Heartburns No Tums Can Solve

[Charity Croft]

Charity nodded as Quinn asked his question. Yes, more than with his diet. Not quite every power had a controllable factor to it: some people were just inherently whatever. They were always part fish or had horns or wings or had skin that paralyzed like a frog or couldn't sleep or something along those lines. But for mutations like Quinn's with its power like this, well, Charity was fairly certain.

Charity still wanted to offer her help though, still wanted to see what she could do for the young man. She could see his exasperation growign and had the suspicion that yet again she'd spoken wrong or maybe treated him like a kid or done something that didn't quite mesh with what she should be saying or doing when speaking to a teenager.

"Well, if you really want to train more instead of just opting out of training altogether," Charity said, nodding, "which is still definitely an option. The main thing with the training is, okay, it's mostly so that you can get better with your power, but it's also about control and, like, there's not spandex or anything..." Charity trailed off, realizing that she was probably just repeating herself and/or going around in circles. She paused for a moment, studying him.

"We'd probably start with going through some potential breathing techniques. I'd probably have to look up some, but that's part of how your mutation works. We could also play around some with your diet. The pills can fight it back if something gets too bad, but we could determine what produces what kind of flame that way. It would be a bit long term and could be a bit of a pain though, and if you really aren't interested, then we don't have to. I just,' Charity took a breath, "it's a part of you, really. You didn't want it, but you probably didn't want to have black hair or grow so tall or whatever. But it happened. And if you just want to ignore that and control it, that's fine. But you could also work with me, learn some breathing techniques, play with your diet, maybe learn some throat control, and you could end up doing something more with the gift you got."

That sounded like something her dad would say... right?

[Quinn Wiley]

Somehow, Charity managed to trick Quinn into accepting more training as opposed to simply stop it as he first expressed his desire to do. He was not sure how she achieved this. She started off by telling him it was doable, that he could, maybe, pass some test and prove he didn’t need any more training. And from there she actually had him to admit he might need some more training if he ever wanted to pass that test. So, in the end, he agreed to work with her instead of no longer doing so.

She was hard to follow as she just seemed to explain over and over again that it was just to better the skills he already had, only with different words. And then spandex was involved but by that point she had lost him so it was actually a good thing that she stopped. Maybe his face proved just how much she lost him. Whatever it was, she stopped talking and when she did again it was to suggest breathing techniques.

Wait, what? Oh right, because somehow he was ‘breathing’ out his power an all. For a moment, Quinn thought it was some silly yoga stuff or whatever and that was both uninteresting and useless to him. At least, in his mind. He could see some potential in that, even if he was not entirely convinced. “I already checked out the food with most fat. Meat, dairy products and all that. And carb makes me produce less,” he told her before she could say she needed to go check it up in his file or somewhere before coming back at him with another diet. Although, one could argue she would need to do that, if only for the fact she was no dietician. At least, he never heard of her being one.

And now she was into the whole pep talk into making him sign up for Mutant Camp or whatever. “Yeah, alright, I get it. Wait, throat control?” Wasn’t it the same as breathing techniques? What did he need to control his throat for?

[Charity Croft]

So he already knew the diet. right; he'd said that. Charity just nodded, figuring that would do for the moment. she'd already done her share of talking by that point after all. "We could work and see about getting drugs for that too, if you really want, but I don't know if I'd go that route..." still had to suggest. At this point, Charity was almost desperate to make her presence there seem worth it to the kid at the least.

"you've probably already got an expert there,' Charity said, almost under her breath. She looked over at the information she'd been given, the folders and info in her phone and so forth. "Throat control," she repeated, giving him another nod. She pulled her phone up and did another quick search. "Your power's not too different from, like, sword swallowers and fire breathers and stuff. If you learn their tricks you could apply them. You could really do some cool stuff if we could manage to get you an expert, but we might have to look for circus folk or something..."

As Charity finished the thought, she had to pause and purse her lips, wondering. Did they have any people like that? Surely they had someone, right? "You'd, ah," she looked back at Quinn, "be alright with that, right? Because it could make you able to do some really cool stuff..."

[Quinn Wiley]

“If the drugs act faster than what you can get in any pharmacy, I’ll take it,” Quinn told her. She was not the one staying awake because of acid reflux or ulcers forming in her stomach. Quinn would have thought doctors were exaggerating the effects food can have. Some people ate lots of fast food without having that kind of problem, if many others might show up. But he was well placed to know what a high fat diet can have in terms of effects. Still, considering he burned that faster than anything else, he barely gained any weight from it. And it was important for his diet. He just didn’t exactly the proper amount of fat he needed to stay in perfect balance between his mutation working and no stomach pain hitting him. Eventually, he would. It wasn’t hard, he just had to watch what he was eating and see how he felt and all. Didn’t need a trainer. At most, he needed a dietician. But he was not feeling like having yet another person following his case. He could do that on his own. And do like people spending more time training if they took an extra piece of cake.

He looked at her as she muttered something. What he expected out of Charity was more how to make the process of blowing fire faster or easier to control the intensity of the flames. That sounded more like what a trainer should do. Since Quinn did have a fear of burning up if he was not careful, she could actually convince him to work that pretty easily. He never thought his power could be similar to the guy who swallowed swords. “It’s not like a trick?” He never believed they were swallowing an actual sword or at least not a sharp one. Wouldn’t they like bleed to death? He was certain the swords were fake, folding inside the hilt or something.

“What kind of cool stuff? Because I’m not really interested in making the fire take some weird shape and dance around or anything.” Now would be a good time to ask if there was a way to make it less dangerous. Yeah, now would be the perfect time.

[Charity Croft]

"Well, yeah, they're developed specifically for mutants with your condition, well, ones that deal with fire and all," Charity offered, along with another shrug. She knew some of the details; her power did give her a significant leg up when it came to understanding side effects and how to work with them after all, but she didn't want to bore Quinn with the details or offer up something that should be kept secret. Plus, in most cases, the less a patient knew about the medication they were taking, the better off they would be.

Plus, Charity wanted to convince Quinn to go along with the other training bits. He already sounded reluctant, asking bluntly if it was all a trick. "Sort of?" Charity offered. "It's a trick in that it's a learned skill and all. but they actually put the fire or the swords or whatever in their throats. I did some research on it," she was already swiping through her provided tablet, eventually turning to show Quinn a video. She clicked play, and a fire-swallower demonstrated step-by-step how he did his act. "But the idea would be to teach you how to work your throat for maximum effect for little damage. These people," she tapped the tablet, "are doing it without any power, so you've got a leg up on them.

"So, yeah, we might be able to get you to do circles or something. this would be more about learning to control it, release it in bursts, figure out how to let it out in ways that provide the least amount of damage or maybe the most amount of effect," Charity hesitated again, looking at the tablet. "I have to admit, I won't know for sure, we won't know, until you actually train with someone. Based on what I can tell about how your power works, you know, by my power, it should work really well. If the research is good. And if you put yourself to learning it."

Charity paused again, tapping the tablet, wondering if she should try another video or something. What was it that Quinn was looking for? How could she convince him that learning to really master his ability would be to his benefit...

[Quinn Wiley]

There were other people like him? Of course, Quinn didn't think he had anything unique about him but his power was rather unusual and he didn’t think there were that many fire breathers in the world, at least not enough for someone to bother creating anything to help them. His face certainly reflected the surprise and doubt he had that anyone could ever make something specifically for what he had.

Charity seemed certain there was something for him though. He wasn’t sure how much he should trust her, she didn’t really appear in control of anything, but there had to be a reason why they made her a trainer so he was ready to give her one small chance and not doubt everything she might be saying. Even with the video, and despite it being interesting, he still was not entirely convinced. But she kept going as if unaware of that. “because my throat already has a thicker layer of skin, right?” Very useful when one threw acid. Gastric acid, but acid nonetheless. A small comfort for one who feared it might one day kill him. That would take a lot more time. And if he made sure to release it every now and then, he hoped to be fine.

“I already figured out that if I throw just a little, it’s not as powerful.” Which made sense obviously so that made him feel like an idiot for saying it like that. He nearly grumbled at that thought. “If I don’t throw too much gas I don’t burn everything to ashes,” he explained. He had been told that at the peak of his power, his fire could be as dangerous as napalm. He was not entirely sure just how dangerous that was but it sounded pretty bad. Of course, all of this was more guesswork out of him. He didn’t know exactly how much he released or the effect it would have until he tried. But he knew the flames could go less far and not be as lethal if he worked on that. He just had not been working on that a lot. And that must be when she’ll say he should. And he fell right into that.

Quinn looked away, not liking how easily he let himself manipulated into doing exactly what he didn’t want to do. More than that, he couldn’t believe she managed that. He underestimated her. “If I train...” he began, knowing there was not really an ‘if’ here, he’ll have no choice. “If I train, you think I’ll be able to just throw the gas and the acid at the same time to immediately create a flame?”

[Charity Croft]

Charity nodded. Yes, he had everything he needed to really get this done right. She could already see quite a bit of potential there. If nothing else, he could use the power to impress people or show off how very interesting abilities were. Sure, there was almost a possibility of his being a supervillain or whatever: it was that kind of ability, but Charity wasn't really thinking of that at the time. It wasn't her place to pass that kind of judgment (except on Lucy James: that girl was satan and you could not convince Charity otherwise).

It didn't surprise Charity to hear that Quinn had done at least a little practicing. She smiled at that, glad to hear him opening up to some degree. "It's all a matter of learning to control it," she offered. "I know it sounds really stupid or whatever, but you have the ability to really tap into it and do some pretty impressive things."

Maybe she should stop trying the hard sell? He probably didn't quite need that at this point, right? Charity wasn't sure, but he did seem to offer.

"It's possible," she ventured, looking at him and studying. "There's some potential in the way you've got everything set up," she nodded at him, as if he didn't already know what that meant. "But that could definitely be tricky. We might get some more luck with the more unorthodox training," she gestured at the phone again, "but it's also something that's going to take some doing..." Charity trailed off. Well, she didn't want to talk him out. Man, she really needed to find the balance there. Or maybe she had already? She remained quiet, studying him, waiting to find out.

[Quinn Wiley]

If Quinn had the ability to be a supervillain, he lacked the willpower for that. Because to be an unstoppable criminal mastermind, it required a lot of determination and effort and Quinn tended to give up long before that. He wouldn’t be a hero, for the same reason. He wanted to be an ordinary guy, with some strange ability. If he could just blow some fire in his backyard once a week and be done with it, he’d be happy.

He was not dumb. He might not get everything about his power but he could learn if explained properly. And he already learned a lot. He shared with her, mostly so she would not try to teach him that. He didn’t want to waste time here over things he already knew. He couldn’t say he mastered it though, so working might be necessary. Again, he realised that the first idea of letting him out of any more training session turned into accepting even more of those. “Does that mean I’ll have to eat even more fat while we train or I keep the same diet?” Being forced to end a session sooner because he didn’t have any gas left inside would be nice but it also meant more session to take over where they left off.

She was hesitating to tell him he could get to that level, making him understand that he might never. It sucked but he figured it might not happen. It was possible, she did not deny it after all, but that would require a lot of training no doubt. Was he ready to go there? It was debatable. He realised she was waiting for him to say something. Or, if she wasn’t, she shut up all of a sudden and it was awkward. “So... what are we doing today?”

[Charity Croft]

Did he get to keep the same diet if they were going to continue training? "Well," Charity began, pausing to consider, studying him a bit, "if your diet's already regulated, then we probably don't want to mess with that. We can decide later if we want to include things or not. I don't, like, want to mess up your life or anything," Charity offered another smile. She almost felt like she should already be apologizing or something along those lines. Because despite what she may say, she was technically altering someone's life. Then again, she'd made certain he'd understand everything, and she still wasn't forcing.

Oh, right, for now. "Oh, that's easy," Charity said, nodding. "It was mostly just an orientation thing. We get to know each other, I give you the pills, I try to convince you to do more," Charity dug her phone out to check the time, "we could try to see some basics if you really wanted to. We've got the room for at least a while longer. I just figured that you probably had a lot to process and all..." Charity added another shrug. Oh, she'd definitely push him... later. Right now, she didn't want to completely overwhelm him, and she still couldn't quite shake the feeling that she'd already done that.

[Quinn Wiley]

His diet was regulated, yes. Oh, he would cheat sometimes, eat more greasy food than he needed. It was nice to know he could do that without risking as much problem with his cholesterol as anyone else. They tested him at one point. Considering the fact he had to go on a diet consisting of lesser carb and more fat, it was perfect. “It’s been annoying enough to work with a dietician,” he agreed with her when she said they wouldn’t touch his diet. At least not unless they had to. He appreciated it.

Oh, so she had planned all along to make him do more? It was how it sounded with what she said. If that was the case, congratulations to her, she succeeded. And he didn’t particularly like that. But what could he do now? Rebel like a whiny teenager? He didn't like being pushed into doing something but she managed to make him throw himself down that path. Now? Well, he’ll have to see. But a part of him wanted to go away or to stand here and not do a single thing anymore. “I kind of blew most of the fire I could right now, we can’t really do that,” he told her. Was she able to tell he could still do a bit more before his temperature drop too much? “It’s not my first lesson, you know. I know how to blow fire and be careful with it.” Because he was not going to go through the basics like he did when he first joined.

[Charity Croft]

Charity nodded. "yeah, I imagine it would be," she offered, adding a slight laugh. She definitely didn't think that it would be cool to deal with a dietitian for a power. "But hey, there are totally people who would kill to have one of those, and you get one for free!" Okay, that sounded lame to Charity, and Quinn wasn't a teenage girl, so he probably wouldn't be that thrilled by the prospect. Still, Charity couldn't exactly not try to put a positive spin on things.

Even if she ended up wincing slightly as Quinn admitted that this wasn't his first lesson. "I know," she said. "I just deal with a lot of new students and stuff," she said, adding a shrug. "Plus, like, I want us to go some at your own pace. We'll mostly work on breathing techniques and maybe mixing some of the chemicals," she gestured at him, trying to more or less hit his digestive track.

"I'll need to do some research to doublecheck some of the ideas too," Charity admitted, her head once more bobbing. "And we can sort of figure out what sort of things you'd like to do. Actually," she paused and nodded, "if you let me know what you'd like to do, then I can work at making sure we end up there."

[Quinn Wiley]

There really was no interest in having a dietician on your case. Although Quinn might argue that the diet said specialist gave him was something everyone would have wished to have. After all, it was not every day you heard one say you needed to eat more food cooked in butter or oil or to eat red meat in higher quantity. Not to add the cheese or cream. He still needed to watch out, he knew that. He had to endure a whole speech on how some fat were better for you than others. He didn’t want to go through that again. “I think I understood the first time,” Quinn added to Charity. Just a look at him proved it, he believed. Not only he managed to blow fire earlier but he was not a big ball of fat. He certainly understood the balance he needed to keep. And when he did not, he paid with heartburns and a higher production of fire. Just for that, and because of the training she wanted to put him through, he figured he might have to eat more of it for a while. But only for a little while. He hoped he would be able to time it well enough for the effects of it to start showing just before the lesson.

He could understand that Charity was dealing with a lot of new students and needed to go back through what they learned. He really did. Well, a tiny part of him did. Because the main one just argued against it. He wanted to nod when she went back to the training plan but part of it sounded so much like a mad scientist’s experiment, thank the mention of chemicals for that, that Quinn was not entirely sure about it.

The way she talked though, Quinn had a feeling it would be soon over and he was happy enough about it to nod at last. But then she made him have to talk some more. What he wanted out of this. He had to think about it. Just when he was about to ask if they were done, if he could go. “I want it not to take so long to throw fire. I want to be able to release only small doses of it,” he said, also thinking that he didn’t want to die burned or blown up in the process. But it might be best not to add that.

[Charity Croft]

Again Charity had to fight down winces, feeling like she'd just ended up talking down to yet another student who didn't really deserve it or anything along those lines. Still, she was the trainer, she should totally act like it and try to do her thing. She just had to remember what lines she was supposed to be giving and spit them out and...

...oh, he actually had some idea of what he wanted to do. Charity listened, nodding, considering. "The first is probably a combination of figuring out some various techniques and diet... and I think we could actually combine the two. There should be a way for you to let it out in little bits instead of all at once. It'll be breathing though aaaaand," Charity circled her hands for a bit before giving Quinn an apologetic look, "we're right back at the whole 'I need to look up breathing techniques thing'."

Charity bobbed her head and rocked one her feet again. She really didn't think she had anything else to add, but: "Oh, yeah, homework. You should, ah, see if you can start just releasing the gas in little bursts. Like, master burping if that makes sense."

Master burping: Truly Charity had reached the pinnacle of her career.

[Quinn Wiley]

All that work was not exactly to please him but what other choice did Quinn have, really? He could not bail out of this. Charity was probably being nice to gently push him into accepting her for no doubt others would be more strict on him, pointing out how he might know how to control his diet but that was about it. Quinn however could not see why he should learn more. He didn’t want to be a dragon or to give shows to people on what he could do. It might be good to prevent it from happening when coughing. It never happened when he had a cold yet but it did happen in the past that he released a bit of fire because of smoke or dust that made him cough. He could tell Charity that but he believed he said enough for one session and was not interested in doing more. She did not pick the easiest student to work with.

She went back to the breathing techniques so he decided to nod at that again, hoping it was enough for her to understand he understood she had some research to do. Why was she not just saying it was all for the day, that she’ll make her research and get back to him at their next training session? It was all he was waiting for.

She chose to give him homework. That had to be a good thing right? Usually, you got those at the end of the class. He blinked though at the way she brought it. Master burping. Yeah sure, he’d try to do the whole alphabet too. He could do that with his roommates, nice bonding exercise. “Alright,” he simply replied, being as stoic as possible to avoid his tone to reveal what he thought: that she was reaching a new low. He could still try the whole releasing thing though, even if he was not entirely sure how yet. Something needed to be asked first though. “Is it all?”

[Charity Croft]

Oh look, he clearly thought she was five different flavors of stupid. Charity gave him a look that practically begged him to just sort of go along with her for now. She'd get things together and make sure to be a lot more prepared for their next training session. And hey, at least she'd managed to get them to the next training session.

"yep," she said. She smiled at him, then started for the door. "The first sessions usually run a little short anyway. You'll be able to work on it, and we'll get some breathing experts and put a scenario together for you. Don't worry," she gave him a smile and a slight head bob, "I'll make sure you get your money's worth next time."

Another wink and Charity gestured for Quinn to go ahead and head out. Hopefully he'd at least tolerate her, he did seem like the sort who would.