Participants:
Scene Title | Ear Probes |
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Synopsis | During his lunch break, Magnes checks up on Kendall, who is still sick, and the two discuss Kendall's parents and meeting relatives of the President. |
Date | March 11, 2010 |
Taking his lunch break to fly home and check on Kendall, he enters the room wearing his black suit from interning, a germ mask, and some rubber gloves. Considering Kendall's been staying in Sable's room, he's likely surrounded by rock posters and other such things.
He's had the bare essentials while his new roommate's been at work; mini DVD player at bedside, a Nintendo DS, laptop, and a stack of trade paperbacks. "How you holding up? Hungry at all?" he asks as he closes the door behind him, moving to sit on the side of the bed.
Kendall definitely looks sick. Red, puffy eyes, constantly running nose, and pale complexion. Oh wait, the last one might be because he hardly ever gets any sun. He's playing games on the DS, and looks up when Magnes comes in. On cue, he sneezes, although he blocks with a sleeve just in time rather than spray it all over the place. "Enh. Not really." hungry that is.
"Alright, let's take your temperature." Magnes sounds more exhausted than normal, likely doing who-knows-what for Tracy. The next thing Kendall knows, there's something cold in his ear and they're waiting for the result. "I hope they make lots of vaccines for this virus, fast. I hear it's making people lose their ability, so this is the last thing I need to catch."
Augh! Kendall flinches away as Magnes sticks stuff in his ear. "Don't you have any thermometers that go under a tongue?" he whines. "And it'd be fine with me if I never got my ability back. Maybe my parents'll take me back." well, maybe not, since his parents' true colors were revealed.
"That's what Abby gave me, so that's what I'm using. She's an EMT and an all around smart girl, I'm not going against her advice." Magnes stays firm, though more in the way that a parent would. "And you shouldn't have to change for your parents to take you back. Your ability is a part of who you are. Think of it this way," He holds a finger up to grab the younger's attention. "What kind of parents would throw their child out for having, say, an extra finger, or oddly colored eyes, or, hell, freckles. Parents can't pick and choose their children based on how they were born, they have to accept them, no ifs, ands, or buts."
Kendall glances towards Magnes' eyes, then looks away and sneezes again, rubbing his nose on his sleeve. Gross. "Freckles couldn't be potentially dangerous." technically, neither can Kendall's power, but that's beside the point. "And there's still racism in the world, and this goes beyond that."
"You're trying to rationalize the actions of your parents." Magnes points out with a slight headtilt of disappointment. "It's true that there's plenty of reason to fear people like us, I've met and fought people more terrifying than most things you'd see in a comic, but there's alternatives to throwing your sick child out on the street. They could have gone to someone, tried to talk to people, this is why we have the Suresh Center. They chose to throw you out instead of helping you, and that's wrong, no matter how you look at or rationalize it."
THere's a pause, and he adds, "Have you called them?"
Kendall hesitates before replying, then shrugs his shoulders. "Well… no. I was, uh… going to wait until I got better. I mean… maybe they thought it was catching." well yeah, he is trying to rationalize the actions of his parents. "I mean, they've got an image to uphold and all."
"You're more important than any image or petty worry like that." Magnes pulls the thermometer from Kendall's ear and takes a look, sighing at the result. Still pretty sick. "Just focus on getting better, we'll handle your parents when it's safe for you to even leave the room."
"Yeah… I was going to wait anyway." Kendall agrees, eying that thermometer and shifting in place in the bed. He rubs his ear and grimaces. "EMT, EMshtee. What, is a mouth thermometer not good enough for EMTs to use?"
"I don't know, but every time I question Abby, things turn out bad, so… get used to your ear being probed." Magnes snickers and places the cap back on it, sitting it on the nightstand. "So you haven't felt anything weird lately, I mean, other than the being sick part. Any strange effects?"
"Like what?" Kendall shakes his head. "I wouldn't know what effects are strange. It's not like I'm growing another arm or turning blue or anything." and it's not like Kendall's trying to draw or anything.
"Well, I wanna keep track of your ability, so I'll know how bad you get. I'll buy you a sketchbook so you can draw a little every day, if that's alright with you." Magnes gently offers, not wanting to force him when he seems to be at odds with ability vs. parents. "I'm gonna ask around later, to see if I know anyone who can fix this."
"You think someone has a cure for it and is just… holding out?" Kendall eyes Magnes. "Bitch move on their part, if that's true. I've heard people are…" gulp "dying from this thing."
"There's healers around, but they all have limitations. I don't know if they can cure viruses. I know when Abby had her ability, she could cure cancer, but there were some things she couldn't fix." Magnes stands, stretching, then heads for the door. "Besides, there probably is a cure, but making lots of vaccines takes time. I know the President's brother, I'm sure they have, like, presidential vaccines." he laughs, grabbing the knob. "You need anything before I head back to work?"
"No, I think I'm good. And… what? You know… the President's brother? That's really random." Kendall stares curiously at Magnes. "Are you someone important?" coulda fooled him.
Magnes laughs, shaking his head. "I helped save the world once, but, that's about it. And the President's brother is just a normal guy like us, I'll introduce you when you're not oozing." Then, he opens and closes the door, calling back, "I'll be home soon, gonna run errands after work."
"All right then." Kendall flops back again, picking up the DS since it seems Magnes is out the door and off to work, or errands, or something. Kendall has a lot to think about, even as his fingers cause the buttons on the DS to click away repetitively.