Shiro and Ororo | Thursday night
Jan. 24th, 2008 03:36 pm![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
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xp_logsAfter setting up camp for the night, Ororo finds Shiro meditating on what happened and tries to offer a bit of hope.
The hillside they'd decided to set up camp at was utterly unremarkable. Which was of course the point, and it provided suitable cover for them to rest for a few hours before continuing onwards. Shiro found it hard to rest, though, so he'd wandered from the team and sat down alone to meditate. He'd employed the practice for years to attain some semblance of self-control, and turned it into a weekly ritual since first coming off Kick. He'd inferred from Xavier that it was one of the few things he'd done right.
Ororo had been trying to keep an eye on everyone since they had stopped to camp, not wanting to assume for a moment that they were safe or out of harm's way quite yet. She was most concerned about Clarice, of course, but when she turned around and noticed Shiro wasn't within immediate eyesight she nearly had a panic attack. It was assuaged when she finally spotted him some ways from the camp, sitting on the ground cross-legged and still. After checking Clarice one last time - she was resting, if not entirely comfortably - the silver-haired woman headed towards Shiro.
He'd removed the photovoltaic array panels from his uniform in an effort to lower the amount of energy he was taking in. The day's rush had calmed but left him in a slightly panicked exhaustion. Though he'd slowed his breathing, his heart still pounded. He sighed and opened his eyes to see the fifth ray on his power indicator glove was half-illuminated. It was some relief that it at least it still wasn't on the seventh ray anymore, but at baseline it should have only been on the first or second. He swore half-heartedly.
"Shiro," she said, navigating around a large, craggy rock and then past a scrubby bush clinging tenaciously to the hillside. "Is something the matter?" Besides, of course, the fact that they were currently stuck in the middle of nowhere with an ailing teammate and no idea how to get back to friendly civilization. She expected he would know what she meant.
He just held up his gloved hand, as if that were explanation enough. He'd silenced his own doubts about being appropriate for this mission given the importance of his presence, but he was starting to wonder if maybe he ought to have just stayed home. "How is Clarice?" he asked, looking off into the distance.
"She is stable. Garrison and Cain are watching over her." And if she wasn't safe with those precautions, well, then nobody was. "As soon as we have all rested a bit more we will try to locate a safe place to bring her." Ororo paused, then settled down on the ground, assuming a cross-legged position much as Shiro had. "You have done very well today," she said carefully. "And continue to do so. This has not gone the way any of us could have predicted."
"And yet ironically, we should have predicted this," Shiro snorted. "Something is always inevitably fucked up beyond all recognition. It figures that we would be abandoned and stranded in hostile territory some day." His stomach rumbled, and if it hadn't been so dark out then he would have looked green.
"As much as we try to plan for the worst case scenario, sometimes reality exceeds even our lofty expectations," Ororo murmured. "But we do what we can. It is no use dwelling on our regrets right now, Shiro. Looking ahead is far more necessary and useful at this point."
"Or we could stop helping other countries. It never ends well." He rubbed his stomach to quiet it down. "I am sorry that I could not be more useful. If I could concentrate better and had more power, then maybe I could . . ." Shiro sighed, unsure of what exactly he could have done, and knowing full well that a desire for more power had dragged him to where he was.
"You did everything I asked of you. I understand the desire to do more, especially if it would have kept us from this situation, but..." Ororo gave an elegant shrug, turning her hands up as if to say 'what can you do?' "Do not berate yourself for this. It would be a shame to have done such a good job and then forget it in favor of regrets."
"At least the kid is safe?" For all they knew, assuming that the other helicopter had made it to safety and had not been sabotaged like theirs. Some small comfort there.
"That is a bit more optimistic, yes. We accomplished that much of our mission, and the data are still in our possession. I think we are still on track." Strangely, being stuck in the middle of nowhere wasn't worrying Ororo very much, though Clarice's condition of course was troubling.
Shiro tried to offer Ororo a small smile. "Then it was worth it." If the kid had really been taken to safety, then he was sure of that. That small comfort did help ease his stomach.
She was gratified to see the smile, and nodded encouragingly. "Getting back home will be worth it, but I have every conviction that we will do that as well."
The hillside they'd decided to set up camp at was utterly unremarkable. Which was of course the point, and it provided suitable cover for them to rest for a few hours before continuing onwards. Shiro found it hard to rest, though, so he'd wandered from the team and sat down alone to meditate. He'd employed the practice for years to attain some semblance of self-control, and turned it into a weekly ritual since first coming off Kick. He'd inferred from Xavier that it was one of the few things he'd done right.
Ororo had been trying to keep an eye on everyone since they had stopped to camp, not wanting to assume for a moment that they were safe or out of harm's way quite yet. She was most concerned about Clarice, of course, but when she turned around and noticed Shiro wasn't within immediate eyesight she nearly had a panic attack. It was assuaged when she finally spotted him some ways from the camp, sitting on the ground cross-legged and still. After checking Clarice one last time - she was resting, if not entirely comfortably - the silver-haired woman headed towards Shiro.
He'd removed the photovoltaic array panels from his uniform in an effort to lower the amount of energy he was taking in. The day's rush had calmed but left him in a slightly panicked exhaustion. Though he'd slowed his breathing, his heart still pounded. He sighed and opened his eyes to see the fifth ray on his power indicator glove was half-illuminated. It was some relief that it at least it still wasn't on the seventh ray anymore, but at baseline it should have only been on the first or second. He swore half-heartedly.
"Shiro," she said, navigating around a large, craggy rock and then past a scrubby bush clinging tenaciously to the hillside. "Is something the matter?" Besides, of course, the fact that they were currently stuck in the middle of nowhere with an ailing teammate and no idea how to get back to friendly civilization. She expected he would know what she meant.
He just held up his gloved hand, as if that were explanation enough. He'd silenced his own doubts about being appropriate for this mission given the importance of his presence, but he was starting to wonder if maybe he ought to have just stayed home. "How is Clarice?" he asked, looking off into the distance.
"She is stable. Garrison and Cain are watching over her." And if she wasn't safe with those precautions, well, then nobody was. "As soon as we have all rested a bit more we will try to locate a safe place to bring her." Ororo paused, then settled down on the ground, assuming a cross-legged position much as Shiro had. "You have done very well today," she said carefully. "And continue to do so. This has not gone the way any of us could have predicted."
"And yet ironically, we should have predicted this," Shiro snorted. "Something is always inevitably fucked up beyond all recognition. It figures that we would be abandoned and stranded in hostile territory some day." His stomach rumbled, and if it hadn't been so dark out then he would have looked green.
"As much as we try to plan for the worst case scenario, sometimes reality exceeds even our lofty expectations," Ororo murmured. "But we do what we can. It is no use dwelling on our regrets right now, Shiro. Looking ahead is far more necessary and useful at this point."
"Or we could stop helping other countries. It never ends well." He rubbed his stomach to quiet it down. "I am sorry that I could not be more useful. If I could concentrate better and had more power, then maybe I could . . ." Shiro sighed, unsure of what exactly he could have done, and knowing full well that a desire for more power had dragged him to where he was.
"You did everything I asked of you. I understand the desire to do more, especially if it would have kept us from this situation, but..." Ororo gave an elegant shrug, turning her hands up as if to say 'what can you do?' "Do not berate yourself for this. It would be a shame to have done such a good job and then forget it in favor of regrets."
"At least the kid is safe?" For all they knew, assuming that the other helicopter had made it to safety and had not been sabotaged like theirs. Some small comfort there.
"That is a bit more optimistic, yes. We accomplished that much of our mission, and the data are still in our possession. I think we are still on track." Strangely, being stuck in the middle of nowhere wasn't worrying Ororo very much, though Clarice's condition of course was troubling.
Shiro tried to offer Ororo a small smile. "Then it was worth it." If the kid had really been taken to safety, then he was sure of that. That small comfort did help ease his stomach.
She was gratified to see the smile, and nodded encouragingly. "Getting back home will be worth it, but I have every conviction that we will do that as well."
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