INTRO LOG

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[[Exactly what it says on the tin! This is just an initial log to sort of get things started and is largely freeform, open to (but not limited to):

-Meetings before classes start
-First day business
-Dorm shenanigans meetings
-First classes in progress
-or whatever the heck else you want to do for beginning-of-term things!

There's a CR meme up now for some initial planning if you like, or feel free to just hop in here.]]

Comments

[ex_outofcontrol435]

Not important. [But obviously tied to his family somehow, since they should've been providing him the home, so there's the sore spot. The big, obvious, video game boss sore spot.

He can feel the genuine interest, though, so he keeps talking.]

I squatted in old abandoned factories and shit. Slept in Central Park a lot. Stole so much crap, man, I bet the entire economy of NYC dropped for those three years. Got into a couple of shelters, but they were usually full. You'd find other mutants, groups of 'em, and if you could be useful then they kept you around. I could keep whatever piece of shit place they were hiding out in warm without burning it down, so I was useful.

Then the Spring I turned fifteen, I got pneumonia. After Winter, for fuck's sake, survived the snow and then I got sick. Basically spent a week and a half on a park bench thinking I was gonna die, too weak to feed myself or get water, and when the bright light showed up, Xavier was at the end of it.

[broil]

[that... that actually sounds like fun to him. an adventure. sorry, John, you picked a really lousy ear in the sympathy department.]

Why didn't you just seek him out? You or the other mutants.

[ex_outofcontrol435]

[He never said it was bad. He just said it made him what he is today: wild, unruly, resistant to authority. He misses it sometimes, when he forgets about the oppressive hunger and cold and just thinks about the freedom.]

Because fuck him. We were doing fine on our own. Until I was dying, then I couldn't do much of anything.

[He pulls his lighter back out, playing with it in that agitated way he has.]

I needed to get better somehow. And once I remembered what food and a roof and a bed was like, I just decided to put up with the rest.

[broil]

[a pause. He eyes the lighter, then back to John's features.]

Don't they make you wanna run away all over again with their rules? Putting you in detention for having a little fun. That's gotta hurt your ego.

[ex_outofcontrol435]

[He props himself up on an elbow, glaring across at where Petre's lounging.]

Look, this place is wall-to-wall bullshit. You know it as well as I do. But they're letting me sponge here for free and I'll have some kinda education when I'm done, so I'll wait it out. You think I want to be a bum my whole life?

[broil]

I don't know. Didn't you say I'd make a shitty telepath?

[Hah.]

Sounds like being a professional bum is more like every kid's dream. Not so much once you've been through pneumonia.

[ex_outofcontrol435]

You're the one who was talking about my ego. [His nose wrinkles. You say that I'm cocky, Petre, but is it really cocky when you know that it's true?]

Of course I don't. And I'm not getting far with a sixth-grade education. I doubt this place opens many doors, but it's something. It at least pretends to be a real school, and a private one.

[broil]

Oh, so you want to go far.

[that actually changes things. John has ambition, not just the desire to fuck around.]

How far are we talking?

[ex_outofcontrol435]

I dunno yet. [So much for that. But a poor kid turned street kid is going to have some problems suddenly shifting gears into a world where opportunity is actually something that can be considered.] There's people advocating for mutants, like the X-Men, but they're doing it all wrong. Like they can nice humans into giving us an equal spot in the world. They've got both sides of that wrong.

[broil]

[and maybe Petre agrees, but - maybe he just doesn't really care after all. He does care about listening to John right now, though, because he's going somewhere. Maybe.]

Go on.

[ex_outofcontrol435]

Diplomacy's not gonna do it.

[He smiles coldly, arrogantly.]

And we're not just equal. We're far from equal.

[broil]

Wow, you really haven't learned a thing since you got here.

[that's all they're preaching all the time, like they want to brainwash every single last student into holding hands and singing We are the world.]

I'm impressed.

[ex_outofcontrol435]

Nothing here worth learning. [He shrugs, trying to look casual, but he's on a roll now. There are so few people who will listen to this side of him.]

We don't need talk, we need power. They've got the government. They've got the police. They've got the army. What do we have? Fucking ambassadors, who lick so much ass that they can't spew anything but other peoples' shit anymore, and biologists who just keep saying the same thing over and over again like it'll stop pissing humans off. That's why they hate us, because we're superior.

[He narrows his eyes up at the ceiling.]

I'm seventeen. I can't do anything now. But I know I'm not the only one who gets it and wants to see real action.

[broil]

[Oh, he likes this. He likes where it's going, a lot. Keep talking, Johnny.]

What would you do?

[He leans in, makes sure no one's listening but him. This is a private conversation, and he wants those words all to himself.]

[ex_outofcontrol435]

We could work it from the inside, slow takeover, but that's boring. There's an easy, quick way.

[And he's grinning again, manic and almost childishly gleeful.]

I want a revolution.

[broil]

[He turns to the side, now, closes his hand into a fist and leans his temple against it.]

And you'd be the one leading it?

[He's smiling, but he shouldn't be mocking John. Not openly, at least, because revolutions scream chaos and he's all about that shit.

Hell, he'd even follow him into one if it proved to be fun enough.]

[ex_outofcontrol435]

[He should've known this was leading up to a punchline. Asshole. He's reading that smile, that posture, as completely mocking, and his own face hardens into a smooth mask of indifference.]

Yeah, I'll lead it. And you'll be the first one against the wall.

[Sharing time's over. He's tuned back into the TV.]

[broil]

[as distracted as John is, Petre takes the shot and brushes a finger under his chin.]

Promise?

[ex_outofcontrol435]

[Damnit, he can't help it - he jerks his face away immediately, just like he jerked his hand away. That's never going to stop if he keeps reacting so strongly, but he really cannot stop himself.]

Why d'you feel the need to do that shit? [Bored again. Lazy. Ignore that it freaked him out for a second.]

[broil]

I don't feel any need, Johnny, you just make it really easy. How am I supposed to resist?

[smiles sweetly.]

[ex_outofcontrol435]

You just warp everything I say. Anyone else would've thought firing squad.

[That smile always elicits the same reaction. Clenched teeth, jaw rigid and stiff, trying to keep from grinding them to powder. Even for the most deeply cynical person, like him, it'd be so easy to believe in; this guy's a fucking illusionist, even without the necessary telepathy, and he needs to stay away.]

John. [He's determined it'll be the last thing he says in this conversation, and he knows that just means that Petre will pick the perfect thing to drag him back into it again.]

[broil]

Well, I'm not just anyone, am I.

[is he, John? Don't break his heart.]

[ex_outofcontrol435]

No. You're not. [Flatly.] You are actually the most obnoxious asshole on the face of the planet. I don't even need to meet any other obnoxious assholes to know.

Want a crown?

[broil]

[you are my sunshine my only sunshine]

It's only because I like you so much, Johnny.

[... and it's true, to an extent. If he didn't care about John, he just wouldn't exist.]

[ex_outofcontrol435]

And I know that one's bullshit, so don't even bother. You just like pissing me off. But you're gonna get boring, and we're both gonna get bored, and praise the day when that happens because you'll finally leave me alone.

[Damnit, why does he actually want this fucked up mess to work as a friendship sometimes? He's still somewhat invested in his own way, which is probably obvious by the fact that he hasn't just gotten up and left. The truth is that enjoyment of pissing him off is actually the best attention he gets around here, compared to either condescending disappointment or self-righteous indignance.]