nextgenerationmarvel | Regrouping thoughts(Open)

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Regrouping thoughts(Open)

It wasn't really that big of a deal that she was still figuring stuff out, right? Of course she was having some problems with her folks again which was really nothing new. She was used to them going between being okay parents and jerk-faces. That was fine she could deal with that. She knew just what buttons to press when it came to them.

Se still realizes that she needs to do something about her powers. Her fighting skills in her mind are to be mocked so hard. She's going to shape up when it comes to that because damn it she's a Sterling. Sterlings don't let things like this slide.

Only she has no idea how to start. Working on her powers or something else? She chews on her lip in thought while pacing around one of the living room areas trying to figure that out. She had way too much to work on if she wanted to even think of staying because she really didn't like the idea of putting people at risk.

That couldn't happen. No way. She'd just figure this out somehow.

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Kitty's not even going to attempt to hide the smile that formed when Erin reacted. "My apologies," she said, the smile coming through her words. "I didn't know anyone would be here at this time in the morning." Actually, she wasn't sure what time in the morning it actually was. She had gotten up at three and couldn't go back to sleep.

"Are you all right?" Because there was something about the girl's expression that concerned her. But Kitty couldn't tell for certain if it was unrelated to the girl's surprised expression or not.

The water is just kind of hanging around in the air not fully condensed. It takes Erin a moment to not ruin her sweater and to spread the water into very fine and natural moisture in the air.

"It's not tha--" Oh wait so it is. It's like eight. Holy crap why is she up? She had stayed over night. She hadn't felt like going on the commute back to school which she'll have to do later.

"Okay so it's not quite nine yet. I'm okay." That's kind of a lie she's feeling a bit broody.

Maybe it would come as a surprise to Erin, but Kitty isn't batting an eyelash at the water hanging in the air. Kind of like home. Stark had said that too.

Kitty's attention was shifted when the water was reformed back into the air molecules.

It was good that the girl had already honed some of her battle senses. Calling the water immediately to herself when something was amiss was an important skill to have.

Kitty raised her eyebrow slightly. Erin's words really gave her no answer. The 'I'm okay' seemed more to herself than to Kitty's question. "How about you join me for a cup of coffee? And if you'd like, I can make you breakfast too."

Edited 2012-07-07 07:50 (UTC)

Once she had figured out it was okay to use her powers here well.... she was getting better. She has a good handle of how to call up her powers, using them creatively under pressure? That's different.She's still figuring out how she shot herself up using water in that training exercise.

The breakfast offer catches her totally off guard. Her parents weren't the type to do that. It was left to either the help or the Nanny she had until she had been sent to boarding schools.

"Coffee sounds great." Food too but she just looks puzzled by the offer.

The puzzlement on the girl's face told Kitty enough. Between that and the girl's earlier behaviour, Kitty knew Erin needed food too. "There's a lovely garden we can make use of. Go there and I will join you in a few minutes." Kitty walked away, this time using the doorway to the kitchen.

Fifteen minutes later and she had a tray set of coffee in a sterling silver tea set she had found in the cupboard, cream, sugar, and a plate full of toast, poached egg, and a side of fresh strawberries, raspberries, and blueberries.

On her way outside, Kitty didn't bother with opening the door, but walked right through the wall. She had asked Stark beforehand about the layout of the house. The last thing she wanted to do was disrupt some of his electrical equipment he had supporting the house.

"And here we go," she said with another smile.

The food will help as Erin is feeling wired. As it's early February the garden they'll be using is more of an indoor solarium but Erin thought it counted as there were all kinds of plants a few of them were blooming too.

She had toed her boots off and settled back into a well-cushioned chair. It's comfortable and obviously made to be sturdy but Erin doesn't care. It's doing just what it needs to and for the fifteen minutes it takes she's distracted from what had been on her mind.

She does brighten and smile though when Kitty appears. "Thank you, ma'am."

Sterlings always have good manners.

"Please, call me Kitty. Would you like any cream or sugar with your coffee?" Once she's fixed the coffee to Erin's liking, she offered the cup and saucer to the girl.

"It's going to be a nice day. It's not too cold. I must say, I really like the grounds that Mr. Stark has here. Has some similarities to the school in Westchester that I attended when I was your age." The Avengers Mansion wasn't so secluded, though.

Kitty was intentionally not going to ask the girl what had been bothering her. Instead, she felt the route she was now taking would encourage Erin to open up to her on her own. Now that she had seen the kids in action, she planned to get to know all of them on an interpersonal level.

"Erin, then. Just a little cream, thanks." She tries to avoid too much sugar since she finds she'll need water faster if she has too much.

"Yeah. It looks like the cold front they were talking about won't hit us," she agrees. "Which is nice. I'll have to get back to Rushmore Academy tonight."

She glances around the room and shrugs simply. "I thought it used to be a family home, so to speak. It's a very nice building."

"Erin." She nods, offering the girl a slip of a smile as she settled back into her chair and fixes her own coffee. Breakfast could wait. She really wanted the coffee at the moment.

"How is that working out for you? Attending a human boarding school and yet spending a great deal of your time with the Avengers?" It was a curious thing that the girl would split her time as so, but maybe she couldn't take an alternative, or one hadn't been offered to her.

"It does feel a bit homey, doesn't it? I think it's a great place to have the team reside." She sips her coffee.

"It's only been a few weeks," she says with a shrug.

"I was publicly outted as a mutant. There was an incident with some sinking ferry's and...I used my powers to hold them up in the water and keep as much of the water out until the Avengers showed up. Bruce figured out it was me."

She sips her coffee then snags a piece of toast. "My parents are...Well. They've had me attend boarding schools for a long time. They made it clear that I shouldn't be open as a mutant but if I must ... Well. They've made themselves clear to me."

She's not happy about the threats of ending up penniless. They're holding it over her right now.

"And that's how you got here? Because Bruce had you pegged?" That did give some explanation why Erin was here and not at Xavier's, especially with the revelation about the girl's parents.

"They can't keep you from being what you are. They can't change you." She raises her eyebrows. "They don't know that you come here, do they?" It sounded like the Sterlings were still trying to mold Erin into the daughter that they actually wanted, which made Kitty quite a bit angry on the girl's behalf. "What are they doing, Erin?"

"Bruce may have recruited me but this was my idea. They can't do what they threatened to do if I'm on the team. The Avengers make the paper and Mother is too overly concerned with the family's public image," she says not really giving a damn.

"I think Dad is amused I out maneuvered Mom. He's always rewarded being clever and working hard. Dad isn't a bad parent. He just doesn't have time because of his work so he's always made it clear that I shouldn't mess up. He expects perfection. Knowing how to talk to people. Good grades. Being able to take care of myself to some degree.... And Mother just thinks that if I could possibly embarrass the family name it would be simply awful," her tone seems to mock her Mother just a bit.

She stops and winces slightly. "I'm sorry. My Mother and I argued last night. She's not happy again and is very good at making herself clear. There's no love lost between us. I like my Dad. He can be pretty cool. I man when I was eight like any little girl I really wanted a pony so he got me riding lessons and made it clear if I did well I could get a horse instead since Sterlings aren't supposed to settle."

"Well I'm glad. What are you hoping to get out of being here?" If it was her idea, then she came with a purpose. Something was motivating her.

Kitty nods, taking another sip from her coffee. Erin's father didn't sound very bad at all, she agreed. The perfection part, a lot of parents wanted that for their kids. Given Erin's background, Kitty imagined it was a greater concern for her parents. "What did they say when they found out that you're a Mutant?" She needed to get an understanding of Erin's emotions too and finding out the things that that bothered the girl would help her with that.

"Oh no. No apologies necessary." She gives Erin a sympathetic look. "What was she angry about?" She smiles softly at Erin's comment about her father and not settling. "My father had similar sentiments for me. He always wanted me to strive for more because he knew I could do anything. I can go as far to say that it was his guidance that highly influenced my work ethic." Her mother was less direct about her feelings and in fact that had been a sticking point for Kitty later on. After her parents separated, Kitty found it harder and harder to connect with her mom. It wasn't until recently that Kitty insisted she had a working relationship with her mother. She did it for her kids.

"Well I like helping people. I don't mind putting what I can do to good use, really. I figure I can help people if I work with others."

That takes her a moment. "Mom went into hysterics. She can be a bit of a drama queen.. Dad handled it much better. He just recommended I don't out myself. It's still dangerous to be out as a mutant.... I used to be okay at school if I weren't a senior, a Sterling, and well-liked I'd be in trouble. A few girls have tried to give me trouble but.... It's Alpha-Female crap."

She sighs a touch. "Mom was nit-picking over the Avengers thing. She doesn't believe I'm serious about it and that I'm doing it for attention from her which isn't the case. I told her her ego had gotten pretty big if she thought it was all about her. I mean seriously. I'd never do this for her."

"It's very brave of you to do that, given what you've told me about yourself. Who has been training you, or have you been self-teaching yourself so far?"

She smiles, cutting into her poached egg and toast. "Maybe she needed the shock. Oh it can be dangerous, but it also depends on how you handle it and where you're out. England, for instance, isn't so bad for us. I spent some of my adolescence there and lived there again for the last thirteen years." But you wouldn't know it by her dialect. She still sounded like she was a girl from Chicago.

"Now for a boarding school in the US? I think you're probably safer keeping your identity intact." But girls were also vicious wherever they were from.

"It sounds like she really doesn't know how to react to you making a decision for yourself and your own life. I had some struggles with my own mom when I was in school. She decided it would be safer for me attending a school that exclusively had kids my age. She thought the X-Men were a bad influence on me. Which...they were an influence on me, but I wouldn't call it bad. I did grow up fast around them, however."

"Self-taught. I find places were I can try things out. Helps that there's a private pool at the closest house to here my parents use. I have trouble though because my body has become more dependent on how much water I in-take."

Erin nods slowly. "I read that in Japan they have all mutants registered with the government. I'm not sure if that's true but.... I worry that'll happen here. I mean it's not like I'm obvious but I don't like the idea of anyone being able to read up about that if they have the right clearance."

She chuckles softly. "I'm not the only girl who gets harassed but it's not so bad all the time. Getting outed at school would be really bad."

She considers that as she starts to dig into the food a bit more. "Maybe. But she's not exactly the mothering sort so I can't imagine this is about that entirely. I'll figure it out eventually."

"Well I can personally help you with that, if you would also like to be taught. Stark showed me the training area but I haven't had the pleasure yet. You and I can start there." she nods. "I can give you an evaluation. It would help us both know about your strengths and weaknesses. Tell me more about your dependency on water." She folds her hands on her lap.

"Yes." She nods. "And registration and beyond have been concerns of ours for a long time." But Kitty personally experienced a future and that didn't come to pass. "Us Mutants who choose to live public lives, it is our responsibility to show that we are an asset to the human race. The need that some government officials have to control comes entirely from fear.
Fear tends to make people do stupid things."

She picks up a strawberry and a blueberry. "Is it your choice that you're attending the school or is it what your parents want? If you were to say, stay here full time and take classes and training from me, what would you say to that?"

"Well even though I can actually pull water from the envrioment I get... Thirsty. Easily. I have to drink more than a normal person simply because my body dehydrates at a faster rate. Trust me, I've noticed. I'm a fairly active person already," she flips some hair over her shoulder then considers this and nods. "That'd be cool. I don't know my full limitations anyways."

That gets a slight smile. "That's what Dad has said a few times. About fear. He's a diplomat and has seen some... crazy stiff I guess. He doesn't talk about work much. Just philosophy when we do talk. He thinks understanding philosophy is the mark of an intelligent person."

"Boarding school was never my idea. My Mom couldn't be bothered to specifically handle my education so she found the best schools for me so she could focus on other things. Rushmore isn't bad. They offer all kinds of stuff. I just have until May then I'm done. It's not exactly my choice to be there but.... I don't want to make waves more than I have to."

"Is orally the only way you can take in water? Can you absorb it through your skin?" Because an alternative to oral would provide a useful resource to Erin.

"Your dad is right about that. Understanding where someone is coming from will help you understand a person's motivations, and to some degree the greater person. I will tell you something else about fear: never be afraid of it. That is giving fear power over you too and this may lead to your own undoing. You must have a sober mind while meeting opposition."

She finishes her fruit and returns to her coffee. "If you feel that you want to continue until May, that is fine, but you do have other options." She shrugs. "Waves are going to happen regardless of your actions. Because it isn't just what you are doing: it is also what your mother thinks you are doing, which is entirely out of your power. I recommend that you do the things that you want to do and ultimately best for you and what you want to do."

"I've never even tried," Erin admits. "I mean it would make sense if I had enough control over the flow of water to be able to do that."

Erin quirks a smile. "The only thing to fear is fear itself?"

Erin picks a few pieces of fruit to work on. "I can always arrange to take my school work else where. In March I'm supposed to be working on an indpendant study to incorporate everything I've been learning. Kind of a final project for my school, if things get bad I could always arrange to do my study here... Would that work? I mean I know Mom is still going to fuss but if I prove I'm not in trouble she might lay off. She could really just be afraid of me getting myself in trouble."

"I would recommend trying it with a fresh water lake instead of a pool. The chlorine might cause a problem for you. What about breathing under water? Are you capable of doing that?" She had seen Bobby's abilities, so she had some idea about hydrokinesis, but it might differ too. But Bobby gave her a basis to work from. "You're more powerful than you give yourself credit for, Erin. Water is one of the strongest forces on earth and you control it."

She nods. "More or less, yes."

After finishing her coffee, Kitty refreshes it, pouring in some cream and adding another lump of sugar. "That would definitely work. I think it would help you grow closer to your teammates too. That camaraderie is not merely important socially, but it might save your life too. You guys looked really good out there as a team, but you'll want to foster and grow that team connection."

"Yeah it's cool. All I have to do is filter the water away and I can breath. It's not a huge thing but it's cool. I don't know if I could do that for more than just myself though," she explains kicking her feet a bit. "Yeah but I've still got a lot to learn. I gave myself a nose bleed because I didn't have the mental stamina in the park. Too much power not enough subtlety with what I was doing, and I've done bigger fully animated constructs without hurting myself."

Erin is going to have another slice of toast feeling pretty hungry still. "Well I could use you and Mr Stark for my advisers. Come up with a proposal for a project and work on it here. Something that could benefit the newest team."

She doesn't know what yet. "I gotta think about it since I think the Headmaster may decide to have you two give me my tentative grade or something.... OOoh. I... think I have an idea. For at least saying hi to the team, more or less."

Valentines Day. Send cookies and a 'hi how are you'kind of note or something. That could work. Erin has a very thoughtful plotting look on her face.

"Interesting. I'd like to run some tests on that. Stark has a pool. We could start there." She runs a hand through her hair. "Well you gotta start somewhere. I couldn't always phase someone else besides myself. It started as a defence mechanism, but has grown since then." She nods. "I used to give myself headaches." She nods. "When did your powers first surface?"

She finishes up her poached egg and toast. "I think that's a very good idea. Write up a proposal and e-mail it to me. Do you have any thoughts about it so far?"

"I'd be fine with testing. We'd at last figure out more of my limiters," she agrees. The headaches aren't very fun to deal with when she over does it. "About two years ago. I'm not really sure when it started but I started getting headaches all the time. Then one day.... Well."

She shrugs at that.

"Okay will do."

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Regrouping thoughts(Open)

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