sixthiterationlogs | long road home [backdated to March 6]

WHO: (Who is making the post)
WHERE: (Where the post takes place)
WHEN: March 6 - March 17
OPEN TO: all + message/spam for Bev
WARNINGS: nada

[network, open text]

[She'd message Bruce privately the day before to tell him about this very thing plus show him what she and Loki had brought back from their little surprise vacation, but it's taken a day before she'd felt up to anything else, and she's still not exactly feeling up to much.]

For those of you who didn't already know, Betty Ross is gone.

[network, voice, private to Beverly]

I think I might have done some damage while we were out in the woods. Mind stopping by to take a look? I don't want to tell Bruce until I know what's wrong, he'll make a bigger deal out of it than I want.

[video, open:]

[The map is a real find. She'd spent half the day before borrowing some of Bruce's precious paper to make her own copy before taking it out to the South Village Inn, but she's finally here, and the map is spread over one of the tables in the front room, one edge weighted down with the case and the other corners with empty glasses. The video opens on the carefully framed map itself, and Nat's voice narrates as she points out key locations.]

Think we're finally getting a birds-eye view of this place. We're here, and here's the ruins with the fever snakes; here's the shrine, and the southern beach I got to tour the last time this place decided to send me on an adventure. Loki and I were up here--there's ruins of an old settlement housed inside a bunch of scuttled ships on the rocks here, where we found this map.

But I think you'll all notice the biggest thing here: there's a second island to the northeast, here. [She taps the map, then turns the camera to face herself. She looks tired, but there's a glow to her green eyes that speaks to an inner purpose.]

Maybe we've been looking for our hosts in the wrong places. I'm leaving the map here in the South Village Inn front room, with the records. I've made a rough copy, but someone with a better hand should probably make a second.

[Spam, open:]

Nat remains in the front room of the Inn the rest of the day with the map, refining her smaller version and making some rough dimensional calculations. She's borrowed a spool of thread from the storeroom and roughly divided the map into a grid, trying to get a feel for the size of the space, and is available if anyone wants to come talk business.

Over the course of the next week and change, you can find her in the bunker, working away at the functioning consoles, trying to find answers with renewed purpose, or taking long soaks in the hot springs, where she'll be amenable to company of most kinds. Some nights might find her sitting out on the porch of #40 wrapped in a blanket, a tawny peacat draped over her lap and rumbling loud enough to be heard on the road. She won't be working out in the dojo for the next short while, doctor's orders, but she does stop by every few days to see if Nida needs a hand with anything, or if any of the regulars are there to chat.

Threaded | Flat

Natasha’s relative absence from the dojo has definitely been noted. It’s not like Jason’s worried about her - he knows she’s entirely capable of handling herself, better than most. But he does miss her presence, or maybe he just misses his regular rounds of getting thrown around, the routine of something familiar.

(OK, maybe he’s a little worried.)

Whatever the underlying reason, he ends up wandering by her house on an after-dark stroll through the village, something else he finds familiar and comforting. He spots her out on the porch and casually approaches with a nod of greeting.

“You takin’ a vacation?”

I am a mapmaker, I can have a roughly table sized copy completed within a few days once I attend to a personal matter.

The trick is going to be finding out if it's on an accurate scale or not, but this does make navigating the island easier.

Bull has been to see the map but he didn't say anything to Nat then, but later in the week, he goes to have a bit of a soak in the springs when he sees her. He smiles as he strips to slide into the water, waiting until most of him is submerged before he speaks up. "You were the one who found the map right? Natasha?"

The loss of Betty is still a sting for him, although it is easier, in many ways, to think that going back to her real life might be the best thing for her. There is always the possibility she is one of the bad 50%, and he can only pray and beg that it's not true, but they plan on fixing it. They'll try to fix it. Either way, even if he is so glad they got their peace together again, he thinks it might be selfish to wish her back. So he tries to counter his sadness with rationality, and it's helping.

He's focused more on Nat at the moment, because she's doing a big project right then, and one he's interested in as well. He has to ask about a few of his own soon. Bruce often comes over for the obvious reasons, and he steps out onto the porch bringing tea for both of them. He hands her one and leans down to kiss the top of her head, having gloves on still considering the cat might decide to come over to say hi once he sits down next to Nat.

"How's the Nat the Adventurer plans going?"

Hawke saw the video post, but true to form, she still is better at seeing things for herself than trusting in these screens. She likes occasionally replying to people, but it's simply not her natural response. So she'd much rather see it in person. She steps in to the front room and smiles when she sees Natasha's still there. Brilliant! She's liked the woman from the moment they met, and their little adventure only cemented her respect.

"So someone had a new adventure without me? I'm so crushed."

Of course I'll come look at it. Where would you like me to meet you?

What a time for me to be mostly home-bound.

There are some things that we can use to process size issues. If at all possible, could I ask to see your rough copy? There are some rough calculations I can do based on that. It would be better to work with with another copy, but I think I shall wait until Malik has made his larger one first. I'm more skilled with city scale maps, not ones such as that.

Still, I've got the math and calculations to hopefully derive some valuable data if the map has anything resembling reality.

One of the times Natasha shows up at the dojo, it isn't Nida that is there watching over the place. Of course it isn't, the kid said he had something to do for the day, leaving North to manage the place on his own. And North looks up when Natasha enters. He spares her a brief nod, he's seen her sometimes with the kid, talking or training, while he kept himself occupied on the other side of the building, managing the first aid room and quieter space clearly meant for more meditative efforts. Clearly her focus was on something else, but for the last few days he's been watching, and he can't help the concern as he does.

She's hurting, and more than anything he wants to help with that.

Maybe we should ask if she's seen the doctor yet, Theta suggests this afternoon, picking up easily on North's tension.

I don't want to bother her, Theta.

It's no fun when your dance partner is grounded. She catches Nat for a chat when she can. It's not the same by a long shot. She hadn't exactly planned to meet her here to make up for it. Elektra simply loves to soak here given her house's still less than ideal circumstances. This isn't an unwelcome surprise. Elektra smiles as the sight of her, making no effort to get undressed just yet. Teasing always takes priority with Elektra.

"You've been a busy bee lately. I'm surprised you found time for this."

no subject

Voice: UN: Malik

spam, springs

#40

Inn front room

voice; private; un: beverly

Voice - UN: Reeve T.

Dojo - Sorry, the Boss is Out

hot springs