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Post by Christine MacTaggart on Nov 2, 2003 11:43:25 GMT -4
"Can't beat a welcoming like that," Christine said, smiling slightly. She bit her lip again and looked troubled. "I hate it," she whispered. "I hate seeing them accept the normal looking mutants and immediately freak out when they see something doesn't look human. I mean, Kurt's the most gentle and understanding teen I've met and I hate the fact that there are people out there who can't see beyond his outward appearance and see him for who he inside."
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Post by Hank McCoy on Nov 2, 2003 13:21:36 GMT -4
"You can.", Henry replied.
A wave of emotion hit him - hit him hard - and he would never be sure whether it was her emotion projected, or his own emotions drawn out by the hurt and the love that he saw in her eyes.
He thought about his own situation - so similar in many ways to Kurt's - although Kurt had been blue and furry his whole life. It made Henry ashamed of his own reluctance to accept himself, because Christine was right. Kurt was the gentlest of souls despite situations where no one would blame him for being otherwise.
He managed a smile, but his eyes looked very misty. When he spoke, his voice was barely a whisper. "And I'll bet that if you ask him, Kurt will tell you that's more than enough."
Henry thought about how Christine had made him feel so differently about himself - and he knew that he was right.
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Post by Christine MacTaggart on Nov 2, 2003 13:27:44 GMT -4
Christine sniffled softly and wiped away the tears that were forming. "It's not fair that they have a double standard like that," she whispered. "Why can't they just accept that everyone is different and everyone should be treated fairly."
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Post by Hank McCoy on Nov 2, 2003 13:41:38 GMT -4
"Acceptance takes time.", he shrugged. "It's what we have to teach them. To show them they have nothing to fear."
He gently wiped a tear trailing down her cheek that she had missed.
"It's why we cannot give in to the ways of Magneto and his followers, no matter how hard the journey is or how long it takes."
He smiled as he felt a rush of emotion and pride. "But with examples like Kurt and like you speaking for us, Christine...", he said to her, "...I think that we are well on our way."
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Post by Christine MacTaggart on Nov 2, 2003 13:48:51 GMT -4
Christine smiled ever so slightly - nothing more then a ghost of a smile. "I just hope it happens during our lifetime. I fear ever having a child in a world that would fear and hate it just because it was different. Is that selfish of me? For not wanting to have a child just because of the fear of it being treated like it was less then human?"
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Post by Hank McCoy on Nov 2, 2003 15:42:01 GMT -4
Henry shook his head. "Christine, Any true parent wants only the very best for their children."
He made a broad sweeping motion with his hand - gesturing towards the room. It was still full of students. "But to refrain from having children because of a fear like that is to say that anyone in this school would have been better off not to be born."
"Do you think that Kurt feels that way?", he asked her earnestly. "He's very familiar with being treated as less than human."
"Our lives are what we make of them, Christine - and you can never protect your children from all that you fear might happen to them. You can try to teach them and prepare them and fill them with enough love to let them know they have value no matter what the world throws at them."
"When the time is right for you to have children", he told her, "don't let fears take that away from you...or from them."
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Post by Christine MacTaggart on Nov 2, 2003 15:59:51 GMT -4
"Good point," she whispered quietly. She laughed softly. "Listen to me, I'm just sixteen and I'm already imagining that I'm married and ready to raise a family. I must sound like a complete idiot or a child."
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Post by Hank McCoy on Nov 2, 2003 16:43:13 GMT -4
He chuckled and smiled a very broad smile.
"How funny," he returned softly. "I was just thinking you sounded like a very sensitive and intelligent adult."
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Post by Christine MacTaggart on Nov 2, 2003 16:47:41 GMT -4
Christine flushed a bit before remembering that she really should be trying to figure out the genetics aspect for her biology class. She bit her lip again and tried to figure out how to word her next question. "If, hypothetically speaking, two mutants were to marry and have children, would the children be more prone to carrying the genetic code for being a mutant or for being a normal human?"
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Post by Hank McCoy on Nov 2, 2003 19:48:59 GMT -4
"It's a difficult question to answer", he responded, "because the nature of mutation is that it presents us with something new."
"There's really no way to guess whether a mutation will occur.", he shrugged, "The best we can do is determine when a mutation might occur because we can identify some prominent catalysts."
"The really interesting thing is", he continued, "that if the offspring of a mutant or a pair of mutants inherits a mutant trait from one of its parents - that trait is no longer a mutation at all. It's simply another passed-on characteristic. Even complex machinery like the Professor's Cerebro cannot detect it."
"In that way, there really are no second generation mutants. Each is simply the first to carry a particular mutation."
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Post by Christine MacTaggart on Nov 2, 2003 19:57:07 GMT -4
"So, hypothetically speaking," Christine said, trying to see if this is what he meant. "That if someone with Kurt's unique appearance were to marry a person who could pass as a relatively normal human appearance wise, then the resulting offspring could carry one or more of the traits that make up his unique appearance?"
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Post by Hank McCoy on Nov 2, 2003 20:17:03 GMT -4
"Could, yes.", he repied, "but not necessarily."
"It's dependent upon whether those traits were dominent or recessive - and either way they may not be emergent in any case."
He paused. "It's entirely possible that someone like Kurt could have a normal human baby." He bristled at the word "normal" - hating the use of it in the current context. He knew that in this case, though - the idea of "normal" would be a comfort to her.
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Post by Christine MacTaggart on Nov 2, 2003 20:19:35 GMT -4
Christine almost let out a disappointed sigh. "Hypothetically, if I were the mother in question, I'd almost be a tad disappointed if the baby didn't look like his hypothetical father," she murmured, forgetting that she was talking to one of her teachers.
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Post by Hank McCoy on Nov 2, 2003 20:29:39 GMT -4
Henry's face bent into a grin.
"Well....hypothetically...he most likely would. Children have a way of being much more like their parents than they sometimes would choose." His eyes narrowed and he shot her a wink with one eye. "But what traits in particular such a child would inherit - it would be very difficult to predict."
"In any case - speaking as someone who has always had a face only a mother could love....", he joked and then turned just a little more serious, "I think that you will find that any child that is yours and that of someone you love is more beautiful to you than you ever would have guessed."
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Post by Christine MacTaggart on Nov 2, 2003 20:34:31 GMT -4
Christine smiled at that thought. "Well, I'll save that adventure for after I'm finished with high school and college and married," she said.
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