ArchivedLogs:Q&A

Q&A
Dramatis Personae Derek, Hercules, Taylor
In Absentia	2015-10-09 "I treat everyone the same."
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 not quite dinnertime, just yet. Classes and extracurriculars are both out for the day, and the muggy-dank threat of rain outside has driven some people back in from what /had/ been a pleasant evening. The rec room is noisy as it often is -- a game of Smash Bros garnering a lot of chatter over by the television, a few people playing Ticket to Ride at one of the tables, the clack-clack-clack of the air hockey puck rattling across the table. At the foosball table, a game is just ending with a /smack/ and a flick. One side of the table is being manned by three people, though the other side has just one -- a tall youth with jet-black skin and enough limbs that he has no problem controlling all his men at once. Taylor's grin is bright white behind his black lips as he drops his tentacles -- thick and long and lined with sharp hook-bearing suction-cups -- away from the table. "Maybe next time." Though his cocky tone suggests he doesn't really believe it. He steps back away from the table, one long (long-long-long-loooong) limb snaking halfway across the room to snag a tiramisu cupcake from the table where a number of them sit on a spiraling stand. A second tentacle peels its wrapper off once he brings the dessert back towards himself. Though his eyes are on his treat, his mind is kind of cluttered with the noisy overload of the room -- telepath's senses filled with the surface thoughts thoughts and feelings of those around. An unfamiliar face, to most, peers inside the recroom and looks around. << Hmm, Shane's not here either. Hope she's having fun somewhere, at least. >> Grinning broadly at the crowd and choice of things to do, the large teen steps into the room proper. << I wonder if one of the people in here one of my roomies... >> He is a little shy of six and a half feet tall, though it's hard to tell as the young man tends to stoop a little. Broadchested and well built, he fills out the tight tshirt he wears. The snacktable is his intended destination, and he slows a moment as that tentacle takes off with the tiramisu treat. The large teen looks at the tentacle's owner for a moment, taking in the octopus-like features a moment before grinning at the other teen. << Huh. Dude's like an octopus. Tall too. >> And then he snags one of the tiramisu cupcakes for himself. << Tiramisu! Glad there's a bunch... maybe I can take two. >> There's a small upward hitch of Taylor's brows, here. The tentacles not currently occupied with cupcake slink back behind him, slowly winding around his torso to curl up less-obtrusively out of the way. He swipes his tongue through the icing on the cupcake, hesitating a long moment but then slowly pulling away from the foosball to wander away from the table. A quick smile pulls at his lips. "Who're your roommates? You /can/ take however-many but dinner's -- soon." Hercules pauses mid-paper-unwrap, and looks over at the octopus-like teen. The thought is as obvious on his face as it is in his mind, << How did you do that? >> The large teen clears his throat, "How.. did you manage that? My room mates are Anole and Nick, I've been told, but I have not yet seen them. Just bad timing I suppose." The young man's gaze drops to the cupcake in hand, and then back to the other teen nearby. "Oh, no worries about spoiling my dinner. I easily eat two to three times what a medium sized person would eat." He winks and grins, "Name's Hercules. Nice to meet you." "/Anole/? Seriously?" The surprise written across Taylor's face is clear. He thumps a fist against his chest, coughing briefly on a bite of cupcake. "... well. He's. Sometimes hard to spot." Shrug. His brows sweep back up again at the wink. He rocks back half a step, weight shifting back onto a heel. "Taylor. And dinner here's usually, uh, enormous. Kiiinda got more than a few people with --" One tentacle flicks in Hercules's direction. "Different physiological needs." Hercules chuckles at the other teen's reaction. << Is Anole bad news or good news? >> "Oh? That is what I was told. Is he able to go invisible, like Jack?" He sits up a little and shrugs. "If dinner is enormous, than that is excellent. I will eat heartiliy. A cupcake will not do much to abate my hunger." "Surprising news." Taylor's next shrug involves more limb, several of the tentacles lifting together with his shoulders. His mouth hooks up, curling in amusement as Hercules speaks. "Ah --" He rubs at the back of his head with the end of a tentacle. "Riiight, dude. We, uh, aim to please." Hercules grins, "So you can read my mind. To some extent, yes? Why is Anole surprising news?" The large teen takes a large bite from the cupcake, chewing quickly and swallowing before continuing. "Have you been a student here long?" << I wonder what he meant by hard to spot? Maybe I've walked past this Anole and not noticed. >> "Do you know who Nick is, too?" "To some extent, yeah." Taylor takes another bite of his cupcake, tongue swiping across his lips to lick icing off them. "Long-ass time. Too long. Since middle school." His nose wrinkles up at this admission. The next question just earns a shrug. "Dunno. Nick's new. Everybody's new. I think we like, quadrupled our population this year, it's freaking /nuts/. Since we hit the news it's like, /bam/. Suddenly --" One arm waves in a lazy sweep around the room. "Suddenly we're the popular kid." His grin is bright. Amused. "If you're a freak." Hercules chuckles and looks to himself. "I think six foot five or so at eighteen is pretty freakish. With massive strength to go with it." He finishes off the cupcake he has, and shrugs. "The school made the news just when I needed it, so I won't complain about that or the fact that it's crowded. At least we are... mostly safe here." << I wonder if he gets comments about hentai? >> Taylor's grin thins slightly, his breath pushed out in a slow exhale that sounds aaalmost like a laugh. "Mmm. Tall is freakish." Kind of dry, kind of amused. He nibbles at the cupcake again; one of his other limbs crumples up its wrapper to toss it in the trash. "That's convenient, anyway. And yeah, I wasn't complaining. Pretty glad it's here for people who need it." He pops the rest of the cupcake into his mouth, leaning back against the table that it came from. "And I only get comments from every person I've /ever/ met, don't worry." Hercules stands next to the table set with treats, near where Taylor leans. The two are in conversation, it seems. "That has to be irritating, at the very least.", the tall teen says. "Though, it must be pretty useful to have all those extra limbs. How flexible are they, can you type with them, and operate a mouse? Eh, sorry to ask so many questions." He rubs his chin, letting out a sigh. << Greaaaat, now I am weirding him out. Good job! >> "So, there seem to be quite a few aquatic morphs at the school. Do you know Shane? The sharkdude? And there are a few other fish-like people that I've seen." It's been a long first week at Xavier's. The classes have been mentally taxing on Derek, but he's at least grateful for the weekend. He can forget all about schooling until Sunday night. Not really sure what the other students do for fun around the mansion, Derek's decided to check out the rec room. He stops in the door way and looks around, his attention instantly drawn to the large form that is Hercules. Seeing his roommate talking with the large fellow, Derek decides to make his way over to the only two familiar faces in the room. "Hey Herculeth (He still can't believe that's his real name), Taylor." Taylor plucks a second cupcake off the cupcake-tree, unwrapping it with a second one of his tentacles. "They're flexible," is the only answer he gives, together with a small chuckle. "You're gonna meet a whole /lotta/ freaks around here. Probably best not to, mmm." His smile slips kind of lopsided. "Treat us like freaks." His tone is still light, amusement primarily in his voice. "Shane was my roommate last year. My advisor this year. He's /basically/ the most kickass. -- Yo!" One more of his tentacles lifts, waving to Derek even before he's actually looked over towards his roommate. "Cupcakes. Is what we do for fun around the mansion." Maybe one day the telepath will get out of the habit of answering thoughts rather than speech but today is not that day. Hercules grins at Taylor and shrugs, "I treat everyone the same. I ask a lot of questions. I make humourous comments, sometimes crude ones. But I don't do it because someone's a freak, I do it because I am me." He glances towards Derek and smiles, "Hey Derek. Settling in? How'd your week go? And have you seen Shane around? Erm. You know, the girl you were talking to the other day." << Hope she's alright. >> The tall teen reaches out to snag another of the tiramisu cupcakes, and carefully unwraps the paper from its bottom. He glances back at Taylor. "But I get what you're saying. And I'll do my best to take your advice." The cupcake-tree gets an odd look, Derek didn't even know there was such thing as a cupcake tree. "Cupcaketh..." He says uncertainly before reaching out and carefully taking a cupcake. The rapid fire of questions takes Derek completely off guard and he almost drops his cupcake. "Thlow down with the questionths. Did you need to know my thoe size too?" << Why can't I ever keep my mouth shut. >> He takes a breath. "I dunno, thettling ith going to take some time. Claththes are okay << I'm never going to pass >> and no, I haven't seen Thane. Thame quethtionth back at you Herc." He takes a bite of the cupcake and a look of surprise comes across his face. "Thethe are fucking good." Taylor grins at Hercules. Briiight. His brows hitch way high up, shoulders shaking in silent laughter. "Oh. One of those." There's still a levity to his tone. His eyes are fixed, now, on his cupcake. "Well, s'cool that you don't even see the tentacles but. They hang pretty heavy on my back." He lifts the cupcake in salute to Derek. "They're /fantastic/, aren't they? Professor Holland makes 'em. Baking teacher. He's like a goddamn /wizard/." << And if there's shit you could use a hand in, >> this is slipped silently to his roommate, << I'm doing more or less okay in class, if it's a class I've taken you're welcome to my notes. >> Hercules grins at Derek, and nods in reply to his statement. "They are fucking delicious, aren't they?" He takes a bite out of his second cupcake of the evening, and licks the small amount of icing that sticks to his upper lip. "My first week was pretty decent. Most of the professors are good teachers, they seem able to motivate we students. Though... well, it's hard to explain it, but I think they have a bit of an agenda. I'll have to think on it a bit more though, so that I can say it how I mean it. I have a room assigned to me, and two room mates which I have yet to meet. And I've not seen Shane around." << She's cute. >> Hercules looks to Taylor and shrugs. "No, I see the tentacles. But they don't seem any stranger than my arms and legs, they're just different. And yeah, I hear you on their weight. Every mutation has a drawback. I have to eat like a pig, and that's not all fun and games, people staring at me for it. I run a little hot too, all the energy I'm converting to keep my strength up. And fter the last growth spurt, I had to relearn how to do a bunch of stuff. Ever hit a key on a keyboard so hard that you made a hole through the key and keyboard, and a dent in the desk? << My favourite laptop too. Sigh. >> Even casually clapping someone on the back can go horribly wrong." Derek has never had a cupcake that good before and nods at what Taylor says before freezing. Even more so than Taylor's tentacles, the talking in his head freaks him out even more so. He goes a bit cold as fear runs through him. << Great. Now my roommate knows I suck at school. >> "Um.. well thee how I do in a week or two. Could be I'm thill adjuthting." << Yeah right, dumbass >> He hopes that responding out loud is the right thing to do. "Wow, that'th quite the dethcription of your week." Derek can't figure out Hercules he's just so friendly but guys that huge usually aren't friendly, it's almost untrust worthy. "I definitely thee the tentacles." Derek quickly feels like he put his foot in his mouth, since he didn't mean it to be so rude. "I mean, it'th jutht, thit. I don't think it'th a bad thing." "Sorry, dude." Taylor gives Derek an apologetic smile. "I can't turn off the --" He waves a tentacle towards his head. "Brain thing. Not easily, anyway. Or else I would. Don't really /mean/ to be all -- invadey." He winces as Hercules speaks, rocking back another step. Licking at the icing on his cupcake again. When he answers, his words come slowly. "Yeah. No. We all have our struggles. For sure. That's just -- not -- connected to what I was saying?" His head shakes slightly. "Anyway, I gotta get to dinner if I want to catch my train. Later, dudes." His chin jerks up in a quick nod to the others, a brief crooked smile flashed their way before he heads out, munching his cupcake as he goes. Hercules looks to Taylor, "What did you mean then?" He nods and offers a wave, "Take care then, Taylor. Maybe we can hash it out later, yeah?" << No idea what I said wrong. Maybe I'll work it out. >> He looks away then, feeling and looking a little embarrassed. His gaze goes to Derek, and he shrugs. "Eh, it was a week. There'll be better, and worse, ones to come, I am sure." Hercules tips his head in Taylor's direction, "That dude's interesting. I think those tentacles are cool... he was playing one side of the foosball table against three guys when I walked in. Kicked their asses, by the sounds of their grumbling." Derek doesn't blame Taylor and gives him a nod. "No.. it'th, it'th what we got right? Could alwayth be worthe. Theriously." << It doesn't matter how weird things are, things are better. >> "Thee ya Taylor. Thankth for... jutht.. thankth." For not making him feel like an idiot when learning how much he struggles with school. His attention turns back to Hercules and Derek nods. "Yeah, I could have landed with a lot worthe for a roommate. I jutht gotta get uthed to thith place. I'm not in Kanthath anymore. And pleathe feel free to groan at the overplayed joke." Hercules grins at Derek and rolls his eyes a little. "Almost as bad as me saying I lived on Sesame Street. Which I totally used to do." He looks wistsfully at the cupcakes, perhaps wondering if he should have another. "Yeah, haivng a room mate, or room mates, that you can get along with probably makes the school year much easier. Especially if they take some of the same classes you do." "Totaly uthed to thay or totally uthed to live on Thesame Thtreet." Derek asks testing yet again if Hercules is going to squash him. "I'm hoping we get along, or at the very leatht I'm not in their way. Can't help but feel a little like I'm intruding on their thpace." He shrugs and finishes up the cupcake. "I've rarely had cupcaketh that weren't in a wrapper, thith placthe. I jutht have trouble believing thith ith all real. Like it'th too good to be true." "I was born and raised in Astoria, Queens. The studio where Sesame Street was produced is in Astoria, Queens. And some of the buildings on the show look like buildings on my street. Too much so to be just a coincidence. So, yeah, I lived on Sesame Street." The large teen grins and reaches out to gently pat Derek on the shoulder. "Don't feel that you're invading their space, it's your space too. It's meant to be a test. Being able to get along with room mates prepares you for getting along with people in the outside world, after you've graduated. Just be yourself, and be as cool as you can, and things should be alright. If you ever need a hand, please, just ask. I'll help you out as best I can." Derek tries to figure out where Queens is and eventually gives up. "Where is Queenth?" He thinks he's heard of it but Derek isn't that knowledgeable when it comes to geography. He doesn't say much at Hercules words, just nods out of obligation. Derek's not sure how much he believes what the larger teen is saying. When Hercules stops talking all he responds with is, "I'm good, thankth though, but I'm okay." Hercules grins, "Still, the offer stands, I like helping people. And Queens is a borough of New York City. It's one of five, the others are Staten Island, Brooklyn, Manhattan and the Bronx. Kind of like cities within a city." The large teen chuckles. "I can't say I know much about Kansas, so I can't blame you for not being knowledgeable about New York City." Derek nods slowly, trying to understand what Hercules is saying about New York City. "Not thure if I get it but, it'th a part of New York Thity, got it. I never thought I'd ever get to go to New York Thity. Once I thettle in a bit, maybe my thithter and I will head in." Though the money part is what worries Derek. "Kanthath is... nothing thepcial. I don't really thee mythelf mithing it much." "Well, maybe we could all go together? Who is your sister, if you don't mind my asking?" Hercules grins broadly at the other teen. "Uhm, how old are you, if it's not nosy to ask? We could probably get permission to go to New York City for the day, or maybe even the weekend." There are benefits to going to an unknown city with someone as large as Hercules, especially if the stories about New York City being a dangerous city full of rude assholes is true. "I have a thithter, Daithy. Thhe thtarted with me. And I'm thixteen." He gives Hercules a confused look, not sure why he's asking. "I don't think I would want to do a whole weekend, jutht a day would be enough." He's not sure how he started planning a trip into the city and a part of him is screaming that it's a horrible idea. "Sixteen? Awesome. See, if you were younger than sixteen, they'd probably not let you out, the curfew for under-sixteens is harsher than for those sixteen and older." The larger teen looks a bit more excited now. "That's cool, a day is enough to see some pretty cool stuff. Talk with your sister, and see what she says. Maybe we can make a day of it." Derek nods to Hercules. "Yeah. I'll remember." Though at the moment he doesn't really plan on doing anything with that information. He gives a final wave before leaving the rec room.