xp_logs | Somewhere I Belong - Midnight Encounter

Matt has a rather odd encounter with Topaz.

Nighttime was better.

Not much better - but not nearly as bad as during the day when everyone else was running around, getting excited and happy or angry or upset or worried or - no, no, no, no. Don't think about it, can't think about it. Just walk - walk, get to the kitchen, get back, get away from all of this. Just get back and she'd be fine. She'd be fine.

She'd be fine.

Up late reading the X-Men mission casefiles since he didn't have to be anywhere really the next day, Matt sat at the kitchen table drinking tea as his hand slid over the words. He had discovered about a week earlier that he could read letters printed on paper even if it wasn't braille provided it wasn't glossy. That made printing the material for him so much easier so he didn't have to deal with braille or an audio reader. The problem was that he read much more slowly this way since it was still new.

Lost as Topaz was, she was completely oblivious to Matt as she walked, rather shakily, into the kitchen. Possibly because she was so hyper-focused on getting her tea and getting out, and Matt's lack of emotional presence kept him from registering in her mind. In, out, back. In, out, back.

"I can still hear you," Matt stated after Topaz had been in the kitchen for a few minutes and failed to acknowledge him. Something seemed off about her though. Her blood pressure was high and she was breathing a little harder than was needed. "You feel okay?"

Topaz nearly flew out of her skin. Matt! She whirled around, nearly dropping the mug she'd been pulling out of the cabinet. "S-Sorry," she said, biting her lip for a moment. "I didn't...know you were there." He was an emotional blind spot. It was...sort of nice.

"Uh, I'm sitting right here," he pointed out, "You okay?" Matt repeated, concerned.

"Yeah. You are, aren't you? Sorry." Back to making her tea, don't think about it, just focus on the tea, making tea wasn't nearly complicated enough to - wait, Matt had asked a question. "Um...yeah. Yeah, I'm fine."

Was there something wrong with her eyes? How did you miss a tall, red-headed guy in the kitchen? He was pretty sure there was nothing blocking him. "You're not really acting fine," he pointed out.

No, she wasn't. This was the first time she'd really spoken with anyone since that meeting with Haller and Amanda, she wasn't really sure how to act. All right, come on Topaz. Deep breaths. Calm down. "I'm not?"

No, she was not. "You're all distracted and stressed," Matt stood and brought his mug to the sink. "Hungry? I'll make you a snack. Go sit."

Food. When was the last time she'd eaten? What day was it? She probably shouldn't ask that out-loud. "I'm fine, really." Well that sounded a little better at least. Not much, but it was something.

"I can hear your stomach," gurgle, gurgle. "Eggs and toast? How do you prefer it?"

Right. "I-" There was no point in arguing with him. "No preference," Topaz finally mumbled, raking her fingers through her hair, locking them behind her neck.

Not arguing saved time and energy. Getting out a pan and the necessities, he went to work making some for them both. Scrambling the eggs with some scallions and salami didn't take long and a few minutes later he set a plate with the eggs and toast in front of Topaz. "There you go. Butter or jelly?"

"Um...butter, I guess." The longer she was out, the twitchier she was starting to get. She tried to keep that to a minimum though. "Thank you." The words were barely a mumble, but she knew he would hear.

Setting the butter and jam on the table, Matt joined her with his own food, "What are you using?" He asked bluntly. He recognized the signs from his own withdrawal.

"...Huh?" Topaz looked up, completely bewildered.

"Can't fool an addict, Tope. You're distracted, elevated heart rate, sweaty, twitchy...what are you on?" Matt wasn't judging, how could he? He did want to help.

"On?" It took her a minute to catch up. "Oh. Oh! No, no, no, no." Though that did make her wonder if drugs would dampen the empathic feed... "Not using. I promise." It was probably the first honest thing she'd said that entire conversation.

Drugs would. That was how he'd ended up on them. It wasn't an answer. "Then...what's happening?" Because something was. "You sick maybe?"

"Yeah...maybe." She looked back down at her plate, swallowing hard. The thought of eating made her feel a bit ill. She hadn't been expecting to be out for this long.

"Go to bed, Topaz," Matt said finally. "I'll cone check on you tomorrow, okay?"

"Okay. Sure." Not that he'd find her anyways. Topaz stood, clutching her tea mug tightly. Time to escape. "Thanks, Matt."

"Feel better, Topaz," Matt replied, letting her leave.