xp_logs | LOG: Forge and Marius, working on giving Moira that stroke

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Some people should not be allowed to have too much time on their hands. Especially when the subject of mutant powers comes up.

Forge wandered out of the small dispensary, tossing the pill bottle from hand to hand. He found it slightly amusing, that in times of stress most of his peers were looking for something to help them sleep. Here he was, trying to get used to sleeping an almost-incomprehensible eight hours a night, and getting prescribed stimulants to keep alert for his morning classes.

"It's nae more than a cup o' coffee," Moira had told him, "Tho' nae my coffee. Wouldnae want tae tax ye too much."

On his way out, Forge looked at the recovery room doors. Folks were probably feeling a little bummed, being stuck in the windowless rooms while he was out walking around. Tommy was likely to not really be up for a visitor - not to mention Forge still wasn't sure WHAT he thought about the former Friend of Humanity. Remy... he wasn't really interested in Remy's well being, he had to admit bitterly. That left the third occupant.

Knocking on the door to Marius's small room, Forge poked his head in. "You conscious?" he asked.

Marius looked up from the middle of his set of crunches, surprised. Visitors had not been particularly forthcoming since his last "incident." He straightened out and picked himself off the floor.

"Yes, sad to say," Marius grinned. "Gotta admit, I'm starting to miss the coma. I wasn't doin' anything then, either, but at least I wasn't awake for it." He looked Forge up and down, noting the boy appeared to be doing better since their last encounter. "You look good, mate. Better'n you did after blowin' yourself up and that, anyway. What brings you to the Domain of the Redheads?"

Forge held up the small pill. "Caffeine. I'm not used to sleeping this much, and finding it really hard to stay alert in Professor Xavier's Civics class. Docs figured this'll be easier on my system than tanking down six cups of coffee in the morning." He pulled over a chair, spinning it around backwards and leaning down to look at Marius's arm. "Wow. Is that normal?"

Marius raised his left arm and made a fist, opening and closing his fingers. It was the only part of him that still displayed the after-effects of Rahne's power. "Settin' aside the fact you're asking the bloke with teeth in his palms? No. Should've seen it a few days ago -- was worse than just hairy knuckles an' black nails. Of all the reasons to be typing one-handed, havin' the bugger go paw on me never even made the list." He shrugged and lowered the hand. "Looks like I keep some of the powers I absorb, at least for a bit. Hard to figure, though . . . first day or so I was gettin' abnormal bodyhair when Moira tried dialing back the thermostat, but I couldn't change back for sod-all. Most of it's been waitin' for it to go down on its own."

Nodding slowly, Forge finally erupted into snickers. "Man, you have GOT to hear the rumors already. You gave Rahne a pretty good, y'know..." he pointed to his neck. "And given that she's the absolutely LAST person anyone would expect that kind of stuff from, you have to admit that's a pretty funny side effect."

Peering down closely at Marius' hand, Forge studied the little mouth amidst the thick grey hair. "So what, you just kind of suck genetic matter through the skin and leech onto people's powers that way? Interesting ability, but kind of a gross application."

Marius rolled his eyes. "No joke. What the sod kind of grab-bag did my genes pull that one out of? 'Right, you fire energy blasts from your eyes, you pick things up with your brain, you're a werewolf, and you in the back, you get to use floss on your palms.'" He wiggled his fingers idly. "It's still a bit dodgy if you ask me, even if it does mean I don't have to worry about droppin' a ball ever again. And that thing they do when I get too close to another mutant bloody itches."

Arching an eyebrow at that, Forge pondered an experiment. Tentatively, he extended his metal arm towards Marius. No visible reaction. Then, slowly, he stuck his right hand forward. "Any difference?"

Marius smiled wryly. "Just a bit." The teeth were bowing outwards, reaching for Forge. The movement was slow, but purposeful -- like the reopening of a venus flytrap.

"The watery muck around the teeth is some sort of analgesic," Marius explained as Forge stared. "Numbs the area, or something. Moira says it's probably some type of adaptation to keep people from tryin' to rip 'em off. All I know is it makes me want to wipe my hands afterwards."

Keeping his arm just out of reach, Forge smiled. "And even though I'm deader than Trotsky, powers-speaking, there's still a reaction? Interesting. What's it feel like? I mean, is it like when you eat regular food, or something else? I'm curious."

"Search me. I've only ever used 'em twice, and at the time . . ." Marius waved his hand. "I was gone. I only know from what I woke up to." He scratched his head. "Second go around was a bit spoiled by the fact I almost had my head kicked off, but the first time? Felt like the first good night's sleep I'd had in months. Didn't feel what I'd call full, but energized. Alert." He snorted. "I could do without the blackouts. Don't mind waking up with a faceful of bruises, but I'd rather do it remembering how they got there. Hope the whole going mad and attacking the first thing that moves bit isn't a prerequisite."

Weighing that thought, Forge pondered for a moment. Mr. Dayspring hadn't seemed any worse for wear, and Rahne had only looked a little tired. The thought was tempting, to just give in to curiosity and... oh, what the hell.

Forge extended his right arm forward, pulling his sleeve back. "See if it does anything? I mean, my power's not doing ME any good, might as well see if it does anything for you."

Marius blinked, momentarily nonplussed. "You sure, mate? Not that I'd say no to finding out, but it feels a bit off to go about it without so much as dinner and a show."

Shrugging, Forge grinned, keeping an eye on the door. "We're in the medlab, what could go wrong? Besides, the more you know about your powers, the more the doctors can help you figure out how to control them." And if I'm going to be good for anything around here, a guinea pig is as noble a pursuit as any, he thought silently.

"Honesty compels me to point out the staff thought the same when I tried that therapy session with Haroun. However," Marius flashed an unrepetant grin, "this is in the name of Science and not attacking people. Risks must be taken."

"Right. Besides, if you go wacko," Forge raised his left arm, wiggling his fingers into a fist. "It's clobberin' time. Or something to that effect. Either way - to science!" he quipped, offering his arm and nodding.

At Forge's nod, Marius flexed the wrist and fingers of his right hand, in part to reassure himself he was in control of it. Determining he was as ready as he would ever be, he reached out to Forge's arm and lay his hand over the other boy's forearm.

The teeth reacted, instantly and instinctively. They closed on the offered flesh, slower than Forge had imagined they would; rather than a quick bite, what he felt was more like a relaxed settling of pinpricks against his skin, and then a brief moment of pain when they pierced the skin. The pain passed quickly as the secreted anaesthetic began to take effect, leaving only the distant feeling of pressure.

Marius, for his part, found his attention fully occupied by the unfamiliar muscle contractions going on in his hand. He knew something was happening, but the inside of the mouth itself didn't feel much sensation. He could feel something passing by the somewhat more sensitive rima oris, but after that -- nothing.

"So," he ventured after a moment of only slightly strained silence, "How're you feeling?"

Blinking, Forge wiggled his fingers. "Kind of like... giving blood for a test. It's a little cold but - okay, THAT feels weird..." he said in a weak voice, feeling the tiny teeth working at his skin. "It's like a weird tingling and... wait, ow. Ow. Ow."

The odd rush seemed to come from the site where Marius' hand was clenched. An odd popping sensation that seemed to jump from his arm, up through his joints and straight into his neck like an electric shock. Like the way the Neutralizer had felt, only... good?

"I'm not... sure what's going on, but..." Forge stuttered, leaning heavily onto the chair. "It's like you hit a nerve or something and..." his eyes fell on the laptop computer on the nightstand.

Connection.

"A current passed through a multiple-frequency resistor retains amperage, unless there's an inconsistent resistance in the connecting relays and holy crap I understand this all again!" Pulling away from Marius with a slight tear of pain, Forge struggled up to his feet. The rush of knowledge into his brain was like a floodgate being opened, making it almost impossible to breathe.

"It makes sense," he gasped, "your power needed an active genetic base to sample, and with the enzymatic responses suppressed in my cells, it must have jumpstarted it and..." He looked over at Marius, blinking. "Is any of this getting through to you?"

Marius opened his mouth for the obvious reply, then suddenly snapped it shut. He sat back heavily, swallowed, and tried again.

"It . . . it is . . ."

He understood. The fact that he'd never had any meaningful grasp of half the vocabulary in Forge's explanation didn't matter. He didn't need any of them to sense, in some kind of primal, gut-solid way, the sense behind Forge's words. He may not have been able to explain what he knew, but his ability to articulate wasn't necessary for understanding.

He looked down at Forge's leg, pointing. "The thing that makes it feel stuff is broken, but if you wired around it with whatever makes your ankle stop bending when you walk and the thing that tells your knee to bend, it should do something, yeah?" Blinking, he looked at his hands, then up at Forge. "Bear with me, mate, I don't quite know all the words, but it makes sense in my head."

Forge nodded quickly, close to laughter. "You're right, that's what it's like. My god. I just... oh my god, I can't believe it. We've got to tell the doctors, I've got to..." He gasped and looked over at Marius. "We've got to get to the machine shop. I'll bet with the two of us working before this wears off? We could totally kick ass."

Marius grinned hugely. "Then the machine shop for certain, because when Moira finds out it's going to be tests and lectures until next Tuesday." He looked around the room, feeling strangely giddy. He'd never been interested in machines -- and really, he still wasn't -- but there was something intoxicating about the way everything suddenly seemed to . . . obvious. The total comprehension, the instant understanding -- he thought of the systems represented by the intercom on the wall and the elegant simplicity presented by the laptop on his desk and felt like he could do anything, and itched to try. There was no way he was going to waste that feeling.

"No idea what I'll do," Marius said, grabbing his gloves off the nightstand, "but I'm sure I'll understand it when you tell me."

"Right," Forge said, standing up and cautiously looking out the door. "Doctor MacTaggart's in her office. Just walk nice and slow and she won't look twice. Pretend everything's normal. Don't panic. She's like a Terminator or something, I think she can smell fear."

As the two boys calmly strolled across the medlab, Forge subtly raised his left hand, twitching his fingers in the almost-forgotten sequence that triggered the "Door Open" RF signal, sliding open the hallway doors that led to the hallway and from there, up to the garage.

Glancing back over his shoulder, he quickly and calmly shoved Marius to the side, out of the view of Moira, who glanced up and gave a small wave. Waving back, Forge spoke out the side of his mouth. "We're clear. End of the hall, stairs up, through the garage and to the left. We are gonna get so busted... but it'll be SO worth it."