Logs:No Blame, Etc

No Blame, Etc
Dramatis Personae Cassy, Astrid	2020-12-03 '
Location Across the Rift - Mutant Super Jail Cell
Each individual cell has been organized exactly the same deep inside the riftworld Mutant Super Prison. Gray painted brick walls that match those of the common spaces, bunk beds and a small silver toilet with a matching sink directly to the right. The space is small, roughly 6.5 square meters total, leaving very little space outside the furnishings. The door appears to be made of solid metal with a small window set in the upper half and a thin slot to slide something narrow through in the center. Astrid is currently on the top bunk, dressed in the prison issued beige pants and matching beige sweatshirt. Her white canvas slip-on vans have been set on the floor, neatly lined up next to each other with the toes touching the wall. She’s sitting upright with legs crossed, facing outward from the side of the bed and back pressed against the wall. She’s been unusually quiet, which can easily be deduced to an overwhelming sense of guilt from what happened to her cell mate, and really everyone else, back at the Pizza Barn. The current arrangement is doing nothing to help. All things considered Cassy has looked a lot better. Still pale from all the blood she lost and sore from the stitches in her side. And while by all rights she should have died without Harmony's help she still manages to look wretched about the situation. Not helped by the power dampening field in the prison making it extremely tough for her to even communicate. Years of not using her vocal cords to talk have not left them in a good state. And an over-reliance on super hearing she no longer has means she startles at the slightest provocation. She's sprawling on her bunk, staying as still as possible, until eventually the silence becomes too much and in a quiet raspy voice murmurs "You know if you wanted to have a sleepover you just had to ask." It was bound to happen eventually, the moment Astrid would have to actually talk to someone that was impacted by her Pizza Barn fiasco, but just one more day would have been nice. Time currently appears to be a luxury she has plenty of after all, but who knows how quickly that could change. She scoots across the top bed towards the edge. From Cassy’s vantage, Astrid’s upside down head appears, face all screwed up, which could very well be caused by the way she is hanging from her bunk. “So you aren’t like a T-Rex then…” She attempts to insert some levity, mostly for her own sake. “I thought I was doing a pretty good job at being quiet and still.” "Well I do bite..." Cassy rasps back before sticking her tongue out. "I thought all I wanted was some quiet. Every day the group was together the noise was overwhelming. Now I can't hear any more than you can and the silence is terrifying." She twirls her hair around her finger. "So if you don't mind I'd rather we talked for a bit." It hardly sounds like talking is painless for her though. "I don't blame you. You know that right?" “And you sound like shit.” Immediately Astrid regrets her words and bites down hard into her bottom lip. Her eyes soften as her glasses begin sliding towards her forehead, gravity pulling them down towards the floor. “I can’t even imagine.” She says softly, speaking almost at a whisper. Her cheeks begin turning flush, and as the heat is felt from the rushing blood, she moves to sit back upright before legs are swung down over the edge and the gangly teen drops to the ground with a soft thud. “I… well… I know.” There’s a pause while glasses are straightened and arms crossed. “It still doesn’t make me feel any better.” She’s facing Cassy, but clearly avoiding her eyes directly staring at a spot near her on the wall. “I am so sorry.” Cassy pouts for a moment. "I am surprised I can even talk," she admits with a sigh. "I thought maybe my original voice was gone forever." She scoots back to make some room for Astrid on the bunk and motions for her to sit. "Besides I hurt you with my power first. So by our agreement you almost had to explode me a little." She frowns, as if considering something. "Would it make you feel better if," she coughs a little. As if simply talking was a struggle. "If I said I had a plan for revenge?" She leaves a slight but dramatic pause. "Somehow we're going to get out of here. And when we do I'm going to leave you with the most embarrassingly obvious hickey in history." Astrid moves to occupy the recently cleared space on the bottom bed, being extra careful not to bump into Cassy. Once settled, she crosses her arms again while both legs are held stiff and straight out with ankles hanging over the side of the bed. “Well… if we are going to dissect this, you were trying to save our butts when that happened. I on the other hand just ruined a perfectly good shelter for no apparent reason.” She twists her head to face Cassy, forcing out a smile. Her voice is fluctuating, riding the fine line of almost breaking. “That right there might cross the line and provoke a retaliation of my own, right?” She goes quiet, fixating on the words ‘somehow we are getting out of here.’ She’s still struggling with what that would even look like with all their powers being sniffed out by the dampers. She doesn’t change the topic, just reworks it. “What’s the first thing you are going to do if we get back?” "Dissecting it properly. You were drugged by evil robots taking away your control and you didn't actually hurt me that much with the explosion. I did more damage when I tried talking and wiggled the bit of wood around." Cassy replies, slowly and with frequent pauses to rest her voice. "And I wasn't thinking about saving people. At first I was but when it jumped on me? Then I was just thinking oh shit this is the worst plan ever get it off me." She bites her lip for a moment then adds. "Just because I act like things don't bother me doesn't mean I'm not terrified. I... just don't want to let this world win by making me break down and cry." She considers the question about getting back for a long moment. "Call my parents I guess. They must know something is up by now. After that? Treat myself to a spa day or something totally excessively self indulgent." She returns the smile. "What about you?" “Well… po-tay-to po-tah-to, right?” Astrid’s smile begins to grow, but is quickly stilted at the mention of the chunk of wood. Her eyes slowly drift down to Cassy’s side where the stitches should be and winces. “It wasn’t a bad plan, really. Besides, we all got out of that jam, right?” Astrid nods in agreement. “I know. Just your way of coping with things.” She moves a hand to adjust her glasses again, then carefully scratches at the bridge of her nose, mindful to work around the little cuts that are beginning to scab over. “We all are in our own way.” “I’d call my sister first.” Astrid turns facing forward, now staring at the wall opposite the bunk beds. “Then I don’t know… maybe just go for a walk. Would be nice to do so without any worry.” She sinks downward slightly, shoulders slumping as she thinks about those with them that aren’t able to do that regardless of what world they are in. "It worked but I'm not sure it's going to be my go-to in the future," Cassy agrees with a giggle that makes her wince. "If you want to see you can. If it'll help. It's not... as bad as you're imagining it'll be." She hovers her hand nearby. "I have worse scars from falling off my bike." "A walk does sound nice. Just round the woods at Xavier's with a flask of hot cocoa. Maybe look out over the lake from the boathouse pier." She blinks. "Although with the way this last weeks been I'd probably slip and fall in. So maaaaybe I'll stay on the shore until Summer." Astrid nods her head, curious to see how many stitches her cellmate has. “Yeah, maybe that would help. I mean, I just keep picturing…” she stops, head tilting to the side. “I guess I have no idea what I’m picturing.” She sounds sheepish, almost embarrassed. “Not like I was conscious when it all happened.” “I hate to say it, but I might have to avoid the woods around the school for some time.” She wrinkles her nose. “I mean, I’m not a superstitious person or anything, but that was the last place we were before ending up here, right? My luck I’d end up back here or somewhere worse.” Her left ankle begins to lightly shake, moving in a quick, jerky motion while still suspended over the edge of the bed. “I would avoid falling until those have been taken out.” She says in a matter-of-fact tone while gesturing towards the stitches with a nod of her head. Cassy shifts to show off the wound. It's only just barely worthy of stitches. The stitches themselves seem rather careless. Mutant healthcare not likely a high priority in this world. "Picturing me? Gosh you'll make me blush," she jokes. "I'd have been fine if they'd just left me with Harmony for the ride back to... wherever they took us first." She twists a little onto her good side and holds her hand out. "I can think of plenty of other places we could go for a walk instead." She tries for a mock pout when Astrid mentions falling and adds "But I'd set my heart on secretly becoming a figure skater." The initial reaction once stitches are made visible is to touch them. It’s not the correct reaction for sure, but it starts to happen with an outstretched hand, slowly moving forward, fingertips inching towards the top of the gash. Right before contact is made, Astrid catches herself and quickly jerks her hand back. “Still… I’m sure that really hurt.” She winces. Astrid also blushes, both hands folded neatly into her lap. “Well… I…” She cuts loose the jumbled thought and quickly moves to the next subject, nodding enthusiastically to the comment on Harm. “Glad they had time to help some.” Astrid scoots closer, careful not to bump into the stitched side and takes the offered hand, lacing their fingers together. “I’ve got bad news.” She turns to face Cassy, a mock frown cut across her lips. “We’ve officially aged out of the figuring skate dream already.” "Actually I was in shock and then fainted so..." Cassy shrugs. "It's just sore, not really pain pain. Definitely nothing that'll stop me getting into trouble I promise." She can't help but make another raspy-giggle at Astrid blushing. "I fully intend on telling everyone it's a scar I got doing the swords in a box trick." Because who would believe blown up on another planet Earth? "Oh I don't care about going professional. I just want an excuse to buy sequin costumes. Besides I would totally and shamelessly lie about my age." The more she learns of the circumstances surrounding the wound, the better Astrid is feeling. There is still guilt there that is going to take some work to sort out, but she’s at least on a better foot for now. “That’s good. I’m positive we will be finding some trouble soon enough, so I think rest is in order until then.” Her features begin to comfort until landing in the realm of serious. Nervously, she looks towards the little window leading to the dark hall beyond the door. The seriousness is quickly broken up with laughter at the skating comment, as her attention moves from the door back to Cassy. “Anything to wear sequins, huh?” Cassy gives a re-assuring hand squeeze. "The world better watch out for us both once we're done resting though." She hrmmmms as if thinking. "Really if you think about it I'm doing the world a service by wearing them," she says with an exaggeratedly solemn tone. "Besides I'm already sick of beige. This outfit is what really hurts my poor vanity." Astrid begins laughing, and it quickly turns into something very physical as her upper body starts jerking up and down rhythmically with the sound. It doesn’t last long though, and soon enough the quick burst loses all momentum and slows down until she’s back to being still. She sits this way for several seconds, silent before tilting her head to the side and simultaneously leaning her body in the same direction until she’s placed her temple across the top of Cassy’s shoulder. Her eyes are shut closed while her lips are held lightly apart. “If I get my powers back, I swear I’ll blow this fucking place up.” Cassy stays still for a while, then murmurs "When I get mine back I'm going to shout so loud they'll hear me back on our world." She closes her own eyes. "And you know what? If I hurt any of the people who run this place I won't even care."