ArchivedLogs:Cats and Cookies

Cats and Cookies
Dramatis Personae Tristan and Jack
In Absentia	2015-02-04 Jack and Tristan have a chat in the evening on the playground
Location <XS> Playground
Set on the still-expansive grounds around the side of the school, this area is to the outdoors rather what the rec room is to the indoors. There's a large basketball court out here; a fenced-off tennis court adjacent. Further distant there are setups for other sports -- a large track, a soccer field. Closer in to the school, though, in its own large enclosure adjacent to the basketball and tennis courts, is the playground, a huge expanse of equipment set up on alternating plots of slightly squishy flooring and mulch. Centrally there is a large sprinkler-fountain, not always /on/ but it can be turned on with a push of a button; spreading out around this is the actual playground equipment, sturdy and varied. A huge dome constructed in honeycombed interlocked poles and rope netting rises hiiiigh for climbing; a large swingset holds four pairs of swings. A large roundabout in bright colours stands in one corner near a long see-saw. The huge bridge-and-tunnel castle structure at one end has many routes of entry, from poles to climb up (or slide down) to a small climbing /wall/. Monkeybars. Four different slides of varying lengths and spiraling. For the adventurous, between things to climb on and jump between and bounce across it is probably possible to skirt one end of the playground and back without touching the ground, though it might take a particularly adept feat of balance and agility. Or possibly wings. The air is cold, and the sky is grey at this time. The sun has gone down, and most of the people are in their rooms or doing whatever they do at this time of the night. A newcomer is having adjustment issues on his second day, and is outside wearing a jacket, t-shirt, jeans, boots, hat, scarf and gloves. The boy is sitting on top of the monkey bars. His legs are folded under him, and he seems to be in an odd looking crouch. His hands drabbed on his knees as he stares up at the sky. His eyes are bright cat-eye yellow at the time as he seems entralled with the stars peeking through the clouds. Jack is no fan of the cold but he's still out at the moment. Of course it only looks like a pair of jeans, a pair of sneakers, a zip-up hoodie, and a bright white coat are walking around. He's taking a shortcut through the playground on his way back to the school when he spots Tristan. Hood up and hands jammed in his pocket, he tilts his head to the side for a moment. "Uh, hey," he greets when close enough to the monkey bars to not yell. "What're you doing up there?" he asks, curious and a little wary. As he looks down, his eyes fall on Jack. His cat-eyes blinking as he cocks his head to the side. He takes a deep breath and smells the air around Jack, "I can smell you but I can't see you." Tristan stands up in one fluid motion and leaps into the air. He goes into a back flip of the monkey bars and lands with barely just a thud. He stuffs his hands into his pocket and says, "I mean I really can't see you. Even on my infra-red sight. That is fucking cool." Tristan's eyes shift back to their baby blues, "I was just thinking about what I did." He extends his hand and stops and umms, "I'm new. My name is Tristan." "I know I haven't showered yet but c'mon," Jack tries to joke, shrugging. He watches Tristran's display of agility, an unseen brow arching. He whistles a little at the landing, impressed. "Wait...seriously? You can see in infra-red but not see me?" he asks. That's news to him. "What did you do?" he asks. As the hand is extended, Jack reaches to shake it. There's no hand visible coming out of that empty sleeve but it can certainly be felt when it shakes Tristan's. "I'm Jack." "Yeah my senses are heighten because of what I am...well you know what a mutant is. Sorry. I am a feline feral. So I am like a cat but...well not." He chuckles softly, "If that makes sense." He blinks when he feels the hand and chuckles softly, "Yeah with my senses I can seen nearly perfectly in the dark, and I can shift my sight to be on the infra-red scale so I can see heat signatures. You can I can't see. But I have an super sense of smell too." He smells the air and looks up at the kitchen, "Someone is making cookies. It's a girl who likes to wear powder." He looks back at the hooded boy, "But yeah I can't see you." "Huh...that's kinda cool," Jack remarks, eyes flicking towards the top of Tristan's head as if expecting to see cat ears popping out of his hair. He shakes it off though. The explanation on the infra-red sight has Jack's shoulders slumping slightly. "Well, damn..." he trails off. "I knew I was invisible but I didn't know I was that invisible," he sighs. "Any idea what kind of cookies?" As his eyes shift back to cat eye yellow, "I can tell you in one second." Tristan turns towards the kitchen window. He bends at the knees and grunts as he leaps up to the window ledge holding into the window sill with one hand. He takes a deep breath at the window and looks down at the hooded boy, "Something with lots of chocolate, and...I think marshmellow...or some sort of creme. I don't know that smell." Tristan pulls his knees into his chest and pushes himself off the wall. He tucks his body inwards doing a double back flip and lands back where he started. "The girl is pretty. I don't know. Someone with red hair." He shrugs. "So I guess before you hear it from Fish boy. I am not a villian." Jack jumps slightly when Tristan leaps towards the window. He rubs the back of his neck awkwardly and looks over silently. When he gets the answer, Jack hums. "Sounds good. I'll have to see if there'll be any up for grabs later," he remarks. All the flipping has Jack wondering how Tristan doesn't get dizzy but he doesn't voice it. "Not sure who that is," he replies. He then looks about as confused as empty clothes can. "Okay uh...first, who's Fish Boy? And why would he think you're a villain?" Jack asks. "I'm still sort of newish here myself." A soft chuckle escapes him, "Sorry. I can be a bit...odd. I think it's the feral in me. I was feeling happy yesterday and I was just...a bit too playful for them. And..." Tristan shuffles his feet some, "And my past. The people who I were with before coming here are considered terrorists." He looks in the hooded direction, "I met Shane and I wanted to say Lia? They didn't like the fact I walked along the top of the gate to play with them. When I told them I was here to see the X-men and that I was with the Brotherhood of Mutants. They didn't like it." He shrugs, "I've made some bad choices...some I couldn't help in the past." "Being playful makes you a villain?" Jack is still a little confused. He seems unfazed by the talk of terrorists. "Pretty easy to get called a terrorist these days. Just be a mutant," he remarks. He perks up a little at the mention of Shane and Lia though. "Wait, what were you playing by walking on a gate? And uh...yeah, that could rub some people the wrong way," he says, shifting his weight a little. "Pretty sure we've all made some bad choices..." Jack trails off quietly. "I know I have." A sigh escapes him, "The Brotherhood is not as bad as some think. They look out for each other...I just. I just didn't like the killing part. I never kill anyone. I refused too. But once you join them you don't leave...I did. I told all this to the Professor dude. I even let him play in my head to see. He was cool about it and even assured me that they would not be able to harm or kill me for leaving them while I was here." He shrugs, "And yes. I do have some weird behaviors sometime so if I am not feeling right one day. Don't take it personally man." "Yeah...killing isn't good," Jack agrees, offering no real opinion on the Brotherhood. He shudders slightly at the mention of playing in someone's head. Telepathy still seems weird to him. "I try not to. I'm not exactly uh...normal...myself," Jack replies. "I mean I'm still just getting used to this whole...being social thing again," he says, making a mental note to look up a word for it later. "I am not the biggest social creature either. This is the first time I am back at school in almost 2 years. I left Connecticut in the beginning of my sophomore year to find the Brotherhood. I lived on the streets of New York for a bit till I found them. They took me in and I was with them for almost a year and a half. So being around respectable people and in a...school setting is. Weird for me." Jack laughs a little. "Spent three years living on the streets in Jersey myself. Ended up there when well...this," he gestures at the empty space where his head should be. "happened. Stayed on my own though. Ended up in New York when things went South in Jersey. I know what ya mean though. Being in school again just...it's odd." Tristan nods slowly, "I usually go up north twice a year and hide..." The apples in the boy's cheeks begin to darken as he stops and quickly changes the subject, "Have you always been? Ya know...invisble? Can you turn it off?" "Hide? Up north? From what?" Jack asks, head tilting to the other side. He tugs his coat a little more firmly around himself and stuffs his hands back into his pockets. "Been like this since I was thirteen. And no...no off switch," he mutters, unhappy about that. The boy looks uncomfortable," Let's just say my feline takes over for a week or so and I am alot less normal then you see me." He looks away up at the kitchen window before looking at the unseen boy, "Sorry about that. There has to be some benefits to it. You can always have bed head and no one would know." He makes an attempt to break the tension, not between the two but their own misgivings. Jack nods slowly. Of course now he's picturing Tristan turning into a kitten for a week or something. "I'm not sure the school will let ya just leave and hide but they might give you a place or something," he chimes. There's a little laugh at the joke though. "No one but me. I try to keep my hair tame even if only I can see it. Gotta cut it soon..." "I would rather not be locked up. The cat in me wouldn't like that. If I can hunt and...well it's hard to explain. Just know I can either be allowed to run or put me to sleep." He smiles as he runs a hand through his floppy hair, "I could use some of those cookies. You game?" "Pretty sure most people don't like being locked up cat or not," Jack points out. He glances at the window and nods. "Yeah, let's see if the baker's giving out cookies."