Xavier's Institute : July Day 8, Evening - Library

clawsincluded
2005-07-25 10:42 (link)

X-23 never visited the library when someone was there. It was odd, but she never wanted anyone to know she was reading. Her relationship with the literary world was an oddly private one. While it started out as a way to collect information that she didn't previously have experience with, reading had developped into something of a hobby.

The only reason why she was in here at all was because Nate was in here. She left her book discreetly at the front table to track him. Passing through rows of books, X-23 found him on the other side of the room in a chair near the window.

X-23 stopped at his side. She was looking him over because he smelled off. Afraid, maybe. Tired. She sat down on the arm of the chair, silent.

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ultimatexpower
2005-07-26 21:56 (link)

He knew X-23 was there, hers was one of the few minds he kept track of hour by hour, like blips on a radar screen as she and a select few went about their days. He could learn a lot from ithem, though... these days, her mind was the one that confused him less. He set it aside as 'irony' for later assessment.

As the psionic signature moved from its previous 'reading' condition to a closer 'curious' state, Nate shifted his focus from the heavy tome in his hands and the stack that piled next his chair and let his mind settle around her. When he looked up, there was no mistaking it: he ws tired, eyes slightly red adn nearly buggy from keeping them open. He didn't say anything, just took in the moment as it was there.

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clawsincluded
2005-07-26 22:09 (link)

X-23 was getting used to Nate's curiosity, although she still felt he was nosey sometimes. She still wasn't comfortable with people in her head, but she could deal with him. X-23 looked back at Nate, observing the redness of his eyes. For someone so smart, sometimes she wondered if he'd ever understand that the mind couldn't function without the body. Not forever.

"You need sleep," X-23 stated. It was simple, blunt.

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	ultimatexpower 2005-07-26 22:31 (link)
	Nate blinked. Need. It was one thing he really couldn't argue with. The dread came back, but was again set aside. "I do." He continued to look back at her. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	clawsincluded 2005-07-26 22:44 (link)
	"So why don't you?" She continued to look at him too. Sadly enough, this is probably the longest conversation X-23 had had all day. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

ultimatexpower
2005-07-26 22:56 (link)

Nate always thought over the littlest of questions with great sincerity. This was no exception. He stopped staring, though his eyes didn't move anywhere but inward, getting a vaguely glassy expression that might be the result of being lost in thought, or simply the need to sleep.

"It's engagement in an activity that... gives no progress. Not anymore," was his final answer after some deliberation, his focus returning back to her.

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	clawsincluded 2005-07-26 23:00 (link)
	"It gives you energy. So you can make progrss," she said. Or whatever the hell he did all day. X-23 shook her head. "What did I tell you 'bout takin' care of yourself? No tank, remember? You have to do the work yourself now." (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	ultimatexpower 2005-07-26 23:19 (link)
	"Therefore, I am to continue on the experiments left behind," he explained calmly. "Care will be taken, but not at the expense of the results. I-" His eyes went wide, mouth twisting into a look of discomfort and surprise as a yawn over took him. He made a face. "I need to concentrate more on my oxygen intake," he explained with disappointment. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	clawsincluded 2005-07-26 23:24 (link)
	X-23 couldn't help smiling a little. "Those experiments were on you. Who's workin' on previous orders now, huh?" she asked. Take that, Mr. Psychoanalyst. "Care gets taken now," X-23 said. She took away the book on his lap and tossed it on the floor, "You need to sleep. Whether you like it or not." (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	ultimatexpower 2005-07-26 23:53 (link)
	Nate explained further. "It's for the benefit of science and the eventual understanding of my capabilities. And my function was never to instigate the experimentation, just to... be the subject, I would guess." He brought the book back the moment it hit the floor. He makes no mention of her demands. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	clawsincluded 2005-07-27 00:04 (link)
	"Well, you don't need to figure it out in a night, do ya?" And she tugged the book back again and tossed it on the floor. X-23 poked him lightly with a claw. She knew that he'd heard her. "I mean it." (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	ultimatexpower 2005-07-27 00:16 (link)
	"No," answered Nate agreeably. "It should take several days or so I would surmise from previous experience." Book floats back. He looks at the claw with some interest in a drowsy way. "I know," he said. "I..." Another pause of deliberate thought before he continues in a quieter tone. "I don't enjoy the experience. And the reading wasn't completed." (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	clawsincluded 2005-07-27 00:26 (link)
	"It's a book. It ain't goin' anywhere, you know." X-23 paused. Sleeping had never really been pleasant for her either. That's why she always rested so lightly, beyond the fact that she didn't trust any environment she was placed in. There'd only been one time it'd be nice; but that'd never happened again. "Why don't you enjoy it?" (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

ultimatexpower
2005-07-27 00:38 (link)

"But I'm reading it now," Nate continued ot explain calmly, though certainly more sleepily.

Now reading... reading was another thing he wasn't used to, the slow process of information via written language than the electrodes which installed his education into him like a computer. He still wasn't sure which way was better, though reading did have less long term damage.

"I'm not... used to it. I have yet to master its entire function and the release of control is ... unsettling." It was strange to hear his theory spoken out loud. He seemed to understand it better than when he mulled it over in his thoughts. He would have to try another experiment later on the subject.

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	clawsincluded 2005-07-27 00:44 (link)
	"You're afraid somethin's gonna happen to you when you aren't payin' attention?" Because X-23 could understand that. She watched him, almost curiously, her claw sliding back into her hand. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

ultimatexpower
2005-07-27 00:51 (link)

... which he watched curiously, as curiously as anyone who'd been raised on a steady diet of biology and mutant genetics. He knew where she was coming from with her query and knew why it was so leading. He ruminated on what he knew of her training and could see where a fear of the unknown would occur.

But, it's different, he answered himself telepathically 'outloud', for her benefit and out of a natural inclination to communicate that way. It would be better classified as ... being 'afraid' something isn't going to happen to you.

Quick flashes, halted briefly by another unsettling yawn, of varying ages, as after the inferance of failed testing scores or dissatisfaction, Nate's perspective slowly grows back and wakes up a little (or a lot) different each time.

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	clawsincluded 2005-07-27 10:28 (link)
	"So if you're asleep, you start thinkin' it's 'cause you failed doin' somethin'." X-23 scratched her head. Well, that was stupid, but then, she'd been stuck in old habits too. "Well...yer gonna have to figure somethin' out. Otherwise, yer gonna hurt yerself. What'd help? Help you sleep, I mean." (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

ultimatexpower
2005-07-27 21:29 (link)

But you slept and learned it as a natural course. I understand it would seem stupid to you but... you seem to find many things that lack and interest or point as part of your opinion.

He thought again, speaking as not to tangle his thoughts with trying to communicate. "It is... part of an ongoing project. While I may not have the apropriate psychological responce to sleep, it is something that should be learned, gained by knowledge or understanding of or skill in by study, instruction, or experience." Recitation seemed to suit him. He looked back to X-23. "What helps you?" He didn't pull it from her mind, he asked.

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clawsincluded
2005-07-27 22:05 (link)

"Dunno, I kinda just had to. Otherwise they'd drug me or somethin'..." X-23 didn't like being drugged. It messed up her system and then she couldn't respond in the ways she wanted to. Bad things usually happened when they drugged her. The adamantium bonding process had followed her first experience.

"There was one time though," X-23 shifted, a little uncomfortable. She'd never talked about it. She hadn't even thought about it in years. "When I was little there was this woman. And when I started intense training...I couldn't sleep. She called 'em nightmares, but it was really just stuff I'd done gettin' replay."

X-23 scratched her arm. "Anyway, she..." It was easier to show it than explain it for X-23. So she did her best to dig up the memory and put it at the top of her thoughts.

"What's wrong, X-23?"

"Nuthin'. Just keep wakin' up."

The woman frowned at her, but X-23's eyes were all blurry from the sudden flash of light in the room.

"Nightmares?" she asked.

X-23 shrugged. She was startled when the woman's arms came around her and picked her up suddenly, carrying her back to bed. No one had ever touched her before. Not in a nice way, anyway.

"Just try to relax. I won't let anything touch you."

X-23 blinked and tried to do as she was told, just like she would with any order. The warmth of the woman, the steadyness of her breathing made it easy. She'd never felt so oddly comfortable in her life. X-23 fell asleep shortly after.

She never saw that woman again.

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ultimatexpower
2005-07-27 22:25 (link)

Nate listened with rapt attention. The moment she actually gave him a memory, on purpose, with such degree of trust behind it, he had to blink a few times before he closed his eyes, savoring the psionic replay. Noting the cold, then warmth, the quiet, then sound, the dark then bright and all the comparisons he could find. X-23's agitation at recalling the thought was soothed in reflex; Nate telepathically smoothing the sudden pricks to her emotional state, using the form and function that Jean Grey had done in front of him when she had become troubled, then set it aside.

He treasured the new information; he had no such memory to give in return.

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	o-o-c clawsincluded 2005-07-27 22:29 (link)
	( moving down ) (Reply to this) (Parent)

	clawsincluded 2005-07-27 22:37 (link)
	She felt oddly calm and knew it was somewhat out of character for her, but she didn't say anything for a few moments. "That's all I got...far as what I know anyway," X-23 said, quietly. She'd rather not see him seek help from drugs, having an obvious dislike of them. (Reply to this) (Thread)

	ultimatexpower 2005-07-27 22:49 (link)
	Nate too enjoyed the moment as well, feeling the empathic tumble through X-23, like watching a dryer sheet in a lowly set dryer. When she felt the urge to speak, he looked back to her with a small Nate-like smile. "Thank you," he said with the purest amount of honesty he had. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	clawsincluded 2005-07-27 23:03 (link)
	X-23 didn't show emotions other than anger very well, lacking the practice. But she did manage to smile back a little. It was easier when her nerves had been smoothed down (something she'd probably have to think about later). "So...er...you gonna stop with all this book shit and give it a try?" (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

ultimatexpower
2005-07-27 23:35 (link)

Apparently, the emotional maneuver of Dr. Grey's was also a new practice for X-23 as well. He enjoyed the similarities, then realized how the effects of his sleep depravation must be strong for him to be unable to come up with a reason *why* the similarities were enjoyed...

"While it is impractical for me to stop, it is also impractical to base an action taken by the varying emotionl levels of fear," Nate admitted. As a responce to her previous actions, the book lifted off his lap and flew across the room as an overachiving 'angry throw'.

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	clawsincluded 2005-07-27 23:52 (link)
	Well, X-23 wasn't really sure she understood what he said but by the time he threw the book, she got it. X-23 nodded. "Guess that means 'yes', huh?" (Reply to this) (Parent)