Spring in New York

[Havok]

The lake looked like a lake in spring should; with mostly black ground along the shore and with dark, unpleasantly cool water. Alex had seen it in summer and then liked it much more, but now it kind of went against his warm-climate preferences.

"It's way better in summer," he said; then, as he stuck his hands in his pockets again, he felt a familiar tension buzz in his body. His powers were reaching their limit again. Well, at least it was good that he was outside.

[Weaver]

"I'm sure it is, with all the trees green, I bet it's much more alive," Iris said stretching a little and settling her arms behind her head. Her eyes were taking all of it in, in the distance she saw a dock. She wrinkled her nose, "Oh I bet a lot of people swim here," she said in a less then an pleased toned. "Would you like to walk around the lake then?"

[Havok]

"Around the lake!" Alex exclaimed, then scratched the back of his head, thinking. "This will be quite some walk... Oh well - just as long as there is no swamp after winter on the other side."

[Weaver]

"Oh don't take that tone of voice, it's not that far, and it's mostly a circle so we'll end back here," Iris said looking at the lake again. She wasn't the most physically fit person but she was sure she could make it. "If there's a swamp, there will probably be a tree that another student has brought down, or we go around. or go through barefoot," she made it sound so simple as she began walking on the trail around the lake.

[Havok]

"Yeah, I guess some of those students might be so bored as to try that," Alex agreed, lingering a bit. He waited until Iris walked some distance from him, just for safety's sake, and raised his arms, sending a blast of plasma upwards without a sound, though it probably gave a flash of light. It would dissipate after a hundred of yards or so, so the sky was generally the safest direction to shoot. There, he said to himself, that should keep his powers at bay for some time... It wouldn't be long, of course. Then he followed Iris.

[Weaver]

Iris let out a low chuckle, "Are you kidding? I'm surprised that the forest around here hasn't been leveled from students being bored," there was a slight breeze and a flash of light that caused her to turn and look at Alex. She raised an eyebrow, "Walk beside me not behind me, there's plenty of room on the path," she said before starting to walk again.

[Havok]

Alex remembered some room doors and walls being burned and damaged by some of the students when he had visited the mansion a couple of years ago... Apparently, bored students preferred to blow off some steam indoors, not outdoors.

"I know," catching up with Iris, he said in response to her remark about the path, "I needed to lag behind a bit, discharge some of my powers, otherwise it would be dangerous for you."

[Weaver]

"Your powers?" Iris asked turning and walking backwards so she could watch Alex for a bit. "Interesting, are you willing to share what they are?"

[Havok]

"Plasma discharge," Alex shrugged, opting for the short version.

[Weaver]

"Plasma discharge?" Iris repeated, her lips curled to the side in thought. "Such as volcanic plasma, or lightening, or more cosmic like?" she asked him, she had left out blood plasma, which would have sounded very odd, but she had met some interesting powers at the Institute and tried to keep an open mind about things like that.

[Havok]

"The lightning seems to be the closest in appearance," Alex nodded, "but, well, studying it is kind of tricky, you know- It's still largely a mystery to me."

[Weaver]

"I would imagine," Iris agreed, it had to be hard to have a power that not many people could understand or study. She had been lucky in the sense that she could at least explain that she controlled thread. Whether it was because of low level telekinesis or just how her powers worked, she had no idea. "I hear that more and more universities are setting up programs to try and studied how mutant powers develop through doing scans of the mind to try and pinpoint the area of the brain for each type of power that controls it."

[Havok]

"This would be the easiest part, I imagine," Alex said, bending slightly to pass under too long a branch hanging too low. "But then it will probably take decades of studying the X-gene to find out how it chooses the 'speciality' in every given case and what gives the person the unnatural power to use that speciality. Why would your genes, for example, have chosen to control thread? Personal inclination?" It wasn't really a question that could yield any answer any time soon, but it was nice to discuss it, anyway, especially for a scientific mind.

[Weaver]

"I think there are two ways that people develop their powers, genetic and environmental," Iris said after a time taking in what Alex said. "I look at myself, I always put my thread manipulation as environmental, an odd offshoot of telekinesis. Perhaps, I took to needle work as a comfort in my early teenage years and that's what my mind grasp and could understand. I've been planning on doing research and trying to hunt down other relatives to try and do a study for myself to see if there's any connection with my powers to other members of my family. Unfortunately, many of them are in Europe, so it's a trip that will have to wait until I have more time."

"How about yourself, have you come up with any theories of your powers? Environmental, genetic, or random fluke?" she asked Alex before climbing over a downed tree.

[Havok]

"There has to be a genetic reason to it," Alex said with confidence in this aspect. "My brother and I are immune towards each other's powers. This means our relation must have something to do with it. But it doesn't mean that it would hold the same for everyone else. Who knows what creates the X-gene, in the first place- a question for specialist in the field."