Facing the World Anew [[*2003* Open]]

[Katrina "Black Rose" Richards]

Professor Xavier sat calmly in his wheelchair at his desk in the Headmasters Office. His hands were neatly folded, fingers interlaced, resting the heels of his palms on the polished wood of his official desk. His wrinkled face was pulled back in a soft, kind and reassuring smile in an effort to ease the mind of the young teen girl on the other side of his desk.

Katrina Richards had been in the Xavier Institute for roughly a year an a half. She'd made spectacular progress with her training and had shown great patience and resilience with all the tests the had run on her. She had worked hard to be where she was today. But for all of that, she looked like nothing less than a terrified little girl on her first day at a new school who was trying to put on a brave face. For all intents and purposes, that was exactly what she was. Though she had spent all of her time since enrolling in the Institute, she had been confined to the sub levels and her quarters with limited access to anyone and even then, her only interactions had been with select members of school staff. Today, she was being allowed out during normal hours when other students were wandering the campus.

It'll be alright, Katrina

Katrina looked up from what seemed to be a distracted daze, her pale lilac eyes settled on the Professor's kind face. She pushed the corners of her mouth into a superficial smile and nodded.

"I know, Professor," she replied aloud despite her statement being in response to a psychic communication. She took a deep breath and exhaled from the back of her throat slowly. "I'm just nervous, but I know...there's nothing to be afraid of." She didn't sound like she believed the words she was speaking, more like she was trying to convince herself.

Ever since her empathic abilities had kicked into overdrive two years ago she felt like she'd lost herself. She used to make friends so easily. Would she be able to now? Would she be able to keep her power under check? Would people even take a liking to her without the bubbly in your face personality she used to? Would they like her better? What if people liked her quiet but then she got "better?" would she lose the friends she made? Her mind raced with all of the ways this could go wrong. Maybe she should just go back down to the labs and let Dr. McCoy run some uncomfortable tests on the frequency of her frontal lobe activation or something again.

Katrina was brought out of her frantic thoughts by the soft chuckling of the older mutant in the wheelchair who had been responsible for her care for about a year and a half. She smiled something a little more genuine, if sheepishly.

"Is there a thought you don't hear?" Xavier gave her an amused but knowing smile with a twitch of one corner of his mouth.

"I don't have to be a telepath to hear that broadcast, miss Richards. And you don't have to be an empath to be broadcasting it." Not a straight answer, or an answer to her question at all, but she was used to it and took what she could get. She nodded and reminded herself to breathe. "Now, remember, there will be X Men on hand should you find yourself in need of assistance, but I doubt it will be necessary. Go on, then."

Katrina took a deep breath and stood from her seat, straightening her spine. "Thank you Professor, for everything." And with that she was out the door and on her way out of the building. She thought she might head for the stable house. She was familiar with it and if she left close to the back she would walk by the pool, basketball courts, the hedge maze. She could see parts of the grounds she'd only heard about or seen in the dark. The air was fresh and clean. It was spring. Spring. It was so nice out. She pulled her over sized zip up hoodie closer to her body despite the pleasant weather. She just felt...exposed.

[Angel "Sin" Sawyer]

Angel Sawyer had been been silent for nearly the entire car ride to New York. She was content to stare out the window, drowning in her own thoughts.

Firstly, this school was in New York all this time and no one really knew anything about it. Considering she'd only lived in Philadelphia and not somewhere stupidly far away, it was a little weird.

Secondly, she was terrified that this was some kind of front and that she was being led into a trap. Not that she believed her dad would give her up willingly, but the secrecy around this place was not comforting.

Thirdly, as little as she wanted to admit it - she was upset that her mother hadn't come with them. Their relationship had been absolutely horrid over the past few years, but Angel had been surprised that they weren't coming to the school as a family.

Flighty bitch.

Suddenly, the car stopped. Angel looked at her father in confusion.

"We're here. And before we get out, you should tell me what's on your mind."

She huffed for a moment, clearly not happy with the ultimatum. Looking around in annoyance, she finally sighed and the tension left her shoulders.

"I don't like the fact that no one really knows about this place." Quietly she added, "Mom didn't come."

Her father nodded sagely. He smoothed her hair down.

"Believe me, your mother has a good reason for not being here. And as for this place, don't worry about it. If they show their ass, I'ma show mine and trust me -I'm better at it."

They shared a chuckle at the idea and both got out of the car.Angel looked around at the campus and whistled at the beauty of the place.

"This a place for kids? This looks better than the colleges I see on tv."

She grinned ear to ear. Her father quirked a brow to her sudden enthusiasm.

"What? This place is ballin'"

Her father groaned at the slang and she tried to stifle the laugh that bubbled forth. She grabbed his hand and they began to walk into the building, swinging their hands slightly.

Maybe this won't be so bad.

[Katrina "Black Rose" Richards]

Kat made her way silently around campus. Most people didn't seem to take notice of her, but it was cool to see other students being so active and social. She missed it. It was nice to be out in the open air with other people without being flooded by alien emotions. She was starting to feel less nervous about all of this. Every so often she was hit with a twinge of someone's repressed or unchecked jealousy, attraction, once despair but it was gone before she could pinpoint the point of its origin. Implying the person was just being melodramatic or perhaps hid it away better, she couldn't be sure.

Trying not to think on it, she crossed the path that lead to the garages, closing in on the front courtyard. She paused there to look at the Phoenix memorial statue. She considered its impact and thought maybe she would read up on Jean Gray's history, maybe Dr. McCoy would tell her stories. He told good stories, she liked how well spoken he was.

Maybe she'd find a place to sit for a while, do some people watching before hiding away again in the stables like she planned.

[Angel "Sin" Sawyer]

Angel was bored. Her father had insisted on speaking to Professor Xavier privately. After waiting a bit for them, she gave up and began to head back to the car. This was a feat easier said than done and she ended up lost quickly.

Crap.

She had been following the signs that were directing her to the garage. She stopped trying to figure out where the car was. As much as she hated to admit it, her mother might have been right about telling her to pay more attention to her surroundings.

In the corner of her eye, she noticed someone move. Turning to get a look, she noticed it was a girl - probably the same age. Excited, she hollered over.

"Hi!"

She felt like a spaz, but she was trying to make herself known. She had never liked when people would sneak up on her, so she was trying to give her the same courtesy. She walked over, trying to mask her joy at finding someone her own age to talk to.

"Are you a student here?"

[Katrina "Black Rose" Richards]

Kat wasn't really the type to assume anyone was talking to her when they shouted out across an open campus, but she couldn't help but turn her head in the direction of the sudden noise. She was surprised to find a young girl -probably around her age, maybe younger? Older? If so, not by much, but it was hard to tell- bounding excitedly towards her. Kat turned to look around and behind her to see if there was anyone else she could be talking to.

"Are you a student here?"

It felt like an odd question to be asked. She was, after all, clearly a mutant, and she wasn't old enough to be a teacher, not by a long shot, so what else would she be?

"Who, me?" Katrina asked and pointed to herself, to make sure. "Uh.....yeah."

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[Angel "Sin" Sawyer]

Angel grinned broadly at the girl. To her knowledge this was the first time she met another mutant that wasn't her dad. And she was sure to know what this place was all about.

"That's so cool." she near squealed. "And so is your hair! They let you dye your hair here?"

She was probably sure she looked like a giant dork, being all excited about school. Then again, mutant school was a million times cooler than regular school because of all the powers anyway. She had so many questions for the other girl that she didn't really know where to start. Then she realized she forgot to introduce herself, like a spaz.

"Oh. By the way, my name's Angel. What's yours?"

[Katrina "Black Rose" Richards]

Kat couldn't help but chuckle a bit. The girl was so excited. Was she a human? Kat had never had another mutant react to her this way, but she'd gotten this from some human kids, usually younger ones who either didn't understand the stigma of being a mutant or didn't care.

"Angel's such a pretty name!" She smiled. "I'm Katrina. And I dunno about the rules on hair, this is just what mine looks like, Started growing in this way when I was eight. Pretty sure Professor Xavier doesn't care, though. If you dye your hair, I mean...."She paused as she had a thought. "Is Angel your real name or your codename?" If the girl had used her codename and Kat had used her real name, she'd feel so stupid.

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[Angel "Sin" Sawyer]

" 'tsok, I guess. Thanks."

Angel felt herself immediately want to tell Katrina that it wasn't that pretty anyway but fought it. She was sure that she didn't seem completely happy with the compliment, so she continued on with the conversation. She was ready to comment on the lax dress code when Kat's second question caught her attention.

"Dude, what kind of school is this - we get codenames?"

Angel thought for a moment and decided to explain before she found out anything else she probably wasn't supposed to know.

"Hey, um..just so you know, I don't go here. Me and my parents found out I had powers a few days ago. My dad's talking to Professor Xavier now, but they're not sure if they're gonna send me here yet."

She seemed like she wanted to say more, but silenced herself awkwardly. A beat passed and finally the stress of the past few days caught up to her. She broke eye contact for a moment, scanning the grounds around. It was still nice, but really what was this place about?

"Hey..um. Are you the only mutant in your family? 'Cause I think I'm the only one besides my dad and I don't know what his power is."

Angel paused and frowned slightly as she looked for the words. She looked back at Kat finally, smiling as politely as she could. She was sure she messed this up, the girl probably thought she was a weirdo for sure.

"I'm sorry, that was rude. I just..I'm not sure what I'm supposed to do."

[Katrina "Black Rose" Richards]

Katrina smiled sympathetically. Now she understood better. A new mutant, not sure what anything's about, loud but not confident. She sympathized.

"Hey, it's okay, don't worry about it. I'm an open book and yeah, if this is all that new for you, it's cool for you to want to ask questions. To answer them in..uh...random order, I guess," she chuckled to herself since she couldn't honestly remember the order Angel had asked her various questions, but was pretty sure she remembered what they were. "Everyone on my mom's side is a mutant. Dad's side claims to be all human all the time, but I'm pretty sure they're a bunch of liars. The codenames are just something a lot of mutants like to give themselves, makes them feel cool, and you'll need one if you ever wanna be an X Man...I guess you don't NEED one, really, but I'm pretty sure they all have them." She paused, realizing she might not know about the X Men. "The X Men are a group of mutants who ago around doing good stuff, fighting the bad guys, helping humans even if they don't like us. They're kinda like superheroes, Professor X is in charge, they all used to be students here just like us. I don't have one yet...My powers aren't cool and they don't really lend themselves to anything in particular name-wise. If it ever comes up I guess I'll figure it out then.

"The school is great, though. They really care about mutants, about helping newly manifested mutations get under control and help us learn to use our powers. I'm a perfect example of that." She grinned wider than she had in a while, realizing that it was true. She wasn't siphoning Angel's nerves more than a little, she was keeping calm and she wasn't projecting. She still had to focus on doing, it, though, but still! Not to mention it was ONLY Angel's nerves she could feel, not the entire student body. "Before I came here I could be around people. Now I'm...getting better." Her smile turned sheepish and she shook her head as if dispelling negative thoughts. "Anyway, it's really great and the Professor's amazing, if your dad has any sense in his head, he'll let you stay." She paused for a moment and then looked horrified. "I mean-- Not to imply that he doesn't! I just mean Professor Xavier is awesome and so is the school and it's pretty obvious so you'd have to be biased or stupi-NotthatI'msayingyourdadisstupidorbiased...." She shoved her face into her own hands and struggled with controlling her mouth, embarrassed enough to lose some of the grip on her control over her empathy, both ways, siphoning Angel's nerves and curiosity while projecting a feeling of embarrassment and self-annoyance. She couldn't do anything right, could she?

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[Angel "Sin" Sawyer]

Angel started laughing and it dissolved her sudden bout of nervousness. She was just glad to see someone else who was a mutant and she was a little glad she didn't know all of the answers either.

"Oh god," she managed in between chuckles. "I thought I was the only on that did that."

Now that she wasn't so panicked, she got a bit of an odd twinge. She was sure she wasn't really nervous anymore, but couldn't help feeling twitchy. She brushed it aside and continued with the conversation, hoping the discomfort would pass.

"So what do you do?"

[Katrina "Black Rose" Richards]

Kat focused hard, thought of her happy place and concentrated on the emotional barriers the Professor had taught her to put up when she felt out of control. after a moment or two, she sighed and relaxed, her powers under control. Then she could address Angel's question.

"Sorry, uhm, I'm an empath? I can...feel people's emotions and project my own. I have a lot McKee control than I used to brut I'm still learning....also I can manipulate people's energies. That's a little more complicated to explain and it's not all that useful."

She fussed with her sleeves, pulling them over her hands and folding them inward so that they closed off at the ends. She shoved them into the pockets of her hoodie and played with a rock with her booted foot.

"What can you do?"

[Angel "Sin" Sawyer]

"I dunno, being an empath sounds cool."

Angel pursed her lips at being asked what her powers did, thinking of a way to explain it. After a few moments, she shrugged.

"Dunno. I mean, there isn't really a word for it."

She looked around for a moment and shifted her weight so Kat could have room to kick rocks.

"When we talked to Professor Xavier, he had asked that too. He said he would have a Dr. McCoy talk to me, but mostly... " she trailed thinking, making the 'eh' gesture.

"You know all the things that you feel, but you can't always show? I think I can throw that at people."

She winced a little at her description and sighed. This was always the part she hated explaining to people because it always made her feel like she was...bad, to say the least. Good kids didn't enjoy it when they beat people up, she was sure.

"Well, I mean, I did throw it at someone. There was this kid that picked on me and I just sort of snapped. We got into a fight and once everything calmed down, he explained that..."

She took a deep breath, huffing. This was it - the moment where this whole conversation would fall apart. She'd probably never make friends once people found out what she could do. Biting the bullet, she took another slower breath. She averted her eyes and clenched her fists.

"He said he could feel how angry I was. Like instead of it just hurting where I hit him, it felt like something was burning into his skin."

She kicked at a rock, shrugging her shoulders up and crossing her arms. This was dumb and she wasn't even sure why she was saying this much. Praying that she was clear, she continued.

"His family took him to the doctor and there was no scarring so it wasn't really physical. I think it was like this phantom limb thing I read about once. Pretty much your brain thinks that something is happening, so it does."

She opened her eyes, gaze flicking up to Kat's face and quickly returning to the ground. It felt weird to want someone to not be put off by her story. With the exception of her dad, most of the adults she knew were too worried about how she'd make them look to be really helpful. And she could barely talk to the few friends she had left - most of their parents treated her like she was some kind of hellspawn.

"So, yeah...That's what I do." she finished, low and bitter. Bracing for the freak out, she continued to stare at the ground and tried really, really hard to ignore the stinging at her eyes.

[Katrina "Black Rose" Richards]

Kat listened, nodded and thought.

"So, your can make your emotions a weapon? And they do no physical damage, like if you'd used your fist? That's all kinds of fascinating..." She was grinning and had to pause for a moment, realizing she was acting exactly like Dr. McCoy. Her face faltered for a moment in realization and then she laughed. "Haha, I'm sorry, I've spent the last year working with Dr. McCoy, he says shit like that all the time. Fascinating is, like, his favourite word or something." She chuckled, rolled her eyes dramatically and then shook her head. "But really, that's cool. I don't have any offensive abilities. I mean....I can make you really REALLY tired.....But I don't know if you can come back from that...And supposedly I could overload someone with an emotion if I felt it strong enough, but I don't know how that works, and it's more of a distraction. I'm a great distraction." She shrugged, still smiling. She didn't see anything wrong with Angel's powers. "And hey, I get the snapping angry thing, I do it all the time. my first fight was in preschool....or kindergarten? I can never remember that right....but anyway this kid was picking on my friends. He was a bully, like, a legit bully. In PRESCHOOL! I told him to leave them alone, he shoved me into a filing cabinet, hit the back of my head on the corner of it. So I got up, went over to him and clocked him right in the jaw." She annotated her story with hand gestures, touching the back of her head when she mentioned the filing cabinet, lightly pushing her fist into her hand at the mention of the punch. Her smile turned a little mischievous. "And the best part? Didn't get in any trouble 'cause that kid was so bad, even his parents weren't mad at me. Had to watch me for a concussion, but it's cool, I almost broke his jaw."

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[Angel "Sin" Sawyer]

Angel made a sound somewhere between a gasp and a chuckle at Kat's story. She blinked a few times both shocked and trying to blink away that teary feeling in her eyes. Not being the only one to feel that way was a bit of a shock. She smiled again, calmer now.

"So what are the teachers like here? I'm sure it's gotta be different here."

[Katrina "Black Rose" Richards]

"Well...I don't know what they're like in their classrooms, but the ones I've met, as people, are really cool. I was only allowed access to certain members of staff until today...."She paused to think about it. "But they're all mutants, and they know how to use their powers, they all went through what we're going through now in some capacity, so yeah, it is different, I guess. For a school, I mean."

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