Players:
Summary: James and Jade talk civilly. Rashmi was there to witness it 'really' happened!
Date: February 19, 2010
Log Title Shark Week
Rating: PG
Xavier Mansion - Recreation Room
What was once the Parlor has been turned into a Recreation Room for the students. A nice plush carpet meets the light blue walls giving it a homey feel. A pool table at one end, a foos ball table at the other, and entertainment center with video game systems, movies, and of course, cable TV. Big comfy chairs and couches surround a coffee table for comfortable loafing. Long glass windows with a pair of French doors line one side of the room bringing in plenty of light during the day. The main rule in here is to clean up after yourself.
James is strewn over a couch, taking up as much of the thing as he can. On his back, with a foot propped up and over the back, the hyena lays there with a remote in his hand. He flips through the channels looking for something good on TV to watch. Ohhh….Shark week.
Jade taps into the room, her cane used now just for general scouting that outright feeling her way around. She pauses upon hearing the Tv. "Hello," she calls to… whoever is there. She brought her soda with her, thinking ahead this time. A smile and she nears the couch. "Is that Shark Week I hear?"
James nods, "Yeah…" But he pauses as he looks over the arm at the student. There's nothing that can be read in his expression even if she could see it, but mentally, he's waiting for the girl to run screaming out of the room upon hearing his voice. He pulls his feet back enough that at least one cushion is exposed and says, "When is it not shark week?"
"When it is Deadliest Catch week, or Ice Road Truckers week, or Twelve Babies and No Sense week," Jade angles herself around, and licks her lips, holding her cane before her in both hands, like she is taking some huge risk by approaching the hyena like this. "Ca-can I sit down?"
James nods and looks back at the TV, before adding a 'Yeah…" since it occurs to him that she can't see the nod. He pulls himself into a smaller blot on the couch and tries to give the other student as much room as possible. "I don't bite. Today at least, they're making me wear a muzzle now," it's not true…but hey, she can't see him, the idea is a funny one, and well, maybe it'll put her at ease.
"Really?" she asks, incredulous and curious all at once. She feels her way around the arm of the couch and sinks into the corner, protected on two sides. The other side has a big fuzzy creature with inch-long teeth. She pauses in thought. "They don't really make you wear a muzzle, do they?"
James, head at the other end, calls out, "Nope." He looks down at his feet to make sure he's out of Jade’s way, "Have any preferences on what you want to watch? I'm just channel surfing." His head moves back to the screen, arm moving to support his head.
"Um…. something that has a lot of talking is good. I like videos for the music, but the other shows are lame. I like nature shows… you can hear the birds and stuff…" there is a wistful sound to her voice. "I like the sounds animals make. It seems so genuine compared to like, what people don't say, you know?"
James makes an agreeable noise, "Tell me about it…" He looks over, "So…what happens if you take those things off? The glasses." There's a tilt to his head, "Because I could just not look at you, you know? And we could both watch TV."
"You would see my reflection, and it would be enough. You'd stop breathing… stop living for a while. It's not too fun, or so I have been told," she responds quietly. She listens to the TV for a moment or two longer. "I can watch TV alone. So if I can Tivo stuff, I can figure out what people are talking about. Until then, I just listen.
Huh? Hmm? Bad player. No biscuit.
James nods, "What about if I close my eyes? Or, like, put a pillow over me head?" His attention goes back to the TV as they start talking about the megalodon, "Cause I 'could' do that."
She laughs, and her hair flares around her shoulders in a rippling wave. "No… then you couldn't see the TV, and how is that any better?" she smiles a little behind her dark glasses, realizing her teeth are showing their little points.
"Ehh," the hyena remarks, "I almost never watch it anyways. I won't miss a thing." He glances over, "I'm sorta…just not as entertained by the pretty flashing lights as everyone else seems to be. I prefer to read or actually get out."
"I like to read too. No reflections… but if you hear a noise, you look, you know? I have dropped more birds that way…" she muses lightly. She unscrews the top of her coke and takes a sip. "TV is company, though. Lots of adventure and stuff to watch without actually doing it."
James says, "My grandfather used to listen the radio plays," as if that somehow makes all the sense in the world. He shifts in his side of the couch after realizing he's been still for a whole 5 minutes, "I think they would have been more fun than TV."
"Oh, like war of the worlds and stuff?" she asks, brightening. "Those must have been so fun to hear. I wonder if they have any downloadable now… we could listen together?" she suggests, the words out of her mouth before she realizes that it sounds like she is asking him out. "You know. If you want to."
James looks at Jade and sticks out his lower jaw before pulling his goggles over his eyes, "Sure." He screws up his face and slowly reaches out his toe to give her a poke with it. *shove* "You still mad at me?" he asks.
Jade is poked with the toe and flinches a little, not expecting it coming. The strands of her hair shift and she licks her lips, offering a fleeting smile. "You said you were going to try, right? Everyone deserves a second chance."
James nods, "I am trying. No more Grimm Reaper stuff. Jono says I should try being a little nicer." He makes a disagreeable sound, "Not going to make any difference." He goes quiet for a moment, "So, that 'really' was my nickname. Ironic, huh?"
Jade stiffens slightly. "Um. I don't know. Irony is weird and all. And I am sorry but it makes me nervous if you draw an analogy to someone who killed someone like me. It's sorta like if people started calling me Lioness or something. Or.. uh.. beartrap. Or whatever they use to hunt hyenas." She then wonders if anyone hunts hyenas or does she really sound as lame as she feels
James nods, "Sorry, I won't mention it again. It had a different meaning when I was 7. I used to play hero and stuff." He looks over, "I dunno what they'd use to hunt a hyena. But, free food works around here."
"It's okay. He is a hero in mythology. It's not bad to want to be a hero. That's what everyone wants. Almost everyone. There's a few folks that want to be villains… and you can't be a villain with a name like that." The reasoning works for her and she is sticking to it.
James nods, "I'm trying not to be a villain, but it's hard some days when you hear the stuff I hear. Someone called me a 'Sabertooth in training.' At first I thought they just had the wrong species or something, then I read about this guy in the data base." He frowns, watching the TV through one broken lens, "Seriously…this shark thing is one at least once a month."
Jade mms. "Sharks are pretty cool. They exchange their teeth all the time, growing new ones. You know that somewhere there is a kid who is doing that same thing, and freaking out and all, and wondering if he can sing in a band or kiss a girl or whatever…." she drifts off in thought. "What's a Sabertooth, besides the tiger thing. Smiledon or whatever."
James pictures 'shark kid' for a moment, "God…I hope he finds a pool before it's too late." He glances over, "Smilodon populator," the hyena corrects without giving it much thought, "That's at least the one I assumed." He goes back to watching TV, "Some bad guy that likes giving Professor Logan a hard time." Professor in the loosest of terms maybe, "He's evil."
"Oh right. A bad guy, huh? Does he.. come here?" The idea that a bad guy would come to the school is one she has not considered before, and she shivers. "That is kinda scary to think about. I can imagine all the guys running outside wanting to do their powers on some real bad guy, but I bet he'd wipe the lawn with us all."
James say in a strange ton, "It's odd…it's almost like everyone the X-men has fought has been a teacher or resident of here. At least the ones I've read about." His ear does the twitch thing as if swatting off a fly, "Weird, huh?"
Jade can't see the twitch. "Maybe they fight because they know each other so well," she suggests. She sits on one corner of the couch, while James sits (eats, mauls, rips up) the other end of the couch. On the TV is Shark Week. Some great white is currently leaping up to some cameramen who tease it with big hunks of tuna. "It's easier to fight with family than strangers sometimes."
Rashmi has arrived.
James is laying in a a rather tight blot on the couch, legs pulled up to his chest as he tries to leave room for Jade. Overall, he's acting very un-James like as he isn't chewing on the couch (for one) He watches tv through his goggles, nodding to Jade. "There's probably truth in that," the hyena says, "But, if Magneto comes back to teach, I'm going back to Indiana."
Perfect words to walk in on. The Rec Room door closes behind Rashmi with a quiet click, as she stands stock-still, eyes rivited on James. Her expression oscillated between suspicion and worry, for a few moments. "…Um… hang on… Magneto's… teaching here? …Like, again?"
"Magneto… I have heard that name before, right?" She takes a sip from her coke though Rashmi's quiet approach has her sputtering and coughing. "Rashmi! How long have you been here?" She seeks to smooth down her shirt, wiping the coughed up coke from it.
James pulls into an even tighter ball as Jade send fourth her soft drink, "Ewwww!" He gives the girl a look of concern, "You okay?" When he's sure she is, he looks over towards his teammate and shakes his head, "Not yet…but wasn't he visiting recently?"
Rashmi starts as Jade spews out her drink, flushing deeply. "…Actually I just got here, but um… you two look like you're getting along better?" Crossing the room to find a spot at a nearby chair, she tilts her head at the hyena. "Well yeah, he *was* here," she affirms, with a small shudder. "…That was the creepiest curfew warning ever…. but anyway, I haven't heard anything since the demons all left, you know?'
Jade has made a mess of her shirt with the coke spewing, not that she can see it. The damps spots are evident. She grabs her cane and makes to rise. "Yeah. We were talking about heros and monsters and sharks and stuff," she answers with a smile to Rashmi. "I need to go change my shirt. I'll see you guys around, okay? Or uh.. something."
James' eye twitches unconsciously at the hearing of 'demons,' "Yeah, all that stuff is done and over…" They hyena's voice trails off, using Jade as an excuse to change the subject, "Need a guide back? I promise it would actually 'be' straight to your room and I'd leave after you got there." He shrugs his shoulders at the former question, "I told her I was wearing a muzzle, and she stayed. So…yes?"
Rashmi spares a moment to goggle at a solicitous and helpful James, eyes wide. Shaking her head, she grins widely. "I never thought I'd see the day… Jade, I *have* to know your secret sometime, mh? But, later. Sleep well, okay?"
"No, no. I know the way now. Stay and tell me if that shark gets the guy's hand," she gestures vaguely at the TV, bespeckled with sugary soda as she is. She loops a strand of hair behind her ear. "Hehe… secret? Maybe it was the part where I said I could kill him just a little. Goodnight!" She waves a hand, then takes her cane to guide her way, tapping her way out of the room like a pro.
The hyena watches the girl remove her sugar-coated self from the room, one eye watching from a broken lens, "Ehh…I'm winding down for the night. Long day," says the hyper-kinetic teenager suspiciously. He glances over at Rashmi, "Visited Jono. He looks like hell."
Jade has left.
Rashmi nods slowly, eyebrows drawing together. "It was pretty bad," she says after a moment. "His shoulder started hurting, and he just… sort of exploded. That's why the Atrium still kind of looks like a mess. Is he feeling better, though?"
"You know Jono, he's hard to read," James says with a nod as he resumes his semi-sprawled position, "But, if I had to make a 'guess' he's scared. Can't smell it, but…I can't smell those sorta things on him." He pulls his goggles from over his eyes and says, "I'm worried."
"I am too," Rashmi admits as she looks away from the TV, wrinkling her nose at the over-dramatic closeup of a hungry Great White. "It's not just him, either. Skyler has the same tattoo, and Daisuke, and a couple of the adults. Brian, was one of them I know of." Shaking her head, she curls up on herself in the chair, frowning at the floor. "Dr. McCoy said it was some kind of virus… but it was making a tracker out of Jono's skin."
James gives Rashmi an unhappy look, "Adults /and/ students? Great…there's my nightmare fuel for the evening." He turns the volume down a little so not to interrupt the conversation before sitting up a little, "He mentioned 'Sinister' so I wonder what that means for the rest of us."
Rashmi nods. "That was the name Skyler said… 'Mr. Sinister.' I know, I don't like it either… but all the information I could dig up about him's locked down pretty tight. You know… the usual stuff they want to make extra sure kids don't spend too much time on except 'If you see this guy, call us, run, preferably both.' I guess we could ask Dr. McCoy… maybe see if he wants to tell us anything more, you know?"
James gives Rashmi a conspirators look, "I tried the same thing, oddly enough. But I couldn't find any way in through the back to find out more." He nods at the idea, "I think that's an awesome thought. Dr. McCoy is pretty on the level with us. If anyone is going to tell us, it's him." He stretches out a little and takes up the rest of the couch, putting a foot over the back of it, "If I hear anything, I'll let you know."
Rashmi looks up, smiling slightly. "Same here. I guess mostly I'm just worried that if it's locked down that tight… then Jono's either a lot more scared than he's letting on… or he's not scared *enough.* …And to be honest, I don't know which one *I'd* rather it be, you know?"
James snorts at the thought, one of those nervous ones, "I'd prefer neither!" There's a sigh, "First demons, now evil…whatever he is…coming after teachers and students. This school is non-stop fun. Gawd…if my parents knew…"
"…I never told mine about Magneto," Rashmi says quietly. "…I'm not really all that sure I believe it myself, you know…? I mean, how do you say that one of the few people to almost manage to actually destroy your *entire city* more than once… harped on you about being out too close to curfew! If I'd just *heard* it, I'd *swear* it was crazy!"
James looks at Rashmi, mouth agape, as if she was speaking crazy talk. Because, in a sense, she is, "He said 'what?'" There's a few blinks as he takes that thought in, "That's…like seriously screwed up. No wonder you were sorta unhappy to hear me mention his name earlier."
Rashmi nods quickly, eyes wide. "I mean, that was bad enough… but look at my book bag!" The flap is lifted up, displaying the marked lack of anything metallic on the bag at all, including any sort of fasteners, forcing it to stay closed by pure gravity. "He wanted to talk to Mike without the voice samples… so he just grabs *every piece of metal around* and puts a little voice box together, just like that!"
James repeats the look, "Mike? Like 'our' Mike?" He sits up, eyes intent on his teammate, "Like…just out of the air? 'poof I have your stuff' sorta thing?" He pushes back in his seat, "We're so outclassed No wonder that guy can come and go as he pleases."
"Not quite… It was sort of like you see those kids doing with Addison, moving stuff with their mind? Only it was like all my buckles and pen caps and paperclips and junk from the ground and whatever else he could find that was metal, and just sort of stared at it all until it made a voice-box thing, you know? Only it stopped working after he flew away… so he was *running* it, too." Just recounting the entire experience seems to leech some of the color from Rashmi's face. "…I just know he's *so incredibly creepy*… Having him come back here to teach? It'd be like having Jack the Ripper subbing for Logan's self-defense classes, you know?"
James sticks his tongue out and screws up his face, "That's…'quite disconcerting' as Dr. McCoy would say." He gives the room a wide look, "I'm not sure how this place stays in operation. it's like…on minute someone is trying to take over the world, the next they're a welcome face. N'astrih is going to show up one of these days and start a cooking class. I just know it."
"Oh God no," comes the vehement reply. "No, I mean… That's *way* different. I mean, look into the history.. Magneto helped *make* this place, did you know? Just, he and the Professor had like this *big* split in perspective, and, well…" Rashmi spreads her hands. "It's like they keep telling us… we're free to leave whenever we like, and come back when we're ready… I guess if it applies to Magneto, too… they *really* mean it." As awful as the concept sounds, Rashmi's voice displays a profound respect for that kind of resolve.
"I think I need to start reading up on more of the history of this place, and less of my actual studies," James says in rather serious tone, "I'm missing out." There's a long sigh, "Well, maybe they think that someday he'll be less…crazy? I hear that Professor Frost was evil once. Heck…at this point I think I've heard that about everyone." He gives 'that' topic a serious thought, "Even me."
Rashmi's eyebrow rises, the redhead loosing a long, deep sigh. "James… you *know* that's different. I talked to Lucas about it, you know… And I still believe the same thing that applied to him, does to you. *You* weren't evil, James. I mean, okay look." Uncurling, she leans forward in her chair, elbows resting on her knees, eyes intent and serious. "Answer a question for me; if someone had some kind of weird lobotomy, say… And all they could do were things that were nice and helpful and kind… Would you call that 'a good person?'"
James throws up his hands in arrest, "Alright alright!" He hides his gaze, unwilling to turn the conversation onto this topic tonight. But…one thing does occur to him, "I need to tell you something." He hands come down and his elbows go right to his knees, "Remember me at the mall. What I looked like?" He stares at his feet for a moment, "My parents found all the photos of my I had hid and sent some in so they could be uploaded to my image thing. They aged me 2 years to catch up, and when I turned it on 'that' is what I saw. No wings, but it was the same face."
Rashmi's eyebrow twitches upward, a small smile touching her lips. "I'd thought it was something like that," is all she says in response, one shoulder rising and falling. "…Are you okay with that, though?"
James looks up with his face, but not his eyes, "No. Not really." There's a shrug, "Zack's right, about me. I got what I deserved. I got to be human again, and because of that moment of 'weak will' the day I learn to change back is the day I start seeing that face everyday." He sighs and looks over at the TV as they start covering some Myth Busters version of Shark Week, "And I made a decision. This is me. For now. No image thing. Not until I can do it on my own again."
Rashmi's head tilts to one side. "I don't know what Zack said, so I guess I couldn't say… But I understand, James. And… for what it's worth? I think that's probably going to be the bravest thing you've ever said in your life."
James says "Ehhh!" and shrugs it off, "It's what I got, so it's what I got. I'll earn the other some other day." He glances up at the clock, "Funny thing was, the first thing across my mind was how was I going to explain to Lucas I couldn't use his gift." He smiles, "True story."
Rashmi chuckles softly. "Well… you never know if it could come in handy, you know? If I were you, I'd hang onto it, just the same. Just, you know, in case you really *do* need it. Never hurts to be prepared for whatever, right?"
James nods, "I suppose so." he falls quiet, uncomfortable, "On the upside, I'm talking to my parents again." He smirks, "It's…different. But I took your advice. So, you're not falling on deaf ears." He wipes his hands across his jeans, "Anyways…I better go make sure Jade isn't wondering the halls lost or something."
Rashmi nods, getting up from her chair as well, head tilted to one side. "James," she says after a moment, "…are you *happier,* now that you're talking to your parents again…?"
James stands, stretches and walks over towards Rashmi. The big furry thing puts his fists on his hips and towers over in a mockingly bad display of dominance; his hackles playfully flared, "I'd like to give you some sort of smart answer just so I'd fell better about you not being right all the time, but…you are. And yes, I am." He offers a hug, "Thanks."
Rashmi returns the hug with a radiant smile, eyes closing briefly. "I don't care if I'm right, James. I'm just glad to know you're happier. If it's because I guessed right, well… that's just really a bonus, you know?"
The large hyena-boy encircles her with his arms and gives Rashmi a snug before letting her go, "Yeah…well…you know…" Cryptic, but very James-like. He follows it up with, "Danger Room tomorrow. So…rest up. Okay. I'm still in my 'listening only to 1/2 of my team mode' so you'll need your sleep."
Rashmi chuckles, patting the hyena's shoulder. "I'll keep that in mind… Good night, James."
"Night," James says looking over his shoulder briefly before heading to bed
