xp_logs | Sooraya and Yvette

Yvette and Sooraya talk about romance and an important decision that Sooraya has made.

Sooraya hummed softly as she moved around the room, straightening things in preparation for some dusting and wiping things down. She gathered up some papers that were on the main table, the handwriting clearly showing they belonged to her roommate. She was going to put them down without checking, when she caught sight of a few of the doodles on the upper page. It took only one quickly glance to make a gentle smile appear on her face and she hurriedly moved to put the papers down before she violated her roomie's privacy any further. She was just about to put them on the table when the door opened and the owner of the papers in question entered...

"Oh, hello Sooraya!" Yvette's tone was as cheerful as always, although there was a brief flare in her glowing blue eyes. "I am sorry, I meant to be cleaning those up before I went to class..."

"I don't mind." Sooraya said, the gentle smile still on her face, though her eyes were twinkling now. "Here they are." She handed Yvette the papers. "I would be a bad thing for you and Ty to lose your assignment, wouldn't it?" The Aghani girl asked, carefully trying to fish out a little more info.

Yvette's eyes flared brighter - if she had been able, she would have been blushing. "We would not... I mean, it is not anything, just the doodle..." She looked helplessly at her roomie. "You are teasing, yes?"

The Aghani girl stepped closer and put a hand on Yvette's forearm. "I am. I will stop if you want me too... Though I will admit... I am a little curious..." Her voice trailed, leaving it to her friend if she wanted to give more information.

"Oh, no, I am not upset." Yvette gave her roomie an embarrassed smile. "Ty is just a boy I met at the fair. He seemed interesting, and he has powers that are not unlike mine. That is all." She shrugged a little. "I am possibly being a little, how you say? Girly?"

"I think so... Yvette, that is great." Sooraya tugged her friend to the seating area enthusiastically. "Wait, he has powers like you? You can touch him?"

"Maybe?" Yvette shrugged again. "He was very shy, and then there was the attack on the FOH, so it was not like we had a lot of time to talk. He helped me save a woman's life, at least?" She chuckled a little. "That is so the Xavier's type of meeting, is it not? 'Hello, my name is Yvette, can you help with perform an emergency medical procedure?'"

Sooraya covered her mouth to stifle a few giggles. "That sounds like something that would happen here. Did you at least get his phone number or something?"

Yvette shook her head. "No, there was no time. And to be honest, I doubt he even remembers me, except for the whole first aid incident. Like I said, it is just me being silly, that is all." She laughed it off and focused on her friend. "But how about you? How are you after the mess in Attilan? I have noticed some of the X-Men who were there are still, how you say, not on the even boat?"

"I am sure you'll be able to find him with a bit of looking. And you are far to special for him not to remember you..." Sooraya said vehemently. Her face fell a little though as she considered the second part of the her question. "I noticed it too... a little. But I am mostly okay. I mean, I am very angry at Sayyid and Achmed, but on the other hand I am also relieved that they have been captured." She looked down on her hands. "Mostly I feel guilty... I did not mean for any of you to be dragged into this so far..."

Now it was Yvette's turn to lay her hand on her friend's arm. "Sooraya, we went with you to help protect you. It was our choice and we all knew it was possible something would happen. You do not have to feel guilty about us doing what we volunteered to do, no matter what happened."

"I know, Yvette... I know..." Sooraya sighed a little. "I think I am just tired of being the one that has to be protected..."

"You know, from where I was standing, you were not needing so much protection at all," Yvette pointed out. "You escaped by yourself, and you helped Angelo and I save Leyu. That was not exactly helpless. In fact..." She stopped herself, not sure if it was something Sooraya was ready to hear yet.

"Hmm..." Sooraya looked up as Yvette broke of her sentence. "What did you want to say?"

"You reminded me of one of the team," Yvette finished. "An X-Man."

"Me as an X-man? You could truly see that?" Sooraya's eyes widened a little, but in her voice there was a bit of something that sounded like... acceptance or confirmation...

"I really do. With Angelo and I... it was like you were part of the team. You were able to be looking after yourself, you used your powers in ways that would take Achmed down without hurting him too much, and you listened to orders." Yvette gave her a smile. "I think you would be a very good X-Man."

She had to blush a little at the though of how she had talked Achmed down almost naked... "It is funny that you mention being an X-man... I had been meaning to talk to you about that..." Sooraya took a deep breath. "I have been thinking about looking into becoming a trainee.'

Yvette beamed at this, eyes literally lighting up. "I think that is the very good idea," she said, trying to keep a serious tone when she really wanted to hug her friend in glee. "Like I said, you were very good in Attilan."

"But I know little about this... What does being a trainee entail?" Sooraya glowed a little at the enthusiastic reaction of her friend. "I know I should be asking Mr. Summers or someone very experienced, but I feel a little easier..." Her voice trailed of...

"Oh, asking someone who has just done the trainee ship is not such a bad thing," Yvette replied. Her slightly worldly wise demeanor was amusing when contrasted with her Hello Kitty t-shirt. "First, there is the talk with the Professor, about why you want to be the trainee. Then there is talking to Mr. Summers, about what is required and again why you want to join. They are very careful to be sure that the trainees know what it is they are asking, you see," she explained. "And then there is the reading of all the mission files and the files on the people who are threats and such, and training in the Danger Room, and the trainee nickname."

"Trainee nickname?" Sooraya sounded a little confused. "Angel mentioned all the reading once, but I think I can manage that. And she also said there was a lot more to learn then just training your powers..."

"It is the, how you say... team bonding thing," Yvette said. "The team chooses the name for you and when you graduate to full team, you can pick your own. Mine was Knuckles, like the computer game character?"

"Knuckles? That is funny" Sooraya had to giggle at the name. "Are all the trainee names funny?"

"Usually. It is the silly joke, yes? Like Fred, he is called Adipose, like the little creatures from Dr. Who. And Jean-Phillipe is Sparky." Yvette giggled. "Sometimes you feel silly calling them out in training or in the field, but it is good for the team."

"I wonder what they would come up with for me." Sooraya wondered out loud. "And what are those other things Angel was talking about what you need to learn?"

"Teamwork," came the answer. "Working the communications room. Strategy, tactics, how to work together, that sort of thing. Even flying the Blackbird, although I am not so good at that one."

Sooraya's eyes widened at the last point. "I need to learn how to fly a plane!?!?!?! But... I..." She shook her head at the thought. That one was very difficult to imagine. "There is one thing I have been worrying about though... You know what happened with Mr. Haller... I have been working on things and I know I could fight in Attilan... But what if something like that happens again? What if I do hurt somebody really bad and I become... a wreck..."

"I have the same problem, Sooraya. But like I said before, when the accident happened, the more you train, the more control you have. And you will be part of a team also. You will have someone watching your back, always. If you get into trouble, there will be someone to help."

Sooraya nodded. She knew it was true. Since she had started doing her basic exercises once more her control had improved a lot. Attilan had shown her that. Just like it had shown her that she would like to function within a team. "I know... Maybe I worry too much about such things... I just don't want to fail anyone..."

"No-one wants to fail," her friend soothed. "That is why there is the traineeship. To learn and to decide if the team is the right place for you." She smiled. "If you are still worried, maybe talk to some of the others? Like Jean-Phillipe and Dori and Fred? They are trainees also, and have the same fears."

"That might be a very good idea... Whatever the future might bring, I think I will learn a lot there..." Suddenly a thought occurred to Sooraya and she considered it for a moment before asking her question. "Yvette, are there also people who became a trainee, but who decided not to become a full X-man?"

"A few. Amara decided not to continue most recently. No-one minds - and I think there have been many who have joined the team and then left. And others who have joined again."

Sooraya nodded. "It would be kind of bad otherwise... Thanks Yvette... I'll talk with the other trainees, but I think I will also talk with Amara... We speak often enough at Elpis... And I'd really like to know why she choose not to become an X-men..." Suddenly her face turned a little mischievous. "Let's hope I have more luck with this then with my 'romantic endeavors'." She punctuated the last two words with a mocking gesture. "Two attempts to force me to marry doesn't make for a very good start..."

Yvette joined in the giggling. "But you have to admit, it is very Xavier's, yes? Why have a normal romantic life when we can have kidnappings and explosions?"