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Summary: After being told where they were, Misha arrives at Xavier's front gate, hoping to speak with Connor.
Date: 05-18-2010
Log Title An attempt at engendering trust
Rating: PG
Xavier Mansion - Front Gates
Large Iron gates standing twelve feet tall in front of you with an elaborate letter X designed on each of the gates. An Iron Gate stretches around both sides of the school. The gates are usually found closed and open to those who know the correct code to enter in the keypad on the left. Beyond the gates a large statue can be seen in a courtyard and a building in the shape of an X.
In as much as Misha could walk right past all the security on school grounds without it blinking an eye, the teen doesn't even attempt to bypass it. No, after having been told to search Graymalkin for those kids from Salem, he decided to try this school. A school for gifted children? Like that isn't obvious. Not that he's doing anything truly obvious. Activating the shield he used to protect himself from bullets, the teen uses his power to try and gain Connor's attention. Power flickers on, goes a little while, then stops. Only to repeat.
And very much unlike the black attire, he's dressed very normally. A dark green tshirt, jeans, and a light jacket. No helmet, and nothing to hide who he is. In fact if it weren't for the power he wouldn't be easily recognizable as that same guy. Mainly because he purposely bulked the black outfit to hide that he's on the slender side. A young man with a scar over an eye, and one on his throat, black hair, normal clothes patiently waiting.
Since it's his Danger Room session day, and it's getting on into evening, Connor is actually into his creamsicle and white uniform, just down to the unstable molecule t-top and pants combination, the nomex jacket actually tied around his waist, and the shades with his comm unit tucked into a pocket. When the first flare goes up, it's an itch… subconsciously scratching at his arm… the second makes him look… then the third makes him turn his head and suddenly become very still… the kind of stillness that was seen just before action earlier as that combat calm begins to infuse him… and he stands in the lobby of the dorms, staring out onto the grounds…
Emerging from the Girl's hall, Rashmi pauses, puzzled by Connor's stillness. Silent, she approaches slowly, head tilted to one side, brow furrowed. "…Connor?" she asks, drawing to a halt a respectful distance from the boy. "…What is it?"
Unable to sense Connor without an active power use on Connor's part, Misha has no idea whether or not the other has noticed. So that patient pattern continues.
Connor makes a small sound in the back of his throat, and then looks back at Rashmi, "He's here… the guy from yesterday." Is all he says before he reaches down and takes the red-shades, and pulls them on, before reaching out a hand to the girl, "Back me up?"
Rashmi blinks sharply, eyes widening at the news. "…Wait, *here?* What…" Shaking her head, she looks down at herself, brushing at her long gray summer-weight skirt. "All right," she says with a quiet sigh, reaching out to take Connor's hand. "…Let's go see what the deal is."
Taking Rashmi's hand, Connor turns his head and looks out towards the main campus once more. Working almost like a radar, he turns his head back and forth until finally he seems to center on something, saying, "Hold on." And the familiar sensation of gravity trying to reassert itself in multiple directions washes over Rashmi for a moment as the pair go into darkness… only to reappear ten feet in front of Misha! The air ripples and seems to pull in for an eyeblink, and then as if stepping out from behind a mirrored curtain, the pair are suddenly there in the courtyard just on the school side of the front gates.
Misha is standing at the far side of the road from the school gates. Totally not within school grounds. Just a guy your own age who drops hands to his sides as the two appear. The distortion around his hands fades as well. It's a subtle thing anyway. That didn't take long at all! "Thank you." First of all, his voice is awful. Like he'd been a heavy smoker for decades. Second his accent is heavy, Polish, and because of this the teen articulates well. His English is good in spite of his faults. "I'm sorry for your trouble yesterday." Doesn't make excuses for it though.
"It's not your fault," Rashmi says, lifting a shoulder and letting it drop in a half-shrug. "Sorry for yelling, really… mostly I was just annoyed because it would have been nice to have a normal day for a change… Also it's hard to go back and get more ice cream when the storefront's been shot up a little, you know?" Peering through the bars, her eyes flick up and down over the newcomer, studying his appearance and actions. "…Who *are* you, anyway? And what was all the shooting about?"
Connor releases Rashmi's hand, and despite the calm exterior, the uniform-dressed young man crosses his arms over his chest, and just seems to lock his eyes on Misha. His gaze doesn't fade for even a moment as he takes a breath, the sunglasses hiding the back-glare of energy from underneath, but the girl next to him can catch it when she looks carefully, but diplomatically and for the moment, he remains silent.
The teen is surprised by the easy acceptance. Was so sure Rashmi would be mad. Misha smiles for it and approaches to make talking easier. He watches Connor, but without fear, and without agitation. "Thank you. I was so expecting you to be angry." Doesn't ask for the gates to open. Hazel eyes shift to Rashmi, and if anything this teen is no one you'd look at twice on the street. Even with his scars. "My name is Mikhail Androv. I attend the Barnes Academy in New York." The truth because lies like that bit you in the ass later.
There's a pause before he shifts and rubs at the scar beneath his eye, looking bemused. "I.. have a knack for finding trouble." And no, he's not all that thrilled with it, even if he accepts it. "I stumbled over a group preparing for the attack. I don't know their reasons but they spoke of going to Salem to kill mutants. I couldn't stop them in a town south of here, and to be honest you already know how it ended. I did what I could, and everything went kind of wrong." A weary sigh for that. "I can't fly. It's sheer chance I manages to catch them before anyone was killed." A shrug and he adds, "I wanted to thank you for what you did."
"Barnes Academy…?" The redhead's lips purse, a slow shake of her head given. "I've never heard of it. But um…. Wait. You said they were going to come to Salem to kill mutants, right? ….Um… *please* tell me it was all of them in the fight yesterday." Rashmi suddenly looks very worried, and the very need to asks that question makes it obvious why.
Connor sighs once and relents his more aggressive posture, "This school doesn't go out of it's way to advertise… but it's not secret either, but it is fairly secure. Moreso than most would guess. Allright… I'll bite…" And suddenly he says in a passable, but American-accented Russian, <And if we have the staff here check on your name and credentials… will your name check out?> Eyes flick to his companion and quickly back to Misha once more.
His expression is apologetic as Misha shakes his head about all the gunmen having been captured. "No. There was someone issuing orders that I never saw. Someone I only heard snatches it of thanks to their helmets. I went back to where I found them, when I could, but there was nothing there." The young man looks startled as Connor shifts to Russian. "You'll excuse me if I answer in English, I hope." A motion of a hand to Rashmi. "In case she doesn't speak Russian." Clearly he does though. "You can of course check my name. Barnes is a SHIELD run facility. That said I'm not working for SHIELD and they certainly aren't responsible for what I did last night." Someone goes out and plays hero.
Showing his hands briefly, he then digs ID out of his pocket. This is offered over. It could be faked of course, but it's not. Legit drivers license for New York state, and student ID for the Barnes Academy. "Magneto told me where to look." Said with the full knowledge of how that may come out. "I did mention that trouble finds me, right?"
Rashmi peers through the gate at the ID, then back up to Misha's face. At the very mention of the name Magneto, there's a momentary pained expression, a slow turn of the head to Connor. "…Well that settles it," she says with a sigh, "trouble really *does* find him. Closing her eyes and shaking her head, she looks back to Misha, raising a finger to ask the man to wait a second. "…Think we should find an adult, then?"
Connor shakes his head once and continues to eye Misha. Approaching the fence and where the other stands, he reaches out and takes both IDs before saying, "Adults are already watching… you forget how many cameras on us all the time, and someone's always on duty. If something happens, they'll show up before it gets dirty. But in the meantime…" He looks at both IDs being passed over, then takes a cellphone from his pocket, and actually snaps shots of both, before putting it away and passing them back, "Then I suppose we should thank you… but… it looked like they were chasing you before. I wanted to make sure you're not on the run from the same people… if you are who you say you are, then everything's fine. If not… well… better heads than mine get to deal with you. I can probably guess more than one of the staff here might know more about SHIELD and Barnes than either of us."
Probably won't please Connor much that Misha smiles in a tolerant manner for all that Connor does. If he was worried about the ID, he wouldn't offer it. "I didn't come here for thank yous." Said with a warmer smile. "I came because it's a danger to you. I don't think it's tied to the attack on Mutant Town, but someone is targeting this area, believing there are mutants here. But mostly I wanted to talk to you." And he means Connor. "I've never met another teleporter before. You'd act and I could feel it." Id is tucked away when he's given it back. The teen is wearing a gun, but that isn't easily seen. And yes, he has a license for that too. Kept that to himself though.
Rashmi looks from Connor to Misha as the latter talks, eyebrow rising faintly. "Okay, so… I guess the twenty million dollar question, then… If you could feel it, you must be a mutant, right?"
Connor sighs once and closes his eyes, turning to the side and looking at Rashmi, "It's hard for me to say Ra-" Stopping before he uses her name, but then continues, "I can feel when he does his thing… like something inside of me being pulled in a different way. It's how I knew he was here. It was faint but familiar." To the question, "Yes… I'm a teleporter… you seem to be the same… among other things. I'm sorry if my attitude is putting you off but… look at it from our side. The way we met before doesn't exactly engender trust."
Misha looks to Rashmi and shakes his head. "That's the amazing thing. I'm not." Not a mutant. Getting why he came here today? Why this is so amazing to him? Back to Connor he gives an understanding smile. "That's why I'm here on the other side of the fence. I'm not asking you to trust me. I'd like you to, but that will take time." A shrug and he continues with, "That's kind of what it feels like to me. Our powers aren't the same, but clearly similar enough that there's a sense for it. I was hoping that if I used my power this close he would notice.." A smile to Connor, "And you did." If he's felt any ire at Connor he's not shown a bit of it. No sense of impatience either.
Rashmi blinks quietly at this revelation, taking a step back from the fence and shaking her head slowly. "…Okay, well… that's, um… That's *really* weird but not impossible, I mean look at some of the other people running around the City… *Anyway.*" Her attention returns to Connor, the redhead looking a question at the boy. "…So what should we do then?"
Connor frowns a bit at the question, "Magneto knows he's here… and he's not one to be inattentive… unless it suits his purposes… and he hasn't done anything to warrant security being called… so… I suppose next time just come and knock on the front door, or use the intercom system on the gate. We'll definitely want to know more about those men in blue and red, if they're coming back… there's younger students here, and ones not as capable of defending themselves… or ones who wouldn't know better and interfere. At least for now you could give one of the security staff what you know… allright?" Leaving the last part out there as he looks at Rashmi, "the sensible thing to do?"
"I'm not sure Magneto counts as positive proof of anything." Rueful that. "If you'd like me to." Misha says of telling the Xavier's staff what little he knows about the men in red. "I already know your names." Said with an amused expression. "You kept calling to one another with both." Didn't say this when Connor nearly spoke Rashmi's name, but there's no point in not admitting it. "Or you could give me a phone number and I could call the staff here. Last thing I expect is to be given the tour for having arrived at the front gate." His rough voice doesn't really get easier to hear, does it? Yet he takes steps so that it doesn't come off as cold or cruel.
"Actually, um… How about this," Rashmi says eyes falling to the dirt as she thinks over her course of action on the fly. "You give us your number, we'll hand it over to Security while we get everything sorted out. Yeah… after that, we'll see what happens. ….If nobody wants to let you in… I mean hey, we've had a *lot* of trouble lately, and this is just… rrgh. Anyway. See if maybe someone can take us to meet you at the Grindstone, in town. That sound okay?"
Connor nods at Rashmi's words, and then looks back at Misha, "I have to get to a training session… I'm not wearing these garish colors for my health… Who knows… maybe once you're done talking with security, we can talk… just… give me time to warm up to the idea. I promise… I'm not always so standoffish…" Giving Rashmi a touch on the shoulder, he whispers to her, "Thanks…" And just like he came… a ripple, a pull, and a pop where the air rushes in again, fluttering the hindi girl's red hair.
The teen says nothing as Connor speaks, and he doesn't show what he's feeling until after Connor's gone. A wistful one. A brief flicker of it. But he soon returns his attention to Rashmi and moves on. "Will you remember it? I have no paper." Misha gives a firm nod about the phone number, but asks that. "It's alright if nothing works out. Times are strange and people are targeting you. I understand the concern."
Rashmi chuckles, reaching into the bag at her hip and extracting a notebook and pen. "Bookworm," she says with a shrug as she prepares to take down the number. "…You okay, by the way? You looked… I don't know, off a little for a second there."
Misha shrugs and gives both phone number and email for Rashmi to write down. "I'm probably as unsettled as he is." Admitted as he lifts a hand to touch the gate. Fingers curl around iron, but it's just to hold. "I thought I was a mutant for years, until SHIELD found otherwise. It's nothing everyone else hasn't felt at some point. The sudden realization that someone out there is similar and you may not be entirely alone." He looks away and down briefly, moderately subdued. "Nothing may change, but I had to try." Looking up he smiles again. "You all helped me last night. Thank you. I couldn't have done that alone. And thank you for coming out to speak with me."
Rashmi nods slowly. "Yeah… a lot of people are like that, around here. I know I was, when I first got here. It's kind of a good feeling, really, even if it means a bunch of other people have gone through stuff as bad or worse than you. And, don't worry about it, really. We aren't wired to ignore stuff like that, and it was pretty easy to tell who was in the right, you know?"
Misha returns that nod with one of his own. "It was still worthy of so little a thing as my thanks." The helping him. Hand drops from the iron gate. "I covered my identity to protect those who know me. That's all. I get the feeling you understand though." The smile is warm again. "Would you give Chaser that email?" Said with a knowing amusement. Connor, not Chaser. "Maybe if he has a less personal means of contact he'll talk with me."
Rashmi chuckles, bobbing her head. "I will, don't worry. But, it's Chase, not Chaser. Silly I know, but, half of us already have stupid codenames, may as well get them right, you know?" With a shrug, she folds the paper, stowing it carefully back into her bag. "This'll make your head hurt, though; Magneto speaking for you… actually sort of says something good for you. He's funny about this school that way, and as much as most of us dislike him, you have to give him that much credit."
"Chase. I stand corrected." Not at all worried about it. The talk of Magneto has that smile appearing again. "I saved his life." Misha admits as he slides hands into the pockets of his jeans. "Didn't have any idea who he was. We've talked a few times since then. He told me that I should come talk to you." There's a pause as he shrugs, "I've no illusions of the man. He finds me useful. I've a very useful power, and the skills to back it up. I haven't figured out why he wants me to make ties with this school, but he does." There's a pause and a little grin. "I didn't come here for him. I wanted to speak to Chase. Giving you all what little I know about those men is just a perk. I don't want any one to die, regardless of mutant or not."
Rashmi nods slowly. "That's really good to hear, Mikhail… It's nice to see that your school doesn't try and train that sort of thinking out of you." Looking up, she gives the boy a crooked smile. "I'll let Chase know what you said, okay? But, um… I should get going. I still have sort of a *lot* of studying to do."
The grin turns into something wry. "They are trying." Misha says, "But I'm an unusual case for them. It isn't that way with the others. Barnes isn't a bad place." Accepting the end to this talk with good grace, the teen nods. "You have my number." The offer for it to be used is open. "Good night." No power use now. Misha simply walks away from the gate. No vehicle waits him. He really has to walk to Salem and take the train, but he doesn't mind.
