fandomhigh | Library, Sunday 07/08

"Perhaps he'll be able to visit during Parents Weekend in the fall," Raven said, though without knowing more, she couldn't be sure that would be a good idea or not. "It is an opportunity for families to see what life in Fandom is like. Sometimes, of course, they are quite surprised."

"He might, if I'm around that long," Evan agreed, perking up just a little. "Maybe if he likes the island, I'll get to stay, instead of having to go back to the Jean Grey School?"

A beat. And then Evan grimaced slightly.

"Not that there's anything wrong with the Jean Grey School. It's just... people here are way nicer."

"If you want to stay here, I am certain there are people who can help make that happen," Raven said firmly. She'd found she couldn't help but feel protective toward Evan. "Principal Winchester and the teachers here will give you aid in making such arrangements and convincing anyone who might need convincing."

She shook her head and gentled her tone. "But that is not something to be concerned with now," she said. "Have you explored much of the island outside the school yet?"

"Not much yet, no," Evan admitted, looking a little sheepish. "Mostly I've just been in my room, reading. Frank suggested that I should probably get more than one pair of shoes, at least. And I was thinking of checking out the town to see if they have a sports supply store. There has to be someone around here who likes baseball."

"There is a store called Nast Sporting Goods, I believe, though I have never been there," Raven said. She'd seen it across the street from 'Dite's shop, however. "It is on the east side of town."

She bit her lip, trying to figure out to best say this. "There is one place you should probably not go, at least not now," she said gently. "The Boards. It would be wise to avoid that place." Though that wouldn't stop some accidental meeting elsewhere, like the Perk.

"Well... what's at The Boards?" Evan bit his own lip for a moment, tilting his head curiously. "That's the theater here, right?"

That wasn't where they kept the elephant graveyard, was it?

"The theater, yes," Raven said. "For live performances -- there is another theater for movies. The person I mentioned to you last week, the one you resemble...he lives and works at the Boards, and he might have an adverse reaction to your appearance...because of the other person you both look like."

Maybe she was meddling too much and should just let whatever might happen happen, but she wanted to protect both Jono and Evan, and it was hard to know what the right thing to do was.

"I... oh..."

Honestly, Evan had really been hoping for the elephant graveyard answer, there.

"I can try to avoid that part of town, if you think it might help...?"

The Boards were sort of smack dab in the middle of old Fandom Town, so it would involve a bit of extra walking in order to get... pretty much anywhere... But if Raven thought it was for the best...

"You are surely going to encounter each other sooner or later," Raven said. It was a small island, after all. "But it might be best if it were later." Azar, she hated this.

"I am sorry," she said softly. "I wish I could tell you no one will ever have a problem accepting you as you are here. For the most part it is true. Jono is a good person -- but he has been through some very difficult experiences. It is not your fault. I have only known you for a short time, but I can sense you have a good heart, and I wish I did not have to tell you anything so troublesome."

How was it that one handful of sentences bunched together could simultaneously pick Evan up, and make him feel like never leaving the dormitory grounds again?

The good heart bit... that was nice to hear, at least.

"I don't want to cause anybody any problems," he murmured, trying not to look as stung as he felt on the inside. "I wouldn't want to seek him out or anything, if it would hurt him or anything. I... Guess maybe I'd ask him some questions, if I could. Or even just... feel better, knowing that a face doesn't mean that you're doomed to become something you're not... But I can sit tight. That's okay."

Raven felt awful. Maybe honesty wasn't the best policy. "Perhaps in time," she said, still hopeful of that.

She sent a gentle pulse of comfort toward Evan. "I know your face does not mean you are doomed. I struggled with that myself. My father is a demon, and my fate was to destroy my world. It almost did happen, but with the aid of the friends I made here, it did not. It is not always easy, but I have rejected my so-called destiny."

Evan sighed a little, relaxing slightly and nodding as he listened to Raven. And then, a moment more, and he was glancing up at her curiously.

"Is that... you, doing that?"

The inexplicable feel-better feelings that he seemed to only get around her when they were talking about things that he got down on himself about.

"Is what..." Raven said, puzzled for a moment before she realized what he meant.

"Oh, yes, that is one of my gifts," she said. "It is like an empathic hug. I dislike it when my friends feel badly, and I want them to feel better."

An empathic hug? Evan paused to think on that, and then decided that he kind of liked it.

"I wonder if I can learn how to do something like that," he mused. "Though I'm just fine with physical hugs, too."

"I cannot say for certain," Raven said. "It is a gift I was born with due to my heritage, but it could be possible that you possess the capacity to learn. Are you sensitive psychically?"

She smiled again. "And real hugs are something I enjoy giving as well."

"I am," Evan confirmed, comfortable enough with his new friend that he felt okay saying so. She didn't sense anything wicked from him, and, in turn, he trusted her not to run around making a big deal out of something he came by naturally. Especially since he wasn't going to, like, invade people's brains to re-write them over or something manic like that. "I don't really do much with it, though."

"If you would like I could try to see if you might be empathic, though I am not a skilled teacher," Raven said. "My favorite teacher, Professor Skywalker, has aided me a great deal in learning how to hone and control my abilities, and he could likely help you as well." Consider this your introduction to the Anakin Skywalker Fan Club, Evan. Your membership materials will be arriving shortly.

She hesitated a moment, then said, "One of the most powerful telepaths I know is on the island. Emma Frost -- she is a mutant, too. She graduated but returned here for the summer I think. She is very...brusque, however. But should you wish to pursue that path, she might be able to teach you as well."

Evan nodded a little while Raven spoke, absorbing the names as best as he could. Professor Skywalker, check. Emma-- Huh.

"She's here, too?" Alternate timelines were the weirdest thing ever. Officially. "We, uh, have one back home. An Emma Frost. I've never really met her, though. Is she our age too?"

She'd suspected he might recognize her name since Emma had been a teacher of mutants for a time in Jono's world, and thus connected to the X-Men.

"Yes, she graduated last year, so she is a little bit older than me." Or not, counting her time in limbo. "Though I have met her in another world where she was several years older, and a teacher. I do not know her well, but she is quite close to Karla."

"She does some teaching where I'm from, but not in the Jean Grey School or anything," Evan mused. "Even if I don't ask her to teach me, maybe I should introduce myself anyhow?"

He trusted Karla's judgement, too. Evan was... very trusting.

This could only end in tears.

Which Raven was just a little bit worried about. "As I said, she can be very blunt and often times harsh," she warned. "It is just her way."

"Well... do you think she'd recognize my face as... as not my face?"

That was apparently the only sticking point in the world, okay? The only one.

"She may," Raven had to admit. "But with her gifts she should be able to swiftly discern that you are not who she may think you are at first glance. I cannot say for certain what her reaction may be, I am afraid. I do not know what her experiences have been."

Evan nodded a tiny bit. Well, that didn't really allay his worries, but it was a starting point, at least.

"I'll probably have to be most careful meeting other mutants," he said, slowly, with a sort of dawning realization. "Apoc... He... It was the X-Men that were his enemy, mostly. I've recognized a few other names from home, too, but they were mostly Avengers."

Steve Rogers was teaching decision-making!! Steve Rogers.

"I... I wish I knew more about him. And that I'd never heard of him at all. And I can't really have both, I know that. It's just frustrating."

"I can tell you what I know about him," Raven offered. "But I fear it is not much. It may just be things you already know. But I understand how you feel. When I learned who my father was, I wanted to know more about him, yet I wished I had been left in my innocence as well."

Re: Talk to Raven [Library 07/08]

Re: Talk to Raven [Library 07/08]

Re: Talk to Raven [Library 07/08]

Re: Talk to Raven [Library 07/08]

Re: Talk to Raven [Library 07/08]

Re: Talk to Raven [Library 07/08]

Re: Talk to Raven [Library 07/08]

Re: Talk to Raven [Library 07/08]

Re: Talk to Raven [Library 07/08]

Re: Talk to Raven [Library 07/08]

Re: Talk to Raven [Library 07/08]

Re: Talk to Raven [Library 07/08]

Re: Talk to Raven [Library 07/08]

Re: Talk to Raven [Library 07/08]

Re: Talk to Raven [Library 07/08]

Re: Talk to Raven [Library 07/08]

Re: Talk to Raven [Library 07/08]

Re: Talk to Raven [Library 07/08]

Re: Talk to Raven [Library 07/08]

Re: Talk to Raven [Library 07/08]

Re: Talk to Raven [Library 07/08]

Re: Talk to Raven [Library 07/08]

Re: Talk to Raven [Library 07/08]

Re: Talk to Raven [Library 07/08]

Re: Talk to Raven [Library 07/08]