2013-03-04 The Lake of Tears and Solace

An early winter afternoon with a gentle breeze and a slight nip in the air. The sun has already risen and has given way to beautiful blue skies with white, cotton candy fluffy clouds that lazily drift by. In the patches of sun, it's slightly warmer than in cloud cover or actual shade
It's in one of these patches that a woman with long, black hair can be found. She's dressed in a pair of black yoga pants as well as a tight, long sleeved shirt. Said hair has been pulled back into a tight braid. For all appearances, it looks like she's sporadically doing yoga and during her breaks, she seems to flipping through a magazine of some sort. "Women actually wear things like that!?" There's no stopping the exclamation that comes from her as her eyes widen. "Why?"
	Running. Running hard. Running away- from nightmares. From stress, from the fact his arm was shot off by a giant mutant killing robot- Vic just runs. Panting, he doesn't stop for thing like trees- no. Those are bound around with great alacrity, he sticks to the trunk of one- only to flip to another and bound again to the ground. Pumping his legs.
	He very nearly doesn't notice the woman in yoga pants, "Ah, Jeez!!" he calls, as she seems to appear to the very 'in his head' Victor. He skids to a stop- almost running into her. "Sorry!"
The exclamation of another has Risque whipping around, left hand curling into a fist and immediately starting glow with a pinkish-purple energy. It's clearly a reflexive action. The moment her instincts call, she's relaxing and the energy fades. "It's fine. You alright?" Brown eyes look over the young man a moment to make sure there's no obvious injury.
	"Yeah, yeah.. I'm alright." Vic answered, breathing heavily. "I didn't think anyone else would be out here." He takes a breath, "I'm Vic." he says, once his breathing has come back to normal. Quick, really. Clearly a young man in good shape. " I don't think I've ever seen you before. Do you work at the school?" he wonders, eye-ridges coming together slightly. Wariness there.
"In a manner. I work with the people there." Gloria grins, offering out her left hand. "Gloria." Her head tilts off to one side. "If you doubt me, ask Scott about me." She knows caution when she sees it. It's one of the things that has kept her alive this long. "Nice to meet you, Vic. Sorry about interrupting your run."
	"No, its alright." Vic replied, "I might do just that, later." he says, when Scott's name is offered as someone to check with. "So, what's it you do here, if you work with us in a 'manner'." Vic wondered, leaning now against a tree. " If you don't mind my asking, that is. I don't want to be rude."
There's a bit of a chuckle from Gloria. "That will depend on Scott. For now, I'm just called in to help when my skill set is wanted." She gives a shrug which causes a flash of a wince before it's quickly covered. "I guess the best way to say it is that I'm the occasional associate who has been given a room here until my apartment is ready."
	"Fair enough. Lots of things go on here that we students aren't privy too." Vic says, hands raised with palms facing out. "I'm just a student here. Its a great school, full of weirdoes and freaks like me." He said with a little grin, a wry thing. "Where are you from, Gloria?"
"Originally? I was born in Miami." Glo is silent a moment before she continues. "Did a lot of traveling after I turned sixteen though." A brow arches up at him. "And you?" At least she's talking these days! "I would agree that it's a good place." Better than she remembers. Or than she lets herself remember. Who knows.
	"Fairbury, in Illinois." Vic answers, "I wish I was back there more every day." Vic is a young man with tortured eyes. He's been through a lot, in a very short period of time. The heaviness of it all weighs on him- Watching friends murdered in front of your eyes is a bit extreme for your everyday teen, from Anytown USA. He rubs at his huge right arm. Nervous habit, perhaps. "I'm a little homesick, honestly. I've made a lot of great friends here, though."
Something in the boys eyes has Gloria's entire demeanor softening and an understanding settling in her own. Folding her legs, she lowers herself to the ground and pats a spot beside her. "I can't understand home sickness if we're being entirely honest but I understand what I see in the deepest parts of your eyes." She's silent a moment before she offers, "Have a seat and I'll explain what I am."
	A touch of confusion comes across Vic's features, but he sits across from this woman all the same. His knees up, arms resting on knees. The right arm moved, after a moment, to his side- a supportive position. "Alright.." he begins, eyes on Gloria now. His attention all her's.
"That look in your eyes... There's a few that would recognize it and what you must've seen to cause it is something I would wish on no one. I don't know what happened precisely but I /am/ sorry." Gloria stares out over the lake. "I ran away when I was sixteen. My parents were...well...Home wasn't exactly a good place to be. I lived on the streets most of my life. My powers helped me learn quickly the skills I'd need to become what I am. A thief and a mercenary. The things I saw on the streets... The things I've done since... Things I had to do to survive..." She looks over at him. "Whatever you do, Vic... Find /someone/ to talk to it about or it will destroy you." And it sounds like the voice of experience there. "The last thing I'd want for someone is to become like me."
	Victor is silent for a long time after Gloria speaks, listening to her words. Watching the water. "I'll be okay." he states, a hollow thing. "I can handle it." Another statement without strength. "I just need some time, and I'll be fine. Its just some serious stuff happened recently, with our trip to the south pacific. It was /supposed/ to be a vacation." he sighs quietly. "No one was supposed to die."
"I've seen foes, friends, strangers and lovers die... It's never okay. It never stops haunting you. I won't lie to you about that." Gloria sighs softly. "I'm a stranger to you and if you like, we'll keep it that way. Sometimes, it's easier to talk to a stranger." Her head turns from the water to him. "I'm begging you to talk to someone though. To let out the pent up anger and pain you're holding in. You won't be able to process it and properly move on until you do." She sighs softly and drops her head. "The result of doing otherwise... You end up like me. Alone, un-trusting, suspicious of everyone, distant..." She shakes her head. "Don't do that to yourself or your friends."
	Again, quiet. Victor sat and listened. He sat and looked out over the water- his dull reflection not far off. As he thought, and listened, he grinds his teeth. Stress there so easily found, and pulled out by this stranger of a woman. He closes his eyes, resting his chin on his knees as he pulls himself tighter in that ball. Just staring out into the waters, deep. Abyssal. "I've got someone I can talk to." he said, simply. "I just don't want to bother him too much about this sort of thing. We're sort of an item." he explains, looking over to Gloria. "Only a couple people at school know. Its weird. I can't hide that I'm a mutant, but I can hide that I'm gay. So I do, at least, from most people." He gives a quiet sigh, long, ragged. Tired. "I've just been trying to run the stress away. But, then I look in the mirror and see this arm." Vic looks up to Gloria. "I lost my arm on that island. And I got this one as a replacement."
There's a moment of hesitation before before Gloria moves over slightly and reaches out to wrap her arm around Vic's shoulder. "It's hard to open up to the person you care about like that. The feeling of wanting to protect them from such horrors..." She gives a soft sigh. "I get it." She gives his shoulder a light squeeze. "Like I said... I'm here to talk to and I understand."
She takes a moment to look out over the water before she smiles. "It's good that you have someone in your life like that. It will help keep you balanced. Stable. Trying to handle it alone is..." She lets the sentence trail off. "Don't run from it. Face it head on. Confront it. Control it. Channel it."
She looks to his arm and then up at him. "A reminder, yes... See it as a way of remembering and honoring those that fell."
	Vic, at first, flinches from the touch- it pulls him out of a reverie far too dark for a teen to be forced into. Tears had silently begun to stream down his cheeks, and he smiled to the kind woman. His left hand came up, and he gave her hand a squeeze as it sat on his shoulder. There was a great comfort in that touch, and the young man seemed somewhat strengthened by that small, kind act. That human act. "I saw two of my friends vaporized in front of me, on the Island. And Doug, I'm not sure if you know him- he's one of the teachers- he saved me from losing more than my Arm." he gives a chuckle. "I guess I'm happy I have an arm, rather than no arm- but... I just didn't expect this big honking thing, you know? Its just.. too much, I mean- I guess I should be thankful that it hardly hurt. I still, I mean I'm already green. Now, I've got this redonkulous arm?" A touch of anger, "And then, we went to Siberia. And there, I was just /so/ angry. I'm almost certain I killed someone."
She didn't miss the tears. She couldn't have. Instead of drawing attention to them though, Gloria keeps her hand on his to offer what comfort she can to him. A silent strength from one who has been almost exactly where he is now... And perhaps in far darker places. What he almost did, she /has/ done.
She allows him to speak without interruption and when he finishes, she looks over at him. While isn't crying per se, her eyes are glassy. She's never shed tears for someone else's pain before... "I can't say that I know him, no. He sounds like an honorable man though." She watches him for a moment. "Do not hold that anger in, Vic. Find a way to let it out... Sparring, weight lifting, something... Focus it. I kickbox. I will teach if you if you like." Her eyes search his for a moment and he'll see the same haunted look in her own eyes and cuts straight into her soul. "You should be angry. And sad. And maybe even a little scared... I can see how much you hate that arm but you need to try to come to terms... to see it differently. As a boon instead of a flaw."
Her head tilts. "Your boyfriend... Does he care for you any less? Do you friends and teachers think any less of you? I know it makes you feel different, I can see that much... Just remember that it shows how strong you are. You're a fighter. A survivor. That's something to be proud of!"
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	"I'm not though. I just want to be an actor." Vic laments, "I never wanted to hurt anyone, I didn't want to fight /anyone/. I didn't even want to come to this school, no one in Fairbury cares that I've got green skin. I'm just the Borkowski kid there- but here?! Here I have to be a /mutant/, and here no one will let you forget it. No one even cared back home, they just.. I was just another kid, who happened to be a mutant." With a closed fist his right hand struck the ground. Hard- undoubtedly felt by the woman next to him. The lake itself shivered visibly from the strike. "I never felt anything but normal until I came /here/." 
	Vic takes a deep breath, a slow breath. A claming thing. "I guess, I mean, I've been trying to do that. That's what I was doing here. Running." he said, "Before, I mean- and.. Yeah, I guess I should learn to use this big ole thing better. I'm not going to let people hurt the places, or the people I love. I can't. Not.. when I know that people will kill me regardless. ITs like, you have to fight. When you realize that even if you don't, they'll try to kill you."
Felt it indeed! It took all Gloria had to not reach out and brace herself. "Then tell me why you came, Vic... If everything was okay back home... Why leave?" Her eyes stay on him but what he says next causes to things to happen at once. She reaches out to pull him into an embrace and the tears that were threatening to spill finally do. "I'm so sorry," is whispered roughly. He's a child and yet the world has forced him to become a soldier whether he wants to or not simply because he exists. The urge to protect him, shelter him... She has two little brothers of her own somewhere and she wouldn't want this life forced on them. If that's how it has to be though... She's going to make damn certain this boy has what it takes to fight back.
	"My boyfriend is a mutant, too. And he's.. fighting back, too. I worry /so/ much about him, though. He doesn't have his own abilities, I don't think. He like.. borrows from other people. I know no one would hurt him where he lives, he's perfectly safe there. Shit, we should /all/ be as safe as he is when he's at home. But, I worry about when he's out doing what he wants to do. He's always wanted to be a hero, I think." Vic was just talking- anything to get his mind off the anger. And then, the hug. He stops. Pauses. Uncertain and unsure of himself in that moment. He carefully wraps Gloria in a quiet embrace. Silent for that moment as he held her. "I have to learn for him. He's /so/ sweet, I don't think he's really got a mean bone in his body. I need to protect him from... Well.. .From the people who would hurt him when he's not at home." Though, Vic is pretty sure that hurting Eddie in any situation would be a literal death sentence with the people he's got watching his back.
The embrace continues and if you asked Gloria when she began the slight rocking motion, she wouldn't be able to tell you. The hug, the rocking, the crying for him... Unless he pulls away, it all continues. "Find strength in his strength then..." It's spoken quietly. "Learn to fight back if that's what it takes. Find the strength and the will... Start by facing your pain and anger... I'm here. I'll teach you what I know if you want to learn."
	Vic rocks as well. He holds the woman close, tight. An embrace between people who needed other people. "I need to learn to fight back, I mean, I'm quick- and I can dodge a lot of things most people can't but I'm still not a fighter." he looks over to Gloria, "You know kick-boxing?" he asked then, to bring the conversation to the 'task' in his mind. "I should probably learn something like that."
When he pulls back to look at her, Glo reaches up to wipe her eyes and cheeks. "Then I'll teach you to fight back. My style is a combination of kick-boxing and street fighting. I'll also teach how to escape almost any situation." She looks at him a moment longer before she stands and offers her left hand down to help him up. "Come on then. Up you go. We'll get a bite to eat and then sit and talk about starting a new routine for you." Maybe she should clear this with Scott...?
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