Blue's surprise lingers, but softens, watching her owlishly as she scans him over. he seems outwardly the same, though he is slower to react and respond to her words. her feelings are...hard to parse, just as Daisy's are. it still hurts to try.
speak? he hesitates, flicking a look to Daisy before taking one more sip of water and giving it a shot:]
...I can. I'm sorry. The injury is not...bodily. I don't think. [he hesitates again.] It's...something new.
[Blue's eyes fix on Daisy for that beat, that warning. she's not wrong to be cautious...though he quietly fears what could happen to those unsuspecting of danger.
but if it was just Newt and himself harmed, then maybe it's pretty self-contained.
his gaze only returns to Marta when she places her hand on him. now he can glean a better sense of her concern and focus; he feels a little more normal for being able to sense it.][he pauses. don't implicate Newt, huh...]
It felt...like a tear. [he lifts a hand away from the glass, bringing it to his face, fingers lightly grazing across. a tear.
he closes his eyes.]
I can...barely feel it. The things...outside myself.
[Daisy hardly knows Blue, and while she wants to trust him to not say anything there's no guarantee that he won't. Which is part of why she stays here. For all she knows, he could just be telling Marta all of this without Daisy being aware of it. Her gaze flicks over to her, trying to discern any changes in the expression on her face.]
[ but there is nothing on marta's face but confusion, coloring that concern. ]
So.. something happened, [ here, she glances daisy's way again, quietly hoping the other would elaborate, ] and whatever it was, it's affecting the way you normally feel things? Is that right?
[Daisy looks at Marta when she meets her gaze, but she isn't sure what she could say.
Jaw going tight when he starts to speak, Daisy thinks he's about to betray Newt. Instead she's caught off guard completely and her eyes snap back to him.]
[Blue's mouth tugs on one side briefly before he lifts his head and looks between them, fixing his gaze finally on Marta.]
My body is failing me. If...you need to examine it...for proof. I will relent.
[he hesitates.]
So long as you...keep the artificial intelligence...out of matters. [his head shakes a little.] It is...likely already known. If everyone is...on file.
[again, to Daisy:] I'm sorry. This isn't a burden you need to carry.
[Daisy doesn't see it as a burden, but it does complicate things. What happened back there in the hallway, there's no way it hadn't furthered whatever is causing his body to fail.]
[ just like that, marta realizes this is way out of her scope. she turns to daisy fully, realizing by now that they must have been having some communication throughout this entire time. ]
If what he's saying is true, we need to take him to the infirmary. Doctor McCoy will have a better idea of what to do — he's the one with the files.
[ marta leans back, feeling a flare of frustration as the suspicion she's being left in the dark about something important grows. but it is a feeling easily quelled as she refocuses on the more important matter at hand here — for whatever reason, they don't want to involve mccoy or go to the infirmary. if that's really the case, then marta is all they have.
and if that's the case... ]
I don't know how much help I can be if I don't know what the problem is.
[well, he can’t really put on airs and construct an ailment for her to solve more readily, and even if he were fit enough to do so, erasing memories is out of the question.
Blue closes his eyes a moment to try and consider what best to do.
what the problem is…]
Then… [he puts his hand over Marta’s, moving it over to rest atop his other wrist.] Work as you would…any aging, dying human. Is that…within your means?
[Jaw tight Daisy breaks eye contact with Marta when she sees past their thinly veiled lies. She feels guilty now for making this worse. For the fact that Blue is dying.
He speaks up before she can think of something to say that isn't the truth. She can't risk it.]
I'm sorry.
[Whether she's saying it to Blue, Marta, or the both of them...
It goes unconfirmed because she's already reaching for the door to leave. She needs to go talk with Leonard and Finn about Newt.]
[ when daisy leaves, the silence that had befallen marta remains. what is within her means? even now, after years and years of training and experience, she still doesn't know. ]
Death for humans... It varies. Without knowing the cause of yours, or how it's happening — all I can do is be here for you. Make sure you're not alone in it.
[ she moves so that both hands come to rest over his wrist, her grip light but firm. ]
I won't ask you to tell me more than you want to. But if there is anything you can say, anything at all to make this easier for you... please tell me.
In the meantime, I'll just be here. Okay? You should get some rest. I'll be here till you fall asleep.
[Blue doesn't answer right away, still trying to reconcile with the guilt he now feels for having laid out that truth to these two women. neither of them should be responsible for it, and knowing it...changes nothing. it just adds a futile reality that they didn't need to have.
upon I'll just be here, his eyes lift and fix on hers. he feels guilty, too, for having to conceal things, but...what could she do in knowing? she already seems a bit lost.]
I will tell you what I know I can. I know that...there is no record of Mu dying a natural death as of yet; I may become the first.
I've been alive...more than three hundred years. And for the last fifteen of them, I was asleep. I had burnt myself out, using my power. And in waking...I had to do it again.
Were I not to have been brought here, I would be dead already.
It's why I can hardly walk. Move on my own. Why I tire so quickly for so long... [his mouth tugs a bit.] All things wear out and break down, after all.
[ as he speaks, marta does her best to piece the puzzles together. mu must be what he is — a species? a designation? — and from what she can tell they must be fairly powerful if none before him have ever died naturally before. it sounds as close to immortality as marta currently knows it. something must have happened to necessitate blue's use of power, and to that extent — not once, but twice. might it have something to do with the regret that brought him here? that's purely conjecture at this point, and it's not as if that really matters. what does matter is that he's here now, slowly breaking down. ]
Maybe, [ she murmurs in quiet response. ] But things can be mended, too. Healed. It's just a matter of knowing how.
[ marta isn't foolish enough to speak in absolutes, not while she remains so wholly in the dark about a lot of blue's circumstance. but she has never known the harm in injecting a little hope, if however futile it may well end up being in the long run. ]
[she isn't wrong to say what she says - to hope as she does. in fact, it does shed a bit of light on the darkness that's been clustering up in Blue's own heart. he's been hanging onto this feeling almost entirely to himself, save for one, and it's a weight that a person isn't meant to carry alone. but how could he lay the whole state of himself out for others now? there are things to do. he has to help. no one would let him help if they knew how bad off he's been!
Blue's expression grows pained with this conflict despite nodding at her words.]
It's possible. I can't say I know for certain, only...listening to my own body. But asking for that help... [he hesitates, a beat ending by a slow exhale.]
I can't lay more worry on those who have been so kind to me. I can't...become a liability, either.
[ it's a feeling marta can sympathize with. finding herself here, among so many others who feel larger than life, she's wondered more than once how she could ever keep up. ]
Nobody ever wants to feel like a burden.
[ her tone remains gentle, but firm. ]
But... you're not well. That fact doesn't change, even with your best intentions. Trust that the people who care about you wouldn't see you any differently. And that they'd want to know. Because you shouldn't have to suffer alone either.
[turns out, many of those larger-than-life sorts can barely keep up with themselves half the time. such is life.
trust them, she says. they'd want to know. she isn't wrong, but...]
Until I know...what can even be done...I don't want them lost in the unknown with me. I don't want...their care and kindness tainted by despair for my sake.
[ marta nods, knowing decisions like these can never be easy. torn between wanting to protect and respect those you care for, but feeling just as hopeless regardless. ]
Until then, you have at least one person who knows. So don't feel like you have to be alone in your own despair, okay?
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—Something?
[ marta steps in and rushes to blue's side, quickly looking him over. there's urgency in her tone, but not enough to overtake the gentleness there. ]
Where does it hurt? Can you speak?
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Blue's surprise lingers, but softens, watching her owlishly as she scans him over. he seems outwardly the same, though he is slower to react and respond to her words. her feelings are...hard to parse, just as Daisy's are. it still hurts to try.
speak? he hesitates, flicking a look to Daisy before taking one more sip of water and giving it a shot:]
...I can. I'm sorry. The injury is not...bodily. I don't think. [he hesitates again.] It's...something new.
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I don't want anyone pointing fingers at Newt until we know the full story.
[Daisy thinks as loudly as she can, hoping Blue could hear her.]
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carefully, she lowers herself so she is at eye level with blue, reaching out to tentatively rest a steadying hand on his arm. ]
It's easier for you to use your mind, right? That's okay. But I need to know what the problem is, or I won't know how to help you.
You said it's not your body? Is it your mind?
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but if it was just Newt and himself harmed, then maybe it's pretty self-contained.
his gaze only returns to Marta when she places her hand on him. now he can glean a better sense of her concern and focus; he feels a little more normal for being able to sense it.][he pauses. don't implicate Newt, huh...]
It felt...like a tear. [he lifts a hand away from the glass, bringing it to his face, fingers lightly grazing across. a tear.
he closes his eyes.]
I can...barely feel it. The things...outside myself.
That's never happened before.
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So.. something happened, [ here, she glances daisy's way again, quietly hoping the other would elaborate, ] and whatever it was, it's affecting the way you normally feel things? Is that right?
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to her:] Anything more I say...only muddies the water.
[perhaps this was a mistake.
he closes his eyes and exhales harshly through his nose, and Itachi's words come to mind, insisting he see one of the doctors anyway, because...]
...Perhaps...it is because I am dying.
[again, to Daisy:] Don't let these words leave this room. Not yet.
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Jaw going tight when he starts to speak, Daisy thinks he's about to betray Newt. Instead she's caught off guard completely and her eyes snap back to him.]
What?
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[ this... is not at all what marta expected to walk into, answering this call. ]
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My body is failing me. If...you need to examine it...for proof. I will relent.
[he hesitates.]
So long as you...keep the artificial intelligence...out of matters. [his head shakes a little.] It is...likely already known. If everyone is...on file.
[again, to Daisy:] I'm sorry. This isn't a burden you need to carry.
You should leave. See to Newt. He's who matters.
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Failing you how?
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[ just like that, marta realizes this is way out of her scope. she turns to daisy fully, realizing by now that they must have been having some communication throughout this entire time. ]
If what he's saying is true, we need to take him to the infirmary. Doctor McCoy will have a better idea of what to do — he's the one with the files.
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[he withdraws his hand from his face, fixing Marta with a soft frown.]
No…not. Not right now. Not until more urgent matters…are tended to.
[to Daisy:] Being near Newt…right now, it might be a risk.
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Isn't he busy with another patient right now? Maybe it's better we don't move him for now.
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and if that's the case... ]
I don't know how much help I can be if I don't know what the problem is.
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Blue closes his eyes a moment to try and consider what best to do.
what the problem is…]
Then… [he puts his hand over Marta’s, moving it over to rest atop his other wrist.] Work as you would…any aging, dying human. Is that…within your means?
If not…then I won’t ask anything of you.
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He speaks up before she can think of something to say that isn't the truth. She can't risk it.]
I'm sorry.
[Whether she's saying it to Blue, Marta, or the both of them...
It goes unconfirmed because she's already reaching for the door to leave. She needs to go talk with Leonard and Finn about Newt.]
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Death for humans... It varies. Without knowing the cause of yours, or how it's happening — all I can do is be here for you. Make sure you're not alone in it.
[ she moves so that both hands come to rest over his wrist, her grip light but firm. ]
I won't ask you to tell me more than you want to. But if there is anything you can say, anything at all to make this easier for you... please tell me.
In the meantime, I'll just be here. Okay? You should get some rest. I'll be here till you fall asleep.
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upon I'll just be here, his eyes lift and fix on hers. he feels guilty, too, for having to conceal things, but...what could she do in knowing? she already seems a bit lost.]
I will tell you what I know I can. I know that...there is no record of Mu dying a natural death as of yet; I may become the first.
I've been alive...more than three hundred years. And for the last fifteen of them, I was asleep. I had burnt myself out, using my power. And in waking...I had to do it again.
Were I not to have been brought here, I would be dead already.
It's why I can hardly walk. Move on my own. Why I tire so quickly for so long... [his mouth tugs a bit.] All things wear out and break down, after all.
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Maybe, [ she murmurs in quiet response. ] But things can be mended, too. Healed. It's just a matter of knowing how.
[ marta isn't foolish enough to speak in absolutes, not while she remains so wholly in the dark about a lot of blue's circumstance. but she has never known the harm in injecting a little hope, if however futile it may well end up being in the long run. ]
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Blue's expression grows pained with this conflict despite nodding at her words.]
It's possible. I can't say I know for certain, only...listening to my own body. But asking for that help... [he hesitates, a beat ending by a slow exhale.]
I can't lay more worry on those who have been so kind to me. I can't...become a liability, either.
It's a frustrating place to be.
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Nobody ever wants to feel like a burden.
[ her tone remains gentle, but firm. ]
But... you're not well. That fact doesn't change, even with your best intentions. Trust that the people who care about you wouldn't see you any differently. And that they'd want to know. Because you shouldn't have to suffer alone either.
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trust them, she says. they'd want to know. she isn't wrong, but...]
Until I know...what can even be done...I don't want them lost in the unknown with me. I don't want...their care and kindness tainted by despair for my sake.
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Until then, you have at least one person who knows. So don't feel like you have to be alone in your own despair, okay?
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