When it rains...

Posted on Fri Oct 25th, 2024 @ 20:06 by Claire Cavendish & Magali Isebeart

Chapter: Besieged
Location: Claire's personal quarters, Avalon Institute
Timeline: Friday, 29th of January, 1993
2330 words - 4.7 OF Standard Post Measure

The sound of water droplets hitting the already gathered water inside the champagne cooler could've been construed as comforting white noise, but in this particular case it did little else than test the strength of Claire's bladder. She didn't quite know when the leak in the roof had appeared, she barely spent time in her room, but the entire carpet was soaking wet and there was a chill to the room that was unfamiliar to her. She simply stood there, craning her neck to try and find the source of the water, but wherever the leak was it wasn't directly obvious.

"Do you think we need to replace the rug?" She turned her attention to the Persian rug that currently sounded like stirring a pot of mac and cheese if you stepped on it.

While this wasn't what she considered her strong suit, growing up on a farm had given her enough skills and understanding to be useful here. As such Magali kneeled down before prodding and poking the rug a bit, lifting up a corner, running fingertips through the wet material of the rug, considering for a moment. Bright yellow eyes blinked, slightly out of sync, as she looked back up at Claire. "Well, if it's worth enough, either in monetary or sentimental value, you could try having it cleaned and dried professionally," Magali suggested, her ears flicking with the sound of the droplets.

It wasn't until Magali mentioned it that Claire considered the monetary value. There was a slight shrug. It was just that it seemed to fit the room so well. "The dry cleaners in New Cresthill have been 'too busy' for the past month to do any of my clothes, so I doubt they'd take on this project." She looked back up to the roof. "And the roof? Still salvageable?"

"If you really want it cleaned you'd find a way, if not in New Cresthill then in the big city. Personally? I think it's worth trying at least," Magali hopped back up, carefully avoiding the Persian rug. She disliked rugs like this, owing to her clawed feet. She always felt she'd tear them or rip them up just by walking on them. So navigating the room to where Claire was standing, talons clacking on the floor, she looked up at the ceiling.

The wood was damp, her hearing sensitive enough to hear where the drops formed and fell through, eyes sharp enough to focus in on that area. She looked around, found a sturdy chair, set it down underneath the leak and stepped onto it to get closer to the leak. Unfortunately her short stature meant that even on top of a chair she was still lacking height. "Probably need to take out at least part of the ceiling to find the leak proper. Replace the wood paneling. Even if you fix the leak both here and on the outside, this wood is soaked and is going to rot. You'd have mold."

"Great, and while we wait for Mister McAvoy to do that, what can you do to keep it from making me need to visit the bathroom every twenty minutes?" Claire knew that the larger repairs and fixes were left to the caretaker, and she didn't really expect Magali to do anything about that. William was far too busy at the moment making sure things were prepared for February First, so a stop gap measure would have to do.

"Put down some dry cell foam where it drips. The kind they make cheap mattresses from," Was Maggie's quick and easy answer. "Then the water can drip down and won't make noise. You might have to replace the foam when it gets too soaked, but that'll do you for some time," she added, clambering down from the chair again. If anything, growing up on a farm with all the handyman jobs that came with it had taught her to be pragmatic when it came to solving problems.

"On the floor?" There was a frown that immediately told anyone that cared to look what they needed to know about Claire's feelings on that idea. "Is there maybe some way to plug it up in the ceiling, since we're talking about taking the roof off anyway it wouldn't matter that it would affect the wood." She looked up again to where the water was gathering and seeping down.

"If you do that eventually the water will pool and the damage will spread. Depending on the size of the piece of foam that might be a few days, though - so depending on your planned time table that might work," Magali shrugged a bit, bright yellow eyes looking up at the taller woman. "Personally, I'd go for the safer option with less of a deadline, but that's just the pragmatist in me talking," she added with a smile.

Claire contemplated the options presented to her but it was clear it didn't sit well with her that she'd have a large sponge on her floor for the coming few days. "Let's plug the hole, I'll make sure the replacement is done before the damage spreads." She looked up again, "perhaps this is an opportune moment to install a skylight."

"A skylight might be nice. Would let in natural light. Just make sure you get one that has a retractable cover on the outside, or you'd turn this space into a greenhouse, during the summer," Magali considered. "I'm sure we've got some dry cell foam somewhere in storage. I can go get it right now if you want."

There was a nod from the head mistress. "Good point, well made." Claire was always happy to have people around her that considered such things. She might've figured it out herself, after the first summer of being cooked alive in her office. "Although, not much chance of that in Scotland. I remember the summer of '89... I believe it was a Thursday." She stopped gazing upward and smiled at Magali. As she realised how both her and Magali were very visibly mutants that all to familiar sense of dread gripped around her stomach. "How are you holding up with the recent.. developments?"

Magali's seemingly good mood faltered when asked that question. Her ears wilted back as her shoulders fell. "Not very well, to be honest," she replied, sitting down on a chair, glancing down. "It all just reminds me that people can hate other people just for how they look. They fear us. Want to control us. Most - ... people here can pass for humans just fine. Except you and I and some others can't," she glanced up at Claire. "People like you have cool powers that can help you. Me? I'm just Magali. Magali the freak, who can't do anything cool."

A moment of hesitation, "There's plenty of cool things you can do, remember when you found the problem with our water heater by ear?" Claire raised her eyebrows a bit at that, knowing how tough it could be for people like Magali and herself especially when differences were being highlighted and tempers were flaring. It wasn't that she didn't have more active powers that could be used for good, but she'd found plenty of times that it hindered much more than it helped. "So I take it you won't be registering then, come February first."

"Well yes, but - " Magali trailed off, then sighed, and offered a soft smile. "No. No but. You're right, I did do that. Thank you," she offered. "I don't know if I'll register. I'm just Magali. I wipe the floor and empty the trash. That's what I do. I'm not dangerous - ... Right? Why would they need to know everything about me? ... And where would that end?"

Thise were the exact questions that plagued Claire, and much of the Mutant community. Especially the last one. It was like people had already conveniently forgotten the atrocities to come out of post-war Germany, and it hadn't even been fifty years. "Where indeed." She refocused her thoughts and turned to Magali, "We fight for a world where I can just be Claire and you can just be Magali."

"I know," Maggie answered quietly, with a weak smile. "That's why I'm here. Doing my little part. In the end, that's - " She paused a moment, considering her words. They were humble, but they were the truth. They were her truth. "In the end, that's all I want. To walk around and do little things normal people can do without worries. Do my shopping in the supermarket. Browse the selection in the bookstore. Get an ice cream. To be 'just Magali'." Beat. "I want everyone to be able to just be themselves. Though this doesn't make deciding whether to register or not any easier."

"I can imagine it doesn't." While Claire had her mind made up from the moment this twisted legislation was conjured up in the mind of her father she'd want people to have their own choice of the matter. She tried not to judge. She knew what some of the faculty was planning to do, she knew most of the students were fairly rebellious to begin with so the open invitation that they would interpret her own refusal as would probably sway quite a few of them into not registering, if allowed by their legal guardians. "Perhaps it's just a matter of cost-benefit, or perhaps it's a moral and ethical dilemma. Though I guess for some it's going to simply be a matter of 'what feels right'."

"I'm not decided yet. I mean, it's pretty obvious to anyone looking at me that I'm a mutant, even though I'm not dangerous. I just don't want to - be trouble, you know? What I do affects others, too. Even though I'm just a janitor, a handyman, part of me still feels like I have to set an example for the kids. Even in whatever small way I can," Beat. "And if that means standing up for what I believe is right, even though it's difficult, I - ... " A sigh from the owl-coded woman as she stared ahead, expression slowly hardening. "Then maybe that's just what I'm going to have to do. Even though it's very scary."

"You are definitely an example to the kids here. A strong independent woman not afraid to get her hands dirty and get stuff done." Claire allowed for a small smile hearing she was considering defying the new law. "That takes a lot of courage, you know. The good thing is that here you will always have people that will have your back. No matter what you decide."

A nod from Magali, as she reached a hand out to rest on Claire's for a moment. "I know what you're going to do. Or rather, not. And I stand with you, for - whatever little that means," she smiled softly, withdrawing her hand again. "My pa always said life was going to throw curveballs at us, some more fair, some less. I guess this is one of the unfair ones."

Claire gave the offered hand a gentle squeeze, "I do appreciate it, and it means more than you can imagine." Despite her wanting to make the decision completely on her own, it felt like it was something that had been expected of her. By the public, by the people in the institute, by her old friends in the mutant community. A great many of them had expressed the same sentiment as Magali just did. "We'll see what curveballs this particular stretch of life has in store for us." It felt like this school year had been particularly eventful. As if everything was coming to a head.

"What do you suppose will happen?" Magali asked. "Normally people like this don't have much of a sense of humor about things like this."

"It truly depends on how the public responds, I feel." Claire knew the predictions by Phoebe were crystal clear on the matter. "If there's no outrage in sure the government and the G.O.U. I'm particular will feel emboldened. They might want to enforce what they believe to be a just law."

"And what will you do if that happens?" Magali quirked a brow, curiously. "Which I think is very likely. This feels to me like a watershed moment, and we're - you - are on the tip of the spear in this. I - ... don't see a version of this which won't have far-reaching consequences, and big complications before this is over."

There was a part of her that wanted to make some sort of eloquent quip, but the truth was that aside from standing their ground there was not much else she could do. "What I will do is instruct everyone in the Institute not to use lethal force." While Claire couldn't imagine Magali using her talons for the purpose of injuring, let alone killing, another person it was better to have such things abundantly clear to all people involved. In the chaos of battle things like rules of engagement blurred, and accidents did happen. Especially in such a volatile situation as Avalon.

"Hopefully things won't escalate far enough where that consideration might become relevant," Maggie said, brows furrowing for a moment before she put a smile back on owl-esque features. "Well, I best go see if I can find some open cell foam for that leakage," She added, starting towards the door. "Maintenance never stops on a place like this."

"It's certainly providing you with enough job security." Claire looked up at the ceiling again, looking forward to having it fixed whether temporary or permanently. She just wanted to get rid of the large tin bucket in the middle of her office. "Thank you, Miss Isebeart." She watched as Magali headed for the exit, "for everything you do around here."

"You are very welcome, miss Cavendish," Magali smiled over her shoulder, before making her way out.