Marius & Mel | Leaps
Apr. 6th, 2024 11:55 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
xp_aero posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
xp_logsContent warning for allusions to suicide
Marius and Mel have another accidental late night rendezvous.
It was a beautiful night, almost every night was beautiful here. Tucked away from the city the stars shone brightly underneath careful watch of the moon.
From her perch on the edge of the roof, Mel took a deep breath and jumped.
Gravity pulled her down down down until the very last second, when she joined the stars in their illumination and flew upwards, skimming the grass of the lawn. A triumphant whoop filled the air as she did a fancy spiral.
Her reflexes were improving.
This was incredibly fortunate, because the end of the loop found her rocketing directly towards a man who had just happened to come from around the opposite side of the mansion.
Marius was experiencing a number of emotions. First, the initial adrenaline rush that came from having witnessed what had very much looked like a late-night suicide attempt. Then, when this had proven baseless, recognition and no small amount of trepidation as he realized he was in the presence of Samuel Guthrie's most haunted sibling. And finally, an entirely different and not at all baseless surge of adrenaline as he registered said sibling was hurtling directly at him.
Marius ducked.
Mel noticed him a touch too late and attempted to slow down, but merely ended up shooting over him. She wasn’t so great at stopping or dodging at high speeds.
“Sorry!” She called as she managed to turn around, cutting off her momentum. “So sorry oh my goodness!”
"No worries," Marius called, unfolding from his intimate introduction to the sod. He brushed the wisps of dried grass from his leggings before giving her a smile. "I might have announced myself, and accidents do happen. Melody Guthrie, correct?"
Mel floated down to the man. “No totally my fault! I oughta been payin’ more attention, there usually ain’t anyone else about at this hour.” She landed and smiled apologetically. “Yeah, I’m Mel. And you are? So so sorry.”
"Marius Laverne. We've met, in fact, but you were a bit insensate at the time." Indeed, the memory of Melody Guthrie floating down the hall occasionally still visited him at odd hours, but already this encounter was proving to be significantly less unnerving. Marius counted every moment without an ominous folksong as an improvement.
“Aw heck, did ya catch me out in the halls? I apologize, I don’ remember anythin’ from my… night walks.” She tried to search back. Did Sam mention a Marius in connection to her sleepwalking? Mel didn’t think so. “Nice to meet ya awake, at any rate.”
"Yourself as well. And again, no worries. I've had a few similar spells myself. A regular occurrence for you?" It seemed indelicate to mention that his own fugue states also typically ended in cannibalism-adjacent behavior; after all, this wasn't about him.
“It comes an’ goes,” she said vaguely. “Ain’t much to be done, I figure out how to open all the locks. I oughta start getting more creative with the barricades.” Less work on Sam that way. “Can’t happen if I don’t sleep though, an’ this hour makes for good practice time.”
"That's the spirit," said Marius, a man who'd chosen the same ungodly hour for a brisk jog for what were certainly healthy reasons. "The Medlab does carry a sort of mitten that prevents one from picking or manipulating small objects that might do the trick, but they do require the assistance of a trusted associate to don and remove. However, the mansion does see the odd crisis here and there, and I'm not sure I'd advise them for regular use. They don't breathe well, either."
Mel reckoned it would be impolite to ask how Marius knew that, so she brushed past it. “I ain’t sure that’ll be necessary, but thank you all the same.” One of these days the small maze of stuff she placed on her bedroom floor would work.
Marius waved a gloved hand. "I shouldn't think it'd be worth the effort for so harmless a habit. Ah-" and here Marius' memory threw up a realisation his brain failed to filter before coming out of his mouth, "here, were you amongst the group with the misfortune to be abducted the other day? That was an unfortunate bit of luck . . ."
“Oh, yeah. Unfortunate for sure,” Mel flushed. Seemed like everyone knew about the… incident. “It wasn’t so bad. We all made it out jus’ fine.”
The older man's nod was amiable. "So I had heard. Absent less than a day, escaped under your own power, no one brainwashed . . . quite the respectable showing by all accounts. Still," he continued, not without history of his own in these matters, "I do regret you had such an experience so early in your residency. I've had similarly poor experience with group excursions. The very first was a well-meaning attempt to introduce us to the inner workings of American governance that ended in a riot, I'm sorry to say. I was allowed a year or two before any actual abduction could transpire, however."
“Is this a.. common occurrence up here?” Mel asked tentatively. The fact that it had happened at all was ridiculous, and it seemed there were a lot of veteran abductees.
"Not particularly, but nor is it uncommon, if that makes sense. Does it happen often? No. Is it odd that it's happened at all? Yes. Still . . ."
Marius gestured towards the mansion. In the evenings, with only a few windows lit and minimal chaos occurring, the building almost appeared peaceful. "This place has, over its long years, managed to accrue a not inconsiderable amount of weirdness in quite a small area. It draws unwelcome attention. However, in my experience such things are a consequence of simply existing as a mutant. You know Kyle? He already had an abduction under his belt before he ever arrived. Not even a week out from manifestation and he was scooped up for some manner of shady government programme. I myself was abducted only last year for a similar purpose, and I'd not lived here for nearly a decade." The Australian gave her an easy shrug. "Having experienced it both ways, I must say I preferred the scenario in which I was assured of rescue."
It was lightly said, but Marius knew the alternative all too well. The drugs, the knife, the pain . . .
And no one had come.
Mel nodded solemnly, not one to pry. Cumberland may have been sheltered from some things, but she wasn’t stupid. “Makes sense. Well, good to get it over with sooner than later I guess.”
Marius smiled, pleased to be given an excuse to ignore what had come dangerously close to being an Emotion.
"What an interesting way to think of it," he mused. "Does a light kidnapping innoculate one against subsequent, more severe abductions, or simply create a tolerance? Perhaps this is a phenomena to be studied."
“Ain’t sure I’m gonna be volunteering to test out those theories anytime soon,” Mel said, chuckling lightly. “One is plenty fer me.”
Marius, a man three abductions deep but not one to dash youthful optimism, decided not to inform her of the actual odds that this would be the case. Besides, Mel conscious was considerably less eerie than Mel sleepwalking. It would be a shame to ruin it.
"One can but hope," he said, and grinned. "Well, at least you're in the right place if ever you should feel the urge to sharpen up your self-defence skills. I myself simply joined the X-Men, but this is of course not the route for everyone."
“X-men?” Mel asked, head tilted. She hadn’t been told about anything like that.
"A non-traditional path, but certainly an option. I was one for a time and recently rejoined. I suspect there's still some manner of programme that allows you first to observe and then, if you so desire, take on a probationary role as a trainee." Even as the words rolled from his tongue Marius felt a mild pang of concern that this might be the first Mel was hearing of it. He was probably not the appropriate person to deliver an official explanation on the mansion's local paramilitary organisation. On the other hand, even if she hadn't known she would have eventually noticed the modified jet that emerged from the basketball court, so Marius chose to believe the discovery was inevitable.
That clarified absolutely nothing, but now Mel’s interest was piqued. “An’ what is it y’all do exactly?”
Ah. It seemed she hadn't known after all. Well, c'est la vie. "I suppose you would call it crisis response," said Marius, wondering how murderously protective the elder Guthrie might become if his baby sister got it into her head to become an X-Man. "Intervention in terrorist attacks regarding mutants, either as perpetrators or victims. The odd assistance during a natural disaster. Imminent threats and that." The Australian tossed his head to dislodge a curl that had fallen across one eye. "ACAB, naturally, but if a situation arises in which life and limb is at risk and the police would reasonably conclude they haven't the resources, those are the areas in which the X-Men excel."
Mel got a dangerous look on her face- the look of a scheming Guthrie. “Huh, interestin’. So y’all are basically like, superheroes?” Sam had mentioned that Clint was a superhero-type. Was he on the X-men? She’d have to ask. “That’s neat.” The idea of it was nice, helping people, making a difference.
"It can be quite rewarding, although it should be said it's not without risk. I believe we've a few members still recuperating from injuries taken on the last mission. And, well, sometimes things don't go as we might hope." Far be it from Marius to deprive Mel of the same option he'd taken in response to his own abduction -- joining the team had been more effective than therapy when it came to dealing with the lingering feelings of helplessness, after all -- but nor did he want to mislead the girl. Physical injury wasn't the only risk. He hadn't needed to be at Avignon to picture the aftermath. Whilst not engaged in unnerving somnambulism Mel seemed a cheerful soul, and Marius didn't particularly want her oversold on an activity that might expose her to mass slaughter. He hadn't found the experience particularly enriching unless you counted an added texture to his nightmares.
“Is it worth it? To you I mean.”
This provoked a moment of thought, which, for Marius, was no mean feat.
"I believe so," the man said finally, "but there came a point I found myself not equal to it. My health's always been a bit unpredictable. There was an incident in the field, and whilst I largely recovered it led me to reassess my priorities. There were other factors as well, of course, but in the end I resigned." Without realizing it, Marius had begun to fuss with the cuff of one glove. He dropped his hand and flashed her a smile, teeth bright in the dark. "That said, my circumstances have changed considerably since then . . . and I won't deny I missed it. Perhaps second time's the charm, eh?"
She returned his smile. “Seems it.” It was a lot to consider, and obviously a decision that would be much later on- but still, something to think about.
The grin widened. "One can hope. Regardless, if you feel you'd like to give it a go, I would regard it as a personal favour if you were to not tell your brother it was I who raised the possibility. Sam strikes me as rather" and here no term Marius could conceive of felt like anything but an understatement, "protective."
“My lips are sealed,” Mel said, mimicking locking them and throwing away the key. She couldn’t help but laugh at the look on Marius’ face. Seemed things weren’t so different from back home up here.
Marius and Mel have another accidental late night rendezvous.
It was a beautiful night, almost every night was beautiful here. Tucked away from the city the stars shone brightly underneath careful watch of the moon.
From her perch on the edge of the roof, Mel took a deep breath and jumped.
Gravity pulled her down down down until the very last second, when she joined the stars in their illumination and flew upwards, skimming the grass of the lawn. A triumphant whoop filled the air as she did a fancy spiral.
Her reflexes were improving.
This was incredibly fortunate, because the end of the loop found her rocketing directly towards a man who had just happened to come from around the opposite side of the mansion.
Marius was experiencing a number of emotions. First, the initial adrenaline rush that came from having witnessed what had very much looked like a late-night suicide attempt. Then, when this had proven baseless, recognition and no small amount of trepidation as he realized he was in the presence of Samuel Guthrie's most haunted sibling. And finally, an entirely different and not at all baseless surge of adrenaline as he registered said sibling was hurtling directly at him.
Marius ducked.
Mel noticed him a touch too late and attempted to slow down, but merely ended up shooting over him. She wasn’t so great at stopping or dodging at high speeds.
“Sorry!” She called as she managed to turn around, cutting off her momentum. “So sorry oh my goodness!”
"No worries," Marius called, unfolding from his intimate introduction to the sod. He brushed the wisps of dried grass from his leggings before giving her a smile. "I might have announced myself, and accidents do happen. Melody Guthrie, correct?"
Mel floated down to the man. “No totally my fault! I oughta been payin’ more attention, there usually ain’t anyone else about at this hour.” She landed and smiled apologetically. “Yeah, I’m Mel. And you are? So so sorry.”
"Marius Laverne. We've met, in fact, but you were a bit insensate at the time." Indeed, the memory of Melody Guthrie floating down the hall occasionally still visited him at odd hours, but already this encounter was proving to be significantly less unnerving. Marius counted every moment without an ominous folksong as an improvement.
“Aw heck, did ya catch me out in the halls? I apologize, I don’ remember anythin’ from my… night walks.” She tried to search back. Did Sam mention a Marius in connection to her sleepwalking? Mel didn’t think so. “Nice to meet ya awake, at any rate.”
"Yourself as well. And again, no worries. I've had a few similar spells myself. A regular occurrence for you?" It seemed indelicate to mention that his own fugue states also typically ended in cannibalism-adjacent behavior; after all, this wasn't about him.
“It comes an’ goes,” she said vaguely. “Ain’t much to be done, I figure out how to open all the locks. I oughta start getting more creative with the barricades.” Less work on Sam that way. “Can’t happen if I don’t sleep though, an’ this hour makes for good practice time.”
"That's the spirit," said Marius, a man who'd chosen the same ungodly hour for a brisk jog for what were certainly healthy reasons. "The Medlab does carry a sort of mitten that prevents one from picking or manipulating small objects that might do the trick, but they do require the assistance of a trusted associate to don and remove. However, the mansion does see the odd crisis here and there, and I'm not sure I'd advise them for regular use. They don't breathe well, either."
Mel reckoned it would be impolite to ask how Marius knew that, so she brushed past it. “I ain’t sure that’ll be necessary, but thank you all the same.” One of these days the small maze of stuff she placed on her bedroom floor would work.
Marius waved a gloved hand. "I shouldn't think it'd be worth the effort for so harmless a habit. Ah-" and here Marius' memory threw up a realisation his brain failed to filter before coming out of his mouth, "here, were you amongst the group with the misfortune to be abducted the other day? That was an unfortunate bit of luck . . ."
“Oh, yeah. Unfortunate for sure,” Mel flushed. Seemed like everyone knew about the… incident. “It wasn’t so bad. We all made it out jus’ fine.”
The older man's nod was amiable. "So I had heard. Absent less than a day, escaped under your own power, no one brainwashed . . . quite the respectable showing by all accounts. Still," he continued, not without history of his own in these matters, "I do regret you had such an experience so early in your residency. I've had similarly poor experience with group excursions. The very first was a well-meaning attempt to introduce us to the inner workings of American governance that ended in a riot, I'm sorry to say. I was allowed a year or two before any actual abduction could transpire, however."
“Is this a.. common occurrence up here?” Mel asked tentatively. The fact that it had happened at all was ridiculous, and it seemed there were a lot of veteran abductees.
"Not particularly, but nor is it uncommon, if that makes sense. Does it happen often? No. Is it odd that it's happened at all? Yes. Still . . ."
Marius gestured towards the mansion. In the evenings, with only a few windows lit and minimal chaos occurring, the building almost appeared peaceful. "This place has, over its long years, managed to accrue a not inconsiderable amount of weirdness in quite a small area. It draws unwelcome attention. However, in my experience such things are a consequence of simply existing as a mutant. You know Kyle? He already had an abduction under his belt before he ever arrived. Not even a week out from manifestation and he was scooped up for some manner of shady government programme. I myself was abducted only last year for a similar purpose, and I'd not lived here for nearly a decade." The Australian gave her an easy shrug. "Having experienced it both ways, I must say I preferred the scenario in which I was assured of rescue."
It was lightly said, but Marius knew the alternative all too well. The drugs, the knife, the pain . . .
And no one had come.
Mel nodded solemnly, not one to pry. Cumberland may have been sheltered from some things, but she wasn’t stupid. “Makes sense. Well, good to get it over with sooner than later I guess.”
Marius smiled, pleased to be given an excuse to ignore what had come dangerously close to being an Emotion.
"What an interesting way to think of it," he mused. "Does a light kidnapping innoculate one against subsequent, more severe abductions, or simply create a tolerance? Perhaps this is a phenomena to be studied."
“Ain’t sure I’m gonna be volunteering to test out those theories anytime soon,” Mel said, chuckling lightly. “One is plenty fer me.”
Marius, a man three abductions deep but not one to dash youthful optimism, decided not to inform her of the actual odds that this would be the case. Besides, Mel conscious was considerably less eerie than Mel sleepwalking. It would be a shame to ruin it.
"One can but hope," he said, and grinned. "Well, at least you're in the right place if ever you should feel the urge to sharpen up your self-defence skills. I myself simply joined the X-Men, but this is of course not the route for everyone."
“X-men?” Mel asked, head tilted. She hadn’t been told about anything like that.
"A non-traditional path, but certainly an option. I was one for a time and recently rejoined. I suspect there's still some manner of programme that allows you first to observe and then, if you so desire, take on a probationary role as a trainee." Even as the words rolled from his tongue Marius felt a mild pang of concern that this might be the first Mel was hearing of it. He was probably not the appropriate person to deliver an official explanation on the mansion's local paramilitary organisation. On the other hand, even if she hadn't known she would have eventually noticed the modified jet that emerged from the basketball court, so Marius chose to believe the discovery was inevitable.
That clarified absolutely nothing, but now Mel’s interest was piqued. “An’ what is it y’all do exactly?”
Ah. It seemed she hadn't known after all. Well, c'est la vie. "I suppose you would call it crisis response," said Marius, wondering how murderously protective the elder Guthrie might become if his baby sister got it into her head to become an X-Man. "Intervention in terrorist attacks regarding mutants, either as perpetrators or victims. The odd assistance during a natural disaster. Imminent threats and that." The Australian tossed his head to dislodge a curl that had fallen across one eye. "ACAB, naturally, but if a situation arises in which life and limb is at risk and the police would reasonably conclude they haven't the resources, those are the areas in which the X-Men excel."
Mel got a dangerous look on her face- the look of a scheming Guthrie. “Huh, interestin’. So y’all are basically like, superheroes?” Sam had mentioned that Clint was a superhero-type. Was he on the X-men? She’d have to ask. “That’s neat.” The idea of it was nice, helping people, making a difference.
"It can be quite rewarding, although it should be said it's not without risk. I believe we've a few members still recuperating from injuries taken on the last mission. And, well, sometimes things don't go as we might hope." Far be it from Marius to deprive Mel of the same option he'd taken in response to his own abduction -- joining the team had been more effective than therapy when it came to dealing with the lingering feelings of helplessness, after all -- but nor did he want to mislead the girl. Physical injury wasn't the only risk. He hadn't needed to be at Avignon to picture the aftermath. Whilst not engaged in unnerving somnambulism Mel seemed a cheerful soul, and Marius didn't particularly want her oversold on an activity that might expose her to mass slaughter. He hadn't found the experience particularly enriching unless you counted an added texture to his nightmares.
“Is it worth it? To you I mean.”
This provoked a moment of thought, which, for Marius, was no mean feat.
"I believe so," the man said finally, "but there came a point I found myself not equal to it. My health's always been a bit unpredictable. There was an incident in the field, and whilst I largely recovered it led me to reassess my priorities. There were other factors as well, of course, but in the end I resigned." Without realizing it, Marius had begun to fuss with the cuff of one glove. He dropped his hand and flashed her a smile, teeth bright in the dark. "That said, my circumstances have changed considerably since then . . . and I won't deny I missed it. Perhaps second time's the charm, eh?"
She returned his smile. “Seems it.” It was a lot to consider, and obviously a decision that would be much later on- but still, something to think about.
The grin widened. "One can hope. Regardless, if you feel you'd like to give it a go, I would regard it as a personal favour if you were to not tell your brother it was I who raised the possibility. Sam strikes me as rather" and here no term Marius could conceive of felt like anything but an understatement, "protective."
“My lips are sealed,” Mel said, mimicking locking them and throwing away the key. She couldn’t help but laugh at the look on Marius’ face. Seemed things weren’t so different from back home up here.
