15267/It's Too Early

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It's Too Early
Date of Scene: 27 June 2023
Location: Logan's Room (North Halls), Xavier's School
Synopsis: An old mentor and mentee catch up while having a coffee.
Cast of Characters: Wolverine, Shadowcat




Wolverine has posed:
Logan is sitting on the floor to his room. Dressed in just a pair of black jogging pants and a white tanktop. On the wall behind him rests a simple framed sign that says, "I have a, High Art, I hurt with, Cruelty, Those who, Would, Damage Me," - Archilochus 650 BCE. His room isn't quite Spartan, but it's not too far removed from it. There's a Samurai sword, sheathed, hanging on a wall. A couple of small framed photos. These include people that matter to him. There's a small book shelf with a variety of books, some written completely in Japanese and look as old as him. Another small shelf has a spattering of DVDs. A good chunk of them are Akira Kurosawa, some old fifties movies and a couple of 80s action films. His bed functions as both a bed and a couch. There is a simple flat screen on one of the walls.

Logan tries to wake up early to meditate, clear his mind and focus himself before the cacophony of waking up students start to fill the halls. It's one of the few peaceful times. For similar reasons, he'll stay up late and stargaze. Sometimes it's nice to enjoy the quiet.
Shadowcat has posed:
Katherine Anne Pryde doesn't live in the mansion. She's certainly not a student, anymore. She's been known to occasionally teach a class, and she still has her X-Men uniform hanging in her closet for when she gets 'the call.' But, mostly, Kitty's been in and out doing her own thing ever since she left for Oxford. She'd come back during breaks, find a job doing something in a tech field (once as a programmer for Stark, once she even did some light PI work), and check back in with her family at the school.

She'd been gone again for a while -- something about working on her Ph.D. And how does she announce her return?

She phases through Logan's door, a cup of coffee in one hand and an book in the other.

"So, I've been thinking. The tech industry is like a mutant power in its own right, constantly evolving and reshaping the world. Wha'dya think? Doctorate Thesis material?... Probably not."
Wolverine has posed:
The thing about the Xavier's Mansion, it likes to shatter peace as much as it wants to build, or rebuild, peace. Logan's peace is always shattered by someone or something. A stray student cursing because he overslept, something Logan can relate to and empathize with, someone making a loud noise because teenagers in mass will eventually be loud, it's a variety of ways. Ocean blue eyes look up and see Kitty walking into Logan's room like she lives here. The list is -very- small to who have such a privilege. Does Kitty have that?

Logan watches her walk into the place talking, "What?" his brain starts to catch up to her words. "Better have a cup fer me, Kitty," and Logan does still call her that.

"Maybe. Depends on the kinda tech yer talkin' 'bout. How deep of the hstory yer willin' to go. Cause ya wanna talk 'bout engines or computer chips. Both wit' history n' changed the world," he looks back at her. "Ya want more smart guy talk. Coffee," Logan names his price as Kitty shows she's on that short list. He's not threatening her or screaming that she leave his room.
Shadowcat has posed:
"This /is/ yours." Sure enough, it's black. Kitty takes hers with cream and sugar. "I've been up for hours." Beat. "Actually.. technically.. I've been up since yesterday." So, she hadn't slept.

She stops next to him and phases back in so she can hand him the cup with a cheerful little smile. The book, on closer inspection, /looks/ like an older tome but is actually itself a thesis on the evolution of modern technology.

"Well, think about it. Evolution and Moore's law -- over time, the number of transistors in an integrated circuit doubles about every two years, but the features we use every day are artificially selected. Mutations are just a natural evolution of the human genome. In general, we don't fear tech yet because its growth hasn't reached a point where its out of human control, but there are new AIs popping up every day. But some of them are already starting to be ostracized, just like mutants."

She pauses, then, and closes her book, folding it in against her tummy and rocking up a bit onto her toes. She's in her mid-twenties, but it makes her look a little like the old Kitty when she does that. She still has all of that youthful spirit.

"How's it going, Fuzzy? It's been a while."
Wolverine has posed:
Taking the cup and he gives her a harsh look. "Why the hell aren't ya sleepin?" Bringing the cup to his lips, he takes the first sip. Then nods at her choice. He approves of the coffee. "When ya add money matters into each, it always became which car was the fastest, how fast yer computer can go, n' it kept goin' in changing. How small the computer, how much gas mileage. Yeah, it was chosen, but the world acted as nature," Logan says as he can sometimes be smart. Sometimes.

Logan gestures to the bed if she wants to sleep. He would have a fold out couch if the mutant thought those things were comfortable.

"What have you been doin' besides getting' smarter n' makin' me look like an idiot," he smirks and moves to sit down.

"Still figurin' out what I'm doin'. Helping train a new student, you'd like her. Name's Angelica," he pauses for a moment. "Not a student. A teacher. Still new, she could use friends," he says this with no trace of a hint, but it is a hint. Kitty would know this. "Needs someone smart to talk to n' I ain't the brightest bulb in the batch," Logan speaks candidly on the matter. "Wantin' to kill Scott 'cause he's gone n' his fiance could use the guy. Got into a Mexican Standoff wit' Sinister once or twice. Happy no on has taken my beer," Logan says going over some of the cliff notes to his answers.
Shadowcat has posed:
"Because I have two faculty advisors that are expecting me to narrow down my thesis. One's a giant dick and the other is a woman I'm really trying to impress. You should see her work on neural networks. It'd knock your claws off."

Then there's the bit about the money.

"Hm."

Kitty gave a little tilt to her head with a small, surprised smile. She hadn't thought of it that way, and she'd always looked at least a little surprised when Logan made her /think/, even since she was a kid. Of course, she wasn't really surprised. Otherwise she wouldn't have come to talk to him about it. She tried not to make /too/ big of a deal about how much she actually respected his opinion, though. Egos and all.

"I'll keep an eye out," she promises, still smiling. "And you do okay." She grins, eyes twinkling. "Sometimes." "Usually."

The mention of Jean, however, brings a little frown to her lips.

"Wellll... two thoughts on that. One: Where's Scott? And two..." She purses her lips, phasing back out again. "You need a girlfriend." Then one hand comes up from her book defensively. Of course, he couldn't grab her if he wanted to, but Logan and love was always a touchy subject.
Wolverine has posed:
The talk of Neural Networks is when the conversation starts to go above his head. "Alright," Logan says and they both know this is when it teetered on this edge. "'Captain Dummy talk,' Kitty," that is their code for "Dumb it down." Logan knows it has something to do with the mind, synapses and things like that, but Logan was not Hank McCoy.

"It ain't like that," Logan says and there is a new edge to the phrase. It's nothing she hasn't heard before. However, it's the first time Kitty heard that edge with Jean. Usually, it's when he believe something is firm. Like a preference on beer, sports or favorite people.

"No one knows. Guy's got a full plate. Makes me feel sorry fer 'Red. She puts all her chips on a guy n' he bails. Probably has a damned good excuse, but it don't help Jean. She's kinda actin' like anyone else would," Logan admits honestly. "Her n' I talked recently. I deserve better," Kitty may be stunned by this one. Like Hell is building a hockey arena, stunned. "I deserve someone that wants to go all in on me. Part of me will always love her, but I ain't gonna beg or ask fer someone that didn't ask me to marry em'," and now she knows what he means by "All In." Apparently, Jean and Scott are more than just dating.
Shadowcat has posed:
Kitty smiles at the nostalgia of that phrase -- 'Captain Dummy Talk.' But she doesn't try, this time. She seemed more interested in their /new/ topic which was, if nothing else, a welcome distraction from the thesis-induced sleeplessness. More likely, it was because something was bothering a man she cared deeply for.

She opened her mouth to say something, but the phrase 'I deserve better' wrecks that thought train like a semi-truck plowing into the side of it and she just stands there with her mouth open for a few seconds.

Blink.

Blinks.

"Oooohkay. You're... serious." Her eyebrows lift, and a smile curls at the corners of her mouth. "Go you. All of us love Jean," she says. Granted, some more than others. "And, you're doing the right thing -- you're being there for her as a friend when she needs you. But, you can't stick your nose into their relationship.. which sounds like it's gotten /more/ serious since I left.. just because you think you could do better than Scott. Whether or not she needs him around more is between them."

Sage advice. From a twenty-four year old.

"So what's got you all pumped full of self-esteem? I like it. It looks good on you."
Wolverine has posed:
"Yeah. I'm serious n' I ain't lookin' to get my nose in their business," Logan says honestly on that one. It's why there was some tension between him and Scott. "Scott thought I was when she made a tactical error. I called her stupid fer a risk n' he did give me a speech that involved words like 'my girl.' Joke's on him, I woulda called anyone that made that call 'Stupid,'" Logan shrugs a little bit.

"Do I want to make her feel better? Yeah. But that's 'cause she's sad. I know what it's like to love em' n lose em'. Kinda reminded me of that. She just has hope that he'll stumble through the door," Logan says and it implies that Logan's "Lose em'," is a little more literal. "So, I'm just tryin' to be there fer her, but" and he struggles with the words.

"But screw anyone that thinks I ain't worthy of somethin' good n' that I can't be the kinda person ya wanna show Mom n' Pop," Logan knows how awkward that sounds. Then he sighs, "Maybe I just got sick of lovin' someone that was just gonna leave me in the dust n' my bed feelin' a little more empty each night," he shrugs. Logan doesn't realize that he did some mental health breakthroughs. In his mind he just got frustrated and said, "F*ck it, I'm done!"
Shadowcat has posed:
"Scott can be an ass. /Especially/ to you," Kitty says. There's a beat, though, where her eyes shift slightly. "But... he gives as good as he gets, sometimes. Not here, maybe. If I'd been there, I could have reminded him how many times you've called /me/ stupid, and I'm in the doctoral program at Oxford. So."

She rolls her eyes, still smiling good-naturedly.

"Sounds like you're doing great. And I /like/ this version of you. Don't let her use you. Don't chase after her. Let her be a friend. And both of you just.. leave it there. /You/ do deserve better than that. A lot better."

But then she seems to realize something.

"Oh! Sorry. I told them I'd help in the computer lab. This was just supposed to be a quick rant over coffee, but I want to talk more. I don't have to be on campus while I'm working on my thesis, so I'm around for a little while. Catch up over dinner? My treat! Okay, gotta go!"

She doesn't even wait. She's just taking off at a run, phasing right through the door.