xmutanthigh | [SCENE] Julian and James

"What the hell are you doing here?"

Julian was looking at him as if he'd grown a second head.

"Good to see you too, little brother," James said with a raised eyebrow.

The look on his face must have betrayed his flippant words, because the telekinetic leaned against his door frame and eyed him suspiciously. "Everything all right?"

"Couldn't be better," James fibbed, stepping aside. "Come on, let's take a walk."

"Fine," he said cautiously, quickly reaching back to the lock the door. He shut it with a click and started down the hall, not looking away from his brother. James resolutely watched the floor, carefully cleaning the lenses of his glasses with his moist breath. "So you left the hotel and traveled all the way to Westchester to take a walk?"

"No, I uh-" James began with a slight grimace. "Julian, I'm here to... stay for a little while."

"What?" He fired incredulously, stopping. "What are you staying here for?"

Despite their differing ages, James was not even an inch taller than Julian, a height he'd noticed Julian had attained during his stay here. "There's something I have to tell you."

"What's that?" Julian asked warily, unconsciously mimicking James's unsteady stance: hands in pockets, lips down, eyes narrowed.

The words were on his tongue and yet he didn't speak them. Instead, he turned to continue walking, measuring his steps. Julian met his pace, still watching him.

"Well, are you going to tell me?" He prodded sharply.

"Remember when I skipped the sixth grade?"

"Yeah," Julian rolled his eyes. "You wasted your time reading textbooks for a month and went straight to St. Dom's. What's your point, James?"

"I'm- I'm not a genius, Julian," he said, unable to place the shame out of his voice.

He scoffed in answer. "Yeah, play the humble card on someone that didn't have to listen to you lecturing about my grasp of The Divine Comedy for a whole hour."

"I'm a mutant, Julian," he clarified, holding his breath.

James stopped and Julian kept walking for a moment, slowing to a short halt. "What?" He muttered, turning to stare at him. "You're a what?"

"I'm a mutant," he repeated, and Julian set his jaw hard. "I didn't... I didn't realize for a long time, but... how's it normal that I can still recite every textbook you just referred to... every one- and The Divine Comedy verbatim?"

There wasn't many instances in which James had seen Julian speechless, but this was one of them. He'd only ever looked at him like this once, a long time ago when he was leaving for Harvard, leaving him with two parents who were ashamed of him, looking at him as though he'd never speak to him again.

"I should have told you," he said feebly, straightening. "I should have."

The edge of Julian's lips twitched. "So that's your big power," he hissed out. "You're a walking talking tape recorder?"

"No, I- I just... I process information like a machine, I remember-"

"So you're a walking talking computer," he corrected himself. "That's great, genius. That's fucking wonderful," Julian bit out, fists clenched. "Definitely something you could have mentioned nine years ago."

"Julian-"

"Fuck you," he said, the words cutting and sharp. "You know what? I don't fucking give a shit, James," he said, pain tainting his anger, creating a bittersweet tone. "You want to remember something? Why don't you remember when mom and dad found out about me, huh? Why don't you fucking remember living in that fucking house while you played the good little genius, parading around with your holier than thou bullshit while they talked about shipping me to Sweden for getting the remote with no hands, and you said nothing! You said fucking nothing and pretended you were a fucking sapien and got all the approval for being so fucking normal and perfect, you dipshit," the last word cracked under the strain of his shallow breath.

James looked down and closed his eyes, head shaking. "I didn't want to believe it, but it's not fair placing that blame on me." He looked up at his brother with compassionate eyes. "I didn't make you come here, Julian. I always stood behind you."

"You're disgusting," Julian spit, voice wavering, trying to ignore his words. "What a mutant you are," he said, each word weighted with dragging hurt.

"I'm sorry," he said sincerely, looking up into his brother's angry eyes. "I couldn't deal with it... I- I couldn't help you deal with it, I- I couldn't be the brother you needed, but I'm telling you now, Julian," he fumbled for the right words.

"I think an apology's too little, too fucking late," Julian sneered in response.

"I'm here because I need help. It's not just my brain anymore... it's- it's something else."

"Touching," he said sarcastically, coming closer and surpassing him, holding his eyes fiercely. James watched his exit with a frown. "But don't worry, James," he called. "I'll help you. I won't leave my family when they need me. I'll see you at dinner," he said.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

James! *cries* Aww! Julian can be such a little arse sometimes! Yet, I still love him.
Great scene Crystal! :D

OH NOEEEES. =( I feel so bad for James. But I can kinda see where Julian is coming from.

"I'm here because I need help. It's not just my brain anymore... it's- it's something else."

OMG WHAT IS THE SOMETHING ELSE?!

Poor James =(

Loved the scene, Crys!

Thanks! :D
(Get on LJtalk, I must talk with you about *cough* that thing.)

Yeah, so can I. :( I can see where both of them are coming from, actually.

[SCENE] Julian and James

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OOC