Rahne and Nathan, Sunday afternoon

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Nathan is sitting down to play with his TK a little, but isn't quite sure what to do. Rahne gives him a suggestion that works out rather well, and the two of them talk a little more about her thoughts regarding her experiences in Asgard and some of her questions about her mutation.



After some poking around downstairs and a few questions, Nathan had managed to get his hands on a few pieces of steel bar stock to practice with. He had taken them outside, rather than the Danger Room, mostly because it was too nice a day to spend the afternoon below ground, and was seated cross-legged on the lawn, the steel lying on the grass in front of him. What to do, what to do...

Rahne was also having a nice afternoon walk outdoors, and seeing Nathan sitting on the ground staring at something piqued her interest. She came up moderately quietly, not wanting to sneak but a little concerned about disrupting his concentration if he was in the middle of something.

Well, the steel didn't look as if it were doing anything. "Hi."

Nathan looked up at her with a smile. "Hey," he said warmly. "Don't mind me. I suddenly have my TK back to play with, and now I'm not sure what to do."

Rahne dropped to the grass and eyed the metal thoughtfully. "Were ye thinking of making them dance or turning them into something?"

"Reshaping them somehow. I was trying to come up with something suitably creative, but I'm drawing a blank." He looked sideways at her, still smiling. "Any suggestions?" he asked lightly.

Rahne thought about this briefly, then bit her lip for just a moment before glancing up at him with a hint of a wry smile. "...A wolf?"

Nathan grinned. "Imagine you coming up with something like that," he teased and then turned his attention to the steel, taking a deep breath. He extended his hands over them, letting his perceptions slide downwards until he could see the structure of the metal - and pick it apart delicately, levitating it upwards in a glittering silver cloud. There was a feeling of tension behind his eyes, but not pain. A different telekinetic frequency, stuff like this. Not at all like the heavy lifting and shielding that had gotten him into so much trouble last weekend.

Rahne caught her breath as the tiny fragments rose and caught the light. "'Tis lovely already," she murmured, then a bit diffidently tried to project the image of the particular wolf she had in mind.

Nathan caught the image from her mind - Rahne could project quite clearly when she tried - and held it in his, concentrating on the cloud of metal flecks. He shaped it delicately, slowly into a pattern that echoed the image in his mind. The wolf took shape, its head and tail half-lifted, as if alert, but its posture somehow relaxed as well as it looked off to one side. He let it move, walk over to Rahne and look at her inquisitively. Very much like the ghost-Paige he'd created in the Danger Room that time - a little better, even, he flattered himself, mimicking in metal glitter the pattern of the wolf's fur. Hard, when everything was monochromatic.

Rahne jumped a bit when he made it walk, then smiled helplessly and first offered it her hand, then shifted part of the way so she could swivel her ears forward and poke her muzzle at it -- not quite touching, of course, but only just. Then she shifted back and sat back on her heels again. "That's amazing."

"Not as hard as you'd think, either," Nathan murmured, making the wolf dance backwards a little, returning at last to the position Rahne had envisioned. He shrank it, compacting it down to a fraction of the original size, until it was solid again. A little more fiddling with the structure of the metal ensured it would stay that way, and he picked it up, making a thoughtful noise. "Not even warm." Then, he offered it to Rahne, a kind, knowing smile tugging at his lips. "Hrimhari?"

"Aye." She took it and ran a finger lightly back between the ears. "Perfect likeness. Ye even got the 'Of course I'm in charge here' air." She was grinning, even if she was blinking a little hard. "He'd look over the pack like that, sometimes. --And then pounce on somebody to play." She tapped the minutely raised forepaw and the curve of the tail. "Some of the older she-wolves grumbled about how he wasna over being a puppy yet, but they didna seem to mind it much really."

"You have a very clear memory of him," Nathan murmured. "Made it very easy." He tilted his head, regarding it thoughtfully. "It's a shame I can't manage color. But I wouldn't even know where to begin there."

"Could get strange, actually, if ye were trying it from my memories. I see differently as a wolf -- not fewer colors, like I've read; I think I get more. 'Tis very odd."

"That's interesting. Are you going to take Moira's open powers class at all this year?" Nathan inquired.

"...I suppose I should. I canna think of anything new to do with it, but maybe that's its own reason."

"Moira would love to have you, I suspect," Nathan said fondly. "And you never know what she might come up with for you, given the opportunity. She's unpredictable that way. Remember my glass Taj Mahal?"

"Aye, but I somehow think telekinesis might lend itself to a wee bit more variety than turning into a wolf."

"Give it some thought," he suggested. "If you don't want to take the class itself, maybe at least ask her about any questions you have? She could explain why your vision changes as a wolf, I suspect."

"Likely. 'Twould be nice to know. ...I'm thinking part of it's heat. Infrared, I mean. Live creatures, or a car that's just been running, all seem to have the same color tinge."

Nathan smiled, fascinated by the idea. "If nothing else," he said, "it would be good to know just how your senses are altered, wouldn't it? Figure out more precisely the limits of your... wolf-self, for lack of a better word."

"Form," she said absently, then blushed a little. "Sorry. Didna mean to nitpick. Aye, it would."

Nathan raised his hands, grinning. "Your terminology is the correct terminology, as far as I'm concerned. It's your mutation, after all." He lowered his hand, regarding her affectionately. "You know I'd do anything you needed to help you explore that, right?"

Rahne grinned back. "I'll keep that in mind if I think of something. Thanks." Her expression went a bit pensive. "I suppose 'self' has its own points, some ways. 'Tis still me, obviously -- but I think I wound up acting quite a bit different with the pack than here, wolf or human."

"Have you thought," Nathan started slowly, gently, "of writing down some of your thoughts about the whole experience? Not in the public journals, obviously, unless you wanted to do it that way. But it might help you to figure out some things if you did try to get it down in words."

"I think ye suggested that last time. I've thought. Havena done it yet." She frowned suddenly. "I doona really *want* to take Speech class."

Nathan blinked. "Then don't?" he suggested lightly. "Fill the slot with something you'd enjoy."

Rahne looked up at him again and laughed. "Och, that was a bit of a non sequitur, I suppose. I hadna been planning to take it. Only I was still thinking about acting different and... maybe paying more attention to body language since I got back, and it struck me that as far as I understand 'tis partly what the Speech course is about." She waved a hand. "Social body language. How to act dominant with it." A more thoughtful look. "Ye move like an alpha, most of the time. I think. It probably doesna really translate properly, but I *think* unless he met ye with someone ye defer to, Hrimhari would guess ye to be a leader."

"Maybe you don't need the Speech course," Nathan mused. "You obviously have a natural instinct for body language, something that comes along with your mutation." He smiled. "You might do just as well with some long conversations with Doug."

She shook her head. "I doona, though, that's the thing. I had to have it explained to me in the pack, and I'm only... applying that across, here, in a different... structure, and I canna really explain it or tell how far 'tis accurate or not." She grinned wryly. "Mind, talking to Doug about it sounds more appealing than Ms. Frost's course."