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xp_logsDani heads out to the boathouse in the early afternoon to see Mr. Marko about some repairs she can't quite manage. They discuss respect, being young, being old and she gets another job offer.
Traipsing off to the boathouse in the snow to ask Cain about the exhaust vents in the garage was not Dani's most brilliant idea, but now she knew who to ask and it needed to be done. One less thing to cause a potential problem on top of everything else. Tentatively, she knocked on the door, hoping he
wasn't asleep or something.
Cain sat up in bed. Today was not being a good day already, and the knocking on the door didn't help. He managed to awkwardly shrug into a shirt and slump over his walker, beginning the slow trek to the door.
"Keep y'r shirt on, 'm comin'!" he growled, lurching down the hallway to the door. What should normally have been six steps took over a minute and a half, but he finally managed to get the door open.
"What?"
No one had mentioned how BIG Mr. Marko was. Forcing herself not to take a step back as he loomed over her, she smiled resolutely, "Mr. Marko? I was wondering if I could ask you some questions about the exhaust vents?"
Cain's mind took a few seconds to rev up to speed, then he nodded, remembering the girl from the journals. "Right," he grumbled, "y'said 's'much. Y'oughta..." he looked down at Dani and remembered something else that had been mentioned. "Whoa!" he spurted, "Pregn'nt! You... get outta th' cold, y' lamebrain. Get 'nside!"
"I have my poncho on," she pointed out, ignoring that it was practically threadbare and heading inside where it was nice and warm, "and even a hat and gloves. I'm fine. You're the one who's barely dressed."
"'m bigg'r," Cain argued, "'n' y'r pregn'nt. Don' argue." He shuffled himself into the kitchen, managing to pull out a chair awkwardly for Dani as he slumped into one of the larger ones. "So. Y'asked 'bout... vents?" Cain pointed to a rack of binders on the hallway wall. "Big white one, bring t'me?"
"Sure," Dani headed over there, reaching awkwardly on her toes to get the binder. They were well above eye-level for most people, but probably just right for Cain. She hadn't felt so short in years. "This one?"
"Nng," Cain grunted, nodding awkwardly. As she set it on the table between them, Cain started slowly turning the pages, flipping painstakingly through diagrams and blueprints.
"Y'seem t'be handy..." he spoke in his clipped rhythm, "wi' th' simple stuff. Hear y'help where y'can. S'good. Mos' kids here don' think 'bout that. Here," he spread the binder open to a diagram of the exhaust vents that led from the garage to the outside, to carry fumes out of the enclosed space. "Show where... leak?"
"I think about here," she pointed to a duct pretty close to the garage, "it's backing up into the garage. Ain't much of a problem with Forge in the medlab instead of working on his car thing, but the shops are all down there too and the autorepair class," she wasn't bitter about not being with them. Really, she wasn't. She was perfectly happy comparing engine designs and analyzing their functionality and her voice said so.
"Mmm-hmm," Cain mumbled, "Snow ain't been cleaned offa th' exhaust vents. Prob'ly got lotta gunk in 'em. Makes rust. Gon' need..." he thought for a bit, looking at the diagram. "Y' know how t' read...
invent'ry list? Order stuff?"
"If it's as bad as it looked when I tried to get up there, we're gonna need to replace that segment. Ain't been touched in years prolly. Unless you know of something to cover it. But I can probably order what we need," she was pretty sure she could convinve Forge to climb in there for her. And if not, someone would help.
Cain nodded. "Fair 'nough. Gon' need replacin'. An' I don' wan' t'hear 'bout you climbin' 'round doin' it. Tell you what I tol' th' Doc - y'r in th' family way an' all. Ain't no call f'r doin' stupid shit."
He cocked his head, actually looking at Dani for the first time. "Wait minnit..." he paused. "How old're you, anyways?"
Skimming the schematics to see what would need to be done, she looked up defensively, "Seventeen," she replied slowly, waiting to see why he wanted to know.
"Sev'nteen," Cain echoed. "'s young. But... don' need me tellin' y' that. Got good people here. Let 'm help." He jerked his head at her belly briefly. "One o' th' boys here r'spons'ble?
"No," she unconciously fingered the wedding band she still wore on her left hand, a simple gold ring they'd gotten from Wal-Mart, "Guy back home. We got married. Now we're getting divorced."
"Ah," Cain said, with a small implication of "I'm impressed" in his voice. "S'awf'l young, but y'know that. An'way," he returned to the diagrams, pointing with a table fork, "here an' here, y'need new venting. Here's... part n'mbers, takes... day or so. Have someone...tall'r help w' th' install. An' make sure th' grates stay clear."
"Can I borrow this?" she asked, indicating the entire binder, "I'll bring it back once I find someone to help me finish the install," at nearly 6' finding someone significantly taller than her could be a problem, but there were always ladders.
Cain smiled. "Be m' guest. Y'know, once y'have... baby? May need...ass'tn't. If y'r look'n' f'r job."
Dani couldn't help but grin and lean back in her chair,"Everyone wants to give me a job here, Ms. Dane, Dr. McCoy, well, I don't know how much longer that will last, and now you. Next thing you know, I'll be a teacher here or something outrageous."
"Well, ain't 'ssumin' that 'm gon' be up 'n' 'bout f'r a while," Cain confessed. "'n' that bein' th' case, place could use... th' help. Y'seem... r'spons'ble. Y'want t' help out, lemme warn y' - ain'
easy."
Laughing, Dani couldn't help but like Cain, he reminded her of some of the old men Nashim used to play cards with, "You're the only other person here who says 'ain't', Mr. Marko." she stood up, puttering around the kitchen to clean it up, "And life ain't easy. Nothing worthwhile ever is."
"Do I look like... pers'n who's all prop'r 'bout speakin'?" Cain grumbled good-naturedly. "Just 'cause... got d'gree don' mean 'm all civ'lized or nothin'. An' y'r preachin' t' th' choir 'bout life ain't easy. Don' I know it."
"You got a degree and you work as a maintainance guy? Why?" Dani couldn't quite believe it. People with degrees were doctors and lawyers or even teachers, they weren't repair men for mutant high schools. Normally she wasn't quite this nosy, but he didn't seem to mind, "Ain't like you couldn't get a better one."
"None y'r bus'ness," Cain snorted, curling his nose in distaste. "I do it 'cause I do it, s'all." He sighed, weakly lifting his left arm to flop across his chest. Today was not a good day as far as recovery went, and he was trying not to let it get to him. "Wasn' like this alw'ys. Bigg'r. Strong. Not 'zac'ly made f'r normal places, if y' get th' drift."
"Sorry, sir," Dani lowered her eyes to him, reminded that no matter how open people were here, he was still an elder and should be treated with respect. "I'll get to fixing that vent, then."
Cain nodded, not altogether comfortable with Dani's sudden deference, but finding it infinitely preferable to the usual rebellion and defiant attitude he got from some of the kids. "Don' try doin' it y'rself, like I said. See 'f Nate's up f'r it, or Sixpack, whassisname... Madrox, yeah. He's good help."
"Jamie?" she hadn't really considered him, not really hanging out with him outside of class, "Sure. No problem. Mr. Dayspring just got back, so he's probably busy."
"Tell 'im 's a fav'r for me," Cain grinned, "D'spr'ng owes me one 'r two. Met 's fiancee yet?" he asked. "Doc M'ra? Pr'gn'nt, too." He pushed himself slightly away from the table, turning painfully towards the refrigerator. "Get y' som'thin'? Coke, sammich?"
"No," Dani shook her head, "What do you want? I'm here, I cook. Clean. Whatever you need," she looked around, indicating the messy house. Things weren't on the floor, but they seemed to be everywhere else, "Whoever is supposed to be helping here, ain't."
Cain frowned, but didn't move from the chair. "Been tryin' t' do f'r m'self. As 'f ain' hard 'nough, t'day..." he lashed out spastically with one leg, kicking over his walker. "Damn thing. Sorry," he
apologized. "'s frustratin'."
She shrugged accepting, "It's okay. I took care of my grandparents before they died. Sometimes, you can't do it no matter how much you want to even when you aren't sick or hurt. I can't seem to shield."
With a chuckle, Cain reached down to pick up his walker, smiling broadly. He was probably older than this girl's grandparents, despite looking less than ten years her senior. But that wasn't exactly the easiest thing to explain, even if he wanted to. "Makin' me feel like... old man. Well, old'r." He paused briefly. "Shield? Y'r tel'path?"
Dani was rummaging through the cabinets looking for cleaning supplies, "Empath. And I can make people see things. But I don't." she was quick to assure him, in case he thought she was reading him, "I don't like to do that."
Cain cocked his head. "Empath. Do me... favor? See what I'm..." he tapped the side of his head. "Please?" Even now, he wasn't exactly sure how he really was feeling. It had been so long that the anger had been overriding everything else - everything seemed new.
Bracing herself against the counter in case she was overwhelmed, Dani thumbed the inhibitor off. This far from the school she wasn't bombarded with feelings like she normally was, there was no sensory overload to wade through, just Mr. Marko. Cocking her head to one side, she squinted at him and focused. Slowly his emotions became clear, no one emotion dominating the rest making him harder to read. "Um...frustration. Curiosity. Maybe hope? And amusement," she listed several slowly, unsure since some were similar.
"S'about right," Marko said with no small amount of happiness coming through. "Thank you."
"You're welcome. I don't...that is," taking a breath she started over, "I don't really have shields so it's hard to stay focused for a long time. Or if there are too many people. It's too much. And really? I don't usually want to know what other people feel."
Cain could empathize with that. "Need time t'be 'lone," he agreed. "I know... what's like. Too m'ny voices. Want t'... shut ev'ryone out." He brushed his hand briefly against his chest. There used to be something... something he had to keep everyone out. But for the life of him, he couldn't quite remember. Everything felt like someone else's life anyway.
He smiled at the muffin Dani set in front of him, grumbling a quick word of thanks. "Y're... good kid. Don' mean that as... put-down. Y'got r'spect, an' tha's rare. But hey," he reached out gingerly, lifting her chin. "Y'don' got t' lower y'r eyes 'round me. R'spect don' mean cowerin' or fear, 'k?"
"It ain't fear," she tried to explain, looking at him, whitemen just didn't understand. It was respect, "If did that at home, Nashim would...he raised me better than that. An besides, you have an old soul."
"Y'ain't gotta not look t' show r'spect..." Cain offered. "Show by..act'ns. 's 'nough f'r me." He extended a shaking hand to Dani, offering a handshake of respect. "Y'r able t' do that, y'll get th'
same from me."
Nodding, Danielle took his hand, shaking it. "Deal."
Traipsing off to the boathouse in the snow to ask Cain about the exhaust vents in the garage was not Dani's most brilliant idea, but now she knew who to ask and it needed to be done. One less thing to cause a potential problem on top of everything else. Tentatively, she knocked on the door, hoping he
wasn't asleep or something.
Cain sat up in bed. Today was not being a good day already, and the knocking on the door didn't help. He managed to awkwardly shrug into a shirt and slump over his walker, beginning the slow trek to the door.
"Keep y'r shirt on, 'm comin'!" he growled, lurching down the hallway to the door. What should normally have been six steps took over a minute and a half, but he finally managed to get the door open.
"What?"
No one had mentioned how BIG Mr. Marko was. Forcing herself not to take a step back as he loomed over her, she smiled resolutely, "Mr. Marko? I was wondering if I could ask you some questions about the exhaust vents?"
Cain's mind took a few seconds to rev up to speed, then he nodded, remembering the girl from the journals. "Right," he grumbled, "y'said 's'much. Y'oughta..." he looked down at Dani and remembered something else that had been mentioned. "Whoa!" he spurted, "Pregn'nt! You... get outta th' cold, y' lamebrain. Get 'nside!"
"I have my poncho on," she pointed out, ignoring that it was practically threadbare and heading inside where it was nice and warm, "and even a hat and gloves. I'm fine. You're the one who's barely dressed."
"'m bigg'r," Cain argued, "'n' y'r pregn'nt. Don' argue." He shuffled himself into the kitchen, managing to pull out a chair awkwardly for Dani as he slumped into one of the larger ones. "So. Y'asked 'bout... vents?" Cain pointed to a rack of binders on the hallway wall. "Big white one, bring t'me?"
"Sure," Dani headed over there, reaching awkwardly on her toes to get the binder. They were well above eye-level for most people, but probably just right for Cain. She hadn't felt so short in years. "This one?"
"Nng," Cain grunted, nodding awkwardly. As she set it on the table between them, Cain started slowly turning the pages, flipping painstakingly through diagrams and blueprints.
"Y'seem t'be handy..." he spoke in his clipped rhythm, "wi' th' simple stuff. Hear y'help where y'can. S'good. Mos' kids here don' think 'bout that. Here," he spread the binder open to a diagram of the exhaust vents that led from the garage to the outside, to carry fumes out of the enclosed space. "Show where... leak?"
"I think about here," she pointed to a duct pretty close to the garage, "it's backing up into the garage. Ain't much of a problem with Forge in the medlab instead of working on his car thing, but the shops are all down there too and the autorepair class," she wasn't bitter about not being with them. Really, she wasn't. She was perfectly happy comparing engine designs and analyzing their functionality and her voice said so.
"Mmm-hmm," Cain mumbled, "Snow ain't been cleaned offa th' exhaust vents. Prob'ly got lotta gunk in 'em. Makes rust. Gon' need..." he thought for a bit, looking at the diagram. "Y' know how t' read...
invent'ry list? Order stuff?"
"If it's as bad as it looked when I tried to get up there, we're gonna need to replace that segment. Ain't been touched in years prolly. Unless you know of something to cover it. But I can probably order what we need," she was pretty sure she could convinve Forge to climb in there for her. And if not, someone would help.
Cain nodded. "Fair 'nough. Gon' need replacin'. An' I don' wan' t'hear 'bout you climbin' 'round doin' it. Tell you what I tol' th' Doc - y'r in th' family way an' all. Ain't no call f'r doin' stupid shit."
He cocked his head, actually looking at Dani for the first time. "Wait minnit..." he paused. "How old're you, anyways?"
Skimming the schematics to see what would need to be done, she looked up defensively, "Seventeen," she replied slowly, waiting to see why he wanted to know.
"Sev'nteen," Cain echoed. "'s young. But... don' need me tellin' y' that. Got good people here. Let 'm help." He jerked his head at her belly briefly. "One o' th' boys here r'spons'ble?
"No," she unconciously fingered the wedding band she still wore on her left hand, a simple gold ring they'd gotten from Wal-Mart, "Guy back home. We got married. Now we're getting divorced."
"Ah," Cain said, with a small implication of "I'm impressed" in his voice. "S'awf'l young, but y'know that. An'way," he returned to the diagrams, pointing with a table fork, "here an' here, y'need new venting. Here's... part n'mbers, takes... day or so. Have someone...tall'r help w' th' install. An' make sure th' grates stay clear."
"Can I borrow this?" she asked, indicating the entire binder, "I'll bring it back once I find someone to help me finish the install," at nearly 6' finding someone significantly taller than her could be a problem, but there were always ladders.
Cain smiled. "Be m' guest. Y'know, once y'have... baby? May need...ass'tn't. If y'r look'n' f'r job."
Dani couldn't help but grin and lean back in her chair,"Everyone wants to give me a job here, Ms. Dane, Dr. McCoy, well, I don't know how much longer that will last, and now you. Next thing you know, I'll be a teacher here or something outrageous."
"Well, ain't 'ssumin' that 'm gon' be up 'n' 'bout f'r a while," Cain confessed. "'n' that bein' th' case, place could use... th' help. Y'seem... r'spons'ble. Y'want t' help out, lemme warn y' - ain'
easy."
Laughing, Dani couldn't help but like Cain, he reminded her of some of the old men Nashim used to play cards with, "You're the only other person here who says 'ain't', Mr. Marko." she stood up, puttering around the kitchen to clean it up, "And life ain't easy. Nothing worthwhile ever is."
"Do I look like... pers'n who's all prop'r 'bout speakin'?" Cain grumbled good-naturedly. "Just 'cause... got d'gree don' mean 'm all civ'lized or nothin'. An' y'r preachin' t' th' choir 'bout life ain't easy. Don' I know it."
"You got a degree and you work as a maintainance guy? Why?" Dani couldn't quite believe it. People with degrees were doctors and lawyers or even teachers, they weren't repair men for mutant high schools. Normally she wasn't quite this nosy, but he didn't seem to mind, "Ain't like you couldn't get a better one."
"None y'r bus'ness," Cain snorted, curling his nose in distaste. "I do it 'cause I do it, s'all." He sighed, weakly lifting his left arm to flop across his chest. Today was not a good day as far as recovery went, and he was trying not to let it get to him. "Wasn' like this alw'ys. Bigg'r. Strong. Not 'zac'ly made f'r normal places, if y' get th' drift."
"Sorry, sir," Dani lowered her eyes to him, reminded that no matter how open people were here, he was still an elder and should be treated with respect. "I'll get to fixing that vent, then."
Cain nodded, not altogether comfortable with Dani's sudden deference, but finding it infinitely preferable to the usual rebellion and defiant attitude he got from some of the kids. "Don' try doin' it y'rself, like I said. See 'f Nate's up f'r it, or Sixpack, whassisname... Madrox, yeah. He's good help."
"Jamie?" she hadn't really considered him, not really hanging out with him outside of class, "Sure. No problem. Mr. Dayspring just got back, so he's probably busy."
"Tell 'im 's a fav'r for me," Cain grinned, "D'spr'ng owes me one 'r two. Met 's fiancee yet?" he asked. "Doc M'ra? Pr'gn'nt, too." He pushed himself slightly away from the table, turning painfully towards the refrigerator. "Get y' som'thin'? Coke, sammich?"
"No," Dani shook her head, "What do you want? I'm here, I cook. Clean. Whatever you need," she looked around, indicating the messy house. Things weren't on the floor, but they seemed to be everywhere else, "Whoever is supposed to be helping here, ain't."
Cain frowned, but didn't move from the chair. "Been tryin' t' do f'r m'self. As 'f ain' hard 'nough, t'day..." he lashed out spastically with one leg, kicking over his walker. "Damn thing. Sorry," he
apologized. "'s frustratin'."
She shrugged accepting, "It's okay. I took care of my grandparents before they died. Sometimes, you can't do it no matter how much you want to even when you aren't sick or hurt. I can't seem to shield."
With a chuckle, Cain reached down to pick up his walker, smiling broadly. He was probably older than this girl's grandparents, despite looking less than ten years her senior. But that wasn't exactly the easiest thing to explain, even if he wanted to. "Makin' me feel like... old man. Well, old'r." He paused briefly. "Shield? Y'r tel'path?"
Dani was rummaging through the cabinets looking for cleaning supplies, "Empath. And I can make people see things. But I don't." she was quick to assure him, in case he thought she was reading him, "I don't like to do that."
Cain cocked his head. "Empath. Do me... favor? See what I'm..." he tapped the side of his head. "Please?" Even now, he wasn't exactly sure how he really was feeling. It had been so long that the anger had been overriding everything else - everything seemed new.
Bracing herself against the counter in case she was overwhelmed, Dani thumbed the inhibitor off. This far from the school she wasn't bombarded with feelings like she normally was, there was no sensory overload to wade through, just Mr. Marko. Cocking her head to one side, she squinted at him and focused. Slowly his emotions became clear, no one emotion dominating the rest making him harder to read. "Um...frustration. Curiosity. Maybe hope? And amusement," she listed several slowly, unsure since some were similar.
"S'about right," Marko said with no small amount of happiness coming through. "Thank you."
"You're welcome. I don't...that is," taking a breath she started over, "I don't really have shields so it's hard to stay focused for a long time. Or if there are too many people. It's too much. And really? I don't usually want to know what other people feel."
Cain could empathize with that. "Need time t'be 'lone," he agreed. "I know... what's like. Too m'ny voices. Want t'... shut ev'ryone out." He brushed his hand briefly against his chest. There used to be something... something he had to keep everyone out. But for the life of him, he couldn't quite remember. Everything felt like someone else's life anyway.
He smiled at the muffin Dani set in front of him, grumbling a quick word of thanks. "Y're... good kid. Don' mean that as... put-down. Y'got r'spect, an' tha's rare. But hey," he reached out gingerly, lifting her chin. "Y'don' got t' lower y'r eyes 'round me. R'spect don' mean cowerin' or fear, 'k?"
"It ain't fear," she tried to explain, looking at him, whitemen just didn't understand. It was respect, "If did that at home, Nashim would...he raised me better than that. An besides, you have an old soul."
"Y'ain't gotta not look t' show r'spect..." Cain offered. "Show by..act'ns. 's 'nough f'r me." He extended a shaking hand to Dani, offering a handshake of respect. "Y'r able t' do that, y'll get th'
same from me."
Nodding, Danielle took his hand, shaking it. "Deal."
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no subject
Date: 2005-02-24 01:31 am (UTC)*growls*
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Date: 2005-02-24 01:32 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-02-24 01:55 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-02-24 02:32 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-02-24 02:34 am (UTC)it was meant to be a slight on Remy. well...damn.
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Date: 2005-02-24 03:25 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-02-24 03:31 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-02-24 11:12 am (UTC)but still very sorry about this.
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Date: 2005-02-24 11:54 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-02-24 02:18 am (UTC)Jay says "ain't" also. He's got probably some of the worst English in the school for a native speaker :P
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Date: 2005-02-24 02:24 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-02-24 02:27 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-02-24 02:26 am (UTC)