ArchivedLogs:Past and Trust in the Library

Past and Trust in the Library
Dramatis Personae Kelly, Mallory, Faelan
In Absentia	2013-11-01 Faelan and Mallory discuss why Xavier's doesn't really need chains on the walls.
Location <XS> Library
Xavier's librarian might hope the library is a quiet place to sit and study, but with a school full of teenagers that is not always the case. Nevertheless, it is certainly a treasure trove of knowledge, well-stocked with a wealth of books on its high shelves. Its reference section is vast, though its fiction is as well (much to the delight of many of its students.) The wide octagonal tables and smaller armchairs are often crowded with students, though the whispered conversations that often take place leave some doubt as to how much work is getting done at any given hour. The library is about as quiet as one would expect it to be the day after school sponsored functions, and with a school wide sniffle epidemic going on. The book return cart is pretty empty, with only one stray book sitting upon it, and the check out desk has a hand sanitizer pump with a sign next to it claiming "Please be courteous of other patrons, cover up coughs and sneezes". Still many students who are studying are filling the air with the occassional sound of a sniffle and a blown nose. Wandering around the shelves, Faelan is dressed for his duty with a xavier's polo shirt on, and a pair of khaki pants. He seems to be scanning the shelves for any stray books to give him something to do in the quiet of the day, but doesn't seem to find any as he moves onto the next aisle of shelves to sort. And something was out of place near the back of the isles where crowd thinned out and Kelly could find a spot to himself near a window. A few arrowhead shaped green leaves sprinkle the carpet near some pinkish flower petals and stems. Every so often punctuated with a soft painful grunt from Kelly's chest as he braced himself for another, plucking it out of his hair. It seemed to be a futile gesture though, as even now a fresh flower bud would wind its way up through the matted mess of his hair to find day light. As the library is so quiet today, the sound of hoof falls echoes through the stacks as Mallory moves about her domain. Between classes for the day, the librarian makes her way out from her small office in the back, a manilla folder in her hand holding her attention as she emerges. Now that Halloween has passed, she has returned to her sharp business attire - a silver-gray suit over a crisp white blouse with the top two buttons left undone to show off a delicate gold chain with a ssmall diamond solitaire pendant suspended between her collar bones. The pencil skirt of the suit ends just below the first joint of her digitigrade legs, leaving the lower half of her delicate, red skinned limbs with their black cloven hooves visible to all. Despite it not being Halloween any longer, the teacher still sports curling black ram's horns that sprout from either side of her head, deep red skin, and entirely black eyes that seem to have the faintest orange glow in the low-light of the library. There is a nod of greeting and approval to Faelan when he is noticed, dark eyes scanning the shelves for mistakes, but thankfully finding none. Spotting the new student sitting by the window, her attention drawn by the pained grunts, Mallory pauses, closing her folder. "Mr. Walsh, yes?" she says quietly, holding the folder at waist level beneath one arm, as she offers a concerned smile. "Are you quite alright? And..." she clears her throat, looking at the growing pile of flowers and leaves on the carpet, lips drawing back into a somewhat forced little smile, keeping the dissaproval from her voice, "Would you care for a box to put those in, rather than the carpet?" Hearing Ms Winthrop, Faelan starts to make his way over towards her location to see if she has any particular tasks today for him, though he assumes it will involve removing any leftover Halloween decorations. Nodding back to her at her greeting, he pauses in asking her anything as she directs her attention towards the new student. "I can get a broom if he doesn't want to box them," he offers, though he has a bit of a look of concern to the younger man. "If you need to see Dr. McCoy I can escort you?" Two warring emotions fight for control on Kelly's face as he quickly begins to gather up the pile and shove it into his pants pockets instead of either offered solution. The first was a look of embarrassment, as if he were caught out with his hand in the cookie jar, or reading magazines he really shouldn't. And the second is surprise that Ms. Winthrop was still in her costume, or at least most of it... and the slow realization of what that meant not quite catching up. "Sorry," he offers hastily, as a few darting hands gets nearly all of the mess and he rises to his feet. "I was going to clean it up, promise." Nodding, Faelan lets him handle his own affairs so as not to pressure him. "Its alright, I would have gotten to it eventually. It's kinda part of my job description." He offers a slight smile at that, and inclines his head. "Do you need any help otherwise?" He lets Mallory return to her office, and keeps a respectful distance of Kelly to let him have the options instead of forcing it on him. Kelly keeps a nervous smile on his face, but it helps when he's less surrounded, and he relaxes noticeably. "I'm ok." he swears, running his hand through his hair and getting a brief flash of disappointment as he feels the beginnings of the new growth so quickly. "You work with Ms... Ms..." he's not very good with names, it seems, biting his lips. "Miss Winthrop, yes. She's very nice actually," Faelan says with a smile. "I'm the assistant librarian, though probably easier to say I do most of the shelving parts. Its nice, and quiet, and only really hectic when there are term papers. Though, thats mainly if the teachers prevent them from citing the internet for the paper in question." He shrugs at that, but nods anyway. "I'm Faelan. I don't really think I'm in the Mister category of things really. Are you one of the new students?" "She seems kinda scary." Kelly says in contradiction, trying to straighten out the mess of an outfit he was in, if the stained torn rags of clothing he was in could even count as an outfit. At least now it didn't smell quite as bad. He tried to stand his full height now, but it wasn't all that tall, even for his age. "Yeah, they brought me in last night. I'm Kelly." he said, with a certain weight to the phrase, as if he were a parcel, or an unwanted fruit cake. "You mean, you aren't a student, too?" "Many times, it is the ones who look least human that are the nicest. Humanity has a long, long history of much worse behavior." Faelan frowns and shakes his head at that. "I graduated last year actually. Well, this year, but in the spring. Can't really say last semester, because we have classes all year long." Nodding again, as if that all made much more sense, he glances over Kelly again, to see if he really was alright. "We can go to Doctor McCoy if theres anything wrong really. Though, he is not really very human looking either, but he is really nice." A close inspection will reveal that Kelly is actually bleeding around the head, only slightly, where he's pruned himself. Though the blood is a dark green, instead of the usual red. The consistency of it, though, leaves little doubt to what it is. there are even smudges of it on his fingers where he ran his hand through his hair. "I didn't... I guess I kinda did." he says a little ashamed of the assumption. "It was easier last night with all the costumes." Avoiding the McCoy suggestion again, though not very smoothly with the small stutter step in his voice. Faelan nods accepting the statement though knowing that really something ought to be done. "Alright. Though if you're a new student, you should probably get used to people being... different here. Not everyone looks it, but well its honestly kinda comforting after awhile. You don't have to worry about anyone trying to hurt you for being you, no angry mobs, no men with guns, no evil scientists. We still /Have/ scientists and doctors mind you, but they're just here to make sure we don't get sick. Specialized evolutions lead to different medical needs. Imagine trying to give an innoculation to someone who's skin is made of metal." He seems fairly positive over all about the school if nothing else. "Its much preferable to the city... I've had bad luck every time I head out myself." "You do?" Kelly can't help but ask in surprise. "I mean, you look nor-..." and he cut himself off, biting his lips, and then forcing a smile. "I'll try, promise, Just, you know, never met anyone like me until, well, you know." A lot of vagueness in his statements, restraint, teenage indifference and low confidence painted on with a thick brush. "But everyone seems to really like it here." nodding to Faelan in particular as he adds that to the list. Faelan nods at that, "I know, I'm one that could probably get away in the normal world fine, once I have better control over my powers, but I've got some PTSD to put it in simpler terms. The therapists use a lot more words, and provide a lot more words ending in latin prefixes though. But yeah, I have my own gifts. Its the combination of my gifts with my problems that makes it somewhat more difficult for me to function completely fine in a world with a lot of stressors." Glancing over at one of the brass bookplates, he focuses for a second, and then suddenly he's vanished. Kelly takes in a sharp breath as Faelan vanishes in front of him, his hands instinctively reaching out to wave in the place the other boy once stood. A few of his vines poking out his cuff, or the holes in the sleeve's arms to subconsciously aid in the search. "Hello?" he asks in a meek voice, curious, and slightly in awe. "Ow watch your hands," comes Faelan's voice as he gets poked and prodded. "If I knew you were going to do that I would have really disapeared." He reappears and shakes his head. "Its my gift. I lose things. Myself, or others. I can make things invisible, or teleported somewhere else. Though I'm better at the invisibility than teleporting. Sorta got an aiming problem, and well a stresser problem. When I get scared, either I go, or what scared me goes." When he hears Faelan's voice, Kelly's vines whip back inside his sleaves, sharp thorns tearing the thick cloth even further as they do, and his hand pulls back as well. "Sorry, I thought you were like the ghost yesterday and... went poof." He said, and with an excited exhale. "But being able to disappear has got to come in handy." he adds, a bit impressed, a little jealous. "I better try not to scare ya, though." "Ghost? Oh, did you meet Sophie? She can be a bit scary, though, more because she gets yelly more than floating around." Faelan tilts his head thinking. "Its good when there is actual danger. But well, I scare easily. And they want me to try and solve my problems Without relying on my powers." He smiles at Kelly's statement, and replies "Thank you. Ivan decided to try the experimental route instead...and ended up I think in China Town. Miss Jennifer had to go collect each of us... I ended up in Brooklyn after Peter shook me abit for it." "Whoa... all the way... to China Town?" Kelly said, shaking his head and looking around for a place to sit down, getting a little weak in the knees. His skin was a bit overly pale at the moment, too, but he tries to play it off. Several new leaves had sprouted up during the conversation, and one pink flower bud bloomed on the right side of his forehead. "Were they mad at you?" Kelly pulled out a chair and sank down into it a bit heavily. But he was actually beginning to form a smile on his face, a real one. "Guess you've had it a bit rough. Sorry for poking at it." Kelly says at last, leaning against the table. "With everyone in class, and I'm kinda lost... just good to chat with someone about this stuff, instead of being by myself. I'm supposed to start classes on Monday." "Its okay. I'm probably one of the better people to talk to about being scared. I'm one of the worst scaredy cats on campus, which is why I'm on campus. I wasn't kidding when I said humans were scarier than mutants." Faelan shakes his head at that and lets out a sigh. "This is a safe place though. And they can help you with understanding and accepting your gifts." He gestures to the little flower growing from his head. "You don't need to remove those here, for one. They discourage heavily anybody from teasing or bullying anyone. After all, we were probably all teased and bullied somewhat before we got here. We know how bad it was." Moves his hand quickly up to the flower when its mentioned, and grips it harshly, as if he were going to rip it out again... but at Faelan's urging, Kelly instead lets it go and moves his hand down to the table again. "I... guess it is scary, like you say. Still having a hard time thinking of myself as /not/ human." he says, adding onto Faelan's earlier point, "Is that why you came here?" Shaking his head, Faelan frowns alittle. "They rescued me actually. When I mentioned mobs, I was speaking from personal experience. And I long jumped over and over till I couldn't teleport anymore. And then they showed up and offered me a safe place to go and took me here." He gestures to the school around them at that. "It took me a while still till I wasn't hiding from everyone and avoiding people or teleporting at my own shadow. When its people you're afraid of, well, its hard to let other people see you or get close enough to help you." He lets out a sigh at that. "But well, at least here, I'm more comfortable now. This is a safe place, and we are safe here, and no one can hurt us. So it's okay." Kelly nods his head as well, listening deeply and using the blunt end of his finger to rub invisible shapes into the table in front of him. "How long have you been here?" he wondered, holding onto every wordy of teh story that the other boy was willing to tell him. "I almost didn't come, in fact I told them no when they first found me." Kelly says with a bit of a mocking laugh, but gets a little darker when he adds. "I've... sometimes when people want to help a kid on the street... they really want something else." Wiggling fingers as if counting on them, Faelan pauses, then nods. "Probably about four or five years. Give or take. And its okay. I know its hard to trust people. You don't know if they're going to hurt you, or betray you or well, any of the possible horrible scenarios that come from people being people." He glances to Kelly at that. "But you're here now. No one is forcing you to be here, and you can leave if you want to. But really this place is one of the best places someone like us could be. It becomes your new family, whether your old family threw you out, or helped you get here in the first place. And when you're ready to go out into the world, you can. And if not, well then they are willing to work with you to manage a way to be able to deal with life outside." "Well, honestly, I was prepared for staying here even if it was a lot worse than this." Kelly answers with a shrug, looking around at the library still not half believing the place. "You're right about how it is out there, but... sounds like you really got the worst of it. It... I was able to hide it a lot better at first, and now its harder to do it." as if that were all the explanation he needed for the subject. "Just as long as it doesn't start getting all creepy culty and stuff." The quiet sound of hoof falls announces Mallory's return from whatever work had pulled her away to her office. Not finding the two young men talking by the window, she follows the sound of voices to their seating area. Smiling gently at the snippets of conversation she hears, she emerges carefully from between the stacks, making sure to stay in the lit areas so as to not intentionally startle either of the boys. Figuring that the click-clack of her hooves on the flooring would have given away her approach, she leans against one of the shelving units, nodding. "If it makes you feel any better. When I first received an invitation to interview here, I couldn't quite believe what I was seeing," Mallory offers with a faint smile, her faintly pointed inscisors showing with the expression. "You are not alone. But, promise, it isn't a cult - just an ordinary school, with extraordinary, gifted students," she nods towards thw two of them. "I don't think its culty. If it is, then it's not really effectual. We've had plenty of kids drop out, and most graduates head off to the cities and college and whatever unless they stay on as staff here." Faelan nods at that. "Are you feeling a little better now at least?" He glances for the paleness he had been seeing in hopes it was gone. Kelly was still just as pale as earlier, maybe even a shade lighter, even as his hair has filled back in just as densely as last night, though in a different arrangement. But he doesnt' seem too concerned by it. "Yeah, a bit." he says, thinking something else, and keeps the smile on his face even as Mallory comes into view. He really wants to be polite, there is a hesitation before he does it... but he can't help it. He stares a bit, and then looks down to see those hooves. They were real, too? "I'm sorry about earlier." he offers the Librarian sincerely. Mallory nods to Faelan, chuckling, "Thank you, Faelan. I can get the lower ones on the book tables, but if you can start from the top, we'll be able to get them down a bit faster. Saves me from having to brave the ladders." Still keeping her distance, Mallory turns her attention to Kelly, a pleasant smile on her dark lips, "Oh, certainly. The library is typically a great deal more stately and sedate than this - no chains or spooky ghosts lurking about the stacks," she explains, glancing towards the cobwebs draped over a collection of old reference books to one side, "I have just always rather enjoyed Halloween - seemed like a good excuse to do a themed book display." Listening to the young man's concern, Mallory nods slowly. "It... can be a bit much, certainly," she says quietly, dark eyes fixed on a point at the edge of the table, "I rather imagine it will start getting easier once your classes start up on Monday. Plenty of students your age to talk to and get to know. And, if you feel it is getting to be too much, please don't hesitate to talk to someone. All of us on the staff are here, if you need to just talk, and a good portion of us live on campus, just as you do. And there are councelors who are wonderful to speak to." While Kelly nods along with that, its that hesitant capitulation sort of nod. Not one that truly believes it. Polite, but non-committal. "I'm a little worried about classes, this place kinda looks like it'll be hard and..." he sighs as he has to admit "I've not been in school for awhile." he offers, however, easing into it. "Or, you know, anywhere for awhile." Mallory casually glances over the student, nodding slowly, "You are not the first to arrive at the school from less than ideal circumstances. I believe I overheard Faelan explaining his past experiences, yes?" She offers an easy, warm smile, her posture slowly relaxing as she talks, "This may be a boarding school, and seem all sorts of stodgy. But, we are here to help you succeed." Speaking conversationally, she continues, gesturing slightly, "Do you have any questions? I have not been here for quite so long - this is only my first semester teaching. But, is there anything I can answer for you that might help you feel a bit more at ease?" "English, right? Rasa said that was what you taught." Kelly asks, his southern accent slipping a bit deeper as he does. Difficult to place to a specific area, though. "Well, if its ok for me to ask, since you came here on your own... why did you come here? And how did you find out about the place?" he asks a little hesitantly, but honestly interested. "I guess, it probably wasn't real easy for you on your own, either." "Yes. I teach a handful of the English courses offered here, and manage the library resources for student and staff," Mallory confirms, smiling gently, her Oxford English accent lending a crisp, educated edge to her words. "Certainly. I do not mind answering questions," she says with a nod, still leaning carefully against the book shelf. "I suppose I came here because it was the only option offered me after some... difficulty in my post graduate life," she explains, a bit of an impish smile on her lips. "Truthfully, my brother applied here first, to teach. When he was hired, apparently he mentioned me. And, well, I was contacted, and here I am," the bewildered tone of her voice suggests that she isn't quite sure of how it went. His statement, however, gets a slight blush and a soft sigh, "This, being here, teaching, is the first time I have truly been on my own, my entire life. My family was... protective. I was barely allowed to attend university, and even then with such restrictions on my activities and appearance that I barely spoke to anyone during my undergraduate studies." Mallory smiles a bit, a light laugh escaping her lips, "I suppose you could say this place has been a new beginning for me, as well." She watches the student, with large, dark eyes, "May I ask what brought you here? If you are comfortable speaking about it. If not, I will not press." "Well, it sounds like they cared about you, though. If you want to protect something, ya gotta care about it." Kelly says with a wanting smile, easing a little bit further back in his chair and licking at the top of his mouth as he notices its drying out pretty badly. "I... well, I guess you guys mostly know so its no big deal." he said, putting on false masks of confidence about as deep as a tissue paper plate. "I couldn't really stay at home, so I left, its been awhile and I've been trying to make it on my own but... it kept getting harder 'cause it kept getting harder to hide this stuff..." he pointed at his hair, opting not to motion towards the squirming motions in his arms. "A set of puppy eyes could get me a hot meal at first, but... its harder to get even a few of the churches back home to give me a bite to eat once they realized what I was. And, well..." He motioned to his clothes, making his previous non-occupation obvious. "Everyone kept expecting I'd steal anything not locked down. Uhm..." He looked away with a bit of shame, as they were probably right. "I didn't want to come here, not at first... but... figured it was worth taking the chance instead of starving." Mallory snorts, "My parents cared about saving their reputation among society. What they put Th... Dr. Winthrop and myself through to save face among their peers? Not..." She takes a deep breath and smiles, a guilty pain in her expression, "Sorry. It's. Ah. A very long story. But a good number of us can sympathize with difficulties growing up. You're among good, varied company here in that regard." She listens to his story, a sympathetic frown on her features, "Oh, my. You needn't hide yourself here. Even though it seems too good to be true sometimes - Xavier's is an excellent, safe place for you to just be who you want to be. I'm glad you decided to give us a chance - I look forward to getting to work with you in class." The tall librarian glances at her watch, a small gold toned bracelet on her wrist, her other hand idly going to her stomach - which is apparently growlign its disapproval at her, quietly. "Oh, and, best of all, we have an amazing cooking staff here. Have you had lunch yet? Would you like to walk with me to the cafeteria?" Kelly shakes his head to the question. "I haven't eaten yet, no." he says and brightens at the idea. He had kept getting paler the whole conversation, color draining from his cheeks and even his freckles turning more brown that red and pink. "But, just like I said to Rasa... normal food's fine, no need to mix in miracle grow or anything." letting levity take over and pushing himself up on slightly wobbly knees.