ArchivedLogs:Normal College Experience

Normal College Experience
Dramatis Personae B, Rasa
In Absentia	Tuesday, 21 November, 2017 Catching up. Vaguely. Part of Future Past TP
Location <NYC> The Grotto - Harbor Commons - Lower East Side
The basement of this home does not much resemble the upper levels at all. Stony and rather cave-like, its flooring is rock -- where it has flooring, anyway. The majority of the space in the center of the room is taken up by an indoor pool, of sorts, though the stone ledges around its edge and the tiny ripples of waterfall burbling down into it from stone steps leading in give it more the feel of an indoor /pond/. Somewhere in the side a door leads out to the riverside, and around one rocky wall a small bathroom /also/ has the feel of being carved out of the stone. For the most part, though, the room is just taken up by Pool -- though in the wall on the farthest side away from the pond there's been recessed shelving and storage space cut right into the stony facade. It's a little bit of a mess down here just at the moment -- kind of a change from how it usually is these days, tidy-neat and everything in its /precise/ place, /just/ where Shane likes it. /Usually/. But right now, there's clothing (bright, colorful!) strewn haphazard half-in and half-out of the closet (half-in and half-out of a suitcase), little bits-and-bobs of metal scattered around a stony ledge-desk, a buzz-hum of basketball-sized drone that looks eerily like a Toclafane hovering in a corner. Clearly, the /other/ twin is home from college. If not /immediately/ apparent in the room. Just the chaos she's brought with her in her lazy attempt at unpacking. There are some quiet footsteps leading up to the entrance of the grotto, another bag being carried in to join the clutter of the B's temporary return. Rasa is wrapped up warmly, to fight off the autumn chill, but is slowly loosening layers as ze peeks around the visible portions of the room for sharkpeople. "Hello?" Hijab is pulled off and folded up over hir forearms, revealing a rather neutral, almost standard human flesh tone underneath. Hir eyes are a dark shade of amber with chestnut filaments, fringed by dark brown lashes. Wavy thick hangs around hir head, framing hir face, slightly mussed from hir headgear. She unbuttons hir burqa and folds it up as well before turning to set it down on one of the stone ledges. "Just giving you a heads up. I've arrived. Do not be naked unless you want to be." The buzzing sphere-drone whirs in midair. Sprouts a few ominously needle-like appendages, glides over to Rasa. Withdraws again. There's a sploosh over by the water, shortly afterwards, and webbed hands slap against the stone, followed by thin blue arms pulling a small blue head up out of the pool. "Only half-naked," B assures Rasa, with a small crooked smile. "Wet hugs okay, or should I dry off? Pool's heated, if that helps." Months of medical check ups and visits have removed Rasa's initial twitch when the drone comes close. Her gaze turns to fix on the appendages, hir eyes turning a golden shade. When it backs off, ze breathes and relaxes, turning hir attention back to the pool. B is greeted with a warm smile. Ze raises a hand to pause B's approach as ze turns to start pulling off hir t-shirt and shrug out of hir jeans. Ze is perfectly happy to hop in the pool in a pair of panties and a bandeau bra, both gray and lilac in color. As promised, the hug Rasa gets is very wet, not that it matters all that much when the rest of hir is very wet as well. B's arms wrap around hir fierce and tight, tugging hir back deeper into the warm water. "So how's Pennsylvania? The only thing I know about it is, like, chicken farms and -- torture labs." Her ridged brows hike up, smile juuust a little crooked. "And I'm pretty sure Osborn's not into chickens, right?" "Oh, no. We don't get many chickens in the actual institute - not live ones anyway. They're still on the menu." Rasa leans in close, hugging B tightly, but there's only a faint hum of telepathy playing across hir skin. Ze is somewhat closed off, despite the closeness and the usual affection ze holds for hir former roommate. "It's pretty cold, but I don't have to tell you that, being in Massachusetts and all." Ze pulls away a little to get a good look at her face. "How's MIT? You in heaven yet?" There's a shiver of excitement that plays through B's mind before her arms drop -- it tingles both with genuine joy and with a thrill of something a little more spikey-wired. Her gills are shifting slowly, the longer pair submerged beneath the water doing the bulk of her breathing before she remembers to shut them to speak again. "Been in heaven since pretty much I stepped on campus. MIT is --" She ducks her head, rubbing a webbed hand against the back of her neck. "Full of freaks." Which definitely sounds like a positive, by her tone. "The people I meet there, it's like --" Her nose crinkles up, and she gives Rasa a crooked smile. "Well. I don't know. I guess 'full of freaks' maybe isn't too far off from your place either, huh?" "Well, yes. We're full of freaks. It's kind of - well, intentionally full of freaks. Your school, though, it's full of smartie pants, too, right? I am never quite sure I left Xavier's." Rasa grows a little tan as ze speaks, still maintaining that comfortable smile. "You should tell me more about the people you meet there. Anyone smarter than you? I mean, you hear all the time that the kids that go to MIT feel like they are the smartest kids in their school until they run into the smartest kids at /other/ schools." Hir eyebrows waggle at the thought as ze leans back in the water and floats a little bit. "S'gotta be smart kids at your place too, though, yeah? I mean," B waves a hand towards Rasa, "you're there." She sinks a little lower in the water, turning aside with another slow flutter of gills. For a moment she dips below the surface, face submerged and her eyes closing. When she resurfaces water sluices off her shoulders as she shrugs. "I meet --" Her head is turned aside, eyes looking down into the water. "Interesting people. Really -- passionate. Um --" For a moment she seems a little derailed, until she looks up with a quick smile. "Yeah. Smarter than me. Some of them. -- Is it really like Xavier's, though? I mean, freaks, sure, but the vibe's gotta be -- I dunno. Different, isn't it?" "Well, I suppose." Rasa chuckles lightly and shakes hir head slowly from side to side, not enough to splash water in hir face. "I am there. I'm smart - just not on your level of smart. And no. It's not really like Xavier's at all. I mean, well, it's... not warm. But, not everyone is Charles Xavier, right? Norman Osborn is hardly the warm, welcoming paternal type. I guess I'd say I'm one of the students closest to him and I still wouldn't - well, it's not warm." Ze brings hir hands up and scrubs hir face. "What is college life like? I feel like a grown up babysitter sometimes - big sibling. Don't know if I'm really getting the normal college experience." "Closest to him?" B's eyes shift over towards Rasa, head tilting slightly. "What's /that/ like?" Her teeth sink down harder against her lip. "It's -- exciting. Hard, sometimes. I don't know, I feel a little over my head now and then? But --" Her gills flutter, then lie flat once more. "I mean. It's -- intense. I don't know if I'm getting the normal college experience either." "True, true, it is MIT." Rasa lets hirself drift more upright and studies B for a moment. "I wonder if any of us are going to get a 'standard' education. Not with how we look." She inhales deeply and considers, glancing over toward the door. "Being close to Norman Osborn is... it's like... people who keep a moderately trained tiger in their bedroom. You learn that respect is more important giant fuzzy cuddles, as one might find one inside the tiger's mouth before knowing it." Hir nose twitches a little. "The closer I get, the more I just sort of keep my distance." B shudders, shoulders shaking in a silent laugh as her gills flutter again. "Oh. Oh gosh. Oh /gosh/. I just imagined cuddling Norman Osborn. That's --" Her head shakes. "Terrifying. Thanks for that image. Yikes. Please don't get eaten. You're -- not getting eaten, right? That's --" The laughter dies away, something solemn crossing her expression. Briefly. "Not what college is for." "I've had quite enough with being consumed. No. I am definitely keeping my body parts." Rasa nods and stretches a little bit, still distant and stiff. "All this talk of eating makes me realize I'm hungry. You hungry? Your dads still cooking enough to feed many armies?" Ze turns back to B and smiles again. "It's /me/. I'm always hungry." B's expression lights with amusement once more. "And my dads are --" Now the amusement is brighter -- though her /voice/ is tempered with something else. Thoughtful. Careful. "-- Armies in themselves. Dai's making stew. Be ready soon enough." "Excellent." Rasa leans back in the water once more. "I'm just going to see if I can't get the water to warm the damage from the train. You can tell me more about your classes. Made any friends yet? There's so much to say still!" And so much time to say it in.