In Over Our Heads (tag Wither)

[evilst]

Kevin had been locked in the very small, very smelly room for… he didn’t really know how long. There was no window, no way of seeing outside at all. There was only the single, bare bulb that hung too far overhead for him to reach. It had been a long time since he’d eaten

Comments

[polyesterman]

Kevin shrank away from the girl, his hands scrambling for purchase on the slick metal floor. He had awaken in clothing similar to surgical scrubs, with his arms, hands and feet dangerously left exposed. "I-I-I don't want to hurt you! I don't even know you...."

He shrank back at her terrified gaze. "If I take that duct tape off of your mouth, will you, um... stay away?" He reached forward, only to pause and pull back his bare hand. How can I get the tape off of her mouth without decaying her?

He shrugged off his shirt and wrapped the fabric around his hand. He carefully reached forward to the girl who was scrabbling back from him, her eyes round in panic. He worked carefully at a corner of the duct tape. The corner came free, slightly moist from the girl's mouth. He ripped the rest of the tape away and sprang back to his end of the closet.

A string of Japanese rushed from the girl's mouth, and Kevin was pretty sure that it was angry. He put his shirt back on, grimacing at the sensation of his rumbling stomach.

[runawaywitch]

Nico finished her mini-tirade, knowing that her mother would have had a heart attack if she'd heard what she'd just said. Then she took several breaths, using the time to study the boy who'd pulled the tape off her mouth, noting how he seemed to be terrified of touching her. Or at least, touching skin. "Thanks. Think you could get my hands? I've got gloves on."

[polyesterman]

Kevin blew out a sigh of relief. "You speak English. Thank god." He stepped towards the girl and gingerly loosened one of the corners of the duct tape, taking care to only touch the tape. Even so, his knuckles brushed her gloves once, and a hole wore its way through the fabric.

Snatching his fingers away, Kevin asked, "What are your gloves made of, cotton? Leather? They're useless!!" He backed away, hands covering his face. "I'm so hungry. I can't do this. I can't do this! Not after what happened to Laurie."

Kevin sunk to the ground as Nico ripped the rest of the duct tape from her hands. "Why couldn't I have lost my power when everyone else did?"

[runawaywitch]

"Hey, hey, hey!" Nico said struggling to get herself upright. "No freaking out! That will not get us out of this mess." She tried to feel out her bonds with her fingers. Felt like rope. "Okay. Deep breath, stay cool. What can you do, exactly?" She wiggled her shoulders and tried pulling her hands apart. She still felt sick to her stomach from whatever the hell the bastard had done to her before bringing her here. It'd felt like he was trying to rip her intestines out through her belly button.

[polyesterman]

Kevin drew in a few deep breaths before responding, "I'm a mutant. Anything organic that I touch... withers." He crossed the small space between them and touched the hemp rope that tied Nico's hands together. The fibers decayed and unraveled under his touch, and Nico's arms broke free.

"My name is Kevin, and I... used to be a student at Xavier's." He let his bangs fall forward to cover the unease in his eyes. "You are?"

[runawaywitch]

"I'm Nico," the girl said, rubbing her wrists. "And I've got a magic staff, but I can't use it unless I bleed first." She looked around the room, noting the lack of things with which she could cut herself. "Do you have any idea where we are? I was in LA when I was grabbed, but it's waaay too cold to be California."

She stood up, stretching her legs. Okay. Guy had a death touch. She didn't have access to anything she could cut with.

She could deal with this. It wasn't totally hopeless.

[polyesterman]

"Maybe we're still in New York. I've been living in the sewers for the last month (That probably explains the smell. Sorry.), and they captured me when I was asleep."

He sat down carefully, tucking his feet beneath him. Taking off his shirt, he asked, "Nico? You said that if you bleed, you can use magic?" When she nodded, he wrapped the shirt around his right hand. "Okay, then. Have you ever been punched in the nose?"

[runawaywitch]

"...well, it's an idea." Nico said grimly. She closed her eyes tight and braced herself for the oncoming pain. She actually had had her nose broken playing dodgeball in gym class when she was 10, and she remembered that it'd hurt like a bitch.

[polyesterman]

"Okay. Here goes." He wound up and socked her directly on the fleshy part of the nose. As luck would have it, his reluctant punch ended up with a small trickle running out of her nostril (OOC: because I didn't want to have to keep punching her).

"When blood id shed, let da stab ob one emer!" Kevin watched in amazement as a long staff came from her chest. She leaned on it and held her nose. "Ow."

"You're telling me," Kevin said, cradling his poor fist.

[runawaywitch]

"Okay," she said, straightening up. She wiped her nose with the back of her glove and sniffed, wincing as she did so. She turned her attention to the door. She pointed the staff at the door, calling up the worst memory she could think of, focusing her will on what she needed.

"Evaporate." she intoned, and watched with great joy as the door turned into an insubstantial cloud of smoke.

[polyesterman]

Kevin hastily threw his shirt back on, ignoring the bit of blood that was drying on the fabric. He placed his hands on the doorjamb and looked out down the long hallway. "Wow. That was... wow! Can you teleport us out of here, or something?"

[runawaywitch]

"The Staff's kind of limited to One Use of a spell," Nico said with a shake of her head. "And I've already done teleportation. So we'll just have to do this the old fashioned way." She peered out, checking the hall before stepping outside. "I'll take point. Watch my back," she said, heading right. To the left it ended in a blank wall, but down the right, there was a door.

No windows in the hall, and no other doors than the one they were headed towards. And this place felt a little clammy, like they might be underground.

[polyesterman]

Kevin paused for a moment. "Whoa. Where's that guy, then?" He passed Nico so that he stood between the door and the girl. "You know, that guy who told me to kill you? Maybe I should go first."

He wiggled his fingers ominously. "Because, you know, I am the one with a death touch, here."

[runawaywitch]

"Heh. So chivlry isn't dead after all." Nico said, gesturing for Kevin to go first. She leaned a little against the Staff of One, gripping the shaft tightly, as if she could draw strength from the cool wood beneath her hands. She needed all the help she could get right now.

[polyesterman]

Kevin blushed at the complement, then cleared his throat. "Um.. right, then. Follow me." He padded softly down the hall, his bare feet chilled from the concrete floor beneath him. He reached the door and waved Nico to the hinge side of the door, and carefully turned the knob with his right hand, his left hand held outstretched.

[runawaywitch]

Nico leaned against the wall, staff still gripped tightly as the door sung slowly open, a spell on her lips.

On the other side of the door was a set of narrow stairs leading upwards, the only light at the very top. The sound of the safety of a gun being clicked off greeted their ears. There was a very adverage looking man sitting at the top of those stairs, holding a Colt Peacemaker and pointing it at the doorway. "Try anything," he called down, "and I'll blow you to kingdom come. Unless you've done what Master Kenneth has asked, of course."

Nico glanced at Kevin, pressing closer to the wall. They just might have the element of suprise. 'Keep him talking,' she mouthed.