ArchivedLogs:Moving Bodies

Moving Bodies
Dramatis Personae Kurt, Rasa
In Absentia	2013-05-19 '
Location <XS> Lake
Bright, bright, bright; the lake glitters wide and expansive here, stretching off into the distance. Sunlight, moonlight, starlight, it catches them all. Lapping at the rocky shore, its deep waters are frigid in winter and cool even in summer. A stone pier stretches out a ways into the water, wide and smooth, though often icy in winter. The water teems with life nevertheless, home to myriad species of fish that provide for ample fishing or just lazy watching on a slow summer day, for those who want to take a boat from the boathouse out to the center of the lake, or perhaps lounge on the pier and try their luck. Mid afternoon finds one Rasa Djalili down by the shores of the lake, sitting in the grass, wearing a denim skirt and a long sleeved gauzy shirt in yellow. Hir skin continues to be mottled blue and green, the green still a very fierce green and reminiscent of the creature from Oscorp. Betwixt top and skirt, a blue tail continues to keep the young metamorph company, enjoying the feel of the grass around hir from a new and different perspective. In hir lap, ze cradles a napkin and a brownie, swirled with caramel. Beside hir a large tray of the same hang out, still warm and smelling wonderful the closer a person gets to hir. It's like laying out a trap for elves. Kurt has a terrible weakness which comes in the form of basically any baked goods, ever, a weakness which is constantly preyed upon by all of the people at the school who are inclined towards baking. Kurt likes to be outside, finding more comfort in the out-of-doors than being cooped up in buildings and places that don't /move/, so he's already been spending his post-Church Sunday enjoying the weather. The smell of chocolate and caramel, well... He doesn't bamf closer, possibly out of respect for Rasa's sensibilities, or maybe so that he does not disrupt the sacred scent of brownies. Instead, Kurt trots through the grass, barefoot as normal. When he runs like this, he runs like a raptor on the balls of his feet with his strange heels lifted, and there's an almost exaggerated spring to his step. His tail works to maintain his balance and the general air of cheerfulness, sweeping left-to-right like a counterweight. "Rasa! Guten tag!" Whether the trap is fair or intentional, it is unclear, but Rasa is not at all bothered by the not so sudden appearance of one Kurt Wagner. "Good afternoon to you too, Mr. Wagner." Ze replies, hir attempts at cheerfulness not quite reaching the same mark as Kurt attains. Ze is half way through pulling a bite sized chunk of chocolaty caramelly goodness away from the whole in hir hand when ze pauses in thought. "Would you care for some brownie? Mr. Holland made me an entire tray but I don't think I could eat all of it all by myself and they are much better warm." "If you are offering, I will happily accept, although I don't want to take your treat from you, so if you are not really willing, I understand this also." Kurt smiles, coming up next to Rasa to drop into a loose crouch. The position really looks like it ought to be more uncomfortable than it seems it is. Although Kurt's eyes are generally featureless, there's still visible concern in them as he gives Rasa a bit of a look-over. "You are still green in places...are you not feeling well?" "I had a long talk with Mr. Holland about what happened. It kind of brought up some unpleasant memories." Rasa gives the tray of brownies a little nudge toward Kurt, nodding in a renewal of hir offer. "Please. I cannot eat them all." Ze pulls hir hand back, tilting hir head to look up at Kurt, brows raised. "I am sorry to cause everyone so much concern. It was not my intention at all." Kurt turns his gaze to the brownies for a moment; his fingers aren't the most nimble, and so he has to be careful in extracting the baked good from the tray, especially given it's covered in gooey stuff like caramel, which does not get along well with fur in most circumstances. Once that task is completed, the elf rocks back on his heels a little, trying to catch stray caramel-strings in his mouth before they get to his fur. "Rasa, liebchen, I do not think you need to apologize. We all make mistakes. Things happen. I do not think you could have known there was such a wild creature in the Tower, ja? Everyone got out safely, this is what matters." "He has contacted me, Mr. Wagner. He has found where I live." Rasa admits hollowly, continuing to nibble on her brownie. The eating is more mechanical than anything. "I've told Mr. Holland and I'm supposed to meet with Professor Xavier, discuss what to do about it. It's still very unsettling." Ze looks over at Kurt and studies his expression. "But I know I am supported by the school." Surprise comes first, before that fades into thoughtfulness. Kurt looks Rasa over and then his golden-eyed gaze turns outwards, sweeping over nothing in particular on the grounds. "He has contacted you? The monster? I admit I had rather assumed he didn't have such faculties, but I suppose..." His tail flicks behind him suddenly, vaguely heightened anxiety made manifest. "...I am the last person who should be judging based on appearances. Perhaps he is not a monster at all." He gives his head a little shake, glancing back to Rasa. "Ja, of course you are. That is what we are here for, nicht wahr? Her Professor is a very wise man, I am sure he will have some advice for you. In the mean time I would suggest you do not respond to him. Herr Gruen, I mean, not Herr Professor. He might know where you live but that does not mean he can get to you here, necessarily." "The monster lives inside the mind of a very rich and powerful man," Rasa explains, exhaling. "I do not know if I have captured the attention of the man or the monster, or both. Either way, I do wish to remain close to those who have my best intensions in mind, which means the school and its teachers and students." Ze presses hir lips together and furrows hir brow. "I have caused you distress again. I am sorry." "Ah." This is all Kurt says to /that/, but it's entirely possible he's already drawn a few conclusions. He listens to Rasa speak, taking a bite out of his brownie as he does. His tail continues to twitch against the ground as if in irritation. Hir next works, however, make him laugh, a light chuckle of sound. "Not especially. I mean, perhaps a little, I do not blame you for it. One cannot go through life without being a little distressed sometimes. I worry, ja? Not all men have good intentions and I do not wish to see you harmed." "I... thank you." Rasa replies shyly. Ze stuffs the rest of hir brownie in hir mouth and chews quietly. Eventually, ze speaks up. "What classes are you teaching this summer, if any? Do you leave during summer vacation?" Ze turns and peels a little more brownie out, half of a square this time, and transfers it to the napkin in hir lap. "I... haven't decided what I am doing yet, this summer, but if I am restricted to campus indefinitely, I should probably maybe take some classes." Kurt smiles at Rasa, the expression almost indulgent behind half a brownie. "I have a little more free time during the summer, but I do not have all the time off in the world. I am teaching catch-up versions of all of the German classes, as well as the class on Christianity and the Acting class. If no one signs up for one of them, though, I will have those periods off. I imagine I will find something to do around here, I still find myself very uncomfortable going into the city undisguised, and in the summer I am warm enough just in my fur." He glances to the student next to him with a thoughtful expression. "Were you thinking perhaps you would take one of my classes?" "Perhaps I will look over your German class description. I have been avoiding the subject of foreign languages as I have my parents' tongue, but another language would not actually be detrimental." Rasa considers and then turns hir concerned attention on the elf in earnest. "Please tell me something. If you had a significant other who spoke to you in a language you did not understand and when you told them you'd be willing to learn it -- but they only asked you not to... what would you think? Isn't that... limiting in a relationship?" There is a brief period of silence from Kurt, as he considers the question. His tail goes from 'anxious' to 'thoughtful', a pattern more easily read by someone who has had a tail of their own for a little while. "I grew up in an environment where many languages were spoken." He prefaces, tone just as thoughtful as his expression. "I learned German and Romani at the same time, I am equally skilled in either. Also I learned Russian and English, and a little Latin and French. I found...language tends to be less of a barrier than most people think, when communication is vital. One of the trapeze artists who started about the time I was old enough to perform was Swedish. He did not speak a word of any of the languages that were common in the caravan. Still, I got my point across, he got his...and slowly we learned words and phrases to communicate with. I do not think it is /possible/ to be long-term in a relationship with someone, be it friendship or otherwise, and have them speak to you in a language you do not know, and not start to become familiar with it." His eyes tip back to Rasa, looking hir over slowly as if searching for clues in hir skin tone. "But I admit, my mind misgives a little. For me...if I were to be dating someone, I would wish it to be a partnership. A joint effort at tackling the troubles of the world. Language may not be the be-all, but it is very essential to us as human beings, I would wonder...worry...why was I not allowed to understand what my lover was saying? Perhaps there was some falsehood they wished to hide from me? Was I being decieved?" "I do not know why Ivan does it. He seemed to indicate that it was something that made him special, but I still do not understand." Rasa continues on the subject, having definitely noticed the shift in Kurt's mood from his tail, the benefit of having adopted one. "He speaks Russian because he is Russian, but sometimes, when he is not happy with things, he starts speaking in Russian. I could guess that he wishes to speak and speak a lot because he is upset, but he has spent so much time cultivating a persona of being quiet and incommunicative, that when these moods strike, he wishes to not be understood. There is this part of me which wishes him to be comfortable and to do things in the manner in which he likes, but at the same time, there is the other part of me that wishes to understand my... person, especially when he is unhappy." These words are also considered, absorbed into the dark fur of the German so that he can give them due thought. "Americans especially can have funny sensibilities." Kurt says eventually, watching Rasa out of the corner of his eyes. "I am sure you have noticed. All these little boxes they wish to put people into. They think, love is romantic or it is not at all, one is either gay or straight, a girl or a boy, no gradiants or spectrums. Likewise...they are afraid of things that they think might 'corrupt', never realizing what it is that truly corrupts is something they are ignoring at the center of their society. Alcohol, sex, language, they are afraid of all of these things. It tends to have an effect, I find, on how you behave in America. In Germany, profanity was not terrible much an issue. I try to avoid taking the Lord's name in vain, but not due to being German. I curse. Almost always in German, because it is easier to get away with here. People do not know what you are saying so they pretend they do not think it is 'dirty', even though in context it could not mean anything else. Perhaps in part this is something of what Ivan is thinking." Kurt looks out over the grounds again, now finished with his brownie and rubbing his fingertips together to clean any caramel from his fur. "Or perhaps...he believes you see him in one particular light, and is afraid of what might happen to your relationship if you see him in another. I can understand this fear. Often, I feel it, especially with persons I have gotten to know on the internet, or over the phone. I do not sound so strange, after all, but how will things change when they see the real me? Yet...I cannot be in a relationship with someone who does not know the real me, who loves me /because/ of it as much as anything else. Perhaps you could sit down and tell him, your feelings will not change even if you understand he is saying very dirty things when he is angry. If he continues to speak Russian around you there will be no preventing you learning it, I think." "That is a true statement," Rasa replies at the end, listening quietly during the longer explanation, taking in the words rather than trying to respond to them all at once. Ze draws hir knees up to hir chest and hugs them to hirself as ze contemplates. "I do not wish to change him. I hope that is clear. But I also wish to be close with him." Ze rests hir chin on hir knees, tail continuing to swish thoughtfully. "I also understand what you mean about seeing the real you. I consider this a lot. There are times that I can pass for normal looking, but I am much more myself when I have all of my color and my 'arts.'" Ze looks out toward the lake and smiles a little. "I like you just the way you are. I feel that you have a very kind heart and a lot of wisdom and I really respect you as a teacher and a friend. I look forward to knowing you for many years." Ze pauses then looks at Kurt. "There is one thing... I am not exactly empathic." Kurt laughs, there, and it is the sound of a man who might be blushing, if it were possible to see him blushing. Given he is a very dark blue in color, however--it isn't so obvious. His eyebrows lift over his lamplight eyes, and as always, Kurt defaults to a joke. "Oh, you mustn't say such things about yourself, liebling, I think you are very empathic, you understand the feelings of others quiet readily and respect them, which is the most anyone can ask. As for the flattery, well, thank you. There are many who do not share your opinion, so I cherish it." "No, well. maybe. But that's not what I'm trying to say. When you introduced me to Kitty, you said I was an empathic metamorph. That.. isn't exactly correct." Rasa stretches out hir legs and slowly turns to get to hir feet, hands clasped behind hir back. "I don't know if you didn't tell her because you were trying to hide what I am or if you misunderstood, but I am actually a metamorph with touch based telepathy. I read the minds of those I touch and duplicate, but... I did not read your mind when I duplicated you because I was rather distracted at the time. I felt I should be honest that I used my power on you without your permission." "A bit of misunderstanding, I suppose." Kurt says philosophically, leaning back a little on his heels and watching Rasa thoughtfully. "I had meant your emotions show on your skin, ja? When you are embarrased, you turn red, and so forth." The elf's tail thumps against the ground, and it is clear for a moment that the German is carefully picking his words. "To be entirely technical, I did not ask you, either, before I teleported you. I appreciate you telling me, and I appreciate that you did not go digging into my mind...but if we are in danger, and you think that using your power on me could help us get /out/ of danger, consider yourself to have my permission in that case. Just...there are things in there which are very private, which I prefer not to discuss, of course. If you find them, I would appreciate you leaving them alone." "Yes, I will. I will do my best to never find them, but if it happens, as I am terrible at telepathy because I loath to practice, I will leave them alone." Rasa nods formally, turning it into a partial bow. "I appreciate your permission in advance. It... is really nice." Ze gives a smile, some of hir green melting into more fleshy tones. "I guess there are no very clear terms to describe my abilities. Your description of empathic metamorph does indeed work. I just hadn't thought of it before." Kurt smiles, his head shaking. "You will never get any better if you do not practice. You ought to find someone you are comfortable with practicing /with/, if only to be able to learn to keep things out of your head when you do not want them in there." The elf's tail moves about, here, to gesture to one of the places on Rasa's body that still bears green. "I do not think there is a neat way of saying what I am either. I teleport, I am very hard to see in shadows, I stick to walls, I am hyper agile, and of course, I have all of this going on." One hand lifts to indicate his body. "I like the sticking to walls thing. It is very fun to climb trees with your hands, feet and tail." Rasa smiles a little more, cheering further. "I do not mean to seem forward, but when I say I like your body, I do not mean in a sensual way, but in the fact that the sum of your parts has a very interesting and unique feel when I take it on. It is a very nice and useful body and I am glad to have met it in my way." Hir hands stay clasped behind hir back, hir tail drawing close as ze fends off embarrassment. "I can also be a sharkboy, which I have yet to take swimming. I keep wanting to try out the gills, but it is a very weird concept for my brain to embrace, so I shy away from it right now. Giving up air! It is hard to really conceptualize." As Rasa speaks about the merits of being shaped like Kurt Wagner, Kurt himself picks both hands up to examine them scrutinously. "It has its downsides. This body, I mean. Telephones are difficult. Those verdammt touch screens do not appreciate fur very much and my fingers are so large I mistype constantly. This is only the surface of it." He curls all four of his fingers back against his palms, letting his hands drop to dangle off their wrists, propped up by his knees. He still hasn't moved out of that uncomfortable-looking squat. "But I do not know how to be any other way. This is how I have always been. To imagine life with more fingers, or without my tail? Ach. I cannot do it. I am what I am. In the end, I am very fond of it too." The expression Kurt wears is a very rueful one, looking at Rasa out of the corner of his eyes. "Well, think of it his way, perhaps. You do not need /air/ so much as /oxygen/. Your lungs pull air in and extract the oxygen and expell everything you do not need. With gills, it is exactly the same, only you are pulling the oxygen from water and pushing out the water you do not need. Not so strange." "Perhaps you simply need technology to innovate for you. I bet if we took the concept of the original phone keypad, where multiple taps on a single key produced one of four or five characters, then one could have a larger surface to tap upon a touch screen and less chance of accidentally striking another key." Rasa pauses and wets hir lips. "Sebastian would have a way to do it. When we find him, we shall talk with him about altering your input screen." Ze gives a little shrug an a somewhat winced smile. "I have - less to hold on to, in matters of defining myself by body, as it changes when my mind changes. I once asked Ivan to describe me, and all he could say is that I am ... me." "It can be done already in most phones, as a standard feature, but there is a reason why phones moved away from this. It is very tiresome to have to push the same button four times to get to a letter." Kurt's mouth curls upwards in a lopsided way, fondness in his strange eyes. "I use voice-to-text often, but then it struggles with my accent. Such a trouble! This is why it is easier for me to simply talk to people, face to face, provided they can stand my face." Something about the way he phrases it makes it clear they don't always. "I appreciate the attempt, though. I make do. I am sure I would be myself still in another body, I would only...feel as if I was in a stranger's body. Because I would be, I suppose, this is the body I have. It does not change. I do not see anything wrong with that, just as there is nothing wrong with the fact that yours does." "Hmmm, but where to stenographers and court reporters keyboards fit in? They have fewer keys." Rasa ventures before the subject is changed, growing silent as he verbalizes some of the things ze struggles with. Ze considers for a long while before moving back to the brownies and capturing another for hirself. "Yes. There is nothing wrong with the fact that I change. I wonder if I only feel distant from people who don't change because there are so few of us who do." Kurt shrugs at the mention of the stenographer keyboards, his expression clear: he has no idea what those even look like. He does smile a moment later, however, and move like he might have been about to pat Rasa on the shoulder before he remembers uninvited touching is probably bad. "Nein, no, I think...I think it is because you are human, and a teenager. This is the normal state of things. We often believe no one else has ever gone through the particular experiences, hardships, and circumstances we have. Who is to say? Perhaps there is some truth in that. But difference does not mean a lack of empathy." "Oh shit. I've been diagnosed with being a teenager? How will I ever survive?" Rasa's reply is equal parts sarcasm, mild annoyance, and keen amusement. Ze laughs a little and shakes hir head. "Hugs are okay. I promise. Just, touching skin to skin has reprocussions. I generally try to stay covered, so hugs remain okay." The motion is noted and encouraged. "If you are very determined, you may make it out the other side. I managed." Kurt says conspiratorily, his tail flicking with motion again. When ze gives him permission to hug hir, he brings it around to facilitate a loose embrace. It might have been weird in another context, but somehow Nightcrawler manages to make it seem like a perfectly natural gesture. "I was serious, about the telepathy. You should not have to remain covered unless you choose to. Find someone you are comfortable working with, do it in small doses, ja? I think it would be better for your peace of mind." "Well, it's one thing to be able to control it, but another thing to be surprised by it. Sometimes, just a little bit of fabric goes a long way in crowded school hallways." Rasa wraps an arm around Kurt's waist and leans into the embrace. "I do have people, generally. They just keep... disappearing. Right now, there is Shelby when she is at the school, and Ivan, when he is not afraid of eavesdropping." Nodding his head, Kurt moves his arm a little to allow Rasa to lean against him better. "I understand, I think. I am glad that you have people who can help you. I think being a teenager is probably hard enough without having to deal with mutant powers, but this is only rumor, you understand, I wouldn't actually /know/." "Perhaps one day, I will get consent to ask some teenagers without, and then read their minds and discover the truth to confirm your statement." Rasa chuckles a little and continues leaning. "So, tell me, are you ever going to teach the trapeze at the school? Or must we all run away to the circus to learn that?" "Trapeze is a winter physical elective!" Kurt has an answer all ready and waiting, his grin spreading easily over his face. "Acrobatics and You: The Physical Element of the Circus Arts.' I thought it waas a very catchy name. I don't know that I meant to start on /trapeze/, however, one requires a certain amount of literal groundwork before doing aerial. If you are thinking about running away to the circus, avoid the Jardine Circus in Florida." Such a sudden darkness in his voice, which is abandoned just as quickly. "Why, are you interested?" "Yes, of course I'm interested," Rasa replies. "I have taken very much to the physical classes held at the school. I am in every gym class, have signed up for Danger Room simulations before I have reached the age minimum, and spar with Logan. I feel like all of these classes help me get to understand my changeable body better and help me with my grasp of it. Trapeze would be like flying. Who knows. Maybe I will have wings some day and this will be instrumental in learning how to fly first." Ze leans over and picks up the brownie tray. "More brownie?" Kurt laughs again, and his tail flicks in absent amusement where he's had it tucked around Rasa's body, mindful of hir own tail. "Well there are different kinds of trapeze. There is the flying trapeze, which you must have others to do, really, and there are static, solo trapeze performances, which are more demonstrations of balance and contortion than any kind of 'flying'. But..." Now the elf's grin is more far-away, something very distant but fond in it. "I have never flown except for in an airplane, but I think it must be very much like it. There is something amazing to me in being able to say to gravity that I will come back later, it doesn't need to bother right now. Something very thrilling in the risk, especially if you are working without any sort of safety net, which I absolutely do not recommend, of course. Have you ever considered free-running?" "One should work up to the risk, definitely, with good training and expertise, right? Or the ability to teleport before reaching the ground?" Rasa smiles as ze listens, the light in hir eyes dancing with amusement. "Oh! I have considered it, but do not know how to gets started. I have seen many videos on the internet of people doing free-running and parkour and I am intensely fascinated. Do you know how? I would love to learn... well, everything. Solo trapeze work, flying trapeze... free-running... Hang gliding. Surfing. Perhaps skateboarding, but I am not sure. There are pluses and minuses to having the wheels strapped to your feet ... or not." "The ability to teleport is /cheating/, and no susbtitute for a mastery of one's body." Kurt says this adamantly, flicking his eyes in Rasa's direction. "I was never very good at staying still. I have never tried anything like...skateboarding or surfing, I cannot ski." He picks one bare foot up to wiggle its two toes at Rasa as if to indicate why. "And I have never hang-glid. But free-running? It is basically gymnastics using the world around you as your springboard. Ja, I can do that, I am very good at that! Acrobatics are a core skill, and sticking to walls helps. Here." The elf moves his tail, now, so that he can pull his phone out of a pocket. After a few moments of very concentrating button-poking, he has a video queued up, which he tries to pass to Rasa so that ze can see it better. "Presume if it shows up in here, I am capable of doing it." He says this with utter seriousness. Rasa watches the video with a growing smile on hir face, hir head bopping quietly to the music that accompanies the video. "This. This I would like to learn," ze remarks as ze hands back the phone, excited. "I would take it as an extra curricular class, if necessary, an after school activity. I do not wish to ask you to teach extra if you do not have the time. I just... it would be amazing to know everything. Some of these flips, I would fall on my everything if I tried." Kurt smiles, watching the video over Rasa's shoulder. "Ja, I fell a lot when I was little. Having a prehensile tail helps, but it is not everything, as it turns out. One starts small. I would be willing to try to teach you what I know. A lot of it, for me, is natural, either a part of my mutation or something I learned so young that it might as well be. I am not certain how well I can teach some of these elements, but I will do my best. This is perhaps the /best/ part about being shaped like Nightcrawler." "Ah, perhaps it is good that I can be shaped like Nightcrawler sometimes. I can learn how you do it naturally, then see if we can convert it into different forms, for other students?" Rasa draws in a deep breath then exhales, smiling shyly. "You will likely figure it out fine without that. But... now I should go. I have some homework to finish up before class tomorrow." Ze picks up hir belongings and starts moving toward the school once more. "Thank you so much, for everything." Although he doesn't stand, Kurt does incline his head towards Rasa in something like a bow. "You are very welcome, my friend. If you need anything, you're welcome to knock on my door any time. I'll look to my schedule for the coming summer and see what we can work out. A pool can stand in for a net in some occasions, although I admit wet fur is no more fun than wet denim." "Then we shall all wear spandex." Rasa laughs, waving as ze goes.