X-MEN: CE CAFETERIA
After completing decorations and placing several Christmas trees of varying sizes throughout rooms in the mansion, the students - those who remained in the mansion for the holidays - have gathered in various areas to celebrate Christmas Eve.
X-Men Time
Saturday, December 24th
Casper had taken it upon himself to make a giant plate of food. And then he made two more giant plates of food. Somehow, he had managed to eat it all, but by the end of the third plate, he was definitely feeling a little heavy. He let out a loud belch as he rubbed his tummy, then announced unnecessarily, "Yum!"
"Wow...Your stomach must take up half your body!"
Coral exclaimed, applauding and smiling despite her words. Honestly, the sight was impressive.
"I don't know about
half my body," replied
Casper, trying and failing to sound more intelligent than he really was. "Maybe more like... thirty-seven percent," he added, stacking each one of his plates on top of the other. He had finished up with a hot fudge sundae, and there was a bit of chocolate smudged on his cheek. So, as he had been taught, the young albino picked up a napkin and wiped it across his face, though not quite so elegantly. "It was
really good food though!"
Coral totally believed what he said about his stomach, assuming it had something to do with his power. "It looked tasty~" Reminding herself that she was hungry, as well, she went to the fridge and looked inside for something to snack on, herself. "You still have some chocolate on your face."
Casper went in for a second round of wiping his face, this time moving the napkin sloppily in circles. "Is it gone?" he asked as he pulled the napkin away from his face, lifting his chin a little higher than he should've so that the fish girl could inspect him. "What's your name?" he suddenly asked, the question a little too out of place for the moment.
Coral leaned back so her face was not in the fridge anymore. "...All gone~ Might be a little sticky, though." She never could stand post-ice cream stickiness... "My name's Coral. I'm new here." Looking back in the fridge, Coral pulled out a container. "Ooh~ Leftover chili~"
As he received a reply from Coral,
Casper lifted the third juice box he had manage to procure to his face, clamping down on the straw and sucking diligently. He watched the fish girl with an almost trance-like stare, and even a few seconds after she spoke her name, he said nothing. That is, until he finished drinking. With an audible "Ah!" he set the juice container down on the table, then responded, "People call me Casper. I don't really have a name though. People made me in a lab and then Shana and Mihir brought me here." His words carried no shame, only the blunt truth, as he had never really seen anything especially bad about his life prior to the mansion - boring, maybe, but just things he considered normal.
Coral blinked at the boy as she bumped the refrigerator door closed with her hip, a container of chili in her hands and an expression of curiosity and mild awe on her face. "In a lab? Ooh~ But why wouldn't they name you? Surely when they realized you were sentient they at least had a nickname...or even some sort of identification word or number to distinguish you from other creations? But then, that tends to have a somewhat dehumanizing effect, psychologicall
y. A nickname would be better." She nodded to herself before setting the chili on the counter and searching for a spoon.
Casper shrugged rather nonchalantly, looking up to the ceiling as he recalled the events of most of his childhood, until recently. "Iunno. They said I was just an experimence and that I didn't have a real mom and dad so I didn't need a name. They did put a code name thing on my neck though," explained the boy, tilting his head forward and pushing up his tousled mess of white hair so that Coral could see the word "MIMIC" tattooed on the young boy's neck.
"'Mimic'." Coral read aloud as she paused her quest for the elusive spoon. "What does that mean? Are you based on another project, or is it something to do with your ability?" She found it rather degrading and spiteful to tell a young boy that he does not need a name because he does not have family, but decided it might not be best to point that out.
Casper looked up almost immediately when Coral asked about his abilities. He always found it easier to show someone than to explain, especially since he wasn't quite sure how he was able to do what he did. Standing up, the boy reached both hands out and gently placed them on either side of Coral's face. His touch was soft and almost caring, and his gaze wandered all over the girl's face as he made contact with her. Finally, right before Coral's eyes, as Casper's hands fell to his side, his features began to shift and change, and in a matter of a few seconds, the albino boy in front of her was now her mirror image. Casper smiled, hoping she enjoyed his ability.
At first, Coral's eyes widened and her muscles tensed in alarm when he touched her face. Then she reminded herself that he was a young boy, appearing to be less than half her age, and relaxed. Except she did not know what his ability was and he seemed to be inspecting her. That thought made her tense once more right before he released her face. When he changed into a doppleganger of herself, she blinked in amazement. "...Hey, you're me!" She grinned. "That's really cool!"
Casper's grin widened into a toothy Coral-smile, and he announced excitedly, "Yay!" as he threw his hands into the air. The gills on his neck puffed up and he looked down at the webbing between his fingers. "Do you swim?" he suddenly asked, looking up at the girl.
"Every chance I get! The colder and deeper the better~" Coral gave the Casper-Coral a toothy grin identical to his/hers. "My brother says I'm an...arctic char, I think? Whatever." She waved a hand dismissively. "So long as I don't dry out, I'm fine, and that's all I need to know."
Casper tilted his head to the side, giving Coral a crooked gaze as she explained what she was supposed to be. He had no idea what an arctic char was, but apparently neither did Coral, so the young boy did not ask any questions. "Cool," he said simply with a grin just before, as smoothly as before, his body shifted back into his own. "I like to swim, but it's not part of my mutation. All I really do is copy everyone else, but it's a lot of fun."
"I imagine it would be. You can have any power you want and do whatever you want. That sounds like every kid's dream...and most adults, to be honest." Coral giggled to herself and then blinked at the chili. "...Oh, yeah! Spoon! Spoon...spoon..." She continued searching through drawers until she triumphantly held up the silverware with a grin. "Spoon!"
"Yeah, it's kinda cool most of the time,"Casper mused as he turned back to the table. He picked up his juicebox and sucked on it a little before pulling the straw form his mouth and adding, "Sometimes people get really mad at me or make fun of me when I use other people's power, though. Now I try to be careful, like Shana told me to do."
"Well, why would they be mad?" Coral's cheeks puffed up in indignation. "Using other people's powers is your power! And you need to practice it, since other powers are activated in different ways, right? What if you need a power in an emergency, and the one best suited for said emergency was one you've hardly ever used? You'd be terribly unprepared!"
Casper looked down at his lap as Coral seemed to get heated about others chastising him for his abilities. "I don't know why they get so mad at me. One time I changed into this really big guy, but my clothes didn't fit and fell off. Everyone laughed at me, and I got really sad and ran away," explained the young albino, apparently feeling a little down about the not-so-fond memory. "I went to hide in the garden but I messed up a bunch of plants this girl had, and she got really angry and yelled at me and tried to hurt me. It was really scary. Now I have to be careful."
"Well that's just ridiculous! The flowers were just an accident, right? So she had no right trying to hurt you! And the clothes were an accident, too." Coral crossed her arms, with the spoon firmly in one fist. "Accidents happen. And when they happen, people learn from them. After that, it's nothing to dwell on, and certainly nothing to get angry about! Now you know to have spare clothes when you change into someone a different size and to be careful around flowers. No one should've tried to hurt you over that!"
Casper fell quiet again as Coral lectured the non-present perpetrators, downing their actions towards him and his powers. "I got lucky, though. The girl who tried to hurt me ran away before Christmas, so I don't have to be scared of her anymore. And I don't think I want to change into the big guy anymore."
"I suppose that is lucky, that she left. The big guy's powers aren't useful enough to warrant a change in clothes?" Coral asked, cocking her head to the side. "Or was there also another problem?"
Casper gave a pathetic one-shouldered shrug, his gaze still glued to his own lap. He was looking more and more uncomfortable with talking about the subject, but he answered Coral anyways. "I just don't think it's a good idea to do it anymore. It got me in a lot of trouble. I guess I could do it if I had to."
Coral uncrossed her arms and patted Casper's shoulder with her spoonless hand. "If you don't want to do it, I'm sure you won't have to." She gave him a cheery smile. "You have plenty of other powers to choose from, after all~"
Casper looked up at Coral and gave her a quick smile, but he didn't have much else to say. He was quiet for a few moments before something suddenly hit him and he looked back to Coral, mouth in an "o" shape. "Do you think we could go swimming together sometime?" he asked, referencing the fact that he could use her powers to be able to swim with her.
"Definitely! I've never met anyone who can swim as deep as I can, especially in cold water!" Coral clapped her hands together, the spoon wedged between a couple of fingers. "It would be so much fun~ But you'll probably have hiccups when it's over. It takes some time to clear the water out..."
The bad feelings that had been surrounding Casper suddenly seemed to dissipate as Coral gave him permission to go swimming with her sometime. "Cool!" he announced with excitement just before picking up his juice box and sucking down the remaining licking, making a loud slurping sound through the straw. "It's ok. I don't mind hiccups as long as I get to go swimming. How fast can you go? Can you swim really deep?"
"I can reach the bottom of the lake. I've never been in an ocean, so I don't really know how deep I can go... But I do pretty well in both salt water and fresh water. As for how fast...Well, I never really timed myself, but I've outswam salmon before." Coral grinned at the memory. "I kind of loose myself when I swim, and time just passes without me noticing..." She finally picked up the leftover chili and ate a spoonful.
Casper let out a quiet hum as he considered the possibilities of being able to swim at great depths, but his attention was soon pulled away from the thoughts, and he seemed to change the subject abruptly. "Oh, should we go see if there are presents?!" he asked, jumping up suddenly in his seat.
While Casper was thinking over his newly-attained abilities, Coral was quickly eating chili--knowing that she would only have the chance to eat during pauses in conversation--and had shoveled down about a third of the bowl. At his sudden question, the fish girl blinked in confusion for a second, and then smiled with cheeks full of chili once the idea sunk in. She had only been at the mansion for a short while, so she did not expect to have any presents from anyone from her brother (and he probably just got her the most obvious or pointless thing he could think of), but she always did enjoy watching other people unwrap gifts. And the white-haired boy just seemed so excited, how could she refuse, anyways~? "Sure! Let's go!" Coral grinned once she swallowed her mouthful. She resealed the chili and rinsed off the spoon before putting it in the sink.
"Okay!"" the young boy cried out excitedly as he pratically jumped form his chair. Casper dashed towards the door, but stopped as he waited for Coral. Looking thoughtful, the boy said, "I remembered I made presents for people and Shana wanted me to give them out today so I gotta go get those out of my room," he explained, looking up at Coral for a moment. "You can go and I'll ketchup later."
Coral opened the fridge and put the chili back in there, tapping the lid to make sure it was properly sealed before shutting the door. "Sure thing~" She said with a nod before pausing. "Which room is the gift exchange being held, again?" Her eyes widened with a horrible realization. "Are all the presents being exchanged today? In front of everyone? I just got presents for my brother and roomie!" What if someone was offended?
"Uhmmmmmm, I thiiiiink they said it was gunna be in the Den?" Casper did his best to answer the girl, unsure really where things were supposed to be. "I know there's a Christmas tree there, a BIG one!" The boy threw his arms in the air and out wide as if to illustrate the giantness of the tree. "Oh, I don't think you HAVE to give presents. But I can make some that you can give," offered the boy with a wide, toothy grin. "I'll see you later!" he suddenly announced before dashing out the door and supposedly to his room.
"A big tree..." Coral's eyes widened at that part. She had watched the tree go up, but totally forgot that she wanted to take pictures of the tree once it was finished. And now people would be gathering in the same room as it! Her first Christmas memories at the mansion~ "Oh, see you in a bit!" Coral waved to Casper as he left. After a moment of smiling to herself at what she considered a brilliant idea, she ran off to get one of her cameras from her room and then to the X-Men: CE Den.
"C'mon." Gavin grouched as he continued leading Rook towards a sink. He almost wanted to make a quip about the pot getting full...but the situation was gross enough, already.
Rook stumbled and the pot nearly slipped from his hands. Thankfully years of training kept him from losing it entirely until he reached the sink and could set it down. He retched one last time, but nothing more came up and Rook simply had a silent dry heave. His arms were shaking horribly, as was the rest of him, and he felt a sweat breaking out on his forehead. The boy was too drunk to even realize he was drunk.
Gavin kept one bird-like hand on Rook's arm and the other on his back as he steered the slightly younger boy to the sink, and only let go once he realized Rook was shaking and sweating after the last retch. Swearing loudly, the bird boy took some paper towels and ran it in water, tossing it half-hazardly so it draped over Rook's head and then digging around to find a clean kitchen towel to fill with ice. He numbly wondered whether this was an allergic reaction, or perhaps something contagious. Maybe the other boy needed the infirmary?
<"This must be what dying feels like,"> Rook muttered in Japanese, not fully realizing that Gavin wouldn't understand him. <"That must be it."> He sank to the floor slowly, feeling sleepy and sick all at once. It wasn't nice and wasn't at all what he wanted to do. He had been having fun just a moment ago. His eyes went to Gavin and the redness was clear as he looked up. <"You are really cute,"> he added, once more in Japanese.
Gavin's eyes widened when the other boy sank to the floor. "Oh nononono." Dropping the towel on the table, Gavin placed his hands under Rook's armpits and lifted/dragged him to a nearby chair. Once Rook was seated where he could lean against the table if needed, Gavin returned to the task of putting ice in the towel. He could not understand a word of Japanese, and honestly was unsure if anything Rook was saying was not absolute gibberish. But he seemed aware enough of Gavin's presence...That is a good thing, right? It means he is coherent? Gavin removed the paper towel from Rook's head and pressed the ice-filled towel to his temple. "Can you hold this?"
Reaching his hand up, Rook placed it right over Gavin's hand, mostly on purpose so he could touch the other boy. He forgot why touching was bad and gave a weak little giggle at the contact. To anyone else in the mansion, this was a clear indication that something was off. Gavin, being newly acquainted with Rook, wouldn't understand that the stoic boy never really smiled or purposefully touched anyone. But touching was nice to the drunk teen who was more worried about gazing at Gavin than he was about keeping the ice on his head.
A squawk of pain echoed through the room. Gavin's every feather turned into a dark copper strand of hair and the golden hue of his eyes became a bright hazel. The rough, yellowish skin of his arms and legs became smooth and the same tone as his face while his talons became clear and thin, retracting into the shape of finger- and toenails. What caused the scream, though, was the shifting and growing of bones that flattened his feet--giving him new toes--and sprouted the beginnings of a pinky finger. The bird boy tore his hand away from Rook's and leapt a good three feet away from him in response. "The HELL?!"
Rook was slightly taken aback by the scream of pain and the sudden offensive like movement and words. He blinked up at Gavin before tears pricked at his eyes. "I am sorry," he said, his voice squeaking a little. Now that he remembered why he didn't touch people, the depressive function of the poison he had been ingesting took over and Rook burst into tears. <"I cannot even touch people without them hating me,"> he said in quick Japanese once more. Rook let his head fall against his hands on the table where he was sitting, shoulders shaking in his silent sobs. "You should s-s-stay far away from me," he added, this time thankfully in English.
With the--only partially correct--assumption that Rook touching him was what caused the pain and that the smaller boy had done it intentionally, Gavin opened his mouth to snap at him. And then Rook began sobbing. With a confused blink, Gavin reminded himself that the other boy was sick from something and obviously not in his right frame of mind. The bird boy gave Rook an irritated glare. "Whatever. Just don't touch me again." He crouched down to pick up the dropped towel and ice cubes.
The thought of never touching Gavin again made Rook even more depressed and he buried his face against his arms, refusing to respond to the other boy. It was extremely childish of him, but he couldn't really help it. In the middle of his sobbing, however, he hiccuped loudly and his entire body shook. Rook sat up, his crying stopped as he hiccuped again. There was no question that he was drunk now as the classic signs of intoxication were making themselves known.
Now Gavin was confused. At first the other boy started sobbing, which Gavin assumed was due to regret for his own actions--namely the touch. And then he started hiccuping. Now, most people might know that means that he was drunk, but Gavin had never seen a drunk person (Coral only drank mojitos with their parents once he was either asleep or occupied with a game) and only heard hiccups when his sister was done swimming. And as far as he could tell, Rook did not have gills. "Hey. Can you breathe?" Gavin's brow crinkled in concern as he reapplied the ice towel to Rook's head, careful not to actually touch him.
There was nothing more for Rook to do but sit there and hiccup and nod slowly as he looked over at Gavin. There was a moment when he was confused as to who Gavin was but after blinking, he suddenly smiled and leaned into the hand that was applying ice to his head. It was harder to hide what he was thinking while he was like this.
For several minutes Gavin just stood there, holding the ice to Rook's head, keeping from touching the boy, and just looking as bored as he felt. After a while something crossed his mind. "Hey. Don't think I ever caught your name..."
"Rook," the boy said instantly, not even bothering with proper protocol of introduction. "I teach self defense," he added, as if this was some sort of really messed up interview. His head slowly slid downward into his arms and he hiccuped again, content to just sit there for a moment and watch Gavin.
Gavin opened his mouth to give his own name, but ended up scoffing instead. "No way in hell you're a teacher." Even if Rook was not younger than himself, the boy was far too small to teach something physical. Most of the people he had seen so far in the mansion could easily flatten this guy!
Lifting his head, Rook blinked up at Gavin in confused hurt. "Why?" he asked suddenly. He pushed up from the table, forcing the boy backwards as he stumbled slightly from his seat. "Is it because I am foreign? Or because I am small? Or young?" His hands came up in a wobbly defensive posture, but it wasn't anything overtly impressive as Rook's balance was heavily compromised.
Gavin almost reached out to support Rook in his stumbling, but caught himself before he made contact, choosing to instead just hold the ice towel. "Nationality has nothing to do with it. But 'yes' to the other two," he said bluntly, but not cruelly. He reminded himself that Rook was still sick and probably barely aware of what he was saying. When he attempted to pose in a fighting stance, though, Gavin snickered. "Try again when your limbs aren't made of Jell-o."
It was a split second of concentration and quick movements and Rook dropped onto his hands, his leg sweeping expertly out to catch Gavin at ankle level with enough force to send the boy sprawling backwards. Rook completed his turn and came up to his feet just in time to clap both hands over his mouth and run to the sink, ignoring whether he had succeeded in his attempt or not as he dry heaved from turning the full circle. It wasn't the most glorious of finishes when he demonstrated a simple take down, but it was colorful at least.
Of course, Gavin was not expecting the small, wobbly boy that spent the walk over here throwing up into a pot to move in such an efficiently graceful manner. So he ended up flat on his back with an ear-piercing squawk as the ice scattered over the floor again. He opened his mouth to voice his indignation as he propped up on his arms and pushed himself from the floor. Then his foot found an ice cube as he was still in mid-push, causing said foot to slide out from under him. This resulted in him landing on his knee with a short squawk of surprise.
The second squawk gained Rook's attention and he stopped vomiting, forgetting why he was in front of the sink and not helping the boy up again. Hisoka walked over carefully, trying to avoid stepping on the ice. Not that it would matter at all. He made it to Gavin and held a hand out, shaking only slightly. "I would suggest your participation in my class," he stated, not stuttering now that he was focusing on a task.
Gavin eyed the hand with obvious suspicion and distaste. "Pft. You just caught me off-guard..." he grumbled under his breath. This time watchful of the ice, Gavin pushed himself to his feet with a pained groan. He dusted off the front of his jeans and discovered his knee was sore. It probably was not bleeding under the fabric, but bruising is likely.
There was clear disappointment in Rook's eyes, but whether it was from what Gavin said or his refusal to take his help up wasn't clear. The boy let his hand drop and made his way slowly back to where he had been sitting, lowering himself carefully into his seat. "I am certain that were you prepared you would have fared better," he said, no conviction behind his tone because Rook already knew that no matter how prepared Gavin was, he would be taken down by the much more experienced smaller boy.
Gavin noticed the disappointment and was perplexed by it. He could not think of why Rook would possibly be disappointed. The curiosity was wiped from his mind when he heard Rook's statement. "Precisely. I can move pretty fast, you know," he stated proudly. His ego was enjoying the attention, even if the other boy was not being sincere. Gavin went to sit near Rook--but not so close they could accidentally touch--his expression one of arrogance and pride. It was pretty much the warmest expression he had ever shown Rook.
"You would have been able to catch yourself," Rook continued, his bland tone making it clear that he held little interest in how fast Gavin could be. Without real training (years, to be precise) Rook would wipe the floor with him, even while drunk. The boy was slowly starting to fall asleep, having emptied his stomach and now giving in to the soporific effects of the alcohol.
"Without a doubt!" Of course, Gavin took Rook's bland tone of evidence of his already apparent drowsiness and not one of disinterest. Speaking of drowsiness, none of the chairs in here were big enough to sleep in, and tables are not particularly comfortable to lay on... "Hey, which room is yours?" Gavin reasoned that sick people belong in their own beds, not on public couches. Just in case he throws up, again.
Kiora was surprisingly steady on her feet, considering the amount she had drank already. She tottered over to the food and began dishing up a plate, a fresh cup of punch still held firmly in one hand. She glanced over at Rook and Gavin, "Still sick?" She asked Gavin, though she was referring to Rook.
The door opened after Kiora, and a very lost, pale, and burning person appeared. His eyes were not the colour they had been the last time anyone saw this vessel. A quick look at the area and he turned and left again. Atsila was ignoring his state of undress or anyone else in the area at the moment in his search for heat.
Rook barely looked up at Kiora when the door opened again. He recognized Mihir as one of the people who rescued him. But something was off. Nevermind that he was completely naked. But the poor drunk Asian could only sit there and stare for a moment as his brain attempted to make connections as to what was wrong with the picture immediately in front of him.
Being ever-curious and defensive, Gavin looked up the moment he heard the door open the first time. "Yeah, and I think he's about to pass out..." he admitted off-handedly to Kiora. When he looked towards the door the second time, he saw a naked man covered in flames. Since the man was not really acting as though he was being burned alive, the fire seemed unimportant as long as nothing else caught. The nudity, however... "This is shared space, dammit! Get dressed!" Gavin squawked angrily at the newcomer with his feathers standing on end.
Kiora shook her head, smirking, "Lightweight." She muttered, not that she knew exactly how much he had drank. She turned to see who Gavin was yelling at and stopped cold. If she hasn't been covered in fur, Gavin and Rook would have been able to see her face go completely white. As it was her knees buckled and she found herself kneeling on the floor staring at the door where she would have sworn Mihir just stood. "No, its the alcohol," she started to mutter, "He's dead, it wasn't him, I'm seeing things." She put her hands over her face and shook her head, immediately regretting the choice as the room began to spin slowly.
ACCESSIBLE AREAS
X-Men: CE Cafeteria
X-Men: CE Den
X-Men: CE Lounge
X-Men: CE Infirmary
Start X-Men * X-Men Characters * X-Men Rules * X-Men RP Archives
Stumble!