2013-02-26 - Do You Care?

When Xavier mentioned there was an interview for a potential student, Scott didn't think anything of it. Well, at least until Xavier said he would be traveling to Muir Island that day on an emergency meeting, and that Scott needed to handle it. Scott, who does not particularly understand or get close to students unless they are strange ones like Laura. Needless to say, Scott ends up conning Warren into helping. Conning is perhaps a strong word, it was more like 'Order'.

At least Xavier already spoke to the parents, so Scott didn't have to deal with that as well. Warren was the one elected - perhaps that is too gentle a word - more like ordered to go let Dasha in when her parents dropped her off and escort her to the headmaster's office which is less cluttered and larger than Scott's. Scott is still looking over the notes that Xavier made about Dasha's principal visits, the concerns of her parents, and what her parents knew of her mutation. The door to the office is left open as per normal unless there is a meeting being conveyed in here. He sighs slightly. These types of things always have him stressed out, but at least he has Warren with him this time who is a people person.

Luckily for Scott, Warren has never had a problem with being used as a friendly face. When Dasha's parents pulled up, he was already waiting on the porch, leaning on the railing casually in a blue business suit, wings tucked away beneath his clothes in a tight-fitting harness. His blue eyes followed the car all the way in, and by the time they've pulled up to the front of the mansion, Warren has moved to open the door for Dasha. "Welcome to the Xavier's Institute," he greets with an easy smile. "I'm Warren Worthington," you know, the multi-billionaire near the top of the Forbes list. He shakes her parents hands, and promises, "Don't worry, she'll be well taken care of." He even helps carry her things, like a Proper Gentleman.

"Come on, this way," Warren says, leading Dasha in through the grand double doors and into the foyer. "Main foyer. Dorms are upstairs and over that way. We've got a pretty fancy rec room, as well; I'll show you a little later," he promises. "Right now, there's someone who very much would like to meet you." And so he leads her towards the office where Scott is waiting, holding doors the whole way.

Dasha wears her customary frown as the man shows her around. She nods perfunctorily, as if she knows where everything goes, and where it belongs... even though she doesn't. She doesn't say anything, save for a polite "hmm" or "ohh". As they enter the room, she looks around with wary eyes. Being totally out of her own territory makes her jumpy, and having to deal with the fact that this may be her new home, at least temporarily, leaves a heavy feeling in her gut. At least the blonde has a nice smile, she thinks to herself.

Scott's smile is about as exciting as...a snail. It's slight, slow, and perhaps a bit strained though he tries not to show it. He rises from behind the massive desk, "Daria," he says in greeting. "I'm Scott Summers, co-assistant headmaster here at Xavier's Institute. I also teach English and auto-shop classes." He motions for the girl to take a seat, "Welcome to Xavier's, please, have a seat," the please a seeming after thought as Scott attempts to put the girl at ease. "I apologize Professor Xavier would not be here for your interview himself, an emergency came up and he had to travel elsewhere to attend to it."

Warren waits for the girl to claim her seat before offering, "Can I get you something to drink? A glass of water? Coffee?" It's the little things. He gives Scott a brief glance, then winks at him and looks back to Daria. "We've got some of the world's best cocoa, too, if you'd like."

She blinks rapidly three times at the name Daria, unaccustomed to being called so formerly, then slowing looks up at Warren, shaking her head. She shifts her gaze back to Scott. "This is fine. I understand he would be a busy man," She says the words crisply, biting off each syllable, the slightest Russian accent highlighting her unease. She swallows, her mouth unexpectedly dry. She changes her expression to a slight pout, looking up at Warren again. "Perhaps I will try some of this... best cocoa, if you don't mind."

"One cocoa, coming right up," Warren promises, then looks to Scott. "Scott?" he asks, but his friend is already answering, and he nods. "Be right back," he promises, then ducks out to get the cocoa made.

Dasha clears her throat as soon as Warren leaves the room, changing her posture, back straight, shoulders slightly forward. She taps her foot on the ground. Her pout turns back into a frown, and she flares her nostrils slightly. How she wishes she could smell things better as a human! "My mother tells me this is an esteemed school, one that can help with my /problems/." She looks down, snarling out the last word. Her eyes dart back up. "I have no problems. Just lack of control, right? That's not particularly a bad thing..." She shakes her head almost violently as if to validate her point, and abruptly stops. She steadies her gaze. "I am here for my father, so I am not troublesome to him or my family. I am here because my mother says it will be good. Is she right?"

Scott distinctively frowns at Dasha's words. "No, it's a waste of both of our time," his tone blunt. "You don't want to get control of yourself, you see there is no problem with risking hurting others or even killing them with your powers. Because of that, we will be completely and utterly unable to assist you." He even goes so far as to drive the nail home in the coffin, to either gain a more positive response from Dasha, or stop wasting both of their time with dancing around the issue. Warren might have yelled at him right now if he wasn't out of the room.

Dasha raises an eyebrow, her lips twitching. She flares her nostrils once, then, unable to resist, bursts out laughing. It's a long, loud, shock of a laugh. She carries on for several seconds, seeming thoroughly enjoyed of her situation. She quiets down after a moment. "I like you, friend. You aren't afraid to let your words hurt." She crosses her arms, flexing them. "I would want to fight you. You seem strong, and strong men are good." She grins openly, almost baring her teeth. "I will not disobey my mother. I will make a home here, even if I don't want it. If you speak for the Professor, I will do as you say." She licks her quickly drying lips. "I will listen, and watch you. I hope you do not soften. It would be a disappointment."

"They aren't meant to hurt, they are meant to be truthful. I don't believe lies are going to get us anywhere, or dodging around the issue like..whatever." He is not about to say what he was going to say in front of a student. "It isn't a game, it's your life Daria, and the lives of others on the line. The point is, do you even care about your future, or the future of the world? A future that has the risk of turning on all of us, if we make a wrong step?"

The door opens again, and Warren enters with two mugs of cocoa. "Here we are, world's best chocolate," he boasts, before setting the mug on the desk in front of Dasha. He looks to Scott, briefly, and his smile falters a little. Something about his leader's face seems to sober him. But rather than interject further, Warren moves to lean against a low bookshelf with his own mug of cocoa and try and gauge what he's missed.

She creases her brow. "Of course I care. That's the purpose of the fight, isn't it? To be strong, to protect those who can't protect themselves. I am a good person." She bares her teeth again. "Despite what others might try to make of me, I am good. I want all to be free, to be able to do good themselves." She jumps as Warren re-enters the room, staring him and his mug of cocoa down. She looks back. "This is hard for me. Me, the thinking me, wants to do good, to do better. It's the not thinking me that is trouble. The fight courses in my veins! I can't hold it back, and sometimes I think it would be a pity to do so." She curls a lip. "The ones that I fought with were mean, cruel. But I didn't kill them. Just tried to teach them to respect what they think is weak. Is that making a wrong step?" She sighs. "Even saying it aloud, it sounds like what a bad person would say..." She quiets down, all of her muscles relaxing in one fluid motion. "This is why I want to be here. To learn to make good steps."

Finally, they are getting somewhere. Scott relaxes a bit in his shoulders, and Warren can likely pinpoint that exact moment where the worse of it is over. "If you are willing to accept the assistance, that is what Xavier's Institute and its members would strive to do for you. It would strive to help you do good, and to keep control over your more predatory instincts. It isn't to ruin what or who you are Daria, but to enhance who you are and give you control over your mutation rather than your mutation control over you. We are all given gifts, but with each gift there is a cost that we must learn to deal with and handle for the good of us and those around us. It's a responsibility we should take seriously about these powers, because otherwise we will only ruin what we want to protect. You understand this, right?"

Warren's tension lessens when Scott relaxes. And as Summers continues to speak, what's left of Warren's tension fades away to nothing. His smile returns, only now it's not the warm friendliness of meeting someone new: instead, there is a bit of pride in it. "The most important thing is that you understand we just want to help you become who you want to be," he chimes in gently. "And that you accept that you can become that person."

Dasha nods, chewing on her lip. She leans back in her chair, her eyes lowered, and takes the mug in both hands, sipping. She puts it back down, muscles twitching as it hits the table a little harder then intended. She sighs, the frown tugging at her lips again. "Why," the words come out a little weak, so she clears her throat and tries again. "I don't want to be troublesome. I promise I will learn what you have to teach, and I will try." She looks up, feeling disarmed by her own emotion. "Just please be forgiving if it happens. I want you to help me be... not a monster."

"Well, you are a teenager...we don't expect you to be perfect," Scott advises. "But we definite appreciate the extra effort you are willing to put in to not actively be a troublemaker." A slight touch of a smile as one corner of Scott's mouth twitches. But he then says, "We all make mistakes Daria, that's why we need help and people to watch our backs. It's called being human."

Scott then goes to pull out a school transcript from the files in front of him, "I do have a question for you however. The classes you are signed up for in school, do you find them challenging enough? Do you want pretty much the same classes when you transfer? Any other extra things you are interested in such as art or mechanics?"

Dasha raises an eyebrow. "I can choose courses?" This makes her smile slightly. "I... I would like to take some art classes, if possible. My mother is an artist, and she says it always calms her. What are my choices?" Dasha inches forward in her chair, trying to look at the papers.

"Piotr Rasputin teaches art here," and that is a Russian name for sure! "He's from Russia himself, and was a student here before become a teacher, just like me," Scott informs. "Music is independent study right now as we lost our Music instructor due to family concerns. But there are acrobatics and fencing which is taught by Kurt Wagner, Warren here teaches business classes, Kitty teaches computer classes, and we have countless linguistic instructors."

Scott turns to look through one of Xavier's filing cabniets, finds what he needs, and pulls out a small booklet of the current on-going classes for this semester...though it still lists Nico as music instructor. He hands it over to Dasha.

"Growing and learning isn't just about hitting the books, it is taking care of yourself as a whole. As a result, self-defense classes are a requirement, Logan teaches those. Xavier's Institute has a good academic rating because of this philosophy, that we educate a person as a whole. We even have horses here if horseback riding is your thing, though we may want to test out how they react to your predatory side first before tossing you up on one," Scott advises.

Dasha's smile grows. "That sounds... interesting. But no, I have no wish to ride a creature. I would love to take the art course, then." Her eyes dart over the pages. "I like the idea of the self-defense class, my uncle has taught me how to fight with knives, but I don't really see any courses that could help keep up my practice with this..." She looks up "Would it be beneficial to my training if I took more combat-related courses? Perhaps teach me control in under pressure situations? What do you reccommend?"

"If you like blades, there is fencing, but Logan handles martial arts instructions for self-defense. Knives are...often very final. They aren't typically a self-defense weapon...," the rest left unsaid of how they are usually meant to be used to kill. "No, the effort of power control has little to do with combat. Though if you are interested in meditation, that is something I can actually teach." Nothing is mentioned about being a superhero, or getting real combat training. "Power control lessons are a requirement as well, and different instructors will help you out at times. It is something completely separate from self-defense classes."

There is a pause then, before Scott says, "I suggest getting your core academics, and another academic class you believe will challenge and interest you. If you change the type of courses you are taking it could increase your work load, but you could end up gaining more rewards for the hard work. Graduation from Xavier's is not typical to a normal school, so if you need more time before you decide to jump into college, you can take it. I would also highly suggest art class, Piotr is an awesome guy. He can also be very calm and quiet, and I think you can learn a lot from him as an individual."

Dasha shakes her head. "Fencing is too refined for my tastes. I will take you up on this meditation however." She thinks for a second. "So, meditation, art, self-defense, and the normal classes then, yes? I think my credits from my other schools will help carry me to a decent college... but who knows what will happen in the upcoming year?" Dasha looks up, "Do I need to sign anything, or have my parents taken care of my arrangements?"

"Your parents will handle the signing of any documentation when they return." Scott then rising from his chair, nodding toward Warren, having appreciated his company a lot...not that he would exactly verbalize it that way. "Let me introduce you to some of the students and they can give you a tour of the place," he offers.

She nods, smoothing out her clothing. Dasha tucks an errand strand of hair behind an ear. "They will be nicer then those at my previous schools... they might understand me, right?" She gives him a hopeful look. "But there will be time to explore this place later, yes? I'd like to meet some people instead, watch how they interact, if this is OK"

"Sure," Scott says, "You have a little time before your parents get here. Just don't over-pack, you will be sharing a dorm room with someone else. Also, the bathrooms are hall bathrooms, so you want to make sure to bring a carrying case of some time to take your bathroom supplies to and from the bathroom. We will designate who you will be rooming with tomorrow, when you move in. You can start classes the day after that."

Scott then moves toward the office door to open it and nods to Warren, "I'll be right back after I introduce her," he has some things he would like to discuss with Warren about Daria. But he then steps out into the hallway with Dasha in tow as they say.