🟆001🟆 VIDEO

[71lines]

[Well, someone's seen better days. The harsh fluorescent lighting of medical already fails to do anyone any favors, but for someone in Tenten's condition, the negatives are probably a little more accented. The right side of her face is covered in fading yellow and green bruises and almost-healed cuts. The left is simply bandaged over, like a mask. Beeping sounds in the background confirm what the awful looking paper gown and the pathetic pillow under her head hint: she's still undergoing treatment.

She reaches up with a hand and adjusts the screen she's viewing on. Her comm was destroyed, so she's using Medical's screens to broadcast. Whether or not this is allowed might be in question, but sharp eyes might spot the reflection of someone in the room with her in the highly polished surfaces around her.]

Lady Fifth. [Her voice is still off. Words slightly slurred. And her eye isn't quite focused on the screen, more like she's staring through it. Those must be some hefty painkillers.] 'm ready for debriefing.

Comments

[credit_not_blame]

Thank you, Tenten. I'll be taking notes on your debrief on her behalf.

[Stacia will apologize later for her blatant lies, but frankly they need as much information as Tenten can provide with a minimum of fuss. To facilitate this, Stacia breaks out her most professional tone of voice: firm yet gentle, neither particularly warm nor particularly cold. Polite interest, as though the matter is resolved but for the clean-up.]

Let's start at the beginning. In your own time.

[71lines]

[She's silent for a moment, eyes going a little unfocused. She mutters something incoherent for a moment. If Tenten were together, she wouldn't quite be so confused as to who she's talking to. If she were even slightly more aware, she'd probably wonder why someone in Konoha is speaking English. Thankfully, though, she's answering in kind, though her speech is slurred and slightly muffled by the bandages.]

Right, yeah. The Rig. No, wait, you know that part. Um.

There was a door that's usually closed and locked, standing a little open. [She holds up her fingers, about two inches apart.] I thought I'd have a quick peek, maybe talk about it with someone when I got back to the dorms.

[Another long pause. She actually dozes off for a little hear before she jerks suddenly. Offscreen, the nurse nudged her foot with a pen.]

Right, sorry. I walked in, then peered around the corner. When I did, someone grabbed me and-[She pauses, taking a breath. One hand goes up over her eye, the bandaged one.]-Woman, early twenties. Red hair. Pretty. A little over half a foot taller than me, I think. Wore high heels, hard to tell. Maybe a hundred and sixty, hundred and seventy pounds? Wore, uh. Panties and tape. Irezumi, like a member of one of the chivalrous organizations.

[There's scratching noises, a pen on paper in the background.]

Saw a business suit after the fight. Clean, pressed, wrapped in a plastic bag so it wouldn't get damaged in a fight. Wore it... Wore it later. The fight. Um. Good taijutsu. Strong. Fast. Healed fast. Jonin-level at least. Broke every weapon I'd managed to scavenge from the last mission. No genjutsu or ninjutsu that I noticed. She was-she was bored. Only started smiling right befo- c-caught my-[Tenten pauses again, voice cracking a little, and takes a shuddering breath before closing her eye. Her bandaged hand comes down from her face to grip her blankets as she composes herself. The wrapping over her other eye has sunken a little further than it should.]

I'm sorry, give me just-

[credit_not_blame]

It's all right, take your time.

[Much more gentle tone now, because Tenten's a professional but a professional who's been through something horrific. That she can provide any information at all is a testament to her resilience. Stacia isn't sure about the nurse is who's facilitating this conversation; she'll have to check with Dr. Grey later. In the meantime, she catalogues what she sees of them in the reflective surfaces so that they have some identifying features to work with.]

You're doing very well, and we appreciate the information that you're capable of providing.

[71lines]

[It takes three or four minutes of calm, slow breathing to get herself back under control. Whispers behind the monitor can be heard.]

During the first part of the fight, she had a pistol. It disappeared, I don't know where. The rest of the time she had a thick, crescent-shaped dagger. [A pause. Normally, her reports would be just so much more together, but it's hard to focus like this.] I thought eyes were green, but they had a red glow when we wrecked the lights. Um. Oh. Broke my communicator so I couldn't call for help.

After she... caught hold of me, she dragged me to a room and started... [She gestures at the bandages.] I guess no one could hear me. She got dressed sometime during it. After-after some of that, the door opened. Setsuna was there. She, the woman, she stabbed me again, low in the side, and then started walking after Setsuna. I think I tried-I mean. Everything kind of goes blurry after that. I remember crawling, then throwing something to keep the door from closing.

That's about it. I think. Is there something else?

[credit_not_blame]

Did Setsuna seem to recognize her?

[Eyes that glowed red were probably magic of some kind. Or maybe the woman was a murder-robot, but that sort of thing was outside of Stacia's experience. The woman seemed to have wanted to draw out Tenten's suffering as much as possible, and Setsuna's death wouldn't have been any more pleasant. So why just rip the heart out of the security guard?]

[71lines]

Don't think so, but I was a little... distracted.

[credit_not_blame]

[Well, it had been worth a shot.]

That's fair. Thank you, Tenten, that will be all for now. Unless anyone else had any questions?

[She's not sure if anyone else is seeing this right now, but she may as well open the floor.]

[googledox]

The weapon. That disappeared. She didn't throw it away? Or tuck it back into her clothes? She just made it vanish? You're sure?

[He is thinking of a very powerful being that could kill people any way he pleased. This could be something similar.]

[Vanishing weapons could be the result of a normal meta power but sounded awfully supernatural, especially with a dagger that sounds ritual in nature.]

[71lines]

[A flash of irritation crosses her face. Then concern. Then confusion. There's a motion in the shadows behind the screen and it slowly fades into a sort of ambivalence as some more whispers are heard.]

Disappeared. No poof, no drop, just gone. Not one of my time-space jutsus. And, uh. She wasn't wearing enough to hide it in during that part.

[Tenten had thought it was embarrassing at first, but when she saw the suit all packaged to prevent any mess or damage, the reasoning had clicked in her head.]

[wheyoftheadept]

What kind of ink? [Saturday knows yakuza tats, a little] Like what patterns, what kind of images?

[71lines]

[She's about to complain when Saturday clarifies. Tenten closes her eyes for a moment, jaw clenching slightly, before her good hand grabs at her bandaged forearm, slides up the length of it, over her shoulder, then down, stopping about mid-thigh.]

Body sleeve, almost. [She gestures at her neck, sliding it down the center of her chest and lower.] Middle untouched, like like she didn't close a jacket. All in red, single-shade. Back covered. Um.

[Her brow wrinkles, and then a wince and her hands fly up to her face, applying pressure.]Owowowow.

[Damn. Ow. Okay.]

Carps on her hips. Twin dragons across her back and twining down her arms. I think thorns, maybe barbed wire or stylized lightning?

[Definitely looked like a yakuza thing to her, at least. Even if she doesn't call them that.]

[bringinghopewithme]

You got any food allergies? What's your favorite flower, favorite fruit?

[71lines]

Food allergies?

[The change in topics throws her, visibly, and it takes a moment for her brain to catch up.]

No? Um. Peony? And peaches?

What's this-oh. Right.

[He does food sometimes, that's right. It took her a moment.]

voice;

[heterochrocatic]

Um.

I'm glad you're awake. Don't do this again, idiot.

[ Because she doesn't want to think about pressing a cloth against Tenten's face, trying to stop the blood. ]

Re: voice;

[71lines]

[Oh. It's Catra.

Boy, that's a flash of bitter feelings. There's a strong temptation to give the girl a taste of her own medicine, fling that back in her face, but Tenten's too tired, and too heavily drugged, to be angry enough for that. And when Catra's making an effort, there's just. No point. Tenten'll figure out how she feels later.]

No promises. Still got half a face to lose, after all.

Re: voice;

[heterochrocatic]

Well. Keep it attached. I like your face better when it's not... messed up. Or whatever.

[ Being genuine is stupid. And hard. ]

[71lines]

...You like my face?

[Probably not the bit Catra had wanted her to focus on, but over on Tenten's side of the conversation it's worth a grin.]

[heterochrocatic]

Yeah, I mean. It's good.

[ Oh, that seemed to cheer Tenten up a bit. That's good. ]

I might come by and check on you. Unless you need to be left alone to recover.

[71lines]

Aw. I'm good for visitors for now.

[It's not like there's a lot of people rushing to donate skin, after all. Her little half-smile flickers, then fades, though.]

Might want to stay closer to Adora, though. It's, um. It's dangerous. And she's a hero.

[heterochrocatic]

I don't need Adora to look after me. I did find without her for years. I'll do fine without her for the like, half hour it takes me to go see you.

[ UGH. Adora. ]

[71lines]

I meant to look after her. I don't know many heroes, but the ones I do know like to lead with their chin and take stupid risks.

[heterochrocatic]

[ Catra laughs. ]

You've got her in one. Always trying to be the hero. She's so stupid sometimes.

[ SIGH. ]

I'm still coming to see you.

[71lines]

Yeah, but where would we be without her?

[Tenten's not sure whether Catra's coming to be contrary or to actually spend time with her. Either way, she's leaning back against her pillow and nodding, giving a little wave of her hand.]

Let me know when.

[heterochrocatic]

[ She's gonna ignore that first question because it involves introspection she really doesn't want to deal with. Instead, she just shrugs. Though Tenten can't see her. ]

Now? Whenever you want me.

[71lines]

I mean.

[She pauses, glancing behind the monitor. Asking permission. This's done more of a number on her than she wants to admit.

Whoever's behind it must have signaled that they were done, though, because a hesitant smile creeps across her face.]

...Yeah, now would be good. It's been kind of lonely.