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<> Lab/Medbay - LvB2
Walls are sterile white and surfaces gleam in polished stainless steel, the large room a vision of cool science tinged with the faint medical smell of antiseptic and filled with the soft whirring of autoclaves, refrigeration units, and various medical scanners and devices. Four hospital beds are present near the entrance, curtains rigged to allow for privacy, but pulled back when not in use. In shielded alcoves off the back wall are the resident doctor's pride and joy: A full-body X-Ray machine, as well as an MRI unit and other heavy-duty imagery equipment. Between the alcoves, through a thick glass window, a small operating theatre can be glimpsed. In the lab section, an electron microscope and a pair of gene-sequencers take place of pride, glassware and smaller equipment kept securely locked away in the cabinets underneath and above the work surfaces.
[Exits : [H]allway ]
[Players : Sabby ]
Sabby is sitting perched crosslegged atop the hospital bed she's called home for a few days now, dressed in jeans and a T - a bit more comfortable than the gowns she'd worn for a month or so. Her bandaged arm lies across her lap, propping a thick paperback open, and her head's bent to read while a capped highlighter dangles between her teeth. She grabs for the highlighter and quickly marks a passage, then returns it and sweeps her free hand over her hair, pulled out of her face into a high ponytail.
Michael wanders in looking guilty and approaches you bearing a bouquet of flowers and a box of chocolates..."Umm...hi...I just thought I would pop in and see how you're doing..I was here the night you came in..." He mentions that because sometimes details like that are easily forgettable..."I brought you flowers...and some chocolates...I was hoping you could forgive me for my behavior the other night..."
Sabby remembers, thanks. The highlighter is plucked from between her teeth and she regards Michael with a steady gaze for a moment before her eyes drop to the flowers. "Sure you're allowed to have those down here?" she questions dryly, sidestepping the question. "Pollen and all. Might polute the squeaky-clean atmosphere."
Michael knows an avoidance when he heas it but humors you..."Yeah...it's just like a hospital...you're allowed flowers and other get well soon gifts...um...I didn't catch your name the other night by the way...I'm Michael Jones...I go to emerson too...studying Biology...Genetics specifically...Look Sabby I know hat the feelings I expressed run contrary to how you think anyone should feel about Sabella and I know she's a real bitch I just...I'm an idiot is what it is..."
Sabby blinks at Michael, slowly and pointedly. "The name you missed is Sabby. Sabitha, actually. And you're right. You're an idiot, and I'm not terribly interested in hearing all about how you're moony over the evil hag. So if you want to sit around and share mushy stories about Sabella, stop bothering me and go find someone else."
Michael sighs..."Actually that's not why I'm here...I'm here because I wanted to make sure you're doing okay...I feel responsible for what happened to you even though I didn't know anything about it...She's my ex and she's never going to take responsibility for her actions so I have to..."
Sabby stares at Michael for a moment in dumbfounded disbelief. "Oh, get /over/ yourself!" she finally exclaims. "You weren't there, you didn't drug me, kidnap me, change every inch of my body to look like that bitch. What the hell? You were together once and now you're linked for all time? Give me a /break/?" Sabitha, obviously, isn't buying a minute of this, and her tone is exasperated. She pauses for a moment, letting her book slide shut, finger marking her place, and sighing. "Look, kid. It's sweet of you to feel all this weight of the world crap, but it's just stupid. I'm fine, thanks for asking, the flowers are nice, feel free to move on at any point."
Michael shakes his head..."you wouldn't understand...look I'm trying to be here as company because you've been alone enough...if I know Bella's MO...and you deserve some human interaction...anyway don't think I'm here out of guilt I'm trying to be a good guy...okay?...I'm just doing what I think any decent human being would"
Sabby rolls her eyes upward and exhales, slowly, as if forcing patience. "If you like this martyr shit, that's fine with me. Just don't come bothering me with it," she states. "Wanna talk movies, school, books, the latest gossip on Ben and J-Lo, fine. Just don't come around and think you can bring up /her/ name and I'm gonna be nice about it. So either shut up about the subject or find another patient to bug."
Michael nods..."what are you reading anyway?...is it anything good or just something that you were loaned for while you're here?" He sits back a little and acually looks glad to be able to change the subject...his making atonement for past sins isn't his favorite topic of conversation...."I could get you soething different if you like, next time I'm out I mean...if you preferred"
Sabby lifts her book enough for Michael to peek at the cover, on which a prim Victorian woman stands next to the words: City Of Dreadful Delight : Narratives Of Sexual Danger In Late-Victorian London. "Trying to catch up on some classes so that /maybe/ I can someday graduate," she answers, waggling the highlighter for emphasis. "But it's good, yeah. Interesting."
"Oh, you'll graduate eventually, Sabby." comes a dry assurance from the direction of the medical bay doors, opening with their characterstic futuristic swooshing. The Lady of the Lab has returned, and comes bearing a covered tray and a coffee pot. "And then you'll realize you want your Masters, and then after that, well, a PhD will sound good, and..." she trails off with a grin, and places the tray on a rolling swing-arm table. "You get the point. I heard through the grapevine that you were vegetarian. Vegan, or lacto-ovo? Hey there, Michael. Did you manage to talk to Moira about your idea?"
Obviously, that's Jean. Yup.
Michael smiles a little at Jean and shrugs..."I only barely got to mention the idea to her the other night...I think maybe I offended her by not recognizing her on sight...I was going to talk to Hank about it and she was there so I'd invited her to stay...I guess maybe she didn't think the invitation was respectful enough or something,,,I don't know...What's her gift anyway?...Moira's I mean..." He looks back to Sabby and smiles..."It's good you're staying caught up...let yourself get behind and you'll stay there all semester trust me it happened to me..."
Sabby looks at Michael with a 'well, duh' expression and flaps the cover of her book again. "Thus, the reading," she responds before glancing over to the entering Jean with a faint smile. "Well, if I ever manage to get out of Emmerson, I have vague plans in that direction anyway," she answers. "Just stay in school forever, maybe."
Jean chuckles to herself at the thought of Mr. God's Gift To Women, Michael, meeting up with acerbic Moira MacTaggart, but says simply that "Oh, she's always like that, really." in a mild tone before helping herself to a seat on the opposite side of Sabby's bed. "And her gift? Nothing. She just happens to be a scarily brilliant scientist and a wonderful woman." A smile from Jean, quite happy to announce that, yes, mutant researchers who like mutants aren't always mutants themselves, and likewise happy to see that Sabby's at least doing physically well. "Career academic isn't so bad. My father's a history prof over at Bard College. And Vegan or Lacto/Ovo?" she asks again, regarding the vegetarian stuff. "I want to make sure the kitchen's cooking the right stuff for you while you're stuck recovering."
Michael nods a little and rises..."I'll get to work Jean...I was just stopping to keep Sabby company for a while...you know?..." He stands and heads for the lab portion of the medbay where he has work waitiing for him no doubt. Jean pobably knows how disconcerting it is to him that there was a homo sapieen spaien in the house. He's not elitist...he's just used to think of this place as a rafuge from normal humans thta he can come to to be himself. "I'm probably going to be a professional academian too after I finish my stint as a pro ball player..."
"Oh! Sorry," Sabby replies with a wrinkle of her nose. She finally gives up on the book and allows it to close, sliding it to the bed beside her. "Definately not vegan. Can't live without the cheese," she answers. "And isn't the 'brilliant' part gift enough?" Michael's words get a pair of raised brows from Sabitha, but she manages to bite her tongue and resist a reply. Probably Jean's influence.
Jean's influence? Cool, and she isn't even actively influencing! "Good." is the doctor's statement, uncovering the tray. "Because on the menu for a late lunch is an amazing Caesar salad with fresh grated parmasagne cheese on it, and I'd hate to deprive you of it. Not to mention that a lot of vegans scare me, and also not to mention that they miss out on milk chocolate..." And it's all about the chocolate, you know. Picking up a palm pilot from her lab coat pocket, Jean starts checking over some notes on something or other as she chats, looking over at the suddenly discomfited Michael and raising an eyebrow gently. "Michael," the redhead chides a little. "Dr. Welch is a norm human too. Ditto for Emily the cook, half the support staff, and a number of my orderlies. Xaviers favours integration, not isolation, don't look so surprised when we practise what we preach." The words are softened with a wink, and then she nods to let him know he can scoot away if he likes.
Michael sighs a little and shrugs..."I'm Sorry Jean..I just...well...I don't know...sometimess I still want to blame teh whole species for what happened to me...I guess I'm an isolationist...I don't want to punish them like I used to...I think I've done alot worse thab they ever did to me...things I won't make up for but...sometimes I have to feel like I'm away from them so if it's okay I'm going to pretend everyone here is a mutant...I mean...if I had my field on there'd be virtually no difference between you and Dr. MacTaggert except for years of experience"
Yes, but she might look Stern and Disapproving if Sabby said what was /really/ on her mind. Sabitha grins broadly and flips her red-tipped ponytail over her shoulder. "I'd hate to deprive me of anything that can be described as 'amazing,'" she agrees before 'mming' under her breath. "Chocolate." Which, by the way, should've given Jean the non-vegan warning sign. White Godiva, eh? Michael is regarded with a blank expression, and Sabitha's lips purse. She is /not/ commenting here. She's already spread enough 'I think that's bullshit' karma for one day.
Hey, for all Jean knows, Sabby could be your standard stereotypical university student and switch what sort of vegetarian she is at the drop of a hat! "Darn, guess I'll have to harass the cook for my own share after all," she quips, sliding the rolling table into range and uncovering the meal. The salad, a grilled vegetable panini, fresh fruit juice, and a little three-pack of Godiva truffles. Apparently Jean's trying for a pleasant convalecense. "Think this'll beat hospital food?" is inquired with a smile, before Michael gets a little nod, the eyebrow still raised, but Jean preferring not to argue a point of view that won't be easily changed. "Whatever lets you sleep at night, Mike. Just remember that we're all -people-."
Michael sighs..."I have a friend back at the university that I'm letting crash in my dorm room because humans won't let her find peace anywhere else...she's been persecuted for lifetimes from how she talks about it...longer than even the professor or Erik have been alive...she lives in constant fear because all she's ever known are people who meet her and immediately begin attacking her because she looks different...how am I supposed to ignore something like that when I'm trying to find the ability to forgive humans for torturing me..." He shakes his head..."Sorry sorry I know I just have to...it's just not always easy...I think I'm going to go see if that chef can spare me some salad...I need to get out of the Batcave for a while"
Somewhere on the muck, Bella has disconnected.
Sabby can only restrain herself so long. "What, and mutants are all light and happiness?" she snaps, waving her uninjured hand to indicate her current state. Y'know. /Sabella/. That said, she turns to Jean and her dinner - amazing being the perfect adjective - and smiles. "Any day, good doctor. This is incredible. I swear it's been /years/ since I've seen something that looks this good." The panini is seized with great glee. Uni student that she is, Sab doesn't tend to stand on ceremony.
"Amen, Sabby. Amen." is Jean's matter-of-fact agreement with the comment about mutants. "People are people. Good and bad are on both sides, and are where you find them. You can have faith and hope, or you can have mistrust and fear, but that choice is ultimately up to the individual to make... and I'm going to cut it with the speechmaking for now," the woman notes self-deprecatingly with a wave of her hand and a smile. "Go on, Michael. You've come a long way from when I first met you." Sabby's meal making her mouth water, she decides to investigate the lab fridge for leftovers of snacks, knowing full well the habits of scientists. Returning with a pear, she chuckles a little at Sabby's delight, noting that "I think the freedom probably helps the taste, too. Once you've eaten, I'll take you out to see the school grounds, if you like. Trees."
Somewhere on the muck, Bella has connected.
Michael sighs a little..."I never said mutant swere all good...I'm just saying they'e not doone anything nearly as bad to me as humans have..." He shakes his head..."I'll see you both around...Sabby if you can think of anything you need let me know...I'll pick it up for you..." With that he heads for the medbay doors and vanishes through them with a swoosh
Sabby watches Michael's exit with a shake of her head and a twitch of her lips. "And I thought /I/ had issues," she mutters between panini-bites. "At least I only want to maim and murder one." She glances at Jean and gives her a short nod in answer. "Trees would be.. amazing," she answers, for lack of creative adjectives. Hope springs in her eyes. "I don't suppose I can smoke out /there/?" C'mon. Give the girl a break. It's been a /month/ with no nicotine.
"You don't know the half of it," is Jean's reply with a wry smile, although the doctor doesn't volunteer anything further, instead gnawing thoughtfully at her pear, swallowing and allowing that "Although, like I should talk." with a smirk. The question about smoking gets a look of medical disapproval, but Jean allows a grudging "Sure... out there, it's only your own lungs you'll be poisoning. If you don't have a pack, you can probably bum some off Professor LeBeau. Or I can yank some off of one of the students. Just, uh," And here there's a little sheepish look as she bounces her pear core from one hand to the other "Could you light up away from me? I used to smoke for a couple months when I was at the height of my residency, but I got addicted way too easily. From one a day to a pack in two weeks."
pack/pack a day
Panini is set aside in favor of a few bites of salad, around which Sabitha replies, with a dry smile, "Hey, healing factor can give me that much, at least. No lung-destroying goin' on here!" Or so she believes, at any rate. Sabby cocks her head and nods. "Promise I'll be fast, clean, and non-second-hand-smokey," she vows with a lifted three-fingered salute of the girl-scout type. "It's just.. I think I'm gonna go mad soon, without." And in some ways, a good smoke is a sign that life is back to normal. Kinda. No comment is given on Jean's accelerated addiction - just the smirk of one who understands.