2254/Eye of the Tigger

Eye of the Tigger
Date of Scene:	30 August 2017
Location:	Xavier's School, Guest Room
Synopsis:	It is shortly after Diya's brought to Xavier's school. Yana comes in to check on her friend.
Cast of Characters:	Black Rose, Okhotnik

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Black Rose has posed:
    After Diya had been brought into the mansion, and the group had talked, ate, and Diya had been convinced to rest in the guest quarters and sleep, Yana had taken it upon herself to do a few training simulations. Now, after those sessions and a shower, she's heading out, blue hair wet, and smelling like lavender. She's headed towards Diya's guest room, to check on her ... friend.

Okhotnik has posed:
Trapped by her own declaration of honor, Klavdiya Irina Vasiliev, formerly a Captain in the Russian Spetznaz, has remained within the walls of the Xavier Mansion despite her better judgement. She has eaten heavily, and she has spoken with the fiery redheaded adult who came with the girls out to find her tigrish form. Given a room in which to rest, Diya tried the bed. Hopelessly too soft, she finally pulled a blanket off the bed and lay on the floor. Well fed and //not// surrounded by the woodlands, she has managed to fall asleep ... and managed not to transform in her sleep. The first time for that in nearly a month.

The scent of lavender is not unheard-of in this place, but it growing stronger and closer is enough, paired with Yana's natural scent, to awaken something within the paranoiac soldier's instincts. She reaches for her weapons, only to remember they were taken from her as 'not safe around the students'. Growling softly in annoyance, she lies still, trying to keep her breath even and regular as she waits to see what happens, prepared as best she can to leap into action to defend herself against ... what? She has no idea. But that's what hypervigilence and supersenses will get you.

Black Rose has posed:
    The door knocks, a few times. "Diya, I know you're up," comes Yana's voice through the door. She knocks twice more, then, announces, "I'm coming in," quietly. She waits a few more moments and then turns the door, stepping into the guest room and closing the door behind herself. She gets her bearings, and offers the military woman a tired sort of smile. "You doing okay?"

Okhotnik has posed:
~// "I'm stuck //inside// the one place I swore I'd keep safe if it killed me." //~ Diya growls softly. Then she sits up, pushing the blanket aside as cover no longer needed, and leans against the bed's side. ~// What are you doing up? You still haven't slept." //~ As to how she knows that, she doesn't say.

Black Rose has posed:
    << No. I was sleeping when Lexi woke me up to come talk to you,>> Yana says, dryly. She sits on the edge of the bed. "I'm too keyed up, anyways. I've been working overtime, really." She shrugs it off, mostly, but observes, << You know how - driven I am. It translates to the school, too. >> She streches out, just a little. Then, she looks back, pulling up one leg to tuck under herself. << And, I couldn't sleep, until I knew you were well. >>

Okhotnik has posed:
The soldier twists her lips into a tight moue of annoyance. "I am as well as I am capable of being." she offers, switching back to English, a sign of her displeasure. "I Feel like a fool, letting you people bring me in here. And I feel hemmed in by the walls." Not so badly that she's perspiring or anything, but clearly she is feeling that edge. It's not a cage, but it all too easily could become one. "I stayed outside the walls. Why is it these people feel my just being close somehow makes me their responsibility?" Altruism is a foreign language to her, for all that she herself lives by it. She never admits she does, even to herself.

Black Rose has posed:
    "Your discovery was inevitable," reasons Yana, quietly, shrugging. "It is better this way. Than with a skirmish. Or, with a couple teenagers from the school who might try to 'prank' the tiger, or worse, capture it, and bring it into the school. Perhaps it is not the most desirable of places, presently, but - it -is- the best outcome, given the unavoidable circumstances."
    As always with Diya's more tense moods, Yana's speaking in reasonable, gentle tones. Practical. "Some people, Diya, want to help. These people - want to help and protect." She shrugs her shoulder, "They consider themselves, all, a family. Joined by a cause of being different. Of being us. Empowered. By proxy, by your association of being attached to Lexi? You're at least someone they will want to assist."
    Yana exhales, some. "You grew attached to Lexi because she once helped you. They have a feeling of responsibility because you care for Lexi. Ipso facto."%

Okhotnik has posed:
"Figures the princess would spout Latin." mutters the soldier, voice rife with snark. Still, she shakes her head. "The tiger ... damnit. I'd unload my clip into my skull, but your firehair mother figure took the f--king thing." And she can't be sure it would successfully kill her. Botheration.

"Any damned rational being would have shooed me away or killed me off, instead of bringing me inside this place to be a danger to everyone here. //Including// Lex." Yeah, Diya isn't really going to ease up on this much. She really doesn't get it, and she really does view herself as a sort of dirty bomb on two - or four - legs.

"You of all people should know better than to let them attempt this." Diya comments, wryly. Of course, apparently the Bratva princess feels very strongly about Diya, for reasons the soldier and killing machine can't quite fathom. The otherwise eminently practical and capable young woman really should know better.

Black Rose has posed:
    Yana tilts her head at Diya, and seems to consider the very frustrated woman thoughtfully, "Here is what I know. The tiger had taken the refuge as a camp. And, attached itself to Lexi. Human clothes, and prints, were found in the same area. A human camp. An unknown factor was, then, residing near a school built to train and harbor young mutants and meta-humans to hone their abilities. Two, already, outside the bounds of either myself or Lexi, had come to discover you. Dani. And, Lexi's girlfriend."
    Diya's keyed up senses will most assuredly sense Yana's utter distaste, and even perhaps slight loathing for Tabitha. And the fact she won't say Tabitha's name, but she's mentioned everyone else? Probably another clue.
    "Having thus discovered a tiger, they had already told Ms. Grey about it - with concerns about why it was there, whether it was in need of assistance, and what it as doing there."
    The Russian Bratva Princess continues, "Therefore, myself and Lexi accompanying Ms. Grey, and assuring that certain efforts were made in order to keep you safe, both from yourself and from any misunderstanding was paramount. And, the best strategy available. If you -had- left, there would be questions. Searches. And that would - stir the pot, wouldn't it? Bringing you here shows them the truth - you're not their enemy. And, it prevents them from seeking outside sources to your person."
    Yana moves her hand to touch Diya's leg beneath the sheet. "Trust me."

Okhotnik has posed:
"Which explains why you would allow this to protect me. But what about protecting the rest of these people?" Diya growls out distastefully. "If you do not care for Lex's other, fine. But she would surely not be the only one hurt around here." Hello. Uncontrolled weretigress //also// wanted and hunted by Russian special forces and intelligence. Diya may be paranoid, but she's not wrong: this wasn't the safest course for the school.

"//I// am not the one needing protection. The innocents around here are. Their mission, their goal, if they really do live up to it." Or try, at least. Far better than how Diya's organization lived up to its calling and loyalty. "I have no idea what the firehair did, but she made the damned tiger change." And left Diya with now an undeniable memory of the agony of that transformation. Is it any wonder she's tense and hating this even more?

Black Rose has posed:
    "She's a telepath. An extremely powerful one," Yana observes, honestly about the 'firehair'.
    "You're not a prisoner here, Diya. You can leave. We brought you in so you did not do something rash." Which is the truth. She looks towards the door, gestures to it, as if to offer it up to the weretigress.
    Then, Yana looks back to her friend.
    Yana changes tact. "In the Spetsnaz, you were trained well. You were trained to use a sniper rifle, yes?"

Okhotnik has posed:
Telepath? Diya makes an ugly face at that; the last damned thing she needs is some fool poking around in her head. Between the memories they could find and her own thoughts ... that would not be pleasant at all. But there's not a damned thing she can do about it.

"I was trained in a lot more. But yes, I was a sniper." Diya's not sure how Yana got that information, and she's not sure she wants to know. Chances are it would only get her more wound up than she already is. "Why?"

Black Rose has posed:
    "Show me how you prepare to take a shot. I want you to envision," she says, quietly, pointing towards the door, "There is a target beyond that door." She gets up, off the bed, and crosses her arms in a physical display that suggests she is not joking around and, yes, she's serious. "And, I want you to show me how you prepare for a shot. Talk me through it. Step. By step."

Okhotnik has posed:
Diya frowns at the other woman. "A prepared shot takes a lot of time." Still, she doesn't hold out forever, just stares at Yana for a while, then shrugs and rolls up to her feet, dropping the blanket as she does so. "First, you spot the best sight line to the target. Scout the area for the best extraction patterns. Find the right lie." As requested, she walks Yana through each step.

It's highly methodical, and there's a great deal of patience involved. Diya discusses the right lies, finding the ideal range, the proper extraction. Then she visibly crawls into place with the rifle, on the floor, lining up the shot, making sure of her camouflage. And then waiting. She is silent for long stretches of time. When she speaks, it is very softly, and she makes it clear that if this was a real sniper's shot, the timeframe could well be hours or days. Then, at least, she muurmurs that the time is right, and her finger flexes, pulling the trigger.

Black Rose has posed:
    "Good." Yana looks impressed, and, utterly interested. There isn't an ounce of shifted interest, not for a single moment as Diya moves, step by step. There isn't a moment, in that silence, that Yana speaks. The Bratva Princess does not ask a single question. She might, for all the world, a curious bird, content to remain on it's perch and watch this human from above.
en at last the trigger is pulled, Yana nods again. She watches Diya for a long moment, and then moves back to the other woman, "Very few would have such self control. Or, patience." Her words are quiet. And, directly purposeful. To point out, without pointing out, just how the exercise helped Diya calm down. Letting the tigress make the self-realization, to save her some grace. Respect.
    "You are a remarkable woman, Diya."

Okhotnik has posed:
The ash blonde sniper looks over her shoulder up at the bed and the blue-haired princess lying down on it, and she grimaces. "And do you think we have time for me to practice a sniper's perch before I explode all over someone who sets me off." Diya shrugs and rolls smoothly up to her seat. "I don't feel so remarkable. But thank you."

Black Rose has posed:
    "It wasn't about you praciting a sniper's perch," Yana points out, quietly. "It was about showing you that you have the presence of mind, and ability, to control the tiger. To control your rage. A sniper who is upset. Out of balance. Cannot find patience. Cannot find silence in themselves. Cannot execute the shot, or kill their target."
    Yana pointedly looks to Diya, allowing the woman to make the quick self-assessment. "You won't be here much longer. I understand. It's enclosed. It's not something you have control over. But Lexi stays here. I stay here. It is safe, for now."

Okhotnik has posed:
Diya sighs and shakes her head, just a little bit. It amazes her how these people oversimplify and miss the point, but she's not going to lie here and argue with Yana. The girl isn't entirely wrong; she's just oversimplifying.

"If I go back to the streets, now, Lex will follow me, and get herself hurt." It's not a question; it's a certainty. "If I stay, I'm a threat, twice over, to every living soul in this place. I have no idea what to do about that." Diya offers, honestly. "Being hemmed in by the walls is making me tense, it's true."

Black Rose has posed:
    "It complicates things," Yana agrees. "I believe Ms. Grey will allow you to keep your camp. The tiger's camp. And you have the safehouse, both. Lexi has agreed to not sneak into town again, and -- she knows I will follow through with something to punish her with if she does. She is too worried about you, true. But, she knows I am serious, when I tell her something."
    As Diya kind of does, too.
    "You and the tiger are from separate worlds. There is no reason why you cannot live in two, as well. It may well help keep you balanced, more."
    She leans over, and touches Diya's arm, gently. "It is hard. Suddenly having someone to care about, when all you've looked after before was yourself. Harder than learning how to kill, for some. But you are just as a stubborn person as I am, Diya. You have the ability. You just have to learn how to trust again. Until then, I will be here for you. As will Lexi."