Quinn slowly opened her eyes, groaning as sunlight streamed into them. She squeezed her eyes shut and heard Mark chuckle quietly. "Mornin' Sleeping Beauty," he joked. Quinn aimed to punch his shoulder but only hit empty air. He laughed and Quinn could hear his smile. She reopened her eyes and saw Mark squatted in front of her. ""ello," he said. Quinn forced a smile onto her face. "Hi," she replied simply.
"How are you?" Mark asked. "You were talking in your sleep again last night." Quinn groaned and buried her face into the built-in pillow in her sleeping bag. "You tell me that every morning!" she exclaimed. She lifted her head. "The night I don't talk is the night that I've died." Mark's smile fell and his face seemed to be chiseled from stone. "That's not funny," he said firmly. Quinn smiled. "I know." She pushed herself up onto her knees and stretched her arms above her head. Mark stared at her, unmoving, unblinking.
"Chill out," Quinn told him, standing up. "It may be the truth but it was meant as a joke."
"How can such a grave truth be meant as a joke?" Quinn brushed off his question as she started to roll up her sleeping bag. "So which way are we heading?" she asked, a small smile on her face. Mark pulled his backpack over to him and rummaged through the front pocket. He extracted a worn out, stained map and a dented compass. He unfolded the map and waited for the compass to point north before setting it down in front of him. "This is north," he said simply, pointing to his left. "And we need to go east." He pointed in front of him. "So we are going that way."
"And what is 'that way'?" Quinn asked, zipping her hiking-style backpack closed.
"New York, and Xavier's." Quinn rolled her eyes and stood up, swinging her backpack over her shoulder. "No shit Sherlock," she commented. Mark laughed quietly. "We shall see when we reach 'that way'," he replied smartly. Quinn groaned and Mark packed up his bag. "You have all the stuff I got last night?" she asked. Mark nodded . "I split it between yours and my bag," he answered.
"And my water bottle's in my bag?" Quinn confirmed.
"No, it's in mine." Quinn tensed up and Mark shot her a look as he stood. "Whoa 'mare, what's wrong with you? I was only joking. Of course it's in your bag." Quinn relaxed and sighed quietly. "Just checking," she mumbled. Mark stared at her for a long second. "Quinn-"
"Let's go for God's sake! Before someone finds us," Quinn muttered. She set off past Mark, who continued to stare after her. "Quinn what's going on?" he asked, quickly catching up to her.
"Nothing, I was just making sure that I had my stuff."
"Had your stuff?"
"You know how I like to be independent." Mark sighed."There's being independent and then there's thinking that I'm stealing from you."
"I know you're not stealing from me."
"Then why did you ask? You know that even if it was in my bag that I'd give it back to you or give it to you if you needed it."
"It's not that, I just… I have my medicine in there if you know what I mean." She looked away, her eyes lowered to the ground. Her fingers wrapped around the straps of her backpack and tightened. "Quinn…"
"Don't judge me Mark!" she exclaimed, whirling on him. Her eyes shone with tears, which she quickly wiped away with the back of a black skinned hand. "We all have our ways of dealing with life!"
"I'm not judging you Quinn I was just going to say-"
"To say what!"
"That maybe there was something else you could use." Quinn set her jaw and turned away from him. Mark rested a hand on her shoulder and she shrugged him off. "Leave me alone," she said. Mark took a step back. He knew from experience that when she was in a touchy mood the best thing to do was what she said.
Mark watched as she reached around and pulled a tall black water bottle out of a side pocket on her bag. "It's too early Quinn, at least give your system time to wake up."
"Fuck off." She took a swig from the bottle and made a face. "Why do you drink it if you don't like it?" Mark asked.
"I don't taste it. This stuff just burns a little on the way down." She put the bottle away and Mark shook his head slowly. "Now let's go," Quinn said. "If we don't then we'll never get to the Institute in your 'couple days'." With that mocking statement said she headed off with Mark following after her.