What was there to do on boring afternoons? Her idea of fun was luring a stray cat with her hair ribbon, wriggling it before it. And what would come out of it? Playing with a stray cat could inspire some strange things. For instance, one bird plus one cat would equal…a bat? It didn’t seem to fit, but the idea itself was amusing. Freud, as Kiana had named the gray stray, had found it first behind the bush. Removing her coat to cradle the injured pigeon the idea had struck her hard. This here was her chance to answer her curiosity.
She would make the first sky kitty. How fun would that be? She had the power to attempt it too. Settling on the grass, bird wrapped in her lap, Kia stroked Freud’s tail absently as she studied the two animals before her. It seemed tricky, but it seemed possible. She’d never considered how her powers would affect something like this, and if it worked, there was plenty of amusement that could be had. After reading Narnia last week, it was her dream to one day see a real centaur. After all, she was only seven. As intelligent as she was, she could still hope for the unlikely.
“It’s okay, you’re going to be like…a…sphinx,” Kia calmed the cat. It seemed to have taken a liking to her after eating the crumbs she had found in her pocket. She liked it as well, giving her comfort when she couldn’t find anyone else to play with. Even Len seemed too busy to be pestered into a game of Candy Land. It was a gift to the cat as well as a relief to her questions. And if it went wrong, well, it was all in the name of…science in a strange way.
The bird didn’t look too bad, simply crippled, the way it held one wing out to the side as it discovered a few cracker crumbs in a pocket. She would name it…Wilson. The name just popped into her mind. Wilson it was, and Freud, who had gladly taken little interest into the feathered friend. Wilson was too busy eating, so setting him aside, Kiana gathered the cat into her lap. Then child and feline began to fade.
First experiment, it looked like animals were like people. They didn’t like going ghost-y. The effort was minimal, that was what she wanted to know. However, struggling cat was hard to keep under her control.
“Calm down! Shush…” Dropping her powers, cat calmed after laying a long slash on her forearm. The pain didn’t deter her, only make her frown as she rethought her plan. Kitty didn’t like going ghost-y, so that wouldn’t work. However… Wilson seemed to mind it less as she reached out a hand, dematerializing the bird for a moment. Returning to Freud, an alternate option opened up. Her blue eyes glinted mischievously as she chewed her bottom lip. Bird in hand, Kia went intangible from elbow down and pushed the bird into the cat.
Animals always were so sensitive. The clashing of Sylvester and Tweety was no different. Bird flapped, cat screeched and scrambled, and girl received scratches on her still tangible shoulders and her cheek as Freud leaped from her lap. It started her, she screamed, and she pulled her hands out of the cat. Without her contact, bird slammed back into tangibility, still within the cat. Freud was now winged, however, as the creature dropped down on the spot, it was not a pretty sight.
It looked mangled, without too much blood save for a trickle out of one side where Wilson managed to tear with his fatal struggle. That was always the problem, things didn’t like mixing when she passed through them. Now she knew it held true with living things phased into another living thing. She only wished it didn’t look so…graphic. So that was what a winged cat would look like. This wouldn’t have happened if…Len had been more responsible and would play with her like Uncle Dom had told her to do. Pale faced at the sight of the mangled animal corpse(s) before her, she did what any child would do and screamed.
Other than the fact that they were a little dead, the animals looked nothing like something out of Narnia. That was the biggest disappointment of all.
It was a few days since he had revealed the full extent of his illness and things had started to ease off. Sure, there were still a few awkward glances in the corridors, but to be honest, Scott wasn’t certain if they were due to his all to sudden presence in the Institute or to his perhaps all too soon to be absence. In any case people had stopped treating him as if he was going to drop dead at any moment. Soon maybe, but not within the next half hour! And that, he supposed was all he could ask for under the present circumstances.
He himself had decided that he was going to be there for some time to come, no matter what his uncooperative body said to the contrary. In the end he had far too many reasons to live to just let go. And Hank himself couldn’t argue that willpower wasn’t a force to be reckoned with, even in the worst of cases. So Scott set his mind against the physical symptoms that were slowly but surely killing him and simply said No. I refuse to go like this,fighting the disease that ate away at him with as much fire as he had ever used against all those enemies he had encountered in his years as leader of the X men!
It wasn’t easy though. In fact there were times when he was selfishly glad that Jean was occupied elsewhere, struggling to understand, not just the everyday running of the Institute, but also the hidden plans that Charles had set in motion but was no longer in any state to see brought to fruition. It only fair that she consecrated her mind to that ideal, at least as much as she could, given this turn of events.
God knows, they had spent enough of their lives doing just that. Devoting every waking moment to a dream that somehow always seemed to fade away as soon as they reached it!
It might have seemed like a catastrophic failure of a marriage to any other couple. Each one of them obsessed by what could so easily be classified as work! Except that, no matter what sacrifices it entailed, this was a dream they had both shared from the very moment that they had been young enough to know that you could have dreams and old enough to know that you would have to fight to have them come true. It might even have been what brought them together in the first place, the beautiful sensual red head who could have had any man she set eyes on and him, the gawky nerd who was confident only in battle, fighting for a cause that had given him at last a reason to live.
And even after all these years and his body’s ultimate betrayal, he was still here fighting for it. In fact he was perhaps closer to Charles’s vision today than he has ever been in the past. Stepping back from active duty had somehow plunged him into school life in a way he hadn’t been before.
To say that it had opened his eyes would have been an understatement. Oh he had always been part of the school, teaching his classes, helping Jean out when he could. But this was different. This slow emersion into the everyday life of the institute! The knowledge that it wasn’t just something he was doing between missions but his life from now on. Despite all his best intentions had looked on it as a kind of defeat. A reluctant acceptance of what age and illness had imposed upon him. Now though he wasn’t so sure. For one thing he was sharing more of Jean’s life than he had done in far too long, which was definitely a good thing as far as he was concerned. And then there were the students. Not just the ones he taught. Not just those who knew about the hidden workings of the Institute, but the kids in general.
They were irritating and complex and every one of them had more problems than anyone should rightly have to deal with, but that didn’t matter. He liked them. Even the ones that didn’t particularly like themselves! Now that he was around, stationed squarely in his office, they came to him with their worries. And not just the cataclysmic ones that usually landed in his lap, when secrets and deception caught up with some of the students resulting in a usually violent climax. But the everyday ones that could be nipped in the bud before they actually exploded in your face!
It wasn’t something he had come into contact with before. Scott had always known that he wasn’t the easiest person to approach at least as far as students were concerned. Hank’s eyes let you know that there was still a caring person wrapped up in the beast and as for Logan’s.. well his spoke of passion and desires that were hard to control but undeniable all the same. Scott’s eyes on the other hand were always covered either by his specially adapted glasses or like now by the visor that had recently become a permanent fixture. And while the ruby lenses did permit him to function safely in the world they also shut off one aspect of communication that most people took for granted. Add to that a reputation for strictness and it didn’t make him everyone’s first choice as a confident.
But now with him seconding Jean in her role as headmistress, students found themselves more or less obliged to talk to him and most discovered to their surprise that he was in fact a good listener. Not to mention remarkably efficient at cutting all those seemingly insurmountable problems down to size. And Scott…. well he discovered that watching the worry ease out of the kids faces as he spoke to them was in its own way just as big a victory as any he had ever won in the field.
And so it was that this Sunday afternoon, only a few days after the announcement of his retirement from the X men, an announcement that he had felt might have killed him more efficiently than his illness was threatening to do, the Scott Summers who was walking round the grounds was neither bitter nor simply resigned to his fate. He was actually looking forward to the challenges of the week ahead. And this seemingly casual stroll was part of making sure he was up to meeting them. Gentle exercise! That was what Hank had recommended. No over the top sessions in the danger room! No pushing to see how much he could actually move his damaged right arm before he passed out.
Scott smiled wryly. That was certainly how he’d have tackled things in the past, despite everything the doctor might have said. But not this time. He had promised Jean he was going to beat this thing and if that meant following Hank’s instructions to the letter then that was exactly what he was going to do. Unless of course something unexpected happened that was.
There are few things that will prompt a man into action as efficiently as a child’s scream. This one was closeby and full of fear and Scott was running before she even had time to draw breath for a second one. He hadn’t even known she was there but then again that was hardly surprising. The grounds had been planted in such a way as to provide the students with little pockets of tranquillity, places they could retreat to if they needed to think or simply if they wanted some time away from the bustle of school life. The little girl was in one of them, though the place was at the moment anything but tranquil.
Something lay at her feet, a dead mangled wreck of a thing that defied the eyes with its wrongness. Dear God what was it? Or rather what had it been? The questions inevitably flashed through Scott’s mind as he raced up though they were far from being his first priority. No, what mattered here was the girl. Kia! He knew her. Or rather he knew of her. Her file had inevitably grabbed his attention not only because she was one of the ever increasing number of young children showing up with active powers but also because her abilities reminded him of Hope’s. And in that moment of recognition he became truly worried.
Phasing would account for the travesty of a creature that he had seen on the grass. But it could also mean that part of Kia was in there too! Swiftly Scott knelt down in front of the child placing himself deliberately between her and the ruined animal. “Are you hurt, Kia” he asked her gently, trying to see if she looked intact. “Did any of you get phased into the mix?”
.........................
OOC......... like i said Scott has his visor on and his right arm is in a discrete black sling..... ohh and why did he come along rather than Michael to answer Kias scream... no idea he just did! Sigh Chars.. what can you do with them!
Re: Bird + Cat = Bat? Or maybe cird...
It was one of those things from a horror movie, a grotesque abnormality of nature. It was, for lack of a better word, mutated, and not in the way that the mansion’s residents were. Would it be too cliché to claim that she had created a monster? Feathers, fur, teeth, and claws, it was very much not a pretty sight. Shaking and pale, Kia watched from the distance where she’d drawn away.
How much trouble could she get for this? It didn’t say anywhere in the rules about creating Franken-animals, but it was pretty much implied. But…now that it had stopped thrashing in death throes, it lost a few points in the horror categories. Her curiosity was strong, and it looked less realistic in still death. Despite the dirt factor, Kia swallowed back her fear and cautiously crawled toward it with a stick.
Calming her breathing as well as she could, her examination found an interesting effect of phasing gone wrong. Her stick found among the feathers and fur the line of congregation of the two animal pelts. It looked as if the bird’s wing had passed through the cat’s stomach. She was curious on how the beak managed to make it out just above the tail. Turning her head, it made more sense now. It didn’t make it less disturbing.
Oh, that was interesting. It was patched up, mangled, and in a scatter of feathers and bloody tuffs of fur. By the cat’s head skewered by a bird claw, her glove lay on the ground. She had to get it back, whether or not the dirty thing had some hybrid disease now. Prodding with a twig was different than coming in closer range of the animal. The stinging scratches on her face and arms were proof of animals disturbed. This one was disturbed in a different way, but despite all her overcoming the childish fears of avoiding things now inanimate, Kia quickly snatched the glove as if it would attack her. Expectedly, it stayed still despite her hand whisking by the body.
That realization was a real confidence booster. “It can’t hurt you, silly. It’s dead.” Saying the words aloud helped to strengthen it to where she carefully laid her hands on it, hoping to phase the two bodies apart once more. It was sickening to watch them set like that permanently. It was even more sickening to feel the bizarre texture of feathers out of fur, sticky with blood where the merging had been messy or torn in death’s thralls. Gasping, Kia dropped and scrambled back a few feet with a renewed horror in her eyes. Sitting back, it looked as if she could possibly get paler without reaching tears.
Footsteps signaled company, in this case Mr. Summers, a blessing at this time. Adults, they always seemed to have a solution to problems, and if they didn’t, then it was time to hide the thing in a bush or somewhere else. Of course, she could phase it into the ground, but she wasn’t willing to touch it again, with or without gloves. Kia also wanted to avoid dirtying them anymore than they already were from being dropped on the ground.
“Are you hurt, Kia” he asked her gently, trying to see if she looked intact. “Did any of you get phased into the mix?”
Other than the scratches, the tussled blond locks from the loss of her ribbon, and pale face only accentuating her wide, shocked looking eyes, she was perfectly fine. Eyes still fixated on the mess, she slowly nodded. She couldn’t possibly get into trouble for this, could she? After all, she simply didn’t realize that simply because two things were living instead of one of them being inanimate, it didn’t mean that they could combine and create something viable. She didn’t even want to even think of any part of her being in there, a thought that she knew would be giving her nightmares tonight.
“No, I’m all right here,” Kiana spoke calmly despite her terrified her expression. She still could not shake the idea of what would have happened if she’d had her hands in either of the animals when she’d let go of her powers. Quivering once more, her hands suddenly felt very uncomfortable as she tucked them around her small body, hugging herself rather than staring uselessly at her fingers and continuously counting them. She still had the scar on her palm from the time she learned she needed to take extra caution with her phasing.
“I wanted to combine them” her voice was small but strong as she began to explain. “I didn’t know that…I thought it was only with things that didn’t move, and I didn’t know the same thing,” she didn’t want to mention the incomplete merging consequences again, “…could happen with things that were not me.” She could phase into a cookie jar, phase a cookie, and come out without a problem, but she couldn’t understand why moving while phased and solid through something was so dangerous. Seeing the bird/cat combination did, though, give her a good idea of how bad it could be.
Sincerely sorry, this was obviously something she wouldn’t be trying again soon. It wasn’t quite the animals she felt bad for, more because she’d been wrong. Finally tearing her eyes away, her attention focused downward in silence, there wasn’t much else she could do for Wilson and Freud. She’d known the risk of something going wrong, but she hadn’t been able to imagine it would be like this.
“I’m really sorry, Mr. Summer sir. I-I won’t do it again.” And if she did, that combination was never going to come up again. Her question was obvious, but she needed verification. Bringing her attention to the man’s face, she could see her frightened expression in the reflection of his visors. It surprised her, and ashamed her a little, to be so scared, but…well, a glance to her creation in her peripheral vision assured to her that this time it was okay.
“That’s not going to happen to me, will it? I don’t want that to happen. It looked like it hurt.” Hurt was an understatement. It killed. But hey, she was only seven, no matter how she acted. She was allowed to skip over the pessimism once in a while.
Re: Bird + Cat = Bat? Or maybe cird...
Despite the carnage a few feet away and the scratches that covered her , Kiara seemed to be all right. Oh there was blood on her hands and her face was a deadly white, but there was no sign of the kind of shock that having half of her fingers stuck in a mutated corpse would have produced, and for that Scott was truly thankful. Yes, a couple…. at least a couple from what he had seen…. of dead animals wasn’t exactly something to rejoice about, but it was infinitely better than a maimed child.
“No, I’m all right here,” Kiara said in reply to his question, her voice reflecting the fear she had so obviously experienced as this unauthorised and unsupervised ‘training session’ had spiralled downwards towards disaster. “I wanted to combine them” she explained forlornly and Scott could only sigh. Of course she had wanted to combine them. She was seven years old after all, an age when anything seemed possible and the notion of life and death wasn’t something you had to worry about. Not till you actually killed that was!
Lots of children killed their pets. They sat the goldfish bowl in the sun or dropped the guinea pig from just too great a height. In a way it was part of the reason kids had pets in the first place. Not so they could kill them, but so that they could learn that life was fragile and something to be treated with respect. That they could sometimes be called upon to protect and care for something weaker than themselves! But few if any of those children had ever possessed the potential for destruction that Kiara had.
Mutant powers were always difficult to come to terms with. Especially as, most of the time, their emergence coincided with that most turbulent period of a person’s life… puberty. Still… Scott shook his head; at least at fifteen you knew enough to be scared! More and more though they were finding children like this girl who sat before him with her bloody hands wrapped around her, who came into their powers before they even left elementary school. Kids whose abilities could effectively put an end to their childhood before it even bagan , forcing them into a responsibility far beyond their years! Or into chaos! It was a problem that the Institute had to find a way to deal with. And sooner rather than later!
Kiara wasn’t the type to let her power rule her though. Even a few moments in her company made that clear. Seemingly reassured by his presence she was trying to explain what had led her to this impasse. And if words sometimes failed her, yet there was a certain logic behind them,that Scott recognised all the same. Because after all.. logic.. as cold and precise as it may seem to others, was his thing, wasn’t it? And maybe it was Kiara’s as well. “I didn’t know that…I thought it was only with things that didn’t move, and I didn’t know the same thing, …could happen with things that were not me.””
So this hadn’t been a whim… or at least not entirely. There had been some forethought behind it, some attempt to grasp what she could and couldn’t do. Even if the should and shouldn’t left something to be desired. But then again what could he say that would speak louder to her than the sad dead creature she had left in her wake. Nothing it seemed!
This was a lesson learned, and learned well. Even if it had come at a high price! And perhaps it was better that it had come now rather than at a later date with bigger things at stake! “I’m really sorry, Mr. Summer sir. I-I won’t do it again” she told him, her regret obvious, though behind it all was a deep concern that was more than just the product of any childish fears.
Maybe it had been sparked by his own reaction to the situation. Or perhaps it was something that had grown in Kiara’s mind as she had felt the sickening and ultimately fatal merging of the animals she had held in her small hands. In either case she asked the question that needed to be asked, and that in itself took courage. “That’s not going to happen to me, will it? I don’t want that to happen. It looked like it hurt.”
He had a choice now. An answer he knew he had to give and which, at this crucial point in her life,could affect the way Kiara used her powers in the future. To scare or not to scare; that was the question. And he had none of his wife’s psychic powers to help him answer it! But then again… if he wasn’t a telepath, he was a good judge of human nature. That was what made him such an effective leader. And something told him that this child wouldn’t be satisfied with anything less than the truth. And even more importantly.. that she might just be able to deal with it.
Lowering himself to the ground in front of her… bringing his visor at least, if not his eyes on a level with her own Scott made his decision. “Its something that could happen” he admitted “ If you don’t learn to control your powers.”
He could have left it at that, counting on Kiara’s own fear to keep her form experimenting further. He didn’t though. She had these powers seven years too early?. Ok, then he would make that seven more years for her to learn control. And he was damned if he’d let her lose anything she might have wanted from childhood in the process.
“But… that’s what we’re here for. All the teachers at the school! To help you do that. Kiara….. “ His eyes, if they had been visible might have convinced her of his sincerity . As it was he had only his words and his voice to carry their message home. “Things like this ‘project’ of yours are always going to be tempting. That’s part of what it means to have powers. But as you can see they can also be dangerous. Not just for us, but also for those around us. And that’s why the Institute was set up in the first place. ” How could he do this? Sum up Xavier’s dream in words a seven year old would understand. And yet if he couldn’t, who could?
“Maybe you’ve already been told this” he said simply “Or maybe not. But the man who set up this school, Charles Xavier, my teacher, wanted this to be a place where people like you and I could come and learn to control these powers we were born with. So….. yes, you need to, you want to, try out your abilities…. All of us wanted too do that when we first got them . But the point is that here you can do so safely. All you have to do is ask if you want to try something. And I promise that we’ll listen! And keep you safe. Which has to be better than what happened today, doesn’t it?”
Re: Bird + Cat = Bat? Or maybe cird...
It irritated her badly, that there were so many things she didn’t understand. Kiana hated her inability to sort out every detail of her powers, feeling like a complicated puzzle with a few pieces missing, and she was normally good at puzzles. She knew she was only seven, but she saw it unfair that there were so many things she didn’t know. If there was one thing she ultimately hated, it was failing, and she felt her little experiment had surely ended at a failure. Poor animals, for sure, but she’d been wrong in believing that just because both were living, there was a chance they could combine. Her hypothesis needed a bit of rethinking.
“Its something that could happen” Mr. Summers confirmed her assumption. “ If you don’t learn to control your powers.” Why was she finally right after she’d made a cat and bird because closer than was comfortable? Of course she had to control her powers. She’d always thought that she’d gained enough control on her own, but this had proved her wrong. She hadn’t agreed to come here to spend time with that cousin of hers. No, she’d come because she’d wanted to learn at a place further ahead, in times and in academics, than her old school.
Control, well, she rarely phased into things accidentally now. But there were those limits she also had yet to explore. If only things were more simple, she would have gone around the mansion and tried to find another phaser who could instantly tell her everything she knew. But no, life was a little more complicated than that. She was pretty sure that if anyone else had been attempting to create their own mini freak show with phasing, she was pretty sure they would have told her to be more careful with animals.
Calming, Kia drew her knees to her chest, resting her chin on top as she gazed woefully at the creature. It simply lay there, a grotesque reminder that teased her of her mistake. It terrified her, but she fixed the nightmarish image in her mind as a reminder of the possibility it would one day happen again. She’d be dreaming of it for a while, but she opted for her cruel method to keep her from making any more mistakes. Never again did she want to do this again. At least, not accidentally.
“But… that’s what we’re here for. All the teachers at the school! To help you do that. Kiara….. “ Kiana looked up, catching her reflection in the red visor. “Things like this ‘project’ of yours are always going to be tempting. That’s part of what it means to have powers. But as you can see they can also be dangerous. Not just for us, but also for those around us. And that’s why the Institute was set up in the first place. ”
Her young mind took a moment to ponder this, blinking tiredly at the elder’s face. So what was he trying to say, that she shouldn’t have been playing around? Perhaps she shouldn’t have, but risks had to be taken if no one could instruct her. She was impatient to learn, and it was hard to wait for a time someone would be able to explain things. Besides, dangerous risks was what got things working. She was sure Ben Franklin wouldn’t have gotten anywhere if he hadn’t decided to start flying kites in the rain. Well, he didn’t realize the danger that she knew, but it still held the same idea.
“Maybe you’ve already been told this. Or maybe not. But the man who set up this school, Charles Xavier, my teacher, wanted this to be a place where people like you and I could come and learn to control these powers we were born with. So….. yes, you need to, you want to, try out your abilities…. All of us wanted too do that when we first got them . But the point is that here you can do so safely. All you have to do is ask if you want to try something. And I promise that we’ll listen! And keep you safe. Which has to be better than what happened today, doesn’t it?”
So it wasn’t a forbidding to experiment, simply a reminder that there were other, better ways to learn. Perhaps gaining permission to play mythical animal creator would have been a good idea. She supposed what she had fear was someone telling her to worry about it when she was older, that it was too hard for her to understand. But she was smart! She had the gold stars and her little Student of the Week certificate from her old teacher! And yet, this wasn’t her old school, where someone would tell her that the crossword puzzle was too hard for her, or the book she wanted to read was for older kids. Nodding slowly, Kia forced a tiny smile in understanding.
“That’s what it said in the book Len got from the school,” Kia recalled on of the brochures when her cousin had first come here. “That this was a place to…nour-ish gifts.” She’d remembered that, only because she’d gone to look up what “nourish” meant. It had only been a little bit after that she’d realized she was different too, and she’d flashed back to the school’s promise during her first few days here. She’d always thought that was the right idea, that powers were gifts, not mutations (another word she’d looked up in the dictionary), the reason she’d agreed when Uncle Dom had made the calls to ask if she could come here too.
“Okay, Mr. Summers,” Kia finally piped up. “I’ll ask next time. If you promise that you’ll listen, then I’ll promise I’ll be careful.” Perhaps it was because there were few younger kids around, but she liked how the teachers didn’t treat her as if she were still in kindergarten. Mr. Summers had earned many points in her eyes for not using the words “No-no” and “Thing” to describe whatever he deemed too hard for her to understand. Rarely did she give a genuine smile that wasn’t only to keep up her best behavior for a teacher, but she gave one now, giving a wide grin to show she was okay. Returning her expression to normal, she looked once more to the creature.
“What do I do with him now?” Kia assumed the entire thing as male for simplicity. “Can we bury him and have a funeral?” It seemed apt, after all she had done to them, and she’d never been to a funeral, only heard of them. She’d been too young to know of her parents’ funeral, she might as well have an experience as well as honor her sacrifices.
Re: Bird + Cat = Bat? Or maybe cird...
A thoughtful expression had settled over Kiaras young face as she pondered on what he had said. “That’s what it said in the book Len got from the school,” she told him “That this was a place to…nour-ish gifts.” ‘Nourish gifts.’ The phrase was so typical of Charles that it made Scott smile. Even if he had seen some of the so called gifts these children had to struggle with. Kiara’s was dangerous certainly, but at least it took conscious thought on her part to activate it, unlike his own beam, and that was always a blessing. Nor was she at first glance anything other than a perfectly normal little girl, having escaped the visible signs of mutancy that plagued so many of the other students. But if that would go a long way to making life easier , what Scott suspected would really pull her through was the hint of maturity in those large eyes and the quick brain that lay behind them.
Some people were intimidated by bright children, looking on them as some sort of aberration, to be ignored until they ‘grew into’ their intelligence. That wasn’t the philosophy in the Institute though. Here everyone was judged on their own merits and schooled according to their individual capacities. All that mattered was that the students had the opportunity to learn and flourish and somehow Scott thought that Kiara would seize that opportunity with both small hands. Her response to his proposition certainly seemed to indicate that in any case.
“Okay, Mr. Summers,” she said solemnly “I’ll ask next time. If you promise that you’ll listen, then I’ll promise I’ll be careful.” Scott diplomatically hid the grin that threatened to break out as she gave her consent. Because that was what it amounted to. Not a child’s ready acceptance of an adults authority but one person listening to another’s idea and finding it reasonable. And if she didn’t exactly suggest that they shook pinkies on it, it was a deal all the same. With obligations on both sides. Which wasn’t a problem as far as Scott was concerned as he certainly had no intention of letting down his side of the bargain. He only hoped the same would prove true of Kiara. Certainly she seemed happy enough with the arrangement at the moment for her own face lit up briefly before settling back into more serious lines as she looked once more at the tragic results of her foray into experimentation.
“What do I do with him now?” That was a good question for her to be asking, especially since she had called the dead creature ‘him’ and not it. It would have been so very easy for her to simply turn her back on the whole thing, delegating the problem with childlike simplicity to the now present adult. It would have been a more mature form of defence to consign the creature to ‘it’ status, removing all traces of humanity from its memory and in the process wiping out a great deal of guilt.
But she had done neither ,and that in itself was remarkable. Perhaps there were those who would have preferred to see her sitting in a weeping heap, finding that a much more acceptable reaction for a child of her age. Scott however didn’t see things that way. This death had been the result of a reasoned action, flawed reason certainly, and all the sadder for that, but it reasoned all the same. And if Kiara was mature enough to consciously set such things in motions then she had better be mature enough to live with the consequences.
Sadness and weeping were childish emotions. Regret however, that was something many adults had a hard time coming to terms with. And yet Kiara was doing a good job of it. “Can we bury him and have a funeral?” she asked, rising again in the teachers esteem by the simple and yet emotionally complex solution she had proposed .For after all what were funerals for, if not to acknowledge the passing of life? And by not simply leaving this pathetic mess lying where it had fallen on the ground, by giving it the dignity of a ceremony, then she was also acknowledging that these creatures she had inadvertently killed had actually been alive. And that they hadn’t deserved the fate she had imposed upon them.
But with age you came to realise that funerals were more complex than that. If they brought sadness then they also brought release. They let you say goodbye. And if there was one thing that Scott had learned in his years as an X man it was that you couldn’t afford to carry guilt around with you for too long. Acknowledge it? Yes , otherwise your humanity was lost. Learn from it? Certainly, otherwise it had all been in vain. But let it fester there in the back of your mind? You didn’t need to be a doctor to tell that that wasn’t a good solution.
And so there was nothing condescending either in his tone expression or intent when he said. “Yes. I think a funeral is in order. Now ” The question was gentle, even if it still was hard. “ Would you rather dig the grave or shall I?
Re: Bird + Cat = Bat? Or maybe cird...
There was just something about Mr. Summers that made him admirable. First off, his air of authority held even when confronted with a child like her. He hadn’t called her “hun” or “sweetie” and he was one of the teachers who truly seemed to understand the benefit of rules. Kiana had never seen him as strict or stiff, like some she had heard had described. Then again, she didn’t agree with a lot of these immature students who were supposedly her elders. He was one who seemed to see her more than a booger eating child. That enough earned him points from her.
As it was, Mr. Summers was simply racking up points today, especially in the area of avoiding saying outright that she had done a bad thing. Her apologies had only been insurance, but she still appreciated the lack of a blunt response of her mistake. Giving a slight sniff from the cold, she let it hide the flicker of guilt on her face. She hadn’t done wrong at all, she told herself. There was never any progress without experimentation. This wasn’t a bad thing, simply a lesson to learn, just as she’d intended. It wasn’t what she expected, but at least she could now claim she wasn’t wrong. There was something so great about the way logic could almost always be tweaked in her favor.
“What if I had phased both of them, not just the bird,” Kia found herself muttering. Already, she was considering other alternatives that might have been more successful. She couldn’t help it, the curiosity was strong. It overcame the initial thoughts of dread of the first try. Well, that was for another experiment, another day. Hopefully not another disaster.
Right or wrong, there were things that had to be done. When there was death, there was a funeral. When there was a mess, there had to be a way to clean it up. Both were the same, in this circumstance. She would only feel better if things were done properly, with the meticulous care of the rules that she used when making her bed. Already, she had the list forming in her head, influenced by any funeral she’d seen on television. She needed to make up for her mess, even if it meant simply burying her mess and giving them a little more respect than tossing it into the trash.
“Yes. I think a funeral is in order. Now ” The question was gentle, even if it still was hard. “ Would you rather dig the grave or shall I?
Digging the grave, right…That was another thing. A hole in the ground was much more dignified and proper than simply steeling herself to touch the creature once more to phase it into the ground. Nodding solemnly, Kia eyed the ground in a businesslike manner, already judging how big a proper hole would need to be. She was fortunate, and hindered by lack of experience, of having been too young to really remember any other deaths. And the one she did remember, a great uncle or something like that, well, he’d been cremated. She didn’t think she would be allowed to use the oven in the kitchen for cremation.
“I want to help dig at least.” Kia decided firmly. “How deep should it be? I don’t think he will fit in a shoebox, so I’m not sure how big his coffin should be. And flowers…” she muttered to herself. It would end up complicating things, especially if she insisted on inviting people out to mourn for animals they had never known. Crossing her arms, no longer caring for the blood, she couldn’t help but develop an overly complex plan for just the right funeral.
Then the question had to be asked, one that baffled even her logical mind. For a minute, she stayed silent, pondering it before looking to Mr. Summers for his opinion. “Should it be one funeral or two? I’m not sure how many…animals it is now.” Funny, this was slight conundrum that she never would have thought of before.
Re: Bird + Cat = Bat? Or maybe cird...“I want to help dig at least.” Kiara told him eventually, her voice firm now and her small face less pale. If Scott hadn’t caught the faint comment she had muttered to her self a few instants previously he’d have been more than content with how things seemed to be turning out. And even so..it was only normal that she should be wondering exactly how and why things had gone so tragically wrong. He had asked for and received a promise of cooperation. He had not asked her to switch off her brain. Not that he imagined for one moment that this young lady would ever consent to do that for anyone. Which as far as he was concerned was all to her credit.
It was clear that her life would have been easier if she had given in and conformed to what society expected from a seven year old. Sweetness. Obedience. A level of intellect that didn’t scare the pants off of most adults! Oh yes dumbing down would certainly have brought its fair share of advantages. In some respects that is. It would just, he suspected have ripped the soul out of her in the process. Kiara had truly been fortunate in her guardians, Scott thought to himself. Not only had they accepted her mutant powers they also respected her intellect. And they had sent her to the one place where both could be equally nurtured.
For now though, her exquisite mind was devoted to the matter of burial. Which in itself was no bad thing. This incident was something she would carry with her for the rest of her life. It was only fitting that she gave its conclusion the thought and dedication it merited. And from the looks of things she was doing just that. . “How deep should it be? she asked him earnestly. I don’t think he will fit in a shoebox, so I’m not sure how big his coffin should be. And flowers…”
So many things he hadn’t thought about but which she had. And who was he to complain. At least it showed how much this death had marked her. And in the end that was all that mattered. Though when the final question came it was more of a metaphysical quandary rather than a purely material one! “Should it be one funeral or two? I’m not sure how many…animals it is now.”
“One grave would be best in my opinion and we can judge the size as we go” he said seriously “ Because like it or not there’s only one body left to bury. But… maybe two names on the headstone? Since they were separate beings to begin with.” It was a gentle reminder of something he didn’t want crush her spirits but which nonetheless he equally didn’t want her to forget. The fact that without her intervention these animals would still be separate and alive!
He didn’t labour the point though. That wasn’t what she needed here and now. What she needed was someone to help her conduct this ceremony in a dignified fashion and above all someone who would see it for what it was. Not just some childish whim but a serious act of repentance. And it was with that thought in mind that Scott went on “ And maybe we can find a bush that’s about to bloom to bury them under. Then they’ll have flowers every year not just today. Does that sound all right to you,” he asked gently letting Kiara know that the final decision as to what should be done was hers to make. or did you have something else in mind?
Re: Bird + Cat = Bat? Or maybe cird...
The prospect of hosting a funeral held a morbid excitement to the young girl, one that was akin to being told she could have a tea party with real cookies. This was play, but it was also real. Unlike serving cups of apple juice to stuffed bears named Fluffy, she was being allowed to participate in something a little more grown up. Funerals were sad, but they were also a step up, PG instead of just G. And Mr. Summer supported it instead of gawking in horror as her aunt had done, the time she’d tried to bring home a dying baby bat. Her smile was a rare, genuine display of her slight dimples instead of her usual, adult-charming grin. It felt nice to not be treated like a baby. No, she’d passed the baby stage a long, long time ago.
Freud and Wilson had been nice to her during the short friendship. What was her to deny the best that she could give? Neither was she going to do some half-done job worthy of only a baby preschooler. She wasn’t any kid who would simply flush their deceased goldfish, nor was she going to believe that it “ran away.” In fact, after hearing and researching the word in the dictionary she received for her birthday, she’d shocked Uncle Dom, attempting to cremate poor little Odysseus in the oven. At least she had waited until the fish went into his eternal nap before considering it. She was curious, not sadistic, another word that she had looked up.
“One grave would be best in my opinion and we can judge the size as we go” he said seriously “ Because like it or not there’s only one body left to bury. But… maybe two names on the headstone? Since they were separate beings to begin with.”
There was truth in his words. Facing her mess with a thoughtful look, it repulsed her less as an anonymous mass that was simply being used to determine the grave size. And catching the glossy stare of the mutilated Wilson, she wrinkled her nose and turned away. It was funny how she could find a seed of care, yet hate the two/one creatures that haunted her with that glare. Attempting to emotionally distance herself, she trained her eyes away from anything that resembled one of the animal heads. Rubbing her stinging scratches helped to harden her heart toward them with the reminder of the pain they’d caused. It was better to feel cold to them than cry about them, because big girls didn’t cry.
“ And maybe we can find a bush that’s about to bloom to bury them under. Then they’ll have flowers every year not just today. Does that sound all right to you,”
“Two names…I think that works.” Kia nodded slowly. “I think they’ll like that.” The plan had her approval. There wasn’t any need for her to ask which name came first. Freud, she had met first, and the larger animal seemed to dominate the mass.
“Freud and Wilson…Those are the names I gave them. I don’t think Freud had a name before. He looked sort of lost.” Hopefully the cat had been just a stray. She didn’t think the owner would be as sympathetic as Mr. Summers. Pursing her bottom lip in a grim twist of a smirk, she could almost imagine the amusing reaction. Hello, Lady. Here is your kitty. I didn’t mean to mutate him into a bird thing. At least I’m not here selling cookies…
“That sounds really good, Mr. Summers.” Kiana was pleased. She had to admit, it was better than what she could do by herself. Sniffling slightly, she batted a lock of hair behind her ear and bowed her head slightly in gratitude.
“Thank you, sir,” her manners were impeccable. “Thank you for helping me.” Edited by: FireflyFervor at: 2/21/07 9:21 am
Re: Bird + Cat = Bat? Or maybe cird...
Any chance you could slip from “Two names" to.. "cookies.. "after Scotts last comment? That way I don’t have a major reedit to do? …sorry I should have asked earlier.. but it was only really when i sat down to post that i realised what a problem it was..... conversly.. i could end my previous post earlier so the comments fit in if thats better?
Re: Bird + Cat = Bat? Or maybe cird...
((Cookies? Cookies are good...Not too sure what kind of cookies you want, but let's see what I can do...holler for edits if I misunderstodo!))
yep this was a request for an edit....though cookies.. yummm. Tries hard to resist.
Basiclly you inserted things .... things that Kia replied to comments Scott had already made .. now.. i can edit my last post to end where you could have put them in... . and i apologise for having cut out your opportunity to answer where you wanted to.
Or.... we can respect the time line and have her tell him about the whole names thing after his last comment.... its up to you... ....
Emm does this make more sense?If not .. sigh.. chocolate chip!
Re: Bird + Cat = Bat? Or maybe cird...
Oops, heh, guess I didn't notice, so that's my fault. I'm working on hw right now, but I'll look for it and fix it the next time I take a break/ get bored of hw. And...if I accidentally forget about it, then I guess ignore it, and I'll...EVENTUALLY get to it...Sorry for the trouble!
Re: Bird + Cat = Bat? Or maybe cird...
OK.. tried to work round.... its sort of ok i think..
.............
So the preliminaries were all in place, names duly disclosed, the where and when already dictated by circumstance. All of the commonplace details that proved so necessary when dealing with death sorted out in relatively painless fashion. They cropped up at any funeral, these petty questions of coffins and plots and flowers, demanding to be answered, showing no mercy in the face of grief and loss.
At least his illness had let him spare Jean all of that. Scott had set his own house in order as soon as Hank had told him the prognosis, not through any morbid sense of defeat or indeed any intention to resign himself to his fate but just for that one reason To spare his family any more suffering. And like these creatures, he too would lie in the grounds of this school that he loved, though he would do so by choice and not just by misfortune.
Still their demise, brutal as it had been, hadn’t been totally in vain. It had shown Kiara how dangerous her powers could be if they weren’t controlled. It had also, he had to admit, brought ,as nothing else had until now, this bright precocious child to his attention. And he to hers. “Thank you, sir,” she said as she approved his suggestions for the ceremony. “Thank you for helping me.”“You’re very welcome Kiara” he replied. Everyone need help from time to time, that’s the nature of things. Speaking of which….”
Scott produced his cell phone from his jeans pocket and toggled in Jamie’s phone number finding it still a little awkward to do with his left hand but preferring not to raise all the questions this young lady would undoubtedly come up with if he used his com badge instead. “ Jaime? Scott here.” Look I could use a favour.” There’s a couple of nice boxes in the garage, in the mechanics workshop. Any chance one of you could grab one of them and a spade and bring them down to the garden right away? There is? Great. Thanks. I owe you one!”
Cyclops closed the phone and smiled at the waiting girl. Jaimie would find them easily enough through the com badge system and in the meantime there was something else he could be getting on with “There” he said quietly. “That’s got one thing sorted out. Now….”
Glancing around he found what he was looking for, a reasonably sized stone used as decoration in the nearby flower bed and , with silent excuses to 'gardener Jaime' for the liberty he was about to take, albeit in a good cause, he eased it out one handed and laid it on the ground beside Kiara. “This might not work” he told her crouching down before it, making sure she was out of the danger zone if this all went horribly wrong “My power is pretty destructive at the best of times but lets give it a shot….
Behind the viser he closed his eyes, waiting till he was sure he had opened the ruby lens just enough to give him the control he needed. This was like trying to light a candle with a neutron bomb but he could do it. Or in any case he had been able to do it before his illness. Now though there was a doubt in his mind, as his body failed him.
No.he reminded himself quickly. There was no room for doubt here. This wasn’t just some stupid attempt at grandstanding. This was a demonstration of what could be accomplished with practice and dedication. And one that would be more convincing than a thousand words. Control. Even if his childhood accident meant that now he had to work with the mechanical means Charles had provided for him in order to achieve it.
Scott took a deep breath and released the red killing beam from his eyes, wielding it not like a weapon but like a scalpel, its power kept to a minimum, eating away at the rock only where his will dictated that it should, engraving the two names onto its surface. Freud and Wilson. Simple and elegant . And so hard to do that he shook with the effort.
Then it was done and with a gasp he closed the visor again. “Not to shabby if I do say so myself” he said a little shakily. “Though maybe not very impressive if you don’t know what my power usually looks like.” And with that he looked at the sky and opened his viser fully, letting the red light burn!
Re: Bird + Cat = Bat? Or maybe cird...
((OOC: Sorry, and thanks soooooo much…and sorry, I got swamped with things, so it’s taken until now for me to post…))
The think about asking for help was, well, Kiana simply didn’t like to do it. It was as taboo as tattling to her. In fact, it was her helping her uncle, and not the other way around, that she found herself here with a discovered mutation. It irritated her that she needed help now, but she was still grateful nevertheless. It was better Mr. Summers than someone else along. Just because she was little didn’t mean she couldn’t do things by herself. He’d managed to make it acceptable, just barely, by realizing she wasn’t a measly baby. For that, he’d earned her respect.
“You’re very welcome Kiara” he replied. Everyone need help from time to time, that’s the nature of things. Speaking of which….”
Kia held her hands behind her back, waiting with the patience that he had earned. The simple preparations for the burial were being done in no time at all. The efficiency itself cheered her. It would be nice to finally bury her mess and move on. As curious as she was about the dullness that crossed what eyes she could see, she found that today wasn’t the day to satisfy that morbid side of her. She found herself interested in learning about everything one day, but this was one that could wait for another time.
Half listening to the phone call, it seemed so simple, a box and a shovel. She wondered if that was exactly what happened to people who died. There wasn’t any ghost. It was a little disturbing at first, but after a while, the looked almost fake. Pursing her lips slightly in thought, Kiana imagined of it was always like this. Uncle Dom and Auntie Lore refused to tell her much about what happened to her parents’ bodies after their deaths. That was an annoying thought. If they’d just said something like this, she would just stop asking questions. That was just one of the many reasons she was happier here. Returning her attention just as he hung up, Kiana put on a hopeful smile.
“There” he said quietly. “That’s got one thing sorted out. Now….”
Her eyes followed his, searching for the answer to his “Now…” He found it in a moment, a rock whose purpose took her a moment to realize. Studying it, she watched him lay it down.“This might not work” he warned her. Crouching down as well for a closer look, Kiana was silent with interest. “My power is pretty destructive at the best of times but lets give it a shot….
What can you do? Kiana almost asked, but his concentration quieted her as she cast a curious look to him. Her answer came in a red beam, cutting into rock with a lethal type of precision that she prepared her self to go intangible if needed. Her small face was solemn, as if she were trying to add her own concentration to help him. Cutting into things was primitive, but there was a sort of grace and class in his method. And she’d just been thinking of stealing nail polish from Len to paint the names on.
Then it was done, amazement chasing the stoic expression from her face. Mr. Summers did a really good job, impressing her enough that she thought he’d done it easy. Giving a moment to be sure he was finished. Kia reached out a hand to trace the two names. A garden rock and some red light had done a satisfactory job becoming a tombstone that was worthy enough for a stray and a crippled bird.
“Not to shabby if I do say so myself” he said a little shakily. “Though maybe not very impressive if you don’t know what my power usually looks like.”
Holding her breath, Kia searched for the for the right words. Then his beacon stole it away, and for a moment, she was the most like a child her age as she’d been in a long time. She couldn’t even see where it ended! He definitely had more than just flashlights behind his eyes. Face flushed with her unspoken excitement, she could only describe it in one breathless word. “Cool…”
The rock carving had been great before. Now it blew her away with a look at the true potential of his beams. That was control, if she had to guess. To what extent, she didn’t know, but it was still impressive. She needed to practice more. That was what she decided. She didn’t want to be able to take out birds in flashes of red, but she wanted her own equivalent. Balling one tiny fist by her side, she set it as one of her many goals, right under becoming President. One day, maybe she wouldn’t be hurting animals anymore.
Re: Bird + Cat = Bat? Or maybe cird...Cool! Kiara gasped her voice full of admiration. Scott chuckled quietly “Yeah I suppose it is. Though I didn’t always see it that way.”
Cyclops eased himself into a more comfortable position sitting on the grass his injured arm safely cradled against his body by its discrete sling. “When I was young, before my powers kicked, in I was in an accident” he told her, his voice matter of fact as he evoked one of the defining and most traumatic moments of his life. The moment that had turned him from a member of a happy family to a lost hurt orphan cast a drift in a world where enemies circled around him and plotted his downfall. That day he had lost so much and if later he had got some of it back, his brother Alex for example, Corsair, the father he had thought dead and who in fact had gone on to fulfil a much stranger destiny, then still some things had been lost forever. Like his childhood for example.
But that wasn’t the reason Scott had brought up the subject here and now, he who infinitely preferred keeping his problems to himself rather than lamenting over them in public fashion. Not that there was any hint of self pity either in his voice or indeed in his mind as he spoke to Kiara. For after all this was all in the past, deal with and overcome. If anything it was like an old scar that throbbed when the weather changed but which had been carried for so long that even the pain had become just a fact of life. No he was talking to Kiara about this because he thought that maybe his experience could be of some use to her. And if that managed to salvage something positive from the whole sorry mess of his early life then so much the better.
So he shared with this intelligent child his weaknesses just as he had showed her his strengths and he hoped that she could see that sometimes the one sprang from the other. That sometimes a bone that had been broken set stronger than it had been before. “Part of brain my was damaged” he went on frankly “but since it was only a tiny part and not in an area that was seen as important, none of the doctors thought that it would really matter. They weren’t to know that I was a mutant and that it was the on off switch for my power that had been taken out.”
He waited a few seconds for the implication of what he had said to sink in before going on. So you see Kiara I don’t have what you have, a natural means of controlling my power. In fact if people hadn’t worked out that ruby crystals could hold back my beams id be condemned to go through life blind if I didn’t want to kill everyone around me. “This” he gestured to his visor “ gave me my life back. But it was practise that let me learn how to use it to its best advantage. Practise and knowledge! And those are the two things that will let you get to grips with your power as well.”
Now the practise part I’ve already said we’ll start on whenever you’re ready. And as for knowledge……. What he was gong to propose would normally have sent kids her age into depression but somehow Scott thought Kiara would welcome it as a gift and a precious one at that.”To fully understand my power I needed to learn physics, and to calculate what I could do with it, geometry, though I have to admit I have a built in capacity to calculate angles that came along with the power.…”
Now you Scott looked at her appraisingly “ need to know how things work before you can think about safely altering them. And that means physics, chemistry, biology, basiclly any kind of science you can get your hands on……………..so he asked seriously tell me,has anyone got round to putting them on your timetable yet?
Re: Bird + Cat = Bat? Or maybe cird...“Yeah I suppose it is. Though I didn’t always see it that way.”
Kiana sensed a lesson, She followed suit as Mr. Summers took a seat, meticulously checking a spot on the grass for wet mud before finally giving in to her already soiled jacket. As interested as she was, she was never one to intentionally be dirty, but after the animals, it was a little too late for that now. Crossing her legs neatly, Kia propped her elbows on her knees, small fists tucked under her chin as she listened wide eyed.
Accidents, she knew about them, or so she thought. That was what happened to her mommy and daddy. Accidents were what happened when she needed a band-aid or an ice pack, and needed to see the nurse. Then there were other accidents, important ones, that left people broken. Mr. Summers’s story told of the result of one of those.
“Part of brain my was damaged” he went on frankly “but since it was only a tiny part and not in an area that was seen as important, none of the doctors thought that it would really matter. They weren’t to know that I was a mutant and that it was the on off switch for my power that had been taken out.”
Her attention was captured, piecing together the significance of the brain. She’d learned in a science lesson in class that the brain did more than just think. It was the remote control, the power center of everything, and more than a lumpy gray blob. It was hard to believe that his control for his powers had been taken out when just a moment, he’d showed her the impressive use of eye beams. Looking down at the scar on her palm from one of the accidents involving her first discovery of powers, Kiana hid it in a clenched fist as she nodded her understanding. He’d been in a big accident then, if something that important was broken. She’d been lucky that she hadn’t been broken as badly.
Practice was the key to everything! It came with ballet and drawing and playing violin, the reasons that she could play and her cousin couldn’t. She took practice as a serious thing, understanding the importance and embracing it unlike many kids. Her need to be the best was a stubborn goal that led her to agree wholly to his words. But knowledge too? You needed to know how to do something in order to practice it, but what would help her in becoming “ghosty” and phasing?
Now you Scott looked at her appraisingly “ need to know how things work before you can think about safely altering them. And that means physics, chemistry, biology, basically any kind of science you can get your hands on……………..so he asked seriously tell me,has anyone got round to putting them on your timetable yet?
Physics and chemistry and what? There was so much she had yet to learn, and the names for them already sounded more complex than third grade biology and the life cycle of a butterfly. Her eyes roved the ground in deep thought, considering where she could learn of all these things, and quick. Knowledge was something that even she was impatient to gain.
“ Twelve times twelve is one hundred and forty four. Twelve and thirteen is one hundred and fifty six.” Kiana recited proudly. “I didn’t want to She didn’t spend those long hours committing the numbers to memory, attempting to impress her teacher not only with her full knowledge of the timestable from one to twelve, but going past them. “I can do fifteen times, too. And Warren showed me how to do math on paper. Her school before here had been an advanced class, giving her a small boost on multiplication while the rest of those in her grade were still on multiplying single digits. She was proud of her success, and hungry to move into a fourth grade book if they would teach her here.
“Does that mean I can learn…chemistry now?” she recalled the mysterious topic. “I hurt myself too, before, and it wasn’t fun. When do I get to learn all that stuff?” While others in her class would be memorizing the newest pokemon and their thousands of predecessors, she wanted something a little more useful to her. The thought of all she needed to learn was overwhelming, but in a good way, whatever the topics really were. It was up there next to her part-time dream of being a famous ballerina.
“There’s so much to learn.” Kiana counted months on her fingers. “Are they really hard? What do you learn in fifth grade, then?” She assumed all the topics were only for the next grade, ready to take them all in and move on to the next. “We did biology stuff in second grade already, if that helps. We even made a volcano.” That had been an impressive experiment when she’d first saw it, the chemistry behind it still mystifying her. It was just unfair that her teacher wouldn’t go further than saying vinegar and baking soda made a big mess and smelled bad when they were mixed together.
Re: Bird + Cat = Bat? Or maybe cird...“ Twelve times twelve is one hundred and forty four. Twelve and thirteen is one hundred and fifty six. “I can do fifteen times, too. And Warren showed me how to do math on paper.”
Behind the visor Scott blinked in amused surprise. It wasn’t quite the answer he had been expecting Or then again maybe it was. In its own way. After all you couldn’t expect a seven year old, no matter how bright to express their thoughts in the same way as an adult would. And if Kiara’s multiplication tables seemed a little out of place at first it that was only the case until you realised at what they represented to her. Achievement. Knowledge sought out and acquired that was above and beyond what had been asked of her.
This girls mind was like a garden waiting to flourish. All it needed was a little more water. And judging from her comments she was eager for the transformation to take place. “Does that mean I can learn…chemistry now?” she asked him enthusiastically , before adding rather more ambiguously “I hurt myself too, before, and it wasn’t fun. Scott had to admit she had lost him there. Had she been hurt doing chemistry or was she talking about another incident involving her power? In and case it didn’t seem to have traumatised her too badly whatever it was because she was swiftly back to what really interested her. The proposed additions to her timetable.
“When do I get to learn all that stuff?” Scott chuckled quietly. He honestly thought if he said Right now she’d be off and running. Well at least after she had carried out the more solemn business of burying Freud and Wilson that was. Somehow he doubted that even the prospect of study would make her turn her back on the dead animals till her duty to them had been fulfilled. Still she was clearly excited.
“There’s so much to learn. Are they really hard? What do you learn in fifth grade, then?” Scott smiled again. Ah if only the other students were this motivated how much easier the teachers jobs would be! *Then again we’d probably be run ragged trying to keep up* Cyclops thought wryly. *No time off for missions in a school full of Kiaras!*
“We did biology stuff in second grade already, if that helps. We even made a volcano.” This time Scott did laugh out loud, not a scoffing sound but one filled with quiet remembrance. Ah yes, the second grade volcano experiment….....My son Sean ruined a perfectly good tee shirt by chucking some food colouring into the mix when he did it. Said it would make the lava look more realistic. Which was probably true.But anyway Kiara…to get back to these lessons I was talking about….
Xaviers doesn’t work very much like a normal school. Oh we cover the work that needs to be covered but lets just say in other ways we’re a bit more flexible. It was one of the advantages they had being a privately run establishment and their pupils success in the state graded exams proved the Institutes efficiency amply enough to stop bureaucrats from questioning the methods used to bring about such results.
We tend to try to fit classes round the pupils rather than the other way around. he told her “What I mean is… I think we should get you some tests.. find out what you already know and more importantly what you’re ready to learn. And then Kiara.. we should set about teaching it too you .
Re: Bird + Cat = Bat? Or maybe cird...
Kiana’d had teachers in the past who simply patted her on the head, or told her to be quiet and stop showing off when she would seem too smart. She’d spent years, many in her eyes, baffling over what was so bad about knowing things. And then they’d moved her up, hoping to shut her up, though first graders weren’t so different from kindergarteners, and second wasn’t much different from first. But Mr. Summers wasn’t telling her to be quiet, or saying “That’s nice” and ignoring her. Getting excited, her maturity slipped a little as she rambled a bit and barraged him with questions.
Ah yes, the second grade volcano experiment….....My son Sean ruined a perfectly good tee shirt by chucking some food colouring into the mix when he did it. Said it would make the lava look more realistic. Which was probably true.But anyway Kiara…to get back to these lessons I was talking about….
Didn’t that always happen? Her smile was sincere, her giggle proving that underneath, she still was just a little girl. The teacher had been foolish enough to ask the class what colors they wanted to make the lava in an attempt to inspire creativity in the young children. What resulted was a volcano speckled in food coloring and layered in different colors until it looked brown. That was the day they also discovered that the experiment gave off a funny smell that wouldn’t leave the classroom for two days, and that stealing the food coloring to make all of lunch a rainbow affair only made an inedible mess. Her classmates just didn’t believe her that making milk red didn’t mean it was strawberry.
Xaviers doesn’t work very much like a normal school. Oh we cover the work that needs to be covered but lets just say in other ways we’re a bit more flexible.
Flexible was good. Flexible meant she wasn’t the one to do altering. There was no way she would dumb herself down to fit to her grade level. It hadn’t been just mutant powers that had her uncle and aunt agree to send her away. Flexible meant she wouldn’t be sitting in the back of the class, rolling her eyes and restraining from yelling out the answers when another student got it wrong.
We tend to try to fit classes round the pupils rather than the other way around. he told her “What I mean is… I think we should get you some tests.. find out what you already know and more importantly what you’re ready to learn. And then Kiara.. we should set about teaching it too you .
“Tests are good…” She rarely hated the things, seeing them as a chance to prove herself better than her classmates. “I’ll try really hard.” Kia had never been more honest in her life. She’d learn, she’d grow smart, and she’d never make any more mistakes, such as with Freud and Wilson. It was never fun to be wrong. Nudging the animals with a small foot, it was a half joke, one of the she ever made as she deadpanned, “I don’t think I got a very good on this test though.” Horrible as it was, she wouldn’t let herself forget what she’d done, if only for motivation to improve.
Re: Bird + Cat = Bat? Or maybe cird...
Jamie Madrox was, by most standards, a very busy man. The day's "To Do" list was enough to keep ten men busy from dawn til dusk. Indeed, when you live on acres of land, in a complex worth millions (in a conservative estimate), where everything is hoped to be in the most pristine condition, you'll find no shortage of chores to be done. Multiply the wear and tear by a hundred superpowered housemates, and it's a wonder the place hasn't collapsed in on itself. Jamie almost felt bad for taking on such a light load for the day.
He was cleaning the kitchen, fixing a leaky faucet in one of the women's lavatories, waxing the halls, replacing a broken pane of glass, studying student's files, and reviewing the somewhat neglected security tapes and systems when the call came. While clones of Jamie Madrox swarmed the mansion, there was but one cell phone. The Core Madrox, the Madrox, hardly left a room without it: the room in this instance being a spare office. He'd been staring so intently at the mansion's dossiers that he jumped at the sudden commotion of his cell phone vibrating across the desk.
Seeing it was Scott, Jamie quirked a brow. Obviously it wasn't an emergency. That would've gone out across the comms. Then again, it was hard to imagine the man with the ruby shades was just calling to chit chat. One way to solve this.
"Yo yo."
"Jamie? Scott here.” Summers was calm. Then again, he could always keep his cool. The real tell that this was a less than life-or-death call was his pacing. No way would he waste a second for niceties."Look I could use a favour. There’s a couple of nice boxes in the garage, in the mechanics workshop. Any chance one of you could grab one of them and a spade and bring them down to the garden right away?"
"Ah, Scottie. You're sweet to act like I don't have a moment to spare. Yeah, I think I can muster a goafer."Go fer this, go fer that...It was totally understandable that people should always ask such mundane feats from Jamie. After all, he was practically guaranteed to have a dupe handy for the task. All the same, it was nice to asked instead of told. Another thing you could count on Scott for - he treated everyone with a respect that made you feel like his equal.
"There is? Great. Thanks. I owe you one!” Click.
Madrox nearly snapped his fingers to make a duplicate of himself just for the errand, but rethought it as he realized just how blind staring at the computer screen had made him. Trying to blink it away, he could hardly make out the stacks of student files scattered across the desk. He'd gone through scads of past and present students and had many more to cover. The worst thing he could do now was let himself numb and not really absorb any of it. Perhaps a walk through the garden would let him come back to his work refreshed.
He felt a twinge of guilt when he got to the office door. Theoretically, a new dupe could continue researching while he was out regaining his bearings. When he came back, he'd absorb the dupe and it'd be like he'd never left the desk. Something about that didn't seem right. Didn't seem fair.
It lead back to the one issue he'd always struggled with: was Jamie Madrox one man, or thousands? Could duplicates, living, breathing, self-aware as they are, be used as tools? Jamie did his best to respect them and their wills, but if he really was one man made up of hundreds, than didn't he have the responsibility of hundreds? He could be an entire army. He could be the cheapest labor force impoverished nations had ever known. He could be running the school. He could be running dozens of schools without a single other person. Instead he was doing menial labor there. Could that be wrong of him? Would this not be the ultimate act of sloth, a thousand men doing the work of 100?
More than that, if he had a thousand people inside of him, people he had to respect as independents, shouldn't he let them all out? Like a would-be mother locking her ankles and refusing to let the baby out. Didn't the babe deserve to be born?
Madrox tried to shake it off as he continued his errand. You're a special case, Madrox, he chided himself, no one else has ever had your problems. No one. Ever. There are so many angles to this - the personal responsibility, the psychological, physical, economic, and moral ramifications sit on a global level. In some ways you're just as powerful as Charles or Jean... Jamie cracked a grim smile, unable to convince himself. Maybe the more responsible thing to do would be to never let a dupe out at all.
By this point he'd found a box and a shovel for Scott. He moved quickly through the halls, grinning though he couldn't really convince himself to feel it. He resisted the urge to do any more than give a slight nod to the people he passed, chances being they'd already said "hello" to him a dozen times today. The crowds thinned dramatically as he reached the edge of the garden.
He wasn't certain were Scott was on the grounds. Should he split up? In that moment of indecision, Jamie saw a familiar red beam split the air, cutting an ever widening swath into the clouds. That solved his issue entirely.
"Yup. A special case indeed," he sighed, turning his thoughts toward whatever task was at hand. Box and shovel. Could Scott want a plant moved? A romantic gesture for Jean, possibly, moving a favorite bush right outside their window. More likely a student had left a pile of ectoplasmic goo on the lawn. Again. Then again, it was entirely possible that it was just a dead critter to handled.
Yes, he could see the lump at Scott's feet to be something that used to be alive. A cat or a bird, maybe. The young girl who stood with Scott was familiar, but he'd gone through so many profiles today he couldn't remember any details. The situation, however, was crystal clear to Jamie. The good ol' fearless leader had gotten himself involved in a funeral. Poor kid had probably found the corpse while playing and gone running for the nearest adult. It was hard, finding something as 'magical' as a little birdie... or as 'cool' and 'pretty' as a kitty cat... was it...? Which...? God, it wasn't... ?
"Jeeesus!" The cry came involuntarily, part and parcel with the realization of just what he was looking at. Some macabre mix of cat and bird. Like they'd collided in a cartoon, smacking together like two hunks of dough, forming one big mess, inseparable from each other.
The girl. Kiana Tierney. Mother: Elena Delany Tierney. Father: Corbin Tierney. Deceased. Recently enrolled. Known Mutation: Controlled intangibility of an undetermined nature, accompanied by semi-translucency. Condition may be used to impact envirnoment as well as self, including nonliving and living items.
Living items. The situation came together for Jamie. This was an even more sensitive event than he thought.
"... Christ, Son of God, please watch our furry friend...s... Amen." He covered. Poorly.
"Box and shovel, Scott," he hoisted them minutely before turning his sympathies toward Kiana. "I see the day's taken an unfortunate turn. How're we doing, young lady?"
Re: Bird + Cat = Bat? Or maybe cird...“Tests are good.” How many seven year olds could have cheerfully announced that, yet Kiara proclaimed it without any hint of insincerity. But then Scott had known from the beginning of this little meeting that he wasn’t dealing with your average child. Not that any of the pupils at the Institute, whether they were mutant or human, could be classed as average. But then , could anyone?
Certainly here at Xavier’s school for the gifted the differences between each pupil and the accepted norms were usually immense, carried into the extreme on the most part by mutant genes, though that was not always the case. What made Xavier’s stand out was that they took the time to assess each and every pupils individual capabilities and then fitted their courses around them in order to bring out the best in every one. Or at least that was how it had been in the past.
God! They had grown! That much was undeniable but was that good or bad? Did the fact that more and more students turned up on their doorstep every day mean that they were somehow winning this war Charles had embarked them on all those years ago, or that, on the contrary, they were losing it? Scott honestly didn’t know. All he knew was that now there was a battle field on which he could perhaps still fight. One that Jean had fought on for years while he had been occupied elsewhere.
The school was stretched to its limits, that much was clear. And while there were certain positive elements such as Jamie’s return, or the recent appointment of a school councelor to be taken into the account it was still all to obvious that they were no longer able to provide the individual treatment that Charles had envisaged in the beginning. Just keeping track of all the students was becoming a feat in itself let alone catering to their special needs.
Jean had talked to him recently about her fears that some students were falling through the net educationaly as well as socially either having too much asked of them to quickly or, as in Kiaras case, not being given the stimulus they needed to achieve their full potential. Scott had already made the commitment to be more involved with the integration of new pupils into the school, perhaps though this was a specific area he could turn his attention too. It was certainly something to look into, he told himself with a thoughtful smile as he watched the excited girl beside him. And thus was as good a place to start as any.
“I’ll try really hard.” Kiara told him earnestly before gently poking the mess that had been just minutes before been a very live kitten and bird “I don’t think I got a very good grade on this test though.” she added ruefully. “No” Scott replied truthfully though not unkindly. “This is definitely not one of your better efforts, but then again even a bad grade can help us learn. And I’m sure you’ve learned a lot from this experience. At least I hope you have. “
Further discussion on the subject was interrupted by the timely arrival of Jamie, or at least a Jamie, one of the many who could now be seen around the school helping out wherever they could. As the approaching mutants eyes fell on the warped remains lying on the grass so close to them the habitual easy humour dropped away to reveal a shock that was also betrayed in his words "Jeeesus!" he gasped, before recuperating as best he could, for the girls sake no doubt "... Christ, Son of God, please watch our furry friend...s... Amen.
It was a good try, though Scott doubted it would fool someone as intelligent as Kiara. Jaimie ploughed on stoically, bringing things back to the practical business at hand as quickly as he could in the vain hope it might distract her from his reaction to her handiwork. "Box and shovel, Scott," he said as he recovered his composure. He didn’t try to hide his emotions now though. he didn’t have to. There was no judgement of anger in him, only kindness and genuine concern as he spoke to the waiting child "I see the day's taken an unfortunate turn. he told her gently; How're we doing, young lady?"
Tries hard to resist.
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