Closed RP By Nightfall

[Crow]

Sam finished the evening turn over of all of Todd's saline and vitamin bags, checking his vitals and recording them against the mornings and the previous day's. She sighed softly as she saw them unchanging. He'd been that way since she and Adelyn had brought him home. They'd settled him into his bed, despite how much Sam wanted him in her side of the apartment. It would be better if he was in his own space when he woke up, in case anything went wrong. She reached a hand out and touched it lightly to his cheek. Cold, so much colder than he usually was.

If it weren't for Adelyn reassuring her constantly that Todd would wake up, Sam was pretty sure she would have crumpled up and just laid down beside him, unmoving. He looked so terrible, that every time she saw him, it sent another pang through her chest. Taking shifts with Adelyn, who had started staying with them, had been the only thing allowing her any peace of mind when she had to leave his side. Regardless, she finished doing her nightly duties of shifting his body, doing the movement exercises, and ensuring that all of the machines were properly set to run through the night.

After all, Todd wouldn't be happy if she stopped living just because of this. So she went back to the new door she'd installed between the apartments after making sure the machines would send her a ping should anything change with his status. On her way back, she pulled her phone out and sent off a text message to Belle.

Hey Belle! Do you have time tonight? I think it might be a good idea to do something together tonight. Bring dark clothes. Clothes you don't care about, really. They might get messy.

Sam smiled to herself as she sent the message. Over the last few weeks, she'd had Belle over twice a week, feeding him and making sure he was okay. This last week, since retrieving Todd, she hadn't invited him over. It hadn't sat well with her, but she had needed to prioritize getting Todd settled and taken care of before she could do anything other than work. Especially with Adelyn staying with them. Now that he was settled– in no small part thanks to Adelyn, who had been such a big help– she could focus on other people again. And while she wasn't ready to reach back out to… Ethan… Belle was safe. Belle was good. Belle made her feel like maybe she was doing something right in the world.

Tonight was going to be a bit different. Rather than just feeding the kid, she was going to take him out on patrol with her. She'd keep it easy, keep him to the alleys downtown where they'd bust a few drug dealers or gangbangers, and they'd eventually work up to the strip she and Todd usually worked on. After all, someone was going to have to take over when she retired in the future. Or at least, while she was taking time off to raise the child she and Todd were having. And Belle was a good choice.

He was kind, he was helpful, and he wanted to do something good with his gifts. And for that, she knew that he was the right choice of person for her to train. Todd had Adelyn and Nat, it was only right she trained someone too. Besides, it gave them more time together, and it made sure that if someone hurt him, he had back up until he could handle things himself. She'd have to set him up with a pass for her gym and get him enrolled in her self-defense courses as well.

She thought about all of this while she changed into her suit, zipping up the back around her braid. The new black and purple suit fit her so much better than the old red one that she used to use. As much as she had loved it, it had been time to retire it, and with it, the name Phoenix. Phoenix was so associated with violence and aggression, with death and blood, and that wasn't who she wanted to be anymore. And she felt Todd would appreciate her calling herself Crow.

All that was left to do was wait for Belle as she slipped into the combat boots she wore with the suit. She set the new black feather mask on the table. While she waited, she went into the kitchen and started heating up the rest of dinner, that she had set aside for Belle. The kid could really eat, when given the opportunity, so Sam usually set aside a large portion for him when he was coming by late in the evening.​

 

[Yuyo]

Belle was rather stoked when he got that text. He had avoided talking to Sam about the altercation at the cafe, and he felt guilty, as if he'd done something wrong, or failed her, the new scars, particularly the one that was now very obviously marked across his left brow and cheek were an ugly reminder of what happened, at it didn't help they were deep enough to glow as obnoxiously as the ones on his knees and the big spot on his chest.

Regardless, that text made him feel like the weight abandoned his shoulders, leaving with a simple reply:

☀️👍

He picked carefully. He didn't have many bright clothes, and those he had were mostly to change into something comfortable if and when he went back home. A jacket he found in a recent dive, synthetic leather, tattered and a little too big for him, but it covered his light better than his sweaters and hoodies, not to mention, he would not bring Lucian's sweater for obvious reasons. He wouldn't miss this one if something happened to it. He finished up with dark denim jeans, an old pair of gray sneakers, the ones he felt were good for running, and, just for fun, an old black bandana he tied over his head, in case he needed it to cover his face later... Because clearly, his lights weren't enough to identify him. He looked like he was trying to dress as a biker or something, it definitely wasn't the kid's style, but it was better than him having a target painted on his back.

Eventually, he made his way, as fast as his legs allowed him. He'd felt rather well lately, at least compared to his normal state. He could run a little more, he didn't fall asleep at random during the day, and his mood was pretty okay too, he reminded himself over and over. He was useful, he was useful, he was useful.

Soon enough, fixing the sleeves of his jacket, he reached for his phone, standing outside her home.

Ready to go 🦸‍♂️

 

[Katpride]

The smell of food rouses Adelyn from her doze. Slowly, she blinks her eyes open, staring blearily at the only barely-familiar room she finds herself in. Everything… seems to be in order. And she’s not all that hungry, so…

She blinks again, almost falling back asleep, but the sounds of Sam moving around and humming to herself pull her back to awareness. Reluctantly, she uncoils from her comfortable curl and stretches her way out of the blanket-pile at the foot of Todd’s bed, hooking her claws in one of the uppermost blankets and dragging it along with her like a cape once she’s upright.

She’ll just go check that everything’s alright. Then she can go back to bed.

“I’ll be right back,” she tells Todd, patting his ankle through the covers before padding softly away, slipping through the door that she’d helped install and into Sam’s apartment.

A quick scan is enough to tell her that Sam is fine. However, there is someone clattering up the steps to the external door of the apartment, and Sam doesn’t seem to have heard them yet.

“Are you expecting someone?” Even as she asks - well, kind of shouts, but politely, because the apartment isn’t all that big and she doesn’t need to be all that loud - she moves towards the door, pressing her face against the wood to peer through the peephole.

When she gets her answer, she unlocks and opens the door, looking curiously at the boy on the other side. Her eyes track over his dark clothes and bright, well, everything else, lingering on the scars on his face for a moment before she blinks, and smiles, and steps to the side, shouldering the door further open and gesturing him inside. “Hello. I don’t think we’ve met. I’m Adelyn. I’m, uh, a friend of Sam, too.”

She kind of stutters over the second half of her introduction, because she knows by now that ‘friend’ doesn’t really cover ‘person whose partner’s floor I’ve been sleeping on for the past several days’, but it’s all she’s got, because as much as she loves her, Sam isn’t family. That’s why she’s been sleeping here, instead of at her grandparents’ house, where her real family is waiting for her. (Waiting with, just, so many questions. About everything. And they’re definitely justified ones! But they’re also ones that she doesn’t really want to answer right now. Or maybe ever. She’s working on it, okay?)

Her tail swishes anxiously through the air behind her, but she tries to keep her smile bright and friendly. Or, er, not too friendly, actually, because she doesn’t want to seem like she’s trying to bare her fangs at him and scare him off, but friendly enough! “Um. You wanna come inside? I think she’s just about ready for ya.”

 

[Yuyo]

Belle stood there for only a couple seconds without replying. He was sure Sam mentioned a friend at some point but simply didn't, well, expect her to be like that. Regardless, he wasn't one to judge, after all, he was a sentient light bulb to some degree, normality was simply not a solid concept and he- Forgot to reply and had just stared at her during that time.



"Sorry- I'm uh, Belvedere... Belle is fine."



He tries to reply with a smile as well, although, he only manages an awkward barely visible expression, but he thought that it was better than not even letting out a tiny emotion for her.



Upon her invitation, he placed his hands in his pockets, hiding his lights only a little, not because of any reason in particular, just habit.



"Sure. Thank you..."



After another moment, he decided to do a bit of questioning, just for the sake of being polite. 'Make some new friends' alright, Sam had said so, there was literally no better time to do so. With a lot of effort from his part, he took a deep breath, and tried to make small talk.



"So... Have you known Sam for a while or-" He wanted to ask whether she was another of Sam's rescues, like him, but he felt it would be rude considering her physical traits, he was trying to be more mindful of what he let his mouth blurt out nowadays. "-Did you, meet recently?"