Players:
Summary: Both Connor and Robyn are a bit too stubborn for their own good.
Date: September 10, 2010
Log Title: Being Stubborn
Rating: PG
Xavier Mansion - Connor and Robyn's Room
Robyn's side of the room is cluttered but not messy and has a bit of a creepy feel to it. His bed has black sheets with a Nightmare Before Christmas pillow and comforter. On the wall is a Nightmare Before Christmas poster and a poster showing the art of Edward Gorey. On his end table is a collection of little figures that seem to have a deamonish quality to him. On his desk are more little figures like a tree that instead of leaves has hands and a snake eating someone holding a 'help me' sign. He's got a few art books on his desk along with his regular schoolbooks. A cased cello sits in the corner of his side of the room.
It's midday and Robyn's on his lunch break till his next class which is why he's in the room working on homework for said class while eating a ham, cheese and pickle sandwich. There's also some pickles and potato chips on the plate along with a bottle of coke. The book on German is infront of him as he works on translating the needed sentences for his homework. He always seems to wait till the last minute to do things and this is definately one of those cases.
Connor enters the room without his usual sense of directness and pomp. The door opens, slams shut, and he shuffles over to his bed and flops down to stare at the ceiling, grumbling out, "Mental Defense class… try migraine inducing…" Reaching a hand under the bed, and a soft glow begins to play as the usual pack of Dr. Pepper slides out from under and he snags one of the cans from within it and cracks it open to take a drink, "Ooh… pickle…" Said as he looks over, "Can I have one? Are they kosher?"
Robyn looks up and Connor and chuckles. "You should try the classes I'm in for it and now you know what it's like for me to go a day without someone else's psychic energy." He says as he takes the plate and offers it to Connor. "I don't kow, they're from a jar and they're good. Since when did you worry about kosher?" He asks as he takes one for himself. "Anyway Connor, I need to ask your help with something."
Connor plucks up one and chews it down, saying between bites, "I love the Klaussen kosher pickles… they're great…" Almost purring it out like Tony the Tiger. Sitting up on the bed, he downs most of the can, and sets it to the side with a sigh before tilting his head and eyes that look tired from too much focus stare back at Robyn as he says, "What's up?"
Robyn takes another bite of the pickle and looks at Connor with a fairly serious look on his face. "Okay, well, I talked to Rashmi and Forge a bit. I decided I'm not quitting the team, the one with her running it." And the way he says 'her' makes it sound like a horrible word. "I'm also going to be talking to Ms. Frost about a few things but that's not important right now but I need you to make sure I don't lose my temper too much around her, cause I will."
Connor looks down for a moment, shading his eyes, before he takes a deep breath, and claps those hands together. Rubbing them back and forth, he returns his eyes to Robyn, and says, "Allright… first thing you need to realize. She wants you to hate her. She doesn't want to do this, and she's banking on us not wanting it either so she can get out it. It may not look like it, but this is a form of punishment for her, I believe. Which is why I will smile and be polite right up to the point she lets me stand where I can jam the knife if I need to." The last part said with a flat finality that sounds almost alien with the young man, "I know how it looked the other day, but to be honest? I'm just as mad as you… because I was duped, and I let you all down by not being there."
"Well unlike you I'm not going to stand there and smile and take shit from her Connor, I am going to stick with this team, I am going to take this seriously and do well but at the same time, I am going to hate her." There is no way that Robyn would find it in him not to at this point in time. "I just know she knows hot to push my buttons so I need someone to keep me from getting too heated. I talked to Rashmi about it, she helped a lot." He doesn't really go into detail on what was said. "Connor, I'm sorry but I doubt you're as mad as I am." He says, not trying to be mean but it's probably the fact of it. "Now, do you have my back to make sure I stay in line?"
Connor opens his mouth, but then stops, his eyes dimming for a few moments, and then resurging to their usual pale glow. He rubs his hands together again, and then settles them on his jeans where they cling before he takes a deep breath, "Of course I have your back… but you'll want to talk to the others too. It's not just me who should help. I think everyone else can, once they know the score… and they'll be asking you for help too. That's how it's supposed to work." That being said, he finishes the can of cola, and then goes to laying back on his bed, closing his eyes, to hide the expression from his friend.
Robyn smiles and it's kind of a mischevious smile that doesn't fit him. "Oh I know, I don't plan on letting her hurt any of us. I don't plan on letting her get one up on us. I want to prove to her that we're better than she thinks we are and if she wants to throw something impossible at us, I want us to be able to prove that it isn't." He then sighs and leans back in his chair. "Rashmi always wants me to talk to Ms. Frost about the Lithum and therapy comment, I promised her I would."
Connor replies without opening his eyes, "Good. She should be told. The Observation deck and the gardens above don't have any pick up microphones on the cameras, so unless someone's good at lipreading, there's only us who heard. And either Jinx or myself will corroborate what was said. It'll also send a message to Selene that you don't appreciate her supposed sense of humor." Then more quietly, he adds, "She sees you as the weakest of us, which is why she's going after you. Once she sees she can't, she'll try and single out a new target. After you, it's Theo. He's jealous of people with flashier powers, and gets mad too easily."
"I'll learn to work with Theo, he's not really a concern. He's…I don't know. I just try to keep my distance but.." Robyn then sighs and looks at Connor. "And how do you know she thinks I'm the weakest? Did she tell you or are you just assuming that cause that's what you would think?" He doesn't like hearing that, maybe cause he's not fully confident in his powers but at the same time he's one of the few people that can stop an enemy outright. "How do you know she wouldn't go after Jinx or yourself?"
Connor bites his lower lip and sucks on it a moment before pushing up off the bed, and moving to stand, walking over to you, and then reaching up to put a hand o your shoulder, "No… she didn't tell me, but it's in how she acts. Most of her verbal barbs were meant for you after the initial things were done. She responded based on how we all answered her. Jinx left her neutral, and I seemed eager, which put her on guard. She's actually asked me to be her student liasion for the group, because I kept my cool." Squatting down so that he can be pretty much on eye level, "She got to you. She knows it. She did it not once, but twice. And to her it means you're the weakest of the pack. You're the one she exploits to get to the rest of us. That's why it's so good you're doing this… showing her you're not backing down, or playing the game how she wants it."
"Connor you might think you know how she works, but I wouldn't count on it. Selene…she's evil Connor. Real evil." Robyn says as he's not exaggerating either as he claims that. "I know she knows she got to me and she's gonna get to me again. How do you not let someone like her get to you when she did what she did to us? You think you'll have her figured out and she'll change it up. I'm sure of it. She's old Connor and she's not the usual bad guy. She's been through it, she's….the real thing when it comes to villains."
Connor moves back to his bed, and gives Robyn a long and considering look. His hands come together and he murmurs something under his breath as he leans his head against his combined grip, before reutrning his gaze to his friend, "Robyn… I can't say this any other way… but you're letting her win. Every time you open your mouth, you tell me she's got you backed in a corner, and none of us know what we're doing, but we still have to do this. So… STOP." The word almost barked out, "She knows we don't trust her, we sure as hell won't give her the benefit of the doubt. But you're not helping yourself. This is the same spiral you were in before you went home. You don't see a way out, and it drags you down further, and you're worried we all don't know what we're up against, and that makes it worse. You're right. I don't. I can guess, and I can anticipate. But the only place to learn about the wolf is in it's den. Or watching it hunt."
"You're putting words in my mouth Connor." Robyn says shaking his head. "No, I don't think I'm backed in a corner. I can leave this group anytime I want to, but I'm not because I am -choosing- not to. I know this is my choice. I am not going to trust her or like her though, and I'm going to prove to her that we can take anythign she wants to push at us. I'm going to -try- to not let her get to me…to her face. I can't promise I won't be pissed off after practice. That's why I need help not letting her get to me. But at the same time, you have to realize you don't know everything about her or what she's thinking Connor. You can plan two steps ahead but she's probably already past that and onto steps seven and eight. You're assuming you know her Connor when really, how much dealing with Selene have you had?"
Once more his mouth opens to retort, but then he stops and sighs, "You know what? This is getting us nowhere. I've made up my mind about what I'm going to do, and so have you. Better we just stick to helping each other… and respect that we don't agree with everything I'm doing, allright? I can't make you see my mind, but I am also not changing it. I know you're scared for me… and I'd be stupid if I wasn't a little scared too. That's why I'm taking Mister Falk's course, and why I'm willing to push myself so hard this year." He stops, and then gives Robyn a bit of a plaintive look, "Instead of us going back and forth on this until we're back where we were before the end of summer… can we just… let it drop? We're both being stubborn, we're both doing it for good reasons, and we're both doing it because we're worried for each other."
"I just want to say, I'm not trying to change your mind on what you do just…know that Selene, she's bad news." Robyn says as he concerned for his friend. "Addison's good at teaching mental defense. I've been in his advance class for a while now. I've already got the basics down but trying to get it stronger. He wants to teach me how to put up a psi-screen, which isn't easy." A lot of times after those classes he just wants to sleep. "I am worried for you Connor, I just don't want to see what happened to us happen to you with her."
Connor doesn't really say much more on the topic of Selene, but he does add then, "Maybe you should get Mister Falk, or Miss Frost to teach you how to… I dunno… sip off a bunch of people instead of gulping off one. You know… like walk through a rail station and get a little bit from everyone like breadcrumbs."
"Yes I know I could do that Connor, I've done bits off of people but not matter what, they're going to feel it with even the smallest of headaches." Robyn says as he doesn't want to have to rely on others. "I need to lean how to function so I don't need it otherwise, I can kiss art school goodbye next year. Right now Addison and JOno have been my crutches."
Connor holds his hands up in surrender, and goes to lay back down on the bed again, reaching down for a fresh can of Dr. Pepper, "Allright, allright… I get it… I'll stop trying to give advice." Hiding his frown with a drink from the fresh can.
Robyn sighs and just shakes his head. "Connor, listen, my powers are…I'm pretty much a psychic vampire. Best way to put it, even if people didn't know it, the idea of secretly draining off of people like they were just food? Like I was a monster, I don't like that idea, one bit. That's the honest truth of it. We all have obstacles with our powers and each person's is something different. It's just the way of it Connor but I'm trying to figure out ways to become….maybe less relient somehow."
"I know," Connor says flatly, "We kinda had that discussion when we became roomies, remember? No need for the expository dialogue. I was trying to help. Come up with ideas. See things outside your perspective." Sitting back up he locks his eyes, "It's all I can do. Because really… I don't know what's going to happen this year. So all I've got is plans… ideas… and maybe the confidence to go through on them. You think I don't realize Selene is evil? C'mon… I heard everything, I saw the end results. And I can make a few logical assumptions about her… but until I actually see her for myself, I'm never going to really know. But it is really getting on my nerves that you're so adamant that I'm clueless. How the hell am I supposed to have any confidence in what I'm doing when no one wants to back me up, huh?"
Robyn stands up and walks over to Connor and sits next to him and looks him straight in the eyes. "Connor, I do appricate the help with you trying to come up with ideas for how to control this. I really do, it's just, it's something that isn't easy. And none of us know what's gonna happen this year and a major wrench just got thrown in the cogs with Selene teaching us. Right now we have to take things as they come and work together, we're not always gonna know what's ahead and accept that Connor. You have to have confidence in your friends as well as yourself."
Connor murmurs out, "Then why does it feel like you don't have any confidence in me?" Shaking his head, he looks away and out the window, "I'm sitting here, telling you what I'm willing to risk, letting you know what's going on in my head, and what I think I've figured out, and instead of encouraging me, you keep just poking holes in things. I mean she ASKED me to be the one to be her messager between herself and the rest of the group. You don't think I don't think she has something planned? All I can do is try and work the best with what I have." Then he sighs and shakes his head, "James would understand… but James would also just rather rip her throat out and dump her in the lake so much as give her the time of day. Nobody really sees how smart he is, because he
"…he's got such a good poker face. They also don't always see how much he hurts."
"I know. Believe me, I know in regards to James." Robyn says as him and James are very close and have a bond between the two. "I do see how much he hurts but I also know, you try to help him heal, you'll just push him away. And in regards to Selene, if I didn't trust you, why do you think I asked you to help me keep myself in check during practices. We all know she has a greater agenda but at the same time, you can't assume anything with her and that's what I'm trying to tell you. What you have are your team mates in this Connor, guess work won't get you anywhere right now but us, Jinx, Theo, Lucas and me, that's what will get us throw this."
Connor snaps back, "If you don't assume anything, you can't create any kind of good strategy for countering anything she does!" Throwing his hands up in frustration, "There's plenty of clues when you look for them… like how she treated you. All I'm doing is trying to make sure when something DOES happen, I can react… instead of locking up." It takes him a few breaths to calm down once more, and then he shakes his head, "Look… I said I'd help you, and I meant it… but this isn't a one-way street, Robyn. We're all going to have to work together, and that means planning. And that means we need some base to work from."
Robyn looks at Connor and sighs. "And right now it feels like you're more focuses on being right than having us work together. You could be right, You could be wrong. I could be right, I could be wrong, I don't know. There maybe clues out there but how does someone whose older than history think? She's 17,000 years old, she's years beyond us so, it's hard to plan for someone with that kind of experience. And, we gotta trust Ms. Frost and Mr. Summers which….I've decided I'm going to do."
Connor sighs once and then takes another breath to calm himself down then, "That's because I don't work well on the whole team thing until we're finally in the middle of things, and I don't have every little negative thing running around in my skull telling me I'm not going to do anything right. I'm trying to focus on being right, so I don't start going crazy thinking about what's going to happen, Robyn. It's how I work. I'm…" He stops, and then finally says, "I should get to class… I've got some AP physics and math stuff this afternoon…"
Robyn puts his hand on Connor's shoulder. "I know you might be mad at me right now, but I'm not mad at you, I'm going to make that clear. We're different, I know that. Right now, we're gonna have to work on the whole team thing. That's the only way we're going to get through this. As a team. We've both got lessons to learn, I know that. I know where my weakness is gonna lie, it's going to be in my hate that I don't think I'll get over. That's where I need -your- strength. Maybe you need mine in letting you know it's okay not to know all the answers." He's serious about that too. "Good luck with class, I gotta get to Advanced German soon anyway. Want my last pickle before you go?" What a peace offering, a pickle.
Connor takes up the pickle and chomps down on it, before smiling a bit, "Okay. I don't know it all, but I do know a bit… sometimes I get lucky too… anyways… catch you later. Auf Weidersehn!" And then he ducks out with a teleport before any response can be made.
