How things used to be.

[Arthur Coleman]

The door to the attic is open, letting in a sliver of light into the dank abyss of old memories, forgotten trinkets, and most likely the home of a family of squirrels. It is eerily quiet until he sneezes.

The soft scuffing of his sensible shoes keep bringing up clouds of dust, and Arthur suddenly chokes on his next breath of air, coughing fitfully into a handkerchief while his mouth suddenly goes dry. "Goodness..," the man murmurs to himself, swallowing hard and trying carefully not to trip over scattered odds and ends. Easing his narrow frame in between a high-backed chair and the wall, Arthur ducks his head carefully beneath a beam that is lingering dangerously close to the top of his scalp. Long, thin fingers are trailing over the objects near him, and he frowns slightly as he seems to still be at a loss for what he is looking for.

Some time had eased by since the professor's return, but Arthur had forgotten all about some of the things he had put away up in the attic before his abrupt departure. He had hidden the personal belongings he could not easily carry in the back of the attic, but for some reason he had forgotten where he put it. It was only a box of his book collection, and some other things, but he had checked and double-checked that he put it in a place where he could find it again. Memory fades with age he muses to himself, attempting a dry chuckle to ease the frustration that is steadily mounting in the back of his mind. Warily, Arthur feels about with the heels of his palms and the bony tips of his fingers, moving tentatively. The sleeves of his button-up shirt are rolled up past his elbows, exposing his wan complexion in the pale lighting and revealing the network of blue and purlple veins beneath.

Surely he had not put it in another room of the mansion...

With an 'umph' of surprise, Arthur jerks back suddenly as his knee strikes a particularly hard and heavy box. He had been so drawn into his own thoughts he had dropped his guard for a moment. Reaching forward, he pulls back the flap of the box and lets his hand dip inside. "...there you are...," he says to himself, as a familiar feeling of braille reaches his hands and tendrils of memories trickle inside his head.

After several moments of struggling and desperately trying not to knock anything else over, he suddenly emerges from the attic, a ghosting of dust across his shoulders and the tendons standing out starkly on his knuckles as he strains to carry the heavy box. Slowly reaching the bottom of the flight of stairs, Arthur lets out a slow, shaky breath, putting the box down at his feet and letting his body relax onto the fourth step. He frowns again as he notes that the box was not quite this heavy when he first brought it upstairs. The narrow expanse of his chest heaves in the roll of a sigh, and he bends forward slightly to pull out a book from the box. His hands run the course of the cover, and he feels for the bookmark, tugging on it and letting it fall open to the middle somewhere.

Exactly where he had left off some months ago...

[Toni Craft]

"Matty, I swear...when I find you you're gonna be pukin' up iron chunks for a week." Leave it to her little younger brother to be playing hide-and-go-seek with her new, sleek, 80gig iPod. Toni had tried to tell her parents hundreds of times that he should get one for Christmas, what being a musical genius and all. But nooooo, they wouldn't listen. They still thought that his old, 128mb Sony gizmo was just fine.

"Right...and how far back into the Cretaceous period were they born?" Who was it that had said that 1mb ought to be enough for everyone? Ah yes, the manufacturer of the 60gig Xbox; Bill Gates himself.

The last time Matty had snuck off with her iPod, she'd found him up here, in the attic, plopped down in a corner, fingers playing an invisible piano across his knees. She had wondered how he was able to decipher a piano version of her music (which consisted of a heavy dose of Limp Bizkit, Linkin Park, ACR, ACDC, The Rolling Stones, the Bare Naked Ladies and Nsync (What? Scooter wasn't the only one with a fondness for well-assed boy bands)), only to find out after he'd (with a lot of threatening persuasion) handed it back to her. Matty had succeeded in wiping her iPod clean and reloading a series of instrumental compositions by the likes of Beethoven and Mozart and some Russian guy Toni couldn't pronounce the name of. No wonder he'd gotten up and ran away from her so quickly.

So now it's missing again, and Toni's fearing for her precious, pirated music. And of course Matty would never try hiding in the same spot twice, but maybe he knows I'd think that, so he's really trying to hide in the same spot again. Ah reverse psychology...

As she rounds the corner to climb the stairs up to the attic, she stops before she plows into the older teacher before her. And a good thing she did too, unlike some of the other Institute residents, like Peter and Bernhard, this one surely wouldn't last getting run into by five hundred pounds of living metal. Toni slows and adjusts herself before dropping back down a few stairs, giving the frail man some space to breathe.

"Hey, you didn't see--" Oh crap, he's got braille. Way to go you insensitive idiot. "Sorry. You don't happen to know if there's someone else up there do you? You couldn't have missed him; he sounds like Godzilla." Mind you, so does Toni.

[Arthur Coleman]

A pressure of annoyance pushes itself to the front of Arthur's mind, pressing into the back of his skull, and he arches his eyebrows slightly, putting his hand down on his book to mark his place. He could hear the fast approaching footsteps of someone, but he had never felt this presence bef--"Oh!" he suddenly says in shock as something collides with him. Arthur is sent sprawling slightly upon the stairs, his lean form pressed in an odd angle against the wood and his leg sharply jerking against his box of belongings which tumbled off the step and clattered onto the floor while spilling its contents. A hand involuntarily leaps to his heart and he slowly withdraws it as he becomes aware of himself. Hey, you didn't see--Sorry. You don't happen to know if there's someone else up there do you? You couldn't have missed him' he sounds like Godzilla. "Oh, no.. I.. I should have no been sitting on the stairs like that..," a faint line presses into his expression and he only shakes his head a little,"...I.. don't believe there is anyone else up in the attic. I am sorry if that is not much help to you.."

Pulling himself up to his feet, Arthur quickly moves to the side to pick up his things which have now become a messy pile instead of the neat stacks he had them in before. "Excuse me..," he murmurs, carefully making sure he is out of Toni's way while he reaches quickly for his things. It only seems to be a bunch of books, all of the titles in braille, a few CDs here and there, but nothing more. It was irking him that he did not know who this woman was, but guessing from how fast she had been moving before, perhaps she did not want an introduction at the moment.

[Toni Craft]

Apparently she hadn't stopped fast enough, and sent the poor man reeling back and the box down the few stairs.

"Aw nuts. Sorry about that. Are you all right? Didn't mean to hit you like that." Please let there not be any broken bones...Ororo will kill me! Toni frantically jumps back and takes a hold of the man and tries to help him back up. "Oh jeez. Really sorry!"

"Oh, no.. I.. I should have no been sitting on the stairs like that..,"

"Nah, it's not your fault. I wasn't paying attention." Toni steps back and lets the frail guy compose himself.

"...I.. don't believe there is anyone else up in the attic. I am sorry if that is not much help to you.."

"Actually, that's a lot of help. My brother's run off with my iPod again, and you just crossed the first likely hiding spot off my list." Relieved that there wasn't any serious damage done, Toni crosses her arms and her smiles, trying to calm her nerves. As he bends down to collect his fallen items, she quickly rushes to help, offering up some lost books. "Hey...aren't you Arthur? You're the prof was here, and then left, but just came back, right? I haven't seen you around a lot. I was starting to wonder if the rumours of you were actually true." Toni reduces her normal, erratic behaviour so that she doesn't come off as uncaring towards the older professor. No need to make her first impression any worse than it already was. "I'm Toni, the new chemistry and biology prof. Nice to finally meet you." Her attempt at a charming tone almost made herself gag... Dear god, I'm starting to sound like Matty...ew....

[Arthur Coleman]

Actually, that's a lot of help. My brother's run off with my iPod again, and you just crossed the first likely hiding spot off my list. Arthur lets his dark brows rise, but he says nothing, only offers a nod and a faint shadow of a satisfied expression. He notes as her presence nears him, his powers letting him easily locate the books she picks up for him, and he murmurs a thank-you. Hey...aren't you Arthur? A muscle in his back stiffens, and Arthur swallows. She knew him, but he didn't know her. "Yes.. I am." You're the prof was her, and then left, but just came back, right? I haven't seen you around a lot. I was starting to wonder if the rumors of you were actually true. Rumors.. the word sent a chill of apprehension down his spine. There were rumors about him? Surely he had left nothing ill in his wake... only the fact that he had left unexpectedly.

"Ah.. yes.. I.. I did take an extended leave of absence." He pauses slightly, trying to quickly locate the correct words. "It was a personal venture, I suppose.." Technically he hasn't lied to her, but Arthur was not quite sure if he was ready to go around telling everyone why he had left. It wasn't something he was necessarily proud of.

I'm Toni the new chemistry and biology prof. Nice to finally meet you. "A pleasure, I'm sure," the man says with a nod while turning his expression to hers, directly exposing his blind eyes for a moment before he turns his head again and collects the last of his books and puts them in his box. "Thank-you for helping me with those. Perhaps I shall learn from this and not take vacancy upon the stairs.."

He attempts a meek smile.

[Toni Craft]

[[sorry for the delay, doll....and for the craptacular post...]]

"Ah.. yes.. I.. I did take an extended leave of absence."

"Well, I can certainly see why. Things haven't exactly been all peaches and cream around here lately. If it's not the government trying to fry our chromosomes, then it's the fanatics trying to fry our asses." Toni gives a small roll of her eyes at that thought, remembering back to the Stryker incident.

"It was a personal venture, I suppose.." From the way he said it, Toni was sure there was much more to it then just a 'personal venture', but it was none of her business.

"Thank-you for helping me with those. Perhaps I shall learn from this and not take vacancy upon the stairs.." The paleness in his eyes made an unsettling knot her stomach, but she quickly squashed it. As a biology professor, she'd seen her fair share of human and mutant anamolies. A pair of clouded, blind eyes was nothing extraordinary. But then again, maybe it was the man himself that made her uneasy.

"Again, it's my fault. And just so ya know, I don't usually go running around pummeling other teachers....well, maybe just Bernie, but I'm pretty sure the old guy comes looking for it." Toni straightens herself back up and rests an arm on the handrail of the stairs. "Mind if I ask what you're reading? Looks pretty...uh..." She squints at the braille, unable to make heads or tails of the series of little bumps. "Complicated..."

[Arthur Coleman]

Well, I can certainly see why. Things haven't exactly been all peaches and cream around here lately. If it's not the government trying to fry our chromosomes, then it's the fanatics trying to fry our asses. Out of habit, Arthur inwardly cringes at Toni's choice of words, though he does nod in agreement. "In an attempt to hide their fear of something they do not understand.. the representatives of humanity have chosen to destroy what they otherwise have little knowledge of," Arthur says sadly, a small sigh escaping him. For a moment he appears meloncholy, seeming to have had some first-hand experience with the wrath of the goverment, but he otherwise lets the topic drop from existence.

Again, it's my fault. And just so ya know, I don't usually go running around pummeling other teachers....well, maybe just Bernie, but I'm pretty sure the old guy comes looking for it. Mind if I ask what you're reading? Looks pretty...uh...Complicated. Arthur once more attempts his meek little smile at Toni's explanation, but merely brushes his hands off on his knees and stands. A startling realization hits him that Toni is almost as tall as he is, her presence seeming to follow his psyche as he straightens. "Ah, well.. it would seem so to someone who is not...." He trails, desparately avoiding the word 'blind' like the plague. He was a strange man--Arthur. He had been blind for at least twenty-seven years now, surely he would have been able to say the word 'blind' with ease. Uncomfortable with the silence he has created, Arthur shifts his body a little, putting his hand on his fallen novel and quickly adding. "It's Tuesdays With Morrie.. a favorite novel of mine."