ArchivedLogs:Not Mad

Not Mad
Dramatis Personae Billy, Jax
In Absentia	2014-06-27 Set some while after dealing with Trib.
Location <NYC> The Mendel Clinic - Lower East Side
With its sharp crystalline edges and sleek lines knifing up into the sky, this building is one of the most /distinctive/ new additions to the neighborhood. An angular structure in glass and steel, the tall tower has a deceptively slender look to it that is belied by the heavy security as soon as you enter the doors. The front doors are frosted with the Clinic's logo -- a rising sun over a rod of Asclepius -- a motif echoed in many places throughout the building. Visitors to the clinic must first pass through a small mantrap, guarded by some of the Clinic's security guards; once they make it through the metal detector and airlock's double doors they emerge into the much more hospitable lobby. With dark wood floors underneath and comfortable black and red couches at its edges, the high windows give the room an airy feel. A bank of elevators to one side carry visitors to the many destination floors, while the wide welcome desk at the other side is manned by a security guard ready to help point visitors in the right direction. After the shooting and subsequent medical treatment, it takes Billy some time to step out of his fugue state long enough to answer police questions. The young mutant is fuzzy on most of the events leading up to the shooting, but was under some impression that Trib was arguing with, and must have known Billy's attacker. Still, it was decided that he was just a little too far gone to offer any help. Now, with a gunshot wound in the arm, Billy lies back across the cleaner-than-usual cafeteria table. It's swiftly approaching morning, but he shows no signs of succumbing to actual sleep. Instead, he stares up at the ceiling tiles with a look of vague contentment, likely due to a liberal dose of pain-medication after a moment of hysterics. He mumbles something unintelligible to himself. With morning swiftly approaching there is a light at the end of Jax's double-shift tunnel, an end finally in sight after being here -- well. A /while/. Though despite having been on shift for upwards of thirteen hours he still looks /wired/, awake, entirely too much /energy/ to him given the hour and the night's activity. He manages to tone down his restless bounce somewhat as he slips into the cafeteria, dressed rather /un/flamboyantly for once in the sharp black-and-red uniform that all the Mendel Clinic guards are issued. He looks like he might be heading over for the coffee but he stops, teeth wiggling at one lip ring, at the side of Billy's table. "-- Hey." His thick drawl is quiet, quietly concerned. "Y'hangin' in there, honey-honey?" "Y-hh," Billy blinks heavily up at Jax, "I didn't know you were here." His tone is relaxed and pleasant. He hesitates, looking Jackson's outfit over, "Wait. Is this a dream?" When he struggles to sit himself up, the blonde runs into some trouble when he goes to rely on his injured wing. "Hey-hey-hey." Jax lifts a hand placatingly, shaking his head when Billy tries to sit up and reaching for the /un/injured shoulder to gently stay the motion. "No, no dream, an' you really did get hurt so you might wanna take it easy on that arm for a bit. I been here since you got brought in, I jus', didn't want t'pester till you'd had a bit t'rest. I work here. Um -- is there anything I can get you? You ain't like, forbidden to eat now or nothin' so -- or maybe extra pillows? Blankets? Somethin'?" Billy furrows his brow, half-suspicious of the claim that Jax works here as well. He's got his hand in a lot of things. "Oh, no, thank you." He turns his head to glance up at the ceiling tiles, as if drawn back to them. "No, I'm okay, I think." He looks back to Jax, "Where's ah-what happened to-uh-" Jax is, at least, wearing a Mendel Clinic ID badge clipped to his uniform; it says SECURITY in bold along one edge and has, along with his name and picture, the claim that he's a Senior Security Officer here. If he is faking it he's gone to some /effort/. "'kay," he says lightly, taking a step back away from Billy's table when Billy looks away. "Where's what? Apologies, man, m'gonna need a little more t'go on than that." "Trib," Billy finally finds the word, and for once not apologizing about something. He looks back to Jax with a glimmer of ernest concern, either for the missing man's wellbeing or for himself, at just being abandonned here. There's a small press to Jax's lips, thin and flat though it's only brief; most of the rest of his expression is hidden behind the huge mirrored sunglasses he wears (even inside) (even at night.) "Trib went on home after talkin' with the cops," he answers after a moment of delay. "He said t'pass on that he hopes y'get well soon. He weren't hurt or nothin', though, if y'worried. Y'two been friends long?" Billy frowns, shaking his head. "N-no," he answers quietly, "I slept on his floor once. And I think he knows my cousin." The last bit sounds like the whispy addition of the pain killers. The patient shifts again, but this time remembers his arm, chuckling quietly, "I don't know why I thought he'd wait." "He seemed proper concerned," Jax answers Billy's chuckle, quiet as well and a little bit distant. "We could give him a call, if you'd like. Without your say-so we ain't allowed to tell nobody nothin' 'bout how you're doin' but now you're awake --" His brows furrow together faintly. "Though p'raps decisions might best wait till you're a little less drug-woozy." Billy peers up at Jax, as if trying to concentrate through his drug-induced haze. Admittedly, Jax's bedside manner is a little worse than it was a few days ago, "I'm sorry-about upsetting hum, Dusk. And your couch." He wrinkles his nose, sidling back and forth until he's sitting up and swaying, once he is, "Are you mad at me still?" His eyes go wide. "Sweetie should you be sittin' up? You don't look quite stable yet." Jax's teeth scrape over his lip, wiggling at one of his liprings as his brows lift, now, from behind the sunglasses. "Mad? I weren't never mad at you t'start. So -- no? Is this a trick question?" Though there's a touch of laughter in his voice on this last question it's a little awkward-confused. "Like 'Have y'stopped beatin' your wife'?" Billy giggles behind a pout, inching to the edge of the table, "What? I don't have a wife!" He laughs more, teetering forward and almost falling as he shakes his head again, "I'm surprised Dusk just left me here--wait..." Now, he's confused himself. "Or husband, I ain't picky." Jax steps forward quickly again, his hand a little firmer this time when it moves to Billy's unhurt shoulder. "Dusk didn't bring you here, sweetie, it was that --" His lips press together as he bites back whatever was /going/ to finish this sentence, instead rather firmly bracing Billy in place. "Where you tryin' to get to, hon? You don't seem hardly steady enough for walkin' on your own yet. You want me to fetch the nurse back?" There's only one here tonight to /fetch/. "No, nn-o," Billy relaxes, doing his best to lie back again, "I think I should lie down." He tries, but is unable to focus on Jax, anymore. "You're mad at me," he affirms, at least catching on to some aspect of Jax's hesitance despite drifting awful fast, "I'm sorry." "I ain't mad at you," Jax answers, quiet and patient. "You got nothin' to apologize for. I jus' worry. Almost-stabbin's and now a shootin' an' the company you're keepin' --" His head shakes as he carefully guides Billy back down to the table, arranging a pillow behind his head. "I'm Southern, I'm built for frettin'. Jus' want to make sure you're doin' okay." "I'm worried, too," Billy whispers, looking back up towards the ceiling from behind heavier and heavier lashes, "Mmeee, too. Kissing... that mean, vampire." His voice grows breathy and soon enough. "Your uniform really just doesn't have enough colors for me to believe this is real," he manages in a longer slur, before falling asleep completely. He'll likely sleep well into the day. Jax's lips thin again, breath pushed out slow through his nose. He moves over to cover Billy gently beneath a light sheet, draping it into place before he gets his coffee and heads back out to finish his shift.