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xp_logsRahne brings Marius lunch on Monday. Backdated to... well, lunchtime.
Rahne made her way from kitchen to medlab with a very slight prickle of nerves. Marius hadn't been back long, and she hadn't seen him since he'd regained consciousness. Still and all, she was established as a successful marrow donor with a reasonably manageable power, and she knew more of what had happened than... most people who could afford to spend a few days voluntarily weakened without it becoming potentially deadly if something came up.
She was also bearing two large sandwiches and two similarly large tumblers of orange juice. Marius probably needed to eat something (she'd asked whether it needed to be soup, but apparently not) containing standard nourishment, too. And she wanted lunch, herself.
She balanced the tray in one hand and knocked. "Marius? 'Tis Rahne. Lunchtime."
Marius jerked a little from his doze, then forced himself to relax. He'd been sunk in just the sound of the respirator for so long that the knock was startling. The fact that he'd spent all night sitting up with Amelia through half a dozen pulmonary seizures, waiting for his lungs to fully revert to their normal state, was also taking its toll. His head throbbed, his chest ached, and he was utterly exhausted. Slowly, Marius uncurled from his side and pushed himself into a sitting position, pushing a clump of dreadlocks out of his face.
"I'm up," he croaked.
"All right. I'm coming in." She did, shifting a little and looking him over. Sweatpants, smaller respirator -- Forge must have been busy again; she thought she caught his scent. He looked -- and smelled -- wilted. She set the tray down and let the enhanced senses and light coat of fuzz fade. "I'm first on the new schedule."
Marius blinked up at her from the bed before comprehension penetrated the headache. Right. Rahne wasn't just here offering sandwiches.
"I'm all right yet," was the first thing out of Marius' mouth, though it was a blatant lie. Wednesday had been the last time he'd fed. On a normal schedule he shouldn't have needed anything yet, but he'd used a lot of power. The major physiological shift of releasing Penny's mutation, too, had cost him. It was stupid to protest, and even as he said it he wondered why he had. He knew he needed the marrow. Right now, though, the concept just made him feel sick.
Rahne didn't believe that even without the marrow issue, and her eyes narrowed a little, but she opted for tact. Mostly. "You'll need some soon, though, and this is a good time for me. I think we'd all rather keep ye in your right mind than wait for an emergency."
"Right. Of course. Right." He didn't even try to protest her logic, because he couldn't. Marius looked at the bare hands set palms-down on his knees and added in a mutter, "Wouldn't want to see me do anythin' foolish."
"Wouldna want to see you hunger-crazed," Rahne amended. She covered the back of his hand with one of hers and perched beside him.
"Indeed. A bad scene for all." The physical contact brought a slight flinch as the muscles in his palm began to twitch from the proximity, but Marius made no move to pull away. He didn't even have the energy to stop the spasms. He just sat there, feeling the tiny mouth begin to knead against his thigh, the cloth slowly gumming with analgesic secretions.
"You were there," he said abruptly. "In Monaco. Right?"
"Aye." She lowered her eyes, feeling a hint of... ripple in the hand under hers, even through the back of it. "Ms. Munroe asked me to come." As medtech, tracker, and potential snack.
"Thought it was you." He flicked his amber eyes up to hers through the curtain of dreadlocks that hung limply around his face. "You see Jen an' Manny?"
"I was beside Manuel when you got there. You didna see me."
"Saw you," he said. "Saw everyone. Ms. D'Ancato was closest, is all."
"Oh." Well, she would have thought it was rather obvious that she'd seen Manuel, in that case, but the whole situation had been very... distracting.
"Yeah." Marius hesitated only a moment before continuing. "So, you see them? Jen an' Manny. Heard it was . . ." He swallowed, his fingers flexing under her touch. "Prof said it wasn't so good."
"Jennie's... about and getting better. Manuel's still in the hospital we took them to." She remembered finally getting to wash her hands and the irrational feeling that she'd be letting go of him entirely, writing him off, when his blood ran down the drain.
He didn't know what he'd been hoping when he asked her. It wasn't as if he believed the professor had lied to him. He remembered seeing them both, motionless in the street. But something about hearing it said by someone who he'd known to be there, who had been crouched over Manuel when he arrived on the scene, made it seem . . . real. Marius seemed to fold in on himself, a slow collapse, spine bowing.
"I really fucked up," he said, his voice almost inaudible, "didn't I?"
A long sigh from Rahne. "I wish ye had never left us," she said softly.
"For as good as I turned out to be gettin' on by myself, you're not the only one." He looked at her then, and when he spoke there was no trace of the cocky lilt that had been so characteristic even in the initial days of his deterioration. Marius' tone was flat, and empty. Just empty as his amber eyes.
"Now what do I do?"
Good question. "Keep going," Rahne said quietly after a moment. "With us, this time. I ken ye were not in your right mind through most of that, and I've not had all the story, but I doubt that makes ye feel much better. But...." She looked down at their hands, then straight in his eyes. "I believe there are things that canna be made up for. But they can still be forgiven."
Marius met her gaze and thought of the disgust in Ororo's eyes in the club, and the quiet disappointment in Charles'. He thought of the blank, staring blue emptiness of the red girl's from her wheelchair; the look that could have been compassion, or condemnation, or anything in between. Thought of them, and wondered if any of them believed the same as Rahne. Or if he did.
Marius broke the stare.
"Right. Well. Suppose ensuring I will not be warranting the fashionable restraints again would be a good start, eh?"
"I'd say so, aye."
"Right." The younger boy pried his hand away from his sweats and the dark, sticky smear the analgesic had left on the cotton, and turned it palm-up. For a moment his eyes came to rest on the ring of teeth there, churning gently as the mouth towards the mutant presence it sensed in Rahne, and Marius told himself the slight tremor that ran through his arm was fatigue. Just fatigue.
"Okay," he said.
Rahne offered her arm, and as the hand (and mouth) clamped on it, she glanced over at the tray and added, "Do ye mind if I go ahead and eat my sandwich during? I've got a lesson later this afternoon."
"No worries. Must keep up your strength an' that." Already Marius felt a noticeable change as the familiar marrow flooded his system, energizing, revitalizing. What he needed, whether he wanted to or not.
"Guess we all should."
Rahne made her way from kitchen to medlab with a very slight prickle of nerves. Marius hadn't been back long, and she hadn't seen him since he'd regained consciousness. Still and all, she was established as a successful marrow donor with a reasonably manageable power, and she knew more of what had happened than... most people who could afford to spend a few days voluntarily weakened without it becoming potentially deadly if something came up.
She was also bearing two large sandwiches and two similarly large tumblers of orange juice. Marius probably needed to eat something (she'd asked whether it needed to be soup, but apparently not) containing standard nourishment, too. And she wanted lunch, herself.
She balanced the tray in one hand and knocked. "Marius? 'Tis Rahne. Lunchtime."
Marius jerked a little from his doze, then forced himself to relax. He'd been sunk in just the sound of the respirator for so long that the knock was startling. The fact that he'd spent all night sitting up with Amelia through half a dozen pulmonary seizures, waiting for his lungs to fully revert to their normal state, was also taking its toll. His head throbbed, his chest ached, and he was utterly exhausted. Slowly, Marius uncurled from his side and pushed himself into a sitting position, pushing a clump of dreadlocks out of his face.
"I'm up," he croaked.
"All right. I'm coming in." She did, shifting a little and looking him over. Sweatpants, smaller respirator -- Forge must have been busy again; she thought she caught his scent. He looked -- and smelled -- wilted. She set the tray down and let the enhanced senses and light coat of fuzz fade. "I'm first on the new schedule."
Marius blinked up at her from the bed before comprehension penetrated the headache. Right. Rahne wasn't just here offering sandwiches.
"I'm all right yet," was the first thing out of Marius' mouth, though it was a blatant lie. Wednesday had been the last time he'd fed. On a normal schedule he shouldn't have needed anything yet, but he'd used a lot of power. The major physiological shift of releasing Penny's mutation, too, had cost him. It was stupid to protest, and even as he said it he wondered why he had. He knew he needed the marrow. Right now, though, the concept just made him feel sick.
Rahne didn't believe that even without the marrow issue, and her eyes narrowed a little, but she opted for tact. Mostly. "You'll need some soon, though, and this is a good time for me. I think we'd all rather keep ye in your right mind than wait for an emergency."
"Right. Of course. Right." He didn't even try to protest her logic, because he couldn't. Marius looked at the bare hands set palms-down on his knees and added in a mutter, "Wouldn't want to see me do anythin' foolish."
"Wouldna want to see you hunger-crazed," Rahne amended. She covered the back of his hand with one of hers and perched beside him.
"Indeed. A bad scene for all." The physical contact brought a slight flinch as the muscles in his palm began to twitch from the proximity, but Marius made no move to pull away. He didn't even have the energy to stop the spasms. He just sat there, feeling the tiny mouth begin to knead against his thigh, the cloth slowly gumming with analgesic secretions.
"You were there," he said abruptly. "In Monaco. Right?"
"Aye." She lowered her eyes, feeling a hint of... ripple in the hand under hers, even through the back of it. "Ms. Munroe asked me to come." As medtech, tracker, and potential snack.
"Thought it was you." He flicked his amber eyes up to hers through the curtain of dreadlocks that hung limply around his face. "You see Jen an' Manny?"
"I was beside Manuel when you got there. You didna see me."
"Saw you," he said. "Saw everyone. Ms. D'Ancato was closest, is all."
"Oh." Well, she would have thought it was rather obvious that she'd seen Manuel, in that case, but the whole situation had been very... distracting.
"Yeah." Marius hesitated only a moment before continuing. "So, you see them? Jen an' Manny. Heard it was . . ." He swallowed, his fingers flexing under her touch. "Prof said it wasn't so good."
"Jennie's... about and getting better. Manuel's still in the hospital we took them to." She remembered finally getting to wash her hands and the irrational feeling that she'd be letting go of him entirely, writing him off, when his blood ran down the drain.
He didn't know what he'd been hoping when he asked her. It wasn't as if he believed the professor had lied to him. He remembered seeing them both, motionless in the street. But something about hearing it said by someone who he'd known to be there, who had been crouched over Manuel when he arrived on the scene, made it seem . . . real. Marius seemed to fold in on himself, a slow collapse, spine bowing.
"I really fucked up," he said, his voice almost inaudible, "didn't I?"
A long sigh from Rahne. "I wish ye had never left us," she said softly.
"For as good as I turned out to be gettin' on by myself, you're not the only one." He looked at her then, and when he spoke there was no trace of the cocky lilt that had been so characteristic even in the initial days of his deterioration. Marius' tone was flat, and empty. Just empty as his amber eyes.
"Now what do I do?"
Good question. "Keep going," Rahne said quietly after a moment. "With us, this time. I ken ye were not in your right mind through most of that, and I've not had all the story, but I doubt that makes ye feel much better. But...." She looked down at their hands, then straight in his eyes. "I believe there are things that canna be made up for. But they can still be forgiven."
Marius met her gaze and thought of the disgust in Ororo's eyes in the club, and the quiet disappointment in Charles'. He thought of the blank, staring blue emptiness of the red girl's from her wheelchair; the look that could have been compassion, or condemnation, or anything in between. Thought of them, and wondered if any of them believed the same as Rahne. Or if he did.
Marius broke the stare.
"Right. Well. Suppose ensuring I will not be warranting the fashionable restraints again would be a good start, eh?"
"I'd say so, aye."
"Right." The younger boy pried his hand away from his sweats and the dark, sticky smear the analgesic had left on the cotton, and turned it palm-up. For a moment his eyes came to rest on the ring of teeth there, churning gently as the mouth towards the mutant presence it sensed in Rahne, and Marius told himself the slight tremor that ran through his arm was fatigue. Just fatigue.
"Okay," he said.
Rahne offered her arm, and as the hand (and mouth) clamped on it, she glanced over at the tray and added, "Do ye mind if I go ahead and eat my sandwich during? I've got a lesson later this afternoon."
"No worries. Must keep up your strength an' that." Already Marius felt a noticeable change as the familiar marrow flooded his system, energizing, revitalizing. What he needed, whether he wanted to or not.
"Guess we all should."
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