xp_logs | Haller & Kevin | Monday Afternoon (Reply)

Haller enacts his "revenge" for everyone checking up on him by checking up on Kevin, who apparently has a secret cape fetish.

The metal shop wasn't one of Jim's normal stops. Though not inept, he wasn't very technical-minded, and in terms of creative expression he preferred his art in two dimensions. Sculpture was sometimes soothing, but the one more inclined to this area was Davey, and everyone in his head was devoted to keeping the youngest alter away from power tools. "Guaranteed disaster" was probably an unfair assumption, but no one was really willing to take the chance.

Still, the metal shop was undeniably an interesting place. And -- which he suspected to be more important for the person he was looking for -- usually empty.

Kevin spent most of his day in the metal shop on a daily basis. Any time when he wasn't forced to sit in Samson's office while the man tried to force Kevin into speaking and any time not spent begrudgingly in powers training was spent with metal. It was empty, quiet unless he had music on, and most importantly it was safe. Other people never came in which was the basis of the place's safety. If no one ever came in that meant he never ran the risk of people getting too close. It was the one place he could be himself, relax and turn off that constant fear that paid attention to where everyone was in relation to himself at all times.

Metal was soothing. It was hard, smooth and unaltered by Kevin's touch. Ever since manifestation it was the one thing that grounded him even when he freaked out. It was one of the few things that hadn't changed when he had. As it was Kevin was welding two small pieces of metal together. He wasn't really sure what it was going to be yet, but he was pretty sure it would find its home with Yvette. She'd been on his mind a lot since they'd run into each other the other day and Kevin thought she needed something. What, he wasn't sure. Just something to remind her she was thought of, really.

Theatre of Tragedy played softly, the music washing over any noise Kevin was making. The sound of the door, however, was distinct and what he was doing stopped immediately so Kevin's eyes could move to see who had come in. "'Ey, Haller. Wha's up?" Thoughts immediately went to his own bare skin that was exposed with the new presence. Working tended to get hot in the shop and Kevin regularly only wore a tank when he worked. It was more comfortable that way but the skin of his shoulders and arms prickled uncomfortably with someone else in the same room, even if Haller wasn't particularly close in proximity yet.

"Nothing much." Jim let the heavy shop door close behind him, having deemed it better to wait until Kevin was no longer obviously involved with heated metal to speak. He looked around the place and gave Kevin a half-smile. "Got tired of people checking up on me after the most recent spell of Psi Crazy. Now I'm randomly walking in on other people. It's part of this whole revenge-scenario I've been formulating."

"Tha' Betsy chick tried tha sword technique o' teachin' again?" Thank God for small miracles. Kevin didn't think he'd have handled being at sword point well. Especially when a crazed telepath who could kick his ass was holding said sword. "Y'didn' try sword intimidation too, did ya?" Now that was kind of a funny mental image, actually. "How'd Ah end up part o' yer revenge?" Kevin gave Haller an expression that was half-amused and half-confused, but all for show.

That brought a wry smile from the telepath. "I don't do swords. And Betsy doesn't threaten me. . . . much." She's never going to live that down, is she? Jim chuckled and rubbed the back of his head. "My revenge is randomized, although if we need a reason I can ask how power training's going. I heard you were trying to get something a little more formalized after what happened in Canada."

"Much? Soun's dangerous." Wasn't Haller dating the sword chick? That couldn't have been easy if she was pointing swords at him. Kevin was suddenly very grateful for Jay's more kitteny personality. Mention of powers training, however, made Kevin pull a face like something sour had invaded his mouth suddenly. "Someone's been lyin' ta ya. Ah ain't try fer anythin'. Ah've been avoidin' trainin', but after usin' mah powers an' blackin' out fer a while Ah was forced inta it when we got back. An' it sucks, jus' so y'know."

"How do you mean?" Jim took a seat on a bench, still a respectable distance away from the boy. He brushed a few coils of metal shavings from the tabletop so he could prop an elbow on it. "Not that I had a lot of fun learning to use telepathy, but not a lot is at first."

Kevin leaned back against the table, hands rubbing at his eyes. "It's jus' so...poin'less. Ah mean, they don' even know wha'ta do wi' me an' it's obvious. Ah can touch somethin' an' then stop touchin' it. Ah can't jus' not decompose stuff, which is wha' they seem ta wanna get done. Ain't gonna happen, though. Ah jus'...Ah dunno." He shrugged and sighed heavily, looking more than just a little defeated by the mere idea. "Ah was kinda okay wi' tha idea of sort of conditionin', y'know? Jus' so if Ah got dragged inta playin' hero Ah didn't black out afterwards. But they keep insistin' on tha sorta control that's not even possible. It don't get turned off. It just doesn't an' Muir already tol' me tha' much."

"Have they tried concentrating on controlling the degree rather than flat-out negation?" Jim asked, arching an eyebrow. He wondered if there had been a missed communication about the limits of Kevin's powers, or if Kevin had misconstrued something -- well, he could figure that out later. The telepath leaned forward, elbows resting on his knees and fingers laced. "You may not be able to turn it off, but do you think you could slow it down to the point that you could reduce the potential damage? I mean, Yvette's still naturally sharp, but she's learned to back it down with practice."

After a few moments of silence while Kevin thought he began to shake his head. "Not really. Ah mean, there might've been passin' mention, bu' not a whole lot else. It's jus' frustratin', an' Ah don't think jus' fer me, either. Ah mean, really, how would you go abou' tryin' ta train someone when it's jus' touchin' things?" A shrug followed. Could he slow it down? He wasn't sure. He hadn't ever really tried. "Ah don' exactly use mah powers if Ah've gotta choice, y'know. Sometimes they work faster, though. Ah've noticed, in trainin', tha more annoyed Ah am wi' 'em tha faster it goes. They haven't noticed yet, though. So, erm, maybe?"

"Well, first of all, you should probably articulate stuff like that," Jim said, although it was less a chide and more a statement of fact. "Back when I was learning to use telepathy I actually spent a while thinking I was doing it wrong because nothing the professor was telling me applied. Eventually it turned out my power was just warped and it actually didn't apply. Also, I'd like to point out a lot of my training involved sitting around and thinking very hard. Not everything can be as exciting as making explosions." He sat back, drumming his fingers on his knee. "I don't know. Would you be interested in experimenting with degrees?"

A dark look crossed Kevin's face when he was told he should articulate stuff like that. He had. Okay, maybe not in the most effective manner possible, but he had in his Kevin way. Of course, Kevin wasn't one for over sharing, or sharing at all, so that made things difficult as well. "Ah'd be okay with sittin' 'round thinkin' real hard over standin' 'round tryin' not to decompose stuff. 'Sides, it's real easy. If Ah don' wan' things ta decompose Ah jus' don' touch 'em." Held tilting to the side, Kevin's brows furrowed in slight confusion. "Whaddya mean, degrees?"

"Trying to see if you can slow down the rate of decomp. Not touching things is okay under normal circumstances, but you could end up in a situation where you don't get a choice. Since you don't spend a lot of your time punching things I don't think you need to be as worried about it as Ms. D'ancato's, but it could be something to worry about if your clothes get torn and somebody gets thrown against you." Jim spread his hands. "If you can figure out how to control it, maybe you could restrict the area you affect. It might be a good thing to know if you ever get stuck in a worst-case scenario."

Kevin thought about it, genuinely considered it. He was more inclined to take a suggestion from Haller than he was from anyone else who had been talking at him about anything related to his powers. Maybe that was stupid, immature or unfair, but Kevin liked Haller more than the others and unlike the others he'd never asked anything of Kevin that he wasn't willing and able to give. That counted for a lot with the teenager. On top of that, he had a point. It'd be useful to slow or restrict where the decomposition happened in case another Chakra ever happened to him. "So if you were me, how'd you go 'bout tryin' that?"

Jim gave this some thought. "Well, I'd try going through a few different substances. Probably start with wood. It'd give you some mass to work with, and I don't think Mr. Marko's going to object." He glanced at the half-formed project on Kevin's worktable. "You're used to working in three dimensions, right? Maybe you can see what kind of effects you can get out of it. If you can get whatever field you have tight enough, maybe you can get some kind of etching effect."

"Hmm...wood's dense, too. It takes more time fer me ta get through anyway. Somethin' too thin would be harder ta learn control wi'. Etchin' though," he wrinkled his nose. "Tha's really shallow. Ah'm not sure Ah could manage tha'. Y'think if Ah asked Mr. Marko Ah could get like logs ta work with? Kinda like sculpture, maybe. Y'know, but instead o' chiselin' marble er takin' blade ta wood Ah could try ta, well, sculpt. Sorta. Y'think it's possible?" It figured, suggest something artistic and Kevin was all for it. Ask him to control his powers for any other reason and he just told you how impossible what you asked was.

Jim smiled. "It's worth finding out, right? There's a way to fine-tune most mutations, or at least get enough of a grip on the parameters that you can figure out ways to work around the stuff you can't change. Experiment. We'll provide materials. It's in the mission statement and everything."

"Tha's a bad mission statemen' if ya put tha' in it." Kevin was, however, smiling a little. It faltered slightly when he said, "Realistically, though...Ah migh' not be able ta be 'fine tuned.' Might jus' be what Ah am."

The older man nodded. "Maybe. It does happen. But at the very least looking for a possibility will get you a temporary reprieve from the frustration of something that absolutely won't work. There's worse ways to pass the time than trying to kick your power into working for you for once."

"Like mass genocide?" The question was asked with a hopeful lilt to it, but Kevin's half-smirk conveyed the sarcasm for him. "Yeah, yer righ', but don't go 'round tellin' anyone Ah said that. Migh' get funny ideas abou' me comin' 'round ta this whole trainin' thing. It'd ruin mah rep." Because his rep as overly obstinate and ornery was so something Keven had to hold onto, right?

"I'll make sure to suggest it as an alternative. It's okay, you can still pretend it's a pain in the ass. I won't tell." Jim pointed a finger at him. "However, as school counselor, I have to advise against the mass genocide. It's a full time job, offers no health care, and from what I've seen there's a pretty good chance the cape's mandatory."

Kevin stared. He blinked. Then he burst out laughing. "Ah dunno, Ah'm not a student. Don' think Ah gotta listen ta this anti-cape rhetoric. Ah could 'ave a secret cape fetish, y'know." He was still laughing, because now Kevin was picturing himself in neck to toe lycra with a bright red and yellow cape flapping in the wind behind him. Yeah, because dating Jay didn't make him gay enough he had to dress like a pro wrestler? Calming his laughter, and rather unsuccessfully, Kevin asked, "Y'think they'd let me do tha' instead o' their really lame attempts, then?"

"Sure. With all the variation there's not exactly a standardized way of teaching powers. Besides, 'hey, this isn't working for me' is always a valid point to raise." Jim gave Kevin another quirked smile and got to his feet. "And if you feel like exercising your right to accessorize, I'm sure Ms. Munroe can lend you something suitably flowing."

With a dead serious expression on his face, Kevin frowned. "Ah don' think Ah've got tha hips ta really pull off a cape, though." Great, now that mental image had shifted into a floral lycra ensemble. 'Parently ya can get gayer, after all.