Who: Zap, Mars, Britannic & Hellcat When: Monday, March 31st, 2008 What: checking in Where: Xavier’s; infirmary Status: in progress Rating: PG-13
Brian and Joe had been kind enough to take time out of their business to see in on Eddie and Zap, despite their petty reason for being in the infirmary. Well, Zap was in the operating theatre. Eddie was in the actual infirmary. Zap’s injuries weren’t any worse and weren’t very severe, but Will had dropped her in here, and Scott in delivered Hellcat to the main infirmary to keep from causing any more trouble.
The fight was out of her, for the most part though. She was upset, and surprisingly (to herself) mostly at Brian. She felt like if he hadn’t separated from Eddie, Hellcat wouldn’t have been on edge enough to get in a row with her. Eddie had been down for the past week or two. Now, Zalika was feeling regretful for egging on the incident. But she’d been trying to cheer her roommate up for days. Maybe it was inevitable.
Her head conked back against the thin cotton pillow that Brian had brought in, and she had a thin, white hospital sheet pulled up over her chest. She was patched up, more or less, and stared at the shining ceiling while contemplating her relationship with Edana. She was already sorry, and she had a feeling Eddie was regretful. But they needed time.
Ronan hadn't shown it in the presence of the girls, but he was extremely upset. That crazy ass cat girl could have killed Zap (though he knew she probably would have fried her if that was the case). After stowing away the tranq gun, Mars waited an hour or so while the doctors fixed the two women up and they calmed down some. He was satisfied to see the two of them were in separate areas. It would have been difficult to talk to Zalika with the other girl there.
He entered the infirmary and made his way past Hellcat, who didn't acknowledge him, and into the OR. He'd grabbed a chair on his way by and carried it with him to sit next to her bed. As his eyes took in her battered form, he felt emotions explode within him. He recognized a few. Along with anger and frustration at what had gone on, there was also pity (which he rarely felt) and something else too, he just wasn't sure what it was... or he didn't want to admit what it might be.
"How're ya feelin', cailín?"
“Fine, better.” She’d jumped at the sound of the door opening. Zap’s thoughts had been focused on the ceiling and her regret - normally she might’ve felt the new arrival before he got there. She wasn’t surprised to see him, though. Mars usually made a point to give her a nagging when she’d done something to deserve it. When she glanced to look at him, he didn’t look as pissed as was normal. “Did you see Ed?”
"Aye, she wasn't lookin' at me, though. She seemed all right." he stated, not wanting to sound unfeeling about her friend. "So what happened with you two?" Even if she didn't want to talk about it, Ronan wasn't leaving until he found out something. And it wasn't because Scott told him to.
“I took something and wore it, she’s been on edge, and I wasn’t very nice, so we got mad pretty quick. We both said shitty things.” She moved to adjust herself and sit up. She didn’t think she’d hurt Eddie, physically, but it was still good to know she was fine. She didn’t expect Ronan to know if Hellcat was still seething, or not. She sighed and adjusted the sheet so it was under her armpits, then pulled on the X-hoodie that Joe had brought in just before leaving her. She hadn’t expected company. Wallowing was always much more fun. “I know we shouldn’t have let it get that far,” her green eyes finally looked through Ronan’s blue ones and she twisted her mouth to the side with regret, “but,” well, tempers rose. And she had a hell of one, “I have a hard time letting people get away with talking shit.” Apparently, so did Eddie. But Zap hadn’t really seen anyone speak down to Edana, much, so she had been a little surprised at the outcome of her bold, bitchy statement. She frowned and moved so her feet were hanging off the bed. There were bandages on her arms and traces of scratches on her face - what was left of Joe’s work. “I was surprised it was Scott and Will that came in.” She half-teased.
Ronan listened without interrupting until Zap was finished with her tale. "Yeah, well, I didn't expect ya to get in a row with yer best friend." he said with a hint of a smile. He was annoyed at himself that he'd been so wrapped up in his work that he hadn't noticed that the two had started fighting before Cyclops alerted him. His eyes roamed over her form as she moved to sit on the edge of the bed. He was glad that the scratches on her face were healed. He gestured to the bandages then, "Why didn't Joe heal those?" his voice held a hint of annoyance at the doctor in question.
Zap shrugged, “He’s tired and I think he was mad because we fought - and that Brian didn’t help him much because Eddie was around.” She kicked a bare foot out and nudged his knee, “I think we have it too easy, sometimes. It’s good to be reminded of things you’ve done. Helps you remember where you’ve been.” In life, in friendship, in your own mind. She realized, after the fact, that Mars had a tendency to try and forget the past. “If they scar over, I’ll have some to match yours,” she grinned, the skin on her cheek aching a little from the tender, semi-healed scratches.
He nodded in agreement. "Aye, it's good to know where ye've been." he said seriously, then gave her a grin at her scar comment. He reached up to run a finger along the scratches on her cheek. "Least they didn't mar your pretty face." Whoa. Where did that come from? Then it hit him, like a ton of bricks. Love. It was something the Irishman hadn't felt in a long time, so it took a bit for him to realize what it was. Before he knew it, his hand had moved to the back of her neck as he leaned forward and placed a kiss on the injured girl's lips. In the back of his mind he knew she was with Pete, but he didn't care.
Normally, a touch to her face from someone she was close to might have prompted Zalika to close her eyes. But she was shocked, honestly, by the gentleness of it. His words hit harder. Whoa, indeed. She did close her eyes, then, and felt a shudder. His hand shifted and she gasped; when her eyes opened again, his lips were an inch from hers and she moved back into his hand - but he caught her lips. Oh, god. She felt her stomach jerk forward, like she’d come to a sudden stop on a fast-moving rollercoaster. Her whole body tensed, but after a moment, she felt something similar to a sedative take over, and she was relaxed and had moved her hands to his arms. She kissed Mars back. When it ended, she opened her eyes slowly and kept her hands on him to keep him close, then looked him in the eye. She was still - she didn’t even move to breath. She was just watching him. “Ronan?”