2013.08.04 - X-Change

Study, study, study. It's really not any different from a normal school here. At least in some ways. Serene still has to pass tests, she still has to learn skills and gain understanding of various topics, and she still has to interact with other students her age, as well as older and younger. In a way it's a relief. As different as some things may be, she has come to fit in here -- to accept she is surrounded by mutants and is one herself. What made this possible was the relatively stable level of normalcy. Familiar things like books, and tests, and a schedule all made it possible for her to accept that this is her life now.

It allows her to put out of mind the worries about what will happen when she leaves here and has to go back to a world full of people who hate mutants. She never really hated mutants specifically so much as despising super-beings and vigilantes in general because of the harm they brought to innocent bystanders like her. All she knows is that when this is all over and she goes back to the 'world outside', she has no intention of using her 'gift' to fight crime. She doesn't want to be a 'hero'. Even accepting that she is a mutant, and thus can not be truly 'normal', she does not wish to stand out more than she has to -- or at least not in a way like that. If she's treated differently because of her height, oh well. But she's at least not going to make herself an even BIGGER (teehee) target by busting out her mutant powers whenever trouble crops up.

One of the other things that has made this all more tolerable is the filipino girl's best friend, Ruth. She doesn't think Ruth is weird. Or at least not any weirder than anyone else. And over the months they've been rooming together, she actually thinks Ruth is downright normal at times. Maybe Ruth already knows the ending of every new movie they see, but when they're sitting together with some popcorn, just enjoying each other's presence, and hugging... Serene feels like maybe she'd be happy just staying with Ruth for the rest of her life and not having to worry about ANY world.

Right now, though, she's just trying to figure out this stupid math problem without breaking her desk. She has at least learned to control her frustration a bit.

Ruth Aldine would likely never fit in, even among mutants. Especially with her habit of prying into minds where she wasn't wanted or invited. But at least she proved herself useful by being able to point people towards being at the right places at the right times. Unlike Serene, however, she HAD chosen to try and be a hero, to dare to be something more than hiding behind normalcy. And to try and make the world a better place for all mutants as a result.

It didn't exactly make sense to her how everything from aliens to radiation-exposure victims could be accepted with powers, but not just people born different. Probably because humanity wasn't ready for what it would mean if they accepted that their entire species was changing.

But at least through her efforts to be helpful, the member of the younger generation of the X-Men was making some friends. Even if they did keep trying to pry lottery numbers out of the precognitive brunette. The door opens and in walks Blindfold, light pink, long-sleeved v-neck sweater and blue jeans and all. It still amazed some people how she managed to get around without eyes with almost no difficulty, even side-stepping or ducking obstacles people would put in her path just to see if she'd run into them.

She never did.

"Serene, hello." The mild-voiced, blindfolded girl greets. "Get a soda, take a break, relax. You will get the answer then. Yes." At least her size-changing room mate didn't seem to mind her mind-prying too much. She indicates the math work with the book under her arm as she moves towards her side of the room. "Your mind is too cluttered. Pardon? I would guess 'like a knot.'"

Serene looks up when Ruth enters, and smiles. "Hey, Ruth--Oh. Well, I suppose that's a good idea. Trying too hard and all that. Would you like one too?" she asks as she gets up. Most of the furniture in the room has been reinforced to handle Serene's increased density when she gets emotional, but it's rare that she lets her emotions get out of control these days. She has grown a bit since arriving though. She was seven feet tall when she got here. Now she's up to 7'3" and she's still only 16. She knows how others tend to see her -- or can guess at least. As she continues to develop, her proportions changing to those of an adult, she is looking less like a giant teenage girl and more like a full-grown woman. But when is she going to stop growing? By the time she's actually an adult how tall will she be? 8 feet? 9 feet? 15?

Stretching her arms out and wiggling her fingers and such, Serene looks down at the other mutant and grins. "Nice sweater. You look cute in pink." That's one way to get clutter out of her mind. She walks towards Ruth and attempts to sweep her up in her arms and hug her. "How have you been doing today? I haven't even been outdoors. Is the weather that cold?" Well, Ruth IS wearing a sweater! Serene is wearing a shirt that might have been a bulky sweatshirt on someone else, but had to have the elastic let out to contain her. She's also wearing jeans -- again, with modifications so that she can even put them on let alone stay in them.

"Yes. Thank you." Ruth replies to the offer of a beverage for herself. She sets teh book down mere seconds before she's picked up, her eyebrows raising and mouth falling open slightly in a rare moment of surprise. After all, Ruth didn't ALWAYS know what was going to happen!

People often mistook her power as if she consciously saw as far into the future as she wanted at any given point in time. Truth was she only saw glimpses of future events, typically when in close proximity to the person it was going to happen to. The rest of the time it was mind-chatter of other people who clued her in to what was going to happen a few moments before it actually did. And sometimes her gift, if she concentrated on it. But with her own fractured mind, even she wasn't completely aware of all the ways or times when she was using her omni-cognition powers.

And sometimes it just gave her a headache.

She smiles softly at her enormous roomie, the size disparity between the two of them even more apparent with such physical closeness. "It is comfortable outside. Thank you, I enjoy pink." After a few moments, the brunette begins to wiggle to be put down. "I was only coming in for a minute. Pardon? Back outside. Yes, you may join me."

Serene smiles and sets Ruth down. Maybe she's no mind-reader but she can tell when someone wants her feet on solid ground again. "Great! I'll grab the sodas and we can head out there." She has actually gotten used to the disjointed manner of speaking. There's sense there if you pay attention. "Maybe some sunlight will help. I heard we get vitamin D from it or something. Vitamin K?" While not exactly a chatterbox, Serene opens up a lot more with Ruth than with anyone else. Friendly talking is part and parcel of their relationship. She used to do the same with a lot of people before her body changed to that of a giant's, but that was just part of the whole... Social... Thing. Now, though she interacts with others here, she reserves her true friendliness as opposed to casual socialization for those who are close to her.

And right now that more or less means Ruth. Stopping by a soda machine, Serene plugs in some quarters and asks, "What flavor would you like?" She's not sure, but she thinks that since she has started hanging out with Ruth regularly and showing she is completely 100% accepting of the other girl, other people have given Ruth less of a hard time. Or maybe that's just when Serene is around. But she at least seems to be seeing less indications of bullying or bad-mouthing or similar.

She hopes she has had a positive affect. People seem to like Serene, and there's no good reason she can think of for not liking Ruth. They're all 'different' here, but so is everyone else even outside. No one is truly 'normal'. Discriminating based on degrees of abnormalcy is just ridiculous, and while she makes an effort to ensure no one has cause to dislike her, she does not stand for anyone bullying her best friend.

The brunette picks up a second book from the half-shelf over her bed. She only ever had a limited selection at a time, never more than a dozen. This was mostly because braille books didn't exactly abound anywhere, and though the school provided any textbooks she needed, she got all of her favorite fiction through a book club which would send her books to borrow for as long as she wanted, provided she returned them before ordering more.

Hey, what was the point in being blind if you couldn't at least take advantage of the disability benefits? Thankfully the school provided a full-board scholarship for her so she didn't have to bother her Aunt for money. Not that any of her relatives would have been able to afford the tuition anyway.

"Coke, please. Thank you." Ruth answers as they make their way down to the vending machines, hugging her new book to her chest, this one of poetry. Yeah, because she's deep like that, though the title was in little bumps, not letters. A pregnant pause. "I have something to tell you."

"You may not like it. Pardon? No, you won't like it. I wish to tell you anyway. Yes. Outside."

Ruth has listened to Serene many times. Serene has also been there to listen to Ruth as well, but there has been significantly less 'opening up' from the blind girl. So after obtaining a bottle of coca-cola for Ruth, Serene simply nods -- whether it can be seen or not, because body language is hard to just stop using -- and then obtains her own soda. "Regardless of if I like it, you know I'll listen and that you can rely on me." It's half reassurance half statement of fact. Ruth probably knows by now that Serene will support her. Or Serene hopes her friends know that. She smiles and rubs Ruth's shoulder with her free hand, the other easily holding two bottles of soda at once by using her fingers to grip the twist caps between the digits. Then she heads outside, into the nice weather that they're apparently having. Serene hasn't even bothered to look out a window lately, it feels like.

The mountainous brown-skinned teenager has just been too absorbed in her studies. And now that she's taking a break, she realizes how much she has needed to just relax for a bit and get some fresh air with her friend. But her thoughts now are of concern for Ruth, not for herself. This is clearly something important that needs to be told to her. For a moment she worries maybe Ruth is going to tell her that she's being moved to a different dorm room. Serene definitely wouldn't like that. But if it was for a good reason, such as because it would be better for Ruth... Then she could at least be happy for that.

One they're outside in the sunlight, however, she just stops hypothesizing, follows, and waits.

"No. I am not moving to a different room." Ruth replies to the unspoken question as easily as if she'd heard it aloud. And for her, she probably had. "I will be leaving the school next year. Yes. Graduating. No. I will still be here. That is not what I wanted to say. Pardon? Maybe a teaching assistant. In college."

The blind girl carries on the one-sided conversation, hugging the book tighter to her abdomen, as they head outside. The bright, sweet summer air was a welcome change to even well-ventilated interior. Some of the other kids at the school were in the courtyard, talking, laughing, studying outdoors, playing games, showing off their abilities to one another. Ruth heads for the shade of a few trees where there were no other people around.

She stops, frowning down at the roots of the tree in front of her. "I have been... practicing. Yes, the late nights. My powers. With the X-Men. Yes. To become a member. Beneath the school. I want to help." She sighs, tilting her head back and to the side, 'looking' at Serene. "Correct. Very dangerous. But I am accepted. Valued. I can be of use. Your power, you could join."

"Pardon? To make a difference."

Yeah, Serene's heart sinks a little bit at first, but quickly she has her fears allayed somewhat. Oh, Ruth will still be here. Just not as a student. But then more is said, more thoughts and words unspoken are answered, and Serene takes it all in as she sits in the shade with Ruth. When she leans back against the tree, the plant actually creaks a little bit. The part about joining the X-Men causes instant alarm in the towering teenager. The questions she wants to ask about 'why' and 'isn't there some other way you can make a difference' and so on go unsaid at first. However, even when Ruth answers them Serene still has to insist. "Isn't there another way? I don't know much about the X-Men, but couldn't you just as easily be... I don't know." Serene tries to find the words. "'Support'? Guidance? Do you really need to go out and fight?"

Half of this Serene's concern for Ruth's safety. The other half is her own latent issues with 'heroes' who get uninvolved people into trouble. She doesn't want her best friend to be one of those people who thinks it's okay to mess up the street, wreck people's cars, homes, and businesses, and make no attempt at fixing the harm done to their lives, just because Menace #4487 has shown up that particular day. She trusts Ruth, but she doesn't necessarily trust whomever else is one of these 'X-Men' to know how to keep innocent people out of their squabbles. And she doesn't trust the squabblers to not get Ruth seriously hurt.

But... As much as Serene didn't want to be a hero herself, she had just said that she'd be there to help Ruth, that she'd support her. Here was Ruth telling her something she knew that Serene wouldn't like, had known this response was going to occur... But despite herself, Serene does something that may or may not be unexpected. "Well... I might not like this, but it's what you believe in. And the fact of the matter is that I believe in you. When I said you could count on me, I meant it. So..." She takes a deep breath, which strains her shirt to the point of fibers making tearing sounds, and then lets it out. "I'll be trying to join the X-Men too. I don't think I can save everyone in the world, but maybe I can help protect at least one person." Serene then leans over and plants a brief kiss on the top of Ruth's head. "A person who is very important to me."

"Yes. I could. I choose not to." Ruth answers simply, turning in a small circle like a dog looking for a place to sit before seating herself facing the tree, and Serene, with her legs crossed 'Indian-style' in front of her. "They wish to make a difference. I wish to make a difference. Goals coincide, my powers are of value. To shape a world where mutants and humans live side by side. I... want that."

"You dislike crimefighters. Pardon? I heard you. That is why we train. To protect people. No, not to fight. To protect." The girl rests her book in her lap, fidgeting with her fingers as she turns her face downward. "I do not fit in anywhere. Thank you, but I do not. My abilities, I can never 'see' correctly. I have a hard time talking. I do not like it. Yes. This is how I can help. How I can save lives. Stop evil."

She smiles slightly as the larger girl agrees to her proposal that she try to join, too. "I... am glad. You will be good and do good. Standing tall, fire, pain. ...Gratitude. Acceptance." Her brow crinkles as if struggling for words. "It will define you. You must not murder. I will talk to the others for you."

And then a kiss is planted on her head. Ruth is silent for another brief period. "You are attracted to me. Yes. You are. Pardon? I am not bothered by it. Would you like to hear a poem?" She lifts the book she brought with her.

Serene nods in reply, taking in a shuddering breath as she returns to sitting up straight. She can't believe she's agreeing to be one of those people she has spent so long resenting. But... If this is about making a difference... Maybe she can make a difference her own way. Maybe there's problems that need to be dealt with via powers and vigilante-ism, but maybe she can help show the people who do that there's a way to help by not harming bystanders -- by not ruining their lives. Can't these powers be used to help people instead of just deal with bad guys? Like, what about using these abilities to help the homeless? The starving? Those suffering from serious illnesses? Surely there are healing powers out there, right? Powers for making it rain during droughts? For making crops grow in polluted terrain? For shielding people instead of just taking out the monster?

Serene isn't sure if her abilities can help in that department, but she can at least make herself super-dense and shield Ruth from harm. Ruth who she has gotten so close to in such a short period of time. Ruth who--"Hm?" She isn't sure she heard that right. She turns and looks at the other girl for a long moment, her cheeks and ears suddenly burning. "Wh-what!?" But Ruth has already countered any denial in that regard and said it doesn't bother her. Serene just sputters and looks away and puts her hands in her nap and turns so red that even her light-brown skin is obviously flushed with embarassment.

"U-um, certainly," she answers quietly to the question about the poem. Topic change go! Still, that's yet another thing she's going to have to think about or put off thinking about. How does she really feel about her best friend?