Things calm down. A little.
This entry ICly open to Xavier friends only.
Went into the art studio the other day, to work on some calligraphy. Livia was in there, weaving--weaving cloth out of her own hair, nonetheless. Apparently, she can make it change color even when it's not attached to her body, so she's trying to make an organic suit out of it. Thinks it might make her more appealing to Professor Summers and the others as a potential member of the team.
I think Paige is having a strong influence on some of the other students. I haven't heard so many at once start to discuss being on the team. Maybe now really is a good time to talk to the Professor or some of the other teachers about having a junior team. That'd be damn awesome. And practical, if only as a way for some of the students to develop and vent their caged energy. Maybe we wouldn't have so many more people like John suddenly give up on the Xavier morals and turn to a more direct route to action.
*sigh.*
Talked to Paige again. She apologized for being so...direct the other night. She wants things to be comfortable between us--and they are. I feel a lot closer to her than I often did with Noren. Maybe this is a good thing for me--maybe this is the lesson I'm supposed to learn from her leaving me. That life goes on, that you can't let the little things stop you from accomplishing your goals, from making your dreams come true. Something like that.
I practiced some more moves with my practice katana. I wish I had an actual teacher for it--I feel like an idiot sometimes, swinging it around like I have no idea what I'm doing. Looking up some kendo information online didn't help too much. Maybe I should talk to Logan. I think he had some kind of official samurai training a long time ago. I wonder how old he is, anyway.
"Duty". Huh. It's fitting.
<< XS >> Art Studio - Lv3
The room chosen for the art studio is pleasant wide and open. Like the Music Room, it can be hot in the summer, but there are several windows lining one wall to remedy some of this. The effort has been taken here to plaster and paint the walls a fresh coat of white, although several classes of students have thoroughly covered most of this in grand murals of their own. Dragons, suns, colored banners, skeletons, rolling landscapes... all cover the walls to create the comfortable feeling of being enclosed in creativity. There are no desks here, but a few large tables and chairs are set up at one end mostly, for classes. A few large canvases leaning against the walls are evidence of works in progress. Against any bare spot of wall available there are shelves and cupboards to contain the many art supplies used here.
[Exits : [S]mall [H]allway ]
[Players : Livia ]
"Ow," comes the repeated soft mutter from inside the art room. "Ow. Dangit.. ow!" Late summer sun streams through the diaphonous curtains, the occasional breeze kicking in a bit of fresh air and doing a little to alleviate the stuffy conditions inside. Livia has taken to occupying the art room of late, when she's not working out with Paige or doing other things expected of a student destined to excel.
"Ow!" she hisses again, leaning back from a large wooden contraption and sucking gingerly on her forefinger. There are many odd sights around Xavier's, to be sure, but Liv sitting on a stool with her hair so long it pools onto the ground like a slightly more well-manicured Cousin It is... well, it sure is weird. The hair is swept back over one shoulder to be out of the way, winds itself into a loose coil on the floor, and eventually winds back up into the machine itself. A loom. "Ow!" she curses, quickly sticking her *other* index finger into her mouth.
Quark enters the art studio, whistling softly to himself; apparently, he is in quite a good mood. In one arm, he carries a few rolled up canvas scrolls; in the other, a large brush and some black ink. Calligraphy materials! Woohoo. Quark blinks and hesitates only slightly after entering the room, before shrugging and heading over to sit at an empty table not too far from Livia. "Good afternoon!" he offers cheerily, hoping he isn't disturbing her. "What're you up to today, Livia?" He unrolls a blank canvas and flattens it out on the desk, holding it in place with some spare paperweights someone had left on the table.
Livia lifts her head, cocking it slightly to one side at a voice. She reaches up to pull her bangs aside like parting a curtain to peer around. "Oh, Chris! I'm.. sorry, I didn't.." the girl flounders for a second. "Just.. um.. weaving," she offers helplessly. Weaving with her hair. And here she thought she'd remembered to lock the door this time, but then again, that wouldn't be fair to anyone else who wanted to use the room. Liv turns on the stool to look at her new company, only to get a slightly painful yank when she tries to stretch too far away from where she's attatched to the machine. "Ah, ow.. y'know. Weaving."
Quark blinks and turns to watch Livia, arching an eyebrow. It is not until now that he realizes that she is weaving with her hair. He blinks again and turns back to his calligraphy, shaking his head ruefully. Well, no /wonder/. "If I might ask...why use hair? Isn't that a little painful?" He opens a small jar of ink and dips a brush in it, then slides over a blank sheet of scrap paper to practice. The brush glides across the paper in a swooshing motion, and he bites his lip in mild concentration. That doesn't look too bad. "I didn't know you liked to weave, actually."
"I *don't* like it," Livia pouts, gently sucking on her index fingers in between sentences. "This stupid machine keeps pinching my fingers when I try to use it." She blows lightly on them for a moment. "I'm.. trying out something. Kitty and I figured out a while ago I can still make my hair change color, even after it's been cut off, so.." She gestures at the small strip of chestnut colored cloth she'd managed to make so far. Barely better than three feet wide and only a few inches tall. "If I made some clothes or something out of it so I could hide without being naked, I might seem.. more useful when I talk to Professor Summers." A pause. "About the team."
Oh! Well, if you put it /that/ way. Quark blinks and turns back to Livia with a curious expression on his face, studying her as if for the first time. "...Huh," he says, turning back to his paper to dip the brush in some more ink and begin his actual project. "That's very interesting," he offers. "I never really thought about that. That could really have its uses," he nods. Adding on with a grin, "And I didn't know you were interested in the team, too. Seems to be a lot of people around here are, lately." He pauses for a moment, focusing on his calligraphy to add another 'graceful' stroke. Well, he's practicing for a reason, right? "I wonder if it's because of some of the recent things that have happened lately. What with the...Brotherhood and all," he finishes darkly, a frown on his face.
The girl bundles up the excess hair and twists it into a loose braid, finally making a snipping motion with her index and middle finger like a pair of scissors. The hair cuts and falls loosely to the floor. With a hair-whipping headshake, everything seems to revert to how Livia always looks, perfectly trimmed shoulder length chesnut hair. It's just that easy! "But it's a real pain to make.. I'm not very good at weaving, and the book I got isn't helping as much as I thought it would." Reddened fingers rise to show off the pinch marks, as well as a multitude of small skin-colored adhesive bandages. She crosses to look at Quark's calligraphy upside-down, tilting her head to the side as if it would give her a better impression of what it's supposed to be. "Yeah, I know that's part of it. Paige is really hyped about it, and we're working out and studying all the time. I was interested ever since I heard about them, the X-Men, but Paige really convinced me to try for it." She squints at the brush strokes, hoping they'll suddenly make sense.
Quark gives a start at Livia's display of hair-control powers. Well, if he had thought that was useless before, this kind of situation definitely changes his mind. He laughs aloud lightly, commenting, "Yes, Paige can be very determined about certain things when she gets her mind set on it. She's only going to be a Sophomore, and already she's doing more training to be an X-Man than I've ever done. I mean, than I ever did before." He glances up as she tries to examine his writing, stating simply, "It means 'sword'. It's Japanese. And don't give up on the weaving. It might hurt now, but the pain will fade. And being able to make your very own personal, color-shifting suit would be really, really useful. I'm sure you can do it, if you work on it hard enough and give it enough time?"
Livia gives a rub to the back of her neck, straightening out a crick. "She's like a woman obsessed. She gets us both up at 6 every morning. I'd be more upset, but it really does seem to be helping. I almost made seven minutes even for a mile on Friday," she beams proudly. Palms flat on the table, she twists her head to peer at it as right-side up as she can without looking over Quark's shoulders. "Oooh. Japanese, huh? That's really neat." No false compliments, either. She means it. A spare chair gets pulled up alongside the table, Liv resting her elbows carefully out of ink range and her chin in her palms. "Yeah, it'd be really neat, but it's slow going. Just that much took me yesterday morning and today. I spent all of Monday just getting that *thing*," she spits with obvious ire and a spiteful glance at the loom. "Set up."
Quark laughs, nodding as he continues to write. Swoosh, lift of the brush to gently dip it in more ink, more swooshing strokes. This particular trial is almost finished. "Yeah, I never really liked getting up that early. But she's been determined to break the six-minute mark on her mile run for the last week and a half, and she's been working like hell to do so. She already passed my best time by more than ten seconds," he admits with a sheepish grin, "and that particular run gave me a stomach cramp for an hour." He smiles at the compliment, replying, "Thanks. I'm not exactly a master at this or anything...just practicing to make sure I remember some of the stuff I've learned. Oh, have you tried asking around the school to see if anyone else knows how to weave? That might speed up the process. Surely one of the teachers would know something...?"
Livia giggles behind a bandaged hand. "She's healthier than I'll ever be. Must be from living on a farm. But I do know I could beat her at rock climbing!" Liv flexes an arm comically. She watches the brush strokes in rapt silence for a little bit. Makes having nice handwriting seem a little insignificant by comparison. "Huh? Oh, I sorta asked around, but I wasn't expecting much. Unless there's somebody with 'mutant weaving powers' I was previously unaware of." Even makes the quotation marks in midair. "But I could still use a seamstress or something for when I get enough cloth finished. And I want a lot of cloth. I don't wanna run around in a magic string bikini, however much easier it would be to make."
Quark chuckles at that, commenting, "Well, even a bikini beats running around naked, I suppose." He finishes his work of calligraphy, setting his brush down to hold up on the paper and examine it. "Not too bad," he comments to himself. "I smudged up one of the strokes, so I tried to make it look like it was intentional, like I was aiming for a more cursive look," he snorts. Setting it aside and pondering what to try next, he offers, "Well, did you ask Piotr? I haven't seen him around lately, but from what I've heard, he likes art. Maybe he knows a bit about crafts or something."
"Eh-heh," Liv squirms in her seat a little, clamping her hands between her knees. "Yeah, but.. what if it got cold?" she offers with a chuckle and a shrug. Her chin rests in a palm again, eyeing the calligraphy. "Well, you'd be one to judge, I guess. I just think it looks neat any way you do it. Ooh, do 'ninja' next. I bet Ted would flip out if you did one and gave it to him. He loves ninjas." She picks up the drying sheet and blows on it gently. "Piotr? I haven't seen him around much lately. I remember he did painting but you think he might know something else that would help?"
Quark shrugs, setting his first paper aside to spread out and flatten another one. "Well, who's to say that having a full suit will be much warmer? That being said, however, you'd probably be better off with the full one. If you can grow your hair at will, you might as well, anyway," he grins. He blinks at her suggestion, repeating, "'Ninja'? Umm...I'm not actually sure how to do that one. I did meet Ted the other day, though. Seems interesting enough." He pulls out his scrap paper again, testing out some more characters to try. Idly, he comments with a shrug, "No, I'm not sure whether or not he might be of help. But if he likes art, maybe he's got some crafting experience, too. And at the very least," he chuckles, "he wouldn't have to worry about his fingers getting injured." Although it might be hard to weave in his metallic form.
"Well, it'd be better than nothing, or nothing *at all*. It's kind of interesting. I never thought I'd use that particular power as much, the hair growing. It just didn't seem useful, 'cause anything I grew would just go back to normal by the time I woke up the next morning." She takes in the rest of Quark's words with a quiet glance at his next project and muted mm-hmms of agreement. "Are.. you gonna try out too, Chris? I know you're not really a student anymore, so you've probably got a head up on the rest of us, but.. we're all still trying just the same."
Quark blinks and looks up to Livia, replying, "In no way do I think less of you or the others because of your age. It has been my belief since coming here that the teachers and graduates aren't the only ones who want to, who have the ability to, protect the ones they love. But yes, I want to be an X-Man. If I can." He shrugs, pausing in silence for a few moments as he writes another kanji. "It's not the same as when I first learned about the X-Men," he eventually states. "I was kind of obsessed about it at first. I thought, if I have the powers, I should use them to fight crime--use them to stop people like the Brotherhood. Being a normal human being was out of the question. But then..." The brush swooshes again, before he seems satisfied with his practice on the scrap paper. He continues as he dips the brush in ink again and writes on a blank scroll, "But then I realized that that isn't what Professor Xavier, what any of the teachers, want for us. To live a life dedicated to only fighting, to violence, is wrong. I realize, now, that being an X-Man is merely a secondary profession. It is our duty to try and settle things peacefully, to live peacefully, first. That is what this character means," he nods at the writing as he continues to add strokes to the paper. "'Duty'."
"But.. the way Paige put it," Livia begins, telling more than she realizes. She's speaking in Paige's words, not her own. "It's more than just wanting to do right. We've got gifts. From God. I know I've made it out in my head to be a lot more glorious than it is, so I shouldn't expect to be saving the world every day like in the comic books. More like get kittens out of trees or something, but even that.. if we can make a difference. Yeah, what people like the Brotherhood do scares me. It's the whole 'culture of fear', but if my two little sisters were in trouble and I was the only one who could save them.. I'd do anything." She takes a good long look at the character on the paper in front of her.
Quark nods, eyes still on his paper. "That's right. I think we owe it to ourselves to improve and develop our powers to their fullest extent, not so that we can go out looking for trouble--but when trouble comes, we are ready and able to fend it off. That's what the X-Men are about. It's just taken me some time to realize that, I guess." A few more strokes, and then he eyes the writing, as if weighing its quality. Not too bad, if he might say so himself. He frowns again at her mention of the Brotherhood, shaking his head. "I can't /believe/ them. To think, that torturing and killing people would simply cause humanity to just give up and give them the world. It's pathetic." He bites his tongue, stopping himself from going into an angsty tirade about them. He turns to Livia and offers a small smile, handing her his finished calligraphy paper. "Here, keep this. A gift. Hang it up somewhere where you can see it, and maybe it'll help you remember what it is we're all fighting for."
Livia is just frowning slightly when Quark looks up at her with his smile. She quickly presses on one of her own, taking the piece of calligraphy paper gently and blowing on the damp black ink. "Thanks, Chris. I know we'll be okay, but between you and me.. Paige needs to chill out a bit. I say we shanghai her into something fun." She smirks, letting her head tilt from side to side to work out that stubborn kink. "I could use with a break too."
Quark nods slowly, biting his lower lip again in thought. "I talked to Paige about it the other day, down in the gym. I'm not quite sure what brought this particular burst of determination upon her, but she'll be alright," he nods reflectively, eyebrows furrowing on his forehead. "Something's happened recently that...hurt her," he admits softly, "perhaps more than she realizes. I'm just trying to do everything I can to help that go away, you know? So is she. And if training to become an X-Man to fight that kind of thing is her way of dealing with it, so be it." He grins, however, replying, "You are right, though. A break--for all of us--would be a great idea. We should throw a party, or something."
Livia nods, but doesn't delve into it. She has a pretty good idea of what happened, and why Paige and Averillix didn't want to be roommates anymore. But everytime she tries to get an answer, Paige gets evasive. "Yeah, I know. I wish she'd talk about it, but I guess she will when she wants to." She claps her hands once. Subject change! "Ooh! A party! That sounds like fun! We should *totally* do that. Lighten everybody up a little."
Quark could clue Livia in on the whole thing, but opts not to, instead. No need to include more people in this ridiculous mess--besides, he promised her not to say anything about it. He pauses for a moment, then blinks as something dawns on him. "Hey! Wait a minute--there's going to be a /pool party/ this upcoming Monday!" He laughs at the fortunate coincidence of this sudden realization. "We'll just have to make her come along, and we can all relax, enjoy some food, and whatnot. That'd be great."
Livia rubs her hands together evilly. "And failing that, teleport her into the pool." She gives a mock evil laugh. Mwa-ha-ha! "I'd forgotten about that party too. I think it'd be great to get everyone to get and just *relax* for a while." She scoots the chair back and stands, putting a hand on Quark's shoulder with a smile. "Everything's gonna be cool. People will get together and have a good time whether they want to or not!"
Quark grins in spite of himself, nodding, "Oh, I like that idea. Maybe I'll do it even if she /does/ show up on her own. And I do hope the weather is nice--it's been miserably hot and humid these last few days." He pauses for a moment, before carefully rolling up the dried, finished 'sword' scroll and his other blank paper. He stands up and caps the jar of ink, collecting his materials before turning to Livia with a friendly smile. "I desperately hope so, Livia. We need something to get our minds off of these current events," he nods. He walks over to the door, stopping to turn around and add, "Good luck with the uniform. I'll see if anyone else knows anything about weaving that could help you. Oh, and remind Paige about the party--see if you can get her to come. And if you can't, let me know," he grins mischievously. "I should be able to convince her."
"Thanks. I don't know how much more abuse my fingers can take, especially if I have to weave a WHOLE bunch more just to make a catsuit or something." Livia waves, laying out her own calligraphy to dry fully before she takes it back to the room. "I'm sure if I tell her she can swim lap, she'll be at the pool before I am. See you later."
Quark grins and laughs at that, nodding, "Yeah, I bet she would, too. She's rather competitive, you know." With that, he offers a brief "See you later!" before turning and walking out the door with that happy whistle again, calligraphy materials in tow.
Quark stumbles upon a hard-working Livia. Some random chatter takes place, and the upcoming party is mentioned. Be there or be square! :P Or something.
Went into the art studio the other day, to work on some calligraphy. Livia was in there, weaving--weaving cloth out of her own hair, nonetheless. Apparently, she can make it change color even when it's not attached to her body, so she's trying to make an organic suit out of it. Thinks it might make her more appealing to Professor Summers and the others as a potential member of the team.
I think Paige is having a strong influence on some of the other students. I haven't heard so many at once start to discuss being on the team. Maybe now really is a good time to talk to the Professor or some of the other teachers about having a junior team. That'd be damn awesome. And practical, if only as a way for some of the students to develop and vent their caged energy. Maybe we wouldn't have so many more people like John suddenly give up on the Xavier morals and turn to a more direct route to action.
*sigh.*
Talked to Paige again. She apologized for being so...direct the other night. She wants things to be comfortable between us--and they are. I feel a lot closer to her than I often did with Noren. Maybe this is a good thing for me--maybe this is the lesson I'm supposed to learn from her leaving me. That life goes on, that you can't let the little things stop you from accomplishing your goals, from making your dreams come true. Something like that.
I practiced some more moves with my practice katana. I wish I had an actual teacher for it--I feel like an idiot sometimes, swinging it around like I have no idea what I'm doing. Looking up some kendo information online didn't help too much. Maybe I should talk to Logan. I think he had some kind of official samurai training a long time ago. I wonder how old he is, anyway.
"Duty". Huh. It's fitting.
<< XS >> Art Studio - Lv3
The room chosen for the art studio is pleasant wide and open. Like the Music Room, it can be hot in the summer, but there are several windows lining one wall to remedy some of this. The effort has been taken here to plaster and paint the walls a fresh coat of white, although several classes of students have thoroughly covered most of this in grand murals of their own. Dragons, suns, colored banners, skeletons, rolling landscapes... all cover the walls to create the comfortable feeling of being enclosed in creativity. There are no desks here, but a few large tables and chairs are set up at one end mostly, for classes. A few large canvases leaning against the walls are evidence of works in progress. Against any bare spot of wall available there are shelves and cupboards to contain the many art supplies used here.
[Exits : [S]mall [H]allway ]
[Players : Livia ]
"Ow," comes the repeated soft mutter from inside the art room. "Ow. Dangit.. ow!" Late summer sun streams through the diaphonous curtains, the occasional breeze kicking in a bit of fresh air and doing a little to alleviate the stuffy conditions inside. Livia has taken to occupying the art room of late, when she's not working out with Paige or doing other things expected of a student destined to excel.
"Ow!" she hisses again, leaning back from a large wooden contraption and sucking gingerly on her forefinger. There are many odd sights around Xavier's, to be sure, but Liv sitting on a stool with her hair so long it pools onto the ground like a slightly more well-manicured Cousin It is... well, it sure is weird. The hair is swept back over one shoulder to be out of the way, winds itself into a loose coil on the floor, and eventually winds back up into the machine itself. A loom. "Ow!" she curses, quickly sticking her *other* index finger into her mouth.
Quark enters the art studio, whistling softly to himself; apparently, he is in quite a good mood. In one arm, he carries a few rolled up canvas scrolls; in the other, a large brush and some black ink. Calligraphy materials! Woohoo. Quark blinks and hesitates only slightly after entering the room, before shrugging and heading over to sit at an empty table not too far from Livia. "Good afternoon!" he offers cheerily, hoping he isn't disturbing her. "What're you up to today, Livia?" He unrolls a blank canvas and flattens it out on the desk, holding it in place with some spare paperweights someone had left on the table.
Livia lifts her head, cocking it slightly to one side at a voice. She reaches up to pull her bangs aside like parting a curtain to peer around. "Oh, Chris! I'm.. sorry, I didn't.." the girl flounders for a second. "Just.. um.. weaving," she offers helplessly. Weaving with her hair. And here she thought she'd remembered to lock the door this time, but then again, that wouldn't be fair to anyone else who wanted to use the room. Liv turns on the stool to look at her new company, only to get a slightly painful yank when she tries to stretch too far away from where she's attatched to the machine. "Ah, ow.. y'know. Weaving."
Quark blinks and turns to watch Livia, arching an eyebrow. It is not until now that he realizes that she is weaving with her hair. He blinks again and turns back to his calligraphy, shaking his head ruefully. Well, no /wonder/. "If I might ask...why use hair? Isn't that a little painful?" He opens a small jar of ink and dips a brush in it, then slides over a blank sheet of scrap paper to practice. The brush glides across the paper in a swooshing motion, and he bites his lip in mild concentration. That doesn't look too bad. "I didn't know you liked to weave, actually."
"I *don't* like it," Livia pouts, gently sucking on her index fingers in between sentences. "This stupid machine keeps pinching my fingers when I try to use it." She blows lightly on them for a moment. "I'm.. trying out something. Kitty and I figured out a while ago I can still make my hair change color, even after it's been cut off, so.." She gestures at the small strip of chestnut colored cloth she'd managed to make so far. Barely better than three feet wide and only a few inches tall. "If I made some clothes or something out of it so I could hide without being naked, I might seem.. more useful when I talk to Professor Summers." A pause. "About the team."
Oh! Well, if you put it /that/ way. Quark blinks and turns back to Livia with a curious expression on his face, studying her as if for the first time. "...Huh," he says, turning back to his paper to dip the brush in some more ink and begin his actual project. "That's very interesting," he offers. "I never really thought about that. That could really have its uses," he nods. Adding on with a grin, "And I didn't know you were interested in the team, too. Seems to be a lot of people around here are, lately." He pauses for a moment, focusing on his calligraphy to add another 'graceful' stroke. Well, he's practicing for a reason, right? "I wonder if it's because of some of the recent things that have happened lately. What with the...Brotherhood and all," he finishes darkly, a frown on his face.
The girl bundles up the excess hair and twists it into a loose braid, finally making a snipping motion with her index and middle finger like a pair of scissors. The hair cuts and falls loosely to the floor. With a hair-whipping headshake, everything seems to revert to how Livia always looks, perfectly trimmed shoulder length chesnut hair. It's just that easy! "But it's a real pain to make.. I'm not very good at weaving, and the book I got isn't helping as much as I thought it would." Reddened fingers rise to show off the pinch marks, as well as a multitude of small skin-colored adhesive bandages. She crosses to look at Quark's calligraphy upside-down, tilting her head to the side as if it would give her a better impression of what it's supposed to be. "Yeah, I know that's part of it. Paige is really hyped about it, and we're working out and studying all the time. I was interested ever since I heard about them, the X-Men, but Paige really convinced me to try for it." She squints at the brush strokes, hoping they'll suddenly make sense.
Quark gives a start at Livia's display of hair-control powers. Well, if he had thought that was useless before, this kind of situation definitely changes his mind. He laughs aloud lightly, commenting, "Yes, Paige can be very determined about certain things when she gets her mind set on it. She's only going to be a Sophomore, and already she's doing more training to be an X-Man than I've ever done. I mean, than I ever did before." He glances up as she tries to examine his writing, stating simply, "It means 'sword'. It's Japanese. And don't give up on the weaving. It might hurt now, but the pain will fade. And being able to make your very own personal, color-shifting suit would be really, really useful. I'm sure you can do it, if you work on it hard enough and give it enough time?"
Livia gives a rub to the back of her neck, straightening out a crick. "She's like a woman obsessed. She gets us both up at 6 every morning. I'd be more upset, but it really does seem to be helping. I almost made seven minutes even for a mile on Friday," she beams proudly. Palms flat on the table, she twists her head to peer at it as right-side up as she can without looking over Quark's shoulders. "Oooh. Japanese, huh? That's really neat." No false compliments, either. She means it. A spare chair gets pulled up alongside the table, Liv resting her elbows carefully out of ink range and her chin in her palms. "Yeah, it'd be really neat, but it's slow going. Just that much took me yesterday morning and today. I spent all of Monday just getting that *thing*," she spits with obvious ire and a spiteful glance at the loom. "Set up."
Quark laughs, nodding as he continues to write. Swoosh, lift of the brush to gently dip it in more ink, more swooshing strokes. This particular trial is almost finished. "Yeah, I never really liked getting up that early. But she's been determined to break the six-minute mark on her mile run for the last week and a half, and she's been working like hell to do so. She already passed my best time by more than ten seconds," he admits with a sheepish grin, "and that particular run gave me a stomach cramp for an hour." He smiles at the compliment, replying, "Thanks. I'm not exactly a master at this or anything...just practicing to make sure I remember some of the stuff I've learned. Oh, have you tried asking around the school to see if anyone else knows how to weave? That might speed up the process. Surely one of the teachers would know something...?"
Livia giggles behind a bandaged hand. "She's healthier than I'll ever be. Must be from living on a farm. But I do know I could beat her at rock climbing!" Liv flexes an arm comically. She watches the brush strokes in rapt silence for a little bit. Makes having nice handwriting seem a little insignificant by comparison. "Huh? Oh, I sorta asked around, but I wasn't expecting much. Unless there's somebody with 'mutant weaving powers' I was previously unaware of." Even makes the quotation marks in midair. "But I could still use a seamstress or something for when I get enough cloth finished. And I want a lot of cloth. I don't wanna run around in a magic string bikini, however much easier it would be to make."
Quark chuckles at that, commenting, "Well, even a bikini beats running around naked, I suppose." He finishes his work of calligraphy, setting his brush down to hold up on the paper and examine it. "Not too bad," he comments to himself. "I smudged up one of the strokes, so I tried to make it look like it was intentional, like I was aiming for a more cursive look," he snorts. Setting it aside and pondering what to try next, he offers, "Well, did you ask Piotr? I haven't seen him around lately, but from what I've heard, he likes art. Maybe he knows a bit about crafts or something."
"Eh-heh," Liv squirms in her seat a little, clamping her hands between her knees. "Yeah, but.. what if it got cold?" she offers with a chuckle and a shrug. Her chin rests in a palm again, eyeing the calligraphy. "Well, you'd be one to judge, I guess. I just think it looks neat any way you do it. Ooh, do 'ninja' next. I bet Ted would flip out if you did one and gave it to him. He loves ninjas." She picks up the drying sheet and blows on it gently. "Piotr? I haven't seen him around much lately. I remember he did painting but you think he might know something else that would help?"
Quark shrugs, setting his first paper aside to spread out and flatten another one. "Well, who's to say that having a full suit will be much warmer? That being said, however, you'd probably be better off with the full one. If you can grow your hair at will, you might as well, anyway," he grins. He blinks at her suggestion, repeating, "'Ninja'? Umm...I'm not actually sure how to do that one. I did meet Ted the other day, though. Seems interesting enough." He pulls out his scrap paper again, testing out some more characters to try. Idly, he comments with a shrug, "No, I'm not sure whether or not he might be of help. But if he likes art, maybe he's got some crafting experience, too. And at the very least," he chuckles, "he wouldn't have to worry about his fingers getting injured." Although it might be hard to weave in his metallic form.
"Well, it'd be better than nothing, or nothing *at all*. It's kind of interesting. I never thought I'd use that particular power as much, the hair growing. It just didn't seem useful, 'cause anything I grew would just go back to normal by the time I woke up the next morning." She takes in the rest of Quark's words with a quiet glance at his next project and muted mm-hmms of agreement. "Are.. you gonna try out too, Chris? I know you're not really a student anymore, so you've probably got a head up on the rest of us, but.. we're all still trying just the same."
Quark blinks and looks up to Livia, replying, "In no way do I think less of you or the others because of your age. It has been my belief since coming here that the teachers and graduates aren't the only ones who want to, who have the ability to, protect the ones they love. But yes, I want to be an X-Man. If I can." He shrugs, pausing in silence for a few moments as he writes another kanji. "It's not the same as when I first learned about the X-Men," he eventually states. "I was kind of obsessed about it at first. I thought, if I have the powers, I should use them to fight crime--use them to stop people like the Brotherhood. Being a normal human being was out of the question. But then..." The brush swooshes again, before he seems satisfied with his practice on the scrap paper. He continues as he dips the brush in ink again and writes on a blank scroll, "But then I realized that that isn't what Professor Xavier, what any of the teachers, want for us. To live a life dedicated to only fighting, to violence, is wrong. I realize, now, that being an X-Man is merely a secondary profession. It is our duty to try and settle things peacefully, to live peacefully, first. That is what this character means," he nods at the writing as he continues to add strokes to the paper. "'Duty'."
"But.. the way Paige put it," Livia begins, telling more than she realizes. She's speaking in Paige's words, not her own. "It's more than just wanting to do right. We've got gifts. From God. I know I've made it out in my head to be a lot more glorious than it is, so I shouldn't expect to be saving the world every day like in the comic books. More like get kittens out of trees or something, but even that.. if we can make a difference. Yeah, what people like the Brotherhood do scares me. It's the whole 'culture of fear', but if my two little sisters were in trouble and I was the only one who could save them.. I'd do anything." She takes a good long look at the character on the paper in front of her.
Quark nods, eyes still on his paper. "That's right. I think we owe it to ourselves to improve and develop our powers to their fullest extent, not so that we can go out looking for trouble--but when trouble comes, we are ready and able to fend it off. That's what the X-Men are about. It's just taken me some time to realize that, I guess." A few more strokes, and then he eyes the writing, as if weighing its quality. Not too bad, if he might say so himself. He frowns again at her mention of the Brotherhood, shaking his head. "I can't /believe/ them. To think, that torturing and killing people would simply cause humanity to just give up and give them the world. It's pathetic." He bites his tongue, stopping himself from going into an angsty tirade about them. He turns to Livia and offers a small smile, handing her his finished calligraphy paper. "Here, keep this. A gift. Hang it up somewhere where you can see it, and maybe it'll help you remember what it is we're all fighting for."
Livia is just frowning slightly when Quark looks up at her with his smile. She quickly presses on one of her own, taking the piece of calligraphy paper gently and blowing on the damp black ink. "Thanks, Chris. I know we'll be okay, but between you and me.. Paige needs to chill out a bit. I say we shanghai her into something fun." She smirks, letting her head tilt from side to side to work out that stubborn kink. "I could use with a break too."
Quark nods slowly, biting his lower lip again in thought. "I talked to Paige about it the other day, down in the gym. I'm not quite sure what brought this particular burst of determination upon her, but she'll be alright," he nods reflectively, eyebrows furrowing on his forehead. "Something's happened recently that...hurt her," he admits softly, "perhaps more than she realizes. I'm just trying to do everything I can to help that go away, you know? So is she. And if training to become an X-Man to fight that kind of thing is her way of dealing with it, so be it." He grins, however, replying, "You are right, though. A break--for all of us--would be a great idea. We should throw a party, or something."
Livia nods, but doesn't delve into it. She has a pretty good idea of what happened, and why Paige and Averillix didn't want to be roommates anymore. But everytime she tries to get an answer, Paige gets evasive. "Yeah, I know. I wish she'd talk about it, but I guess she will when she wants to." She claps her hands once. Subject change! "Ooh! A party! That sounds like fun! We should *totally* do that. Lighten everybody up a little."
Quark could clue Livia in on the whole thing, but opts not to, instead. No need to include more people in this ridiculous mess--besides, he promised her not to say anything about it. He pauses for a moment, then blinks as something dawns on him. "Hey! Wait a minute--there's going to be a /pool party/ this upcoming Monday!" He laughs at the fortunate coincidence of this sudden realization. "We'll just have to make her come along, and we can all relax, enjoy some food, and whatnot. That'd be great."
Livia rubs her hands together evilly. "And failing that, teleport her into the pool." She gives a mock evil laugh. Mwa-ha-ha! "I'd forgotten about that party too. I think it'd be great to get everyone to get and just *relax* for a while." She scoots the chair back and stands, putting a hand on Quark's shoulder with a smile. "Everything's gonna be cool. People will get together and have a good time whether they want to or not!"
Quark grins in spite of himself, nodding, "Oh, I like that idea. Maybe I'll do it even if she /does/ show up on her own. And I do hope the weather is nice--it's been miserably hot and humid these last few days." He pauses for a moment, before carefully rolling up the dried, finished 'sword' scroll and his other blank paper. He stands up and caps the jar of ink, collecting his materials before turning to Livia with a friendly smile. "I desperately hope so, Livia. We need something to get our minds off of these current events," he nods. He walks over to the door, stopping to turn around and add, "Good luck with the uniform. I'll see if anyone else knows anything about weaving that could help you. Oh, and remind Paige about the party--see if you can get her to come. And if you can't, let me know," he grins mischievously. "I should be able to convince her."
"Thanks. I don't know how much more abuse my fingers can take, especially if I have to weave a WHOLE bunch more just to make a catsuit or something." Livia waves, laying out her own calligraphy to dry fully before she takes it back to the room. "I'm sure if I tell her she can swim lap, she'll be at the pool before I am. See you later."
Quark grins and laughs at that, nodding, "Yeah, I bet she would, too. She's rather competitive, you know." With that, he offers a brief "See you later!" before turning and walking out the door with that happy whistle again, calligraphy materials in tow.
Quark stumbles upon a hard-working Livia. Some random chatter takes place, and the upcoming party is mentioned. Be there or be square! :P Or something.