Unlucky for some. I’ll try not to have my computer implode.
Continued from yesterday:
Dammit, he wasn’t on yet. Todd hit the capslock.
Frog Prince: LOOK AT THE SCREEN
Sometimes that actually worked, most times it didn’t. But it would leave an impact on the seriousness of the situation; Todd rarely wrote in all caps.
Sara was trembling violently and issuing thin little cries between babbled apologies. Each sound of misery tore at him like the beak of some carrion bird. Todd turned from the computer to wrap both arms around her and hold her close. She buried her face in his arms and after a moment, though she barely moved, Todd was sure she was sobbing.
It hurt to see how well she’d taught herself to be subtle about it. Todd kissed her hair. “I’m scared too, yo,” he whispered. Great, now his own eyes were stinging. He couldn’t fall apart, not when she needed him.
He *was* scared. What if Sara was like one of those unlucky ones Magneto had talked about? The ones who didn’t survive their powers manifesting? Not for the first time, he sorely missed having an adult around.
_Ding!_
Todd turned back hurriedly to the screen.
Big Blue: What’s the trouble?
Frog Prince: Saras in a lot of pain. Scales coming out and all that plus her eyes are burning no matter how much she cries. I thought tears were supposed to help
Big Blue: Sometimes there are negative reactions
Frog Prince: But this is fucked up. I wanna help her. All I can do is hold her and be useless. She’s so *scared*
Big Blue: Actually, holding her is probably helping more than you know
Sara hiccuped. Todd’s hand left the keyboard and offered her more water. She downed the rest of the bottle in one sitting.
“I must look wretched."
"Impossible,” Todd stated. “Yo ain’t lookin’ like no wretch. You’re my *Sara*."
Big Blue: You said her eyes are itching and weeping?
Frog Prince: She ‘splained to me that she was sheddin’ skin off her eyeballs
Big Blue: Stay with her. I’m going to look up a few things
Todd’s eyes were already back on Sara. Gently he stroked her scalp with his fingers, trailing them softly across her poor inflamed skin. She closed her eyes and curled closer against him. Unsure of himself, Todd pulled his hand away intent upon wrapping it safely around her shoulders. She took it and pressed it to her cheek again.
"That felt good. Please?"
They stayed like that for a while, wrapped around each other in the armchair as both the world outside and the room they were in grew steadily dark.
+
All Lance wanted to do when he got home from work was collapse on his bed. No extra baggage, no phonecalls, no homework until six in the morning. No crying teenaged girls in Todd’s room either.
Waitafuckinminute.
Lance walked backward and stared into Todd’s room. He could dimly make out two figures nestled together, one much taller than the other. Though the features were barely highlighted by the computer screen, it wasn’t hard to determine who Todd’s guest was.
"Todd?” Lance asked in his 'I promise not to hurt you very *much* so long as you tell me exactly what’s going on’ voice. “Why is he here and why is he crying?"
A pair of amber eyes opened and peered angrily at him from within the huddle. "Her name’s Sara Essel. She’s a mutant and she’s stayin’ until she sorts some things out. She’s my guest. We’ll stay outta your way if you don’t bother us."
Lance gawked. Todd was using a no-nonsense tone with him. Up until now, Lance didn’t even know Todd *had* a no-nonsense tone. "Okay,” he muttered after a brief staring contest. “We’ll talk in the morning. You and… Sara… sleep tight…"
Lance started to stagger off to bed. "Wait?” came Todd’s voice. “Lance? Could you please … nevermind, yo."
The older boy’s head appeared in the doorway. "Yeah?"
"Get us some water?” Todd finished sheepishly. “She needs it more than I. Goin’ through her first shedding."
Lance immediately winced. "Oh hell. That’s gotta be rough. She’s like you?"
Todd was too exhausted and worried to take offense at the way that had sounded. "Yeah, I guess you can say we’re from the same family, or branch or whatever."
"Yeah. I’ll go downstairs and get a couple of glasses."
"Nah, don’t bother with downstairs. Fill this up.” Todd handed over the undertow mug. Lance boggled at it.
“She drank how many of these already?"
"I’m not sure, but not enough. You know how *I* get."
Sara was trying to form a sentence. "Pleased to m-meet…” She struggled to think of what came after. Her mind was clearly muddled. Todd put a cool hand against her flushed skin.
“Don’t worry, Lance’s cool without a formal intro. Yo can talk in the morning. Just relax, sugarlips.” His words probably fell on deaf ears, but it felt good to reassure her.
Lance took one look at Sara, then at Todd’s tired but wary features and knew sleep wasn’t coming for the younger boy tonight. “You skipping tomorrow?"
"Probly. Don’t got nothin’ of importance to do.” He yawned and muffled himself with a free elbow. Idly he looked over at the screen. Big Blue was still online but he’d been quiet. Maybe some other emergency had come up.
Lance returned with a brimming mug of water. Todd made Sara drink at least five inches before stealing a few gulps for himself. Lending body heat was dehydrating work. “Thanks,” he breathed, noticing Lance was still watching them. “Yo a lifesaver.”
~
“Sara Louise (hic) Adrien,” she sobbed. “…’s my name…"
"Aw man… I’m sorry, hon. I got confused."
"It’s okay,” she squeaked. “I test high on forgettability…” her voice dwindled into a squeak and she crumpled against him again.
His skin was so *cool*. He was soft and he wanted to hold her. But that didn’t stop her crying. She was in deep sobs, now. The sort that were soundless but for the various attempts to breathe.
The occasional squeak escaped her as her breath hissed out.
She was trapped in her own misery.
“Shh… Shhh…” Todd kissed her, holding her close. “It’s okay, baby. It’s gonna be okay."
”…i don’ wanna hurt anybody…“ she managed. ”…i *like* th’ li'l birds t’ fly…“
Todd began to rock her. "It’s okay. You can leave the birds alone if ya wanna."
{Cuckoo!}
"There’s th’ doc. What’s he sayin’? 'Eyes may still have scale remnants near th’ optic nerve.’ Yo’ got any of that eyewash stuff?"
Sara nodded. "Medkit. Down near th’ bottom."
"Bottom?"
She sniffed. "Of m’ bag."
+
Todd brushed her face and kissed her. "I’m'a get it, hon. You hang on, 'kay?” He dived over to the bag. He tried to haul it over to her, but couldn’t pick it up. Never mind, he un-packed it in situ until he found something with a red cross on it.
“Here it at,” he cried. He opened it on her lap. Lots of gauze and mysterious tubes, bottles and sachets. He found the eye cup and put it in her trembling hands. “Which one’s th’ eye stuff?"
Sara reached automatically for a largeish bottle under the top layer. A generous, practiced squirt and she filled the thing.
"Yo, you done this befo’…"
"I’m rather accident prone.” She placed the cup on her eye and tipped her head backwards. “Neee… ow… ack, it burns…"
Todd read the lable. "Ain’t this th’ stuff they use to wash contacts?"
"Yeah. It’s a very good eyewash, too.” She tipped herself back down. “Something’s moving in there…” She blinked, stretched her eye at the corner.
Something milky and white appeared on her bottom lid.
Todd carefully flicked it out. It was a ragged circle-like shape with a neat hole in the middle. “Whoah."
"At least we know it works."
"Hey, yo’ over yo’ shakes!” Todd grinned.
“Not quite, dear. I put them away so I could handle this. I’ll get back to gibbering annon."
"Please don’t think like that?” he begged.
+
Sara put the cup over her other eye and bent herself backwards over the chair.
{Krickledy-kract-pop-snap-krakle} went her back.
“Yo, that’s *gotta* hurt."
"Nah. Happens all the time. I can snap every joint in my body if I want to."
"Dare you to do it near Pietro,” Todd laughed. “Dude’ll have a fit."
Her eye was burning in the chemicals. She could stand it for another few. "I like to think I’m not that mean, despite my subconscious impulses to eat live prey."
"Uh. What?"
"I dreamed of eating *birds* last night."
”*Oh*…“ said Todd.
Sara straightened up and removed both cup and leftover scale. "Nnngggh… That has to be the single most peculiar sensation ever."
Todd was typing. Sara peered over his shoulder.
FrogPrince: Eyewash did the trick. Huzzah
BigBlue: V Good. Monitor over the next few hours. Be alert for extra mucous or rapid swelling. Bathe for former, ice for latter
FrogPrince: K
"Ask him what works when calamine doesn’t,” said Sara.
Todd handed her the keyboard. “Go fo’ it, hon. You need t’ know what to expect.
FrogPrince: Is Sara, borrowing KB. Calamine not helping some lge irritations on back
BigBlue: What’s the sensation?
FrogPrince: Prickly-heat plus crawliness plus raw skin plus pins and needles. Ick.
”*Ow*… Mah po’ honeybuns…“ Todd soothed her skin with his hands.
BigBlue: Tried that aloe stuff for sunburns?
FrogPrince: Trying now.
Sara dived into her medkit and liberated another bottle of blue gunk. A generous squeeze into her palm went right under the back of her shirt.
Ah, cool relief. "Oooooohhhhh… Oh *yeah*."
Somewhere outside, someone had a conniption involving every metal object in the house.
"That’s what yo’ get fo’ eavesdroppin’, Pie,” Todd yelled. “Ass.”
~
Todd grumbled some more at Pie and rubbed some of the sunburn lotion a bit further down her back. Sara blushed as his hand went up under the back of her shirt. He hadn’t asked. Todd froze, realising what he was doing.
“Sh - sorry. I’m sorry. I didn’t even *ask*.” He looked like he was expecting a slap. Sara touched his face, gently.
“You were thinking of making me feel better. I’m not ever going to hit you for that."
"You’d be surprised, yo, what excuses people come up with.” He remembered one time when Mystique had gotten sick. He’d walked into her room while she was half-awake to offer her a blanket and nearly got his arm twisted out of his socket.
“You’d be surprised how many people balk at touching me. When I’m *healthy*. Right now I definitely qualify as an untouchable.”(1)
“Not to me you don’t.” Todd couldn’t help but ask, “Do I?"
Sara kissed him in response and released his lips from hers only at piercing stab in the back of her neck. "Ow, what was that?"
Todd went around and looked. "Holy shit yo. Yo scales are … they’re beautiful."
"They’re coming out? Now?"
"Just here.” Todd stroked one small patch on the back of her neck, smoothing the disks down and gently freeing the skin. “I guess cause the layer of skin is so thin near the bone. Places you got more skin an’ muscle might take longer."
Sara started typing.
FrogPrince: A couple of my scales have come out. Todd says they’re beautiful.
FrogPrince: Why do I feel like a mommy?
Big Blue: lol! Congratulations. What do they look like?
(1) After the caste system in India, those who are made 'impure’ by their very dirty jobs.
~
"What *do* they look like?” Sara rubbed at her knuckles, trying to peel away the old skin there.
“Yo, this one’s icy green… This one’s a kinda blue… Yo, this one’s the colour o’ them green beer bottles."
Sara revealed a cluster of four on a knuckle. The old skin peeled away, but stayed attached firmly to the rest. They were tiny, really, close together and as bright as uncut gems. Where a small mole had been, there was now one in lapis-lasuli blue. The others were varying shades of aqua.
FrogPrince: I think I’m going to be largely green-blue. they’re varying between pale and dark greens, blues, and everything in-between.
"Ack! Mom! She’s going to be worried,” Sara blurted.
“Huggle-bumps… I don’t think she miss you that much."
"All the same, I still need a good excuse.” She bought out her cellular and began dialling. “I’ll call Roy. He’ll be out of the flack range."
"Roy?"
"Uh…” Sara bit her lip. “We kinda have a butler.” She blushed. When she told people about her family’s affluence, they usually started treating her like a human bank and got upset when she didn’t have money to spare. “And a cook. And a maid. And a gardener…"
Todd took it in his stride. "Hey, it’s coo’. Yo’ don’t need no dragons, aight?"
"My old grammar tutors would have a *field* day with you, darling."
Todd just grinned.
"Adrien residence?” said Roy.
“*Roy*… I am *so* glad you picked up. Can you tell Mom I’m working on a project with Freddy? Tell her it’s extra credit. For…” she blushed. “Biology."
She could hear Roy smile. "I *see*… Good luck with your - endeavors. And remember restraint."
_Translation: Have fun with your young man - but not *too* much fun._ "Thanks, Roy. You’re a dear.” She hung up, bright pink and gigglish.
Todd was grinning. “Biology, anh?” He made a complicated gesture. “Yo, you my *bad* girl."
Sara couldn’t help hiding her face in both hands as she giggled and blushed.
+
Meanwhile…
Hank flipped through his books. Aqua scales, were they? Fascinating. According to the available information, she was a class twelve shapeshifter with minor regenerative capabilities. Her skin may even respond to rough treatment by thickening up into some kind of armour.
BigBlue: Feeling better? I’m here if you need to unburden.
He leaned back and sipped his brew and waited. And waited. And waited…
What were they *doing* over there?
~~