Players:
Summary: James and Lucas hang out before bed time.
Date: April 5, 2010
Hiding Things
Rating: PG
Xavier Mansion - James and Lucas's Room
This is James' room, and by his, we mean 'His.' From the looks of it, in the absence of a roommate, he's taken over the accommodations of two. In one corner of the room, two beds have been pushed together while the window itself has been covered by a few blankets and a large plank of wood—probably a desktop—to block out ambient light. But even with such personalization, there's still at least one desk and dresser left intact. With school books in one and clothes in the other (although not necessarily in the right order) the room obviously belongs to a student. But, with a lack severe of personal effects to describe what type, all that you have to go by is a large occurrence of gnaw marks distributed randomly across several items.
Lucas enters the dorm room. He's wearing only his white gloves and a pair of wet board shorts that hang loose and low on his slender hips. He is carrying his shirt and his oar, and his hair is matted and drying from lake water. His bare feet plop on the floor as he walks in and leans the oar in it's spot behind the door.
James is standing at his desk, feet on their tip-toes as he pushes on the ceiling, screwdriver in his mouth. As the door open he shoots Lucas a 'I wasn't doing anything!' look that quickly fades when he sees who it was. PATOOEY! The screwdriver gets spat out on the desk, "Dude…you're not allowed to leave anymore. Soon as you do, the vultures descend and the shitstorms start." His eyes go back to the ceiling and, with some extra pressure…POP!…he manages to dislodge a panel. He gives the hole in the ceiling a accomplished smile.
Lucas looks up at the hyena, and he sighs. He seems to be not having a good afternoon. He reaches over and shuts the door, then steps into the middle of the room. As he looks up at the hyena, his shorts drip a bit on the floor. "What are you doing, Jimmy?" he asks, flatly.
"Nuttin," the hyena says in full denial, "Just making a place to start stashing stuff." He looks down at his roommate and back up at the hole. Yep, makes sense to him. He reaches around inside and, grabbing something, pulls himself up so he can eye the space inside, "People around here are frekin' crazy, so I'm not taking chances anymore. If I got something I don't want people to know about, into the ceiling it goes. VOOP!" He hmmmmms, looking around as the ceiling groans a little, "Magazines, food….bodies…" Wiring! Something snaps and in a moment the hyena is flat on his back on the floor as the room plunges into darkness, "Oops…I'll fix that.""
Lucas stands there as the lights go out, and he just sighs. A moment passes, and then the room is lit up as the glove slips off his hand and his nuclear reaction illuminates the space brilliantly. "Great." He sighs once more, and shakes his head at James.
James picks himself off the floor and looks back up into the hole, "Oh…I see..I just yanked this conduit out of its receptacle." He fishes around and begins to try to push himself up into the widening portal, "ERRG…ERF….Mhmmph…" There's the sound of something sparking and then the lights come back on, "Hey…there's all sorts of wires in here. Bet we could totally rewire the room! Maybe access the good cable channels." James hangs from the hole for a moment before dropping down. He gives his roommate a wild-eyed look, "And I bet you could totally fit in there!"
Lucas rolls his eyes and begins putting the glove back on his hand. "Forget it." He walks over to his bed and flops down, slinging his damp hair out of his eyes and scratching his abs. "You don't have anything to hide. That's lame."
James tries to put the panel back into place. It 'mostly' fits, "Hey…I got stuff. Kinda. But you never know. Be prepared, I always say." He never has before, but maybe now is a good time to start. He gives the roommates bed a nudge with his foot, "What's your malfunction?" He flops onto his bed with a crash, causing the ceiling tile to dislodge, fall, and embed itself int he floor with a sharp SCHNIKT!
Lucas turns and watches the tile fall. He looks at James, then back at the tile. "Nice." He leans his head back against the wall. "You wouldn't understand." He looks back at James. Anyway, where have you been?"
James pulls a pillow over his head and wraps his arm around it, "Me? Oh…well, I reached Super Villain status earlier last week, so I was locked up in the school jail. 'Frekin Sam the Cannonball Gunthrie came down and let me out last night. Guess I fell asleep on the lawn, otherwise I'd have come to find you." The bit of his muzzle that's exposed pulls back in a smile, "By the way, Jono is off my Christmas card list."
Lucas furrows his brow, "What do you mean you went villain?" he asks. "Ah don't understand…"
James shrugs and begins to burrow into the bedspread with the remainder of his body, "Jono got prissy with me because I didn't feel like talking to him. So I got tossed in the brig. Seriously! Like…Magneto The Serial Murder? Yeah…no brig for him. So I figure I'm like a Super Villain now. Makes sense…just wish I'd have been told." James is, of course, being sarcastic in parts.
Lucas rolls his eyes, "Ah hate this fuckin' place. Wow." He sighs, and closes his eyes, absently scratching his belly. "Ah was hopin' maybe you wouldn't come back. Not because Ah don't want you here, but because Ah hoped you found someplace better."
James laughs, "If by better you mean solitary confinement, yes. Much better." There's a sigh, "Thanks for the mental support though. I wish." The smile grows wider, "Wasn't without its perks, though. I had entertainment on April 1st!" He shoots lucas a look, pulling the pillow back from his eyes, "So…what won't I understand?"
Lucas shakes his head again, "Forget it." He exhales softly, and looks at James. "Can Ah ask you somethin'?"
"Sure," James says giving the other boy a look, "But I'm not letting the topic go yet." He is a stubborn ass after all, "Ask away!"
Lucas leans back forward. "Do you ever wanna just go home? Be with your folks again?"
"Everyday," James says without hesitation. In a moment, he's under all his blankets, nose sticking out at the end of the bed, "While you were gone things got so bad that some of the teachers actually made me a Danger Room program of my house. So I could visit it when I get stressed." The blankets move in a shrug, "I can show you later?" He's quiet before asking, "You wanna go home?"
Lucas shakes his head, "No no. Ah…" He shrugs, "Ah can't." He swallows, and then asks, "Did your folks disown you and send you here, or what?"
James shakes his head, "No. I kinda disowned them when they sent me away." There's a slight huff in his breath, "Things are better now, though. But, somedays I wanna tell them what this place is really about so I can go home. But…well…Addison would probably like…steal their brains or something and I'd end up back here anyways." Another shrug then a question from the mass of bed coverings, "Why can't you?"
Lucas tilts his head, "If your folks are home, you should go." He pauses, and then slowly smiles, "Dude… Ah'll totally help you. We should fuckin' go!"
James considers that, "Like Spring Break? Or like, right now?" Big black eyes peer out at Lucas, "And yeah…I'd be totally into going. I'm to the point I wonder if this place is doing more harm than good."
Lucas nods, "Sometimes maybe you're right." He sniffs, "Ah dunnow. Prolly oughta wait for spring break. Keep your hairy ass outta the brig an' shit." He laughs, "And anyway, Ah reckon that way your folks won't be mad you're ditchin' school none neither."
James shrugs, "I dunno…There's other places to run to, you know." It's a voice that says more about going and staying somewhere than visiting, although the following sounds more joke like, "I hear Africa is nice!" A sniff towards Lucas elicits the question, "So…why are you asking?"
Lucas shrugs, and stands, stretching. He walks over to the closet and pulls out a pair of sweatpants. "Just askin', really." He glances over at James, "Dallas is back," he shares absently as he slips off the shorts. He's naked now, but keeps his back to the hyena.
James is back under the covers to offer the roommate some privacy. He knows something is up, but he'll let it go for now, "I haven't spent a lot of time around him." It's a rather bland statement as if Dallas were a bug or discarded bit of food, "Just…don't travel in the same circles I guess." The hyena tries to find something scandalous to distract, but only manages a, "There's someone like me around here." Under the blankets, the creature's jaw tightens a little.
Lucas pulls the sweats up, which hang loose around his waist. He turns back around, leaning against the closet door. "Yeah…." he says, as if that just summarized all of Dallas. "Someone like you, huh? Like… another hyena guy?" He chuckles, "You datin' yet?"
James fehs from under the blankets, "No…nevermind." He flops over on his side, muzzle sticking out slightly from the blankets as a foot emerges to open the window. He grips the lock with his tow claws, twists, and kicks the glass into an opened position. Spring air quickly fills the room; his foot continues to dandle out the window, "Just someone to talk with…"
Lucas smirks, "What, Ah ain't good enough? Now ya'll need someone else?" He chuckles, walking over to the desk by Jame's bed, and sitting on the desktop. He puts one of his bare feet on James' mattress. "Dude, Ah was just fuckin' with ya. Really. Chill out. Tell me about the new guy."
James snorts from under the blankets, "You left me alone for more than a day. I got bored, so I had to find someone new." He shifts a little, still buried, "Maybe…you gonna tell me about your stuff later?"
Lucas furrows his brow, shaking James' bed with his foot, "Ah done TOLD you already. Dallas is back. Christ, you don't even listen to me anymore." He shakes his head, and then says a little more playfully, "Ah think this new guy is a bad influence on you, Jimmie."
"Girl," James says barely moving, "And…you may be right." There's a heavy sigh, from under all the covers. "Just…don't tell anyone. Okay?" It's probably the closest thing James has asked for a favor from Lucas, but he asks again, "Just between us, alright?"
Lucas smirks, "Dude, Ah broke you outta med bay. Ah reckon Ah can keep a secret." He smiles, "So, this girl. She got a name? And for real, you like her?"
James shrugs, "Dunno, I never…asked." It's a strange statement, as if it never occurred to him until this moment to ask. "I dunno about like..I'm not sure it's working like that…but I guess…yeah recently I've decided I do kinda like her." He makes a noise, "Mostly we just talk. Advice. Just…she's not going to this school. So…I don't wanna freak anyone out that there' some beast coming onto the grounds without anyone knowing."
Lucas nods, "That's a good thing, Jim." He smiles a wide, toothy grin. "You should get her name. And get her flowers." He sighs, and leans his elbows on his knees. "That's… Ah'm happy for ya."
James laughs, "I'm not sure she's the flowers type! Maybe a moose carcass?" He lets out some air, "I hadn't seen her since I got jailed…I was hoping last night, but no luck. Probably better to wait to go looking until after Addison is done doing his thing on my head." Another shrug, "Oh…yeah…I think I forgot? Jono's apparently making me go see Addison to have my head examined." SIIIIGH!
Lucas doesn't seem pleased at that thought, "Wait… WHAT?" He looks more serious at James, "What's he doin' to your head?"
James shrugs off the blanket and looks over, "Nothing, yet." There's a little defiance in his eyes, "I dunno that he knows I have to see him, so I'm forgetting to go until he says something." He waves his hands around with a little flare, "Frekin' Jono again. Makin' me see Addison because I wouldn't talk to him. Seriously…what gives him the right to have my brain invaded by proxy?"
Lucas shakes his head, "He doesn't." He stands, and marches towards the door, as if he's heading off to see Jono right now.
James waves his hands over, "Dude, leave it. Jono tossed me In Jail because I wouldn't talk to him. You pick on this and he's gonna do a lot worse." Sounds like there's no doubt in his mind! "There's something wrong with him. I just can't prove it yet." Little does he know, Jono is probably saying the same thing about the hyena at that exact same moment.
Lucas stops, his hand on the door knob. "Look, Ah'm just gonna explain to him you're not talkin to Jono, but you ARE talkin' to friends. If that's not enough, then Ah fuckin' take it to Ole Man Summers."
James laughs, it's the sound of defeat. He'd do the same anyways, "Okay…but when you end up in jail, I'm gonna laugh. Then break you out, of course." There's a smirk, eyes giving lucas a good looking over, "Nice to know I have at least three people on my side."
Lucas turns to look at James. "THREE?" He scowls, like he was just wounded. "Who's my competition?"
James gahs and turns on his side, tossing his arms up in mock disgust. He adds the three names onto one list, "Rashmi, you, Robyn." Blankets go back over his head, "Four…the other girl. I'll get her name—IF I see her again."
Lucas laughs at James, "Wow… You DO like her…" He smiles, and moves back to his bed. "Dude, that's really awesome."
James makes a noise from under all the covers, "Ehh…I guess. I mean…you know I just never considered it. She kinda makes me feel..more free. Better. Stronger." Under the blankets, James grins showing far too many teeth to no one in particular.
Lucas laughs, "Yeah. They do that." He sits on his own bed, laying down on the covers and folding his arms over his head. "They also make you feel tied down. Checked up on. Judged." He looks at James and grins, "Ah reckon that's worth it, though."
"Yeah…I think you're right," James says to his sudden sage of a roommate. There's a yawn, "Well…I'm gonna do the sleep thing. We'll talk more later, okay?"
Lucas nods, "Sure…" he says, as if he wasn't done. He sighs, turns on the little reading light by his bunk, and grabs a novel. He glances at James, smiles, and then turns enough that he hopes James can't see him put on a pair of round reading glasses, and he begins to read. "Night Jimmie."
James mrphs from under the blankets, "Night Lucas. See you in the morning."
