karolina dean ๑ ʟɪᴛs (_majesdane) wrote in thedoorway, @ 2013-08-16 18:35:00 |
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Sure, Karolina didn’t like being here, but she wasn’t going to look a gift horse in the mouth right now either. The only downside, if it could even be called a downside, was the fact that Xavin and Julie happened to be around and of course Xavin couldn’t possibly know how conflicting things were for Karolina now. She hadn’t moved on exactly, but she was at a point in her life where she could...and didn’t she deserve the chance to move on? But didn’t she deserve to give herself the relationship she’d been denied now that she had the chance? But...Julie was so nice and they really could have been great together. There was no shifting involved, just two girls being themselves and getting the job done. It was simple, she needed simple in her life...but now that simplicity had been turned into something just as complicated as Xavin could be. Thankfully Chase seemed to just have an open door policy when it came to the gang, as he should. His place wasn’t any nicer than the one she was going to be sharing with Xavin, but for tonight she needed a neutral zone. A place where she could rest without worry of saying the wrong thing or falling into the comfort of old emotions. She needed sanctuary, and funny enough, Chase seemed to be the best person for that right now. It was cute how things had been set up around here. Lace and Molly sharing a room while Gert and Chase shared one, it’s what should have always been really...well, Gert and Chase, not so much Molly sleeping with a huge lizard. They were both her girls though, and without Klara around, she was happy Molly at least had Lace. “Dude, you seriously gotta stop throwing your trash and underwear everywhere. How did Gert put up with this?” Karolina asked as she used the very tips of her thumb and index finger to pick up the smallest corner of fabric possible on what she assumed were worn Chase underwear from the bed. Sharing a bed with Chase would be new-ish, but it wasn’t something she put too much thought in. the bed looked big enough, and again, she trusted him. The article of clothing was quickly dropped to the floor before she moved to snap the comforter and shake it out to lay it neatly out for them. She was dressed in a simple white t-shirt, short sleeves, and soft pink cotton shorts that might as well have been short boxers. Long blonde hair left loose and pushed behind her ears. “Get the light,” she asked as Chase entered the room, she fell onto the bed, Gert’s side, and lounged on her back, propped up on a couple of pillows. “Man, this is almost as nice as the house...I guess Kingpin’s crib was decent, but this comes without the mess of...villainy.” She mused more to herself, though out loud and easily audible for Chase. ------------------ It hadn’t been all that long from when the team fell apart and then Karolina suddenly popped back up into their lives. If this was going to happen with Gert... if the tesseract was going to take her and then bring her back, Chase was going to have some seriously problems. Or SHIELD was. Blowing up the building always seemed enticing and explosions were never too far from his mind anyways. He tried making things up with Nico, tried getting Gert to come back home, hell, he even tried hanging out with Xavin but it was nothing like chilling with Victor. Things were pretty low for everyone, but then here was K to brighten everything back up. For the first time in the past few weeks, things started looking a little less bleak and a little more promising for him and the rest of the Runaways, or, so he was thinking. “She handled it with a sharp blow to the back of the head. Which you’re so not allowed to do so don’t even try. I’ll pick up tomorrow.” Eyes rolled at the thought of cleaning. Gert really did have a way of getting him motivated to do things other than lounge around and... play video games, drink, or eat. At least he’d already managed to snag himself a new job, and a sweet one at that, bonus points for not having anything to do with fish! But he would pick up, he was getting better at keeping things a little cleaner, especially with Molly around. She hated chores more than he did, but he’d be damned if he was going to pick up after her mess. Before heading over to the lightswitch, Chase stood near the bad with his arms crossed around his chest, “you sure you don’t want me on the couch? I make no promises in controlling my dream self. The things I’ve woken up doing with Gert...” For a moment, eyes seemed glossy as he faded into memory, though it was unknown as to what time frame he was even recalling. Neither Gert nor Chase were very shy about their friskiness, and hey, Chase would take any tail he could get right about now. “Just kidding.” He finally added, like that would make everything all better as he finally went to turn the switch off. Tugging off the yellow hoodie he’d been wearing, he tossed it carelessly into the room somewhere leaving him in his typical night time attire of boxers and a shirt. Without warning, he took a leap and plunged onto his side of the bed with enough force to send Karolina’s smaller frame up and back down abruptly. Keeping outside of the covers, Chase shifted until he was flat on his back, his arms bending back to allow hands to cup his head against the pillow as he stared up at the ceiling. “Kingpin’s place was a joke compared to this. Wait til you see the shower. Tony Stark built this place. There’s like 50 unnecessary settings in there. I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s a giant perv either.” ------------------ There was a familiar smirk that came with the idea of Gert, any Gert, popping Chase upside the back of the head in an attempt to keep him in line. They’d always fought, she’d never seen it get physical exactly, but she could only guess about the way Gert acted when the couple were alone. She herself changed a little when she was alone with Xavin. She was going to reply to Chase, but his eyes glossed over, and she wasn’t stupid. In fact, she was probably the most empathetic on the team or at least the one who acted on emotions more than everyone else. But Chase got the lights and hopped around, sent her flopping upwards and the laughter that bubbled up couldn’t be contained as she came landing on the bed at his side. Even while laughing and shifting about to get comfortable again, this time on her side facing Chase, she couldn’t help but wonder what had happened between him and the girl he always held a flame for. God, love could be so tragic. “Fifty unnecessary settings, huh? Guess he had a woman’s needs in mind when designing it then,” She offered with little thought as she nuzzled down into the pillows and wiggled about to get under the comforter. “And you know I don’t care, I’m not pushing you out of your own bed, but I’m not sleeping on the couch either. Not when there’s a huge bed, we’ve had enough of sleeping on floors and in chairs.” Eyes fluttered closed as she sighed out and curled her right arm under the profile of her face, left arm laying over her waist and curling into the comforter. She started the night out giving off the false impression that she could stay on Gert’s side of the bed, curling into herself and seeming smaller than her long frame actually was. It wasn’t long at all before her breathing started to grow steady and thick with sleep, she mumbled something before sighing again and sliding her left leg towards Chase, slipping her foot under his calf while her arm spread out to awkwardly lay over his upper chest so fingers could splay out against his face. Within moments of actually finding sleep she was rolling towards him, not to cuddle, but to lay more on her stomach and stretch her long body out, slipping under Chase and pushing at him to give her more room. He apparently had to worry about her dream self and not the other way around. ---------------- “Wouldn’t make you sleep on the couch, c’mon K, I’m a little more thoughtful than that.” He wouldn’t deny how nice it was to have something so warm so close to him again. She wasn’t Gert, hell, she was missing a lot of... things that were Gert, but tonight wouldn’t be plagued with bad dreams, or, so he hoped. It was still awkward, especially when she started moving closer, but his mind wasn’t anywhere near doing inappropriate things with the wrong person. Karolina was great, and he totally thought she was hot, but Gert was still here, and he had to worry about Nico. Oh geeze. It suddenly hit him just -why- Karolina had even thought this was a good idea. With Nico, Julie, and Xavin all around, this was one big drama bomb waiting to blow: he would’ve hid too. For a moment though, he let his eyes close, he let her soft breathing take him away for just a tiny bit of time. Yeah, Gert was here, but they’d already established she wasn’t his Gert, and no matter his thoughts, he always went back to the one that was dead and how she breathed, and how she felt, and how she smelled. God he missed her so much. The pushing, however, no, he didn’t like that and it jerked him back from the dream cloud he was ready to climb on. His hip bumped out to knock her a little more harshly than intended, “hey, uh uh. We aren’t doing bed wars. That’s your side, this is mine.” There were no sides with Gert, even though she totally kicked. And snored. “You kick one more time and it’s the floor for your glittery ass.” He was dead serious, his size twelves ready to stomp a ho out of his bed if she kept that up. He didn’t want a replacement body next to him, at least he could discern that much for himself. ----------- “Uh?” Karolina questioned in a sleepy haze as large blue eyes started to blink open, Chase’s hip registering against hers and helping the process speed up just a little, “Hey, Stein, careful with that bony bit you call a hip,” She pout-whined in her still sleepy phase of not wanting to wake up, but waking up anyway. “Sorry, I sleep...I mean, I move a lot on big beds.” Which was more than true, it didn’t matter if someone was with her or not, if the bed was large she wanted every corner inch to belong to her. She shifted, lifting up and flopping around until her back was to Chase, long strands of soft blond hair flipping and feathering out against Chase’s chest and face without so much as an twitch of notice from Karolina. Again she shifted for comfort, “Xavin just sort of molds to me during the night...sorry.” Eyes fluttered closed again, ready to go back to sleep and sink into the comfort that was Stark’s free bed. A deep breath was taken, her face nuzzled down into Gert’s pillow, after a second of calm settled over them again she peeked up towards Chase, “You haven’t washed the sheets have you?” It wasn’t accusatory, like How dare you let me sleep on these dirty things!, there was actually a little hint of sympathy in her voice. “Pillows smell like...how I remember her...” Without thinking her fingers curled into the edges of the pillow as she turned her face back into the fabric. Gert hadn’t been her best friend, sister figure, or crush...but she’d been an amazing person to get to know. It was still a blow to lose her, she was still a good friend and someone that seemed to know how to motivate the group when things looked bad...even if she was being cryptic and mean. It was funny how much she missed Gert, because she’d never been given the time to really miss the other part of their team. By the time she’d come back from Majesdane so much had changed, Gert just seemed to already be gone...and then she was buried. Chase went suicidal...things just moved too quickly for her to register the loss as deeply as the others had. “Took me a long time to let Xavin’s scent go too,” she finally mumbled into the pillow before moving to push herself to sit up, twisting until she could look down at Chase. “Why’d you let her go?” ----------------- Okay, Xavin literally just molded into a blob shape and totally devoured K in his head causing him to cock a brow in partial disgust and partial intrigue. The hair was a bother and something he didn’t have to deal with from Gert. “If you wanted laundry service, you should’ve said so when you booked the room,” he started off despite her tone not being accusatory. Jumping to the defense was Chase’s was of being offensive, he didn’t need to hear another lecture about cleaning, he just wasn’t ready to let go of-- Chase sighed quietly, appreciative that she at least understood. He wasn’t going to say anything about the matter, moving around a little as if he needed to get more comfortable than he already was, but her comment pushed him towards the edge for her question to knock him right off. Let her go?! Was everyone else stupid? Could no one else put one and one together?! Fingers balled into fists as he inhaled, but the anger was quickly swallowed. It wasn’t Karolina’s fault, she was new here, she didn’t know. Hell, it made him wonder if the other K had left videos like Gert was doing for a future self of her should she go and leave and this all sounded really crazy in his head the more he thought about it so he just shut up for a minute. Start with Gert, then hit her with Xavin to keep the convo from him. He didn’t have this.. let’s bleed all over the place friendship with Karolina. She was too pretty, too innocent, too opposite of Nico to do something like that. “She gets a chance to live, I’m not going to mess that up for her.” His words were cold and final. There would be no further discussion on the matter from him. “But.. What about Xavin? Is he dead too? What the hell happens in our future? I mean, I kinda figured I wouldn’t make it to 21, but the Skrull?!” There. Pushed far, far away. Moving again, Chase also got himself into a seated position, letting his back lean lazily against the wall. Was this what it was like at girl sleep overs? Did they just talk and talk and talk all damn night? ----- Karolina cocked her head to the side as she watched Chase sit up and lean into the wall, taking in all of his questions and wondering how he’d been here longer than her and not have asked about his life passed wherever he came from. How did he not know what had happened to them, outside of the Arena mess that she didn’t have the energy to waste thoughts on. For a moment her lips pursed as she lowered her gaze in thought, what did she respond to? Avoidance was easily detectable to her, she played that game pretty well herself, but she didn’t want to push him about something he obviously didn’t want to talk about...it was just so weird. “I don’t know if Xavin is dead or not.” She admitted honestly as she moved to rest her left leg under her right leg while drawing her right knee up so her chin could rest against her knee and her arms could lazily wrap around her leg, head tilted just enough so she could watch Chase without straining her eyes. “My planet was destroyed, there was moments of peace for me but eventually those that survived,those of my people that survived, they wanted justice. Justice meant my death...I was willing to go, but no one would let me, and I couldn’t stop Xavin. She knocked me out and shifted into me...she took my place. I don’t know if she died, it would make sense wouldn’t it? We die for the people we love, don’t we?” Her words were poignant towards the end, directed specifically for Chase. Alex didn’t die for Nico, he went bad for Nico...but Gert saved Chase’s life for love and Xavin did the same. “I can’t envision her living through that, and I haven’t heard from her in almost a year, but I don’t want to believe her dead.” She sighed heavily before shaking her head, “But you...you’re alive. We’re close, the group I mean. Nico, Vic, Molly, Klara, you and me.” She smirks a little, “You, Vic and Nico sort of save me from myself I guess...but, you’re the King of not letting us in or giving us the chance to help you. You ran away. I understood though...when Lace died, you lost your connection to Gert for real...again...and after seeing that hologram and the time travel...life has this way of making you remember her, of throwing her in your face, and you keep...” Shoulders slumped a little and finally she couldn’t look at him, “You keep losing her, don’t you?” For a second she wanted to sink into the bed and vanish, but at the same time she wasn’t that girl anymore that hid away from the truth of things. Instead she sat up and pretzeled her legs on the bed, hands folding in her lap. “Must feel a little safer with the distance, huh? Can’t get hurt if you don’t have to see her...” ------------ He needed to sit down and have a chat with Xavin, a real one, to get his side of things, to understand what it was he remembered, but the two could really ever bond over Kevin Smith flicks and violence. There really wasn’t much more to them than that, but, maybe that was entirely Chase’s fault. Still, he was finding things out about people he was supposed to have known, people that had been sitting behind him peering over his shoulder as he and Vic started some time jump sequence with the Leapfrog. Maybe that was the secret of why everyone could be so happy together when everything else around them was miserable: the unknown. Everyone here is from a different time, different memories, each more worse than the other. It made him wonder if he should ask Nico to just do a hard reset of everything, send them their brains back to some better time... “Sorry about Xavin, but, that sounds like something she’d do. You should hear how he talks about you here. It’s kind of creepy, totally possessive and obsessive and super in love or whatever.” Chase was no match maker, but Xavin and Karolina were kind of cute together, but, he didn’t really get it all the same. Then again, there was never anything wrong with two chicks kissing. Looking over to Karolina, he smiled a little, not really caring if she could see it in the dark or not before he placed a hand on her shoulder. “Hey, she’s here now, so you get a second chance. Or you don’t. Either way, at least you get that choice. This place totally blows, because you could be gone tomorrow, or I could, or everybody else, but what’s the difference? It’s just like real life.” He was trying to be positive. Goddamnit was he trying, but he hated this world, he hated that Gert was here and yet he was so desperate to have her back, but it wasn’t fair to her in any way. And then K started talking again. He almost socked her right in her mouth. That positive attitude, farce or not, immediately turned into flaming anger. “What did you say about my dinosaur?” The words were breathed through gritted teeth. OL dead? Hell, the poor girl was probably stirring in her sleep from the emotions Chase was trying contain. On his knees now, hands were curled around the fabric of her shirt, lifting her slightly to him. “You take that back. She doesn’t die. She can’t die!” The thought made him sick to his stomach, and the way Karolina said it so casually, how he’d so easily lose the last piece of living Gert he had left... “You don’t know what you’re talking about,” he finally said, a little more quietly and allowing his fingers to unfurl from her clothes. “You don’t know anything...” She didn’t. No one seemed to. Gert was safe when she was far from him. He was her execution time and time and time again. Yanking Gert’s pillow from K, he slinked towards the edge of the bed. “Make sure Molly gets breakfast tomorrow, she likes pancakes. I’ll be back in the afternoon.” Running made everything feel better. -------------------- Shock should have been clear on her face, but there was only sadness. Anger should have hummed through her every fiber, but there was only stillness and an unwillingness to move from his grasp. She remembered the night Lace died, the way he acted. This was mild in comparison. She watched him though, waiting for that moment where he snapped...but he didn’t, not how she expected, when he let her go she smoothed her hands through her hair and just watched him. The only time she moved was to shift in the bed last minute and grab ahold of the pillow as Chase started to make his way towards the door. “Hold on Chase, you don’t know the whole story yet.” She moved quickly, jumping off the bed and tugged on the pillow at the same time to get him to stop. Before he could stop her she was standing in front of the only exit in the room, like hell she was going to let him leave without knowing everything. Or well, what he needed to know right now anyway. “You’re right, she’s not dead, Lace I mean. But we thought she was, you felt the connection go dead...and if you don’t let me finish what I’m saying I’ll blast you back and pin you in a bubble until you shut up and listen.” She moved to cross her arms under her chest and stare at him, dark room or not, by now their eyes had adjusted to the dim light coming through the window. Her serious face was much more serious than usual. “Nico did a spell, we didn’t know where it sent Lace’s body, okay? But after you ran away and finally found your way back you felt something...you felt Lace. Through magic and some sleuthing we figured out that the connection was coming from Avengers Academy. We thought they were holding her hostage or something, but...long story short, because I know you want to punch walls right now, Humberto Lopez, I don’t know if you know him, but the gem-fossil in his chest it’s from the Savage Lands. That’s where Lace had been sent...and she was fine Chase. Happy. Ate whatever she wanted, made dino buddies, and healed up perfectly. She’s back with the group, and I was going to get around to telling you, but I needed to get past the first part first.” She shook her head and now, for some reason, she did feel angry. “And you want to pretend that I don’t know anything, when I’ve lived it, that’s on you. But I can tell you this, no matter how many girls you flirt with, glances stolen at Nico, any reminder of Gert makes you stop and pause and think about what could have been, should have been, and the many ways you’d change things to be with her. So there is one thing I don’t get, why the hell are you wasting your second chance with her?” ------------ She was pulling on the pillow?! Are you freakin’ kidding me?! Chase was going to spin around, he was going to do something he’d probably regret a second later, but Karolina was too fast. She was a tiny little speed demon in comparison to even his own athletic prowess, so by the time he could even spin back, she was already blocking the door. “Get out of my way,” he all but growled, but her threat, the look on her face... He’d seen her get angry before, but this was definitely her Hulk-smash face and it stopped him cold in his tracks. Why is it that girls with rainbow abilities always seemed to hit the hardest? His left hand still clutched the pillow tightly as his arms hung down at his side still stiff and prepared for a fight. “You better talk fast...” As she spoke, he felt more and more like the asshole he was. He’d been such a jerk to everyone lately, but there was just so much more going on and he was running out of outlets to diffuse some of that energy. His stance lessened as shoulders hunched down and his head hung low, but the grip on the pillow remained as he silently listened to the rest of what Karolina had to say about Old Lace. She wasn’t dead. He couldn’t... He wouldn’t know what to do with himself if he ever truly lost her. Even giving her back to the Gert here, it felt wrong, it felt like an act of betrayal and it had left him so lonely inside that he felt the memory of Gert he’d been feeling was utterly dishonored in some way that he really couldn’t articulate. Maybe if he’d been in a better state of mind he would have had the wit to dispute the claim about the look he’d give Nico. It wasn’t hard to even him to know there could be something, but he wasn’t really interested in traveling that road today. Turning away from Karolina, he just shook his head and flopped down onto the mattress belly-first, burying his face into the pillow he’d so politely stolen. Inhaling deeply, he could pick up a few remnants of her scent, but they were fading so quickly; she was fading, disappearing from his life again. How did Karolina put it? He kept losing her. When he finally did decide to speak, his voice was low, drowning in the softness of the pillow even as he turned his head slightly so she could hear better. “She gets to live. I’m sorry about Xavin, K, I really am. If she’s dead, she died doing something she wanted, she died for someone she loved more than life itself. Gert gave me life. Twice. And in exchange, I took hers. It hurts that she’s gone... It hurts so goddamn much... But she’s alive. The further she is from me, the longer she can live, and I can live with that....” ----------------- Karolina watched one of her oldest friends as he began to break, and it broke her damn heart. This was the jackass that jumped from buildings, set things on fire, and just did stupid things that were often to save their lives. But that was the kicker, wasn’t it? He did stupid things to save them, but when it came to Gert he did meticulous calculations and knew just how to get the team to split up so he could go about his plans to bring her back. He was so many different shattered pieces trying to be whole and the only thing that had ever really given him the strength to not be broken had been Gert (and in tandem, Lace). She didn’t say anything as she moved away from the door, arranging herself to sit at the edge of the bed, but close enough that her hand could rest against the center of Chase’s upper back, her free hand moving to push her hair from her face. There was a soft glow that began, rainbows and shimmers as warmth started to seep from just her hand. She wanted to be as comforting as possible and rubbing his back was the only thing that made sense somehow. “Chase...” Karolina began, soft, but trying to keep her own sadness from her voice, “Xavin saved my life because he loved me, not because he wanted to commit suicide. He made a choice, and honey...Gertrude made a sacrifice for love as well. You think she wants you to waste your life away being so unhappy? It took me awhile to realize that I was staining Xavin’s memory by being sad, I wanted her to be proud of me, and to be proud of me I knew I had to learn how to shine again. Gertrude loved you Chase, I don’t think she loved anyone more...not even Lace. She gave you her life, she gave you Lace not because she wanted you to live with so much guilt.” She sighed because she knew it didn’t really matter what she said, he’d lived with this hatred of himself for so long...how was she supposed to fix it in one night? Still, her hand remained lightly against him, rubbing against the tense muscles of his back through his shirt, the warmth of her palm still seeping through and into him. “She doesn’t die because of you Chase, that’s stupid. We’re not destined to really do anything, I don’t believe in destiny, we write our own histories. I know you’re scared Chase, scared to let her back in, scared that you’ll mess up somehow or....ruin her, but you’re wrong. You can’t live like this, and I bet if you actually talked to her, let her know all of this, she’d tell you how wrong you really are.” It was a shot in the dark, but who better to make such a shot than a girl who could light up the inside of a cave? --------------- He wanted to push her away. He wanted her to just get up and leave and stop talking. Nico never pressed on like this. She just yelled at him or called him an idiot or didn’t say a damn thing and instead steeped just as long as he did in a boiling pot of self-loathing. That worked for them, the always felt better not sharing a single thing about what was really going on, but Nico was breaking too. All that pressure, all those cracks were finally growing bigger... Chase was wrong to have blamed her for Karolina and Vic’s disappearance, but there was still part of him that blamed her for making him having to choose the team over Gert... The warmth from K’s hand was soothing, but he didn’t want physical contact, it wasn’t the kind of release he needed. He needed a good ass whooping, something to get his heart pounding and his blood pumping, something to keep him going through all the real pain. Running had given him that and now it was gone. Pulling away from her touch, Chase left the pillow where it was and rolled over so she could have room on the bed again, pushing up only slightly to grab his own pillow to toss down for his head before he rolled over onto his back once more. “This isn’t how your first night here should be. You tell anyone about this and I kill you. Capiche?” The sorrow, the anger, the sadness... he swallowed it, bottled it up for another day. This wasn’t to share with Karolina, but he was grateful that she was there to help get him back on a better track. His nose wrinkled as he sniffled slightly, forcing out a yawn so that he could casually run his arms over his eyes and wipe away any tears that dared to brim. “How are you handling all this other world stuff? I mean, it’s not the craziest thing to happen to us, but, still pretty weird, huh?” Seriously, he was done talking about Gert. It wasn’t K’s problem and it was time to move on. Besides, he had drama to stir. “Did you see Julie yet? You know her, right? Oh, and Nico’s totally banging the dinosaur kid. She can’t be trusted anymore, sleeping with the enemy. Again. Kinda leaves that familiar bitter taste in your mouth.” There, was that jack-assy enough of a statement from him? There was a half-smirk, half-smile on his face as he tried to steer the conversation into something far less intelligent. ------- When he pulled away she didn’t make him stay, that wasn’t her place, and maybe she had overstepped some invisible line...they weren’t exactly known for their deep conversations, but this was something they shared: the loss of a loved one through sacrifice. If nothing else, hopefully he knew she was here if and when he was ready to talk, which obviously wasn’t tonight. She did slump a little as the glow of her reserved energy faded back into her body and extinguished, the darkness once more closing in on them both...just the way Chase wanted it. As he talked she reached out to play with the corner fabric of Gert’s pillow and let her mind wander off as she wondered where the other girl could be. Was she safe? Had anyone talked to her recently? A slight shrug was given to his first question, “Been through worse, seen worse, it’s not that bad here. I think it’ll be fun if I let it.” At the mention of Julie, K sighed lightly, “I know her, we actually planned a date before I got sucked up here. She seems to be from around the same time, or well, she at least knows about me. And hey, Nico’s allowed to bang whomever she wants. Besides,” she took that moment to pick up Gert’s pillow and toss it at his face, “‘Berto isn’t the enemy the way Alex was, and like I said, he’s the reason Lace is with us again. You have to get over your hangups, dweeb.” She smiled, finally, but it felt so hard to do. She could blame it on the use of her energy...and it was still a few hours until sunrise. ----------- “Ha! See! You and her would be sick together. Totally called it. You guys had these googly eyes back when we met her and the other punks.” What were their names? Ricochet? Chamber? Some other douche? He couldn’t remember, and now that he knew Julie a little better here, it made him wonder how she ever got mixed in with those guys in the first place. He’d ask, but, yeah, the whole ‘can’t hold a conversation without arguing’ thing. But, if she made Karolina happy, then he was definitely okay with keeping her around. If anyone deserved to be happy, besides Molly, it was K. Nico was a lost cause, so was he. “Okay fine, Berto isn’t that bad of a guy, he was helping Gert do some training thing or whatever here, and most of his gang seems pretty chill. I like the big red dude. His chick on the other hand.. she’s pretty mouthy, even for me. You’ll probably meet them all, everyone trains on Sundays, so you might want to look into that. The gym’s in the basement or something.” Did Chase ever go? Hell no. Training? With costume kids and Avengers poking around? Absolutely not. Someone had to be the smart one on their own team, might as well be him. Rolling onto his side, he turned to face Julie, using his free hand to push away some loose hair from his face. “You’ll be okay here. The other you was.” Admittedly, he hadn’t talked to Karolina too much when she’d been there, but that didn’t mean he didn’t want her around. Losing anyone on the team sucked, permanently or temporarily. “You got any questions about this place? It’s still New York, so it sucks, I don’t care what you say. Oh, and our parents don’t exist here, so no Pride, and no us. Which is probably a really good thing. Could you imagine two mes?” ---------- “I think I’m okay, for now.” Karolina sighed and stretched herself on Chase’s bed, moving to lay on her side as he moved to get comfortable. Once more on Gert’s side, watching Chase and thinking over what he had to say. “Maybe I’ll go, maybe I won’t. It’s not like we ever really trained as Runaways...experience was our training, and I learned a lot when I was off of Earth about my abilities...more than anyone here would be able to tell me I’m sure. But I’ll think about it, maybe I will go to the gym if nothing else.” She purposefully ignored him when he talked about Julie and the ‘googly’ eyes she apparently shared with the other female. If nothing else Chase was stubborn and wouldn’t stop bringing her up, or ‘them’ up rather, but Karolina knew how to ignore Chase when necessary. “Go to sleep,” Karolina smiled and moved to wipe her hand down Chase’s face with just a little pressure, the way she’d pet a dog’s face, “I’ll try not to invade your space again.” Her hand pulled away as she snuggled down onto the bed, grabbing a different pillow from the pile Chase and Gert slept on so that Chase could keep Gert’s pillow. “Thanks again, for letting me hang out here and get my bearings. It would have been so awkward to be alone with Xavin right now. I love her, I always will...just so many thoughts.” And feelings, but she made her voice sound softer and softer as she talked, closing her eyes and nuzzling into the pillow as she grew comfortable. There was a little more time for the duo to talk, but their voices both grew smaller and smaller until sleep pulled them both away finally. When morning finally came Chase would find himself on the edge of the bed, half off, while Karolina curled herself into a tight ball and wedged herself against his back. Half the bed unused with sheets swirled and tucked in odd ways around and between them, fingers curled into his shirt and her forehead pressing against the middle of his back. It was good having friends you could feel so comfortable with. |