Aulter (IC)

[Hazuki]

Lavender notices the slight hesitation in Nicoleta's voice, but still smiles that she seems to be accepting things. If only a little. "Alright. And you should know that I've got a hug with your name on it." She offers, as her smile steadies.

[Professor Gnoll]

Nicoleta almost seems to start a little at the offer. "Oh. Uh, yes. Thank you." She somewhat awkwardly steps forward, gingerly spreading her arms a little.

[Hazuki]

Lavender gradually pulls herself off of her couch-based infirmary and wraps Nicoleta in a big ol' hug that may leave her weak in the knees. Literally, because Lavender huge and needs something to support her weight.

[Professor Gnoll]

Nicoleta's arms half-close around Lavender, not quite touching her. She awkwardly stands in the embrace, not sure what to say or do, as Lavender's weight presses down on her. She attempts a lopsided grin and pulls away after a few seconds, her cheeks a little flushed. "Thank you." She coughs a little. "Uh, how are, your... wounds? That is, your injuries? Are they better?"

[Hazuki]

"A little." Lavender releases Nicoleta with a smile and slumps back towards the couch. "You know that scene in Alien, where the guy's on the table and the alien bursts through his chest? It's like that. Except nothing like that, 'cause I'm still alive, but if it helps...yeah." She chuckles and immediately regrets that decision.

[Professor Gnoll]

Nicoleta frowns. "I do not know that scene. Is that bad? It sounds bad. Does your chest hurt that much? I might be able to find some painkillers."

[Hazuki]

"I'd appreciate that." Lavender replies, as she props her feet up beside her. "Do you think they'd work? Considering..."

[Professor Gnoll]

"I'm not certain. Are you immune to your own numbing venom? If so, we'd have to find a drug that worked off a different mechanism." Nicoleta frowns as she considers the issue. "If it's anything like spi- like the venom of the păianjen, it'll be a peptide, that inteferes with the nerve pathways to the brain." Nicoleta moves over to her bag and takes out the first aid kit. "There's a little acetaminophen- that is, Tylenol in here. If it doesn't work, we can try something else." She produces a small white-and-orange bottle, and hands it to Lavender. "You should pay attention, Mads. You are interested in the scientific workings of our little mutations, yes?"

[Hazuki]

"How much should I take?" Lavender asks, examining the bottle.

[Sønderjye]

Mads was first annoyed over the stubornness then suprised over the lack of stubornness then embarrised by being an observer to the intimate moment of the two. He took his eyes off the couple and looked at the other two Saints, hoping that they would voice their oppinion.

---

When adressed Mads again looks up again: "I'm interested in our mutations and how they work yeah", he feels inclined to correct her use of scientific but decides that with the friendly gesture this isn't the time.

[Professor Gnoll]

"Take two, with water." Nicoleta quickly locates a glass and fills it. "Here. If this doesn't help, I've another sort as well." She frowns slightly. "And if you don't like the taste, I think I also have strawberry flavour."

[Hazuki]

"They make strawberry flavor for adults?" Lavender's eyes widen with glee, as she takes her glass of water.

[Professor Gnoll]

"It's for people like you, I imagine." She shrugs. "I never really understood the appeal. Medicine is supposed to taste bad. That's how you know it's good for you."

[Hazuki]

"People like me?" Lavender playfully asks, then downs her two pills like a good girl.

[Professor Gnoll]

"I think you know what I mean. The same kind of people who enjoy those sorts of movies." She indicates the TV on which the muted DeathOps: Novio De La Muerte (2013) is still playing. "Now swallow those and take another two in eight hours." Nicoleta looks around. "Is there anything else anyone wanted to say on the... lethality issue?"

[Hazuki]

"Gorgeous heroes?" Lavender offers. "That's sweet of you, Nicoleta. Thanks." She gives her doctor a thumbs up.

[Thematthew]

Jenny sighs for a moment, "I don't really see the point in arguing about lethal versus non-lethal means. Things are significantly more dangerous for us if we don't pull our punches and avoid killing people since we might find ourselves being hunted by the government or having to deal with a villain who goes full out to fight us ad possibly hurts civilians. All in all, it just feels like common sense to avoid it."

[Hazuki]

Lavender looks around the room and notices the relatively slow progress of their conversation. "...can I unmute DeathOps now?"

[NineOfSpades]

Liz had hoped the issue would resolve itself without her imput, but it seemed the time was right to add her two cents. "I don't know how it was for you guys, but when I decided to get a silly costume and fight crime, it was because I wanted to be a hero. And being a hero means finding a better way. I'm not going to sit here and get all preachy about it, but don't expect me to condone murder either"

[Sønderjye]

"All right, it seems that the general consensus is that we generally want to avoid killing people." He pauses and looks around to give people a chance to chime in if he had misunderstood their intend. Assuming nobody speaks up he'll continue: "What are situations that you think that this isn't the case? When don't we hold back? I'd guess that we agree that making sure that none of us dies is more important than the life of any of the bad guys but where do we draw the line? Thoughts? And what about people that take hostages and otherwise threaten other people's life?"

[Hazuki]

"Don't you think making a list of times when it's okay to kill somebody is kinda...cold?" Lavender asks, putting down the remote with some slight disappointment. "If we're going into this to be heroes, that's what we should do, and treat every situation like it's one we can get everyone out of alive. And the minute you start using maths to decide what's moral is the minute you get that much closer to being a bad guy. So...yeah. I don't think we should give ourselves excuses to start doing any of that."

[NineOfSpades]

"I'm with Lavender" Liz nodded, continuing her friends thought "Its not about numbers, rules, or even guidelines. I see it as being about effort, as a mindset. When we walk out onto the street, the goal should always be to save everyone. And 'everyone' means the badguys get saved as well. There will probably be a day when we get stuck in a no-win situation, or even just backed up against the wall and forced to make a split second choice. And when that time comes, it might mean that somebody gets killed. That somebody might be us, or a bystander, or a lunatic with a gun. But the thing is, the real thing, the important part. I want to be able to trust that all of you did everything you could to save them. Maybe, when that day comes and everything is going wrong, there really is nothing else that could be done other than killing the bad guy. And if that is the case, I think I could live with it. I just want to know that it's not something that we keep in our playbook, that its always an act of desperation made because there wasn't time to try and think of something else."

[Sønderjye]

Mads only barely manages to supress a smug smile as he turns look at the two other members. "And what do you think?"

[Professor Gnoll]

Nicoleta gives a slightly irritable shrug, not missing the sense of victory that Mads is exuding. "I think that this conversation has gone on long enough. The matter appears to be resolved." She begins to pack the first-aid kit she had produced back into her bag. Of course, she remains unconvinced- but it is obvious at this point that they're not going to budge. The courteous thing to do is to acquiesce... for now. "So, are we patrolling today? If not, I really should be getting to Mass."

[Sønderjye]

Mads has only confusion left for Nicoleta's irritation. He had already apologized to her and he felt like he had gone about the matter in the best way he could. Are she still holding grudges over my initial reaction that she were keeping hidden or were there something more to it? Other explenations to Nicoleta's behaviour bounces around in his head but he isn't able to narrow it down to a single one.

"Ehm, sure." He responds, finding it odd that she decides to end the discussion before Jenny, himself or even herself had voiced their oppinion in the matter. He was pretty sure that Nicoleta had shared the sentiment that some situations demanded lethal force, what had changed her? Did Jenny's small whateverthatwas actually change her mindset so drastically?
"But there's two more things I wanted to talk about today. One is bouncing ideas around about how to use powers, for instance I am having a hard time finding ways to offensively use my power without killing or at least permanently harming people. I guess not all of the group needs to be there for that and that I might be able to think of something if none of you care to help so I'll skip that for now. More importantly is how we want to go around finding crime. We're hopelessly short on information and while you can find some information about local gangs online there's a lot that you can't. Walking around aimlessly can only get you so far. One suggestion is to try to work with the police." He takes a breath quickly to be sure that he isn't interrupted: "Look, hear me out. We can tell them that we'd like to coordinate with them and share information. We want to figth crime and they want it too. We can tell them that we need to be sure that we remain anynomous and discuss whatever conditions that we want to work with them under. At best we gain a huge network and known locations for criminal organizations. At worst we have an excuse to infiltrate the police station with good concience. Or just walk away."

[Hazuki]

"I...don't think that's a good idea. We haven't even figured out who we are as a group yet, so we have nooo ground to stand on when it comes to getting a good deal. And we'll probably grow to rely on them if we start...relying on them, early." Lavender replies, after a forlorn glance at the television. "...also...we just got two guys killed. They wouldn't be happy to hear from us.""

[Thematthew]

Jenny gets up and starts pacing around, "I think Lavender has a good point. We should probably work on a bit of a reputation that doesn't involve people dying before we approach the police. I understand your concerns on your powers Mads, but I'm sure there are ways to fight using them that don't involve cutting people in half. I'd be willing to work with you on this some ways to do so."

[Hazuki]

Lavender, who can't really agree with somebody agreeing with her without it being somewhat stupid, flashes a positive smile. Go optimism!

[Sønderjye]

Mads can feel a wave of emotions building up over the constant stomping of his ideas from those who supposedly should be his comrades. However with all the aggresion that were going on lately he knows that if he allows the angry outburst to come through that it will only worsen the mood. He closes his eyes, leans back into the chair and takes a deep breath. When he feels centered he opens his eyes again: "Fine, unless one of you have something you want to talk about the team meeting is concluded." He pauses to give everyone a chance to speak up. If nobody does he continues: "So should we start walking around aimlessly in the shady parts of town?"

[Hazuki]

"I think you need to cool down before you start going on any patrols." Lavender remarks, from her cushioned throne. "There's no point in doing 'em if you're thinking about too much stuff to notice what's going on."