ArchivedLogs:Truths and Roses

Truths and Roses
Truths and roses have thorns about them. -Thoreau
Dramatis Personae Kelly, Aloke
In Absentia	2013-10-31 Kelly comes clean, and reminds Aloke why he became a teacher
Location <XS> Art Room
Smells of paints and chalks and turpentine mingle freely in this room, well-used, well-stocked. Natural light flows in, plentiful through the large windows. The long counter-like tables are speckled with spots of color, and half finished projects often stand on easels or propped in corners. The many cupboards lining the walls are crammed full of art supplies. Kelly is very cautious as he's followed the directions to get here, trying to float through the hallway unnoticed, looking over his shoulder the whole time. The Halloween atmosphere wasn't helping his nervousness on arrival, but as stealthy as he wished he was, he simply doesn't have the grace for it, or the build. When he looks into the door, half opening it, he knocks on it quietly. A few brief taps. "Professor Suresh?" he asked, almost getting the pronunciation right, but not quite. His appearance hasn't changed all that much, save that he has abandoned his scarf in his room, the bark patches on his neck all that more visible. And the writhing on his arms continues as his own guts seem to writhe inside him. In his hand he holds a long object that seems to be heavy, wrapped in a stained and ratty dish cloth. The professor turns from the sink where he's been washing paint brushes. He changed out of his costume ages ago, and is just in a white linen shirt, and tan chinos, with no shoes. "Hey, Kelly," he says in a gentle voice. "Come on in. Did you find your dorm and everything?" Comes in a little more easily now, glad for the lack of costume at least. "I did. They showed me around a little... but I needed to lay down." he excused himself, ruined shoes helping to cover the distance between him and the adult. "This place is really big, not exactly what I expected." "Yeah, I only moved here about six months ago," Aloke says with a soft smile, drying off his hands on a paint-stained hand towel. "I know how you feel." He pulls up a stool, and takes a seat, gesturing to the half-dozen just like it. "You wanna sit down? Or just looking around?" Kelly picks a seat and sits down in it gently, as if he were afraid of breaking it, or causing a loud noise. "You're the art teacher?" he asks, not answering either question directly, but leading up, looking around at the obvious. "Cause I don't think they usually call the Janitors 'Professor.'" "One of the art teachers, yes," Aloke says, smiling at the Janitor comment. "But we're a small school, so teachers do a lot of this kind of work too." He shrugs, not concerned about his added duties, and runs his fingers through the graying hair at his temples. "How about you? Are you an artist?" "I wish I was, but no, not really. I'm not really sure what I am." he explained and actually cracked a smile at the comment. Kelly's shoulders relaxed some more, and he shifts the parcel more comfortably in his hands. "I write a little, but that doesn't count. So you're a newbie here, too?" "Well, anyone /can/ be an artist," Aloke says with a grin, ever the recruiter. "If you practice at it. It really just depends on what you /like/." Aloke adjusts on his stool, but his posture is remarkable, perhaps especially for someone who looks to be in his fifties. He seems lean and fit. "And yep, they pulled me in from teaching at university, and I was glad to make the switch. It's nice to live somewhere where you to don't have to hide who and what you are." Aloke's tone has the measured, careful quality of teacher speaking to a student, but he's still utterly sincere. "I guess that's something everyone here appreciates. Though I still feel kinda weird with my coat off." Kelly admits mostly humorously, though his shoulders do tense up only slightly at the mention. "Which is why I don't wanna do anything to mess it up. I was worried this place would be... well, something different." "That's ok," Aloke says. "You don't have to do anything that makes you uncomfortable. It's pretty normal for people with obvious mutations to take time getting used to walking around in the open here. It took me weeks to put my sunglasses away, finally. Now I just wear them when I go into town." He smiles, and shrugs. "If you don't mind me asking though, what /did/ you have in mind, when you were coming here?" Kelly lets out a slightly embarrassed chuckle and looked down shaking his head dismissible. "Well, cinder block walls, required jump suits uniforms... locks and cameras in the rooms. Bit nice men with big nice guns at every corner. And lots of extra pokey medical exams and stuff." Waving with one hand dismisses the idea now. "I hope you aren't mad, I just, well, you know what they say about us on T.V. I figured any school to work with us would be worse than my time at Fort Knox." Aloke blows out a breath at Kelly's description, and hunches over a little bit, resting his elbows on his knees. "Whew... That is a terrifying image. No need to apologize," he says, sitting up and holding up his hands. "No, this is the place you can get a nor- well." Aloke grins. "An /almost/ normal education. But who wants normal, anyway? There are a lot of good people here, and trust me - the only medical exams are your physical, twice a year, and the exams you request when you're not feeling well. With any luck you'll dodge our seasonal bug." "I hope not, I bet you can guess I haven't exactly kept up with my flu shots..." Or well, any medical treatment in quite awhile. And that's when he takes a deep breath and tries to broach the subject that brought him here. "I uhm... I looked over the rules and stuff... and I don't think I'm supposed to have this... but I don't wanna... its important." he explains cryptically as he motions to the parcel. Aloke nods and smiles at the mention of flu shots, but is then intrigued by the boy's admission. "Well, it's probably ok, Kelly. I mean, you only just got here, so it's good you're coming to me now. What do you have there?" Kelly hands the parcel over slowly, and incredibly reluctantly. "Its my grandfathers, and I don't have anywhere to put it that isn't here... but I can't just throw it away. And... I really needed it these last few months." The last part of that was heavy with reflection. An understatement. The parcel was very heavy, and there was a chill inside it. It was metallic, that much was for sure... and old. Inside it lay a Korean War era combat knife, a dark patina replacing what must have once been shining steel surface. But the blade was still sharp. Knicks and pitting of obvious use. Some of them very recent. Aloke takes the parcel in both hands, and once unwrapped, holds it respectfully, with real reverence. "Oh wow, Kelly. I um... I can understand why this is so important to you, but you were right to bring this to me." He sighs, still looking at the knife in his hands. "So, what'd have to happen, is we'd have to take this to Dr. McCoy, who can lock it up in our safe for you. But it's /still/ yours, of course. We just... well it's probably no surprise that our students aren't allowed to keep any weapons." Aloke offers an apologetic smile. Kelly nodded, glad that he wasn't in trouble at least, relaxing as it was received. "I know, and that sounds like a good thing to do. I just... didn't want it thrown away or melted or broken or something. And... I know I probably wont need it here now that I can see what its like. I really don't wanna hurt anyone. Like, ever, promise." That last bit comes a little loaded in his voice, though. As if there was still one more shoe to drop. Aloke nods along with Kelly's acceptance, rewrapping the blade, and holding the bundle in both hands in his lap. "I'm sure you wouldn't, Kelly. And I hope you know our students here are held to a very strict code of conduct. We don't tolerate fighting or bullying of any kind." Aloke glance down at the wrapped knife, and then back up at Kelly again. "Is there anything else I should know, Kelly?" "Does that rule mean you'll need to, uhm... cut these off?" Kelly asked, this time there was a different concern in his voice, a different flavor to the worry. He snaked out one of his vines from his sleeve, letting one of the thorns on it grow... and grow and grow. It couldn't get as big as the knife by far... but there was no question it was dangerous, and there were dozens more of them on the vine. He seemed ashamed of it, not wanting to look at it directly. Aloke's heart breaks at Kelly's question. He starts to reach out to the boy, but stops himself, putting his hands in his lap, with the knife. "Oh no," he says softly, almost whispering. "No no no." Aloke shakes his head with a gentle smile. "Sometimes our mutations /are/ dangerous, or hard to control, but we learn how to manage them here. Not 'how to do without'. We would never do something like that, ok?" "Thanks, Professor." Kelly says with some relief as he lets the thorns shrink, and pulls the vines back into his shirt sleeve out of sight. From the squirming he had several more where that came from. "Because... well, it hurts a lot..." he admits quietly. "And they always grow back." Aloke offers a gentle, knowing smile. "It hurts because they're a /part/ of you. They're supposed to be. And it's lucky that they grow back." Aloke shakes his head, "I'm sorry Kelly. You... must have been through some real trials before coming here. I'm glad we have you here now." Kelly squirms in his seat some more... reaching the limit of what his obvious inner walls will allow. "Thanks, Professor," he says again, and starts to shuffle to his feet. "I'm... I'm gonna go lay down again, if that's ok? Its, well, the bed is really soft." The mention of that coming out as if it were made of pure gold, or a pile of banana pancakes with extra syrup. "Of course, Kelly," Aloke says, brightening, literally /and/ figuratively. "I'll put this in the vault for you. Sleep tight!"