ArchivedLogs:Up in Smoke

Up in Smoke
Dramatis Personae Mallory, Mya, Thomas	2013-07-21 '
Location XS - Conservatory
Tall panes of glass keep this large indoor garden warm year round. Tended to by the school's groundskeeper, the conservatory is lush with plant life, a carefully cultivated paradise within Xavier's walls. The room serves as a classroom as well; in the center of the garden a ring of seats forms a small circle, a favorite locale for some teachers to hold court. Okay. So she looks like an alien and she's currently fiddling with plumes of smoke pouring from the sides of her body. Mildly alarming. But at least the smoke is harmless. Right now she's trying very hard to make something resembling clothes. The light is beginning to fade, if slowly, as the afternoon wears on, but the girl is as energetic as if it's the beginning of the day. Her face doesn't display emotion well since it has almost no features, but if it had any obvious emotion, it'd probably be intense concentration. A quirk of one eye, and the plumes of smoke coalesce into a tight ball between her hands. She begins to shape it, drawing her fingers through it like one might clay. Making his way into the Conservatory, Thomas is wearing a navy blue button up shirt, its long sleeves rolled up slightly to his forearms, and grey slacks meet well polished wing tip shoes. Mind you, the rest of him is un-disguised for a change, and his dark skin stands out against the greenery growing lush around them. Sliding his cell phone into his pocket, he glances along the path way and raises a brow glancing towards the smokey figure. "Hrm, not quite what I expected to find here. Hrm, ah right, the new student email that was sent out explains the matter." In a bout of some irony, Mallory has agreed to beet her twin in the Xavier's conservatory today, but she is quite content to take some time out from the library. It is nearly impossible for her to mask what she is, with a pair of jet black horns curling on either side of her head, and smooth skin the color of burning coals. Her cloven black hooves click gently against the surface of the pathway through the conservatory, barely peaking out from beneath the hem of the golden silk wrap skirt that flutters on the breeze, paired with a breezy linen blouse. She pauses beside her brother, standing nearly a head taller than the other teacher, "Afternoon, Thomas. New student?" Her Oxford accented voice is curious as dark eyes settle on Mya's smoking form. Mya looks up from what she's concentrating on. When she does so, the smoke disperses into the air without her to mentally hold it here. She makes a frustrated sound in whatever takes the place of the back of her throat, eyes glowing in frustration,"Oh dear. I'm TRYING to make clothes, but cloth is HARD... Took me this long to even do vocal chords." She offers a sheepish smile to the new teachers,"Yes. I'm Mya. I'm what they were wheeling into the basement on Friday night. Mister, Ma'am... was there something I could do for you?" The voice is hollow and resonating in its own way, and seems to issue from the general direction of the kid's face, despite the lack of mouth. Nodding to Mallory's question, Thomas glances to her for a moment, a slight smile passing his lips. <<Not quite what I had been expecting from the email. Still like seeing myself from the outside.>> He offers the student a pleasant smile, inclining his head. "Indeed Miss Friendly I believe? Still a remarkable degree of control over such a form. I must say that I do not have the same degree of control you are expressing in a smoke form." A warmth comes from his smile at that, a slight tilting of his head. "We are Professors Winthrop, though I would assume under normal circumstances you wouldn't need to express it to both of us at once." He glances to Mallory again, with a raised brow <<Or would you rather say librarian? What title does a librarian use honestly?> Glancing back to Mya though, he offers a slight shrug. "Sorry to have bothered you, we were just planning to have a little chat in the lovely scenery. Forgive us for disrupting your training." Mallory offers a polite smile, revealing decidedly pointed canines, "Our apologies for disturbing you, Miss Friendly. If you wish to continue using the conservatory for practice, we can find another spot to have our chat." She glances sidelong at her brother, shrugging slightly <<Curious, indeed, and certainly not what was expected. I sympathize with the issues regarding cloth. It never comes back right.>> "Clothing is never easy to form," Mallory offers with a slight grimacing smile, "But willingness to practice is an excellent first step." A shake of her head towards Thomas <<Librarians don't really get titles. Just Librarian. Or Ms. I don't get the doctor title yet.>> There may be a hint of bitterness to the mental statement. Mya nods to Thomas slowly, eyes widening slowly,"Of course Mister Professor, Miss Professor. I'm... only controlling in a different way. I do not have 'more control'. Or... I don't think I do, maybe? It's only easy until I get about a mile from here. Anyway... don't let me interrupt your chat." Her eyes glow a somewhat 'embarrassed' hue,"I can go elsewhere, or I can just keep going, regardless. I... um... I'm trying to hammer out how this body manifests, but... I'm still new to all this." "Its quite alright. We would be amiss in our pedagogical duties if we were not available to provide what expertise we may in the areas we specialize in." Thomas provided a slight nod at that. "Is there a particular type of clothing you are more comfortable wearing? I find that certain clothing is easier for me to manifest when returning to a physical form than others, though I wouldn't call it the most comfortable of attire. The closer it is to the body the easier the task I find." He looks about for a ledge or chair to sit on for a moment, before propping himself against one of the ledges. "Mind you, you also don't seem to be in as much physical distress as myself or my sister have when we utilize our own gifts." He runs a hand up to one of his horns a moment before continuing back to the rest of his hair. << I certainly hope she isn't in as much distress. Nobody should feel the pain we do.>> "As my brother says, some types are easier to manifest than others. If there is something you always wear, or something that feels like second nature to you, then that may be a good place to start," Mallory offers, moving to lean against a slightly lower ledge, arranging her tail so that it isn't disrupting the plants nearby. "Something like yoga pants might be easier to create than, say, a full ballgown. Moderately more practical, as well. Alternately, can you cause the smoke to shroud around you? That could be another way to approach it." The mention of experience gets a slight grin from the librarian, "He has more experience with forming clothing than I do, so I defer to his advice. I am rather horrid at it, in my experience. Managed to do it properly, once." She smiles pleasantly, her dark eyes crinkling with the expression, although she unconsciously runs her own hand along one curling horn as Thomas does, unintentionally mirroring his movement. There's a bit of a grimace as she realizes she's mimicking him, and she forces herself to stop, setting her hand in her lap again. <<Sorry. And yes. I'd rather hope so - but, well, we do not know the fullest extent of her abilities or condition. She may very well, unfortunately.>> Mya holds out a hand, smoke pouring from her fingertips,"Gross control... It's easy. I just have to concentrate a lot. Comfort, though... It doesn't really matter. I can feel 'pressure' in this body. Not much else. The fine control is hard for me... What I'm doing..." She seems to struggle for a moment, perhaps for words? "I'm taking the particles of hydrocarbons in the smoke, and compacting them HARD into a shape. It's not REAL, but it makes me feel... better... more normal." As smoke pools into a ball above her hands again, she refocuses her gaze on it,"I'm sorry it's rough on you. I don't... notice discomfort so much. My real body... it doesn't really feel discomfort anymore, or much of anything. Which is... okay, honestly. I was dying when I mutated. End stage lung cancer." She shrugs a little bit,"It's weird... I was pretty serene near the end. Now that it's not going to end anytime soon as far as I can tell... I feel like I have a lot of catching up to do." Suddenly, she blurts,"The human nose can purify, warm, and moisturize up to one hundred thousand cubic meters of air a year." The smoke pooled above her hands begins to twist, shift colors, and gain and lose consistency rapidly. "Hrm, if you want to come to the lab some time, I could perhaps show you some of the aerogel models or at least carbon fiber. It may be somewhat easier than hard compressing the hydrocarbons." Thomas strokes his chin in thought a moment. "Ah yes, perhaps I should have mentioned. I teach chemistry here, my specialty is in metamaterials actually." He glances to Mallory as the girl explained her powers, a slight frown showing in his brow << I certainly hope her gross control does not express itself on my altered state. It would be somewhat inconvenient I imagine.>> Glancing back to the girl as she started spouting trivia, he let out a slight chuckle. "Indeed? My that is a fascinating bit of information there. Did you know that carbon aerogels are capable of supercapactive properties as well as acting as a remarkable thermal insulator by blocking two thirds of the normal methods of heat transfer?" A bemused smirk graces Mallory's face at the scientific reasoning behind the powers, her understanding of the subject being limited to 'ow fire burns'... of course, Thomas gets treated to this thought processes as well, whether he wants it or not. "Yes - and I am the librarian, well, primarily, as well as teaching a few English classes. I can't offer a lab, but I do have books," she contributes with a slight shrug, although her grin starts to fade as Mya describes the circumstances of her mutation. "Oh. I see," she says quietly, with a tilt of her horned head, "I understand the feel to catch up with life. This school does certainly seem to be the place to do it." <<That would be... unfortunate, most likely. Likely not something you want to test out - for Science or not, brother.>> the mental statement comes with a sense of protectiveness and a touch of worry, the latter emotion telegraphing to Mallory's features. Mya floats slightly into the air and begins to play with the ball of smoke, unravelling it as if it were a spool of fabric. It continues shifting color and consistency, the shape slowly becoming more and more... 'sharp',"I'd love to take a look at it. The filtration system on my chamber in the bedroom is based on carbon aerogels, from what I understand. The radiation shielding on it involves them too, I believe. I'm not... up to date on the principals, though. I spent a lot of time reading when I could, but... Well, I'm only sixteen, you know?" She'd be chewing her lower lip if she had one. Instead, her eyes gain a quizzical expression,"I'll certainly visit the lab, and the library. I like to catch the last bit of sunlight, though, you know? There's not enough smoke for me to eat out here, so the solar radiation is... nummy. I can't explain it exactly, but it's... satisfying, I guess is the word. You know, up near the end, reading was one of the few things I had enough energy to do. I still like the smell of books. It's comforting." "I'll be sure to have a few models loaded up into the computer in the next few days for you. Seeing the molecular positioning may be enough for you to be able to control it given the right circumstances." Thomas gives a bit of a shrug at that, not precisely sure what her powers allow her to actually do. "And filtration systems can be a bit of a problem. Damn HEPA filters," he says with a bit of a grin. "I hope this place does provide you with what you need. We can appreciate the difficulties that mutations can place upon one's life. I at least can pretend to be human still with enough make up, my sister however, I can't imagine it would be feasible without an entire special effects department." He gives Mallory an appreciative smile at that << I think you could probably catch a role in the next Star Wars movies. Maybe you can get a lightsaber. >> accompanying the thought is the vwum vwum of lightsabers in her mind. "Still, if you're up here on a meal, we can leave you to the last of the light." Mallory snorts, a laughing sound as she glances towards Thomas, "Oh right. HEPA filters. I had forgotten about that incident. Or, rather, incidents." She nods towards Mya, "That's how I ended up in my line of work. Books were about the only thing I really got to experience growing up. But I certainly understand it if students rarely want to head through the library, especially when it is so wonderfully summery outside." Mallory glares sidelong at Thomas, smirking slightly <<You are an ass.>> At that point, the base of the horn seems to itch, and she scratches at it with her middle finger, the thinly veiled rude gesture obviously towards him. "Yes, sorry once again if we interrupted your meal," Mallory offers with a slight shift as though she were moving to stand, "If nothing else, it has been wonderfully sunny here. A welcome change from the rather foggy English weather we are used to." Mya shakes her head,"Your presence doesn't make any less sunlight available to me. I don't really... eat the same way you do. The good news is, I'm ten times better than any air filter. I literally suck all the pollutants I don't put there myself out of the air." The smoke she's playing with begins to take on the vague appearance of some sort of long scarf. "I'll take a look at it. You're a chemist, so... that sort of means this is right up your alley. Either way, though, I don't look human in any of my shapes. I hope to make my avatar more human-approximate over time, and eventually increase my range. Do you two face any non-cosmetic challenges from your mutations besides 'distress' when using your abilities?" She does that bit where her eyes smile once again,"I have a Nook. My parents spent almost as much money on books as they did on everything else for me. But the best times where when I got an actual books. I liked the Encyclopedia Britannica best." "Chemistry is a way to understand the world and what its made of. I've utilized by own form to test some of my laboratory experiments. You can find out a lot about something by being in and amongst it rather than looking from the outside in." Standing up from the ledge, Thomas itches at his lower leg, frowning at Mallory's legs then shakes his head. "Extra caloric requirements, higher natural body temperature. I basically have to eat like a horse to maintain scrawny." Thomas gives a small smile at that. "And its useful you're able to have some physical interaction or at least vocal interaction in that form. I can only make vague shapes, and no talking at all. But then, its not exactly comfortable to turn into in the first place." Mallory nods, "Human is relative. I never looked human - I was born physically warped." There's a glance to Thomas, as she scratches at her own lower leg with a cloven hoof and settling back in on the ledge she sits upon, <<Stop that. You're making my leg itch, ass.>> "I have to eat quite a bit, though not as much as Thomas does. Higher natural body temperature, which gets even higher if I'm around open flame or excessive heat for too long. I've also had balance and equilibrium issues since childhood," Mallory explains, scuffing a hoof against the ground as she does, "If I do use my secondary mutation, the pain is agonizing for a good minute before my physical body is completely gone. At which point I can't speak. Only communication I have at that point is to telepaths." The librarian looks sheepish for a moment, her tail lashing slightly at the remembered pain - which Thomas likely gets a taste of, once again, unless he is actively trying to block her out. Mya nods,"I remember my mutation. It was like fire in my lungs. Then just this... really brief moment of the most intense pain. Then the explosion, and it was over. I thought I'd finally passed, you know? It was better though. Haven't felt any pain since. I know this'll sound weird, but... I don't mind not looking human. I just feel good, physically all the time. And my avatar... it's not painful. I guess because it's not a projection." She begins to examine the floating 'scarf' of smoke, and the colors begin to shift wildly,"The most mentally taxing part of doing this is altering its chemical composition to get the chemicals or colors I want. Since I only know some chemicals and compounds by rote, it means I have to try a lot of random things..." She takes a kneeling position, despite still floating in the air. "I imagine neither of you use your powers too much, then. You're right though. Limited or not, I do feel blessed. Do you need to trim your hooves like most hooved beings? I bet that's irritating." "We try not to. Pain is a great deterent to most things, just ask the psychologists." Thomas winces at the remembered pain being transferred. "Still, I'm sure education will be your strongest tool for the future. I'll be glad to help out if the only thing holding you back is particular chemical admixtures. Though most brilliant colors do rely on certain metals, which are fairly uncommon to be in a vaporized state, though more common in a dissolved state in waters." He takes out a small moleskin book from his shirt pocket, and scribbles in a note. "If nothing else this school does provide that mindset, that this is a place to learn, and be comfortable in our own skins, if you pardon the analogy." He gives the girl a small nod at that. "I could only ever go without make up in the safety of home before. I guess one can call this a home away from home in that regards. But if I am going to get those models up soon, I ought to get them loaded. I haven't tested the computational power of my equipment yet, I do hope its graphics are good enough to show the finer details." Mallory's eyes track the color changing smoke in Mya's hands, and she remains quiet for a moment, mesmerized by the color changing while the others talk about Science and such. The question about her hooves gets a bemused smirk, and she shakes her head, "I keep them polished and occasionally need to file the edges just a bit, but since I'm walking on extremely hard surfaces most of the time, they stay relatively under control now. Although waxed floors and me do not get along. At all." She wiggles the two 'toes' of her hooves and grins, shrugging slightly, "I've dealt with them for years - it's just second nature at this point." Smiling at the thought of being able to walk unfettered at the school, Mallory nods to Mya, "This is a good environment, for learning and for experiencing something close to normal life. And I am glad to hear that your mutation doesn't cause discomfort now, and is even a bit of a boon to you." To Thomas, mentally, she adds, with a tinge of pity, <<What she went through sounds distressingly similar. Glad she only did it once, though. And, uh, sorry for the memory leak. Again.>> At this point, Mallory stands, wobbling unsteadily on her feet for a moment as she regains her balance, "I should likely be off now, though. First papers of the semester to grade." She wrinkles her nose briefly at the prospect of spending the night grading, but ultimately smiles toward Mya, "It was nice to meet you, Mya. I hope to see you around the library and school more in the future." Mya gets a curious look on her face, then does that strange 'eye smile' again, and concentrates on her smoke 'scarf'. It begins to take on several more brilliant hues as she works with it,"Thank you. That's actually very helpful. Education... it was the most powerful thing I had, in the hospital. I believe it. Even when your body fails, you begin to find some comfort in how strong your mind gets. This is a good place. I'll be happy here, I think. Thanks for taking the time to speak with me, Professors Winthorp." She nods to Mallory at this point,"I'll be by to check out the selection in the library tomorrow. You go do what you need to. I'm going to hit the jetstream and see if I can find some hydrocarbons wafting around." "Watch out for any heavy winds. Wouldn't want you taking a transatlantic flight and leave your body behind." Thomas provides a small smile at that, then provides and incline of his head. "A pleasant eve to you, and I will see what things from my own self practices may aide you. If nothing else I chose well in my doctoral thesis." Chuckling, he gave a small wave to the girl as he turned to go. Glancing back to his sister he gave a slight shrug. << Sorry Mals, we'll talk over coffee. The breakfast here's pretty good at least, and then you wont have to share the chemical formulas too much longer.>> He chuckles at apparently nothing, though images of electron clouds and valence formals drift through the mind.