5088/Scratching at Old Wounds

Scratching at Old Wounds
Date of Scene:	14 February 2017
Location:	Earth-199999
Synopsis:	After much consideration Toph decides to ask Tony about his help and opinion regarding an old matter that's resurfaced.
Cast of Characters:	20, 301

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Toph Beifong (20) has posed:
    For the most part Toph has been making sure to visit Malibu often, though there are times when she's busy with Paladin work. This weekend she had been busy, and left a message for Tony that she would stop by on Monday instead.

    Clad in her casual clothes she shows up in Malibu, her bag over her shoulder. Though for once she seems to be lacking in energy as she walks, barely greeting Jarvis as she steps in, waving a hand that has some bandages on it. Through her bending she can see where Tony easily is, and heads where he is, most likely busy taking care of RJ or watching him sleep while he's working on something. He's really gotten into the whole dad role, but then again he had taken paternal duties seriously before that, Toph of all people knows that.

    And it's mostly due to that that she's even considering this, even though it's something she really doesn't want to talk about...

Tony Stark (301) has posed:
Tony is in the living room, in fact, with the news on the TV at low volume while he bounces a screaming infant in his arms, murmuring softly to him such calming phrases as, "Please shut up," and "You know I could ship you to Abu Dhabi, right?" although it's all in soothing tones meant to help.

RJ continues to pound his tiny fists on the spit-stained towel on his father's shoulder and bawls like he's being tortured.

Tony turns a bleary gaze toward Toph as she comes in, and manages a wan smile. "Welcome home," he offers whimsically. The baby wails counterpoint.

Toph Beifong (20) has posed:
    It's easy enough to hear her baby brother, and Toph offers a tired smile in return. "Hi dad... want me to try and calm him down?" Maybe that helps, she did have experience with watching Liz, while Tony didn't dare handle her. Besides, Tony is probably tired since he has to take care of the baby 24/7. After setting her bag aside on the couch Toph extends her arms to pick up RJ if Tony wants a break, and then place the baby against her shoulder and walk back and forth with him. Babies like that, right?

    "Anything new going on here the last week?" she asks, then offers what's new on her front. At least the easy stuff first. "Sokka and I have been planning contests for my birthday party, and I'm trying to come up with some good prizes. Without copying your birthday stuff, of course." There there, RJ. Big sis is here.

Tony Stark (301) has posed:
"Other than colic?" Tony replies sardonically. But he carefully shifts his grip on the baby to transfer him to Toph's waiting arms. Then he flicks the towel off his shoulder. "You may want this too. He's awfully burpy tonight."

And then he crashes into a chair, legs stretched out before him, arms limp at his sides, face tilted blankly up at the ceiling. "I've been walking and bouncing and petting and singing to him for almost an hour," he groans. "I think he's just got a bellyache, but try explaining that to him."

Toph Beifong (20) has posed:
    Oh right, that bellyache thing. Toph makes a wince, making sure she's got a solid grip on the baby. Even as Tony flicks the towel towards her the blind teenager reaches out, grabbing for it and barely managing to snatch it. "Yeah, because I'm so concerned about my clothes being clean," she jokes, even as she puts the towel in place. Because dirt is way better than babypuke.

    At least now Tony can get a break from the crying and rest his arms. And Toph does her best to soothe the crying baby, making cooing sounds for him, all while rubbing his back. Hmmm, wonder what might work... Though as she walks, she does turn towards Tony, a slightly worried expression on her face. "Dad, there's... something we need to talk about." Somehow she seems rather hesitant to do so.

Tony Stark (301) has posed:
"I already said I'd do up some barbecue for your birthday party," Tony replies, clearly misconstruing the important thing. "AND I promised no more sand sculptures from Dummy."

RJ hiccups mid-wail, belches some white goo onto the towel and then resumes crying with renewed vigor.

Toph Beifong (20) has posed:
    "No," Toph sighs, shaking her head, "It's something else, and..." Ow, just how loud can RJ be? The blind teenager makes a pained face as the crying gets a little too close to her ear, and she shifts RJ a bit as she tries to rub his tummy in an effort to help ease the bellyache.

    "Last night, I..." she begins, sighing and looking like she's really not wanting to say this, but she jumps into it. "Ainsley... said that she and some League members killed a beast last night. And that... it came from my nightmares or something." It's hard to explain it, especially to Tony. Who's familiar with her having nightmares a few years back, even if she hasn't wanted to talk to him about them before.

Tony Stark (301) has posed:
Tony slowly lifts a hand and pinches the bridge of his nose, massaging that spot between his eyes for a moment. Then he drops his hand and opens his eyes. "A beast," he repeats, to make sure he heard that correctly, "from your nightmares. You mean a spirit that's tormented you in the past? It wasn't Mu was it?" He seems to be taking this completely seriously. He's seen some Things.

RJ balls up his fists and flails his pudgy arms, his voice rising to a high keening whine. Although the tummy-rubbing does make him pause for a moment and fart. He takes another few seconds to catch his breath before resuming his crusade.

Toph Beifong (20) has posed:
    At Tony's question Toph shakes her head a bit where she walks back and forth. "No, not that one," she mutters, idly wondering just how many beasts have haunted her before. "The... nightmare that I mentioned. Where I kill--" The one she refused to go into detail about with Tony, but instead talked to Stan about. But only parts of it. Mu she doesn't remember anything about, which might be for the better.

    Okay, since the tummy rubbing helped Toph shifts RJ in her arms, moving him over so she can rub his tummy some more. "Let the stinkies out now, you little shriker," she half coos at him, finding it easier to deal with the screaming infant rather than facing Tony, even if she can't see his expression after her breaching the topic of the nightmare she has refused to talk about before.

Tony Stark (301) has posed:
"Where you kill me," Tony completes the sentence quietly. "But you haven't mentioned that one in years, Toph. It's not still bothering you is it?" He'd thought that was something she'd put behind her long ago. He shakes his head. "Okay, so, nightmare. How did it turn from nightmare into this beast thing? And if they killed it, that's-- good, right?"

RJ fusses more, his little face scrunched up as his feet kick in seeming frustration. Then there's another pause, and his diaper suddenly feels much heavier. Almost immediately, he lets out a noise that might be interpreted as relief.

...and then he starts to squirm uncomfortably because now he's sitting in poop.

Toph Beifong (20) has posed:
    Yes. The nightmare where she kills him. That's basically all Tony knows, and that Toph doesn't like it. Sure, she's been having nightmares at times, that much Jarvis should know, and that sometimes she doesn't sleep well at all.

    As for whether she still has it or not, Toph frowns. "I... used to have it until Sokka began sneaking into my bed after you saved us from the ship in the ice," she reveals. "I kinda sleep easier when he's next to me..." It's tougher to explain just how it came to be, and the blind teenager needs a few seconds to collect her thoughts. "This mind guy said that it escaped from my brain into the Collective Unconscious due to it being chased out by happy thoughts... or something like that. And that my mind might create more of them."

    As RJ fusses and screams and kicks, Toph does her best to keep on rubbing his belly and keep on moving... only to scrunch up her nose when she both hears and smells something familiar. "Man, to think he can create such a stink...!" But she's already moving towards the stairs, trying to not squish his diaper more. And as she walks she keeps on explaining to Tony, trusting that he will follow her to the nursery.

    "Anyway, I talked a bit with the mind agent guy, and he... suggests going into my mind to fix up stuff there." Judging by the sound of her voice, she's not exactly happy about this. "... but I don't want complete strangers going into my brain and potentially mess stuff up." Or see things that they shouldn't see.

Tony Stark (301) has posed:
Tony snickers a little bit as he hears the telltale sound of a very wet evacuation -- since the baby is in Toph's arms it's her problem! He presses his lips together in a thin line at the comment about Sokka chasing the nightmares away. It's not that he can't relate -- Pepper was his rock after his experience in Annu -- but Toph is Too Young and Sokka is too... Sokka.

He does push himself up out of the chair so he can continue the conversation while Toph takes care of diaper duty. "Don't you think... I don't know, counseling might be a better first step? Letting people inside your brain seems a bit drastic."

Toph Beifong (20) has posed:
    Into the nursery they go, and Toph finds the changing table easily enough, working on taking off RJ's pants, but leaving the diaper on before she digs in the drawers, finding what she needs with only some fumbling to remember where everything is. It's not like she's too familiar with the baby stuff yet considering she's been far busier with the Paladins the last month. But she eventually finds a clean diaper, wash cloths and powder, and she makes sure to stand by RJ's side when she begins changing his diaper. Unlike Sokka she doesn't intend on getting peed on!

    "... I really don't know, but... I've tried that, but it was still there. And if Stan can't help it, then..." A frustrated sigh leaves Toph as she works on cleaning up RJ, being careful with her hands. Man, that's a lot of poop! "Ainsley said I should tell you, and... I'm going to talk with that mind agent guy. I don't know what it's like, but he was in my head briefly during a mission, it was sort of like blacking out, and we were in this weird place. He said he was only in my fighting space, so to say..." It's all such a mess to think about, and the blind teenager shakes her head. "It was really scarred, the nightmare... and Parsons said that more of it might reappear and bother people. I... I don't like it, but..." There's one thing she's certain of however. "If... if I'm going to let people into my brain, I want people I /trust/ to be there too." Tossing the wetwipes into the trash bin she turns her head slightly towards Tony.

    "I... I don't really want anybody to see that, especially you, but..."

    If she can't trust Tony, then who can she trust?

Tony Stark (301) has posed:
Toph is wise, for as soon as the diaper is off RJ seems to take that as his cue to send an arc of urine gently spraying upward. He seems relieved to have the dirty diaper off, though, as his fussing stops and turns into neutral grunting noises as his feet wave in the air.

Tony whistles softly on sight of the load his kid just dumped. "No wonder you were uncomfortable, buddy," he remarks, and Rob turns his head at the sound of his voice and makes an indistinct sound that might be recognition.

"So let me get this straight," Tony continues. "This... mind agent guy thinks that your brain is a nightmare factory and wants to do some extremely up close and personal cleaning up before another one -- somehow, we still don't know how the first one supposedly did -- manifests physically and attacks someone. I'm sorry but doesn't this all sound a bit... I don't know, convenient, if this guy just wants to get in there to mess with you?"

Toph Beifong (20) has posed:
    "He's a little shit machine," Toph comments, "At least you guys feed him enough." On goes the powder, and Toph begins fastening the new and clean diaper. "Okay little buddy, the next time you do the pooping /before/ big sis arrives, okay?"

    Tony's concerns are thoughts that Toph has had herself, and she sighs a bit as she picks up RJ after putting on his pants again, carefully trying to hold those kicking legs still. "Ainsley suggested this too, and she's never done anything to make me doubt her before. And... he's not lying from what I can tell. But I want to talk with him face to face first.. and make sure that he's not going to mess with me. I was able to fight him when he went into my mind briefly the last time, but... I'm not going to let him in there without talking to him first and making sure he tells the truth. I-" she explains, rubbing RJ's back as she holds him tight, "I just wanted to talk with you first... since the nightmare concerns you too. I don't really know how all of this works, and... I thought I was finally free of that damn nightmare since I haven't had it for two months now. The exact time that it appeared in the Collective Unconscious."

Tony Stark (301) has posed:
RJ burbles quietly, fast fading into somnolesence now that the persistant colicky discomfort is finally gone. He relaxes, rests his cheek against Toph's shoulder and drools onto her shirt.

Tony on the other hand tenses further. "He's beein in your mind /before/? And you had to /fight/ him?" he repeats disbelievingly. "And you want to let him back in?" His opinion on whether or not this is a good idea is pretty clear.

"--Toph, you know I'll back you up whatever you need to do. I'll even go into your head if you want me to. If me being there will help convince you that you could never hurt me like that. But I really want you to think hard about this. How well do you know this guy?"

Toph Beifong (20) has posed:
    It's far easier dealing with a baby when they're like this, and Toph continues stroking his back to help ease him into sleeping, judging by his breathing. Whew, big sister duties done.

    There's no use lying about it, and Toph nods her head while keeping calm lest she upset RJ. "He did it since he knew I would kick his ass in real life, so... he claimed that he did it to prevent injuries," Toph explains. Sure, she can hear that Tony isn't happy about it... and she understands him. At the same time there are other things at play here. Just... how many people would get hurt because of her?

    "I... would never hurt you, I know that. But I still had that nightmare," Toph muses quietly. "And I am thinking hard about this." For one, he doesn't seem like a good liar. "I was planning on meeting him tomorrow and really press him about this, and I'll make up my mind then. If... if you want, you can come too." Tony knows people, so maybe that would be wise.

Tony Stark (301) has posed:
"I think that'd be a good idea," Tony observes, a bit sternly perhaps but only from genuine concern. The nightmare was bad enough before people started telling her it had come to life; somehow he doesn't feel like Toph can be entirely objective about this. "You've already had enough people mess with your head for one lifetime," he adds, thinking back again to Mu.

Toph Beifong (20) has posed:
    If it helps ease Tony's mind, then she doesn't mind him coming along to talk with Parsons about it. It's a difficult thing to deal with, and it had been easier to simply just let it be there and not talk about it to people besides Stan. But it didn't sound like she had much of a choice but to consider this option. Sure, she's happy with Sokka, but... what if something happens to upset her again? It's a deep wound that's been gnawing at her for three years now.

    So she nods a bit, leaning her head forward a bit, resting the top of her scalp against Tony's chest. And the proximity only makes her more aware of the root of her nightmare as she senses the tiny fragments in Tony's chest, each one standing out prominently unlike the time when she first began having those terrible dreams. At the time she wasn't able to make them all out, nor know exactly where they were, or how many.

    But now, she can't help but sense them all.

    All 21 of them.