Log: Haller and Laurie

[x-wallflower-.livejournal.com]

Backdated to Saturday 9th February 2008 around lunchtime

Laurie is determined to get Haller to eat - and she won't accept no for an answer.



Laurie pushed open the door to Haller's room and entered quietly with a tray of various easily digestible foods and a determined expression on her face. She'd seen the rather drawn and tired look on 'Jack's' face and wasn't about to let him waste away to nothing just because he'd decided to do the whole 'macho idiot' thing.

"Dinner time." she stated simply, finding a clean space on a nearby tabletop and placing her tray on top. "Now, what would you like first? I brought a couple of things in case you didn't like anything."

The alter opened his eyes slowly from the bed he'd shoved against the far wall. He wasn't comfortable with the vulnerability of lying down, and the walls were solid against his back and side. Sleep was getting harder. A feeling of security would do. Jack let his eyes drift close again.

"In the future," he said, unmoving, "it's considered polite to knock."

"Would you have let me in if I had?" Laurie asked, picking up the bowl of vegetable soup and slowly pulling a little side desk closer to Jack and the bed. If he wasn't going to get up, then she'd simply come to him. "Here, it's vegetable soup. It's good for you."

"Not hungry." The words were carved of emotion, even sarcasm -- just flat and tired. Jack's grey eyes slid open again to fix on Laurie's face. "David spent half his life in rooms like this and treated by people who assumed answers rather than asking questions. Believe that the option matters."

"Only when the answer doesn't put you in danger of starving. I can help if you want to eat, or I can make you want to eat, it's your choice. I won't let you starve Mr Haller just because you've decided to be stubborn." she answered simply, placing the bowl down and standing beside the bed.

"Laurie. Stop for a minute." Jack just looked at her, his expression tired. "You and I, we've never met, but I know you. Would you talk to me? Not like I'm a child pitching a fit, or whatever thing you expect to hear. To me." His grey eyes fixed on her face. "Seeing as you're about to use your power without giving me the option, I think I'm owed that courtesy."

Laurie hesitated for a moment, her body stiff as she eyed him with suspicion. Intellectually she knew Jack and Mr Haller were one in the same but emotionally? He just seemed like the guy who was making Mr Haller sick, not eating, not sleeping as far as she could tell, or at least not sleeping well. She'd finally gotten fed up with watching it and had come down here to do something about it. But...he didn't sound like a person deliberately starving.

"It's just...you're hurting." she said, voice soft as she let go of the efficient and capable facade she'd been holding to since she entered the room. "I don't want you to hurt, not if I can help."

Jack snorted softly. "It's not my favorite way to pass the time. And surprising as it may be, I appreciate the urge to help." The man exhaled deeply and pushed himself forward on the bed, bringing his elbows to rest on his knees. "Doctors talk before they treat. You want to be in medicine, I suggest not assuming both situation and solution." He looked at her and gave her a listless shrug. "May not stand for much, but I've been talked over and about all my life. Can't say I've ever been inclined towards the forthcoming, but figure I'm just exhausted enough that I might as well voice the opinion."

Laurie looked around for a moment for somewhere to sit, but didn't see anything really forthcoming save the bed and she didn't want to get any closer to Jack without an invitation. She'd learnt well by now that telepaths didn't really welcome contact and while Jack was not Mr Haller, she thought they probably shared enough of the same physical reactions as to be no matter.

"I'm sorry about that. Scary things make me get a little forceful, and you...well, it scared me a little seeing you so tired and run down." Laurie admitted, fidgeting slightly with her hands and then clasping them behind her, almost as if she were standing at rest position on a parade ground. "It must have been hard, having doctors not talk to you about what was going on. Must have been pretty scary, I guess."

"For David. Handling it was my job." Jack sighed and looked at her standing there awkwardly, still utilizing far more eye contact than was usual for Jim. At the moment it wasn't challenging, but the directness alone was enough to make some people uneasy. "As to my health, it's nothing on my part. Just can't sleep, and nothing stays down. Getting headaches, that sort of thing."

Laurie nibbled at her lip for a second, looking over at the soup. "We...well, you could try out some of the soup, maybe? See if it stays down. I tried to think of things that wouldn't really upset someone with a delicate stomach. And well, if that doesn't work, we could always do it the other way, if you were okay with that."

Jack gave her a small nod. "That 'you could try'. That's good." Laurie meant well, but Jim had let her walk all over him. Jack didn't believe in "tough love" as a teaching aide. His approach was focused on the fact that when a 17 year old girl started threatening to use her mutant powers on an unwilling victim enough was enough.

The alter turned his attention to the soup Laurie had left on the desk. He wasn't hungry, but he knew it was necessary to try. Still, just knowing wasn't enough. The first spoonful remained in his mouth, unswallowed, for almost a minute. When he finally managed to choke it down it was with obvious difficulty. He coughed.

"Nothing wrong with the soup," he said, setting the spoon back in the bowl. "Just can't make myself want to swallow."

Laurie frowned for a moment, trying to think of what could possibly be causing such a lack of appetite, to the point where you were almost physically unable to swallow. If it was stress...that could do it. "How stressed are you feeling right now?"

Jack considered his inability to switch, Jim's apparent disappearance, and the feeling he'd been brought out to defend David -- if only he knew from what.

"I'd say a fair bit."

"Did anyone ever talk to you about techniques to deal with stress?" Laurie asked, finally deciding that the floor was good enough and taking a seat. She could use her powers to fix the stress but she had an idea Jack might like something that didn't require him to summon her every time he wanted to eat.

"Breath control, meditation. A pleasant hobby. Soothing music." There was a hint of hesitation before the answer. In general he didn't advertise that he paid attention to therapeutic techniques. Jack shrugged. "Doesn't take. Whatever's got me out is still going on."

Laurie nodded, thinking about that for a moment, if the normal things didn't work, she might well have to step in. Unless Jack was willing to take something like Valium, anyhow. "Mr Haller was attacked. Well, all the psis were attacked. I don't really know more then that, but I guess that may have been why you were brought out. Can you feel anything that shouldn't be there?"

"No." Jack leaned back to settle against the wall again, closing his eyes. "Just something that should be there, and isn't."

"I could get you some medication, it should help you sleep and maybe be able to eat." Laurie responded, wondering what it meant, and wishing Dr Grey-Summers was available to question. She wasn't though, and Amelia wasn't a psi and Professor Xavier was currently catatonic, which left her all but blind in how to help the man in front of her. It was frustrating, especially since he would get worse without some help. "Or...well, I can make it possible for you to eat and sleep. But it requires me to do what I was going to do before, use my powers."

Jack opened his eyes, gaze fixed on the ceiling. His earlier complaint about her conduct aside, he disliked chemical inducement on general principles.

It was unfortunate pride couldn't do anything to make him feel less like shit.

"Worth a try," he said at last, the reply low. His attention shifted back to Laurie. "But without touching, if you can manage it."

"I've been practicing." Laurie mentioned, trying to make herself more comfortable. "It might still take a moment though, touch tends to focus it a little more, but I should still be able to give you enough to calm you down."

She leaned herself back against the bed where she sat, closing her eyes and trying to focus herself on relaxation. She needed to help him enough so that he could eat but not enough to make him fall asleep just yet. It was something new for her, since she'd never had to bother with subtly in her powers before, just on or off and whatever it was she wanted to do.

There was no noticeable change in the atmosphere of the room, and for a time it seemed nothing was happening. Jack stayed against the wall, listening to Laurie's steady breathing. In and out, in and out, a rhythm like waves against the shore. It was an exercise meant to relax and focus. The kind Jim always liked.

He noticed the hollowness in his stomach gradually. It wasn't ravenous hunger, but from a stomach that had seemed to have become almost nonexistent for days it was something. Jack opened his eyes for a moment, unmoving, and slowly moved to retrieve the bowl.

Laurie heard the movement but she kept her eyes closed, her breathing even. While they'd learnt that it took a little while for her powers to dissipate from a room, she didn't want to take any risks that he might suddenly feel the need to throw up what he was currently eating.

"Let me know when you're finished." she said softly, breathing a steady movement in and out so that the last word was almost a sigh.

The only response was the clink of spoon against bowl. The lack had nothing to do with rudeness; along with the faint appetite, Laurie's power seemed to have returned an acute awareness of just how exhausted he really was as well. It was more than just a few days of bad sleep could account for. Replying was out of the question when it was all Jack could do to keep his eyes open and the spoon in his hand.

In the end he didn't finish the bowl. He did manage to consume an end of French bread Laurie had brought, dipping it in the soup to soften it. It was easier to get down that way. The alter replaced the bowl on the desk and settled back against the wall. "Done," he murmured, abandoning the effort to keep his eyes open.

Laurie opened her eyes, taking a moment to bring her power under control before she spoke. "Do you want to sleep now?" she asked softly, glancing up at him from her position on the floor. "I can stay and help, if you want."

"Be all right." The answer was indistinct, his head already back against the wall. "Watch. Don't sleep unless we're alone. Keep us safe." Jack's voice slurred, almost to a whisper. "My job."

Laurie smiled and stood up, she thought that was her prompt to leave. She reached down and pulled the blanket over him before picking up the tray and walking to the door. "It's okay, Jack. You can sleep here, nothing will hurt you."

And with that, she left the room.