Players:
Summary: James proves that the fastest way to a skunk's heart is her lead foot.
Date: July 4, 2010
Log Title One More Down
Rating: PG-13
Xavier Mansion - Spuyten Duyvil Cove
This little cove leads off to Breakstone Lake. Students can go fishing, boating, and swimming in the fresh water. There is a small beach off to the side of the dock where students can also go sunbathing.
This little cove leads off to Breakstone Lake. Students can go fishing, boating, and swimming in the fresh water. There is a small beach off to the side of the dock where students can also go sunbathing.
It's Fourth of July and Jinx is here at the school. The air buzzes with the sound of insects working on their life cycles, buzzing above the glittering surface of the lake. Jinx sits on a log that overhangs the water, her toes sliding through and rippling through the dark surface as she straddles the log dangled precariously out towards the lake. In her fingers is the lit form of a clove cigarette, it's smoke sweet and acrid.
The shape that comes pacing up the hillside is unmistakable. It's the resident hyena, and today he's on a mission. Heading straight for Jinx in a bee-line fashion, James approaches the log and stops some distance away without ever setting food on the large pice of wood, "Hey. Isn't that supposed to be bad for your health? Better not let old-lady Frost see you doing that. She'll flip her blonde wig." The hyena grins.
Jinx sees him coming, and smells him through the haze, and even takes another puff. "It ain't tobacco, so it's not that bad. Plus, I have to do something to cover up the stink of teenager," she snorts dryly. She taps the ash, watching it scatter along the surface of the lake before floating outward. "Besides. Emma knows everything anyways. There's hardly a point to hiding anything with her and she smells like fancy perfume anyways."
James shakes his head, hands coming to his hips, "I have it on good authority that Emma does indeed 'not' know everything." Or so the creature hopes. But seeing how the alarm bells have yet to ring, 'it' feels safe for now. "It's only as fancy as the telepath makes everyone think it is," James says with a dismissive wave of a paw before taking a seat on the log's exit.
"No way. That's fancy shit, I can tell you right now. Who would spend telepathy power on making sure everyone knew they smelt good? Why not spend it on making sure everyone knows your ass is fabulous instead?" She eyes where he sits as she takes another draw on her cigarette, exhaling through her black nostrils. "Got something to say?"
"I do," James says with a smirk, his hands sprawling out behind him. There's a pause that might be just long enough to make Jinx almost ask for more information. But, before that happens, the hyena continues, "I'm forming a training team. Kenta is going to Scott about it. I've gotten a few of the squad leaders to sign off on the idea. One of which was Sam." The fool. "I asked him because I want you on it."
Jinx is surprised by the idea. "Me?" she asks, somewhat incredulous. She lifts a brow and taps more ash onto the lake. Her tail is behind her on the log, sprawled out with the furry tendrils hanging over the sides. "I'm hardly any good on any team. Why would you want me? And what fool would give you a team? Have they forgotten who you are?"
"I doubt it," James starts off, "If Lucas is any sort of gauge, you need to kill more than one student to make an impact around here." Eyes level on Jinx, the thing answers the former questions, "Because I think I can trust you to have a level head in any situation. Because even in this school there are student that look down upon us for looking different, and being chosen for a training team will show them up. And because that may be associated freedoms that come along with the responsibilities we're given. Like access to the school’s vehicles."
Another pensive tap of the cigarette. "School vehicles you say?" She zero's in on the things that she most enjoys, after all. "Like what vehicles? If this is about the crappy golf carts, I am not interested." Another illegal hit of scented smoke, another fuming exhale.
The hyena shrugs, "No idea…but tell me that some trusting teacher won't just toss the keys to their personal vehicle as a reward one of these days." A smile forms, "The staff are lazy creatures. Sooner or later they'll send us into town on some errand and not expect us to return right away. It is just how these things work."
Jinx is a creature of mischief, at her core. She is a creature who will push boundaries, find ways under fences and lean against the rules until they bend to their limit. "If they let us take one of the good cars, I totally get to drive," she murmurs. And that was how Jinx accepted being on his team. "Who else is on the team?"
"As you wish," James says with smile equally mischievous. Or evil. "Currently, only you and Lucas for sure. But, both Connor and Robyn will be asked as well. After that, maybe 1-2 more? It all depends on what the teachers say." The hyena gives Jinx a long look with big black eyes; a bigger, blacker creature watching from behind the Gnoll's gaze, "Sam will be asking you about it. But, I thought since we were friends,
you would not want it to be a surprise."
"I would have called Sam insane to his face," she snorts. The cigarette is smudged out on the log, and she tucks the butt into her pocket. "I don't know Lucas. Of course I know Connor and Robyn. All guys but me, huh? This is not some gay party or something with me as the token female, is it? Because if it is, I get to drive any high-speed vehicle too. And get some snazzy boots to exert my awesome feminity."
James shakes his head, "I can't speak for Connor or Lucas, but I doubt that you will be the token female." At least as far as the other female is concerned. "But I suggest the boots anyways. Might be handy if one of the other boys gets out of hand."
Jinx snorts softly. She eases onto one hip, lifting her foot from the lake to rest against the log. She spends a few moments breathing in James' scent, trying to tell if there is anything he is hiding underneath the unnervingly reasonable words he speaks. "Did someone give you some Ridilin or something?" she asks suddenly. "You're not half of the spaz you used to be."
The scent that Jinx picks up is probably an unusual one—but one that is only surface deep. The hyena is bathed and has the proper hygiene one would expect from a student whom doesn't spend the day rummaging around a bog. Basically, the near opposite of what the Gnoll was last month. "I know I'm a little different," James says with a shrug, "That spear gave me a new perspective on things. I have some goals now. But, don't worry, that side of me you keep looking for is just below the surface, begging to get out." A smirk follows, breaking any tension with, "If it helps, I've been imagining you naked this whole time." Sadly, for the creature, that probably means imagining Jinx as a rug in front of a fireplace.
Jinx eyes James. "No, I don't know that it helps at all. I think I will stick with my ass-kicking boots," she grins to the gnoll in an attempt to be charming, but then he is blocking the exit. One foot dangles into the water, splashing this way and that. "So when do we start?"
"After Scott gives us his blessing," James says as he stands, big paws smacking the dirt off his BDUs. "I'd say less than a week or two." The hyena clicks his tongue, "You think I'm acting funny. Just wait, I'm gonna iron my uniform before I speak with him. Now 'that' is going to freak everyone out." They hyena nods to Jinx, eyes giving has a final regard, "Thanks, Jinx. I promise I'll make this interesting for everyone involved."
Jinx stands on the log then as he makes the way clear. Balancing with her arms stretched beside her, she toes down the log and hops to the shore, her tail a large cushioning sail behind her. She lands on the bank with her claws imprinting the soft mud. "Ironing… really?" she eyes the hyena. "That's crazytalk."
James grins muchly, "It IS, I know. But if I want him to take me seriously, I need to show him I'm serious as well. If that means acting like a different person…" Or BEING a whole different person "Then sure." He waits for Jinx to climb off, "Anyways, that's all I needed. I'll let you know as things progress." Without another word, he heads back the way he came, leaving Jinx alone.
