ArchivedLogs:Family of Choice

Family of Choice
Dramatis Personae Mallory, Thomas, Aloke	2013-11-17 Mallory, Thomas and Aloke commiserate over the lack of caloric intake. (Part of Infected TP.)
Location <XS> Library
Xavier's librarian might hope the library is a quiet place to sit and study, but with a school full of teenagers that is not always the case. Nevertheless, it is certainly a treasure trove of knowledge, well-stocked with a wealth of books on its high shelves. Its reference section is vast, though its fiction is as well (much to the delight of many of its students.) The wide octagonal tables and smaller armchairs are often crowded with students, though the whispered conversations that often take place leave some doubt as to how much work is getting done at any given hour. The halls of the school are filled with a nervous chatter, a sort of tense anxiety that doesn't need to be voiced aloud to be felt. It is heard in the whisper of clothing as students and faculty sign, instead of speak, the occasional whisper exchanged nervously. Classes start back up tomorrow, although the absence of those lost to the plague is a heavy weight hanging over the entire campus. On this cold, damp fall day, very few people are actually here, the lights are up in the library, and several carts of books are waiting to be shelved behind the counter. There's an awkward, anxious silence in the library, interrupted only occasionally by a rustle of turned pages. Mallory sits behind the information desk on a backless chair, hunched over her work, illuminated further by the desk lamp glowing warmly. Her head rests in her right hand, fingers drumming idly on the smooth surface of the horn on that side of her head, and she focuses entirely on the papers in front of her. She twirls a highlighter idly through her fingers, lips drawn into a tight line before she uncaps it with her teeth, sweeping it across a line on the paper in front of her. She's dressed casually, a black t-shirt hanging off her frame a bit more than normal, the word 'Ghoti' in large white letters, with (Fish) below it in small gray text standing out on the dark background. Her mind is an absolute mess of worry - names, dates, book titles jumbling around. The occasional image of a cheese burger. Concern about Aloke. Concern about the students. More food. So much food. She sighs heavily, closing her eyes as she tries to concentrate on the list of books in front of ehr. Aloke appears in the doorway to the library looking more rugged than he has... pretty much ever. His hair was covered under a in a knit cap, which he is reaching up to slide off his head as he enters, like a reverent man entering church. He's also got cargo pants and hiking boots on. On top is his favorite Buzzcocks shirt, peeking through a black, unzipped hoodie, layered under an unbuttoned brown pea coat with the hood draping down over the back of the coat. Pausing just inside the library, he tucks his doffed hat into a jacket pocket. When he pushes his sunglasses up onto his head, his eyes are glowing at a healthy brightness level, and he literally beams when he sees Mallory and smiles. His eyes flash like a lighthouse, and he strides over to wrap Mallory into a long hug. Making his way down the hall, Thomas is looking more gaunt than normal, his clothing hanging off his frame as he chews on a protein bar. Its his normal button up shirt and slacks, but from the hanging of his clothing, its fairly plain to see that he has on an athletic body suit beneath it. Turning into the library, he pauses as he sees Aloke wrapping his arms around his sister. "Ah, Mister Suresh. Sorry, I'd been coming to see my sister. I didn't know I was interrupting anything." He glances between the two with a brow raised then smirks slightly <<Oops? I guess I should have just called instead.>> The sound of footsteps in the doorway barely seems to register to Mallory, lost in thought as she is - actually highliting the same line of text far more than it needed to be. After a moment, she looks up, blinking blearily, her eyes and cheeks damp with tears - it takes several seconds for her to register that Aloke is standing in the doorway. "Aloke!" she cries out, standing and meeting him halfway in a fierce hug, burying her face in his shoulder and refusing to let go, "God, I was worried about you." Mallory looks a bit worse for wear, up close - her clothes hang off of her more than they once did, and the new gauntness to her face actually brings out the family resemblance between her and Thomas. She is still quite posessively clinging to him when Thomas arrives in the doorway, although she doesn't look up to acknowledge her twin, "Not interrupting." Adding for Thomas, << Not going to let go of him either, but you're not interrupting. Did you need something? >> Taking a deep breath, she glances toward Thomas, a grimace on her lips, as she silently adds, << You look like hell, brother. >> Pot, kettle. They're a matching set at this point. Her stomach growls angrily at the sight of the protein bar, though, and she frowns, looking guilty, grumbling with a practiced French accent, "Je suis desolee. Pardon." "I'm {sorry} too," Aloke says, dropping the one hindi word he taught Mallory so far. "I wish we could have made it back last night, but we found these big bags of food and Josh was just exhausted. I told him to rest instead of trying to run me home." Aloke was already pretty thin, living a relatively ascetic, vegetarian lifestyle, but he is slightly slimmer. With his power in danger of going out of control again, he's been assigned double rations. Mallory knows how guilty he feels about this, but his guilt doesn't override his fear of a relapse. "Oh hey Thomas," Aloke says, rotating around Mallory's hug to nod at the man over her shoulder. "You're not interrupting anything. C'mon in. How've you been?" "Oh doing quite poorly. Been trying to synthesize a way to extract some nutrition out of cellulose, but well, genius is hard to come by when you're starving. Thus far, I just keep turning up with illsmelling soot. A bit of alcohol too, but well, nothing worth drinking unless you intend to go blind or imolate." Thomas crumbles up the bar with a sigh, shoving the trash into his pocket. <<That was my last one sorry, I still have half a container of protein mix if you want, but it tastes foul with just water. >> "And at least someone is happy in all this, please enjoy it. Just not in range..." He shakes his head at that and Mallory can feel the mental wall coming back up between them. "I don't know why they're starting up classes. Well, I know the psychological reason, but I've never much cared for that. Sorta throws a wrench in my plans." Sighing he leans against the library wall, and a weak thought pushes through the mental block to show its somewhat permeable. << Had been planning on leaving, guess I can't really do that if there are classes coming up on Monday.>> "It's ok. Really. I'm just glad you're safe. And I'd rather you stay in New York and wait rather than trying to come home yourself," Mallory says quietly, finally letting go of Aloke when she realizes she might be in danger of roasting him in all his layers. She actually seems a bit cooler than normal, really, bringing her down to a bad fever instead of space heater level. It is fairly common knowledge that the librarian has been alotted extra portions - not as common knowledge that she has been turning them down as often as possible - though it is beginning to show. "So... you're basically attempting to solve world hunger rather than leaving. That's noble, I suppose. Or crazy. Likely both," Mallory says to Thomas. quirking an eyebrow as she asks. << I would eat it with a spoon if it would shut my stomach up for an hour. I don't know how much longer we're going to be able to last. >> She snorts at Thomas's commentary, although a blush rises to her cheeks, mentally keeping the wall up for his sake. "The students need the structure. They need something. But... focusing is going to be difficult. For everyone," she looks at Thomas with tired eyes, a slight sigh accompanying the added silent words << I do not think Professor Xavier would begrudge you taking a short leave of absence. God knows the both of us are a strain on the school's stores as is. At least you could get out. And get food for yourself. >> "Hell, catch the jetstream right, and you can wind up back in England in time for tea," she finishes the statement aloud, likely making no sense to Aloke, given the lack of context. Her features pull into a frown as she realizes what she did, shaking her head, "Apologies. Not thinking straight. Classes are going to be hell." Aloke looks truly impressed by Thomas's work. "Wow, Thomas... that is great." When he separates from Mallory, he peels off jacket and hoodie, just leaving the t-shirt, which just makes his own thinness more apparent. He reaches into the inner pocket of his jacket before slinging it over the info desk counter. His hand comes back out with two chocolate chip cliff bars. "We found a whole case. It's downstairs now, but I figured you two could use some right away." He tosses one to Thomas, and hands the other to Mallory. He cocks his head, a little confused when Mallory finishes her mental conversation, and then nods when he glances back at Thomas. "Oh right... Well I understand why you would, Thomas, but I hope you stay. We can use all the help we can get here. And food is starting to come in. We've got outside resources." "You can be impressed if it /Worked/. As I said, I have sludge right now, I'd be better off if I had more to work with. I know the structures and the chemicals in theory, but without the right catalysts and environments. Gah, I'd be better off as a molecular biologist. They are doing some promising things with bacteria....and I'm boring both of you." Thomas glances at the cliff bar with some obvious degree of desire, but holds back. <<You first sis. I know you, you aren't eating.>> He looks to Aloke with a bit of chagrin. "Old habits die hard I'm afraid. But yes, I could in theory be home in time for a breakfast, and second and third breakfasts if I get to the jetstream." Letting out a sigh, Thomas rubs the bridge of his nose. "I can try waiting a bit longer. I just wish I was of more use, hell my talents right now are just making me eat more food than most others. I just feel useless. All my education, and I just feel useless." << I know, sore subject I can feel it. >> Mallory looks like she might just tackle Aloke for the cliff bar, right then and there. Thomas may the sense that it takes a great strain against her proper upbringing to not just swallow the bar whole, wrapper and all. Her hand is shaking as she takes the bar from him, holding onto it for a moment and chewing on her lower lip for a moment. << Me, not eating, what ever gave you that idea? >> she snarks, even as the slightest growl rumbles in her thoat, uncharacteristically, and she closes her eyes, "S.... 'Pologies. Thank you." There's a moments hesitation, and she slowly unwraps the bar, fighting down the violent hunger knotted inside her, forcing herself to not make a complete fool of herself. She takes a bite of it, closing her eyes and resisting the urge not to just shove the rest of it into her mouth. Once she finishes swallowing that bite, she speaks again, "It's an old habit. We always sort of did that when we were little - starting a conversation in here," she taps at her temple, "And finishing it out loud. But not something we normally do 'round other people. Didn't mean to." She closes her eyes again when Thomas talks about feeling useless, "Oh. Uselessness. Join the club, Thomas. At least you're a scientist." << I'm a librarian. Despite what The Doctor says, books are spectacularly useless in this situation. I'm doing nothing useful. Nothing. I just eat more than I should, and I feel like horrible shit about it. >> Another bite of the cliff bar, and then she carefully wraps it back up, closing her eyes again, leaning against Aloke for a moment, her trying not to put too much weight on him, though. Aloke sighs about the feeling of uselessness and then grins at Mallory's 'spology'. "Hey, you should try being the guy who just draws pretty pictures." Aloke chuckles and is almost reverently quiet while he waits for Mallory to take a bite. He might not be /overly/ old fashioned, he's practically glowing with pride at having brought his girlfriend something to eat when times are lean. "Hey, it's ok," he says in reference to their mental conversations. "I don't want to get in the way of family tradition. Besides, I mean, I don't know the exact number, but I think if we add it up," Aloke claps Thomas on the shoulder. "/Technically/, I think you've known Mallory longer than I have." He grins over at Mallory. <<Because I remember you being stubborn, and a martyr.>> Thomas does however enjoy the crossover feeling of her enjoying her food. "And you don't get to complain about about being useless, you can zip around the world and grab whatever you need. Yeah I know, bad choice, but you can do more than either of us in that case." At the swat from Aloke, he stumbles slightly at gets a better stance. <<Is he really like this? Or just trying harder than he needs to?>> He looks at Mallory at that, then to Aloke. "I think it would be hard for anyone to know Mallory longer than me, but at least you are taking better care of her than I am." He gestures over to the cliff bar at that. << I really want that damn cliff bar. >> << Stubborness is a family trait, Thomas. Eat the fucking candy bar. You need it more than I do. Eat the bar he gave you, you bull headed git. >> Mallory scowls at Thomas silently, eyes lingering on the unopened cliff bar << If you intend to stick around to teach classes, eat the candy bar. Dammit, I am not going to lose both of you in this hell. >> She takes a deep breath, shuddering at the thought which Thomas is privy to, a flash of a remembered dream scape shared, as much an accident as an explanation. "Oh, goodness. Thomas and I... prior to seperating to go to university, I cannot remember a time without him," Mallory says quietly, her voice catching as she speaks, running a still shaking hand through her messy hair. "Not really a family tradition though. Freaked out our family something fierce. We've always been able to complete each other's thoughts. Even before," she gestures at their mutual physical mutations, a shrug. << Cut him a bit of slack. He is trying. You're my brother. Likely the closest he's ever going to actually get to meeting the family. I'm pretty sure he's just trying too hard. That said - he is a sweetheart. And, dammit, I really like him. >> There's a bit of a mental stutter on 'like', perhaps a touch of 'love' flickering at the background. But that could just be the food talking. Mmm. Food. Aloke actually winces, even though it's hidden well, when Thomas mentions Aloke's unused abilities. He lets the uncomfortable joviality fade away and nods at the bar he left on the counter for Thomas. "You really should eat though. We're here for the kids, and they need us functioning. Honestly though, I think we're seeing this thing turn around." He smiles at Mallory's description of her closeness with Thomas. "It makes sense, and also... There's family, and then there's /family/. Sometimes the family we choose becomes closer than the one we were born with." He turns to sit back on the counter, somewhere between where Mallory and Thomas are standing. Aloke runs fingers through sweaty, dirty hair. He's only been gone for two days, but he looks absolutely filthy. "Fine, I'll eat the damn thing." Thomas pauses, and picks up the the bar. "Thank you. I really do appreciate it." Opening the packaging, he glances between the two as he takes a bite. <<At least I can talk with my mouth full.>> He smiles between bites, and he swallows it down in a gulp as he looks to Aloke. "You're a good man. I don't think I'd mind you being part of any family we find ourselves a part of." Looking to Mallory, he gives her a smile and a nod. <<See, I'm trying to behave. I still don't want you sharing too much with me about him.>> Mallory moves to lean against the counter where Aloke sits, resting her head gently against him, despite the grime and filth. The sense of warmth and happiness seems to radiate out of her mind - not any sort of imagery, just a feeling of contentment << No overshare. Promise. Getting better at it lately, I think. >> She sighs softly when Thomas finally takes the cliff bar, nodding in approval, "Thank you." It isn't exactly clear if this is directed at Thomas for eating the damn thing, or Aloke for bringing the food back. "Family. Hmm. I, huh," Mallory muses aloud, in a hushed voice, her mind clouded with the thought. Thomas's statement gets a tired smile << Thank you, Thomas. That... means a lot. >> She takes a deep breath, sighing, and taking her own cliff bar back out to take another bite. "Aloke, you are a saint. And I never thought I'd be so happy to eat another freaking meal bar," she sighs contentedly, just enjoying the food. With a healthy pang of guilt.