2010-04-01: Stone Walls Do Not a Prison Make

Players:

Jade_icon.jpg James_icon.jpg

Summary: Jade returns a favor.

Date: April 1, 2010.

Log Title Stone Walls Do Not a Prison Make

Rating: PG-13


Xavier Mansion - Holding Cells

Three cells line each wall each with an energy barrier that can be switched on and off with those with the security codes. The tech here is advanced and not something an average person can figure out. Inside the cells there are degrees of powers suppression, depending on who it's holding. There are cameras monitoring those held in here so there isn't much privacy. Each cell has a bed and a toilet in it and those held in here would be feed regularly. The door leading to the rest of the mansion is made of a thick, heavy steel, and is locked securely by advanced electronic means..


Students aren't supposed to be down here, but students are. In fact, one such student comes whistling her way through the doors. The cane taps against the ground in a sweeping pattern, and the tune is fine on her lips. Might even be "In the Jailhouse now" by the Soggy Bottom boys. Arriving at the cell in question, she pauses and sets down her picnic basket, withdrawing a checkered cloth to lay over the ground. Rich scents of sausages and onions and peppers rise from her basket, along with a crispy hotness of fried chicken.

As expected, James has made quite a mess of his cell. It's not out of spite that he did his customization. It's just another extension of his need to express chaos in the face of the neat and orderly. The latter being the pristine condition his cell was in. If one were to look in, they'd see the bed fixings were now on the floor and mostly shoved in the corner where he's made a makeshift fort. This would, of course, be IF one could see in. Over most of the viewable surface of the door James has somehow managed to hang a bed sheet, blocking out most casual glances. However, the noisealong with the smell of foodis enough to arouse the monster from his den. In a moment, two eyes peer out from a raised corner of the blanket at the bottom of the door. The hyena watches the girl for a moment and responds in a rather upbeat manner, "Hi!" It's less of a question than a statement, as if he expects her to be out there. Or, rather, is glad she is.

She continues to whistle, breaking into song. "I knew a guy named aramblin' Rob, he liked to steal, gamble and rob…. thought he was the smartest guy aaa-round," she pretends like she doesn't see him (which she doesn't) or hear him (which she does). She settles herself on the blanket and begins unloading tha basket. Big greasy Philly cheezesteaks, fresh and crunchy fried chicken, corn on the cob that smells 2 hours from the field. "Oh…!" She pauses, pulling out a coke frosty and moist from it's cocoon of ice. "Why, is that James' voice I hear?" she lifts a hand to her ear, cupped dramatically towards the sound.

"Yeaaaah?" James asks suspiciously, "Who are you?" He's quiet for a long moment, head tilted towards his fellow classmate. As if she could see it. He looks over the food and and looks back at her, feeling the pangs of hunger even though he just ate recently. Dinner as a matter of fact. "That some of..umm…Cam? Cam's cooing?" He disappears and returns in a moment and pulls at his would-be blind so that he doesn't have to keep holding the corner back.

"Naw. He makes weird stuff. This here is take-out. I got Popeye's to deliver… and this place with the Cheezesteaks did not mind the tip to leave it by the door," Jade peels off a caramelized onion and extends her little forked tongue to slurp it up. "Mm. So good…." she smiles and dabs the corner of her mouth with her napkin. Angling her head a little, she lifts some of the crunch bread to bite through, chewing thoughtfully as her dark glasses reflect the image of the cell. "How does it feel to be on the other side of the glass?"

James, narrows his eyes a little, "I wouldn't know." He gives Jade a sniff. Not the food, but the person herself, "This is about something I did, isn't it?" He'd frown…well he does…but it doesn't count as anything that passes as a sapien's expression. "Hate to break it to you, but I don't have access to any memories past the middle of January. They're gone." He tries to look down the hallway to see who else might be waiting in the wings before looking back, "So, whatever it was I did…I dunno what it was. But, I'm sorry." There's a sigh and his head drops down a little, only the tips of his ears visible.

"Do you remember bringing me down here, and having a picnic in front of Jono for the pure sake of making him remember?" she asks, picking up a wing now to crunch into the crispy skin, chewing as she regards where she expects him to he in the glass. Jade brushes her hair behind her ear, the tendrils waving in agitation. She may appear calm, but her hair tells a truer story. "Do you remember any of it?"

James moves his head from side to side, "No." It's as singular of an answer as he always gives when that's all he has to offer to a question. There's a pause before he follows it up with, "He was here earlier though. Jonothon. He brought me dinner." There's a sigh, "You can hear me right? I dunno how these cells work. But, if you can't, let me know and I'll speak louder. But, anything past January I can't remember." Another deeeeeep disappointed sigh, "Addison did it while they figure out what happened to me."

"Oh." It's Jade's answer when she has only one thing to offer. She looks towards the glass, the chicken poised in her hand and breathes a long sigh. "Here, then," she gathers up the cheeze steak she brought and peeking towards the cell door in a furtive glance, slides to to the plate where food is delivered. "You might as well enjoy it, then."

Sadly, there's no food door. It's a cell for super villains. And even the lame hyena-themed ones might make use of a small opening. So it bumps against the door. James perks up and looks down at it, "It's cool. I already ate." He inspects the spread while he's poised to peek, however. "They had a Popeye's in the town over from where I lived in Indiana. I liked their Shrimp." He sinks back to laying flat on the floor, ear tips visible once again, "I don't need the details." There's a laugh, "Actually, I'd prefer not to have them. But, this thing between you and I? Was it.." He looks up and grits his teeth a little, "Bad?"

"It was really bad," Jade says, nodding. The sandwich leaves a smear against the glass where the door should be and isn't. The perils of being blind. "Whenever I see you, I end up feeling like crap in one way or another. That particular incident was a particular hi light. I think it was worse than your introducing me to the school," her hair waves around her face, peeling back away from her freckled neck only to crash down again in undulating waves. "Mr. Jono called me names. You called me names. I really should have left right then and there and made my way out in the world."

James clicks his teeth, and stays silent for a long moment, "I'm sorry?" There's an attempt at a laugh, "I know it probably doesn't mean a lot if you and I are to 'this' point. But…I can try." He runs a nail over the nearly hermetically-sealed door and says, "I ain't gonna do the 'mile in my shoes' thing…but imagine my surprise. I laid down last night worry about a history test. When I woke up I found out it was three months later and some asshole had been running around in my body." He shifts his weight a little moves his ears back, "No one will tell me what happened. But, if it's so bad that they cut three months out of my life and locked me up…I'm…kinda scared to know."

Jade's jaw sets at a little angle. "You said sorry before," she tells him, a sulk forming a crease between her brows. "It's hard to believe it a second time. There's some saying my mom would tell me about fooling and like, something but I don't remember it. I miss my home," she turns her head, tendrils of her hair waving gently. "Here, people are either trying to beat me up, prove themselves, or cook. Or some combination of the three. The classes are great and all, but it's pretty weird." She breathes a sigh and turns to pack up her lunch. "Here I was coming down to be shitty at you for a change, and I just end up feeling bad. I guess I just need a thicker skin to survive here."

James almost says something, evident by the intake, but all that comes out is empty thought. It takes a moment for him to counter with, "Well…if it makes you feel better there are things I did that I'd probably have done anyways." He grins and offers a laughs, "But…whatever happened made me take things a lot further than I might have otherwise. Once Addison gets things figured out, maybe we can work through that?" There's another smile, "Which I hope is 'really' soon. Otherwise I have 3 months of classroom stuff I need to relearn."

Jade tilts her head. "So you have a fellow student who's sorting through your memories, and going to put things back in your head?" she asks now, too curious to not pursue the subject. "Isn't that sorta weird? People really trust each other with everything here. It's like leaving the bathroom door open all the time… what's to hide anymore?" She waves a hand a little and puts the bag of chicken back into her basket, though the coke stays out. It is frosty and delicious, after all.
The hyena shrugs, for all the girl can see, "You think I have a choice?" There's a sardonic laugh, "I got wrestled to the floor by an X-man or something. I think privacy is the least of my concerns right now." SIIIIIIGGGGHH. "But, I guess. I dunno. All I know is I came here so I could turn back to normal. Whatever it takes, right? Maybe Addison can fix that while he's at it." He looks up over the door, "You never told me your name, by the way."

Jade blinks at the wall and the hyena behind it. "My name is Jade," she says, sorta not believing all of this. The boy who cried wolf and all that. Or who cried hyena, more apt. She leans down, feeling around for the corner of her blanket in order to pick it up and fold it together. "The rest is really not that important, I suppose. I feel like an idiot." The blanket is folded into a careful square, though inside out. Her fingers flip open the basket's lid and she puts it inside.

James makes a noise, "oy…Jono kinda warned me about you." He's quick to correct, "Not…WARN like there's something wrong. The kinda warn like something had happened. Same with Tara. Few others." He lays back flat on the floor, "Jono said part of why I was in here was to protect 'me' and not because I might do something." Eyes peek out from the door again, "Judging by you showing up, he's probably right."

Jade gives a long look towards the glass, her lips pressing together in a tight line. She shakes her head a little, and bends to pick up her basket, looping it over her arm. "You really have been a colossal ass," she says as mildly as she can manage. Being young, it's hard for her to imagine herself as anything but in supreme control of her emotions, when nothing could be further from the truth. "He was probably right." A pause. "Goodnight, James."

James nods and lets out a long sigh, "Night Jade." He pulls the pencil he was using to hold his make-shift curtain open and lets it fall shut. Partially draped across his muzzle, the nose disappears into the darkness behind it leaving nothing but covered glass. "Hey Jade? Do me a favor? If you see Jono later, send him back down? Just, you know…wanna talk. No rush." Sound of rustling behind the glass as he gets situated in his bed pile in the far corner.

"Okay, I will," she calls back. Feeling like a heel, Jade taps her way out of the detention area.

The hyena's eyes glow an eerie green in the darkness. A natural reflection of the light from his black eyes. But, in a moment, the glow becomes matched by the gleam of his bright white teeth. His mouth pulls back into a smile almost too large for his head, a head that tilts as he begins to enjoy the moment. The best part of which he gets to proclaim, "And Jade…?" It's almost a mocking tone, "Happy April Firsssst." The last part almost emitted as a hiss. A dark laugh echoes down the hallway, following the student out as she leaves.

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