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With the message received from the mutant menace (which shockingly wasn't her for once) delivered; and Domino sent off to complete her retrieval of dossiers of her latest planned coup, Raven indoctinated Terry and Cain to meet with the young woman and possibly strong arm her with a 'gentle' hand into furthering their own goals. Granted, with tensions high as they were, it was going to take a delicate touch. Though, their brand of delicate was anything but the name inspires.
Crowley's was a temporary set up for the season; it wasn't exactly a soup kitchen, but it gave food to the mutants of this wayward down for a cheaper price and less of a hassle that the non-normal mutants would get when they're out in the city. Which means one key thing; no one was going to ask questions if people decide to linger, talk and eat.
The little cafeteria was set up in such a way that there was room for the little crew to settle in the back. Raven was there, though she was not herself, taking the seeming of a little old woman, one who hobbles along with a slight cough that was covered with her hands and promptly washed. A few hacks here, another washing there.. she rubbed her hands raw for the sake of acting.
And the good thing about this is?
-No one- knew that she was there.
So this was a test for Beatrice, Cain, and Silencer. Raven and her games. Lets see how her crew and this young woman measure up, shall we?
*
Terry "Silencer" Walker, for now, stands just inside Crowley's smoking a cigarette, watching the few people around eating… and watching for this Beatrice. The Australian drops the cig-butt on the ground and steps on top of it, leaving the butt where it lies. He gives an experimental roll of his shoulders…
And suppresses a wince.
"Place is too quiet," he mutters aloud in a bit of a huff, then glances sideways for his fellow Brothers…
*
Cain doesn't really know Silencer much, but he knows Raven. She doesn't set things like this up likely. Not exactly his usual cup of tea and he doesn't really know this other op at all. But screw it, this is where he's supposed to be.
He wears a bulky coat and a stocking hat, not that it makes much of a disguise. He's still well over seven feet tall and built like a truck. Still, he puts on his best 'humble pie' expression, "'Scuse me. Pardon me," he mutters, bumping a few people along the rows as he makes his way up to get a bowl, "Keep yer eyes peeled fer the dame," he mutters back to Silencer. "Don't you worry, I can make a big noise if we need it."
*
Mutant Town is the kind of place no one really looks to close if you're going around in full cover-up. Might be a criminal. Might just be too hideous to look at! Either way, no one bothers the trio of figures making their way through town and into the back of Crowley's.
All three are tall, over 6 feet, and two are in full burqa outfits. They must have been custom made because they reach all the way to the ground with these giants. The third is the man-beetle known as Herc to some. He's 8 feet tall, plus a long, sharp-looking horn. He has to duck extra to get through the door, and then hunch all the way through Crowley's until they reach the back area.
Once they reach the back, Herc enters first peering around at everyone. When he's not immediately attacked, he glances back at the door, then he finds a corner to squat down in and do his best boulder impersonation.
The two women follow him in, and one removes her face covering right away, revealing the mutated face of Beatrice, chitin, antennae and all. Her hands emerge from the sleeves as well, each finger too long with the addition of an extra knuckle.
The other burqa-clad woman remains covered for now, and finds another corner to back into. Bea gazes around at the people gathered and nods with a small, wry smile. "Good evening, I'm Beatrice. I understand you've been looking for me."
*
The old woman, hair net and all, begins to move around the cafeteria. Nevermind Cain or Silencer, nevermind Beatrice's reveal or the ones that walked in with her. Nevermind her! In fact, she who sweeps the floor, gathering up tossed fries and.. wait.. is that a pea? Someone put a pea on the floor.. it kind of just sat there, non moving. Off colored green. Slightly dented and dimpled near the top. A pea!
Raven sweeps that up as well, creating a nice little pile of food.
*
"Crikey," murmurs Silencer, although he gives a nod to the side at Cain. The 'crikey', however, is for Beatrice and her entourage. "Jus' like bein' back home," he adds after a momentary pause, and his lips crack a smirk.
Australia and its plethora of deadly creepy-crawlies.
The 'Aussie' has no problem fitting right in, here. At Beatrice's greeting, he lifts his chin a bit, pushes off of the wall and sticks his hands in his back pockets — mildly forcing his shoulders and pec to stretch a bit.
Recent injury.
"Just 'ere fer a friendly chat," he tells Beatrice with a roguish smile. His eyes glint at the word 'friendly'.
*
Cain nods at Silencer's response, keeping his own regard for their appearance to himself. Sure, he might wanna throw up in his mouth a bit looking at these freakos, but they might be useful and Raven would bitch if he showed disgust at someone's appearance. She got touchy about that kinda shit.
"Yeah, friends," he adds. "Seems like we might be able to have mutual aims worth workin' towards. We understand bein' diff'rent an' all, 'though maybe not exact the same as you," he says. "We figured the more we know about each other, maybe the better we can do at bridgin' the gap and makin' sure we all get what we want."
*
Ears were attuned to the conversa—..
"Hey Rose! Get'cher old ass back here and finish these dishes!"
Raven stops, her 'old' back creaking as she hobbles towards the man, speaking in hushed and quiet tones, gesturing towards the pile of trash that was left upon the floor. With that said, she turns away and continues her sweeping of the floor, slowly moving towards the little gathering.
*
Removing the rest of the restrictive burqa robe, Beatrice sighs with relief, handing the garments to the woman still covered up. Her hands are green when she takes the robes from Bea.
Revealed, Bea is taller than average, and her legs and arms and fingers seem just a /little/ bit too long. She's wearing a white tank top and black cargo pants, which have been converted to capris style given how thin she is, and how long her legs are. She's also wearing combat boots.
Beatrice would just be a long, tall brunette, easy on the eyes with legs that go all the way up - if not for the whole host of insectoid features immediately marking her as a mutant.
Everywhere, her skin is covered in a patchwork of iridescent, silvery chitinous armor covering most long patches of skin. In places where it meets flesh, it looks to be growing out of her, much like fingernails. From far away it sort of looks like body armor, but up close, it's obviously a part of her.
Her long black hair flows around two slightly fuzzy, black antennae growing out of the top of her head. They're about half a foot long, and twitch from time to time.
Her eyes are still orbs in sockets, but their surface is matte black, and multi-faceted. It's hard to tell exactly where she's looking as they swivel about.
She also has a long, double pair of translucent insect wings. An entomology buff might note their similarity to termite wings, being twice the length of her body. They drape on the ground behind her like a cloak.
Bea watches the old woman for a moment, nods to herself, and then smiles at Silencer. "I'm glad to hear that. And I've never met an Australian before. Your accent is as lovely as I'd imagined," Bea says, her white, very human teeth showing in a warm, friendly smile.
Turning to Cain she nods and says, "Oh I agree. And it's true. Some of us can 'pass', and some certainly can't." she says in a liltingly pleasant tone as she holds her hand up as an example, with its long fingers that look more like spider legs.
*
The Australian smiles thinly.
"Don' reckon I've been called 'lovely' before," says he in an offhand manner. "Even if it is jus' me voice. Alroight then, sounds like we 'ave some common ground 'n shit, 'cause… world' far from roight."
He tries to not sound patronising while motioning about at their surroundings with his hand; talking was never his strong suit, not unless he was deliberately trying to get under someone's skin.
"Got anythin' in mind to 'improves' things a bit?"
*
Cain isn't sure lovely's a word he'd use for the Australian's accent, but whatever float's bug lady's boat is fine with Cain.
"Lady that runs our outfit, she tends to have some strong ideas of her own. She wants us to encourage more people, whether they can pass or not, to stand up for themselves. To be counted," he says.
"You shouldn't have to hide just cause you ain't like them," he says in affirmation.
*
Bea smiles again at Silencer's description, and then nods at Cain. "Is there a woman in charge of the Brotherhood?" Bea asks, seemingly out of context. With the answer hanging in the air between them she just mentally files the information away, not needing a real answer.
"I couldn't agree more, ah, but haven't we gotten ahead of ourselves?" Carefully, slowly, so as not to startle anyone, she steps forward and offers her hand first to Silencer, and then to Cain. "My name is Beatrice, which I think you know. This here is my friend Herc. And this is my friend Ms. Green."
*
Terry takes the insectoid woman's hand in greeting, then nods to her offsiders. "Silencer," he replies with a smirk. "Or, just Sy — to me friends, luv. Herc, Ms. Green — pleasure."
Turning back to Beatrice, the Aussie's eyes narrow and he casually folds his arms over his chest. "So when it comes to 'settin' things straight', is there anythin' stickin' out to you in particular? Our lady-boss is… pretty passionate about standin' up fer our kind. I mean, hand-shakes're true-blue — or, swell, or whatever — but there's gotta be somethin' else we can do… for each other?" It's an offer and a request all in one.
*
Cain nods, "You can call me Cain," he says. Which is his name, of course. He could introduce himself as Juggernaut, but it seems awkward to an ally.
"Basically, once we scratch yer back and you scratch ours, then we both got skin in the game. Kinda seals the deal, y'know, makes it so the alliance is real an' not just spit in the wind," he says.
"You got a target you want taken? We can happily take it on your behalf. An' vice versa. Or maybe you just need somethin' retrieved or maybe somebody protected? We can do that, too. We're whatcha call multi-faceted."
*
"Sy. Cain. Lovely. To be honest," Bea says after greeting everyone. "I want humans and mutants to know they're on the same side. So when I attack, I try to make sure mutants are there to protect the humans. But that's a long view," Bea says, dismissing the idea as almost irrelevant.
"The short view is dismantling the institutions the humans take solace in. The police. The national guard. That sort of thing," Bea says, thinking aloud. Turning, she claims one of the chairs left out, settles into it and crosses her legs.
Then she reaches into one of her pants cargo pockets and produces a baseball size pill bug, a rolly-poley all balled up. "You don't mind do you…?" she asks, as if she's about to light a cigarette. Instead, the pill bug grows to about the size of cantelope, which she proceeds to alternate between drumming on with her fingertips, and petting like a very strange cat.
"One thing I've had my eye on, is acquiring upgrades for my beetles. Not like my Herc here," she says, gesturing at her friend. He grunts and offers an eye-wateringly horrific smile full of flat, gray teeth. "Still basically beetles in form and function. They're very hardy, and mobile. Most can even fly. But I think we can all agree that giant beetles and ants should come with mounted machine guns, yes?"
Bea shifts in her seat, eyeing Cain and Sy with a wry grin. "If my creatures were properly armed, I would be in a very good position to help you in your endeavors as well."
*
"'Ow good are yer beetles at retrieving information?" Silencer responds with a glance at Cain. "S'all well an' good if they can sit up, roll over, play dead, or… use automatic weapons, but — if you were to, oh I dunno, send them into a secure facility (like an… FBI office here in New York) to get a particular set o' schematics… could they do it, luv?"
The merc smiles, then reaches for another cigarette and his lighter. "Whaddyou reckon, Cain? Somethin' like that or somethin' else — to scratch our backs. Actually, I could use a hand with an itch roight… 'bout 'ere," and he motions to the middle of his back with his offhand, grinning a bit. "Can never reach it…"
*
Cain snorts, "Wouldn't be the first time we've liberated a bit of hardware. Might take some time for contacts to find the right kind of equipment. Might surprise ya, but even the military ain't quite gotten around to buildin' beetle-ready weaponry o' the sizes yer probably cravin'. We'd need to hit some experimental shit. Which we can. All we gotta know is the where and the when. The actual freein', well," he says and he cracks his knuckles, the sound like a series of rifle shots.
"Let's just say they ain't built a caravan yet can keep me out."
*
Tch. Multi-faceted.
Though, Silencer and Cain were playing off each other pretty well. There was that little itch upon the back of her spine that nearly makes her -want- to try to fuck everything up. But no.. this was.. surprisingly decent. The two men had a sense of diplomacy about them that Raven could appreciate!
So, the old woman slowly begins to venture off. Bending with hesitation, a grunt, a soft little groan to swipe the fallen food onto the dust pan.
*
Bea laughs quietly, and if one wasn't looking at her, it would be the laugh of a seductive woman at the bar. The kind of woman one might buy a drink for. But alas, she is not that woman. "No, I don't think they'd be good at that at all, although wasps are surprisingly clever. I would probably still need to go with them. Or Ms. Green here. She's my primary… covert ops specialist?"
Bea turns to the woman in the corner who nods silently back at her.
"I think we could come to some kind of arrangement. Unless you needed the FBI office to be none the wiser. I'm afraid… that may not be my bailiwick. We're covert, but not invisible." Someone spent more time with books than she did with people growing up, with a vocabulary like that.
*
Silencer looks over at Ms. Green and his smirk widens. "You'n me gotta trade some stories, luv," he tells her, being a former covert-ops specialist himself. Then he turns back to Beatrice.
"Invisible isn't necessary. I'll brief with our boss first, 'n get back to ya. I reckon…" Sy glances at Cain. "We got ourselves the makings of a partnership, whaddya reckon, mate?"
*
Cain nods in agreement, "Seems like it," he says. "And nah, we like to make a big noise on our own sometimes. It's fun, watchin' 'em scamper. Helll, we could prob'ly clear this whole room in thirty seconds if we tried. But we ain't. Cause we're nice," he says.
Well. Nice might be a stretch.
"Got a way to keep in touch? We usually use the want ads for covert stuff - sendin' messages an' shit. Keep an eye out there, we'll find a way to get yer attention once we get things figured out."
*
Once the food was gathered onto the pan, Raven, the old woman, slowly turns and takes a gander of the situation. It was a movement in stealth, even though it was quiet obvious. No one would expect a cleaning grandma to be something other than what she really was. Each of their faces, while grimaced at, was etched into her keen memory. Their statures, their profiles, the way they sit, stand and speak. Nothing was missed, even the bold requests that would have had her laughing and chuckling.
But she keeps a straight face. Pained! But straight!
She hobbles off now, slow. She didn't need to hear any more. Perhaps down the line she'll make herself known.. but there was a plan in the works just to see how this Beatrice measures up.
*
Just as Bea's little pill bug was feel confident to squirm a bit and inch open to take a peek, Bea stands and shrinks the little guy back down to baseball size. She tucks him back into her pocket, and offers her hand to each man in turn. "Sy. Cain. It sounds like we have the makings of a mutually beneficial arrangement."
Turning, Bea takes the robe from Ms. Green, who also helps her get dressed again. It's a process that includes wrapping Bea's gossamer wings around her middle, and then all the rest. Bea talks while she gets ready. "I do get the newspaper, yes. The want ads seem clever enough," she says with a smile over her shoulder as the robe goes on.
"As a side favor to me, will you let me know if you notice any abandoned buildings on the outskirts of town? I haven't seen anything suitable yet, but I /am/ tired of living under the city. A girl has to have standards, right boys?" Bea grins once more before Green helps her put the hood and face covering on.
*
"I think we can accommodate that," Silencer remarks with another glance at Cain. "I know of a couple… depends what you mean by 'suitable', I 'spose." He then pauses to light up his cigarette, tuck his lighter away, and just enjoy his smoke for a bit.
He blows out a little cloud through his nostrils. "Now I'm suddenly thirsty. Where's the nearest bar 'round 'ere?"