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Post by DornKoon on Oct 30, 2023 22:04:34 GMT
There were many positive things with being an empath, such as knowing when someone was lying, had a crush on you, or to make people feel better. Admirable traits, powers with great responsibilities, not to be misused. Professor Xavier repeatedly told him these things in far more words, and usually with some nuggets of the fact that he must have done some shit to know all that.
Yes, psionics sure was swell.
However, it was difficult to think of these fine traits in the middle of the night, surrounded by other teenagers, many with inappropriate dreams... with emotions to clearly show it, and putting a pillow over one's head did NOT block it out. Niels had trouble falling asleep and had spent the last few hours tossing and turning in bed, listening to the smattering of rain against the window. He tried reading, but that did not help. He tried meditating, but it only helped as long as he meditated. "Relax, relax, as the Professor instructed," Niels muttered to himself, sitting with legs crossed.
The silence of his room was interrupted by a low growl from his stomach. "And- now I'm hungry, perfect." Niels let out a deep sigh before sliding off the bed and making his way to the door. He stepped out of his bedroom and made his way towards the kitchen, rudding sleep out of his eyes. The mansion was a lot bigger than any place he was used to living. Most of his life had been spent inside a cramped apartment, so a place this big was... a lot. Was it a little embarrassing if one of the other students saw him in this teddy-bear patterned flannel pyjamas? Yes, a little... Did he have much of a macho reputation to protect? No, not really.
Niels reached out and flipped the light switch. The kitchen was silent and empty, with the faint whiff of last night's dinner still lingering in the air. The young empath opened the pantry and began to search around for anything edible that would not require him to spend hours cooking. Maybe he could make egg-in-a-hole? Or just toast with cheese? There was tea, and that nice herbal one Dr McCoy liked to drink, he would certainly not mind if Niels borrowed a tea bag's worth, for a noble cause.
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Post by swapgo on Oct 30, 2023 22:58:50 GMT
Naps are way too comfortable, and way too cumbersome.
For quite some time, Jason had been denied of the luxury of having a bed that would fit him, and by 'bed', he mostly meant 'high bar that could actually hold his weight for 8 hours at a time'. He has been catching up on years of lost quality sleep within his first few days at the academy, which while blissful and his greatest joy of his stay so far (that he can explain in less than thirty words), means that his nocturnal tendencies keep jumping to the fore. That's usually no problem for him, but now that he has a roommate, he can't just watch late night horror flicks and superhero reruns to burn the excess energy. His hearing was way better, perhaps he could just leave some earbuds on the floor and do that, but the rain would get in the way, plus, he hadn't mathed out how loud is 'loud' for a regularly shaped mutant yet. Too many variables, too much thinking, at least the thinking tired him a bit.
Definitely not enough, though, perhaps he should eat something, an orange or two sounds nice. At the time it didn't even cross his mind whether or not he would be allowed to do this, he did it all the time at home, at the very least he had plenty of time to rethink it on the way there, for sure he was going to clear his mind by taking a traipse through the hallways. Jason very carefully hugged the pillars of the high bar and climbed down, tail up high as to not trip with anything, he crawled quite carefully towards the door, closing it behind it with his tail.
This X uniform thing was very comfortable, it was form fitting, sleek, and it didn't chafe him at all as he moved on all 4 through the hallways, not about to stomp his way into waking everybody up. It still wasn't silent (again, kind of difficult to tell), the rain gave him the smidgen of confidence he needed. His head kept adding fruit to the imaginary shopping cart as he absentmindedly reached upwards to open the kitchen door before freezing in place and leaving it ajar; the lights were on? At this time? Well, he could at least claim that it was a good thing he checked that the lights of the kitchen were actually off and turned them off himself.
Actually, no, that doesn't sound right.
Consciously problem solving with his unique physiology was still a skill in development, so Jason very quietly closed the door, closed his eyes, and breathed in an inaudible wave of sound. It was far, but there was something person shaped moving through this kitchen, he did it again, was it a teacher? Whomever it was, they weren't tall enough, also, their clothes were too saggy, surely a member of the faculty would be well dressed even at night, right? Hmm, who was this person, also where is all the fruit? He wondered if he could triangulate the fruit, hopefully they didn't put it in a shelf or something.
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Post by DornKoon on Oct 31, 2023 17:37:16 GMT
Niels was standing with his head inside the fridge when a sensation hit him: someone was moving towards the kitchen door. He stopped with a carton of milk in his hand. For a split second, he was worried it might be a staff member, not that there were any outright rules against having a snack in the middle of the night... at least nothing he had been asked not to do. No, that did not feel like any of the adults... it was not Mr Summers, Miss Frost, or any other of the faculty members. Niels slowly closed the fridge after collecting the milk and some eggs and walked over to the counter.
It had to be a student, and the emotional imprint was... vaguely familiar. At least someone he had walked past or felt more than once before. The way they were feeling was also, different, not that the emotions themselves were different, just there was a different imprint. They stopped outside the door, and the faintest of creaking revealed to Niels that the same someone had just closed the door. The empath closed his eyes and focused on the emotions he was feeling... there was curiosity and a little apprehension but no hostility he could feel.
So, what should he do? It felt a little... mean to hog the kitchen, and it did not seem like the person was making an effort to come inside. "Aren't you going to come inside?" He asked; his voice was gentle, and not very loud. "I guess I was not the only one who had trouble sleeping."
He waited, just to see how the person would react.
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Post by swapgo on Oct 31, 2023 20:41:51 GMT
That had the shape of, uh, dairy? Was this person going to cook an omelette at...dang, he forgot to check the time before scampering over here, perhaps it was breakfast time.
They were coming over here, however, that much he could tell. Jason snickered to himself and reared up to full height, extending his wings with ticklish anticipation. He loved doing this to his classmates even before having his puberty optimize scaryness for him, hadn't had much of a chance to do it since. Unfortunately, the person behind the door was just as attentive as he was, which briefly disarmed him. "Well, yes, I mean no, uh-, no and yes. Yes?", Jason's spoke mostly to himself as he lowballed the volume of his shrill voice, lost in his train of thought momentarily, but then girded his halloween decoration posture once more. "But I didn't enter the kitchen! I'm not in trouble! You're gonna be when Mr. Piotr finds out!", he slowly raised his volume with mischievous confidence. Niels perhaps should've be worried, except Jason hadn't moved an inch, he just really wanted whomever was at the other side of this door to be the one who opened it to be dramatic for a spell.
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Post by DornKoon on Oct 31, 2023 21:40:25 GMT
Niels was just about to pour himself some milk, listening to the voice coming from the other side of the door. He stopped mid-motion and watched the reflection of the kitchen door in the window. The teenager's bushy eyebrows furrowed slightly before he shook his head and poured himself a glass of milk. "Trouble for what? Getting myself a glass of milk and making toast?" He was not sure what game the person was playing, but there was clear anticipation from the other side of the door, still no intention of anger or other emotions that could be linked to wanting to do harm.
"I was thinking of making an omelette," he continued. "But I'm not really good at them... and did not find any sausages to go with it... at least not any of the good German kind, and I refuse to eat those hotdog things they call "sausages", nasty stuff."
Fine, if the other guy was not going to come inside... Niels decided to do what he clearly wanted.
The young empath crossed the kitchen and stopped in front of the door. Without hesitation, he opened it.
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Post by swapgo on Oct 31, 2023 22:41:15 GMT
"Yes...probably. What if the pan is still greasy after washing it?"
While part of this antagonization was in jest, Jason did find the idea of waking up in the morning and cooking to be kind of daunting. It's a midnight snack, not a midnight meal. Jason let out another infrasonic beep behind his ready smile to get the timing just right, c'mon, he's not going to be-
Wait, a glass of milk?
"Hold!", Jason reached forward and wedged his scaled finger onto the handle, holding the door tightly shut. An object made of glass, yes, he shouldn't, he shouldn't do that. He shouldn't scare someone holding an object made of glass, that just ends, nah, he wouldn't make himself responsible for that, not at 2 AM (he's throwing ballparks at this point), not within his first weeks of school, not a second time. Jason breathed in subsonic gasts, Niels couldn't hear him panting at all, his distress would be palpable to few members of the institute, but the empath on the other side of the door was one of them.
"I'm...alright", Jason said, it was more like he wanted to be alright, he chuckled to himself, somehow he ended up spooking the wrong person, the door still wouldn't budge. "Hope *gulp*...you're too, I think I should go back..."
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Post by DornKoon on Oct 31, 2023 23:29:35 GMT
Niels was a little startled when the door would not budge. He did not possess any kind of enhanced stength, if anything he was on the small and scrawny side. He pulled again, quickly noticing that it was being held in place… not locked.
”What’s the big idea?” He asked, letting go of the door and taking a few steps back. He closed his eyes for a moment, just to gain som extra focus. Was he in distress out there? That was a shift he was not expecting… and so sudden. ”I’m ok, you on the other hand, is very loud. You sure you’re alright? Niels continued, sipping at the milk.
There was a pause, Niels scratched hin chin. ”you could just, come inside? I’m not that scary… I hope” He clearly had just wanted to surprise him somehow, but changed his mind by the time Niels crossed the room.
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Post by swapgo on Nov 1, 2023 0:06:07 GMT
"Oh yeah there, uh...was a big idea. Bad one too, maybe", Jason admitted, the nerves were fading into an embarassment of sort, perhaps he was exagerating, even if ounce of prevention, pound of cure, yadda yadda, he wouldn't bother whatever underslept classmate was behind this door with that. "I will be...perhaps I just really need these oranges I came here for", he talked himself back into getting in trouble, trying to remember where the other door to the kitchen was, just to make a subtler entrance. He was invited in, however, prompting a contented chitter of sorts. "Funny you say that", he joked, well, vampires should make the most out of invitations, after all.
The door opened and Jason made himself in quite expediently. Usually he'd be a bit more careful, but the institute was made with people of his condition in mind (that one takes more than 30 words). The door opened and two prompt, heavy steps later it was already closing behind him as his coiled tail unfurled and did the work. Back straight, wings held forward and perpendicular to the ground as a sort of walking aide, it was the least intimidating posture he could muster at the time, trial and error would tell. Jason stood silent for a moment, holding a tight smirk (was kind of difficult not to), looking at Niels with interest, he had already figured out most from just listening to him, so the bright pajamas were somehow what drew his attention the most at this point.
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Post by DornKoon on Nov 1, 2023 9:49:04 GMT
Niels had not expected the person behind the door to be... that big (he had the emotions of a teenager) and so much bat, combined with what first made him think of a dinosaur of some kind, and second that his 7-year-old self had been thrilled to meet this guy, and horrified. Most other students might have flinched, yelped, or had strong reactions to seeing Jason. It was not that Niels was not taken aback. In fact, His eyes did widen enough for it to show surprise but not fear.
What followed was a few seconds of Niels standing with the glass of milk to his lips, just long enough to make it awkward, before he pulled himself back and quickly lowered it, clearing his throat. He did know this guy, no, not know, he had seen him... he was difficult to miss... he had arrived not long after Niels himself did, but they did not have any classes together yet.
"Oh, I've seen you, you're the Bat-Man...Guy.". Niels broke the silence. "H-How's it going? You said you wanted oranges; I think some are in the fruit basket over there. Or they could have been tangerines; I did not check closely." He made it a point not to stare; it felt best not to make the guy feel more awkward than he already was. "So, what's your name? I'm Cornelius, but most people call me Niels."
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Post by swapgo on Nov 1, 2023 11:58:20 GMT
Jason raised a wing and twirled its fingers sequentially, as a sort of awkward wave to greet Niels. All in all, there was a bit of fun to be had.
"Well, I'm not big on Bat-Man, actually", Jason shrugged and willingly misinterpreted niels, it was apparent that his odd, flanging tone of voice wasn't produced by the door. Oh right, oranges, he did hear something fruit-basket-shaped somewhere around that direction. Jason quickly paced past Niels, his enlongated tail pacing right behind him and taking every sharp turn as he navigated the kitchen. While Niels could've felt some disturbance coming from him earlier, the confidence with which he moved suggested it had nothing to do with his complexion.
"Jason! A pleasure!", he mentioned, loudly, volume control is still getting there. He sort of oogled the fruit basket from above, his eyes glazing over an entire watermelon at the bottom, maybe not tonight, it would be much harder to justify its disappearance, wait was he doing something wrong right now? He snapped out of it for a moment and tilted his body back, he'd better not salivate on the thing. "Do you like fruit? It's way faster than cooking breakfast", he suggested, picking up an orange (it was not a Tangerine), somehow, it held tight between its forewing and his finger, gripped by his strange scales.
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Post by DornKoon on Nov 1, 2023 20:03:43 GMT
"Yes, I do get that," Niela said, nodding solemnly. " As a young New Yorker, I'm more of a Spider-Man fan. He saved a bank I was in with my parents a few years ago." He watched as Jason moved past him, a clear goal being the fruit bowl. Niels also took a step backwards; he did not think the tail could hit him, but it felt good to be on the safe side... just in case.
This guy was a lot bigger than he first appeared. It must be difficult for him to move around, even inside a place like the mansion. But, it seemed rude to ask about that, at least the first thing he did.
Niels glanced out the window, watching the falling rain and darkness outside. It was quite nice, at least when he could look at it from the inside. He was pulled back to reality when Jason asked if he liked fruit, "What? Fruit? Yes, I do like fruit," Niels replied with a nod. " And yeah, s'ppose it is a little too early for breakfast."
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Post by swapgo on Nov 2, 2023 0:03:10 GMT
"Well, uh", Jason looked at his wings, then at the very firm apple in front of him, then pondered while he tipped his fingers together. "I think I can't pitch, accurately, uh sorry", he extended his free wing to the right in a shrug, having offered him something and then being unable to actually give it to him. He folded his right wing close to him before taking a hearty bite from the fruit to his left to ensure that he sullied himself instead of the floor in case it was extra juicy, and boy was it juicy. Jason backtracked towards Niles, albeit slower, while the crunch left more food in his mouth than in his hands(sic), he chewed quite delicately and in silence, to apparently some degree of difficulty.
Slightly short of his destination he stopped with a gulp, glancing at the window, he had learned to tune out the rain, but not necessarily to do so and pay attention to what was past it. "Did you see something?", Jason asked without turning his head, his ears twitching to try and locate anything of interest. No squirrel would brave such a storm, would it? "Is it whatever that kept you up?", he added without giving much time to respond.
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Post by DornKoon on Nov 2, 2023 14:24:36 GMT
"It's alright," Niels shook his head. "I can always take fruit myself if I want any. We're not guests here after all..." There was a pause as he contemplated the following words, as they did feel odd to say. "This is our home, for however long that will be, maybe more." Saying it out loud did feel odd; Niels still had a home in the city with his father... he still did go there regularly.
The empath watched Jason from the corner of his eyes, and it was a little odd, to be sure. The way he was eating the fruit reminded Niels of those videos of fruit bats eating... well, fruit. He also looked a little funny; the way he was walking did not seem the most comfortable body to walk around, but it must be incredibly effective in the air.
"See something?" He looked to the window again before shaking his head. "No, there is nothing outside that I can see or feel." He took another sip from his glass of milk. "No, it's nothing outside that keeps me up; it's inside. Everyone is so loud, and it is difficult to sleep. Not loud as in hearing, I imagine you're ears are much better than mine. Loud in terms of emotions, nightmares, dreams... fantasies, they are difficult to shut out. Joy, fear, disgust, grief, anger..."
Niels smiled and looked at Jason again, but the smile quickly faded, and he sighed. "I'm a psionic, like Professor Xavier. Well, unlike the Professor, I'm an empath; he's a telepath. How he and Miss Frost can know what people think, I know what people feel."
Niels watched Jason to see his reaction to the revelation.
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Post by swapgo on Nov 2, 2023 22:45:26 GMT
Jason placed the second half of the orange in his mouth as Niels seemingly waxed poetic, it slowly became apparent that he was burying an important detail, and eventually he managed to spell it out for him. Jason kept munching, then looked upwards and inwards, there was a hint of shock, given by a tinge of their wings, a far off dash of sadness, a smattering of doubt as his eyes darted from side to side. He had finished chewing but did not swallow as he simmered down. He chuckled, then suppressed a cough, might as well actually swallow at this point, some sort of far flung optimism. "Perhaps we should make that breakfast, y'know", Jason stepped back for a moment, apparently approaching the fruit basket, he was simultaneously frightened and contented, excited, in a way. "How long has it been? If you don't mind the question", he asked.
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Post by DornKoon on Nov 3, 2023 12:48:49 GMT
Niels was not surprised by the chain of emotions that came to Jason upon hearing his mutation; it was usually a combination of doubt, shock, sadness, and sometimes even fear or anger. Well, at least it did not turn into some accusation, which had also been known to happen... or no, it could happen, at least from what the Professor told him when it came to people who did not understand.
"Breakfast? Maybe, unless you plan for your breakfast to be raw fruit?" He replied with a knowing look in the direction of the fruit bowl, he did not think just digging around in it was very hygienic... especially since Jason did not wash his... hands when he came inside the kitchen, he also used them to walk with... this just made matters worse. Niels made a mental note to wash any fruit he took, or maybe he should just come back later and wash all the fruits? Just to be on the safe side.
He frowned at the question, not because he was annoyed but because he had not really thought about it himself. His empathy sort of just... came gradually. He did not think there was a definite point when he suddenly felt emotions. "I don't mind; we're s'pposed not to be ashamed of who we are. I don't really know, and I was always... different, or so my parents told me, emotionally mature, exceptional EQ" Niels leaned against the kitchen counter, trying to look casual and cool, which did not work with his flannel pyjamas. "I think I was 12 when I really started to know what people were feeling. I always knew when people were feeling bad, especially my parents. People so often say they are fine when they really are not. The same goes with people who mask dark emotions behind good deeds and words."
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