1965-01-17 - Inhumans of a Temblor
Summary: Skye and Vesper discover they have more in common than meets the eye.
Related: If there are no related logs, put 'None', — please don't leave blank!
Theme Song: None
skye vesper 


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New York University is a cutting edge institution when it comes to the sciences. Maybe not as fine as Cambridge for biochemistry or genetics, but close, and that counts importantly for something. By Attilan standards, it's like kindergarten, possibly even preschool. Important breakthroughs on human scales do not match the achievements of the Inhumans. Fortunately the bridge between two worlds can be found here. Her lab is tucked away in the Biology Building. Security is not exactly lax given shootings and abductions of a scientist in the last six months. Sad event, international symposium gone wrong and all that. But for the most part the researchers keep to their equipment. Vesper Mezieres only tries to change the world two steps at a time. The Inhumans, such as they are, do tend to visit here. The brunette has a rather large office. She welcomes near anyone. Currently she faces a chalkboard and draws out genetic sequences in chalk. The same shape is built in three dimensional models. She is ten years ahead of the rest of the field, a sneeze when it comes to the glut of information she knows. Not unsurprisingly the coffee in the pot outside is scalded and horrible. It smells of pastries: a box of croissants is displayed prominently. Expecting guests? Maybe.


New in town. Skye hadn't even checked in with SHIELD to let them know that she was back. Should she? After all, she has spent considerable time on leave and was still considered such. But apparently, Skye hadn't left her skills at home or where ever she was. For she kept tabs on at least one Inhuman who helped her just a tiny bit.

Maximus.

Some folks move in a pattern that she was easily able to track. And most of the points lead to here. And a message. Cause security. But she got in easily enough. Still in ratty street clothes that she cleaned at a laundromat. A quick wash in a bathroom of a gas station, not to stink at all, and over to the university to check in. A quick knock at the door, her head ducked in, and she enters right when the last thunk of the chalk hits the board. Should she say hi? Is she too jaded? Eh. She was used to the silence.

"Hey."


One Inhuman who helped her. Skye and Vesper have that in common from opposite ends of the spectrum. If by 'help,' one means poisoned. Vesper continues chalking out her work, the soft shard of white calcite in her fingers twisted as she sketches in a line and stands back to assess her work. Good, but not the best. Something to worry about after reviewing the smaller sample pages tacked up by sliding metal hooks.

She sighs. Silence is a rarity. Machines as part of her work — centrifuges and sterilizers — emit a soft hum. But the background noise helps her think and, incidentally, supplies food when she needs it. Sometimes those late nights shut down all the nearby restaurants. Handy to be able to find alternate means of consumption. She stands on her toes and reaches for one of those sheets when someone opens the door. Brown haired chignon and striped sweater scream 'French!' to anyone with the slightest familiarity with France.

"Can I help you?" The accent is also French, and unlike most Parisians, pretty welcoming.


"Uh.." What does one really say when they aren't willing to out themselves, to a person who probably wouldn't even know what was going on? She may be considered mutant.. or an alien, or something or other. Security may be called, or quite possibly revoked.

"I almost want to say I'm here for asylum." No smile, a bit dry. "Though.. uh.. it looks like you're a little bit busy. Mind if I grab a cup and something to eat before I get on my way?"


"Asylum?" Ask an immigrant about the matters of confounding significance around that, the answers come differently from the native born. Vesper's chestnut brows dip. "A joke, oui? Are they fumigation the building again working with aromatics?" The hazards of the biology wing are less than chemistry, but they share similar troubles. Her chalk placed on the board, she turns to wipe her fingers off on a cloth. A dip of water sanitizes the tips from any lingering dust. "I am not so busy I cannot help." Skye receives a sidelong once-over. The kind you give a person without letting on you're giving them one. She is very good at them.

"The coffee is not so bad. Have a croissant." A nod indicates the white box while she circles around the front of her desk. The lab coat and the door both read 'Mezieres' with appropriate accents hovering on the Es. She probably knows her pastries then. "Lost, maybe? I get students turned around and people looking for faculty. I am Vesper. I research here." A wave of her hand indicates her orderly lab. It's not always so clean. Clearly she tries.


That wasn't good. She was supposed to think on the go, but lately it wasn't required. It was an odd thing, but she does nod a little and force a smile, a nervous little thing she became as she clears her throat. "No, nothing like that. I mean from outside. Other people. I.. am looking for other people like me.. not.. like them." That was about as vague as she was going to get, but.. the offer of a croissant?

A what?

Skye immediately heads off the pastries, taking one to quickly put into her mouth, the other to wrap into a napkin and a quick shuffle towards the coffee. "Forfa losh." She says, mouth full, which was soon retracted. "I guess I'm just looking for family. Some guy named Maximus was the last I've seen."


Advantage Skye in vagueness. Advantage Vesper in intellect. Piecing together details from vague intimations is what she does professionally and personally. A faint blush dances over her cheeks for no apparent reason. Leaning back a little on her desk requires the utmost care not to appear as though she slouches. Those years of ballet and convalescence war together.

Skye taking the croissant gains a smile. "You are welcome." The coffee pot is not impressive and many a mug — all white, all clean — are there for the taking. Adulterate as necessary. It's the mic drop of Maximus' name which widens her eyes slightly. Fawn brown and showing white around the rims.

"You are family then? Or a traveler, like me?"


Skye wasn't watching. Not outwardly. She felt everything around her; through the tiniest vibrations that were put out. If one had sensitive skin, goose-flesh would rise in accordance to what she's doing, there would be a tickle upon the back of the neck..

"Yeah.. I guess. To both I mean." Coffee pot was carefully taken from it's spot, a fresh mug chosen, looked in first, then set down so that she could pour. There were no additives to this. It was going to be hot and black. Finally she turns around, fingerless gloves hold the coffee up to her lips as she squints. "Wait. Why traveler?"


Nothing particularly odd comes in response from the brunette scientist. She holds no coffee, so nothing ripples. She has only her feet on the ground and the structure of the wood and metal desk to support her. Maybe the microtremors stick out after a bit of time, but her bearing stays about the same.

"Ah, well. I do not see him," subtle stress there, "often. He keeps to himself with his companion. I have their address as needed. Hard to miss the high point." She is a slight creature, a doe in a city full of them. Someone needs more sandwiches to put meat on her bones. "Traveler here from another city. This is not home for many of us. But we visit and choose to be here, is that not so?"


"I wasn't.." No, not to explain. Skye slowly relaxes, now that she was facing her, there was no need to keep anything felt at her back. "Ehh.. I've only stayed with him for a night. Boyfriend troubles. But.." Her head bobs left and right as she takes a few steps closer, looking around the room for a chair to drag with her foot so that she could take a seat closer. "I'm not really looking for him. I'm just.. looking for someone to talk to. To help. Maybe someone who can understand." Finding a chair, instead of dragging, she falls into it. A munch, a quick sip of coffee, and she was gesturing.

"Well yes. You're the most obvious. I came from a place that makes Nebraska look exciting." She smirks, then adds. "What's all this? What do you do here?"


Boyfriend troubles and a hitched eyebrow suggest so much more to the story but the Gallic je ne sais quoi Vesper can summon in an instant is patently in play now. She has three chairs in the place, one under a box full of manila files. The others are easy to reach. One is beside the desk and the other behind it. She goes to close the door securely, a matter of skill. The white lab coat ends up hung on a hook. Everything has its place, see.

"I am a researcher into genetics. The study of the building blocks of life." As in one hardly anyone knows about unless they read Nobel Prize news clippings or are scientists themselves. "Maximus is related to me. I think? A vague relation. We come from the same place. Are you from his hometown too?" How one sounds like her and claims connection with Maximus is objectively crazy but whatever. "I learned that not so long ago. Hence not having our acquaintance, mademoiselle…?" A name for a name.


"Genetics.. oh.." Skye seemed a little disappointed. It looks like she'll have to visit SHIELD after all. She nods her head, taking another sip of her coffee, then finally leans forward to set it upon the ground. Half eaten food though? Shoved in her pocket. "I don't know, to be perfectly honest. I.. didn't even know until he attacked me and things happened." Vague still. The entire story will come out later, she supposes.

"But I'm adopted. I don't know who my parents are. Maybe?" Hand waffles but.. she finally stands, offering a gloved hand. "Daisy. Or Skye. Which ever one floats your boat."


|ROLL| Vesper +rolls 1d20 for: 9


A lady scientist upsets just about everyone. Vesper takes it in stride, her expression hardening into a proper, polite mask. "Attacked you?" There's the rub. A few electric blue motes zing across her pupils, hitting spots where no lattice of melanin provides any colour. The black holes have creeping sparks that vanish aside. "I see. Things happened. The world changed?"


"Well. Us." How to explain. "I .. alright. I'm going to speak candidly. I work for Shield. We went there on a mission to assist to overthrow him. Things, for me, didn't turn out well. Some green stuff got to me and I.. turned into a cocoon thingy. I can't remember much of it." She sighs a little, almost sadly. "Yeah, the world changed a lot. I still have troubles. Sometimes, I break my ribs. Not badly but, they're broken nonetheless. My hands.." She looks down at her hands, then sniffs. "No big. Five by five, I was once told. But yeah. The world changing is an understatement."


"SHIELD." They might be known from the papers, a place with an emblem. Maybe she knows them, and maybe not. Vesper will puzzle through well enough but the heartache keeps motes rising and falling in convection cycles from the abyss. Tiny flickers burn like fireflies, uncanny if one looks too long in her direction. "You break yourself? This is normal, now, for you? The cocoon is…"

Trust is a dangerous, fleeting thing. The wiser one dealing with this, her brother, is nowhere in sight. Carefully she reaches for a croissant, holding the corners in pinched fingers. "We do not remember much then. A mercy. Would you want to know the fear or pain?" She shakes her head in dim memory. "I do not know what 'five by give' means. An English thing? Mais oui, the world is different. You now know yourself. What you are. There are the others, have you met any?"


There were no words. Vesper understood with just her asking the question alone. Her head nods slowly, gaze down towards the ground, elbows planted right above the knee where the groove is where she bent. "I've had a few lessons in training, but there are times when my mind wanders and.." Hands lift, mostly in a what can you do fashion. Which was nothing.

"I don't think anyone wants to know of it, hell no." She leans back now, one leg crossing over the other. A stark contrast to the dancer. Hers was a tiny bit more masculine. "I've met the King. Or.. maybe he is or isn't. But I've met him."


"Authority of rulers is difficult with us. We have a king who is not a king. We are not a proper republic. It goes into difficult places." That smooth, cool smile is made of cream and shadows, justifiably limited. Vesper rests her hands on the horns of the croissant and tears off a small piece. Eating for her is simple and very quiet. No drawing attention to herself, that's for sure. Must participate in the delicate consumption with a mind for anyone bursting in the door, seeing her. "I have only heard of him. Is he kind or forbidding?"

Her curiosity is tempered but present. Skye is not pushed on anything along those fronts. "The ones I know are welcoming. They would be glad to see another of us. They can help. The training is… Personal? An experience you learn by trying. None of us are alike."


"He's.. nice. Doesn't speak. I don't know." Her hand waves this off, it was something she didn't want to talk about. She wasn't upset, but.. it was a quiet matter after all. Literally.

"Oh, I've had enough training. I suppose it's a psychological thing. Something that I have to get used to. Something that I should be proud of but I'm not. I'll get over it in time but, I suppose I need a dampening sort of focus. Which.. I'll probably have to go back to work to get someone else to figure out."


Some business needs to be conducted elsewhere. Vesper understands that. She does not press further, for rudeness is unthinkable even in the privacy of her own office with a verified stranger. "Then what causes you trouble right now?" She may be at a loss herself, but then that is nothing entirely new. The world is strange and its people stranger. Sometimes the simplest answer is to let nature take its course.

Mind you, nature in her case is being made of cosmic death rays or sound waves from the radio.


"I guess.. I just still feel alone in this. Plus, curiosity." Skye admits. "If there's a whole kingdom out there, why not see who's who? You know.. see if I fit. And if not, then it is what it is." Her answer was quick and clean. No beating around the bush. "Not sure if that makes any sense or not, though. It seems like you have your ducks in a row." Her foot thumps a little, almost feeling that need to bolt out of her chair to start to pace. But she keeps herself still. Actually, nope! "Alright, maybe I should go."


"Alone in trying to find your place? Oh, no. For those of us not born to a position of power, we have to make the most of our situation. You are not wrong to feel lost or unsure." Vesper shakes her head and she sets aside the golden crescent, half-eaten at best. "You were not born knowing this would come? Neither was I. It was a surprise. The privilege of knowing where you stand is a blessing not everyone has, non. It makes all the sense to me. I am told there is a city who welcomes all of us, but that paradise feels less of a paradise. It has castes. I am measured based on what I can do, what I am. What is that, then?" Her hand held out, she rubs the edge of the desk to support her rise. "I spent a long time trapped in a room. I knew what I would do whenever I got out. Now I am out, I will do that."


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