The morning after the night before

[mutant_gi_jesus]

Cable hadn't won, or tried to win, any prizes in the carnival so, as a consequence, he hadn't spent most of Halloween trying to fend off bloodthirsty stuffed animals that had been foolishly let into his home

Comments

[leftwithmybones]

"I'm not entirely sure I want to know," is all that McCoy admits when he finds Cable, the cage, and a scene worth writing in to a psychiatric magazine about. He raises a brow and studies the small toys, crouching down to poke at one of 'em before he looks up at McCoy. "If you're worried about them fighting back, I think you're good."

[mutant_gi_jesus]

The cage contained a cute toy giraffe and there was a small toy banana lying on the floor next to the cage, it's little toy arms and legs all secured by three sets of ropes. A rottweiler would have difficulty escaping those restraints.

Cable watched as McCoy crouched down and poked it and provoked no more reaction then he would have by poking any other children's toy.

"Yes," he agreed. "Shame."

He'd been quite impressed with their fighting abilities, for stuffed 12 inch tall toys. They would have made deadly guards, all he had to do was fence off the area he wanted guarded and then let them loose while he was else where.

[leftwithmybones]

McCoy straightens up after giving the toys about another moment or two of consideration. He'd seen what they were doing just a day ago and in the span of twenty-four hours, the most vicious and brutal of fuzzy stuffed companions have been rendered inert.

If this place thinks it has to be a goddamn jester, McCoy's not exactly laughing along. "Out of curiosity, if they had stayed mean, what would you have done with 'em? Trained them?"

[mutant_gi_jesus]

"If I could, yes," Cable replied calmly, as he holstered his gun. "At the least, I was hoping to keep them securely enough restrained that I could study them. And if they proved both un-trainable and uncontrollable then I would have destroyed them."

[leftwithmybones]

"How humane," he notes dryly with an edge of sarcasm. He's never been sure how to act around Cable -- the situation with Jean had been strange enough and now there's this cloud of Madelyne lurking above them, too. While McCoy wants to ask about it, he's not sure there's ever going to be a right time. "Hell, why not keep 'em. I'm sure your dog could use a fluffy companion."

[mutant_gi_jesus]

"That's not a bad idea," Cable admitted as he reached down to release the giraffe from its cage and then tossed it in the general direction of his sleeping dog.

"How are you, Doctor?" he added without turning back around to face him.

[leftwithmybones]

McCoy tracks the giraffe with his eyes for a long and wary moment, giving it a good appreciation for the dangerous item it once was. "Me? I'm peachy keen. I watched all manner of dolls and toys run amok killing all kinds of people. And today, it's back to pretending none of that happened at all. So, you know, just great."

[mutant_gi_jesus]

"Just another day in paradise," Cable replied with the hint of a crooked smile.

"Have you talked to Madelyne recently?" he added quickly and he studied the other man's face as they talked.

It was something they'd have to talk about eventually, after all, and Cable didn't really care enough about McCoy's feelings to want to put it off.

[leftwithmybones]

McCoy's jaw tends to terse at the mention of the name and he's fairly sure it's a subconscious reaction. He gives a brief nod of his head. "We spoke, briefly," he acknowledges, trying to get the fact out of his mind that he'd spent the whole conversation wanting to call her 'Jean'. "It went normally. No cause for red flags or I'd have sent word with Rachel." Not that he even knows what he's looking for, if he's honest.

[mutant_gi_jesus]

"I do not know how much you know," he said slowly, "but my concern is as much for her as for you."

"It is not a pleasant situation for either of you, of course, but it's not her fault any more than it's yours."

[leftwithmybones]

"She and I had a great conversation," McCoy says, giving Cable a wary look because he's just not sure what to expect of the woman. "Look, I don't know about her history, I'm not sure about her, but she's been nice to me. I'm trying to be nice right back to her," he says, even though he's not sure how to act. "Does she know about Jean?"

[mutant_gi_jesus]

"She knows enough," he replied, carefully. "She knows why it'll be hard for you to see her. She won't expect you to be friends."

And Cable very much didn't think that was a good idea.

"In terms of her history, she has, in a way, spent a long time living under Jean's shadow. And, while I'm sure Rachel has made it clear that we have reason not to completely trust her, that she will have some things to answer for and that regardless of anything else she isn't family the way Jean was, I owe her a substantial debt. It would please me greatly if she could escape that shadow and be happy here."

"You're a good man, Doctor, I can trust you won't be cruel. I believe, you can trust the same in return."

That was as much of a reassurance as he was likely to get.

[leftwithmybones]

"I wouldn't be cruel, not outwardly, not to someone who couldn't take it," he swears, going a bit quieter seeing as there's a chance that someone might argue with him on that fact. Yeah, his tongue's sharp and his remarks as incisive as a blade -- at times -- but he'd never do that to someone who's unable to take it. "Besides, you're a big, scary man and I feel like you'll be quick to take it out on me if I do make her upset."

[mutant_gi_jesus]

"I'm trying pacifism these days," Cable replied and it was almost impossible to guess anything from the tone he said it in.

[leftwithmybones]

McCoy can't help his bemused smirk at the remark, shaking his head at the sentiment behind it. "Whatever you try, so long as my head doesn't meet a wall as a result, I'm pleased." He clears his throat as he approaches the next subject, aware of the awkwardness lying therein. "How's Rachel doing lately? From what you see?"

[mutant_gi_jesus]

"She gets by," Cable replied as he turned away to release another toy without pausing the conversation.

"Better these days."