Difference between revisions of "Template:Featured Articles/46-2024"

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<td valign="top">[[Image:placeholder.gif|left]]'''Moment of Awesome - [[Monica Rambeau|Monica Rambeau/Spectrum]]:''' ''Following the [[X-Men Mission: Behold A Black Horse|mission in Troy]], Monica seeks out [[Scott Summers]] [https://xp-logs.dreamwidth.org/4478367.html#cutid1 with a difficult decision].''
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<td valign="top">[[Image:Moa wildchild.png|left]]'''Moment of Awesome - [[Kyle Gibney|Kyle Gibney/Wildchild]]:''' ''In the aftermath of [[Behold A Pale Horse]], [https://xp-logs.dreamwidth.org/4409502.html two old friends have a serious talk].''
  
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“It won’t happen again." Finally, Marius dragged his amber eyes down to look at Kyle. "What would I end up as, that third time?"
  
Nica stood in front of the door to Scott's suite, trembling slightly. Not from fear, but from the tumult of emotions that had finally led her here and to a decision she thought she'd never make and which every part of her wanted to deny. One hand curled into a first by her side, the other raised to knock, she paused a moment more before setting her teeth and forcing herself to move. The ensuing knock was overly loud, driven by sudden movement and an inability to control anything right now.
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"How about next time you just fucking tell someone, okay?"  Kyle made deliberate eye contact.  "Like, please, man, do I need to be in my feelings here? I will go get some more feelings if I have to. I don't get it, I don't get the relapse thing I don't get the medical stuff, I know, okay but I do get that, like, you can just say 'I think the hunger is back, please tell someone' and I'll tell someone else and never bring it up to you again if that's what it takes, as long as you tell me one time so I can make sure you're not doing this dumbfuck shit again, because I can't lose any more fucking friends. We've got a new Forge, and he's a complete asshole, we've got a new Julio and he's a kid and we've got a new Catseye and she's so fucking weird, and I can't go find a new Marius because there won't be one!"
  
There was something relaxing about the stars, about watching those little pinpricks of light wheeling across the velvet background of the heavens, it was how he liked to relax at night, dimming the lights in his apartment and just watch the sky, a warm drink in his hand and a tablet resting in his lap. It was a moment of peace, of silence to recuperate. It had been a rough few weeks, or longer, a bad few months, it was hard to remember. Dark eyes closed for a moment, head leaning back against the back of the sofa as an abrupt knocking interrupted his meditation. "Come on in, it's open."
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Even through the fog Kyle's vehemence struck something in him. Marius' eyes widened, just a little, before he slid his gaze away again.
  
Nica opened the door, pausing for a moment at the dimmed lights. "Oh, this can wait, if you're busy," she said lamely, hoping that he'd say otherwise because she didn't know if she could get the courage up to do this again.
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He knew Kyle considered him to be someone worth keeping in his life, and always had. They wouldn't have kept in contact for all these years if not for that. But now, in this moment, Marius couldn't understand why. He looked at the determination on Kyle's face and felt only a great emptiness.
  
"Just star-gazing," Scott's eyes glanced over to the door for a moment, gesturing for Nica to come in before he turned back to the window. "When I was younger I thought about flying up there, into the depths of space, applying to be an astronaut before well everything. I still like to remember that kid sometimes." His voice trailed off as dark eyes shifted back to the girl for a moment, brow furrowing in concern. "Pull up a couch, what's wrong?"
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''Mate, you think I'm so much more than I am. You all did. But I've never been like the rest of you, however much I wanted to be.''
  
Nica shook her head at the offer of a seat. "I... I came here because..." She gulped and tried again. "I k-killed someone. I didn't mean to, but I did. X-Men don't kill. So I came to give you these." She thrust out the hand that had been curled in a fist, opening her hand to reveal her X-Men tags. "Please. Take them. I'm sorry."
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But he could pretend. He owed Kyle that, at least.
  
There were a host of reason's Scott had thought Nica might have stopped by to visit but this certainly wasn't one of them, for a moment he thought that she was joking, but the distraught look on her face killed any quip that might have come to life on his lips. Slowly the man leaned forward, hands coming together to lay his drink and tablet on a table as he gestured her in. "What happened?"
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"Right," Marius said aloud. "Well, no worries. I feel as if I've caused everyone enough trouble, eh? Consider this a lesson learned."
  
She came in, but only because she didn't want to do this in the hall. It was hard enough, without witnesses. "The m-mission in A-alabama. The Marauders came. Prism, he... I was only trying to stop him! Nothing was working, so I... i thought I could drain enough of his bio-electricity to make him pass out. But he... he..." The words stuck in her throat and she tried again. "He exploded. I killed him."
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Kyle shut his eyes very slowly, in defiance of Marius' false even-handed tone. "Uh huh. Yeah, this isn't gonna be that. I had to take classes on this shit, I teach teenagers."  He pulled a phone out from the depths of the terrible lime basketball shorts. "This is me texting Terry, and god I hope you like bread because expect she'll be showing up a lot to make it. The catering kitchen's still fucked. Whatever room they put you in, you get a roommate until, I dunno, I decide you're not gonna go toss yourself into a volcano." His voice finally had expression, firm stubbornness and a break as he said aloud the fear he had, that Marius would consider suicide. "We don't have any volcano kinetics here right now, don't get any ideas. You get me, my grading papers at 5am and Shamu sleeping on your butt."
  
"And you think you need to quit the team because of that?" There was no judgement in Scott's voice, not even a hint of curiosity...just compassion. "You weren't trying to kill him you know, you weren't even trying to hurt him, just stop him from hurting other people."
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"Eh, sorry?" Marius said, unsure whether he'd parsed the rush of words correctly. "I'm going to . . ?"
  
"X-Men don't kill." She said it like a mantra. "It doesn't matter what I was trying to do, I took a life."
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"You're going to be living with me until such a time that someone decides you're not actively fucking suicidal." Kyle said, eyes still closed, voice on the verge of a growl. "Which means my girlfriend is going to show up at all hours to make food, because that's what she does, and you're going to tolerate my cat who probably is going to sleep on you because he loves everyone more than me."
  
"X-men don't kill?"
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"I wouldn’t hurt myself," Marius protested, although even he could perceive the frisson at the end of the sentence that implied an unspoken 'here'. He shook his head dismissively. "Look, I appreciate the concern, but this isn't necessary. It's just . . . it's hitting me all at once right now, all right? Once my head's straight again she’ll be right. I'm adaptable. It's one of my few redeeming features."
  
Scott's voice didn't rise, didn't change as he tilted his head to the side to watch her carefully, his fingers tapping his leg for a moment before stilling.
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"I don't believe you."  Kyle said.  "My ears still work, you were all 'what would I end up as the third time', and you're assuming it'll happen and assuming the platelets are fucked, and man, of everyone I'd think you know I'm not as dumb as I pretend. I'm the... "  He cut himself off.  "It doesn't matter, you get a suitemate for a while. If nothing else, it means if your platelets are fucked, you're safe. Consider me the emergency parachute."
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Marius opened his mouth, then shut it. Finally he met Kyle's gaze, and held it.
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"Never in my life have I thought of you as dumb," he said.
  
"I see..."
 
  
Scott's voice didn't change as he stood, nodding towards the door, "Meet me in the lobby in 10 minutes, if you still want to hand those in when we're done I won't stop you."
 
 
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Revision as of 12:04, 4 November 2024

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Moa wildchild.png
Moment of Awesome - Kyle Gibney/Wildchild: In the aftermath of Behold A Pale Horse, two old friends have a serious talk.

“It won’t happen again." Finally, Marius dragged his amber eyes down to look at Kyle. "What would I end up as, that third time?"

"How about next time you just fucking tell someone, okay?" Kyle made deliberate eye contact. "Like, please, man, do I need to be in my feelings here? I will go get some more feelings if I have to. I don't get it, I don't get the relapse thing I don't get the medical stuff, I know, okay but I do get that, like, you can just say 'I think the hunger is back, please tell someone' and I'll tell someone else and never bring it up to you again if that's what it takes, as long as you tell me one time so I can make sure you're not doing this dumbfuck shit again, because I can't lose any more fucking friends. We've got a new Forge, and he's a complete asshole, we've got a new Julio and he's a kid and we've got a new Catseye and she's so fucking weird, and I can't go find a new Marius because there won't be one!"

Even through the fog Kyle's vehemence struck something in him. Marius' eyes widened, just a little, before he slid his gaze away again.

He knew Kyle considered him to be someone worth keeping in his life, and always had. They wouldn't have kept in contact for all these years if not for that. But now, in this moment, Marius couldn't understand why. He looked at the determination on Kyle's face and felt only a great emptiness.

Mate, you think I'm so much more than I am. You all did. But I've never been like the rest of you, however much I wanted to be.

But he could pretend. He owed Kyle that, at least.

"Right," Marius said aloud. "Well, no worries. I feel as if I've caused everyone enough trouble, eh? Consider this a lesson learned."

Kyle shut his eyes very slowly, in defiance of Marius' false even-handed tone. "Uh huh. Yeah, this isn't gonna be that. I had to take classes on this shit, I teach teenagers." He pulled a phone out from the depths of the terrible lime basketball shorts. "This is me texting Terry, and god I hope you like bread because expect she'll be showing up a lot to make it. The catering kitchen's still fucked. Whatever room they put you in, you get a roommate until, I dunno, I decide you're not gonna go toss yourself into a volcano." His voice finally had expression, firm stubbornness and a break as he said aloud the fear he had, that Marius would consider suicide. "We don't have any volcano kinetics here right now, don't get any ideas. You get me, my grading papers at 5am and Shamu sleeping on your butt."

"Eh, sorry?" Marius said, unsure whether he'd parsed the rush of words correctly. "I'm going to . . ?"

"You're going to be living with me until such a time that someone decides you're not actively fucking suicidal." Kyle said, eyes still closed, voice on the verge of a growl. "Which means my girlfriend is going to show up at all hours to make food, because that's what she does, and you're going to tolerate my cat who probably is going to sleep on you because he loves everyone more than me."

"I wouldn’t hurt myself," Marius protested, although even he could perceive the frisson at the end of the sentence that implied an unspoken 'here'. He shook his head dismissively. "Look, I appreciate the concern, but this isn't necessary. It's just . . . it's hitting me all at once right now, all right? Once my head's straight again she’ll be right. I'm adaptable. It's one of my few redeeming features."

"I don't believe you." Kyle said. "My ears still work, you were all 'what would I end up as the third time', and you're assuming it'll happen and assuming the platelets are fucked, and man, of everyone I'd think you know I'm not as dumb as I pretend. I'm the... " He cut himself off. "It doesn't matter, you get a suitemate for a while. If nothing else, it means if your platelets are fucked, you're safe. Consider me the emergency parachute."

Marius opened his mouth, then shut it. Finally he met Kyle's gaze, and held it.

"Never in my life have I thought of you as dumb," he said.