5/21 Issue: Tentacles and Trauma

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Slarti
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Title: Damn Not Given
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5/21 Issue: Tentacles and Trauma

Post by Slarti »

Timelined right after Family Reunion.

Shinobi: The drive home was always slow because traffic was always terrible. Obi tapped the wheel. Almost there, and he felt like it would have been faster if he'd gotten out and walked. Of course, having a space cat appear in the middle of your courtroom tended to make you want the day to be over faster.

Carol: Carol hadn't moved except to curl up on her side on the floor amidst the exploded mug, coffee, bits of broken countertop and overloaded bulb glass. Chewie had curled up on her hip, the weight of the small warm body was oddly reassuring.

Shinobi: It would have been way more convenient if that cat could have just teleported him home, or could talk, since 'meow' only got him so far. Still, he gathered there was a problem, and when he couldn't get Carol on the phone he'd left work.

Shinobi: Parking the car on the street, he stopped at the door when the automatic locks built into the door didn't engage. Typing in a passkey, he headed inside. Why were the lights out? "Carol?"

Carol: Carol was in no condition to answer so Chewie lifted her head and 'mrow'ed from the kitchen. Carol reached up a hand to pet Chewie behind the ears.

Shinobi: "Jarvis? Where's Carol?" When there was no answer, he frowned and started toward the living room, diverting toward the kitchen when he thought he heard another meow.

Carol: Chewie nuzzled her hand then stood up and stretched her legs before leaping up onto the counter top where she meowed again and waited until Obi could see her before looking down at where Carol lay.

Shinobi: "Thanks," he told her, rounding the island as he took in the mess. It seemed like bulbs were popped all over the place, but in here it looked like a small hurricane had hit. There was glass, coffee and Carol on the floor. "What happened?"

Carol: Carol blinked her eyes into focus, her gaze tracking up to his face, "She was here..."

Shinobi: "She was..." Rogue?! He looked around the room, surprised nothing else was broken. "Rogue was here?! What the fuck happened?"

Carol: She reached for him for some reassurance, "Tony... he slipped his security... came here... there was a suit..."

Shinobi: Why would she mention Tony was wearing a suit? He always wore suits. Although, he had to admit he wouldn't put him past wearing a disguise to get away from his security. "Why did Tony come here?" Obi reached for Carol to help her get off the floor.

Carol: She gestured vaguely to the counter top and Tony's tabloid show and tell but now she was half in his lap and didn't want either of them to move. "He was doing dad mode..."

Shinobi: Obi looked up at the counter, recognizing the paper, then down at the semi-catatonic woman in his lap. "Dad mode, right. So he was checking up on us. He brought Rogue with him?"

Carol: She shook her head, taking a deep breath to try and get the words out, "She came later... She was looking for him... Chewie has mouth tentacles..."

Shinobi: "She came- what? Mouth tentacles?!" Now he was looking up at Chewie, who was grooming herself and looking totally innocent. "What the fuck are mouth tentacles? Is that like space cat worms?"

Carol: "I think she was trying to protect me..." She closed her eyes and sighed, "It did kind of startle me out of my panic attack so..."

Shinobi: "Tentacles? Out of her mouth?" He was having more trouble wrapping his head around this idea than he cared to admit.

Carol: "And extra mouths..." Carol supplied helpfully. "I don't know how she fits them all in there... and she's not talking..." She settled against him and wrapped her arms around his waist, "She's a good space cat babysitter."

Shinobi: Tentacles. Tentacles with mouths. He shuddered. "I'm never going to look at her the same way again." Obi tried to get a little more comfortable, then licked his lips. "So... I expected more of a mess if the two of you ever met up." He raised a hand to indicate the room, still keeping an eye on the cat.

Carol: "Yeah... I'm sorry... all this was me freaking out... didn't even do it on purpose... Tony was here so... Not like she was gonna do anything... I can fix all this..."

Shinobi: "I think you took out Jarvis," he said, frowning at the thin air he was used to the accented, snide voice of the AI emanating from. "So she just came to find him? Did she say anything to you? Or just her being here caused all this?"

Carol: "Tony said something about improving his shielding so... look out for that..." She sighed, turning her head to look up at him, "Her being here caused the damage... but she did say some things... I said some things... Tony tried to... be Tony..." she wrinkled her nose, "He was asking so many questions... I tried not to tell him anything... but then she was here..."

Shinobi: "Great, nothing like the father in law pottering around the house fixing things..." Obi looked down at her. "You wanna try to get off the floor?" He shifted again, crunching in the debris. "Asking questions... about you and me?"

Carol: She should try and get off the floor but she didn't really want to get up. "It started with us... moved on to why I'm here and not somewhere else... why I won't stay at the asylum... Had to skirt the topic..."

Shinobi: "Why protect her? Maybe if Tony knows what she's up to he'll ditch her?" He decided to take the initiative and gathered her up to lift her and himself off the glassy wet floor.

Carol: "Because I don't want to hurt him... and I don't want her to have a reason to follow through on her threat... she said she'd do it right in front of him." She was a little surprised he'd picked her up but she didn't have it in her to complain about that. "I tried to warn him... but I don't know if it'll work... she's in his head... all the time..."

Shinobi: Obi carried her into the living room and deposited her on the sofa. They'd deal with the kitchen later. Chewie trotted along behind them and he glanced at the cat. Tentacles. "He's in love with her, of course she's in his head, but maybe knowing she has feelings for another guy would help him shake those feelings."

Carol: "And then what happens?" She looked up at him, drawing her knees to her chest, "What happens when she finds out it was me that did that?"

Shinobi: He sighed and sat down beside her. "Yeah... I guess if she was willing to come here then she's willing to do anything."

Carol: "She'd do it... I know she would... you didn't see the look on her face..." The weight of him on the sofa tilted her toward him so she rested her head on his shoulder, "It's like I'm not even a person to her anymore... just an obstacle to her happiness. She doesn't care what it'll do to me or anyone that cares about me..."

Shinobi: "She threatened you again? In front of Tony? Maybe I] should talk to Tony then? Not to outright tell him, but to tell him I don't appreciate his girlfriend coming into my house and threatening my guest."

Carol: "She as good as said she'd kill me... I don't think you talking to Tony will help any... he saw it all... so now he has to process... That's how he works... he doesn't react right away... Hope has the ginger..." She sighed heavily, "I'm so sorry I broke Jarvis..."

Shinobi: "I don't know what to do about her," he sighed, then took the change of subject. "Normally Hope would just fix him. She'd complain about it but secretly she'd love it and would use the opportunity to upgrade him."

Carol: "Yeah? Sounds like her..." she closed her eyes, the numbness of the shock was wearing off and now the tears came. "Do you want me to still be here if or when Tony comes back to work on Jarvis?"

Shinobi: Oh shit, was she crying? "Hey..." Obi slid his arm around her. "You're okay. I can tell Tony to leave his damn girlfriend at home this time. He shouldn't be dodging security like that anyway." He made a face. "He talks about us making headlines, but now he shows up at my front door? Bam, more headlines."

Carol: "Told him to bring Heather next time..." She turned her face more into his shoulder, "I don't want to blow up your life... I came here to be out of the way... and feel safe..." and now it was all gone. "I should just go back to DC... get a desk job... safer for everyone..."

Shinobi: "You blew up some lights, not my life. It's fine." He swallowed. "Honestly, it gives me something else to focus on than wondering if Hope is okay." Obi stared at the wall. "Do you still feel safe here? If so, stay. If not, that's up to you."

Carol: "I trust you..." she replied honestly, "I'll fix the lights... and the counter top... I know how to do that stuff and it'll give me something to do." She shifted to put her feet back on the floor and wrap her arms around him. "In the short term... I might break more stuff in my sleep."

Shinobi: "I guess the more stuff you break the more you have to fix?" He brought his other arm around to give her an awkward hug. "I'll see if I can get Jarvis to reboot until Tony can take a look at him."

Carol: "You might never get rid of me if I have to keep fixing everything I break..." she warned with a small laugh despite herself. She reached up to rub at her eyes. "I know from the outside... it probably looks like my problem with Rogue is crazy... but her powers and mine... they don't mix well... and I come off so much worse..." she sighed, pressing her face into his shoulder while she steadied herself, "I really don't think I can survive her doing that to me again."

Shinobi: "All mutant problems look crazy. I understand why she freaks you out. She sucks your powers and your memories and all it takes is a touch. It's freaky, even for mutants."

Carol: "Except when she does it to other people... they don't lose those memories forever." She lifted her head to look at him, "When I woke up in the hospital after the first time... I didn't know anything. She took everything I had... the only reason I'm still alive is because I heal... I couldn't walk... talk... feed myself. I had to learn everything all over again... including who my family was."

Shinobi: "Wow, holy fuck." He blinked at her. "I'm sorry... I didn't know it was that bad. I knew she touched you and somehow her powers were like yours, but..."

Carol: She gave him a crooked smile through the tears, "Of course you didn't know... It's not like I wanna put that on anyone... I don't want them to look at me - or her - any differently because of what happened... It was an accident back then. She didn't mean to do it and she ran... I don't think it'd be the same this time. Not if she meant it. Not if I know what's coming."

Shinobi: "Well it's good it was an accident, but damn. So she knows what she did to you, and she threatened to do it again? That's fucked up."

Carol: "I don't even know if she knows how long I was in the hospital... she knows she took all my memories but I doubt she gave it much thought beyond that." She shook her head, looking away across the room as she felt uncomfortable being so close all of a sudden. Withdrawing her arms from him, she tried to sit up and wiped the moisture from her cheeks with her palm.

Carol: "I don't have the same support I had then... There's no one to sit with me and tell me about myself... help me learn how much pressure to use to just hug someone... I know I have all this bravado... but that's all it is... I'm not strong enough to do that on my own..."

Shinobi: "You have friends, and your mom and brother, right? I know your dad is kind of a piece of shit, but he's there. The point is, you're not entirely alone." Obi straightened up when she pulled away, turning to watch her and feeling helpless to do anything to make her feel better.

Carol: She laughed bitterly, "I don't..." she turned her head to look at him again, "Do you think I'd be here getting you all over the papers if I had anyone else? I blew up all those bridges already. I don't know anyone outside of my job. That's it. That's my life. I don't have a social life. I haven't seen my family since I moved to DC except for asking mom about the Kree and that whole Arcade fiasco."

Shinobi: "Hopefully, her coming here looking for Tony was just a fluke and you won't have to worry about her showing up again. I am going to tell Tony she's not welcome."

Carol: She nodded, "Thanks... I appreciate it..." She rubbed at her eyes again then ran a hand through her hair, "I should change..."

Shinobi: "You're all... coffee-y," he agreed, glancing down at the sofa and adding it to the list of things they'd need to clean.

Carol: "So's your suit... sorry about that too..." she sighed, letting her hand drop to her lap. "I'm gonna... I'll go out for a while..."

Shinobi: "That's fine, that's what dry cleaners are for." He leaned to look at her. "You sure you're okay? To go out on your own?"

Carol: "Better out there breaking things than in here if something goes wrong..." she reasoned with a small shrug.

Shinobi: "Well don't break anything that shouldn't be broken," he said with a frown. "I can understand the need to blow off some energy."

Carol: "I'll go to the asteroid belt or collect space junk..." she assured him, "That's what I usually do when I want to punch stuff..." She turned her head to look at him, holding her hands between her knees as she shrugged her shoulders, "That or screaming into the literal void should make me feel a little better..."

Shinobi: "Space, right. That sounds... well, big and black and empty, but there's a certain draw to that sometimes, too. Just don't throw yourself in any black holes."

Carol: "I'd have to find one first," she offered a small smile, "A part of me does want to go poking around in one just to see if I can... and what it looks like in there. But I won't, I promise. Space in general, though? It's really something out there... I wish I could show you."

Shinobi: "Maybe, like the woods, space is a place I'm better off not knowing too much about. There might be space squatches."

Carol: That made her laugh, "Space squatches, huh? That's a new one. Those lizard people are trying to throw you off. Space is beautiful... really beautiful... But I guess some people need to have their feet more firmly on the ground..."

Shinobi: He planted both feet on the floor. "Ayup."

Carol: "I promise if you let me show you one day, I'll keep you from floating away," she rested her hand on his leg and leaned to press a kiss to his cheek before she used the feet on solid ground to help lever herself up from the sofa.
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