(no subject)
27 January 2007
The Garden
It is another day in which winter is doing its best to hide its wintry nature, and the early afternoon leads to a weak show of sun through inconsistent cloud cover. Under this overcast sky, Piotr jogs through the garden; that is, one moment he is jogging through the garden, but the next moment he is not. Mind elsewhere, eyes almost glazed completely over, he doesn't notice a rogue tree branch on the path, and in his distraction he reacts too slowly to push his hands out ahead of him to save himself from a fall. He lands heavily on his left forearm, his head catching quite a crack on the hard ground as his eyes droop closed.
Mira suddenly sits up from a cement bench, her head clearing the top of the impromptu camouflage of a hedge. "Did you hear something?" She turns in place, looking for the source of the offending noise. Her hand waves at Walter in a stalling gesture as she stands. "Hang on, whatever you wanted to say can wait five minutes. I swear, if it's a redhead with a camera..."
Another young head clears the hedge, gaining ever so slightly better clearance. Walter's currently green eyes scan the garden, finding no redheads, of the camera wielding variety or otherwise. "I don't see her," he whispers. Piotr would manage to find one of the few places on the grounds in which he can fall into a blind spot. "I'll check it out," he informs softly before making jumping over the hedge. "Gah!" he shouts, quickly attempting to shift momentum before he lands on his RA, just now come into view.
Having a mutation that makes one rather larger than average is, in many respects, something of a boon. This is sadly not the case when it comes to avoiding being landed upon when one is close to unconsciousness and unable to move out of the way. Piotr registers the incoming Walter's shout, but is blearily unable to attach any meaning to it, and so lies still, squinting at the ground through blackened vision.
"Holy shit! You killed him!" Mira stands on the bench to point a finger down at Piotr. Her own leap over the hedge is made, instead of using the nice little gravel path just around the side of the hedge that was installed specifically so students wouldn't jump over the hedges anymore. The actual sight of him still laying there, however, is troubling. "Hey, is he okay?"
Walter doesn't /quite/ manage to avoid the large man. He does, however, keep from stomping on him from low altitude, landing beside, and then falling on top of him. He scrambles up. "He was already on the ground already, I swear!" He stares at the motionless form, reaching out to poke at it with the toe of a shoe. "Y-you don't think he's really dead, do you?"
"Nnnnh." Flat, garbled and strained, Piotr gives his answer. Not dead. Unless, of course, that was his final living breath being expelled from his lungs by the weight of a growing Walter landing on top of him. Who can say? The big Russian makes no movement and gives no further clues.
Mira heaves a quick sigh and waves Walter back with the patience usually reserved for those a little 'slower'. Her fingers are cold, pressing gently on the side of Piotr's neck. Then the groan confirms it. "He's alive." The girl settles back on her haunches and kneads Piotr's shoulder with her palm. "Hey. Wake up. Can you hear me?"
Walter sits back, watching Mira, looking visibly relieved at the news that, no, he did not kill the boys' RA. "Pete?" Walter asks, voice raising. "What do you think happened?" he asks of Mira. "You know... before I landed on him."
"Muhh..." Finally, Piotr stirs, a tiny raising of his head that is quickly undone as he rests against the ground again, vision swimming at the attempted movement. Instead, he turns his head towards the voice and the contact, still resting on the ground. "Mirhh..." He tries to speak again, managing a slightly more recongisable attempt at Mira's name.
"Pete?" Mira leans down to put her head closer to the man's ear. "Don't try to move, okay? Are you going to be okay or do you want us to go get somebody?" She enunciates clearly, speaking slowly and calmly. Then she turns to Walter and hisses, "I don't think kicking his head in helped things at all."
Walter makes wild, enthusiastic gesticulations towards his innocent, ending in a point at the very intact head, which he in no way kicked. Possibly elbowed, but not kicked. "It wasn't on purpose," he manages to say.
Piotr's brow creases darkly as the black swirls in front of his eyes begin to swim back from his vision, clearing a slit of sight through which he manages to focus on Mira. "I--" he mumbles, and then takes a heavy breath, trying again. "I think-- I should be-- fine." While his tone sounds sure of this fact, the unsteadiness of his voice is somewhat unconvincing.
Two raised fingers flash in front of Pete's eyes, moving in slow sweeps left and right. "He doesn't seem scrambled and it doesn't look like he's bleeding anywhere," she comments to Walter. Mira leans back until her heels slip out from under her and she lands on her butt on the jogging trail. Not going anywhere for a while? "What happened?"
Walter sits down next to Mira, hands resting on knees of his crossed legs. While Mira gives the 'patient' a clean bill of health, Walter continues to watch him, eyes occasionally darting this way or that. A small nod is given towards a path. That way is quicker.
Blue eyes track the movement of Mira's fingers with increasing focus as the motion continues, and when Piotr speaks again he manages something approaching coherency. "I fell," he says, shifting his arm out from under him to position his hands on the ground, ready to push himself upright soon. Not quite yet. "Tripped," he clarifies.
Mira twirls a finger, directing a man more than twice her size to obey instructions like a dog. "Down. Staaaaay. Catch your breath. We won't tell anybody you fainted if you don't tell anybody Walter stepped on you."
Walter looks over at Mira. "I didn't step on him," he objects. "I tripped over him." There's a difference. He nods to Piotr. "You were out cold, I think you hit your head or something."
Piotr is obedient, although not so much to Mira as to the swimming in his head, and so he remains on the ground for now. "I do not mind if you tell people," he says, baffled by the suggestion that it would be something terrible to have spread around. "And I..." he purses his lips as he looks for a word. "I was not hurt by Walter, so there is no troble there, yes?"
"I guess." Mira seems content, for the moment, to rest with her elbows on her knees, hunching forward to inspect Pete closely. She shrugs at Walter and settles in as comfortably as she can. The big man might not want help, but she can't just leave him there.
Walter shoots Mira a "I told you so" look at Piotr's words. "Sure you don't need us to get help?" Walter asks of the large man.
"I am fine," Piotr reassures Walter firmly, finally bracing himself and pushing himself up into a sitting position to add weight to his words, although the movement sets his vision spinning again momentarily and he blinks faintly once or twice. "There. Better." See?
"Uh-huh," Mira says, obviously unconvinced. She stands to the crunchy sound of stone and gravel underfoot, brushing dust off the back of her pants. "Suuuure. You look a hundred percent. There's a bench over there." The girl kneels down, offering her arm and shoulder on Piotr's right side, then gestures to Walter. "C'mon. You can lift him, right?"
Walter watches as Mira stands, repeating the motions shortly thereafter. He walks over, standing on Piotr's left side, offering him a hand up.
After a moment's consideration, Piotr extends his left hand up to Walter, pressing against the ground with his right rather than risk crushing Mira. He makes it to his feet mostly under his own power, and after another moment of vision-blacking disorientation he regains his balance enough to head towards the bench without wobbling from side to side, though his pace is a good deal slower than usual, and far more careful.
Honestly she was planning to let Walter take most of the weight all along, so Piotr's gentility falls along similar lines anyway. Mira still guides him toward the bench still strewn with two coats from expecting a colder day in the garden. "Easy. There you go." Sheepishly she brushes back her hair and offers Walter an apologetic smile. So maybe it's taking more than five minutes after all.
Walter smiles back at Mira, staving off most of the wobbles with the aid of steadying hands on Piotr's midsection. He guides Piotr into the seat, patting his shoulder once he's there. "There, that's better."
Hey, there were no wobbles! Piotr would be very firm upon this matter, were it raised with him. As it is not, he simply allows himself to be guided to the bench and looks up at his young companions, smiling and nodding to them with a moderate, "Thank you."
Fussily, Mira puts the back of her hand against Piotr's forehead then giving him a clap on the shoulder. "You'll live," she pronounces at last, hands on her hips and leaning in a little too close. "You're also sitting on our jackets, but it's softer than concrete." A short breath exhaled, the girl looks to Walter expectantly.
Walter gives Piotr one last once over before looking back at Mira's expectant look. Blushing slightly, he does his best to play dumb. Talk? what?
"Oh!" Piotr shifts sideways off one of the jackets, pulling it out from under him and pushing it towards the side of the bench before doing the same to the other. Then he blinks. "Oh. I am sorry for interrupting you." Is that a tiny hint of a blush creeping up to the Russian's cheeks.
"Nah," Mira says easily and swipes up her jacket, but not because she needs it. "It wasn't anything important."
Walter nods his confirmation. "It can wait," he assures, giving the older mutant a somewhat suspicious look. Whatever he was searching for not found, he asks, "You're /sure/ you feel okay?"
"Yes, I am fine," Piotr repeats with a slow nod, and indeed he is beginning to look that way, his eyes staying focussed on the world around him as his words solidify and lose their slightly uncertain edge. "Truly. You do not need to worry about me."
"You say that and all," Mira begins, twirling her jacket like a bullfighter's cape and letting it rest on her shoulders, sleeves empty. "But we found you face down and out cold once already. Not exactly reassuring." She looks to Walter again, arms folded across her stomach.
Walter nods along with Mira. He tries to avoid her gaze, attempting to meet Piotr's instead. "Maybe you should go to the medbay, just in case. Better safe than sorry, right?" he says with a half-hearted smile.
Faint consternation crosses Piotr's expression at Mira's words and he repeats his explanation with careful clarity. "I tripped and fell. I was jogging. I hit my head, that is all. It does not hurt, and I am thinking fine now." A small tilt of his head acquiesces to Walter's suggestion nonetheless. "I will go to the medbay, though. In a moment."
"Alright," Mira concedes and spreads her hands. "You fell. Just be more careful or we'll get you one of those alarm bracelets for old ladies." After-lunch impulses run strong, however, and she jerks a thumb in the direction of the path. "I'm gonna make a run for the kitchen. If either of you want anything."
"I'm good," Walter assures, smiling in Mira's direction. He glances over towards Pete, waiting for his response.
"I am not hungry, thank you," Piotr replies with a faint smile, drawing a deep breath and attempting to stand up. "I will come in with you, in fact." Slowly, his head tips to the side in faint confusion. "I will go in in a few moments," he amends. "You need not wait for me."
Mira makes a quick but impressively precise set of hand gestures at Walter from a safe distance. Keep. Your eyes. On him. This is followed by a quick throat-slashing gesture, which could suggest an alternative gameplan, or maybe just 'or else'.
Walter looks, at first, intent to follow Mira. This plan dies stillborn at the series of commanding gestures. He looks towards Pete, silent for a moment before asking, "Is Kitty doing better? I heard something about her powers getting stuck on?"
"Yes, that is what happened," Piotr confirms, rubbing a clenched fist against his forehead with an expression of mild confusion. "She was in the hospital for a long time. Cassy said people thought she and I had eloped, which is silly, because of course I am here."
Walter chuckles lightly. "Well, better than what I heard. She wasn't kidnapped by a ninja clan and force to marry their heir was she?"
"No," Piotr informs Walter pleasantly, before tipping his head in idle thought and coming up with an amazingly insightful continuation. "Although. Ninjas. She might like that."
"I think one of the guys was watching too much TV. That, or you can OD on soda," Walter suggests regarding the genesis of such rumors. "Maybe both" he allows. Walter's cheeks redden slightly, though that might just be the result of the moderate chill. "So... how's she handling it?" he asks.
Thought and memory spend a moment coordinating their efforts before they manage work together to produce speech. "She is doing better now than she was at first. It was hard for her to unphase for several weeks, and she still cannot stay solid for more than a few hours. She is back at the mansion now, though, so this is good. She was very bored, I think, at the hospital."
Gritty crunches on the path announces Mira's rapid return. Still twenty paces away, she draws out a can of Coke and a bottle of water gone misty with perspiration. Grudgingly, she resists the initial urge to yell catch and lob the bottle long distance. Good taste prevails. "Here," she offers instead, holding out the mostly full bottle to Walter as she approaches. "So who are we talking about?" she prompts the conversation to continue unabated.
Walter takes the bottle, giving it a curious glance before twisting off the top. "Kitty," he explains. Hazel eyes turn back on Piotr. "Well, at least she's home now," he says.
"Yes," Piotr agrees. "It is good that she is back. She is happy to be here, I think." His brow furrows momentarily and he looks down at himself, goosebumps beginning to show on the fair skin of his arms, left exposed by the tee shirt he wears. "It is a little cold out here."
"You were the one out jogging in it," Mira points out with a finger uncurled from the can. "Without a jacket. Oh, hey, if you see Kitty, send her my way. I'd send her an email, but that's what I need her for. She can still do tech-support, right?"
Walter squints in concentration. "I'm not sure how well that'd turn out. Her powers don't get along with electronics," he recalls. "Though, if she stays solid the entire time, I guess she could." He looks at Piotr, the man far more likely to have legitimate insight than the off and on powers geek.
"When I was jogging, I was not cold," Piotr points out with infallible logic, before nodding in response to Mira's request and question. "I will tell her," he assures her. "I am sure she will be able to help you. I cannot imagine there is a problem with any computer that she could not solve in an hour or two."
"Pfft." Mira waves her free hand. "It won't even take an hour, hopefully. My email's just been acting up." Her eyes flick upwards toward the sky that darkens with further encroaching clouds. "It is getting colder," she observes. "Should we go inside or something?"
Walter reaches for his jacket, taking it from the bench to slip it on. "I guess so," he says. Eyes lock onto Piotr, a stern expression passed on by the master. "You should go to the medbay."
"I will go," Piotr reaffirms with a slightly strange look at Walter; he has, after all, already said he would. He puts his hands on the bench on either side of him and pushes himself to his feet, this time remaining fully conscious throughout the change in altitude.
"Pete, if I find you collapsed in the hallway I'm just drawing a chalk outline and moving on. Alright?" Mira folds her arms across her chest, sternly. The back of her hand taps against Walter's shoulder. "C'mon. Somebody was setting up for a marathon in the Rec Room. I don't know what yet, but it might be cool."
Walter frowns slightly at that. "If it's Lord of the Rings again, I might have to bail. I try to limit myself to only one 9 hour movie a semester." He turns, taking the long way back inside, nodding for Mira to follow.
One foot finds its way in front of the other. Piotr steps forwards. He repeats the motion, mirrored to allow for the fact that his other foot is on the other side of his body. This is achieved with apparent stability. "I am fine," he insists, and, except for a little slowness that the cruel might suggest is not entirely due to a head trauma, it would seem that he is.
Mira's brown eyes trail up Piotr slowly, only a hint of a frown on her lips. "Okay," says the girl. She takes a few backwards steps after Walter before turning to jog, leaving Pete to fend for himself.
Piotr gets hit in the head with the ground, then Walter treads on him. Mira, at least, avoids causing further injury.
Also I drew Kurt, for no particular reason. Not like he doesn't have enough fanart on the internets already. But anyway, here he is in all his Kurtly glory.
