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Summary: Hildegarde & Hosea happen upon Laura in the kitchen. She mentions a fight in which she killed someone and Hilde demands that she go to speak with the Headmaster.
Log Title: Questionable Actions
Rating: PG (L)
Xavier Mansion - Kitchen
This kitchen was designed to feed large numbers of people, and looks it with its bright white walls and stainless steel appliances. The stove, refrigerator, and dishwasher are all larger than normal. There is an island with stools around it for people to sit and eat around along with a table for twelve by the windows in back. Along the wall is a hole in the wall looking into the dining room so food can be passed back and fourth. Anything you want to cook or eat in the kitchen you will find the food and supplies to do so.
Scene
It looks as if a tornado had set it's course right through the usually pristine kitchen. Muddy bare foot prints can be seen leading from the hallway outside and into the room, tracking in every possible direction. Late afternoon light pours through large bay windows, the fridge still half open, a carton of orange juice set down on t he floor in front of it.
Laura sits on the island countertop, a wide variety of food and drink laid out around the petite, dark haired girl as she picks and nibbles on things, seemingly at random. Dressed in black from head to toe, though her clothes stuck to her uncomfortably, darker in places. Dried blood splatting over her bare arms, face, and hair, though it doesn't really seem to bother her.
There is a loud metallic clanking noise approaching from the hall. It sounds almost as if someone is repeatedly dropping something extremely heavy on the floor. The clanking gets louder until a woman appears in the doorway of the kitchen. Hildegarde pops her head in and peers around the room quizzically. "Hello?" She frowns at the mess and walks over to shut the refrigerator door. "You should not leave the door open, it is not good for…Are you alright?" She sees the blood now. "You look like you are bleeding." Hilde's accent sounds British, but the way she structures her sentences would cause one to question her true nationality.
For those who have seen much battle, the smell of blood is familiar. Hosea wasn't intending to go into the kitchen when he first caught a whiff. He stops as he passes the door to the kitchen, and backs up.
He ducks his head as he comes in through the doorway. The racially mixed African's wild hair still hitting the top of the door frame. He arches his brow as he looks around at the kitchen, and then sees Laura and Hilde. "What has been going on heah?" he asks in a deep Nigerian accent. He's only seventeen, but his carry is that of someone who has long been considered an adult.
Hearing the loud clanking from a ways off, Laura's chin tilted up, her nostrils flared out as she pulled in the new scents of someone's approach. Not feeling threatened, however, she returns to her meal, pulling a ranch Dorito from it's bag and then slathering it with peanut butter, before popping it in her mouth. She doesn't look up as Hilde moves to shut the fridge, but replies: "I wasn't finished in there." Wild emerald eyes lift up to take in the woman's appearance, giving her a long look as she licked some peanut butter form her finger. she wipes the moist digit over her arm, smearing some of the dried blood. "Perfectly, fine."
A slow sigh exhales from her as her gaze shifts to the door, taking in yet another new face. "Eating. That is what the kitchen is for, correct?" Her tone dripping sarcasm as she answers Hosea, her over bright eyes watching him for a moment longer before she seems to lose interest. Still in a world class bad mood from her previous night, Laura was not really up for socializing.
Hildegarde offers Hosea a smile and a nod before turning back to Laura. She walks up a little closer and leans down to inspect the girl's arms. "If you are not injured, then why are you covered in blood?" It seems like something that should not happen to uninjured people. She motions to the fridge, "You can open it as you need things. And I am fairly certain that the…Whoever cleans around here…Will not be happy with this mess. Perhaps you should clean a little." She glances at the girl, "And yourself as well."
"Do not worray," Hosea says, a smile crossing his face. His teeth shine brightly against his dark skin. "I shall help you wit your mess. Yes?" He starts to go to the sink. "Dah blood is someting to be worried about, though. Have you been attacked?" He takes a clean rag, and gets it wet. With it he begins to wipe down the counter tops, letting the food crumbs fall to the floor. After all, it needs to be cleaned as well anyway.
Plucking another Dorito from the bag and this time spreading cream cheese over it, before devouring it in one bite, Laura's steady gaze lifted once more to watch Hilde, her head tilting to one side. She answered plainly, not really feeling any need to hide the reason for her appearance; "I went to a club last night with others. I was attacked and had to neutralize my assailants." A glance back at Hosea, her brow creasing slightly, confused as he begins bustling around the kitchen. "I don't have a room anymore." she added towards Hilde randomly, thought it was in response to cleaning herself up. No room, no bathroom etc.
Laura had been planning to leave again after she'd gotten her fill of junk food, but these two had her slightly curious. Pulling her bare feet up on the counter, her knees tucking into her chest as she studied Hilde once more, and Hosea out of the corner of her eye. "Who are you? I don't know either of you."
Hilde frowns at the girl once more. "Well I do not know about this. Are you allowed to be out late enough to club?" She is not familiar with the rules here just yet. "And besides that, fighting is something that should be avoided. Why do you have no room? Where are you staying then?" She studies the girl for another moment before turning to put the orange juice back. "I am Hildegarde VonRegenleif, but you can call me Professor Hilde. I will be teaching German and History in the next semester." If the tow are familiar with current events, the woman has been in the news a few times for book releases about mutants. The last book got quite a bit of attention for being controversial.
Hosea stops as Laura uses the term 'neutralize'. His hand freezes in mid-sweep across the counter. He listens to Hilde's light scold about fighting, and quickly enhances it with his own. "Fighting? You killed anoter person? This is not a good thing that you do!" he says, his smile fading. "You must not kill. God does not take pleasuh in it.” He wears a tank top today, and if one were to take note, there are several scars on his body. Gunshot wounds, blade marks, burns, the works. It looks like he's seen his share of fighting himself. "Where was dis club? Does dah headmastah know?" He abandons the cleaning, and doesn't seem interested in the problem of whether she has a room at the moment.
A slender shoulder rose up and fell back down again, as Laura dodged the woman's gaze. "Probably not, no." she murmurs in an undertone. Though, at the comment about avoiding fights, Laura was chortling under her breath. "Agree to disagree then." she replies to that, flashes a feral grin at the Professor. With a quiet sigh, Laura slides off the counter, landing silently on graceful feet. Plucking a few half eaten bags of chips off the counter, she rolls them together, padding across the floor in t he process and tossing them in a random cupboard.
Moving back towards the counter, Laura arches a brow at Hosea. "I killed several people last night." she answers, in the same flat, monotone. The talk of God did nothing to sway her, and she only shrugs again. "I do not believe in God, so what he wants or wishes, has no meaning to me." Her words were not meant to be offensive, just honest. Jade orbs flicker down along his form a moment before she looks away. "I do not know where I am staying. I have been away from school for some months now." She changes the subject, turning her attention back to Hilde.
She covers up the peanut butter and sticks it in another cupboard, with another slightly annoyed sigh, she scuffs a foot against the floor. "The headmaster has not been informed, though I have a lead that I will be pursuing on my own later this evening." She glances between the two hoping the third degree was over. "There is no need to worry anyone else with this, I can handle it myself."
Hildegarde is searching for a broom when Hosea asks the girl if she killed anyone. The woman shakes her head, "No no. To neutralize does not mean to kill all the time, just stop I should think." But then the girl confirms that she did indeed kill several people last night, Hilde's demeanor changes almost immediately. She places a hand on the countertop. Though it is seemingly in a gentle manner it does cause the room to shake slightly. "You did WHAT!? You cannot go killing people in the city, I am certain that the headmaster will not approve of this and…" And she will be informing him once she meets him, though she would like to learn the girl's name first.
Hildegarde shakes her head at the girl. "If you are serious about having killed people then I cannot let you go wandering about. Especially if you say you will do it again tonight?" She looks at Hosea as if for help. She is unfamiliar with the customs of the school and the workings of this country. How does one deal with a student who admits to murder?
"Your belief is unimportant, only truth is important," Hosea answers Laura. "The professor speaks truth. You shall not be allowed to leave heah." He drops the rag onto the counter. The Nigerian doesn't know how they handle things in America either, but he knows how they handle this sort of thing in Africa. He is standing at the ready, however. After all, the girl did just admit to murder. "Dah Professor shall call dah headmaster now, yes?" he asks, looking for support from the professor.
It isn't murder if it's self defense. Laura would have stated this had she been asked. But since she wasn't she only stared at Hilde for a long moment. The deep green of her eyes, piercing, and she didn't so much as jump when the room around them seemed to shake slightly. She nodded slowly. "I had no choice. If I had not killed them, they would have killed us." she replied, her tone arching up some, a harder edge in the undertone of her words. "Besides, I will go out and follow the lead I have, unless you want other students finding their way to this place, and not being lucky enough to return."
At Hosea's words her head turns sharply to fix him with a glare, a slow smile curls the corners of her mouth. "I am leaving here. Star can inform the headmaster of what happened last night. She was there as well." Looking more unperturbed then she actually felt, Laura moved towards the sink. She pulled a rag from the counter and dipped it under the faucet, starting to wipe the dried blood from her arms and face. "I do not kill just because, as you two seem to think. There was a need for it last night, and I will not stand here and be reprimanded for it."
Hilde shakes her head at the girl and casts another look at Hosea. "Um…I do not know the headmaster here yet. Well I know he is Mr. Summers, but I do not know where he is…Or how to reach him." Perhaps not the best way to answer the question in front of this girl. She looks back at Laura, "What is this place that you talk about? If it is dangerous then let the adults deal with it. And you still need to talk to the headmaster even if you feel that your actions were right, because there are LEGAL implications with killing people. The police will be looking for you. Even killing someone out of self defense needs to be reported and investigated."
Hosea's face does not betray any anger, but it is firm. Somewhere, behind the eyes, he looks sympathetic. He knows all to well the reasoning. He used it himself not long ago. "My name is Hosea Ikbuku," he says to answer her earlier question, as if he were telling a story of old. "I was a special operations squad leadah in Nigeria, working for dah warlord Nero. I was an assassain." He isn't one to usually draw attention to his history, but he finds it pertinent here.
"Whether you kill in defense, or kill in offense, a part of your soul never leaves dat moment," he says with understanding. He beats his chest with his right fist. "A part of you dies wit dat person. If you killed people last night, you know what I speak about." A truth that only someone who has killed can truly understand, and his voice shows it with emotion. Poor Hilde, she's surrounded by murderers.
A growl bubbles up in the back of her throat as she lets the now red-brown, damp towel fall back into the sink. Her arms and face clean of blood now, though her hair was still matted through with it. Hosea's words striking a cord in Luara, and her lips curl back, exposing a row of ivories. Her arms at her sides now, fists curled into tight balls as a strange unfamiliar muscle flexes in both forearms. She fixes the bigger man with a glare, moving forward with the slow grace of a predator. "I don't have a soul, so that is utter nonsense to me." she snarls out. Her words barely above a whisper, but she had no doubt that he would hear her clearly. "Tell the Headmaster if you like, when you find him. I don't care. No bodies will be found.. the place is.. complicated to explain, I don't have all the answers that are needed yet." She was speaking to them both now.
Another purposeful step forward, put her directly in front of Hosea. "You going to move? Or am I going to have to move you?" Laura didn't seemed indifferent to either choice. She wouldn't seriously harm him of course,… just make him move. She shrugs a thin shoulder, still fixing him with her steady stare. "You're choice."
Hildegarde frowns at the two of them. What kind of school is this where the children have lived such troublesome lives. She shakes her head and steps forward, gently stepping between Hosea and Laura. "Now really, the headmaster’s…Probable view of violence not withstanding, I'm fairly certain that fighting in the kitchen is especially prohibited." She looks down at the girl and shakes her head. "I'm afraid I'll have to ask you to see the headmaster before going out there. If you are a student of this school then it is my job to protect you, whether you believe you have a soul or not." Hilde is unsure of Hosea's ability, but she knows her own. If the girl wants to try and shove past her she may find it difficult.
Grace of a predator wouldn't define Hosea's style at the moment. Stubbornness of a granite boulder might. He doesn't move, and his stance says he's ready to resist being moved. "You do have a soul, even if you do not undahstand it," he tells her. "And do you know that it is ugly?" He smiles widely after that rather negative statement. Particularly so since he doesn't really even know Laura. "But do not feah, it can be made beautiful. Dere is hope." His smile is sincere, but his stance remains fixed.
Another low growl issues from Laura, at Hosea's words. The strange unnatural muscle in her forearm flexes once more, but this time, a pair of adamantium coated claws sprout from the knuckles on each hand. "You know nothing." She spits back at him, her stance widening slightly, her knees bending as she prepares for the ever present conflict. But as the Professor stepped between them she straightened slightly.
A change of tactics was in order here. She knew neither of these people, or what they could do. Clearly unfair odds. Laura's claws retract, not fully - a half inch of metal still poking out from two knuckles on each hand. "Fine… fine!! I'll speak to the headmaster.." she mutters, straightening up further. "But can I at least change and have a shower before I do?" Her steady green gaze, shifted away from them to look down at her own, still fairly haggard looking appearance, and then back to the Professor, a brow arching up slightly.
Hildegarde looks mildly surprised at the appearance of claws growing out of the girl's hands. She would have chastised the girl for drawing a weapon on a fellow student, but since Laura seems to be calming down she lets it slide. The woman seems to breathe a sigh of relief when Laura agrees to speak with Scott. "Good, good. You will feel better of it I am sure. We will work together to figure out the best course of action in this situation, no?" She nods at Laura, "And yes, are there public showers here at the school? If you cannot find one you may use the shower in my room." She turns to nod to Hosea, "Thank you for helping me in this." She would say more, but not in front of Laura it seems.
"Ha!" Hosea responds with a considerably lighter tone. "I do not know much," he admits. "You speak well on dat. But I do speak to what I do know." He notices the blades as well, but declines a comment on them. "Yes, dere are showers in dah dorms. It will be good for you to clean yourself. You will feel much bettah." He gives Hilde an affirmative nod, and steps to the side for Laura.
Laura allows her claws to retract fully then, flashing each a slight grimace. "I must be over tired." she murmured in a subdued tone. It was all an act, but she would ride this train for as long as it got her out of the kitchen. "I.. apologize for my tone. I think I will go shower and change my clothes, then find the Headmaster." Laura steps past Hosea, and if she was not detained further she would continue out into the hall, heading towards the dormitory wing. There were plenty of windows to use as an exit, anyway, and Laura was in desperate need of a shower.
Hildegarde watches the girl leave and ponders for a moment, looking back at the mess in the kitchen. She sighs and begins cleaning again, speaking to Hosea once she is fairly certain Laura is out of earshot. "Thank you again for helping. Do you know her name? I would like to follow up with the Headmaster and double check that she did speak to him." She wonders if she should have followed the girl, but Laura seemed convinced when she left. "You said your name was…I am sorry, I was distracted by the situation."
Hosea watches as Laura leaves, "Hosea Ikbuku," he repeats. "Her soul needs healing. It will be vedy hard." He takes up his rag from earlier, and continues to wipe down the counters. "You are most welcome. I have known many people like her. I was once a person vedy like her. It is a terrible place to be."
Laura could hear them easily, her enhanced senses providing her with the last bit of conversation from the pair, even as she turned to corner for the front door. She wouldn't stop. Laura would continue her purposeful pace, opening the door, and then swinging it back with an overly loud slam. Maybe to just rub it in a little. It was a sound that would be easily heard from the kitchen. A grin sprawled over her features as she broke out into a dead sprint on the lawn, making it to the gate in record time, and scaling over it, as if it were nothing more then a chainlink fence. That girl was gone.
Hildegarde nods to the boy as she continues to clean. "Yes, well hopefully the headmaster will know what to do with the girl. Try to keep away from her until I can get things figured out, it looked like she was about to stab you with those claws of hers." She finishes wiping up the counter and moves on to the floor before hearing the door slam. Seems like the girl was maybe not doing what she had promised. Hilde darts out of the kitchen and opens the door herself, nearly ripping it off its hinges. She bounds across the lawn in leaps of approximately fifteen feet, leaving a small crater each time she lands. When she reaches the fence she simply jumps over it, landing and looking around for the girl, but it seems she has lost track of her.
~ Fin ~
