Butterflies and Hurriances: The Medlab

[x-wither.livejournal.com]

The Untouchables make small talk while they wait to find out what's going on with them.

They had all trickled into the medlab one by one the previous day as they'd discovered the lack of any obvious signs of their mutations. The mansion's medical staff had spent the night observing them, poking them with needles every so often and taking cells from the inside of mouths for DNA testing. The resident Untouchables hadn't heard much in the way of results and so they were simply left to wait. The guys hadn't been getting along any better than Yvette and Cammie generally did and so people had wandered from their own designated room. Somehow or another the four of them all wound up in the same place with nothing to do but sit around and wait together.

Yvette's face, normally so hard to read beneath the hard veneer of her skin, was an open book of anxiety and guilt. What if that Haven woman had done something terrible to them all? What if her way of removing their powers meant they'd all have some horrible disease or die far sooner than they were meant to? What if...? She wrung her hands together, still getting used to the feel of soft skin and normal fingers, a picture of misery.

Things had been awkward between the friends ever since Yvette had been observant enough to read between the lines and realize, quite publicly, that Kevin was involved with someone else. That didn't stop her from being the person whose happiness meant the most to him, though. Kevin didn't think about it much, just kept drifting closer to the girl until an arm draped over her shoulders.

"Thought it was my job to look gift horses in the mouth and not like 'em, not yours?" After all, Kevin had never taken advantage of his suppressed mutation when he'd had the chance once. Yvette, on the other hand had. With that came the reminder of the last time he'd seen her like this - not the anxious and miserable, but the flesh-toned and "normal" He'd kissed her - the first she'd ever had, and as yet only - before her inhibitor was taken off.

Without realising it, Yvette leaned into the contact, part of her savouring the warmth of another person even while her conscious mind fretted. "I am worried that I have done something terrible to us all," she admitted. "I did not think that Haven was telling the truth, but what if something goes wrong with us?"

Brow furrowing, Kevin gave his friend a confused look. He managed to tuck her in closer to him and lean back enough to stare at her, utterly puzzled. "What're you talkin' 'bout? Haven? Who's Haven and what do they hafta do with us?" Was there a memo he missed out on? Probably, there usually was.

"Haven. The lady at the fair? She had the clinic in District X and she told me she could help us. That she could..." Yvette hung her head, looking at her bare feet - she actually didn't own any shoes, especially not in her current size. "That she could take our mutations away."

"And who would've guessed that the crazy bitch could actually fucking do it," Cammie said, holding her left hand up to the light. Her normally colored left hand. A way it hadn't been in years. She had taken off her bandages right away in the morning because it had been making her feel sick. Which shouldn't have been possible. "I mean, the stinger is... well... I have a pink left hand. That hasn't happened in years. Good thing I didn't take my morning shot of anti-freeze."

Yvette shuddered. That thought was even more uncomfortable and made her feel more guilty than ever. "I am sorry I did not say anything to you or Jared," she told Kevin. "I did not think it would actually work."

"No worries, little one!" Jared replied, rubbing his hand in Yvette's hair. "Nothing that bad happened yet, there's no reason to make it sound so bad. And I do have a lot of things to do without my shield on." Thinking about his conversation with Kevin, he added: "At least I am not afraid to do something new." This last sentence was directly sent to Kevin.

Kevin's eyes narrowed into something in very close approximation to a glare just as much for that comment as for the way Jared ruffled Yvette's hair. His protectiveness over his friend flared to what the Southerner recognized as an irrational level because of how much he didn't care for the guy. "What Ah do or don't do and why Ah do or don't do it ain't none of your business so stop bringin' it up." If he were a cat his hackles would have been up.

"Yeah, you want to go get laid there are plenty of places downtown you can do it without it bothering us," Cammie snapped. Oh crap, what was she going to do in the weekly mosh pit at the punk hang outs? She'd actually have to try. On the other hand, that might be kind of fun... She laughed, "Oh, Friday night is going to be fun..."

"Right... only if we're out of here by then..." The distance he was taking only covered his bad feelings. Why were they all so tense? What was so bad about it all? Sure, if that turned out to be permanent, he wouldn't have a place to stay here anymore. Anyway, he had heard Philadelphia wasn't so bad at this time of the year... "What about you, Yvette? Any plans with the temporary new hands and new eyes?"

"I had not really thought about it," Yvette admitted a little bashfully. "I would like to go shopping, perhaps, for the new clothes? All of mine have to be easy to put on over my hair normally." She made a face - she sounded so lame next to the others, but it wasn't as if she was good at this sort of thing. "Perhaps Angel can take me to a place for dancing or such. They are usually too crowded for me."

Kevin raised an eyebrow at the girl tucked in under his arm. "You gettin' a fake ID to get in or do they actually have clubs for people under 18?" The tone was playful and soft enough to make it obvious he wasn't actually picking on her. Mostly it was a poor expression of him being worried about her. Injuring other people wasn't the only thing to be concerned about in a club, after all.

"Oh, I had not thought about that." Yvette blushed rosy red. "I was just, how you say? Balling the spit?"

"Or," Cammie suggested evilly, "You could just go get laid. 'Course, that's my cure for everything." And her advice to Kevin, in a way. Because she was feeling nice it was 'laid' and not 'fucked.'

The blush deepened to crimson, incorporating ears and neck in a rather impressive display. "Oh, I do not think so," she managed.

Kevin tried really hard to give Cammie a disapproving look and not grin at the way Yvette blushed but it didn't work very well. He ended up with a bit of a smirk and squeezed Yvette in a one-armed hug by way of apology for smiling at her blushing. "Ah think we'll leave that to you and Don Juan. You two can go out and proposition guys together. It'll be like a bonding experience." Now his smirk had turned devilish and was mostly aimed at Cammie. "Just think, if they aren't straight Jared can offer them a massage."

"Dude! So unfair! First, I don't offer massage, I ask for one." Then he came face to face with Kevin, closer than he'd ever been to him. "Second, I'm all for bonding experience."

Kevin didn't move when Jared drew closer. It was habit to back off quickly when casual contact came too near, but with something so intentional he just watched. Blue eyes narrowed and looked up to meet Jared's gaze, unflinching. "Bond with your own hand, mine ain't got no desire to be on you."

"Do you have any other goals in life, besides grunting and looking all so sad?" Jared had backed off. Kevin's lack of reaction was killing his game. "If only we had a TV, I'm sure I could find out about people who have real life issues..." He was mostly thinking about watching repeats of The Hills on MTV. Still applies...

"Rob a bank, marry a Victoria's Secret model and have a torrid extramarital affair with Cammie. Lofty enough goals for you?" Kevin figured Cammie would appreciate the honorable mention there. Then again, it was entirely possible it would just remind her that he'd agreed to owing her nudity. He always got himself in trouble when she was around.

"You kidding?" Cammie snorted, "I have standards. Already had my fill of man made products this week," she said smirking. "Ain't that right, Kevvy?"

Even though he really knew nothing about it.

"Well then someone is getting some action here!" Jared didn't really understand this relationship between Kevin and Cammie, nor the one Kevin shared with Yvette. He was sort of jealous of this whole bond people shared while he was trying so hard for so little... But that was all he knew so... "Did you say Victoria's Secret model? Do you know one?"

"No, but Ah could find one. Unlike some people Ah'm capable of bein' charming." His gaze lingered on Jared, but then moved to Cammie. The initial implication was that both of them lacked charm. "And your standards chased me 'round with a spatula when Ah wouldn't be your waffle of love or whatever. And, uh, Ah still remember my presents from my birthday last year." Last year when Cammie decided she needed to find a way for Kevin to be able to get it on...with her.

"Awww, if you're jealous I can come visit you later," Cammie said with a wink, "Of course with our luck everything would turn back on mid-coitus or something. And wouldn't that be a bitch."

Yvette, meanwhile, had been getting redder and redder, squirming uncomfortably. What was it with Americans and their need to talk about private things in front of just anybody? "Excuse me," she said at last, slipping off her chair. "I have to, um, go to the..." Inspiration struck. "The bathroom! Yes, I am going to the bathroom and will be back soon, yes?" And with that, she practically fled down the hall.

Note to self, Kevin thought, stop having these sorts of conversations around Yvette when I know better. He let her flee, though, and tried to remember himself to make sure the topic was dropped by the time she came back. While she was gone, though, he let his attention turn from where Yvette had disappeared from sight back to Cammie. "What, you don't wanna decay from the inside out? Not one of your fetishes? Darn!"

"I draw the line at my own sudden death," Cammie said happily, "Sowwy."

"But you wouldn't even feel it. Your nerves would decay too quickly for that...unless I made them not, Ah guess. But no one ever screams," he told her, voice still joking but with the sort of surety only experience brought.

"You two are freaking me out! Even more now that you are... normal." At first, it was funny, but now it sounded all too morbid for Jared. He loved life too much to think about things like that, even as a joke! "Please, bring someone normal in this room", he thought, desperately looking for human behavior.

Which was the cue for Yvette to return, eyeing Kevin and Cammie cautiously. "Is it safe to come back?" she asked, only half-joking.

"Safe as it can be, Miss Petrovic, when this group of rouges gathers to debate the why's and wherefores of the day." Hank chuckled and walked into the room with his usual feline grace, striding to the center of the group before setting down his touchscreen device and striking a very "doctorly" pose with his hands on his stethoscope. "Well, the results of your blood work are back and if it's alright with all of you, I'd like to ignore our usual HIPPA guidelines and simply speak with all of you at the same time- it will just be simpler that way. Any objections to this method of expediency?"

"I do not mind?" Yvette replied, once she'd untangled Hank's elaborate English. "If it is to get us out of here sooner, it is okay by me." Especially since everyone insisted on conversations that made her uncomfortable, even when they knew better.

A round of agreement with her went around between the other three ad then the group of them went silent in wait of Dr. McCoy's results.