7155/So. An X-Man, huh

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So. An X-Man, huh
Date of Scene: 07 April 2019
Location: Xavier's School, Westchester, New York
Synopsis: Logan talks to Laura about being an X-Man.
Cast of Characters: X-23, Wolverine




X-23 has posed:
Laura is standing out behind the school, enjoying the warmer spring weather. Her concession to it has been to swap out the black turtleneck for a black tee. Other than that, the black jeans and ankle boots remain. As is usual, she's silent, merely observing, saying nothing.

Wolverine has posed:
    Downwind. Normally it's the angle someone would use to approach someone like her, presuming that she relied on her sense of smell so strongly. Not knowing that since it's a point of vulnerability it likely gets more of a glance now and agai to make sure her surruoundings are secure. Logan knows this. Which means she likely knows it to.
    So it's not an attempt to sneak up. More an attempt to approach in a way that doesn't set off any red flags or suspicions. And then when he lifts his voice from some small distance, it serves more as just a traditional greeting since likely by that time she knows he's coming.
    "Laura," Just her name offered. Logan stops as he walks up to stand about five feet to her right side, looking off across the school grounds as if trying to espy what she might be considering. One eyebrow cocks a bit as he looks at her sidelong, "Howsit?"

X-23 has posed:
    She does. Trained from birth to be a Weapon, she knows to secure herself. She's scented him, wind or no, by the time he starts to get close...that scent is too notable. Too like her own. She turns to look at him, interestedly. "Things are well. Or well enough. How are you?" she asks, considering him. His posture. His body language.

Wolverine has posed:
    A hand lifts, fingertips flaring as he gestures to the side as if brushing her question away, since to his train of thought his own situation at the moment isn't hugely important. He's Logan. He endures. "Well enough."
    A few steps are taken as he walks to one of the old stumps in the ground that he'd marked with a wrap of twine during the winter, casually pushing it with one heavy boot and frowning as it shifts under the earth. "Heard they made you an X-Man." He kneels slowly, tracing fingertips along the old decomposed bark and frowning to himself.
    "Didn't know you were anglin' fer that. How'd that happen?"

X-23 has posed:
    "It was irrelevant." Laura answers. Not what you usually hear from someone who made it to be an X-Man. "The school was attempting to enforce a curfew, to protect students. I do not need protection. My presence was more useful in the field, to combat our enemies, and save people. I informed Mr. Summers that I would be ignoring the curfew, regardless of school policies, and that if I had to leave the school to do so, I would. He instead decided to promote me." She seems unconcerned.

    "I suspect it was a loophole, to not have me leave the school, but keep the policies in place for the others. I am not like the others."

Wolverine has posed:
    "Well," Logan remains kneeling there, considering the stump for a few more moments, then lowers his hand and extends a single claw with a faint /shingk/ into the ground, severing several of the roots as he then pushes on the stump again. It moves more easily and with tha the seems satisfied. The blade disappears back into his forearm with a whisper of metal. "Wasn't exactly how I figured it might happen,"
    Rising to his full height, the Canadian mutant turns and looks to her with a gaze that is contemplative, his gaze drifting down then back up again. "But now that yer an X-Man, what does it mean ta you?"
    Arms crossing over his broad chest, Logan tilts his head to the side to consider her. "Or just a means to an end ta do what ya want?"

X-23 has posed:
    "I never needed permission to do what I wanted." Laura says, looking back. "I spent all my early life doing what other people wanted me to do. That ended when I left the facility. I will do what I..." She hesitates, looking for the right word. "What I think is right."

    "And that is what it means. It facilitates my ability to do what's right. I...did a great deal of harm. I have much to do before those scales are balanced. This is the best means to achieve those ends."

Wolverine has posed:
    Eyebrows lift a bit as he considers her words, still looking at her with that frank regard with his arms folded over his chest. But then he nods a few times, looking away and to the side as he ponders. One hand lifts to drag a thumb along the underside of his lower lip before he shifts his weight to the other boot and says, "S'good reason ta want to do what's right. Ta try and get back against some of the harm you've done."
    He turns to face her and says, "For me when I started the whole thing, I sorta viewed it the same way. Run along with the chuckleheads and do what good I could despite them mucking it up." His lip twists slightly, perhaps sharing an insight that rarely others are privy to.
    "But here's one of the short cuts I was tellin' you about." Ever since they had that talk some bit of tiem ago. "The whole X-Man thing. It's not just about completin' objectives, hittin' the right targets. That X, when ya wear it," He takes a deep breath and shakes his head for a moment, as if having never expected to have this talk with someone.
    "But it makes you a symbol, kid... Laura." He checks that term of address, smirking a little. "It makes everything you do magnified, and it makes everything carry a weight that normally you wouldn't feel. At first it kinda stinks. It feels like it strangles ya, ya gotta do all this nonsense for a... school of thought."
    Another deep breath, "But in the end, it's worth it."

X-23 has posed:
    She listens. "I know you and I have had different experiences, in some ways. But we have similar ones too. The...idealism surprises me. And I don't know that I have it. Not yet. I don't...feel things, the same way that others do. Even the same way you do."

    A wry smile quirks her lips.

    "But then, you have had many more years out of the project than I have. Perhaps I'll get there."

Wolverine has posed:
    "Ehn," Logan gestures to the side, discomfort hidden but clear in his manner, and if anyone can read that in him it's her. "You scratch a cynic and underneath you find a broken idealist." He refolds his arms and takes another breath but then smirks back at her as he says, "Don't go around scratchin' cynics though just ta prove my point." Not that he expected her to do so... mostly.
    "Just wanted you ta go inta this with open eyes and to know how things can be." He squints as he looks away, but then shifts his attention back to her, "Just promise me this, though." He brings a hand up to point at her, not demanding, more just as if trying to guarantee her attention.
    "You get the desire ta wander or run off, ya talk to me first." There's a beat and then he adds, "Unless I'm, off doin' god knows what."

X-23 has posed:
    The girl considers. "I'm reluctant to promise that to anyone. But...I suppose if anyone should have some sort of claim on knowing where I go, it should be you. I would not exist if not for you."

    She gives a nod, and looks back to him. "You realize...there is an opposite claim. I should know when you are out, putting yourself at unneeded risk."

Wolverine has posed:
    The older mutant had been about to turn and start to walk away, figuring the conversation was over. But then her last few words chase after him, giving him a moment of pause as he looks back at her with a quirked eyebrow. She can see his expression shift a touch introspective before he meets her gaze again, those same blue eyes and all. "I wouldn't exactly consider any of it... 'unneeded'."
    But his lip twists when he considers that that statement, might not be entirely truthful. So he holds up a hand already, signalling his surrender as he says, "Alright alright," His smile is wry as he adds, "Reckon if anyone has the right ta make that request s'you. Fer the same reason."
    He stuffs his hands in his pockets and then starts on his way back to the mansion, "Now don't go gettin' all mushy on me." There's a hint of a smile in the tone of those words even as he continues walking away. He adds finally over his shoulder, "Seeya 'round, Laura."