Players:
Summary: Rashmi and Jeremy talk about their dreams, goals and there's an invite to Africa for some charity work.
Date: January 17, 2011
Log Title: Life Dreams
Rating: PG
Barnes Academy - HoloQuad
Stepping into the HoloQuad one would almost forget that they were in an underwater school. The sky changes to reflect the time of day, sunny with clouds during the day to night time reflecting what the Northern Hemisphere would look like without light pollution. Sunsets and Sunrises are even reflected in the room. It's impossible to tell there is a ceiling up there. Plant life, benches, fountains and pathways make the room look like a luxurious park and unlike the sky, the rest of the room is real. Sometimes a breeze passes buy and the room is always a comfortable temperature giving the students a way to feel like they're outside enjoying the fresh air.
Early evening, and with school and work done, Rashmi is sitting against a tree, an old, thick book resting open across her lap. A less than casual observer would note the redhead's moment of relaxation marred by the crease between her eyebrows, the slight frown at the corners of her mouth. To anyone who knows her better than that, however, the girl clearly has more than a few worrying things on her mind.
After last night Travis has been asleep most of the day. He woke up with quite the headache and sore back. He's now just moving around and getting something to eat. He's been looking around for Rashmi or Dashenka to find out what happened last night and walks into the holoquad wearing a pair of Barnes sweatpants and a long sleeve shirt. In one hand he has a can of soda and in another he has a hotpocket that's his breakfast/lunch. Spotting Rashmi he goes over and sits down next to her. "Hey there."
Rashmi's head snaps up at the sound of Travis' voice, eyes wide. "Travis?" Hurriedly marking her place in her book, she snaps it shut and throws her arms around him to squeeze, if gentler than she'd like—she does, after all, remember how he got injured. "Oh thank *God* you're okay! Dashenka'd said you were just out, but, I've seen her spear a *car* with those things…"
Travis returns the hug with all six arms and nods. "Yeah, I'm okay. Woke up feeling like I spent the previous night at a kegger and like I got slammed in the back by a football player. But the Doc in there did his healing thing and I'm pretty much back to normal." He says a bit impressed by Angelo's healing abilities. "That blind girl, Giea, she's okay? And how do you know that woman?"
Rashmi bobs her head. "Giea's fine… We made sure she was okay, before we took you home. How I know her, um… It's… sort of complicated. You know who she is, right?"
"Besides crazy skank ho? No." Travis says shaking his head as he doesn't follow the news much. "Sorry, I don't really know much about superheroes and super villains. I've been slowly learning though. And that's great that Giea is okay. And you and Dash are okay too right?" He says that last part a bit quickly like he's worried that he forgot to ask first.
"Hm? Oh! Yeah we're fine," Rashmi says, blinking as the question derails the train of thought she'd been concentrating on. "But anyway, Envy. She um… she's crazy, yeah… but worse, she's a mutant supremacist wacko. The kind that bought into Magneto's old party line, about how people who aren't mutants aren't worth the trouble of having rights?" Shaking her head, Rashmi takes a deep breath. "So last summer, my um… ex-boyfriend and I were scouting colleges, right? And we see her about to kill a couple punks for trying to mug her. …Well, we got involved, and I um… ended up having to call my boss for backup. Which was what all that was about, I guess, she wants to call She-Hulk out for payback."
Travis shakes his head and sighs. "Really, all of that was over payback? That's what he deal was." He just doesn't get that kind of crazy. "Things are so different here then they were in St. Louis or Denver. I mean sure there was crime, my family got caught up in it but there weren't super villains like there are here. There were two that got caught in St. Louis but they were the only two. And Magneto, I know that he's a terrorist but not much else."
"Magneto is um… Also sort of complicated," Rashmi says, clearing her throat. "Like for starters, he's… sort of my boss too, on Saturdays. He's trying to create this whole country as a mutant haven, Genosha. Only it's had it as bad as anyplace you could name in Africa, you know? But I think he's mellowed out… well… a little, anyway. I think he likes me, sort of, because of how I disagree with him. …At least he hasn't folded me into a pretzel yet, so there's that."
"I only know what the papers said about him and the news. Denver and St. Louis aren't the most superpowered spots." Travis says as he raises an eyebrow at Rashmi. "Well I don't want anyone folding you into a pretzel, your too cool." He says with a grin. "And I don't think that's a bad thing. A mutant haven. I mean, I can understand that. I would love to be able to blend in sometimes and not worry and do what I want but there are people out there who don't exactly find six arms normal. Also with what I told you, my profile is kind of noticeable."
Rashmi chuckles. "Well, thanks… And it's *not* a bad idea. Just, foreign aid is hard to find, and he sort of has this temper… you've probably read about it. So while he's trying to do good things, he sort of tends to fall back on the Frightening Super Mutant thing he's gotten used to. But maybe when school eases off a little, and the country's doing better, we can talk to him about getting a better look at the problems firsthand? I mean it's sort of pointless lobbying for something you don't know anything about, and if I'm going to shame anyone into starting a charity, I'd like to be able to do it properly."
Travis laughs. "So you're going to try to shame me into something?" He teases. "But I'll definitely do my research. I really don't mind helping out with stuff if it's needed. Just, be careful around him okay. Even though after last night, I'm pretty sure you can take care of yourself. So how did you get into all this activist stuff? Not that it's a bad thing, I'm just curious."
Rashmi wrinkles her nose at the jab, nudging the boy with her shoulder. "Oh hush. … …How'd I get into it?" The redhead lifts a shoulder. "Well… you saw the picture of Benjamin Franklin in Mami and Papi's living room, right? That's the kind of stuff I grew up with, it's how I knew I wanted to get into politics in the first place. See… some families back in the Old Country have this thing about ancestor reverence… it's why you see a lot of Hindi nationals with British last names. When the English got big into colonialism, the natives looked at the big heroes and Great People that England had, and thought by taking on their last names, those people'd bless the family with a little of what made them so wonderful. So… yeah. Rashmi Franklin."
"Well Benjamin Franklin is a great guy to look up to. I don't know much about India but that's really interesting. Did your parents choose that last name?" Travis asks wondering how many generations it goes back. "I never really paid that much to politics but I can see why you're so passionate about it and I think what you're doing is great. It feels weird talking to you and you having this huge dream that could change the world for the better and makes me feel a bit..I dunno..shallow with wanting to be a baseball player."
Rashmi blinks, frowning slightly. "…Shallow? Why in the *world* would that be shallow?" All the rest of the questions, apparently, set aside in favor of the one most important to the moment.
"Well…you're looking to change the world. Make a difference, you're looking for a future that isn't just about you but others as well. You want to make this world a better place." Travis says before he can't help but chuckle. "I'm not being down on myself, it's more that, I love baseball. It was a think between my Dad and me, he used to take me to games when I was a kid but it was my dream to play professionally. But that's something that seems so self gratifying. "
"Maybe it *seems* that way," Rashmi says, frowning slightly, "but you're missing the important part; you have a *dream.* And it's a dream that isn't silly, it isn't one you can only get by hurting people, and it isn't something out of your reach. Oh," she continues, sighing, "I know it *seems* impossible, because mutant… But it doesn't mean it *is.* So keep going for that, Travis, because if more people followed after dreams that were really good, they could change the world all by themselves."
"It's more a dream cause of my Dad. He's the one that made me love baseball. We went to games often when I was a kid. And the carpentry thing, that's another thing I got from my Dad." Travis always looked up to his father and to this day he tries to be like him. "My Dad was always my hero, I miss him all the time Rashmi. I guess baseball and carpentry, it's me trying to keep him close. So yeah, playing baseball does seem impossible. But, if it doesn't happen, I'm not going to sweat it. I can always be a carpenter like my Dad."
Rashmi smiles gently, nodding. "I think that's a really good thing, Travis… And I'm really, really wishing I'd met your dad. I think I'd've liked him a lot… But I'm also pretty sure he's proud of you both, you know? And I can pretty much guarantee Mami and Papi would say the same."
"I wish you did too but I have pictures up in my room if you want to see them sometime." Travis says as he has a few things of his fathers but he treasures what he has. "You're parents are great though too. I'm glad I've gotten to meet them. So you'll have to point me to the right things to read about in regards to Magneto then so I can get the idea of what kinda guy you work for."
Rashmi rolls her eyes. "Oh, Lord, I can't think of anything you could read that would do much good… You'd probably have to meet him yourself to get any kind of idea what he's *really* like. …Except, well… he's… pretty merciless. So don't be surprised if you walk away feeling like ten inches tall, especially if he's feeling surly, you know?"
"So why do you work for a guy like that then?" Travis asks as he's not criticizing as more curious. "I mean, I think I know why you probably do but I don't want to assume anything. I think it's more about the goal than then the employer but I'm just making guesses." He explains. "And from what you'd told me, ten inches is better than walking away a human pretzel."
"That's part of it," Rashmi admits, shrugging. "The rest, well… I mean he's been terrorizing the country for like *years,* right? But now he's trying to get a country… an entire *country,* not some private island volcano thingy or secret asteroid, but a real country with real people, back on its feet and doing for mutants what America did way back when… And in the process he's putting up with my nattering on about equal rights and mutant/human cooperation and whatever, and just *debating,* not telling me to shut up or I don't know anything. Maybe I'm giving him too much credit… But, I don't know. I think what he's trying to do is really good, and I figure the only way to convince him to *keep* doing good things is to make sure *someone* sees and appreciates them, you know?"
"I think it's great that you do that Rashmi. And that he doesn't look down at you and debates, maybe that shows he's not the guy he used to be. And mutants, I never had time to think about mutant rights until I met you." Travis admits. "But then I haven't had the six arms for a year yet. But letting one know you appreciate what they do, that can be enough."
Rashmi bobs her head. "That's my hope, anyway… Y'know. Best way to convince someone is through example, right? …That's… sort of why I'm going to Nigeria Wednesday."
"You're going to Nigeria Wednesday, what are you going to be doing there?" Travis asks. "Who are you going to be going with?" This is the first he's heard about the trip so he's curious.
"We-e-ell," Rashmi says, lifting a shoulder. "Kind of a bunch of things, really… see, someone I know from my old school… he's sort of found himself having problems with his past he'd thought he'd put away. He grew up a soldier for this Nigerian warlord since he was a kid, and did some pretty horrible things up until he converted, right? Well, turns out the part of him that hurt anyone labeled a 'threat' isn't sleeping so peacefully anymore, and it's shaking him. So he wants to visit his old mentor back there, and the staff over there can make it happen. And I guess we'll be doing a food and medicine donation while we're there, so good, hard work doing real good for people. I'm not terribly *fond* of Hosea, but I understand how important this whole thing is to him, and if I can help, I will."
Travis makes a faces and shakes his head. "Oh god, can you imagine that. Not getting to grow up normal. Even though I am in the witness protection program, I still get to be pretty much normal. But to have your teenage years being forced into a soldier, that doesn't sound right. But that's great about what you guys are doing. I wish they did stuff like that here, I could put my carpenter skills to use."
"I'm not so sure it was just teenage years," Rashmi says quietly. "Not from the way he was talking. But um… I hate to say this… The staffer who talked to me asked if anyone I knew wanted to go. Now it's not going to be easy," she says quickly. "We're talking Nigeria, not Nebraska, and the whole place is pretty unstable. But if you want to come and can clear it… I know people who'd be very happy to have a carpenter there."
"Why do you hate to say that?" Travis asks. "As long as Barnes is okay with me going and I talk to my Mom, I think it'd be a good experience." He says as he takes in the idea that it's Nigeria and not some place in the US. After a bit he gives a nod. "Yeah, I think something like that would be good. I can't stay in an underwater base not sure where a six armed guy can fit in. And those people deserve a better life and yeah..I'd like to do what I can to help."
Rashmi nods slowly. "I hate to say it, because it's dangerous and there's every possibility of us getting hurt, Travis… and I don't like the idea that I could *get* you hurt, you know? But if you're really sure… And I want to talk to your Mom about it, okay? Just… Iunno… just to make me feel better about even asking."
"Rashmi…my Mom is the most important person to me." Travis says reaching over to take one of her hands if she lets him. "Of course I'm going to talk to her first. There's not much I don't tell my Mom." It's not that he's a Momma's boy, it's more that she's the only family he has and the only constant through out his life. "And if I agree, you're not getting me hurt. If I agree to go, and if, god forbid, anything happens, it was my choice okay? And if you want, you can come with me to talk to Mom about it."
Rashmi nods slowly. "I think I'd like to," she says quietly. "I know that's how you feel, but, you know me. Born worrywart, right?" Lifting her shoulder in a shrug, the redhead smiles. "I'll talk to you both tomorrow, okay? I still have a few things to take care of before we leave, so I've some calls to make."
Travis smiles and nods and gives her a quick side hug. "Alright, I'll go let my Mom know now and let her know you're going to be coming to talk about it too. You've got a bit heart you know that?" He says as he pushes himself up and stretches. "See you tomorrow Rashmi." He says before heading out of the Holoquad to go to his Mom's room.
