Asli sipped at her fruity drink and engaged in one of her personal favorite leisure activities, outside of reading or engaging in various meditation practices, anyway. She watched the various people milling about Kalispell's relatively modest indoor shopping facility; she believed the Americans called them "malls." Asli had visited more out of curiosity than anything, and she couldn't help but be slightly amused by the hustle and bustle of the place.
But not too far away, Asli could hear something distracting her from her relatively peaceful meal. There were several young teenagers, likely locals, but possibly from the school, being rather loud and obnoxious. Asli supposed that they were mostly self-contained, and that she truly should keep to herself. Yet she couldn't quite help herself.
A little twist of anger, build on some resentment. A dash of jealousy. Just a pinch of paranoia. Finish with some despair.
And now the teenagers were erupting in full blown drama. Asli smiled and raised her drink to take another sip, thoroughly enjoying the result of her actions.
Starbucks firmly in hand, Asher meandered down the tiled halls of the Kalispell Center Mall, dodging gaggles of teenagers, parents with strollers, and couples clinging to the other's hand, his path toward the sunglass store set. He had managed to escape Bellefonte for a few blessed hours, granting his tired muscles a relief from their constant aches and pains. Around the human citizens of Kalispell, Asher suffered no pain or headaches, nor did his sinuses rebel to keep him from breathing; yet he was unable to breathe easily among them. Asher was still a professor at "that mutant school," and despite the generally welcoming attitudes among town, Montana was overwhelmingly Republican and isolationist. How long would it be until Kalispell turned against Bellefonte? Against mutants? The worry nearly set his muscles aching again.
A commotion arose as Asher passed the mall's small food court, catching the attentions of nearly every bystander walking by. While scenes of teenage drama were commonplace at Bellefonte, this confrontation was particularly vehement. The crowd gasped as one of the teenage girls grabbed her drink and launched its contents at the boy standing across from her. Soda splattered the boy's clothing and struck a passing stranger, drawing gasps and ire from the crowd. Asher smirked and sipped his coffee. It was a pity that his phone hadn't been recording the encounter from its outset; he might have sold the footage to MTV for a tidy profit.
He looked about the food court and surrounding crowds, smiling at the various reactions. The mall-goers were obviously unaccustomed to the daily dramas of high schoolers. Well, save for the young woman sitting alone in the food court. Asher smirked as her recognized a rather pleased-looking Asli sitting alone with a drink and a book. He walked through the crowd and pulled out a chair at Asli's table before she could object, settling in beside her.
"Extracurricular practice, Asli?"
Last Edit: Nov 18, 2016 19:36:59 GMT by Asher MacAra
Asher MacAra, interim head of training and instructor of philosophy. Asli would have been able to identify him even before she came here; her mentor had made certain she knew most of the major figures. not that Asli wouldn't have checked herself; she was quite curious as to who was involved in the happy little accepting town of Kalispell. She wasn't quite sure how to handle him in particular, given how difficult he could be to read, particularly when he focused.
For now though, Asli let her power venture into its natural state of scanning. "You would have quite a time proving that, hoca MacAra," she said, her eyes flicking. "Teenagers are quite volatile, after all." she tapped her drink again, before glancing back to Asher, nodding slightly. "But a little practice to keep the skills sharp is nothing more than a necessity, yes?" She arched her brow at that, knowing she'd phrased it in a slightly confusing manner (sometimes English did prove frustrating, even for an adept like Asli).
A veil of calm, sterile and unnatural, descended over Asher as his full attention turned to Asli; his eyes glazed over, his breathing regulated, and the frantic activity appeared to slow, even the teenagers' antics fading into the background. Emotions faded until only calm remained, and Asher's lips fell into a gentle smile. A psychic shield might have been more appropriate, but the raw potential of Ms. Tami Mullins' tranquility was undeniable. Asher enjoyed another long sip of coffee and leaned as far back as his chair would allow.
He nodded along with Asli's reply, accepting her responses even as he prepared his counterpoints. Asli was a promising trainer: her ability could control others from within, and her tenacity pushed her to self-improvement. Not every test was about the results, though. The means mattered.
"I've no need to prove anything. You're quite right: teenagers are emotionally fragile," he replied, changing the words ever so slightly to establish his point. Regardless of how mature a teenager appeared or presented themselves, they remained children, and to experiment on children... Asher did not have the time nor inclination to lecture a graduate student on moral philosophy or ethics, but a few well-placed reminders served a similar purpose.
"Practice is always welcome. I encourage students to practice their abilities together; we do need to ease our community's worries, after all." Asher raised an eyebrow, juxtaposed by his overly-peaceful grin.
The emotions, or lack thereof, coming from Asher now. It did strike her as slightly familiar, and it took the Turkish transplant a few seconds more to recognize Tami Mullen's power in action. It was rare to see it self-inflicted, but as Asli had seen it in action, she definitely could identify it now. Quite the interesting counter indeed.
"Indeed, so... unstable,' Asli offered, sounding more as if she were closer to Asher's age instead of being just a year or two shy of being a teenager herself. The edges of her lips twitched yet again as she thought something very much along those lines. Her slight amusement didn't decrease as Asher continued.
"In that, we most definitely concur," Asli said, nodding. "At some point we must show that we have control over our abilities, else we will never succeed in a real world setting. The schools can only provide so much. "Of course, Asli would rather opt for the mutants to take a more.. active role, but that didn't need to be outright stated, surely.
Again, Asli returned to simplifying the emotional needs of children to instability - a simplification which, under different circumstances, might have prompted frustration or annoyance; unfortunately, the bliss of the beautiful, Montana day and precious hours away from aching muscles and migraines supplied only a chuckle and a smile. Or perhaps that was the tranquility. Asher assumed it very well might be, but it hardly mattered. He was enjoying a warm cup of coffee and the delightful company of trainer out on the town. All was well.
"Control is always important, but do you know what is necessary?"
Asher posited the question and immediately took another sip of coffee, patiently enjoying the brew and the lingering silence of a well-placed rhetorical question. Speaking of rhetorical questions... Asher smiled as the concept of a well-planned Socratic seminar came to the forefront of his thoughts. Why not have a seminar on ethics for this week's training classes? Give the kids something to think about.
He sighed and relaxed into his chair once more, content with the invention of a new lesson.
"Restraint, Asli. Restraint is necessary," he finally answered. Asher turned to the young woman beside him and smiled, "We didn't ask for what was given to us, but we nonetheless must recognize when it is morally acceptable to use these abilities."
Joy, a philosophy discussion. Asli couldn't help but be amused, given that she knew full well that her own personal philosophies, and by extension the philosophies of her institution, clashed oh so wonderfully with the ones espoused by, well, the man sitting across from her. It didn't help that his emotions remained elusive, leaving Asli with just her normal abilities to read conversations.
"I would have perhaps said knowledge myself," Asli offered. "The knowledge of knowing when and where and how to utilize your powers. Why bother restraining something when you are quite knowledgeable about how to use it properly? Besides, I believe our ideas of when it is morally acceptable to use powers are decidedly different."
in that Asli saw no reason not to manipulate people whenever it could benefit her, such as now, when it could diminish some of her boredom. These beings were lesser, a lesson that somehow those from Bellefonte had not quite managed to learn.
"I'm sure you're aware of old mythologies? And how the gods interact with man?" At that, Asli had to smirk a little, before reaching for her drink to take another sip.
Hubris. Pride was a dangerous trait for so talented a student. While Asli's abilities were decidedly well-controlled, her wanton disregard for the well-being of others was problematic; it was also emblematic of Ishvaras' dogmatic creed that those born with abilities were greater in worth than those without. The ideology was a toxic one, and Asher might have been more worried about Asli's insistence on its truth were he not so blissfully relaxed. Different beliefs aside, Asli was an effective trainer and recruiter; Asher simply wished that Bellefonte might have been her first school.
He smiled a warm grin and shrugged off the air of conflict between them. "The restraint is not for our benefit alone; it's important to remember that we are not the center of the universe." The warm tranquility enveloping Asher prevented the onset of existential angst or despair, but the concepts of universal futility and Dasein remained to weigh in opposition. Why use something to infringe on the will of others? Why not use that same gift to help others?
The means always mattered.
But not to Asli, it appeared. Asher chuckled and replied with not but a raised eyebrow and an amused question: "Gods? And what would make one a god? We have neither immortality nor omniscience; we, all of use, are just gifted in unique ways. Our responsibility to our fellow man is the same as they to us."
He paused for a moment to sip his coffee and take notice of Asli's book.
Not the center? Perhaps, though certainly nearer the top of the food chain, as it were. Asli was again tempted to offer up a few verbal jabs in the right direction. But why linger on that when there was a much more appealing argument.
"Ancient myths all had beings with powers that could not be explained. These were those capable of great feats, of being more than human. The humans of old did not know what else to call them, and thus they called those gifted ones gods, or perhaps demigods. These beings would become part of the overarching mythos, would become what we build our very beliefs, our very society off of."
Asli paused again, tapping her drink and arching her brows. "And if you truly believe the gods aren't proud, perhaps you should study a little more. Zeus was perhaps one of the most prideful beings in history. Ra, Lucifer, Shiva, many gods suffer from pride, either deserved or not." With that, Asli took another sip, wondering if she should even bother at this point. It was clear that Asher was simply going to be spewing back Bellefonte dogma, and the zealots were the hardest to convert by far.