ArchivedLogs:Redheads 'n Telewhatsits
| Redheads 'n Telewhatsits | |
|---|---|
Redheads 'n Telewhatsits | |
| Dramatis Personae | |
| In Absentia
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02 February 2013 Logan decides to try his new favourite bar for some R&R, and spots a lady in red... hair. No, not Jean - another one! Alexandrine stands out like a sore thumb, resting from a day of job-hunting - and Logan just has to say hi. He discovers more than he bargained for. |
| Location
<NYC> Down Under - Morningside Heights | |
Gritty, grimy, with food of questionable origin and unquestionable greasiness, Down Under is nevertheless a place to drink. That is about all that can be said for it -- that and it is a place to drink if you are short on cash. As such, it is frequently frequented by college students and those looking simply to get Very Drunk. For those none too concerned about the quality of their booze, this is the place to go. It has been a long day, for a Saturday. Normally once her morning classes are done, Alex has the rest of the day to do as she pleases. But classes, then a trip to the Fed Ex store, then covering for another instructor in the afternoon, followed by helping out a fellow instructor in Harlem for his ballroom demo...it's been a very full day. And coming from that demo, the redhead still has on her makeup, from smoky eyeshadow to the deep red lipstick. Red hair has been tamed to tasteful waves, and she has on rather high heels with her little black dress. In other words, she's not terribly easy to overlook, in this bar. The red hair is usually her standout feature, but here among those dressed far more casually... she's a sore thumb. And a sore thumb with a short glass of whiskey in front of her, trying to shake off the day. Logan looks grumpy. But then, whenever does he not? The Canadian mutant is garbed in his usual - boots, jeans, red checkered shirt, leather jacket - and practically stomps into the bar like a grizzly bear after a day with the relatives. Nostrils flaring, he takes in the various scents and stinks in the bar - nothing unusual really... except for whatever perfume that red-head over there is wearing. Logan frowns. She'd fit in better at a tea party or ball with the high society of New York... not a bar. Strange. Well, curiosity killed the cat - never the wolverine, so over he moseys. "Beer," he says to the bartender. "Dark." Then he looks at the woman. "Are ya tryin' to stand out 'ere?" he asks her bluntly. "Coz yer doin' a good job of it." The beer is placed in front of him and he puts some money on the counter before guzzling down most of it. If only that grump knew that what the redhead was currently pondering was how to make more money in the coming weeks to keep trying to save a couple dollars a month, and not have too much month at the end of her money. That perfume? Vanilla with a hint of sandalwood, a blended oil she purchases from a woman who makes them back home. Brows lift as Alex turns her head to regard the gruff man with a brilliant blue gaze. "Just can't help it. Ah haven't even shown off my sparkling personality." Southern accented words offer plenty of sass and a hint of a smile. "Coming from a fancy event, don't usually try to stand out like this. Jus'...needed a drink. That kinda day." There's a beat of silence, before she tips her glass his way. "Alexandrine." "Logan." The grizzly mutant gives a shrug of his shoulders, and puts a few more notes down on the counter. Giving a slight jerk of his head toward the woman, he says to the bartender: "For whatever th' lady orders." A moment later, he pulls out a cigar and a lighter, but just before lighting up - he notices the No Smoking sign above the bar and instead growls a curse under his breath. "Hmph, used ta be a free country. Dunno what th' fuck ta call it now..." "Pleasure." Alex murmurs in response to his name, a sip of her whiskey. She blinks a couple times, eyes jerking to the bartender, then back to Logan. "Ah'll have another bourbon, thanks." She says, before gaze settles back on Logan. "Thanks." She's not entirely sure how to take that bought drink. She does grin briefly at the curse under his breath, a mischievious look crossing her features. "If ya really need the tobacco hit, Ah say light up. Ah promise no one will bother ya." Logan's right eyebrow arches quizzically at the red-head - namely at her drink order - followed by a light, lopsided smirk. "Good taste in drinks," he murmurs in approval before taking another sip of his own. "For a girl." He waits a while then, sipping his beer thoughtfully, before he finally nods. "That so, is it?" he asks of no one in particular - and then pulls out his cigar again. A couple of strikes of his lighter and soon enough he's puffing happily away on his cigar. The world be damned. "So... what's a girl like you doin' in a joint like this?" he asks as though the question really is as typical as it sounds. "A lady can know how to handle her liquor, sir." Alexandrine plays up the accent as she drains the last of her current glass just before the new one arrives. "For a girl, hmm? Is there some sort of gender assigned drinks Ah wasn't aware of?" Her head tips a bit, looking at him. "It can be so. If Ah want it to be." Blue eyes sparkle just a bit as that cigar is lit, a sniff at the scent of it from the redhead. "Ah told you. Needed a drink, my friend Ah was helpin' out this evenin' told me here was the best bet. Despite the look, Ah'm not some socialite out slummin'. " She picks up the new drink, as a young man approaches the cigar smoking Logan to protest his smoking. "Hey sugar?" She interuppts the young man, getting his attention. "Jus' go on about your business, it's fine, all right? Ya let me handle it." Her expression is concentrated on the young man, who stares at her for a long moment, before his head bobs. "S-sure. All right. Yeah.." And he walks away, looking almost dazed. With a turn back towards the bar, she rolls her shoulders. "Ah needed a drink, been a long day. Workin' all mornin', then sendin' out a resume to a school hopin' they might have a position open, then more classes to be taught... then the demo over in Harlem." "Gotta way with people, there," Logan observes with a sly gleam in his eye. He peers at Alex over his glass, which he holds to his lips to drain the last of it. "Another," he says to the bartender with a wolfish grin. Down goes the glass and in goes the cigar. "Me too," he says to the girl with a smirk. "But it ain't so subtle. You're a school teacher? What kinda stuff?" "Ah do. Natural charm, Ah guess." There's a bright smile from Alex at that, another sip of her bourbon as she relaxes just a bit. "Thirsty there, Logan?" She teases, a fingertip tapping the edge of her glass thoughtfully. "Ah am sure your way with people tends to be a bit more.. physical, no?" There's a smirk there, before she blushes,"Ah am. Ah teach dance right now, but Ah've recently gotten my certification here in New York to teach secondary level. High school age an' all. It's just tryin' to find a position, now. Ah was followin' a lead from a neighbor. He grew up outside the city, Westchester. Told me of a private school that way, an'..well, it can't hurt to follow every lead Ah get, even if it leads nowhere. Someone might know someone, ya know?" "Westchester, huh?" Logan mulls over this little tidbit - this little convenient tidbit - of information, and puffs on his cigar for a while, too. Those keen, almost predatory eyes of eyes look carefully at the girl - enjoying the view too, he doesn't mind admitting to himself. << Must be the red, >> he thinks to himself, allowing a hint of a smirk to toy with the corner of his lips, around his cigar. << Can't hurt ta have another red-head around Mutie High, now can it? >> "Prep school up that way," he says aloud - holding the cigar between two fingers so he can speak. "If ya like that sorta thing. Couldn't hurt ta try." << 'Specially if she's what I think she is, heh! >> He smirks again. "Yeah. It's more upscale, so it being a prep school they probably don't want an untried teacher, but like Ah said.. never know who will know someone. Ah've hit up every public and parochial school in the City. Guess Ah might have to look farther afield." Alexandrine says, sounding a mite bit resigned and thoughtful. She's not oblivious to the look over, for all she doesn't call him out on it. "Ah went to what amounts to a prep school, so.. maybe Ah could relate. Maybe that'll at least catch an eye. Who knows what the administrative types look for, ya know?" There's a faint blush, before she's looking at him. "So now that Ah've blathered on about my day an' such, what is it you do, Logan?" "I taught a group o' kids how to take down a guy without killin' him," Logan says without missing a beat. He keeps a completely straight face too, while he speaks - it is only after he has finished his attempt at shocking this gorgeous girl, that he finally allows a lopsided grin onto his face. Pausing to sip more of his new beer, he adds: "I teach. P.E., Outdoor Ed., all sorts. Art, too, when I feel like it." He sticks the cigar back in his mouth and grins toothily at the red-head. "Just kiddin'." Alexandrine just arches an eyebrow at his claim of teaching kids. "So you teach martial arts or something?" Is her response, before he goes on to tell her about his job a bit more. "Hey, Ah've found the most unlikely artists are sometimes the ones who are the most moving." There's someone else approaching Logan, frowning and lifting a hand to point at the offending cigar. Alex doesn't even bother speaking this time, just giving a hard, annoyed look. Logan may feel something, like an unpleasant scraping of fingernails again a chalkboard would be for the ears. But the offended party blinks, looks at the redhead and leaves. "People jus' can't let a man have a cigar." Yeowch! Logan's facial features contort into a grimace of discomfort for a moment, and he has to set down his beer and massage his eyes for the new headache that has momentarily taken up residence within his skull. It is gone in seconds, but still - that was unpleasant! It was also educational. "Stuff like that can get ya into trouble sooner or later, Lexie," he mutters - but his tone is too light to really consider it a threat. Maybe just a warning. "Most schools'll get suspicious if every fella in them starts treatin' ya like the Queen o' Sheba. Who's this friend o' yours, ya mentioned?" The question is casual enough, but the look in his face is not - well, not very casual at least. Alexandrine jerks her gaze to Logan as he reacts, a moment of suprise that is quickly taken over by a mix of concern and panic. Then her eyes edge to her glass, perhaps using her powers while drinking tonight after a long day... not such a good idea. "Lexie? Do Ah look like a Lexie?" she sounds amused. "Sugar, if everyone treated me like the Queen o' Sheba Ah would be suspicious as hell. Ah know Ah'm expressive an' charming, but not everyone is into redheads." She blinks. "Ramsey, is his last name. Didn't go there, Ah don't think." She sounds cautious, his expression making her shift just a little bit. "Hey, don't--" Logan interjects with a hand raised placatingly when he sees the panic and worry in Lex's face. "--don't... get your... knickers in a twist, alright? Your safe with me, here--" he motions the bartender and points to Alex's glass meaningfully. The bartender nods and pours a refill before attending to other customers. "--on me. I like red-heads." He goes quiet for a moment then. Ramsey is not a name he knows. Oh well. The cigar-smoking mutant is reasonably comfortable with what Alexandrine is - and what kind of a name is Alexandrine anyway?? - so Xavier's might be the best place for her. << Red-heads 'n telewhatsits, fuck... >> he thinks to himself with a degree of ruefulness. "Yeah," he says aloud. "Lexie works fer me. Alexandrine is just too much a mouthful. I could grow old just makin' through the name, ya know?" He smirks. "Might as well try every school, ya never know until ya do - am I right?" "Ah assure you, none of my undergarmets are in anyway ill adjusted or twisted." Alex says with a little heat behind it, a belt of bourbon before her glass is refilled. "You like redheads, huh? You an' Charlie Brown, sugar." She's quietly taking a deep breath, pushing everything down to urge relaxtion. << Telepaths. The word is telepaths. Got a thing for them too, sugar? Must be your lucky night. >> There's a hint of irony to that voice in his head, her lips in a smirk. "Alexandrine is a good Creole name. Lexie.. well, my mother would have a stroke, if she heard me answerin' to that. " But she herself isn't protesting. "Have to try every school within a decent commute. Can't live on what Ah'm makin' now too much longer. At least not without goin' into the red." A beat, before she adds. "No pun intended." Logan would have responded with a wolfish smirk at the undergarments comment there, but... with a voice (another one!) speaking inside his mind, a few things happen at once to the aged, Canadian, feral mutant. Caught mid-grin, his eyes suddenly widen, accompanied by a hiss as air is sucked abruptly in through his teeth. Then there's the teeth too - bared (just for a moment), to match the curl of his lip as a snarl tries (and partially succeeds) to take command of his face... No doubt in objection to having a telepath in his head without permission. The man's arms tense - visibly - but that is about the limit of his physical reaction to having his suspicions confirmed, on top of an invasion of personal space by another redhead. Another. Gorgeous. Redhead. Telepath. Telepath. "Shit." He'd speak then - to explain, and maybe even invite her back to the School; make introductions... but his mind is a jumble of thoughts flying past like reels of different films all playing at the same time - all trying to block the others out.... Jean (lust, admiration), Scott (jealousy, dislike - and the words: he's a dick), Magneto (sublime hatred), Rogue (protectiveness for that one, compassion too), Charles Xavier (respect), Xavier's School...home. He looks at Lexie as if to say, "Yeah? So whaddya gonna do about it, bub?" "Hey, you were thinkin' it at me. What was Ah supposed to do?" She shoots back, as if his reaction doesn't at all worry her. "Ah'm flattered, by the way." Smooth talking, sipping bourbon as she flips through those mental pictures, a brow arching. "Ah see, not the first ginger mentalist ya've met. Ah'm jealous." Her glass is set down, and her stool swivels so she can face Logan fully. Blue eyes lock onto his, just the faintest tip of her head to the right. "Well, what do ya want me to do about it? Ah realize we just met, but Ah'm not a gossip. The things Ah see every day, when Ah slip, or listen in self-preservation, are things that Ah never speak of unless it's known to the other person what...Ah am. To be honest, you're the first. Here in the city. Ah'm blamin' the bourbon an' your flirtin'." "Told ya I had a way with folks, too." Logan, tucking his chin in and looking sidelong at Lexie with a grin, chortles under his breath. "Not the first, but the best? Tough to know with just a conversation in a bar, whaddya say?" He holds up a finger then, and reaches into his jacket for his cellphone. After pressing an icon for a specific contact, he puts the phone to his ear - grinning all the while at the redhead next to him. It takes a matter of moments for someone to pick up on the other end of the line. "Hey, Wheel--okay, sorry. Professor." Logan rolls his eyes and there is an image in his head of a bald man in his 60s, in a wheelchair - glaring with disapproval at him. "We got a dance teacher already?... I dunno, I didn't--oh." Something makes Logan half-snort, half chuckle. "Yeah, that's her, you--figures. Alright, alright. Shoulda known. Yeah." And he hangs up. The rugged-looking mutant gives Lexie a look with both eyebrows raised and a wry grin on his lips, while he tucks the phone away. "C'mon, Lexie. How about we head off 'n get ta know each other better - might even let you in my head again, who knows?" The grin turns devilish. "Ya like motorcycles?" he asks, offering a ride. "Later on, you can meet my boss. Might have a job for you too." Alexandrine laughs. "Ya don't even know what Ah can do, how do ya know Ah'm the best?" She teases, before her brows lift at his conversation on the phone. There's a smirk as she sees the image he's thinking at her, the glaring man amusing her for some reason. But she stays relatively out of his head, out of polite behavior. "Get to know each other better. Uh huh." There's a sideways look there and a smirk. "Ah've never been on one, but Ah'm game to try." She slides into her coat after she finishes her bourbon. "Your boss? The guy ya teach for?" Logan nods as the pair of them start heading toward the door. "You can show me some o' those dance moves, whaddya say? So... city first, then your place or mine? I can pretty much guarantee mine'll interest ya a whole lot more!" There is a not-so-subtle smirk as he says that last bit, as though he is laughing inside to a personal joke. Anyone within earshot of him might think he was just being a dick - and they'd be only partly right. He holds the door open for her - so maybe he's an old-fashioned feral guy - and gives her a chance to leave the bar ahead of him. "Yeah, he is," he replies to her last question. "He's... a good man. But I'm more fun. You comin'?" END TRANSMISSION | |
