ArchivedLogs:Vignette - Taking the First Swing

Vignette - Taking the First Swing
Dramatis Personae Kai, NPC-Howard
In Absentia	2014-01-08 Kai ignores instruction.
Location <XS> Gymnasium
For a mutant school, this is a pretty standard gym, even if its sturdy construction to handle mutant powers is less standard. Still, it is designed along normal lines; setup for a basketball court, standard equipment -- punching bags, rubber mats, standard assortment of balls, weight training equipment, the usual fare. It is large, and as well-appointed as the rest of Xavier's tends to be. “This is a terrible idea.” Kai paused in his climbing, and frowned down at the boy – Howard – way down on the floor. Wow. He was really high up. “I do not remember if I asked what your thoughts on the matter were,” he said, fingers clenching the rope as his skinny legs wrapped around it to hold him in place. On his wrists, the webshooters clicked as they bumped together. “Besides, I am the one who is up here. You are just watching.” Safe on the floor, the other boy shook his head. “It's still a bad idea.” Kai shrugged once before he resumed his climbing. Howard was remarkably single-minded. “Peter does it. I can probably do it.” Howard frowned deeply, tipping his chin forward so that his dull brown hair fell into equally dull brown eyes. “That's not the same thing. Peter is kind of built for it. You're...well.../you/.” Kai grunted as the strain began to tell in his arms. A slow burn that he hoped wouldn't last very long. Even his own slight weight was difficult to hold aloft for very long. “I do not know what that is supposed to mean. I am built for flying.” “Not in that skin you're not. Besides, didn't Peter tell you /not/ to use them?” “That is why I am attempting this without seeking help. I do not wish to be stopped.” “It's a bad idea all around. They're going to /know/.” “Probably.” Kai was getting annoyed with Howard's insistence. The other boy was in most of his classes, but that didn't necessarily mean they were friends. But he'd been unable to shake the younger boy as he made his way to the gym, and so now he found himself with an audience for this little experiment. “They always know when Peter does a thing he should not.” He could bail. Pretend that Howard was making sense, slide down the rope, and wait for a time when there wouldn't be any witnesses. But, as he regarded the floor below, and the mats spread out carefully beneath him in a thin and not-very-protective layer, he realized he was too close to back out. His heart hammered in his chest, and he could feel Foom writhing in his prison as he dined on that sudden spike of fear and adrenaline. Approval washed over him for a brief moment; the sensation enough to bring his arm up and aim his wrist at one of the metal supports that ran across the top of the gymnasium. Taps made glue balls, Peter said. And he'd already learned that holding it down produced a string. So he held it down now. The thwpping seemed oddly loud in the empty gym, a sticky hiss that followed the released glue-strand as it secured itself. Kai gave it an experimental tug to test it, and found it holding firmly, like a thinner version of the rope he was hanging from. On the floor, Howard's dull eyes were wide with anticipation and probably shock. He didn't have any further objections, apparently, although his entire frame was rigid. “Well,” Kai said, looking down at the other boy and offering him a wan little smile. “Here goes something.” And with that monumental declaration, he grabbed the glue-strand and let go of the rope. Flying was...oh, what was the word everyone overused? /Awesome/. Kai's heart lept into his throat as the gym floor rushed up to meet him, only to be denied that meeting by eight feet and the sudden YANK of the return swing that carried him upward again. A yank that also pulled a joyous shout from the small boy. He lacked Peter's grace at swinging, but he didn't care. His legs flew around with little control, keeping him moving in a slowly-tightening circle. Pumping his legs to keep the momentum going, Kai laughed as the air rushed against his face. On the floor, Howard had nothing to say. He could only watch the inevitable unfold. Eventually, there was no momentum to maintain, and Kai allowed himself to swing slowly to a stop, hanging from the glue-strand and grinning down at Howard. “That is amazing,” he says. “I can see why it is a thing that Peter enjoys doing.” “It looked scary,” Howard offered, his expression troubled. “You yelled a lot.” “Not because I was scared,” Kai clarified, wiggling his legs and looking down with a furrow of his brow. He was a good eight feet off the floor, and he wasn't sure that dropping was the best idea, regardless of the mats or what the burn in his shoulders might think about it. And Howard was not exactly someone he wanted trying to catch him. “Um. I think I am stuck.” Footsteps met his statement. Rapid ones, moving away from him. He twisted in the air, attempting to rotate himself to see Howard again and got a good view of the gym's door swinging shut behind the other boy as he fled possible detection and detention. “Howard?” Kai called after him, only to watch the door latch into place with a loud CHNK. “/Howard/?” Kai was left there like the world's smallest and lamest pinata. It would almost be funny, if it wasn't him. He closed his eyes, and sighed. Next time, he would listen to Peter.