Charles Xavier (yourenotalone) wrote in madisonvalley, @ 2017-03-08 11:56:00 |
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As Sarissa had told Harry, drinking the first touch of dew from the meadow was all and good, but sometimes she had a hankering for real food and drink. Fortunately, one of the local pubs somehow had imported beer, which Sarissa was nursing as she looked out at the rest of the pub. It being a weeknight, it was fairly quiet, allowing Sarissa to mull over everything that had happened since she'd arrived - which was, aside from making herself the Henry Higgins to an extremely powerful telepath and telekinetic, was a whole lot of nothing. It was refreshing, actually, to not worry about Court intrigue or who was trying to kill whom or what her mother was doing. She was free to do what she wanted. She just wasn't sure what that was right now. As she sipped her drink, one of the young men at the dartboard went wild with his aim. The small projectile hurtled out of his hand and towards Sarissa - who raised her hand and plucked it out of the air, then looked at it with surprise. She'd never been able to do that before. Before she could think too much of it, however, the young dart player had come over, apologizing profusely and, after taking a good look at her, insisting that he buy her a drink. Sarissa declined politely and sent him back to the game. *** Charles was enjoying a rare private evening out. He enjoyed a good beer with perhaps a scotch or two, and he also enjoyed a good game of darts. His time in Oxford well spent outside the classroom was testament to both. He was currently in line to play the winner of the game happening right now which was why he was paying attention. When the dart went wild he sat up in concern, but that changed to surprise when the young lady simply caught the projectile before it could do any damage. Charles blinked in astonishment as the brief exchange happened then smirked. Fascinating! “That was very impressive,” he said as he leaned toward the young woman. *** “Thank you,” Sarissa said, still blinking with surprise. “I didn't know I could do that.” It wasn't a lie, and not just because Sarissa couldn't lie; she was still discovering things about her new abilities that she didn't expect. Maeve had always wielded her powers with such casual ease that Sarissa had come to associate those powers with Maeve herself, rather than the Mantle of a Faerie Queen. She nodded at the man, who was back at the dartboard. “Are you next? Seems a bit unsporting to play him in that state.” *** “I had my name on the board to play the winner,” Charles said with a smile. “But I’d much rather talk to a pretty lady than thrash a blatantly drunk young man at darts. All though I will admit the easy twenty dollars is a bit tempting.” He chuckled then held out his hand. “I’m Charles Xavier, by the way.” *** “Sarissa,” came the polite response as she accepted his handshake. She was perfectly pleasant, but she wasn't inviting further conversation - until she peered behind Charles at the dart game and almost laughed at the scene there. “I was just going to say that maybe it won't be him you'd be playing, but I don't think his opponent is faring much better. I'd be surprised if either of them manages to get up in the next half an hour.” *** Charles chuckled as he felt the young men’s thoughts. They were awash in liquor induced disarray. “I doubt very much they remember there is even a dart board in the establishment. Ah well. At least I didn’t have my heart set on it.” Then he looked to Sarissa and arched a brow. “Unless you fancy a try.” *** “Me?” Sarissa laughed in surprise. She hadn't even considered that. Would she be any good now? Just a few months ago she would've said no - but now she could pluck projectiles out of the air. “Are you sure you want to challenge me? You just saw what I did.” *** Charles gave a nonchalant shrug, a casual smile pulling his lips up at the corners. “Perhaps I want to see what else you are capable of. Winning isn’t always about who has the most points after all.” That roguish smirk he could affect that drove Raven insane when they’d been in England played on his face with a little boy challenge. *** Oh, a charmer - one who actually was charming, rather than just believing himself to be so. Sarissa was going to have to watch this one. Still, that smirk was hard to resist, and after a moment’s hesitation Sarissa shook her head in resignation and stood up. “All right. But don't blame me if I walk away with your money.” In truth, Sarissa had no idea how this was going to go. Charles Xavier wasn't the only one who wondered what else she could do. *** “Oh, it wouldn’t be the first time I’ve lost money to a game of darts,” Charles said as he too stood from the table. He picked up the drinks to bring with them. “But I dare say I won’t mind so much this time.” He winked to Sarissa then followed her to the darts area. A touch of his mind shooed away the drunk boys and any would be persons to take their place. *** Sarissa went up to pluck the darts from the board - and in one case the wall - and handed them all to Charles. “You’ll have to start off,” she said. “It's been a very, very long time since I've played darts, whereas you seem to know what you're doing. Did you do much of it in...Oxfordshire?” She'd managed to narrow down his accent to that area, though no more granular than that. *** Charles commandeered a table nearby for their drinks then turned to accept the darts from her. “Oxford, yes,” he said in some amazement. “Not everyone picks up on it since it’s mingled with a New England accent as well. Used to drive my professors nuts at university.” He chuckled as he stepped up to the line and took aim with a dart. “I can’t quite place your accent, however.” *** “I spent a bit of time there,” Sarissa explained. Several decades, in fact. “I can spot an Oxford accent at ten paces.” Now it was her turn to smile charmingly. “I've travel quite a bit. I imagine my accent’s a hodge-podge of everywhere I've been.” Once she'd replied, she quieted so he could make his shot. *** She hadn’t needed to go quiet. Charles used to play darts in various states of distraction, but he took the shot. It went a little to the right of where he wanted it to go, but he was getting a feel for how the well used set would list. “And where all have you been?” he asked as he took aim with the next dart. “Well traveled people interest me.” *** “I once decided I was going to travel the world to find myself,” Sarissa replied, watching him. He was good, and obviously very familiar with the sport. She herself had only tried it a few times, and hadn’t ever been really good at it. Would her new powers make her any better? “I got as far as Thailand where I considered staying and running a diving shack, but my mother gave me the It’s Time to Get Back to Real Life speech.” Sarissa’s Real Life, of course, wasn’t exactly the same as most young twentysomethings, but the principle was the same. And it wasn’t exactly an answer to his question, but to detail all the places she had visited - and when - would’ve taken much longer and required more detail than she wanted to give at the moment. “Have you had much of a chance to travel? You spent some time in New England, I assume.” *** Charles shot his two darts while Sarissa spoke then chuckled as he went to mark his score on the chalkboard and retrieve the darts from the board. He smiled as he brought them back to her. “Parents can at times be a bit overbearing, but they mean well.” He handed the darts off then went for his drink. “I grew up in New England. Upstate New York, actually. My mother was from England and moved to the states after she married my father.” He paused to take a drink. “I haven’t traveled as much as you, but some. Now it seems this is the extent of my traveling.” *** “It’s unfortunate the dome keeps us all in here,” Sarissa said, picking up one of the darts to weigh it in her hand. Although Charles didn’t need quiet to make his shots, she went silent to concentrate. Holding the dart in the grip she remembered from so long ago, she narrowed her eyes to focus on the bullseye and threw. It hit the board just outside the bullsring, but bounced off; she hadn’t thrown it hard enough. She grimaced. “That...wasn’t good, right?” *** “At least it hasn’t brought any undesirables here,” Charles said after a drink. “Imagine being stuck in a confined location with an enemy. The place would go from a suburban haven to a warzone swiftly.” He chuckled for her assessment. “Try a little more force behind your throw. Without sending it at other patrons.” *** Sarissa didn’t have to imagine. Her Mantle had recognized an enemy within the dome: the Winter Knight. She was doing her best to control its influence over her thoughts and emotions, but she was constantly worried that one day, her control would slip. She threw again, harder - but the disturbing thought took away her focus, and the dart embedded itself to the hilt in the wood next to the board. “All right,” she said after a stunned moment. “I think I may have been too hasty about warning you about your money.” *** Charles laughed for the shot, took another drink then stood up. “Here. Let me help you.” He chuckled as he stepped up next to her with a smile. “I promise you innocent intent here. Like this.” Gently, he took her wrist then lifted it into position. “Sight along the bottom fletching. When you are ready, it’s more of a push than a throw.” He moved her arm in demonstration. “A little harder than that and you should be good.” *** “I can’t say I get told that very often,” Sarissa remarked. He made it easy to flirt with him, exuding just the right amount of charm without it ever being threatening. But she took his advice, and when she threw the dart again, it fell just outside the bulls ring. “That wasn’t too embarrassing!” *** It was easy for Charles to slip back into the role of flirtatious charmer. He’d spent most of his years at Oxford in that role, much to Raven’s dismay sometimes. He laughed in approval for her shot. “Well done!” His chuckle continued as he gave her the first two darts. “Here. I’ll give you a mulligan this time. Try again.” *** She did, and she managed to acquit herself quite nicely. It might be strange, but she found it comforting that she hadn't magically gained skills in everything. There were some things in life she could be totally normal in. “All right, we’re going to have to try again now that I have the hang of this,” she said. “Best out of three?” As he set up, she asked, “So how long have you been here?” *** “We can consider that a warm up and begin again in earnest.” Charles smiled as he gave her a small bow. “The lady can even go first.” He had no idea that the bow and calling her a lady was very close to the mark. He was just continuing with being a flirt. “Several months, now,” he said as he lifted his beer. “Long enough to know how weird it can get. I’m finding my stay rather fascinating.” *** Too close to the mark. Sarissa’s smile didn't falter, but she turned back to the dartboard and studied it for a moment, until her unease went away. She picked up a dart and lined up herself shot. “I've been reading on the things that have happened here. Have any of them affected you? The confusion over relationships? The dinosaurs? The vampires?” *** “Fortunately, no,” Charles answered from where he sat at the table as he watched her. “I assume that my luck will run out eventually. I just hope it isn’t something utter ridiculous like being turned into a dog.” He chuckled into his beer. “What about you?” *** “I'm still too new for it to have affected me,” Sarissa said, and she threw. It was a good effort, but not one that would win her any money. She picked up another dart. “Although now you have me worried about being turned into a dog as well.” This throw fared better; she was still in the game. “I met someone,” she continued as she lined up her last shot, “who thinks this might be a giant experiment of some sort, seeing how people change as they stay, and when faced with all these events. What do you think?” *** Charles hummed for that. “It isn’t out of the realm of possibility, I suppose. But to what purpose?” He took a drink as he mulled that over quickly. “Experiments indicate a desired result. Is this omniscient captor planning something for the human population as a whole? If so, at what point in time? There are too vast amount of variables gathered here for this to be any viable sort of control.” *** “I tend to agree,” Sarissa said distractedly as she sighted down the fletching of her dart. “If there is an experiment happening, you'd expect to see the same phenomenon happening over and over again. But even that varies. Then again, anything powerful enough to bring us all here might be powerful enough to see the signal in the noise.” She threw. Bullseye! *** Charles let out with an exclamation of surprise and delight. “Well done!” he said through a chuckle then stood up to go get the darts. “Keep throwing like that and I might up the wager.” The darts were pulled from the board as he returned to the topic. “This has been going on for some time as I understand it. Someone certainly would have noticed a trend by now. This could be some kind of natural occurrence with no rational explanation at all. Stranger things have happened throughout evolution.” *** Sarissa also let out a small gasp of delight, and she whirled around to look at him with pride. “I might take you up on it.” Now it was her turn to take a seat at the table. “There are also many theories of bubble universes, which is just as likely. Maybe more so, given how many people from different worlds here.” She took a sip of her drink. “What's your world like? And do you find you've changed since being here?” *** “There are many alternate dimensions theories,” he said as he toed the line and took aim. “Mirror realms. Some even hypothesize that there are as many alternate lives as there are decisions you make in a day.” He threw and the dart hit just outside the bullseye. “It is quite possible that we’ve all made some decision the universe didn’t expect and it stuck us here while it tries to suss out what is supposed to happen next.” Another dart followed that one hitting inside the bullseye this time. “Oh, it seems like a normal world like any other. Full of troubles, changes. Some good. Some undesirable. Have I changed since I got here? I shouldn’t think so.” The third dart struck next to its predecessor and Charles turned a smirk and a wink to Sarissa. *** Well, that was to be expected. Sarissa lifted a shoulder in a good-natured acknowledgement of defeat. “I've seen some people say they have, that they've been able to find peace and a life for themselves that they hadn't before. I think that's great.” She unzipped a small hidden pocket at the side of her shirt. She didn't need pockets anymore when she could summon things out of thin air, but she liked keeping these practicalities out of her realm of her new powers. The more she could stay to her mortal routines, the more she could keep the Mantle at bay. Hopefully. “How much do I owe you?” *** Charles nodded as he walked back to the table. “I have heard that as well. There are some here even that had died back where they came from and have found a second life here. Then there are those who miss home more than they’ve found happiness. It’s all subjective, I think.” He lifted his beer to finish it then smirked at Sarissa again. “Another round for the two of us and more charming company.” *** |