7990/Ouch should cover it

Ouch should cover it
Date of Scene:	26 September 2021
Location:	Medbay
Synopsis:	Mystique may look like a mummy right now, but she's alive and she'll recover, even if Lydia and/or Clarice have to physically hold her down to rest. The round the clock watching will now commence.
Cast of Characters:	Raven Darkholme, Clarice Ferguson, Lydia Dietrich

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Raven Darkholme has posed:
Jasmine truly is a miracle worker, though dealing with her entourage can be quite a lesson in stress. Five mutants had been brought to the Medbay with radiation burns. Although the radiation itself had been removed by Magneto, the effects on the body from that poison remained. The entire medical staff was on hand to offer whatever aid was needed, minor healers doing their best to ease pain while Jasmine moved from patient to patient, getting each one stable before having to retire to rest.

Throughout the day she would return when she was strong enough to render healing to those worse off, which was without a doubt Mystique. The others had already woken up and were recovering, Hathaway herself seeing to their pain levels. No one healer could manage all this trauma, it was going to take time for all of them to get better.

Clarice Ferguson has posed:
    Clarice has kept busy. After her burns were bandaged and their healing boosted - she insisted that was enough, with others far worse off than herself - she went to check up on the boys. Hugs were exchanged, and reassurances that everyone had returned alive. Mystique was being attended, but it was best if they stayed clear of the Medbay for now - she'd let them know when a visit was welcome.
    Then she ran into Rahne, asking her to talk to Li Hu - while she went to talk to Lydia. After making Lydia get a shower, and leaving Rahne with her to keep her company, Clarice went to Magneto, and set to work, doing everything she could to plan and coordinate multiple attacks on the Mutant Police locations, calling in as many allies as they could. She wanted to give them as little time as possible to regroup or run to ground - though no doubt her youthful enthusiasm caused the more experienced and battle-hardened sorts like Magneto and Sabretooth to roll their eyes more than once.
    Getting off yet another call, she looks up to find someone has left her a sandwich. Huh - nice. Picking it up, she shoves it in her mouth as she walks through the corridors back to the Medbay to get an update on Mystique's condition - to lay her own mind at rest a little. They couldn't //still// be actively working on her, after all. ...right?

Lydia Dietrich has posed:
Lydia had been shooed away by Jasmine, so she had retired to her room, who was then visited by Clarice to receive a mild scolding. After that was a shower, and some company with Rahne. And after /that/, well, she would come by to check on Mystique to see how she was doing only to be shooed away again. And again, with an exasperated Jasmine telling her that they'd notify her when she could come and visit.

When that notification came, Lydia couldn't get here fast enough. The sight of Mystique, all bandaged up like that, caused her to sob and nearly collapse. Instead she found herself a chair, which she pulled up next to her lover's bed and took her hand.

When Clarice finds her, Lydia has one of Mystiques hand in both of hers. She's laid her head down on the bed as if she's resting, too, but she can be heard praying softly in Hebrew. Where their hands connect a warm amber glow replaces that of the soft green glow of her ectoplasm as she pours warmth, love, and her faith into the injured woman. Lydia doesn't know how to heal magically, but she can lend her energy out, which may help things along. It's the least she can do.

Raven Darkholme has posed:
The room is kept light enough to see, but dark enough not to be annoying, the exact way Mystique would describe it. The work is done and now the rest is up to Mystique on her own, which is of course why she is laying there motionless looking like a mummy. Throughout the day she was in and out of awareness, not really awake but aware that she was no longer in a dark poisonous room. That made her grin, mentally at least, because it meant everything went according to plan B, but honestly she was also still loopy and not entirely focused, so plan B had something to do with pandas and oolong tea.

She became aware only when she felt a familiar warmth and presence, and that very slight tingle that came from touching Lydia's ectoplasm. No idea the time, the date, or the month for that matter, her eyes crack open slightly and she mutters one word.

"Ow."

Clarice Ferguson has posed:
    Clarice's features fall at the sight of Mystique, swathed in bandages and lying so still. She shoves the last bite of her sandwich into her mouth, hastily chewing and swallowing, and moves to Lydia's side, giving the woman a wordless hug in greeting. She stays like that for a few moments for straightening - and then resting her hand on Lydia's shoulder. She's afraid to touch Mystique - afraid she'd somehow hurt her. It was a ridiculous fear - wasn't it?
    ...honestly, it was hard to know with all those bandages like that.
    "What did they say?" she asks quietly. Mystique would be alright - wouldn't she? She //had// to be. For so many reasons.
    At that quiet 'ow' - she instantly feels a strange mix of relief and worry. "Boss?" There was a lot of emotion somehow infused into that one, brief utterance.
    "...it hurts? I'll get Hathaway," she offers immediately, squeezing Lydia's shoulder before releasing it, moving back towards the door.

Lydia Dietrich has posed:
Lydia lifts her head when she feels Clarice's hand rest on her shoulder. She takes one of her hands off of Mystique's and places is on Clarice's. "They've done all that they could," she tells her, sitting up straight. "They've managed to reverse the radiation poisoning in her, but the burns to her skin were severe. They weren't able to heal all of it." She snorts, "They told me that she's going to need to rest up, which is going to go about as well as..."

She's interrupted by one word. One word that tells her that that her lover is finally awake. "Ohthankgodohthankgodohthankgod," she chants, her attention suddenly back to the to patient in the bed. She brings the hand she was holding gently up to her lips and gives her a light kiss. "Hey, there, gorgeous."

Raven Darkholme has posed:
Mystique opens the other eye and turns her head, slowly, even as Clarice is shooting out of the room to find Hathaway... who is right outside, looking over charts from all five of her patients.

"Plan B worked," she manages to say, then ows quietly. "You alright?"

Leave it to Mystique to be laying in a hospital bed asking someone else if they're alright. "Clarice alright? We lose anyone?"

Clarice Ferguson has posed:
    "Doc? She's awake. She's in pain," Clarice says simply - with her mouth. With her exprssion she says 'What the fuck are you doing still standing there? //Move//!' ...impatient much?
    She hardly waits for a response, though, as she disappears back into the room, moving at first towards the bed - but then realizing the Hathaway should be right behind her, and would need access - she instead backs away towards the wall.
    "Good to see you awake, boss. You had us all worried a bit, you know. Shouldda known better than to worry about you, huh?"

Lydia Dietrich has posed:
"Other than being worried sick over you?" Lydia asks, grinning despite tears rolling down her cheeks. "I'm alright." She lifts the hand to press her lips to it again. "Everybody made it out alive, none the worse for wear," she tells her, her lips never moving from the hand, as if she's afraid that losing contact will somehow put Mystique back unconscious. "Erik was there. He made a statement." To say the least.

Raven Darkholme has posed:
Hathaway drops the tablet with the charts and heads into the room, probably not as quickly as Clarice would like, but it was in fact as fast as the woman could go. She moves to the opposite side of the bed that Lydia is on, offering Mystique one of those 'knew you'd be alright' smiles, then proceeds to assess pain levels by running her hand very lightly over the woman's head. Once she knew the levels, she knew how much 'mutant powered drug' to offer to ease the pain.

Mystique reaches up and uses the bandage to dry the tears off Lydia's cheek. "It'd take more than China to take me out love," she offers quietly, then realizes her mouth is pretty damn dry. Didn't matter, there'd be time for water in a moment.

"Thanks Emily," she offers the doctor, now that the pain was back to a manageable level, but her eyes stay on Lydia, then shift to Clarice. "Erik left a message..." she repeats and behind the bandages smiles. "I'm sorry I worried you both. If I could get some water, I can start to apologize more profusely."

Clarice Ferguson has posed:
    "Sure, boss," Clarice says immediately, moving to a nearby pitcher of water so she can pour a glass - setting a straw in it. Lydia doesn't even need to let go of Mystique's hand, as Clarice carefully positions the straw. "Thank you Dr. Hathaway." There's even a brief, apologetic quirk of her lips for being a jerk 30 seconds ago.
    "Magneto twisted up some metal so it said 'never do this again' - something along those lines. And Rahne had him bury that hell hole we pulled you out of. We got a lot of people out, boss. They're on Genosha. And four other survivors from down in- from down where we found you. They'll be okay. We had Jasmine make a special visit."

Lydia Dietrich has posed:
Lydia grins and chuckles, "He didn't just leave a message. He made a /statement/." When Mystique starts to apologize, Lydia makes gentle shushing noises. "Don't apologize," she says. "You survived. That's all that matters."

Raven Darkholme has posed:
Just needs rest, that's what Hathaway and Jasmine said, so of course Mystique is already trying to sit up in the bed. At least she's not trying to get up, she just wants to sit up and does. She takes a few sips of water and sighs contently, no idea how long it was since the last drink of water.

"I am sorry though," she offers after the drink. "I didn't realize this was as big as it is, and I'm not even going in to how they managed to find me, had to be another mutant."

She pauses for a moment, then looks at her hand. "Why am I a mummy?"

Hathaway just sighs and says, "Try to keep her in the bed at least, if you can." as she moves around the bed toward the door. "Your skin had a strange reaction to the radiation and couldn't be healed. The gauze is to keep out infection."

Clarice Ferguson has posed:
    "I will tie you to this damned bed if I have to because until you get cleared by medical - I'm in charge," Clarice clarifies. She clarifies with a //grin// on her face, because damnit, if she can't at least enjoy telling Mystique something like that - then she'd doing this all wrong.
    She sobers up as she adds, "We've got a fair notion now of how big it is. I'm working with Magneto, and Mister Creed, and everyone else with ops experience to build our plan. We're already reaching out to our allies - the X-Men, the Justice League... Hank can talk to the Avengers for us. We're taking these assholes down and dismantling the entire operation, one way or another. We have a lot more mutants to free from their collars."

Lydia Dietrich has posed:
Lydia just can't stop grinning. She reaches over and presses the button that causes the bed to lift the head up, so that Raven is in a sitting position. "Better?" She asks. As for the bandages, well, "It looked like you wanted to try Extra Crispy for a change, but I have to admit that I like the Original Recipe better."

She leans forward so she can plant a gentle kiss on Raven's lips. When they break she doesn't back off any, just stays there, her hazel eyes looking into Raven's amber. All the love and warmth that she was pouring into raven is in those eyes, still brimming with tears of joy. "Don't worry," she says. "They'll get what's coming to them."

Raven Darkholme has posed:
Mystique turns her head slowly to look at Clarice, studying her for a moment. She's still tired of course, and maybe a little grumpy because let's face it, this sort of thing rarely happens to her. A smile spreads across her face, followed by a chuckle that turns into a laugh mingled with a few 'Ows'.

As the bed goes up she offers a quiet, "Thank you." and gets more comfortable. Then Lydia leans in to kiss her, she reaches up to touch her and is again reminded she can't actually touch her. Still, she returns the kiss, then takes Lydia's hand so she can't go too far away. "Alright 'Boss'," she says to Clarice. "I want to see you try to tie me down, and yet I'm too tired to fight you right now... so here's the plan." She takes another sip of the water.

"I will remain in this bed for exactly forty-eight hours, well maybe I'll move to my own bed in there, so let's just say I will 'rest' for that long. After that, I'll test and see how I'm doing and get Hathaway to sign off if she thinks I'm good. If she doesn't, then I'll go against her and take on light work, nothing involving combat."

Clarice Ferguson has posed:
    "When you're up to it - we'll get you a tablet, and a keyboard," Clarice agrees. "And a phone, so you can help organize this... mess. People, as it turns out, don't expect //me// on the other end of the line when planning to invade China. Who'd'a thought? But it helps when you have Magneto telling them 'you talk to Clarice now.'" She gets to roll her own eyes now - and carefully moves to perch herself on the edge of Mystique's bed - making sure not to justle her, and rub against her bandages.
    "If I thought running the Brotherhood was challenging during normal operations..." She's getting a whole new level of training. "Believe me, I want to hand this all back over to you. When you're ready. Until then - it's all hands on deck, and we've got this."

Lydia Dietrich has posed:
Lydia leans back after another quick kiss on the lips. "You will do no such thing. You will stay in bed for however long Dr. Hathaway tells you to or else I'll tie you down myself!" she says, letting tentacles wriggle out in demonstration. "And not in the fun way!"

She folds her arms with a harrumph. "But I will allow tablet, keyboard and phone use."

Raven Darkholme has posed:
It's too much trouble to argue it right now. Mystique isn't stupid, she knows damn well she's a liability right now, and that alone pisses her off on levels she won't speak of. They're protecting her, she gets it, and for the next forty-eight hours she'll accept it.

"Let's revisit the down time in forty-eight hours, alright?" She says, then lets out a slow breath. "The tablet, phone and keyboard would be nice though, in the morning. I intend to sleep tonight, eat half the kitchen tomorrow morning and see where I am. I also intend to test this problem with my skin, with Hathaway present of course." She looks between the two guard dogs and smiles. It felt nice to be worried about, but still.

"I'll also explain what I learned tomorrow." She then adds.

Clarice Ferguson has posed:
    "We'll revisit the subject - as needed - with Dr. Hathaway's input," Clarice replies firmly. "...I know how frustrating recovery can be. But none of us are willing to jeopardize your wellbeing. You're too important - to the organization, to the cause... and to us. Though - if you want a bit of humor, I'll show you the text conversation I had with the boys when we got back here with you. They were pretty worried too, you know." She smiles, then after a moment of hesitation, leans in to plant a feather-light kiss on Mystique's forehead.
    "I'm glad you're alright. And - don't worry. I'll kick Lydia out of here for eight hours... in a while."

Lydia Dietrich has posed:
Lydia gives a begrudging nod, "Forty-eight hours. You... you should have seen it.. your skin... when they dragged you out of that pit," she says, nearly spitting the word 'pit'. "It's a miracle that you look as good as you do now. I'll have to buy Jasmine a gift basket of some sort."

"I'm so glad you're back with us. I..." she hesitates and smiles, "We've got to stop putting ourselves in situations that make each other worry."

Raven Darkholme has posed:
Mystique lays her head back against the pillow. If she had more energy she'd argue more, but right now, Lydia and Clarice were right. She needed to stay right there and recover. Depending on how things go, will depend on how she reacts, but she'll take it one day, possibly even one hour, at a time.

"I may have taught you too well Clarice," she finally says, then turns her eyes to Lydia.

"Jasmine asks specifically for what she wants in return for her healing, but get her a gift basket and watch her entourage go into a melt down over it." She pauses there, then lifts the hand she's been holding to kiss lightly before letting it go.

"It's what we do Lydia," she says softly. "We will always be putting ourselves in these situations. What we need to do however, is learn to get in to them together instead of apart."

Clarice Ferguson has posed:
    "It's almost like I've been paying attention. Who would have expected //that//?" Clarice replies with amusement. She gives Mystique a smile, instead of the hug that she would prefer to offer. Somehow, she thinks a tight squeeze is ill advised.
    "So I have been informed," she remarks in a dry tone, "that fire emoji, thumbs up, is not the best response to the question 'How're you?' They were most emphatic about it. Apparrently sad face bandaid worked well for 'How's Raven?' though."

Lydia Dietrich has posed:
Lydia nods. She still hasn't left contact with Raven. She refuses to let go until Clarice will come around and eventually kick her out. "I'm working on that," she says. "I'm working on getting better so I can go out on missions more."

Raven Darkholme has posed:
Closing her eyes a moment, Mystique has to imagine that emoji conversation then starts laughing, again numerous 'Ows' added in among the laughter. "Clarice..." she laughs, opening her eyes again. "Fire emoji, Thumbs up? Really? Sad face bandaid for me? That fits, but still... emoji conversations are hilarious."

Her eyes close again after a moment, on their own really, even as she says sleepily, "We'll pick up our training times, add in a few more possible lessons..." and then there is nothing, just peaceful breathing and blessed sleep.

Clarice Ferguson has posed:
    "Theo started it," Clarice asserts with a smile. As Mystique doses off, she sits in silence for a little while - to make sure she was truly asleep, exchanging a look with Lydia. It was painful to see someone who was usual so strong, determined, and infatiguable in such a state. Finally she remarks quietly, "It'll probably be at least another eight hours before she wakes again. Why don't you take advantage of it? The boys and I will take turns sitting with her - and we'll send for you if she wakes up before you return."
    She touches Mystique's bandaged hand lightly - before rising to her feet, moving towards Lydia to give her another hug. "Go get some sleep."

Lydia Dietrich has posed:
Lydia watches with love in her eyes as Mystique just kinds of putters out and falls asleep. "You need to rest and heal," she tells her softly. "Then we'll see who gets whom to moan under the moonlight." She stays there watching Mystique peacefully sleeping until Clarice gets up.

She nods. "Yeah. I think I can, now that I know she's alright." She rises to hug Clarice. "Thanks for taking care of us." With that, she turns to go and prepare herself for bed.

Clarice Ferguson has posed:
    "Just returning the favor," Clarice answers wryly. "I've been on both sides of the equation - the worried lover, and the invalid." She settles into the seat Lydia had just vacated - and taps out a text message to Theo and Pete. 'Raven woke up for a bit. She's sleeping now. Sent Lydia to bed. Can you take turns sitting with her?'
    Message sent, she slumps tiredly back into her seat - waiting to be relieved of her duty.