11802/Jeremy meets the new kid, Adam.

Jeremy meets the new kid, Adam.
Date of Scene:	19 July 2020
Location:	Rec Room - Xavier's School
Synopsis:	Jeremy is terrible at socializing and making friends.
Cast of Characters:	SpyderByte, Grizzly, Phoenix

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SpyderByte has posed:
After a long day of helping Piotr trim trees in the yard, Jeremy finally made his way back into the school. He took a shower upstairs in his room, then headed down to the rec room. Being that it's a weekend, most of the kids are taking advantage of the huge pool out back to escape the summer heat. One student would never be caught dead in the water is the lanky 'Goth' kid. Currently tucked away on the farthest couch in the back, he is dressed in an oversized black hoodie that swallows his thin frame up, black pants with chains hanging off them and a collar around his throat with a dog tag that hangs off it. He has a pair of thin glasses on as well, and his hair is a shaggy mop of black with brown roots.

Across the young teen's lap is a sleek black laptop with glowing green keys. His fingers rapidly glide along the keys easily as he hyper-focuses on the lines of code that scrawls along the program that he is working on. At times he will give a visible twitch, then reach out into thin air to snag something before he gives a quick flip of his hand to 'throw' something towards his computer. Next to him on a small table is a half-eaten Hot Pocket which has long grown cold.

A few other students roam the rec room to play video games or watch TV, but none pay him much mind.

Grizzly has posed:
Adam strolled into the rec room and came in stifling a yawn. He was dressed in jeans and t-shirt with a very faded New York Knicks logo on it, which was now somewhat wrinkled because he'd just woken from a nap. Naps were so very good. The world needed more naps.

He walked over to the bar and got himself a cup of coke. Seriously, food and snacks whenever he wanted...this place was pretty nice so far. Out of his peripheral vision, he caught the twitch of the other boy making gestures in the air. Not understanding this, he paused to stare for a moment before not wanting to be rude and went about searching for a snack in the cupboards. Ah ha! Chips were good. This was, so far, the Saturday of his dreams.

SpyderByte has posed:
The entrance of a new face catches the eyes of Jeremy as he tilts his head a bit over, blowing some hair away from his face. It's got to the point it's more mop than a hair style, but he just hasn't bothered to get it trimmed. He takes a moment to focus on his face, then gives a glance down to the screen of his computer.

It only takes moments for him to pull up his student file and starts to peek at it. His name. Where he's from. Old high school. When it comes to data, he has no personal space. He squints his eyes for a moment, then leans forward slowly as he stares at the power set.

"... wow."

He breathes out softly, then gives a nervous glance over towards Adam for a moment, hunkering down into his hoodie as he pulls his computer closer.

Grizzly has posed:
Adam grabbed a bag of chips and his soda and went to go find a seat. As he was passing by, the kid on the computer looked like he'd just tried to swallow himself. He paused and hovered for a moment longer before offering up a "Uh, hey...Hi there." he said in greeting with a casual smile. "Any unspoken rules about where to sit or anything like that around here?"

Phoenix has posed:
After getting some work things in order which chewed up the rest of her afternoon, Jean is walking away from her computer for awhile to take a needed break. She's got a peanut butter and jelly in one hand and an insulated type of tumbler in the other in a matte gold. "He--eey, boys. Everything going alright?" She says around a yawn as she aims for the fridge to rummage in it for a Coke. She takes a seat at one of the tables and cracks open the Coke to start pouring it into the tumbler, sounding like there's already some liquid in there. "...kitchen was out of Coke." She says by way of unasked explanation as to why the headmistress is even in there.

SpyderByte has posed:
As Adam speaks up, Jeremy peeks out at him from beneath the hood of his heavy, oversized jacket. It may as well be a sleeping bag at this point. It just eats him up.

"N-No. T-Th-There is n-no rrr..rrrr.." The boy has a bad stutter as he tries to force the words out. "Rrrrules. C-Can ssss...ssss..it.. wuh..err.. y-you w-want." Once the words are out, he reaches out for his phone and picks it up. He lets out a low breath as he gives it a firm squeeze. Adam's phone will chime with a text message:

<< Hi, I'm Jeremy. Sorry, this is easier for me. Sit where you want. >>

Looking up at Jean's voice, the young goth visibly brightens a bit more as he lifts a hand upwards towards her. The sleeve of the baggy hoodie falls back to reveal deep scarring along his wrist and upwards along his arm as if a blade was dragged across his pale skin. "I c-c-an o-orrr-d-der muh.. mm.. more."

Grizzly has posed:
Slightly surprised but not off put by the boy's stutter, Adam waits without interrupt for him to finish. "Oh, cool. You never know, ya know? Some places are super territorial. I don't know what the 'popular kids' table at a mutant school like, but I can bet it's best to steer clear." He said this with a mostly joking tone, because if there was a popular kids clique, he really wouldn't care. However, as he was speaking the other boy went to fussing with his phone. A moment later, Adam had to put the bag of chips in his mouth to hold to free up a hand to check his phone. He nodded in acceptance of the response and then put it away for now, so he could take the bag from his mouth.

Adam glanced over as Jean entered, yawing and with food. He chuckled a bit to himself. Woman after his own heart. However, her almost yawn caught his lazy brain and he let out another one. "Hello. Nap time for you too, Ms. Grey?"

Phoenix has posed:
"Thanks, Jeremy. We have a delivery coming in tomorrow." Jean says with a soft smile over towards the goth. "We contract with a family in Mutant Town who owns a restaurant supply company, they supply most of the local-owned restaurants there. So they're vetted to be here and deliver. Their daughter, Alyssa, actually graduated from here about three years back. Today's trip was mostly just a few things I didn't have on the order because they weren't needed in bulk."

"The current student population isn't too cliquey, but I'm not there to see every interaction. Bit late in the day to worry about a nap, but an early night to bed is likely. I usually manage about an episode and half on Netflix on nights like this before I drop. Maybe two whole episodes or even three if I'm really feeling like a rebel."

"Speaking about settling in, how've things been for you these past few days, Adam? Room alright, anything you need?"

SpyderByte has posed:
Giving a nod of his head, Jeremy goes back to typing on his computer. With Miss Grey speaking to Adam, he doesn't look to interrupt or join in on their conversation. She's working after all. He goes back to pounding out lines of code with quick and practiced precision. But, there is that subtle shift of his body as he scoots over on his couch, as if he was making room.

Grizzly has posed:
Adam smirks as he finds himself flopping down on a seat next to Jeremy, because, well, he's there and food is waiting. "It is never not a good time for a nap," he announces sagely before setting his own glass down and beginning to work on opening that bag. Realizing he;s sitting on the device, he pulls out his phone and sets it on his leg, to be ready for further incoming texts, and then he looks at Jeremy quizzically. "Hey...how did you know what my number was?"

Back to Jean he answered, "Oh yeah, sure. Everything is good. It's a big room..like living in a fancy hotel." He popped a chip into his mouth. "I mean, I've never been in a fancy hotel, but seems pretty accurate."

Phoenix has posed:
"Outside of tiny fancy soaps and that we aren't bringing you food to your bedside unless you're an invalid, yeah, kinda like a hotel I suppose. So long as you don't mind the math classes instead of timeshare pitches." Jean says with a lopsided grin as she gives her tumbler a little side to side sway before taking a drink. She leans back in her chair and squints consideringly towards the nearby bookshelf. She raises a hand and there's a subtle eenie meenie wiggle of her fingers before rose-hued light surrounds her hand and a puzzle box on the upper shelf. It floats over to the table and settles in place in front of her.

SpyderByte has posed:
There's another ping: << I don't know your phone number. I am just talking to your phone. I talk to technology that has established a networking signal of any types. Satellites. Computers. Phones. The toaster with built-in wifi. If it has a signal, I can reach out and talk to it. I translate binary to my own language. You turn into a huge bear. I now know who to stand behind. It's nice to meet you, Adam. >>

Jeremy is still typing on his computer as the message comes through on the phone. It's a green text bubble with a blinking 'spider' cursor at the end of it. There's no phone number attached. But, it looks like a test message bubble.

Grizzly has posed:
Adam wrinkles his face in dismay. Then he shrugs, "I mean, I can sleep through either." Again, joking...sort of. He probably shouldn't have said that to the headmistress but, his filter wasn't always the best. Having this chance to see others powers in action was still a pretty new thing for him, so he was mesmerized for the moment at seeing the box move on it's own. "So, can you just move anything like that?" he asked her.

He picked up the phone and now, there was a pause. One or two short sentences Adam could usually pick out a word or two to get the gist of things, at least enough to answer. This was quite a bit of text and his brain kind of imploded. He was looking at the message for way longer than one might and yet with almost no eye movement of 'reading', it was just staring. It was an estimation of time he thought it should take before responding, at which he set the phone back down and said "Oh, I gotcha. That's cool. You know, I don't mind if you talk though, I don't wanna get my phone all greasy," he noted, waggling his fingers a bit from the chips.

Phoenix has posed:
The response from Jean is a quiet, knowing chuckle and a diplomatically turned, "Some classes are easier to pay attention to than others."

She opens the lid of the box the standard way as she replies to Adam, "My powers are threefold. Telekinesis, which is influencing things with my mind such as moving them or repelling an attack. Telepathy, which is various forms of mind to mind communication. Then there's empathy, sensing and influencing emotions. So to answer the inevitable question, no, I am not spying on all of you. I'm strict about privacy. Jeremy there is another portion under the big psychic umbrella, which is technopathy. It's believed it's a pretty modern ability, but I wager it's just taken new forms as technology changes."

SpyderByte has posed:
Instead of a text message, Jeremy places his phone down on the table. He uses the British female's voice of SIRI to speak for him now.

<< Sorry, this may be easier for all of us. It's hard for me to speak comfortably and I know it makes some people uncomfortable. >>

Either he's the most adorable puppy ever, or he's a world class troll. A little bit of A and B smooshed together? He goes back to typing along his computer as his eyes remain trained on the screen, the glow reflecting in his glasses.

<< I'm not very good at privacy. I downloaded your student file and read through it. I'm sorry. You are a new face and I get nervous very easily and then I panic but then I saw that you are a lot like me. Just cooler. And you turn into a bear. I had a bad experience with bears a few weeks ago. There was an incident at the zoo. >>

He stops typing for a moment, then glances over towards him curiously, tilting his head.

<< Can you control bears? >>

Grizzly has posed:
Adam was glad to hear that Jean wasn't going around sneakily spying on them all. He might have to ask around a bit though, to make sure that was, in fact, the case. Not that he thought her a liar, but, privacy was a big deal.

The phone's voice was much better and so Adam nodded with a grin at the British woman that was translating Jeremy's words. However, Jeremy admitted to the invasion of looking at this file, this did make him a little uncomfortable. "Uh...what do you mean? A lot like you, how?" The bear questions were on his back burner of attention but he answered briefly, "No, at least, I don't think so. I've never actually met other bears. Can we go back to the 'read your file' thing..."

Phoenix has posed:
Catch-22. If Jean was in your head, would you know? Or do you just trust she's telling the truth?

"Jeremy, you know not to poke around in the school files. Talk to me if you're worried." That said, Jean lets the two new students as she dumps out the pieces. No doubt she's got an ear turned their way, but she keeps herself quietly occupied. One by one, pieces are floated up in halos of pink light and begin organizing themselves on the table by edge, center, and color while one hand holds up her sandwich for a bite.

SpyderByte has posed:
<< I am always worried, Miss Grey. >> That much is true. He oozes 'worry' as his main emotion that practically screams out of his pores. He hunkers down a bit more into his hoodie.

Giving an apologetic and sheepish look to Adam, he reaches up to tug his hood farther over his eyes, then looks back towards the computer. He gives a wave of his hand as the screen goes black, then he slowly lowers the lid to a click. << It's nothing. I'm sorry for bringing it up. >>

Grizzly has posed:
Adam shifted his look from Jeremy, to Jean, and then back again. He sighed. He felt irritated and yet, Jeremy instantly reminded him so much of Jack that he was finding it difficult to get fully angry. Still, he couldn't just let it go, because he didn't even know exactly what was in his file. What did it say about him? What did this kid know about him? "No...it is something. It's a great, big something. If you know something about me that I didn't want you to know, that's not fair, is it? Because you were uncomfortable? Well now I'm uncomfortable. Whatever you read, I already know it, and Ms. Grey already knows it, and now you know it, so just say it."

Phoenix has posed:
"And maybe share something so he can learn about you, Jer." Jean suggests quietly, not sounding too concerned at present on the interaction. She certainly never snooped on things when she was young, not at all. "You're both new here. There's Ted too, who just got in the other night."

The pieces continue to slowly move, piece by piece moving into place as the edges are asssembled.

SpyderByte has posed:
There is an uncomfortably long moment of silence from Jeremy as he pulls the laptop in against his chest. He stares at his hands, then lets out a slow breath. He is visibly trembling now as he lets out a wheezing gasp of emotion.

<< Everyone hits me. Everyone hurts me. My dad. People at my old school. Other people. Everyone. >>

The voice that comes out of Siri sounds so relaxing and comfortable. It's probably why he chooses her voice in that British accent. Like a loving mother, even though she's telling a painful story.

<< Coming here made it stop. >>

Grizzly has posed:
Adam sat back in the seat and was quiet. If Jeremy had told him this without the prompt of snooping first, he would have been quickly aligned to him and try to offer...something. But, in that moment, he knew that the kid knew about his past and this was not a topic that he shared or made him feel like anything but a weak, pathetic person. However, 'cool' he might seem, Adam had in no way dealt with his own issues, having just days ago come out of it.

He sat there for a while, unable to focus anger on Jeremy but he still felt angry. He felt his nerves twitching as his heart beat faster. His reaction to it might not be the same as the other boy's but the trauma was still there. After a minute, he got up, his phone dropping into the chair unnoticed, and slammed, hard, the bag of chips onto the table, the sound resonating and crumbs flying out and began to storm out of the room.

Phoenix has posed:
Jean Grey probably did mean quite those details to lead with, given the twitch at the corner of her mouth. As Adam's temper flares, he gets a taste of Jean's powers that are obvious when being used. Her empathy stretches out, settling over the room like a weighted blanket or a hundred lavender candles. It's a soothing sensation, reassuring, calming.

"Adam." She says quietly, not stopping him but still speaking, "A lot of students find their way here because they don't have a safe place or people to support them. Sometimes adults too, ones who have lived through horrible, horrible things. It's no secret to nearly everyone here that the world isn't always a kind place for mutantkind. While we cannot change our pasts, here we can make a new life. We have each other, and not just to be friends but family as well. Some of the most powerful people on the planet protect this school and the people within it, and we'll do so with our lives."

SpyderByte has posed:
<< Please don't leave. I'm sorry! I always fuck this up. >>

Jeremy said a bad word! From the mouth of a British lady it's hilarious. He reaches out to grab the phone, holding it up and out to him.

"W-w-wuh-wait! Y-y-yuh.. ff..ffff... YOUR PHONE!" The last two words come out loudly from the lanky goth as his hood flops back to reveal his face. He has sullen, thin features. He obviously needs to eat more and see the sun. He looks exasperated with wide eyes full of emotion.

"P-p-please duh-d-don't go."

Grizzly has posed:
Adam began to pace, back and forth in the hallway just outside of the rec room. Jean's calming did help at least enough that he didn't feel like he was about to burst out of his skin, quite literally. As he paced, he dug his hands into his shaggy hair and tried to quell the heat that burned at his eyes from trying to hold back tears. Although everything to him felt like anger, it wasn't really anger that he felt in the moment, but embarrassment built up by years of it being pressed into his head that every one of those beatings was well deserved.

They could hear that he was in the hallway, as his footsteps were not quiet. Part of him wanted to scream, while another part wanted to hole up away from everything, and well, be like Jeremy. Only he couldn't do that, he was never allowed to that. No weakness. Not in front of his dad. Not in front Jack. He pressed his head against the wall, trying to calm his breathing. And then he turned, slid with his back down the wall, because he was not going back in there while tears were on his face.

"I'm not gone," he called back, trying not to sound like he was crying. "Just..hold it, for a second," he spoke in regards to his phone.

Phoenix has posed:
"You can go get some air if you need." Jean says gently over towards the doorway and Adam outside. "We'll be here." The headmistress is calm as she speaks over her puzzle pieces that float in front of her, the image of mutant normality despite the pressure in the air. Maybe it's the only way she can balance out her own emotions in the moment, the fulcrum of balance between two wildly pivoting ends.

She does glance up towards Jeremy and gives a smile and a nod, and even that simple gesture is full of reassurance and confidence. "It's okay. Everyone has their own things to work through." Without a word and only a soft gesture of her hand, the shower of chip crumbs float up in a pink cloud and sprinkle down into the trash.

SpyderByte has posed:
Clutching the phone in his hands, Jeremy glances down towards it slowly, gliding his thumb along the glass surface. He slowly sinks back down on to the couch and chews on his bottom lip hard to peel off a layer of thin skin btween his teeth. He puts his own phone into his pocket, while still holding on to Adam's.

Using his free hand, he knuckles at his eyes beneath his glasses, then reaches up to tug his hood back over his head to veil his face in shadow. He gives a slight nod of his head towards Jean as he presses the phone closer against his chest, as if he was trying to align with it.

"He d-d-didn't mean it." He says softly to the phone in barely a whisper.

Grizzly has posed:
Adam continued to breathe and palm his face to wipe away the tears. He forced it all back down. Rage was allowed, the rest of it was not and so all that other 'crybaby crap' as it was known to him, got put away to somewhere it didn't get to see the light of day. He drew himself back to his feet, and headed back inside.

"No, I'm fine." He saw that the mess was cleaned up and glanced to Ms. Grey, "Sorry about that." And then he turned to Jeremy, stepping over to him, he just held out his hand for the phone. "You shouldn't read people's files. But, whatever... next time, get to know people by asking. I'm just going back to bed now."

Phoenix has posed:
"Good night, Adam, and if you need anything just stop by my office or even toss me an email." And just this once, he may find a box of assorted snacks outside his door a few hours later with a small tag reading 'free minibar'.

It's to the young goth then that she looks and gestures to the seat across from her. "Jeremy, want to help me with a puzzle? It may not be code, but I wager you'll have a knack for it. Or do you plan to turn in too?"

SpyderByte has posed:
As he brushes his fingers along the top of the glass, Jeremy is quietly whispering to the phone as if he was having a real conversation with it. A soft, assuring one. At the sound of Adam's voice, he holds the phone out with a quivering hand. His eyes are off and to the side, staring at the floor.

".. I'm g-g-oing t-to my rrrrr-rrrrr-oom." He says softly to Jean. ".. sorry."