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Post by Ray on Jul 20, 2018 10:57:37 GMT -7
"I know it sounds like an AA slogan," Layla replies, her smile still soft despite the fragment of humor in her tone at those initial words, "But finding acceptance is the first step for any kind of healing." Maybe not for cuts and bruises, maybe not for the minor scrapes of everyday life, but she's seen the strange sort of miracles that happen when people stop fighting their prognosis, stop fearing it, and start learning how to live life with it. People get this muddled idea that that is somehow giving up, giving in. Letting the disease or the handicap or the change take control of the wheel while you sit back and watch and do nothing.
But it couldn't be further from the truth.
Acceptance is taking the reins and making it work for you. Not against.
"Maybe Jesse can help you figure out how to find that acceptance." She says with a small nod. "Or," she adds on, tilting her head slightly to the side, "At the very least teach you how to perfect the ultimate brooding look." Layla teases, laughing softly afterwards.
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Post by Snowglobe18 on Jul 20, 2018 11:42:38 GMT -7
Teresa listens and doesn't argue with anything that Layla says because in the end what she is saying is true. She had to heal her mind and everything else, healing would help her to move on and help her to accept that there wasn't anything bad about her. Maybe acceptance would help her to heal a bit more better. God knows she could actually do with that. Maybe she had actually learned the Atwood way of thinking that everything different was bad? And that frightened her because she didn't want to be like her father but she would feel like it with that sort of thinking.
She had honestly only came here to actually find out what was wrong with her and find out just how she could do what she could with the shaking and it seemed like no one could figure that out in one go and now she was here again with Layla to get her hands examined and now she was getting advice from the woman herself and for the first time she actually felt like her mind was in such a mess.
Teresa smiled softly and looked down. She then looked up and laughed when Layla teased her about the brooding look. "I'm not sure brooding would look good on me but I bet he could actually try to put it there on my face" she nodded. "I know I have to accept it and I will but I'm more worried about control it so that I don't end up hurting myself more, I mean I have gone to bed and woken up the next morning with the bruises and it scares me because if I can't control it in my sleep then will I ever be able to do that when I'm awake?"
She bit on her lip gently and then added on "I don't want to hurt anyone... I don't want to hurt...him" she said and nudged her head in the direction of the door to show that she meant Barton.
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Post by Ray on Jul 20, 2018 12:04:26 GMT -7
Layla's smile turns softer and more sympathetic, her heart sinking slightly in her chest as Teresa expresses her worries and doubts. Especially those concerning the man still waiting out in the hall. Layla leans forward, setting her arms upon her desk and sighing out a quiet breath. "I wish I had any answers to give you. I just...don't. All of this is as new to me as it is to you. And..." Layla glances towards the door as a thought comes to mind. But it's not a thought that should be handed out so freely, so openly. That question of how much she knows and how much she's allowed to know returning back to the forefront of her mind. Layla drops her gaze back to Teresa, and forces a small smile.
There are some decisions that are not hers to make.
"And I'm limited in what I can do." She admits. "Talk to Jesse. If he helped you yesterday, he might be able to help you some more from here on out. Or at the very least give you advice that I cannot. He's usually upstairs in the training rooms on the days he spends here. I'm not convinced that he ever sleeps," Layla teases lightly, laughing a little.
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Post by Snowglobe18 on Jul 20, 2018 12:14:04 GMT -7
If Teresa was honest she didn't mind the fact that Layla couldn't tell her much; she was just glad to be able to voice these to another female. It wasn't like she could ring up her cousin and tell her. Lexi was in London but she knew that if she did tell her then she would probably understand seeing as she is too different. Even though Lexi was born different, Teresa had changed.. maybe in the last couple months maybe less than that. All she knew was that she had started the shaking not long after moving to New York City, it could have something to do with that or it might not have anything to do with it at all.
She was glad to get it out in the air and tell someone, sure Layla couldn't do much but telling someone what she was feeling actually helped her a bit more. Teresa wasn't the sort of person that like to keep things bottled up, she would rather try to talk it out but she had kept her abilities from Barton as much as she could until he had caught the bruises on her hands and wrists.
Teresa looked in the direction of the door and knew that anything said in the room would stay in this room and she was more than happy with that. She didn't want to let Barton know that she worried so much about him. Even if she had told him that she didn't want to hurt him the day before but other than that she hadn't really said anything more on the subject so to tell Layla felt so much more better and it didn't feel like it was clogging her brain up too much worrying about all of this.
Layla spoke about talking to Jesse and she chewed on her lip before she nodded. The kid did help the day before from calming everything down to putting heat on her hands and for the first time she actually didn't feel worried about someone finding out what she could do because he too had abilities. She had seen them the day before even though it looked like he really shouldn't have. She gave Layla a smile and then said "I think I might" if he could help her then she would be more than grateful, maybe even help her to control what she could do. He did say that it would take a long time and a lot of patience but she was more than willing to actually deal with that.
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Post by Ray on Jul 20, 2018 12:31:25 GMT -7
"Good," Layla nods, glad to have at least been able to point Teresa in the way of a possible solution. Though even she isn't entirely sure how well it will really work out. Jesse has far more depth beneath that dark, quiet, reserved exterior of his, Layla is sure of that from the small smiles she gets and the sly jokes that betray the young nineteen-year old still somewhere in there. But she also hasn't been deaf to the minor rants Tony goes on every once in a while about the stubborn, smart-mouthed brat that Steve has brought into the fold somewhat spontaneously.
Jesse could be willing to help. Or entirely against it. And Layla isn't sure which side the coin will fall on to tell the truth.
"I guess we should put Clint out of his misery and stop isolating him in Siberia." She comments, glancing back towards the door. She sighs and rises to her feet, rounding her desk to the other side to open the door for Teresa. "Just remember what I said. One coat of the cream in the morning to help with the bruises, take the medication sparingly but don't make yourself endure any undue pain, and relax," Layla says, opening the door wide. Barton perks up across the hall, "We'll find a solution. Some way or other."
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Post by Snowglobe18 on Jul 20, 2018 12:48:36 GMT -7
If it worked out with Jesse then maybe he will be able to help her and she will be able to at least control what she does but first she needed to be able to deal with the healing side of all of this. Because the last thing she wanted to do was go through this too many times. It was painful and it exhausted her a lot more than anything else did and it made her fear hurting anyone outside and anyone in here. She gave Layla a soft smile once more because Barton was right she was definitely nice and Teresa knew that if anything happened like this again then she would rather Layla help her with all of the fractures.
Teresa looked over at the door and nodded. They probably should do that, she had seen how he had been when he knocked on the door and seemed eager to come in. Plus she saw him perk up when they moved from the other room back to this one and had shut the door on him. It was nice to know that Layla kept the whole confidential part that a doctor usually had.
She moved to the door and Layla opened it for her and then started talking once more. The cream did help so she would definitely be using it again and hopefully she will be able to relax or at least enough so that she wouldn't do more damage but at the moment the pain would be there for a while and doing anything that would require using her hands, so for everything, was going to be hell. But if she used the painkillers sparingly then she might be able to deal with the pain most of the time until it got really bad for her.
"Thank you for helping me Layla, I know I said that before but I really appreciate all of this" she gave her the warmest smile ever and nodded. Teresa definitely felt calm around this woman and knew that she would help any way that she could when it came to the pain that Teresa was experiencing but even so sometimes doctors at their limits on what they could do to deal with anything but it was definitely nice to talk to her about everything and to get it off of her chest. She slowly moved her eyes away from Layla and set them on Barton.
Teresa then glanced back at Layla and said "Do you think I'm going to be getting twenty questions from him?"
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Post by Ray on Jul 20, 2018 13:02:04 GMT -7
"You're welcome," Layla nods, folding her hands in front of herself and returning a smile just as warm as Teresa's. She knows she wasn't able to do much in the way of preventing injuries in the future, but as long as she can help quell the pain now, Layla will call that a victory. And Teresa seems satisfied either way. She glances over to the empty lab across the hall, watching as Barton rises quickly from the stool and shoves his phone into the back pocket of his jeans, and laughs a little. "Probably more than twenty." She admits.
"Hey," Barton starts, exhaling the word as he joins them out in the hall, his eyes center mainly on Teresa and scanning her over. His gaze settles on the slim bracers wrapping Teresa's wrists and hands. "How'd it go?" He asks, meeting Teresa's eye.
"Better than your check-ups." Layla teases him. "Let her rest before you start interrogating her." She comments, patting his arm twice before giving Teresa another smile and returning to her office.
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Post by Snowglobe18 on Jul 20, 2018 13:14:51 GMT -7
Teresa huffs out a soft laugh at that and moves her brown eyes over to the lab opposite just in time to see Barton coming out of it and she wasn't sure if she was really ready for the whole question part of him coming back out the lab but she was sure that she could handle them even when he did ask them. She felt his eyes scanning her over and she felt heat start to creep into her cheeks and that wasn't something that she wanted to be caught with right now especially when she was sure that it was making her heart pound hard in her chest and she cleared her throat softly.
He moved his eyes back up to look at her and she was about to answer when Layla spoke instead and Teresa smile back at her then watched as she walked back into her office. She really liked her. In fact she was definitely better than most of the doctors she has met back in Mystic. It was a nice change to the condescending eyes from the doctors she has come up against before. The smile started on her lips before she slowly moved her eyes back to look at Barton.
"No broken bones but I do have fractures and I need these" she said and reached gently into her pocket and pulled the paper out to hand it over to Barton and then nodded. "Sparingly though and if I do take them then I cant drive but at the moment I don't think I could even drive anyway" she shrugged up a shoulder before putting her eyes back onto Barton's face. "And I have to wear these" she held her hands up to show the bracers but she wasn't actually worried about them if she's honest because if it meant that they help her to heal better then she was all down for wearing them.
Teresa couldn't help but think over what Layla said and she knew it was a good idea. She was going to see Jesse to see if he would help her out.
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Post by Ray on Jul 20, 2018 13:27:01 GMT -7
Barton listens, taking the prescription slip from Teresa when she hands it towards him and glancing once more at the bracers she has wrapped around her wrists. She seems...somehow nonchalant about all of this, a distinct change from the hesitation and nervousness Barton had seen written across her face just this morning. But Layla has that affect on people. He doesn't know if it's because she has a kind, pretty smile that never leaves her lips or because she just knows what the hell she's doing, but even Barton finds some way to calm down in her presence.
And he's usually got knives still stuck in him when he's in her office.
"Okay," Barton nods, all the rest of his questions flitting off somewhere unknown at the back of his mind. He looks down to the slip of paper, reading the name of her prescription. "Oh. Yeah. This is good shit." He admits, having become very, very familiar with pain killers in his time. Even if his favorite is a case of beer. "She must like you." He teases a little.
Or it must be worse than just a few fractures.
"There's a pharmacy just a block from here. I can pick these up for you if you just want to get home." He offers, looking back up to her and lifting his brows.
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Post by Snowglobe18 on Jul 20, 2018 13:39:15 GMT -7
Teresa huffs out a soft laugh before looking back towards the door. "I like her, she's definitely nicer than anyone I've met before" she admitted before looking back at Barton. She raised an eyebrow when she realised that he had said that the painkillers were good shit because honestly she was sure she could do with the good stuff but she wasn't going to use them like she would normal painkillers. The last thing Teresa wanted to do was become dependent on painkillers to get her through all of this. If they were there then she would take them if and when she really needed them.
Barton spoke and she watched him. He was being so kind to her and honestly she wasn't sure she had deserved this but he was offering to get her pills for her and he did take her back to his and laid with her on the couch. It was almost like they had slipped passed what they were and gone to the part where they really cared about the other. Maybe they had, and maybe they did and that was definitely something she hadn't expected especially when she hadn't really thought about putting a name to what they were. These two people who had met by accident and had started sharing a bed but only when they both felt like it.
She pulled her lip in between her teeth and bit on it for a moment because of what she had to tell him. Teresa had thought over what Layla had said and she was going to stop by and see Jesse before she even headed back to her place because maybe he could help her, maybe he could help control what she could do and if she didn't ask then she would always have the what if hanging over her head. But telling Barton seemed hard, it was like they were dating and she was about to tell him that she was hanging out with an ex boyfriend.
But she was going to say it anyway.
"I was thinking about going to see Jesse first, he might be able to help me" she watched him and then chewed on her lip for a moment again before she let it go once more and started talking again. "I know you might not agree but.. it's worth the try, right?"
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Post by Ray on Jul 20, 2018 14:02:25 GMT -7
Barton blinks in surprise as soon as Jesse's name leaves her mouth. He'd forgotten entirely about that sullen troublemaker in the time since the incident the day before, having pushed him out of his mind. Jesse is Steve's pet project, not his. And it's not even that he really dislikes the kid. After all, he's just a kid. Too young and too dumb to know that the world doesn't work the way his teenage, angsty brain thinks it does. But Barton does not have the patience to deal with that level of nineteen-year old rebellion.
Especially when it comes from someone with far too much power literally in the palm of their hands.
"You want to talk to Edge-Lord." Barton repeats, not really a question, his tone incredulous and sarcastic. "About what? The latest Twenty One Pilots album?" He asks, knowing he's starting to sound like a bitter old man and sort of hating it. He shakes his head at that, folding the slip of paper between his fingers. "I mean I won't stop you. If you think it'll help, than who am I to bitch and moan. He just isn't my definition of relaxing." He sighs out, handing the prescription back to Teresa.
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Post by Snowglobe18 on Jul 20, 2018 14:17:07 GMT -7
Teresa watches him and raises her eyebrows at him before sighing. "I... don't know who that is" she admitted and then shrugged up a shoulder once more before she let her eyes settle back on his face. She wasn't sure why he was even acting like this but she wasn't sure she wanted to actually argue even if they weren't in fact arguing. But she let him continue and then he handed the prescription back to her and then she slipped it back into her pocket. "He helped calm me down yesterday, Clint, he helped in ways that I can't explain and I know that you don't want me to go to him but.. I don't know what else to do" she admitted and watched him.
"I've already got fractures in my bones but if I continue on the way that I did yesterday then I could shatter the bones in my hands and wrists and maybe not just those but the rest too and I don't want that... and I definitely don't want to hurt you" she brought her hand up and gently poked him in the chest but kept her eyes on his face and there wasn't even an ounce of anger there.
Teresa wasn't angry at him, she don't think she could even be but this was her decision and if Jesse could help her then she was more than happy to try and if not then she would just be wasting her time and not anyone else's but she had to try for the sake of her bones and everyone in this City. If this was the first step towards her being able to control what she can do then that was a good thing and no Jesse might not be the help that she needed but there was only one way that she could actually find out and that was to try this out for a while. Yes it was going to take a long time and she was prepared for that.
But she felt like she needed Barton to back her on this and she didn't know why but it was important to her.
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Post by Ray on Jul 20, 2018 14:57:29 GMT -7
Barton listens and frowns a little at the edge of his lips. Jesus, he really is letting his own judgement about this damn kid make him sound like a prick. He rubs at the back of his neck, trying to find the nerve to agree to this. Even if it doesn't really matter whether he agrees or not. Teresa is a grown woman. If this is what she wants to do, it's what she should be able to do. Whether or not he likes Jesse's eye-rolling has nothing to do with it.
"Alright," He relents after a moment, bobbing his head. "Alright. Jesse it is." He sighs out, letting his hand fall heavily back to his side. "Don't say I didn't warn you." He murmurs as he turns towards the length of hall leading towards the elevator.
As the doors close and Barton swipes the face of his watch across the screen, he talks aloud to the always listening computer. "JARVIS, where's hothead?"
"Mr. Yeun is currently in the sparring room. Shall I tell him you're coming?" JARVIS replies, polite as ever, as the elevator begins to lift.
"God no." Barton retorts. That would be an absolute mistake.
It's a short ride up to the same series of floors they visited the day before, JARVIS taking them right where they need to go rather than the bouncing around they had to do in order to collect everyone and figure out the best course of action. Though, looking back, he still can't really call any of that the best. But the doors open and let them out on that same rounded hallway, but rather than taking her towards the Juggernaut, Barton starts walking in the opposite direction. One of the previously closed doors is cracked open slightly, the sound of whirring machinery and spitting sparks coming within, as well as Tony's muffled voice.
"-ammit, Dumbo. I didn't say monkey wrench." They catch as they continue on.
Barton stops at another door, a rather telling bumper sticker plastered on the door that says Get Swole in big bold letters. He swipes his watch again, and the door opens.
But rather than the very clean, very technical chamber that was the viewing room of the Juggernaut, a gym immediately opens up to them. The floors are padded with rubber mats, one wall is made entirely of mirrors, and music plays loudly over the speakers in between the sounds of thumps and exertion. Barton screws his mouth tightly shut and walks in, ignoring the weight-lifting equipment and the punching bags and the cardio machines, and walking straight for the hexagonal ring standing in the widest expanse of the room at the far end.
"Come on, you can hit harder than that," Steve's voice breaks through as they near, and Barton approaches to stand at the edge of the ring, resting his forearms upon the lip and peering in through the ropes. Jesse rounds out a kick at that very moment, leg arcing in perfect form. Steve blocks with his arm, Jesse hitting the curved pad strapped to Steve's forearm, and succeeded in making the soldier react enough that his muscles have to tense. "Again. Harder." Steve instructs, and Jesse does so immediately. But not in the way Steve expects. Bouncing swiftly to shift his weight to the other foot, Jesse swings upwards his other leg in a sharp kick, forcing Steve to quickly throw up his other, unpadded arm. But rather than halting the sudden attack, he just barely catches Jesse by the ankle, holding his leg taunt in the air. Jesse's teeth clench, annoyed. Steve grins. "Good."
"Steve-o." Barton interrupts, and the two of them glance down to the intruding voice, still locked in that position.
"Barton," Steve says in mild surprise, finally releasing Jesse's ankle. The kid relaxes back into a standing position, catching his breath. Steve notices the woman joining them as well. His shoulders lower slightly, and in a relieved sigh, he adds, "Teresa."
"She wants to talk to flameboy."
"Ass." Jesse mutters, lifting up the hem of his red t-shirt enough to wipe the sweat from his face.
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Post by Snowglobe18 on Jul 20, 2018 15:21:25 GMT -7
Teresa knew it must've taken everything in him to finally relent and accept that she would be going to see Jesse with or without him but of course without him would probably just take longer because she really didn't know her way around this place; even if something in her told her that she would have to get used to finding her way around here and rather quickly. Of course she would only head to the room that her and Jesse would use and if needed then to Layla's office but other than that she would just head back down to the main floor. It wasn't as if she wanted to look through the place...
Well now that she mentioned it..
He walked to the elevator and Teresa followed before they were getting into said elevator. She always found it strange whenever she heard JARVIS talking because she still assumed that it would be someone standing there rather than the voice above their heads. She glanced in the direction of Barton and sighed under her breath. It was probably going to take a while for him to get used to the fact that she wanted to seek help from Jesse but it seemed as if he was the only one who could really help her go through all of this.
The doors opened on the floor that they would be getting out on and she followed after Barton and looked in the direction of the voice and tried to peek in but the last thing Teresa wanted was for Tony Stark to be on her ass about it. He headed in a different direction than the one they took the day before and she guessed it was down to the fact that they were going somewhere else.
She was right because they ended up walking into a gym with loud music and she was actually pretty impressed, there were a lot of stuff here. While Teresa never felt the need to work out she would go for a run in the woods not far from the apartment she shared with Graeme back in Mystic. It was strange because she had never felt safer anywhere else but those woods were the ones she could get lost in and she wouldn't care. They walked over to the ring and she looked up to see two people, one was Jesse and the other was Steve Rogers.
The latter looked at her as if he was so relieved to see that she was back here and she remembered him apologising the day before. She had told him that it was fine and she would be alright and she was definitely fine. "Hey Cap" she said softly with a smile before she set her eyes on Jesse and then nodded at what Barton had said. "Can we have a minute?" she asked Jesse and then nudged her head away from the ring so that they could talk privately.
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Post by Ray on Jul 20, 2018 15:40:47 GMT -7
"I guess we could take a break for a few minutes," Steve comments, looking back towards Jesse and nodding once. Jesse lets the hem of his shirt fall back into place, brows twitching upwards in surprise. Even if he shouldn't be. Even if he knows it's dumb to be. But he still hasn't really wrapped his mind around this master plan of Cap's. Still hasn't wrapped his mind around having as much responsibility as teaching someone else control when he barely has a handle on it himself.
He swallows, but nods in return. Steve smiles. "Yeah," Jesse speaks, looking to Teresa. "'course." He moves towards the edge of the ring past Steve, and slides easily between them. Hopping down, he lands on the floor mats on bare feet, stepping towards where Teresa waits. He grabs up his water bottle from the floor and then nudges his head for Teresa to follow him. There's a bench seated against one of the walls for when they do need a break, a water refilling station beside it and a vending machine full of extremely unhealthy snacks because even billionaire superheros get the munchies halfway through a workout. Jesse takes a seat on the bench and pops open the top of his water bottle with his teeth before taking a swig, his dark eyes following Teresa as she too sits.
He pulls the water bottle from his mouth, swallows, and clears his throat. "How'd your appointment with Doctor Cho go?" He asks, twisting the bottle between his gloved hands.
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