Players:
Summary: A happy reunion.
Date: March 15, 2009
Brightness and Gloom
Rating: PG
Xavier Mansion - Recreation Room
//What was once the Parlor has been turned into a Recreation Room for the students. A nice plush carpet meets the light blue walls giving it a homey feel. A pool table at one end, a foos ball table at the other, and entertainment center with video game systems, movies, and of course, cable TV. Big comfy chairs and couches surround a coffee table for comfortable loafing. Long glass windows with a pair of French doors line one side of the room bringing in plenty of light during the day. The main rule in here is to clean up after yourself. //
This pleasant Saturday evening, Eddie has brought his new half-brother Jared by the Xavier Mansion to show him some of the school. Dressed in jeans and a t-shirt showing pictures of Spider-man, Iceman, and the Human Torch, he's got a little smile one his face. "First, he's the Rec Room. We do a lot of hanging out in here. Homework too," he says to the teen with him. Of course, he's not told Jared that he called Leo ahead of time and asked the Living Light user to meet them in the Rec Room…
Leo doesn't know why Eddie asked him to come to the Rec Room, but he trusts the kid and did so willingly. Over in the corner, playing with one of the video games is the hyper-active light conduit himself. His body sparkles brightly. Sure, he used up a lot of his juice about a week ago, but he's growing in strength again. He's not about to explode or anything, but he's definitely glowy. If and when his eyes are seen, they'll be very bright. One other change, at least for Jared, would be that his hair is a different color. He was always a medium blond, and now it's bright white. But then, he's facing away, so it may not be noticed yet.
Jared is dressed in his black hoodie, and black jeans following Eddie around the school. So far it has been a lot more interesting than his old public school. "Definitely beats hanging out in the lounge at Sand Diego General, much bigger TV than there too." The teen already in the room gets noticed, but not thought about much since Jared does not yet recognize his old friend. "So are the games and things in here just on a first come first serve basis or are there enough people there is a sign up sheet?"
"Err…" Eddie pauses, trying to remember what Bobby told him. While the Iceman was likely joking, Eddie took him a bit more seriously. "Generally first-come first serve, loser passes controller. This is suspended in the event of new releases in which case a sign-up sheet is established. No consoles allowed playing during Saturday morning cartoons or afternoon soap operas," he quotes. He's brought his new half-brother to the school this evening and is set to re-introduce some friends. Noticing Leo, Eddie grins. "Hey! Leo!" he calls with a grin. "Got someone for you to meet!"
Of course, it's just then when the light manipulator loses the game. "Stupidslowreactingvideogame. Can'tkeepupwithme." He glares, hearing his name called. Leo turns about, normal bright self suddenly seeming to radiate even brighter. "JARED!" He shouts before literally jumping across the room in a bound to try to land in a hug on his old friend. "Whatareyoudoinhere?"
Jared nods to his half brother, "Just like at the hospital, never want to tye up the TV when the head nurse wants to watch Days of our Life." Jared blinks as Eddie calls out for Leo, and the white haired teenager turns on revelaing himself to be his old friend. "Leo..!" Is about all he can get out before he gets boweld over by the glowing mutant. Ending up on his back with Leo straddling him the shock wears off pretty fast, "Leo you…you…you ass! What the fuck, three months and I don't hear from you at all!" Jared gives into his first reaction, to try and deck Leo despite the fact that he has a really bad angle to try and hit him from since he is under Leo.
Eddie eeps and quickly moves out of the way as Leo launches into the air. He stumbles back and falls onto his backside. He stares, starting to smile at the reunion. The smile turns into a worried expression as Eddie hears Jared call Leo an ass. "H-hey!"
Air days are always rather interesting for Cyrus. They are the days he looks most human, but he also looks well… transparent. Like a ghost of the young man that he was in the past. His body is also much lighter. It's a shame that they are still on lockdown, these are the days he enjoys the most and yet he can't go flying like he wants to. So he's a bit pouty and mopey when he walks into the Rec Room. Boredom must have really taken over. He's wearing a hooded sweatshirt with the hood up and a pair of sweatpants with the school logo upon both. He's rather quiet, as usual. He does pause to check out the situation of the room.
Leo is completely immune to the punches. Why? Because he missed Jared. That, and honestly, he's got enough strength enhancement that it doesn't hurt that much, even with Jared's enhancements. "Iwasn'tallowedtotell." He gets out, suddenly stopping and taking a deep breath. He forcibly slows his speech. "Sorry, Jared. My rents sent me on and told me to just come here. And, it's been one thing after another since I got here. And with the current lockdown and all, I've not been able to get home for a visit. I was supposed to go this weekend and I was gonna see you." Of course, there's that little glow coming from his body. The one that hits anyone within a foot of him. That glow also tends to rev them up like coffee.
Jared is still pretty pissed looking. "Three months, three months not a word form my best friend. You were not allowed to tell? You could have at least called, said something, its not like you would have had to say your at a school for mutants! Your parents wouldn't tell me a thing, wouldn't even give me a number where you were even after…even after mom died and I actually needed a fucking friend to talk too." The speech starts out angry and full of the energy that comes with being as close to Leo as he is but ends up just with more of an empty energyless feel at the end. "And if you kiss me and end up starting rumors even before I decide for sure if I am going to enroll here I swear even your best smile won't stop me from kicking your ass."
Eddie frowns in concern as he watches the confrontation. "Leo…Jared…" he trails off. Blinking, he looks over and smiles at Cyrus. "Hey, Cyrus. Come on in and meet my half-brother once he finishes with Leo…"
Cyrus's gaze takes in the interaction with Leo, Eddie and the boy he doesn't really know. The ghost like teen just sighs and blows the air out a lot harder then he had anticipated. The air in the room stirs and he hits them with it. He slips his see through hands into his pockets and looks down at the ground. The hood hopefully hiding more of his face. "Hi." He shifts his weight from foot to foot and then moves to lean against a nearby wall. He's staying quiet, for now.
Despite the worries, Leo does place a small kiss on Jared's cheek before he gets off the other guy. "Aww, I'm sorry. They didn't tell me she died. I wish they had." He says, putting on the pouty face before he looks up at Cyrus. "Hi, Cy." He offers a cheerful wave. "Handsome as always." But then something clicks as he overhears. "Waiwaiwai. Half-brother?"
Jared waits till Leo gets off him before sitting up and looking at Cyrus, the ghost in the hoodie does get a slight double take as he reaches out with his sensory powers to confirm that yes he is alive and a mutant too. "Yeah, half brother. After mom's funeral I found her diary, tracked down my biological father…turns out he works here as the health teacher. Heh, and your still a shameless flirt…only now you really do glow in the dark."
Eddie moves to give Jared a quick side-hug and grins. "Yep. Half-brother," he says. Apparently he's decided to embrace the idea. Getting up, he wobbles from the air and looks at Cyrus with a concerned expression. "Hey, Cyrus…something wrong?" he asks.
Cyrus just shrugs his shoulders at Eddie, "Nothing, they just clipped my wings. Can't leave the school grounds. Takes all the whole fun out of my air days." He just stays silent after that. A glance from Jared to Leo and then Eddie. He doesn't really have much to say on any of that. He does tense up at the talk of jared losing his mother. That's one thing that the elementalist teen has in common with the new comer. He chews on his lower lip while digesting that information.
"Awww, Cy. I'm sorry. Damn, everyone's having a bad time." Leo says, looking down. He's only unable to see his family. That's light, compared to what they're going through. "Well, there's always getting a teacher to take you through the danger room. It can LOOK and feel like a real sky…" He offers a half-smile. He nods to Jared. "Ah, it's Dr. Parker-Mayfair that's your dad, and not Mr. Parker-Mayfair."
Jared nods, deciding to go ahead and get off the floor. The dark haired young man in the bloakc hoodie holds his hands out the side, and pulls his feet under himself so that he can simply push up into a standdimg position without touching the round or bending over at all. "Yes, Jericho is my father."
Eddie blinks and then smiles to Cyrus. "Dude? Is that all. Ya know, school air-space still technically counts as school grounds so you can fly around out back. I could even come with ya if ya wanted," he offers. He stares for a moment at how jared gets up. Eventually he blushes and laughs a little before shaking his head.
Cyrus just shrugs his shoulders. "I want to test my limits. I need to train to increase my endurance. But I am not capable of that on the school grounds. I could go up… but what goes up must come down." That's not the only thing that is bothering him. He's thinking a lot, It's in his eyes. You can almost see his brain working behind those eyes. A deep breath and he blows the air up and it fills his hood with air and knocks it back. Which is quickly pulled up again. "What I really need is a dancing partner, someone good enough to keep up with me on my level."
"So that's why you're getting to come visit the campus. Daddy's a teacher. Well, I'm glad to see you, Jared." Leo says happily as he gives abright grin. Turning to Cyrus. "I don't know if you're meaning actual stamina or someone who can do what you do…" He says, shaking his head. "Though, I have stamina for hours." He admits. "I only need a couple of hours of sleep a night."
Jared stops and looks over at Cyrus and grins a little at him, "Dancing I can do if thats all you want, although I prefer swing. Unless your speaking metaphoricaly in which case you just have to find someone that can fly or copy your powers so he can fly just as well as you." Now what could Jared be talking about? What ever it is, Jared ends up rolling his eyes at Leo. "Please, I have known him for three days, I am so not really to call him Daddy. Yeah, stamina was never one of your short comings, discipline and patience on the other hand…." Jared grins at Leo, and eyes the blushing Eddie wondering what set off the blush this time not even thinking it could be something as simple as how flexible he is. "At least with everything else I have not ended up sleeping less yet….although given my powers that is always something possible to end up happening later."
Eddie blinks at Cyrus then concentrates. His scars light up and Eddie boosts Cyrus to double his normal maximum levels. Seconds later, Eddie's clothing transforms into a white and light blue version of what Cyrus is wearing and Eddie goes as transparent as him. "Woah…" he pauses, looking through his hand. "By the Human Torch's fireproof underpants…" he trails off. Shaking his head, he smiles. "See, now I can fly with you," he says. He then grins to Leo. "I'm trying to convince Jared to enroll here with us."
Cyrus blinks at Jared and Leo. "No, it is nothing about powers or even flying. I am looking for a regular dancing partner. Back in the day I was on my way to being a real competitive professional dancer. I don't need someone to keep up. I need someone with skill and training. A dancer needs discipline and patience and dedication." He looks at Eddie and there is a big frown upon his face now. "Why would you want to be like me? You want to know how confusing it is to wake up changed every morning? I'd give anything for just a little normality in my life."
"Hmm. I could probably learn fairly quickly. I was gonna be an Olympic Gymnast in 2012 if my powers hadn't activated." Leo says to Cyrus with a quick nod. "The patience is a little hard because of my powers and energy, but discipline, regardless of what hot stuff over here says, is somethingI DO have." He grins before snickering at Eddie's display. "Well, you could get all light bright like me." then it dawns on him. "Wait, enroll? Jared? Is there something you haven't told me?"
Jared nods at Cyrus, "Like I said, I like swing not sure what kind of dancing you do. Endurance, I have in spades at least since my mutation woke up." Jared looks at Leo and grins at him. "Yeah, you know the old saying like father like son? Turns out I am a mutant too, I apparently heal people just being around them and can sense life and when people are injured and sick….."
Eddie shrugs a little. "I mimicked your powers. The change comes with 'em…" he trails off. "And you only have five new forms and the cycle doesn't change so you just have a new 'normal'. I change whenever I mimic someone…" he takes a breath and drops the boost, his clothing and body returning to their usual form. Looking to Leo, Eddie applies a triple boost to him. As he does, his clothing shifts to a white and light blue version of Leo's clothing and Eddie starts glowing. "Wowthisisanewone," he says.
Cyrus chews on his lip, he does that a lot when he doesn't know what to say or do in a situation. He admits, "I don't think that guys would work anyway. I do things like Dancing with the Stars. Salsa, Somba, Momba, Cha Cha… That kind of stuff. I just… i'm half latino, music makes my body move. I can't stop it even if I wanted to." He shrugs. "Dancing is a lot better then blowing off steam in other ways. Like blasting things with my power."
"Groovy!" Leo says to Jared about the powers. "I like it here. Except when we get attacked, but it's ok. I've just been doing a lot of healing duty, and I'm really not a great healer at all." He blinks, looking at his watch. "Speaking of, I need to go sparkle on some injuries." He jumps up and waves. "Bye, guys!"
Jared nods and blinks at Leo. "Wait, get attacked? Ok, given that the fact that everyone here is a mutant is like a huge secret your really saying that people would attack a private school? I mean I saw where part of the school looked like it caught fire on the way in but…seriously that is something that has to be worried about here?" Given that Jared has nothing to worry about personally in an attack, he is still kinda shocked at the idea of people attacking a school. "Sure Leo, go..do your thing. I can catch up with you more later, now that I know where you actually are." Jared is not bitter about feeling his best friend abandoned him, not at all, really, even if he has decided to forgive him.
Eddie lets his boosting of Leo fade and returns to his usual self. "They why not ask some of the girls to dance, Cyrus? I'm sure there are plenty that'd like to learn or help," he suggests. Then Leo mentions the attacks and Eddie eeps. "Jared…we…do sorta get attacked. Happens to all mutants at one time or another I hear. Don't worry though. We have some of the best security in the world. I feel very sorry for anyone that comes to this school looking for trouble," he says with a smile.
Cyrus shakes his head at Jared, "You didn't notice the giant destroyed statue in the front Courtyard. That's just a small part of the damage that they finally are finishing fixing up." He sighs. "I am working on the statue it's just… I only have 24 hours and my skill is not that refined and my power is lacking a bit. So I have to do it slowly and it takes a lot of concentration." He looks at Eddie, "I… I don't think so. I just, yeah, no. I'll be fine. I'm getting my fix from the new season of DWTS."
Jared shakes his head at Cyrus, "I just thought it was some modern art piece. Kinda like one they had in a park I used to run in, had three giant statues that looked like Oscars, only one was in perfect shape, one was half melted, and the third one was cut off at the knees and had half of it crashed into the ground next to it."
Eddie gives Cyrus a look. "Cyrus…" he points to himself. "Power Booster. I can -help- you like I said I would help you if I could," he says. "With me around you'll be stronger than normal and have a second set of hands to help out," he says with a smile. He's also making plans to find all the female dancers in the school without telling Cyrus. "That sounds weird…" he remarks to Jared.
Cyrus just looks at Eddie for a moment and then back to Jared, "It's modern art. My mother… she was an artist. She did her own thing, she was really good too. So I was raised to appreciate art and stuff like that. I think it sounds neat." Then he says, "I don't want to bother anyone, I was just going to do it slowly and maybe no one would realize it till I was done."
Jared nods and grins at Eddie, "Like the man said, its modern art. Modern art is by nature strange." Jared nods again at Eddie, "Given his powers it could be done a lot faster, same thing if you asked Jericho for help. I don't know who the statue is of but if they were important enough to have a statue I am sure he would be glad to help it get fixed."
Eddie nods slowly. "Okay…Modern Art is supposed to be strange…" he trails off. "No…Dad's powers are just sharing. Mine boost and mimic. Two powers working together instead of splitting one power between two people," he explains. "Cyrus…nothing gets done in the school without -someone- noticing. Out headmistress is a telepath. One of the most powerful on the planet."
Cyrus nods his head, "Modern art is strange but it's unique and that's what I like about it." He looks at Jared. "It was a statue of Jean Grey. She was a teacher here." He looks at Eddie and then decides not to say that she was also one of the X-men. But Jared may know that anyway. "Well. I just don't want attention on me is all. I just want to go day by day and work on gaining control. And then maybe, just maybe one day I can turn this stuff off when I don't need it."
Jared shrugs and grins at Eddie, "Ahh, but with him sharing and you boosting it would be three of you at his levels working together. Even surgery is often easier with a few extra hands helping out…well as long as there is room inside for all of them. Of course that only really helps if the lot of you have some kind of artistic talent, me I couldn't draw to save my life. All of my skills are purely physical." Jared nods at Cyrus, does not recognize the name but at least would know who the X-Men were if he had been told they had anything to do with the school. "I can understand wanting to turn powers off, first time I used my powers I could literally feel worms crawling in the ground under me, and bugs flying around me…."
Eddie takes a deep breath and launches right into fanboy mode, listing various facts about Jean Grey. He covers powers, costumes, codenames, and notable accomplishments. As usual, he's got that frightening level of details. Blushing and clearing his throat, Eddie nods. "Sorry…" he squirms. "And Cyrus, if the teachers don't know you want to learn control and turning off or whatever then they can't help ya. Ya want help, you need to bring some attention to yourself. You should talk to Addison or our Dad," he gestures at Jared. "Both are really good with powerts…" he trails off. He blinks at Jared then shudders. "Okay…for some reason hearing that is worse than actually living around it."
Cyrus squirms a bit at the mention of bugs and stuff. "Yeah, I'm not particularly a fan of stuff like that. Worms most of all." He looks at Eddie, "You should probably keep that stuff a little under control until he is enlisted at the school. It's not fair that you can just blab because he's your brother." He frowns. "I don't want to talk to teachers about this stuff. I don't want attention. I just want to fade into the background and disappear. I'm not a hero."
Jared stops, or tries to stop Eddie halfway through the fanboy speil. "Wait wait wait, you mean she was Marvel Girl? As in one of the Original X-Men? Dude, you only had to say that much I already know the rest…well not her measurements but I never really approved of the fan sites that had those listings on them." Jared shakes his head and nods at Cyrus, "Yeah, not a great fan of the creepy crawlers myself, plants are not bad though…kinda calming really. As for the other stuff….I know a fair enough about heroes and all, although probably not as encyclopedic as Eddie…and since three of the four guys I live with know everything about this place its not like most of it are going to be easy to hide."
Eddie blinks a few times then frowns deeply at Cyrus. "Cyrus! Do not ever say that! No one should fade away or disappear! Ever!" he says, sore spot struck. "You have friends and people that care about you that wouldn't want you to be gone. And I didn't say be a hero, I said get help to learn control. That's why you're here at the school, isn't it?" he asks, scars lighting up blue but no body getting boosted. He glances at Jared, slightly embarassed in his upset state but saying nothing of it.
Cyrus looks at Eddie, "You are too nice dude. The reason that I am at the school. Is because I have no where else to go. What do you want me to say? I would love for my reason to be as sweet and romantic as I am here for the greater good. But I am here because of that. Let's not glorify it or make it anything more then that." He bites his lip, "I just can't wait till one day I can go and not have to deal with stupid rules like don't leave the school grounds or else you're in trouble."
Jared blinks in surprise, seeing Eddie get that kind of worked up at the idea of someone wanting to disappear is kind of an odd thing for the normally calm boy, Of course then Cyrus has to get snarky at him, "Bullshit. You think you have no place else to go? I wanted by the state of California because I did not want to stay in their craptastic foster care system. You think the rules here are stupid? Try getting stuck in a single long room with a dozen bone heads that are just waiting to be old enough to get sentenced to time in a real jail while a bureaucracy looks for blood relatives that don't exist. Hell, I was only lucky to find my father given that all I had was a name and a 5 year old letter from a private eye saying he was probably in one of three cities, and then there was the better than even odds he might end up not wanting me or even being willing to admit he knew my mom15 years ago. You want to say screw the greater good then fine, most people think like that, what Eddie is saying is no one should want to wish to disappear. You don't want to get noticed fine, that I can understand, being alone was my thing too, but self pity doesn't help anything. You want to try and turn your powers off then get over yourself, grab the bull by its balls, and ask a teacher for help. Its not like you have to do it in front of an audience, you can just request a private meeting and ask that as few people as possible know about the whole thing." Jared is not yelling, he wishes he could but at least knows that doing that would get attention he is sure is not a good thing right now. He just gets pissy when dealing with large amounts of emo-angst…and people being snarky and rude at friends that just want to help them."
Eddie unintentionally starts to boost Cyrus again, back to double his normal levels. As he does, Eddie's clothes change again and he goes transparent again. "And you wanna talk about not having a place to go? For me it was here or heading back to that box under Central Park where those worms and bugs were my neighbors," he says, frowming. He doesn't even seem to notice he's as transparent as Cyrus right now. Or that he's blowing a wind around the room. "Seriously, Cyrus. And the lockdown isn't just to get kids in trouble it's to stop them from going out there and getting killed by the same people that attacked the school."
Cyrus is full of large amounts of emo-angst. He's not sure how else to feel right now. He doesn't want to dance around with glee that he has all these friends and these 'super nifty' powers. He's bitter and jaded and frustrated and quite frankly just like any other teenager. The whole world isn't made up of happy go lucky people. And he is definitely not like Eddie. He isn't excited about being a person with power. "The world is fucked up, you want me to just open up to strangers. Fuck that, i'll get there on my own. I don't need them, I don't need anyone. Promise you won't hear me bitching about anything going on in my life again. I'll deal with it on my own." He doesn't know how to open up, he is very very conflicted in his head right now. Too much to deal with at once. And we haven't even touched on his fucked up sexuality issues. "Anyway, I barely know you Jared. Why should I even bother him with my woah is me drama. I'll fix it on my own, or die trying."
Jared had not heard about the box under central park, and is for amoment taken aback at that little snippet of Eddie's life. Jared can only snort at Cyrus's comments about the world, "Of course the world is fucked up. How many people do you see going around willing to ask for help when they need it or offeirng it to people that obviously need help just because they don't know them? Damn near none, and that is why the world is fucked up, and I am not just talking on a personal level too. There are nations of people starving to death, or where diseases are running rampent and nations where there is such a food surplus that farmers are paid not to use their lands and where medications are not that expensive to make. That I can do it on my own attitude is nothing but pride and fear, and the whole or die trying thing is shit too I can tell you. The only person who ever made a success out of himself who died trying only did so cause he came back afterwards."
Eddie just stares, feeling the anger burn as the winds in the room pick up. They're not a lot but they're about as strong as Eddie's capable of right now. He listens to everything Jared and Cyrus say, feeling several pangs of guilt and hurt in his chest. "Did anyone say to start telling your freakin' life story and inner most secrets to the staff? NO! You want help with your powers, to learn how to control them so you can go back to what you call 'normal'. That's part of what this school is for, learning how to control powers and coexist peacefully with baseline humans and the rest of the world. Keep up the 'I don't need help' attitude and you'll get nowhere," he says, the boost on Cyrus' powers suddenly drops by half. Eddie stares for a moment longer before dropping it altogether and returning to his usual self. His expression is hard to read. The scarred teen looks at Jared and then turns and heads for an exit. Apparently he expects his half brother to follow.
Cyrus just looks at Eddie, "That's how it starts, first you get comfortable, then you start trusting them and then you make buddy buddy and the next you are pouring your hearts out to them." He frowns at Eddie, "I'll get somewhere Eddie, if anything just to spite all of you to show that it is possible to get somewhere without having someone hold your hand every step of the way. Have to stand on your own two feet." He shrugs his shoulders and then watches Eddie leave and waits to see if Jared is following him to leave.
Jared just shakes his head at Cyrus, "Dude, not saying you should have someone to hold your hand, just ask for a little help. Yes you have to learn to stand on your own, but you also have to learn to walk and to let people give you a hand up when you fall. Other wise your eventually gonna end up pushing away anyone that could help and find yourself falling where you really can't get up on your own." Jared starts to follow after Eddie only to stop at the door and look back for a second, "And even if they are gonna break it someday by leaving you, or getting shot to death by some dmaned street punk there is nothing wrong with having someone to pour your heart out to." That said the boy leaves to go find Eddie and see if he can talk him down, or do waht ever it is brothers are actually supposed to do in this kind of situtation instead of figuring out his own muddled and confused emotions.
Eddie stops at the door for just a moment, giving Cyrus an icy glare. It's a very good thing there are no especially dangerous powers around for him to mimic right now or he'd be losing control of them. Speech fails him and he takes a deep breath. Turning back, he heads for the elevator and waits for Jared to follow him in before its time to head to the gym. He needs to work some steam out and there's a punching bag about to get the stuffing kicked out of it down there.
