Players:
Summary: Kael finds Rashmi in the library, doing something she really shouldn't be doing.
Date: Date the log took place.
Log Title
Rating: PG
Xavier Mansion - Library
Like most Libraries, this one has that respected quite hush about it. A desk to check out books sits next to the door, next to the desk sits a statue of an Orangutan with a sign saying Return your books or else. Row upon row of books goes up and down the room. In the middle of all the shelves are two computers for looking up titles and a group of tables for students to sit and study. Along the back wall are windows with padded window seating for students to read in quiet.
It's late at night; most students, with all that's gone on, have either taken fitfully to their beds, or found some other means of occupying themselves until slumber finally takes hold. Very few among the student body would choose to be in the Library during normal homework hours, with the attractions of the various indoor and outdoor activities to be had. And yet… the lights are clearly shining through the Library windows, a beacon of activity amid the muffled stillness of the Mansion at night.
With the lights still on in the library, it's something that Kael wouldn't admit to doing alone. But if there's someone there, they can help him. Or so he hopes. He was never really one for books. But the doors open up, and close behind the aerokinetic before he hms a bit. Obviously not knowing really where to start for this endeavor. So he just head for the computers.
*taktaktak….click* "Damn." *taktaktak….click* "*Argh.*" At the computers, surrounded by a couple precarious piles of books, an electric teakettle and jar of loose leaf off to one side next to an empty plate, Rashmi sits, glaring in frustration at one of the monitors. Her hair, slightly frazzled, noticeable shadows under her eyes, and an expression of almost mulish stubbornness, she pokes her way through the school's database, clearly running into wall after wal after wall of security designed to keep the kids *out* of things they've no business reading about. Very probably, she'll be approached by a teacher after so many security flags have been tripped, but it seems of little concern. So intent on her searching is she, she doesn't even notice Kael's uncharacteristic invasion of the stacks.
Kael just blinks as he spots the books, and then as he continues to walk; his jaw hangs open just a bit as he spots Rashmi. He stands there, and just watches… with a slight shake of his head. "Uh… Rashmi?" Maybe speaking to her will have her stop what she's doing.
*taktakta* "YEEK!" Hopping an inch or so off the seat, Rashmi swivels around, eyes wide with panic. "I'mSorrySirIwasJustTryingToSeeWhatI—oh…" Her shoulders sag as Kael's identity registers on her brain, the redhead slumping back in her chair. "….Hi Kael. Um… what're you doing here?"
Kael leaps backwards as Rashmi leaps up out of her seat, and then he just blinks with a confused expression at the babbling. Then he just lets out a laugh, "Uh… hey. I guess the same as you. Wondering what the rumors were about. I mean, they took a friend of mine."
Rashmi frowns at this, shaking her head and reaching for the mug at her elbow. "…I don't know all of it, Kael… but… it's bad. Like, *really* bad. Skyler… Skyler said he was like this really horrible mutant mad scientist…" Closing her eyes for a moment, she lets out a long, long breath. "….His name is Mr. Sinister. And he's taken Jono, Jordan, Skyler… and Daisuke."
Kael stays silent for a bit, only a few of those names make his jawline tense up as he sets his jaw. "They took Dai and Jono?" His tone of voice is calm, yet there's an underlying tone of anger within there. "Heh… Then he has another thing coming. Remember when I said that when they harm our own, the rest go after?"
Rashmi shakes her head fiercely. "No, Kael. Don't do that. Trust me… you'll only get yourself… probably other people hurt that way. Right now… Right now we need to know what we're dealing with. We need to make sure the *other* kids are going to be a little safe. And we *need* to know if the adults have a plan we could screw up by doing *anything* on our own."
A soft smile creeps onto the teen's lips. "I know. I'm not going to rush out blind and get people hurt. I've seen people do it…" His voice drops down to a whisper. "Leo did it. And it cost him dearly." His gaze goes back to Rashmi and he smiles. "Well. What have ya learned?"
"I did too… a couple times," Rashmi murmurs, turning back to the computer. "It got everyone around me hurt, every time. And about the only other thing I've learned, is that when the adults don't want us to know anything, they're *good* at making sure we don't find out." *taktaktak* Another [ACCESS DENIED] screen blips up on the monitor, sent away with a click of the mouse. "…Pretty soon I'll probably try and just ask Dr. McCoy directly… I just don't want to chance interrupting anything important, you know?"
Kael lets out a soft laugh at the denial of information and he says, "Well. We are in a school where there's a good ton of things that we don't know about." Like how the hell they got all that tech downstairs in the infirmary wing. The fun of being a student. He lets out a soft hum before he says, "Maybe it's best to not try and hack. And just ask the teachers. If anything, they'll be able to tell us what we need to know. And if they don' tell us what they want. Well, we're students. We can do what we do best."
Rashmi snorts. "James would be more than happy to do that, if i asked him to. Which is why I won't. … …Hacking, I mean." A weary hand lifts up to the screen, dropping back into her lap as she sips her tea. "I'm just poking around to see if there was anything they left open. Which… yeah, it looks like they didn't. But I can't sleep, and Prydain is practically *irritating* me right now… So I figure I might as well do something even a little useful."
Kael quirks a brow. "Prydain?" Unfamiliar name. He looks over at a close chair, and a gust of wind sends it wheeling towards him. He sits down in it when it gets close enough. "Who's that?"
"Um… books. The Black Cauldron?" Blinking owlishly, she turns to look at Kael over her shoulder, puzzled, and amends her reference. "…Actually that cartoon was kind of the first and second books all mashed together, but it was still pretty good. Even if they did kind of dumb it down a little… But I just couldn't get more than a chapter in without getting frustrated, tonight."
Kael hms a bit, tilting his head to the other side a bit before he says, "I never really did like to read books. The outside thing is more of my area of relaxation." Can't really play with the wind indoors, now can you. "The only books I read now are really the ones in class." A soft laugh comes from him.
Rashmi's lips purse briefly, the notion of *not liking books* clearly an alien and irritating thing. "That's too bad. All the best stories are in books, even if some people did okay with the movies. …Okay some of the worst too, but, people have been writing for like *centuries,* so a lot is bound to be horrible."
Kael smirks. "While I don't like book. I have read a few now and then." They spark his imagination. He holds a hand out as a small little tornado forms and then vanishes. "Mainly books on weather and how things are formed naturally. See if I can't replicate it." Kael and tornados. This will never end well.
Rashmi nods briefly, the answer seeming to reassure her that the aerokinetic isn't *completely* out of his mind. "That makes sense, then… but um… to little mini tornadoes happen naturally?"
Kael shakes his head. "Nah, they don't. But it's just something that I'm trying to get down." He smiles a bit. "Then I go for the big ones."
There's a moment's pause, followed by a clearing of the throat. "That's pretty neat… but also kind of really worrying, when you think about it… The big ones, I mean." Trailing off, the redhead blinks, mentally spooling her train of thought back. "…Anyway… I honestly *really* feel bad for Robyn. I mean *twice* now he's had to deal with Jordan getting taken." Frowning deeply, she glares at the monitor and its utter unhelpfulness. "…I liked it when Robyn smiled. I don't think he's going to be doing a whole lot until we get them back."
Kael hms a bit, nodding softly. "Yeah. He's going to need some help getting through this one." He sighs softly, and looks over towards the windows towards the outside. He glances back at Rashmi and says, "Maybe we should try and give him a reason to smile?"
"It won't be easy," Rashmi murmurs, folding her arms and looking down at the keyboard. "But yeah… probably it'd do him a lot of good. Um… Kael, do me a favor? I'm, um… going to be getting my team together, practicing for real and stuff. I'd *like* to see if I can talk someone into showing me some kind of Danger Room program thingy that deals with attacks on the school and stuff… D'you think you'd know anyone else who might want to help?"
Kael hms a bit, leaning back in his chair as he says, "You could always talk to your team leader. Mine would be the headmaster himself… But I rarely see him around… or not busy." A small sigh at that before he says, "I'd say just talk to a teacher. Let them know that you want to know how to defend yourself against an attack. Usually works when you want to learn something." Somehow, he doesn't think it's really that easy.
Rashmi blinks quietly. "Um… no… I mean I'm getting my team together because I know I'll be *able* to. But, it's not just going to be a team thing, you know? Once we've sort of figured out how it'd go, um… I think it'd be sort of stupid to keep it to just us, you know? Why should *we* be the only ones who've practiced that kind of stuff when there's plenty of other kids who'd probably be a huge help?"
Kael rubs the back of his head. "Sorry. Heard part of it, not the rest." He laughs softly before he says, "Though. I'm kinda doing that in the forest. The trees drop pine cones and branches when I'm practicing." Maybe you should find a better place to practice then. He nods a bit and says, "That's true. We all need to defend ourselves… I don't want it to happen like last time…"
Rashmi bobs her head. "You should probably see if you can practice the Danger Room… or even the gym, if you don't mind clearing it out some, you know? A lot fewer things to smack yourself with… But anyway, it's not just about practicing your powers on your own. I mean, we can all do that if we want… but there's a lot of us here, and it's really just smarter if we figure out how to do our thing with each other, you know? That's why I want my team together, so we can learn that stuff."
Kael nods and looks up at the ceiling. Thinking a bit. "Out of my teammates on Corsairs… I really have no idea what they can do. I mean, John. He controls fire. But, I don't know how well." He shrugs a bit, looking slightly defeated. "Maybe we can find some kind of partner in the school, on another team, that we can learn how to well… fight together."
Rashmi nods slowly. "Chloe's a girl on your team. She's really nice, you should get to know her. She's like sped-up, you know? But she's *really* good at slowing herself down to deal with everyone else when she needs to." There's a moment's pause, and a chuckle. "Honestly everyone should practice with at least one person from every other team, just in case, you know? And maybe it'd shut up the competition nuts, like Dallas."
Kael laughs a bit. "I think I'm practicing off and on with…" He counts on his fingers a bit, mumbling names here and there. "A Student or two and even a teacher." He grins a bit. "Hm, I haven't met Chloe. Nor have I met most of the people on my team." Shame.
Rashmi nods, running her fingers through her hair. "…I should talk to Mikhail, when we've got this sorted out. And Mike. …Maybe Chezlie. Who else… Jade, definitely. Quinn, um…." For a moment, she's lost in her mental catalog, but the moment she snaps out of it is visible, a sharp blink, a glance at the boy, and a slight flush. "Sorry… I'm like *really* wiped right now, so I'm not really thinking all in the same straight line…"
Kael snickers a bit. "Then maybe ya should head to bed then. I'm just a little tired." From the looks of things, he's too distracted with things to really sleep. Something about there're no times of peace at this school.
Rashmi slides out of her chair with a heavy sigh, starting to gether up the kitchen stuff she'd hauled in for her mostly-fruitless study binge. "Probably… You should too. There's some chamomile up on the tea shelf; if you're as tired as I probably look, it'll knock you right out."
Kael grins a bit. "I will. When I can make sure that Max is sleeping." He stretches his arms before he stands up; heading over to help her with picking things up. "He's been spending a lot of time outside, making up for time he lost in the summer."
"This whole demon thing probably didn't help," the redhead replies with a smile of thanks as Kael starts to help out. "Max is the ice kid, right? The one who was acting like that Zim guy?"
Kael chuckles. "Yeah, that's him. My little Popsicle." That word is spoken with warmth and fondness before he starts to put books in a place where they won't be in the way in the morning. He glances back at Rashmi. "Just how many books did you grab? You can make a fortress!"
Rashmi flushes slightly, ducking her head. "…Yeah um… That's… kind of a habit. I always get three times as many books as I think I'll need. Just, you know, in case there's anything relevant I might've missed?"
Kael lets out a small laugh. Setting the books on a cart before he heads back over. "Should've asked a teacher first off." He yawns a bit, turning his head away from Rashmi before he looks back. "I think your fatigue is contagious."
Rashmi lifts a shoulder, dropping it in a casual half-shrug. "The teachers're kind of busy at the moment, you know? Besides… better to have a clue what I don't know, so I don't waste their time with stupid questions that probably don't matte—" If fatigue is contagious, yawning is doubly so, and with her arms full she ducks her head against her shoulder to attempt, unsuccessfully, to stifle it. "…Oh god, yeah, I think I'm done being restless…"
Kael looks away from the yawning! If he doesn't see it, then it won't affect him! "Well, we're students. And they're teachers. … Aren't they used to answering stupid questions?" He looks back with a laugh, giving Rashmi a small nudge with his shoulder. "I mean. I'm sure they've heard a lot."
Rashmi chuckles lightly, though her eyes are clearly starting to grow heavy. "Well sure… but these're important questions to be asking, you know? Why not make sure they're good ones?"
Kael shrugs a bit. "Maybe one of the dumb ones will make them listen to the good ones." He's had it happen before. Rarely. He still leads Rashmi out of the library.
