xfactors | Introduction to the School

1407 Graymalkin Lane, Salem Center, Westchester County, NY. Also known as Xavier’s School For Gifted Youngsters.

It was the site of hope for dozens of students built upon the bones of a lonely childhood. Two times the school had been opened. The first attempt had been destroyed by the war and by the patriotism (or recruitment) of students and teachers who felt they were doing what was right. The second attempt would prove to be more successful, run by a headmaster who had regained his own hope.

The school, the home, was no longer a place of loneliness. Instead, there were children almost always on the move, fluttering down from the top floor, walking through walls, or just appearing with a loud Bamf. There were darker things at the school, of course. Nightmares that could boil the walls of a room if left unchecked and homesickness, sometimes for homes that had rejected them. But there were also adults who mentored these children. Pain and heartache may have still been in the house, but so too were companionship and support.

It was an air that the teachers deliberately tried to invoke since many of them hadn’t had it in their own childhoods. They’d had to hide or were hidden or were even persecuted just for being who they were. It was the teachers who had all decided that they would try to make the lives of the children easier than their own.

But that didn’t come without a cost. There were layers beneath the school, layers where some of the students were trained to protect themselves and others and to fight. The world might have seen mutants in a different light after Mystique’s rescue ten years ago, but they’d also seen what Magneto could do. Mutants might have finally been in the light, but they still weren’t always safe and that was where the X-Men came in. Hoping for a better future, but also preparing for a worse one.

And that was really what Xavier’s was: a refuge and a place to forge the next generation of mutants, ones who wouldn’t have to live in the darkness their forefathers had. And it was up to their teachers to make sure they were ready for that future.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

From:

notsogroovy

She’d agreed to stay on because she saw potential here. In Hank for one. She’d always thought that he would follow in Charles’ footsteps of blind optimism, but time had tempered him. He was stronger than he had been and harder. It was a good look on him and between the two of them, they’d created a team to fight for the rights of other mutants. Most of that team was still young, but she couldn’t properly call them children anymore.

Still, believing that Hank had matured didn’t mean her relationship with him was any easier. In fact, none of her relationships were easy. Hank, Charles, Erik’s son, the other students who looked up to her in a way she’d never wanted. And then there was Kurt.

A part of her was still metaphorically leaning forward on the balls of her feet preparing to run. She hadn’t had a proper home, hadn’t had this home in twenty years. So it was no wonder that there were often nights when she couldn’t sleep. And when she couldn’t sleep, she wandered into the kitchen. A midnight (or 2am) snack always seemed to help her restlessness.

From:

protectsthosewithout

Charles was upstairs pretending to be asleep when he felt her move. He had general feelers out all over the house, mostly for nightmares, but he could tell that Raven was restless. He wheeled himself down to the kitchen, pausing in the archway for a moment, before rolling in.

"Would you like some hot chocolate?" He asked quietly.

From:

notsogroovy

"Isn't that supposed to be my line?" she asked with a small smile. They'd done a redesign of some of the house since then to accommodate the sheer amount of people they wanted to house here, so it wasn't really the same kitchen, not in the way it had been when they'd been children, but she still felt a sense of nostalgia about the question.

"You should be asleep, Charles. Don't let me keep you up."

From:

mindseye

Charles smiled slightly. "I was just borrowing my Dear," He said, wheeling all the way into the kitchen. He looked around, a little sadly remembering the past, but knowing that the future was now fraught with hope and possibility.

"You aren't my dear, I'm afraid I'm doing that all on my own. Why are you awake?"

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