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What does a Gabriel do once he has returned from Rio, fought through withdrawls with the assistance of the burning purging fire of the Phoenix, and confronted yet another part of his dark past? He eats. Not to a grotesque excess but it was something he was doing a bit more of lately, particularly of those fruits and vegetables that seem to be his only source of food. Considering the energy he puts out in a day, he eats a large amount of the foods and has reached the point where the supply of fresh greens is taken by him on a near daily basis from the kitchen.
Having returned to the states however, he had gone back to helping out at the store where he'd found work before. Never doing it for a large amount of pay but more for access to the food which the owner was happy to give him. It was clear that the middle aged woman had a 'mother-son' thing to a degree for him, the mid-teen daughter had a crush, and he was oblivious. The oblivious nature stemmed from the fact that every night after a day of moving boxes and loading crates, he walked back to the mansion, went to the room he had essentially moved into with Jean, and was greeted by the woman. An ever present being in his mind now, something which at times was a bit confusing but the familiarity was growing more comfortable. That was why he waited patiently that day in the chair, a picture book in his lap as he worked through the connections between picture and word; bowl of fruit on his lap. Not a small bowl either, but a rather large fruit salad being eaten a piece at a time.
*
The past few days were quite a bit of a little hell that she was sure probably annoyed Gabriel to the ends of the earth. First it was the sparring with Logan, in which she received a pretty gnarly busted lip. And then there was the assault of magic fire which she willingly walked into, and spent a few hours in the infirmary for. It was with insistence that she returned to her room, Gabriel would come looking for her, and she didn't want to upset him. It was an odd symbiotic relationship, really. One that she was all too happy to indulge in.
The quiet click and opening of her door has her slipping inside, her bandaged fingers pulling the door shut as she turns to espy him within the chair. "That is a really, really big bowl." The crossing of the room was met with a slight tip-toe, her shirt pulled out just enough to not aggravate her slight burns, her hand immediately dipping into to grab a grape to pop it into her mouth.
*
"I figured I would get one large enough for two. You haven't eaten and since you're hurt.." He pauses there. It isn't quite a glare, but there is a bit of questioning accusation to his look, "You need the food to help recover." The look fades a bit to a gentler expression and he nods towards the table where he has set her some water in a glass, and a cool bowl of water as well with a cloth in it as well. "You know you must let me know of things. I nearly blew up the store when I felt it."
*
"You couldn't slaughter a cow for me to eat?" She asks teasingly, slowly drawing towards the table to settle into the chair there, her eyes closing as she lets out a little sigh. He had a point, it's been close to three days since she's last touched a meal, the grape notwithstanding, and reaches immediately for the water to take a sip.
"I'm sorry. I didn't know it was going to happen the way that it did." She tugs her shirt out again, but lets out a little smile. "You should have seen it. At first the guy is thinking he's just a mutant who could talk to machines, then turns out, he's got actual magic inside of him." She looked a little giddy, but immediately calms.
"You felt it.." Her lips twist just a little in thought, her foot slightly wriggling. "I.. well I think I blacked out but.." How could she figure out a way to let him know that she's alright? Especially if her mind was out of commission. "..I know. We need to start training together if we're going to make this work."
*
Gabriel straightens a bit and then shakes his head slowly. "You know I am worried about such. The more I use my power the more I feel like… I might lose control and become 'him'." Him, being the term he uses for the person neither really want to talk about, the one with such power to destroy life in a blink and move on. There'd been strong resistance of late from him towards digging into his past or pushing himself too much as he is still coming to terms with that potential. "Emergencies."
*
"I know you're worried Gabriel.." She pushes the glass of water aside, then slowly draws herself up from the chair, her steps towards him were slow until she's close enough, her hands reaching out to gently clear the way of his lap so that she could settle upon him with a soft little hitch of a grunt. "But you can't tell me that you've almost blown up a store because I was hurt, and in the same breath deny yourself the practice of getting used to us being in your soul." She lightly touches his chest, then lightly gives a tap. "I'm going to go out there. And I'm going to save people, and I'm going to fight for them. And it may hurt me. Or probably kill me. You're going to have to protect yourself from me eventually."
*
The fruit salad, set aside, gets a lost look before said salad is replaced by Jean. Moving some in his chair so that he can lean back and make more lap available for sitting on, Gabriel shakes his head slowly. "Learning to control is … something that will be done. But when I go to help others, it has ended poorly. I do not know enough of the world to be able to navigate it." There is so much self doubt within him, easily felt. Not in his ability to level a city; that he knows he can do and is wary of. But rather it is the doubt of knowing when or how. "I'm at your side when you ask for it, you know that."
*
"Maybe it's because you haven't had control?" She asks. "So travel. This is what we need to do. Maybe we should steal one of the cars in the garage and teach ourselves how to drive." She grins a little, leaning against him, settled into his lap. Screw the self doubt, for she feels it because of him. But she just really wanted to see him smile. "I know, Gabriel.. I know." She says quietly.
"You didn't know me then. But a woman came to me about the Weapon X program. I was one of their victims. They kidnapped me and a few others and held us in a room. They experimented on us. Gave me drugs to test me.." She sighs. "I.. destroyed the facility. And when Logan and the others came to rescue me, I ripped his face off." She doesn't look at Gabriel when she says this.
"We .. She wants us to help her fight them. And then there's all of the killing in Mutant Town.. and everything else. Where -do- we start? Where can we start? How?"
*
"Start?" Gabriel asks and shakes his head at her with that frown etched for a few moments before it fades and he looks past her towards the wall. "Where does one start when there is hurt? You either treat the pain, or find the source of it and remove it, right?" He asks quietly and then gives her a gentle squeeze. "So which would be the best? Treat the pain, or treat the cause?"
*
Those were very good questions. One's that she didn't know the answer to. "Why can't we do both?" She asks, leaning into the squeeze. "We.. start with the hurt. Treat the pain as you say. Then find the source and remove it." It was her turn to think now, her bandaged hands lifting to pinch slightly within the air, as if she could see something that no one else could. "Though, how can we remove something that.. I guess we can't see."
*
"How do you treat a hurt like this however? I do not know myself. This is not…" He bites his lip and Gabriel sighs a bit before looking to her green eyes. "This program you speak of, which was to turn you to a weapon? It sounds much like what I was used for as well. How does a weapon.. ease pain?"
*
"Weapon X?" She asks quietly, looking towards him. "I.. don't know." She says quietly. But for the sake of it, she does lean in to give him a light kiss to his cheek. "Like this?" She murmurs quietly in his ear, her voice a clear smile from what he could hear. "Maybe.. a few acts of kindness. I hear that goes a long way."
*
"I thought you told me I shouldn't go up and kiss strangers…" Gabriel comments quietly back, attempting to sound quite serious but the soft humored glint that has slipped into his eyes says other. "Acts of kindness are… good, yes. But there is not much I can bring, other than just to be there and offer support for you. Or to carry boxes." Which he's very good at now. "It is just, very difficult is all. But I will do what I can, whenever you ask."
*
His quiet spot of human allows a genuine smile to creep upon her features. "Well no. You can kiss me though." She states quietly. But, she does shake her head faintly. "So be there and offer support to other people. That's a kindness, not to just me. If they want you to carry boxes, do it. If they need a shoulder to cry on, be that shoulder. If they want a hug.. it's allowed. But don't hug them for too long. I may get jealous."
She reaches over to get the bowl of fruit, setting it upon her own lap, a grape taken and held up. "Let me feed you." At least while she thinks. "Do you mean it? You will do whatever I ask?"
*
He looks at the Grape, taking it and eating it before eyes settle on Jean's. A soft nod of his head comes then and as he swallows he answers quietly. "Yeah. Pretty much. I mean… I can't think of anything you would ask I would say no to at least."
*
One brow raises, her fingers now fishing for a strawberry, something small to lift and press to his lips. Her eyes narrow then, and there was no smile that draws upon her lips thereafter. "Then we're training. Starting tomorrow."
*
Almost immediately he opens his mouth to protest, but then a strawberry is shoved in it. Brow furrowing now that he can't speak properly there's a look in his eyes of annoyance, perhaps at being tricked or that she would do such a thing. Finally after finishing the strawberry, swallowing, he takes a moment to form some thoughts. "And if I destroy the world?"
*
She sits up, turning upon his lap with the bowl against her as she rises, keeping it as she strolls slowly to grab some water. There were a few soft grunts as she stands up straight, letting out a few little breaths as she turns to look towards him, her expression well.. happy! She's getting her way!
"Why would you want to destroy the world and I live here? Unless you don't love me.."
*
"I meant on accident. You've seen what I'm capable of, or at least what we think. I'm just saying what if there is an accident? I don't want to be the only one responsible so you'll have to share that with me." Gabriel explains rather stoic in tone despite the fact that it is a bit of an absurd discussion topic, sharing blame for destruction of all life.
*
"If there's an.. accident I suppose I'll share -some- of the blame." She states, carefully placing the bowl back upon the table as she lets out a sigh. It was an odd topic, but they both had cosmic beings in their heads. And they're both practically sharing the same head space.
"Alright, so look at it like this." She states, turning to make sense of it all. "You can feel it when I get hurt. You know when I do not eat. I.. think you can practically tell when I'm moving into another room and where."
"So it's a two way street, right?" She asks. "I can feel when you get hurt. I can feel when you get angry or annoyed. I'm always there." She points at his head, then at his heart. "So. I can stop you. Right?"
*