Contemplating life in general
ICly open to Xavier staff only, to keep Noren's 'secrets' quiet-like.
OOC Note: Due to conflicting RP schedules, Jean and I couldn't finish our conversation scene from a few days ago until now. Therefore, this is what's going to happen: the first part, in Jean's room, takes place the night before she takes Moira back to Muir. The second part takes place the next day, prior to her leaving to go save Maddy. However, also due to some weird detail thing, there is information that Quark just ICly learned last night. So...just pretend it all works out? ^_^ Sorry about all that. Enjoy.
"To be, or not to be: that is the question:
Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer
The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune,
Or to take arms against a sea of troubles,
And by opposing end them? To die: to sleep;
No more; and by a sleep to say we end
The heartache and the thousand natural shocks
That flesh is heir to,-'tis a consummation
Devoutly to be wished. To die, to sleep;
To sleep: perchance to dream: ay, there's the rub:
For in that sleep of death what dreams may come,
When we have shuffled off this mortal coil,
Must give us pause: there's the respect
That makes calamity of so long life;
For who would bear the whips and scorns of time,
The oppressor's wrong, the proud man's contumely,
The pangs of despised love, the law's delay,
The insolence of office and the spurns
That patient merit of the unworthy takes,
When he himself might his quietus make
With a bare bodkin? Who would fardels bear,
To grunt and sweat under a weary life,
But that the dread of something after death,
The undiscovered country from whose bourn
No traveller returns, puzzles the will
And makes us rather bear those ills we have
Than fly to others that we know not of?
Thus conscience does make cowards of us all;
And thus the native hue of resolution
Is sicklied o'er with the pale cast of thought,
And enterprises of great pith and moment
With this regard their currents turn awry,
And lose the name of action." --Hamlet, III.i
I finally got the guts to go and tell someone about Noren's condition. After Jean got back, I ran into her in the kitchen and told her about what's been going on, including the murder. Although Jean must've been shocked to say the least, she understands how one's mutant powers can cause such uncontrollable violence. Please, to any of the other staff members reading this: don't tell anyone else about how Noren killed someone. I don't want to get her in trouble for defending a friend's life. I almost didn't tell Jean, but I knew it was in Noren's best interest. I just didn't know what else to do...
Matter of fact, I've been really lost in my purpose lately. Although I'm far from suicidal, I can't help but recognize a lot of my conflicting feelings in Hamlet's famous 'To be or not to be' speech. I gave my mother leukemia, I can't seem to help others accept the advice I try to give them, and my powers have almost no offensive capabilities. Seriously, the only thing I can do when attacked is run away! Professor Wagner, when you get the time, I'd really like to talk to you about this. I know that I can use my teleportation for other things, but I just don't know where to start.
Anyway, sorry for trying to make everyone think so hard like this on Friday and everything...Just wanted to get that off my chest.
<> Jean's Room - Lv3(#837RA)
Large and airy this end of the hall room; the door from the hallway bisects one wall. To the right, an office area complete with overstuffed bookshelves and a desk with computer, docking stations for peripherals, and piles of papers both research and student. To the left, privacy screens in black lacquered wood and white rice paper enclose a sleeping area containing a bedside table and lamp, and a double futon with many pillows and an addictively comfortable duvet. The outer wall features two bay windows with cushioned window seats on either side of a small fieldstone fireplace. An oriental rug stands in front of the hearth, with a small cream coloured sofa perfectly placed for a quiet evening in. There are two additional rugs in the sleeping and office areas, otherwise the parquet floor is bare. Walls hung with gray-blue wallpaper and with acccents in black and white, the simple empty space allows for both visual and mental tranquility, aided and abetted by candles scattered about on black worked-metal stands. A door on the left wall leads to a fairly nice bathroom, and a matching one on the right opens into a large walk-in closet.
[Exits : [O]ut ]
[Players : Jean ]
A quiet yet resounding knock is heard from the other side of the revered Dr. Grey's living quarters door. Apparently someone's here to see her?...Then again, everyone's -always- trying to see her. Busy, busy...
One can hear the sounds of a hairdryer coming from within Jean's room, but telepaths have an advantage over the rest of is when it comes to telling someone's at the door. "C'mon in, it's open." is called from her bathroom, and the door opens under the influence of her powers as Jean herself emerges, fresh from a hot bath, and changed from her uniform into scrubs and a t-shirt. "Hello, Chris, what can I do for you?" Perhaps if she doesn't mention what happened down below between her and Scott, the student will magically forget what she broadcasted? We can dream.
Quark opens the door and enters the doorway to her happy, innocent greeting. "Hello, Jean. How are you?" The rest of that sentence, "--and Scott doing?", is intentionally omitted. Even apparently superhuman teachers with extraordinary mutant capabilities have good ol' human feelings. "I was just wondering what you were doing, and wondered if you wanted to have a nice, peaceful talk." Again, the thought "--devoid of all angry telepathic outbursts." is noticably omitted. Shrugging, he adds, "I just thought we could get to know each other better, as well as answer some random questions I had about the school."
Well, so much for that idea. "Chris," Jean notes with a wryly frank amusement, and a motion of her head over towards her couch so that the teen can take a seat. "You do realize that half-finished sentances with curiosity behind them are some of the easiest things to overhear the endings of, right?" A shake of her head and a sigh, and she herself takes a seat by her hearth, settling on a throw pillow. "And I'm doing fine. Scott's doing fine. The elevator is less fine, but we'll fix it. How are you?" she wonders, volunteering information no more specific than the questions asking for it. "And would you like some tea or juice or anything?"
Quark blinks, face paling slightly at the sudden, stupid realization that, lo and behold, Jean's a telepath! ;-) Woohoo...what a genius. He chuckles, though, allowing himself to take a seat in a chair across from Jean as he comments, "Kinda forgot you could 'hear' those things, sorry if I seem a little inquisitive. It's in my nature as a scientist," he laughs aloud. "As for the drink, tea would be -excellent-. I just...like tea," he grins. "Umm...as far as things are going, I'm great. Indescribably great." He actually is extremely 'chipper', just due to the way things have been turning for the better lately. "School's awesome, I'm making friends, and a contact of mine--Jean Remillard, if you know him--says that he might be able to use his mutant powers of healing to speed my mother's recovery."
Jean's telepathic status is very much apparent this fine evening, after all. Much to Jean's chagrin. She gives a nod and leans over to retrieve an electric kettle and the other fixings required for fresh tea, like mugs and teabags, fills the kettle from her bathroom tap, plugs it in, and then returns to take a seat. "Oh, don't apologize. I'm the same way myself... and I'm glad you're fitting in well. I'm also glad you've managed to contact Jean Remillard. I had a few ideas of my own, but... I suppose he could do it. He's a decent fellow, even if I admit that his, um, highly-open lifestyle choices are occasionally a bit hard for -this- WASP to swallow." Plus there's that nasty habit the blue ooze has of offering Jean bits of himself.
Quark tilts his head and slightly frowns in thought. "I've met Jean Remillard, or 'Blue' as everyone seems to call him, but I have yet to hear about his mutant powers. How exactly does he heal someone?" Shrugging, he adds, "I met Blue about a week before I came here to join the school. I was renting an apartment from him, over in the Dragon's Den apartment complex in the Clinton area. Not exactly the most...welcoming...place I've ever lived, but it worked for a while." Arching an eyebrow, he asks out of curiosity, "What exactly were some of your 'ideas' to get my mother out of that God-forsaken Dr. Bradford's control, anyway? I'd love to hear some," he grins. It's interesting, his opinion in Dr. Bradford...9 times out of 10, Quark shows perfectly good respect for people in medical professions. Unfortunately for Dr. Bradford, the odds were actually against him in this case...
"Well, basically the same ability that lets him roll around in a big blue blob is the same ability that lets him regenerate tissues." Jean summarizes. "Or... walk around as a woman to get a rise out of people... although he's -not- a woman until he goes out and buys boxes of Tampax." the doctor grouses, before coughing once. "TMI, sorry. Anyways, his cells are almost like a sort of biological set of nanites. They can rearrange tissue materials into whatever the DNA of said tissues says they should look like. Or at least that's what I was able to determine." she sums up, before rising to rescue the whistling kettle and start the tea steeping. Returning, she segues to answer the other question with a bright smile. "Oh, easy enough. I'll just go talk to your mother, talk to a couple friends of mine at Johns Hopkins who are far better oncologists with far smaller egos, and then, should your mother agree, I'll just go inform Dr. Bradford that I'm taking on his patient, and there's nothing he can do about it, since leukemia is not known to impair mental function."
Quark gives a surprised look to the mention of Blue forming different types of tissue...that's pretty interesting. Then he suddenly frowns, staring at nothing in particular. He shakes his head, a strange look of worry in his eye. "There's something odd about that doctor...I can't quite put my finger on it, but there's something I definitely don't like about him." Looking at Jean, a curious thought causes him to ask, "Are there perchance any known organizations that are openly against mutants and mutant rights? I mean, something like the Brotherhood, only completely anti-mutant instead of anti-human."
"The Friends of Humanity." offers up Jean promptly at the question about anti-mutant groups. "Openly, they claim they're just a political group under the leadership of a Mr. Graydon Creed. Hah." The laugh is rather humourless and grim. "I think that's pretty much like Sinn Feinn is the political side of the IRA. But I'll do a little checking on Dr. Bradford while I'm at it... I'm not terribly fond of blackmail, but it's useful to have knowledge, even if I don't use it."
<> Kitchen - Lv1
Meant to service a large number of people, this kitchen is vast, with more than one oven and several stainless steel work surfaces. Inset into the ceiling are fluorescent glow strips, throwing everything into bright, if somewhat harsh light. At meal times, kitchen workers scurry to and fro with pans and food and various other sundry items. But out of those times, everything is in its place, and there's even a tray of cold snacks for those who might come in search of a bite to eat.
[Exits : [Pat]io, and [H]allway ]
[Players : Jean ]
One of the first rules you learn as an X-Woman is that when a mission's on the board, you eat whenever you can, because you're probably not going to get another chance for hours. And so that's exactly what Jean's doing, settled at the central island with a large sandwich, fruit, juice, cookies, and a caesar salad with both bacon bits and croutons in. And yet she doesn't seem to gain a pound. Not terribly hungry, but knowing she's got to feed herself anyways, the Amazonian telepath's motions are deliberate and orderly as her attention remains mostly on a Palm handheld she's hovering in front of herself. Oh, and Jean's in her leathers, which Quark may or may not have seen before.
Quark enters the kitchen with a decidedly concerned expression on his face, and thoughtfully concerned he is. He's staring off at nothing in particular, eyebrows knotted in thought. That is, until he enters the kitchen and stumbles upon something he hasn't seen before: Jean in action gear, cool! He blinks a few times in surprise, brushing back some of the hair on his face to make sure he's seeing this correctly; he idly wonders if he should get a haircut soon...? Arching an eyebrow and glancing around the filled table, he comments, "A little hungry, are we? Mind if I have some?" He walks towards the refrigerator to grab a late breakfast, managing a small smile despite his current worried mood.
Jean comes with karate chop action, too! Ahem. She finishes her sandwich neatly, brushing a few crumbs off her fingertips and onto the empty plate before picking up her salad bowl and a fork, which is waggled casually in Quark's direction. The PDA remains floating. "Morning, Chris... and not terribly, but I know I've got to eat. No-one likes a fainting teammate. But help yourself, sit and chat a bit," she offers, stabbing herself a forkful of lettuce and munching away with a close look at the teen, the concern evident to her as more than just an expression.
Quark turns from the open refrigerator and nods to Jean, small smile replaced with that concerned look again. Despite his own non-XFactor related empathetic abilities--or, perhaps, in spite of them--he's not very good at hiding his own feelings. Turning back to the refrigerator without saying anything, he starts to grab some small sausages or whatever he can grab for some protein meal he can whip up before starting on some homework for his afternoon classes. Without turning around from the frigde, he quietly asks, "You're going to go save Madelyne, aren't you?" He shuts the door and turns towards Jean with his medium-sized plate of food, eyes trying to read Jean's expression instead of the other way around. Well, if one doesn't have any empathetic abilities, one must use what he has.
Jean continues to select bits of her salad and eat them, reflex politeness preventing her from talking with her mouth full, and so she merely gives a very slight smile for Quark's question, the enigma in it saying neither yes or no. A swallow later, she wonders "So why would you think that?" in a curious tone. Oh, answers are there, but it's apparent that Jean's not going to give them without a little intellectual work on the questioner's part. Not to mention that it's critical that Sabretooth think that Scott's gone in alone.
Normally, Quark would smile at Jean's indirectness at such an answer, turning him from questioner to questioned. Well, that's how telepaths think, he guesses. However, he's too busy thinking on other things to manage such a smile--which is, noticably, highly unusual of him to anyone that knows him well. Shrugging a little, he replies, "It's pretty obvious, isn't it? First off, I might be able to tell because you didn't directly deny it. If her being gone is supposed to be such a secret, then you probably would've denied it right out." This time, he does manage a small smile before continuing. "Secondly, Scott's really stressed. I don't even know him very well and I can tell he's definitely frustrated about something. If Madelyne was only gone on a personal trip or something, he wouldn't be so worried and concerned, because he would trust his girlfriend more than that. I've seen the way those two looked at each other before she suddenly just disappeared...it was almost too cute for me to handle," he grins again. "The fact that everyone is keeping it hush-hush is pretty obvious, so I'm assuming that she was kidnapped and you don't want any students to know about it." Leaning against the closed refrigerator door, he takes and swallows a small bite of sausage before asking, "Why, am I wrong?"
Telepaths, teachers... Hooray for the Socratic Method in either case. Jean continues to eat her salad, interspersing small sips of juice between the bites and watching Quark with a calm appraisal and a serene poker face on her own features. "Obvious to you, maybe," she points out at last, a small smile appearing again. "But not obvious to everyone else, which is what we wanted. Yes, Madelyne's been kidnapped. Yes, we're going to get her back. But the conditions set by her kidnapper were that only one person should go retrieve her, and they're the sort of person that, if you're not going to play by their rules, you make -darn- sure that they don't know about it. So while you've figured it out," she awards, before giving a glance around and a mental sweep of the area. "You don't tell a single soul, not your roommate, not anyone, because Madelyne might die otherwise."
Quark blinks and nods very seriously, any sort of smile drained from his face and replaced with that worried look again. "I swear, I won't tell anyone. You have my word." Although he's glad he did figure it out correctly, he now realizes what that means for Maddy, and he frowns sadly. "Poor Madelyne..." is all he can say until he sits down at the table oposite of Jean, now in deep thought. Finally, he asks with a look to Jean, "Who...who took her? This 'Brotherhood' I keep hearing about?" It's funny...you think that'd any Xavier's student being here for so long would get fully integrated into the rumor mill, but he's not too great at that kind of thing: he has to learn it on his own to put any belief into it. Well, most of the time.
"She'll be all right, once we can get her back." Jean assures, with the sort of appalling self-confidence that only a good doctor can muster up. "Maddy's a tough gal, I know that from experience. Gave me a black eye once and nearly made me eat mud." she recounts, now tolerably amused by a cat fight that was once an extremely toxic matter emotionally. Jean seems disinclined to answer the teen's next question though, taking a long break to sip at her juice and say nothing until, with a slight thinning of her lips, she admits that "It's... a bit complicated. And telling flat-out would have consequences that I can't forsee the repercussions of at the moment. Once she's back and rested, you can always ask her yourself, though."
Quark nods again, getting the hint that he should probably drop the conversation. After a few more moments of silence, other than a few bites of food, he finally sighs and says, "I know you're busy and that you have to leave soon, but if you have the time, I need some advice for a mutant friend of mine. She's having some really hard troubles, but she doesn't seem to want to admit them." He looks up at Jean from his food, the worry obvious in his eyes. "I'm seriously worried about her. She's in a dangerous position, but I don't want to get her into a lot of trouble."
Jean lifts her wrist and checks a military-style chronometer that's taken the place of the elegant watch that's been living there lately, noting that "I've still got a few minutes to call my own. Why don't you tell me what's up and I'll look into it, or get one of the other Professors to look into it?" as she finishes the salad and moves onto the dessert of fruit and cookies and other high-sugar things. Poking one Victor Creed in what passes for a brain isn't an experiment that Dr. Grey wants to perform while improperly energized.
Quark nods slowly, trying to garner the courage to say what he must in order to help his friend, Norenvalei. "Her name is Norenvalei. She has the ability to control the temperature around her body, but it consumes her bioenergy in the process. The whole thing is controlled by her emotions: if she can't control them, she involuntarily uses her powers and therefore drains her own energy." Shifting in his seat, he hesitantly adds, "Lately, she's been starving herself to keep from using her powers without her control. She figures that, if she has no energy to use, she can't use her powers. I asked her why she's been so cautious with her powers, why she's risking her own health to keep from using them..." He stares down at his food, appetite gone. Finally, he finishes without looking up, "Jean, she killed someone. Froze him solid."
Jean's brief bit of almost levity vanishes clean away at the news, the woman retreating back behind the heavy layers of calm that speak of a telepath using their training to control their own emotional responses. Focus. Focus. Calm. Logic. "Norenvalei... BlueGremlin gave me a call about her a day or so ago." she admits. "He didn't indicate that her abilities were causing her that much difficulty. Well, there's nothing for it, then, I'll either pass her case on to one of the junior faculty to investigate, or check it out myself, if it looks as though I can fit it in. Did she, ah," A pause, and Jean considers how to phrase her next question. "Did she, um, intend to kill him?"
Quark continues to look down, feeling the same way Jean no doubt feels but isn't showing. "I asked her, and that's another thing that worries me. She didn't want to kill him, I don't think, but she did do it intentionally." Explaining, he looks up and says, "Her friend named Chindi--a teleporter, I've met her--was being attacked by some kind of mutant. She got angry, lost control of her powers, and ended up freezing the person keeping her from helping Chindi. I don't really know the whole situation, but I do understand that when Noren gets angry, it makes the temperature around her colder. She must've been -very- angry to change the temperature so much." Shrugging sadly, he adds, "She didn't get a name, but she drew me a picture, and it was surprisingly detailed. He was very large and muscular, apparently gifted with super-strength and the like. And he had this very interesting helmet on, which covered most of his face and head..."
"That incident illustrates one of the primary reasons we run this school, Chris." is Jean's counsel regarding The Incident. "I'm sitting here in a uniform getting ready to go use my mutant abilities offensively, but I've had the training to know how to do that without permanently harming anyone. Norenvalei had the desire to help her friend, but didn't have the training to be more than a menace to herself and others. It's, unfortunately, not an uncommon story." she admits. "Professor Summers blew up his high school prom when his powers first activated. Rogue, one of our recent graduates, put her first boyfriend into a three week coma when she kissed him. I was lucky, damned lucky with my own powers. I could've literally killed someone with a thought. Norenvalei will be found, and we'll offer to help her." she promises, reaching over to squeeze Quark's shoulder in brief reassurance. "And I'll take a look into what mutant that might be," she promises further, even though Jean, having been part of the very much earlier X-Mission that took apart the crew of Juggy, Black Tom and a much younger Siryn Cassidy, has her suspicions.
Quark scowls at himself, pushing the food aside. Now his own faults are draining his appetite. "That's good for you, Jean, but I'm not so lucky. I gave my mother leukemia by staring at her for years. How fair is that?" he asks bitterly. He stands up, frustration and anger in his eyes, turning away and crossing his arms. He fumes in silence for a few minutes, a silent tear running down his cheek for his guilt at hurting his family. Still facing away, he wipes off his face with his sleeve and asks, "Why do bad things have to happen to such good people? My mother's only error was letting my mutant powers go unchecked for so long without wondering what I was really doing." He sighs some more, turning back towards Jean to wave at her uniform. "You've got talent and power, along with the intelligence and friendly personality. You can use your powers to help stop bad things from happening to others. What can I do? Look through walls and jump around? How the hell is that supposed to help me win a fight, especially against someone like this mutant that hurt Chindi?" He's not angry at Jean, as she could probably tell, just himself and life in general.
"That's a question that people have been wrestling with since the beginning of time, Chris," is Jean's answer to that, voice soft as she stands to lean against the counter with her arms crossed but her expression open. "Some find their answers in religion, others in action... but the answers, ultimately, are something everyone has to find individually." Not exactly the most enlightening answer, but an honest one at least. "As for what you can do? Well, I can think of surveilance and personnel retrieval right off the bat." she offers with barely a pause for thought. "You mentioned in your LiveJournal that you were able to take small objects with you. We can work on increasing that, see what's possible. Non-offensive abilities doesn't equal useless ones."
Quark shrugs and nods slowly, taking that for an acceptable answer. "I just wish it wasn't so hard to find those answers," he sighs. "It just irritates me how, if I were to get in trouble, all I could do was run away. That doesn't really encourage me to be confident in battle." He does nod at that to Jean, admitting, "I can see how that could be helpful in some situations, but I feel drained by just bringing small objects with me. I think I'd pass out if I tried to teleport an actual person with me. How can you work on that, anyway? Just practice?"
"Got it in one." is Jean's reply to Quark's question about his powers. "Mutant abilities, much like muscle strength, physical endurance, IQ or any number of other things are very much influenced by use. Yes, there are certain maximum and minimum limits," she allows. "But if you practice with objects, moving up a size or weight once you're comfortable with them, then you will very likely be able to get more use out of your teleporting ability... Professor Wagner would, obviously, know better than I." she notes, before lifting an eyebrow. "If you'd like some insight into how you might use your ability for more than just running away, why not ask him? He's a member of the X-Men as well."
Quark nods, allowing himself to sit back at the table and finish his late breakfast--well, now his lunch. "I've met Professor Wagner a few times, I think he's really cool. Maybe I should have a talk with him sometime about my powers. In the meantime, I'll try to work on improving the weight of things I can carry, so I can be more helpful with it in the future. I can comfortably carry things about 20 lbs. or so, now, but it makes me feel tired and drained. Guess it's kind of like muscle tissue: you work it until you can't anymore, and when the tissue recovers, it's stronger than before." Another small smile; trying to use a biology-related metaphor with the Dr. Jean Grey herself is quite amusing. He frowns apologetically, though, saying, "Sorry for losing my cool. I'm just...really frustrated, that's all..."
Jean awards an amused wink for the metaphor and unleans to collect her used dishes and plop them in one of the dishwashers to be run through later. The frown gets a tip of her chin and the assurance of "There's nothing to apologize for, Chris. You're a teenager, you're a mutant, and on top of all that, you've got a mother you're worried about. Frustration and stress happen. And now... I'd better get downstairs to the Bat-cave." she offers in a minor joke.
Quark smiles slightly, saying, "Thanks for understanding. And good luck with Madelyne...I hope she's still ok." A slight shudder, and then he finishes his food and walks over to the dishwasher. "Don't worry about the dishes, I can wash them myself. Not like I have many better things to do," he grins.
"Hey, believe it or not, I was a teenager once too, y'know." points out Dr. Grey with a smile and another squeeze of Quark's shoulder as she wanders out the door. "And thanks." Whether it's for the mission, the dishes or both is up for interpretation.
OOC Note: Due to conflicting RP schedules, Jean and I couldn't finish our conversation scene from a few days ago until now. Therefore, this is what's going to happen: the first part, in Jean's room, takes place the night before she takes Moira back to Muir. The second part takes place the next day, prior to her leaving to go save Maddy. However, also due to some weird detail thing, there is information that Quark just ICly learned last night. So...just pretend it all works out? ^_^ Sorry about all that. Enjoy.
"To be, or not to be: that is the question:
Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer
The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune,
Or to take arms against a sea of troubles,
And by opposing end them? To die: to sleep;
No more; and by a sleep to say we end
The heartache and the thousand natural shocks
That flesh is heir to,-'tis a consummation
Devoutly to be wished. To die, to sleep;
To sleep: perchance to dream: ay, there's the rub:
For in that sleep of death what dreams may come,
When we have shuffled off this mortal coil,
Must give us pause: there's the respect
That makes calamity of so long life;
For who would bear the whips and scorns of time,
The oppressor's wrong, the proud man's contumely,
The pangs of despised love, the law's delay,
The insolence of office and the spurns
That patient merit of the unworthy takes,
When he himself might his quietus make
With a bare bodkin? Who would fardels bear,
To grunt and sweat under a weary life,
But that the dread of something after death,
The undiscovered country from whose bourn
No traveller returns, puzzles the will
And makes us rather bear those ills we have
Than fly to others that we know not of?
Thus conscience does make cowards of us all;
And thus the native hue of resolution
Is sicklied o'er with the pale cast of thought,
And enterprises of great pith and moment
With this regard their currents turn awry,
And lose the name of action." --Hamlet, III.i
I finally got the guts to go and tell someone about Noren's condition. After Jean got back, I ran into her in the kitchen and told her about what's been going on, including the murder. Although Jean must've been shocked to say the least, she understands how one's mutant powers can cause such uncontrollable violence. Please, to any of the other staff members reading this: don't tell anyone else about how Noren killed someone. I don't want to get her in trouble for defending a friend's life. I almost didn't tell Jean, but I knew it was in Noren's best interest. I just didn't know what else to do...
Matter of fact, I've been really lost in my purpose lately. Although I'm far from suicidal, I can't help but recognize a lot of my conflicting feelings in Hamlet's famous 'To be or not to be' speech. I gave my mother leukemia, I can't seem to help others accept the advice I try to give them, and my powers have almost no offensive capabilities. Seriously, the only thing I can do when attacked is run away! Professor Wagner, when you get the time, I'd really like to talk to you about this. I know that I can use my teleportation for other things, but I just don't know where to start.
Anyway, sorry for trying to make everyone think so hard like this on Friday and everything...Just wanted to get that off my chest.
<> Jean's Room - Lv3(#837RA)
Large and airy this end of the hall room; the door from the hallway bisects one wall. To the right, an office area complete with overstuffed bookshelves and a desk with computer, docking stations for peripherals, and piles of papers both research and student. To the left, privacy screens in black lacquered wood and white rice paper enclose a sleeping area containing a bedside table and lamp, and a double futon with many pillows and an addictively comfortable duvet. The outer wall features two bay windows with cushioned window seats on either side of a small fieldstone fireplace. An oriental rug stands in front of the hearth, with a small cream coloured sofa perfectly placed for a quiet evening in. There are two additional rugs in the sleeping and office areas, otherwise the parquet floor is bare. Walls hung with gray-blue wallpaper and with acccents in black and white, the simple empty space allows for both visual and mental tranquility, aided and abetted by candles scattered about on black worked-metal stands. A door on the left wall leads to a fairly nice bathroom, and a matching one on the right opens into a large walk-in closet.
[Exits : [O]ut ]
[Players : Jean ]
A quiet yet resounding knock is heard from the other side of the revered Dr. Grey's living quarters door. Apparently someone's here to see her?...Then again, everyone's -always- trying to see her. Busy, busy...
One can hear the sounds of a hairdryer coming from within Jean's room, but telepaths have an advantage over the rest of is when it comes to telling someone's at the door. "C'mon in, it's open." is called from her bathroom, and the door opens under the influence of her powers as Jean herself emerges, fresh from a hot bath, and changed from her uniform into scrubs and a t-shirt. "Hello, Chris, what can I do for you?" Perhaps if she doesn't mention what happened down below between her and Scott, the student will magically forget what she broadcasted? We can dream.
Quark opens the door and enters the doorway to her happy, innocent greeting. "Hello, Jean. How are you?" The rest of that sentence, "--and Scott doing?", is intentionally omitted. Even apparently superhuman teachers with extraordinary mutant capabilities have good ol' human feelings. "I was just wondering what you were doing, and wondered if you wanted to have a nice, peaceful talk." Again, the thought "--devoid of all angry telepathic outbursts." is noticably omitted. Shrugging, he adds, "I just thought we could get to know each other better, as well as answer some random questions I had about the school."
Well, so much for that idea. "Chris," Jean notes with a wryly frank amusement, and a motion of her head over towards her couch so that the teen can take a seat. "You do realize that half-finished sentances with curiosity behind them are some of the easiest things to overhear the endings of, right?" A shake of her head and a sigh, and she herself takes a seat by her hearth, settling on a throw pillow. "And I'm doing fine. Scott's doing fine. The elevator is less fine, but we'll fix it. How are you?" she wonders, volunteering information no more specific than the questions asking for it. "And would you like some tea or juice or anything?"
Quark blinks, face paling slightly at the sudden, stupid realization that, lo and behold, Jean's a telepath! ;-) Woohoo...what a genius. He chuckles, though, allowing himself to take a seat in a chair across from Jean as he comments, "Kinda forgot you could 'hear' those things, sorry if I seem a little inquisitive. It's in my nature as a scientist," he laughs aloud. "As for the drink, tea would be -excellent-. I just...like tea," he grins. "Umm...as far as things are going, I'm great. Indescribably great." He actually is extremely 'chipper', just due to the way things have been turning for the better lately. "School's awesome, I'm making friends, and a contact of mine--Jean Remillard, if you know him--says that he might be able to use his mutant powers of healing to speed my mother's recovery."
Jean's telepathic status is very much apparent this fine evening, after all. Much to Jean's chagrin. She gives a nod and leans over to retrieve an electric kettle and the other fixings required for fresh tea, like mugs and teabags, fills the kettle from her bathroom tap, plugs it in, and then returns to take a seat. "Oh, don't apologize. I'm the same way myself... and I'm glad you're fitting in well. I'm also glad you've managed to contact Jean Remillard. I had a few ideas of my own, but... I suppose he could do it. He's a decent fellow, even if I admit that his, um, highly-open lifestyle choices are occasionally a bit hard for -this- WASP to swallow." Plus there's that nasty habit the blue ooze has of offering Jean bits of himself.
Quark tilts his head and slightly frowns in thought. "I've met Jean Remillard, or 'Blue' as everyone seems to call him, but I have yet to hear about his mutant powers. How exactly does he heal someone?" Shrugging, he adds, "I met Blue about a week before I came here to join the school. I was renting an apartment from him, over in the Dragon's Den apartment complex in the Clinton area. Not exactly the most...welcoming...place I've ever lived, but it worked for a while." Arching an eyebrow, he asks out of curiosity, "What exactly were some of your 'ideas' to get my mother out of that God-forsaken Dr. Bradford's control, anyway? I'd love to hear some," he grins. It's interesting, his opinion in Dr. Bradford...9 times out of 10, Quark shows perfectly good respect for people in medical professions. Unfortunately for Dr. Bradford, the odds were actually against him in this case...
"Well, basically the same ability that lets him roll around in a big blue blob is the same ability that lets him regenerate tissues." Jean summarizes. "Or... walk around as a woman to get a rise out of people... although he's -not- a woman until he goes out and buys boxes of Tampax." the doctor grouses, before coughing once. "TMI, sorry. Anyways, his cells are almost like a sort of biological set of nanites. They can rearrange tissue materials into whatever the DNA of said tissues says they should look like. Or at least that's what I was able to determine." she sums up, before rising to rescue the whistling kettle and start the tea steeping. Returning, she segues to answer the other question with a bright smile. "Oh, easy enough. I'll just go talk to your mother, talk to a couple friends of mine at Johns Hopkins who are far better oncologists with far smaller egos, and then, should your mother agree, I'll just go inform Dr. Bradford that I'm taking on his patient, and there's nothing he can do about it, since leukemia is not known to impair mental function."
Quark gives a surprised look to the mention of Blue forming different types of tissue...that's pretty interesting. Then he suddenly frowns, staring at nothing in particular. He shakes his head, a strange look of worry in his eye. "There's something odd about that doctor...I can't quite put my finger on it, but there's something I definitely don't like about him." Looking at Jean, a curious thought causes him to ask, "Are there perchance any known organizations that are openly against mutants and mutant rights? I mean, something like the Brotherhood, only completely anti-mutant instead of anti-human."
"The Friends of Humanity." offers up Jean promptly at the question about anti-mutant groups. "Openly, they claim they're just a political group under the leadership of a Mr. Graydon Creed. Hah." The laugh is rather humourless and grim. "I think that's pretty much like Sinn Feinn is the political side of the IRA. But I'll do a little checking on Dr. Bradford while I'm at it... I'm not terribly fond of blackmail, but it's useful to have knowledge, even if I don't use it."
<> Kitchen - Lv1
Meant to service a large number of people, this kitchen is vast, with more than one oven and several stainless steel work surfaces. Inset into the ceiling are fluorescent glow strips, throwing everything into bright, if somewhat harsh light. At meal times, kitchen workers scurry to and fro with pans and food and various other sundry items. But out of those times, everything is in its place, and there's even a tray of cold snacks for those who might come in search of a bite to eat.
[Exits : [Pat]io, and [H]allway ]
[Players : Jean ]
One of the first rules you learn as an X-Woman is that when a mission's on the board, you eat whenever you can, because you're probably not going to get another chance for hours. And so that's exactly what Jean's doing, settled at the central island with a large sandwich, fruit, juice, cookies, and a caesar salad with both bacon bits and croutons in. And yet she doesn't seem to gain a pound. Not terribly hungry, but knowing she's got to feed herself anyways, the Amazonian telepath's motions are deliberate and orderly as her attention remains mostly on a Palm handheld she's hovering in front of herself. Oh, and Jean's in her leathers, which Quark may or may not have seen before.
Quark enters the kitchen with a decidedly concerned expression on his face, and thoughtfully concerned he is. He's staring off at nothing in particular, eyebrows knotted in thought. That is, until he enters the kitchen and stumbles upon something he hasn't seen before: Jean in action gear, cool! He blinks a few times in surprise, brushing back some of the hair on his face to make sure he's seeing this correctly; he idly wonders if he should get a haircut soon...? Arching an eyebrow and glancing around the filled table, he comments, "A little hungry, are we? Mind if I have some?" He walks towards the refrigerator to grab a late breakfast, managing a small smile despite his current worried mood.
Jean comes with karate chop action, too! Ahem. She finishes her sandwich neatly, brushing a few crumbs off her fingertips and onto the empty plate before picking up her salad bowl and a fork, which is waggled casually in Quark's direction. The PDA remains floating. "Morning, Chris... and not terribly, but I know I've got to eat. No-one likes a fainting teammate. But help yourself, sit and chat a bit," she offers, stabbing herself a forkful of lettuce and munching away with a close look at the teen, the concern evident to her as more than just an expression.
Quark turns from the open refrigerator and nods to Jean, small smile replaced with that concerned look again. Despite his own non-XFactor related empathetic abilities--or, perhaps, in spite of them--he's not very good at hiding his own feelings. Turning back to the refrigerator without saying anything, he starts to grab some small sausages or whatever he can grab for some protein meal he can whip up before starting on some homework for his afternoon classes. Without turning around from the frigde, he quietly asks, "You're going to go save Madelyne, aren't you?" He shuts the door and turns towards Jean with his medium-sized plate of food, eyes trying to read Jean's expression instead of the other way around. Well, if one doesn't have any empathetic abilities, one must use what he has.
Jean continues to select bits of her salad and eat them, reflex politeness preventing her from talking with her mouth full, and so she merely gives a very slight smile for Quark's question, the enigma in it saying neither yes or no. A swallow later, she wonders "So why would you think that?" in a curious tone. Oh, answers are there, but it's apparent that Jean's not going to give them without a little intellectual work on the questioner's part. Not to mention that it's critical that Sabretooth think that Scott's gone in alone.
Normally, Quark would smile at Jean's indirectness at such an answer, turning him from questioner to questioned. Well, that's how telepaths think, he guesses. However, he's too busy thinking on other things to manage such a smile--which is, noticably, highly unusual of him to anyone that knows him well. Shrugging a little, he replies, "It's pretty obvious, isn't it? First off, I might be able to tell because you didn't directly deny it. If her being gone is supposed to be such a secret, then you probably would've denied it right out." This time, he does manage a small smile before continuing. "Secondly, Scott's really stressed. I don't even know him very well and I can tell he's definitely frustrated about something. If Madelyne was only gone on a personal trip or something, he wouldn't be so worried and concerned, because he would trust his girlfriend more than that. I've seen the way those two looked at each other before she suddenly just disappeared...it was almost too cute for me to handle," he grins again. "The fact that everyone is keeping it hush-hush is pretty obvious, so I'm assuming that she was kidnapped and you don't want any students to know about it." Leaning against the closed refrigerator door, he takes and swallows a small bite of sausage before asking, "Why, am I wrong?"
Telepaths, teachers... Hooray for the Socratic Method in either case. Jean continues to eat her salad, interspersing small sips of juice between the bites and watching Quark with a calm appraisal and a serene poker face on her own features. "Obvious to you, maybe," she points out at last, a small smile appearing again. "But not obvious to everyone else, which is what we wanted. Yes, Madelyne's been kidnapped. Yes, we're going to get her back. But the conditions set by her kidnapper were that only one person should go retrieve her, and they're the sort of person that, if you're not going to play by their rules, you make -darn- sure that they don't know about it. So while you've figured it out," she awards, before giving a glance around and a mental sweep of the area. "You don't tell a single soul, not your roommate, not anyone, because Madelyne might die otherwise."
Quark blinks and nods very seriously, any sort of smile drained from his face and replaced with that worried look again. "I swear, I won't tell anyone. You have my word." Although he's glad he did figure it out correctly, he now realizes what that means for Maddy, and he frowns sadly. "Poor Madelyne..." is all he can say until he sits down at the table oposite of Jean, now in deep thought. Finally, he asks with a look to Jean, "Who...who took her? This 'Brotherhood' I keep hearing about?" It's funny...you think that'd any Xavier's student being here for so long would get fully integrated into the rumor mill, but he's not too great at that kind of thing: he has to learn it on his own to put any belief into it. Well, most of the time.
"She'll be all right, once we can get her back." Jean assures, with the sort of appalling self-confidence that only a good doctor can muster up. "Maddy's a tough gal, I know that from experience. Gave me a black eye once and nearly made me eat mud." she recounts, now tolerably amused by a cat fight that was once an extremely toxic matter emotionally. Jean seems disinclined to answer the teen's next question though, taking a long break to sip at her juice and say nothing until, with a slight thinning of her lips, she admits that "It's... a bit complicated. And telling flat-out would have consequences that I can't forsee the repercussions of at the moment. Once she's back and rested, you can always ask her yourself, though."
Quark nods again, getting the hint that he should probably drop the conversation. After a few more moments of silence, other than a few bites of food, he finally sighs and says, "I know you're busy and that you have to leave soon, but if you have the time, I need some advice for a mutant friend of mine. She's having some really hard troubles, but she doesn't seem to want to admit them." He looks up at Jean from his food, the worry obvious in his eyes. "I'm seriously worried about her. She's in a dangerous position, but I don't want to get her into a lot of trouble."
Jean lifts her wrist and checks a military-style chronometer that's taken the place of the elegant watch that's been living there lately, noting that "I've still got a few minutes to call my own. Why don't you tell me what's up and I'll look into it, or get one of the other Professors to look into it?" as she finishes the salad and moves onto the dessert of fruit and cookies and other high-sugar things. Poking one Victor Creed in what passes for a brain isn't an experiment that Dr. Grey wants to perform while improperly energized.
Quark nods slowly, trying to garner the courage to say what he must in order to help his friend, Norenvalei. "Her name is Norenvalei. She has the ability to control the temperature around her body, but it consumes her bioenergy in the process. The whole thing is controlled by her emotions: if she can't control them, she involuntarily uses her powers and therefore drains her own energy." Shifting in his seat, he hesitantly adds, "Lately, she's been starving herself to keep from using her powers without her control. She figures that, if she has no energy to use, she can't use her powers. I asked her why she's been so cautious with her powers, why she's risking her own health to keep from using them..." He stares down at his food, appetite gone. Finally, he finishes without looking up, "Jean, she killed someone. Froze him solid."
Jean's brief bit of almost levity vanishes clean away at the news, the woman retreating back behind the heavy layers of calm that speak of a telepath using their training to control their own emotional responses. Focus. Focus. Calm. Logic. "Norenvalei... BlueGremlin gave me a call about her a day or so ago." she admits. "He didn't indicate that her abilities were causing her that much difficulty. Well, there's nothing for it, then, I'll either pass her case on to one of the junior faculty to investigate, or check it out myself, if it looks as though I can fit it in. Did she, ah," A pause, and Jean considers how to phrase her next question. "Did she, um, intend to kill him?"
Quark continues to look down, feeling the same way Jean no doubt feels but isn't showing. "I asked her, and that's another thing that worries me. She didn't want to kill him, I don't think, but she did do it intentionally." Explaining, he looks up and says, "Her friend named Chindi--a teleporter, I've met her--was being attacked by some kind of mutant. She got angry, lost control of her powers, and ended up freezing the person keeping her from helping Chindi. I don't really know the whole situation, but I do understand that when Noren gets angry, it makes the temperature around her colder. She must've been -very- angry to change the temperature so much." Shrugging sadly, he adds, "She didn't get a name, but she drew me a picture, and it was surprisingly detailed. He was very large and muscular, apparently gifted with super-strength and the like. And he had this very interesting helmet on, which covered most of his face and head..."
"That incident illustrates one of the primary reasons we run this school, Chris." is Jean's counsel regarding The Incident. "I'm sitting here in a uniform getting ready to go use my mutant abilities offensively, but I've had the training to know how to do that without permanently harming anyone. Norenvalei had the desire to help her friend, but didn't have the training to be more than a menace to herself and others. It's, unfortunately, not an uncommon story." she admits. "Professor Summers blew up his high school prom when his powers first activated. Rogue, one of our recent graduates, put her first boyfriend into a three week coma when she kissed him. I was lucky, damned lucky with my own powers. I could've literally killed someone with a thought. Norenvalei will be found, and we'll offer to help her." she promises, reaching over to squeeze Quark's shoulder in brief reassurance. "And I'll take a look into what mutant that might be," she promises further, even though Jean, having been part of the very much earlier X-Mission that took apart the crew of Juggy, Black Tom and a much younger Siryn Cassidy, has her suspicions.
Quark scowls at himself, pushing the food aside. Now his own faults are draining his appetite. "That's good for you, Jean, but I'm not so lucky. I gave my mother leukemia by staring at her for years. How fair is that?" he asks bitterly. He stands up, frustration and anger in his eyes, turning away and crossing his arms. He fumes in silence for a few minutes, a silent tear running down his cheek for his guilt at hurting his family. Still facing away, he wipes off his face with his sleeve and asks, "Why do bad things have to happen to such good people? My mother's only error was letting my mutant powers go unchecked for so long without wondering what I was really doing." He sighs some more, turning back towards Jean to wave at her uniform. "You've got talent and power, along with the intelligence and friendly personality. You can use your powers to help stop bad things from happening to others. What can I do? Look through walls and jump around? How the hell is that supposed to help me win a fight, especially against someone like this mutant that hurt Chindi?" He's not angry at Jean, as she could probably tell, just himself and life in general.
"That's a question that people have been wrestling with since the beginning of time, Chris," is Jean's answer to that, voice soft as she stands to lean against the counter with her arms crossed but her expression open. "Some find their answers in religion, others in action... but the answers, ultimately, are something everyone has to find individually." Not exactly the most enlightening answer, but an honest one at least. "As for what you can do? Well, I can think of surveilance and personnel retrieval right off the bat." she offers with barely a pause for thought. "You mentioned in your LiveJournal that you were able to take small objects with you. We can work on increasing that, see what's possible. Non-offensive abilities doesn't equal useless ones."
Quark shrugs and nods slowly, taking that for an acceptable answer. "I just wish it wasn't so hard to find those answers," he sighs. "It just irritates me how, if I were to get in trouble, all I could do was run away. That doesn't really encourage me to be confident in battle." He does nod at that to Jean, admitting, "I can see how that could be helpful in some situations, but I feel drained by just bringing small objects with me. I think I'd pass out if I tried to teleport an actual person with me. How can you work on that, anyway? Just practice?"
"Got it in one." is Jean's reply to Quark's question about his powers. "Mutant abilities, much like muscle strength, physical endurance, IQ or any number of other things are very much influenced by use. Yes, there are certain maximum and minimum limits," she allows. "But if you practice with objects, moving up a size or weight once you're comfortable with them, then you will very likely be able to get more use out of your teleporting ability... Professor Wagner would, obviously, know better than I." she notes, before lifting an eyebrow. "If you'd like some insight into how you might use your ability for more than just running away, why not ask him? He's a member of the X-Men as well."
Quark nods, allowing himself to sit back at the table and finish his late breakfast--well, now his lunch. "I've met Professor Wagner a few times, I think he's really cool. Maybe I should have a talk with him sometime about my powers. In the meantime, I'll try to work on improving the weight of things I can carry, so I can be more helpful with it in the future. I can comfortably carry things about 20 lbs. or so, now, but it makes me feel tired and drained. Guess it's kind of like muscle tissue: you work it until you can't anymore, and when the tissue recovers, it's stronger than before." Another small smile; trying to use a biology-related metaphor with the Dr. Jean Grey herself is quite amusing. He frowns apologetically, though, saying, "Sorry for losing my cool. I'm just...really frustrated, that's all..."
Jean awards an amused wink for the metaphor and unleans to collect her used dishes and plop them in one of the dishwashers to be run through later. The frown gets a tip of her chin and the assurance of "There's nothing to apologize for, Chris. You're a teenager, you're a mutant, and on top of all that, you've got a mother you're worried about. Frustration and stress happen. And now... I'd better get downstairs to the Bat-cave." she offers in a minor joke.
Quark smiles slightly, saying, "Thanks for understanding. And good luck with Madelyne...I hope she's still ok." A slight shudder, and then he finishes his food and walks over to the dishwasher. "Don't worry about the dishes, I can wash them myself. Not like I have many better things to do," he grins.
"Hey, believe it or not, I was a teenager once too, y'know." points out Dr. Grey with a smile and another squeeze of Quark's shoulder as she wanders out the door. "And thanks." Whether it's for the mission, the dishes or both is up for interpretation.