Kyle & Match: Firestarter
Sep. 2nd, 2023 10:29 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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xp_logs(backdated) A training session with a Kyle leads Match to finally willingly igniting.
Match didn't mean to avoid the man, okay, no, that was a lie. He didn't want to discuss school at all, but he had meant to meet him earlier, as one of the people who actually worked with teens and maybe powers? He would love it if he could not set off auto ACs into overdrive by simply existing. But he still hated offices, even if he’d set up the meeting to be in Kyle’s. “You’re taller than I thought you’d be.”
Kyle grinned down as he pulled a three-ring binder down off the top of a bookcase. "If it helps, I'm way taller than I ever thought I'd be too. Match, right? Sorry I was looking to see if I could find some notes - Angel - friend of mine, moved to Seattle - she had notes on her powers, cause she was a fire person too." He waved the binder, which had a startling number of stickers plastered all over it, mostly of an anime fire cooking food. "Not super sure how helpful, everyone's different but can't hurt right?"
"Yeah." He stared at the binder, face set in a grim acceptance before he finally nodded. “Sooraya’s mentioned her before. A lot of her tips help with the not setting shit on fire, but,” he waggled his hand, "heat output does what it wants." It didn't, but he hadn't quite figured out how to control it when he couldn't feel it. Lots of the world was different when you couldn't feel hot or cold or taste or smell, he'd found. "Do you do a lot of teen training?"
"I used to help run the powers and self-defense groups when we had more new folks here." Kyle explained. "Not just teens, but mostly teens. Powers usually show up right around thirteen, fourteen ish, so most of the time, teens." He sat on the edge of his desk, and set both feet onto the chair that was pulled out next to it. "Not setting shit on fire's probably a good start. Angel had a whole thing on not accidentally setting her clothes on fire, and not setting her bed on fire." He rested his elbows on his knees. "I'm guessing you wanna start with something similar?" The entire room was warmer, not dramatically but enough that Kyle could hear the AC kick up a little bit more, just in a few minutes of Match in the room.
"Checks out, guess 'm a late bloomer," he shrugged, as if that all made sense in the grand scheme of his life. He hadn't made a move to sit down himself, standing in the same spot he'd stopped when he'd entered the room and announced himself. The binder in question didn't look like much, but he had to hope it had something in it that would help, as he doubted people were enjoying him being around and bumping up the temperature of any given room in the heat of summer. "I mean, yeah, unless you think everyone'd love it if I burned this place to the ground too." Match let his thumbs glide over the straps of his backpack as he spoke, smile wry before he dropped it entirely.
Kyle's eyebrows went up, and then he laughed. "Well, if you ask Quire, the place could use a burning but the rest of us would like not to be homeless. Binder's fireproof, by the way. So, walk me through the powers. When do you go firey, when do you not, is it worse on Tuesdays, do you get fire hiccups if you eat bread, whatever. Lets build you a starting place." He tilted his head, and looked carefully at Match. He wasn't quite as gaunt as he was when he'd first arrived, but it was easy to recognize the signs of someone whose powers were taking a toll on their body. "Also have you been down to see the docs since you got here? Because, dude, you make fire with your body. I'd bet you two pizzas that you're not eating enough to fuel your powers."
He didn’t want to doubt the man but he’d found very few things called ‘fireproof’ turned out to be. For his fire at least. “I… don’t?” Not entirely true but Match could count on one hand how many times he’s started spitting fire. “Did it once when I manifested — is that right? — then the time that burned my p-“ this time a full grimace, trying to wrestle with the word before settling on “my house down. I don’t really get firey aside from the whole losing skin thing.” He didn’t want to talk about how it got worse before he’d come here, small, glowing tendrils peaking out of the neck of his shirt but stationary since he’d arrived. “Docks? Oh doctors — I, no? I’m not - I don’t,” an audible pop as he cracked the knuckles in his thumbs sounded like when a fire finally got to a knot in the wood and he had to push that thought away as focused on breathing, hoping there was no temperature spike. “I’m not sick, I don’t need a doctor.”
"Nah, we hit them up for nutrition and vaccines and checkups too." Kyle said. "Dude, Sooraya eats so much for a lady her size, and our friend Angel? I watched her eat four fully loaded subs once. Double meat, double cheese, double peppers. Double onions, god, her burps were so gross. So. Gross. But she'd just also helped put out a forest fire. Most everyone here eats a lot. " He pointed back at himself with a thumb. "And you don't? Set things on fire? Don't make fire? Walk me through the dont's too. I know, god, hold on." He counted on his fingers. "John, Angel, Tabs, Amara, Haller kinda once in a while, other John... maybe Jubes. You think Jubes counts? Lets say she does. I know at least seven other fire power people. Every single one's different. So you're lucky in some ways, we know how to fireproof. In others, well, we're gonna do our best not to copy what anyone else did."
Anything Match had been about to say left his mind as he tried to follow the leaps Kyle had made after he opened his mouth. And with his utter confusion came an unexpected calm that seemed to squash the heat that had started to radiate out of him. Mouth still partially opened, he looked down to the man's hands before back to his face, until, finally, his brain caught up. "Um, no, I mean, I don't know Jubes or who that is or what they do, but, no, I don't set things on fire, generally. They were accidents, I got the glowing skin going but the last time I was," his brows furrowed, face becoming stern as he forced himself to admit, "scared." He hated saying that, sounding like a baby to his own ears. "The police startled me, and I didn't want them to hurt my grandma, or get caught, and it just sparked out."
"So it's emotions, at least a little." Kyle offered. "Fear's a big one for a lot of people. I mean shit, no shame. I don't even do energy and fear triggered mine. I manifested in jail, got into a dumb fight mouthing off, guards jumped me and then, blam, in the infirmary growing fangs and sedated half the time because I grew nine inches or something in like three days." He wiggled his bare toes. "Plus these guys. Bane of shoes, forever. Has anybody like, let you let loose in the Danger Room yet? Figure out what your limit is, figure out if wearing you out means you don't literally run hot for a while?"
"Gross." He made a face as Kyle drew attention to his feet, scrunching his nose up. As soon as the words left his mouth, he realized how bad it sounded, cringing at himself but unsure how to backpedal. Can't go back, just forward said a voice sounding suspiciously like his grandma in his head. "Uh, Danger Room? No, I don't think I even know what that is, I got an explanation of most things, but I think I would remember a 'Danger Room'."
"Oh damn. okay, so. So, big powers training room in the basement, super high tech." Kyle explained, seemingly blissfully ignoring the comment about his feet, despite maneuvering himself to sit crossways on the desk. "Think big holoprojector, durable enough that people who can make lasers and bench press trucks don't break it, it's absolutely nuts. It has a technical name, but god, all of us call it the Danger Room because Scott named it and Scott Summers is bad at naming things. It's a good place to figure out stuff about powers for a lot of people."
It was good that it didn't seem that Kyle was a telepath as Match found himself unable to make sense of what the hell he had said. Seemed like- "So like Yu-Gi-Oh? We have a... monster projector, duel whatever thingy in your basement?" He stared calmly at the man, as he tried to make the connection make sense. "And you want me to go there to.... figure out my limits?" He didn't like the sound of that and did nothing to hide it in his voice, nevermind whoever Summers was.
"Yeah, kind of like Yu-Gi-Oh, but more like." Kyle thought. "Well, if I say a Star Trek holodeck that might not help. It's safe, it's designed to be safe. It was designed to let people learn about their powers in a safe place, and then it kind of grew from there. It's to figure out your limits but also.." He thought, and tried to choose words carefully. "You're here to learn about your powers, to learn how to make your life easier with them. So one of the ways we help is to figure out what you can and can't do. It's not the only way, it's just one of the common ones. If that's not how you want to start learning, that's also okay."
"Never saw it," he offered with a shrug, trying to think if there had ever been anything called 'Star Trek' on the tv but nothing came to mind. But he couldn't argue with the point Kyle was making. At least with trying to figure out his limits it would probably keep him busy and away from doing the other things people wanted him to do, and it wasn't like he could get a job. "'Aight, sure. Let's see if I can melt it."
Kyle laughed a little. "Star Trek is nerd stuff, no shame in not knowing. I only know because of an ex girlfriend." He paused. "Wait, no maybe boyfriend. Jay might've been into it. Anyway." He shook himself back to attempting to be a responsible teacher. "And no matter what it gets us info. If you can't melt it, we measure what you can melt. I mean shit I think there's a crucible down in the art room, lets see if you can melt copper. If you can melt it, well, you'll set a record for this place. It's adaptive so legit, don't worry about melting it, I don't think anyone can, but lets try. I'm mad at the Danger Room this week, I'd be happy to get out of a few weeks of work if you broke it."
Match nodded as Kyle explained, not sure if he should stop him as the words all kinda jumbled together before the conversation seemed to go back to the point of him melting things. Not that he actually wanted to melt things, but when put into the idea of testing what he could actually do, it made sense, and... and he did feel like maybe he should burn off some steam. Maybe it would help him stay cool when he started to get stressed. "Uh, yeah, okay. That'd be nice, uh, not having to worry about seriously messing stuff up. Lead the way?"
"Now? Sure." Kyle hopped down off the desk. "I. am getting the distinct impression from how many times you've nodded that I am making zero sense to you, right?" He grinned. "Here, I'll explain while we walk down there. The Danger Room is so far unmeltable, and if you melt it, we give you a prize. Usually it's pizza."
He led Match down the hallway of classrooms-turned-office, and then to the elevator, explaining the basics of the Danger Room as they walked, all the while texting apologetically. "Making sure the room's clear, Mols ran a training run a little bit ago and sometimes it takes a few to reset, but it's clear and ready for energy powers."
A short and only slightly ominous trip later, both men stood outside the control room to the Danger Room, and Kyle unlocked it. "Okay, control room. Lots of computers, also snacks and water bottles. We're doing powers baselines, so I am gonna grab you..." He dug in a plastic bin, and found a few protein bars, and some beef jerky and then pulled two plastic bottles from the minifridge. "Protein, and gatorade. Drinks and snacks are free to grab before or after you use the room, only thing anyone ever says is to not grab anything with a name sticker on it. No name, free to grab, sometimes you do a powers training and need to put calories in. That is normal."
"'s all going over my head, honestly, but, it's whatever. I thought... that's what you wanted, it's not like it hurts." Match shrugged again, keeping pace a few steps behind Kyle although he paused once or twice to look around the corridors with interest. The elevator... well, that was strange, but he just chalked it up to weird mutants who had a power training room and lived in a mansion. He didn't have to climb a ladder so he wasn't going to complain, not that he'd ever said anything to Trader or Postman's faces.
He stared at the food the man had set out, the minifridge. He'd already been skimming what he could from the pantry that wouldn't draw attention, but, if this was for training, that made sense. Finally he nodded affirmative that he understood what Kyle had said. "'Kay. Got it. So now, uh, now what?"
"Now we go meet the Danger Room." Kyle said, with a grin. He logged into a console, made a grunt at a note that came up on the screen and clicked the X to close, and then picked up a wireless earpiece and mic from the desk and slid it behind one pointed ear. "Afternoon, Vi. Can you set us up with a general energy training sim?" He said, after tapping the earpiece. "I've got the room on voice commands, you are one hundred percent not on the hook to learn any of this. No stress." He explained - and the door to the Danger Room irised open to show a blank grey cube of a room that glittered into a tile floor and series of stereotypical red-and-white targets, entirely almost exactly like the logo of the store. "When you're feeling it, do what you do, and try to hit the closest target."
Match looked to Kyle in utter confusion before the relief of not having to learn washed over him. "Good, because I'm not gonna remember this probably, or if I do I can't promise it'll be entirely useful things that I've remembered." The cube.... seemed like some fucked up little punishment box, but with a look to Kyle, who knew the same fire person Sooraya had known, he slowly walked towards, setting down his backpack and taking off his jacket to set beside the door.
'Do what you do,' seemed liked a really easy statement on the surface, except when it was applied to him, as he had no idea how to do what he'd done in the past. Two accidents had sparked everything, and one had been instantaneous and the other had been driven by panic. Nothing he could really lean back on now. He looked back towards the now closed door, before staring at the targets. "'Hit the target,' sure, I'll just do that." He huffed under his breath. Just hit the closest target. Surely, he could hit something. Puffing out another exhale, he frowned, brows drawing together as he focused, right hand raising as he tried to funnel the fire he'd let out before. He just needed a spark. He thought about back to the beginning, the burning, then the police, his grandma, in danger because of him, and anger set in. Match focused on that for the first time. And the fire he’d bottled up, that he’d pushed down, came rushing out, snaking down his arm before fully flaring out from his hand.
When the fire finally stopped, the first target was no more, flame and heat making easy work of it.
"I hit it."
'Jesus, yeah you did." Kyle said, and whistled. "Damn, uh. You definitely hit that target." He'd picked up a tablet, and glanced at it and some numbers scrolling down the screen. "Okay, according to this checklist i am supposed to ask if you feel physiologically differently than your usual baseline..." He trailed off, and then rolled his eyes with a huff. "Jesus fuck, I know who wrote this, hold on, fucking fuck." He tapped the screen furiously,, and then took out his phone, tapping out a long series of texts. "Okay, fuck it. You're pretty much an adult, and I am throwing that checklist out the door, it sucks. You make fire, and you get warm, right? Do you feel less warm?"
"No," Match shook his head with a barely contained eye roll that was really only stopped by the sudden... lack inside of him. The comment on whoever had wrote the questions Kyle had started reciting before something seemed to occur to him didn't go unnoticed. And again with the new kid outta water. Great. "No, I don't feel anything, I don't feel hot or warm or cold. It's all the same to me. I only notice if people have a response around me. I feel... drained, I think? In a good way? Like a lot of pressure's outta me or somethin'."
"That's a thing you can feel though. So, man, this is a gross metaphor but you know how if you have to throw up, sometimes you feel better after? Was it like that, or like just, you feel less full? So bad to good, or just full to better?" Kyle continued texting. "I'm taking notes, but the only people who can get them will be you and me, unless you want someone else to. You mind if I ask the Danger Room to throw some temperature readings, so we know if you're making the air around you less warm now that you set stuff on fire?"
“Gross," he mumbled under his breath in response to the description. Though, it was... like that, if you wanted to describe it like that. "I guess, yeah, that's kinda it? Uh, like full to better, it's a relief? I think that's how you would describe it." His uncertainty was clear, unsure if the word really was correct or if he'd mixed up meanings for words in his head. "Okay, yeah, that's cool by me. Both! Sorry, the notes and the temperature thing. Seems important."
"Hey Vi, can you pop me up a temp reading. Uh.' Kyle asked, pausing to think. "Give me entry, and then like, every ten seconds since. We wanna see if Match here cooled down once he blew up that target. Make a pretty graph if you want."
THe Danger Room replied in a pleasant tone, and a series of numbers appeared, holographically with time stamps under them, and then a graph appeared a moment later, tracking the temperature in big wide lines. Kyle walked over and stuck his finger through one, and laughed. "Well, you definitely got real hot real fast, and then cooled off. Look.' He pointed to an arrow on the graph. "So here's where you came in. Little toasty warm. And here." He pointed to a spike in the numbers. "This is you making fire, and then here, where it drops, it goes lower than when you came in. For sure, my man, if you use the powers, at least right after - you're less of a space heater."
The graph was pretty, and Match cocked his head to study it further, ignoring the numbers to focus on the way the bars went up then down. And a smile half-formed as he understood, or assumed he understood what the readings were saying. “So I just gotta blow off all the steam inside me?” And for all his acting like he was in control and knew things, he couldn’t keep the hope out of his voice as he asked the question. “Then maybe I’ll stop-“
He lapsed into silence then, rubbing at the glowing flesh peaking up from his shirt collar. “I can be normal?”
"Can't promise normal, but you can probably not be the guy makin' the subway a hotbox." Kyle said. "Wait, that's a pot thing, right? Shit. I don't know the right terms. You'll make the rest of us less uncomfy." He nodded firmly, as though 'less uncomfy' was a firm statement that made sense. "None of us are normal here, not to like misquote Lewis Carroll. It's like any other - like, thing you gotta live around, but figuring out how to make it easier for you is why we're here. Can't get the fire outta your genes, can get the fire outta your gut for a few hours."
If Match heard Kyle, he made no effort to respond. At his sides his hands curled into fists, frown setting firmly onto his face. The heat that had mostly vanished returned with a vengeance. “We’re done here.” He finally muttered as he made his way back to grab his backpack and exit.
Match didn't mean to avoid the man, okay, no, that was a lie. He didn't want to discuss school at all, but he had meant to meet him earlier, as one of the people who actually worked with teens and maybe powers? He would love it if he could not set off auto ACs into overdrive by simply existing. But he still hated offices, even if he’d set up the meeting to be in Kyle’s. “You’re taller than I thought you’d be.”
Kyle grinned down as he pulled a three-ring binder down off the top of a bookcase. "If it helps, I'm way taller than I ever thought I'd be too. Match, right? Sorry I was looking to see if I could find some notes - Angel - friend of mine, moved to Seattle - she had notes on her powers, cause she was a fire person too." He waved the binder, which had a startling number of stickers plastered all over it, mostly of an anime fire cooking food. "Not super sure how helpful, everyone's different but can't hurt right?"
"Yeah." He stared at the binder, face set in a grim acceptance before he finally nodded. “Sooraya’s mentioned her before. A lot of her tips help with the not setting shit on fire, but,” he waggled his hand, "heat output does what it wants." It didn't, but he hadn't quite figured out how to control it when he couldn't feel it. Lots of the world was different when you couldn't feel hot or cold or taste or smell, he'd found. "Do you do a lot of teen training?"
"I used to help run the powers and self-defense groups when we had more new folks here." Kyle explained. "Not just teens, but mostly teens. Powers usually show up right around thirteen, fourteen ish, so most of the time, teens." He sat on the edge of his desk, and set both feet onto the chair that was pulled out next to it. "Not setting shit on fire's probably a good start. Angel had a whole thing on not accidentally setting her clothes on fire, and not setting her bed on fire." He rested his elbows on his knees. "I'm guessing you wanna start with something similar?" The entire room was warmer, not dramatically but enough that Kyle could hear the AC kick up a little bit more, just in a few minutes of Match in the room.
"Checks out, guess 'm a late bloomer," he shrugged, as if that all made sense in the grand scheme of his life. He hadn't made a move to sit down himself, standing in the same spot he'd stopped when he'd entered the room and announced himself. The binder in question didn't look like much, but he had to hope it had something in it that would help, as he doubted people were enjoying him being around and bumping up the temperature of any given room in the heat of summer. "I mean, yeah, unless you think everyone'd love it if I burned this place to the ground too." Match let his thumbs glide over the straps of his backpack as he spoke, smile wry before he dropped it entirely.
Kyle's eyebrows went up, and then he laughed. "Well, if you ask Quire, the place could use a burning but the rest of us would like not to be homeless. Binder's fireproof, by the way. So, walk me through the powers. When do you go firey, when do you not, is it worse on Tuesdays, do you get fire hiccups if you eat bread, whatever. Lets build you a starting place." He tilted his head, and looked carefully at Match. He wasn't quite as gaunt as he was when he'd first arrived, but it was easy to recognize the signs of someone whose powers were taking a toll on their body. "Also have you been down to see the docs since you got here? Because, dude, you make fire with your body. I'd bet you two pizzas that you're not eating enough to fuel your powers."
He didn’t want to doubt the man but he’d found very few things called ‘fireproof’ turned out to be. For his fire at least. “I… don’t?” Not entirely true but Match could count on one hand how many times he’s started spitting fire. “Did it once when I manifested — is that right? — then the time that burned my p-“ this time a full grimace, trying to wrestle with the word before settling on “my house down. I don’t really get firey aside from the whole losing skin thing.” He didn’t want to talk about how it got worse before he’d come here, small, glowing tendrils peaking out of the neck of his shirt but stationary since he’d arrived. “Docks? Oh doctors — I, no? I’m not - I don’t,” an audible pop as he cracked the knuckles in his thumbs sounded like when a fire finally got to a knot in the wood and he had to push that thought away as focused on breathing, hoping there was no temperature spike. “I’m not sick, I don’t need a doctor.”
"Nah, we hit them up for nutrition and vaccines and checkups too." Kyle said. "Dude, Sooraya eats so much for a lady her size, and our friend Angel? I watched her eat four fully loaded subs once. Double meat, double cheese, double peppers. Double onions, god, her burps were so gross. So. Gross. But she'd just also helped put out a forest fire. Most everyone here eats a lot. " He pointed back at himself with a thumb. "And you don't? Set things on fire? Don't make fire? Walk me through the dont's too. I know, god, hold on." He counted on his fingers. "John, Angel, Tabs, Amara, Haller kinda once in a while, other John... maybe Jubes. You think Jubes counts? Lets say she does. I know at least seven other fire power people. Every single one's different. So you're lucky in some ways, we know how to fireproof. In others, well, we're gonna do our best not to copy what anyone else did."
Anything Match had been about to say left his mind as he tried to follow the leaps Kyle had made after he opened his mouth. And with his utter confusion came an unexpected calm that seemed to squash the heat that had started to radiate out of him. Mouth still partially opened, he looked down to the man's hands before back to his face, until, finally, his brain caught up. "Um, no, I mean, I don't know Jubes or who that is or what they do, but, no, I don't set things on fire, generally. They were accidents, I got the glowing skin going but the last time I was," his brows furrowed, face becoming stern as he forced himself to admit, "scared." He hated saying that, sounding like a baby to his own ears. "The police startled me, and I didn't want them to hurt my grandma, or get caught, and it just sparked out."
"So it's emotions, at least a little." Kyle offered. "Fear's a big one for a lot of people. I mean shit, no shame. I don't even do energy and fear triggered mine. I manifested in jail, got into a dumb fight mouthing off, guards jumped me and then, blam, in the infirmary growing fangs and sedated half the time because I grew nine inches or something in like three days." He wiggled his bare toes. "Plus these guys. Bane of shoes, forever. Has anybody like, let you let loose in the Danger Room yet? Figure out what your limit is, figure out if wearing you out means you don't literally run hot for a while?"
"Gross." He made a face as Kyle drew attention to his feet, scrunching his nose up. As soon as the words left his mouth, he realized how bad it sounded, cringing at himself but unsure how to backpedal. Can't go back, just forward said a voice sounding suspiciously like his grandma in his head. "Uh, Danger Room? No, I don't think I even know what that is, I got an explanation of most things, but I think I would remember a 'Danger Room'."
"Oh damn. okay, so. So, big powers training room in the basement, super high tech." Kyle explained, seemingly blissfully ignoring the comment about his feet, despite maneuvering himself to sit crossways on the desk. "Think big holoprojector, durable enough that people who can make lasers and bench press trucks don't break it, it's absolutely nuts. It has a technical name, but god, all of us call it the Danger Room because Scott named it and Scott Summers is bad at naming things. It's a good place to figure out stuff about powers for a lot of people."
It was good that it didn't seem that Kyle was a telepath as Match found himself unable to make sense of what the hell he had said. Seemed like- "So like Yu-Gi-Oh? We have a... monster projector, duel whatever thingy in your basement?" He stared calmly at the man, as he tried to make the connection make sense. "And you want me to go there to.... figure out my limits?" He didn't like the sound of that and did nothing to hide it in his voice, nevermind whoever Summers was.
"Yeah, kind of like Yu-Gi-Oh, but more like." Kyle thought. "Well, if I say a Star Trek holodeck that might not help. It's safe, it's designed to be safe. It was designed to let people learn about their powers in a safe place, and then it kind of grew from there. It's to figure out your limits but also.." He thought, and tried to choose words carefully. "You're here to learn about your powers, to learn how to make your life easier with them. So one of the ways we help is to figure out what you can and can't do. It's not the only way, it's just one of the common ones. If that's not how you want to start learning, that's also okay."
"Never saw it," he offered with a shrug, trying to think if there had ever been anything called 'Star Trek' on the tv but nothing came to mind. But he couldn't argue with the point Kyle was making. At least with trying to figure out his limits it would probably keep him busy and away from doing the other things people wanted him to do, and it wasn't like he could get a job. "'Aight, sure. Let's see if I can melt it."
Kyle laughed a little. "Star Trek is nerd stuff, no shame in not knowing. I only know because of an ex girlfriend." He paused. "Wait, no maybe boyfriend. Jay might've been into it. Anyway." He shook himself back to attempting to be a responsible teacher. "And no matter what it gets us info. If you can't melt it, we measure what you can melt. I mean shit I think there's a crucible down in the art room, lets see if you can melt copper. If you can melt it, well, you'll set a record for this place. It's adaptive so legit, don't worry about melting it, I don't think anyone can, but lets try. I'm mad at the Danger Room this week, I'd be happy to get out of a few weeks of work if you broke it."
Match nodded as Kyle explained, not sure if he should stop him as the words all kinda jumbled together before the conversation seemed to go back to the point of him melting things. Not that he actually wanted to melt things, but when put into the idea of testing what he could actually do, it made sense, and... and he did feel like maybe he should burn off some steam. Maybe it would help him stay cool when he started to get stressed. "Uh, yeah, okay. That'd be nice, uh, not having to worry about seriously messing stuff up. Lead the way?"
"Now? Sure." Kyle hopped down off the desk. "I. am getting the distinct impression from how many times you've nodded that I am making zero sense to you, right?" He grinned. "Here, I'll explain while we walk down there. The Danger Room is so far unmeltable, and if you melt it, we give you a prize. Usually it's pizza."
He led Match down the hallway of classrooms-turned-office, and then to the elevator, explaining the basics of the Danger Room as they walked, all the while texting apologetically. "Making sure the room's clear, Mols ran a training run a little bit ago and sometimes it takes a few to reset, but it's clear and ready for energy powers."
A short and only slightly ominous trip later, both men stood outside the control room to the Danger Room, and Kyle unlocked it. "Okay, control room. Lots of computers, also snacks and water bottles. We're doing powers baselines, so I am gonna grab you..." He dug in a plastic bin, and found a few protein bars, and some beef jerky and then pulled two plastic bottles from the minifridge. "Protein, and gatorade. Drinks and snacks are free to grab before or after you use the room, only thing anyone ever says is to not grab anything with a name sticker on it. No name, free to grab, sometimes you do a powers training and need to put calories in. That is normal."
"'s all going over my head, honestly, but, it's whatever. I thought... that's what you wanted, it's not like it hurts." Match shrugged again, keeping pace a few steps behind Kyle although he paused once or twice to look around the corridors with interest. The elevator... well, that was strange, but he just chalked it up to weird mutants who had a power training room and lived in a mansion. He didn't have to climb a ladder so he wasn't going to complain, not that he'd ever said anything to Trader or Postman's faces.
He stared at the food the man had set out, the minifridge. He'd already been skimming what he could from the pantry that wouldn't draw attention, but, if this was for training, that made sense. Finally he nodded affirmative that he understood what Kyle had said. "'Kay. Got it. So now, uh, now what?"
"Now we go meet the Danger Room." Kyle said, with a grin. He logged into a console, made a grunt at a note that came up on the screen and clicked the X to close, and then picked up a wireless earpiece and mic from the desk and slid it behind one pointed ear. "Afternoon, Vi. Can you set us up with a general energy training sim?" He said, after tapping the earpiece. "I've got the room on voice commands, you are one hundred percent not on the hook to learn any of this. No stress." He explained - and the door to the Danger Room irised open to show a blank grey cube of a room that glittered into a tile floor and series of stereotypical red-and-white targets, entirely almost exactly like the logo of the store. "When you're feeling it, do what you do, and try to hit the closest target."
Match looked to Kyle in utter confusion before the relief of not having to learn washed over him. "Good, because I'm not gonna remember this probably, or if I do I can't promise it'll be entirely useful things that I've remembered." The cube.... seemed like some fucked up little punishment box, but with a look to Kyle, who knew the same fire person Sooraya had known, he slowly walked towards, setting down his backpack and taking off his jacket to set beside the door.
'Do what you do,' seemed liked a really easy statement on the surface, except when it was applied to him, as he had no idea how to do what he'd done in the past. Two accidents had sparked everything, and one had been instantaneous and the other had been driven by panic. Nothing he could really lean back on now. He looked back towards the now closed door, before staring at the targets. "'Hit the target,' sure, I'll just do that." He huffed under his breath. Just hit the closest target. Surely, he could hit something. Puffing out another exhale, he frowned, brows drawing together as he focused, right hand raising as he tried to funnel the fire he'd let out before. He just needed a spark. He thought about back to the beginning, the burning, then the police, his grandma, in danger because of him, and anger set in. Match focused on that for the first time. And the fire he’d bottled up, that he’d pushed down, came rushing out, snaking down his arm before fully flaring out from his hand.
When the fire finally stopped, the first target was no more, flame and heat making easy work of it.
"I hit it."
'Jesus, yeah you did." Kyle said, and whistled. "Damn, uh. You definitely hit that target." He'd picked up a tablet, and glanced at it and some numbers scrolling down the screen. "Okay, according to this checklist i am supposed to ask if you feel physiologically differently than your usual baseline..." He trailed off, and then rolled his eyes with a huff. "Jesus fuck, I know who wrote this, hold on, fucking fuck." He tapped the screen furiously,, and then took out his phone, tapping out a long series of texts. "Okay, fuck it. You're pretty much an adult, and I am throwing that checklist out the door, it sucks. You make fire, and you get warm, right? Do you feel less warm?"
"No," Match shook his head with a barely contained eye roll that was really only stopped by the sudden... lack inside of him. The comment on whoever had wrote the questions Kyle had started reciting before something seemed to occur to him didn't go unnoticed. And again with the new kid outta water. Great. "No, I don't feel anything, I don't feel hot or warm or cold. It's all the same to me. I only notice if people have a response around me. I feel... drained, I think? In a good way? Like a lot of pressure's outta me or somethin'."
"That's a thing you can feel though. So, man, this is a gross metaphor but you know how if you have to throw up, sometimes you feel better after? Was it like that, or like just, you feel less full? So bad to good, or just full to better?" Kyle continued texting. "I'm taking notes, but the only people who can get them will be you and me, unless you want someone else to. You mind if I ask the Danger Room to throw some temperature readings, so we know if you're making the air around you less warm now that you set stuff on fire?"
“Gross," he mumbled under his breath in response to the description. Though, it was... like that, if you wanted to describe it like that. "I guess, yeah, that's kinda it? Uh, like full to better, it's a relief? I think that's how you would describe it." His uncertainty was clear, unsure if the word really was correct or if he'd mixed up meanings for words in his head. "Okay, yeah, that's cool by me. Both! Sorry, the notes and the temperature thing. Seems important."
"Hey Vi, can you pop me up a temp reading. Uh.' Kyle asked, pausing to think. "Give me entry, and then like, every ten seconds since. We wanna see if Match here cooled down once he blew up that target. Make a pretty graph if you want."
THe Danger Room replied in a pleasant tone, and a series of numbers appeared, holographically with time stamps under them, and then a graph appeared a moment later, tracking the temperature in big wide lines. Kyle walked over and stuck his finger through one, and laughed. "Well, you definitely got real hot real fast, and then cooled off. Look.' He pointed to an arrow on the graph. "So here's where you came in. Little toasty warm. And here." He pointed to a spike in the numbers. "This is you making fire, and then here, where it drops, it goes lower than when you came in. For sure, my man, if you use the powers, at least right after - you're less of a space heater."
The graph was pretty, and Match cocked his head to study it further, ignoring the numbers to focus on the way the bars went up then down. And a smile half-formed as he understood, or assumed he understood what the readings were saying. “So I just gotta blow off all the steam inside me?” And for all his acting like he was in control and knew things, he couldn’t keep the hope out of his voice as he asked the question. “Then maybe I’ll stop-“
He lapsed into silence then, rubbing at the glowing flesh peaking up from his shirt collar. “I can be normal?”
"Can't promise normal, but you can probably not be the guy makin' the subway a hotbox." Kyle said. "Wait, that's a pot thing, right? Shit. I don't know the right terms. You'll make the rest of us less uncomfy." He nodded firmly, as though 'less uncomfy' was a firm statement that made sense. "None of us are normal here, not to like misquote Lewis Carroll. It's like any other - like, thing you gotta live around, but figuring out how to make it easier for you is why we're here. Can't get the fire outta your genes, can get the fire outta your gut for a few hours."
If Match heard Kyle, he made no effort to respond. At his sides his hands curled into fists, frown setting firmly onto his face. The heat that had mostly vanished returned with a vengeance. “We’re done here.” He finally muttered as he made his way back to grab his backpack and exit.
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Date: 2023-10-11 01:51 pm (UTC)