Arise X-Man | Cup of Tea
Dec. 20th, 2021 07:00 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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xp_logsDarcy goes to the source to get her answers. Laurie has no interest in giving them, and a deadline. Things go south rather quickly.
Content Warnings: Emotional and mental manipulation, injury, powers addiction issues resembling drug use and withdrawal, non-consensual use of powers.
Laurie had been finalizing some notes on several medical files as she waited out the countdown in her head as to when she could leave. She didn't want to leave too early and have anyone question her absence, or too late and get stuck in traffic. She'd pondered using Darcy one last time to drive her to the clinic but honestly? She didn't want to, it wasn't fair to the woman and it wasn't fair to herself or Nate.
She needed to put an end to things gently, she just hadn't figured out the best way to do it yet.
Darcy mentally braced herself, trying to keep her body language as open and relaxed as she generally was around her girlfriend. "Thought I might find you down here working," she said with a soft smile, dropping her bag and keys on the desk she usually worked at before crossing the room to give Laurie a hug.
Laurie stiffened slightly as Darcy hugged her but then relaxed, allowing the touch. It would only help her in the end, after all.
“You’re back early? I thought you and the rest of your team would be gone all day with the move.”
"Haven't left yet, it's still very early." Darcy gave Laurie a concerned look. "Is everything okay? You've been pretty distant lately, even from me."
Laurie’s eyes barely moved as she flicked a quick glance at the clock on the wall behind Darcy. She didn’t have much time left before she needed to be on the road.
She’d booked an Uber to pick her up from the front of the mansion.
“I’m fine, love. Just busy, you know? Helping Nate get better has taken up a lot of my time recently. But you’ve had Doug haven’t you? I’m sure he hasn’t minded the extra attention at all.”
"You don't generally push me away when you're busy. Stiffen up when I give you a hug. I'm glad you're helping him out babe, but your behavior the last week or so's been pretty concerning. Even now, you're.." Darcy put a hand on Laurie's shoulder, taking in the stiffness, the flinch. "I can't help if you don't actually tell me what's gone wrong.”
Laurie sighed, almost regretfully as she turned to her girlfriend, placing her good hand against Darcy’s where it lay on her shoulder.
“Okay. How about you make us a cup of tea and I’ll explain?”
The mention of tea felt like an ice pick digging into Darcy's skull. Her hands flexed, fine tremors in her fingers as she took an abrupt step back. "Of course. Earl Grey, since it's the start of the day, or do you need to avoid caffeine today?"
Laurie followed her, reaching for the trembling hand she could see. The affectionate expression she’d maintained till this moment had dropped, leaving only a flash of irritation that quickly disappeared in favour of pleasant blankness.
“Why would I need to avoid caffeine, Darcy?”
"You.. have a procedure.. today? And sometimes medical.. no caffeine?" Darcy struggled to get the words out, hissing as she grabbed the hot kettle with her bare, unprotected hand. The hammering in her brain was making it hard to form coherent thoughts and increasing her anxiety in the moment. She pulled her other hand free, running both under cold water before preparing their tea efficiently. She handed one of the mugs to Laurie, curling her hands around her own mug like the world's smallest shield.
“Ah, yes. I suppose I do at that.” Laurie replied, relaxing almost imperceptibly as she placed her own mug down on the table that had been set to the side in the room for the infrequent but still needed consult that was sometimes asked of her. “You don’t normally injure yourself making simple tea. Have I been neglecting you that much?”
Laurie had noticed that her command didn’t appear to have the desired effect, which was annoying but not entirely a set back. There were other ways to go about making this work.
"Headache's got spikes this morning. I should probably get it looked at, since they're getting consistently worse." Darcy grimaced at the words. "Something scheduled for after Christmas." She didn't move towards Laurie like she normally would, still staring down at her tea like it held the secrets of the universe.
Laurie was normally careful to avoid using her powers in the mansion anywhere that wasn’t her suite of rooms or the Danger Room. There were too many people who knew what it smelled like, and she’d long grown tired of their supercilious moralizing on the subject of free will. But she was going to miss her Uber and frankly she had no more interest in humoring Darcy’s addiction.
She slowly pushed out the pheromones she’d need to sew confusion and doubt.
“Darcy, I thought it was understood that my powers were only a stop gap to actual treatment.” Laurie noted, giving her a look tinged with concern. “Tell me that you’ve actually seen someone and you haven’t been getting by with just my powers this entire time.”
"I told you I--" But had she? Darcy searched for a memory of telling Laurie she'd finally had a first appointment with Dr. Grim, and got a vague impression of ' You know I'm helping Nate and it's important, you can come back later for your fix,' before the door shut in her face, the entire thing coated in guilt and shame. "The headaches are getting worse, I've been keeping track." Her voice was soft, vaguely uncertain as she lifted the mug to her lips and took a slow sip of tea.
“Baby, you need more help then I can give,” Laurie replied, reaching her hand out before hesitating and allowing it to sit between them, as if scared she’d make things worse. “You know my powers can be addictive, I remember telling you that. They’ll blame me if you’re harmed.”
Laurie’s words were laced with concern and worry, her gaze direct on Darcy as she continued to push out pheromones, coating the room around her with each passing moment, a silent but powerful compulsion to trust and believe. To go along. To comply.
In the moment, Darcy thought she could almost feel her brain trying to go into that soft, compliant space that she'd reached a few times under the hands of someone with a lot of experience. But here, with the pain in her hand burning a counterpoint to the pounding in her brain it was more like being drenched in ice-filled water. She let her eyes drift closed, a memory of Kevin saying 'you need to see five, ten steps ahead along that path or you're going to find things get very bad very quickly' flashing across her mind as she tried to figure out how over her head she was, and wanting to kick herself for not sending him a heads up.
She sent a silent apology to him and to Doug for not sharing her concerns, and then flew by the seat of her pants. Her eyes opened, mostly steady and alert through the pain and the conflicting feelings. "The thing about pheromones," Darcy said almost casually, "is that eventually you need to give more. Pump out more, and do it more frequently. And you, babe.." she shook her head slowly. "You've been neglecting your best, most loyal toy for the shiny new model." Her grin at Laurie was all teeth, and she was vaguely aware of something wet dripping down her face.
“Oh Darcy. You were only ever a convenient tool. Please don’t try to pretend I ever saw you as more important than that.” Laurie replied, dropping all pretense as she reached out whip quick and grabbed Darcy’s wrist, pushing her power beyond the point she normally pushed. It was dangerous given the damage she’d suffered, and she could feel the shudder that rippled through her body in reaction. “You would have woken up and remembered nothing but calmness, and I would have let you go slowly. You’d have been sad but with Doug right there for me to direct you to, it would have been easy. Now? We do this the hard way. I’d say I was sorry but we both know I’m not, and you won’t remember any of this anyway.”
Her mug shattered on the floor between them as Laurie grabbed her wrist.
Darcy struck at the stump of Laurie's arm as she tried to wrench herself free. "You're already doing harm, Doctor," she grit out, anger flushing her skin. "How long?" The question was vague, but she was having trouble stringing words together. "Who.. else?"
“Stop fighting me, and I’ll stop doing you harm. It’s for your own good, you’ll see.”
Laurie held on tighter, pushing harder as she felt a spot of wetness touch her upper lip. She was damaging herself, she could almost feel it now but she needed Darcy down, if she could make her forget then there was a way back here.
"Lie," Darcy murmured, eyes locking on Laurie's. If she couldn't get free, she'd use the other tricks she'd been learning to make Laurie regret trying to hurt her as much as she already regretted doing this confrontation without backup. Her voice was honeyed when she spoke again, pushing past the pain in an attempt to sweetly persuade Laurie to stop before things escalated further. "You're hurting me babe, and you need to stop. You hate doing that, remember? Stop hurting me, Laurie."
“Stop!” Laurie shouted, sudden panic setting in as she felt her body start to respond and then shudder as her own power fought the command. It had only ever been consensual before, and never when she was actually using her powers.
She panted, backing up as her body moved, trying to let go of Darcy’s wrist but she couldn’t get her hand to obey her. Her own powers were too far gone, her ability to control what she was doing damaged by the accident and her own lack of restraint over months. The feedback loop had already started, and she couldn’t do anything to stop it.
"Pull them.. back," Darcy panted, infusing her desire for Laurie to stop using her powers against her like this. Her eyes were scratchy, and she was pretty sure the wetness under her nose was blood. "No more doll, no more missing time. What happened.. to us.. against.. the world?"
“It’s too much.” Laurie cried, her fingers releasing finally but still plastered against Darcy’s wrist. “You won’t survive it.”
Laurie sobbed, collapsing onto her knees as Darcy’s power ravaged through her mind, tripping up her controls and releasing the flood gates she’d kept carefully building since she was first admitted to Xavier’s.
"Take.. you.. with me," Darcy gasped. "One.. less.. monster."
Her brain was on fire, one small part screaming guilt at hurting the woman she'd thought she loved like this, while an increasingly angry chant reverberated around her skull. 'Take her out, keep Doug safe--Terry, Topaz, the mansion--everyone, her arm wasn't worth the price but their minds are--' She kept her eyes stubbornly locked with Laurie's, refusing to let the other woman out even as her own vision started to grey. She stumbled to a knee, fingers digging into Laurie's forearm. "Keep.. th..him.. safe."
“He was never yours!” Laurie screamed between pants of effort, her words almost jumbled as she put all her months and years of suppression behind the words, reaching deep inside herself for everything she could pull even as her mind spiraled in on itself, unable to deal with the dual channels of both her own power and Darcy’s, similar but completely different. “You only have him because I gave him to you!”
She clamped her hand down in a claw on Darcy’s arm, pulling skin till she hit blood and a direct connection to her ex-girlfriend’s body.
Her words hit Darcy like a punch to the gut. Laurie had.. she'd.. to Doug, and... Flashes of their more intimate moments floated to the front of her mind, quiet gasps and the slide of skin against skin. The idea that those moments had been coerced, fake, stolen, unwanted had her turning her head and heaving, bile and traces of blood mixing with the shards of her mug and Earl Grey.
"Free.. of you.. worth it." Darcy shoved forward with her remaining strength, pumping everything she had left into stopping Laurie from doing anything else to others, regardless of the personal cost. She was woozy but she had one last thing to say to Laurie. "GET OUT--"
She collapsed face-first on the floor, her last coherent thought a sense of failure and the pain of hitting the tile before everything went black. Blood dripped steadily from her nose, the small puddle of red a stark contrast to her pale skin and the white tile.
Content Warnings: Emotional and mental manipulation, injury, powers addiction issues resembling drug use and withdrawal, non-consensual use of powers.
Laurie had been finalizing some notes on several medical files as she waited out the countdown in her head as to when she could leave. She didn't want to leave too early and have anyone question her absence, or too late and get stuck in traffic. She'd pondered using Darcy one last time to drive her to the clinic but honestly? She didn't want to, it wasn't fair to the woman and it wasn't fair to herself or Nate.
She needed to put an end to things gently, she just hadn't figured out the best way to do it yet.
Darcy mentally braced herself, trying to keep her body language as open and relaxed as she generally was around her girlfriend. "Thought I might find you down here working," she said with a soft smile, dropping her bag and keys on the desk she usually worked at before crossing the room to give Laurie a hug.
Laurie stiffened slightly as Darcy hugged her but then relaxed, allowing the touch. It would only help her in the end, after all.
“You’re back early? I thought you and the rest of your team would be gone all day with the move.”
"Haven't left yet, it's still very early." Darcy gave Laurie a concerned look. "Is everything okay? You've been pretty distant lately, even from me."
Laurie’s eyes barely moved as she flicked a quick glance at the clock on the wall behind Darcy. She didn’t have much time left before she needed to be on the road.
She’d booked an Uber to pick her up from the front of the mansion.
“I’m fine, love. Just busy, you know? Helping Nate get better has taken up a lot of my time recently. But you’ve had Doug haven’t you? I’m sure he hasn’t minded the extra attention at all.”
"You don't generally push me away when you're busy. Stiffen up when I give you a hug. I'm glad you're helping him out babe, but your behavior the last week or so's been pretty concerning. Even now, you're.." Darcy put a hand on Laurie's shoulder, taking in the stiffness, the flinch. "I can't help if you don't actually tell me what's gone wrong.”
Laurie sighed, almost regretfully as she turned to her girlfriend, placing her good hand against Darcy’s where it lay on her shoulder.
“Okay. How about you make us a cup of tea and I’ll explain?”
The mention of tea felt like an ice pick digging into Darcy's skull. Her hands flexed, fine tremors in her fingers as she took an abrupt step back. "Of course. Earl Grey, since it's the start of the day, or do you need to avoid caffeine today?"
Laurie followed her, reaching for the trembling hand she could see. The affectionate expression she’d maintained till this moment had dropped, leaving only a flash of irritation that quickly disappeared in favour of pleasant blankness.
“Why would I need to avoid caffeine, Darcy?”
"You.. have a procedure.. today? And sometimes medical.. no caffeine?" Darcy struggled to get the words out, hissing as she grabbed the hot kettle with her bare, unprotected hand. The hammering in her brain was making it hard to form coherent thoughts and increasing her anxiety in the moment. She pulled her other hand free, running both under cold water before preparing their tea efficiently. She handed one of the mugs to Laurie, curling her hands around her own mug like the world's smallest shield.
“Ah, yes. I suppose I do at that.” Laurie replied, relaxing almost imperceptibly as she placed her own mug down on the table that had been set to the side in the room for the infrequent but still needed consult that was sometimes asked of her. “You don’t normally injure yourself making simple tea. Have I been neglecting you that much?”
Laurie had noticed that her command didn’t appear to have the desired effect, which was annoying but not entirely a set back. There were other ways to go about making this work.
"Headache's got spikes this morning. I should probably get it looked at, since they're getting consistently worse." Darcy grimaced at the words. "Something scheduled for after Christmas." She didn't move towards Laurie like she normally would, still staring down at her tea like it held the secrets of the universe.
Laurie was normally careful to avoid using her powers in the mansion anywhere that wasn’t her suite of rooms or the Danger Room. There were too many people who knew what it smelled like, and she’d long grown tired of their supercilious moralizing on the subject of free will. But she was going to miss her Uber and frankly she had no more interest in humoring Darcy’s addiction.
She slowly pushed out the pheromones she’d need to sew confusion and doubt.
“Darcy, I thought it was understood that my powers were only a stop gap to actual treatment.” Laurie noted, giving her a look tinged with concern. “Tell me that you’ve actually seen someone and you haven’t been getting by with just my powers this entire time.”
"I told you I--" But had she? Darcy searched for a memory of telling Laurie she'd finally had a first appointment with Dr. Grim, and got a vague impression of ' You know I'm helping Nate and it's important, you can come back later for your fix,' before the door shut in her face, the entire thing coated in guilt and shame. "The headaches are getting worse, I've been keeping track." Her voice was soft, vaguely uncertain as she lifted the mug to her lips and took a slow sip of tea.
“Baby, you need more help then I can give,” Laurie replied, reaching her hand out before hesitating and allowing it to sit between them, as if scared she’d make things worse. “You know my powers can be addictive, I remember telling you that. They’ll blame me if you’re harmed.”
Laurie’s words were laced with concern and worry, her gaze direct on Darcy as she continued to push out pheromones, coating the room around her with each passing moment, a silent but powerful compulsion to trust and believe. To go along. To comply.
In the moment, Darcy thought she could almost feel her brain trying to go into that soft, compliant space that she'd reached a few times under the hands of someone with a lot of experience. But here, with the pain in her hand burning a counterpoint to the pounding in her brain it was more like being drenched in ice-filled water. She let her eyes drift closed, a memory of Kevin saying 'you need to see five, ten steps ahead along that path or you're going to find things get very bad very quickly' flashing across her mind as she tried to figure out how over her head she was, and wanting to kick herself for not sending him a heads up.
She sent a silent apology to him and to Doug for not sharing her concerns, and then flew by the seat of her pants. Her eyes opened, mostly steady and alert through the pain and the conflicting feelings. "The thing about pheromones," Darcy said almost casually, "is that eventually you need to give more. Pump out more, and do it more frequently. And you, babe.." she shook her head slowly. "You've been neglecting your best, most loyal toy for the shiny new model." Her grin at Laurie was all teeth, and she was vaguely aware of something wet dripping down her face.
“Oh Darcy. You were only ever a convenient tool. Please don’t try to pretend I ever saw you as more important than that.” Laurie replied, dropping all pretense as she reached out whip quick and grabbed Darcy’s wrist, pushing her power beyond the point she normally pushed. It was dangerous given the damage she’d suffered, and she could feel the shudder that rippled through her body in reaction. “You would have woken up and remembered nothing but calmness, and I would have let you go slowly. You’d have been sad but with Doug right there for me to direct you to, it would have been easy. Now? We do this the hard way. I’d say I was sorry but we both know I’m not, and you won’t remember any of this anyway.”
Her mug shattered on the floor between them as Laurie grabbed her wrist.
Darcy struck at the stump of Laurie's arm as she tried to wrench herself free. "You're already doing harm, Doctor," she grit out, anger flushing her skin. "How long?" The question was vague, but she was having trouble stringing words together. "Who.. else?"
“Stop fighting me, and I’ll stop doing you harm. It’s for your own good, you’ll see.”
Laurie held on tighter, pushing harder as she felt a spot of wetness touch her upper lip. She was damaging herself, she could almost feel it now but she needed Darcy down, if she could make her forget then there was a way back here.
"Lie," Darcy murmured, eyes locking on Laurie's. If she couldn't get free, she'd use the other tricks she'd been learning to make Laurie regret trying to hurt her as much as she already regretted doing this confrontation without backup. Her voice was honeyed when she spoke again, pushing past the pain in an attempt to sweetly persuade Laurie to stop before things escalated further. "You're hurting me babe, and you need to stop. You hate doing that, remember? Stop hurting me, Laurie."
“Stop!” Laurie shouted, sudden panic setting in as she felt her body start to respond and then shudder as her own power fought the command. It had only ever been consensual before, and never when she was actually using her powers.
She panted, backing up as her body moved, trying to let go of Darcy’s wrist but she couldn’t get her hand to obey her. Her own powers were too far gone, her ability to control what she was doing damaged by the accident and her own lack of restraint over months. The feedback loop had already started, and she couldn’t do anything to stop it.
"Pull them.. back," Darcy panted, infusing her desire for Laurie to stop using her powers against her like this. Her eyes were scratchy, and she was pretty sure the wetness under her nose was blood. "No more doll, no more missing time. What happened.. to us.. against.. the world?"
“It’s too much.” Laurie cried, her fingers releasing finally but still plastered against Darcy’s wrist. “You won’t survive it.”
Laurie sobbed, collapsing onto her knees as Darcy’s power ravaged through her mind, tripping up her controls and releasing the flood gates she’d kept carefully building since she was first admitted to Xavier’s.
"Take.. you.. with me," Darcy gasped. "One.. less.. monster."
Her brain was on fire, one small part screaming guilt at hurting the woman she'd thought she loved like this, while an increasingly angry chant reverberated around her skull. 'Take her out, keep Doug safe--Terry, Topaz, the mansion--everyone, her arm wasn't worth the price but their minds are--' She kept her eyes stubbornly locked with Laurie's, refusing to let the other woman out even as her own vision started to grey. She stumbled to a knee, fingers digging into Laurie's forearm. "Keep.. th..him.. safe."
“He was never yours!” Laurie screamed between pants of effort, her words almost jumbled as she put all her months and years of suppression behind the words, reaching deep inside herself for everything she could pull even as her mind spiraled in on itself, unable to deal with the dual channels of both her own power and Darcy’s, similar but completely different. “You only have him because I gave him to you!”
She clamped her hand down in a claw on Darcy’s arm, pulling skin till she hit blood and a direct connection to her ex-girlfriend’s body.
Her words hit Darcy like a punch to the gut. Laurie had.. she'd.. to Doug, and... Flashes of their more intimate moments floated to the front of her mind, quiet gasps and the slide of skin against skin. The idea that those moments had been coerced, fake, stolen, unwanted had her turning her head and heaving, bile and traces of blood mixing with the shards of her mug and Earl Grey.
"Free.. of you.. worth it." Darcy shoved forward with her remaining strength, pumping everything she had left into stopping Laurie from doing anything else to others, regardless of the personal cost. She was woozy but she had one last thing to say to Laurie. "GET OUT--"
She collapsed face-first on the floor, her last coherent thought a sense of failure and the pain of hitting the tile before everything went black. Blood dripped steadily from her nose, the small puddle of red a stark contrast to her pale skin and the white tile.
