2602/Soulless Senpai

Soulless Senpai
Date of Scene:	24 July 2020
Location:	Back Yard
Synopsis:	Ruth and Julian have a talk and a swim
Cast of Characters:	Julian Keller, Ruth Aldine

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Julian Keller has posed:
Julian Keller sits on one of the picnic tables in the backyard, staring off into space. He does that a lot lately, the staring, at least. Everything about his life has been upended in the last few months, whether it was losing his hands or finding out he'd lost his soul. And his parents. And a brother he never even knew.

He has a towel folded nearby and had been thinking about taking a swim, but just sat for a while and let the sun beat down on him. His phone seems to be operating on its own, his telekinetic touch barely gentle enough to operate the touch screen.

Ruth Aldine has posed:
Much like a few mutants that inhabit the school; Ruth was and usually is entirely invisible. The way she walks even if she wears sneakers is quieted, the only way that anyone would know that she was coming was if they looked in her general direction. This wasn't her mutant ability that she turns on when she doesn't want to be found; it was a product of her being who she was. One of the quiet ones, passed up, left behind, overlooked at being nothing more than a nuisance, annoyance, and a bother.

Sometimes, she likes it that way.

The pale child, who.. oddly enough could look like one of the Kellers herself, pads across the grass, a throw wrapped around herself that's complete with tassels and hideous, but good enough to keep the girl warm. "It is not so bad." Ruth announces with her presence. "Not having a soul, sorry. You are not some uncaring and unfeeling thing. Thank you. You still can feel hurt. You still can explode my brain. Sorry."

She settles nearby, keeping her distance as she usually would. Way out of arms reach, but within hearing range.

Julian Keller has posed:
Julian Keller looks over at Ruth for a long moment. He was getting used to her peculiar rhythms and speech. Even her appearing suddenly as if from nowhere, like a waifish phantom from a Victorian tale.

"I don't want to explode your brain," he says. "You're right, I do feel things. Mostly pissed off, not that it does much good. Doesn't change anything. I hope Illyana can find the right way to help, but...it feels like it's out of my own hands. And that sucks."

"How are you, Ruth? Maybe your life will distract me a bit from mine."

Ruth Aldine has posed:
"I know." Ruth tugs the throw around her tightly as she remains staring forward. It almost as if she were searching for something, but she doesn't hint at what.

"You have no hands. Sorry." Ruth points out. "I am fine. I have urges to cheat at everything. But I am not cheating at everything and I am actually learning becuase I am doing the things the hard way." Which, really means that her life was boring. Pretty boring in fact.

"I can tell you that everything will be okay. Thank you. Illyana will find a way." The way she says it, was with certainty, and a little bit of a cold detachment.

Julian Keller has posed:
Julian Keller figures she's probably right. She could see the future after all. Sort of. He didn't really understand how her powers worked and, frankly, it seemed like more trouble than it was worth to try and figure them out. Let her deal with that crap.

"I've always had an urge to cheat at everything, too. I hate the hard way. The hard way sucks. Is that because I have no soul or just cause I'm kind of a bastard? I don't know anymore. The whole thing makes me doubt everything about who I am."

"You wanna go swimming?"

Ruth Aldine has posed:
"You are a product of your environment." Just like Ruth was hers. Ruth was always beaten, she was always scared, and when she was stolen from, she was quiet.

"And you are a bastard." Whelp! That tears it! She does stand and shrug off the throw, looking into the direction of the water, the only hint of what she was thinking was how her lips curled into a frown.

"Truthfully, I do not know how to swim. I take baths, though, and imagine that I am swimming. I can go into the other world, and pretend to swim there. But there, I can create water that does not kill me."

Julian Keller has posed:
Julian Keller can't resist laughing as she calls him a bastard, "Well, if I'm going to be a bastard, I guess I might as well try to be the best bastard I can be," he says.

"If you get in trouble, I'd help you. Not hard to lift somebody in water with TK. But you'll have to find a bathing suit. I don't think the teachers are too keen on kids skinny dipping in the backyard pool. This is a liberal school, but not that liberal."

Ruth Aldine has posed:
"If you are a bastard, then you will not help me." Ruth was a contradictory Ruth!

But there was no reason for her to go inside. She pulls off her shirt to reveal that she's already had her swimsuit on all along. It was like a regular shirt created from the fabric that comes from most swimsuits, but in a 'Where's Waldo' fashion. The shorts she wears were already swim shorts, the same striped design. "I can tell you who probably has skinny dipped after a good nights rest." A hint at how everything worked.

"I will go into the water, but not far."

Julian Keller has posed:
Julian Keller strips his own off to reveal lime green speedos which are almost indecent but hardly matter since Ruth can't see anyway.

"I might take you up on that. I could use a little late night sightseeing. I can't sleep for shit lately," he says. He shows no such hesitation as he leaps into the water, cannonballing in a bit and staying beneath for a long moment before coming back to the surface and gasping for air.

"Feels good when it's this freakin' hot. We're almost in New England, it should't be this steamy."

Ruth Aldine has posed:
It was a good thing that Ruth waited; as soon as Julian cannonballed into the water, her hands lift to shield her from the light sprinkles that flew her way. She actually SMILED! Which could have been a terrible sight to see, or lovely! Or just plain damn awkward.

"I try not to sleep. That is when I see most things that I try not to see, sorry." She takes a step forward, but general fear keeps her afloat. It was almost as if she were walking on water, keeping her gaze down towards her feet as she takes the close steps to come close enough to Julian's wade.

"It is a product of global warming. Yes." She says, both arms now raising out to balance herself. "This winter will be harsh, I do not predict this. I know this. Because of the heat."

Julian Keller has posed:
Julian Keller floats a bit on the surface, basking lightly, "Ah, yes, the world is a hellscape and we are trapped in it. No wonder demons are running around willy nilly," he sighs.

He sees her hesitating and says, "I promise I won't let you drown or get hurt swimming. You can probably read to see that I'm telling the truth," he says. "I only violently attack people I hate and my family which are pretty much the same thing."

Ruth Aldine has posed:
"Even the bad want to escape home." Ruth points out.

His reassurance gives her pause, turning towards him, clearly reading him. This time she doesn't hide it, or do a quick surface scan of his thoughts. It was almost as if she were seeing his intentions. "Okay."

And with that, she lets go.

The splash wasn't too widespread, for she sinks under and pops right back up, using her own brand of telekinesis to keep herself afloat. And it looks rather awkward, she's not bobbing, she just looks like a stick in the mud.

"My brother is dead." She says. "He murdered my mother and was executed. If he were still here, I would not be. If he and I were still here together, I would be more broken than I am. If he and I were still here today, I will kill myself in December. It will be a sad year."

She turns to him, well.. turns herself towards him, attempting to keep herself steady. "You do not know the blessing or pain of having a brother. I can show you one day. Of how it all would have been. Sorry. Or how it could have been. We would just have to take you home."

Julian Keller has posed:
Julian Keller hears what she says and although it is strange and eerie and a little creepy, it also makes him feel a sort of connection to her. His own family troubles were very different, but they amounted to the same thing: Tragedy, misery, pain, death.

"Maybe I'll take you up on that. Someday. I can barely think about it now. I'm sorry all that shit happened to you. That's really fucked up. I'm glad you lived through it."

Ruth Aldine has posed:
"There is no maybe."

What a creep! "I did live. Yes. But there are parts missing. I know and feel it. When Luca was killed, a piece of me was taken." In a literal sense, she could have been blocking herself, or something. Whatever it was, there was no way to really undo it that she knows of, and to see if she could on her own, it always hurts.

Literally. It was like tearing her brain in half.

"I never had friends. I used to be okay with speaking. Now I am not. I am okay with feeling, but I do not know when or how. Weird." She shakes her head, then relaxes.. that little relaxing upon her mild TK slowly causes her to sink until she catches herself, now neck deep into the water.

"I do not live as a person, sorry. And I am okay with that. Deep down, will you be okay if this does not work?"

Julian Keller has posed:
Julian Keller doesn't entirely understand what she's saying. At the end of the day, he's a privileged 18 year old kid. But he tries to be comforting, as best he can. "I think you're still a person," he says. "As much as I am, at least. You should think and feel however you can and if anyone has a problem with it, let me know and I'll deprive them of oygen for a while," he says.

"As for me...I don't know. I don't know if I'll be okay again. Maybe I won't. Maybe that's what I have to be okay with."

Ruth Aldine has posed:
"Eep." Ruth slips under water, then pops back up again.

"Like drowning. That doesn't seem fun." Ruth lifts herself up again, though it was clear it was a struggle, she was attempting to make her way back to the shore so that she could settle down upon the ground.

"We can make sure that you will be okay. Thank you. You have a lot of people who are pulling for you."

Julian Keller has posed:
Julian Keller shakes his head, "I don't know why. I've mostly been an asshole. These people just take their school spirit and team loyalty very seriously. I always kind of thought it was stupid. And now I"m benefitting from it. Guess that makes me a hypocrite," he says.

He's being unusually honest about his feelings. Somehow he feels like Ruth won't judge him. Maybe because she probably already knows what he thinks anyway. It gives him the freedom to express himself as he is.

Ruth Aldine has posed:
Once she reaches the ground, she stumbles a little bit then settles, letting out a loud huff. "You like it."

She fixes her blindfold upon her face, then reaches back to tie it more tightly. "I like it. Though people avoid me all the same." She draws her knees up to wrap her arms around them, then rests her chin upon her left. "Sorry. Can we be best friends for our entire lives?"

Julian Keller has posed:
Julian Keller smirks, "You can probably answer that better than I can. And knowing the way things are going, with Genosha and Mutant Town and everything else going to hell, our lives might not be all that long. But fuck it, if I'm goign to have friends, I should actually like some of them and I like you, even if you are a little weirdo."

Ruth Aldine has posed:
"Yes." Ruth admits, but she doesn't say what. She just knows that she does know, but to the extent of that knowing or how long anything can last is anyones guess.

"I'm a little weirdo.. short not stout.." She sings quietly, rocking a little from side to side. She continues the song into a hum, then shrugs her shoulders. "I like you too. You are the only one who treats me like a person and not a burden or annoyance. Thank you."

Julian Keller has posed:
Julian Keller pushes up and sits on the edge of the pool, "I'm probably not actually the only one, but I like being exceptional and special so I'll take credit for it," he grins. "It's weird, this whole place is supposed to be a gathering of freaks but you get the same social dynamics and cliquey bullshit you get at any other school. Which normally works in my favor, but money doesn't impress these people as much as...I dunno, noble self-sacrifice and derring-do."

Ruth Aldine has posed:
"Friendship is high currency here." Ruth admits. Which means, once again in her life, she's broke.

"Yes. I understand. The level of care tells us how much we are worth to others. And as we do not generally care, you because you are, sorry, a bastard. And me, because.. yes, I will find out if it is all okay and do not care because it works out."

That..seemed to bum Ruth out.

"I am going inside. Goodbye."

And without another word, she gets up and leaves.