Summer 2014: Darren and Selene

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Summer 2014: Darren and Selene

Post by puppygirl »

Darren looked at his hand, he appeared to have lost a finger, the stub coated with slivery dust where it had crumbled off, "You know ... this isn't how I pictured my gradu-graduation or honeymoon going at all," he turned his face to Selene, "no one's given me a mirror, how bad is-is-is it?"

"You have to see the good side to all of this," Selene replied, a faint smile curling the edge of her lips. She sat by the side of Darren's bed, both hands resting on his arm. "We should have had the most memorable reception imaginable."

"And I have to admit you could use a thorough make-over," she told him, "but nothing that won't be fixed by some polish."

Darren laughed weakly and ran a hand over his face, "I think my nose fell off ... and I feel kinda ... crispy, like a burnt non-stick pan," he moved the hand so that it was laying gently on top of Selene's, "You gotta point, I don't think anyone will be forgetting that ... at least they didn't grab me before the wed-weding-ing, I'd hate you-you to think I'd left you at the alter."

"Oh, I probably would have hunted you down a whole lot sooner if I had suspected you from getting cold feet and running." Selene chuckled and gave Darren's hand a gentle squeeze. "How did they get their hands on you, anyway? You must have stumbled away quite far in your drunk state."

The only feature Darren had so far been able to reform were his eyebrow ridges, and they lowered in a frown as he tried to think, "I ... I don't know, something has corrupted my memory core, I can remember the wedding and shit but ... the last thing I can remember before waking up in that place is dancing with you ..."

"So I was drunk? Was it ... did Reed have that .exe file on him then or something?"

Selene raised her eyebrows, glancing sideways before she gave an answer. "Yes, he did," she said. "And it could be we all kind of talked you into trying it out. You then fell over and ran off to look for the pool." She bit her lip. "Sorry for that - I guess we caused a lot of trouble through such recklessness."

"I didn't have any problems with it the other night though ... it was fun," Darren winces and let out a snarl of frustration as he tried to think, "Goddamnit! Everything's just been scrambled and I can't piece any of it-" there was a loud snap and a spark of yellow light and a large portion of 'skin' on Darren's head flew off and crumbled to dust as it hit the wall.

The air stunk of burnt wires, "Shit ..." Darren groaned and sank back into the pillows, "Okay, so guess no trying to fix my systems till after the rest of me is fixed ... if it ever is," he squeezed Selene's hand, "None of this is your fault though babe, don't blame yourself, no one knew this was gonna happen."

Selene stared at the smoking stain on the wall. "Is that supposed to happen? You're not going to blow up or spontaneously combust, are you?" She looked back at him, visibly concerned, the lack of sleep taking its toll on her eyes. "And don't worry about that, love. We're married now, remember? From now on it's my duty to blame you for everything."

After flashing him a wicked grin, her expression turned serious again quickly. "Perhaps I should call Danger back in, " she suggested.

"I have no fucking clue, this has never happened to me before," Darren picked at where the skin had flown off, "normally when I suffer from an error I just reset to Warlock mode with that crazy 'self' talk ..." he sighed again, "I ... I dunno what they did to me babe, I dunno if I can fix it either, I just gotta hope that my body can somehow heal from this."

He looked up at her, trying to convey a smile, "Though on the bright side, if you do call her in she probably won't be trying to get into my pants right now, huh?"

"One can never know." Selene put on a tense smile. "She might find your helpless state appealing." She looked down at Darren's hand, still held between her own. "This feels so surreal," she said, swallowing visibly. "I guess all your bragging actually made you appear invincible to me. I never seriously considered that anything might ever happen to you."

"Heeeeey," Darren reached up and stroked down her face, "I'm here and I'm still alive, that's the important thing babe ... I guess it was only a matter of time before someone figured out my weakness ... though ... I still don't get how they've made it so I can't discharge excess energy," if he had an expression it would have darkened.

"But, let's stay focused on the positives right now huh? I mean, I've stopped flakeing so-so that has to be a good sign huh?"

Selene nodded. "Definitely," she said, trying to sounds as reassuring as possible. "And we'll find a way to fix you up completely again. Maybe even give you a pretty new paint job, and some fancy extras. After all, we do have the technology, right?" She smiled at him.

"Yeah, we do," Darren let out an eletroic laugh, "everything's gonna be fine, you'll see."

"Oh, you better be," Selene replied, her smile turning into a grin. "After all, you still owe me that honeymoon vacation. Don't think almost dying gets you out of that, mister."

"Oh hell no! I was looking forwards to it as much as you were, trust me," he stroked her cheek again, "still glad you married me, Mrs. Gallio-Kent?"

"Hey, would I have bothered with the hassle of beating up dozens of Friends if I had second thoughts," Selene asked in return. "It would have been the perfect opportunity to reconsider, no?" She smirked. "So I'd say you can be pretty sure I'll stick with you."

"Good, 'cos you're stuck with me, crispy fried by terrorists or no."

Selene laughed softly and leaned down to put a careful kiss on Darren's forehead. "Beware, though, I now know how to switch you off and reprogram you."

"... Please, don't even joke about that," Darren groaned, poking her nose, but then his voice grew serious, "But ... when i find out who fucked me up like this ... I'll 'switch them off', permemently."

She arched an eyebrow. "Not that I wouldn't share your anger, but whatever happened to X-Men don't kill?"

"I'm a solider, Sel, and if SHIELD had to come in to save my ass, means it's a SHIELD matter to get it cleared up."

Selene cocked her head and put on a thoughtful expression. "Supposed that's how it will be handled, I'd guess it's still General Fury's call what they're going to do with the one responsible." She gave Darren a sincere look. "Don't think I wouldn't understand your desire for vengeance. Believe me, I feel the same way. I just don't want you to get into trouble again."

"Don't worry, I'm not insane enough to go after them in this state," Darren settled back on the pillows, "I'll wait till I'm recovered before going on my bloody hunt for vengence."

"That's not exactly what I meant," Selene said. "I have no doubt in your ability to make them pay. I'm concerned about the consequences. You know as well as I that Xavier might throw you out for doing something rash and stupid."

"I'll probably be thrown out anyway 'cos of the whole SHIELD thing," Darren sighed, "no one likes the idea that the government had a spy in thier mists after all."

Selene bit her lip. "We'll see about that," she said, her hand squeezing Darren's again. "No matter what they may say, I'll have your back. They will understand you had no choice in the matter."

"I hope so babe, I really do," he said, squeezing back.

"There will be enough time to worry about such trivialities later," Selene told him, a sympathetic smile on her lips. "For now, you should only focus on getting fixed again, before one of the freshmen gets the idea to harvest you for spare parts to fix the game console in the rec room."

"... That's a horrifying idea," Darren said, "don't worry, I will babe."

Selene gave him a small nod and leaned over to press another kiss to his forehead. "I'll send in Danger again now, okay? She said something about being eager to try out several new ideas to help you release all that excess energy."

"... Really ... sure you don't wanna stay and chaperone?"

"Why?" Selene faked confusion. "I made her promise she'd be gentle, so you should be fine." She gave his hand a final squeeze, then reluctantly let go and stood.

Darren would have smiled if he could, sensing her reluctance, "I'm sure I'll be fine in that case ... I love you Selene, I'm lucky to have you here to look after me."

Selene paused. "I love you, too," she said with a smile. "And I'll continue to look after you and keep reminding you just how lucky you are to have me."

"Wouldn't have it any other way."
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Summer 2014: Darren and Selene

Post by Scumfish »

There was a knock on the door to warn the occupant that someone was coming in before it opened carefully, admitting a behatted head of red hair. Jay had his graduation hat and robes on, hair actually in a ponytail and neat and a smile despite the state of his best friend. "Hey, Gede...y'all up f' a visit, ami?"

"Do I gots a choice?" Darren put his book down, turning his blank face to Jay and trying not to sound too down, "How did-did the ceremony go?"

Jay's smile turned into a grin as the winged mutant shouldered the door open, pulling in a covered trolley. "Non, y' don't. If Ah'd had my way, d' thing would have been down here, but Ah guess Baldy had a point dat dere jus' wasn' room." He pulled a hat out from under the cloth, plonking it on Darren's head. "Tell y'all d' truth...borin' as hell."

Darren reached up and patted the hat, "Yeeeah, I doubt that would have been fun for anyone ... so what's on the trolly bro?"

"Cain't take Mohammed to d' mountain, bring d' mountain to Mohammed!" He pulled the cloth off, revealing cake, punch, hell even some of the nibbles he'd managed to pilfer. There was even a small coolbox with a few bottles of beer and a small bottle of champagne. "Alright, Ah might be a li'l drunk." Jay confessed with a grin as he sat down on the bed.

"But Ah figured y'all shouldn't be sat here on y' own. Not after dat." He smiled again. "Y'all mind havin' a mini-party right here, ami? After all, y' got some serious shit to celebrate, oui?" He pulled out a scroll, waving it enticingly.

"... Is that my sheep-skin?" Darren sounded hopeful, "Gimme! Gimme!" He pawed at the air for it.

"Ouuui, it is..." Jay dangled it just out of reach with a grin. "But y' gotta ask f' it nicely, ami." Damnit, perfect moment to bribe him for a kiss and he couldn't. Ah well.

"Oh for fuck's sake Jay1" Darren tried to elongate his arm to snatch it ... but to no avail, "just gimme the damn thing!"

Jay laughed - he couldn't help it - as he handed it over, patting Darren's hat. "Dat'll do, Ah guess." He chuckled. "Guess what, dude - Ah passed wit' flyin' colours! Distinctions across d' board. Ah thought Ah was gonna fail composition f' sure but apparently Ah did great." He bounced slightly.

"Of course you did, you had me helping you," Darren hugged his sheep-skin to him protectivly, "I'm still a genius, even when I'm crispy," he reached over and poked Jay's arm, "but seriously, congratulatons man."

Jay grinned. "Yeah, Ah know, Ah'm nothin' without y'all ami. You're d' brains an' d' brawn, Ah'm jus' the pretty face - at least 'til y' get better an' out-pretty me again." He smirked. "Deep-fried rather'n crispy, ami, at least y' lookin' better den when we found you." And he wasn't going to forget that in a hurry. But he shook it off, grabbing a beer. "Y' want?"

"Can't, no mouth," Darren shrugged, "you drink it for me. So how're you holding up after the mission?"

"Ffft. It'll sit in d' fridge den." Jay shrugged. "Me? Besides havin' to stop myself salutin' Fury every five minutes an' bein' hungover, Ah'm fine, ami. New appreciation for d' metal wing - Ah cain't hide from bullets like everyone else, but your shit kept me from bein' shot." He opened the beer, wings pulled tight. "Besides layin' out a few FoHs an' breakin a hand - again - Ah'm good."

He leant back, raising an eyebrow at his best friend. "Ah'm more worried 'bout y'all. Besides bein' stuck down here an' bored t' high hell, Darren, how're y' doin'?" Just because he knew torture was a danger for the job Darren was in, didn't mean he could banish the sight of him being literally fried.

Darren shrugged again, "I'm dealing, I'm more pissed off about missing my honeymoon then anything else ... and the fact I can't even consumate my damned marriage right now," Darren did not want to go into what had happaned right now, "Do you know how Twitch is holding up?"

Jay gave Darren a flat look but left it. With a face as unreadable as his right now he couldn't see what was going on in his head but he could hazard a guess. "He's...patchwork, Ah guess is d' right way of puttin' it. But he's holdin' up. Been stitched back t'gether an' given hard meds from what Ah heard, but he sure as hell ain' pretty."

"Niether of us are, from what I heard, they did us over good," Darren poked the trolly, "So, what're you gonna do now, still wanna do teacher training?" He asked, desperate to change the subject.

"Yup. Looks like my app t' be d' music professor's goin' through, so Ah'm on a year's trainin' under Lorna an' den Ah'm Professor Jameson...well, non, Ah'm not a Jameson no more." His face lit up, happy to get Darren onto happier subjects. "Oh man, Ah didn' tell y', did Ah? Y' know mom and dad had dere fling an' me an' Jill were d' result?"

"Guess what, Mom's filin' for divorce from Jameson an' gettin' a pretty settlement outta it...an' guess who she's ridin' out with?"

"... Eddie's dad?" Darren snorted, "Oh man, that's like a lifetime movie right there! You okay with that though? How's things with you and Slick right now?"

"Oui, my dad too." Jay reminded him. "But yeah. Ever get d' idea your life's a movie? Still, if it means Ah never hafta put up wit' Jameson again...means my name's gonna change t' Brock though. Jeeesus...Ah'm gonna punt d' first kid who asks if Ah'm from Pokemon." He chuckled at his lame joke before shrugging. "Dunno, ain' been able to find him."

"When I'm better I'm gonna have to go beat some more shit outta the little punk," Darren growled, "he said he was gonna come see you ..."

"Eh, leave it, ami. If he ain't got d' balls den he ain't worth d' effort." Jay shrugged. "Ah had a chat wit' Dad, an' dat's all Ah really needed. Just ain' got d' energy for all d' grief holdin' a grudge'll cause." He paused, then grinned. "Hah, look at us, ami, we're all grown up, eh? Both graduated college, both over twenty...dis is scary."

"And married in my case," Darren nodded, "It's strange, now that it's all over huh?"

"Heh. Well, d' school part is, ami, Ah doubt anythin' else is." Jay smirked, taking a swig. "Y'all stayin' here or goin' back to SHIELD?" He really hoped his mutation was being nice enough to hide the hopeful note in his voice, but Darren did have his life after all.

"That depends, I expect Fury'll contact me soon to let me know either way, since my cover has been pretty much blown they might figure they don't need me here anymore," Darren said, sounding a little morose.

"...Oh man." Jay hadn't thought of that. "No, ami, he cain't just take y'all away from here, Ah mean...y' got family an'..." Yes he could. He played with the neck of his bottle, looking down at it. Xavier's without Darren? Well, it wasn't like he couldn't cope without him but...Darren was...well, a lot of complicated things to him...

He shook off the sudden heaviness that had fallen over them with an effort, smiling again and putting a hand on Darren's shoulder. "Well...Ah doubt he'll do anythin' for a while until shit's sorted, right? So let's try not t' think about it an' jus' enjoy d' here'n now."

"Yeah, not much they can do with me out of action like this," Darren shrugged, "so you're right, lets talk about something else yeah?"

"Yeah - Ah'm meant t' be here to make y'all feel better, not worse." Jay chuckled. "Y'know...Ah cain't believe y're married, Gede. You near had Mom sobbin' at d' weddin', an' dat was even wit' your taste in vows."

"There's nothing wrong with my vows," Darren said indignatly, "... your mom was really crying thought? She barely knows me."

"Nope, nothin' at all, though Ah'm pretty sure most people don' include d' Borg or a sub-clause dat allows for shotguns if d' other half becomes a zombie, ami." He grinned innocently. "Guess people overlook dat part of a relationship. She knows y' well enough, and you're my best mate...dat an' d' sight of me in a tux nearly made her faint. She wants me married, dude. Me."

Darren laughed, "Dude, she does know you're gay right?"

"Oui. She meant one of dem gay marraige things. Ah didn't have d' heart to tell her Ah'm poly." Jay chuckled. "It's nice she's from deep Georgia an' supportive of d' gay, Ah ain' givin' her a heart attack an' tellin' her dat d' only marraige Ah could be in's a Mormon one."

Darren laughed again, "Awww, well who knows, maybe you can foc her off by telling her that maybe one day you'll addopt?"

"...Darren, d' idea of me with a child is a terrifyin' one dat even my own mother don' want t' accomadate." Jay laughed. "Can you imagine any child Ah have any form of solid influence over? Seriously?"

"I dunno, you could be uncle Jay one day?" Darren suggested, "or you will if my mom has her way."

"Hah...y' serious?" Jay paused in the act of taking a swig, his hat sliding to one side slightly as he thought about it. "...Think Ah could live wit' dat, oui..."

"Well, maybe, in the future," Darren shrugged, "maybe."
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Summer 2014: Darren and Selene

Post by puppygirl »

Darren landed the jet and sighed, well, at least this proved that he could still fly even without access to his powers, and he was only a short distance from the location too, looked like he'd be hiking through the snow ... and in august too! But it beat sitting on his ass in the medlab and it was good to fly and make himself useful again.

He engaged the stealth systems and climbed out, making his way to the small settlement.

There was snow eddying through the air, the early afternoon as dark as if it were near midnight. There wasn't any movement from the settlement except the odd flicker of light from the dark buildings and the sound of muffled voices. There was, however, a tiny point of light and a trail of smoke on top of a cabin, if you knew where to look.

A torch suddenly highlighted the intruder, along with the audible sound of a rifle bolt being pulled back. "Stop right there." A deep voice came out of the snow, speaking slightly slurred Finnish.

Darren stopped at once, "Okay, stopping," he held up his hands to show he wasn't intending any harm.

"Good." The rifle wasn't lowered, the barest outline of a sitting man just visible beyond the flashlight. "I don't recognise you. Who the hell are you and why are you on my land? You're not here to steal deer, are you?"

"I- ... what?" Darren just stared at the man, "... no," he said carefully, "i'm not here to steal your deer."

"...Why? What's wrong with them?" The slurred Finnish was defensive. "There's nothing wrong with my deer, they're perfectly healthy and the best in North Finland!" There was a pause. "...You are here for the deer, aren't you? You're just trying to trick me. Satanist!"

"I-no-what-santanist?" Darren was more than confused right now, this was in no way how he'd imagined this would go, "Look, I'm not here for deer, I'm here to talk to Donald Blake?"

There was a couple of seconds silence, the creak of the snow and the occasional far-off howl the only sounds. "...Junior or senior?" Came the cautious reply. Then - "And how fucking cold are you?!"

"... Junior," it wasn't like a student would be senior ... or at least he hoped not, "and I don't feel the cold like other people," which was true, he was wearing jeans and a band shirt.

"...Oh. Why the hell didn't you say so?" The sound of the gun being made safe was followed by the torch being picked up and swung in a wide arc towards another low building before sliding off the roof and landing in front of Darren.

He was huge, even bigger than he appeared on the roof, and a gloved hand came up and pulled goggles down before being held out. "Donald Jnr, though...I prefer Ankka." He grinned, cheeks red from the cold...and he was swaying. Ever so slightly.

Darren took a step back and looked up, he wasn't used to meeting people taller then him, "Darren Kent, at your service," he gave the guy a salute, "do we wanna go inside to talk ... Ankka was it?"

"Yes. Must admit, your Finnish is good - for an American." He grinned, before turning and leading the way into the nearest cabin...which turned out to be a pretty damn luxurious log cabin. There was a couple of beanbags, a crackling fire burning in the grate and a huge bearskin on the floor in front of it.

A large wide-screen television was on the wall over the fire, and Ankka was immediately greeted by an insane, waggy puppy and a more sedate three-legged dog. A trapdoor with a pullrope hanging from it for the ladder led to the bedroom, and the lower floor was open plan with a full kitchen and a bathroom. "Welcome to my home, Darren."

He pulled off the hat and coat, showing a large, well-muscled blond guy in teeshirt and jeans, kicking the snow-covered boots off. "Please, take a seat. You want a drink at all? And be careful of the puppy. She bites."

"I'm pretty immune to puppy bites as well," Darren smiled as he was sniffed suspiciously by the dogs, "animals generally don't like me anyways, I smell wrong, and I wouldn't say no if you're offering ... so ... Ankka, you like to be known as duck?" he smirked.

Ankka smirked as he wandered into the kitchen, pulling out a bottle of mead and two glasses. "My name is Donald. The most popular cartoon here is Donald Duck. He's Aku Ankka in Finnish. You do the math." He came and sprawled on the beanbag, pouring Darren and himself a drink and handing it over.

"So...Darren...what brought you to my humble abode?" The old dog happily curled at his feet as the puppy, obviously not getting enough attention, climbed onto his lap and enthusiastically gave his stubbly chin a damned good washing.

Darren smiled, sipping the drink, "I'll get straight to the point, my real name is Darren, but you might already know me, Warlock of the X-Men," he smiled.

The drink paused, the puppy finally content with being put onto its back and its belly scratched. "X-Men, huh?" He raised an eyebrow, taking a sip. "Yes, I've heard of you. Who hasn't?" He shrugged non-commitedly. "So...what superhero work brings you to my end of the world?"

"Isn't it obvious, we're mutants, we're always looking for more mutants who might we willing to join in this super-hero thing, if you're interested Ankka."

"...How the fuck did you know I'm a mutant?" Ankka raised an eyebrow.

"Trade secret," Darren tapped his nose and smirked.

Ankka thought for a moment, taking a mouthful of his drink. "Hmm. Play at being a superhero, sit on my ass in a deer farm for the rest of my life. Tough choice. Give me a moment." He picked up the phone beside him, pressing a button. There was a hurrid conversation in a mixture of Finnish and English before it was put down.

A moment later, the sound of someone crunching through the snow heralded the door being knocked on. "It's open!" Ankka yelled. The door was pushed open to reveal a man slight shorter than Darren, who stared at the American. "Dad, this is Darren. He says he's not a satanist."

"100% Athiest here, sir," Darren waved, "thought depending on who you are, that might be worse I suppose."

The man closed the door, kicking his feet clear, before looking at Ankka and frowning. "How much have you had to drink?" He said in perfect - though accented - English. "Dad, I-" "Don, you only go on about Satanists when you're drunk." Ankka muttered. "But Dad. It's cold." His English was more hesitant and very thickly accented. "Vhat else vould I do?"

"Liar, you don't get cold." Donald Snr chuckled. "Good afternoon, Darren. Athiests are a damn sight more welcome than my son's imaginary Satanists." He pulled off his glove and held out a hand. "Donald Snr. What can I do for you, sir?"

Darren stood and took the mans hand in his own, giving it a firm shake, "I;m here to offer you son a placement at our school," he glanced at Ankka, he wanted to check that the dude's parents knew he was a mutant.

"Two questions. Where is it and what can you offer him?" The man nodded at the handshake before leaning against the mantlepiece, holding his hands to the fire. "After all, he's not exactly a typical teenager-" "-Dad-" "-And he has just got back from six months in Afghanistan." He gave Darren a stern look.

"...Dad, this is Varlock." Ankka rolled his eyes. "You know. Varlock? X-Men? It's a mutant school. I vant to go."

That solved that little problem, "It's a college, I'm a teacher there, we can offer your son free board, education and allowence for the next four years, as well as training in how to use and control his powers and meet and get to know other mutants."

"Of course we'll also train him to be a super-hero, but we never force people to go out on missions for us."

"Pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeease Dad, there are plenty for the farm, you don't need me, I'm not even the best shot-" Donald Snr waved a hand at his son. "Hush a moment. You know I'm going to have to talk it over with your mother, Junior." He looked at Darren. "Would you mind staying for the night? Obviously this isn't something we can just...give permission for."

"Of course, no problem sir," Darren smiled and nodded, "it is a big decision after all."

The man nodded. "You can put him up, right, Ankka?" "Of course." Ankka nodded. "I have a huge bed, or I can set up the camp bed, either vay...though I don't really sleep much any more." Donald nodded, smiling. "Well...I'll leave you two to it. Until morning." With that, he let himself out.
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