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Kitchen
Mar 2, 2005 12:59:47 GMT -5
Post by cyclops on Mar 2, 2005 12:59:47 GMT -5
Cyclops was sitting at a bar stool, reading over the days news in the "Daily Bugle". He wasn't paying much attention to what he was reading, it was the normal name and shame routine as always, along with how badly the current government was doing.
As he turned a page while taking a sip of his coffee, something caught his eye.
"Anti-Mutant Demonstrators Petition Government For Reinstatment of Sentinal Program"
Scott sighed. This could create a problem. For the last few months, he and Xavier had been trying to bring the Human-Mutant relationship closer together more than ever. This development could put its progress in danger. Deciding he'd mention this to Xavier later, Scott pushed the stool away from him, drained the last few mouthfuls of coffee from his cup and made his way out the double doors leading outside.
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Kitchen
Mar 8, 2005 12:33:21 GMT -5
Post by keskermoon on Mar 8, 2005 12:33:21 GMT -5
Kes quietly walked into the kitchen and placed a red book down on the breakfast bar. Moving over to fridge she took out a can of soda, popped the lid and settled herself down on a stool. She normally read outside or in the rec room, but it was cold outside and Rouge’s insistence on watching cartoons made it hard to concentrate. She flipped open the book and felt the bottom right corner of the pages till she found where she was last time. This was, what Kes considered, the best part of coming to the Institute. When she lived with her father she couldn’t afford brail books, but now she had lost count of how many she had.
Her sensitive hands started moving swiftly along the pages, the brail coming to life under her fingertips. While she was doing this she often closed her eyes as it unnerved people slightly when she was reading and also looking around the room. It was their fault really that they couldn’t muti-task like she could. She quickly reached the end of her page and turned it over.
Another student entered and she gave him an acknowledging nod as he too went to the fridge. She carried on reading for a short while until she paused and lifted her soda can up from the surface. At the same time the boy walked past her and tripped over his undone laces. His hand shot out to try and grab the breakfast bar when Kes’ can had been moments earlier, but he missed and fell to the floor.
Kes just smiled, took a swig from her soda and went back to reading.
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Kitchen
Mar 10, 2005 17:15:23 GMT -5
Post by malgray on Mar 10, 2005 17:15:23 GMT -5
Logan had just had a good shower, and rested a bit before his stomach told him he needed to pay attention to its needs. Making his way down to the kitchen from the dorms, was quite uneventful, which added to relaxed feeling of walking barefooted on wooden floors. Logan opened the fridge and found some pieces of cold pizza looking right at him. He opened the secure fridge higher up using the secure key that most of the over 21 Xmen had, and took out a cold beer. Logan thought the idea of having a second fridge that could be locked was a good idea. It wouldn’t stop any mutants who wanted a beer bad enough, but nonetheless a good idea.
The kitchen was mostly empty save for a small red book, seated on the nearby breakfast bar. Logan curiosity gnawing at him walked over to the book and took a look around to see if it belonged to anybody. Seeing no one around he picked up the book and opened it to the first page. Nothing appeared to be on any of the pages, however his sensitive fingers picked up a raised series of bumps on the pages through out the book.
“Brail.. hmm only person I can think of that this might belong to is Kes.” Logan thought for a moment how it was when he first came to the Xavier Institute he took a bite of the cold pizza and sipped his beer. “Maybe I should take it to her…”
Logan sat a bit longer noticing a copy of the Daily Bugle on the table he was sitting at. He opened it a read the byline: "Anti-Mutant Demonstrators Petition Government For Reinstatement of Sentinel Program". Logan swallowed hard nearly chocking on his sandwich, the sentinels was one thing he did not desire to go up against again anytime soon.
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Kitchen
Mar 11, 2005 10:02:01 GMT -5
Post by keskermoon on Mar 11, 2005 10:02:01 GMT -5
In the end Kes didn't go to her room. She felt like being somewhere else that wasn’t the same four walls she saw at the beginning and end of every day. To stop herself doubling back she took the long way round and ended up in the library. She wandered up and down the rows of desks in the darkness for some time. She didn’t need the light to see by and the long shadows had a soothing effect on her. After she had finally released all of her anger and had become her usual placid self, she remembered about her book in the kitchen.
She left the echoing emptiness that was the library and headed towards the kitchen passing a distraught looking Cyclops on the way. When she got there, however, she found someone else in possession of her book.
“Oh, er. Hi.”<br> It wasn’t that she was shy around Logan, she just didn’t know him. She did know that he did have a temper, but he seemed quite calm at the moment.
“I forgot my…”
She gestured towards the book and quietly walked over to get it noticing that her soda was still there aswell.
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Kitchen
Mar 11, 2005 10:55:04 GMT -5
Post by malgray on Mar 11, 2005 10:55:04 GMT -5
Logan was still eating his pizza when his ears detected movement coming down the hall. He didn’t even look up when Kes first entered the room, it wasn’t that he was ignoring her it was this article that he couldn’t believe.
“Oh, er. Hi.”
“Hey Kes. Can’t sleep?” Logan half smiled knowing the feeling of wanting to be alone, but not alone.
“I forgot my…”
Logan watched as her finger pointed the red book on the table. Logan put his paper down at this point an put his full attention on Kes.
“Yes, I was thinking of bringing it to you. Tell you what. How about you grab a piece of that pizza in the fridge and have a chat with ole Wolvie?”
“Come on I don’t bite, well not much anyway.” Logan laughed again seeming to put Kes a bit more at ease.
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Kitchen
Mar 11, 2005 11:50:41 GMT -5
Post by keskermoon on Mar 11, 2005 11:50:41 GMT -5
She gave a small smile at his last remark, but couldn’t find a polite way to turn down his offer so she hesitantly moved over to the table and sat down opposite him.
“I’ll decline on the pizza if you don’t mind. Cold pizza and I don’t get on.”<br> Kes spoke in a quiet, but clear voice. It was the sign of someone who had spent many years living in the background of other people’s lives. Her eyes fell to the paper on the table, but try as she might she couldn’t read it.
“Anything I should be aware of?”<br> She recalled Logan’s expression when she first entered the room. It wasn’t a happy one. Reading was one of the things she missed the most. Brail was ok, but she gotten very frustrated when she was first learning. She felt like she had forgotten how to walk and was starting all over again. She also missed out on all the news as watching a white screen was very boring when it came to the news on TV. She had resided herself to a life of listening, but it was amazing what people would say when they thought no one else could hear.
She looked back to Logan’s face trying to judge what the answer to her question would be.
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Kitchen
Mar 12, 2005 9:51:19 GMT -5
Post by malgray on Mar 12, 2005 9:51:19 GMT -5
“I’ll decline on the pizza if you don’t mind. Cold pizza and I don’t get on.”
"Well suit yourself, just leaves more for me." Logan chuckled a bit then finished off the last bite of his pizza.
For the first time since she entered the kitchen Logan took a long look at her memorizing her face.
“Anything I should be aware of?”
"Hmm? Oh yes the paper forgot your not totaly blind. Just some crazy people trying to get the Sentinel program activated again. Thats the last thing that we need. I've tangled with this metal mostronsities one too many times. We thought the program was shut down for good, but with the M.R.A.* still in effect, it was only a matter of time."
Logan took a sip of his beer as a much more serious look came on his face. "Proffesor X will probaly want us to start training soon to combat the Sentinels. You dont want to take on one of these machines without being fully prepared." He hesitated for a second as if caught in some memory, but quickly shook it off.
"So tell me a bit about yourself Kes." Logan said quickly trying to change the subject.
[*MRA - Mutant Registration Act]
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Kitchen
Mar 12, 2005 15:20:03 GMT -5
Post by keskermoon on Mar 12, 2005 15:20:03 GMT -5
Kes was still abit mystified by what he meant by sentinels, but decided not to push the subject.
"So tell me a bit about yourself Kes."
Logan’s choice of a new topic wasn’t the best one he could’ve picked.
“There’s not much to tell.”<br> Kes got up smoothly from the table and walked back over to the breakfast bar. She lingered for a while as she picked up her can and took a long drink. The soda had gone quite flat, but she didn’t mind. It was an excuse not to talk and especially not to talk about herself. She had decided that her past was off limits, even to herself though tonight’s proceedings had brought a large piece of her past into the present. She paused as she was about to take another swig thinking that perhaps she didn’t have to recite her history to tell Logan something about herself.
She went back to the table taking her can with her and sat down again. She took one more swig and drained the can before looking Logan right in the eye and asking,
“Do you want the long or the short version?”<br>
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Kitchen
Mar 12, 2005 15:53:05 GMT -5
Post by malgray on Mar 12, 2005 15:53:05 GMT -5
“Do you want the long or the short version?”
Logan was taken aback a bit by her question. He wasnt expecting Kes to respond in quite that way. He thought about it for a moment, glanced at the picture of Xavier hanging on the wall near the pantry entrance, and suddenly wished desperately that he had brought a stoggie with him.
His mind wandered back to when he first became a part of the team, Scott bugged him about his past for the near part of a month, while Jean and Rogue on the other hand just accepted him for who he was. Occasionaly Rogue would push a little, but Wolvie would just growl making her giggle like a impish school girl who was always trying to start trouble. Xavier had understood him the most ,at least he acted like he did. Logan would sit for hours just talking about things with Professor that never seem to go anywhere. Xavier never seem to mind , he would just sit there listening intently to whatever Logan said. Maybe thats what Kes needed now, maybe thats what all the young mutants needed. Someone who gave a damn and was willing to listen.
"Whichever you feel like telling, I got time, nuthin' to do tonight but just hangout. In other words I'm all ears. No pun intended."
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Kitchen
Mar 12, 2005 16:12:21 GMT -5
Post by keskermoon on Mar 12, 2005 16:12:21 GMT -5
"Whichever you feel like telling, I got time, nuthin' to do tonight but just hangout. In other words I'm all ears. No pun intended."
Kes gave a thoughtful sigh and paused for moment. Maybe it was time she finally told someone. She doubted whether even Xavier knew her whole story. She decided that for the moment the short version would do. She took a long intake of breath and began.
“I had a happy childhood, but by the age of 8 I started to loose my eyesight. When I was 10 it had gone completely. I found that I could still see, but not in the normal way. From there I began learning a combination of martial arts and tai-chi to help with my reflexes and brail just so I could get on with my life. My father suck by me and died when I was 16, but 4 years after my eyesight went my mother left and – “<br> ‘ Became the woman you just saw on TV ’
“And I lost track of her.”<br> It was a bad cover, but she wasn’t about to admit to being related to that thing that was on the news. She paused for a moment then went on.
“After my dad died I became a pickpocket and one year later Xavier found me. I’ve now been here for two years and its ok, you know.”<br> She stopped and sat back in her chair. She did feel better, but there was the beginnings of an awkward silence so she decided to break it.
“What about you?”
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Kitchen
Mar 13, 2005 0:05:51 GMT -5
Post by malgray on Mar 13, 2005 0:05:51 GMT -5
“I had a happy childhood, but by the age of 8 I started to loose my eyesight. When I was 10 it had gone completely. I found that I could still see, but not in the normal way. From there I began learning a combination of martial arts and tai-chi to help with my reflexes and brail just so I could get on with my life. My father suck by me and died when I was 16, but 4 years after my eyesight went my mother left and – “
Logan listened to Kes as she opened up a bit, a sense of relief seem to come on her. She was quite surely more at ease then when she first came in and sat down.
“And I lost track of her.”
Kes seemed to hesitate for a moment when she referred to here mother, this was a common technique that Logan often used to throw others off track. He could tell she wasn’t very skilled at hiding how she felt about her mother. He decided to save that question for another day. Kes would tell him when she was ready, if that’s what she wanted.
“What about you?”
Logan thought for a second. What was there really to tell? He knew little if anything about his past.
Logan narrowed his vision a bit almost squinting his eyes at the picture on the wall. He had never thought of what to say when asked that question, and here it was bold and in his face.
<From the mouths of babes…> Logan thought to himself.
“Well, there really isn’t much to tell.” He took a sip of his beer empting it. His fingers played nervously with the wrapper on the bottle.
“Professor X actually can tell you more then I can, and hes probably a bit more interesting to talk to.” Logan laughed nervously.
“I was basically part of an experiment done by a Dr. Cornelius, a horrid experiment, one which I won’t go into details about. Needless to say it wasn’t a pleasant experience. The worst thing about it is, I don’t know how I even got there.” Logan hesitated for a second it was obvious that this was not easy for him to talk about. He wanted another beer or a stogie, maybe both, anything to calm him a bit.
“Anyway when Xavier found me, my mind was basically blank, I could remember nothing before that moment. So here I am trying to make the world a better place for us mutants. I don’t even know what I’m doing here most of the time. It doesn’t always feel like home…” The words sounded like so much truth. He hadn't even realized himself that he felt this way. He wasn't sure if Kes was doing something to him or if he was finally admitting how he really felt...
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Kitchen
Mar 13, 2005 9:43:01 GMT -5
Post by keskermoon on Mar 13, 2005 9:43:01 GMT -5
Kes tilted her head slightly and looked at him as he spoke. There were very few people in the world who could accurately see every movement and expression on the human face, but she could. You could never totally hide what you were feeling from appearing on your face. Kes didn’t need to be an empath to know what other people were feeling. By just paying enough attention she could judge their emotions by not only looking at their face, but also listening to their voice. She could be a human lie detector if she wanted to.
“I was basically part of an experiment done by a Dr. Cornelius, a horrid experiment, one which I won’t go into details about. Needless to say it wasn’t a pleasant experience. The worst thing about it is, I don’t know how I even got there.”
It wasn’t hard to see that this was a difficult subject for him, just like her mother was for her. She wasn’t sure if she was feeling sympathy for him or pity. It was new sensation for her in any case. She hadn’t let herself get close to anyone in 4 years. She had, in fact, hardened herself to it, but Logan seemed to be touching something within her that had been encased in ice for a long time.
“Anyway when Xavier found me, my mind was basically blank, I could remember nothing before that moment. So here I am trying to make the world a better place for us mutants. I don’t even know what I’m doing here most of the time. It doesn’t always feel like home…”
That was a sentiment she definitely shared. She hadn’t found it easy to live with so many other people; she had never done it before. It was also hard on her head to be around so many moving people. When she lived on the streets in the city the sidewalks were just a blur of people, their future echoes and their present selves merged into one continuous movement and in turn blurred into other peoples. Kes likened it to a river always flowing, but here at the institute there wasn’t nearly enough people for that. Instead of a river it was individual drops. Most of her days ended with a headache, which was one of the reasons she was on her own so much.
Logan had lapsed into silence so she shared a theory with him that she had been pondering on for a while now.
“I believe a place becomes a home when you share it with someone you truly love and care about. I don’t know about you, but that is something severely lacking in my life. My Dad was the last person I felt that way about and no where has seemed, well, right since then.”<br> “Can you understand that?”<br> She looked at him questionably, hoping that he did.
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Kitchen
Mar 13, 2005 22:09:32 GMT -5
Post by malgray on Mar 13, 2005 22:09:32 GMT -5
“Can you understand that?”
Logan was feeling really uneasy now, he barely knew Kes and here he was talking to her about things, that where too close to home. The uncanny thing was the fact that Kes seemed to understand exactly what he was saying. She seemed to respond with absolutely no pretense. Logan had always been that way, and was pleased to see someone who “said it like it was”. His voice changed to a softer baritone when he spoke this time.
“Well Kes...” Logan hesitated for a second to think his answer through carefully. “I’ve never really had that kind of relationship in my life, not that I remember anyway. I mean I care about a lot of people, all the X-men feel like my family. Love is not something I can afford with all the enemies I have.” Logan closed his eyes as emotions began to well up that he didn’t want being revealed. His voice was almost a whisper as he spoke. “I would never want to put anyone in danger that I loved, ironic thing is I do it all the time with my teammates. Sometimes that stress is too much and sometimes…” He paused reflecting on what he was about to say. “The price is too high… way to high.”<br> Logan couldn’t take this kind of talking anymore, it hurt way to much to even think of the what he could possibly never have. He grew silent for a moment then…<br> “I need another beer.” Logan got up went the secure fridge and took out another brewski, he changed his mind and put the beer back. He opened the lower fridge and took out a jug of orange juice ‘freshly squeezed’ was plastered on the front of the container. After getting a glass he came back to the table orange juice in hand. He felt more at ease now having introduced a brief distraction.
I hoped that answered your question. Oh and another thing Kes. I think you are going to fit in just fine.” Logan said with a reassuring smug look on his face.
“I think you have what it takes to be X-man your self one day, you might want to seriously consider it. As far as relationships go if I ever get one you will be the first one to know.”
Logan smiled at Kes showing his canine like teeth. He ran his hands through his thick hair placing his hands behind his head like a pillow. Logan leaned back in this position and stretched just enough to relax the tension in his lower back. He still hadn’t touched his orange juice.
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Kitchen
Mar 14, 2005 1:22:56 GMT -5
Post by nightcrawler on Mar 14, 2005 1:22:56 GMT -5
*BAMF* In a sudden implosion of smoke, Nightcrawler teleports on top of a table in the mansion's kitchen, not even noticing Kes and Wolverine seated beside it. Glancing around the room, he notices a fresh glass of orange juice. "How Zhoughtful!" he thinks to himself. Before Wolverine can say anything he grabs the drink and disappears.
A few seconds later there is another cloud of smoke sifting through the air. Nightcrawler opens the fridge and grabs a couple slices of cold pizza, *BAMF* and is gone, leaving behind an empty void in which he had temporally occupied.
(CONTINUED IN NIGHTCRAWLER'S DORM)
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Kitchen
Mar 14, 2005 11:56:07 GMT -5
Post by keskermoon on Mar 14, 2005 11:56:07 GMT -5
Kes was also glad for the break in conversation. It was getting abit intense. She didn’t know why she had opened up to Logan even it was only a crack. This conversation was probably equal to the amount she had talked to anyone since she came here 2 years ago. It was just so much easier to stay quiet and listen.
“I think you have what it takes to be X-man your self one day, you might want to seriously consider it. As far as relationships go if I ever get one you will be the first one to know.”
She smiled at his last remark.
“Don’t worry, I won’t hold you to it.”<br> For the first time it seemed there was actual amusement in her voice. So far it had been quite cold and matter-of-fact, but now it was warming up a little.
“As for the X-Men,” she sighed, “I can’t really see what I could bring to them. Its not like I have a major ability that would be an asset to the team or something. I’m just me. A blind girl who can read brail. I’m not exactly a people person if you get my meaning.”<br> A bat passed by the window causing Kes to turn her head. It was a sudden movement in an otherwise still environment. She liked it still. It was quiet in her head. She turned back to the table, her eyes landing on Logan’s orange juice while thoughts ran through her head. She could never join the X-Men. Sure she could see the future, but it was far to brief for anyone else but her to do anything about it. The echoes were so short there wouldn’t be time to tell anyone what to do though Kes did believe that recently they had been getting longer. She mostly dismissed it and put it down to familiarity, but occasionally she did wonder if they were pushing further into the future then before.
She looked back outside and watched the trees sway in the breeze even though it was pitch black out there.
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