[h1][b][i][color=MediumSpringGreen][center]James Kingston[/center][/color][/i][/b][/h1]
[center][img]https://i.postimg.cc/MKVmbk8X/image.png[/img][/center]
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[center][color=MediumSpringGreen][b]Location[/b][/color]: Emma Frost Memorial Hospital - Terrigen Ward
[color=MediumSpringGreen][b]Skills[/b][/color]: Omega Level Healing[/center]

It’d been too much time.

Four months. James had awoken, alongside Sunshine, four long months ago to unfamiliar walls and a pervasive, profound grief that ached in his very bones. Tears spilled down his face before he’d even sat up. He’d been confused and frightened, not sure why he felt so [i]awful[/i], until he’d sat up and seen his friends, his boyfriend, all deep in cryostasis and he could only watch in horror as everything came rushing back. The X-Cutioner, the bomb, [i]Casper[/i]. He wasn’t sure what was happening, where they were, who saved them, he couldn’t hear what the Doctor was saying, he couldn’t get enough breath, he couldn't [i]breathe[/i], [i]he couldn’t breathe...[/i] 

Sunshine had been his saving grace. He found it amusingly awkward in hindsight but at the time, all he could think was how fucking happy he was she was alive and safe and he clung to her, insistent long after he’d usually have backed off for her comfort but in that moment, he needed to feel that she was okay. He just needed reassurance in some form, in some manner, that not everything was fucked over. The entire way to their new apartment, he’d randomly hug her just to remind himself she was there and safe and not back in the fucking hospital, locked away with poison trapped in her veins. 

Maybe that was why everything was… rough after that. That need to know that everything was okay, that the only other person to come out of that was still [i]alive[/i], drove him to hover and he knew Sunshine hated it, he knew, but he was just so worried. He barely slept for the first month, nightmares obliterating any hope at a steady sleep schedule, and so instead he focused on her. Making sure she ate, making sure she was okay and maybe pushing a little too much to open up (that conversation still ate away at him. How could she feel guilty?!), voicing his concerns about the violent friends she’d integrated with and suggesting other ways to go around feeling better. He knew it wasn’t healthy for either of them. Their coping mechanisms were garbage, that was fact, but he couldn’t bring himself to stop hovering. It was infuriating that he could see it, objectively and apathetically, but he couldn’t bring himself to stop even now.

But that was ages ago. He still had nightmares, of ice and mist and bombs, he still fretted over Sunshine and her friends but he’d made some friends himself, learned more about his abilities, and found ways to relax that didn’t involve running the situation over and over and over and over, trying to find something, anything, they’d missed that could have helped them. He found little things that let him reclaim some sense of control over his life and he’d been doing better. Not great, maybe not even good, but better. 

And now, everyone was waking up. When the doctors told them the rest of the Mutant Underground would need an omega level mutant healer to safely escape cryostasis, James lost hope. He hadn’t known at the time what omega level was but the fact that it wasn’t readily available on an island full of mutants made him believe it would take [i]years[/i], if they were lucky, to find someone. He certainly hadn’t thought that he’d be the one to wake everyone up. 

As the first few people roused, James covered his mouth as he fought back another round of tears. The process had been intense but he’d put the island’s Academy to good use; they’d had some fantastic ideas of  how to help develop his regenerative abilities and, more importantly, do so in others without exhausting himself in the process. And it had all paid off, watching as Veil shook off the cryostasis. 

Casper’s voice snatched his attention away and it took everything to keep himself calm and collected as the man he’d never thought he’d get the opportunity to hear again woke up full of energy. Something always settled dark and heavy in his stomach whenever he visited Casper here. Casper was energetic and loud and bright, demanding every moment of your attention in whatever way he could get it. Seeing his face blank and shuttered felt so deeply unnatural that it’d become a regular feature of his nightmares. 

But here he was, gripping onto Renegade as he wobbled, still weak from months of sleep, and James’ heart lurched at the sight. James all but ran as soon as Casper called his name, drawn like a moth to the flame, and he felt tears prickling at the corners of his eyes. He ignored Dr. Nemesis, he ignored Renegade (which he would apologize for later), and just focused on the feeling of wrapping his arms around Casper again as he stepped in to help Casper stand. 

[color=mediumspringgreen]“Morning, babes.”[/color] James’ voice cracked, heavy with emotion, as he soothed a finger across Casper’s cheek. [color=mediumspringgreen]“Give me a second to get you functional again.”[/color] James pressed a soft kiss to Casper’s lips, indulging in the feeling again, as he sunk into Casper’s heartbeat, James syncing up to his favorite rhythm as his healing factor soothed away Casper’s cryostasis aches and pains. He’d get to everyone in just a moment, Dr. Nemesis having kindly explained what the sleepers would be experiencing, but for now, he let himself drown in the man he loved again.