"She hungered for light and hated it."

by **Basil Benson** » Sat Apr 16, 2016 8:38 pm

Basil did return to the school the next day, but not alone. Along with him was a pair of adults.

One was a very pretty woman just on the cusp of becoming middle aged, and seemingly using all of the money available to her to do so as gracefully as possible given that she wasn't dying away her greys. She was dressed to kill with a hat and jacket to match, the click of her Louboutins announcing her as she walked. She was exceptionally lithe, and probably didn't waste a lot of time on anything substantial as far as meals were concerned.

The other was a redheaded male dressed in slacks, a dress shirt,a tie and a vest, with his sleeves rolled up to the elbows and an ascot cap.

Basil's suit was walking along with them, but not nearly as quickly as the woman. The redheaded man matched his pace, and shot him a look that might have been pity, but only for a moment.

by **Colette Rosenhof** » Sun Apr 17, 2016 2:19 am

"Ba-seeeeel!"

The little bundle of pinkness was quickly approaching, her pigtails bobbing in a way that they hair did not. The young lady was dressed in a very crisp white blouse under a grey woolen suspender skirt, offset by some matching grey wrist-length gloves and some darker leggings. She had her arm in the air and was waving as she approached the trio.

by **Basil Benson** » Sun Apr 17, 2016 2:37 am

For the better part of the last seventeen or so hours, Basil had been miserable. Kayla's tampering had done a good job of relieving him of anything remotely akin to shame, but it didn't completely remove his ability to function as a polite member of society. As such he was capable of working with the police well enough to get through his statement (with the family lawyer's assistance to make sure he didn't aggravate something that would cause more suspicion from the police).

Dealing with his mother was another matter. He hadn't. Short of answering basic questions and telling her he needed to collect his possessions from his hotel room he never actually got to use, Basil was the picture of stoic. He couldn't tell his mother off, because he knew it would cause him a significant amount of hassle, nor could he advocate for himself without feeling angry and potentially starting a fight. She spent the better part of the time admonishing him for not doing as he was told, and being reminded of how dangerous everything was for him, as if a school full of shark people and mind benders was somehow safe.

And so it was that upon first sight of Colette he felt a temporary relief for reasons he couldn't quite put a finger to, but then those feelings got replaced quickly with darker ones.

Some days He giveth.... He thought to himself, and as Colette came closer, Basil walked to her to close the gap and put out his hands to grab her by the waist.

"I'm home Kitten!" He announced, as if he expected her to be there.

by **Colette Rosenhof** » Sun Apr 17, 2016 5:03 am

Colette let out a startled squeak as she felt Basil's arm around her waist. He'd managed to the impossible twice now; he'd left the normally overly talkative young lady speechless.

by **Basil Benson** » Sun Apr 17, 2016 5:09 am

The red-headed man smirked and looked away as if the two needed some privacy, but the woman just sighed, and rolled her eyes, her weight tilting onto one heel, popping a hip outward.

"So... Are you the young woman I had the pleasure of speaking with last night?" She asked of Colette.

by **Colette Rosenhof** » Sun Apr 17, 2016 5:27 am

One of the benefits of being in Basil's embrace was that Colette didn't need to tilt her head over the young man's shoulder to see where the voice had come from. Which probably didn't help Basil's mood much when she was basically talking through him.

"Pardon?" Colette asked in her thick Parisian accent, coming to her senses a bit.

by **Basil Benson** » Sun Apr 17, 2016 5:36 am

"Guess not." The woman shrugged. Looking at her and comparing what she knew of Basil's appearance, Colette might be able to put together that the woman had a vague resemblance to him.

"How many girls have you managed to wrap around your finger at this university?"

The redhead kept his mouth shut, but watching this was obviously awkward for him.

Being talked through didn't particularly please him, but he needed Colette's help at the second so he was ignoring it.

"Well just this one I suppose... but she's exceptionally malleable."

by **Colette Rosenhof** » Sun Apr 17, 2016 5:59 am

"Ehm... Basil? Are you not going to introduce us?" Colette asked awkwardly as she was being discussed like a piece of furniture.

by **Basil Benson** » Sun Apr 17, 2016 6:06 am

"Yes Basil, I think that would be appropriate."

Basil sighed and tilted his weight, nearly identically mimicking the body language of the female and inadvertently telegraphing further similarities between them.

Why wasn't she leaving? Colette made everyone else so uncomfortable to be around her (including himself at times), so what made his mum so iron willed?

Basil let go of Colette. "Colette, this is my mother, Jessica."

by **Colette Rosenhof** » Mon Apr 18, 2016 12:48 am

Colette regained her balance with on a subtle wobble. Upon straightening out her skirt she approached the woman with gloved hand outstretched.

"It is a pleasure to meet you, Madame Benson. I see from where Basil gets his good fashion sense."

by **Basil Benson** » Mon Apr 18, 2016 12:56 am

Jessica did take her hand for a light shake, but didn't hold on for long.

"Charmed, though please, don't put the blame for his tastes on me." She added, smirking. What exactly she was referring to was a bit vague, though it was obviously meant as unkind to *someone*.

It was right at this moment that the redhead decided to interject himself, vigorously jetting his own arm out in greeting between the two women.

"I'm Howard!" He interjected." Howard Ealdwine. It's nice to meet you. Basil doesn't usually introduce his lady friends."

by **Colette Rosenhof** » Mon Apr 18, 2016 1:08 am

"Well, he is only young, zere is much left for him to learn." Colette didn't mean that as a jab, but it could certainly be misconstrued as such.

The girl delicately placed her hand in Howard's grasp, giving him a pink-toothed smile. "It is a pleasure, monsieur. I am happy zen to be one of ze elite few who have surpassed ze qualifications necessary to meet ze parents." She turned to look back at Basil. "Imagine Basil, if you had inherited your fazer's red hair you might have developed telepazy instead. Zough perhaps zis is only true for women, I am not entirely certain on ze specifics."

by **Basil Benson** » Mon Apr 18, 2016 1:27 am

"Uuhhmm.... Ha. No, sorry, I'm not Basil's da. I'm not anyone's da... yet." As he spoke, Howard removed his hat and ran his hand across the back of his head.

Basil began to giggle at Colette's assumption, thinking perhaps she was trying to imply something was going on between his mom and this man, the thought of which was hilarious to him for personal reasons.

"Howard is help. He and his brother used to be my son's security detail until they proved ineffective and we had to send him here. Now they help me with my day to day operations, like getting him out of jail when he gets arrested doing things he was forbade to do."

Apparently this was becoming even more awkward, and Howard stuck his hand back in his pocket.

by **Colette Rosenhof** » Mon Apr 18, 2016 1:41 am

"Oh, my apologies." Something about the way Colette's expression changed seemed to indicate that she took some displeasure in how the term "help" was used. A personal sour note perhaps.

"Arrested?" She looked shocked at the implications. "Basil! I am surprised at you. What did you do?"

by **Basil Benson** » Mon Apr 18, 2016 1:47 am

"I didn't do anything!" Basil replied sounding exasperated. "I wasn't even arrested, they just asked me to come and make a statement about a pub fight, that's all. Mother just likes exaggerating because it makes her feel right." He grumbled, talking about her like she wasn't there.

"I told you not to leave this campus. I told you there's nothing but trouble out there for you but you refuse to listen to anyone but yourself." She reprimanded, now a bit shocked herself. Basil wasn't in the habit of talking back at anyone, least of all her.

by **Colette Rosenhof** » Mon Apr 18, 2016 2:34 am

Colette gave Basil's shoulder a little pat. "Oh Basil, I am sorry. Here I assumed you had done somezing bad, it never occurred to me zat you were just an innocent bystander. Please forgive me." She did her best to give his back a reassuring rub.

"Do not worry, I am certain your mozer is just worried about you. She does not mean you cannot leave ze campus, she just wants you to be careful. I mean... zat would just be silly, it is one step away from locking you in ze attic and feeding you fish heads."

by **Basil Benson** » Mon Apr 18, 2016 2:43 am

Basil almost interjected, before his mother cut him off.

"I considered that, but he's not fond of lutafisk." She responded.

"You may be a... 'mutant' child my dear, but I doubt you've raised one. And if you're even capable of having children, when you do I hope for your sake he or she isn't as obstinate as mine has been."

by **Colette Rosenhof** » Thu Apr 21, 2016 1:00 am

"Oh? I was under ze impression zat Basil's changes were recent, were zey not? But you knew from ze start of Basil's uniqueness?" Colette asked innocently.

by **Basil Benson** » Thu Apr 21, 2016 1:16 am

Jessica's eyes narrowed a bit at the girl, her next answer seemed highly calculated.

"I always knew there could be a potential, but he's always been difficult even without his conditions."

This question seemed to make Howard nervous too, but why that would be wasn't apparent. There was certainly no way this man was Basil's father after all. Now that Colette got a better look at him, he was easily a decade younger than Basil's mum, so the math didn't quite add up considering Basil wasn't that old himself.

Basil remained silently amused, allowing Colette to continue, if she so chose.

by **Colette Rosenhof** » Thu Apr 21, 2016 1:39 am

Colette furrowed her brow in confusion. "Well... of course he would have been difficult. Zat is what children are like. Zat is why some people purchase tiny dogs zey can carry in zeir handbags. Zey can dress zem, and name zem, so it is like a child but wizout as much effort or responsibility.

"Have you considered purchasing a dog?"

by **Basil Benson** » Thu Apr 21, 2016 1:48 am

"You act as if children are always a choice." Jessica replied.

"Annnnd there we are again. Wonderful we're back to this topic." Basil interjected, finally having enough at being compared to a pet.

"Would you leave already? No one here's going to be a fan of you."

"Your lady friend and I are having a conversation Bobby. Don't interrupt."

by **Colette Rosenhof** » Sat Apr 23, 2016 3:30 am

Colette instinctively wanted to cup her hands over Basil's ears. But... well she wasn't entirely sure where they were. So she stood there with her mouth agape.

"What a horrible zing to say about your own son..." Her voice didn't have the strength behind it that she'd had before.

by **Basil Benson** » Sat Apr 23, 2016 3:45 am

Jessica tilted her head in confusion, and the sincerity with which she made the next comment was chilling.

"Horrible things happen, and I have never been in the habit of lying to my son to spare his feelings.

Don't wander off again." Jessica ordered to Basil, and then followed with a second.

"Come along Howard." She added, and began to leave.

Basil said nothing, nor did he move, his sleeves clenched against the sides of his blazer covered torso made his body look uncomfortably tense, but he remained silent.

by **Colette Rosenhof** » Sun Apr 24, 2016 6:14 am

Colette just sort of watched. She'd never met anyone like Mrs. Benson before. And she was ashamed to think that she hoped she never did again.

"I am sorry Basil. I seem to have made a very poor first impression."

by **Basil Benson** » Sun Apr 24, 2016 1:58 pm

Unlike promises made by clickbait articles on social networking sites, what happened next could genuinely be categorized as surprising.

People being products of their environment, nearly twenty years of dealing with this behavior out of his mother had left it's mark on the boy's mind. And it was true what Kayla had said. The Basil she knew from just a few years ago was most definitely not the Basil that existed now thanks to all the 'changes' adding not only to a stressful late blooming mutation in general, but straining what little connection to his mother they had formed over the preceding fifteen years.

And while Basil knew logically he couldn't blame all of his life problems on his mother, the shame that generally triggered the logic that then prompted him to bottle up his angry feelings about all of it was effectively gone now, thanks to Kayla's tampering.

Basil looked for something to take his boiling rage out on physically, but there wasn't much near by that really caught his eye. There were no decorative elements or things to flip over that weren't bolted down thanks to the other students' superpowers and the elements in general already being taken into consideration when the University was designed. However, he did notice something within his reach that he could throw, and that most people wouldn't be too upset if he broke: His own personal possessions.

Picking up his bag and setting it on a bench, Basil opened it and then proceeded to start aggressively throwing everything that was weighted enough to be satisfying to throw onto the lawn in a direction no one else was standing.

"FUCKING STUPID-BLOODY-GOBSHITE---" He continued on with the long and colorful string of profanities (including a particular C word that would probably upset any American girls in the immediate vicinity), a new one being uttered with every personal product bottle launched from his suitcase.

by **Colette Rosenhof** » Mon Apr 25, 2016 11:19 pm

Colette was taken aback by Basil's outburst and hesitated to do or say anything. Once he got to some of the more expensive items she stepped in and threw her arms around his upper arms, trying to stop him from throwing anything else.

"Shh shh shh" she coo'd softly, trying to calm him down with softness rather than screaming at him to stop.

by **Basil Benson** » Mon Apr 25, 2016 11:58 pm

Once she had made contact with him, he jerked gently for a moment only because he was in mid momentum, and then stopped abruptly, armed with a bottle of 1 Million in his left hand above his head.

It seemed to work well enough, and Basil didn't fight her any, not physically anyways.

Now he was going to use his not so big boy words it seemed.

"No! I will not shush!

I hate her! I hate this place! I hate how we're packed in like sardines in already cramped stereotypical British rooms! I hate being afraid that a loud sneeze in front of the wrong person is going to get my head accidentally removed from my shoulders! I hate being completely overlooked by literally everyone! I hate what this curse has done to me and I want it to go away!"

Basil's left arm was coming down as he spoke, and by the time he neared the end of his little verbal tantrum he was basically leaning on Colette, his empty right hand clutching onto her arm for support.

by **Colette Rosenhof** » Wed Apr 27, 2016 2:48 am

Colette was a surprisingly sturdy person to lean upon, considering how much give her form had. She stayed silent, letting Basil vent his anger and frustrations.

"You are not alone in your feelings, Basil."

by **Basil Benson** » Wed Apr 27, 2016 2:56 am

"Maybe not, but everyone else's is either passive or useful to them. But not mine. I can't do anything with this that isn't malicious.

Even the woman who attacked Chase and I pointed out how effective I would be at killing. I don't want to hurt people. I've never wanted to hurt people."

He seemed to be calming in the sense he was no longer yelling, but now his voice sounded stressed. He'd yet to start crying though.

by **Colette Rosenhof** » Wed Apr 27, 2016 3:47 am

Colette thought about that for a moment. "I zink you could make for a very good spy. Gazering information to help protect people, zat is a noble goal is it not? You already have ze suits, and ze boring banker name.

"You would also make for a very good puppeteer. Puppets never hurt anyone, except in horror cinemas. So zere are two zings you can do zat will not hurt anyone, and I have only been zinking about zem for zirty seconds."

by **Basil Benson** » Wed Apr 27, 2016 3:55 am

Basil was staring at her pretty obviously, and then slumped to the ground in a sitting position, letting go of her arms, and instead clutching himself to her legs after he'd settled on the ground.

He didn't see the point in arguing anymore now that his anger had more or less passed. Well, not about that.

"My name isn't boring." He stated, leaning his head against the side of her legs. His collar suggested he was looking forward and not up, so if he definitely wasn't trying to take advantage of the view from down there. She didn't feel his hair brushing against her anymore, at least, not as much of it.

by **Colette Rosenhof** » Wed Apr 27, 2016 4:34 am

Colette leaned forward at the waist and carefully lowered her gloved hand until it made contact with Basil's mop, gently stroking his hair. "Of course not Baseel."

by **Basil Benson** » Wed Apr 27, 2016 5:13 am

Basil's previously curly mess was mostly gone now, and the horror that threatened to take her hand last time had been replaced by trimmed, soft hair no longer than an inch or two, save on the left,front side of his head. On that side, there was still considerable length, though less hair overall made it easier for Colette to run her fingers through the longer portions, the curls giving and bending around her fingers.

For his part, Basil responded to her touch welcomingly, rolling his head against her hand like a cat.

by **Colette Rosenhof** » Thu Apr 28, 2016 1:14 am

Colette placed her other hand on Basil's shoulder, gently lowering herself to sit down beside him, unimpeded by such trivial matters as limbs not bending certain ways or bones. She resumed gently stroking his head, not saying a word.

by **Basil Benson** » Thu Apr 28, 2016 1:53 am

Basil had rolled his head into her shoulder after her gelatinous act, which didn't seem to startle or unnerve him in the slightest by the fact he wasn't moving away. Once he was settled in again, he fell silent for some time, lost in his thoughts. When something that wasn't angry or mean occurred to him is when he spoke again.

"I'm going to be stuck here forever, aren't I?" Basil wasn't crying or sniffling like he normally would be in these situations, it was more of a cold realization.

by **Colette Rosenhof** » Thu Apr 28, 2016 1:58 am

"Well zat depends. Are you going to get a diploma or pursue a doctorate?"

by **Basil Benson** » Thu Apr 28, 2016 2:07 am

Basil laughed.

"A doctorate in Library and Information Sciences? That would make mother pleased as Punch." He joked, clearly failing at putting her out of his mind.

"She wouldn't be more thrilled save if I got one in Communications.Or the Arts."

by **Colette Rosenhof** » Thu Apr 28, 2016 2:08 am

"Who cares what she wants? What do you want, Basil?"

by **Basil Benson** » Thu Apr 28, 2016 2:11 am

"I don't know." He replied earnestly.

"I used to, but not anymore."

by **Colette Rosenhof** » Thu Apr 28, 2016 6:25 am

"Well, you could look at it as zough you lost all zat..." Colette started. "Or you could zink of it as starting over wiz a new blank slate."

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