xp_logs | Friday afternoon | Crystal and Sooraya

After her conversation with Haller, Sooraya stops by Crystal's room with an RSVP and an idea. The idea doesn't go over so well, and Sooraya learns that not even mutants are necessarily welcoming of other mutants' gifts.

Sooraya clutched the invitation in her hand as she made her way across the suite to one of the other bedrooms. A combination of nerves and excitement made her knees just a little wobbly - after all, this was the first invitation she had ever gotten to a real, live party. Angel had helped her fill out the card, but there was one more thing she had to ask the hostess before the party itself.

Upon hearing the knock on her door, Crystal looked up from the homework assignment she had been working on. She stood and hurried over to open the door. Perhaps someone was there to tell her good news about Jennie. "Oh, hello, Sooraya," Crystal greeted her new suitemate in a cheerful tone, making sure not to sound disappointed. It wasn't Sooraya's fault that Jennie was missing and the school didn't have any new information.

"Hello." Sooraya tried to smile, despite the fact that the other girl intimidated her quite a bit. She was very pleasant and polite, true, but daunting to face all the same. "I have this," she announced unnecessarily, holding out the small envelope that had come with the invitation. "For you."

"Thank you," Crystal replied with a smile. She couldn't see inside the envelope, but assumed Sooraya was coming. Surely she wouldn't have made an effort to actually return an envelope and card it person if she didn't plan on attending. "I am glad that you will be attending my party."

"Yes. Thank you for asking me." Sooraya, of course, had been incredibly puzzled when the invitation had first come. It had taken Angel quite some time to explain the intricacies of birthday parties to her, and then to assure her that Crystal wouldn't be offended if the Afghan girl was unable to provide her with a present. Really, it had only been her roommate's urgings that convinced her to come at all. "It is exciting, your birthday?"

"Exciting?" Crystal repeated, slightly puzzled. "I do not know that my party will be exciting. I hope that it will be fun. I want people to enjoy my party." In all actuality, Crystal thought it would be better for her party to be boring than exciting. Exciting probably mean that someone would explode, be set on fire, or eviscerated with one look.

"Oh, yes," Sooraya said with a nod. Terrifying, fun... it was all the same thing, really. "There is a thing... a flavor I must ask you?"

Crystal's eyes widened slightly. "A, ah, a...flavor? Oh, do you mean that there is a specific flavor you want added to your food? Maybe a special dessert?"

~What is she talking about? Oh, no, that's not what I meant at all...~ "No," Sooraya said, shaking her head, "not food... a... question. For the party. For making talking easier."

"A question? Oh..." Suddenly, Crystal realized what Sooraya had meant. "You want to ask a favor." Languages were silly things, weren't they? One little word, even one little letter, could make all the difference in the world. For someone who hadn't known English a few months ago, Sooraya was doing quite well. "You may ask," Crystal said encouragingly. "I am interested in hearing your idea." She was puzzled, though. What could be done to make talking easier at the party? Besides, Sooraya seemed to have a good grasp on communicating with others. Crystal herself still couldn't always understand what other people meant. People said things they didn't really mean. It was all so confusing!

Crystal's apparent interest in her idea made Sooraya feel a bit more comfortable, and she smiled, lacing her fingers together as she thought of how best to say it. "There is a man... here at the school. He talked to me and with his mind, it was easier. He can do it at the party, if you say yes."

"What?" Very few things could manage to get a visibly shocked reaction from Crystal; Sooraya's question proved to be one of them. "There are several men here at the school who can do that, Sooraya, but... do you actually know what it is you are asking?"

Blinking, Sooraya took a step back, visibly wilting. "I am sorry... I do not understand. I do not mean to make you upset."

"I am sorry, Sooraya, I did not mean to sound like that." Great. Now she was turning into Ms. Dane, practically lashing out at Sooraya. "Are you asking me for permission for one of the telepaths here to use telepathy on the people who attend my party?"

"If they say yes," Sooraya hurried to add, her knuckles now white as her fingers gripped each other tightly. This had been a bad idea, selfish and unthoughtful. She wished she had not thought to bring it up with the other girl. "I am sorry. I will not do this. It is not good, I see."

"It...it's not that simple." Crystal sighed, trying to come up with the proper explanation. "Not everyone likes the idea of telepathy, and yes you can ask them, but it can still make people uncomfortable. Most people do not like the idea that someone else can be in their head. Personally, I choose not to worry about possibilities." The memory of her conversation with Mr. Dayspring came flooding back. "I simply do not want someone else in my head uninvited. I have learned how to tell when someone is attempting to reach into my mind and how to keep my thoughts from leaving my head. I have been trained to be able to keep a...a shield around my thoughts, so that most telepaths cannot enter my mind uninvited. And, Sooraya, I have not made a habit of inviting telepaths to enter my head any more than I make it a usual occurrence for mutants with other types of powers to use their abilities against me."

Oh, no. As the full impact of what Crystal said hit her, Sooraya had to keep from turning and running away. Had she really proposed to let Mr. Haller do something so rude and invasive? True, at the time it had seemed natural and extremely helpful, but if most people felt that way about it... "I am sorry," she murmured again, embarrassed. "Please... I will not do it."

This was not going well. Sooraya was now the one who looked uncomfortable and embarrassed. Crystal had not meant for her words to have this effect on Sooraya. "No, I am the one who is sorry, " Crystal apologized, suddenly realizing that they were still just standing in the doorway. She had been rude and not invited the girl in, but now really wasn't the time to do that, was it? "It is just hard for me to remember that most people are not used to mutants and powers and everything related to them. Some people are fine when a little bit of power is used on them, others see any type of use of power that has an effect on them to be an attack. I do not want to scare anyone. I do not know even know which telepath you want to use to do this, or even if you have asked him about it, or if he is the one who suggested it to you?" The last thought was a bit frightening.

An attack? Sooraya was having a hard time reconciling what Mr. Haller had done to any sort of attack; it had simply made communication easier. Wouldn't the students at this school be used to such things anyway? Obviously not, if Crystal was any indication. "When we talked, he said he would help any time. It is my idea for the party... but it is a bad idea, I know. I am sorry." The apologies seemed to be spiraling out of control now, but Sooraya knew no other way to make her regret known. "I will not do it again."

The problem wasn't just the suggestion of the active use of telepathy; it was the suggestion of it being done at her party. To the people attending her party. To have her ask people to let someone else have access to their thoughts. "You can do it, Sooraya, and you are able to ask other people if they wish to have a telepath in their minds. However, I am truly sorry; I cannot be the one to ask this of them. I must point out, though, that I really think you are perfectly capable of communication on your own. You seem to be doing extremely well, and speaking and listening to people vocally will help."

Sooraya put on a brave face and nodded, though inside she was shaking. It just wasn't the same. She had been there for nearly two months, and the only people she could communicate fluently with were Nathan, and to some extent, Rahne and Angelo. The rest of the students, including her roommate, had to put up with her slow, halting speech and incorrect word choice. Just the idea of being able to speak with them easily had been so exciting that she had forgotten about politeness and other people's feelings. She would have to be much more careful in the future. "Thank you," she said to the compliment, her eyes on the ground in front of Crystal's feet. "I will try more."

Crystal felt horrible. She was the one with communication problems, not Sooraya. She had tried to explain in a good way, but instead had only succeeded in making things worse. Again. She was letting her feelings about Jennie's disappearance and the way the school hadn't noticed it affect her words and actions, wasn't she? Crystal sighed inwardly. It was true, then. She wasn't much better than Ms. Dane.

"Please, Sooraya, I did not mean to upset you. I am sorry if I scared you, I did not mean to do this. I was just very surprised, and I do not become surprised very often." Indeed, she was no longer so shocked by the ways of the school and the faculty. She didn't like them and didn't agree with them, but apparently, that was the way things were. Crystal had an idea for trying to make things better, but now was not the best time to bring it to the attention of those in charge of this crazy place.

Why was Crystal apologizing? Sooraya had been the one to commit the offense, not her. She didn't understand, though she did appreciate the other girl's attempts to explain herself. It was difficult to read people, especially those from another culture. "I did not want to surprise you," she said slowly, enunciating every word carefully, so that they were clear. "I did not know. If I did know, I would not say a thing like that."

Crystal knew that, which was one of the reasons she felt so awful about what she had just told Sooraya. Of course Sooraya wouldn't have known that not everyone was telepath-friendly, and that even those who were did not necessarily want a telepath to enter their heads. Plus, it was one thing to communicate one-on-one with a telepath and another thing entirely to suggest a massive psychic communication, which would appear to be what Sooraya had been suggesting. More than likely, some people would have agreed. What then, though, of those who did not, and would then feel left out while everyone else spoke in a mind-link? "I am sure of that, Sooraya," Crystal said in a friendly tone. "And I am sure that there are people who would be willing to do this. Just...not everyone." And not me. Still, though, this would appear to be an easy way out of a communications problem. Practice made perfect; this seemed to be some sort of avoidance.

"Yes... thank you." Sooraya glanced up for a moment, long enough to meet Crystal's eyes before looking down again. It seemed strange for Mr. Haller to suggest a thing like that when so many people at the school seemed to be against it. Perhaps he didn't know, or perhaps she had said the wrong thing once again. Either way, it seemed a bad idea for that to happen at the party, and she resigned herself to struggling once again to keep up with the other students. She stood there silently, waiting to be dismissed so that she could go back to her own room. It seemed like some old habits were resurfacing.

Crystal looked down at the floor. Sooraya seemed so interested in it, perhaps there was a stain or a bug or something there? No, nothing but the floor and the little rug that Crystal had put there a month ago. She quickly glanced at the envelope in her hands. She had never meant for her party to be the cause of an altercation. Crystal looked back at Sooraya, just...standing there. What was she supposed to do now? After this conversation, she wouldn't be surprised if Sooraya never wanted to have anything to do with her again. Still, Crystal said the only thing that seemed polite. "Would you like come inside, Sooraya? Perhaps have something to eat? Have you ever tried Power Bars?"

To Sooraya's surprise, the words coming out of Crystal's mouth seemed to be an invitation, not a dismissal. She wasn't sure what to make of it, but relief flooded through her anyway at the thought that maybe the other girl wasn't fed up with her. "I do not know powerbars. If there is no meat, I may try one..." She glanced up once more, hesitantly, a look of hopefulness on her face once more. "Thank you."

Crystal smiled, stepping aside so Sooraya could enter. "No, they are meat free. They have grains, nuts, and fruit, but no meat." A Power Bar with meat sounded funny, although she was sure some people would eat one with meat mixed in. She hoped Sooraya would like them. They had saved her during her summer avoidance of all-things Lorna; sometimes take-out wasn't a good option, especially when said green-haired woman was around to intercept your dinner.