Players:
Summary: Quenton makes his usual impression on Robin, Sage and Kieran.
Date: September 21, 2011
Log Title: Grand Arbiter Of The Stupid Instruments
Rating: PG
Xavier Mansion - Ramsey Dormitories Lobby
The lobby of Ramsey Dormitories has two elevators at one end of the wall along with the entrance to a cafeteria. On the wall are three pictures that say 'In memory of'. One is of Douglas Ramsey, another of John Proudstar and the last one is of Jean Grey. There are several couches and tables down here for students to relax. Large windows in the front and sides allow for a lot of light in the room.
The sound of someone playing the Ukulele can be heard down in the lobby of the dorm rooms. Sitting against the wall that faces the couches and chair is the barefoot Sage strumming away. For those that recognize the song he's playing Classical Gas by Mason Williams. Since it's raining cats and dogs outside Sage has decided to hang out inside this evening. He's dressed in his usual hippy style with his barefeet sticking out of the bottom of his pants. His eyes are closed as he plays, obviously into what he's playing.
Robin descends the stairs from the girl's floor, wearing her usual sweater and jeans. Behind her, her puppet follows in synch with her motion, and it tilts its head slightly at the sound of this music, while Robin just looks around and then approaches Sage. She makes no move to interrupt him or anything, just listening to his Ukulele playing.
Walking through the dormitory is the big asshole that the students have come to know and possibly hate or be amused by: Quenton. Black jacket, black sunglasses, black… you get the idea. He screams angst silently, hands in his pockets, face twisted in its seeming perpetual scowl. He was, well, angry. Not just at being showed up by Shane in the Recreation room, but at the idea they had of him. But then again, it worked to his benefit, so that calmed him down. Pushing others away emotionally so that he wouldn't hurt them physically. Being a bully so that he wouldn't be a bully. And so, now pleased, he begins to head towards the door, out of the rain, though he pauses at the sight of Sage, Robin, and her puppet. "What the hell did I just walk into?"
Letting out a sigh as he comes into the lobby area with his flatcap tilted up a little bit as he walks, Kieran hums to himself. He's not a big fan of the ukelele honestly but ah well. He doesn't move to immediately interact with anything here. FOr now he'll let Sage keep playing the song without interrupting himself, but then Quenton pretty much behaves like Quenton seems to behave,"Hey Quenton, Sage and Robin." He says casually.
Sage opens his eyes as he gets towards the middle of the song and starts to watch his fingering to make sure he gets it right, then Quenton speaks up. Looking up at his roommate Sage gives him a smile. "Good Evening Quenton, you just walked into the Lobby of the dorm building." He says like it's the most logical answer. "Good Evening, Robin and Kieran, how are you both tonight?" He asks before looking back over at Quenton. "I'm sorry if I woke you up last night, I couldn't sleep and then I ran into some trouble in the kitchen."
Robin raises her eyebrow at Quenton, turning her head to look at him and says, relatively quiet so not to talk over the music, "Umm… I heard Sage playing the Ukelele… So I came over here." She brushes the bits of hair falling over her forehead aside. She is relatively androgynous, with not only being thin and wearing kind of androgynous clothes, but also wearing a short cut and having a voice that would be difficult to pinpoint by itself. She shrugs lightly, waves at Kieran, and then looks back towards Sage. "Good evening, Sage. I'm doing okay, what's happening?" As she speaks, Blank offers him a wave.
"Seriously, learn to play the guitar or something, Sage. That shit sounds stupid." Quenton, in truth, was jealous. Jealous that Sage could play his instrument, while Quenton couldn't play his own. So he continues to aggression. "Yeah, well. Here's a hint, Rapunzel. Just because you believe wearing shoes will make the shoe monster eat your feet doesn't mean you're any quieter when you pad around barefooted." He glances towards Robin, obliviously letting his eyes wander her body appreciatively, though it's hidden behind his sunglasses, before glancing over at Kieran. "Hey, Karen," he mutters. He's being unusually aggressive today.
"How utterly original of you Quenton." Kieran says smirking at Quenton, before turning towards Sage,"I'm pretty good. I have some music stuck in my head earlier that I had to get out. Pain in the butt too since it had harmonies and getting those down on paper is a challenge." He says casually, glancing towards Robin,"How are you? Not seen you for awhile." He says casually.
"Not to much Robin, just kind of relaxing tonight. One of my teammates had a bit of an episode last night and needed some help." Is all Sage says on the matter. "There is no shoe monster Quenton that will eat my feet. Not that I know of anyway, I just like to be barefoot because it's one less barrier between me and Gaia." He's a big believer in Gaia and mother earth. "Oh I don't write music Kieran, I just play what my Grandfather and father taught me growing up. Also sometimes I can figure out how to play a song I like by listening to it and just practicing." He says before looking over at Quenton. "Quenton, I'm sorry if I did anything to offend you but we're roommates and I'd really like to be your friend. I'm sorry if you're angry at me but it will help if you tell me what I did wrong so we can work past it."
Robin raises her eyebrows and says to Quenton, "I guess I'm not sure why you'd care what instrument Sage chooses to play. He could be playing a theremin or a xylophone, it shouldn't really matter." She pauses for a moment and looks between Quenton and Sage and then asks, "And… Ummm, why are you calling him Rapunzel?" She bites her lip lightly and says to Kieran, "Oh, yeah, I guess I just get so into my schoolwork that I sometimes don't come out of my room as much as I should." She nods at Sage, "And it's cool that you helped out a teammate."
"Aww, thanks, sparky, calling faux original original is more original then original." Quenton watches Kieran a moment, to see if the other mutant understands what he's saying. Then Sage talks. The kid's nice. Too nice. Nicer a room mate than Quenton deserves, and the super strong boy knows it. And that's why he has to push the friendly boy away more than everybody. "I'll be honest. It's your stupid lack of shoes, your stupid hair, your stupid clothes, and the fact that you believe in stupid things. Really, whatever religion you're part of? It's stupid, and it makes you look stupid, and I can't be friends with stupid people, even if I'm stupid." Then on comes Robin. Yes, time to target her. "I wasn't talking to you, honey bunch. And the theremin and xylophone are just as stupid as the ukelele."
"Careful Quenton, you're starting to sound jealous." Kieran says smirking towards Quenton,"And I get into my school work as well. My music skills are part of my course work. I take Kenta Gilpatrick's music classes." He says casually as he looks at Robin. "He calls him Rapunzel because of Sage's mutation and since he likes to use stupid nicknames for people. If he wants to see sparky, I could probably arrange to spark at him pretty easy."
"I have prehensile hair Robin, I can use it like someone uses an arm or something. He thinks it's funny." Sage says before looking over at Kieran with a bit of a frown. "Kieran, that isn't anyway to solve a problem by threatening someone you're just adding to the problem not helping it." He speaks calmly and puts his ukulele down before standing up. "I'm sorry if I was raised differently than you Quenton but my dreadlocks are very special to me. My parents put them in my hair when I was eight, to match my brother's and their hair. It's kind of a turning eight ritual in my house. I'm sorry I don't believe what you believe in and you feel that I'm stupid but it's who I am Quenton. I'd really like to get along with you, truly. And please, don't bring Robin into our issues." He's not even sure what they are though. "Something is making you angry Quenton and I'd like to help figure that out so you're not angry."
"Well, I am glad that you were ordained Grand Arbiter of the stupid instruments! All hail the Grand Arbiter, we would have trumpets playing for you, but I've heard they might be hitting the instrument black list, and we did not want to raise your ire, your Arbitrariness," replies Robin, rolling her eyes. Or eye, given that her left eye is obscured under a painting of an Egyptian eye on the lens. She looks from Quenton, to Kieran, to Sage and then back again, "Of course, your apparent position doesn't give you the right to decide whose culture is stupid."
"Musical Magician the Mason Hater Keiran here thinks my names are stupid because he's stupid," explains Quenton to Robin. He then pauses, turning his gaze towards Robin, tilting his head. "Though apparently sparky irritates him enough to threaten me. So that's his new name for now on, even after it gets old. Sparky." He'd touch Kieran, ruffle his hair, maybe, but that would hurt him, so he decides not to. Then he glances back to Sage, shaking his head. "This isn't me angry." At risk of sounding like the Hulk, he doesn't say the rest, just muttering, "Angry me is bad me. If I was angry I'd have probably hurt someone. But I haven't." Towards Robin, the boy shrugs, now. "Everyone gets to decide what they want. I decide Sage's culture is stupid."
"Who me? I am not trying to hurt him. There are few people that I would /want/ to hurt." Kieran says shrugging a little bit about the whole thing,"And wow. Musical Magician the Mason Hate… That's a mouthful, except I don't hate Mason, I hate the music he puts out and I think wastes a fair amount of talent on stuff that is barely above drivel." He adds shrugging his shoulders a bit,"And if you want to call me sparky, I'll have to think of something equally foolish for you." He says grinning at Quenton, showing that he really isn't that upset.
Sage looks over at Kieran and shrugs. "At least Sparky is better than Rapunzel." He really dislikes the nickname. "It's okay if you think how I grew up it stupid. It's just like how I don't understand American culture, it's just an unknown, it's common to have those feelings about something you don't understand. I'm sorry if it isn't anger but there is something upsetting you and I find it a bit sad." He says as he'd rather see his roommate in better spirits. "Robin, what's a Grand Arbiter? And is that really such thing, a Grand Arbiter of stupid instruments? Because I think when people play the spoons as an instrument it's kind of stupid or silly." h
"Well, you can decide that, but it doesn't make it objectively true or anything. It's just one more opinion…" says Robin, shrugging lightly, "Like if your opinion is that all dogs should wear funny hats, well… it's your opinion, I guess, but doesn't mean anyone has to care about it." She bites her lip for a few moments and then looks towards Sage, "Ummm, I was being sarcastic. A Grand Arbiter would be someone who decides things. If that existed. Anyways, yeah, I guess spoons are weird unless you find someone who is pretty good at the spoons."
"If it will make you feel better," Quenton murmurs to Kieran, also shrugging. "And I don't know. Had a friend who liked Mason." Doesn't say who. They don't have to know that. He watches Sage a moment, pressing his lips faintly. His roomie was right on the money, and that was scary. But he doesn't show fear. No. Not Quenton. He has to be fearless. He has to be. Choosing not to respond to Sage, he instead turns onto Robin, shrugging his shoulders. "Then stop caring about it," he says simply. "I don't honestly give a damn."
"See. He's not the first person in this school to call me Sparky. It doesn't /really/ bother me." Kieran says laughing a bit,"And Grand Arbiter is the final voice. Once a ruling is made the ruling is absolute. Sort of the way when the Headmistress says a rule, it's absolute." He says shrugging as if indifferent,"And I know people who do. It's not bad for dancing to but when you consider he's had the training that he's had with piano and never touches it for a performance it's depressing. " He considers what Quenton says,"Still think you're fooling yourself."
"Oh, sorry about that. Sometimes I have trouble understanding that." Sage says as he bends down and picks up his ukulele. "I'm going to be heading up to our room right now and start getting ready for bed. It was a pleasure seeing you all." Sage says before walking over towards Quenton. "If you ever want to talk and just have someone listen, I don't mind. I'd like to be your friend Quenton, and not just because we're roommates but I really don't believe you're a horrible guy. See you in the room later." He says as he turns and waves at everyone. "Cheers!" He says as he heads to the stairs to walk up.
Robin shrugs at Quenton's response and says, "'kay, just thought that so long as we were sharing opinions, I'd toss out one of mine." Both she and the puppet shrug simultaneously, before she waves at Sage and says, "I'll see you around, have a good night there." She adds, "I actually like Mason's music, I was pretty excited when I met him."
"That's fine, I don't care what you think, that's sort of my schtick," Quenton replies to Kieran, yawning as obnoxiously loud as he could. Sage's words are too much for the strong mutant. He hates how on the money the other boy is, so he growls to him, "I don't need your friendship, alright? And don't wake me up again or I'm going to break that thing." He nods to the ukele now, wetting his lips. He then shrugs to Robin, not replying to her.
"It's a shame that he also doesn't accept that he's a mutant and hides it from the world. Hell he doesn't want anyone to know that he attends this school. Serious denial guy." Kieran says casually, his eyes flickering a little bit,"Mason's not the only one that seems to be in denial about a great many things." He says rolling his eyes a little bit, keeping it sort of quiet for now,"I don't mind giving out my opinions on things. It generally works quite well."
Robin shrugs at Kieran and says, "Hiding it probably saves him a few assassination attempts a year, but yeah, it'd likely be good for the mutant community if he just came out with it." She brushes her hair aside.
"Not to mention, the school's location is pretty secret. Most of the world doesn't know where it is. He says he goes here, gets stalked, oooh," Quenton murmurs, waving his hands a little. He's only defending Mason because Jake liked him. His hands drop, now. "Anyway, I'm not in denial about anything," a lie, but he continues, "and even if I was, it wouldn't be any of your business." Then he glances towards Robin and Blank, hands going into his pockets.
"Sure you're not in denial." Kieran says shrugging a little bit,"And I think Mason just doesn't /really/ want to admit to being a mutant." He says casually before looking at Quenton curiously,"School is pretty secret, and I doubt anyone would try to come at him a second time at this school. I don't think they'd remember where the school was after a few seconds." He says laughing softly.
Robin shrugs at Kieran and says, "Well, it's kind of hard to tell people about it sometimes, I don't blame him for not wanting to in the first place." She exchanges a look with her puppet and says, "His mutation's not really very obvious, so I guess he can kinda get away with it."
"Well, he doesn't have a choice. Anyway, if it bothers you that bad," Quenton murmurs, while glancing towards Blank a moment, scratching the back of his head, then towards Kieran, suggesting, "tell the world about Mason yourself." He glances towards Robin now. "Do you control that thing? Tell it to stay. Then it won't be that obvious for you, either."
"I wouldn't do that. It wouldn't change him. Basically he needs to come out in his own time." Kieran says smiling a bit, before looking to Robin,"His mutation I think is even less obvious than my own. Although if I'm in water, I high recommend not getting in because if I'm not totally in control you'll be jumping in electrified water." He says the last bit with utter seriousness.
Robin glances towards Quenton and says, "Blank doesn't really stay unless I'm directly controlling her, but if I am," her expression becomes completely dead, like a mannequin's face and her movements become like a marionette and voice becomes almost robotic, while she has the puppet fly a little ways into the air, "Then it affects me anyways. She will teleport back to me if I am out of line of sight and am not controlling her."
"That must suck," agrees Quenton, glancing towards Blank again, and shruging his shoulders. "Like, she watches you go to the bathroom and shit. Weird. Though I'm a teenage boy, the things I'd do if I had that ability." And then finally, he glances back to Kieran, shrugging. "Well, if you can't change it, I guess the only point of bitching about it is so you can hear yourself bitch. In which case, kudos. I do the same thing."
"Or just venting so that it doesn't bottle up and cause me to get mean towards people just because my temper is flaring." Kieran says smirking a bit,"Which is a pretty bad thing when I lose my temper because I get just mean. Probably take it out on someone who didn't deserve it rather than someone arse that does." Like Theo. Theo deserves it right? "Does Blank really see when you're not controlling her or does she just sort of exist?"
"Yeah, Blank sees when I'm not controlling her. I have kind of double vision, which is great, because it gives me depth perception when she's around," says Robin, smiling in response to Kieran's question. "And I dunno, I really don't think it sucks. I mean, yeah, I guess it's weird, but I'm not weirded out when a construct created by my own mind is watching me pee. It's like an unforunately placed mirror, that's all."
"Are you describing me? Because if so, well, cool. I have that weird thing where I don't give a damn." Quenton glances towards Robin, hands in his pockets. "That's sort of cool. Though don't get it twisted, that doesn't make you cool," he adds to Robin. "You're flat chested," he murmurs matter-of-factly.
"Do you think it applies to you?" Kieran asks quirking a brow a little bit,"Because I don't believe I said so I don't, but you know what they say…" He trails off before nodding to Robin,"That's a pretty cool thing, you'd be able to render a full three sixty field of vision with her then." He says casually.
"Mmmhmm, yeah, I know that," says Robin, shrugging in reply to Quenton's observation. "It happens when you're underweight, but I do know how big boobs correlate with social success, no reminders needed." She nods at Kieran and says, "Yeah, I guess I can have eyes on pretty much everything if I want to. Blank's perceptions are kind of weird, though, I don't really notice that I'm getting them, but I react to them for sure."
"Well, it sounds like me," agrees Quenton. "Or how people see me, anyway, but to me, it sounds cool, so I'm gonna own it." Then he glances over towards Robin, and shrugs his shoulders. "I know no reminders are needed, but what's cool about that, is I'm the guy that informs and educates. I mean, maybe Kieran here didn't notice you were flat chested. So I had to tell him."
"I can assure you my powers of perception are not /that/ lacking." Kieran says rolling his eyes,"If you're letting it build up then it's not going to be good for you. It'd probably cause your heart trouble." He says casually,"You should find an outlet. By the way, did you try talking to Chloe about how she controls the strength in her fake hand?"
"You should consider sending a mass e-mail out to make it very clear, so that nobody suddenly realizes that I am not big breasted and goes into cardiac arrest from the shock," says Robin, raising her eyebrow slightly at Quenton, before turning her raised eyebrow to Kieran's opening statment, though she says nothing on the matter.
"Ooooh, looks like you just hurt your friend's feelings," Quenton notes towards Kieran. "What an asshole." He then shrugs as a hand goes to his heart. "I doubt it. My body is much healthier than normal bodies. Anyway, it hasn't failed me yet." Except last night, when Shane made it pound faster than usual. He hates the sound of gunfire. "And no. You suggested it, why would I take a suggestion from you?" He turns back towards Robin, canting his head to the side. "You just inspired me."
"Because I know someone who had to learn to control their strength, which is something you're also struggling to do?" Kieran says casually, shaking his head a little bit at Quenton's comment,"I'm just saying though that I can see that she's flat chested pretty easy." He pauses for a moment before he says,"And your body is healthier than normal, but you do need to worry about it eventually."
"I'm sure this inspiring thing will end up on the headlines of the school newspapers, nay, the national papers. People must know," says Robin, shaking her head, her puppet miming the motion in perfect synch, "It just wouldn't do if you didn't crack this story wide open."
"Good for you," Quenton murmurs to Kieran, shrugging his shoulders once more as he glances towards the boy. "And well, I take care of my body. I eat healthy. I know how to stay like that, I used to coo-" whoa. Almost got too comfortable there, Quenton. Ease up a bit. He does. Towards Robin, he shakes my head. "Don't worry, princess, I said you gave me an idea. I'm not going to use the stupid one you suggested."
"You used to cook? Why did you stop?" Kieran asks curiously tilting his head a little bit to regard Quenton oddly. "I tried cooking a few times… I think it came out as barely edible. I am not really a cook. Most of the time I think I would burn water if left alone."
"I didn't say you were going to use the stupid one I suggested either, if you did you would prove that you are a straight up moron," says Robin to Quenton, "But it sure sounds like you have something to say about something. Actually, you seem to have something to say about /everything/. Which is fine, I guess." She adjusts her glasses slightly and says, "I like to cook too, actually."
"I just can't anymore," Quenton leaves it at that, leaning against a wall gently, trying to keep his body limp. Still, the wall creaks a little, for some reason. "And learning about how incompetent others are is fun." He glances towards Robin, shrugging his shoulders. "That's me. Something to say about everything. I like to think it gives me individuality." He sounds really sarcastic about this.
"If you say so but I bet there's stuff here you could use to cook." Kieran says seriously to Quenton, "Don't most people have something to say about things? Just that most people don't bother saying what's on their mind."
"You certainly seem to have boxes and boxes of individuality," says Robin, biting her lip lightly as she glances towards Quenton, "It's interesting that you assume you're learning about people's incompetence without actually seeing any kind of demo."
"He informed me of it. He's someone who's honest, much more about himself, I wager, than anyone else," Quenton murmurs to Robin, shrugging his shoulders. "Anyway, I don't need to cook, food gets cooked for me, and there's no one here I want to cook for, so…" He trails off, lifting his hand up to scratch at his nose.
"Unlike your friend that liked Mason?" Kieran asks curiously, "And there's no reason that you can't cook for yourself if you wanted to do so. Although the guy who makes our meals here is an amazing cook." He says laughing softly.
Robin shrugs and says, "Well, I guess if you're willing to cook, you can pretty much have whatever you want." She rubs under the covered lens of her glasses slightly and then readjusts them.
"That's enough about my friend," Quenton warns, glancing towards Kieran and wetting his lips a moment. "And yeah. I like Mister Parker-Mayfair." Maybe there's some hope for him yet. "I'm fine with his cooking."
"Ok. I didn't mean anything by it anyway." Kieran says seriously to Quenton,"And he's a good guy, both of them are. Have you met Kevin Parker-Mayfair yet? He's a pretty good guy, rather sheltered but a good guy none the less."
Robin nods and says, "I like Mister Parker-Mayfair, yeah… He's helped me with my cooking a fair bit, and he did my hair for me, which was great of him."
Quenton shifts uncomfortably. Common ground was being found. This was upsetting the balance. He is silent for a few moments, before shrugging and crossing his arms. "Yeah, he's a good guy," he echoes. "But he's the only good thing about this school so far."
"Have you been to the danger room yet Quenton?" Kieran asks grinning a little bit,"Something tells me that you're going to rather enjoy it." He says casually,"He's a good guy and his husband's the psychiatrist."
Robin laughs softly at Quenton saying that Chrisopher's the only good thing about this school, "That's probably because you're so brutally negative. I mean, I know that I can be negative, but you've taken a step beyond my negativity game." She looks towards Kieran and says, "Do you enjoy the Danger Room?"
"I've been skipping the training sessions," Quenton says, shrugging. He didn't want to accidentally hurt another student, though he doesn't tell them that. "It seems lame, and the Paragon costume looks stupid." He, too, glances lazily over towards Kieran.
"I wouldn't recommend that you continue skipping. We have the danger room sessions for a reason." Kieran says seriously,"And it's not that bad. There are worse costumes." He says before shrugging at Robin,"I enjoy physical activity and when we work together, but when I'm pit against other people not so much."
"I guess. I find them kind of a distraction from what I want to do. I mean, it's cool learning new stuff and all, but I have no plans on becoming a superhero or anything and that's what the situations usually seem geared to," says Robin, shrugging lightly.
"I wouldn't reccomend going to this school, from what I heard, but people do it anyway," comments Quenton, lifting his shoulders in a shrug. "I wouldn't reccomend fast food, but people eat it anyways. McDonalds is there for a reason. That arguement's moot. Besides, I've been in a lot of combat situations. I know how to defend myself, even itf the way I do it is unconventional." Robin's words cause him to glance over. "Yeah. Tried the hero gig, myself. Didn't work out so well."
"Did you guys ever think that there's more to it than just training for heroics? Kenta trains us to control our powers. It's not like some of the other danger room sessions. The focus is more on controlling our powers and using them in a good way than just pure and simple chaotic fighting." Kieran says seriously,"Sometimes you get to just cut loose."
Robin shrugs at Quenton and says, "It really is kind of a dangerous school to be at, but less worse than most mutants going to regular schools, I guess. It is like a choice between McDonalds or fried butter. Neither's the healthy choice, but that's all you've got." She looks towards Kieran and adds, "I know it's more than training for heroics, but the scenarios are usually heroics scenarios. I mean, if they were just like, puzzles you solve using your powers creatively and stretching them? That'd be cool. But while the focus is on controlling powers, the scenarios are what they are."
"I didn't say that was what they were for," Quenton murmurs, scratching is face, before his hand drops and slips into his synthetic leather jacket. In fact, upon closer inspection, all his clothes are synthetic. "She did. All I said was I tried out the hero gig before." He shrugs his shoulders. "Anyway, this is the first time I heard about what goes on in the Danger Room."
Robin nods at Quenton and says, "Well, that's pretty much it, I guess. I mean, I'm fine with developping my powers, happy to in fact, but the scenarios they present to us are just so, well… not what I'm into."
