Wishing For Rain (Guy)

[Luxanna Viera]

Standing on the middle of the field, Luxanna gazed upwards towards the sunny, blue sky. She had been avoiding these kinds of sessions for as long as she could, but even she knew that she would have to do them eventually; As much as she wanted to learn how to control her ability, she didn't want to use it. And how was she supposed to learn control without activating it? It was all because of her own cowardly reasons, sure, but that didn't make the timid girl any less angsty. She didn't want to end up like her mother had.

Even with the sun, the air was a little chilly. Well, at least it was for the brunette, but then again, it was always cold for her. She could practically smell the flu coming from miles away; Whenever something was passing around, Lux always got it. Her immune system hated her. Really, really hated her. But, it couldn't be helped, and the sooner she faced facts, the better it was.

Walking over to the designated training area, Lux kept her arms wrapped around her waist and a plastered on smile; She didn't enjoy appearing as if she was vulnerable. That often led to too many questions she didn't feel comfortable discussing. It was bad enough that most of the Bellefonte staff knew about her situation, but the way they looked at her was horrible. As if she was a fragile little thing they couldn't even touch without breaking. It was annoying, and it didn't exactly help much on the confidence part.

She was still too early for her class and has a few minutes or ten to spare. So, instead of walking aimlessly around, the reactive adaptor sat down with her legs crossed, leaned back and let her skin suck up the little warmth the sun had to offer.

[Guy LeGrange]

So many students had outright crappy abilities in Guy's estimation. Zoe Wallerstein-Smythe could kill you by touching you too long. Elyse Blackery got to read someone's thoughts and memories from a touch. Frank Cox was essentially a goat. Noelle Tate turned into her brother, while the Robins twins just felt whatever the other did. However, most of them didn't have abilities that would likely lead to their eventual death, possibly in a painful fashion. No, that honor belonged to the daughter of a woman Guy had thought he might love at one point.

Fate liked to kick people in the nuts, apparently.

He sighed and slid his phone back into his pocket. Normally he'd harass his trainees, put them through verbal hell and force them to do tricks like a trained circus animal. Normally he'd also have them meet him inside, where things could be better controlled. But normally they weren't the daughters of old flames who happened to have abilities that pretty well needed a fluid environment to work properly. They did have these fields for a reason.

Guy stopped some distance away, staring down the field at Luxanna Viera. She looked pretty, young, to Guy's eyes, but pretty in the same, striking way that her mother did. "You look like your mother," he commented, walking toward the girl. "Which is probably for the best of all mankind; she always was quite the beautiful creature," he paused a few steps away. This felt awkward. Very awkward. He looked up at her, wondering where exactly you began with something like this.

[Luxanna Viera]

Luxanna lifted her head and turned it in the direction of the voice of her trainer, Guy LeGrange. Offering him a smile, she could feel the faint flush swept across her cheeks as she pushed herself up in a standing - yet awkward - position, ''Thank you,'' she began, chuckling somewhat, ''I'm sure she appreciates that.'' Luxanna knew very little of her mother's life on campus as it was rarely a topic that were up for discussion. It was something Luxanna had learned to avoid bringing up, as it always seemed to make her mother distant. It didn't really matter though; Whatever her mother was avoiding, Luxanna wasn't going to push at.

''So, what are we doing today?'' Luxanna asked, scrunching her eyebrows somewhat before pursing her lips, ''If you don't mind, I prefer not having to stick my head down a bucket to see how long it takes me to grow gills. That grew old rather quickly,'' she joked, a faint smile spreading over her lips. The situation was a little tense, and she was feeling awkward. But then again, she was a teenager; Everything felt awkward. But hopefully a few jokes would melt the ice.

Folding her hands behind her back, Luxanna cast a glance towards the man before turning her attention back towards the sun. She couldn't wait for summer. She quite enjoyed the warmth and the smells. It had to be one of her favorite seasons, there was really no doubt about it. The short girl sighed and turned her attention back towards her trainer, ''Was my mother one of your students?''

[Guy LeGrange]

Guy nodded, sure that Lux's mother would have appreciated it, though he assumed that said mother had likely married whomever this girl's father was. Guy didn't see any traces of a father at all on Lux's features though: she certainly looked like her mother to his eyes. This most certainly did not make things any easier for Guy, though he could certainly handle it. Wouldn't be the first time he'd taught the student of someone he knew in the past.

The joke had him chuckling, though he also was tempted to point out that he was usually the one telling jokes when it came to these sessions. Still, he couldn't begrudge someone an attempt at easing the tension via humor. "I usually want to see what you're capable of," he admitted, nodding. "Hence why we're outside," he spread his arms, "instead of somewhere more controlled. If you were to--" he had to stop his usual spiel, however, as Lux asked him his questions. His arms lowered, and he blinked at her, obviously caught off guard and a little out of his element.

"What? No, no, we went to school together," he said. It was true, though they'd certainly done a good deal more than that. He blinked a few more times, looking up at Lux, his memory churning up all kinds of things, romantic things, for the first part. Guy did fall for women, and fall hard, though he preferred to keep that part of himself hidden these days, especially from students. "We were close for a while," he said, nodding. That was also true, so he figured he might as well admit it.

"But yes, today we are going to see what your power does," he said, looking around. "Unless you wanted to ask me more questions about my relationship with your mother?" that was a bit of his sarcastic, caustic self leaking through, complete with cocked brow. He couldn't completely keep it in check, after all.

[Luxanna Viera]

Capable of? Well, she didn't really know a whole lot about her power. Well, besides the basics anyways. She adapted to stuff. Well, most stuff anyways. Like Darwin. She was a survivor; Which struck her as incredibly ironic. A little darker humor than what she preferred, but eh. It was what it was. She gazed around, nodding as if his words made sense. And then her question seemed to trail him off and she was left as clueless as ever. Oh well, it was her own fault for not staying on topic.

The realization of this being a direct window into her mother's past started dawning upon the young adaptor and she nodded slowly. ''I see.'' Though, she didn't feel like prying into something that obviously wasn't meant to be digged up. Her mother probably kept this secret for a very good reason, but that didn't make Luxanna any less curious; As she was curious by nature. Always had been - a trait she shared with her mother too, she had discovered.

She would have been fine with leaving it at that, but he did make a very tempting offer, ''My mother haven't really said much about her time here, and I'm sort of curious,'' she admitted with a sheepish grin, ''But I don't want you to feel uncomfortable either, and I don't want to step on anyone's toes.'' Shrugging the girl looked away, still with her hands folded behind her back. She swung her shoulder back and forth for a few seconds.

[Guy LeGrange]

The "I see" didn't exactly help Guy a whole lot, nor did the lack of detail about her power. He didn't really blame the girl for wanting to pry a little more into her mother's past though. At the same time, Guy wasn't positive that he could really vouch for the objectivity of his own memories. The past always had  rose tint to it, and that tint only grew all the more obscuring whenever matters of the heart were involved.

"Well, generally I don't invite my students into my personal affairs, but they're generally not the daughters of old friends,' admitted Guy. He dug around in his pocket again, trying to recall where he'd left his phone. it eventually made its way back to his hand, where it could have very likely been the whole time. Guy flipped through a few screens, knowing he'd need to pull up information. He could, theoretically, pull up more details than just the basics, but he didn't generally pry into his students.

They'd already established how very ungeneral this particular session happened to be, however. So Guy found his finger hovering over the more information box, before he shook his head, flipping through to look at the explanation of Lux's power, as if he hadn't already read through it several times prior to this meeting.

"It says here that your power is adaptation," he said, glancing up at her, "which seems very generalized though with quite a bit of potential," he thumbed through the data, shifting. "So we do need to discover what sort of things you adapt to and all,' he looked up at Lux again, "and you are welcome to ask a few questions about your mother, though I'm also free to get cranky and short with you. I'm always free to be short, you see: it's the right of my people."

[Luxanna Viera]

''I probably shouldn't pry about it, I'm just curious as my mother never really told me anything from her time here,'' Luxanna explained silently before shrugging, ''But if it makes you uncomfortable I'll let the subject slip,'' she promised. She didn't want to do anything that would come off as 'odd' or put him in an awkward position. She could push down her curiosity. It surely wasn't worth making other people feel bad, especially not a teacher; It wasn't her place to question.

Luxanna remained silent as Guy flipped up his phone and started looking for something. She didn't know what, but she wasn't about to ask either. He didn't strike her as the kind of person who ignored someone - during a session to read a text, so it was better if she simply waited for the attention to return to her. Taking the moment to gaze around, her eyes settled on the sky again; One of the clouds looked like a bunny. It was adorable.

Gazing down again, Luxanna nodded at Guy's words, ''So they say,'' she chuckled. She hadn't really taken the time to figure out what she could, and couldn't do. If anything, she avoided using her power all together. It frightened her. ''All right, sounds fair.'' His next words however had the timid girl raising an eyebrow. It took her by surprise, though it was a pleasant one at that. It was nice to see people accept themselves, and have a positive outlook on something a lot of people usually noticed, such as his height. It sort of made her think the world wasn't all that bad, and that was a wonderful feeling. ''Deal,'' she said simply.

''So, where do you want to start? Or with what?'' She truly had no clue about all of this. She used her power so little, she barely knew what she was capable of doing. Basically, she knew she could adapt to things, which would help her survive, but by doing so, she strained her body which made it weak against illnesses, and that might potentially end up killing her just like it was doing to her mother. ''Honestly, I don't know a whole lot about what I can, and cannot do. So...''

[Guy LeGrange]

Guy smiled at Lux. "It's not that it really makes me uncomfortable," he tried. He hesitated for a moment, uncertain of what exactly to say on the matter. He could take the professional route, mention that this really wasn't the best place for conversations of that nature. though that would technically encourage it later. Which he was very tempted to use now. Fortunately, he didn't have to, as they had other things to discuss, not the least of which was the supposed reason they were actually here.

Where did they start? Guy stared at Lux for a few moments. Usually he had a pithy comment ready for that sort of question, pithy or mean, but usually the situation wasn't, well, this. So he stared for a few seconds. "Usually I ask the students to perform their ability to the best of their comprehension," he paused for a few moments, letting his eyes flick about the area, taking all the various devices he'd set up into account. "And you say you don't know a whole lot, which means you know something. Let's start with that: what do you know about your ability, and what could you show me?

"It's just a demonstration," he continued, nodding. "We have to know what you're capable of right now, before we dig into any further training. And I do mean we: I've your records here,' he held up the phone, "but I want to see what you think you can do and what you'll do when we actually do this thing." He knew of various ways of testing abilities similar to this, though he didn't want to necessarily through them at Lux unless he had to. Most of them involved dunking someone in water, after all.

[Luxanna Viera]

Watching the man intently, Luxanna finally nodded, ''I get it,'' she reassured him with a soft smile. She wasn't going to push a subject that he didn't want to be pushed. After all, it was really none of her business. It wasn't her topic to bring up, and she wasn't about to make someone uncomfortable to satisfy her own selfish needs. That wasn't her. Hopefully it never would be.

''Okay,'' Luxanna agreed with a nod. Looking around, she pursed her lips as she wondered what way would be the best for her to demonstrate her abilities. She only had the general basic knowledge about her ability, so coming up with something was a little tricky for her. But it should be easy, right? Basically she adapted to things. It shouldn't be all that hard coming up with something to adapt to, and preferably something visible. Something quick. Something other than dunking herself in water, anyways. ''Uhm, let's see,'' she mused as she took another glance around.

Walking over to the different gear, the brunette rubbed the back of her neck as she glanced at each one of the different 'set-ups'. Finally, she settled for the lighter tucked into her pocket. Holding it up, she lit the flame and took a deep breath before holding the palm of her hand over the flame. At first, she could feel the slight sting and she grimaced at it, but after a few seconds, the pain went away and her expression calmed itself. She held her palm over the flame for another few seconds before lifting it, ''Fire-proof,'' she said with a nod. Tucking the lighter back into her pocket, Luxanna flipped up her phone and opened the browser. After scrolling and typing, the brunette looked up, ''Bonjour là, formateur. Mon nom est Luxanna,'' she turned her attention back to the phone again, before once more looking up, ''Njengoba ungase ubone, ngiyakwazi futhi ngifunde izilimi,'' she spoke in perfect French and Zulu.

''Basically, my brain react and learn different skills quickly, but the effects are only temporary. I can't speak French without looking it up, and I'll forget it after a short amount of time,'' she explained with a shrug.

[Guy LeGrange]

Guy was used to students getting a little confused when he asked them to demonstrate, at least ones with abilities like this. When you tossed fireballs or turned into giant shadow creatures, you could show your ability without thinking too hard about it. When your ability was "adapting to situations and circumstances" then you usually needed to stop and think a little more. Part of Guy wanted to berate Lux as she went about, sort of bully her into trying something. If she'd been a different student, he probably would've made snide comments about setting her on fire or drowning her or even going so far as to do one of those things.

But she was different, and Guy knew you had to treat every student differently...

What? He really did. Lux seemed to be rising to the challenge regardless. Guy watched as she attempted, and failed, to set herself on fire, then spoke at him in perfect gibberish, his expression barely changing when she managed that.

"Temporary though," he said, looking to her, "which must be hell on your body and your mind..." the side effects of this... it was definitely one of those that granted tremendous abilities at a taxing price. Guy frowned for a moment, tapping his fingers against his side and looking around. Her demonstrations were rather sudden, and he usually required a more in depth one. He also... well, he supposed he could still do his demonstration. He focused all his focus and attention on Lux, tightening it and suppressing her power. He wanted to just hold it for a few seconds, on the off-chance that she needed her power to live. He needed to see what happened then.

If nothing did happen in those moments, he'd ask her to get out the phone and try for Dothraki, since he wanted to hear her speak it for some reason.
If something did, well, that's another post entirely.

[Luxanna Viera]

Returning the frown, Luxanna nodded. ''Something like that, yeah,'' she said. Well, her mother was the obvious factor into play here, and Luxanna was more than likely to follow after in her mother's not so proud footsteps. But Lux was also certain Mr. LeGrange already knew that, so the brunette kept her mouth shut.

Now, what happened next caught the adaptor completely off guard. A sort of numbing feeling spread throughout her body. It started at the tips of her fingers and feet and rapidly spread over her body, as if someone had lit her on fire and the flames was licking their way up her clothes. Frowning, the adaptor fell to her knees as she clasped her chest, pressing her lips together as if to preserve the small amount of oxygen she had left; It wasn't particularly painful or anything, it just felt sort of like her body lost all sense of feeling. Like it was paralyzed.

Squinting her eyes, Luxanna felt her mind growing hazier. She had never attempted at having her ability being suppressed before, mostly because she was afraid it wouldn't work. And clearly, from the numbing sensation she felt consuming her body, it didn't. She wondered if this was how it felt like to drown? Losing all motory senses, losing control of your own body and feeling it slowly waste away, and then there was the hazy almost clouded over mind. It felt like she was disconnecting with her body and drifting away.

[Guy LeGrange]

Well, it certainly looked like this was a post of a different color. Guy watched Lux carefully, seeing her poor reaction. So her ability was literally keeping her alive. He quickly released his ability, then closed the distance. "I was suppressing your ability there," he said, keeping his eye on her, "and it appears that your ability is literally the only thing keeping you upright. I need you to talk to me though," Guy attempted to meet Lux's eye. Doubtless she was in pain and having issues, but he needed to know how great. He'd already gotten his phone out and hit the buttons necessary to call the medic down here if need be.

This wasn't the first time this had happened, though Guy was blaming himself a little. He should've attempt a slightly subtler suppression, particularly with this ability. if he'd just cut off a little, there wouldn't have been an extreme switch. But he'd been distracted and fallen back on routine; he just had to hope that Lux wasn't going to be paying an extreme price for the mistake.

It did tell him something: it told him that without her power, Lux would die and that, that was something to worry about indeed...

[Luxanna Viera]

Letting a sigh of relief escape her lips as she felt the numbing sensation let go of her limbs, Luxanna let her arms drop to the ground before sitting down properly. She took a moment to breathe before lifting her gaze to meet Guy's, ''I figured as much,'' the timid girl responded through gritted teeth; She attempted a smile, but it probably appeared more as a grimace than anything else. Nodding, Luxanna spent the next few seconds gathering her thoughts and attempting to steady her now unsteady heartbeat.

Opening her mouth to speak, Luxanna ran a trembling hand through her curly hair and sighed, ''W-well, it doesn't really hurt,'' she began before looking away, ''It sort of feels more like...'' Scrunching her eyebrows, she replayed the scene through her head again, and all though the entire episode was growing hazy, she could still remember the feeling. ''It's like my entire body went numb. Every muscle, every fiber every organ just shuts down and grows paralyzed. My mind grows hazy, almost as if I'm at the verge of passing out. It's kind of like being outside your body, without viewing it in third person view.'' She didn't know if it made much sense though. Taking another deep breath, she decided to try again.

''It's very similar to drowning, or at least what I've read about it. You can feel your body shut down piece by piece and no matter how hard you try to swim up to the surface, your body won't listen. Every movement feels slow, like you're losing control of your own body. You're no longer in charge. You're slowly suffocating and all you can do is float around and just take it. Your head grows hazier and hazier, as if your consciousness is being pulled elsewhere.''

[Guy LeGrange]

Guy sighed as Lux actually managed to speak. Speaking was definitely a good sign: it meant that everything hadn't shut down, or at least hadn't been irreversibly damaged. It also meant that he wouldn't have to rush Lux to the infirmary and explain that he'd accidentally put his trainee into some kind of shock. That happened, but repetition didn't make the experience any easier.

He then listened intently, watching Lux very carefully while she spoke. He wasn't just paying attention to her words, however. Guy kept his eyes on Lux's body, reading her body language as best he could. He took in the trembles and the tremors. Body going numb, which amounted to shutting down, but without the nerves sending any signals... did that mean that they too shut off? Even her brain didn't process things correctly. Everything about this description only served to worry Guy more.

Similar to drowning... "I'm no doctor," said Guy, speaking slowly, "but it sounds like all the systems in your body were shutting down. It's likely that your power is tied so closely to your body that it has to be on at all times," Guy paused for a moment, not only letting that sink in but choosing his next words carefully. "That's something to worry about, Miss Viera. It means that one wrong step, one accident and..." he looked away. "It's definitely not a good thing," he concluded. It also made him want to talk to Jason. If anyone would be aware of side effects of this nature, it would be Dr. Campbell. Though Guy did believe that there might be a side effects specialist or two attached to the school. Perhaps it would be best to go through the proper channels first, make things as official as he could manage.

For now, he focused his attention back on Lux. "Do you feel alright?" he asked, looking up at her. "Do you want to continue or do you need a rest? I don't intend on hospitalizing you,' he smiled, "that's usually reserved for the second session."

He said it like a joke, but at least 70% of his second session students ended up in the med bay.

[Luxanna Viera]

Lux had never really given it much thought, and in turn never really bothered to worry about it. She had always taken the fact that she needed her ability to survive for granted; It was there, she had manifested with this ability and she had to live with it. Well, for however long she'd remain alive. Basically, she was doomed either way. It just took a little longer to die by keeping the ability, that was basically the only difference. The fact that she would eventually get sick and then die worried her more than losing her ability and then dying.

Keeping her gaze on Guy, Luxanna lifted her arms to wrap them around her own waist, as if to shelter herself. Nodding slightly, the brunette let out a sigh, ''Are you sure? I mean, it could just be a reaction to the sudden suppression,'' she attempted, trying to have a positive outlook on the whole ordeal, but she already knew there wasn't any. Sighing again, Luxanna let her gaze drift away to the playing students across the field, ''So, basically; The one thing that's keeping me alive is also killing me, and there's no way to prevent it from killing me. Well, that's fantastic.'' Even with the gloominess of her words, Luxanna still managed a smile.

''Look, I already know about the way all of this is going to end, and if you knew my mother, I'm pretty sure you do too.'' Luxanna paused, taking a few seconds before finally turning to face Guy again, ''I feel fine, really. The numbness is almost gone and I have full control of my body again,'' she said and lifted her hand to clench and unclench her hand as if to prove her own statement, ''I just don't see the point. It's already on at all times -- obviously, and by using it...'' she trailed off.

''What do you want me to do next?'' She added quickly. There was no chance she was going to appear weak. No, she had fought way too hard and denied it for too long to simply unravel her fears and emotions out into the open.