ArchivedLogs:Hanging Around

Hanging Around
Dramatis Personae Faelan, Kai, Mallory	2014-01-08 Occurs shortly after Kai fails at web-swinging.
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. There's no telling how long it's been since Howard fled the scene of the cri -- er. The gym. It might have been minutes, or it might have been hours. Kai is really in no position to tell. Dressed in his standard gym clothes, the Korean boy is currently hanging in the middle of the gym, over a scattering of gym mats, at a height of about eight feet. Around his wrists are silvery (and likely /familiar/-looking) wristbands, one of which seems to be attached to the springy glue string to which Kai currently clings. Kai doesn't seem overly /panicked/ at his situation, although there's strain evident in his features as he struggles to keep his handhold. Not panicked at all. In fact, there's a tight little humming coming from the human pinata, a half-grunted rendition of 'The Laughter Song' from My Little Pony. Heading out from the men's locker room, Faelan is dressed for a run, at least a run at the heated indoor gym. He has a plain grey tshirt without any logos on it, a pair of black shorts in the general flowy meshy material popular in athletic wear currently, and a pair of tennis shoes that are much used. Stretching as he makes his way in, he pops his shoulders as he loosens up, swinging arms around a little as he twists. Occassionally his head passes the hanging figure as he hums to himself, raising his knees up as he walks to get the full stretching. Mid leg lift, his brain finally points out the importance of the figure hanging from the ceiling nowhere near the normal rope area, and who exactly is hanging. Tilting his head and staring a bit, he notices the silver bracelets and exactly what the rope is made of. "Um, Kai? Are you alright up there? Or is this something you are doing on purpose?" he asks as he moves closer. With her schedule done for the day, Mallory emerges from the Women's Locker room, wearing a pair of black yoga pants that mask the majority of her digitigrade legs, leaving her long tail free to swing about, paired with a dove gray tank layered over a pale blue sports bra, a large pink yoga mat tucked under one arm. Her long hair is pulled back into a neat ponytail, which only serves to accentuate the curling black rams horns and inhuman blackness of her eyes. The librarian hums quietly, apparently 'Let it Go' from Frozen, as she heads towards the punching bags, hooves clicking rhythmically on the floor as she makes her way across the room. Beginning to raise a hand to wave to Faelan, she stops dead in her tracks and looks up, mouth hanging open at the sight of Kai's predicament. "Oh my. Kai, are you alright? How long have you been stuck there?" Mallory asks quietly, already taking into account the distance and looking around for a ladder or something to stand on. The appearance of other people, one of them a teacher, earns a grateful blush from Kai, and he looks down at the floor beneath his feet. "Well," he says to Faelan's question. "The beginning of it was on purpose, but this was not." His voice is a bit strained as he adjusts his grip. He grimaces at Mallory's question, and attempts a shrug. It doesn't work very well. "I do not know how long I have been here. Not very, I think. But I think I am ready to get down, now." He shifts again, which sets him slowly rotating. "My shoulders hurt, and I am tired of turning." "Well, I can maybe see about grabbing the tumbling mats and you can drop?" Faelan glances around thinking. "What about pushing the button to make more line? Wouldn't you just go down if you add more, or did you run out?" Scratching his head in thought, he looks to Mallory with a smile. "Oh hello Ms. Winthrop. Um, I think Kai has a bit of a problem, but I'm sure we can manage. Though, it may be wiser to just get someone who can fly or use telekinesis, or just can climb walls." "Hello, Faelan," Mallory offers in greeting, eyes still focused on Kai. "For some reason, I get the impression that this particular problem may have been /inspired/ by someone who climbs walls," Mallory muses, eyeing the silver bracers and the glue strand, "That said. We are going to go find some of the tumbling mats and possibly see about getting you down from there." Mallory glances around fof the stack of tumbling mats kept in the gym, considering them for a minute, "Alternately, if we can find a ladder, Kai might be able to step down. Faelan, could you bring the mats over, and try to get them set up? Just in case his grip slips while I try to find a ladder." Not that the hooved teacher is going to be able to exactly /climb/ a ladder to help the student in question. "Kai, just hold on a few minutes longer. We'll get you down," Mallory offers with a warm smile. Kai looks down at Faelan as he turns, and makes another attempt at a shrug. "When I thought of that, I was afraid to try it," he says of making more line. "I do not know it if would make /more/ line or a /new/ line." He adjusts his grip, hoisting himself a bit higher and looking a bit alarmed at the prospect of bringing more people into the situation. "I should have asked more questions." Which may be a note to himself, or a bleak admission of his equivalent of failing to read the manual. Mallory gets an anxious sort of smile as his face spins her direction. His hands slip just a bit as Mallory cautions him to hold on, and he nods. "If you could pile up the mats, that would be very good." "I'll get the mats yes. And once the mats are down... okay, a lot of mats are down, you can see if the extra line works if we can't find a ladder." Nodding to Mallory, he pauses. "Um, maybe you should call Doctor McCoy just in case. He may need something for his shoulder." Because obviously, nothing else will go wrong. Yes, obviously. Giving a nod to himself, he heads over to the pile of mats and starts by trying to drag the lot of them at once. Failing to do more than budge it with his puny not strength, he grabs the handles on the side of the top mat and starts dragging them over one at a time beneath Kai. Mallory pulls her phone out of... wherever she was keeping it, and taps out a quick message while she trots carefully across the gym floor, glancing up at Kai as she does, before hitting send. (Mallory --> Hank): Could you please come to the gym? We have a student in a difficult situation, who may need medical attention. Thank you. -Mallory. That sent, Mallory opens the supply closets, glancing around for the ladder in the small closet. "You know, some days I wish I could fly, or something useful. Fire? Fabulously unuseful in nearly all situations," Mallory grouses at herself as she vanishes into the closet, "Thanks, genetics." A ladder is not immediately visible, but she surveys the gym equipment skeptically, locating several of the stepping blocks that are typically reserved for horrible 1980s style workout videos. Frowning at them, she gathers a stack of them, at least enough to lend herself another foot of height. Making her way back out, Mallory carries the blocks, looking anxiously towards the door, "So, I contacted Ha... Doctor McCoy. Still waiting on a response from him. But, in the mean time, this is the best I could find - it should let me get up to your height, in theory, Kai." The teacher is, indeed, tall, but this seems like a potentially dubious proposal. Kai blanches, and shakes his head at Faelan's suggestion. "I do not think it is necessary to call Doctor McCoy," he says with more than a bit of anxiety in his voice. "My shoulders are fine, really." He pulls himself up, in demonstration. "You see, so there is no need to...call..." he trails off as his rotation reverses itself and he spins back to see Mallory texting. He sighs, then, and lowers himself slowly back down. "I just got these," he mutters, probably to Faelan, since he's closest. "Peter is not going to be very happy with me." When Mallory returns with the blocks and confirms that Doctor McCoy has indeed been alerted, he wrinkles his nose. "I am not afraid to fall," he assures the librarian, twisting his neck to maintain eye contact as long as possible. "Not if there are enough mats." Stacking three mats right below Kai and then one on each side of the stack, Faelan nods to himself, glancing up at Kai. "Do you think this will be enough?" Seeing Mallory returning with the little blocks, he frowns then ooo's quietly as he understands. "I guess if you put those on the mat you should be fine." He does not mention any worries about her balance on those things. At Kai's mutterance though, he shakes his head. "I don't think they will take them away. Just you may need to be more careful with them. Like, have the mats ahead of time, and maybe someone who can help out in case of any misfires." In thought, he talks to himself "Now what was it that dissolved the webbing. Salad dressing? Mustard? No wait, it was vinegar I think." Mallory looks up at Kai and shakes her head, "As you do not know how long you have been hanging there, I would feel more comfortable if Dotor McCoy took a look at you. Just to be certain you haven't hurt yourself without realizing it." She sets the steps to the side and assists Faelan in dragging over another few mats to add to the pile, bringing the level up considerably, but still likely leaving the drop a rather daunting distance. "Hm. We may still need more mats, to be honest." One well manicured eyebrow lifts at the mention of not confiscating the devices behind this, and Mallory looks between the long tendril of webbing, the silver bracers, and the distance to the floor, "Ah, no. I will be taking them for safe keeping, until I confirm with Professor Xavier if these are a safe thing for students to be using around campus. My apologies Kai, but if he says it is alright, they will be returned." She turns her attention back to the stack of mats, slowly but surely dragging another two mats into place. "I am not very big," Kai offers helpfully from the air as he watches the mats being piled. "I am sure it will be all right." He seems encouraging, even as he's sighing at Mallory's words. "I was only practicing," he says, a bit of uncommon wheedling creeping into his voice. "Howard was here earlier, but he left when I got stuck. Next time, I will pick a better helper." At the news of the impending confiscation, he sags a bit, and juts his lower lip out. "Vinegar," he answers Faelan distractedly. Then a light bulb goes off over his head. "Vinegar! There is a thing that releases vinegar on the wristband!" And, before anyone can really /advise/ him on the matter, he's tapping at the webshooter, releasing a pungent spray that does exactly as it should. Which is to say, it dissolves the glue-strand, sending Kai into free fall towards the mats. "Oops." "That's not really fair. I mean Peter and other students have them. It would be mean to say that some students can have them and others can't." Faelan frowns at the confiscation of the devices. "I mean if the problem is this, he can't exactly practice so he doesn't have problems then." As Kai confirms the vinegar, Faelan nods. "Oh good I was riiiII!!" he cries as his eyes go wide with Kai falling. "Tuck and roll Kai! Don't land on your neck!" is about all he can get out as he rushes to try and help. - "As I said, I will return them if it allowed, and proper training scheduled. But I offer no promises, and it is for safety sake at this time," Mallory responds firmly to Faelan and Kai's statements about fairness of rules. She seems to be trying to decide how much more needs to stack in order to make this safe; she reaches a hand up to scratch at one of her horns thoughtfully, counting the mats and starting to move into place to get the steps situated. At the last moment, she registers the discussion of vinegar, and looks up just in time to see Kai depress the button on the bracer. "No!" she tries to caution, her eyes going wide, "Oh god, Kai!" Mallory yelps, taking a stutter step toward the mats as though unsure of if she should try to catch him or not; ultimately, she opts on 'no', which is likely a good thing, all things considered. Kai seems the least concerned about his current fall, although he does take Faelan's advice and curls his spine to push his chin at his chest. He flumps into the mats, landing with very little bounce. He doesn't appear to be injured, but he lays very still for a couple of minutes, blinking at the ceiling. "I think," he says finally, inhaling deeply. "That I prefer swinging to falling." Kneeling beside Kai, Faelan glances at the younger boys eyes and moves a finger to at least test tracking for concussion sake. "It may be best if you lay there and wait for Doctor McCoy to show up. He can make sure you didn't hurt anything in the fall. Can you wiggle your fingers and toes though?" He at least knows enough about first aid to know when not to do anything possible damaging to the person. "And yeah, falling can be pretty bad. Its why I usually teleported instead of fall down stairs. Inconvenience is usually better than injury." He is doing his best to help distract for now, occassionally looking to Mallory to see if she has any better ideas than waiting for Hank. Mallory may have had her eyes closed when Kai impacted the mat pile. Just maybe. She opens her eyes now to take a look at him, and at least give him a cursory glance for obvious injuries. "Alright, I am going to go fetch Hank. Stay here, please, and don't try to move too much until Doctor McCoy gets here," Mallory sighs, running a hand along one spiraling horn, looking to Faelan, "Keep an eye on him, I will be back momentarily." Mallory starts off towards the exit at a decent pace, her hooves only slipping treacherously once on the hardwood of the basketball court. Kai watches Faelan's finger carefully, although it's less compliance with concussion checks and more a confused sort of tracking. "I feel fine," he says, waggling his fingers in demonstration. "It was not any worse than falling off the front of the house. Better, actually. The ground in front of the house was very hard, with rocks." He lifts a leg, waggling his foot and inspecting the sneaker that contains it. "Thank you for stacking up the mats," he says, smiling at the older boy. He nods at Mallory's instruction, dropping his foot back to the mat and watching intently as she heads out of the gym. As soon as Mallory is out of earshot, Kai immediately begins fumbling with the wristbands. "Help me get these off," he says to Faelan. "Maybe if you take them somewhere, I will be able to keep them and Peter will not be angry with me." "Its okay. I'm glad I got enough mats down to make you okay." Glancing at Mallory and her orders to watch over Kai, Faelan nods and offers her a wave. "Don't worry, I wont let him move around too much. He may be hurt and not know it." Settling down to sit comfortably instead of kneeling, he looks to Kai at the conspiracy. "Um, Kai. If I do that I'd be in trouble too. And Peter wouldn't be mad at you, you know Peter. He would probably just give you new ones. Or go and get these ones again. All I'd be able to do would be to make them Really lost. Like you and I wouldn't be able to find them ever again. With my luck, it'd just end up on a teachers desk." He shakes his head and sighs. "This is lame." Kai sighs, and sinks back on the mat as Faelan declines becoming an accessory, and he stares at the ceiling. "I do not want you to get in trouble," he admits, moving his hands to cradle them against his chest. "But I do not want to lose these, either. I like having them." He wrinkles his nose, and thumps his thumbs against his chest. "Thank you for helping me. And staying." He huffs a tiny laugh at Faelan's assessment, and nods with a rueful smile. "It is. /Very/ lame."