ArchivedLogs:Falling

Falling
Dramatis Personae Aloke, Mallory
In Absentia	2013-11-21 Serving up the cure. (Part of Infected TP.)
Location <XS> Mallory's Room - FL3 and then <XS> Medical Lab - B1
The room is a little more expansive than the shared student dorms a floor below, this suite includes a small sitting room, a small bedroom, and a small private bathroom. Decorated in soft fabrics in light hues and simple furniture in dark wood, Mallory's room seems to have been purchased largely from a popular Swedish furniture store. The room looks lived in, with occasional piles of papers, half finished books, or an empty, forgotten tea cup sitting on an end table or flat surface. Under the window is a modern take on a fainting couch, dotted with pillows in soft creams and yellows. The room smells lightly of tea and citrus, although the scented candle sitting on the small round dining table indicates that it is 'London Fog' scented. One of the two chairs at the table has a cardigan sweater discarded over the back of the simple, open back chair. Almost all of the wall space has been taken up with matching dark wooden book shelves, filled with neatly organized books. Each set of shelves dedicated to a genre of books, alphabetical by author, in neat rows, some of them quite old from the looks of them. Occasionally, in the rare empty space on the shelves, there are photographs, mementos and knick knacks, but they are few and far between. A smattering of artsy photographs and sketches in simple metal frames hang in the empty wall space, though there is always room for more. Aloke wakes up to the soft lighting of his sPhone on the nightstand. He's generally the lighter sleeper, and rolls carefully so as not to disturb Mallory in the bed next to him. It's early, much too early to be up already, but he squints as he looks at the phone, trying to avoid the reflection of the light coming from his own eyes. He scrolls through a message, blinks, and scrolls back up to the top to read it again, this time with his lips slightly parted, and actually muttering aloud slightly. When he's finished reading it a second time he smiles so broad it seems fit to split his cheeks, and a tear squeezes out of the corner of his eye. "Holy shit…" he whispers. "Holy shit," he says again in a slightly louder whisper. He tries nudging Mallory gently, but insistently. "Mallo, wake up. You wanna see this." He holds his phone out for her to take, displaying the notice from Hank that their shipment of cure treatments is in, and ready for people in the med lab. Mallory is in fact the heavier sleeper, barely moving when Aloke wakes, her face buried into her pillow as her phone on the nightstand glows with the alert as well. The whispers beget a muffled, “Voices down… library…” growled into the pillow as she starts to come around to consciousness, grumbling unintelligibly. Rolling over onto her side when nudged, Mallory blinks blearily up at Aloke, confusion and sleep still clouding her vision and thoughts. “Y’ok?” she yawns, propping herself up on an elbow to look at him with concern on her features. Wincing away momentarily from the glaring light of the phone, Mallory takes it and scrolls through the message, the trepidation on her features melting to one of amazement and shock. “Holy shit,” she whispers, her voice cracking as she looks between the glowing screen and Aloke’s face, then back again; all sleep is gone from her mannerisms, she’s wide awake. “They… is this real? They…. they did it,” she says, a smile spreading over her lips as she sits upright in bed, phone dropping onto the covers, an anxious giggle escaping her throat. She all but bounces at the realization, and half tackles Aloke in a gleeful hug, giggling lightly, “They found a cure. You’re going to be ok. Oh my god, you're going to get better.” Her hug is not as warm as it has been in the past, her body temperature has been in a steady decline over the week of rationing - she won’t admit it, but the difference is notable. Aloke smiles at Mallory's sleepy mutterings, just nodding when she asks if he's ok, waiting for her to read for herself. He rolls to accept the hug, pulling her down to him in a celebratory smooch. When he's able to speak again, he's grinning and says quietly, "You wanna come downstairs with me?" Holding her practically on top of himself though, he frowns slightly. "Hey, have you been eating those bars I brought back? You seem… too cool. Or! Well, you know what I mean, right?" Giggling with pure joy still, Mallory smiles into the kiss, relaxing contentedly against Aloke while he speaks. She nods in agreement, resting her head on his shoulder, smiling as she speaks, “Was going to offer. But yes, I’ll certainly come down to keep you company.” The next question gets a slight smirk as she kisses his neck and purrs, “Mm, or maybe you’re just that hot.” After a moment, though, she sighs, answering honestly, “I’ve been eating most of them, yes. I just may not have been accepting my full food ration at every meal all the time. Or may have given one or two of them to kids who were completely out of it in class because they were hungry.” The last part is admitted guiltily, muffled as Mallory hides her face against Aloke’s shoulder. “Spologies. I know it’s not good for me to do that, but the only effect it’s had is dropping my body heat a bit. I feel fine,” she insists, hugging him close, “Really. I’m fine.” "I know, I know," Aloke says. "It's impossible to look into a hungry kid's eyes and not give them what you have." Aloke makes a mini-shrug, trying to not dislodge Mallory too much. "But I happen to worry about you first. Then the kids. I'm sure that isn't how it's supposed to work, but yeah. There it is." Aloke grins wickedly, wriggling to the side a little. "I /was/ going to say maybe we could celebrate a little first, but… I'm about to be inspected by Hank. And well, yeah. Maybe we should just get dressed instead. I think we're early enough, that I can get through the first portion before classes today." Aloke slips free and sits up on the side of the bed, running his fingers through his hair. “Pretty much,” Mallory agrees, snuggling closer to Aloke and starting to get comfortable again, stifling another yawn against Aloke’s shoulder, “I’ve got a similar hierarchy for worry. You are in the top spot on the list of people I fret about.” She falls quiet for a moment, making just a quiet ‘huh’ sound as she remains lazily draped over Aloke. A similarly wicked grin graces her features when Aloke mentions celebrating, accompanied by a playful kiss and fingers walking over his abdomen teasingly. The expression fades into an exaggerated pout at the reasoning for not following through on the activity, but she doesn’t protest when he extricates himself from beneath her. She lingers in bed for a moment longer, propped up on an elbow and watching Aloke with a happy expression, before she rolls over and extricates herself from her side of the bed. There’s a faint shiver as bare legs are exposed to the chill morning air, and Mallory pulls the button down night shirt tighter to her, as though that would help. A hand lazily reaches up to smoothe her long hair back into some semblance of order, the black tresses long since having escaped the braid from the night before. “Alright,” Mallory yawns, stretching her arms over her head before standing, glancing over her shoulder with a cheeky grin, “We’ll save the celebrating for later, then.” "Huh? What's 'huh'?" Aloke says, as they're both going about making themselves presentable. He finds his Xavier sweatpants, and t-shirt, with his favorite NYU hoodie over the top. He's also been asked to not come in barefoot to the medlab anymore, so he dons his ugg boot / slipper things. Aloke grins ruefully, shaking his head, perhaps imaging what format their celebration may end up taking. Mallory is fishing around in the dresser in search of clothes, a pair of her modified gray yoga pants and a t-shirt advertising some little theater company in hand, when Aloke asks his question. She pauses, glancing over her shoulder toward him with a bemused smile, the hint of a blush rising to color her cheeks as she answers, “It’s just… for the first time in my life, I’m worried about someone /more/ than I am worried about Thomas. It’s… well, ‘huh’.” Her voice catches slightly as she admits the thought aloud, quietly closing the drawer once she’s extracted her clothes. She finishes getting ready, hair pulled back into a neatly tied ponytail, grabbing a school logo sweatshirt to zip over the t-shirt. Once they’re both in a slightly more presentable state, Mallory smiles nervously, holding her hand out to Aloke, “You ready?” Aloke's purely curious expression melts into one much more warm and sympathetic when Mallory describes her revelation. He wraps her up in a hug and holds her for a long moment. "Thanks for telling me that. You know I don't see myself… I dunno, /replacing/ him or something, right?" Aloke finally relaxes his hug, plants another kiss, which could potentially last a little longer than originally intended, but is then followed by Aloke just leaning his forehead against Mallory's. "I'm ready to head down, but I should tell you first," so close, forehead to forehead, Aloke's eyeshine is quite bright. He sighs, and says, "I'm fallin' for you, Mallo. Pretty hard. I uh… I hope that's not going to be a problem." Mallory chuckles quietly, curling her arms around Aloke and reveling in the closeness, leaning gently into the lingering kiss. “Oh, goodness, no. Thomas is my oldest friend, he is irreplaceable to me, but, at the same time,” her voice trails off as she rests her forehead against Aloke’s, smiling. “I may be falling for you, too,” she says in a pleased sigh, “And I do believe I am perfectly okay with that. More than okay." Her eyes meet his, despite, or perhaps because of the eyeshine, her voice is hushed, "Being with you makes me happier than I thought possible." "You have no idea how happy that makes me," Aloke says, he closes his eyes for a happy sigh, and even his eyelids are glowing with the suppressed shine. He pulls away, reluctant, and says, "But, I promised you a trip to the med lab, and I don't want to lose our table. This reservation took weeks…" Once they're both ready to go, Aloke walks with Mallory, hand-in-hand, unless she wants to drop it in the corridors. 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. Once here, Aloke looks around for Hank and waves at the furry, blue doctor when he spies the man hooking up a couple of other early risers to the treatment. Hank finds a bed for Aloke soon enough. Aloke hops up, pulls off his sweatshirt, and lays back on the inclined hospital bed, reaching out to hold Mallory's hand while Hank goes to work on Aloke's other arm, cleaning it, and asking him to make a fist. At one time, Mallory would have been far more hesitant to enter the medical bay. But now she enters, hand-in-hand with Aloke, without much trouble - she's spent enough time within the sterile environment over the past several months to have gotten accustomed to the location. She offers a nod of greeting to Hank, along with an anxious smile, though she lets go of Aloke's hand briefly at the sight of other patients already there. When Aloke is shown to one of the beds, Mallory grabs one of the wheeled, backless chairs usually reserved for doctors, and moves to sit beside him. She is sitting such that her presence is likely obscured from the view of new arrivals by the privacy curtain surrounding the bed. Elbows resting on the edge of the bed, she takes his hand in hers, offering a reassuring squeeze and a gentle smile - though she is rather decidedly keeping her attention on his face, and not on the IV prep going on opposite her. Aloke is also keeping his attention on Mallory, turning his head to not have to look at the IV being inserted into his arm. "I'm really glad you never caught this thing," Aloke says softly. He winces slightly when the needle goes in, but relaxes again as it's taped in place. Hank has done this so many times, his expert hands make it as painless as possible. "My folks lucked out too-" Aloke stops, a distant look in his eyes as something seems to have stirred his memory. He continues the sentence, but distractedly, just on auto-pilot. "They left for India just before this broke loose. They emailed. Said they were safe..." Aloke's mind is million miles from the words coming out of his mouth. Maintaining eye contact, Mallory pets Aloke's hand reassuringly, wincing with him when the IV is inserted. She raises his hand to her lips, gently brushing a warm kiss against his knuckles, sighing softly. "I'm rather glad I avoided it, as well. By some miracle," she closes her eyes briefly, still holding his hand in both of hers as she speaks, adding quietly, “I'm so... spologies that you had to suffer through this though.” A concerned look shadows her features, as Aloke suddenly becomes distant, and Mallory looks to Hank with the beginnings of panic, as though something had triggered a relapse, or some other thing had gone wrong. Her heart drops to her stomach, but she just listens as he speaks of his parents, nodding slowly, though still obviously worried. “I am glad they made it out safe,” Mallory says quietly, eyes searching Aloke’s face for an explanation. She gently squeezes his hand, voice quiet but worried, “Is everything alright? Do you need me to get you anything?” "Some disorientation is to be expected. Some of the original symptoms as well, I'm afraid." Hank offers. "But I haven't even started his IV yet." Hank checks his instruments briefly adding, "Are you feeling alright, Aloke?" "Oh, uh yeah, dont worry Hank. I'm ok. Thanks." Aloke squeezes Mallory's hand though, and once Hank has everything running and moves on to the next person, Aloke turns to Mallory and says, "Didn't mean to scare you either. I just... I kept meaning to see them after my accident, but I never did, and after everything else. I just don't want them to worry. On the other hand, we should meet them sooner rather than later. My mom would be crushed if I didn't introduce you." Aloke wriggles to get a little more comfortable as the meds flow down the tubing and into his arm. "They've been pretty good about my mutation, but... They're not... I don't know the word. But like, they didn't think much of that Luke Cage character, you know? Public mutants, 'in your face' about it. I wish they could hear themselves sometimes." Mallory looks sheepish at the fact that Aloke’s medication hadn’t even started when she panicked, running a hand along one of her curling horns, grimacing at Hank apologetically. Taking a steadying breath, Mallory looks relieved when Aloke answers. “You… you haven’t told them? Oh, Aloke,” she says quietly, looking at his face, so subtly changed from when they had first met in the library, what seemed like ages ago at this point. Her eyes widen when he mentions meeting his parents ‘sooner’ than later, and even though her warm smile is genuine, the nervous tremble of her hand betrays her anxiety. The further explanation earns a shaky sigh, bordering on a defeated chuckle. Mallory reaches a hand up to smooth Aloke’s hair out of his face, gently caressing his cheek as she looks at him, once again studying his face. “I have told you the story of /why/ my parents disowned me, yes?” Mallory asks in a hushed voice, the corner of her lips tugging into a rueful smirk, “Short of not going into public, I have no way to /not/ be ‘in your face’ about it. I have tried.” Her voice hitches on the last statement, barely whispered, and certainly not loud enough to be heard outside the little ring of privacy curtains. Aloke's face falls. "I know, I should have told them right away. It was just so... Slow. Getting better. The recovery kind of snuck up on me. And then... This." He shrugs and winces when he's reminded by his arm to sit still. "I remember your story, too. That was some righteous disobedience on your part." Aloke smiles at Mallory mischievously. "And don't get me wrong. They're not pro-registration or anything. But they don't see the discrimination, because /I/ did ok." Aloke sighs and shakes his head. He squeezes her hand firmly again in an effort to help steady her trembling, and then picks it up to press a soft kiss to her palm, and then the inside of her wrist. "Either way, I'm glad you're here. Regardless of how they react. I don't need their approval but part of me is holding out for acceptance." “It’ll be okay,” Mallory says quietly, smiling warmly, her eyes wandering to the IV slowly dripping away, “I’m certain they will be happy just to know that you are safe and healthy again. And happy.” She blushes faintly, an impish grin at the mention of her civil disobedience, she adds quietly, “It was, yes… But I really don’t bring it up often; you are the only person I’ve discussed it with Stateside.” The squeeze does help to stay the trembling, a happy smile at the gentle kisses, “I’m certain they are lovely people, Aloke. Whenever you are ready to see them, I will be there for you, and with you if you would like me to be.” Leaning forward, Mallory delicately kisses Aloke’s temple, just in front of the shock of white hair there, whispering, “And right now, there is no where else I would rather be than by your side.” "Well, they definitely wouldn't approve of exactly /how/ happy I've been," Aloke whispers with a wry grin. "They're very... Traditional. But it sounds like they're going to stay in Bangalore for a while, at least until things get better here." Aloke blinks and makes a soft 'huh' sound, suddenly somewhat disoriented. "Whoa, I think the meds... Must be kicking in..." Aloke leans his head back on the pillow and sigh, "I think... I'm gonna sleep for a minute. Will you be here when I wake up?" The question is sincere, but his eyes droop fast, and in moments he's drifting down into a medicated sleep. Hank stops by briefly to check Aloke's instruments, and also places a friendly hand on Mallory's shoulder. "This is normal. He'll probably be out for an hour at least though."