Current Timeline
<@Hope> Trying to do better at life, Hope took a small bouquet of flowers down to the medlab to visit Cecilia. Once there though, she shifted her weight awkwardly. "Cecilia?"
<Facade> Cecilia opened one eye. "Mm?" She said eloquently. Flowers...huh. And it was from Hope. "What're you my girlfriend?" She snorted, sleepily. Teasing a little. "Y'know. Someone once told me flowers were nature's flashers and if I was ever given them there was something nefarious going on."
<@Hope> Hope laughed at her and set the flowers down on the table. "Some social convention about visiting people in the medlab. Supposed to liven spirits or something. How are you feeling?"
<Facade> "Just peachy," said Cecilia, despite feeling like total shit. "And yourself? I'll bet you're pretty sore too what with the beating your shields took when you borrowed my powers."
<@Hope> "That's the great part of my power... once I drop yours, the effects disappear. Plus, enough healers around that I never stay beaten up for long."
<Facade> Oh. "Well at least I know it's not just me then," said Cecilia. "I was beginning to think you were just better at using my powers than I was. Or worse, that I was a total pussy." That was comforting. To know she wasn't completely useless or redundant.
<Facade> "Why're you here, Hope?"
<@Hope> "No... you're perfectly normal. I came to check on you. Apparently that is something you are supposed to do for people." She ran her fingers through her hair. "I don't use your power better than you. I've used Sue's so I am familiar with shields at least, but I just use my power well. Which means dropping powers that hurt as soon as I can."
<@Hope> She sat down in a chair next to the bed. "And the reason you think it didn't hurt isn't a good one really."
<Facade> Cecilia raised an eyebrow. "And here I thought you were the other bitch on campus," she laughed. "People have been calling us the bitch sisters!"
<Facade> "Sorry," she said. "I don't mean to insult you, but I'm often in a position where I'm either redundant in the field if not completely useless...I never claimed to be perfect. In fact I may be one of the most imperfect people here. I get jealous and angry sometimes. My apologies..."
<@Hope> "If being called a bitch offended me, I'd stay offended. I'm only a bitch to people who piss me off. Then they deserve it. Though my Nana says no they don't and I should still be nice. She's been on me to be nicer to people. And you did a great job. I'm always redundant." She laughed at her. "It's not so bad."
<Facade> Cecilia shrugged. "Maybe." She eyed Hope. "Your Nana ? I thought Tony Stark was your father... please don't tell me he calls his mother 'Mumsy' or something equally as barftastic."
<@Hope> "His parents are dead. This is my mom's family. I got in touch with them once I found out her real name. They didn't even know she was dead. They had held out hope for 20 years that she was just really good at hiding."
<Facade> Cecilia raised an eyebrow. "So your mom just took off? Never told her family where she was going or anything? And you grew up without an extended family?" She stared blankly at Hope. " Why ? Why do that to you?" God, no one should have to live without their family. That was terrible...
<@Hope> Hope couldn't help but laugh just a bit. "I grew up in foster homes. I only found my dad a few months ago. See... she thought the unplanned pregnancy would ruin his political career. So she went into hiding. The plan was to stay hidden until she could pass me off as someone else's baby... some guy she met on the road or something. But then she died in childbirth under her false name. Nobody was able to connect the dots until I illegally found Tony."
<Facade> Cecilia blinked. "Damn...everyone has a very complicated childhood around here. Dead parents, evil parents...I'm starting to look relatively normal and that's not a good thing."
<Facade> "I'm sorry to hear you got shoved into foster care," she said. "I knew a lot of people that went through it back home. One of my closest friends here grew up in the system too...well, at least she was my friend." She wasn't too sure where she stood with Mayday now.
<@Hope> "Yeah it's not a big deal anymore. Though apparently alcohol and anger are not acceptable ways to deal with it. Who knew?" She grinned a bit.
<Facade> Cecilia raised an eyebrow. "Well I coulda told you the alcohol part...though I'd be a fucking hypocrite if I told you I didn't consider seeking it out before," she said, thinking of her rum purchase after the second Circle Pines mission.
<Facade> "As for anger...I won't even get into that. I have enough anger for ten people." She lay back on the pillows, staring at the ceiling. "What is with you and Jess anyways? What the hell did she ever do to you to piss you off so bad? I mean, I know she beat me up. But from what I heard you used to be friends until you zapped her."
<@Hope> "She shoved me first. She doesn't like to tell people the part where she attacked me first. And please. She zaps people all the damn time. She needs to knock it off or stop getting surprised when she gets attacked back. That shit hurts."
<@Hope> With a sigh, Hope tried again. "It was a lot to do with being abandoned again. I tried to leave the school and she stopped me. Then she went and left. Course, in the middle of the fight I found out she had been taken, but the emotions were already there." And everyone knew Hope didn't deal with emotions.
<Facade> Cecilia sighed. "She shoves you, so you shock her so badly she passes out? How is that proportional?" She frowned. "Well, I can't talk. She might've punched me in the face and threw a vase at me...but I did throw her down the stairs. Twice. So I'm not really one to talk to about proportional."
<Facade> "Heh. I tried to leave too, but Fabian stopped me. Why did you want to go?" She asked.
<@Hope> "Well she pushed me and it overcharged. Touch intensifies my powers. As for the other... it was when Johnny and I were broken up... I couldn't take being here and seeing him moving on. It's complicated... has anyone told you about Apocalypse?"
<Facade> Cecilia gave Hope a look. "Hope, please. My boyfriend used to work for him. Of course, I've heard ALL about Apocalypse. Perhaps more than I ever wanted to know."
<Facade> "Wait. So you aren't just a possessive vagina monster?" Teased Cecilia, snorting. "What's the story there?"
<@Hope> "I was one of the people taken. I was turned into one of the horsemen... War." She shuddered at the memory of Fabian working there. At least she was past him being the bad guy. "Well, I still had War in my head. She wanted to take over again and to do that, she had to break up me and Johnny, since he stopped her the first time. So once all that crap was sorted, I realized that I had lost the only person I had ever really cared about."
<@Hope> "And when you've had nobody for your entire life, that hits you pretty hard. So, I tried to leave. Jess wouldn't let me. Miles wouldn't let me. So I stayed. And Johnny and I got back together. And really, I'm not that possessive. Just... Jess gets to me."
<Facade> Cecilia nodded. "I'm aware you were turned into War. But I was under the impression you didn't remember much about that time. Much like Clarice..." She shuddered. Maybe it was better not knowing...she had never asked for details about that time. She was too afraid to know.
<Facade> "Well you got back together didn't you? Worked out in the end...I'm not going to lie, Jess gets to me too. For a lot of reasons, some legitimate and some...well, some are a little more personal to my regret." She frowned. She didn't like to think of herself as petty...
<@Hope> "After Xavier took War out, memories of what she did became really hazy in places... but I remember every horrible memory before she was inserted into my head. And that's why your power can't get to me. If Essex got an emotional response, it pleased him."
<Facade> Cecilia felt VERY uncomfortable. There were some things she never wanted to know. "I can imagine," she said curtly. Well, seeing how Laura was it wasn't hard to blame her. Especially if her father was as much of a psycho as Hope claimed.
<Facade> "I was in the Bronx when the Herald attacked," she said. "Wasn't a pleasant experience..."
<@Hope> "So I'm not just some possessive monster. And Johnny and I had a good talk about everything. And he promised to tell me if I'm being psycho. And he helped me realize that all that other crap doesn’t matter. So I'm good now."
<Facade> Cecilia laughed. "I'm not sure I'd rely on my boyfriend to tell me if I was being a possessive monster. They do know when you're asking a loaded question you know. No way you're going to get an honest answer there." She thought a moment. "Scratch that. If you're me you'll get a brutally honest answer, whether you want it or not. But that's an exception!"
<@Hope> "The point is, he has permission to tell me. An he knows how I am... so I'm really not worried about it anymore."
<Facade> Cecilia shrugged. "If you say so. Personally, I'd ask another woman. If I had any girlfriends anymore that is. Gives a better perspective." She picked at a thread on the sheets. "So how're you dealing with anger management and Darren and everything?"
<@Hope> "Graduated. He finally agreed with me. It's not so much an anger issue... as an I don't always stop when I should. Because really? Seeing people throw tantrum like a little kid... it's hilarious."
<Facade> Cecilia laughed. "Not when it's you throwing the tantrum. As has been the case with me a few times this semester. Tends to leave a lot of damage in it's wake." She frowned at that thought. She'd hurt everyone close to her...truly had been a misery to everyone...so in ways Jess was right. And perhaps that's why Mayday had been so cruel to her...
<Facade> "I've...not graduated. I'm out of the line of fire for now. But I'm not getting out of seeing Guan anytime soon..." She sighed. "Such is the unfairness of my life."
<@Hope> "It's not so bad... I had a lot of therapy after the Apocalypse crap. It really does help."
<Facade> Cecilia snorted a tad impatiently. "I'd rather not talk about it and keep reliving the same damn thing again and again ," she said bitterly. "Just wanna move on, y'know? Not re-hash the same shit again and again. It doesn't help. It just causes me pain. But if it helps you I'm glad. It's been pretty uphill for me."
<@Hope> "I understand that too. But, just know, we're all here for you. Whatever you need. For instance... if you want to forget about all that crap and have fun, you come see me. If you want sympathy, you go to somebody else." She smiled a bit.
<Facade> Cecilia laughed. "Fair enough, I'm not sure I'm the person you come crying to, either. If anyone did I'm pretty sure I'd think they were insane."
<Facade> Cecilia rolled her eyes. "Ah. That cliche. We're ALL here for you. Well, not so much. I can name three people who've really been there for me. One's...I don't even know what's wrong with one so I don't know what's going on there. So now I've got two. So no, not everyone's there for me. I'm mostly on my own."
<Facade> "But it's fine. I'm a big girl. I can handle myself. I'll survive. And even if I can't I have to. Not like I can just leave here and make a life somewhere else. I'm trapped," she said distantly. Any other time she might've bothered not to sound so depressed. But fuck it...things hadn't been going well recently and adjustment here wasn't coming easily to her.
<@Hope> "Well fuck everybody else then. You want to do something fun, come find me."
<Facade> Cecilia nodded, deciding to shove this depressed emo crap far down somewhere that wouldn't see light. "Sounds decent," she smiled. "Do you like force field slides?"
<@Hope> "Now that, is the most brilliant use of your powers that I've heard of yet."
<Facade> Cecilia laughed. "Surprised you missed the one going down the roof awhile back. I was so obnoxiously drunk I'm sure everyone heard me...Ah, one more night like that and I think Jimmy's gonna kill me. I really don't let him get his beauty sleep."
<@Hope> "Poor Jimmy... You up for more sliding now? Or do you need more rest?"
<Facade> Cecilia laughed. "I'm always up for a slide. I'm only here till I feel strong enough to go back upstairs and I'd say I'm fine now." She stood up. "C'mon, I'll get my coat and we'll see if I can show you some funner uses of my powers...Sorry, our powers." She smiled.
<@Hope> "I'll meet you outside then." Hope smiled at her again. At least she didn't think she was a bitch.