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Summary: Another morning lesson with Robyn has Addison teaching something new.
Date: August 3, 2009
Breaking the Boundaries of Skin
Rating: PG
Xavier Mansion - Danger Room
A product of Shi'ar technology, the room generates apparently solid, realistic imagery by manipulation high-resolution force fields and holograms. The walls and floor appear as a steel room until a program is turned on. Overhanging the room in the center is a control Room managing the room's mechanisms to oversee the exercise while ensuring the subject's safety.
Morning sessions are always one of those things that Addison enjoys. Working with Robyn is an easy way to get through things. Helping him control also helps Addison with his shielding. He's gotten better. Really better. It's just slow work. As he sits, hovering in the middle of the danger room, he waits for his student to arrive.
Dressed in his usually black attire, his shirt sporting a skeleton holding an umbrella, is Robyn. Unless it's an offical training session with his team he doesn't usually wear his uniform, besides, it's the summer. He's more interested in control than being a superhero. "Hey Addison." He says with smile remembering he doesn't like being called Mr. Falk. Robyn's gotten better with control since he's been training with Addison, especially the the possession. It's the other areas he's still struggling with.
"I want to try something a little different today." Addison says with a grin as he puts a telepathic shield around the entire room, leaving them both in the middle. "If you're up for it. I mean, after all of that that happened, I'll understand if you're not ready for something more." He offers, lowering himself to the ground.
Robyn shakes his head. "No, I'm up for it. I just want to learn control so…I just want to learn control." He says leaving it at that not really wanting to finish the sentence he was going to say. "So what's this different thing you have in mind?" Robyn asks running his hand over the hair that's started to grow back.
"You know how to throw yourself out of your body and into someone else's… Have you ever tried to just… throw yourself out of your body?" Addison asks, tilting his head. "To just separate yourself from your body, temporarily." He explains. He doesn't know which type, but he's sure with Robyn's ability, he can project.
"It happened once, by accident." Robyn admits as he was definitely freaked out when it happened. "I haven't tried it again because I'm afraid that I'll be stuck outside of my body and not be able to get back in." He admits as he's been lucky it just happened the once and hasn't happened a second time.
"As long as someone isn't blocking you, you should be able to return anytime. There's always a tether to connect you to your body. And if someone's blocking you from your body, they'd have to be strong. The tie between a telepath's mind and body is stronger than that of other people's." Addison explains. "Or any mentalist, truly. Anyone with a mental ability tends to do well in an astral form. When it happened, what did you see?"
Robyn thinks back on it cause it was shortly after he first arrived here. "I saw everything look like it does now, I saw my body but I couldn't touch anything and noone could see me. I was just…like a ghost or something." Robyn says not really sure how to explain it. "So, if it happens again I'll be able to get back in my body, I don't have to worry about being stuck as a ghost forever?"
"If you get stuck outside, I can push you back in." Addison says with a chuckle. "Go for it. I'll be right here, and doing the same thing." He says, waiting and watching mentally for Robyn to try.
"Huh?!" Robyn asks sounding a bit surprised. "You want me to try again, now?" He gets a bit of a nervous look and takes a deep breath. He remembers what it feels like when he shoves his mind into someones body and tries to do it by concentrating on an empty spot in front of him. "Okay, 3, 2, 1." He says and he tries, he feels his mind start to jump but then settles back down. "Okay…I think I got it, 3, 2, 1.." He says again and this time he feels his mind leave his body as it slumps to the floor.
Addison doesn't let it slump. He lowers it slowly before laying himself down. He steps right out of his own, his body clad in flame-like armor… cracked flame-like armor. If Robyn had seen it months ago, it would have been worse. He's still healing, but not done yet. "See?" He asks. "It's not such a bad thing. And if you feel for it, you'll find a path to your body."
"Wow, you can do this too, and how come you have that…flame armor?" Robyn asks but he doesn't ask about the cracks, not yet at least. It's just a lot more comfortable this time to go through it with someone else. "So, I can just leave my body like this for a while, but, what happens if something happens to me while I'm like this?"
"We'll worry about astral combat later. The armor is how I envision my protection. As you learn to protect yourself, you'll gain your own as well. Everyone's is different. My telekinetics affect a molecular level, so I tend to have flames around me much of the time. Thus, flaming armor." Addison says with a chuckle. "If I didn't picture SOME kind of protection, I'd be naked." He coughs. His eyes are on Robyn's face. "You just picture something, and your mind matches it to your strength level."
"No, I didn't mean astral combat, I meant, me." Robyn says pointing to his body. "My body." He says before taking in the rest of what Addison says and at the mention of naked Robyn blushes a bit. "I don't know what I'd picture myself as, I'm..me. I'm not a combat guy, I don't fight, I just want to learn control so I can go home and not be a danger to anyone." He bites his lip as he says the last part and looks at Addison again. "So, why do you picture the cracks?"
"Astral combat is a necessity to learn for us. If we can leave our body, we are prone mentally. And damage to our bodies? It'll stay there. You see, there are beings that sense mentalists. And you are one. So, it is something you will learn. But later. And protection is the necessity to not only keep your mind safe out of it's body, but IN it's body as well." Addison pauses for a moment to consider the last. "I don't. Simply put. My… my mind puts them there without my permission. It's because my control and my will have been cracked open. My armor was shattered in bits and pieces when I came out of Farouk's control. Now, I've got a lot of it back."
"Necessary, is combat always necessary here? What if I don't want to be an X-Men like everyone else here?" Robyn's not complaining but after what just happened, he kind of wants to feel like things were before. "But I guess I should learn something since being a mutant is being a target and this school isn't reliable to help out if you're in trouble." He mutters. "So you mind puts the cracks there? I really don't understand a lot of this stuff."
"It's not for that side. When you leave the school, you're still a target. We're mutants. We'll always be a target. Even if mutant rights come through to full equality, we'll still have people that hate us and wish to hurt us. Along with that, you have people like Farouk who prey on us. And prey on our minds. So, you have to learn to defend yourself mentally and physically." Addison blinks. He'll tackle part of that in a moment. "Robyn, our minds are our strength. You. Me. Ms. Frost. My mother. Professor Xavier. Without our minds, we're just normal people. Our minds control us and control how things happen to us, whether we like it or not. My mind was weakened, so I cannot form my armor fully, not until I'm back to full strength." He takes a deep breath. Not that he needs to. It's simply a gesture. "The school is reliable. They just can't do everything. I'm the strongest mind in this school. Using Cerebra… which magnifies my mental abilities dramatically… I couldn't feel any of you. I couldn't find
traces of you anywhere. Any of you."
Robyn really isn't that much of a combative person so it just seems weird for him, even training sessions are a bit strange but easier because of the people he trains with. "Are you saying that's the only way to look for people though, is their mind? They were going to kill us Addison, if it wasn't for that doctor the probably would have. I just…I don't want to die yet. I'm still a kid, I want to sculpt models for movies someday, not be…killed or preyed on because of my mind. I'm sorry Addison, I hate being a downer, I really do. Let's just focus on training."
"Logan wasn't around to track by scent. I don't think anyone thought to ask Pallaton, because he's just graduated. So, people forget things." Addison explains. "Some of the people were looking on the streets, but couldn't find anything. We really didn't have much of a clue of what we were looking FOR. All we knew was who. They were trying, it was just beyond our ability. I'm sure, that eventually, they would have slipped up and I would have found you, but… I'm not good at non-mental ways. I don't fit in in this world yet." He explains with a bit of a downward glance. "Well, for training, just explore. Explore and stop at a distance and feel for your body, so you know where it is. So you can find it at a moment's notice. Later, we'll see if you can hit another plane."
"I don't think I do either, so many kids here want to be superheroes and I don't." Robyn says, not that he has a problem with it, it's just not his thing. But then, Robyn never really felt like he fit in anywhere but at home, and with Jordan. "I don't know Addison, I don't really think I can trust this place anymore if something happens again. Sure I can trust it enough to stay living here and to learn control, but I think that's because it's more you're a good teacher. I'm not blaming you for not finding us but, I don't kow." He takes a deep breath and nods at Addison. "So, okay, explore." Robyn says wandering out a bit and closes his eyes to sense that connection. Next thing he realizes he's blinking and lying on the floor. "That was easier than the last time."
Returning to his own body, Addison grins. "And it'll get easier every time you do it. Keep working at it when you're not busy. You'll find some places you can't get to, but generally, you can go through walls and nobody can see you. Well, those without mental senses or the ability to see things. Practice for a while and we'll work on some other things later." He says with a chuckle as he stands, stretching his arms and legs. "If you get in trouble out there, call me. I'll hear you."
Robyn nods and walks over to Addison and gives him a hug. Maybe it's just finding someone who he knows won't let him die the next time he's in trouble. "Thanks Addison. And sorry if the hugging made you uncomfortable it's just, you're my favorite teacher here." He admits with a shy smile. "And I'm going to keep practicing and I promise I won't use it to eavesdrop on others." It's not Robyn's style.
"I'm not uncomfortable. Don't worry. It's… just different." Addison says with a grin. "See you tomorrow morning for your mental breakfast." He chuckles, patting Robyn on the shoulder.
