And I'll Take the Low Road

Posted on Sat Aug 3rd, 2024 @ 7:07 by Penny Gardner

Chapter: Besieged
Location: Road to Avalon
Timeline: Winter break
2769 words - 5.5 OF Standard Post Measure

The road to Avalon was small and wound around natural features like high hills and forests. It gave a nice backdrop to a casual conversation, which was a good opportunity for Claire to ask a couple of 'job interview' like questions that benefited from being able to look the person in the eye as they responded, "What made you want to come to Avalon?"

Just as Penny had taken a bite of her snack, she realised she was expected to reply. Chewing at least bought her some time to formulate her response. "I was looking for a change and was inspired by my late Grandfather. He was why I always wanted to work in theatre at all, and he was always urging me to get out of the village and go places." There was a familiar pang of loss, something that time had made familiar if no less painful.

"The thing about theatre is that it doesn't happen alone. It is collaborative in the very fact it has an audience. But simply, at its core, it is people coming together around a campfire to keep the dark at bay." Penny glanced out the window, curious about the scenery.

"I think now more than ever we need that. So when I heard about what you were doing at Avalon, I thought, maybe I can help there? Some of these kids might have no choice but to fight, however I think Drama is a subject that can equip them with tools that enable violence to be a last resort, not the only option." She glanced at Claire as she drove, trying to gauge her response, taking a smaller, sneakier bite this time in case the woman had follow up questions. Suddenly Penny wondered if this was less an act of kindness and instead a clever move on the woman's part to be able to get the measure of her new employee.

There was a silent nod as Penny waxed poetically about how her role at Avalon could help the young mutants in the Institute. They had gone over a similar conversation during the job interview, but it was good to put a face to the words. The head mistress had always thought she was a pacifist, but the world pushed against that more and more violently, so the philosophy Penny eschewed was a lot closer to her practical application of pacifism. "Is there anything we at Avalon can do for you?" It was rare that a member of the faculty came solely to ply their skills and teach the next generation. The nature of their community was that it was hurting, bruised, and in some cases broken, by their collective experiences.

The fact the Headmistress had even thought to ask gave Penny a good feeling about what kind of place she was walking into. “I suppose acceptance, the chance to explore my powers is really all I am looking for. I grew up in a small village, with small attitudes to match. I’ve never really been able to embrace my gifts to the point of fully understanding them. It’s not that I was the subject of abuse or anything, but you know how it goes, tolerance only goes so far.”

Claire actually was quite familiar with small town life. While for most of her life she'd lived in London, which could be accused of many things but not small town attitudes. There was a time she had been banished by her father to some sleepy miner town in Wales. There was plenty of bigotry to go around, which is partially why she had quickly found a thriving LGBT+ community that were mostly accepting of her in the early 80's. Instead of detailing all of that she simply nodded. "It's never quite as easy to get things done. Well Avalon strives to be open and egalitarian."

“I had thought as much from when we talked.” She was relieved to hear the woman say so explicitly. “Is there anything else you were curious about?”

There were plenty of things Claire was curious about, not all of them were appropriate for a conversation like this, "how did you first find out about your abilities?" It was a conversation that was all too familiar between mutants, a shared experience, in most cases a shared trauma. It was always a risk asking about it so openly, but it was a risk the head teacher was willing to take.

Penny laughed at that. “While I was dressed as a fairy.” Looking back she could laugh at it now, but at the time she had been mortified. “I was playing Titania in my final exam at University. It came time for my first line of the play and I completely blanked. I just remember looking out into the audience and catching my parents in the front row and then…” Penny made a gesture with her hands, giving off a small pulse of blue bioluminescence as an example.

“I lit up like a glow in the dark Smurf. Luckily everyone started clapping thinking it was some special lighting effect. Bought me enough time to remember my lines. By the time the play stopped I had myself under control again. Afterwards I think I made something up about special body paint? I can’t really remember, that bit is a blur, but I spent the rest of the year covering as much skin as possible just in case it happened again.”

Claire nodded along with the story, a moment of high stress at an age where hormones were raging through one's body. That sounded about par for the course. She'd been lucky that it was a relatively benign bio-luminescence. "Have you been able to develop it further?" During the official interviews the focus wasn't on their abilities, since those were really secondary to the fit with the Institute's mission and vision as well as their experience and qualifications regarding teaching.

"A little, when no one else was around I'd try. I can turn the glow on and off." To demonstrate she wiggled in her seat pulling off her outer layer and rolling up her sleeves. Then she started to softly glow all over, before focusing the glow down her arms into her hands. "I can concentrate it or shift the light through the spectrum too." She kept the glow soft, mindful the other woman was driving, and not wanting to be a distraction. Then she began to move the light through the spectrum, going from soft blue into green and yellow then warm pinkie red and finally violet before it blinked out. "I have been playing with external sources too. I can't keep up the glow for too long myself, but I can play with other lights without using as much energy, although it takes a little more concentration and practice."

She then gave Claire a slightly embarrassed look. "Not massively useful I know, I keep thinking if I can concentrate the light enough it might be something, but it's pretty much just a sparkly light show." She then tilted her head. "Or a dramatic blackout, I can shift light into a non-visible spectrum and it makes it appear dark." She then gave the headmistress a cautious look. "Can I ask you what you do? Or is that rude?"

"What I do?" Claire knew what was meant with it but couldn't help leading her along for a bit, "as the head teacher I'm mostly concerned with compliance with government rules and regulations. There's also the budget, staffing, inventory. Liaising with local communities, with student's guardians, and other organisations." She looked to the side to check and see if her stiff upper lip sarcasm was coming across with the new teacher.

Penny's eyes widen a moment, for a moment thinking she had perhaps miss-stepped and then she seems to catch something in Claire's tone and relaxes a little, her lips twitching into a smile. "Sounds busy, you must have a superhuman strength of will as your power then?"

A small smile crept across Claire's features, "I can turn invisible, though that doesn't do anything about my other features. So you can still hear me or touch me, or possibly with infrared see me" That last one she hadn't really put to the test. "In addition I can teleport over short to medium distances to places I can see or am intimately familiar with." She wouldn't be able to teleport all the way to Avalon, no matter how familiar she was with the location. There was of course the small caveat of not being able to do it in direct sunlight, but that wasn't something she openly advertised. Though seeing how Penny's powers manifested, it might be something she'd have to address if she wanted to avoid getting beamed out of a teleport or get burnt while invisible.

In openly sharing this she realised that if the proposed registration legislation was to be passed this would be privileged information. Something that was so normal for people like her to openly discuss became leverage against someone simply because the government would be actively seeking this information. "The physical manifestation came first, my hair, then my skin. There were some external stresses caused by my new physical appearance that seemingly triggered my other abilities."

“Ah so you weren’t born with the pretty colouring?” Penny then blushed and cleared her throat, sometimes she wished her brain would engage before her mouth. “Sorry that sounded weird, I was just surprised, it must have been challenging to transition, no matter what stage of your life it happened in?” Penny seemed to consider something for a few moments before she decided to be a little brave.

“I can only imagine what it must be like to wear one’s nature on the surface, especially at times like now. Do you…” She then lost heart halfway through. “Ah forgive me, I’m overstepping. People have often accused me of being quick to dig in deep, but it comes as an occupational hazard of spending so much time in rehearsal spaces which thrive on emotions and vulnerability.”

Pretty hadn't exactly been the primary descriptor of her colouring throughout most of her life. Claire gave a smile in response. "In case you hadn't noticed over the past few months, several news outlets have not shied away from asking questions that overstep quite a lot in regards to common decency, I'm sure you couldn't do worse if you tried."

Penny huffed, amused. “No but that is a low bar so I should at least try to do better. I simply thought that with such a visible power, although the irony of you being able to turn invisible does not escape me, you have become a natural figurehead. Do you ever resent it?” Heavens knew that Penny had had moments where she had resented her own nature, and it was one much easier to hide.

It was one of those questions that circled back around every once in a while. Her position at Avalon, her connection with Duke Cavendish the Great Crusader for Humanity, and the fact that she stood out like a sore purple thumb meant that as the months rolled by more and more people recognised her. In the privacy of her own quarters, looking in a mirror, she did resent it. In times like these it seemed more often than not. A truth that in the past had made her waver, and stagger, off the path. A truth that given the nature of what Penny described as her 'natural role' could never again be spoken out loud or acted upon. It couldn't even be whispered into the ear of the woman that shared her bed.

"Never." Is what she did speak out loud. It was resolute, left no doubt. She was born for this. To everyone except herself she did represent all of that and more. A bastion of hope, a ray of light at the end of the tunnel. The irony wasn't lost on her either. "It's the sole reason I founded Avalon." They rounded a corner and at the edge of the horizon a large castle appeared. "Speaking of which."

The castle was old, it had stood on the small island in the middle of the Loch for centuries before they had taken up residence. It connected with a single bridge to the rest of the Highlands, a bridge that led to a massive encircling wall. Huge wooden doors and a cauldron that could be closed to keep the world of Avalon and the outside world separated and that at this distance obscured all but the highest point of the watchtower awaiting their arrival inside.

“Well I am gratefu-woah…” Penny had been about to answer more, to offer her gratitude that such a person and place existed, but upon seeing it for the first time, set in the middle of the mirror surface of the loch. She gave a soft low murmur. “Oh granddaddy I hope you’re looking down on this.” She wondered for a moment what her unflinching, communist father would say to her living in such a grand estate. Probably just another reason for him to be disappointed. Then she pulled her attention away from Avalon to its founder. “I knew you were fancy Miss Cavendish, but Lord, this… please tell me you don’t expect people to dress for dinner because I only brought work clothes?” Penny was hit with a wave of feeling like she didn’t belong and that it would only be a matter of time before that would be uncovered.

"We set the highest standard for our staff and students, Miss Gardner Miss. I expect you to attend official functions in full academic regalia." Again years of etiquette training made it possible to utter that with the stiffest of upper lips, and only by choice did she add a crooked grin a couple of seconds later.

They turned off the road and onto the bridge. This was always her favourite part of returning to the Institute. The short stint over water led to the large gate with a double door. The portcullis raised. Through the archway of the gate the full glory of the mediaeval Castle revealed itself. The large central spire looking across the Loch and the surrounding environment, large brickwork buildings built around it throughout the different stages of the castle's life and function. She veered towards the stables now turned mechanics workshop. The parking spots are situated right in front of it. As they exited the car it allowed them a view of the side of the castle, the large main central building with its huge slabs of stone and the facade littered with tiny windows dotted across it at seemingly irregular intervals.

"A-academic regalia?" Penny had a moment of panic as she tried to read the Headmistress' face and failed. However as they passed the stables she was once again distracted. Stables... the place had legitimate stables. She couldn’t see any horses in them, but the mere fact the stables existed was remarkable. As they pulled up Penny shot Claire a grin. She looked up at the spire as she climbed out of the car.

"We are going to have to do 'The Woman in Black' with the kids, this place is perfect for it." She could just picture teaching them about immersive theatre in the twisting corridors and echoing halls. When she had managed to take in the surroundings and her brain caught up she moved to the back of the car to grab her bag. "This place is a fortress, when was the original castle built?" She was incredibly curious about the history of the castle.

"The original foundation was of a monastic order, though not much is known about them. The castle proper was established with the outer walls first." Claire pointed them out, none of the stones in there were of the original make though, "that was back in twelve-hundred something. The bastion was added in the late fourteen hundreds. Most of the foundations are from that era" There was a whole lot more history going on that a lot of people were a lot better at explaining than her. "We started renovations in 1988. If you're impressed now, wait until you see our main reception hall." With a grand gesture she motioned for Penny to follow her in direction of the main entryway.

Penny raised her eyebrow, and stood for a moment longer. Then she hiked up the duffle on her shoulder and quickly followed after the woman.