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Amara is still trying to settle in at the mansion, getting familiar with the rooms and the grounds. And the clothes. Until she can go shopping in town, she's settled for the t-shirts and shorts with the school logo on them, hair pulled back into a ponytail as she walks the grounds. She's barefoot, though with the soft grass of the lawn underfoot, it's not too unusual. The unusual part is the way the earth around her trembles ever so slightly, rippling the grass out from her.
Today, Alex is dressed in a pair of black track pants and a gray tank top, with a sports backpack tightly hugging his back, and he's been out for a run. He's been at it for awhile, and as he comes around for his latest lap, he sees Amara and nods with a friendly greeting— and then as he nears he feels the earth moving ever so slightly, and he pauses, blinking. He pulls the backpack forward and from its side latch he tugs out his water bottle, taking a long swig before a curious look is turned towards Amara. "Hello there."
"Amara," Charles says as he walks up towards the door and leans against it. He's wearing a charcoal suit coat with a light black shirt underneath. "This is Alex Summers, one of my oldest students. Alex…" Charles nods towards the blonde. "This is Amara; one of our newest students. She's from, uh." Charles realizes its not his secret to divulge and that Novo Romo would most likely not approve. "She's from Brazil." Kinda.
Amara doesn't look the least bit Brazilian, but she also doesn't contradict the professor's explanation, turning toward Alex at the greeting. "Hello," she nods politely. "Professor. Alex. It is a pleasure to meet you." The accent isn't exactly Brazilian either, but it's not anything more familiar. The classical Latin accent hasn't been a thing for a while, after all. "I, ah." She glances down, then back to the pair with a sheepish smile. "I apologize if I disturbed anyone. I was just trying to get familiar with the grounds." Literally, apparently.
"Professor Xavier." Alex greets the Professor with a nod of his head. Respectful. Kinda. Slightly. If only barely. The mention of where Amara's from earns a cock of Alex's head, tilting just so, with a brow that arches, just to show off that it, too, can be curious. "Oh no, there's no need to apologize." A quick and easy grin rises to his features, "It seemed the grounds were getting familiar with you as well. I'm not one to judge. I just wasn't expecting a minor earthquake when I went out for a run, or I would have dressed differently."
"No, I suppose not," Charles says with a smile. "It appears that the tectonic plate activity is likely to be ratcheted up slightly in the interim. Please do show Amara a good time." To him, it seems the pair are rather similar. Standoffish, afraid of hurting others with their powers. "Unfortunately I am late for a meeting. Amara, please do see me after dinner today when you are able. Good day."
"I will, professor," Amara nods to Xavier as he departs, looking back to Alex. "He seems…very kind," she observes. "Though I imagine he would have to be, to bring so many unusual people into one place. People who may or may not know what they can do, or how they do it." Glancing down at the ground again, she frowns to herself, shaking her head. "I am trying to control it. It seems better if I am…composed."
Alex purses his lips, lifting a hand up to run it through his hair thoughtfully, "Considering he's a telepath, I imagine he has to be either very kind, or very cynical, or just a little bit insane from listening to the truth from everyone, all the time. What must that be like, to live in a world where the polite social lies that keep society flowing smoothly are transparent and obvious?" He shrugs slightly, but does nod encouragingly, "I know the feeling. I can… mostly control things, these days. Sometimes though…" His expression darkens, looking… wary.
"Sometimes you get startled, and upset, and of a sudden, a brand new volcano is birthed in the middle of the street?" Amara replies, looking back with a small, sympathetic smile. "It is why I came here. The gods have given me these powers, but those touched by the gods rarely lead easy lives." She tilts her head, considering him. "Is it rude here to ask what it is you can do?"
There's a pause, a Alex looks at Amara for a moment, trying to decide if she's serious. Then he clearly does decide she's serious, and he swallows, "Ookay, remind me never to throw you a surprise party. I do not want to take a vacation to a volcano. Like, ever." He nods very soberly at that, but then, all seriousness aside, his smile returns and he shrugs, "Some might be shy, I don't see why. That's one of the nice things about this place. We can be ourselves." So, he purses his lips a moment, seeming uncertain, but says carefully, "I absorb cosmic energy. It fills me and then…" He lifts his hands, making fists and holding them together, and then making a sudden, explosion like gesture as they pop open. "And then release it. On a good day, I channel it into a directed torrent of superheated plasma that makes things explode in front of me. On a bad day I become the center of a storm of superheated plasma and everyone around me is also having a bad day." He shrugs, his expression all: what can you do?
Amara watches Alex intently as he explains, piecing together the language as much as the meaning of the less familiar words. She seems to be following along, though. "I think I will also not throw you a surprise party," she finally says, smile quirking. At his look, she pushes a hand through her hair, glancing around for a moment. "I…would survive a vacation to a volcano. I did, actually. Which is how I became like this."
Taking a deep breath, she closes her eyes to focus and suddenly bursts into- Well, it isn't exactly flames. To be more precise, she's formed of molten lava. "I seem to be able to regain strength when in contact with the ground," she continues to explain. "I can make…these." She tosses a ball of magma into the air. "And the earth itself answers." Her brows furrow as she holds out a hand, digging a three-foot hole in the ground. Filling it back in seems to be taking a little more time, though.
"Funny thing about surprises in this home," Xavier says as he approaches. "They never seem to stay secrets." Charles watches Amara as she undergoes her change and smiles to himself, though his words are for Alex. "I've never seen something quite like it, have you? I suppose the same can be said of every student who comes here."
He tilts his head back toward the office. "It was a quick call, apparently. I thought it'd be for much longer."
As Amara's form changes, Alex blinks in surprise, looking intrigued; all the more so when she demonstrates her command of the earth. "That's pretty amazing." he admits with a slight smile, though his expression takes on a curious tilt as his lips purse in thought, "To be honest, I might be okay at volcano vacation, I just don't want to give that experiment a try." Alex's smile turns into a rueful grin as he nods his head, looking at her form with curiosity, "Heat is cosmic energy, after all." He lifts a hand, and extends it towards Amara, very slowly, his brows arching to show he's curious about testing it, "Reach for my hand? Like, real slowly? Let's see what happens." He gives a sidelong smile to Xavier, "I told her, personally? There's no reason to be shy here. Of all the places at the world, here we don't have to hide. But no. I've never seen the like, either."
There's a brief rumble in the earth around them when Xavier returns, Amara's surprise getting the better of her for just a moment. "Are you sure?" she asks Alex, looking to Xavier as well. Burning other students is probably frowned upon, right? The heat comes off of her in waves as it is, rippling in the air around her. But she reaches out a hand, moving slowly and keeping a careful watch on Alex as she does. Granted, if she starts to immolate him, that would probably stress her out, and then the Institute might be the site of a brand new volcano…
Xavier chuckles a bit at Amara's comment and looks on just a bit nervously as the pair do a trick experiment. He can feel the trepidation from them both, and if there's one thing that's clear, it's that hesitation can be an extremely bad thing at a time like this. He reaches two fingers to his temple and closes his eyes.
Through his mind he reaches out to console Amara, to attempt to calm her fears and soothe her jumpiness in hopes that she can concentrate and prevent herself from going overboard. And, he hopes, stop the tremors that keep happening.
Alex is real, real careful with this experiment, as each fraction of an inch he makes sure he's not feeling any intense burning pain or melting flesh or similar negative side effects. Those negative side effects would be bad. But, despite nervousness, there's a part of him that looks almost self-assured. When finally his hand reaches her, and he they touch, and then he laughs, and quickly draws his hand back. Even if heat doesn't touch him, shaking hands with lava is psychologically challenging. "I thought so." He nods with a grin, "See, I only really figured out that I was absorbing energy at all. I always thought I just… you know. Exploded violently. That it just happened, came from me. I didn't know I had fuel. Its opened a whole new way of looking at the world." He gives a quick nod and a grin, "Thanks for indulging me."
The tremors do ease, though there's a moment where they intensify as Amara shoots a look at the professor. Apparently she doesn't like having people in her head. Maybe it has something to do with the woman who threw her in the volcano. When Alex steps back unscathed, though, she lets out a breath of relief, smile curving as she returns to her usual form. "Thank you," she replies. "It's a relief to know there is someone who won't be harmed."
Xavier does not seem to notice, or does not at least remark upon the look that Amara gives him. It seems he's far more interested in the fact that Alex isn't dead and the grounds are not on fire. That is to say, he is all smiles. "Excellent showing. Alex, I'm wondering if you'd be willing to assist me in helping Amara learn about her powers. There seem to be a lot of similarities between your powers, and I imagine that if you are immune to her power your approach can be far more hands on than mine can."
Alex looks quite pleased with himself over this, grinning and everything as he nods along with Amara. "Well, bear in mind, falling rocks and explosions might hurt a bit, so there are limits." His voice has taken on a teasing edge, but it becomes light again as he nods to Xavier amicably, "Why, of course, Professor. I'd be glad to help any of our people that might find me useful. Before I got my suit fashioned, you remember what effect I had on rooms, I think." He's almost sheepish about the early experimentation on controlling his own powers.
The tremors, notably, have stopped. It seems exercising her powers completely has helped Amara to ease off of the unconscious interference. She certainly looks more at ease. "I would very much appreciate the help," she nods seriously to Alex. "It seems as though there is a great deal for me to learn."
"We all start from a point of weakness," Charles says to both of them. It's our first hurdle to overcome." And then, to Amara, someday you'll be happy you were here, at this time and place. This will most assuredly make you stronger."
"Alex, I aim to put together a training regimen for her. I'll have it typed and in your mailbox by tomorrow."
"Do we?" wonders Alex with a curious gaze at Charles, "I mean, sure, control is probably something everyone has to learn, but not everything is … dangerous." He purses his lips a little, his expression darkening somewhat. But only briefly. "I'll have a look over your instructions, then, Professor." He looks back to Amara and grins ruefully, "There's always more to learn, that I'm pretty sure is the one thing that you can ever know for absolute certain."
"I'm not sure a point of weakness is a proper description, professor," Amara smiles ruefully. "Perhaps a point of too much strength. But I will learn. I will learn a great many things, I think," she adds, looking around the grounds and especially at the mansion. "The world is very different here. Buildings. Customs. Technology. I hope that by the time more students are here in the fall, I will better understand how things are done here."
"Not a weakness of powers, a weakness of confidence. I suppose you could say it's one thing that has bound all of us," Xavier says. "In that way, dear Amara, I find it to be the perfect description." For a moment he gets a far away look in his eye, thinking of someone else far away. "I would agree that control is osmething we all have to learn."
"They… don't have buildings and technology in Brazil?" Alex looks a little bit dubiously at Amara, lifting his hand and scratching at the back of his head as he regards her, "Granted, I've never been, but my impression was always that it was a fairly modern place. In the cities, at least." But, he does nod his head again, smiling easily, "Any questions you have on our customs or culture or… buildings, I'll try to help. Either with an answer or pointing out to someone who has a better one then I do." With that, he turns a nod of agreement over to Xavier, "Sometimes, Professor, I think the problem is a little too much confidence." That was almost self-aware coming from Alex. "But we all bring our own issues to solve to the table."
"Ah…" Amara smiles faintly at Alex's question, glancing to Xavier as well. "It is somewhat more complicated than that. I'm from Nova Roma," she explains. "We…Well. Two thousand years ago, our ancestors sailed from Rome in search of a new country. The reached the Amazon and sailed until they found where we settled. We've been there for millennia now, preserving our ways, our culture. Although there are the Incans, as well," she adds off-handedly, as if this is completely normal. "So we have a great deal of civilization and culture. We have games, and plays. Baths and fine architecture. Art. Politics. My father is the First Senator," she adds, chin tipping up with a note of pride.
"Perhaps you are right, Alex," Xavier says with a faint smile. As Amara speaks, Charles turns his head towards her to listen. He is more eager than he realized to learn about this new land; while the team rescued their new student there wasn't a lot of time for sight seeing or other forms of learning.
Alex is a mutant, and has seen a lot of weird things, because the world is a very weird place. A secret roman civilization in the Amazon's? He did not expect that one, and his expression shows it. At first its skeptical, thinking perhaps there is some joke, and then its disbelieving, thinking its a bad joke, and then its moving on to— "Baths?" Now that sounds interesting indeed. He grins, "I have never heard baths included in the description of culture before. I am not sure how that works exactly, but it can't be a bad thing. But." He gestures expansively, "I'm not the first, I'm sure, to say— Welcome to the United States. But, hey, you have mine anyways. Man, have you been to the City yet? Times Square might blow your mind." And at that he pauses, glancing seriosuly at Xavier before looking back to Amara, "Right probably a bad idea. Fieldtrips to the city maybe should wait."
Amara's brows rise at Alex's question about the baths. "Has the custom not remained here?" she asks, looking between him and Xavier. "Where do you go to socialize, then? To discuss things? To meet your friends, to relax?"
"Perhaps not just yet," Charles says to Alex with a chuckle. He then seems taken aback, however, by Amara's questions about baths and socialization. "I'm afraid the socialization here at this school is limited to the grounds out here, the recreation rooms, and the hallways between classes."
"Generally, we bathe privately, unless there's a very special friend you want to… bathe with." Alex's mirth is withheld, just barely. "In the City, why, we socialize at… Shops. Over dinner at a restaurant— er, places that serve food. Bars— oh, places that serve alcohol." He wrinkles his nose, "See I don't know what words are modern words and what are descended from latin or whatnot. But! For relaxing, why, we lounge almost anywhere. I'm partial towards beaches when the weather is nice." He can't help but grin at Xavier's discomfort.
Amara may be out of touch, but she's a smart girl. Smart enough to pick up on the professor's discomfort, at least. "Why is it a strange idea that people would socialize at the baths?" she asks the pair, head tilting slightly when Alex mentions a special friend. "Have baths become something only used by prostitutes?" Which, again, sounds like something entirely normal to the girl. "I can see where it might be difficult to socialize while also having intimate time with someone."
"It has a great deal to do with the Puritans of Massachusetts and cold winters," Charles says with regret. He spies a look to Alex and shrugs his shoulders. He's not sure what to say. And that's not something that happens often! "Diner's and bowling alleys are the new baths. At least here in America."
Alex can't help but chuckle, lifting a hand to cover his mouth, coughing into it. Prostitutes. Prostitutes! "Bathing is now only used for cleaning ourselves off, usually. Its something you do every morning after you wake up. Or before you go to bed. Customs vary on that, its personal choice. And, uh, there's always going to be prostitutes around, but that's illegal, and you do it in seedy motels and hope you don't both get arrested." This gets a roll of his eyes, as Alex is not at all any sympathy for nonsensical laws about sex. He does nod to Xavier, his grin cracking free, "Diners, bowling alleys, and pubs."
"Illegal?" Amara arches a brow at that suggestion. It's clear there's a whole slew of questions brewing, but she holds off for now. Too bad there's no internet to look things up on. "I think there is going to be…very much for me to learn about the present culture," she says instead. "Though," she looks almost forlorn, "I am very much going to miss the baths."
Xavier raises his hands, coughs, and nods to Alex. "Pubs. Precisely. Yes, I'm sure you and Amara will have a ton to discuss." Pubs. Xavier could use a pub right about now after all this tub talk. "I think I'm needed," he says, not completely lying.
"See, we're… conservative." Alex rolls his eyes a bit again, snorting after, "People wear modest clothes, mostly. You don't let someone you're not…intimate with see you naked. Except at the beach, where you're almost naked, but still covered up in an appropriate swimsuit. And there's all kinds of rules about what sex is legal and what isn't. Really, the Professor is right, its the Puritans fault. They were a religious sect, one of the early ones to settle the New World, and they brought all kinds of restrictive moral views to the country that sorta stuck."
Amara gives Alex a long look, as if she's not entirely sure if he's pulling her leg. "It sounds as if you understand how ridiculous that all sounds," she says slowly. "So I will trust that it must be true. But it is ridiculous still. Hopefully I will not offend anyone while I am learning these things."
Alex inclines his head slightly, "Yeah, I'm completely aware of how ridiculous it all sounds. There's a lot of other things that are riciculous, though. I might not have thought this way if it weren't for being a mutant, but, well, once you're on one end of a pointing, accusing finger, you get sympathetic towards others." He shrugs one shoulder, looking a little tired suddenly, "And if you've got two fingers? Extra problematic. So, yeah. I imagine you might find the modern civilization less civilized then you'd expect in some ways. But in others? Oh, when you're ready to go into the city— I'll take you to a Jazz club. You haven't lived until you've heard some Jazz." He grins suddenly, "And I have a very thick skin. You noticed it absorbing the heat? It also absorbs all possible insults. Don't worry about offending me."
"No baths," Amara sighs, glum. "That is going to be an adjustment. Tell me at least you haven't stopped making wine?" she asks, suddenly concerned.
Alex pauses, and blinks, and has to work that through his brain before an answer comes out the other side, "Heavens, no! We have all kinds of wine. France is famous for it, there's good wines from all over. Italy, Spain. Well, not England of course, everything is rubbish from England but us. There's even some decent American wines. We have whole shops that just sell all the varieties of wines." Then he pauses, and says in a conspiratorial tone, "Back between 1920 and 1933 though, we outlawed all alcohol. That was a terrible idea and we got over it, though. More Puritan stuff."
"Whoever these puritans were, they make terrible decisions," Amara shakes her head. "But I'm glad that everyone came to their senses about wine, at least." She pauses. "I am somewhat impressed that your country made it thirteen years without alcohol, actually. Though I'm impressed that- Marriage still happens, yes?"
"Actually, we didn't." admits Alex with a slight shake of his head, an winced, "The Prohibition instead created a series of massive criminal empires that to this day are a serious problem, as they illegally produced and sold alcohol, as well as maintained establishments which covertly was for drinking. Those empires no longer can sell illicit alcohol, but once you have a criminal organization, it'll stick around and find something else criminal to do." On Marriage, he nods his head easily, "Oh yes, we still have marriage. We aren't all bad. We did away with slavery, though racism is still a big problem."
Amara tilts her head, curious. "Who plants your crops and cleans your homes?" she asks. Maybe Nova Roma isn't completely progressive, then. The R volume of the encyclopedia in the library may be getting some use as Amara talks to more people in the mansion.
Alex actually looks relieved— he was starting to feel like a barbarian in a china room, there. "Well, farmers do. There's huge areas in the middle of this Country— I can't quite properly explain to you the size of America, its over two and a half thousand miles across. The country is vast, and in its middle, the breadbasket? There's enough farms to feed the world, it seems to me at times. The farmers sell their products to markets and they get trucked to cities and… Its the economy. As for cleaning our rooms, if you're rich? Servants. They get paid and can quit if you treat them wrong." Theoretically.
"So…you pay them in addition to providing them with room and board?" Well. Roman slavery isn't exactly the deep south version. Not in the larger plantations, at least. But at least Amara seems open to understanding the changes. "And I suppose the games are out of the question. Though that, at least, is probably for the best," she muses.
Alex hesitates, and purses his lips, "We have games." He says it cautiously, "Here in America, its football. Its… Two teams of men, big men, with helmets and armor, who chase at eachother and run into eachother hard and wage a sort of battle to get a ball to their end of the field and score. But, its not like, Gladiators and bloody. Though there is boxing, where two men try to punch eachother until one falls down and doesn't get up again." That said, he nods quickly, "Some servants don't live in, they just come in at the morning, leave after awhile. But they all get paid. That's how they buy food for their families."
"You don't feed your servants and their families?" Amara's brows furrow, then she shakes her head. "Never mind. I'm sure it will all make sense eventually. Football sounds interesting, though. Maybe we'll be able to see a game one day. That could be fun."
Nodding enthusiastically, "Absolutely. We'll have hot dogs and beer. You'll love it. As soon as you get — acclimated? — I'll take you to a New York Giants game. Then to a Jazz club. We'll get you introduced to all the finer points of American culture in no time."
Amara grins, nodding once. "That would be good," she agrees. "But first, I need to make sure I don't get overwhelmed. Since everything happened…" She trails off, shaking her head. "Whenever I get overwhelmed now, things happen. The earth breaks open. Tremors. Nova Roma is a city, yes, but…It isn't like cities here. Rio was overwhelming and I've heard that New York is one of the greatest cities."
"It's _the_ greatest city in the world. More then one person has compared it to Rome, which I'm sure you won't appreciate, so I won't suggest its accurate." Alex grins a bit sheepishly, "But it has nearly 8 million people in the five boroughs, each almost a city unto themselves." He's more serious though then he nods, "I understand, though. I mean, for me, it was anger. Not overwhelmed. But if someone pushed me or got in my face or— well, I admit to having a temper problem, I'm working on it— ten its possible I'd lose control of the plasma in my body and … Its nto an earthquake or a volcano, but in local space, its bad. I understand needing control."
"It's just that…Nova Roman is a city, but it's a Roman city. It's bright, and light, and wide open. With wide streets." Amara smiles faintly, thinking of home. "And in comparison, yes. Small. And then for the last few years, I was in the jungle instead, so. I rather got used to the quiet. How long have you…You know?" she asks, giving him another curious look.
At this, Alex looks conflicted, he hesitates, uncertain what she means for a long moment— but then he blinks, relaxes, but there's a dark shadow over his eyes. "I was kidnapped as a kid. Me and my sister." He pauses, wrinkling his nose, "Well, I was adopted. So my adopted sister. The guy was a bad guy— he had this obsession with my adoptive family, killed the son that I was adopted to replace." He says that last sentence realfast. "I incinerated him. And most of the building we were in." He shrugs, "I was 14, so like, ten years?" He looks away, momentarily uncomfortable.
"I'm sorry," Amara replies quietly, brows furrowing. "That must have been very difficult. Is that when you came here, then? To study with the Professor?"
Alex is hesitant for a moment, and gives a bit of a shrug, crossing his arms over his chest, "Well, yes and no. I managed to keep it under control — mostly — because I knew it was anger that triggered it, and I have a short fuse, so I just avoided situations like that a lot. Focused on studying. Being a bit of a loner so I didn't get into situations. But eventually?" He shakes his head, "I didn't know this place existed until the Professor went recruiting. He found me, told me about this place, about what it means, so I came. And studied my ability, learned to control it— with my suit, at least; I can only do a small release without my suit though I'm working on that— and … well, I figure, I should owe him." He doesn't seem to like that exactly, wrinkling his nose, "And others like us. Our people. To help them. And keep them safe."
"That sounds very noble, Alex," Amara smiles softly, reaching a hand for his shoulder. "And if nothing else, I am glad you are here now. I hope that I can find a place here the way you have. It's only been…about a week for me," she notes, smile slipping crooked. "It is a great deal of adjustment in a short period of time. But I, too, want to keep my people safe. Nova Roma is built in the crater of a volcano. It is not a place for someone with my abilities to be learning what to do."
He doesn't pull away from the gesture, and instead offers a smile to Amara with a slight shake of his head, "Oh, I don't know if I'm noble or not. I just like I don't have to pretend to be someone I'm not here." There's a hesitation to that, a glance away, but its only momentarily. "Plus, before I studied it, my ability was a curse. Who wants to just destroy everything around them? Granted, my ability is only useful in combat, really, but still, if I can fight with the X-Men for our people, then its not a burden, its a gift. That seems a bit too self-satisfied to me to be noble." But, he smiles more openly, "We aren't so unlike. Perhaps once you're finished training, you can go home? I mean, if its built in a volcano, and you can make a volcano go boom, it stands to reason you might be able to stop it. Once you have control you might be able to guarantee your city's safety."
"That seems possible," Amara nods at the suggestion that she could go home. "Everything that happened when we left…my father is going to be very busy for some time. Nova Roma is going to be experiencing some changes of its own now." She pauses, giving him a curious look. "The Professor mentioned a…Danger Room?"
"Is it making contact with the outside world? Or… internal changes?" Alex seems genuinely curious about this strange roman colony, but he does add, "The Danger Room is a heavily fortified enclosure which is damn near impervious to anything anyone has to bring. Its used for training those of us with destructive talents. I mean, let's not open up a volcano under the estate— you seem a bit higher tier then the average living bomb like myself, I mean that with no insult— but that whole lava flinging and lava form thing? And maybe something else. Honestly, I'm not sure what your training will be like. I've never trained anyone else, so will have to look at Xavier's notes."
"Internal, to start," Amara muses. "You see, there are…Were? Nova Roma is a Republic, but we have been undergoing our own changes in recent years. My father is the First Senator, but he is the first not to have come from the patrician class. And with everything that happened, we are moving toward more freedom ourselves." Stepping back, she looks to the house. "I think I should go and watch the news program," she says. "It seems there is much for me to catch up on here."
Alex listens with clear interest, nodding here and there, and he looks a little disappointed briefly when she says she must leave, but he covers it up with a smile a moment later, "Oh, of course. It was nice to meet you, Amara. We'll talk soon about your training. And your people, I hope."