xp_logs | Scott and Janet - Feel the Sting

Scott and Jan engage in powers training without the use of powers.

"So, let's go over this again," Scott said amiably. They were outside, sitting by the lake - it was too nice a day to be inside, and really, this was one of those training sessions that was more talking than anything else. "Describe for me how it feels when you 'sting' someone."

"Well, I haven't really done that much stinging," Jan began. "Flying around and stinging people for no reason at all isn't very nice and, uh, who would want to do that? I mean, I zapped a lot of people when I was small and lost, and I have zapped people when I was big but not so much and ok, hmm... what is it like... um, well, it happens when I touch people. Before, really, sometimes, I guess... my hands start feeling kind of weird. Kind of a tickle, but warm, a little bit of pressure, and then zap! It's quick, though, and I can make it happen by thinking about it but I'm not so good on the not letting it happen part."

Scott nodded. "When you do try and make it happen - what do you do?" The key to control over energy-based powers was often some tiny thing buried in the mental reaction that preceded using them. There was rarely a 'eureka!' moment, of course, but these conversations were always revealing.

"I just think zap, that I want to zap. When I was stuck being tiny outside and no one could hear me, I got all upset and frustrated," Jan explained. "I was mad because no one could hear me and I was just being ignored and I was probably going to end up squished or flat or just dead somehow, so I zapped the people who were trying to swat me. I zapped Julio a lot because he grabbed me out of the air and I wanted him to let me go, so he got a bunch of repeated zaps. That is just scary being trapped in someone's hands and not knowing if you're about to get squashed like a bug."

"Would you say you've done it more often unintentionally when you were upset or frustrated?" She was being awfully patient, taking each of these rather painstaking questions and giving them serious answers. He only wished that more of his students were this good about the parts of their learning process that didn't involve blowing stuff up.

Jan held up a gloved hand. "I haven't zapped anyone without meaning to for a while. This kind of prevents that, you know? It's not just people I stung, it's just people notice the shock and things like desks and papers don't. I guess it's kind of being scared, too, not like sudden shock scared as in 'Oh shit there's a bear right in front of me and what if it wants to bite my head off?'' but I think I was always a bit afraid at school. Upset, too, yeah, because it's no fun to walk around being scared of what might happen if someone found out I was a mutant."

Scott tilted his head at her. "Would you maybe be interested in an experiment?" he asked. "Your stings don't really hurt people, so it's relatively safe to do this. But I'm wondering how often you might zap people or things accidentally these days, while you're here. What about leaving the gloves off while you're at the school?"

"Leave them off?" Jan's eyes widened. "I mean, yeah, it doesn't really hurt a lot unless it's a lot of zaps all together, but I'll bet if you took a survey ten out of ten people would rather not be accidentally zapped by me. What if I do shock someone? What if they think I'm doing it on purpose?"

"Make a post," Scott soothed. "Tell people you're leaving your gloves off at my request, to see how your powers react to everyday stimuli in a place where you're not being afraid of being found out as a mutant."

"Yeah, but I'll be scared of zapping people!" Jan wasn't convinced this was such a good idea. "I'll be walking around, making sure I don't touch anyone, so I'll still be scared, and then I won't touch anyone anyway because what if I zap them?"

He didn't tell her that he wanted those gloves off because he suspected they were getting in the way of her learning conscious control. "Give it three days," he said firmly. "Three full days here. If it gets too hard, or you're too anxious, we can call it a failed experiment."

Jan nodded. "Ok. It's the last week of school anyway, and then I can spend more time here, full days, too."

"And I'll want to see you at the end of each of those days, to see how it's going," Scott went on amiably. "I know this seems like a lot of talking and not a lot of doing, but the more you understand your own reactions when it comes to your powers, the easier it'll be to gain proper control."

"Changing size, too! I definitely need control over that!"

Scott laughed, but kindly. "Well, there's a reason you work on just the stings with me. The size-changing... that's more of a Charles or Moira sort of thing."

"I stll need control over it, no matter who works with me!" Jan pointed out cheerfully. "Getting stuck small isn't dangerous for anyone except me, but it's still something I need to work on when I'm not afraid. I have the whole summer to work on stinging and not stinging, shrinking and not shrinking, and I can fly around a lot, too!"

Scott smiled at her. "You'll be amazed at how much progress you can make in a summer," he said firmly.