Logan and Haroun, over burgers and beers

[x-jetstream.livejournal.com]

Players:

Jetstream
Logan


Scene:

The kitchen. It's late, the exhausted kids are in bed, and Haroun's raiding the fridge. Next to him, propped against a cabinet door, is a rolled-up rug. He's also leaning heavily against said counter, The lights are turned to their _low_ setting.

Logan: Logan pads down to the kitchen, craving a beer. He can tell that someone's there before he arrives -- someone unfamiliar -- but it doesn't concern him. There have been a lot of unfamiliar smells, lately.

Without looking at Haroun, he kneels in front of the sink, digging around for the bottles of beer he's hidden behind the Kaboom! and the Soft Scrub. While he does this, he breathes in the unfamiliar scent, noting its metallic undertones.

Jetstream: Haroun, for his part, puts down the half-opened fruit salad, closes the fridge, turns around, and stares at the newcomer. "Salaam. I am Haroun al-Rashid, also known as Jetstream. I don't think we've met."

Logan: Logan grunts, rising to his feet and twisting the cap off the beer bottle. "Hey. Logan." He nods, his best attempt at 'polite' and takes a swig of beer. "You're another new student?" He hasn't really been paying attention. Keeping track of the student body isn't his job.

Jetstream: "Got another one of those?" Haroun asks, eyeing the beer. "I shouldn't, but it's been one helluva day." Eyeing Logan again, he takes a step forward, still holding onto the countertop for support. "Logan. I've heard that name before. You do work overseas at all?"

Logan: Logan dips back down and pulls out another bottle, offering it up to Haroun. "Here." He rises again. "Probably." He remembers that he hasn't been outside of North America in fifteen years, but before that...he just doesn't know. So he shrugs.

Jetstream: Haroun snags the bottle deftfully. "Thanks. Allah will have to forgive my transgression." With that, he pops the top and takes a healthy swallow. "Couple of people I know back home speak in whispers of the man called Logan. The Wolverine. Are you he?"

Logan: A shrug. "Probably. I doubt it's anyone else." Logan's only mildly surprised to hear that he's spoken of in other parts of the world. He takes another drink of beer.

Jetstream: Haroun also takes another swallow of his beer. "I'm not student. I'm just here to visit Emma, and have a private matter looked into. I'll be gone in a month or three, and I know the value of silence."

Logan: Logan nods. "Good thing to know." He drains a quarter of the bottle in one long swallow. "So. Should I ask what you've heard?" He can't help but be a little curious.

Jetstream: Haroun grins. "You could ask, yes. It's mainly rumors among the veterans - a shadow in the night, the imperialist assassin of the Faithful, that sort of thing. One-tenth partial truths to nine-tenths distorted nonsense. They all agree on one thing, though - the Wolverine is a very, very dangerous beast." He then takes another swallow of his beer.

Logan: Logan /laughs/. "Yeah. Probably me." Another sip of beer and he eyes Haroun, cracking his neck. "I don't do much assassinatin' these days. Bloody slaughter's more fun." Those two statements are both true, but the implication that would be drawn from them is not.

Jetstream: Haroun shrugs, and quotes Lenin. "Let each man stack his dead according to his own taste and fashion. As for me, I work to keep a lid on North Africa's more anti-social elements. Dirty thankless job, and one of 'em screwed me up but good."

Logan: Logan raises an eyebrow at the Lenin and looks more closely at Haroun. He can /see/ the metal, now that he's looking. "That's Emma's work?" he asks, nodding toward Haroun.

Jetstream: Haroun shakes his head. "Shaw craftsmanship, Frost software. Problem's not in the machine. And the losing-the-legs thing happened a long time ago. A stupid cyberkinetic terrorist in Marrakesh apparently got in and started playing with the software before I can send him to Allah."

Logan: Logan nods. "Hate it when that happens. Got a bullet to the head a couple weeks ago, kinda set me back a bit. Well, for about five minutes." He shrugs, passing it off as insignificant.

Jetstream: "Ow. Looks like it didn't slow you down too much. Skeletal augmentation?" he asks, then finishes his beer. "I should really get something to eat. Do you have anything ... substantive? There's a lot of health food in here."

Logan: Logan nods, laughing. "Yeah. Check the bottom drawer, behind the carrots. There's a pack of hot dogs in there. The freezer's full of ice cream and, last I looked, some frozen burgers and tv dinners." He has the entire refrigerator mapped out in his head. "Got anything specific in mind?"

Jetstream: "Nothing unclean, infidel dog." Haroun says with a smile. "Burgers would be fine. Pan-fry, or is there a grilltop hiding in here somewhere? And - are you hungry?"

Logan: Logan shakes his head. "Don't think there's a grilltop in the building." His lips curl. "And, yeah, I could do with a burger, if you're cooking."

Jetstream: "Looks like I am, if you point out where the pans are hiding. How do you like them? The burgers, that is, not the pans." he asks, before his head disappears into the fridge to dig out said burgers.

Logan: "Bleeding," comes the reply, as Logan pulls a large skillet from a cupboard and passes it to Haroun. "Or as close to it as you can come."

Jetstream: "I can do that." Haroun says, returning with the package of burgers. He takes the skillet in his free hand and, using the countertop for support, pulls himself over to the stovetop. "Spices?"

Logan: "Garlic, onion powder, black pepper, salt, some worchestershire sauce, and tabasco." He lists the items casually, taking another sip of beer.

Jetstream: Haroun nods, making a mental note of the list. "Sounds good to me. Where are they?" He places the skillet on the stovetop, and gets the heat going. A careful observer will note that his right leg seems to be spasming for no apparent reason, and thus his weight is primarily on the left leg.

Logan: Logan collects the items on his list, depositing them on the counter next to Haroun. He also drags over a barstool and settles it near the stove without comment. "D'you want anything on yours that I didn't grab already?"

Jetstream: Haroun gratefully sits on the barstool. "No, I think I can make something edible from what we have here." And then he starts to cook - quickly, camp-style, with little wasted motion. Four burgers at a time. "Burger rolls, or straight-up?" he asks.

Logan: Logan drags down a bag of rolls from a breadbox over the refrigerator. "Knew I forgot something." He pulls four from the bag and puts the rest away again. "Toasted?" he asks, already opening the toaster oven for his own rolls.

Jetstream: Haroun nods. "May as well." Seems he's an old hand at cooking, as the first batch are already approaching the freshly-killed-and-not-too-cooked state Logan asked for. "Think I'll let mine cook for a little longer. My intestines are still meat."

Logan: Logan chuckles and tosses the buns in, turning the knob to 'light brown'. He settles back to wait, the smell of almost-raw meat drawing saliva into his mouth. "Good idea, I guess."

Jetstream: Haroun grins in return. "OK, those two are yours. If you listen closely, you can hear them moo. These two are mine. I want to make sure they're quite dead before I dine. Shall I do another batch after these, or is two enough for you?"

Logan: "Two's good," Logan says, popping the rolls out of the toaster and onto plates. He holds one plate out toward Haroun. "Here you go. Ready and waiting for dead cow. Moo."

Jetstream: Haroun laughs. "Yours are more like lightly-stunned cows, but here you are. Burgers, comin' right up. I always thought the Academy cooking classes would come in handy someday..." His own burgers are apparently just about done as well, as he's shut down the heat to the skillet.

Logan: "Thanks." Logan takes his plate over to the bar and settles himself on a barstool. "Next time, I'll cook," he offers, grinning.

Jetstream: Haroun smiles. "Done." he says, genuflecting slightly in his chair. He then preps his own burgers while adjusting on his barstool. "This is a very interesting place." he says, gesturing with the burger in his hand towards the totality of the Mansion. "Much different from the Academy."

Logan: "The Academy? That was Emma's place before here, right?" Logan takes a bite of his burger, eyes closing with pleasure. "Mm. This is good," he murmurs, after swallowing.

Jetstream: Haroun nods, and takes a bite of his own burger. "Not bad, but I miss Edmond. His power was trivial, but devestatingly addictive. He could change the taste of anything he touched. In his hands, even the nastiest cut of meat tasted divine. And yes, the Academy is Emma's previous school. I trust you know what happened to it?"

Logan: Logan nods. "I think so. Heard some rumours." He looks up from his burger. "I haven't been here long. But people talk."

Jetstream: Haroun takes another bite to settle his mind. "They were butchered. Exterminated by a psychotic former associate of Emma's named Pierce. I was in Morocco then; there was nothing I could do. Only a handful, most of them gifted, got out with their lives. Edmond, unfortunately, was not one of those. I just hope he met Allah with the blood of his murderer on his hands."

Logan: Logan nods. That's how he'd like to go out. If he could die. The air is thick with Haroun's guilt and Logan tries to ignore it. "Is Pierce dead now?"

Jetstream: Haroun shakes his head. "No, that son-of-a-pig is still out there ... somewhere. I look for him, when I can. But mostly I keep our people from being stoned or assassinated by radicals in my home country. At least, until one of the bad guys grounded me."

Logan: "So you're heading back home after Emma gets you fixed up, then?" Logan takes another bite of his burger.

Jetstream: Haroun polishes off his first burger, and takes a bite from the second. "That's the plan. I don't like to leave Marrakesh for too long - there are too many things that could go wrong there."

Logan: A quick nod while Logan finishes his first burger. "I understand." And he does, though that's not how he usually thinks about things.

Jetstream: "I also think that this Professor Xavier could help me - I noted a distinct lack of African students here. This is probably because most of the obvious ones are strangled in their cradles..."

Logan: "The Professor's big on saving the world. You got an idea on how he can do it, he'll probably sign on." Logan's tone gives away nothing of his opinions on Xavier's actions.

Jetstream: Haroun quirks an eyebrow around bites of burger. "Perhaps the Wolverine could scare some of the clerics into backpedalling on the rhetoric a little?" he asks, with a little hope among a lot of not-real-likely.

Logan: Logan cracks his neck casually. "I think the Professor said I've got a week off between terms." He stretches his hands out, fingers splayed in front of him. "I could probably lay a bit of groundwork for you." He grins and it's not a pleasant thing.

Jetstream: Haroun has seen that grin before - not on Logan, but on people who are probably just as scary. "It would be ... appreciated. They disgrace the name of God with their lies and their sinful ways. They won't be missed." And on that cheerful note, he finishes his burger. "I should really go soak this skillet..." he mutters, mostly to himself, and spins around on his barstool to look for the sink.

Logan: Logan finally finishes his first burger, then glances at the skillet in question. "I'll take care of it. You cooked; I'll clean."

Jetstream: Haroun shrugs, then puts the skillet down. "Your house, your rules."

Logan: "Not my house. But it's only fair." Logan finishes his second burger quickly and hops off the barstool, dropping the skillet into a sinkful of soapy water while he puts away the various sauces and spices he'd gotten out earlier.

Jetstream: "It is appreciated nonetheless. The less movement I have to do, the better. Moving hurts - I hope the fault is isolated and corrected soon. I do not like being denied the skies, to say nothing of walking.

Logan: Logan, having always healed quickly, can't imagine what Haroun is going through. "Hank and Madelyn are good at what they do," he says, beginning to scrub the skillet. "And I'm sure Emma won't let you suffer for long, if she can help it."

Jetstream: Haroun winces as his leg spasms again. "I hope so. I am scheduled for a full diagnostic in a few days, we will see if anything can be done then."

Logan: Logan nods, letting the skillet soak again while he cleans their plates. "Good luck, I guess."

Jetstream: Haroun grins, a black-humored grin. "Thank _you_ for the help in Marrakesh. I am in your debt."

Logan: Logan glances over at Haroun. "Just tell me who and where; I could use the distraction. No thanks necessary."

Jetstream: Haroun shakes his head. "I pay my debts. And I'll get you that list in a day or two. I need to make some phone calls, see what the current scene is."

Logan: He nods casually in response. "Okay. I can't take care of it until the term ends, but if I can get it done in a week, you've got it. Idle hands, or something."

Jetstream: Haroun nods. "Of course, of course. Hrm - the hour is late, and I grow tired of stressing malfunctioning cyberwear. I think I shall retire. Thanks for the beer."

Logan: "No problem. Good luck with your diagnostic." Logan tips his head toward Haroun.

Jetstream: Haroun returns the nod before carefully, and _slowly_, collecting his coiled prayer rug and heading towards the dorms.

Logan: It's not long before Logan finishes cleaning up and follows Haroun out, heading up the stairs to his suite.

(fin)