Players:
Summary: Ashley, Connor and Shane are all dealing with the aftermath of Upgrade and Mindbender.
Date: August 19, 2011
Log Title: The Day After
Rating: PG-13
Xavier Mansion - Medical Bay
The Medical Bay contains the latest medical equipment to patch up students and X-Men with the smallest and worst injuries. Six beds line the walls for injured patients. Equipment lines the walls, medicine in the cabinets, and more serious medical supplies locked in cabinets. One this about this room it screams sterilization.
After the events of last night, the Medbay is rather busy… again. With several students in various states of care, mostly from the sheer amount of flames tossed around the night before. More or less due to Ashley, who looks the best off out of all the students that shambled into medbay last night. The pyro has been stuffed into a set of suitable clothes for being kept in medbay, a loose tshirt and pajama pants, even if he looks as healthy as a horse. Well, aside from being teleported in by Jules in an unresponsive state, head down and ignoring the rest of the world. A state that slipped to deep, fitful sleep after a time. But that was then, and this is now, and Ash plucks at the sheet, waiting for someone to tell him he can go.
Daisuke is no doctor but his job around the school along with being a teachers aide and tutor is to help with odd jobs. Since he just got back from Japan a few days ago he's been thrown realitivly quickly into what's been going on and now that it seems over, he's on lunch duty. Rolling in a cart with a few trays of food on it is Daisuke. He looks around the room and notices that Ashley is a awake and walks over there. "Hey there, I brought some food down if you're hungry." He offers in his quite voice.
On the other side of the medical bay is Connor, sitting and looking at a sheet of paper that's got crinkle lines in it from behind handled too much. He's in his street clothes and looking ready for discharge, but he looks strangely both elated and worried at the same time. His eyes flick occasionally towards Ash, and then immediately down to the paper again, before he sets it to the side, and begins rubbing his hands on his jeans again… for the twentieth times today as he tries to refocus once more.
Just as Connor is glancing towards Ash, Ash glances towards Connor out of the corner of his eye. Not often, but often enough, the teenager going still whenever he glances towards the man that turned into the beast that tried to beat some lady's head in with her own arm. A fact that's distressing to Ash, even if he tries not to show it beyond not focusing on Connor for too long. However, when food is offered up by Daisuke, and it takes Ash's attention from trying not to focus on Connor, "Huh? Food? Yeah, sure, what's for breakfast?"
"Let me check." Daisuke says bringing over one of the trays to Ashley and opening it to reveal a simple breakfast of orange juice, oatmeal and a slice of melon. "Umm…if you want something not so..hospital food I can go upstairs and grab it. I never understood why they thing that crap food after something like that will make you feel better." He then looks over at Connor and brings a tray over to him. "You were War last night. I remembered that feeling when I saw you out there." There's almost a hard egde behind his eyes as he says that.
Connor blurts out, as if this is something that was bottled for a while, "I didn't have a CHOICE. She… she locked me away in a prison where all I could hear was a thousand thousand ME's, all screaming at me for one reason or another. I couldn't fight her, Daisuke. So I picked the best man for the job." But that last sentence comes out with as much guilt as it does disgust, "I'd hoped she'd wear him down enough I could take back over… but he was too strong. If someone hadn't nailed him while he was weak… I…" He looks away, "I'm not apologizing."
Ash does his level best to ignore Connor's outburst, even if his eyes flick over towards the man, away from the offered breakfast. "No.. that's fine…" Ash says to Daisuke, taking the tray and settling it down on his sheet-covered lap. It looks like he's taking the route of just ignoring the questions boiling around in his noggin. We're just gonna eat our oatmeal and be quiet for now.
Daisuke blinks a bit as Connor starts defending himself and then looks down at his feet. "No..that's not what I was saying. I was…it was all too familar. I was made War at one point so…I know you can't control it. I was just, it was scary seeing War again but at the same time I was glad I wasn't seeing him as me again." He looks to Ashley and nods. "Thanks for doing what you could to defend the school. I wanted to go out and help but I was stuck keeping students from running outside to get involved."
Connor taps the paper, "You don't have to worry… none of you. It won't happen again. What I did…" He then sighs once, and pushes off the bed, "It burned out my powers. I didn't have any visions last night. First real dream since I was eleven. My eyes aren't glowing… it's gone. I'm… normal." Gulping once, as he tries to hold back the obvious pain of the word, casting about from something to distract him from whats happening once, but all that seems to have been levelled specifically at Ashley.
It's difficult to tell, when Shane wakes up. She doesn't make any obvious sounds or movements, having been woken up largely by Connor's outburst and turned away from the bulk of the other students anyway. The general level of sulk in the room climbs a touch, but, that's about it.
"A lot of people don't do well with stuff like last night if you want to talk or anything, I'm not a theripist but, I've been here long enough to try to understand." Daisuke says before looking over at Connor and trying to comprehend what he just said. "Wait normal…like normal powers back to normal or normal Leo after that whole demon incident and he lost his powers normal?"
Connor sighs once more and walks the paper over to Daisuke. It's a medical report. And prominently on it, it says 'No trace of reported enhancements noted in system. X-gene status: Dormant'. Then he says with a smile, "Looks like I'm kicked out of Mutant High. Missing the main requirement now. S'okay… just gotta call my parents and let them know no more Friday night dinners for a while."
Silence from Shane's bed, still. Perhaps a twitch of movement… but the slight young mutant tends not to sleep easily in general anyway.
"..aren't there, like, more of you, or something?" Ash finally asks, glancing at Connor and Daisuke, focusing more on Connor. "…I thought that's what someone said, anyway…" he says by means of explanation for the question. Once that's said, he focuses back on his oatmeal.
Daisuke doesn't take the paper from Connor but he looks at it for a bit. "I'm…I'm really sorry." He's not sure what else to say to that. "Um…maybe your body is in shock or something and they'll come back? I mean people have lost them before and they've come back so…maybe.." He's just throwing out empty wishes for Connor there. He definately seems at a loss of words until he sees some movement out of the corner of his eye and looks towards Shane. "Hey Shane, are you up? Do you want some food?"
Looking over to Shane as well, he nods once and adds, "What does it matter… I'll… there's more important people here than me. People who got hurt by what happened. I don't know anything except first aid." But then as he passes by Ash, he says quietly to him, "There's one per Earth… just like there's one of you on every Earth. Each of them different. When Upgrade did what she did to me… she made me able to… swap out for a bit. But it's more than I'm supposed to be able to handle so… he's not coming back. Ever. Promise."
Being caught out in her ruse has Shane sitting up with a sigh, drawing her knees up, not meeting the eyes of anyone else in the room. "…Sure," she murmurs after a moment, presumably to the offer of food.
The concept of parallel Earth's seems to be one beyond Ashley's grasp, his eyes glazing a bit as he listens to Connor. "…sure…" he mutters, returning his focus on this oatmeal. Great oatmeal. He's not exactly sulking, but it's apparent that his comfort level at the whole of the situation is kind of low. Then again, that was the most offensive use of his powers in a very long time, and he's probably still coming to terms with being indirectly responsible for torching several students.
Daisuke brings a tray over to Shane with some oatmeal, a slice of melon and orange juice. "Like I said earlier, it's kind of crappy hospital type food so if you want something different I can head upstairs." He offers as he finds a seat to sit down. He looks around the room and takes a deep breath. "I know what happened last night was awful and it really sucks. And I'm sorry I wasn't out there defending the school with you guys but whatever happened just know it really isn't your fault. Connor, the thing with War. Sure you called him but did you really know what you were calling? Really? I mean I'm probably the only person in this room besides you now who can really understand what War is and, it's scary. To have that be you, it's also scary but it was his actions and not yours. Ashley, I know we never met but I heard your name from Ms. Frost. Your powers got out of control but you can't fully blame yourself. You were put in an awful situation and you did the best you can. Use that and try to become better. And Shane, believe me and trust me when I ask you to not blame yourself. I know it's hard, I know it's impossible but you weren't you. You were tricked and god..I'm really awful at this. I'm sorry just…if you want someone to blame don't blame yourself. Blame that Upgrade and Mindbender duo.""
Shane pulls the tray onto her lap, poking at the oatmeal with her spoon… but pauses as Daisuke talks, brow furrowing deeply, eyes climbing to meet his. "Wait… what? Blame myself for *what?*"
Connor gives his best little grin for Ashley, and then says to him, "Listen… my first few weeks here… I teleported into the girl's bathroom accidentally more than once, into the graveyard, the lake, the zen garden… I accidentally attacked a friend because I was off my meds… not to mention stole campus property… stuff happens. But it's how you own up to it that counts." As he talks, his hands push into his pockets and squeeze into fists, rocking back and forth once before taking a calming breath, "Stuff like last night? That's why people like u-… like you need the school. So you can learn and never let it happen again."
Scrape scrape scrape goes Ash's spoon against the now-empty bowl of oatmeal. His reaction to Daisuke's words is a close mirror to Shane's, his own brow furrowing tightly. Connor's words don't seem to help. "I wasn't out of control last night, I knew what I was doing…" he says, tone a twisted-up combination of defensive and sullen. "…I was hurting other students…" he finishes, not quite as confident as before, his eyes flicking to Shane, and the others still in Medbay after last night. And there's the truth of it. He doesn't see it as defending the school, but hurting classmates.
Daisuke looks up at Shane and there's almost a look of relief in his face. "Sorry just…you were tricked into a attacking the school so I thought you might. I know when I was brainwashed into attacking the school I blamed myself for a long time even though it was Sinister's fault. I was just afraid you might do the same if not, I'm sorry for what I said earlier and am glad to see you're a stronger person than I am." And he offers her a small smile at that. He then looks over at Connor. "You can say us. You are one of us, just because you can't teleport doesn't mean you have to exclude yourself. You've been through it enough to say us." He says frowning slightly. His tone of voice hasn't once changed from the quite tone he used when he first walked in. "But did you want to do it?" He asks Ashley.
The spoon clatters against the bowl, falling onto the sheets, dropped from Shane's suddenly nerveless fingers. The slight young mutant's eyes are wide with shock, face pale. "I did *what?!* *When the fuck did that happen?!*"
Connor moves himself around and sits on the far edge of the bed, watching Ashley for a moment, and his hands come out of his pockets, pressing onto his lap again, as he replies, "Listen, you're going to have to trust me when I t-…" Cut off by Shane's outburst as he looks over, and then winces, before shaking his head and taking a breath, "Trust me on this… You're not the first, and you won't be the last. The question's gotta be… are you going to own up to it? Or are you going to let the fear run your life. Believe me… this one I know. I was born with a compulsive disorder. I fight fear all the time. I have to do things, or else I paralyze myself with the fear. I clean, I work out, I rearrange things… all my clothes have to face left and I can't have uneven number things. But I don't let it rule me like I used to. This is the same thing. This thing inside is just you. It's not like War was. War was…" There's a catch in his voice, and he gulps again, "War was something no one should ever feel… even the ones who've been there. I have to own up to that. I became the monster. I wasn't any better than Upgrade for doing what I did, Ashley… even if for a few moments… I felt like I could do anything."
Ashley's head shakes in response to Daisuke's question, "No.." he replies, poking at the melon slice with his spoon. "…but that panic button wasn't working, and I wasn't gonna let them steamroll the blind-floating girl…" he says, eyes glancing around to see if Tara is even still in Medbay, "…so I did what I had to." he says, still poking at the melon. He looks towards Connor, "I'll own up to it. I'm sure Miss Frost'll want a piece of my head, and Xorn'll want his piece…" ..along with a nice laundry list of people no doubt upset at students being toasted due to his powers "..doesn't mean I have to like it, though…" he finishes with a mutter. His eyes flick to Shane every now and then, a touch of confusion on his face. Like he knows that he should apologize, but how do you apologize to someone who doesn't even know you tried to cook them?
Daisuke walks over and sits down next to Shane and bites his lip. "I'm sorry, I really shouldn't be the one to tell you this uhmm…" He pauses for a bit fiddling with the hem of his shirt. "I wasn't outside when it happened and I was in Japan for several weeks so I don't know everything but when I got back I was told you along with Robyn and Heather were taken by Heather's parents and were brainwashed into doing what they wanted. They told me you and Robyn destroyed Cerebra in an attack and Ms. Frost was injured. I don't know what they did to you but…it sucks. I think I know what both you and Connor are going through. Sinister made me War at one point and it was terrifying when I realized what I did, and then when he made us attack the school a lot of students were injured. I just wanted to hurt people, fight them, see blood…." He shudders before looking at Ashley. "You know, I'd rather have someone, a classmate of friend, do everything they could to stop me if, when, I was like that. I mean, injuries heal but if I killed someone as War, that doesn't heal. I can get over an injury.""
Shane is silent, eyes narrowing as she takes in Daisuke's tale, the oatmeal forgotten for the moment. Once done, she looks down, eyes darting back and forth as she matches what she's just been told against what she remembers, and when it clicks into place there's a very, very visible tensing up of her shoulders and back. There's a sound like she's about to get sick, and the bowl is placed, with exaggerated care, on a nearby table, the teen pushing herself out of bed. "….All right then," is all she says, and she heads for the door.
Ash seems to be in agreement with Shane, at least as far as the "let's get out of Medbay" idea. "…I need a shower…" he says to no one in particular, probably a pretty non-convincing excuse to remove himself from an uncomfortable situation. "..welcome to Mutant High…" he mutters to himself as he slips out, passing half-nhearted waves to Daisuke and Connor as he goes.
Connor watches Ashley shut him out and shut down, and he gets up as well, turning towards the door, "I gotta pack my stuff… dorm needs to be cleared out for me and Robyn for new students anyways… I'll see if his parents will let me store stuff there… and see if he made it home or something." Face pensive and worried, but also haunted with an odd kind of fading need. He pauses near Dai however, and then says, "I'm.. gonna borrow a van from the pool… check me out for it?"
Daisuke watches Shane leave and nods to Connor like he's not really listening. "Oh…okay." He says before he rushes out of the medbay himself to see if he can find Shane. "Shane!" He shouts once she leaves the hallway. He feels like such a jerk right now.
Whether or not Shane heard is unclear, but it doesn't stop her from boarding the elevator. The button for the lobby floor, stabbed from memory, the young mutant not even bothering to turn around. Her shoulders are quivering, however, and what can be heard of her breathing is strangled and shuddery.
