xp_logs | Kevin and Marius | 4 am Sunday Morning

Kevin's still on Scotland time and Marius is just Marius

What time was it? Of course, in the absence of a morning class the question came as something of a formality. In Marius' copious experience with the indecently early hours he hazarded four in the morning to be a likely estimate. Now, hungry and once again sober after the night's festivities, he judged it a bit rude to disturb his flatmates with culinary rummaging. Especially, he noted as he drew close enough to see an unexpected light from the area of the kitchen, whilst in the presence of a potential alternative.

Folding his discarded dress-shirt over his free arm, the tall Australia stuck his head into the room and politely rapped the door frame. "Mornin'. Bit on the early side, isn't it?"

Kevin had woken up at three o'clock, as per usual. Showered and dressed, he decided to go down to the main kitchen to cook. He didn't want to risk waking up Jay. Waking up Jay meant Kevin may actually not be able to run away and hide from him, something he didn't much like at all.

Currently there were various ingredients arranged on the counter and he was just ready to actually begin preparing when he head the knock of flesh and bone against wood followed by a voice. "Huh?" Kevin spun around to see the shirtless guy standing in the door. Why were there always shirtless people around to remind Kevin how clothed he always was? "Ah guess. Ah'm not doin' too well at gettin' back on normal States time, though. Ah'm always up now." Nodding to the other, Kevin said with a slight upturning of one corner of his mouth, "Bit late fer you?"

Ah, Kevin. His mutagenic signature was instantly recognizable, even if the face was a bit less so. Marius had never had much to do with the other boy before his relocation to Muir, but from what vague contact Marius remembered he'd seemed pleasant enough. A bit overly subscribing to the Ms. D'Ancato School of Fashion, perhaps, but considering the nature of his relocation this was perhaps forgivable. Marius grinned and moved into the room.

"'Late' is a relative term," he replied, throwing the shirt over his shoulder like a towel as he headed for the refrigerator. "As tomorrow a late day is mine to enjoy, I felt it only proper to adjust the preceding evenin' accordingly. It is the duty of a graduate to flaunt one's former curfew at every opportunity."

Kevin raised an eyebrow at him, shaking his head. Well, that was one way of looking at it, wasn't it? "Well, yer doin' an admirable job then. Ah'm sure if the curfew-restricted ones were awake they'd be jealous as any." Personally, Kevin would settle for a normal sleep schedule or being able to go out without having a panic attack so severe that he got dizzy from it.

Kevin started to break open eyes into a bowl so he could start on the omlette he had been planning on. Glancing over at the other guy poking into the fridge, Kevin thought he'd offer. "Hungry? Ah'm making a veggie omlette. Ain't that hard to jus' make it bigger if yer interested."

Yellow eyes darted over to Kevin above a wide white smile. "Cheers, if you'd be so kind," he said as he reached into the fridge for a gatorade. "You're in with Jay, right? Once, in ages long gone by, we too shared a flat. How're you findin' the experience?"

"Sure. Used ta do mos' tha cookin' for me and mah dad anyway. Started to like cookin' and feedin' people, y'know?" Kevin went over to the fridge, grabbed a couple more eggs, another orange pepper, a couple more stalks of asparagus and another flower of broccoli. Great, someone that knew Jay. Erg. "Uh, Jay's an' in'eres'ing guy. Ain't talked to 'im much but the once." It was a little obvious from the tone of Kevin's voice that there was something incredibly uncomfortable there Jay was concerned. He was trying to be nice because Kevin didn't know if Marius was fond of Jay. He also just didn't like to say bad things about most people, especially when they weren't present.

"Ah, he's a good bloke. Bit the moody sort, but for those without that as a preexisting condition I believe special classes are offered." Marius decided not to mention the odd noise-disturbances he'd encountered with Jay; to the best of his knowledge, Kyle wasn't planning on changing suites anytime soon. The taller boy moved to the cabinets and began extracting flatware in preparation for the repast. "Imagine you're relieved to be well quit of Muir. Not that Dr. MacTaggart isn't a lovely woman, which is a compliment in no way given because she is entirely capable of effectin' my prompt demise, but I do believe I would rather catch a bullet with my frontal lobe than spend one further minute consigned to a medical facility." Marius paused before the cupboard containing the glasses. "Beverage?"

"Ah've already tested outta tha' class," Jay informed kitchen co-inhabitant. "His moods always change 'bout as fas' as ya can blink?" At least that's what it seemed like from Kevin's experience. He tilted his head to the side and listened to what was definitely another former Muir occupant. "Hmm, gotta agree. Lab rat life ain't really much to mah liking. 'Specially not when they don' come up with a single thing I didn't know already. Sorta makes ya feel like one o' them hamsters owned by some little kid who always poking at the glass and tryin' ta talk to it like i' know what tha kid sayin'. Annoyin' fuckin' existence, that." Kevin shook his head of that train of thought. "Sure. Ah'm sure we got juice of some sort tucked in there."

"Indeed. I believe we have a generous selection of apple, orange, an' something which contains far too many fruits which have never coexisted within a single ecosystem." Marius clinked two glasses onto the counter and headed back to the refrigerator. "As for the lack of results, I am your brother in frustration. In fairness, a satisfactory result was indeed achieved. It was the waitin' on it that nearly did me one. Fear of death, that's one thing. Not even gettin' the assurance of hope one way or the other, though -- that time I did not cherish."

"Orange, Ah think. Safer than that too many one." Kevin resumed the omlette production, mixing everything he needed in a bowl before going about chopping up the extra veggies he needed to double the size. "Ah never got nuthin' satisfactory from 'em. Mostly I jus' got 'Yep, you decay stuff, that sucks!' like Ah didn't know that already. Thanks for adding a bit more sal' guys, needed that in the wound there." He shook his head and poured the egg mixture into a pan, then layered some of the veggies on top and sprinkled shredded cheese over the whole thing.

"Ah, now there's a nostalgic feelin'," Marius said as he poured juice first into his own glass, then into one for Kevin. "Congrats, mate, I believe you beat me for least whimsical of nature's questionable gifts. Though you've the mercy of not worryin' about your mutation taking yourself apart. That was a sod of a thing to live with." He screwed the cap back onto the bottle and flicked the hair from his eyes. "Don't happen to have any convenient relatives hangin' about, do you? That's what finally did it for me. That'd be Monet, by the way. Half-sister. Can't miss her. Occasionally catatonic, utterly terrifying hair."

Kevin shrugged a little, concentration keenly focused on the omlette. "Ah got the short straw somehow. Think maybe Ah was an awful person in a pas' life or sumthin'. Maybe God jus' got sick o' me not doin' sumthin' more impressive 'an I was or sumthin'." His tone suggested he wasn't completely serious. In all reality, Kevin meant every word he said about God having decided He no longer liked him. "No relatives, period. Las' I had, well, he ain' survive me bein' a mutant." He decided the other guy could figure out what that meant all on his own without any further explanation. "Why she cataonic suma tha time? An' why her hair scary? Scary like Yvette's?"

"Description fails me. It must be seen to be believed. As for the catatonia, not quite sure, truth be told -- perhaps just penance for bein' genetically perfect in every other way. Possibly an assumption applicable to the hair, too, come to that." Marius flicked the hair from his eyes with the self-assurance of one who had conquered similar problems upon discovering the perfect combination of gravity and adequate conditioner.

"As for the wrath of the higher power," Marius continued, leaning against the counter, "if such a being does indeed exist I doubt he pays attention to such trivialities. Such prize genetics as we've scored are squandered on two fundamentally decent blokes such as ourselves. Were we the product of a divine plan, surely they'd be better applied to others. Puppy-killing child molesters, for example. From that view, I find atheism rather comforting."

"An' here Ah was thinkin' you to be tha sorta articulate fella that could describe tha indescribable. Tha's downright disappointin'," Kevin shook his head at the taller boy as he pulled up the edges of the omlette so the liquidy bits could go below and get cooked. "Can a person really be genetically perfec' though? Ah mean, there's gotta be somethin' wrong with'er."

Turning away from the pan, Kevin sipped at his juice, an eyebrow arching upward. "Ah never believed much in atheism. Always seemed sorta like a cop out for folk who didn' know what else ta do. Maybe tha's just the atheists I been meeting."

"To clarify, perfect genetics an' being perfect are two mutually exclusive terms. For her superior genetics, I long fostered an intense dislike. Her personal imperfections, on the other hand, I have found provide endless amusement." The taller boy turned his back to the counter and leaned back on the heels of his hands and began to roll his neck. "Personally, I always figured agnosticism for more of a cop-out. At least atheists choose a side."

"Tha's wha' siblin's are for, righ'? Amusement. When Ah was youn'er I wan'ed a little brother, or a little sister. Mom promised me one, but then," he shrugged. "Can' make another kid when yer dead so..." he shrugged again. His mother's death was something he had come to terms with long ago. It was only his father's death and his part in it that he hadn't learned to accept. "I don' know mucha anythin' about 'nosticism." Kevin turned back to the omlette, flipping one half over onto the other and sprinkling more cheese on top. Once it was melted he cut it in half with the spatula and slid each half onto a separate plate with the easy grace of a person who'd done the same thing many times before. "Breakfas's served. Or supper for you Ah suppose."

Marius grinned. "Agnosticism: As the nature of God is unknowable, one may comfortably avoid the treacherous slopes of certainty an' speculation. As for siblings, in the parlance of Xavier's they may be defined as that which appears at an unexpected moment, whether thought in previous existence or not. An', if the local law of averages is any indication, you're safer without." Was Kevin employing one of those dodges some utilized in lieu of serious discussion of Issues? At four in the morning Marius didn't care to hazard a guess concerning a subject he knew little about in the broad light of day. He'd never particularly appreciated those who dug into his own such attempts at deflection, for that matter. Consequently, he decided that, all things considered, perhaps it was best to focus on the omlette.

The Australian accepted the plate, and early as it was his smile was genuine. "At any rate, cheers for savin' me from the rigours of preparing my own meal," Marius said, sketching an elaborate bow with the plate balanced in one hand. "Perhaps, one day, I may repay the favour."

Kevin's nose crinkled up unpleasantly and he nodded. "Suppose that does sound more like a cop out than atheism does. You win on that count." Kevin figured pointing out he couldn't possibly have siblings he didn't know about would be a losing battle. After all, how could one point out such a thing in lieu of the fact that said siblings tended to show up whether or not people knew they had them? Instead he merely shrugged and figured if he was supposedly better off without surprise siblings then he'd just count himself lucky not to have any about. It did make him wonder what sort of catastrophes siblings had caused in the past, though.

"Yer welcome. Hope it suits well for the comin' day of leisure." The bowing made Kevin smile, just because it was a bit ridiculous and seemed to fit Marius all too well.

"Nutritious an' delicious," Marius decreed generously as he claimed his orange juice, "I judge I shall be well fortified." Sliding into a kitchen seat, Marius carefully arranged his silverware and beamed up at Kevin. "Well, we've about three hours until the crack of dawn. Now, tell me of your bygone days of hamster-status, and I, in turn, shall weave you a tail of trial, prevail, an' why one must never, under any circumstances, borrow the powers of a precognitive . . ."