xp_logs | Meggan and Kurt

Meggan gets a visit from Kurt, during day one of her two days of enforced bed rest.

It was Meggan’s first day of enforced bedrest, and she was trying to keep her thoughts away from the soreness of the accumulated bruises by watching a little bit of television. Only the weirdest shows happened to be on, though.

Meggan had tried to watch a soap opera, but with whichever one it was that she’d found, there were just too many evil twins and crazy people that were pretending to be someone that looked like them to keep track of it all. Shapeshifters trying that stunt would be much more interesting than crazy people using plastic surgery, she mused as she changed the channel. If television was a bust, she could just read Treasure Island or Lord of the Rings again.

There was a soft knock at her door, and Kurt's voice came through it. "Are you fit for company, little sister?"

Meggan looked up when she heard the knock. A visit was infinitely better than watching television. “Yes! Come on in, Kurt.”

He came in smiling, always pleased to see her. "How are you feeling today?"

Meggan smiled back. “Partly sore, mostly fine. Being extra careful around the more impressive bruises.” She wasn’t about to complain over bruises and a few stitches, since she knew others were injured worse than she was. Well, maybe a little bit of wincing and complaining if she happened to accidentally hit one of the more sensitive bruises again.

"Quite right." He sat down next to the bed. "Now, I know how boring recovery time can be. Can I be of any help?"

Meggan shifted over, so he would have more room to sit, before grinning at one idea that came to mind. “Maybe. If you can somehow find a cartoon called Freakazoid for me? Someone thought my hair resembled the main character's for a few minutes after the stunt with the live wire, and I’d like to see it.” Big hair for a brief time was a nicer repercussion than having the whole thing go wrong, and she knew it.

"We do have many channels here", Kurt said cheerfully. "And if it is not showing on any of them, I will go into Salem Center and look for a DVD."

Meggan nodded. “Thank you. If I don’t find it on any of them today, I’ll let you know.” After a moment, she asked out of curiosity, “By the way, I’ve been wondering something…just how much voltage is in a live wire? Something like 10,000 volts?” She had briefly wondered how much it was at the time before she'd grabbed it, but there had been more important things to worry about. She just wanted to know the voltage, so she’d know how much it was that she could handle.

"It varies", Kurt said more seriously, glancing at the TV, then back to her. "It can be anything from 1000 to 50,000, I believe. Did you feel anything when you touched it?" He hadn't forgotten the fork-in-socket incident.

Meggan thought a second before answering. It was hard to describe. “It didn’t hurt.” She was quick to reassure him of that, before continuing, “A little tingly. It felt like...let’s see. Think of the most caffeine filled drink you’ve ever had. One of those Starbucks things?” She didn’t know which one would have the largest amount of caffeine. “Now add six more in less than 10 minutes, and pour in all the sugar you can. Felt like that probably would for a few seconds. All the energy, but no vibrating or pain or anything from all of it. I was only holding it for a couple minutes.”

"So it even felt good?" He considered that. "I suppose I should not be surprised, after what you have done before. Your powers are very complex, I think."

It had felt very good, in fact. She nodded. “Yeah, I guess they are. There was no real side effect from holding it other than a ruined shirt from holding the wire close—and the hair.” There was a good chance that the only reason her shoes had survived was because she didn’t stand on the ground long enough for them to melt. After a moment, she added, “I was probably dehydrated before that, so it didn’t make much of a difference there.”

"And what were you doing before that to get dehydrated?" Kurt asked, giving her the big brother look.

Meggan grinned at that look. “Pixie and I had just finished working on things, and we were actually on the way to have a water break. But then that guy picked that moment to start his earthquakes.” She carefully shrugged, lest she hit a bruise. “So we went running for somewhere not as likely to fall down on our heads, and forgot about the water.”

"A sensible decision, on the whole", he agreed. "And you did very well against the earthquake man."

She nodded with a small smile. “Yeah. Catseye distracted him long enough for us to get away when he was doing his shooting rocks and sand thing at us in between another earthquake. Then we went back for her. We all got out of there in one piece, at least, and went limping and levitating to the nearest medical area.” It had been hard to be sneaky and stick to the shadows when a live wire was shooting sparks, so she was just glad everything worked out. They were lucky more than anything else that there had been a downed wire nearby in the first place, and that her idea had worked.

"And that is the main thing", Kurt told her firmly. "That you all survived his attack and left it on your own feet."

“Oh, I know. I’m thankful for that. And an IV, some stitches, and some bruising is better than not being here.” If it was just that and not her or the others being slaughtered, she was very happy. Jokingly, she continued with a grin, “And it’s only two days of bed rest, so I won’t have time to go too stir crazy.”

"I will try to ensure you do not go stir crazy at all", he promised. "As I am sure all your friends will also be doing."

“You’re probably right about that.” A slightly mischievous grin appeared, before she added, “Now, for something much more important. Come here for a careful hug?” She reached with the arm not hooked to an IV, since it would just make things worse to get him tangled up there. They would just have to see how many bruises could be avoided. The more impressive ones were probably just out of range of a hug attempt on that side, so long as it wasn’t a bear hug.

"I think a careful one, we can manage." He slid over and wrapped an arm loosely around her. "I am glad you were not badly hurt."

Meggan squeezed her brother's shoulder one last time in the extremely careful hug. It wasn't quite as awkward as expected. "Me, too," she agreed with a small nod. She understood it could have been so much worse, and was thankful it wasn't.