Kurt and Reed, backdated
May. 14th, 2017 05:10 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
xp_nightcrawler posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
xp_logsReed and Kurt meet outside and have an illuminating conversation.
It wasn't that Reed hated the outdoors, like so many people thought. After all, the outside hating scientist was a well loved trope. It was really more that he tended to lost track of time easily, usually only noticing he'd missed another sunset, or was watching another sunrise without going to sleep.
Today though, he made a mental note to actually go out. It was going to be a beautiful night, and the fresh air would do him some good. He walked out to the dock, mulling a few problems over, as he tried to just appreciate the view. Always easier said than done though and he soon found himself mumuring outloud, trying to figure out a rather complicated equation.
"Enough," he said, out of the blue. "Damnit, Reed. Enjoy the moment."
Somebody else had evidently had the same idea, as the door opened and closed quietly behind him and soft footsteps started - then stopped.
"I am sorry", said an accented voice. "Am I interrupting?"Startled, Reed looked behind him and stopped. The man was blue. How had he missed an entirely blue person?
"No," he eventually stammered out. "There's plenty of room here. I mean, it's a rather large boathouse, and it looks like it's been converted to an art studio..." he cleared his throat. "I'm Dr. Richards. Reed."
"Fourteen years", Kurt said matter-of-factly, then stopped to think. "Almost to the day, in fact."
"That is half of my lifespan." Reed looked at the man with more wonder. "You don't seem that old, but it is hard to gage your age due to your skin colour."
"Understandable", he agreed. "And I will be 41 this year, so I was a little younger than you when I first came here."
That caught his attention. "41? How? You hardly look that old. I mean, you're all blue, not grey. I wonder if your pigmentation will change as you age."
"41 is hardly ancient", he said, amused. "Perhaps my hair will turn grey in a few years, but I doubt that my skin will. My mother is still much the same shade of blue, in her natural shape, and her age is anyone's guess."
"Oh, so it's genetic."
"The colouring, most certainly", he said with a nod. "Though not the powers. She is a shapeshifter, and I teleport."
Reed gave a slight nod as he processed the information. "I wish there were studies we could do about mutants. Ones that, obviously, wouldn't be unethical. There's so much we don't know about powers. If they're inherited. If there's a recessive and dominant gene like most traits. For instance, what about your father? Does he have any teleportation abilities? Or is he a beta human? It's all so fascinating to me. My parents have no powers, I'm sure I was a surprise to them...but if I have a child with someone who has powers, what would that child have?"
"He is baseline human." Or he assumed that had carried across. "They might have powers like one of you, or both of you, or something entirely different. Or, I suppose, though I have never heard of it, they might have none at all."
"But why wouldn't two mutants have a child with no powers, when two humans have a child with powers?," Reed pressed. "Why can't we study these situations? Science is bereft without these answers."
"Perhaps, as time goes on, you might find them. With an ever growing - sample, is the way to phrase it in science? And willing subjects for some studies."
"A sample, yes. It's more the ethics that I think have to be really worked out. And I can't think of how to get around that." He gave a wry smile. "I wish I was a mad scientist. People already feel I'm not all 'here' but it would be easier if I was all the way on one side of the equation, if you know what I mean."
Kurt laughed. "Yes, I do. But surely, if your subjects are willing and fully informed volunteers, that is the largest part of the ethics?"
And he thought Reed might just be surprised what people would volunteer for.
"This is true. You seem like you know a little bit about science."
"A little bit", he said easily. "I have only limited qualifications, but I have learned a few things."
Reed nodded and lapsed into silence for a while, simply appreciating the company. "You're an excellent silent partner," he noted after several minutes. "You have a very calming presence. I don't feel the urge to speak to you, even though I suppose I am right now."
That got him a genuinely pleased smile. "So I have been told in the past. I have learned to be comfortable with silence, so long as it is not an awkward one."
Kurt laughed. "There is that. Although you do not strike me as so very awkward."
"Which is a testament to your presence." Reed had no idea why he was being so open, but Kurt really was very easy to talk with and to be with. "As a man of science, one who has dedicated his entire life to the pursuit of knowledge, I have not been very receptive to social mores or norms. In a group, I think you will see me as awkward."
"Perhaps", he allowed. "But in the presence of the right group, they would not care."
"This is the first time I've ever felt like I was part of a group," Reed confessed. "And I still don't know very many people here. After all, it's been more than a year, and I'm just meeting you."
"That may be as much my fault as yours", he admitted. "I have not made much of an effort to meet the newcomers."
"Is that something you normally do?"
"It used to be. But times took such a hard turn, very many of us found ourselves much busier or just withdrawing. I should take it up again, I think."
Kurt smiled. "There is a great deal of good still out there, that you might miss in your lab."
After a few more moments, he turned to Kurt and gave a smile. "Thank you."
"As ever, you are very welcome." He smiled back.
"The boathouse has been many things in its time", he said with a nod. "Kurt Sefton. Pleased to meet you, Dr Richards."
Startlement was nothing new, and it seemed unkind to him to draw attention to it.Reed nodded, noting the accent. Who was this person. 'I'm always surprised by how long this place has been a sanctuary. Have you been here for many years?"
"Fourteen years", Kurt said matter-of-factly, then stopped to think. "Almost to the day, in fact."
"That is half of my lifespan." Reed looked at the man with more wonder. "You don't seem that old, but it is hard to gage your age due to your skin colour."
"Understandable", he agreed. "And I will be 41 this year, so I was a little younger than you when I first came here."
That caught his attention. "41? How? You hardly look that old. I mean, you're all blue, not grey. I wonder if your pigmentation will change as you age."
"41 is hardly ancient", he said, amused. "Perhaps my hair will turn grey in a few years, but I doubt that my skin will. My mother is still much the same shade of blue, in her natural shape, and her age is anyone's guess."
"Oh, so it's genetic."
"The colouring, most certainly", he said with a nod. "Though not the powers. She is a shapeshifter, and I teleport."
Reed gave a slight nod as he processed the information. "I wish there were studies we could do about mutants. Ones that, obviously, wouldn't be unethical. There's so much we don't know about powers. If they're inherited. If there's a recessive and dominant gene like most traits. For instance, what about your father? Does he have any teleportation abilities? Or is he a beta human? It's all so fascinating to me. My parents have no powers, I'm sure I was a surprise to them...but if I have a child with someone who has powers, what would that child have?"
"He is baseline human." Or he assumed that had carried across. "They might have powers like one of you, or both of you, or something entirely different. Or, I suppose, though I have never heard of it, they might have none at all."
"But why wouldn't two mutants have a child with no powers, when two humans have a child with powers?," Reed pressed. "Why can't we study these situations? Science is bereft without these answers."
"Perhaps, as time goes on, you might find them. With an ever growing - sample, is the way to phrase it in science? And willing subjects for some studies."
"A sample, yes. It's more the ethics that I think have to be really worked out. And I can't think of how to get around that." He gave a wry smile. "I wish I was a mad scientist. People already feel I'm not all 'here' but it would be easier if I was all the way on one side of the equation, if you know what I mean."
Kurt laughed. "Yes, I do. But surely, if your subjects are willing and fully informed volunteers, that is the largest part of the ethics?"
And he thought Reed might just be surprised what people would volunteer for.
"This is true. You seem like you know a little bit about science."
"A little bit", he said easily. "I have only limited qualifications, but I have learned a few things."
Reed nodded and lapsed into silence for a while, simply appreciating the company. "You're an excellent silent partner," he noted after several minutes. "You have a very calming presence. I don't feel the urge to speak to you, even though I suppose I am right now."
That got him a genuinely pleased smile. "So I have been told in the past. I have learned to be comfortable with silence, so long as it is not an awkward one."
"Silences are only awkward if you let them be," Reed pointed out. "And if you're someone who is inherently awkward," he gave a smile, "then it really doesn't affect you as much."
Kurt laughed. "There is that. Although you do not strike me as so very awkward."
"Which is a testament to your presence." Reed had no idea why he was being so open, but Kurt really was very easy to talk with and to be with. "As a man of science, one who has dedicated his entire life to the pursuit of knowledge, I have not been very receptive to social mores or norms. In a group, I think you will see me as awkward."
"Perhaps", he allowed. "But in the presence of the right group, they would not care."
"This is the first time I've ever felt like I was part of a group," Reed confessed. "And I still don't know very many people here. After all, it's been more than a year, and I'm just meeting you."
"That may be as much my fault as yours", he admitted. "I have not made much of an effort to meet the newcomers."
"Is that something you normally do?"
"It used to be. But times took such a hard turn, very many of us found ourselves much busier or just withdrawing. I should take it up again, I think."
"It's a tough world right now," Reed agreed, nodding his head. "I'm not one to talk. I live in my lab, and escape from the world that way. But maybe, sometimes getting out is good."
Kurt smiled. "There is a great deal of good still out there, that you might miss in your lab."
Reed nodded again, not responding. It was true, and the other man hadn't said anything that Reed hadn't already reflected on. There was a large world out there, and it was constantly evolving, but was Reed?
"As ever, you are very welcome." He smiled back.
