A Professional Opinion

[Ricky Chrome]

Ricky stood staring at a closed door, fidgeting with the clear glass vial in his left hand. He'd heard about the man Seiji Lockard who worked here, and from the info he'd remembered, Ricky had a feeling that this Seiji would be the perfect person to help him. He looked at the vial he was holding. He'd collected some of the toxin that continuously seeped from his fingertips into it, then printed out a label for it with the "biohazard" symbol on it.

He held a hand up to the door preparing to knock, but froze as uncertainty gripped him. What if Seiji can't help me? he wondered to himself. He shook his head as if to dislodge the doubt, and then knocked on the door exactly three times, hoping that, after all the mental deliberation it took for Ricky to get there, someone would open the door.

[Seiji Lockard]

Seiji was in that lab part of his office, testing out a new serum that was supposed to help a mutant who had the unfortunate ability to breath under water. The unfortunate part about that ability was they often struggled to breath on the surface and it causes them to pass out a lot. Seiji hoped that the serum he was making would be able to be put into an inhaler for said student so they could use it to help them breath better on land while they learned to control their power better. The idea of it was simple; the serum would enter in their lungs, coat them, and help provide air better to them while on the surface.

Ghost was currently with him, the large snake likes to spend a lot of time in the lab and office with Seiji when he was working. The large while boa constrictor was currently laying under a heated lamp that had been set up in Seiji's office just for his snakes. Ghost could feel the vibrations in the floor, knew that someone was getting closer to where he and his master currently where. He didn't say anything at first; waiting to make sure the person was in fact coming to them and not just walking down the hall. That and he didn't want to interrupt his master when he looked so focused on his work.

The knock on the door in the other room confirmed that the person who had been walking down the hall was here for his master. Seiji heard the knocking but was still slightly distracted with what he was doing. Only to be reminded by Ghost who let him know that someone was in fact knocking and he was not hearing anything. "One second!" Seiji yelled out. He closed to lid to the serum he was working on and headed into the other room, the office area. Ghost of course slithered behind to meet whoever was here to see his master. "Sorry for the wait. What can I help you with?" Seiji asked as he opened the door. He even stepped out of the way and gestured for the student to come in, looking him over and trying to figure out he might be asked.

[Ricky Chrome]

Ricky simply blinked at Seiji for a few brief moments, looking him over. Somehow, Seiji didn't seem exactly like how Ricky had been led to believe... from what he'd heard, anyway. When Seiji stepped to make room in the doorway, he entered quickly and started wondering where to start.
"My name is Ricky. Uh, Ricky Chrome." he introduced hastily. "And my, um..." he trailed off.
C'mon Ricky, you can't freeze up now. You gotta figure out how this ability of yours really works... he tried to psych himself up.

He started over. "My name is Ricky Chrome, and I was hoping you could examine this." he held out the glass biohazard vial he'd brought with him in his left hand. Scratching his head with his other hand, he added, "Um. I heard you're good with toxins and stuff, so...I dunno...that stuff's always seeping from my fingertips, and people kinda just... like, freeze up when they touch it?" Realizing maybe that he'd said too much too fast, he waited for Seiji to say something, anything.

[Seiji Lockard]

The boys in front of him seemed to be looking him over, perhaps figuring that Seiji would have been older in his position. Or perhaps it was that Seiji still had his lab coat on since he had been over in the lab a moment ago and had not removed it. Thankfully there was nothing dangerous on his lab coat or anything. He tended to wear a different one when he was going to work with something particularly risky, which was not that often. At least Ricky entered the room without any problem and when to introducing himself with a slight nervous hint to it.

“It is nice to meet you Ricky.” Seiji said, giving the young man a friendly smile to help him relax a little. Seiji didn’t want anyone to feel nervous around him, there was not reason too. He didn’t think he was particularly scary, even if he was pretty tall and did own a lot of snakes. He was just here to help people out with their side-effects of their powers. He was also still a student at Bellefonte, so he did understand where people where coming from. Sure he was going to be done with college soon and would be able to focus all his efforts into his job. The young man then repeated himself, showing more signs at just how nervous he was to be here.

Ghost was already peeking his head out from under Seiji’s desk where he had moved before the young man walked in. He normally liked to jump out and say hello to people but during this weather he just wanted to stay under things and keep what warmth he could muster. Seiji blinked a few times when he saw the vial, moving away for a moment to grab a pair of gloves. He still listened to what the boy was saying as he slipped the gloves on with ease and reached out to take the vial from the boy. “So in other words it is a part of your power I’m assuming. Unless you can do something else and you noticed this as a result?” Seiji asked as he first moved over to his computer and pulled up Ricky’s file.

He had access to a lot of information and thus was able to get the internal reports on Ricky’s power to help him get a grasp of everything. He still liked to hear it from the person who had the power. “Feel free to take a seat and relax a little. I’m here to help you so feel free to ask my any questions.” Seiji said as he quickly scrolled through the information on the computer and then took a moment to look at the contents in the vial. He was most certainly going to take this into the lab to look at. “Would you mind tell me what you know of your power already?” Seiji asked, wanting a little more detail, if the boy could give it.

[Ricky Chrome]

Ricky exhaled once deeply, his cheeks puffing up a bit as he calmed himself down. He flopped into a nearby chair. "Okay, so...my fingers ooze that stuff, and I've started calling it 'Mind-ocaine' because..." he cleared his throat, "Because if it gets on someone's skin they kinda freeze up like they're paralyzed."

Ricky paused here, looking down at his feet which he'd subconsciously started kicking forward and backward alternately. Begging his body to be still for just a bit longer, he continued, "And when someone's like that, I can...I dunno...make them move? Like, with my mind? But only when they get that stuff on them..."

He shook his head twice quickly. "Sorry if that isn't much help, it's not like I've had the chance to use my power since it's so dangerous...that's why I always wear these." He held up his hands to show Seiji his black gloves, and his jaw tightened a bit as the memories came flooding back from the day he'd gotten his first pair of gloves, the day he killed his own father in pure rage.

Trying to suppress those thoughts was somewhat successful, but Ricky still felt some color drain out of his face. He relinquished control of the conversation. "So, what do you think? Anything you can tell me just from that much?"

[Seiji Lockard]

Seiji started to type up what Ricky was saying once the boy had grabbed a seat and decided to speak about it. His eyes were already quickly reading over the words on the screen about the boy’s power, all while still typing what was being said. He didn't even need to look down at his keyboard; his fingers knew where every key was and was a pretty fast at typing. "That is an interesting name for it." Seiji said. He added it in the notes section, just because that was what Ricky called it but he was not saying much more on it past that.

He glanced at the boy when he went on to talk about how he could control people in a way once they had the ooze on them. Well that pretty much explained a lot of Ricky's power right there and Seiji already had a pretty good understanding of it. That and he had just finished reading what had been noted about the boys power thus far. It was most certainty an interesting power but just like all the other powers out there, it could easily be explained with science. "No, you are fine. I have a pretty solid idea of what your power is just by from what you said, and my notes here." Seiji said as he finished up typing a few things.

He noted down that the boy had to wear gloves, and it made sense why he had to. Such a power could be very dangerous depending on the boy’s mindset and just how far he could go with his powers. A lot of mutant powers had the potential to be dangerous depending on how they used, and that was part of why BA was here. To help the students learn control and become normally functioning members of everyday society. Seiji could tell that Ricky was thinking about something but he didn't get a chance to ask about it when the younger male asked what he thought.

"Based off of what you said and what is written on here, the substance secret from your body is basically a toxin that likely effects the muscle movement in a person's body. How it works is something easily understood in terms of how it affects people’s bodies. It is also pretty easy to understand how your body produces and I could even pinpoint where it might do this if you wanted." Seiji said, rambling on a little bit. He caught himself and cleared his throat before refocusing on the matter. He understood the boys power for the most part but he would of course do test to be sure.

"Is there anything specific you want to know about your power or are you here to get help to try and get your level of secretions under control?" Seiji then followed up with since his job was more so the latter at the moment. He did plan on expanding it to be completely mutant specialist.

[Ricky Chrome]

Ricky watched nervously as Seiji took notes while he was describing what he knew about his power. At Seiji's comment about what he had taken to calling his toxin, he cringed internally. With the way he said it, it sounded like Seiji was patronizing him. Nevertheless he continued to detail how his power actually worked. His mood flipped and his eyes lit up a bit when Seiji went on to say that he understood Ricky's power.

Ricky cleared his throat a bit as he thought about Seiji's question. Why was he really here? "Well, I ..." he paused, perhaps for a bit too long. "Both," he finally said with a newfound clarity of mind. "I want to know why the part of my mind that controls my power is so...aggressive. But I want to be able to take my gloves off sometimes for-" he cut himself off as his face turned a shade of tomato. He'd almost given way too much information.

[Seiji Lockard]

The power overall was one that Seiji could understand pretty well. He was actually pretty good with toxins and the like due to his work with snakes. It allowed him to understand how Ricky’s power could cause a person’s body to be subjected to sort of a vulnerable trance state. There was an actual drug that did the same thing but tended to leave the person with no memory of what had happened to him. He didn't know if that happened the same with Ricky’s power but it was something to look into. He gave the boy a reassuring smile to let him know that they could indeed work something out to help the boy.

He would not be able to make anything that would be permanent, but something temporary was sometimes enough for a student. Ricky informed him that he was here for both reasons, which then would help Seiji provided the younger boy with everything he needed. Not now of course, but as time went on he would be able to. With some outside help since he was still working on getting better at making the medications himself and was still working on other cases as well. Seiji wrote down on a separate piece of paper on what Ricky wanted specifically.

"In order to touch someone skin to skin and not have to worry about them being affected by your power?" Seiji asked, since the boy didn't finish. He didn't even blush this time, having a feeling what it was the boy was hinting at. Normally he would blush but he figured the boy was already embarrassed about trying to bring it up. "I will have to run a few test to get you both of the things you seek. I should be able to get you an answer to the first one pretty quick. As for coming up with something that will allow you to touch other, that is doable but will take a little bit as well. It will also more than likely be temporary." Seiji informed Ricky. He hoped that was good enough for the boy. He would work hard to make sure the wait was not too long.

[Ricky Chrome]

Ricky was silent for a few moments. As grateful as he was for the opportunity to perhaps find temporary solutions to avoid affecting people with his power, part of him remained skeptical and a bit fearful. Even if Seiji was able to provide him with what he promised, what if it didn't work? What if it didn't work, and someone whom Ricky truly cared about got hurt or killed by that aggressive mind-self of his?

He cleared his throat while clearing these anxious thoughts from his mind. "I-I'll take whatever tests are necessary. I want to make progress towards controlling my ability, however possible. Even if it is only temporary."

[Seiji Lockard]

Seiji was confident that he would be able to find a way to help the boy out and he didn't even need a demonstration or a sample. Ricky had been kind enough to provide him with one so he didn't really need to keep the boy here long. He just needed his approval and then he could get right to work. It would still take time but he didn't it would be too long. Toxins were Seiji's specialty after all thanks to his work with poisonous reptilians and the like.

He just needed to get his hands on some more test rats and then some skin cells from a normal human and a mutant. Just to make sure that the effects were still the same no matter what as long as someone didn't have a skin based power. "Alright, then I will do everything in my power to help you. Still make sure that you go to your training seasons, because again this is something that will only be temporary and provide you a little bit of assistance. I do need some time to make the medication but should not be too long." Seiji said as he types a few things up on his computer, now that he had the okay to run his test and create some medication for the boy.

"Since you provided me with a sample, that is all I need from you for now. If there is nothing else out need, you are free to go or stick around if you like." Seiji said, smiling friendly as ever. He was just going to take care of a few things before he would get to work on it. No point in the boy staying around if he had other things to do, but if not Seiji was not going to kick him out at the moment. "Oh, you are fine with pills that you have to swallow right? Making chewable ones and liquid based medication I feel is not as effective." Seiji added after a moment. He could make others besides swallow ones, but he felt they worked best. Direct access.

[Ricky Chrome]

Ricky nodded a bit sternly at Seiji's advice. Training sessions. He really needed to focus more on those, he decided. And maybe I could pursue some supplemental self-education... he added internally in an almost sinister way.

Ricky stood up quickly upon hearing he was all set and could leave if he wanted; a split second later he realized how rude that must've looked. "U-Um, yeah I should get going, I've got...a thing," he lied, flustered beyond capacity. "Thank you. For...well, everything." He turned the handle on the door, pausing at Seiji's question. "Regular pills would be just fine, I swallow all the time!" He walked out the open door, and had almost closed it when he froze in place at the realization of his own innuendo. He then shut the door completely, resigned to the fate of every future conversation with Seiji probably being awkward, and hastily made his way back to his room.

[Seiji Lockard]

Seiji was not bothered how fast the boy stood up when he said that he could leave; he figured the boy did have other things he wanted to do. Seiji did not mind of course if he wanted to stay and ask questions, but he did not expect the boy to want to linger around and watch him work. That would likely get pretty boring pretty fast for him. Plus Seiji had a habit of talking out loud and saying possibilities both positive and negative.

He didn't want the boy to be around and possible hear him say something that would worry the boy. "No problem. Best of luck on getting those things done and always feel free to come to me if you have any questions." Seiji said, keeping his smile. He would handle a few more things before he would get right to work on it. He gave a nod when Ricky said that he was fine with regular pills, perfect. Seiji didn't even catch onto the innuendo that was there, since he didn't really ever think like that unless someone else had put that way of thinking into his mind.

"Alright, I'll take care of it then." Seiji replied, not having anything else to say. He didn't get why the boy looked so nervous and rushed out then but he said nothing about it. He moved to type up a few more things and then went to work on doing some test on the samples Ricky provided him.