ArchivedLogs:Apples

Apples
Dramatis Personae Ducky, Kai
In Absentia	2013-10-25 '
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. The day's classes have set, and the sun is beginning to set on a chilly, late October day at Xavier's. The windows of the Rec room have been partially covered with fake cobwebs and cut outs of pumpkins and ghosts, silhouetted by the brilliant orange light of the sunset, long, warped shadows cast along the floor of the rec room. The rest of the room has been draped in streamers and more cobwebs, black, orange, and purple the predominant colors, although occasionally a splash of green oozes into the picture. On one of the tables, a collection of markers, carboard in festive colors, glue, scissors, and other craft related items have been left, presumably for allowing students to add further to the decor. On this chill evening, Ducky has opted to venture out of her room and into the common area, apparently with the intention of creating her own contribution to the spooky ambiance. In the background, the TV is playing 'Nightmare Before Christmas', though it is largely ignored by the teen currently seated at the craft table. A stack of books, presumably for studying, has been left abandoned on the floor, sheets of paper sticking out of them like lonely reminders to do homework. Ducky herself is currently eyeing a large graphic of a pigeon in the borrowed Audobaun book in front of her, about halfway through recreating it on the tag board in pencil. A pair of bright yellow flanel pajama pants is paired with a thick hooded XS sweatshirt to ward off the cool evening air. Her dappled pigeon is, as always, nestled in the hood of her sweatshirt, watching Ducky's attempt at art skeptically. Kai looks less timid than usual when he enters the rec room, his brow lowered deeply over his eyes as he pauses on the threshhold and stares around the room. Dressed in a pair of khaki cargo shorts and an orange t-shirt with the word BOO across the chest, the Korean boy seems annoyed about something as he moves silently over towards the craft table. He pauses to watch Ducky as she works, his dark eyes glittering as they sweep over the various implements spread out there. He looks up at the decorated windows, then back down at the crafts with a deeper furrow of his brow. After a long moment, he slides into a vacant chair, offering a tight smile to Ducky as he takes up a piece of black construction paper and a pair of scissors. Then he begins cutting into the construction paper methodically, paring away even-looking strips with grim purpose. Ducky is quite focused on her task of replicating the pigeon onto her board, her tongue peaking out of the corner of her mouth in rapt concentration. It isn't until the dappled bird on her shoulder looks up at Kai's approach, bobbing its head in greeting to the young man, that Ducky actually looks up, blinking for a moment as though attempting to register something. "Hi Kai! Adding to the decorations?" Ducky finally chirps cheerfully, pausing in her measured scribbling at the pigeon drawing - which has now acquired the outline of a pointed black witch's hat perched atop its head jauntily. "No," Kai replies, in his soft voice. "I do not understand the purpose of this holiday." That seems to be all he's going to offer for a few minutes, black strips piling up in front of him as he works. Then he stops, scissors half-closed in the paper and his face screwed up in possibly dark thought. His eyes track to the witch-pigeon, landing there for a long, studious moment. When he looks back up at Ducky, his brows are contorted in uncertainty and he chews on his lip for a moment before he speaks. "It seems sort of silly to have a day dedicated to scary things and candy." Ducky tilts her head curiously, a look of confusion on her features as she looks at her friend, paused in her drawing. She watches his expression carefully, letting the reference book slide over the top of the pigeon drawing to hide the added hat when he look over at it. "Oh. Well, I suppose, yeah, it's kinda silly. But that was always kinda the point," Ducky says quietly, still watching Kai with confusion, "I just liked being able to get all the candy I could eat, just for the one night, and get to dress up in costumes. I never did scary costumes, was always something cute, or goofy. Like a pirate, with my love birds actually sitting on my shoulder like parrots." Her expression gets dark at this point, and she reaches up to pet the dappled pigeon, "And my mom used to make caramel apples for me, just for Halloween." She frowns, setting her pencil down entirely, and glancing curiously at Kai's pile of neat paper strips, "So, um, what are you making?" Kai absorbs this information with no change in the quirk of his brow, and he looks down at the construction paper in his hands. "But. What does it /mean/?" he asks, his brow furrowing deeper. "Why do people wear costumes, and shirts like this --" he plucks at the fabric covering his chest with a deeper, unhappier furrow. "And why is it preferable if these things are scary?" He flops back in his chair, studying the strips of paper and scratching his jaw with the point of the scissors, lightly pressing into the flesh there to leave a white trail behind. "I am making strips," he answers the question, lifting his shoulder lightly. "Some of the girls in the seventh grade spoke of making chains out of them. For the dance, I suppose. I thought I would make these for them, and -- " he breaks off, flushing deeply. "It seemed like a nice thing to do for them. What are caramel apples?" Ducky frowns at the question, trying to figure out how to phrase the answer, idly chewing on the inside of her lip while she thinks. She frowns slightly, "It's kinda an old tradition? Really super diluted now - but back in the day, you'd have people who would put on scary masks and carve pumpkins into scary faces with candles to keep evil spirits and devils away?" There's a pause and she ruffles her hair up a bit, glancing at Kai's shirt with a head tilt, "I think the idea was that if you were scarier than they were, they'd leave you and your home alone?" She frowns slightly, "I think there's more to it than that, or more legends behind it, but that's kinda why, maybe?" A look of recognition crosses her features at the explanation of the strips of paper, "Oh! I've done those before. They're neat. For decoration. Or for counting down to things." She looks mildly confused as to why he's blushing, but continues on about the apples, "It's an apple, that's on a stick. And then dipped in a really tasty sticky caramel - and then you can do stuff like put sprinkles and chocolate chips and chocolate on it. And then you eat it." Bouncing and grinning at the idea, "Oh! I wonder if the kitchens would let us try and make them. Or if we could get some. I haven't had those in forever." Her smile falters a touch, as though considering just why she hasn't, but she nods, "They're better than candy apples. Candy apples are super hard and not easy to eat or bite or anything, because it's in a candy shell. Caramel apples so much better." Kai nods at the explanation of Halloween traditions, and sinks further in his chair. "Everyone seems to like it," he offers, lifting his shoulders. "There has been much talk of it, and of costumes." His mouth twists up in concentration as he returns to the task of cutting strips, now that it's been explained. "I have never made one," he says, using the fingers of his non-scissored hand to curl up one of the strips. "How would you use them to count down to things?" He seems genuinely interested in this use of paper chains, and he sits up a bit in his chair. If paper chains were interesting, the explanation of caramel apples is a complete revelation for Kai. His eyebrows climb higher on his forehead, and he actually licks his lips. "Those sound very good," he says, glancing at the door of the rec room as if there might be a sudden delivery of the treats. When none presents itself, he turns back to the older girl with a hopeful smile. "If they are a thing that many students wish to have, I am certain the woman who runs the kitchen will make them for us. She does that for /most/ things, if they are easy to procure." There's a faint note of disappointment in his otherwise helpful tone. "I hope she will. I would like to try one." Ducky snickers lightly, "Pretty sure Faelan isn't exactly fond of Halloween. But for a lot of people, it's kinda something they remember from being little kids, before..." her voice trails off and she gestures vaguely, at the bird, at the school in general. A shrug of the shoulders, and she goes back to working on her witch-pigeon, "You can use the chains to count down by making a link for each day between now, and whatever you're counting down to. So, um, say you want to count to the New Year, or Christmas, or, um, a birthday or something. You'd find out how many days, and then make enough chain links to have one for each day. And then each day, you tear off a loop, and it lets you see how close it's getting. And it looks neat all the while." She grins brightly, and nods, at the thought of getting caramel apples, "Oh! I'm sure she will, in that case. I mean - it's totally healthy, it's got an apple in the middle. Makes it a fruit dish!" Teenage food logic, for the win. "I'm sure other students would like them. And if not, I'll maybe see if we can go to the next town over some time - there's a grocery store, and I'm /sure/ they'd have caramel apples to buy. Oh! Or maybe that orchard place. Sometimes they ahve stuff like that in the fall, and it's even better than store bought stuff." She babbles excitedly for a few, bouncing in her seat, which makes her pigeon passenger bob up and down, keeping his eyes and head pointed towards Kai. Kai laughs a soft chuff at the mention of Faelan. "Yes, well, he would not care for things that scared him, would he?" he muses, eyes crinkling at the corners. "And I would not want to be the one who scared him. I like it here." The grin that flickers into existence on his face is small and genuine. He glances down at the pile of strips, setting down the scissors so he can start counting them silently. "That seems like a very good way to use a chain," he says, curling another strip around his finger before setting it in the 'counted' pile. "Maybe I will make one for the days left in the school year." He frowns, briefly. "Although, I will have to ask Anole if such a thing would bother him." The mention of getting caramel apples clears /that/ thought, though, and Kai sits up a bit straighter. "We should ask," he decides. "I would very much like to try one. Although, the orchard..." he frowns in memory. "That was not so much fun, the last time we went." Ducky giggles lightly, covering her mouth, though the wide grin still peeks out behind her hand, "Well, yeah. I rather try not to scare him. But I'm pretty sure they go get people if he accidentally sends them somewhere. But yeah - startling Faelan, never a good idea." She grins and leans her elbows on the table, focusing on finishing off her drawing again, tongue peeking out between her teeth as she still grins. "Yes! That would be an awesome use for a chain like that. You can even use other colors of links to show when different things between then and now are - like Halloween, or fall break, or, um, 'kay, I ran out of things between then and now. But you can make it all sorts of fancy if you wanted to." A touch of a frown crosses her features at the memory of the orchard, "Oh, right, yeah. That was kinda crap a bit. Maybe one of the teachers could go with us this time? I mean, that, and the creepy carnival is gone, so there's that, too. Maybe it'll be nicer and stuff. And we'll totally figure out a way to get you a caramel apple. Because they're that awesome." "I would need a lot of paper," Kai notes critically. "There are still many days to go. It might take me the whole time just to make it." He wrinkles his nose thoughtfully, and lifts his eyebrows as he finishes counting a pile that's clearly more numerous than anticipated. "Maybe not," he concedes, then tips his head at the assurance of a better orchard experience. "I would like to go back there," he admits. "If it were safer. I hardly got to see anything other than berries and those...people. Taking a teacher is a good idea." He looks up, a thought dawning on his face. "Maybe Mister Aloke. He's very nice. I think he would probably enjoy a caramel apple, as well." He nods firmly. Because it sounds like a GOOD PLAN. Ducky brightens and bounces, glancing at the stack of paper strips, "Well, it might take a while, but I can help if you wanted? That way it theoretically gets done twice as fast." She looks a bit sheepish, but grins, "That is, I mean, if you wanted help. Totally ok if you wanted to do it on your own." There's a little bit of a head tilt at the orchard discussion, "That sounds like an excellent plan. We can totally talk to him and see if he'd be willing to escort a group of us to the orchard. Maybe they'll let us pick pumpkins for carving, too! We'd be able to make baked pumpkin seeds, and totally have jack-o-lanterns and stuff. Because that's the fun non-scary side of Halloween - the part with all the food and shiny things." Kai looks a bit confused at Ducky's shyness, and he squints at the older girl for a moment. "Why would I not want your help?" he asks, genuine perplexity in his voice. "You are my friend. If it is a thing you would enjoy, helping me, then I am glad to have your help." He smiles, then, as if to encourage Ducky. "It is more fun to do things with friends, anyway." He brightens further as the soundness of his plan is underlined, and he actually bounces in his seat. "Oh, yes. I would like very much to know that side of Halloween," he says. "I am not really fond of being scared, but I do like food and having fun." Ducky grins and snags a piece of the coordinating construction paper and a spare pair of scissors, starting to cut the strips for the chain, when Kai gives the go ahead. "I just wanted to check, to be sure it was ok to help? Didn't want to just assume," she offers with a shrug and a lopsided grin, starting to cut carefully measured strips of the paper. Ducky bounces gleefully at the agreement, nodding, "Excellent! It'll totally be an awesome Halloween, with pumpkins, and caramel apples, and candy for everyone." A bright smile towards Kai, before she turns her focus back to her paper cutting, humming along with 'This is Halloween' playing from the TV in the background.