Log [Alison, Haroun]

[x-dazzler.livejournal.com]

Alison, released from the medlab, returns to the quarters she shares with Haroun, in his company. Magic heals all, or so it is said. Maybe so in fairy tale books, but not in reality, and this is a hard fact which will follow Alison in the time to come.

Quite literally so.

The room was safe. She kept repeating that to herself, trying to look casual, unaware that her expression was nothing but. Tenseness radiated from her, every corner of the room inspected under a poor pretense of glancing about. She paused, taking a deep breath, and tried to let it out slowly. She plucked at the shirt she still wore - not one of her own, and suddenly wearing something else seemed to be very important. Turning to look at Haroun, who had followed her inside quietly, she flashed what she hoped was a steady smile. "I'm stealing one of your shirts. 'kay?" She was already suiting actions to question though, heading for the wardrobe to claim one, eyes already locking on the bathroom door. A shower would be good. A very hot shower, and then a shirt. One of Haroun's shirts.

Haroun grinned at Alison. "Like I could stop you even if I wanted to - which I don't. Be my guest, take whatever you like." he said as he walked past her to his usual spot - his desk chair. He had started the mint tea brewing before he left to get her because A) he was thirsty, dammit and B) she usually responded wonderfully well to scents. "I would suggest the black silk button-down." he commented.

Her hands hovered through the doorway, then rested on fabric. Cotton. Cotton again, and then silk - the black was the second one and she pulled it off the hook, the sound ringing through her gently, the smell of the tea causing her to close her eyes and breathe in slowly. "That one, yeah." She withdrew it from the wardrobe and smiled at him once more, before disappearing in the bathroom. Reaching in to turn the water on, the sound of water hitting the shower tiles keeping her company as she started to pull her clothes off, Alison focused on her breathing. Slow and steady, the heat of the water gradually starting to fog the edges of the mirror.

Haroun grinned to himself as he fought an urge to go join her. She'd just been brutalized, now was not the time to get frisky on her! So instead he amused himself by imagining exactly what was going on in there - how she undressed, what was revealed when she did so, exactly how it looked, how it felt...

Unaware of Haroun's train of thought, though it would have been reassuringly familiar if she'd seen the look on his face just then, Alison slipped out of the t-shirt, socks and jogging pants soon following. Turning around, she hooked the silk shirt away behind the door, to keep it away from the worst of the humidity. A flash of darkness in the mirror drew her attention and she frowned a bit, turning around to catch sight of it. Stiffening, she looked down at her bare shoulder, turning over slowly once more again, presenting her back to the mirror itself.

Her breath escaped her entirely as she started at the black scars, scoring her back from the top of her right shoulder in jagged, ugly lines, curling about her lower back to end at her opposite hip. Her fingers rolled over the shoulder, tracing the patterns of upraised skin there as her eyes widened slowly. The low cry escaping her as she finally found the ability to breathe again entirely escaped her notice, even as the mirror was fogged over further by the steam of the shower, steadily rendering the reflection of her back indistinct.

Haroun shot to his feet in an instant - he heard her cry out. "Honey, what's wrong?" he said, staying on his side of the door for now. He didn't want to just barge in on her, not after what she'd been through. Unlike some other people, he couldn't grow himself a new spinal linkage if she severed his with a laser. "I thought I heard you cry out..."

She scrabbled for the door, yanking it open and then pulling Haroun inside, one hand going right back to her shoulder again, twisting around to look at her back. A muted sound of denial escaped her as she saw the black scars running out of sight, and she turned to look at Haroun once more, unable to say a word, silently pleading for what she was seeing to be untrue.

Haroun let himself be pulled inside - hello, topless Alison! - but his levity died when he saw the nasty scars along her back. "Nasty set of scars, those." he said as calmly as he could. "Once you've had a chance to rest we'll have Hank remove them - or we'll take you to an outside specialist who deals with such things. Not real pretty to look at, but if you want 'em gone we'll get rid of them."

"But they're black!" The wail escaped her unbidden, one hand brushing against her cheek to double check once more if that particular wound was still there, running down an arm to hold her other hand, the fingers smooth and unbroken. "Not red or hurt or… healed and black, like someone poured tar in them and-" she stopped, breath rapid and shallow, hands trembling until she clenched them together so tightly her knuckles whitened.

Haroun wrapped his arms around her to offer her support - both physical and moral. "We'll figure it out." he told her quietly. "Solve what you can solve, let other people solve the stuff you can't."

The strangled sound she made was near lost as she leaned against him - and then huddled, hiding her face against him, shivering as the memory of the claws ripping down her back to create those scars was suddenly far too vivid. Jean's explanations came back to mind, half remembered, but it was all too much and she shoved the thoughts and memories away, everything as far away as she could, concentrating on Haroun's reassuring presence and solidity. "Okay." Her voice was small and wobbly, but it was an answer, at least, or so she hoped. Better than screaming wildly, which she might do any moment if she wasn't careful, if she let go.

"Come on, you. I didn't want to tell you this earlier ... but you stink. You need a shower, stinkygirl! Now get in there, and when you're all clean we'll drink some tea and watch some TV, OK? Maybe throw a movie in. Sound good?"

He startled a laugh out of her with that, undercut by a sob. But she smiled at him even as she cried, nodding, biting her lip to keep from looking back again, to keep from screaming. "Shower and movie." Something normal and mundane and safe. "Okay." She  shed her underwear, opening the doors to the shower stall with short, sharp gestures, hanging on the a near ghostly sense of self-control, somehow. "…stay here? Please?"

"You couldn't tear me out of here if you used thermite." he said reassuringly, taking a seat on the edge of the tub to wait. "Helluva day." he said once she was firmly in the shower.

She stepped under the warm water, the heat suddenly oh so perfect, warming her skin instantly. "Thermite would be bad for my complexion." It was pure bravado and nothing else, and she knew it. The soap she picked up wasn't her own - but rather Haroun's, and without a thought as to this she lathered herself quickly, scrubbing furiously at her skin. Checking herself over for wounds, until she caught herself at it and stopped, snarling quietly at herself. Lathering herself a second time, just because, and then setting the soap down to let the water scour away at her body. "Nearly done."

"Take your time. No rush." he said, letting his imagination run wild again. As pleasant as the daydream was, his mind kept marring it with those unnatural black swaths across her back. Very off-putting, those. They were wrecking his fantasy. Shaking his head to clear it, he went and got the biggest, fluffiest towel he could to dry her off with. "Any time you're ready." he told her, holding the towel up for her to step into.

The water stopped and Alison cracked the shower doors open an inch, peeking at him through the opening… looking for all the world like a drowned, bedraggled rat. Her eyes fell on the towel and she opened the doors just enough to squirm through them to the towel. Not thinking about her back would do for now. Not thinking about anything, she decided, was the way to go.

Haroun vigorously dried Alison off, keepings things on the functional level and not on his usual playful level. Nor did he indulge his hormones, which suggested skipping past playful and right into full-bore Take Her Now mode. "There. Feeling better?" he asked, leaving the towel wrapped around her and hunting for another one for her hair. "I usually feel better after washing the grime off of me."

"Feel better," she replied, softly, having closed her eyes and docilely let him dry her off, and now clutching the towel around herself and watching him as he fetched another towel. Her skin tingled and nothing hurt and as Haroun returned, Alison wasted no time in leaning against him once more. "Better." The smell of mint tea tickled at her nose through the slightly open door and she turned her head a bit, resting her cheek on his shoulder to savor the scent. "Tea's ready?"

"Should be. Go on, get changed into whatever you feel like sleeping in..." and at this point he couldn't help but waggle his eyebrows at her suggestively ... "and I'll pour us some tea and get the movie ready. Anything you want to watch in particular?"

She smiled at him at that, laughing just a bit - the sound surprising her. "That romance thing you got. Based off one of the Harlequin novels you liked." She wrapped the second towel around her hair, and glanced at the black silk shirt and decided that it would do just fine and dandy for movie watching. And curling up close to Haroun, and having tea. "Nice and quiet movie."

Haroun blinked at Alison. "How did ... never mind. Let me go dig it out of the sludge-metal case." he said, marveling at her ability to find the stuff he wanted to keep hidden.  "Go on and get ... comfortable." he insinuated as he poured them both generous glasses of tea. "I have got to hide my embarrassing DVDs better next time." he mock-grumbled, knowing full-well she could hear him.

She smiled a bit as he grumbled in the kitchen, an odd fluttery sensation filling her as she dried off her hair as best she could with the towel and then neatly placed both towel on the door of the shower stall to dry. Slipping on the silk shirt she made her way to the bed and with a small sigh tumbled down upon it, grabbing the nearest pillow and drawing it into a tight hug while waiting for Haroun to come back with the tea.

Haroun returned with the teacups in his hand and the DVD case tucked under his arm. "You look beat." he said, and then winced at his poor choice of words. "Tired, I mean. Let me go get this started and I'll crank up the heat for you, OK?" he asked her as he presented her with her teacup.

She relinquished her hold on the pillow only long enough to accept the cup, nodding at him obediently. "Yes." Simply holding the cup close, breathing in the sweet scent of the tea, she sighed. Asking him to hurry up would be silly and she forced herself not to, watching him intently instead, holding the cup close.

Haroun waggled his butt at her as he got the movie started and ready to go. He put his teacup down just long enough to shed his clothing, choosing to sleep in naught but an old pair of sweats he kept around for that express purpose. Old, battered, and shapeless, Alison had been after him for weeks to throw them out, but he was resisting her. They were comfortable and he could kick at full extension in them. What more could a man ask? Once he was changed and the move was prepared, he slipped into bed next to her, inviting her to make of him a pillow.

The pillow was finally relinquished, the tea cup carefully handed over to Haroun after taking one last sip, Alison fully intent on curling up against him as much as humanly possible. "Mmm." She closed her eyes as she rested her head on his chest, the sound of his breathing reassuring, underscored by a steady heartbeat which drew a small smile from her.

Haroun notched his power upwards just a little bit, to bring just a touch of heat to the surface. He found that it helped her sleep, and tonight of all nights was no exception. He didn't even have time to press PLAY on the remote control before Alison was out cold. "Sleep well, love." he told her. "I'll be here to guard your dreams."