xp_logs | Xavin & Illyana; don't worry, it's REALLY not you

Xavin has the unlucky chance of being assigned the new girl for a suitemate, and tries to make civilized conversation. Naturally, this is not a roaring success, and it unfortunately results in some quiet and undesired consequences.

The thing about the Xaviers' suites was that the rooms were designed to be shared. Xavin... wasn't, which was nice but there was still a spare bed-slash-dumping ground for things in the room. And the rooms all led into little shared common rooms with kitchenettes and bathrooms and it was all very communal and very friendly unless you were the only one in suite and just ignored the rest of the space other than the bathroom because, honestly, not sharing a bathroom was really nice and once you've poked your head into the empty rooms once you're more or less done with them.

It was the noise that drew Xavin out into the common room - the sound of the main door opening, and something heavy thumping against the floor, followed by footsteps. "Helloooo?"

Xavin was met with the sight of a small blonde girl practically jumping out of her skin at the sound of a strange voice. "Who are you?" the girl demanded, kicking an overloaded plastic bag to the side.

Who am I? "Who are you? You're in my suite and you didn't even knock."

"They said I was supposed to stay in there," the girl said impatiently, recovering herself enough to point at a door. "They never said anything about anyone else."

Xavin came all the way out. "Oh-kay? But, seriously, who are you? And why didn't they tell me?"

"How should I know? And I asked you first."

Xavin sighed. "Xavin Majesdane. Pleased to meet you. And, seriously, who are you?"

She eyed Xavin suspiciously for a moment. "I'm Illyana. I'm - new here." This didn't seem to sit well with her, so she added, "But I'm not staying that long."

"Okay." Xavin paused, still at a loss. "Soda?" Xavin asked, opening the mini-fridge and pulling out two (the last two!) cans of coke left in there. "Er - are you supposed to share my room or did they put you in the other room. Not that I mind, it's just that... "

"Nobody said anything about sharing." Illyana looked alarmed, but then curious, peering at the cans in Xavin's hands. "What's that?"

"Then we're not sharing. Good." Xavin stared as though Illyana had grown a second head. "It's coke. Well, it's no-brand cola but I'm really trying to not think about that."

Illyana returned Xavin's look with a highly dubious one; if she understood any of those words in that order, it was not apparent. "Like I said, I'm not staying that long anyway. Just passing through."

"Cool." Xavin popped a bag of popcorn in the microwave and asked "so, where are you from? I'm from LA originally," determined to at least make conversation with the girl sharing the suite now.

Illyana paused, then said, shrugging, "New York, I guess." She was perhaps not so committed to conversation; she seemed almost unsure of how to go about it, crossing her arms and studying Xavin instead.

Xavin nodded. "I guess it must be kinda weird being here then, when you're like, from here. Will you be going to [school name] with us or staying at your old school or what?" With a glance down at the boy's body that the teen had shifted into earlier, Xavin said "because I'm thinking that we could dominate their cheer squad. You, me, Miles doing his flippy stuff, Tabitha..."

"Dunno," Illyana said, looking less and less at ease as Xavin continued talking. "Whatever they make me do, I guess. But. What in God's name is a cheer squad?"

Xavin sighed, looking almost as uncomfortable as Illyana for a moment before giving an overtly cheerful smile and pouring the popcorn into two bowls and handing one to Illyana. "What do you mean, what's a cheer squad?"

Blinking in surprise, Illyana took the popcorn with one hand, watching Xavin for cues as to what it actually was. It smelled good. "I mean, what is it? Do they do . . . fighting?"

"What?" Did you grow up under a rock? "You know, like in all the Bring It On movies? Only, at school, and no-one is ever as cute as Gabrielle Union. I mean - uh."

"Right," Illyana said doubtfully, obviously not making any connections.

"Glee? You must have watched Glee. With Santana and Quinn and Mason...."

Illyana finally just shook her head. Was this some kind of test? Maybe Xavin was crazy. There had been a homeless man in East River Park who sometimes yelled about his friend John Lennon like anyone else even knew him. Maybe this was the same thing.

"Okay." Xavin shrugged and ate some popcorn. "You said you're from New York, right? So, what's good to do on weekends? You know, if we leave the mansion?"

"I . . . " Illyana was lost in this conversation, and she resented it. "I went to the library," she settled on finally. It had the benefit of being true, even if it had been a total waste of time and effort.

"Um. Are you okay?" Xavin asked, looking at Illyana closely.

"I'm fine," Illyana said defensively. "Why wouldn't I be?" Except that she was stuck here with someone who seemed to speak entirely in gibberish and riddles. Whatever. She'd dealt with worse. Not socially, maybe.

"Well, you're kind of... " Xavin paused. There'd been a kid in 8th grade, who was all - no eye contact, no conversation that anyone cared about unless you really wanted to know about lego and "oh. Oh my god, hon. I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to -- you know." Awkwardness always made Xavin's grasp on a shape shakier and the teen turned away for a moment, clinging to control with clenched fists. Not shifting now. No.

Illyana - noting Xavin's clenched fists, and not sure what to do about those in contrast with the alarmed apology - edged away a little, picking up the plastic bag she'd been handed. She kept the popcorn in her other hand. "I'm just going to . . . put this in my room. And," what was it called? Right, "Get settled in?"

Deep breaths. Xavin nodded, distracted and left for the other room. The teen shifted, leaning against the closed door and took a deep breath, wiping away a tear.