Logs:Not Quite Normal

Not Quite Normal
Dramatis Personae Joshua, Perseus	2021-09-15 "If you're so much older...why do you hang out here?"
Location <XAV> Back Patio - Xs Grounds
This patio is expertly laid out for relaxing singly or in groups. The section nearest the back door is a more or less conventional veranda, the mansion's eaves--supported by elegant white wooden columns joined with matching railings--extending out to shelter the long porch swings, rocking chairs, and a chess table from the elements. Down the stairs or the ramp from this is a fan-shaped expanse of slate flagstones populated by clusters of deck chairs and picnic tables, always changing in number and arrangement, and stone planter boxes bursting with seasonal flowers and ornamentals. The centerpiece is an elegant pavilion with a hot tub open for use year-round, even if the transition in and out may prove chilly in snowy weather. It's been a glorious late-summer day and it's still warm now as afternoon starts to slowly make its way toward evening. The start of term chaos is -- kiiiind of beginning to settle, or at least there's been a minimum of actual fires to put out today. With nothing actively exploding this very minute, Joshua is currently seated on the back patio -- relaxing, though he looks as though very recently he's been doing otherwise. In tactical pants and a quick-dry tee, red and black kippah on his head, sweat still making his shaggy brown hair cling to his forehead, he's dressed for something far more active than the lemonade and pasta he's wolfing down right now where he sits in a rocking chair. Perseus felt the need to be outside when relaxing. Ever since being introduced to his new teachers, peers, and unfortunately, homework, he felt the urge to just take a second second breath. What better place than the patio where everyone either avoided or came right to. Though he'd only met with very few people personally, everyone here was in the same boat as him. A teenager (or younger) that developed their Mutant powers and needed a place to feel safe, and to get protection from the outside world. His feet lightly stepped onto the patio, walking past a couple groups of people who seemed too focused to care someone new appeared. A lone table sat near another guy who looked like a basic army guy, if any of those even existed around here. The heavy backpack slung off his shoulder as he sat down, keeping to himself and taking out a planned folder he was assigned for his classes. Joshua is just washing down another mouthful of pasta (out of a small tupperware, evidently packed from somewhere even though the kitchen just next door has plenty of food to spare) with a swig of lemonade as Perseus takes his seat. His eyes flick up slowly, return to his food slowly -- it's hard to say whether he's enjoying his lunch or not, there's a kind of basset-hound mournfulness to his expression that doesn't change when he speaks. "Man. That looks heavy already." His attention snapped to the army guy. The food in his hands seemed to be almost already gone, was he that hungry already? Either way he didn't want to be awkward...again, so he smiled and nodded in his direction. "Uh...yeah. New school, new books. All that stuff..." An uneasiness settled in his voice. Somewhere deep down he still couldn't believe any of this was real, as if any moment he'd wake up in a hospital bed and be told he was in a coma, or he just had a bad dream one night. He's been at Xavier's for about three days now, and maybe the reality that he has superpowers is just setting in. "Yeah." Joshua's chair rocks back as he sits up, setting his spork down in his half-finished farfalle. "It'll start to feel normal before you know it." The small twitch at the corner of his mouth almost makes it into a smile but stops shy of actually displacing the general gloominess from his face. "-- dunno if that's. Reassuring or not." "I appreciate the effort..." His smile became sort of sad as he began to file through the pages of the binder, not sure what to start with. It seemed like such an average starting conversation for a place like this, considering why they're there in the first place. "If you're so much older...why do you hang out here? Wouldn't you want to be normal again?" Joshua quirks a brow up at the question. His foot pushes slowly against the ground, setting the chair lazily back to rocking, and it isn't until another bite of his pasta that he answers. "Well. By law, turns out we're not allowed to just dump a bunch of you here unsupervised and call it a day." The answer made sense and he couldn't really be irritated since he asked, but it wasn't really what he meant. "If you're old enough to just...go...why don't you? Why help these kids? Why help me? Would my life ever contribute to the world anyways...?" Joshua plants his feet back against the pavement, arresting the gentle motion of his chair. He taps the spork slowly against the plastic side of the tupperware. "Haven't helped you," he points out with a small shrug. "Didn't know you needed help. But --" He looks up again, studying Perseus more thoughtfully. "I -- can't tell you what you're going to give to the world, man. I do this because that's what being part of society is. Sometimes, you think about people outside yourself or the world gets real ugly." Still feeling angry, he hadn't realized his knuckles were white from how tense he was, balling them in a fist. Maybe he was overreacting but it felt justified. The world had turned his life upside down for no reason whatsoever. His only real skill is kickboxing and even that doesn't get you very far in life...so was this some sort of cruel call to action then...? "I...I get it...but...I don't. Sorry to get so angry I just-" He just what? What did Percy want? "-I just wanted to live a normal life..." Turning away, Percy just sighed and kept flipping through the binder. Joshua blinks. Glances from Percy's face down to his balled fists. Blinks again, his gaze dropping the rest of the way to return to his own lunch. His exhale is slow, his chair slow also as he starts to rocking again. Takes a long sip of lemonade. Takes another deep breath. "S'rough, I'm sorry," he offers, finally. Picks up his spork again. "-- Not really sure what normal is. Professor'll probably try and get you part of the way there, though." He polishes off the rest of his food, snapping the lid of his now-empty container closed as he gets to his feet. "Good luck." "Th...thanks. My name is Perseus by the way." He says roughly, keeping his concentration on the binder in front of him. There was a staleness to the air and it made him feel bad, so he tried to leave the conversation on a better note, he hoped. "Maybe...you can help me...later when I'm done studying...or something..." "Yeah, I know." Without any noise or fanfare, the empty Tupperware and lemonade bottle have vanished from Joshua's hands. "Uh." He blinks again at that last suggestion, brows starting to pinch together in utter confusion. "I don't -- know what --" This sentence cuts off and he takes yet another deep breath. Very carefully: "-- not sure I'm. The best guide for. Normalcy. Probably your advisor can -- steer you on that. Uh. Take care." And with that he, too, simply just poof -- disappears from sight. "I meant...my powers..." Percy sighs, watching him dissappear.