Logs:All About Perspective

All About Perspective
Dramatis Personae Tok, Asva
In Absentia Avi, Kavalam	2024-10-23 "Did you just disappear a tree?!"
Location <XAV> Gardens - Xs Grounds
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. It’s surprisingly warm on this Wednesday afternoon, contrasting the bright autumnal colors that paint the surrounding trees in burning reds, oranges, and yellows that would indicate otherwise. Classes have ended for the day, and sounds of students out and about occasionally drift into the peacefulness of the gardens. It’s peaceful, at least, until a yelp sounds from high in one of the trees. The tree shakes, accompanied by sounds of scrapes and branches breaking, and disrupted leaves are falling moments before Tok suddenly bursts through the lower layers of the branches. They don’t ever hit the ground however, and instead hang suspended a few feet above it from one of the tree’s lower branches, a combination of their shirt hooking on a branch, sneaker wedging solidly between two branches, and furry tail just barely curled about another, currently saves them from an immediate concussion. They grip a camera tight in one clawed hand, and bits of dirt, tree bark, sticks and stray leaves cling to the faded oversized t-shirt and too long cargo shorts they wear. In their flipped position, their wild hair no longer covers the concentration of bright red coiling blood vessels on their forehead, but does manage to cover most of their horns instead. There’s a moment where they hang unmoving in quiet shock, processing their current predicament, and after attempting to give their foot an experimental, unsuccessful, wiggle they mutter, “Ah shit.” The yelp and subsequent branch-snapping quickly steals Asva's attention from his Very Important, re-acquainting stroll of the gardens. He heaves a sigh, not yet recovered from the equally-thrilling-yet-absolutely-terrifying ride back from the airport as his feet move on their own towards the commotion. "That's an, interesting angle-" And technique, "Are you okay?" His tone is concerned, albeit slightly monotone. He's yet to truly decompress from his flight -- the arduous task of Staying Solid while in the air unsurprisingly quite draining -- and almost wishes he'd given himself just a liiiiittle more time in his room after dumping his luggage there. Tok twists slightly from their upside down position towards the sound of Asva’s voice, their head hanging a few inches above his. They manage a short strained laugh, a crooked grin showing off rows of sharp teeth, “Oh yeah. Totally. Just getting real artsy here and all that with these angles.” They say sarcastically, and wiggle the camera still clutched in their hands. They let out a huff, and attempt to move their foot again, “I’m alright! My uncle always said I hada thick skull.” It doesn’t seem to be a lie—the part about not being hurt—aside from some scrapes here and there. Tok pauses in their struggling to squint at Asva, eyebrows scrunching, and they tilt their head to the side—and then tilt it some more to attempt to get a better look at Asva from a more upright position. “Are you new? I haven’t seen you ‘round here I don’t think.” “Sorta-“ He’s distracted, gaze flicking over Tok’s pointed teeth; the horns poking through their hair — made more visible since moving into their twisted position; the bushy tail curled around a branch as if their wedged-foot isn’t doing enough to hold them up… It takes everything in him not to match Avi’s grimace from the car ride over — not due to Tok’s appearance per se, but for the unfortunate second-hand-embarrassment. Instead he rolls up the arms of his earth-toned sweater, the surprise Warm Late October disagreeing with his Canorwegian wardrobe, and crosses them over his chest, “I joined beginning of last year, but moved back to Canada after, well — my Mom needed me to take a break. Moved back today, so you’re not totally wrong.” A beat, as he watches Tok struggle to budge their foot, “Need help getting down? I look better right-side-up anyway.” Tok’s scrunched eyebrows pinch together at Asva’s correction, but they make a noise of understanding and allow themself to slump back vertical. “Ooo Canada? Welcome back then!” They spread out their arms, then allow them to drop back to hanging, “I got here end of last year so must’ve missed each other. Hope your mom’s all good though?” Blood is beginning to rush to Tok’s head, based on the way their face is taking on a bit of a reddish color. They grunt as they twist to inspect their situation, and nod, “Yeah probably could use some help. If you can get my shirt unhooked I can slip my foot outta my shoe.” They point to the branch their shirt is hooked around, then stick out the camera towards him, “Mind putting this on the ground for me? Don’t wanna break it.” “Thanks! Oh she’s fine — thank you — it was just, the whole Prometheus thing, knocked her confidence a little.” Asva uncrosses his arms immediately and takes the camera without question, placing it gently on the grass beside him, “Actually I can do you one better — if you put your arms up, down, i mean below (above?) your head and try to roll, I can free your foot no prob, shoe ‘n all.” “Oh! Shit those labs got everyone.” Tok says sympathetically, some concern bleeding into their voice. They offer a quick relieved “Thanks!” When he takes the camera, and their eyebrows raise curiously at his offer, “Oh yeah?” They scan Asva up and down, a brief guarded suspicion flickering in their eyes, but eventually a grin is sliding back into place. They bring their arms…above…below…their head, and re-secure their tail, getting ready to roll. They nod, “Alright let’s do it! Just tell me when.” “Sweet okay, on the count of three-“ He steps between Tok and the tree, one hand steadying himself beside the trunk and the other reaching out to close softly around Tok’s wrist. After a focused inhale, he counts down; letting go of the tree on “2…” and then on “3!” he activates and extends Ghost-Mode to the two of them. To Tok, it might feel as if the tree suddenly blinks out of existence as their foot phases through the branch, joining the rest of their in upside-down free-fall. Asva quickly returns them to a Solid State just by letting go of their wrist, his features twisted in a desperate Hope-This-Works scrunch. Despite the warning, and the countdown, Tok still lets out a surprised noise when the tree suddenly seems to disappear. Their tail curls tight around nothing as they fall, and at the last moment they manage to transfer their fall into a clumsy roll. They flop and unfold out of the roll with a whoosh of breath, legs slamming against the ground in a starfish pose. They stare up at the sky, blink, then laugh in disbelief. “What the-!?” They shake their head dazedly, and slowly push themself to their feet, stumbling a little but otherwise managing to stay upright. They shake their head once more, then whip their head towards Asva, “That was so cool! What even just happened? Did you just disappear a tree?!” They ask excitedly, looking between him and the tree that’s still very much there. They reach out to poke it to confirm it too. Asva chuckles, “Technically made you disappear, just for a sec, tree stayed put.” He realises he definitely could (should) have provided more details, but it’s been a while since he was around other mutants; a little showing off is mandatory. “Smooth landing though, I definitely would’ve broken something. You didn’t, did you?” His brow furrows, looking at each of Tok’s limbs in search of an unwanted right-angle. “Made me disappear?” Tok is asking in amazement, running their hands along the bark of the tree idly. “OHOH! Kinda like-” Confusion flickers across their face, reaching for a memory that’s not there. They shake their head, “Nevermind. Thanks though, I owe you, seriously.” Their tail waves excitedly a few times, then quickly wraps itself around their waist. They inspect their own arms, legs, which are decorated with scrapes and some growing bruises, “Nah I think I’m good! I used to do a lotta uh, acrobat-y. Stuff.” They explain with a wave of their hand. “Probably more like I’m used to falling, though.” They add sheepishly, scratching at the back of their head. They lean forward slightly, “But you. You, are very cool.” There’s an eager glint in their eyes, “So when you say disappear…do you, like..poof?” They spread out their fingers on the last word. “No biggie.” Asva shrugs, trading in the furrowed brow for a raised one as his entire expression seems to brighten at the mention of Acrobat-y Stuff, “NO WAY! Me too! Not so much, the falling part, but I guess every gymnast has their fair share!” Another chuckle at the compliment, “I dunno ‘bout cool, it is kinda fun bein’ all ghosty though,” Most of the time… He’s buzzing now, getting his hands involved to explain, “Yes- but also no, it’s more like - I discovered this in the labs actually - I make my own lil pocket dimension, and can like, step into it slightly to phase through stuff, or go all the way in to go invisible. Thats when I poof-“ His hands are mimicking the steps, before replicating Tok’s mini hand explosion thing. He spots the camera again with an ‘Oh!’ before picking it up, “Don’t forget this! I’d say having a tail beats all that anyway, bet it comes in handy for trapeze-“ Tok’s tail has rapidly uncurled itself from around their own waist, and waves excitedly behind them. If their dark eyes could stretch any wider they would probably begin to have stars in them, “We should-! We should do some sorta- you ever see parkour?! We should get into parkour together! And and- your ghosty stuff would be so sick for that!” Their stumble over their words in their enthusiasm, talking faster than they can process. “Oh oh!! Thanks!!” Tok’s accepts the camera, “I totally would’ve forgotten it. I need sticky notes for my brain.” They grumble, but they’re bouncing on their heels, still infected with Asva’s contagious excitement. They quickly loop the camera around their neck, and they tilt their head in surprise with a flick of their ear, once they seem to fully process something, “Heh- trapeze? Good guess. Wasn’t my main thing but I did it occasionally.” Their tail twitches a little, as if they’ve suddenly begun hyper aware of it, “Tail definitely comes in handy. Sheds like crazy in the summer though. Feel kinda bad for whoever my new roommate’s gonna be.” They joke. Sticky notes, tail fur, the evident jitteriness; it finally clicks in Asva’s head. He reaches up to ruffle the back of his hair, worried it hasn’t yet bounced back from its plane-seat flattening. The semi-grimace on his face isn’t too dissimilar to one of mild dread at the thought of shedding fur in the summer, but he quickly chuckles it away, “I uh, think that might be me- BUT that - that just makes the parkour stuff even easier!” He reassures, hoping Tok’s slight oversharing doesn’t make them doubt the interaction at all. Tok blinks, and their head jerks back a bit, “What? Nah, my new roommate is coming in toda-” They stop, suddenly remembering Asva’s earlier words about moving back today. “Wait- are you- Asva?” They ask, a little strained. The tips of their ears turn a dark reddish color and pin downwards. They bring a hand up to their face and drag down at their skin, then sigh, defeated. They remove the hand, an embarrassed half smile half wince on their face. They stick out their other hand, “Heh. I’m Tok…and clearly I’m great at first impressions.”