The Boards, Saturday, All Day

[furnaceface]

Jonothon had gotten a bit of a rude awakening in the middle of the night, when he'd returned to normal, wearing, thankfully, a pair of sweatpants that had been a bit too loose for his teen-aged self, and a bit too tight for his adult self.

... And, less thankfully, the leather wrappings that he'd wound around his face to keep fire from spilling out. It had been a bit of a struggle to get out of them, even if they were half-torn just from the sheer bulk of him suddenly appearing within them, and he had a few bruises across his torso left to show for the whole ordeal.

And that was why he was moving fairly stiffly in his office at the Boards today, wincing every time he had to make a reach for something. By about noon, he'd just given up on being productive altogether, and had settled for putting his feet up on the desk, turning up the Pearl Jam on the theatre's sound system, and reading Vonnegut. The computer was still fried, and he wouldn't be any good at fixing that, so he wasn't going to accomplish much today otherwise anyhow.

Some things never changed about a person, apparently.

[Open Boards are open!]

Comments

[glacial_queen]

"My name is Jono and I hate everything," Karla grumped from his office doorway. "Grump, grump, grumpity grump."

[furnaceface]

"You'd hate everything too, if your life was as horrible as mine," Jono replied, lowering his book just enough for her to be able to see his raised eyebrow. Not so much that she could see the little smile below it. "Having a roof over my head. People who care about me. Ugh."

So difficult.

[glacial_queen]

"Your life is the haaaaaaardest," Karla agreed, grinning at him. "You forgot to mention having a kitten that loves you and powdered sugar in your lap."

And before he could ask about that, Karla darted in and tried to shake off the sugar that had collected on her coat and hat into his lap.

[furnaceface]

"Oh, guh - bloody - Karla!" That would be Jono, bruises and all, trying to avoid being completely coated in sugar by... kind of tripping out of his seat onto the floor. Ouch. "It's doing that again? Wonderful. I almost missed December's insanity."

He kind of did, really.

[glacial_queen]

"I thought you might," Karla said, lying like she was paid to do so. "That's why I brought some to you. To shaaaaaaare. Aren't I thoughtful?"

[furnaceface]

"Clearly, you're th'most thoughtful person I know," Jono replied, sounding flat and dry on purpose, as though he was doing a poor job of reciting lines. "You... brought me food, too," he added, thoughtfully. "Shame I wasn't able to eat it myself all week."

[glacial_queen]

"I brought you Alfred-food," Karla retorted, because the distinction was necessary. "That's like...food-plus. And it's okay. I got to eat it for you and that meant more Alfred-food for me."

She finished divesting herself of sugar-laden outerwear and gave him an understanding smile. "You okay?"

[furnaceface]

"Mostly, I think," Jono replied, lifting a shoulder as he eased himself back into his seat, trying to dust some powdered sugar out of his lap. "I'm hoping that this week isn't an indication as to how th'rest of the month is going to go, really."

He felt blind and deaf all over again. It figured. He was staring to wrap his head around being powerless, and then this.

[glacial_queen]

"December is a lousy month on the island anyway," Karla griped. "I think I'm going to take any excuse to get off the island that I can."

Which was going to work so well for her, really.

"How's New York? Maybe a visit wouldn't go amiss?"

Oh, Karla. Your heart's in the right place, but your aim sure is off.

[furnaceface]

"Went there last weekend," he said, managing not to since, but unable to keep from frowning a little. "Buried a teammate. Was accused of terrorism. I'll take Fandom being.... Fandom... for a little while."

So, really. This week was fired.

[glacial_queen]

Thaaaaat was a wince. Yeah, wow. "I'm sure glad my boots have powdered sugar on them," she mumbled. "Makes my foot a little more palatable that way. I ask again--you okay?"

[furnaceface]

"I've been worse," he offered, trying a wry smile on for size. "I was never particularly close to Christine, so I'm not half as upset about it as I would've been had it been Lee or Mira, I suppose. It does mean that I'll be putting more time in with th'New Warriors, training so that something like that doesn't happen again, though."

[glacial_queen]

"Good," Karla said with a decisive nod. "I worry when you're gone. You know I'm going to fret extra now, right?"

They had no Healers. That part was terrifying.

"All part of the wretchedness that is having people care about you."

[furnaceface]

"Something I might never get used to," Jono replied, attempting to look apologetic, and mostly just looking tired. "What happened to Christine is the risk we all take, luv... but none of us signed up hoping for something like hat to happen. We know we have a definite weakness. We'll be working doubly hard to do something about that. Promise."

[glacial_queen]

"No one ever signs up looking--" she stopped there, unsure. Sure, Jono had said that no one had signed up hoping to die, but honestly...she wasn't sure that was true in his case.

"I know it's a risk. I just want it to be a managed one. After all, I get in trouble flinging myself into danger all willy-nilly, don't I? It's only fair to turn it back around on you, even if you aren't all willy-nilly. So nyah."

And now she was sticking her tongue out at him for good measure.

[furnaceface]

"Nyah," Jono countered, returning the gesture for what had to be the first time he'd done so in bloody near eight years. "We're soldiers, luv. We throw ourselves into danger so that people like you don't have to."

Or, at least, that was the general idea.

[glacial_queen]

"Now you sound like Momoko," Karla said with a sigh. "What neither of you seem to remember is that I can't be a civilian. What good is a Queen who just sits in the background, safely, while she sends people out to die for her?"

[furnaceface]

Jono didn't want to say it. He really, really didn't. But it had to be said.

"What Queen risks dying for somebody else's home and territory, before ever having the chance to liberate and rule her own? I know it isn't easy for you to swallow, luv, but no nation will suffer and fall in my absence. Nobody will never know freedom, simply because I might not come back. The same can't be said for you."

[glacial_queen]

The myriad expressions that flitted across Karla face suggested that what he was saying made sense but she was rebelling against the logic anyhow.

"I haven't run into the middle of a firefight in months," she finally muttered.

[furnaceface]

"Doesn't change th'fact that you have," Jono replied, shrugging. "And that I'm certain you will again. That's... just th'sort of person you are. But hopefully you keep Glacia in mind when you do."

Because, as much as he'd like to sweep in and save Karla's people, that wasn't really how it worked.

[glacial_queen]

"It's not that I'm that good of a person," Karla mumbled. "It's just it's easier than sitting on the sidelines. The other weekend, when our powers were all haywire and I couldn't sense anything? I would have given anything for an invasion or something. Just...anything to drown out the silence. Make me feel less...itchy in my own skin. In control again."

[furnaceface]

And that there, that would be Jono raising an eyebrow at Karla.

Again.

"So... something like when a group of depowered mutants chooses to risk life and limb, perhaps, to go out and fight people who have powers who pose a risk to innocent bystanders?"

And Karla hadn't even lost all of her powers.

[glacial_queen]

"Leaving people behind to worry about me even though they understand why you're going," Karla countered, raising her eyebrow right back. "You'll notice I never argued with you about what you're doing."

[furnaceface]

"Because you know that I might as well just rot away where I sit if I don't," Jono replied, shrugging his shoulders. "You were lucky that weekend, if all that you lost were your psychic abilities, luv."

He'd lost his again this morning.

It was kind of getting to be brutally depressing routine, now.

[glacial_queen]

"I know," Karla said quietly. "And I know how much of a toll it took on me to lose even that. And--as much as I hated it, it let me realize something important about myself." She twirled a finger in the air. "Huzzah self-discovery."

[furnaceface]

"Just how much of you relies on those senses," Jono hazarded. "How blind you feel when something like that is taken away?"

[glacial_queen]

Karla thought about everything Jono had been through that week and took the easy route. "Yeah," she nodded. "Exactly. I take in so much through those senses. Like...not being able to tell what Warren was feeling? Expressions and tonal cues are nothing compared to a psychic scent."

[furnaceface]

"Or just... the ambient feel of somebody's emotions," Jono agreed, frowning a little as he thought back to Mercy's attempt to send some happy feelings his way yesterday after class. "You can fake a smile or a tone of voice. You... can't really put on a different mood. Most people can't, anyhow."

[glacial_queen]

"Most people wouldn't even know how to begin," Karla said with a sigh. "I hated it. Every minute of it. And it drove home just how much I'd be willing to give up to keep my Craft."

The answer was kind of depressing. And didn't do much to help make her feel like a good person.

[furnaceface]

Jono watched her silently for a moment, and then lifted his shoulder. Just a little bit. Barely noticeable.

"You'd be surprised what I would do to get my powers back," he said, finally. "This collar of mine... it's a fun little toy. But it's not me. I can wear it, know it inside and out. It's even a decent substitute in a fight. But I... I think I might even risk being used as a weapon all over again, if it meant the world would stop feeling so... so dead around me."

No thoughts, no emotions. No nothing. He didn't even miss the fire so much. He missed not feeling stranded on some island, surrounded by people who didn't even feel as though they were there.