Cough Up The Money

The site of the recently restored Braddock Lighthouse. Aircraft hangars and other X-Men facilities, including a Cerebra unit and the Danger Room have been constructed around the foundations of the lighthouse.

Cough Up The Money

Postby Miriam Bell » Mon Aug 13, 2018 3:09 pm

Normally Miriam might have some reservations about storming into the Point. Despite what Sam was saying, she's not entirely sure what her actual status with the school and the X-Men is. But her concern for Will (and, admittedly, the large amounts of cash) takes precedence right now. Glad she's incapable of being out of breath she slows down just before walking into the cell block and up to Willpomene in her freezer.
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Miriam Bell
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High Concept: Sorrowful Telepath
Aspect: Powerful Enemies
Aspect: Structural Shadow

Re: Cough Up The Money

Postby Null » Mon Aug 13, 2018 3:23 pm

"Mmm, Darling, take a couple deep breaths. Your veins are showing, and you look a fright," Willpomene grinned.
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Re: Cough Up The Money

Postby Miriam Bell » Mon Aug 13, 2018 3:26 pm

"You're awfully smug for somebody with the worst telepathic defenses imaginable."
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Miriam Bell
Student
 
High Concept: Sorrowful Telepath
Aspect: Powerful Enemies
Aspect: Structural Shadow

Re: Cough Up The Money

Postby Null » Mon Aug 13, 2018 3:28 pm

"Well, one does what one can with the materials available, doesn't one? I'll admit, some of us fumble along more clumsily than others," she stabbed.
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Re: Cough Up The Money

Postby Miriam Bell » Mon Aug 13, 2018 3:51 pm

"I'm done listening to you. You've well outstayed your welcome."

Miriam takes another step forward to place her hand against the clear material of the cell, her mind stabbing out and into Willpomene's, determination driving her towards the core of the imprint of Melpomene. If she was going to work things out then she had to really face what she could be otherwise instead of shying away from Will's memories of her counterpart.
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Miriam Bell
Student
 
High Concept: Sorrowful Telepath
Aspect: Powerful Enemies
Aspect: Structural Shadow

Re: Cough Up The Money

Postby Null » Mon Aug 13, 2018 4:20 pm

Will's mindscape was not quite as she had left it.

The obsidian statue of Miriam was lying on it's side, it's face smashed in. The city around it was also in quite poor shape; some lingering fires burning here and there. The village hadn't been razed, but it was clear that there had been a wee bit of confrontation here, and the village had taken the brunt of the damage.

Atop the rubble of the statue, Melpomene sat, looking down over her kingdom, and by extension, Miriam. She wasn't sitting on a 'throne', per se -- rather, a couple Wills were bent over, chained together and contorted into awkward positions, Mel sitting atop them like a queen. It wasn't just Wills, either -- there was a Sam, as well as a few people Miriam couldn't immediately place.

"Ever heard of knocking, darling?"
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Re: Cough Up The Money

Postby Miriam Bell » Mon Aug 13, 2018 4:45 pm

"I don't extent courtesy to squatters." she says with an icy tone, her avatar shrouded by black fabric with only the two silvery masks showing through.
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Miriam Bell
Student
 
High Concept: Sorrowful Telepath
Aspect: Powerful Enemies
Aspect: Structural Shadow

Re: Cough Up The Money

Postby Null » Mon Aug 13, 2018 4:48 pm

"I've been here for longer than you can even conceive of. It's just as much mine as anyone else's.

And if anyone's the squatter here, it's the one who raised a statue to their own glory."
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Re: Cough Up The Money

Postby Miriam Bell » Mon Aug 13, 2018 7:17 pm

"You're right. But I refuse to let you of all people guilt-trip me." she says, ribbons of fabric shooting out from her, but not at Melpomene this time, instead driving into the ground as she tries to rouse Will's mindscape into action. Mel's 'chair' is clearly somewhat representative of Will and his friends, people he trusts. It hurts to realize she's not part of that and, at least right now, probably doesn't deserve to either, but there's a certain clarity to admitting this to herself and she holds on to that as she tries to invoke good memories Will associates with the people bound into a chair to try and empower.
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Miriam Bell
Student
 
High Concept: Sorrowful Telepath
Aspect: Powerful Enemies
Aspect: Structural Shadow

Re: Cough Up The Money

Postby Null » Mon Aug 13, 2018 8:14 pm

There's a lot of pain to cut through first -- the "topsoil" layer of memories, such as it were, were not all together pleasant and fun and exciting.

Gritting her teeth and pushing through, however, and Miriam would find plentiful positive memories. Birthdays. Family outings. Thanksgivings. Playing silly buggers, the center of a web of relationships that radiated out and extended from Will -- a large, extended family. Friends. Teammates. Years and years and years of positive memories.

The hardest -- or best? -- part of it, from Miriam's perspective, was experiencing all these flashes of positive memories herself. Digging through them and invoking them made her, ever so briefly, part of them. Falling in love with some mousy-looking brown hair girl. The exhilaration of first flight under the watchful eyes of Sam. Holding a pink-haired baby aloft. This whole other life, glimpsed in flashes.

But there was more than that. Memories of a research base in the Antarctic, hiding and seeking. Memories of the Xaviers that Miriam was familiar with -- going clothes shopping, bumping along with missions. And she was there, too -- memories of hanging out, literally, as a necklace. Even a few moments in the hotel room, when things were briefly calm and quiet.

Melpomene might not include Miriam in the roster of Will's friends, but it was clear that Will herself did, despite all that had gone on between them.
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Re: Cough Up The Money

Postby Miriam Bell » Tue Aug 14, 2018 5:21 pm

It's like diving into ice water. Seeing, feeling what Will has lost hurts in such an almost exquisitely familiar way. And worse, for just a moment all those memories are hers. A lifetime and more of friends, family, being welcomed and loved. And it hurts because it is gone. Ripped away past an ephemeral barrier, out of reach. It's overwhelming and heartbreaking and resplendent and for maybe the first time Miriam realizes that if there was no grief, no pain in it's absence then none of it would hold any meaning. In the real world her fingers curl against the window, fingernails scraping against reinforced plexiglass, lips pressed into a thin line and eyes welling with tears. "We can't have the happiness of yesterday without the pain of today. That's the deal..." she whispers.

And just like that she knows what happened. Why she cannot tear Melpomene from Will's mind and why burying it all left Will vacuous and broken, seeking refuge in something that, in his mind, had absolute control. Why the pain feels so strong it's almost unbearable at times. How often had she wished she could just forget about Norma, be free of the shadow cast over her soul. She carried her own little box in her mind only she knew exactly what it held and now there's no holding it closed anymore and the memories of that tiny, impossibly small flicker of light fading into the darkness spills forth. She'd been so scared, so hurt, so lost until she'd simply been no more. But in that little flame flickered so much more...

Miriam boosting her little sister onto the counter to help her get to the cupboard with the Crunchie bars.

Sitting in front of the telly, hugging Norma so she doesn't get too scared of the aliens chasing the Doctor around.

Taking her to the playground and teaching her how to make a whirlybird so she doesn't notice the third strange man visiting their mum that day.

Standing on her tip-toes to make breakfast sausage and scrambled eggs for her sister.


All those things, buried because they hurt too much to remember, yet she's stronger with them. A candle in the dark that she'd needed for so long. It burns and it hurts but it shines all the same and as it does she pulls and she lifts all of Will's memories up from the clay. And Melpomene's 'throne' remains even as large sugar crystals sprout all over her until she's encased but not forgotten, her own kind of monument in a way. And slowly Miriam sinks down to her knees, hand trailing on the window of Will's cell as her forehead comes to a rest against it, tears falling down past the curtain of her hair.
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Miriam Bell
Student
 
High Concept: Sorrowful Telepath
Aspect: Powerful Enemies
Aspect: Structural Shadow

Re: Cough Up The Money

Postby Null » Tue Aug 14, 2018 5:51 pm

"Miriam?" a quiet voice came from the cell.
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Re: Cough Up The Money

Postby Miriam Bell » Tue Aug 14, 2018 6:06 pm

For a moment Miriam remains motionless. Then she slowly raises her head to look up.

"Will?"
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Miriam Bell
Student
 
High Concept: Sorrowful Telepath
Aspect: Powerful Enemies
Aspect: Structural Shadow

Re: Cough Up The Money

Postby Null » Tue Aug 14, 2018 6:08 pm

"I'm here."

"I'm all the way here."
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Re: Cough Up The Money

Postby Samantha McManus » Tue Aug 14, 2018 6:09 pm

Sam makes her way down towards the cell and stops about ten feet from Miriam, blinking in confusion.

"...I've missed something."
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Samantha McManus
Student
 
High Concept: Waking Goddess
Aspect: Enraptured by Violence
Aspect: Made of Nightmares
Aspect: Not Crazy
Aspect: Driven by Wolves

Re: Cough Up The Money

Postby Miriam Bell » Tue Aug 14, 2018 6:15 pm

Miriam tenses up a little at the sound of Sam's voice, but she forces herself to relax, letting out a breath she hadn't even noticed she'd taken.

"I'm sorry. About... a lot of things."
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Miriam Bell
Student
 
High Concept: Sorrowful Telepath
Aspect: Powerful Enemies
Aspect: Structural Shadow

Re: Cough Up The Money

Postby Null » Tue Aug 14, 2018 6:17 pm

"Be specific, Miriam," Will said, lips pursed.
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Re: Cough Up The Money

Postby Samantha McManus » Tue Aug 14, 2018 6:19 pm

"Is this... really her? She resurfaced?"
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Samantha McManus
Student
 
High Concept: Waking Goddess
Aspect: Enraptured by Violence
Aspect: Made of Nightmares
Aspect: Not Crazy
Aspect: Driven by Wolves

Re: Cough Up The Money

Postby Null » Tue Aug 14, 2018 6:24 pm

"Resurfaced, nothing. Miriam went in there and gave me a right whoopin'."
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Re: Cough Up The Money

Postby Miriam Bell » Tue Aug 14, 2018 6:40 pm

"Being specific would take all night..." Miriam mumbles. "But first and foremost I'm sorry for what I did to you and what it made you do." she says as she slowly stands back up, wiping at her face with the back of her hand.
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Miriam Bell
Student
 
High Concept: Sorrowful Telepath
Aspect: Powerful Enemies
Aspect: Structural Shadow

Re: Cough Up The Money

Postby Samantha McManus » Tue Aug 14, 2018 6:52 pm

"Are... are you sure this isn't a trick, Miriam?"

"No offense..."
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Samantha McManus
Student
 
High Concept: Waking Goddess
Aspect: Enraptured by Violence
Aspect: Made of Nightmares
Aspect: Not Crazy
Aspect: Driven by Wolves

Re: Cough Up The Money

Postby Null » Tue Aug 14, 2018 6:52 pm

"Brrr, it just got colder in here -- and that's saying something from the chick half-encased in ice.

A little faith, Sammy?"
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Re: Cough Up The Money

Postby Miriam Bell » Tue Aug 14, 2018 6:56 pm

"It's not a trick." Miriam says quietly. "See for yourself if you don't believe me."
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Miriam Bell
Student
 
High Concept: Sorrowful Telepath
Aspect: Powerful Enemies
Aspect: Structural Shadow

Re: Cough Up The Money

Postby Samantha McManus » Tue Aug 14, 2018 7:08 pm

"I'm just saying, she's slippery."

"And, you know, she's still calling me Sammy."
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Samantha McManus
Student
 
High Concept: Waking Goddess
Aspect: Enraptured by Violence
Aspect: Made of Nightmares
Aspect: Not Crazy
Aspect: Driven by Wolves

Re: Cough Up The Money

Postby Null » Tue Aug 14, 2018 7:20 pm

"Yeah, but she's not perfect. She didn't see Miriam here calling for backup, for one."
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Re: Cough Up The Money

Postby Miriam Bell » Tue Aug 14, 2018 7:24 pm

"Sammy's not the worst nickname in the world if you don't say it all creepy-like."
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Miriam Bell
Student
 
High Concept: Sorrowful Telepath
Aspect: Powerful Enemies
Aspect: Structural Shadow

Re: Cough Up The Money

Postby Null » Tue Aug 14, 2018 7:26 pm

"Though I suppose I should go for the full title of the Right and Honorable Samantha McManus, Morrigan-at-Large," Will smirked.
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Re: Cough Up The Money

Postby Samantha McManus » Tue Aug 14, 2018 7:36 pm

"Or just... you know, not what the murderess camping out in your head has been calling me."

"Does this mean we can put Will back together?"
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Samantha McManus
Student
 
High Concept: Waking Goddess
Aspect: Enraptured by Violence
Aspect: Made of Nightmares
Aspect: Not Crazy
Aspect: Driven by Wolves

Re: Cough Up The Money

Postby Null » Tue Aug 14, 2018 7:39 pm

"Um, no. That's not going to be a thing."
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Re: Cough Up The Money

Postby Miriam Bell » Tue Aug 14, 2018 7:49 pm

"Are you... sure? There might be bits and pieces missing between the two of you."
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Miriam Bell
Student
 
High Concept: Sorrowful Telepath
Aspect: Powerful Enemies
Aspect: Structural Shadow

Re: Cough Up The Money

Postby Samantha McManus » Tue Aug 14, 2018 7:54 pm

"In fact I'm pretty sure there are."
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Samantha McManus
Student
 
High Concept: Waking Goddess
Aspect: Enraptured by Violence
Aspect: Made of Nightmares
Aspect: Not Crazy
Aspect: Driven by Wolves

Re: Cough Up The Money

Postby Null » Tue Aug 14, 2018 7:56 pm

"Look. What Miriam did was wrong, and hurtful, and there will be words said in the not-too-distant future about that.

But what you peeled off? That was just holding me down. God. So whiny, and clingy, and needy. Seriously, I shudder to think about the sorts of things he's been up to here, and I apologize profusely for him. I am healthier without that...uncertainty or lack of self-worth. Like removing a couple lead weights from around my ankles and allowing me to fly again."
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Re: Cough Up The Money

Postby Miriam Bell » Tue Aug 14, 2018 8:04 pm

Miriam frowns a little.

"What if he wants you back?"
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Miriam Bell
Student
 
High Concept: Sorrowful Telepath
Aspect: Powerful Enemies
Aspect: Structural Shadow

Re: Cough Up The Money

Postby Samantha McManus » Tue Aug 14, 2018 8:04 pm

"She's still... kind of posh, don't you think?"
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Samantha McManus
Student
 
High Concept: Waking Goddess
Aspect: Enraptured by Violence
Aspect: Made of Nightmares
Aspect: Not Crazy
Aspect: Driven by Wolves

Re: Cough Up The Money

Postby Null » Tue Aug 14, 2018 8:09 pm

Miriam Bell wrote:Miriam frowns a little.

"What if he wants you back?"


"I mean, I highly doubt it. I'll talk to him, if you'd like, but I can think of six or seven things, off the top of my head, he'd be more suited for."
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Re: Cough Up The Money

Postby Null » Tue Aug 14, 2018 8:20 pm

Samantha McManus wrote:"She's still... kind of posh, don't you think?"


"I'd call it 'confident' more than anything else, Sam. I'm not about to demand venison and fois gras down here."
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Re: Cough Up The Money

Postby Samantha McManus » Tue Aug 14, 2018 8:26 pm

"Would you say you feel like a million pounds?"
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Samantha McManus
Student
 
High Concept: Waking Goddess
Aspect: Enraptured by Violence
Aspect: Made of Nightmares
Aspect: Not Crazy
Aspect: Driven by Wolves

Re: Cough Up The Money

Postby Null » Tue Aug 14, 2018 8:29 pm

"Never took you for a chubby chaser before, Sam," Will grinned.
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Re: Cough Up The Money

Postby Miriam Bell » Tue Aug 14, 2018 9:03 pm

"She's talking about my money, Will. Do you still have it?"
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Miriam Bell
Student
 
High Concept: Sorrowful Telepath
Aspect: Powerful Enemies
Aspect: Structural Shadow

Re: Cough Up The Money

Postby Null » Tue Aug 14, 2018 9:08 pm

"Now, I'm not sure 'my money' is the best way to describe it, do you?" Will said, with a half-smile. "It's not really yours, now is it? What to do with is definitely something I'll have to think on long and hard.

But don't worry, it's all still safe and sound."
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