Logs:The Best Fake Student

The Best Fake Student
Dramatis Personae Charles, Tok
In Absentia Hive	2024-05-13 <<Oh yeah. Plan is all coming together. Fool proof some might say!>>
Location <XAV> Headmaster's Office - Xs Basement
Quietly elegant, the headmaster's office is as old-fashioned as the headmaster himself. The large wooden desk is the centerpiece of the room, the guest's chair a high-backed dark wood one. The walls are painted in rich dark colours, a sole impressionist painting hanging on the wall. The hardwood floors are polished, the floor kept carefully neat and tidy, the room perpetually immaculately organized. Charles Xavier is sitting behind his desk in a sleek motorized wheelchair, dressed in a navy three-piece suit with a blue-and-gold striped tie and a Xavier's School crest pin in his lapel, the cufflinks cinching his fine white dress shirt gold and black circled X's, much like the wheels of his chair. "May I offer you something to drink?" He's regarding his guest steadily with pale, pale blue eyes, no visible sign of anger written in his serene expression. "Coffee or tea...hot chocolate, perhaps?" Tok had, reluctantly, accepted defeat upon being found out, tail trailing between their legs. Stupid telepaths. Inside the office, to say Tok was struggling to sit still would probably an understatement. Their leg jitters in the seat, one leg curled up close to them and their tail wrapped once around their waist, the end of it in their claws as they pick at the fur with unspent energy. The fur on the end of their tail is probably a little spotty, a sign of the habit. <<Bald bald bald oh shit he’s in a wheelchair is it powered that’s cool I wonder how fast it goes I bet it’s super jet engined so he can take off like a rocket oh goD I GOTTA SNEEZE- oh and there it goes. Am I gonna get arrested. OHOH maybe that’s how I get into the jail. LIKE THE WOODEN HORSE THING THE ROMANS DID! What was that called again? Oh god he asked me a question. Something about…a drink? Its poisoned! It’s probably not poisoned. Thats illegal!>> Tok takes a beat, replaying the question in their mind. Then they nod, “Pa said I’m not allowed coffee cause then I’ll cause World War 3 or something.” They grin, full of teeth, “You got hot chocolate?? I’ll take some of that!” They kick their leg back and forth, “By the way, Is this like, good cop? Who’s bad cop?” "You are not getting arrested," Charles reassures him, "at least not for trespassing. I am not a cop, whatever you might hear from some of my students, and I don't employ any cops, good or bad. I just want to talk. Do you live somewhere nearby? Are you trying to find your father, or other guardians?" He pauses a beat, then adds, with an encouraging smile, "Hot chocolate will be up shortly -- World War 3 averted." At the mention of guardians, a few memories and faces of people in colorful clothing flash through their mind. It's positive. "I was crashing in Freaktown for a bit, then y'know! People died! I wouldn't know, I got outta there first sign of trouble." They accidentally rip out a larger than usual tuft of fur from their tail and wince. "Folks aren't around." <<And I'm gonna break'em out!>> "Oh well! What're you gonna do?" They tilt their head and narrow their eyes, curiously, "...You're the guy who spoke in my head earlier right? You sound similar at least. Are you in my head right now? Is it cool in my head? I imagine it's pretty cool." They ask. << I want it. >> "I'm sorry that you have lost your home, however briefly you were...crashing there." Charles clasps his hands together tight. "If you're on your own, I could offer you a place here -- though I should warn you it's on the crowded side at the moment. This school is a refuge for mutant children, like you. A place where they can learn to control their powers, or just to learn, period." He leans forward at Tok's wince. "Would you like something to fidget with -- other than your tail, so that you do not keep hurting it?" <<He ignored my mind reading questions!! Probably cause I’m right! He thinks he’s SO smooth.>> Tok goes quiet as they consider Charle’s offer. <<BRILLIANT PLAN NUMBER 7! ….enroll….pretend to be a student….profit? We’ll figure it out from there!>> “EHH It’s alright, wasn’t there long.” They lean forward, “Crowdiness doesn’t bother me. I can fit in small places. Bein’ around me usually is the issue for other people. Gotta warn you I’m not- uh…” Hive’s voice echoes in their mind. ….This kid’s too fucking dumb to be alone out there anyway…. “I AINT dumb but maYBE lacking in uhh….certain educational…departments….Can I flunk out? I might flunk out.” They pause the fidgeting with their tail, and hold their hands out, “And yes! Gimme gimme.” "Ah, I do apologize -- I got distracted." Charles inclines his head, and his next words come without his lips moving, though it "sounds" otherwise indistinguishable, << I was not in your head, exactly. I heard the thoughts you projected, and I spoke to you by projecting my own thoughts -- as I am doing now. >> "If you are enrolled, what would be the difference between pretending to be a student and actually being a student?" He sounds genuinely, if only abstractedly, curious. "Hive -- the other telepath who spoke to you -- can be a bit crude in his language." He pauses a beat, brows pinching faintly. "I think he was concerned that you might come to harm, without guidance. That is true of many young people, no matter how educated." He allows a rueful smile. "It's true of many not-so-young people, as well. If other students have issues with you, we have mediation processes and counselors who can help you learn to get along. Learning to peaceably co-exist with others is no less important than mathematics or English." He opens a drawer in his desk and pulls out a colorfully painted wooden box that was probably made by a student, and slides it across to Tok. Inside are a variety of smallish fidget toys, from squishy silicone animals to balls of magnetic beads to blocks of buttons that exist just to be pushed. "If you 'flunk', you may need to repeat courses or receive additional tutoring, but we do not eject students for poor performance. It is unfortunately common for young mutants to experience homelessness and disrupted schooling, and we do our best to adjust to each student's needs." Tok reaches over and snags the box, "It's okay! I get distracted too." They begin to sift through the box, landing on the magnetic beads that they begin to fidget with. "Who told you I'd be pretending?? Must've heard that from someone else. Definitely not me." <<Shit! He's onto me!>> "And that guys' name was Hive??? Sounds like a superhero name. The Hive. I don't care what he said much." <<Is he bald cause of his telepathy? If I traded with him would I go bald?>> An image pops into their mind with themself bald and matching Charles. Both their bald heads shine and reflect the sun. Suddenly, they're both in space and reflecting the sun off their bald heads and begin burning a hole into the earth's crust. The scene quickly disappears. "Hmm......Okay Okay question! Can I like....leave? Like. In general. I don't like not being able to leave if I want to. Or do I gotta stay on campus all the time." They begin to fidget some more at the question. "Well, the telepathy and the baldness are both genetic," Charles muses, "so it may warrant further study. Hive is one of his names, and I suppose it's fair to say he is a superhero of sorts." He leans back in his chair and clasps his hands together again. "Students have curfews and other rules around leaving campus, for safety reasons, but you wouldn't need to always be here, no. Quite a number of our young people have been going down into the city regularly to attend the protests." Tok looks up from their fidget for the first time to really make sure they're processing Charles' answer. They seem satisfied with it, since a grins spreads across their face. <<Oh yeah. Plan is all coming together. Fool proof some might say!>> "Alright. Yeah! You've got a deal!" They seem genuinely excited, hopping up from their seat and pacing around their chair. "So like now that I'm enrolled can I ask you a buncha questions? Like, does listening to everyone drive you crazy? Or can you turn it off? I think it would drive me crazy." "Not quite yet." Charles holds his hand up in an appeasing gesture. "There's paperwork to be sorted out before we can enroll you properly. You may ask me questions while we do so, though that does not guarantee I will answer them all. But first..." He glances at the door a moment before it opens to admit a young Desi man carrying a tray with two mugs. "Hot chocolate." Tok begins to slump a little at the mention of paperwork, but perks up again at the Hot Chocolate. "Oh! Uh. Thanks dude." They'll sit back down and take the Hot chocolate, and begin slurpin it. "Heh. It's good." They seem to have mellowed out a bit, or maybe they're just more comfortable, either way they don't look like they're about to scale the walls and escape through the vents anymore. Their tail idly waves behind them, "So! Where do we start?" <<I'm gonna be the best fake student in this whole dang school>>