Doing Laundry (Open)

[Matthew Craft]

Matthew presses his thumbs to the bridge of his nose as he sits, cross legged, on the top of the thruming washing machine. With his keen, 'pitch perfect' ears he listens, picking out the variety of scrambled, incoherent notes the machine throws out as it churns his wet clothing.

The white, polished metal vibrates and rocks beneath his massive body as he closes his eyes. He feels for his flute, fingers curling around the cool, long body. He flutters the keys a few times, warming himself up, before raising his flute to his lips. With a slow and soft breath, he blows into the mouthpiece, sending a gentle low tone into the air. The note mixes with the insistent groan of the washing machine.

Matthew pulls the flute away briefly, pausing long enough to grimace. The background noise of his clothes being cleaned created a less-than-ideal location to practice on his flute. He frowns for a moment before returning the instrument to his mouth.

With large but deft hands he presses the keys as be blows again. This time, he doesn't stop. Instead, he continues his steady, controlled breaths and changes the notes. He finds that concentration isn't even necessary, he just envisions the music as it leaves the flute.

Beneath him, the washing machine enters the spin cycle, encouraging him to speed up his tempo. He realizes, after a few minutes, that he doesn't even know what he's playing, but he likes it. It's soft, yet bold. He makes a mental note to record it later, if he can remember it.

[rileyfletcher]

It was the end of the week and it was time for Riley to do her laundry. She threw all of her clothes into a basket and carried it down into the basement. It was she usually time when she did her laundry, since everyone always was busy and hardly anyone was down here at this time. once Riley got all of her clothes into the basket she made her way down to the landry room.

As soon as she was close to the door to the laundry room, Riley could hear the machine going, also someone playing music. Riley opened the door and notices a guy sitting on the waching machine and was playing the flute. She watched him a bit, and wondered if he noticed that she came in. Riley was glad that he was dresses, cause there was a few occasions where she had walked in on a guy doing his laundry and was only in his boxers and seemed really embarassed. So lately she has been a bit more careful.

Riley set her basket of clothes down on the floor. "That's really good. Have you been playing the flute for a long time?" she asked him with a smile. Riley was guessing he was new here, since she had never seen him around before.

[Matthew Craft]

Matthew doesn't hear her as she comes in, but when she sets down her basket, he snaps his eyes open.

His fingers faulter on his flute and he struggles to maintain the flowing string of notes, but ultimately, he fails. The music comes to an abrupt and stumbled end. He drops the instrument to his lap and smiles sheepishly.

"That's really good. Have you been playing the flute for a long time?"

"Uh...Sort of. I've only been playing this thing for a couple months." He waves the flute around and pushes himself off the washing machine, which began to shake violently. Matthew stretches slightly and stands up to his full height of 6'11''. "You're..." He pauses and shakes his head slightly, his eyes flying skyward. After few moments he looks back down at her and shrugs. "I'm sorry, I'm terrible with names. I'm Matthew, in any case." He grins broadly and sets his flute on top of the still dryer.

As if on cue, the washing machine buzzes, causing his eyes to widen slightly in surprise.

[rileyfletcher]

When he began to struggle playing the flute, Riley guessed it was because she was standing there. She watched him as he dropped it onto his lap and smiled sheepishly. Riley smiled to herself.

Soon he told her that he had only been playing it for a couple of months. "Really? Well even though you have been playing it for a few months your very good at it." she told him. Then he had gotten off of the washing machine. Right away Riley had to look up at him and felt really short. Man! He is super tall! Then he began speaking to her again, it seemed like he was trying to figure out her name. He soon gave up trying to figure out and looked back down at her, and telling her that his name is Matthew.

"Nice to meet you Matthew. I'm Riley." she told him with a smile. Soon there was a buzz from the washing machine, but she ignored it, though she saw Matthew's eyes widen when he heard it and seemed surprised. "Are you new around here?" she asked him curiously. If he wasn't, then she would be very surprised, because she kind of knows everyone at the school or see a lot of the same people walking around the school constantly, but has never seen him before.

[Matthew Craft]

"Really? Well even though you have been playing it for a few months your very good at it."

Matthew smiles to himself. "Thanks. I have this...ability...with music. But that little guy," he says, pointing back at his flute, "is a bit trickier than I expected."

He watches her gawk when he stands up. That type of reaction was surprisingly popular. Sometimes Matthew wished he wasn't so tall.

"Nice to meet you Matthew. I'm Riley." She wasn't startled by the buzzer, like he was, and his reaction makes him blush, if only a little. "Are you new around here?"

"Actually, yeah, I am. Me and my sister arrived recently. Toni's the new Chemistry teacher, you might have seen her around too." He says, and begins pulling his laundry out of washing machine, only to shove it into the dryer. "How long have you been here?"

[rileyfletcher]

Listening to Matthew talking about his flute being trickier then what he had expected and that he has an ability with music, Riley smiled at him. She thought it was really cool that music comes easily to him. She never had a chance to try playing any instrument, but Riley had a feeling that she wouldn't be good at anything. Riley does sing sometimes though, only because she had nothing to do and no one to talk to.

Riley noticed Matthew blushing, she guessed it was because he was shocked to hear the buzzer and she wasn't. "Don't worry, you'll get use to the sound. It always scared me at first, until after a month i finally got use to it." she told him, letting him know that he wasn't the only one that jumped when hearing the buzzer.

"Really, your her brother? I can see the slight resemblence now. Yeah I have seen your sister around a few times, but I haven't actually talked to her yet." she told him. Riley watched him as he took his things out of the washing machine and began putting them into the dryer. She waitted until he was all done taking his clothes out of the washing machine, before she brought her basket over and began putting her clothes into it. Then Riley heard Matthew asking her how long she had been year. "Well... I have been here for several years. I guess almost half a decade." she told him.

[Matthew Craft]

"Really, your her brother? I can see the slight resemblence now. Yeah I have seen your sister around a few times, but I haven't actually talked to her yet."

Matthew smiles and scratches his head for a moment. "You'd be among the first to actually see the resemblance. Most people think that we're going out or something." He pauses and cranks up the timer on the washing machine. He pulls his flute off the dryer before the machine begins to rock. "You'll like Toni. She's kind of strange, but she's pretty cool none-the-less."

Matthew stands back and watches Riley load up her clothes into the washing machine, tapping a few of the flute's keys, running through his newly created piece in his mind.

"Well... I have been here for several years. I guess almost half a decade." His eyebrows rise considerably as he leans back against the wall.

"Wow, that long? That's quite a while." Matthew taps the end of his flute against his leg. "You must have pretty much mastered your mutation since then. I've only just begun my training, but do you mind if I ask what your mutation is?"

[rileyfletcher]

Hearing that she was one of the first people to see the resemblance between him and his sister, she was a bit surprised. "Really? People think you two are going out? That's funny and weird at the same time." she told him. Then she heard him saying that she would like Toni. "Well everybody is strange in their own way, but i think I might get along great with her." she told him with a smile. Once Riley was done putting her clothes in the washing machine, she turned it on. She could hear the water being filled up in it and then the swishing sound.

Then Riley noticed Matthew leaning against the wall. He then began saying to her, that she had been here for a pretty long time and that she must of mastered her powers after being here for so long. Riley laughed slightly. "Yeah, it is a pretty long time. It almost feels like I have been here forever, but then I think it's because the days are really long for me. And with my powers... well... I did had them almost mastered at one point, but... after an incident, I kinda lost control over some of it." she told him. Riley soon remembered he had asked her what kind of mutation she had. "Well my powers are mostly healing through thouch and I'm able to fly. I have retractable angel wings. And the powers that I have trouble with are my telepathy and telekinesis." she told Matthew.

Riley leaned against the wall as well. She usually sits ontop of either the washing machine or dryer, but since they were both in use, she decided not to. "So what is your mutation?" she asked him. She began to wonder what his mutation, if it's something that quite a few mutants have or if it's rare.

[Matthew Craft]

"Well everybody is strange in their own way, but i think I might get along great with her." Matthew laughs lightly and shakes his head.

"You obviously don't know Toni then. When I say strange, I mean out-of-this-world-and-she'll-completely-blow-you-away strange." He grins broadly. Matthew listens intently as she explains her training.

"Yeah, it is a pretty long time. It almost feels like I have been here forever, but then I think it's because the days are really long for me. And with my powers... well... I did had them almost mastered at one point, but... after an incident, I kinda lost control over some of it."

He frowns slightly as she explains her difficulties. "You lost control? That must be really hard on you," Matthew sympathsizes, his voice softening a little. "Having gone through all the trouble just to learn, only to have it backfire on you. I mean, that's got to be a real pain."

For a moment Riley seems distracted, but she quickly recovers and answers his next question.

"Well my powers are mostly healing through thouch and I'm able to fly. I have retractable angel wings. And the powers that I have trouble with are my telepathy and telekinesis."

"Well," Matthew says, raising his eyebrows as he considers he difficulties of controling her mutation, "I suppose that there are worse things to lose control of. Unless you're really powerful...then maybe I should watch my butt around you." He teases, hoping to make her smile. "But anyways, healing? That's really cool, and extremely practical. There are lots of ways to use that ability. As for flight, now that's something really amazing. I'd love to be able to fly." He smiles at the thought.

"So what is your mutation?"

"It's kind of complicated really. My sister has this wild theory on how it works...but to make a long story short, I'm radioactive. My body's charged with nuclear energy." He smiles sheepishly and rubs the back of his head. "I haven't really learned how to control it yet, but I can use the radiation to make...well basically...miniature nuclear bombs. That, and I'm really strong and reasonably tough." Matthew grinds his teeth for a moment as he gazes past her. "To be completely honest, this whole radioactive thing scares the hell out of me. I irradiated a whole bunch of people the first time I ever used it. A lot of people got really sick."

[rileyfletcher]

Only a few people knew about her problem with her powers, but now slowly everyone soon began to find out that she had lost control over them on that day where she almost destroyed one of the rooms. She listened to him as he sympathsizes to her, saying that it's terrible to have lost control after working so hard to get them almost under control, but funny things happen to everyone. "Yeah, it is a real pain, but I've decided to stop using them, but it doesn't seem to work very well." she told him.

Riley laughes slightly as Matthew joes around a bit about her powers being powerful and that he would have to keep an eye on his butt. "Just don't catch me on an emotional day. That's when my powers go a bit weird." she told him with a smile. She watched him as he talked about her other powers, with healing being handy to use and being able to fly was cool, and he hoped to be able to fly one day. "If you want, one day I can take you out around the school. I usually go out flying every night, so no one can really see me." Riley said to Matthew.

Now Matthew was telling Riley about his mutation. She listened to him as he explained it to her. "Radioactive. That's cool. And don't worry so much of your power, your here to learn how to use it and be able to control it. A lot of people here don't get hurt very easily, plus I'm around to heal them. And when they test you with your powers, you'll be in the Danger Room." she told him, trying to cheer him up. Riley knew its hard to not worry about your powers and get it under control. Mainly right now she is sort of terrified of her telepathy and telekinesis, since she has no longer control with it and when she has sort of emotional break downs/ flash backs, it acts up.

[Matthew Craft]

"Just don't catch me on an emotional day. That's when my powers go a bit weird." Riley explains, highlighting the main difficulties with her powers.

"Ah, thanks for the tip." Matthew smirks, tapping his flute against his leg as they move onto the topic of her flight abilities.

"If you want, one day I can take you out around the school. I usually go out flying every night, so no one can really see me." Matthew can't help but gawk at her for a moment. She certainly didn't look that strong.

"Sounds like a great offer but something tells me you wouldn't be able to lift me. I weigh a lot. Not as much as my sister, but still a lot. Thanks anyways." He smiles. He listens intently as she talks about his power.

"Radioactive. That's cool. And don't worry so much of your power, your here to learn how to use it and be able to control it. A lot of people here don't get hurt very easily, plus I'm around to heal them. And when they test you with your powers, you'll be in the Danger Room." Matthew thinks about that for a moment.

"I suppose that is a bit of a reassurance. From what I've heard, radiation sickness is not a lot of fun. I wouldn't know though; the stuff doesn't seem to affect me." He leans back against the wall again. "But the Danger Room sounds cool. I haven't seen it yet but believe me, I've heard the stories! I think my sis has been in it a few times. She mentioned something about full-out battle scenarios. Sounds like a good time to me." In his enthusiasm, Matthew notices the small sparks of green energy sparkling from his fingertips. "Can you tell I'm excited?" He laughs, holding his hand out so that Riley can see the small bolts bursting above his hand. "Guess you're not the only one who has a hard time controlling their powers when their emotions are involved."