Logs:Of Homework and Heroes (Or, Technically Speaking)

Of Homework and Heroes (Or, Technically Speaking)
Dramatis Personae Anastasia Rivers, Harm, Kavalam
In Absentia	2020-04-13 "Thank the gods. Or -- doctors, I guess?"
Location <XAV> Study - Xs First Floor
Quieter than the neighboring library, the study actually is a retreat for those who want to sit and work. Lacking the larger social tables, this room has only single solitary chairs, individual soft lamps assigned to each. The high bay windows allow plenty of light, and the understated elegance of the room with its grated fireplace (often crackling, in winter) is an invitation to quiet work. Class is only just letting out for the day. It's dreary and glum throughout the school; the weeks of cloistering have been wearing on everyone and the driving rain isn't likely helping with the mood. There's a heavy battering at the windows, providing a background drumming steady and regular and far more soothing than the shrill piercing of the final school bell that punctuates it, or the loud voices, slam of doors, footsteps and chatter that follow. In here it's quieter -- maybe even deserted! It looks deserted, anyway; with most everyone off in class there aren't a lot of people left to occupy the study. Kavalam has been here for a while but, well, he's never particularly obtrusive; cosily tucked into an armchair with a thermos of Assam tea and a math textbook, he's -- wholly ignoring the problems half-finished on the notebook in front of him. Instead, he's frowning intently down at the screen of his phone, dark eyes narrowed in shock behind his half-frame glasses. Though he hasn't actually made any particular effort to make himself take up less space -- his laptop open on an end table beside him, his backpack on the floor next to his armchair, his polo shirt an eye-catchingly bright yellow -- nevertheless his default aura of obscurity hangs heavy around him, rendering him, the chair, the table, and all his belongings effectively unnoticeable. Anastasia was lounging on an armchair in the reading room, sipping a cup of tea while reading a book about the Russian revolution. It has been a fairly eventful day so far, so Anastasia gladly took the chance to kick back, relax for a bit and do some reading and tea drinking, two hobbies she found great joy in. As she saw back and relaxed, she couldn't help but reflect on past events, and a wave of guilt washed over her as the arrest of jax sprang to her mind her again. She couldn't but help feel partially responsible, perhaps if she had spent more time with him, perhaps if she had been sterner with him, perhaps perhaps perhaps. Eventually the logical part of Anastasia took over as she figured that worrying about it wouldn't do any good, and that she should see if there's any way for her to visit her former student As thunder raged on outside and rain fell, Anastasia found herself looking out the window, reflecting on her numerous visits to her homeland, most of them had been like this.. dark clouds, rain, and an almost oppressing air, weirdly enough all this alongside her tea made her feel like home, a soft smile forming on her face Harmony ducks in from the chaos out in the hallway, clutching a heavy U.S. history textbook to their chest and carrying a satchel made from bicycle inner tubes over one shoulder. They're wearing a loosely knit long sleeve sweater in bright pink through which their black tanktop can be faintly seen, and purple linen wrap pants that flow around their ankles when they move, showing up the fine details on their handmade ankle boots. They come up short when they spot the Adult in the room, but relax into a smile. "Hi, Ms. Rivers." They make their way toward a favored chair, glancing around once with a fleeting wrinkle in their brows, but finally does sink into the chair and starts to root through their satchel -- which appears to be mostly full of yarn. Anastasias thought chain is broken as she heard someone enter the room, lifting her head to see harmony, a student from one of her classes, a student she was actually quite fond of so naturally she smiles at her kindly, nodding softly. “Good day harmony, finish your homework?” Anastasia asked, sipping her tea while keeping eye contact with the young student. Anastasia had her hair done up in a ponytail, quite a massive one filled with dark red curly hair, a soft smirk spreading on her face as she sees harmony pull out seemingly quite a large amount of string from her bag When Kavalam appears it's abrupt -- one moment he wasn't there and the next he just is, insinuating himself into the others' awareness as if he's been there all along. He doesn't break the quiet of the peaceful study, but his phone does, some video on it playing -- not loud but loud enough to be startling after the relative peace. "Have you seen this?" His eyes are wide -- possibly unhelpfully, he isn't elaborating on what 'this' is. Just flapping a hand towards his phone without actually turning it towards the others. A man's confident voice is speaking from his phone (potentially identifiable as Captain America for anyone familiar enough): "This administration's treatment of Mr. Concepcion and other immigrants has been unethical, unlawful, and detrimental to public health, prioritizing the profits of their cronies over countless lives." There's a sharper urgency in Kavalam's voice, speaking over the sound of his phone: "They say there's a vaccine." Harm jumps, emitting a quiet "eep" when Kavalam appears. They drop their bag, spilling out some lovely, faintly metallic green yarn and a piece of as-yet-unidentifiable work in progress. "Oh hey," they say when they recognize their roommate, stooping to gather up their things. "Sorry, I didn't --" They tilt their head, listening to the broadcast. "I haven't." They rise, jumble of yarn in their arms, and hasten over to peer at the video over Kavalam's shoulder, dark eyes wide. "Thank the gods. Or -- doctors, I guess?" Anastasia raises her eyebrow, a boy she certainly doesn't know is in the reading room, acting as if nothing was off, so naturally thoughts raced through her mind. Is this a threat? An attacker? It must be right? Why on earth would someone sneak inside the school if not to attack them? Though, something stopped her from attacking the stranger, mostly the attitude of harm towards the stranger, she very much trusted her students, and if she wasn't alarmed, there must have been something more to it, though this didn't stop her from being cautious as she approached the duo, now watching the announcement while keeping an eye on kavalam “A vaccine? That's good at least, though this situation has been less than stellar for the current goverment, not to mention the treatement of certain individuals. Turn that down will you? Yes it's important but try not to disrupt others, and a question, exactly who are you?” Anastasia would ask, her voice was calm but the look on her face was cold and calculating, a look that suggested that she would have no problem protecting her school if it would come to that Kavalam does not turn the volume down. He lowers his phone to his lap, head tilting just slightly to the side as he looks up at Anastasia. Looks around at the mostly deserted study. Looks back up at Anastasia. His nostrils flare out delicately as he exhales a quiet snort, his head shaking. "Why? Do you imagine this time you'll remember my name?" His dark eyes shift back to Harm. He tips the phone just so, that his roommate might also see the screen. "They say doctors had nothing to do with it. That man they've been looking for. The terrorist one they arrested Mr. Holland for helping. Captain America says he's made a vaccine." "He's a student here, Ms. Rivers," Harm says, the words coming smooth and easy as if it were something they practiced a lot. "His power makes it hard to notice or remember him, but he's definitely my roommate." At Kavalam's explanation they blurt out, "I knew it!" Then shuts their mouth tight, glancing sheepishly at Anastasia. When they speak again, it's quieter, "Well, I didn't think he was going to make a vaccine, but I knew Mr. Holland wouldn't have been helping someone who was trying to end the world." They stare at the tall, stalwart figure of Captain America on the little screen. "I hope they get it out there fast." Anastasia furrows her brow. What harmony was telling her was strange but it was the Xavier school after all, not the weirdest thing she'd seen throughout her years, and she trusted her students. “Perhaps not, but I see you now do I not? And you're a student at this school and as such I'd advise you to turn it down young man, now tilt it a bit more this way, I want to see the captain speak” she said as she listened, nodding softly. “Figures, there was more to this after all. Tell me, did they say anything about the people imprisoned?” She asked, a sad and hopeful tone taking over her voice, she couldn't help but worry over jax, and the guilt once again washed over her, she had failed to prevent someone falling down the same path she did, something that dug deeply at her heart. At the same time she couldn't help but feel bad for the student in front of her, such a power must be quite a problem in normal life, and as such she felt sympathy for him, figuring she wouldn't attempt to punish him or get angry at him or such. “You know I met him once, the captain” Anastasia notes, deciding to make some conversation "Really?" Kavalam does turn the screen obligingly more outwards to make it easier to see, although he does not turn it down. His lips twist to one side, and he levels a skeptical look up at Harm. "I was a bit disappointed. I think he seems very like someone who would help end the world. Nobody is that nice all the time, hmm?" He rests one elbow on the arm of his armchair, cradling his face in his hand and tapping his fingers against his cheekbone. "Still --" There's almost a brightness in his tone here, "dying in jail because you helped to stop the apocalypse, that's almost as good a story." He glances down at the screen. Up at Anastasia. "Is he such a big dork in person?" "Well, Mr. Holland is," Harm insists, though there's no heat in their voice. "Does that mean they're going to let him out, now? Since he wasn't...doing terrorism or whatever they're charging him with." They're grinning now, hopefulness and amusement mixing. "Wait, Captain America is a dork?" They've started winding the loose yarn they spilled back up. “Oh very much so, I once attended a charity event where he was as a speaker, you wouldn't believe how much that man blushes if he's flirted at, I doubt he remembers me though” Anastasia says with a soft chuckle. “I hope jax is okay” Anastasia says with a soft mutter, it realising she was speaking out loud, looking at the screen intently. “Say harmony, you did finish your homework right?” Anastasia asked, turning her eye to harmony. It wasn't really a malicious gaze, but an expectant one Kavalam's lip curls up, his nose wrinkling. His eyes flick up to Anastasia, ticking briefly over her before he drops his gaze back away with a small huff. "Ew," he replies distastefully. "You could be his mother." He lifts one shoulder, his shrug dismissive. "They have not mentioned Mr. Holland. I don't know. Maybe he's still a terrorist. Your laws here are awful. -- Have you seen Captain America?" He apparently considers the answer to this question self-evident. Harm blinks, but does not comment on Anastasia's recounting of meeting Captain America. Instead, they reply evenly, "Not yet, ma'am, but I'll do it tonight." Their gaze drops back to the press conference. "Yeah, our laws are pretty much the worst. I guess I'm not a great judge of dorkiness. Seems kind of random to me, honestly. He just looks like some white guy from a movie." “Oh please, technically speaking he's older than me, and ah, I see” she says, still a tangent of sadness in her voice, clearly jax was someone quite important to her, of course all of her students were important to her but this was different. “Alright, now remember, I want a three page paper on a significant female figure of your choice” Anastasia stared at the screen, scoffing internally, these kids couldn't appreciate an old fashioned handsome American man 'Technically speaking' Kavalam mouths this, turning the screen away from Anastasia and holding it where only he and Harm can still see it. "That is. Certainly. A way to look at it." He closes his notebook, setting it atop his math text and leaning down to tuck both away into his backpack. "I suppose this means we may actually leave this school again some day." He doesn't sound as enthusiastic about this thought as might be expected. "I wonder if my parents still remember me." Harm blinks again, darting a dubious sidelong glance at Anastasia. Then at the man on Kavalam's screen. "Yes, ma'am," they tell the teacher, but their heart doesn't seem to be in it, for someone who's usually an earnest student. Their lips press into a thin line as they study Kavalam sidelong. "Either way, they will once they see you." More quietly, as they finish winding up their yarn, tucking the circular needles neatly through the ball, "I hope they're ok." Anastasia frowns a bit, this was certainly not an attitude she expected from harmony, but it was not like she could blame them, it was a strange and stressful time for all, something she knew very well. “Just, get it to me by the end of the week, yeah?” She said to harmony, patting their shoulder gently, before gathering her book and teacup, sipping the rest of the tea and heading towards the door Even before Anastasia has quite left the room, Kavalam is already slipping back out of notice -- and out of memory, his presence and the conversation soon to be gone entirely. "Technically speaking," he says, aloud this time as he settles back into the armchair, picking up his thermos of tea. He offers it out to Harm with a wry smile. "Assam?"