xp_logs | Afternoon: Jay & Dani

Dani returns to the suite to find Jay packing his stuff and things are awkward between them, even though they try to carry on like it's not.

While Dani was with Xavier, Jay was throwing his things in boxes. There was no real technique, no orderly way to sort his things, oh no, he just dropped them into the open box and left the boxes at the door. There weren't many, just because he didn't have a lot of things, but the music sheets and books had taken up most of the space in his room. Remove all that and the room looked like it had never been lived in.

He'd been anxiously waiting for Dani to come back and when the door clicked, Jay dropped a group of tshirts into a box before he headed to his own door, leaning his shoulder into the frame as he watched the suite door open.

She hadn't really wanted to come back after her meeting with the professor. She'd been scared that he would already be gone or packing. She wasn't sure which would be worse. At the same time though, Dani was not one to run away. She faced her problems...mostly head on, which was why she had come back to the suite. "Need any help?" she asked dully, staring at the boxes and passed Jay into the now mostly packed room. She didn't want him to go, even though she knew he should.

"Nah, Ah don't need help," he assured her and gave her a nudge. Obviously she'd talk to the professor. "Don't look so sad. Ah'm just movin' to another room." Again. "Ah'll even let you keep mah comforter if you want. It's all broken in and nice," he offered.

"Yeah, I know. Just mad. Never meant to hurt you, you know. Didn't know I was doing it. I thought I had control." and in a way, she did. Better control than she'd ever had on her illusions and in choosing which fears to capitalize on and which ones to leave alone. The tendency towards thinking as a predator was improving as well, though she had never thought of Jay as prey, "I am sorry."

"Ah don't think you're the one that needs to be sorry. Ah should've known, not ignored it like Ah was tryin' to do. The nightmares just seemed like they should normal, like everyone's got 'em, yanno?" He walked over to the bed, pulling on the comforter and rolling it up. Of course he went to her room to deposit it on the bed.

Watching him, she wanted to give him the quilt back, to tell him to take it, that she didn't need it. And she didn't need it. But...sighing, she followed him into her room and stopped him, "I don't need your quilt. I got one of my own," she gestured at the blanket covering her bed. "And yeah. I know about nightmares. I thought being there was a help. Guess not..."

"Don't be such a downer," Jay scolded affectionately and he threw the quilt out, letting it fall onto the bed before he fixed it. "You was a help, but different. Made me feel like Ah wasn't alone."

"You ain't," she pointed out, "You got Shiro," but she was pleased at the comment. She hadn't felt so alone either. Except now she would be again, but that was something she needed to get used to. She was better off alone, she thought. Problem was, she didn't like being alone, "And I'm always a downer. I ain't like you Mr. Cheerful," she nudged him playfully, feeling a little better.

"Ah ain't with Shiro anymore," he corrected her and pressed down the side of the corner, making her bed even though he'd never in a million years make his own. "Ah sorta did somethin' shitty."

Dani always made her bed if it needed it and she made Jay's too if he wasn't still in it when she got up and began her day, "What'd you do?" she asked, curious. "Don't gotta tell me, but I ain't heard," she'd heard about his stink on the journals about his trainee name, but she sort of doubted that had anything to do with it. It didn't seem like Shiro, though she didn't know him very well.

"Course Ah'd tell you but you can't tell anyone else, cause it's really bad and Ah really feel bad about it. Plus, if Shiro ever knew Ah'd told someone, he'd be real hurt."

"Who would I tell?" Dani asked reasonably. "And since when did I go about spreading gossip anyways?" she wasn't like that had never never been. She wanted to help her friend though, if she could. Make amends for causing him nightmares.

"Ah ain't sayin' that. Ah'm just sayin' to to mahself for mah own peace of mind, kay?" He watched her, waiting for her agreement, the acknowledgment that she got it.

Nodding, Dani gestured for him to continue, sitting down on her bed crosslegged.

"Ah sorta..." he gritted his teeth in a forced smile, sucking air inbetween them as he gestured, looking for the right words. ".. kinda... said Kevin's name while we were uh... you know... " He tried to hold it but the smile came out awkward. "... We were uh, pretty heavy into it."

Dani didn't need a map to draw that picture. She'd been there more than a few times herself, minus screaming her ex's name that is. Still. She could see how that would be a problem, "That ain't gonna win you any points," she acknowledged, "Why'd you join the team?" she asked, changing the subject. She wasn't going to beat him while he was done and there was nothing she could say that he hadn't already said to himself in much worse ways, just like she was doing regarding the nightmares.

That shut Jay off completely and he brushed a hair through his thick, brown locks before he stood and left the room to finish packing. "You should know," he tossed over his shoulder.

"I got an idea," she acknowledged, getting up and going into the living room, "But I ain't sure. That's why I asked. You don't gotta tell me though," she didn't go into his room, just sort of hovered in the common areas. "I ain't judgin' either."

"There's alotta reasons, none seem important," he said offhand, picking up a book and flipping through it before he dropped it into the box. "What are you gonna do?" he asked, not particularly interested in talking about the team.

"Dunno," she shrugged, drifting back to her room. She didn't want to watch him pack and go.

"It ain't like Ah'm going far," he said after a long lengthy pause between them, sensing that their idle conversation was dancing around the real issue. This felt more like a break up than anything and Jay tried to concentrate on his packing rather than what he thought Dani might be feeling.

"I know," she replied, "You trying to justify this to yourself or to me? 'Cause I get it, it ain't you. If I could control myself, my powers, it'd be different. Not like we're dating either. I jiggle in the wrong places to get your feathers up. Don't like it though, 'cause you're my best friend here," with a sigh, she went into her room and closed the door. He'd already said he didn't need her help and if that was the case, then she didn't want to watch anymore.