ficlet february 17: "six impossible things"
From Carroll, of course. I feel like this has the potential to be pretty good once I get a chance to edit it and strengthen the last section, but it's 9:30 and I have to go to bed.
***
Ficlet February: "six impossible things"
i.
Charles wakes up to a thump slightly before his alarm goes off.
A thump, then another, then the distinct sound of shingles falling off the roof.
He spends a moment lamenting the fact that he knows what shingles falling off the roof sounds like, then pulls himself up, sleepily transfers into his wheelchair, and moves across the room to the balcony.
Outside, the sun is just peeking over the horizon. The grounds are quiet. An eleven year old boy is slowly levitating down to Charles' balcony.
"I'm sorry if I woke you, Professor," he says as he drops the last two feet abruptly and stumbles to remain standing. "I had another dream."
"Quite alright, Jonathan," Charles says. "You'll get the hang of it eventually. You're not hurt, are you?"
"No," Jonathan says. "Uh, but I knocked some shingles off the roof again."
"I'll have Professor McCoy put in a work order," Charles says. "Now, why don't you run back down to your room and get ready for breakfast, hm?"
"Yes, sir," the boy says, and darts out of Charles' room and back out into the hall.
Charles watches him go and sighs. It's probably best for him to start his day as well.
ii.
Hank is awake and tinkering once Charles is dressed for his morning gym routine, so he turns left instead of right when he reaches the sub-basement and joins Hank in his lab.
"We need to put in another work order for the roof," Charles says by way of greeting.
"Jonathan having trouble sleeping again?" Hank asks. He doesn't look up from his work station. "He needs to get that levitation under control."
"I'm going to work with him on it some more this week," Charles assures him. He rolls closer to the work bench--Hank certainly is engrossed in whatever it is he's working on.
"How much do you know about space travel?" Hank asks, again without looking up.
"Very little, I'm afraid," Charles says. "It's never been my area of expertise."
"Hmmm," Hank says. "NASA is attempting to create a spacecraft that can be used on multiple voyages. So I was thinking on the problem and...I might have come up with something. I don't know that I have the time or resources to begin testing or creating a prototype this semester, but I still have some connections with the aerospace firm that helps us keep the Blackbird in working order, so maybe over the summer..."
He looks up then, one shoulder lifted in a shrug. Charles knows he's gaping.
"Hank, are you telling me that you can build us a spacecraft?" he asks.
Hank nods, and Charles feels his lips curl into a delighted smile.
"That's the most marvelous thing I've ever heard," Charles says, shaking his head. "The world is full of wonders."
"Worlds beyond as well," Hank says, and Charles laughs.
iii.
Charles is halfway through his workout when Armando burst into the gym.
"Sorry to interrupt, Charles, but have you noticed anything strange this morning?" he asks.
"Strange how?" Charles asks.
Armando looks around, frowning.
"Uh, strange with time?" he says.
Charles blinks at him, then glances down at his watch.
"Time?" he asks, looking back up at Armando.
"Yeah," Armando says slowly. "So, nothing, then?"
"No," Charles says.
Armando looks around again.
"Okay," he says. "Thanks."
And then he's gone again.
There's probably a story there, but Charles will have to get it later. He goes back to his workout.
*
Charles is halfway through his workout when Armando burst into the gym.
"Sorry to interrupt, Charles, but have you noticed anything strange this morning?" he asks.
"Strange how?" Charles asks.
Armando looks around, frowning.
"Uh, strange with time?" he says.
Charles blinks at him, then glances down at his watch.
"Time?" he asks, looking back up at Armando.
"Yeah," Armando says slowly. "So, nothing, then?"
"No," Charles says.
Armando looks around again.
"Okay," he says. "Thanks."
And then he's gone again.
There's probably a story there, but Charles will have to get it later. He goes back to his workout.
*
Charles is halfway through his workout when Armando burst into the gym.
"Sorry to interrupt, Charles, but have you noticed anything strange this morning?" he asks.
"Strange how?" Charles asks.
"Time," Armando says flatly. He sounds exhausted. Charles wonders if he slept last night. "Time isn't repeating?"
Charles blinks at him, then glances down at his watch. It's running normally. He looks back up at Armando.
"Is something wrong?" he asks. "Something I should know about?" He taps his own temple, but Armando shakes his head.
"Not yet. Let us..." He trails off and looks around the room. "Let me try something else."
"I trust you," Charles says slowly.
"I'll fix it," Armando assures Charles.
And then he's gone again.
There's probably a story there, but Charles will have to get it later. He goes back to his workout.
*
Charles is halfway through his workout when Armando burst into the gym.
"Sorry to interrupt, Charles, but have you noticed anything strange this morning?" he asks.
"Strange how?" Charles asks.
Armando shakes his head and leaves.
Charles shrugs and goes back to his workout.
*
Charles is halfway through his workout when Armando bursts in and slumps against the wall.
"Oh good," he says, wheezing. Charles nearly drops his free weights.
"Are you okay?" he asks Armando. He looks like he's been awake for a week.
"I am now," Armando says. "What do you know about time loops?"
Charles picks up his towel and wipes the sweat off of his forehead.
"Nothing," he says, rolling towards Armando. "But that sounds fascinating. Tell me everything."
iv.
Charles throws his towels into the hamper in the gym locker room and pushes the door to the hallway open. Upstairs, he can hear the sounds of the rest of the house beginning to wake up for the day. Breakfast will start soon, and Charles can't wait--it's already been quite the exciting day and it's hardly started.
He manages to make it up to the main floor before he's waylaid again, this time by Jean. He's surprised--none of the children are even down here this early.
"Professor!" she says. "Professor!"
"Yes, darling?" he says.
"Um, so," she says, looking anywhere but in his eyes. "So you know how Linda can make stuff that you think about?"
"I do," Charles says slowly. She's still working on making anything larger than a baseball, and keeping it around for any longer than ten minutes or so, but she's making great progress.
"Well, uh, you know how Warren was kind of being mean to her yesterday?" Jean asks.
"I noticed, yes," Charles says. "I told Warren to be kinder."
"Okay," Jean says. "But, uh...how much do you know about dinosaurs? Because I think Warren knows a lot, and, uh--"
Charles mutters a silent curse.
"Okay, let's get to the elevator quickly," he says.
v.
Linda's apparitions disposed of, the children are mostly awake and beginning to swarm towards the dining hall, sleepy and chattering amongst themselves. Charles is filling out the last of the work orders--it turns out that dinosaurs can do quite a bit of damage in ten minutes, even if they're all fist-sized--and dreaming a little about eggs on toast. And tea. Tea would be heavenly right now.
He leaves the forms in his outbox as a reminder to bring them over to facilities later, and finally leaves his office. He generally tries to take his breakfast before the students, if only to better monitor them once they're in the dining hall, but all of the messes this morning have him running quite late. He leaves the office and turns towards the dining hall.
He makes it about ten yards.
"Professor!" Ororo calls out from behind him.
Charles thinks, for one last fleeting moment, about eating his breakfast while it's hot.
"Yes, love?" he asks, turning around. Ororo is the smallest of the current students, sweet and brilliant and overflowing with affection, as well as a penchant for trouble.
"When the water comes out of the faucet, is it supposed to be going up in the air?"
Charles pinches the bridge of his nose.
"No," he says. "Show me."
vi.
Charles hunts down the telekinetic who overslept in the middle of a dream of drowning and stops the water problems. He gets the boy to breakfast and gets Ororo to stay there as well, despite her desire to follow him back upstairs to investigate the puddles creeping out into the hallway. He gets the custodial staff to come up and begin clean up on the water in Elliot's room and the hallways. He tests the faucets to make sure Elliot's influence is, indeed, cut off.
He finally, finally turns and heads towards the dining hall.
And the front door opens.
And the person who walks in is incredibly lucky that he is literally the only thing Charles will allow to get between himself and eggs at this point.
"Hello," Erik says.
He looks incredibly uncomfortable. He's holding two suitcases.
"I...hello?" Charles says. He blinks. Several times.
Erik shifts slightly from one foot to the other. He's awkward in a way Charles has never seen him before.
"I need to talk," Erik says. Charles eyes the suitcases.
"Just talk?" Charles asks.
"It's a long story," Erik says. "I don't expect that you'll believe me. I hardly believe it myself."
"There's not much I won't believe at this point," Charles says wryly. "It's the result of running a school for children with extraordinary powers, I'm afraid."
"Yes, well," Erik says. "It's been a...strange few days. A week ago, I would have thought it would be impossible for me to walk through this door again. You made it clear two years ago in D.C. that you felt the same."
"You would think," Charles says, smiling slightly. "But you'd be surprised how many impossible things I can believe before breakfast."
Erik tentatively smiles back.
Charles doesn't expect this will be easy--he's rather sure there's quite a bit of shouting in his near-immediate future. But for the moment, something strange and hot in Charles' chest is loosening for the first time in over a decade.
"Now," he says, turning his chair in the direction of the dining hall, "breakfast?"
"I could eat," Erik says.
"Then follow me," Charles says, and finally leads the way to breakfast.
*
ficlet february!
Get some sleep
Five minutes away
Faint recognition
Half an hour before sunrise
Useless, but beautiful
Something’s broken
Surprise celebration
There were signs and signals
Rituals
Write about a postcard
What are you looking for?
You remind me of someone
A meeting, a beginning
Lasting impression
Long drive
Behind closed doors
Ask questions later
Six impossible things
Day off
Lost in a city
A door key
A late night phone call
Someone else’s mortification
***
Ficlet February: "six impossible things"
i.
Charles wakes up to a thump slightly before his alarm goes off.
A thump, then another, then the distinct sound of shingles falling off the roof.
He spends a moment lamenting the fact that he knows what shingles falling off the roof sounds like, then pulls himself up, sleepily transfers into his wheelchair, and moves across the room to the balcony.
Outside, the sun is just peeking over the horizon. The grounds are quiet. An eleven year old boy is slowly levitating down to Charles' balcony.
"I'm sorry if I woke you, Professor," he says as he drops the last two feet abruptly and stumbles to remain standing. "I had another dream."
"Quite alright, Jonathan," Charles says. "You'll get the hang of it eventually. You're not hurt, are you?"
"No," Jonathan says. "Uh, but I knocked some shingles off the roof again."
"I'll have Professor McCoy put in a work order," Charles says. "Now, why don't you run back down to your room and get ready for breakfast, hm?"
"Yes, sir," the boy says, and darts out of Charles' room and back out into the hall.
Charles watches him go and sighs. It's probably best for him to start his day as well.
ii.
Hank is awake and tinkering once Charles is dressed for his morning gym routine, so he turns left instead of right when he reaches the sub-basement and joins Hank in his lab.
"We need to put in another work order for the roof," Charles says by way of greeting.
"Jonathan having trouble sleeping again?" Hank asks. He doesn't look up from his work station. "He needs to get that levitation under control."
"I'm going to work with him on it some more this week," Charles assures him. He rolls closer to the work bench--Hank certainly is engrossed in whatever it is he's working on.
"How much do you know about space travel?" Hank asks, again without looking up.
"Very little, I'm afraid," Charles says. "It's never been my area of expertise."
"Hmmm," Hank says. "NASA is attempting to create a spacecraft that can be used on multiple voyages. So I was thinking on the problem and...I might have come up with something. I don't know that I have the time or resources to begin testing or creating a prototype this semester, but I still have some connections with the aerospace firm that helps us keep the Blackbird in working order, so maybe over the summer..."
He looks up then, one shoulder lifted in a shrug. Charles knows he's gaping.
"Hank, are you telling me that you can build us a spacecraft?" he asks.
Hank nods, and Charles feels his lips curl into a delighted smile.
"That's the most marvelous thing I've ever heard," Charles says, shaking his head. "The world is full of wonders."
"Worlds beyond as well," Hank says, and Charles laughs.
iii.
Charles is halfway through his workout when Armando burst into the gym.
"Sorry to interrupt, Charles, but have you noticed anything strange this morning?" he asks.
"Strange how?" Charles asks.
Armando looks around, frowning.
"Uh, strange with time?" he says.
Charles blinks at him, then glances down at his watch.
"Time?" he asks, looking back up at Armando.
"Yeah," Armando says slowly. "So, nothing, then?"
"No," Charles says.
Armando looks around again.
"Okay," he says. "Thanks."
And then he's gone again.
There's probably a story there, but Charles will have to get it later. He goes back to his workout.
*
Charles is halfway through his workout when Armando burst into the gym.
"Sorry to interrupt, Charles, but have you noticed anything strange this morning?" he asks.
"Strange how?" Charles asks.
Armando looks around, frowning.
"Uh, strange with time?" he says.
Charles blinks at him, then glances down at his watch.
"Time?" he asks, looking back up at Armando.
"Yeah," Armando says slowly. "So, nothing, then?"
"No," Charles says.
Armando looks around again.
"Okay," he says. "Thanks."
And then he's gone again.
There's probably a story there, but Charles will have to get it later. He goes back to his workout.
*
Charles is halfway through his workout when Armando burst into the gym.
"Sorry to interrupt, Charles, but have you noticed anything strange this morning?" he asks.
"Strange how?" Charles asks.
"Time," Armando says flatly. He sounds exhausted. Charles wonders if he slept last night. "Time isn't repeating?"
Charles blinks at him, then glances down at his watch. It's running normally. He looks back up at Armando.
"Is something wrong?" he asks. "Something I should know about?" He taps his own temple, but Armando shakes his head.
"Not yet. Let us..." He trails off and looks around the room. "Let me try something else."
"I trust you," Charles says slowly.
"I'll fix it," Armando assures Charles.
And then he's gone again.
There's probably a story there, but Charles will have to get it later. He goes back to his workout.
*
Charles is halfway through his workout when Armando burst into the gym.
"Sorry to interrupt, Charles, but have you noticed anything strange this morning?" he asks.
"Strange how?" Charles asks.
Armando shakes his head and leaves.
Charles shrugs and goes back to his workout.
*
Charles is halfway through his workout when Armando bursts in and slumps against the wall.
"Oh good," he says, wheezing. Charles nearly drops his free weights.
"Are you okay?" he asks Armando. He looks like he's been awake for a week.
"I am now," Armando says. "What do you know about time loops?"
Charles picks up his towel and wipes the sweat off of his forehead.
"Nothing," he says, rolling towards Armando. "But that sounds fascinating. Tell me everything."
iv.
Charles throws his towels into the hamper in the gym locker room and pushes the door to the hallway open. Upstairs, he can hear the sounds of the rest of the house beginning to wake up for the day. Breakfast will start soon, and Charles can't wait--it's already been quite the exciting day and it's hardly started.
He manages to make it up to the main floor before he's waylaid again, this time by Jean. He's surprised--none of the children are even down here this early.
"Professor!" she says. "Professor!"
"Yes, darling?" he says.
"Um, so," she says, looking anywhere but in his eyes. "So you know how Linda can make stuff that you think about?"
"I do," Charles says slowly. She's still working on making anything larger than a baseball, and keeping it around for any longer than ten minutes or so, but she's making great progress.
"Well, uh, you know how Warren was kind of being mean to her yesterday?" Jean asks.
"I noticed, yes," Charles says. "I told Warren to be kinder."
"Okay," Jean says. "But, uh...how much do you know about dinosaurs? Because I think Warren knows a lot, and, uh--"
Charles mutters a silent curse.
"Okay, let's get to the elevator quickly," he says.
v.
Linda's apparitions disposed of, the children are mostly awake and beginning to swarm towards the dining hall, sleepy and chattering amongst themselves. Charles is filling out the last of the work orders--it turns out that dinosaurs can do quite a bit of damage in ten minutes, even if they're all fist-sized--and dreaming a little about eggs on toast. And tea. Tea would be heavenly right now.
He leaves the forms in his outbox as a reminder to bring them over to facilities later, and finally leaves his office. He generally tries to take his breakfast before the students, if only to better monitor them once they're in the dining hall, but all of the messes this morning have him running quite late. He leaves the office and turns towards the dining hall.
He makes it about ten yards.
"Professor!" Ororo calls out from behind him.
Charles thinks, for one last fleeting moment, about eating his breakfast while it's hot.
"Yes, love?" he asks, turning around. Ororo is the smallest of the current students, sweet and brilliant and overflowing with affection, as well as a penchant for trouble.
"When the water comes out of the faucet, is it supposed to be going up in the air?"
Charles pinches the bridge of his nose.
"No," he says. "Show me."
vi.
Charles hunts down the telekinetic who overslept in the middle of a dream of drowning and stops the water problems. He gets the boy to breakfast and gets Ororo to stay there as well, despite her desire to follow him back upstairs to investigate the puddles creeping out into the hallway. He gets the custodial staff to come up and begin clean up on the water in Elliot's room and the hallways. He tests the faucets to make sure Elliot's influence is, indeed, cut off.
He finally, finally turns and heads towards the dining hall.
And the front door opens.
And the person who walks in is incredibly lucky that he is literally the only thing Charles will allow to get between himself and eggs at this point.
"Hello," Erik says.
He looks incredibly uncomfortable. He's holding two suitcases.
"I...hello?" Charles says. He blinks. Several times.
Erik shifts slightly from one foot to the other. He's awkward in a way Charles has never seen him before.
"I need to talk," Erik says. Charles eyes the suitcases.
"Just talk?" Charles asks.
"It's a long story," Erik says. "I don't expect that you'll believe me. I hardly believe it myself."
"There's not much I won't believe at this point," Charles says wryly. "It's the result of running a school for children with extraordinary powers, I'm afraid."
"Yes, well," Erik says. "It's been a...strange few days. A week ago, I would have thought it would be impossible for me to walk through this door again. You made it clear two years ago in D.C. that you felt the same."
"You would think," Charles says, smiling slightly. "But you'd be surprised how many impossible things I can believe before breakfast."
Erik tentatively smiles back.
Charles doesn't expect this will be easy--he's rather sure there's quite a bit of shouting in his near-immediate future. But for the moment, something strange and hot in Charles' chest is loosening for the first time in over a decade.
"Now," he says, turning his chair in the direction of the dining hall, "breakfast?"
"I could eat," Erik says.
"Then follow me," Charles says, and finally leads the way to breakfast.
*
ficlet february!
Get some sleep
Five minutes away
Faint recognition
Half an hour before sunrise
Useless, but beautiful
Something’s broken
Surprise celebration
There were signs and signals
Rituals
Write about a postcard
What are you looking for?
You remind me of someone
A meeting, a beginning
Lasting impression
Long drive
Behind closed doors
Ask questions later
Six impossible things
Day off
Lost in a city
A door key
A late night phone call
Someone else’s mortification