Hope and Marius

[xp_trance]

Hope wishes to verify something with Marius. That doesn't mean she will explain anything... 

"Interesting..." A low chuckle echoed through the hallway. "After all the stories, now and from so many years ago, I seriously had not expected you to look this disheveled." Hope stepped away from the wall, the emerald silk of her blouse rustling softly as she folded her arms.

Marius, water bottle at his lips, paused in mid-swig. Swallowing carefully before he made his reply, the Australian thumbed the spout closed and inclined his head.

"As it happens I've just returned from a jog, but I am doubly disadvantaged by the unexpected nature of my stay. Alas, quality tailoring takes time. Shipping even moreso. As such my current wardrobe is limited by what I can scrounge." Marius gestured to the Xavier's sweats by way of elaboration. The young woman's genetic signature was familiar, though it took a moment for his memory to throw up a card. Like Molly, this was another resident who'd come to the mansion at an age where nine years of absence made for a considerable difference.

"Please forgive my lapse in memory. It's . . . Hope, was it?"

"Hope Abbott." She simply confirmed, tilting her head. "And you are the infamous Marius. So normally I should expect to find you in Christian Dior's ERL Running Shorts?" She added, just a little snark in her voice. Gesturing at a nearby door, Hope turned on her heels and headed for the room. "Come with me, please." Her voice made clear this was not a request.

"Excuse me?" Marius was normally obliging by nature, but he didn't like Hope's tone. He raised his thick eyebrows. "And why should I do that?"

"Come with me, please." Hope glanced over her shoulder very briefly, the thread of steel in her voice strengthening. "There is something I need to confirm in regards to your most recent... exploits..."

That knocked the kneejerk pridefulness out of him like a chop to the throat.

"Ah. Right then. Well, lead the way."

Hope simply guided them into the small parlour and gestured at a seat, before taking a seat herself, tilting her head again as she studied him for a long moment. "How much do you remember of the events themselves?" She asked idly, trying to decide what the easiest path to her goal here was.

"All of it, regrettably." The Australian took a seat with some reluctance and frowned. "Again, you must forgive me -- I recall no encounters with you, if that's what you'd like to discuss."

"Not specifically. I saw quite a bit of you though, more than you probably can imagine." Hope explained briefly. "And there is something I need to verify."

Marius' shoulders stiffened. "Would you be so kind as to elaborate, please?" he asked in a tone that was far more neutral than he felt. All he could think of was Topaz in his head, rifling through . . . him. All of him. And while he didn't recall the specifics of Hope's power he could perceive that she was some flavour of psi.

"Remember your close encounter with the car? Or rather... getting run over by a truck?" A strong note of satisfaction laced through her voice when she mentioned the trick she, Artie and Amanda had pulled. "I figured out a way to track you while you shifted between realities. That is all."

Marius sat back, almost dizzy with relief. At least no one else had-- wait.

"Wait, so the car was you lot?" he said, eyebrows rising. "Ah, so when Artie said -- oh. Well. My congratulations on the lateral thinking. My ability to absorb mutant powers does not extend to motor vehicles."

"Unusual events call for unusual measures. And much of the credit does go to the driver." Hope smoothed out her skirt as she settled a little more into the chair. "Now, I need you to remain seated, please. I promise, no peeking inside your head." She had noticed him stiffening up when mentioned 'seeing quite a bit of him'.

Marius tilted his head, puzzled. "What's there left to verify? If it's the dimensional shifting to which you refer, that's no longer an issue -- it was Akkaba brought that power back, and it's left me now, just like the physical adaptability."

"Under the circumstances I am sure you can understand why I would like to verify this for myself." Hope's eyebrow rose. "As well as get a better sense of the difference between both states."

The Australian shook his head. "My apologies, but whilst the promise that my mind will remain sacrosanct is appreciated, I still don't understand precisely what you're asking to verify."

Hope simply let her eyes become heavy, ignoring his words as she focused inwards, the flower unfolding in her mind. Except... instead of rising above her body, her sight darkened and lit up at the same time again, just as with Arthur. Marius' aura blazed into her sight, blotting out everything that could have been, even without the darkness of the rest of the world.

"What are you doing?" Whilst Marius couldn't detect any power being used on him, the expression on the woman's face told him something was happening. Instinctively he half-stood from the chair, ready to cut whatever this meeting was meant to be impolitely but unrepentantly short.

"Stay put!" Hope hissed a low voice, her mind in turmoil. How was this happening again?!?!? Still, the steel part of her that made things happen surged to the forefront almost immediately and she set about examining his aura. It was... weird. Emotions she expected swirled in familiar patterns and the strange muted effect was gone, but something still lingered... like a shadow she could just see from the corner of her eyes. "Hmmm."

Marius actively fought the impulse to flee. She didn't appear to be doing anything but looking, and considering she had apparently faced him in District X he could hardly fault her for wanting to confirm . . . whatever it was she was attempting to confirm. After the damage he'd done he had few rights to assert.

It was a struggle. Here was something he couldn't see, and, more to the point, something he couldn't turn around on her. Marius disliked feeling defenseless. Especially now.

Hope narrowed her eyes further, striving to see that shadow. Layers suddenly seemed to shift and there was just a faint shadow of that muted effect, clinging to Marius aura as a slick oil film. Even as she watched though, the bright color of Marius' aura surged forth, erasing the slickness tiny tiny bit by tiny tiny bit. Whatever this was, it was clearly nothing more than faint remains, his body cleaning up the wound. "Interesting..."

"Yes, many have made this observation of me," Marius said, a little coldness creeping in despite himself. "Is everything to your satisfaction?"

Ignoring the comment, Hope reached for the familiar visualization of the flower closing. She might not have ghosted out, but the image did its work, the blazing aura receding and after another blink, she could see again. "It still clings to you." She commented. "Very faintly, but still present."

"What clings?" Marius realized his hand was clenched so tightly against one armrest his fingers were beginning to ache. The skin on the back of his neck was trying to crawl off his spine.

"Death." She replied simply, even bluntly. "Or what made you into that. You are taking over though... even as I watched."

"Ça suffit!" Now Marius really did leave his chair. The anger came so suddenly he could almost convince himself it was the immediate response rather than the sudden panic it covered. "If you've questions, ask. If the proper case is made I shall even submit to a detailed inspection. But don't treat me as a dog to blindly follow whoever holds its leash. Never did I consent for such things to be done to and around me without explanation. Never."

"N'aie pas peur. J'ai simplement regardé." Hope replied calmly, shifting into French easily. "Like I said... it is fading and I believe it will be fully gone soon. Every moment you are reasserting yourself over that faint shadow."

The cryptic reply was even more infuriating than if she'd simply laughed in his face. For just an instant Marius contemplated the one course of action available to him when faced with a mutation he couldn't counter. No matter what advantage she might have, there was a way to get the upper hand . . . as long as Hope was within arm's length of his.

The answering twitch in his palms jerked him back to himself. Marius curled his hands into fists and pressed them to either side of his legs as he forced the urge back into the darkness where it belonged.

"My apologies for the outburst," he managed. "That was uncalled for. However, I would take it as a kindness if you would put forth, in plain language, what you have managed to read, and what precisely you describe as fading. Your power is unfamiliar to me. I suspect your answers thus far are perhaps more opaque than you intended."

Hope raised her eyebrow, approvingly this time, as a small smile played around her lips. Shifting a little in her chair, she gestured towards the chair across from her. "Gladly. Especially since you asked so nicely."

"I strive to be the very spirit of decorum," Marius replied dryly, a man acutely aware he had nearly chewed through the lining of his gloves with his own palms.

"As part of my abilities I can see auras." Hope finally decided to let her kinder side take over for a moment and simply explained. "And what you call opaque, is simply the best way I can put my observations into words. Something of whatever it was that made you Death, still clings to your aura like a shadow. But like I said, it is very faint and you are asserting yourself over that shadow." Narrowing her eyes, she added: "You are nibbling away at the shadow even now."

Auras, but clearly not the biological sort Marius could perceive. She was some flavor of psion, so her perceptions would likely trend in the direction of thoughts or emotions. This fact he absorbed first so he could break what she'd said into digestible pieces. It also had the welcome benefit of distracting him from the disgust he felt at his own impulses, but this was not crucial. He'd had half a lifetime of practice.

Right. The shadow, then.

"But that was magic, wasn't it? That connection." Marius thought this was said quite calmly for a man suddenly faced with the possibility whatever Akkaba had done to him was still an active presence. "Thing about coming off of an attempted genocide is the due diligence afterward tends to be exceptionally thorough. I was told I was clear of that."

"Whatever it was... it is only a fading shadow." Hope simply restated, noting how his breath just accelerated a bit. "I am not seeing any indications it is actively influencing you, unlike when I saw your aura during the fight."

"That's reassuring, I suppose." The panic began to calm, at least a little. It helped to remind himself it wasn't possible to be only "slightly" influenced by a consciousness like En Sabah Nur's. Marius uncurled his fists with a long exhale.

"In future, I would request the explanation comes before the act," he said. "Just . . . allow me the choice, all right?"

"As long as I do not need to be able to see without any chance of artifice, I will gladly allow you that choice." Hope replied after a moment of thought. "But in circumstances like this I reserve the right to do what is needed."

In that moment Marius was excruciatingly aware of the still-healing wounds that rubbed against his shirt. He thought about Akkaba carving that justification's logical conclusion into his flesh, one slice at a time.

The Australian inclined his head to her stiffly. His forte was the use of many words to communicate very little, but for this only one seemed necessary.

"Understood," he said, and took his leave.

Hope simply nodded politely, but her thoughts were already somewhere else. What in the hell was going on with her powers? 

Comments

[xp_longshot]

"My ability to absorb mutant powers does not extend to motor vehicles."

That log continues to delight even after the fact.

I really enjoyed how steely Hope was here — she had questions, and was determined to force answers. Unfortunately she's only prickling Marius's worst fears about not being free. One can really feel the tension mount and spike as the log progresses.

"But in circumstances like this I reserve the right to do what is needed."

That's cold, Hope (and wonderful).

[xp_icarus]

I'm so excited about the development in Hope's powers!

Also I loved this line

My ability to absorb mutant powers does not extend to motor vehicles.