10036/Two New

From United Heroes MUSH
Jump to navigation Jump to search
Two New
Date of Scene: 14 November 2019
Location: Main Foyer - Xavier's School
Synopsis: Brad and Vi meet in Xavier's school foyer.
Cast of Characters: Haunt, Vi




Haunt has posed:
There is a figure, probably a teenage boy by clothing and build, doing some strange maneuvers in the main foyer. In that he's talking to himself. "Twelve to the clock, left. One, two, three, four..." Brad is counting paces, through the main foyer, past a ticking clock, and to the stairs. He reaches the stairs' handrail, touches it, and then turns and inches across the stairs, counting width. "Five."

The boy is dressed in 'Xavier Mansion athletic sweats' gear: dark blue sweatpants, some sneakers, and a hoodie, with the hood up, entirely masking his appearance. Sleeves of hoodie are pulled down over his hands, hooked there between fingers presumably.

Vi has posed:
A trio of girls sweep down the stairs together. Seniors from the look of them, one an obvious mutant, the other two looking human, they are engrossed in conversation about someone they refer to as Hambone. "I'm telling you, he sent the drone right outside my window. He does it again I'm going to turn his clothes to water in the dining room," one says to the others, who laugh and make 'ewww' noises and assure the other they don't want to see that.

They head on past, not taking much notice of the boy as they head down a hallway towards the dining room. Further up the stairs, another girl is heading down. This one much quieter and more focused on her surroundings. She paused on the landing listening and looking around before starting down quietly. She's in jeans and a plain blue t-shirt, with a worn, maroon zip up sweatshirt overtop of it. She's also barefoot.

Vi tilts her head as she listens to the boy, her hearing having grown more sensitive along with the rest of her senses as she had paused above to check ahead of her for who might be about. The small, nineteen year old girl's head tilts to the side a bit at what she hears, and she makes her way slowly down towards the boy.

Haunt has posed:
Brad doesn't engage the girls but he also doesn't shirk away into a corner. He stands his ground and stops, to wait for them to finish. There's a ripple of sound through the foyer and hallway: easily picked up by enhanced senses. As if a breeze moved through, darting here and there, making pictureframes rattle against the wall just a little. It happened while Brad was waiting for the girls to leave, and continues after they're gone. It's a breeze that will ruffle clothes and hair just a little bit, but nothing major or noticeable.

Brad doesn't glance at Vi yet: more people wandering around doesn't immediately grab his notice. He starts up the stairs, with heavy railing use, counting the steps quietly to himself as he goes. There's a lot of care with his footing, some uncertainty on the stairs. He turns his hood aside from Vi as she starts towards him, avoiding allowing her to look into his hood, head down.

Vi has posed:
Vi has spent a fair amount of her time in the hallways with her senses enhanced. She's been waiting for confirmation this place is really as too good to be true as it seems. Though of late those worries are finally starting to be eroded away. Still, it means she's never noticed those sounds around someone before, even if she still doesn't know the bulk of those at the school.

Vi's pace down the stairs slows a little to give her more time to listen. As she draws nearer, she tries to see the boy's face but finds it hidden. The petite girl heads on past Brad before stopping a moment after she's past him. "Hello," she offers, turning back towards him to look back up towards him from a step or two below. "Are you... would you like any help?" she asks quietly of the boy who seems to be moving about as hesitantly as she first did.

Haunt has posed:
"Just doin' my counts," Brad says quickly, embarrassed, his attention on his task broken by the sudden selfconsciousness. "Shit. What number was I on," he says, laughing at himself a little bit, patting his sleeve-covered hand on the rail twice. "Um, actually, sure. Can you identify the rooms downstairs? Clockwise from the foyer door," Brad asks. His voice shows more confidence than he feels. He doesn't point: he just starts back downstairs, using his opposite hand to guide. He slows as he feels the bottom of the rail widen, and does a careful pat-pat of foot to check that it's the last stair.

Again, there's that trembling presence, a wind with no source that flutters in the foyer and makes the overhead chandelier swing.

Vi has posed:
Vi hears the self-conscious tone of voice and she offers a soft smile she hopes is reassuring, expecting he would be able to see it. "I heard you say seventeen," she tells him. "I'm still learning my way about as well. But, let's see. The little open area without a door has some chairs and tables for sitting. The next three are classrooms. The middle one is a chemistry lab where Mr. Parker teaches. I don't know the ones on either side. Then the Rec Room. The staff offices. Um, the... Wellness office? It's where people go when they are sick," Vi says.

She continues on, listing the rooms in the hallway. True to her words, about half of them she's not sure what they are beyond general descriptions like, classroom, or "door I've never seen inside".

After she's finished, she says, "Are you unable to see them?" Her voice is quiet and gentle. A question, but one without any judgment in it.

Haunt has posed:
Brad comes along. "It was seventeen," Brad does agree when they get back down the steps. He was counting on the way down to see if she was right. Brad does a verbal repetition of the things when she goes through it: "Classroom, Classroom, Library, Kitchen." Each time, he goes through the chain to add the new thing. He walks in a little circle near each door, but it's an interesting orbit: he's figuring out the foyer in his head, it seems like, and all the openings off of it.

"I can get a gist of what's in the rooms," Brad says, a little bit defensively, but that was also a way of saying he probably can't see in them. "But every classroom is the same and it's easier to just be told than to try to figure it out. I had no idea what the wellness office thing was."

Brad goes along, taking the whole of the lower floor. His memory is decent, he's able to go through it, like a very strange and important memory-game sequence. "Cool. Upstairs is just dorm rooms, right?" he asks, moving to the stairs again. He has still consistently hid his face from her. "I'm Brad, by the way. I'm just here a few days or something."

Vi has posed:
Vi moves along, following slightly after Brad back down the stairs as the move back along the hallway. "I don't know what a lot of them are. I don't attend the normal classes," Vi says quietly. "My classroom is over on the other side of the building."

As they pass the Wellness office, Vi says, "I didn't know what it was either. I thought... it sort of looked a lab I... was in before. But I didn't think that was it," she says. Well, lies on the last part. She did think it at first, but doesn't any longer.

Her footsteps are almost inaudible, no scuff of shoes as the barefoot girl steps with a lifetime's practice in wanting to go unnoticed. "My name is Vi," she offers. "I've only been here a couple of weeks. So, I know what it's like, trying to adjust to somewhere new," she says in an understatement. "You're not going to stay then?" she asks as she notes his choice in wording.

Haunt has posed:
"I was sort of hoping it was a massage parlor, with those beds," Brad says, a smile in his voice even if his face is cloaked. "That would be pretty weird, but /awesome/, for a school," chuckles the teenager. His voice and vocal patterns identify him as around fifteen or so in age. "You're really quiet, Vi," Brad says, thoughtful. It's not a compliment, it's that he's slightly unnerved, but he isn't telling her off. "I don't mean talking," he clarifies. He means movement, he's having a harder time listening for where she is.

"You're brand new?" Oooh. That got his attention. He turns to her more fully. Since she's looking up at him at her height, she'll find it somewhat easy to look up into the hood if she tries. There is /nothing/ in the hood: the boy's invisible, or hidden somehow, though the hood shows it is clearly resting on something. "I mean, maybe I'd like to stay, it's a lot better than an alley. They haven't asked me. It's probably expensive. I don't know if I fit in anyway." A lot of excuses. "What made you choose here?"

Vi has posed:
Vi gives a small grin, one which can be heard in her voice as she says, "Massage parlor? Is that a thing? I wish we did have one," she agrees with a warm, quiet chuckles. Vi glances about self-consciously at the comment. "Yeah, I am compared to people here. I didn't grow up somewhere like this. It was best if I went unnoticed. I'm still... there's a lot of adjustment for me."

Vi looks back to Brad and her enhanced vision makes it easy enough to see the apparent emptiness inside the hood. She catches her breath for a second in surprise, but it only lasts a moment.

"It's much nicer here than an alley," Vi agrees in a tone as if she knows alleys. "I don't know about expensive. They just let me stay. And, I do some chores and they give me money. I don't really have much of an idea of how much the money is worth yet though."

Vi hesitates a moment at the final question. "Well, I was with some other people," she says, but then realizes, everyone sees her wear the SHIELD sweatshirt so she might as well just say it. "SHIELD. They found me and... Nightcrawler, he came and brought me back to the school. Because I'm a mutant, and they are here to help mutants," she says.

Haunt has posed:
"SHIELD, huh? Like 007, secret government stuff?" Brad asks, with clearly no idea what he's talking about, since he's cheerfully curious about it. "I don't know what a Nightcrawler is. Sorry, who." He caught that a little late. "Badass name, though. Makes me think of fishing bait a little, but otherwise cool," Brad says, turning his hood aside with a returning note of self-consciousness.

"I'm one of those too." A mutant. Dirty word, though. Dirtier than 'shit': at least when it's aimed at himself.

"They just let you stay? Huh. This isn't some weird place turning mutants into weapons or something, right? I'm a little concerned I'm in deep shit here: I have no idea where I am, in a giant creepy mansion full of strange people."

Vi has posed:
Vi's expression softens a bit as she begins to get a better idea of Brad's situation. "No, I mean I'm not with them. Or... maybe some day I'd like to be, actually. No, ah, so I grew up somewhere run by some really bad people," Vi says quietly. "I escaped. And this man and woman from SHIELD saw me escape. At first I thought maybe the man was with the bad people. Because he had a shield, and I've only seen guards carry those. But he's not. Well, sorry, I'm being confusing aren't I?"

Vi clarifies, "Ah, Nightcrawler, he's got blue skin and a tail, he came to SHIELD and he can teleport. He teleported us from there to the school. And, I figured there had to be something going on here. Why would they help me? What's in it for them, right?" Vi says, repeating what she imagines Brad is thinking. "But, I am starting to think maybe they just are that nice. And they have the means to help people. To help other mutants. So they do."

Vi offers Brad a soft smile. "So we're alike then. Mutants, and not fitting in?"

Haunt has posed:
Brad listens to her explanation of what happened to her. He lacks all expression (obviously), so he just stands there, appearing to just be vacant. "So you /were/ at a place of weird torture or something, but now you're here," Brad asks, a little uncomfortable. "I have met about a dozen people, but nobody that had a tail yet." So no nightcrawler, by process of elimination. "Some people with wings." Brad's trying to be friendly, but can't speak on the subject of being trapped by SHIELD, and senses that it might be a bad topic to stay on.

"Maybe. Is it rude to ask what you can do?" Brad wonders. "If you're blue I can't tell. Sorry."

Vi has posed:
Vi gives a little chuckle at the mention of wings. "There seem to be a lot of people around here with wings actually. I didn't know there was anyone else like me, until I got away," Vi says. Her arms wrap about herself subconsciously, hugging herself as her thoughts touch on where she came from, the first time she even heard she was a mutant.

"No, I'm not blue. I look, pretty normal I guess? I'm kind of short and small, compared to people here," she says. Kids who grew up in Echo always seemed to be a bit undersized compared to others. She'd never really considered why before this moment. Something she'll have to think about.

"I can use metals to fuel my powers. I can pull metal to me. Or push it away. And, well, I can kind of fly if I push really hard on something heavy, or that's stuck on a wall or the floor, it'll throw me away from it instead," Vi says. "And I can make myself stronger and faster. And hear and see really well," she says. "I'm just starting to learn how to use my powers though. The bad people only let me do their experiments with them. Here? The school is helping me understand them and learn how I can use them."

Haunt has posed:
A bit of that slight 'wind' moves in the foyer again as Vi describes herself. Brad is using his slight telekinetic sense to get a gist of what she's talking about while she's talking about it. It feels like a slightly strange breeze: strange since it doesn't come from one place, it sort of spins around, sourceless pressure. The room reacts to it again, two of the doors creak, another one closes. Poltergeists.

"You can see really well?" Brad asks. Naturally he'd catch on that one. "You still can't see me, though, right?" he asks. There's hope and dismay in it: he's pretty sure she can't. But he had to ask that, of course. He moves a sleeve a little at his head, and kicks the hood back. It's weirder with the hood back, arguably: now he's headless.

"I guess I'm lucky I didn't have bad people. I didn't think about it," Brad admits. "I know it sounds dumb, but not even bad people notice me. Sort of insulting." A grin appears in his voice.

Vi has posed:
Vi holds up a hand, feeling the vibration against her skin as Brad is 'looking' at her like that with his power. "Brad, that's kind of... neat. Is this how see things?" she asks, piecing it together from his questions earlier.

"I can when I'm using my tin," she tells him of the question about her senses. The girl pads a half-step closer on her bare feet, looking up at the taller boy's face, or where it would be, as he pulls his head back. "You're there, but... invisible then?" she asks him. "I can't see you, but... let me flare my tin," she says quietly.

It would be difficult for someone to grasp just how it feels for Vi, having her fuel metals in her stomach. Like reserves of energy she can sense, each different than the others. It gives her a comfort to feel them. She doesn't need to concentrate anymore, burning them has become second nature. Vi burns her pewter to make her body more resilient for what is to come next. She has already been burning her tin slowly, extracting the enhancements to her senses from it. But now she flares it, burning it faster so what would have lasted hours will only last minutes or less. Her senses expand to the level of Daredevil, and she focuses her attention on where Brad's head should be.

Haunt has posed:
'Flaring tin' means nothing to him, but he doesn't ask, he just waits to let her do whatever it is she's doing. He does react to her getting closer: though that doesn't mean he's unaware of it. His 'breeze' is still subtle, but he's keeping track of her right now. "I can move things with my mind," Brad explains. "When I try, I can figure out where things are. That's all. So you can't see me? Figured not." He's disappointed but it isn't crushing: it's just the usual. Same old thing.

"Yeah, I'm invisible. At least, that's what people say," he jokes. It's not funny but the effort is there. He waits while she stares at him, unaware of flaring or senses.

Still, if she's using sonar, she may pick up that he does in fact have a head. It's there. And there's a lot of minor sounds from all over the room, as Brad is pinging lightly off of everything in it: soft creaks of wood, the friction of carpet on the floor underneath and against itself in fibers, the movement of doors, even some movement of books in the nearby library. It's a cacophony of sonar information. Information that Brad isn't reading with sonar, so it isn't a problem for /him/.

Vi has posed:
Vi hrms quietly. "I can sense you there, when I... when I make my power at its most," Vi says. She's speaking very softly, as if even the sound of her own voice might get to her. And the vibrations from Brad's power are cause Vi to visibly wince, though she's enduring it as she tries to see his head there.

She cannot. Not with her eyes. But when she closes them, all those little sounds, even sounds bouncing off him, can be sensed. Vi lets her tin drop back to a slow burn, the flakes and pebbles almost gone from the brief, high-intensity use. "But I can sense you there. Hear you, hear the sounds as they bounce off of you," Vi says quietly.

"I can imagine what it's been like, having it like that? You cannot turn it off I guess?" Vi asks quietly. "Even if not, the people here seem very used to having others with differences around. I've only been here for weeks, but I'd hope you'll give it a try and see how you feel about the school."

Haunt has posed:
Brad, feeling self-conscious, lifts his hand to pull the hood up. His hand is gone, too: so it's an interesting appearance of a amputated wrist coming up to do it. It's just strange to watch, even if the reality of the situation - that the boy is just invisible - makes it pretty clear it isn't a headless or handless torso.

"I mean, if they ask me to stay, I'm thinking yes. I don't know. If they ask me I'll decide then," Brad gives, a smile entering his voice. He's expressive: not that it can be seen. His voice is very emotive, as if to make up for the inability for anyone to see him smile, or frown, or anything else. He has to find other ways to express socially. "I was up all night though, so I'm gonna find my way to the dorms again. Maybe we'll meet again, Vi?" Brad offers. He offers a hand to her, for a handshake - in the form of an empty sleeve, but it's easy to guess where his hand is, whether or not she can sense it! "'Bye."