xp_logs | Yvette and Callie (Backdated) (Reply)

Yvette stops by to visit Callie and the two talk.

\It had been some time since anyone had seen or heard from Callie, even with Fred bringing her back to the mansion. The need to hide was understandable - all of the girls who had been made mutates had been hiding in one way or another - but Yvette was worried about Callie's extreme isolation. And who better to understand what the other girl was going through? Or at least, that was what she told herself as she kicked at Callie's door with her foot, her hands full of a dinner tray she'd gotten from Lorna and Catseye.

"Callie?" she called gently. "I have brought you dinner. May I come in?"

Although she heard the voice, Callie made no move to crawl out from under her blankets. She had no idea if Vance was around or not (she hadn't actually seen much of her suitemate since moving back to the mansion), but the lack of footsteps from the other side of the suite to answer the door seemed to indicate that she was alone. So, with a groan, Callie pushed herself out of bed, pulled the hood of her sweatshirt over head and shuffled out into the main room of the suite and opened the door.

"Uh. Hi," she stared down at the smaller, red girl and her tray of food. "Yvette."

"Yes. Hello, Callie." Yvette's own head was bare, the short fuzz of her regrowing hair making her eyes seem even larger than usual. "Do you mind if I come in to put this down? It is a bit awkward to be passing to you."

Callie hesitated as her eyes focused on Yvette's head for perhaps a second too long, then, pulling the strings of her hood tighter, she nodded and stepped aside so her peer and former classmate could enter the suite. "You didn't have to do this," there was an uplift at the end of the sentence, making it seem more like a question than a statement. "But, thank you?"

"You're welcome." Yvette's smile was sympathetic and held a note of sadness - she knew what Callie was going through far too well. She walked past the other girl to set the tray on the coffee table. "Do you mind if I stay a little while? I am trying to stop being such a hermit and if I go out to the woods again, I think Angel might send Kyle to sniff me out and drag me back."

It was a good thing that Yvette's back was turned, or else she would have seen the moment of sheer panic jolt through Callie's body. No, she wanted to scream as she stood frozen against the still open door. The thought of being around anyone filled her with a sense a dread; her heart was beating faster, and she had to settle herself with a few deep breaths. But as upset as the thought made her, it would be rude to force Yvette to leave.

"Yeah. Sure," Callie replied, trying to keep her voice light. She let the door close behind her as she rounded the couch and took her perch on its far end, knees pulled to chest, pressing as close to the armrest in an attempt to make herself as small as possible.

Yvette could see the fear in Callie's body language, the way she'd curled in on herself and so she sat as far away as she could, to decrease the sense of threat. "Fred told me you had come back," she said quietly. "I am glad you did. None of us who were mutates should be alone right now. No matter how much we want to be."

"He made me come back." Not that it really mattered- she was essentially keeping the same schedule she had before. The action of the mansion was too much for Callie to even consider venturing out of her room too much. "Did Fred ask you to visit me?"

"No." Yvette's reply was emphatic. "I am worried about you. Friends do that, without being told."

Callie glanced shyly in her direction, her hand raising to push back a phantom strand of hair, and hovering when she remembered that there was nothing there. With a sigh, the hand fell to rest on her knee. "I'm sorry, Yvette," Callie turned to look over her arm at her companion. "I didn't mean it like that. I just... Don't. Know."

"I know." Yvette wrapped her arms around her knees, looking over at Callie with softly glowing eyes. "I spent almost a month in the woods, telling myself it was safer for everyone here. But really, I was frightened. Of the changes in the powers, of what I might have done, of how people would look at me now." A rueful half-smile appeared. "And this is really my second time being used for my powers."

That was enough to shake the other girl somewhat out of her haze; Callie shifted to face her body towards Yvette. She had been trying to forget what little she remembered about what had happened to them that she had almost forgotten about what the others were going through. Yvette, Amara, both of them had been through something similar before, she knew, but that obviously wasn't helping either of them.

"So what do we do?" It was a question that had no real answer, but it was one that would not go away. "He's gone, we're here. There is nothing more we can do."

"He is gone, yes. And we are ourselves again." Yvette reiterated. "But to say there is nothing more we can do... I do not think that is so. We have all been hiding ourselves away, trying to make sense of things we do not even remember... It is time that we stopped this, I think. We still have the lives to live - we should be living them, not hiding."

Callie shook her head slowly, and shifted her gaze to catch Yvette's eyes with her own. "We do not remember," she slowly repeated the words her friend had used. "I catch flashes of memories, of what happened. And I have nightmares about what else could have happened. I don't know what I did. I don't know if I try to use my powers if somehow that part of my brain will kick in and I will go out of control. If somewhere deep inside me they left something."

"Go to the Professor," Yvette responded immediately, full of faith Charles could do anything. "If there is anything left, he would be able to find it. For the peace of mind, yes?"

"I don't think I could live with myself if it turns out I did something terrible." There were tears forming in the corner of her eyes. "But it would be worse if I did it again. I'll see him."

At the sight of the tears, Yvette uncurled herself and slowly came over to sit within arm's reach of her. "We'll take care of you," she said softly, not reaching out to touch Callie just yet, but within range should Callie need her to. "The Professor and Fred and me and everyone else. We won't let you do anything awful."

"Thanks, Yvette." A smile spread across Callie's face; it was small but sincere. She slowly reached out until her fingers could touch the girl beside her on the shoulder. "I know you won't. It's just...," she sighed, "Thank you, Yvette. And thank you for coming. Would you- would you like to stay for awhile?"

"Of course." Yvette gave Callie a warm smile. "As long as you want."