The World is a Scary Place

by **Salma Tournier** » Wed Apr 11, 2012 3:39 pm

Salma was lost in her thoughts as she stared at some of the headline news on TV. Sudden conflicts springing up, crops dying...she reached up and felt her rosary in her jacket pocket, clutching it.

"Excuse me, miss? What do you want? Miss?" The cook in the line hot food line tried to get her attention.

"Oh, sorry. I'll take the chicken panini."

by **Zachary Flint** » Wed Apr 11, 2012 3:43 pm

"I wouldn't worry about things too much." Zach was in the line right behind Salma, having caught her staring up at the news. "If I noticed anything at all since being here, the X-men have conquered many obstacles such at this."

by **Salma Tournier** » Wed Apr 11, 2012 3:47 pm

"I know they have, but they don't always succeed." She looked down, chewing on her lip, and then looked back up at Zach. "Sorry, guess I should have a little more faith."

by **Zachary Flint** » Wed Apr 11, 2012 4:38 pm

"This is true. Nothing's ever quite absolute." He smiled a little. "No need to be sorry. I can understand the concern or worry. None of this is an easy task I'm sure."

by **Salma Tournier** » Wed Apr 11, 2012 4:47 pm

"Probably not. Do you have anyone else to sit with?"

by **Zachary Flint** » Wed Apr 11, 2012 4:59 pm

He gathered the food he was going to it, which was nothing but a sub and some chips. He paused for a moment. "Oh. No. Uh...I'm sorry if I came off too familiar or anything."

by **Salma Tournier** » Wed Apr 11, 2012 5:08 pm

"It's fine, I don't have anyone to sit with either," she replied, smiling a little. She waited on her pressed sandwich to be finished before walking with Zach to a table. "I'm Salma, by the way."

by **Zachary Flint** » Wed Apr 11, 2012 5:40 pm

He followed Salma over to the table and sat down. "It's nice to meet you Salma. I'm Zach."

by **Salma Tournier** » Wed Apr 11, 2012 7:10 pm

"So, it sounds like you've been here a while."

by **Zachary Flint** » Wed Apr 11, 2012 8:14 pm

"Not too long honestly. How about you? I don't believe I've seen you around. Not that I've really been out and about."

by **Salma Tournier** » Wed Apr 11, 2012 8:26 pm

"I only got here earlier this summer. It wasn't quite by choice, but I can't complain, since I was rescued."

by **Zachary Flint** » Wed Apr 11, 2012 8:34 pm

"Rescued? I'm sorry you were in some sort of bad predicament before."

He wanted to ask much more, curiosity getting to him as always. He decided just one question would do. "Who's the hero?"

by **Salma Tournier** » Wed Apr 11, 2012 8:49 pm

"Oh, it's okay. And there were several. Two of them were named Calvin and Taliyah. Both of them were with the X-Men that went into space and, um...never came back."

by **Zachary Flint** » Wed Apr 11, 2012 9:47 pm

"Oh. I'm very sorry then.." He frowned, not particularly wanting to dwell on this subject, at least, for Salma's sake.

"So, are you a mutant?" He asked noticing the lens over her eye and arm, thinking maybe she was more of a cyborg than mutant probably.

by **Salma Tournier** » Wed Apr 11, 2012 9:57 pm

She nodded. "Thermokinesis. Do you prefer warmer weather, or cooler?"

by **Zachary Flint** » Wed Apr 11, 2012 10:02 pm

"Oh. That's pretty useful. I think I prefer cooler. If it's ever too cold, you can always put on more clothing or just wear something warmer."

by **Salma Tournier** » Wed Apr 11, 2012 10:05 pm

"Very well." Salma closed her eyes, and the space around the table became ever-so-slightly cooler.

"It does feel nice to do that during summer. I stopped using my powers for a while, so I almost forgot what it was like to do that. It's something that I should get over, I think." She forced a smile, though Zach could probably see nervousness underneath.

"What do you do?"

by **Zachary Flint** » Wed Apr 11, 2012 10:38 pm

He smirked at the display of power. "That's really convenient."

"Oh? Do you not like using them? Or just not really a need?" He asked.

"Psychometry. I can see the history that's happened around and object."

by **Salma Tournier** » Thu Apr 12, 2012 2:17 pm

"Don't worry about it. It's good for me to do that, I need to get over how hesitant I am with my power."

"And that's cool, it sounds like your power would have a lot of useful applications. Like figuring out who stole something. Or who left the milk sitting out on the counter," she said, grinning.

by **Zachary Flint** » Thu Apr 12, 2012 3:00 pm

"Does it have some sort of negative aspect to it?" He asked, curious about why she was hesitant.

"Well, it just so happened my power emerged when I was helping my father with a murder case. I've used it for a lot of good." Salma's comment made him chuckle. "Yes. The 'who stole the cookie from the cookie jar' thing gets rather boring if I'm there."

by **Salma Tournier** » Thu Apr 12, 2012 3:17 pm

"And no one can really get into 'he said, she said' arguments around you either. As my power, I've just had some bad experiences with it, is all."

by **Zachary Flint** » Thu Apr 12, 2012 3:22 pm

"True. The real kicker to my power is I can have anyone else with me actually watch the history of the object, as though it was alive and truly happening right then."

He sighed. "I understand. Mine has left me with a lot of things that can no longer be unseen."

by **Salma Tournier** » Thu Apr 12, 2012 4:47 pm

"That sounds neat. Maybe you can show me something sometime that you know will be pleasant."

by **Zachary Flint** » Thu Apr 12, 2012 4:57 pm

"Hm." Zach considers this for a moment. "I suppose so. Actually, I could show you some of your own pleasant memories if you have any items that was around when they occurred."

by **Salma Tournier** » Thu Apr 12, 2012 5:32 pm

Salma thought about that for a minute. Definitely none of her cybernetics. Her techno-wand would just remind her too much of Cal.

She reached into her pocket and drew out her rosary beads. "How about this?"

by **Zachary Flint** » Thu Apr 12, 2012 5:41 pm

"That'll do." He held out a hand so he could take them from Salma. "Is there a particular memory you're like to see? Just tell me a little about it and mainly, when it was and I'll find it."

by **Salma Tournier** » Thu Apr 12, 2012 6:34 pm

"It was my...15th birthday, I think. That was when my mother gave it to me."

by **Zachary Flint** » Thu Apr 12, 2012 7:05 pm

"Hm.." That was outside his usual limit but it's not like he always attempted playbacks that far. At the very least, he'd get to show her the memories if there wasn't a full playback. He reached out his other hand, wanting Salma to take it as he started going back through the history that took place in the bead's presence.

As soon as Salma touched him, she'd see everything he could. It was a bit messy at first. Random flashes of events seemed to shoot by them, only in reverse. It was just images for now but that was soon met with voices. He did his best to make sure things about Calvin were skipped as much as possible. Suddenly, there was silence and every turned dark when they both disappeared..making a large jump before they appeared, right where Salma desired. They were now dead center in the middle of her birthday. The history rewinding through the time of her birthday, as he tried to find a good spot towards the beginning of the memory before finally letting it play out.

A sharp pain shot through his head but Zach didn't seem like he was phased. "Here we are..you can walk around and watch whatever you want to see though nothing you do will interfere with what happened."

by **Salma Tournier** » Thu Apr 12, 2012 7:32 pm

"Yeah, this is it! Wow, how neat. There's my mom. It was really sweet of her to buy this for me. My parents are sort of a mixed marriage, you see; Dad's Catholic, Mom's Muslim. I wound up going more with my dad's faith, but she told me that would respect my decision, and that she was proud of me...Mon Dieu, even this is making me miss home," she said with a little smile. "Thank you for showing this to me. Again."

by **Zachary Flint** » Thu Apr 12, 2012 7:36 pm

He gave a nod though it seemed his eyes were closed and he focused on keeping the memory up. "You're very welcome. Just let me know when you're ready to go back."

by **Salma Tournier** » Thu Apr 12, 2012 7:52 pm

"Go ahead, relax. I've seen what I wanted to see."

by **Zachary Flint** » Thu Apr 12, 2012 7:57 pm

Zach let out a sigh of relief as the memory faded, and they were sitting back at the cafeteria table.

by **Salma Tournier** » Thu Apr 12, 2012 8:18 pm

"That's amazing."

by **Zachary Flint** » Thu Apr 12, 2012 8:28 pm

"It is rather neat." He said, grabbing a napkin as he wiped some blood that ran from his nose.

by **Salma Tournier** » Thu Apr 12, 2012 9:36 pm

"Oh no! I didn't mean for you to have to hurt yourself or anything!"

by **Zachary Flint** » Thu Apr 12, 2012 10:13 pm

"It's quite alright. I wasn't expecting to really. Least not blood anyway. Headaches are pretty common for teeps of any sort."

by **Salma Tournier** » Thu Apr 12, 2012 11:14 pm

"Oh, I see. Well, if I ever ask for you to rewind something again, I'll make sure it's more recent."

by **Zachary Flint** » Thu Apr 12, 2012 11:19 pm

"It's fine honestly. I should practice it much for frequently, if I plan on it being stronger at some point."

He thought for a moment. "Have you been to the Danger Room? We could both practice our powers in there sometime."

by **Salma Tournier** » Fri Apr 13, 2012 12:11 am

"I've been told that's what I should do, but I've, uh, never gotten around to it. We can meet there sometime though, sure."

by **Zachary Flint** » Fri Apr 13, 2012 1:38 am

"It's a great way to test your limits. Whether for general usage or combat of course."

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