Jean and Amanda - Garrison's Diagnosis
Aug. 30th, 2023 08:30 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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xp_logsBackdated to August 30, 2023.
Following the great book heist, finding out about Garrison's condition and the trip to consult with Bruce Banner, Jean goes to get more details from the other subject matter expert.
Since they'd gotten back from Transia, Amanda hadn't been seen around the mansion - or the Snow Valley offices - much. She'd taken a couple of boxes of the most promising books to the suite she shared with Marie-Ange and had been holded up in the second bedroom - set up as a study and spare room - poring over them since. Except for Marie-Ange bringing meals and cups of tea, she hadn't spoken to anyone for several days. But a repeated knocking at the door of the suite brought her back to reality and she put her work aside for a moment to answer it, only belatedly realising she was wearing a baggy Ramones shirt (without a bra) and a pair of Xavier's sweatpants.
"Oh good, you're alive," Jean said. But it was mostly just small talk, because she would have known that already. Though there was a cursory glance up and down at Amanda's outfit, she said nothing. "I...do you have a few minutes to talk?" Turning to look over her shoulder, her attention flickered back to Amanda.
"Privately."
"'Course doc, c'mon in." Amanda ushered in her guest, guessing why she was there and why she needed to talk privately. "You want tea? I need tea."
Jean nodded. "Please," she said appreciatively. It reminded her of Muir and being around Moira. "Two sugars and cream if you have it."
Amanda wrinkled her nose at the mention of cream. "Milk okay?" she asked, setting things up on autopilot. Mugs, teapot, kettle on. "England doesn't really do cream, even after all these years I stick to what I'm used to. if there's cream in our fridge it's usually for Garrison's coffee and most of the time it goes off before it's finished." She swirled hot water around in the teapot and added three teaspoons of tea leaves - one for each of them and one for the pot - before adding the water. "You pulling up okay after our adventure in Transia? Boobytraps are never fun, but at least it wasn't zombies this time?"
"I hate that we've had to make that distinction so many weeks one after another,"Jean mumbled, rubbing her forehead. At least the creatures didn't once look human.
"Milk is fine," she added. Her arms were folded, and she carefully took a look around. "I'm surviving. But I'm not here about me. Garrison told me about his...curse problem. I was hoping you could explain a little more."
"I figured you would." Amanda brought over the teapot and mugs and put them on the coffee table, before going back for the tea strainer and milk. She sat on the easy chair, indicating Jean should take a seat with a nod at the couch. "It's a relief, actually, that he told you. I was there with him when the Ancient One told him what was wrong, but he told me not to tell anyone."
"Not surprising," Jean said, folding her arms as she sat down. It was a little too quick out of her mouth for her liking, but it was how she felt. "Can you please try to help make it make sense? Garrison tried but...I still find myself a little confused."
"He doesn't want to be fussed over." Amanda gave her an apologetic half-grin and leaned forwards to pour the tea. "As for the diagnosis... I'll try. It can't be more confusing than whatever Gar said."
"Too bad. He's going to get fussed over," Jean said with a shrug. Privately, of course. She promised not to tell the others but he was still going to get her attention to help as much as she could. "Since you're our resident magic expert I'm hoping you'll be able to translate it a little better since you know more about how these things work."
She had already been on the other side of magic and demonic energy way too much for her own liking.
The resident magic expert sighed and pushed a full mug of tea in front of Jean before pouring her own. "Okay." She paused, pouring milk and adding sugar while she collected her thoughts. "So, this is going to sound totally Star Wars, but magic is kind of like the Force. It's all connected - every living thing has potentiality in terms of magic. Spells and curses, they tap into that, or disrupt it. That's why we talk in terms of Light and Dark. Light Magic is creative, nurturing, protective. Dark Magic... isn't. But it's still needed, since you can't have the Light without the Dark. You can't have creation without some kind of destruction, yeah?"
Jean leaned back in her chair, contemplative. "Right," she said quietly. "And...he...." The identifier hung heavy with implication as to who she was referring to without saying Olivier's name, but it bristled along the surface of her core being. "Disrupted that...somehow?" she said awkwardly, fumbling over the words but still not fully understanding.
Amanda's expression was full of sympathy - she didn't need Jean to say who he was referring to. "Partly," she replied. "The real issue is that Gar's been on the receiving end of a lot of serious magic over the years. Back in the other dimension, there were a few things, but the biggest thing was a Norse curse and him catching Mjolnir. He's been hit with chaos magic, Asgardian magic, demon magic, hell, even a Halloween screw up's contributed. All of that's combined to..." She paused, trying to figure out how to explain it.
"You have all these energies that clash mixed in together until something gives. And what's happened is that what gave is Gar's connection with... everything. He's no longer connected to the magical undercurrent that makes everything... connect." She made a frustrated noise. "I don't know how to put it so a layperson understands."
"Like radiation poisoning," Jean surmised. "Just...magical?"
"Like that, yeah. And because he's not connected any more, his own body's using itself up, trying to fill the gap. First his powers, then..." Her voice caught a little. "Then everything else. I don't know how long he's got, but eventually he'll just fade away, unless we can find a way to connect him again."
Jean was silent for a few moments. "I'll do everything I can on my end," she said. It wasn't a lot since this was a magic problem, but it was worth trying something other than just staring at the problem and willing it to resolve itself.
"Thank you." The words were blurted out in a burst of relief and suddenly Amanda looked a little less tired than she had previously. "I mean it, thank you. Gar didn't want anyone else to know what was going on so he could keep on as normal, but there's some things that are too big to carry on your own. And he let me tell Angie since I promised no more secrets after last time, but no-one else and it's been so hard." Her voice broke again and she had to pause, clenching her eyes shut against the tears that were trying to force their way through. "We'll find something to help him." The words were her mantra. "We have to. It's not his time yet."
"You're damn right," Jean said firmly. She wasn't as comfortable with the magic realm as Amanda was, but she was in the scientific one. Between their expertise surely there was something that would provide a lead.
And Jean was one, if not stubborn.
Silent a moment, she glanced Amanda over, opening her arms for a hug, if she wanted one.
Strangely, considering they didn't really have that kind of relationship, Amanda didn't pause - she left the chair and practically threw herself into Jean's embrace, hugging the other woman tightly. Nothing was said for a moment or two, until Amanda released her hold and shuffled back along the couch, clearing her throat and swiping at the tell-tale dampness in her eyes. "Sorry," she said, a little embarrassed at the show of emotion. "I kind of needed that." She coughed again, steadying her voice. "Right, so, I can give you my notes on Gar's progress and what I've been able to establish in terms of history of this particular thing so you have a background for your side of things?" she continued, trying to regain her business-like tone.
Jean nodded. "That would be very helpful," she said, passing it off like nothing had happened for Amanda's sake to help her along. "I can also send you what I have so far from the science side. I had Tony Stark and Bruce Banner look into things. Garrison was there too, of course. Maybe we can make some science magic hybrid theory with the pieces."
"Sounds good. I've got a bunch of magical chaos theory out of these books we jacked from Transia; there's definitely a chaos element with this. There was something in the reports from the Malice mission, about her pheromones turning into fresh pine scent? Well, I think it's tied into this whole thing..." Amanda reached for a book and flipped it open on the coffee table in front of them. "This bit here, it's in Latin, but I can translate..."
"That'd be great. My Latin's a little rusty," Jean mused. "Well, as they say...Carpe...Magic?" Letting out a breath, she leaned forward to glance over the book that was easily older than the two of them put together. It was going to be a long road, but with enough tea, and drive, they'd get through it.
Following the great book heist, finding out about Garrison's condition and the trip to consult with Bruce Banner, Jean goes to get more details from the other subject matter expert.
Since they'd gotten back from Transia, Amanda hadn't been seen around the mansion - or the Snow Valley offices - much. She'd taken a couple of boxes of the most promising books to the suite she shared with Marie-Ange and had been holded up in the second bedroom - set up as a study and spare room - poring over them since. Except for Marie-Ange bringing meals and cups of tea, she hadn't spoken to anyone for several days. But a repeated knocking at the door of the suite brought her back to reality and she put her work aside for a moment to answer it, only belatedly realising she was wearing a baggy Ramones shirt (without a bra) and a pair of Xavier's sweatpants.
"Oh good, you're alive," Jean said. But it was mostly just small talk, because she would have known that already. Though there was a cursory glance up and down at Amanda's outfit, she said nothing. "I...do you have a few minutes to talk?" Turning to look over her shoulder, her attention flickered back to Amanda.
"Privately."
"'Course doc, c'mon in." Amanda ushered in her guest, guessing why she was there and why she needed to talk privately. "You want tea? I need tea."
Jean nodded. "Please," she said appreciatively. It reminded her of Muir and being around Moira. "Two sugars and cream if you have it."
Amanda wrinkled her nose at the mention of cream. "Milk okay?" she asked, setting things up on autopilot. Mugs, teapot, kettle on. "England doesn't really do cream, even after all these years I stick to what I'm used to. if there's cream in our fridge it's usually for Garrison's coffee and most of the time it goes off before it's finished." She swirled hot water around in the teapot and added three teaspoons of tea leaves - one for each of them and one for the pot - before adding the water. "You pulling up okay after our adventure in Transia? Boobytraps are never fun, but at least it wasn't zombies this time?"
"I hate that we've had to make that distinction so many weeks one after another,"Jean mumbled, rubbing her forehead. At least the creatures didn't once look human.
"Milk is fine," she added. Her arms were folded, and she carefully took a look around. "I'm surviving. But I'm not here about me. Garrison told me about his...curse problem. I was hoping you could explain a little more."
"I figured you would." Amanda brought over the teapot and mugs and put them on the coffee table, before going back for the tea strainer and milk. She sat on the easy chair, indicating Jean should take a seat with a nod at the couch. "It's a relief, actually, that he told you. I was there with him when the Ancient One told him what was wrong, but he told me not to tell anyone."
"Not surprising," Jean said, folding her arms as she sat down. It was a little too quick out of her mouth for her liking, but it was how she felt. "Can you please try to help make it make sense? Garrison tried but...I still find myself a little confused."
"He doesn't want to be fussed over." Amanda gave her an apologetic half-grin and leaned forwards to pour the tea. "As for the diagnosis... I'll try. It can't be more confusing than whatever Gar said."
"Too bad. He's going to get fussed over," Jean said with a shrug. Privately, of course. She promised not to tell the others but he was still going to get her attention to help as much as she could. "Since you're our resident magic expert I'm hoping you'll be able to translate it a little better since you know more about how these things work."
She had already been on the other side of magic and demonic energy way too much for her own liking.
The resident magic expert sighed and pushed a full mug of tea in front of Jean before pouring her own. "Okay." She paused, pouring milk and adding sugar while she collected her thoughts. "So, this is going to sound totally Star Wars, but magic is kind of like the Force. It's all connected - every living thing has potentiality in terms of magic. Spells and curses, they tap into that, or disrupt it. That's why we talk in terms of Light and Dark. Light Magic is creative, nurturing, protective. Dark Magic... isn't. But it's still needed, since you can't have the Light without the Dark. You can't have creation without some kind of destruction, yeah?"
Jean leaned back in her chair, contemplative. "Right," she said quietly. "And...he...." The identifier hung heavy with implication as to who she was referring to without saying Olivier's name, but it bristled along the surface of her core being. "Disrupted that...somehow?" she said awkwardly, fumbling over the words but still not fully understanding.
Amanda's expression was full of sympathy - she didn't need Jean to say who he was referring to. "Partly," she replied. "The real issue is that Gar's been on the receiving end of a lot of serious magic over the years. Back in the other dimension, there were a few things, but the biggest thing was a Norse curse and him catching Mjolnir. He's been hit with chaos magic, Asgardian magic, demon magic, hell, even a Halloween screw up's contributed. All of that's combined to..." She paused, trying to figure out how to explain it.
"You have all these energies that clash mixed in together until something gives. And what's happened is that what gave is Gar's connection with... everything. He's no longer connected to the magical undercurrent that makes everything... connect." She made a frustrated noise. "I don't know how to put it so a layperson understands."
"Like radiation poisoning," Jean surmised. "Just...magical?"
"Like that, yeah. And because he's not connected any more, his own body's using itself up, trying to fill the gap. First his powers, then..." Her voice caught a little. "Then everything else. I don't know how long he's got, but eventually he'll just fade away, unless we can find a way to connect him again."
Jean was silent for a few moments. "I'll do everything I can on my end," she said. It wasn't a lot since this was a magic problem, but it was worth trying something other than just staring at the problem and willing it to resolve itself.
"Thank you." The words were blurted out in a burst of relief and suddenly Amanda looked a little less tired than she had previously. "I mean it, thank you. Gar didn't want anyone else to know what was going on so he could keep on as normal, but there's some things that are too big to carry on your own. And he let me tell Angie since I promised no more secrets after last time, but no-one else and it's been so hard." Her voice broke again and she had to pause, clenching her eyes shut against the tears that were trying to force their way through. "We'll find something to help him." The words were her mantra. "We have to. It's not his time yet."
"You're damn right," Jean said firmly. She wasn't as comfortable with the magic realm as Amanda was, but she was in the scientific one. Between their expertise surely there was something that would provide a lead.
And Jean was one, if not stubborn.
Silent a moment, she glanced Amanda over, opening her arms for a hug, if she wanted one.
Strangely, considering they didn't really have that kind of relationship, Amanda didn't pause - she left the chair and practically threw herself into Jean's embrace, hugging the other woman tightly. Nothing was said for a moment or two, until Amanda released her hold and shuffled back along the couch, clearing her throat and swiping at the tell-tale dampness in her eyes. "Sorry," she said, a little embarrassed at the show of emotion. "I kind of needed that." She coughed again, steadying her voice. "Right, so, I can give you my notes on Gar's progress and what I've been able to establish in terms of history of this particular thing so you have a background for your side of things?" she continued, trying to regain her business-like tone.
Jean nodded. "That would be very helpful," she said, passing it off like nothing had happened for Amanda's sake to help her along. "I can also send you what I have so far from the science side. I had Tony Stark and Bruce Banner look into things. Garrison was there too, of course. Maybe we can make some science magic hybrid theory with the pieces."
"Sounds good. I've got a bunch of magical chaos theory out of these books we jacked from Transia; there's definitely a chaos element with this. There was something in the reports from the Malice mission, about her pheromones turning into fresh pine scent? Well, I think it's tied into this whole thing..." Amanda reached for a book and flipped it open on the coffee table in front of them. "This bit here, it's in Latin, but I can translate..."
"That'd be great. My Latin's a little rusty," Jean mused. "Well, as they say...Carpe...Magic?" Letting out a breath, she leaned forward to glance over the book that was easily older than the two of them put together. It was going to be a long road, but with enough tea, and drive, they'd get through it.
no subject
Date: 2024-02-12 08:07 pm (UTC)Seeing magic and science intersect here is really interesting, and Jean/Amanda isn't a pairing I see too often outside of plot logs. It was a nice change to get a chance to see Amanda showing the strain of keeping all these secrets. Jean giving her support was really sweet.