ArchivedLogs:Candy Flavored Broccoli

Candy Flavored Broccoli
Dramatis Personae Jack and Liv
In Absentia	2015-08-24 "Maybe I'll cure world hunger some day."
Location <XS> Rec Room - FL2
School this may be, but life for Xavier's students certainly isn't all studying. Outside classes, this is a popular spot to find students in their downtime. An enormous tribute to slacking off, this room is a wealth of fun and relaxation. Comfortable armchairs, couches, and beanbags offer plentiful seating scattered throughout the room, and the cushioned windowseats by the high windows offer a cozy nook to curl up and look out on the grounds. The room is often filled with the noises of gaming -- whether it comes from the big-screen television (tall racks of DVDs beside it, if nothing can be found on the multitude of cable channels), tricked out with consoles from retro to the latest releases, or the less electronic clatter and thump of the pool table, air hockey, or foosball. For those a little more subdued in their gaming, the cabinets hold stacks and stacks of board and card games, ranging as classic as chess and go to as esoteric as Dixit, Catan, and Gloom. More days than not, there's some variety of snacks to be found on a table beside the gaming cabinet -- quite often in the form of fresh-baked desserts. It's later Monday evening at Xavier's, some students still enjoying dinner but others have spread out to enjoy the remainder of their night before heading to bed. After dinner, Jack's made his way up to the rec room and got himself a spot near one of the windows. In cargo shorts and a t-shirt with the Nightwing logo on it, he's in the middle of folding some paper into a yet to be indentified origami shape. Of course it just looks like the paper is folding itself in front of floating clothes but that's how things go with Jack. Coming straight from dinner, Liv casually strolls in. A baggy t-shirt and sweatpants, suggest the rest of the night is all about relaxing and being comfy, which is confirmed when she makes her way to the board game pile and grabs a deck of cards. She sits down at a table and has already begun a game of solitaire before she realizes Jack is present. "Oh, hey, what's up?" Jack is pretty easy to overlook. He smiles when Liv starts setting up her game and waits for her to notice him before laughing quietly. "Hey," he greets. "Not much...making a thing," he says, tapping the paper he's folding up. "What about with you?" Liv shrugs slightly as she half attentively plays her game. "Trying to avoid the news lately. Been catching glimpses here and there. Nothing good." She leans back against her chair, stretching out and resting her feet on a chair on the otherside. "Whatcha making?" Jack falls silent a moment at the mention of the news. "Yeah...it was really bad last night," he says, worried about Rasa. "Still going to be bad..." he trails off. When asked about what he's making, Jack takes a breath and holds it up. At first glance it might look like he's making one of those fortune teller/cootie catcher things but rather than opening it up for one of those, he folds it the other way and creates a little bird-like creature. "The book said its a dragon but it doesn't really look like one to me." Liv frowns softly as Jack mentions Rasa. "Yeah, news said she was one of us. Here in the school. You think the school is going to help her out? I mean...can they?" Happy for the distraction of the origami-whatsit, she looks it over closely from her seat as Jack holds it up. "Sure, yeah. I mean...I can see wings. I think." "I don't know. I hope the school tries..." Jack trails off. "Wish I could help," he just has no idea how to. "Yeah, got these little wings," he says, squeezing them slightly and causing the little paper monster's mouth to open and close. "Whatever it is, it looks kind of cool." "Welp, better than I can do. I made a boat once, that's about it." Liv offers a brief smile before returning to her game. "At least classes are starting soon. It was starting to get boring around here. Would be nice to have something I actually need to do. Then again, give it a week into classes and I'll probably regret saying that." "I used to only make paper air planes. Rasa suggested I pick up origami," Jack explains. "Helps me relax," he adds. He concentrates, letting the little paper creature start to float into the air and flap around above them with his TK. "Oh yeah," Jack agrees. "Exactly how I was when I started out here." Liv watches as Jack plays with the paper dragon, grinning as it appears to fly in the air. However, after a few seconds, she realizes it's not an illusion from his invisibility, it /really is/ floating in the air. "Woah, you did NOT tell me you could do that, too! I thought you were just invisible!" Liv says, perhaps a bit loud and excitedly. "Coooool..." "Huh?" Jack's collar dips slightly as he tilts his head to the side. "I didn't?" he chuckles after a moment, making the dragon float in front of Liv. "Lo siento, I don't really mention my TK a lot. I used to be...bad with it so I never really brought it up," he says. "Hey, you just got a lot cooler." Liv says with a grin, turning to watch Jack play around with his dragon. "Suddenly I feel a lot more boring. Though...how do you be bad with TK?" "Oh really?" Jack asks, sounding amused. "You're not boring," he says. "Well...I had trouble controlling it. Like if I got startled or angry...the whole room would start shaking and it'd be hard to get things under control. And I couldn't really focus it to move a lot...and I'd get worn out quick," he shrugs. "Tended to pass out if I used it too much too." "Hm, yeah, I can get that." Liv says, leaning back as she falls into thought. "I sorta have the same problem but not as...obvious. I mean, if I'm near plants a lot and I'm happy, they grow well. If I'm angry or frustrated or whatever for a long while, they don't do so well. It's like they absorb my emotions or something." She suddenly chuckles. "Once, I was going through a really rough patch at school, lasted about a month. Managed to kill the grass I walked over everyday to get to the bus and the tree right by the front door turned colors and lost its leaves. In April." "They do say plants are able to pick up emotions. Like flowers people sing to grow better," Jack replies, teasing a little. He winces slightly at the news of tree-death though. "Yikes...poor tree. I'm glad things aren't so rough for you anymore at least," he says. "Plant powers definitely aren't boring though." "Oh, the tree was fine. Leaves came back around mid-June and all was well. Grass stayed dead though. Parents weren't pleased about that." Liv grins as Jack praises her powers, giving a light shrug as she moves a few cards in her game around. "It's got potential. The problem is anything cool is exhausting. I've been told it's probably because I don't know how to handle my powers yet but it'd be nice to actually be able to -do- something with them. Maybe I'll cure world hunger someday. Or cure obesity with broccoli that tastes like candy." "At the very least you can save the world from the horrible taste of broccoli, brussel sprouts, and spinach," Jack tries to joke a bit more. "But that sounds about right...needing to learn how to handle things I mean. It's kind of what they told me. I'd wear myself down since I didn't really know how to handle it right but now I can actually do some cool stuff." "Oh hey, that's cool. Maybe there is hope for me then," Liv says, continuing to rattle on as her brain continues thinking. "You know, I've never actually tried to change the flavor of a plant. Just the size. Lot of energy but totally worth it. Though I /did/ give grass poison ivy once. Like, made it give off the actual poison. In my defense, she really did deserve it. So I think changing the flavor wouldn't be too hard." She blinks, seeming aware that she's been yapping about herself. "Sorry, got distracted." Jack arches an unseen brow at the rambling. "Poison Ivy grass? That sounds pretty dangerous," he sounds amused though. "Maybe you can give it a shot tomorrow? Try and change the flavor of one of the fruits growing out there?" he suggests. He finally lets the paper dragon land on the table near Liv and his phone gives a little alarm chime. "Oh yeah..." Jack sighs. "Got a little evening counseling," he mutters, getting to his feet and stretching. "I'll see you later, Liv," he offers as he heads for the door. "Feel free to keep the dragon bird thing." "Well...it was just poison ivy. Just enough to give her a rash and make her miserable for the rest of the day." Liv says, unable to hold back her pleased grin. She picks up the paper dragon and looks it over. "Oh yeah, it's better looking up close. Take care, Jack."