Players:
Summary: Kieran, Sage and Robin chat for a bit under the stars in the Quad.
Date: July 8, 2011
Log Title: What's A Dunlalap?
Rating: PG
Xavier Mansion - Quad
There is a square side walk of pavement with a nice grassy area in the middle with a few stone benches and trees along the corners. The pavement leads to the paths to the grounds of the school, the Dining Hall in Xavier's and the Ramsey Dormitories. It's not particularly large but it's a nice place for students and teachers to relax and enjoy the outdoors.
It's nighttime at Xavier's, it's warm with a light breeze and the stars are clear in the sky. Sage lies in the grass wearing a pair of loose fitting patchwork cotton pants with a loose fitting tunic style shirt. Even though his wrist is recently bandaged he still plays his ukulele softly and sings along with it. His ukulele playing is much better than his voice. "If you're going, to San Francisco. Be sure to wear some flowers in your hair…."
Robin is out wandering the quad, hand in her jeans pockets as she walks, her blue puppet illuminating the area immediately around it with the soft, eerie blue glow. Her eyes rest on Sage as she hears the singing and ukulele playing, and so she approaches in order to investigate, but does not speak so not to interrupt the music.
Wearing a light t-shirt and jeans with his dark blue flatcap, Kieran's got his hands in the pockets of his jeans. He feels a little weird still since he's recovering from the recent attack on the school still. He doesn't really know anyone in the area but he does stop to listen to the ukulele playing. Not an instrument that he's overly familiar with but it is similar to others that he does play.
Sage's bare feet move slightly as he plays, letting the grass brush up against them. Since he's staring at the sky and not looking around him he continues to play his version of Scott McKenzie's "San Francisco" - "For those who come to San Francisco, Summertime will be a love-in there, In the streets of San Francisco, Gentle people with flowers in their hair…" Then he stops playing for a bit and sits straight, his eyes focused on the ground in front of him before muttering in his British Accent
"You okay there?" asks Robin, leaning over to check on Sage when he descends into mumbling, her puppet making a similar motion towards him. She adjusts her hair slightly with her fingers, though it doesn't really need adjusting at its present length. "Nice, um, ukelelying."
"Interesting choices of songs. Didn't think many people knew that song that weren't like old." Kieran says standing there with his hands in his pockets and trying to relax his body a little bit. "Anyway, hello to you both. You guys haven't seen people that think they're somewhere else today have you? Last time that happened there was a rather large explosion downstairs." He says seriously.
Sage looks up at the two and smiles. "Hello Robin. I'm fine just was thinking about how I missed gardening. The whole flowers in the hair thing." He says before he waves to Kieran. "I like a lot of music like that but I didn't realize it was so old. My Mum used to sing it a lot and my grandpa taught me how to play it. And now I haven't but I saw this fellow named Theo wearing some armour stuff. Quite frightening at first."
Robin shakes her head and says, "I've been using Blank to scout for them. I'm worried… I mean, the other Robyn's a good friend of mine, and I really hope that Shane will be okay too. I don't know the other two as well, but… Hm, I'm worrying and I hope that we can help them somehow." She glances towards Sage and says, "Theo was wearing armour? Huh."
"I know Robyn and Heather but never met the other two." Kieran says shaking his head a little bit,"Sure it wasn't his robotic pet? I know he was working on trying to get his pet to simulate being armor for him." He says blinking at Sage as he speaks,"I know a lot of older songs because of my mom too. Although I've been more into Clapton, the Doors, and stuff that has good guitar work over the full hippy stuff."
"I don't know any of them honestly." Sage says. "But I find it right dreadful. I can't stand any thing like that, any sort of fighting." He says making a face. "Sometimes I wonder if the less I know the better." He says not really sure what to say on the topic of missing students and such. "I enjoy bands like Led Zeppelin, The Mama's and the Papa's, The Byrds, Buffalo Springfield, Fleetwood Mac and such. Anything my Mum and Dad had on vinyl pretty much."
Robin nods and says, "I think all that fighting is pretty dreadful, but unfortunately it's one of the things that we often face, what with being mutants and all." She shrugs slightly after thinking of that for a moment and says, "But I hope that it resolves itself, I really do." She shrugs and says, "As for music, I listen to mostly modern indy stuff, I dunno. I can't stand country music though. That's all they listened to in my hometown!"
"Zepplin's awesome. Mama's and the Papa's have a few songs I like. Love Fleetwood Mac. I am a guitar player usually although right now it's a little harder to play some of the stuff until the stitches come out." Kieran says grimacing a little bit,"I don't know if you guys were all that involved in any of the fights but it's /really/ bad. They have access to MORE power than normal, making it really dangerous."
"My cousin Freedom plays the guitar. His Dad, my uncle, taught him." Sage says with a nod. "Which I'm not sure if I've introduced myself to you, I've already met Robin but I'm Sage. Sage Windsong Chipmunk Holbrook the Fourth." He says holding out a bandaged hand. "No I wasn't, I'm quite glad though. And as for fighting I'm hoping that I can just avoid it, even if I have been blessed by the Dunlalaps like you two."
Robin blinks a few times at the statement about Dunlalaps and repeats the word to herself quietly with an expression that seems to cry, 'What?!' "I don't know what a Dunlalap is." She shakes her head slightly and then looks towards Kieran and says, "I wasn't involved in the fights, I'm not sure how much help I would have been anyways, but I'm glad that everyone is safe now, and nobody was hurt too seriously."
"What's a Dunlalap? I'm a mutant." Kieran says absently before glancing towards Robin,"Umm… I am not sure that Tara's injury doesn't qualify as serious. I am not sure if she's been released from the med bay yet. My injuries were quick stitch jobs and I didn't lose too much blood so they moved me out fast for other worse injuries." Kieran says absently as he glances about,"I play a lot of instruments thanks to my mom teaching me."
"A Dunlalap, they're what grant people super powers. It's quite random but that's how Captain Britain got his powers and how I…we…got ours. They were granted by the Dunlalaps." Sage says as if it should be common knowledge. He winces at Kieran's words and shakes his head. "About music, I learned to play the Ukulele from my Grampa, my Mum's Dad. She never learned much as she liked singing more. Music is a bit part of my family and farm I'm from."
"Well, um, when I say that, it's just a euphemism for 'I'm glad nobody got killed'. I know the injuries were pretty bad, but so long as nobody is dead or crippled from it, well, that's as good as it gets with these things," says Robin, frowning and biting her lip for a moment, before she glances towards Sage, "Well. That's a pretty unique take on the origin of mutation…"
"I like music and it's pretty much a big thing in my family." Kieran says laughing a little bit,"I don't think I've ever heard that. I thought it was a genetic thing rather than some sort of mystical thing." He says casually,"I can teach you things like the piano and guitar, but those are the only two I have training to play."
"That's what my Mum and Dad told me when it turned out I had been given powers by the Dunlalap. First on the farm apparently." Sage says. "A lot of things in the world are mystical I guess you could say. Just one of Gaia's many creatures." Sage plays a few strings on the ukulele and shrugs. "Thank you for the offer mate but I think I'm going to stick with this for now. We don't have a piano back home and there are quite a few folk who play guitar."
"I don't really have much training on anything. I mean, I've been practicing piano in my own time, and sometime, I think it'd be awesome if I had the mental control to do a duet with Blank, but my fine control's just not there yet, though I try. Nor is my piano playing, I guess," says Robin, biting her lip contemplatively for a moment. "In any case, I think I'm going to hold onto the biological model for mutation, rather than mystical."
"My mutation doesn't lend itself to too much creativity." Kieran says shrugging a little bit,"Yeah. I've met a lot who play guitar here. It's a good portable instrument with a versatile manner of playing. So many different types of music can be played on the guitar depending on the fretting, and the overall style of playing and the type of guitar being played." He says casually and decides not to comment further on the mystical versus biological model.
"I guess I play the smaller version of the guitar in some ways." Sage says as his fingers start to strum a few bars of "While My Guitar Gently Weeps". "I like the Ukulele, it's small and portable as well and there are good memories associated with it. As for abilities, I don't know about mind yet. I just know my hair moves."
Robin nods at Sage and says, "Well, eventually you'll probably figure out most of what there is to know about your powers, but that's pretty neat…" She thinks for a moment and says, "So your hair is prehensile or something?"
"If I was more flexible and versatile with the magnetic aspect of my powers, I might be able to play an instrument with it, but right now I'd just damage the instrument." Kieran says shrugging a bit,"I am electromagnetic powers. So basically I perform magnetic tricks by controlling the flow of electrons in things. I have to do individual items." He says casually.
"Precisely Robin. Or at least that's what they called it, Prehensile Hair. Apparently it's like another appendage or something." Sage is still learning a lot about it himself. "I don't really have much control as my hair seems to act up when scared and have a mind of it's own. Meditation helps though." He then looks at Kieran. "What exactly did the Dunlalaps bless you with?"
Robin leans on her puppet for a moment and then glances Kieran at the question and asks herself, "So kind've like Magneto? But I guess probably less so, of course." She smiles slightly and adjusts her lenses lightly.
"Oh a /lot/ less powerful than Magneto. Not sure if he generates electricity the way that I do." Kieran says as he holds up his hands and takes a breath before small arcs of electricity going up his hands as he faces them together,"Electricity is my strongest ability right now."
Sage jumps a bit at Kieran's display of powers. "I'm sorry if I sound a bit daft but who is Magneto?" He's never heard of the mutant villain before. "I'm just finding that things are quite different here in America so if I ask a silly question I do apologize."
Robin glances towards Sage and says, "Well, Magneto is a very powerful mutant. He has mastery over magnetism, so it's like he control metal, and all kinds of other things." She shrugs slightly and says, "He's a kind've controversial person."
"He's probably one of the most powerful ones of the planet. His strength with magnetism is way beyond my level to even dream about." Kieran says absently trying not to shrug. "Right now lifting stuff with my magnetic abilities is really hard."
"Well I guess it's good that it's about control and now how powerful you are with your gifts." Sage says completely missing the point and thinking of thinks in most peaceful way possible. "Well I'm feeling a bit knackered so I believe I'll be heading off to bed now. It was a pleasure meeting you Kieran. Have a lovely evening, both of you. Cheers." He says as he goes to head back to the mansion.
Robin nods at Sage and says, "You have a good night." Her eyes turn towards Kieran and she says, "Well, who knows where you'll eventually end up, but yeah, to be as tough as Magneto seems like a pretty lofty goal."
"Sleep well. Tell Tyler I said I want to see him." Kieran says to Sage, before turning to Robin,"Yeah. His power is something to aspire to but not something possible for someone just learning their powers."
Robin glances towards her puppet and says, "I think my limitations are pretty clear with my powers. I've just got someone else to take care of things for me, while I can run off and hide. Which is pretty convenient, I guess… but I doubt I'll ever be a particularly powerful mutant. Which I'm fine with."
"My powers are pretty good for a fight. I just have to be careful not to overdo it. Kael took a pretty bad shock from me before. Made me a little more cautious when I had to go against Robyn and the girl with them." Kieran says casually as he disperses the electricity from his hand and flexes them as if trying to relax his hand.
"Mine are okay for scouting and things like that. I mean, Blank has super strength and speed and flight and teleportation, which is pretty cool, but those things all have limits," says Robin, shrugging slightly. "But my body is completely vulnerable if I'm using my powers."
"Yeah. I'm pretty squishy if they get in close." Kieran says nodding his head a bit,"My boyfriend though, he's dangerous to touch if he's using his powers. He gets very very very cold to the point it'd give you frostbite to stand too close to him."
Robin tilts her head slightly and then nods, "Well, some of us, like your boyfriend, have powers we have to be careful with depending on how we interact with people, I guess. I'm pretty happy that my power is mostly harmless, even though it labels me as an obvious mutant."
"Yeah. My powers aren't exactly hidden. It's difficult to keep the power under my skin. Usually if I touch someone I exude a small bit of electricity. Not that it hurts a lot but it's like getting shocked after dragging socks over carpet." Kieran says looking at Robin,"Kind of annoying. It's why I don't play electric guitar much these days."
"Oh, I can see how that'd be frustrating. I hate that feeling I get from touching a doorknob and getting a little zap," says Robin, making the motion as if she is about to touch a doorknob. "Does the electricity on the strings interfere with playing the music? I have no idea how that works."
"No. More like the electricity conducts on to the wires in the guitar and shorts them out." Kieran says smiling a bit,"Yeah. That's about what the average touch feels like when I can't pull it back." He says casually looking at Robin,"And without wires by the way, there's nothing to transmit the electrical pulses to the amp to become sound."
"That makes sense," says Robin, nodding and then shrugging, "I guess I can understand you wanting to use other instruments, then, if that happens. Eventually it might be easier to control that sorta thing, though."
"Yeah. Mostly I stick to the acoustic, usually a classical style. Love the sound on them with some of the older songs. Resonate so beautifully." Kieran says grinning broadly,"I love music. Sometimes I'll sit somewhere with my guitar and just play for hours, or sit in front of the piano and just play. It's relaxing."
"I like music too, but I guess I can't really play very many instruments well," replies Robin, smiling at that, before adding, "Like I said earlier, though, I prefer indie bands. Not because of the sense of exclusivity or anything, but I guess I like the feeling of knowing I'm supporting someone who hasn't 'made it big' yet or doesn't want to. And you can find a pretty wide variety of music that is pretty appealing."
"I'll listen to most anything. It's not so much for me about what genre they're in as whether they have talent. Not all those who are successful lack talent, and not all those who are in the 'indie' label qualify as talented." Kieran says shrugging a little bit.
Robin shakes her head and says, "Well, first and foremost I won't listen to something I don't think is /good/! I'm not listening to music to torture myself or anything! Some things that are mainstream are good, but they're easy to find. I like the thrill of the hunt, I guess?"
"That's why I don't say I'm into a specific genre. I sort through a lot of things. It's hard to say though." Kieran says absently and running fingers through his blonde hair with one hand, and pulling the cap off with the other.
Robin adjusts her glasses slightly, scratching for a moment under the lens that she has blacked out with a very small painting of a napping cat, and she remarks, "Like I said, though, I just can't stand country. There's something about it that drives me /batty/. But otherwise, yeah, I can listen to most other genres!"
"I have issues with twang country." Kieran says shivering a bit,"There are a lot of good accents but the country western, and southern drawl aren't too great if you ask me."
Robin chuckles and says, "I guess you kind of relate, huh? I'd rather listen to pretty much /anything/ else. Or, well, I guess there are some musicians who are just /bad/."
"Yeah. I also hate autotuned voices. Voice flaws are good. Sometimes pitch perfect isn't as good as a somewhat flawed voice." Kieran says absently as he puts his hat back on.
Robin nods at Kieran and says, "I guess I agree. I mean, I do like a nice voice. Autotuned just irks me, yeah, agreed. Sounds so fake."
"Because we cannot perform perfectly." Kieran says seriously,"Perfection is unattainable."
"Yeah… yeah, it is really is," says Robin, looking down for a moment and then looking up. "I'd rather real and wonderfully imperfect than fake and unnervingly perfect."
"I knew a girl who was part of my old school's sister school that could sing amazingly well, but her voice wasn't perfect. It was more the way she sang. She put herself out there with it." Kieran says smiling a bit,"And far better performance than with some stupid girl that got a contract because she's got big breasts and mediocre talent."
Robin looks down at her own chest for a moment as if just to check, but her breasts are still almost small enough so as to be unnoticeable, and then she looks up and nods, "Yeah, talent is better than boobs, any day."
"Talent is better than looks in general but there seem to be a lot of women who get popular just because they have big breasts and an ok voice." Kieran says laughing a bit,"But I listen to stuff released here, Japan, Korea, and pretty much everywhere around the world."
Robin nods at Kieran and notes, "I don't think I'd make it in the current pop culture setting even if I had talent. But I don't, I have a kind've funny vocal range, and anyways, that's not my dream." Indeed, Robin's voice is hard to gender, which would put it at a strange range.
"I don't know if I could make it in the pop range or not. I wouldn't mind performing but not sure if I would fit in well." Kieran says smiling at Robin,"My vocal range is mostly a tenor range so I am not sure how great it would be."
"I really like tenors…" says Robin, shrugging slightly, "But I guess it's not big from a pop culture perspective. In any case, I'm really not a singer anyhow, so I just don't worry about it!"
"Well not for soloists. Usually soloists are baritones. Baritones tend to have rich voices." Kieran says shrugging a little bit.
Robin shrugs slightly at that and says, "I guess I don't know much about that kind've stuff… Anyways, I should probably be off to be, myself."
"Have fun. I think I'll go visit the music room and play piano for a bit." Kieran says waving off and beginning to head towards the music room.
