Overly Warm Welcome [Xavier, later open]

[Clement Evans]

When his body made contact with the ground, Clement came to, though he wasn't completely conscious. His body was streaked and patchy with soot from his clothes burning, and his first action would've been to swear if he hadn't needed to breathe more. He coughed, and it hurt like hell. And not just in his chest, which was bad enough. Clement thought one good cough would blow off the whole front of his face, and wasn't entirely opposed to the idea. His thoughts were all about what hurt and what he could do to make it hurt less; he was barely aware of the big man kneeling in front of him or that there were different voices speaking.

Barely able to see, Clement's left eye was swollen shut and both eyes were black from his broken nose. Through the slit of his right he saw green. Grass. Still too scratchy. His left cheek was puffing like a balloon was being blown up under his skin and his chest felt wet. Clement knew he was naked, but he hurt enough that he didn't care. Laying half curled on his right side, he pushed with his left hand till he could look up to see what was going on and was startled to find his vision blocked by... a guy, he thought. A fucking big guy, but one who wasn't saying anything, which was odd. Probably an official, since he wasn't being beat up anymore.

Another bout of coughing made his hand slip, but he caught himself on his forearm before he could fall onto his stomach. The rough rectangular burns on his face and chest started to blister around their edges.

There wasn't a lot he could say, and it wasn't just because he kept coughing and didn't have any breath to spare for speaking. It was his own fault and that was that.

[Xavier O'Conner]

Xavier had messed up bad and now everyone seemed to be around to witness it. The urge to run was overwhelming. He had nothing to stay for but trouble. He didn't want to answer questions and he also didn't want Dr. Neville in his head. Oriel was probably the one who knew he was going to run that and Sean, if he was in Xavier's head.

Xavier was a good runner and he didn't want to wait around any longer. He was never good with dealing. Xavier took off running away from everybody else. Xavier was surprised to find that his fingers bounced along in pain as he moved. The bruise on his chest also made breathing hard to do. His running plan was not working very much.

Xavier turned around a tree and stopped there out of breath. Running was not the greatest idea and it had been painful. Now he was stuck where he was with no energy left and his skin was extremely hot. His fingers burned like hell and all the dirt on the ground had stuck to his feet. To top it all of he was probably in more trouble then he was before and pretty easy to catch.

Xavier started cursing the hell out of his mind. Bring up all the words he had in his vocabulary and not even trying to be quiet anymore. He was completely screwed and he didn't even have any beer left.

[Christian Lucas]

Christian saw the moment in Xavier's eyes when everything became too much and he chose to run. It was pretty obvious that all of these newcomers had made things much worse on him. Shame had seemed to flood the tall boy's face as he realized the full effects of his actions. It was something that pained Christian to see, but he also knew there wasn't anything he could do at that moment either. This was something that he would have to have some time to think over, to get a full and proper grasp on, and finally to accept the results from. There were a million times in a person's life that they'd give anything at all to turn back the clock and change their actions. Unfortunately Xavier's power didn't allow that of him and he would have to live with this knowledge.

As Xavier turned and began trying to make his escape, Chris realized that Dr. Neville wasn't likely to think well of Xavier running away. Trying to 'speak' through his mind, and assuming that Sean was listening, Christian would get across "I'll follow him. I think this is just a bit too much all at once now." At least, he'd try. He hadn't worked with many telepaths before, so he wasn't sure how the best way to explain it was. But his attempt would hopefully keep the doctor from immediately jumping to any wrong conclusions. It was doubtful that Xavier's thoughts were clear enough for Sean to understand entirely what was happening, but for that Christian was only speculating. The doctor had some very good insights.

As Christian shared his thoughts with the psychiatrist, he also cloaked himself in nothingness, his power making his physical form disappear from the visual realm. Fortunately Xavier's long legs moved him quick enough and far enough that by the time anyone might have looked over at him, it was incredibly unlikely they'd realize it was him and connect him to the incident. Another fortunate fact was that Christian's regular morning jogs and work outs let him easily maintain a line of sight distance to Xavier. By the time the pyrokinetic stopped, he was nearly a hundred yards away from the fight. A small patch of trees kept their location private.

But for now Christian couldn't help him. So he stood, still invisible to the regular world, and simply observed Xavier, watching for a good moment to try and help him. It was obvious he was still distressed over it all.

[Mia Bell]

Mia blinked at Sean, she really should have known she wasn’t going to get an answer from him. And even though she really wasn’t fazed by the boy’s nakedness, she could understand Sean’s concern, it really wasn’t about her but them. Maybe she really shouldn’t have came over. Mia nodded “alright! I can try.” She looked around, and saw Xavier, was he involved in this? Had he been the one to do this to the kid? She couldn’t help but put the short pieces together, him being here, him talking to Chris, him being naked (she wasn’t staring..), and then him running… They were going to need to talk.

Mia drew her attention to a boy coming toward the scene. She ran up to him to stop him. Which made her wonder, how was she going to stop people? She could only stop on person at a time… What was she going to do if more people gathered around? It wasn’t like she had control of her powers, she couldn’t just strike lightning in front of everyone to keep them back. It would be so cool, and badass if she could do that.

“Hey, where do you think you’re going?” She questioned the boy in front of her, that looked strangely like her ex. She stepped right in front of him, to stop him from going anywhere. And if he started a fight, than she was the wrong person to get mad. Not like Sean, and Chris had enough to worry about. “They don’t need prying eyes, the staff have everything under control.” Mia was fully ready for whatever he tried to do, even if it was running after Xavier. Right now Oriel had no place here, it wasn’t his right to interfere, just like it wasn’t her right. And if he got into the situation than it would just cause more trouble for the staff. It was better for both of them to just stay away.

[Dr. Sean Neville]

Sean’s visual attention was not on Oriel as the teenager arrived, but in all of the years since he had developed his telepathy, the lack of visual stimuli had never made the psychiatrist oblivious to someone’s arrival. As such, he projected to the boy, I have this under control, and crowding won’t aid anything. Please move along for now.

Clement’s coughing brought Sean’s full attention back to the boy on the ground. No longer needing his handkerchief to act as an air filter, he moved it to the boy’s chin, wiping up blood and other fluids. “The medical staff is on the way,” he reassured Clement. “We’ll get you healed, and everything will be all right.”

Then Xavier chose to run.

Running from trouble had never, in Sean’s experience, netted a positive outcome. The one time that a student had run from him and left school grounds, Jesse had nearly destroyed the course of his life. The psychiatrist was not going to let that happen again, even in the absence of an active terrorist organization milling around Pilot Ridge.

Xavier also wasn’t helping his case insofar as leniency for the fight. However, that would have to wait until he was found and both his and Clement’s injuries were healed.

Do catch him, Sean projected to Christian, since he did prefer negotiations over shows of brute force or authority. But I am also calling security to block the exit from the grounds.

The psychiatrist sent a mental message to Vincent Romanov, outlining the situation. He didn’t want Xavier harmed, but he didn’t want the boy to leave the grounds. He hoped that Christian would find him first, rendering the entrance of security moot.

Mia’s exit, on Xavier’s heels, left Sean alone with Clement for a few minutes, until the medical staff arrived.

As soon as they did, the psychiatrist called for them, only moving from over Clement’s body when he was sure that better aid could be rendered. “He has cracked or broken ribs, at least one that I can feel. Severe burns, bruises, and you need to check his lungs. I don’t know whether he can talk right now, but I didn’t want to move him.”

The doctor acknowledged that and knelt down beside the small teenager. “We’re going to get you to the office,” he promised Clement. “I brought a stretcher.”

[Deleted]

The only thing going through Oriel's mind upon his approach was, Fuck Xavier, you are in trooouble. He stopped, however, when he heard that darned Doctor's voice in his head, telling him to stay back and basically go away.

Like hell he was! The adults have this "handled"!? What the fuck else was he supposed to do, just say, "Gotcha, teach! See ya later! Let me know how it fucking turns out!"?!

Oriel glanced at the fallen kid, then to Xavier. He saw the look on his face, the look in his eye. Oriel's own eyes widened as he realized....he was going to run for it!

What an idiot, that was only going to make things worse and did Xavier even understand that these damn meta-teachers could catch him no problem? Oriel wasn't even paying attention to what else was happening on the scene. Not two seconds after Xavier bolted, Oriel was after him and would've caught up in no time if he wasn't stopped by the pink-headed twat. "Move it, Ramona!!" He didn't bother with using her real name, Oriel didn't know her well enough to do that yet. "He's getting away!" And he sidestepped her, shoving her to the side, and took off again. Oriel barely got more than a few dozen feet before skidding face-first across the ground, having been tackled from behind by Mia. "Get offa me, fat-ass! The hell is your problem? I can catch him, just get....off...of me!!" Shit...these asshole adults were just going to make things worse going after him like a convict, didn't they get that!? Oriel started thrashing, trying to break free from the unnaturally strong hold that this stupid chick had over him.

[Xavier O'Conner]

Xavier had made everything worse for himself. Running hadn't been smart or a good plan. He hadn't gone off campus yet but it was still an option in his head. He had many reasons to stay, but he didn't want to face what he had done. There wasn't a good escape plan. His powers made him to obvious and there was no way they couldn't find him agian. He would ruin his life if he went any further.

Xavier couldn't hold still. He paced back and forth trying to think through where he had gone horribly wrong. The kid had been so small and been in the wrong place on the wrong day. Xavier had been pissed the entire day and the kid drinking his beers had set him off. He had been carried overboard and if Sean hadn't showed up Xavier didn't know what would have stopped him or if he would have stopped. The fire thing had always followed him into trouble and this time was no different, but even if Xavier didn't have his power it would have still been bad.

Xavier had caught a glance of Oriel before he had ran. Xavier took a quick glance around and didn't spot him. He was sure that guy would have followed him but i guess not. "Fuck!!!" Xavier remembered that Chris's power was invisibility. Xavier could feel his skin heating up agian. He didn't want the teacher to be around. He didn't want to be around anyone. He didn't need or want to hear thier opinion. " Leave me ALONE!!!" Xavier didn't care if Chris wasn't there at all and he was just shouting to nothing.

He would have to face a punishment sometime but that didn't mean he was going to accept it. Xavier would run more if it didn't mean that it would hurt so bad. His breath was still rushed and his fingers felt like a knife was stabbing him, but he still couldn't seem to stop moving. His mind was running a million miles per hour and he couldn't think on just one subject. He was too stressed and angry to slow down or calm down. His skin stayed burning hot, but luckily not on fire. Everything was just a rush.

[Christian Lucas]

Christian was barely aware of the scuffle occurring as he left. He trusted the rest of the staff to handle it when they arrived. The run hadn't hardly winded him, but he was concerned. He'd seen Xavier in some hard times, but he had never seen him in this bad of a situation. The trees shaded them and the air felt cooler as Xavier had stopped. However this didn't last for long. Xavier apparently had anticipated Chris following him and was now screaming for the teacher to go away.

Chris wasn't sure what to do. On one hand, he knew he had to make Xavier settle down now. He knew a number of ways he could force the boy down through martial arts. But he didn't want to have to harm Xavier. Not unless the situation was truly dire. So he had to come up with something else. He had a very interesting rapport with the student. Perhaps that'd help.

So Christian took the most straightforward route. He stepped around so he was right in front of the distressed boy and became visible. Making direct eye contact, Chris did his best to express his understanding of Xavier's problem without a word. Then he spoke. "Stop." He hoped that this would be enough to help calm Xavier. But hey, the worst that could happen is that Chris got another burn.

[Dr. Nik Kenjutsushi]

Most days, the most common thing for Dr. Nakia Kenjutsushi to see was nothing at all. Sometimes, students fell ill or injured themselves in sports; often enough, powers got the best of them and they hurt themselves or others by accident. Rarely was such an event on purpose. Still, regardless of the circumstance, the nurse's office was equipped to deal with any and every medical emergency short of open-heart surgery.

Given that, when the office phone rang up with Christian Lucas on the line rapidly explaining about a student that had been injured in the courtyard, the albino woman had not hesitated at all. The brief explanation of injuries and who was involved told her almost everything she needed to know, and anything else could be found out once the situation was under control. Plucking a first-response kit from beside the desk, Nik took a pair of blankets and a portable stretcher with her as well, in case there was need for such a thing.

Thus she arrived on the scene moments later; a moderately burdened figure in white and blue jogging across the green lawn in time to see a boy's back disappear from sight, a pair of students wrestling on the ground, and a friend and colleague crouched over the crumpled form of a student.

Ignoring the pair for the moment, the doctor set the largest of her bundles on the ground carefully and kneeled next to the bruised and naked boy, listening to Sean give his initial report as she checked the student's pulse with cold and fluttering hands. Almost immediately, her powers gave her a muted taste of her patient's pain-

Multiple cracked ribs, at least one broken; broken nose, cracked zygomatic bone, bruising around eyes and jaw as a side-effect; second-degree burns on arms and torso, first-degree over much of the epidermis; suffering hypoxia from smoke inhalation. Immediate course of action - clear airway and allow proper oxygen filtration, treat burns with caution, then immobilize patient and move to infirmary.

Her mental status assessment took moments and was in time with the psychiatrist's own observation of the damage done. Locking her eyes with his for a moment, she gave him a nod of understanding. "We'll need to move him to the infirmary so I can treat him fully," she replied. "Will you be up to it?"

Turning to the boy, a look of calm washed away the look of hyper-attentive focus on the woman's face, and she placed a hand on the coughing boy's throat (away from the burns) and said directly to him, "We're going to get you to the office. I brought a stretcher.

"What I need you to do is hold your breath for a moment, then breathe deeply when I tell you to. Can you do that for me?" Clement holding his breath for just a moment would hurt, yes, but it would give her the ability to run her powers quickly through his esophagus and lungs, clearing away some of the damage left by the smoke he'd inhaled. He'd certainly need an oxygen mask when they returned to the infirmary (as would she, most likely), but it would help his breathe easier until then and allow treatment to proceed smoothly. It would also help him answer questions and make the job of keeping him from going into shock that much easier.

[Clement Evans]

Something soft touched his face. Clement automatically pulled away from it and gasped a little. Moving the head? Not a good idea. It made whatever was going on on his face pulse all the way to his ears. The handkerchief caught blood and soot and a little drool from the coughing. Clement couldn't see well enough to know what it was, didn't have enough world experience to know what it was, but had he been possessed of clear facilities he would've been impressed to know that something he'd read about in books existed in real life.

“The medical staff is on the way. We’ll get you healed, and everything will be all right.”

For just a moment, Clement allowed himself the fantasy that 'all right' would include being sent back to California. It was a lie, and he knew it was a lie, but it made him feel better for those few seconds. Ajima would make samgyeopsal and Minho would bully him into learning the latest So Nyeo Shi Dae dance and he'd write about Vermont and the scratchy grass and the fuckton of trees while Minho did his homework. He could almost picture the notebook page in his mind, see his hand writing.

The big shape that had thrown him into shadow moved, and a second of ice water flickered through his veins when he thought he was being left alone. Clement didn't really hear what was said, he was too busy trying to eject his lungs through his mouth. His face hurt all the way up to his hairline. There were blades of grass poking his burns. He could feel the exact shape of every one with a clarity that normally he would've found fascinating.

“We’re going to get you to the office. I brought a stretcher.”

Clement only caught the stretcher part of that and tried to lever himself up, but his broken ribs did not so much protest this movement as have a giant fucking parade with floats that said 'NO' in every way possible. Black washed over his vision with more of those white starbursts, but he stayed conscious.

The noise that came out of his mouth was half a cough, half a strangled, hoarse 'YA' when someone touched winter to his wrists. Clement's brain was a tangle of curse words in English and Korean. Trying to speak made him cough more. Something about that cold touch made it all... immediate. Turned the pain into something he couldn't handle anymore, added that sixth pin to the five he was keeping in the air that made it all tumble down. Tears of pain welled in his eyes and made him angry. He didn't want them to think he was crying like some baby, even though he knew in this case no one would blame him. They squeezed out at the corners, making tracks through the soot and blood.

"We're going to get you to the office. I brought a stretcher. What I need you to do is hold your breath for a moment, then breathe deeply when I tell you to. Can you do that for me?"

Hold his breath? Was she serious? Clement was still panting from all the coughing he was doing, but at the end of his next bout he inhaled as sharply as he could and clamped his mouth shut.

Had his social worker from California been there at that moment she would have recognized the expression.

[Xavier O'Conner]

"Stop."

Xavier had guessed that Chris was around but didn't expect the guy to show up in front of him. Xavier was already high strung as it was so he lit out of surprise. Apparently Christian didn't take Xavier's warning and showed up anyways. Christian and Xavier had already been through this and Xavier had luckily calmed down but he was way past how ever mad he was last time.

It was extremely bad day. When Chris just happened to show up Xavier's first reaction was to go back into fight mode and punch the teacher in the jaw. He had already made that mistake today and he wouldn't repeat it. His arm fell to his side and he took a step back. Xavier was half ashamed and half still blistering mad.

He had come so close to making his problem worse. There was no way he could live with himself if he attempted to hurt the one teacher at Hammel that he actually trusted. It was a weird trust that came from different things. The stupid jump from the hole in the wall was a good example, but also the fact that he stuck around through a lot of stupid mistakes that Xavier had made. The stupid teacher was also here now in the middle of Xavier's worst moment.

"Why are you still here? I'm not going to run." It was a half lie. Running was still on his mind. To move, clear his mind, and run the hell away from everything. Xavier's eyes moved around finding the best place to go but he had already tried to run and it had ended him in the situation he was in now. Fight or flight was not working at all.

[Dr. Sean Neville]

Sean stepped to the side with Nik’s arrival, as he wanted her to have full access to Clement so that she could do what triage she could while making her assessment. However, the psychiatrist didn’t move too far from the boy’s side, as he was certain that he would have to offer assistance in one form or another.

As he watched, poised to help, he listened to Nik’s mental litany of diagnosis. It roughly comported with what he had catalogued, although it was more thorough and certainly more accurate. Multiple cracked ribs and other cracked bones.

Xavier would have a very long meeting with Sean in his office, once Clement’s injuries, and Xavier’s own, had been addressed. This was regardless of whether Xavier returned himself, or Christian managed to coax him back, or if security had to drag him kicking and screaming. The psychiatrist wanted to avoid that sort of coercion, all factors equal; however, this was not an equal situation.

At the question, Sean nodded. He removed his suit jacket and then rolled up his shirt sleeves. Undoubtedly, he would find himself covered with blood, but he wanted to be as clean as possible for the other students. Nobody needed a memory of the school psychiatrist covered in blood, his own or otherwise.

“I’m ready whenever you are,” he announced. He was no longer a spring chicken, but he possessed the strength to lift Clement onto a stretcher – alone, if necessary, and certainly in tandem with another professional.

[Dr. Nik Kenjutsushi]

As Clement sucked in a breath of air, Nik exhaled and focused her mind on the single points needed to clear the child's airway. Right away, her powers began to mend the inflamed bronchial tubes and speed the healing in the esophagus, tightening her own airway minutely as she did so. Making sure not to complete the task fully, the doctor removed her hand and took her own hesitant breath to test her lungs. They worked; shakily, and it felt as if she'd breathed a bit too little oxygen, but she would be fine. "Breathe, child," she stated firmly, expecting the order to be carried out immediately.

Opening the first response kit, she quickly snapped on a pair of the blue polyethylene gloves and handed some to Sean as well. The triage necessary for the burns was simple but a bit messy, especially with oozing second-degree burns - she didn't want to risk the psychiatrist's health any more than her patient's. Taking out a small spray bottle of antiseptic burn ointment and handing that over to the older man, the pale woman also retrieved gauze pads and medical tape. "We'll be able to wash the injuries in the infirmary," she said aloud (mostly for the boy's benefit). "For now, I need you to spray each burn lightly with the antiseptic to prevent infection before I wrap them."

Smiling slightly (though it was a rather intense expression), Nik added to the pained boy, "This will sting a little, but try not to move, all right? We don't want you hurting yourself."

[Dr. Sean Neville]

Sean glanced briefly at the gloves and then shook his head; those wouldn’t fit. He hadn’t worn that size since his Confirmation. “I need the extra-large,” he explained to her, as he handed the gloves back. He waited a moment for her to swap the gloves with a pair that would fit him, at which point he pulled one onto his left and then the other onto his right. Flexing his hands, he took the antiseptic ointment.

The psychiatrist wasn’t typically involved with triage, in that it had been a long time since his last emergency situation. However, as he’d told her, and as he’d declared to Clement, he was prepared to do whatever was necessary to aid with medical attention.

He felt for the boy, because this would be far more painful than a mere sting, given the severity of his burns and the flesh exposure. However, he wouldn’t say as much aloud to Clement, as that would only fill him with anxiety and cause him to tense or to shift, which could worsen his injuries.

“I’m starting with the first one,” he warned, turning to the boy to offer him a gentle smile. With that, he sprayed lightly, as directed, over the first burn, before backing off to give Nik unfettered access for the purpose of wrapping. He then moved on to the next one.

[Clement Evans]

The cold touch at his throat almost made Clement gasp, but he didn't move and forced a mass of saliva and blood down his throat to keep from inhaling. Had she not said to breathe when she had, Clement would've had to break orders. He did indeed breathe, and coughed out the last of the smoke. But it was all easier, and he realized she must've done something when she'd touched his throat. Finally able to draw air without struggle, Clement gingerly lay back in the grass. He could feel the short blades alternately poking him or being crushed under his weight. He couldn't see anything out of his right eye anymore and stopped trying, and it swelled shut quickly.

"We'll be able to wash the injuries in the infirmary. For now, I need you to spray each burn lightly with the antiseptic to prevent infection before I wrap them."

Sighing, Clement concentrated on breathing now that it was so gloriously easy, though his brow creased. He was remembering he was naked too, and wondered if there were people looking. Not that he cared, but because he didn't want to end up on the net somehow.

"This will sting a little, but try not to move, all right? We don't want you hurting yourself."

Tensing, Clement still half-coughed a humorless laugh. "Too late." Even with just two words his squeaky, smoke-roughened voice broke twice, once into the octave above and once below.

“I’m starting with the first one.”

Even though he couldn't see out of his swollen-shut eyes any more, Clement turned his head away from where he knew they might start, as long as they didn't start with his face. There were still pain reaction tears squeezing out of the corners of his eyes and running down his face, but now that he could breathe he could feel real crying grow rocky lumps in his throat and stomach. The adrenaline from the fight had worn off and holy shit, pain.

His resolve to not cry in front of the two adults he could hear promptly broke when the antiseptic spray hit his chest. Clement didn't have the energy left to armor up, but his hands and lower arms turned that distinct dark grey-blue color for about ten seconds before his body was unable to keep even that going. From long practice, Clement didn't make much noise when he cried. It was more the thick sounds of his inhales and exhales, which back in the trailer, had been further stifled into his knees.

Crying in front of people mortified him much more than being naked, and he turned his head further away, even when more grass scraped his burned face.