1/12 Instance: A Shortage of Distractions

[Starfish]

Timelined for the same day as [Instance]A Fuzzy Rainbow.


rachel: Rachel slipped into the room as quietly as possible just in case Anna was asleep and made her way over to her side, shrugging off the hoodie and tossing it onto the floor. She ran a hand through her hair and squinted through the darkness. Okay, so maybe she didn't have to be quiet. Anna wasn't in here...

Anna: Anna heard someone come into the room and coiled tighter together in her little safe place. She forced an experimental tendril out of a tiny crack to look and see who it was. Oh. She didn't know if she'd be heard, she retracted her tendril.

rachel: She jumped a bit at the thought and looked around again as she moved to pull pajamas from a drawer.

Anna: Anna replied, checking the edges of her box to make sure they were still solid,

rachel: Rachel answered, moving into the bathroom and flipping the light on. She eyed her reflection for a moment, making a face.

Anna: She heard the click of the light,

rachel: she asked as she washed her face.

Anna: Anna paused,

rachel: Rachel looked around for the brush afer drying her face off.

Anna: She re-tested the boundaries of her box, Don't draw attention to the safe place....

rachel: She grabbed her toothbrush and blinked.

Anna: Anna decided to be as vague as she could, No need to say any more than that. Wasn't going to give away her location. What was the point of having a safe place if people knew where it was?

rachel: Finally, she changed into the pajamas she'd grabbed and made her way back into the room. Rachel plopped down on her bed and pulled her laptop toward her.

Anna: Anna replied evasively, She really liked that box. She was grateful for it.

rachel: Rachel replied, waiting for the computer to start.

Anna: Wouldn't have to go out in the big wide world then. Why didn't she think of that before?

rachel: she typed in her password and hit enter.

Anna: She pulled herself tighter together again,

rachel: Rachel gave a shrug.

Anna: Anna would have frowned,

rachel: She nodded.

Anna: She triple check her box. Paranoid much?

rachel:

Anna: Too much space.

rachel: Rachel asked, eyes scanning the screen for the internet icon. She needed to check myspace...

Anna: Anna replied, She couldn't remember, she was getting distracted again, patrolling her tiny space.

rachel: Aaaand, nothing worth looking at on myspace. She hit the power button and closed the laptop, setting it down on the floor by the bed.

Anna: That thought terrified her,

rachel: Rachel chewed on her lip about the breathing in part, resisting the urge to say that maybe Anna could possess them all and have an army.

Anna: The supply cupboard in the medlab was a great make-shift den when she was feeling anxious and so far McCoy and Scott hadn't noticed because they were too busy.

rachel:

Anna: Anna was rapidly realising that the only time she felt truely safe was when she was holed up inside someone else. And it disturbed her.

rachel: She leaned back into her pillows.

Anna: Anna confessed,

rachel: Rachel thought for a moment. This was starting to sound like a conversation they'd had before.

Anna: She wanted to hide forever, that was the problem. She sighed inwardly,

rachel: she gave a shrug.

Anna: She would have closed her eyes if she had any.

rachel: She cringed. Great. Now, Anna was freaking out because of what she'd said. Rachel chewed on her lip as she tried to think of something to say.

Anna:

rachel: That probably was not what Anna wanted to hear....

Anna: She burst out of her box and snaked her way under the duvet, "I don't like me anymore...." She curled up in the dark pulling the duvet around herself tightly.

rachel: Rachel sighed. For having not liked herself -- and sometimes still not liking herself -- she was bad at this. She frowned and glanced over to where Anna's bed would be, "Why not?"

Anna: "Because I'm useless..." Anna replied, trying not to cry, "I can't even heal people properly...."

rachel: "You're not useless.," she insisted, "And, it's not just you that can't heal anyone that's sick. Doesn't work for Josh either."

Anna: "I put Monet in a coma!" Anna couldn't help crying now, she felt awful for that. "I tried to help her and all I did was make it worse!" And damned near killed myself in the process.... "The only thing I'm good at is healing people and I can't even do that right. I'm a failure."

rachel: She made a face at the crying. This just kept getting better and better. "You're not a failure..." Rachel definitely needed to add to that, but she wasn't sure exactly what to add, "You've done good with your healing. I mean, you healed Rahne." Maybe that wasn't the best example since Anna had also been the one to run her over. "And, Wade."

Anna: "Yeah go me... Hit a girl with a car and made Wade weird for ages." she wiped her eyes on her sheet, annoyed with herself for crying at all. "Face it, I'm hopeless..."

rachel: Rachel sighed, "You're not hopeless either." If there was a God, this was probably payback for when people had to deal with her.

Anna: "I am..." Anna knew she was. Non-hopeless people didn't cry under their blankets because they were afraid of their own bedroom. "Don't deserve to be here...."

rachel: "You aren't, and you deserve to be here just as much as anyone else does." She ran a hand through her hair as she tried to think of something else, hesitating a moment before asking, "...If you think you're crazy, have you considered therapy?"

Anna: "Therapy would involve leaving the building..." Anna told her, "And I'm not doing that."

rachel: "Not if you see the therapist that's here."

Anna: "But then people here would know I was seeing a therapist...." Anna lifted the duvet a little to peer out at Rachel from the darkness, "I don't want people to know..."

rachel: Rachel looked over at Anna and gave a shrug, "I don't think it really matters if people know as long as you're getting the help you need. Plus, I don't think people are going to make a huge deal out of it."

Anna: "Are you kidding?" Anna poked her head out to stare disbelievingly at her, "People here already think I've gone off the deep-end - and don't lie to me and say they don't - I've seen the looks I get." She sighed, "How's it going to look if I have to go and get therapy now?"

rachel: "People knew I was crazy. How do you think it looked when I went to get therapy?" she rolled her eyes, "Why give a fuck what everyone else thinks? If they have problems with you getting help for yourself, then they suck."

Anna: "It matters a lot to me what everyone else thinks..." Anna retreated back under her duvet again, "I don't want people to think I'm dangerous anymore...."

rachel: "I bet most people will be glad you're getting help. I know everyone was supportive when I did." Though, Anna hadn't tried to kill herself... or been captured and experimented on...

Anna: "People like you though...." Anna mumbled, "Everyone just thinks I'm annoying..."

rachel: "I'm sure not everyone likes me, and I don't think you're annoying."

Anna: "Right, so one person besides Wade likes me." She sighed, "I'm sorry, I know this whole self-pity thing is probably really boring but I can't seem to work myself out of it anymore... it's just getting worse." She couldn't understand why her normal tactic of diversion wasn't working anymore. Maybe there was just too much stuff she'd ignored back there and it had piled up. There was no where for it to go now.

rachel: "It's not boring, just kinda worrying. I don't mind listening. I'm just not great at the talking part..."

Anna: "That's okay... I'm just babbling... all this stuff goes round in my head all day long..." She really really needed to get it out of there. "So many bad things have happened here, Rae... I'm scared. I want to go home but I'm scared of that too. I don't know what to do. I can't distract myself anymore because there's nothing in the world that could make me forget what's happening now when I see it every day. I feel... trapped...."

rachel: "Well, why are you scared to go home?" Rachel asked, taking in what else she'd said, working on a reply to it, and failing.

Anna: "Because that means airports and planes and outside and the possibility of really bad..." She curled up tighter. If anything happened on that plane and the pressure somehow went, she knew she wouldn't stay cohesive and she'd be straight out into the atmosphere and lost forever.

rachel: "Dealing with it would be worth going home and getting to see your family though, wouldn't it?"

Anna: "Of course it would.... but what if something happened on the plane?" she bit her lip, "Every time I take that form I'm worried there'll be a suden gust of wind and I'll just get blown away forever.... My teke isn't strong enough in that form, it's not that great anyway..."

rachel: "But, there's also the possibility you'd be fine, and you can work on the powers stuff."

Anna: "But what if I'm not fine?" She couldn't shake that worry away, "I'm an only-child...."

rachel: "Me too," she replied, taking a glance at the lump that was Anna, "And, I know this answer won't help, but I dunno."

Anna: "Yeah..." Anna sighed, "I don't either..." she brushed her hair out of her face and snuggled deeper into the duvet, "I wish I was stronger... like you... nothing seems to phase you much..."

rachel: "I'm not as strong as you think.. I just like people to think I am," Rachel snorted and shook her head, "The whole thing with Hepz and May being experimented on freaks the hell out of it, honestly. It just reminds me of everything with Essex. Then, there's the virus, and I don't even want to think about getting that or if someone dies from it."

Anna: "It's the someone dying from it that's bothering me the most.... I know I can heal the virus... I did it already... But Monet's now in a coma so I don't think that's better.... And it nearly killed me to do that." She sighed, "It's not fair that I can't fix this. That's what my mutation's for, isn't it?"

rachel: "Well, at least you know you can do good with yours. Pretty much the only thing mine's good for is being lazy, and I don't need help doing that," Rachel rolled her eyes.

Anna: "I can do the same without them..." Anna sighed, "If you were a mutant-fearing 'normal' person which would you prefer? A mutant Doctor healing you with their powers or a 'normal' doctor, healing you the 'normal' way?"

rachel: She gave a shrug, "Depends. How sick am I supposed to be?"

Anna: "Take your pick..." Anna told her, "It's all the same to the stupidly afraid...."

rachel: "I think if I was dying, I'd take whatever I could get." Rachel shook her head, "But... I guess if i'm supposed to be stupid, then the normal. I dunno. Hard to say since I'm not mutant-fearing."

Anna: "Yeah..." Anna poked her head out again, "I used to be..." She chewed her lip, "Heard a lot of bad things.... Didn't know any mutants til I hit Rahne... Thought they were scary..."

rachel: "I don't think I would've been even if I hadn't gotten my powers. Probably wouldn't have so many issues if I hadn't either."

Anna: "Yeah... I think I'd be a lot better if I was still normal...." She pulled a pillow under her head, "Stupid x-gene."

rachel: "I don't know that I'd be better..." she muttered, chewing on her lip.

Anna: "I'd be at home and not afraid of outside... I love outside.... I miss it..." She sniffed, "Wish I wasn't so crazy...." she sighed, "I think I need something to distract me..."

rachel: Rachel didn't even want to think about where she'd be if she hadn't come to the school. "Like what?"

Anna: "Don't know... something... Something that requires a lot of attention..." She rolled onto her back and stared at the ceiling. "Like finding a cure for this virus..."

rachel: "Because that's something enjoyable..."

Anna: "I didn't say it had to be enjoyable... just distracting." She looked over at Rachel, "If I'm distracted I'm okay. When I have time to stop and think I panic and get lost..."

rachel: She shrugged, "True, and I guess McCoy and Scott could use the help trying to figure stuff out."

Anna: "Yeah... and they need reminding to sleep too..." She curled up again, "Think maybe I'll do that..." she yawned, "If I can't be a doctor I'd make an excellent nurse and tea-lady.... I could be like Mrs Doyle....." She smiled sleepily.

[Elfdame]

Kudos for such realistic dialogue, considering it's a fantasy story. Very well handled, and moved the characters and plot forward.