The Siege of X-41: A Marvel School of X Novel by Tristan Palmgren
Author:Tristan Palmgren [Palmgren, Tristan]
Language: eng
Format: azw3
Tags: science fiction, superheroes, media tie-in
Publisher: Aconyte
Published: 2022-05-03T00:00:00+00:00
Chapter Twelve
Elixir
Josh hadnât eaten since coming out of the ocean. Hunger heâd felt beforehand finally caught up with him. After the next alarm, he ducked into the kitchenette, and was surprised to see Nature Girl there.
âArenât you supposed to be sleeping?â Josh asked.
âArenât you supposed to be working with Anole?â she asked.
âHeâs gone to chat with Crosta.â Josh hadnât asked why. The more time away from Anole, the better.
âThereâs only twenty-five minutes before Christopher and I have to get up anyway.â
âChristopher? Oh- right.â Triageâs given name. Christopher Muse. Interesting to know who was on a first-name basis with who.
Anole called Josh âJoshâ, but not out of any sense of closeness. Where names werenât a sign of friendship, or of knowing someone outside of the bounds of their role, they seemed to be some kind of power play. If social rules at the Institute were this complicated, Josh could only imagine what it was like for the X-Men.
âIn your head, do you think of me as Josh or Elixir?â Josh asked.
Nature Girl looked at him. âWhich do you want to be?â
The first answer that came to mind was: âNeither.â
For the first time since heâd met her, Nature Girl actually looked interested in something heâd said.
He found himself going on almost against his will. He wasnât made to stay trapped in himself. The more he talked, the less he needed to think about what heâd done to the Aqueos outside. Those few seconds had become a lifetime of blurred memories. âJosh Foley wasnât a good person,â he said. âAnd Elixir is just a word.â
She smiled, though there was no humor in it. âYou donât know what you want to be when you grow up.â
âIn a few words? Thatâs not a bad way of describing it. I was in high school when⦠I found out I was a mutant.â
âYouâre not as alone as you think. The Institute and the Jean Grey School are a crossroads for a lot of people.â
âWhat about you?â
Nature Girl took a long time to answer. Josh was briefly transfixed by the sight of her dunking a granola bar into what, judging from the open bottle nearby, was hot sauce. Mutants could have some strange tastes.
Finally, she said, âThe world up there is a big, heavy weight, and I donât have it in me to be a hero.â
Nature Girl hadnât said much to him before now. Maybe she, too, couldnât stand keeping her thoughts sealed up inside her. Sheâd hardly seemed extroverted, but everyone needed some sort of human connection. Josh didnât figure she was wholly self-sufficient, or she wouldnât have gone to the Jean Grey School.
She didnât like him, but the longer Josh spent inside his own head, the harder it was to blame anybody for that. At least she wasnât openly hostile.
âI think youâre holding up pretty well now,â he said. âYouâre not panicking, or tearing your hair out, or any of the other things I feel like doing.â
This time, there was some humor in her smile. Not much, but some.
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