Staircase, My Old Nemesis

[Tallulah Wright]

For reasons obvious, Tallulah had long stopped using stairs. At the very least did she avoid them when she had an alternative, but there was also a pretty big chance she just gave up the idea to go somewhere altogether if she had no other way to get there. Even if, by chance, she could climb them, the time necessary made the effort completely useless. Why tire when there’s an elevator nearby?

She could use stairs now. She never thought she’d be nervous and excited at the thought of it. How long had it been, a little more than four years? Four years of finding alternative routes. Who would have thought she’d miss stairs!

Tallulah was staring down at the staircase. She was still a little wobbly on her leg at time. She wasn’t used to it. Over the years, she changed the way she balanced her body, even with the crutches. As if it wasn’t enough to study like in a regular school and train her power, she now had to learn to walk. “Come on Tal. You’ve done some before with that rehab therapist. Okay, it wasn’t as long, and the distance between the two ramps wasn’t so big, but you can do it,” she pep-talked herself. She was right though, she could barely hold both sides at the same time. She’d have to do it on the right. She took a deep breath and, after getting a firm hold, put down her foot on the first step. Then put her weight on it. She stopped a moment, analyzed the situation. It was good. Now, for the other one. It went just as smoothly. She sighed out of relief and a small smile formed on her lips. She only had to keep going like this, one foot at a time and then...

“AH!!!” she exclaimed as she fell down. Her right ‘foot’ had not been on the step enough and she slipped and fell hard on her butt. She groaned. She knew she was lucky but it hurt. Holding against the ramp, she lifted herself a bit to rub her lower back that grazed against the step. It would appear stairs would remain her enemy for a little while longer.

[Tami Mullins]

If there was an elevator nearby, most people avoided the stairs altogether. Why tire yourself out when you could have a mechanical platform raise and lower you without you needing to do a single thing? There was definitely an appeal to that, Tami could see. There was one issue that came with it though: everyone rode the elevator. Rather than get crammed into a tiny space with a bunch of strangers (and have that many exposed to her powers) she opted to be healthy and exercise her legs a little.

“It’s not that bad.” Tami observed to herself while climbing up the stairs. Really, she couldn’t see why everyone ranted about how terrible stairs were. It wasn’t like they had to climb a mountain or something. People were just getting spoiled by the elevator. It didn’t seem like Tami was alone though.

“AH!!!”

The scream was followed by a dull thud noise that Tami could only guess was someone falling down. Suddenly her footsteps came a little faster as she hiked up to find the source. It turned out to be a girl. One who was missing a foot, which might have had to do with her falling. But at the moment Tami wouldn’t care if she was a complete robot; she’d heard that thump. “Are you okay?” She question in a slow, concerned voice. “I’ve gotten well acquainted with the floor too, so I recognized the sound when I heard it."

[Tallulah Wright]

Tallulah’s small consolation was that nobody saw her. That would have been embarrassing. Or worse, they could start pity her and try to help her. She didn’t want that. She didn’t want to use people as crutches all of her life. She needed to learn to climb stairs, up or down, on her own. As she rubbed her wounded flesh, because the ego was a lot harder to physically rub, she almost laughed at the thought of someone walking in on her from behind. The sight they must have!

People didn’t come from above but under though, as she heard footsteps coming her way. She sighed but she knew there was no helping it. In the end, maybe it was for the best. It could be good to have someone there to prevent she wouldn’t fall, this time perhaps even head first. That ought to hurt a great deal more, and not only to the ego. As it turned out, it was a girl who was shorter than her. Maybe not the best choice to have, but the only one she had. She knew she let out a scream, yet no one was there other than her. Either the staircase was more soundproof than she imagined or she really was the only one available.

“I’m fine, just fell,” she explained. She was not going to use her leg as an excuse for what happened, even if it was the thing at fault. She wanted to get up and ended up with the same problem she had when she started going down: the distance between the wall and the ramp. Had it been more like her, she would have cursed. As it turned out, she preferred to do with what she had here. She held against the ramp, ready to pull her weight up until she could stand, but the girl talked and it made her stop to stare at her. Who gets well acquainted with the floor? And does a body falling down really have a significant sound? Maybe, it was not like she ever paid attention to that. “Could you just...” she began. Before pausing. It may not be best but she was her only option. She waved her hand towards the ramp. “Stand in front of me, so you can hold me if I’m too unstable?” She didn't want the girl to carry her or help her up, just to be there and help her maintain her balance. She should be able to do that.

[Tami Mullins]

There was the look that told Tami her wording had baffled a person. Frankly she was surprised at how little that expression had been appearing. In a really weird way it was refreshing to see again. Things felt more “normal,” whatever that really meant. So Tami still smiled a little at the girl instead of getting offended by her stare.

The answer she gave was short, to say the least. Though Tami didn’t know this girl well at all (it was the first time she’d ever seen her), she had a feeling she was the proud sort. Not in a bad way, but it was a feeling the girl liked being independent. Which was why Tami didn’t try helping her up automatically. She’d found that some people didn’t exactly like that.

The girl did ask for help though. Not a direct sort of help, but more indirect. It as clear she wanted to do this with as little outside intervention as possible. Tami hummed and nodded, standing where the girl had indicated. “Sure thing.” She replied easily. She could've added terms to her help, like the other girl's name for starters, but that felt flat out rude.

[Tallulah Wright]

Tallulah chose to ignore the thoughts going in her head, guessing just how many times this girl fell or if she knew the sound because she actually made others fall, and focused on what was more important: getting out of here before a swarm of students walked in. Not only would she be embarrassed of adding any more witness to her failed attempt at walking down the stairs but she’d also be blocking the way and she didn’t want risking falling all over again because they pushed her out of their way.

She was a tad embarrassed to ask for help. Tallulah didn’t want to call herself prideful but she wanted to do things by herself. She preferred to appear prideful in fact than to sound like she was taking advantage of her handicap to get others to do everything for her. Maybe this was that kind of mentality was wrong but she had yet reached the balance between the two. Still, the idea of repeating the little accident, perhaps with greater damage this time, had her understand another pair of hands could be useful. She just didn’t want the girl to start holding her and helping her up. That, she wanted to do on her own.

The girl agreed to help and Tallulah nodded once she was standing where she asked her to. Grabbing the ramp with both hands, she pulled herself up so that her foot could be on the step and then lifted herself until she was standing. The wobbly part she expected happened, but this was what the girl was there for. Once she stabilized, Tallulah let out a soft sigh, glad to be out of this one. She then eyed the girl and gave her a small smile. “Thank you. I think I’ll go up for now,” she said, as she analyzed the distance with one quick glance. A few steps versus several, the choice was easy. “I’ve got the leg not too long ago. I thought I was ready but I think I need a bit more training,” she explained to the girl as she turned to get up one step. She then turned to look at her. Her smile was a bit bigger this time. “Thank you,” she repeated. Having her behind could be useful, in case she once again lost her balance but she didn’t want to force her too. She had no idea whether she was going up or down before hearing her and didn’t want to take on her time if she had something else to do.

[Tami Mullins]

Tami waited patiently where she stood, whether or not she’d be used by the other girl for support or not. She wasn’t about to rush things or feel offended if the stranger didn’t actually need her help directly. It seemed hard enough for her to ask for someone to just stand there in the first place. One she was up, Tami smiled a little more in a faint bit of approval. No doubt the other girl wouldn’t need or care about how Tami felt, but it was impressive to see how determined she was.

Tami nodded when she decided to go up the stairs instead of down, which was her initial direction judging from the way she’d been facing. “I’ve no doubt you’ll need no assistance in no time at all.” She responded upon the other’s explanation. If she was as determined to get used to things as she had been getting up through her own power, Tami honestly felt like this wouldn’t be a problem to occur again.

Smiling at the thanks, Tami shrugged while heading up the steps too. “It’s no trouble. Anything to help, if you want it.” She offered kindly. Though her naturally instinct was to help immediately, she’d hold off as best as she could. “Could I ask your name?"

[Tallulah Wright]

Just the fact she had someone there to help in case something happened reassured Tallulah enough that she didn’t really need the girl in the end. It was easy not to be as tensed when you knew someone could pick you up, she didn't have to start imagining what would happen should she fall with no one in sight to help. She still doubted the girl could properly lift her up but she could at least find someone who could and that was still more than what Tallulah could have done on her own. Still, she was glad she didn't need any of that. Maybe that attempt didn't work but she couldn’t entirely call that a failure. She did a little and was content. It was a first attempt on her own after all, she couldn’t really expect to get all the stairs. Okay, she had hoped to walk down all the stairs but she’ll take what she accomplished, be happy of this and leave it at that.

The other girl thought right, Tallulah was determined. She didn’t want her handicap to prevent her from doing anything or make her different from anybody else. She often found encouragements to sound too patronizing or as though the other pitied her. Not in this case. She smiled to the young redhead as she expressed her opinion that she’d soon be able to climb those stairs. She even nodded with determination at that. It was a part of her life she had to live with but she didn’t want it to define who she was or control her. She’d control it.

She was thankful that the girl didn't ask anything about the leg. She was barely looking at the prosthetic either and Tallulah didn’t feel it was out of awkwardness. It was nice to know there were people like that. “Tallulah,” she answered. “What’s yours?” She hesitated a moment but, since the girl had helped this much already, she figured she could risk it. “If you’re going up... would you mind following me? Just in case.”

[Tami Mullins]

Tami earned a smile for her words, and that was pretty nice to get. She smiled back of course and made sure the girl was okay the rest of the way up. Not that it really looked like she needed any assistance. Once she’d gotten the hang of it she appeared to be doing pretty well for herself. However the hidden inner worry wart kept Tami following even if she was fairly sure her “job” here was pointless.

“Tallulah.” Tami tested curiously before nodding. “It’s a very pretty name. Mine is Tami, so we share a T.” She introduced with a kind smile. She’d never heard Tallulah’s name before; Tami was sure she’d remember the girl. Now that they were facing each other, Tami could see the moment of hesitance in Tallulah’s expression. Tami stayed patient though her ever strong curiosity was piqued.

“I wouldn’t mind at all.” She assured once the question was asked. She was extremely certain the other girl wouldn’t need it, but if it gave her comfort then Tami was only too happy to oblige. “Might as well make use of our shared direction. Were you trying to get to a class?"

[Tallulah Wright]

Climbing up the stairs proved easier than walking them down. She was grateful for this, for she knew she still had to go slow. She spent the past four years with crutches, it forced her to change her balance to fit her new state. Now, she had to change her balance again and she understood it was no task she’d achieve quickly. Tallulah considered herself patient but she still thought it took a long time.

“Yes,” Tallulah said with a short nod, getting that she was only repeating her name. Tallulah felt as though she never said her name as often as she was this year. So many new things were happening to her it would seem, including getting a bit more sociable. She actually liked it as she never considered herself a hermit. She gave Tami a small smile but preferred to focus on getting up the stairs for now. Once that was done, it would be a lot safer for her to put her attention on something, or someone, else. It was not like she feared falling over anymore. Unless someone pushed her, but that was an entirely different matter.

She gave her a grateful smile as she accepted to help. “Thank you,” she said before shaking her head at her question. “Not really. That’s why I’m here, I was hoping to try a little. I got tired doing it on a treadmill with a physical therapist around.” She stopped herself though after that. Maybe Tami could smile at this or admire her determination, but she doubted she could really understand all that it meant. She was walking on two legs, she never had to walk on less and probably never considered a staircase like the ultimate enemy. “I’m not slowing you down, am I? I mean, if you have something important to do, I can manage. I can’t really go fast. Well, I could but that wouldn’t be very safe...”

[Tami Mullins]

Tami only received a smile for what she first said, but she didn’t mind. Tallulah was clearly focusing on the stairs, and Tami wouldn’t try to actively distract her from that. Once they got to the top it was easier for the two to talk. Tami even got a thanks for her “help,” which she smiled at. “No problem.” She said easily with a little shrug. She really hadn’t done all that much anyways.

Ah yes, Tami had been very right with her theory on independence. “Getting up to try it on your one is only half the battle, I would imagine.” It really was admirable, even if Tami couldn’t particularly relate. Here she stood on two fully functioning legs, while this girl only had one and another made of metal.No, she couldn’t truly understand, but she could at least commend the other girl for her strength to try. If anything happened to Tami, she’d hope she could approach it with the same sort of determination this girl did.

Slowly Tami shook her head, dismissing the other girl’s apparent worry. “Not at all. I could simply explain I was helping another student, if my teacher really gets into a huff about it.” She said with another shrug of her shoulders and a friendly smile. “I wouldn’t want to rush you, especially if you don’t think it’s safe. Go at whatever pace is comfortable.” In complete honesty Tami couldn’t care less if she was late for class. Besides, she was genuinely interested by the girl she’d met.

“Have you been in the academy long? I’ve only been here since last year, so I can’t tell a fresh face from the crowd just yet.” Tami asked. There was still a vast majority of people she’d never met around the school’s grounds.

[Tallulah Wright]

Tallulah was eager to walk around without any help. That included climbing stairs, or anything that would require that kind of movement, of course. Doing it in physical therapy was nice and all but it would be useless if she couldn’t do it in her everyday life. Maybe she was going a little too fast, her fall told her as much, but she had to try. She didn't see the point of having a prosthetic leg if all she did with it was to cover it up with pants and pretend she had two legs like everyone else. “Well, I’ll be alone to climb stairs so I need to be able to do that,” she sort of agreed with Tami. She was not entirely sure if she liked her support, to be honest. It wasn’t against the girl, she just tended to see it as pity and hated that.

“Yes, I suppose you could,” she admitted as Tami assured it was no burden. “You can say it was me. They all pretty much know for my state, it’s not like they wouldn’t understand. I don’t mind,” she assured her. She might not like people using her like that, but if she really was responsible for Tami to be late at anything important, she preferred she was honest and explained the situation.

As Tami suggested, Tallulah went at her own pace. It might be slow but it was better than to rush things and risk falling down or hurting herself more. Or worse, damaging the leg. She didn’t know the exact cost of the thing but she knew what her mother sacrificed for in order to get her one. “Hmm, that would be about three years now,” she answered. So she was new in some way. She said it had been a year herself. “You must start getting your bearings then. The first year is always the hardest, so much to get used to. You’ll be able to meet more people now,” she assured her. Tallulah might not have a great deal of friends but she knew it was more due to her reserved nature than anything else. “How do you like it here so far?”

[Tami Mullins]

”I would hate to place blame on anyone directly.” Was all Tami answered with. She shrugged too, as if it didn’t matter too much. it would seem too much like tattling and Tami wouldn’t want to do something like that. If she was really pressed for details (which she sincerely doubted she would be) then she could go into some specifics without pointing out any names. It simply didn’t sit right with her, odd as it might’ve sounded.

A three year student, was she? That meant she certainly had more experience with the goings-on in the academy. “The first year was certainly hard.” Tami agreed, though she titled her head to the side for a moment and hummed with consideration. “Though perhaps not as hard as it could’ve been. My power helped me a lot, I’m sure.” Though there was no guarantee Tami would’ve acted any different without her powers. She’d been fairly mellow from the very start. “But I always love meeting new people.” She flashed Tallulah a wider, warmer smile at this.

“I love it here.” It was frank but it was truth. “Although what I have might not be the most obvious in comparison to others, I feel very much at home here. I always had a feeling there was something off about me yet I could never quite put my finger on it.” Tami admitted it freely with a careless shrug. “Now I’m around people who are the same, more or less. What about you? You’ve been here longer; how do you like it?"

[Tallulah Wright]

Tallulah shook her head at Tami’s scruples. “I’m not forcing you to. But the teachers know me, they can understand should they say anything,” she explained to her. Helping another student was pretty vague. And not always a good excuse. Helping her, who could yet climb stairs on her own it would seem, was far more excusable. At the same time, Tami didn’t seem all that stressed out about being late. It was as if she thought that should she be late, she’d be late. If she had that kind of mentality, then Tallulah didn’t mind she kept her name quiet.

Tallulah nodded her head in agreement. The first year was the worst. She had no idea there existed such thing as mutants, other than in moves or comics. She was also used to a simpler lifestyle, it took her a long time to accept the fact she could enjoy everything the school had to offer without it costing more than if she did not. Plus she never had been separated from her mother. She hoped the woman was doing fine. She wouldn’t be surprised if she put a strong front for her daughter. Tallulah learned this from her mother after all. “Oh really? Your power is easy t control?” Some had that luck. In some way, Tallulah did, if you ignored the headaches, migraines and minor nosebleeds she had while training. It was not always ‘on’ like some people. This was definitely a plus.

She understood Tami was talking of their encounter and she smiled back. “Yes, it’s nice. A little intimidating at first, but nice.” She could have said she was happy to have met Tami, but she thought it was clear. Tami talked some more, giving Tallulah a better view of her personality. “I had no idea myself,” she shared. The only difference she ever thought she had with others, it was an accident that caused it, not some genetic joke. She paused a moment to think about the question. “I do like it. But I also miss home. I like what it offered me. I never could have had any of this otherwise,” she said, waving her hand at the school itself. She didn’t want to sound so materialistic. “I’ll have a better shot at life and it’s weird to think I owe it all to some weird power that showed up one day.”

[Tami Mullins]

”Okay.” Was all Tami saw fit to answer Tallulah with. While she could appreciate the other girl’s offer to use her name so Tami wouldn’t get in trouble, she really didn’t need it. If she was late, she was late. Tallulah would have been right on that: Tami didn’t really care too much. Besides, she wasn’t really know for lying. She’d come clean about skipping class to visit with service dogs the one day. Why would she lie about helping someone else?

The question about Tami’s powers got the girl humming once more. “I suppose that’s true. I can’t exactly turn it off, either on me or anyone particularly close to me.” Which meant, depending on how close Tallulah was, it might be affecting the girl Tami walked with at that moment. “I can manipulate ‘tranquility’ in a person, to put it easily. So it’s not nearly as dangerous as, say, someone with fire manipulation. Control isn’t as necessary, I suppose. Though I do try to learn more about my power.” Which was why she had signed up to work with a certain Turkish trainer (among other reasons).

Despite their somewhat “rocky” start, the two looked like they were getting along. That was enough to widen Tami’s smile further. A new friend was always a good thing in her eyes. Patiently she listened to Tallulah’s answer, and she had a fair point. “The school does offer a lot.” Tami hummed, slowly nodding her head. “As you’ve said, some might’ve never gotten anything like this. I’m fairly certain I would be included in that list. That and the people you can meet here are from all different walks of life.” Something that could really be fascinating with the level of diversity, not even including transfers. “Although none of us share the exact same mutant gene, it still serves as what’s connected us all together. To think I would’ve never known anyone here if my genetic makeup were only a little different; it’s a little fascinating. How different would my life have been, I wonder?” Once again Tami was speaking to herself more than her company.

However she did snap out of it soon enough to give Tallulah a warm smile. “For that reason alone though, I think I’m grateful for my power. When everyone’s odd, no one is."

[Tallulah Wright]

Tallulah knew she had one thing going on for her, she needed to concentrate for her power to take effect. If she didn’t forced a mental image into someone’s mind, and if she didn’t look at them in the eyes, it didn’t work. She didn’t have something she had to deal with on a permanent basis. She could even not use it at all and pretend to be normal, no one would ever know. Tami apparently didn’t have this luck. “It must be hard no? Not being able to control when it works?” She was then given an explanation as to what type of power she had. It was a thing? At the same time, she thought it made sense. Didn’t some recruiters have something similar, like a soothing voice or a calming touch? “In a way, you can say that for a power than cannot be ‘turned off’, you’ve got an easy one? I don’t know how those who can always hear people’s thoughts or feel their emotions must feel. That has to be tough.”

For a moment, she was lost in her mind, thinking about this, but she quickly shook her head. “I can generate illusions. But I need to look into someone’s eyes for it to work, so it’s not really about control for me and more about learning to break people’s mental barrier to make it work.” She added a little nod. She had very little control actually. She couldn’t clearly determine what they’d see or for how long. She understood why she needed to train but seeing how she had little desire to use her power once she’d be out of here, she didn’t really see why she should put a lot of effort into it. She wasn’t as curious as Tami it seemed. But, of course, if her power had more effect on people, and if she controlled it less, she’d want to learn more too.

Tallulah agreed to what Tami added about the school. It was rare to see people who’d be normally in private schools sit next to one who could barely afford the minimum cost of education. In here, it could happen. She didn’t think it was a bad thing. Not only were they all ‘special’ for having powers, but it may just help break a bit of that massive wall between the wealthy and the not-so-lucky ones. “I know, right? I wonder the same thing about my life too at times. There are a lot of things I miss from home but I also know there are a lot of things I’d miss from here once I will leave.” Tallulah wanted to agree with Tami about what she said, but that last bit didn’t sound quite right for her. True, they were all not all that special since everyone here had a power, but she was odd amongst the odd ones, because of her physical state. She looked down as she thought of this. She didn’t want to be defeated by this, but she knew people would never look at her quite in the same way as they would anyone else. “Some are a little odder than others.”