13101/Drowning in the lake

Drowning in the lake
Date of Scene:	23 April 2021
Location:	Breakstone Lake - Xavier's School
Synopsis:	Jeremy falls into the lake and sinks like a rock. Rogue gives him CPR and takes a look into the mind of his trauma. Shannon and Alexis swoop in to help out.
Cast of Characters:	SpyderByte, Rogue, Prismatic, Nightingale

---

SpyderByte has posed:
It's a beautiful day at the lake and Jeremy had decided that he was going to take a walk and clear his head for a bit. Even he needs to disconnect once in awhile. That's not to say he hasn't already pinged a few cell towers to say 'hello' and to ensure he feels some type of connection to the world. He is dressed in his long sleeved black shirt that says: Skinny Puppy, on the front, and wide legged black bondage pants with chains hanging off them. He even has a dog collar around his throat.

As he walks along the water's edge, he hops up on a deck that hangs over the water, making his way down it so that he can look into the water. Usually boats are docked here, but they may be taken out for service, or being ridden around, so there is nothing here to impede him, or anyone to bother him. He can feel the boards creak and groan beneath him as he moves.

Once he leans over to take a look into the water, he feels the wood splinter beneath him, having rotted over the winter and the years of being untreated. An oversight.

As he hits the water once he falls through the deck, he struggles for a few seconds as he lets out loud rasping gasps of air. He can't scream. All he can do is flail before he sinks with a blurb.

Rogue has posed:
The last few days have been a bit of a roller coaster for Rogue, but after last nights conversation with Logan, she seems to have a little more pep in her step. Not that things still didn't bother her, but Logan did spin them in a perspective that made sense. She wasn't manipulated into killing anyone, and in fact, did the only thing she could do in the moment to save someone else. A life for a life.

It's a fair trade.

Since the sun is actually out and the weather is getting warmer, she's taken to walking around the grounds for no other reason than to do so. Fresh air. Warm sun. Subtle scent of water in the air from the lake. It reminds her of a few stomping grounds she has - had - has? Back in Mississippi. Whatever that's worth, it seems to bring an actual smile to Rogue's lips that no one will ever see because no one is around...

Or so she thought, until there's a crack in the air from nearby and Rogue looks just in time to see a figure at the end of one of the docks fall into the water. Immediately, she takes to a sort of hover-flight and zips over to the water right as Jeremy sinks beneath the surface. Without hesitation, she dives in with intent to grab the boy and haul him out of the water and onto dry land.

SpyderByte has posed:
At some point, Jeremy really should have learned to swim. Nerds don't need to swim. There is no 'Swimming Video Game' that would be interesting. So, he just flails under the water, thrashing and sinking as he puffs his cheeks out. It's dark under the water, even on a bright and sunny day. As he watches the surface slowly fade away and the blue sky disappears, he reaches out with his powers, trying to connect to anything.

<< Help. Help. Help. Help >>

Clenching his eyes shut, he covers his mouth with his hands as a bubble escapes out with a 'blub', followed by another.

Giving one last violent struggle, his body goes limp, falling backwards as he hits the muddy ground beneath. When Rogue hits the water and finally finds him, his body is sprawled out face down into the mud. To her, he weighs barely anything, having always been built light like a twig. When she resurfaces, water spills off his body, his black clothes hanging and clinging to his body.

Prismatic has posed:
    There's a beep on Alexis's smart watch. She purses her lips a moment, and lifts her sunglasses as she passes through one of the gardens -- and sees a notification from Jeremy -- and she looks up. She sees Rogue flying over the lake, and then diving down -- and her heart goes to her throat.

    And kicking off her high heels, the headmistress takes off running as fast as her legs can carry her to the lakeside!

Rogue has posed:
Rogue breaks the surface of the water moments later after finding Jeremy at the bottom of the lake and then flies up and over enough to get the young man flat onto the ground. Really, she doesn't even think about it, as he was under the water for long enough she's worried. Checking to see if he's breathing, she begins performing basic CPR. Though she's also a bit hesitant with it, making sure to only keep her lips against Jeremy's own for mere miliseconds. There's still that tingling draw, like the mind is knocking, but Rogue fights (or very much tries to fight) letting Jeremy in. The downside is that concern over Jeremy's well being is going to take precedence, and Rogue's guard is going to slip. She'll continue to give mouth to mouth, and chest compressions if she has to. No one from this school is /dying/ if she has anything to say or do about it.

SpyderByte has posed:
The young Technopath lays sprawled out in the grass like a wet, limp noodle. He is practically boneless beneath all the heavy black clothing that he wears to hide his body. Each time she leans down to breathe into his mouth, she can catch a glimpse here and there, a flash, a surge. Perhaps out of the corner of her eye she can see something flicker. 10110001100111-111000111000111-000111100011111. One by one they appear, like glowing gold strands that come and go.

<< Oh my Gawd, girl, Professor Worthington is so hot! >>

<< Right? I'd love to get with an angel. *giggle emoji* >>

<< Hey, I need help with Math, can you pop over later? >>

<< Plan is in place, boss. Bank will blow in twenty seconds. Driver is ready. >>

<< Maaari ka bang pumili ng ilang toilet paper ngayong gabi? >>

Prismatic has posed:
    Alexis makes it to the side of the lake, watching as Rogue tries to very, very carefully give CPR to the poor lad!

    "-- is he breathing at all? Did you try to tip him to get the water out?" she questions as she skids to a stop on her knees, her panty-horse ruined beyond repair. She reaches for Jeremy's hand to check for a pulse -- careful to mind the soaking wet Rogue!

Rogue has posed:
Rogue winces, each time, every little push of something else in her brain from Jeremy's own mind. A stupid conversation, a bank robbery in progress, and is that...Filipino? She shakes her head a bit. "I...I'm trying..." Is all she manages to say before she leans down to continue perfoming mouth to mouth. She does have Jeremy tilted up and to the side like one should sometimes do with a drowning victim to ensure water moves backwards. The more time passes, the more Rogue tosses caution to the wind and lips stay touched for miliseconds /longer/ to ensure she's doing things proper. She'll sacrifice the terms and conditions of her powers to save a life.

Nightingale has posed:
     It's a quiet day, calm, good for a dive-bombing run at the lake. And that is just what seems to be happening, with a very familiar winged figure barreling towards the water at a pretty fair clip. At the last possible second, Shannon snaps her wings outwards, skimming along the surface of the lake with a burst of laughter, trailing her fingers in the water.

     However, the laughter does not last very long, when she nears the tableau by the shore. There's a torrent of 'conversational' phrases in various languages, as she backwings to put on the brakes, and skid to a somewhat less-than-graceful landing near the group on shore. "What the heck happened?!" She's in old white sneakers, some old light blue jeans, and a plain white t-shirt, with her little brown bag tied to her belt as always. Her hair's pulled out of her face in a ponytail--which, for once, may well be a mercy.

SpyderByte has posed:
There is a spark now in Rogue's mind as memories of the young Goth flood into her head. Quick shards and spikes. Pain. At the core there is so much pain.

A conversation between two arguing parents screaming at each other as he listens from behind a wall. A divorce at the beginning stages. His fault. All his fault. 'You can /have/ him.' His father yells. 'You're the one who wanted to be a parent!' His mother screams back.

Another flash forward, this time one of physical pain. A split lip, a broken arm, a shove against the floor. Fear. /Fear/. *FEAR* The scrambling of fingers against tile, the dragging of a body, a scream that falls on deaf ears. Stop. STOP. Please stop.

The broomstick. A flash so bright hot that it's /white/ in the back of the eyes. A whisper against an ear. 'If you tell anyone, I'll cut your throat.'

Shame. Embarrassment. 'I want to die. Please, just let me die.'

By now Rogue can see millions of flashes of light, a billion signals that hum like angry bees. Text messages, emails, multiple languages. Then, it's just gone. Like a signal cut. The cord yanked out of the wall.

Hurking loudly, Jeremy twists his head to the side, coughing up water out of his chest, followed by a heave as he grasps the ground beneath him.

Prismatic has posed:
    "Rogue -- Jeremy --" Alexis states -- and then the flash of wings -- "... Shannon?!"

    There's a lot going on at once, and wrapping her jacket about Rogue, the administrator in the gray shirt and skirt kneels at the side of both.

    "Easy now, you lot -- we're all going to be all right now." she murmurs gently, looking to apply a gentle pressure around Rogue's shoulders, through the jacket, bringing one inee out for Jeremy to rest against as he goughs up water.

    "Easy, JEremy -- you're good lad. Rogue fished you out."

Rogue has posed:
The flashes are quick, but their impact is strong, and yet Rogue continues to push through them, to see them, to feel Jeremy's mind at the time and now - until it's all pulled from her in an abrupt sort of way. As Jeremy twists to cough up water, Rogue falls back, her eyes wide, and even when Alexis wraps that jacket around her shoulders she shakes her head and fights to her feet. "I-I'm fine. I'm not cold." She's SHAKEN, to the core, some of those things are similar to her own past. Not identical, and not all of them, but a few hit home in some ways.

Then there's a Shannon, and Rogue just looks to all three before fighting herself, taking a breath and moving back to ease Jeremy to sit up once he's coughed up all that water and is able to take breaths again. At least she's wearing gloves, and Jeremy clothes. "You're alright, Jeremy. It's alright." Visibly shaking, she tries to will it all away - but it's going to take some time. That was a lot of touch that she'll have to spend time shaking.

It's a good thing her hair is still dripping and her face it wet. It'll hide the tears coming out of her eyes.

Nightingale has posed:
     Shannon's brows furrow as she takes the whole scene in, taking a knee by the group on the shore. There's a sigh of relief as Jeremy horks up all the water that had taken up residence in his lungs, wings and shoulders slumping. "Thank god," she murmurs, though there is a look of concern at Rogue. She'd heard bits and pieces, most of the same rumors about her gifts as most of the other students--and even had heard a little bit from the source. She could only imagine what was going through the woman's mind right at that particular moment.

     With the worst of the crisis past, she reaches over to rest her hand on Jeremy's shoulder, and if permitted, a hug. "I can go back inside and grab a couple quilts from my dorm if either of you would like," she offers.

SpyderByte has posed:
Heaving a few deep breaths, Jeremy scrambles his hands up into his hair, scrubbing his face. He glances down at his trembling palms for a few moments, panic wide in his eyes. He opens his mouth, then closes it as he gives another loud rasp. "I-I-I c-cccaaaan-'t-t fff.. ffffff..."

He digs his hand into his pocket and pulls out his phone, giving it a few hard shakes. His chest heaves once more and he squeezes his phone again. He looks as if he is about to have a panic attack.

"P.. Please. P-P.." Each word is strangled that comes out of his throat. "P-P-PLEASE!" He practically screams at his phone before he sinks back on to his rump, staring up at the sky as he starts to cry, hiccuping with another cough as he wipes at his face with his hand. He glances at the three of them helplessly. "I-I-I caaaan't-t-t /feel/ aaahneee-t-th-ing. I-It's d-d-dead."

Prismatic has posed:
    "I do not care if you are *Cold*, Rogue. Sit down, take a few breaths." Alexis states, her dark eyes looking up to her pleadingly, "... I don't know if you get shock as easily as some others." she states to Rogue, and then, as Jeremy comes to fully -- she drops the argument with Rogue and she wraps her strong arms around Jeremy.

    "Shh. Shh Jeremy, it'll pass love." she states gently, holding him in place. "It'll pass."

    She doesn't push the subject of Rogue's abilities. She does, however, steel herself in case Jeremy tries to bite her in panic.

    Kids do the darndest things when they're panicking.

Rogue has posed:
"He needs a phone." Rogue says, motioning to Jeremy. "Mine's likely dead cause it was in the water. Either of you got a phone or something?" A look to Jeremy then. "Jeremy, nod yes or no, do you have anything in your room Shannon could get? A tablet? Another phone? Something?" She's kneeling next to him again and glances to Alexis. "Sorry. I needed to walk off parts of what I got from him..." Not that it helped. They're still there. Buried. She had to bury them. It'll take a bit for the memories to go away. Longer for the powers to dissolve.

A look is given to Shannon then. "Clothes. At least a shirt, and towels. Those would be nice. So we can dry off. And I mean a shirt for him. I'll be fine." She tries to delegate, things try to resurface, and then Rogue grunts.

Nightingale has posed:
     Nodding once, Shannon slips her phone from her little brown bag and holds it out to Jeremy. "Can you feel anything from this?" she asks. "You're welcome to borrow it until they can get you a new one if you like." She leaves her phone next to Jeremy, standing up and stepping back.

     With a look to Rogue, she nods once. "Dry clothes, towels... I'll bring out a warm drink in a thermos, something mild like chicken broth, so all of you can warm up, too. And a tablet or some tech from Jeremy's room. Anything else as long as I'm making the run?"

SpyderByte has posed:
Brushing his hand along his face a few times, Jeremy tries to calm himself down now that the shock is wearing off. He crumbles against Alexis as he hugs her tightly, curling his fingers into his shirt to grip them. He takes in deep breaths, sucking in air and swallowing it down with large gulps. He looks pale, his frame shaking.

Slowly, his eyes glance upwards and towards Rogue, staring at her for a long moment. His face looks sad and guilt stricken as he mouths to her silently: 'I'm sorry.' He surely must know what she sucked out of him. He can see it written all over her.

Once he finally leans back from Alexis, he glances down at Shannon's phone for a moment, biting at his lip. He focuses for a long moment, then lets out a wheezing breath and shakes his head. Nothing is happening. He finally works his shirt off and wads it in his hands, revealing his lanky teenage frame. He has a brightly lit tattoo of a blackwidow on his shoulder settled across what appears to be complicated circuitry. A gift from a friend. The rest of his body has small scars dug into his skin here and there along his stomach and back, but the major ones are now long gone thanks to a healer months ago.

Once he pushes himself to his feet, he rasps out in that stammering voice of a weak voice. "I-I-I ammm fff-fffff.. FINE." He flails with his hands back towards the school, watching Shannon fly off. He leans down to pick up her phone, holding it in his hands.

Prismatic has posed:
    Alexis holds to Jeremy a few more minutes, her blouse now pretty well soaked through. She takes a deep breath, and as he pulls away, she lets him go, looking from him to Rogue with the utmost sympathy in her expression.

    "Right then --" the Brit states, drawing herself upwards, and she looks at the two.

    "Let's get you both to the nurse's office and get a hot cup of tea and a blanket. You're both shakin' like leaves." she states, motioning up to the school again.

Rogue has posed:
Rogue catches Jeremy's gaze and watches him mouth the words of apology. She doesn't need them. She accepts them with a single nod of her head. Then she watches as he gets to his feet, listening as Shannon rattles off all the things asked for and she stands as well. "I agree with getting Jeremy to the clinic. I'm fine. My shakes aren't from being cold." This much offered and she gives a half-smile to Jeremy. "Your health at this point is surely important. Go get checked out. I'll see about getting you a new phone, okay? Or do you have one that we can bring you?" Cause, he didn't quite answer that. He just said he was fine though he's obviously not fine and needs that link that helps him in more ways than one could likely understand.

She does reach, with a hand that's gloved, to take Jeremy's closer hand for a moment and gives it a squeeze. It's a thing that most everyone knows isn't offered lightly - a willing touch of any sort from Rogue - so in this moment it's for both sympathy and empathy, an understanding passed in a way she sees fit to pass it. Glancing back to Alexis, she takes a breath. "I'll get checked up later if I don't feel well. I promise."

Nightingale has posed:
     It takes Shannon some minutes, but eventually she does return, her arms laden with fluffy towels, what looks to be a fresh change of clothes for Jeremy, and a tablet he can use. There's also a thermos, with a few plastic cups--enough for everyone to partake of the restorative broth likely contained in the thermos itself. Towels are offered to all three, with the clothing and tablet for Jeremy offered to him as well. "Here you are, Jer," she says softly. "No matter what, always friends. Got it?"

SpyderByte has posed:
Reaching out to take a towel from her, Jeremy wipes himself down a bit, giving his thick hair a scrubbing. Once he gathers his fresh clothes, he simply takes a moment to pause, then just drops his pants after kicking out of his shoes and tugs his socks off. He's wearing a pair of black boxers, nothing scandalous even as they stick to his body. He just tugs on the pair of fresh sweat pants, then pulls on a shirt. He gives a thankful smile to Shannon.

The squeeze to his hand from Rogue is returned as he leans in to bump his shoulder against hers for a moment. "Th-T-t-haank you." He says to the three of them. He takes the tablet from Shannon as well and turns it on with a press of his finger along the power button. He stares at it for a moment before he frowns, then tucks it into the pile of clothes he carries back for the school.

He gives another nod of his head silently to Alexis as they head off.