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xp_logsForge has worked through all of the positivity that Marie-Ange has gifted him and is back to feeling miserable and alone. Luckily for him, along comes an April being a literal ray of sunshine.
Forge was curled up in the corner of his room, not even in his bed, wrapped up into himself. The positivity that Marie-Ange had gifted him with had slowly worn down, defeated from within by the enormity of Forge's sins against himself. He was a dull and listless creature, eyes wide and pale, skin sullen and flaking, hair limp and nearly colorless. He could feel that there was happiness out there, he just didn't know how to reach for it. Each time he tried, he felt his attempts batted away by dead buddies, by demons devouring flesh, and by the lurking shadow outside of reality constantly striving for a way in.
It was, he thought with supreme effort, a good thing he'd called April while he was still up.
April did her customary knock on his door before letting herself in. The room was darker than normal, curtains closed, everything silent and still. It took her eyes seconds to adjust, something she was wholly unused to. “Forge?” she called out, voice carrying in the quiet. She slipped her shoes off, wondering where he’d gotten to. He’d sounded thrilled on the phone, excited in a way that was almost as foreign to her as not having access to her enhanced senses.
She flicked on a lamp, casting just enough light through the room to guide her steps. Recliner, empty. Bed too. No lights or sounds from the bathroom… and as her eyes scanned the room, they caught the edge of shifting in the corner of the room, what she’d originally dismissed as dirty laundry. She stopped, staring at what she’d thought was clothing, and saw the pile shift again. “Forge, honey?”
A few steps and she dropped to her knees next to the figure, hand reaching out to smooth down the length of what she assumed was his spine. “Hey, you wanna tell me what’s going on? You sounded so excited to see me on the phone.”
Forge looked over at her and tried to muster a smile. "Ran out of good feelings. Don't deserve them. Bad things inside of me, wearing me down. Eating all the good feelings until I look like this. Feel like this." he said dimly. "Was feeling so good. Grew my hand and leg back." he said, managing to wiggle both his flesh-and-blood hands at her while still clutching at the blanket he'd thrown over his repulsive demonlike form.
“Can we cuddle on the bed for a little while?” April lightly squeezed the fingers of both his hands with her own, leaning in to give him a kiss on the forehead. “You can stay wrapped up if you’re worried about my reaction, but hon… when have I ever been scared of what you look like? Especially knowing what I can turn into if pushed enough?” She kept her voice even, quiet, hands sliding over the blanket to wrap him in some semblance of a hug.
Forge soaked up her concern, her affection, her caring and the effect on his body was startling. He straightened, his skintone shifted more towards his norm, and his hair regained some of its luster. "You're helping. You're helping so much. They can't steal your feelings, they can't eat them. They tell me I should have died, that I deserved it, but you … I can see you. I can _feel_ you." he said with a slow, bashful smile.
“You can. I’m right here, and don’t have plans for the day. Pyotr took Boris with him, just in case.” She tugged on his arms gently, encouraging him to stand up and move with her. “Go curl up in bed and find something on TV, I’ll get us water and open the curtains for a bit. Little sunshine and stuff you can’t normally watch sounds like a pretty great afternoon.”
He stood on two flesh-and-blood legs, then wrinkled his nose. "The things they don't tell you about shapeshifting." he said. "One, I stink. Two, if you're here I can be … me. And not just my demons. Three, I've always wanted to watch Star Trek. We got time, right?" he said. "Cue it up, lemme go be less stinky." he said as he walked towards his own shower.
"Just don't go anywhere, kay?"
“You want company?” She was mostly teasing. “I’d offer to tell you more about shapeshifting, but well… my blockage, or whatever.” She shrugged as she said it, and added on “I don’t think we can manage ALL the Star Trek, but we can probably plow through a chunk of the series or the movies. Actually… if you know I’m just running to my room to switch into lounge clothes and grab my pillow, is slipping out for a few minutes okay? It’s not like I’ll be going far, and then we’ll be ready for a proper binge minus food and bathroom breaks.”
"Yeah. Go take care of business, I should manage not to turn into Gollum for the duration." he joked, then closed the door to the bathroom to go take his shower. Once done, he found a clean T-shirt and shorts. He had two normal legs now and showing them off was indicated. No gloves either. Two normal hands, but hey. The Thing protocol still worked and he amused himself for a short while by activating it into "Pick up my laundry" mode.
If he took nothing else away from this whole thing, he got to have that gift. And the knowledge that some nasty shit lived in his brain rent-free and it was doing everything it could to fuck him up.
Uncool.
Once dressed, he hit up the delivery app to order a giant pile of nachos, wings, and enough Red Bull to nudge up close to the LD50. That chore accomplished, he cleared some space for the two of them and just revelled in the …nothing. No Boyle's Law, no Newtonian mechanics, no spin gravity calculations, thermodynamics, none of it. Just blissful migraine-free silence. Of course, the devolving into a hideous beast because his brain bludgeoned him with the Sad wasn't exactly ideal but he hadn't had the ghost of a headache since this whole thing started.
“I always underestimate how long you take in the shower, speedy,” April teased as she reentered his room. “But hey, you’re showing off your legs! That’s great.” Her pillow joined his on the bed along with a soft blanket, and she side-stepped to the windows to fling the curtains open, head tipping back with a smile as she soaked in the sun. She reached a hand behind her, beckoning Forge closer so she could keep basking in the sun, feeling happy and content and warm and wanting to share it with him.
"Put a food order in while you were away." he said. "Turns out they weren't kidding when they said shapeshifting really eats calories." he said with a shrug as he moved over to soak up the metaphorical and literal sunshine.
“Yeah, between that and my webbing I’m usually famished after a DR session,” she agreed, tipping her head back against Forge’s chest. “And you have to eat better than just a diet of Red Bull and gas station too, at least if this sticks around.”
He paled at that thought. "I mean, this is neat and all, but I kinda need my power to make a living." he said. "Right now I'm so stupid it's kinda terrifying." he said, shifting down towards a duller, lesser state. "I couldn't calculate a downward inclined plane right now, let alone multidimensional plasma flow."
“You still have your education, and the notes on what we’ve reverse engineered,” April pointed out sensibly. “You just don’t currently have your standard advantage. And that’s part of why you’ve been letting me do some of that reverse engineering, remember?” She turned her face from the window, wrapping her arms around Forge. “I’m not going to tell you to stop moping, because trust me, I did not enjoy waking up, tripping over things, and ending up with a set of bruises, but please don’t dwell on it. Enjoy the time we have to do other things for a while. Like the Star Trek marathon!”
"You have a valid point." he conceded graciously. Then he paused for a moment to rack his brain. What was that word he used … ?
Ah, yes.
"Engage!"
Forge was curled up in the corner of his room, not even in his bed, wrapped up into himself. The positivity that Marie-Ange had gifted him with had slowly worn down, defeated from within by the enormity of Forge's sins against himself. He was a dull and listless creature, eyes wide and pale, skin sullen and flaking, hair limp and nearly colorless. He could feel that there was happiness out there, he just didn't know how to reach for it. Each time he tried, he felt his attempts batted away by dead buddies, by demons devouring flesh, and by the lurking shadow outside of reality constantly striving for a way in.
It was, he thought with supreme effort, a good thing he'd called April while he was still up.
April did her customary knock on his door before letting herself in. The room was darker than normal, curtains closed, everything silent and still. It took her eyes seconds to adjust, something she was wholly unused to. “Forge?” she called out, voice carrying in the quiet. She slipped her shoes off, wondering where he’d gotten to. He’d sounded thrilled on the phone, excited in a way that was almost as foreign to her as not having access to her enhanced senses.
She flicked on a lamp, casting just enough light through the room to guide her steps. Recliner, empty. Bed too. No lights or sounds from the bathroom… and as her eyes scanned the room, they caught the edge of shifting in the corner of the room, what she’d originally dismissed as dirty laundry. She stopped, staring at what she’d thought was clothing, and saw the pile shift again. “Forge, honey?”
A few steps and she dropped to her knees next to the figure, hand reaching out to smooth down the length of what she assumed was his spine. “Hey, you wanna tell me what’s going on? You sounded so excited to see me on the phone.”
Forge looked over at her and tried to muster a smile. "Ran out of good feelings. Don't deserve them. Bad things inside of me, wearing me down. Eating all the good feelings until I look like this. Feel like this." he said dimly. "Was feeling so good. Grew my hand and leg back." he said, managing to wiggle both his flesh-and-blood hands at her while still clutching at the blanket he'd thrown over his repulsive demonlike form.
“Can we cuddle on the bed for a little while?” April lightly squeezed the fingers of both his hands with her own, leaning in to give him a kiss on the forehead. “You can stay wrapped up if you’re worried about my reaction, but hon… when have I ever been scared of what you look like? Especially knowing what I can turn into if pushed enough?” She kept her voice even, quiet, hands sliding over the blanket to wrap him in some semblance of a hug.
Forge soaked up her concern, her affection, her caring and the effect on his body was startling. He straightened, his skintone shifted more towards his norm, and his hair regained some of its luster. "You're helping. You're helping so much. They can't steal your feelings, they can't eat them. They tell me I should have died, that I deserved it, but you … I can see you. I can _feel_ you." he said with a slow, bashful smile.
“You can. I’m right here, and don’t have plans for the day. Pyotr took Boris with him, just in case.” She tugged on his arms gently, encouraging him to stand up and move with her. “Go curl up in bed and find something on TV, I’ll get us water and open the curtains for a bit. Little sunshine and stuff you can’t normally watch sounds like a pretty great afternoon.”
He stood on two flesh-and-blood legs, then wrinkled his nose. "The things they don't tell you about shapeshifting." he said. "One, I stink. Two, if you're here I can be … me. And not just my demons. Three, I've always wanted to watch Star Trek. We got time, right?" he said. "Cue it up, lemme go be less stinky." he said as he walked towards his own shower.
"Just don't go anywhere, kay?"
“You want company?” She was mostly teasing. “I’d offer to tell you more about shapeshifting, but well… my blockage, or whatever.” She shrugged as she said it, and added on “I don’t think we can manage ALL the Star Trek, but we can probably plow through a chunk of the series or the movies. Actually… if you know I’m just running to my room to switch into lounge clothes and grab my pillow, is slipping out for a few minutes okay? It’s not like I’ll be going far, and then we’ll be ready for a proper binge minus food and bathroom breaks.”
"Yeah. Go take care of business, I should manage not to turn into Gollum for the duration." he joked, then closed the door to the bathroom to go take his shower. Once done, he found a clean T-shirt and shorts. He had two normal legs now and showing them off was indicated. No gloves either. Two normal hands, but hey. The Thing protocol still worked and he amused himself for a short while by activating it into "Pick up my laundry" mode.
If he took nothing else away from this whole thing, he got to have that gift. And the knowledge that some nasty shit lived in his brain rent-free and it was doing everything it could to fuck him up.
Uncool.
Once dressed, he hit up the delivery app to order a giant pile of nachos, wings, and enough Red Bull to nudge up close to the LD50. That chore accomplished, he cleared some space for the two of them and just revelled in the …nothing. No Boyle's Law, no Newtonian mechanics, no spin gravity calculations, thermodynamics, none of it. Just blissful migraine-free silence. Of course, the devolving into a hideous beast because his brain bludgeoned him with the Sad wasn't exactly ideal but he hadn't had the ghost of a headache since this whole thing started.
“I always underestimate how long you take in the shower, speedy,” April teased as she reentered his room. “But hey, you’re showing off your legs! That’s great.” Her pillow joined his on the bed along with a soft blanket, and she side-stepped to the windows to fling the curtains open, head tipping back with a smile as she soaked in the sun. She reached a hand behind her, beckoning Forge closer so she could keep basking in the sun, feeling happy and content and warm and wanting to share it with him.
"Put a food order in while you were away." he said. "Turns out they weren't kidding when they said shapeshifting really eats calories." he said with a shrug as he moved over to soak up the metaphorical and literal sunshine.
“Yeah, between that and my webbing I’m usually famished after a DR session,” she agreed, tipping her head back against Forge’s chest. “And you have to eat better than just a diet of Red Bull and gas station too, at least if this sticks around.”
He paled at that thought. "I mean, this is neat and all, but I kinda need my power to make a living." he said. "Right now I'm so stupid it's kinda terrifying." he said, shifting down towards a duller, lesser state. "I couldn't calculate a downward inclined plane right now, let alone multidimensional plasma flow."
“You still have your education, and the notes on what we’ve reverse engineered,” April pointed out sensibly. “You just don’t currently have your standard advantage. And that’s part of why you’ve been letting me do some of that reverse engineering, remember?” She turned her face from the window, wrapping her arms around Forge. “I’m not going to tell you to stop moping, because trust me, I did not enjoy waking up, tripping over things, and ending up with a set of bruises, but please don’t dwell on it. Enjoy the time we have to do other things for a while. Like the Star Trek marathon!”
"You have a valid point." he conceded graciously. Then he paused for a moment to rack his brain. What was that word he used … ?
Ah, yes.
"Engage!"
