Video; un: ilikehorses

[shoplifter]

[Laura's been trying to adjust. Part of her wonders if coming here wasn't a grave mistake — she'd come thinking there are more like her, people who would accept her more willingly, and in a way, that's true. However... There are a few... annoyances. Grievances. Her rather overworked case worker Linda has been making sure she goes to school. Today isn't the best day for school, though. She's quiet and 'weird' and the other children usually aren't fond of her and her quiet but present danger.

And for Laura, well. She doesn't do well with anyone 'teaching' her. She's had too much of 'teaching' the last eleven years of her... eleven years.

She may or may not have punched another kid in the eye.

She may or may not have ditched school.

And now she sits on the top of a rather tall and dangerous brick-ish wall in the city, her feet hanging precariously off the edge. Close by, the shadow of a tram wooshes by, and somewhere out there, Linda the Case Worker is having a heart attack. Laura, however, seems more puzzled and annoyed than anything. She sits with a potentially stolen bag of mini-donuts, her favorite glasses pressed up on her forehead and her lovely albeit mildly damaged unicorn shirt clear and vibrant.]


Why do children have to go to classes? 

I can learn outside of school.


[There are mean children that exist. She's never ran into children who are so exclusionary; after all, mutants had to stick together.

And teachers aren't bad, but something about the set-up bothers her, in ways she's not sure how to explain.

Maybe it's harder to blend in than you'd think. Not that she had gone into this with any high hopes.] 

Comments

[shoplifter]

[She withdraws her claws back into her forearms, then adjusts her cool shades.]

Or someone else.

[This is important to consider too, right?]

[buildsomething]

Or someone else. [Yeah, that's important.

Meeting lethal force with lethal force is not something he'd want to teach a kid, but it seems like someone else got there first. The least he can do, then is try to help her find the right reasons.]

And hey. Maybe the whole school thing will be less boring if you think of it like a secret mission to observe children in their natural habitat.

[shoplifter]

[Laura sticks her hand into the donut bag, frowning.

She's not sure the concept of a 'mission' sits well with her, life story considered.

But...]

I've been... trying to.

[buildsomething]

Yeah? [He props his chin on one upturned fist as he watches her.] And what have you observed? Besides the fact that people need punching.

[shoplifter]

Hamburgers taste good. You have to raise your hand to go pee. Teacher voices make me sleepy.

[A pause.]

Most of them aren't bad people; they want to help, but they just don't always understand.

[buildsomething]

Yeah, that sounds about right for the general population.

[In spite of everything, Tony does genuinely believe it. The outliers, however...Well, they're the reasons he still has the armor.]

What's it they're not getting?

[shoplifter]

[Laura glances at him, more cautious.]

Things are just different.

[She hesitates, unsure how to explain it. How do you?]

For normal people... They don't understand what walls do.

[buildsomething]

[Honestly, Tony's not really getting it either. But she doesn't look too happy with trying to explain, so he's not going to push it.]

Well I don't know about you, but this is a pretty different kind of place in general for me. Maybe we've all got to work on understanding things.

[shoplifter]

[She glances at the bag in her hands, a bit grudgingly.]

I'll try if they do.

[buildsomething]

Fair enough.

[He flicks her a quick smile.]

Tony, by the way.

[shoplifter]

... Laura.

[She supposes a name is a sensible offering.

But she seems to be particularly unused to it.]