(Untitled)

[in_likeflynn]

WHO: All Willing Participants
WHERE: The Xavier Institute
WHEN: Evening of December 16th
WARNINGS: None, I'd imagine.
SUMMARY: There's a talent show being put on by drama students and volunteers.
FORMAT: You can have whatever you'd like.

Comments

backstage, open (how did i miss this log)

[neverwasanyone]

[Along with whoever else happens to be running the majority of lights, a little kid is sitting there perched on a stool looking as the switches as intently as you please, memorizing the ways in which he'll be helping out. He doesn't seem to miss anything as the explanations are given, not asking for any of it to be repeated.]

[If you want him to do anything unusual, or if you would like to question why on earth a child between the ages of 6 and 8 is working behind the scenes of a talent show, feel free to interrupt them.]

[bluepurrymuffin]

[Well, Hank doesn't want to sell the kid short, he may very well know exactly what he's doing. But that won't stop him from looking in on him.]

Do you think you'll be able to handle it all well enough?

[neverwasanyone]

[At first, Trowa answers without looking up, putting his internal recitation of his instructions on hold just long enough to speak.]

I'm not doing all of it, [he says, in an almost bored fashion. He kind of wishes he was.] Just these.

[Pointing at his side of the board, and more specifically to a section with about half as many sliders and a handful of various buttons that resemble a miniature keyboard. He finally turns to see who's asking, in case it's the blue man who said he could help in the first place.]

Is that ok--

[And silence. Because the guy is blue, but... uh. He's. Met Tom, but this big lion-man is definitely different.]

[bluepurrymuffin]

[Hank gives that a magnanimous smile. He figures he must still be a sight for someone this boy's age, so he might at least hope he could see it et without malice.]

"Just" those? Well, if you can handle them well enough, I'm sure we'll see if we can't allow you some larger responsibility in the future.

[neverwasanyone]

[He feels a little more at ease once the big lion-man smiles, now sure he's not going to be eaten or something like that. Absently, he replies:]

There's gonna be diagrams. And I can remember how...

[And then, a little more focused, if somewhat rude.]

...Are you the blue man's brother? Mr. Kurt?

[The thought of being allowed to do more next time does intrigue him. At least, it does until he's reminded of something by having mentioned Nightcrawler. It's the same thing he worried about when he first asked if he could help with lights. He shakes his head, trying to get back to the original subject.]

Oh. But--I can't. He said this was for the school. I don't go here.

[bluepurrymuffin]

Not as such, at least not biologically. It's a surprisingly common color for mutations to cause, actually.

[This second part provides more of a surprise, however.]

You aren't enrolled? Is there a particular reason?

[neverwasanyone]

[Trowa gives Hank the sort of blank stare that implies a lack of understanding at the "mutations". He's got a decent-ish vocabulary, if one lacking in certain age-appropriate words and full of bloody, violent ones instead, but that term? He doesn't know it.]

Didn't have to.

Mr. Lupin was teaching me. He said I wouldn't like school. He said I learn better alone.

[For one thing, he was greatly behind other kids around his age in some areas while being too far ahead of them in others; he would need very specialized help. Then there were all of his social and emotional problems to deal with, as well as a number of small moral failures and his dislike of being cooped up in one place after years of living out in the open, which would combine with the learning issues to make him even more of an outcast. And heaven help the child who decided to try and bully him about any of that - they'd likely end up with bigger injuries than they bargained for. That had more or less been the main line of reasoning of certain adults, some months

[bluepurrymuffin]

Ah, we have had some students in similar situations.

[Hank only feels a little disappointed that Remus hadn't mentioned the arrangement to him, he would've been happy to help.]

Your lessons are still being seen to in Mr. Lupin's absence, I hope?

[neverwasanyone]

[It wasn't Remus' fault. Trowa preferred such matters to be kept relatively private, and had made that very clear at the time. He hadn't wanted everyone to know--that would have been just as bad as if he'd gone to school in the first place.]

[Trowa does his usual brief head-bob in answer to the question.]

Mr. Sirius does sometimes.

And there are things on TV.

[Someone's a fan of the more educational channels.]

[bluepurrymuffin]

[Television, huh? Well, that could be good or bad, depending on what he's watching. They had a few things in the library at the Institute he wouldn't mind sharing.]

I'd be glad to provide you with any further programs, if you'd like. Books, too, if you're a fan!

You don't need to necessarily be a student here if you'd prefer not to be, but we wouldn't mind facilitating your lessons as they are now.

[neverwasanyone]

[His gaze sort of wanders away from Hank when books are mentioned; he wants to see them, but...]

...Do they have pictures? The books?

[bluepurrymuffin]

Some of them, yes!

[He clasps his hands in front of him and raises an eyebrow, still smiling.] Do you prefer the illustrated ones?

[neverwasanyone]

[Oh, thank goodness. A way to get across what he wants without embarrassing himself.]

Yes. They look nicer.

[bluepurrymuffin]

[At closer inspection, this boy was rather young, to expect him to read too heavily might not be fair.]

This is certainly true, they do have an appeal over long blocks of nothing but words.

[neverwasanyone]

[He nods twice in agreement before falling into deep concentration, busy considering Hank's earlier offer.]

If my lessons get f... fasil... [Screw it. He doesn't really know what the word means outside of context-based guessing, anyway.] If I get extra ones.

Do you teach them?

[bluepurrymuffin]

[Well, he hadn't been particularly planning on it, but he never likes to be unavailable when he's needed.]

Well, that could be arranged, if the student wished it so. I do teach certain classes here at the Institute, but we have other teachers rounding it out, as well. Like Kurt, for instance!