ArchivedLogs:Happiness and Memories

Happiness and Memories
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Dramatis Personae Mallory, Thomas
In Absentia	2013-10-29 Lunch in the garden, with slight overshare.
Location <XS> Gardens
From indoor gardens to outdoor, though without the protective greenhouse glass the back gardens do not last all year round. Still, the gardens out here are well-tended and well-worth spending time in, as well. The paths wending through the beds of flowers and herbs and vegetables spread out through the school’s back grounds, tended by students as a credit class. Benches offer seating and a small pond is home to koi and turtles, as well as a few frogs. At the far back edges of the garden, a droning buzzing marks a few stacked white boxes as beehives. Even during the lunch hour, with the sun high overhead in the clear blue sky, the air holds a crisp autumnal chill. A soft breeze rustles through the fiery hued foliage of the trees, dislodging the driest of the leaves with each gust. The outside gardens are quiet this afternoon, the cool breeze keeping most of the students and staff indoors to enjoy their meals. Additionally, the fading greenery and increasingly bare shrubbery of the garden does not make for the lush lunching spot it had in the warmer months. Of course, some people don’t seem to mind the cold quite as much as others. Mallory has apparently escaped the library for once, taking a sizable boxed lunch with her out to the gardens to enjoy her food in quiet. She is seated primly on one of the benches near the small pond, ankles crossed, and the box of food - a stack of grilled cheese sandwiches and fries, with apple slices, a rice crispie treat, among other things apparently - balanced on her lap. Dressed in mostly black and gray, per usual, Mallory wears a long, many layered gray skirt with a black lace overlay, paired with a dove gray silk shirt topped with a nicely tailored black blazer to ward off the chill. Or, at least, because it compliments the rest of the outfit decently enough. Her long hair is pulled back into a neat plait that extends nearly to the base of her tail - though the tail itself is beneath the skirt, for once. Mentally, there is a little bit less near-constant chatter from the librarian, although the softly crooned lyrics from a bygone era echo occasionally from her mind, accompanied by cheery humming aloud. Her attention is focused mostly on the slow movements of the koi in the pond, her steaming thermos of tea held in both hands, seemingly forgotten midway to her lips. She seems pleasantly lost in thought, though exactly what is on her mind is, for once, guarded from passing observation. With a page boy cap, a tan sweater vest over his navy blue button up shirt, and a pair of dark slacks, Thomas makes his way out into the gardens to enjoy the weather. His breath is steaming the chilled air, despite it being too warm for most people’s breath to have a chance for it though. Chewing some form of protein bar as he walks, he glances over the falling foliage in all its bright colors with a relaxed sigh. Of course that relaxation takes a slight pause as crooner lyrics broadcast into his mind, and he shakes his head with a slight smile. << Sister dearest, I wouldn’t mind so much if you remembered the lyrics correctly, >> his mind projects as he gets into view of her, raising his hand in greeting. Thomas looks her over a moment, nodding a bit to himself and he heads closer anyway, figuring he didn’t need to avoid anything. “I keep forgetting I don’t need to hide what I am here. Buying cigarettes to be props is such a habit, you’d think I actually was addicted to and smoking the damn things.” He produces a cigarette from his breast pocket at that, rolling it in his fingers, then placing it between his lips. “If nothing else, it makes the steam less suspicious,” he says, puffing out a burst of air in a rather convincing smoking simulation. Mallory glances up at her twin’s approach, smirking, the humming quieting as he approaches her position. << I know the lyrics, thank you very much. >> she shoots back with a steam-producing snort that accentuates her demonic appearance. << I’m just… trying not to blatantly broadcast as much. There’s… a class. It was recommended after someone pointed out that I’m a bit too loud. Mentally. >> Mallory shrugs, finally taking a sip of her steaming tea. Granted - now that she isn’t as blatantly hedging her mind from Thomas, the remaining lyrics start pouring through in its entirety, albeit quietly - I’m Beginning to See the Light. Occasional flashes of memories come across the link with the singing, thankfully vague: laughter, conversation. The song, however, seems to be stuck in her head, a fact now unfortunately shared with Thomas. << Sorry. >> she apologizes, with a sheepish look, taking a moment to actually eat some of her lunch, not elaborating on which part of the sharing she was sorry for. Her nose crinkles slightly at the sight of the cigarette, asking with laughter, “Really?” Mallory shakes her head, taking another sip of her tea, her breath steaming the air faintly, “Expensive props - even if you don’t have to buy that many of them. You could just not buy them, I suppose. Getting close enough to winter that the steam doesn’t really need much explanation.” There’s a faint smile, and her tail twitches beneath the hem of her skirt, “Truthfully, the thought of hiding what I am has barely crossed my mind lately. Granted - I barely leave the grounds.” Accompanying this, along the open channel, is a pang of disappointment, but also a swell of anticipation and excitement. She gestures at one of the neighboring benches, smiling brightly, “Care to sit a spell? I’ll even let you have some of my lunch,” this is said with a skeptical glance at the protein bar, “Grilled cheese sandwiches are a bit more palatable than same old protein bars day in and day out.” Shaking his head at the song stuck in her head, Thomas counters with the theme song from doctor who, before he grins and quiets his own mind. “Its not a problem, practice makes perfect. And mainly I just kinda picked it up due to being in public so much, and trying to avoid going off. Quiet the mind, relax, try not to think of anything.” His thoughts are fairly blank, if anything a white emptiness. “But the techniques they are teaching in the class are good too. Just keep it up and don’t worry too much.” He shrugs and finds a place to lean on to talk to her. “And as I said, habit. From first days of Uni till I got my doctorate, I had to keep up the disguise. And if you have a cigarette, people ask to bum them off of you. Thus, replenishing stock.” He sighed as he looks to it. “And it was disguise of scent for using my powers just as much as hiding my breath once it got colder. That, and people would think it odd if I only smoked when it got colder out.” At the gesture to sit, Thomas goes from leaning to sitting on the bench, putting a leg up on his knee as he watched her curiously as her emotions shifted the spectrum. “And I eat more palatable things than this, I just ya know, supplement the calories, and it helps replace any missing tissue.” Theres a projection of a skeleton in a business suit << Though it would make a good costume if I could suffer the hunger. >> << Oh, gee, thanks. Now I'm going to have that stuck in my head too. >> In time with the grousing, the two songs mash up into a not-quite-pleasant discordant haze, gleefully played back as a form of payback. Despite the mental grumbling, she smiles impishly as her mindscape fades not to white noise, but to a pleasant sunlit glade with a doe standing completely still at the center, blocking the vast majority of the music and thought that would otherwise be broadcast to Thomas. "Actually easier to keep this going around anyone other than you. Not... used to trying to block things from you," Mallory says quietly, with a faint wince as she concentrates, ultimately sighing slightly as she attempts to maintain the psychic screen saver. << Granted, you already know that. >> "Eh. Plenty of people only smoke when it gets cold. Internal warming or some bollocks like that," Mallory says with a snort, a faint memory of the initial chest pain that precedes her transformation making the placid mental image shake. "Bah. You and Aloke both with those dry, flavorless calorie bricks," Mallory laughs disdainfully, her nose crinkling slightly, a faint glowing warmth filling her mind at mention of their co-worker, "I may need the extra calories, but I refuse to resort to those. I /lived/ off of those for the first year away from home because I didn't know how to cook. Still wouldn't call my wanton destruction of ingredients to be cooking, but it is better than those." A bemused smirk at the mental image and she shakes her head, chuckling. << Brother dear, we both come with ready made Halloween costumes, without having to starve ourselves. Fairly certain we're capable of scaring the skittles out of any trick-or-treaters we'd meet. Outside the school, anyway. >> << Ack, hoisted by petards and such forth >> Thomas makes a face, then shakes his head with a chuckle. “Its alright, I just know you don’t want to share too much when its a bit more common. It was different when we only had to worry about each other, but now we’ve got an entire school that might be disrupted, or just listening in general.” He lets out a sigh, and leans against Mallory a moment affectionately, then shrugs again stealing a few fries. << The world is a different place than we grew up thinking. Both for the good and the bad. >> “And they aren’t Flavorless, it tastes exactly like cardboard covered with crap chocolate. So like the poorest quality digestive biscuit.” Thomas grins at her, an Eddie Izzard voice going through his head. “Besides, I need more than you anyway. So unless I schedule a seven course meal every few hours, these are easier. Bulk buy from a warehouse store and I can keep my body weight easier, without disrupting classes for meals. Its not like I can keep food in the lab after all.” He snerks at her halloween thoughts and shakes his head << Hmmm, I don’t think we’ll see any trick or treaters here at school anyway, and none of the students are too terribly scared. I think it comes from having people like Herr Wagner, Doctor McCoy and ourselves, as well as some of the students. I imagine Halloween in the world outside will become terribly different if mutants ever are accepted in the open. >> << Serves you right. I will win every time with the ear worm game. Need I remind you of my undying love of the Spice Girls in our youth? >> Mallory grins wickedly, laughing, although she (thankfully) refrains from regaling poor Thomas with any of her repertoire. The mental defenses she had been trying to keep in place start to waver as Mallory falls back into old habits. When Thomas leans against her, she gently bonks against the side of his head with one of her curled horns, chuckling quietly to herself. << Uh huh. And here I thought you were enjoying your crap digestive biscuit. At least they have good chips here. >> She pops one of the fries onto her mouth, chewing thoughtfully as her mind wanders aimlessly for a moment, the cheery warmth and song lyrics returning softly. << There are good people in the world. Things are dangerous, yes, but not all things in the world are so bad. >> A faint, happy sigh, and the taste of good curry, good wine, and another echo over foggy conversation - though she winces faintly at this potential overshare, doing what she can to stifle it. "Doubt it. Think I heard mention of a Halloween dance for the students," Mallory says with a grin, "Heh. Halloween already is different. So are conventions. We may be freaks in day to day life. But there are some costumes I can pull off far easier than a human can." She shifts her legs, hooves clicking against each other momentarily - accompanied by an image of her, albeit pale blue, in full costumed armor. There's a flash of camera in the memory, and a faint smile graces her lips. << Pft, I am just trying to play nice. I spent many a year in crap college pubs, and I could unleash the terrors of Tom Jones upon you. Fear the combined might of What’s New Pussy Cat and It’s Not Unusual >> with each pronouncement of title coming as the refrain. Thomas shakes his head though and lets out a sigh. “If nothing else, I like that we are close by here. I had forgotten how nice it was to have my other half.” He knocks her horns affectionately, then sighs looking up at the sky. << And I’m better at projecting, so don’t knock my protein bars too much or you’re going to taste crap digestive biscuits soon. >> Thomas nods at the shared memory of food and conversation, a warmth of okayness at the share, combined with his own pub memories of fish and chips and the shouting at football with the hooligans. “Dance for the student probably means them having the teachers act as chaperones. Though its nice that they can have a fairly normal school life here at least.” Snerking at the costume share, he shakes his head. “I played dress up every day for a decade almost. I don’t know if I’ll bother. I wouldn’t know where to get a costume that isn’t crap in only two days anyway.” << I may not have as many years in pubs as you did, brother of mine, but I made up for it in the last bit of time as a graduate student. I will not hesitate to replay my friend’s poor karaoke talents. She was an experimental music minor. It sticks with you. >> Mallory laughs aloud, her mental voice cheerful and comfortably warm, and she drapes an arm around Thomas’s shoulders in a brief hug. “I admit - I missed you too. Never realized just how quiet everything can be when I’m apart from you. It’s… good. To be back together,” she says quietly, a flood of memories of childhood play and companionship blipping through her mind as she speaks. There’s a defensive laugh and she shakes her head, “Oh, god no, anything but the crap digestive biscuits!” She raises her hands and snorts, breathing a puff of white into the cool air as she laughs << No fair. I shared an excellent curry and wine pairing - I do not deserve to get punished with foul cookies in return. >> The thought of curry brings forth a more clear image of the evening in question, though still fogged at the edges with a wine flavored haze blurring the conversation topics and images, a permeating warm glow to the memory. Mallory smirks slightly at the dress up comment, “Fair enough. I had to dress up, too, you know. Just, even harder to cover. I looked like something between a burn victim and Madame Vastra. Seriously - I think I had dresses in the same damn style they show her in on the show.” Shaking her head, there’s a shrug, “Chaperone, yes, but we’re stodgy old British professors. I doubt the students would be shocked if we didn’t dress up. Keeping up appearances and all that stereotype stuff.” She chuckles, shrugging, her speech accompanied by images and references to be shared, “I’m sure we could throw something together if you really wanted. But, that said, I think just enjoying a chance to be /you/ is plenty. Heaven knows we’ve spent long enough trying to be what we aren’t.” << Ech, not Karoake, that’s almost as bad as a footballer’s team anthem. Geh >> Thomas’s face at the tortures are appropriately disgusted, and as she laughs he sticks his tongue out. He smiles readily though and leans into the hug a moment, nodding at the shared memories. “Could be worse, remember the time mum gave us cod liver oil? I swear that was horrendous. I don’t care What vitamins are in it.” His brow raises at the wine buzz in the memory though << Perhaps you should avoid the booze hazes. Might get you a bit toastier than you would want. >> “And I know, but you at least could hide at home for the most part. They trotted me out to every event they could justify me wearing any form of head wear to. I think most people assumed I must have been bald with my desire not to remove my hat.” Thomas let out a sigh, keeping bald head images from his mind. “We can always say we’re dressed up as stodgy old british professors? I can see about some stubble at least.” << Stodge stodge stodge >> comes across with humor. “And yeah, we’ll see how it goes. I haven’t gotten any memo saying it was mandatory. I guess we’ll see then.” << Victory! >> Mallory grins widely, throwing her arms up in the air with a laugh, though she quickly puts her hands back down to catch her food before she upends the chips all over the garden. “Oh good god. I had managed to clear /that/ from my mind. That stuff was /horrid/! I swear mum just did that to torment us - vitamins be damned,” Mallory pulls a face as she speaks, sticking her tongue out at her twin. Mallory snorts at his concern, shaking her head << It was a couple glasses of wine over dinner with A… a friend. I know my tolerance well enough, and while alcohol does make me burn faster, it doesn’t make me any warmer than normal. >> Dark eyes regard Thomas with a solid look, sharing a memory of a series of benders in graduate school, with only one of them culminating in combustion, a touch of defensiveness in her tone << It makes me no more dangerous than I am day to day. >> She crinkles her nose at the thought of Thomas bald, laughing aloud “Oh, goodness. You would look horrible bald. You’d have to go back to wearing hats all the time again.” Mallory runs a hand through her own thick, dark hair, grinning, “You can dress up as stodgy as you want. Looks natural on you.” Sticking her tongue out again and laughing before she takes another bite of her grilled cheese, rolling a shoulder in a shrug. << I’m vaguely curious to look in, even if it isn’t mandatory. Not like I’ve ever gotten to go to a school dance. >> “See I told you it could be worse. At least crap digestive biscuits are theoretically meant to be consumed by human beings.” Thomas shakes his head, and offers up a shrug and steals another fry from her basket. << Inebriation lowers inhibitions, and self control. What would happen if we hurt someone because of being drunk? You might kill someone, I would only leave them with the feeling of being burnt alive, well that and the feeling of not actually having a body. Being an amorphous cloud is pretty weird even when you get used to it. Phantom limb syndrome except, imagine having an itchy nose, with no nose, and no arms to scratch your nose. >> Thomas sticks his tongue out at her as she laughed at the bald talk. “I Like hats anyway thank you very much.” He adjusts the pageboy cap he had on with a smile. “Yes yes, I know, it would be so difficult to dress stodgier than I normally do, but I am sure I could find a way. I’ll dress up like father, and find a fake mustache.” He twirls an imaginary mustache as he projects a snidely whiplash figure. << Its terribly awkward. A bunch of young men and young women hiding in various corners till someone gets up the courage to awkwardly fumble about the dance floor, while others awkwardly make out. And the students who are already shy just feel worse about it. All in the spirit of encouraging Social behaviour. >> Mallory sighs, and closes her eyes, pangs of faint regret echoing in her mind << I know. Just… sometimes I want normal. A glass of wine over dinner and conversation, without worrying that something will go horribly wrong. >> The memory of her handprint, seared into Aloke’s arm, the shudder of remembered pain, contrasted by the warm, glowing thoughts of the night of conversation and laughter into the wee hours of the morning. Perhaps a sense that fire wouldn’t have been the outcome of lowered inhibitions - though that thought is thoroughly stifled and shoved away - the only sign of it a deepening color in Mallory’s already red cheeks. Mallory latches onto the continued topic of Halloween costumes, forcibly keeping the previous thoughts to a dull whisper in the background of her mind. “Oh - I don’t know. I imagine you’ve got a tuxedo with tails and all manner of proper, exceedingly stodgy attire,” she laughs, nudging Thomas with her shoulder. << So pretty much just like it is in books? Good to know I apparently missed out on nothing by being left at home. >> Thomas offers Mallory a sympathetic pat on the leg and a wash of sympathy over the connection << I wish for normalcy too sister. But I haven’t even been on a date. Remember, I was still supposed to pretend I was completely normal healthy and human. Which would be rather ruined if any of the protective layer of makeup got washed away. >> There is a snerk at the overshare and he shakes his head. “I think you may need a few more… ah… classes in your psychic defense. I don’t think I want to know How your dates turn out sister dear.” He clears his throat at that, ahemming abit. Glad for the distraction of Halloween costumes, he nods abit. “Of course I have one, and a regular tux too. Far too many Events with mum and dad, and well, doctoral thesis schmoozing. On the plus side, at least I got to use those ballroom dance lessons they wanted us to know… oh right, sorry.” He glances down to her hooves, with a bit of embarrassment over the connection. << Pretty much, though from what I have heard from some of my other classmates who have gone into instruction, the new dances are practically orgies to crappy music. So thats the alternative we have to look forward to. >> A visible wince contracts Mallory’s features when Thomas points out that he has never even been on a date and she bonks her head against his briefly, sympathy making the return trip over the connection. << Was. Our family is thousands of miles away now - I think you’re within your rights to get out and do whatever the hell you want to. Date, don’t date. Just… don’t feel obligated to hide anymore, brother. >> His admonishment of the overshare gets a deeper blush and she closes her eyes, forcing the connection to drop as best she can, saying aloud, “Sorry. Been trying. But old habits are easy to fall back to.” “Hah. See - totally capable of increasing the stodge ten fold. Alternately, looking like a sinister villain,” Mallory laughs, raising her left hand to twirl an invisible moustache, mirroring Thomas’s earlier action. “Alternately, if you’ve got a top hat somewhere among the mass of frippery your masquerade among High Society and academia - you could pull off an impressive steampunk costume in just a few days,” she grins, letting an image of a Victorian styled outfit with gears haphazardly strewn over it, sarcastically adding, “Just glue some gears on it. Totally works.” She seems determined to keep her mind walled off as best she can, relegating her to speaking her thoughts about dancing aloud. “I can actually dance. Halfway decently, I might add. Just… as with most things, I have to adjust for my gait. And it looks a bit unusual,” Mallory offers with a shrug and a smile, “But I doubt that would come up, if what you say about the popular dances is true.” << I know I can do so now. But the question is, do I date without hiding, or with hiding. I’m so used to it when I am out in public, its almost automatic to start doing so. And who would date me looking as I do? >> Thomas shrugs at that, then smiles at her blush. “It’s alright. I just don’t want you to share anything you don’t intend to share. Personal intimate moments, are well, just that.” He lets out a sigh, not exactly having anything to share in that regard. “I could do the top hat and tails, I could probably acquire a cane from somewhere as well. But without the monocle it just looks dashing, not stodgy. Its the monocle that really does it to be honest, otherwise it just comes across as Fred Astaire.” The suggestion of steam punk causes him to pause though, Thomas’s mind running through the gauntlet of chemistry equipment. << I do have goggles and a labcoat if nothing else, but no, I wouldn’t want to ruin anything by gluing gears on it. I’d rather just look victorian, which is sadly not really much different than normal fancy menswear these days. I guess that is the point of the Timeless look. >> He nods a bit at the dancing comment, then shrugs again. “I don’t think they would want teachers dancing like that among students anyway. I can’t say as I know the theme of the dance though to know if anything in particular is appropriate music and attire wise. I’m sure they have enough chaperones one way or another if we didn’t wish to bother.” Mallory snorts, and looks at her twin with a heavy sigh, setting her food aside before she wraps both arms around him in a hug. << Thomas. Give yourself more credit than that, please. Don’t give up so easily. Heavens, if someone is crazy enough date me, despite nearly setting him on fire at least once, I’m certain there’s someone out there who would find you to be a catch. >> She smiles at him, letting her hands drop back to lap, a cynical note to her voice, “I know. I’m trying. Truthfully, I never would have thought this would be an issue, least of all for me. For the same reason you just mentioned. Who would date freaks like us?’ Shaking her head and smirking at the mental image, Mallory responds, “Oooh - mad scientist. Definitely a good look on you. If you care to dress up.” She shrugs, chowing down on her food quickly, as though remembering it was there. “We may end up not having to even set foot,” there’s a mental snort at this turn of phrase, “Near the dance. Solves both the costuming issue… and the distressing dancing styles of the average American teenager.” She crinkles her nose up at that, smirking, “Regardless. I suppose the both of us need to get back to classes and all that. I’ve got a paper due for my students tomorrow - need to be available for questions from them. Last minute as it is.” Thomas nods at the statement, but there's still a mental shrug accompanying it. << Its more the looking issues. And the current climate of New York. All the anti-mutant sentiment sorta makes it harder to just decide to go out to places on a date. >> He pats her leg again at the cynical note and statement. “Hey, just be happy that you’re happy. I just don’t want to know any details about things I would rather not be seeing… Or feeling.” He shakes his head at a quickly censored thought as his brain white walls. “Mad scientist is too easy. It just looks like what I would wear in the lab at Uni. Hell, its what most of the lazy science majors went as, till people started spritzing black light reactive stuff onto the coats. It...left some interesting explanations to be made.” Thomas nods at the statement of not needing to attend, and he raises up from the seat. “Yeah, I should see about running some more simulations. I was planning on using that holo chamber. Ah.. Holo Deck? Danger room?” He offers a shrug at that. “Either way, was planning on demoing stuff for the kids in that, easier to show stuff all blown up to macroscale, get the visual learners more keyed in to it. Good luck with the papers, hopefully the grammar won’t be too poor.” Mallory smiles, a happy warmth emanating from her mind as she rises to her feet << I know. I am apprehensive, I admit. But I refuse to be limited by the circumstances of our birth. You shouldn’t be either. >> Chuckling, Mallory nods, “I want a glow in the dark lab coat. That is /awesome/. Well, an all over glow. Splatters of black light reactive goo is not good.” With her free hand, she gestures towards the mansion, “Come on. We’ll head in together. You can tell me more about these simulations - I’m honestly curious to see how that would work.” Without really waiting, knowing he’ll walk with her, she starts along the path back to the school, the faints strains of music echoing from her mind again amidst a cheery, bright glow.