QuinnTalon
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Post by QuinnTalon on Aug 29, 2012 10:16:21 GMT -5
Shade[/u]
He'd woken under the bed. In darkness. Safe, so far as he could tell. The only sign that anyone had been here were the clothes--a little too big when he'd held them up--that had been left on the still made bed. Jeans and a t-shirt. To his sight, it was a shade of blue-black-red that usually told him it was crimson.
Shade had been learning what his own colors corresponded to in 'real' colors since his mutation had come to the fore. It took time, and sometimes he'd get confused, but the shirt was definitely red. The jeans were a light gray that told him they were light blue...
He'd get the gist from someone, he hoped.
After a shower--in the dark--he tried the door and found that it wasn't locked. Which let him into the mid-day hallway. Flit from shadow to shadow where he could see, and keep his hand on a wall. It was hard to explore, but he'd more than learned to use other senses. Sight was just one, and in the dark no one was his equal, but sound and smell and touch were what he used in the world of Brightness.
He didn't hate it. Not the way he assumed people thought he might. It made him better. Made him focus on other things that other people might miss.
There was laughter. Sounds of voices teaching things. HE could hear math and english. Someone in another room was speaking musical french, and two or three people were repeating it. There was a television going in one room. A stereo in another. Something that smelled like heaven and made his stomach growl was coming from down the hall.
Everything that he could see in those pockets of shadow told him that this place was like 'Tylers' old home. Rich and perfect.
How long before he was cast out?
Enough of that. Explore. Find your way around. Who knew when things would go topsy-turvy. At the very least, he could find an exit. Just in case.
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Post by Seryna on Aug 29, 2012 12:18:15 GMT -5
"Hello," The voice was familiar. It was the girl who had introduced himself to Shade before he had fallen asleep. The girl - Kitty?- now wore different clothing, a light green blouse and jeans. She carries two books in her hand - Biology II and Conversational French. "How do you feel?" She questions with genuine interest in her voice. Kitty remains standing three feet from Shade, not invading his personal space.
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CuteLikeMurder
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Post by CuteLikeMurder on Aug 29, 2012 12:31:29 GMT -5
Devon
Mornings at the Xavier Institue were always the same. Hallways and classrooms filled with people. Devon had been exposed to more people in these last six months than she had her whole life. Well, the life she could remember. The number of students still took some getting use to, but Devon was making progress.
Devon is wearing a pair of grey sweat pants and a matching sweat shirt. Obviously on her way to exercise. She had other classes that required books and clothes that didn't make her look like a grey blob. But that wasn't until later.
"Hey, Kitty..." Devon said with a nod before she noticed that the newcomer was with her. "Good morning, Shade. How was the first night?"
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QuinnTalon
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Post by QuinnTalon on Aug 29, 2012 18:38:42 GMT -5
Shade[/u]
It was odd. In the lab and research center, the group of young mutants had bonded over their shared imprisonment. They'd banded together to support each other, because protecting each other just wasn't possible most of the time.
For the most part though, Shade had spent the better part of a year alone. Street People looked out for each other, but there was very little anyone could do for a mutant kid on the street because he wasn't wanted. His story was like thousands of others. Fear had been stronger than love in his house, and in the end he'd been cast out.
He was used to being alone and being invisible. His Shadows allowed for that. He was better at it than most if he did things right.
The attention though--the kind of genuine attention--was odd for him, and he looked between the two girls who both seemed somewhat...concerned? Maybe he really was getting rusty from lack of social interaction.
"I slept under the bed. I felt too...exposed." He hadn't talked with anyone yet about what was going to happen to him. The others' parents had come to get them and had taken them home. That just wasn't going to happen for him.
Tyler was dead. Shade lived in his place.
"I slept alright though. And I feel better." He looked to Devon then. "Thanks for that. I was feeling really rough there for a bit." Genetic tampering would do that, he guessed. Trying to change him from one thing to another. "Still don't know what they did to me..."
He hoped it wasn't anything too bad.
"...It was very nice of...everyone, to let me stay."
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CuteLikeMurder
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Post by CuteLikeMurder on Aug 30, 2012 1:14:11 GMT -5
Devon
Devon nodded. "That's better than me." She said. "The first week I was here I pushed the bed against the door and didn't sleep. I huddled in the corner watching the window for intruders."
It was an honest confession. Devon had nothing to hide. Besides, Shade was a former lab rat like she had been. She understood where he was coming from.
"You're welcome... I'm a healer regen, I can take just about anything thrown at me... But whatever they gave you almost put me down." Devon sighed. "You might never know. But don't ever make the mistake of thinking you're it. I made that mistake... I thought I was the end of experiments like that... I was very, very wrong."
She almost smiled. "They'll let you stay as long as you'd like."
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QuinnTalon
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Post by QuinnTalon on Aug 31, 2012 7:52:00 GMT -5
Shade[/u]
"That's a nifty trick." There's a half-smile, ad his hand stays on the wall. There was more light than dark here, and as such he could see blurry movement and little else. "I'm...I can manipulate shadows. I heard someone say that I 'bend the ambient light in such a way so as to seem as if I'm bending the shadows', but they don't know what it feels like.
"So...yeah. I bend shadows. I can see in the dark. The darker the better, and in a pitch-black room I see perfectly. And...I'm a little stronger than most people." He wasn't sure why. He could break things that other people couldn't. It was why the cuffs holding him to the bed in that place had been reinforced.
He'd broken the first set.
"...They'll let me stay here?" The thought was so foreign. "...I haven't been to school in over a year. You think...?"
He'd like to go back to school. It was something that he hadn't realized he'd miss so much.
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CuteLikeMurder
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Post by CuteLikeMurder on Aug 31, 2012 21:10:58 GMT -5
Devon
"I'm a little stronger too. But not by much. Comes with being a regen. Or so they tell me. However, I think I like your power more than mine." Devon said in jest. Truth was there was a part of her that wished he had just been born a mundane. It might have saved her some heartache.
It was an honest confession. Devon had nothing to hide. Besides, Shade was a former lab rat like she had been. She understood where he was coming from.
Devon almost chuckled when Shade continued. "I haven't been to school before here. So if they let me stay, they'll let you stay. If not, I'll knock some heads around for you until they change their mind. Us former experiments have to stick together."
This time she did laugh a little until she thought of something that might help Shade. "So you see better in the dark? Hm... Come down with me to the Underground, I think they might have something that will help you see during the day."
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QuinnTalon
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Post by QuinnTalon on Sept 4, 2012 14:28:39 GMT -5
Former experiments had to stay together?
Shade smiled. Nodded a little because she was right. They needed to stick together. At the very least, he wouldn't be hungry again. And going back to school would be nice. He wasn't sure what would happen to him if he didn't stay here. After all, there would be no worried parents coming to look for him.
"I'd appreciate that. I'd rather not have to have someone lead me around if the lights are on."
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CuteLikeMurder
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Post by CuteLikeMurder on Sept 4, 2012 18:09:29 GMT -5
Devon
"Perfect." Devon guided them to the shop. Students weren't technically allowed down there but they also weren't expressively forbidden. So... Devon didn't consider it breaking the rules. Not directly. She was helping out a fellow former lab rat.
Two lefts and a right... door at the end of the corridor. Devon made sure the coast was clear and lead Shade inside.
"They have extra wielding masks in the shop room but these are more travel-size," Devon said as she retrieved what looked like goggles that had dark tinted lenses. "Here."
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QuinnTalon
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Post by QuinnTalon on Sept 12, 2012 8:29:42 GMT -5
Shade
The goggles are looked at for a long moment, and he looked around the room. It looked like a shop class, but there was no one here right now. Still, he put the goggles on, and while they might not look the most glamorous, he could imagine he had a sort of 'steampunk-cyberpunk' look. A little geeky, but from what he could deduce, it hid how odd his eyes looked.
Not that he was ashamed of how his eyes looked, but the stares could sometimes be awkward.
To anyone else, it would be dim, but to Shade, it was like the light was cut down, and while it wasn't 'perfect', he could see better. His blues and his blacks and his grays were back to a tolerable tone.
"They'll let me keep them?" He wasn't sure about all that. He got the feeling, from the way they'd sort of dodged other people, that they technically weren't supposed to be here.
"...Thanks, Devon." It was the first thing--other than freedom--that he'd been 'given' in quite awhile.
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CuteLikeMurder
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Post by CuteLikeMurder on Sept 12, 2012 13:25:14 GMT -5
Devon
Devon felt like she had done a good deed. Independence was the key to being free and staying free. It wasn't the big moves she and Magneto talked about but it was a start. Looking out for a fellow mutant, a fellow freak, a fellow lab rat... It was like she was showing the people that did this to them that she was better, that they didn't break her. She was still capable of kindness.
"You're welcome. And yeah, they better let you keep them. If they don't I'll just have to break into the Underground again and get you a better pair. Something a bit more tactical." A mischievous grin spread across Devon's face. "I might just do that anyway."
Devon chuckled and shook her head. "Are you hungry? Because I think they're still serving breakfast."
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QuinnTalon
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Post by QuinnTalon on Sept 26, 2012 19:32:13 GMT -5
Shade[/u]
"A bit." He was used to being hungrier, but he was also used to sleeping in doorways and in alleys. Shade had the feeling that he was never going to have to deal with that ever again, if any of these people had anything to say about it. "I could eat, I mean. I haven't had anything since they brought us breakfast yesterday, and it wasn't that great.
"Which, coming from someone they dragged in from being homeless? It's saying something."
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CuteLikeMurder
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Post by CuteLikeMurder on Sept 27, 2012 16:29:56 GMT -5
Devon
Devon chuckled and then nodded. "Food here is pretty good. The city has better places to eat. But they don't really like us going out... Doesn't stop most of us, tho."
She began to lead Shade out of the workshop, feeling good about this. It was all about building relationships. Putting people at ease. "I should give you a friendly warning about the staff here.... It's nothing bad. They're good people. They just like to talk about their feelings... a lot... at length... They'll want to talk about your feelings too. I dunno how you feel about that but just let them know if you're not up for therapy just yet."
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QuinnTalon
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Post by QuinnTalon on Oct 14, 2012 19:16:32 GMT -5
"My feelings? Like a shrink?" He raised an eyebrow, actually able now to move around without having to use the wall for guidance. It was nice, being able to walk and talk with other people, but he wasn't sure how he was going to deal with people wanting to know something so personal.
Like most, he was trying to come to terms with the fact that he was dead to his parents--literally, if the obituaries are anything to go by--and they knew very well that he hadn't been dead when they'd cast him out. Kind of made him wonder if they'd want Tyler back now if they knew he'd survived as long as he had.
But he wasn't Tyler anymore. He was Shade, and that was good enough for him.
"So school, and food, and shrinks...who pays for all this? Because I don't have any parents...not that want me."
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CuteLikeMurder
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Post by CuteLikeMurder on Oct 14, 2012 20:26:30 GMT -5
Devon shrugged. "Shrinks?... Oh like psychologists... No... They're more like life-coaches..."
They were like Jimmy... Jiminy... They were like Jiminy Cricket. She didn't get the sense they were trying to fix them so much as help them find their way.
"I don't know who pays for all of this actually..." Devon confessed. "And most of us don't have any parents."
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QuinnTalon
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Post by QuinnTalon on Oct 19, 2012 16:28:17 GMT -5
"Ah."
IT was all a little confusing. What did they get out of it? Out of helping people like him? Out of helping people like Devon? Out of helping any of these students who were here because of what they were?
The world rejected them. Some of them, he was sure, had the same fate as he'd had when his parents had rejected him. What did these people get out of this?
They had to get something out of it.
"So...you trust them but...." He frowned. "Want to maybe...watch my back? I can watch your's? I'm not sure if Itrustityetbecause..." He was talking too fast.
Too fast. He did it when he was nervous.
"...It's been awhile...since someone did something so nice for me, and didn't want something in return for it so...."
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CuteLikeMurder
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Post by CuteLikeMurder on Oct 21, 2012 17:07:37 GMT -5
Silence befell them and Devon began to fiddle with the cuff of one of her sleeves. It was the sleeve that hid her tattoo from view. And Devon was debating upon whether to show him or not. It seemed to help her form a bond with Magneto. Perhaps it could do the same with Shade. Perhaps.
However, it had been during an emotional outburst that Devon revealed her darkest secret to a man that she had not known then but now hoped to one day count him as a friend. It not the case now with Shade.
"I don't know if I trust them yet..." Devon finally said, rolling up her sleeve and exposing the barcode tattoo on her inner forearm. "But they pulled me out of hell... I owe them..." She paused. "I'll watch your back and you watch mine. And maybe one day we'll trust each other enough to speak about the hell we both escaped from."
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