xp_logs | Log: [Julio and Marie]

Marie finally braves the infirmary to see Julio, and Julio discovers something else about his power.

Marie cautiously entered the medlab. She had been torn since returning to the mansion - she wanted to check on Julio but was worried about running into Haller. After the past few days' events she finally felt up to risking it, but was still a little on edge. Peering around a corner, she rolled her eyes at how ridiculous she must look sneaking around. Finding the door she wanted, Marie knocked gently - loud enough for someone to hear, but not loud enough to wake someone if they were sleeping.

Julio hadn't been sleeping, not really anway. Just sort of in a doze with his arm over his eyes. The lethargy had set in, and the more he slept the more tired he was. He had been trying to stay awake, but it seemed he was failing at that too. He jumped and snorted slightly when he heard the knock, and rubbed his face. "Yes?" he called hoarsely.

Opening the door, Marie walked into the room by remained close to the entrance (or exit). Facing the boy lying in the bed, she wondered what she should say. 'Hi, Ah was also kidnapped by Magneto' and 'Well, you look better then the last time Ah saw you passed out on the beach' just didn't seem appropriate. Racking her brain, she suddenly realized that she had been standing silent for far too long. "Hi Julio, Ah'm Marie," she said, adjusting her gloves nervously.

Julio squinted. A new person, one that wasn't redheaded even. Or was she? Her face was very familiar. Then he realized who the she was, the girl with the stripe in her hair. He blushed slightly and sat up, wishing he was anywhere but in a hospital bed in sweats. At least he'd bothered to shower that morning. "Hello?" He said cautiously.

She smiled at him and took another step into the room. "Ah just wanted to check on ya, see how you're doin'." She gestured around the room. "You been outta the medlab yet?" she asked, unsure of the extent of his injuries. He didn't look too bad, but she knew that appearances were often misleading at Xavier's.

Julio shook his head. He hoped she hadn't come in there to pat him on the head and tell him it wasn't his fault, he'd had enough of that. "I am doing all right," he said after a moment. "I have not really been able to leave the...medlab yet."

Well, he wasn't exactly waving a welcome banner, but he also wasn't yelling at her and telling her to get out. She settled into a chair and opened her mouth, ready to offer him the normal after tragedy platitudes, but something in his eyes stopped her. Instead, she found herself telling him about the mansion. "Ah'm sure you'll like it much better here once you can get out and about. The grounds are really beautiful. Are you gonna be staying for school in the fall?"

"Yes." Julio answered quietly. "I am staying, I cannot go home right now." He had no real desire to, anyway. That life seemed washed-out and indistinct now.

Marie turned her head and, not for the first time, missed having her hair to hide her face in. It was her fault Julio was here…her fault Erik had taken another child's innocence. "It will get better," she said, though she didn't know if she was trying to comfort the boy or herself.

Julio didn't say anything, just shrugged his shoulders. He was feeling very uncomfortable at the moment. This girl had been there, seen what happened to him, and he couldn't help but feel embarassed about it.

Ok, so Ah definitely said the wrong thing. Sighing, she rested her head on her hands as she debated whether or not to comfort him by divulging her own past. "Look Julio, Ah can't say Ah know what you're feeling, but Ah can tell you Ah went through something similar." Minus the destroying a city bit.

Julio looked up, startled. Another one?. "You too? A boy I met the other day, he said he spent three weeks with that..." he would not swear in front of a girl, "man."

"Yes, Erik seems to have only one motif with the variation being who and where," she said bitterly. Holding up her gloved hands, she continued. "Ah absorb people's powers. He had a machine that needed his powers to work, but woulda killed him. So he found me." And Ah know he was convinced it was the right thing to do…and that makes it worse.

Julio's voice darkened. "He seems to like using others to do his work for him." He was suddenly very angry, so he slid off the edge of the bed and began to pace. "Coward," he spat.

Marie watched him sadly. "He is a coward yes, and one that sees himself as the champion of mutant rights. Seems odd that he is the one Ah always seeing hurting mutants. Again, Marie found herself feeling strangely protective of the younger boy. Ah will not let more harm come to him. "We will stop him," she said, clenching her fist.

Julio stopped and ran his hands through his hair. He turned to say something else to Marie, but then he paused, confused. In getting to his feet, he became aware of a presence. It wasn't something that came to him through his normal five senses, but just a knowledge of...something else. Something ancient and slow.

"Julio? Are you alright?" she asked concernedly. He had stopped his fervent pacing and was standing with his mouth slightly open and a glazed expression on his face. Marie was sure that couldn't be a good sign so she quickly rose to her feet. "Do Ah need to call one of the doctors?"

"No...I don't think so." He walked back over to his bed and leaned against it. It wasn't a bad feeling, just, different. "It happened when I stood up. On the-" The ground. It's the ground. "Woah."

Marie crossed the distance between them and placed a hand on his back, not quite convinced that she shouldn't be calling Dr. Vought. "Maybe you should sit back down." She noted that Julio looked more surprised than troubled, but she couldn't help feeling a bit apprehensive.

Julio nodded. "Perhaps... you should..... Moira?" Man, this was weird. The hair on the back of his neck was standing up.

Firmly escorting Julio back to his bed, Marie pushed the call button. "Is there anythin' Ah can do?" she queried, hovering near his bed. She hated feeling useless and once again found herself feeling helpless. Stop over-reacting, he's fine.

"No. I am fine." The newfound awareness, while at first alarming, was also strangely calming. "I think I should talk to the doctors, though. This is.... very new to me." The sense of presence was fading, anyway.

"Ah'll leave you to rest then. One of the doctor's should be here in just a sec." She could hear footsteps growing nearer in the hallway. Pausing by the door, she turned to look at Julio. He looked so small and fragile and she wondered if that was what people had thought about her when she first came to the mansion. "Ah'm kinda the R.A. for the students…you need anything, you just let me know."

Julio had no idea what an "R.A." was, so he just nodded. "Gracias- thank you," he said. He looked up as familar redhead brushed past Marie and into his room. He gave the girl a small smile before turning to the doctor.