Players: David and Nathaniel
Summary: David and Nathaniel have some fun at White Castle
Date: August 28 2011
Log Title: Dog Boners And White Castle
Rating: R
NYC - White Castle
In the classic white building with fake turrets is a White Castle. One can get many small burgers for a small price. Open 24 hours, this little fast food restaurant is popular during late night hours for those just getting out of clubs. Plastic tables and chairs are bolted into the dingy floor and the florescent lights give everything that bright white glow reveling the true grit they try to hide.
Craving a late night meal and having just watched Harold and Kumar, David opts to head to White Castle. And while there are many closer to Westchester, he has opted to New York City. However surprised not to find any in Manhattan, he was pleased when he found one in Brooklyn. Even though it is late, he heads in and stops short of the counter and looks to the cashier, “I wonder what I should get. What do you recommend?” The snotty teen cashier /looks/ at David, “This is not a fancy restaurant, sir. We got burgers. That’s about it.” Shaking his head, David sighs, “Fine. I’ll get a four pack of burgers with pickles and ketchup and fries.” David is dressed for the dreary weather. A blue red and green striped polo short and jeans and of course, his red cybershades.
Nathaniel has a much simpler reason for being here: he is largely poor and White Castle is cheap and filling. He's wearing a much less formal looking over-sized hoodie that essentially manages to conceal his muscular build - they'll never know, the fools! - and a pair of worn looking jeans. He yanks the door open idly, then steps in and looks around as if checking for something. Apparently not seeing any ninjas, he creeps up behind David in line and proceeds to poke two fingers against his back, "All right. Don't make any sudden moves. I just want the name of your tourism agent, because they sure as hell directed you to the wrong neighborhood." Just in case David decides to whack him with some sort of power he doesn't know about, he peeks over the man's shoulder with an easy grin. Well, someone's in a better mood, though he follows it up with a light slap against David's back, "Did you know that I know your agent? Insane, isn't it? All mutant business, always insanity."
Blinking a bit when some creepy kid in a hoodie walks in, David does not turn around as he gets a familiar sense of set skills, but not readily recognizing it quickly enough, when he feels the fingers on his back and when he spots the face and recognizes the grin and blinks, “Nathaniel?” Turning around to fully face his fellow Xavier’s alum. “Um. Hi.” Unsure of the sudden change and surprised by the smile, “Are you drunk or high, right now? And if so, I’ll have whatever you’re on.” David offers a smile and a friendly but firm punch to the shoulder. “Uh, another four pack to my order, garcon.” The cashier just shakes his head. As he goes back to make the burgers.
Nathaniel shakes his head quickly at that, shying back a bit as he realizes how strangely he must be acting. He runs his fingers through his hair, licking his lips and shrugging, "Leo came to see me. So no, not drunk or high, just… really, really relieved, I guess. I didn't kill him, he's not dead, hurray and such." He tucks his hands into his pockets, shrugging again and then quirking an amused smile at the cashier, eyes flicking alongside to David, "Oh, he's just grouchy." He waves a hand off in the cashier's direction, then tucks his hands back into his pockets to focus properly on David, "Sorry. I got a bit excited to see you, since Leo told me about what happened and I put two and two together to figure out that you were all in that crazy Hell dimension together."
While he has only met Nathaniel once before and met Leo during the craziness in Tegu-Haaz, they all share the bond of Xaviers. A smile forms on his face and David appears to be genuinely happy for Nathaniel and Leo. “That is so cool.” Out of character, David embraces Nathaniel in a bear hug type move and puts him down, “Yeah, I figured when we chatted the connection to Leo and I’m sorry I didn’t tell you he was alive again. I had meant to follow up on the whole weird Leo/Troy thing, but as you know how things get at the school…” The order is ready and he grabs the tray and moves to a table, “…But it seems things are working out everywhere. Those kidnapped brainwashed students are back and fine and the villains behind it are back in prison.”
Nathaniel flails slightly at the sudden hug, "Shit! I surrender!" Flail! He waits to be put down, attempting to reclaim his dignity and tug his hoodie down before pushing his sleeves up and giving David an amused smile, "Davie, you sentimental bastard. No, it's fine. Honestly, if you'd told me, I would've gotten pissed, I imagine." He follows along after David all the same, dropping lightly into the seat across from him and nodding, "That's good. Sorry I didn't wind up helping out. I'd thought to look you up after finding out Leo wasn't dead, but…" He frowns and sighs, relaxing into the seat and admitting, with a faint frown, "I'm still not entirely comfortable using my powers. Not… exactly, anyway."
“Well, I typically am not so emotional, but I think for the first time since I returned to Xavier’s that I am happy. This new semester seems so promising. I mean…” David bites into the first of his burger as he slides the tray down to Nathaniel, “…something will happen. Something always happens. But I figure I will be more prepared.” Putting the burger down and squirting ketchup on the fries, “Well, you know you can always come back to the school. One of the returning X-men is a powerful empath and one of the new teaching assistants in an empath too.” Stopping a moment, “And I gotta ask, what is up with you and Leo now that you know he is alive?”
Nathaniel shakes his head slightly, folding his arms on the table and propping his jaw on his hand, "Man… I think whenever you expect to be prepared, that's when you're the most startled… and I'm not surprised. Being an empath isn't exactly new or special anymore, is it? I am officially the common factor in what is considered the uncommon factor of humanity." Nathan wears a momentarily wry, self-deprecating smile, but then he shrugs a bit and reaches over to steal the fry, lifting it in thanks to David and then nibbling at it, "There's not much reason for me to come back if you've already got two of me, probably with a number of additional, more useful powers." He snags the ketchup for himself next, though he's startled by that last question. Taking the time to squirt some ketchup out, he caps it and sets it aside, then goes back to eating the fries first, "Well. Nowhere, really. I mean, did he ever get a chance to tell you why we broke up in the first place?"
“Well, you don’t have to come back full-time. Alumni drop by all the time. You can do a quick Danger Room session or something to test your abilities and Have some burgers too. While I am hungry and these things are tiny. I’m not going to eat eight of them.” David grabs one and eats it in two quick bites, “I should have gotten soda.” Waving his hand and looking over to the cashier, “Hey.” The cashier does not look over. “Hey!” Again he does not look over. “HEY!” The cashier looks up, “WHAT?” David lowering his voice and smiling meekly, “Can we get two sodas? Coke and ?” He looks for Nathaniel to pick whatever he wants. The cashier shakes his head and whatever Nathaniel responds, he goes to actually get the sodas. David then resumes the conversation, “Sorry about that. But no Leo never told me why you guys broke up? Admittedly, his alter ego of Troy was a real asshole. And when he became Leo that dimension made him REALLY loopy. I felt bad that I never followed-up on him other than to let Rashmi know what had happened.”
Nathaniel holds up two fingers, smiling sunnily at the cashier, "Two Cokes, garcon." Bwaha. He props his head on his hand again, arching a brow and nodding slightly, licking his lips before he explains, "When I went bonkers and did a bunch of bad things to people, Leo lost his powers bringing me back. Or broke them for a while, anyway. I'm guessing that's when Troy first started to appear. He said that all I needed was the right incentive, and I'd do all the things I'd done while I was demonic. He said I had it in me to do it - said he couldn't look at me without thinking it. He told most of this to our friend, Owen, but only because he didn't know I was there until the end." He explains this all with helpful flicks and gestures of his free hand, also between eating up his fries, "We'd had problems before that, though. Try being in a relationship with someone who basically can't understand 'sad,' you know? But that was it. He told us he was leaving, I yelled at him, and then, plane crash." He frowns as he recollects, not entirely over the idea of Leo being dead, but he shakes his head to get past it, "So. Demonic, dead boyfriend, I left the mutant scene as far behind as humanly possible. Part of why I'm not really excited to run back to school."
Listening intently, David refrains from munching on anything while Nathan explains what happened. Nodding as he listens and watches Nathaniel gesture as he tells the story, David does not have to be an empath to realize that the fellow sitting across from his is still affected by what happened. “Well, I see it’s hard and you are probably still in shock to know he is alive, but you don’t appear /sad/ to me at the moment. It seems you are capable of being /happy/. Did you guys discuss anything? What exactly happened when you saw each other?” Right when he asks the question the cashier brings the sodas and holds his hand out. David looks to him and gives him a high five. Rolling his eyes he cashier says, “Money, please.” David pretends to grumble and reaches into his pocket fishing for some bills and hands the guy a good enough tip.
"Oh, we had massive amounts of tawdry gay sex!" Nathan says cheerfully, though it happens to be just as the cashier approaches. It's just to rile the man and Nate glances after him with an amused smile before shaking his head and shrugging to David, "Nothing much, really. We talked about what happened. He was surprised I wasn't pissed - and yeah, I'm not sad right now. I'm… well, as good as I get, really. We'll probably see eachother again." He pokes one of the small hamburgers testingly, then picks it up to take a bite, waiting until he's swallowed to speak again, "I couldn't really be angry at him. I was too relieved to see him alive. He told me why he couldn't let me know about it. I could've been angry, but… I mean, after feeling guilty for so long, what's even the point? I'm too tired for that. We'd already broken up when he left, so I don't know if that'll get fixed, but at least we're on healthy speaking terms."
Blinking his head at the mention of the gay sex, the cashier looks between the two and when David gives him the tip. He blinks at the mention of the sex and then looking between “You two fa…er… ho…er…you two guys…yeah guys…make a cute couple.” During this whole moments, David blinks and then just blinks again and then grabs Nathaniel’s hand, “Thank you. And for that we will have even more tawdry gay sex.” The cashier rolls his eyes again and mumbles something derogatory as he goes back behind the counter. David then lets go of Nathaniel’s hand and bites into a third burger, “So it’s a let’s see what will happen, huh. Well hopefully it all works out.” David gives a hopeful shrug and sips his Coke.
Nathaniel bats his lashes at David lightly when he mentions having more tawdry gay sex, only to smirk at the cashier's back. He rubs his finger alongside his bottom lip thoughtfully, his expression difficult to discern but not entirely pleasant, "I hate homophobes. I really do." He looks back at David, then nods in agreement and smiles at the man, "As far as I'm concerned, things have worked out - and I'm rather fond of you, David. You bought me lunch, promised me sex. You're basically managing a successful date right now!" He drops his arms to the table and grins brightly, though he can't manage it for long and winds up giving a short, wry laugh. He picks up one of his burgers and goes back to eating it, though they're small enough to make quick work of, "Sort of amusing that he thought we made a cute couple, though. More like some sort of messed up Big Brother program where the good, mature adult sponsors a poor street kid. Can we go to the ballpark after this?"
Playing along for a moment, David’s eyes widen a bit as Nathaniel wins the game of who can make the other nervous, but with the wry laugh, David joins in on the laugh as well and mocks wiping his forehead with a “Wheee” sound. Finishing off a fourth burger and reaching for his fries, “You can have the rest.” Munching on a cluster of fries that he has grabbed and speaking uncouthly with some still in his mouth, “Well, I suppose that is the case here, though I would say the not so much older and better looking big brother.” Laughing again, “In all seriousness, I’m glad that you and Leo found each other and hopefully it will lead to a romantic reunion?” He stresses the last two words in a question form to see if that is what Nathan wants.
Nathaniel may have gotten older, but his ability to put away food hasn't much changed, and he's more than willing to accept the fries, noting, idly, "Thank you, by the way, for the food." He snorts at the comment where David refers to himself as better looking, muttering something about how Nate has a better ass only to pick up his napkin and rub his hands clean. He sips at the soda and frowns a bit, exhaling when he sets it aside and shrugging again, "Honestly? I don't know if that's what I want. I'm glad he's back, I'm glad he's alive, and I'm pretty sure I still love him - but there were already a number of things wrong with us before things went completely bugnuts. I don't know if I want that again." He sloshes his soda around in the cup while he leans on the table, studying David thoughtfully for a second, "I mean… it depends on if it's all the same. Think about it, David. Someone who is incapable of understanding when you have a problem, or why. His light, oddly enough, eradicates a certain aspect of his empathy. It's hard to handle sometimes, whether you love him or not."
Finishing what is left of his part of the meal, “No problem. My little stipend courtesy of Xavier’s is enough and admittedly not little either. It helps when the headmistress is one of the richest women in the world and the school is named after another rich guy.” David smiles and leans back as Nate speaks his feelings on himself and Leo. “Well, while I have not had the specific issue with romance. I have come to learn that love is not enough. Well, whatever happens with you two. Make sure you don’t let any other potential love interest slip.” David offers, “So basically it sounds like Leo is in a consistent manic state. And I thought he was oddly bubbly. I thought it was just him being loopy.” David tilts his head as he suddenly has another thought.
"Ah, stop flirtin' with me," Nathaniel says with a slight grin as he takes another drink of soda, waving his hand at David in an exaggeratedly playful fashion, "I would've thought you had a girlfriend, Davie, to be honest. You're a standup sort." He finishes off the last of the fries, taking a moment to clean off his hands again and then relax against the seat, "Yeah, basically. It was a problem for us, you know, since… well, with my powers, I've had to learn a lot of self-control, especially since a lot of my emotions tended to get exaggerated before I learned to control it. You can't really put an emotional person and a manic person together and expect kittens and rainbows." He arches a brow at the tilting of the head and the likely thoughtful expression, wiggling the soda at David, "What?"
Offering a slight smile when Nathan mentions the flirting, “Oh nothing really. But Leo and Troy kinda make up one bipolar person. Leo was always happy and loopy. Troy was a dick. He was a depressing angry asshole, really.” David shakes his head, “He was dour while Leo was perky. It seems the two combined make a normal person. Two extremes come together. I wonder if whatever SHIELD did to him has any…I don’t know…but if with science or psychology or something. Leo could be brought to a more normal level while hopefully not having to deal with the Troy persona.” David shrugs and then smirks, “I had a girlfriend, but she was not pleased with my dedication to Xaviers. Similar to you and Leo. Nori and I were a couple while we were students, but when I returned. I didn’t have enough time for her.” David shrugs again, “So I am keeping my options open. There are two girls I’m kinda interested in right now and we’ll see where it goes.” David then faux grins, “But there there is always you and I.”
Nathaniel laughs a bit at that, waving his hand at David again, "Two of them? Aw, Davie, Davie - come /on/ now. You can't play the field like that. It can only end in tears." He quiets for a minute or two as he considers what the other man has said regarding a stable Leo, though, chewing on his straw in the absence of a cigarette. He lifts his attention back up to full at this last faux grin, quirking an amused expression, "True. At least we have eachother, kiss kiss, fade to black." He sighs broadly and slouches in his chair, letting his head prop against the back of the seat, "I actually slept around quite a bit when I was in school. Leo and I even had sort of an open relationship, at first. Now, though…" He waves the soda this time, dismissively, and gives a rather helpless shrug.
“Well, one is a flirt and I can’t tell if she is into me. The other one is, but we haven’t had the time to pursue anything of value anyway.” David shrugs at the thought of Nathaniel sleeping around when he was a student, “God, when I was a student there. The students were more chaste than Jesus and Mary combined. The current group of students…well… I have no idea and I don’t want to know. There seems to be a lot of gay students though. When I was there, there was only one…well at least openly gay. Now, it seems most of them are and are also in committed relationships. You gotta wonder.” When he hears ‘now though’ David’s interest is piqued, “Now what?”
Nathaniel shakes his head and grins a bit, propping his head on his fist again as he says, "Empath. I don't really wonder a lot - though I'm willing to bet there were plenty of gay kids around when you were there. There were some hanging in the closet when I was there. Hard to miss when you're picking up on their secret attractions." He taps his temple with one finger as if it were a gun to his head, though he does nod at mention of the committed relationships, shrugging after a moment of thought, "Well… Xavier's… it's not really a safe place, is it? It's safer for us, teen mutants, but… there's danger. You get used to it quickly. Having someone there, someone beside you, it matters more, I think, for them than normal teenagers." He makes another gesture, waving his hand vaguely since he can't really know for sure, but he gives David a wry look at his piqued interest, "Now I'm usually so socially avoidant, I haven't had a proper sexing for almost a year. /That/ is criminal. With Leo dead and all, and what happened with Robyn… I just couldn't really manage it."
“Ah … . well who knows…maybe being in the closet explains why Julian was a bully to me.” David lets out a loud, “HA!” to that and then rests his head on the back of the seat where he sits, “Yeah there’ll always be dangers there and I suppose being able to have someone with you makes it easier. But that was actually an issue with me and Nori. Everyone felt I had a quiet power and no way to defend myself, while she could shoot electricity from her wrists.” He shrugs, “It’s funny everyone was worried about me, but in the future I kill all the X-Men and heroes when I become president. Oh well.” David then blinks, “So wow you’ve been sexless for a /long/time. You know what we should do. . .” and before Nathan can make the joke, “…and no not tawdry gay sex, at least not without a lot of alcohol, I think we should go out some place and hit the town. Find a boy for you and a girl for me.”
Nathaniel laughs at the mention of that bully, nodding his head with a half-grin, "Yeah, probably. In my experience, they're either really quiet and shy, assholes, or pretty golden boys. It's amazing how well some of them hide it, though. Without the brain thing, I probably wouldn't have figured a few of them." He nods with a faint frown and an understanding look of sympathy regarding Nori, but the whole bit about future David murdering everyone makes his eyebrows shoot up, "Whoa, whoa, whoa. So what are you, the future mutant Hitler?" He does prepare to make the joke, but he's still reeling and misses his cue terribly, grinning as he points out, "I am underage, you know. A fine, upstanding underage citizen who knows nothing of illicit alcohol or fake identification."
“As am I. I’m only 20. But there are 18 and over clubs in the city.” David winks, “Which works for us fine upstanding underage citizens.” David reaches for the cup of soda and sips the final bite through the straw as it makes the noise that the soda is clearly done. “And yeah, it turns out in a potential future, the blocks I placed on my powers are released and I literally gain knowledge from everyone becoming president and in the process curing AIDS, ending poverty, homelessness, disease, racism, and everything bad. But it turns out I am a creep, destroy China, kill my friends and it takes the death of Nori, my wife and first lady to kill me and herself. Crazy huh.” Wincing a bit, “Emma has seen to it, that that won’t happen.” He taps his head and winces again. “So yeah…fun.”
Nathaniel shakes his head at that and sighs, sipping at his soda - he has plenty left, but at this rate, he'll probably toss the remainder, "Christ. No pressure, yeah? Weird to think about, though. You don't really strike me as someone who would eradicate the X-Men and stuff." He goes quiet as he thinks this over, but it doesn't take too long before he more or less throws up his hand and says, "Fuck it. Let's go out and get disgustingly virgin drinks. We can go back to mine for beer, if necessary, because a destiny like that, even averted, requires alcohol. Besides, I really need a cigarette…" He rises to his feet smoothly enough, picking up the tray and carting it off to throw the stuff away. He pauses, however, on his way to the door to tug out his cigarettes and approach the counter, motioning the cashier over. Whatever he says to the man has him turning bright red and Nathan strolls out while the poor guy is on the verge of yelling something at him.
Watching the entire exchange between Nathaniel and the cashier, David offers a quick smile as they exit and when Nathaniel reaches for a cigarette, “I’ll take one too. I’m not usually a smoker, but why not, huh.” He waves smarmily to the cashier and then ponders, “Well if I drink drink, then I’ll need to crash at your place. I don’t want to head back to the campus drunk. I don’t need students or staff to see me inebriated.” With a shrug of his shoulders, David hopes for this to be a fun evening.”
Nathaniel hands one over without disagreement, tucking his own cigarette between his lips and nodding his head, "No worries. It's small, but I don't think having another person will do much damage, so long as you're comfortable on the couch. Can't have you off setting a bad example for the kiddies, can we?" He flashes another easy grin, glances back into the restaurant, and gives David a wry smile as he notes, stifled laughter in his voice, "That guy has a boner for dogs." He lights his cigarette, but to no avail, as he only manages a drag or two before he just dissolves into laughter. Poor cashier. Yes, it'll be a fun evening, so long as they manage to avoid general trouble. Well. They won't. David may wake up with certain parts of him dyed colors, but at least it's unlikely he'll have a tattoo! Cheers!
