xp_logs | log: [Julio and Doug]

Because all of his friends have gone to Hawaii to help out, where he can't go, Julio gets introduced to Mama Lupe by Doug. And Doug gets some info about the happenings of the current student body.

Doug inhaled deeply and grinned as he and Julio walked through the door. As much as he enjoyed all the ethnic restauarants within a stone's throw of the brownstone apartment building he lived in, Mama Lupe's restaurant still felt like home.

"You'll love it," he told Julio in Spanish. "And Mama Lupe will love you."

Julio nodded and unwound his scarf, breathing in the familiar smells. Spices and cinnamon, that were indicative of Christmas at home. He was hit with another crushing wave of homesickness but quickly banished it.

Doug saw the wave of homesickness pass over Julio's face, but said nothing. He didn't know the young man very well, for one, and wouldn't have wanted to offend him besides. But that was why they were here, to give him a little bit of home even in New York. Amanda had suggested it to him, and Doug hadn't exactly needed an excuse to go visit Mama Lupe's.

At the word that Doug had come to visit, Mama Lupe came bustling out of the kitchen. "Douglas, hijo, you do not visit enough!" she chided him in Spanish. Doug took it goodnaturedly, then turned to include Julio. "Mama Lupe, I would like you to meet my friend Julio, who has just come to the mansion recently," he introduced him.

"Mucho gusto," Julio said politely. "It's a pleasure to meet you, I've heard a lot of things about Mama Lupe's." He added in Spanish, and removed his hat, finger-combing his hair into something presentable.

Mama Lupe frowned for a moment. "Your accent...you are from DF?" she asked uncertainly, meaning Disticto Federal, or Mexico City itself.

Julio grinned, "I was born in Texas, actually, but I lived with my grandparents in Mexico City until I was ten, and then in Guadalajara with my father. And you? You sound like a northerner."

Mama Lupe grinned in reply. "I am from Santa Ana in Sonora, yes," she replied.

Doug grimaced. "And I'm from Denver in Colorado," he said, attempting to sound his most annoyingly American. "Ay, now that everyone knows everyone else, I am -hungry-, Mama," he wheedled, switching back to Spanish.

Mama Lupe clucked her tongue. "Douglas, he speaks like a true son of Mexico, but does he have any manners?" she asked Julio with a smile to indicate that she was merely joking.

"Most gueros don't," Julio said, nodding at Doug and smiling to show that he was kidding. "My friend has praised your cooking, tia, and I'm hoping you'll take pity on this poor son of Aztlan, who hasn't had decent food in months."

"Sit, sit," Mama Lupe told the pair as she headed back toward the kitchen. "Don't worry about the menu, I'll bring you something that will make you think of home."

As the young men seated themselves at a table along the wall, Doug yelled "How come when I say it, I'm a ill-mannered guero, but when he says it, 'oh, I'll bring you something that will make you think of home'?" at the kitchen. A tinkling laugh was his only reply.

"Big Daddy rules." Julio replied with a shrug, unrolling his napkin. "My grandmother raised me to be polite and speak too women well, otherwise I got a knuckle to the skull." He rubbed the back of his head for emphasis.

"I totally speak politely to her," Doug said with a pout. "Sometimes I just kid with her a bit," he continued, grinning widely. "So, how are you settling in at the mansion?" he asked politely.

"It's all right. It's...different, I guess. Definitely not like anything at home, and that's not including the mutant stuff." Julio twisted the sugar container absently. "You were a student yourself, right? Graudated and everything?"

"Yes. Of course, even after you leave Xavier's, you can't really escape," Doug said jokingly. "I work with several former students and staff at a think tank in New York City now. Taking correspondence college courses while I run all the computer stuff for them."

"With Amanda, right?" Julio took a sip of his water. "It's funny, the mutant thing. How much of a part of your life it becomes. Even without all of the obvious stuff." Julio had never really given much thought to his future beyond High School, just a vague idea of going to college and playing futbol. But he was finding he was having to re-think everything he'd previously thought about his future, and himself.

"Amanda, and Marie-Ange, and Wanda, and Remy, and Pete, and Sarah..." Doug listed. "Like I said, former students and staff. There are a bunch of us over there from Xavier's." He nodded. "And yeah, becoming a mutant changes a lot of things in your life. I mean, before I came to Xavier's, I was just your typical high school nerd. The experiences I've had at Xavier's...they're definitely out of the ordinary," he understated.

"Like the demon attacks?" Julio said innocently. "Of course, after the summer and fall, I'll believe that they're even possible. Hell, space aliens could land on the front lawn and I wouldn't even blink."

"Demon attacks, getting sucked into alternate dimensions, military strike teams...you get blase suprisingly fast," Doug said with a chuckle. "Do the students still have the betting pool on when the mansion's going to be demolished, and how it's going to happen? Kitty used to run it, but she's in California now. Sadly, I think I'm out of the running, because I took October of this year by meteor strike. I got pretty good odds, though."

"I think somebody's got something on dinosaurs. I know my roommate's claiming attack by ninjas, and I say zombies. I know one of the girls is saying robotic penguins. I'm not sure where she's getting it from, but she's gotten pretty good odds on it." Julio laughed a little, himself. "And the staff look at us like we're insane, but I think they're all secretly dreading that we're right."

"Sounds about right," Doug mused. About that time, Mama Lupe came out of the kitchen bearing several steaming dishes. She set them in front of Doug and Julio and smiled. Doug whimpered. "Posole. Mama Lupe, you've only just met Julio and you love him more than me."

"Muchas gracias," Julio said with a smile. "There are two types of Mexicans in this world, those that eat posole and those that eat menudo. Mama Lupe, how did you know?" Plus there were fresh tortillas and a basket of sopapillas. Julio's stomach grumbled slightly.

"How do you think I know, child?" Mama Lupe asked with a wide smile at the rumbling of Julio's stomach. "Eat, eat," she instructed the pair before leaving the table to head back to the kitchen.

Julio flushed a little, before reaching for a tortilla and digging in. Ana would have fainted dead away at the lack of saying grace, but he hadn't said it in months. It was probably the fact that Mama Lupe reminded him a little too much of her that he even remembered that he was supposed to.

"This is very good," he said, when he came up for air.

"Told you you'd love it," Doug replied after swallowing his own large mouthful. "So what's the new student class like?" he asked wistfully, remembering the adventures he'd had around the mansion with Jamie, Kitty, and Marie-Ange.

"Um," Julio said, chewing thoughtfully. "I'm not sure how to compare. You got kidnapped into alternate dimensions, we're much more boring." We do all the crazy stuff before we come in.

"I'm sure you'll have your own adventures," Doug said with a smirk. "If there's one thing Xavier's isn't, it's boring."