Monday afternoon, Marie and Mondo meet

[x-traction.livejournal.com]

Marie meets the mansion’s newest resident. Once he can finally understand what she’s saying, they have a nice conversation. And of course, they talk of Spam. No, seriously…Spam.

Mondo was feeling a little overwhelmed. Luckily for him the percoset was hitting him _just_ fine and he wasn't in any pain. This place - this school - was overwhelming him. But he had found the outside and a good solid sunbeam where he could upgrade from freezing to death to merely chilly. He hoped that it was just because of the drugs and not a permanent thing he'd have to get used to. But what couldn't be cured had to be endured, as he remembered hearing once. He was going to really like it here. He just knew it.

Marie had decided to take advantage of the beautiful weather and perform her yoga exercises outside. Opening her eyes upon the completion of her routine, she noticed the new resident of the mansion had also decided to take advantage of the sunny day. Walking over to him, she smiled and waved. “Hi, Ah’m Marie.”

Mondo just blinked at her for a second while he tried to parse her accent. Finally, he just gave up and started guessing. "Hi." he said in heavy South Pacific-accented English. "I'm Mondo. It's so good to meet you!" he said, trying to struggle up to his feet in the least-painful way he could.

“Easy there,” she said, offering him a gloved hand for assistance. She noticed the look of confusion on his face, but assumed it was because he was wondering why this strange woman had come up to start talking to him. “Its nice to finally meet you. How are y’ settlin’ in? Ah’m kinda the R.A. for the students ‘round here, so if you need anything, Ah’m the person to go to.”

Mondo sank back into his chair with a grateful look. Whoever this incomprehensible girl was, she'd already earned his gratitude. "I'm very sorry, but I'm having a hard time understanding you. Please don't take offense." he said. "Did you say you were the RA?"

Having a hard time…oh! “No offense taken. Ah know Ah do have a bit of an accent. Ah wasn’t born ‘round here, Ah’m from the South,” she explained, making sure to talk slowly and enunciate as clearly as she was able. “But yes, Ah’m the R.A.” She paused, waiting to see if Mondo would now be able to understand her.

Mondo shot her a thousand-figurative-megawatt smile. "Oh, that's better!" he said. "Hi!" he said, waving at her playfully. "This has been a really far-out day, man." he said. "Just needed to catch my breath a little."

Marie found the grin on her face growing larger - she just couldn't help it in response to the happiness that just seemed to emanate from the boy in front of her. The only thing that halted the spread of the smile was the sight of the crutches next to his chair. It puzzled her how he could be so joyful when he must obviously still be pretty badly hurt. "So how many painkillers do the docs have you on?" After all, enough happy pills and anyone would be grinning the way he was.

"Just two, but they're reaaaaaaally strong." he said with a dulled-out grin. "They take away the pain. I ... hurt my knee last week." he said, his face falling just a bit.

She nodded. “Ah remember some of those lovely pills.” Marie hesitatingly reached out a hand and patted his arm. “Ah’m sure the doctors here will have you right as rain in no time,” she said reassuringly.

“Oh, I know they will." he said with complete confidence. "It's just a matter of time and hard work, and my Momma said I was always too stubborn for my own good."

Marie sat down, crossing her legs Indian style, before floating up to keep her eyes level with the boy’s. “She sounds a lot like my momma,” she said with a wink. “So whatdya think of the school so far?”

Mondo blinked at the floating Marie. "Wow." he said, reaching out for Marie's forearm, poking her gently with a thick forefinger. "The school is ... well, big." he said with a slight flush. "So many people!"

Marie sighed with relief as Mondo touched a part of her that was covered by her sleeve. “Yes, a lot of people. And lots of us have gifts and abilities.” Keeping a smile on her face by sheer will alone, she locked eyes with the Samoan. “One of mine is this,” she said, waving her hand at the space between her and the ground. “Ah’m also pretty strong. But Ah also have one that Ah don’t have control over, so you gotta be careful when you touch me only to touch parts that are covered by cloth.” She wiggled her fingers at him. “’s why Ah wear these stylin’ gloves.”

Mondo thought about that for a second - how horrible it must be to not be able to touch. It almost made him want to break down bawling at the enormity of it. He shifted as best he could and patted her on the hand awkwardly. He wanted to give her a hug, but there was no way he could get up easily. "I'm so sorry." he said, choking just a little. "I ... I can't even imagine what that must be like."

“Thanks,” she said awkwardly. She never knew what to say when people were apologetic about her inability to touch or admitted that they didn’t know what it was like – what was she supposed to say? No you don’t, thanks for realizing that and being better than the idiots who say things like ‘I understand.’ Noticing the look on Mondo’s face, Marie barely stopped herself from wincing. Oh good grief girl, fix this, change the subject, come on, quick. “So have you gotten to meet some of the other students here?”

Mondo pulled himself together and went with the new flow of conversation. "Not really, no. I met Doctor MacTaggert. I like her! She's funny." he said with a smile. "And Dr Voght, who's not funny at all. OH! And I met Catseye! I almost tripped over her. She's silly."

Laughing at the boy’s honest and funny (and appropriate!) description of the three mansion residents he had met, Marie covered her mouth with her hand. “Ah’m sure they’ll converge on you soon as they get the chance. They tend to overwhelm most of the newbies…but they are a great bunch.”

Mondo just grinned at that thought. "I can't wait." he said earnestly. "And I wish I could have brought my jacket. It's so cold up here..." he said, miming a shiver. "It's as bad as Tokyo."

Quirking an eyebrow at his apparent enthusiasm to be inundated by the residents, she then glanced up towards the sun shining down. He’s cold? Maybe its part of his mutation… “Well, Ah’m sure we can get you a jacket right quick,” she said authoritatively. “May even have one around somewhere that you can use ‘till we get a chance for you to pick one out. Are you always cold?”

"I'm from Samoa." he pointed out. "It's never cold in Samoa."

She giggled at his straightforward response. “Can’t argue with that logic.” Clapping her hands together, she grinned at him as realization dawned over her. “You ever seen snow?”

Mondo stopped to think about it. "Not up-close, no. Just on top of mountains and stuff. Why? Isn't it summer here?" he asked.

“Sure, it is now. But it’ll be winter in just a few months. Winter is my favorite season…people don’t look at me funny for wearing gloves then.” Leaning over, she whispered conspiratorially to him. “Plus, Ah know a boy who can make snow.” Straightening back up, she smiled at him again. “Course, since you’re not used to the cold, you may not like snow.”

Mondo shrugged. "Guess I'll find out, won't I?" he said with another blinding grin. "I like trying new things!"

Did this kid do anything but smile? Maybe that was his power – spreading sunshine throughout the world. Shaking her head at the silly thought, Marie continued smiling at Mondo. “So what brings you to our fair country?” she asked.

"Well, I found out I'm a mutant about a week ago." he said. "I'd demonstrate, except I'm not supposed to use my power until my knee heals up. Seems that this place is where people like me ... like us go to learn about ourselves." he said.

“Definitely don’t demonstrate until you are all healed up. Ah can tell you from personal experience it’s a bad idea to use powers until the docs say you’re ready.” Lowering herself to the ground, Marie stood up and stretched. “But Ah’d say that’s a perfect description of Xavier’s.”

Mondo grinned again. "Let me see if I can explain it. See the rocks underneath us? Feel them - their strength, their solidity. My power lets me borrow the rock's traits." he said, floundering a bit in trying to explain what he himself barely knew.

Marie pursed her lips as she evaluated his description. “Hmm…d’ya actually change into stone or just become strong like it?”

"Nope. I don't change, I just take the rock's traits. Can do it with a couple of different things, but rock's the easiest." he said with a modest head-bob. "Did it with rice-paper once. I definitely didn't like that."

“Well, Ah can imagine why that wouldn’t be much fun,” she said, careful to keep her expression serious. Gesturing in the direction of the mansion, she added, “Ah think Ah’m gonna go grab somethin’ to eat. Care to join me?”

Mondo's stomach took that moment to remind him that despite the drugs and the stifled pain he was hungry, thank you very much. "Sure!" he said, trying to struggle up to his feet slowly without re-damaging himself.

Poor kid. “Ah got ya,” she said, gently lifting him to his feet. Bending down, she picked up the crutches and held them out towards him.

Mondo accepted the help and then took his crutches and awkwardly put them under his arms. "I'm not very graceful." he said with an embarrassed blush. "But I'll get there eventually."

“Shoulda seen me when Ah first got my strength…Ah didn’t used to have quite the control Ah got now. Ah kinda left a hole in a wall after Ah tripped and went through it,” Marie said hoping to ease his discomfort. She gently patted him on the back. “You’ll get a hang of these with a little practice, but hopefully you’ll be off them before too long.”

"Six weeks, give or take." he said cheerfully. "Do you guys have any Spam?" he asked innocently as the two of them hobbled or walked for the kitchen.

Somebody wanted Spam? Marie stumbled over her feet, barely regaining her balance and avoiding a nasty spill. “Ah don’t think Lorna keeps that…an’ she’s a bit of a health nut, so Ah doubt she’d ever order it,” she blurted out. “But if you really want it, you can always ask Dani, the administrative assistant to order it for you,” she said, attempting to recover from her mild shock.

Mondo looked baffled. "You don't eat Spam?" he said, clearly boggled by the very notion. "But it's so _good_! Everybody eats it!"

“Not so much here…but like Ah said, Ah’m sure we can get you some if you really want it. Ah promise, we have some very tasty food in the kitchen, even if its not, um, Spam,” she said haltingly, unsure of how to explain to the boy that Spam was not considered a delicious foodstuff here.

"I don't get it. No Spam. Wow. I thought you guys were rich or something." he muttered to himself as they wobbled towards the kitchen. "Oh well. I'll let you pick."