Logs:Of Studying and Smart-Asses (Or, Something Wrong)

Of Studying and Smart-Asses (Or, Something Wrong)
Dramatis Personae Ashlinn, Kavalam, Naomi, Remi, Rhydian
In Absentia Gaétan, Harm, Nessie	2023-04-06 "Can you text me, to remind me these white girls suck, when I forget."
Location <XAV> Rec Room - Xs Second Floor
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. Evening was Remi's favourite time of day, studying and classes were all done and it was nice to see everyone just relaxing. Which is what brought him to the rec room that evening. He plonked himself onto a large beanbag which almost engulfed him. Adorned in his fluffy blue blanket with arms he had reached peak relaxation and sat with a lollipop in his mouth and a biology book open on his lap. The noise of the others didn't bother him too much, he preferred it to the quiet of his room. Flicking casually onto a page with an anatomically correct diagram of the human body he hummed pleasantly to himself as he tested himself on the different bones in the body in his head. Ashlinn walks in with a monotone look on her face and saw remy sitting on the beanbag, She walked over and asked “Can I sit here?” She pointed to a purple beanbag and smiles. Naomi enters the rec room on a mission, directly walking for the television and the game discs stacked near it. She’s wearing a blue Xaviers hoodie and skinny black jeans, striped socks and fuzzy slippers, headphones in. Maybe she expected the room to be a little less studious at this hour — she hesitates with a copy of Disco Elysium in her hand, looking at the two at the bean bags with… not nerves but some sort of apprehension. “…y’all studying?” Is probably not the most useful question, but the one she is asking never the less. Rhydian enters the room and looks around. She then moves over to a couch in the corner and flops on it with a huff. "Absolutely not." Was Kavalam sitting on the beanbag just one moment ago when Ashlinn asked if she could sit there? Yes, probably; when he appears it doesn't feel startling and sudden, the way it might if An Invisible Person Had Appeared -- it feels a little bit silly, like it was obvious the boy has been here the whole time and yet somehow (in his vivid yellow button-down) the others simply managed to overlook his existence. He clicks his tongue lightly at Naomi's question in clear disapproval. "You'd think this is some kind of school or something." He hasn't looked up at the other students; instead he has his face buried in a copy of Indra Das's The Devourers, very much Not A Schoolbook; he doesn't seem to care much for this Thursday Evening Study Session. Remi looks up with a smile. "Oh hey Naomi!" he waves to her, shoving his lollipop into his cheek. Double-taking at the beanbag next to him. "Oh gods! Im so sorry i just sat down here, I must have been so in my own world! It's lovely to meet you, my name's Remi." turning to the two other new faces. "Nice to meet you all actually!" he chuckled to himself. Holding up his book in response to Naomi, Remi looked slightly confused. "Oh, no, i'm just reading for fun! How did your dates with Harm go? They've been the talk of the town ya know!" he chuckled at his scaled classmate. “sorry kid I didn’t even realize you were right there, let me just sit on the floor.” She moves to the floor to sit in a meditation position “so how long has everyone been here? I came to this school about a month ago and I haven’t really introduced myself, Im ashlinn and i’m hoping to become an xmen one day. How long have all of you been here?” “Hi, Remi,” doesn’t sound all that enthusiastic. Naomi’s start at Kavalam’s suddenly-always-was-there is short, a quick tension that relaxes into an easy roll of the eyes. “We got,” Naomi replies, “a whole ass fancy library for studying in, this is a game room.” She’s putting the game away anyway, freezing when Remi mentions her date. “Is it?” This doesn’t sound that much like a question, more like wary confirmation. Her eyes flick to Rhydian in the corner, to Ashlinn on the floor now. “Cuz, like, Rhydian is minding her business, and Ashlinn ain’t seem to know anyone? Which is wild, since you done been here a month.” The ridges of her scales deepen with her confusion at the last part. “You can ask Harm if you gotta know.” "I have been here for-ever," Kavalam sounds about at Naomi's current level of enthusiasm. "And we have met." Is this to Ashlinn or to Remi? It would probably help if Kavalam would look up from his book, or perhaps add some inflection to his words, but he does neither of these things. What he does do is pull out his phone -- an email shows up a moment later in Remi's inbox with some (very well-taken!) photographs of Remi -- very VERY intently serious in his expression as he takes a magnifying glass to peer behind the Boys' Dorm Bulletin Board or hefts a small piece of candy as if he is going to throw it or measures the walls with some Extremely Complicated Looking measuring equipment. Does Remi even remember taking these photos? They are here, though, clear as day from 'kneelakantan@xaviers.edu'. "I have asked Harm. I do not think I was the source of the gossip, though." Remi checks the ping on his phone and is ever so embarassed that he seems to have completely forgotten ever posing for these photos. They were quite funny though, chuckling to himself momentarily and then clearing his throat. "Ah yess, of course...The photoshoot..." he sounds as if he's almost questioning himself at this point. "I heard from here and there, I like listening when i walk through the corridors. I had a little cheer to myself when I heard it though! Wait-" he turned to Ashlinn. "You don't know anyone yet? My girl you gotta get yourself out there more. Make mistakes, make first impressions we're all mutants here" he threw up jazz hands towards Ashlinn. "There's a lot of great people here. You should talk to Nessie though, she knows all the gossip. She might look scary but she's so sweet!" Rhydian glanced at the person who had called her name before moving her eyes back to burning a hole in the wall at the far end of the room. Thankfully she wasn’t capable of optic blasts. If she was, there might’ve actually been some damage done to the wall. “Thank you for the tips remi!!” Ashlinn said, She then handed the phone to remi and asked him “can I have nessies contact info?” She smiled wholeheartedly "You like to listen," Naomi repeats, dry as anything. "Girl you are stealing my bit." Her eyes glance up again, making eye contact with Rhydian before the other girl looks away. She lifts one hand to the bottom of her scales, frowning a touch. "Nessie," she grudgingly allows, "is a top suspect." She turns away from the television to join the bean bag group properly, dragging yet a third bean bag over and plopping besides Kavalam. "What are --" and this could be to either of the boys, now, "-- they --" equally nebulous as to whether she means Harm or Students at Large, "-- saying?" She bites her lip. "Anything I should worry about?" "Harm said your date was delicious but stressful because the restaurant people were quite assholes about your snake-face, and that they had a great time and want to do more dates with you. They were quite giddy about the whole Dating You thing. They also," Kavalam is helpfully supplying in the same informative tone, "told me not to talk to anyone about it." His brows are wrinkling slightly -- not, clearly, in any kind of self-consciousness about Telling when he had been Directly Told Not To, but instead in a mild bafflement as he looks over to Rhydian. "... did the wall do something to you?" He is putting his phone away, adding (much less baffled) to Ashlinn: "The school directory has everyone's number and email." Remi begins to squeel with excitement. "I love, LOVE!" he giggled. "Oh and I have no idea, all I heard was Naomi and Harm sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G. Yes I am a child, You will get used to it, but it's so CUTE! I'm so happy for you both!" he threw up his hands in an early apology before Naomi berated him. Snapping back to his senses he turned to Ashlinn. "Oh, I don't have her contact yet Ashlinn buuuuut, she's a reporter for the school paper so her details won't be hard to find at all! She might even seek you out cause you're new here!" blowing his hair out of his face he turns to look at the wall. "What's going on with the wall?" he tries to squint his eyes to see if there's something tiny he's missing. “Oh I see and i’ll go over to the schools photography room since thats where they all work together”, Ashlinn stands up and stretches out her slender legs and looks over to rhydia “Hey do you wanna play this pvp game with me? I promise I’ll go easy on u” she holds her crossed fingers behind her back so that remi and naomi could see them. Naomi's cheeks, the part that is still human skin, is flushing dark extremely fast. "...Good thing you ain't telling anyone, I guess. They were assholes, Harm's great, you --" and she's rounding on Remi, "-- are older than me and a whole ass year ahead of me, don't be so weird." There's a bright flash of green in her eyes, a glow that fills not just the iris but the whites of her eyes. She presses her palms against her eyes, lips pressed tight together -- when she opens them again her normal eyes seem dull in comparison. She looks like she might say more to Remi, but looks up instead at Ashlinn and Rhydian. "Oh, don't bother," she says with a snort. "She probably too scared of us to play anything." "I did not think they meant you," Kavalam says with a small frown. "Unless they did." What about Ashlinn? Remi? Rhydian? Perhaps he does not think they count? He is addressing Remi after this, though, with a small shrug and languid flick of fingers in Rhydian's direction. "I think something is just wrong with her." “Nothing is wrong with me. I just prefer not to engage in useless chitchat. And to answer your previous question; no. The wall didn’t do anything to me. It’s just more interesting than anything else in this room.” her soft, lilting voice wafted through the air. Stricken with pure terror by Naomi's BRIGHT GREEN GLOWING MIND POWER EYES Remi stands himself up and clears his throat. "Well, it was lovely to meet you all but I'm terrified if I stay any longer i'll end up dancing naked through the school halls....or maybe that's what you want me to think!" he points a finger at Naomi, with a half chuckle. He collects up his book and swishes his blanket with arms around him, making a dramatic exit, his knees visibly shaky to anyone right next to him. As he passes Rhydian he pauses. "I know it's difficult here. But take it from me. Taking it out on everyone else really doesn't help. Isolating yourself will make it worse. We're not bad people, just a little different. Have a nice day Rhydian." He pulls out a wrapped cookie out of his snack pouch that was hidden underneath his blanket and places it down on the floor next to Rhydian. As he walks towards the boys' dorm he turns around, begins walking backwards and calls out. "That's not kosher by the way, just so you know!" he smiles warmly, his gaze drifting towards Naomi as he mouths the words "I'm sorry!" at her with an awkward smile before very briskly out of the rec room. "I mean ain't like it matter who you tell -- Girl." Naomi's tone is only mildly irritated. "You sitting there staring at a blank ass wall when we got a whole TV. This the same 'preference' that made you go look for peace and quiet in the workshop?" She's looking at Kavalam now, with a sort of can you believe this air. On Remi's reaction, though, she's beginning to sound upset: "I ain't even said anything," she says after a too long moment when the boy looks back at her, by which point Remi is already committed to Leaving. She slumps back into her beanbag. After a moment, softly, to Kavalam: "Think he'll remember enough to start any new rumours?" Kavalam spreads his hands in front of him kind of helplessly in answer to Naomi's look like, Yup, see, what did I say. "See," he's telling Remi, "no problem with the wall, she's just an ass. -- But so are you being, just a little." He purses his lips once Remi is gone, shakes he head. "He won't remember this." He is peering over a little more curiously at Ashlinn: "What is the game?" Rhydian looked at the cookie that was placed in front of her for a moment, inspecting the wrapping for any tampering before deciding it was safe enough. She opened the cookie and took a small bite. “I am not an ass. That is a power only shapeshifters and those gifted with illusion magic have.” she directed towards Kavalam after she had finished eating. To Naomi she said this, “It is not the same preference.” “The game is roblox arsenal” She giggles profusely “Im most likely gonna win because im a professional though so theres a forewarning” She lays on her on a pillow bridge that she had made with a bunch of pillows following eachother to mock ashlinns body shape. “So have any of yall ever fought before?” "Nah, you a smart-ass," Naomi says with a roll of her eyes, directing her attention back to Ashlinn. She bites her lip at Kavalam's comment, but sits up on her bag anyway. "Shit I ain't known about professional Roblox, e-sports wild." At Ashlinn's question, though, she's getting all the way up. "The hell is your problem what kind of question is that --" she cuts herself off with a sharp draw of breath, shutting her eyes for a moment. "Can you text me," she asks Kavalam, "to remind me these white girls suck, when I forget." She didn't bring much -- Naomi is pushing her earbuds back into her ears as she heads for the door. "Not just an asshole, but quite a potti asshole," Kavalam is amending his judgment, when Rhydian speaks again, "Five languages I have to speak and still handle English better than these Americans." He isn't looking her way anymore, just addressing this estimation to the students beside him. His reply to Ashlinn is cheerfully unconcerned: "I am very used to losing in all the video games, Gaétan is a beast." He is just as blithe with his agreement to Naomi: "Shit talking the whites is a service I am happy to provide." His brows have lifted to Ashlinn once Naomi has gone, with the reserved curiousity of some kind of White Peopleologist studying an exotic new culture: "Is violence normally good small talk among your people?" Rhydian had many things to say to both the people in the room but decided to hold her tongue. Instead, she stared out the window to her left. “You know we’re technically the same race so you are my people and yes mutants are known to be violent or so the government believes” She crosses her arms “I’d destroy a few tanks if charles would let me” Ashlinn feels angered towards how mutants are treated by the government, She turns off the game and looks at kavalam and says “your lucky your invisible so you cant be hated towards” She goes to the other room away from kavalam. "We are not the same race." This is all Kavalam says before -- quite abruptly -- he vanishes from Ashlinn and Rhydian's views. Not that they notice -- at roughly the same time, both other girls utterly forget his entire existence, or any of his contributions to the conversation. Naomi is getting a text shortly thereafter: (Kavalam --> Naomi): Your immediate and emphatic reminder that white girls suck. Rhydian stayed where she was for a few more minutes before standing and leaving with her cookie in hand.