4006/Sanguine Chit-Chat

Sanguine Chit-Chat
Date of Scene:	04 March 2018
Location:	New York City
Synopsis:	Matt visits Claire to get patched up, plans are hatched, questions asked and certain undercover mission is discussed.
Cast of Characters:	Daredevil, Claire Temple

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Daredevil has posed:
Matt had gotten careless. He'd let everything with the files and Elektra get in his head and it made him sloppy. So, a brief visit to one of the girlfriends of one of the men he'd been tracking ended with the Devil of Hell's Kitchen, getting a face full of pepper spray and stabbed in the side.

It wasn't Matt's greatest night.

The pepper spray felt like fire on his skin, screaming over the rest of his senses making it hard to maneuver, and the knife wound, shallow, by the feel of it, wasn't doing him any favours either.

Making his way carefully down from the roof, Matt grimaces as he crouches next to Claire's window and gives it two hard knocks.

Claire Temple has posed:
Sleep, dear, sweet mystery of life, Claire has finally found you... or, nope, not tonight. The knocks startle her awake, and it takes a few seconds for her to reorient enough to realize that there are very few who would be polite enough to knock on her window. She shoves herself out of bed and grabs the robe hanging on her door.

As she pulls on the robe, she turns on a floor lamp in her living room and dazzles herself for a second with the not-quite-subtle blaze from the bulb. Visibility is key, she reminds herself as if by rote.

A sharp tug under an end table yanks out a trauma kit, and Claire is ready for Murdock's... oh, she really hopes it's not his worst. She flicks open the locks on the top of the window and shoves up the pane. "Matt!" she greets before taking a step out of the vigilante's way. "No way you're okay. What's up this time?" She reels as her eyes and nose begin to burn from the pepper spray.

Daredevil has posed:
Matt tracks Claire's progress to the widow with relief. Though he felt guilty about waking her, because of course he did, he was glad she was home. The injury wasn't major, not like some of the stuff he'd foisted on Claire in the past, but it needed attention.

"Hey, Claire, sorry to wake you," he says before she reels back from the pepperspray and he gets down to the business of why he's here. "That mostly," he says about what's up. "Got tagged in the side with a knife too, doesn't feel that bad but with the pepper spray messing with my senses," he says as he slips gingerly in through the window. "I could use a hand."

Claire Temple has posed:
"I notice," Claire says as she reaches out a steadying hand to guide Matt into her apartment. She frowns at the pale orange spray marking his face and the front of his mask, with some coverage onto the less absorbent parts of his armor jacket. "All right," she says, leading the way into her kitchen, "Let's get all of this stuff off your face first, for your senses and mine." She pauses and gives a small wince. "Might be best if we bag up your helmet and your jacket for now."

Daredevil has posed:
Matt takes the offered hand to climb into the apartment. "I'm really sorry about this Claire," he says quietly, before he closes the window. He turns then, his eyes sightless or not, beginning to water under the mask, still, he manages a tight wry smile. "But you did say you were getting bored," he says meaning her visit by the offices a few weeks past, when everything had slipped into a winter lull.

Following Claire to the kitchen, he nods, "You're the nurse, where do you want me," he says about how they were going to approach glad to be rid of spray first and foremost. As to the other there's a slight frown, "I guess this is the part where I ask if you have any clothes my size or if I'm heading home in my underwear," he says with the frown turning to a slight smile at the idea of it, as he reaches up to begin removing his mask.

Claire Temple has posed:
The nurse snorts. "Saint Matthew, rest assured, nothing's boring once you turn up," she says as she pulls out a few plastic shopping bags from the holder hanging in one of her kitchen cabinets. She opens a few and rests them on her counter, ready to hold Matt's accoutrements, if only temporarily.

"Don't worry on that count," she tells him as she starts the cool water flowing in her sink and pulls an eye wash bottle from another cabinet. "Foggy slipped me some clothes to give you for just such an occasion. There's a ratty sweatshirt from Columbia Law with your name on it. Now, let's start with getting the residue off your hands..." she trails off while gesturing to the sink.

Daredevil has posed:
Matt offers a little, heh. "Now I feel like I'm not living up to expectations, no Russians or ninjas, just a lead to someone I was looking for who got a drop on me. But if you like I could give a couple of bikers a call," he says in wry teasing.

He sticks his hands under the sink and begins to give them a good wash. "Good thinking on Foggy's part," he says a little embarrassed he didn't think of it in the first place. He lets it go with a shrug. "So, how have things been?" he asks.

Claire Temple has posed:
Claire frowns. "Someone getting the drop on you... isn't your usual thing," she says slowly as she reaches over to start filling the wash bottle. She drops in a neutralizing tablet and starts shaking the container to mix the contents. "Soap's on your right, face wash is on your left," she notes. "I could do without the Russians or the ninjas, but the pepper spray crowd don't usually end up tagging Daredevil."

She rolls up her sleeves and goes back to the trauma kit to dig around briefly for the suture kit. "I don't think *I* live up to expectations, to tell the truth, while all of you are out getting into trouble to get things done around here."

Daredevil has posed:
"Thanks," Matt says when he's directed to the soap and the eye wash. He pauses to take off the mask and put it in a bag before he makes good use of the soap to wash his hands clean. "Been distracted lately," he explains. "Someone from my past, someone who knows about all this," he makes a gesture that encompasses the suit. "She's been sending me files about what some of the people I've put away have done when they got out. The people they've hurt, the harm they've done," he finishes washing his hands and then, reaches for a towel to dry them.

"Guess it's been getting to me, was off my game, tried to talk to an old girlfriend of one of the guys and she got me, spray then the knife. Lucky shot too, got in past the suit." He was going to have to see Melvin about that.

Matt sets down the towel in easy reach and moves on to the wash, he takes it like a champ, what with not seeing it coming, and when he's done he blinks and reaches for the towel. "You do your part Claire, but I guess doing what I do, I can't blame you for wanting to do more." He sets down the towel and turns towards her. "Better?" he asks. The burning had reduced, and it wasn't clogging his nose with quite so much of that sharp scent. "Any thoughts about what else you could be doing?"

Claire Temple has posed:
Claire considers for a few moments while she throws a thick, soft fleece sheet over her couch. "If it were up to me," she allows, "I'd be giving up all my ER bullshit and getting a clinic. Less paperwork and nicer patients," she says with a wry smile. "Easier to keep stocked, too. Maybe Tony Stark can fund it in return for all the destruction the Avengers manage to wreak on the neighborhood." She sets out her usual menu of suturing supplies on the coffee table.

"How are you feeling now?" she asks, coming back into the kitchen to stand next to Matt and appraise the aforementioned knife wound. "I mean, stopping the burn is great, but it looks like you're still leaking, here."

Daredevil has posed:
"I'm nice?" Matt asks with a self-effacing grin. He does give her words a bit of consideration as he puts his hands down to feel the spot where he'd been stabbed again. "Yeah, you're right," he says of him leaking. Jumping from building to building and climbing down fire escapes hadn't done him any favors. "Guess I am going to need to an easier way to travel," he says. "I hear Batman has a car."

"The pain's not too bad though," he says of the wound as though that meant much, she'd seen him keep going with much more than this. So, not hurting was a relative thing. "I like the clinic idea," he says, before getting caught up in thoughts. "I don't know Stark, but if you're serious about it, I might know someone who can make an introduction."

Claire Temple has posed:
"Oh, Batman has a car, all right," Claire says with a grimace as she notes the wound under Matt's fingers. "It's ridiculous. You'll lose every drop of ninja credibility you have as soon as you get a lift in that thing." She changes to a fresh pair of gloves and makes a considering hum. "Let's get this sealed up before you go getting nostalgic in those Columbia duds." She gestures toward the couch.

She mulls Matt's offer. "An introduction might be nice," she grants. "I don't know that I can do much to turn up at a gala to schmooze, though. He might have to settle for scrubs, but I can pull off a mean denim jacket and trauma bag if he's looking to stop by while I'm on the job answering vigilante calls." Her voice stays light with the comment, no barb intended.

Daredevil has posed:
"Heh. Yeah, they'd make me turn in my throwing stars and stop inviting me to the annual picnic," Matt says of his ninja cred with a wry smirk. "Sounds like you've seen the thing," he says of the car. "Don't tell me you've been moonlighting on the other side of the Lincoln tunnel," he jokes lightly nodding about the wound and moving to the blanket strewn couch, sitting down when he gets there.

Matt's chuckle turns into a wince, as he settles. "I'm not much for gala's either," he says. "But let me work my connections and see if I can find you an in without one," he says before he breathes a quick chuckle, "You know who we're forgetting all of this? Danny. I don't know what projects Rand Industries is backing but we could give him a try, plus, no schmoozing at galas."

Claire Temple has posed:
Claire makes a noise of wounded (fake) pride. "I have moonlighted near no such thing," she says. "It's so gaudy it's legendary. I think it has its own comic strip and everything," she says as she parks herself on the coffee table and starts to crack a saline bottle. "Furthest out I've been lately is Mutant Town, but I'm pretty sure that car doesn't cruise that neighborhood."

She makes a small 'hmph' of satisfaction -- the lighting should be enough, and the wound is mercifully small, although she won't voice that little gratitude. "I'll happily defer to you on that," she says with a considering pause. "Danny could be a very good contact for this, I'm sure. He might just need some guiding, or else the clinic might end up with four MRI machines and forty-five gurneys. But yes, he could be a huge help."

She sighs. "Might not want to be upright for this part," she tells Matt while she wiggles the saline container in emphasis.

Daredevil has posed:
Matt chuckles softly, "Good to know," he says about the moonlighting. "And Mutant Town huh?" he says as he begins to pull off the top of his costume to give Claire access to the wound, he lays the armour down on the blanket with an eye to not spreading his blood around. "Hearing about a lot of trouble out there recently. See anything?" Mutant town was way off Matt's beat too, but trouble was trouble.

"No problem," Matt says about his connections, before he chuckles again, "Hm, with Danny that might be a distinct possibility," he says with an amused smile. "If he does come onboard probably best to put your requests through Colleen, she's got a good head on her shoulders from what I heard."

"Right," he says as he slowly lays down on the sofa, wound side up, and moves his arm out of the way. He frowns, thinking, then speaks, "Claire? If someone offered to front you the money, with surprisingly few strings, but they were shady, would you take it?" he says. Then, realizing how cryptic that sounded, he adds: "Got an offer like that for Nelson and Murdock, money to let us take cases our clients couldn't afford to pay us for themselves, been considering it for a while."

Claire Temple has posed:
"Mutant Town," Claire says somewhat distractedly as she carefully cleans around the wound with the room temp fluid. "I didn't see a lot. St. Margaret's deacon asked for some supplies for their mission clinic, so I just got off the subway there," she recalls as she swabs away the blood. "Pretty quiet from what I could tell, although there was a small welcoming committee when I arrived. Local muscle -- and I do mean muscle -- even flirted for a bit and gave me his card," she notes dryly. "But no, I didn't see anything like what's been coming across lately." She frowns.

She probes around the wound gently and notes that while it's not a deep stab, the blade probably glanced into the short cut she sees. She fiddles with the suture package before she sticks in a clean set of forceps and clamps them around the needle.

"You know," she says, taking a deep breath, "I'd rather work with Colleen and Danny if it meant I wouldn't need to do the shady thing," she says. She begins the first stitch. "I mean, there may be few strings, but that just makes me think those few are all they'd need to hang me." She draws the thread through. "Or anyone else."

Daredevil has posed:
There is a brief exhale of a laugh and a grin at the bit about the card, "So going to give them a call?" he asks, teasing while she tends to his wound. "And glad you missed all the trouble down there, sounds like a higher grade than we've been having lately, hate to have to start some here to compete."

The joking stops for a moment while she probes at the wound and he shifts his mind to blocking out the pain, though her answers to his question have him nodding, "More or less what I was thinking, except didn't think to offer Danny the chance to match it," he says. "Just," he lets out a sigh. "The person behind it, the shady one, I think she's really trying to do good with this, you know? Change, just thinking maybe the risk is worth it if they can be saved." Yep, same old Saint Matthew.

He gives his head a shake, "Anyhow, I promise, no shady donors for your clinic, only guys with Iron in their name."

Claire Temple has posed:
"You'll be glad to know," Claire says in a low voice, "that this one's going to be a quick sew. Not bad for a rough night," she says lightly. She's already halfway through putting in the stitches. She gives Matt a quick assessing glance, hums a short note, and gets busy with the next suture. "I have it in case I'm in the area, but I do have to wonder how he and Luke would get along..." she trails off as she knots another stitch.

Ah, Saint Matthew. "It would be great if she were trying to good, sure," she says, rocking her head back and forth sideways while she considers. "Doesn't hurt to be prepared, though. What about asking Jess to take a look at the accounts? She's pretty good at covering her tracks on that kind of thing."

Daredevil has posed:
"Great. I could use some good news tonight," Matt says of the stitching. He keeps any discomfort walled off save the odd sharp spike of pain that might slip past his guard. "Mm, yeah, muscly guys watching out for their neighbourhood? Sounds like Luke. Heard from him by the way? He still out west?" he asks. "Oh, and card guy? He have a name?"

Matt grins, "You mean my future wife?" he asks giving Claire a beat to react before he chuckles. "Jess is dragging me in on a case, we're playing a married couple to check out this school upstate, see if their legit or not. It's called Xavier's, heard of it?"

He gives the thought of having Jess check things out some consideration. "I'll bring it up with her. See what she says."

Claire Temple has posed:
"Card guy?" Claire asks as she gets to her last couple stitches. "Cain somebody. Markus? No... Marko. Cain Marko. Easier to remember because it's weird," she says. She huffs. "Luke's watching the weather up here and laughing at us, last I heard," she says, her voice getting a little grumpy. "He's not exactly taking selfies at Disneyland, but he hasn't held back on how much nicer it is there than here."

Claire tries for a few moments to hold in her mirth at the couple idea, she really does, so long as Matt's not listening to her lungs or her heartbeat. It sort of works, until she's giggling and rocking back with the forceps in the air to avoid a bad stick on Matt's side. "Um... I haven't heard of Xavier's, but..." She starts giggling again. "You can bring it up with her while you're vacationing upstate," she chuckles. "Which one of you thought this up?"

Daredevil has posed:
Matt nods, "Haven't heard of him," he says of card guy, aka Cain Marko or Cain Markus. "I am glad the jerk is enjoying himself," he says of Luke with a smile. "Guess it's safe to assume that he's not coming back here until the weather's better?"

"I can hear that," Matt says with a mock stern voice before Claire bursts out giggling. He grins broadly, at the notion. "Hers. If I suggested it, you'd have seen me a lot sooner and in worse shape. And hey, this isn't a pleasure trip, it's all for our daughter April." He knew Claire would get a kick out that part of the deception. "Anyhow, good to sit up?" he asks.

Claire Temple has posed:
"Just about," Claire says with a nod and a pat on Matt's arm as she snips the last stitch. The giggles still shake her frame a little. "She's got a cover story going with a daughter and everything?" she asks, shaking her head in unabashed glee. "That's... oh, that's... wow." She purses her lips. "You know, when the weather finally meets Luke's lofty standards, it might be fun to let him in on that tale before Jess does," she says, laughter giving way to mischief. "Hell, I want to hear about it!" she says with another open laugh.

Stitches done, she makes quick work of eliminating the... well, evidence. A small sharps cup takes the needle and remaining thread. "Foggy even used an old duffel for the clothes drop, by the way, in case you don't want to have your Daredevil suit hanging out of a few bodega bags," she says as she gets up to retrieve the special cache.

Daredevil has posed:
"Yep," Matt confirms about the cover story, clearly enjoying this too. "April, we're going to go see if the school is good enough for our imaginary daughter," he says. "I said Catholic school was a better fit, but you know Jess," he says playing the part for a moment. "Oh, I am sure tales will be told all around, some of them might even be true," he grins at that last part before the final stitch is done and he's able to sit up. He moves fairly well for a guy who just got stiches.

"Good thing," he says of the duffle. "That just might be conspicuous," he says of carrying the suit home in plastic bags. As he waits for her to get back he says, "Anyhow, give me a couple of days to try to talk to people, but I think we can get this clinic idea working," he says. "I'll give you a call and we can meet in daylight without me bleeding everywhere," he adds with a smile before bending to pick up the top of his suit.

Claire Temple has posed:
Claire nods at the expanded cover story, eyes dancing while she imagines the scene. "Between you and Jess, the true tales will probably be more than enough fun for the rest of us, and if you try telling any false ones, you'll probably get into trouble at confession," she says, her voice teasing.

She returns from her bedroom closet with a well loved gym bag in one hand and the bag with Matt's helmet and gloves in the other. "Sounds good to me, and I never underestimate the value of daylights without blood." She gestures to the plastic bags. "You need to be careful with this stuff, remember," she says. "It's still plenty hazardous," she says in a low voice, sparing a sniff at the bag with the helmet.

Daredevil has posed:
Matt grins boyishly at the tease. "Good point, Father Lantom doesn't need to hear more than I already tell him," he says about confession. "And yeah, there will be plenty of tales to keep us all going for awhile."

"We'll do that then," Matt says putting the top into a bag then switching out of the pants over in the kitchen and pulling on the ones from the bag. "Noted. I'm not looking forward to cleaning this thing," he remarks as he continues to pack.