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Summary: A typical, average day for several students… at first.
Date: October 27, 2011
Log Title: In Denial
Rating: PG-13 (Language advisory)
Xavier Mansion — Observation Deck
Glass windows surround the circular room giving a full view of the school grounds. Two telescopes sit in front of the window for students to looks at the stars. A few comfortable chairs and couches with a few tables are placed up here for students to relax. There's a door off to one of the sides that leads up to the attic above here.
Robyn needed to come back to the school to borrow their kiln, his was too small for the project he's currently working on. Since he's waiting for it to bake he's decided to come up to the observation deck for a bit. He stands facing one of the windows, watching the rain pound against the glass and continue to soak the school grounds. He hasn't been back to the school in a while so it almost feels welcoming and awkward to the emo looking teen. "I should let Heather know I'm here." He mutters to no one in particular since he believes he's alone.
Nigel steps out onto the observation deck and looks around. "Ok.. not the room I was looking for.. cripes I need a GPS for this place." He skips the obvious line of not taking a left at Albaquerce and notices Robyn. "Ah here there, hope I didn't disturb you."
On his way back to his room Mikhail picks up on a familar scent that has become pretty rare since the begining of the summer, he's dressed in dark blue jeans, black sneakers, a white long sleeve shirt with two blue stripes halfway down the upper arm and 42 on the chest and back, reaching the observation deck he spots the source of the scent he followed, "Heya Robyn, Nigel".
Quenton stares down at the game in his hands. Radiata Stories. What the hell is a Radiata? He decides not to think too much on it, instead sort of just shifting as he moves to a place he thinks would be discreet to give it to the girl he hated: Shane. Twenty dollars for a platinum hit was a good deal, he thought, but he hasn't been into video games in years. Ah, well. He moves towards a table and scratches behind his ear. He realized there was a flaw in his plan: Did she even come up here? And then he realized a bigger flaw in his plan. People were here. Two guys he didn't know and the Human Animaniac. He handles the video game delicately. He didn't want to break it, so he sets it down.
As it happens, Shane occasionally does show up in the Atrium, evidenced by the fact that the elevator doors open on the neon-pink-haired, clubstomper-clad young teen. Earphones clamped tightly over the sides of her head, laptop slung under one arm, she clumps out of the elevator, and finds a flaw in her own plan; people. So many people. A small, resigned sigh is pushed through her nose, and she immediately circles around behind the elevator, seeking an unobtrusive place to sit, pausing and pulling her headphones off on the way.
There's a slight jump as Robyn hears a voice and he turns around. "Oh no, you're not bothering me, just kind of hanging out here while waiting for something." He says brushing his hair back. "Mikhail?" He says as he breaks into a big grin seeing him. "Wow, how have you been? I haven't talked to you in ages." And then there's Quenton, who just gets a polite wave and the girl with the shock of pink hair. "Shane, it's…" He breaks off his sentence remembering the head phones before he notices her take them off and continues. "it's good to see you. How have you been?"
Nigel looks around as the place fills up. "Yeesh did this place get busy in a hurry." He notes Quenton's presence but doesn't react, though he gives a wave to Mikhail in return and then one to Shane "Heya, seems we all had the same idea… more or less."
Mikhail smiles at Robyn, "Yes it's been a while, i've been sleepy recently, i heard you moved out, is it good?". He gives a "Heya" to Quenton as he hears him enter the room, he backs out of sight a little as Shane enters, she didn't seem to pleased last time he saw her and he's heard she explodes.
Quenton presses his lips as Robyn makes contact with Shane. His moment hasn't came yet, it seems. So instead he glances back over towards Mikhail and Nigel. "Well. If it isn't Bugs Bunny and Elmer Fudd's lovechild. And a vampire. I didn't know we had vampires here in Xavier's." His eyes lift to the glass dome a moment as rain peppers it. "I guess since the Twilight phenomenon is happening I shouldn't be surprised, though. Maybe that's why Cupcake and the Emo-Kid are here. To swoon over you."
"…Fine," Shane answers to Robyn, glancing about the room at the familiat and unfamiliar faces. "…Nigel," she says, arching an eyebrow at the unfamiliar Mikhail. "…Guy. Cockbite." The last, naturally, reserved for Quenton, and with that terse greeting she starts to plug her laptop in and get it set up.
"Yeah Mik, I moved out with Connor and Rashmi, I go to art school now in the city. It's really good, we live down in Mutant Town." He says before looking over at Quenton and giving him a smile. "You're right that there are vampires here but I don't sparkle, nor do I drink blood. I drink you're brain energy." He then looks back over at Shane and blinks at him. "Well I see somethings never change." He says with an amusement before offering a hand to both Nigel than Quenton. "I'm Robyn, I'm a former student here. I'm just hear to steal the art room for a bit."
Nigel chuckles as he looks to Robyn "Eh I wouldn't bother with Quenton.. you'd starve to death. It's nice to meet you, I'm Nigel. Current student and resident looney toon."
Mikhail nods, "Connor was your roommate before too and now you live with Rashmi, is it weird living with a girl?". When Quenton starts talking about a vampire he starts looking round to see what he's talking about before Robyn clears up that he's talking about the psychic vampire thing, he nods at Shane, "…Girl".
"Cockbite," echoes Quenton to Shane's words, glancing over at her. Moving to the table Radiata Stories rests on, he carefully slides it off the table with one hand onto his palm, limply holding it between his hands so that he doesn't snap it in half. "Some person thought I'd be the best to deliver this, a secret admirer or some bullshit. He's a fucking idiot but I'm gonna do it anyway so that I can see you hate it and tell him all about it." He slides the game onto the table she's on, stuffing his hands in his pockets quickly so that he could spare himself the embarrassment of displaying lack of control. To Robyn, he glances over, stares for a moment, before shrugging. "If you need it to survive, kudos on the teachers for letting you on campus. Nothing like risking the lives of the students to wake up in the morning." Nigel's comment causes him to lift his eyes to the glass blocked sky. "You're so clever, Freakazoid."
The game, unwrapped, unopened, is picked up by the very corner with two fingers, as though it might yet contain a dead fish, explosive, or some other idiot's idea of a funny joke. "…A secret admirer," she repeats, in a tone that expresses deep, unalloyed suspicion. Staring at the case for a moment, she looses a sigh, fingers working at the edge of the wrapping. "…Fine, may as well get this over with…"
"Nice to meet you Nigel. It's funny things seem different but so much the same here." He says before shaking his head at Mikhail. "Not really, I mean I don't share a room with her or anything and it's not like I'm lusting after her. Wrong sex." Robyn isn't shy about his preferences and he shrugs a shoulder in response. "Dude." He says addressing Quenton. "Every person in this building has powers that can hurt and kill people. I mean rooming with someone with super powers risks the life of another student." He says before looking over at Shane. "Shane, you've been okay since the whole…summer thing? I haven't really talked to anyone else involved but Heather after it, I was too anxious to move out. I should have said something to you before I left since I saw you there."
Nigel laughs "Ah I wouldn't say we're all potentially deadly.. but most of us are fairly dangerous yes. Course that's why we're here, for the most part." He looks around and takes a seat, figuring he may as well stick around and chat.
Mikhail is about to ask Robyn about something he just said that confused him but reminds himself that sex means gender aswell, "I think living with a girl would be weird, they're really odd", the Quenton, "Robyn's never hurt anyone here, well there was that thing i remember but it wasn't on purpose so it doesn't count", he tries to catch the scent of whatever it is Shane is opening.
Quenton perhaps takes that the wrong way. Being a room mate with Sage of all people could maybe… well. Then again, maybe Sage is the best person to be a room mate with. He's too nice to render Quenton beserk, but the risk is still there. He'll have to see about that later on. "Nah. I know a guy who'd never even hurt a fucking fly. He asks plants permission before he picks 'em. In this case, I'm so pleased to tell you how wrong you are." Robyn's contact with Shane again, perhaps talking to her about a more serious issue then him trying to discreetly give her her money back makes the tall mutant's lip twitch, but he glances over at Shane and lets her have her peace anyway. Mikhail can smell nothing fishy going on with the video game. Just a normal video game. "Accidents always count," he replies to Mikhail, turning his red eyes to him. Quenton's tall, with dark hair, black clothes, a jacket. Sunglasses hide his red eyes but closer inspection can reveal pale red veins against his skin.
"…No," Shane says after a moment's silence, peeling the thin plastic away and going to work on the security tape, "but it's not like that's anything new. I'll deal." The perforated adhesive is peeled away, and for a moment it looks as though she's about to open it… and then pauses, looking back up at Quenton, narrowing her eyes for a moment. The case is turned toward him, and only *then* is it popped open.
Robyn nods to Nigel. "It is and this place helped me, a lot, get a handle on my powers." He says with a bit of a smile. "I think I have Mikhail, I got into a lot of accidents here, too many." He says waving a hand. "Well that's good for you then, sometimes you can end up with a roommate who is the worst ever." He remembers Connor's first roommate. "Well Shane, if you want to talk to someone, I went through it too. I don't know what exactly happened but…anyway the offer is there." He says kind enough as he watches her closely.
Nigel nods "Yeah I can relate to control problems.. course I havn't done anything truly destructive yet except for ransack the kitchen in my sleep. Course I paid for that with indigestion for a week afterwards."
Mikhail shakes his head at Quenton, "No accedents don't count, cos you didn't mean it", he raises an eyebrow when he notices that the main scent coming from the game comes from Quenton, "You said someone gave you this to give to her?". He nods at Nigel, "Did you eat chocolate?, cos i can't eat that either".
Annoyance flickers across Quenton's face, and he can feel something else bubbling up deep inside him. A hand lifts and smashes into his temple, though he doesn't react to it at all, the air rippling from the force of the blow. A little bruise already wells up there, but he shoves his hands into his pockets, staring as the brand new copy of Radiata Stories is shown to him. "Looks stupid," he mutters, before glancing aside at Mikhail. "Accidents count," he says, simply. "And yeah. One of the little dorks around here. Not gonna say who, because I don't like him, and don't want to be associated with him."
"I said I'll deal," Shane repats, her tone signaling a decisive end to the conversation… for now, anyway. When nothing leaps out of the case, Shane pauses, frowning. Flipping it back over to give it a look, she shrugs, opens her laptop, and pops out the DVD tray. From there it's a few simple steps to punting up the emulator and giving the game a fitness check, arching an eyebrow at what she sees on the screen. Her gaze goes to the case, then back up to Quenton. "…You really suck at this, don't you?" Oddly enough, her question carries absolutely no rancor whatsoever — a rare moment, for the frail little student. "…S'fine. So do I. Thanks."
"I had to learn how to not rely on draining psychic energy from others which this place really helped me do. It really is good for learning control. My two best friends learned a lot here too." Robyn says to Nigel before looking at Mikhail. "You can't eat chocolate? Oh man that must suck, I love the stuff." It's the best of comfort foods. He smiles at Quenton for a bit and shakes his head. "You remind me of my friend Lucas. Just as prickly." He doesn't say it out a malice but there is amusement in his voice. "Okay Shane, consider it dropped. How's the costuming going?"
Nigel grins a bit "Well.. according to witness testimony I consumed pretty much anything in the kitchen that contained sugar or caffine. I honestly don't remeber any of it short of Professor Xorn snapping me out of it and then being rather violently ill." He looks over at the exchange between Quenton and Shane a moment, but then looks back to Robyn.
Mikhail frowns thinking his sense of smell must be on the blink, "Oh, the only scent i'm getting is yours", he shrugs at Robyn, "Yeah i can't, i tried it once when i first came here and it made me ill but it doesn't bother me", he prefurs squirril anyway.
"Suck at what?" wonders Quenton, shaking his head and wetting his lips needlessly. "Does the game suck or something? Cool, I'll laugh about it later," he mutters, a hand lifting to scratch at his face, his other hand clenching into a fist to keep from trembling with anger at himself. Robyn's words buy him the tall mutant's attention a moment. "That sucks," he comments offhandedly. "I'm pretty sure your friend can besmirch his good name all on his own, though." Mikhail's words cause him to tense noticeably. "He gave me… twenty bucks to buy it, too," he mutters, shifting on his feet.
"…So," Shane says, clearly not for a second buying the story, but less concerned about it than before. "You wouldn't piss on a baby if it was on fire. But Random T. Admirer wants you to buy a game'n'hand it to me. And you do." Here she pauses, letting the outrageousness of the story sink in, and she snorts, shaking her head. "Thanks. Seriously. 'N costumin's fine, Robyn," she says, letting the matter drop. "Got first at the contest in Comicon. Pain in the ass to make, but, came out good."
"Xorn, he was leader when I was here under Alpha Squadron. That squad was so cursed with leaders." Robyn says shaking his head. "Though Xorn's lasted the longest. Oh Mikhail, all chocolate or can you eat white chocolate at least?" Since white chocolate is quite a bit different. "That's awesome Shane, congratulations." He says as he pulls out his phone and looks at it quick.
Nigel nods and stands from his seat "Well I'm in Alpha squad and at least for the moment things seem stable. Anyway it was nice to meet you Robyn mabye we can chat about things another time but it's getting late and I've got early classes tomorrow. So better go grab some crash time." He gives a wave to the others and moves towards the door out. "Now if I can just remember how I got up here so I can find my way back to the dorms."
Mikhail is about to say something when an alarm in his pocket starts going off, "oh, i have to go, bye guys, visit more often Robyn", he reaches into his pocket to turn off the alarm before heading out of the room and off on his way.
"So I could laugh at him," Quenton replies, shrugging his shoulders now, lifting his eyes. "Any because he paid me to do it. You paid me to shut up once, is it really hard to believe?" He shakes his head, now, shifting on his feet. "It doesn't matter, my uh… my work here is done. Oh, wait," he grunts. "Do you like the fucking thing or not? I gotta know before I go back to him and laugh in his face if you don't."
"Mikhail, I'll head down with you, I gotta head to the art room anyway as the kiln should be done cooking my project." Robyn says as he waves to Shane. "Nice to see you again, and Nigel nice to meet you." Quenton gets a bit of a nod. "Uh, take care." He says polite enough as he joins Mikhail in the elevator to go down to the art room.
"Ain't gonna know till I play it a while," Shane says, watching the sudden exodus of people leaving the atrium. Once the elevator door has closed on the last one, she turns to look back at Quenton, narrowing her eyes for a moment. "…'Kay. Seriously. I'm not stupid. You suck at apologizing. S'fine. Didn't expect you to. But y'did. Thanks."
"This isn't an apology, cupcake," Quenton mutters while everyone floods out, leaving the two alone. "This is me making sure I don't lose sleep over taking money from you." He stares at the elevator door, now, before hearing the hum of the elevator leaving and then glancing over to Shane's face. "So save your graditude or whatever. I'm fine without it."
"Okay," Shane says, shrugging. "Do me a favor though? Hate on me all y'want, just… leave Sage out of it, yeah? Kid don't do well with people starting any static. So just… neutral corners 'round him, yeah?"
"Listen. I don't hate you," Quenton mutters, now, jaw clenched. "Trust me. I treat everyone the fucking same. But I'll agree to be nicer to Sage, and to be nice to you when he's around or whatever." He shrugs his own shoulders, lifting his hand once more to viciously scratch at his cheek, enough to leave little bloody lines there.
"Didn't say you did," Shane answers. "Tried hard enough t'get you to, but whatever. Just sayin'. Ain't gonna get on your case, don't have to be nice when Sage's around, just… try'n chill. Fine?"
"You tried to get me to hate you?" wonders Quenton, furrowing his brow. Well. That's fairly similar. "Why? And I can't just chill. It isn't that simple. It never will be that simple."
Shane shrugs. "You act like an asshole. Last person like you I knew helped put me in the hospital. So yeah. Life'd be simpler if you were just a total bastard, needed a kick in the junk or five. But? Ain't never that simple, is it?"
Quenton shrugs his shoulders now. "Well. If someone kicks me in the junk, they better get the fuck away from me," he mutters, clenching his fists. "And like you said. I act like an asshole. Why try to make me hate you when I'm already what you don't like? Makes no fucking sense."
Shane arches an eyebrow, lifting up the empty game case. "…Why're you acting like an asshole when you aren't?"
Quenton furrows his brow, glancing at the empty game case. "I asked you, first. And anyway, I'm still an asshole. I gave you the game for a selfish reason, not because I wanted to be fucking nice.:
"Asshole woulda kept the money," Shane notes, waggling the case. "Anyway. Like I said. Makes life simpler. 'S not just you. That's why I know you were lyin' out your ass; I ain't got no admirers, 'cos I spend most of my time makin' sure people hate me. That way they don't gotta go poki' their nose in my business."
"You seem to have a lot of friends for someone who wants people to hate her," comments Quenton, though he can see it now. He shifts slightly, lifting his hand higher to run through his hair. He was fidgeting. Why was he fidgeting. Frowning, his hand lowers and he stares at it. "I just need people to stay away from me, or be willing to hurt me if I… like, assault them or something. That kind of thing. Stupid stuff."
Shane lifts a shoulder. "Wouldn't be the first time. Sure, I'd kick your ass if you needed it."
Quenton shrugs his own shoulders once more. "If I try to attack you, bring some buddies," he says quietly. "And this wouldn't be the first time what?"
"Wouldn't be the first time someone way bigger than me gave me a curbsomping," Shane says, voice quiet. "Wouldn't be the first time somethin' I didn't deserve happened to me. Hell, had to deal with bullshit since I hit first grade. You're just the first time I had a spine for it."
"I wouldn't fucking hurt you on purpose," Quenton mutters, shaking his head, fists clenching again and shaking slightly. "And yeah. I guess mutant powers do that to you. I can lift twenty thousand pounds and punch through steel," he mutters. "Good on you for sticking up for yourself, though. You'll need it if I go berserk."
Shane lifts a shoulder. "'F I don't care what I'm wearing, I'm a human grenade. …So no, I ain't worried 'bout gettin' hurt anymore. 'S just habit. 'N I don't have friends. Don't want 'em. People try'n be nice to me anyway. Pisses me off… but not so much anymore. Trust me," she says, a haunted look passing through her eyes for a moment. "You don't ever wanna be *really* alone."
"No," Quenton mutters, watching Shane's eyes and pressing his lips tightly. "Once I graduate, that's the plan. I'm gonna go somewhere no one can find me." He shifts slightly, before he crosses his arms over his chest. "So why don't you want friends if you're not worried about getting hurt, anymore, then?" he wonders, now.
Shane shakes her head. "'Cos I ain't never had a friend didn't fuck me over. Got sick of it. But whatever, right?" Her laptop is given a brief glance, then closed. "'M serious, Quenton. I'm only sayin' this 'cos you can't get it otherwise. What Robyn was talkin' 'bout? This summer some fuckwit supervillain'n'his wife had me an' him an' a couple others mind-controlled. Made us think we were in whole other worlds. Bastard put me in this place, where there wasn't no one else, ever. Three days, 'n I was singin' out loud just t'hear a voice. Wasn't for another week there was anyone even to talk to." And Shane is very, very serious as she tells this story; if she'slying, it may as well be truth. "You don't want that, Q. *Ever.*"
"So you're afraid of getting hurt, but you don't want to be alone," Quenton comments quietly, lifting a hand to his face now, and rubbing it before he glances to her closing laptop. Her story causes those red eyes of his to follow suit with the laptop, and he stiffens at her final words, before exhaling quietly. "I don't want it," he agrees. "But I have to do it anyway. What does it matter to you, anyway? I'm sorry what happened to you happened, but I have to do what I have to do."
"Simple," Shane murmurs. "I'd be doin' the same thing 'f I got shot, 'n saw you pointin' a gun at y'self. I'm a bitch. Ain't evil though. Some things, *nobody* deserves."
Quenton nods concedingly, at that. "Yeah. I figured that'd be it," he replies. "Well. It doesn't matter. I had my chance with people, had my fun with the hero gig. After I killed those people, though, I'm not going to trust myself or anyone else. We're a little alike, you and me, except you're the one who got curbstomped, and I'm the one who did some curbstomping."
"Looks like," Shane says quietly, rubbing her face and settling back in her chair. "…Tell me th'truth, though… How much'a what you said 'bout th'movie was real, 'n how much was you jus' trying to be a punk?"
Quenton furrows his brow, at Shane's words, now, glancing at her face and scratching at his temple just below his hairline.
"I'm an asshole to everyone I meet, and you want to know my opinion of the movie?" He's quiet, for a long while, before shrugging his shoulders and glancing at the wall, lip twitching. "I like Princess Mononoke better," he confides.
Shane snorts, the corner of her mouth twitching up. "Figured," she says after a moment's silence. "I'll leave it in front of the TV sometime then. Or Hellsing. You look like someone who digs Alucard. Won't tell no one, neither. Just ain't enough people who dig anime here; gets boring."
Quenton shifts slightly, now. "I watched most of Hellsing. It was okay, I actually really liked it until they made Father Anderson make himself the monster thing in the end. Well, that was how it went down in the manga anyway-" he cuts himself off, furrowing his brow and pressing his lips tightly together.
Shane's smirk grows, for just a fraction of an instant. "…Aight, then… Death Note. Just th'first season, though; went t'shit after that."
"Didn't like the main character," Quenton says quietly, clearing his throat and shifting now, before glancing around, and after a moment, dropping down next to Shane. "He was an idiot."
"Yeah…. coulda gotten away with it, 'f he didn't end up all actin' like a supervillain. Still, he was a dick, but L needed to die *hard,*" Shane answers, growing more relaxed now that the conversation has shifted to her field of expertise. "Fullmetal Alchemist; regular or Brotherhood?"
"Brotherhood follows the manga better, but regular was still fucking badass, I don't care what anyone says," replies Quenton automatically, hands resting on the table in front of him. "I love that series, though. The end was a little ridiculous, but at least they knew how to stop. Most of them don't know how to stop."
"And that's why you'll never be a real asshole," Shane says quietly. "So fine. You seen all the greats, your cred's good with me. You into the mindfuck shows at all? Higurashi, Princess Tutu, Paranoia Agent, Lain, anythin' like that?"
"Paranoia Agent was beast. I bet I could fist fight Shonen Bat," he murmurs. "Or, well, Lil' Slugger." He shifts a moment, before scratching at his cheek. "If you tell anyone about this, I'm going to… uh…" He trails off a moment, before muttering, "If you tell anyone, I'm going to…" He has no idea what to threaten her with, so he glances around once more. "I'll think of something."
"You're gonna stop yakkin' anime with one of like two fans in the school," Shane finishes, eyebrows rising. "An' if you're a subs Nazi, ain't no way I'm lettin' that happen. So no, I ain't gonna say anything to anyone. An' after school I'm'a leave Higurashi no Naku koro Ni in front of th'TV, first season. Put it back Wednesday, an' it's all good."
"Alright, that, then," Quenton mutters, shifting slightly while glancing over to Shane, watching her for a while, before pressing his lips tightly. "I uh… well. I can't put discs in anything. I'll break something," he grunts. "I can't control my strength. So… I'll just… have to find some time to I dunno… watch it with you. Or something."
There's a long, long moment of silence following this, finally broken by the clearing of the pink-haired girl's throat. "…'Kay… Curfew's at ten. Dinner's seven. I'll bring my laptop to the garage at eight. You don't scare easy, right?"
"Do I look like I scare easy?" wonders Quenton, rubbing his nape awkwardly. "I'll try not to scream like a little girl. Or have nightmares. Or something." He wets his lips briefly, before nodding to her. "It's a date, then. With the tee vee, I mean."
Another of those long silences yawns open, at the sound of the word 'date.' "….Sure, okay," Shane says, finally, working very, very hard to make it seem like the word didn't at all apply, a casual thing that anyone would do. "With the TV. Yeah. Then."
"Yeah," Quenton replies, nodding and drumming his fingers on the table, now. Remembering, that, well, Shane wasn't so fond of that before, his hand hastily retreats, and he grunts. Yes. Grunts. "And uh… you'll tell me if you like the game or something."
"..Need my controller t'know for sure. But yeah. Tell ya by tomorrow." The young student seems unable to look at all near Quenton's general direction, deep red spots growing on her cheeks; either she's blushing, or her head is slowly getting ready to explode. At the moment, either stands an equal chance of being true.
"I can't play any more video games without destroying something, so… uh, maybe sometimes whenever you're in the lounge or something I'll just… sit in the chair and watch. Won't even have to… you know, say stuff," Quenton comments, while he glances over in shane's direction and runs his hand through his hair. He goes rigid when he sees the blush/detonation preparation, but doesn't comment on it.
After a few more moments of silence, the difference becomes clear. By now, the blush would have spread all over her face, so it must be the real thing. "…Sure okay, whatever."
"Yeah, you know. Whatever," Quenton agrees, squeezing his knees. Luckily his body's durable enough to escape the death grip he has on himself.
And still the silence spreads; Shane, clearly not someone used to anything like an extended, pleasant conversation. "…So I'm'a get to bed. Study. Thing. Test."
"Right, right, and I'm gonna… go… do something. Work out. Like a spaz. That kind of thing," Quenton replies, pushing to his feet a little hastily and sending his chair flying off the ground and bouncing off the elevator doors with a wince.
The impact of the chair on the elevator doors rather visibly startles the girl, forcing a squeak out of her throat as she jumps a good inch in place. "…Um. Yeah. Okay. You should do that," she says finally, fingers flexing and relaxing over the edges of her laptop. "Later."
"Sorry about that," Quenton shoots back, moving towards the chair and sort of lifting it by the leg and nodding slightly, his other hand scratching at the back of his neck. "Uh. See you then. Tomorrow. At the garage. Or whenever, you know. If you don't come, that's cool, too."
"Eight," Shane repeats, clearing her throat. "Bring a pillow. Cos of stools. Suck to sit on too long."
"Eight," echoes Quenton, saluting Shane. "It's a date." He stares dumbly again, before slapping his palm against his forehead. "With the tee vee."
"You should really go work out," Shane says, her voice quiet. "I sort of can't leave until you do."
Quenton sets down the chair, now, against the table, furrowing his brow before nodding a moment. "Right. Yeah. I'll go do that," he mutters. After a moment, he doubletakes. "Why can't you leave until I do?"
"…Because you're closer to the elevator," comes the slow, patient reply. "And I still have to unplug my shit."
Quenton blinks, before moving to the elevator and leaning his hand against the button, the elevator doors opening and him quietly slipping in. "Do you… want me to hold the elevator, or… are you good?"
"No… I'm good."
"Good, good," Quenton replies, hand shooting back and elevator doors closing, the tall mutant finally disappearing.
