ArchivedLogs:False Imprisonment

False Imprisonment
Dramatis Personae Jackson, Mya, Rasa, Ross	2013-07-30 Jax's first day out of the medlab is going swimmingly.
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. It's a bright and sunny afternoon. Out in the yard, Jackson is -- not doing anything much, really, but even /being/ here is a blissful change from his past few days of bedrest. He's dressed comfortably -- black terrycloth pajama pants, a cheerful yellow t-shirt with the Little Miss Sunshine cartoon character on it. He's cleaned up and freshly shaved -- both his fuzzily growing beard and his /head/ are freshly smooth; the latter bears a large tattoo across his skull to go with the plethora of other bright ink adorning his arms. Still devoid of his usual coating of illusion, he still -- doesn't look /great/. Too pale, tired shadows beneath his eye (his other is covered, today, by a glittery blue eyepatch), a /wealth/ of pitted scars etched all down one side of his face, neck, arm, leaving pockmarked deformities in the tattoos. But for all this he is /smiling/, bright and pleased, lying stretched out at the bottom of a slide, his legs dangling over its edge and his eye focused up at the sun. He has his cellphone with him; he's evidently /been/ using it recently but now it just dangles in his hand, ignored. Mya is in her usual 'almost nothing'. Which is to say, a scarf wrapped around the lower half of her face, striped purple and yellow, and nothing else. Then again, with the lack of any discernable anatomy, this isn't very disastrous. She sort of drifts down out of the sky quietly, as is her wont. Her eyes, glowing their generally curious shade wonder of the man, out loud, "It's a very nice day. The sun is nummy today." Literally. She IS having lunch. Specifically the radiation that normally flows with the sunlight is her lunch. "You look too old to be a student. Does that mean you're a teacher? Or a guest? I almost didn't come say hello, but... well... your ink... I wanted to see it closer. These eyes aren't always so great at seeing that sort of thing from far away. More data, less sensation, you know?" Just... babblebabblebabble. Right out of nowhere. Rasa is wandering out from the school building, attempts at lunch in hir hands. One hand holds a sack lunch prepared by the kitchen, which is surely bulging with a large piece of fruit, a sandwich and something less defined, which, spoilers, is a brownie. In the other hand there is a bottle of mixed protein drink, hir fail safe and back up, toda in a chocolatey brown shade. Ze pads out looking distinctly less colorful than hir surroundings. Light cement gray covers hir skin and tail, while a darker, wetter shade makes up the strands of hir hair and hir eyes. Ze is clothed in something faded blue, both in denim around hir legs and in the tee shirt that covers hir upper torso. Ze looks relatively well rested, but tired. Upon seeing Jackson, hir brows quirk upward quickly and ze redirects hir course over to the teacher. One hand lifts to wave (the bottle still enclosed in hir fingers), but ze refrains from making any sound while Mya descends. Interesting. Ze miiiiiight be staring. Meanwhile, emerging from the path leading to the workshop, is Ross. Wearing of her jackets over a blue tank top, her /newly/ trademarked fingerless gloves, a long pair of jeans, and a bicycle helmet for whatever odd reason, she is making her way towards the jungle gym. Over her left shoulder is a sling, wrapped precariously around it. As she passes forward, chewing a piece of beef jerky, she spots Rasa, Mya, and Jackson. "Hey, guys! Funny to see you here!" "Sun's always yummy," Jackson answers lightly, his eye still focused up on it before, at a delay, he shifts his gaze over to Mya. There's a brief moment of quiet as he looks her over, but his smile doesn't fade. "I teach," he confirms easily. "Are you Mya? I'm sorry we ain't met yet. M'Jax." His voice is cheerful-warm, his words coated with a /thick/ Southern drawl. His smile brightens further when he spies a wild RASA appearing. "Hey!" He pushes himself up, but only very slightly, propping an elbow on the slide beneath him. "How y'doin', honey-honey? -- Hey, Ross." His pierced eyebrows draw together, somewhat puzzled. "-- Funny? Why?" She'd have a southern Texas accent herself if her voice wasn't so 'hollow'. Being made of smoke does weird things to her avatar's voice. "Nice to meet you Mister Jax. Does the sun hurt your eye?" If the scars bother her, it doesn't show in her body's mannerisms... such as they are. She rotates, then, in midair until she faces Rasa,"Hello... Come to sunbathe as well?" She pauses to take the girl in for a moment, then flicks her gaze over to Ross, apparently unbothered by the staring as well. "Ross, I was worried about you. I found your book, by the way. Sent it with one of the younger students. Did you get it? How is your arm." Rasa is very quiet today. Ze gives a little bit of a smile to Jax when he greets hir and when he asks how ze is, ze shrugs. Ze then gives a very deep bow to Mya as ze makes hir way over to where Jax is, kneels down beside him and presses hir forehead to his raised shoulder. It's like a hug, right? The contact is brief and safe from skin to skin contact, before ze sits up and nods to Ross. Mya draws hir attention once more again. Hir food is set down to one side, taking a long draw from hir chocolatey liquid before, ze brushes hir hands off on hir thighs and waves to everyone. Even though she grew up in Texas, Ross doesn't have a Texas accent. Or any accent at all, for that matter. She turns to Jackson, replying. "Oh, no reason. Thought that was just something people said.". She then swivels to Mya. "Yeah, I'm fine, shoulder is busted, though. It'll take a few weeks to heal, the doc said. Books are bad for your health, you know." She smiles, taking a breath before continuing. "Yeah, I already got it and finished it, returned it before I got here. I'm a speed reader, you know? But yeah, my fucking shoulder still hurts, I guess." "The sun doesn't hurt me." Jackson shakes his head, glancing back up at it. "Y'eat it, too?" When Rasa joins him his smile warms; he shifts his weight to his opposite elbow, reaching out to curl an arm around hir shoulders and squeeze once, gently! Though it's also carefully lacking in skin contact in case unexpected contact would be unpleasant for the telemorph. "How's things?" he asks, and, lighter, "ain't long now till Ivan's back." He squints back over towards Ross with a small measure of perplexity. "Oh -- I -- okay. M'sorry about your shoulder, that's gotta be no fun. Y'holding up alright with --" There's a brief hesitation before he finishes, "everything?" Mya wriggles her too-long fingers at Rasa and alights on the ground, folding her legs in a 'full-lotus' position, then skips her gaze along the gathered again,"You..." She points at Rasa,"I don't believe we've met. I'm Mya." She says this like 'Maya'. "Ross, why don't you get a rest. I don't want you aggrivating your shoulder. I was kind of worried when you didn't wanna go to the doctor." She addresses Jax, now, examining his body-art,"Yes and no? I eat radiation and... most types of pollution. The sun's a good source. It's not a lot, but it's everywhere, which makes it easy for me to feel... well-fed." Pause. "I'm sorry. Who's Ivan, if I can ask?" Rasa displays a wrist for Jackson to read, warm orange creamsicle lettering appearing moments after his question. '10.5 days. not... counting or anything.' Ze gives a little smile and a shrug. When Mya addresses hir, ze pulls one hand back to point at hir forehead, the word 'Rasa' appearing in bright red, cursive writing, though probably too clean to be the teen's own handwriting. Ze then exposes both palms to the etherial one, the right reading 'Ivan is,' in the same orange ze showed Jax, while the left reads, 'is my person.' Ze keeps them up just long enough for Mya to read before tilting hir head up to expose some neck, hands reaching to tug downward on the neckline of hir shirt. 'He's in Russia' scripts itself across hir collarbones, one line plunging down where it cannot be seen. Ross is glanced at warily as ze looks up and away for Mya. Ross stretches, as she begins her climb. "Yeah, I'm fine, no problem. I heard you got injured in the sewers? What exactly /was/ happening in those sewers? Why were all those soldiers there?". As she continues climbing, she turns to Mya. "No, like I said yesterday, it's fine. I've been breaking bones since I was a child. Tis' part of my mutation, I'm like, fine glass or something.". Her foot begins to waver a quarter in the way, but she keeps slowly going. "Rasa, if you're saying, or, reading something. I CAN'T SEE YOU, OKAY?". "Ross, get down from there. Right now." Jackson is sitting up, kind of abruptly (and with a bit of paling that suggests it is still something of an /effort/); his tone isn't /harsh/, really, his gentle drawl does not lend itself well to sharpness, but it is definitely Not A Suggestion. "-- Mmm. Radiation." His expression eases back into a smile. "Ivan's a student here," is the answer /he/ gives. "Home for summer. Lots of students do. -- Counting's alright. He probably is, too." Mya frowns a little bit. As she has no mouth, this just draws down the edges of her eyes in a displeased manner,"Seriously Ross. Bad shoulder, osteogenesis imperfecta, and you're climbing? Please get down. We'd really rather have you in one piece instead of many broken pieces." She sighs and reads Rasa out loud... Sort of,"She's counting the days to Ivan's return and informing me that Ivan is her companion." Tilting her head slightly, the word 'Mya' prints on her own forehead in darker blue letters. Then she nods at Jackson,"Yep. It's why I live in the basement." Rasa smiles brightly when Mya mimics hir body art, giving her a thumbs up. Then ze looks over to Jax and rolls hir eyes with great exaggeration. Hir forearm is quickly covered with dark lettering, making it harder for anyone but Jackson to read. 'She doesn't care. I think she's punishing herself for killing her family.' Blunt, but given the limited audience, succinct. Ze then turns to take a long drink from hir bottle. Luckily, Ross can't see what Rasa is 'saying'. She turns her voice towards Jackson's approximate area. "Why? I'm fine! I'm just, going to get to the top, I guess. I brought a helmet for a reason!". She then shifts the voice to Mya. "Pfft, fuck what the doctors say. I'm having fun, and to me, that's all that really matters. Besides, I won't fall.". As she says this, her feet falter. "Fuck.". She soon gets another grip, taking another step up the massive gym. "See, I'm fine?". Jackson flicks a glance sideways to read Rasa's writing when it appears, and winces. "-- /Ah/." The heel of his hand digs at his eye. "Well, /I/ care." Though he looks kind of /exhausted/ at the idea. Of caring, perhaps? "-- Yeah," he tips his head in a nod to Mya, "They told us, when you was arriving. But you get around alright like --" His hand waves towards the smoke avatar. "You been liking it alright? -- Ross, I said get down. That weren't a /suggestion/." It takes a visible /effort/ for Jackson to push himself back to his feet, his lips compressing as he watches Ross. "/Now/." Mya prints across her forehead in smaller, stilted letters: 'Is she in trouble?' She speaks out loud a minute later, though,"We're all going to be very upset if you kill yourself trying to climb. And I think Mister Jax'll get super-po'ed if he has to rescue you. Not a lot of good options. Plus, you know, possible detention?" She frowns. "It's been amazing sir. More opportunity than I ever imagined. And everyone is SUPER nice. Like, incredibly so." She looks up at Ross. "Almost everyone. Noone has been mean, either." Rasa nods slowly and gets to hir feet, brushing off hir thighs as ze straightens. "I'm glad you care," ze speaks quietly, head bowed. Hir upper arms are emblazoned with 'can't watch, can't watch, can't watch' in an uncomfortable shade of red. Ze gathers up hir lunch and gives another bow to Mya before turning and heading back toward the school. Ross shakes her head. "No, I have to do this. Kind of. Maybe. Look, I can't explain it but I'm climbing to the top.". She takes a few more steps. "If I fall, I fall, I die, that's the end of my story, I guess. Maybe I'm cr- Okay I'm crazy, what the fuck, why am I contesting this. But I'll climb back down, I swear. I just need to reach the top.". She takes a few more steps, when she almost loses her grip, falling down a few steps. Luckily, she catches on. "Okay, there's a slight setback.". "Good." Jackson's smile is bright and warm, a warmth echoed in his tone. "I'm glad. It can be hard sometimes, settlin' in a new place. I hope folks've made it right easy for you. -- I ain't /pissed/ I just -- don't want nobody hurt -- ngh." He scrunches his eyes shut as Ross continues to climb. "Ross, you just broke your arm. Falling from that height could be disastrous for you. And I told you twice now to get down." Jackson doesn't even sound angry, here -- just /tired/. His knuckles scrub against his eye. He doesn't have much colour to him already, but what little is there drains further as a faint prismatic /bubble/ forms, slow and careful, to surround Ross. And prevent her either from climbing any further /or/ from falling backwards. It gleams in the sunlight, shimmery-rainbowy like a soap bubble -- but infinitely more /durable/, a hard solid wall that is very faintly warm to the touch. He sinks back down to sit on the slide he had been on, drawing in a slow breath through his teeth. "You're getting down. Now." Mya watches Rasa go, then turns her gaze on Ross,"Noone doubts your ability to climb to the top Ross. We just don't wanna risk it and see you get hurt, even possibly. Believe it or not, the people down here care whether you're well or not." She fixes her gaze on Jax,"That... tired you out, doesn't it? Doing stuff like that, I mean. Does... does it work the way my power does? I need... fuel. I gotta absorb enough radiation or hydrocarbons... Something that's high-energy gain, basically, so I can use my abilities. The more I use 'em, the hungrier I get." The sphere around Ross startles her, causing her to flail and fall into the bottom of it. "AAAAH FUCK WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS TO ME I GOT TO DO THIS FUCK BITCH FUCK DAMN IT". She continues to curse rapidly for several minutes, before lifting herself in the sphere. "THIS IS AN OUTCRY! THIS IS FALSE IMPRISONMENT! I DEMAND TO BE RELEASED!" She smacks her fist on the side of the fist, in protest. "GOD DAMN IT LET ME THE FUCK GO JESUS CHRIST FUCK.". In protest, she sits crosslegged, staring at Jackson in contempt. "God fuck damnit.". "I need -- so much fuel. I take it from the sun. And sugar. A lot of -- both." Jackson leans forward, resting elbows on his knees as his eye closes. He doesn't watch the bubble as it moves -- very, very slowly shifting to carry Ross, floating down towards the ground. His breath comes slower, more strained. "Not normally -- this hard just -- been. A long week." It takes a long moment before he pushes himself to his feet. Also slowly. He heads towards Ross, the bubble disappearing just as he clamps one hand down -- sort of on her shoulder. Sort of, in that there's still a definite /barrier/ of shimmering prismatic /wall/ between his skin and her shoulder as he tugs upwards. "You're coming with me. Once your arm is healed you're welcome t'climb around up here -- with supervision, I think. But right now -- Right now. We're gonna talk to the Professor. -- I'm sorry, Mya," here he sounds genuinely apologetic -- if still rather exhausted. "I been down in the basement a lot myself lately. I think I might stop by an' say hi some time when -- there's more chance to actually /meet/ you." Mya frowns at Ross, and then informs her,"This sort of temper is why I get upset with you so much, you realize that, right? Why must you fight so hard? Life can be good, if you let it... They're actively trying to make our lives better without us even doing anything to deserve it. Please, Ross... just... go with him. Don't fight it?" "You'll take care of her, right Mr. Jax? Thanks. We argue sometimes, but she's kinda the first friend I made when I got here." Her smokey form begins to unravel in slow wisps as she she begins to return to her room,"I'd really like that sir. Just make sure to follow the safety brief? I worry about people, even if the doctor set the protocols up, like, ultra-safe. And get some rest? You look like you haven't slept in years." Ross just, well, gives up. "Fine, I'll go. I don't want to be trapped in another sphere and dragged there, so..lead the way, sir?". She is obviously still upset, paces along with him. "I still have no clue what I did wrong, but I'll go.". She waves to Mya with her free arm. "I'll see you later, Mya. Maybe. If they don't lock me up forever, that is.". She smiles as she says this for a brief second, before turning back into Ms. Grumpy Pants. "Wait, which Professor? The old bald guy, right?". "I'll do my best t'take good care of her," Jackson assures Mya, with a quick brief smile. "We try to take care of all our students -- when possible. And I'll -- I'll make sure to check in with Hank first so's I know all the right safey to go through. I'll come by and see you sometime soon, yeah?" He nods towards her as she starts to unravel, and then steps away from Ross, the shields dropping once he is out of arm's reach. "Professor Xavier, yes. An' we can all sit an' have a talk together about what -- is the best way t'keep you safe." With one last wistful glance up at the sun, he starts making his way kind of slowly back towards the mansion, keeping a careful eye on Ross to make sure she is following.