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Summary: Connor how much of a Crazy Train Xavier's is, Skyler confronts Robyn about earlier and Mike is emotional support.
Date: April 21, 2010
Log Title The Aftermath
Rating: PG-13
Xavier Mansion - Observation Deck
Glass windows surround the circular room giving a full view of the school grounds. Two telescopes sit in front of the window for students to looks at the stars. A few comfortable chairs and couches with a few tables are placed up here for students to relax. There's a door off to one of the sides that leads up to the attic above here.
After the fracas downstairs, and finding that a workout, and another walk around the campus has done nothing to improve his mood… Connor finds himself laying on one of the couches in the Observation area, and is just staring. There's a pen and a notebook closeby with nothing but some scribbled notes and several doodles on it. In front of him… in a very uncharacteristic fashion… is a mess. A couple cans of Dr. Pepper are on the ground, one tipped and resting against it's standing brother, half the contents of his shoulder pack spilled out, and his laptop and phone out haphazardly where someone can step on it.
Classes are over, dinner is eaten and now coming up to relax in the Observation Deck while ignoring some homework seems like a good idea to Robyn. He also has had a bit of a stressful day so the relaxation is nice. Stepping in with some oatmeal craisin cookies and a bottle of cherry coke is Robyn in all black like usual. "Hey Connor, mind company? I won't make a mess on the carpet."
Given the correlation between coming up here to the top floor of the Mansion (especially to the greenhouse) and being caught in weird and increasing drama, Mike Drakos has been considering, "Is it really worth the spectacular view of the sunset for the disaster?"
He's been standing like furniture watching the late-spring sky and doing his best to go unnoticed.
Skyler has been on the hunt for Robyn after the confrontation with Jordan in the rec room. After following a few directions from his fellow students he finally finds Robyn here in the Observation Lounge. He pauses as he steps out of the elevater and sighs. Along with Connor. Dammit. "Hey, Robyn," he says giving the teen a friendly wave. "We… uh… need to talk."
Connor cannot be seen by Skyler as he's laying on the couch, but when the other voice comes, he tenses for several moments, and his eyes open a bit. Sitting up, he unruffles his hair a bit, and reaches down to pick at his things, shifting them towards his pack, "If you two want some space, I can find some other place to veg…" He sounds almost… hollow… as he says it, as if the emotion had been leeched out of him for the moment.
Robyn offers a wave to Mike and is about to greet him when Skyler approches. Turning he looks at Skyler. "Sure Sky, what's up? Everything okay?" Thinking it might be something with Robin. "I'm fine with you staying Connor but then I don't know what Skyler wants to talk about.
Mike turns when Connor speaks. That voice thing is FAR too familiar, and rather than saying "see, it's NOT just me who does it" to Robyn, he returns the wave instead, and walks over to Connor. His voice is only barely mechanical at the moment.
"Connor? You need to vent about stuff, remember I'm available as a cold, hard, uncomfortable shoulder to lean on." Yeah, he did hear the sotto-voce muttering from his newest squadmate, and he is a bit concerned for the reason for the muttering, given the list of names. But he's also curious about Sky's reason-to-talk, and chiding himself for being nosy.
Skyler waves a hand at Connor. "No, it's okay. You were there, and Mike's a friend." He turns to Robyn, "You should find Jordan tonight, and talk with him. He finally met Theo." A pause and a wry grin. "And his fist met Theo's nose." He sighs, and shakes his head. "And then he lost it. Sinister took control, and he was ready to crucify the poor bastard. Connor tried to keep the peace, from what I saw, but if I hadn't been in the area, I think we might have had two more corpses on our hands." That last? Not a joke.
Connor shakes his head, "Thanks for the vote of confidence. Among my wide range of underused skills I can also teleport…" The words sounding almost lame as they roll off his tongue. Looking up at Mike he nods, and then says, "Nice boyfriend you have Robyn… when he's not all pasty and threatening to shove pencils into your heart…" Wincing a bit as it comes out, he turns and just flops on the couch, "Okay… that was out of line… and yeah… I defended Theo. I'm sure that's going to come back and bite me on the butt."
Robyn just kind of pales at the news, and doesn't really say anything, there's a bit a wince at some of the words. He just closes his eyes and sighs, with a nod. "Connor…." Is all he can say as he shakes his head. "Oh fuck Skyler, I…he wasn't like that we were down in Flordia but I told him about Theo and my nose and…I didn't know he was gonna punch Theo." Not that he's really upset to hear it but he's not happy it was over him. "Shit." He says looking down, almost scared.
Mike (even though he's un-imaged and thus all robot) still manages to wince, or flinch, at that statement. Yeah, he warned Theo about it. For all the good that did. Then he gets a look at Skyler and freezes, for just a moment.
"Is that your default now, Skyler?" He considers the look. Not … terrible, really. Skyler's personality showing through makes it actually not too creepy, for the moment.
"Also, what do you mean Sinister took over? Hasn't Jordan seen Addison to have the mind-rot debrided?" (Mike considers, lovely word, "debriding" — it's using a number of sharp instruments to cut away and remove necrotic tissue. Thank you, word of the day calendar!)
Skyler says, "Yes," comes the answer to Mike's first question. To his second, Skyler answers, "No. Jordan doesn't trust Addison." He shrugs as if this is a non-issue. Back to Robyn. "Yeah. He's not having an easy time of it and is going to need your support now more than ever.""
Connor shakes his head, "It's not the punching I'd worry about…" Taking a deep breath, and then scrubbing at his eyes, "Seriously… look Robyn… I'm not going to give any relationship advice… I've never had anyone that close ever… but seems to me… if he won't let one person get in there… someone else should. Or someone to talk to outside of things. Trust Crazy Kid when he says therapists are great for unloading on." Nudging his laptop once more with his boot, he then asks Mike, "So how's the Meckmobile coming along? You didn't debut it last night at our session. But… I could have been too busy trying not to lose my shit to notice."
Robyn shakes his head. "Yeah, Jordan doesn't think Addison is right, he really creeps him out." He says meekly as he just sinks to a sitting possession on the floor. "God, I hate Sinister." He says taking a deep breath. "He really has to be okay, he's been trying to get in touch with one of the YOunger Avengers but…and I know about therapists Connor, I've seen one before." He admits. He's just a bit disheartened is all.
Mike's answer to Skyler is carefully phrased. "Of course he doesn't trust Addison, he's had a psychotic telepath mucking in his head laying his mind-eggs. Why would he want another one in there. Still doesn't mean it's a good thing to go around with those eggs still in place."
Which is basically Mike saying, 'Yeah, I don't trust Jordan now and am scared of anyone who phases objects into people.' Though he'd try to find a nicer way to say that. Even if Robyn says he's looking for someone else to do it - a Younger Avenger? Would that mean 'someone I can fool more easily?' Nevermind, Mike, this is NOT a positive line of thought.
Connor brought up the session… ah, blessed distraction. "I got too busy talking to Astro and didn't finish the Meckmobile. It's done now, so I'll bring it to our next session."
Skyler shrugs at Mike as he goes over to lay a reassuring hand on Robyn's shoulder. "Pushing him would only make him resist more," he says. "I know what he's going through. Hell, If I was given a choice I probably wouldn't want Addison mucking about in my brain. Especially now…" he trails off, leaving that thought alone. He's read about the Phoenix Force. If even /half/ of it is true, it's enough to scare the bejeebus out of him.
Connor closes his eyes and breathes out his nose, almost whispering, "All I could think about in that moment was that… he was going to kill someone… he was going to kill someone without realizing the fallout of his actions. His family… you Robin… how people would feel about him after that. One action that could change so much… and he just wanted to smile and laugh. Okay… so this Sinister guy lives up to the title… I get that much… but the problem with all of this is… he's letting Sinister win. By resisting… by being bitter… by giving in to those impulses… he wins every time. Until your beau can see that, Robyn… he might as well not go out." Leaning forward, he rubs at his eyes, "Shit… I want off the crazy train, please. I'd kill for it to be Christmas again… and I could be ignorant about the first blackout… and waking up in the school gym…"
Robyn Mike gets quite the nasty look from Mike, and it's not pleasant at all. He just grips the sides of his jeans and doesn't look at anyone. He wants to run and away and just hit something or cry or just be alone but he doesn't move. "Mike. Just shut up." He says in regards to the phasing of objects in someone. He still has the scars. "Sinister is one of the worst things to exist and you think you want out of here? You've only been on it a few weeks."
That's ominous. "Especially now what?" Mike asks Skyler. He doesn't know that it's the firebird thing that has Skyler spooked, but to be honest, it doesn't scare Mike that much. It's like being afraid of the volcano at Yellowstone or fearing the sun will explode suddenly. But then again Mike has that peculiar notion that he speaks daily with the creator of the Universe, and his sense of proportion is probably skewed a bit by that.
The nasty look from Robyn … "Sorry, man, I know that sounded harsh. I apologize."
But then the crazy train comment… "Yeah, Connor, I understand that. I switched off my emotions for most of last month. Everyone was telling me how wrong that was, but I didn't kill anyone from fear or rage, and I attribute that to being able to think rationally about things. Which still didn't mean I was always right, or always did the right thing, as I just demonstrated here. Part of the problem is that we're at a place which has become a target. More of us in one place, so more of a targe
"More of us in one place, so more of a target, but … we'd be targets anywhere. But that's … kinda part of life. There's no promise of pure and wonderful all the time."
Connor whispers out softly as he closes his eyes once more, "I'm sorry Robyn… you don't deserve to have this dumped in your lap like this…" Reaching over he ruffles Robyn's hair a bit, and then pulls his shoulder in against him rightly, "I could have said it better… I could have done a lot of things better… I should have just grabbed Theo and gone… shoulda, coulda, woulda… you know?" Looking back up at Mike, and banging the bottom of his fist against his metallic side to as his little smirk threatens to return, "No wonder people don't worry about hazing here… it just sorta happens anyways."
Skyler shakes his head at Connor. "You don't understand. Addison has the Phoenix Force. It's made him…. very very powerful. It allowed him to undo in hours what Sinister took days to accomplish." He levels his odd, pupiless stare at the new student. "From everything I've read, it starts out like this. He's fine. He's helpful and tries to do the right thing. But then the power will go to his head. He'll start deciding that whatever his opinion is will be the right thing, and he'll /make/ it happen. The Phoenix will, the, kind of take over and then he blows everything up." He scowls at that. "And I do mean /everything/. Not just Earth."
Robyn shakes his head. "Well it's also that it's kind of my fault, I mean, I was just getting so pissed with Theo just unknowingly insulting me, Mike was there, he can tell you. But I was dumb, I said something purposefully that ruffled Theo's feathers, if I just acted smart and kept my mouth shut. Theo wouldn't have attacked me and Mike wouldn't have gotten attacked either and the fight today wouldn't have happened." All cause Robyn was being snarky. "The Phoenix Force, I've felt it when I've drained Addison, it's…I've never felt anything like it. It makes me want more."
"Phoenix Force?" Mike shrugs, "Sounds like an angel incarnating, and … Wait. You mean that firebird that came through and left birdprints on all my designs when I was in the medbay last month? That was real, huh… I dunno, it seems like if it was really likely to destroy everything it would already have done so. The universe is pretty old, after all."
He looks over at Robyn. "Theo would have attacked me anyway sooner or later. He's a clinical sociopath. He doesn't have the ability to tell 'OK' from 'Way Too Far'. That was why I was asking him all those questions - his answers were all from the 'beware' list. My Mom made me go through a group leader training thing for church stuff, it included some 'when is the person in your class OK and when are they dangerous' tests."
Mike smiles internally and it comes out in his voice. "Besides, it hurt me a little but he ended up getting much the worst of it."
"Guys…" Sitting up a bit more and looking around while he keeps hugging Robyn close for a sense of comfort, "End of the day? Theo's not worth killing… he's also not worth the time it takes to complain about him. So… be nice to him, be polite… but don't waste your breath on anything else." Connor then adds with a glance to Skyler, "Thanks for back in the Rec Room… otherwise it really would have gotten messy. It's just… I guess I got a bit ticked because I felt snubbed by you… but thinking back, I don't think that's such a bad thing."
Skyler grins at Connor, and rubs the back of his head. "Yeah, sorry about that, Connor. I just saw Jordan be… I just know what he can do. Everybody's safety was foremost in my mind." And letting Jordan do what he pleased was in the back. Nevermind that. "Sorry if I was kurt," he says, sticking a hand out to the new kid. "I'm Skyler, by the way."
Robyn leans against Connor for a bit. "Theo bugs me but I did apologize for the comment, I said my peace." But Robyn still thinks he's a dick but he tries to be civil. "I just thought this was all over ya know, we were supposed to be normal for a bit. James was doing better, he had me laughing the other night but…I hate today."
Mike looks over slyly at Skyler, but of course the 'slyly' doesn't show. "Kurt? You copied Nightcrawler? What's it like?"
He shifts over and sits next to Robyn. Bit of the kid-pack thing going on perhaps, as he returns Connor's side-poke. But softly. "Y'know I haven't seen James except for brief skulking away from each other between classes, for what, two months, now? How's he doing now? I heard he was having the post-traumatic pretty hard."
"Yes, briefly," Skyler says to Mike. "It was actually kind of cool. He's really quick and flexible and the tail is a hoot. He was the first teleporter I copied."
Connor seems to go quiet again, "James… another one I boned… I… I was kinda hoping we could be friends… but… I dunno… I think I made the wrong call there. I'm not even sure if he really likes me… or just likes fucking with me." Another soft shrug comes as he reaches up with his free hand to take Skyler's hand and shakes it once, before then finally saying, "I wouldn't recommend copying mine then… you wouldn't like the side effects." Finally, he removes his hand from Robyn's shoulders and pats his leg, "Okay… group agreement. We all hate today. It's almost gone… so hell with it. Wednesday sucks. But thursday… Thursday's always good. It's nice and boring. Nothing happens on it."
"James likes to mess with people but he's one of the closest friends of mine." Though Robyn knows many people dislike James. "Yeah, it's almost gone, I'll have to go see Jordan and make sure he's okay. Really, he's not a bad guy, he's great when he's with me. I just know he's had a hard time dealing with it and as much as I didn't ask him to puch Theo or anything, he's just protective."
Mike says with a grin in his voice, "Still think it would be cool if you could copy me, Sky. Just to see if I'm as insane as I seem. I don't think Eddie really GOT what I'm like. Scratch that. I'm sure he didn't."
He looks over at Robyn. "I am really sorry, Rob, for earlier. I wasn't thinking before I spoke. One of my besetting sins."
He nods about James. "I like James. I like his sense of humor sometimes, even when I'm the target. He's been kinda skittish of me, I think… and now that I've heard he has a similar machine-sense to Theo, I guess I understand that."
"I… haven't really hung around James all that much," Skyler says. To Connor he just give the kid a grin. "Yeah, everybody says something like that. Before…" a pause and then he gestures to himself. "Before this I didn't have a body of my own. I had to copy other people's. I got to copy a bunch of different people around here, and they all have their own quirks."
Connor hmphs once and then pushes up off the couch, and walks towards the windows, his back to the others as he leans against it, looking outside for several moments, "Fine then… truth time. I was scared before about talking about it… but I had a talk with Jonothon… and pretty much… you being aware will help." Turning around, he leans against the clear glass, and looks back at the group, "The energy field I have access to can cause spikes of negative emotions, feelings of paranoia… sensations of whispers and someone watching you out of the corner of your eye. So it's a juggling act… learning to control it, and get stronger… and at the same time not let it all get to me. The other part of it… is that apparently things from other dimensions who are powerful enough might feel me out. I heard something about the demon thing… so yeah… stuff like that." Finally, he adds another shrug before he smiles a bit more, "Sorry I didn't say anything before."
Robyn walks over to Connor and smiles. "It's okay, it's scary sounding but we all have our problems, we really do. I'm a psychic vampire, I can't go day to day without draining energy from someone, I think I told you that. Mike, well, I can't even begin to understand Mike's powers and like Skyler said, he doesn't have his own form. Don't be sorry you didn't tell us about your powers, all of our powers are scary."
"Well, on the upside, it's a pretty awesome body," Mike says to Skyler. "Although I'm sure there is a down side. That seems to be true for all of us here, though."
He looks at Connor, eyes lighting up to provide unintentional dramatic lighting for the speech.
He reaffirms Robyn's statement too. "Really, Connor? It sounds a lot like that darkforce-stuff that some of the kids had. And Mr. Gilpatrick has it, I think. Also I win the naming prize cause I was right when I called it chtulhuportation, huh? I still don't really know what they saw when Theo turned my dimensional inverters halfway-on, but I saw it freaked Jono out."
Skyler is about to reply to Connor about how similar his powers are to the Darkforce when Mike beats him to the punch. He nods as Mike speaks and chuckles. "Cthulhuportation. That's… pretty accurate, yeah. I copied a girl once with Darkforce powers. It was a lot like you said, although I don't think she was firmly grounded in reality to begin with." He turns to Robyn and shakes his head. "I do, now. This is it. I can still turn into other people, still, but the patter will eventually fade." He sighs at Mike and nods. "Yeah. The downside is that while I'm in this form I've still got Essex bouncing around in my head. He… genetically remade himself to be what he is. I'm a copy of him. The longer I'm in this form, the more he begins to take over." He sighs, and looks sadly out of the window. "Addison tried to tell me that his evil isn't genetic. But a lot of it is."
Connor listens to you all, and smirks a bit, "Allright… I know… we've all got our share of problems… but I wasn't admitting to mine before… and not acknowledging of other things…" To Robyn, he just gives him a hug, patting him on the back, "By the way… I suck at making and keeping friends… so this is all kinda… different for me." Letting him go, he gives Mike another bang on his chassis, "Thanks for the name… I suppose it's cool." Then he stops in front of Skyler, and holds out his hand, "Go ahead… copy me. Sounds like you need a vacation from you for a bit."
Robyn returns the hug quick and smiles. "Don't worry about it Connor, a bunch of us here suck at making friends, but I've become good at keeping them." He looks at Skyler and takes a deep breath. "Thanks, for letting me know about Jordan, I'll definitely be there for him, I gotta be strong, that's all. For Jordan." And one can really tell he cares a lot about his significant other from the look on his face. "Mike, sorry for snappiing, just kind of stressed today. Thanks again." He says before looking at Connor. "I am still counting on that bad movie night." He says before saying g'night and leaving.
Mike snorts. "You just want a twin, Connor." He doesn't complain about the guy trying to dent him, either. "Sky, I don't want to go religious on you," Mike says, "but really, it's true for everyone. We're all made with the capacity for evil, and it's hard to NOT give into it. And personality is definitely in part from genetics, and part from biology, and part from how you're raised. Which doesn't really explain me that well, after the fact. But you're clearly a part of this, you don't HAVE to turn into mini-Sini. You can rebel."
He grins at Connor, to take the sting off the 'twin' thing, and then murmurs, "No prob, Robyn. See ya later."
"Later Robyn," Skyler says offering him a friendly wave. He considers Connor's offer for a moment before and gently takes his hand. The change is a quick process, barely even ten seconds long, by the end of it is a perfect copy of Connor. "Yeah, Mike," he says with Connor's voice. "That's what I thought too. But…" he shakes his head not knowing how to explain it. "I don't know. He coded himself into my genetics. It's not mental. Addison made sure to take care of that."
Connor smiles as Robyn turns to leave, "It's a deal on the bad movie night… I made a promise… I'm gonna stick around to keep it. I may be having a breakdown… but c'mon… now go talk with your man and sort it all out." Shrugging as he smiles and then turns back to look at Skyler, then back at Mike, "Wow… okay… that's as freaky as it is impressive… what do you think?"
Mike blinks. Yes, he can do that. He shrugs, "You're twice as lovely, now."
The blink happens again as parts of Mike are grinding information. "Wait, he coded his PERSONALITY into your genetic code along with a copy of his body and… what, the rest of his powers too? Did he also include the incredibly stupid misunderstanding of Darwinist evolution and his interesting take on scientific method? Wait, in that case… "
Mike's eyes flash on and off very quickly for a few seconds before he says in a more mechanical tone. "Uuhm. Taalk to D-dr. Mc Coyy. He knows thaat sztuff. He rewrooote himszelf, a lot like Iii did, oonly with geeeeneticsz. If aanyone can maaake it easzier to rebeeel, (h)ee can."
He mutters to himself, "probability 88% sample-and-report tactic, probability 70% failsafe self-clone, probability 100% future trouble…"
Skyler blinks at Mike for a moment, listening to his words as he hitches up his pants that are now too big for him. "Yeah. I thought that, too, though I think we can rule out the sample-and-report. I had his mark for over a year and he could have done it then." He shrugs. "I did talk to Dr. McCoy. He said it's going to take some time to try to piece together what Essex did."
Connor is still boggling at the complete physical likeness, even walking around Skyler once, before saying, "Unreal… wow… heh… this is actually kinda cool. I hope it helps with that whole Sinister thing… ummm…" He pauses and then asks, "So… does this mean you can do my classes for me… sorry, couldn't resist." Another small chuckle escaping him before he comes back around to Mike, and puts his hand on the mechanical youth's shoulder, "Since we're talking about stuff still… I may have to eat some crow later… Lucas… James' roomie… was giving me a hard time. I… I went to his room with a gift. Something to maybe make him feel better. He all but well… pretty much said I was hitting on James." Which causes a small frown to crease his face, "I blew up at him. Just… I… I like James. I can't really explain it other than… the one sane moment I've had here since I got here was sitting there watching a movie… nothing wrong. Nothing dramatic. just us hanging out for the most part. Then he murmurs, "Then we talked… and… I thought we had a connection."
Mike nods. "Have you ever had many close friends, Connor?"
He fully expects to hear a 'no' in response. Because bringing a gift to James, and then Lucas giving him a hard time over it, and … well. It's just All The Signs Point To Jealousy from the blond boy with the frighteningly engaging grin.
"Also, Skyler? Magneto told me that there is never a single reason for anything Essex does. Maybe he DID get your history before, or maybe he redesigned your body to do the sampling for him if he ever uses you for a backup. I do know that my subconscious said that if you can't beat him with technology, you should use magic. He doesn't seem to GET magic."
Yeah, and this is coming from a robotic kid.
Skyler purses his lips thoughtfully at Mike, thinking that over. He knows that magic exists. Hell, he tried dating a magician. He doesn't have any trouble at /all/ with magic. "There's an idea," he says out loud. He shakes his head and rests a hand on a metallic shoulder. "Believe me. I /know/ what that man is capable of."
Connor moves away for a moment, stops, and then looks back, blinking at Skyler… and then his eyes go wide, "Holy…" And then approaches the pair, and says after licking his lips, "If you were this guy… this Sinister… and you wanted to make sure you got your hands on as any genetic profiles of as any of us as possible… how would you do it…" Stopping as he puts a hand on both your shoulders, "I think I got part of it… he made you to be a recorder… that's why a part of him is in there… it's well… the monitoring software… probably with a part of your brain partitioned for data storage. I mean… when you get down to it, the genetic code according to Doctor McCoy is data, just like anything else."
Mike nods. "I liked it better than the first three ideas my random insane subconscious came up with. The first one was 'detonate the sun'."
Skyler nods at Connor. "Believe me. This already had been discussed. With smarter people than us." Even though Skyler's intelligence while in Kid Sinister form is well into the genius spectrum. He blinks at Mike and says, slowly. "Well, yeah, that's one way to do it."
Connor brings his hands down and rolls his fingers over each other like a barrel, "Sorry… I'm still trying to catch up with about ninety percent of the conversations around here… so bear with me a little while. I mean… until I got here, I never even considered taking physics… now I kinda have to in order to get how my power works."
Mike nods and taps his chest. "I've got a giant brain in here, I'm actually a lot smarter than I care to admit. Also, for me, Connor, the hard thing about your power is to tell whether your paranoia and confusion are due to brain chemical confusion, or due to your ability to sense negative-zone entities at a distance."
He shifts over closer to Skyler. The sky is now dark outside the observation deck and he looks to the north, trying to see whether there's an aurora visible past the visual smog of New York.
Skyler chuckles at Connor, grinning. "Dr. McCoy is still puzzled about how my power actually works. It has something to do with an extra set of chromosomes to hold my X-Gene so that I have room for everybody else's." He shrugs and shakes his head. "I'd break my brain if I thought about it too much. Anyway. I need to go find my girlfriend. Later!"
Connor immediately says, "I hope she thinks I'm cute… I'd really hate to think I was an ugly boyfriend…" Blushing a bit at the words before turning to look at the weather with Mike, "Catch you later man… and… thanks for before. Again. I could have handled it, but you handled it better." Sighing once before he stretches and yawns a bit, and says to the mechanical teen, "I'm glad you have some of it sorted… I'm still getting wrapped around the idea that I can teleport. Let alone at will."
