Sharon and Cecilia; Time for Chinese

[xp-friedlander.livejournal.com]

Sharon and Cecilia share some chinese and manage to have a good talk.

"Any chance you're in the mood for Chinese?" Sharon asked as she leaned against the door of Cecilia's medlab office, several containers in her hands. "I ordered in, but it's way too much. Besides, it's nearly 7.30 and you've not eaten..." She raised an eyebrow at the woman behind the desk, daring her to challenge her.

    Cecilia raised an eyebrow as she scooted away from her desk. "You never have to convince me to eat free Chinese, Sharon. Bring it in. Here..." She grabbed a stack of journals off of an empty chair and put them on the desk next to her laptop, which she closed with her elbow. "I need a break anyway."

    Crossing to the desk, Sharon unpacked the containers. "Fried rice, noodles, Kung Pao chicken, eggrolls and some beef with broccoli they claim is Chinese." She pointed them out as she took her seat. "So do you want a fork or the chopsticks that came along with it?" Sharon simply had a fork.

    "Oh, I think I've got chopsticks in my desk somewhere." She swiveled around in her chair, opening a drawer and feeling her way around its contents. "Mhm, yep." She pulled out a pair and turned back to Sharon. "The ghosts of takeout past as it were. Pass those noodles over here."

    "Here you go." Sharon passed over the box, taking the beef and broccoli for herself. "How is the mountain of paperwork going?" She nodded at the pile of folders on the desk. "I still have to finish imputing the last of the nursing notes now that almost everyone is discharged. Only Angel is still here now and then..."

"Yeah," Cecilia nodded, "but at least she's a fun patient, drugs or no drugs." Cecilia split the pair of chopsticks and grabbed a clump of noodles that she ferried to her mouth with remarkable speed. "God, you know, I can't remember if I remembered to eat today. There's been so much going on, and I had to deal with some inventory stuff on top of that. Time just flew by."

"Things have been crazy." Sharon agreed. "I'm thinking you maybe should get yourself a minion. Not of the tv, but someone who can do some of the administrative stuff." She paused to ferry some more noodles to her mouth. "Any house calls tomorrow or is everyone free to make a mess of themselves again?"

Cecilia snorted as she poked through the container in search for some broccoli. "People make a mess of themselves whether I say anything or not. But I'm hoping they'll heed my warnings and keep things quiet for a second. I've found threats to be quite effective." Triumphant in her search, she flung a floret toward her mouth. It fell short, landing on the floor, and she reached for a napkin. "You okay, though? First time out with the X-Maniacs, right? A fight against Thor isn't exactly the straw you want to draw."

 "Depends on if you count the sewer hunt with Kane, but first time out in an outright battle... I guess I hit the jackpot with it being against the Avengers." Sharon scooped up some rice and chewed thoughtfully. "Brought back a lot of old memories though. Being shot at with arrows and repulsors is not very different from bullets." The look in her eyes was distant, her thoughts far away.

"Yeah," Cecilia said, more focused on her food for a moment than on Sharon. "I'll take your word for it." She looked up, putting the container down so she could grab a napkin off her desk, but she stopped as she caught sight of the look at the other woman's face. "Okay, penny for your thoughts?"

Sharon's eyes refocused at that question. "Don't think they're worth even that much... Just... memories... I guess. The mission kinda made me realize something... I miss being a medic..."

"Ah." Cecilia just nodded, a little unsure what to say or how honest she could be. "I think I kind of know what you mean." She did in a way; it was a statement that felt remarkably familiar. "There's something about the rush of that kind of field medicine, right?"

"There is." Sharon nodded in agreement. "Hadn't really realized till now that I miss it... I mean, I had good reasons to leave the army, to become a nurse. The ER is its own challenge, but doesn't make the blood flow like that." A wry grin appeared on her face. "Guess that makes me the adrenaline junkie."

"Well, you fit in with the X-crew, at least." Cecilia shrugged as she fiddled with her chopsticks. "Look, I'm not gonna lie — I like having my scalpel inside someone's body. Which makes it weird to live here, when in the instances that happens, you've got friends on the table."

"That's not that different from when I was in the army." Sharon fished an egg roll from its box. "I treated soldiers with whom I spent my whole time.... except for sleeping... When I left though... I thought I was done being a medic, that it was not for me anymore. Sure, I worked on an ambulance some, but even that..."

"Well," Cecilia said after considering the other woman's words for a second. "Welcome to Xavier's."

"You'd think I'd have learned that after over a year here..." Sharon shook her head. "I wouldn't say no to going out again as a medic, though I know Jean and Clarice generally handle that duty for the X-men. Wish I could brush up some skills though."

"I'm sure they'd welcome the help. I'm sure it's a lot of burden for them both," Cecilia pointed out after popping a piece of chicken in her mouth, "and they both have skills that lend themselves to other kinds of things. Or so I'm told," she added quickly, "because I haven't really seen either of them in action much. I guess I'm more use here." She wasn't entirely sure that was true, but going out on missions with the X-folks felt like an endorsement of everything they did. And besides, when the shit hit the fan, and the medical evac began, she wanted to be here. "You should just ask."

"There were good reasons why I made the switch from medic to being a nurse... more than it just being a new challenge..." Sharon explained, punctuating her words with her fork. "Need to make sure that those reasons are not in the way first.  But I can brush up my skills... and mention that I don't mind going out in cases of emergency."

"I'm sure that'd be appreciated," Cecilia said in a voice she hoped was reassuring. "They get banged up a lot, if you hadn't noticed. Comes with the job."

"In the meantime, help me brush up those skills? I learned a lot more military then I'm officially allowed to do now, but it has been while..." Sharon asked after a long moment of thought.

"Oh, sure," Cecilia waved a hand, flinging a noodle onto her desk. She decided that would be a problem for later. "I can teach you some things. And we might even — ugh, god, am I actually suggesting this? The Danger Room might offer interesting simulations for the purposes of assessing and managing trauma." A beat. "Don't tell Scott or Kane I said that."

"Thanks." Sharon dug out a napkin and quickly cleaned away the noodle and the piece of broccoli that had escaped earlier. "Though why not telling Kane and Summers? Afraid they'll think they're doing good work?"

"Something like that. More worried it'll ruin my rep. And we can't have that."

"No, can't have that." Sharon cheerfully agreed, eyeing the now almost empty containers on the table. "My lips are sealed. And on another note, got some space left for dessert? Ordered some egg custard pastries as well."

Cecilia paused to consider. "Well," she said with a smile, "I guess it would be rude not to..."