xp_logs | Manuel and Charles Xavier

Who: Manuel de la Rocha, Charles Xavier
Where: Charles's Office
When: Backdated to three days after the HeliX Formal Dance
What Happens: The therapy begins, although Manuel does not recognize it as such.

Paper rustled as he turned a page gently, the sunlight falling through the window glinting off the pages of his book every now and then. Other than that, the office was quiet, as always. The sound proofing was beyond compare, really – if Charles could not get quietness of mind from all the people surrounding him, at least he could get actual physical silence this way. It was a small thing, but it brought him satisfaction. And his office being withdrawn from the main areas of the school at least afforded him the pretense of a physical buffer from the minds of the children and adults living on the grounds.

Manuel knocked on the door and poked his head in without waiting for a summons. "Good, you are here." he said, and let himself in to Charles's office. He draped himself over Charles's very nice guest chair and his thoughts were shielded very, very badly. "You wanted to see me?" he said with as much challenge as he dared.

"As per your request," Charles nodded amiably, setting his book down after marking the page with a book dart, neatly slipped on the side of the page. "I'm afraid sometimes I must ask that people come to see me according to a certain schedule. However, whenever possible I will let you know of whatever free moments I have, so that you may have your pick." And turned his chair so that it faced Manuel, from across the desk. "And how are you doing?"

Manuel shrugged. "Been better." he admitted, knowing full-well that any deception would be seized upon with ruthless efficiency. It's how he would have done it. "HeliX party was fun, but I erred badly with Amanda's human friend." His already spotty shield went even thinner, just barely keeping his thoughts from echoing around the room.

Keeping his own shields up with practiced efficiency, Charles nodded slowly. He noted the disintegration impassively and was ready to block him out entirely if needed, as well as keeping him contained within the room. "I see," he murmured. "How, in your estimate, would you say that you erred?"

"I used my power to clear us some breathing room." he admitted, wincing slightly at the blow he knew was soon to come. "She freaked, and because I promised not to use my power on her, I had to try to talk her down. I was unsuccessful. It's sad, normally I can charm a dozen girls like her without really even thinking about it. But without my gift, I seem to have lost the knack." he said glumly. "I couldn't convince a sixteen-year-old human punk girl that my intentions were good and that she had nothing to fear from me. Instead, she decided to tell me I was an abusive partner to Amanda and that I terrified her."

Unmoving, Charles processed the information slowly, expression grave but nothing more. "So your analysis of the situation is as follows – do correct me if I misunderstood." Pausing only a moment to ascertain this was agreeable to Manuel, he continued. "The use of your power unsettled Amanda's friend. Enough so that she refused to believe any further assurances you offered her. And that you had to rely purely upon social means to try and convince her – and failed – is what affects you so."

Manuel nodded. "That's basically it, yeah." he said. "I messed up. I can only apologize to you for bending my word about using my powers at the party."

Interesting. Either he'd not realized what Charles had left out of his statement, or simply didn't care. Keeping a careful mental tab on the state of Manuel's shields, he nodded once more. "Apology accepted." And that was that. "I have two questions for you at this point. The first has two parts... do you think you know why Amanda's friend was so unsettled, and also why she then refused to believe that you would not use your power afterwards?"

Manuel blinked at his incredible good fortune, and his tension levels ratcheted down about a half-dozen notches. He visibly relaxed in his chair, and even ventured a smile or two. "It's very simple. She claimed that she was uncomfortable with psionics, and since I am a psi, that automatically made her uncomfortable. She was also suffering from a good deal of nervousness, presumably about the party in general, and she's a very lower-middle-class sort of a girl. As for why she refused to believe me - I suspect that again, it was out of
fear."

The clear shifts in Manuel's state reflected upon Charles' sense with the clarity of a church bell - expection of reprisal, likely severe, after admitting to a mistake. Which only made sense of course, but still confirmed what Charles had suspected all along. One always confirmed one's theories, however. "Discomfort does not automatically translate to outright fear, in my experience." The vastness of that experience was left entirely undefined, however. "What would you say caused the shift from one to the other? You do seem to have noted a
progression in the situation..."

"It does not directly translate, but discomfort feeds into fear very, very easily. The two go hand-in-glove." Manuel replied, now beginning to take some pleasure in intellectually crossing swords with Charles. "As for the progression from one to the other - we danced. I tried to bandy sweet words to her, but she told me that she preferred truth. So I gave it to her, and that's when things really started to degrade. I suppose I should have lied to her, but I find lying very personally trying." he said, entirely unaware of the rich irony.

"But what was the trigger for the shift from one to the other?" Charles murmured, in a way which could easily be construed as though he were asking the question to himself and not really expecting an answer from Manuel. Quiet reigned for a moment, perhaps just long enough for the question to remain with Manuel for a while nonetheless. "What do you construe to be a good communication method in social situations, Manuel?"

"A good communication method? I'm not sure I understand the question. Do you mean among equals, or from a position of power, or from a position of weakness? Among equals, conversation should be natural and without pretense. From a position of strength, communication should be direct and clear. From a position of weakness, respect must be maintained at all times." he said, clearly reciting a lesson from long ago. "There is more, but that is the absolute framework from which all else springs."

Charles merely nodded - he wasn't even going to consider tackling that issue with him in a simple way. No amount of dialectic would likely convince the young man that he might have to revise some of his beliefs - only living proof and experience would do that. And it would take time and work.

"Thank you for answering my question to the best of your abilities." A polite nod, and Charles paused, curious to see if Manuel might have questions or comments of his own.

"You're welcome. But I must ask - why this line of questioning? I am ready for empathy training." he said with what he hoped was a charming smile. "Have you given any more thought as to how we are going to accomplish this? Do you have a test-subject lined up?"

Charles granted him the ghost of a smile and shook his head slightly. "We are already working on your training, Manuel." He rested his hands flatly on the desk before him. "You see, I have no desire to leave anything to chance at all. I will do nothing less but than give you my entire attention while we work on your training."

The question about a test subject did not surprise Charles - this was consistent with the empath's ethics system, after all. He simply ignored it, not granting it acknowledgement but not castigating him for it either. "I need some time to establish some baseline factors before we progress further into actual psychic training."

Manuel nodded and then leaned back in his chair. "So we won't be doing any real work today. More talk, the dance of words. Fair enough. What sort of baseline factors do you need to establish?" he asked boldly. "Ask your questions - I will answer them as I see fit."

Another of those serene smiles greeted Manuel's comment. "I find our conversations extremely interesting, you should know." With that, he answered the question. "The baseline factors are being determined by yourself, Manuel." And without missing a beat, he went on to the second question he had been meaning to ask. "How do you define a word of honor? And the flexibility thereof, when it might be bent as opposed to broken?"

Manuel winced. He should have expected this. "A word of honor should never be broken." he admitted. "And before you say it, I know I broke mine. I said I wouldn't use my power, and I did. I can only throw myself upon your mercy." he said with real sorrow and regret in his voice. "My honor is one of the only things I have left. Now I've even forsaken that."

And still, he didn't make the association. Pushing the matter tonight might not serve any real purpose - and already Charles felt that he had found what he needed from this session in particular. He would not risk that, when there was still time to pursue matters with each time they spoke further.

"I thought you felt that way about such things. This is why I was puzzled when you used the particular phrasing you did at the time." To soften the expected reaction to the admission, perhaps. Or perhaps entirely unconscious on his part. "One, last question I think. Although we are already far beyond the number I had asked to be allowed," Charles pointed out, still with that same non-judgemental tone of voice. "How does one define honor?" And the nuance in his own question Charles felt Manuel wasn't quite ready to detect yet. But might remember later on.

"Honor?" Manuel asked, honestly surprised by the question. "Honor is acting according to the standards of breeding and class that have existed for centuries. It is a vague concept by necessity, and one not easily summed up. Honor is, at its very core, standing for something. Being true."

This was, Charles felt, a good place to start. "Manuel... I would like for you to research the concept of honor." It would be an exercise in perceptions, and an interesting one at that. "You may take the time you feel is needed for this, although I would like for us to discuss your results as time passes. There are no word or page limits." With that he leaned back in his chair calmly. "Would another meeting this week be a possibilty, taking into consideration your class schedule?"

Manuel shrugged. "I gave you a workable definition. But I will do what you ask. You want me to look up different concepts of honor. Give you a breakdown. I can do that. And yes, we can meet next week. I may even have this assignment done by then." He stood up and settled into an easy formal relaxed pose. Almost a parade-rest. "I will see you next week, then." he said with a nod of his head, and then turned on his heel to leave Charles's office.

Manuel and Charles Xavier - Therapy Log One