Tulio's vision was a little blurry still when he finally found Orfelina standing near the Uncle Gambit, or Remy Lebeau as he was best known. His sunglasses were still placed on his face to block out the sun - what, children of shadows didn't have to like the sun that much - which gave him a weird look of a tired Men In Black agent. Quite bizarre comparison, if Tulio was allowed to say such. Nevertheless, Tulio was quite pensive, not to mention shy, about approaching Orfelina with his uncle - not to mention her godfather - looming over. True, Tulio knew that he was to return Orfy's phone when he could since it was not his, and he should probably talk to her after the events that came to pass at the Academy, but that didn't help his uncertainty. For starters, what had happened to Orfy still scared him: basically watching one that he had gotten close to die was not a happy experience for a mind such as Tulio's, since while it ran off of facts and logics, there was still emotional sentiment left in him. It certainly didn't help that he was quite tired from the drive, the regurgitation of his meal and the fight, and that Remy was quite the scary man if provoked. Regardless of the fact that Remy and Tulio were related through Julio and that Tulio had quite a healthy respect for the gambler, Tulio was always somewhat wary around Uncle Remy - mostly because things exploded around that man.
Taking a deep breath and shoving all of his quarreling emotions and statistics out of the way, Tulio approached Orfelina as she was smoking a cigarette, that same excited look still plastered on her face as if she hadn't registered the loss that had occurred. Thing was, since Tulio had read her mind, he knew of her fear of death, so it was quite obvious that inheriting James' powers would excite her to no end. Then again, since she had seen his mind and past he should technically have no fear of her whatsoever, since the only secrets they had were either exposed, or extremely recent. The realism in his mind screamed that he was acting irrationally, but his body was responding differently, as if to its own accord, and continued to be shy and tentative.
Finally reaching her, Tulio once again realized how short little Orfy really was at only 5 feet flat. Tulio was by no means tall: standing at only 5'11, the rest of the staff and students seemed to tower over the man, even if he was taller than half of the population. For some reason, mutant men were freakishly tall. Ignoring that, he gave Remy a curt little nod, a soft 'Uncle' coming from his mouth before turning his focus to Orfy - even though related, Tulio wasn't much for words. Thankfully his sunglasses hid most of his anxiety, tentativity and fatigue as he reached into his pocket to retrieve her cell phone. His voice changed a little from his acknowledgement of Remy: it was softer, calmer and a little warmer while staying at an audible level. As he pulled the phone out of her pocket and handed it to her, Tulio continued to look down on the little Miss Lina, whose 'death' still ran through his mind in the background. Tulio knew that all Orfy would have to do is remove his sunglasses, or even simply observe him to know he was highly troubled: Tulio usually walked with a silent, yet charming air of distance and realism. At the moment, he looked like he was going to fall down from unknown reasons.
"I had forgotten to return this to you, and I apologize for not doing so, as well as reading any personal information you have on this little thing." A sheepish smile reached his lips as his hand outstretched with the phone, but it wasn't as genuine as he normally gave mutants; especially Orfelina. All he knew right now was that he could sleep for days, he had thrown up on the way, his mind and body were reaching their limit and he was standing in front of a beautiful, short - in a cute way - and oddly excited lady with a cigarette in her mouth.
“Tulio...” She had taken her phone quietly, sliding it into her pocket with her free hand. For the first time since she had been shot, she seemed to have come down from her high. She wasn't completely sure of what she should say as she just realized how much of a monster she had probably made herself seem, going on cheering about her immortality and invincibility kicking in rather than mourning the lost lives. She glanced over to Remy before hooking arms with Tulio and guiding him towards the house, cooing softly to him as she tried to make him feel better. “Hey...Everything will be alright...” She honestly wanted more or less to just go to a room, hold him, and stroke his hair until he felt better.
Tulio gave no indication of resistance as she hooked his arm around his and asked him what was wrong. It was then that Tulio felt a little ashamed from dragging Orfy down from her excited state to the abysmal one of his own - he had no right, and she should be happy for the small accomplishments - Tulio wished he could. When she consoled him, Tulio wanted nothing more than to agree with her, and nearly did until he mentally stopped himself. She knew that he was under serious tension, and agreeing with her when he felt that way would not be right. The damage had already been done - she had seen through him, and lying to her would cause him more grief than comfort. A tired sigh escaped his mouth as his composure - normally straight and articulate - slumped considerably, leaning a little on the little Orfelina. His free hand reached for his sunglasses and took them off, a little shaky and slow as he did. His head turned towards hers so that she could see into his eyes, which almost didn't look like they belonged to the same man. Instead of distant, clouded and intrigued, Tulio's eyes were glassy, pained and considerably fatigued. He knew that Orfy could probably guess everything that was running through his mind, so he felt no need to voice what went on during his trip to Uncle Remy's, instead stating the obvious pressure point in his fatigue.
"I watched a bullet forcibly become friends with your frontal lobe. I failed to stop children from being murdered. I can't.... He took in a shaky breath, closing his eyes for a second to take it all in. Tulio couldn't even finish his sentence from the mental and physical exhaustion he felt. It was as if the whole thing was being weighed upon his shoulders, as if his failure was the fault of all. He had come to expect thoughts like that from himself, but he never did take them well. He also knew, however, that telling her all of this might cause Orfy to blame herself, and that was the last thing Tulio wanted: it was more like he still hadn't gotten over the recent events, so he confided his feelings to her.
Lina listened to his words as they moved inside the house where she guided him past those that were already there and upstairs to a vacant room. “Tulio. We may have superpowers, but we were outnumbered twenty to one...Death on our side was...inevitable. This is a war now...people will die on both sides. It sucks...but its what happens. The best we can do is trainer harder, fight harder, and be more careful.” As usual, she stumbled over her words, not quite sure what to say. People didn't really talk to her. They talked at her. She had never paid attention in an overly personal conversation enough to know how to properly respond.
She sat him on the bed and sat next to him, her cigarette long gone, but the bullet still curled in her small hand. “I...really didn't mean to frighten you or upset you. But I saw him...He was going to kill you. And...something just snapped, I guess. I was actually hoping to angle myself so it grazed my neck or got my shoulder. But I may have underestimated my size compared his and the angle he was aiming at. It was a split-second decision.” More fumbling over her words as she tried to make him feel better through justifying her actions.
Tulio smiled a little, his eyes remaining glassy but returned slightly to the distance that they normally had. Ignoring her message, Orfy was quite adorable in her stumbling over words. While Tulio may talk as little as she did, he was always a stickler for learning to articulate and speak regardless of who, when or why he was speaking. Tulio nodded at her statement about how basically the battle could have gone way worse, and that regardless of their super powers they were still outnumbered. Nevertheless, Tulio's mind only processed the happy thought, only to shove it into the back of his mind. He knew that death was a part of war - heck, being a S.H.I.E.L.D agent proved that to him easily. What Tulio couldn't cope with was how little he did to save the children: after all, their evacuation was his job, and judging by the fact that many remained, in his own eyes he had failed. Not wanting to break her train of thought, however, Tulio merely nodded sadly to acknowledge her point.
When she explained what she did to basically save his life, once again Tulio remained silent until she had finished. Listening to her justification was a little odd, hearing how she hadn't planned on being shot in the head - who did? - and that she made it in the knick of time. After a few seconds of silence between the two, Tulio merely turned to Orfelina and hugged her close. At the moment, he had no real solid words to give a response to her - nothing really made sense to say right now. A hug, on the other hand, was actually more logical; which sounds quite weird, coming from Tulio. I... Tulio's voice dropped down a little, before saying what he had really meant to say the entire time. "I thought I had lost you." The ever literate Tulio finally spoke what had been on his mind the entire trip to New Orleans: Tulio had been terrified that Orfelina had died for him. Not only would he feel absolute guilt and despair the eons he would be around, but Tulio could also sense that without Orfy, something else would be missing. He couldn't identify where this other emotion was coming from, but using his past statistics it reminded him of what he had been feeling about 2 weeks ago, right around 2:14 AM when Orfelina kissed him for the first time.
Lina's arms wrapped around him in return and she tried her best not to hug too tight, for fear of hurting him. As he whispered softly, she closed her eyes, a few rivulets of salty tears slowly trickling down her cheeks. “I'm sorry. I am so, so sorry.” She gave a light sniffle, turning her head some to press her lips gently against his neck, glad that she had closed and locked the door behind her, lest Caelan come tromping in. Or worse, Alex or Ben to see her like this. She wasn't a particularly good liar. The only reason her brother didn't know about she and Tulio now was because he never asked.
Her apologies to him, while they shouldn't mean much since he was past apologies, meant a lot to him. That she cared enough to take a bullet for him was shocking, but that she would apologize for scaring him? Even the pessimistic Tulio had a sliver of happiness, even if he had no tears to shed - those were all spent years earlier. When her lips touched his neck, a sigh of tired happiness escaped him. When she released from his neck, Tulio brought his thumb to her cheeks, ridding her face of those droplets of salt and water. Finally, after the entire day, a genuine, soft smile reached his lips. You saved my life Orfy - there is no reason for you to apologize." He kissed her forehead out of gratitude, and then looked at her again with that same soft smile. Even though he may hate himself for it, Orfy cared enough to save him when she was uncertain of her own physical condition. "I believe I owe you quite a bit, miss." He hadn't meant it, but his gentleman charm had somehow snuck in while he was talking, but he meant every word: he owed her his life, however much that was. How could he repay that?
“I think...for now, I'll settle for a kiss.” She blushed sheepishly as she stole a kiss from him, claiming her “reward”. It was a light kiss, not anywhere half as passionate as the others that they shared on the library table, but it was meaningful and still filled with care. She pulled back from him and gave a bashful smile, her violet eyes trained on his brown ones. “You need to rest...I'm going to go check on the others.” She kissed his lips once more, this time lingering if only for a few moments before standing and smiling to him as she brushed the knuckles of her hand gently across his cheek before leaving.
Tulio blushed slightly at her forwardness, but he wasn't going to complain as her lips brushed his. While it may not have been as 'deep' as the term was used, it meant almost as much than those that it had followed. When she pulled away, she gave him the obvious - he needed rest. Tulio nodded slightly in acknowledgement before she kissed him once more - a little longer, if he may add. Orfy then stood up, her knuckles brushing his cheek slightly, and left the room. Tulio watched her go, and as soon as she did his mind began to function the way it normally did once again. His pessimism returned, but not before being completely overwhelmed by sense of protection for his sister. Instantly, when he knew that Orfelina had left the area, Tulio stood up and weighed his options. He could either use a shadow portal and get to Cataleia in an instant without search, but at the cost that he would be out for a while in the near future, or conserve his power and look for her. The only problem with looking for her is that if Orfy found him, he was pretty sure she would be quite disappointed that he had not taken her advice and rested. Realizing that disappointing Orfy meant more to him, he walked into the nearest shadow with only one thought: Take me to Cat.
While knowing where he was going would have saved energy, Tulio managed to end up in a room with enough energy left to stand and move. Instantly he saw Cat seemingly passed out on a bed, bloody and naked. A sad sigh was all that was heard, and it was his own as Tulio made his way over to her. A million thoughts raced through his tired mind as he pulled one of the sheets over her - now was not the time to be complaining about blood in the fabrics - but only one formed into words. "Oh Cat, how can you keep doing this to yourself?" It was softer than his normal speaking voice, full of sadness for his sister. He had felt the lingering attraction she had for Thomas, and her dread and confusion when said mafioso kissed her in front of everybody. As much as he wanted to simply blame Thomas for those events, he knew he couldn't. Cat was a girl that attached herself to so many people, and Tulio knew that one of these days it would come back to haunt her. Reality was just a sick comedian and liked to throw bad jokes out during murder. He smoothed her hair out, kissed her forehead, and gave another sigh. He couldn't be angry with her - he was having his own relationship problems now too, so he was starting to understand her distress a little. Nevertheless, Tulio was just happy to see her; didn't matter if she was naked or bloody, she was still his twin sister.
After that, he did the exact same thing as before: teleporting back to his room. Only this time, he barely made it to his bed before passing out onto his bed. He wasn't sure when he would wake up, but Tulio didn't care: somehow, the world seemed a little less grey right now, regardless of the events.