Topaz & Logan: Run Ins (Backdated)

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Topaz and Logan are both looking to spend some time in the woods alone but run into each other instead.


Peace and quiet was hard to come by in the mansion though not for lack of trying. Hard to find any with the mess of adults and kids running around. Where there was teenage hormones there was always a shit storm readyin' to blow. At that point in the afternoon when the kids were done with classes for the day and running around doing everythin' but work, he hightailed it out of there for the woods where the sounds of mansion faded some.

Topaz happily escaped outside once classes ended for the day. She usually spent her time hiding in her room or the library, but every now and then the four walls of those rooms started to close in on her, and she just needed to get out. And outside was generally the best place not to run into anyone. She shoved her hands into her jacket pockets as she wandered into the woods, not really paying attention to where she was going.

Logan still knew these woods and their trails pretty well despite his time away and he let his feet carry him along. It was good to get away and just be part of the natural world without needin' to look over his shoulder. A change in the wind brought him the scent of one of the kids. Alone and heading toward him on the same path. He wondered which one of them it was. He didn't think many of them came out here unless they had to. He didn't know the girl when she came into sight, and she seemed pretty lost in her own thoughts. "Hey, kid."

"Hmn?" Topaz tilted her head up, blinking a bit when she saw the rather tall man standing before her. "Oh, hullo Mr. ..." She didn't know him. Well then.

"Logan." He smiled and tried to look friendly. How successful that was varied day to day but he'd had a quiet day so far. 'Fraid I don't know your name either. Kinda comes with the being gone for a while."

He didn't exactly pull off the friendly thing, but she didn't sense anything too ominous about his emotions. "I'm Topaz. Haven't been around long." Four months really wasn't long, in the grand scheme of things. Though it seemed like it sometimes.

Logan motioned for them to keep movin' along the path. "C'mon, no need to stop walkin'. Wrong to waste a day like this cooped up inside the mansion." He wasn't sure what to make of the girl. Hard to get a read on her. She wasn't leakin' emotion like most teenagers did.

So much for a peaceful walk. Topaz fell into step with Logan, keeping her head down as they made their way along. "So you've been here before?" She asked after a moment. She knew a few people had been around for a while, but she hadn't met anyone yet who'd come back.

"Yeah, I seem to make a habit of comin' back every coupla years." This time he's hoping to make a longer stay of it. If things don't go stupid on him that is. "Pretty decent place to come back to. The people take some gettin' used to though." He grinned. "And dealin' with all the chaos that tends to follow all of us around."

Topaz flashed uneasily back to what Ms. Frost had said before about people never really leaving the mansion. That was...unnerving. "Worse places to be, I s'pose." Though she wasn't sure she completely understood the draw either. "Everyone here is absolutely mad, though."

Logan nodded. "Yup, there ain't no gettin' around that. All of us here are a bit crazy. Think it comes with the territory of bein' born in this world, mutant or human. Don't mean they aren't good people though."

"Never said they weren't." Topaz shrugged. "Good crazy is better than bad crazy."

"Sometimes the good crazy drives you up the tree just as much as the bad crazy. Especially with this bunch. They don't know when to stop stickin' their noses into things until they get bitten off."

"Noticed that," the girl returned dryly. "So why come back?" She was still trying to wrap her head around that.

"I don't really have a place outside of the mansion. Not sayin' I couldn't make myself one. It's just easier to come back to this insanity than anythin' else." Logan shrugged. "Besides, Chuck's got some resources I'd be hard pressed to find on my own. I just pay him back by bein' part of the team and trainin' people so they know how to win the fights they get themselves into. So, everyone wins out."

"Hmn." Topaz paused, realizing with some surprise that she'd let her curiosity get the best of her. Ugh. "Sorry. Pryin'."

Logan cast a glance at her and arched an eyebrow. Definitely wasn't a typical kid. "No, go on. What'd you want to ask me?" She reminded him of him in some ways and that reminded him of Laura. He rolled his eyes at himself.

"Nothin'." Topaz shrugged. "Just realized I was askin' too much."

"Kid, you're not askin' too much if I invited you to ask the question." This was all too weird. Everyone was normally all about the questions. To offer someone the chance and then to have them not take it was a new thing.

"Nothin' else to ask, really." Topaz shoved her hands deeper into her pockets. She was a little mad at herself - since when did she act like some nosy parker? This place was making her soft.

"Alright." The kid was stranger than most that found their way here or maybe he was just missing something. They walked along in silence for a while with Logan guiding them toward the ring of boulders in a small clearing he favored.

Topaz had never been this far out before. She looked around, tilting her head a bit. "Nice."
"Good place to sit and not be bothered. Think Yvette may be the only other person to know about it."

Logan moved to take a seat on a large boulder with a slight notch in one side and a matching depression on top that made for a comfortable seat. He waved a hand offering her a seat if she wanted one. He wouldn't be surprised if she kept moving.

The idea of sitting with Logan was enough to make Topaz's skin crawl. She'd had enough talking for one day. She was good at hiding it, though. "I actually have to keep goin'...should probably head back and start doin' homework or somethin'..."

Well, he hadn't lost his touch in making people want to get as far away from him as possible if the wash of revulsion in her scent was anything to go by. He nodded. "Sure thing. If you head down the path to the right, it'll wind past the lake and take you back to the mansion through the gardens. If you're wantin' to keep walkin' for a bit."

"Thanks." She took a step back, shoving her hands deeper into her pockets. "Nice meetin' you."

"You too, kid." Logan reached into his pocket for a cigar. He might as well smoke it now since she was leaving. "You ever wanna know more about the paths out here, you can hit me up or Summers. He knows the place pretty well too."