2013.03.27 - Of Eggs And 'Wurms

[Westchester]-----------------------------------------------------------------
Xavier Institute - Rear Grounds 
 
The rear grounds of the Xavier Mansion tell of its dual purpose. French doors open from the cafeteria onto the spacious patio, offering a splendid view of the surrounding mountains and forest or a perfect place to catch the sunrise. Marble tiles form a smooth, even surface that's perfect for relaxation. Indeed, that's the primary purpose, as shown by the several sets of elegant patio furniture set at regular intervals. Just beyond the patio and to the left is a large, Olympic-style swimming pool with a paved deck area around it. Further out, the full size basketball 
court dominates, demonstrating the other use the area has been put to. 
 
While their teachers may enjoy lounging on the back porch, the athletic field gives students a place to work off excess energy and just generally be children. On the far side of this section of the estate are the horse stables, organic herb and vegetable garden, and the greenhouse. The front grounds lie south of here, just around the corner of the mansion itself, and the rest of the grounds are enclosed by the trees of the forest. The pool house is nearby, offering changing rooms, showers, and storage space. 
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It's afternoon, after classes, and Jocelyn has taken to actually getting some studying in. It was part of her routine, you see, and once something got into her routine, it just kind of stuck there until dislodged for being irrelevant. With the weather being a little warmer, she's decided to take her studying outside, even while some of the younger students are out playing on the basketball court or just running around being kids.
Today she has her math book out, and is just working through some of the practice problems as she tries to get through some of the more obnoxious concepts. This school thing wasn't particularly easy for her in many respects. Her bookbag is set at the side of the chair she is lounging in. She had snagged a soda from the kitchen at some point, and has that on the little table next to her chair as she works. There is also a little notebook set on the table with some random notes written on it for some project she'd been working on before she dove into her math homework.
No classes to teach midweek. Alles ist gut! And add to that a sunny day, with milder temperatures? 
Perfect.
From seeminly nowhere, or rather, the aether, pops out a certain blue, fuzzy drama teacher. Kurt has a notebook in hand, a pencil, and before he teleports away once again, he takes note of those around him.. and pauses to watch the studious Jocelyn before,
"Guten Tag, fraulein.. catching up on studies?"
Jocelyn catches that appearance out of the corner of her eye and looks up. It was hard for her not to notice it, really. "Hello Mr. Wagner," Jocelyn says. "Umm, I think I know what Guten Tag means. But Fraulein?" Her accent is passable, for an American. No better or worse than average for someone who doesn't know the language. Hopefully she doesn't accidentally say something horribly offensive when asking the question.
"Yeah, just doing some practice math problems and working on a short story for English. How about yourself, sir?" she asks. The book is set down onto her lap as she speaks with the fuzzy blue one.
"Herr, Frau, und Fraulein.." May not be helpful, but perhaps instructional? Kurt shifts his notebook to his other hand, and his tail sways slowly behind him. "Mr., Mrs., und Miss." He offers a slight shrug, "Used when either one can't remember a name, which in this case is not so.. or to offer something less familiar, but still.. familiar." It seems he's been giving German lessons lately! Not that he minds, anyway.
"Working on a short story.. reading or writing it?" Upperclassmen usually are tasked with writing, aren't they? "Ready for Easter?"
There's a reason he's asking, mind.. and Kurt holds up his paper now, "Going to scout for locations for the Easter Egg hunt on Saturday."
"Ahh, okay. Got it, thank you," Jocelyn replies. She wasn't sure what it meant, and didn't know any other German speakers (to her knowledge), so she figured she'd just ask. The other phrase was clearly a greeting; that much was easy to figure out.
"Writing," Jocelyn replies, gesturing at the notebook. "Just got started a bit and needed a break, so I figured I'd switch to some math problems. They're routine, so it makes it easier for part of my mind to wander while I do something that is basically a formula". Much easier, that.
"Hmmm, Easter? Ummm...if I'm totally honest, I had forgotten it was coming up. The shifting holidays always catch me off-guard," she admits with a very slight blush. "Would you care for a hand looking for locations?" Jocelyn asks the man easily. She didn't mind helping out, though she wasn't sure he'd want the help either.
Glowing yellow eyes narrow theatrically suspiciously. "Went from writing, which requires all of your attention, to math, which allows your mind to wander, to asking if you could help me find locations..." A three-fingered hand rolls gently in gesture, "Do you see where I am going with this?" Kurt grins soon after, adding, "You should be doing your homework.." but, breaks are nice, too.
Taking a step back, Kurt's tail sweeps in gesture now towards the rest of the grounds in the back. "I am staying within this area. None in the greenhouse, none in the tennis courts or pool area. But the grass, the trees.. we need to make a map so at the end, we can figure out where the ones that weren't found are."
Choosing not to respond to the homework comment, Jocelyn listens to the explanation of the ground rules. "If the eggs are different colors, the map should indicate the colors. Some people will inevitably find eggs, but forget where. If they're marked on the map in different colors, then you'll know which of five or six locations to check for that last missing blue egg instead of thirty or forty locations," Jocelyn suggests as she scans the area. Hiding things, that was something she was good at. "How many eggs in total will there be?"
Kurt's grin remains; of course she wouldn't respond to the homework question! Who would? It's just a matter of.. 'not fooling anyone!' that had to be pointed out.
He too looks out over the grounds; he knows the place like the back of his hand. Walking to the edge of the patio, Kurt points to a small rise, "There's a small rock garden there.. und, of course, the trees.." He nods to the suggestions, noting it at the bottom of his notebook page.
Turning back, those pupil-less yellow eyes return to her, then look past her towards the school and towards that middle distance as he considers. "..wie viele Eier.." 
"Hundert.. one hundred, I think. Und we will dye them on Friday."
Not really knowing the place as well as Kurt, Jocelyn hovers a few feet in the air to get a better vantage as she looks around. "Get some sticky tack and stick them to the bottoms of some branches. Every looks on the top of branches, but not underneath," Jocelyn suggests. "Maybe stick one on a doorknob," she adds as she thinks it through.
A nod is given to the suggestion about the rock garden. "I imagine the stables are out too," she says as she considers more places to put the eggs.
"Ja.. the horses might step on them." Or eat them. Or.. yes.
Looking beside him, brows rise as Jocelyn does her floaty-thing. Kurt points, "You can do that?" She didn't when they were out in the Danger Room. It'd have been a slightly different game if she did. "Hmm.."
And it's back to the work at hand, and more notes are taken. "I've found that almost no one looks up. They are always looking down. Not many people look -in-, either." A chuckle comes from the blue elf, and he makes a note, "I could take the doorknobs off a couple of doors," he offers quietly.. just in case. ".. see if anyone notices that it's an egg."
"Relatively newly discovered. I'm still fully getting the hang of it, honestly. I've made the mistake of testing it inside a couple of times and banging my head into the wall. Basically I'm constantly pulling in and expending energy, so it means I can't use my other abilities as well either," Jocelyn explains.
A smile is given. "That's one of the rules about staying hidden. People don't look up. People look in during a hunt though, but not in day-to-day interactions," Jocelyn comments. "Now, they tend to not look inside something that is already inside something. They expect something to be replaced in the main container, not inside a secondary one. So if there was, say, a pile of leaves inside a pre-existing hole in a tree, an egg hidden in the leaves is likely to be overlooked," she suggests.
A laugh is given at the idea of replacing the doorknob. "Not a bad idea," she agrees. "You could affix some under the patio furniture, too. Or maybe replace a lamp lightbulb with an egg".
"Hmmmm.." Kurt looks out over the grounds thoughtfully, though he's responding to the newly gained information regarding her newly learned skill. "I like the fact that you are using your abilities und looking for different applications." Turning towards her, his expression is curious, "How much weight can you carry?"
Now, back to the task at hand, that is, planning the egg hunt, his gaze is back to scanning the rear grounds. "I have never done this before. We didn't do this in Germany or in England.. und last year?" Kurt shakes his head, "There was no time. There never is, but in this case, I am making time for the Kinder."
"I haven't tried a flight weight test yet," Jocelyn admits. "When I charge my strength, I can lift a car with one arm without much effort. Without a charge, I can haul a few hundred pounds on my back slowly walking. If I had to guess, I'd say I could carry when I can normally carry, but it will slow me down with more weight," the girl suggests.
A nod is given to having not done this before. "I haven't planned one of these either, but I'm not all that bad at hiding things," Jocelyn admits. "Burying things seems pretty unfair to me, and freshly moved dirt is pretty obvious. I don't there is any running water around here, or I'd suggest putting a few in plastic bags and pinning them in shallow water," the teen adds.
Kurt nods at the information, his gaze moving from the grounds to the young lady, and back again. "It might be useful one day to know," he offers before returning to the task at hand- that is, the children.
"Nein.. no burying. Could plant an egg tree und put plastic eggs on it, und one or two real ones?" Yes, they're using -real- eggs. "Hiding them in plain sight?"
"Figure I'll try that soon enough. I'm getting it more under control". Jocelyn had a different understand of under control though, but it'd be soon enough. It would be good information to know, in case it was ever necessary.
"Ahh, so long as you specify that only real eggs count. People will flock to the egg trees, but others will go elsewhere and avoid the crowd around that," the girl agrees.
"Putting a couple just sitting around on the ground can work too. Set one on a table or something. Hang a couple from the basketball nets?" she suggests as the ideas come to her. She lands as she continues working through ideas.
"Ja. It won't hurt to expand your abilities. In that way, you will understand your ability more, und you will learn its limitations. Then, also, you will begin to learn combinations."
Kurt nods, "Only real. Ja, I'll make sure it's noted. After all, we are dying them on Friday, after Mass. We should use them before we eat them." Though, it's doubtful whether or not they -should- be eaten after. "Some of the children will go to a tree, but there are a good number who are quite discerning.. und perhaps even may take to the air." This is a school of mutants, after all. "That would be good.. basketball nets. Or.. laying next to golf clubs. On golf tees.."
A nod is given to Kurt's suggestion about her abilities. It made sense to Jocelyn, and she could get behind the idea of combinations. She hadn't figured them all out yet, but she suspected they were there.
"There are enough fliers. I know one of the newest can fly, after a fashion. Though she is a little bit...unfocused is a good word for it". Yes. Unfocused was a nice way of talking about the hyperactive Niah. Though Kurt may catch a hint of hesitation when Jocelyn speaks of the girl. The golf tee suggestion gets a laugh from the older girl, however. "Depending on who finds the ones on tees, you might end up seeing how many yards an egg can fly when struck by a golf club".
Kurt pauses, then, "If you would like, we can go through potential combinations later." It's an offer of training, of suggestions. "I'm still thinking of new ways I can use my gifts, though I think I've reached my limit of combinations."
An encouraging smile is given to hear her tones in mentioning fliers, and Kurt lifts a hand to touch her shoulder. "Each of us is given a slightly different gift. My teleportation is different from Illyana's.. who is different from Amanda's." His expression softens, "Every flier can do different things. Ja, all are flying, but how und what you can do with it? Alles different."
Though, he does catch the hesitation.. and brows rise on that dark blue face. "Unfocused? That.. could be a problem," he ends slowly.
Kurt looks to the rear grounds once more, and his smile creeps back to a grin. "I think I know of a few people who might try to tee off."
"I would appreciate the help, thank you," Jocelyn says to Kurt. "I can imagine there are a lot of different ways to use your teleportation," she says. Like the fighting style he talked about to tire his opponents out. "I can actually think of a couple teachers who might try that too," Jocelyn says with an easy smile.
A small shake of her head is given when Kurt talks about different types of fliers. "It isn't anything like that. It's...". Pause. How does she explain it? "I can see energy, right? The girl is a huge psionic energy beacon, at least to my eyes. It's very uncontrolled and very wild. But the powers she uses aren't actually her's. They're her imaginary friend doing things for and with her. But the friend is real. I can see it, made up of kinetic energy, lifting her up and making her 'fly' or punching something for her".
Jocelyn pauses to let that sink in for a moment. Because, well...it was weird, even on Jocelyn's revised scale of weirdness. "See, the thing is, she claims that they have the 'Power of Friendship'. But when I look at her wild psionic energy and this sentient being that is following her around, well...". Here Jocelyn pauses again. "I don't know. Maybe it isn't my business, but that just twitches at my morals a little bit, if she's inadvertantly controlling this creature, you know? I know she probably has no idea she's doing it or how to stop it. I'm not a telepath, but from what I can physically see of the energy, that seems to be the logical conclusion".
"Ja.. there are many ways to use mine." Kurt grins, "The smell? The sulfur? I use it against those who have keener senses. It bothers them.. und masks where I'm going or been." So not only does he use his skill, but the by-products.
He pauses, however, and listens carefully to Jocelyn's words, his eyes narrowing as he tries to comprehend exactly what it is she's describing. "Ja.." and he nods as he follows. "So.." he begins slowly. "If this thing.. this imaginary.. invisible.. energy thing.. if it was used by anyone else, they would be the same? Und she powerless? Or.. it is a real partnership? Or.."
Kurt begins again, "Katzchen has Lockheed, but he is a real dragon, und she doesn't borrow powers from him. So, that partnership is a true one based upon mutual.. ability. But this.. from this girl..?"
Kurt is taking the concern quite seriously, and he nods slowly. "I will watch, Jocelyn.. und this girl's name is?"
"Well, she talks with it. She calls him Mugwump," Jocelyn says. "I've heard him grunt and make noises, but I've never comprehended anything. She does though. It makes me think there is a psychic link between them. I think she, at least, provides the psychic link and telepathic power. She might be able to do a lot of the mental things I've seen telepaths do, but I haven't witnessed any of that. I don't think anyone else could 'use' Mugwump though. He appears to act of his own accord, but always in a protective way of her. She flicked a paper football at me, and I flicked it back with my power as a joke. He intercepted it, looked at it, and threw it off to the side".
"She goes by the name 'Tatzlwurm' as an alias. She's about thirteen or so and in a wheelchair. Just arrived in the last day or so," Jocelyn replies. "Her actual name is Niah. Rogue and I met her awhile back and we passed the information on upwards because we suspected she was a possible mutant. Turns out we were right".
The teen frowns. "I do think she has to learn to control her power, but I guess I'm questioning the current use of her power. I could be completely wrong on how it works, and Mugwump is somehow bonded to her in some other way. He did tell her that he considered me one of the biggest threats because I can absorb energy and could, in theory, absorb him. Though they believe he'd reform somewhere else". And who knew what that would do. "But, yeah. If she talks about having an invisible friend? She's not crazy, though I think most people are going to think she's a little off because of it, I'm afraid".
Kurt nods at the recounting, the concerns.. and at the moniker, his brows rise. "Tatzlwurm? That is a mythical beast.. the head of a cat, und the hind end of a .. snake.. a legless lizard." He considers a moment, trying to find the right words, "It is like.. it's a story. Like.. the Jersey Devil. Or.. Sasquatch. Years ago, there was someone who said he'd gotten a picture of it, but it was later judged a hoax." Tatzlwurm, after all, is part of Bavarian folklore.
"Though now, I am confused. Why Tatzlwurm if she has nothing to do with such a thing? Und Niah.. not a German name.." It's true, Kurt looks confused; his manner and mien.. and his tail swishes low, the tip flicking.
"Regardless, ja.. we will find out. I'll speak with Jean about her, und Scott.."
"Mr. Summers is the one who picked her up, she told me," Jocelyn says. "I have no idea. She was very convinced that she needed to be a superhero. Rogue and I caught her trying to take on some thugs over by the harbor. We made sure nothing happened to her". Because it seemed like the right thing to do. "Like I said, she's very unfocused, but she's also rather eager and excitable".
"I had no idea what it meant, to be honest. Mythology is not my strongest subject. It's why I avoided even trying to come up with a moniker along those lines. I can't say that Mugwump particularly matches that description," she tells the man. "It's possible she just picked it randomly, too. You could probably ask her why she chose it though. She is very outgoing".
The girl glances around, and then at her watch. "Though I should probably get going, Mr. Wagner. I need to go get changed for my workout. If I have any other ideas for places to put some eggs, I'll let you know".
"Then I will speak to him, ja.." Kurt sounds a little distracted; everything he's hearing doesn't add up to the good side of the equation.
Nodding, Kurt finally offers an appreciative smile. "Danke for that. She needs to settle down und in, and do things in the correct order." Mmmmhmm.. "I will ask, however." That mythology, he's good at.
Kurt takes a step to the side, giving her room as a tacit 'see you later' sort of thing before adding, "I appreciate the time und the aid for the eggs, fraulein. Und the 'heads up' on the new girl. It sounds as if she is quite.. special, und will need extra care."
With that, the blue elf takes the step off the patio, and in the next heartbeat, is gone with a *bamf*.
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