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Post by Admin on Jun 19, 2006 19:45:28 GMT -5
"Oh of course," Marie was still smiling as she led him to the upstairs bathroom, fishing a clean towel out of the linen closet and handing it over. "Everything you need - soap, shower, sink, and a clean towel." She smiled before closing the door and making her way quite placidly to her own room, where she errupted in another smile and nearly jumped on the bed in glee. They had a working car - they had a benefactor of sorts, and a man who could fix things, and not only that but who was willing and *wanting* to help them. Things were finally turning up for the restored humans.
She flopped down onto her back on the bed and gazed up happily at the ceiling. Perhaps now she wouldn't have to worry about bills, about the car, about a million other tiny little things. She wondered briefly how Xavier had done it, before deciding he had a wealth of money and experiance in his court, that undoubtably helped him out a little. Well, maybe Lars would be her wealthy of money and experiance, although she reminded herself that she wouldn't use him for either.
"Thank you thank you thank you," she repeated to no one in particular, just happy for the good luck that had finally turned her way.
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Post by airlock on Jun 21, 2006 11:23:49 GMT -5
When Lars emerged from the bathroom, his hands were clean and his face was *mostly* clean, apart from an almost fetching oil smear down the side of his nose. He exited onto the landing and noted that Marie was no longer waiting for him.
It was easy enough to walk the length of the hallway and spot her laying on her bed. "Hey," he said, softly. "I'm afraid I've rather destroyed one of your towels in there..." He ran a hand through his hair which he had taken out of its pony tail.
"Anything else you'd like me to see to whilst I'm here?" He had precisely no idea what it was that was possessing him to act this way. He'd always known he had a kind heart, it had been his downfall on more than one occasion. Maybe it was the almost shy excitement of the knowledge he was talking with someone who was once one of the X-Men.
Whatever it was, he liked it.
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Post by Admin on Jun 21, 2006 11:42:21 GMT -5
Marie jumped into a seating possition on the bed as Lars spoke at the doorway - she had been so wrapped up in her thoughts she hadn't heard him come down the hall. "Oh, not to worry about the towel, we've got others. Although you missed a spot." She ran a finger down her own nose to show him where it was.
"The car was the only thing we needed desperately fixed," she said as she stood up, feeling quite awkward sitting on the bed, but also awkward just standing next to it in her room. "Everything else is just things we haven't gotten around to yet - replacing bulbs, plunging drains, the normal house stuff." She paused for a moment as she tried to think of anything else that they might need help with, "oh! And I do owe you a celebratory glass of milk."
She blushed slightly, knowing it sounded stupid but also knowing they didn't keep anything alcoholic in the house. It wouldn't do to get a bunch of underage, ex-mutants roaring drunk in such close confinement - that was a receipe for disaster. She moved past him, aware of his body as she brushed her arm lightly against his own and was glad once again that she'd been "cured".
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Post by airlock on Jun 21, 2006 11:57:24 GMT -5
"Oh! And I do owe you a celebratory glass of milk."
"Ah, yes, indeed you do." He grinned broadly at her. "OK, well look - I'll have that glass of milk, then I need to take my meds. All very unpleasant, I'm afraid, I have to take two or three injections a day." He patted his pocket. "I frequently got stopped by the police for some reason and they just love it when they find my needles."
He reached into another pocket and pulled out a small bottle. "Factor IX," he said in a lowered whisper, then laughed. "I always loved how faintly Science Fiction it sounded. Got my first shot of it when I was twelve days old."
Lars put the bottle away. "So let's 'Do Milk', I'll go shoot up, then I'll do a lightbulb round for you - and then I have to go back to my thrilling motel and do some work or the boss will kill me."
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Post by Admin on Jun 21, 2006 12:05:06 GMT -5
Smiling as she lead him down the stairs and back into the kitchen, Marie didn't find the needles all that creepy to tell the truth. Not that she'd ever been one to like being stuck with a needle, but she didn't have the absolute dread of them that some people had, like Lee. She'd never met someone so scared of needles as Lee - she was fairly sure the girl had wished her fear away just so she could be cured. But then again, people were willing to do drastic things to be "normal" again.
"Factor IX? It does sound very scifi," she laughed a little as she grabbed the milk out of the fridge and tried to find some clean glasses. There were none, of course, so she had to wash a couple of them, her attention half on what she was doing, and half on the room next door and the man Lee was talking to.
Glasses clean and milk poured, Marie handed one over with a smile before nodding at his plan. "That sound fine. I'll need to take care of the next newcomer shortly I expect." She nodded over her shoulder towards the dinning room where the newcomer was facing away from them. "No rest for the wicked right?"
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Post by airlock on Jun 21, 2006 12:11:26 GMT -5
"No rest for the wicked right?"
"That's what my mother always used to say," said Lars. "And by inference, I'm probably the most wicked man alive, my life is one big meeting. I'm an architect and designer, although I started out as a brickie, a jobbing builder. It's been tough to get to where I am, and I'm only just starting to get the chance to chill occasionally."
He took a swig of his milk and ended up with a rather endearing milk moustache.
"It's done me the power of good meeting you girls," he said, almost as though he were confiding it. "The world of architecture...well, I love it. I'm a dull civil engineer at heart...but running around 'being a man' for some people who need it is incredibly rewarding."
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Post by Admin on Jun 21, 2006 12:57:39 GMT -5
She giggled at his confession, but knew what he meant when he said it was rewarding. She felt it often now when she realized just how thankful the kids that stayed with her were. Even Lee. If not for Rogue's Place, most of them wouldn't have a place to sleep at night, nor regular meals, or even friendship. They'd still be lost, alone, trying to fight against a world that hadn't accepted them as mutants and probably wouldn't accept them as restored humans either.
"I'm glad we were able to help," she said with a smile and a wink before sobering into seriousness. "You've helped us alot too. If we need the car fixed again in the next few weeks, I'm glad we know who to call."
She finished off her own milk and set the glass in the sink, making a note to figure out who's chore it was to do dishes today and scold them for leaving a pile of dirty dishes on the counter. "Well, enjoy the rest of your day, I guess. We'll see you soon?" She almost continued with "if you feel like 'being a man' again, stop by and see us" but then realized exactally what that would sound like and had to bite her lip to keep herself from laughing. She could feel her ears burning with the effort of it.
"If you have another day off I'm sure we can find something else for you to fix," she said instead, hoping he wouldn't notice the way her voice had changed with the effort not to giggle at herself.
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Post by airlock on Jun 21, 2006 13:04:01 GMT -5
"If you have another day off I'm sure we can find something else for you to fix."
"I'd like that," he said and for the briefest of moments met her eyes directly for what was probably the first time.
It was almost peculiar. She'd not even realised until this moment that he'd not once looked her in the eye directly. His eyes were very blue, very clear and for the most fleeting of moments she saw that there was a lot more to him than a superficially friendly guy.
She also realised that she felt faintly light-headed whilst looking at him.
"Right," he said, breaking the moment. "Injection, then light bulbs. It's been a pleasure."
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Post by Admin on Jun 21, 2006 13:16:45 GMT -5
Marie didn't realize she was holding her breath until Lars looked away, but at the same time she felt a little dizzy, as if she'd hyperventilated. With the experiance of someone who had lived in a housefull of dangerous mutants for a time she unconciously brought up his power, and what he could do with it, before pushing the thought aside and reminding herself that he was restored. There was no way he could have used it, unless he was lying about the cure. Still, she couldn't help but give him a strained smile and a questioning look.
"The lightbulbs are in the garage, near the box the overalls came from. If you need to you can use the restroom down here for the injection." Suddenly Marie felt very unnerved by the thought that he might have lied about being cured, or that perhaps the cure wasn't permanant (it was something she had mentioned before to Lee, but they had both silently agreed not to dwell on it for any length of time).
"I'll have one of the kids run our phone number out to you, so you can call if you need anything." It sounded stupid saying it, because of course he'd been helping *them* all afternoon, but she didn't want to be rude. "Thanks for all the help. I better go see to this guy." And with a short wave, Marie had turned towards the dinning room to help Lee.
(ext stage right, to Xavier's thread)
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