Players:
Summary: Lucas catches Jinx after leaving the sanctuary.
Date: July 19, 2010
Log Title: Leaving the Chapel
Rating: PG
Immediately Following Going to the Chapel
Xavier Mansion - Quad
There is a square side walk of pavement with a nice grassy area in the middle with a few stone benches and trees along the corners. The pavement leads to the paths to the grounds of the school, the Dining Hall in Xavier's and the Ramsey Dormitories. It's not particularly large but it's a nice place for students and teachers to relax and enjoy the outdoors.
Jinx leaves the old church and makes it down the path leading to the quad. Her blanket looped over her arm and her radio swinging from her fingertips, it leaves the book to sway as it is tucked into the waistband of her skirt.
Lucas stomps out of the sanctuary as well, marching off after Jinx. "Hey," he calls to her, sounding a little annoyed. "What do you think that shit was about?"
Jinx pauses on the step, her tail arcing behind her. She raises a brow to the boy. "What?" she asks, a little confused. "Or I should say… what part?"
Lucas scowls, "What he said." He shakes his head, his confidence suddenly shaken. "That the only reason Ah'm leading anythin' is because Kenta likes me an' because y'all guys are lettin' me…?" He seems really bothered by this.
Jinx's tail sways a slow arc. "What do you think? Why are you leading?" she asks the boy as he fumes and scowls. She stands still, following him with her eyes as he approaches further. "A leader's gonna have to defend himself. You might as well get your story straight."
Lucas sighs, and paces. "Ah know, just… Maybe he's right… Maybe Ah've not thought this through…" He sighs, looking at her, "What if he's right an' Ah ain't meant for this shit…" He sighs, folding his arms over his chest and shaking his head.
"If you believe that, then maybe you shouldn't lead," she sniffs to him, watching him pace back and forth. "Or maybe that is what Robyn is for, to give you that pep talk that you seem to need," She crosses to a bench and throws her stuff on it, leaning back to brace her arms along the back. Her feet cross at the ankles. "Why do you want to be leader?"
Lucas stops his pacing, looking at her. "Just… Ah expected everyone to give me shit about it but him." He looks off, "If HE thinks Ah can't do it…" He shakes his head. "This is stupid." He looks at her, "This is a bad idea. Ah'm sorry Ah got you all in on this. Tomorrow, Ah'm gonna go see old man Summers an' Ah'll make sure it's all disbanded right like."
"What?" she looks at him like he is crazy. Which he is. "Lucas, are you really this much of a pansy?" She huffs and rolls her eyes. "God damn. I thought you had balls, and here your friend says something negative and instead of dealing with it, you're gonna destroy it all."
Lucas stands there a minute, staring at her. "You don't understand, Jinx." He shakes his head, gesturing back at the church, "Ah've done a lot of shit… An' when things were at their worst… When everyone decided to turn their back on me because Ah killed another student, Jim was the only one who believed in me, who gave me that first second chance." He shakes his head again, dropping his arm to the side, "He's not just some student, Jinx. Ah don't know that Ah can do this hero thing, but if my best friend an' teammate don't think Ah can, maybe Ah'm in serious need of rethinkin' shit 'fore Ah get somebody else dead!"
"No, he's not the same. He was just possessed by some 17 million year old hell woman and did some really crazy shit. He almost killed me. He pushed Robyn in front of a car. He's got to live with those memories and right now, he can barely look at you or me or any of us without knowing what he did… in her name," she flings a hand out to the side. "So, you know? He may not want to be led by anyone right now. Would you?" she eyes the boy. "You're feeling insecure. I get that. So is James. Cutting each other off is not going to fix anything, Lucas. This is you isolating yourself again because something hurts. Knock it off."
Lucas slumps his shoulder just slightly, and he sighs. He looks off into the dark again. Not looking at her, he simply asks, flatly, "What do you think?" He looks at her then. "Do you think Ah can do this?"
Jinx crosses her arms over her chest. "I do," she nods her head. She is standing in the grass with Lucas, having some discussion with a fair amount of emotional weight. "But you need to get your head straight, and answer my questions."
Lucas sighs, "What do you need to know…" He swallows, folding his arms a little tighter over his chest, looking discerningly at her.
Jinx looks at him. "Like I said before, a couple minutes ago," she flips her fingers. "People are gonna challenge you. What are you gonna say when they tell you your decisions suck?" She raises a brow.
From the right path branching out from the Quad, comes a solitary figure. She stands fairly tall for a Japanese woman, at over five and a half feet, and is dressed in blue jeans and a loose purple blouse. She's got a long purple leather jacket on where she has her hands stuffed in it's pockets. Her long straight hair has been died a vibrant shade of purple, and beneath her bangs is a rather melancholy expression.
Lucas sighs, "Ah'm gonna—" He sees the new arrival, and falters a moment. Furrowing his brow, he takes a step closer to Jinx, and says a little more quietly, "Ah'm gonna whallup 'em into shape. If'n it's the middle of a battle, there ain't time for that shit. If'n it's later, back at the mansion, well…" He shrugs, "Then Ah reckon we can discuss it. But Ah ain't dealin' with insubordination in the field, ya know?"
Betsy pauses in her walk as she approaches closer to the pair, recognizing them. They're much, much younger than she remembers them. "Lucas, Jinx… don't let me interrupt," she says, her voice wistful and sad at the same time.
Jinx starts as the lady knows her name. Her hand climbs up and grips Lucas's elbow as she turns. Alarm, concern. "Do I know you?" she asks of the woman, her tone careful in respect to the woman's age. "I do not think we've met."
Lucas turns, also taking in the new arrival. He suddenly gets panicky, and then realizes it's Jinx's touch, and he gently pulls his elbow away, getting himself back together. "How do you know us?"
Betsy puts a hand to her forehead like she was fighting off a headache. "I"m sorry," she says, sounding genuinely apologetic. "I'm Betsy Braddock, and I've come displaced in time. I knew you in the future." It's not much of an explanation, but it's the truth.
As Lucas pulls away, Jinx floofs a little and frowns, her ears going back. "The future…" the words are hissed, and she is entirely unhappy about hearing them. Her hands drop at her sides. "Connor already chewed us up about how much we suck, then and now. No offense to you but we're sorta sick of the future."
Lucas nods, "Old Connor is a douchebag," Lucas agrees. "But what's worse about him, is he's a whiney baby about it." He studies Betsy for a moment, and then asks, "Okay, future lady. What do you say? Can Ah be a good leader?"
Betsy gives the pair a slightly apologetic shrug on Volk's behalf. "To be fair, he's come from a place where you have to be hard in order to survive. And everybody here is soft." She shakes her head. "He sees it as a weakness. I see it as innocence." She considers Lucas' question for a bit. "You could, if it wasn't for your temper."
Jinx blinks at Lucas. "She's not some Magic 8 ball or something, you idiot," Jinx gives his shoulder a shove, but can't help but be a little impressed by his guts in actually asking. She is so done hearing about Volk. "Dude. We're kids. I don't want to be harder than I am," she humphs. At the lady's response, she waves a hand. "There ya go. Future lady says so."
Lucas scowls, "Ah ain't got no temper, lady!" he shouts. Rolling his eyes, he sighs, "An' the only thing hard on old Connor is his head. He's selfish and stupid, an' it's probably gonna cost us our present Connor. So if you're from where he's from, fuck you very much." He looks at Jinx, "She's SORT of an 8 ball. She knows how it all turns out." He looks back at Betsy, "Ah'm pretty awesome in the future, Ah reckon, right?"
Betsy only smirks as Lucas yells at her, which only proves her point. "You're a good man, Lucas." Probably not quite the answer he's looking for but it's the one he gets. To Jinx she nods. "I know you're kids, and this isn't your fight, yet. If we're lucky it may /never/ be your fight." She sighs as Lucas goes on about her time traveling companion. "He's not selfish. Or stupid for that matter. He's desperate. Frightened. Beaten. I knew he would have problems when he got here, but I'd hope he'd be a bit more graceful than he was." She shrugs. "Maybe that's why I came back, too. Or aside. I still haven't figured it out yet."
This is going down a dangerous path and Jinx smells the sharks circling. "It isn't our future, Lucas. Things have changed too much already for it to be our future," she glances at the lady, then back at the boy. "Lucas, c'mon. I'll get you some brownies," she reaches for his wrist, pouring on a sweet, elusive little suggestion of attraction. It's playing dirty, for sure. "Let's get out of here."
Lucas tilts his head at Betsy, "Only a selfish, stupid man would turn down help from his friends when he's desperate, frightened and beaten, lady." He looks at Jinx, "Hey, she said Ah was a good…" And then she touches him. His breath catches, and then he slowly steps along with her. "That's…" He looks at Betsy, and he shrugs, "Ah should prolly… go…" He smiles, nervously, and continues on alongside Jinx.
"I'm sorry," Betsy apologizes again. "Jinx is probably right. This world's future and the future I came from probably won't be the same." She looks behind her. "After all, I just came back from visiting my own grave."
Jinx eyes Lucas carefully. "Yeah, big boy. You should come with me," she murmurs. "Bye, Future lady. You don't seem to suck and that's pretty awesome. Keep being excellent," she gives the woman a thumb's up, and snags her blanket and radio from the bench before moving towards the dining hall towing Lucas.
Lucas continues to let Jinx lead him away. "Sorry about you dyin' an' all. But hey, at least Ah'm awesome in both timelines, right!" He smiles, giving her a wink, and then wrapping his arm around Jinx.
Betsy gives Lucas a helpful nod and starts heading towards the mansion herself. "Totally awesome, Lucas." The way she says it sounds funny in her upperclass English accent.
Jinx gets Lucas' arm around her and she jumps a little, not expecting the reaction. A blink, and she tones down her mojo to hardly anything, slipping into the building beyond for the ever-elusive brownie. Once inside, she squirms to disengage from his grip. "Okay, okay… I played dirty. Settle down… the nice future lady called you awesome. There ya go. In the future, you're awesome."
Lucas smiles, "Ah'm awesome now, yo." He winks at her, "Anyway, play dirty all you want. Ah like that suggestion." He smiles again at her, and then he leans over, and he gives her a kiss on the forehead. "Ah'm off to bed. Bein' awesome's downright tirein'." He laughs, and begins to head off.
Jinx is glad he is smiling, at least. She blushes a little at the kiss to her forehead. "Goodnight, Mr Awesome," she calls after him, watching him go for a minute before turning and heading up to her solo room.
