ArchivedLogs:Ben Stein

Ben Stein
Dramatis Personae Billy, Faelan
In Absentia	2014-11-21 Billy & Faelan have a short run-in at the library.
Location <XS> Library
Xavier's librarian might hope the library is a quiet place to sit and study, but with a school full of teenagers that is not always the case. Nevertheless, it is certainly a treasure trove of knowledge, well-stocked with a wealth of books on its high shelves. Its reference section is vast, though its fiction is as well (much to the delight of many of its students.) The wide octagonal tables and smaller armchairs are often crowded with students, though the whispered conversations that often take place leave some doubt as to how much work is getting done at any given hour. The wind rushing against one of the library's large windows causes Billy to finally look up from his studies with a start. Blinking, he adjusts his vision to the cold, dark Friday night outside beyond his own white reflection. Everyone is off having fun or living their lives, but the blonde would-be teacher is grading papers to avoid tackling his commute home in the cold. Now, in addition to being too cold, it's a little too spooky. A naked tree branch scrapes against a window farther down the row. The scratching sound reverberates through the massive, quiet room and causes Billy to jump again. Coming out from the back offices, Faelan is dressed professionally, or at least as professionally as he tries to be when he's told it's not that important. He is wearing a simple grey polo shirt with the Xavier's logo on the left breast pocket area, with his little staff badgey on a lanyard around his neck, along with a pair of khaki pants. Pushing along the cart of book returns, he hums along to himself, content in his duties and calm in this (mostly) safe place. Seeing Billy sitting there along with the stack of papers, he offers a little smile and a wave. "Ho there. How goes the student teaching?" he asks with a little tilt of his head. "Is it warm enough in here for you? Usually we drop the temperature after most of the students are off since Miss Winthrop is warm enough, and it encourages me to work faster..." he offers a little shrug at that though. "Heya," Billy smiles, breathing a sigh of relief to see another living soul. It's probably for the best that it wasn't Mallory. "Oh, I'm fine. It goes ...uh, FINE. I-I have my sweater-" As if reminded, Billy pulls his white wool cardigan off of the back of his chair and pulls it on over the thin material of his dress shirt. "Is that," Billy pauses, frowning, "I mean, was that a joke? Or do they really do that to you?" He tries to force up a quiet laugh. "Alright, as long as the sweater is enough for you," Faelan nods and leans against the cart sideways so it doesn't just roll off with him. "They don't do it to me, I do it for energy saving. Its fine really, I mean I've ended up in much colder places than this by accident." He offers a shrug, and glances towards the papers. "Anything interesting lesson plan wise? I never had to grade anything, but I have heard some of the teachers complaining before." Billy scoff-laughs, eyeing Faelan with a crooked grin, "Do you carry like, a survival kit?" His white-gloved hand drums the red pen in his hand while Billy chews on his bottom lip, "Nothing really very interesting. I'm just always scared I'm doing something wrong all the time." - "How's looking at colleges and stuff?" "Yes actually, under my shirt," Faelan replies as he pulls up his shirt, just showing his stomach. "Right, sorry invisible." Touching it, it restores to visible, showing the thin bag strapped to him. "Just the minimals in this one. Normally I bring much bigger things if I worry about it." Pulling his shirt back down, he tucks it back in. "At least you're doing it here, it's much safer at least." Hrming at the college question, he smiles. "I had started actually this semester. It's mostly prerequisites and stuff before the major program. Lotsa introduction to blah classes to worry about." "Invisible?!" Scandalized, Billy averts his eyes before shyly looking back, "That's awesome! I'm happy for you! How do you like it? You were doing online, right?" The blonde shifts in his seat, bringing up a white-slacked leg to prop up on his knee. "Intro classes are still totally exciting, though. ... And terrifying." He laughs. "Yeah, I try and keep it invisible just in case. Then I don't have to worry about people looking at me funny if I need to change out of my clothing," Faelan smiles, and nods at the enthusiasm. "I am going going actually. I thought about the online thing, but its apparently important for me to get more interactions. And well, sitting in a class is pretty interacting. And well, college people aren't nearly as terrifying as I thought. It's mostly nice people, not like all the movies made things out to be." He nods a little more, and makes a face at the exciting part. "It's kinda boring though. I mean I know why they have the stuff, since you have to have the basics before you do anything complicated. But the teachers just kinda sound like Ben Stein and you wanna fall asleep at the drone." Billy nods excitedly, pale eyebrows raising up into his forehead, "I mean, coming from a place like this: savor the boring while it lasts." He smiles, "And yeah, college people aren't all bad." His voice drifts, as if to unintentionally imply that uh, some people are still kind of bad. "And they all sound like that until the topics get interesting. Like that teacher in Charlie Brown." He drums his pen, again, "And hey, if it gets too boring you could always teleport the class to Morocco or somewhere." "I know. Thankfully we haven't had any issues here since the creepy guy who was stealing powers tried to invade. But the teachers took care of it," Faelan says with a reassuring nod. "I think they wait for the interesting stuff to happen in the second or third year. Just to make sure that they can get more money out of us." Snorting at the teleporting the class comment, he shakes his head. "That... that's just a bad idea. I don't know what language they speak there. And well, I'd probably just end up in the ocean." Billy nods sagely, as if what he says might in some way solve the whole dilemma, "I believe their official language is Arabic. And French? If not, I think they at least speak French." The white clad young man gestures with his pen towards Faelan's midsection, "You don't have an invisible raft?" Hit by another powerful gust, the window rattles, again. With a jolt, Billy looks over his shoulder, half-expecting the boogieman. "Inflatable rafts are really heavy, also really big. I'd need a backpack to carry one. Same reason why I carry purification stuff instead of carrying any actual stuff to drink." Faelan nods and thinks a moment. "Je ai besoin d'aide." He smiles and nods. "I know just a few phrases in a buncha language, mainly how to ask for help..." He looks a little awkward, and as billy startles, he glances up at the window and lets out a breath. "Oh yeah, they need to trim those. It gets you the first few times, but you eventually tune it out." "Je regrette," Billy turns his nose up, holding his leather gloved hand flatly up in the air as if to stop Faelan, "Je ne peux pas vous aider." He smiles, arching an eyebrow behind him at the branch, "You say that, but it's been getting me all night." Rising from his chair, he smooths out his white tie, "Speaking of which, I should probably like, bite the bullet and head back to the city before it gets *too* late." Thinking, Faelan tilts his head up translating it. "Sorry, I know most of the requests by rote, but I have to think to try and reverse it." Glancing at the window again, he nods. "I've been dealing with it for ages now, so its not as bad." Standing back to leave enough room for Billy to get up and out, he offers a smile. "Have a safe trip back to the city. At least it's the weekend though, and I think they said it was supposed to get a little warmer?" He looks hopeful at that. "I said I couldn't help you," Billy smirks, intending it as a joke. Gathering up his papers and slinging the strap of his messenger bag over his shoulder, he nudge-pushes his chair back in with a hip, "I have a class at like six in the morning, tomorrow. It's *always* cold." He shivers thinking about it, stepping past Faelan. His void, antiseptic smell trails behind him. "Anyway, good luck. I'm really glad everything's working out with you and school. That's awesome." "I know, I got that much at least." Faelan nods, then makes a face. "Good luck with your morning class. I hope you have enough coffee to survive." Offering a wave, he pushes the cart a bit further along and gets back to his tasks. "I hope it continues working out. I had some dreams that made it out to be pretty good though."