10904/TK Check-UP

TK Check-UP
Date of Scene:	28 January 2020
Location:	Classroom - Xavier's School
Synopsis:	Brad checks in with Betsy about TK and teen life stuff.
Cast of Characters:	Haunt, Psylocke

---

Haunt has posed:
The classroom is ... active. There are paper airplanes all over the place, circling around like a tornado of colors: they're on origami paper, and a closer look will show that they aren't just paper airplanes: there are cranes, and some other critters mixed in! They aren't well-folded, some of them are positively mangled, but the effort is there.

Brad's present, and in an unusual way: he's visible. He's seated at one of the far desks, with some of the papers in a pile near him. Just that he's clearly visible, sitting with his cheek propped on one hand, eyes sort of staring into space through the glasses he has on, is a lot different than the former invisibility.

Psylocke has posed:
Thankfully, Betsy spent very little time in classrooms these days. Her domain was more in the gym or training rooms, helping folks with their martial arts training. It was a niche she found far more satisfying than teaching Englist to people who didn't even use it. American was far different from her native tongue.

She had offered to pick up a few things that were forgotten by one of her fellow teachers, returning to the building at a slot trot and rounding through the doorway.

Which is where she stopped, a riot of color in a flying menagerie the first thing to catch her eye. In a lot of ways, it was lovely and she found herself smiling slightly.

It took a moment before she spotted Brad in the corner, a face she knew well. "This is brilliant," she called out to let him know he wasn't alone. "Practicing, playing or something else?"

Haunt has posed:
"Hi," Brad answers, orienting on her, with an automatic smile. ALL of the little paper bits freeze in the air where they are, which is fairly strange looking: stranger than the swirling behavior, really.

"Practicing kind of. I'm trying to sort them by color, not just 'feel'. Which is really hard for me," Brad answers. "I'm trying to like - link the one I feel to the color I can see, and it's a little mind-bending," the boy continues. "---by that I mean I haven't really been able to do it very consistently yet."

Brad's dressed simply: green hoodie, jeans, sneakers, and a backpack nearby where the papers presumably came from in a stack before he started to make airplanes. "Earlier I was trying to maintain the group flying while I folded, that also is really hard. I'm a little stuck on that one."

Psylocke has posed:
"You'll get there," Betsy assures him as she walks further into the room, twisting or ducking to stay clear of the hovering bits of power. It was a lot more surreal when they were hanging there, nothing suspending them.

Once she got to a desk the row over from him, she slipped into the chair there while continuing to face him. "It just takes a lot of time and patience. I personally have never had the level of control you already do. More a bull in a china shop," she added with a soft laugh. She nodded to the air littered with paper cranes. "This is and always will be impressive. Never forget that. It is good to see you," she said, stressing the visual cue. "Nice to see that is coming along as well."

Haunt has posed:
Brad immediately blushes, with a confused and unsure grin. There's a quality to Brad of zero editing: he just looks exactly how he feels. There has been no reason to be self-aware of his expressions, since he's been invisible for so long, so all of what he's feeling is on high display on his face and with his body language. He shifts in his seat, fiddles with the paper in front of him, looks around and up at the paper bits.

"I mean. Now that I can see them, it sort of puts it more in scope. It is neat. Thanks. And yeah. I'm trying to stay visible all the time, but that's a work in progress. But---" There's a pause, as he blushes a lot more, "I got to go see a movie." Pause. "With a girl." Pause. "Like normal people." Very important to him and he's very happy about it. "Only turned a little invisible during. But nobody saw. I mean. You know what I mean."

Psylocke has posed:
That gets the brightest of smiles from Betsy. She might laugh in delight for him but she doesn't want him to take it as her laughing at him for his admissions. "That's wonderful! So a momentary lapse while in the darkness but otherwise, visible for the entire event?" She uses event since it is a big thing, not just a minor moment that it might be for many teens.

"You are normal people. With a few extras," she reminds him before doing what is expected. "So who did you go to the movie with and how did it go?"

Haunt has posed:
"Yeah I had to take a little break so I just listened to that part of the movie," Brad rambles quickly, uncomfortable, but admitting his 'shortcoming'. "But I didn't poltergeist the room or anything, at least not more than a /little/." Brad fiddles with the edge of the paper. "I wanted to ask about the thing we did when we first met, you helped put something in, with telepathy, to help me? Maybe I don't need it anymore," Brad requests. He's avoiding the other topic a little, but perhaps just to think about it.

The cranes and papers start to spin around again, but they avoid impact with Betsy. They just go in circles like a tornado, though some aren't pointed the right way: a few birds are flying ass-backwards. "I went with Gwen," Brad blushes. "Went okay. I'm not sure if we're dating. I dunno. Maybe? Maybe not. Definitely maybe."

Psylocke has posed:
"Definitely maybe." It is very hard not to laugh but he is so uncomfortable and changing shades so often, she doesn't dare. Betsy gives a decisive nod, looking around to the bits of paper. Including the back-asswards ones.

"If you want me to remove anything I've put in to help you, I'd be willing. Let you test it out. You always know I can put it back in later. Although it was more helping you work through your memories as opposed to me actually blocking anything. Is that what you would like to try?" she asks, focusing back to him in all seriousness now.

Haunt has posed:
"Yeah, let me like? put this stuff somewhere so I don't make a mess," Brad answers. He starts to gather his papers up in front of him, stacking them without actively looking at them, but he uses his hands. The things whirling around starts to peel off in groups, and Brad makes a big pile on the floor in the front of the classroom, like a group of paper leaves that got all raked up into a blob.

Brad puts his flat papers away into the backpack, and then nervously sits still in his chair, looking at her again. He has large, dark, concerned eyes, framed in blonde, light masculine lashes that give him a bit of an interesting aspect: just makes his dark eyes seem darker. "I don't know. I figured maybe no crutches or whatever. If it's shit - er, if it sucks, we put it back. But like. I guess I am not certain what you did anyway. I just want to do better. And stuff."

Psylocke has posed:
"Very well. Just like last time, do you want to be able to feel my presence there? Or to see what I'm doing? Or just want me to take care of it?" Dealing with the privacy of the mind, it is best to ask those questions. No one wanted to have their mind tampered with anyone so some would prefer to 'feel' or 'see' what was happening at the hands of another. Or mind of another, more precisely.

As she asked, the light glow of the purple butterfly formed around her eyes. She wasn't going on yet but was prepared, depending on his answer.

Haunt has posed:
"Ummmm," Brad says, uncertainly. "I felt it last time and it felt really weird. So maybe this time just undo the thing and I'll be trusting," Brad laughs. He's uncomfortable but he's giving a very good effort to be less paranoid and terrified of even small shadows. A glance into his head will reveal his fear, but the bravery there too, of not quite knowing what to expect or if he'll feel it after all, like being at the dentist and promised it won't hurt. But it might hurt.

Brad suddenly disappears, though, the stress pushes him invisible, and he makes a rueful little sound but doesn't try to reappear. "I'm okay. Anytime."

Psylocke has posed:
As soon as he gives the go ahead, despite being afraid of letting her in, Betsy quickly reaches out her mind to his. There is no pain, no feeling, no sensation for him. She's just sitting in her chair with that nimbus around her eyes.

In his mind, it was a quick matter to reach the centers of his emotions. His problems had come from trying to hold on too tight. Sometimes the tigher one held, the hard it was to keep control of an item. He had to learn that balance. She had placed a few buffers, making it less difficult for him to curb those focus tendencies. They were wiped away from his mindscape with a thought. Then she was out.

"There. All done. I just had a few buffers in place so that when you would try to concentrate too hard on yourself, they would lessen it. Now it will be all you and your consciousness. It shouldn't be any different from your point of view though."

Haunt has posed:
Brad reappears visibly. He has a scrunchy-nose expression on his face. The room flutters a little bit. "---Okay. Unsure. Unsure if I feel something or I'm just nervous about feeling something so I'm feeling something, but I'm visible, so that's enough for me right now," Brad says, with a sharp little laugh and nervous pat of his hands on the top of the desk he's sitting in. Some paper airplanes have lifted back up in a mottled disarray of movement from the pile: less deliberate, maybe.

"Seems okay. I mean. Not too bad," Brad assures.

Psylocke has posed:
"it should be fine. Your confidence in your powers are growing and you are facing those fears instead of letting them fester in the back of your mind. Those are really the biggest challenges you faced so excellent work," Betsy compliments.

She pointedly does not look at the few bits of paper which have started floating. He needs to focus on the positive. Besides, that was trivial compared to the challenge he was conquering even now: Remaining visible all on his own. "Your focus is on point." She watches him a moment then nods. "Want to give it a few minutes to be certain?"

Haunt has posed:
"I'm not sure, I mean, I'm moving crap in the room," Brad comments, embarrassed. He closes his eyes tightly and puts both hands over his face, pressing into his eye sockets with his palms. "Let me try and deliberately do that on purpose," he sighs.

That means desks lift and rotate a little, shuddering. It's a creepy poltergeist result, as most of Brad's actual power use ends up being. But he's clearly trying to methodically take grip on objects instead of just mayhem. The desks sink back down, but there's still a sort of fluttering of papers. "Sorry," he huffs, still with his palms on his face. His emotions are not easy for him to control.

Psylocke has posed:
"There is nothing to be sorry for. You are doing well, Brad. This is far different from when you first arrived at the school. You will not be perfect. None of us are." Betsy shakes her head a little. Outwardly, watching him, she just seemed interested. Inwardly, it was an odd thing to watch but he was doing so much better than he seemed to think. Thus her encouraging him.

"Just be glad it isn't telepathy," she added with a teasing smile. "Nothing like hearing the thoughts of everyone in preparatory school all at once before figuring out how to shield myself."

Haunt has posed:
Brad laughs, still not bringing his hands away. "Yeah, at least this way I'm just guessing what people think of me, instead of being sure about it," Brad laughs, but he does finally lower his hands and look at them, in a sort of grounding manner. Things do flutter, but it starts to ease, as he calms down.

"What was that like? Hearing all of that? Was it just suddenly, and everybody was there?" Brad starts to move the bits of paper towards the trash cans in the room.

Psylocke has posed:
Betsy thinks back and gives a shake of her head. "Not at first. It was more whispers. I would hear things when no one was around. It was me picking up other people in the house but to me, I honestly thought I was hearing voices. Suspected I was going crazy," she admits, glancing down a moment before focusing those violet eyes back on him. "Then when I was around my family, it was like I could hear what they would think in response to things. I would act like they had answered verbally. Yet they had not."

She folded one arm, resting it on the table in front of her as she continued. "I started to realize what it was, starting to play with it. To control it. But when emotional? I couldn't maintain control and suddenly I heard everything. Think of a restaurant that is filled to the brim and everyone in there is talking loudly. That was going on in here." She tapped her temple. "And it was the thoughts of people. It took a long time to reach a point where I could control it almost without thinking. It's like a muscle that is always clenched but, I'm so used to it, I have to consciously release that hold now to be able to use my telepathy. Sometimes things get through the walls. Other times, it is like the whispers from my childhood are back, there at the back of my mind but not quite able to be understood."

Haunt has posed:
Brad sighs, "Yeah, originally I thought we had ghosts. Haunted, you know? Of course." Brad points directly towards the march of paper cranes towards the trash can. It's more comical than poltergeist at the moment, since he's arranged them into lines like they are in queue for a trash-can version of noah's arc. It's probably intentional: his unintentional stuff is just all over the place, not in ordered lines or patterns.

"But over time it does get better. Right?" Brad begs her for a yes with his dark eyes.

Psylocke has posed:
"Most definitely. After a couple of years, I was quite skilled with my telepathy." Betsy gave a look around, as though about to impart a great secret. "I was also slightly insufferable. I was so full of myself and thought I had the right to use my gift. My moral compass was sadly askew. My family helped me through that. My brother. Friends. I learned that having the power doesn't mean I should abuse it."

She thought a moment before continuing. "Once I had that figured out, the world opened for me. I have had a career as a pilot, a model, now as an instructor here." She waves her hand toward the building around them. "I tend to be an adrenaline junkie, as they call it. Action. Movement. Danger. Adventures. I ate it all up, putting myself into circumstances that probably were stupid looking back now." She gave a bright smile. "But yes, it got better. Once you get more comfortable with your control you will be able to remember that you are you. Not your powers. Not your gifts. You are still a person and not this ability you possess. Then you will be able to truly start to live." A twinkle in her eye. "Though with your date, seems you may be already starting to learn that."

Haunt has posed:
PHOOM goes the blush. "Well. Huh. Mmm." Brad laughs a little, and recovers, "So long as she thinks that. I mean. I think so. I didn't ask." He feels ridiculous, and starts to get to his feet, picking up his bookbag. His cheeks are so hot. "I sorta wanted to be back to what I was. Before I got abilities. So it's more like the opposite for me. I am me, but not a broken me, anymore. Maybe just a little dented."

Brad ducks his head, and switches out to invisible, though some of his clothes remain. He then cloaks entirely, including the bookbag. "I'm all blushing, I know." BLAH.

"I gotta go though. Thank you, Ms. Braddock." The voice is disembodied, but he hasn't gone anywhere yet.

Psylocke has posed:
"You are very welcome, Brad. I am sorry I embarassed you. It was meant to lighten the moment, not make you uncomfortable," Betsy explains. She rises to her feet as well. A brief momentary probe with her mind to confirm where he is standing then she heads for the front desk, the location that had been her intended target upon her arrival. She opened a drawer to take out a book. "You know you can come to me if you need help with anything. Perhaps you'll even sign up for martial arts classes."

Haunt has posed:
"It's okay," Brad says from invisible spot, but he comes along, moving towards the door finally. "Martial arts - I don't know. I feel like I'd rather not touch anybody. I probably can throw somebody back with my ability. I haven't harmed anybody with it before. I don't know that I want to," the boy says, lingering in the doorway, but then coughing.

"Okay, I'm going. Thanks, um. ..... Thanks." And with that, there's silent sounds of him actually going.