Clarice and Laura Backdated December 6th
Dec. 6th, 2017 01:26 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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ax_main Clarice and Laura take a break from training to enjoy one of Clarice's favorite things. Food! They discuss Clarice doing an interview for Tamara and Laura gets a funny feeling.
Laura let out a long breath as she sat down on the mat they had used for sparring, reaching over to grab her water bottle and take a gulp. She eyed Clarice over her bottle and offered her an encouraging nod when she was finished drinking. “You did well today. You caught me off guard more than the last time we fought.”
Positive reinforcement was always good when trying to help someone improve, at least that was what she had learned for teaching Lil.
"Thanks," Clarice grinned, flushing from the compliment as much as the exertion. "I don' got claws or reflexes or much in the way of strength or trainin', so I figurin' surprisin' people is gon' have to be my thing, until I get some experience under my belt. Thanks for humorin' me, ay'?"
“I do not understand how I was humoring you.” Laura replied honestly. “Your teleporting is truly something that takes me off guard. Not knowing where you will turn up next is confusing, especially since I cannot smell you when you have disappeared.”
She handed Clarice her own water bottle. “Drink.”
The lavender-skinned girl accepted the water gratefully and took a long drink. After an explosive sigh as she finished, she handed the bottle back and reclined on her elbows. It had taken some time, but Laura's extremely direct way of speaking no longer intimidated Clarice as it once had; now, it was just the way the gal talked, and there was nothing to catch feelings over. She gave a rueful smile.
"You say that, sure. But you's getting better at anticipatin' where I'll come out. Guess that means I need to start gettin' more creative, or at least figurin' out where I'm repeatin' myself and try to get a handle on it."
“Yes, that would be good to try.” Laura agreed, taking one smaller sip before capping her bottle and setting both of them off to the side. She glanced over at Clarice and watched her for a moment, a contemplative look on her face as she studied the girl’s profile before her stomach decided to make a noise. Laura looked down at her stomach, laying a hand on it as if trying to soothe it quiet. “I am sorry. I believe I forgot to eat this morning.”
"Shoot, girl, you can' go forgettin' to have breakfast!" Clarice exclaimed, seeming genuinely scandalized by the idea. "Is the most important meal of the day, y'know. C'mon," she continued, jumping to her feet and reaching down to tug Laura up with her. "I can always eat, and we need to get some food in your belly 'fore it starts tellin' us 'bout ourselves. I can get us to the cafeteria dead fast, ay'?"
Laura blinked in surprise at how adamant Clarice was on her eating, letting herself be pulled up to standing. She tilted her head a little at Clarice’s words and glanced down at her stomach, trying to think what her stomach would tell her before she nodded. “Yes, alright. Though, I cannot cook, so we will be relying on your skills alone.”
She stepped closer to the girl, having been teleported once before and braced herself for the sensation.
"I ain' much of a cook, myself, most of the time," Clarice admitted. "Luckily, they got a whole cafeteria staffed by professionals, an' all. I think we might be able to argue our way into an early lunch, dependin' on who's workin' today." There was a by-now familiar blink, and the pair vanished from the gym in a whirl of pink energy.
Being teleported was always disorienting, but over time Laura had started to get used to the odd feeling of very quickly being in a new place. When she saw that they were now in the cafeteria, she took a deep breath as she could smell the food that was starting to be prepared for lunch. The wonderful scent made her stomach growl again. “You will have to do the talking. I am afraid I come off as threatening when asking for things.”
"Yeah, there is kinda a implied 'or else' at the end of e'rything you say, girl," Clarice chuckled. "But is part of your charm, ay'? Anyway. It is grow on people. C'mon! Grab a tray, an' I'll see what they got on offer this afternoon." Still smiling, she took her own advice and meandered over to the area where the staff were still setting up the food.
Technically, it was a bit early to be serving the students, but the uniformed women seemed used to seeing Blink appear at unusual times, and barely batted an eye at her odd skin-color or shining green eyes. She chatted them up amiably for a moment before, heads shaking, they gestured toward the offerings of the day and told the two teens to help themselves.
Laura was impressed with the way Clarice seemed to charm the staff into letting them eat early, the ability to be friendly and sweet never seemed to work well for Laura. She took what was offered, fresh bread that was still warm, tomato bisque soup and a turkey sandwich that looked better than most she had ever seen. She followed Clarice to a table and sat down across from her, so she would be able to see the other’s face while she ate. “Do you often ask for early meals? You seem to be very good at it.”
"I'm big into food," she admitted, as she took a seat of her own and deposited her own tray on the table; it was piled with mac 'n cheese, cole slaw, and a pair of sandwiches. "And my schedule ain' always that regular, I guess. I pop around a lot--sometimes for other people, sometimes 'cause I jus' wanna see soemthin' new. Either way, is always a smart idea to be on the good side of the people what is make your food, right?"
“Yes. That is true.” Laura replied, though thought more along the lines of not being poisoned than getting food early. She took some of her bread and dipped it into the soup, watching it soak up the red liquid. “Where is the farthest you have teleported before? You say you have teleported for others?”
"Oh, yeah. All'a time. Lot's of kids 'round here get homesick, or have somethin' they need to do that's easier across the country than in town," Clarice told her in an amiable but distracted voice as she dug into her early lunch with gusto. "I took Yuri to Moscow a couple times to visit his grandpa for p'rozkhi. But my record's still Antarctica, I think. I'm not sure where on the globe I could go that'd be much further than that. And anywhere off the globe ... I get the feelin' I wouldn't much enjoy the trip, even if I could make it."
“That is quite far.” Laura replied, the deadpanned tone of her voice not really showing how impressed she actually was and she shoved the piece of soaked bread into her mouth. She chewed and swallowed before speaking again. “You do this freely? Do you receive compensation for you work?”
Otherwise, it sounded like Clarice was just being used because her powers were needed.
"I'd feel weird takin' money for it," she admitted with a one-shouldered shrug. "Long as they feed me now an' then, I'm good. And if there is ever an actual problem, I'd just tell 'em so. But right now, it's mostly just a way of workin' on my powers. Doin' it over an' over again makes it way easier to 'port around in a pinch. Or a fight."
“Mmm. Food and practice are good motivators.” She also knew Clarice was nice and nice people tended to do things without need of motivation except for wanting to help others. It was odd, but Laura thought it suited the purple girl. “Do you only have to think of the place you want?”
Her lavender features crinkled slightly in thought at the question. “Is ... kinda hard to explain, ay'? I ain' sure I really get it, and I do it every day. But is ... like, once I've been somewhere, is easy to go back again. And anywhere I can see is easy. Places I aint never been, though, is trickier. I guess if I know where someplace is in a general kind of way, I can get thereabouts, an' refine it until is exact. Like, when I carried Yuri to his gran'pa, we ended up in Moscow, maybe half a block or so away from his apartment. Now, I can take him to the hall outside er'ry time." She shook her head, bright green eyes rueful. "I'm havin' a hard time findin' Ibiza, though. Should be easy; Spain only got so much coastline to work with, ay'?"
Laura ducked her head to look at her soup, so she could hide the very small curl of her lips as she listened to Clarice explain. She dipped another piece of bread in the soup, eating quietly until Clarice seemed like she was done. She looked up, smile gone, and tilted her head to the side. “What is in Ibiza?”
"Dunno," Clarice admitted, shrugging again. "Shen suggested it, once. But she was also the one who gave me the idea to see how far I could go by teleportin' to the farthest place I could think of, so I feel like I owe her one. Gotta find the place first, though. Maybe I should check Google Maps ..."
“Would looking at pictures of it on the internet help?” She asked, picking up her sandwich to start on it after she had finished her roll. Talking with Clarice while eating was...enjoyable. “That way you would be able to see where you need to be? Though if they had made changes to the landscape since the photograph was taken, would that cause an issue?”
"I do pretty good with even just a vague idea, and an impression of where it is in relation to where I am," she explained. "But is not always one hundred percent, obviously. Can't figure out why this one is bein' so difficult, but any kind of edge I can get would prob'bly be useful." She took an enormous bite of sandwich and regarded Laura thoughtfully. "What 'bout you," she mumbled as she chewed. "There anyplace in particular you would wanna go, if you could pick anywhere you wanted?"
“Anyplace?” Laura echoed, frowning a little as she thought on that. She had never had the ability to go anywhere unless she was sent there and making it to the school on her own had been the first time she’d ever tried going somewhere on her own. Where did people normally want to go? Somewhere warm, correct? A place that was beautiful, with beaches and palm trees. That was where normal people wanted to go and it sounded nice, but was that where she wanted to go? “I read once about the Northern Lights. I know Alaska is supposed to be very cold, but to see them, I do not think I would mind the cold all that much.”
"That does sound pretty cool, dread," Clarice agreed with a thoughtful nod. "I tell you what: I got that winter coat from Yuri when we was in Moscow--pretty sure Russian people invented the cold, so it should be good enough for Alaska, too. You figure out when the best time is to see them Northern Lights, an' I'll carry us. No problem."
To say Laura was a little surprised by the kind offer was an understatement and she quickly looked down at her cooling soup as she tried to think of the right response to that. She had never received more than a cookie or a hug when she had been at the labs, now that she was here she had a book from Ororo, an ornament from Tommy and now an offer to see something she wanted to see from Clarice. It was all a little overwhelming. She nodded her head slowly, looking up at Clarice and tried a small smile, hoping it did not look as odd as it felt. “I would enjoy that, yes. Are you sure it is not too much trouble? I will give you my pringles in exchange. They are sour cream and onion.”
Though Clarice was at least pretty sure the expression Laura was attempting was a smile, there was a pained and somewhat awkward edge to it that spoiled the effect. Still, it was the effort that counted, and she smiled back unreservedly. "Cool. We can stop at one gas station or somethin' on the way an' pick up some more for the trip. I'm partial to salt an' vinegar, myself, but I can't say I ever met a Pringle yet I didn' like."
“Salt and vinegar.” Those were a flavor she had never tried, never having liked the smell of vinegar, but she would remember that they were Clarice’s favorite. “I will need to gather more weather appropriate clothes as well. One needs boots in heavy snow.”
She took a bite of her sandwich and chewed quietly before swallowing. “Since you can teleport anywhere, I will not ask the same question, but a modified one. What is your favorite place to teleport to?”
"Oh, I like to go home now and then. Remember what warm weather feels like, ay'? But my favorite places to go are the places I ain' never been before. I mean, world is so huge, and most people only e'er get to see a small piece of it. It'd be a sin not to see as much of it as I can, with what I can do an' all."
Laura nodded after a moment of thought. “That is good that you are using your power to its full potential.” Though after she said she had a sick feeling of sounding too much like the doctors who had made her and quickly added. “For your own enjoyment, I mean. I am envious of your mutation, healing only allows me to survive. Yours allows you to live.”
"Teleportin' helps me survive, sometimes," Clarice joked, though her heart ached to hear Laura describe her gifts that way and know she meant it. "And, hey, think of all the things you could do that most people wouldn' ever dream of, 'cause the chance they might get hurt scares 'em off? Not that I'm sayin' you should go out and get hurt," she added quickly. "It's just healin' takes a lot of the hazard out of skydivin' or mountain climbin' or snowboardin' or ... y'know, whatever. You could just shake off what would make a nasty stain out of most of us."
“I would still be hurt, my healing does not dampen pain, but you are correct. If my parachute did not open and I hit the ground I would most likely survive.” A snapped neck she could heal, but could a fall from such a height be so damaging to her body would not know what to heal first? What if her head came clean off? Laura shook her head and went back to focusing on her food. “Though mountain climbing does sound fun.”
"Well, was just an idea," Clarice said, tucking back into her lunch. "I don' want you to get hurt, or anything. But even people who don't have either of our advantages get to live. I'm pretty sure you'll figure it out as you go. You're pretty bad ass."
There was that phrase again. “Thank you. Are you friends with Tamara? She used that same wording when I spoke with her last.”
"Tam's my roommate," she confirmed as she swallowed another sizable bite. A smile tugged at the corners of her mouth. "I don' think that has anythin' much to do with it, though--that's an expression most people'll use, now and then."
Laura nodded in understanding. She would really need to look up a lot of these slang terms she was hearing around, just in case. “She seems very nice. Do you get along well?”
She thought of her own roommate and how wildly different they were. "Oh, sure," said Clarice. "Me an' Tam's tight. You know the YouTube videos what she is do? I maybe will be in one, sometime. Solidarity, an' all that."
“You will be in one?” Laura shifted a little, not quite sure why the idea of Clarice putting herself out to the public made her...nervous? She had never watched Tamara’s videos, but she knew how much commotion they tended to stir up. She was surprised Kitty’s defenses had kept up so well, because without them, one could only guess what kind of people would come looking. “You are not nervous about that?”
"I guess I'd had t'be crazy not to be nervous, ay'?" she asked wryly. "I mean, e'en people who come in normal, e'ryday colors is get nervous talkin' in public. But I said I'd do it, an' I think is important people out there get used to seein' mutants who can' really pass for normal. Is harder to be scared of somethin' you see all the time."
“That is a very good point.” Laura swirled her spoon in her soup as she thought about it. The whole point everyone had was to let the public see that mutants were not a menace to humans. “I believe if anyone were to show that mutants can be kind, you would be one of the best. You have been nothing but kind to me since we met and I appreciate that.”
Clarice snorted, despite the grin on her face. "Girl, you talk like you is make it hard, or somethin'; it's easy to be nice to the ones that is good people. Now ask Inu-Yasha, if you want a diff'rent point of view--I had to drop him in the lake for bein' a stinkin' ass not long after I first got here."
Laura tried to concentrate hard on her soup as she felt her cheeks grow warm at the thought of Clarice thinking she was good. When she finally was able to focus again, she glanced up at the other girl with a frown. “What did he do?”
Inu-Yasha was loud and abrasive, but he was not the worst person she had ever met.
That caused the lavender-skinned girl's cheeks to flush a deeper shade of purple. "It was stupid. He was a ass, an' I lost my temper. I don' think any of that made either one of us look good. Got called into the Professor's office for it, anyhow." She poked at her food a bit, before taking another bite and shrugging. "Anyhow, is fine now. I gotta learn to do better with stuff like that, ay'? Plenty people out there wanna do a lot worse than talk to me hard. An' anybody who don' want to spend time in my company is free to carry they ass."
“Carry they ass.” Laura repeated quietly, liking how Clarice said it more. She wanted to know what Inu-Yasha had said, but she did not want to pry so she put it aside for now. She set her spoon down, no longer hungry for her soup and picked at her sandwich a bit. “I do not understand how someone would not like your company. You are nice and say interesting things.”
"I don' know if anythin' I say is really all that interestin'," she shrugged. "l guess it is just sound so to people without a ear for it. But thanks, anyhow. An' some people is just don' mix good; ain' necessarily a good thing or a bad thing--just a people thing, y'know? We ain' all gotta be best friends. Just decent enough to get by without killin' each other."
“You should say that in your interview.” Laura advised before taking a sip of her water. She had never really believed in teaching tolerance, not sure what it would accomplish. Killing was what she was good at, but if Clarice wanted to then she would support her. “I will watch it.”
"Well, that just makes me e'en more nervous," Clarice snorted. "Easier to do this kinda thing when the only people watchin' are anonymous strangers, whose opinions don't matter a damn. Guess this means I need to try extra hard not to screw it up."
“Then I will not.” Laura amended, wondering if that would help Clarice and her nerves. The last thing she wanted was for the girl to feel anything but confident when doing something like that. “I will watch only after you say it is alright.”
"Nah, is fine," she reassured the other girl quickly. It was nice of her to offer, though. "Lil' stage fright won' have me goin' to pieces. And I'm gonna wanna know what you think either way; I won' be able to judge it for myself. My knee-jerk reaction will be that I screwed something up."
“Then I will watch and give my honest assessment.” Laura promised, pushing her tray away from her a little. “Once you finish the interview, will this mean you will want try going out in public?”
Clarice inhaled deeply. "That'd be the next logical step, ay'? People need to get used to seeing people like me out, not just safely contained on the internet. But I'm not gonna lie, I really, really ain' lookin' forward to it, right this minute."
“Does anyone look forward to being in a situation like that? Besides people who are certifiably insane.” Laura could not understand the fear, but that was because she looked like everyone else when her claws were in. She passed for what humans thought of as one of them. Clarice, without the Professor’s bracelet, could not and the danger to her was real. Laura swallowed thickly before she reached out to lay a hand over one of the other girl’s and gave it one pat. “If you do go out in public, let me come with. I will not let anyone touch you.”
"You're sweet," Clarice told her, catching Laura's hand again before she could pull it away completely and smiling. "And I'm glad you worry about me. But you don' need to. Nobody is gonna touch me unless I let them. And if they's push it, I can always scatter 'em across the continental U.S. Is nice to know I could have my own personal bodyguard if I e'er need it, though."
Laura glanced at their hands for a second, her stomach feeling weird as she felt her cheeks grow a little warm. Focus. She looked back up at Clarice’s face, giving a small nod to show that she understood. “You will be fine. I know this, you are doing well in practice and with using your powers. But if you need me, I will be there.”
"Thanks," she told her, voice earnest, though she finally let go of Laura's hand. "That makes me feel a lot better. 'Bout e'rything."
“Good. I am glad I could make you feel better.” Laura pulled her hand back and felt accomplished.
Laura let out a long breath as she sat down on the mat they had used for sparring, reaching over to grab her water bottle and take a gulp. She eyed Clarice over her bottle and offered her an encouraging nod when she was finished drinking. “You did well today. You caught me off guard more than the last time we fought.”
Positive reinforcement was always good when trying to help someone improve, at least that was what she had learned for teaching Lil.
"Thanks," Clarice grinned, flushing from the compliment as much as the exertion. "I don' got claws or reflexes or much in the way of strength or trainin', so I figurin' surprisin' people is gon' have to be my thing, until I get some experience under my belt. Thanks for humorin' me, ay'?"
“I do not understand how I was humoring you.” Laura replied honestly. “Your teleporting is truly something that takes me off guard. Not knowing where you will turn up next is confusing, especially since I cannot smell you when you have disappeared.”
She handed Clarice her own water bottle. “Drink.”
The lavender-skinned girl accepted the water gratefully and took a long drink. After an explosive sigh as she finished, she handed the bottle back and reclined on her elbows. It had taken some time, but Laura's extremely direct way of speaking no longer intimidated Clarice as it once had; now, it was just the way the gal talked, and there was nothing to catch feelings over. She gave a rueful smile.
"You say that, sure. But you's getting better at anticipatin' where I'll come out. Guess that means I need to start gettin' more creative, or at least figurin' out where I'm repeatin' myself and try to get a handle on it."
“Yes, that would be good to try.” Laura agreed, taking one smaller sip before capping her bottle and setting both of them off to the side. She glanced over at Clarice and watched her for a moment, a contemplative look on her face as she studied the girl’s profile before her stomach decided to make a noise. Laura looked down at her stomach, laying a hand on it as if trying to soothe it quiet. “I am sorry. I believe I forgot to eat this morning.”
"Shoot, girl, you can' go forgettin' to have breakfast!" Clarice exclaimed, seeming genuinely scandalized by the idea. "Is the most important meal of the day, y'know. C'mon," she continued, jumping to her feet and reaching down to tug Laura up with her. "I can always eat, and we need to get some food in your belly 'fore it starts tellin' us 'bout ourselves. I can get us to the cafeteria dead fast, ay'?"
Laura blinked in surprise at how adamant Clarice was on her eating, letting herself be pulled up to standing. She tilted her head a little at Clarice’s words and glanced down at her stomach, trying to think what her stomach would tell her before she nodded. “Yes, alright. Though, I cannot cook, so we will be relying on your skills alone.”
She stepped closer to the girl, having been teleported once before and braced herself for the sensation.
"I ain' much of a cook, myself, most of the time," Clarice admitted. "Luckily, they got a whole cafeteria staffed by professionals, an' all. I think we might be able to argue our way into an early lunch, dependin' on who's workin' today." There was a by-now familiar blink, and the pair vanished from the gym in a whirl of pink energy.
Being teleported was always disorienting, but over time Laura had started to get used to the odd feeling of very quickly being in a new place. When she saw that they were now in the cafeteria, she took a deep breath as she could smell the food that was starting to be prepared for lunch. The wonderful scent made her stomach growl again. “You will have to do the talking. I am afraid I come off as threatening when asking for things.”
"Yeah, there is kinda a implied 'or else' at the end of e'rything you say, girl," Clarice chuckled. "But is part of your charm, ay'? Anyway. It is grow on people. C'mon! Grab a tray, an' I'll see what they got on offer this afternoon." Still smiling, she took her own advice and meandered over to the area where the staff were still setting up the food.
Technically, it was a bit early to be serving the students, but the uniformed women seemed used to seeing Blink appear at unusual times, and barely batted an eye at her odd skin-color or shining green eyes. She chatted them up amiably for a moment before, heads shaking, they gestured toward the offerings of the day and told the two teens to help themselves.
Laura was impressed with the way Clarice seemed to charm the staff into letting them eat early, the ability to be friendly and sweet never seemed to work well for Laura. She took what was offered, fresh bread that was still warm, tomato bisque soup and a turkey sandwich that looked better than most she had ever seen. She followed Clarice to a table and sat down across from her, so she would be able to see the other’s face while she ate. “Do you often ask for early meals? You seem to be very good at it.”
"I'm big into food," she admitted, as she took a seat of her own and deposited her own tray on the table; it was piled with mac 'n cheese, cole slaw, and a pair of sandwiches. "And my schedule ain' always that regular, I guess. I pop around a lot--sometimes for other people, sometimes 'cause I jus' wanna see soemthin' new. Either way, is always a smart idea to be on the good side of the people what is make your food, right?"
“Yes. That is true.” Laura replied, though thought more along the lines of not being poisoned than getting food early. She took some of her bread and dipped it into the soup, watching it soak up the red liquid. “Where is the farthest you have teleported before? You say you have teleported for others?”
"Oh, yeah. All'a time. Lot's of kids 'round here get homesick, or have somethin' they need to do that's easier across the country than in town," Clarice told her in an amiable but distracted voice as she dug into her early lunch with gusto. "I took Yuri to Moscow a couple times to visit his grandpa for p'rozkhi. But my record's still Antarctica, I think. I'm not sure where on the globe I could go that'd be much further than that. And anywhere off the globe ... I get the feelin' I wouldn't much enjoy the trip, even if I could make it."
“That is quite far.” Laura replied, the deadpanned tone of her voice not really showing how impressed she actually was and she shoved the piece of soaked bread into her mouth. She chewed and swallowed before speaking again. “You do this freely? Do you receive compensation for you work?”
Otherwise, it sounded like Clarice was just being used because her powers were needed.
"I'd feel weird takin' money for it," she admitted with a one-shouldered shrug. "Long as they feed me now an' then, I'm good. And if there is ever an actual problem, I'd just tell 'em so. But right now, it's mostly just a way of workin' on my powers. Doin' it over an' over again makes it way easier to 'port around in a pinch. Or a fight."
“Mmm. Food and practice are good motivators.” She also knew Clarice was nice and nice people tended to do things without need of motivation except for wanting to help others. It was odd, but Laura thought it suited the purple girl. “Do you only have to think of the place you want?”
Her lavender features crinkled slightly in thought at the question. “Is ... kinda hard to explain, ay'? I ain' sure I really get it, and I do it every day. But is ... like, once I've been somewhere, is easy to go back again. And anywhere I can see is easy. Places I aint never been, though, is trickier. I guess if I know where someplace is in a general kind of way, I can get thereabouts, an' refine it until is exact. Like, when I carried Yuri to his gran'pa, we ended up in Moscow, maybe half a block or so away from his apartment. Now, I can take him to the hall outside er'ry time." She shook her head, bright green eyes rueful. "I'm havin' a hard time findin' Ibiza, though. Should be easy; Spain only got so much coastline to work with, ay'?"
Laura ducked her head to look at her soup, so she could hide the very small curl of her lips as she listened to Clarice explain. She dipped another piece of bread in the soup, eating quietly until Clarice seemed like she was done. She looked up, smile gone, and tilted her head to the side. “What is in Ibiza?”
"Dunno," Clarice admitted, shrugging again. "Shen suggested it, once. But she was also the one who gave me the idea to see how far I could go by teleportin' to the farthest place I could think of, so I feel like I owe her one. Gotta find the place first, though. Maybe I should check Google Maps ..."
“Would looking at pictures of it on the internet help?” She asked, picking up her sandwich to start on it after she had finished her roll. Talking with Clarice while eating was...enjoyable. “That way you would be able to see where you need to be? Though if they had made changes to the landscape since the photograph was taken, would that cause an issue?”
"I do pretty good with even just a vague idea, and an impression of where it is in relation to where I am," she explained. "But is not always one hundred percent, obviously. Can't figure out why this one is bein' so difficult, but any kind of edge I can get would prob'bly be useful." She took an enormous bite of sandwich and regarded Laura thoughtfully. "What 'bout you," she mumbled as she chewed. "There anyplace in particular you would wanna go, if you could pick anywhere you wanted?"
“Anyplace?” Laura echoed, frowning a little as she thought on that. She had never had the ability to go anywhere unless she was sent there and making it to the school on her own had been the first time she’d ever tried going somewhere on her own. Where did people normally want to go? Somewhere warm, correct? A place that was beautiful, with beaches and palm trees. That was where normal people wanted to go and it sounded nice, but was that where she wanted to go? “I read once about the Northern Lights. I know Alaska is supposed to be very cold, but to see them, I do not think I would mind the cold all that much.”
"That does sound pretty cool, dread," Clarice agreed with a thoughtful nod. "I tell you what: I got that winter coat from Yuri when we was in Moscow--pretty sure Russian people invented the cold, so it should be good enough for Alaska, too. You figure out when the best time is to see them Northern Lights, an' I'll carry us. No problem."
To say Laura was a little surprised by the kind offer was an understatement and she quickly looked down at her cooling soup as she tried to think of the right response to that. She had never received more than a cookie or a hug when she had been at the labs, now that she was here she had a book from Ororo, an ornament from Tommy and now an offer to see something she wanted to see from Clarice. It was all a little overwhelming. She nodded her head slowly, looking up at Clarice and tried a small smile, hoping it did not look as odd as it felt. “I would enjoy that, yes. Are you sure it is not too much trouble? I will give you my pringles in exchange. They are sour cream and onion.”
Though Clarice was at least pretty sure the expression Laura was attempting was a smile, there was a pained and somewhat awkward edge to it that spoiled the effect. Still, it was the effort that counted, and she smiled back unreservedly. "Cool. We can stop at one gas station or somethin' on the way an' pick up some more for the trip. I'm partial to salt an' vinegar, myself, but I can't say I ever met a Pringle yet I didn' like."
“Salt and vinegar.” Those were a flavor she had never tried, never having liked the smell of vinegar, but she would remember that they were Clarice’s favorite. “I will need to gather more weather appropriate clothes as well. One needs boots in heavy snow.”
She took a bite of her sandwich and chewed quietly before swallowing. “Since you can teleport anywhere, I will not ask the same question, but a modified one. What is your favorite place to teleport to?”
"Oh, I like to go home now and then. Remember what warm weather feels like, ay'? But my favorite places to go are the places I ain' never been before. I mean, world is so huge, and most people only e'er get to see a small piece of it. It'd be a sin not to see as much of it as I can, with what I can do an' all."
Laura nodded after a moment of thought. “That is good that you are using your power to its full potential.” Though after she said she had a sick feeling of sounding too much like the doctors who had made her and quickly added. “For your own enjoyment, I mean. I am envious of your mutation, healing only allows me to survive. Yours allows you to live.”
"Teleportin' helps me survive, sometimes," Clarice joked, though her heart ached to hear Laura describe her gifts that way and know she meant it. "And, hey, think of all the things you could do that most people wouldn' ever dream of, 'cause the chance they might get hurt scares 'em off? Not that I'm sayin' you should go out and get hurt," she added quickly. "It's just healin' takes a lot of the hazard out of skydivin' or mountain climbin' or snowboardin' or ... y'know, whatever. You could just shake off what would make a nasty stain out of most of us."
“I would still be hurt, my healing does not dampen pain, but you are correct. If my parachute did not open and I hit the ground I would most likely survive.” A snapped neck she could heal, but could a fall from such a height be so damaging to her body would not know what to heal first? What if her head came clean off? Laura shook her head and went back to focusing on her food. “Though mountain climbing does sound fun.”
"Well, was just an idea," Clarice said, tucking back into her lunch. "I don' want you to get hurt, or anything. But even people who don't have either of our advantages get to live. I'm pretty sure you'll figure it out as you go. You're pretty bad ass."
There was that phrase again. “Thank you. Are you friends with Tamara? She used that same wording when I spoke with her last.”
"Tam's my roommate," she confirmed as she swallowed another sizable bite. A smile tugged at the corners of her mouth. "I don' think that has anythin' much to do with it, though--that's an expression most people'll use, now and then."
Laura nodded in understanding. She would really need to look up a lot of these slang terms she was hearing around, just in case. “She seems very nice. Do you get along well?”
She thought of her own roommate and how wildly different they were. "Oh, sure," said Clarice. "Me an' Tam's tight. You know the YouTube videos what she is do? I maybe will be in one, sometime. Solidarity, an' all that."
“You will be in one?” Laura shifted a little, not quite sure why the idea of Clarice putting herself out to the public made her...nervous? She had never watched Tamara’s videos, but she knew how much commotion they tended to stir up. She was surprised Kitty’s defenses had kept up so well, because without them, one could only guess what kind of people would come looking. “You are not nervous about that?”
"I guess I'd had t'be crazy not to be nervous, ay'?" she asked wryly. "I mean, e'en people who come in normal, e'ryday colors is get nervous talkin' in public. But I said I'd do it, an' I think is important people out there get used to seein' mutants who can' really pass for normal. Is harder to be scared of somethin' you see all the time."
“That is a very good point.” Laura swirled her spoon in her soup as she thought about it. The whole point everyone had was to let the public see that mutants were not a menace to humans. “I believe if anyone were to show that mutants can be kind, you would be one of the best. You have been nothing but kind to me since we met and I appreciate that.”
Clarice snorted, despite the grin on her face. "Girl, you talk like you is make it hard, or somethin'; it's easy to be nice to the ones that is good people. Now ask Inu-Yasha, if you want a diff'rent point of view--I had to drop him in the lake for bein' a stinkin' ass not long after I first got here."
Laura tried to concentrate hard on her soup as she felt her cheeks grow warm at the thought of Clarice thinking she was good. When she finally was able to focus again, she glanced up at the other girl with a frown. “What did he do?”
Inu-Yasha was loud and abrasive, but he was not the worst person she had ever met.
That caused the lavender-skinned girl's cheeks to flush a deeper shade of purple. "It was stupid. He was a ass, an' I lost my temper. I don' think any of that made either one of us look good. Got called into the Professor's office for it, anyhow." She poked at her food a bit, before taking another bite and shrugging. "Anyhow, is fine now. I gotta learn to do better with stuff like that, ay'? Plenty people out there wanna do a lot worse than talk to me hard. An' anybody who don' want to spend time in my company is free to carry they ass."
“Carry they ass.” Laura repeated quietly, liking how Clarice said it more. She wanted to know what Inu-Yasha had said, but she did not want to pry so she put it aside for now. She set her spoon down, no longer hungry for her soup and picked at her sandwich a bit. “I do not understand how someone would not like your company. You are nice and say interesting things.”
"I don' know if anythin' I say is really all that interestin'," she shrugged. "l guess it is just sound so to people without a ear for it. But thanks, anyhow. An' some people is just don' mix good; ain' necessarily a good thing or a bad thing--just a people thing, y'know? We ain' all gotta be best friends. Just decent enough to get by without killin' each other."
“You should say that in your interview.” Laura advised before taking a sip of her water. She had never really believed in teaching tolerance, not sure what it would accomplish. Killing was what she was good at, but if Clarice wanted to then she would support her. “I will watch it.”
"Well, that just makes me e'en more nervous," Clarice snorted. "Easier to do this kinda thing when the only people watchin' are anonymous strangers, whose opinions don't matter a damn. Guess this means I need to try extra hard not to screw it up."
“Then I will not.” Laura amended, wondering if that would help Clarice and her nerves. The last thing she wanted was for the girl to feel anything but confident when doing something like that. “I will watch only after you say it is alright.”
"Nah, is fine," she reassured the other girl quickly. It was nice of her to offer, though. "Lil' stage fright won' have me goin' to pieces. And I'm gonna wanna know what you think either way; I won' be able to judge it for myself. My knee-jerk reaction will be that I screwed something up."
“Then I will watch and give my honest assessment.” Laura promised, pushing her tray away from her a little. “Once you finish the interview, will this mean you will want try going out in public?”
Clarice inhaled deeply. "That'd be the next logical step, ay'? People need to get used to seeing people like me out, not just safely contained on the internet. But I'm not gonna lie, I really, really ain' lookin' forward to it, right this minute."
“Does anyone look forward to being in a situation like that? Besides people who are certifiably insane.” Laura could not understand the fear, but that was because she looked like everyone else when her claws were in. She passed for what humans thought of as one of them. Clarice, without the Professor’s bracelet, could not and the danger to her was real. Laura swallowed thickly before she reached out to lay a hand over one of the other girl’s and gave it one pat. “If you do go out in public, let me come with. I will not let anyone touch you.”
"You're sweet," Clarice told her, catching Laura's hand again before she could pull it away completely and smiling. "And I'm glad you worry about me. But you don' need to. Nobody is gonna touch me unless I let them. And if they's push it, I can always scatter 'em across the continental U.S. Is nice to know I could have my own personal bodyguard if I e'er need it, though."
Laura glanced at their hands for a second, her stomach feeling weird as she felt her cheeks grow a little warm. Focus. She looked back up at Clarice’s face, giving a small nod to show that she understood. “You will be fine. I know this, you are doing well in practice and with using your powers. But if you need me, I will be there.”
"Thanks," she told her, voice earnest, though she finally let go of Laura's hand. "That makes me feel a lot better. 'Bout e'rything."
“Good. I am glad I could make you feel better.” Laura pulled her hand back and felt accomplished.
