Players:
Summary: Scott finds Theo studying in the woods, and learns that he isn't someone you want to be in the dark woods with alone.
Date: March 26, 2010
Log Title A Natural Study Environment
Rating: PG
Xavier Mansion - Forgotten Path
Overgrown with trees and brush, this path has long been out of use and is rather difficult to find at all. Looking closely at the ground shows the remains of a dirt walkway, but the entrance to said walkway is long since lost to the plants. It winds through the woods, eventually opening to a view of a long forgotten chapel on the grounds. Perhaps once it had been a charming little building, but now, it has certainly seen better days. The windows are boarded over, the doors are barely hanging on their hinges, vines have started to grow up the walls, and there's even a good chuck of it toward the back that looks as if it were the victim of a fire. All in all, it seems it was judged not worth the cost of repairs and left to nature's devices.
It's a little brisk tonight, The moon is occassionally covered by clouds, and occassionally not. Still, the nearby lights of the big city drown out most of the stars. The Forgotten Path is silent, still too early in the year to hear crickets. The quiet and dark is pierced for a single halogen lamp, slightly off the path and nestled in a natural barrier of fallen logs.
Here is Theo. The student who found Xavier's, rather than the other way around. His family? He says he doesn't want to talk about it, but it wouldn't be hard for the school to have put together the pieces and find out that he's an escapee of a hate crime in Virginia.
A few school books rest on a log which he leans against, and one rests in his lap along with a pen and worksheet. He's been a straight A student so far, and he studies hard for it, too. There's the quiet sound of a page flip, and he pulls his hands back inside the blankets he brought out here to keep himself warm. The dark brown eyes look between locks of brown hair quietly examining the science text book. Here, away from all of the electronics of the Mansion, the only sound the boy has to hear is the halogen lamp, unless someone brings more electronics near him.
Scott had of course met Theo, Danger Room sessions were not abolished during the Marauder time. No electronics here for the moment, except a passive communicator on his belt. His glasses are all he needs right now. He was out doing a bit of walking and saw a halogen lamp and decided to come see who was out here. The Headmaster is in his usual attire, a pair of well-fitting jeans and a polo shirt. Theo would most likely notice the presence of the communicator before he saw Scott himself. The brown haired man waits until he's closer to announce himself. "Hello?" He calls.
Theo senses the presence of the electronic device, and though he does not recognize it very specifically, it causes him to jump as if Scott had called his name already. He looks up from his book in Scott's direction, but he cannot see him through the dark yet. When Scott greets him, Theo is squinting into the darker path, but his eyes are not adjusted to the dark, and he cannot make out Scott quite yet. "Yeah?" he answers, pulling his book off of his lap and placing it on the dirt beside him. He adjusts the blankets, and begins to get to his knees first, and then stand to his feet, shaking dead foilage from his blankets.
Hearing the response back, Scott waits until he's in the light before speaking again. "Well, that is a surprise." He says, usually on Fridays kids are always in their dorms, or out to Salem Center. Though Scott would have to admit, he spends more than his fair share of his time alone. "Didn't want to paint the town red for the weekend?" Scott asks, looking to the young Corsair.
Theo's jaw sets itself a little forward, clenching at his front teeth slightly. "I didn't want to mess with people," he says plainly. "There was just too much noise, so I thought I'd just go out here where there's nothing electronic to bother me." It's no secret that he doesn't particularly care for his power, and the statement betrays it. "You get the same way?" he asks, since, well, Scott's out here in the middle of nowhere as well.
"Actually, yes." He says before shrugging. "I'm not a teen anymore. So going out isn't high on my list of priorities." Scott offers quite matter of factly. The Headmaster looks to the Corsair and asks. "So, are you just chilling out here, or are you working on something?"
Theo looks down at his books. "Just thought I'd get ahead of the game," he says. "Can't be valedictorian back home, might as well do it here," he says, as if he believes he can do it without much competition. He reaches down and picks up the science book from the ground, waving it slightly for Scott to see. "I'm not lookin' at porn if that's what you think," he adds, as if he assumes he'll need to be on the defense.
Scott gives a bit of a tsk noise with his mouth. "We don't declare class ranks or valedictorian." Scott informs, the school is too small to force those students who aren't as academically gifted to fight amongst themselves. Competition isn't the main focus of the schools. "I figured whoever was out here wasn't doing that. Too cold for anyone to do that." He says, quite sure of it.
Theo frowns. "That sucks, I was really hoping for a college grant," he lets out a sigh, visible in the night air, and plops himself down next to his books on the log. "This mutant thing should be covered by Americans with Disabilities Act or something," he states. "Everybody talks about our 'cool' powers, just seems like a pain in the ass to me."
"We have ways of helping you with that." Scott says, smiling. Even if they don't do class ranks, they still help their students who need or want it. He cannot help but shrug at that comment about disabilities. "There was once a mutant, a friend of mine. Professor X found her in pain because she couldn't keep other people's thoughts out of her head. It gave her headaches, nosebleeds, and soon got better." Of course talking about Jean Grey herself. "I can't see the world without a constant red filter. I can't take my glasses or visor off and see without destroying what I look at." He himself knows about powers that annoy and cause a pain in the ass. "There's even a student here that looks completely normal, until you get right next to him, who can't set foot outside in the summer without getting exhausted and getting heat stroke. The fact is, they've all learned to look past the pain. And you will too, in time."
Theo doesn't look back to Scott, but down at the glow of the lamp. "Yeah, I can deal with my power, and I know how to deal with the pain, I just need to wait for the right time." He's quiet a moment. "You've been a mutant for a long time, right?" He asks, though with the assumed affirmative. "You ever want to just hurt the people that make us hide?" he asks in all sincerity. "I mean, really hurt them."
"The thought had crossed my mind, once. We had stumbled upon the Friends of Humanity. The things we had seen them do to mutants. Just because they were mutants. It's unspeakable. I would have given anything to see them just blasted away with my power. But it was then that I had remembered what the Professor told me. The only way history will look kindly on mutant-kind and humans in general is to learn to co-exist. Just because we can do something, doesn't mean that we should, Theo." it's not the first time that Scott had been asked that question, but he explains it with such devotion to the words.
Theo listens, still looking at the lamp, and then looks back up to Scott. "I guess," he says, not sounding convinced. "We see all kinds of people in history class that aren't looked on real well, but they're all dead now, so what do they care what we think?" he asks. "If I had your power, I think I would have already killed people. Maybe that's why God made sure I got a power that couldn't hurt anyone. At least, not yet. My friend Kyle thinks like you, I bet you'd like him, he's a nice guy."
The killing people thing makes Scott a bit uneasy. "Not yet? You want to kill people?" He asks, sounding more than a bit concerned. "Why would you want to kill a person?"
"Revenge." The answer is not delayed. "I don't think my power could do it, all I can do is hear machines. But I already know more than a few things I could do to destroy people in other ways, not even using my powers." he seems unconcerned with talking about the subject, as if he's describing a cooking recipe. "I don't know if there's something worse than dying, but there's a lot of bad things that can happen to people." He laughs a little to try to lighten his mood. "Good thing I don't know much about my power yet. Give you time to drill some good sense into me before I do something I may or may not regret."
Scott gives a nod, he'll have to have Jericho talk with Theo soon. "You may find that revenge isn't what it's all about." He says, maybe have the history professor emphasize the non-violent civil rights leaders. Cyclops gives a shudder, with a chill, it's getting cold out. "I'm gonna get back inside, before it gets too chilly. You may want to get in too when you can, Theo." Scott says, before turning around and starting to make for the mansion.
Theo nods, "Okay," he says, not giving an argument about revenge. "It is getting a little cold. You know, everyone says you're a hardass, but you're not that bad," intended as a compliment, but it might come off a bit backhandedly so.
He reaches over to collect his books. He gathers them under his arms, and wraps his belt around them. A bit of an old school style of carrying books, but he hasn't gotten around to grabbing a backpack quite yet, and it works. He then picks up the lantern for his own departure.
