Participants:
Scene Title | Drop Off, Drop In, Head Out, Come In |
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Synopsis | A busy morning in Grand Central Terminal crosses several paths and makes an EMT late for his first day on the job. |
Date | February 19, 2010 |
"Thanks— thanks." A voice on the other side of the office management door echoes faintly, given the acoustics of this subterranean facility. "What was your name again?" There's a brief pause, and whoever's on the other side of the conversation isn't quite close enough to hear. "Right, thanks. I'm Peter, by the way." She knew she recognized the voice, and when Kaylee hears the door to the converted employee offices rattle at the knob and then turn open, it's a surprisingly diffent set of attire he's coming inside in.
It's in the uniform of a Paramedic that Peter— with Kaylee's backpack slung over his shoulder and a duffle bag in one hand— comes striding in. One dark brow is raised, brown eyes settled on the blonde on the stacked matress on the office floor, Peter gives a shake of his head and offers a quiet smile. "Hey, the put in beds down here… nice upgrade." There's a joking tone to his voice as he eases the door shut, but not closed all the way, and walks over to a desk near the door, settling the duffle bag on top, and slinging the backpack with it.
There is relief when it is Peter that walks through the door and with her stuff. She pushes herself up to sit, reaching over for the back pack, there is something in it she wants, even as she offers. "Hey Peter… sorry to make you come down here like this." She gives him a grin, giving him a once over as if inspecting this new look. "I like the uniform. It suits you.." She teases, pulling he back pack to her, careful of the IV.
"They had to upgrade with all the patients we freed from a Company Doctor." Kaylee glances up giving him a bit of a sheepish smile, her tone equally so. "Sorry.. I kinda disappeared like that.. and didn't tell you about what was going on. I figured since you were wanting a normal.. you know.. life, it was better just to.. not tell you."
A disconcerted noise in the back of Peter's throat comes as he looks back down to Kaylee, over to the IV, and then just shakes his head. "You look like hell…" he admits in a hushed tone of voice. "Look, I said I wanted normal, I didn't say I wanted to endanger my friends for the sake of normalcy. We live ina really weird world, you know?" Unzipping the front of his jacket, Peter rests his hip against the desk and crosses his arms over his chest. It's surprisingly warm down here, and he only now seems to be realizing how odd the temperature difference is.
"So, you wanna' tell me what happened?" Peter glances to the IV, then back to Kaylee, "You don't have to, but when I get the call that I got…" his head bobs around a little bit. "I'd wondered where you'd been the last few days, I was starting to worry, given that you said you didn't have much of anywhere else to go."
"I kinda stayed where I could.. but the last minute planning of the raid.. had me sleeping anywhere and everywhere." Which was the truth… she mainly stayed in three locations, during it all. Kaylee works at the zipper of her backpack, giving it a tug. "Between Raith's weapons training and raid planning. Not to mention Eric's getting shot at Summer Meadows. Been staying everywhere. Robin offered me a place here though, so I figured I could free up your couch." A glance at him, she considers something she starts digging through her backpack, clearly looking for something.
Her head turns a bit and glances up at the IV bag. "This is cause I started seizing, while dreaming." Her attention goes back to her bag and the worn edge of something is pulled out enough so she can see it, brows dropping into a little frown. She pulls out a photograph from her bag. "Remember I told you about the Nightmare man? Me and some others finally stopped him."
"However… something during that fight bothered me and I think you can help me." The backpack s carefully deposited on the ground, the photo studied, before being lowered to her lap so that she can give Peter her full attention, "He had cards… tarot cards. Used it to gain power in the dream world. One card represented me and took away my ability and gave it to him." Taking a deep breath, she gives him a searching look.
"One card he had.. was of your mom. What is her ability exactly?" A brow lifts slightly. "Does it have something with future type visions?"
"Jensen Raith?" Peter seems to completely side-track the question about his mother as he looks sharply to Kaylee, reaching out to rest a hand on her shoulder. "Kaylee…" It's almost an exasperated tone of voice. "Don't— Don't tell me you got Jensen Raith to help you on whatever it is you were doing. Kaylee, you can't trust him, you have no idea what kind of man he really is." There's an overly emphatic sense of worry behind Peter's eyes as he swallows anxiously. "Jensen will try to seem like the nicest person you know, a— like a brother or a crazy uncle," usually the latter, "and then once he has you were you owe him something, he'll use you and— " Shaking his head, Peter lets go of Kaylee's shoulder and rubs the heel of his palm against his forehead.
"Kaylee you should've come to me about this instead of going to Jensen, I'm sure there would've been another way to handle this that didn't involve you needing to become owned by Raith. He's dangerous and frankly, he's not a good person. He's a murderer, and a dangerous one, and he'll treat you like family until you don't meet whatever crazy plan he's working on, and then you're a target."
Clearing his throat, Peter turns slowly, eyes averted down to the floor before looking back up to Kaylee again. "You could've come ot me for help, we could've gone to my mother. Whoever was holding your friends, we might have been able to get the Company to help out. She practically runs the organization under a man named Bob, I know everyone there… passably well, with my mother's connections I could've— " Peter grimaces, "Kaylee. You didn't have to go to Raith."
Just like a petrelli, he's evading the question.
Maybe it's because Brennan made her, or maybe it's because Michelle has a soft spot for the pastor. Or maybe it's just her turn to check in on him. Regardless, when Joseph declares intentions to visit Kaylee, far be it from the French pediatrician to deny a sick man a request. Unless perhaps it was to go walking a cable strung between two buildings. Then maaaaaaybe she might say no. As it is, she's not touching Joseph as they come down the hall. Her hands are behind here back, walking side by side, her french accent soft against the backdrop of the GCT and the sounds that reverberate through the halls and linger.
"Non, really. He woke up with this Lizard, this tiny lizard" She calls it a leezard. "just stretched across his face. He cannot stand them at all. Not one bit. He screamed like a little child and flapped his hands, jumped up and down. Swore that he was never coming back." The atmokinetic obviously, is divulging stories about her husband that might be more than a little embarrassing but intended to also make him more human to the others down here. Also bring humor into an otherwise drab environment when you're not near the mural.
"Snakes, lizards, he does not like them. And Marlena, she wants a gecko for a pet. I have had to break her heart and say no" She pauses though at the door, peering in. "Ahh, we are here Joseph" She pronounces his name the french way. "Kaylee's rooms, I will stay at the door yes. Two gentleman callers, how daring" This aimed at the woman on the bed and brows raised at Peter. With her entrance, the temperature is down a little, more comfortable, than overtly warm. Whatever the two of them were talking about in the room before they came, Michelle is politely ignoring.
Yes, here, we have Joseph. He's not quite dressed for the day— evening— but nor does he look completely like he's rolled out of bed. The sweater is a heavy one, pulled over a T-shirt, and jeans and boots have clearly been thrown on for the occasion, if he was even sleeping at all. Chances are, he wasn't. Arms bundled around his midsection, his mouth goes into a somewhat flat smile at Michelle's introduction, but he mutters a quiet 'thanks' to her and then proceeds to have trouble with actually walking inside. He does drift a step or two, a glance to Peter until ultimately his attention wanders to Kaylee, brows tipped into obvious concern and seem stuck there since he's heard the news.
"Hey," he says. It's not quite how are you or what happened, but it's a start. Notably the first time Joseph's had an intent to go anyway besides his own room and walking the dog.
The younge blonde stares at Peter for a long moment as he rants on and on. "Actually.. it really wasn't me that went to him to start.. but he got the job done. And I would have done what it takes to get those people out." She's rather firm on this point. "At that point.. some of them had been in for two months going through refrain testing and last thing I wanted was to try and get the Company to release them.. I'm already being looked at funny for just associating with your mother." Who Kaylee does kinda like.. she can't help it… She's been in the woman's head. Glancing down she admits, "But.. I had thought of it."
"Look… It's done and over. Everyone is safe. Yes, I'll owe him, but damn it.. it was worth it to get Joseph and Colette out of there." The look she gives Peter says she's not backing down on this.
"Now…. Your mom. Does she or doesn't she have a way to see the future. While fighting the Nightmare Man.. I saw New York buried deep in snow and ice." A hand is lifted, palm up, and held out to Peter, she doesn't notice the new minds coming closer yet. "I can't show you.. since I about fried my brain, but… You can look." It's an offer for him to take her ability and have a look in her head himself.
Of course, that's about when Joseph and Michelle walk in, pulling the blonde attention. "Hey.." She offers in return, sitting on her stack of mattresses, looking a touch surprised to see him. Then her and drops to her lap and her cheeks kind of get a bit of color at Michelle's words as they sink in, eyes kind of dropping form everyone. "I see word of my little episode made the rounds."
The sound of voices and movement has Peter looking over his shoulder towards the office management door he'd come in from, a speculative stare afforded to Joseph, then one brow raised as he watches Michelle over his shoulder. "Oh ah— no it's— " Clearing his throat, Peter offers a lopsided smile and grimaces a bit sheepishly, reaching up to scratch at the back of his neck as he takes a step away from Kaylee. "She— I— I'm just delivering her clothes from my apart— " this isn't going the way he wanted these words to go " — ment?"
Furrowing his brows and angling a side-long look at Kaylee, Peter bites down on his lower lip and stares at the blonde for a long moment. "Snow? Huh, I'll… mention it to her. I'm supposed to see her tonight about something, actually, once I'm off of work." When she makes mention of her ability, Peter seems to be agreeing to her request, as he takes a hand to lay on her shoulder.
There's a discharge f warm golden light around Peter's hand as he grips Kaylee's shoulder gently, and his forefingers and thumb rub together once he's pulled his hand away. "Thanks, I had an ability I was kind've not too fond of." Brown eyes divert to Michelle and Joseph, then look back to Kaylee. "Word of advice, telepath-to-telepath links are a bad idea, static feedback like pointing a microphone at a speaker." He taps the side of his head, grimacing a bit as he looks over to Joseph and takes a step over to the stranger.
"Name's Peter," he forsakes the surnames for the moment because— really— that's a whole lot of baggage he doesn't need right now. "Don't think I've met either of you." He offers a hand out to the Pastor, and turned around as he is, Joseph can see the Paramedic logo on the shoulder of his jacket, and unfortunately the surname "Petrelli" on the front of the jacket, because Peter is a little slow on the uptake and forgot it's written on his uniform.
"You hear that Joseph, telepathic links, they are a bad thing. You learn something new every day yes?" There's a quick eye to what occurs between Peter and Kaylee at the touch, the tall dark handsome man is offering his hand to Joseph studied before she herself busies with crossing the room so that she can get a look at Kaylee's IV and cluck her tongue. A hand to the womans forehead is more motherly than doctorly and a pair of gloves are snatched up so that she can sit on the side of the bed. "Give me your arm yes? We will get this out, so that you are not tethered like some poor ball to a pole. I trust that if you should feel unwelll, that you will speak up yes? No flopping like a trout upon the floor that has been out of water for a minute?" She wasn't there to really see, but she'd heard and Harve had recounted it all for her while they had mused and pondered over the altered state that Kaylee had been found in.
"Nightmare men. I hope you gave him a how do you say… donnez vite un coup de pied aux boules" Swift kick to the balls. "So many abilities yes, and so many people who would use them for such strange things. GOing about in peoples dreams" Michelle shakes her head. "Hurting people. What will they think of next? Hmm?" She's swift with the disengaging of the IV, near painless but then again, she does work with young children and soon enough, Kaylee's got a ball of cotton pressed to her arm by slender fingers. "Monsieur.. Petrelli. Familiar name" She caught the nametag too. "You are related to the president? Be sure to give him one in the nose yes."
"Don't feel special," Joseph says to Kaylee, a half-smile gentling the comment as he moves further inside, arms still braced around himself as if it were colder than it actually is — no evidence that he's yet taken up to wearing the Christmas gift that Kaylee got him, neck free of anything, including his old crucifix that's gone missing since he was taken into Bella's form of care. "Word of sickness— besides the expected kind— " He doesn't gesture at himself, but his tone carries enough meaning. "— kinda travels fast down here."
As it might. This isn't the most clean and wholesome of safeplaces. Stepping aside for Michelle, Joseph switches his attention to Peter and then down at the hand that had flashed with light just before. A glance to Michelle at her observation, before Joseph kind of— his back goes a little straighter as if maybe good posture is an important thing to have when talking to a possible relative of the President. "Joseph," he introduces, quietly — no last names for him, either, for different reasons — and inevitably takes his hand to shake. "Sorry about intrudin', I was just checkin' in— "
A hand lifts to cover her face as Peter stumbles over the circumstances. "He let me crash on his couch after McRae kicked me out." A slightly amused look goes Peter's way, even though her the color in her cheeks isn't going away anytime soon. "I had him bring my stuff since Robin told me I could stay here." She can't get herself to look at Joseph, not yet.. especially after that Peter fumble. Good going Pete!
Scooting over a bit so that Michelle can sit beside the telepath, "Please do mention it, Peter, please.. Snow and ice several stories high. Hopefully, she can clear it up." Kaylee says, glancing up at Peter with concern. "If what I saw was true.. we need time to warn the network."
"Good point," Kaylee muses at Joseph. "Small world down here." The old photo is set aside and tucked under her pillow before offering her arm as directed to the woman. The question of the nightmare gets an small smile. "Dunno about that… But he's gone either way." She glances sideways at the exchange between the two men, eyes going to Joseph for a long thoughtful moment even as she continues to talk to Michelle. "I'll try to make sure next time a dream walker pulls me into the dream world they warn me ahead of time so I have time to doze off in a bed rather then a chair." The tone somewhat light.
"Ahh…" Peter's eyes divert down to the nametag, shoulders slouching and a sigh exhaled from his nose. The President's brother, underground, in a Ferrymen facility. "Y— Yeah it's a long story," Peter admits with a mumbling tone of voice and a shake of his head, hands coming to tuck inside the pockets of his jacket. "Nice t'meet you, though, Joseph." Stepping aside to imply he's movingo ut of the way so Joseph can speak to Kaylee, Peter does still address her even if he's making his way over towards the door.
"I wouldn't worry about the weather too much, Kaylee, I've got a friend who knows when bad storms are coming, and I'm sure if something bad was going to happen she'd be able to fix it." Despite their spotty pasts, Peter still does seem to put a great deal of faith in Helena Dean's capabilities, in so much as her ability is concerned. "Besides, if this was going to happen, somebody would've found out by now. I'm sure it'll be fine." Brown eyes drift over to Michelle, and Peter politely offers out a hand to the woman, even if there's perhaps something a little more hey there about the expression on his face.
"Peter," he introduces, mostly out of politeness since she'd already heard the introductions, "Petrelli, I guess is kind've a moot point to hide now. "I don't think I got your name?" His eyes dip down to the wedding band on one of her hands, lips purse together and his smile seems to lose a little bit of that, hey there shine to it. Sort've like finding leftover Chinese food in a refrigerator, only to see someone had written their name on it.
"Hmm, would you? it would be so convenient if you did. Plus, much more comfortable on the derriere than the cement floor non?" She offers Kaylee a mirthful grin before looking over to Peter. Maybe if I was younger. Such a fine rear you have like Hereve's Michelle strips off a glove and offers up her hand to Peter, oblivious that he's in possession of the telepathy. Such beautiful eyes. I wonder if he is single, I should call jaqueline. "Michelle, Doctor Michelle Brennan" One has to differentiate which doc Brennan they want down here right now.
"The weather is nice, and I think it will be so for the next little bit. Mother nature and I, we have an agreement with each other from time to time, though there is someone else out there, who is not playing nice" She confides to Peter. "He is.. or she, or even it has suffered a great loss. It grieved my heart to feel it. Twice now. Though I suppose the others, they felt my anger in Brooklyn the other night. Joseph, do you wish to sit here, now that I am done? I am sure that the demosielle would enjoy the company yes?"
There's a storm coming, apparently, but it's one that'll be high above the Grand Central Terminal. He takes Michelle's words at her value, too, and so Joseph doesn't pick at the details, glancing towards Michelle and offering a smile. "I'm sure the de— I'm sure Kaylee would enjoy gettin' some shut eye more…" Which is more his roundabout way of asking permission from the telepath, before gently nudging: I can leave you alone if you need it, I really was just checkin' in.
All the same, he does move for the chair at a shuffle. "This the same— nightmare guy who was… in those dreams?" It's a weak sentence to string together, but halfway through Joseph realises that 1) unusual dreams could just be unusual dreams, 2) he was drugged at the time, 3) he's also a prophet which could explain away how he knew about Kaylee and Colette. Still.
Not looking completely convinced, Kaylee lets the subject of the snow drop…. for now. Maybe she had been wrong, brows drop slightly as she turns thoughtful. "Thanks for stopping by Peter.. and well.. all your help." Her fingers press the cotton to her arm, rather happy to have that gone and holding her down. "Thank you, doctor." A small smile is offered, before she glances at Joseph.
"Actually… an no offense, Dr. Brennan." A smirk going to the woman, before giving Joseph a glance as she catches his thoughts, normally she'd answer that way, but she knows better, "I.. ah.. wouldn't mind company that isn't a medical professional coming to check my vitals every so many minutes. I mean.. if you wouldn't mind the company yourself." Giving him the option to run if need be. The young telepath watches Joseph's shuffling, concern for him plain on her face, even as she answers his question. "And yeah… same guy. He won't be bothering anyone anymore at least." And she did't even have to sacrifice herself doing it, a smile tugs at the corner of her mouth at that thought.
Moving one hand to his ear to tug on his earlobe, Peter's brows furrow, eyes go a bit wide and it's like he's trying to take care of some tinnitus or something. "Wow, heh, you know— " he offers a look over to Kaylee, "I'd forgotten the kinds of things you must hear all the time." The comment isn't given much of an elaboration, for the sake of the other people in the room, but Peter's grinning. Brown eyes settle back on Michelle, and Peter's brows furrow for a moment, a hand coming up to scratch his thumb at the side of his chin, seeming to weigh the woman's words a bit, but doesn't elaborate any more on them— warning his mother seems like the best thing to do, and somehow that doesn't seem crazy to him either.
"Oh and, Kaylee." Peter nods over to her duffle bag, "check the front zippered pocket, I left something in there for you. Sorry about the short notice, but— I've been busy." Those very words make him glance down at his watch, a breath hitching in the back of his throat. "And I'm going to be late. I'm— sorry about having to run, folks. I'm about to make the worst possible impression on my first day of work. It was nice meeting you, Joseph, Michelle."
He turns a look back to Kaylee as he's on his way out the door. "Thanks for letting me borrow that thing," Peter offers back to the blonde, tapping the side of his head, "I'll try to come down and see you this weekend in case you need anything. Don't hesitate to give me a call, either, I left my number with Neil."
Standing in the doorway to the makeshift sleeping quarters, Peter looks between the three other people in the room, then just raises a hand in a wave and backpedals out, zipping up his paramedic jacket as he goes.
"The IV is out. You will only be bothered every hour until I twist Herve's arm and make him stop. he is worried, that is all." But she rises too, a look and raise of brows to Peter but there's nothing going through her mind much beyond a mental ticking off of her fingers of what she had left to do. Children to call being one of them. "Joseph, I will be down the hall, if you want company back to your room, if not, do not worry, no one will bother you unless you need it. Bon journee Monsieur Petrelli. Kaylee" And Michelle too is making a graceful exit.
"God bless," Joseph tells Peter, including Michelle via a small nod, though it's the former's back he watches until he's clear of the room. Tucking his hands into jacket pockets, he moves on towards the chair and sits down, aura of uncertainty plainer than he'd have it be, and he doesn't look to be necessarily getting settled for the long haul — either out of respect for Kaylee or his own need to crash and sleep eventually. "Life outside the Ferry, huh?" he says, a glance back to the door and then towards Kaylee with a halved smile sent her way. It dims a little as he adds, "This is what you were talkin' about. Before. About sacrificin' yourself for this thing."
Brow lift upward at Peter in a knowing look. "Tell me about it…" She murmurs, before the smile falls away and she's glancing at the duffel bag. "Um.. oookay. Good luck on your first day." The last she has to call after him as he hurries out. Sending a curious look at the duffel bag again, before she notices Michelle getting up to leave, the small smile angled at her while watching the French woman leaves as well.
Once it's just her and Joseph, the young telepath relaxes visibly, shoulder slumping, hands moving to run over her face. Her hands settle on each side of her face, as she glances at Joseph with a small smile. "Yeah, I guess there is a life outside of Ferry.. Though, feels like I'm pretty wrapped up in the Ferry. One crisis after another." There isn't anything bitter about her words.
The smile fades away some and she nods slowly at his last words "Yeah.. You remember?" A brow lifts, amazed that he did remember despite everything. "It.. was rough, but Hokuto was wrong. No one had to die. It was weird…. " Brow drops a bit looking over at him in the chair. "…go figure it would be me that saw the truth. I'm not all that smart of a person."
"My… nightmares before I was saved from them, were… something out of the Bible." Her cheeks flush a bit, eyes drop to her lap. "My shadow.. " She stops herself.. unsure of how much to tell the man.. So she just continues on instead,. "I… ended up learning to accept that I had this darkness inside of me. This temptation to use my ability to… ah…. do bad things. It's there, I learn to live with it."
"The dreamwalker had to learn the same thing. It was fractured into three minds.. denying that there was this darkness." Blue eyes lift to Joseph again, a smirk tugging at the corner of her lips, "So.. no one had to die." She can't help but smile about it, she had spent the time since the class worrying about what she'd have to do.
"It was about the only dream I could rightly recall, because I recall you makin' sure I would," Joseph says, hands linking together in his lap as he listens, obviously in a slightly better disposition than when she found him half-collapsed in a distant tunnel. Looking after people is so often the best medicine, anyway, even if looking after people currently consists of sitting awkwardly at their bedside and talking in a not-too-loud voice.
No one ever said he was a doctor, anyway, just a pastor. "Most of my others— I just woke up with 'em muddled in my head. I figured if anything was makin' them happen, it was likely to be any number of…" Injections, doses, whatever the word is. He shrugs, instead. "You in a lot of pain?"
"I did.." Kaylee affirms softly, giving a small nod. "I wouldn't normally do something like that to…. well…" She motions to him, not really looking at him, "People that trust me.. But it was important.. " Smiling a bit. "I am glad at least in that respect.. the whole nightmare thing… there was no way to hurt yourself. Like I told you before… it got me to sleepwalk into the bay in the middle of winter and try to drown myself." The woman gives an involuntary shiver and the memory, arms wrapping around herself.
The question of pain gets a slow shake of her head. "No.. not really.. anymore. Dr. Brennan found something he could give me that wouldn't throw me into a coma." She smiles a bit, "Just glad I was able to tell him I can't have anything like morphine before he tried to get rid of the pain." She rubs at a temple, smiling a bit. "And boy.. it felt like some one was going to tear apart my head. So I guess I'm glad I was here when it happened."
The hand drops away and rests in her lap, quiet for a moment. "How… is today treating you?" Since for most it seems to be a day by day thing.
Joseph turns in his wrist like he might be checking the time, though the absence of a watch kind of diminishes the effectiveness. Still— "So far, not bad, but there's not much to it yet," he points out, offering a wan smile before it fades again. "Here— " He pushes himself up to stand, fingernails grazing restlessly against the wooden arms of the chair. "You should probably get some sleep before it starts properly. I figure— at least you might get some proper rest now.
"We all might, sounds like." He's already making for the door, hands pushing into pockets, though he doesn't make it all the way before turning back to her. "I kind of… I think, maybe, this nightmare thing might have… been encouraging me. To go along with it, what the Company woman was doing. To like it. Do you think that's possible or does that just sound like an excuse to you? You were there, so…" Crooked smile.
The younge woman sits there, while he stands, her face fairly neutral to it all. Her leg bounce a bit when he starts for the door, as if she's holding back an impulse. It's his question that seems to break the tether of resistance holding her to the bed. Teeth bite the inside of her lip, before Kaylee pushes to her feet and moves towards him. What she does next is unlike the telepath….
She hugs him.
Only once her arms around the pastor, her cheek rests almost hesitantly on his shoulder, does she offer her answer to that question. "I don't think it's an excuse at all. He was all about destroying people to try to make them stronger. I saw what he was doing. The way he used your wife and Danko's words." The words are softly, spoken. "Just knowing what he was doing to you, helped me make the choice to do whatever I could to stop him."
"I know it doesn't mean much right now… " He fingers curl into the fabric of his sweater, but Kaylee doesn't cling like she did in the dream world. Just hugging is a big step for her. "…cause I know the road for you is so long… But I'm glad your out of there."
Joseph's body goes still around when Kaylee's arms are winding around him, head weighting against his shoulder and carrying a whole manner of personal space and aroma and a tickling blonde head of hair and warmth with her. It's instinct and then sincerity that has him returning the gesture, if strangely cautious, like either of them might break if too much affection is applied. She can feel more than hear him breathe a sigh out, tightening the embrace as he says, "No, it means the world. I'll work on payin' forward the favour," but allowing it to give once he's done.
Try to make them stronger gets a furrowed brow of consternation, but the sentiment isn't one that's unfamiliar to him. That it strikes a chord is what bothers him the most. Gently, Joseph releases her, eases back. "I'm glad I'm out too. I'll feel better about it once I know everyone's alright." Code for Colette, but it's not a discussion he wants to get into right now.
Once she feels his arm loosen around her, Kaylee steps back giving him a sheepish smile, fingers tucking some of her long blonde hair behind her ear. Suddenly a bit shy, she's never been much for that kind of contact… or at least not since she stopped using her ability to get what she wants. "Well… for now just work on feeling better, cause I'll feel better when everyone is too. I'll be back on rounds tomorrow, so I'll be checking in on you."
Glancing towards the stack of mattresses, the young woman suddenly looks tired. Glancing back at Joseph, giving him a soft smile, asks, "Want me to escort you back to your room before I crash? Or you gonna get one of the others?" A blonde brow lifts slightly, curiously.
"I think I can make it from here," Joseph assures, a touch wryly, taking another step back and smoothing one palm against the other, a restless kind of fidget. Normally he'd probably be twisting around a wedding ring, but it's not there to worry. "But if I'm quick then Michelle'll be just out in the hallway. I'm okay — you're the one that needs rest. I've had my fair share." Sheepishness is met with mostly the same in turn, an older and wearier version of it crinkling at his eyes in the start of a smile. Then, he's headed for the door, hand up to rub tension from the back of his neck as he goes.
"Alright… " Kaylee says softly enough it's iffy if he can hear it, her blue eyes watching him leave out the door. Once he's out of sight, the young telepath, lets out a heavy breath, her eyes widening a bit, hand pressing to her head and then fingers are pulling blonde hair out of her face. By time the hand drops at her side and she turns for the mattresses, the telepath has a small little smile.
The bulk of her duffel makes her pause, eyes drawn to the pocket Peter indicated. Pausing she unzips the bag and pulls out…. Her breath catches as she pulls out an invitation with a ticket to the Corinthian Gala. She stares at them for a moment and tuck them back in the pocket.
Kaylee drops to the mattress and pulls herself on further, curling up on her side, an arm tucked under the pillow, her eyes watch the door quietly, but there is no time till finally exhaustion take her under.