ArchivedLogs:Deuces Wild

Deuces Wild
Double down
Dramatis Personae Aloke, Hank, Lorna, Mallory
In Absentia	April 7, 2015 The more the merrier (Part of the Future Past TP.)
Location <XS> Medical Lab
Gleaming and sterile, the school's medical facility is all cool science in contrast to the mansion's old-world old-fashion. All stainless steel and antiseptic tinge, the room is filled with the quiet whir-click of the various implements that comprise its medical equipment -- all state-of the art. The hospital beds are curtained off for privacy when they have patients, and in one of the alcoves there is a small operating theatre visible. More heavy-duty equipment is visible in the lab in the back, where the securely locked cabinets keep sensitive equipment out of the reach of teenage fingers. One of the little alcoves in the back has been effectively turned into a more private suite, cordoned off by a double thick curtain, effectively hiding the cluster of new monitoring hardware from view, among them a state of the art sonogram machine and heart rate monitor. All this is surrounding a raised white table wrapped in the pristine white paper of a doctor’s office. A glass fronted cabinet against the far wall contains stacks of neatly folded cloth hospital style gowns in various sizes and colors, as well as other various and sundry linens one would find in a doctor’s office. The lighting in this area is bright, but a bit warmer and less clinical than the rest of the medical lab. Mallory is supposed to be seated on the table while waiting, and likely had been at one point in time. Instead, she is now pacing nervously in the small room, her hooves clicking noisily against the sterile tile flooring. She toys with the strings of the faded pink hospital gown, worn like an ill fitting coat over the first sage green one so there is no embarrassing gap fluttering about while she paces. Her tail lashes about behind her, while another hand rests on the swell of her abdomen, still pacing. “I suppose this was a valid excuse to get a new sonogram machine,” Mallory says quietly to no one in particular, pacing closer to the machine in question to look at it curiously, “Since apparently our little one is resistant to posing for a proper image.” Her dark eyes look down at her stomach accusingly, poking gently, though she still smiles. “Can’t help but be nervous,” she admits, pausing to lean against the table she is supposed to be sitting on. "Hey, I'm back," Aloke says softly, peeking around the curtain, and then stepping fully into the alcove. He's barefoot as usual, but wearing blue jeans and a white t-shirt. His glow has been well-managed as well by his sunscreen. "I found Lorna. She had to take care of something, but she's on her way now." He crosses, kisses Mallory lightly, and asks, "Now, hey - aren't you supposed to be lying down?" Standing close, he puts a gentle hand on the swell of her belly. Passing by the alcove, Hank raises a hairy paw in greeting but doesn't stop. "Hello! Be right with you. Let me know when Lorna's here, ok?" And Hank disappears into his office for the moment. Looking up when Aloke announces his presence, Mallory smiles brilliantly, standing from her lean to pull him in for a hug and to return the kiss gently. Resting her head against his shoulder, Mallory grumbles quietly, “Technically yes. But every time I tried to, she shifts, and it’s just really not comfortable to stay like that.” Overlapping her hand with his, she smiles, resting her forehead against his and saying quietly, “Still think we’re having a girl.” Hank’s greeting gets a half hearted wave and a chuckle, “Suppose I should /actually/ try to lay down. Maybe she’ll sit still for a few if I do.” Mallory moves towards the table, taking a bit to actually get settled in with a crisp white blanket draped over herself in addition to the layered gowns. Her tail drapes off the side of the table, twitching anxiously. Aloke smiles and rests his hand on Mallory's shoulder. "And I can't wait to meet her. Does Lorna still think it's a boy?" "Yes, she /does/," Lorna says, smiling as she enters the little alcove as well. She's actually wearing her X-Man uniform, which probably gives at least some notion as to why she was running late. "Good news 'Loke, your uniform is almost repaired." She turns and grins at Mallory. "Jean still refuses to let yours out around the middle for some reason." Lorna chuckles and moves over to kiss Mallory on the cheek, and then inspect the new sonogram machine. Hank must have heard Lorna arrive, but then he does have great hearing. He peeks around the corner and smiles. He's also barefoot, giant blue feet sticking out the bottom of khaki trousers. He's also wearing a white lab coat over a loud red and yellow Hawaiian shirt. "Everyone ready to get started?" Mallory grins ruefully, opening her mouth to answer Aloke’s question when Lorna answers herself, sticking her tongue out at her friend instead. “Bah,” Mallory grumps, wiggling herself so she is a bit more comfortable on the table, tail making this a difficult prospect, and re-arranging the sheet over herself for modesty’s sake, “As long as they’re healthy, whoever they are, I think we’ll be happy with that.” Smirking and exchanging a cheek-kiss with Lorna, chuckling lightly, though there’s an element of anxiety to the sound. She reaches out for Aloke’s hand, squeezing it with a faintly shaking grip, though she smiles up at him. “Oh yes, I can’t imagine why there would be objections to that,” she laughs, leaning back on the table and shifting a bit to settle in, “Granted, as fast as my belly is growing, it’s likely a bit pointless anyway.” When Hank peeks in, Mallory reaches out to snag the tube of ultrasound medium from its holder near the machine, clutching it in her hands possessively. “Almost. Need to warm this crap up. I swear, it’s freezing on even /my/ stomach,” Mallory grouses, though her bright smile says she is joking, and potentially stalling a touch. Handing over the gel, now raised to at least room temperature, Mallory shifts the gown to expose her rounded stomach to the air. Chuckling and putting a hand to her belly, Mallory sighs, “I swear, she /knows/ when we’re going to try and get a look at her, and protests by squirming around like an eel.” Aloke takes Mallory's shaky hand in his firm, but gentle grip, chuckling softly at Lorna's teasing. "Repaired?" he asks her. "I thought they were just gonna make a new one. I still don't know how it can survive my skin in that state." He shakes his bemusedly and shrugs. Lorna shrugs as well and gives a wry smile from across the bed, "Guess you're just not that tough, big guy." She snorts at her joke and puts her fist up, which Aloke dutifully bumps, and then she starts to focus more fully on the sonogram machine. "Yeah, so I think if we run this, and my own style of imaging, we should be able to get a much better picture of your little man." She shrugs again in her insistence of boy-ness. Aloke laughs out loud when Mallory yanks her hand away to grab up the gel bottle. "It's true, doc - eh, doctor/s/, she does /not/ like cold things." He makes this statement as if it's the scientific discovery of the age. When she's done with the bottle, Hank steps up to take it from her. Reaching down under the bed, the platform shifts just slightly under Mallory separating to leave about a 3 inch gap. "I finally finished the prototype bed I was telling you about," Hank says, making skillful, distracting conversation while applying liberal amounts of gel and picking up the sonogram reader. He stands on the same side of the bed with Lorna, to Mallory's right, while Aloke is opposite them. "We have so many people with tails or other exceptional anatomy that it seemed appropriate to design a bed that would be more modular. You should have a enough room now to lay on your back and thread your tail through the gap there." Hank's grin while toothy and perhaps terrifying to someone who wasn't acquainted with the Beast, is in fact gentle and friendly. "Now," Hank says softly. "Let's see who we'll be meeting." “Well, I suppose if there’s enough left of it, repairing is still the technical term,” Mallory chuckles, leaning back and settling her tail through the space Hank opened up. “Oh, that works wonderfully, Hank. Thank you,” she sighs, looking considerably more comfortable with the new arrangement - though the nervous lashing of her tail may very well catch /everyone’s/ ankles, instead of just Aloke’s. Surrendering the tube of hopefully warmed gel to Hank, Mallory braces for the cold, taking up Aloke’s hand again. “Cold doesn’t bother me /that/ badly. Well, it did not bother me previously. My stomach is sensitive to it lately. And that ultrasound gel defies the laws of thermodynamics or somesuch,” she grumbles, her stomach flinching beneath the cool gel, “Because it’s /still/ cold.” She takes a deep breath to calm back down and center, dark eyes closing briefly. Squeezing Aloke’s hand tighter, Mallory smiles, then looks up at the monitor, hand still shaking in anticipation, “Alright. Here we go...” Through the whole process, Aloke stands by dutifully, but doesn't interrupt with any commentary. He squeezes Mallory's hand and keeps his eyes on the two monitors set up, one for the upgraded sonogram machine, and the other receiving magnetic resonance imaging from Lorna. "There," Lorna says softly, mainly just to Hank. "See? That's what I was saying before. The sono isn't accounting for all the space. Lemme focus a little here." Hank nods thoughtfully, "Yes indeed, Lorna. I see what you mean." He moves the sonogram projector to the side as Lorna hovers her hand just a few inches over Mallory's belly. Lorna takes on a confused expression and cocks her head slightly as she closes her eyes. An image takes shape on her monitor, very similar to the sonogram picture, but with a distinct gap of space in the womb. Brow furrowing, Lorna increases her concentration and before long she lets out a breath. "There," she says, turning to look at the monitor, and then turning back to everyone else as if her discovery were obvious. It is not. "Um, {sorry}, what?" Aloke says. Apparently his French doesn't get any better in the future. "You don't..." Lorna asks, confused, and then she closes her eyes again, and narrates as the image begins to rotate on the monitor. "I suspected as much before, but we needed this equipment to be sure. The sonogram was the first clue, but now I can /feel/ it happening in real time... This here," Lorna indicates, and Hank takes over. "Yes, this is your son," Hank says with a broad smile, indicating the clues on his screen. "And over here," he begins, and lets Lorna continue again. "Over here is his twin!" Lorna says eagerly. "He or she is also already expressing an ability - the power to absorb radiant energy. Or something. They ate up all the sound waves, and I can /feel/ them chowing down on my magnetics." She grins at Mallory. "I think that might be why you've felt so much colder lately." "Wait, /what/?!" Aloke asks, suddenly grasping the situation. "We're having /twins/?" His eyes glaze slightly and he drops into the chair next to Mallory's bed, slightly stunned with a stupid half-grin spreading across his face. Lose 1 turn. Regain wits. As the images begin to appear on the screens, Mallory seems content to watch and wait for explanations of just what the blurry shapes and wiggles mean. When both Hank and Lorna, however, become concerned with the seeming vacant space taking up room, Mallory’s brow furrows, and she glances between the two monitors, trying to understand what is going on; her eyes turn to Aloke, worry written plainly on her features. “You /do/ realize I can hear you, yes?” Mallory growls as the doctors begin speaking in half sentences and barely finished thoughts, “Either finish your sentences or keep them to yourselves until you’re ready to share with the rest of us.” Her grip on Aloke’s hand might tighten just a bit more with frustration. Lorna’s mention of suspicions earns a scared look from Mallory as she looks to Aloke, then back to the others. And then the truth comes out, and she just blinks, staring at the monitors for a long moment, before beaming at Aloke, her expression giddy even as she watches him sink into the chair. “Twins?” Mallory giggles quietly, unable to stop grinning, “We’re having twins.”