Scott and Alison, Monday afternoon

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Scott stops by to check on Alison. It's a brief visit.


Curled up on the couch, Alison stared ahead. One could have called her expression pensive except it wasn't so, really - her mind was pleasantly blank and her breathing was pretty much the only thing she was listening to, a steady in and out of air. She was wearing a sleeveless blouse, one of the few summer tops she had which covered her back entirely, a vague thought about needing news ones having surfaced at the time, only to be dismissed as 'done later' once she'd curled up on the couch.

Haroun had stepped out briefly to fetch food for the both of them. He'd promised her he would be back soon, before she could even ask and that had been enough for her to just nod quietly and resume the think-don't-think thing she'd been doing since waking up. Almost. The not-so-small voice in the back of her head had been snarling quietly at the way she's briefly clung to his hand and Alison was now intent on being just fine on her own, more than anything else.

The door to the suite was closed. Scott really hadn't expected it to be otherwise; giving the impression of being open to visitors probably wasn't the first thing on Alison's mind right now. He'd wavered for some time over whether or not to do this, wondering whether it might be too soon, if she needed more space and he was being pushy...

He'd finally told himself that if that turned out to be the case, he could leave her to it, just as easily. He would be able to tell, Scott repeated to himself. He knew her well enough to be able to tell. Raising a hand, he knocked lightly on the door.

"Al?" he called softly. "It's Scott."

The knock on the door earned her entire attention, eyes snapping towards it instantly. One breath, then another, and she leaned back in the sofa, deliberately so, forcing each muscle to relax slowly.

"Come in."

Scott opened the door, stepping in slowly. "Hey," he said quietly, seeing her on the couch. "This would be me, checking on you." He managed a faint little smile. "If you want, I can consider you checked on and walk right back out the door. But if you wouldn't be bothered by some company, I wouldn't mind sitting down and double-checking. Maybe triple-checking."

She tugged the edge of the blouse down her shoulder a bit - an already acquired reflex since she'd put it in, a few hours ago. "S"okay." Staring at him for a moment, it took Alison far too long to realize that she was speaking too flatly, wasn't even gesturing at a chair for him to sit down. "I… thank you." That would be the first thing to say, after all.

Scott nodded slowly, settling into one of the chairs. Giving her plenty of room. "You were coming home," he said very softly. "We were all very determined about that. Is there..." He hesitated. "Is there anything I can do, Al?" he asked a bit awkwardly. "Anything at all..."

Bring me Sabertooth's head on a platter. Expression utterly blank, Alison's belated second thought was that it was such a good thing Scott wasn't telepathic. And that Nathan wasn't on one of his walk-bys, mind reaching out gently to check up on her before heading off again without a word. "I'm fine." And after a moment's pause, she shook her head, deliberately so. "Ok, not yet. But I will be." Calm and steady, that was the ticket.

Scott smiled a little, just for a moment, almost wistfully. "Of course you will be," he murmured. "You've got all the time in the world to be." He looked around at the suite, more to buy himself a moment to think than anything else. "Haroun's told you that everyone else who was involved is all right?"

"Jean did last night." She thought she remembered Jean doing that. It was safe to say she would have - it would be a Jean sort of thing to do, right? "And yes, Haroun did too." Her mind went blank again, not so delicately pretending to forget the issue of why they might not have been safe. Maybe she'd wear one of Haroun's silk shirts again tonight.

…not the black one, anymore, she decided.

Scott nodded again. "And Jean and I passed along what you told her to everyone involved," he went on, just as softly. "So that's taken care of, too. You... deal, or work through it, at your own speed. The rest of us are here if or when you need us."

A short nod followed that, Alison's eyes unfocusing slightly. A few seconds later, she blinked rapidly, gaze settling on him. And tugged at the shoulder of her blouse once more, never even aware of the motion. "I think I'd like to try and read a book now. Or something."

It was, in essence, a lousy way to ask him to leave but suddenly, Alison very much wanted him to go. To stop reminding her of what had happened merely by his presence alone.

"Okay." He had told himself he would be able to tell when he'd pushed too far, or maybe just far enough, and now was definitely that moment.
Scott rose. "Anything you need," he said quietly. "I'm just down the hall, remember."

"Okay." And, belatedly so, after he'd made his way to the door and had stepped out. "Thank you." The door clicked shut and silence reigned in the suite as Alison resumed staring ahead. And concentrated on listening to her breathing.

She would be just fine.