xp_logs | Cain and Crystal

Crystal and Cain play golf and talk about Cain's 'manifestation'. Really.

Cain shifted his shoulders, then brought the driver down in a smooth arc, whacking the dimpled white ball off the tee and watching as it sailed over the quarry into the distance. "The trick," he said with a nod, "was figurin' out how not to hit 'em too hard. You don't wanna know how many clubs I went through that way. Ain't like swingin' a telephone pole around, you know. Takes finesse."

"A large number of small breakable objects become unusable in my attempts to learn how to move them with wind," Crystal said, tracking the flight of the ball. "Too little wind and the object will not move; too much wind and the object ends up in the garbage." A few moments later, she swung her club at another ball, once again keeping note of its progress through the air.

Cain thought about that and nodded. "Suppose it's all finesse when you're doing that. Gotta admit, it's always seemed a little... I don't know, strange to me." He looked over at Crystal and shrugged apologetically as he placed another ball on the tee, taking his stance. "I mean, sure, I can shrug off howitzer shells and bench-press a bus. But I see folks like Nate and Jean just move things with their brain and man, that is weird."

Another smooth swing sent the golf ball in a high arc, curving slightly to the left as it sailed towards the horizon. Cain frowned as he shaded his eyes to watch it. "...about a mile and a half on that one, I think."

"Hopefully, there is no one standing a mile and a half away," Crystal said, looking in the direction of the vanished ball before turning to look at Cain. "After all that you must have seen and heard, you still find it odd that people can move things with their minds?"

"Nah, county land," Cain commented before shrugging his massive shoulders. "Gotta remember, when I was your age, the whole mutant thing? Science fiction. A Flash Gordon 'to the moon' kind of thing. Then I go do the coma thing, wake up, and it's a totally new world. Jets in the basement, folks shooting lasers outta their eyes, turning into cats, bats, rats, whatever. Yeah, I still think it's odd."

Crystal nodded, looking away for a moment to send another ball into the quarry. "When did you first manifest your abilities?" she asked, wondering if Cain had had his powers before he went into the coma or afterwards. Manifesting after the age of twenty wasn't very common, after all.

Cain coughed into his hand awkwardly. How to explain this one without...?

"I, uh... it was back in about... sixty-four? Yeah," he nodded to himself. "Before the whole war really escalated, I figure. Suppose it was what you'd call pretty traumatic. Lot of pain, then everything went black." That's not technically a lie, he told himself. "Woke up in a basement of a hospital about thirty years later, and spent a while just walking around kinda aimless. Y'know how you feel when you just wake up, half-asleep? Was kind of like that until the big global headache thing a few years back."

Crystal nodded, puzzled by the way Cain has answered, but keeping this to herself. Whether or not they considered their powers to be positive or negative, mutants tended to remember exactly when they had manifested for the first time, or at least they first time they had realized it. "It is your turn, I believe."

Another powerful swing, this time the ball made it about a hundred yards off the tee before disintegrating into a fine powder in the air. Grumbling under his breath, Cain stepped back and took a few halfhearted practice swings with the driver. "Sorry," he mumbled. "It's a bit of a sore spot. The war and all."

Crystal nodded again. "I understand. I do not wish to make you feel uncomfortable, and I apologize. I did not know."

Cain waved a hand dismissively at Crystal. "Ain't any reason you'd've known. No harm meant, no harm done."

A quick swing sent another red-striped ball out towards the horizon. "At least two miles on that one, hah!"

"Do you know how far you can hit the ball?" Crystal wondered.

Cain shrugged. "Maybe I oughta get your boyfriend to put one of them little radio thingies in one. See if I can't break some records, official-like."

"I am fairly certain that such a throw would break numerous records," Crystal replied. A few balls floated out in front of her, spinning slowly in the air.

"No doubt," Cain said, watching Crystal with a smile. "Of course, nothing wrong with just a little friendly competition, right?"

"What do you have in mind?" Crystal asked, the balls picking up a bit of speed.

Cain smiled and placed another ball on the tee. "Can't really stake beers on it, but braggin' rights are fun. Wanna see who can clear the county line?"

"You're on."