Inez & Tabitha: The Gym and New Mutants
Aug. 12th, 2009 02:00 pm![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
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xp_logsTabitha grabs the opportunity to talk to Inez about the New Mutants.
Seeing the blonde student walk through the door nearly made Tabitha's day. It was an opportunity not to miss. "Inez! Do you have a few minutes to talk? I'll be happy to gab while you're working out if you'd rather."
Inez did a short double-take at the librarian greeting her so happily, then nodded and walked over to one of the complicated-looking weight machines. "Tabitha, right?" she asked. "I don't get to the library much, but anyway - what's up?"
"I know the professor had a program with you students over the last school year. Mr. Kane and Mr. Marko were in charge?" She sat uncomfortably on the machine next to Inez. "Are you still involved in it?"
Inez reached for the bar above her, pulling it smoothly down as a six-hundred pound plate lifted in the air with each motion. "The New Mutants? Yeah, of course. A lot of it's just little team-building exercises here and there, but of course I'm still with it. I mean, I'm like, the oldest of us students if you don't count Catseye, so I figure I ought to be taking charge and setting an example, yo."
She kept up her exercise as she thought about the program. "Why do you ask?"
"One of the other students wasn't sure she wanted to stay in the program. I was just curious about what you've been up to lately." She shrugged, trying to appear casual. "Is there anything in particular you want out of the group, would you change anything?"
Inez bit back the instinct to say "Noriko", but paused as she pondered Tabitha's question. "I think we don't really do enough," she said after a while. "I mean, back in Manhattan when all that shit was going down? We were stranded there and we cooperated. Even Noriko who... well, she and I can't stand each other, frankly. But when shit hit the fan... I knew she'd pull her weight. There wasn't any question. There's some of the other kids that I know I can trust in a pinch, but the others... it's like they don't care, or they're only here because there's nowhere else to go and they don't give a crap about anything other than themselves. I just want them... us... to have something we can believe in, yo."
Tabitha listened intently. "Do you have any ideas for achieving that goal? Anything in particular you'd like to do?" It was supposed to be a student-led program, she thought.
"I..." Was she actually being asked for her thoughts on the future of the New Mutants? It was a weird experience for Inez, someone actually treating her like an adult instead of a naive and headstrong kid. "I think we'd work better together if we had a goal, you know? Like... you X-Men want to make the world safe, and the folks at Elpis have like, a mission statement or something. Red X is about humanitarian stuff. The New Mutants... we're just kind of here."
The librarian leaned back, eyes still locked to the younger woman. "So what should it be? What do you think would really motivate your fellow students?"
Inez returned the weight bar to its starting position and sat up, toweling a thin sheen of sweat from her forehead. "I dunno. I guess... knowing that why we train is important. I mean, as more than 'what if you get attacked by some supervillain?' important. Something where some of them can see that what we can do doesn't have to be weird or bad or something we have to hide."
She counted off on her fingers as she continued. "Tatiana was either afraid of her powers or embarassed about them. Julian might not show it, but he totally freaks out about control issues. Doreen got picked on for being how she is, and it's obvious that Yvette's mutation causes a lot of drama for her. So I think... I dunno." She shrugged noncommitally. "Something to show them that they can be awesome and not just a burden."
Tabitha grinned at Inez. "You're one insightful young lady, you know that?" She stood and stretched out the kinks from holding still after her work out. "Thanks for letting me bother you, I'll let you get back to your weights."
"Hey, anytime. And if you need a spotter," Inez added, reaching up and pulling the six-hundred-pound bar with one arm, smiling. "Gimme a holler."
Seeing the blonde student walk through the door nearly made Tabitha's day. It was an opportunity not to miss. "Inez! Do you have a few minutes to talk? I'll be happy to gab while you're working out if you'd rather."
Inez did a short double-take at the librarian greeting her so happily, then nodded and walked over to one of the complicated-looking weight machines. "Tabitha, right?" she asked. "I don't get to the library much, but anyway - what's up?"
"I know the professor had a program with you students over the last school year. Mr. Kane and Mr. Marko were in charge?" She sat uncomfortably on the machine next to Inez. "Are you still involved in it?"
Inez reached for the bar above her, pulling it smoothly down as a six-hundred pound plate lifted in the air with each motion. "The New Mutants? Yeah, of course. A lot of it's just little team-building exercises here and there, but of course I'm still with it. I mean, I'm like, the oldest of us students if you don't count Catseye, so I figure I ought to be taking charge and setting an example, yo."
She kept up her exercise as she thought about the program. "Why do you ask?"
"One of the other students wasn't sure she wanted to stay in the program. I was just curious about what you've been up to lately." She shrugged, trying to appear casual. "Is there anything in particular you want out of the group, would you change anything?"
Inez bit back the instinct to say "Noriko", but paused as she pondered Tabitha's question. "I think we don't really do enough," she said after a while. "I mean, back in Manhattan when all that shit was going down? We were stranded there and we cooperated. Even Noriko who... well, she and I can't stand each other, frankly. But when shit hit the fan... I knew she'd pull her weight. There wasn't any question. There's some of the other kids that I know I can trust in a pinch, but the others... it's like they don't care, or they're only here because there's nowhere else to go and they don't give a crap about anything other than themselves. I just want them... us... to have something we can believe in, yo."
Tabitha listened intently. "Do you have any ideas for achieving that goal? Anything in particular you'd like to do?" It was supposed to be a student-led program, she thought.
"I..." Was she actually being asked for her thoughts on the future of the New Mutants? It was a weird experience for Inez, someone actually treating her like an adult instead of a naive and headstrong kid. "I think we'd work better together if we had a goal, you know? Like... you X-Men want to make the world safe, and the folks at Elpis have like, a mission statement or something. Red X is about humanitarian stuff. The New Mutants... we're just kind of here."
The librarian leaned back, eyes still locked to the younger woman. "So what should it be? What do you think would really motivate your fellow students?"
Inez returned the weight bar to its starting position and sat up, toweling a thin sheen of sweat from her forehead. "I dunno. I guess... knowing that why we train is important. I mean, as more than 'what if you get attacked by some supervillain?' important. Something where some of them can see that what we can do doesn't have to be weird or bad or something we have to hide."
She counted off on her fingers as she continued. "Tatiana was either afraid of her powers or embarassed about them. Julian might not show it, but he totally freaks out about control issues. Doreen got picked on for being how she is, and it's obvious that Yvette's mutation causes a lot of drama for her. So I think... I dunno." She shrugged noncommitally. "Something to show them that they can be awesome and not just a burden."
Tabitha grinned at Inez. "You're one insightful young lady, you know that?" She stood and stretched out the kinks from holding still after her work out. "Thanks for letting me bother you, I'll let you get back to your weights."
"Hey, anytime. And if you need a spotter," Inez added, reaching up and pulling the six-hundred-pound bar with one arm, smiling. "Gimme a holler."
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