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ax_main2017-11-14 11:54 am
ax_touchstone) wrote in ax_main2017-11-14 11:54 am
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Lil and Simon | Backdated to 11/14
Lil goes to Simon to find out more about her invulnerability, but there are complications. Their powers interact in an unexpected way, then things go from bad to worse. WARNING: Mildly uncomfortable regarding violating circumstances.
Simon was in Moira's lab, and he was staring at his computer. Just like always. The only problem was, he wasn't getting anything done. Instead of research papers, he was reading social media. Instead of work, he was nervously tapping a foot. He felt sick pretty much all the time since Magneto's announcement, and not just because of the broadcast either. Warren's proposition...it scared the hell out of him, but he knew it had to be done.
After about an hour of sitting there, dwelling on it, terrified, he finally pushed up out of his chair and headed for the door. He needed coffee. Or something. Unfortunately, he was headed off by someone headed his direction.
It had taken days for Lil to finally work up the nerve to visit Simon, and after Jean-Paul decided to be a complete asshole to her, she'd almost ditched the idea altogether. But Nolan said she should see him and she trusted Nolan. So far at least.
She'd never been to this part of the mansion and resented having to poke around it for the right room, but eventually she spotted Simon. Lil had seen him around but had never had any reason to talk to him. Never thought she did anyway. He was up and looked ready to leave, but Lil put a hand up to let him know she wanted to talk to him.
"Hey."
Simon wasn't sure he recognized the girl at all. Then again, he wasn't sure how he could have missed her. She was a good six inches taller than him - well over six feet in height. For all that, she was attractive and had a kind of shy look to her features, and he figured a lot of that had to do with the atmosphere. Few people enjoyed visiting the infirmary or its surroundings. Anything medical or scientific was automatically scary.
"Hey," he answered. "Were you looking for Dr. MacTaggart?"
"Nope, for you. Nolan told me you could help people figure out stuff about their powers?" She tried pasting on a polite smile, but it felt a little shaky. She hadn't really given much thought about how this would work until now when it was too late to back out without looking like a chicken.
Nolan. Simon nodded gently. "I can try. I have the ability to scan a person's body. If your mutation has to do with your physical form, or your brain development, I should be able to pick that up."
"Pretty sure it's not my brain. I'm sort of invulnerable to stuff, to everything so far, but I don't really know how it works. Or if I can turn it off." Nolan's kiss had been nice, but Lil had wondered if it might have been better without her power. Probably the stupidest reason there was to want to give up a power for a bit, but there it was.
"Invulnerable," Simon echoed, but nodded, motioning toward the lab, where there were a few stools scattered amongst the various workstations. "Do you want to have a seat?"
Lil nodded and pulled a stool closer to perch on while she waited. He seemed an alright sort so far, which made it hard for Lil to figure out how he'd get mixed up in some threesome thing, let alone with an idiot like JP. Oh well, she'd only just gotten here. There was lots of time to revise her opinion.
Simon followed, but stayed standing, just so he wouldn't have to look all the way up at her. Instead, he took the time to wash his hands first. "So invulnerable. Is it complete? Was there an incident that convinced you of this?"
"Um, lots. I've been like this for as long as I can remember. Mom said it started when I was a toddler - I fell and got hurt or something and then after that it just kicked it." Lill held up a hand and prepared to start ticking off fingers. "So I can't get needles, I used to nap on a woodstove, burnt the arm off my sweater in a science lab once," she looked directly at Simon and grinned. "If I weren't invulnerable, Mom would have skinned me that day. Walked home in the middle of January in jeans and a t-shirt - I live in Yellowknife knife, Northwest Territories - and got tossed from a car when it hit a pole." She didn't bother mentioning the friend who hadn't survived "And Tamara tried to zap me last month. But I mean, I've never had a cut or anything and I'm always slipping up and leaning on a stove burner or something 'cause I don't feel the heat like others do. I think that's enough, eh?"
By the end of her speech, Simon had turned, hand towel in his hands, just staring at her for a moment, a little dumbstruck by the stream of things that could have and likely would have killed her. "Right."
"Right," Lil repeated. There was a thing or two she didn't bother mentioning, like a curious Laura trying to see if she could push a claw through Lil's hand, but she didn't want to let on what they were doing in the Danger Room, just in case.
Simon took a deep breath and crossed over to her, finally taking a seat on one of the stools. "Alright. So we need to figure out if this is going to be detrimental going forward. How much can you feel? Do you have trouble with textures or sensing certain kinds of materials?"
That was a hard question. Lil spread her hands and shrugged. "I guess. Like, stuff feels smooth that I guess shouldn't, but I didn't think there was anything wrong until Mom started teaching me to knit. Like, I couldn't feel the stitches the way she could, or I didn't get what she meant when she said some ball of wool was scratchy."
He nodded. "Alright. I need to touch you in order to scan you. Is that okay?"
"Yup. Thanks for asking." She smiled. She was a little nervous, but it was nothing she couldn't suck up for a few minutes.
Another nod, then Simon reached out to touch her arm, immediately prepared for anything he might find there. At least, he thought he was. Most immediately, he was afraid he'd hurt himself somehow. There was intense...pressure, nerve endings lighting up that never seemed to have been there before. But, even as his breath started to quicken, he realized that the sensations weren't occurring in himself, but rather her.
Holy God, it hurt. From the moment he touched her it felt like... Nothing Lil could describe. Something constricting her chest, her waist, her ankles, every inch of skin suddenly, what? Screaming. And she couldn't think, couldn't work out what was going on except that, not this, Not this.
And then it was over as she stumbled backwards off the stool. She'd pulled away from Simon somehow.
"What the FUCK did you do to me?!"
Wide-eyed, Simon stumbled off of his stool, taking a few steps back from her. "N-nothing. I didn't do anything. I just touched you!"
If he looked as confused as she felt, Lil didn't give a shit. Her heart was still pounding, her breath still coming too quick and she wanted nothing more that to get her ass out of this room and away from Simon. "Bullshit! You did something. Jesus, I should have stayed away from you."
Wait. Simon's head suddenly came up as she back pedaled. "Wait. You said you've never felt things the way others have. Right?"
"No, but that's not what happened, is it?" Lil spat. No way was she giving up being angry about this that easily, no matter what excuse he tried to come up with. "That was painful. That was like, the worst thing I've ever felt, and the rest of you sure as fuck don't walk around feeling like that all the time.You did something to me."
"It is what happened," Simon insisted. "You've never felt the touch of another person before. The sensory overload would feel painful. I'm not entirely sure why I can touch you and others can't." Then he paused, getting lost in thought. "Unless my power works similarly to yours but on a psychic level..."
Of course Lil felt touch, just dulled and dampened, at least according to her doctor. But Simon meant without any aura, didn't he? Except that it wasn't just him that she'd felt. There'd been the weird constriction... She put a hand to her chest and felt her bra strap under her shirt, and on her wrist was the ribbing of her sweater. Everything else, well, that could be the fabric. Which meant not that just that Simon had touched her... "You turned it off! All of it. I didn't just feel you, I felt everything. Jesus, forget wanting to go without it now."
Simon reached up, pressing at his brow. "Okay so. The little I did feel before you pulled away was some kind of...shielding. Well, shielding that immediately pulled back. If you have this...bio-aura around yourself that makes you invulnerable and keeps you from feeling as much as others, then it's possible that the reason I have to touch people to scan them is that I have a similar aura - one that facilitates my ability to read other organisms. When my aura touched yours...it canceled yours out. Or pushed it back, I don't know."
"Do you want to try again?" Lil asked quietly. She didn't want him to, god no, but if it managed to win her a bit more information then it might be worth it. "If you don't need too long then I... I can put up with it."
Simon frowned. "I don't want to hurt you."
Lil lifted her chin a touch. No way was he going to get out of it because he was a wuss. "You already did, bad. But it's over now, and it'll be over again. If you think you can tell me more about what I can do or how my power works, then it's worth it."
What was with Canadians and stubbornness? Simon sighed. "Alright. Just for a moment. If I feel your vital signs spiking, I'm pulling my hand away."
This was a really stupid idea, but that had never stopped Lil before. "Fair enough, but hold on a sec... " Because she sure as shit was going to do all she could to keep it from being quite so awful this time. She pulled off her sweatshirt, took off her shoes and socks, and reached under for t-shirt to unhook the back of her bra. A few quick dives into the armholes of her shirt and it was off too. Simon didn't seem to be enjoying the show. "There. I'll leave the rest on for decency's sake I guess." Then she sat back down on the stool and held out her hand.
"You realize that when I touch people, I see all of them, right?" Simon pointed out. He never really stopped to pay attention to the size of their breasts or ass or any additional cellulite, because it wasn't his business, but if he wanted to focus his thoughts there, he could.
Lil's hand fell, and she knew her face was turning red because that was the kind of heat she could feel on the inside on her goddamn shield. How in the hell could she have known? And why in the hell did he say it like that, like she was an idiot for not knowing? "You mean naked, right?"
"Ah. Yeah. I do," he admitted, though he felt bad for embarrassing her. "Though it's not visual in the way that you're used to, and I rarely pay attention to how a person's body looks, but rather how it works."
"I thought you just found out stuff about people's powers," Lil admitted, but his explanation didn't make her feel any better. Naked was still naked, right? And he hadn't thought enough of it to tell her beforehand. When did guys ever think of that, of just warning someone, or even asking before they reached out and grabbed. But this was medical stuff, sort of, so maybe it wasn't him being awful, maybe it was her being too sensitive, or too stupid to understand that if he was going to reach inside her somehow, he was obviously going to see stuff she'd rather he didn't.
Shit. She'd had the courage to do this a moment ago and then he'd said one thing, and it had dried up and floated away. A few months ago she'd solve (or think she had solved) something that felt like this with a punch to some jerk's face, but Simon hadn't meant it like that, had he?
Simon watched the various emotions mix across her features, and he started to get a sense that she really wasn't ready for this. As much as she may need more information about her powers, maybe this - all of this - was too much to deal with all at once. And, if he was honest with himself, he suddenly had a lot to think about, too. Like the fact that if he touched someone, he could make them scream out in pain like that. Maybe not consciously, but he didn't know how all of the students' powers worked, and if even one of them had powers like Lil's, he could end up hurting someone by not even being conscious of it.
Also, it seemed as though his power had never been completely explained to other students, and if they only thought he saw powers, and nothing else, then he was completely intruding on other peoples' privacy without permission. Unconsciously, he pulled his hands back into himself, curling his arms around his stomach.
"Listen," he murmured, "why don't we give this a rest for one day? If you decide you really want me to scan you, I'm not going anywhere, but perhaps we could do it with the nurse present, just in case."
"Thanks," Lil said quietly. She meant it. Up until that moment she wasn't sure what to do: walk out and feel like a coward, or let him touch her again. The pain had been bad, but the rest was almost worse, and his offer was a reprieve she didn't know she needed. "A nurse would be good. And maybe, um, tell people about the naked thing." She looked away because her chin felt a little unsteady, and she was not going to start acting like a fucking baby now. "It doesn't feel good, especially when... Ugh." Lil shook her head, stepped off the stool, and started scooping up clothing. "Guys are fucking jerks, okay? And this is too close to all that shit."
"Hey," Simon murmured, his voice going softer. "I don't...I never. I never want anyone to feel uncomfortable around my powers. Or...me, when I'm scanning them. The...the only thing I want to do is help mutants. Not make you feel uncomfortable, even though there is an uncomfortable nature involved. But I. I can sometimes be... my sister would say oblivious," he managed. "I'm so sorry I hurt you. And I... I will be explaining fully from now on. And. And wearing gloves in public."
Lil nodded and pulled on her sweatshirt. She had a thought to reassure him, maybe let him know the gloves were a little much, but she wasn't even sure she accepted the apology. "You do what you need to, eh? But if you're doing this, oblivious doesn't cut it." Okay, so she hadn't accepted it.
It was a smack to the face. Cold water on a situation he'd never thought much about before, and it actually turned his stomach a little. He gave a short nod, turning his head away for a moment while she redressed.
She put on everything but her bra. That Lil stuffed in a pocket because although she could damn well get it on under her shirts, doing it while Simon was there seemed unthinkable. Then she turned for the door. "I'll be back. I gotta figure out these powers sometime, but if it's not for a while, or if I stay away from you out there," she waved a hand at the door. "It's not personal." That was probably the stupidest thing she'd said since she got there. It was intensely personal, but he hadn't intended this, and even if she wasn't ready to accept his apology, that did count for something.
Simon was in Moira's lab, and he was staring at his computer. Just like always. The only problem was, he wasn't getting anything done. Instead of research papers, he was reading social media. Instead of work, he was nervously tapping a foot. He felt sick pretty much all the time since Magneto's announcement, and not just because of the broadcast either. Warren's proposition...it scared the hell out of him, but he knew it had to be done.
After about an hour of sitting there, dwelling on it, terrified, he finally pushed up out of his chair and headed for the door. He needed coffee. Or something. Unfortunately, he was headed off by someone headed his direction.
It had taken days for Lil to finally work up the nerve to visit Simon, and after Jean-Paul decided to be a complete asshole to her, she'd almost ditched the idea altogether. But Nolan said she should see him and she trusted Nolan. So far at least.
She'd never been to this part of the mansion and resented having to poke around it for the right room, but eventually she spotted Simon. Lil had seen him around but had never had any reason to talk to him. Never thought she did anyway. He was up and looked ready to leave, but Lil put a hand up to let him know she wanted to talk to him.
"Hey."
Simon wasn't sure he recognized the girl at all. Then again, he wasn't sure how he could have missed her. She was a good six inches taller than him - well over six feet in height. For all that, she was attractive and had a kind of shy look to her features, and he figured a lot of that had to do with the atmosphere. Few people enjoyed visiting the infirmary or its surroundings. Anything medical or scientific was automatically scary.
"Hey," he answered. "Were you looking for Dr. MacTaggart?"
"Nope, for you. Nolan told me you could help people figure out stuff about their powers?" She tried pasting on a polite smile, but it felt a little shaky. She hadn't really given much thought about how this would work until now when it was too late to back out without looking like a chicken.
Nolan. Simon nodded gently. "I can try. I have the ability to scan a person's body. If your mutation has to do with your physical form, or your brain development, I should be able to pick that up."
"Pretty sure it's not my brain. I'm sort of invulnerable to stuff, to everything so far, but I don't really know how it works. Or if I can turn it off." Nolan's kiss had been nice, but Lil had wondered if it might have been better without her power. Probably the stupidest reason there was to want to give up a power for a bit, but there it was.
"Invulnerable," Simon echoed, but nodded, motioning toward the lab, where there were a few stools scattered amongst the various workstations. "Do you want to have a seat?"
Lil nodded and pulled a stool closer to perch on while she waited. He seemed an alright sort so far, which made it hard for Lil to figure out how he'd get mixed up in some threesome thing, let alone with an idiot like JP. Oh well, she'd only just gotten here. There was lots of time to revise her opinion.
Simon followed, but stayed standing, just so he wouldn't have to look all the way up at her. Instead, he took the time to wash his hands first. "So invulnerable. Is it complete? Was there an incident that convinced you of this?"
"Um, lots. I've been like this for as long as I can remember. Mom said it started when I was a toddler - I fell and got hurt or something and then after that it just kicked it." Lill held up a hand and prepared to start ticking off fingers. "So I can't get needles, I used to nap on a woodstove, burnt the arm off my sweater in a science lab once," she looked directly at Simon and grinned. "If I weren't invulnerable, Mom would have skinned me that day. Walked home in the middle of January in jeans and a t-shirt - I live in Yellowknife knife, Northwest Territories - and got tossed from a car when it hit a pole." She didn't bother mentioning the friend who hadn't survived "And Tamara tried to zap me last month. But I mean, I've never had a cut or anything and I'm always slipping up and leaning on a stove burner or something 'cause I don't feel the heat like others do. I think that's enough, eh?"
By the end of her speech, Simon had turned, hand towel in his hands, just staring at her for a moment, a little dumbstruck by the stream of things that could have and likely would have killed her. "Right."
"Right," Lil repeated. There was a thing or two she didn't bother mentioning, like a curious Laura trying to see if she could push a claw through Lil's hand, but she didn't want to let on what they were doing in the Danger Room, just in case.
Simon took a deep breath and crossed over to her, finally taking a seat on one of the stools. "Alright. So we need to figure out if this is going to be detrimental going forward. How much can you feel? Do you have trouble with textures or sensing certain kinds of materials?"
That was a hard question. Lil spread her hands and shrugged. "I guess. Like, stuff feels smooth that I guess shouldn't, but I didn't think there was anything wrong until Mom started teaching me to knit. Like, I couldn't feel the stitches the way she could, or I didn't get what she meant when she said some ball of wool was scratchy."
He nodded. "Alright. I need to touch you in order to scan you. Is that okay?"
"Yup. Thanks for asking." She smiled. She was a little nervous, but it was nothing she couldn't suck up for a few minutes.
Another nod, then Simon reached out to touch her arm, immediately prepared for anything he might find there. At least, he thought he was. Most immediately, he was afraid he'd hurt himself somehow. There was intense...pressure, nerve endings lighting up that never seemed to have been there before. But, even as his breath started to quicken, he realized that the sensations weren't occurring in himself, but rather her.
Holy God, it hurt. From the moment he touched her it felt like... Nothing Lil could describe. Something constricting her chest, her waist, her ankles, every inch of skin suddenly, what? Screaming. And she couldn't think, couldn't work out what was going on except that, not this, Not this.
And then it was over as she stumbled backwards off the stool. She'd pulled away from Simon somehow.
"What the FUCK did you do to me?!"
Wide-eyed, Simon stumbled off of his stool, taking a few steps back from her. "N-nothing. I didn't do anything. I just touched you!"
If he looked as confused as she felt, Lil didn't give a shit. Her heart was still pounding, her breath still coming too quick and she wanted nothing more that to get her ass out of this room and away from Simon. "Bullshit! You did something. Jesus, I should have stayed away from you."
Wait. Simon's head suddenly came up as she back pedaled. "Wait. You said you've never felt things the way others have. Right?"
"No, but that's not what happened, is it?" Lil spat. No way was she giving up being angry about this that easily, no matter what excuse he tried to come up with. "That was painful. That was like, the worst thing I've ever felt, and the rest of you sure as fuck don't walk around feeling like that all the time.You did something to me."
"It is what happened," Simon insisted. "You've never felt the touch of another person before. The sensory overload would feel painful. I'm not entirely sure why I can touch you and others can't." Then he paused, getting lost in thought. "Unless my power works similarly to yours but on a psychic level..."
Of course Lil felt touch, just dulled and dampened, at least according to her doctor. But Simon meant without any aura, didn't he? Except that it wasn't just him that she'd felt. There'd been the weird constriction... She put a hand to her chest and felt her bra strap under her shirt, and on her wrist was the ribbing of her sweater. Everything else, well, that could be the fabric. Which meant not that just that Simon had touched her... "You turned it off! All of it. I didn't just feel you, I felt everything. Jesus, forget wanting to go without it now."
Simon reached up, pressing at his brow. "Okay so. The little I did feel before you pulled away was some kind of...shielding. Well, shielding that immediately pulled back. If you have this...bio-aura around yourself that makes you invulnerable and keeps you from feeling as much as others, then it's possible that the reason I have to touch people to scan them is that I have a similar aura - one that facilitates my ability to read other organisms. When my aura touched yours...it canceled yours out. Or pushed it back, I don't know."
"Do you want to try again?" Lil asked quietly. She didn't want him to, god no, but if it managed to win her a bit more information then it might be worth it. "If you don't need too long then I... I can put up with it."
Simon frowned. "I don't want to hurt you."
Lil lifted her chin a touch. No way was he going to get out of it because he was a wuss. "You already did, bad. But it's over now, and it'll be over again. If you think you can tell me more about what I can do or how my power works, then it's worth it."
What was with Canadians and stubbornness? Simon sighed. "Alright. Just for a moment. If I feel your vital signs spiking, I'm pulling my hand away."
This was a really stupid idea, but that had never stopped Lil before. "Fair enough, but hold on a sec... " Because she sure as shit was going to do all she could to keep it from being quite so awful this time. She pulled off her sweatshirt, took off her shoes and socks, and reached under for t-shirt to unhook the back of her bra. A few quick dives into the armholes of her shirt and it was off too. Simon didn't seem to be enjoying the show. "There. I'll leave the rest on for decency's sake I guess." Then she sat back down on the stool and held out her hand.
"You realize that when I touch people, I see all of them, right?" Simon pointed out. He never really stopped to pay attention to the size of their breasts or ass or any additional cellulite, because it wasn't his business, but if he wanted to focus his thoughts there, he could.
Lil's hand fell, and she knew her face was turning red because that was the kind of heat she could feel on the inside on her goddamn shield. How in the hell could she have known? And why in the hell did he say it like that, like she was an idiot for not knowing? "You mean naked, right?"
"Ah. Yeah. I do," he admitted, though he felt bad for embarrassing her. "Though it's not visual in the way that you're used to, and I rarely pay attention to how a person's body looks, but rather how it works."
"I thought you just found out stuff about people's powers," Lil admitted, but his explanation didn't make her feel any better. Naked was still naked, right? And he hadn't thought enough of it to tell her beforehand. When did guys ever think of that, of just warning someone, or even asking before they reached out and grabbed. But this was medical stuff, sort of, so maybe it wasn't him being awful, maybe it was her being too sensitive, or too stupid to understand that if he was going to reach inside her somehow, he was obviously going to see stuff she'd rather he didn't.
Shit. She'd had the courage to do this a moment ago and then he'd said one thing, and it had dried up and floated away. A few months ago she'd solve (or think she had solved) something that felt like this with a punch to some jerk's face, but Simon hadn't meant it like that, had he?
Simon watched the various emotions mix across her features, and he started to get a sense that she really wasn't ready for this. As much as she may need more information about her powers, maybe this - all of this - was too much to deal with all at once. And, if he was honest with himself, he suddenly had a lot to think about, too. Like the fact that if he touched someone, he could make them scream out in pain like that. Maybe not consciously, but he didn't know how all of the students' powers worked, and if even one of them had powers like Lil's, he could end up hurting someone by not even being conscious of it.
Also, it seemed as though his power had never been completely explained to other students, and if they only thought he saw powers, and nothing else, then he was completely intruding on other peoples' privacy without permission. Unconsciously, he pulled his hands back into himself, curling his arms around his stomach.
"Listen," he murmured, "why don't we give this a rest for one day? If you decide you really want me to scan you, I'm not going anywhere, but perhaps we could do it with the nurse present, just in case."
"Thanks," Lil said quietly. She meant it. Up until that moment she wasn't sure what to do: walk out and feel like a coward, or let him touch her again. The pain had been bad, but the rest was almost worse, and his offer was a reprieve she didn't know she needed. "A nurse would be good. And maybe, um, tell people about the naked thing." She looked away because her chin felt a little unsteady, and she was not going to start acting like a fucking baby now. "It doesn't feel good, especially when... Ugh." Lil shook her head, stepped off the stool, and started scooping up clothing. "Guys are fucking jerks, okay? And this is too close to all that shit."
"Hey," Simon murmured, his voice going softer. "I don't...I never. I never want anyone to feel uncomfortable around my powers. Or...me, when I'm scanning them. The...the only thing I want to do is help mutants. Not make you feel uncomfortable, even though there is an uncomfortable nature involved. But I. I can sometimes be... my sister would say oblivious," he managed. "I'm so sorry I hurt you. And I... I will be explaining fully from now on. And. And wearing gloves in public."
Lil nodded and pulled on her sweatshirt. She had a thought to reassure him, maybe let him know the gloves were a little much, but she wasn't even sure she accepted the apology. "You do what you need to, eh? But if you're doing this, oblivious doesn't cut it." Okay, so she hadn't accepted it.
It was a smack to the face. Cold water on a situation he'd never thought much about before, and it actually turned his stomach a little. He gave a short nod, turning his head away for a moment while she redressed.
She put on everything but her bra. That Lil stuffed in a pocket because although she could damn well get it on under her shirts, doing it while Simon was there seemed unthinkable. Then she turned for the door. "I'll be back. I gotta figure out these powers sometime, but if it's not for a while, or if I stay away from you out there," she waved a hand at the door. "It's not personal." That was probably the stupidest thing she'd said since she got there. It was intensely personal, but he hadn't intended this, and even if she wasn't ready to accept his apology, that did count for something.