ArchivedLogs:Anatomy

Anatomy
Dramatis Personae Jackson, Kate, Rasa
In Absentia	2014-04-26 Set a short while after asking Rasa for help.
Location <NYC> Kate's Apartment - Gramercy Park
A modest studio apartment with a small balcony that overlooks the bustling street below, and if you lean far enough out, you can see the buildings that surround Gramercy Park. The walls are a neutral beige shade, and the furniture is minimal - a sofa in a soft blue canvas, a small table for two just outside the open kitchenette. No pictures or art on the walls, though the one bookshelf, filled with medical journals, has a small family photo in a silver frame. The essentials have been set up - pots and pans are mostly unpacked from boxes in the kitchenette, a small flat panel TV is set on top of a simple black laminate entertainment center. A matching coffee table has a stack of coasters featuring pressed flowers in resin. Unpacked boxes have been pushed out of the way to line the walls, some still sealed with packing tape, while others half emptied as their contents were needed. The entire little apartment is neatly kept and quite tidy, with very little clutter, and an eye for organization. The lunch hour has come and gone and two figures exit one of the Xavier School vehicles. One is shroud in a navy blue burqa, each of the hems on the outfit double layered in a matching eyelet lace, adding texture to the vast swaths of cloth. The eye window on hir hijab is covered in a similar lace to the eyelet, but in reverse and on a transparent fabric so ze can see. Ze's a little shorter today, only a few inches over five feet, so the cloth drags against the ground while ze walks. Ze steps up to the door of the apartment building and looks over the names on the buzzers and finds Kate's and rings up for attention. Accompanying this figure is another, stepping out of the driver's side and locking the hybrid vehicle behind him. Jax is bright and springy today, sky-blue skinny jeans with knee-high boots, a flowy-loose sunny-bright yellow tank top with a very bright rainbowy hoodie over top. Large mirror-lensed sunglasses over his eyes, chrome-blue nailpolish. He's a little bouncy on the toes of his boots, lingering a few steps behind Rasa with keys jingling in his hand. There's a messenger bag slung across his body, one hand resting on it where it sits at his hip, and his face is turned up towards what sunlight he can get on the kind of cloudy afternoon. Kate has been shuffling around in a bit of a sleepy haze this morning, blinking sleep from her eyes still as she goes about preparing herself another pot of fragrant coffee. She's dressed casually, a pair of bright blue yoga pants and an oversized t-shirt in a heathered gray, faded Greek letters emblazoned on the chest, a '09 in equally faded blue print, the 0 filled with a little scene of sea-life. Her hair is pulled back in a messy bun, curling strands bouncing wontonly around her face. The kitchen table is stacked with a massive collection of library books, all on various bats and bat anatomy, print outs from websites about bats, about mutants, diagrams of bat wings, marked up, overlayed with books on anatomy. A small marble composition book open to a page of scribbled notes sits atop the stack of open books, pen holding the place for her. When the buzzer rings, Kate heads over to buzz the expected visitors up, stiffling a yawn, "Heya. C'mon up. Room 504 - just near the elevator. Door'll be propped open a crack." The diminuitive, tired looking nurse heads for her kitchinette, pulling down cups and plates, though not yet pouring or plating anything while she waits. "Okay, we're coming." Rasa snatches at the door handle when the buzzing is heard, walking back a couple steps to hold it for Jackson. "After you," ze offers, brows raised expressively. Ze follows him in and heads for the elevator. "When we're actually ready to work on Dusk, I can come, too. You know, stand there and provide reference when she needs it. I'll also be much better at it when he's around for me to touch." Ze steps into the elevator after it arrives and presses the button for the fifth floor. "You know, if it's okay with everyone." "Be sure helpful." A large ten-gallon hat appears on Jax's head just so that he can doff it in thanks, sweeping it off to Rasa with a tip of his head as he heads inside. He slips into the elevator, leaning against the wall as it heads up. "For her, at least, I think. I ain't /entire/ sure how it all works? But we can ask, I suppose. I was --" His nose crinkles up, cheeks flushing deeply. "Little bit not-really-with-it when she was workin' on me." He turns his head upwards, watching the numbers go by; he pushes himself upright when they get to the fifth floor, slipping out first to seek out 504. "Though 'okay with everyone' will -- I mean, whether it's okay with /Dusk/'ll be -- another question entirely. I should warn you /he/ ain't exactly been in no good shape, for a while." He knocks on the doorframe when they reach the apartment, peeking inside before pushing the door open to slip inside. "Hi?" His voice is warm, if tentative. "I, um, I brung some spring rolls." Kate looks up at the knock on her door, shuffling over on stocking feet, a pair of neon pink fuzzy slipper socks with cat faces embroidered on the toes. When Jax and the individual she assumes to be Rasa enter, Kate offers a sleepy wave, the circles under her eyes evident. "Morning," she says, not quite up to date on what time of day it properly is, "Apologies for the mess. I suppose I should finish unpacking at some point, 'steada living out of boxes forever." She gestures towards the modest little dining area, and the living room beyond. "Come on in, make yourself at home. Can I get you anything? Coffee? Tea? I think I have tea, it's not the greatest. I've got juices, or, um, almond milk. I think I grabbed almond, might be coconut," Kate glances towards the kitchen, narrowing her eyes slightly, "Apologies, again, haven't had much time to go grocery shopping, I can't remember exactly what I picked up." She offers a tired smile, and locks up once the others are inside, perking up a bit at the offer of food, "Spring rolls?" "Afternoon, Kate," Rasa replies, filing in after Jackson and looking around the apartment. "Don't worry about the mess. I'm just... trying to figure out where best to have a wingspan." Ze inhales and waits until the door is closed before slowly removing hir hijab, hir hair darker, almost black now, hir skin as pale as if ze had not seen the sun in years. Ze begins to work on the rest of hir burqa as ze considers the beverage options. "Juice is fine, thank you. I appreciate it. How are you holding up these days?" "Oh, gosh, coffee, I don't hardly never say no to caffeine." Jax stops by the door once they're inside, closing it behind them and pausing to unzip his boots and remove them; his socks beneath are vividly coloured, peacock feathers on one and owls on the other. "Yeah they're -- um. Kinda. Mango-y? An' there's two kindsa dippin' sauces one's spicey-er an' one's sweeter." He's opening his bag, digging out a tupperware to tuck it beneath his arm with a sheepish smile. "It's like a, um, a thank you. For helpin' out /so/ much. An' lettin' us come by on short notice." He pads further into the apartment to set the tupperware of soft rice-paper-wrapped rolls down on the kitchen counter. "How've you been?" Moving towards the kitchen, Kate fetches a large bottle of cranberry-orange juice, pouring it into a tall, swirl-colored glass for Rasa, sliding it across the counter towards hir, "Apparently I read orange and thought it was orange juice. Or something. But here you go." Similarly, she moves along in the kitchen to pour two large cups of fresh coffee for herself and Jax, providing a little white china cow full of almond-milk and a saucer of little sugar cubes, offering to Jax as she passes the coffee to him, "All vegan." The questions about her well being is answered with a yawn, rushing to cover her mouth with her hand, "Tired. Been sorta, um, burning the candle at both ends lately. S'ok, just never quite pushed myself this much." She shakes her head and glances towards the living room, "There should be enough room between the little dining area and the living room, I think. I can shuffle boxes if they're in the way." Perking up again at the description of spring rolls, "Ooooh, those sound amazing. And it's okay. I just hope I can help. I've been studying on my own, as much as I can, but it only does so much, but I'm trying." Underneath the burqa, which Rasa folds up nicely and leaves on an arm of the couch, ze is wearing a pair of loose jeans and a yellow and pink halter top, chosen specifically for how it leaves hir back mostly bare. Ze accepts the glass of juice with a nod of gratitude and takes a sip, hir attention drifting over to Jackson as he produces spring rolls. "Yeah, we really appreciate that you're willing to do this so quickly. I apologize for taking up so much of your energy. It's... just..." Despite the peppy attitude the teen is exhibited, there's a slightly worn edge to hir mood and a nervousness to hir movements. "It's important to me that we can give the sky back to Dusk." "Thank you kindly." Jax takes the coffee, adding a generous splash of almond milk and a rather /excessive/ number of sugar cubes before he stirs it. He opens the tub of spring rolls, taking out two smaller glass dishes from where they've been balanced on top to set the two dishes of sauce beside the container of rolls. He picks up his coffee after that, stirring it again less out of necessity and more just out of something to /do/ with his restless hands. "I can't even imagine. You've been jus' -- amazin', through all this. Rasa -- ze's had experience with Dusk's form from before. We was hopin' havin' someone on hand with an actual -- /example/ of what his wings looked like on a person could help. With the studyin'. Because --" His hands tremble, slightly, at Rasa's choice of words, though his tone is still warm. If quiet. "He's given a /whole/ lotta folks their freedom. I think those wings is his." Kate averts her gaze as Rasa removes the burqua, focusing her attention on the spring rolls, helping herself to one once everything is set in place, "Thank you. Definately beats the cocoa puffs I was planning to inhale for brunch." She shakes her head at the apology from Rasa, "No need to apologize. I'm helping of my own volition - I want to help where I can, I just hope I can. I should be able to, with an example." She takes a deep breath, ruffling her hair again, smiling softly, "An example would be amazing. I'm a bit limited by my knowledge of anatomy - texts, diagrams. They do a lot, but I admit, so much of what I know is from work, observation." With a gesture towards the living area, Kate offers a nervous smile, "I may need to be in physical contact with you, again, Rasa, possibly moving and shifting the wings to understand the workings a bit better. It shouldn't be as disorienting, but you might again get to see the diagrams and such as I'm trying to fill out information. Just let me know if you feel uncomfortable, or need to stop. Thank you so much for offering to do this, I just hope I can learn enough to help your friend." Fixing her coffee, and taking a long pull of the dark beverage, draining almost half the cup in one long gulp. "Whenever you're ready." "Ah, yes. I'll try to keep the brain chatter to a minimum." Rasa likewise takes a drink of hir juice and then grabs a coaster to put hir glass on before resting it more securely on the table. Ze reaches down and loosens hir belt, pulling it out and setting it aside before reaching back to unclasp the back of hir shirt as well. Another deep breath and ze starts to gain more height, hir body paling further as hir hips become large, but more proportionate to a taller masculine body. Hir shoulders fill out as well. Hir face is the last part to change, but very quickly it takes on a familiar guise that has not been seen for weeks. Ze looks left and right before rolling hir shoulders and lifting hir arms, huge bat wings sliding out from hir back and stretching out towards the clear corners of the room, forming little finger claws at the wing joint and growing intensely soft, velvet hair on the surface. When ze speaks again, hir voice is more settled into Dusk's. "Okay. I'm going to mostly be quiet, because maintaining isn't my best suit, but take as long as you need." Rasa!Dusk's hands reach up to remove the halter top now that he is completely a different person now. Jackson falls into silence, too, as Rasa shifts form. Behind the huge sunglasses there's less to be seen of his expression -- but what can be seen of it has paled very slightly as well. He leans just a /little/ bit more heavily back against the counter, and his fingers are gripping intensely tight at his coffee mug, his stirring halted. He pulls in a slower shakier breath, dipping his head and lifting the mug to hide his face further behind it. For a /very/ long sip. Around him, there's a very brief ripple-shiver of light that soon calms back down; he tips his head downward, looking down into his coffee as he drinks. Eyes widening as Rasa changes forms, Kate falls quiet, watching in wonder. "Oh /wow/," she breathes at last, running a hand through her hair, dislodging some of it from the already messy bun, "Ok. Wow. Yeah, this sort of changes things a bit." Kate sets her coffee down on the counter, not taking her eyes off of Rasa!Dusk as she shuffles through papers on the table, looking for something. She picks up a fairly standard diagram of a human back, laminated, with a sketch in dry-erase marker of an estimate of wings. Swiping her hand across it, she takes up a marker and starts to draw in the wings, "Ok. If you can just hold that position for a few, I can fix my diagrams, first. I'll give you a warning before I touch you, okay?" Kate sets about drawing the connection of the wings to the back, outlining the appendages themselves. "Works for me. I'm here for whatever you need," The New Dusk agrees and shifts his gaze over to Jackson, lips pulling downward. "You can go for this part, if it's too much." Otherwise, he stays as still as he can. "It's okay. I -- um. Can I help with any of this? I mean, I -- art. It's sort of. What I do. I -- ain't exactly no nurse but I've had anatomy-drawin' classes out the wazoo." Jax sets his coffee cup down on the table. He stoops, opening his bag again to get out his sketchpad and a drawing pencil. He falls quiet after this, though, leaning back against the counter to just pull his lower lip in between his teeth. He's still a little tense, posture-wise, his breathing a little shaky, as he starts to sketch. Kate nods, and works out her diagram, focusing, methodical, mapping, but quickly drawing. "Thank you, so so much," Kate says, to both of them, "This is so incredibly helpful. I mean, just being able to see how. It's just. Wow." The offer of drawing gets a curious look, but Kate nods, considering, "If you can? That would be amazing. Give me some additional study materials to pour over, let me work faster, better. Help more." She sets her pens down, and the chart on the table, moving towards Dusk, eyes wide in reverence. "Ok, I am going to touch your back, Rasa. Let me know if the pressure is too much or uncomfortable. I'll do what I can do to tell you before I do anything, but if I fall quiet, I'm concentrating," Kate explains, standing just behind Rasa!Dusk, reaching her hands up to gently touch the muscles at the base of the wings, gingerly palpating, hands warm and soft, focusing. "You won't be quiet to me when you're touching me, don't worry," Rasa!Dusk replies, his voice soft and low. Underneath the calm exterior, the teen inside is tense and scared, depressed and trying so hard to maintain the form, thinking back to the time after the Lofts bombing where the real Dusk helped hir heal after the horrible ordeal. There's a taste of blood in hir mouth as hir mind tries to pin down the initial feelings of him as it floods hir veins and fills hir stomach -- but the emotions are stronger than the memories and they are hard for the outside mind to pin down. Jax is quiet, still. There's a very faint tremor to the light around him, every now and then, but only pale and wan and brief. Mostly he is just silent and unobtrusive, hanging back with his sketchpad to work; save for the soft scritch of his pencil and occasional movement to circle Rasa to a different angle (taking his coffee cup with him), he does not make a whole lot by way of noise. Just pencil-drawn images of wings and shoulders and back muscles taking shape on his page. Kate's mind is a tired jumble, upon contact, a swirling mix of charts, diagrams, corrections made to assumptions based off of bat wings, measurements adjusted. Each delicate touch to a different muscle group on Rasa!Dusk's back brings with it further detailed knowledge of the structure beneath: veins, bones, muscles. Gratitude tinges the thoughts, for Rasa and Jax, for everyone for being so patient. A worry that she will let them down, a promise that she won't let them down. "Could you flex the left wing for me, please? Tug it close to your body," Kate asks, gently touching the membrane of the wing in question, perhaps a bit shocked at the texture. Beneath the practiced, clinical layer of charts and knowledge, is concern for Rasa, concern for a lot of people, but the concern for Rasa floats to the forefront. There is a question of 'can I help you?' floating around in there too, not fully formed, but somewhat asked none-the less. The wing flexes inward and settles into a neutral position, much like when Dusk is trying to hide the appendage under his coat. << Nah. >> Even Rasa's mental voice sounds a bit like Dusk right now, in tone and inflection. << You've done amazing things for me. I just... have to recover in all of the other aspects of my life. >> The wing that is still stretched out flexes in the other direction to diffuse tension from holding it in one position. << Appreciate the thought though. >> "Thank you," Kate says quietly, eyes closed, tracing along the bone structure of the wing, gently probing, filling in more information in her mental map. She occasionally pauses, feeling for strong pulse points, veins, along the bones and along the membrane of the wing, the little details filling in like a map. Each system labled in a slightly different color to denote the type of structure needed and expected. Though her eyes are closed, she easily traces the underlying structure of the wing she examines. << Alright. >> Kate responds, her mental voice distracted but still concerned << Just wanted to check. I'm here if you need anything. >> It is quite likely that the analysis of the wings goes on for quite some time, carefully noting and re-checking, revising and refining the mental map in quiet concentration. As time passes, the basic sketch of the wing that Kate started with in her mind has been filled with an almost dizzying amount of detail, fleshed out and refined from her knowledge of bat-wings and human anatomy combined.