Escaping the Chaos (Open)

[Sunshine]

Penny sat there for a little bit just contemplating stuff. Mr. Wisdom had his secrets that was a given, but then almost everyone here had theirs. She was probably one of the few that had very few secrets and the ones that she had not really worth knowing. But they were hers and she kept it that way. Everyone had layers as well, even herself. There really was no such thing as two dimensional when it came to people, and even three dimensional was getting to be outdated. She truly believed that you never really did get to know a person to their fullest extent because most didn't know themselves that well.

She was snapped back to the present when he spoke and she couldn't stifle the giggle. "Honestly Mr. Wisdom, it's not really useful to get to know it. I mean by next week everything you learned would be no longer affective, and something new came out. The only thing that changes with regular mail is the price of a stamp, and with a regular phone is the price plan. At least they've been relatively stable over the years." She really didn't keep up with it much but when extremely bored she might dabble here and there unlike some who seemed to live for it.

Penny arched a brow. "Now who is selling theirselves short? There's always a break glass option, somebody somewhere will always need you. Whether you realize it or not." She shrugged a bit and looked down at her hands wishing she had something to do with them. Penny rubbed them along her knees and looked back up at him. Another smile touched her lips. "A home means more than most anything else. I do look at us as some sort of family. We have are ups and downs and drama. We pick on each other mercilessly but never allow an outsider to do the same. I'm just glad we all aren't blood related because some of the stuff going on would just be wrong." She actually laughed that time. This was definitely one of those rare moments when she calmed down enough to be a bit serious. It didn't happen often and she probably won't remember it later.

[wisdom]

“Mobile phones I understand, thats the sort of level of technology I’ll happily keep around and use, but when we’re getting into all these mybooks and facespace, or half the stuff that Sage teaches in her computing classes... I just switch off.” He shrugged and inhaled once more, exhaling as he resumed talking. “But I suppose that’s just how my mind works. People I remember, technobabble not so much.”

He absently proffered his packet of cigarettes towards the girl as he spoke, more out of simple habit rather than actually having much intention of giving the younger mutant one. It definitely wouldn’t go down with Xavier. Smoking infront of a student was one thing, starting them down the rocky path to addiction? Pete would rather resign than have to sit through any talk the bald man would try to implement should he get wind of it.

“Selling myself short, eh? Probably the first time I’ve been accused of doing that...” He trailed off and shrugged before continuing, “Sometimes being wanted isn’t what it’s cut out to be, luv.” He’d learnt that from SIS the hard way, the agency ever so eager to exploit his talents right up until the point he no longer became more of a taboo than an asset. To make matters worse he’d let them. He’d played right into their hands, following whispers of promises and dreams of acceptance. Instead he’d only got blood on his hands, all in the name of Queen and Country. Still, not a day went by without him wishing he could be back there once more.

Pete was so lost in his thoughts of his former career that he’d only managed to tune into the last half of Penny’s little spiel about having a home. It was so close to being a Saturday morning cartoon special that he’d almost smirked. Of course the fact that she said these things and actually meant them kind of pulled that up short. The girl really did believe in the things she said, not just throwing them out there to be liked or well thought of. She genuinely was a good person through and through. To someone like Pete, who by no real means was anything close to being described as a good person even on a good day, it was slightly daunting to be in her presence.

[Sunshine]

Her head tilted as he spoke and a small smile tugged her lips. She couldn't stop the giggle as he messed up the names of MySpace and Facebook. But then she couldn't blame him, by next week there willl be something different. "I need to get a cellphone, speaking of which. Never know when I might need to get out a situation I'm not prepared for." She'd probably have the Institute on speed dial and then that would be about it. Well she'd have Kitty's number she was almost sure. But she'd never be texting the girl as she was sitting right next to her. At least if she did she hoped someone smacked her. "I dabble a bit, but I prefer human contact. As Zac Efron once said, he didn't do Facebook or Twitter he preferred seeing his friends in person. When they meet up they'll know his status."

Penny absently took the offered cigarette without thinking. She always had matches and various other things on her because she never knew if she might have to cook outside. So she lit it and was rather proud of herself for not hacking like she wanted to. But she hadn't wanted to freak him out, she figured she'd get sick later. "Thinking there wouldn't be a break glass sign, is selling yourself short. I said needed, Mr. Wisdom, not wanted. There is a difference, though sometimes I wonder if it's better to be wanted or needed." She took another drag off the cigarette, committed to at least finishing this one. Well she now knew, smoking was not high on her lists of do's but it was a bit calming. Oh dear.

[wisdom]

“Zac Efron, eh? Well, obviously a smart person whoever the bloody hell he is.” Again the generation gap showed slightly, not to mention Wisdom’s seemingly lack of interest in the on goings of most teenager activities these days. When he was at that age he’d been more concerned with the opposite sex and getting trashed rather than who or what the stars were doing. Sure he’d fancied the pants off a few of them, but beyond that he couldn’t really care less what they were about. Reality over fiction, his father had always told him, was the difference between a dreamer and a doer. Pete liked to think of himself as the latter, fully feeling that while dreams are all fair and good, when it comes down to it... You needed both feet on the ground if you were going to live in this world and not be taken for a ride by every Tom, Dick and Harry.

Pete paused slightly as she pulled a cigarette from his offered packet, the action startling him slightly. He hadn’t imagined she’d actually take it. Definitely going to be one of those things that would undoubtedly come back to bite him in the proverbial arse, but he supposed he’d just have to cross that bridge if he came to it. “When” would probably be a better descriptive word, he had a feeling that in a mansion with so many telepaths and mutants with augmented senses it would probably be only a matter of time before someone found out.

“Depends on who or what is doing the wanting or the needing, and what exactly it IS they are wanting or needing.” He rolled the cigarette once more between his thumb and forefinger, a habit he’d developed while thinking. “From experience point of view? It’s better to be needed, but it’s not a good thing to want to be needed.”

[Sunshine]

Penny just chuckled a bit at him. "Not to worry, a lot of people, save for fangirls, don't really know or care who he is either." It had just been something that she read once and kind of liked how he put it. Of course she had paraphrased a bit, but the point was still made. She took another drag off the cigarette it was getting easier and now she didn't feel like she wanted to throw up. Hm, at least she was old enough to buy them if she ever did start smoking. Maybe socially but she wasn't sure she'd make it a true habit.

Her head tilted to the side as he spoke. "That makes sense. I think I'd rather be needed, but sometimes I wonder if I wouldn't want to be wanted. You know what I mean?" She wondered if that even made any sense. But then she'd seen how the guys checked out the other girls in the school and knew that those girls were wanted. "But then I guess it really depends on if I was truly wanted." She shrugged and took another drag off the cigarette. "I guess the same can said about needing to be needed. I try not to be like that, but sometimes, I think I am." A small frown touched her lips at that confession. Was she really that pathetic? Is that what everyone believed of her? She was genuine but everyone keeps acting as if it's just a show. For the first time in ever, Penny started to doubt herself.

[wisdom]

He had to smirk at the girl’s seemingly stubborn refusal to let the cigarette beat her. He remembered when he’d first started smoking, it seemed like a veritable lifetime ago, and he’d probably faired alot worse than the girl before him. Not that that was necessarily a good thing, if he’d had a worse experience maybe he wouldn’t of become so addicted to the cancer sticks in the first place. Regardless of that train of thought, he took another drag from the offending item. He knew he was addicted, problem was he just didn’t care. Everyone needed at least once vice... Or in Pete’s case several.

“As I said luv, it depends on what they exactly want.” He shuffled his footing slightly; adjusting his weight against the side of the four-by-four he was leaning against. “Sometimes you can be truly wanted for the wrong reasons, reasons that sometimes you never see til it’s too late... Or by the time you do, you tell yourself that it’s ok. That you understand, and it’s just enough to be wanted.” He inhaled again, letting the rich smoke fill his lungs before he slowly breathed it out, taking the opportunity to take in what Penny had just said. “There’s nothing wrong with it... When it comes down to it, in the end we all want to be needed, and we all need to be wanted. It’s just a matter of to what ratio, and to what extent.” He barked a soft laugh and winked at Penny, “Then again, what do I know, eh? I can act all high and mighty, rattle off some gibberish, but when it comes down to it all... I’m just as vulnerable to the pitfalls of it as everyone else, maybe even more so.”

[Sunshine]

Penny finally finished the cigarette and put it out. It wasn't so bad once she got past the first three quarters, but she was a little bit dizzy now. At least she was smart enough not to stand up, she'd probably fall over. The girl was starting to feel a little better, but she still wasn't back on her natural happy high. It was one of the few times this has ever happened and she didn't like it one bit.

Her head tilts to the side as Mr. Wisdom started talking. "I don't ever want to be so desperate for attention that I'll just take whatever is given to me. Although it seems like that is what I do. I want people to like me, but...." She wasn't sure how to explain it because when she thought about it, she was borderline to what she hated. A small smile tugged her lips and she looked up at him. "Experience gives you the right. Wisdom comes with age and all that. That wasn't meant to be a pun either." She looked up at him and grinned. "One day we will both find that which we seek, whether we know we are looking for it or not."

[wisdom]

He watched Penny discard her cigarette, doing likewise with the remains of his own. He was half tempted to reach for another, but he’d already had three in a relative short space of time... Not to mention how many he’d possibly had in the minutes leading up to Penny’s arrival. He’d hold off for now or at least til he next had a bit of free time to nip away from the hubbub that was the mansion turned school.

“Wisdom comes with age, eh? You know at which point that exactly crops up, or is it more a variable affect?” He smirked and chucked as she continued, “Careful, luv, you’re sounding awfully like a fortune cookie at this point.” She really would have been better off if she’d been born a good half a century, if not a bit more, earlier. A terminally sunny disposition when it came to the world around her, not necessarily herself, and the ability to speak like she’d just popped out of a nineteen fifties movie about family morals. Not to mention the apparent abilities of a domestic goddess. If it wasn’t for the fact her power gave her full reign over someone fear, he’d definitely believe his earlier assumptions about what her gift really did entail.

“So how’s learning about your power coming along? It can’t be easy having something like that, not when you’re not exactly... Shall we say... Vicious enough.”

[Sunshine]

"I actually think it has more to do about who you are giving the wisdomly advice too. The younger they are the smarter you are, or at least seem." She grinned and winked to let him know she was teasing about the 'seemed' part. "Um.. well see about that. I did have this one odd job where I wrote fortunes for fortune cookies, so, yeah, there are just somethings that stick with you." Penny found herself wondering if it wouldn't be best for her to change since people had a bit of a time relating to her. Well not everyone but a majority seemed to resent her normal nature. Did she have it in her to be fake? She didn't think so, but then she wouldn't know until she tried.

Sadness came over her when he asked about her power. "I don't like it. It makes feel all icky inside. I mean, honestly couldn't I have like, had the power to... I don't know, make people happy? Why did it have to be fear? It's always worse when I'm the one afraid. It seems to make it stronger and harder to control. How am I supposed to help out? I can't fight, unless maybe if I had a rolling pin in my hands, and I'd be terrified. I might actually kill someone and that just makes me feel sick." Penny stared down at her hands and curled them into fists and not for the first time, willed her power away.

[wisdom]

He chuckled slightly again, cocking his head to one side. “Wisdomly advice, eh? I’m betting if you asked a few of my old colleagues what they thought of ‘Wisdomly advice’ it might vary to what you’re think of.” He laughed once more as she mentioned writing fortunes, “Don’t worry about it, Luv, I didn’t say it to offend. It’s unique, and in some ways you’re probably wiser than I’ll ever be. You say what you feel, and I mean really feel, and that’s a gift in a way.” 'Or a curse'[/i], he mused slightly to himself, she certainly never could become something like he had. Not that it was a bad thing. The thought of her, doing the things he’d done, or even hadn’t done in some cases, nearly brought the former-spy to grimace. It wasn’t a pretty sight.

Pete held his hand out level, channelling the energy and allowing small energy projections to dance into life, instantly raising the surrounding area by a few degrees. “Luv, we don’t get to pick or choose our gifts. We just have to live with them, and make sure we don’t start using them like the incredible fridge magnet and his little gang.” The words sounded hypocritical to his own ears as, unlike Penny, Wisdom really was a killer and a good one at that, and had used his powers in much a similar way to some of the brotherhood do today. Still, she didn’t need to hear that. Nobody did. “Fear might be a weapon, but it can also be a tool. You just need to work out how you want to use it.” He let the so called ‘hot knives’ fade from existence, letting the temperature die back down again.

[Sunshine]

The girl just shrugged and looked up at him. "Like with everything it all depends on how you use it. Some advice may not be meant to be taken literal. If that were the case then it was their fault and not yours." As she spoke she put her elbow, bent, on her knee and rested her chin on her fist, trying too look thoughtful. "Not always a gift. Try blurting out that you have a crush on someone and they are like... Who are you?" That happened before she left the orphanage, of course she happened to blurt out that she loved the captain of the football team.... In the cafeteria... In front of everyone, but she decided not to dwell on that.

Penny started to warm up when the temperature raised and she gave him a grateful smile. "I don't want to use them at all. I know, I know every gift, no matter how terrible is as much an assest as a hinderance. I just don't like it. What I don't like is how quick I am to use it if I get really really mad. It's happened once and it scared me more than anything." The girl shook her head and stood up. "OK, I need to find my spunky, happy energy, because this is getting depressing. Depressed, Sunshine is too out of character for me." That actually brought a small smile to her face. Without thinking she took out his pack of cigs and handed him one, while taking one for herself. "You like movies?"

[wisdom]

”A case of too much honesty not always a good thing? I’d admit that it’ll get you into all manner of shite, but sometimes its a good thing to speak your mind. Let people know where you stand.” He scratched his chin slightly and cast his thoughts back over all the people he’d hurt over the years with the lies he’d told, or the secrets he’d kept. “Honesty might not be the best policy, but sometimes it’s better that than lie your way through life.”

“You think you’re the first to use your power out of being mad? Hell, luv, every mutant has lashed out at some point or other with their gift, whether they meant to or not.” He flicked yet another energy project back into life and let it thump into the floor, leaving a blackened mark and the faint burnt odour to fill the air. “I can channel these things at around six thousand degrees centigrade. Imagine losing control with these, eh? You might feel like you’re alone, and you might feel that if you you’re gift is solely made for hurting people, but as I said. It’s a gift and if you learn to use it, it will be a gift. If you don’t, well you’ll end up hurting someone. And trust me, you with powers like ours you can’t take that hurt back at times.”

He smirked at the sudden change of topic, a smirk that got wider as she pilfered his packet of cigarettes and actually offered one. Whether subconsciously or not, it showed some guts. With a twist of his hand he willed a hot knife back into existence, lighting the cigarette as he placed it in his mouth, taking a long drag before holding his hand out to do likewise with for Penny’s.

“Movies? I suppose, I didn’t really have much time for them growing up, always too busy doing something stupid or landing myself into trouble. Or both. Still, got to say I do have an appreciation for the old Dr No.” James Bond never failed to amuse Pete, it was like watching a really good spoof when you compared it to what the real SIS did on a day to day basis. “What about you? You a... what was his name... Zac Efron fan? He does movies right?”

[Sunshine]

"I have the too much honesty down pat. It's the little white lies that I have an issue with. Just don't ask me if your butt looks big in something. I'll be honest if it does." That made her giggle a bit at the thought of him asking that question. "It's not that I want to lie, I just want to not be compelled to answer honestly." Penny made a face at that and wondered if it made as little sense to him as it did to her. Oh it was bad when you couldn't understand yourself.

"Oh, I know I'm not alone in this, look at Rogue. It's just it would be easier if it wasn't so, against my grain. I mean even at my maddest and worst, it's still a struggle. Sometimes I wish I could just use it, and not think. Then I realize I wouldn't want to and I go confusing myself even more. You know there's a lot out there that confuses me, and it sucks when I confuse myself more." Again with the honesty but then that's one of her many flaws, or quirks depending on how you look at it. "You know the sad thing, I like the way that I am. But when people react..... It makes me second guess myself." She used the blade he held and lit her cigarette. Penny took a drag and blew out a line of smoke. It really was getting easier, maybe a good thing or a bad one she didn't know. All she knew was this was the most she's ever truly told anyone before.

A smile tugged her lips when he started talking about movies. "James Bond, huh? Always prefer Sean Connery. Zac Efron is an actor and I'm a minor fan..... Alright I think he's really cute, but with the shaggy hair, those blue eyes... Yeah I'm shutting up about it now. Um.. music?"

[wisdom]

“The key to lying luv, is to omit the truth and be downright vague with answers.” He shifted once more, altering his balance from foot to foot, not really sure if it was the right thing for a teacher to be telling a student how to lie. Then again, he’d already got her smoking so what was a bit of lying? “Making things up will just over complicated it, and it’ll invariably come round to bite you on the arse if you’re not carefull.” He certainly wasn’t going to be winning any Teacher awards. Did they even do those anymore?

“When I first got my powers, there wasn’t any school like this. Hell, I didn’t even know what a mutant was until a few years ago. Waking up one morning to discover you turned into sorry excuse for a human lighter wouldn’t exactly be listed as a favourable memory, I can tell you... I almost wan-- ” Pete pulled a face as he struggled to explain exactly what he meant, and failed miserably to form the right words, let alone comparison with his life to hers. Another reason he hated kids, what did you say to them at times like these? Suck it up, nobody likes a whiner? It would have been what his parents would of told him had he broached the subject. Still his family would never be confused with a normal one, even when his mother had been alive. “Look, what I’m trying to get at and failing so miserably... Your powers might scare people, regardless if you use them or not, but it doesn’t change who you are and what you can accomplish. Screw them. You know who you are, what you are, and you can be honest when you look yourself in the eye in the mirror. Thats a lot more than I could say when I was your age, hell its probably more than I can say now.”

“Right. Not a fan. Got it. No Zac Efron Fancub membership or anything.” He cocked his head to one side, his eyes twinkling with amusement. “Music? Hmm, I’m not too picky to be honest. As long as it’s not overly complicated, or too repetitive... I’ll listen to it at least once.”

[Sunshine]

Penny couldn't help but smile, it was too in his nature to not curb his instincts. That much was easy to tell, even if his instincts might cause him trouble. "Don't be too upset about telling me this stuff. If you think about it, that's what they do here isn't it? One of us ends up getting busted out there and in comes Professor X to change their mind, omit certain things, and be vague. You aren't teaching me anything differen then the examples already put in place." She hoped that made him feel better, she liked Mr. Wisdom. He was one of the few adults around here that actually talked to a student and didn't 'counse' them. Sometimes kids just needed someone to talk to, not someone to guide them.

A frown tugged her lips. "Go back to sleep and pray it was all a bad dream? End it before it got worse? That kind of thing?" Penny had never contemplated suicide but she did enjoy a disheartening bout of 'what if', and it never really made her feel much better. "You aren't failing, sometimes its nice to know that you don't have all the answers. Makes you see more... human." Her lips twitched at the word and then she sighed softly. "At least when people look at me they see me. You know what I mean? That's something that has to be good. It's just hard sometimes." The worst of it was that people complain that there aren't any decent people anymore. Then you confront them with one and they freak out. She let out a small laugh. "I think being a ball of sunshine scares them more than my gift does."

"Minor fan. I'm a minoring in fandom, with a major in hottie watching." Her smile got even bigger. "I'll listen to anything once and if it catches my interest I'll listen again. I prefer songs with a good beat and lyrics I can understand. Can't sing in the shower if I don't know the words."