answer to her question from Lex. So she asks, and waits.

Tendril has posed:
    Lexi hmms. "Cuz it concerns -you-, so it concerns her an' me. An' I wanna get our stories straight so this works out." she says thoughfully. "Um, on that note...d'ya like campin' out here? 'stead of bein' on th' streets?" Because she certainly does like having Diya closer to her and Yana. And safer too."

    At the clicking, Lexi tilts her head, apparently hearing it coming. "Yana?" she calls out. It does sort of sound like her ball bearings...

Black Rose has posed:
    "Yes," Yana says, and doesn't give any indication that she's heard any of them. Not yet. She looks around the cave, nods to Diya as her guard slowly drops. No trap. Just Lexi, being weird. And Diya, being - here? Odd.
    "So, why did you drag me out of the two hour nap I was about to take to recharge before I go into my next training session, Lexi? This better be good."
    She looks at the girl, curiously, then again looks to Diya, her senses keyed up as much as they can be for an ordinary human. But, it's an ordinary human who learned under her mutant father who could read people like a book. Literally.

Okhotnik has posed:
Diya is dressed down as usual. Bits of sticks and leaves in her hair. Shoulders hunched, she doesn't quite look as openly ready for aggression as is her usual want in Yana's limited experience. And she's not meeting anyone's gaze right now.

Their spot is literally just out in the woods. A small hollow carefully extended down, a sleeping bag and blankets within, a camouflaged tarp propped up to cover it, disguising it from any other angle than the one in which Diya and Lexi now sit, not quite facing one another.

"What do you mean, getting our stories straight? What are you going on about, now?" Diya questions Lex. "And it's not a question of 'like' or 'dislike'. I need to be here, to keep you //in// there, and out of trouble. As safe as I can manage."

Tendril has posed:
    Lexi lets out a faint sigh, then mmphs, walking over to Yana, before looking at Diya. "I'm gonna tell her, okay? Cuz she needs ta know if you need her, alright?" She's pretty firm on this, from the tone of her voice. "And then, we're gonna have ta talk about what to do about th' fact I didn't KNOW last night an' I led Dani an' Tabby straight to you, so they know part of what's goin' on."

    She avoids offering more...she really is trying to respect Diya's need for privacy, as much as she can. That said...she's not above pushing Diya a little out of her comfort zone if she think it'd help.

Black Rose has posed:
    "Lexi. I've spent the last four hours running my ass off, getting shot, getting chased, getting yelled at, ...," she stops herself, pinches the bridge of her nose, counts down to three, silently. Starts over.
    She exhales, "So. I'd appreciate it if you let me in why I dropped everything to come over here? Please?" The blue-haired girl tilts her head, looking between the two other females, expectantly.

Okhotnik has posed:
Diya just looks up at the blue-haired woman and then looks pointedly at Lex. "This was her idea. I'll hold her down if you think tickling will get her to confess more quickly."

Tendril has posed:
    Lexi eyes you both. "Don't ya -dare-! I already got enough of that last night..." she grumbles, then without much preamble flips her phone over then flicks through the pictures, before showing one to Yana.

    Which depicts a ginomous twelve-foot-long tiger, looking comfortable as she snoozes...pretty much where Yana is standing now. Though it's dark in the picture.

    "That's Hottie..." she says, thumbing towards the older woman. "I think she's been goin' all tiger-y at night, cuz I've run into th' tigeress twice, but I didn't put it together until last night."

    She sighs. "Cuz I was worried someone was gonna find the tigeress, so I got Tabby to come with me ta look for her, an' Dani to come along ta see if we could figure out what she was doin' here."

Black Rose has posed:
    Maybe that's the first joke, or hint of something halfway amusing Yana's heard from Diya's lips? It causes Yana to briefly chuckle as her eyes swing back to Lexi. She listens. She looks.
    Then, she puts her forehead in her hands, << Jesus. >> The name, of course, is the same. She just says it in a thick, Russian accent.
    Yana turns, stalks a few steps forwards, turns back, stalks past Lexi to the wall, and then stalks towards and past Lexi again. All the while, rubbing her head lightly with her hand, the bridge of her nose, her forehead.
    "Alright. Please. For fucking God's sake, Lexi. Please tell me you did not tell them about Diya. Or, -- about the Evos, and Mutant Town." Yana's voice is mildly strained, but, still controlled.
    She knows this is 'damage control', and now she has to assess just how bad this is. She'll deal with the fact that Diya is a tigress in a few.

Okhotnik has posed:
Diya just sits, and watches Yana pace. If she's annoyed at the laughter, she doesn't show it. Nor does she get impatient. She just ... sits. And listens. She has no memory of said conversations, after all. But she does find it interesting that Yana seems more upset about the conversations than about her being a //huge fucking killer tiger//. Murderous, ravenous, rampaging beast. Goddamned monster.

Tendril has posed:
    Lexi frowns. "Fuck no, what am I, an' idiot?!" she snaps a bit, looking hurt. "I told ya both I wasn't gonna spill stuff, but I had ta think of somethin' when I realized who it was, cuz they were already puttin' two and two together...campsite, clothes scattered around, no sign of their owner, and a BIG FUCKING TIGER sittin' in the middle of it!"

    She puts her hands on her hpis. "So no, I didn't tell them about th' Evos, or Mutant Town. I -did- tell them that I thought I knew who it was, an' that she wasn't a threat to the school or anything."

    She inhales, then lets it out slowly. "...so they know Tigger's been livin' on the street, an' that I'd met her, and that she 'helped me out'." she notes, using air quotes. "An' that she's been watchin' out for me...which they can guess because she seems ta have decided to adopt me when she's a tigress." She frowns a bit. "An' that she's got some space issues, cuz th' first thing they suggested is that we invite her ta stay on th' actual grounds. And hey accepted that, an' they didn't ask for more. -Not- that I would have told 'em more." she says, folding her arms as she scowls a bit at Yana. "But they -are- gonna take this to a teacher, an' I don't think that's a bad idea, cuz th' last thing Tigger needs is that scary Logan guy running into her in th' woulds and stabbin' and bitin' happenin'."

    She breathes out again, then calms a little. "An' I kinda agree with 'em. It's safer for Tigger out here. She can be alone if she wants, an' have her space. But she's close to us, if we need each other. An' at least one teacher knows that th' tiger that's been showin' up - and they -will- know, with all th' cameras - then we can at least make sure no one is gonna bother her in the woods outside at night."

Okhotnik has posed:
"I can guarantee you, both I and the tiger are on the feeds from their sensors. And not just cameras." Diya comments. She's well aware of how good the security system is around this place, and she has no illusions that she's been hiding from it. She's just been staying back far enough - when human - that the threat algorithmns wouldn't focus on her.

Black Rose has posed:
    Yana listens, to her credit. To everything Lexi has to say. "Of course she has space issues. She's a tiger. And, of -course- she's a tiger." Yana shakes her head, slowly, "Should've put it together, after the fight with the Evos," she says, looking aside to Diya. "The roar. Explains your strength, and speed. And, your rage, all. Should've seen it, sooner."
    She expells a breath, slow.
    "Alright. Alright." She pushes her hand into her head again, and looks for somewhere to sit down, snagging the first place she can find that isn't the ground. Again, she exhales. "Fine. It's done. The inevitable is they're going to piece it together. So," she looks at Diya, "We stick as close to the truth as we can. Because it's the easiest to maintain, and harder to detect. We keep things simple. You helped Lexi get out of trouble when she was in bad with some folks in Mutant Town, and ever since then you keep a watch on her. If it comes out they call you out on being a tiger, a shapechanger, well, own up to it. You're getting new to it. So, you're keeping your distance. You prefer your space, for your own reasons. You can roll with that, right?"
    And, she looks to Lexi, "Same, for you. And you just now figured out they're the same. You respect her space, her secrets. They weren't yours - and aren't mine - to share. You introduced her to me, after she helped you get out of that jam, because we'd met before at the rave."
    All true. Just a few very important details left out.

Tendril has posed:
    Lexi nods in agreement...she's quite accustomed to using partial truths to avoid admitting things, after all. "They'll go with that. That's th' truth, anyway. Just leavin' out the other stuff." She hesistates, then a bit reluctantly says. "An' Tigger is right that I gotta stay away. They're looking for me. Maybe for th' two of you too. Sharkey showed up when I was out with Tabby in town, not even in Mutant Town, and tried ta snap a picture of me an' her to send to someone."

    She hastens to add. "But we got it before he sent it, an' then I sort of threatened that the person who wrecked his one arm would wreck th' other an' worse if he didn't get the hell out of town and forgot he saw me." She shakes her head sharply. "..we can talk about that next. Right now...I gotta say, I'm for tellin' the teacher's this. Maybe lettin' 'em think she's a mutant like us, an' maybe talking them into lettin' her stay in one of the cabins by th' lake. It's pretty private there." She looks to Diya. "You'd have a place where people wouldn't be crowdin' ya, and a woods ta run around in when ya gotta be a tiger where it'd be pretty safe."

Okhotnik has posed:
The Russian blonde nods. "I didn't tell anyone I was also the tiger ... because I did not know." She juts her chin towards Lexi. "She figured it out. So did ... another woman I met. A shifter, knows other shifters. She's the one who told me." And from the growly tone, it's still not something Diya likes. Indeed, it sounds as if she really hates it.

Black Rose has posed:
    "It's up to her if we tell the other teachers. But, mutant genetics are easy to find. We're not going to tell them she's a mutant, Lexi." Yana's voice is final about that, leaving no room for debate. Again, comes the young woman's sigh.
    She looks over to Diya, "Alright. So, you've been a tiger," she reasons, moving to step-by-step analysis. "Probably awhile now. And, you've not had any memory of it. Or, what you've done. That suggests a dissociative mind, depending on the form you're in. Not unlike stories of the loup de garou." She looks to Lexi, and Diya, clarifying, "Werewolves," in case neither knew what she was referring to.
    She goes on, "But part of the tiger is always with you. Your strength. Your keen senses. The way you can move. The way you heal. It protects you. A guardian. And you're changed, physically."
    Another few beats, "And in the heat of battle, when you get upset, or when you sense blood, maybe a combination - as you become a killing machine you begin to lose a bit of yourself. It's why you left us, after the fight, immediately. You sensed it was close."
    They'd - her, and Diya, had been over this before. But Yana is laying it all out, now. Reasoning, rationalizing, as much to herself, as Diya and Lexi. "You were protecting Lexi, when you found her, first. It's all you've done, since you met her, for - whatever reason you have. It's what the tiger does. So. -Something- of yourself, your basic self, your - primal self, transitions into instinctive nature, into the tiger. Nature, and nurture. Ferocity, and protection. Still. You loathe the idea of the tiger. Because you're not in control. And, that's what you fear most of all. Losing control. Losing yourself."
    Yana seems done, rubs her head again, and she slowly rises, and she moves over to Diya. And she does something very brave. Very foolish, or, very nice. She touches Diya's shoulder. Squeezes it, tenderly. "So. You learn to associate people, places, to basic instincts. Basic thoughts. Feelings. Primal. Home. Daughter. Fellow Tiger. And, you begin to gain control, over the tiger."

Tendril has posed:
    "And like I said...just cuz th' other tiger who attacked you was an asshole doesn't mean you're gonna be like that tiger guy was, Tigger." Lexi adds quietly. "And you're not alone, an' ya got us to help you figure this out. And if you're safe here, ya got time to figure it out without havin' to worry as much as if ya were in town." Where a tiger would -definitely- stand out.

    She steps a little closer to the other two, but doesn't reach out to Diya, not wanting to crowd her. But her right hand does come up to rest gently against Yana's back, forming a chain of touch between you. "An' ya didn't seem ta mind th' other girls neither. Maybe cuz they were with me. Or, um, smelled kinda like me." Because obviously her roomie woudl smell a bit like her, and Tabby would...definitely smell like her at this point, really. She smiles hopefully at Diya. "Yer strong. Ya can do this. But ya don't haveta do it alone, kay?"

Okhotnik has posed:
Diya lets both women have their say, but her jaw clenches. Lex understands best of the two, but even she doesn't //get it//. Not at its core. The primal, undeniable truth. The agony.

"I have to do it alone." Diya murmurs, finally. "No one else can be with me, inside my skull." Well, OK. A telepath could. But what stupid telepath would be moron enough to try to link with the mind of a woman becoming a tiger? They wouldn't last long, that's for sure. "And no one //should// be anywhere //near me//. That's just stupid suicide talk." Yeah. Diya is not exactly a sweet-voiced woman. At all. Ever.

"I'm a goddamned killer. You both know it. Stop trying to paint pretty pictures over it just 'cause I took a bath and washed off the blood and the gore." There she is. Queen Bitch Diya.

Black Rose has posed:
    "So am I. So?" Yana looks blankly back at Diya, drawing her hand back, crossing her arms across her chest. "The two men I killed there weren't my first. Most likely, won't be my last."
    She contineust to look at Diya. "It's not about you being a killer. Stop lying to yourself, Diya. Go on. Tell me. When's the last time you lost control. When you snapped at something, for no reason? When you weren't the same as you were before you joined the Spteznaz?"
    Yana's blue eyes almost seem to challenge Diya's. "Half your problems aren't from the tiger. They might've added on. Shell Shock. Railway Spine. Combat Fatigue. PTSD. Call it whatever you want. It's affecting you, Diya."
    Yana takes a step to Diya, until she's looking down at the woman, now. "I'm near you, now."

Tendril has posed:
    Lexi is starting to get a little used to this...having seen both women in action. Oddly, she does not try in any way to claim she also is, even for solidarity. She does start to nod at Yana's words. "You were a killer before this, but ya killed for a purpose an' a reason." she says tenatively. "Bein' a tigress doesn't seem to change that? Ya got angry, righteously angry, in th' brothel. But ya never hurt me, or anyone who's run into ya here in the woods. So obvously you're not a monster." She watches Diya. "I told ya I'd be careful...but I've never felt threatened by your tigress. Even when she had me pinned or stuff, after th' first time."

Okhotnik has posed:
Diya looks up at Yana, and growls - in a human way - at the blue-haired young woman. "Alright, damnit. Yes. I have it, no lie." And made far worse when that hypervigilance is backed up by the hypersenses of a weretigress, even in human form. The blonde grumbles. Why the Hell is it that her tiger is apparently so into physical contact? Damned disturbing. She's going to be asking Mercy about all of this; damned coyote better have some answers for her! "I would rather not stay in a cabin. Cabins stay in one place." Honesty, painful though it is.

Black Rose has posed:
    "Good." Yana's arms drop, then, briefly she looks back to Lexi. She admits, her voice no less confident, or direct, but more gentle, "I don't have all the answers. Your - shifter friend? Can help you with some of this, better than I. But, I -am- right, about one thing. Associate. Even as you carry a bit of the tiger in you, so does a part of you carry into the tiger. The way to control the tiger, to make sure that you don't do something you don't want to do? Is to associate. Home. Cub. Tiger."
    There's a reason she's using those exact words, of course. Not that Yana will ever admit it, whatever it is. "Primal. Basic. Associate. And it -will- carry to the tiger, Diya. Trust me."
    She gives Diya a firm look, but this time she doesn't say the words. The look, though, is the same - the same look Yana gave her when she first told Diya: 'I'll protect you'.
    "There is no shame in admitting a weakness. The shame is in letting that weakness control you, instead of you learning how to master it." She sounds like she is quoting someone. Perhaps her father?
    << "Seek your shifter friend. She can tell you more. Play to your strengths. And, be stubborn in your refusal to succumb to madness. To loss of control. Between your shifter friend, and I, we can perhaps help you find a center. Promise me, you will try." >>

Tendril has posed:
    Lexi frowns, then nods slowly as Diya rejects the cabins, thinking as she lets Yana talk, to where she disolves into Russian again, nodding again as she finishes. "An' if you want to just have a mobile camp, that's cool too? Maybe we can get ya a better tent and stuff that's still easy to move. And get ya extra food if ya need it." she says softly.

Okhotnik has posed:
Diya frowns. She really, really wants to yell at them, make them stop all this namby pamby 'nice' crap. "I can't refuse the food." she growls. "Apparently ... I'm very hungry." She doesn't want to admit it. She //hates// to admit it. She should never admit that she wants or needs something. Her job is to take care of others. That's what being a soldier is all about. But she has felt herself getting weaker, more tired, more run down all the last two weeks. She can't keep this up, and she's convinced that's why the tiger has been out more.

"It's not a goddamned pet. Stop trying to make it sound friendly." And for that matter, stop trying to make //Diya// friendly. Let the damned cat out, and she goes and grooms the stupid kid. Sheesh! This is ridiculous. (And if you look at Lex sideways, she's going to gut you with her bare goddamned hands. Screw the knife!)

"My camp is fine. It's not about being pretty. The idea is minimal impact, and minimal visibility. I don't want to draw attention." 'Cause a twelve foot long Siberian tigress is ever so goddamned subtle in upstate New York woodlands. Riiiight.

Black Rose has posed:
    Yana clears her throat, "She -is- right, Lexi. So. From on? You're going to promise me you're not going to sneak out of school, and run across - either to go to town, or to see the tiger. Safe, or not, a tiger is -not- a pet. And, it's important that we stress to the teachers it's not a threat - but neither should we risk further antagonizing it by contstantly visiting it. In other words? It remains a secret." Too bad, of coruse, NOTHING remains a secret at Xavier's. EVER. For more than .0000000005 seconds.
    And Lexi gets a 'just try and argue with me, and see where it gets you' look.
    She looks back to Diya. She looks firm. "And you? Associate." It is a command. A command, not unlike a military commander might give out. A direct command. Yana's -- well, trying something.
    She looks between the two females, then. "We all settled then? Or is there anything more to discuss?" And with that comment, she further emphasizes that she's done talking about both subjects - the tiger, and, how Diya should handle her aspect of it as well as Lexi on her end.

Tendril has posed:
    Undaunted, Lexi promptly says to Diya. "It's not about pretty, it's about effective. There's nothing wrong with havin' good gear if ya can!" she says firmly. "I'll get, like, a catalogue though an' ya can pick out what ya think is best." Because she really doesn't know much about survival in the woods.

    She flicks her eyes to Yana, then rolls them with a huff.

    "Fine. I'm not gonna go inta town." the other girl says, folding her arms. "An' I -know- she's not a pet, an' I -already- promised I'd be careful around her."

    She gets a stubborn look. "But if what ya said is true, then she should still be bumping into th' things she cares about out here. What if she wonders where I am an' tries to go onto the grounds ta find me? She already got in there once carryin' me, for cryin' out loud!" She frowns. "...I'll be careful. But I'm gonna check on her sometimes, just in case." Because the gigantic tigress needs a little protector. Right. She'll just...pretend that it isn't because tiger snuggles are the best.

    "So...that's that. I can talk to th' others an' get that side of things settled."

Okhotnik has posed:
"I think I'm going to start a fire and cook some of this." Diya murmurs. If she had any control, she could just change into the tiger and eat it all raw. But she can't, so she won't. She'll just prep it and eat it right here. All of it. Every last heavy colorie of it.

And not gain a single pound. The evil tiger bitch.