ArchivedLogs:Flash in the Pan

Flash in the Pan
Dramatis Personae Rasa, Ducky, Aloke	2013-09-05 Aloke needs help! Luckily, two students are there for him.
Location <XS> Lake
Bright, bright, bright; the lake glitters wide and expansive here, stretching off into the distance. Sunlight, moonlight, starlight, it catches them all. Lapping at the rocky shore, its deep waters are frigid in winter and cool even in summer. A stone pier stretches out a ways into the water, wide and smooth, though often icy in winter. The water teems with life nevertheless, home to myriad species of fish that provide for ample fishing or just lazy watching on a slow summer day, for those who want to take a boat from the boathouse out to the center of the lake, or perhaps lounge on the pier and try their luck. Aloke is here now, sitting on the end of the dock. His khaki pant legs are rolled up past his calf, and he is dangling his feet in the water. Beside him, apparently forgotten are sketch pad and pencils, a mug which is no longer steaming, his phone, wallet and keys. It seems he emptied his pockets before sitting down out here. He’s leaning back on his elbows, face to the sun, just sitting quietly at the moment. As Rasa has been at the school all this time, ze doesn't exactly need to do much with student check in activities today. Ze opts to take hir free time to wander the grounds for the millionth time, circling the lake in a well worn circuit. Ze spots Aloke on the pier, but does not disturb him. Instead, ze deviates from hir routine and slips off hir shoes to wade out into the shallows of the lake. The bottom foot or so of hir jeans gets wet immediately, the cotton absorbing and dragging the water up toward hir knees. Hir shirt is a bright orange and simply fit, with no real decoration. Hir skin takes on a silver metallic hue that glows in the sunshine - while it lasts, the clouds starting to build against the horizon. Aloke looks up from his musings when he sees Rasa out of the corner of his eye. He smiles, and waves at hir as a greeting. He glances over to his side to double check his things hadn’t wandered off while he was daydreaming, and turns back to Rasa’s direction. His expression is one of someone /just/ about to call out, but when he draws the breath to do so, his face is stricken for a moment, and then his form becomes one of translucent yellow light, wavering there on the dock. Yellow-ghost-Aloke ducks his head in a body language that speaks of great concentration, and after another moment, he solidifies again. Restored, Aloke shakes his head softly and looks up for Rasa again. He tries again, and manages to call out in a friendly voice, even if it is masking undertones of stress. “Hello, Rasa! How goes it?” "You just turned yellow and see-through," Rasa states flatly, the expression on hir features the same slightly stunned and somewhat concerned expression that appeared when ze first saw Aloke faulter. Ze draws in a deep breath and starts wading closer to the pier, still eyeing the teacher as if he might do it again. "Are you okay?" Having not left the campus for any length of time over the summer break, Ducky is already well settled into her new dorm room, and attempting to escape the bustle of newly arriving students by heading for the lakeside. She is still dressed for the summer - not that it is any different from her normal attire - in a pair of knee length board shorts in bright yellow fabric, and a pale blue hooded tank top over a bright green bandeau style undershirt. Barefoot, Ducky makes her way towards the lake, quietly talking to the dappled gray and white pigeon perched on her shoulder, occasionally adjusting the rainbow backpack that hangs from the unoccupied shoulder. There is a little bit of a cautious pause as she spots Aloke on the pier, not wanting to disturb the teacher on his last day of somewhat freedom before the start of classes. However, spotting Rasa wading through the shallows of the lake, Ducky averts her course to intercept, offering a cheery wave to her friend. At the sight of Rasa's concerned look, Ducky pauses, looking between the two with a slightly confused tilt of her head, the motion mimicked by the pigeon on her shoulder. “Oh sure!” Aloke calls out in what he probably thinks is a reassuring tone. The teacher seems to be sweating a little more than is absolutely called for, sitting out by the nice cool lake. He stands, using a pier pillar to help himself up, and waves when he sees Ducky approaching as well. He starts walking to the base of the pier, ending closer to the two students so they don’t have to call out across the water. “You know, many mutants develop secondary, or even tertiary mutations as they get older. And, as you know,” Aloke pauses and chuckles, wading into the water a bit himself, though more careful to not get his rolled-up cuffs wet. “I am /very/ old.” He grins and adds, “Did you just get back in, Ducky?” The light in his eyes, while normally noticeable, creates a brief, but distinct effect, allowing the students to sees all the way through them, and out the other side of Aloke’s head. The effect ends quickly, and he doesn’t even seem to have noticed this little flicker himself. "So you're saying that you're devloping another mutation and we shouldn't worry about it because new powers turned out so well for the rest of us?" Rasa continues to be skeptical, moving to direct hir path toward Aloke and Ducky when ze sees the others. "He turned into a ghost for a little bit, Ducky, and he looked freaked out about it. Now he's trying to play it cool." Ze turns hir attention back to Aloke, brows shooting straight up when ze catches the next flicker, a little confused as to whether or not ze actually saw anything. Ducky blinks in confusion several times as Aloke explains what is going on, and then has it simplified by Rasa - the look fading into one of somewhat confused horror. “That… that actually happens? The secondary mutation thing? With age and stuff? I mean, it’ll just, poof?” she demonstrates with a hand gesture and concerned look, “Pop up randomly when you get older?” she asks, tilting her head at Aloke and Rasa. As Aloke heads towards the water, Ducky sets her bag down on a dry spot away from the water’s edge, and wades in up to her knees, wiggling her toes into the muddy bottom of the lake. “No. Haven’t really left campus too much over the summer. Just have my backpack ‘cause I figured I should bring a towel and some stuff if I ended up in the lake,” she explains with a nod. There’s a concerned look at Aloke again, “So… you’re turning all ghosty, and not meaning to do a ghosty type thing? Or doing a ghosty type thing, and trying, but surprised it worked?” Aloke offers a slightly pained smile, but finally nods at Rasa. “I’m sorry, Rasa. I was being evasive. In talking to Ha- eh, Dr. McCoy and some others, I hear secondary mutations are rarely as disruptive as our primaries.” Aloke shrugs and sticks his hands in his pockets. “I’m sorry if I scared you. I keep thinking I have to shield students from The World.” Aloke sighs and swishes his feet around in the water. “The truth is, my ability to travel as light has been a little… flickery lately. We have another round of experiments lined up for tonight, but it really shouldn’t be anything to worry about. We’re just trying to figure out the nature of what’s happening this time.” He smiles as warmly as he can. "I hate to break it to you, but we're teenagers - practically adults. Pretending everything is fine and hoping we don't notice something is less effective, and more likely to bring up more questions." Rasa stuffs hir hands into hir pockets and speaks tiredly, gaze lowering to the surface of the water. "You're better off telling us about the world and preparing us to deal with it." Words start to appear on hir forehead, the little addendum ze does not wish to speak: 'and you'll keep our trust better too.' “Yeah, I’m with Rasa on this,” Ducky nods, idly running her fingers through the water, sending little wakes bobbing along around her, “The world sucks, but it’s out there, and most of us have kinda had a pretty big dose of it already. So shielding us is kinda a bit like closing the barn door after the horses are already halfway ‘cross town.” There’s a bit of a shrug from the young woman, the pigeon rustling its feathers as she does this, and she runs her dry hand through her hair, rumpling up the short style, “Good luck with it, Mister Suresh. I… I think it sounds kinda scary, especially if you aren’t really sure what is going on.” Ducky nods again, looking out at the small cluster of mallards that start to paddle across the water to her side, carefully skirting wide around Aloke and Rasa to get to her. Aloke smiles and holds his hands up in surrender. "I concede the point! You're absolutely right, both of you. Sorry for being so dense about it." Aloke cocks his head as if another facet of the situation just occurred to him. "And you know, we would want any of you to let us know right away if you start to feel something unusual. Which is yet another reason to talk openly about things." Aloke laces his fingers behind his head and wriggles his toes in the mud while watching the ducks circle around. "Can you forgive my short-sightedness? I /honestly/ don't think there's anything too much to worry about. That part was true. But I promise to be more open." "Stuff happening to a person generally makes them kind of insecure," Rasa offers quietly. "I'm sorry if I have come across unforgiving. I just - well - thought it was better to point it out." Ze draws in a deep breath and offers a small smile to the teacher. "So, don't worry about it, okay? We're not going to write you off that easily." Ze pauses and then glances to Ducky for confirmation. "Anyway, here's the best place to experience new mutation stuff, at least. Professor X'll be able to help you mentally even if you feel a bit lost - or, well, given your mutation - /are/ a bit lost, and Dr. McCoy is a wonder with the physical. Plus, there're lots of people here that have been through things, so yeah. You're going to be okay." Ducky reaches out a hand tentatively to pet one of the ducks as it circles closer to her, gently brushing her fingers down its back. She nods in agreement with Rasa, offering a bit of a grin, “It’s ok, really. This is a safe place, and it’s supposed to be safe and open for everyone, right? I mean, even teachers have a bad day - mutations are odd things, even for fully certified “grown ups” and all.” The finger quotes she throws up around ‘grown ups’ send a few droplets of water splashing away from her damp hand. “And yeah. You’ll be fine, I’m sure of it. This is probably the best place ever to have that sorta issue, since they’ve got experts here, and people who know what all can go funky with powers and stuff,” she nods and grins, attempting to be reassuring and mature… though the illusion is likely a bit skewed by the pigeon on her shoulder and the ring of ducks slowly paddling in circles around her knees. Aloke smiles his brightest smile, but when he speaks, it looks like the light in his eyes is /also/ shining softly out of his mouth. “Thanks you two. I needed a swift kick in the pants, and you were nice abo-” Aloke is cut off when his whole body goes translucent. He doubles over for a moment, resolidifies, and looks downright queasy. “Please-” He blinks five feet further into the lake, up to his waist now. “-go get-” In a series of soft flashes that would actually be quite pretty if not for Aloke’s obvious distress, he winds up relatively close to where he started, in ankle deep water again. “-Dr. McCoy…” Aloke is out of breath and sweating heavily. "Whoa shit." Rasa blinks a couple times at Aloke's sudden transformation and nods. "Ducky, you stay here and keep him company - so if he goes totally invisible, we know where he is. Uh, you may not want to be in the water in case you pass out." Ze is already turning toward the short and starting to wade out rapidly. "I'll go get Dr. McCoy." Ze lifts a hand to wave, then takes off, leaving hir shoes behind as ze runs, wet denim and all, back to the school. Ducky looks decidedly startled when Aloke suddenly blinks further away, and then suddenly back in place. Her eyes go wide and she nods swiftly to Rasa, “I’ll… I’ll stay here. And keep an eye on him. Or a bird. I’ll be here.” She seems to be babbling, mostly to herself at this point, chattering as Rasa retreats towards the main building. “It’ll be ok, Professor. Um, um, focus on my voice, maybe? Or on the ducks? Or both. Focus on something, stay here, please, and visible. Which I know isn’t exactly helpful, or useful advice, but it’s something maybe. It’ll be ok.” Yup, whether Aloke wants to focus on the sound of Ducky’s voice or not, she will continue to babble and chatter like a deranged sparrow until told to do otherwise. The cluster of ducks have now drawn in closer to her, slowly paddling around her like an failed attempt at a feathery force field.