Infirmary with Tavi

[balancingminds]

Charles is in the infirmary reading through medical journals on neural imagery and wondering how it might be used to improve Cerebro. In the waiting area, he's taken over a table which is at the right height for him and taking notes.

Its quieter in here and he'd feel odd bringing these modern journals back home and the library upstairs has a few too many memories.

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[student_of_impossibility]

Tavi finally has time without the baby, and having come in without the ubiquitous paperwork (it is a miracle, honestly). So, being incapable of not working, he decides to follow up on Sam Wilson's idea and goes hunting in the infirmary.

The mind Charles will pick up before seeing him is interestinglt shielded: only surface shields on thoughts: that he is looking for Charles or Alana Bloom by name (rather than face) will probably be obvious. Emotionally, though, beyond a sense of casual determination, Tavi is pretty opaque, though not yet behind a metaphorical steel wall.

Then he comes in to spot Charles, and briefly amusement spikes. Always note-taking, someone else if not Tavi himself. He thinks over the names and takes a guess. "Excuse me, are you Charles Xavier?"

[balancingminds]

The feel of the mind does get Charles' attention, that's beautiful shielding and he notes his own name.

His own shielding on the visible layers varies from a permeable field like water to interlocking walls. He looks up from his work a moment before Tavi actually enters the room, "Yes, I am."

[student_of_impossibility]

Huh! Tavi rarely gets to see (or feel, or whatever) shields like that, especially in Alera. Layers are not something Alerans usually go for! Even Tavi rarely bothers trying; he's either feeling relatively open and just slightly shielded, (very rarely) completely open, or shut tight like a safe.

That Charles is looking up is interesting; most people wouldn't until being spoken to. Tavi files that away.

"Good to meet you." He offers a sword-calloused hand. "I'm Tavi." Inside his brain, slightly fuzzed by his reflexive surface shields, Gaius Octavian and then Tavarus briefly flicker through--not as his name, that's Tavi, but as the 'well maybe I should-- nah, that's not the important part here' feeling. Even if, at some level, it is. "Sam Wilson sent me. If you've got the time, I have some qauestions."

Hey, at least he doesn't feel (at the moment) like he's looking for therapy. In fact, he is in cheerfully overclocked logistics mood.

[balancingminds]

Charles smiles in greeting and offers his own smoother hand, noting the different names. Tavi's mind seems organized, its refreshing and Charles is curious about his questions, so marks his place in a journal,

"You as well and I'm always happy to answer what I can."

[student_of_impossibility]

Tavi's mind is at once sprawling and inventive and a little strange in the connections it makes--and also so carefully sorted as it maps out everything he knows and needs and is calculating.

He's an odd one.

"I suppose it's two questions that are so broad I have no idea where to start with the smaller parts." He smiles ruefully. "Sam and I were talking about the state of my world, and he brought up that ex-soldiers as they leave service might need support of kinds that I have in all honestly never heard of, never mind whether my world has structures to create that." Alerans and therapy are not a thing, or else no matter how resistant he was no one would have let Gaius Sextus go without at least a psychologist his whole damned life.

"The broad umbrellas are the medical side and-- Sam called it therapy?" Tavi sounds mildly confused. He can understand the implied meaning, it's just... new. "Or counseling. Non-medical professional trained to do something emotionally, apparently." He spreads his hands. "I think I'm interested in the latter half more than the other. My people... are not advanced enough scientifically, I suspect."

Or at least, not without a lot of research and experimentation he has no time for.

[balancingminds]

As Tavi talks, Charles nods and grows serious, this is work he finds important and isn't done enough in his time,

"The medical landscape is changing in my own time and not where my strength lies. I can help with providing emotional support, I've done that for many soldiers in my time and teaching as well. I'm from an earlier era than Sam which is why I can't tell you as much on the medicine. My strength lies in the fact that I'm a telepath and have been since I was a boy. I grew up during a war and surrounded by veterans of another war."

In the infirmary, he feels safer being open and Tavi has shields which means he has some of his own abilities.

[student_of_impossibility]

Tavi smiles at him, wryly.

"Like I said, the medicine part is the less urgent of my concerns. I'm not have anyone who would really understand it anyway."

But the rest! That's excellent. Mostly. Tavi blinks--for a moment, quite clearly, there's a startled teepath? Should I--? before it fuzzes slightly more, although stopping telepaths is not his strong suit. For a moment, though, his emotional shields flash shut--until he reconsiders. Well, he probably doesn't have to be as tightly closed as he is in politics. So he relaxes those shields somewhat, although he's aware enough to be slightly more careful.

He likes his privacy, 'kay.

Still, telepath means helpful. "We don't have any outright telepaths, but we may have some subsets which may make whatever you use more practically applicable," he says with no little gratitude. "And while none of our adults grew up in that kind of war--except in the north--two generations will have seen it or grown up in it."

His voice is still business-like, but some weariness leaks through. Alera is a mess. "Do you rely mostly on your capabilities? Sam implied there are things to do which non-medical personnel or non-telepaths can use."

[balancingminds]

Charles observes Tavi's shields and keeps his own at the same level, he's open on a surface level with nothing visible below. There is a small feeling of relief from him, the last reaction he had was painful and an image of Baze and Chirrut goes through his mind,

"I rely on a combination of my abilities and what I've learned of people and how to best help them. What kinds of subsets exist in Alera?"

[student_of_impossibility]

That flash of pain is... interesting. Tavi honestly isn't surprised some people in the Bar are tetchy. Even if it's somewhat stupid, somewhat understandable, and somewhat tiresome all at once. So he decides not to worry about it. Friendly is not hard.

Okay, learning from others is good--as is the word help. At least this tells Tavi there's no magic fix, which is both distressing and... a relief, of sorts. Perfection should always be strived for, but that it is always a work in progress fits his view of the world.

Tavi takes a breath. Well, he doesn't usually talk about this openly. "There's the watercrafters who can feel emotion, unless they're blocked deliberately by metalcrafting or, ah, practice," flash of wryness, he learned it far too young, "earthcrafters who can project calm or... physical hungers," meaning food and lust both, kthnxbai, "or their opposites, though those are used more rarely; and firecrafters, who can do the same for anger and happiness, or fear and courage."

[balancingminds]

Those divisions are unexpected and Charles says, "I can do all of that in terms of projecting and blocking. With all of those tools, many options are possible from short term which is all some people need. A few nights good sleep and help in facing the nightmares while others need learn help relearning the world."

He gestures to his chair, that's something he's familiar with.

[student_of_impossibility]

Well then. That's powerful--although, as Tavi thinks about it, about on par with the High Lords except as a telepath rather than purely empathic. "I should clarify," he adds absently, "while anyone with will can block, only some do it with metal--including holding off side-effects of receiving with watercrafting--and people can have any subset of that list. Almost never going to be all four without--" the other two "--other skills, and most of those aren't going to have the time or interest for this kind of work."

Except maybe Veradis, she will probably be interested in at least getting people trained.

"Mostly it's just one or two, but someone could both feel and project happiness or calm, for instance, or project two sets without being able to feel." Furycrafting: annoying to explain to other people.

Tavi nods, sighing. A few nights' sleep has been doing him worlds of good, lately. Even with the baby. "We've some of that--though some we have to use with care, addiction and the like--and certainly our regular healers have plenty of experience helping with sleep or nightmares." Especially lately. "It's more this counseling Sam mentioned. We don't so much need help as needing training in how to help ourselves. If you have any ideas about laying a foundation for that, you'll be far ahead of me."

He hates admitting when he doesn't know things.

[balancingminds]

"What do you mean when you say with metal? Do you need to be near the presence of metal to craft?" He's trying to get a sense of what's possible but it seems like what will help the most is observing.

"I can provide counseling and teach, I'll have to figure out what you need and what works best. Everyone's different and where a person's from changes what they'll accept."

[student_of_impossibility]

"Both, to an extent." Tavi usually waves off furycrafting as 'elemental spirit magic' until or unless someone indicates they want to get into comparative theory. Here, though... "The presence of metal mostly enables the crafting, but also not everyone can do it. We have six types of furycrafting--wind, earth, water, fire, wood, metal. Most people have one or two, some as many as three. Strength in it varies. The most powerful have all six, but that's relatively rare."

An image in his mind flashes of Kitai--rather distinctly non-human--and a deep sense of amusement at any number of things he's just said. Amusement, and smugness.

Tavi nods. "We'll have to see about getting you to visit sometime with as few questions as possible. Easier to do than it used to be." Without Sextus to answer to--that hurts, deep down under the wryness, but Tavi isn't entirely aware of how much that wound still bleeds--and without others to answer to. Being First Lord is great, he gets to be uncommunicative so much more often.

"I'm going to guess by 'accept' you mean both on the patient and the healer--or counselor's--side, in terms of treatment or training?"

[balancingminds]

Charles jots down a few notes on the pad he has. Tavi's thoughts are intriguing as that woman clearly has different strengths,

"That's helpful. I study genetics and at another point, I'd love to learn more about what decides who has what abilities. Yes, a person has to want help to begin with and then there are numerous other layers. The sense that they don't deserve it or if they're too deep in pain, they don't believe anything can change for a few examples. Prejudice can get in the way of who will help who. I wish it wasn't true but that element of humanity always seems to exist."

[student_of_impossibility]

Tavi smiles a little wryly. "Generally speaking, furycraft strength or element may be heavily influenced by family history, but the rest is fairly randomized chance. You might find genetic information, but I suspect there's too much chance involved. Not terribly interesting, if perplexing."

Yet.

And, actually, it always was, just not genetically.

But that's his secret.

He sighs and runs a hand through his hair--through it, now that it's finally not quite Legion-short. "Not just humanity. Of people, I suppose, although there are probably computer residents who might have opinions on that word." Enzo is a good friend, even though they've sort of drifted lately. "Or robots."

If Tavi is a little concerned with identifiers, well, not that long ago his people regarded Marat as near-human but barbarians and the Canim as unlikely to have genuine intelligence, to say nothing of their estimation of Icemen. He has work to do to change that.

[balancingminds]

He nods in agreement, "Yes, thank you for that correction. Genetics does have an element of chance in it but I see, furycrafting follows its own rules. Humanity is only a starting place and doesn't fit everywhere."

[student_of_impossibility]

"Sorry," Tavi apologizes. "I hope it's not condescending. It's kind of my area, though, or one of them."

The thought of more of an expert than they know and I wonder if any of them even read it flash past.

He smiles wryly. "There are any number of different starting places, where I come from. I'm hoping they're converging, now."

And this time it's a picture: she is clearly not human, and the baby. That he's mixed might be less obvious, but probably deduceable.

[balancingminds]

"No, I understand. I'm a teacher and know how important it is to make certain key ideas are agreed upon before moving forward,"

The image of the baby makes him smile and does explain a lot.

[student_of_impossibility]

That response--the 'agreed upon' part in particular--makes Tavi burst out into a full belly laugh. Another image, this time with a vague drone and a strong sense of boredom: a room full of what are obviously scholars, obviously angry at each other, and the back of a tall man, black hair heavily streaked with white (and dressed almost exactly like Tavi is now, in fact) watching and listening silently.

For all the amusement and annoyance at the image--though the annoyance more a memory, where the amusement is present--Charles may sense a faint, currently indefinable crack.

"The day you can get Aleran scholars to agree on anything, even when facts are shoved in their face at deafening volume," he says merrily, "it will probably signal another invasion of apocalyptic proportions."

[balancingminds]

Its oddly familiar and makes Charles miss Oxford,

"Scholars never agree on anything, but there are starting places. Its a little easier outside of academia."

[student_of_impossibility]

Tavi rolls his eyes expressively.

"It's worse when you're a student still and you have concrete proof they're wrong, or approaching the problem from the wrong angle. But because you're a student..."

He spreads his hands and shrugs, helplessly. Between the Romans and furycrafting and that thesis all the furycrafting theorists ignored, he spent his school years quite frustrated.

[balancingminds]

"Then you have to be polite and listen and wait for your turn to talk even though you know you're right,"

He's been there.