Players:
Summary: Ahmed and Nicholas finally have a civil conversation
Date: December 16, 2011
Log Title: Chewy Vs Han Solo
Rating: PG
Xavier Mansion - Ahmed and Nicholas's Room
Slightly bigger than the old room, the new rooms fit two students comfortably. Each room has off white walls with a dark brown carpet. There is one window in the middle of the wall that looks out over the grounds. Each room has two beds, two dressers, two desks and two closets, one for each student.
The window is frosted over from the cold outside, but you couldn't tell that from the feeling in the air if you come in the room. Having jacked up the AC into the 70s, Ahmed is lounging around in a pair of shorts and a spare T-shirt that says 'St. Michael's' on it with a rather impressive looking school seal and some latin around the edges. Sitting in the middle of the bed, he is tapping away at his laptop as ironically 'Let It Snow' plays in the background.
Walking into the room dressed in a pair of jeans and a red and black flannel button down shirt is Nicholas. He's carrying a sort of cardboard tube under one arm and stops as soon as he hears the music playing. He takes a deep breath and shuts the door before speaking up. "Do you mind turning that off?" He asks as there's a tightness to his voice.
Ahmed shrugs once and then reaches over and flicks off the radio, "Done." And then goes back to tapping away on the keyboard again with the general sense of 'my space' around him. But every so often his eyes flick up to you and watch you.
"Thank you." Nick responds gratefully as he sits down on his bed and starts to open the tube. "I hope you don't mind if I put up some posters, I figured if this is home now…" There's a hint of bitterness in his voice as he calles the school home. "The music isn't about you, I just, I don't want anything to do with Christmas this year."
"Your half of the room, is your business." Ahmed replies without even looking up, his eyes intent on his machine, and then he grins as he hits a final button and sits back with a triumphant grin on his face. What about, he doesn't say… but he seems rather smug about it as he goes over to his desk and begins rummaging through the mess he calls organized. Everything is in piles, and looks chaotic, but somehow he has an absolute sense of where everything there is.
Nicholas closes his eyes and just sighs as he takes out two posters and starts to unroll them, but they seem to just roll right back up before he can really look at them. Nick then starts to use his powers, his eyes glowing blue as he does so, to get some tape from his desk. Once the tape is in his hand he stands on his bed and uses his powers to unroll one of the two posters, a poster of Star Wars - The Empire Strikes Back, and he flatens it againt the wall with his telepathy before taping it up there. He seems fairly adept when it comes to moving things around with his telekinesis, though not much is said to Ahmed.
Ahmed does that cat thing of watching without watching as he picks out what he was looking for and goes back to sitting down on the bed once more. This time he has what looks like a recipie book in his hands, but the print on it is like nothing you've ever seen before. As he reads, his lips move, and he takes a moment to click a couple things on his school computer. After a few moments though, he adds, "Preferred Return of the Jedi myself."
"I didn't want Ewoks on the wall." Nicholas says as he finishes before turning to look at Ahmed. "I like the orignal three, the others were okay and I like some of the video games. I just…I used to think when I got my powers I was like Jedi Knight or something." He confesses. "Han Solo is just awesome though." There isn't much emotion in his voice but he's trying to open up a bit more to his roommate. "Empire was just cool though with Hoth and Cloud City and finding out Darth Vader is Luke's father…."
Ahmed snorts once and then replies with a slightly bemused look, "Chewbacca's cooler. He's smarter, more capable, and he fixes the ship… all Han did was fly around and get the two of them in trouble. I can see the whole Jedi thing though. Never thought of it that way." The last is almost mumbled as he turns the page and then makes a couple more notes on his computer screen.
Nicholas scowls. "Just let me like Han Solo, okay?" He doesn't mean to snap but he feels like Ahmed keeps putting down what he likes. "And Han just wasn't about flying he was about attittude, he was charisma. He was cool." He says with a shrug before starting to use his powers to put up the other poster which is of a a bunch of horses running through some plains. Very stock image looking.
"Jehovah be praised… we're having a conversation." And with that Ahmed puts away the book, locks the computer up, and sits on the edge of the bed, "I won't deny Han is a slick character… but you have to admit, without Chewbacca, he wouldn't be half as cool. Look at any duo… you have a cool one and a capable one. Like Penn and Teller. Penn may be the face, but Teller is the one that sells it."
Nicholas doesn't say anything until the other poster is up and he turns to look at Ahmed. "Look, I'm trying okay, it isn't easy. Half the time I just want to scream and yell and other other half I just want to curl up and cry." Which as he says it he feels a lot less manly. "And I didn't say Chewy wasn't cool." He grumps.
Ahmed gives another one of his shrugs, and looks around for a moment, "I'm gonna ask you something… something that might be uncomfortable. Something you don't have to answer right away… but something I dunno if you've thought about. But I won't ask unless you're okay with it."
The question seems to confuse Nick from the look on his face. "Uh, I guess." He says not really sure what kind of question Ahmed would ask him. "I won't know if I'm okay with the question until you ask it or not."
Ahmed nods once, and then after a moment of consideration, "It's technically two questions… If your parents had known about this school and what it can offer, would they have sent you here… and if they had, would they be happy you're in a place with people who understand what's going on with you?"
Nicholas sits back down at the question as it seems to deflate him a bit. "I don't know, they always needed help at the stable, if I wasn't there…" He says tensing up a bit. "The entire county knew what I was and for years noone acted like they cared. My girlfriend became my girlfriend because her Mom helped me figure out how to control my powers. Also my Mom and Dad knew I wouldn't want to be away from home, I -liked- it there. I had friends….at least I thought I did…"
Ahmed shakes his head, and levels his gaze, those cat-slit eyes watching Nick with a rather unique intensity, "I don't know's a perfectly fine answer Nick… but it's something you should think about. I'm not gonna bug you for an answer either. Because it's something you gotta answer for yourself. Allright?"
Nicholas shrugs. "Sure." He says not really meaning it. "It's not that I dislike you or anything Ahmed it's that, I hate this. Not the school just having to deal with everything. I want to go home so badly. I just want to see my Mom and Dad, and Bodie and I can't. I used to love Christmas but now, I hate it."
"Okay, and you got a right to it… but don't let it blind you to what's out there. I read those articles… you got put through hell… I gotta respect that. It's the same kind of crap some of mom's friends got put through back in the old country." The other young man muses, but then pauses, and frowns slightly, one of his fangs showing, "You're probably gonna hate a lot of stuff for a while… I dunno. That's all on you, man. Once people know to give you your space, you gotta make sure to let them know when it's cool to intrude on it too."
Nicholas tenses and his face tightens as if he's mad at something so he looks away from Ahmed and locks his gaze on the floor. "I'm sorry your parents won't talk to you because you're a mutant. That I can't understand cause mine were cool with it." There is sincerity in his voice even if it's devoid of a lot of emotion.
It's Ahmed's turn to look angry, "It's not that they won't talk to me. I've been shunned. It's not just Mom and Dad. It's the entire community. So far as anyone back home is concerned… Ahmed Fadil doesn't exist and never did." Slowly be begins to get that plasticy complexion he has when he begins to leak out ectoplasm in excess of normal.
"Well we have something in common." Nick says bitterly. "It's pretty much the same thing, according to that article, I'm a mutant terror, I torture animals and beat my girlfriend. I'm a bully who uses my powers to terrorize people and kill my parents. It sucks."
Moving to lay back on the bed, Ahmed goes to stare up at the ceiling for a moment, and then replies, "Propaganda bull… anyone who met you for five seconds would see you're totally not this person… but they'd have to meet you first. Mom would love you… she loves horses too. She cares for them for the Mounties. The RCMP. The horses they use for city patrols and parade shows. She once said that the horse is an older friend to man than the dog… because a dog only a pet, a horse is part of your life."
"Dogs are cool and great, David had this awesome dog." Nick says. "But Horses, they're different. There is more to a horse especially when you ride one, you almost have to be in sync. I grew up around them, my Mom and Dad owned and ran the stable back home. That's cool about your Mom, horses can take a lot of care cause they can have a lot of problems that you wouldn't even think of. Did you know a horse can't throw up?"
Ahmed doesn't allow his face to be seen when he rolls his eyes, "They also get high by grabbing their teeth onto something and pulling back. It's called cribbing. And once they start, it's a hard habit to break. I just wished horses liked me. They never have… even when I was a kid they'd shy from me, or get aggressive."
"Are you scared of them or nervous around them at all?" Nick asks as he's dealt with a lot of people who've had issues around horses. "They can sense our emotions but you probably know that." He says frowning a bit. "I compete, in horse shows. Or competed, I don't know."
Ahmed replies, "Usually nervous and intimidated… I mean c'mon… you know how big they are. They love my mom. Even horses who are strangers they'll come up and do that thing where they blow their nostrils in her face. She says it's affection, but it just looks weird."
Nicholas looks over at Ahmed and gives him a rare faint smile. "That's why, cause they can tell you're nervous and intimidated. It's common since they are so big. I'm like that, Bodie taught me a lot about reading horses and how their feeling. I'm just good with them, my parents and Bodie always said I was a natural, probably cause I was practically on a horse before I could walk."
Ahmed looks back, and it's clear the talk about his family is bothering him a little, but that he also seems to be pushing past it, "See, that's cool… Me? I was put in the best school so I could go to a good american college and eventually become something important, like a doctor or an engineer. Then when they found out I was good with food… they wanted me to go to Europe and study there to become one of those guys you see on Food Network or Cooking Channel. It didn't matter, so long as we succeed… that's the push. Out here, there's so much opportunity that the parents make the kids work their butts off."
Nicholas looks at Ahmed as if he can't believe that. "Wow, yeah, I guess my only push was to purse horseback riding cause I loved it. I didn't compete cause my parents made me but because I wanted to…" He says getting up. "I'm gonna go see Orion, for what it's worth, I'll try to be decent to you, like not snap as much. You're a good guy Ahmed even if you're scared of horses. I'm really sorry you're also stuck in a shit life."
Ahmed nods once and continues to stare at the ceiling, "And I'll try to back off on you and give you your space… and as for the horses… well… I'm a big cat now… I don't think me and hooves are entirely copacetic." But he smirks a bit, and says, "Give the big lug an apple slice for me."
