10198/Mondays are Football

Mondays are Football
Date of Scene:	26 November 2019
Location:	Rec Room - Xavier's School
Synopsis:	Brad and Gwen take in some Monday Night Football, eat popcorn, and get embarrassed.
Cast of Characters:	Dragonfly (Armenteros), Haunt

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Dragonfly (Armenteros) has posed:
Monday Nights are for football.

This late in the season, it's a coin flip if the Monday game is going to be any good. Sometimes it is and you get tightly-strung shootouts between teams going for a Wild Card seat, but other times - like tonight - you get two teams battling it out to be the team that doesn't go winless this season. The battle of the bottom-ranks. Browns vs. Lions. And it's a late game, too, so when Gwendolyn gets to the Rec room, it's pretty much deserted which is just the way she enjoys it. She can stretch out on the couch, be as unladylike as she likes, and no-one will notice, which is relaxation at its finest!

Dressed in pajama pants, a tank top, and a robe over it all with cute sandals on her feet, the visor is the only thing that really looks out of place as she heads towards the couch with a large bowl of popcorn.

Haunt has posed:
Nope, it isn't deserted. There /was/ another student there before, that was aware of Brad, they'd been 'watching' (listening) to a movie: but now? That student left, shutting off the tv, because Brad was taking a snooze on the couch. And he's still there: invisibly. Sure, there's a dent there, and the soft, quiet sounds from the napping boy, but otherwise? He probably should be always made to wear a hat or something.

There IS a hat nearby (Patriots, how bold) but it's on the floor near the end of the couch where it fell at some point earlier.

Dragonfly (Armenteros) has posed:
Gwendolyn had passed that student - a boy a little younger than she was, who was reliving his childhood by watching the Charlie Brown Thanskgiving with some friends using image sharing software. They were all making fun of it - inserting silly things when Charlie Brown's grandmother or any adult was on the phone, for instance - but they were all remembering Thanksgiving at home, with family and friends. Happier times. With the TV off, though, the room is quiet and, as we said previously, deserted, at least to Gwendolyn's senses.

The remote is a complicated tool, sitting on the coffee table in front of the screen. Gwendolyn sets the bowl down and picks up the remote, sitting back on the couch to start finding which of the thousand channels has the Monday night game on it when she hits something. Or someone!

Her squeal when she feels legs beneath her butt is adorable, even though she's scrambling off!

Haunt has posed:
The room doesn't erupt in a panic: because Brad isn't in a panic. Being jostled a little is just going to wake him, not throw him into a panic: he isn't a POW sleeping with a knife under his pillow. Fortunately if he was making a weird sleeping face, nobody can see.

"I wasn't," mumbles Brad some, before coming out of his nap, and immediately reaching out with his telekinetic senses: it's automatic, the immediate breeze that moves around the room. It gets a little more harsh: since Brad isn't in the location he expected to be upon waking up, but only a couch cushion gets flung away. The other is only hovering-- or appearing to, because Brad grabbed at it with his hand and has it against his stomach.

The movie isn't on, and the room is different. "I fell asleep," Brad says, stating the obvious.

Dragonfly (Armenteros) has posed:
There's only one person that Gwendolyn knows that can do that sort of thing and, thankfully, she's friends with him. If she was on-edge before, the disembodied voice coming from the couch does a great deal to soothe any discomfort she may have with the situation. "Just to state the obvious...I didn't see you. Sorry, Brad." Gwendolyn's voice sounds sincere as she turns in the direction she's picking Brad up from, the floating couch cushion marking him as being right there, even without her senses, feeling that wave of telekinesis brush over her, like a local radar sending a ping out to the entire room.

Gwendolyn gives one of those nose-wrinkling little smiles of hers at the comment. "Yeah, I figured. Jay was out doing something with Andrea, and when you didn't answer your door when I knocked, I figured you were out cold. Guess you were, but not in the spot I thought you were." She sits on the couch carefully, a little distance between her and him - leaving room for Jesus between them, as the old counselor in Church used to say - but close enough to converse. "So...now that I've got you here...up for bad football?"

Haunt has posed:
It's taking a little bit for Brad to orient. The nap wasn't long, but he had passed out. "You're okay. I shouldn't sleep in public spots," Brad says, his tone relaxed, no insult at all. He moves, pulling his legs away entirely: she'd not have any luck sitting on them unless she really chased him! And since Jesus is there, no contact is made. He does spot the popcorn.... and kernals start to drift up into the air one at a time in a little playful cyclone. "Popcorn?" Brad asks, interested, hopeful. Seems like probably popcorn, or some other fluffy snack.

"I am up for it! Yeah. I want to actually shut off the lights in here though, maybe try to see a LITTLE bit of it. How tolerant are you about describing things, if the announcers don't?" Brad asks.

Dragonfly (Armenteros) has posed:
"Two kinds of popcorn." Gwendolyn clarifies. "I mix kettle corn and regular butter. It's a good combination that's not so heavy on the butter, but you get sweet too, so it's a good balance." Yes, she realizes she said that mostly already, but she's babbling a little, so her words just trail off, Gwendolyn now just sitting on the couch in the darkness next to the invisible boy.

Asking her to describe things is...tricky, but with the lights off, she might be able to pull it off and lose her visor at the same time. "If you don't mind terrible descriptions, or ask what you're looking for, I could probably help out. This TV is larger than some area rugs I've seen, and I bet I can see a lot looking into this thing."

With a click on the control, the enormous TV starts warming up. "Think you can get the lights while I try and figure out where the NFL section of the channels are." She starts to scroll through the guide. "And if you're really bold, can you get us a couple of drinks?"

Haunt has posed:
"Okay, technically the lights could already be off. I assumed they weren't. I can't see them to check," Brad says, feeling foolish. He's feeling similarly to her with her description of how she's made the popcorn mixture, probably. Slightly embarrassed, but not for any reason that's actually directly embarrassing. Teenage feelings are weird.

"Drinks. Yeah. It's going to be a surprise since I don't read labels. You okay with living dangerously?" Brad asks, but she'll sense him getting up as the weight on the couch moves, and he steps in front of her to go towards the kitchen. He also examines the wall on the way out, groping, trying to figure out where the light switches are. He does find them, but doesn't turn them off yet. No reason to plunge her into full darkness until necessary: people don't like the dark. Hell, he doesn't.

Dragonfly (Armenteros) has posed:
"Just hit the lights." Gwendolyn calls. "Remember, senses? I can take my goggles off and be just fine in near pitch blackness." And she's right - the screen will probably provide plenty of ambient light for her to work off of. Now, if someone turns the lights on, that might shock her, but for right now, this'll do fine. "I sent you to get drinks, didn't I?" Gwendolyn teases, calling to Brad from her spot on the couch, turning to say that in the direction she thinks he's going before turning back to the TV. ESPN 1, 2, 3, College, Classic, ESPN E-sports, ESPN Fantasy, ESPN 8 - the Ocho, all scroll past as she finally finds what she's looking for. "Okay okay..." It clicks a couple of times, blinks, and then the game, already in it's second quarter, is on the big screen, larger than life.

Haunt has posed:
Brad is, presumably, gone: the popcorn that was floating all corrals itself back into the bowl. He did turn all the lights off before he went out. The kitchen is easy to find, he's been there a number of times. There's other students there, but it isn't like Brad has to interface with anybody he doesn't want to: he just goes in, snares the drinks, and ghosts his way on out again.

The drinks reappear in the rec room, bobbing along in the air as they're carried. One is a Coke, the other a Lemonade, they both come around and are set by the popcorn. Technically Brad is RIGHT in front of Gwen, but he blocks zero of her vision. She can watch the show right through his head. "Are they beer?" Brad asks, amused.

Dragonfly (Armenteros) has posed:
In the time since Brad vanished, Gwen has snuggled into the corner of the sectional couch to the right, giving her a perfect view of the screen. She's also made herself more comfortable by taking off her visor pretty much the second the lights went out. The TV's brightness is a little strong, but she is able to deal with it better than she thought she might be able to, the metal disk resting near her right hand on the back of the couch. "No beer. I think Mr. Logan has those hidden somewhere only he can get to. You grabbed lemonade and mexican Coke. Excellent vintage choices, Mister Sawyer."

There's a sound of a hand hitting a cushion, tapping three times. "Have a seat. The browns are driving into the Lion's terrible defense. We might get lucky and see a first down."

Yeah, these teams aren't very good.

Haunt has posed:
"/Mr. Sawyer/," Brad echoes, amused. "What's your last name, again? I don't think I remember it," Brad asks, pausing while he observes where she's moving her hand, and moves that way to sit there, after pushing one of the smaller pillows out of the way. His sit is more of a sprawl, as he makes a big event out of how relaxed he is about everything. "I'd settle for even hearing one," Brad jokes.

He shakes himself mentally. Focus on the invisibility problem. He settles there, still invisible, and quietly breathes, trying to pull his attention inward first, then walking through his mental steps to try to release the tension in his head, to find that place where being visible, allowing light to touch him, is buried.

After a little bit of sitting quietly, Brad's invisibility drops away. He's wearing a green t-shirt, some comfortable atletic style pants with an orange stripe up the leg, and has mismatched socks on: one black, one white. His hair is free of gel from a recent shower, leaving the fawk-hawk sort of fluffy and loose towards his forehead. Nose and mouth are scrunched as he works with his power.

Dragonfly (Armenteros) has posed:
It's a really odd thing, watching Brad suddenly fade into view where there visibly was nothing before. It's almost like watching one of those puzzles on a game show, as they fill in the blanks to make a picture appear except, in Brad's case, it's all at once and much, much more gradual. Gwendolyn smiles and sits back, narrating the drive as best she can. Sure, she sometimes gets the backs confused, but the main players, she can name positions and even the penalty that's called - face mask on the defense. She speaks quietly, too, letting him concentrate on finding himself and making his Telekinesis stop working long enough for him to get some vision back. She makes herself busy during the commercial break, opening the bottles using the spines on her forearms as a makeshift bottle opener, putting the caps down to throw away later.

"You're getting a lot better at that." She says, her voice quiet, the bottles put on the table for him to choose the one he wants. "Left for Lemonade, right for coke, facing the screen." she helpfully declares.

Haunt has posed:
"Cool." Brad ends up with the Lemonade, just since he's on the left. He relaxes in a more realistic way over time as he mostly keeps his eyes shut. Some questions are asked: general things like 'Why are they cheering now?' sorts of questions, but he seems to follow it relatively well. The narration, of course, helps.

Just after the commerical break, though, some playfulness from Brad comes in: because the popcorn bowl begins to inch away down the table. And then a few pieces come out of it, to playfully nudge near Gwen. "Aw, they like you," Brad teases, drinking his lemonade innocently. His eyes are open now, turned towards her and the popcorns.

In the darkness, Brad's eyes are already a dark brown, and mostly pupil, and for once, aren't squinted in pain. He seems to focus on her and the objects, a smile curved on his mouth, light colored brows and masculine lashes enhancing his somewhat unique expression: sly play.

Dragonfly (Armenteros) has posed:
This is different from the Brad that she knew usually. Playful. Teasing. Coy, even. Gwendolyn remembers the time in her room, the first time he showed off the ability to turn off his TK, to make himself visible, if only for a second, and ended up ruining a perfectly good trash can from the pressure. The thing is...that kind of stuff is noble, in Gwen's eyes. He wanted to show her he could do it so much that he showed her first, and that he pushed himself to the breaking point. If people knew that, she might be accused of a Florence Nightingale thing, but that's really not the case.

"Ha ha." Gwendolyn giggles as the popcorn starts to orbit. She pushes herself up and tries to catch a popped kernel or two on the run, being careful to not accidentally topple over on Brad when she makes a particularly bold lunge. She settles back, though, after a second, when she sees him looking at her, her face illuminated by the commercial playing on the screen nearby. "See anything?" she asks, her voice soft.

Haunt has posed:
"Sort of," Brad answers. "I can't really see the popcorn. But I can tell where you are. I can't really see if you're looking at me or the screen," Brad says, lifting a hand to rub over his face, and then turns, pulling one leg up some between them where Jesus is sitting, so that he can orient to face her more fully. He gets an intense look, and leans in a little, trying to perceive more of her face.

It's a very intense expression, brows together, but his eyes are trying to maintain focus. "I'm getting your hair color. That's progress. Sort of amber red, with streaks of green and blue." He's smirking. He knows that's from the television's current green and blue commercial.

Dragonfly (Armenteros) has posed:
Progress is progress. Being able to see the forest, but not able to make out any trees is better than not seeing anything after all. "It looks like you're not having to concentrate very much, or you're hiding it well." Gwendolyn remains very still as he turns to face her and leans forward, letting him study her face as close as he dares. "The blue might be that commercial for Tide, but it might be my eyes, too." Crystalline blue lenses beneath her eyelids that he's touched before.

She smiles her little smile. "It's nice to be looked at. I would say to take a picture, but you already have one of me, at the haircutting place." Or he did. It's been a few days and she's slept since then.

Dragonfly (Armenteros) has posed:
"Oh, and my last name? Armenteros. My full name, before I changed it, was Ginessa Armenteros. As Cuban as Cuban could be, with the culo to match, Papi." Gwendolyn giggles, her cheeks coloring a little. Here's hoping that Brad doesn't know Spanish very well.

Haunt has posed:
"I just have to be mindful, once I've got myself visible. Like remembering to ... I don't know, sit up straight," he pauses, and says quietly, "I'm not going to barf again." It's like a vow. Nope. Not happening. And he immediately is embarrassed. Why the HELL did he bring that up? He inwardly bashes himself for it. Yes, remind her of the gross thing. Dummy.

"Ginessa's pretty," Brad shrugs. He clearly knows zero Spanish, there's no reaction to the words, or to her blush: he can't see it, probably. "What's a 'culo'? ...I'm just Bradley, no bonus other names." Simple. He is fine with being simple, by his quick smile and natural little bouncing shrug.

"I can't see your Antenna or whatever," Brad adds, scooting forward a but, and automatically extending a hand, extending out. He halts that, though, and starts to draw his hand away again. He flickers: twice, visible, invisible.

Dragonfly (Armenteros) has posed:
Everyone in the school knows kind of what Brad is going through right now. Sure, they all have different challenges to face, but they all face them in their own way, and that control keeps the lid from blowing off. "As long as you don't have to trade off one for the other. Brad can learn 'stay visible' but has too many moves. Would you like to forget 'sleep?' and learn 'Stay Visible?'" Yes, Gwen's a Pokemon girl or, at least, was before she moved up here.

"Ginessa is...what kind of marked me as a Cuban. I'm proud of where I came from, but the hard truth was that white girls got adopted more, and I was getting close to the top end and aging out of the system."

Hell of a lot of good it did her, though, right?

"Culo means...hooboy..." Gwendolyn stammers, trying to think of a way that she can salvage telling Brad that she's got a nice butt without coming off as overly forward. "It's...attitude. A polite way to put it. Curves and attitude, but mostly curves." She's not going to tell him outright. Let him discover it for himself.

When his hands move closer to her face, she stays still. "It's okay." Gwendolyn leans forward slightly, lifting one hand to his wrist, letting his fingers brush her face. "It's okay."

Haunt has posed:
Brad considers her answers, but just grins at her explanation. Attitude and curves? He'll ask around and learn what it really means later. For now, that'll do fine. He curved his fingers in towards his palm a little bit when she catches his wrist. He's often ashamed of doing 'blind person' things: shame from his disability, anger at it, all of the teenage resentful reactions to such a thing. His eyes moved to the side just a little to track where her hand was, though. He's seeing a good amount, by that evidence, or at least caught the motion and movement of the contrast of her skin against the darker couch behind it.

Brad doesn't reply to her saying it's okay, but doesn't jerk away either, he opens his hand back out and examines her cheek and little, ear, then the side of her hair: auburn streaked with blue and green, obviously. He lowers his voice to tell her quietly, "I can see a /little/ better than I let on," he says softly, confidential in tone. "Enough to not poke you in the eye." He grins suddenly, a flash of straight white teeth.

Dragonfly (Armenteros) has posed:
"Wouldn't hurt if you did." Gwendolyn counters with a smile of her own, her smile even and clean, thanks to the dental visits the school is providing. "I'll keep it a secret for as long as you like, but no wandering into the girl's showers, claiming to be blind, okay?" She lightly taps his nose with a fingertip. She understands why he's keeping it quiet. It's safe, being the blind kid, or the kid that needs help. It lets you watch others and see how they react towards you, not knowing you might be able to see, just a little.

Haunt has posed:
"I said better than I implied, which is just -- more than blurry blobs, but it's more and more each day, so there," Brad scoffs. And rolls his eyes, drawing his hand away as she jokes about the showers. "I've never done that! I mean, I'd do it if /invited/," Brad amends, smiling and turning back towards the television when some cheering erupts. "Did something just happen?" Brad asks, hopeful, eagerly.

He means the game. Probably.

Popcorn happens, and more watching of the game, allowing them to relax again in each other's friendly company. With lemonade, coke, and popcorn nudging at Gwen now and then.