xp_logs | Log: [Clarice and Julio]

Clarice, looking for some downtime, runs into Julio, who is also looking for some downtime. He's not doing as well as he claims, and Clarice finds exactly the wrong thing to say.

Clarice wasn't one for taking walks and contemplating her belly button lint, but after being in San Diego helping with the cleanup, she needed some quiet time. It was a gorgeous evening anyways and walking around the lake was a good way to spend it, even if she brought her ipod along on her 'quiet' time. She'd managed to make it almost all the way around the lake without seeing anyone, but there was someone sitting on the boathouse dock and who ever it was, didn't look familiar. Odd.

Julio stretched and laid back on his forearms, surveying the lake. Nathan and Moira were good people and all, but the boathouse was a little cramped. Even with Moira and Rachel gone, he still had to contend with Nathan’s two coworkers. And while they were nice, he preferred to avoid them. Less questions asked that way. He found himself on the dock after dinner, listening to the whine of insects. It was peaceful here, even if it was humid.

"Sup?" Clarice asked, going to check out the guy. Was probably Julio, she figured. Not too many other people around she didn't recognize. "Mind if I sit?" she gestured to the otherwise empty dock.

Julio looked up and squinted. Purple girl, Clarice? Hard to forget someone's name if they were so unique. Julio shrugged and gestured for her to sit. "Plenty of space," he said.

Sitting down, she turned her ipod off. "Me and Julio down the by the schoolyard," she sang softly under her breath. She'd had the song in her head ever snce he had introduced himself. "So, how're you holding up?" she asked, "This place can be really overwhelming sometimes."

The boy raised his eyebrows at her song, and then shrugged. "I am doing fine, I guess." He'd been in bigger mansions, but the forest was something new. He'd also never seen so many mutants in one place. He wasn't sure if he should feel more shocked, or homesick, at the change in his surroundings, but he couldn’t really feel anything beyond numb.

"Well, destroying most of a city aside...." she grinned at him, to show she wasn't trying to be mean, "You've got a pretty impressive power."

Julio stared at Clarice, stunned. He had no idea what she was trying to get at, but he was so offended he couldn't speak for a few moments. "I...guess you could say that," he said after a while. "Impressive. Useful if you need lots of people killed," he looked back at Clarice and raised his eyebrows, as if to challenge her.

"Nah, there are other uses," she replied mildly, "There always are. It's just a matter of how you think. It's like this, you decide how you use your powers and to what extent. I'm a teleporter....in theory a completely passive, nonviolent power. I move myself or others from one place to another," she took a fallen leaf and demonstrated. "But what happens if I only move part of something?" Again, she demonstrated slicing a leaf in two. "Sucks if you're not an already dead leaf."

Julio sighed. He wondered if that was supposed to make him feel better. What had the man in the hallway said? This place was just full of killers. Though he seriously doubted that this purple girl had much blood on her hands. She was too sparkly. "Well, mine happened to be breaking things. I do not know if it will ever be useful."

He was so not getting it. Frustrated, she blew her hair out of her face, "Everyone fucks up, especially when you don't know how to control your powers yet. And everyone here gets a second chance, if they're willing to work for it. You're not a killer, Julio....not unless you choose to be," she thought back to Sarah who had chosen it. She needed to go see her soon. She twirled a leaf between two fingers, "And you don't really look like evil scum of the universe to me. You look kinda pissed off.

Julio was getting more and more angry. He stood up and cracked his knuckles, trying to calm himself. All he had wanted was some space, and now here was someone else trying to give him advice. " I am pissed off. Can I be pissed off? Is that not allowed? Everywhere I go in this place there is someone telling me it is not my fault, that I should not feel so bad, that everyone here understands. I am so sick of understanding." Because it was pity. He rubbed his forehead with the heel of his palm and hissed several curses under his breath.

Clarice shrugged, if he was trying to pick a fight, it wasn't going to be with her, "Of course you can be pissed. Who said you can't? But no one here pities you. No one. And I don't understand, but I do know that if you had done it on purpose, you wouldn't be here roaming free. You'd be in some sort of super-jail. And you wouldn't feel guilty, which is it obvious you do."

Julio said nothing, just clenched his jaw so hard that a muscle twitched. Why did she have to bring it up? Couldn't people just leave it alone? It was so obvious that he didn't want to talk about it. Instead of arguing with her more, he turned away and stared at the lake, trying to will himself to calm down. The ringing started in his ears again, and ground rumbled quietly. Not enough to cause anything to shake, but enough to make everyone near the lake pause for a moment.

Obviously she'd touched a nerve or three. "I cut a man's hand off." she said suddenly, unsure why she was telling him this. Only Shiro, Scott and Ororo knew about this. And Dr. Samson, but he didn't count. "And I made him go fetch it."

The boy snorted. "There seems to be a large amount of people here who have hurt or killed others," he crossed his arms and looked back at her. "No offense, but that is the least horrible thing I've heard that someone has done." In, and out, breathe in and out. Calm. I need calm.

"I try to avoid doing horrible things," it didn't always work, but she did try, "I sleep better at night." that was really the wrong thing to say. Her foot-in-mouth syndrome was getting progressively worse. "Never mind. I try to be nice and you don't care. So fuck it."

"Nice?" That was her trying to be nice? Julio shook his head. What the hell was wrong with Americans? "I care about the fact that you are trying to talk to me about something I don't want to talk about, and you won't stop," he exhaled loudly and looked around. "So yes, fuck it, I am going for a walk now. You may have the dock," he added graciously. He turned and headed for the forest. While he was at the dock first, it wasn't worth fighting over, really. And he was less likely to run into someone while in the woods.

Sighing, Clarice headed back towards the school. That had gone badly. Very, very badly. And it was her fault. "The road to hell," she muttered, "should be paved with chocolate icecream."