ArchivedLogs:Pretty-Handsome

Pretty-Handsome
Dramatis Personae Anole, Jack, Lia, Lyric
In Absentia	2015-01-14 '
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. Clack-clack. Clack-clack-clack! The rapid ricochet-thwack from the air hockey table mingles with the other sounds of post-dinner Rec Room. The television is playing the latest episode of Parks and Rec, rowdy voices by the foosball table, chattering over by the windows where a group has commandeered the beanbags for some quasi-social quasi-laptop time. By the air hockey table, though, no talking. Just the satisfying smack of mallet on puck, puck on wall. Lyric is in a long denim skirt, pink and white sweater, green headscarf embroidered in pink and a lot of intricate mirrorwork. Her tongue pokes out the side of her mouth as she focuses on the game. She is losing badly to Taylor; the tentacled telepath seems much less focused. Playing, certainly, but one tentacle is also occupied with a bottle of Coke, one with a cupcake; even if Lyric /had/ free limbs it seems to be taking all /her/ concentration just to keep up with the puck. Anole /has/ been in the group over by the television, algebra textbook and notebook in his lap as he watches the show. As the episode comes to a close, though, he abandons his homework where it is, hopping to his feet to go commandeer a cupcake for /himself/ from the table. His mind is still kind of half on the show, kind of cluttered with math. KIND of focused on mmm cupcake damn it is good Professor Holland is finally back, the Rec Room has been LACKING. That last thought is probably clear enough even to the non-telepaths; the first bite of cupcake he takes, he takes with /relish/. Distracted by the sounds of Intense Air Hockeying (and maybe not overly in a rush to return to algebra /anyway/) he detours past the table en route back to his seat, leaning against the unoccupied pool table nearby to watch the game as he Cupcakes. Lia is armed with a bowl of mixed-colour grapes in her hands and a /stuffed/ galaxy-patterned backpack on her back. The thing somehow manages to make the petite girl look even smaller. Done with all the sports and dance classes for the day, she is into more preferred clothing: knee high pale blue Alice in Wonderland themed socks layered over navy fleece-lined leggings, a blue dip-dye gradient skirt in a layered double handkerchief hem, and a fluffy-chick yellow V-neck sweater. Her hair tumbles in unkempt waves past her shoulders. The girl is /eyeing/ the bowl of grapes quite intently until she sees the cupcakes, delivering herself to that table and setting the grapes down in order to pick the one with the most frosting on it before really acknowledging that people exist. Priorities. When she turns, she notes both Anole and Lyric, waving to them excitedly...though not expecting Lyric to /notice/, necessarily, given her concentration. Clad in a pair of jeans, a t-shirt bearing the logo of the superhero Nightwing, and a zip up hoodie that's currently only about half zipped, Jack stretches as he makes his way into the rec room. He'd just finished his homework in the library and decided to come try to find something fun to do. And someone said there were cupcakes. Thoughts drifting between the desire to find those tasty baked goods and finding something to do, Jack scans the room as he walks through it. Eyes lock on the cupcakes once he sees them and he makes his way towards them. The excited waving from Lia catches his attention even if its not directed at him and he offers an unseen smile. "Hey, Lia," he greets as he moves to grab a cupcake for himself. He slows a moment as he notices his roommate and Lyric and he lifts an empty sleeve to wave slightly as well. There's a clatter as the puck skids down into Lyric's goal again. Her nose wrinkles as the table shuts off, but there's a smile on her face despite this. She sets her mallet down, lifting a hand. One of Taylor's long (toothy-hook-laden suction-cup lined) tentacles snakes out around the table to smack its (un-hook-lined) side against Lyric's palm. Hi-five. Without fingers. "-- Oh god I know." Anole might not have spoken out loud but he's answering out loud anyway, taking another bite of his /own/ cupcake. "It was dark times. Glad that's over." He's not actually looking at Lyric, glancing to Anole, mouth full of cupcake, when he says this but she answers easily enough anyway, cheerfully signing: 'Any longer and there might have been a revolt.' The cheer in her expression falters at Jack's wave. Not exactly a frown, just an awkward press of lips, a slight tension in her shoulders. "Well sure, we were down a photokinetic." Anole's smile is a little lopsided here. He licks icing off his cupcake, lifting his hand to waggle it, cupcake and all, in a wave towards Lia. "See? Sunnier for /everyone/." Another slurp-lick of icing. "Hi, Jack." Lia already has her tongue stuck in the icing before anyone addresses her, and with both hands occupied in gripping it like a little chipmunk with a nut, her choice of return greeting is a chipper, "Oshinack!" She transfers the cupcake into one hand in order to casual-sign without giving up the pastry, 'I could have made cupcakes instead, but that might have just made revolting /sooner/'. The repeats this aloud once her mouth is empty. "Ohgosh, pun! Also, pun." This time, in her excitement, it's the signing that echoes the speaking. "Mr. Fairyjax is back. I missed him," finally syncs up the two a bit better. Offering a wave to Taylor as well, having run into him a few times in and out of the school, Jack's shoulders slump when he watches Lyric's reaction to his presence. He shifts in place awkwardly before nodding in Anole's direction. "Hey," he greets. "Glad I got here before all the cupcakes were gone," he adds, licking up some frosting himself. "And that things are getting sunnier again too," he adds, invisibly smiling thanks to Lia's excitement. 'It would probably be revolting,' Lyric agrees teasingly; her /sign/ says REBEL but the scrunch of her face and sticking-out-tongue she makes is definitely just like /blech/. 'I'm sticking with the good stuff.' "There'll probably be more tomorrow. Probably no need for a rebellion. I know there's that whole thing about /religion/ being the opiate of the masses but when the masses are /us/ I think it's actually sugar and Netflix. -- Speaking of which." He pokes a tentacle over in the direction of the television where /American Horror Story/ is starting up now. It serves by way of excusing himself to slip away and plunk down on a couch to watch it. "-- We are revolting children living in revolting times." There's a crooked grin hanging off Anole's face with this. "Good to know we're ready for insurrection over the really /important/ things." He frowns slightly as Taylor moves off, following after the other boy -- but only to go pick up his things from where he's left them, then return. "Also glad he's back. Art class was way less colourful." He's set aside his homework but kept his tablet in hand, scrawling something on its screen with the tip of a claw; when he turns it around towards Lyric it's just an abbreviated echo of his words jotted in messy handwriting on a notetaking app: 'glad jax back art soooooooooooooo boring before.' "I like sugar," Lia says-signs. "I don't know about more tomorrow, though. Mr. Fairyjax wasn't very glowy." Her nose crinkles at the mention of class. "Professor Summers was teaching his sex class? And he makes it feel very awkward. I am not sure why, he's just all..." She gives up her cupcake for a moment, resting it on top of her grapes to mime very straight posture, squared shoulders, and a very frowny-skeptical face looking at an invisible piece of paper. "That is a question that we will forward to Professor Holland for answering at a later date." Her Professor Summers suddenly leaps to his feet to swirl around Anole in very uncharacteristic fashion, however, continuing, "We sing revolting songs using revolting rhymes! Oh, I /love/ that one. Can we do that one next musical?" "The rise of the Rebel Alliance is put off for another day. The death star is safe for now," Jack remarks with a little chuckle. He steps aside so he's not in Taylor's way as he goes to watch the TV and finds a place to lean. He laughs at the impression of Professor Summers, shaking his head. "I wonder how many questions are waiting for him if that's how it went," he remarks. "What musical is that?" Lyric presses her fingertips to her lips, shoulders shaking briefly in silent giggle. She pivot-twirls on a toe. 'Will the revolution include dancing?' The laughter returns, actually aloud this time in a rough bray of sound as she signs, PERFECT, in answer to the impression. 'That sex class was /weird/ anyway though. Maybe Professor Summers is just different-weird.' Though her eyes shift briefly to Jack in all this exchange, they drift soon back to the others together with a small frown. "Winter is darker. Though I don't know the twins have also been kind of --" Anole shrugs, words ending in a snort, too, at Lia's Scott-imitation. "Weird? I -- thought it was good. Though I didn't finish the whole class." His expression lights at Lia's suggestion. "I would be /so/ all over doing it. Uh, it's /Matilda/. I want to go see it but --" Frown. He sticks the rest of his cupcake in his mouth. His claw keeps scrawling while he's talking, still an abbreviated summary of his input into the conversation: 'mr.jax less glowy bc winter? maybe. twins sad too. why weird? i thought good. also totally want to do matilda musical here.' And, after this: 'all good revolutions r dance revolutions.' "I have been told that the Dark Side has cookies," Lia informs, still signing away, a little bit too seriously for meme recitation. "Any revolution /I/ am part of will involve dancing. Anole, you should come dance with me and Lyric! You dance with me. It is nice." She pauses to demolish the rest of her cupcake before continuing. "B was pretty happy about Blackberry and R2. But I haven't...seen them around quite as much, maybe." Lia frowns. "I don't like for them to be sad. When they are not sad Shane is funny and he takes me to dances and B is pretty and makes all the robots do fun things." Jack glances at Lyric for a moment after taking notice of how Anole is writing on his tablet. The invisible teen takes a breath before finishing off his cupcake. "Those robots were pretty cool. Even if seeing that camera feed was..." he needed to think of the word. "it kind of freaked me out," he admitted. "Seeing myself how everyone else does..." he shudders. He pauses to wonder if the monster he talked to the twins about is the cause of the rotten moods but stops himself from mentioning it. "Hey, can I ask a quick favor?" he asks after a moment, glancing between Lia and Anole. "Can someone uh...translate for me and Lyric? We can't really...communicate without a little help," he says. 'But are they as tasty? I'm pretty sure these --' Lyric gestures towards the rapidly disappearing cupcakes, 'are /extra/ sunny-side.' Her brow furrows at the question of weird, cheeks puffing out as she thinks. '/Weird/,' she repeats. 'Just the things he talks about.' Shrug. 'I don't know Matilda. I'm going to Pippin some time did you know Desiree's brother is in that?' Maaaybe she looks just a little but blushy at the mention of Desi's brother, maybe. 'Are they sad? Why are they sad? B /is/ --' /Frown/. 'Handsome. Shouldn't be sad.' "... oh." Anole frowns, shifting slightly uncomfortably at Lyric's response. He blanks the screen on his tablet, looking down at it a long moment in silence before he starts speaking (and writing) again. "Yeah, I knew. I heard that one is pretty awesome. I -- don't think you stop being sad just because of being... pretty." His eyes flick up to Jack, brows hitching up and lips thinning. His mouth opens; he looks from Jack down to his tablet. Back up to Jack. It takes a long moment of delay before he shakes his head with a slightly flustered: "Right. Of -- course. My signing's pretty terrible though." On the tablet: 'heard pippin's awesome. probably pretty =/= happy at least i hope to god there's not a correlation or i'm [scratched out 'fu'] screwed. can ask them why sad personal stuff.' And below that, messier for being faster-scrawled: '(jack says) he needs someone to translate can't communicate w/you wo help says b's robots cool but seeing himself on camera freaky.' And below that: '(me) not sure why freaky.' "Lyric reads lips some and also hand talks and /oh/." Lia's eyes open comically wide in realisation. She signs quickly, 'I forgot Jack is invisible. Stupid.' When she speaks again it is coupled with sign, "Shane is the handsome one. B is /definitely/ pretty. Like Mr. Fairyjax. Oh, I did not mean that her being pretty made her not sad. Just that when she is not sad, she is pretty." Her head tilts at Anole, assessing, her dark little brows drawn down for a moment. "Handsome," she finally declares of him, quite matter-of-factly. "Pretty is usually shinier." Grabbing three grapes, she juggles them for a few moments, then catches each one in her mouth. 'Desi told me about that show. It sounds perfect. I want to dance and sing and do silks and tumbling.' Once her mouth is empty, she repeats this aloud. "I would go to /all/ the shows but I think you have to give them money." "Yeah, pretty people can be sad too. Handsome ones too," Jack agrees. He rubs the back of his neck awkwardly as Anole looks at him but when he gets that reply, he lets out a little relieved breath. "Thanks. I can't sign at all. Didn't bring anything to write with either," he says. He glances at Lia as she's hit with realization. "Pretty's shiny?" he asks, curious about that. "How come handsome isn't shiny too?" the invisible one asks. "Tickets are pretty expensive. The news mentioned the show prices were pretty high over the break but were supposed to go down a little since New Years is over." Lyric tilts her head slightly as she watches Lia's grape-juggling, lips quirking in amusement. 'They like money. Tickets can be cheap though. But yes they want money. And they're /identical/ twins they're /both/ handsome. You can come to Pippin when I go. Sometimes they have captions. I also want to dance,' she confesses brightly to Lia. 'But sometimes people say I can't.' She bites down on her lip, brows furrowing as she reads Anole's writing. Her head shakes emphatically. 'Handsome,' she echoes Lia. Just as emphatic. 'Does Jack not know how to write?' Given how many people show up at this school /not/ knowing how to write there's not actually any sarcasm in this question. "Anyone who's a student can join the theater development fund and get cheap tickets," Anole says with a nod when Lyric says tickets can be cheap, "but the problem is a lot of the time they still won't let me in." Shrug. "But maybe Pippin will because of sort-of-kind-of knowing the lead, he was -- friends with my --" Anole breaks off, biting down on his lip. "... um right Lyric says the twins are both pretty? Cuz they're the same?" He's frowning a little uncertainly? uncomfortably? through this. "And she's going to Pippin. And wants to dance but sometimes can't. And wants to know if you know how to write." His cheeks have tinted deeper-green at both the girls' assessments of his looks, a small curl of smile starting but then dying. He is still writing, through this: '(jack): pretty + handsome people can both be sad can't sign at all didn't bring anything to write with why isn't handsome shiny tix expensive.' '(me): tdf has cheap tix for students but theaters don't like freaks. maybe lucien can get us into pippin?' Shrug. 'have to go homework to finish.' He scoops his math textbook back into an arm. Opens the notebook to tear a couple blank sheets from the back of it, setting them down on the air hockey table together with his mechanical pencil. His head bobs to the others; he hugs his books to his chest as he heads out. "I think...pretty is beautiful that is shiny, and handsome is beautiful that is not shiny. Maybe?" is signed and spoken with equal hesitation. Lia's nose crinkles. "But the twins aren't the same. Shane is all...toothy smiles and big moving and laughing and fancy vests. B is...little smiles and shy eyes and cleverness and robots and shinythings. Very different." She wriggles a bit in place at the ongoing dance talk. "There are places and times were dancing is not appropriate." This has the intonation of something she has been told before, repeatedly. "Lyric is a very good dancer, though." She looks first excited by Lyric's invitation, then disappointed by Anole's. "Oh. I would like to go, but if they do not let freaks in, then I can't go, either." The way the word is bandied about on campus, she is very much under the impression that mutants = freaks across the board. Her eyes track the lizardboy as he makes his exit. "I feel like maybe Anole needs a hug. I'm going to see if he wants one." She nods to each of the others, collecting her bowl of grapes and waving to them with it before heading out, as well. "They're assholes for that," Jack speaks up when Anole mentions not being let it. He can understand how that goes, chased out of places in the past due to the obvious mutation. He watches Anole carefully as he breaks off, concerned. He wants to ask more but given the last time he tried to pry, he elects to hold off for the moment. The notebook paper and pencil get a blink and Jack nods. "Thanks. I'll see you later," he says, lifting a sleeve to wave. He picks up the paper and starts to write something, speaking as he writes the same. "I agree. You are a great dancer from what I saw," he nods even if it can't be seen. There's a pause before Jack adds a sentence to what he wrote 'sorry my handwriting isn't very good. rusty'. He waves again as Lia starts to go. "Goodnight, Lia," he calls after the girl. Once Lia heads out, Jack looks back to the paper. The pencil taps against the paper a moment before he writes again. 'I wanted to say I'm sorry about last night and hope completely bad I am at this whole social thing.' Once he's finished writing, he offers the paper and pecil to Lyric. Lyric's lips purse, twisting to one side. 'I think they'd let you in people are more jerks if you look different,' she says to Lia. 'And not because it's inappropriate because I can't hear the music.' She shrugs, waving as the others head off. Her arms are starting to fold across her chest, weight shifting back a little awkwardly now that she's (relatively, given the crowded rec room) alone with Jack. Her eyes slide over to the group at the television, looking at the back of Taylor's head a long moment before turning to look at what Jack wrote. There's a long hesitation before she takes the pencil. Her shoulders lift in a shrug. 'I get things like that a lot.' Jack's feeling awkward as well. He's expecting a more negative reaction but is once more relieved when he reads what Lyric writes. 'People not realizing you can't hear? Or did you mean people not being good at communicating?'. 'Both. All of it. Not realizing. Getting annoyed because I don't answer. Not bothering to try to communicate. Not really trying to have a conversation because it's too hard or they assume I'm stupid or whatever.' Another shrug. Lyric shifts from one foot to the other, toe pressing against her heel. 'I should probably also homework.' Jack winces a little as he reads. 'I don't think you're stupid or anything like that. I've been bad at the conversation thing with everyone. Comes from being on my own like I was for so long I guess. Shane helped me realize what I've been screwing up. I'm going to work on getting better at it,' he writes quickly. 'Goodnight then.' Lyric rocks up onto her toes, chewing at the corner of her lip as she reads over Jack's words. Slowly, a smile spreads across her face. 'Shane's good at that. And it takes work like everything. Plenty of people here to practice with.' She adds a smiley at the end of her words: :), adding an exclamation point afterwards. Setting the pencil back down, she waves to Jack, turning to flit out of the room. But not without a stop at the snack table for one last cupcake.