Logs: Lorna and Danielle

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Backdated to Thursday Dec 16 & Saturday 18 :)

Wanting to work for her tuition brings Dani to the kitchen. Lorna is suprised to actually get some help.

always in the kitchen was a trifle unfair. After all, she didn’t sleep there and she did have training to go to occasionally. Of course, it hardly helped the perception when people went looking for her and always checked the kitchen first—and it worked.

Still, it wasn’t like she spent all that time cooking. Case in point. She was in the kitchen and absolutely nothing was simmering, sautéing, stewing, broiling, baking, or boiling. Okay, so there was dough rising but that didn’t count. She was really just in there to revise the grocery list.

Lorna thought about explaining that to the tall, dark-haired girl standing in the doorway then decided not to project “crazy” as her first impression. Plenty of time for that. “Hi. Come on in, I don’t bite. You must be Danielle?” Lorna smiled and stuck her pencil behind her ear.

Danielle nodded, looking at her feet. "Ms. Dane?" she asked softly, not wanting to disturb the other woman.

“Lorna, please. I feel like I’m either nine or nine hundred when someone calls me Ms. Dane.” Lorna turned in her chair but didn’t get up, figuring she should let the girl come to her. “Come sit. What brings you here, hungry? Thirsty? Bored and no one else to bother?” Bright, bubbly chatter has always been something of a specialty for Lorna. She may not have been as good at it as Clarice but well, a girl has to keep her hand in.

Dani didn't sit on the offered chair so much as perch on it gingerly, as if it might bite. She had sat the same way with the professor as well, "I just spoke with the Professor," she began, "And I was wondering if you needed any help in the kitchen?"

Lorna blinked at her, thrown by the question. After all, no one ever asked to help. Even the ones who cooked mostly just did it and worked around her rather than helping. “Well, I’m not making anything right now…” Lorna gave the girl a closer look, trying to figure out what she wanted, “What did the Professor say?”

"He said I should ask you first if you needed help," seeing Lorna's confused look, Dani elaborated, "I want to work to pay my tuition and Prof. Xavier agreed."

Lorna correctly interpreted that as Xavier for ‘if it makes you happy, go to it’. Who was she to argue with the boss-man? “Can you cook? Or was this just your first stop on the way to doing something you’ll actually enjoy?” Lorna sat back in her chair, playing idly with a strand of hair.

She had a hunch that Dani would take her more seriously if she gave her serious thought before saying yes. So, time for an interview. “Because honestly, cooking for this many people, you’d better believe I can use the help. I drafted an advanced cooking class but it’s not really enough. What kind of experience do you have?”

Shrugging, Danielle paused to put her thoughts together, she hadn't expected to need an interview, "My grandmother taught me to cook and I cooked on my own since I was 11 or so. And I cooked for my husband's family too. He had a big family and they all get together on Sunday's to eat."

Lorna smiled, “I usually cook for about fifty. There are a few more of us than that but some of them like to cook for themselves or just don’t believe in food. Breakfasts are informal though I do make it. Lunch is catch as you can for the 14 and ups, and prepared meals for below that. Dinner is more formal and schedules are posted with it though I usually reserve the right to change it on whatever whim.” She leaned forward and waited to see how Danielle would respond.

Nodding slowly, Danielle tried to process cooking for fifty instead of a thirty-someodd potluck. It would be like always, but more of it, "It'd be like Christmas forever," she replied finally. "I can do that."

“Christmas we get a break, actually. Lots of baking, not so much cooking since the kids scatter.” She grinned, “Thanksgiving, on the other hand, is madness such as cannot be contemplated by sane people. I dumped it on Jamie and Rahne this year.”

"I can bake some, too. Do you make frybread?" warming up to the older woman, Danielle smiled, looking up at her a bit. Looking elders in the eye, at least initially, was frowned on.

“Frybread?” Lorna shook her head, “I’m afraid not. My classes were always more European in emphasis. But you can feel free to make whatever. How good are you at menu planning?” The fact the girl wouldn’t look at her was just bizarre.

No frybread? Danielle wasn't sure how that was possible. Frybread was the most important part of a meal! "Menu planning?" she repeated, still trying to understand how they survived without frybread, "I made menues every week."

The girl could plan ahead! Lorna decided then and there she was in favour of this plan. “Excellent.” She frowned and then yanked a paperclipped stack of papers out of a drawer near the fridge. Floating it to her hand, she handed it to Dani. “That’s week after next, tentatively. What do you think?”

Biting her lip, she tried not to be shocked at the amounts and varieties of food. "Needs frybread," she commented, "and more vegetables."



A couple days later, they go shopping to less than pleasant results.



Lorna fussed with the review mirror again then looked at her passenger. “Feel free to mess with the radio. I’m mostly easy when it comes to music. Just no talk radio, I either get upset or sleepy.” She edged around a slower moving vehicle, muttering uncomplimentary things about the driver’s parentage.

"It's fine," Dani replied absently, staring out the window. This was her first time out of the school since she had arrived and everything was very different from Oklahoma. Hills and snow and trees, even in winter things looked more alive than what she was used to. "Wait! You just passed Wal-Mart!"

“Yeah, of course.” Lorna leaned forward and began to adjust the radio herself. “No reason to go there.” She scanned past several stations before settling on the local Top 40.

Dani turned to face Lorna quizically, "No reason?" she repeated, "You know of a resale shop then?"

“There are some really great ones in the city but they’re sort of high-end for just everyday wear.” Lorna responded, smiling at Dani. “We’re just going to hit the regular shops today. Well, and a couple of specialties, just to get you chef coats and such. Nothing really wild.”

Chef coats. Dani paused, mouth open. "All I need are some overalls and t-shirts, ain't it? I don't need chef coats or whatever."

“You planning to cook in my kitchen?” Lorna raised an eyebrow.

"Well...we talked about it. I have a scrunchie to pull my hair back," now Dani was confused. All that was required to cook growing up was being female and living. The female part was negotiable.

“Yeah, that’s important too. But a chef coat and an apron will keep your non-cooking clothes from being covered in beet juice or whatever. Plus I love the look. Oh and you’re going to need non-skid shoes.” Lorna wrinkled her nose, thinking then nodded at her purse. “Yank the notebook out of there and jot that down, would you? I’d hate to forget and have to come back out again.”

Dani leaned over and rummaged through Lorna's purse for the paper and pen, "How do you find anything in here?" she asked, finally pulling out a pen and diving back in for the paper, "I have shoes. I'm wearing them."

“Those have tape holding the soles on. They are no longer shoes. They’ve reverted to parts. And they have the traction of a well-greased banana peel.” Lorna had pegged Dani as being particularly stubborn, so she did what she always did with stubborn people—pretended they already agreed. “We’ll pick you up some clogs for the kitchen and then get you a couple pairs of everyday shoes.”

"I don't need a couple pairs!" Dani protested, the more they bought the more she would have to pay back, "I only need one pair - from walmart!"

"We aren’t going to Walmart.” Lorna reminded her. “You’re going to need maternity clothes. I think there’s a store near Godiva that has some really cute things. Actually, that’s really good placement, don’t you think? Nothing says pregnant woman magnet like chocolate.”

Rolling her eyes, Dani wondered what planet Lorna had come from. Obviously not the one she did. "Just because you like frills and whatever doesn't mean we all need them. Try to remember practical?" and cheap, she added silently. This was turning out to be a long car ride.

Lorna swung them into the parking lot of the outdoor mall that was Salem’s other major marketplace and expertly beat out a soccer mom in her SUV. “Frills? What frills have I suggested? I could have sworn that everything I said was actually quite necessary. Or are you not pregnant?”

"I am, but I don't need shoes or jackets or whatever. Just some overalls and a couple t-shirts. We've been through this!" Dani was close to whining, even with dreamless sleep she was still always a little tired.

“You need shoes. At least one pair to wear around the house and one to wear in the kitchen and don’t even think you’re worming out of non-slip shoes, missy. I’m not having you step on a tomato and break your spine.” Lorna turned off the engine and released her buckle, turning in the seat so she could face Dani. “And you need a jacket. It gets cold here, snow, sleet, god awful temperatures, the works. If you want new overalls…okay, I can be convinced there though you have plenty of practical options that don’t have built-in bibs and it’s not like we have a farm to take care of though when the vegetable garden reappears in the spring you’re welcome to have a crack at it.” Lorna stopped to take a breath and grinned. “Besides all that, it’s shopping. It’s supposed to be fun. Live a little, Dani, I promise not to tell.”

Dani bit her lip and unbuckled herself. Even though she argued with her, Lorna was still her elder and she should be respected. Respect did not mean understanding though. "Are you going to make me try things on and model for everyone?"

“Everyone? Did I suddenly become Jamie and learn to multiply myself?” Lorna looked down wonderingly at her slender body then laughed. “You don’t have to show anyone. If you aren’t comfortable, we aren’t buying it. Simple as pie. Simpler, considering some of the attitudes of the students toward cooking.” She got out of the car and beckoned Dani to follow. “Let’s go.”

***

"Lorna...there's no clearance rack here," Dani looked around nervously, almost afraid to touch anything. "We'd better find another store."

Lorna looked up from the soft angora sweaters she was sorting through, “What? Why?” She tugged a rich gold sweater from the pile and held it up to Dani. “Here, try that on.” Nothing in her expression said that she found anything at all odd with Dani’s behaviour.

"But...it's..." she blanched, "$49.50!"

Lorna shrugged, “They’re on sale, buy one, get the second half off. Just try it on.”

"I can feed my family for two weeks for that much!" Dani sputtered, trying to fend off the other shirt Lorna was thursting at her. "This is too much, Lorna!"

“You don’t have to feed anyone on clothes money. We have a food budget for that.” She pulled the sweater away and pressed another in its place, this one a cool sage green. “This is a good color on you. And they’ve got nice pants that’ll match, you’ll be able wear it all the way through.”

Mutely Dani accepted the sweaters, admitting a partial defeat. They were pretty and it didn't cost anything to try it on. "What about this one?" she asked, holding up a long sleeved gray t-shirt with Mickey Mouse on it.

Lorna looked it over critically then checked the tag. “It’s going to shrink and you’re only going to be able to wear it twice before it fades. You’re better off with some of those blouses, there. Not that it’s not way cute but really, you want Disney merchandise, get it from the park—much more fun.”

"It's also on the sale rack and who cares if it fades? It's a shirt, ain't it?" Dani replied, vexed. Clothing wasn't about looking good so much as being clothed sometimes. "It's not like I'll ever go the park anyways."

“Said like someone who still doesn’t realize just who she’s fallen in with.” Lorna shook her head. “It’s not that it’s going to fade, although there’s definitely something off about wanting to look shabby. It’s the fact that it’s a poor quality shirt and you’re aren’t actually saving anything by buying it on sale since it isn’t worth half that.” Reaching around Dani, she spun the sales rack and plucked off a different t-shirt. “I don’t have anything against sales. Just against cheaply made clothes. Here.”

Sighing, Dani wandered towards the dressing room, arms laden with clothing. Maybe if nothing fit, she could buy what she wanted. Somehow, she doubted this, even as she tried.

Lorna continued to comb through the store for a couple moments longer then followed Dani to the dressing room. She appreciated that the girl wanted to be frugal but didn’t quite see how that translated into buying cheap, ugly clothes. “How are you doing?” she asked, rapping on the door to Dani’s dressing room.

"Um..." Dani opened the door, clad in a pair of jeans and one of the sweaters Lorna had handed her. "You tell me?"

“Looks good.” Lorna indicated Dani should turn around. “How does it feel? Comfortable?”

She complied, turning slowly, "Yeah." Can we go now? was obvious, though unsaid. "So...is this normal?" she asked, closing the changing room door to get her clothes back on, "Buying entire wardrobes without notice for students?"

"Normal? I don’t think we really do normal. We just do what seems like needs to be done mostly.” Lorna gave it some thought. “It’s not really abnormal, anyway,” she decided finally.

Dani considered this, as she took the clothes to the checkout. For a house full of rich mutants, they were extremely accepting and generous. Briefly, she wondered if there was a catch.

“We should get chocolate.” Lorna handed the clerk a credit card without listening to the total. “Just a little of course, because wow, crazy amounts of calories but we deserve a treat before we go shoe shopping.”

"I don't eat chocolate," Dani replied, accepting the bags from the store clerk and trying not to have a wiggins at the total. She would return it all when Lorna wasn't looking.

Lorna gave her a startled look. “You don’t? Seriously? How do you survive?”

"Very well, and I want to keep surviving," she informed the older woman, almost angerly. "Not everyone lives like you, Lorna!"

Lorna stepped back and held up her hands in a placating gesture, “Whoa, chill. It was a joke. I never assumed they did. If you don’t like chocolate that’s cool. If you don’t like wearing silk, that’s cool too. I’m not trying to force anything on you.”

"Do you know how many 'Indigent people'," she said the words mockingly, "have diabetes? Or are morbidly obese? Do you know we just spent more money on clothes than I used to pay in rent? And you didn't even think about it."

“No, I didn’t.” Lorna sighed. “Let’s sit down.” She took the bags from Dani and walked over to sit on a bench. “I think we need to talk about something other than clothes for a minute. Let me start.” She extended her hand to Dani, “Hi, my name is Lorna. I’m an only child, adopted, raised in California. I went to private schools most of my life and have never had to worry about things like where my next meal is coming from. I’m an over-privileged white girl from the part of the country that invented over-privileged white girls. And you are?”

Dani sighed. "Jealous."

“Anything else? Or is that the extent of it?” Lorna tilted her head to the side.

"Nope, that's about it. Can't unsay words, only not say them again," Dani pulled her poncho tighter, "Everything here is so different."

“Yeah. And it takes time to adjust to it. Because all that I just told you? Means nothing. We all come from different places, Dani. Angelo and I grew up within 50 miles of each other but I never so much as saw a vandalized street sign and he was in a gang. Alison was a megastar. Jamie is a farm boy. Yana grew up in an alternate dimension. My boyfriend spent years surfing and avoiding schoolwork in Hawaii.” Lorna shrugged. “But at the school, we’re just us. Students or teachers. So, yeah, it’s all different here. That’s actually one of the best things about it.”

Dani nodded slowly, "Makes sense, but I'm still me. Changing places doesn't change that and I'm leaving once I get my powers under control, get my life back. Then what? I go back to the rez and pretend nothing happened?"

“You can try. When I came to the school, I was here for the same thing—just get the powers under control and then go back to college, get a degree and find myself a nice guy to marry so I could have a house in the suburbs with a white picket fence. Suffice it to say that was two years and several life-changing experiences ago.” Lorna drummed her fingernails on her knees and glanced around to be sure there wasn’t anyone in earshot. She didn’t really feel like having to deal with nosy passersby.

"What happened?" Dani was curious, it had seemed like everyone had been there for a while, and there were a lot of people who seemed to be not quite teachers and not students either.

“What hasn’t? Meeting Alex for one. That pretty much blew the white picket fence dreams out of the water.” Lorna smiled fondly as she mentioned Alex. “Getting trapped in my house after the Excedrin headache that rocked the world was another. My parents ended up moving to get away from the craziness.”

"I don't think I left my bed for days. We almost called the doctor," Dani remembered, two years managing to dull the pain of that day into a distant ache. "My Grandfather sat with me with a cold cloth the entire time."

“I was okay mostly but we’d been at a pool party and the neighbors were less than pleased about the way the patio furniture tried to kill them while I was freaking out. I spent most of the next two weeks in my room while people camped on my lawn with signs and camera crews filming it all.” Lorna rolled her eyes. “It was not the most fun I’ve ever had.”

"I bet. That's when we knew I was a mutant, but I never hurt people with my dreams so no one cared." her grandfather had dreams of college and sometimes of the forest where he was a park ranger.

“None of the neighbors knew before and after…well, they weren’t pleased to discovered they’d been living side by side with a dangerous mutant and had let her watch their kids and stuff. Like I said, in the end it was easier and safer for my parents to just sell the house and move someplace else.” And she was still a little bitter about that. Two years had done little to make it less painful. She’d grown up in that house, with those people. “And I came back here.”

"Evil. Right." Dani nodded, "Like your spending habits."

“Evil like having the same power as the crazy man who tried to wipe out all human life on earth, actually.” Lorna retorted, good-naturedly. “My spending habits are not evil. Just occasionally extravagant.”

"So's trying to kill humans, ain't it?" Dani stood, gathering the bags, "You said something about chocolate?"

“I did. But you are a heathen and don’t like chocolate so I’m going to keep it all to myself.” Lorna flipped her hair, dramatically. “So there.”

"One piece won't kill me, I'm not diabetic," at least not yet, she amended silently, "Lead on White-man."

“Come on, squaw. If we’re going to sin then we might as well sin big. Chocolate dipped strawberries, thataway!” Lorna snagged one of the bags out of Dani’s hand and headed off to Godiva.

Dani didn't follow, she turned and walked the other way.

Lorna noticed Dani wasn’t following after a couple of second and turned and ran back after her. “What? You don’t like strawberries either?” she asked confused.

"I'm not some $10 hooker!" Dani wiped her eyes, trying not to make a scene. "I'm not!"

“Um…okay.” Lorna blinked, still not sure what had happened, “Did I say you were? Was it the sin line? Cause I was more referring to the calories involved.”

"You said I was a heathen. Fine. But I'm not a slut! I got married, didn't I? I'm not some pow-wow honky-tonk girl!" Dani sniffed, not caring about the scene she was causing and allowing Lorna to guide her back to the bench. She was angry but more than that, she was shocked that someone as nice as Lorna would say something like that.

“Dani, hon? You’ve totally lost me. Explain it in small words, would you?” She put her arm around the younger girl’s shoulders. “Tell me what I said so that I can apologize for it?”

"Squaw," Dani wiped her eyes with her wrist, "Means slut."

“Really?” Lorna blinked twice. “Okay, wow, I feel really stupid. I’m sorry.” She dug into her purse and pulled out a tissue, “Here.”

Blowing her nose loudly, Dani tried to pull herself together. "Can we go back?" she whispered.

"To the school? Yeah, sure." She gave Dani a one-armed hug around the shoulders. "I really am sorry."

Nodding, Dani walked with Lorna back to the car, her head on the other womans shoulder. Thankfully, Lorna was not short. As they reached their car, a woman a few cars down began screaming about ants everywhere and scratching herself. "Oh..." Dani moaned, trying to stop her power but not knowing how.

Lorna could feel the pressure of Dani's power pressing on her shields and was grateful that she's finally put enough effort into maintaining that it was not more than a faint weight. She wasn't about to lower them to find out what Dani was sending. She wasn't a psi and it wouldn't do her a damn bit of good. Instead, she physically dragged the cringing girl the last few yards to the car and helped her in. "It's okay, hon. Calm down. Just relax. We'll get you out of here. How are you feeling?" If she could get Dani to focus on something else, it would help.

"I'm...fine," Dani hyperventilated, obviously not fine, "I just...need to..." she didn't finish her sentence, breathing heavily.

Lorna efficiently buckled Dani’s seatbelt and darted around the car. The woman was still screaming a few cars over. “You need to breathe and focus on something small. Anything that you can put your attention on. It’ll help.” She started the car and zipped it out of the parking spot.

Slowly, Dani's breathing became more normal as she stared down at her shoes, head in her hands. "I did that, didn't I?" she whispered rhetorically, rocking back and forth. "I hurt her."

“Stay focused, Dani. Worrying about it will make it worse.” Lorna had driven conservatively to get to the mall, she abandoned that caution now. Alison would have been proud. “Think about it when we get home.” Her voice was dead calm and authoritative.

Dani nodded imperceptibly, continuing to rock as much as the seatbelt would allow. Softly, she began to hum under her breath.

Lorna dialled a code on her communicator, just to give the school a heads-up so they could be prepared in case Dani wasn’t under control by the time they got back. The pressure on her shield seemed like it was lessening so that was a good sign. Lorna settled back in her chair and listened with half an ear to Dani’s humming. It was pretty. “Almost there, hon.”

"Almost..." Dani whispered, trying to reach through the windshield. "Almost, but not quite."