[Friday, October 17th. 12:30 AM] [After making sure that the injured teen heroes were brought to safety, and getting confirmation of Mizuki's fate, The Redcoat heads home through the chill October air. Lost in thought, and back in civilian clothes, she almost walks past her building, but regains her senses and heads inside.] [Opening her door, she finds Airgirl, in one of her billowing, floaty dresses, sitting on a chair near the window, staring out as she wraps a bandage around her forearm.] [Mini Start] * TheRedcoat frowns and rushes in, babbling in Russian. "Are you all right?" [Airgirl looks up, a calm smile on her face. "Ahal. A minor injury during an otherwise successful night."] ["I encoutered another of our kind beset by a group of identical men wielding hand axes. I rendered assistance, for which she was most grateful, and we have agreed to pool our abilities going forward, in much the way you and I have."] * TheRedcoat shakes out her stinky sewer-covered purse/undercover coat and tosses it in the tiny washer on her way to Airgirl. "Huh." * TheRedcoat glances at Airgirl's first-aid job. "I hate those fucking Axe Effect freaks." [Airgirl nods. "I have enountered them once or twice before, as had the woman whose aid I came to, The Bleeding Heart. They are... vexing, I agree."] ["Though they melt most pleasingly when defeated. It provides a relieving sense of finality."] That's true. Bleeding Heart, huh? I haven't heard of her. Not that that's too surprising. ["Her powers are extremely unusual. From what little we spoke of it, it seems that she can control and utilize blood to vanquish her foes."] * TheRedcoat perches on the windowsill as Airgirl finishes her wrapping. "Well, that's...er...slightly gruesome." * TheRedcoat glances at Airgirl again. "I suppose, if she's going to be working with you, she isn't, uh...one of those, ah, personalities that we normally see out on the streets?" ["Our adversaries would assuredly have agreed, were they not busy melting." She giggles lightly. "She seems very nice." A pause, and her nose wrinkles. "You have been traveling through the depths?"] * TheRedcoat runs her hand over her face. "So to speak. We...ended up in the sewers tonight..." She pauses and frowns, sinking into silence. [Airgirl nods, staying silent to allow Redcoat to continue.] * TheRedcoat crosses her arms and sighs, sinking into reverie. ["You wish to speak, but the words do not come. Tell me what troubles you, my friend."] * TheRedcoat looks at Airgirl and away, frowns again, and runs her hand over her face down, stopping as it covers her eyes. "...we...we lost someone tonight." [Airgirl blanches, then rises, wrapping Redcoat in a light hug. "One of your teammates has fallen? Oh my, I'm so sorry, Svetlana."] * TheRedcoat stiffens a bit, then semi-relaxes into it, looking out the window. "She...it was an...she took out the fucker who did it. At least. Haha." ["I am unsure if I believe in what others term 'a good death', but if your story is to end stopping a great evil..."] * TheRedcoat laughs hollowly. "I agree. With the first part." * TheRedcoat sighs and shakes her head, looks at Airgirl again, then out the window again. "I'm also...not sure what this means for...the rest of us." ["How so?"] She was...well, along with being the only one among us with healing powers, which we have frequently had need for, she was...almost the glue for our group." None of us had a grudge against her. All of us respected her. ["And you are worried that, without her, nobody will be able to calm the winds when personalities clash?"] * TheRedcoat nods curtly. I have no particular grudge against the rest...Shockwave and Horus are nice, though young, and I quite like Jackie, actually. But Horus has some...issues with former villains, I suppose. She hates Jackie with a passion. Shockwave is better, but short-tempered. [Airgirl nods. "And then there is you."] * TheRedcoat lets out a soft hah. "Yeah. Then there's me." I...believe Horus and Shockwave don't know about my past. Jackie does, though, and Mizuki...well, she already knew. But she was the first person I had discussed it with." ["Do you believe that, having fought alongside you these past weeks, they would turn their backs on you?"] * TheRedcoat sighs and shrugs. "Well, it would be impractical. But...I don't know. Horus is...touchy. And Shockwave, he's not...he thinks on his own, but he backs her up often." ["Many heroes have some black mark upon their past. It is their present actions that blow clean the slate, and their present actions upon which they are judged." She pauses. "Usually."] * TheRedcoat hehs again. "Yeah. Usually." [Airgirl smiles warmly. "I know of your past, and yet here I remain."] * TheRedcoat laughs, a little more sincerely this time, and puts a hand on Airgirl's shoulder. "Yeah, well, you're different." You need to take better care, though. I'm...glad you have someone else to have your back now, though. I've only just begun to realize just how much strain the higher-ups are under these days." I mean, I knew it was bad, but...I didn't realize it was so *awful*. ["My cousin left me with a pearl of wisdom before she departed... 'Welcome to center stage. Don't look into the lights.'"] * TheRedcoat tilts her head. "That's one way of looking at it, I suppose." * TheRedcoat shrugs and shakes her head. "I'm going to take a shower. Is Sato having a game tonight?" ["If Sato did not have a game, I believe I would be forced to look out the windows to check for horsemen."] * TheRedcoat laughs. "You wanna go down and join in with me after I'm done washing up? I'm in a mood to lose money and get drunk. An immense improvement over getting into a sewer and losing a teammate." [Airgirl grins. "I shall try to provide your money with a good home, my friend."] * TheRedcoat laughs again as she heads for the bathroom, pausing briefly on the way to pour and down a shot. "If only it would go to you, my friend...that girl is frightening." * TheRedcoat pauses again in the small hallway, not looking back. "...thanks, Lirrel." And goes on. [Mini End]