Post by dharma on Aug 23, 2006 11:56:54 GMT -5
The Matron at the children's home where John had spent a lot of his formative years had a saying.
"I want that floor so clean you could eat your dinner off it."
She'd have loved John's desk right now. He could actually see the metal of it, something he couldn't remember ever having seen in his entire time in the office, not since Magneto's day.
He felt faintly accomplished, therefore, as he headed out to find the newcomer, who Gill had advised him had arrived early that morning. He felt full of hope and enthusiasm and was even feeling calmer than usual.
Dharma was sitting near the dock, watching the water. As John approached he may have thought at first the figure staring out to sea was a mannequin, long black hair blowing in the breeze the only motion made by the tall asian man.
His dark brown eyes did not shift focus as Pyro neared.
"You are well after all." Dharma said, every english word pronounced precisely in a deep, thrumming voice. "Good."
The voice caught John off guard. It was the kind of voice that should be advertising slightly illicit chocolate products on the television; the sort of voice that made you agree to buy anything as long as the speaker kept talking.
"I've been - a bit under the weather, I'm afraid," he apologised. "I guess you'll be Dharma?"
Dharma turned to face Pyro, folding his hands together in his lap. He wore long black robes with a mandarin collar, like a Kurosawa film come to life.
"That is what they call me." He nodded once, in acknowledgement to him. "Pyro." Another nod.
"Your people here are worthy of you. They have been very accomodating."
"Yeah, they're a good bunch," he acknowledged, nodding his head respectfully in response. "I take it they found you a room and sorted you with anything you need? We're still a bit up in the air after our raid on NovaTeX, I'm afraid." He ran a hand through his messy hair and absently wondered if any of the girls on base could cut it for him. "I fell ill at a pretty inopportune time."
The young man considered the other man in front of him. Their email exchanges had been increasingly fascinating to Pyro and he recalled that prior to Baltimore, he'd been seriously looking forward to meeting him.
"A room, breakfast, conversation. Angie in particular is quite intelligent." He said it as if he hadn't expected them to be, and that saying so was not sharing too much. It seemed observation was natural to him.
"Be concerned with your rehabilitation. Though having seen the island, I have some suggestions when you are ready to listen." His look to Pyro was direct, the sort of gaze that said he meant precisely what his words would indicate, and nothing more.
"Listening is what I do best right at this moment," said the young man, a little ruefully. "Head's been kind of stuffed full and I've done quite a lot of talking over the last few hours. Listening sounds like a pretty damn attractive option."
He sat down next to the newcomer.
"OK, shoot."
Dharma was surprised to find the young man so willing to hear him out. There was a certain amount of ego, but not as much as Dharma had anticipated. This was good. Very good.
He set his hands on his knees and began as if reciting thoughts he had rested on for years, though it was apparent he'd only been there a day at most.
"The island is for the most part undisturbed from what I have seen. At least since the population here was destroyed." He did not seem curious as to what had happened or why, only mentioning the facts as they were in the current moment. "There is overgrowth and a rising animal population. Your compound is expansive, clean, if cluttered, and valuable in case of attack. However."
The breath he took between thoughts was slow, and he seemed to have either no awareness or no concern that it was an unusually long pause for someone whose culture was accustomed to rapid fire speech.
"Your people cannot live within steel walls indefinitely. No sunlight, no organic matter, the echoing of their own voices off steel into their ears is harsh, it changes mood, makes them feel closed in, swallowed, suffocated, cut off. Which is what they are. But if you wish change, you must make that from within."
His voice lacked passion. It may have been disturbing or offensive if it weren't for it's cadence, perfectly matching the sound of wind through the trees and the crashing of waves on the shore in the distance.
"Your house is your body. If you wish a martial force, remain as you are. Know that the gentle forces of Aurora and Nightingale will be smothered within those steel walls. Even the Juggernaut will find his stamina depleting if his skin does not feel wind, retain sunlight, feel wood and earth and stone beneath his feet."
"I have not come here to tell you what to do, Pyro. Whether this island and these people die or thrive does not affect me." Finally, he turned his head and regarded the younger man. There was a look on his face that indicated they were on the same level, even if Dharma were speaking from a depth of wisdom Pyro had never encountered. "But I present the idea to you, as I don't believe you have had the time to consider it on your own." He nodded, an indication that he understood the demands on someone in his position.
Pyro stared at Dharma as he spoke, totally caught up in the other man's speech and more than a little surprised to realise that he actually shared a lot of the same sentiment. The metal confines of the Genosha base were exceptionally clinical and draining. Magneto hadn't had much use for windows, so there were very few in the heart of the base.
"I don't know a lot about construction, or even planning such an overhaul," he said, slowly. "Jane - you may or may not have met her yet- has brought the jungle into her world and the difference is amazing."
He turned his head towards the fringes of jungle land and stared at it thoughtfully. "I could bring a lot of that jungle under control and clear it back quite a way with my own powers, but if I combined what I do with Jane..." He became aware he'd drifted off on a tangent and shook himself.
"You're right," he acknowledged. "Time is a precious commodity that I seem to have very little of. Although...given that I'm apparently presently topping the FBI's Most Wanted list, I guess I'm stuck here for a while."
Dharma nodded. "So you may as well make your temple where your feet rest."
"I have heard of Jane, though I have not met her yet. I as well can alter organic matter, our abilities will compliment one another. The planning. I can tell you how to build structures suitable to my lifestyle, but they will not look like American homes. Perhaps you know someone with that knowledge."
He looked at the ocean once more. It appeared he had finished his thought, and was content to say nothing until he had something more to say.
"Perhaps you could produce one of your structures, and I could get a better feel for it," countered the young Brotherhood leader, although not in a challenging way, but rather in a curious, interested way.
"Never was one for houses, per se, I've lived either in institutions, on the street or in Charles Xavier's mansion. Oh, or here. Or the woods."
He grinned, suddenly.
There was a smile on Dharma's face that said he was both impressed and flattered by what Pyro had offered out to him. He nodded. "I can do that."
"I want that floor so clean you could eat your dinner off it."
She'd have loved John's desk right now. He could actually see the metal of it, something he couldn't remember ever having seen in his entire time in the office, not since Magneto's day.
He felt faintly accomplished, therefore, as he headed out to find the newcomer, who Gill had advised him had arrived early that morning. He felt full of hope and enthusiasm and was even feeling calmer than usual.
Dharma was sitting near the dock, watching the water. As John approached he may have thought at first the figure staring out to sea was a mannequin, long black hair blowing in the breeze the only motion made by the tall asian man.
His dark brown eyes did not shift focus as Pyro neared.
"You are well after all." Dharma said, every english word pronounced precisely in a deep, thrumming voice. "Good."
The voice caught John off guard. It was the kind of voice that should be advertising slightly illicit chocolate products on the television; the sort of voice that made you agree to buy anything as long as the speaker kept talking.
"I've been - a bit under the weather, I'm afraid," he apologised. "I guess you'll be Dharma?"
Dharma turned to face Pyro, folding his hands together in his lap. He wore long black robes with a mandarin collar, like a Kurosawa film come to life.
"That is what they call me." He nodded once, in acknowledgement to him. "Pyro." Another nod.
"Your people here are worthy of you. They have been very accomodating."
"Yeah, they're a good bunch," he acknowledged, nodding his head respectfully in response. "I take it they found you a room and sorted you with anything you need? We're still a bit up in the air after our raid on NovaTeX, I'm afraid." He ran a hand through his messy hair and absently wondered if any of the girls on base could cut it for him. "I fell ill at a pretty inopportune time."
The young man considered the other man in front of him. Their email exchanges had been increasingly fascinating to Pyro and he recalled that prior to Baltimore, he'd been seriously looking forward to meeting him.
"A room, breakfast, conversation. Angie in particular is quite intelligent." He said it as if he hadn't expected them to be, and that saying so was not sharing too much. It seemed observation was natural to him.
"Be concerned with your rehabilitation. Though having seen the island, I have some suggestions when you are ready to listen." His look to Pyro was direct, the sort of gaze that said he meant precisely what his words would indicate, and nothing more.
"Listening is what I do best right at this moment," said the young man, a little ruefully. "Head's been kind of stuffed full and I've done quite a lot of talking over the last few hours. Listening sounds like a pretty damn attractive option."
He sat down next to the newcomer.
"OK, shoot."
Dharma was surprised to find the young man so willing to hear him out. There was a certain amount of ego, but not as much as Dharma had anticipated. This was good. Very good.
He set his hands on his knees and began as if reciting thoughts he had rested on for years, though it was apparent he'd only been there a day at most.
"The island is for the most part undisturbed from what I have seen. At least since the population here was destroyed." He did not seem curious as to what had happened or why, only mentioning the facts as they were in the current moment. "There is overgrowth and a rising animal population. Your compound is expansive, clean, if cluttered, and valuable in case of attack. However."
The breath he took between thoughts was slow, and he seemed to have either no awareness or no concern that it was an unusually long pause for someone whose culture was accustomed to rapid fire speech.
"Your people cannot live within steel walls indefinitely. No sunlight, no organic matter, the echoing of their own voices off steel into their ears is harsh, it changes mood, makes them feel closed in, swallowed, suffocated, cut off. Which is what they are. But if you wish change, you must make that from within."
His voice lacked passion. It may have been disturbing or offensive if it weren't for it's cadence, perfectly matching the sound of wind through the trees and the crashing of waves on the shore in the distance.
"Your house is your body. If you wish a martial force, remain as you are. Know that the gentle forces of Aurora and Nightingale will be smothered within those steel walls. Even the Juggernaut will find his stamina depleting if his skin does not feel wind, retain sunlight, feel wood and earth and stone beneath his feet."
"I have not come here to tell you what to do, Pyro. Whether this island and these people die or thrive does not affect me." Finally, he turned his head and regarded the younger man. There was a look on his face that indicated they were on the same level, even if Dharma were speaking from a depth of wisdom Pyro had never encountered. "But I present the idea to you, as I don't believe you have had the time to consider it on your own." He nodded, an indication that he understood the demands on someone in his position.
Pyro stared at Dharma as he spoke, totally caught up in the other man's speech and more than a little surprised to realise that he actually shared a lot of the same sentiment. The metal confines of the Genosha base were exceptionally clinical and draining. Magneto hadn't had much use for windows, so there were very few in the heart of the base.
"I don't know a lot about construction, or even planning such an overhaul," he said, slowly. "Jane - you may or may not have met her yet- has brought the jungle into her world and the difference is amazing."
He turned his head towards the fringes of jungle land and stared at it thoughtfully. "I could bring a lot of that jungle under control and clear it back quite a way with my own powers, but if I combined what I do with Jane..." He became aware he'd drifted off on a tangent and shook himself.
"You're right," he acknowledged. "Time is a precious commodity that I seem to have very little of. Although...given that I'm apparently presently topping the FBI's Most Wanted list, I guess I'm stuck here for a while."
Dharma nodded. "So you may as well make your temple where your feet rest."
"I have heard of Jane, though I have not met her yet. I as well can alter organic matter, our abilities will compliment one another. The planning. I can tell you how to build structures suitable to my lifestyle, but they will not look like American homes. Perhaps you know someone with that knowledge."
He looked at the ocean once more. It appeared he had finished his thought, and was content to say nothing until he had something more to say.
"Perhaps you could produce one of your structures, and I could get a better feel for it," countered the young Brotherhood leader, although not in a challenging way, but rather in a curious, interested way.
"Never was one for houses, per se, I've lived either in institutions, on the street or in Charles Xavier's mansion. Oh, or here. Or the woods."
He grinned, suddenly.
There was a smile on Dharma's face that said he was both impressed and flattered by what Pyro had offered out to him. He nodded. "I can do that."