Fukatawa Minori's Story

Today was a wonderful day for a picnic. The sun was shining, the rattlesnakes were shaking their groove things in a lovely if deadly dance on the desert sands, swaying about as they let the rhythm of the desert guide them. Most definitely a day for peanut butter and jelly sandwiches with cold glasses of milk before the sun got too high in the sky and the heat would be unbearable. This was Minori's thought process anyway. She loved getting outside and seeing what mother nature was up to. Why, just last week she was fairly certain she saw a scorpion wedding interrupted by a tarantula. The scorpions ate well.

This time she was heading for a more specific spot, a rock formation that the Compound mutants always passed during their supply runs. She'd already met Romeo, whom she very affectionately called Ro-Ro, and liked checking in with him every so often to see how his little Mutant College was fairing, and to let him in on any rumors she might hear of strange happenstances. Today... she was just feeling social. She was toting around a basket filled with about six sandwiches, cut in halves, so that the supply party Ro-Ro would have with him could get a free lunch today. She didn't know the Compound mutants very well outside of Ro-Ro and Hunny, but she was hoping to change that.

That is, until she heard the screaming a little deeper into the desert.

Minori took off in a hard run towards the source of the sound, still clutching the basket of food as she climbed a dune to try to see who was in trouble, and hesitated when she got a good look around. It was partially a result of shock at seeing every rock in her field of view floating off the ground, and partly that, much like the rocks, she too was floating off of the ground. It gave Minori time to look around, to see the young woman screaming on the sand, clutching her head. "Telepath... poor thing" she said softly to herself, waiting for the powers to ebb. She kind of liked the sensation of levitating, but knowing that another power spike could crush her body didn't leave her much room to enjoy it. The floating stopped when the crying stopped, and it didn't take long for Minori to get down to the poor thing once her feet hit the ground, sliding into a kneel and stopped just short of Jamison.

"There there you poor dear. It's okay, you're not alone" She said, looking Jamison over before rubbing her hands together, setting her picnic basket aside for now, and eased her palms onto Jamison's temples, gently trying to cool her off, to show both that she was here to help, and that she too was a mutant. "My name is Minori, and its going to be okay. I'm a friend" She said, placing the back of her hand on Jamie's forehead to try to cool her off a bit, but was trying not to overstep her bounds till Jamison responded to her.

"Stay with me now. What's your name?"

The pain was excruciating. Jamie could have blacked out, if her will power wasn't so strong. Every part of her head just ached with pulsating throbs, she hated the feeling. Tears streamed down her eyes and she could do nothing to stop them. But it was the next sensation that caused her mind to retract and her lips part in protest. It was so cold and so welcoming, that Jamie just wanted to melt right then and there. Her breath came out in short gasps, some of surprise and some of relief. She squeezed her eyes closed tightly, groaning.

"J-Friend?" She asked. She wasn't easily trusting, but the girl's skin felt wonderful. "Jamie." She whispered, her eyes slowly opening. She didn't look the girl in the eyes, not yet.

There are times where Jamie was unable to control the mind control. It frightened her, especially when she was able to do severe damage. This girl was helping her and she refused to risk the girl going through the pain. But now the question was, what was the girl doing out here in the desert?

"Who..why are you here?" She murmured softly.

Jamie seemed to be calming down, which was good. Being near those with gifts of the mind when they got out of control like that was very perilous, and though Minori was certain the girl meant no harm, it didn't mean it wouldn't happen anyway. "Well, if its important given the circumstances, I was on my way to lunch. I love watching nature over food, you see, and its the perfect time of day for it. Just under sweltering so my powers aren't complete doo doo" Minori said cheerfullywaving to Jamie now that her eyes were open.

"Head still hurting? I've got some sandwiches if you want one. PB&J with some cold milk. And don't give me any nonsense about not being hungry. I've seen telepaths go through spells like this before and it looks exhausting. So I'm going to answer for you" Minori said, opening her picnic basket and dug out a sandwich, which was contained in a Ziploc bag. She sat the sandwich down on Jamie's lap, then dug out a large thermos before smiling. She liked this part. Focusing a bit, she relaxed the hand not holding the thermos, as though she were holding something within it, and in a matter of moments ice grew in her grip. It didn't take long for it to take the shape of a glass, rough and choppy looking at first, but as soon as the basic shape was finalized Minori smoothed the glass out, the shaved off ice forming chunks on the glass's rim before plopping down into the glass.

"The hardest part is making the ice cubs fall inward. Took me a week to get that down pat. Now here" Minori said, smiling as she poured the milk into her new glass and passed it off to Jamie. The glass was small, barely bigger than Minori's hand, but the glass wouldn't last long in the desert anyway. No need for big portions. Minori did the same again for herself, making then pouring a glass of milk and grabbing a sandwich, and plopped down from her kneeling position to sit beside her new friend.

"Name's Minori. I said so while you were still having an episode so I'm not sure if you heard, not that I'd blame you. You did pick a wonderful spot though, any closer to town and someone besides a loon might have heard the screaming. You okay?".

Jamie nodded slowly, her head aching. Though, something just didn't seem right. She sat up slowly, her hand pressed against her forehead. "Somethings wrong..." She whispered.

Jamie wasn't a fortune-telling psychic but at times, like anyone, there was always that feeling in the pit of her stomach. Jamie took the glass carefully and shook her head gently. "I can't eat right now...thank you though. Can you help me stand up?" She added.

Her eyes settled on the ground in front of her, before the fell closed. God, it was too hot. She knew it was because it was the desert, but her body temperature was just a bit too hot for her to handle completely. "Did I hurt anyone?"


[[Sorry for so short, it will be longer in the future. Should the two go back to the compound?]]

"Not that I'm aware of. I floated a bit when I got close but who doesn't dream of flying, right?" Minori asked, chuckling a bit before standing, then held out a hand for Jamie. "And you say something's wrong? Is that why you took it on yourself to hike through the desert all this way?". Minori wasn't showing it, but she was pretty concerned about Jamie. Even if the hike lasted only a few hours, it was close to noon and the sun was at its hottest. She needed to get her strength back before she moved around too much.

"I parked not too far off from here. I don't have anywhere to be for a while so if I can I'll help you get where you need to go, but only if you give yourself a minute to rest. hiking through the desert is hard enough on a person but you just had the psychic equivalent of a heart attack. The less you move the better for a while" Minori said, nodding a few times before scooping Jamie up in her arms. She may not look it, but she was fairly strong. Strong enough to carry Jamie to the car anyway. As Minori hoisted her up, she began to lower the temperature around her, cooling herself and Jamie off as she walked.

"Before you protest, I can only cool you off in the open desert like this if I'm touching you, and you've been lying out here for who knows how long. Now you're one of Romeo's little ones aren't you? Is he in trouble?" Minori asked, power walking now while holding Jamie bridal style, hiding the strain of the act quite well. It wouldn't take but a few minutes to get to the Camry that Minori drove, standing Jamie up in front of the passenger side door before getting in herself, cranking up the AC for herself as much as for Jamie. Her weakness was high temperatures, and using her powers out there had drained her a little. She would turn the ignition and go as soon as Jamie gave her some directions, having never been to the compound herself.

-=-

Franky was wondering how the hell he and Christine didn't hang out more. For a fire child she was pretty cool, and the peck on the cheek had him electrified. He resisted the urge to hit more dunes just to make sure Christine's stomach didn't disagree with it, but they'd definitely hit the bumpy road back home. He had an obstacle course of sorts set up around the compound, a series of dunes he thought were perfectly spaced apart for fast jumps.

"So the hot mama is a party animal too? Baby, you can't be hiding these things from a rock star like myself! Instead of a solo act we could have been partying it up as a dynamic duo! You bringing the heat and Franky bringing the thunder we'd have the compound jumping all day every day!" Franky said, excited to have found a kindred spirit. He may not be jumping anymore dunes, but once they hit a flat stretch of sand he hit the accelerator hard and gunned it through the wasteland, kicking up enough sand to start a sandstorm.

"For real though, We gotta hang out more if you've fallen in love with Clementine like I have. Hey, wanna give her a spin on the way back? Just gotta promise you won't get too attached... she's already seeing someone" Franky said, chuckling to himself, but then his eyes grew wide as he quickly cut to the right, nearly ramming into what appeared to be a Camry driving through the desert. He coulda swore he recognized it as well.

"Well shit... you okay babe? Given the vastness of this sandbox I didn't think to pay attention to oncoming traffic" Franky said with a slightly nervous laugh, cutting the engine for now.