2016-01-19 Library Hours
This scene is rated Everybody
Warning: N/A
2016-01-19
Players: Jake Ember
GMed by Random Acts of Spongebob
Title: Library Hours

Its late afternoon tending towards early evening when Jakes wanders curiously into the library in the eastern wing. His eyes are a bit wide after only a few moments looking around as he realizes just how very large the room is, and how tall some of those shelves go. He looks quite impressed, and he spends some time clearly familiarizing himself with the place.

***

Because she's a polite semi-guest/semi-prodigal, Ember doesn't hog the games console during the day. Instead she restricts her efforts at rebuilding her champion rep amongst Halo players to the nighttime hours when most of the rest of the Institute is sleeping. Daytime, since she isn't doing anything else, is spent here in the library. Because while her new state of being took away a lot of things from her, it's given her apparently endless time to learn… anything, really. And since this place is more home to her than where she was raised, she doesn't always move around wearing her personal illusion of humanity. Today is one of those days.

So off in one corner of the library there are several books on history and strategic thinking spread out on a set of small desks arranged in a circle. And in the center of that circle is… well, for all intents and purposes it's a sun the size of a large beach ball. Every few minutes a tendril of this sun's 'corona' reaches out and flips a page on one of the books.

***

Jakes eyes squint as he sees the… sun… reading a few books with tendrils. Welp. Thats about enough X-men for today a lesser mind would say, but Jake manages to bear through it. There is a clearing of his throat, and the most legendary of all greetings towards the entity he isn't entirel sure is actually human or not. "Uhm…."

***

"Hello, Jake. Glad to see you made it." The sun's 'voice' doesn't sound exactly like Ember's, but the brunette's vocal tones are in there somewhere. And when the sun speaks again, it's more clear that the voice is the same as the older teen from the mall. "How do you like the place so far? Nothing too strange, I hope?" Because a talking heavenly body isn't strange at all. Well, it's not strange /here/.

***

"Well. No. Uh. Getting adjusted." A pause, and he squints a bit at her. "… Wishfire?" He offers after a few moments, moving a tiny bit clsoer. "Well, without meaning offense, you are like… the strangest thing I've seen all day. Are you like… Are you pulling an illusion for some reason? Why a sun?"

***

The sun's voice chuckles softly, "I'll take that as a compliment. And no, I'm not using any illusions at the moment. This is my natural relaxed state; just your average, every-day, self-contained sapient energy matrix." Ember does understand that there is such a thing as a weirdness threshold, though. So she transitions from her natural state to the one that Jake is more familiar with (and likely to be more comfortable around). Her form becomes smaller and then woman-shaped and then she cloaks herself in the illusion of her former human self. It becomes a good bit less well lit in the room as a side-effect. She smiles at Jake and shrugs, "It's my version of walking around the house in sweats and bed-head."

***

There is a slow nod of Jakes head. "Oh…" He says, still squinting. But as Ember returns herself to a more simple human form that he can better understand, he meets her transition with a faintly relieved look. "So you /normally/ look like… that." He says, with a waggle of his hand over the table where the sun had been. He moves closer now, a smile forming on his lips when he sees her despite the unusual first meeting her other form. "Thats… Thats impressive? But that wasn't how it started?"

***

Ember steps out from the center of the circle of desks, her body moving in all ways like that of a normal person. She even seems to inhale before speaking. "No, I started out like every other person in the world… naked, screaming, and wondering why it was so cold out here. Grew up, went to school, then started glowing and sort of melting a bit instead of getting curvy like the other girls. Skip a few years of events which belong in the past and I ended up here about two years ago. Met good people, bad people, and some that should have stayed firmly in the realm of myth where they belong. Fought the Serpent of Ragnarok, thought I was due for a casket and a brief funeral but instead ended up changing into the lovable flaming beach ball you saw just now."

She grins at Jake as she pulls up a chair at one of the larger tables nearby. "That's the Cliff's Notes version of me. So what about you? Who all have you met so far?"

***

"… Huh." Jake says, thinking. "Thats an eventful rocket of a life. And most of that within just two years of realizing your powers…" He trails off, before saying. "The Professor, of course. Uhm, one of the teachers Ann-Marie. And a… a walking uh…" A pause, and he just gives up trying to describe him. "I think he said his name was Boris, but he had a really strong accent."

***

"More like within five years of discovering my powers. Then I was here for a year or so, but other things happened before that." From the tone of Ember's voice, those 'other things' weren't likely to have been half as fun. She listens and grins when he mentioned Ann-Marie. "Yeah, she's a good one. And the Professor is, too of course." She nods when he mentions Boris, "Yeah, he seems interesting. The accent is German if I'm not mistaken. I've seen him around a bit but don't know much. He arrived while I was off on my… vacation most of last year." Yep, what she mentioned before all happened in less than a year. Just the kind of place this can be.

***

There is a slow nod of Jakes head. "Wow." He says simply. "Thats… thats incredible. And a lot to take in. I'll admit, I'm really happy to be here. I've already transferred in and everything. Having a place I can like… I can just use my powers, without worrying about it? PRactice and stretch my gift when I want? Thats going to be like… something special. Especially the community. I get the feeling its like a big family, y'know?"

***

Ember nods her agreement with that sentiment, "Yep, sounds like this place alright. A whole lot of folks under one roof with at least one thing in common. Well, make that two things: We're all mutants, which makes for a lot of relief to have, as you said, a place we can be ourselves. And we've all found a home here." She grins and mock-shakes her finger at Jake, "Just don't let yourself think that this place goes light on the schoolwork just because we've also got 'learn your powers 101' on the cirriculum."

***

"Yeah, I get that." Jake says with a smile. "My classload is similar to what I was taking in highschool. I've always been pretty bright. Making sure I get my AP sciences down, and my maths. I'm glad there was a lot of computer science electives as well, that really interests me."

***

Ember kicks back in her chair, putting her feet up on the table. "I think you'll get a kick out of Doctor Hank. That's who'll most likely be your sciences teacher. He's a hoot. Big, blue, and if you feel the need to bribe him he's got a serious Twinkee habit. Not sure about the computer side of it, though. Never been one to use them much outside of games, research, and webcomics."

***

"Oh, yeah? Twinkies, huh?" Jake says with a bit of a grin. "I heard about him from Boris, apparently they are real good friends. Share a lot of the uh… Well… being unable to hide themselves thing." He says with a slight nod of his head. After a moment, he asks her in a softer tone of voice. "How common is that?"

***

Ember takes a bit longer than usual to answer that question. When she does, it's with a more sober tone of voice. "Here I'd say it's about seventy-thirty in favor of those who are either fortunate enough their mutation hasn't altered their appearance, or a few like me who took a hard beating with the mutant stick but have a way of hiding it. I've heard that overall it's more even, but not many like Boris or Doctor Hank manage to find a place like this where they're safe."

***

There is a more solemn nod of Jakes head. "I see." He murmurs softly, nodding his head. "Well… I'm glad this place exists… And really surprised I mean… I hadn't heard about it." He admits. "Is it a well hidden thing?"

***

"Yep. The way I told you about it was really as direct as we get most of the time." Ember rocks her chair back on its back legs. "As far as the general public is aware, it's just a very exclusive private boarding school. And not too many even know that much. I know there are plenty of people at levels way beyond my pay grade that are in loop as well, like the Avengers and probably others." She chuckles softly, "Hell, I didn't even know about it before I got invited to an interview when I was sending applications to private schools in the area. I figure the Professor thought it was the most subtle way of getting me through the gate."

***

There is a bit of a smile. "Well… Thats good, then." He says with a nod. "I think I'm going to like it here… Oh, I'm sorry Ember. I need to get to bed, I've got classes starting super early tomorrow.

***

Ember grins at the idea of early classes. "Yeah, you don't want to be late. Given all the varied abilities present here, the teachers can come up with some inventive ways of pointing out your error." She stands back up as Jake heads out, her illusions dropping once more and the room brightening as she returns to her native form. Then she's back in the center of the ring of books, passing the time learning in her own way.

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