xp_logs | log: Jake and John, day after the semi-formal

x-courier.livejournal.com posting in

I think I'm posting this too soon, but just. It takes place the day after the semi-formal, okay? :)

Jake clutched his head, whimpered a little and staggered into the common room, intending to catch the West Wing rerun of an episode he'd missed. This time he was before time, and actually noticed the other person in the room. Jake paused and tilted his head. New person. No, not new, seen him before, just don't know... "Who're you?"

John was sprawled across a couch, playing with his zippo as he glanced up at the woman who'd just stumbled into the room. A small star made of fire flew past his eyes before it disappeared, and he sat up slightly. Raising one eyebrow, he just looked at her for a moment before replying. "Could ask the same of you..."

Jake saw the sense in that, especially since he'd been living in the library lately, and not really been socializing with the rest of the mansion much. "I'm Jake. I'm here to get fixed, and no jokes, please. I just want my tv show. My lovely, lovely tv show." Jake scowled down at the lighter boy's legs.

"...Jake?" He looked her up and down, then smirked. "Your parents had a shitty sense of humor, Jake. And what TV show?" He didn't move his legs, even when she scowled at him, and continued to play with his lighter as she stood there.

Jake scowled deeper. "The West Wing. And Jacob Joshua are two perfectly good names. Admittedly, they'll fit better when I'm fixed..." He squinted at the boy's legs, contemplating just pushing the boy off the couch. Surely they'll understand when I explain about the West Wing... "You still haven't told me your name, by the way."

"Oh. Never watched it." Shrugging, he considered sprawling out more, but decided it might be bad for his health. "And, yeah, I know. I'm John." He sat up and moved over so she could sit down, before starting to flick his lighter open and shut over and over and over and over...

Jake dropped down into the couch happily. He turned on the tv, and rested his elbow on the armrest, hand supporting his head. Betsy sure knows how to drink, he thought with a wince. The show soon started, and Jake was pleased, until a persistent clicking sound started penetrating through Josh's and Donna's banter. He turned his head slowly.

GOD, but this was a boring show. He stopped watching after about two minutes, and kept playing with his lighter, making little fire patterns every so often, but mostly, he just clicked it open and shut, open and shut, open and shut, and so he didn't notice Jake turning her head to look at him.

"Do you mind?" Jake said icily, waiting of course until the show broke for commercial.

"Hmm? No, No I don't mind." And he grinned at Jake, and continued to play. clickclick... clickclick... clickclick...

Impertinent little... Jake reached over and snatched the lighter quickly. "Oh, ow, ow, ow." He rubbed his forehead, wincing again. Damn tequila drinking binges without any powers...

She took my lighter...bitch took my fucking lighter! "HEY! Give that BACK! RIGHT NOW!" he reached over and grabbed for his lighter, not noticing or caring that she was wincing in pain when he shouted at her.

"Do you have to shout?" Jake asked plaintively, holding the lighter out of reach automatically. John would have to climb over him, or actually get off the couch to reach it.

He wanted his lighter back. Like, five minutes ago. "YES! Yes, I fucking DO, so GIVE IT BACK!" When she moved it away again, he moved without thinking and just went for the lighter, grabbing at her arm to make sure she couldn't move it again.

Right about now, Jake realised that as a woman, he wasn't as strong as a teenage boy even. It wasn't a nice discovery. He gave John a wide-eyed startled look, still holding on to the lighter, but now more from reflex than anything else.

He pulled her arm close and took the lighter out of her hand, and grinned. And then Thought. And then realised just exactly where he was and what he was doing. Jerking back away from Jake, he just glared at her. "Don't touch my stuff again."

"No, I really don't think I will..." Jake said slowly, still in a kind of shock. He didn't even notice when the show came back on.

"Good." Since the show was crap, John didn't really care that it had started again, and he sat there in silence, not even tempted to play with his lighter.

The silence lasted long into uncomfortable before Jake sighed, and tilted his head back, staring at the ceiling. "I'm sorry."

"Good." He still didn't look over at her, he just stared at the tv, not really watching it.

"No, really." Jake wasn't sure why he felt it necessary to explain, why he even cared that John had seemed nearly more startled that Jake when he realised what he was doing, but... "I was just surprised."

He looked round at that "Surprised? You take my lighter, and you're fucking surprised when I go to take it back?"

Jake grinned sheepishly at the ceiling. "Well. Yeah."

"...really? People wanting their stuff back shocks you?" he glanced back down at his lighter, before putting it in his pocket, and looking back round at Jake.

"I said surprised, not shocked," Jake pointed out, before glancing over at John, head still tilted back. "No, I'm just.. used to being... stronger, I guess."

"Huh. Then I guess you have to get used to being... weaker. Don't you?" John leant forward and reached for the remote control, since he figured that Jake was obviously finished watching her TV show.

Jake narrowed his eyes. "No, I fucking well don't. I just have to start paying attention again. This place is seriously blunting my edges." He was talking more to himself than John with the last. He eyed the ceiling thoughtfully again, until the tv made a god-awful sound. "What the hell is that?"

"MTV. Do pay attention, double-oh-seven." He left the TV on the music channel and looked round at her again. "and if you had to come here to get 'fixed', then maybe your edges were fairly blunt to begin with."

Jake grinned at that. "Oh please. Wisdom's the double-oh-seven here. He has a conscience and morals and ethics and what not."

"...really? Where does he keep them? in a box, under his bed?" John grinned back at her, before continuing to flick through the channels.

"Possibly," Jake allowed. "Haven't checked. So what are you in for?"

"In for? You make it sound like a prison here!" heh. maybe she's onto something. School, prison, same thing...

Jake snorted. "I attended boarding school from I was ten 'til I was eighthteen. From what I can see, this is pretty much the same thing. With added mutant abilities to make it extra exciting."

John couldn't help but smirk at her comment. "Yeah, the party tricks are something else. And you've already seen mine. What's yours?"

Jake squinted at him, then thought back. "The little fire-y things?"

He raised an eyebrow at that. "Yeah. Yeah, the 'little fire-y things'... and you?" His lighter was in his hand again, although he made sure it was in the hand that was furthest away from Jake. He was flicking it open and shut again, although much slower than before.

Jake shrugged, beginning to get used to this little routine by now. He closed his eyes, and when he opened them a second later, they were a solid black. "Shapeshifting, basically."

"Fuck... that's cool..." he leant forward to get a closer look, despite himself. "...Basically? what else?"

Jake grinned. "No, that's it. I just have better control than most shapeshifters."

He sat back and thought for a moment, as he started playing with his lighter again "...so... do you go blue and get covered in scales as well?"

Jake gave him a weirded out look. "No. Should I?"

"I dunno, do I? I'm not a shapeshifter." He flicked the lighter on and caught the flame in his hand, making it swirl in and around his fingers, before sending it back to the lighter. "I just play with fire."

Jake shook his head slightly, fire reflecting in the solid black of his eyes before they flickered back into brown. "Nice. You're fire-proof as well?"

Smirking at that, he shut his lighter again. "Well, it would be extremely shitty for me to get burnt every time I did that..."

"Well. Yes." Jake contemplated for a moment. "You'd be an excellent firefighter. Or arsonist. Hey, you ever thought of--" He cut off. "So what's that show? She looks familiar."

"Thought of what?" he ignored the question about the TV show. "C'mon, you can't do that. Have I ever thought of what?"

Jake eyed John for a moment, then sighed. "Just. Don't tell Emma or Wisdom, all right? But arsonists? Very, very much in demand. Especially if the point of origin can't be determined."

"Wha-...How... I won't... Why are you telling me this? Don't tell Emma or Wisdom? What about Xavier?" Sitting up straighter, John turned off the TV and paid full attention to her.

"Well. Don't tell him, either," Jake amended. "They'd yell at me. I'm not actually recruiting, either," he added sulkily, already picturing being ranted at by Wisdom. Again. "Just the fire, and some recent jobs, and..." he waved his hand a little. "Things."

"They yell at me all the time," and he shrugged. "and recruiting for what? What things?"

"Well paying things, involving big fires." Jake straightened, hangover all gone now. "What, you're interested?"

"I might be, I'm not going to be stuck here all the time, y'know?" He flicked the lighter open again, and another ball of fire appeared. This one floated up to sit on his hand, as he looked over at Jake.

Jake regarded him. "How old are you?"

"Old enough." The ball of fire rolled about on his hand for a moment, before he poured it back into the lighter again.

"Uh-huh." Jake gave the kid a doubting look. "Look me up in a couple of years, and I'll see if I can get you some high paying gigs."

John just looked at her for a moment. "Huh. Typical."

"Beg your pardon?"

John shoved his lighter in his pocket as he stood up, before turning round to glare at Jake. "Why does my age have to get in the way, huh? I've done plenty of things, stuff that 'adults' would have loads of fucking problems with, and... and I went and did them, right? No problems, none at all! so... all this 'look me up in a couple of years' shit... I can make my own choices, y'know, I don't need people to tell me when I can and can't do things! Fuck!"

The expression on Jake's face spelled 'Overbearing Adult' in large neon letters. "I'm sure you have, but, company policy..."

"Oh, fuck you and your policy!" After glaring at Jake again, he turned and stormed off, muttering to himself as he did so.

Jake lost the 'overbearing' look, and remained, looking thoughtfully up at the ceiling again. Kid has potential. He's got a temper, but that's not necessarily a draw-back...