0
|
Post by Deleted on Jan 10, 2024 17:48:05 GMT -5
Date: October 20th, Friday, 4:00 pm Location: Chemistry class/lab Note: Open to all!
Though it was at least 30 to 40 minutes since school had gotten out, Lance found himself remaining in the last class he had agreed to help that afternoon. As a teacher's aide, he generally found himself in different classrooms throughout the day and the week, sometimes remaining in one for a day or two before he was moved to a handful throughout the day. Most often though he tried to stick to mostly the mathematics, sciences, and computer classes since they fell most closely to what he was doing his degree in.
Today, he had found himself working in the chemistry class, having assured the teacher they could leave for the day while he got everything cleaned up. A simple job right?
Well, Lance had thought so at least.
As he often did, the young man had cleared a spot to set up his own stuff, laptop plugged in with his classes pulled up with a few textbooks laid out around it that he would from time to time glance over while he cleaned. Least, that's what he tried to do. In the last few weeks, Lance had found his mind unable to entirely focus on school, finding the drama of his family, especially his brother, and balancing things there at Bayville had begun to take its toll. By now, he was nearly halfway through his own semester, they were getting to the harder chapters, tests, quizzes, papers, topped off by his duties there at his old high school seemed to be wearing him down. Add on the not-so-friendly encounters with his brother and father, the stress was starting to accumulate. Lance felt like his mind and body were on autopilot most of the time, finding himself zoning out or absentminded as he did his day-to-day activities.
Lance's thoughts were a whirlwind, shifting from one thought to the next as he worked on cleaning several of the beakers, carefully inspecting them before using water and other cleaning solutions to remove whatever had been within and stacking them neatly in the cupboards. 'How do I get them off my back? How do I knock sense into my own family?' His first intrusive thought played over and over in his mind, thinking of the few scuffles he had had with his brother and the back and forth arguments drawn out by his parents over the phone.
'Ugh, I really need to study for that test too...' College followed his troubled thoughts, scowling to himself as he placed the last beaker, failing to take notice of the slight melting effect on the outside of the glass. 'And I need to organize that rough draft this weekend.' Lance moved away from the beakers, making his way over to the number of chemicals taken out for the classes that day carefully picking them up and gathering some in one of his arms. So much to do, so little time it felt like, grumbling softly as he tried to organize his thoughts and turn them towards being productive rather than lingering on all his worries. But, that was easier said than done, moving the chemicals to their appropriate shelf of container some of which had begun to bubble being in contact with his slowly heating up body.
In his stressed state, Lance's body temperature had begun to rise, something he was so use to he really took no notice at first. It wasn't until he had moved to get a second round of the smaller substances, some of which were sensitive to the heat he had started producing, did Lance get snapped from his thoughts, yelping as three of the small beakers suddenly combusted in his arm. The explosions were small and sudden, causing glass to fly across the class and imbed into parts of his skin , echoing down the halls from the open class door. Startled by the beakers, blue flames seemed to ignite from his body, primarily his hands and arms causing a chain reaction as small embers flew and caught loose papers alight while a few liquids suddenly ignited violently or began to smoke. "Shit, shit,shit!"
Jumping into action without worrying about the mysterious flames currently ignited on his body, Lance jumped to get the fire extinguisher, panicking a little as he began trying to put out the flames grimacing as the sprinklers above were triggering to activate, steam rising up as the water made contact with his body.
|
|
|
130
|
Post by Toad on Jan 11, 2024 8:07:08 GMT -5
Words: 234 Tags: Hearth, open!Most of the school was empty. It should be empty. Yet, Todd heard some small explosions -- for lack of a better way to describe them -- and maybe just yelping from down the science hallways.
He rolled his eyes, hoping some punk students hadn't broken in (again) to pull off some stupid prank (again).
He went down the hallway to investigate, noticing one of the classrooms was open, and he idly took out his cell to text Teach just in case. She probably could just talk to the security cameras anyway, but she may appreciate the heads-up--
Todd briefly froze as he heard the sprinklers activate, the sound reminiscent of steady rain, and he leaped from the end of the hallway to reach the classroom in a single bound.
There, in the science lab, was someone using a fire extinguisher on loose embers and papers, steam and flames rising up from his own body. Todd leaped back out of the room and into the next lab to grab a second extinguisher. Returning to the first lab, Todd turned the fire extinguisher on the person to get a handle on those flames.
When the flames seemed to die down a bit, Todd stared in disbelief (and, okay, some horror) at the darkening burns on the other person. "Kid, what the hell? What happened?"
Well, shit. Did Todd need to call an ambulance to the high school?
|
|
|
0
|
Post by Deleted on Jan 22, 2024 16:03:47 GMT -5
Between the sprinklers and the fire extinguishers, it didn't take long for things in the lab to settle down and the sprinkler system finally switching off. Lance coughed softly as he waved away a bit of smoke and the extinguishing agent Todd sprayed his way, pushing his wet hair out of his face as he took in the damage. And only then did he realize that it was Todd who had sprayed the second fire extinguisher, finding himself feeling guilty for causing such a big mess. " Mr.Todd! I'm so sorry about the mess! Some of the small tubes suddenly exploded, then these blue flames suddenly came out of no where, everything happened so fast." Lance apologized and explained in a torrent of words, his guilty conscience hitting faster than his observation skills in that moment. At least until he realized Todd seemed to be looking at him specifically than the room itself. The younger man looked down at himself, wondering if he had gotten the worse of everything. What he saw made his eyes widen, parts of his arms and hands seemingly burned and blackened resembling the rocky patches he so often got when upset or angered with faint blue cracks. " What's going on..." Lance flexed his hands and gingerly touched his arms, feeling the heat of the areas but they didn't really hurt, just irritated and inflamed. It almost felt like he had a high fever than anything. What about the rest of his body? Scanning his frame, he didn't see any other burn marks but he did notice some small trickles of blood, not registering the small throbbing pain in his chest and arm causing him to lift his shirt and notice some of the glass shards. " I-I actually don't know what happened." He seemed to finally answer Todd. Tags: Toad, open!
|
|
|
130
|
Post by Toad on Jan 28, 2024 9:16:39 GMT -5
Words: 184 Tags: Hearth Gigabyte Notes: As a random aside, I love the idea of the high school kids/young adults calling him Mr. Todd! xD...Yeah, he was calling Teach.
"Alright, um." Todd really hated the fact that he was the adult in this situation. The kid in front of him -- one of the teacher's aids, he's seen him around, remembered that his name was Lance only because Todd grew up with someone who shared the name -- seemed to be going into shock and Todd reached back towards the part of the lab that had the safety equipment. He brought the large, fireproof blanket over and wrapped it around Lance's shoulders.
"Okay, we're going to ignore the mess in here," Todd said, vaguely hoping no other chemicals would blow up in the meantime while making up a plan on the fly. He began to lead Lance out of the room and down the hallway. "I'll take care of this all later. We're gonna go into the nurse's station, get a good look at the cuts on ya, and I'm going to call Tea--Ms. Parker to come on down here."
Todd gazed at the rocky patches all over Lance and dared to ask, "Have you ever... burst in flames before?"
|
|
|
0
|
Post by Deleted on Feb 1, 2024 16:15:16 GMT -5
Any other situation, Lance would have protested about being led out. He felt guilty for leaving such a mess for Todd or any teachers, having not intended to do so. But for all the guilty he felt, so too did he feel shocked at the revelation that the blue flames, the explosions, the fire, everything seemed to have been a result of him somehow. Instead, Lance didn't bother trying to argue this time around. His brain was still heavily processing the situation, trying to connect the dots of what had just occurred in a state of panic. Even as Todd put the fireproof blanket around his shoulders and led him out of the ruined lab, Lance was silent and didn't quite register what the janitor was telling him initially finding himself stuck in his own thoughts and observing the blackened patches on his skin as the blue glow seemed to dim. Unlike the norm, the patches didn't lighten and a few bits fell away almost like loose rocks falling from a layer or earth. Why did his skin feel and look like that? But Todd's last question seemed to finally snap him out of his wonder. " No, never. My body temperature has always been higher than normal, and I often got feverish whenever I got upset or angry, but bursting into flames...that's a first." Some of the shock seemed to wear off, but not completely. Tags: Toad, Gigabyte
|
|
|
305
|
Post by Gigabyte on Feb 2, 2024 7:49:41 GMT -5
Tag: Toad HearthWords: 182 Sierra had mentally received Todd's text message before her cell phone's text alert had chimed, and she told whichever of the other Xavier instructors she could find that there was an emergency at the high school as she made her way out the door of the manor. If she and Todd needed further help, she'd let the other instructors know.
She wasn't quite sure what she expected. From Todd's text message, Sierra believed part of the science labs were destroyed. Fortunately, there were no flames nor fire alarms going off. Following the security cameras' instructions, Sierra made her way towards the front offices and the nurse's room, meeting Todd and whom she vaguely recognized as Lance Bond, one of the teacher aids.
Sierra took in the sight of Lance's burnt, rocky patches on his skin that wasn't hiding beneath the fireproof blanket. She took a deep breath, caught Todd's gaze, before looking back at Lance.
"...I see." Sierra gave the pair a moment to actually get into the nurse's office and hovered by the threshold. "Mr. Bond, are you in pain right now?"
|
|
|
130
|
Post by Toad on Feb 4, 2024 10:03:22 GMT -5
Words: 258 Tags: Hearth GigabyteTodd had his ring of keys out and ready to go into the nurse's office, and he contemplated making Lance stand instead of sitting on one of the chairs in case the chair accidentally melted or the leather got burned or something. He opted not to say anything either way -- if Lance wanted to sit, Todd wouldn't complain about the damn chair.
He honestly wasn't sure where the nurse kept all of her healing ointments and bandages, and stared at her desk and few cabinets before starting to rifle through the desk drawers themselves. Lance mentioned that he had never burst into flames before, but he did mention a few other quirks he had lived with before now.
"Alright..." Todd found some tweezers, stole an empty coffee mug that had been left on the desk, and a roll of gauze. Gesturing to Lance to hold out an arm that had some pieces of glass in it, he said, "Gonna try to pull the shards out. Then we'll, uh, see if the gauze works..."
Hopefully the gauze was burnproof. Or maybe he should try to find some aloe, gel that may be good for burns.
Trying to be gentle with both pulling the shards out to drop into the mug and with his tone, Todd said, "Kid, I think you're like me."
Sierra, thank God, appeared much faster than Todd thought she would and he vaguely wondered if she had Blue teleport her to the school. With a wave to Lance, he asked her, "Didja know this about him?"
|
|
|
0
|
Post by Deleted on Feb 15, 2024 16:56:54 GMT -5
Sitting on the nearest chair, Lance welcomed the chance to sit down to try and properly process his thoughts. And thankfully, nothing else seemed to go up in flames along the way or by sitting down. Though with the shock fading, his thoughts were soon more drawn to the faint throbbing of the small shards embedded into his skin than the burning sensation in his body. But it felt no different from having a high fever to him, like he had the flu. It was his normal. " It was a bunch of small tubes that exploded, so I don't think I'll die from a few small shards. Smarts like hell though." Lance slowly seemed to be coming out of the shock, wincing a little as Todd began picking them out one by one, having to lift his shirt slightly for some areas for easier access. Though, he suspected he might have to go to the clinic or hospital to be certain nothing else remained which he wasn't looking forward to. As if he really needed further problems on top of the ones he was already dealing with. But of course, the older man had to drop the gentle bombshell Lance himself seemed to be mentally trying to dismiss. " ...I thought that only happened at puberty." Lance muttered mostly to himself. ' I'm a mutant?' Lance asked himself over and over, running through the scenario all over in his head a few times. The test tubes with the chemicals within, they had been bubbling when he touched them, the blue flames had popped up after he had been startled, the faint dim glow from between the cracks of the patches on his arms. But was that possible when he was well past the time puberty had hit? He didn't get a chance to dwell on it long before Sierra arrived, causing Lance to push the thoughts aside for another day. " Mostly just the shards of glass, Ms.Parker." Lance answered the principal, gesturing to the mug full of bloody shards. " And I feel like my blood is hot, like a fever from the flu or something, little discomfort, but other than that I feel fine." He explained, flexing his hands and feeling more of the rocky skin seem to fall away to a slightly smoother layer underneath, but it still looked more like rock than true skin. But he couldn't help prompting when Todd inquired to Sierra if anyone knew, " No one did, I didn't. At least, I'm pretty sure no one knew..." Unless there was a said mutant who could detect latent X-genes anyway. " Is-is it possible to discover being a mutant so late after puberty?" Tags: Toad, Gigabyte
|
|
|
305
|
Post by Gigabyte on Feb 27, 2024 8:11:31 GMT -5
Tag: Hearth ToadWords: 239 "I did not," Sierra confirmed to Todd when he had asked if she had known that Lance was a mutant. Rather, that was the most probable explanation to the current situation, and Sierra figured it was logical to go with it. She could ask Cerebro to confirm it later, unless Lance wanted to submit to a blood test.
Which, honestly, may be something she would suggest to Lance, as he should probably be checked out in a clinic. The manor had a good infirmary, if he didn't want to chance a typical hospital.
"It is," Sierra said when Lance asked if it was possible to discover being a mutant after puberty. "After all, with your young age, you may not quite be done yet. You may have also experienced smaller signs when you were younger, and your mutation has grown on its own."
She recalled Jean evolving at one point during her own high school career. Evolving powers is something Sierra made a mental note to do more research on.
"Mr. Bond," Sierra said, taking in his appearance, "will you be safe where you are currently living?"
She glanced over at Todd, curious if he would be willing to help Lance if need be with a living situation. Otherwise, Sierra would speak with the other teachers at the institute.
"Thank you for being here as well, Mr. Tolansky," she added. "I appreciate you being here and available to help."
|
|
|
130
|
Post by Toad on Mar 1, 2024 8:04:55 GMT -5
Words: 246 Tags: Hearth GigabyteTodd was actually surprised when Sierra mentioned that she hadn't known about Lance most likely being a mutant. He was kind of used to Sierra just having all the answers. It made sense that she hadn't known, because that would imply she was privy to others' private lives and--
Todd refocused on the present, returning to trying to get a lot of the glass shards out of Lance's skin. "Not sure if ya wanna try going to a hospital as you are," he said, not speaking to anyone in particular. If the hospital had a decent staff on hand at this time, they would help without question, but he wasn't sure how a staff would treat Lance looking as he was now. Besides, a hospital may try to "heal" the burns on Lance's skin when it was clear that this was now just Lance.
Todd listened as Sierra asked Lance about whether or not he would be safe where he was living, and Todd caught the woman's gaze, understanding what she was silently asking. "I got the room," Todd said, "but... I don't know how fireproof the walls are..." If Lance needed the space, Todd wouldn't mind giving it a try, but it wouldn't be ideal if Lance's body temperature made the smoke alarms constantly go off at the boarding house.
He actually blinked at Sierra when she turned her attention to him and thanked him. "Uh, yeah," he said eloquently. "No prob. It's my job."
|
|
|
Hearth
•
Other
Posts: 9
Gender: Female
9
|
Post by Hearth on Jun 1, 2024 20:16:35 GMT -5
When Sierra confirmed that he could have been slowly evolving all this time, with little quirks here and there making themselves known until now floored Lance a bit. Like many, he had always assumed mutations happened when one was still younger than adult, maybe no later than eighteen at least. Knowing it had been happening all his life did make him pause and considered those quirks. His body temperature probably should have been the most telling feature, having always run hotter than the average individual, and colder temperatures never really bothered him. And the rocky, flaky patches were another big give away. How had he not considered this before? Plus, it did give him more food for thought with his own research. " I'll be fine, Ms.Parker, I can handle myself." Lance assured her, but gave the two a grateful smile, " But thank you for the offer regardless." He didn't want to seem ungrateful for the offer, but it would likely be for the best at the moment until he worked out some other things especially given how the news would be taken if his family and their connections knew. As if life wasn't already a pain with dealing with their expectations and demands. That would be a whole other can of worms he didn't want to drag others into, the memory of what happened last time still deep in his subconscious. HIs childhood best friend had suffered greatly when the knowledge got out, he didn't want to see others get dragged through the mud and face consequences they didn't need. The two older adults had enough to worry themselves with without him adding to their concerns. " But if something changes, I'll make sure to let you know." He promised to hopefully ease any worries. But, Todd brought up a good point. How was he going to explain burns that didn't really bother him? How a few small test tubes exploded just from being in contact with his body? How blue flames had erupted from his very body? They'd likely turn him down, and word would quickly get back to the individuals he really didn't want knowing the information at the present especially his father..." You're not wrong Mr.Todd, but not like I have many more options." Lance pointed out, seeing little other option at the present. Tags: Gigabyte, Toad
|
|
|
305
|
Post by Gigabyte on Jun 6, 2024 6:13:15 GMT -5
Tag: Hearth ToadWords: 201 Todd, of course, understood what Sierra had been quietly asking in regards to Lance's living situation, and she gave Todd a nod of thanks for considering it. Lance seemed to claim that he'd be fine and for Sierra and Todd not to worry about him.
Which didn't stop Sierra from growing concerned at all. Despite the evening's events, Lance appeared to be remarkably calm and thoughtful. Vaguely, Sierra wondered if Lance had an inkling as to him being a mutant before now or if he was still in a bit of shock.
She paused a moment before stating, "Mr. Bond, you do have a choice. I know of a good infirmary. State of the art. Discreet. It would be a bit... beyond our current professional relationship, however."
Sierra would text the other institute teachers if Lance agreed to visit the manor's infirmary.
"This isn't quite in your job description," Sierra said to Todd when he was bewildered that she thanked him for his help. "Depending on the state of the lab, I'll try calling in a couple of the other custodians, see if any want a little overtime to help clean up. I'll ensure you receive overtime as well, of course."
|
|
|
130
|
Post by Toad on Jun 7, 2024 6:45:28 GMT -5
Words: 230 Tags: Hearth GigabyteTodd was listening as Sierra mentioned what he presumed to be the manor's infirmary, raising an eyebrow in her direction briefly before refocusing on his task of picking out glass shards from Lance's skin. "Think I'm gettin' most of these," he said. "Gonna need to disinfect and wrap up the worst of them. The nurse's office has shit."
He vaguely gestured to the small bottle of disinfectant, some sort of rubbing alcohol that he had found in one of the cabinets, and Todd was pretty sure it had expired three years ago.
Sierra said that his current self-imposed task wasn't quite in his job description, and Todd only gave her a small shrug. "Wasn't gonna leave the kid to fend for himself in there," he said, his tone dry as he tried to deflect. The other custodians were mentioned and Todd glanced at the clock on the nurse's wall, seeing that it was still technically the afternoon. One or two of them may be enticed by overtime, but he wasn't sure how they would explain what happened.
"What's the story going to be?" Todd asked, sitting up after plucking yet another glass shard from Lance. "We know it was an accident since Lance probably wasn't tryin' to blow up the lab, but how we explainin' it to other people? Not sure if the security cameras reach the lab areas, either."
|
|
|
Hearth
•
Other
Posts: 9
Gender: Female
9
|
Post by Hearth on Jun 15, 2024 13:04:04 GMT -5
Lance noted the worry Sierra still held taking a guess that he was hardly the first newly awakened mutant who had said the same thing. Seemed only natural she might be concerned especially after what happened in the labs. " I'm not without the capacity to defend myself Ms.Parker, promise." He tried to assure her hoping to ease her worries, " Besides the biggest threat I'd have to deal with I hardly talk to anyway. So, I have some leeway." The thought of his family made the young man rub the back of his neck, a small motion of fidgeting underlying his own concerns. Yea, that will be one hell of a family dinner... Wincing slightly as Todd removed another piece of glass, Lance tilted his head slightly to get a better view of the small wounds. " Think you about got all the bigger pieces out Mr.Todd, still better than nothing even if its not much." He still thanked the older man, still grateful he had been there when he was. Honestly, the whole thing could have gotten out of hand if Todd hadn't been there. Honestly, that was probably what had worried Lance the most at the time, making sure those flames hadn't become a raging inferno that could endanger the entirety of the school itself. Now knowing those flames came from him only reiterated that worry, more so what lives could have possibly been in danger. Though those thoughts went to the back of his mind as Sierra suggested a more discreet, more advanced place to handle his injuries causing him to raise a quizzical brow. " Honestly teach, think I'm more worried about understanding the extent of what happened than unprofessionalism. And to be fair, this might constitute under the umbrella of emergencies." Lance lightly shrugged his shoulders not seeming to worry about going beyond the professional relationship. At the moment, this seemed a lot more important than work formalities. " But I'll take what you got, discretion may be best for now." ' Better than the spectacle that'll come.' Lance thought privately, not exactly wanting the additional stress for the time being. Was effort enough to keep himself calm and not start panicking with the realization of what he was and where the flames had come from. He didn't need to cause more work for Todd and the other custodians, or put more lives in danger potentially. Such guilt was made no better when the older man pointed out how they would cover up the explosion as well as the fire. " Well...I was the last individual to be in the labs if there are cameras. Being distracted and not taking better care with a bunsen burner might be believable, the chemistry teachers may just not let me be in the labs alone for a while." Tags: Gigabyte, Toad
|
|
|
305
|
Post by Gigabyte on Jun 18, 2024 20:09:13 GMT -5
Tag: Toad HearthWords: 391 Notes: I'm good if we want to wrap up this particular thread? You two can each do a last post? I can start a new one at the manor if Tundra wants to continue this little story line. Todd mentioned something about the nurse's office having shit for medical supplies and Sierra picked up the bottle of supposed disinfectant with a small frown. She made a mental note to double-check the budget and see what new supplies the nurse needed. She glanced back at Todd when he tried to deflect her praise again and gave him a crooked smile instead of harping on the subject.
It was actually Todd who brought up the fact that they would need some sort of explanation for what had happened. Sierra pursed her lips, thinking for a brief moment, before saying, "The security cameras are mainly in the hallways rather than in the classrooms and labs. The video would see Mr. Bond going into the lab, perhaps any subsequent debris or effects from the..." she paused to think of the correct word, "explosion, then they would spot Mr. Tolansky joining the situation." Sierra eyed the fireproof blanket that the two men had brought with them to the nurse's office. "Depending on how well Mr. Bond was covered with the blanket, anyone else seeing you two leave the lab from the cameras may presume he was covered in soot or smoke. As Mr. Bond stated, the worst outcome in this case may be the teachers not wanting him to aid them in their science classes for a while."
And if the camera images inexplicably wavered or looked a little grainy? Well, that'd be Sierra's secret.
Lance did agree to trust Sierra in regards to the infirmary, which was great. She would be able to ensure he would heal as much as his body could under the circumstances. "Agreed," she said when Lance noted that discretion may be best at this time. Keeping her tone serious, she added, "On that note, I am trusting you to be discreet about what you may see or hear at the location of the infirmary."
To Todd, Sierra said, "Thank you again. I'll get in touch with the other custodians and let you know if you should expect them. Of course, if no one else is available to help, please do what you can for tonight and we'll finish cleaning the affected lab tomorrow. We'll close it down for a little bit and reroute whatever classes use that lab as needed.
"Mr. Bond, we'll leave when you are ready."
|
|
|