Players:
Summary: Lucas and Theo share thoughts on life and God.
Date: April 19, 2010.
Log Title Trains and Life
Rating: R
Xavier Mansion - Garage
Home to various cars of teachers and X-men, the garage can house at least twenty vehicles. There is also an area that has a auto body shop set up so students and teachers and work on their cars. Almost any tool a mechanic needs can be found in this garage.
There is a loud banging from inside of the garage. On the workbench, Theo furiously pounds a rod of metal into a desired shape. He puts down the rubber mallet, and then holds it up against the side of his project. It looks like a partly constructed train, only it's smaller. Most of the exterior covers are still missing, and it is clearly far from finished.
He's dressed in a greasy wife beater and a pair of jeans, likewise covered in soot. His work area, however, is anything but messy. Each tool is laid very particularly, and each unassembled piece looks like it is part of a display, evenly spaced out on the bench. His muscles look a little bigger, but perhaps because he's been using them intensely as he's been laboring over this project. He's covered in sweat, but doesn't show any signs of slowing.
Lucas opens the door to the garage, slipping inside. He didn't hear the banging because he is wearing his iPod. He is lighting a cigarette as he enters, and when he sees Theo, he quickly yanks it out of his mouth, hiding the cigarette and the lighter behind his back. He turns to leave.
Theo looks up as he hears the garage door open, spotting Lucas. "Please," he says, "I didn't rat you out last time, what makes you think I would this time. Smoke all you want." He picks up a screwdriver, and starts to screw the rod into place where he had tested it before.
Lucas slowly pulls the cigarette and lighter out from behind his back, looking at them, and then back at Theo. "Um… Ain't you supposed to be locked up for bein' crazy an' what all?" He lights the cigatette, taking a few puffs, and glancing back at Theo.
Theo puts down the screwdriver, and studies Lucas. "Yep, so I just broke out with my incredible strength," he says sarcastically. "I wasn't crazy. It was just…a hard couple of days. You try having Mike's whole hard drive shoved into your conscious thought at once and see how you do." He takes up the screwdriver, and tightens the screw some more before placing it back in its place among the tools.
Lucas nods, pulling off the smoke, and then holding it as he looks at Theo. "So… you still hate fags? Or was that a crazy talk thing too?"
Theo picks up a wrench next, not looking at Lucas as he answers. "You know," he says, "There's more too me than just my opinion of gays." He moves to get a better angle on the nut, and tightens it down. The wrench likewise goes back to its place.
"But I've been thinkin' about what you said. It does make sense. Don't think I'm gonna go try to buddy up with them all, though. Maybe I'll try to be a little more tolerant, as long as they don't make comments about my butt." He reaches over and picks up another part of the machine. It looks like some piece of the engine.
Lucas smirks, "You're in luck. You're ass ain't all that." He takes another puff off his cigarette. He walks over and hovers near Theo, watching him work. "Whatcha buildin', sexy?" He smirks.
Fortunately for Lucas, Theo knows that he's not really gay, and so he doesn't seem to take the comment seriously. "It's a train, hot stuff," he returns. "A French 2-8-0 Steam locomotive to be exact." He doesn't have a track anywhere nearby, but it doesn't seem to have stopped him. It also seems clear that he's not working from a kit, he's just bought the parts that he needs to build the train.
Lucas leans on the counter, holding the cigarette as he watches Theo. "Okay…" He tilts his head a little, "And why?"
Theo shrugs as he places an O-ring on an opening, and then a washer on top of it before hand tightening a piece of metal tube. "Why not? I like trains. Same reason you play guitar and Rashmi reads way too many books. It's something I know, a good way to just relax." He pulls hard on the piece he's trying to attach, and it slowly seems to catch properly. He stops a moment to watch Lucas. "Is it hard to play with those gloves?" he asks, the question suddenly striking his mind.
Lucas looks down at his own hands, and then stands up straight, shrugging a little, almost as if self-conscious about them. "Ah reckon it's a little harder…" He walks over to a pile of parts, looking and taking a drag.
Theo hand screws the next piece on, and then puts it up into the engine. He presses it in, and begins to tighten it. Suddenly, his hand slips, and he curses his creation, shaking his hand and looking atthe bent fingernail before going back to the project. "You still make it work though," he offers as a consolation. "I figure it sucks, but maybe we just gotta make the best of the garbage we're handed." Not the same perspective he had a few days ago. "When life hands you a lemon, squirt lemon juice in its eye and say, "Hey! I ordered a beer!""
Lucas furrows his brow a little. "Um okay. Who are you and what have you done to my Theo?" he asks, flatly.
Theo stops his work for a moment, examines his finger briefly, and looks back at Lucas. "Talked to an old friend earlier from back home. He's all religious and stuff, his dad's a pastor, he wants to be a pastor, all that jazz. Guess he's off to a good start, made me stop and think about how I've been acting. Don't worry, I'm sure I'll be back to pissing people off before long." He gets up from his stool, and wanders to the paper towel dispenser, grabbing it and rubbing the grease off his finger to get a better look. It's nothing major, not even bleeding, but it sure does smart.
Lucas finishes the smoke, pressing it out on the counter and tossing it onto the floor. "You only pissed me off because y'all pushed a button what ya didn't know Ah had. Forget it." He leans against the wall. "So, what? You're Christian?"
"Me?" Theo laughs at the thought. "I don't know much about religion," he says. "God probably doesn't want the likes of me. Kyle seems to think He does, though." He wipes the grease off the rest of his hands, wads up the paper towel, and strolls toward the trash can, tossing it in. "How about you, you religious?"
Lucas shakes his head, "No," he says rather certainly. "Ah don't believe any creator would fuck me an' my family the way my life has. If God existed, he'd have done something. Saved someone. Anything." He shrugs, "No god would let this shit fuckin' happen."
Theo doesn't have a dog in the fight himself, he just prefers not to think about the matter. "You won't hear me argue with you," he answers blandly. "I've had my share of suckage, and I don't really care why it happened. Doesn't matter anymore, it happened and there's no going back, so I just try not to think back. Nothing there I want to remember."
Lucas nods, "Sure." He sighs, and stands up straight. "Well, Ah'm done smokin', you ain't gonna make out with me, so Ah reckon Ah ain't got no more reason to stay hidden out here. Ah'll leave you to your mad scientisting." He smirks, and begins to walk towards the door.
Theo nods, "Got that right," he laughs. "Long hair doesn't give you boobs." He moves back to the work bench, and starts to collect the tools. "Have a night," he offers.
Lucas laughs, "Night, man." He opens the door, and heads back to the mansion.
