10217/Hands-On Experience

Hands-On Experience
Date of Scene:	27 November 2019
Location:	Classroom - Xavier's School
Synopsis:	A discussion of Nathaniel's mutation leads to a new understanding of them and an internship.
Cast of Characters:	Hindsight, Cypher, Jubilee

---

Hindsight has posed:
    Nathaniel Carver is a newly enrolled student that comes from a not too uncommon situation. Mutant power is raw and uncontrollable, parents were eager to be rid of a mutant child, and he has thus far resisted attempts to use his ability, at all. He has been totally upfront on the nature of his mutation: a type of psychometry that works on inanimate but more powerfully on animate ones.

    It has been suggested that he find methods of utilizing his mutation on objects without a strong psychic imprint, and he has come to the designated classroom early for his power training appointment.

    It's late in the evening. The classroom is empty save for the boy himself who sits slightly slouched on a desk at the center of the room. He's wearing a long-sleeved blue shirt, jeans, and, of course, leather gloves.

Cypher has posed:
    Doug Ramsey is a busy guy. But Sam said take one day a week off of work. So, here he is.
    He'd been trying to get in on that new computer project, but Beast said 'no, this is for the students' so now he's kind of moping a little bit -- and trying to sneak a peek at them anyway. It's probably fortunate that the lone kid slouched in the classroom distracts him as he heads toward the computer lab.
    "Hey." He says, in the doorway. "Are you all right? You look lost."

Hindsight has posed:
    "This is classroom 2B, isn't it?" asks Nathaniel, suddenly anxious about being at the wrong place. His legs swing, and he makes to get up to check, but Doug's blocking his exit.

    "I was supposed to be meeting someone for power training," he explains, sitting back down. "maybe I have the wrong room, though." That would explain why there's no one here with him, but he's also early.

Jubilee has posed:
Heading into the room is Jubilee, who is dressed in a pair of bright pink joggers, a blue t-shirt and her half yellow trench coat. A pair of hot pink shades sit on the top of her head, as well as pink loop earrings. She looks awesome. As always.

"Heeey! Nate. There you are. Sorry if I'm late. I had to scrub boogers off a wall. We got a kid here who's powers is super snot and he likes to jump rope with it. It's gross." She's rather blunt about this kid. The terror in her life for the past two years.

"So! I see you met Dougie Fresh. I was gonna actually put you in touch with him." She says as she leans in to smooch Doug on the cheek. "Not only because he's super hot, but because he's one of the smartest people here, /and/, I think he'd be a good mentor for your powers."

Cypher has posed:
    Doug flushes, and rubs the back of his neck. "Hey, gorgeous," He says, as Jubilee kisses him on the cheek, and then he looks at her, and his eyebrows go up. "I would?" And then he looks back at Nate, and begins to extend his hand, which is shiny, black, and glowing with gold-filigree techno-organic circuitry, before he withdraws it, noticing something. "Ah, yeah. I'm Doug."

Then he glances back to Jubilee. "Are you still having trouble with Snot?"

Hindsight has posed:
She does look awesome. Nathaniel may not be able to appreciate it in the same sense Doug could, but she's dressed objectively awesome. He smiles, glances at the clock, and back to Jubilee. "You're not. Would you say scrapping snot off the walls is easier or harder than cranberry sauce?" Yeah, he dares to bring up the Thanksgiving prep chaos from earlier today.

    Sitting a little straighter, he glances at Doug's hand and frowns when he retracts it. "Hey. I'm Nathaniel," he greets. "I'm wearing protection, so I'm not dangerous." He says that as if he were radioactive. But nope. He can't delve into anybody's past while wearing gloves.

Cypher has posed:
    "Well, when Snot's mucus hardens it has the tensile strength of a steel cable, so..." Doug gives an easy shrug. "No, it's not that, I could just tell you don't like touching people." He glances to Jubilee. "I saw your text message, by the way. I would've been no help -- I have many, many talents, but I am a terrible cook. Just the pits."

Jubilee has posed:
"Booger Boy, yeah. He's just.. you know... thirteen." Jubilee says with a smirk to Doug. She finger guns Nathan. "Definitely snot is harder than cranberry sauce. He has this super snot that hardens like cement."

"Anyways, Nathan here can touch objects and read a bit of their history. It's pretty cool. He just can't control it, you know.. like when Marie touches things and sucks you dry. Except he can't touch anything. You know.. like doorknobs, or toilet handles."

Hindsight has posed:
        "Get it off before it hardened?" Nathaniel asks, with genuine curiosity, but wrinkles his nose. Because that's gross. He looks to Doug, with furrowed brows. "I'm that obvious, huh?"

    "It's a lot more than 'a bit'," he adds and shrugs. "everything has an imprint left by someone else, and even if it didn't, I would still see their pasts. Mister Guthrie says that the only way to learn how to control it is to use it but..." he frowns, reluctant. "I dunno. Even though it doesn't always work on objects, if I 'think' too hard about anything, it will."

Cypher has posed:
    "Oh, I just have a sense about that sort of thing." Doug says, before he glances back to Jubilee, and then says, "He's a psychometric? That's actually the rarest kind of psionic ability. I don't even think Jean can do it." He glances back to Nate, and then says, "That's actually really neat."

Jubilee has posed:
"Erika could do it. Gwen can kinda do it too." Jubilee says as she flops her head on the back of his shoulder, circling his arms about him for a teddy bear squeeze. After a good round of hugging, she lazily flops down into a chair, remembering when she used to be on this side of the classroom.

"But yeah, I got most of it scrubbed off the walls. I remember one time this kid had bad allergies and oh my god. We had to yank out a large number of plants that would set him off. He could fill a swimming pool."

Hindsight has posed:
"Yeah, Gwen says she only can use it on objects," Nathaniel says, eyes flickering between Jubilee and Doug. Right. Teachers have love lives. "That's what Mister Guthrie called it too. I didn't know it was that rare," he continues, shaking his head. "I...it's caused me nothing but pain in the past."

    He thinks for a moment, then looks at Doug. "Mister Guthrie had some suggestions on how to make it easier for me to practice since nobody would willingly offer themselves for that sort of thing."

Cypher has posed:
Doug leans into that embrace, obviously drawing some warmth and emotional support from it, before he sits on the edge of a desk, and crosses his ankles and his arms.

"You know, past experiences with your ability can often color the way you use them. Still, you have the right to control your own space -- just remember, human contact is an essential part of the human language..." He flattens his mouth into a line. "So how can I help?"

Hindsight has posed:
    "Apparently," Nathaniel flashes a bit of a grin, looking between Doug and Jubilee. "And I *have* thought about it before, but it's too intense." There is definitely some baggage surrounding that.

    He brings his hands underneath his legs and nods. "Right. Mister Guthrie said that I needed an object that has as little history contained within it as possible," He thinks back on the conversation, trying to remember what exactly was said. "He suggested 3D printing."

Cypher has posed:
    Doug rubs the back of his neck a little bit, and then says, "Well, that would help, but the second someone other than you touched the object, would it become contaminated and not suitable for you to use?" He pauses, and his eyebrows go up. "That... that raises a lot of questions, Nate. God, the most mundane stuff must be so difficult for you."

Hindsight has posed:
    "I could still use it, I would just know that somebody else has touched it and who they were," Nathaniel explains, frowning a bit. "That itself isn't so much the problem, but with stuff like..." he inclines his head towards Jubilee, using her example. "A door handle that's been around for ages. I would see a lot of events in a short amount of time."

    "It's not so bad, once you get used to never touching people," he says, with a self-deprecating grin. "That's why I wear gloves. And since they've just been on my hands, it's not so much of a problem."

Jubilee has posed:
"I mean, you could just wear a full body garbage bag and a condom and wing it." Jubilee says as he props her chin up in the palm of her hand, brows lifting upwards. "Ya'know, if all else fails in the romance department." Is she joking? Her lips only give a tiny twitch.

"So, what's it like for you to put on underwear? Do you get like visions of sweat shops or something every time you do?"

Cypher has posed:
    "So it's just focused on your hands, then?" Doug says, "That indicates some conscious control of your powers then, we can build off of that." Then he adds, "So the older something is, or the more intense their experiences, the more difficult it is."
    He glances toward Jubilee, and then says, "I was trying not to ask how he used the bathroom. *Trying* not to."

Hindsight has posed:
    "Lemme know when you find someone that wants to bang a garbage bag," Nathaniel snorts, and slowly shakes his head. "If I focused, I probably would," Toilet mishaps have happened in the past, as evidenced by the wince on his face. "It doesn't work all the time. Not on things." Once is enough to sour his outlook on the ability, as Doug suggested.

    "It usually happens through my hands, yes," He gives an affirmative nod. "And yeah, you got the rest of it."

Jubilee has posed:
"Have you /not/ been on the Internet?" Jubilee says coyly to him as her brows lift upwards, giggling. She quiets down to let Doug work, knowing she isn't really helping.

Cypher has posed:
    "...Well, that sort of thing implies a lot of acceptance and trust." Doug says. "If we're going to work together, I do need you to trust me--" He bites the corner of his bottom lip, and then says, "But I've led an extremely unusual life. So maybe it's not a good idea--"

Jubilee has posed:
Jubilee gives Doug a firm poke in the side, then clears her throat. "Confidence, my love. You will be fine."

Hindsight has posed:
    "A lot of the people at this school have," Nathaniel replies. He's pretty sure that at least one of them is a child soldier, so a few people are already marked 'DO NOT TOUCH'. He blinks, then squints slightly. "Are you suggesting that I read you?" He squirms. "That...you realize that I can't control what I see. I'm no snitch or anything, but once contact is made..." he trails.

Cypher has posed:
    Doug raises his eyebrows, and then says, "I'm not going to force you to do it. But I can see you have a hard time trusting people... and I want you to be able to trust me. So I'm leaving the option open for you." Doug holds his hands out to his sides. "If it would help you? Then I'm fine with it." He glances back to Jubilee, and he says, "I don't know, I never got my youth counselor merit badge in scouts."

Jubilee has posed:
"Neither did I. I just forged mine and Scott believed me." Jubilee says with a sly grin to Doug, then glances back to Nate. "Here's the thing kiddo. Give us a chance. I'm literally an open book so if you want to hold my hand, I'm cool with it. I got nothing to hide and if anything, you'll probably get a contact high from all the energy drinks I pounded an hour ago."

Hindsight has posed:
    Nathaniel chews on his bottom lip. Doug looks normal, if he ignores the black cyber arm, and they only met minutes ago. If this were to happen, and by the looks of it Nathan is still working out if it should, there's virtually no chance that a relationship could be ruined. He's not even one of his teachers. Both Samuels said he could figure it out if he applied himself.

    He takes a deep breath and removes the glove from his right hand. "Okay. You're not a psycho serial killer or anything, are you?" He holds out the hand, though, for Jubilee or Doug. Not both. Please not both.

Cypher has posed:
    "If I was," Doug says, "It'd be news to me."
    Doug holds out his left hand, the normal hand, fingers extended. He seems unsure if this is a good idea.

Hindsight has posed:
    Doug is unsure, Jubilee is confident, and Nathaniel is conflicted. It takes him a bit to decide, but since only one hand is outstretched, Nathanial makes his decision and slowly lays his hand over Doug's.

    His eyes glow a bright blue color, as a connection with time is formed. Doug wouldn't feel an intruder in his mind or anything of the sort. Nathaniel doesn't wander there but in the past. He would, however, see flashes of the past, the bits and pieces Nathaniel wanders through. That hand is shaking, as if ready to retract at a moment's notice.

Cypher has posed:
    It's amazing, how a lifetime can explode outward in an instant.
    There are strong emotions -- curiosity, playfulness, an impish wickedness hidden under a generally affable, polite exterior, but also deeply-rooted self-doubt and inadequacy, emotions that are impossible to ever really shake completely despite experiences to the contrary.
    Images cascade after that. ...A growing sense of unease, culminating in -- man, it's going to be hard talking to Sam having seen the memory of him standing in Doug's yard in the middle of the night in a towel -- and then the M-Word. Mutant.
    The alien is an amorphous mass of impossible anatomy, the most astonishing thing Doug has ever seen. Then he watches it grow, watches it learn. His best friend, and in some ways, like raising a child.
    So many incredible adventures. The breathtaking ten-mile drop on the Dyson Sphere, an endless city-scape stretching from horizon to horizon.

The absolutely degrading, disgusting sensation of being possessed by the Shadow King.

Chained up and forced to bus tables and wash dishes in that viking meadhall. The smell -- it's a very *brown* smell.

Warlock becomes more independent. He doesn't need Doug anymore, and the sense of meaninglessness, uselessness grows.
    The creature is... weird, in a completely different way, like a giant reptillian chicken. But Doug is able to communicate with it again, and he feels useful once more. Things are looking up--
    The cold glint of light on the barrel of the gun, the certainty that it will be a fatal shot.
    'Look out!'
    Then the slow, freezing sensation of bleeding out on the floor. 'I'm sorry Rahne, I'll never do it again...'

Hindsight has posed:
    It is amazing, isn't it?

    Nathaniel refused to remain for long and doubles down on that instinct as this trip down memory lane takes a decidedly dark turn. The part of his brain that activated this power - this curse, in his mind - hasn't been flexed in so long, not on another living being. The particular sensation was lost, and as it comes to him again, the way a hammer hits an anvil, his grip around Doug's hand actually tightens.

    The experiences are in equal parts warm and terrifying. Nathaniel would linger on the pleasant parts if he could...can he? He tries, focusing and connecting with the friendship he feels between Doug and that impossible creature. He misses his best friend. Seconds pass, longer than he's ever intentionally allowed his mutation to have on other people.

Cypher has posed:
    Resurrection is not a comfortable sensation - organic matter is snared and repurposed into flesh and organs, the first breath is the mouldy air of the grave, then clawing to the surface through muddy earth. The static of the techno-organic virus in his head, being forced to betray everything he had given his life to.
    Returning to himself, casting about, lost. Thoughts of suicide --
    But then thoughts of others, the desire not to hurt them again...
    Why do they still mourn when they look at me? Do they not see that they're hurting me?
    And finally, where he is now, with the realization that purpose is seeking out a need and attempting to fill it... the sometimes incredible frustration of trying to learn how to *function* when you're short two years of living.
    Through it all, Doug sits there, blinking. He doesn't feel anything.

Hindsight has posed:
    Nathaniel has overstayed despite himself. His hand slips away, and he stares at Doug for an uncomfortably long time. Too long to be appropriate. "I..." He speaks and falters. This was the fear, finding intimate moments of another's life. "I shouldn't have agreed to that. I'm sorry." He found a focus and dug, and got the unexpected. He would have to be more careful next time.

Cypher has posed:
    Doug raises his eyebrows at Nate, and then looks at Jubilee, and back at Nate, and then his eyebrows raise. "...For what?" He says. "If anything, I'm sorry. Sometimes I forget that I've packed a lot of craziness into my uh, lives." He scratches behind one ear.

Hindsight has posed:
    Nathaniel goes quiet for another uncomfortable period of time. It's a LOT to unpack and so unlike anything he's ever experienced before. He catches Doug's words and nods, "Yeah. Lives," After lapsing into a briefer period of silence, he slips off the desk and moves to wrap his arms around Doug in a hug (he's careful to make sure his exposed hand doesn't touch skin...not doing that shit again). "Thank you. I don't know if that helped...but thank you."

Cypher has posed:
    Doug laughs at that... but he returns the hug, warmly. "Sure!" He says, "I don't know exactly what you saw, but you're welcome?" He gives Nate a gentle pat on the back, and says, "I can tell you're a good kid, Nate. Do you have what you need from me, now? Can we work together?"

Hindsight has posed:
    Nathanial steps back and actually takes his other glove off. "You're not a killer, or a psychopath," He makes an amusing show of considering Doug's offer, but the grin never really reaches his eyes. "So yes. I am ready to be your Young Padawan or whatever. Can we try to stick with objects for the time being, though?"

Cypher has posed:
    "Um... sure." Doug says, "I'll work on 3-D printing you some stuff. No reason for you to get trauma flashbacks whenever you pick up your toothbrush. We can um. Well, I never really thought about working with a psychometric, so maybe I'll need to talk to one of the other psychics. Maybe I can help you figure out how to control the information you take in or make the whole thing less traumatic--"

Hindsight has posed:
"It's never as bad for me as it was for the people I touch," Nathaniel says, about tramua. "We can work on it. I'm willing to give this a chance, if you're willing to give me one."

Cypher has posed:
Doug gives Nate a sideways look. "Well, there is something else that comes with that. If you want to work with me, I'm out and about a lot. But I could use an intern over at X-Corporation. How much do you know about computers?"

And he adds, "And since I can tell that you can speak Korean, I might need you to work the phones a little bit with some of our corporate partners."

Hindsight has posed:
    "I can get by. It's more of a practical knowledge," Nathaniel says, frowning. He's not sure that he'll meet Doug's expectations on this one, but he can try, can't he? "And anything I don't know, I could learn, right? Plus, touching keyboards imparts a wealth of knowledge on its own."

    "You can tell that just by looking at me," The white-haired boy rolls his eyes a bit, but then nods. "Yeah, my mother taught me."

Cypher has posed:
    Doug raises his eyebrows, and then says in *perfect* Korean, 'No, I can hear it when you talk. That's my thing, I'm the Mutant Master of Language. What, you didn't pick that up off of me when you read me?' He gives a wide grin.

Hindsight has posed:
    Nathaniel lifts a brow but responds in English, "I actually didn't strangely. You're a lot more than just your power. Sometimes I feel like this thing is all I am," He looks to his hand, considers for a long moment, then outstretches it for shaking. He knows Doug now, more than he could if he spent weeks with him. No point in pretending there's something in his head that he won't want him to see. "Partners?"

Cypher has posed:
    Doug reaches out wiwth his techno-organic hand and grips for a firm handshake. "I can tell that's not true at all just by looking at you, kiddo. Maybe that's what I'm supposed to teach you." He smirks, and then lets go. "Partners it is."