nextgenerationmarvel | Something Dull, Grey and Lumpy

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Something Dull, Grey and Lumpy

WHO: Kayla, other peeps
WHAT: Kayla is not herself.
WHERE: The Mansion
WHEN: About a week after the Hellfire Club soiree

It had been understandable enough that Kayla had been tired after the party, even though it didn't seem right that the girl who normally got by fine on five hours of sleep in the night almost slept through her lunch shift. She'd got up just in time to help prepare that, and then had a nap before it was time to help with dinner. Then she'd gone right to bed. Not too many people had thought too much of it. Until that had become the shape of Kayla's day almost in its entirety.

From sleeping maybe five or six hours in a night and being full of energy, she'd gone to sleeping at least twice that amount of time and never seeming to have much energy for anything. She'd never lost her pallor and somewhere around day three or four, she'd mostly stopped eating, only consuming something when she noticed people were watching. She just didn't feel hungry.

From being a strong performer in her Danger Room lessons, she'd slipped enormously. From being fiery and passionate about all things great and small, she'd become strangely apathetic. She'd offer people little tired smiles, but she wasn't nearly as quick with giant grins or nearly crushing hugs as normally. It was good that she'd pretty much finished her schoolwork before the party had happened, because while she'd been physically present at her last few classes, she seemed a million miles away.

They'd tested for mono- a reasonable enough guess, but it'd come back negative. There was no real explanation for the seeming lack of motivation, spark and life in Kayla. It was as if something vital to her had been drained away. She had no memory of anything strange happeneing at the party, but she was pretty sure it'd happened there. Whether she'd caught something or it had gone out of incubation yet, she didn't know.

When she wasn't sleeping, or doing things that she was absolutely required to, she mostly just sat at the window, looking outside at nothing in particular. It didn't feel bad. There was a strange serenity about it, really. Sometimes she got a really distracted smile on her face, her eyes focused on nothing at all.

She was doing that right now, looking out the window at the landscape. It all seemed pretty enough, but it was like it was a million miles away. It never occurred to her that she could actually go outside and do things. More and more, she was content to just sit and observe.

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After talking with Dani and playing with the horses Bobbi had realized she hadn't really noticed one of her 'older sisters' around much.

The tiny blonde made a stop in the kitchen getting iced tea and a bowl of fresh fruit.

"Kayla?" She knocked on the door juggling the two glasses and bowl around a little so she didn't spill. "Kayla can I come in?"

Kayla didn't hear Bobbi the first time. But the second time, she heard a voice dimly.

Oh hey, it was Bobbi.

"Sure." Kayla replied quietly, not budging from the window. She turned to face Bobbi with a smile on her face that seemed practically autonomic. Her eyes didn't really focus on Bobbi at all, but seemed to be dully looking at somewhere about ten or fifteen feet behind her.

"How're you?"

"Truthfully, little worried." She set the glasses down, almost spilling the bowl of fruit.

She was worried about Kayla of course, with her not acting like her it was a little weird at the school.

"Kinda missing someone who's a little brighter than I am."

"I'm okay, Bobbi. Just kinda tired with the end of the term." Kayla replied calmly. She took one of the glasses of iced tea to be polite and took a sip of it. It was good, she supposed, but the dainty sip bore no resemblance to Kayla's usual habits of eating and drinking with real gusto.

"Might have a touch of something, I guess. Maybe a bit under the weather." The reply seemed almost totally noncommittal, though.

"Yeah, your course load was more than mine." She wasn't going to fall for it.

"Have you seen the Doc yet? I can go with you if you want. I want to have him run a few tests on me if he has time anyway. I don't think I've grown at all in the last two months. Would suck to be stuck as the shortest in the class next semester." Well that was a lie, the tee she was wearing used to hang lower, but now it had been turned midriff, she just refused to get rid of it yet.

"Yeah, he's running some tests for mono or something." Kayla replied. "But if it'll make you feel better, I can go again." She shrugged. It wasn't something she was going to fight about. Not a lot seemed worth fighting about. It wasn't like it was bad. Just kind of meh.

"Uh huh. I don't remember that being a belly tee before, Bobbi." Kayla smiled faintly, though it didn't quite stick. Not that she was sad. It wasn't a big deal. Just a shirt.

"Mono? Just don't kiss me then okay Kayla?" Hey she knew that one at least. "It would, not to mention halls are kinda creepy that way when the school's a little less full."

Bobbi quirked a brow. "I haven't grown taller though. This one's not shorter either." Though the smile helped put her a little at ease. "My wings might be making it a little weird, they're a tad fluffier now. I just hope I don't molt."

Kayla chuckled faintly. "Don't think that's a problem there, Bobbi. Bri would kill you anyway." Not that, honestly, they'd been doing much of that either. Kayla just didn't have the energy.

"Mmhmm." Kayla replied. "Yeah, I always kinda wondered that." She couldn't suppress a slight yawn, though. "Hm. Tired. Might go for a nap."

After the party, Brianna was, in a word, motivated. The ideas that Reginald and Sebastian put forth really stuck with her and the Hellfire Club seemed like the way to make that happen. She spent much of her time keeping in shape, trying to get her fighting edge back, and learning about the Club.

Kayla had worried her that night but Brianna figured she'd snap out of it. Now, though, she was starting to worry.

She stepped into the room with a pint of ice cream. "Hey, love. How are you?" she asked, looking Kayla over.

Kayla hadn't had any duties that day, so she hadn't really bothered with doing much of anything. No classes either. So she'd just ... hung out. She'd got herself a shower, because, well, people'd notice if she started stinking. And she wasn't depressed or anything. Just tired.

She was watching a hockey game at the moment, but instead of yelling and cursing at the television loudly and creatively, she was looking at it more or less passively.

The Winnipeg Jets scored.

Kayla smiled faintly, but didn't make any noise.

"Hey Bri." She turned over and smiled slightly at her. "How're you?"

"I'm good but I'm worried about you." Brianna said.

"You haven't been the same lately. Did...did I do something?" Brianna asked, wondering if she'd upset Kayla somewhere along the way.

Kayla's brow knit a little in confusion and, honestly sadness. It was probably one of the most nakedly emotional moments she'd had in some time.

"Oh no. This isn't anything to do with you. I mean, I just feel really tired and ... I dunno. It's probably just end of the term stuff. Though I should ... probably say, just to be open, that Bones is gonna be testing me for mono. Which most people are immune to, but I'm gonna feel super bad if you get it too."

Brianna wasn't expecting to hear about mono. That certainly put a damper on another idea she had for the evening.

"I suppose sharing this bit of ice cream is out of the question, then." she said. "What can I do? Do you need anything?" she asked.

Kayla didn't think that was actually the case, even though it sounded logical. She knew people with mono. They were sicker than this. But what else could it be?

"I dunno. To be honest, I don't think that's what's up. I mean, I guess it seems logical but ... I just feel really tired and stuff. Not depressed, just ... odd."

She shrugged.

"Maybe I've just been pushing myself too hard or something."

Brianna didn't like the sound of that. She put the ice cream aside and moved a bit closer to Kayla, offering to hold her if she wanted.

"Maybe you have but you've always been on the move and it didn't stop you before." Brianna said. The more she thought it over, the more she thought something happened that Kayla wasn't aware of.

"Well, let's let the doctors tell you what's going on. In the meantime you'll relax and get your energy back up."

She reached down and took Kayla's hand.

"So. I told my dad about us. He took it very well. In fact...he wants to have dinner and play some cards sometime. When you're up for it. I told him I'd talk to you about it first."

Brianna looked upset. So Kayla moved slightly to allow Brianna to hold her. It did feel nice, being held. Though quite often when she was, or when she was holding Brianna, there was something fiery to that too.

That seemed to be totally lacking.

She slipped her hand into Brianna's. She felt slightly cool to the touch, not warm like she usually did.

"Oh cool. So ... your dad wants to swindle your poor-ass girlfriend too?" She chuckled slightly. She was joking of course, though it seemed a little quieter than normal. Kayla wasn't known for chuckling softly so much as she was for snerking or full-throated laughter.

Brianna's worry intensified as she felt Kayla's skin and general...lack of connection between them. Something was really, really wrong here.

She doesn't want to experiment anymore, love. She just hasn't told you yet.

Brianna stiffened a little and pushed the thought out of her mind. Kayla would never treat her that way.

"Oh no. We're going to swindle him. I was planning to teach you how." she said, smiling as she held Kayla and trying to keep the worry out of her voice. It was as if Kayla's...everything was somewhere else while her body was here.

It wasn't about that, though there was no denying that she didn't really feel desire as such. She wanted to be with Brianna and if anything, she'd been questioning whether she was into guys at all. It didn't really bother her that much, though she knew it probably bothered Brianna and that made her a little sad.

"Isn't your dad the world's most famous gambler?" Brianna was comfortable, though, and Kayla let out a little yawn. It was nice to cuddle up. Maybe they could have a nap together.

"Well, yes. Even designed his bloody codename around it." Brianna said with a chuckle. "But yes, he's damn good at cards. I didn't come close to beating him until I was twelve and I didn't actually win a game against him until I was fifteen. And I'm not at all sure he didn't subtly throw that one in my favor." she said.

"He taught me a lot, my old man. It's hard to think of him as my father sometimes. He's more like a really cool older brother...except for that he and my mom are...together." Brianna said.

She noted the yawn and gently ran her fingers through Kayla's hair. If she fell asleep, that at least meant that she was resting and that was the important thing.

"Always wondered why he called himself Gambit and not like ... Exploder or something." Kayla murmured slightly, nuzzling in. "I'd probably be terrible at poker. Can't even do a poker face." Though these days, it might actually have been easier.

"Makes sense." She yawned again softly. "Oh my god, I'm sorry. You're cozy and I'm so sleepy these days."

"Anyone can learn a good poker face. It takes practice like anything else." Brianna said, stroking Kayla's hair.

"Hey, it's okay. Take a nap. I'll join you." Brianna whispered, kissing the top of her head.

It wasn't like Hana wasn't observant. She'd been raised around a clan of ninjas... you learned to keep your eyes peeled when your babysitters were masters of the art of stealth and surprise. She'd noticed the change in Kayla's behavior and demeanor, but had chalked it up to some sort of normal teenage affliction... a relationship problem or something school related. When the shift didn't seem to show any signs of shifting back, she started to worry. All the kids at Xavier's were 'hers' to a degree and she worried for them when something was wrong.

Hana'd brought it up to Rachel, but so far, nothing had been found medically or otherwise to explain. All Hana could do right now was watch and hope for the best. Patience just really wasn't her thing sometimes.

And, that smile was creepy as heck.

"Kayla?" She peeked in. "You want to give me a hand in the kitchen?"

"Sure thing." Kayla answered, getting herself off the couch with a little yawn. She slipped on a sweater (she'd been feeling cooler lately) and went towards the door, all more slowly than was the norm for her.

"Watcha cookin' down there?" Kayla asked, stifling another yawn. There wasn't any of the light that had previously been in her eyes, nor any spring in her step.

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Something Dull, Grey and Lumpy

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