Scott and Trowa, backdated 10/10
Oct. 10th, 2017 05:24 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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ax_mainTrowa and Scott discuss Xavier's announcement while working on the bike.
Trowa and Scott had spent the later part of the morning working on Scott's bike, improving on engine performance for the most part. Aside from requests for tools or the tech manuals, there wasn't much conversation between them.
Trowa went on a lunch run at around noon, snagging sandwiches and water from the kitchen before making a beeline back to the garage. This was the kind of work he preferred, something hands on and solid. Schoolwork involved too much theory, not enough practical application.
Scott looked up from the manual he'd been studying as he heard Trowa come back in. "Hey," he greeted.
"Hey." Trowa took a seat on the floor beside Scott and held out one of the plated sandwiches. "Hope you don't mind ham and cheese."
"Ham and cheese is fine," Scott assured him, accepting the plate. "Thanks."
He took a bite of sandwich. "So...how've you been?" He'd always been bad at small talk.
Trowa shrugged. "Adjusting. I'm glad to have a more concrete mission now."
"The bike or the mutant scout club?" Scott asked.
"Both," Trowa said. "Though I suspect Xavier's policing will be a longer term goal than the bike."
Scott couldn't exactly disagree there, though he was forced to tamp down on his inclination to say that he would never be done with his bike. She was too important not to keep in the best possible condition. "So you're doing it, huh?" He wasn't exactly surprised.
"I'm just surprised it took Xavier this long to make his intentions clear to the others." Trowa took a swallow of water. "And that he announced it so broadly."
"Broadly in what sense?" That the others would know about it? Or were Trowa's reservations like Scott's own; was he surprised any one who volunteered was eligible?
"He can't mean for every student here to serve this mission," Trowa explained. "I suspect some are considering going elsewhere just knowing of his intentions. It's sloppy."
Scott was quiet for a moment. "How would you have done it?" He finally asked. He was genuinely curious as to the answer; both for abstract reasons and more practical ones, like figuring out Trowa's personal views:
"Telepathically evaluate the students most suited to the task, temperamentally and physically." Trowa reached for another sandwich. "Prepare a targeted offer for each, then approach them individually and gauge their responses. Remove knowledge of the offer if they react unfavorably, perhaps try again later."
Efficient. Smart. Calculated. Also, of course, an incredible violation of privacy and autonomy. It was a practical ends-justify-means approach, that he could appreciate for its thoughtfulness. It just left out the other side of the picture.
"Makes sense, on one level, but kind of a violation of privacy and free will," Scott said.
Trowa nodded. "But likely to keep casualties down and ensure that you only have people involved who want to be involved. Everyone else gets to try and have a normal life. Whatever that happens to be."
"I don't know about you, but if the Professsor was wiping my mind just because I disagreed with him, I'd be pissed," Scott pointed out. He polished off his first sandwich; hard to go wrong with ham and cheese.
"How would you find out?"
"He's not the only telepath here," Scott said, shrugging. "Besides, very few secrets stay secret forever."
Xavier wasn't the only telepath, but he was the most powerful. Still, it was splitting hairs over a relevant point.
"Possibly," Trowa conceded. "But more secrecy might have been a wiser choice in this case."
"Maybe. Or it could have caused an even bigger rebellion than it did," Scott mused. Because not everyone thought like Trowa, or even like Scott himself. And if even Scott was having this response to the idea of that much secrecy, he could only imagine how the others would respond.
"In that case, it's up to Xavier to decide which objective he places more value on - building an army or running a haven for mutants. I doubt both will be able to coexist in the same sphere for very long."
Scott mulled that over. Trowa wasn't wrong, in that sense. To some extent, vigilante army and safe high school were incompatible. But, he forced himself to recognize (forced, because it was too easy to dwell on flaws, to the point it was counterproductive) that was a problem long down the pike. "Eventually, possibly. But I think it has time on it. Or it could. It depends on how heavily the Professor intends to use this more military group."
"And how long it can remain a secret from the rest of the world." Trowa finished his sandwich and let his hands rest on his knees. "Either way, we should step up our training. Tessa and I asked Xavier to install a target range. He said it's under consideration."
Scott nodded, that they both absolutely agreed on. "We definitely need to step up our training. Powers, target practice, hand-to-hand, all of it."
"We'll need to figure out how Xavier feels about casualties on the opposing side," Trowa said quietly. "My training leans more toward the lethal measures. I suspect that will be complicated to deal with here."
"The professor of course can speak for himself, but...I would be shocked if he didn't make lethal measures a last resort." Which didn't mean they would never be necessary, though hopefully it could be avoided, but shoot first ask later and let God sort them out didn't seem Xavier's style.
Trowa nodded. "I'll have to find a way to compensate. My powers aren't exactly combat-oriented."
"Skills come in a lot of different forms." Mutation was one of them, to be sure. Scott's own quirk of nature made him a walking canon. But even if someone wouldn't necessarily call Trowa's mutation combat specific, or even combat-helpful, it didn't mean he didn't have anything else to contribute. Besides, there was something to be said for having a good temperament for whatever it was they ended up doing, regardless of skillset.
Trowa nodded. "What do you see yourself doing? Your skill set seems broader."
"Whatever is needed, if I'm capable of doing it," Scott said, almost unhesitatingly.
Trowa nodded his approval. "That's a good outlook for a soldier. It means the company can trust you at their back."
Scott didn't know about all that. His father had been a soldier. He'd had training, had a clear role, had a...place. Scott wasn't sure he really had any of those things. Didn't know he could claim to be something like a soldier. "What do you see yourself doing?" He asked.
"Whatever is asked of me. Or whatever needs to be done. Hopefully those will be one and the same, for the most part." Trowa finished his water and glanced over at the bike. "Ready to start up again?"
He nodded. "Let's do it."
Trowa and Scott had spent the later part of the morning working on Scott's bike, improving on engine performance for the most part. Aside from requests for tools or the tech manuals, there wasn't much conversation between them.
Trowa went on a lunch run at around noon, snagging sandwiches and water from the kitchen before making a beeline back to the garage. This was the kind of work he preferred, something hands on and solid. Schoolwork involved too much theory, not enough practical application.
Scott looked up from the manual he'd been studying as he heard Trowa come back in. "Hey," he greeted.
"Hey." Trowa took a seat on the floor beside Scott and held out one of the plated sandwiches. "Hope you don't mind ham and cheese."
"Ham and cheese is fine," Scott assured him, accepting the plate. "Thanks."
He took a bite of sandwich. "So...how've you been?" He'd always been bad at small talk.
Trowa shrugged. "Adjusting. I'm glad to have a more concrete mission now."
"The bike or the mutant scout club?" Scott asked.
"Both," Trowa said. "Though I suspect Xavier's policing will be a longer term goal than the bike."
Scott couldn't exactly disagree there, though he was forced to tamp down on his inclination to say that he would never be done with his bike. She was too important not to keep in the best possible condition. "So you're doing it, huh?" He wasn't exactly surprised.
"I'm just surprised it took Xavier this long to make his intentions clear to the others." Trowa took a swallow of water. "And that he announced it so broadly."
"Broadly in what sense?" That the others would know about it? Or were Trowa's reservations like Scott's own; was he surprised any one who volunteered was eligible?
"He can't mean for every student here to serve this mission," Trowa explained. "I suspect some are considering going elsewhere just knowing of his intentions. It's sloppy."
Scott was quiet for a moment. "How would you have done it?" He finally asked. He was genuinely curious as to the answer; both for abstract reasons and more practical ones, like figuring out Trowa's personal views:
"Telepathically evaluate the students most suited to the task, temperamentally and physically." Trowa reached for another sandwich. "Prepare a targeted offer for each, then approach them individually and gauge their responses. Remove knowledge of the offer if they react unfavorably, perhaps try again later."
Efficient. Smart. Calculated. Also, of course, an incredible violation of privacy and autonomy. It was a practical ends-justify-means approach, that he could appreciate for its thoughtfulness. It just left out the other side of the picture.
"Makes sense, on one level, but kind of a violation of privacy and free will," Scott said.
Trowa nodded. "But likely to keep casualties down and ensure that you only have people involved who want to be involved. Everyone else gets to try and have a normal life. Whatever that happens to be."
"I don't know about you, but if the Professsor was wiping my mind just because I disagreed with him, I'd be pissed," Scott pointed out. He polished off his first sandwich; hard to go wrong with ham and cheese.
"How would you find out?"
"He's not the only telepath here," Scott said, shrugging. "Besides, very few secrets stay secret forever."
Xavier wasn't the only telepath, but he was the most powerful. Still, it was splitting hairs over a relevant point.
"Possibly," Trowa conceded. "But more secrecy might have been a wiser choice in this case."
"Maybe. Or it could have caused an even bigger rebellion than it did," Scott mused. Because not everyone thought like Trowa, or even like Scott himself. And if even Scott was having this response to the idea of that much secrecy, he could only imagine how the others would respond.
"In that case, it's up to Xavier to decide which objective he places more value on - building an army or running a haven for mutants. I doubt both will be able to coexist in the same sphere for very long."
Scott mulled that over. Trowa wasn't wrong, in that sense. To some extent, vigilante army and safe high school were incompatible. But, he forced himself to recognize (forced, because it was too easy to dwell on flaws, to the point it was counterproductive) that was a problem long down the pike. "Eventually, possibly. But I think it has time on it. Or it could. It depends on how heavily the Professor intends to use this more military group."
"And how long it can remain a secret from the rest of the world." Trowa finished his sandwich and let his hands rest on his knees. "Either way, we should step up our training. Tessa and I asked Xavier to install a target range. He said it's under consideration."
Scott nodded, that they both absolutely agreed on. "We definitely need to step up our training. Powers, target practice, hand-to-hand, all of it."
"We'll need to figure out how Xavier feels about casualties on the opposing side," Trowa said quietly. "My training leans more toward the lethal measures. I suspect that will be complicated to deal with here."
"The professor of course can speak for himself, but...I would be shocked if he didn't make lethal measures a last resort." Which didn't mean they would never be necessary, though hopefully it could be avoided, but shoot first ask later and let God sort them out didn't seem Xavier's style.
Trowa nodded. "I'll have to find a way to compensate. My powers aren't exactly combat-oriented."
"Skills come in a lot of different forms." Mutation was one of them, to be sure. Scott's own quirk of nature made him a walking canon. But even if someone wouldn't necessarily call Trowa's mutation combat specific, or even combat-helpful, it didn't mean he didn't have anything else to contribute. Besides, there was something to be said for having a good temperament for whatever it was they ended up doing, regardless of skillset.
Trowa nodded. "What do you see yourself doing? Your skill set seems broader."
"Whatever is needed, if I'm capable of doing it," Scott said, almost unhesitatingly.
Trowa nodded his approval. "That's a good outlook for a soldier. It means the company can trust you at their back."
Scott didn't know about all that. His father had been a soldier. He'd had training, had a clear role, had a...place. Scott wasn't sure he really had any of those things. Didn't know he could claim to be something like a soldier. "What do you see yourself doing?" He asked.
"Whatever is asked of me. Or whatever needs to be done. Hopefully those will be one and the same, for the most part." Trowa finished his water and glanced over at the bike. "Ready to start up again?"
He nodded. "Let's do it."
