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Summary: Robyn and Nathaniel run into each other in the park.
Date: October 13, 2011
Log Title: Awkward Apologies And Catching Up
Rating: PG
NYC- Thompson Square Park
Thompson Square Park is a small park in the middle of Mutant Town. The benches might need a fresh coat of paint, the fence might be rusted in places and the pavement is raised and has cracks but it's all part of the mutant haven and fairly relaxing. Trees and grassy areas are in between the many paths, there are a few structures and benches along the path as well as a special area of the park that is marked 'the dog walk'.
//Two trees have been planted in the park as a Memorial to Carmencita Florez and Detective Baxter each with a plaque stating the tree is in their memory. //
On a nice cool night like tonight, Robyn likes to be outside. It reminds him of Halloween which is one of his favourite holidays. He's dressed in his usual emo style of a Jack Skellington hoodie over black skinny jeans and he's sitting in the grass on a blanket. He's currently hunched over a book of Art History and is highlighting various parts as he studies for his homework. His ear buds are in his ears and he unconsciously sings along out loud. "If life ain't just a joke then why are we laughing…."
Nathaniel is wandering around Mutant Town for reasons only he knows, for the most part. He walks with one hand in his pocket and the other holding a cigarette, only one of his earbuds in with the cord disappearing into his hoodie's pocket. He pauses at the sight of Robyn sitting on the blanket, lingering near the entrance of the park before making his way in the other youth's direction. He pauses at the edge of the blanket, exhaling smoke into the air, then lightly nudges Robyn's foot with his own.
Robyn jumps when his foot is nudged and he stops singing and looks up. He takes the ear buds out and just stares at Nathaniel for a bit before saying anything. "Um, hey Nathan." He says before closing his book. He takes a deep breath. "I…owe you an apologize. A huge one." He says chewing on his bottom lip, it's obvious that he feels bad, guilty and awkward about something.
Nathaniel blinks at that, taking a small step back from the blanket, "Uh… for what? I'm pretty sure I owe you pretty big." He takes another drag on his cigarette, looking vaguely confused and rather curious. He doesn't need his empathy to pick up on those feelings of guilt and awkwardness.
"I had forgiven you for that. It's just, with Dingo I was so pissed off and seeing red and I thought you were standing by his side and it just came out." Robyn says shaking his head. "It wasn't right of me to say since I didn't mean it." He says as he offers Nathan a bit of a smile. "Feel free to sit down if you like, I've got plenty of blanket."
Nathaniel waves his free hand lightly, smiling faintly at Robyn, "No thanks - to the sitting, I mean. I don't want to burn it on accident." He waves the cigarette this time, but at least crouches off the edge of the blanket, tapping ash into the grass just behind himself, "I'm glad you forgave me for that… and yeah, I mean. On some level, I can understand what Dingo means. I just think he's doing it the wrong way."
"Maybe I've been hanging our Rashmi too much, especially now that we're living together, but to me that's what makes it so they want to hunt us." Robyn says with a shrug. "I'm not trying to argue or anything but we're scary, we have powers people don't understand. So yeah some people hate us but when start thinking it's okay to hurt them back, it justifies their fears and their actions. That's just my opinion though. I guess I've been through so much over the last few years that I just want to have some peace at art school, ya know?"
Nathaniel shrugs a little, lifting his hand to scratch the hair just above the back of his neck, "Well. That doesn't mean we should write a free pass on men who're willing to chase down and murder, in the street, ten year old kids. Right?" He sighs and flicks more ash, drawing on the cigarette so he can exhale smoke soon after, "People hate mutants because of the idea of them being dangerous. It's not like they wait to find out if we're dangerous or not, they just go for it. Not all people, but enough that Bruce isn't entirely wrong. You can't seriously be totally okay with a gang of men who basically want to snuff out mutant kids as a rule?"
"No I'm not okay with it but you can't be okay with someone whose willing to use ten year old kids as bait to cause the situation in the first place." Robyn says with a shrug. He's not arguing just stating how he feels. "I graduated from Xavier's I'm kind of enjoying the lack of drama. Or maybe it's breaking up with Jordan that's the lack of drama…"
Nathaniel shakes his head, dragging on the cigarette yet again and smiling easily at Robyn, "I'm not, either. Okay with someone willing to do that, I mean. I think all of that situation was wrong. Going too far is too much… Bruce agreed to take the men he found before a metahuman judicial counsel, at least. I don't know if it'll be anymore fair than a human one would be, but it's worth something." He huffs out the smoke harder, then shakes his head, "It's difficult… and yeah. I thought most of the drama would be over after Xavier's, too. I can't say about Jordan. I did find out Leo's not dead, so… that happened."
Robyn nods. "Yeah, I found out about Leo about a year ago when he was trapped in another dimension with us. He's…turned very bitter. Both him and Jordan did. They both blamed all their problems on Xavier's I think." Robyn says frowning as he looks down at his Art History book. "How are things between you and Leo?" Robyn asks choosing to focus on that instead of what happened with Bruce.
Nathaniel props his elbow on his knee, frowning and shrugging mildly, "Leo supposedly has some kind of weird personality issue that happens when his powers don't work. I haven't seen him since I found out he was still alive." He shrugs, waving it off with intent to be dismissive, "It doesn't matter. I heard about the other dimension thing. How'd that go for you…?"
"Personally, it did me good." Robyn says as he smiles a bit. "It was this crazy halloween horror land and I was turning into a ghost. I couldn't even remember who I was when Heather helped pull me back. It kind of formed a great bond between us and it some how pulled me out of my depression. Then I just started to go crazy with my art. I guess I finally decided that I could come out this stuff bitter or stronger, I chose stronger." He says with a shrug. "So how have you been since you left Xavier's?"
"Oh, right. Heather stayed after you left. I like her. It was funny, though. She expected us to find her really strange and we - er, me and Bruce - were just like… no, not really," Nathan grins slightly as he explains that, propping his temple on his fist and leaving his elbow on his knee. He licks his lips, then draws on the cigarette to exhale smoke again, "I've been all right. I'm in art school, too. Scholarships, loans, grants, that kind of stuff. I… I stopped using my powers for a long time, you know, after what happened. I've started using them again recently, though."
"A lot of people find Heather strange, it's because she grew up with some evil super villain parents. I still have nightmares about her father." Robyn says frowning a bit. "Yeah, I'm at art school too. Parson's, doing the scholarship and loans thing." He hasn't gotten any grants. "Well I'm glad you're using them again. I know what happened was bad but it shouldn't stop you from using them. Maybe I don't understand cause I can't, not, use my powers."
Nathaniel shrugs mildly, tilting his head and blinking, "Er, well. I didn't find her strange - but I'm actually going to Parson's too. Weird. I didn't even… I've been so anti-social since I got there, I haven't paid any attention to other students." He looks a bit embarrassed by that, tangling his fingers loosely in his hair, "It wasn't really easy, but… it was better, I guess. Better to be normal, or close to it. I couldn't keep it up, though. I'm too nosy."
Robyn gives Nathaniel a smile, a genuine friendly smile. "Hey I didn't notice you either. There's so many people there and I'm focusing on sculpting so I don't know what you plan to major in." He says which might explain why they're not in the same class. "I'm having trouble making friends, I've been through so much and I feel like everyone is so naive it almost makes me jealous. It's like we're from different worlds or something."
"Mostly graphic design, but I'm taking a full fine arts set," Nathan shrugs, finishing off his cigarette and then moving to settle on the edge of the blanket, finally. He drops his hands into his lap, legs folded, and leans onto his elbows where they're set on his thighs, "Yeah. I know what that's like… I met another empath with a different view, but it's hard getting along with people when you always know when people are lying or just ommitting stuff or… you know, anything."
"How does that work, meeting another empath? Can you feel what they feel too?" Robyn asks curiously. "I'm sorry you have to deal with that Nathan. I'll try not to lie in your presence though I don't really try to lie often." He really does believe in honesty. "Have you been back to Xavier's at all recently?"
Nathaniel gives another dismissive sort of shrug, adjusting his position slightly and scratching the side of his neck, "Yeah. Mostly. I mean, at school they taught me how to try and keep that sort of stuff shielded, but it's like anything else." He turns slightly to dig out another cigarette, tucking it between his lips and lighting it up, "It's really not that big a deal. Just hard to be social… and yeah, I've been back there a few times. I'm friends with David, one of their teaching assistants, and I know a couple kids who go there now. I wander around sometimes, too. Safer than wandering the streets."
"I know David. He was in that whole Halloween land with us. I never got to know him that well though. Lucas, Chloe and Heather are really the main people I know there now. Star was always cook though her brother was a bit…well, Cloud." He says with a chuckle. "So many just left or graduated. But I'm happy I'm living with Connor and Rashmi now though."
Nathaniel nods his head again, smiling faintly and ruffling his hair, "David's the one that told me about the other dimension… and he's dating Star now, I guess. I'm supposed to be put on a double-date with Cloud, too, weird as that is." He turns enough aside that he can tap the ash off without hitting the blanket, taking another drag on the cigarette. He exhales smoke into the air once more, drawing his knees up a bit, "I didn't know you were living with Rashmi. I don't know who Connor is at all, though I feel like I should. Anyway… it's good you're living with her. I didn't deal with her much, but she's good, you know? Seriously."
Robyn's face shows with surprise. "Oh, they are? I didn't even know they were that close. Well shows how long I've been away." Robyn says with a chuckle. "Wait, what, you're going on a date with Cloud. Nathan, don't." Robyn says. "I don't even think he's gay." He says quitely. "Nevermind, I shouldn't tell you who to date just Cloud is rash, he's not really, I can't put it into words. I like jocks, I've always been attracted to the football player type but Cloud, he's….I can't think of him as dating material." He then smiles and nods. "Rashmi's the best, if she were a guy or I was straight I would fall head over heels for her." He says laughing.
"Not gay. Just bisexual, apparently," Nathan shrugs slightly, folding his arms loosely around his knees and arching his brows in response to the negative reaction. He blinks as Robyn continues on, tilting his head to the side, "Not dating material…? Well, don't worry too much. I'm mostly doing it because David asked me to. I don't expect it to work out, but it should be fun."
"I didn't know that. I always got a pretty straight vibe off of him." Robyn says with a shrug. "Okay, I just don't want to see you end up with someone bad." He says before trying to back track on his words. "Not that I'm saying Cloud is a bad guy or anything, and I know I barely know you but, he's nothing like Leo. Which maybe is a good thing, I dunno." Robyn says shrugging. "As long as it's fun that's what matters."
Nathaniel drops his knees, butterflying his legs comfortably and resting his free hand on his ankle, leaning forward onto it, "Don't worry. I can take care of myself when it comes to this kind of stuff. Empath and all. If I don't like how it feels in my head, then it'll be over pretty quickly." He smiles once more, dragging on his cigarette and puffing the smoke idly off into the air, "You know me pretty well, I guess… and yeah. I love Leo, or loved him, but it was hard to be together sometimes. I don't need someone super good again, really. Bad might be good."
Robyn laughs. "Well I don't mean bad as in bad guy bad just, he's got the common sense of a dormouse. Anyway enough about that." He then lies back, resting on his hands, on the blanket. "I know what you mean. I still love Jordan but I know he was wrong for me. It sucks, cause I still care for him but he's got things that are more important and I just became a side thought. He didn't care about my life."
Nathaniel nods his head understandingly enough, though he does wind up frowning, "…yeah. I know what you mean. That's pretty rough, though." He sighs out another cloud of smoke, rubbing his thumb between his eyes, just above the bridge of his nose. He drops his hand back down, tapping ash over the grass, "For me and Leo, it wasn't even really priorities. He just, you know… living light, constantly happy, upbeat, full of energy. Hard for him to understand anything else."
"It's my first relationship and first break up so I guess it was hard to let go even when the relationship was causing me more pain then happiness." Robyn admits. "Anyway, I can see how that would be tough, it'd be like being with a puppy all the time and just not be able to relax." He says thinking that is what it might be like. "Anyway I'm sorry Nathan but I gotta run. Need sleep before class tomorrow. It was great to see you again."