There Must Be Some Kind of Way Out of Here
Chapter 43
Author's Note: Stuff in italics are thoughts. Thanks for the reviews, everyone. Those are what keep me writing.
Disclaimer: Don't own any of this - Marvel and Kid's WB do, except my original character, John. Oh, and I don't even know if this goes here, but if you don't like bad words, just...pretend they're something different.
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John Jashback was sitting on the kitchen counter, pressing a ziploc bag full of ice to the right side of his face. It had been excruciatingly cold before, but he had grown used to it.
Beside him, also sitting on the counter, Jamie Madrox was pressing a wet paper towel to a long rug burn on his arm. He and his Multiples had suffered a variety of injuries, but as they fused back together, their aches and pains disappeared.
"God, I swear like guys are so immature!" Kitty Pryde exclaimed, snatching the bag of ice out of John's hand to examine the side of his face.
John looked over and grinned weakly at Jamie. "You think we went a little overboard?"
"Not at...ow!...all..." he replied, gingerly touching his arm.
They were just rough-housing...no big deal. It had been four Jamies against John, and though he was having fairly good luck in holding his own at first, it didn't take long for the numbers to overpower him.
All in all, they were really actually lucky. For as physical as they were being, they didn't really hurt each other. No one was hit in the groin, and there was no punching or kicking involved. John only had one arm pulled off, and the limb was quickly regenerated. Which was how the Jamies ended up taking the upper hand.
~Somewhere on the second floor of the mansion, an arm, an arm all alone in a room, was crying, weeping, lamenting over what it once had, what it had lost...~
Kitty blew a wisp of hair out of her face and shook her heads at the two mutants. "I'd expect this sort of thing from Jamie, but like, you should know better!" Her glare was now directed at John.
The two boys rolled their eyes.
"We were just messing around, that's all," John said sheepishly. As small as Kitty was, she could be downright fierce sometimes.
The girl in question muttered something and limped away for a moment. The two boys couldn't help but laugh. The limp was why she was so angry. It wasn't their fault, not really. She was just in the wrong place at the wrong time.
**********
The crashing and stomping and rumbling and shouting caught Kitty Pryde's attention as she quietly made her way down the hallway.
She cautiously phased herself through the doorway, and...
**********
It wasn't their fault, not really. Or her fault. She was just in the wrong place at the wrong time. In a desperate attempt to fend off the invading hordes of Jamies, John grabbed one by the shoulders and threw him forward, as far away as possible.
How was he supposed to know that Kitty would choose that exact moment to phase herself through the door, stuck in the oncoming path of a spiraling Jamie Madrox?
No one had much time to react. It was far too late, really. John and the other three Multiples were on the other side of the room, and the fourth couldn't stop. And Kitty panicked.
The two of them hit each other, and hard.
Kitty limped back into the kitchen with a bottle of aspirin in her hands. She didn't bother to unscrew the cap - she phased a hand through the plastic and pulled it back out, two small pills in her hand. She didn't bother to get a glass of water either - she tilted her head back and dropped the pills inside, swallowing them.
A moment later, her expression made it plainly clear that she wished she had taken the time to get some water.
She stuck her tongue out, and her face crumpled in disgust. Seconds later, the faucet was on, her mouth directly underneath it. John laughed at that, and when Jamie saw it too, his laughter joined in.
"I'm like, so glad you guys are like, so entertained by this," she said indignantly, wiping her mouth on the back of her hand.
"Hey, I offered to carry you down here," John said in his own defense.
"Yeah. It's not our fault you're so stubborn," Jamie retorted.
Kitty shot the younger boy a look full of loathe and anger.
"Toss me that aspirin, will you?" John asked, not bothering to hide his obvious amusement.
Kitty very nearly snarled, and came close to hurling the bottle at him. John laughed, and caught it in mid-air with his one free hand, the pills inside rattling loudly. He set down the bag of ice and unscrewed the cap, and gestured to Jamie with it. The younger mutant shook his head, and John merely shrugged, reaching in and pulling out a small pill for himself. He put the lid back on and set it on the counter, putting the medicine on top. He picked up the ice pack/bag and opened a small section along the top, and tilted it down to his open mouth. He supressed a shiver as the former-ice-now-water flooded his jaw, and he tossed the pill inside, swallowing it all in one quick motion. John ran his fingers along both sides of the plastic seal, closing up the bag, and he pressed it back to his face, and grinned at Kitty.
She shook her head, unimpressed.
"So, are you going to the dance?" Kitty suddenly asked out of the blue.
"Huh?"
"You know...the one they're having at school... You do know about it, right?"
John nodded. "Yeah, yeah. Bobby told me about it today."
"Are you going?" she inquired.
John leaned back and looked at the girl for a moment.
Hmm... Is she asking me...?
"I haven't been asked, if that's what you're wondering," John replied in a very guarded, very neutral tone. "The girls are supposed to ask, right?" Not that he would have minded if she asked. Kitty looked...delicious in the skin-tight uniform she wore during Danger Room sessions.
She must have noticed the change in his voice, because she flustered a little. "I'm not asking you, if that's what you're thinking."
Of course, the first thing John thought after that was, "Oh, so I'm not good enough for you, huh?"
"I just thought I'd ask you, since I think I heard some of the girls mention it and you in the same sentence..."
John nodded. Maybe Bobby was speaking some sense after all... He followed the nod with a shrug and said, "Well, if they're going to ask me, they'll ask me. When is this dance, anyway?"
"This Friday."
Friday, huh? That's four days, not counting today, but counting Friday. Or maybe four days, counting today, but not counting Friday. Or just three days, not counting today or Friday... Essentially, a few days. Yeah. Why didn't I just think that in the first place?
Because...you're a loon who talks to yourself?
Probably.
"Um. Cool. I guess I'll know soon if they do want to go with me."
She nodded and excused herself from the room, still limping, but less irritated.
"So Jamie, why don't we go... Jamie?"
John looked beside him, where Jamie was. "Yoohoo... Jamie? Jaaaamie? Private Snowflake? You in here?" He looked all around the room, but the boy was nowhere to be seen.
Oh well. You'd think I would have noticed that he left.
It was probably when we were talking about the dance... I'm sure he could care less about it.
So...you think one of them is going to ask you out?
Why am I having a conversation with myself again?
Because, deep down in your arm-regenerating, schizophrenic brain, you find relief in talking to me/yourself. Oh, and as for your question, who knows? Maybe that girl who was laughing at you today will ask you.
She wasn't laughing at me...she was laughing...uh, laughing with me.
Uh-huh... You don't seem to sure about that...
Shut up.
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Sorry for the rather short chapter. I think it was better to cut it off here, rather than do this, and then start some more. Did that make any sense? I hope so. Anyway, I apologize for the shortness of this. Please forgive me.
Chapter 43
Author's Note: Stuff in italics are thoughts. Thanks for the reviews, everyone. Those are what keep me writing.
Disclaimer: Don't own any of this - Marvel and Kid's WB do, except my original character, John. Oh, and I don't even know if this goes here, but if you don't like bad words, just...pretend they're something different.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
John Jashback was sitting on the kitchen counter, pressing a ziploc bag full of ice to the right side of his face. It had been excruciatingly cold before, but he had grown used to it.
Beside him, also sitting on the counter, Jamie Madrox was pressing a wet paper towel to a long rug burn on his arm. He and his Multiples had suffered a variety of injuries, but as they fused back together, their aches and pains disappeared.
"God, I swear like guys are so immature!" Kitty Pryde exclaimed, snatching the bag of ice out of John's hand to examine the side of his face.
John looked over and grinned weakly at Jamie. "You think we went a little overboard?"
"Not at...ow!...all..." he replied, gingerly touching his arm.
They were just rough-housing...no big deal. It had been four Jamies against John, and though he was having fairly good luck in holding his own at first, it didn't take long for the numbers to overpower him.
All in all, they were really actually lucky. For as physical as they were being, they didn't really hurt each other. No one was hit in the groin, and there was no punching or kicking involved. John only had one arm pulled off, and the limb was quickly regenerated. Which was how the Jamies ended up taking the upper hand.
~Somewhere on the second floor of the mansion, an arm, an arm all alone in a room, was crying, weeping, lamenting over what it once had, what it had lost...~
Kitty blew a wisp of hair out of her face and shook her heads at the two mutants. "I'd expect this sort of thing from Jamie, but like, you should know better!" Her glare was now directed at John.
The two boys rolled their eyes.
"We were just messing around, that's all," John said sheepishly. As small as Kitty was, she could be downright fierce sometimes.
The girl in question muttered something and limped away for a moment. The two boys couldn't help but laugh. The limp was why she was so angry. It wasn't their fault, not really. She was just in the wrong place at the wrong time.
**********
The crashing and stomping and rumbling and shouting caught Kitty Pryde's attention as she quietly made her way down the hallway.
She cautiously phased herself through the doorway, and...
**********
It wasn't their fault, not really. Or her fault. She was just in the wrong place at the wrong time. In a desperate attempt to fend off the invading hordes of Jamies, John grabbed one by the shoulders and threw him forward, as far away as possible.
How was he supposed to know that Kitty would choose that exact moment to phase herself through the door, stuck in the oncoming path of a spiraling Jamie Madrox?
No one had much time to react. It was far too late, really. John and the other three Multiples were on the other side of the room, and the fourth couldn't stop. And Kitty panicked.
The two of them hit each other, and hard.
Kitty limped back into the kitchen with a bottle of aspirin in her hands. She didn't bother to unscrew the cap - she phased a hand through the plastic and pulled it back out, two small pills in her hand. She didn't bother to get a glass of water either - she tilted her head back and dropped the pills inside, swallowing them.
A moment later, her expression made it plainly clear that she wished she had taken the time to get some water.
She stuck her tongue out, and her face crumpled in disgust. Seconds later, the faucet was on, her mouth directly underneath it. John laughed at that, and when Jamie saw it too, his laughter joined in.
"I'm like, so glad you guys are like, so entertained by this," she said indignantly, wiping her mouth on the back of her hand.
"Hey, I offered to carry you down here," John said in his own defense.
"Yeah. It's not our fault you're so stubborn," Jamie retorted.
Kitty shot the younger boy a look full of loathe and anger.
"Toss me that aspirin, will you?" John asked, not bothering to hide his obvious amusement.
Kitty very nearly snarled, and came close to hurling the bottle at him. John laughed, and caught it in mid-air with his one free hand, the pills inside rattling loudly. He set down the bag of ice and unscrewed the cap, and gestured to Jamie with it. The younger mutant shook his head, and John merely shrugged, reaching in and pulling out a small pill for himself. He put the lid back on and set it on the counter, putting the medicine on top. He picked up the ice pack/bag and opened a small section along the top, and tilted it down to his open mouth. He supressed a shiver as the former-ice-now-water flooded his jaw, and he tossed the pill inside, swallowing it all in one quick motion. John ran his fingers along both sides of the plastic seal, closing up the bag, and he pressed it back to his face, and grinned at Kitty.
She shook her head, unimpressed.
"So, are you going to the dance?" Kitty suddenly asked out of the blue.
"Huh?"
"You know...the one they're having at school... You do know about it, right?"
John nodded. "Yeah, yeah. Bobby told me about it today."
"Are you going?" she inquired.
John leaned back and looked at the girl for a moment.
Hmm... Is she asking me...?
"I haven't been asked, if that's what you're wondering," John replied in a very guarded, very neutral tone. "The girls are supposed to ask, right?" Not that he would have minded if she asked. Kitty looked...delicious in the skin-tight uniform she wore during Danger Room sessions.
She must have noticed the change in his voice, because she flustered a little. "I'm not asking you, if that's what you're thinking."
Of course, the first thing John thought after that was, "Oh, so I'm not good enough for you, huh?"
"I just thought I'd ask you, since I think I heard some of the girls mention it and you in the same sentence..."
John nodded. Maybe Bobby was speaking some sense after all... He followed the nod with a shrug and said, "Well, if they're going to ask me, they'll ask me. When is this dance, anyway?"
"This Friday."
Friday, huh? That's four days, not counting today, but counting Friday. Or maybe four days, counting today, but not counting Friday. Or just three days, not counting today or Friday... Essentially, a few days. Yeah. Why didn't I just think that in the first place?
Because...you're a loon who talks to yourself?
Probably.
"Um. Cool. I guess I'll know soon if they do want to go with me."
She nodded and excused herself from the room, still limping, but less irritated.
"So Jamie, why don't we go... Jamie?"
John looked beside him, where Jamie was. "Yoohoo... Jamie? Jaaaamie? Private Snowflake? You in here?" He looked all around the room, but the boy was nowhere to be seen.
Oh well. You'd think I would have noticed that he left.
It was probably when we were talking about the dance... I'm sure he could care less about it.
So...you think one of them is going to ask you out?
Why am I having a conversation with myself again?
Because, deep down in your arm-regenerating, schizophrenic brain, you find relief in talking to me/yourself. Oh, and as for your question, who knows? Maybe that girl who was laughing at you today will ask you.
She wasn't laughing at me...she was laughing...uh, laughing with me.
Uh-huh... You don't seem to sure about that...
Shut up.
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Sorry for the rather short chapter. I think it was better to cut it off here, rather than do this, and then start some more. Did that make any sense? I hope so. Anyway, I apologize for the shortness of this. Please forgive me.