Laurie & Arthur | Saturday Morning

[x-longshot.livejournal.com]

Arthur meets Laurie in the medlab.

He was making a habit of visiting the medlab lately.

Arthur would be the first to admit it wasn't very suave, but his defenses for dealing with how ingrained with other self's life had been in here pretty much relied on taking the small opportunities he could. Go camping. Accidentally corrupt students. Visit the people in the medlab. The medlab was safe. The medlab was away from the any number of people whose minds could break the universe.

There were also good people there.

He readjusted himself in the reflection of the chrome walls before strolling in confidently, all smiles, only to find the usual reception area not busy.

"Hello," he called out brightly, "I've brought bribes."

"What sort of bribes?"

The voice was muffled, coming as it was from one of the offices a short distance down the corridor.

"The lady at the coffee liked my smile and gave me some brownies and tea cookies." His voice grew progressively louder until a blonde head popped around Laurie's cube. "I also got her phone number," he admitted with said smile and a shrug, "If that is your thing."

"Coffee and brownies, or women giving me their numbers?" Laurie asked, waving at him with her good hand from her chair. She was surrounded in what seemed like a waterfall of paper and a variety of colored pens. A whiteboard behind her was covered in diagrams and grammar that would have made Kyle cry. "Because brownies are my jam, women I've never really thought about."

"Well. She has a little girl who is her world and dreams of making it in business once she finishes her degree." After crossing the room quickly, Arthur very strategically positioned a bag in the one of the few spots not taken up by paper.

He lifted what was in his other hand helpfully. "I also have coffee, but we have not met, which is unfortunate, since that means I may not have it the way you like."

"Laurie, pleased to meet you."

Laurie turned around and went to shake his hand before remembering that her dominate hand no longer existed. She paused a moment in embarrassment, and then held forth the left with a self deprecating smile.

"Excuse the weirdness, I'm still getting used to the injury."

The hand was taken happily, and Arthur's smile did not falter with any of judgment or sympathy. If anything, he took the statement like someone explaining the weather.

"Have you gotten the phantom limb pain yet? Doctors never tend to mention that part," and a travel cup was offered, "Although my extreme sports friends are usually way more interested in swapping injury tall tales than exchanging details." He nodded at the cup absentmindedly. "That's black. There's cream and sugar in the bag. Have at."

Laurie looked down at her missing limb, and then back up at Arthur before shrugging slightly and reaching for the coffee. She put two sugars in and then a dash of milk before using her good hand to stir before taking a sip and sitting back.

"The nerves are still there in what's left of my arm, they send messages to my brain and my brain tries to reorganize itself to the new lack. I'm hoping to find a technological solution which will use those impulses to advantage actually."

"So you're one of the science types, huh? That sounded impressive," Arthur admitted genuinely, "Are you having any luck controlling your impulses?"

"I didn't realise we were considered a 'type', but yes, I am indeed a Scientist, although I prefer medical research to other types of discipline."

Laurie pulled up a series of articles on artificial limb replacement that she'd been reading when he came in and shrugged again, a wry smile ghosting across her lips.

"My physical impulses? Well, I've always had a lot of control in that regard but my psychological ones have a bad habit of getting away from me at inopportune times."

That wasn't clear, and Arthur's expression showed it. He pulled over a loose chair to get more comfortable. "What? Like, regular emotions?"

"I suppose nobody briefed you on my mutant power?"

Laurie pondered for a moment and then held out her hand, it was always easier to show people then to give them the scientific explanation. Sensation was always a more visceral experience.

"Well," Arthur shrugged a little as he took in the gesture and then held his own hand out similarly, "There are a lot of people in this mansion and I was promised there was not going to quiz on powersets."

"Not so much a quiz, but a good idea if you live in a mansion full of people with unfamiliar, or unstable power-sets. You never know when what you don't know will get you hurt, killed, or worse. We don't just live here, Arthur, although that can sometimes be enough - we also train young mutants to exist in a world which for the moment is very hostile to their very existence at all."

Laurie placed her palm in his and pushed a small amount of her power into her palm, making it glimmer a soft violet as she pumped 'calm' pheromones into his body. It was one of the more benign of her well practiced techniques and given that Genosha had increased not just her range but the time period of her influence, she figured it was the best way to show him what she meant.

"That tingles." He smiled encouraging at her. "That is one way of looking at it, I suppose. Perhaps we live in a place where the constant joy of discovery of new talents is something to be celebrated."

Arthur sat back, staring at his fingers. He wiggled them experimentally. "I understand that you want to be prepared, but a meteor could crash into the school tomorrow. Or... well, not with me here. Most likely."

"I'm sure I would have been a Girl Scout if I'd lived another life. Although, never get between anyone here and their cookies. I think Wade may have bought up the entire stock of our local troop at one stage."

Laurie reached over and opened a draw, pulling out a small box of anteceptic wipes to clean her hand.

"It lingers if I don't clean it off. I'm not entirely sure I won't start turning purple some day, to be honest."

She got a raised eyebrow in response to that last bit. "Oh? Well, you and Clarice would be able to swap makeup tips then. Best I can do is a little light show," and he gestured toward his eye, "But a permanent starburst might give me a certain sense of punk rock cred."

"So," and he waved off the previous comment, "You're saying that your phantom limb is causing you to go all projected feelings?" He waggled his fingers like jazz hands to elaborate. "I can see the downsides there."

"Not quite, but I can't always tell when I'm emitting on that side any more, the nerves over-react and sometimes it feels like I am, only I'm not. It doesn't make for great control anyhow."

Laurie popped the wet wipe into a small bin sitting on top of her desk, it had a stylized 'bio-hazard' symbol stamped across it but it was more for kitsch sake then actually useful for bio-medical waste. Dori had bought it for her some time ago, a prop from some sci-fi medical show that hadn't lasted past it's first season.

"Are you just that lucky, then? I hadn't imagined you'd have your mutation turned on constantly like that."

The look of confusion that crossed his face was as plain as a cloud across clear skies. "On constantly? I cannot turn it off. We've yet to find a clearly labelled button."

"Like me then. Well, like I used to be before I learned control. It's what this place is about mostly, when we're not offering people asylum or saving the world from the bad guys."

Laurie stood and gestured for Arthur to follow her as she headed out of her lab - the place she thought of as hers now anyhow.

"If you want to grab those coffees and brownies, I figure we can find somewhere a little nicer to enjoy them."

She got a too bright smile for this, and the other man happily picked up the bag. As soon as Laurie turned, however, his expression cracked; pain and doubt filling in the holes left behind like runoff. He mumbled, "Or not saving anything."

"The world's still here, and we're still living in it, I won't disrespect the sacrifice of my friends by doing any less then making sure this time is different," Laurie responded, having overheard his mumble. "Mourning is a process however, and it's okay to not feel okay."

She certainly didn't, wouldn't for quite some time to come. Sometimes you just had to laugh at the darkness, lest it overwhelmed.