The wistful woods
Rue felt a bit lonely since the novelty of him had worn off of the other students, but he didn’t complain at all, mentally chiding himself for possibly being a bother.
He had already finished all the class work given to him. It was kinda easy, probably some sort of mental muscle memory (if that existed).
Now he was in his room, he quite liked it here, not that he disliked the other students but a few of them didn’t like him as much because he was human compared to being a mutant.
He had taken out both his notebook and the mystery book he found in the library, comparing the symbols he absentmindedly drew the the ones in the book, somewhere the same whilst others were similar.
Funnily enough it was in a different language, one he could understand(very badly, barely if at all) in a way like his subconscious was translating it for him.
Rue thought back to being told about the cult in the woods with the same symbols. He hopes they could jog his memory.
He honestly held some doubts about kitty but it wasn’t like anyone else was gonna help him, he laid on his back on his bed, turning to look at Ben the blue dog. He felt emotional, he felt some tears fall, he couldn’t help it. He felt emotional and empty (not in the food way), he was soar, wanted to go home(if he ever found a way).
There was a knock at his door, he was so upset that he didn’t notice someone coming towards his room. Sitting up he made his way to the door, opening it to reveal Jean.
“Hey rue, I hope you don’t mind but I was wanting to run some tests, just physicals and a few more academic tests , like that packet you took, are you up for it?”
“Sure, can I-… Can I bring Ben?”
Jean nodded, sending him a sympathetic smile, he quickly turned to grab Ben, feeling shy about bringing a stuffed toy, but unconsciously the mention of medical tests freaked him out, he wasn’t sure why though.
He wondered why he felt this way? It’ll just make sure he’s healthy.
Rue followed Jean though the school towards the medical area, unconsciously squeezing Ben. He was sure Jean wouldn’t hurt him but the medical thing still made him nervous. Jean smiled at him, reinforcing his stance that she wouldn’t hurt him.
“Now Rue, I’m going to have you do some basic stuff such as stretching but there will be some bloodwork as well.”
Rue nodded, as they reached the door to what he assumed was the place he’d take these tests. It looked like a basic room, white walls, plain ceiling. He had nothing to worry about. While he was distracted by looking at the room Jean walked to a device before turning back to him.
“Real quick this machine will test your strength, I would like you to put all you can into it, okay rue? Don’t be discouraged by any score you get.”
Jean smiled before showing him were to be, he had to add pressure to the machine for it to produce the proper result. Just then though Logan walked in.
“Hey Jean have you seen- ah there’s rue, I thought we agreed no tests?”
“It’ll mostly be a physical we need that at least, Rues just about to do his strength test.”
“Alright, hey kid, do yer best-“
Rue nodded, squeezing Ben one last time before putting him down. Turning back to the scale, it kind of looked like the kind used to measure food, kinda funny. After taking a deep breath he pull pressure on it, slowly at first he felt afraid to break it but he didn’t know why.
“Don’t be afraid to break it Rue, it’s strong enough to test most mutants strength, up to 15 tons, you’ll be fine.”
Jean commented clearly after reading his mind, he put more and more pressure onto it constantly. He kept going not knowing when to stop, suddenly though, it cracked. Startled, he shuffled back, looking to Jean and Logan worried, they both stared back looking slightly dumbfounded.
“Was… was it supposed to do that?”
“No…no it isn’t, hell, it shouldn’t.”
Jean looked on in shock, he broke it, didn’t he? Rue felt bad. Quickly regaining her focus, Jean walked over to him. Jean grabbed Ben from where he set him down before She took him by the shoulders and guided him out.
“Could you stand out here just a second Rue? I’ll get you in a moment.”
“Sure thing, I hope I didn’t break it.”
Jean gave him a smile of reassurance before turning and closing the door quickly. Rue could hear them having a conversation about him.
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Jean was astonished, the machine had to be broken or something. There was no way Rue (a regular human) had broken the machine. She quickly ran over to it checking to see if there was a problem.
“Logan he- Rue Broke the machine, there’s no way a regular human can do that- it’s impossible.”
“What yer sayin the kid broke it? But that thing can stand 15 tons, that would mean he ain’t human, or at least not a natural one.”
Jean worried, she quickly mentally contacted the professor, Scott, and Storm about Rues apparent strength.
Jean was already making the decision to run a few more tests, nothing too intense though.
Turning and opening the door Rue stood there looking rather bashful, like he was a young child who broke a hall vase, well he was but not a vase.
“Hey Rue, we’re going to do a few more tests than first anticipated, you won’t mind will you?”
Rue looked a bit nervous for a moment before nodding slightly, if she wasn’t fully aware of all his movements then she wouldn’t have noticed it.
Before either of them could react Storm came practically flying down the hall, with Scott trailing close behind.
“What happened? I heard a piece of machinery broke when Rue was being tested, also I thought we agreed not to run tests? Like how we vetoed Logan’s want to interrogate Rue!”
Storm exclaimed with irritation, before looking past Jean and into the room to glare at Logan’s presence.
“Logan wanted to interrogate me?”
Rue asked in a way that seemed a bit meek and peaked with concern. Glancing to Logan for confirmation with his nervousness on full display.
The adults looked at one another unsure of how to answer the question Rue presented them with. Logan himself looked like he hadn’t been presented with this problem before in his long life (likely true).