ArchivedLogs:Hurts To Laugh

Hurts To Laugh
Dramatis Personae Jack, Faelan, Micah
In Absentia	24 April 2015 '
Location <XS> Great Hall
The largest room at Xavier's, the Great Hall is designed to hold all of the mansion's residents and then some. Built for the mansion's bigger functions, it serves as the school's dining halls on ordinary days, and ballroom when needed. On school days, long trestle tables stretch across the hall, high-backed chairs with plush cushions offering seating for the students. If its possible for a set of empty clothes to look a little grumpy, that's how the clothes finding a seat in the cafeteria look this early Friday morning. Jeans, sneakers, and a hoodie carry a tray of pancakes and an orange to the table. He's moving a little slower than usual, being careful with the stitches under his clothes. "Man, I have no idea what I'm going to do tonight," he mutters as he starts to apply syrup to his breakfast of choice. Arranging college classes to not have things on Friday is a benefit of the well prepared student, and Faelan is at Xavier's to enjoy the lovely breakfasts provided. He's dressed for a day of training, though with the chill of the day a hoodie and pair of sweat pants replace the usual more sweat wicking materials. His own tray is properly filled with a bit less heavy of a breakfast with fruits, breakfast meats and juices. Offering a smile to the slower moving sack of clothing, he nods seriously at the question. "I recommend books, video games and staring longingly out a window with a bit of sighing." Glancing to the table, he inquires "Mind if I join?" Micah usually picks up some food to eat out at the conservatory or at his desk before class. As such he carries no tray, just a cup of grits with a few strips of bacon laid across the top and a banana in the opposite hand. The empty-appearing clothing that he generally presumes is Jack catches his attention, however, moving him toward the table. “Jack, hi. How're you doin'?” As Faelan approaches, he gives a nod since his hands are too full for waving. “Faelan, long time. Good t'see you.” The redhead is dressed as he always seems to be when he is here for morning classes: TARDIS-blue polo shirt and khakis ready for his second job as soon as class lets out. Jack perks up a little at the sound of his name, lifting his free hand for a short wave to Micah. "Hi, Professor. I'm...as good as I can be considering the whole..." he trails off, gesturing vaguely with a sleeve. Faelan's approach and answer get a little laugh from Jack and an unseen smile. "I just need to pick out a new book or two. And stop being so bad at video games," he says. "I don't mind." Sliding into a seat at the table, Faelan offers a nod to Micah. "Yeah, busy between freshman year and sweating my ass off a few days a week. At least today I don't need to wear my collar piece. I get a weird tanline if I don't remember to hide it." He taps his neck at that, and he does actually have a faint lighter bit along his neck like one might have a watch line on their wrist. "I can help you pick something out of the Library if you'd like Jack. You want anything in particular? Or just something to keep you occupied for a few days while you rest up?" At the very least he's trying not to pry too much into the situation. "And yeah, most of the games they play in the game room, not being good at it isn't as much fun. At least the Mario Party games nobody cares about the skill, but those fighting games it gets rough..." "Professor nothin'. S'still Micah. Y'mind if I sit? I know teacher at the cafeteria table ain't standard operatin' procedure." Micah offers a warm smile, if dimmer than his usual, and shifts the messenger bag hanging at his hip to keep it from sliding. "Freshman year's an adjustment, yeah. Y'likin' college so far?" He nods at Jack's reply of being any level of good. "S'good. You're up an' about. I'd recommend Katamari-ing around if y'just need somethin' distractin' an' light-hearted. Y'can only be but so bad at that game." "College sounds like it's a pretty busy place," Jack remarks, starting to eat some pancakes. "I don't mind at all. The more the merrier," he replies to Micah, nodding towards the empty chairs nearby. "I'm always up for a good mystery or detective story. I think I've read most of what our library has already," he chuckles lightly. "Yeah. I mean sure the arrow part is new but its not the first time I've gotten beaten and bloodied just for being a mutant," he shrugs one shoulder. "Oh man, those fighting games. And the racing ones. I get curb stomped," he admits. "Katamari's the trippy one with the ball everything sticks to, right?" Pffting at the desire not to be called a professor Faelan shakes his head. "I /Still/ call people professor and I graduated. Going from /Last/ names to first names and code names is still weird. Having a code name is pretty cool though." He smiles a little at that but shakes his head. Popping some grapes into his mouth, he nods at the book options, but frowns at the violence done to him. "Maybe when you're feeling better you can join me on the track? Running is a pretty good first option. Well, maybe not with arrows, at least unless you can get behind cover..." "It usually is. /I'm/ just used t'professors bein' the guys at the universities with the PhD's. I ain't any of that is all." A faint tinge of red finds Micah's cheeks as he settles into the offered chair. He places the cup and banana on the table before situating his messenger bag across the chair's back. "Have y'read Poe's short stories? They're dark, but good for mystery an' detectivin'. I'm also a fan of Sherlock Holmes." His lips twitch just a little, the blush darkening. "Okay, I just realised m'taste in mysteries is pretty ancient. But, yeah, that's Katamari. Can't go wrong with a giant static ball an' makin' stars." The talk of the violence tempers his expression again. His hand balls into a fist to circle over his heart. "...that y'had t'go through that. Y'sure you're doin' okay? Checkin' up with Hank? Talked t'one of the counsellors?" "It is weird calling teachers by their first names. In school at least," Jack agrees. "No idea how it'd be with codename stuff. That might be weird or fun," he says after a few bites of his meal. "I haven't read anything by Poe aside from the Raven and Telltale Heart. Read all of Holmes though," he replies with a nod. "Back in Jersey," he adds. His shoulders slump a little as they talk more about the violent incident. "Running...we didn't...we tried but they came at us first," he murmurs, idly stabbing pancake with floating fork. "Still join you on the track sometime if you don't mind company," he says, unseen eyes flicking up towards Faelan. He lets out a breath at Micah's words. "It's not your fault...just those insane women. I have to see Dr. McCoy later today but I haven't seen any counsellor," he says. "Wish I could have...done something other than be a distraction for Jax..." "There are a few detective type stories in the urban fantasy section, just well your detectives have psychic powers or mystical arts. I just shelved one by Harry Connoly you might like, if you don't mind the protagonist being a little old lady." Faelan is such a helpful librarian assistant after all. "Yeah, company is good on the track. And when the weather is nice we'll do cross country." He frowns again at the desire to want to help, but he nods. "Right now, you're still young and untrained. Getting yourself away from the trouble and calling for help would probably have been best. Then Jax wouldn't have had to worry about making sure you were okay on top of his own actions." He offers an encouraging smile at that. "It's kinda the first training we get." "Y'should look into it. Enough authorities on the topic call 'im the father of the detective genre. I just like 'is writin' in gen'ral." Micah's head shakes slowly. "I know it ain't m'fault. But it's still terrible that it happened. An' y'did what y'needed t'do t'make it out alive, clearly. So y'did your job. Jax can take care of 'imself better'n most. Step one in whenever y'think a situation's gettin' ugly? Hit your panic button. Better t'hit it an' not need it than the other thing." He slips a strip of bacon off of his grits and feeds it into his mouth in three quick bites. "I know...this particular one went kinda fast. Not sayin' y'did nothin' wrong. S'just good future reference." The next strip is pinched in his fingers but he doesn't eat it yet. "Counsellor might be a good idea. This kinda thing's...stressful an' traumatic an' good t'talk out in a safe environment at least once." He pauses, looking down at his breakfast. "Ah...if they haven't contacted you yet, s'likely the police're gonna want a statement. Y'might also wanna think...how y'wanna handle that." Nodding, Jack makes a few mental notes. "I don't mind it being an old lady. I'll check the book out. Poe's stuff too," he replies. He sighs, jabbing his fork into a pancake a little harder than needed. "There wasn't even time to do that. Panic or run. They attacked and I couldn't even get up before suddenly there's...freaking arrows," he stabs the pancake again. "Next thing I know, Jax is dragging me out of there..." he trails off, clearly unhappy. "I know I'm not some...ninja master but I...it just happened so fast," he ends up deflating a little, shoulders slumping. "Maybe if I'd been more helpful, that arrow wouldn't have..." he trails off quietly. When Micah mentions the police, Jack sighs and looks up at him slowly. "I talked with B about how they arrested Jax. No one's contacted me yet but...if I can help out, I will. Give a statement or testify or something." Faelan nods and as his breakfast rapidly disappears, he considers and tries to move the subject away from the troublesome subject, even if its obvious. "Only a few weeks left in this semester right? What are you planning for summer session?" Yep, master of the segue right there. "There tends to be a larger option of non-academic periods at least." "I know, sugar. It was fast. None of this is your fault, y'know?" Micah's tone is soft and sincere, regarding Jack with a slight tilt to his head. "The amount of helpful you'd have t'be against these people... It ain't somethin' t'be expected of someone that don't /do/ this kinda thing all the time. Y'did what y'had to. An' ev'ryone made it out alive." Another pause, another piece of bacon down. "Okay. I can talk t'Tian-shin 'bout what options there might be. She's the lawyer workin' with Jax. Try'n make things as painless as possible for you. I dunno...the exact rules 'bout interviewin' minors an' all. I'll check in. An' I'm here t'help in whatever way I can, okay?" He quiets then, finishing his last strip of bacon and setting in on his grits given there's only so much time for breakfast and Faelan is handling the 'lighter' talk. "Problem is, I didn't do anything," Jack replies softly. He lets it go though. "I think the rule is that a parent, guardian, or advocate has to be there for interviews," he says, shrugging again. The lighter talk makes Jack pause and look back up at Faelan. "I don't know," he admits. "I have to look at the options. What're you doing?" "I'm mostly going to be working. I didn't want to additional cost of summer classes as well, so work and training." Faelan offers a shrug at that, but seems to consider. "If I can swing some off time maybe do some camping. We used to have big group ones here with teachers chaperoning, but well..." he shakes his head. "Honestly, might not be a bad idea to see if anyone is willing again. Better in the middle of the woods than the middle of the city." "Yeah, I know there needs t'be a someone. Just don't know who counts as acceptable someones. Tian-shin should be able t'straighten things out for us." Micah leaves off at that. "The hikin' an' nature club arranges some things. An' the rock climbin' society. Prob'ly y'could volunteer t'do some chaperonin' yourself, if y'wanted, Faelan." This last is said with a smile, building on the previous having-graduated discussion. He spoons up grits, steadily working through his cup. "Camping," Jack lets out a faint huh. "Kaine will probably be interested," he says. "Not sure about it myself though," he says, starting to peel his orange. "I mean...I used to sleep outside on the ground all the time." "We always preferred having Ms. Monroe as the chaperone on the trip... guaranteed good weather as long as we behaved," Faelan says with a grin. "Besides, who wants to follow someone with the codename Lost into the woods?" He seems somewhat bemused by that, and looks to Jack at the last bit. "It's a useful thing to know at least...harder to find someone off the grid after all." The look on his face may perhaps indicate matters related to unfortunate dreams. "It's a lot more fun when you're doin' it out in the woods on purpose than in an alley or somethin' out of necessity," Micah assures between bites. "'Specially 'cause y'get t'go with friends an' build fires an' make s'mores an' tell stories an' sing an' stuff." He chuckles at Faelan's Lost assertion. "I'm sure they'd love t'have you, all the survival trainin' you've done. An' /usually/ there's more'n one chaperone, anyhow. 'Specially if a lotta kids get involved." "I'd follow you," Jack assures Faelan. "I don't think I'll have trouble avoiding being found," Jack remarks with a faint laugh. "I guess I could try it if there's a bunch of people going. Not so sure anyone would want to hear me sing though," he laughs. A moment later he winces and lets out a slow breath. "Okay...gotta be careful with that...ow." "We'll see if anyone is interested when it gets closer to the summer months," Faelan says with a shrug. A buzzing goes off at his pocket and he pulls out his phone. "Crap, that's my alarm. I need to be getting downstairs for training." Draining his juices and cramming food in his face, he wolfs down the last of it in a few moments, fairly messily. "Try not to laugh too much till you feel better. Think of Eeyore and sad puppies in the rain." He nods and finishes getting all his trash on his tray. "Talk to you guys later, hopefully I will be able to move tonight," he grins at that and heads on off to drop his trash off. “Well, y'can always listen t'/other/ people sing,” Micah suggests with a chuckle of his own. “That's the unfortunate thing with a lotta injuries. Hurts worst t'laugh. Just no fair at all.” Faelan's suggestion of sadness has the opposite of its intended effect, drawing out another chuff of laughter. “Good luck, hon. Give 'em what-for.” His spoon chases after the remainder of the grits at the bottom of his cup. Jack jumps at the sudden buzzing sound, wincing again. He shakes his head, a hand-shaped indent appearing on his hoodie as he pressing a hand onto his injury lightly. "Hurts to laugh and I can't even hit the gym or go for a swim," he sighs, shaking his head. The sadness suggestion gets an amused noise from Jack too but he at least stops himself from laughing. "See you later," he offers, waving a sleeve. He gets about half way through his orange before he remembers something and looks to Micah. "That stalker guy I got emailed about...he didn't cause any trouble or show up again, did he?" Micah polishes off the last bite and sets his spoon back in the cup with a light clatter. “Maybe find some movies t'go along with your books an' video games.” His head shakes at the question. “Thank goodness, no. We had Dusk put 'im on the ping list for the security system, though, so if he shows up there we'll know it. An' /this/ place's kinda a fortress. Just keep an eye out if y'get out an' about. 'Specially the safe house. He knows about that place, so it might be best t'stay clear for a bit.” He picks at the stem of his banana to start working the peel open. “Had you ever seen 'im b'fore?” "I was planning on asking Kaine about some movies. He knows a lot about them," Jack agrees with a nod. He's relieved to hear that news. "I ran into him once. More like he showed up out of nowhere and made me think he had a gun though," Jack sighs. "I don't think I'm in any shape to head out to the safehouse right now. Supposed to be taking it easy." “Always good t'have someone t'watch with, too.” Micah finally succeeds in getting the banana started, slipping the peel down in sections. He looks concerned at the report of the run-in. “Where was this? Why would he be tryin' t'make y'think he had a gun?” Jack finishes off his orange before he replies, the pieces of fruit disappearing when he pops them into his mouth. "In the city. Came up behind me and led me to an alley. Said he wanted me to hit my panic button. No idea how he even knew about it. Turns out he didn't have a gun at least. Just one of those uh...fake electric cigarettes." Micah takes a bite of banana before Jack makes that revelation. He chews quickly to ask more questions, eyebrows dipping toward one another with increasing concern. “Did you tell anyone about this b'fore? I think this might be a thing that needs t'be reported. If he's gonna be runnin' 'round threatenin' students just 'cause they're students, stalkin' folks, showin' up on doorsteps makin' threats... Ain't none of that remotely okay. You make sure t'stay entirely away from 'im, okay?” Jack sighs, shaking his head. "It sounds stupid now but I was hoping he was just going to go away since I didn't have anything he wanted. Didn't think he'd show up on your doorstep or that he was actually stalking anyone until now," he mutters. "I was planning on telling Jax about him the other night on the way home but..." he trails off, gesturing vaguely. The arrowing incident came first. "I know. I feel like an idiot but I know to avoid the hell out of that guy. Unsettling was a good word for him..." “No need t'feel like an idiot, hon. S'a good idea t'stay clear. That's smart. I'll let folks know 'bout this an' let 'em figure the best way t'handle it.” Micah takes another bite out of the banana, chewing slowly. “Y'should be fine here. Like I said, place is kinda a fortress.” Jack nods a little. "Yeah, this place is pretty safe," he agrees. "I'm more worried about people like the crazy women rather than stalker guy anyway." “Yeah, we'll...hopefully. At least by the end of this we should know who they are, for what that's worth.” Micah finishes the end of his banana and pops the peel into the empty cup. “Okay, sugar. I think...with alla this it might be even more of a good idea t'set some time aside t'talk t'that counsellor. S'a lot for /anybody/ t'hafta deal with. I'll talk t'the lawyer 'bout the statement an' folks here 'bout the stalker. Y'let me know if there's anythin' else y'need, okay?” He moves to collect his bag. “Classes're gonna start soon. Should get goin'.” Jack glances at the time and whistles a little. "Yeah, classes," he says, having lost track of time. He's quiet a moment, considering something but eventually letting out a breath. "Thanks, Micah. If I think of something, I'll give you a call." Micah hesitates at that quiet and long breath, messenger bag slung over his shoulder and cup retrieved for the dish return. “You sure you're okay, hon?” His free hand reaches out to rest lightly on Jack's shoulder. Jack bites his lip a moment and then lets out a breath. "I...I apologize for sounding dumb but...I don't know. I kind of feel like I could use a hug about now," he admits after that hand settles on his shoulder. “Hey...” Micah's hand gives Jack's shoulder a light squeeze. “You didn't do nothin' wrong. You're not an idiot an' it's not dumb. Okay, sugar?” He sets the cup back on the table and pulls Jack (gently!) closer to wrap an arm around him. “It's okay. Y'know, if you're not up for goin' t'class they'll excuse you for bein' in the counsellor's office. Y'don't gotta just push through things.” Jack moves with the pull and after a moment wraps his arms around Micah, too. He's not used to this kind of contact but he felt like he needed it. "I...I'll see if I can get through one class at least," he says. "And thanks again," the invisible mutant adds. "Okay, if y'feel up to it. Just know there's people here. Pretty much any time." Micah's hand gives a little rub-pat to Jack's back before he steps away. "An' y'can call me. I do hafta do my class, though. Kinda doesn't work without me." A tiny hint of a smile tugs at his lips with that. "You're more'n welcome." Jack chuckles a little as he steps back too. "I just want to see if I did well on the quiz for this class. It'll bother me all day if I don't find out," he admits sheepishly. "Then I'll go see the counsellor," he replies. "I'll see you later." “We all get peace of mind somewhere,” Micah replies, smile returning at Jack's chuckle. “Hang in there.” He offers a little wave before grabbing the cup to take to tray return before heading out to his classroom.