xp_logs | Crystal and Nico - After Class (Reply)

After class, Nico stays to ask Crystal a few questions, leading to a conversation about speeches, the X-Men, magic, mutant abilities, and Red X. - Very backdated due to both stress and vacation on my part but really liking and wanting to post this log. My apologies.

As there weren't very many students in the mansion, this class, like her others, was small. Having given the homework assignment due the next day, class was over and the students had been dismissed and were preparing to leave. Crystal's own time at the school as a student would probably been different had the student body been as small as it had been this year and the last rather than numbering over one hundred. A small school to many, but a large school as far as the privately-tutored 15-year-old girl had been concerned. Crystal glanced up from her desk, noticing that one of her students was still in the classroom.

Nico looked up, noticing they were now alone. Good. "Excuse me?", said as she came closer to Crystal. "I know this is Genetics, but I was wondering if you could give me some insight on Speech...we can arrange a meeting later if you are busy?"

"I am not busy now," Crystal said, smiling at her student. "Is there anything in specific that you were wondering about?"
Well, for starters, I'd like to know what kind of theme I should be picking...I wonder if you could give me an idea, maybe?" Truth was, asking her teacher to give her ideas didn't seem like the best one at that time, but she was already there, so whatever.

"What are your interests?" Crystal asked. "Not everyone is interested in the same subjects, yes? While it is true that speeches and debates can be given by people who are not speaking their own opinions, for this assignment you should write about something that is meaningful to you, something that you wish to speak about in front of the class. Your audience is important, and here you will be speaking to your classmates. You will want to hold their interest, but you should also avoid boring yourself both when you write your speech and when you give it."

"Weeeeeeell..." Nico took some minutes to consider what to answer. What she liked anyway? Music, sewing, and probably magic, but she wasn't too sure of the last one, not yet. "Oh, I know; I could talk about mutants, and make a brief explanation of their history and characteristics and stuff. Is that a good idea?" Nico thought it was, but using the theme of one subject for the speech on the other one, having the same teacher on both courses might also enter the category of bad idea on Nico's head.

Crystal nodded. "It could work," she told Nico with a smile. "While that is something that would also work very well for a paper in Genetics and Mutations, an important part of both speeches and writing is being able to present your thoughts and research to a specific group of people. Currently, in speech class your target audience is comprised of your classmates. For your paper in Genetics and Mutation, which we will discuss in detail next semester, your audience will be me, your teacher, and we will be working on giving speeches to varied audiences as well. It could be interesting to see how you handle the same or similar subject matter in different ways. It would be a short, simplified, verbal speech in this class and a longer, thought-out, well-written paper in the other."

Getting two works done with one single effort was definitely a good idea for Nico. "I see...it could be interesting then, and you think you could give me some reference material? It's annoying how little information you can get about mutation, or how restricted usually is." It was all perfect; Crystal knew all that had to be done to get the speech done -of course, she would only provide the information, or the places/books where Nico could get it-, so Nico was feeling more and more optimistic. "Who would be the other groups that would hear the speech?"

"This semester we are dealing primarily on how to write and present a speech," Crystal explained. "Next semester, while you will still be presenting your speeches to the class we will go more in-depth and work on catering to different audiences. Not all situations require the same speech, and even the same subject matter should contain different information and wording depending on will be in attendance when the speech is given. For example, let us say that you were asked to speak to a first-grade class, meaning children who are around six years old. Even if you use the same theme you had chosen for a speech to give to your classmates, you would have to alter your speech, yes? You must write to the level of your audience and this is part of what we will work on after Winter Break; how to present similar ideas in speeches to different audiences. Also, yes, I can help you find good sources of information that can be trusted, both now and when classes resume in January."

Nico had started to take notes, nodding at Crystal's words, and trying to keep everything organized on her mind. "Okay, it makes sense, really. This sounds very interesting, anyway." Making the same speech, but customizing it to different people required certain dexterity; saying the same with different words, and without losing the meaning one was trying to communicate. It was a challenge Nico hadn't had in a while, and that made homework the more enticing.

Crystal smiled, glad to see that her student seemed genuinely interested in her work. "I try to make my lessons interesting for my students. The act of learning is important, but that does not mean that what is studied should be dull and thought of as a chore. Of course, when a student opts to take specific elective courses, there exists the idea that the student in question already holds an interest in the particular subject matter. It is nice to know that students in my classes actually want to be there."

"Don't worry, I do find them interesting, and I wouldn't be anywhere I don't want, so you can be sure I'm enjoying this." Nico smiled at Crystal, and picked up her things. "Okay then, I think I should be going now." With that, she left, but stopped before leaving. "Right, I almost forgot," said as she walked towards Crystal again. "How is it like to be an X-Men...Woman?"

Crystal looked at Nico, surprised by the apparently random question. She did not advertise the fact that she had joined the X-Men, but she knew it had been mentioned on the journals, and it wasn't as though it was a secret. "I have only joined the team recently, and I am what they call a trainee. My first official mission was only last week; I have been out with the X-Men before, but under special circumstances. However, it is different to actually be a part of the team rather than going along as additional help. Still, as I am quite new to the X-Men, I am not sure that I have the entire feel for it yet. That will occur as time progresses, I am sure."

Disbelief was all over Nico's face. "You, a trainee? I thought only the students were supposed to go through that... that means you also have a, uhm, funny codename?" Well, that was interesting; from what she could tell, Crystal had a good handle on her power, so she could've been a X-Men right away. But giving it more thought, there was surely other things one must know before being a full fledged part of the team which Nico might have not considered. "So you have been in a mission and everything?"

Crystal nodded. "Yes, I am a trainee, I have a codename, and I have been on a mission. Nico, being a trainee is about being new to the X-Men, not about being a student or an adult. There are many things to learn about being an X-Man, one important part being about working as a member of a team, especially as a member of this specific team and the other people who are a part of it. I have been using my abilities for fourteen years but I have never trained as part of a group before. I am an adult who already knows how to control her powers, but that does not mean that I get to cut to the front of the line."

Nico nodded slowly, accepting she had probably misjudged the X-Men a little. And Crystal made lots of sense anyway. "I wonder if someone like me would have a chance to work on a team like that..."

"'Someone like you'?" Crystal repeated, carefully. "What is it that you mean by that, Nico? Are you referring to the fact that your mutant abilities have not yet manifested themselves?"

"Yes, something like that; someone that does magic, and particularly, dark magic." Nico looked down, feeling a little embarrassed. "Magic isn't like a mutation; it has rules and everything, and it can hurt people in ways I can't begin to imagine." Looking up at Crystal, Nico tried to sound normal. "Was Amanda a trainee?"

"I do not believe that she was," Crystal replied. "When I first arrived here, I did not know that real magic existed; I found out about it through discussions on the journal system, with Amanda." While Crystal would never speak of something told to her in confidence, any conversations that had taken place on the journals were a matter of public knowledge and could be viewed by anyone. "Amanda is helping you with your magic, yes? It is good that you are able to work with someone like her, someone who uses magic and is a mutant. She has had to learn how to control magic, and what she does with it, and I see no reason that the same will not hold true for you. Both magic and mutant abilities can be dangerous; it is up to the person who holds the power to choose what is is done with it. In the wrong hands, nearly any of our gifts can be used to harm people. The same abilities that can be used to help others can also be used for destruction. My own abilities are a good example of this. Perhaps I do not know what it is like to be able to use magic, but I do know what it is like to have powers that, uncontrolled, can be the cause of quick, widespread destruction."

Nico had just realized how much she had underestimated the person she had in front of her; so far she hadn't really seen much in Crystal, but now she felt like she should listen to her talking more often; people in the mansion seemed to be so full of knowledge...

"Well, I haven't made my mind yet, but maybe if I find a way to be more useful...well, maybe, I don't know, I haven't really stopped to think about the X-Men or those other things people do here. Oh, one last question; what is that Red X thing?"

"Red X is an excellent program designed to allow mutants to lend aid, using their abilities in positive ways, generally helping with disaster relief," Crystal explained. "I have been a part of Red X for nearly the entire time I have been here." There was no need to point out that there'd been a gap of a few years from her perspective; anyone who'd paid attention to the news a few years earlier knew an island had disappeared and returned. "Informative training meetings are held every month, and while some people might only be involved with it on a short-term basis, other people, such as myself, decide to take to continue on and take the longer Red X field leader training program."

For a moment all that Nico heard was the word charity, but it slowly sank in entirely; it seemed like a pretty darn good way to help other people, and allow mutants to help themselves as well. "Well, that sounds like a very interesting idea." Without anything else to add, the girl decided she had taken enough time from Crystal. "Now, I think I better get going. It was nice to talk to you, Ms..." Wait, how did you say that last name?

"Amaquelin," Crystal supplied. While those who had been students during her own year as a student might call her "Crystal" or "Miss Crystal," and she was no longer entirely against the idea of students calling teachers by their first names, she still felt that a title along with a last name was still the proper way for students to refer to their teachers. In Attilan, she was "Princess Crystal," but being called that here would seem a bit odd. "I enjoyed speaking with you as well, Nico. Please feel free to come to me with any other questions you might have."