Tweak

InsaneJournal

Tweak says, "why not both?"

Elisabeth "Betsy" Braddock (comeonbetsy) wrote in devolve,
@ 2011-02-05 16:49:00

Entry tags:

betsy_braddock, raven_darkhoelme

Characters: Raven and Betsy
NPCs: n/a
Location: Xavier’s
Timeline: Backdated to Thursday, midday.
Description: They train, they talk, they make lunch. Just getting to know each other!
Rating: PGish? Mild mild violence.

For all that she could stop hits telekinetically (sometimes) she had to be able to see them coming to do that, and Raven was just too fast for her. Betsy was still struggling to develop skills that seemed so completely ingrained for Raven, and she wasn’t really any match for the woman in close combat, even with powers.

Without, though, she felt little more than useless, and she only barely managed not to grunt as Raven floored her for what felt like the hundredth time. She took a deep breath and then picked herself up off the floor. She was always just a split second too late, it seemed like. Or sometimes more. Or sometimes, even if she wasn’t a too late, her technique was off and she lost anyway. Still, that was why she was trying to learn, and she did feel like she was learning. She was getting better with ever lesson, and she wasn’t about to give up. Betsy was determined, and when she set her mind to something -- whether it was getting out of the UK or becoming someone completely new or acing university or learning to defend herself -- she intended to follow through.

So she tried to stay positive as she shook it off and faced Raven again. “All right, so what did I do wrong that time?”

(Read comments) - (Post a new comment)

blue_bitch
2011-02-06 01:05 am UTC (link)

Raven was smiling by the time she went in for the kick, glad that Betsy hadn’t been too easy to take down right away. It was never fun when they hit mat immediately. It was even less fun when they pulled punches out of fear of hurting her. On more than one occasion, she’d had to prove that a little punch to the face wasn’t nearly enough to really hurt her, and even graphic demonstrations involving gunshot wounds to vital parts of her body didn’t always get the message across. Betsy had gotten it, though, and as she landed from the kick, she nearly caught an elbow to the face. She’d leaned far back just in time, following the quick movement with the rest of her body and flipping, foot kicking high at Betsy as it passed.

“Good,” she grinned, stepping back out of striking range again. “That was good.” Raven didn’t give the words much of a chance to float around in the air before she went in for another attack, throwing a series of punches that she fully anticipated Betsy mostly blocking.

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

comeonbetsy
2011-02-06 01:07 am UTC (link)

She tried. Betsy tried to block them, and she managed with the first few. She dodged the wrong way, though, and the fourth one caught her in the mouth. Betsy didn’t taste blood, but she did feel a sharp shock of pain, and she knew she’d have a fat lip later. She tried not to let it distract her, and instead focussed on blocking any remaining attacks while she lashed out to send a low kick in Raven’s direction.

Raven wasn’t an easy opponent, obviously. She would end up on the mat again if she let herself get distracted, and just for good measure, Betsy jabbed at Raven quickly, twice with the same hand. She had to try something, so maybe being more aggressive would help.

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

blue_bitch
2011-02-06 01:11 am UTC (link)

Raven didn’t bother to hide the smile that widened as her punch connected with Betsy’s face. It wasn’t the hardest punch she’d ever thrown, but it was certainly hard enough to jar the girl a bit, and she followed it up with a few more to make sure that Betsy was still paying attention. She was, and Raven just barely twisted her body out of the way as Betsy kicked out. As she turned to make her next move, she found herself facing Betsy’s fists. She was able to dodge and block the first punch, but when Betsy used the same fist again, a definite departure from her usual methodology, Raven felt the fist connecting hard with her mouth.

She could taste the blood, and she grinned as she turned, aiming a roundhouse at Betsy’s midsection. Blood was good. Beyond Raven’s ever so slight tilt toward masochism, it was good because it meant that the girl was learning. She was becoming something of a threat. Of course, it also meant that Raven had let her own guard down just the slightest bit, which was something that she would have to be more careful about. She didn’t bother healing the injury. It would be good for Betsy to see what she’d done, and Raven spun, gearing up for another kick to Betsy’s stomach but instead going low again for another sweep.

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

comeonbetsy
2011-02-06 01:12 am UTC (link)

She felt how soundly one of her hits connected, and Betsy’s smile grew. She was getting better, and she was proud, but there was no point celebrating it now. That would just result in her losing. Instead, Betsy devoted her energy to jumping back to avoid the round house. She only just made it. Only just. And she decided instead of avoiding the second one, she’d tried to catch her foot, and she braced herself for it. When Raven went low, Betsy wasn’t ready and she didn’t manage to get out of the way.

Raven’s kick made hard contact and her feet went out from under her. She landed hard on her side, but instead of just letting herself go down without a fight, she got her hands beneath her and kicked her own feet out, trying to take Mystique down with her.

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

blue_bitch
2011-02-06 01:14 am UTC (link)

She was chewing on her busted lip as she struck out, grinning as Betsy stepped back from the first kick. There were definite improvements, over even the last fight they’d had that day. When the girl’s body moved in anticipation of Mystique’s next kick, she decided to go low instead, hopefully catching Betsy off guard. It wasn’t the most creative move, but it worked and she was smirking as the girl went down, eyebrow raising as Betsy kicked out in response, knocking Raven off-balance.

She didn’t quite connect hard enough to make Raven go down, but Raven let herself fall anyway, dropping down to straddle the girl with a grin, fist raised. She punched down, connecting with the mat instead of actually aiming the punch at Betsy’s face. The point stood without making actual contact, and she smiled down at the girl, ready to spring back should Betsy decide that the fight wasn’t over yet. “Much better,” she nodded. “You made me bleed.”

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

comeonbetsy
2011-02-06 01:17 am UTC (link)

Having Raven and her very skilled fists above her didn’t quite sit well with Betsy, especially since she still hadn’t known the woman very long, but she knew this wasn’t a real fight. When the other woman punched the mat instead of Betsy’s face and then smiled, Betsy mostly managed not to flinch and smiled in return. She touched her own lip at the mention of blood, and it still felt tender. It hadn’t split, but it was definitely going to swell up.

“Thanks. I don’t know if I’ll ever beat you though,” Betsy said casually. “Especially considering it’s obvious you’re holding back.”

She wasn’t an effusively complimentary person, so she wasn’t speaking just to be flattering. It was true. Betsy could work for years and probably wouldn’t be as good as Raven. Of course, she could cheat and use her mind, but that would defeat the whole purpose. The purpose of this was to be able to defend herself properly if she was ever in a panic situation where she couldn’t rely on her powers. Or, at the very least, it was to learn to fight well enough so she could do that and use her powers in conjunction in a way that was doubly effective.

She propped herself up on her elbows slightly, but didn’t try to dislodge Raven just yet. She figured the woman would get off her as soon as it became clear Betsy wasn’t fighting back anymore. “I guess everyone has to start somewhere though, right?”

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

blue_bitch
2011-02-06 01:18 am UTC (link)

“Well, you’ll never have to beat me,” she pointed out, smiling slightly as she amended the statement. “Maybe. But odds are any opponent you come up against is going to be moving a lot slower, and remembering a lot less of any martial arts training they may have had. And even if they do remember it... I’ve been doing this longer than most people have been alive.” She licked her lip one more time and then healed the wound over, using Betsy’s casual movement to her elbows as a sign that the girl wasn’t just talking as a stalling tactic.

Rocking back onto her feet, Raven stood up and offered Betsy a hand, trying not to laugh at the ridiculousness of the situation, which was actually an ongoing struggle for her. The X-Men had been a constant pain in her ass for so many reasons, both personal and professional, and there she was, training their new recruits. She allowed herself a smile as she nodded at Betsy’s question.

“Of course.” Considering the time frame and the other issues that were going on with the world in general, Betsy was making decent progress. Of course, there were few greater motivators than knowing that if you couldn’t defend yourself, there was a good chance that you’d be devoured by the undead, but even with that, some of the others were slacking off. Tilting her head slightly, she nodded at Betsy’s mouth. “How’s the lip?”

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

comeonbetsy
2011-02-06 01:27 am UTC (link)

“Thank our lord and saviour for that,” Betsy said dryly in response to Raven’s very valid points. Of course, Betsy wasn’t religious. She never had been, but now she was almost... anti-religion. If ever a place was the definition of godless, she thought the world as it was now was that. Her quip had been sardonic and a little bitter, and she put on a bit of an apologetic smile. She shouldn’t assume everyone shared her view on religion. She didn’t want to offend anyone. If they wanted to believe in an omniscient, all powerful god up in the clouds who was sitting there and watching this, and if that brought them comfort... well. Then that was their choice. Everyone found comfort in different places nowadays, and she would never deny anyone theirs simply because she disagreed. It had been the same with the fireworks, after all.

Taking Raven’s hand, Betsy got gracefully to her feet and then stretched. Between the punch to the face, the growing number of take downs, and a fairly solid knee to the stomach earlier, Betsy thought maybe it was time to take a break. She was starting to feel the aches and pains.

“Oh, it’s fine,” Betsy said absently. It wouldn’t get in the way of her speech, and it wasn’t as though she was spending much time kissing anyone lately. At worst, she’d suck on an ice cube later to keep the swelling down. “Nothing I can’t handle. Trust me when I say I got over being delicate. If only my family could see me now.”

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

blue_bitch
2011-02-06 01:28 am UTC (link)

Religion had never meant much of anything to Raven either. It was just another example of people being completely blind and ignorant and trusting in things that were impossible to prove. Believing so strongly in something that had absolutely no scientific basis was, in her book, moronic. It was all especially true in their present circumstances, when an deity that may have been looking out for the people of Earth had clearly up and left. The only thing that you could ever really trust in was yourself... and occasionally other people, but that was so very rare that it was barely worth thinking about. And even when someone like that did come along, it was only temporary. God was just a handy construct. Something to believe in when reality was too much to handle. She caught Betsy’s apologetic look and laughed somewhat bitterly herself. Unlike Betsy, she had absolutely no problem with potentially offending someone.

“If there was a lord and savior, it’s long gone now.” She helped the girl up, asked about the hit to her lip, and then turned to find her water bottle. Scooping it up, she tried not to smile outwardly at Betsy’s response. The odds of the girl’s family being able to see anything just then were pretty slim, but then again she didn’t know the exact details of Betsy’s situation.

“Have you tried to find them?” She drank some water before clarifying, “Your family. Or was it too far?”

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

comeonbetsy
2011-02-06 02:00 am UTC (link)

“Too far,” Betsy answered shortly. She couldn’t get to the UK. She couldn’t even get news of the UK. London felt like a different world to her now, and in her mind, she imagined it unchanged. She imagined everyone was fine. She knew that wasn’t the case. She knew it was a global epidemic, that it hadn’t been confined to just North America, but sometimes she liked to pretend. It kept her from becoming too obsessed with something she could do nothing about. It was in her nature, after all. It was why she’d spent the last year alone, nearly dying every stupid day just to try and find someone who was most likely dead.

Well. No point thinking about that now.

She reached for her own bottle -- a slightly scratched and dented metal reusable bottle because it was at least better than the taste of drinking water from plastic, she thought -- and took a sip.

“I did have a trip home scheduled for a few days after the airports shut down, but obviously that didn’t happen,” Betsy added. She often wondered what would have been if she’d scheduled it for a few weeks earlier as she’d originally planned, but it was a waste of time to think about. Then she’d just be there instead of here, and who knew. Maybe the denser population in Europe would’ve resulted in her death anyway. Even if she was there, there was no guarantee she’d be with her family.

Betsy forced a bit of a smile and decided it was time for a subject change. “Are you hungry?”

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

blue_bitch
2011-02-06 02:03 am UTC (link)

Raven nodded. She hadn’t even considered trying to get back to Austria. After all, what was the point? Her siblings were long dead, and it wasn’t as though she particularly wanted to have to shelter any of them or their descendants anyway. Irene had a great nephew there who wasn’t a complete failure at life, but the odds of him having survived were so slim that it wasn’t worth the risk of making the trip. The rest of her family, as it were, was already in New York. There had been no need to travel to look after them.

“Hard to fly without a plane,” she agreed, screwing the cap back onto her bottle. At the forced smile, Raven decided that she wouldn’t press the subject. It would have been more interesting of a subject if Betsy had managed to make it back to the UK (London, from the sound of her accent), but since she hadn’t, there wasn’t too much information in there that really mattered to Raven anyway.

“I could eat,” she nodded. She wasn’t incredibly hungry, but it definitely couldn’t hurt. She rested the bottle on a bench and moved to fold up the mat, carrying it over to the stack with the rest of them, then gestured toward the door. “After you.”

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

comeonbetsy
2011-02-06 02:06 am UTC (link)

Betsy would have helped, but Raven clearly had it well in hand and so she focussed on stretching out her complaining lower back. The last fall had jarred it a little. Not enough to put it out, but just enough that she would kill for a jetted tub like the one in her apartment in the city. She didn’t dawdle, though, and when Raven gestured for her to leave, she did.

Heading for the kitchen, Betsy donned a bit of a sad smile and asked, “What about you? Do you know what happened to your family?”

She’d been holding back from asking anyone any person questions, really, but she’d been here four months now, and it was starting to feel like a good thing instead of a dangerous thing to be forming personal relationships. She’d been so lonely for so long that she hadn’t quite known how to go about it, but a conversation she’d had with Lorna not long ago had helped her realize there was no real right way to go about it. She just had to talk to people, even if family was a bit of a dodgy topic to start with.

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

blue_bitch
2011-02-07 07:56 am UTC (link)

Raven watched her stretch as she put the mat away, appreciating the view but careful not to appear to be leering... not that Betsy would really be able to tell, with Raven’s lack of pupils. Once the mat was put away, there was no real other reason to continue to linger in the room, so she gestured for Betsy to lead the way up to the kitchen. Though she should have expected it at least a little bit, having opened the door herself, Betsy’s question took her by surprise. She managed to suppress a sardonic smile as she thought about the best way to answer the question.

“My parents and siblings have all been dead for quite a while.” An unamused smile crossed her face as she contemplated adding that both she and her father had been legally dead since the 1870s, but in the end she decided that it wasn’t worth mentioning. “They have children, grandchildren... great-grandchildren at this point, undoubtedly, but I have no connection to any of them.”

“I have children,” she nodded. “Three, though only two are mine biologically. And two of them, you’ve met.” Though neither of the children Betsy had met were probably likely to give her a glowing recommendation any time soon, they were still her children. “Kurt is my son, and my partner and I adopted Rogue when she was eight. So I do know where they are.”

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

comeonbetsy
2011-02-07 08:01 am UTC (link)

Betsy nodded. That made sense. Kurt and Raven had a few very key physical qualities in common, after all. She didn’t question Raven about her partner, assuming of course that the term referred to a woman. It didn’t really surprise Betsy to discover Raven had been with a woman. Considering Betsy’s past, she’d learned not to buy into any stereotypes. Besides, Betsy thought that if she could shapeshift, it would change the definition of relationships completely for her. And if her partner wasn’t here at Xavier’s, then there was no reason to ask for specifics. ‘Not here’ was answer enough.

Though she hadn’t had a chance to speak too personally with either of Raven’s children, she didn’t get the impression they were altogether close. Betsy knew how complicated familial relationships could be, though. Just because she didn’t get along with her parents, or that she didn’t know Jamie well, didn’t mean she didn’t wish they were here and okay. Of course, she wanted Brian here most, but she had a feeling that was never going to happen. She’d long since accepted she’d probably never see any of them again, and just because Brian was the one she was most sad about didn’t mean that she didn’t care for the rest of her family as well.

“You’re lucky at least that you know they’re okay,” she said, because however complicated the situation was, that had to be true. She cast a look at Raven as they walked and then volunteered quietly, “The only one I might ever see again is my boyfriend. We got separated about a year ago.”

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

blue_bitch
2011-02-07 08:07 am UTC (link)

“Yes,” she agreed, nodding. “I suppose I am.” Though she couldn’t fully claim any responsibility for making Kurt the man he had become, it was good to know that he’d had the instincts necessary to survive, and she liked to think that she and Irene both had a part in that. Anna... had made some stupid choices, but she too was still alive, which was more than most mothers could say of their children anymore. It was something. Maybe not luck, exactly, but something.

Raven managed to bite her tongue when Betsy spoke of her boyfriend, who she felt she had a chance of seeing again. It wasn’t going to help the situation at all to inform the girl that he was dead. Raven couldn’t prove it, but the odds certainly were stacked against him. If it had been a year and she still hadn’t found him...

“Where did you see him last?” So maybe the tongue biting wasn’t working all that well. It was hard to tell whether Betsy truly believed that he was still alive or whether she was just desperately trying to cling to what she knew was a delusion. Of course, there was the ever so slim chance that the man was still alive and kicking, but Raven wasn’t willing to bet on it. “Was he a mutant?”

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

comeonbetsy
2011-02-07 08:16 am UTC (link)

“Yes, he was,” Betsy answered, but didn’t specify beyond that. Though she’d brought him up, it was still painful to speak of him. “We got separated by an attack somewhere in southern Quebec. We were headed north.”

Harsher conditions and less densely populated areas would be safer, they’d thought. Betsy had gone along with it even though she hadn’t wanted to just run and hide and survive. She’d wanted to be part of the solution. Like she was now.

“Do you think Dr. McCoy will find a way to cure it?” Betsy asked then, changing the subject for a number of reasons. It was hard to talk about the man she’d lost, for one, and she didn’t want to hear any logic on the situation. He was probably dead, sure, but there was still a chance. A small... sliver of a chance. She could still hope.

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

blue_bitch
2011-02-07 08:17 am UTC (link)

Raven wasn’t sure if Betsy had even really registered the use of past tense to describe the boyfriend, but the fact that she’d used it was at least a step toward admitting that the man was almost guaranteed to be dead. He had more of a chance being a mutant, but that wasn’t always enough to save you. The idea of heading North wasn’t one that Raven herself would have gone with... sure, they were less likely to encounter infected individuals, but there was a reason for those places being deserted. The weather was awful and there weren’t many resources. It wasn’t the type of place Raven would have been comfortable in.

Of course, not everyone had fully stocked, defendable safe houses in major metropolitan areas, so that maybe limited options just a little bit. Not that Raven was using her safe house just then. It seemed like Betsy was done discussing her dead boyfriend, and Raven turned her head to look at her, shrugging.

“I think...” Frowning, Raven shook her head. “I think that big blue has a good chance. Better than most. But you can’t count on it being a definite success.” McCoy was smart and had resources in the mansion that many other scientists didn’t have. If someone did find a cure, she wouldn’t be surprised if it was Henry, but sitting around hoping for it and counting on it was just a waste of time and brain power. There was one thing that she was confident in, though, and she nodded. “Someone will find a cure.”

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

comeonbetsy
2011-02-07 08:20 am UTC (link)

Betsy just nodded. She wasn’t waiting on it, not really. It would be nice to find a way to bring them back, but she wasn’t sure that was a realistic hope. Maybe those that were infected were already a lost cause. Still, it was nice to imagine it could happen, since the other option was killing them all, and she wasn’t sure the remaining uninfected populace would be able to re-establish much of anything in her lifetime, even in a best case scenario. It was disappointing, to say the least. She’d always imagined her life a certain way, and this was not it.

Of course, there was nothing but wasted energy and despondent thoughts in wishing things were different than they were.

“I just I wish there was more I could do. All that time I spent learning about business seems useless now,” Betsy said. She knew they needed all sorts now, and her gifts were uniquely helpful when it came to doing many small busy tasks at once -- such as preparing a large meal for a great number of people; she could do the prep work of four or five people all at once, after all -- but she was largely useless when it came to actually finding a solution. Or a cure.

Of course, if she just worked on her telekinesis a little, and her nerves, perhaps all that multi-tasking could be put to use liquefying the brains of, say, an entire horde all at once. Maybe she could even do that now. She was hesitant to turn herself into a weapon of mass destruction, however. She thought it was more... humane somehow, to focus on defense.

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

blue_bitch
2011-02-07 08:22 am UTC (link)

Generally speaking, Raven wouldn’t have wasted her time or energy on truly trusting that there was some big light at the end of the tunnel. The world was fairly desolate, and the people who were there... the majority were young, and she imagined that few could be counted as mentally stable at that point. With everything that had happened, the world had completely changed, as had the remaining people in it. People were a variable that you couldn’t always trust to perform as they had in the past even when times were good. But she had it from a reliable source that the world would pull through, one way or another, and even though a part of her knew that it very well could have just been Irene saying so to keep her from going off the deep end, she chose to believe that the woman was being sincere. It wasn’t like she could ask her about it anyway.

“If and when all of this comes to an end, they’ll need people who know business,” she pointed out as they walked into the kitchen... which was thankfully empty. “Until then, you’re learning things that will be more helpful for the time being. It’s all you can do.”

“Staying alive is more important than anything else. The most important thing to me is that I’m alive. The most important thing to you should be that you are.” In the end, it all boiled down to that. Somewhere along the line, Raven had dropped the romantic notion of blindly putting others before herself... for the most part. There were exceptions to the rule, and she wasn’t entirely happy knowing that there were people she would take a bullet for. “You do what you have to to keep it that way. You adapt, as you’re doing now.”

(Reply to this) (Parent)

(Read comments) -