ArchivedLogs:When I See an Elephant Fly

When I See an Elephant Fly
Dramatis Personae Lia, Kaine	17 February 2015 '
Location <XS> Great Hall
The largest room at Xavier's, the Great Hall is designed to hold all of the mansion's residents and then some. Built for the mansion's bigger functions, it serves as the school's dining halls on ordinary days, and ballroom when needed. On school days, long trestle tables stretch across the hall, high-backed chairs with plush cushions offering seating for the students. Lia is later to dinner than usual, having flown from class to swim practice to theatre rehearsal one after the other. She is still in her typical attire for this time of day: turquoise Xavier's sweats, today, with the black hoodie. At least the chlorine has had a chance to become less pervasive on her person. The girl is settled, now, at a table with a bowl of chickpea and kale curry, accompanied by the ubiquitous side salad, this time with three different dressings to pair with the assorted vegetables. Kaine is a little late to dinner as well, though judging from the television dinner in his hand, it's probably not for the same reason. He's sporting a peacoat over a light red tee and a pair of slim fitting dark blue jeans. He looks around for a bit before spotting Lia and heading to take a seat across from her once more. "Hi again Lia. Have a good day?" he asks with a raised brow, setting the fried chicken meal down in front of himself. A teaspoon in hand, Lia seems to be working on blending the dressings into slightly different flavour combinations on her plate like paints on a palette with the convex side. “I may have tried all of the flavours with all of the vegetables now. I am making new ones,” she informs without /fully/ looking up from what is apparently a delicate process. “I have had classes and breakfast and lunch and swimming and theatre and now it is dinner.” This may be a judgement of her day? Or perhaps the summary is submitted for the judgement of others. “Hello.” "Sometimes you have to. Always nice to try new things, or make new things when there aren't any new things to try." Kaine nods slightly, mixing butter into his corn and mashed potatoes. "Ran to the store earlier, picked up a few dinners. Hopefully they don't get eaten before I get to them, but if they do? They do." “Yes. I like to have all the different things to mix. I usually have several at a time because they let you have as many different things as you want, you know.” Lia seems to find this concept novel. Her brows knit in thought. “Why would you go to a store for dinner? They have dinner here. Every night!” Somehow this also seems cause for comment. "Because sometimes I like food that isn't good for me." Kaine says with a slight shrug. "The food here is pretty fabulous, but these dinners are a lot cheaper here. And occasionally eating frozen food makes you appreciate the fresh even more." He stabs a bit of corn with his fork before popping it into his mouth. "Been considering getting my ears pierced. Think it'd look alright, or no?" “Cheaper?” Lia looks down at her food with confusion. “You have to give them money for the food?” The confusion morphs into worry. “No one has ever asked for food money before.” She eyes the other teen's ears. “Mr. Fairyjax is full of piercings and they are shiny and he is pretty.” "If you go to the store to buy it, I bought these." Kaine indicates the food in front of himself. "And cheaper, in comparison to back home. The pizzas that cost six dollars in the stores here is almost twenty back home," he explains with a slight roll of his wrist. "And I don't really want anything shiny. Maybe a ring like I have in my nose, or two." “Oh. Not cheaper than eating here. Eating here is usually no money? That is probably cheapest.” Lia's head all but audibly click-click-clicks over to a more canted angle. “Not shiny? That is what jewellery is for. They make it of metals and stones and polished up woods...” "Was thinking of stretching my ears a bit." Kaine explains, tearing apart the chicken in front of him. "Or not. I haven't really decided, because I don't know if I'll still want my ears stretched later on. I know I'd like how it would now though. Just take a few months to do." Mixture masterpieces created, Lia goes about trying different veggies dipped in each one at a time. “Stretched how far? Do you think you could fly like Dumbo?” She chews thoughtfully for a moment. “Though he is an elephant. Do people ears stretch that big? Maybe with a mutation. Do you have extra stretchy ears?” "When you talk about stretching your ears like that, it means making the hole from the piercing bigger. My ear would be the same size, but I'd have a hole you could see through when I got where I wanted." Kaine says before popping a piece of chicken into his mouth. After a moment of chewing he continues, "Though I might just get my tongue pierced instead. But I'll have to wait until I'm eighteen, don't think anybody here could sign for me." “If your ears had a big enough space to see through...would they not have to be bigger? To make the space? Or do they take a piece of your ear out to see through? That sounds like it would hurt.” Lia's non-utensil-holding hand cups over one of her ears protectively. “Oh, I don't know. There are people over eighteen here? Does it have to be a special kind of person?” "Well, your lobe gets bigger, but the rest of your ear stays the same size. It doesn't hurt unless you do it too soon after getting it pierced or a previous stretching." Kaine clucks his tongue thoughtfully, attention moving from the food in front of him back up to Lia. "And it has to be your parent or guardian. It's a long process to get it done professional if you aren't eighteen." “Maybe you could fly with just...big lobes,” Lia offers with a giggle at the image. “That all seems very odd. A lot of us do not have a parent here to bring.” Switching back to her spoon, she starts in on her curry. "Maybe if they didn't have big holes in them." Kaine allows, cracking a grin at the thought. "And that may be true, but it's the law regarding it. Can't change it." “You could put thin fabric in to cover them up, like a hang-glider. Probably that would be better for flying than just big ears, actually.” As the meal continues, odder combinations of curry with salad bits and curry with salad dressings form on Lia's spoon. “There are a lot of very silly laws, I think.” "Lots of silly laws." Kaine agrees. "In New York, it's illegal to wear slippers after ten in the morning." He flashes a slight grin. "It's funny the laws they pass to get things they want." “I wear slippers /all the time/. You are /supposed/ to for dance class.” Lia's nose crinkles up a bit at the contradiction. “Would they arrest you for dance class? That seems like it would not do anyone any good.” Her spoon swirls some ginger dressing into her curry, having decided that was the best match-up. “They also arrest you for being a mutant, which seems like it would not do anyone any good, either. And when you are eighteen you have to let the government know where you live so they can take you away-away to a room with no sun forever and stab you with knives to steal your magic.” There may be a bit more force to the stirring than necessary. "I don't think they actually enforce the slipper law." Kaine falls silent at the next bit. "And we have to work hard to make sure they never can do that again. It's ridiculous that they were allowed to do what they have done already." “Good. They should make it go away, then. Slippers should feel free to be danced in whenever they please. Make the government watch 'Footloose'. Such nonsense.” Lia does manage another bite of curry here, though her spoon returns to the bowl with growing agitation. “They do whatever they want and say they do not do right while they hook you to machines and try to make you be dead bodies. There were so many rooms! For so long and when you get older they move you to new ones. And I moved again-again-again. What happened to them? Said they closed the rooms. Where did the people go? They never gave back all the people. Missing-taken-tortured. Rooms with no sun. That is where.” Kaine nods slightly, falling silent once more and chewing on a piece of chicken. "Some people are just monsters. They call us freaks, or want to 'cure' us. And there isn't anything to cure, we're exactly the way we're supposed to be. But I don't know what we'll have to do to get them to understand we aren't really a threat. If people keep blowing things up, or burning things, we'll have to deal a lot harsher conditions." "Monsters. Freaks. Do not want to cure. Want to steal. Steal the magic, use it. Take it and leave you empty. Probes and scalpels and electricity and needles. Watch you watch you watch you all the time. Be this. Be that. Make it do this. Make it fight that. Be in a person. Move their magic out, move yours in. Cannot-cannot-cannot, does not work! Do not /want/ working! Bad. Harsher? Bad!" Lia has shoved her tray aside, hands each creeping up the opposite arm. "Need to blow up. Need to blow up! Otherwise no getting out. No sun, no stars, no sky. I cannot. Need Coppe. Need my space. Need outside. I'll. Coppe." At first, it seems as if the girl might be losing consciousness, though instead she bolts upright and to her feet quite suddenly. Kaine runs a hand through his hair and pushes to his feet. "I'm sorry." he flashes a sad smile. "Sorry that assholes are allowed to make decisions. I can't make it right, but I'll make sure we stay safe." He takes hold of the plastic tray and moves to throw it away. "Stay safe, Lia." Lia's head just shakes, eyes wide-flung and prey-like with obvious panic. She does not quite manage to say goodbye, rather running very /quickly/ in the direction of the girls' dorms, narrowly avoiding running into other students on their way to dish return as she goes.