2014.03.19 - Every Day

The forge has been busy since Brynn came back from Apokolips. Her pieces of armor are strewn about the shop floor and the sound of metal ringing in the back is rhythmic. The door isn't locked, and she is just focuses... covered in grime and sweat as she just works. It's the only way she can clear her mind... she never wanted to -care- about others on Earth but... she figured a goddess was safe to care about.

The door opens and a familiar voice calls out. It's Keith, alright-- he hasn't seen Brynn since Apokolips, and with everything that's been going on...

Well, he wanted to see a friend.

"--hello?"


 * ding ding!* *ding ding!* Brynn is focused. This is her Zen, her meditation. So she really doesn't hear your voice. You know right where she is at. The armor pieces show wear and tear... pierced locations, bent and dented spots, and up against the wall rests her enchanted asgardian blade... the black blade, gleaming runes, stained with blood and not cleaned yet. She works on something there, not really making anything so much as just... banging metal into plates for whatever reason.

Walking towards the source of the sound, the cat slowly approaches. A look at the armor and the blade makes him take a step back once he is finally upon Brynn. He doesn't need to ask, the armor tells a story all of its own, and one that didn't end well.

"Heavens..."

Suddenly he feels that it is a mark of shame that he came out of the invasion unscathed, except for exhaustion. The mark of a coward.

Injuries to Brynn are temporary at best. She is an Eternal after all. She doesn't die. She heals every time. That isn't the part that troubles her. It's the loss of her sister. She bangs away at the metal, and as your presence registers... her hammer falls, strikes the metal and just stays there. "What do you wish?" she asks without looking back. "What more can I give?" she adds.

"...Brynn... what happened?" Keith asks, looking ashen, or as ashen as a purple cat can look.

"My sister died well. But she died." says Brynn. "She wielded that blade." she says, turning to face you and pointing at the magic sword like it bit her. "She died and the mission was a complete failure. We went to Apokolips seeking the soul of Stark. Thor fought Darkseid as a diversion and Asgard attacked. Sif and I sought the soul out, but it was gone, the bond broken. It was a soul no longer. We failed, and she attacked in rage after sending me away. I wanted to take her with me... but she would never have forgiven me. The question is, how can I forgive myself for leaving her there?" Yep, the emotionless immortal has tears streaking her cheeks, clean runnels in the soot from the forge.

She takes a breath and shakes her head, "She would ask that I help you anyway so... what can I do to help?" she adds softly.

Keith stares back at her, his large almond-shaped eyes reflecting the light of the room in an unusual way, the way that tears usually look before they fall.

He'd been kept in the dark from most of the details, except of the fact that Tony's soul was no longer. It was all brief and curt and he didn't get to ask any questions. Now he knew Sif was dead. So was Thor as well, then.

"I don't think there's any help left," he says. The monster at his chest has come back and is gnawing away at him. Hatred, rage, revenge.

He steps forward and hugs Brynn.

For a long moment... she just stands there taking it. Not a word spoken... no movement. She's sweaty, and reeks of exertion and well.. you know... Body Odor. After several long seconds, she just curls her arms about you. Her tears are done but the contact is important. "I have considered returning to my home." she offers, "I am unsure if there is a place for me among the mortals of the world."

"You have friends here... but I can't blame you if you want to go home. I wish I had a home to go to back to as well." He says quietly, sniffling. "... or that I were strong enough to bring vengeance." But he was insignificant in the scheme of things.

"Well, I am not strong enough myself." offers Brynn. She pulls back from your embrace and shrugs, "Where is it that you -are- from my friend?" she asks.

"Nowhere." Keith answers truthfully. "I died and was reborn like this by the Cheshire cat. I'm chaos... I'm not 'from' anywhere."

"Before that, do you remember your former life?" Brynn pauses and inclines her head, "Cheshire Cat. Is that not from the child's tale of Alice and a Looking Glass?"

"I remember it, but the way you'd remember a movie you have seen. I lived it, but it doesn't live in me anymore."

Except for his mother. That is the one part that remains within him, an unresolved scar. "He is. And he is real. He remade me in his image when I died."

"... You are always welcome here. I have no need of the bed upstairs. I do not sleep." offers Brynn. She shrugs a bit, "You are among the earliest friends I made upon returning to the world of mortals... So consider this your home if you wish. Now, what would you like me to help you with?" she adds. Her face breaks into a smirk or grin... "Nobody comes here without something in mind to ask for."

"I did not mean it like that, Brynn. I have a place with four walls and a bed. I... just don't 'come' from somewhere anymore. I was plunked down on this world like this."

Keith shakes his head, "I can't impose myself on you after what you've gone through. Why don't I take you out for some... coffee, or ice cream or something?"

Smiling a bit sadly, Brynn shakes her head, "My friend Keith.. the forge is my escape, it is my joy. If I can make something rather than simply working aimlessly, it should help me." But she chuckles softly, "But you are welcome to brew some coffee."

"Well... still. I can pay now, I won't accept a 'no' for an answer on this- if I'm getting something, I'm paying for your time and your creativity." Being an Avenger meant a paycheck, and a paycheck Keith hadn't /touched/ since Tony's death. Perhaps it was fit that this be the first time it gets used.

"Pay what the work is worth." says Brynn. She gestures to the anvil, "What is it that I can make for you Keith?" she inquires.

Vorpal rubs the back of his neck, and then he wipes the tears away, locking everything hard inside himself. There was no time for that. No time for that now.

"Well... I was training with the Amazons yesterday and I was thinking... I think I need something to stop something like a sword from slicing me in half. I'm not a good swordsfighter yet, and if someone gets that close to me I need something to defend myself. Nothing so cumbersome as a shield, though..." he rubs his wrist thoughtfully, trying to focus on the issue at hand instead of the effect of the news.

"Okay. Have you trained in any form of self defense techniques?" asks Brynn. "Perhaps you could show me the skills that you wish to use?" she adds.

"Well... I trained in Black Tiger Fist." Vorpal adopts the standard defense position. "It's more hand-to-hand than swordfighting. It's also a pretty offensive martial art but it does have the standard defense moves. Mostly protective sweeps with the arms and the legs."

"Sweeps." says Brynn softly. She nods and thinks. "What you need is reinforcements. My armor includes bracers and greaves. Perhaps we could equip you with something like that." she inclines her head a bit and adds, "But it would require reinforcements in addition to spread force the way a shield does."

Looking at his bare arms, the cat seems to picture them in his mind. "That's an interesting thought... but how would the reinforcements figure in?"

"Can you not create constructs that would fill the same role?" asks Brynn. "Or are they not fully solid?" She shrugs and turns to her anvil. "It's not enough to draw a strike to an armored location. That armor needs to spread the force of the impact over a larger area to prevent the force from damaging the arm behind it. For example, modern kevlar stops bullets, but still can break ribs or cause bruises."

"Oh, that I can- but all of these things are to prepare me for any moment in which I may not have use of my powers. I have heard rumors of beings capable of 'turning off' people's powers. If that were to happen to me... I'd be dead within the first attack. It's why I have been training under Wonder Woman and her Amazons and looking for defensive gear. I rely far too much on my powers," the cat confesses.

"That is a wise course of action." There is metal there on the forge, but it's been cooled down a bit. However, she just picks up the hammer and stares at the metal... the red of the heat beginning once more. Love heat vision! Then she begins working it, bending it around the curved front of the anvil. "I do have one requirement when making such custom pieces." she says between hammer swings. "I require your aid at the forge. Your sweat and effort will go into your own pieces. So, perhaps you might pick up a hammer, and strike when I say to."

The cat picks up a hammer and nods, "I've never done anything like this before. I like being actually useful, for once."