Players:
Summary:Rashmi and Travis get some cuddle time in after recent events.
Date: May 21, 2012
Log Title: Recovery After Romania
Rating: PG
NYC - Four Arms Apartments (Rashmi's Room)
While not the smallest of the apartment's three bedrooms, the layout's odd angles make eyeballing the space in the room rather difficult; resembling a square with an angle cut into it off-center, the room's walls 'feel' closer than perhaps they might actually be, an impression aided by the swaths of red muslin nailed to the ceiling, allowed to drape slightly and gather up underneath the room's sole overhead lamp. Between this and the polished walnut floors, the room constantly carries an air of warmth and welcome, regardless of the temperature outside.
A simple Ikea double bed is pushed up along the side wall, to the left of the window, topped with dark brown sheets and a pair of black-covered pillows. Tacked to the wall above the bed, a trio of massive posters affording different views of Middle-Earth, with a battered and scarred Uruk-Hai sword secured to the wall by the door. The angled wall plays host to a pair of red-painted bookcases flanking a small black computer desk, the upper part of the shelves playing host to an assortment of sculpted figurines and models, the most noticeable being a handmade fired-clay Aragorn to her right, a clay gargoyle sitting on top of one of the bookcases and turned to face the door, and a miniature Taj Mahal, sculpted entirely of steel.
A small round floor rug in reds and golds sits in the center of the room, and a full-length mirror is attached to the outer closet door, completing the cozy, home-like feel of the room; a spot of warmth and the feeling of luxury, no matter how cold and dingy it may get in Mutant Town outside the window.
Mid-afternoon, and Rashmi is curled up on the bed, nose planted firmly in one of the Narnia books as she has been for most of the day. Since her return, Rashmi hasn't talked a great deal; much like the fallout from Nigeria, the situation she's been put through and the sheer relief at being home has, temporarily, put her quite off the desire to argue much at all. A new addition to the desk, a small, ornate bottle of something, and now and again her eyes stray toward it for a moment's contemplation.
Travis has been around the apartment, not pressing Rashmi to talk about anything but not really wanting to leave her either, but with classes today, he's had to go to Barnes. Now that school's over, he's come back to the apartment and there's a quiet knock on Rashmi's door. "Hey Rashmi, it's me." He says pushing the door open ever so slightly. "Mind if I come in?"
"Why should I?" Rashmi counters, looking up and giving Travis a weary smile. "Seriously… I missed you way too much to want you to stay away now…" Patting the bed next to her, she scootches over a bit to make room.
The smile is returned and Travis hands her a Cool Whip container with something hot in it. "This is from my Mom. I told her you weren't sick or anything but she insisted on making you some soup, it's beef and barley." He sits down next to her and puts two of his arms around her. "I missed you so much too, I was really worried but if there's anything you're not lacking it's an unbelievable inner strenght."
Rashmi leans into Travis, closing her eyes and settling the container in her lap. Closing her eyes, she lets out a soft, slow sigh. "Maybe… but I have my limits too, y'know…? And if I didn't hit them, I *was* right up on the edge of them. It wasn't *like* Nigeria, where I knew the rules of the game and there was something to fight. Just… it was a holding pen. A big, expensive, magical holding pen for princesses."
Travis leans down and gives Rashmi a kiss on the top of her head. "I know you do, I'm sorry you had to go through all that." He says as he rubs her arm lightly with his. "Though I'm here for you now so I'm ready to listen when you're ready to talk about it." He doesn't want to ask her what happened as he knows it can be difficult to talk about. "I couldn't believe it when I heard that Dracula was involved, I guess I always thought he wasn't real."
"Maybe later," Rashmi murmurs, resting her head against Travis' neck and closing her eyes. "I *sort of* had a handle on the idea… I mean, we have that elective class taught by a pixie, which was pretty good foundation for being able to wrap my head around it… but… actually seeing him in person is a *whole* different story, y'know?"
"I'm just lucky your best friend is Connor who just somehow knows how to handle all this stuff. Though I could tell there was a strain on him." Travis says as he brushes one of his many free hands through Rashmi's short hair. "Who was that younger guy we found locked up. Geoffrey I think he said his name was?"
"That… was Dracula's son. Also the reason we were all there in the first place; the Count wanted him to get married, you see." Cracking an eye open, she smiles faintly at the brush through her hair, though it prompts a glance at the bottle on the desk. "He wasn't any happier about the whole thing than we were, and he helped us out as best he could… Also got a lot of us little 'sorry my Dad kidnapped you and held you hostage for months' gifts, I guess."
"Well he kidnapped the wrong girl for that. I think I might have a bit of an opinion if he were to try to marry you." Travis says with a grin. "Also, you have school and all your work to consider first, I don't think you could ever fit it in your schedule to find time for a wedding ceremony." He teases her affectionatly. "So that was his son, can you trust a gift from a vampire?"
Rashmi tilts her head up, giving the joke a weak smile, and tightens her hug. "Somehow… I don't think any of that would have mattered, if it came to it…" Her eyes flick to the bottle again, and she chews her lower lip. "Iunno… That's part of why I'm just letting it sit there, for right now. But I mean… why go to all the trouble of helping us escape and getting Dracula killed… I guess again… just to make life miserable when it all settles, y'know…?"
Travis looks at Rashmi and frowns at her. "I never really thought of you to be pessimistic about something. Just to make life miserable?" He's not quite sure what she's getting at. "It seemed like he was just as much a prisoner there as you, well maybe not just as much but, I'm just glad you're all physically okay. Anything you want or need, let me know. I'll even sit through another ballet if it helps you recover."
"Well, you asked if I could trust the gift, right? And the only thing I can think of that way is, what if it's a trap?" Lifting a free shoulder, she sighs through her nose. "…And not *everyone's* physically okay… Jill. She, um… she sort of made herself kind of a sacrificial lamb so the rest of us could go free. …So now Ms. Frost has to figure out how to help a student who's a vampire."
"Holy shit." Travis breaths out every so quietly. "I….wow." He doesn't really know much of what to say to that and subconciously hugs Rashmi a bit tighter. "Is she…okay. I mean besides the whole Vampire thing is she…how can you be okay with that. It's just..I'm glad we were able to get you all out before he did that to everyone."
"Thank Geoffrey for that," Rashmi murmurs, squeezing her eyes shut. "Dracula wanted to starve her, and leave her with the rest of us, so she could learn how to… y'know… *feed* like a real vampire." A full-body shiver runs through her, and she squeezes a bit more tightly. "…Or I guess that's how it was supposed to go. I just know Geoffrey kept her supplied with… well, blood… so she wouldn't kill any of us."
Travis winces and holds Rashmi with all six of his arms almost like he's afraid to let her go, afraid of what might have been. "I'm so sorry Rashmi, I really wish we could have gotten there sooner before…before everything."
Rashmi hugs back, just as tight. "It's okay… Nobody's dealt with magic before, it was probably a total pain to get anywhere. I'm just… glad to be back home, y'know? Where stuff's *normal* again. Even if it means I have way too much classwork to make up… I'm home. I'm back with you again. …And… that's enough."
"Well I can help with any class work and I'm sure Barnes will be able to put something together to help." Travis says giving her a reassuring smile. "And we can do all the normal things you want. I'm here for you, always." He says leaning into to give her a kiss.
Rashmi lifts her head, pressing her lips to his with a smile. "I know you are," she murmurs. "I never forgot that, either. …And I never will."
"How about tonight, I'll go out, grab us some Indian food take out, I know you can cook it yourself but I figure it'd be easier just to grab some takeout, then tonight we can watch or do whatever you want. If you want to go for a walk, stay here and watch movies, want me to recite Viggo's lines from Lord of the Rings for you, we can do it." Travis just wants to do whatever to help Rashmi feel like things are going back to normal.
"That… sounds like a *wonderful* idea," Rashmi says with a soft chuckle. Pausing, she wrinkles her nose, ducking her head back into Travis' neck. "…Just… no chai, okay? Like, ever. *Ever.* I am done drinking that stuff for as long as I live."
"No chai." Travis agrees which is fine by him cause he doesn't really drink the stuff. "I'll bring a bottle of coke or something. Wait..what's good to drink with Indian food?" He's not exactly a culinary expert so to him coke goes with everything.
"Whatever you like," Rashmi murmurs, a note of real humor creeping into her voice. "I've still got some tea in the kitchen, so I'll have that. …Also I'm pretty sure there's still cupcakes in the fridge."
"Those cupcakes were pretty good. Now I understand all the hype about this Red Velvet." Travis says moving ever so slightly so he can rub her shoulders a bit. What's the point of having six hands when you can't rub your girlfriend's back with them. "Since Memorial Day weekend is coming up, I'll think of some fun normal things for us to do. Invite your roommates along as well."
"Mmmmn…" And the backrub does its job, some of the tension in Rashmi's shoulders beginning to ease out. "Sounds like a plan, yeah…" Letting out a long sigh, she melts against the six-armed mutant. "…Y'know what I really hate about these things?" she murmurs. "The debriefings. They're *horrible,* aren't they?"
"Yes." Travis agrees as he continues with the back rubbings. "It's like you're being interrigated with all the questions and then it's like they way those SHIELD agents look at you, like you've said the wrong thing…" He luckily hasn't been in too many. "At least you'll have Dashenka, or will it be seperate debriefings?"
"Oh separate, always," Rashmi answers, groaning. "Can't make sure the stories match up otherwise; it's like contaminating a crime scene for the police. And it's gonna be a long one, thanks to three months out of action… Ng." Draping herself against Travis, she lets out a heavy sigh. "If I didn't understand why it's important to do them, I'd ask Agent Drew if maybe I could sit this one out… but no chance of that happening anyway."
"I doubt that too. Maybe ask if you could sumbit something in writing?" Travis suggests not really thinking it'd work either. "After that you need a three month vacation of no action to recover from the out of action." He says pulling Rashmi against him to snuggle. "I just hope it's not that weird agent with the lazy eye that you never know what he's looking at."
"Oh I'm already doing the report… or I will," she amends, looking to one side, "after dinner. And yeah, Agent Jackson might be a little bit disconcerting, but, she's actually *really* sharp. …I think that's on purpose, come to think of it… He's probably really good at *actual* interrogation."
"I don't want to test that theroy. I odn't really want to be in an actual interrogation." Travis says with a chuckle. "Or he's just the guy who is awful at interrogations and instead of having him push paperwork all day they decide to let him debref the students as a way to make him feel not so bad?"
"I'm *pretty* sure he wouldn't be working for SHIELD if that was the case," Rashmi replies wryly. "Anyway… THat's not for a little bit yet, which is nice enough."
"Sorry, just trying to make you smile a bit." Travis says to her wry tone before pushing himself up. "Okay, I'm gonna run out and grab some food and drinks and you can decide what movie you want to watch and when we get back, it's relax time." He gives her a kiss, holding Rashmi tight for a bit, before standing up. "I'll be back shortly."
