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xp_logs2005-04-09 10:54 pm
x-cable.livejournal.com) wrote in xp_logs2005-04-09 10:54 pm
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Jake and Anika, Saturday night
Anika creeps out of hiding and to the kitchen, where Jake offers her Greek sandwiches. They get along famously.
She'd turned nocturnal again, more or less. Mostly because she didn't really feel like dealing with too many people - those she wanted to see came to her, with the exception of Nathan, whom she snuck down to see on a daily basis when the halls were quiet. Anika thought that sleeping during the mornings and early afternoons, then painting for as long as the light held out was a very sound sort of plan. Fading light was best for painting, after all.
And she was still sleeping far too much, really - her healing factor was still doing its best impression of a punch-drunk boxer. Still, it all worked out. Except that it left her missing meals more often than not, and so she did a great deal of nibbling off the trays people left for her, or sneaking downstairs at odd times when she was hungry and there were no trays. Like she was doing now.
Jake was attempting to make what he refered to as the Greek Sandwich. He'd scrounged up a feta cheese, a tomato, olives and olive bread and was in the process of frying paprika. He poked the paprika with the spatula, waiting for it to become just so.
"You're frying paprika." Anika stood in the doorway, her nose twitching visibly and her blue eyes a little wide. "How very odd. Why are you frying paprika? It makes my nose itch."
He twisted around, holding the spatula, to get a look at New Person. Cute blonde with twitch nose. Okay. "I'm making Greek Sandwiches. Fried paprika is imperative. Want one?"
"Greek sandwiches? I didn't know Greeks made sandwiches. Though I've never been to Greece so maybe that's not all that surprising." Anika came in, cautiously, eyeing Jake before she hopped up on one of the stools. "Didn't expect anyone to be down here cooking at this hour. Do you not sleep? I get the whole not-sleeping thing, though, not to worry. I think once I stop sleeping too much I'm not going to sleep at all for a while, just to balance things out."
Shifting the paprika carefully onto the sandwiches, he grinned. "I sleep, but I'm too busy right now. I've decided to sleep once I'm done organizing my files." Jake turned, and walked over to the table, carrying the plate with four sandwiches on with him. "I call them Greek Sandwiches because of the olives and the feta cheese," he added. "And who are you? Just so I know who I'm having... food with."
"Anika." She sniffed at the sandwiches. They didn't smell too bad. "The one who should have been the third body they brought back from Greece. Yay, healing factor." Okay, so that hadn't come out quite as flippantly as she'd intended.
"Healing factors are a good thing to have, yes." Jake nodded. He grabbed a sandwich. "Oh, and I'm Jake Gavin. And I've made these before so they should be edible."
Anika reached out and took one of the sandwiches, nibbling at it a bit hesitantly. "I like feta cheese," she said. "It smells like people being clever." She eyed him for a long moment. "You smell a little odd. Shapeshifter?"
Jake raised his eyebrows. "You can smell that? How does _that_ smell?"
Anika made an obscure gesture. "Like bread unbaking itself."
Jake blinked. "And how does... No, never mind. Just tell me I don't smell like a brewery, please?"
Anika, despite herself, smiled. "Not quite. And only to noses like mine." She tapped the aforesaid and rather attractive nose. "Well, it's not actually my nose. My olfactory cortex. Or something. I pick up pheremones, not just scents."
"Interesting." Jake took a bite out of the sandwich, and considered what she'd said. "Huh. Does the same mutations smell different on different people? Like, does one telepath smell different from another?"
"Telepaths don't have a specific smell. Well... unless they're telekinetic, in which case they generally smell a little hot." Anika took a larger bite of the sandwich. She had been hungry.
"Neat." Jake nodded. He liked knowing about other people's mutations. Never knew when it might come in handy. "So what have you been doing since the demise of Mistra?"
"Healing up, mostly. Painting, this last week..." She nibbled on the sandwich with a little less enthusiasm. "Once Nate's out of the medlab and I'm sure he'll be all right, I'll go, I think. It's nice here but it reminds me too much of everything I never had."
"Like teenagers everywhere? I spent a lot of time on boarding schools, so I actually did have that. Not that I actually wanted to relive it," he added.
"Noooo," Anika said, perhaps a trace of irony in her voice. "The whole not being brainwashed and turned into a killer when you're thirteen thing. That I kind of wish I'd had."
"Ah. That one. Yes, I can see that." And he did, sort of. Not to the point where he could put himself in her place, perhaps, but enough to be sympathetic. "You can have another sandwich, if you want."
"Thank you. They're very good." Anika kept eating the one she had, her eyes lingering on Jake's face. "You're nervous about something. Not me... not something right here, either, but something else. Either that or the paprika's screwing with me."
"I think it's the paprika," Jake replied, eyebrow raised.
"Uh-huh. Entirely possible. And I don't think the scents have been quite right since I got hurt, either." She looked thoughtfully at Jake as she finished her first sandwich. "How do you know about Mistra?"
"Um. They were big into the Perfect Soldiers thing, not very much with the sweetness and light. Not really my side of the board." Jake shrugged, grabbing his second sandwich. "Why?"
Anika shrugged. "Just wondering how you fit in around here. Haven't met you before." She picked up her second sandwich. "I'm feral so I have this unconscious need to categorize people, apparently. Or that's what they always used to tell me. I don't think I'm big on hierarchy or anything, I just like seeing connections." She paused, raising one eyebrow at him. "And I'm not making much sense, am I? Oh, well. This is what happens when you're antisocial and spend most of the time you spend talking talking to squirrels."
Jake grinned. "No, I get that. I have this sort of organizational chart in my head I like to put people into with handy notes for future reference. Not quite the same, I dońt think, but I do like seeing connections as well. I work in intelligence, by the way. Couriering for Infonet is my real job, but here I'm doing intel."
He was kind of cute for an intel type, Anika thought idly. "Operations chick, here. So I guess that makes us apples and oranges and ne'er the twain shall meet."
"Yup. Well, if this place was larger and less a school." Jake was amused. "Here you apparently get set do doing whatever is needed that you're vaguely qualified for." He remembered his last job at Xavier's and amended, "or not in any way qualified for, but they get you drunk and talk you into it anyway."
Anika's eyebrows had gone back up. "Oh, so maybe that's how Nate wound up teaching a cooking class. That makes sense." She nodded, that having been settled to her satisfaction now. "These are really very good sandwiches. I like olives."
"Thank you. I spent most of this week living on cookies and tea and coffee, but my new... suite-mate convinced me that that wasn't good for me. Pretty much by going 'I know where you sleep', which I find a very effective threat."
"I don't have a suitemate. Just the squirrels. And they usually just chitter at me. Not much on reminding me to eat." Anika paused. "Alison does, though. And Hank... and actually Kyle does too. And Nate's always asking me if I'm okay and looking after myself whenever I go down there. You suppose it's something about the place?"
Jake snorted. "I'm pretty much convinced they put something in the water. I ended up feeding people cookies and trying to make them feel better before I knew it last time around. Alison probably has a book running on how long I'll hold out this time. This place... The people care. It's weird, but I kinda want it to remain like that."
"I'll miss it," Anika said, her eyes flickering around the kitchen. "But it's not my place. Besides," she said more briskly, telling herself to cheer up, "I miss Domino. Dom and I have such fun."
"I beat her at poker," Jake said immidiately. He liked spreading that around, and hearing about Domino's facial expression when it was relayed to her.
Anika raised an eyebrow. "Why am I not surprised that you know Dom? Everyone knows Dom. And if you beat her at poker, I bet she hates you." Something occurred to her. "She didn't beat you for beating her at poker, did you? Because she's been known to do that."
"No." Jake smirked. "But I'm pretty sure she wanted to. Now she just gives me pointed glares and fondles whatever weapon she's holding whenever we meet. It's fun."
Anika waggled a finger at him. "You're a very brave sandwich-maker, you know."
Jake attempted to pose heroically while taking another bite of his sandwich. "I am," he said after chewing and swallowing. "Well, and I can probably get her blacklisted, so."
"I see a flaw in your logic," Anika said, but didn't share what that flaw might be. "But I'm sure you've got it all figured out. You have one of those faces."
"There's often flaws in my logic," Jake agreed. "I survive anyhow cause I'm just that cute and fluffy."
Anika finished her second sandwich. "Have you ever tried to be literally fluffy? I think it would be attractive." She plucked a napkin out of the holder, then looked up at him. "Thank you for dinner," she said with another smile. "I should go see Nate before it gets too late. Don't want to get chased out of the medlab."
Jake grinned at her. "No, I haven't. Don't think I could, but thanks for the idea. And, you're welcome. It's more fun eating with someone than alone, anyway." Especially when that someone was cute.
Anika slipped down off the stool and headed towards the door, pausing to wave at him. "Bye, Jake. Maybe I'll paint you something."
"I'd like that," Jake replied, waving back. She'd been oddly relaxing to be around, considering the babble. He wouldn't mind talking to her again, he decided, and went to wash the plate in the sink before retuning to his files.
She'd turned nocturnal again, more or less. Mostly because she didn't really feel like dealing with too many people - those she wanted to see came to her, with the exception of Nathan, whom she snuck down to see on a daily basis when the halls were quiet. Anika thought that sleeping during the mornings and early afternoons, then painting for as long as the light held out was a very sound sort of plan. Fading light was best for painting, after all.
And she was still sleeping far too much, really - her healing factor was still doing its best impression of a punch-drunk boxer. Still, it all worked out. Except that it left her missing meals more often than not, and so she did a great deal of nibbling off the trays people left for her, or sneaking downstairs at odd times when she was hungry and there were no trays. Like she was doing now.
Jake was attempting to make what he refered to as the Greek Sandwich. He'd scrounged up a feta cheese, a tomato, olives and olive bread and was in the process of frying paprika. He poked the paprika with the spatula, waiting for it to become just so.
"You're frying paprika." Anika stood in the doorway, her nose twitching visibly and her blue eyes a little wide. "How very odd. Why are you frying paprika? It makes my nose itch."
He twisted around, holding the spatula, to get a look at New Person. Cute blonde with twitch nose. Okay. "I'm making Greek Sandwiches. Fried paprika is imperative. Want one?"
"Greek sandwiches? I didn't know Greeks made sandwiches. Though I've never been to Greece so maybe that's not all that surprising." Anika came in, cautiously, eyeing Jake before she hopped up on one of the stools. "Didn't expect anyone to be down here cooking at this hour. Do you not sleep? I get the whole not-sleeping thing, though, not to worry. I think once I stop sleeping too much I'm not going to sleep at all for a while, just to balance things out."
Shifting the paprika carefully onto the sandwiches, he grinned. "I sleep, but I'm too busy right now. I've decided to sleep once I'm done organizing my files." Jake turned, and walked over to the table, carrying the plate with four sandwiches on with him. "I call them Greek Sandwiches because of the olives and the feta cheese," he added. "And who are you? Just so I know who I'm having... food with."
"Anika." She sniffed at the sandwiches. They didn't smell too bad. "The one who should have been the third body they brought back from Greece. Yay, healing factor." Okay, so that hadn't come out quite as flippantly as she'd intended.
"Healing factors are a good thing to have, yes." Jake nodded. He grabbed a sandwich. "Oh, and I'm Jake Gavin. And I've made these before so they should be edible."
Anika reached out and took one of the sandwiches, nibbling at it a bit hesitantly. "I like feta cheese," she said. "It smells like people being clever." She eyed him for a long moment. "You smell a little odd. Shapeshifter?"
Jake raised his eyebrows. "You can smell that? How does _that_ smell?"
Anika made an obscure gesture. "Like bread unbaking itself."
Jake blinked. "And how does... No, never mind. Just tell me I don't smell like a brewery, please?"
Anika, despite herself, smiled. "Not quite. And only to noses like mine." She tapped the aforesaid and rather attractive nose. "Well, it's not actually my nose. My olfactory cortex. Or something. I pick up pheremones, not just scents."
"Interesting." Jake took a bite out of the sandwich, and considered what she'd said. "Huh. Does the same mutations smell different on different people? Like, does one telepath smell different from another?"
"Telepaths don't have a specific smell. Well... unless they're telekinetic, in which case they generally smell a little hot." Anika took a larger bite of the sandwich. She had been hungry.
"Neat." Jake nodded. He liked knowing about other people's mutations. Never knew when it might come in handy. "So what have you been doing since the demise of Mistra?"
"Healing up, mostly. Painting, this last week..." She nibbled on the sandwich with a little less enthusiasm. "Once Nate's out of the medlab and I'm sure he'll be all right, I'll go, I think. It's nice here but it reminds me too much of everything I never had."
"Like teenagers everywhere? I spent a lot of time on boarding schools, so I actually did have that. Not that I actually wanted to relive it," he added.
"Noooo," Anika said, perhaps a trace of irony in her voice. "The whole not being brainwashed and turned into a killer when you're thirteen thing. That I kind of wish I'd had."
"Ah. That one. Yes, I can see that." And he did, sort of. Not to the point where he could put himself in her place, perhaps, but enough to be sympathetic. "You can have another sandwich, if you want."
"Thank you. They're very good." Anika kept eating the one she had, her eyes lingering on Jake's face. "You're nervous about something. Not me... not something right here, either, but something else. Either that or the paprika's screwing with me."
"I think it's the paprika," Jake replied, eyebrow raised.
"Uh-huh. Entirely possible. And I don't think the scents have been quite right since I got hurt, either." She looked thoughtfully at Jake as she finished her first sandwich. "How do you know about Mistra?"
"Um. They were big into the Perfect Soldiers thing, not very much with the sweetness and light. Not really my side of the board." Jake shrugged, grabbing his second sandwich. "Why?"
Anika shrugged. "Just wondering how you fit in around here. Haven't met you before." She picked up her second sandwich. "I'm feral so I have this unconscious need to categorize people, apparently. Or that's what they always used to tell me. I don't think I'm big on hierarchy or anything, I just like seeing connections." She paused, raising one eyebrow at him. "And I'm not making much sense, am I? Oh, well. This is what happens when you're antisocial and spend most of the time you spend talking talking to squirrels."
Jake grinned. "No, I get that. I have this sort of organizational chart in my head I like to put people into with handy notes for future reference. Not quite the same, I dońt think, but I do like seeing connections as well. I work in intelligence, by the way. Couriering for Infonet is my real job, but here I'm doing intel."
He was kind of cute for an intel type, Anika thought idly. "Operations chick, here. So I guess that makes us apples and oranges and ne'er the twain shall meet."
"Yup. Well, if this place was larger and less a school." Jake was amused. "Here you apparently get set do doing whatever is needed that you're vaguely qualified for." He remembered his last job at Xavier's and amended, "or not in any way qualified for, but they get you drunk and talk you into it anyway."
Anika's eyebrows had gone back up. "Oh, so maybe that's how Nate wound up teaching a cooking class. That makes sense." She nodded, that having been settled to her satisfaction now. "These are really very good sandwiches. I like olives."
"Thank you. I spent most of this week living on cookies and tea and coffee, but my new... suite-mate convinced me that that wasn't good for me. Pretty much by going 'I know where you sleep', which I find a very effective threat."
"I don't have a suitemate. Just the squirrels. And they usually just chitter at me. Not much on reminding me to eat." Anika paused. "Alison does, though. And Hank... and actually Kyle does too. And Nate's always asking me if I'm okay and looking after myself whenever I go down there. You suppose it's something about the place?"
Jake snorted. "I'm pretty much convinced they put something in the water. I ended up feeding people cookies and trying to make them feel better before I knew it last time around. Alison probably has a book running on how long I'll hold out this time. This place... The people care. It's weird, but I kinda want it to remain like that."
"I'll miss it," Anika said, her eyes flickering around the kitchen. "But it's not my place. Besides," she said more briskly, telling herself to cheer up, "I miss Domino. Dom and I have such fun."
"I beat her at poker," Jake said immidiately. He liked spreading that around, and hearing about Domino's facial expression when it was relayed to her.
Anika raised an eyebrow. "Why am I not surprised that you know Dom? Everyone knows Dom. And if you beat her at poker, I bet she hates you." Something occurred to her. "She didn't beat you for beating her at poker, did you? Because she's been known to do that."
"No." Jake smirked. "But I'm pretty sure she wanted to. Now she just gives me pointed glares and fondles whatever weapon she's holding whenever we meet. It's fun."
Anika waggled a finger at him. "You're a very brave sandwich-maker, you know."
Jake attempted to pose heroically while taking another bite of his sandwich. "I am," he said after chewing and swallowing. "Well, and I can probably get her blacklisted, so."
"I see a flaw in your logic," Anika said, but didn't share what that flaw might be. "But I'm sure you've got it all figured out. You have one of those faces."
"There's often flaws in my logic," Jake agreed. "I survive anyhow cause I'm just that cute and fluffy."
Anika finished her second sandwich. "Have you ever tried to be literally fluffy? I think it would be attractive." She plucked a napkin out of the holder, then looked up at him. "Thank you for dinner," she said with another smile. "I should go see Nate before it gets too late. Don't want to get chased out of the medlab."
Jake grinned at her. "No, I haven't. Don't think I could, but thanks for the idea. And, you're welcome. It's more fun eating with someone than alone, anyway." Especially when that someone was cute.
Anika slipped down off the stool and headed towards the door, pausing to wave at him. "Bye, Jake. Maybe I'll paint you something."
"I'd like that," Jake replied, waving back. She'd been oddly relaxing to be around, considering the babble. He wouldn't mind talking to her again, he decided, and went to wash the plate in the sink before retuning to his files.