ArchivedLogs:School, City, Enduro

School, City, Enduro
Dramatis Personae Billy, Faelan
In Absentia	2014-08-11 Billy & Faelan bump into eachother and have a conversation about college and whatnot.
Location <NYC> Evolve Cafe - Lower East Side
Spacious and open, this coffeeshop has a somewhat industrial feel to it, grey resin floors below and exposed-beam ceilings that have been painted up in a dancing swirl of abstract whorls and starbursts, a riot of colour splashed against a white background. The walls alternate between brick and cheerfully lime-green painted wood that extends to the paneling beneath the brushed-steel countertops. There's an abundance of light, though rather than windows (which are scarce) it comes from plentiful hanging steel lamps. The walls here are home to plentiful artwork available for sale; though the roster of prints and paintings and drawings and photographs changes on a regular basis it has one thing in common -- all the artists displayed are mutants. The seating spaced around the room is spread out enough to keep the room from feeling cluttered. Black chairs, square black tables that mostly seat two or four though they're frequently pushed around and rearranged to make space for larger parties. In the back corner of the room is more comfortable seating, a few large black-corduroy sofas and armchairs with wide tables between them. There's a shelf of card and board games back here available for customers to sit and play. The chalkboard menus hanging behind the counter change frequently, always home to a wide variety of drinks (with an impressive roster of fair-trade coffees and teas largely featured) though their sandwiches and wraps and soups and snacks of the day change often. An often-changing variety of baked goods sit behind the display case at the counter halfway back in the room, and the opposite side of the counter holds a small selection of homemade ice creams. A pair of single-user bathrooms flanks the stairway in back of the cafe; at night, the thump of music can be heard from above, coming from the adjoining nightclub of the same name that sits up the stairs above the coffeehouse. With the workday out of the way, the thrum of music has started from the club above. Billy isn’t here for that, though. Sitting alone under a halo of artificial light, the elfin-looking blonde has been biting the skin around his nails for a little over two hours working on the same thing: his resume. Prying his bulky white headphones and letting them fall around his neck, he zones out watching the vibration from above ripple in his coffee cup. Listlessly, he brings the tip of his index finger back up to his mouth. Not exactly used to the city, Faelan is out and about cautiously but doing his best to be confident. Dressed in a plain black teeshirt, one so generic it could have been gotten anywhere combined with a pair of black cargo pants with pockets somewhat bulged from contents. Following the directions on a smart phone, he peeks his head into the door a moment, glancing about before following the rest of the way through. "Okay, friendly place. This will be fine," he murmurs to himself as he lets out a breath. Putting on a smile in hopes of calming himself, he moves into the line to acquire an iced tea for himself while he plans out the rest of his thoughts. Once the chilled beverage is in his hands though, he pauses to look around to see where exactly he can sit. Center stage, Billy is hard to miss: platinum blonde hair reflecting the light, pale skin, even paler clothes. He doesn’t initially look up from behind his dainty macbook air with its very threatening ‘This Macbook is a Horcrux’ decal. When he does peer up, it’s eerily as if he’s looking right through Faelan to somewhere else. Glancing at the blonde and pale figure, Faelan's mind is slow to piece it together, but a few years back isn't that hard to call back. Raising his hand slightly in a greeting to being stared through, he bites his lip a moment and makes his way over towards him. "Uh hello. You look kinda familiar, I think you had gone to my high school. It was a boarding school..." he says to queue it more, not exactly wanting to say the name of the place if he was wrong. "Um, I'm Faelan, if that helps." He shifts his tea to his other hand to offer it, glances at the condensation covered hand, wipes it off on his pants before offering it again far dryer. Billy flicks back to this reality with a bit of a startled jump, "Uh?" Still, less skittish than Faelan at least, he smiles. "Billy," he removes his nail from his mouth to gesture towards himself, shaking his head slowly as he racks his brain for some recognition but doesn't seem to find it. His handshake is limp and maybe a little effeminate but it doesn't cause him any shame. "Cool, yeah, same place probably," he offers a breathy laugh, "What are you up to-" The playlist on Billy's computer switches to the next song. His eyes bulge and he darts forward to mute it, but not before the first few cords of a Disney song can be embarrassingly heard starting up through his headphones. Smiling at the confirmation, Faelan lets out a small sigh of relief, gesturing to an additional chair, "Mind if I have a seat? I was just sorta trying to get used to the city. I was going to be starting some college courses the coming semester, so ya know leaving the safety of the school to try some more schooling." He offers a little shrug at that, sipping the tea to try and hide some of the trepidation shown at his statement. "And its okay not recognizing me. You could say I was pretty much invisible my first few years at the school," he says with an awkward chuckle, trying to have made the invisible sound less literal. Tilting his head at the cords of the song, Faelan frowns, but it's more frowning in thought. "I think they had marathoned a bunch of those movies earlier in the year. Bleh, I can never remember which one is from which unless I can hear the voices. I always liked the Genie myself. I mean I could have used a friend like him," he nods wistfully as he scoots into the chair trying not to make much noise in moving it. Billy laughs sheepishly, sliding his things to the side to make some room on the small table in front of him, "Oh, I remember that. It can be really scary." Smiling and tilting his head empathetically, he continues, "I think I can remember being kind of invisible myself, too. What uhm, classes are you taking? ...I still kind of stick to online stuff more. You avoid a lot of invasive questions about being a mutant that way, trust me." He's only half joking. Not taking up much space at the table aside from having a place for his cup to rest, Faelan wipes his hand off on his pants again now that he doesn't have to hold the iced tea. "I was gonna try for a major in Environmental Sciences, so theres lots of ecology stuff. I mean, there are the other standard classes that you have to push through as a side thing. I think they want people to take some languages, and then there are the humanities and social sciences stuff." He pauses trying to calm down the almost too rapid chatter. "Ms Winthrop, er, the new librarian, she wouldn't have been there when you were there. Well, she suggested a few online courses too, but I wanted to try getting out and such." He frowns at the invasive mutant questions comment, but nods. "As long as I'm careful, and don't get too startled, I can pass I think. I mean, they aren't going to post registrations up on the school website right? That would suck." "No, nothin' like that," Billy glances Faelan over good-naturedly, "I guess you *are* a little less obvious than I am, which helps." He grins, "That's exciting, though. I think it's really important for mutants to go to educate themselves. *Properly*, you know? ...What uh, what do you do with an Environmental Science degree, exactly?" "Yeah I got lucky I guess. I know a lot of my other classmates weren't," Faelan says shaking his head. "As for what to do with it? I am not sure. I mean, I wanted to take it because I kinda like nature more than being in big cities... I kinda ended up in the middle of woods and lakes pretty often. I mean, I just kinda want to be out there. Maybe be a forest ranger, or something conservationy. Or maybe just be one of those photographers for Natural Geographic. I had joined the photography club at school and it was pretty relaxing." "Oh, cool! I love taking like, uh urban decay photographs," Billy nods, "I mean, you don't have to know. I just didn't even know what that was for. I'm terrible at being out in nature! ...I changed my major like twice. 'Still might end up having to again," he frowns slightly, gesturing half-heartedly to his laptop, "You gonna uh, end up trying to live in the city?" "I haven't really been in the city to see much urban decay stuff," Faelan replies sheepishly. "And mainly it's a matter of practice. The teachers kinda made sure I knew how to take care of myself when it became apparent I would end up there." Taking a long sip, he ponders looking to Billy. "What were your majors? Computer stuff? Or something related to it?" The question about living space, elicits a sigh though. "I'm not sure. I'd like to live close to whereever I'm taking classes. But then it gets kinda costly, and food and utilities and all, plus I want to be able to get back to the boarding school for extra curriculars and all. So it is just sorta, which commute do I want to suck more. I was checking for a cheap enduro though. I mean they get good gas mileage, and you can offroad with them if you need to." "Early Childhood Education," Billy spews out, shaking his head at the Computers guess, "I mean, I'm not gonna lie, my dad helps me out with bills but the whole student loan ...trap... is there." He laughs again, flashing a bleached-white row of teeth as he pushes his glasses further up the bridge of his nose, "I'm the worst driver ever, man." "Huh. Well there will always need to be teachers. It's like plumbing and cooking and funeral stuff. It's one of those constants," Faelan says with a little smile though that fades at the dad comment. "I'm basically on my own. But I've been working at the library, and I was going to see about getting a job at the University. I mean they have book stores and stuff there, that should be pretty safe." Nodding at the driver comment, he shrugs. "An enduro isn't too different than a dirt bike, just ya know, street legal with lights and stuff. Heck, you can pick one up and take it in an elevator if you have to. Makes the driving worries a little less. Aside from people trying to hit you with their car." Billy cringes, though again, it's good-natured, "Sounds like, maybe way scarier than a car. I totally got a bicycle a couple months ago but I'm way too skittish to try and ride it out here, still." He nods in agreement, "Because of people trying to hit you with their car." Idly, without looking down, he typs in 'enduro' into his computer, turning it so Faelan can at least partially see the screen, "That looks really cool, though." "You could even apply somewhere like right here?" Billy gestures towards the counter, "I mean, doesn't get much more safe. ...I mean, I've never applied for a job in my life so don't really listen to me too much," he reaches a hand to rub the back of his neck sheepishly, "I'm like, panicking about trying to even get a student teaching position as a, well-" He shrugs. "Well, as long as I can see it coming I'm better off at least if someone tries to hit me. I would rather get a ticket than get killed after all," Faelan nods thoroughly at that as he scoots to look over the screen. "As for here being safe, well I had heard stories of the place before it is now. It well... was attacked. Burnt down and all. Because of what it is and what it represents." Frowning and itching at a spot on his cheek, he shakes his head again "I'd rather be in the middle of a university and nobody thinking anything stupid like that. And I've only ever had one job before, so don't feel too bad about that." Tapping his chin in thought, he smiles "Have you thought about asking the school? I mean, they could probably find a student teaching thing, or make one for an alum. I mean, a lot of the former students came back after all, like Jax. He was totally teaching there, and I am pretty sure he doesn't have a teaching degree or anything. Course it was art and baking and all." "Has it?! I didn't even know that," Billy glances around the room again, though he can't really say he's all that surprised, "I just started coming here though, I guess." "I did think about that. And yeah, I know he is. He and I graduated together. --The uhm, school doesn't really have a young education program. I'd have to change my trajectory a little if I wanted to teach older kids. Which is, I guess, what it looks like I'm going to end up doing." His eyes widen mock-excitedly, "What's a few more years?" Nodding again, Faelan replies "Yeah, I mean everything looks perfectly fine. So they musta done a really good job in fixing it up. But still, I don't think I have the courage to work in a big target." Chuckling at the education comments, he nods. "I didn't know if student teaching would count no matter where you do it. I mean, there are only so many places for so many students to do their stuff at right? They can't just be taking up every elementary school classroom, or the opposite. Its worth looking into if nothing else." Picking up his tea, he takes another draw, the sound of empty beverage cup coming from the sucking noise. "Oops, that went quicker than I thought." “I mean, I bleach things when I touch them,” Billy raises his eyebrows, “It’s a tough sell when you’re talking about a kindergarten classroom.” He nods towards the empty cup, smiling, “You headed out?” From behind his glasses, he peers down towards his computer, “I should probably, too. I’m not even getting anything done, anymore.” "I don't know. Some parents might be happy if you could get rid of stains before their kids get home," Faelan says with a little smile. Nodding at the departing question, he replies "Yeah, I had just wanted to stop in for a little rest before continuing a look around. I only ended up in the city a few times, and I pretty much was just waiting for a ride back then. I didn't get to see too much." Glancing at the shaking hand, he hrms. "Yeah. And don't forget to look into the school. It may be a last option thing. But it would give you the practice teaching if nothing else." Billy laughs, taking his time packing up, "Well, good luck. I'd say be careful wandering around but you're probably uh, better equipped to deal with anything than I am so, I won't." He grins, insisting on finishing his mug of coffee even if he shouldn't. "I'm sure I'll see you around." Faelan grimaces at the equipped comment. "Mainly I'm just really good at getting away. But yeah, it helps a lot." Picking up his empty tea and taking another sip of the melty ice, he nods. "Be safe, and good luck. And yeah, you're more likely to see me now than before at least." Offering a wave, he heads on out, tossing the empty cup away as he goes.