2445/An Odd Teacher

An Odd Teacher
Date of Scene:	14 September 2017
Location:	Unknown
Synopsis:	Summary needed
Cast of Characters:	Lara Croft, Tendril

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Lara Croft has posed:
Lara Croft was at the school late again, she was still on Light Duty assignment with SHIELD and May had just told her Sunday night that she had to abide by it, as much as it may suck to do.... Lara agreed, begrudingly.

The newest teacher at Xavier's was just hanging out in the classroom set aside for her, she was standing up at the old fashioned chalk board and was clattering away at it, writing things down on said board while reading from a tablet computer in her left hand. "Saint Eva's Church, Death Valley..." Lara quietly said to herself, exhaling lightly after she said it / wrote it on the chalk board. "Once home to the-- No that isn't right." Lara sighed and set the chalk back down on the wooden shelf at the base of the board, she turned and walked back toward her desk where her leather backpack was laying atop the center of the desk next to her laptop.

Tendril has posed:
    A voice behind you says. "Um, Miss Croft...are ya busy? I can come back..." It's a familiar voice, that you've heard gushing over meeting you back when she first ran into you in the staff area. And she's been an eager student thus far. Not a super A student, but she works hard and she does know a lot about history...good raw material, as students go.
    

Lara Croft has posed:
Lara was only so much busy as she was entertaining herself with her 'other job' rather than going back out to her Jeep and driving herself home, only to come back in the morning...

Lara was standing up at her desk and rooting around in her leather backpack when she heard the voice and looked back over at Lexi. "Oh, hey, yes of course." She said to her, then smiled and shook her head. "I mean, no, I'm not busy." The British woman corrected herself and then motioned to one of the desk's the students used, which were... an assortment of standard school desks and some normal chairs that look like they were taken from around the mansion.

"Whats up?" She asked her, seating herself onto the corner of her own desk.

Tendril has posed:
    Lexi flushes, looking a bit shy now. "Um, well...I don't want ta interrupt if yer workin' stuff out or somethin'..." She walks in a bit farther to the room. "I just...wondered if ya minded if I asked ya...about, um, stuff you've done." She quickly says. "I mean, it's fine if ya don't want, cuz people must ask ya alla time about this stuff..." She rubs her neck. "Um...so..I guess..." She smiles a bit. "I just...I'd kinda like ta hear more about ya. If..if that's not weird or stuff..."

Lara Croft has posed:
Lara shook her head lightly at the student and laughed a little. "I don't mind at all." She told the girl. "At least not from you... I mind when they have a camera and a microphone and... are only looking to make my life a living hell through some kind of scheme." Lara stood up from her desk and folded her arms across her stomach, she had on a black button-up shirt and a white teeshirt on beneath it, some black jeans and dark brown boots, all new looking clothing.

"What kind of stuff are you looking to know about?" She asked then. "My schooling or my younger years?"

Tendril has posed:
    The mauve girl walks over and perches on the desk next to you. "Well...sure...if ya wanna talk about that? I mean...I know yer father was a really big archeologist too, an' I guess he taught ya lots, before he, um.." She shifts a bit. "But sure, if ya don't mind talkin' about...how ya learned stuff an'...maybe what it was like when ya first went on a dig an' stuff?"

Lara Croft has posed:
Lara grinned a little and lowered down to sit on the edge of her desk chair and then put her hands down ontop of her knees. She noted that Lexi seemed to know the fate of her father which was surprising to her, apparently this girl had looked quite a bit of info up on her. "Well..." She started. "My first dig was actually here in the United States. My father was here for a meeting with a colleague and he sent me on the dig. I was just..." Lara glanced up toward the ceiling in-thought. "God, I must've been ten or eleven..." She put her eyes back down onto Lexi then and shook her head. "It didn't go very well." She laughed softly.

"The dig master that I was assigned too, he didn't believe me when I said I was ready for a serious plot and a large bit of land to setup my dig area relative to the stratigraphy already in-place at the site."

She paused and smiled, then shook her head. "He set me in a spot he wanted me at... at the base of a tree. He wanted me to dig a square hole... at the base of a tree..." Lara leveled her eyes at Lexi. "Guess what I ran into about half a foot into the earth?"

Tendril has posed:
    Lexi hmms. "A root? Though it'd be more poetic if ya found somethin' real cool...ooh, what kinda dig was it? Native American? Spanish?"


She squirms around to pull her legs up, sitting crosslegged on top of the desk across from you. "Heh, I think ten or eleven was like when I just was decidin' I wanted ta learn about archeology, somehow..."

Lara Croft has posed:
Lara grinend at the other. "I had wanted to be a archaeologist long before that, but my father... well... my mother, wanted me to 'grow up a little more first'." She smiled fondly at that memory, thoughts of her mother were hazey and foggy now in her mind, sadly distant.

"It was a Native American dig and yes... I ran into tons of roots. It was absolutely dreadful. And to make matters worse, the dig master... I am whole-heartedly certain was a complete and total drunk. He left the site at around ten thirty in the morning and didn't return until two... reeking of alcohol. He walked around, observing all the college students and all that they had found... One of them had unearthed the corner of an old kitchen!" Lara smirked then.

"But when he got to where I was, he just started 'barking at me' and saying 'we got ourselvs a doggy hole here!'." A heavy sigh escaped the young teacher then. "He was an awful man... All I found, other than the tree's roots, was a length of rusty metal and an honest to goodness empty whiskey bottle. LIkely, his..."

Tendril has posed:
    Lexi frowns. "What a jerk..." she says with a frown. "So ya got stuck doin' that the whole time? Awww. That sucks. But ya stuck with it anyway, huh?" she says with a smile. "I mean...ya didn't let it put ya off th' whole thing?"

Lara Croft has posed:
Lara shook her head from side to side. "My father assured me that the teacher was a complete lunatic, he apologized to me for even sending me there. But I know that hew knew it would be a safe enviroment for me to experience what true archaeology was like... at least, for the college students who weren't treated like a small 'useless' child." Lara sighed and shook her head. "Part of me understands, they thought I would just get in the way and muck things up. But they don't realize how doing something like that to a kid... those memories, don't go away, you know?"

A smile was shown then and Lara nodded once. "I stuck with it though, because of my dad. He was the positive influence on my life for it all. The little games he'd setup for me in our home back in England, it kept the spirit for it all... firey within me. -So- by the time it was my turn in college, I was... digging squares in dirt better than anyone in my class." She showed a playful grin then.

"Archaeology tends to be a lot more boring when you exclude the absurdities that I've experienced in my post-college years."

Tendril has posed:
    Lexi's eyes slit a bit, something in them suggesting she's remembering her own childhood memories for a moment. "Yeah...stuff like that sticks with ya..." she murmurs softly, then tilts her head. "Heh, well...ya had someone who knew all about it an' could show ya th' tricks too, I'd guess. An' get ya interested in stuff he'd found, maybe" She smiles a bit. "I mostly just had ta go through, like..documentaries. And, um..." She gets a faint purple flush. "...well, old Indiana Jones movies. I kinda grew up on those."

Lara Croft has posed:
Lara grinned at all of this, especially the last part. She slowly nodded her head at her. "We didn't have televisions in my home growing up. Outside of laptops and such at least, but those were never used for watching movies. And because of that... my movie trivia knowledge is very lacking. I only just saw the first three Indy movies this past spring. I was told to stay away from the fourth one." By Indy himself. Lara sighed heavily then. "I truly hope that the film they're doing based on the book that I authorized... isn't going to be horrible...." She showed a light frown then and sat back in her chair, slumping her shoulders a little. "They've taken liberties with the story, so I'm... concerned."

Tendril has posed:
    Lexi grins a bit. "Well it always gets mixed up in movies. I mean...I'm sure most of th' stuff in th' Indy movies didn't really happen like that. It's like...myths, they're always from real events but all blown up an' magicked an' stuff." She pauses. "...um, who did they get to play you, actually?" There's a faint tinge of concern in her voice now too.

Lara Croft has posed:
Lara shook her head side to side at the question after smiling softly at the other comments. "I... haven't looked. I saw an image of her, she's much prettier than I am... But, I don't know her name. I was told she's a wonderful young actress though. But thats not really what concerns me. I worry about them trudging on the memories of those who passed away on Yamatai. Or if they re-ignite the flames of the Whitman estate who want to blame someone for the death of James. Though, I've been told he's not even in the story they've crafted. So perhaps I'm just worry where I shouldn't be."

Tendril has posed:
    Lexi tilts her head, her golden eyes finding yours. "Well, ya can always think of it as....like, it's the end of a really bad game of telephone and just laugh at how messed up th' story got? They probably won't do nothin' that's gonna get them sued though. They got lawyers ta tell them not ta do that." She smiles a bit. "I'll still watch it though. I'll try not ta yell at the screen too much though." She grins, showing off slightly longer if cute little canines.

Lara Croft has posed:
Lara smiled at the student and nodded her head once. "I will have to set you up with some tickets. Its out in... February, or March... I don't remember exactly when." A breath was taken in as a heavy thought sat within the teacher's mind and she gently shook her head. "I don't think I want to actually see it. But I worry that if I don't that I'll catch flak in the public eye, at least to some degree. But... its complicated. People died on that island, lots of people... It wasn't, an entertaining time. Not by any stretch of the imagination. I can still see it all as if it happened, an hour ago." Lara's tongue pushed at the side of her right cheek as she stared distantly for a moment.

She re-focused her gaze onto Lexi and summoned up a smile. "I'm just rambling though, on thing I shouldn't be."

Tendril has posed:
    Lexi shakes her head. "Nah, I understand...I don't think anyone would think worse of ya either, if ya didn't go. I mean, if ya feel like ya need to do more, you can always donate some of th' money from it or somethin' to a good cause. If it makes ya feel better." She frowns a bit. "...I only heard bits an' pieces, but if even half of it is true...even a bit of it...it sounded pretty bad." She can't quite reach you from her current position, but..well that's what tendrils are for, as one sprouts from her forearm as she pats your hand with it gently. "An' if ya don't wanna talk about stuff, that's fine...I mean...I'm curious but...but I understant not wantin' ta dig up old memories like that. 'Specially since it wasn't too long ago for ya." She pauses, then says slowly. "Um...I don't know if it'd help, but Miss Grey is real good at talkin' people through issues like that too?"

Lara Croft has posed:
Lara watched the mutant power put on display and it made her smile softly when it patted the top of her head. "You're sweet." She said back at Lexi then and released another little sigh. "I haven't had a chance to speak with her yet, and I'd hate to lay it all out on the table and risk making her feel that I'm unstable and shouldn't be here. And I wish that I could tell you about the things that happened, because I know its a story that... from an outsider perspective is quite fascinating, but, it wouldn't be appropriate for you as one of my students to hear much of it. At least the parts that you probably are not already familar with."

Lara then shook her head side to side again. "And I am not receiving a dime from the film release, nor the video games, or... comic books. I wasn't aware of what I was signing, not entirely at least. My mind was in too many other places."

Tendril has posed:
    Lexi mmphs. "Oh, that's bullshit..um, sorry..." she says, flushing. "I mean...they cheated ya out of that? Maybe I can find someone ta help with that...I mean, a little. Like, make it so they gotta renegotiate it or somethin'."

    She frowns thoughfully. "Well..I don't think she'd find ya unstable? She's....she's really, really good at readin' people deep, ya know. An' she let Diya stay here, even though she's got some...bad memories too." She shrugs her shoulders. "It's up ta you though? But if it would help...I think she'd keep it private. Like, patient privilege stuff?"

Lara Croft has posed:
Lara showed a soft smile at Lexi and nodded her head once. "I thought I was signing away my rights to the singular story written for the book. I didn't know I was signing my name over for stories that involved me as the central figure to 'anything they wanted to tell'. Its somewhat... concerning, but I'm told its commonplace practice in this world, what with all the advanced powers and fantastic fights that go on in modern days." Lara glanced up at the tendrils. "The amazing powers, and such."

She would nod softly once more before continuing. "I will speak with her. I've been... letting my presence here become more commonplace for people. Since I am just a 'normal' human, I didn't want to barge in and make others feel uncomfortable."

Tendril has posed:
    The tendril curls up and smoothly retracts back into Lexi's forearm as she nods a little. "Well.." she notes. "It's kinda a thing that they want us ta get along with 'normal'..." She uses the air quotes. "..humans too. An yer a teacher. I mean, I haven't met anyone who's got problems with people without powers?" She frowns. "Well, except Money..." She deliberately misprounces the name. "An' she's just bitchy to everyone."

Lara Croft has posed:
Lara didn't know any students named 'Money' but it sounded like some kind of a street name, or a jokey name... kids were hard to keep up with with their silly nicknames for each other.

"I'm probably being overly cautious when it comes to these ideas I've placed inside my head on how I should be acting here at this school... I never thought I'd be teaching this early in my life. In my fourties? Yes... once my body started to break down and betray me, thats when I imagined I'd be settling in for a teaching position. But not this soon... I have much left I need to do before those wonderful later years begin." She smiled at Lexi.

"So what else would you like to know?" Lara asked then. "Or have I talked your ears off already?"

Tendril has posed:
    Lexi shakes her head firmly. "Mm, well it's not like ya gotta stop...it's more like...takin' a break. An' they got those, whatchacallit...th' sabbatical things ta go do stuff and take a break from school too, if ya need ta do otehr stuff?"

    The girl considers. "Well...um...what's the thing you wished you'd practiced more before ya got inta things? LIke the skill or whatever ya really wished ya knew more about? I've been mostly trainin' with climbin' an' stuff, I'm real good with that." She smiles a bit. "An', um, like locks an' stuff."

Lara Croft has posed:
Lara flashed a grin at the question asked of her then after nodding at the first part. "It'll likely come to that, yes, I have things I have to go do fairly soon." She replied at the first bit before moving on to the question.

"Cooking." She said then and there. "Its a very simple sounding thing, but its the God's honest truth. I was never good at preparing meals for myself... and once it started to matter, once my life was genuinely on the line... I was eating things I didn't fully know whether or not they'd kill me. And that was quite scary, you know?"

A deep inhale was taken and Lara twisted gently back and forth in her teacher chair, as it was on a swivel mount. "My mentor... Roth... He trained me in field survival, but he was... a... Well he was the kind of man who hate the foulest sort of things and was proud of it. You know? Not that I think I should be dining on steak and lamb while in the wilds, but I'd like to have known a bit more than he had taought me."

Tendril has posed:
    Lexi ahs and mmms. "...well...I've eaten some nasty stuff too." she admits. "But I kinda got a iron gut...don't get poisoned easily. But...cooking would be nice." She pats her stomach. "...I kinda gotta eat like, about three times what someone like you would, cuz my metabolism is so fast. It's..it's really not good if I get too hungry, my body starts cannibalizin' muscle an' stuff and I start gettin' real dumb up here..." she says, tapping her head. "All instinctive, ya know?"

Lara Croft has posed:
Lara grinned at the girl. "Then we have to make sure you're well fed prior to attending my classes, yes?" She asked her as she went to rise up and pick up her backpack. "All this talk of food, I realize I haven't eaten for over twelve hours. How about we head to the dining hall and see what they've got available? Unless its too late and they've put it all away."

Lara would go toward the door and prepare to lock up the classroom for the night.

Tendril has posed:
    Lexi hops gracefully off the desk and jogs after you to catch up. "Sure! Um, maybe ya can tell me where ta start with cookin'. I mean, I mostly go for quantity over, like....complex ingredients an' stuff." She slips out of the classroom to let you lock up, then smiles. "...thanks for puttin' up with me, Miss Croft. I know I'm kinda bein' a pest an' stuff."

Lara Croft has posed:
The teacher would step out of the classroom after her student and she'd grin and lock the room up for the night before she'd shake her head gently and turn toward the direction that the main foyer was in. "You can call me Lara, its entirely okay. I don't really want the formality of 'Miss' to be quite honest." It was the same thing she sand when anyone refered to her as Lady Croft, it made her uncomfortable.

"And I enjoy talking to you, Lexi. I look forward to interacting with everyon here, especiall those who seem to enjoy chatting with me." She'd smile over at the other and continue on down the hall.

Tendril has posed:
    Lexi trots along beside the older woman as she smiles a bit. "...um...okay...Lara." she says, trying it out as she grins big up at her, as they disappear down the hall towards the cafeteria.