xp_logs | Puke is never especially fun.

x-pyromaniac.livejournal.com posting in

The door to Jamie, Doug, and Artie's room is open, but nobody is inside. Jamie is still off avoiding everyone as much as possible, and Artie is downstairs playing video games with Illyana. Faint sounds of someone throwing up can be heard from the bathroom.

John approaches the door warily, but he doesn't bother knocking. Pushing it open wider, he makes his way inside, moving around the beds, and finally peers into the bathroom to see Doug on his knees. "Someone had a lot for lunch. Ooo, chunky," he mutters, peering into the toilet bowl.

Doug wipes his mouth with the back of his hand and looks shakily at John. "Your bedside *hurk* manner leaves something to be desired."

John flashes him a grin and bends down, gently pushing Doug's head back and expertly wiping his mouth properly with some balled toilet paper, before pulling him over to the basin and washing his hand clean. "I've seen a lot of puke. It doesn't get better."

Doug slumps down against the wall, knees pulled up to his chest. "Yeah." He leans his head back against the wall and stares at the ceiling.

John settles down on his knees and holds his hand, awkwardly. "Look, I didn't do this well when it was my sibling, but. You okay, man? Being a mutant isn't that bad."

Doug sighs and closes his eyes. "Yeah, I mean I quite possibly have the most non-flashy mutant power known to man, but that's okay. It's just...everything all at once. The whole blowup over the kids at Muir Island, the giant mutant-hunting robots, the hurricane, Jamie, Ms. Braddock...and now I really can't go home again."

"Why ever not?" John asks quietly, and moves to rub his back haltingly.

Doug draws in a shaky breath and halfway leans in to John. "The reason I came here in the first place was that I tested positive for the X-gene. Those test results are supposed to be confidential. But they got out anyways. And my parents were getting harassed. It was subtle at first, but it was getting more blatant. So they got in touch with Xavier. I think we all kind of hoped it would be temporary, but as bad as the problems were when they thought I _might_ be a mutant...it'd be ten times worse now that I _know_ I am."

"And your folks can say exactly what your powers are. You might be a mutant, but you're no damn threat....I mean, you haven't killed anyone, so I'm guessing it ain't offensive mojo, right?" John loosely wraps an arm around Doug's shoulders and settles down next to him.

Doug sniffles. "Like that matters? You know how non-mutants have reacted. Look at Senator Kelly. Look at Striker. And yeah, it's about as far from offensive as you get. About all I'd be useful for in a fight is being able to say 'I surrender.' It's languages. I can understand and communicate in any language." He laughs, a bitter tinge to it. "Just call me Universal Translator Boy."

John shrugs, looks at him askance, and hands him another tissue. "Well, at least you're not Tricorder Boy. Or Medical Probe Lad."

Doug makes a strange noise that is half sniffle, half chuckle.

"Things could be worse. You could get a job in government; the U.N.'d love you, that's for sure." John pulls back a little, watches him. "It's not the end of the world. And people are always going to hate you for something."

Doug nods. "Yeah, I guess. I suppose it's mostly that life picked a bad time to drop this realization crap on me. Like there isn't enough junk already going on."

"Life's like that. Best thing to do is knee it in the balls," John confides. "That's what I always do."

Doug makes that half-sniffle, half-chuckle noise again. "I'll try and keep that in mind."

John ruffles his hair. "You're a good kid. You'll pull through. Trust me on this, or I'll knee /you/ in the balls."

Doug waves him off. "Okay, okay. And I find it amusing that you're calling me 'kid'. What, you've gotten so wise in the year or two you've been on this earth longer than me?" He smiles weakly to show he's joking.

John makes a vague gesture. "Hey, I went evil. That counts for something. I've had experience in other areas, too," and his gesture is not so much vague as lewd.

Doug puts a hand to his face and shakes his head.

John stands, and offers him a hand. "Okay now?"

Doug takes the hand and slowly stands up. "Yeah. I guess." His face softens. "...thanks, John."

"Hey, you remind me of my brother, that's all," John says, and claps him on the back, giving him a curt nod and making his way out.

Doug sighs again, splashes his face with water, and wanders back into his room.