Amara and Scott, Tuesday morning

[x-cyclops.livejournal.com]

Amara meets the headmaster. They talk about what she's interested in studying during her time at Xavier's; Scott discovers that Amara has a lot of interests, and that she's looking forward to the possibility of exploring them.


Amara strolled the halls of the mansion quietly, a sheaf of papers in hand, killing a few moments before her meeting with Mr. Summers. She wanted help scheduling her Fall classes and thought it would be prudent to run her ideas past the headmaster. After fidgeting with her shirt and smoothing her long skirt, she knocked softly on his office door.

"Come in," was the soft reply from inside. As the door opened, Scott looked up from the papers on his desk, mustering a smile for the blonde girl who stepped into the office. "Hello, Amara," he said quietly, gesturing to the two chairs by the window. "Why don't we do this in a more congenial setting? I always hate talking to students across my desk unless they've misbehaved." He tried not to wince as he got up. It was cloudy today, and he'd been inside since he got up. The ache in his muscles was dull, but persistent.

Amara noted the wince and the stiffness in his body. She immediately forgot her nervousness and hurried over to his side, not too close, but close enough that if he fell over, she could catch him. "Are you okay, sir? If this is a bad time, I can come back later."

"I'm all right, Amara, don't worry." He made the smile more steady, and gestured again towards the chairs. "And you don't need to call me sir," he said as he settled into one of them, making himself move more naturally. "Mr. Summers is all right. I don't mind Scott, either... we're informal here most of the time."

With a slight frown, she sat down in the chair opposite, setting the pile of papers in her lap. "I grew up addressing my elders as "sir", Mr. Summers. I doubt I'll ever be able to call you by your first name, but stranger things have happened." As the past few weeks had shown. She glanced out the window briefly, taking in the long sweep of the grounds, before turning back to Scott. "I was wondering what to do about Fall classes. We didn't have a carefully delineated school in Nova Roma, so I don't know what grade I'd be in, or the areas in which I'm lacking."

"You'd be surprised," he said, "at how many of our students do come in with some uncertainty as to where they'd be placed academically." He raised one hand, palm-up. "Mostly it's a matter of having missed school due to their manifestation, or circumstances surrounding it. But we're well-used to testing new students for placement purposes. We can do that within the next couple of days - I've already started to put some things together for you."

She grimaced at the mention of testing and curled herself up in the chair, bare toes peeking out from her skirt hem. "As long as the tests are not similar to the tests the doctor gave me when I first arrived. I do not appreciate being poked and prodded like a piece of cattle." Amara refused to add that the medical facilities had frightened her, and that if she had her way, she would not be returning to the infirmary. "Thank you for taking the time to see me. It still feels like a dream, being here."

"You'd also be surprised how often I've heard that. How you came here... it's unusual, Amara, but there have been other stories like yours. And the tests," Scott said as reassuringly as he could, "should be nothing at all like what the doctors gave you. Part of the point of them is to find out what courses you'd be happiest taking. Of course," he said, smiling again, "we can also come out and just ask you what you most enjoy when it comes to learning."

"It's comforting to know I'm not the only one with a story, but it's never quite enough. No matter how similar the story, it's still individual, and nothing can bridge that gap. But it's nice to know I'm not alone." She watched her toes as she spoke, wiggling them to make her hem move. She picked up her papers from where they had shifted and shuffled through them. "I wrote up as much as I could remember learning. Books I have read that are on the English and Literature syllabi. Mathematics concepts. Languages. I would love to learn other languages." She offered the papers to him. "If you think these will help."

"Of course. We might even be able to spare you some of the tests," Scott said almost playfully. "A number of our teachers live in residence, too. You could speak to some of them this week, the ones that teach the subjects you're interested in. I can give you a list of names, if you like..."

"That would be helpful, I think. I am still trying to learn my way around, and tracking down various teachers would be a good way to do it. And I would get to meet new people." She wrapped her arms around her legs and grinned back. "I even promise to not call them 'sir' or 'ma'am.'" It was good to see him being playful, she thought. He looked as though he had gone too long without laughter. "Does the school offer any extracurricular activities?"

"...sadly, not as many as we should. We have, uh, bad luck with field trips sometimes." He smiled again, almost despite himself. It wasn't funny, really. "We do however have a lot of very creative and talented staff members who might be open to helping facilitate some, if you have any ideas. Also," he added, remembering, "a lot of our teachers are open to independent studies. If you have something you want to pursue that's outside the scope of normal classes."

Amara chuckled. "I will avoid future field trips, then. I've had enough bad luck for several lifetimes. But I may take you up on the independent study option. Unless your classes range from cooking and sewing to machines." She smiled as a couple of sun rays trickled through the grey clouds. "Maybe we'll have a nice day yet. I've missed seeing the sun."

"We do have cooking classes," Scott said. "And I happen to teach shop..." Sunlight slanted in the window and Scott shifted instinctively in his chair towards it. Like a plant, part of him pointed out a bit mockingly. And really, it had to be a placebo effect, the way the ache faded just a little, even with that little bit of sun.

Amara noticed the tension leaving Scott's body when the sun appeared. She prayed to whoever might be listening to keep the sun shining bright and clear, not just for him, but for herself as well. Nothing was more soothing to her than sitting in the sun under a friendly tree. "All the machines I've seen here have been fascinating. I would love to learn how they work, how to take them apart, how to put them back together again. If you would be willing to teach, I would be willing to learn."

"I will definitely introduce you to the garage, then. Even if you wind up deciding you can't fit shop class into your schedule, we can arrange something for you to do in terms of an individual project," Scott said amiably. Rare combination, someone who was interested in that many different disciplines. She seemed like a bright young woman. "I find that fixing things is one of the most relaxing and enjoyable things I can do with my time. My first degree was in engineering."

"My father is very good with his hands. He's one of the main carpenters in Nova Roma, although he also works with metals. He built all of our furniture using wood he cut himself. My mother was the one who taught me to cook. She knew how to make plain dishes taste special." For once Amara's eyes stayed dry, although her smile was wistful. "For me, it is making things more than fixing them that is relaxing, but both would be useful. I think I take after my mother that way."

"Definitely need to introduce you to Lorna, too," Scott mused. "Cooking's her art, and I use that term sincerely."

"The kitchen is the heart of the house, or so my mother used to say. And the kitchen here is very large, so I guess that means that heart is large as well." Amara untucked herself from her chair and stretched out, enjoying the sunshine on her feet. The sun was well out from behind the clouds and beginning to warm the space in front of the window. "So could I take shop and cooking and languages and English literature and math all at the same time?"

Scott counted courses in his head. The sunlight was flooding more forcefully into the room - Ororo had perhaps noticed the clouds - and more of the tension was easing from his body. "Over the course of a year, you absolutely could. We'd just need to make sure we balance the courses well so that one term isn't heavier than another for you."

Oh, but Amara wanted to learn everything right now. "Of course. Balanced would be better than lopsided. Although it will be a struggle to keep myself on a set schedule. I may do some independent work on my own, just as a warning." This was a good place to nap, she thought. Quiet and warm and Scott was proving to be good company. Maybe she could come to call him by his first name after all.

"Grab a teacher as an official guide, if you do that, and you should be able to get credit towards your high school degree for it." Scott watched her for a long moment, wondering... was this a good time to broach the subject of powers training? Her manifestation had been traumatic, from what he'd read. And she seemed so at ease, right now...

Maybe he was a coward. But he wasn't ready to risk shattering that. She was coming from a very different place. They needed to ease her in gradually. "It'll take a little while to get all of this sorted out," he said. "Consider it part of the settling in process?"

"I think I can manage that. It's nice not to have to work every day, watching children and harvesting crops. I like this 'settling in' process." She grinned and leaned back into her chair, wondering about her next question. "Mr. Summers, since it's such a nice day out, would you mind taking me on a small tour of the immediate grounds? I haven't been outside much, and I would appreciate a guide. I will admit to having gotten lost before." And it looked like the sun would be good for him.

His smile was entirely sincere. "I'd love to," he said, pushing himself up out of the chair. "The grounds are large, and they can take a little getting used to. I give good tours."