ArchivedLogs:Pulling Your Weight

Pulling Your Weight
Dramatis Personae Billy, Flicker
In Absentia	2014-11-06 '
Location <XS> Kitchen
The kitchen staff at Xavier's tends well to the needs of its residents. Always cognizant of its students and faculty's dietary needs alike, the menu has a wide variety of choices, and the longtime cook works wonders in the kitchen. The pantry, too, is kept well stocked for those who want to come prepare themselves their own snacks. The shelf, fridge, and freezer space is ample, though if anyone wants to keep their own food there, they'd better make sure it's labeled clearly, and even that is no guarantee it'll last. With classes in session, the halls at Xavier's are rather quiet. It's a good time for those not particularly socially inclined, or in this case the mouselike, to scamper about. The sound of Billy tapping the last remainder of ground coffee from its can barely be heard over the surrounding patter of rain from outside. A gust of wind tests the windows of the kitchen, causing him to look up briefly before going back to his task. The fact of the matter is, the coffee down here is just way better than the coffee upstairs. Methodically, the tall blonde man measures out the perfect amount and pours it into the filter before sidestepping to fill the carafe with filtered water. Tidily dressed as always, and in all-white, Billy holds back his tie so as not to get it mixed up in any of the process. Behind him on the counter are a stack of papers the would-be teacher's been carrying around for lack of any designated place of his own to stash them. He shifts his eyes to make sure no one is around to see him take in a big, audible yawn. Flicker is both extraordinarily social and not particularly mouselike -- but he isn't on a school day schedule, neither studying nor teaching here, so in the period after training this is where and when he ends up. Checking the kitchen for people only works so well at a school like this, too -- there /was/ nobody there just a split second ago but, very abruptly, Flicker /appears/ in the kitchen in a rapid series of short hops that place him by the fridge. He looks a little beat and a little beat /up/, sweat still pulling his hair to his forehead and his plain grey tee against his chest and a bit of red spread against his arm that looks like it's a developing bruise. The short-sleeved tee and its current state of cling makes it easy to see the brand-new addition of /arm/ where he's been lacking one for the past few months. The outline of harness is visible beneath the thin fabric, holding in place a new prosthesis that, at the moment, is just kind of hanging stiffly by his side. The yawn puts a smile on his face, bright and quick before he hides it sticking his head into the fridge to examine his Leftovers options. "Long day already?" In surprise, Billy chokes on the very air he'd just been breathing in. Silly, him! Bringing up his hands to his throat, he gasps in vain and slips into an asthmatic little fit. In the process, the glass carafe of clear Brita water goes somersaulting into the air. "Woaaah --" The choking yanks Flicker's head back out of the fridge, his eyes opening wide. "Hey, man, are you --" Voice briefly oddly distorted, there's another ghostlike shimmer of movement as he moves -- snagging the pitcher from the air to set it back down, mostly /empty/ now admittedly, in the sudden new puddle of water below where it had been tumbling in midair. His brows hike up as he looks at Billy with concern, hand lifting towards Billy's back but stopping short of touching him. "-- okay?" Billy holds up a white-gloved index finger. His other hand pats around on his person and produces an inhaler. "Sorry," he says quietly, closing his eyes to regain his composure and smiling half-heartedly after re-opening them. He shakes his head bashfully, "I d-didn't see you there." "I wasn't there." Flicker leans back against the counter -- for a second, anyway, until the spilled water soaks in against his pants where he's leaning. With a very small yelp he pulls away, moving to grab a roll of paper towels so that he can soak it up. "-- Ten seconds ago, anyway. Am now. You breathing again?" "I think," the seemingly even paler Billy answers, eyes widening amusedly. He laughs light heartedly at the fumble, moving to pluck the container back if he can with a wide, white smile. "Good catch. Aww, man. I'm sorry." He gestures towards the growing wet patch on Flicker's pants, suppressing a bit more laughter. ...because y'know, it might look like he peed himself ...to some people. "S'water, it'll dry," Flicker answers with a quick huff of a laugh. He glances towards the rain falling outside. "-- Two seconds out there, anyway, nobody'll notice." He crumples the paper towels into a wad once Billy has taken back the pitcher, and a little awkwardly mushes the papers into his mechanical hand to try and let /it/ do the wiping. Slow kind of jerky stiff motions that are only marginally effective in drying the counter. He's clearly not actually got the hang of this at all yet, but practice makes perfect. "And good. I think you need to breathe to teach -- well." His head tilts thoughtfully. "Actually I'm fairly sure we've had at least one or two people through here who didn't breathe at all. Huh." Billy follows Flicker's gaze, scoffing, "Try going out there in all white." His work attire may have been pretty risque a few hours ago. He sets down the glass container and dips down to dab the floor dry. "Yeah, right? That's like people who don't have to sleep," he pauses, looking up at Flicker with a smirk, "Or use doors." "That's -- a little more than I'd like to show off," Flicker answers with a deep sudden /blush/. He adds more paper towels to his wad, slowly but surely mopping up the mess. It's a small task, but he looks positively /triumphant/ when it is completed. "Had a couple who didn't eat, either. Not normally. Photosynthesize? I'm not sure I'd like that one. Some food is worth eating." The blush deepens, his smile crooked. "Doors, though, they're just inconvenient." Billy doesn't often make other people blush, so the experience is rather novel. His own blush is a corpse-like pale. "Ch-yh," he agrees in a sound of sorts, clearing his throat and going back to making coffee. "I tried to get them to just get rid of them but some people just isn't evolving fast enough." Despite being rather tall, he still rises up onto the balls of his feet to pour the water in, careful of any spillover. It already looks like a water park in here. "So, what were you up to? Training, I take it?" "There may also be a privacy issue." Flicker's smile is just a small twitch. He walks over to the trashcan to chuck his paper towels, one hand slowly trailing fingers against the smooth hard arm on his other side. "Yeah, I -- it's been kind of a slog. Getting back in shape? I feel like I'm not --" The blush deepens as his smile reappears, warmer. Head shakes. "-- about to start complaining to you about my problems. How's the, uh, teaching going?" Billy's platinum blonde eyebrows raise high into his head, "I came to work this morning wearing all white," he says, gesturing again towards the weather outside. He giggles, grinning, "It's actually fun. Just a matter of getting ahold of my anxiety about it." The teacher turns around to consider Flicker, pressing his back into the counter while he waits for the machine to brew. "Not what?" He pouts, crossing his arms. "You're a braver man than I." It's kind of deadpan, Flicker's eyes flitting over Billy's white clothes and his voice not shifting out of its quiet even tone. "Not -- pulling my weight anymore." His good shoulder lifts in a shrug, fingers tightening around the mechanical arm. "I'll get past it. What /do/ you teach, I don't think I know that." Billy frowns sympathetically. "Pulling your weight ...metaphorically or like, literally?" His celery-colored eyes drift down over the new arm unabashed. To the question, he looks back up and rolls his eyes theatrically. "I want to teach kindergarten and elementary school," he turns away to search the cabinets for a mug, "But right now: ... ...remedial classes." Womp, womp. "Coffee?" "Little of both." It's a little bit wry. "-- Wait, kindergarten and. Um. Do we have those here now?" Flicker looks a little bit puzzled. Billy's mug-search suddenly reminds him /why/ he came down here to begin with, and he digs through the fridge until he finds some leftover broccoli casserole to reheat. "Oh, no, I don't, um. Do caffeine." "Nope," Billy tilts his head, narrowing his eyes as he brings his own steaming mug to his mouth, "Really?" He crosses the small space to his papers, "There's been mention of starting a program but I'm just trying to concentrate on finishing my degree. Y'know?" He glances over his shoulder, considering Flicker, "No one is putting pressure on you do to that, are they?" He asks cautiously. "To not drink caffeine?" Flicker's puzzled isn't going away anytime soon -- no, wait, lies, it totally relaxes into an easy laugh: "I feel you there. Half the time I feel so swamped just /by/ school it's hard to -- think of much else. So this," he gestures vaguely Around. The school, maybe. "is for class?" Billy smiles, not pressing any further about weight-pulling, "Uhm, well, yeah." He shifts his eyes, "What whutt? Both? I'm uh, teaching class ...for class." And then, "Two. Classes." There's a moment where Billy absently gestures with his coffee and gets a few spots on his tie. Rather absently, he licks his thumb and erases them as if it never happened. "It's silly but I'm pretty excited about it." "That's not silly. You like teaching? I mean, that's what you want to do in life?" Flicker returns Billy's smile, moving aside to pop his casserole leftovers in the microwave and pour himself a glass of orange juice. "I don't think there's anything silly about being excited you're getting to do it. That's --" His blush returns with the awkward-obvious finish: "... exciting. Good to have some of that lately." Billy hitches his chin up slightly, satisfied with the response. If he catches any of the awkwardness, he doesn't let on. "Well, I ought to get a move on," he hitches his arm up to check his wristwatch before drawing up his belongings. "It was nice running into you. I'll see you later?" Billy nods warmly, clutching his papers and folders to his chest as he maneuvers around Flicker to exit the kitchen. "Definitely. I'm -- around." Flicker lifts his head in a small jerked-up nod, offering a warm smile as Billy passes. "And maybe if Dusk -- well. If we ever. Have Game Night again --" His smile dims, juuust slightly. "Well. Hopefully be seeing you. Later." Billy freezes in the doorway, at first looking back very somberly. Expertly, he flicks a closed-mouth smile back on again. "You will." Nodding again, he steps out of sight.