xp_logs | Sooraya and Haller | Friday afternoon

Another visitor stops by Sooraya's room on Friday afternoon. Haller is able to creatively use his powers to facilitate their communication, and he brings by a gift for her that hits close to home.

It occurred to Jim that this was a slightly odd thing to be doing after he'd gone through the trouble of announcing he was no longer acting as student counselor. It's not the same, though, Jim thought as he drew up to the door. It wasn't something he'd been asked or expected to do -- just courtesy. She was a new student, and one in a foreign country at that. The inevitable culture-shock wasn't one Jim had ever experienced personally, but he had enough in his background to give him a reasonable idea. He doubted simply checking in would hurt.

The telepath shifted his bundle into the other hand and reached out to knock.

Sooraya woke immediately at the sound of the knock at the door - though she had been adjusting well, there were still times she felt sleepy despite the brightly-shining sun outside. She must've dozed off while listening to the tapes that Nathan had left for her; a look at the cassette player showed that it had indeed reached the end and was now waiting to be turned over. Hitting the button with the square that stopped the machine, Sooraya stood up and adjusted her headscarf before approaching the door.

She blinked in surprise at the tall man standing before her... he was definitely tall, though not so broad and intimidating-looking as Nathan. "Hello?" she ventured, her tone slightly nervous despite her best efforts to the contrary. At least she had gotten greetings down pat.

"Hello," Jim smiled, making only brief eye contact with her. "I'm David Haller. I'm the student counselor here at Xavier's. You're Sooraya Qadir, aren't you?"

All right, that had been a bit fast. And confusing. She smiled gamely, recognizing some of the words in among the others. "I am Sooraya," she replied with a nod. "How are you?" And there was the extent of her remembered chitchat.

"I'm all right, thank you." Her response was fairly natural, but Jim could perceive the faint look of concentration that indicated the other party was replaying the last few comments to themselves trying to sort out meaning. That Jim had been expecting -- unlike most of the new arrivals, Sooraya had only begun to learn English in the last two months.

Normally Jim had serious reservations about touching a mind unsolicited, but he didn't think he had the creativity to phrase what he wanted to ask -- and it had to be horribly isolating to have next to no one you could understand, let alone hold a conversation with. What he intended wasn't quite as intimate as thought-to-thought, anyway. Jim took the chance and stretched out carefully, establishing the lightest possible contact.

"Speaking through a second language is hard, isn't it?" Jim said, mouth quirking wryly. "Practice is good, particularly total-immersion, but it can be stressful if you have to spend all your time thinking about everything that's said. Is this a little better?"

Sooraya's eyes widened - suddenly she could understand everything he was saying. She wasn't sure exactly what had changed, but the meaning of his words was clear and comprehensible. "Yes, much," she said with a nod. "I'm sorry, I have been practicing as much as I can, but I think it will be ages before I know enough."

Jim smiled at her. He didn't know whether her reply was in Dari or Pashto, but he was slightly surprised to discover he could make a little sense of it, even without the benefit of telepathy. Some of the linguistic characteristics seemed familiar. Not enough to let them carry on a conversation, but enough to nag at him. The familiarity was oddly reassuring.

"Even with total-immersion it's going to be a little while, unfortunately. But the more you use it the easier it'll get, especially if you grew up speaking more than one. Or so everyone says, anyway." Jim raised his free hand to touch his temple. "I'm not actually too good with languages myself, but I can cheat. I'm a telepath, like Professor Xavier. Mr. Dayspring, too. What I'm doing right now is connecting our thoughts just enough that we can understand each other." He met her eyes again briefly, just long enough to establish her reaction. "Is that all right? I try to ask first because some people don't like telepathy. The language barrier makes it a little complicated, though. If it feels uncomfortable just let me know."

"No," Sooraya said, shaking her head as she looked slightly to one side and below the newcomer's face. "I don't mind." It was a bit strange, perhaps, but it didn't seem harmful or wrong, just new. And what experience wasn't strange and new now? She had to face them bravely if she was to make the best of this new turn of events.

"How do you do it?" she asked then, her eyes flicking to his. "Connecting our thoughts?"

"Basically, I make a bridge between us." Jim shifted the bag he carried to the crook of his arm and raised his hands, fingers interlocked. "Normally any telepathy you notice will feel deeper, more obvious. Someone else's thoughts come directly into yours without the need for spoken words. This" he drew his fingers apart until only the tips of the two middle ones touched, "is a little less intense. When you speak you have to line up the thoughts first. What I'm doing now is connecting us just enough to read what's at the top of each other's minds. This way you can hear the words and understand the intent at the same time." He smiled a little. "Like I said, cheating."

"I see." This was an interesting ability - he had said Nathan possessed it, but Sooraya didn't think that was how she and Nathan talked. They used words, like normal people, but that might've been because Nathan's powers were... broken, he had said? That was strange. Did he miss being able to do this, Sooraya wondered. "It must be very helpful," she ventured, wishing she had the ability to communicate with everyone like this. "I have a... strange ability as well, but it is not so useful."

"I don't know, you'd be surprised at what you can find a use for. What do you do? If I can ask, that is." Jim hoped he wasn't being too personal, but Nathan's announcement hadn't mentioned her power. He was probably being needlessly paranoid; she'd seemed a little uncomfortable at first, but Sooraya was doing better than he'd expected of someone of her culture dropped into such a different situation so abruptly -- even to the point of interacting with a strange male unescorted. Jim was impressed.

At this Sooraya hesitated, though it was more to gather her thoughts than out of any real discomfort about the subject. She had been meeting with Moira, Nathan's wife, to learn about her power and though the sessions were going well, it was still a bit odd to think of it as something she could control or make use of.

"I... turn to sand," she said at last, her mouth quirking at the strangeness of the phrase. "Into a pile of sand. I think I am supposed to be able to do more, but I haven't learned how to yet."

Jim raised an eyebrow. "That's interesting," he said, meaning it. It wasn't a power he'd ever encountered before. The infinite variety of nature, as Charles would call it. "I can't say for sure, but in my experience the initial manifestation can be a little misleading. Flexibility comes with a certain degree of control. Do you know how to trigger the change at will at all, or does it just happen?"

"I cannot control it... it just happens." Sooraya realized then that he was still standing in the doorway, with her in front of him. But despite her apparent comfort with strangers, she couldn't quite bring herself to invite him in. Nathan was one thing, and Marie, but a strange man... she hoped he understood. "The doctor says that if I practice, it'll become easier and I will be able to change only when I want to. I hope she is right. It is very embarrassing not to be able to choose when it happens."

"Most people can't at first," Jim nodded. "It's the same with other powers. Emotions especially can set it off -- being nervous or angry, things like that. Powers class should help a lot, but if you know Rahne Sinclair you might want to talk to her about it. Also Paige Guthrie. She's a shapechanger, too, and she works on the powers aspect with Dr. MacTaggart. You might have some things in common when it comes to controlling when you change." He rubbed his hands together a moment, considering. "If you set up a specific time you could probably get Professor Xavier to do what I'm doing now until you feel more comfortable with English. Or I could, if you like. I'm not too busy right now, and I don't even need to be in the same room for something like that." Jim had never tried that kind of remote link before, but the theory was the same as the psionic switchboard he'd used with the team. It didn't seem like it would be too difficult.

Sooraya brightened, immediately thinking how much easier it would be to meet and communicate with the other students if she had a link like the one they were using now. "Thank you," she said gratefully, nodding a bit. "That is very kind of you to offer. I want to learn to speak English much better, but since it's taking so long..." She smiled ruefully. "It is nice to know there is this, just in case."

The telepath smiled at her enthusiasm. "Just let me know when and with whom so I can set it up. Like I said, some people aren't comfortable with telepathy, but there are ways around that. It's not really a substitute for being fluent, but it'll be a nice break once in a while."

Yeah, so, isn't there this part where you don't actually work here anymore? That was from Cyndi, but it wasn't a real complaint; Cyndi was like that about everything. He was so tired of having nothing but his own thoughts for company, staying locked in his own head and of no use to anyone. He still had the power and the training, so why not use it? It'll give us something to do. It's not like we can just sit around and be crazy all the time, right?

"Oh, I almost forgot," Jim said suddenly, moving shift the plastic bag he'd brought with him from the crook of his left arm to his right hand before offering it to Sooraya. "I was out getting some things for myself today, so I just picked this up, too. It was in the same store."

The bag rustled as Sooraya peered in; a moment later she looked up, a bright smile on her face. "Thank you," she said, holding the bag against her chest. It wasn't just the gesture or the gift - though of course that meant quite a bit. It was the fact that the naan inside the bag smelled like home... as close to home as a nomadic caravan ever was. It smelled like late nights by the fire, the musty, familiar scent of the tents, the dust and dirt of the road. It reminded her of her aunts and cousins and friends, and most of all, it reminded her of her mother.

"Thank you," she said again, this time with the slight glint of tears shining in her eyes. "That is very kind of you. If there is anything I can do in return, I would like that."

She's brave. "Don't worry about it. We would be very bad hosts if we didn't provide food under our own roof. And don't worry about asking if you need to borrow my power for a little while, either. It's my job." The man's answering smile was wide, eyes once again settling on hers for just a moment. "And using it is good practice for me, too."

He remembered what it was like to leave . . . everything. Anything he could do to make the experience easier for someone else was repayment in itself.

"Practice makes perfect," Sooraya replied, her tone slightly wry, as if she had heard this adage a few too many times in the past few months. She shook her head, still clutching the bag close to her. "This is a good place to be to learn."

"True things," Jim smiled.