om_main | Jean-Paul and Rahne, Thursday morning

Rahne plucks up her courage and ventures into the junior faculty wing, bearing comfort. She winds up getting some in return.

No matter that she had permission from no fewer than three authority figures, going down to the staff dormitory was nervewracking. She held on to her little basket with both hands, ready to brandish it like a hall pass. It seemed a little sad-looking, now that she was out of her own room and wandering the wide world where other people could see her. Funny, the little basket with a plaiddie on top and a flower tucked in had always been fussed and smiled over, when she brought a care package for someone in the parish. Now, though, it was beginning to seem like everything she loved was really something to be ashamed of. Still, turning back would be worse. Rahne Sinclair never tucked tail. So she set her head high and rapped on door 205.

The door opened after the first knock. Jean-Paul blinked, surprised at the identity of his visitor.

"Rahne, hello." He saw the basket and grinned. "Have you come to feed Simon?"

"As promised." She held up the little wicker basket. "And you, as well." Rahne was really quite good at the plasticy protestant smile, implacably cheerful. "I hope I'm nae disturbin' ya--I asked permission before I came."

"You don't need to worry too much about permission here." Jean-Paul took the basket with a nod of thanks. She really was adorable, in a nervous sort of way. "We are all adults here, non? Would you like to come in?"

"Thank y' kindly, don't mind if I do." She allowed him to usher her inside, and began to look around for someplace to set her basket down. "Though I have t' say, I'm surprised to hear a teacher say that. After all, the rules are there for a reason. It's important t' keep the youth in line. After all, most of us aren't adults," she pointed out.

"Everyone in this wing is," he countered, setting the basket on his desk, "and that works well enough." He gave her an amused look. "And I somehow have a very hard time believing that you need to be kept in line."

"All of us fall short of the glory of God," she said a bit sadly. "Myself most assuredly included." Best to keep her head up, though; she began to unpack the basket. There were dense scones, with packets of cream and honey, a bag of strong Scottish breakfast tea and a strainer for it, some molasses candies, a jar of seemingly homemade raspberry jam, and thin crispy almond biscuits.

"That's a tall order for a teenage girl," Jean-Paul pointed out. "Though if that's the goal you're aiming for, all the less reason I have to think you're going to cause trouble." He looked impressed at the amount of food currently being unpacked. "Did you bring some of this from home?"

"No, I made it all," she said, clearly proud. "I don't have anythin' else t' spend my allowance on." Or her time, either. She smiled down at the little spread, adjusting one or two things by a few millimeters so it would all look just perfect. "I heard that y' had a bit of a scare, so I thought it was high time I brought ya somethin' nice."

"That's kind of you. Merci. There aren't many here who understand how comforting home cooking can be." Probably a given seeing how few of the student body had actually had anything like a normal home. But the remark about having nothing to spend her allowance on struck a note. A teenage girl who genuinely wanted for nothing, despite practically being an abandonment case? "Have you been into town yet?"

"No, no. Whatever would I have to do there?" Movies were practically pornography anymore, there were drug pushers and gunmen everywhere; and besides, she had no one to go with.

"Well, the change of scenery might be nice, if nothing else. Plus there are the bookstores, the shops, and the restaurants." Jean-Paul helped himself to a candy, made a sound of appreciation, and offered the tin to Rahne. "One of the other TA's gets new students set up with bus passes if you ever get the urge to wander. Or I could take you one of these days, provided you don't mind an infamous escort."

She popped a bit of candy into her mouth and twisted it around as she was wont to do rather than biting in. "What y' mean, infamous? Just because some horrible person tried to hurt ya?"
"I suppose that's part of it now," he admitted with an uncomfortable laugh. "Added to the failed superhero business, child star athlete, and being out twice over. I'm pretty much perennial tabloid bait."

It wasn't difficult to sense the slight air of tension. "I'm sorry--p'rhaps I was a mite callous. You must still be so shook up. That's why I came over in the first place, t' check on you." She had never heard about the things he was mentioning before, having been kept away from all but the most major world-changing news. Failed super heroing sounded like a further upsetting topic, and she wasn't sure at all what he meant about 'being out,' so she wasn't sure if it was safe conversation, either. "I didnae know y' were a star athlete." There. Nice, safe, pleasant conversation.

"Ah, oui. Skiing and snowboarding. But once I came out as a mutant, I had to give it up. No one would believe I won my matches fairly."

"Oh." Her eyes roamed for something to settle on. Now somehow the little spread of food looked so piddling and forlorn, a tiny gesture in a weighty ocean of trouble. "It ain't fair. Not one bit, not fair for us to be what we are."

"Maybe not, but I've done some amazing things since my powers emerged. And I'm not ashamed of what I am." He flashed her a cocksure smile. "If people have a problem with me being a mutant, that is their failing."

"Are y' always so sure?" She wished that she could be like that, but things didn't seem so clear to her. "There are some as would say it's the mark of the devil on us. Not that I came up here t' depress you." She rubbed her forehead and sighed. "Right clumsy of me. An' you already look so well, after....what happened."

"Let's say, I try to make it seem so. It seems to have a best effect. And it is especially easy to be so when my powers are the reason I could take that gunman down without anyone being hurt." He offered her the desk chair. "Right now, I would like to talk about you. How are you settling in?"

In the chair, looking up at him, she found it impossible not to think of interrogation scenes in old detective movies. "It's very different from home."

"I've no doubt." Jean-Paul settled on the edge of his bed, leaving plenty of space between them. Rahne's unease wasn't hard to pick up on. "I was chafing even before I arrived. I was used to more freedom and less close company."

"That's funny; it's just the opposite for me." She looked down at her hands. "I thought it was so wide open an' lonely here."

"It's not so different when you are trying to keep everyone at arm's length, I think." He leaned forward, relaxed, elbows resting lightly on his knees. "I did not feel like had much choice in attending this place. My guardian sent me down here, and I resented every minute that it disrupted my life. I was not exactly the most popular kid on campus."

"That's funny; it's just the opposite for me." She looked down at her hands. "I thought it was so wide open an' lonely here."

"It's not so different when you are trying to keep everyone at arm's length, I think." He leaned forward, relaxed, elbows resting lightly on his knees. "I did not feel like had much choice in attending this place. My guardian sent me down here, and I resented every minute that it disrupted my life. That attitude did not exactly the most popular kid on campus."
He could hardly have surprised her more. "I don't believe it. It seems like everyone loves you. Here." Not everywhere--that gunman sure didn't, for one.

"I have my fans. And a few people who'd be glad to see me gone, some of who have moved on from the school already. And a lot who are too involved with their own lives to give a damn." Jean-Paul shrugged. "It is how it goes."

"See? You're quite...poised." She was starting to get quite upset, with a stinging in her nose that made her fear tears were coming. Dancing around talking about how the other students hated her, and how God hated her, was becoming a daily occurrence here. She didn't want to carry it alone, but if she had anything left it was her pride. And her pride would not survive making a fool of herself in a teacher's dorm room. An escape would need to be made, and soon.

"I didn't come here by choice, either. An' I don't have anywhere t' go back to. Not really. But I sure wasn't raised to live in a place like this. I've jus' been tryin' to keep to myself anymore, is all. It turns out I was botherin' the other students."

"It takes some people longer than others to adjust," Jean-Paul pointed out. "And you were raised in a...ah, rather strict environment I would guess." Tact. Jeanne-Marie would be so proud. "All of these other kids running about and seemingly doing whatever they wish whenever they wish has to be alien to you as well."

"Tha's true enough. I've never known anyone like the kids here. An' not just 'cause they're mutants." She was beginning to realize that Jean-Paul was making it impossible to stay uncomfortable. Every time she began to really get twisted up, he unwound her.

"And they are probably having as much trouble relating to you, for the most part. So do not worry too much about not getting along with them right away." In the back of his mind, Jean-Paul wondered just how long it would take Raymonde to laugh himself sick if he'd known his own scorned advice was finding its way into his problem child's mouth. "But in the meantime, how would you feel about taking a trip into town and getting the lay of the land?"

"With...you?" That was awfully kind of him, more than just token teacher-to-student civility. "Actually, I think that sounds right lovely." Now she was happy to let her feelings show, a smile creeping onto her face.

"Excellent." Jean-Paul smiled and leaned back on his hands. "Shall it be just us, or should I invite another student along? You could get to know one of them with yours truly running interference if you like."

"D'ya really know anyone else who'd like an outing with me?" Actually, thinking about it made her realize how much it would look like a date of the two of them just went together. The realization brought a flush to her cheeks. "B'cause that sounds nice."

"I know someone who might remember a little of what it is like to be a shy newcomer. I'll see if he's free and get back to you about a day. Sound acceptable?"

She nodded. "Thank you." Here was her second chance, after chickening out of going to that party earlier in the month. This time she had someone to hold her hand, and help her through. She brushed at her eye, sweeping away a tear before it could grow and fall. "Though to think, I came here to cheer you up. I've been a bit selfish, looks like."

"You think so? I would not agree. I haven't thought of the other night even once since you showed up, and giving me the logistics of a trip out to consider is certainly distraction."

"I'm glad, then. There's no cure for a long night quite like doing a good work. An' you make your friend try a scone, you hear? Before he wastes away." Not that she had ever seen the other man, or even really knew who he was. She only remembered that rabbit-food breakfast she had seen Jean-Paul making.

The speedster laughed. "If I have to pin him down and feed him myself. Merci."

Rahne found herself smiling widely. Here was the feeling she remembered, ministering to the downtrodden, brightening her neighbors' days. "Now, I 'spect you'd like t' get on with your evening. You keep that basket as long as you like; I'm in no hurry about it."