ArchivedLogs:Fire and Death

Fire and Death
Enjoy tea and cakes in the garden
Dramatis Personae Mallory, Thomas	2014-04-17 Decidedly less epic than the title implies
Location <XS> Gardens
From indoor gardens to outdoor, though without the protective greenhouse glass the back gardens do not last all year round. Still, the gardens out here are well-tended and well-worth spending time in, as well. The paths wending through the beds of flowers and herbs and vegetables spread out through the school's back grounds, tended by students as a credit class. Benches offer seating and a small pond is home to koi and turtles, as well as a few frogs. At the far back edges of the garden, a droning buzzing marks a few stacked white boxes as beehives. The school has been a mixture of quiet and celebration, between people concerned with what might have been and enjoying the fact that everything turned out fairly well. Cupcakes have been produced, ice cream stocks have been decimated and non-alcoholic pseudo champagnes have been popped, and real alcohol prevented from getting into the hands of those less well behaving students. Still those who have been seeking quiet have taken up places of solitude, many taking advantage of the recent cold snap to use the outside to keep away casual passers by. Sitting one of the benches next to the koi pond, one of the teachers who had protected the students in the assault has taken refuge. Thomas sits, thin still from the use of his powers, but not as bad as he was two days previous. A large thermos of tea rests beside him, the lid off and steaming from the tea that has been poured into it. His tablet is held gently in his hands, and rather than the usual professional attire he wears, he is actually in a tee shirt and jeans, perhaps saved for those times where he knew he would be swimming in his proper clothing. His breath steams the colder air just as readily as the tea, and a pile of energy bar wrappers sits in a plastic bag beside him. As is often the case, Mallory's thoughts precede her into her brother's presence, a jumbled mix of wariness and distraction, bits of plays and novels wending their way through her tired mind. Next comes the sound of hooves impacting on the pathway, approaching Thomas's refuge. She, too, is dressed in decidedly less than professional attire, in dark jeans that would normally be fitted for her legs, and a slate gray t-shirt with various books from within other books, perhaps hanging a bit looser on her frame than typical. There is evidence of having used her power in the recent past - jaw and cheekbones more angular and pronounced, a lack of fleshiness to her normal curvy form. She carries with her a small shopping bag that bulges with contents, a bright red thermos of tea held in one hand as she stops beside Thomas's seat. << Brother mine. Care for some company, or should I leave you to your cardboard snacks and pensive thoughts? >> << No, you are welcome to stay if you want. I was simply trying to use the time off to rebuild my form. I need higher calorie and more rest, but I have more important things to do than eat lard and sleep. >> Thomas thinks then sips from his tea. Holding up his tablet with a variety of equations on it and graphs, he shrugs. "A lot of the injuries that people sustained, well, I think it could have been preventable. They needed something that could absorb and displace the impacts." He offers her a slight smile at that. "I had originally started working on it so you would be protected." << You travel the world with your firefly and put yourself in the open so much. I do not want you to be hurt...It was why I did what I did that evening, I did not want that monster to get close enough to harm you... or anyone else. >> He rummages through the wrappers to see if there is any food left, and lets out a sigh. "Apparently four thousand calories goes quicker than usual." << Same. Though I've opted to just stuffing my face with some of the fattiest, most horrible-for-me food I can find. Shamelessly. >> Mallory agrees, though her stomach growls in a suggestion that it might not be quite enough - there is a stubbornness to her thoughts that indicates she won't stoop to energy bars. Yet. << Brought more snacks, in case you wanted some. Chocolates, candies, some cupcakes and cookies. Tea cakes. Donuts. Marshmallows. >> She holds up the bulging shopping bag as evidence, offering guiltily, "I may have raided the shop we stopped at Tuesday morning, after I finally gave in and needed to go burn somewhere." Mallory shares a memory of a very confused looking store clerk at a convenience store elsewhere, tinged faintly by the lingering feeling of still healing burns. << Couldn't sleep. >> She sighs, and selects a bag of donuts from within her shopping bag. "He was able to throw people around like ragdolls," she says quietly in agreement, settling in on the bench beside Thomas, glancing at the tablet but making no sense of the contents. The reasoning earns a sympathetic look, and a soft, sad smile << Oh, Thomas. Thank you. >> She pauses, glancing at the tablet again in confusion, "You're making me armor?" Accompanied by the mental image of her in a set of likely ineffective armor, looking a bit confused as to just how that would help prevent anything that went on earlier in the week. << I stoop to whatever gives the most bang for the buck. You should try the pumpkin one sometime, its not bad>> Thomas thinks, and as she provides the list of foods she brought, his stomach grumbles. "I accept your offerings, and will consume them mightily," he says, blowing out a hot breath of air to steam like dragon breath. "And yes, he was a monster, whether he had powers or not from what he was willing to do." Smiling slightly at her thanks, he shakes his head at the armor commentary. << Not like that. Like this >> and he projects imagery of a cloth that bullets impact and stop on, an arrow bouncing off of, and a hammer flexing against. << At least, that is what I want to do. My simulations finished and I think I've found some good places to start. I want to avoid metallics though, want to avoid conductors. >> << Meh. I'll try it. But I like my solution of gorging on anything sugary and fatty. Not like it sticks that much, and not like I have issues with heart health. >> Mallory thinks, somewhat morbid humor in the fact that her heart is the first thing to burn. "Sure, Smaug. Just actually eat them instead of just sitting on them in a sad little mouldering dragon hoard," she chuckles, handing over the bag of snacks, but keeping the bag of chocolate donuts for herself, opening them and snacking on them happily. << Huh. You can do that? >> she asks curiously, leaning against Thomas as the conversation continues, the image of Sublime surrounded by the white hot metal cage shared instantly, << Good idea. Did you see what Lorna did with the metal? Good lord. Yeah - I think I'll keep away from conductive stuff. I'd rather not get caught in the crossfire. >> She sits quietly for a few, thinking, "So it would just sit like normal cloth? I mean, being protected while going out is all well and good, but I rather like how most of my clothes look without a bulletproof vest over it." Priorities. << Yes I know, same for me, Fuel for the fire. It’s just easier to get more calories quicker this way. Short of eating sticks of lard, it’s difficult to pack more calories in. >> Thomas says, gesturing at his own rather thin form. “I thought you were the fire, I’m just death,” he says slightly bitterly as his mind goes back to choking out Sublime. << In theory it should be possible. Trying to find a good mix of properties, flexible is good, more comfortable that way, but rigid is what you need to stop forces.>> With each thought various scenes appear, bullets into water, bullets into sand, plates of metal, ceramics, all with equations running beside them. “One must be like the willow, flexing in the breeze rather than the rigid oak, which snaps,” he says with a mock kung fu master accent and a pseudo beard stroke. “And I don’t know yet. I know what I want result wise. Kevlar is all well and good, but you need too many layers to stop a bullet, and then if someone stabs you with a knife, or more likely with assholes like Sublime, stabbed with claws, it punches right through.” Letting out a sigh, Thomas rummages through the bag of snacks and opens up a thing of tea cakes and proceeds to eat them with his tea. “Maybe if I’m lucky I’ll have some prototype options in a month or two. Making materials behave oddly is sorta my doctorate after all. Then fine tuning, refinement, testing. I would like to have it ready before your wedding either way, just in case you decide to do some lavish event in another country.” His mind shares back the proposal in Paris that she had shared with him before. “I don’t intend to make you a bulletproof wedding dress, but I still want to be able to make you something before then.” Popping a mini donut into her mouth, Mallory nods and answers << I imagine if you added enough sugar and maybe some fruit puree to the lard it wouldn’t taste too bad. Or deep fried it. But then you might as well just eat pastries and be done with it, anyway. Lots and lots of pastries. >> She pauses here, smirking << Oh, beware students bearing cupcakes. I’ve heard some interesting stories from other teachers who have been brought treats. >> She chuckles at the comment, wrapping an arm around Thomas’s narrow shoulders, joking, “By our powers combined, we are one kickass dragon?” Even as she laughs, there is an undercurrent of concern to her thoughts in response to the memory, and she hugs Thomas a bit tighter << Are you doing alright with everything? >> Mallory smiles and shakes her head, “Nothing so grand. We are keeping it pretty small, around here somewhere. Just family and close friends.” This comes with a twinge of regret, and the quiet, unintentional thought shared with him << You’re just about all I have. >> She keeps her arm around Thomas, as though afraid he’d vanish too, grinning toothily, “I’m lucky to have an awesome, protective little brother like you.” Accompanied by a mental hair ruffle - though she is kind enough to refrain from ruffling his actual hair. Several varied wedding dress designs flicker through her mind, mentally clipped from magazines, showcased on pale stickfigure models, shared in rapid succession with Thomas, at mention of a bulletproof dress, followed by << August 16. That enough time? >> <<Actually that's not too far off. Stuff called pemmican, well its more a Native American thing. Basically they mix a bunch of meat and berries with fat. Original power bars.>> Thomas shrugs, then chuckles at the cupcake comment. “I’ve had one. Relatively harmless, mostly sugar. I’ve eaten worse.” He smiles at the dragon comment, and nods a bit. “I can sorta shape the smoke abit. Serpentine is easier than dragon, too many details for it to look much more than a snake with legs and crappy wings.” He exhales slowly and crams more tea cakes into his face as the question hits though. Tinges of sadness, anxiety, anger, and righteousness come through all at once. << It had to be done. I knew it could be done. I’d researched it before, I know the effects of smoke inhalation. Well know from research. I, just well. It would have been easier to let the monster die. >> “That Jackson fellow wants to dress up as a pirate if he is allowed to come. I told him it was probably a poor idea.” Thomas says with a bit of a smirk as he takes a sip. << I’m sorry our parents are the way they are. One must be perfect, or not at all. >> Snorting at the little brother comment, he rolls his eyes. “We’re Twins. There is no big, or little. Unless someone is making fat jokes, or height jokes.” There is a tad bit of mental feeling behind that that neither would apply to him though. At the date being passed to him, there is momentary concern, then a rapid pace processing going through his head. “Maybe. If I can isolate a solution…” the word solution seems to spark something though, floating combinations of particles spins into thought as he begins flicking away at the tablet screen. “That just gave me an idea.” << Huh. Well, I suppose it makes sense. I think I’ll stick to my pastry plan >> Mallory says, biting into one of the donuts demonstratively << Though Hank is going to yell at me for my horrible dietary habits. Been living on ice cream, chocolate, and curry for a few weeks. >> She crinkles her nose at the cupcake description, shaking her head. The flood of emotions over their link, however, drops any other commentary about the dragon form; Mallory squeezes Thomas’s shoulder again, just listening quietly to his thoughts. “I would have done the same,” she says in a hushed breath, a shudder accompanying the thought, barely managing to suppress the images of seared flesh and charred bones that spring to mind, << To likely more lethal results. >> She gently bonks one curling horn against the side of his head << I’m here if you need to talk. You did what needed to be done. Professor Xavier can deal with him, and hopefully force him to right some of the horrors he wrought. >> “A pirate?” Mallory asks, considerably confused at the concept, not quite making the link between piracy and weddings. She blinks a few times, and nods slowly, fidgeting with the half eaten bag of donuts << I… I sort of want to send them an invitation, anyway. Though I know it will just be discarded. It just seems like, well, like I should. >> She takes a deep breath, grinning at the twin assertion, a quiet chuckle, and a mental lean - a memory of snagging a hat from his head and keeping it easily out of reach. “Should I leave you to your equations now?” Mallory asks, not yet moving, just watching the swirl of mental images that are shared, comprehending absolutely none of it. << Pastry acquired from good bakers I presume. And not from students attempts. >> Thomas thinks up an image of an oddly shaped cupcake in lime green. “I’ll… be alright,” he says to her concern and squeeze. Patting her horn as she bonks him, he nods. << I know. Its unpleasant, and necessary. Just not something I honestly thought I would ever need to do. I always thought of it more along the lines as something to use to get away from a bad situation, or protecting me from a terrible accident. Knowing something could be a weapon, and actually using it as a weapon are rather different. Like making the joke of dihydrogen monoxide being dangerous, up until the point someone drowns. >> Thomas nods at the pirate comment projecting the image of himself in brocades and velvets from Jax’s illusion of on himself. << Renaissance themed was what he was hoping for. And I wouldn’t count him out from wanting to attend. He seemed rather excited at the news. Oh, you’ll want a lot of food at the reception none the less. Erm, it was supposed to be a surprise, but well...I was going to offer to pay for the food for the wedding. Its what our parents Should be doing, and I’ll be damned if they ruin that. >> He offers her a smile, and pokes at the tablet. “I’ll be fine working on them. Distraction doesn’t really distract me from my work. Its mainly just making note if it anyway. I’ll have to test it in the lab environment before running with the idea. But, well… the solution to the problem may well be a solution. What better way to get the combined properties than to suspend one in the other.” << God yes. I don’t even trust my own baking. There’s this awesome little bakery right near the Tamarind in New York. I need to take you there some time. The pastries are amazing >> Mallory chirps happily, sharing a memory of the colorful rainbow of pastries in the glass cases of Happy Cakes. << Maybe even invite you along for cake tasting. Need to call and schedule that some time >> her mental voice trails off into a fuzzy babble of wedding related things, eventually ending in a sense of apology. At the assurance that he will be okay, Mallory releases her hug on Thomas, and turns slightly, shifting so she can lean her back against his shoulder while he works, obviously settling in and making herself comfortable. << Sort of the nature of our situation, I suppose. We’re labeled as dangerous, and as much as we deny it, we can be lethal when pushed >> she offers, eyes drifting closed as her mind drifts back to the gout of flame from Sublime, having to push aside her own fear in order to protect the children. The pain of the fire still fresh in her mind. “But sometimes there is not much other option to be had,” she says quietly. “Aloke already sort of vetoed my ‘threat’ of doing it in Olde English. Not so sure a Renaissance theme would go over much better,” Mallory laughs, shaking her head, “I think we’re going for a sort of fairy tale look, though. All lights and flowers and such. Maybe.” This comes with a flurry of images from magazines, all neatly cataloged and referenced for later use, little intimate ceremonies and exchanges, all white and colorful, glowing with candle light. There’s an abrupt, shocked mental silence when Thomas offers to pay for the food, and Mallory turns to blink back at him for a moment, grinning in surprise. << Thank you, Thomas. That… that means a lot to offer that. You don’t have to do anything like that - food is sort of a huge thing, especially as much as the lot of us eat. >> Mallory offers quietly, settling in once again with her back against his shoulder. “Well, as long as I’m not a distraction. I’ll just stick here and keep you company, alright?” Mallory offers, nibbling on another donut, “Not that anything you’re saying will make much sense, but I’d like to stay out here with you.” In response to the science babble, Mallory seems to be starting to drift off a bit, mind wandering quietly towards sleep. Thomas leans back against her a moment as she settles in. << Its the right thing to do. Besides, as soon as the inheritance goes to me, I’d just be giving you half anyway. Think of it as just getting what you should have gotten in the first place. I can play the good child as long as its necessary. >> At the feeling of her drifting off, he smiles slightly as he gets back to his equations. << Sleep well, sister. I will push away your bad dreams. >>