ArchivedLogs:Off Course

Off Course
Dramatis Personae Allison, Marinov	2017-08-27 "Am I allowed a .. um .. a learning curve for friendship for these things?"
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 a warm and beautiful Sunday afternoon at Xavier's, and rather lonely one at that. With all the kids out and about for summer vacation, Allison had quietly moved in to her assigned room. Now, she is curled up against the window sill, strumming her guitar in a pair of Aerie pajama pants and a thin shirt that dangles off a shoulder. She is singing softly to herself, an old tune from Fleetwood Mac, Landslide. Her forehead is pressed against the glass gently as she looks out over the grounds, watching birds zip about happily to their homes in the trees. Marinov peeks around the entrance door, ears turning towards Allison. They're presently wearing a pair of hot pink jeans, similar to the ones that they had found at the store with similarly coloured suspenders over a white dress shirt, with a powder blue bow-tie, fur still rainbow patterning on silver. "Hey there, I thought I heard something from down the hall. Not a lot of students around right now, but soon... it'll be a maelstrom." Allison tilts her chin upwards and looks over towards her. "Oh, hey!" She calls over happily with a smile towards her friend. "I didn't know you were around. I figured since my dad is all grumpy about the whole mutie thing, I'd just move in early and take some heat off him. That and I figured I could get the top bunk first before my roomies move in. Whatcha doing today?" She asks as her fingers pause on the strings. "Grumpy about the mutie thing? Geez," says Marinov, shaking their head slowly and disapprovingly. "I sometimes forget that so many flatscans think that we get up in the morning and say, 'I think today's the day where I'm gonna get my freak on.'" They snap their suspenders lightly and then hop onto one of the couches, their tail curling around their body. "I was doing some crafty stuff until just a little while ago. Gotta work on my fall clothes, make some people with less human looking bodies some outfits, that sorta stuff." "Grumpy about a lot of things. He's been grumpy ever since mom left us. But you know .. he's .. not super happy about the mutie thing, but he's not screaming about it. He's upset that Sony dropped me from their label. He's a lawyer and what not. Upset he can't sue them because mutants aren't seen as people in the eyes of the law so he can't go after them." Allison says. "And he gets harassing calls at the firm. I know his friends give him shit. Just easier if I left." She has a sad tone to her voice. "So, I'm here now. Was hoping there'd be a few more students about but I'm assuming they're away on vacation or just not social enough." She rubs the back of her neck. "So, um ... Blink and Taylor told me that you are a they and not a she. That you're um.. gender neutral? Or something? How does that work .. I just want to know so I don't.. you know ... screw .. um... things up.. with you." Marinov's ears go up into an alert position, and they nod a couple of times, "Non-binary, yeah, that's a thing that I am, along with lots of other stuff. I go by, like, 'they-slash-them' pronouns for the most part. I'm not sure what you mean by how it works, though. It's just a thing, like, I'm not a guy, I'm not a girl, neither of those is quite right." They scratch their neck a bit awkwardly and add, "Prosti, that your label dropped you. Corporate guys care a lot about how unmarketable mutants are, I guess." "I just mean, I want to make sure I don't upset you or anything you know? I'm like .. barely trying to figure out if I'm bi or straight." Allison says with a soft laugh. "And I've never met a non-binary person before, so I just want to be respectful, you know?" She gives another pluck of the strings on her guitar. "How um.. how do you know .. that you're not a guy or a girl? I just thought.." She makes a motion towards her own chest. "That you were .. a girl.. and because you like shopping for girl clothes.. I mean .. obviously I guess.. it'd be normal for me to assume? I don't know." She sighs softly. "I probably sound super stupid, huh? Do I refer to you as they? Like .. if I was talking about how awesome your fashion sense is, do I say .. my friend Taylor, they love yoga pants as much as I do? I don't say she, right? If I slip up now and again, would you get upset? Am I allowed a .. um .. a learning curve for friendship for these things?" She bites her bottom lip gently. Marinov laughs awkwardly and says, "Yeah, I mean, I guess there's a learning curve. If you're talking to someone, 'Tay made me a hat. They are soooo cool for doing that. You should get them some socks.' And I like shopping for pretty much any clothes, we just happened to be in the girl's section 'cause we were looking for you. I was mostly there for inspiration for stuff to make." Their tail curls up and flops down against the couch lazily. "As for how I know, well, I just don't really have a sense of being either one. And I think you're thinking of, like, sex markers when you," they gesture towards their own chest in an imitation of Allison. "Which is different from gender, yeah? And a whole nother thing." There is another laugh from Allison. "When they told me you were a they, I thought they meant you had multiple personalities. I probably sounded like an idiot. I wish I had a camera for the look on my face. I bet it was priceless." She gives another soft strum of the guitar in her hands. "Well, I think it's cool that you know who you are. I wish I knew who I was these days. Few weeks ago I could tell you exactly who I was. Up and coming popstar. Grammy nominated for best new artist. I was the popular girl at school. Soccer player. Debate club. Homecoming Queen. Cheerleader." She pauses for a moment. "Now?" Her fingers pluck out another note. "Now I think.. really terrible things about myself." She says as her voice quiets. "And I'm scared, Tay. I could have stayed hidden, but after I saw Paige get attacked, I felt like .. I couldn't ..hide .. and feel okay about myself. That mutants that look like you get treated like shit while I fly under the radar." Now she's starting to ramble as her voice grows a bit emotional. "And now .. and someone attacked me the other day and now I know what you must feel every day. To be afraid .. or at least other mutants .. afraid to be beat up or killed by people you thought would never.." She blinks a few times and shakes her head. "Okay, so .. I'm just going to shut up now. I'm being a drama queen." "I dunno, I think it's alright to not know exactly who you are, so long as you're alright with, like, grasping around for it a little bit. But yeah, shit's scary." Their ears lower back slightly, "Like, I've had run ins with the police, and I'm always scared that they're gonna just. Pap pap dead. Mutants who look inhuman are real likely to get shot down by the cops, and I mean. I also look like a jungle cat, so. I think jungle cats probably have a hard time surviving outside their cages too!" They shrug weakly. "Then people out there who'd want us dead just for being and the politicians who give a shit about what those people feel. It's bad. It's real bad. I'm a bit jealous of people who can stay hidden." They let out a sharp laugh, "I used to wear a trenchcoat and a hat and a scarf to hide myself in the city when I first got here, but even my eyes gave me away. So now I am, like, real fucking in-your-face about it. I'll be me 'til I die." "Well, I think you look great. I like cats. I have a cat. Big orange tabby who's fat and squishy. He's the best. He'd always be there when I was writing my songs." Allison gives a fond smile, then reaches out to take one of their hands/paws and gives it a squeeze. "I'm glad you aren't hiding who you are. You're the coolest mutant I've met so far and you got super cool fashion sense. I'm sorta jealous of you." She admits. "I mean, you got a killer body for a jungle cat." She laughs. "And the fur is so cool. Maybe one day, the rest of the world will see you like I do, which is a beautiful person. A good person." "Mhmm," says Marinov, scratching their cheek awkwardly, "Actually, I am more of a dog person, even if most people would say I'm a cat-person. But I like cats okay. I can talk to cats, you know?" Pause while their ears raise back up and their voice becomes a bit more playful. "They don't talk back, and they sure as hell don't listen, but I can sure say pretty much anything to them. Anyways, I don't think there's really anything to be jealous about, but I'm fine with my body, just not the mental and social baggage it comes with." "You can talk to cats, seriously? That is /so/ cool. I wish I knew what Ringo was saying when I talk to him. I named him after a Beatle. My mom loved the Beatles, always said Ringo was her favorite." Allison grins fondly for a few moments. "Do you work out though to stay in shape or do you just naturally have great legs? I have to run /miles/ to stay in shape because I love pizza way too much." Marinov can't help but to snicker at Allison's initial response, "I was joking, like, about how anyone can talk to cats! You can do it too, just like, open up to a cat sometime. Get your emotional vulnerability on." They look up to the ceiling and say, "You know that thing where cats like, run around bonking into things in the middle of the night and making a racket? I totally get that. I have to burn off a /lot/ of energy every day, running, jumping, climbing, that sorta thing. I spend lots of time out in the forest." "Can I go out in the forest with you and hang out? I'm a city girl but I could use the fresh air. Maybe we can go camping or something. I haven't done that since I was in girl scouts." Allison giggles, giving a stretch of her body as she nudges the guitar off to the side. "Why do cats bonk into things in the middle of the night if they can see in the dark? Do they do it just to piss their owners off?" "They're running so fast that sometimes they bonk into things! I've done some admittedly real stupid shit when running around, I once fell off a rooftop. And if you want to hang out in the forest, sure, I mean. I think you'd have a hard time keeping up with my forest routines, though, so it might not actually be fun when I'm doing that," says Marinov, sitting up and trying to peer past Allison out the window. "I'm glad they have a forested area on campus, really. It feels at least as at home to me as my dorm room does." "I can just watch, it's cool. I don't have to swing from trees or anything. If anything, I can get some drawing time in, maybe get inspired to write a new song or two." Allison chuckles at the thought of them banging into furniture and falling off roofs. She gives a glance out the window as well, scootching over a bit to give them some room if they wish to join her. "What's it like having a tail?" "Having a tail?" repeats Marinov, glancing towards it, while it twitches back and forth still, "I dunno. It's a thing that exists. I've met a few people with tails who are pretty proud of 'em, but I just like... I dunno? It's a thing that helps me to not fall down, so I appreciate that. It's like any other part of my body, really, I don't give it a lot of thought." "Was it weird when you first started growing it? Did it happen as a kid or when you hit puberty like most mutations?" Allison asks, fascinated as she shifts a bit to face her better. The guitar slips into her lap again as she begins to strum gently along the string. "Umm. I used to be pretty human looking, actually. Then over the course of a few weeks, my body changed, and like, my bones shattered and mended and stretched and changed... it was agony," says Marinov, eyes shifting back onto their own hands, "Lots of folks with mutations like mine are like that from birth though. Like, you've met Taylor, yeah? That's how his body's always been, I think. Did you meet him at Evolve, by the way? He's like, real cool, graduated from here just last year. It's not gonna be the same without him. But I love going to Evolve, so I see him still." "Yeah, I met him at Evolve. You shoulda seen him today. He came in from church wearing this button down red shirt and a pair of slacks. He looked /good/." Allison giggles as her cheeks redden for a moment. "He definitely cleans up nice. He had to work though so we didn't really talk all that much. Not that we really talk .. I sorta babble at him. He's a nice guy it seems. I don't know much about him though, except he's ah ... really into .. you know... the black lives movement and the such. He always has a different shirt on. I also know he can't throw a car but he's pretty strong. That's kinda it. I haven't asked him as many questions as I do you. I don't know if he'd appreciate a ditzy blonde asking him about his tentacles." She pauses. "Which I totally have no problem with." Marinov nods slowly when Allison says she has no problem with Taylor's tentacles. "I mean, yeah, I can't imagine him picking up a car. I've never really asked him on account of that being a super weird question," says Marinov, scooching down further onto the couch and putting their hands on the back of their head while looking up at the ceiling. "He always looks good," they comment idly, "But yeah, I mean, he's black, and black lives matter, so... I dunno. People sometimes pretend like mutants are just the 'new minority to discriminate against', but like, black people are still getting fucked over by society, getting shot by cops or sent to prison on bullshit... And that compounds with being a visible mutant, soo, yeah." Allison nods her head in agreement. "True that. I think living in New York has blessed me with a sense of reality when it comes to the whole melting pot thing. I just still find it weird that racism is a thing today, that we haven't been able to just ... move on from all that crap and just be normal people, trying to make a better country. It's even weirder when I hear about people my age who are racist. Just sucks." Her nose wrinkles up some, then softly sigh as she looks down at her guitar. "My album was supposed to be filled with all these happy songs about love and unity and being the best person you can be. I was really proud of it. Probably silly now to think that it'd even make a difference." "I mean, a lot of racist bullshit is a little more subtle than the nazis who've been parading around lately," says Marinov, "But that's a thing too." They scratch behind their ear, eyes closing for a moment while they do so. "Art can make a difference and it's pretty important. I dunno if you had heard much about, like, the mutant arts show back in May, but it was good to get lots of people out and like, arting. So like, if you do your art while being mindful of your goals, it can be powerful. You still got people listening to you, even if you don't have a label backing you." "I know, and I'm thankful for that, but I know that without a label, my music won't really be heard. I'm selfishly upset by it because of all the hard work I put into it. Not just me, but others who had a hand in it. My band, my dancers, my backup vocalists. We all put hard work into this..." Allison shrugs her shoulder upwards. "Right now, I'm trying to get in contact with someone at Apple to see if I can put my album on the iTunes store as an independent then try and make it go viral with social media. At least that way I can feel better and move on. I hear College is nice." "It's fair to be upset by that sorta thing, like, if you expect your life is gonna go one way then it gets thrown off the rail," says Marinov, still staring up at the ceiling, "It'll be heard, though, just maybe not so loud." The felinoid teen reaches out to grab their tail, brushing lightly at the end of it with their claws. "Your music didn't stop being good, so if you can get it out there somehow, people'll listen." Allison gives them an honest smile. "Thanks Tay. That means a lot to hear." She watches them play with their tail for a moment before she asks, "Do people ask to touch your fur all the time? Is that weird?" She wrings her hands together for a moment before putting them on her guitar again. "And I can sing for you if you want." "Oh. Yeah, it's weird to ask me to touch my fur," says Marinov, nodding a few times quickly, "I am not actually really big on being touched in general, though there's some people I make exceptions for. But if I'm caught by surprise, I can get bitey. Anyways, if you sing for me, don't get surprised if I fall asleep. I'm getting pretty sleepy just laying here." "Lazy." Allison teases her with a grin as her fingers begin to strum lightly along the strings. "Okay, so this is one that I kinda wrote the other day but I'm not sure if it's finished yet. It's supposed to be uplifting ... kinda a rise of the phoenix type of song, but I don't know how well it will be received."