Log [Alison, Haroun] Proof of solidity

[x-dazzler.livejournal.com]

Alison, needing to prove herself and to settle back into a rhythm of life she knows and is used to, pushes too hard. This time though, Haroun is the one to pay the price for this.

This was the usual gym hour for Haroun and for the second day in a row, Alison found herself hovering near the doorway leading inside, alternating pacing with random moves towards the door. Finally, this time, she managed to whip herself into line and marched in, heading for the weights section near blindly so.

Haroun was just finishing up a set of reps on the free-weights when Alison came stomping in. "Hey." he said, surprised to see her. "What brings you down here today? Looking for me?"

"Yes." The word was said a bit sharply, perhaps, but Alison was determined. More, she needed this, in ways she didn't even know how to express other than by coming down here and asking. "We spoke about starting up sparring sessions soon and I'd like to start now." She switched her weight slowly from foot to foot. "I just… hate doing nothing. It's getting to me. And I'm fine so I can spar. At least that."

Haroun blinked. "I think it's a bad idea. You haven't been cleared by Psych for hand-to-hand - or any exposure to violence, really. Physically, yeah, you're fine. Mentally? You're not ready." he said flatly while re-racking his weights. "I know you're going nuts with the inactivity, hon. Go swim, or jog, maybe?"

Clenching her teeth, Alison looked down for a moment. Take a slow breath, she reminded herself, then went for another. "I… no. I tried that. The jogging." Because she could and did go out now, damn it all. "I need a new bathing suit before hitting the pool." She had none that would cover the scars adequately. So it was wait or go in the dead of night and the latter was likely to happen sooner or later at this rate. "I can handle sparring."

Haroun stood up from finishing up the last of the weight-racking, and lightning-fast snapped off a punch at her head. He had no intention of making contact - he was looking to judge her reactions. One photonic slip, one flinch or scream, and he was going to mindyell for Charles.

Though ever part of her tensed, she somehow wasn't surprised by the sudden strike - this was, in a sense, the most essential thing about Haroun and one she realized she'd expected. Had been anticipating, perhaps, even. She dodged the punch, moving to the side quickly and paused, waiting to see if there would be another before he decided they could spar, adrenaline coursing through her veins wildly.

Haroun didn't throw another technique. Instead, he studied her - flared nostrils, narrowed pupils. "All right." he said, stepping out of the Weightlifter's Heaven and onto the mats proper. "Light contact only. No powers, no bruises. Let's work control and finesse." he said. "Stretch out." he then ordered her.

The desire to balk at the order was sublimated into obedience, Alison having acquired what she wanted - a sparring session - and refusing to get sidetracked from that. The stretching was done meticulously well, only the faintest of tugs at the scars on her back reminding her of their presence, the care Jean was showing about keeping them from going stiff. Once she ready she headed for the sparring equipment, meticulous about following the regular sparring rules.

Haroun took that opportunity to gear up as well - boots, gloves, helmet, and mouthguard. Chest-protector he didn't need, and the cup was irrelevant to him. "Any time you're ready." he said, shadow-boxing the air a bit while he waited.

Testing. That's always what it was about, when he let her go first like that. Once sparring had begun, she reminded herself, remembering the sucker punch earlier. And just light sparring it would be, so with a small nod she simply stuck to the basics, with an uncomplicated elbow/forearm strike combination to start things off.

Haroun blocked her strike with a sharply-delivered inward block, then snapped the arm out into a backfist aimed at her head.

Leaning backwards was the best way to deal with that sort of hit and Alison did so, instinct kicking into high gear for an entirely unthought move. That it put her slightly off balance was disconcerting and unusual and she tried to compensate, the high of having started to spar spoiled by the slip.

Haroun recoiled the backfist and simply shoved at Alison. She was off-balance, which was highly unusual for her, and the opportunity was just too good to not take. "Come on, stay balanced." he said.

The sudden abrupt motion, accompanied by the hard push, the hand planting firmly in the hollow of her shoulder to further unbalance her was suddenly, harshly familiar. And between one moment and the next, old ragged stone walls surrounded her, the smell of damp and rotting wood accompanied by a sneering voice - and even as she hit the mat, the fall softened somewhat by it as opposed to painful, Alison snapped back to reality.

Haroun blinked hard, but it wasn't enough to save his eyeballs. Falling backwards and twisting away from the bright light, however, was. He landed roughly, with none of his usual grace. Haroun didn't say anything at first, but he also didn't get up either.

"Haroun?" He was sprawled on the floor in front of her as well, unmoving. "Haroun?!" Blinking, pushing herself to all fours to scramble over to him, Alison reached out, about to check vitals when a slight motion at least assured her he was still aware. "What… are you okay?" Voice cracking, Alison kneeled closely next to him, biting her lip.

Haroun didn't roll over. After a long moment, he finally spoke. "Alison, I can't see. I think you blinded me. I knocked you over, and you strobed. Caught me right in the face."

"I…" Guilt hit, hard and overwhelming and Alison reached out, framing his face lightly. "I'm sorry." He hadn't yelled, hadn't made a sound at all that she'd been able to hear and maybe not being aware of her surroundings for that moment explained it, but she refused to believe it was permanent. Feeling a touch of panic at that thought, she fought back the tears and tried to assess the damage. "I'm sorry. You were right. I'm not ready."  Getting him to the medlab was all that mattered now, really.

"I pushed it. My fault. Yeah, Medical. Good idea. Stand back, please." he said, and then jerkily stood up, letting his legs auto-right themselves. He looked tanned, like he'd been flash-exposed to a heat source for a second or two. "You'll have to walk me to Medical." he said, groping a hand out towards where he thought she was.

He wasn't even close.

"Okay." She moved into the path of his hand quickly, catching it with her own. The sparring equipment was removed quickly, his as well as her own, thrown to the side carelessly to be picked up later. Something she would do, once Haroun was taken care of. Moving in to stand besides him, then, she started to lead him out, devastated by the realization of what she'd done. "It's not your fault," she added, lowly.

"Yes it is. You weren't cleared for this. I let you do it anyway." he said dully. "Hopefully we won't have to replace them." he said in a low voice. "I don't think I caught enough of it to be that bad."

The word 'replace' nearly caused Alison to trip again and she stared up at him in horror. This time, there was no stopping the tears at all and the rather terrified sob that escaped her at the mere notion of having done that to him was accompanied by a firm tug towards the medlab, which thankfully was not far away from the gym. It wasn't his fault at all and she knew it.

"We'll know soon enough." he said, his footfalls sure and even despite his infirmity. "I don't think I honestly caught that much of it. I think my face is burned. Feels hot." he said, touching his cheeks before forcing himself to lower his hand. "Guess I'm going down as an object lesson on What Happens When You Don't Listen To Medical." he grumped. "I'm never going to hear the end of it."

The vague urge to elbow him solidly in the gut right then and there came and went and Alison half sobbed, half laughed at him. "Only if Jean hears about it," she said, realizing that this would be interesting to explain in general, the pitched refusal to let others know what had happened stopped only by the fact that she'd hurt Haroun. Simple powers accident, she reminded herself, suspecting (accurately) that this would be what Haroun would say - the simple truth, really, on the surface. Sighing a bit she looked down as they crossed the threshold of the gym, not inclined to speak further.

Haroun let the time spent getting to Medical pass in silence, concentrating on the senses he had left to him - smell and hearing. His sense of touch didn't extend much below his navel anyway, and he refused to go about licking everything. So he concentrated on what he could hear and what he could smell. "Come on, let's go get me checked out." he said as they approached the entrance to Medical.




~*~
OOC Note: Haroun's vision will be fine the next day.