ArchivedLogs:Extracurriculars

Extracurriculars
Dramatis Personae Corey, Iolaus, Shane, Daniel
In Absentia	2013-07-06 A meeting in the coffee shop leads to discussions of extracurriculars and an argument.
Location <NYC> Montagues - SoHo
Montagues harkens back to the day when SoHo was filled to the brim with artists, with its mismatched furniture, all plush and decorated heavily with carved wood, but remains trendy enough to keep its newer patrons by making sure that furniture is clean, in good repair and inviting. The antique tables all have been reinforced to seem less creaky. The real draw of the cafe is the smell: fresh roasted coffee mingles with perfectly steeped teas. Spices from crisp pastries mingle with the tang of clotted cream but don't overwhelm too much the scent of chalk on the menu boards. Afternoon at Montagues is a busy affair, as are many coffee-shops in downtown SoHo. Still, Montagues is particularly packed, today, and the line towards the counter is a long one, worming towards the door of the cafe and nearly bisecting it, right down the center. Most of the tables are taken, but a few scattered seats remain, elusively tucked here or there, or at a table with two chairs and only a single patron. Iolaus and Daniel are stuck half-way up it, quite happily ignoring each other. Iolaus is buried in his cellphone, finger tapping out email after email on the surface of the screen, and Daniel is busy glaring at people who get too close. His glares, unlike his superior's, don't do anything but give him pitying looks. This, unsurprisingly, does little to ease the stink-eye that lances out. Both of them are dressed rather formally, with Iolaus in a black and silver pinstripe suit and a neat blue tie, and Daniel in a black dress shirt and slacks. These days, considering SoHo's gentrification, they don't even look that out of place in line. Shane looks out of place but then, he looks out of place pretty much everywhere. He's just getting /off/ his shift, having been here since the early-dawn opening; he is dressed kind of SCRUBBY damp in jeans and a plain white t-shirt, both still water-spotted. Too /humid/ for the heat to even dry him out all that quickly. He punches out, slips out of the kitchen where he has been washing so many dish! The looks he gets from the crowded room are far from friendly, and he doesn't /improve/ on them any by cutting his way to the front of the line. Admittedly, he isn't actually buying anything but that doesn't cease the glares. He's mostly just PEERING at the display case to /decide/ what he's taking home with him before slipping back to -- nope! Not get into line. Instead veer to intercept Iolaus with a very bright and toothy grin. "Sup, Doc?" Trying to get the line down enough to feel better about ending shift for the day, Corey stays on just the wee bit longer from the morning shift to take orders. Food here, coffee there, and it will not take that long to get the work done with the others who had just been on since lunch. Cold things seem the most popular among the customers, for obvious reasons at least. He nods his head to Shane as he comes out from around back, the motion causing a slight slosh of coffee onto the apron, meant to protect the black tee shirt and shorts he is wearing. He does however notice the doctor and his companion where the younger man went to visit, making note to swing by himself shortly. Shane gets a curious look from Iolaus as he approaches, and the doctor looks up from his cell phone in a brief moment of confusion. "Sebastian? Oh. No -- Hello, Shane." he says, giving the younger man a warm smile. "How are you doing, today? Just get off work?" he asks, glancing towards the area behind the counter and the door towards the kitchen in the back. "Enjoying the humidity?" he jokes, eyes twinkling warmly. Daniel, for his part, gives a curt nod - a fairly effusive greeting for him. "Sup," Shane says to Daniel, jerking his head up in a nod, and his grin widens as he holds out a closed FIST. For a knuckletap. "Dude no Bastian doesn't have teeth," he corrects Iolaus even as Iolaus corrects himself, "C'/mon/ man, are you just too high up now to even remember your servants' faces? -- Yeah," he nods along in agreement, "Just got off." His nose crinkles up. "-- of work. /Hell/ yeah, are you?" Daniel eyes the outstretched fist for a moment before, reluctantly, he leans forward and gives an almost hesitant fist-bump. Can't leave a brother hanging. Iolaus watches this with bemusement, and he raises one eyebrow as he shakes his head at Shane. "To be fair, you do look a lot like him." he says, grinning. "But the smile was what tipped me off, I will admit. And remembering you worked here." Shane bounces a little bit on the balls of his toes when the fistbump is returned. "He treating you aright?" he asks the guard, with a jerk of thumb to Iolaus. He rocks back down onto his heels, shoulders tightening juuust a little bit as a man bumps past him en route to one of the few empty seats. "-- all blue people look the same to you, is that what you're saying?" he says with an exaggerated sigh. "It's easy to remember. Bastian's the pretty one." "You're more than just blue, Shane. You're blue /identical twins/." Iolaus pauses, eyes twinkling. "Identical. They don't call them distinct twins, or different twins. Identical twins." Iolaus' tone is deeply bemused, and he glances at the line in front of him. "Can I get you anything, Shane? Or is your food on the house?" he asks, taking a step forward as (finally) someone moves up in line. Daniel does not respond to Shane's question. "Oh/shit/ really?" Shane's eyes widen like this is SHOCKING NEWS to him. "-- Wait so you really /are/ saying we look the same to you!" His insulted /huff/ is probably mitigated by the deep amusement in his smile. "-- I need, like, ten thousand gallons of caffeine, but they'll give me that for free. Maybe I should get /you/ something," he decides with another bounce on his toes, "/I/ have a real job you've just got a crazyass suicidal dream." Iolaus laughs and winks at Shane. "Your brother, too. He abandoned me to the wolves at Stark Tower." A brief pause, and he shakes his head, again, amusement threaded tight into his smile. "Not that it seems to stop him from doing the most of the job for me as he was before on top of his new employment." He pauses for a second, glancing around the room. "How are your classes going? You're not in mine." "Yours is for smart people," for a moment, here, Shane's smile /sharpens/ further. "He raves about it, though. Comes back and tells me all kinds of --" His eyes lower. "Honestly," he says instead, "I think he likes working for you. For your crazyass suicidal dream, anyway. Makes him feel like he's. Doing something worthwhile." Shane's tone is blaaaand-dry; if /he/ finds it worthwhile it certainly doesn't show. "It is. I'm enjoying my work a lot more, even doing just the paper-pushing. It's..." Iolaus shrugs his shoulders, reaching out and clapping Shane on the shoulder, squeezing it through the damp fabric of his shirt. "Your brother is a good guy, Shane. You, too." He drops his hand back to his side, shaking his head in amusement. "And you could take my class, and pass it too, if you applied yourself and actually - went to class." "He's a good guy," Shane will agree, but only this. There's a tension in his shoulder that relaxes with the squeeze, his weight shifting just a little closer to Iolaus. "You liking the teaching? I hear Max is in your class, she's. Pretty much. A giant bitchface." "Teaching high school is... a lot different than teaching grad school or college. I'm trying to keep it around the freshman collegiate level, but I think I'm going to have to slow the curriculum down a lot. Students have too much... other stuff going on," Iolaus says, eyes twinkling mischeviously. "And I don't want to overload people /too/ much. Sebastian might kill me, though. I think he'd be happy with me teaching it at a 400 level, instead of the 100 level I am." "He'd probably be happy with --" Shane's mouth curls upwards, his smile small. "Probably. He's really fucking smart. Are people struggling? He's --" He hesitates, rocking his weight back but then shifting forward when the line moves again. "Pa's glad you're teaching, anyway. It makes /his/ schedule a little less ridiculous." "Some. Some because I am teaching material at too advanced of a rate, and others because they are not /applying/ themselves." Here, Iolaus' lips thin a little bit, but he gives a shrug. "I'm glad to be teaching, too. It helps remind me why I am living with bodyguards. That kind of contact... it makes me remember that it's all worth it." He smiles at Shane, head tilting to one side. A brief pause. "How good of a fencer is he? Sebastian, I mean." "You look at us children and all that hassle has meaning?" Shane's tone is exaggeratedly emotional; he even wipes a fake tear from his eye. "-- Better than me," is his immediate answer on the subject of fencing. He shrugs, after that. "I mean, we've only been studying it a couple years? So, you know, we won't be heading to the Olympics any time soon. But he'd be competitive if he keeps it up a while. Not that uh, most any actual sporting anyone would /let/ us." "Most, not all. If you're good enough, they might not have a choice." Iolaus looks contemplatively down at Shane for a moment, then he grins. "Maybe you and I should have a bout, some time. It's been many, many years since I picked up a foil, but I bet I haven't forgotten it all." He looks, for a moment, quite nostalgic. "Not since school myself. College." "Really?" Shane's smile is bright and quick. "I mean cool. Rad. Yeah, that'd be -- and you're at school plenty anyway you can just. Come down to the gym when you're not geneticizing." The line moves again, and he slips up to the counter. "I need /the biggest/ of coffee," he says, "and a roast beef sandwich, hold the bread horseradish lettuce onions and tomato. Also whatever they're having," he gestures to Iolaus and Daniel /expectantly/ for their orders. "A large regular coffee, and a large oolong, please." Iolaus says, giving Shane a smile. "Oh, and an almond biscotti, if you have it." The doctor turns back to Shane, shrugging his shoulders. "It'll be fun. I'm probably going to make my coach roll over in his grave with how bad I am, now, but I bet I can still remember a lot of it." His smile is mischevious, and he winks at Shane. "I /was/ on the way to the Olympics, when I gave it up." "/Really/?" Shane asks again, with another flare of interest. He reaches into his pocket to pull out his phone! to google Iolaus Saavedro. Doot doot doot. He gets his wallet out, too, to pay for -- Iolaus and Daniel's things, anyway, his own just gets comped. "I'm not great. I sometimes make up for it by just being /faster/ but mmmnh. Daiki still beats me a lot of the time by being /actually/ good." His nose wrinkles. "... and more polite." These days, Iolaus' fencing history is pushed way, way to the back of the Google searches, considering his activism. But, tucked way away in the 10s of pages - or with the right keywords - one can pull up his collegiate fencing stats. Captain of his varsity high school team his freshman year, lead player through undergraduate, the tournament postings gradually trickle off and then vanish during his graduate school years. "Training can make you better. And politeness is /very/ important." He nods, once. "Killing your opponent is a less serious offense than refusing to salute them." "Right?" Shane snorts at this, amused. "Some sort of /fucked up/ priorities there. Bastian loves it. Crazyass motherfucker. He likes rules." Paging through what 'iolaus saavedro fencing' gives him. His ridged brows slowly creep upwards; it takes a moment before he remembers to turn over cash to the cashier. "/Huh/. Why'd you stop?" Iolaus' smile fades a little bit, and he shrugs his shoulders. "Priorities. Med school ain't easy, no matter what people tell you. That plus grad school? I just couldn't make them and fencing work. I had to pick - be a doctor, or try for the gold. I chose genetics, and medicine." He pauses, and his smile is wry. "Wasn't an easy choice, let me tell you." "Probably have a lot longer life expectancy if you'd chosen the other," Shane says -- oddly /lightly/. He collects his change with a toothy smile of thanks and steps aside to let people behind them order. "Probably right you are," Iolaus says, as Daniel and Iolaus step aside. He shrugs his shoulders and then claps Shane on the back, once. "Still, I think this career decision probably turned out better, in the long run, for everyone, not just me. I don't think I would have helped as many peple as a fencer." "Yeah. I don't know a lot of people who find themselves in desperate need of a fencer or they're gonna die." Shane's smile curls upwards, thin, with a sliver-slim flash of teeth. He tips his head back after the back-clap, studying Iolaus's face and then stretching up! up up onto his toes, pecking Iolaus on the cheek. Iolaus blinks in surprise, looking down at the teenager. His fingertips come up to brush his cheek, as if still feeling the teenager's lips there. "What did I do to deserve a kiss?" he asks, raising an eyebrow. "Nothing at all," Shane answers, sliding down along the counter to claim his coffee! And also his -- OK it can't really be called a sandwich, it's a pile of roast beef. "Should I not have given you one?" "No, no, it's just a surprise." Iolaus says, dropping his hand and giving Shane a smile that has a fair share of teeth himself. He glances at the counter, then follows to pick up his tea. The coffee and biscotti go to Daniel, who begins drinking it immediately. He grins and shakes his head, looking at Daniel and then back to Shane. "Coffee. Don't particularly like it, but especially not with that much cream and sugar."" "My pa drinks it -- well, black, but with basically so much sugar you might as well be drinking coffee-flavoured /syrup/," Shane says with a wrinkle of his nose. "I like sugar and almond milk but not -- quite so /much/ sugar. Why's it a surprise? You're doing a shitton of -- I mean you /gave up/ a shit ton of --" There's a ripple under his white shirt as his gills flare beneath it; at the sides of his neck there's a flex of muscle that suggests they're /trying/ to flare but not actually succeeding, owing to the thick red fabric collar binding them in place. "I just don't know why you're surprised if people appreciate. What you're doing." With the lines dealt with and foods given along, Corey flips off the apron and gives a wave to the others behind the counter, glancing over to the doc and Shane, a little smile passing his lips as he sees how Shane reacts to Saavadro. Snagging a bottle of water for himself, he inclines his head to the younger man, and gives the doctor a little wave. "Eugh." Iolaus shakes his head, sympathetically. "I've seen what he does to waffles and pancakes. So much maple syrup." A wince, and he grins at Shane. "Yeah, I'm not surprised people do. I just didn't think it was deserving of a kiss - and that you would be the one to give it!" He teases, lightly, though there is the faintest bit of a blush on his cheeks. D'aww, people saying nice things. Maybe that is part of the reason Iolaus smiles so widely as he turns to Corey and gives a little wave of his hand, back. "Good afternoon." Iolaus says, brightly. "I'm pretty sure what he does to waffles defies some kind of chemistry laws." Shane represses a shudder at the idea. "-- /Well/," he says this with a sharp baring of teeth in a sudden /fierce/ grin, "I'd've offered an appreciative blowjob instead but I'd get fired for that I think." There's a very faint ripple beneath his clothing again of flaring gills when Corey nods at him; he answers with a lift of his glass, meandering towards a table. /Staring/ people down who are already seated. It doesn't take all that long before one couple decides to stop dawdling over their drinks and clear away! Shane claims their vacated spot /triumphantly/. "Good afternoon doctor. Always nice to see you," Corey replies with an incline of his head, and gives Shane a slight smile as he seems in a slight better mood. "I'd been meaning to thank you again Dr. Saavadro. It's made the times more...interesting, but I wanted to thank you anyway." Montagues was a bit too populated for comfortable truth telling, but he tries. "Are things going alright for you as well?" He glances to Daniel, trying to remember the fellows name. Iolaus chokes, and now he blushes for realsies, as he sits down - distinctly across from Shane, safely out of arms length. "Yes, a little bit inappropriate, indeed." A pause, as he turns back to Corey. "Good to see you as well." Iolaus smiles, nodding, even as his blush slowly fades. "I hope you have been doing well, all things considered. Not an easy thing to deal with, but I am glad I was able to help." He pauses, glancing back to Shane, then to Daniel. "Daniel has been well. Still... not the most talkative person in the world." Daniel responds to this with a thin smile. "Smart, I think. Staying quiet just means less chance to piss people the hell off. Daniel knows where it's at. Do you give lessons?" Shane wants to know, rocking back in his chair, "because I pretty much don't get through a day without pissing off at /least/ three people." His eyes flick over to Corey, but his own bright grin just dims in answer to the other man's smile. "Jesus," he says to Iolaus, "do you know /every/ gorram person in this whole --" This cuts off into a thoughtful narrowing of his eyes on Corey as he listens to the exchange. He shakes his head and takes a small sip of coffee. "Yes, all things considered. Better actually, but I can tell you another time if you want. If you need some volunteers let me know, I may be able to help more than I thought originally." Corey lets it be at that, and looks to Shane. "Yes, the doctor does seem to know everyone. He's kindly with a baker friend of mine as well, though Hanna is having some issues at the moment." Glancing back to Iolaus, he nods. "She was attacked at her shop the other week, Jayna is doing better but Hanna has a broken arm." Iolaus grins at Shane and leans in to murmur, "I think Daniel's secret is just that - staying quiet." He winks, teasingly, at Shane, as he turns back to Corey. "Hanna?" He thinks for a second, then his face lights up with surprise. "Oh, dear! I didn't know. I mean... I suspected it would happen, sooner than later - and told her as much - but..." He sighs and shakes his head. "I'll have to pay her a visit, make sure she's getting along alright." A pause, and he runs a hand through his hair, then picks up his mug to take a long sip of tea. "Hm? Volunteer? Oh - well, we're a ways away from needing anyone at our store, but you might be able to help out at the clinic that a friend of mine runs. I believe you're familiar with it?" Shane's smile fades the rest of the way, wiped entirely off his face at the mention of Hanna and Jayna. "That fucking bakery," he says, eyes narrowing on his plate of roast beef, "is so incredibly misnamed." He has a fork but he ignores it, one claw sliding out long and sharp to /stab/ at the meat. "She's doing alright, mainly she just needs the time to heal now. I've been doing what I can for her at least, her stitches might be able to come out in a few more days. Jayna wasn't as badly hurt thankfully." Corey nods at that, then raises a brow at Shane. "Its named fairly well normally, its just a huge bullseye on it. Anywhere mutant friendly, or mutant run has the target on it until, well until something happens to change it." He lets out a sigh and takes a swig of water from his bottle in an attempt to get the bad taste out of his mouth. "Sorry to bring it up and be a downer. You guys can go back to your chat, sorry for the bad news." "No shit?" Shane's eyebrows raise, and you can /hear/ the eye-rolling in the bored-dismissive tone in his voice even if his solid-black eyes don't show it well. "Mutant-friendly places are a target? Jesus, I don't know what I'd do without you here to inform me of these things cuz I sure couldn't have figured that out on my -- uh, you know, /entire fucking life/ of looking like a freak." His fingers clench tightly, gripping hard at the coffee cup. "Last time I went to that bakery," he informs Iolaus, and here his voice is more /clipped/, very /steadily/ even, "I got shot and one of my best friends was killed." Iolaus glances at Shane with a brief look of confusion. As Shane explains, the smile slowly falls from his face. He reaches over and places a hand gently over one of Shane's, slowly, reassuringly. "I can see why you might not feel it was so happy," he says, softly. "The city isn't very safe right now, not for mutants," he turns to Corey. "Or to those who help or are friendly to them." A pause, as he looks back and forth between the two men. "Thank you for telling me. I'll have to check in on her. And... if you want, go ahead and give the clinic a call. They are desperate for volunteers, I know, and the person who runs it is a good man. Maybe when my clinic opens, we will have positions open for volunteers." Closing his eyes and pressing his hand to his face, Corey lets out a sigh and shakes his head. "Shane, I am sorry we got off to the wrong foot. And I am sorry that I apparently state the obvious to you. But I am not trying to cause any troubles for you. I apologize, truly." Knowing that isn't going to really help in the first place, he glances to Iolaus. "I'll be sure to do that. Thank you for the suggestions doc. I'll see about it as soon as Hanna's back up to snuff, which should be sooner than later, but I'll make sure she knows you'll be seeing her. Maybe you'll be able to answer some questions after that." Shane leans down, resting his forehead against Iolaus's knuckles. His eyes close, gills flaring rapidly; for a long time he doesn't speak, until finally he draws in a ragged gasp of breath. His head turns to the side, cheek pressing against Iolaus's hand but his black eyes looking up at Corey. "It's not," he says finally, quiet and calm, "that you state the obvious. It's that you're so happy to just live in your oblivious little world and constantly /condescend/ to anyone outside your happy funshine rainbow land. You know, we've been working together for months now. And that thing at Happy Cakes? It was all over the fucking news. I missed work here because of -- being /shot/, because of /standing/ there while --" His lips press together, his breath drawn in slow. Let out slow, too. His eyes close. "There is not," he says to Corey slowly, "a single person who was working here in June who /didn't/ know what happened there. But you're either so oblivious you didn't even give a fuck, or so wrapped up in yourself you thought it was a good idea to bring up the subject /anyway/. I'm not sure which one would be worse, actually." There's actually no heat in his voice; it sounds largely flat. Tired. "So good. Thanks. Apologize. S'cool. Thanks. I appreciate it. But maybe also try to /live/ in the same world everyone else does, once in a while, instead of just /lecturing/ us about how you think it is." Iolaus watches this conversation between the two men, and his lips thin - but he doesn't say anything. The only thing he does do is turn to Daniel for a brief moment and share a look with him. Just for a moment, before the doctor turns his attention back to the other two men. "I didn't know it was There okay? I know you got hurt, but you don't like me already so I try not to piss you off more by getting in your business. Because you know what? I'm Trying not to piss people off. I'm trying to do what New Yorkers do, stay out of other peoples business. " Corey shakes his head. "And ya know what? Mel Likes you more, want to know what the condition of my employment was? That you didn't have problems with me. And here I thought I'd have to worry about future employment problems for them finding out my little secret, not having people not like me." "Wait Mel -- /really/?" Shane's eyes widen at this mention of the condition of Corey's employment, his cheeks flushing deeply in time with another flare of gills. "-- If you don't want to worry about people not liking you," he suggests veeeery dryly, "have you tried being likable?" His eyes close, his face turning back to BURROWnuzzle against Iolaus's knuckles. MOOSH. It's probably not comfortable, there's a sandpaper /rasp/ to his skin, but at least at slow speeds it won't /cut/. Just -- /exfoliate/. Mooshmooshmoosh; there's a small tinge of moisture where Shane's face mashes up against Iolaus but in his huge dark eyes, perpetually faintly-damp skin, by the time he looks up again it doesn't really /show/. "Look --" His voice is just back to tired again. He drops his head off Iolaus's hand to just thunk, chin against the table. Whatever was going to finish this sentence doesn't come out. His teeth grind with a slow scraping noise. "Fine. Sorry. I'll stay out of your way. I wouldn't want to ruin your --" His teeth click sharply together again, /biting/ back the rest of this sentence. He pushes his chair up with a scraaaape, squeezing Iolaus's hand and letting it go to snatch up his pile of meat and his coffee. Iolaus gives Shane a small smile and he nods, once. "See you at school, Shane. Come grab me if you want a match sometime. Maybe I can give you a few tips on how to beat Daiki, next time." He does not try to stop the other man from leaving, and he looks back and forth between Corey and Shane once more. He opens his mouth, then closes it with a shake of his head. "Yes, really." Corey shakes his head, not rising to the insult. "Look, its my fault, and I apologize. I tried staying out of your way, and all it seems to do is situations like this, where I don't know what I can't say." Sighing, he offers Shane a hand, though he glances to the things now occupying both hands and takes it back alittle awkwardly. "I know theres no such thing as Starting over in social situations, theres no taking back first impressions. But I would prefer the matter not to be hostile between us, honestly and truly. If that means we avoid each other thats fine. If it means taking time every day to talk to you, that is fine. I apparently am a shitty person for people who have lives I don't understand to know, and theres no way for me to even begin to understand unless there is actual talking. So, maybe some other day, when me being untolerable isn't so freshly present, we can... talk?" He stands there, unsurety in his face. "Yeah," the smile Shane gives Iolaus is small and tight, "that'd be rad. See you, Daniel." He pauses, eying the offered hand uncertainly; he's starting to kind of hesitantly lower his roast beef back to the table when Corey drops his hand, but just hangs onto it when Corey takes his hand back. His jaw tightens, his lips compressing, but after a moment he exhales a sharp breath and nods. "Yeah. Sure. We'll talk." Just that, and he skirts around the table, stopping to press a KISS to the back of Iolaus's head and then head out into the city. Iolaus glances at Corey and gives him a little shrug and a little smile. He lifts his tea and stands as well, Daniel following a moment later. "It was good to see you, again." he says, extending his hand to Corey, eyes twinkling. "Perhaps I'll see you at the clinic some time, working with Rasheed - Doctor Toure, I mean." His smile is warm, and his handshake is firm. "I'll see you around." With that, he heads for the door himself, followed closely by the silent man. Nodding to Shane as he goes off, Corey looks back to the doctor as he stands. "It was good to see you as well yes. And I'll see when I can start volunteering there. I've been spending my nights helping Hanna out." He gives a small smile at that. "When you see her, I think you'll know what my test results mean. It wasn't that long ago when the attack happened." He flops himself down into the empty chair, and sips more of the water, wanting a moment to think before heading out.