Summer 2012: Jay

[Scumfish]

It would be bloody raining, wouldn't it?

Jay sat on top of the school roof, swinging his legs idly over the edge and smoking a cigarette. He was procrastinating, he knew he was, but it was a fair flight, to be honest.

It wasn't that he didn't want to go, either.

Well...that was a lie. He didn't, not really. Didn't want to have to...own up to it, didn't want to think about it at all. He certainly hadn't been near the site since, and he felt...guilty for that, in a kind of vague, I-don't-want-to-think-about-it kind of way.

He breathed out another plume of smoke, watching the rain drip off a blue hand and still vaguely surprised that the colour didn't run off as well. It wasn't the same shade, not even close really. She'd been light, pale blue. He was a bright midnight, if that was even possible. Neon dark blue, though that might have been because of the wings setting it off.

Jay dropped the hand. He'd freaked when the blue had first happened, hadn't even wanted to look in a mirror because he didn't want to be reminded of her. And that had made him think.

Darren had mentioned once that maybe he needed therapy, and maybe the guy was right. He never talked about Jill, never even mentioned her name if he could help it - why'd he been so surprised when he'd found out Kitty didn't know he had a sister? Of course she didn't know, he never mentioned it.

Jay lit up another cigarette off the spent first, hair plastered to his face and back, feathers dark with water. He didn't have any photos of her on display either. It was...odd...he didn't want to talk about her. Most of the time he didn't think of her either, because if he did then she was truly gone, and the pain of missing her, of knowing he'd never see her again...that he'd never have to...to get her out of trouble...

Was he a bad brother for that?

Jay sniffed, looking up at the sky. Goddamned rain. It didn't make this any easier, and not just on the physical side of things.

It'd been when he'd looked in the mirror a couple of days ago that had made up his mind. Imagining Jill's reaction to the fact her twin brother even shared the colour...almost hearing her laughter at the fact he was going to try dying his hair to make it less painful after a hangover. He couldn't hide from the fact she was dead, and not going to come back.

He sighed, standing up, picking up the small bag that held a battalion's worth of sandwiches. He wasn't anywhere near as fit as he'd been before Legacy, but the flight wouldn't be hard so long as he didn't push himself and he wouldn't be gone more then a couple of days. If that. It wasn't somewhere he wanted to hang around.

He slipped the bag into the cargo-pants pocket, picked up the small trowel and fork and tucked them into another one, before straightening and flicking out both wings, water slicking cleanly off the feathers. He beat them slowly to shake off as much as possible, second set of eyelids dropping over his gold eyes.

No time like the present. He'd thought about dragging Darren along but...this was personal. The guy'd understand.

Jay stuck the cigarette in his mouth after checking everything was secure, backed up a ways up the roof, then ran. He dropped off the edge, opening his wings at the last moment and spiralling up into the sky, heading for above the rain clouds. He got more soaked going through it, but the clear, blinding sunlight on the other side was worth it, rainbows shattering off the vapour.

He'd always regretted that Jill's lungs weren't as adapted to flying as his. He'd never been able to show her this.

Jay smiled to himself, second eyelids able to handle the sunlight better then any pair of sunglasses, and headed off. He'd dip down occasionally for landmarks, but other then that, he knew exactly where he was going.

Not like he could forget where he'd buried Jill, after all.

[puppygirl]

*cuddles Jay*

[Scumfish]

Jay landed cleanly back on the school roof, immediately sitting and lighting a cigarette. He was dead tired, the flight had been harder then he thought it would be...leaving had been harder then he thought it would be.

It'd all been the same as when he'd left it, even the marker mostly undisturbed. He'd made a better one this time, bought - well, stole - some flowers to put on it, found enough stones to put a border around the plot...it looked more like a grave and less like a...well.

Part of him still grated at the fact it wasn't consecrated ground though.

He'd sat for a long time next to it, done a lot of crying, even talked to Jill a little. But mostly he'd remembered. Not just her death, not the nightmare escape through the tunnels with her body, not even the blood and fire and gore of the massacre. No, he'd remembered the good times with her. It had been surprisingly theraputic, sitting in the middle of the woods and laughing next to the grave. He'd ended up falling asleep by it, like he had back when he'd buried her.

Jay looked up at the darkening sky, smiling sadly. Yeah, he missed Jill, but he wasn't afraid that he'd forget her any more. Like she'd said when he'd been dying of Legacy...she was always with him.

And there was no way she'd let him forget.

Jay finished his cigarette and flicked it over the edge, before getting up and taking off, shoulders and back aching like hell. Knowing him, Darren was doing his nut about Jay disappearing on him. Time to get back to work, then...

[puppygirl]

Adriana: "Okay, and just send me an e-mail or call up if you need any more hats! I do special designs too!" Adriana waved after her lattest customer as the woman left with a model of her "Pie-cock" series. She still didn't get why the woman had constantly giggled when she had described the series, but at least she bought one of the more expensive ones.

Darren: Darren leaned back in his chair and put his scruffy, combat-booted feet up on the table as he thumbed through a catalogue, "Some of these designs are pretty funky, there's a homage to the 'Japanese octopus lesbians' in here and everything!"

Jay: Jay sat, staring moodily into space, wings half-curled around him. The...hat...was in a hand. "Dat's nice." He muttered at Darren, shooting the guy a glare. "Why'm Ah here again?"

Selene: Selene barely overheard what the others were talking about, neither did she pay much attention to what happened around her. She was way too occupied holding a staring contest with one of Adriana's creations. The hat actually hat big, weird eyes. Something Darren said did actually catch her attention. "Octopus lesbians," she repeated, looking up.

Adriana: "Well, it is THE international hat convention, what did you think?" She smiled brightly at Darren from under her giant pirate hat.

Darren: "Because you look good in a penguin hat, and I'm not going to suffer alone," he added under his breath.

Darren: "Yes, octopus lesbians," he glanced around to make sure no one was looking at them before holding up his palm to Selene and projecting the image onto his skin for her to see, "gotta love free wi-fi."

Selene: "I like hats," Selene remarked, while poking the staring hat in one of its eyeballs. "I've come to believe I should wear them more often." She turned around to look at the other students. "Are you sure you don't want to give my roadkill-hat design a chance, Adriana?"

Adriana: "Hmmmm..." She looked at the octopus lesbians and made a quick doodle in her notebook. This would be a nice hat later on. "Roadkill rots, Sel."

Selene: Selene leaned over and took a peek at the projection on Darren's skin. After a moment, she put on a slight frown. "Say, would any of you like me less if I admitted that I find this strangely appealing," she asked.

Jay: Jay muttered something in creole, offending hat in his hands. "Y' got Sel and Adriana here, you did not need t' drag d' most eye-hurtin' member of d' school into a public place." He stared down a woman who was staring at him. Keep walkin'.

Adriana: "Makes me hungry."

Darren: "Actually i'd be concerned if you didn't, babe," Darren chuckled, adjusting his own elder god headpiece.

Adriana: Adriana poked Jay. "If you wore my hat people would look at you because of the hat instead of the wings. I made it especially for you." She poked again.

Jay: Jay pulled a face. "And d' blue. You're askin' a blue guy to wear a silly hat, in order t' take attention away from d' wings and skin?"

Adriana: "Yes."

Selene: Selene flopped down in Darren's lap, pulling her lemon hat a little further into her face. "I offered to get the spray paint for you," Selene told Jay and put an arm around Darren's shoulder.

Darren: "Never know dude, might work," Darren chuckled, looking around, "you're causing Adriana's stall to get a lot of interest anyways."

Darren: He put his arms around Selene's waist and nuzzled her hair, "Awww, not getting tired already, babe?"

Jay: Jay's wings fluffed a little, swearing in creole again. "Sprayin' me bright green wouldn' help, Sel." He muttered semi-diplomatically. He was sure he'd seen more spray cans then were strictly nessecary in Darren's art bag...

Adriana: "Yes! We are themed after all." She pointed at the banner over her little stand. "Queen_Bee's Mutagenic Hats!" it claimed.

Jay: Jay dissolved into yet more New Orleans swearing.

Darren: "I'm suprised you haven't got a load of butterflies or killer bees flying around to draw in more interest," Darren chuckled again at Jay.

Jay: "Quit laughin' at me!"

Selene: "Mutagenic?" Selene frowned. "They cause scalp cancer?" She patted Darren's hat. "Don't worry. I'm doing fine. Perhaps I'm simply enjoying your company. Yes, I know it's an outrageous idea."

Darren: "You know, if your company name is Queen Bee I could always shift my true form, apparently it's kinda bee-like."

Adriana: "Well, I might have some beetles flying around in close proximity and dissipate pheromones to make people more open-minded to buying my hats..." She made the shifty-eyes.

Selene: "Which brings us to the next logical question and its inevitable answer: No, I'm not going to wear a bee-costume," Selene remarked.

Selene: "Not outside the bedroom, anyway," she added, a little quieter.

Jay: Jay looked down into the staring eyes of the penguin hat. "...Why've Ah got a penguin hat anyway?"
Adriana: "Because it's the best bird there is."

Jay: "Actually, dat'd be a cockatiel." Jay said under his breath in his best grumpy five-year-old voice.

Darren: "Naaah it's Adriana who's the queen bee-" he blushed slightly at that, and tickled her, "you terrible, filthy woman," he whispered in her ear.

Adriana: "Fear me!" She posed, accidentally shoving a finger into the face of a person. "Uhm...see anything you like?" She got handed fifty bucks and the person left with a 27 dollar poodle cap.

Darren: "... Damn, thos bugs are good!"

Selene: "If you keep up with the charming compliments I'm going to steal her for you," Selene replied, flashing Darren a grin.

Jay: Jay put his chin in his hands, stretching his wings a little - which bought over a small crowd to oggle - and then buy. "Ah am not likin' bein' used as a marketin' gimmick." He grumbled. "Y'all owe me drinks and smokes for dis."

Selene: "Or at least a commission for a free hat," Selene tossed in.

Adriana: "How about..." She rumoured under the table and pulled out a can. "Beetlejuice?" She held out the can which had a dancing beetle on it.

Darren: "Nooo, I'm happy with the lady I've got in my life right now," Darren smiled, then glanced over at Jay, "If it makes you feel better I'll shift, okay dude?"

Jay: Jay eyed up the can suspiciously, before looking at Darren. "Y'all are gettin' enough stares in dat hat. Though Ah suppose Adriana wouldn't mind a matchin' pair of brightly coloured budgies." He smirked, before eyeing up the can again. "...What's in it?"

Adriana: "It's a trade secret." She gave him her brightest smile. "I thought of expanding."

Jay: "It ain't literally beetlejuice, is it?"

Selene: "Knowing her, probably something made of insects," Selene guessed, eying the can. "Or made of something that insects regurgitate." She tilted her head. "Which means I'm feeling somewhat tempted to try it, in case Birdboy here turns out to be too much of a chicken."

Darren: Another person came over and Darren quickly leaned over to serve them while Adriana was talking to Jay, "Anything you fancy sir, apart from the lovely ladies?"

Adriana: "Nooo, silly. I would never get the okay to sell it then."

Jay: Jay took the can gingerly. "Well, Ah'm already blue. Cain't really do anythin' more odd to me. What's d' flavour?"

Adriana: "Honey-ginger-lemonish."

Selene: That made Selene perk up. "Do you... have another can, by any chance?"

Darren: The guy ended up buying a ... well ... the label said 'albino tadpole hat', he parted with $19 and put it on his head, wandering off with a snicker.

Adriana: She rumoured around under the table and got another can out only to hold it out to Selene. "I plan on putting it out during the afternoon when people are tired and thirsty."

Selene: "Thank you," Selene said and took the can from Adriana. She opened it, cautiously sniffing the contents before taking a slow sip. "This tastes intriguing. I like it." She took another sip. "Yes, I really do."

Darren: Darren handed the money over to Adriana, "Give us a sip, babe."

Jay: Jay watched Selene carefully to make sure nothing was going to happen to her, before opening his own. He tried a bit, then blinked. "Dis is...actually pretty nice, Adriana."

Adriana: She took the money and put it into the box that worked as a till for her. Yes, it was open, but no, she wasn't concerned about anybody reaching in and stealing the money. After all, it was crawling with maggots, beetles, and ants.

Adriana: "It's the royal jelly!" It was really nice that her friends liked it, so she was happy. Also, that meant it would probably sell well.

Selene: "Us?" Selene arched an eyebrow. "Feeling royal again?" She gave him a look, but eventually put on a smirk and took another sip of the strange, but interesting drink. Instead of swallowing, though, she pressed her lips to Darren's.

Darren: Darren frowned, then looked faintly horrified, "No, I meant as in-" he was cut off by her lips closing over his own, "Mmm?"

Jay: Jay looked away at the dirty, dirty hetero, taking another drink before sitting back and spreading his wings out carefully. "Dis has got to be d' easiest job Ah've ever done."

Adriana: "Well, if you're bored..." She reached under the table again and pulled out a replica of her actual banner, but with an arrow pointing downwards on it. "Mind flying circles over our stand while holding this?"

Darren: Darren utalised his mutation to say, "Hey, this does taste nice," without actually taking his lips from Selene's.

Selene: "Pleased now," Selene asked, licking a drop off Darren's lips before sitting back. "We should ask Adriana to get more for us. Maybe stock the pantry with it."

Jay: Jay looked over to Darren and Selene and rolled his eyes. "Sure, saves bein' bored here." He muttered. Anything to get away from that. He had no issue with the fact he crushed on Darren but he had a girlfriend, it was just...he was...it was...well...

Darren: ((It's the royal jelly!))

Jay: He picked up the banner, spreading his wings to their full span and leaping into the air with one powerful downstroke, quickly gaining altitude. "Ah've got my phone if y'all need me!" So. Humiliatin'.

Adriana: "Fly, my pretty, fly!" Adriana cackled madly while waving at Jay lifting off.

Darren: Darren snorted, "Okay, how much money you made so far, Adriana?"

Selene: "He sure is a pretty fly for a blue guy," Selene muttered, then immediately made a face. Okay, that had even hurt her own brain.

Jay: Creole swearwords drifted down as Jay climbed higher, people point and yelling at him.

Adriana: She looked into her box and made a quick calculation. "Seven hundred maybe. This has turned into proift already." Darren got her brightest smile.

Selene: "Well, that's good to hear," Selene commented, drinking from her can again. "If something like this can turn that profitable, it makes me wonder if I should start my own business."

Darren: "Excellent, just more proof we're the dominate species hmmm?"

Adriana: "What do you want to sell?"

Jay: A veritable crowd, drawn by the circling mutant, descended upon the stall below. Jay figured it was kinda lucky that no one could actually hear his muttering.

Selene: "That's the tricky part," Selene admitted. "Then again, I could always sell stabbings." She paused, looking at the others. "Piercings, you know? And the jewelry for it."

Adriana: "Sounds kinky..."

Selene: "It can be," Selene admitting, looking over at Adriana with a smirk on her lips.

Adriana: "Stay away!" She playfully swated at Selene.

Darren: "Maybe you should make your own roadkill hat and sell that?"

Selene: "Oh, that's an interesting idea," Selene admitted, nodding thoughtfully. "Adriana could teach me how to make a hat. Besides, hats are not the only things that can be roadkill-inspired. How about a roadkill scarf, for example?"

Adriana: "Like...a badger with skidmarks on it?"

Darren: "Roadkill prom dress!" Darren suggested, "you could do a whole fashion line!"

Selene: "You know those fur boas wealthy women like to wear to fashionable events," Selene asked. "Made of weasel and foxes and whatnot. Wouldn't it much more exciting if their dress had been freshly killed? It would be both a fashion and a political statement." She nodded excitedly at Darren's suggestion. "Oh, that would be fantastic."

Darren: "What would you be politically stateing, fur is murder or something?" Darren asked, shifting her to another leg.

Adriana: "But if you kill animals for those things, isn't the stament more like 'It's okay to kill of you want to make a statement against killing?'"

Selene: "Something like that," Selene replied, frowning to herself. "Or... dead animals will start to smell after a night of dancing." She shrugged. "I didn't say it would have to be a reasonable statement."

Darren: Darren snickered, "And that is why everyone loves you, Selene."

Jay: There was a heavy, downward wind that kicked up dust and paper as Jay landed cleanly on his stool, panting a little and rolling a shoulder, wincing as it cracked. "Sorry...after d' flight d' other day my back'n shoulders're killin' me." He dropped the sign, spread out his wings and tucked them back in.

Adriana: "Awww, it's okay. You were plenty of help." She patted his head.

Selene: "I'm sure my boyfriend would love to give you a massage later," Selene offered, smirking at Jay. "He's pretty skilled at that."

Jay: Jay smiled at the patting, before giving Selene wide, gold eyes. "Uuuuh..."

Darren: Darren twitched, "No he wouldn't!" He said quickly.

Adriana: "The stand is closed for hot boy-on-boy action! We can make far more with THAT kind of show!"

Jay: "Yeah, no, dat's okay, Ah mean, Ah usually jus' have a hot shower an' a rest fer a few days an' Ah'm fine, it's just dat Ah ain't in shape an' Ah did a long flight and..." Oh god...Jay could feel the blush as he babbled, pulling a wing round in the pretense of checking through his wing as he blushed a deep purple.

Darren: Darren flushed bright red and looked faintly ill, "Oh shut up, crazy bug-hat lady," he flustered.

Adriana: "Oh well. But we SHOULD make a break anyway, my tummy is gettin grumbly."

Selene: "Not even if I promised to wear my Jill Valentine costume later," she asked Darren, trying to put on a coy expression. It still came off rather mischievous.

Jay: Jay bit his lip. "Um...y' know...Ah'm jus'...Ah'm gonna...gonna go for a smoke...or somethin'...uh...Ah'll be on d' roof..." For a long, long time... "Ah've got my cell, jus'...buzz me when y' want me back..." He stood up and shoved his hands in his pockets, giving a weak smile. "Catch y'all later, yeah?"

Darren: "No, there'll be no man se-you have a Jill Valentine costume? Which game?" Darren asked, going slightly goggly eyed.

Adriana: "Okay, bye!" She waved at Jay and pulled on Selene's sleeve. "Come, I saw someone with a top-hat-shaped oven earlier."

Selene: "Maybe I'll let you see for yourself later," Selene told Darren, gave him a quick peck on the lips, then let herself get dragged off by Adriana. "Really? Whatever it must be that's cooked in there, it has to be delicious."

Jay: Jay waved back and trudged outside, wings slumping a little, curled around himself as he tried to ignore the stares. He knew it was mostly harmless teasing but...he really...didn't like it, not with Darren right there. He took off outside, wincing as it pulled at his sore back, pulling out a cig as he landed on the roof.

Darren: "Really?" Darren asked, then turned around as Jay flew off, "Jay you wanna-hey!" He looked about him, everyone else had gone, "Motherfucker! Just 'cos I don't eat food means I don't get a lunch break? Suck!"

Darren: He grumbled and pulled his had down lower over his head as he sat down to watch the shop.

[Scumfish]

Jay laughed as he pirouetted through the sky, about thirty thousand feet. It felt good to be alive, out in his natural element as it were, racing the odd bird and trailing fingers through frozen clouds. It was mostly clear, but at this height there was always clouds, tiny, wispy things that clung to the edge of his wings and painted the edge of feathers with dewdrops.

He barely panted as he flew, lungs nearly twice the size of a normal human's and able to absorb four times as much oxygen hardly having to strain at all – that was how he'd known the virus was so dangerous to him, when he couldn't breathe.

He grinned insanely as he freefalled a couple of hundred feet only to pick himself back up again. He knew how high he could go – or how high he dared to anyway, when the colours started to bleed and spots began to dance, and thirty-five thousand feet – the same height as commercial airliners tended to fly just below – was the comfortable limit.

He was at thirty-three thousand, he reckoned. Maybe a little less.

Jay's eyes were completely white, the protective covering over them keeping the blinding light out at this height. He'd never been able to take Jill up this high, so that she could see the sunlight shattering off the clouds into thousands of rainbows, or watch the lightning play across the tops of clouds in a thunderstorm. She was always the acrobat, the speedy one. He was distance and altitude.

Difference between a bat and an albatross.

Jay felt the roar before he heard it – a jet engine, or four of them anyway, still several miles off. He grinned, turning and heading for the sound, wings locked as he soared.

Soon enough he came upon the huge Boeing, tipping his wings and turning as he waved at the astounded pilots in the cockpit, laughing as one dropped his tea. He flew down the side of the aircraft, backing air outside one window where a delighted little girl was waving at him frantically. He grinned and waved back-

-The roar of an engine suddenly too close and the pull of air warned him in time for him to twist up out of the slipstream. There was a crunch that made him scream, and suddenly blood was splattered against the white edge of the wing. Despite the pain, Jay managed to catch the edge of the wing, the left side of his back one long, stabbing pain of agony as feathers spun to stick to the side of the plane. He sobbed, looking back to see the huge flaps of the wings move behind him. If he let go and fell wrong...

He tried to move his left wing again, and was nearly sick at the pain that made him black out for a second. Risking a glance, he caught the sight of bone-

Eyes front.

His wing was broken. Useless. No, more then broken, the root had been torn out of the socket, the wing hanging on by muscle and tendon, nothing else. And judging by the tearing pain he got every time he breathed, that wasn't going to last long.

Jay whimpered, aware of people staring from the windows, imagining the panic. His wing...how was he going to do this...?

His right arm couldn't hold him any more. He curled his good wing in as his grip slipped, then was forced straight in agony as he was slammed against the side of the plane and tumbled over the edge of the wing, leaving a long smear of blood and a lot of feathers stuck to it.

He was unconscious as he plummetted, but not for long, the shock of falling through a cloud waking him. He could see the plane above? Below? him, wheeling away until he had to close his eyes, looking back to the ground.

Twenty-five thousand feet.

He was freefalling, the sheer force sending intense pain through his wingroot. If he tried to open his left wing now, it'd be torn off.

Twenty-three thousand feet.

Jay could barely make out the school to the left. Not that it mattered. He hit the ground at this speed, he was geography.

Twenty thousand feet.

He closed his eyes. Making peace with my maker again...dis is gettin' to be a bad habit, Joshua. There was nothing he could do this time, no cure, no waking up on a bed...

Ten thousand.

Jay's eyes snapped open as he slammed through a flock of birds. Fuck that. He snapped open his right wing, the cry of pain swallowed by the wind but wheeling closer to the school, the ground spinning nauseatingly below him. He grit his teeth and did it again – there! The lake! If he could just slow down – or – it was a gamble, but he had no time-

Five thousand.

Another well-timed wheel and a shriek as he felt his left wing tear. Now he just had to stay conscious and time it-

Three thousand.

He snapped out of consciousness as a thermal caught his side, tearing the wing again. Snapped back in.

Four hundred-

“DARREN!!”

The supersonic cry stripped trees of their limbs and he fancied seeing the lake water recoil, hearing windows break in the school.

“DAAAARREEEN!!”

Two hundred.

One.

Jay closed his eyes and let out a 'voice missile', literally making a cushion of air to slow him before he hit the water. He snapped unconscious again as the wing tore off, before being rudely awoken by the freezing water, blood turning it murky.

He struggled, but he'd never swum without the wings, and the remaining one was dragging him down. He opened his mouth reflexively, bubbles escaping before his remaining wing curled around him.

[Starfish]

Well... ouch. That gotta hurt.

[Scumfish]

Jay sank lower, not even having the strength to try and get to the surface, blood pluming through the water as the dark shape of his severed wing sank past him. He couldn't grip the reality of what had happened, mind completely blank, bloodloss making him feel like he was floating.

He thought he could see Jill's face. She looked upset, reaching down as if to try to pull him back up to the surface...

Darren had been in thier room when his hightened senses had picked up the scream looking out of the window he'd seen the falling spec, seen the air ripple from the force of sound.

Even by his own insanly fast standards there was no time to think, just reaction, and the walls rocked and the furniture around the room flew about as he shot out of the windows as they shattered from the sound, towards the lake, "JAY!?"

Jay was nearly unconscious, even the panic dimming as he drifted. He couldn't breathe, the water a heavy weight on his chest as he sank into the darkness. "Josh, you can't do this, dude! I like, told you not to die!" His wing twitched as he made one last effort, more air escaping

Sorry Jill...

Darren hit the lake a few seconds after Jay did, the water already dark with blood, shit! and dove down, Jay wasn't moving, blood pumping out from his body ... from where just a few hours ago a red wing had been

He grabbed an arm and pulled the body to him, he was heavey, a dead weight in the water.

Jay was barely aware of something grabbing a numb arm, unable to move, the warmth making him shudder in sharp contrast to the freezing cold around him. He hiccuped out the last of his air, trying to look up at the shape above him, vision nearly black.

Jay was near the bottom of the lake thanks to the speed with which he'd hit the water, the water pressure was probably helping to staunch the wound a little, but he'd lost a lot of blood already. He'd have to close it before he took him out otherwise he'd bleed out before he could get him to the med-lab.

Darren pulled Jay tighter to him, his body transforming into his techno-organic form and wrapping an arm around him to support him, Hold on man, and pressed his other hand over the tear, his hand looseing shape and actually pressing into Jay's body, trying to hold it shut.

Jay suddenly jerked, eyes shooting open at the jolt of agony. He went rigid, struggling back against whatever was causing it, opening his mouth to scream and choking as water filled it. He pushed hard at the shape pressed against him. "Jay! No! Stop fighting!"

"Fuck!" Darren's swear was muffled by the water and he held the guy tighter, "Jay! Knock it off! You're just gonna hurt yourself more!" he tried to tell him, but it was lost in the streams of bloody bubbles around them.

He tried to will Jay to stay still, almost like he was pushing out with his whole being, and there was a roaring sensation, like the whole world was rushing past him down a funnel to a single point.

The sheer weight of conciousness left him almost stunned, and when the world came back the first thing he registered was that Jay was no longer in his arms, the second was that Jill was gone and the third was that he couldn't breath.

He felt suddenly heavy and cold, but the pain had gone - fuck, he couldn't breathe! Which way was up, what the hell had happened?! - he panicked, something was - this wasn't him...

Instinct cut in in and Darren scrambled towards the light, arms and ...wings pushing through the water easily, his lungs burning ... but that was wrong, he didn't have lungs!

His head burst above the water line, choking and vomiting up water as he tried to breath, vision swimming, this was wrong, where was Darren-wait ... he was Darren, wasn't he?

He looked at his hands, they were wider, the knuckles flatter, and the surface was a brillient gold, covered with black lines, he could feel long strands of hair clinging to his face and sticking to his back with the water and he twitched the two whole wings at his back.

"What's happened to me!?" He said, it was Jay's voice, but Darren's accent and eletronic echo.

"Ah-Ah d-don't-" He floundered for a moment in the water, blinking slowly. Jay's accent that time. Why was he talking like a hick? No...no, he was Jay. He shook hair out of his face, realising the water running off him was bloody. "...D' hell?"

Wings? He shouldn't have wings ... at least not two, the other one had been torn off by the plane he was pretty sure he could remember that, he had perfect computer memory after all ... wait a minute ...

His mouth was talking, but it wasn't him moving it ... wait, yes it was-no, that wasn't him! Fuck! He could remember two lives, being two people, having five big sisters and only one, playing baseball with his dad while looking sulkily out of the window as the other kids played and he couldn't 'cos of that fucking chair ...

But no ... he was pretty sure he was Darren ... he was hyperventilating, trying not to panic, was he back in the hive? [Jay!? Jay!?]

[D-Darren?] Oh fuck, what the hell was happening? It was all blurring together and - he couldn't tell who he was or - [Where are y'all?] He was shivering, it was cold - wait, he wasn't using his mouth, he didn't hear Darren talking, why was he gold!?

[I dunno why I'm gold! I don't know what's happening!] Darren raked his hand through his hair, "I'm cold, I don't get cold!"[And I look like you, or you look like me, I am Darren right?]

[Y' were d' stupid idiot dat flew into a plane!] Jay shook himself, scowling. "Y'all should know better'n to fuck about with dem!" [Jesus, Ah cain't keep watchin' out for y'!] The water was getting colder, so he made for the bank of the lake. [...Wait...]

"Hey! Not my fault, ah've done that shit plenty of time before," Darren shot back as he swum towards land, [Swear ya'll're worse then Jill sometimes Gede,] he stopped and floudered suddenly as panic took him again, "Wait! That's not me! Fuck this shit!"

Jay. Jay was the one who hit the plane and had Jillian, he wasn't called Gede, Darren was, there were two and now they were one, and he realised through his cross-wired brain what was going on.

"Possessi-arrgh!" He sunk under briefly, water filling his mouth before he surfaced, spitting it out, "It's like Darren's possessing Jay," it was easier if he refered to both of them in third person, "like the hive only not, it's like what the Magus did to us!"

"But it can't be, d' Magus isn't here!" He frowned, making way to the bank again, coughing. "We ain't in d' Hive either, right? So what d' fuck is goin' on?"

Now that he had some idea what was going on Darren was trying his hardest to keep a wall between them both, trying to keep the two seperate, "I dunno, he just tried to stop the bleeding, but our mutation had other ideas ..."

He managed to pull himself up onto the land and stayed on his hands and knees for a moment, water running off his body as he gasped for air.

"I-we, we gotta get back, can't stay like this, gotta-gotta seperate," he got back to his feet and spread his wings, and lept up into the air, much higher then Jay had ever been able to jump and flapped towards the school.

"Oh god, my wing-" He angled the glide to head for the patio closest to them, barely noticing the shattered windows he passed. "Yeah, we cain't stay - fuck, he lost a lotta blood though, dis is probably d' only thing keepin' him alive."

He hoped they didn't run into anyone on the way down, "Y-yeah, ya'll're probably right," he said as he reached the lab's doors, pushing them both open and making McCoy drop his mid-afternoon twinkie into his coffee as he was confronted with a golden skinned, dripping wet Jay who was now speaking with Darren's voice.

"Uhh Doc, got a teeny problem here ..."

[Raven Hare]

LOL - oh man ><

[Scumfish]

He was remarkably calm, all things considered, as he was shepherded into the emergency room and sat down on the bed as he told McCoy what had happened, "We're not quite sure what's goin' on, but we thing we need to split up soon, gettin' harder to tell us apart by the second ..."

McCoy looked faintly worried as he checked the boys over. "Splitting's a bad thing though, ain't it? No way t' stop d' bleeding..." A hand came up and ran through his hair. "He's right though...fuck." Wing, don't think of the wing, please don't think of the wing. McCoy was asking how much blood Jay'd lost, and he did a quick calculation.

"...Too much, four-five pints already...missing the wing, Doc, it got torn off." Fuck, that was Darren's voice but it was him...right?

"Darren should be able to hold the wound shut," he said, "if y'all just get the blood ready, and the anastetic or whatever, there's no pain at the moment but ..." he looked over his shoulder at the flexing, twitching apendage, and worried at his lip.

McCoy nodded vaguely. "Of course, of course. This is..." He shook his head and busied himself getting bloodpacks. "I suppose asking what bloodtype-" "Resus neg, Doc." He broke in, looking away from the wing. The doctor looked slightly weirded by the two-in-one voices, but got the right ones. He stretched the left wing...fuck, it was gone...

"Just ... just hurry up doc and let us-me know when you're good ..." he said, rubbing at his shoulder, They'll be able to fix it ... Darren should have grabbed the wing and brought it ...

He watched the doctor grab equipment, dragging it into the room and by the bed. Jay shouldn't have fucked with the plane in the first place! He fidgeted, swinging his legs. "D' wing's gone...y'all gonna have to sew it up we think..." It's gone...oh fuck...fuck...Darren...

[I'll think of something-]Oh fuck I dunno what to do! Darren winced, they were shareing minds, he could hide nothing from Jay, "Sorry ..."

He lay down on his front on the bed as McCoy directed him, "Anytime doc ..."

"It's okay, I-I know we-you don't..." He folded his arms under his head. [Ah cain't fly wit' one wing-] But Jay healed, right?! It's be okay, he'd heard healers regenerated, his wing might...it might... "I'm going to need an arm, Joshua." McCoy's firm voice interrupted him. He straighted one out, wincing at the IV being inserted for the blood transfusion.

"That's so wierd," he said, "so good to go doc?"

At McCoy's word he took a deep breath and ... well he wasn't to sure what he was doing, he closed his eyes and the part of his that was Darren marveled at the darkness.

He ... it was like tearing a cloth in two, he pushed out the part that he hoped was mostly Darren, Here goes nothing ...

The part that was Jay began to struggle on the bed as pain started to register. Oh god, no, no, ami don't leave - don't take d' wing- Blood began to soak the sheets as the false wing - as Darren - retreated, the blue becoming more prominant. ...Ah'm never gonna fly again... He realised, even as McCoy fitted the mask over his face at his whimpering, pain subsiding slightly.

I-it's - oh fuck - no - no dis isn't- He struggled, almost writhing, trying to pull away from the mask and the pain and the wrongness of the other consciousness as the full reality of what happened began to hit him. Never fly again...this wasn't repairable, he wasn't going to regenerate. Even as the shock of the pain and bloodloss hit him fully and dragged him down, he let out a wail of despair.

Jay's left wing started to loose shape, drooping like chocolate melting till it hit the floor, where itvstarted to take the form of a tall, thin humanoid, the skin on Jay's body turning blue while the colours shifted on the techno-organic being seperating itself from Jay, going back to it's usual yellow on black.

Darren caught the tail end of Jay's despair, and it was Darren, despite the fact that he could still see and feel all of Jay's experiances and memories like they were his own, they were easier to seperate.

He kept one arm pressed into Jay's injury, staunching the blood while he held Jay down with his over arm so he wouldn't hurt himself further, pressing his forehead down against thevother guy's pale skin, "It's okay, I'm here man, I'm sorry," he said, trying to reasure him, he could still feel the phantom wings and Jay's loss.

Jay sobbed as his vision started to turn black, McCoy quickly starting the blood transfusion before pulling on gloves and nodding to Darren as he moved to start...well...there was a literal chunk out of the boy's back...this was possibly going to need minor surgery...

As the gas and the replacement blood started to do their work, Jay's sobs started to quieten down, his skin a pale, sickly blue, and he stopped struggling against Darren, sagging on the bed and twitching as McCoy worked to sew him up, bandaging what he couldn't. "Jay? I'm going to have to put you under and take you into surgery, my boy."

He nodded, barely hearing him, remaining wing twitching in pain.

Fuck! Shit! Damn! "It's gonna be okay Jay, ah'll stick with ya cockatiel, ya'll won't be alone," he tried to reassure his friend as McCoy administed the anesthetic and he started to slip under, "ah'll do something ... ah'll figure out how to fix this, ah'm a fuckin' genius remember?"

He wasn't quite sure who he was trying to comfort here, himself or Jay ...

McCoy sighed and gestured Darren to follow them as he wheeled Jay into a theatre, his right wing completely relaxed and half off the bed. "Whatever it is will have to wait until he's healed, Mr Kent." He nodded to the tray of equipment. "You can help me, if you'll be in here with me."

"Yeah, yeah," Darren said, keeping pace with the trolly as they went into surgery, his head still spinning from what had happened, "Just ... just tell me what you want me to do, doc ..."

[Raven Hare]

Jay: Jay was on his front, eyes half-open but not quite focused, the gold staring at the wall opposite. His remaining wing was flopped uselessly on the floor, a few of the large pinions missing. His back was numb, the pain barely poking through the drugs.
Kitty: The medlab doors banged open as Kitty rushed in. She spoke with Dr. McCoy for just a moment then found the room Jay was in. Chewing on her fingernail, a habit she was just starting to kick, Kitty knocked softly on his door.

Jay: Jay blinked at the sound, wing twitching - it felt oddly heavy and strange, like he wasn't used to having it. "It's open." He slurred, his New Orleans accent completely gone, replaced with a generic New York accent.

Kitty: Kitty opened the door and at first all she could do was stare, tears springing up in her eyes. He face down on the bed, one wing draping onto the floor. Where the other wing should have been was a stump wrapped up in a sterile white bandage. The shock of seeing him like was all she could concentrate on. Vaguely she was aware that he was talking funny - at least funny for him.

Kitty: "Hi Jay," she finally forced herself to speak and enter his room. "W-what happened?" Kitty felt her a hard lump in her throat forming.

Jay: He blinked again. "Hey Kit-Kat." He managed a blank smile, shifting a little. "Ja-I uh..." Fuck. "I flew into a plane." Jay pillowed his head on his arms, closing his eyes again. So many memories...

Kitty: "A plane?" She was proud that came out without a stutter. "I didn't know you could fly that high," she tried to make conversation, taking a seat next to him where he could see her. "How... how are you feeling? I mean, you in any pain? Need a glass of water or something?"

Jay: "No...no...I-I'm okay..." Jay gave her another smile, moving his head and blinking as hair fell into his face. "Indestructible, me." He gave her a grin. "No pain, the doc's good..." The smile fell off his face. "I uh...I could...fly that high..."

Kitty: Indestructible? That sounded like something Darren would say. Maybe they'd been room mate too long, he was even sounding a little like Darren. Hesitantly, Kitty brushed his hair out of his eyes. "I-I's positive Dr. McCoy can fix it. Reattach your... your wing." Her eyes were drawn back to the stump again as she swallowed hard.

Jay: Jay smiled at Kitty, though it didn't reach his eyes. "The wing got lost. I - fuck." He closed his eyes for a second. "Darren had to stop me bleeding and...the...it got lost. I couldn't get it in time." He reached for Kitty's hand and squeezed it, though he wasn't sure if he was comforting her or himself.

Kitty: "Oh." Kitty held onto his blue hand and did her best to smile as her mind reeled. "Well... I know Dr. McCoy will figure something out... he can fix anything - right? And we've got some pretty brillant students here... Darren, J, Pietro...I'm sure they'd pitched to help think of something."

Jay: "I know I'm bri-" Jay blinked, going a little cross-eyed for a moment as memories crossed. "Yeah...yeah, I know that. But...they...can't replace a wing." He looked away. "I suppose I should count myself lucky Darren heard me..." He looked up at Kitty again. "But you're right, I mean...it can be fixed...right?"

Kitty: "I know... I think everyone heard you," she joked a little. "Well, maybe they didn't hear you exactly... but we definitely heard something - then all the windows broke." She didn't answer him about fixing the wing, because in her heart, she just didn't know how to answer him.

Jay: "...Eh, it's a good job I still have a bit put away then." Jay winced. He still felt incredibly groggy from the surgery, not helped by the fact that he felt like he should be able to just get up from this...strangely he didn't want to admit that part to Kitty. God, how many secrets was Darren hiding? How did he stay sa- well, relatively sane?

Jay: "Have you seen Darren? Don't want the idiot getting himself into even more trouble when I can't keep an eye on him."

Kitty: "I'm sure the professor has insurance or something. He's already had to rebuild the school once since I've been here. A few broken glass windows probably wouldn't even make a dent in his pocket money." She gave him a little smile. "I didn't see him on the way in, but I'm sure he's not far away." Kitty remembered Darren hovering over Jay when he'd been so sick with the Legacy Virus.

Jay: "Closer then you think." Jay closed his eyes again. "He'll probably be with Sel..." And the really weird thing was - that was where he wanted to be. He shuddered slightly, then hissed as it pulled at the patched stump and sewed tears. "Can you do me a favour, when you leave? Just...check on him? Make sure he's alright?"

Kitty: "Be Careful!" Kitty started as he stressed his stitches and bandages, reaching her free hand out to pat his shoulder a little bit trying to be comforting. Taking another breath, Kitty nodded and tried to smile again. It felt so fake. "Ok - I'll find Darren and make sure he's ok. Wouldn't surprise me if I run into him on my way out."

Jay: Jay hissed. "Fuck, it shouldn't hurt this much!" He closed his eyes tight as he waited for the pain to subside, hand gripping Kitty's like it was a lifeline. The hand on his back was strangely comforting, and he let out a breath. "Sorry...fuck, I'm such an idiot."

Kitty: "No, no you’re not. It was just an accident, everybody has them. Hector almost gave himself a cerebral hemorrhage last night from over using his powers. And I made myself pass out on the last mission. Your just human, ok?" She rubbed his strangely bare shoulder. "We'll fix this, ok?”

Jay: "No, no I'm not...fuck, that's not-" Jay let his head drop. He felt like he was going mad. How the hell did Darren deal with all of this?! All the...the memories...he'd dealt with so much...no wonder the guy was so weird... "It can't be fixed, Kit. I shouldn't have done it, I shouldn't have flown that close."

Kitty: Kitty didn't know what to say. She'd come to know Jay well enough to know he could have handled losing his arm or his leg better than losing a wing. What was a bird that couldn't fly? "We'll think of something, Jay" she whispered not even sure if she believed it herself. "Everything will be fine. How about I go see Dr. McCoy, let him know you need some more pain medicine?"

Jay: Jay bit his lip, glad the hair that didn't feel like his hid the fact his eyes were tearing up from view. "I'm sorry, Kit, I-I - I shouldn't be acting like this, I shouldn't be bringing you down, it's not fair on you." He swallowed hard. "You're right...everything will be fine." He didn't even believe it himself... "Yeah...it's...it's really hurting..."

Kitty: "You're not bringing me down, Jay. I want to be here," she nodded adamantly, then added more softly. "You're my friend..." After a second, she blinked away her tears and stood up. "Ok - I go find Dr. McCoy right now. Have him bring you something." It was getting harder not to cry.

Jay: Jay squeezed her hand again. "You do that, Kit." He tried to smile up at her. "...How 'bout when...when I'm better and I have my wing back and I'm flying again I take you up? Better then the jet, and you won't be unconscious this time..." He trailed off.

Kitty: A real smile crossed her lips. "I'd love that Jay." She'd be lying if she said she'd never wanted him to take her flying. But she always felt it would have been rude and insulting to ask for a joy ride. She held his hand for a second longer, then let it go. "I'll be right back with Dr. McCoy, ok?"

Jay: "Alright, Kit." Jay nodded, giving her a half smile before letting out another hiss of pain despite how hard he was trying not to. "Thanks." He closed his eyes and leant his head on his arms.

Kitty: "Anytime," she nodded and went to find McCoy. McCoy put down his coffee and walked briskly to Jay's room, leaving Kitty alone. She held back until she got out into the hallway out of earshot before she broke down and cried. After a few minutes, Kitty got herself back together and went to find Darren wiping away her tears. Jay wanted her to check on Darren, that at least, she could do.

Kitty: [22:26] Kitty: "Anytime," she nodded and went to find McCoy. McCoy put down his coffee and walked briskly to Jay's room, leaving Kitty alone. She held back until she got out into the hallway out of earshot before she broke down and cried. After a few minutes, Kitty got herself back together and went to find Darren wiping away her tears. Jay wanted her to check on Darren, that at least, she could do.

Jay: Jay closed his eyes, keeping his face hidden from McCoy as he was given another injection. "Thanks, doc." He managed. McCoy checked him over again before retreating, closing the door behind him. He buried his face in his arms, tears falling as he refused to sob.

[Scumfish]

Jay had his eyes closed, still in the hospital bed, teeth gritted as Hank changed his bandages. His right wing was supported by another bed to take the strain off what was left of his left shoulder, though he'd been told he was lucky in that respect - he still had most of the 'human' shoulderblade intact. It was broken, but he'd only have to have his arm in a sling for a few weeks.

No, the real damage (apart from losing the wing, that was) lay in the joint. He knew - or the part of him that was Darren still, knew - that the wing joint was wrecked, almost completely ripped out. Even if he-Darren had been able to grab the wing, or if they'd thought about it in the minutes they were one...he didn't need to see the look on Hank's face to know that the chance of reattaching with any hope of using it again were almost nil.

He whimpered as a piece of bandage pulled on the long tear down his back, fingers digging into the pillows. He couldn't get around the fact that part of him was telling him this shouldn't be hurting this much, if at all.

I'm going nuts.

He still couldn't pull what was him out of what was Darren. The memories and thoughts didn't overlay, they just ran parallel to each other and-

"Ow! Fuck, doc, be careful!"

"My apologies, Dar-Jay." Jay bit his lip as McCoy caught himself. Fucking voice mutation. He even sounded almost exactly like Darren, though the thought of what the other guy must sound like amused him.

"No...I'm sorry, doc, that wasn't fair." He let out a breath as he felt McCoy finish. He didn't want to admit that he had Darren's memories, experiences and personality wrapped so much in his own that he couldn't tell who he was for the moment. The part that was Darren was very adament that there were things he did not want the school knowing and there was no way Jay was going to betray his trust...

...Not now that he knew just how much that trust meant.

God...some of the memories made him want to curl up in a corner and cry, or scream, or...or claw his own mind apart, if he was honest.

"Joshua? I want you to see if you can sit up." McCoy's voice broke through his thoughts. "It'll hurt, I'm afraid, but it's best if you can be as mobile as soon as possible, to stop the joint from freezing."

Jay nodded. He could do this, he'd been through worse, he'd - no, that was Darren. Fuckit. He drew in a breath and with McCoy's help edged into a sitting position, right wing slumped. He shook his long hair out of his face, thinking vaguely that he needed to cut it but not into a fucking mohawk as he panted, teeth gritted as he held his left shoulder. His back was one long streak of pain, spreading over his ribs.

McCoy checked him over as the pain slowed to a dull throb - until he twitched his right wing.

"Oh fuck!" His hands gripped the bed tightly as tears slipped out at the pain, feeling blood leak from under the bandages - the stump of his left wing had tried to stretch as well.

"Stay calm, Jay." Hank put his hand on Jay's shoulder to stop him curling instinctively. "For the next week or so, it'll probably be a good idea if you try not to do that." He cleaned up Jay's back, then bound his left arm in a sling to stop him damaging the shoulder with over-movement. "Alright...I think you'll be safe to go." Hank picked up a box. "Take these for the pain, but no more then eight a day. Are you sure you've had no problems from your...time with Mr Kent?"

Jay shook his head. "No problems, doc, nothing I can't get over, eh?" He gave him a weak grin, though it felt fake.

"Alright, well...if you feel the need to talk, Jay, do remember Dr Guan." Hank gave him a brief smile. Jay just nodded, pushing himself off the bed carefully, wincing a little as he stood. He ached all over, but the pain in his back and shoulder dwarfed it.

He tried to take a step to the doors and staggered, nearly falling, as the lack of wing on his left side overbalanced him. Hank caught him, steadying him. "You'll have to be careful until you're...used to...missing that wing." The man gave him a smile.

"Thanks, Hank." He gave him a half-smile and a lazy salute before slowly and carefully hobbling out of the medlab, the remaining wing making him feel oddly heavy down one side fuck, I've had this my entire life, I should be used to the fucking wing. As soon as he was outside the door, the smile fell and his eyes filled with tears, though he pinched the bridge of his nose and wiped them away quickly.

He'd be fine. He just had his fucked-up best friend's head to deal with and...the fact...he'd never, ever fly again.

He'd be fine.

[Svartfreja]

Jules: A silver streak zipped about the room, sprinkles of what could be accused of being stardust, floating in the stream of silver and drizzled on the wooden floors of the school. "Party!" She shouted as she opened each door. "Party! Downstairs. Party! Get downstairs!"

Jay: Jay was already heading down - he hadn't eaten for well over twenty-four hours, as his stomach reminded him, despite his head telling him he didn't need to eat. He managed to flatten against the wall as Jules zipped past, swearing in German as his side twinged.

Jules: She flew all the way downstairs, sliding on her own silver stream, and landed with a small thud as her purple-socked-feed hit the wood. "I love this... no crappy Rainbow." She smiled and crossed her arms looking at her shiny wake. She looked at her reflection in the glass of a picture frame on the wall and smiled at the recognition of her own eyes also being silver. "Cool."

Tigra: Tigra yawned and stretched, her ears pricked up. "Party?" she mumbled sleepily. She climbed out of her nest and pulled some clothes on. A brand new pair of denim hotpants and a white halter top. Yawning again and running her brush over her hair she stepped out into the hall and blinked at the trail of glitter.

Selene: Selene paced down the hallway, following the trail of terrifying sparkles. She winced every time someone shouted through the entire mansion.Stopping by the phone, she grabbed the phone book and weighed it in her hands. Solid and heavy - perfectly suited to smash whatever leprechauns or fairies might have infested the school this time.

Jay: Jay readjusted his arm in the sling and got his balance back, pulling his remaining wing in close and resuming his careful walk downstairs. Damnit, he would get used to the wing again. He ran his hand through his hair no, it's not meant to be a mohawk and followed the trail.

Tigra: She made her way down the stairs, tail swishing in her curiosity. She bumped into Selene and eyed the phonebook, "Um... what's with the glitter?"

Jules: "Spaaaaaaaaarkles!" Julie sang as she slid on her silver-streak, like some kind of surf board, over to Selene and... the new Cat. "Hey! We got a new kitty!" She dropped to the ground and patted Tigra on the head. "Kitteh, meow?"

Kitty: Kitty followed Julie's trail heading down the steps when she met up with Jay. "Hey, you're out of the medlab! You must be feeling better?" she asked hopefully, stopping beside him.

Tigra: She raised a russet eyebrow at the girl patting her. "Kitteh bites." she replied.

Selene: She turned the corner and stepped into the rec room, the heavy book cautiously raised above her shoulder. Then something orange and fuzzy bumped into her, causing Selene to give a surprised squeak and drop the book. "I'm... not sure..." she panted, trying to calm down as she looked at Tigra. She instantly squeaked again when she was surrounded by more sparkles.

Jules: "Kitteh, noooo!" Julie backed up quickly to Kitty. "Oh! Speaking of Kitty!" She hugged her. "Yay, thank you for saving me! I feel all sorts of better!" And in denial, but whatever

Jay: Jay blinked for a moment before smiling at Kitty. "Yeah...see, told you I was invincible."

Tigra: Tigra blinked at the girl moving closer to Selene. "I'm scared of her... is that normal?"

Jay: He nearly jumped at the sudden excited Jules. Just because I have Darren in my head, doesn't mean I have his sensors.

Selene: "Fear is a perfectly reasonable and justified reaction in this case," Selene whispered back to Tigra.

Tigra: "Okay good..." She picked up the phone book and offered it to Selene, "Yours I believe."

Kitty: She started to answer Jay when Julie grabbed her in a death hug. "I'm just glad y-!" she cut off in a surprised yelp and patted her back. "And glad to have you back Julie... you can let go now?"

Jules: "Yes!" She said and did so. "Look at my eyes! Silvery!" She pulled her eyelids down shoved her head to Kitty's. "Seee?!"

Selene: "Thanks." Selene took the phone book and tucked it under her arm; just in case. Then she turned towards the others who had walked in. "Hello there."

Selene: "May I poke them," Selene asked, curiously leaning closer to Julie.

Jay: Jay edged past everyone into the recroom. "Hey, so what's the noise about?" Fuck, his voice still sounded exactly like Darren's, didn't it? "Hey Sel." He smiled at her warmly.

Tigra: She moved even closer to Selene, bumping into her. Lots of new people. She kept quiet.

Kitty: "Wow, silver indeed," she laughed. "So, Dr. McCoy look at her hand?" Kitty bit her bottom lip a little.

Selene: "How are you feeling today," she asked Jay, doing a surprisingly good job of not staring at his missing wing.

Tigra: Tigra stared because she'd never seen someone with blue skin before. Or wings. Well, wing. Her tail came almost to a complete stop.

Jules: "My hand?" She looked at it and counted five fingers. "Oh wait, the other one!" She looked at her other hand and wibbled her bottom lip. The fingers were there, they were stitched on, and she had her hand covered in bandages. "How'd I forget about that?"

Jay: Jay grinned, though it felt fake, slipping into a wry smirk. "'Course. It's only a flesh wound." He had an insane urge, almost hard to ignore, to wrap his good arm around her. Fuck.

Jules: Julie looked at Jay. "Am I high... or are you differently colored?"

Selene: "What happened to your eyes... and hand," Selene reluctantly pointed at Julie's specified parts. She looked back at Jay and nodded. "That's good to hear. Darren has been worrying a lot about you."

Kitty: Because you do too many drugs?? Kitty retorted silently at Julie. "You've been through alot. Probably still in shock a little, maybe?"

Tigra: Her gaze was drawn to the girl's hand, she wondered what had happened but it was rude to ask - she didn't know any of them.

Jules: "I.... had an accident." Julie lied flatly. "And I think we should celebrate everyone being happy and fun and alive! So I got some alcohol from... somewhere." She held up a bottle of vintage champagne. "I'm told this stuff is good."

Jay: Jay turned a look to Jules, remaining wing twitching, before finally noticing the new girl. Wow, another cat? He glanced back to Selene, deciding to stay with her and Kitty for now. "I'm sure Darren is." He smiled. "Uh...is he...okay?"

Selene: Selene wouldn't have needed any psychic abilities to know Julie was lying, but decided that everyone had a right to their secrets. Well, actually she believed that only she herself had that right; everyone else was fair game. It just didn't interest her that much at the moment.

Tigra: "I'm gonna get something to eat..." Tigra mumbled and headed for the kitchen door. Seemed the students that knew eachother had some catching up to do and probably didn't want a stranger looking on.

Selene: Selene glanced back at Jay, giving a brief nod. "I think he is," she said. "Considering the circumstances, anyway. In fact, he's going through something similar as you - just in reverse." She gesticulated at him. "The voice and look and personality thing... it's quite strange, actually."

Jules: "No Tigger, wait!" She rushed over and pulled at the tail. "You can't go, we're gonna start drinking Shamp-ag-nuh!"

Selene: "I think we'll need glasses," Selene pointed out, nodding in the direction of Julie's champagne.

Jay: Oh thank god. Jay breathed out a sigh of relief and dropped his voice, edging up to her. "I haven't...told anyone...about it, thought he'd prefer if I kept it to myself." Secretive fucker. "But I can't...stop the voice or...how he acts...wait, does he look like Ja-me?"

Kitty: Kitty's attention was focused so much on Jay and Julie, she didn't even notice the 'new girl'. "Oh dear..." Not another one... she was a cat - sort of like Hector's girlfriend. But like a tiger instead of a housecat. "Who's she?" Kitty whispered to Sel and Jay.

Tigra: Tigra yowled at the tug on her tail and turned quickly. Managing to stop herself just in time before she clawed the girl. "OW!" She glared at her.

Jay: Jay blinked. "Uuuuuh...Tigra." He shrugged. He hadn't met her, but Darren knew fucking everything.

Selene: "Somewhat," Selene replied under her breath. "His hair is red, at least. And he seems to have inherited your accent." She looked up at Kitty. "Yes, Tigra. We found her in the woods and she followed us home."

Jules: "Gah!" Julie zipped away from the glare and potential swipe and zipped over to Selene. She hugged Selene, who she had never actually properly met, as the silver dust settled around Selene's feet.

Kitty: "Julie! Stop it! Let her tail go! You want to loose fingers off your good hand?!" Kitty shrieked and hopped back.

Selene: Selene tensed up and turned stiff as a board, staring ahead with wide eyes. "Please..." she said. "Someone get it off me..."

Tigra: Tigra smoothed her ruffled fur down and stalked off towards the kitchen. "It's attached you know!" She called back as the door swung closed behind her.

Jay: Jay's remaining wing flared, which made him both grab at his bad shoulder and grit his teeth on a sharp moan of pain and sent him staggering back from lack of balance. "Fuck! Jesus, let go of her!" He scowled at Jules, his back throbbing.

Kitty: Kitty pulled at Julie. "Julie, get off Selene. She doesn't like that. Come on.... down girl..." she coaxed.

Jules: "Okay, okay! Jeez!" She ran her hands through her hair and looked to the floor, embarrassed. "I just... got scared y'know? Bad last couple of weeks." She looked to Selene and half-smiled. "I'm sorry..."

Selene: Selene frowned at Jay's sudden protectiveness, before giving Kitty a faint smile and going on to nod at Julie. "It's fine," she said. "Bone crushing hugs without permission are a bad idea, though. Unless I ask for them."

Jay: Jay waited until the pain had lessened, closing his eyes. "Sorry...that was...not me. Bad couple of days for me too." He needed to see Darren about this. He could barely tell which thoughts and reactions were meant to be his.

Jay: "And if you do ask for them, babe?"

Tigra: Moments later, Tigra stepped out of the kitchen with raw steak to make it better. She even remembered a plate because she didn't want to get a stain on her new white top. She curled up on the sofa and chewed on it.

Jules: Julie pointed to Tigra. "Tigger's eating raw meat! That's so bad for you!"

Tigra: "Tigra." She corrected, "And it's not bad for me at all - It's all I've eaten for the past two years." she rolled her eyes.

Tigra: "And steak is much nicer than pigeon." She added as an afterthought. Everyone needed to know this.

Kitty: "Well... she's not exactly like the rest of us though is she?" Kitty tried hard to remember if she'd ever know Hepzibah to eat raw meat... nothing came to mind. She seemed to favor milkshakes and junk food.

Selene: "Perhaps we should sit down," Selene suggested, then almost choked when she had to cough in response to Jay's words. Ah, right, the not-so-vulcan-mind-meld. It wasn't his fault, after all. Which didn't mean she would let him get away with it. Not when the opportunity to tease presented itself. "Then you may do much more with your hands than just put them around me."

Jules: Julie watched Tigra mow down the steak. ".... I think I want some alcohol." She sat down with the rest after she gathered some glasses and prepared to pop the top of the champagne with a wine bottle opener. "The cork's gonna pop across the room, everyone cover your eyes!"

Tigra: Tigra abandoned her steak and hopped over the back of the sofa, crouching on the floor.

Selene: Selene held the phone book in front of her face for protection.

Jay: Jay smirked, the Darren in him moving over to her and sliding his good arm around her. "Bad girl." He purred into her ear, the Jay-thoughts screaming uselessly at him.

Jules: She pulled the lever down on the wine-opener, and there was a loud *pop* as the cork flew out and ricocheted off walls. She quickly (as in with super-speed quickly) pulled the glasses under the oozing, bubbly, alcohol stream that flowed from the spout.

Jules: She filled each one up and placed the bottle on the counter top. "To....Being alive?"

Tigra: Tigra watched the cork progress around the room with interest. Then she jumped on it.

Kitty: KItty solidified as the cork came to rest on the floor and watched Tigra go after it, wide eyed.

Selene: Selene blinked when Jay didn't at all react the way she had expected. She put the phone book down. "Darren calls me that all the time," she said as a reminder about who was who. She put on a smirk. "Then again, I do my best to maintain that reputation."

Jay: "I'm happy to-" Jay blinked at her blankly for a moment as his thoughts and instincts crossed over. "...Shit!" The hand was removed, going to cover his mouth, eyes wide and face going nearly purple from embarrassment. "Oh fuck, Sel, I-I'm sorry-" Oh no, Darren was going to fucking kill him!

Tigra: Tigra pawed at the cork and chased it around the floor. Fun!

Jules: Julie watched the two with great interest. She nudged Tiger-Girl with her foot and put her head down to her level. "I have no idea what it's going on, but I'm loving the Drama-Llama."

Tigra: Tigra blinked at the face speaking to her for a moment. Llama? She looked down at the cork then back up at the face. "Uh..." She twitched her tail, "Whoops.... couldn't help myself..." She got to her feet.

Selene: Selene chuckled and smirked mischievously at Jay. "I find it rather amusing, to be honest," she said. "You actually do sound like him."

Selene: She had watched Tigra pounce the cork, making a mental note to conduct experiments with randomly deployed balls of yarn later.

Jay: Jay just blushed harder, shaking his head. "...I can't believe I just did that." He half-murmured. "I uh..." That had just been the Darren residue, right? Yeah. Had to be. Sel was Darren's girlfriend, so it was logical that...he'd react as Darren would...that didn't change the fact Darren was going to fucking kill him.

Selene: "I'd say you're even more Darren than Darren himself at the moment," Selene mused. "Which is absolutely strange and outlandish, of course; but I guess that's why I find it that amusing."

Jay: Jay scratched the back of his head, the blush fading a little. "You mean he's acting like me? Poor bastard." He suddenly realised Tigra and Jules were both watching them...and the blush came back hard. Oh fuck. "It isn't what it looks like!"

Tigra: Tigra blinked, "What isn't what it looks like?" She looked at Selene then back at the blue guy. "I just embarrassed myself but I'm glad if you didn't notice." She hopped over the back of the sofa again and returned to her steak.

Jules: "What is it supposed to look like, then?" Julie asked, downing her second glass of champagne. MORE she thought to herself.

Jay: "Not - I mean - that - fuck." Jay floundered, looking to Selene for help.

Tigra: Tigra raised her eyebrows, putting down her empty plate. The scents were all over the place. She giggled.

Jay: Part of him was kinda glad for this, though, as he reached for a glass of bubbly to hide behind. At least he wasn't thinking about the missing wing.

Jules: Julie poured more of the champagne in her glass and gulped it down. "Anyone else need more?" She asked, a screwed smile washing across her face.

Selene: "Spare the poor boy the blushes," Selene said, chuckling to herself as she reached for her own glass of champagne. She smirked at the others. "It's just that he's madly smitten by me and doesn't know how to properly express it." Yes, being evil felt good. Selene sipped on her glass.

Tigra: Tigra sniffed at the champagne delicately, wrinkling her nose. "Um... someone else can have mine...."

Jules: "H'okay!" She reached, grabbed hers, and downed it.

Tigra: She blinked, "Wow... careful there, you'll take someone's eye out...."

Jules: Julie hiccupped. "Wha?"

Tigra: "Think maybe you should slow down?" She pulled her tail into her lap.

Jules: "That word's not in my vocabrilery."

Jay: "I'm not!" Jay blushed, giving her a half-evil glare. "You know I'm not! I just..." He couldn't blurt it out in front of the other two girls. Man, Sel was evil, but that was why he loved her - no he fucking didn't! He whimpered, downing the champagne.

Jules: She reached out and patted Jay's hand. "It's okay, I fall for people I can't have all the time too. Like Hector, Alex, Christopher, Professor McCoy, Remy, Professor Drake, so on and so forth."

Tigra: "I recognise exactly one of those names..." Tigra frowned, "Actually... don't mean to sound rude.... but, while scents are great I can't name you by those so... some names would be appreciated...."

Selene: "Now look at that; he's in denial," Selene said and sipped on her champagne again. She reached over to tousle Jay's hair - which was strangely Darren-ish. "I'm still Selene," she told Tigra. "And with some luck, I'll be her tomorrow, too."

Jay: "No, you don't understand, it's not that-" Jay bit his lip, shooting Sel a look but automatically leaning into her hair, giving up trying to fight it. "Uh...I'm Da-Jay. Jay. Short for Joshua. And you're Tigra, right? You were...living in the forest?" Damn, Darren really did have eyes everywhere...

Jules: "I'm Julie Power!" Julie exclaimed, nearly tumbling back in her seat. "Gah! Hehehahehea-snort-heahahahaw!"

Tigra: Tigra grinned at Selene, "Well that's reassuring." She climbed up onto the back of the sofa and perched there, her tail swishing behind her. She nodded at Jay, "Yep I was living out there for quite a while." She raised an eyebrow at Julie, "Er... are you okay?" she leaned to look at her.

Selene: "Definitely not," Selene answered Tigra's question.

Jules: "I'm fffffffine!" She said, swatting away Tigra's concerns like a moth in front of her face. "I'm just trying to be happy, y'know? 'Cause sad is so sad. And lonely... and painful." She looked at Selene. "I'll be right back." She zipped away with silver and glitter remaining where she had stood.

Selene: "I'm afraid of what she might bring back with her," Selene commented.

Tigra: "What the heck is with all the glitter?" She blinked at it, resisting the urge to sniff.

Jules: There was some crashing sounds, being she was running at a high velocity, drunk, and some thuds and swears when finally she flung herself back to where she was sitting before most of the silver sparkles had even settled. She had a bottle of scotch in her hand. "It's something with the vaccine."

Tigra: "Vaccine?" She was sure she knew what that was, "Oh! for that virus thing? I need to get me one of those... though I'm not sure I wanna sprinkle glitter everywhere...."

Selene: "That actually doesn't look too bad," Selene corrected herself, glancing at the bottle Julie had brought along.

Jay: "Yeah...same with the blue for me." Jay nodded, looking down into his half-full flute of champagne, back smarting. "You wanna sit down, babe?"

Tigra: She stared at Jay again, she didn't want to be blue either! "On second thought I think I'll pass on the vaccine...."

Jules: "Scotch! Scotchy-scotch-scotch, there it goes down, down into m'belly! Mmm, mmm, mmm!" She rubbed her tummy and rocked back and forth.

Jay: "Oh, trust me, babes, you don't want to pass on it. Jay was in a coma and ne- fuck it, I was in in a coma. Nearly died from it too. It kills, if you catch it."

Tigra: "Uh... should you be drinking that much?" She eyed the girl carefully, then turned back to Jay, "But I don't want my fur to fall out!" she'd remembered where she knew about the vaccine. Kyle had mentioned it.

Selene: "Only if there's free space left in your lap," Selene replied, flashing Jay a grin while she ran her index finger underneath his chin. The only way this could be more fun was if Darren would be there.

Jules: "Scotch?!" She asked, practically shoving the bottle in Selene's face, waiting for her to take it so she could slouch over the arm rest of the chair.

Selene: "Well, the side effects are quite random," she told Tigra. "So, your fur might not be in any danger. Then again, you could just as well grow a pair of antlers."

Tigra: Tigra's hands went to her head, she looked horrified at the thought. She jumped off the sofa and went to lurk under the pool table.

Selene: "Yes, thank you." Selene took the bottle from Julie and eyed it.

Jay: Jay purred a little, once more putting his good arm around Selene's waist. "Sure I can find some, babe."

Jules: Julie frowned and let herself slouch over the cushions. "I got no one to huggle me..." She hurked and burped. "G'oof.... I don't wanna get shot or hunted..."

Selene: "Excellent," Selene said and carefully settled in Jay's lap. She then proceeded to refill her empty glass with some of the Scotch.

Tigra: Realising that no one was going to attack her right now with the vaccine, Tigra cautiously crawled out from under the table and up onto the sofa again, settling into the seat this time.

Jules: "Kinkping is a jerk!" She said, raising her fist above her sunken head and sighing. "We should... we should go .... pee on his house!"

Selene: "Who," Selene asked, frowning at the weird girl. She took a good swallow from her refilled glass.

Tigra: "Who's... um... kinkping?" she blinked at Julie, poking at her a little. She didn't seem okay at all.

Jules: "He's a big, fat, ugly, jerk!" She said, raising her head quickly and shouting. "Ooh, wow too fast!!" She slumped to the floor, clinging to the chair, and giggled.

Jay: Jay leant his head carefully against Selene, hand on her hip, watching Jules carefully as he finished the champagne and held out the glass for some scotch wordlessly. Thanks to the empty stomach, he was already feeling tipsy. But he didn't get drunk...right?

Tigra: Tigra crawled off the sofa and sat next to Julie on the floor. "Think maybe you had enough to drink now...."

Selene: "If she passes out, we need to decide on where to drop her off," Selene remarked, her gaze passing over the others. "I vote Ellis Island." She refilled Jay's glass and then her own.

Jay: "Top of the Empire State Building." Jay grinned, downing half the glass and only coughing a little. Oh wow, his back wasn't hurting.

Jules: "I wanna go pee on his car!" She said, crawling up the chair and using it to hold onto the spining world and keep her standing as she raised her legs. "I'm gonna go, right now!" She brushed her purple skirt, as if there was dirt on it, and looked to Jay lazily smiling. "I'm gonna go pee on his car."

Tigra: "Do you even know where that is?" Tigra watched her, "And can you get there without falling on your ass?"

Jules: She turned and the silver streak appeared again and flew out the door. "Who's coming?" She hollared as she went out to the driveway.

Tigra: "Uh... should we follow her?" She looked at the others.

Selene: "I'm rather glad I don't have a car," Selene commented, slightly tilting her head as she watched this train wreck in progress. She emptied her glass, then gave both Jay and herself a refill. At least the drinks were good and the Julie-provided show entertaining.

Jules: Julie found the nicest looking car. "Kinkping's car!" She accused. "I'd recognize it anywhere!" She got on the hood and pulled down her panties. "I hkkkate you!"

Selene: "She's drunk out of her senses," Selene remarked, looking at the feline mutant. "So of course we should let her go. She knows exactly what she's doing."

Jay: "Nope, I say we let her have her fun." Jay grinned easily, leaning his head on Selene's as dizziness hit.

Tigra: "She's really drunk... she might not make it...." Tigra sniffed at the trail and started to follow it.

Selene: Selene casually stroked Jay's head as she looked after Tigra. "That party dissolved rather quickly," she remarked.

Jay: "I'm sure we can keep the party going ourselves, babes." Jay raised his glass at her with a grin, before knocking it back, swaying a little, remaining wing curling slightly.

Tigra: Tigra followed the scent out of habit, despite the obvious trail of glitter, to see if she could find Julie.

Selene: Despite her progressing intoxication, Selene briefly wondered if she really had enough mischievous evil in her to continue to tease Jay. She almost had to laugh out loud at her own pointless mental question, when in fact she should have been asking herself why the idea of messing with other people's head for her own amusement hadn't occurred to her before.

Selene: "So you think you can keep me entertained," Selene asked, smirking at Jay.

Jay: There was a definite feeling of generic wrong-ness about the fact that this wasn't right. "I...can?" He frowned a little. "I'm sure I could find something to amuse you..."

Selene: A grin appeared on her face, while a voice in the back of her mind reminded her that for doing this, Darren would most likely spank her and kill Jay. She was fine with either, and so continued to put her arms around him and leaned against him, pushing him back into the couch.

Jules: Julie was passed out, with her skirt up and panties, thankfully, also back on, and sprawled on the lawn. I did it! I peed on his stupid car! I'm AWESOME! she had thought to herself.

Tigra: Tigra found Julie and stopped beside her, sitting down, "Um.... you okay there?"

Jules: She snored loudly in reply.

Tigra: Tigra frowned and bent to pick her up.

Jay: Jay grinned - until his back arched in pain, the pressure against his back making him cry out. Fuck! Fuck, why was Selene on - oh fuck, no, no, this wasn't right - through the pain, he pushed Selene off him, scrambling off the sofa, panting and whimpering in pain, gold eyes wide. "What - why - w-why're you - oh fuck-"

Tigra: Tigra carried Julie back into the house and into the recroom, "If someone can give me directions to her room I... what happened?" She blinked at them and at the scents in the room.

Selene: Selene tumbled off Darren's lap and ended up tumbling to the floor. No, wait, this had been Jay's lap. Right. She laughed to herself and looked around for her glass. "Oh, yes, you're not him," she said, settling for the bottle of Scotch instead. "I forgot."

Jay: He gave Selene one last horrified stare, nearly in tears and not just from the pain. Oh god, no, no, this wasn't fair! He turned, nearly bolting for the door, staggering and falling before managing to scrabble to his feet and running out. Oh god...I'm sorry Darren...oh god... Tears started to fall as he ran blindly, nearly falling several times.

Tigra: Tigra stepped back to let him pass and turned back to Selene, "Um... what just happened?"

Selene: "I think he broke up with me," Selene replied, putting on a coy expression as she looked up at Tigra. She then brought the open bottle up to her lips and took a decently sized swallow.

Jules: Julie's eyes watched Jay run out of the room. She then swung her head to Tigra. "They're cute together... I like them." She pulled herself up to Tigra's eyes and looked into them. "I like you too." She kissed her on the lips. "Wow, why'd I just do that?" She then passed out in Tigra's arms.

Tigra: "I... um... what?" she nearly dropped Julie in surprise. "Uhh..."

[puppygirl]

Timeline - This is actually meant to be dated before the Jay/Kitty.

Darren: It had been a long night, and now Darren was waiting at Jay's bedside waiting for the drugs to wear off and his friend to wake up, sitting with his head held in his hands, Jay's persona was still very much at the fore.

Jay: Jay stirred groggily, remaining wing twitching on the supporting bed as he started to resurface. He let out a groan at the half-felt pain, fingers tightening in the pillows weakly. Why was he hurting? The world was...frighteningly silent, forcing his eyes open as he fought against the heaviness of the anesthetic, barely able to make out blurs.

Darren: Remember, he's Jay, I'm Darren, "Cockatiel?" He could tell the guy was awake, but if he was with it or not was another question, "Y'all awake?"

Jay: "Mmmmm..." He tried to move, but the heaviness wasn't shifting, and as soon as he tried a pain shot down his back and across his shoulders that made him whimper. "J-Jay?" He slurred. No...no...wasn't right. Not Jay. Darren. Wasn't it? Fuck. He sank back on the bed, closing his eyes.

Darren: "Nope, dispite the hick accent ah'm Darren and y'all're Jay," he sat up properly, "ah'd ask y' how y' felt but ... stupid question huh?"

Jay: "Not a hick." Jay mumbled into the pillow, grabbing hold of that piece of information and holding onto it. He was Jay. Right. Despite the memories and the accent. He forced himself awake. "...Hurts..." Why'd it hurt again? He tried to push himself up to take a look but nearly cried out, gripping his pillow until the pain went away.

Darren: "Careful," Darren put his hand on Jay's good shoulder to try and stop him moving too much, "Try not t' move too much ..." man ... Jay sounded exactly like him, it was kinda freaky, "can y'all remember anything that happened yesterday?"

Jay: "I remember...nngh, I remember reading in our room and petting Spook but..." No, that wasn't right. He hissed, eyes closed, the feel of J-Darren's hand on his shoulder reassuring. "That's...not the right memory, is it?" Something was looming, something he didn't want to remember - fuck, no, no way, that hadn't happened...

Darren: "Nope, that's me," he could feel Jay shaking under the covers, "Hey, it-it's okay ... y' safe at the school."

Jay: "Oh...oh fuck..." The remaining wing twitched at the realisation. "M-my wing..." No, that couldn't have happened, this was just a nightmare. "No, that can't be right...I-I can't fly with one wing."

Darren: Darren didn't really know what to say to that, Jay was right, he wouldn't be able to fly with only one wing, "Y' alive, that's the main thing ami."

Jay: Jay felt his mind actually numb at that. "Wh-what about you? Why're you talking like me?" He swallowed thickly. Stupid question. But anything so that he didn't have to concentrate on that, breath hitching as his back twinged again, pain becoming more prominent as the anesthetic left his system slowly.

Darren: "Same reason y'all're talkin' like me, it's a pain in the ass, seriously," Darren said, trying to change the subject, "Y'all still got me in y' head then?"

Jay: "I-I can remember you...everything it's..." He trailed off. "...Hard." Jay dropped his head to the pillow again, fighting against the overwhelming memories. "Yeah...you're still in my head, or I'm in yours, I-I can't tell..."

Darren: "Ah'm in y'head, for sure, y' defienetly Joshua Jospeh Jameson, y' poor bastard," Darren's smile faded a little at that, "... Everythin'? Y'all can remember everythin' about me?"

Jay: "You can remember all of mine, right?" Not that there was all that much. "...God, Darren, I had no idea..." There was...everything, the Phalanx, his dad, the missing six years...he could remember being in SHIELD, giving Stryker the finger...absorbing people...fuck.

Darren: "... Yeah, everythin', but ah hoped that was just 'cos of mah perfect computer memory," Darren said, looking down and mind racing, fuck ... if this was a security risk then he knew what his orders would be ... but he couldn't, Jay was his best friend!

Jay: Talking of Stryker and SHIELD... "Black Ops...yeah, I know, you're in them too." His fingers gripped the pillow but even in the drugged state...Darren wouldn't, would he? No, no, he was...Jay was his best friend, he knew that now. Orders were orders, though, and Darren had done worse... "...What now?" He almost whispered. "You know I wouldn't say...not a word."

Darren: Darren looked around automatically, but they were alone, "Ah ... ah ain't sure," he confessed, "though ah'm thinkin' maybe it would be a good idea to keep this little development to mahself, Stryker would just love a chance to call me a security risk and send the grunts in here," he shuddered.

Jay: "I'm not going to breathe a word." Jay hissed again as he shifted, shaking off the last of the anesthetic. "There's...so much...fuck, man." He shivered, wing rustling. "I-I can't believe this..."

Darren: "Y'all'd better not," Darren said, "y'all know why I agreed to it, 'cos I love this place, I don't want anything to jepodise that."

Jay: "If I've got you in here, you've got me, so you know me better then that." Jay shook his head. "And I...I know you do, you really do, don't you? Fuck, man..."

Darren: Darren smiled a little, "Yeah ... guess ah do," he relaxed visably, "ah just wish ah knew more about this ... we're in uncharted territory right now Ge-cockatiel."

Jay: Jay caught the slip and turned his head, offering Darren a weak smile. "Yeah...we are. Out of everything you've done, this is the craziest, man. But...thanks. I-I guess being alive and...like this is better than being dead..." Yeah, if he kept telling himself that he'd believe it soon. "But what about you? Everything alright?"

Darren: Yeah, I've had plenty of pratice shareing my head with other people after all, Darren covered with a lazy smile, "Course ah am, ah'm a god remember, and this is just another facet of mah cosmic powers."

Jay: "Cosmic nothing, man." Jay snorted. "I asked if you were alright. Apart from the hick accent." He wiped his eyes. "You know you're going to start lusting after your reflection, right?" Knowing Darren's thought patterns right now...he didn't want the guy thinking about the Phalanx, and Jay needed cheerin- he rubbed his face. Not Jay. He was Jay.

Darren: "Hu-?" Darren started, then it clicked and a set of certain memories that he'd been this far managing to ignore came to the fore in horrible, glorious technocolour, "Aaargh! Oh eeeeeeew!"

Jay: Jay could not hold back the evil chuckle there. "You know, I'm not even sure if that was from you or me, you asshole." He smirked in a very Darren-like way. One distraction, at least if Darren was dealing with that he might not flashback. "You like it really."

Darren: "Ya'll're sick, sick an' twisted, an' I hope ya'll enjoy y' lesbian sex by the way," Darren responded, still flailing, but at least he knew he'd get his revenge.

Jay: "...I hate you." Jay groaned. "I hate you so much. You could've spared me that...I mean, at least I stroked your ego right there." He paused. "Among other things..."

Darren: Darren made a sound that was half chuckle, half choking cough, "Yeah, well y'all can keep dreaming there, 'kay?"

Jay: Jay smiled a little. "You mean you will, Cockatiel." Okay, maybe that had been a little evil, but Darren was evil. "Anyway...not like I'll be thinking about it for a long time." He huffed a little, twitching as it made the pain spike.

Darren: "Yeah, y'all will since y'all're cockatiel," Darren smirked, "an' why's that?"

Jay: "Having a hole in my back might cramp things a little." Jay answered blandly.

Darren: ... I'm a dumbass, "Ah'll think of something Jay, it's all gonna be fine, ah promise."

Jay: "I'll get over it, man. It's not that big a deal." Jay lied. "It's enough that I'm alive, I guess."

Darren: "Liar," Darren said simply, "but y'all had me in your head, so y' know ah'm tellin' the truth, ah'm gonna fix this for ya bro."

Jay: Jay let his head drop to the pillow again. "Yeah...I know you'll try." He smiled a little. "Thanks, man." He honestly couldn't see what Darren could do, even as a super-genius.

Darren: "Ah'll think of something," he said again, trying to convince himself mostly, and studied Jay, "Y'all're getting tired again?"

Jay: "Don't get-" He caught himself. "...Still drowsy from the meds, I guess. And...Sel's probably worried about you." A spike of jealousy that was nothing to do with him, he was sure, came up at that. He could understand that Darren probably needed hugs from her. Or something, which he was trying hard not to think about...

Darren: "Ah'll let y'all sleep then, y' need y' rest. Want me to bring anythin' down later for y'?"

Jay: "I don't know. Find something I like." Jay closed his eyes. Yeah, rest...maybe if he slept, when he woke up he'd find that this was just a fucked up dream or something.

Darren: The part of Jay that was still in his head made some very lewd comments at that, which made Darren flush but suprisingly not flail, "Uuuuh, yeah sure, see y' later then, bro."

Jay: Jay waved his good hand, not opening his eyes. "Later, cockatiel." He murmured tiredly. "Give Sel a hug from me."

Darren: Darren was going to correct Jay, but found he didn't really have the heart for it, so just settled for a, "Later, man," called over his shoulder as he left ... man, this was fucked up ...

[Edited on 10/5/2010 by puppygirl]

[Scumfish]

Jay was curled up under the covers, sobbing weakly as the room spun, memories overlaying the misery of the missing wing and Selene...how could she have done that? Fuck, he couldn't take this, who the hell was he?! He curled up a little tighter, the alcohol still blunting the pain though he was sure the dizziness wasn't all due to that.

Darren pushed open the door to thier room, unlit cigarette between his lips, and stopped in the doorway, he was mostly over thier little ... mind meld and as such was back to normal, apart from the embarassing accent, "Cockatiel?"

Oh fuck...no...Jay actually cringed under the blankets. Darren was going to kill him, he knew that without question, having the guy's personality in his head. Fuck, why'd he let her do that? Why had she done it in the first place?!

"Jay? What's up?" Darren shut the door behind him and came into the room properly, Ha, what's wrong? His fucking wing's gone and I'm asking that?

Shit, he didn't know. Of course he didn't know. She wouldn't have told him...Jay curled up tighter, trying to make the sobbing stop. He'd have to tell him. He was going to have to tell his best mate that he fucked up. "I-I can't-" His voice was thick from crying but unmistakably Darren's own. "Fuck, I c-can't do this-"

Now that was eerie, "Still havin' issues with ..." he made a vague gesture next to his head.

"More'n that, fuck - how'd you deal with it?!" Jay whimpered, sobs dying down a little despite the heavy panic that was sitting in his chest. "I-I can't even tell who's who a-and - I keep...keep acting like you..."

"Seriously?" Darren shrugged and worried his lip, "I ... I dunno man, just do it you know ... well of course you do ..." he scratched at his scalp, he didn't really wanna dwell on the reason he was as good as he was at keeping himself apart, Jay should know that ... should be able to do it himself, thinking about it ...

"I-I can't - fuck, i-if something h-happens I-I react as you a-and-" Jay curled tighter, hands buried in his remaining wing, not noticing the pain of the pulled feathers. He needed to tell him, couldn't hide it from Darren - it wouldn't be fair - but he really didn't want to lose him, not right now. "I-I fucked up, man, really fucked up..."

Darren visably paled, "Shit man, you didn't blow my fucking cover or anything did you!?"

"N-no, no, I can keep se-secrets..." Jay would have preferred that, if he was honest. It was actually better then what he had done. "Definitely now. Oh fuck..." He started sobbing again. "God, I'm so s-sorry, Darren..."

"Well if not that, what have you done?" Darren asked, "Just fucking tell me, yeah?"

"Sel...I-I...I thought...I was you and..." He didn't look at Darren, face hidden as he tried to stop crying. "She...she...kept teasing...th-the part that was you...I-I can't - I couldn't...fuck!" He tightened the wing, burying his hand in his hair and sobbing harder. "W-we didn't...but...oh god, Darren, I'm sorry!"

"WHAT!?" Darren jumped off the bed and reached down to pull off Jay's covers as the anger spiked, "The fuck you do with my girlfriend!?"

Jay didn't bother to move - he knew this was coming and fuck it, no matter what, he felt like he deserved it. His back spasmed as he moved back but he didn't pay it any attention, not meeting Darren's eyes. "J-just now...fuck it, I didn't t-touch her I just...she was...teasing, playing a-and I reacted a-as you or...something, fuck, I don't even know!"

He shuddered. "I-I don't kn-know what she was d-doing, don't know why...fuck, I'm sorry, man, more sorry th-then anything - I'm fucking gay! She's not my girlfriend!" He gulped in air. "Please..." Please what? Please don't hit me? Please don't hate me? Pussy, you felt up his girl!

Darren yanked the cover off and paused with his fist raised to hit Jay, both of them had pretty violent tempers when provoked and right now he could feel the 'Jay' part of his psyche feeding his own anger, "No!? Then what the fuck y' tellin' me y' did then!?"

"I don't fucking know!" Jay's own temper flared before he clawed it back down, pushing himself up and torn between reacting to Darren's anger with his own or flinching back. "She fucking played with me, Darren!" He hiccuped, wiping his face. "Th-thought it was funny to fuck wi-with me like this - I d-didn't even realise until she sat on my lap and my back went!"

"W-we...we didn't do anything I-I swear, I freaked, completely freaked, been u-up here since..." He went to sit properly and the room spun round him, making him slump a little.

Darren was having trouble reigning in his anger, "She what!? Sel wouldn't-" actually ... fuck, yes, yes she would, she would think it was funny.

"Fucking motherfucker!" He punched the wall above Jay's headboard, cracking the plaster, it only made him feel slightly better, "I'm gonna go and see her and find out what the fuck's going on!" he declared, getting up and stalking to the door, "you just stay here."

Jay did flinch at that, lowering his head back to the pillow, lying on his remaining wing and shaking. "Trus' me, I'm not going anywhere." He said shakily, closing his eyes.

[Scumfish]

Jay was asleep, again under the covers, lying on his front. A few handfuls of feathers dotted the bed and floor as he twitched a little, a pale blue instead of the usual dark blue, not having gone to get food while Darren went to see Sel. He'd fallen asleep while possible scenarios played through his head.

Darren pushed open the door and peered into the darkened room, a plate of banana sandwiches in one hand since he was fairly sure Jay hadn't eaten yet and according to his memories that was one of his favourite hangover cures.

He put the plate down on Jay's bedside table and went to sit down on his own bed to wait for him to wake up, smiling a little when he noticed that Patches had hopped up onto Jay's bed and snuggled down to nap with him, curled up under his chin.

Jay twitched again, aware of someone in the room with him on a subconscious level. He opened an eye, focusing on the clock, then on the other occupant - fuck, Darren was back. He forced himself awake, a throb of pain through his shoulder as he automatically tried to push himself up warning him before he actually did it.


"Shit, sorry, I-I-" He pushed himself to sit up, remaining wing stretching a little as he rubbed his eyes sleepily with his good hand, Patches giving him a reproachful look until he scooped her up and into hs sling. Darren didn't look too murderous...

Darren nodded his head towards the plate, "Brought you something to eat, y'all need some water or anything?" He asked as Spook loped out from under the dresser and sat on one booted foot with an almost content expression.

Jay's eyes went to the plate and he blinked, not quite with it. Well...that was a good sign, right? People didn't make things for you if they were going to beat you out of a murderous rage. He pulled the plate over, picking up a sandwich. "...Mesi." He murmured tiredly, the creole odd in Darren's accent. "Uh...no, thanks."

"Sure? You don't wanna get dehydrated or nothing, it'll make you feel even shittier," Darren said, reaching down to scritch Spook behind the ear, the bunny's eyes closing in pleasure.

A slice of banana fell onto Patches' head, and the bunny flinched, sniffed it and then nibbled at it a little. "Yeah...food first." Now that he was eating, Jay realised just how hungry he was. When was the last time he'd eaten? Was that why his head was pounding? And why was Darren being nice to him?

Darren kept on petting Spook, "So when was the last time you ate bro?"

"I...don't know..." Jay didn't look up from his sandwich. "Was headed to the kitchen last night...never got there." He shrugged miserably. "But I know I didn't eat all day yesterday...pretty sure nothing the day before...kinda forgot I guess..."

"You can forget about eating? I thought that was a basic body thing, doesn't it remind you about that?" Darren asked, he couldn't ever remember forgetting to eat back when he'd been human.

"Yeah...I kept getting distracted and putting it off...I do it a lot, remember? Not for...this long...though..." He finished the sandwich, picking up the next one as Patches finished her banana and looked around for another slice hopefully.

Darren let Spook sniff and nip at his finger, "Could be my fault, I don't eat after all," he shrugged, "felling better after that then? Less wurbly?"

"A little..." Jay glanced at Darren warily. "Could do with this just being a nightmare but..." He looked back at his sandwich, picking out another banana slice for Patches. The bunny gave him the most adoring look as she took it from his fingers. "...Heh."

"Just don't give her too much now," Darren said, looking back up at Jay, decided not to say anything about it being a nightmare, let Guan deal with that, he wasn't a shrink.

"Nah, I know. Got everything y'all know about bunnies in here now." Jay shot him a small smile, finishing the second sandwich and scritching Patches as she nibbled the banana, eyes falling half-shut. He stretched out his wing carefully, biting his lip on the pain and letting out a hiss at the crack. Not flying wasn't doing him any good...not that it mattered now.

"Yeah true," Darren said, unsure of how he should approach the subject they needed to discuss.

Jay settled back against the wall carefully, contented bunny curled in his sling and his remaining wing curled around him a little protectively. He didn't look up at Darren. The guy wasn't raging, that was a good sign, but the suspence was going to kill him. "Um..." He'd never been in this position. Bad enough he felt like shit about it...

"Yeah, um," Darren smiled a little wryly, "dunno if you should be appologising or if it should be me you know?"

"Huh." Jay snorted. "I haven't stopped apologising." He concentrated on the rabbit, chewing his lip. "You haven't got anything to be sorry for. I should have had a better handle on it." He drew his legs up, wing curling again. "I'm not even fucking straight and..." He trailed off, shaking his head. Shut up, Joshua.

He moved his legs slightly, dislodging Spook and earning a disaproving look from the rabbit before he ducked back under the bed, "And what? You wanted to fuck my girlfriend?" Darren asked, managing to keep his voice level.

Jay bit his lip and closed his eyes. "I...I...I don't know, I don't think so...I-I don't want to, the...me part is pretty freaked at the idea, it's just...when the wires cross..." He risked a glance at Darren. "I don't touch taken people, Darren, a-and girls...just...just no. You know that. Sel's off-limits in every single fuckin' way, that's why this has messed me up."

"Yeah well ... Sel did say she was teasing you 'cos she though it was funny, just ... yeah, no getting ideas otherwise ... yeah," Darren said a little redundantly, looking a little awkward.

"No worries there. I know it's not...me that reacted like that, I just...I need to...to work out how to stop that happenin'." Jay risked a smile, though it didn't stay around for long. "Can...can you ask...Sel not to do dat until I have a better handle on this? I-I'm not a super-genius, man. And I don't...want this to happen again..."

"Already done, though if something like this ever does happen again, try not to freak out so much, I honestly thought that you guys had cheated on me," Darren said, looking away.

Jay was silent for a little while. "...I don't know why I freaked so much. Nothing happened." He said, finally, wing slumped. "I mean...freakin' when a girl hits on me, yeah, but...I dunno, maybe it was the you-bit as well...and..." He leant his head back against the wall and sighed, closing his eyes. "...All of this is pretty freaky, man."

"Yeah, well ... it's in the past, hopefully this'll all just fade huh?" Darren said, now that the subject of Selene and Jay had been discussed he wanted to get off it as quickly as possible, "sandwiches okay?"

Jay nodded a little, smiling - or trying to. "This mean you're gonna be playing nursemaid until this is healed?" He gestured to his shoulder. "Can't even walk anywhere until the bruising goes down an' Ah'm running out of cigs..."

"Well, I'll at least make sure you don't pass out from starvation or dehydration," Darren smiled back a little as well, "want that water yet?"

"Sure...guess it'll help the headache." He looked down, fingers going through the rabbit's fur. "Haven't said it yet, but...thanks...for gettin' me out of the lake that day...kinda owe you one man."

Darren shrugged again, "You'd have done the same bro, don't worry, you don't owe me anything okay?" He got up, "Shall I get you a drink and some more smokes?"

"Yeah...sure, garcon. I'd like that." Jay gave Darren a half-smile.

"Sweet," Darren walked into the bathroom and returned with a glass of water, "I'll be back in like ten minutes dude," he said before making his way over to their open window and shooting off into the bright sky.

Jay watched Darren shoot off with an insane longing, watching him until he was nothing but a spec in the sky, then let his head fall against the wall, smile gone and wiping his eyes. Fuck. "Thanks, Gede..." He murmured to himself. No, he was not going to be jealous of Darren still being able to fly...really wasn't...

[Scumfish]

Jay was sitting on the windowsill, leg hanging outside, cigarette in hand and staring blankly out. His arm was out of the sling, the ugly bruises under the blue skin and the bandages the only signs of the accident.

Well, besides the missing wing.

...And Darren's 'voice'.

Not that that was a problem. Now that he was actually stopping himself from constantly reacting with it, using Darren's own memories to help him build a wall between the two personalities, he was finding it easier to cope with. He still had his moments, and his accent...well, he was going to change it anyway. New Orleans seriously did sound hickish. He'd never realised until he'd heard it with Darren's ears, so to speak.

The inner Darren was pleased to hear this.

But it was getting easier to ignore the guy's memories and personality, slowly. Part of him almost wanted to reach out for them again, though. They'd been comforting, in their own way, the confusion between him and Darren had been a shock absorber after the accident.

And now that he was pushing it away, the shock had come back. There was...an odd void left behind, filling slowly with the same sort of deep, black depression he'd touched on when Jill had died. But he'd had something to keep him busy after that - burying her, then getting himself healthy enough to get back to the school and...things had rolled in for him to keep him busy...

But this time there was nothing to keep him busy. He doubted Darren would let him any where near the tournament like this - at least until he was healed, which was taking longer then it should. And this wasn't just a broken wing this time. It wasn't a 'leave it for a few weeks and it'll get better'.

Jay shifted his gaze up to the sky. He wasn't going to fly again. Ever.

He wiped his eyes quickly, almost angrily before the tears could fall again. Fuckin' emo. So what if he couldn't fly? At least he was still alive, right? At least he could still walk, although he needed to get used to the imbalance of having the single wing...flying was...was nothing to that. Right?

Who was he trying to convince here?

Darren had promised him that he'd try. But what was there to try? Even if the guy had managed to get the wing, the socket was wrecked. There was simply nothing to repair. If there wasn't a massive part of him digging his heels in, Jay would consider getting the remaining one removed simply because it made walking hard and...just reminded him what he didn't have any more.

...Flying was all he had, after Jill. Childhood as a cripple and then pure, wonderful freedom...he could go anywhere, do anything. Now what? Now all he could do was sing.

Jay wiped his eyes again, but he couldn't stop the tears, climbing back into the room and pulling the blind down and blocking the sky before climbing onto his bed. He wrapped his wing around him, Patches sleeping on his pillow, and ran his fingers through the feathers as a comforter.

He didn't even notice when he pulled a couple out.

[Scumfish]

Drunk was good. Drunk was really good.

Jay liked it when he was so drunk he couldn't stand, could barely see straight. It meant things didn't bug him so much.

Like the stump, f'rinstance. McCoy had said that he could take off the bandages like it was a good thing, and maybe it was, usually. But he'd been in tears as the doctor had taken them off, head bowed and hair hiding his face. Thank fuck for his voice mutation, McCoy hadn't noticed.

Jay was slumped against the wall - funnily enough, on his wingless side - clutching a mostly empty bottle of something that pretended to be absinthe but tasted more like lighter fluid with aniseed flavouring. He didn't care. He was so drunk that everything tasted the same anyway.

Why the fuck was people expecting him to be happy? Sure, he was alive, but he couldn't fucking fly. Didn't sound like a great deal - woo, he was alive! Great! - but to him flying really was everything. The black, dirty depression that had welled up when he'd finally seperated himself from Darren's persona was eating at him daily, making it hard for him to step outside his door to the pitying looks and the well-meaning words.

"Not a fuckin' invalid."

It was making it hard for him to even face Darren. How could he? The guy must have known exactly how he felt and he had saved his life.

Which he was grateful for.

Really.

Jay whined a little and took another mouthful. He told himself that every fucking day and it didn't make a damned bit of difference. He couldn't even look outside any more.

Cain't live if Ah cain't fly.

Stupid, stupid, shouldn't be thinking like this. Darren had saved his life. He should be grateful, even if the guy was avoiding him. Couldn't blame him, he had all of the guy's memories and oh god, the things that were in the boy's head...he didn't want to tell Darren that he'd started having nightmares.

Where was he, anyway? He needed to talk, to babble incoherantly at someone. Kitty was...somewhere and...he couldn't say anything to her, couldn't do that to her. There was no one else in the school and Jill was...

Jill was dead.

Oh god, he'd never felt so alone, never missed his twin quite as much as he did right at that moment. Jay knocked back another few fingerwidths, everything blurring more, shapes and colours running into each other. He couldn't do this alone, couldn't stay grounded.

He sobbed, rocking slightly. He hadn't noticed until McCoy had pointed it out that his remaining wing had bald patches. He didn't know where they'd come from until he'd had it wrapped around himself and realised, suddenly, that he was pulling feathers out in the same way Darren chewed his fingernails.

Ahcain'tdodis.

He turned his head, catching sight of the industrial-sized box of painkillers he had for his back.

No.

A hand was already reaching for them. He still had enough, more then enough, and everything was suddenly focused and sharp and-

-and then...he was in a corridor, he knew that. Couldn't walk, felt wrong, felt sick, black edging his vision. White corridor, there was...oh, medlab? Why was he there?

What'd he done?

He tried to push himself up, gagged slightly and whimpered. Oh, yeah. That was it. The pills, and cheap dime-store booze. What an idiot.

Jay made it to the doors and fell through them, landing heavily on his injured side and crying out as he pulled the stitches. The sound bought running footsteps as he curled in on himself, nearly unconscious, completely lost, voices around him and hands taking him - was this how Jill had felt, right before she died? A hand was prying something out of his hands - oh yeah, he had the box...why'd he have the box in his hand? Why was he here?

Oh fuck, no, why was he here?! They'd make him better!

Jay struggled weakly, against the hands and the unconsciousness, but the black pulled him down, even as he felt someone open his mouth for a tube...

[Scumfish]

<@Jay> Jay was awake, though groggy, curled on his wingless side with the remaining wing half-over him. He was still pale, head pounding and stomach hurting, his throat raw. He stared at the glass of water McCoy had left for him, trying not to think.

<Darren> Darren skidded to a stop outside the room that McCoy had told him Jay was in, and took a moment to compose himelf before knocking on the door, Remember, delicate situation Kent, "Jay-man, you awake in there?"

<@Jay> Jay jumped at the noise, then winced a little, swallowing. Fuck, what did he say? He could pretend he was asleep - no he couldn't, Darren would know. "...Sure." He managed, though he didn't look up.

<Darren> Darren opened the door carefully, man, Jay looked like shit but he wasn't about to say that, "Heya bro, you okay?" he asked, coming into the room and shutting the door behind him.

<@Jay> "Guess Ah'm alive..." Jay didn't look at Darren, not sure if he could actually look him in the eye right now. Did he know?

<Darren> "Well you're awake and talking, so most probably," Darren said, eyeing up the drip Jay was hooked up too, "So ... um, what happened?" He had a pretty good idea what but he wasn't gonna say anything.

<@Jay> Jay shrugged, rubbing his arm. He didn't know what to say, whether to tell Darren outright or lie or let him guess...he knew the guy would appreciate the truth but he couldn't quite say the words. Ah tried to commit suicide. Sorry.

<Darren> "Well, the room was kinda trashed man, I had to clean up, there were broken bottles all over the place," he refrained from telling Jay that he'd had to run Spook to the vet 'cos he'd gotten some glass in his paw, it would just make the guy feel worse, he also decided against telling Jay he'd found all the empty wrappers for the pills the guy had been given, let Jay say that himself ...

<Darren> "Get a bit drunk and angry, bro?"

<@Jay> "...Trashed? Ah don't...remember trashin' it..." He didn't remember anything after picking up the box, except oh god the tube and the vomiting that followed. "Ah-Ah guess...guess Ah did...s-sorry..."

<Darren> "Don't worry, none of my stuff was really wrecked, I just had to hoover a lot," Darren smiled and gave him a small shrug, "So ... um, you remember why you're down here then?"

<@Jay> "...Yeah..." Jay ran his fingers through his wing, still not looking up at Darren. Kinda hard not to. Darren knew, didn't he? Of course he knew, he just wanted Jay to tell him. He swallowed, feeling the ghost of the tube where it had scraped the back of his throat. "C-can y'all...pass d' water, garcon?"

<Darren> Darren picked up the glass, still not moving his eyes from Jay and passed it over, should he prod some more? Or would that just make the guy clam up completely?

<@Jay> Jay took the water, pushing himself up to take a sip, the room wheeling a little as he did. He felt a little like that time Jill had persuaded him to take one of the pills she was so fond of. "...Kitty don't know, does she? D-dat Ah'm down here again, Ah mean..."

<Darren> Well, that's as good as a confession I guess, he shook his head, "Nope, we've just said that you're down here for an infection, it's up to you who you tell and what," he said, biting at his nail and pulling off a small sliver, spitting it onto the floor where it then crumbled into silvery dust.

<@Jay> Jay put the glass back on the table and sat up properly, head in his hands. No, he wasn't going to cry, he didn't really have the right to - except maybe in frustration. "God, Ah'm sorry, Gede..." His voice shook.

<Darren> Darren gave Jay an almost appologetic smile and put a hand on his shoulder after a moment's hessitation, "It's ... okay man, don't say sorry to me," he worried his lip for a moment before asking, "So ... why? I know I've been in your head but I never thought ... was it just 'cos you were drunk?"

<@Jay> Jay almost shrugged off the hand but it was comforting, in an odd way. He dropped his hands into his lap, staring at them, the blue sickly pale. It would be easy enough to pass off as that, really easy, but it was also a lie and...Darren didn't deserve that. "...No...Ah know, Joshua Jameson don't get depressed." The remaining wing twitched and curled, and he glanced at one of the bald patches on it.

<Darren> "Everyone get's depressed, even I get depressed and I don't even have any neurotransmitters or serotonin," Darren said, doing his best at the comfort thing, making a point of not looking at Jay's muissing feathers, "you been talking to Guan about this then?"

<@Jay> "No. D' hell can she help me with?" Jay still didn't look at Darren. "Dere ain't nothin' dat can be done. Ah-Ah was jus'...stupid..." He rubbed his nose, swallowing again. "I-it'll pass." Fuck...why had he ended up in the medlab? Why'd he come down here after doing it?

<Darren> "Well, the fact that you're not dealing with this?" Darren scoffed automatically.

<@Jay> Jay winced at the scoff, going back to staring at his hands. The logical side was telling him Darren was right - or the side that was Darren's persona anyway - but he didn't want to 'talk' about it. He could fly, and he couldn't live without flying, talking wasn't going to fix that. "Ah dealt wit' Jill." He said quietly. "Dis'll...it'll get better..."

<Darren> "I still say you should have gone to Guan about Jill too," Darren said, biting his nail again, this time in slight irritation, he wasn't gonna tell Jay that thanks to thier shared headspace he'd had to go see her a few times to deal with the residual grief Jay had left in his mind, he wasn't sure how the guy would take that, "as well as all the shit you've got from me now."

<@Jay> "Ah cain't, Darren!" Jay suddenly burst out. "Talkin' ain't gonna bring her back an' some shrink ain't gonna stop d' nightmares or give me my wing back!" He raked his hand through the feathers on his wing, though he caught himself before he started pulling, drawing his knees up to his chest and wrapping his arms around them instead as he buried his face in them. "Ah can deal, Ah'll get better..."

<Darren> Darren went to argue ... but what would be the point, he wasn't gonna convince Jay by shouting at him and they'd both just feel worse afterwards, even if it would be satisfying his end, "... Okay sure, whatever man," he shrugged, "just ... don't do this shit again, alright?"

<@Jay> "...Sure." Jay's voice was muffled. He felt even worse now, though on some level he was relieved Darren had come to see him, even knowing what he'd done. And he even meant the promise. He could get through this, he'd show the guy - after all, the only way was up, right?

<@Jay> Though...he couldn't quite stop the inner voice that told him that it didn't matter if he didn't keep the promise. He wouldn't have to deal with the consequences.

<Darren> Not for the first time Darren wished that he was better when it came to the whole comforting and emotional shit, he had the distinct feeling that he was probably only making things worse. He wished he could tell Jay about what he and Sel were working on, but he dare not risk it till they knew it would work ... but it shouldn't be long now, Jay could keep himself alive till then for sure, "Okay bro, you need anything brough down for you?"

<@Jay> "McCoy's keepin' me in for a bit...Ah don't know. Really don't know, Gede..." Jay lay back down, curling up. "Don't know what Ah want any more. Y'all know me, bring whatever. Just...don't tell anyone...please?"

<Darren> "'Course I won't tell anyone, it's your buisness man," Darren said, "it's up to you who you tell, okay, I'll bring you down some clean clothes, want me to sneak Patches down as well?"

<@Jay> "...Wé, mési, ami." Jay murmured. "...Ah didn't break any of your shit, did Ah?"

<Darren> "Nope, think even in your drink fueled rage you knew better then to mess with my shit," Darren smiled.

<@Jay> "...Ah wasn't all dat angry..." Probably. He couldn't really remember. "Where've y'all been, Gede? Ain't seen y' for a while..."

<Darren> "Oh, me and sel are working on a little secret summer project, I'll show it to you when we're done okay?" Darren said breezily.

<@Jay> " 'Kay." Jay closed his eyes. "Darren...? How'd y'all deal wit' d' memories?"

<Darren> Darren smiled, "I have a therapist, you know that."

<@Jay> "Mmm..." Jay opened his eyes, finally looking at him. "Ah'm kinda glad y'all don't sleep, Gede. But Ah need to...still kinda wiped. Y'all mind?"

<Darren> Darren shook his head, "'Course not, you want me to wait with you while you sleep or something?"

<@Jay> Jay hated the flush at Darren's offer. "...Please?"

<Darren> "Sure thing bro," Darren smiled, sitting back, he could take a break for a few hours.

<@Jay> Jay smiled a little, closing his eyes. As stupid as he felt and with all the muddled shit from the suicide attempt, knowing that Darren was in the room was...comforting. It didn't take long for him to finally fall asleep, wing tightly wrapped around himself.

<Darren> Darren let a worried look cross his face once he was sure Jay was asleep, yeah, he could take a small break now, but as soon as Jay woke again he was gonna head back to Sel, they needed to get this finished pronto!

[Scumfish]

Jay sat out on the edge of the patio, remaining wing slumped on the ground beside him and cigarette in hand. He had a bottle beside him - water, nothing else, when he'd got back to his room even the absinthe had been moved - and was staring out to the trees.

Everything since the moment he'd woken up had become oddly surreal to him, like he was out of touch. Almost like he had died and was viewing everything objectively-

Of course, he knew that wasn't the case, much as he really wanted it to be. It was odd, having people ask him if he was okay, telling the same lie of the infection story over and over again because he was too much of a coward to own up to the fact he tried to fucking kill himself.

That would just lead to more questions, pitying looks, or cries of emo, or...nervousness or some such shit. And that would make him admit that despite the promise he'd given Darren, his best fucking friend, the feeling wasn't going away. If anything...it was worse, a kind of desperation wrapping around it all.

Fuck.

He knew that he should see Guan. The rational part of him was ganging up with Darren's persona and telling him to get his ass to the shrink, that this was not how it should be, he was better than this. He could deal with Jill's death better than he had, and he could get over the loss of the wing...eventually. Flying wasn't the only kind of freedom...

...But this was his problem. He was right - talking wouldn't fix things, wouldn't magically regrow his wing, wouldn't give him his sister, wouldn't take away the nightmares and problems that had come in the package with Darren's thoughts and memories. And it might have been the only kind of freedom he had but it was his, his personal thing, something the evangelical bastard couldn't take away from him no matter how hard he tried. It had given him the strength to run, knowing that he was truly unique, let him leave the wheelchair and the bastard and Jill's abuse behind - he wasn't a burden to her, with the wings. She could have left at any time - Jay wouldn't have blamed her, not with what the TV station was putting her through - but she stayed, to look after him, to care for him and when he'd finally manifested...

Jay chuckled despite himself at the memory of her face when she saw his wings for the first time, the first steps he took when he could finally walk, trying to teach him how to fly...

The laughter turned into sobbing and Jay buried his face in his hands as his shoulders shook, wing hitching. And for the first time since he'd left Georgia, he prayed.

"God...where did it all go wrong...?"

[puppygirl]

<Jay> Jay was standing at the edge of the roof - sniffling - and wiping his eyes. He shouldn't have given himself time to think about this, should have just jumped already. It was just...he needed to persuade himself guilt doesn't matter any more. What did it matter to him whether Kitty and Darren were upset?

<Jay> He shifted his weight, lifting a foot slightly, feeling the wind tug at him as he stared down at the ground below. Will it hurt?

<Darren> "Ah-ha! Knew you'd be up here bro!" The door leading from the attic to the roof flew open with a bang and Darren emerged, all wide smiles and happy, pointy hair, "Man, I have got the best fucking news ev-" he paused at the sight of Jay, how he was standing and the look on his face, his own expression freezing, "... Jay man, what you up too?"

<Jay> Jay actually jumped, his remaining wing flaring and pulling him off balance as he half-turned. He was already unbalanced, and the last thing he saw before dropping over the edge backwards was Darren's face. "Fuck!" No, no, this wasn't - not in front of him!

<Darren> Shit! "JAY!" He shot forwards and a respectable fraction of the speed of sound, his arm elongating as he did so. He ended up kneeling on the edge, his arm stretched out to two metre's and firmly gripping Jay by the root of his remaining wing, "Jay!? Fuck! You okay man!?"

<Jay> "Fuck!" Jay's back cracked and the joint nearly dislocated as his fall was suddenly checked, reaching up to grab Darren's arm tightly with his own to try and take the weight off it - though he wasn't sure if the tears were because of the pain or because of...

<Jay> He looked down at the ground between his feet, and got the most unusual feeling - vertigo. He clung to Darren's arm, squeezing his eyes shut. Ah don't wanna do dis, Ah don't wanna do dis - fuck Ah'm an idiot!

<Darren> "Hold up," Darren ordered, getting to his feet he quickly yanked Jay back up onto the roof, setting the guy back on his feet.

<Darren> Once the other man was back on his feet, lacking a shirt collar Darren settled for bodily picking the guy up by his shoulders, thier faces inches appart, and started to scream at him, "What the FUCK did you FUCKING think you were FUCKING doing!? What the hell Joshua!? First off you wash down enough fucking meds to fell a fucking oliphaunt with a bottle of vodka and when that didn't work you decided to go and fucking try to pratice your motherfucking free-basing without a fucking parachute!?"

<Jay> Jay winced as he was shaken, hands going to Darren's wrists to try and stop it. "Don't fucking start wit' me, Kent." He hiccuped, tears still streaming down his face despite his best efforts. "Yeah, Ah did, y'all saved me - again - so why don' we jus' leave it at dat?"

<Darren> "I'll fucking start with you if I fucking want to, you fucking asshole!" He started to shake Jay, almost shaking himself in the throws of his apopaleptic rage, "What the hell you thinking!? You think Blue would be doing any different if she was here, man she'd had fucking broken your nose if she could see you, you ungratefull motherfucker!"

<Jay> That made Jay's temper flare, punching Darren hard enough that the guy dropped him, probably more out of surprise then pain - the guy seemed to forget how strong he was. "Don't - fucking - dare-" He was shaking in rage. "Jus' because y'all were in my fuckin' head doesn' mean you can-" Words failed him as he balled his fists. Anger was good.

<Jay> His wing flared, and he hated the way it unbalanced him, the pull of the wrecked joint on the scar. "Yeah, Ah'm fuckin' ungrateful, Ah get dat, sure. Ah'm also fuckin' grounded! Y'all wouldn't get it though, would ya?! Nothin' can bring you down, dere ain't no shit y'all cain't walk away from, is dere?" Fuck, and the tears were starting again...

<Darren> "I know she fucking died for you down there, and this is how you pay her back!? Jumping off the fucking roof and not even giving me time to fucking fix it for you, well I guess my god-like fucking prowess has come into play again, 'cos I've just built you a new fucking wing, not that you deserve it-" he degenerated into a long, angry stream of germanic curses.

<Jay> Jay opened his mouth to rip into him again - and then just stared as what Darren had said caught up to him, closing his mouth, the anger just - dying. "...Zót gain??" He half-whispered.

<Darren> "Wé," Darren backed off from Jay, "told ya I would, in between watching you with the cameras to make sure you didn't do anything else retarded, douchebag," he said softly.

<Jay> "But..." Jay couldn't get his mind wrapped around what Darren was saying. "Ah-Ah cain't...d' joint...y-y'all did dat...?" He just...stared at him, unsure if he should cry again, trying so hard not to listen to the well of insane hope - maybe he had - maybe he really was that good...

<Darren> "Yep, we've tested it and everything, that's what I came up here to tell you man," Darren ran his hand through his hair, "Sel and me, we've been working on it, and McCoy said that he'd operate to attach the wing if you want?"

<Jay> "If Ah want...?" He repeated faintly, still staring. "Y'all did dat f' me...?" He sat down suddenly, overwhelmed - this had to be a dream or something...there was no way this was possible.

<Darren> "Well ... yeah, I know how much flying means to you," Darren tapped the side of his head, "but didn't think you'd try and kill yourself twice over it man ... we can go down there now if you like?" He offered.

<Jay> "Ah-Ah don't...didn'...wanna...not be able t' fly..." Jay's voice shook, though the tears didn't come, blinking up at Darren. "N-now? B-but d' joint...Ah mean..." He gave up and simply just nodded.

<Darren> "I know about the joint, like I said, it's sorted." Darren smiled and put an arm around Jay's shoulder, "come on, no time to waste right bro?"

<Jay> Jay stood again, nodding and letting Darren guide him off the roof. Oh god...if this worked, he might actually consider going to church again...

[puppygirl]

Jay let out a muffled protest as he started to wake up, the first thought going through his cotton-wool head being that this was becoming way too frequent. He was on his front, and his back was becoming more painful the more aware of his surroundings he was. It also felt oddly...heavy...

Even as he stirred, a muzzy smile slid over his face.

Darren leant over the bed, "Jay? You with me bro?" he asked gently, "how're you feeling, apart from groggy and sore?"

"Lean down a bit further so's Ah can kiss y'all." Jay slurred, the smile widening despite the pain and the drunkeness from the anesthetic. He knew that heaviness, every single pull of muscle making his smile widen. It felt...weird...cold was the best way to describe it. "I-is it...?"

"How about no?" Darren smile though, Jay was obviously feeling a million times better then before and he sat back, "Yep, it's on, McCoy said that the operation was a complete success."

Jay wanted to try to move it, but even he knew that it wouldn't be a good idea until he was a little more with it. And in a little less pain. "...Ow. Ah cain't...cain't believe Ah got it back..."

"Yeah, well you did man," Darren suveyed his handiwork, "It's still kinda rough, but now that we've got the underlaying joint working corrected I'll be able to upgrade it as time goes on," Darren very carefully ran his hand along the edge of the metal wing, "you should be able to fly with it once it's healed and you're back in shape, the only thing I'm kinda worried about is the weight, it still weighs more then your other one ... something to think about in the future."

Jay actually felt the hand over the fake wing, the appendage shivering a little to a chorus of quiet chimes under Darren's hand, making Jay hiss a little. "Dat...dat's weird...an' Ah'm sure you'll figure it out, man."

"You have sensation? How good is it," he placed the tips of three fingers against the metal, "can you tell how many fingers I've got on your wing?"

Jay tried to concentrate through the last of the anesthetic and the pain, the metal twitching jerkily under Darren's hands. "Uuuuh...two? Maybe three? Ah think...it's...not d' same as when y' touch d' other wing..."

"Well, no, guess not even I can advance current technology that far, but you were pretty close," Darren smiled, "how's your control, it's twitching a bit but can you move it a little for me, only a little though, don't strain yourself."

Jay pulled a face, putting it in the pillow so that Darren couldn't see the pain, and tried to spread the wing, as it required less movement. For a few seconds, it didn't respond, making him hold his breath, and then - the wing jerked, twitched and spread fully, nearly knocking over a bookcase.

He stared down the length of it, and started to laugh weakly.

Darren grinned and grabbed hold of the wing, so that the weight of it wouldn't pull on Jay's healing back, "You're gonna need some pratice bro before you're airworthy, you mind though?"

"Fuck no, Ah can wait - y'all sure Ah can fly wit' dis? Promise?" He looked up at Darren, the metallic pinions flexing under Darren's hands - he didn't care how much it hurt, he couldn't give less of a shit about it right now. "How long? When can Ah try?"

"We tested it out and we're sure," he didn't need to tell Jay about Gregory or the other, less lucky avians, he'd probably freak, "and you'll have to recover from surgery first, otherwise you might pull the joint out, and then you'll have to build up your flight muscles again according to McCoy, he says you'll just have to wait and see."

Too much time. Jay bit his lip, but he knew they were all right. "Yeah...alright. Ah can do dat." He flexed the wing again, the movement marginally smoother this time. "How'd y' get it to...respond?"

"Well wires are the same as neves when you look at it, and as for connecting them, well, just a little magic on my part," Darren helped Jay fold the wing in, "I used my power to fuse the two, it was really simple once I figured it out."

Jay reached up and felt the wing, smiling again. Surreal to think that only a few hours ago he'd jumped off the roof - now he wanted to again, but for a totally different reason. "Your power?" Further exploration had his fingers go over his shoulder and root, feeling the scar and - something that felt very similar to Darren's natural form.

"...Localised infection, Gede?" He raised an eyebrow at Darren, glad he actually trusted Darren to know what he was doing.

"Sorta," Darren looked a little sheepish, "it was the only thing I could think of seeing as we don't have any healers, not that I'm sure they'd even be able to do it you know?"

"If it works, right?" Jay ran his hand over the smooth metal, stupid grin coming back again. "Dis is...amazin', Gede. Y'all are right...y're a fuckin' genius." He said sincerely. "Give Sel a hug for me too, will ya?"

"Yeah, I know, I keep saying right?" Darren smiled, patting Jay's feathery wing, "and I will man, you should probably just get some more rest okay?"

"Yeah...rest...rest'll get me better quicker." Jay's voice was half-muffled by the pillow as he closed his eyes, still smiling. "Honestly, Gede...y'all have no idea what dis means...Ah owe y'all one."

"You don't owe me anything man, just get better okay? And make sure you take it easy, if you try and go too far too fast you'll just end up having to wait for longer, kay bro?" Darren said as Jay started to drop off.

"Sure thing, garcon...sure thing." Jay murmured, the dredges of the anesthetic coupled with the warm elation of having the wing back easily pulling him back under. "Mesi..."

"De rien," Darren replied polietly, giving Jay's good wing a gentle squeeze, "sweet dreams bro."

"Mnnm." And with that, Jay was asleep.