Claire / Rebecca

Posted on Mon May 27th, 2024 @ 20:22 by Claire Cavendish & Rebecca McMillen

Chapter: Winter's Crest Festival
Location: Avalon
Timeline: Sunday, December 21st, 1992
1900 words - 3.8 OF Standard Post Measure

The Christmas decorations really made the old castle look magical. It was something that if appropriate Claire would leave up throughout the year. Perhaps there was a balance that counts be struck. It made the castle look much more magical. They could certainly use a bit of magic every once in a while. Now that the crowds were gone and a large portion of the student body was spending time with family it was an opportunity to do some housekeeping.

"I'm sorry to ask this of you, if it's any help I can get some very exclusive cheeses." The head teacher stood, arms folded, waiting for McMillen to come back with a report. She'd sent Valjean out to do some eye level checking but Rebecca's mutation meant it was a lot easier to spot anything out of place, things that didn't belong crammed into walls, nooks and crannies. Like the rotten trout they had gotten out of the ladies lockerroom ceiling panel.

The initial request was easy enough, and watching Rebecca chat with rats must have looked positively Disney'esque from an outside perspective. She spoke, they squeaked, and somewhere on a fundamental level there was an understanding. She didn't seem to be commanding them, more like asking for their help. They seemed amicable to held Rebecca on her issues, but it was mutual understanding rather then vermin mind control.

That was about twenty minutes ago, and Rebecca had returned with some degree of an update. "Oh, if you're going to pay them I'm certain they'd appreciate it." she giggled, "So, here's what we're looking at so far. There's a report of a Good Smell by the outside west wall, which probably means trash, rotten fruit or something like that." she motioned in a westerly direction. "They say there's more Good Smells in the Auditorium behind some vent covers. Probably a trash pile to try to stink the place up."

"They, kinda like the smell of trash and rotten fruit." she covered for the poor guys. "However, they said there was a Bad Smell coming from the bathroom vents. Which probably... yeah it means exactly what you think it means." she shook her head. "And they were afraid of the smell, so it might actually wind up being from a pet instead of a person." she shook her head again.

"I've sent them out on another sweep before I walked in. I asked them to avoid the kitchen because that's a false positive. They love the smell around there."

"Knowing Chef Beaumont, it would also be beneficial to their health." Claire took note of the locations mentioned by Rebecca's recon team. "When did you first realise your abilities?" She asked as a way of small talk during the wait for the second sweep of the premises to be completed.

"He and I had a chat about that. I'd relocate any rat or mouse he found." she mentioned, then thought back. "I was thirteen when the big one hit. Ha ha, I know, but I think I was twelve or eleven when the little things hit. Better hearing, better balance. I slept through the tail, thankfully. Also slept through my first shrink. Thirteen, exhausted, went to bed, and woke up tiny. Trapped under the covers, scampering around in the dark, I swear I was worried I was bit by a radioactive mouse or something."

"It was a nightmare, I was screaming. That's when my sisters came over to see what the commotion was about, and that's kinda when my troubles began. I got the hang of them over the years past that, but..." she shook her head, "Home life didn't get better just because I did."

"I'm sorry you had to have that experience." It was one of Claire's regrets that she hadn't stood up for the mutant cause sooner. That it had taken her until the late eighties to be able to provide sanctuary for people like Rebecca. The amount of pain and suffering she could've prevented, in her mind, was infinite. "I'll never understand the human need to elevate oneself by denigrating the 'other'."

Rebecca gave a slow nod, "As the poster model for The Little Guy, I couldn't tell you. Everyone says they like how it feels at the top, but that just drives home that folks feel better when there's someone beneath them. Yeah, never could figure out why. I use my capability, my ... god I hate calling it a gift. Talent or Trick sounds even worse. I mean, spend any amount of time in a cage, and the concept of this being a gift or doing a trick is just... gone. Not much of a power if it doesn't empower." she held up her hand quickly, "And, I know, what I can do is strange, unusual, and very useful. My view is I have trouble figuring out what to call it. Without having to jump straight to, you know, the big M."

Mutation.

"Although, silver lining, food DOES last a lot longer." her cheerful self returned, "What was your first time like?"

"The physical manifestation came first. The head master of my boarding school thought I was colouring my hair." Claire shook her head a bit, it was during the flower power era and in a school like she had attended anything that implied an anti establishment thought had to be stomped out. "I got a demerit, actually coloured my hair back to its original colour. But the damage was already done." Teens could be relentless, teens on an exclusive school like she attended, doubly so. "Some days I just wished I could just disappear. At night, when the lights went out, the predators came out. I hid." She'd had enough therapy to be able to comfortably discuss this, something she felt she owed to all the people in this institute. "One day, I hid so well that when they opened the closet I was in, they looked me straight in the face and didn't see me."

"When I started doing that more often my skin started to discolour. I was pulled from the school not long after." The teleportation had only manifested once she got to college in the US, by that time she was surrounded by the freaks of the rich and famous.

Rebecca listened as Claire retold her tale. The clarity and confidence existed still throughout the retelling, which lead Rebecca to believe that Claire was either the most confident person in Avalon, or had really good therapists. "I'm so sorry that you had to go through with that. School is the worst place out there for folks like us. You're forced on display." she shook her head. "Thank you for making Avalon." those five words had weight to them. Significance. "But like you said, folks can be real jerks when it's not them on display."

"I want to learn how to be like you: Less afraid." A long pause, "Can I ask you something?"

Claire paused at the sudden revelation that someone would want to be like her. She'd always look back on her life and find all the moments she should've been better, done more, be her own person. She'd taken advantage of her heritage, even though that heritage was now steeped deeply in anti-mutant sentiment. She'd always told herself it was an act of rebellion to take her father's money and use it for pro-mutant causes, but in reality she had been deathly afraid to end up on the streets, abandoned and alone.

"This is a school, you should never be afraid to ask anything." She gave an encouraging smile and wink.

On the streets, abandoned and alone was half of Rebecca's journey here. She knew quite well what it looked like.

"I'm thinking of taking self defense classes but, honestly, a mouse who knows jujitsu isn't my worry. My worry is if I'm caught, I'm stuck." she put her hands together to simulate a cage. "It's not that astonishing a tale, really. Put me in a box and I can't get out." she looked up and beyond Claire, to a pair of swords on a crest in the hallway. "I keep remembering that mob. That attack. That night. They came to our home."

"When Robin and his merry muckheads came knocking, I... I did what I could but all I did was play lookie loo. Sure, helpful, but I.. I was afraid. You, Phoebe, Jonathan, Kaylee... It was old hat for the lot. I don't know if I'm ready to be that cavalier about it, but I want to be less afraid, that's for sure."

"I want to help. I want to do more, but most of all I'm tired of being afraid. Can you give me some advise to... I don't even know, be the mouse that roars?"

Claire allowed Rebecca to express her concerns and open up. Simply nodding along and humming at the right moments. "It's not something that can come overnight, or with a piece of good advice." The fear of being trapped somewhere with no way of getting out was not something she could relate to, she'd always had the sense of freedom regardless of how many locks were put on the door. "Everyone has their strengths, and weaknesses. If you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid. If you find yours you can live in that. That's where you find your roar, or squeak as it were."

She smiled, pleased to not only have been heard but to have all that off her chest. "I gotcha. Yeah I didn't think there were any magic words to just, poof, confidence." she smiled a little wider, tail doing that happy swish when Rebecca was really comfortable. "But, know anyone that can maybe teach me a few bits for self-defense. Maybe even a bit of, I dunno, fencing?" she looked back over at the crossed swords. They weren't foils, but mice with broadswords didn't fit the picture.

"I see a lot of mice who fence. Maybe I should give it a shot."

"I do believe we have some gear for that," Claire tried to remember exactly what kind of athletics gear they had stowed away for P.E. related courses. "Miss Hunter has also expressed an interest in practicing with a sword." That was obviously not exactly the same as fencing, and fencing itself only had limited use outside of the confines of a fencing competition, she was sure Phoebe was more than willing to take up practicing sword play with the two of them. "You know when it comes to your particular concern, perhaps it's an idea to read up on the likes of Houdini and other escape artists."

The mousey blonde gave a nod, "Maybe start practicing lockpicking. For informative means only." she offered with a smirk. "I've got some reading ahead of me. Might need to see about buying some supplies. Practice stuff." she assured. "But, I mean it. Thank you."

"Lockpicking for sure. Some structural engineering perhaps. Bring a crowbar to our next fight. Intimidating and practical in a pinch." Claire felt like she should've offered something more, "also, don't undersell yourself, the Rebecca I saw running the auction was a fearless, confident, woman."

Rebecca gave a nod, "Then, I'll have to find that woman more often." she affirmed.