my head is a box filled with nothing
Prompt: 192. What can you see?
Characters: Josh Foley and Hank McCoy
Requested By: Cede
This so wasn't fair. Everyone else was outside, running laps or lifting weights or practicing with their powers or something. But not Josh. No, he was inside, in the lab, on a stool, staring down a microscope at... what the hell was that? Cells. Right, Hank had him looking at cells. Arthro... eartho... erythrocytes. Why he couldn't just call them "red blood cells", he wasn't sure, but the older mutant had insisted on proper terminology.
"Okay, so it's blood," he said, letting a little of his annoyance bleed into his tone. Hank stood behind him, leaning against a table, his lanky arms crossed across his chest.
"And?" the older mutant asked, trying to play the part of teacher.
"And... I dunno, it's red?" Josh honestly had no idea where this was supposed to go. What he did know was that this place definitely hadn't been sold to him as a school, and that there were a hundred other things he wanted to be doing right now. But from day one (literally), Hank had been determined to beef up his practical medical knowledge so that he could use his powers effectively. And he understood that, he really did, but... he was sixteen. And it was sunny out. And there were cute girls here, so why the hell did he get with Dr. Geekenstein?
Hank, for his part, was losing patience. One hand came up to pinch the bridge of his nose for a moment. Then he pushed himself up from the table, picking up an eyedropper, which he held over the glass slide in the microscope. After gesturing for Josh to return his view to the eyepiece, he squeezed out a drop onto the slide.
"Now," he said, stepping back. "What can you see?"
There was a moment's pause, before Josh's face lit up with delight, and he turned excitedly to face the older mutant. "Holy - Hank, they freakin' exploded!"
"Yes, but can you fix them?"
The question hung in the air for a moment. It was a daunting task; Josh was still trying to figure out just how to make his powers work in a way that was more conscious than intuitive. But before he could give some smartass excuse, Hank had already turned to attend to his own business in the lab. And oddly enough, being ignored was enough to make Josh determined to prove that he could do it. So he stared into the microscope, trying to remember what he had read, why the cells would explode... Something about rice? No, lice... lysis. Hemolysis. Caused by hyper - no, hypotonic conditions, which meant -
With a grin, Josh held his hand up to the slide, watching as the cell walls reformed, the ruptured cells becoming whole once again. Then he stood in triumph and headed for the door, deciding that he'd earned the right to finally leave his academic dungeon. Hank heard him get up, and turned to look, calling to him from across the room.
"Well?"
"Just take a look, Einstein," Josh said, already halfway out the door. "And tell me what you see."
Characters: Josh Foley and Hank McCoy
Requested By: Cede
This so wasn't fair. Everyone else was outside, running laps or lifting weights or practicing with their powers or something. But not Josh. No, he was inside, in the lab, on a stool, staring down a microscope at... what the hell was that? Cells. Right, Hank had him looking at cells. Arthro... eartho... erythrocytes. Why he couldn't just call them "red blood cells", he wasn't sure, but the older mutant had insisted on proper terminology.
"Okay, so it's blood," he said, letting a little of his annoyance bleed into his tone. Hank stood behind him, leaning against a table, his lanky arms crossed across his chest.
"And?" the older mutant asked, trying to play the part of teacher.
"And... I dunno, it's red?" Josh honestly had no idea where this was supposed to go. What he did know was that this place definitely hadn't been sold to him as a school, and that there were a hundred other things he wanted to be doing right now. But from day one (literally), Hank had been determined to beef up his practical medical knowledge so that he could use his powers effectively. And he understood that, he really did, but... he was sixteen. And it was sunny out. And there were cute girls here, so why the hell did he get with Dr. Geekenstein?
Hank, for his part, was losing patience. One hand came up to pinch the bridge of his nose for a moment. Then he pushed himself up from the table, picking up an eyedropper, which he held over the glass slide in the microscope. After gesturing for Josh to return his view to the eyepiece, he squeezed out a drop onto the slide.
"Now," he said, stepping back. "What can you see?"
There was a moment's pause, before Josh's face lit up with delight, and he turned excitedly to face the older mutant. "Holy - Hank, they freakin' exploded!"
"Yes, but can you fix them?"
The question hung in the air for a moment. It was a daunting task; Josh was still trying to figure out just how to make his powers work in a way that was more conscious than intuitive. But before he could give some smartass excuse, Hank had already turned to attend to his own business in the lab. And oddly enough, being ignored was enough to make Josh determined to prove that he could do it. So he stared into the microscope, trying to remember what he had read, why the cells would explode... Something about rice? No, lice... lysis. Hemolysis. Caused by hyper - no, hypotonic conditions, which meant -
With a grin, Josh held his hand up to the slide, watching as the cell walls reformed, the ruptured cells becoming whole once again. Then he stood in triumph and headed for the door, deciding that he'd earned the right to finally leave his academic dungeon. Hank heard him get up, and turned to look, calling to him from across the room.
"Well?"
"Just take a look, Einstein," Josh said, already halfway out the door. "And tell me what you see."