xmutanthigh | [open thread] need distractions!! (iris)

Entry tags:

[open thread] need distractions!! (iris)

Characters: Kevin, Josh, EVERYBODY!
Setting: The room with the biggest TV. Some common area or other.
Content: Anything and everything, I just need fun distractions.
Status: Open! Incomplete! Come play in this!
Thread-jacking: YAY! I need to try this. GO!

[Kevin and Josh are seated in front of the TV of the common room, both of them consulting the papers in their hands. Josh has organized a betting pool for March Madness, and Kevin submitted his brackets to him the other day. Now they're catching up on highlights and making some idle chitchat.]

I'm pretty sure I'm at least going to whoop Jono's ass here. He did his "research" based on prettiest uniforms again. [Josh laughs here and says something about how all the uniforms are ugly before heading to the kitchen for more popcorn. Kevin remains seated on the couch, legs drawn up so he can put his paper on his knees and scribbles out some of the eliminated teams.]

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You guys are dicks. [Ali flounces into the room, looking for her iPod. She's lost it. Again. She overheard Josh's comment and, turthfully, laughed at it but still feels like she should stick up for Jono. He is her bandmate, and she thinks his approach to picking teams is kind of adorable. She plops down on the couch between them and crowds Kevin, peering over his shoulder at his paper.] I hope he beats all your asses.

[Kevin smirks at her. He has kind of a feeling that Ali thinks Jono's method is adorable.] He decided to take Richmond to the Sweet Sixteen because he "thinks spiders are cool." If that's not an educated pick, then I don't what is.

[He says this last bit in sarcasm, but then Kevin's smile fades.] I'm not sure why this method is working for him. [Kevin extends a gloved hand to the TV, which is showing highlights indicating that Jono's method is working.]

Karma! [Ali laughs, poking Kevin in the ribs with her elbow, then she gets serious.] You guys keep making fun of him, so the universe is laying a smack down on your picks. Apparently someone out there likes Jon a lot.

Oh, Ali. [Kevin gives her a wry grin and a look that echoes his "Oh, you" tone.] We make fun of him for very good reason!

Yeah, because you're jerks! [Ali grins, looking around for Kevin's beer to steal a sip, only to realize he doesn't have one.] Dude, how can you watch this shit without beer?

[Julian is strolling into the kitchen just at the right moment to witness Mr. Joshua Foley throwing popcorn in the microwave. So obviously Julian strolls over, puts a hand in the near empty bowl, and eats some of the old popcorn. He leans against the counter to face Josh, gesturing to the rec room.] What're Jono's bets? [This is business talk, Josh. Serious stuff.]

[Josh frowns at Julian, and leans on the counter while the popcorn pops.]

I'm really not entirely sure how, but he turned in his bracket two days before the presidential picks and they were nearly identical. Except in Jono's case, he said he picked Kansas (http://www.kuathletics.com/) because "that parrot-toucan thing look so funny, makes me laugh every time. Look at its shoes! I mean, look at them!" [Josh's imitation of Jono's British accent is not perfect, but at least entertaining. The microwave beeps.]

Just Kansas was different? [This is Julian's face: amused and incredulous. He even lets out a laugh at Josh's impression. He slides the bowl over helpfully so Josh can dump the new popcorn in.] What the fuck? How the hell? [Here, Julian pauses, reaches over to lightly punch Josh's arm in alarm. This was so not in the plan to rip Jono off.] You think he's actually trying, man?

[Josh just uncrosses his arms and gets out the popcorn, opens the bag, and lets all the steam out. It smells like butter in the kitchen now.]

Oh, no, both his and the presidential picks had Kansas winning; Jono just had his Sweet Sixteen slightly different by like... one. Or something. But no. No. No. He is not trying. He picked Kansas to win because the funny bird mascot made him laugh. And then he snorted and started choking on his pizza when he did. [Josh frowns here.] But the point is, he's using his same old tried-and-not-so-true method but this time it's working. He's got karma on his side this time.

[Julian rolls his eyes, his lips quirking up into a sardonic smile at that little story about pizza. Typical Sasquatch behavior. He scoffs and leans back.] Lucky bastard. I don't believe this shit.

[Josh scoffs. He dumps all the popcorn in to the bowl and walks back to the living room where Kevin has turned to the Suns-Lakers game. Josh tosses a piece of popcorn up in the air and catches it in his mouth in typical Josh-the-show-off fashion.]

Hey, Ali says it's karma. We made fun of him too much, and now it's getting us back.

Fuck karma, homo. [Julian follows Josh, grabbing a handful of popcorn again before dropping unceremoniously on the couch and stuffing a few kernels in his mouth.] He's just a lucky prick. We'll get our money back during baseball. No fucking way he's been keeping up with that shit.

[Josh glances over at Kevin. Fantasy baseball is one of the only things they have in common. Then he smirks. Whenever a bunch of the boys are watching a game together, they like to bet on the outcome for little things like a "bag of potato chips to whoever calls the score during the seventh inning" or "pick the losing team and you buy the pizza." It's a lot of fun for the boys, especially since predicting the score is almost always luck-based. It doesn't matter. Jono always gets flustered when it comes to baseball and always loses.]

He will go down. [Josh says this with assured confidence.] He will buy us all pizzas, and then he's going to bitch and moan about how stupid baseball is.

Just because he doesn't understand it. His idea of a good sport is kicking a ball around for four hours and at the end of it the score's still zero-zero. [Julian pools the popcorn on his chest after he slumps in his seat, stuffing some more into his mouth. His attention is on the television screen and the basketball game. Sorry, Kev, he just nods at you in greeting there.] Are you fucking kidding me? [He's bitterly referring to the state of the twice-tied game here. Is Julian in a sour mood over this? Do human beings convert oxygen into carbon dioxide?]

Edited 2011-03-23 05:45 (UTC)

[Josh notices Kevin's curt nod in return to Julian. But whatever, it's not his problem. Soon the three boys are howling at the TV every time the score ties up again, and once the game goes into triple overtime, Kevin and Josh are angrily pelting popcorn kernels at the screen.]

Come on!!

[Yeah so there's unspoken stuff Julian has left unspoken between him and Kevin. They're not friends, never really were, but the stupid jerk is important to who's important to Julian. And maybe now that Mr. Runaway Emo Kid is back Julian doesn't know what to say to him. 'Welcome back, you're welcome by the way, glad you didn't get yourself killed. Thanks for making my friends' lives a living hell for months.' Maybe another time.

So Julian just watches the game, eventually sitting up for every failed shot at the hoop and piss-poor pass, joining in with the hollers and throwing.]

[Kevin's gotten a bit better about picking up on silent cues, and the ones coming from Julian are subtle... but easy enough for him to read. With Julian, Kevin doesn't even see a point in trying. Julian is everything the X-Men are looking for: determined, leader-potential, and most importantly, a believer in the X-Men. Kevin isn't their biggest fan... and that, he believes, is the biggest obstacle in getting any sort of acceptance from Julian. That's where Kevin doesn't see any possibility of a real relationship of any kind between them. There isn't a point.

He sighs. And tries to enjoy the game. He curls up in the corner of the couch -- far away as he can get from human contact -- and keeps his eyes on the TV. His hometown team isn't playing, but still, Kevin can still enjoy a good show from Steve Nash and Kobe.]

[If anyone asked Julian why he doesn't like Kevin, he would immediately counter that he's never for a moment disliked Kevin. The truth is Kevin is a wild card: he's not confident in his abilities, he has wavering morals and loyalties, and most importantly, he takes unnecessary risks. He's some kid trying to be an X-man but it doesn't take a genius to realize it's because Kevin doesn't know what else to do. He abandoned ship the first chance he had.

It's not that Julian doesn't like Kevin; it's that Julian doesn't trust the guy's loyalty to the team. And team loyalty? That's a priority to Julian. And whatever smidgeon of faith he had in Kevin is certainly bruised now.

So Julian does what he does best to people he doesn't know how to talk to or sympathize with - he ignores them. Way he sees it, it's easier this way. Again, maybe another time. Which is why when the Lakers go into triple overtime, Julian reaches over to slap his hand over Josh's chest and doesn't even look at Kevin. For once Josh is getting treated the best by Julian Keller in the room.]

Oh, come on!

Edited 2011-03-23 21:36 (UTC)

[In the past, Kevin would probably have gotten up and stalked off. But he doesn't care anymore. It's not that he's gotten so calloused to being disliked or hated or anything like that. He knows a lot of the people here, Julian included, are merely tolerating him, and even knows some of the reasons why.

The issue of team loyalty. That same Kevin who would've been so uncomfortable with the tension in the air before would've said, "Why should I stick up for a team that's never stuck up for me?" But deep down, he knows. All that's changed. People have changed his life, as cheesy as it is to admit it. He questioned it before, whether the X-Men only came to get him out of some kind of wounded pride or school integrity. There's no question about it anymore, though. After coming back and settling into a routine at the school again, he feels... cared for. And accepted. Not by everyone, but some. And it's a start.

As the score ties up yet again and the other boys are jumping up and down on the sofa and screaming, Kevin is able to drown out the noise and reflect. He tries to conjure up that old feeling of "Why should I?" again and can't seem to find it. If he had to protect either of these boys jumping on the sofa and whooping at the TV -- he'd do it.

Articulating that out loud, however, would be way too touchy-feely. So he just groans when Steve Nash attempts a three for a total air-ball to remind them of his presence and makes an off-hand comment.]

The old man's getting tired with all these overtimes. You never see him shoot for total air.

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[open thread] need distractions!! (iris)

no subject

Jono's pick is my own personal pick, Kevin's just happens to be the same as Obama's :P

I have no idea what that means so Imma smile & nod :)

That works!

Re: That works!

I WANT SOME FISTBUMP SHIP. GIMME IT IRIS.

i will attempt.

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