2010-05-31: The Return

Players:

Charles_icon.jpg Connor_icon.jpg Robyn_icon.jpg Tara_icon.jpg

Summary: Professor Charles Xavier makes his return to the school.

Date: May 31, 2010

The Return

Rating: G


Xavier Mansion - Right Path

A brick path off the courtyard cuts through the grass to lead to the other areas on the outside grounds of Xavier's. There are a few benches that line the path so students can sit and enjoy outside. Either side of the path the grass is well manicured and has enough room for students to have a picnic, play Frisbee, or relax and study. At night there are small lamps that raise three feet off the ground to provide light.


It's a nice day out and it's Memorial Day so there are no classes which means Robyn's outside for the time being. He's outside lying in the grass staring up at the sky jusst cloud watching. Letting his mind wander he's figuring out what each cloud looks like to him. Right now there's one that he staring at as in his mind he sees it as one of the flying Monkeys from Wizard of Oz. He's got his headphones on, quiet enough though so he can hear if anyone is talking.

Laying opposite to Robyn in almost every respect is Connor, his head close by his friend and room-mate's with a bag sitting next to him. His usual attire has been replaced with a Broken-Heart I Love NY shirt in black, and sitting on his chest is a bag of Mrs. Field's, which he calmly reaches into and passes Robyn another cookie, no words being said. His own headphones are in, and he seems be actually be watching a movie on his phone at the moment.

Years have passed since the man has been on these grounds. Even more have passed since he has walked them on his own two feet. Professor Charles Xavier is slowly wandering along, taking in the differences from his last time here. In his hands is a large box. One hand brushes over his pate, as he notes students about the place. He gives a soft smile to no one in particular as he walks in the direction of the graveyards. His steps are slow and sure, a very leisurely pace.

"I GOT IT!!!" shouts an enthusiastic Tara, chasing after a frisbee that had been thrown just a bit too hard. She isn't paying any attention to where she's going when she makes a nimble leap to catch the errant disk,and ends up barreling right towards the school's founder.

Taking the cookie from Connor, Robyn takes a bite with a muffled thank you. Then upon hearing Tara, Robyn sits up, talking of his headphones that have been playing some Apoptygma Bezerk. "Watch out!" He says to the bald headed man as he notices the blind girl hurtling in Xavier's direction.

The movement of Robyn makes Connor roll over and pull the earphones from his left ear, letting the soundtrack to August Rush play out into the open air… and he winces one eye shut as he can only ponder the outcome of this action. Robyn can hear him murmur as he sets the bag of cookies next to his roomie, "Oh c'mon… we've only been back for two hours, and already chaos hits?"

Fortunately, he can sense something coming in his direction. Unfortunately, He's not quick enough to completely miss the girl coming in his direction. Thus, she nails his shoulder, spinning him in a circle and sending the box flying in the direction of the two boys sitting on the benches. Oops. "Careful." He states with a bit of a laugh steadying himself and moving a hand up to rub his shoulder. "Fortunately for you, it wasn't Logan standing here."

Tara lands hard on the sidewalk after bouncing off of Charles with a *whuff!* She immediately bounces to her feet holding the frisbee aloft with a triumphant "HA!" Then, her brain catches up to her and she realizes that before she hit the ground she hit somebody in midair. "Oh, geez!" she says rushing over to the older man, "Are you allright? I'm so sorry!"

"I dunno how bad the chaos is…but then again it is Tara." Robyn jokes as he does like the blind girl, but he knows she can be a bit of a handful and energetic. He pushes himself up and echos Tara's words. "Are you alright sir?" He walks over to the area of the man and looks at him a bit curiously for a bit. "You're the guy whose picture is in the main area of the school. Are you the one it's named after?"

Connor's hand comes up and a small glimmer appears around it, a matching aura catching on the box and suspending it's movement before it drops to the ground. Standing up with Robyn, he shuts off his movie, and begins to tuck away his things into his pockets as he approaches as well, a few steps back before he begins moving his hand back so that the box is returned to the hands of the elder man, "Here, Sir… you dropped this. It didn't hit the ground, so nothing is damaged… I think."

"I'm just fine." Charles says to Tara as he ponders for a moment before nodding to Robyn. "Yes. Professor Charles Xavier. I turned my home into this school." He explains. As the box is brought over he accepts it. The box is… VERY light. Couldn't be much of anything inside it. "Don't mind me. I was simply coming to pay my respects to those who have passed on in… unknown wars." He says with a bit of a sigh.

Tara blushes furiously when she realizes exactly /who/ it is that she ran into. "It's a very nice school," she says, not really knowing what else to say to the man, pushing up her lavender sunglasses up her nose.

"This was your home?" Robyn asks as he didn't realize it was a house before it was a school, after all the place is quite huge. "And it's nice to meet you Professor Xavier, I'm Robyn Larkin." He says showing some manners to introduce himself to the founder.

Connor releases his 'grab' on the box as it's held by the elder man, and gulps once, his hands slipping into his pockets before saying, "Connor Blake, Sir… a pleasure as well." Looking towards Tara, and arching a brow at her, before quirking a very slight smile and adding, "Are you coming to visit, or will you be staying for a while, Sir?"

"There's no need to worry miss…" Charles offers to Tara with a shake of his head. "I've been through much worse than that. Considering my history, I've made it through remarkably well, and better than many of my students." He offers a nod to Robyn. "It's nice to meet you as well. All of you. You may see me around more often. It depends upon what Scott has to say when I get a chance to speak with him." He explains. "I've… finished in Genosha."

"Tara… Tara Kincaid," says the girl, filling in the blank. "I don't see why Mr. Summers wouldn't want you to stay," she says with a shrug, and idly throws the flying disk back to the other kids she was playing catch with. It zips off first in one direction, and then she mentally tweaks it's flight so that it will get to the other kids.

"Yeah, if this is your school, why would it matter what Mr. Summers has to say?" Robyn asks as he's confused by that one. He hasn't read to much about Professor X but he does know that he's the founder, was a teacher and the leader of the X-Men. He looks over at Connor and raises his eyebrows. "Um…are there any more cookies left in that bag?" He asks sheepishly as his sweet tooth is in full gear.

"One and a half oatmeal raisin, three chocolate chocolate chip, and three peanut butter chocolate chip." Immediately comes out the older student's lips before anything else, and then suddenly, he clamps his mouth shut and ducks his head. Taking a step back he turns around and makes his way towards the bag, picking it up and going back to the group, "Would you like one, Sir? They're fresh. We just brought them back with us from…" Trailing off before attempting to explain the pair portalling back from an alleyway.

"Cookies?" asks Tara, Charles all but forgotten at the mention of the 'C' word. "Can I have one?"

As his phone rings, Professor Xavier looks at it and sighs softly. "It matters because it is his school right now. He is headmaster. I would not wish to take it out of his hands. However, being that it is my home, I may see how things are running. But, this is a phone call I must take. If you would all pardon me, I hope to get to know each of you a little bit more at a later time. I need to answer and then pay my respects. Good day, students." And with that, Charles makes his way in the direction of the graveyard, lifting hisphone.

Robyn nods to Charles's words. "It was a pleasure to meet you sir." Robyn says as he watches him walk off. Once Charles is gone, he gives a look to Connor and Tara and raises his eyebrows up. "Wow, I didn't think he really had anything to with the school anymore, or that he'd show up here. And what's a Genosha? I heard him mention it." Someone doesn't pay a ton of attention in Mutant Ethics.

Connor passes the bag of cookies to Robyn as his mouth goes off, "Genosha, island republic off the east coast of Africa. It was supposed to be a paradise nation, but inner turmoil, slavery, and several other ugly truths broke that illusion early on. Magneto was supposed to be charged with rebuilding it as a mutant paradise, but the results are still forthcoming." But he smiles after and nudges Robyn, "See? I stopped myself this time. No Bing. And give Tara a cookie… please?"

Tara hesitates as she listens to Connor. "Oookay, Encyclopedia Brown," she says to him as he goes into his prattling-off-of-facts, shaking her head. At the mention of cookies she slides up to Robyn, takes off her glasses and does her best puppy-dog-eyes impression, but it ends up coming off just creepy. "Yes, please?"

Robyn pulls out a Chocolate Chip cookie for Tara and an Oatmeal Raisin one for himself, he lays claim on the Oatmeal ones. "Oh okay, that's why it sounded familiar." Once hearing the definition it clicks as to what Genosha is. "And why's he a Brown Encyclopeida?" Kids these days, they have no clue who older iconic fictional characters are.

Connor rubs the back of his neck, and then looks down for a moment, "Sorry, Tara… one of my weird social disconnects… I guess he made me nervous. Sometimes I start talking about things without really knowing what they're supposed to mean. Robyn calls it Binging. I've been working on controlling it, but sometimes.. mouth engages before brain catches up." Shrugging once more afterwards, he just sighs again and asks, "So how was your weekend, Tara? Do anything fun?"

Tara takes the offered cookie and stuffs it in her mouth and chews, eyes growing lidded with bliss. "Mmmmm." she says around the mouthful of cookie. "Cookie," she reiterates. She tilts her head at Conner questioningly. "Binging? Like binge and purge?" As for the weekend she just shrugs. "My parents picked me up for the weekend. It was okay."

Connor shakes his head as he flops down on the grass where he was sitting before on a blanket, rifling through and taking out a peanut butter cookie, "You remember how you can talk about someone not using their brain before their mouth? It's literal for me. I sponge up information, and occasionally regurgitate like that when I'm nervous… like meeting Professor Xavier. I mean… we're talking the Martin Luther King Jr. of mutants… the Gandhi… the man who made all this possible. It's hard NOT to be nervous."

Tara finishes the rest of her cookie, licking the crumbs and slightly melted chocolate off her fingers. She shrugs at Connor's admission and says, "Hey, look. You're not the one who ran into him. He's just a guy, you know? Yeah he's done some great things but in the end he's still a human being."

Connor rolls his eyes, not that the girl would notice, and then sighs once more before crossing his arms, "Yeah… easy for you to say that right now, but I bet there's someone, somewhere… that you'd get all weak in the knees for. Everyone has role models, and people they admire. Everyone."

Tara thinks about this for a second before shrugging again. "Naw," she says. "Can you imagine it? Me going weak kneed for somebody." A definite shake of the head as she declares, "Never gonna happen."

Connor hmphs once and then shakes his head, "I don't buy that… not for a second. Somewhere… someplace… there's someone. It's cool if you don't want to say. Not my place to judge anyways." Then, he laughs a bit before reaching down and beginning to fold up the blanket, cleaning it carefully before getting the first fold done with the corners to such an exact, it takes him four tries to finish it properly.

Tara snorts at Connor's challenge. "Sure, whatever," comes her dismissal of the thought. She 'watches' Connor fold and refold the blanket until it's perfectly square. "I could help with that, you know."

Connor frowns a moment before he begins working the second fold, even to the point that he undoes the whole thing, and starts all over again, "It doesn't work like that. You could probably fold it perfectly, but then I'd still undo it because I'd feel like it wasn't right. And I know that sounds stupid… but oh well… that's how it is upstairs." Actually laughing a bit more, he finally gets it folded into a quarter, and then adds, "Hey… maybe next time we go into town for ice cream or just coffee… did you want to come? Last time it was Rashmi, Mike, Robyn, and myself… but I'm sure you'd be welcome."

"OOoh," says Tara, salivating at the thought of ice cream. "I'd love some ice cream," she admits. How this girl can pack away so much bad food and still keep her figure is a mystery. "Sucks about the OCD thing, though," she says, frowning slightly. "It's…. I don't know. I wish I could help, if nothing else for my own sanity."

Making the final fold and getting it to a mostly-perfect square, as even as possible with the technique he's using, Connor replies, "The fact that you WANT to help is enough, Tara… seriously. But… it's something that's always been here… but it took this place to really make me face it. Here…" And he 'grabs' another cookie, floating it towards the girl, "There's only one of those left, and it's mine." It's another of the chocolate chocolate chips.

Tara grabs the cookie with her own powers to bring it to herself, and proceeds to nom it. "Thanks! Omnomnomnom!" Yes. She did say it before digging into the cookie. "I guess I just feel kinda helpless watching you do that over and over again."

Connor sniffs once, and then takes the last one out, and takes a bite, catching the crumbs so that nothing spills off. Chewing and swallowing, he adds, "Heh… you think this is bad? The room couldn't be sillier. I mean… my side barely looks like anyone lives there… then Robyn's all this clutter all over the place. When I'm having a bad day, half the time I take a strip of painter's tape and put it down the center of the room… otherwise, Robyn's stuff will get cleaned, folded, ironed, put away, organized… And he has a sense of humor about it." A smirk touches his lips, "Not that his mom doesn't love seeing him in ironed clothes for a change."

Tara snickers a bit at that. "I bet. I have to keep my room clean. It's… well, even though I can tell where everything is, I didn't use to, so I had to make sure everything was in it's place so I didn't trip over anything and it made it easier to find where stuff was." She sighs and shakes her head, "Until Johnny got angry with me and rearranged my entire wardrobe. Boy Mom was upset at that."

Connor sits down next to Tara with the bag of cookies in one hand, and the blanket tucked under his arm with the other, "It's sort of the opposite to me. In order for me to get an optimal teleport, I have to know the place very well… like… extremely well, unless I can see it. So it's reflexive to make it all the same as often as possible. Sometimes I mess up. More than once I've gone to any empty room I saw earlier. And a couple times I tried for the guy's bathroom, and ended up on your floor. Thank god no one was there."

Tara rolls her eyes at Connor and resists the urge to slap him upside the head. "The boys bathrooms have urinals, dummy. Just remember that next time, or I'll make /sure/ somebody will be there the next time you port to our bathroom." She shakes her head and mutters, loud enough for Connor to hear. "Geez. You're just as pervy as Theo." The last was clearly said in jest.

Connor makes a sound of protest before he replies, "It was two in the morning, I was tired… I wasn't thinking… you try doing what I do, and see how often you mess it up." But he still smiles at it before he then seems to darken a bit, "Crap… Theo… last topic I really want to hear. Some days I think he delibarately goes out of his way to make sure none of us ever become friends with him."

"You think?" Tara asks sarcastically. "He even admitted to me that he didn't even /want/ to be here," she explains, as if it's totally inconceivable for somebody to not want to be here. "I think he does what he does to get himself kicked out." Another shrug. "Or he's just an asshole."

Connor looks ready to chuckle, but then stops and just sighs, "No… discovering his gift ruined his life… he was popular, he was liked… at least how he sees it. Then he ends up having to run away from it all… whatever it really was. He's got nothing, and every time he tries to do something here… it blows up in his face. Partly because he's the kind of person who… well… he's too smart for his own good. Smart enough to realize he could be better, but not smart enough to realize the responsibility that comes with it."

Tara jams her hands into the pockets in her jeans. "He's okay most of the time," she admits. "As long as he isn't trying to get in my pants."

Connor blinks several times, and then gapes a moment… before finally saying, "Okay… seriously… I did not need to hear that. SO did not need to hear that. Worst thing is… you're not the first… He's probably gone after more than one girl here… like just because a few of the guys here fall on the other side of the fence, that you're all fair game. That's just… well… being a dumbass."

Tara sounds a bit exasperated at Conor. "Oh, /please/. Like he'd ever succeed. I kinda figured he'd do that kind of thing which is why I pegged him as a perv in the first place," she explains. "'Sides, I'm taken."

Connor goes in almost immediately for 'the kill' when it's said, "So… how was your date with… who was it again? Six? Right?"

Tara nods and gets a wistful little smile at the thought of her beau. "Yeah, Six. It was pretty good, actually. We went to the mall to eat at the food court there. Had to tell a buncha jerks off when they wanted to start something about his wings." She shakes her head. "I can be /really/ persuasive."

Connor chuckles a bit more, "I can imagine. Seriously… you up in their faces would have been a fun sight to behold. I'm glad things are working out for you. But your next date should be something less casual. Go someplace where you can dress up a bit, maybe."

"We thought about it for a first date, actually," says Tara casually. "But he has a thing for enclosed places, you know. That and we knew we were gonna draw attention, and it's easier to tell off mall rats than it is a waiter of a fancy restaurant."

After a shrug, and then a tilt of his head, Connor replies, "Why not ask Mister Mayfair-Parker to make you both a gourmet meal you can carry someplace… then go to a private beach… or down to the cove. Someplace where you can be alone, but also have that sense of dining out?"

Tara's eyes light up, or at least they would if she wasn't blind. "Oooh," she says, impressed. "That's a good idea. I'm gonna have to talk to him about that. Maybe help him make the dinner."

Connor shrugs once more, and then reaches over and touches Tara on the shoulder, "Find out what his favorite food is… help cook it… bet he'd be so beside himself he wouldn't know what to do." Connor finally stands up after that and after dusting his pants off he gives a nod to Tara, "I'm gonna stash these and hit the hay early… classes in the morning. When we're planning to go into town again as a group, I'll make sure to ask the others to include you. Anyways… Later!"

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