ArchivedLogs:Running Away

Running Away
Dramatis Personae Faelan, Kai
In Absentia	2013-04-09 Socializing is hard. So is chess.
Location <XS> Rec Room
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. The scraggly looking fellow could probably pass for his age if he ever stood up straight or wore attire that was appropriately sized, but between the mussed up brown hair and the baggy clothing three times bigger than his scrawny frame could carry, Faelan just doesn't pull it off. Perpetual bags beneath his eyes show the worry that seems a perpetual part of him, though he does seem to be making an effort to control any nervousness that he may feel. When he does smile, it tends to spread to the rest of his person, brightening up his whole face. The rec room at Xavier's isn't generally a quiet place, unless it's during classes. Even now, in the late afternoon when everyone is generally (supposed to be) doing their schoolwork, there are a few rebellious types who have stationed themselves in front of the big-screen television for a classic Nintendo gaming session. The music of Super Mario fills the air, along with the happy exclamations of the three playing. Other than that, the big room seems fairly empty. Well, there's one more figure, although he's small enough to overlook. Dressed in jeans and a baggy Xavier's sweatshirt, Kai sits on his heels in an awkward-looking squat by the shelves of board games, a chess set pulled out and on the floor in front of him. He's setting up the red and white pieces with careful precision, tilting his head every now and then as if listening to something before setting a piece in place. Maybe he's a fan of 16-bit music. Doing as was suggested to him by the therapists and instructors at the Institute, Faelan was making his way out of hiding to meet more of the students. A long sleeve teeshirt in a faded purple color hung off his thing frame, its neck wide open enough to show the black tank-top beneath it, and he was clutching a book to his chest. His blue denim jeans scuffed merrily along against the ground as he walked, probably having needed to be hemmed, or worn by someone at least a few inches taller. Still, this was progress for the nervous young man, pushing the door of the rec room open and wincing slightly at the noise it made. He scuffed along the floor to find a seat against the wall opposite the game players, doing his best at this being social thing. When the new person comes into the rec room, Kai's head lifts, and he looks in the direction of the door with a hopeful expression that fades into something more studious at the revelation of Faelan. Kai keeps setting up pieces, glancing over at the newcomer occasionally with that same thoughtful expression. Eventually, he rises, fingers closing around a chess piece, and moves towards the spot the older boy is sitting. When he gets there, he shifts uncomfortably, and lifts his eyebrows. "Hello," he says, in slow, thickly-accented English, and holds up the chess piece -- a red knight. "Do you play?" Looking at the other fellow who seemed separated from the gaming group, Faelan let a smile cross his face to try and at least appear not too socially outcast. Blinking at the approach and question, he paused to think at that. "I've played before, but the pieces were a different color. If you want to play we can, but I will probably lose," and as he spoke the smile that he had worked hard for just sorta melted away. He had been trying at least. "It can't hurt to lose at least." Pushing off against the wall he got back to his feet to go to the set up board. Kai's eyes widen slightly when the other boy starts speaking, then they narrow in puzzlement as he tries to piece out the words and context. Then he offers an apologetic shrug. "I am sorry. English is not my natural language." He smiles weakly. "It is hard, sometimes. You will play?" A question that answers itself, when the other boy goes to the chess board. Kai follows quickly, glancing over his shoulder at the gaming trio, earning a glare from one of them that scurries him along a bit faster. "I am just learning," he says as he reaches the board, and puts the knight down in a rook position. "Maybe /I/ will lose." "Well, I don't think you can tie this game. So one of us will lose at least," came the self deprecating voice of Faelan as he sat down looking at the board. "Your english is very good I think. I can only say a few things in other languages. Mainly asking for help." He seemed a bit embarrassed about that, but little steps were being made at least. Smiling at the little figures, he hrmed a bit in thought. "Would you like to start then? I think the white ones still go first even if these ones are red." Focusing on the board would at least let him ignore the gaming that was going on and the vague insults gamers hurl at each other during play. Kai frowns as he resumes his crouch-squat and studies the board, correcting his mistake with his head tilted and concentration on his features. Then he pinkens at the compliment. "I learn it quickly, everyone says," he says slowly, in a soft voice. "But it is still hard." He nods at the offer, folding his arms over his knees and resting his chin on them for a long, thoughtful moment before he reaches out with a slender finger and slowly slides a white pawn two squares forward. "I am Kai," he offers, then. "I am new here, too." Then he frowns. "Do you need much help?" Blinking again, panic crossing his face before it calmed back down, Faelan shook his head no at first, then frowned. "Yes, it is why I am here." Looking at where Kai had moved, he moved a pawn forward one spot to protect at least against the four move finish. "Faelan. Or you can call me Lost if you want to. The nick names aren't always very nice even if they are descriptive." He settled more comfortably down as he set the book he had clutched to his chest still to sit beside him. The book was a world atlas, a fairly new one but in rather beaten up condition. Another pawn slides forward, one square. Kai takes his finger from it, and frowns as he puzzles through the information. "Faelan," he repeats slowly, testing the name on his tongue. "That is good name." He rests his chin on his arms again, frowning lightly at the atlas before lifting his gaze to the other boy. "You are not lost, though. You are here, in this place." Faelan tilts his head at the statement made, not sure if it was meant to be a joke or not, but he was trying here, so he wouldn't overreact. "Yeah, that is why I'm here. They always come get me when I screw up." Looking over the board, he wasn't really sure what to do from there. All he really knew was to make sure he didn't lose in four moves, so he decided to jump his knight out from behind the wall of pawns. "What about you? Why are you here?" He looked over Kai again, his face glancing over the evidence of violence that was the broken nose now healed. Kai frowns. "I do not understand," he says honestly, and he watches as the knight moves into place. Then he's sliding a bishop through the hole created by his opening move. His finger remains on the piece for a long moment before he lifts it, and folds his arm gently around his knees again. The question get slight widening of eyes, and a guilty glance in the direction of the couch. Then he's offering a grim sort of expression to Faelan, and he shakes his head. "I am dangerous." Moving the pawn in front of his rook forward two places without much worry over the matter, Faelan sighed trying to think of a way to explain things. "Sometimes I get scared, and I want to get away from the problem. So I go. And well, they will always bring me back here when I call for help. That's why I am here, because its where help is." Nodding at his own explanation, he did scootch a little back from the board as the other said that he was dangerous. "I will not question how. Too many think it is an invitation to demonstrate." Kai furrows his brow, as he tries to piece that out. It's not working, so the nod he offers looks far more comprehending than it is. He reaches out, sliding another pawn forward in a mirror of Faelan's move. He chuffs a small laugh at Faelan's comment, and shakes his head. "I would not show you," he says, a bit firmly, although it might not be Faelan he's speaking to, since his gaze seems a bit unfocused. "Many people would get hurt." He tilts his head at the older boy, frowning a bit. "Why do they bring you here?" "Because I'd probably die from starvation, or exposure, or being eaten by a wild animal when I couldn't run any more." Faelan shook his head as he moved his rook out through the defensive hole he had made in the beginning. "I can't control it." As Kai said that many would get hurt, he frowned again at that. "Is yours uncontrolled as well then? Or simply too explosive?" "Uncontrolled," Kai repeats the word with a small smile, his finger lingering on the knight on his king's side and studying it. "That is a very good word for it." He moves the knight out, and to the rook column, studying the board with a blank look before he lifts a finger. "Is that what you do? Go places? Like..." he frowns. "I do not know the word. Like on the television show where they trek among the stars?" He opens his hand, then closes his fingers and moves it away from its original location, and opens his fingers again. "Like this?" Moving another pawn forward to protect the other pawn he moved out in front of the rook, Faelan thought a bit. "Yes, but without knowing where I'm going ahead of time. I go, but I don't know where. I run, and I hide and make the bad things go away." He nodded at that and glanced over at the people playing games, then back to the board. "But they do not go away," Kai points out, softly, moving his bishop forward a square to threaten Faelan's knight. "You do." He looks over at the group on the couch, and lifts a shoulder. "They are still there when you get back." He doesn't sound accusatory as he says this, rocking lightly on his heels as he watches the older boys face. "Do you only go when you are scared?" "No no no. " Faelan frowned and picked up his knight as he moved it forward in its little L move, and when he lifted his finger up, the knight was not there. "I can do more than just that." Shrugging he fondled around on the board for the knight and when he touched it it reappeared. "Or I can make it go away like I do." He re-situated the piece so it was centered in the square. "I can leave for other reasons too though. It just doesn't matter if I decide to, or if I'm scared. I don't know where I will be when I move." Kai watches this small display of power with interest, and he looks a bit impressed. It fades into sympathy when Faelan explains the hitch, and he nods grimly. "That sounds hard," he says, his brow furrowing. "When you send away things, it is the same?" He considers that as he studies the board, resting his chin on his arm in contemplative silence. Then he reaches out, and moves a rook /over/ a pawn to set it ahead. "Have you been many places?" "They might end up anywhere. And yes, more places than I know the names of. I started to ask for post cards of the places so I can keep track." Faelan looked at the rook, and scratched his head. "Can those do that? I thought only the knights could jump around like that." He shook his head as he moved his bishop to threaten the rook, oblivious to the danger his own piece was in. "But I'm not exactly useful, or safe for the team. Who wants to leap without looking?" Kai FROWNS at the rook, as if it made the illegal move of its own accord. "This is a hard game," he states, and then sees the forgotten move, claiming the knight with his bishop. "Team?" he asks, furrowing his brow, and jutting out his lower lip. Then memory (or something else) kicks in, and he colors. "Oh. The team." This is in a small voice, and he rocks on his heels. "They are very brave." Faelan frowned at the betrayal of the bishop as he moved another pawn forward. "Yeah, too many things to keep track of in this game." At the coloring of the boy, he tilted his head. "Yeah them. I'd never make it there. They're brave, and strong, and know how to use their stuff." He sighed and looked at the fallen bishop as he rolled it back and forth on the ground. "At least I can help people run away." Kai wrinkles his nose at the board, and presses his lips into a tight line. "Running away is important," he says. "Sometimes it is most important." A smile lit up Faelan's face at that compliment, and he looked at Kai again. "Coming from someone who is dangerous, that means a great deal." He lowered his eyes back down to the board though. "Some of the professors do not think so, but some do." He shook his head again as he frowned at the board. "I think we need a better game." Kai's smile turns a bit grim, and he raises it to Faelan. "Running away from /me/ is most important of all," is his sage advice. "You do not want to meet Foom." This is all he offers on this subject; his expression immediately closes off, and he nods at the board. "A better game," he agrees. Then he pinkens again, and rubs at his nose. "I do not know any other games." Looking confused, Faelan frowned and scooted back a little more. "I don't understand, but okay." He scratched his head as Kai said he didn't know any other games. "I know solitaire? But its for one player. And the computer does all the shuffling for me. I guess I could figure it out otherwise though." Kai lifts his shoulders. "It is hard to explain," he says apologetically, and rocks back to sit on his rump, pushing his feet out a bit. "I do not know that game," he admits. "Maybe there is one here with easier rules." He gestures at the shelf. "There are many to choose from." Nodding at that, Faelan rose up to his feet, picking up his book and looking towards the games. "Perhaps we can find one. Maybe one that has instructions on the box lid." Running fingers through his hair he stared at the sides of boxes as if they might reveal their secrets to him. "A board game tends to be safe for that. They are made for ages five and up. Or perhaps we could find someone who could teach us a simple game." Kai raises his eyebrows hopefully. "Do they have the game they show on television, with the wheel and guessing letters?" He smiles widely. "I like to watch that. It helps me with reading English." He glances at the gaming trio, who have now moved on to Excitebike. "Ivan might teach us a game," he says thoughtfully. "I do not know where he is, though." Nodding at the wisdom of his words, Faelen held his atlas back to his chest. "Perhaps he will. I will let you find him then, and I can perhaps find you later when you have learned. We may learn together." He looked to the door as the efforts of socializing has taken its toll from him. "It has been a busy day though. I will speak with you later. It was good to meet you Kai." He put on a smile again as he headed out the door of the rec room, blocking out the sounds of retrogaming.