ArchivedLogs:Special Needs

Special Needs
Dramatis Personae Ember, Rasa, Ross, Sebastian, Shane
In Absentia	2013-07-20 '
Location <XS> Playground
Set on the still-expansive grounds around the side of the school, this area is to the outdoors rather what the rec room is to the indoors. There's a large basketball court out here; a fenced-off tennis court adjacent. Further distant there are setups for other sports -- a large track, a soccer field. Closer in to the school, though, in its own large enclosure adjacent to the basketball and tennis courts, is the playground, a huge expanse of equipment set up on alternating plots of slightly squishy flooring and mulch. Centrally there is a large sprinkler-fountain, not always /on/ but it can be turned on with a push of a button; spreading out around this is the actual playground equipment, sturdy and varied. A huge dome constructed in honeycombed interlocked poles and rope netting rises hiiiigh for climbing; a large swingset holds four pairs of swings. A large roundabout in bright colours stands in one corner near a long see-saw. The huge bridge-and-tunnel castle structure at one end has many routes of entry, from poles to climb up (or slide down) to a small climbing /wall/. Monkeybars. Four different slides of varying lengths and spiraling. For the adventurous, between things to climb on and jump between and bounce across it is probably possible to skirt one end of the playground and back without touching the ground, though it might take a particularly adept feat of balance and agility. Or possibly wings. Right now, this morning, there are two very small blue figures perched at the /very/ top of the GIANT climbing dome. One is teeter-swaying in the rope netting as his brother enthusiastically attempts to /dislodge/ him -- shakeshakeshake! ShakeshakeSHAKE! Clawed sharks are hard to dislodge, though, he has a pretty /firm/ grip and his rubbery-boneless legs twisted through the netting. On the ground far below them there is a very /large/ duffel bag, zipped closed. Up high, though, only /sharks/. "{-- probably should get a few more carabiners, I think Spence lost --}" one is saying. They're similarly dressed today -- tan shorts that were once hiking pants but have been zipped off at the knees; one has a green sleeveless athletic top, one has a grey. "{-- we still have /some/ he only lost. Um. The best ones,}" the other wrinkles his nose. "{The school's got some stuff though, and Pa's probably --}" Shrug. "{Probably /over/packing.}" "{Aaaas usual.}" TwinBeingJostled leeeeans forward to nab a water bottle from where it is attached (via carabiner!) to his brother's hip. GULP. It's hot out even in the morning. Rasa wanders out to the playground for a little practice that morning, not up especially early, but definitely not waiting for the heat of the day. Ze is wearing spandex shorts with a loose tank over the top, the shorts black while the top is tie-dyed in neon shades. Hir skin is dark today, a sunkissed bronze, hir hair pulled back in a low pony tail with wisps of curls framing hir face. Hir tail rides high and in good humor, sticking out of the custom hole ze's put in hir shorts. Ze sets down a waterbottle at the base of the monkey bars before raising a hand to shield hir eyes from the sun and squint at the climbing dome and the twins there in/upon. "Hey guys." Ze smiles and wanders closer, leaning against the dome when ze gets close. "What's up?" Sweltering. /Perfect/. In one of the rare instances that Ember isn't layered in hoodies, turtlenecks, and fleece, the pyro is making her way across the grounds in a pair of black cargo pants -- the sort with too many pockets and fake chains -- and a baggy black tank top with 'Team Zombie' scrawled across the front in neon green fabric paint. Hands in pockets and feet in flip-flops, she's padding closer to the jungle gym. No sudden movements, or... something like that. Her lips part in what might've been a greeting before Rasa's words distract her into a sidelong glance. "Goddamn. You people make me feel fuckin' one-upped." It sounds like a genuine complaint, albeit good-natured. Skipping can be heard in the background. Ross is defintely cheerful today, listening to an iPod that she definitely did not pay for. With her ears pointing out ever so, she brushes one of them. Wearing a short skirt and a short sleeved shirt, her brown hair containing blue highlights, she begins her path to the jungle gym. She notices Rasa first, giving her a nice wave, until her eyes spot Ember. "Fuck...you're here." "Hi!" chimes down towards Rasa in twinned greeting, two sets of giant black eyes tipping downwards. "We are," says one, and the other, "-- Do you know how to rock climb?" "There's rocks," supplies his brother helpfully, "you climb them." The first twin elbows him in the ribs. "Heyyyy, uh --" "-- Ember," his brother supplies again. "Hi." "Fuck," Shane helpfully identifies himself; the twin act only lasts as long as the first profanity, "Ember, right, yo, you all want to come up? -- the shit is your fucking problem?" this last continues in the same tone as all the rest, when Ross sees Ember, as easygoing as though 'the shit is your fucking problem' is an actual /greeting/. Sebastian (in grey!) scrubs at his eyes with the heel of his hand. He reaches to reclaim his water bottle from Shane. "-- Why one-upped?" This draws a puzzled frown. "Because /she's/ not on the jungle gym, /duh/." answers Shane. "It's better up here." "Fins. Teeth. Tails. This Rainbow Brite chick. Even Kool-Aid over there's got somethin' goin' for her." There's a too-sweet smile toward Ross, bronze eyes flashing slightly as she looks toward the newest arrival. "I think I'm gonna start wandering around with my hair on fire. I feel so mundane." There's a bit of a grin now, directed toward the twins, before she tips Rasa a curious glance and then steps a bit closer to the jungle gym. "If I climb up, are you gonna try to shake me off?" There's a careful look toward whichever twin was doing the shaking. Rasa curls hands around the bars and slips off flipflops, hir feet shifting into something more two toed than hir normal five. Then, ze begins to climb. "Sure, I mean, I haven't officially done any rock climbing, but I can climb all other manner of things, so rock climbing shouldn't be an issue." Ze peels hir hands from the bars and stretches as hir feet take over majority of the climbing, hir tail acting as counterbalance as hir torso straightens to eye the other people. They receive a wave. "I'm not sure that Xavier's is a good place to be if you're worried about people one upping you." Ze glances over at Ember. "No one is going to throw you off the bars. Unless I've missed something?" Ze looks to the twins and then to Ross. Ross yawns, smirking at Shane. "Nothing.". She walks over to the rope netting, planning on climbing to the top. She looks towards Ember, confused and also slightly delighted by her apparent niceness. "Well, you're cheerful, I guess.". She begins to climb up a bit, looking at Rasa. "Uh, that was Ember who said that, not me. I think you're confused.". Her grip falters but she continues to climb. "/Fins/ oh god I don't have fins just --" Shane holds up a webbed hand, inspecting it critically. "-- Flippers," Sebastian says with a sigh. "Fuck you they're hands." Shane flops himself belly-down along some of the webbing. "He won't shake anyone off," he assures Ember. "Except maybe /me/. And you could wander around with hair on fire if you /wanted/." "Be kinda neat actually." Sebastian eyes Ember's head, considering. "I'd never need to look for a fucking light. You wanna come rock climbing?" Shane asks Rasa. "We're going with Pa later. It's going to be hot as goddam --" "-- Ember's head," Sebastian decides with a smile. "But we'll bring /lots/ of water." "And try not to die." Shane takes Bastian's water back again! Because /glug glug glug/. "I like them," Ember offers Sebastian, then snorts a bit at Shane's correction. Hands, of course. "Apparently there's some kinda 'no fire' policy," she laments, offering a small smirk at the prospect of actually following through with the hair idea. The girl makes her way up about three feet before deciding to Stay Put, angling herself to sit on the bar with flip-flopped feet dangling. "I can make it cooler, f'you want." She glances between Rasa and Ross then, and miraculously, doesn't do anything to aggravate the latter. Yet. "Sure. Rock climbing with the family could be fun, if we avoid heat stroke." Rasa muses, pausing when ze gets to the top, crouching low, with hir tail wrapping around the bars. "You guys going to be okay in this heat? I can't remember, but I know Peter built himself a suit for days like today." Ze folds hir arms and rests them on hir knees, pursing hir lips slightly at Ember's offer. "Make it cooler? How?" Ross is currently half way up, but slowly falters, getting stuck. She doesn't say anything, joining the conversation, even though she can't go higher or lower. "If there's a no fire policy...how do they cook?", she replies to Ember sarcastically. She then looks at Rasa inquisitively. "Hmm...well, she's a pyro...maybe she can also take heat /away/?". Ross tries to climb up higher, but falls, luckily grabbing onto another rope part a bit lower, meeping. "Well, this was a terrible idea.". "No fire in your /dorm/, dipshit," Shane answers blandly. "Um," Sebastian flushes slightly at Shane's answer, "they -- they don't like fire hazards in the dorms, yeah, you can cook. In the /kitchen/. On the appropriate equipment." "We might die," Shane adds to Rasa. "No guarantees. But it'll be a /fun/ death." But then /both/ the twins rivet eyes on Ember, abruptly bright-alert: "-- You can make it cooler?" This is apparently the greatest thing anyone has said to them all day, judging by the sudden PERK. "-- We don't thermoregulate well," Sebastian explains, a little bashfully. "S'like fried fucking fish all goddamn summer. If you are an /anti/-pyro too you," Shane weaves himself down through the netting; it's a convoluted process, the twins are quite high up! Kind of eeling his way down until he hangs by his knees somewhat above Ember and can offer her an upside-down closed FIST for bumping, "-- are my new best friend." "Are -- you gonna be okay?" Sebastian is watching Ross's climbing attempts with a slightly concerned frown. "I got /skills/, darlin'," Ember drawls toward Rasa, even flashing the other mutant a wink, before Ross fills in the blanks and the pyro lifts a shoulder in a half-shrug. "Or that." Then, for Ross alone, "They cook like people, not fuckin' cavemen. Last I checked, microwaves and electric stoves don't classify as open flame." The sharklings draw her attention upward once more, and she's watching with a quirked 'brow as Shane seems to swim his way down the jungle gym. "I get hotter when I do it, but yeah, it cools stuff off that's... around me." Other than watching Shane, there's no outward sign of the pyro's power. Just the sudden drop in the temperature around both Shane and the nearby Sebastian. It's gradual enough not to shock the boys -- hopefully -- but is dropping steadily until it's a nice 70 degrees F. The fact that the bars that the girl is actually /touching/ grow significantly hotter is negligible enough, considering no one else is in direct contact. Rasa pauses as Shane starts to move down under, watching him with a raises eyebrow. Ze smiles as it starts to cool, the sweat on hir brow starting to evaporate - or at least accumulate more slowly. "That is a neat skill. You're basically an air conditioner, in a way. How long can you keep that up?" Rasa starts to follow Shane down, hanging upside down by all five limbs. Ze keeps hir distance for now. Ross immediately looks at Sebastian, sweating. "Yeah, I'm fine, why?". She looks at him shiftily, before changing the subject. "Oh, my oldest brother used to go rock climbing all the time. He was never able to take me though, I was too young...". Ross shows visible guilt as she says this. She slowly begins to try and climb down, almost falling again before she stops. She looks at Ember, feeling the cool and sighing in relief. "Fucking amen, that feels so nice. Thanks!". She makes another step downwards. "Oh my god." Shane's eyes open wider. "Oh my fucking /god/ I could /kiss you/." "He'll do it," Sebastian warns this as seriously as if Shane had threatened to punch her instead. "Oh my /god/ I think I just had like. A happiness-gasm can I /keep/ you. Just. For the rest of summer. Tote around an Ember." Shane wilts downwards, hanging upside down by his knees nearby Rasa, his eyes blissfully closed. "Prettier than an air conditioner." "/And/ quieter," Sebastian points out. "-- Oh man I want a tail! -- I wonder if /that/ helps with rock climbing?" He glances down to Ross, brows still furrowed slightly. "We take my little brother and he's kinda tiny but --" "-- but /you/ shouldn't go," Shane says to Ross bluntly, "so it's probably good you never did." "It's... kind of an added feature," Ember notes with another smirk, angling herself on her claimed bit of the monkey dome to prop a shoulder against one of the vertical bars. Still perched, but a bit more comfortably. "This temperature?" She glances toward Rasa at the question. "Never really tested it, but if I stayed awake, I'd guess a day or so." Couldn't hold it so long if I was making it like... cold-cold." While Ross' thank you earns a grudging nod from the pyro, Shane's reaction has her grinning outright. "Ain't gonna stop you, but I'm guessin' I'm a bit warmer than you'd like." "You probably don't want to actually kiss her, Shane. If she's absorbing the ambient heat to create coolness, then she's going to be pretty toasty herself. Maybe even melt your face burny." Rasa pauses in hir explanation to eye Ember. "Are you okay with that? I mean, their dad can reach high temperatures without personal harm, but can you?" Ze crouches upside down to stare up at Sebastian. "Maybe. If it can get a hold on things. Fingers and toes are often more dexterous." Then there's a glance toward Ross while still talking to Sebastian. "but for balance, yes. Definitely a plus." Ze begins moving toward her. "Do you need a hand down, Ross?" Ross shakes her head. "No, I'm fine. My parents always taught me that you can do anything yourself or some bullshit or something, I don't know..what were we talking about again?". Ross slides down, reaching the bottom, apparently talking about her parents helping her. "Oh my god, facemelting. That sounds so cool. Kiss her, Shane!". She gleefully shouts at Shane, pointing towards Ember. She runs forward, jumping onto the swing. "How do you swing again? I forgot.". "There's some really interesting climbs where -- there's a few transitions that are a lot more about finding the right reach and balance than keeping the best grip, I bet --" Sebastian considers Rasa's tail thoughtfully. "-- How hot?" With Rasa's pragmatic warning, Shane is now eying Ember like this is a /challenge/. "Oh my gosh Shane you shouldn't --" Sebastian crinkles his nose. "My pa gets hot enough sometimes to melt glass. I hugged him once like that, um, /bad/ idea," Shane is grinning for it, though." "-- we heal well," Sebastian says this with /resignation, because Shane is flipping himself upright so that he can spider his way along one rope towards Ember. His hand beckons! KISS TIME. Sebastian winces, dropping backwards to hang upside down /himself/, now. "We're talking about melting faces," he tells Ross, "and rock climbing. And I think Shane just meant that -- if you break your wrist falling off the couch," he winces again, a little more sympathetically, "it might not be the /best/ of hobbies." "I'm always high temperature," Ember offers Rasa, tipping a glance toward the tailed mutant. "And I'm still cold most of the time. I do this on my own sometimes, if blankets aren't working, but it's kinda... rude most of the time. I get warmer, but they get colder. If it ain't already hot outside, they usually don't appreciate it." She tips a look toward Ross as she begins to cheer on the face-melting, and snorts audibly at the last question. "You're kind've special, aren't you?" Her tone suggests that 'special' isn't a compliment in this scenario. "I need to meet your dad," Ember decides dryly, glancing between the twins. And then Shane is coming closer -- /much/ closer -- and bronze eyes widen a bit. "Not... gonna burn you. More like... well." A hand is extended toward Shane's own, and she's pressing the tips of her fingers to the sharkboy's palm. Not hot enough to actually burn flesh, but definitely warmer than any living person should be. Feverish. Very, very feverish. Rasa returns to the upper part of the dome, moving in to where Sebastian is and bumping shoulders with him lightly, not long enough to transfer anything though. "Well, their dad teaches here, so if you're into art, you could actually have a class with him." Ze considers for a second and then, "IT wouldn't be rude if it were welcome. If you could share a wall with the twins, I'm sure they'd love it if you sucked a lot of their heat away." There's another glance toward Ross, a small frown on hir lips. "You shift your weight, sitting on a swing. First, kind of lay back and stick your feet out, then pull yourself up to a sitting position with your feet under you. Repeat." Before replying to Ember, Ross decides to do what Rasa said first. And it works, luckily. And she...doesn't fall off the swing! Success! She now, with full fury and bitchiness, turns towards Ember. "Well, fuck you, I've had a hard life, bitch.". Ross begins swinging faster, warranting a possible fall off the swing. "Just, fuck you. Fuck. You.". She begins swinging even faster, oh dear. "-- Actually," Sebastian says with a blush when Rasa explains, "/everyone/ has class with him. He teaches art and baking but, um, he also teaches the sexuality class now?" "Yeah and that's mandatory so you /gotta/ be in his class," Shane says with a grin. His palm presses back to Ember's fingertips, considering. "-- You should meet him, he burns hot all the time, too." "-- He keeps condoms too, um, if you -- happen to need. Those," Sebastian offers a little more quietly. "-- And he's /wicked hot/," Shane adds with a /brighter/ smile, "so if you gotta take sex ed, like, at least take it with a hot dude, right? -- /chick/," he's turning his head briefly towards Ross, "/great/ you've had a hard life, that's --" "-- /terrible/," Sebastian cuts in with a good deal more sympathy in his voice, "I'm sorry that --" "-- but look, fuck it, /fucking everyone here's/ had a hard life so get off your /goddamn/ high fucking horse, alright? People would like you better if you didn't waltz around like a fucking bitchface all the time. And no. Having a /hard life/ doesn't excuse it." Shane's fingers (/his/ are, actually, considerably /cooler/ to the touch than a normal person's!) close around Ember's warmer ones. He has a kind of /wide/ grin that fades to a smaller smile as he leans in! For, if Ember doesn't pull away, a small kiss. "Take a look around, sweetheart..." Ember counters Ross without hesitation, but then Shane is taking up the cause and the pyro stays thankfully silent, simply looking between the pair as the dangling mutant decides to be a mind-reader. Let the one with pointy teeth mount the proverbial attack, right? She's even lifting the hand that isn't already touching Shane's to point deliberately at the shark boy's chest. What /he/ said. And then! A kiss. The small gesture is actually returned, prepared after Sebastian's handy little warning a minute or so ago, and then she's offering an imp's grin toward the upside-down Shane. "You might owe me dinner now." There's a glance toward Sebastian now, and a barked laugh at the talk of sex ed. "I afraid it's a bit late for me, but I won't mind the view." "Ohh. I have him in the fall then. He's just going to blush the entire time, isn't he, while he explains in very intelligent and engaging ways how STIs work?" There's a pause for the angry dialog, then Rasa shakes hir head, commenting quietly to Sebastian after Shane and Ember turn their sights on Ross. Ze clears hir throat a little and rubs at hir eyes. "I think it's hard for new students, coming from their backgrounds, to be launched into a school where they are actually 'normal' again - for the given value of 'normal.'" Ze slips hir legs into the grid like structure they are hanging from and begins to hang from hir knees as well, giving hir feet and hands a break. Hir tail stays engaged, but is a little playfull, tugging at different holds almost boredly. Ross's hate for Shane obviously, showing on her face, grows for Shane tenfold. "Did you fucking force your fucking father to burn your house down and kill your entire family? Lose everything? Be forced onto the streets because you couldn't fucking control your power? HUH? No, I didn't fucking thing so, bitch.". She swaps positions in the seat to look away from them, flipping Shane off without looking, though she may be flipping off a slide instead. She begins crying from the memory, before brushing it off and swinging faster and faster. She reaches her top potential speed in about 30 seconds, just swinging back and forth, back and forth. Back and forth... Shane grins brighter still when the kiss is returned, a sharp flash of sharkteeth that might be disconcerting though his manner is languid-easy to counter this. "-- Oh, he's like. Mad professional when --" "Yeah, he barely blushed at /all/ giving/ us/ the, uh --" /Sebastian/ blushes though, nose crinkling up. "It's not just STIs, there's lots of talk about consent and. I don't know having /fun/. What lube to use. S'cool I saw the curriculum it's not /dumb/ shit," Shane assures them. He's starting to wriggle himself down, now, towards the ground with a /huff/. "Oh my /fucking Frith/ get /over/ yourself, you do /not/ want to go down this --" "-- a lot of people here," Sebastian is sliding down the ropes, too, more monkey than eel in his easy swing from rope to bar to rope, "have -- I mean, that sounds really rough, I'm sorry, but maybe you should --" "Talk to a fucking /shrink/, we have two," Shane's teeth-baring doesn't look quite so friendly now that it's irritable. "-- the counselors might be helpful," Sebastian agrees more gently. "They've had," he says with a little more diplomacy, "quite a lot of experience dealing with kids who've been through really rough circumstances." "-- I don't know what the fuck is normal here," Shane at least sounds more amused for /that/, glancing up at upside down Rasa. "Maybe we're just all fucked the hell up." "Does this place have a special needs class?" Ember questions as she watches Ross break down, 'brows knitting with what seems more annoyance than concern. "'cause, seriously, I think she qualifies. Also, Xanax is a fucking miracle drug." She makes surprisingly little commentary about the house burning aspect of the story, instead letting her attention drift back to the other three. The dynamic between the twins seems to amuse her, judging by the faint smirk as she watches them swing about. Rasa... well, Rasa is still an unknown. Rasa releases hir grip on the dome entirely, dropping to the ground with a quick flip midair, so that ze lands on all fours, something more animalistic - or at least more Nightcrawler - in hir form. Ze sighs, straightens up, and steps out from underneath the dome, heading over to where Ross is swinging. "Hey, you maybe should calm down a little. Slow down. Come on. We can head inside and maybe play Mario Kart or something, okay? Would it make you feel better to kick my ass at that game?" Ze frowns as the girl continues to zip by in front of hir like a mad pendulum, hir shoulders tense as ze watches. "Yeah, that is terrible. I'm sorry you had to go through it, but now, at least, you've got people who will be able to help you learn how to control it, yeah?" Helpful Rasa is helpful? Ross sighs. Ross tries to scream back at Shane, but has nothing to say, really. Instead, she leaps off the swing, flipping them off, and running away, heading towards her dorm, like the little insecure child she is. She trips, but luckily does not harm herself and just gets up, continuing running. She eventually reaches the main mansion building, and goes inside. Atleast that's over, right? "Unfortunately, no." Shane scrubs his palm against his face. "Jesus Christ." Sebastian exhales heavily, leaning back against the jungle gym for a second but straightening quickly. He stoops to scoop up their large duffel bag. "Um -- if you want to -- go help her uh --" Frown. Froooown. He watches Ross run off uncertainly. "-- More fucking power /to/ you," Shane grumbles to Rasa, "you have the patience of a fucking /saint/. We're getting Tay and Dai and Ines and Jax and climbing some goddamn rocks and you /should/ come because it'll be more fun than that mess. Do you," he examines Ember critically, "have any love for --" "-- physical exertion? Some people hate it," Sebastian says with a quick smile. "But we bring lots of food if you'd rather just lounge and have a picnic. It isn't a long hike." Ember's sigh is somewhere between exasperation and relief as Ross runs off, and she's glancing back to the others. "Seriously," she offers Rasa, apparently in agreement with the saint bit. She looks to the twins then, bronze eyes flickering back and forth as they finish each others' sentences, before she offers a wry smile. "Not really up to the whole hiking thing, but thanks. Really." When Ross runs off, Rasa looks perturbed and wanders over to the monkey bars instead, grabbing hir water bottle and doubling back. "Nah, I'm with you guys. I just... Sometimes, I have to try, right? I mean, I was upset when I came here, but... well, I at least took help." Ze shakes hir head and takes a long drink from hir bottle before leaning against the dome. "We taking off now?" "Sometimes you have to try," Sebastian agrees with a small smile. "And sometimes," Shane says with a /brighter/ one, "/fuck/ 'em." His head jerks up in a nod to Ember. "See ya, then. If we --" "-- don't die. Oh gosh, maybe --" Sebastian bites down on his lip. "-- Maybe we could hire you. As the official rock climbing club /mascot/." Shane looks like he is seriously considering this thought for a moment, reluctant to wander toooo far from Ember. BUT. Climbing calls. He slings an arm around Sebastian's shoulders, calling over to Rasa, "Yeah, we're just --" "-- gotta collect the others. Then. Going." Sebastian offers Ember a quick smile. "See you!"