3. Gail gets high
Holly found Gail in their bed that day. The sun was still high in the sky, yet there Gail was, curled up on her side and her right arm in bandages.
"Gail?" Holly asked, shrugging out of her coat and hanging it. No answer came forth, so she walked around the bed. It became clear why Gail wasn't answering. She'd fallen asleep.
"Gail," she tried again, sitting on the edge of the bed. She gently shook her by the hip, seeing how she should probably not touch her injured arm. The bandages across her bicep were slightly bloody, and more than ever, Holly wanted to know what the heck had happened. "Gail!"
Gail jerked awake at that. "Whu—" She looked towards the door before focusing on Holly, brow set in a frown. "Holly? What's up?"
"Well, I'm curious to find out what happened to your arm, for starters," she said, leaving her hand on Gail's hip. It was a nice place to be.
"It hurts." Gail looked down at her arm as if discovering it for the first time. She didn't seem to agree with the wound if her deepening scowl was anything to go by.
"I can see that," Holly said once it appeared that Gail wasn't going to offer anything else. "But why?"
"Oh, a bomb blew up in my face." Gail flopped back onto her pillow and closed her eyes. "I phased out too late," she mumbled.
Holly tried not to panic. Whatever bomb during whatever operation had clearly left Gail in one piece and that was all that mattered. "Is everyone okay?" she prodded further, trying to keep as much of the worry out of her voice. Her hand, however, had a mind of its own as a thumb sneaked underneath Gail's shirt and started to caress the skin there.
Gail sighed, her frown easing somewhat at the gentle touch. "How should I know?"
Holly's eyebrows raised in surprise. "Because you were there?"
"Where?" she asked, opening slightly glassy eyes to look at Holly.
Holly tilted her head, observing Gail thoughtfully. Sleeping during the day, muddled thoughts, blown pupils, large gash in her arm. "Are you high?"
"Probably."
Holly breathed out a laugh, strangely relieved. "What did they give you?"
Gail sat up, looking a little sheepish. She took Holly's hand before it slipped down from her waist. "I may have taken something from the medicine cabinet."
"Ibuprofen?" Even as she said it, she knew that wasn't it, and worry started to creep up on her once again.
She shook her head. "No, it was, uh... oxy-something?"
Holly was very sure she didn't own any prescription painkillers, so that meant she must've taken something else. "You took my oxazepam?" she asked a little incredulously.
"Yes," Gail answered, pointing at Holly to emphasize how right she was. "That."
Holly reigned in the lecture that immediately popped into her mind. "Honey, those weren't painkillers. They're the sedatives I use to block out other people's thoughts."
Gail narrowed her eyes, trying to make sense of the information. "Is that why my arm still hurts?"
She nodded.
"And why I can't hear your thoughts right now?" Gail asked, dead serious.
Now it was Holly's turn to eye Gail strangely. "You never hear my thoughts."
"I can so," Gail protested a little too vehemently for the conversation at hand.
Holly raised her eyebrows, deciding to amuse Gail. "Oh really?"
"Yes," she said confidently. "Like last night."
Oh boy.
Holly mentally prepared herself, knowing full well what they did.
"I know you were desperate for it to be hard and fast, but I really, really wanted it to last," Gail said, leaning in as if she were telling a secret. For a moment, it looked like she was going to tip over, but the movement was only to rest her hands on Holly's thigh. "You made me into a horny jerk."
All the preparation couldn't have been enough to hold her up against that admission. Everything she said was true, but the words had a slightly less innocuous effect on her tender system.
"Like, teenager horny," Gail continued, oblivious to the way Holly's jaw had kinda dropped. In fact, she wasn't sure if Gail knew she was talking out loud. "Even when I masturbate, I think of you. Which is, like, going for watery instant coffee when there's freshly brewed roasted Arabian bean... cappuccino... what was I saying?"
The way Gail was absently playing with the seam on the inside of her thigh made Holly shift slightly, the jeans she was wearing suddenly feeling very tight and uncomfortable. Taking advantage of Gail in this situation was probably a little unethical.
"Uh, masturbation," she reminded helpfully.
But she was also a healthy woman in the prime of her life with no self control when it came to her lady and sexy situations.
"Yes," Gail agreed and then stopped talking all together, watching Holly expectantly.
Holly couldn't help but chuckle. It figured Gail's attention span was that short. "What, you're expecting me to go for it?" she joked.
"You're turned on," she pointed out, looking her up and down. It was slightly creepy how she could tell, but Holly wasn't about to argue about her observation skills. "And I'm incapacitated."
Holly simply grinned in reply and chose to tease her, "Is this some secret fetish of yours?"
Gail stared her down for a moment, having to consider her answer before voicing it. "If I say yes, will you do it—you. Will you do you?"
She pursed her lips, pretending to think it over. In reality, she'd already made up her mind, but she wanted to torture Gail a bit. Even though she appeared too high to be able to be tortured. "Maybe when you're sober."
Gail visibly deflated, too busy pouting to scowl or fire back a sarcastic comment.
Holly patted Gail's hand, unable to wipe the amused smile from her face. "Besides, if I were busy with myself, who'd be entertaining you?"
Gail took a few longs moments to look down at her lap, her bandaged arm, and then back up to Holly's face. When she finally seemed to have put the pieces together, she scoffed. "I'm tired anyway," she muttered, flopping back onto the bed.
List of powers:
Gail - Shadowcat
Holly - ? trippy mind powers
