X-men: The Zen Chronicles (Redheadstemper)

[redheadstemper]

"Yeah, well, looks like you need to calm down. She only manifested today, she's gotta be overwhelmed. Everyone crowding her probably didn't help."

After saying that, Kel let the walls go. Between her normal use, the amount she'd been doing things today that she wasn't used to, and the distance from which she'd formed the walls, Kel could feel her bones starting to petrify.

Damn, I'm outta practice.

"Now clear a path so the Doc can get her to the infirmary!"  

[Hikari_Mamo]

The crowd instantly moved away. This woman knew how to make a point. "Yeah Rogue stop crowding her!" Someone growled as Jean got Scott to gently pick up Faye and carry her to the infirmary.

"She checks out fine, just a bit of over exertion that is all." Jean said with smile to those that gathered with concern. "I'm sure just a day or so rest and staying away from others physically will help her. However, I strongly suggest we change her "buddy" from Rogue to someone else, as I predict this will happen often." She smirked a little at the thought of the two girls going toe to toe in the future. "Is Kel here? I don't know if she followed us or covered crowd control."  

[redheadstemper]

"...Or covered crowd control." Kel heard Jean say as she walked slowly and painfully into the infirmary.

"Yeah, doc, I've pushed myself too hard to be doing that. I'm assuming you were referring to me, anyway. My bones are turning to stone right now, don't wanna push that further. Any chance of a painkiller before I head up to my room and pass out 'til my bones are, well, bone again? And what's the verdict on Faye? That bloody nose looked serious, but it looks like it's dried up now."

Jean rolled her eyes. "You've barely been practicing at all, have you? Alright, here's a dose of the one we used to give you. And Faye will be just fine, though I think having Rogue show her around and introduce her to everyone may not have been the best of ideas."

Kel smirked and replied "no kidding, Jeanie", before heading off, slowly and painfully, to her new room, and hopefully the blissfully painless sleep that the painkiller Dr Grey had given her usually resulted in.  

[Hikari_Mamo]

"All right I think we're done here with Faye, Scott can you take her up to her room so she can rest there, I've dosed her up enough to knock her out until morning so we should clear up and get ready for bed." She smiled at them all and after washing her hands left to go to her own room for bed.

Scott gave a mild grumble but did take Faye gently into his arms and carried her to her room laying her down and tucking her in. "Welcome to the fold." He whispered to her closing her curtains and then her door as he left. "Urgh those two Aussies are going to be a handful I just know it." He grumbled heading off to his room.

Faye slept through the night. She woke several times but didn't remember why she woke up or what she did when she woke, only that she went back to sleep not long after she woke.  

[redheadstemper]

Kel woke at daybreak, feeling the sun stabbing into her eyes, and cursed herself for forgetting to close the curtains of her hotel room. Then she opened her eyes and remembered that she was back at Xavier's, as a teacher and gardener.

Oh well, may as well see what needs to be done with the garden, probably a lot, if the students are still as destructive in their games as they were when I was here ...

After a few hours looking over the dismal state of the gardens and putting together the bare bones of a plan for them in her head, Kel headed in to meet Xavier at breakfast.

"So, bossman, anything you want done with the gardens in particular? And when am I supposed to start teaching?"

"Well, Rakel, I would like you to start teaching as soon as possible, really, so just as soon as you can familiarise yourself with the syllabus. I've got that printed out in my office, by the way, so you can come and get it whenever you want. As for the gardens, something likely to survive the students would probably be best - I've had remarkable difficulty in getting a gardening service that can deal with the kind of damage our students do on a regular basis, So while I do get the current arrangement kept up every month, some major work really does need to be done."  

[Hikari_Mamo]

Faye woke to knocking on her door. At first she tried to ignore it. But it kept going. It seemed as if it would never stop! And her head was pounding! She slid from her bed and went to the door. "Well good morning!" A red haired girl chirped looking way too happy for this early in the morning.
"Die." Faye growled closing the door and was about to go back to bed when the infernal knocking continued. She turned and opened the door with a 'get lost' look.
"Well that wasn't very nice." The girl said. "It's time for classes and we don't wanna be late~"
"Die twice." Faye growled shutting the door again and slinked to her bathroom to have a shower and freshen up before pulling on something simple but warm then some sneakers and opened the door. "Dear gods are you still here?" She growled the same girl from before stood there still smiling.
"All right I'm Helen and I'm in charge of making sure you get to the right class and on time!" Faye ignored her and just went to a class that somehow just happened to be the right one and Agriculture to boot too.
"Did ya hear?" One class mate whispered. "We've got a new teacher! And she'd smokin!"
Faye rolled her eyes, oh the joys of pubescent teens.  

[redheadstemper]

Kel walked into her new classroom to find an entire class already gathered.

"So, I'm Rakel Leifsson, your new Ag teacher, and since I'm new and your last teacher seems to be the most disorganised bi- um, teacher I've ever seen evidence of, I'll need you to tell me what she's already covered, and how well you all understand the work so far ..."

Dear god, I have no idea how to do this...  

[Hikari_Mamo]

"We're studying plants, and soil bases." Someone piped up with a smile. "Like trying to grow them. And what weeds to look out for with cows and stuff like that!"

"Just a question." Faye piped up. "Isn't plants Horticulture? Not Agriculture?" She asked with a frown tilting her head. "Cause, I took Horticulture at my old school. And I was under the impression this was about animals."  

[redheadstemper]

"Yeah, it's both really. Horticulture is specifically plants, and goes into a lot more depth, but Agriculture covers common farm crops, how to tell what's good to plant in the soil you've got, weeds to look out for in relation to crops and livestock, what grasses and the like are good for farm animals, and the farm animals themselves. It's pretty unusual to have such a big Ag class when we're as far away from farms as we are, but it's useful information, since it can be applied to a lot of different things. A lot of the weeds you've got to look out for in relation to livestock are bad for most mammals, even if, say, cows are more likely to die from it. Aand, now I'm getting off topic.

"How far had you gotten in trying to grow plants, and which plants? What soil bases have you looked at already? Have your Summer assignments already been handed out, and if so what are they? I'm gonna need ore info here, people."

To say that getting the information needed out of the students was difficult was an understatement, but eventually Kel found that no, their summer assignments had not been handed out, and no matter what they said they'd covered, only a few students were actually competent at recognising what kinds of plants could grow in which kinds of soils.

I've got a lot of work ahead of me if I'm gonna get these kids to pass. And this is just one year!  

[Hikari_Mamo]

"Actually, I was given my summer assignment last week at my old school." Faye piped up. She got up and handed Kel the paper with a smile so she could read over it. "Can I still do this in lieu of whatever it was they were going to get?" She asked with a slightly adorable look. The sheet of paper basically outlined either growing a plant (Edible or not) OR raising a small animal like a bird. Faye had circled the plant and already written down in the space provided what plant she was going to use and what she needed. "And if you need a tutor, I'm sure I could help. I skimmed the curriculum before I came to this school and I'm guessing this one is similar in some way so I know I have covered and passed a few topics that this class hasn't covered."

"What a nerd." Someone piped up.

"Nerdier than you'll ever be dumbass." She growled flipping him off. She turned back to Kel with a smile. "You could even get them to help with the gardens."  

[redheadstemper]

"'k, Faye, lemme have a look at that..." Kel took a look at the page and replied "I thought you said you did Horticulture? Though this would be a good one - maybe a tomato plant in a pot, they don't die so easily when you travel, and if it's anything like when I was here, not many of you will be going home over summer anyway. So I'll have to get you up to scratch on the soils," Kel paused as the bell rang "and order in the supplies, and we'll get you to plant tomatoes - and see who keeps their plant alive all summer. Dismissed."
Kel watched as the teens scattered to their next class, before diving to the file containing the syllabus for each of the classes she would be teaching, which she had put on the desk when she walked into the room. Hopefully she'd be able to read some of it before the next class came in, instead of going off her already hazy memories of taking Ag classes herself.  

[Hikari_Mamo]

Faye smiled a little smugly at Kel. "If you need help." She whispered. "I can help a little with the plants stuff, but only a little." Then the bell went. "See ya later Kel." She called then went to her next class which was mechanics.

"All right class we are going to be learning how to put together a motorcycle." Scott said once the class was settled. "Now you all have your skeleton parts and parts that you will need for putting the thing together. Once you have it completed we can work on painting it to your tastes and I will grade you from there. Any questions?" He looked around and saw Faye's hand up. "Yes Felicity?"

"What happens if you know nothing about putting something like this together?" Faye asked a little confused. She'd never taken any class like this before.

"Don't worry I and some students from senior classes will be here to help in any way they can." He said smiling. "All right pick a station and go from there." The ten kids in the class spread out over the garage and began working on their machines. Faye just sat there staring at her project and looked a little confused and distressed. "Um. . . sir!?" She called. "What's this part called?"

Scott moved over to her and frowned with a mild irritated sigh. "That, is the seat." He replied.

"And this part?" Faye asked.

"That's the handle bar. You put your hands on it when you ride it." Scott replied, however Faye looked horrified.

"Ride it?!" She cried. "That's disgusting! Not to mention uncomfortable!"

"No! I don't mean it like- Oh god you have a dirty mind!" He hissed. "Bobby come over here and help her out!" Scott said walking away. If he stayed there any longer he was afraid he'd blast her out of the sky.  

[redheadstemper]

After spending some time reading the syllabi to brush up on what she'd have to focus on before getting around to teaching the kids something useful, Kel attended the staff meeting. Otherwise known as, the staff table at lunchtime.

"So, how was your first class, Kel?"

It had to be asked, didn't it?

"Well, I reckon it's a good thing everyone's taken their tests for the year, otherwise I'd have no hope of getting them to pass. I still can't find a lesson plan, so I'll have to make one up over the summer and just get an assessment of where everyone's at 'til then. You weren't kidding when you told me most of the kids reckon Ag is a bit of a free ride, Ororo."

And doesn't it feel strange calling them all by their first names when I was their student five years ago?  

[Hikari_Mamo]

Scott entered the teachers lounge not long after Kel and sat down heavily on his chair. "I have never been so exhausted after a class in my life." He stated. "That new girl. . ." He shook his head. "Hopeless thing. I have never met any one as bad at mechanics as her. And I have met some doozies." He shook his head.

"You do realise if she heard you say that, Scott, she'll steal your power and blast you again right?" Storm pointed out making a cup of tea. Scott just blushed and didn't answer. "I'm sure she'll be okay." Storm purred handing a cup to Kel.


"And you connect this part to this part here." Bobby explained. The bell for lunch had gone long ago but he kept working with Faye since she looked upset and discouraged that she couldn't understand the lesson, so he thought he would give her a private lesson, walk her through it slowly. "And this part here." He pointed to the spots careful not to touch her. He watched her connect the motor they'd just made to the frame and slapped her on the back. "And that is how you build the motor for your bike. Congrats. From how we did it, she'll run smoothly. No hiccups at all."
"Thanks so much Bobby." Faye gushed her face still swollen from her tears of frustration. "I don't think I'd have been able to do this at all without you, for some reason Scott wasn't in the mood to help me."
"He's not used to people who don't have a basic understanding of tools like hammers and pliers things like that." Faye nodded and sighed.
"Thanks again. Will you be able to help me next time too?" She asked with a smile.
"Sure, I mean it's the least I can do after Rogue freaked you out." He laughed throwing a sheet over her work after painting her name on the sheet then guided her out for the last ten minutes of lunch.  

[redheadstemper]

Kel looked puzzled, but accepted the cup of tea from Storm. Taking a sip, she commented, "Hey, this is actually good. Do you get it imported or something?

"And Scott, I haven't asked, but I'm pretty sure Faye's a city girl. She hasn't grown up with tools, so you'd have to go through each one, then the name of each part, then start on the function ... or name, function, move on to the next item, but she'd have had no idea what you were talking about, if you were teaching the same way you did when I was a student."

Scott groaned. "I really don't have the time to walk her through every single, easy step, every single lesson. I have all the other students to teach as well, I'd be neglecting all of them in favour of her!"

"And even if that's true, Scott, you can get one of the more competent students to tutor her in the basics, can't you? But even without that, aren't most of your students at a point where you can tell them what to do, tell them to come to you with questions, and then spend most of the class with the students that really need it? It's not like you have to go through mathematical theory with them, bringing a new student up to the class level for me would be much harder, wouldn't you say?"

"Yeah, Storm, I guess you're right, she's just so aggravating."