Log: Julian and Sarah, Tuesday evening

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While walking past the rec room Julian finds Sarah playing video games and takes the opportunity to catch up with her.


Julian was heading back to his guest room with a fresh mug of coffee in one hand and his tablet in the other- the coffee maker only having given him a little bit of trouble since it claimed to not remember him. The tablet was open to a news article about emerging former markets, which- with the exception of China- was a possibility for his investment future. He was passing the rec room when he noticed someone playing a new game he'd heard about, but hadn't had a chance to try yet given the crazy u-turn his life had taken lately. After a moment of thought, he walked inside to observe- it wasn't as if the article was going to disappear if he didn't read it right now.

Sarah hadn't immediately noticed the person who'd entered the room, as she'd been strafing to one side while gunning at her foe in game, leaning to one side as she did so out of reflex. "Come on you son of a ... got ya!" She grinned as she finally downed her virtual opponent, though her screen was flashing red from the beating her avatar took in the fight. That was the end of the multiplayer round she'd been playing so the game went back to the lobby, and that's when she looked up and noticed Julian.

"Oh, hey there, didn't see you come in, sorry." She put the controller down next to her on the couch as she turned a little to better face him. "How's it going, Julian? Glad to see you back."

"Miss Vale- I haven't seen you since I've been back," he smiled and set down his mug, using the couch's back to leverage himself over it and landing on the opposite end. "If you're embarrassed because you had a crush on me before I left, it's okay-" he smirked, "you don't need to hide."

"Hah, yeah, that's totally it. Well, maybe if you were, you know. Female, maybe." She chuckled at herself and moved to give him a bit more room. "And if I'm hiding it's not from you, it's from school starting again and all that jazz." Sarah muttered. "How've you been, though? Long time, no see."

"I've been well," Julian smiled- he didn't recall Sarah being a lesbian, but they'd only briefly known each other. "Traveled the world, attended Stanford for a bit- now I'm bored and back in New York to find my fortune. I'm sure nothing could possibly go wrong." He rolled his eyes, "What about you?"

"Nothing at all, nope." she agreed with a small grin. "Typical life of a student here, for the most part. Except for Genosha, which, yeah." Hopefully he wouldn't need her to go into detail about that because she really didn't want to think about it. Sarah shook her head and moved on to something else. "I was in a relationship for awhile, but that's kinda done now, and... oh, I've been working with XFI, which is awesome, and am taking Comp Sci in college, so there's that."

"Wow, keeping busy then; ex-girlfriend, job, classes- you're living the dream." He furrowed his brow and looked at her, "But, why do you need computer science classes?" He winked and gave a slight chuckle, "That seems like cheating."

"You know it." She offered her fist to him for a fist bump for some reason, though Sarah wasn't exactly sure why she did. Irony or something, maybe? She wasn't sure but just went with it. "It does seem kinda odd at first blush, yeah, but it'd be much easier to get a job with a degree than by just saying I'm a mutant, y'know? Plus it's kinda cool learning the logic and the science behind it instead of just relying on what I can do." As much as she hated studying, that much was true at least.

He took the fist bump and looked around for a second controller, "I suppose that's true- I may need to look into that, but I don't think there's a university out there offering a degree in hitting things real hard." With a roll of his eyes, "Does your education help you with the toaster or are you two still not talking?" Julian was surprised that he had recalled that particular detail from several years before.

"Maybe not, but there's lots that give scholarships for that sort of thing I think. Sport-y kinds, at least, heh." Sarah added with a chuckle. "Hah, we made amends, actually. It's all water under the bridge or something now, but I still give it a wide berth." She nodded and smiled, a little impressed that he'd remembered that.

Julian nodded, "Glad you made up with an appliance, now where's the second controller, I've been meaning to try this game and I'm sure you wouldn't mind the help...wait, do you even need a controller?"

"I don't, no." she said with a smirk. "But I like the feel of it, I guess? It's too familiar to give up, though it's fun to not use one every once and a while. And where did I... oh, here it is!" Sarah reached over and pulled the second controller out from under her book bag that she'd accidentally put over it and tossed it to Julian. "Here you go, if you think you can handle it, that is."

"Please," Julian turned on the controller and waited the few seconds it took for the console to recognize him, "I've been fragging aliens since before you got your powers." He watched as the screen split and the character customization screen came up for a new player. "There are aliens in this one right?"

"I think the big plot twist is that you're an alien, or something." She shrugged and turned around to better face the television screen. "I haven't finished it all the way yet, that's just my theory. Let's find out though!" Sarah hit the start button and selected the two player option, glad to have found someone else to play video games with.