LOG: [Crystal, Marius] Crash

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In spite of his remarkable recovery a few weeks ago, it abruptly becomes clear that all is not well with Marius' health. Congratulations, Crystal, you have now had your first official traumatic experience at Xavier's.





Marius frowned as he steadied his breathing, falling back down to a walk. He wondered if he were coming down with something. He'd gotten up to a full jog for a few minutes, then found himself strangely short of breath. That didn't seem right. He knew it wasn't the preliminary stages of hunger; it didn't have that feel, and he'd only fed two days ago. The rash was one thing, but now with this Marius had the sinking feeling he was going to have to speak to Moira or Amelia again. The thought made him cringe. Tomorrow, he told himself as he exited the path. Day after, maybe. Give the body time to sort through it first. See if she'll be right on her own. Probably just a summer cold.

He didn't even notice he wasn't alone by the treeline until he heard the massive snap of dried branches cracking off to his left. That startled him back to his sense. Head jerking towards the sound, Marius perceived a semi-familiar aura standing a few yards off, dirty-blonde hair swirling as the trees around her bowed and swayed.

Ah, the new girl. Jennie's steadily-less-despised roommate. He still hadn't met her properly. That seemed like a welcome enough distraction. Marius flicked his hair out of his eyes and changed direction. "Out for a little practice?" he called

Crystal's head turned to face Marius. "As they say, practice makes perfect," she replied, lowering her hands and ceasing her attack on the dead branches. Her whole body turned towards the boy who had first introduced himself to her as "the boy who eats people." If Marius was out looking for a snack, he'd come to the wrong person.

"It does at that." Marius stopped a respectful distance away, contemplating the scattered debris of her handiwork. There looked to have been some unavoidable shredding of live foliage, but no green branches graced the piles. It seemed this girl was starting out with a bit more control than the average new recruit.

"Crystal, right?" Marius said, glancing back up. "I'm Marius. Shameful that we've never spoken, I know, but I was a bit under the weather when you made the scene. Also not allowed visitors on account of havin' no actual skin at the time an' that. Mutation's a bit on the tetchy side, see."

"Seeing that you are now outside and away from the watchful eyes of medical staff, I assume you are feeling better now. Plus, I see that you have skin. Always a good sign, yes?" Crystal noticed that Marius had not come close to her. Either he was trying to stay out of the way of a possible falling branch or large gust of wind or he wasn't sure that stepping any closer to her wouldn't result in the creation of such a wind gust. She thought about asking him what had caused his lack of skin but remembered being cautioned about pressing into certain matters. But, surely his mutation hadn't done it? In the end, natural curiosity won. "If you don't wish to answer, I understand, but... how did you lose your skin?" If she was going to ask, she may as well come right out and ask the question.

"Teleportation mishap," Marius replied promptly, unscrewing the top from his water bottle. He took a swing a closed it again, raising his arm to hold it against his forehead. It was still relatively cool. Nice work-out uniform, he noted idly. "Well, I say 'mishap,' more like 'sodding catastrophe.' Nearest the docs can tell my power makes use of a handy little pocket-dimension to move me from Point A to Point B. Said pocket dimension just happening to contain an atmosphere of vaporized sulfuric acid." Look, he could say it without even the slightest change of inflection. Forge would have been proud. "Needless to say, this is not a skill I feel compelled to perfect any time soon. Nice one on me I share a flat with two blokes with healin' factors, eh?" He cocked his head at her, dropping his hand to his side. "What about you, then? Some sort of matter manipulation, right?" Jennie had mentioned 'human air-conditioner,' but for Marius it wasn't hard to guess. In some ways her aura actually resembled Ms. Munroe's. Narrower, though, maybe. Specialized.

Sometimes, actions spoke louder than words, and this just cried out for a demonstration. Crystal motioned with her hand and a few small branches rose up and twirled about. She flicked her arm to the side and sent the branches flying, away from where Marius stood. Next, Crystal lifted herself up into the air. She closed her eyes, concentrating, and a dozen or so drops of water fell on Marius's head.

Marius laughed, smearing the drops that spattered his forehead across his skin with one hand. "Ah, right. Cheers, was feelin' a bit flushed there." He coughed a little as the air stirred his hair and clothes, wiping his free hand on the side of his sweatpants. "So -- weather stunts, is it? Brilliant, you should have no trouble gettin' instruction, then. Our headmistress does thunderstorms in her sleep. Not that you don't seem to have a decent grip on things as it is. Nice one with the flyin'. I hear it takes control."

Crystal opened her eyes and gasped. "I am so sorry! I wasn't actually trying to cause you to get wet!" As she was only two inches off the ground, it took only a moment for Crystal to land. "It isn't really weather, per se. My powers relate to the elements in the air. I can't create snow or hit anyone with a bolt of lightning. A large gust of wind or concentrated air, yes, and of course a bit of rain, but nothing else."

"Ah, but who knows what the future will bring? They teach you all sorts of fun tricks here. A triumph of diversity an' that." Marius smiled and shook the hair out of his eyes again. "No worries about the wet. Like I said, all to the good. My fantastic hair has endured much worse than a touch of damp. I use superior product--" Another brief bout of coughing hit him, and he automatically moved to cover his mouth with one hand.

"Excuse me," he gasped, thumping himself on the chest once. "Anyway. How're you gettin' on with Jen? First time sharin' a room? It can be a bit of a trial. Not that I have experience, but you know, I observe. Live in a suite with three other blokes an' you notice these things."

"Yes, and as Kevin so kindly pointed out on my first night here, it is very possible that I possess the capability to choke someone. I've never tried this, of course." She eyed Marius as he continued to cough. He definitely was not in need of being choked and was doing a pretty good job of that on his own. "Jennie and I are getting along fairly well now. The question is, how are you at this moment?"

Marius waved off the concern, straightening up with some effort. He was sweating. "Ah, no worries. Was headin' back for a lay-down anyway. Glad you and she get on, though. She does have her little ways." He thought for a moment, then snapped his fingers as one of Jennie's complaints came to mind. "Incidentally, is it at all possible to request you overlook her more liberal approach to curfew? Not, of course, that I would ask you to do anythin' as disrespectful as lie, but simple omission wouldn't go amiss. I assure you she does not spend those hours in mindless debauchery. Just -- elsewhere. If it needn't be known, no need to mention, right? I think it would go a great deal towards maintaining a healthy and cooperative room-sharing environment."

Crystal stared at Marius. The boy was clearly not ready to be out and about quite yet, but here he was, trying to make sure that Jennie could continue to sneak out at night. "Well," she said slowly. "Maybe if I could go with Jennie one time, to see just what this late night non-involvement with mindless debauchery entails... You don't look like I shouldn't be worried. Maybe you should check in with the medical staff?"

Whatever excuse he could have given for that Marius never found out, because what had until then been a nagging shallowness suddenly became a total inability to draw a breath of any kind. It was as if a giant fist had just punched the wind out of him; he managed to pull one strangled gasp, then no more. Dropping the forgotten waterbottle, Marius fell to his knees and started pounding on his chest, trying to force air into his lungs.

Crystal watched, horrified, as Marius fell to the ground. It looked like her worries had been warranted after all. Crystal hurried to his side. His gloves were on, the mouths were covered, she had no need to worry about herself... Marius was the one in danger. "Marius!" she said, not quite knowing what else to say. "Can you hear me?" Crystal looked around, panic-stricken. No one else was in sight, and it would take too long to find someone who could help.

Marius nodded sharply, eyes squeezed shut as he doubled over his knees. His entire chest was in spasm; he couldn't even get enough air to choke. Still pounding, shuddering in soundless agony, he mouthed the words "call Moira".

Call Moira? Right. By the time Crystal could find Moira
and return with her, Marius would either be unconscious or dead. Crystal knew she had to do something and it had better be fast. Crystal had hoped that the cough was due to something simple and would have stopped by now, but from the look of things, Marius was in serious trouble. For some reason, it looked like he was having trouble getting air to go in. Air?

Oh, no no no... Winds and air blasts and even the possibility of drawing air away from a person were things Crystal could handle, but actually putting air into a person? That was risky, dangerous, and could end in...

"Marius, I'm going to try something, just relax. " Taking a deep breath and attempting to remain calm, Crystal held one hand over Marius's mouth and nose. The action was instinctive and probably not necessary, but it helped Crystal with her concentration, and concentration was what she needed to make sure that she did not force too much oxygen-rich air into Marius's trachea.

Marius tried to gag at the sudden introduction of fresh, clean air into his lungs, but his diaphragm couldn't seem to move. The sideways thrash was automatic, but Crystal's hand remained firmly clasped over his nose and mouth, keeping the flow of air slow but steady. He forced himself down onto his back, hands clenched around the wildly-spasming mouths, trying to will himself motionless as he felt his lungs fill. It'll pass, he thought desperately, eyes clenched shut, it'll pass, it'll pass, it'll pass--

And, finally, something gave.

Marius wrenched away from her, hacking violently as his paralyzed lungs jerked back to life. Coughing, retching, fighting to expel the extra air Crystal had just forced into him -- but breathing. He drew his body in instinctively, chest heaving, eyes tearing painfully from the effort. He was barely aware of the girl next to him; as he curled up in the grass all Marius could hear was the hammering of his own heart in his ears.

From the crouching position she had been in, Crystal fell back as Marius jerked away. Her hands hit the ground and she pushed herself up. He was better, if you could call being in pain and curled up in a fetal position better, but he was not in good shape. Hesitantly, Crystal reached out to put a hand on his shoulder. "You're going to be fine," she told him, trying to convince herself of this fact. Marius needed to get to a doctor, but it was obvious that the boy was not in any condition to go on his own. Attempting to transport him herself was out of the question and Crystal wasn't about to leave him there alone.

Crystal let out a mental shout: "WE NEED HELP! NOW!"