Players:
Summary: Dallas and Robyn break out into a heated discussion.
Date: January 26, 2010
Log Title Things Destroyed
Rating: PG-13
Xavier Mansion - Locker Room
Lockers line half of the room for students to store their gym clothes and uniforms in between training sessions. The room is divided in half, one side for girls and the other for boys. Both sides are identical and have individual showers for students to clean.
Xavier Mansion - Locker Room
Lockers line half of the room for students to store their gym clothes and uniforms in between training sessions. The room is divided in half, one side for girls and the other for boys. Both sides are identical and have individual showers for students to clean.
After a sort of impromptu session of sorts in the danger room, Robyn's decided to take a quick shower. There's a presence of steam in the room and some clothes folded up neatly on the bench. It's Robyn's token black skinny jeans along with an Edward Scissorhands shirt, so it's not hard to guess the owner. He's been letting the hot water just run with him standing there for the last few minutes, not really wanting to get out of the comfort of the quiet shower.
Dallas has just finished up another marathon workout and as is increasingly becoming the case, it has just managed to fatigue his body without calming his mind. He notices Robyn's clothes on the bench as he goes to his own locker, removing his shower gear and neatly stowing his sweaty clothing in a plastic laundry bag before heading for the showers himself. He finds his own stall a yard or two away from Robyn and gives his friend a nod. "Hey." Hot water is a blessing right now, soothing tired muscles and pounding at his shoulders and spine enough to loosen knots.
Robyn offers a wave back to Dallas. "Heya." He says back trying to smile a bit, though it's not completely genuine. "How you doing?" He asks which is another way of how are you managing with everything going on. Robyn's long since cleaned up but the water is welcoming, like it's going to cleanse away the bad temporarily.
Dallas starts his own cleaning ritual. He's so used to locker rooms and communal showers that he's long ago developed habits that are so deeply engrained he doesn't notice them. Quick and efficient. He doesn't look over to Robyn as he continues both the cleaning and the conversation. "Benching a little more than last week but not enough to be important." He glances over at Robyn and then back to his own ablutions. "How about you?"
Robyn eventually turns off the water and grabs a towel, pushing his wet hair back out of his face. "Okay I guess, about as good as I can be." The conversation is kind of like a delicate dance, you don't want to bring up the bad and accidentally ruin the flow of things. "Thinking tomorrow just going into Salem Center for a bit and just doing something there, since I won't be able to go home."
Dallas nods and says, "Yea. Your family is okay? With all … this stuff?" He also apparently would prefer to dance around the issues on it. "And cool. Getting away is a good thing." He's scrubbing his hair as he talks, raising his voice because hey, if his ears are half-filled with water, other people must have a hard time hearing him, too, right?
"I don't know, I'm afraid to talk to them." Robyn says as he's chatted a bit here and there and absolutely assured them that he's safe at the school. Which he feels horrible about lying to them. "Well, I gotta be here in the morning but, like I said, it's my birthday tomorrow and I don't wanna be around here for it. I really don't."
Dallas nods and says, "I get that." He rinses out his hair and then drags it back from his face. A quick brush of his hands over his cheeks and jaw reveals that he doesn't need to shave at the moment. He sighs faintly at that, it's still new enough to be cool. "If you want any company, let me know. I have to go into town and buy a couple of books anyway." Which is a bit strange given that almost anything required for classes would be at the school or they could acquire it by loan. And Dallas certainly isn't a pleasure reader.
Robyn smiles and nods. "I'd love the company, I really would. I need to get outside of here." Your birthday is supposed to be fun not stuck in a mansion where everyone seems to be morning. It's bad enough to go to a memorial service on your birthday. "What books are you gonna be picking up? I never took you for much of a reader…unless it's some sports blog." He teases.
Dallas grins faintly as he packs up his shower kit and procures a towel, scrubbing away the water as vigorous as he did the sweat before. "I do read the S.I. blog pretty much every day. And can you keep a secret?" He peers at Robyn through the steam and wraps the towel around his hips as he speaks. "Nothing, like, horrible. Just something I need to do?"
"Dallas…you're one of my best friends here, yeah I can." Robyn says as he does consider Dallas one of his closest friends. "You know you can trust me with anything." He says finally starting to dry off a bit before grabbing his pants.
Dallas wraps a towel around his hips and heads to his locker to retrieve a change of clothing. "Did you ever hear of the UCWF? Or the Hulkbusters?" He doesn't glance over at Robyn but there is a certain subtle tension as he speaks, as though Dallas is excited about something but also hesitant and careful.
Robyn shakes his head. "No, I've never heard of either, what is it? And Hulkbusters, sounds like people dedicating to going out and trying to find Hulk sightings and putting it on TV, kind of like Mythbusters or something…I dunno." He's just clueless as to what it actually is.
You say, "Well, the UCWF was the Unlimited Class Wrestling Federation. They were basically super-wrestlers. Everybody was insanely strong, tough and all that. The Thing fought for them for a while, way back before the Internet. So you know, hard to find stuff on them. They actually gave people powers. Or upgraded the ones they had. The Hulkbusters were part of a program to stop the Hulk. No duh, with that name, right? Anyway, one of the programs they did was to use gamma-irradiated genetic therapy genes to enhance people. With some pretty good results." And some pretty horrible ones, but why bring that into things."
Robyn nods slowly and watches Dallas for a bit. "So, you want to become a mutant wrestler and about that last thing, please tell me you have some project on mutant ethics about it." He says hoping that Dallas isn't thinking about gamma-irradiating himself.
Dallas shrugs and says, "Um, ok. I have a have an ethics project on that." Which is true. In a way. "Anyway, I need travel guides. The UCWF's headquarters was in New Jersey, but most of their stuff went into warehouses when it went bust. And the Hulkbuster base is closed down but it's in Nevada. So… road trip!" He pauses, "As soon as I've saved up enough. And if my Wayne Gretzky signed stick sells on E-Bay." That one hurts. A lot. But you do what you have to do.
Robyn looks at Dallas cautiously, not really believing what he says. Why do you need to go to Nevada for a road trip for a school project, he hasn't heard of anyone having to do that before. "Just don't do anything stupid Dallas, please." He's worried and as much as he doesn't want to show it, it's in his voice. He's definitely thinking the worse, especially since he knows Dallas.
Dallas pauses a moment while he slips on shorts and then jeans. Finally he turns towards Robyn and says, quietly, "I'm not going to do anything /stupid/." After all, he's given this idea a lot of thought. "And you know, it's basically just going to be a kind of, ah, unauthorized field trip. Just like going to a museum or something."
Robyn looks at Dallas for a while and nods, there is so much he wants to say to his friend but he can't. Dallas isn't the easiest person to be straight with as he just doesn't listen. He looks a mix of mad and upset as he looks at Dallas before just shaking his head. "Yeah, a hands on museum." He spits out with a bit more annoyance than intended.
Dallas gives Robyn a surprised look at that tone and then shrugs, looking away and rubbing hair gel into his palms, then working it into the hair, back to front before taking a brush to it. The end result is slightly spiky. Apparently his hair doesn't do that purely from internal tension. Or at least more than mostly. He says, quietly, "Maybe. Depends on a lot of things. But like I said, I'm not going to do anything stupid."
"Yes you are." Robyn says, honestly believing that he is. "You're so eager to prove yourself for no reason Dallas. Do I believe your going out to Nevada for a school project, I'm not an idiot. You always think you have to make your self better, but what's wrong with who you are? You're fine with who you are Dallas. There are no short cuts to what you want, you're an athlete, you should know that!" He's lost so much lately that Robyn is so scared that he's going to lose someone else.
Dallas flushes red and then takes a couple of deep breaths. His shadow stirs at his feet, almost bubbling and swirling as though just dying to crawl up his ankles to cover the young mutant in a sheath of darkness. Dallas fights it down, with effort. Robyn is his friend. Maybe his /only/ real friend here. Finally he looks back towards the other young man and says, "I /do/ have to make myself better. And no, who I am is /not/ good enough. Not by a long shot. People are /dying/ because I wasn't good enough. I'm tired of being weak. Maybe that's okay for … other people, but not me!" He swallows heavily, lowering his voice, since he'd raised it to a shout at that last. "And I am an athlete. Which is how I know that sometimes you just hit a wall and get as good as you are going to get. Maybe for years. Maybe forever. And if your best isn't good enough, you either find a way to step up or you get out of the game."
Robyn stands up and speaks things he was trying to avoid. "Coyote's dead Dallas, it wasn't your fault. And if you continue down the path you are, you're going to end up the same way. You think I want to see you destroy yourself? I've had enough of it Dallas. I can't stand by and just let you destroy yourself!" Robyn takes a deep breath and pushes his hair back with both hands. "God Dallas, the only reason you're weak is because you can't be honest with yourself, or anyone. You have this armour around you, and not the shadow. You keep building onto this armour so that anyone, including you, can't know what's really inside. You wanna know how to be stronger, accept who you are. Until you do, you're just going to keep disappointing yourself. We're /sixteen/ Dallas, you don't have to be Captain Fucking America yet!"
Dallas flinches at that first line and just scowls through the rest of it, his shoulders growing stiff and his stance tight. He jerks a t-shirt on over his head and tries to keep his temper in check, though his voice is low and harsh as he says, "Yes, it /is/ my fault. If I'd been able to stop Lucas, that would have been it." He looks back to Robyn and says, "And it's not because I'm I'm not being 'honest'. It's …flaw. A character defect. Something that's wrong with me, Robyn. Even if nobody else sees it that way. I can't change that. But I /can/ get strong enough to get past it and do what I should be doing. Physically. Mentally. Emotionally. Who I am is a problem. Who I want to /be/ is the goal. And It's not Captain America. The X-Men were our age when they started saving the world. I don't have time to be just sixteen, Robyn. Not when it costs this much."
Robyn shakes his head and sighs, obviously disappointed. "Then get help Dallas, I want to help you, but not this way. I don't want to lose you too." He's lost a lot over the past two weeks and he feels like he's trying to hold onto the last few things that are familiar, but that's slipping away fast too. "I just can't help you or sit back and do nothing while you destroy yourself. I don't want to attend your memorial service too."
Dallas's eyes narrow and his expression becomes grim as he says, "You are /not/ going to rat me out, Robyn. And I'm /getting/ help. I'm going to get better. I don't need anybody else to do that for me." He lifts his eyebrows and says in a lighter tone, "And dude, I'm not suicidal or anything. I'm not going to do something that will kill me. Give me some credit, here. I may not be a genius but I'm not crazy, either." He shrugs and says, "Hey, it's not even like I'm leaving right now. And when I do, it will just be for a week or two. And when I get back, it'll all be cool. Handled."
The words sting Robyn and he actually flinches slightly, he actually wasn't thinking of ratting Dallas out at all. "Fuck you Dallas. I didn't say I was going to tell anyone, and you're right, you don't need anyone. You don't need help." He might have taken Dallas's words the wrong way but isn't that so much the case with teenagers. "Yeah, it'll be handled alright, until you're not satisfied again and look for more dangerous methods. Good luck." He spits out sarcastically as he turns to leave the Locker Room, upset and disappointed with his friend.
Dallas watches Robyn go, so angry and upset that he's actually shaking and afraid to say anything for fear of destroying their friendship. If it isn't already gone. When Robyn is gone, he gives vent to that anger that is so much a part of him lately and his shadow covers him in a writhing, roiling shell of darkness. He screams out his rage, "RRRAAAAGHHH!" And doing so slams both fists into the lockers in front of him. The metallic 'BOOM!' is deafening. His own locker collapses instantly, looking like the victim of a cannon ball attack and the entire line bends to a U shape with a screech of metal. The urge to hit things is still there, strongly and Dallas growls. Literally. And then sighs in frustration. "I will /not/ be weak. Never again. And if he can't get that… If /all of them/ can't get that…." He shakes his head again and starts to try to undo some of the damage, shadow calming to a smoother skin after that burst of rage.
