10208/Going Snowhere Fast

Going Snowhere Fast
Date of Scene:	26 November 2019
Location:	Office, X-Factor Investigations, Williamsburg
Synopsis:	Jamie and Vi brave a blizzard and share some uncomfortable truths over coffee and flying staplers.
Cast of Characters:	Vi, Multiple Man

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Vi has posed:
The Empire State Building was already clearing out as Jamie leads Vi back out of it and onto the New York City streets. The storm that was foretold by the weathermen had finally arrived. Thick, heavy flakes were falling, cutting down visibility. Those first few flakes melted on impact, but within fifteen or twenty minutes, the quickly falling temperature was allowing them to start to build up on the pavement, the roofs, the cars. Everywhere.

Vi feels the cold air and she looks to Jamie, reaching for the overcoat he'd put over her. "You should put this back on or you'll freeze," she tells him as she offers the coat over. "I can probably go awhile without the cold getting to me. I can just sort of not notice it," she tells him as if to convince him to take the coat back. Though the girl has a soft smile for him that he'd given it to her in the first place.

The streets are starting to clear as people are getting home and burrowing in for a freeze. "Do we have very far to go?" Vi asks.

Multiple Man has posed:
For a man who prides himself on knowing entirely too much for his own good, Jamie was blissfully unaware of the approaching storm. Local news, obituaries, geo-politics, he devours it all but somehow he left out the weather man. That or Storm was in a -mood-. Always quick to blame the powerful weather manipulator. Tsk, tsk. As the two step out of the lobby and down the stairs, Jamie looked up toward their earlier viewpoint... "It's really coming down, isn't it?" He asks off-handedly while immediately lighting a cigarette. His last one. Seriously this time.

Fat, fluffy snowflakes lingering in his hair. Melting across the shoulders of an emerald green shirt that clings protectively against him when the icy wind introduces itself. Bringing his eyes back to street level, Jamie lays a hand on her shoulder. "You keep it for now, Vi." He says with. reassuring smile and nod down the increasingly white and pristine sidewalk. The streets are emptying fast. Late workers snatching up every cab they see. Leaving Vi and Jamie to fend for themselves. "An old man ontop of a mountain taught me how to shut it out. Meditative technique older than this city." A small lie, Jamie starts the journey. Skull stomper boots crunching the snow under heel. While he does have some Shaolin secrets up his sleeve, surviving a blizzard isn't one of them. He's a guy. He plays it off. As is tradition.

One hand on the leather reinforced shoulder of Vi, the other protectively cupping his cigarette against the snow and wind, Jamie laughs. "Closer than the school, I can promise you that. If Kurt was back in town, I'd call up a 'port. You can't teleport, can you?"

Vi has posed:
Vi seems reluctant, but it doesn't take much for Jamie to push the trench coat back upon her. She slides it over her lighter jacket, the whole thing hanging down nearly to her ankles. "Alright, but if it gets too cold, let me know," she tells him, a little concern showing in the girl's soft brown eyes as she looks to the taller man.

The teen's eyes dart about at the question of teleporting. "Not that I know of, no," she tells him. "That would be amazing though. Kurt brought me to the school like that," she tells him. She briefly considers offering a means of transportation she could provide. But never having taken someone with her like that, Vi decides it isn't worth the risk. Now she knows the Danger Room exists, it's best to try new things out where one can't fall to their death.

She moves over nearer to Jamie, staying at his side as the pair hurry along the sidewalks. "Do you have a big fireplace?" she asks him as they move along through the city. Up a head a woman is trying to hurry, carrying a few shopping bags in each hand, no doubt getting a little early Christmas shopping done. She starts to slip and lose her footing. Vi moves to try to help the woman stay on her feet.

Multiple Man has posed:
A nod, lips pursed in a faintly amused smirk as the social dance plays out. You take the jacket. No you. A light squeeze in reassurance as she looks up at him. His own dark brown eyes lidded against the wind. Maybe the wink was on purpose. Maybe snow in the eye. "Scouts honor. If I'm about to freeze to death, I'll take my coat. Probably."

The quick glances bring a brow furrowing curiousity. He really didn't know enough about the girl other than a terrible tale of imprisonment and escape. He inwardly chides himself for the lack of answers sought. Jaw set momentarily in determination. Not cold. Not cold. So warm. With Vi stepping closer, Jamie drapes that arm across her slender shoulders and keeps her close. To his credit, the mindful refusal of the cold has kept the shivers at bay. "No kidding? That smell, right? Whew. Heh. Between you, me and the various teleporters, that messes me up. Like a rollercoaster dropping down the track." His comparison, of course, will be more confusing than helpful.

"No. No, not yet but I'm still remodeling. Fire pit on the roof though. Fire marshal can take that from my cold, dead hands if he wants it so bad." The woman ahead gets an appologetic look from Jamie. He wasn't about to rush into action when she slips but Vi on the move? Jamie stamps his boot and another Madrox long-steps to the rescue. Vi on one side, Madrox Dupe on the other. "Hey now, Oksana. The Olympics aren't for a while yet."

Vi has posed:
Vi helps the woman who was on a course for a hard bounce off her bottom. She looks to be in her late thirties, bundled up in a heavy coat and she's been shopping at Macy's. Between Jamie 2 and Vi they keep her on their feet, but Vi completely missed the duplication.

"Oh thank you!" she says to the pair. "Thank you so much!" She seems surprised someone stopped to help her like that. She also looks at Dupe Jamie, and then sees the OG version arriving along the sidewalk. There's a moment's surprise, but she no doubt just thinks they are twins. Who dressed alike. "Bless you, and thanks again," she says, turning to move off again.

Vi looks at the duplicate and then back to Jamie again. "Wow, it happens that fast?" she asks. She looks to the duplicate. "Or did you just happen to be in the area?" she asks.

The questions are building in Vi's head, but this probably isn't the best time nor place for them. The snow is coming down heavier than ever, cutting vision down to about a half a block. "Well, a fire for all of us would be good," Vi says. She still doesn't know how the central heating at the school works, still thinks of fires for such.

Multiple Man has posed:
The Dupe Jamie is quick to act, a well and truly dazzling smile on his face as one hand catches the woman at her lower back. "Gotta watch these sidewalks, going to be slick before the snow builds up." Jamie Part Deux expertly reaching into her purse and snaking out a cellphone behind her back.

Jamie Prime? He frowns -deeply-, seeing his mirror image pilfer a smartphone. "Don't mention it." Closing tbe distance, Jamie OG plucks the phone from his sneakier self's hand and offering it up before the struggling stranger can depart. "You dropped this." He says flatly. Dupe Jamie rolls his eyes and lets out a disappointed sigh.

As the woman carefully makes her way ahead, Jamie Dupe turns his attention on Vi. "You know, that jacket looks -great- on you. You should keep that forever. Literally forev-" Grabbing his Dupe's shoulder, Madrox tugs and pulls his identical self close. "Thaaaat's enough of you." Like images transposed over eachother, everything settles into place disturbingly easily. "Happens that fast. A little force and I can multiply. The more kinetic energy, the more... well, me. Not always on purpose."

As the storm really starts to come down around them, Jamie offers an ice cold hand and nods ahead to a nearby brownstone. Narrow, four stories tall. The concrete stoop already thickly blanketed in white. "That's us right there. I'll turn the heat up and get us some coffee. Maybe about twenty electric blankets too."

Vi has posed:
Vi quietly observes the exchange around the cellphone, and then watches as Jamie and his duplicate combine again. She looks from him to the departing woman, who thanked him for the phone. "So, is there anything that controls in what ways they might differ from you?" she asks. "Does it have anything do with your mood at the time maybe? Or, is it just completely random?"

But Vi doesn't have to be invited twice to head towards the domicile. She takes Jamie's cold hand, her own squeezing as if willing her heat into him. The snow is heavy and wet, falling on them and leaving white on their shoulders and in their hair as they hurry over to the brownstone. The snow is already a couple of inches thick on the ground, leaving footprints to show where they passed, at least for a time. They will soon be filled in.

"Electric blankets?" Vi asks softly. "That is a thing?" she continues in a surprised tone. Surprise and a little bit of amazement. They get to the door and Vi pauses, turning back to look at the city. The white is already covering up the city's dirt and scars. Bringing it a beauty that brings a smile to the girl's face. She looks around before finally turning back to Jamie, moving her hands back into his to let him lead her inside.

Multiple Man has posed:
Jamie, dusted in an increasingly thick layer of fresh snow, grumbles to himself in annoyance at... well, himself. He's watching the woman fade away through the gauze-like wall of crystaline white. "Used to be just more of me. Lately though? I dunno. Feels like, like some of them are more focused. More independent. Which isn't always a bad thing, you know?" Her question gives him pause. His moods already like to switch back with little warning. Maybe she was onto something. Brows furrowed in deep thought, he half mutters under a steamy breath. "God help me if that's true."

Hurrying their pace, Jamie guides Vi to the building. Hand in hand, careful in his offered support as they mount the stairs one by one. He's going to need a shovel. Once at the door, Jamie fumbles in his pocket with a free hand and numb fingers. The glass infront of his face taped together. Bullet holes patched with moving tape he found in one of the boxes.

Key in the door, Madrox pauses to look at her quizically. The expression softens almost immediately. While she's marveling at the city quietly settling in for a long, cold night, he's seeing her. The snow in her hair. The wonder in dark eyes over electric blankets and terrible driving conditions. "Seeing the world like you do, I'm a bit jealous." Turning the key, he opens the door and heat floods outward but the cold rushing in is much, much stronger. Lights click on one by one. The broad stairway leading upward. To the left, an open doorway to what looks like a kitchen or common room. A mess hall of a sort. "Door on the right is the office. Make yourself at home, Vi."

A suspicious, narrow eyed sweep of the streets is a must before he heads inside. Paranoia? He prefers to call it caution. Especially when somebody seems to have a bullet or ten with his name on it.

Vi has posed:
Vi comes back in from the snowy sidewalk with a smile on her face. She gives Jamie's hand a squeeze as they climb the steps in unison. She looks over to him as he reacts to her curiosity about his duplicates. "Maybe we could do some tests later?" she suggests quietly. "If you think maybe there might be anything to it."

She steps inside when he opens the door, looking around at it all. Her mouth drops open just a bit. "This is huge. I thought the school was big," she says. Which the school is much bigger, but then there's over a hundred people there. And here? Just Jamie. And other Jamies.

Vi looks back to him, her head tilting to the side a little bit as she finds Jamie looking at her. Not just looking towards her, but with something in his eyes like he's seeing her. It makes her smile and look down a little bashfully as she hears him."It has its moments. Kind of scary sometimes. Or confusing," she tells him. "I've not really had too many people I felt comfortable asking all the questions I wanted to ask."

She looks back up slowly, and the freedom that she had with her questions to Jamie might stand out after her words. She glances to the office, nodding at Jamie's instructions. "I'll wait in there," she agrees. She takes a step away, but then pauses. Vi removes his jacket, going over to give it back to him. "Thank you," she tells him, her finger touching the back of his hand for a moment before letting the touch, and his jacket, go. She heads over into the office then.

Multiple Man has posed:
Tests. He doesn't bristle at the notion but the idea does bring a certain air of distaste. The corner of his mouth hitches into a half-assed smile that he never seems to be aware of. Often hiding behind it as readily as his often terrible jokes. "Just like Muir Island. Let's put a pin in that one for now." Evading the the question aas made easier by her open entrancement of the aged building, he forgets the memories of needles and brain scans in favor of a soft chuckle at her amazement. "Thanks. I scammed a game show for it. I can't legally accept any prize money in the state of New York for the next thirty years."

Focus, Jamie. Coffee, remember? That bashful look away, he doesn't think before he acts. Brushing melting snow from her hair. His cold fingertips linger as he tucks dark hair behind her ear. "Confusing is always on the table. It's a staple of life with the X-Men. Like spandex and megalomaniacs." The weight of her words bring a shade of his own confusion and fear. Trusting him? Lovely timing as he can't even trust himself these days.

He found himself rooted to the floor when she turned away. He blinks dully at first when his overcoat is offered back. The light touch to his hand as feeling returns with the rise of warmth. When she thanks him, he's struck speechless. Somewhere at the estate there may be a trophy waiting for her in celebration of the epic feat. Seconds pass before Jamie snaps back to the here and now. "Thank you, she says. Buddy, that crackling sound is the thin ice you're on."

Into the kitchen he disappears. Noisily making coffee and cursing the machine as it fights him all the way. Victory and coffee in hand, he's soon to return. One mug sat on the edge of the desk. 'Worlds Greatest Detective' emblazoned on the front of black ceramic in bright yellow letters. "I didn't ask but I rolled the dice. Lots of sugar and cream. Surprisingly no whiskey."

Vi has posed:
The man's touch to her hair, is accepted by Vi. The flakes that cling on despite the warmth that wants to remove their glistening crystals and just leave little drops of water in memory are lightly brush aside from her hair, the soft touch drawing a smile from Vi.

When Jamie returns, he finds that she's removed her jacket. A sweatshirt worn beneath, the warm air able to get to her better. A pair of jeans beneath, and boots with dark brown toes that it turns out were well suited for the snow.

Vi turns away from the window, moving over to meet Jamie. "I've never had it before, though I've seen how much everyone drinks," she says. "I'm looking forward to trying it."

The girl picks up the mug, holding it up so she can see the lettering. Her expression becomes one of concentration, and her lips move a little bit as if reading aloud. Though if so it is done slowly. After a moment she smiles back to Jamie and holds the cup in both hands, getting a sense for how warm it is. She brings it near to her lips and blows on it a few times, stirring the surface of the tan liquid, until finally she takes a sip. "Oh. That's very strong!" she says, surprised by the taste. And that's full of cream and sugar.

Vi takes another sip though, her eyes going back to Jamie as she does. "So this is what I'll learn to make for you," she says. She looks around the office, reaching out to touch the lampshade. "I really like this. It's a beautiful color," she says, leaning down to look at the glass shade closer. Vi's lips pull back in a smile. "Whoever makes these must be so amazingly skilled," she says softly. "I can't even imagine how they would be made."

Multiple Man has posed:
Coffee. Sweet, life affirming elixir. With his own mug firmly clenched in a slowly rejuvenating hand, Jamie takes up a perch at the edge of that massive desk. Stacks of files and newspapers, note pads scrawled with illegible jibberish and more signs of his occupational mess. His back to the clutter, he takes a slow sip. No sugar. No cream. It's not a manly stance, he just couldn't decide on how much sugar he wanted. Dark eyes like burnt chocolate watch Vi with an unintentional scrutiny. "Don't let Hank make yours. You won't sleep for a week." A light, teasing smirk and he lifts his mug in cheers. 'Daddy Drinks Because I Cry' scrawled in bright crayon font on white.

There's no judgement or worry when he watches Vi work through the letters on her mug. Only more questions. Setting his mug down atop a blurry picture of plane wreckage, Jamie loosely grasps the edge of the desk with both hands at his sides. A wide smile threatening to expose his anticipation for her first drink of coffee. The reaction dashes away all hope of disguising his amusement. He laughs and lifts shoulders in a high shrug. "I'm almost positive the machine is trying to make me completely nocturnal."

Resting chin on shoulder, head turned aside as he watches her marvel at the next thing. He isn't holding back that bright, summer warm smile. "Coffee is traditional intern work. We'll get you up to chasing leads and breaking into morgues in no time." Fingers drum on thick oak before he reaches under the shade to pull a brass chain. Light dimmed. Light off. Light back on and bright once more. "Superheated sand turns to glass. I know, I know. I didn't believe it at first either. That right there is an antique. Used to be on the desk of a Brooklyn PI that showed me a thing or two. Ehhhh... showed one of me a thing or two."

Chewing his bottom lip in thought, Jamie lets go of any restraint on his curiousity "Vi? Can I ask you about your mutation? It's... It's a deeply personal question, I know but... it says a lot about a person."

Vi has posed:
Vi's smile grows as Jamie shows her the different settings on the lamp. She straightens back up, lifting her coffee mug to her lips to take another sip as she turns back to Jamie. "It is made from sand?" she asks even as Jamie is confirming this is the case. She shakes her head in wonderment, then moves back around to the desk, moving in front of where Jamie is sitting.

The pretty girl reaches up for a moment, her fingertips touching Jamie's cheek if he allows. "You're still cold," she says softly, "Though warming up I hope?" she asks with a nod given as if she thinks that's the case.

The girl reaches a hand up, brushing her hair back from her face where it wants to fall in front of an eye. "I don't mind talking about it. And I'm starting to realize it is personal," she says, eyes drifting away from him for a moment in thought.

Vi looks back to Jamie then, "But it's ok, I'd like to tell you," she says. She looks over, seeing the couch, and moving over to take a seat on it, her mug held in both hands for the warmth of it still.

"When I was younger, I noticed... a warmth within me. Down here," she says, reaching down and patting the flat plane of her stomach. "And one time I was straining to reach something on a high shelf. It was a metal tool that I could trade for food. But I couldn't reach it. And... I 'used' the warmth and I could feel the tool. Feel all the metal around me, and I pulled it to me. And the warmth was gone," she tells him.

Vi gives a slow nod of her head. "And it was gone for days. But eventually I felt it again. Over time I realized I could use that warmth whenever I felt it, and pull metal to me. And it would go away, but come back in time." Vi lets out a little sigh. "I understand now it was iron. The warmth. Iron in the drinking water, would build up in me until the point I could use it to power my mutant power. Iron lets me pull metal to me," she says. She looks over to the desk, lifting her hand up near to her chest, and a stapler flies off the desk and to her hand. "I swallowed some iron earlier, it's in my stomach where I can burn it to fuel my power," she says. "Not just iron, either."

Multiple Man has posed:
"Sand." Jamie confirms with a slow, easy nod. "It's a weird world we live in, isn't it? Nothing seems honest. Always hiding secrets. Truths. Everything and everyone is a mystery." A soft smile. It's all a mystery. Until it isn't. That's usually when the bullets or robots show up. In his experience, that is.

The warm, slender fingers on his cheek brings a heavy sigh of ease. Shoulders dropping a bare fraction of an inch as tension lets go of him bit by bit. "The coffee and the company help." He offers with a lopsided smirk.

As her hand falls away, Jamie crosses arms over his chest. He's not built like Captain America but years of combat training, life or death races for survival and never sitting still has clearly paid off. Maybe that's why he wears that same green shirt. It's flattering. And one of about fifty. He keeps his perch at the edge of the desk front but it won't last.

He doesn't interrupt as she divulges her mutation. Her past. A classic coming of age tale. Girl grows up in a Hellish labor camp. Fights to survive and thrive. Eats metal and manipulates it in turn. A classic, right? His eyes betray a rabid curiousity. A gentle patience that betrays his energetic schedule demands. A hint of worry.

Leaning forward to tip away from the front of his desk, Jamie uncrosses his arms to push clinging, still slightly damp emerald fabric up his forearms. "I've only met two people before you that could manipulate metals. If your hair turns white or green, I'm going to have way, way more questions." Pausing infront of her, Jamie pokes the inside of his cheek with a worrying tongue. Hands on his hips, he casts her a look of playful doubt. "You're not Jewish, are you? Not that there's anything wrong with that. But the similarities are there."

Hands slide down his thighs as he crouches, palms resting atop knees. A change of pace, Jamie looks up at Vi for once. "Thank you. It's weird but... these differences, these gifts, they make us special." He lofts an eyebrow sharply then. "God, I sound like Charles."

Vi has posed:
Vi's head tilts to the side a little bit, her eyes going to Jamie. Watching his reaction with the kind of look that has been given a myriad times throughout human interactions. The look of someone watching for signs of acceptance.

When she receives that playful look, Vi's face breaks out in such a radiant smile. She's shared something that, as he said, is deeply personal about her. And Jamie has made her feel good about it. Good about herself.

"I don't know what Jewish means," she says, shrugging and looking down at the admission. "How would I know?" she asks him quietly.

His comment gets a small grin from her. "He was a very nice man to me," she tells him. "He helped to get me more metals, as I was starting to run low. He and Mr. Parker," she says.

Vi reaches down to pat her stomach lightly. "I can burn four different metals. Iron," she says, looking to the stapler she pulled to her. Then she motions with it towards Jamie like she's about to toss it and is telling him to get ready. "Steel, pushes metal away," she says. She lifts the stapler so it's a little above her chest and it puts into the air, arcing towards Jamie. It's not like Magneto or Lorna who would just float it to him on a level path. This is clearly following an arc, being affected by gravity like it was a thrown object instead.

Again she's watching his reactions.

Multiple Man has posed:
Acceptance. A tricky thing in a world that has repeatedly shown its hand full of hate and anger toward mutants. Metahumans and everything between. Jamie doesn't resist or deny her a thing. In a strange way, he gets it. He understands. He's been young, powerful and confused.

The smile he's rewarded with is nothing short of breath taking. An unguarded response tugs at his lips, a smile he just can't wipe away with a thought. "Don't worry. Just a joke. Judaism is a religion. Culture. Thing. Never put much stock in religion myself but whatever gets a person through the day is what gets a person through the day."

Jamie nods again, a soft and barely audible chuckle leaving him through a still lingering smile. "Charles is a great man. He got me out of more than one tough spot. If it wasn't for him... They'd have probably put me down a long time ago." Eyebrows furrow, Jamie thinks for a split second. "The chemistry teacher. You know, haven't bumped into him yet. Must keep weird hours."

This not being his first show and tell, Jamie doesn't look apprehensive or even slightly put off. Sure, there's the nagging worry of having discovered a Magneto-ling, but Charles would have rooted that out first, right? Right. "Iron pulls. Steel pushes. Huh. And you said..." Not getting to his feet as of yet, Jamie easily plucks the projectile stapler from the air. Flips it over in his palm and gets to his feet.

Stapling the air with a sharp CLACK, Jamie chucks it back to her with a light, underhand toss. "You said four metals. Are those just the ones you've experimented with or do you think that's where the party ends?" Unceremoniously dropping down into the cushion beside her, Jamie slouches back and drapes his arms along the back of the cushions. New leather creaks and protests. "This city is basically nothing but metal, trash and stale pizza. It's gotta feel like a playground to you."

Vi has posed:
Vi catches the stapler, smiling to him and setting it aside as he takes a seat on the couch. She turns herself sideways to face Jamie and she looks down, giving a little shake of her head. "I only knew about the first, iron, and I had no idea what it was. That I was a mutant, anything," she tells him.

Vi lets out a soft breath. "A guard saw me pulling something to me one day. And, took me into a lab. I didn't know what the screens were or the keyboards," she says, those being things she's learned since coming to the school. "They were the ones who figured out how my power worked. And then they started feeding me metals to see if I could use any others. They said I need metals of a certain purity. Most iron, would only give me the tiniest amount of power. It needs to be the right, purity? Something. That's what Mr. Parker was helping with, figuring out exactly what I need," she says.

Vi looks down, her hair falling to hide her face a bit. "I don't know how long they kept me in there. They'd feed me a metal, see if I could use it. Then make me throw it back up. And do it again. Again and again. Until I'd get to the point I couldn't hold anything down. But they found four. Iron, and Steel. And Tin. And Pewter," she tells him quietly, head still down, face hidden behind the fall of lush, soft brown hair.

Multiple Man has posed:
"I imagine that was both terrifying and... probably felt a little good, right? Like stretching your legs after sitting too long." Vi turning to face him, Jamie shifts to turn ever so slightly her direction. Crossing his legs ankle over knee, his booted foot starting to bounce unconsciously. "I didn't know I was a mutant at first either. When... " He starts and stops. Clearly picking his words carefully now. "Mine manifested at birth. It was a little shocking, I assume. My parents moved us to the middle of nowhere, Kansas. Just Mom, Dad and about one to twenty of me." A conspiratorial wink is given. "Between you and me? I was a bit of a handful."

The story taking a darker turn, the humor fades from a warm, easily offered smile. Hydra. Monsters to the last the more he learns about them. His mind constantly chewing up and digesting information, Jamie can't help but start to wonder. Pure metals. Hmmm. While no chemist, his background in lab work is not small. When you can pull a two hundred hour work week as a lab assistant? Charles Xavier puts your mutant butt to work. "You're in good hands over there, Vi. No more tests that you don't want to take. Other than the academic. Nobody escapes that around there. No matter how many duplicates you throw into detention..."

"Hey. Hey." With her eyes cast low and head bowed, Jamie is unable to resist that urge to ease the pain. Take away the dark and add a little light. Lifting his hand from the back of the couch, Madrox sweeps those dark tresses from her face. Palm warm. Not the soft touch of a desk jockey. He's got the roughened touch of a Groundskeeper these days. Assuming she doesn't put a stapler through his sternum. "Never again, Vi. No X-Man or devastatingly handsome gardener is going to let that happen again. I... Hey. It's been a day. You can have any room upstairs. We aren't going anywhere in this white out." An eyebrow jumps upward, the corner of his mouth crooking into a devious smirk. "Want to order take out and take bets on who shows up first?"

Vi has posed:
Vi's thoughts were taken back to those moments. Of being kept in a small cell. Wakened in the morning to begin the tests. The different methods they used to purge her stomach again and again, until her stomach ached even to be given water. Then the tests of what she could do with the powers whenever they thought she was nearing the limits of her stomach could take.

In the moment Vi's cast back to those memories, the reassurance helps to hear. That those days are over. That they will never happen again. As Jamie brushes back her hair, and she feels the touch on her face, Vi lifts her head slightly, eyes lifting up to Jamie.

After a moment, she lifts up her hand, her fingers trembling slightly as she rests them on the back of his hand, as if asking him to not pull his touch away. Not just yet. To just let her have a few more moments of that human contact.

Eventually she lifts her head the rest of the way, nodding to Jamie. "Something to eat would be nice," she agrees with a smile.

Vi rises slowly to his feet, the pair moving off to find his phone, leaving only the muffled sound of their footsteps, and Vi's softly spoken, "Jamie? Thank you."