Felicia and North; Medlab Visit (Backdated!)

[xp-blackcat.livejournal.com]

Felicia comes down to snoop when North is asleep. So, of course, he's not asleep.

It was the strangest sensation. There was strength brimming beneath his skin, and energy coiled in every clench and release of his muscles. But it was as if the power of his new body was not David's to use, and each fumbling step he took was a swim through warm honey. Not for the first time, resentment against what was done to him by fucking Nazis threatened to froth past gritted teeth.

Still, he refused to give in to the urge to sit his ass back down onto his prison cell of a hospital bed, choosing instead to glare belligerently at the glass of water on the bedside table as he leaned his weight against the railing of his bed and lifted a knee to his chest in painstakingly slow repetitions.

A flash of light. The medical lab door swings open in 7 seconds.

Before David could stop himself, instinct had the spy spinning towards the door on one heel, blue-grey eyes widening in ill-concealed dismay as fingers grappled for the railing bars again. But gravity called, and he crashed heavily to the ground on one knee, mental giving in to a burst of strength of a too-tight grip.

The door opened as predicted, revealing a suddenly awkward Felicia behind it, hand gripping very tight on the handle as if debating if she stayed perfectly still would he maybe not see her. "I was told you were sleeping," she finally said with an air of defeat, making a half step towards him, then stopped with a frustrated noise. "Do you..?"

Swear in German? Why, yes. Yes, he did.

Carefully, he moved his too-heavy limbs and shifted so that he could land his ass onto the ground and stare at the misshapened bar of metal in his hand through a fringe of hair that used to be more gray than black.

One door slammed shut, the other closed gently. One blond fled, the other offered a hand and yet another sat on his bed and held a conversation with him still on the floor.

David blinked away the visions, wishing for the nth time that he knew exactly what the bastardised serum had done to him beyond its obvious effects.

"Sorry," he finally said, cocking his head at her with a wry twist of lips that contained exactly zero humour. "I was startled."

Felicia was silent a moment, the weighing of options in her mind nearly audible - it would have been a painful grinding noise - before stepping fully into the room and letting the door close behind her with a soft click. There were a few more steps and she stood right in front of him, looking down with a look as if her face couldn't tell if she should be concerned, amused, or panicking; it came off as confused. "You were definitely supposed to be asleep," she repeated, unhelpfully.

"It would be a fair assumption to make," David allowed, brows creasing into a small frown as he regarded her for a long moment. It was in the dead of the night, after all. A strange time to be visiting sleeping patients. "But I had a month's worth of sleep, ja?" He said instead, right before he attempted to heave himself to his feet.

On instinct she caught his wrist and kept steady, giving him a counter balance to pull on. Her mouth tipped into something resembling if not comforting than at least better than before. "I suppose that's true," Felicia admitted, fingers tightening against the decent weight difference between them. "How... are you doing?"

He caught her wrist in counterpoint, and there was a brief flash of worry that he would hurt her with unintended strength. But they got him to his unsteady feet with some effort and without casualties to either party, which was cause enough for some celebration. "Evidently still getting used to... this body." David attempted a half-hearted smile, but it likely came across as more of a grimace. "But I am otherwise fine, with thanks owed to you."

Felicia evidently had the same thought, as she glanced to the mangled railing and back at his face, which was suddenly very close. "It was nothing," she said quickly, releasing him and moving to the nearby arm chair, where she perched, pulling her sweater tighter around her. "I mean, you now have a piece of me to carry always and thus owe me forever, but other than that, nothing," she continued, apparently recovered.

The short bark of laughter he responded with was cut off when he finally lumbered the few steps over to dump his ass back on the bed. He rolled his neck and shoulders, as though trying to loosen up the tendons, but only succeeded in deepening the frown between his brows. "Thank you," he finally said, quirking a less terrifying smile at the blonde. "Any time you or the others desire a pint of my blood, it is yours."

She paused. "So. I guess. Sorry for your insane Nazi trauma, but at least you're extra hot now, yay?"

His expression accurately reflected how (un)impressed he was with the notion as he glanced down at his forearms. "I may have lost about twenty years, but I would prefer an extra not-hot body that I can control to one that I cannot."

Felicia scoffed, gesturing at him as if sweeping away the comment. "Oh no, you haven't completely mastered your forced enhancement in three whole weeks, you're doomed forever, obviously," she replied, giving him a slow look, before raising her unbroken wrist pointedly. "Or, it's just going to take a little time and you're already well on your way to getting there. Seriously, you're going to be fine."

Biting back the rest of his complaints, David nodded and dropped the subject. "So. Extra hot?"

Face softening into something like fondness, Felicia laughed, then nodded. "Yes, sweetie. Extra hot like burning, even in those hideous med lab clothes."

"Would that make it easier for me to convince you that it is a good idea for me to go out for a walk?" There was a subtle uplift to the corners of his lips, but the angled tilt of his chin and the crinkles at the side of his eyes gave his uncharacteristic attempt at charm away. Signs of cabin fever, perhaps.

"I sort of thought you were hot before, too. I think you would have been good either way," Felicia admitted, unashamedly, as she stood up and adjusted her leggings. It was late, after all, and she'd been serious when she said she'd thought he'd be sleeping. "Besides, I have problems with authority and like breaking rules," she continued. "But if you want to say it was all that pretty face, you go for it. I won't tell."

"Now I am pretty too," he noted drily, only half teasing as he moved painstakingly slowly to his feet. "Careful. My head may swell." He glanced at the door as he spoke, which seemed inordinately far. But there was resolution in him, and an almost desperate desire to taste fresh air. "Care to accompany me for a walk, Frau Hardy?"

Felicia reached over and playfully patted his cheek. "Very," she replied, resolutely not starting when he caught her look. She held her arm out in a crook for him to take, smiling despite herself. "I suppose, Mr North. Just because you pulled out the full German, though."