Such A Fanboy

[Seiji Lockard]

"Try not to be a fan boy. Sure this guy is like up there as a medical genius with what he has already achieved in making medication to help with mutant side effects, but you do the same. Well, you more so give him a bit of the information and he works the whole making the actually medication magic. Plus we are co-workers, but he is older than me. Year of experience under his belt and he is quite the handsome gentleman. Would it be weird if I asked for his autograph?" Seiji ask Leevi who sat on Seiji's desk and looking at his master who had gone into a ramble. Seiji was pacing the room the whole time, talking with his hands, and even blushing a tiny bit. He was just so excited to actually get to meet Jason Campbell. Sure he had met him before but that had been mostly in passing or Seiji seeing him from a distance.

Not that Seiji was like watching him from a distance or anything like that...not on purpose anyways, and the few times that he was doing it on purpose he was using one of his snakes, looking through their eyes to just get to see Jason in his work setting. The older man was always so busy so Seiji was practically speechless when he had been informed that Jason was going to be stopping by the Side-Effect Specialist Office, with the new addition of the lab. Seiji had done his best to make sure everything was cleaned up and mostly in order without really messing up the order of things he had going on.

"I really want to show him my pretty much my find that females are more likely to end up being a mutant then males are because of the X chromosome. Possibly a little bit about what happens to the DNA over time with mutants reproducing with other mutants and the likely hood of their children’s being mutants as well. No! Really I want to hear if he had made any new discoveries. Where is my notepad?" Seiji went on another ramble as he started going through his desk drawers to find his iPad so he could take notes casually when Jason would get here.

Leevi remained silent the whole time, never really much of a talker out of Seiji's snakes and didn't even warn his master that someone was coming their way. "What if he has to cancel because something comes up? He is a doctor after all and he is often super busy. What if he is afraid of snakes, or thinks I'm creepy? Would it be weird to ask him if I could look into his power a bit more?" Seiji was going on another rambling again, talking to Leevi as he looked under his desk, not even hearing the door open while his mind wondered and silently panicked over it all.

((Jason Campbell))

[Jason Campbell]

Jason was always a little nervous whenever he had to go back to Bellefonte. Of course, most of the time, it was because of an emergency. The nerves helped to stay focus, he was actually good at working under pressure, which was a plus when you had a life in your hand. He knew that if he became the on-call doctor here, it mostly had to do with his ability to heal with his touch and the fact he studied here. The reason why he agreed to it had to do with his research. Even when he was in New York, practicing medicine there, he tried to test some theories or work on powers and the different effects they caused both on others and the mutant. It was not magic, there had to be some way to counter some of the worst effects, or, at least, to attenuate them. Not like he wanted to compare mutation to an autoimmune disease that was manageable but it kind of was.

The hospital had the perfect equipment to conduct researches but he would then have to justify his every action and there was a limit how much he could bend the truth and still make it believable. He changed a room in his house into a lab but, then again, his resources were limited. The school, however, had everything he could need and even more. And they had someone who was a side-effect specialist. Exactly the kind of person who would be able to help with his work.

He didn't really know that man. Since Jason mostly had to work in the nurse’s office, he came here only when his lab at home was not enough and he always needed someone from the administration to agree. He understood the safety measure but it explained why he wouldn’t come here too often.

He approached the office and managed to hear most of what the man said near the end. He clearly didn’t think he could make anyone nervous as Jason always considered himself as plainly boring but he was rambling over his coming. For a moment, he wondered if he was not alone and figured knocking would be more polite but there was something in the way he talked that had him think he was alone. Plus he heard no reply from someone else. “An emergency can always happen though I hope not. I don’t believe I’m scared of snakes. Not that I’ve been around much in my life but I won’t find you creepy because of this. As for my power, it all depends what exactly you wanted to look about it,” he said, answering pretty much every question he asked out loud. Jason then shook his head before stepping in. “Sorry about this entrance. I’m Jason Campbell.”

[Seiji Lockard]

Seiji didn't know Jason on a personal level, but he wanted to because he saw this man as a genius on some levels. Just to get inside that guy’s head would be interesting enough but sadly neither Seiji nor his snakes could do such a thing. They could be in one another's heads but trying to get into someone else’s was something that they could not do. His snakes could read and obtain a lot of information on a person because of this super high sense but they could not get into someone’s head unless they cracked it open and took a look. There was a graphical image in Seiji's mind that made him feel like he had to be careful with what he said so he didn't sound like some mad scientist. He was not mad, he was very happy and he didn't really think of himself as a scientist.

In fact, he didn't really know what to think of himself other than a guy that was good when it came to side effects of all natures and just more so in the past few months with it being focused on mutants instead of poisons and medication effects. Seiji jumped when he heard the voice, hitting his head on his desk since he was currently underneath it. "Ow." Seiji muttered out as he rubbed at his head, coming out from under the desk and looking at Jason. He still had heard everything the other man had said and was just staring in silence as he half peeked out just a little bit above his desk. Seiji knew he should say something, anything besides just staring but his mind was processing it all. All that Jason had said, the fact that the man was here, and because Leevi didn't even tell him that someone was approaching. That was s thing that pretty much all of his snakes did and Leevi had been sneaky. Seiji's eyes went to his snake, as if asking for help or at least tell him what to say.

Leevi just looked at his master before letting out a loud his and proceed to act like he was fainting. Basically as if he was a fan girl who just screamed and fainted because the person they were a fan of just walked into the room. Seiji could not help but to give his snake a glare before nervously looking at Jason. "H-hi. I'm Seiji Lockard and it’s nice to be able to meet you face to face Mr. Jason Campbell. I have a pet snake, several. Leevi is the one that just pulled off the little stunt there, don't mind him. As for your power I just wanted to get a deeper look into it, see what it does to your bodies and others and see it first hand as opposed to hearing about it. I have heard a lot about it, you helped out a lot during the SPECTRE attack. That was so brave and...would you like anything to drink?" Seiji went into a full on ramble mode again, talking a lot and fast as he ruffled his hair and blushed a little bit. Then asking if there was anything that Jason could have to quench any possibly thirst.

[Jason Campbell]

Had Jason tried to sneak up on someone to have them hit their desk with their head, he never would have achieved it but because he didn’t mean to spook the young man out, it was precisely what he did. He winced for the guy, sorry for what he caused although also amused at the same time. Of all the people, he never thought he was the one who could cause such a reaction, even by accident.

When he looked at the desk, Jason followed his gaze and noticed the snake there. He expected there to be a snake, because of what he said to himself, but he didn’t expect the snake to be so close. He assumed he had a few terrariums with snakes in the lab or in his office. He decided not to make any remark about it. He just said he was not scared of snakes or at least didn’t think he was. Of course, having one loose, that was not the same as looking at one through a glass. He hoped it was no nervous snake that wouldn’t be afraid to bite him at the first occasion.

He looked at Seiji. Again, Jason couldn’t help finding the situation amusing but he was trying not to let it show. He didn't want the man to think he was making fun of him for it was not the case. But he never had anyone so nervous of his presence. Except perhaps Zoe but he learned she was always very nervous. He nodded as Seiji kept going on and on, not really letting him time to say anything to the man. “Well, thank you. I hope I won’t have to do that again even if I won’t refuse to if my help is required. I’m fine, thank you,” he answered, shaking his head at the suggestion of a drink. Could he really be liked this way? That was so odd. Seiji told him not to mind the snake and he tried not to.

“I heard that you’re the side-effect specialist around here. I wanted to check some data we both have. And, I admit, I was interested in learning how Miss Wallerstein-Smythe is doing, if you know? I’m aware that the medication I made for her can be assimilated by the body and grow ineffective after a while,” he said, explaining the reason for his visit. He gave Seiji one brief smile after this. The man seemed eager to talk and maybe not only of work and he didn’t want to close the door on any other subject than work. “If you’re wondering, my power takes from my own energy to help others heal faster. You can say that a prolonged use of it can cause my heart to stop beating if I’m not careful. Luckily, I’ve always managed to faint before that, even if I’m aware this isn’t the best situation to put yourself into.”

[Seiji Lockard]

Seiji was always a bit of a nervous wreck, at least when he was around someone that he admired or the situation involved things he was not used to. This situation fell into the whole 'being around someone he admired' area so he was just a bit nervous. Nervous was probably not the best word to use in this situation because he was more so excited really. Excited to talk to someone with a mind at least a little like his and just to talk to someone who did so much to help out the mutant race. Seiji wished that he had a power that could help people out like Jason's power could, but he figured that certain aspects of his power could help out other mutants. It certainly helped when he was doing research and when he was testing the effects of cells being damaged and various things along those lines.

"I wish I would have been around to help then, but I'm sure a lot of people are thankful for what you did. It must have really took a toll on you in not just the power usage way." Seiji responded back as he moved out from behind his desk and held out his hand for Leevi to climb up on him. The snake getting out of his fake fan girl faint and slithering up his master's arm and going to relax on Seiji's shoulders. The snake’s unblinking eyes looking at Jason, as if he was sizing him up, and planning on figuring out a way to casually get on the man so he could do some measurements. Seiji gave a simple nod when Jason said that he didn't need a drink and with that Seiji went over to his filing cabinet to get out some files of course. "Let me know if you change your mind. I stock my mini fridge with drinks and snacks for both me and my snakes since I sometimes spend a lot of hours here." Seiji explained, and then went silent, feeling like he was talking way too much.

Seiji nodded his head a lot when Jason pointed out that he was the Side-Effect Specialist and then started to look for Wallerstein-Smythe's file when he brought the name up. Of course Seiji had information on the girl; he had info on pretty much everyone that had been provided special medication for their mutation side-effects. Plus he had access to the database that had every single mutant that had gone to the school, worked at the school, or was at the school right now so he had access to a lot of information. "She is the...one of the paralyses type mutants, right?" Seiji asked as he pulled out the file and laid it down on the desk. Moving back behind his desk and he unlocked his computer to pull up the digital information he had on the girl. He listened to Jason speak and nodded in understanding at his words. Right, everything Jason said did match up with what typically happened to those who were healers.

"Have you figured out the long term results of using your power? Any cell breakdown or have you noticed that you age faster?" Seiji asked before shaking his head no. "Sorry, is that too person?" Seiji then asked right after, feeling like he might have been crossing a line with asking such information about someone’s power. Especially with a power that was as physically taxing as Jason's power.

[Jason Campbell]

Jason knew that, during SPECTRE, if he had been asked to come along, it was because of his power. But he was also a doctor, a real one, not just one who could heal with his touch on the literal sense of the term. This also qualified him as an asset during that mission to get those students back. They needed a lot of care and he only wanted to help the best way he could. Their physical wounds, he managed to treat, the rest however, it was in other, more capable hands. If medicine and research was something he was very good at, psychology clearly was not Jason’s strong point. “I think it affected all of us. I always felt cynical and pessimistic thinking there might be an attack on us at some point but I never expected that,” he told him. Jason felt he should be hopeful but it was hard for him. He had never been good with false hope. Being rational made him often sound pessimistic and even though he hated that, he always feared something like SPECTRE might happen again. Maybe not at this scale, but he wouldn’t be surprised if something else turned up at some point. It was in the nature of man to not trust what he didn’t understand and what was more mysterious than these mutations?

But he preferred not to think about that. He watched the snake make its way to Seiji’s shoulders. There was something a tad unnerving being checked by a snake so Jason focused his attention on its master. “Speaking of snacks, if I smell like rats and mice, it’s not to tempt your snake, I was in my lab before,” he explained. Not for research, to clean up. Not that interesting, isn’t it? But someone had to do it and since Jason lived alone that task automatically fell on his shoulders.

Jason nodded as they were talking of the same girl. Zoe. She had been very concerned about that preventive he gave her. She seemed to think it was cheating or something. He had to point out her power was still there and it was only so she could have the chance to touch people if she wanted to while she worked on her power and found a way to control it at will. Alright, he fed her some false hope, which was not something he liked to do or did often. But she needed to give herself a chance, and give his medication a chance as well. “She does. It’s relatively easy to come up with something to slow down the effects but I did further research and noticed how the preventive’s effects last for a lesser amount of time the more you use it. It might be her power or the body that assimilates it too quickly but I wouldn’t be surprised if it came from Zoe and her mutation,” he explained. He joined Seiji by the desk, looking at the file he pulled out.

There was something kind of weird to be the one asked the questions he would give to his patients. And he was not even Seiji’s patient or anything. It was only out of curiosity. Jason knew what kind of effects his power can have. He saw it on his father and could feel it inside of him. He looked at the younger man. How old was he exactly? He wasn’t certain but obviously younger than Jason was. It made him wonder how old the specialist believed Jason was. “Well, you tell me, do I look thirty-three?” he asked. Jason did find some grey strands in his hair and he knew he had some wrinkles forming but there were men his age who could have grey hair already, it didn’t necessarily have to do with his ability. “I’m usually careful enough to keep those side-effects to a minimum,” he assured. No need for this man to start worrying about him, even though someone probably should. “You know, this kind of sharing doesn’t have to be one-sided,” he pointed out after a moment. He actually said it in jest, not really forcing Seiji to share with him everything about his ability.

[Seiji Lockard]

Seiji was no doctor, and he didn’t plan to be. He was already in his fourth year of college and he planned on stopping after that. Trying to juggle school, a job, and his other side activities made him feel too busy. He wanted to be able to dedicate more of his time to his job for the school, get an even better understanding of side-effects and just mutations in general. Part of him wanted to someday be thought of a mutant specialist. It was one thing to be the side-effect specialist, but being a mutant specialist all around sounded cooler. Plus he was practically on his way to becoming one with all the research he had been doing for Elsa Bellefonte on mutations and how they showed up in families, with the help of McLicks’s journals of course.

Seiji nodded at Jason’s words, not really able to relate but he did agree with the whole having a feelings that it would happen on day. Seiji personally figured it would happen when a mutant as foolish and showed off his powers on a large scale that made it a bit too difficult to cover up. “I figured we would have had to deal with a round up or being sent away first and then attacked when a few of us rebelled.” Seiji pointed out his own personal view on it. He of course spoke a lot softer, not wanting to possibly upset Jason with anything he said. If Leevi could lick his lips, he certainly would have but instead he just stared and flicked his tongue. The snake of course didn’t plan on biting Jason or anything; he only was making it look like he would just because Jason said something about it.

“Oh, you should be fine. My snakes are…I suppose you could say smarter on some level than the average snake. So even if you smell like something he would eat, he is still aware of you not actually being something he can eat.” Seiji assured Jason as he gave Leevi a gentle pat on his head. Be nice. Seiji send the mental thought to his snakes since he knew what his snake was doing. They were then on the subject of Zoe then. Zoe was an eighteen year old girl with the power to paralyze by touch, and it would spread the linger contact remained. It certainly was one of those abilities Seiji was thankful that he had not been born with. Seiji started to note down what Jason was saying on the tablet that he hat in his hands.

Right, he had heard about it not being something that would last forever, but that was normally how it always went. With age Seiji noticed that they always had to change the medication created, but in Zoe’s case it apparently happened every time it was used. “I agree with you that it could actually be from both. I would have to have a fresher sample to look at to test on, but from the reports I would come to the conclusion that her power is much like say a poisonous plant or animal. They are poisonous for a self-defense mechanism and normally it’s caused by their diet. With her it’s not her diet but I could still see it as a self-defense mechanism, perhaps hiding something more to her power. Or I could be looking too far into it. I do that sometimes.” Seiji said with a slight chuckle as he ruffled his hair and the chuckle was quick to die down.

Now was not the time for jokes, but he really did need more samples and more than likely to actually remove some of her skin and hair for sample to study more on it. Yet, Jason had worked on this case and Seiji didn’t really feel like he had any right to go too far with that work. Unless asked he would let Jason handle it since Jason had already done such a good job with it already. He then went silent after yet another rambling and personal question. Not even saying anything as Jason asked him about his age since he felt like he crossed a line along the way. This is why you should not talk about someone’s power with them. Granted, he does look like he has aged a bit for his age…then again he is in his thirties and we men do pick up our grey hairs early. Seiji thought to himself as he just ruffled his hair some more.

“That’s good. It would be bad if you were…” Seiji stopped almost making a joke there to try and lighten the mood that he thought he messed up but then realized his joke would not have been the best. He was so blaming the fact that he looked up to Jason for why he was just off his game. Really it was just that he didn’t really get to talk to people about powers in general that often so he really was just odd about it. Jason then brought up a valid point one that had Seiji flushing since he had been asking Jason all sort of questions. “I mean if you want to know I would be fine with you asking…or should I have been sharing mine while I asked? I didn’t want it to seem all about me because this about you, but really about what we are here to talk about. I uh…Snake Manipulation. I can tell snakes to do whatever I want and I can also see through their eyes…” Seiji quickly said, hesitating a little towards the end and then just going silent again and staring at Jason.


((I'm like so sorry, he thinks and talks...a lot.))

[Jason Campbell]

There was something annoying about being so awfully realistic. Without thinking the glass was half-empty, Jason still planned the worst case scenario in his head as well as the best one. Problem was, the best one often sounded as if coming out of a fairy tale. No way would the whole world accept them with open arms, seeing all the interest in their mutations and trying to make the best out of it. He assumed they would attack, as it was in man’s nature to attack which he doesn’t understand. He didn’t plan on them attacking the school like this though. There were limits not to cross. Those were children. Not a satanic cult, not terrorists, children. It was unacceptable. “I figured something similar. I never thought they would go as far as attacking a school. Were you there during...?” Jason asked, not really able to phrase the end of his question. When a bunch of well trained military men with guns went after panicked children. It seemed surreal.

Jason wasn’t worried too much about the snake. To say he was unaffected about one loose like this would be lying but he didn’t fear a bite or anything of the like. “I ‘m a little more than he can chew anyway,” he pointed out. He sure would be some pretty big mouse! If Jason told Seiji, it was mostly to warn the man to keep an eye on his snake, in case the scent affected it too much. He had no idea as to what kind of reaction he’d get from them and he didn’t want the snake to simply jump at him because its instinct was too strong. Seiji knew his snake, he’d know if anything had to be done. Although he assured him it would not be necessary.

He had to admit, the fact he could not create a preventive that her ability would not get accustomed to bothered him. He might know a great deal, he had his limits and he didn’t have unlimited resources. But he still took it as some form of failure. He did like Seiji’s theory of her ability to be some form of self-defense mechanism. It was perhaps too efficient, but this was a mutation and there were simply way too many unknown facts and gray areas with mutations. “This makes sense, as she is immune to it. In a way, I do hope it is so, since it would mean she might be able to control it over time.” Jason tried to remain as optimistic as his nature could when around Zoe, the girl was pretty defeated on her own, but he would admit here in front of his peer that he feared this was not likely to happen. This was no way of living and he felt terribly sorry for Zoe. It was why he was not giving up on finding something better for her, to help her be normal, even for a short period of time. “I used blood and saliva but I didn’t sample any tissue. I was thinking about it but I wanted to test those first before getting her through that process, even if I can heal any flesh wound I make on her,” he explained. Anyway, the samples were enough for him to work with.

Jason waited as Seiji was about to tell him what he could be that would be bad but the man hesitated. He never finished his sentence and Jason chose to ignore it. If he told Seiji he might share some information too, it was mostly to kindly tease the man. Jason was probably worst than Seiji when it came to jokes. Seiji didn’t have to answer him if he didn’t want to. In a way, it was kind of personal. Jason answered because obviously the man knew of his power already. But Seiji eventually told him, through a lot of rambling that nearly had Jason lose track of what was being said. Snake manipulation. “Like Willard, but with snakes?” he asked. Another bad joke and he realised it as he thought that the man might not even know of Willard and his rats. He pointed at the snake. “So I’m taking that your friend...” he said, not finishing his sentence, letting Seiji guess whatever he meant to say, whether it was ‘will do as you say’ or ‘would not attack me unless you order it’.

[Seiji Lockard]

Seiji agreed for the most part with Jason’s line of thinking, even if he could not read the other man’s thoughts. He just knew how people thought, how their mind worked, and how people didn’t really change all that much of the years. Changes did happen yes, but something bad tended to always have to happen first before change would come. It was as if humanity knew what was wrong but still did it just to test their limits. It was so like humans to test their limits but if the world honestly stopped trying to kill one another and worry about what difference where between them, things would have been a lot better. Seiji never expected world peace or anything along those lines, but he knew that in time where there was not war there was innovation and improvements to the world.

By now they should have had flying cards and practically already had the means to live on the moon a little. Yet, drama such as disliking someone because they were different held them back. Easy brain, thinking too much. Seiji thought to himself as he ruffled his hair. “I was not. I was away at an event with my snakes. I…I lost a few friends to the attack however.” Seiji said as a bit of sadness could be heard in his voice. He had mainly moved on from that sadness, but bringing it back up brought back the pain. He missed those he had lost during the SPECTRE attack and regretted that he was not here to help. The subject on his snakes did bring him out of the sadness a little bit, but it still lingered in the back of his mind.

“Very true. My other snakes by the name of Ghost, he could probably eat you.” Seiji pointed out, looking over Jason for a moment. Ghost probably would not have been able to eat all of Jason, but at least four foot of him. Leevi was still staring at Jason; he could not blink, but the fact remained that he made sure that Jason would know that he was watching him. It was too much fun not to try and creep someone out when they brought up snakes biting or anything along those lines. Seiji nodded as Jason pointed out the fact that Zoe was immune to her own ability. The further proved the point that it was something that was more so meant to be a defense mechanism but in this case Zoe could not turn it off. There was probably a way, perhaps one day but Seiji had to look at some samples and study the case for a little before he could be sure.

“Do you have any remaining blood and saliva samples?” Seiji asked before thinking on it for a moment. “Fresher samples would be best and a skin sample would be best in this situation since it is skin to skin contact that her ability affects others. I would most certainly need you to heal her after because I would need a nice layer of skin in order to fully test everything and it would be painful. Not unboreable, but like a very large paper cut feeling.” Seiji explained, feeling slightly bad about it. He didn’t want to have to hurt a student in anyway, but with skin to skin based powers he needed skin.

Seiji explained his power then to Jason, rambling a bit like usual and just hoped that Jason got it. Worst case he would just hand him over documents of his own power, because of course Seiji had all the information on his power, its side effects and possibly improvements. “I uh…don’t know who that is.” Seiji admitted as he blushed a little. He had no clue who Willard was, or if he did he had completely forgotten. There was then an unfinished question, with Jason pointing at Leevi who flicked his tongue and opened his jaws a little. “Oh yes. They will obey whatever I say. Even if it’s not something a snake would normally do. I’m sure that if they could speak they would certainly sing if I commanded them to.” Seiji said with a grin, pleased of his power to some extent.

[Jason Campbell]

If Seiji was good at reading people, it was not Jason’s case. When given two choices about someone, he was likely to pick the wrong option. Every now and then, he was right, but he was a terrible judge of character, making it hard then to know exactly what someone was thinking. If he was able to read people, he’d probably disagree with Seiji and say that most innovations happened because of war. If people knew all the things they owed to the Nazis in terms of technology and research , they might just lose hope in humanity. Jason was far from there yet but he still believed the world they now had would have been very different without the two world wars. If you wanted to see something positive, at least can you say the United nation Organization was created because of that.

Jason did not hold against Seiji the fact he was not here during the attack. In fact, he considered the man lucky he managed to be away and only wished it would have been the case for so many others. His expression was more solemn as he nodded. There had been deaths during this attack, people who were inoffensive. “The worst of it is they didn’t attack terrorists with weapons but defenceless people, children. Things have changed since, for the better I hope, but I doubt we will forget about this anytime soon,” he admitted. Jason did find appointing teenage girls as headmistresses a very odd decision. He could understand the Bellefonte family wanting to keep the house in their hands, like a little kingdom they governed, but surely there were older, wiser people to step in? So far they did a good job and Jason suspected it had more to do with the rest of the staff pointing them in the right direction. Although he met with that Elsa and she knew how to get things her way. Still, he considered her too inexperienced.

“You have many snakes?” he asked with some surprise in his voice. He was not against a change of subject. It was strange to be stared at by the one Seiji introduced as Leevi. Jason kept telling himself that it was just a snake, it was probably not staring at him specifically. He tried to ignore it but now and then his eyes looked over the snake.

He chased all of this away to go back to the professional doctor that he was. “I’m afraid I’ve used most of them. I’ve found a way to recreate a paralytic very similar to her power that I use to test on the rats,” he explained. He sure was not keeping those rodents in his house because he liked them. He agreed with Seiji however, if they wanted to keep exploring new leads in order to help her, they would need more samples, fresher ones. “Yes, I debated whether it the skin that had the paralytic on it or if it was not naturally secreted through the pores. That’s why I asked for saliva, I figured it was a less painful sample to get and if I couldn’t get anything from this and her blood, I would have moved to the skin,” he told Seiji. This girl suffered enough, Jason decided to spare her. “If you ever want to take a skin sample, you can call me, I will heal her skin immediately after. She might feel some pain still but at least the skin will be healed.” Jason usually tried to avoid using his power if he could prevent. He knew that wouldn’t require too much out of him but he also knew that healing every single wound would only make people come to him every time they had a paper cut.

Jason chuckled lightly as Seiji admitted what he feared, that he had no idea who Willard was, making his joke terrible. “It was an old movie. The man controlled rats,” he explained. Seiji was free to check this in more detail but Jason didn’t think it was necessary. “Don’t know if they will like you if you were to make them sing,” he added after he laughed at this with Seiji.

[Seiji Lockard]

“Agreed. The school has done a great job at improving the campus safety and even I have been charged with some work that should really help out us mutants.” Seiji said with a pleased smile. He softly stroked Leevi on his head, thinking about how things were better at the school now. That his research would help them all better understand what they all where and how to better coexist with those who were not ‘special’. That was honestly all Seiji wanted, for them all to live among one another like they did not and he was fine if it was always in secrete. In fact, he saw it as idea to always remain in secrete because things that were special and different, always ended up being abused in some form or another.

Seiji didn’t have a problem with the twins ruling because in history there had been times where those even younger then the twins, who would rule entire kingdoms. There was help behind the scene for them, but there was help for the Bellefonte twins as well. They had come to him for help on some level but he honestly had no problem following what they told him to do. Sure he was twenty-four years old but he knew of how some people had to take orders from twenty-one years old so he didn’t have a problem taking orders from eighteen year olds.

“I have a total of four snakes. Ghost, Leevi, Sapphire, and Akiko.” Seiji said, reaching into his pocket and pulling out his wallet. When he opened it up he showed Jason that few photos of his four snakes that he had in his wallet. It was slightly weird to carry photos around of his snakes but he felt it was the best way to show someone them instead of describing them. Seiji looked slightly disappointed when Jason revealed that he had used most of the samples that he collected from Zoe. Well, then Seiji was indeed going to have to put the young girl through some pain if she still wanted a serum to be made in order to lessen the side effects of her touch. Seiji listened and nodded as Jason explained how he figured Zoe’ secreted her power through her course that could have easily been how it was done.

He was not certain only because he had not looked at any samples of the girl himself. He still planned to get some blood and possibly a few hair samples but since her ability worked skin to skin he was most certainly going to want skin samples. “That would be great, since my ability can’t really fix any pain that I would possibly end up hurting her.” Seiji said, the words coming out softer. Seiji blushed; feeling embarrassed when Jason explained what he was talking about. He made a mental note to check it out later, but perhaps alone because his snakes would more than likely get hungry watching something with rats in it. “Perhaps not, but they would still have to- Leevi wants to know if you would hold him?” Seiji asked, cutting off what he was saying because Leevi kept asking the question repeatedly.

[Jason Campbell]

Jason had to admit that the new rules and work done to better protect and help the mutants in this school was a good thing, even though it started from something terrible. At least it proved they were not letting this destroy them. And the fact they never tried to retaliate for what happened was another very smart move. Right now, they didn’t look like a menace, which was the truth despite what some people wanted to believe. “Really? That’s very good. You mind sharing some of those results with me?” he asked. This had been something that often bothered him while he studied medicine and later when he worked in New York. He could not really do any research on mutant abilities. He didn’t want anyone questioning his interest for this. Not to add that he often felt like doing this added a mad scientist aura around him and he didn’t want that. In the end, he came to the conclusion it would only help and when he returned to Kalispell last year, he was able to do so even more.

Jason never really had any pets in his life. With his mother being sick, it would have been too much of a handful to care after a dog or any other animal. Later, he was too busy with studies and then work to have any. He still believed he shouldn’t get one. If he could forget to feed himself at times, he didn’t want to imagine what could happen to an animal. There was something amusing in Seiji having pictures of his snakes in his wallet the same way people have pictures of their kids. Jason still looked at them. Honestly, unless he was able to control snakes the way Seiji was, he would never have this many around him. Some people might like snakes and Jason wouldn’t say he was particularly scared of them, but a bunch might make him hesitate quite a bit.

Jason had no problem coming to the school, even if it was only for a few minutes, to help soothe the pain Zoe might go through. It would also give Seiji the opportunity to take a bigger sample than he initially wanted. Of course, Jason will have to use a preventive he made that slowed down the effects of her power. He hoped it would last long enough for him to heal her although he wouldn’t stop even if his arm got paralyzed for a moment. He knew how it all came back after the contact with Zoe was broken. “You only need to call me when you want this to happen. I agree with you that she went through enough already. You will numb her first or are you afraid this might alter the sample?” Sometimes, you couldn’t help inflicting a little pain but Jason was no sadist and he would try to minimize it if he could, glad that Seiji thought the same. Who would want to see a doctor if they enjoyed torturing their patients?

He was surprised at the sudden request coming from the snake. He looked at Leevi. “I’ll admit that I never held a snake of my life,” he said. He wasn’t saying no but there was something kind of weird about this as well. He wasn’t sure.

[Seiji Lockard]

“Oh, sure. I can show you most of it…not all of it. I was told to keep certain things hidden so I would have to ask for permission to be sure with certain information.” Seiji said as he ruffled his hair a little bit. He figured he would get the okay because Jason was the school doctor, so him knowing the information would be beneficial as well. Seiji was just stickler for making sure that he kept secretes when someone told him to keep them. Elsa said that this was basically on a need to know basis sort of thing and since she had not mentioned Jason, he did not want to accidently tell him anything that she didn’t want him to.

“Most of it is on how the mutant gene travels within a family DNA line and a bit of study on cell destruction and gene breakdown due to mutant abilities.” Seiji said, giving Jason a little bit on it as he searched his mind to recall where he had hidden that research at. Seiji had always had a snake since the day he came to BA and he just increased in the number of them as the years went on. He kept a good amount of time between getting a new snake and most of the time it was not even on purpose that he ended up with a new snake. Ghost had been a gift, Leevi had been saved, Sapphire was a pervious threat, and Akiko was the only one that he bought because a friend could not have her.

“Thank you in advance. As soon as I get a chance and if Miss Zoe even still wants an improved version, we can call her in and get to work.” Seiji said, leaving it really all on Zoe to make the choice. While he was curious to learn and understand everyone’s power more, he was not going to force a student to help him out and more so wanted to help them if they wanted it. “I would prefer not to numb her because as you said, I fear it might mess with the sample. What would be interesting is if she can’t even be numbed. I wonder if any poisons have any effect on her, or any drugs that are rubbed on the skin.” Seiji said, mumbling more so to himself towards the end as his mind flew with wonder and wanting to know more.

“It’s easy, you can hold him with one or two hands and pretty much just done squeeze him and you are fine.” Seiji said as he picked Leevi off his shoulder and held him out for Jason to take. As soon as Jason’s hands were within reach, Leevi would stretch the rest of the way and slither his body around Jason’s hands and wrap himself on his arm. Still staring at the man and flicking his tongue.

[Jason Campbell]

Jason nodded, fully understanding how some information might be considered too delicate to talk of it with just anybody. He was pretty sure he had enough clearance to hear whatever he had to say, as he might just end up healing them later on, should they stay around town, but it was better to play it safe. “The hardest with this kind of work is to find the line between experimentation and turning into a mad scientist. I’m certain that if it had been human scientists doing these researches, we wouldn’t tolerate it as much. And I doubt they would like s experimenting without them to supervise.” Maybe they were biased when researching mutations and helping their kind, since they went through that phase too but Jason thought it was the nature of man, to shield those of our community from those who aren’t.

“You make it sound like it’s nothing at all,” he replied with a little smirk. Only the genetic of mutant cells and how destructive they can be on the other cells of the body. That was nothing, very simple to research, of course! “I understand the kind of work you’re doing here. I try to do the same, of course, but it’s not always easy to keep it hidden from the hospital. I sometimes feel like I spend more time bending the truth in my files than I do helping them.” Maybe he had hard on himself here. It was important to keep certain facts hidden but he also knew there were some reasons why he prescribed certain things instead of something else that might be hard to explain to a committee. Luckily, he wouldn’t have to do too much of explaining because Jason wasn’t sure how good he would be at keeping everything a secret.

“Yes, we need her approval first. She is the one who will go through this after all,” he agreed with Seiji. The girl was strong to be doing all of this but she also had a fragility within herself and Jason didn’t want to break her when he was actually trying to help her out. Jason could understand Seiji’s interest in finding out what kind of anesthetic could work on the girl, if any did. He also knew it might be a painful experience for Zoe should they ever test that. It would give them a lot of precious information but, as he said before, this was swaying on the line of experiment and madness. “That would depend on Zoe,” he reminded Seiji. He didn’t mean to lecture him or put him back at his place but it was better not to let his theory get ahead of reality here.

Jason found himself caught there as Seiji offered him to hold his snake. Then again, why not. He would be able to say he tried that once. Besides, should Leevi bite him, there should be anything here to help with it. He hoped not to be bitten but that was not entirely up to him. It was kind of weird, both the weight and texture of the snake as he slid a hand under Leevi’s belly. He did startle at first when he felt the snake wrap itself around his arm on its own. He had a little nervous smile but a smile nonetheless as he slowly moved his arm to study the animal wrapped around it. “That’s interesting. I can’t say I would buy myself one but it might be best like that, I work too hard to remember about any pet.”

[Seiji Lockard]

"Agreed, yet I fear I end up leaning more towards the mad scientist side. Not on purpose of course but it’s hard to make something better if you don't damage it and figure out how the damage affects the body." Seiji admitted, feeling more than a little embarrassed by his own words. He honestly didn't like to hurt people but with his work he did often in at least a small way because he could not just understand a power without seeing it for himself and studying what it did. There were probably other ways that were less damaging to those that he was helping, but someone or something was always going to get hurt by his work.

Typically it was rodents and he honestly didn't feel bad for the creatures, largely because they were typically seen as a meal for his snakes or test subject. Perfect test subject in fact because of the similarities and rodents bred easily, allowing for multiple of everything. PETA would certainly not like Seiji. Seiji blushed and chuckled a little when Jason pointed out hoe casual Seiji had put his research. It was not simple at all, even Seiji had some levels of difficulties with it but he just never talked about his work like it was a big deal. It was a big deal, it would help a lot of mutants and figure out what they all where. "I just…I don't know why I downplay it." Seiji admitted as he ruffled his hair, thinking on it.

He gave a sad expression to Jason for a moment, thinking about how Jason did have to deal with more non-mutants and hide things. Seiji worked here and didn't really have to hide things from humans here. "You are a big help to the school. Perhaps we will get upgraded clinics and become fully self-sufficient as a school." Seiji said, going off in his mind to think about it. It would be best if they could always be able to survive without the aid of anything outside of the school, but for now while they were still not known by the public he felt it was fine for them to still deal with non-mutants. Plus he really didn't want his fellow mutants basically being trapped with one another due to the public’s fears. He nodded in agreement with Jason when the older man pointed out that they did in fact need Zoe's okay first.

"Right. I will leave it to you and her for the best course of action. The two of you have a history and I'm sure she would trust you more then she would trust me." Seiji added, giving a nod as if sure of his own words. Seiji let Jason handle holding Leevi as he sat down to update a few more files and pull up what he had been working on recently. The information Elsa Bellefonte had asked him to look into and his results on it so far. "Due to my power they can talk to me so even if I did forget, they would not let me forget. Especially Ghost, he is a big eater." Seiji said with a chuckle as he put in a password. Leevi remained wrapped around Jason's arm, staring at the man and flicking his tongue.