Creative Inspirations | Monday, period one

[sharp_as_knives]

This week, class had been advised to bring anything they wanted to create with - guitars, chalk, pencil - with them to Portalocity. Hannibal himself had brought a portable - somewhat, anyway; it ran on batteries and had a case - theremin with him. He was wearing (designer, expensive, plaid) jeans and a light sweater along with (expensive, designer, not-plaid) hiking boots.

"Welcome, everybody. This week will be slightly different - we'll be spending the entire class time at our destination, and indulging our creativity there."

//We'll be hitting up an old power station in Perth,// Jono intoned, a backpack over one shoulder and a mischievous glint in his eye. //It's been sitting abandoned for quite some time now, but it's quite the destination for people looking to explore old abandoned tunnels, get into things they generally shouldn't be getting into, and to paint on the walls.//

The bag, of course, was full of spray paint. Because Jono was an excellent role model.

"There are also bound to be some very interesting acoustics, for those of you who may be musically inclined," Hannibal added. "And if you'd like to explore, the tunnels apparently lead down to the sea. Please be careful, but enjoy yourself." He brought out another bag, this one with several hard hats in it. "We are required to wear these while within the structure. Everybody please take one." Not that they could force the students to wear them when they weren't in sight, but that wasn't his concern.

//Paint, explore, sing at the top of your lungs, whatever you see fit. Don't get yourselves hurt - bring a light with you into the tunnels if you do end up going that way - and we'd rather not have to go hunting for you at the end of the class period, but besides that, go nuts.//

And with that, they ushered the students through the portal, Jono opening up the bag of spray paint and flashlights for students to help themselves to once they were on the other side.

Comments

Talk to the teachers!

[never-dull.livejournal.com]

Once they ping in!

Re: Talk to the teachers!

[never-dull.livejournal.com]

Hannibal...would probably spend some time painting later. But before he got his hands dirty, he wanted to try a bit of music in the large main entrance. All the hallways and empty windows would probably make for some interesting echoes.

He set up his theremin and played a bit, just aimless composition. It probably made everybody's experience a bit more eerie.

Re: Talk to the teachers!

[furnaceface]

As the students were dispersing to go do their exploring, Jono was making his way over to Hannibal, a hard-hat that he'd spray-painted black well before class sitting atop his head, and his hands behind his back. Yes, there was absolutely a mischievous glint in his eye.

//Couldn't help but notice that none of these hats were particularly complementary to your style,// he mused. //So I took it upon myself to remedy that for you.//

Re: Talk to the teachers!

[never-dull.livejournal.com]

Hannibal gave him a wary but amused look. "Oh?"

Re: Talk to the teachers!

[furnaceface]

//It took a bit of work, you know,// Jono mused, producing a hard-hat from behind his back that had been meticulously coated in duct-tape so that all the lines properly matched up, //to get one that was actually your style. But miraculously, I managed.//

He was a little shit sometimes, but hey, it was love.

Re: Talk to the teachers!

[never-dull.livejournal.com]

Hannibal shook his head, chuckling. "Well, it's certainly a bit more stylish, yes."

He was actually rather touched at the effort, and it was more his style than simple white, material notwithstanding.

Re: Talk to the teachers!

[furnaceface]

See? Jono was looking out for your best interests, Hannibal!

//Incidentally, did you know duct tape comes in plaid? Apparently duct tape comes in plaid. It also comes in pink argyle, rainbow, brightly coloured camoflage, and flamingo print. I behaved myself.//

It could have been the flamingos.

Jono had a roll of that at home in case of an emergency.

Re: Talk to the teachers!

[never-dull.livejournal.com]

"I will make note of that should I need it in future."

Who knew what rude person might need wrapping in rainbow tape? There were so many possibilities.

He took the hat and checked that the tape wasn't going to stick to him, then put it on, carefully adjusting it. "What do you think?"

Re: Talk to the teachers!

[furnaceface]

//I think... you're actually making it look good,// Jono replied, blinking. He hadn't actually expected that would work. //Superpower. See?//

He was stuck on this.

Ignore the unintentional duct tape pun.

Re: Talk to the teachers!

[never-dull.livejournal.com]

Hannibal looked a bit smug at that, even if Jono's fixation on his "power" was a bit bemusing. "But in this case, you chose the pattern. And you may be somewhat biased."

Re: Talk to the teachers!

[furnaceface]

Look, powers were kind of a theme in Jono's life. And if Hannibal refused to acknowledge having a sense of smell comparable to Wolverine's as a power, he was going to have to suck it up and accept that tartankinesis was actually a thing.

//I might be somewhat biased, but there is a very finite number of people who actually look good with one of these things on their heads,// he pointed out, reasonably. //And apparently your power now extends to the ability to make any plaid look good no matter what, so well done.//

Re: Talk to the teachers!

[never-dull.livejournal.com]

Hannibal gave him a little bow. "I look good in nearly anything. But this is certainly better than white. Speaking of which, I note your own hat has been redecorated as well. No flames?"

Re: Talk to the teachers!

[furnaceface]

//I hardly need to decorate my hat with flames when I have ready access to the real thing at any given point in time,// Jono replied, putting his nose into the air. //... And besides, they were out of the flame-print tape.//

Hush. Just because he'd looked didn't mean he was actually going to go through with it, anyway!

Re: Talk to the teachers!

[furnaceface]

Jono... surprisingly didn't bring his guitar today. Mostly because it would've been a pain to carry around along with the bag of spray paint, really. Which was fine, because while he was shite at drawing and the like, he actually wasn't so bad at certain sorts of graffiti.

Particularly not the sort that he used to do all of the time as a calling card of sorts with his team.

So if he spent a good part of the class period just poking around at the other graffiti already on the walls, and then decided to cover up some of the more crude nonsense with the New Warriors insignia...

Look, he resented them far less than the X.

Re: Talk to the teachers!

[never-dull.livejournal.com]

"Nostalgic?" Hannibal asked.

Re: Talk to the teachers!

[furnaceface]

//Maybe a touch,// Jono allowed, picking up another paint can and giving it a shake. //I'm not much of a painter, but this one... I guess it just sort of happens when I'm holding the spray paint, these days, after all. It was about this time a few years ago the New Warriors... our incarnation of the New Warriors... suffered their first casualties. And now we've disbanded, have been for years.//

He shook his head a little.

//They were all rather good people.//

Re: Talk to the teachers!

[never-dull.livejournal.com]

Hannibal came to stand next to him, looking at the graffiti but with his arm brushing Jono's. "Who else was there, apart from Ms Lee?"

Re: Talk to the teachers!

[furnaceface]

//There were... a few of us. Barry and Angel, Christian, his sister Christine... she was our first casualty. Sofia was late to join the party. She signed up after we lost Christine. And then there was Vin... he didn't make it. And Mira...//

From the way his tone went a bit distant, there, it was probably fairly easy to tell that Mira hadn't made it, either.

Re: Talk to the teachers!

[never-dull.livejournal.com]

Hannibal squeezed his shoulder. "How many are left?"

Re: Talk to the teachers!

[furnaceface]

//These days...? Hell if I know. Fell out of touch with Christian, and Barry and Angel are alive and well, if busy with the kids. Sofia's been scarce, too. Not sure what happened to th'kids who were pulling tech support for us, or Thrash. And you know Lee's doing well enough.//

He shrugged.

//So far as I'm aware, we only lost th'three.//

'Only.'

Re: Talk to the teachers!

[never-dull.livejournal.com]

"Each loss of a friend is a tragedy," Hannibal noted, "but for a group of heroes in your world, that seems to be a good rate of survival."

Re: Talk to the teachers!

[furnaceface]

//Considering the hell we went through, and none of us with powers that didn't run on battery packs, it's nothing shy of miraculous,// Jono allowed, picking up a paint can and giving it a shake. //There were a few times we nearly lost far more than that. Hell, I came back looking like a great bloody pincushion, once.//

That was easier to talk about than losing Mira.

Re: Talk to the teachers!

[never-dull.livejournal.com]

"What happened that time?" Hannibal asked. He made a note about Mira, but he was willing to bide his time.

Re: Talk to the teachers!

[furnaceface]

//Was sent under false pretenses to fight a shapeshifting homicidal techno-being with roughly a trillion self-replicating nanobots at his disposal, and was trapped, with only about half our team, on his home turf. We burned through our available resources trying to just survive long enough for rescue, and I made one last stand to fend him off while the others made their break for it. Got several foot-long spikes through my arms and leg for my troubles.//

A beat.

//But nobody died.//

There was no small amount of pride in his voice at that. He'd taken charge in those tunnels. He'd kept his team alive. That had been him.

Re: Talk to the teachers!

[never-dull.livejournal.com]

And that pride was entirely justified. Hannibal gave Jono an equally proud smile. "That must have hurt. But you persevered."