INFECTION

best  friends.

you  said  you'd  always  be  there.  i'm  holding  you  to  that.

i'm  not  leaving  you  alone  with  your  thoughts!

nobody  gets  to  call  you  that  but  me.

do  i  need  to  fight  someone  for  you?

we're  not  just  friends.  you're  my  family.

i'm  already  on  my  way.

if  i  die,  promise  you'll  erase  my  search  history.

we  should  not  be  allowed  unsupervised  in  public.

combined,  we're  one  whole  functioning  adult!

i've  helped  you  lie  to  your  parents,  friends,  &  your  boss...  what's  one  more?

ex-friends.

i  wanted  to  call  you.  every  time  something  happened.

how  did  you  just  stop  caring?

you  can't  pretend  we  weren't  close.

i  miss  you.  i'm  not  sorry.

i  don't  think  i  can  forgive  you.

i  miss  hating  the  same  people  together.

do  your  new  friends  know  the  version  of  you  i  knew?

you  ghosted  me.  but  sure!  let's  pretend  it  was  mutual!

i  still  know  your  favorite  song.

i  didn't  just  lose  my  friend,  i  lost  an  entire  chapter  of  my  life.

rivals.

this  isn't  personal.  you're  just  in  my  way.

why  are  you  so  obsessed  with  beating  me?

you  think  you're  better  than  me?  prove  it.

you  talk  a  lot  for  someone  who's  always  second  place.

did  you  rehearse  that  comeback  in  the  mirror?

do  you  ever  stop  talking?

one  day,  i'm  going  to  beat  you.

i  don't  like  you.  that  doesn't  mean  i  don't  respect  you.

i  didn't  come  to  play  fair,  i  came  to  win.

you  think  i'm  threatened  by  you?  no,  you  just  motivate  me  to  be  better.

roommates.

i  swear  i  didn't  eat  your  leftovers!  well,  not  ALL  of  them.

i  heard  everything.  these  walls  are  thin.

can  you  PLEASE  clean  up  after  yourself?

wanna  watch  a  movie?  i'm  making  popcorn!

you  know  we're  not  friends,  right?  we  just  live  together.

i  think  i  know  your  schedule  better  than  mine  at  this  point.

you  talk  in  your  sleep.

you  can't  just  adopt  a  pet  without  talking  to  me  first!

i'm  going  to  start  charging  your  dates  rent.

if  we  can  survive  living  together,  we  can  survive  anything.

if  your  [  family member  ]  drops  by  unannounced  one  more  time...

academic  partners.

you  forgot  the  project  deadline.  again.

this  was  supposed  to  be  a  group  effort!

i  think  we  would've  crashed  and  burned  without  you.

you  brought  snacks  to  study  group?  okay,  i  think  i  like  you.

we're  not  friends.  stop  telling  me  about  your  personal  life.

you're  actually  kind  of  smart,  you  know?

i'll  be  the  brains,  you  do  the  presentation.

we  agreed  no  emotional  breakdowns  during  mid-terms!

i  cannot  believe  i'm  depending  on  you  to  pass  this  class.

i  need  a  break  so  i  can  scream  into  my  textbook...

do  you  try  to  make  friends  with  EVERY  person  in  group  projects?

siblings.

you're  not  my  [ mom / dad / parent ]!  don't  tell  me  how  to  live.

i'm  allowed  to  make  fun  of  you.  nobody  else  is.

i  know  you  better  than  anyone  else  ever  will.

stop  trying  to  fix  me!

something  bad  happened.  can  i  come  home?

you're  still  the  favorite, even now.

still  trying  to  live  in  my  shadow,  huh?

i'm  not  jealous  of  you!

we  survived  that  house,  that's gotta count  for  something.

Because there was no home to go back to. Just one look around her abode reminded him entirely too much of himself. Do what you needed to survive, do what you thought would free you of your predicament. That predicament was something she had yet to share.

Remy was quick to lift an accusatory finger, “‘Ey, in ma case, stealin’ shit’s morally grey.”

With the mugs now on the table, he thanks her for the beverage and slides it closer to himself, adding in more sugar than needed and mixing. Something comforting for a less than appealing chat.

Remy was the last person to lecture anyone about morals; that wasn’t his intention behind the conversation, it was more so that this wasn’t her. It couldn’t be her…could it? Could someone who had been described as the class darling turn to murder so willingly?

   Tea strong enough for her liking, she finally takes a sip without adding anything into it. The mug gets set down gently and she leans back against the back of the chair that came with the apartment. ❝ Well, my phone was dead. It's been apparently eight years since I've been out and about. The people who yanked me didn't have the decency to charge it. ❞

   Her lips unwillingly flicker into a quick frown. Her gaze drifts away to the only window in the cheap apartment. Not much of a view. It sat at a busy intersection and was prone to cars honking every fifteen minutes. One of the main reasons of why it was dirt cheap.

   ❝ I don't even know where I've been holed away. I just ran like hell when the opportunity came. Only thing I can remember a shit ton of trees and a lot gunfire. ❞

   Jaw tightens and her hand reaches for the mug, letting the warmth of the beverage comfort her. The memory was still painful, fresh upon the mind and unhealed. She shrugs.

"Lissen, I may a' spat a couple unsavoury jokes 'bout cappin' a Senat'uh, but dis ain't de way, fille."

Of course he was the one to run into the mutant-born serial killer. Not that he hadn't had his own share of encounters with her ilk, but this time was different. His infrequent visits to the institute had him picking up on bits and pieces of intel, the prime suspect being a former student and all. The optics were horrendous, not just for the school, but for mutants as a whole. They were already in hot water enough as is.

Then again, maybe he was the right person for her to run into—used to living in the shadows. Something told him she wasn't acting of her own volition.

    Lips purse as she shuffles around her kitchen, pulling out three tea bags from an orange box on the counter. Opening the separate packages, she places two bags in one mug and one in the other. Instead of arguing with the other mutant, she stayed focus upon the task at hand. Making Gambit a cup of lady grey tea. Hot boiling water gets poured from a kettle that was upon the stove into the mugs. She then reaches into a drawer with a handle that looks like its bound to fall off, pulling out two raw sugar packets you can find in a cafe.

     ❝ It's not coercion. I want to do it. ❞ She corrects, walking over to her kitchen table with the mugs in her hand. The drinks get set down, along with the sugar packets. ❝ I know murder is wrong. You know what else is wrong? Torture. Experimentation. Kidnapping. Stealing shit. ❞

   She picks up the small paper tag attached to the tea bag string and bounces the bag in the water to extract the flavor faster.

“ maybe. “ his word is repeated sharply after hers. he doesn't like the way it tastes. the door he stands behind is cracked wide enough to display half of him; what's hidden behind the door is his pistol, polished and maintained since the moment he'd left new york some number of years back. a slight frown pulls at the winter soldier's lips, brow set in a deep furrow. [ not from here. dirty. bloodied. liability. ] the soldier concludes. a pot of something boils some paces behind him, simple, half the ingredients scraped from herbage and vegetation growing around the other side of the property.

     besides money, everyone seemed to want answers. if dropping a quick summary of previous events was the price to pay to get supplies and a decent meal, she was willing to throw the soldier a bone. the mutant enters his home, shutting the door behind her. the blonde hesitates to answer his question. only managing to lose the trail of government agents involved in the weapons program hours prior, safety wasn't guaranteed.

     ❝ it's just me. ❞ she replies, noticing the pistol being placed onto the kitchen counter. the blonde steps into the kitchen, greeted by a curious white feline. a ghost of a smile tugs at nessa's pale lips, she bends down gently scratching beneath alpine's chin. ❝ um . . . i'm guessing you wanna know how i found you. your file was in the database where i was being kept captive. along with a lot of other folks. ❞

     the other folks being the employees of the base. the most noticeable being dr. frost, who just bought a fancy apartment in new york city.

Roberta Flack - Compared to What (Atlantic)

wrt. Eugene McDaniels

Arr. William Fischer

Prod. Joel Dorn