Who: Josh Foley & Alani Ryan (with a later appearance by Laurie Collins) When: Tuesday morning, Josh’s birthday. Right before noon. Where: Josh and Alex’s dorm What: BEST BIRTHDAY SURPRISE EVER! /sarcasm. Alani goes to give Josh his "present" but then casually mentions that she's going to go get the cure. Probably not the best thing to say to your not-boyfriend friend who is a boy. Rating: PG-13? There is cursing.
[ alani ] Happy Birthday! That’s how Alani was going to enter the room. Screaming Happy Birthday! Then drop the robe. She had it all planned out. She stole one of Josh’s shirts when he was in class, and she put it on, with under garments of course. Pants had been optional! It was almost big enough to be a dress -- almost! -- but she thought he’d appreciate it. And they had fooled around long enough that Alani felt confident enough that Josh wouldn’t feel awkward about this whole half dressed thing. She wrapped a robe around her, and stalked down to Josh’s room. It was late morning, almost lunch time. She thought about doing this earlier. Crack of dawn, or something ridiculous, but most of this would be wasted because he‘d be tired. She didn’t just offer herself up to just anyone for their birthdays. Okay, that was kind of a lie. But Josh was “special”.
She knocked, once, twice, then walked in, making sure that the ‘show’ was not going to be for Summers too. She saw him sitting playing a video game, waving with a quick movement of his freehand. Eyes never taking themselves away from the television, not even missing a beat in the game. “Summers. Summers. Get out. Beat it. Play in the rec room.” Alani eyed Alex, who looked between Alani and Josh, then groaned, paused his game and made sort of ‘don’t touch it’ look as he passed by Alani to the door. He gave Josh a thumbs up as he exited the dorm.
Alone. Finally.
Alani waited a few seconds still she was sure Alex wasn’t going to come barging in, before she spun around, grinning from ear to ear. “Happy Birthday! What are you eighteen now? You’re practically a cradle robber.”
[ josh ] So far Josh’s eighteenth birthday had been rather uneventful. Unfortunately it happened to fall on a Tuesday, which meant that most everyone had class and training, himself included. He’d already gotten up early that morning to go to his independent study with Dr. McCoy (who had mercifully let him out early as it was his birthday and all) and now he was sprawled out on his bed with his laptop while Alex played X-Box. He glanced up at the knock on the door to find Alani suddenly standing in their room....in a bath robe? The next thing he knew Alex was giving him that goofy ass waggle of his eyebrows and the thumbs up before he left the room. Then he glanced back to Alani just in time to see her drop her robe revealing that she was clad in only one of his t-shirts. Well then...that was a nice surprise.
“Hey, when did you take that? I was looking for that shirt the other day!” he laughed, closing the laptop and sitting up. “And thanks,” he grinned. Hey, he was more than willing to forgive the stealing of his t-shirt in favor of having a scantily clad Alani in his bedroom with that familiar glint in her eye. He climbed to his feet and crossed over to where she was standing, leaning in to give her a kiss in greeting. “Shut up. I’m only like one year older than you,” he reminded her.
[ alani ] “Six months. Lets not over step it here.” Alani said, laughing, then kissing him quickly back in return. Her hand drifted to his chest, lingering there a moment. As she stepped away, her fingers trailed across. Flirtatious as always, more so on his birthday. “And I took it..” Alani started and she hopped playfully on his bed. “When you were in class. Because if I asked you, then you would have started asking questions, and then it would have ruined the whole surprise!” Not that Josh would have minded, but this was a good one. He certainly wasn’t expecting it, well probably not the no-pants part.
Stretching out on his bed, Alani propped herself up on her elbows, wiggling a finger for him to join her. Standing was so overrated. “So Mr. Birthday Boy.. no wait. Birthday Man. What do you want for your birthday?” Alani asked, obviously ignoring the fact of what she was offering. She didn’t want to assume! Some boys wanted other things, not their make-out buddies in their clothing. Alani just hoped that Josh wasn’t like ‘some’ boys. “I promise to give you whatever you want. Within reason. You can’t wish for like.. the moon, though. I can’t get that now. It’ll take a couple days.”
[ josh ] “Oh yeah, we can’t forget those six months,” Josh said, bringing his arms up to wrap around Alani’s waist as she touched his chest. It only lasted for a second however as she all too quickly stepped back away from him. Such a tease! But then she was moving over to his bed and that was even more promising he realized. He followed her across the room eagerly when she beckoned to him, climbing into the bed bedside her and flopping down. He rolled over onto his side so that they were facing each other, his hand coming up to trail along her hip again.
“Hmmm....” he thought, making a show of considering what he wanted for his birthday. “A car,” he smirked teasingly. Although seriously. He was eightteen, he totally wanted a car. But that wasn’t going to happen anytime soon. He was pretty much broke. “I think I know something else that would be good though,” he said, arching an eyebrow at her flirtatiously.
[ alani ] “A car?” Alani’s brow raised in mild interest. That was his first answer. Albeit, a joke. But she hadn’t expected car. She had expected porn, or a huge tv or something. She gave him an impish grin, looking down as his blanket in stead of him. She was teasing him, per usual. “I think I could manage that. We could just steal a car from the garage. You didn’t say you had to own the car.” Alani nudged him gently with her shoulder as she glanced back up to him. “You should be more specific in these birthday wishes.” She scolded.
“Something else better? And what would that be?” Alani shifted her weight on the bed so that she mimicked him, laying on her side. She inched closer, periodically, so that they knees were now touching. “I mean, you could want anything!” Alani threw up a hand, gesturing wildly in the air. She loved when Josh tried to be flirtatious, Alani could poke so many holes in his attempts. It was fun! It kept her entertained. “It could be this..” Alani leaned forward, kissing gently the corner of his mouth. “Or.. you know, this.” Her hand that had been free came to the side of his face, curling around to the back of his neck and pulling him toward her. She didn’t really care if he lost balance, as she tried to pull him on top of her. She kissed him, deeply. A lot less playful that they were usually up to.
But as quickly as she did that she stopped, and blabbered back into conversation. “Or you know, just lay here. Your birthday, your choice. You have many options to choose from. Choose wisely!” She said, jokingly, trying to imitate some caricature of a fortune teller. “Though, I would hope you’d take advantage of this whole, no-pants thing.” Alani motioned to herself with a nod of her head, then back to Josh. “Because it’s a strictly special occasions only thing. And I’d really hate to wait till Arbor Day, y’know?”
[ josh ] “I thought that was implied, being that I would want to keep the car,” Josh said, rolling his eyes (lightheartedly of course) at Alani’s response. “Are you a genie now?” he asked when she told him he needed to be more specific and that he could have anything he wanted. “In that case I want...a billion dollars. And a trip to Hawaii,” he teased, giving her a playful nudge. “And I was gonna ask for a golden X-Box, but I already have one of those,” he added, gesturing towards the aforementioned console which was sporting the gold cover Remy had given him for Christmas.
“I didn’t say something better. I said something else that’s good,” he corrected her. Two could play at this game! His eyes fluttered closed for a moment when she started kissing him again, the hand that was resting on her hip shifting around to her lower back and pulling her in closer to him. When he felt her tugging on the back of his neck and attempting to roll the two of them over he took the hint and did it for her, shifting his weight and positioning himself above her as they continued to kiss. Or at least, they continued to kiss until she pulled away from him once more to keep bantering. “Special occasions only?” he repeated, jokingly pouting at her. “In that case, less talking. More this,” he said, leaning down to press his lips to hers passionately before she could respond again.
[ alani ] Okay, okay, she got the idea. Stop talking, more making out. It was the whole point of the visit really. That, and something else. As she felt Josh’s lips against her own, Alani tried to ignore that nagging feeling that had been plaguing her all week. Ever since she heard about the cure. But, no! It was Josh’s birthday she couldn’t. So in a reckless attempt to keep that stupid conscience thing in check, Alani gave up any regard for propriety she had. Her hands fisted into Josh’s shirt, only to realize that it was pointless. She didn’t want the shirt there to begin with! Indecisive as always, Alani’s hand went down to the hem of his shirt and started pushing it off. It actually turned into yanking, and Alani made sure to remove her lips from his when it was going over his head. Then it was tossed to the ground and she was back to kissing. Kissing she could do.
But there it was again. That thing. That insistence that she needed to be honest with Josh. Normally, any other guy she would have lied her way out of something, made him shut up -- but for some reason she felt she owed it to him. Birthday aside, there was no obligation about it. She just wanted to. Needed to. She had actually started to feel guilty that she didn’t already. Alani mumbled out a ‘hang on’, as she leaned away a bit from him.
“So, not to get serious on you.” Alani started in, half laughing, half sounding nervous, “But I just wanted you to know, when that cure thing is available, I’m going to.. get it.” It sounded so foreign coming from her mouth. Like this sudden honesty with Josh was awkward. Alani didn’t handle awkward well, so she laughed, and played it off. “ No big deal, or anything. Just wanted to, let you know.” And that was that, to Alani at least. And she pulled him back down to kiss him. She bulldozed over that serious moment like it was nothing.
[ josh ] Josh hummed in approval as their kissing became more intense, more hungry. He pulled away from Alani just long enough to help her get his shirt off and then their lips were pressed together again urgently. His own hands were just starting to wander up to pull the over-sized t-shirt that she was wearing over her head when he felt her hesitate. And then she was mumbling something. Confused when she stopped kissing him, Josh reluctantly propped himself up with his arms, peering down at Alani’s flushed face with concern. It wasn’t like her to be unsure during this kind of thing. This wasn’t the first time they’d been together like this, after all. “What’s wrong?” he asked, his face falling when she mentioned “serious.” Shit, was this going to be another one of those ‘so I don’t do relationships’ kind of talks? Because they’d already been over that and he thought that they were on the same page regarding their...arrangement. Whatever exactly it was.
Before he even got a chance to react to the sudden news she’d just dropped in his lap, Alani was suddenly tugging him toward her again as if they hadn’t even stopped in the first place. Josh resisted though, sitting up all the way, his knees on either side of her. “Wait...what did you just say?” he asked, brows furrowed. “Did you seriously just say you were getting the cure? Alani! Why? We don’t even know anything about it yet.” He was completely caught off guard by this decision. Sure she’d been posting about the cure when the news first came out, but he never thought she was seriously considering getting it. Especially since her powers never seemed to give her any problems.
[ alani ] Damnit. Okay, so that didn’t work. Alani hated serious talks. The relationship talk, that was one of them. This cure thing, was another. She knew Josh was against it from the beginning, maybe that was why she was so hesitant to tell him. She liked what they had, and she didn’t want him to dislike her over disagreeable opinions. They hardly knew anything about each other -- just the things Alani could pry out. It was more than she was used to knowing about other guys she hooked up with. But Josh was different. So here they were.
She was propping herself back up on her elbows again, brushing some of her hair out of her face. She looked at Josh; his positioning on top of her, the fact they were both missing parts of their clothing... “You know, you’re going to make it very hard to have a conversation with you, when you don’t have a shirt on.” She teased, and realised it was in bad taste. Okay, no joking. Josh seemed upset, and Alani was concerned. Really! She wouldn’t say it though. And she actually tried not to show it either. “I am getting it because I want to? I mean, do I have to explain myself to you? It’s not like you’re my boyfriend or anything. You’re lucky I even told you at all.” Alani said, nonchalantly. It was nothing, she kept telling herself. Just being honest, and that was a nice thing to do. Especially to someone who she just used to make out with.
Her hand reached for his waistband, trying to pull him back down to the bed. “C’mon, I don’t want to do this now. It’s your birthday.” Alani was whining, practically annoyed that he wanted to delve deeper into this topic. How ironic she was using the birthday excuse instead of him.
[ josh ] Josh was momentarily stunned. Alani’s words almost felt like a slap in the face and he merely gaped at her for a second, confused. Sure, he knew that she tended to be blunt but he’d never really had her snap on him like that before. “What? Where the hell is this coming from?” he asked, looking down at her. “So I’m not your boyfriend. I thought we were still friends at least. Or is that not the case either? I’m not allowed to be concerned about you?,” he asked, obviously offended by her words. As much as the two of them told themselves and each other and anyone who asked that they weren’t a couple and that they had no strings between them, it was obvious that it wasn’t necessarily true all of the time. It was rather difficult not to grow emotionally attached to someone with whom you spent so much time with let alone had a physical relationship with.
When Alani grabbed his waist band, Josh recoiled, the mood having been ruined for him by the outburst. He climbed off of her and stood up from the bed. “Seriously? You’re gonna say something like that and then just pretend you didn’t?” he asked. “All I did was ask why you were getting the cure, which you apparently suddenly decided you were going to do. I mean, I can see why someone like Kevin would. But why are you getting it? There’s nothing wrong with you.”
[ alani ] This was not going how she planned. The look on Josh’s face made Alani wish she had been more tactful in saying that to him. It had come out all wrong. But she couldn’t go taking it back now. It was harsh, Alani knew it, but it had been eating at her. Eating at her! Stuff like this rolled off her back usually, but Josh made everything so annoyingly complicated. “I didn’t say you couldn’t be concerned! Ugh, you wouldn’t understand.” Alani managed out, as she swung her legs over the edge of the bed. She didn’t want to be laying down, and exuding some kind of ‘blah’ about the situation. It was serious. She just couldn’t bring herself to stand face to face with Josh. Alani was suddenly aware that the mood was gone -- not even an inkling of coming back -- and she was half naked. She felt almost embarrassed. Almost because she wasn’t used to that feeling, she didn’t like it. Just like she didn’t like ‘uncomfortable’ and ‘awkward’.
“Why wouldn’t you see me get it? Because I can use my power when ever I want? That I don’t destroy stuff like Kevin, or am blue like Kurt? That it’s not some physical anomaly that prevents me from having a normal life? This is not normal.” Alani gestured between herself and Josh, indicating the mutant part, but it was subtly hinting at their weird relationship as well. “I used to be fine. I used to not have to worry about anything. Having this power took all of that away. I can’t stay with my family. I can’t be with them, Josh. Being a mutant ruined everything. And if you were my friend,” Alani found herself spitting that lat part out rather bitterly, using his own words against him, “Then maybe you’d understand that.”
[ josh ] Josh remained facing Alani, even if she wouldn’t bring herself to look up at him. “If I won’t understand then why did you bother telling me at all? If you don’t think I deserve to know, then why did you stop kissing me and blurt it out?” he asked, frustrated that she wasn’t just explaining it to him like he was trying to get her to. When she finally did start unloading, Josh listened silently, fists clenched tightly at his sides. Again her words stung and he couldn’t help but take it personally, especially when she reminded him that they weren’t normal followed by the way she said the word friend so maliciously.
“Gee, you’re right, Alani. I wouldn’t understand how any of that feels because I’m just that idiot you go to when you’re lonely,” he said angrily. Of course, it was partially his fault for not opening up more about himself to Alani, but then again they tended to stay away from those kinds of conversations when they were together. “You think everything was totally fine when I got my powers? You think I don’t miss having a family or a normal life? I was a fucking Reaver before I came here,” he said, admitting it to her for the first time. He never really brought up his life before coming to Xavier’s with anyone because of all of the animosity he had been met with when he first came to the school initially and word got out that he used to be part of an anti-mutant organization. “I lost everything. But things change and I accepted it. I just thought you had too, I guess,” he continued.
She was right about one thing though (that he would admit to at least). Josh had only been considering people wanting the cure because they had destructive powers or physical mutations and not because maybe they just wanted to go home. He’d been disowned over three years ago now and thus he tended to forget that other people did still have loving families that they missed out there since he tried so hard not to think of his own.
[ alani ] “Oh don’t get sarcastic with me.” Alani snapped back at him, hearing the tone in his voice. It was a bit hypocritical for her to say something like that. But he was the one that had a problem about this whole cure thing. He should have been supportive. That was what she hoped, despite his distaste for it. But it was her turn to feel the sting of his words, and Alani couldn’t hide that surprised gasp at him. “I don’t-- it’s not when I’m lonely -- you don’t even --” Alani for once was at a loss for words, feeling herself get frustrated at every started and dropped sentence. So she resorted to something she hadn’t done in awhile. She cursed.
“Fuck you.” Alani said angrily to him. Her face scrunched up, practically scolding herself for doing that. She could just feel the guilt creeping up on her for that one. Later, when she’d look back on this conversation she would realize it was her fault. It was her fault Josh thought of her that way. It was her fault she kept him at arms length. It was her fault she never opened up, or pried him harder for his family life. Josh originally was only supposed to be the person she went to when she was lonely. But even she wasn’t as lonely as one would have thought, given all the times she made out with Josh. But now wasn’t the time for how she was going to feel later. Right now, she was just angry.
“Now, now, you decide it’s going to be a good time to tell me about yourself?” Alani seemed flabberghasted at the fact -- him opening up. Him being a Reaver. She knew what that was. Those were the types of people her parents had sent her away to protect her from. She couldn’t imagine Josh as -- ugh! This was not going well. “I don’t get you, Foley. I ask, you don’t say a thing. I have to pry for information from you like it’s some sort of secret. I don’t even know if I am friends with you. You’re supposed to be supportive. You weren’t supposed to look at me like I am doing the worst thing in the world.” Alani was trying so hard not to sound upset, even though she was. So she yelled. Yelling was much easier.
[ josh ] Josh honestly didn’t know what he was supposed to think now but he was starting feel like Alani had just been using him and the idea of that being true was hurtful. She came to him when she wanted him, pushed him away when she didn’t. Told him how it was going to be and how it wasn’t going to be. And up until now he’d gone along with it without any issues. He’d been okay with it, hadn’t he? He had agreed to make out with her that first time because he had been lonely too. He agreed they wouldn’t complicate it. He missed Rahne who had all but disappeared on him after what had been an extremely trying relationship. He hadn’t wanted to be Alani’s boyfriend because he didn’t want to deal with any of that again.. He didn’t even think that’s what he wanted now. It was only meant to be to fool around. Ugh! How did it his birthday make out session turn into such a huge mess? Apparently there had been a lot more beneath the surface than even the two of them had realized before. Regardless, he couldn’t deny now that he truly cared for Alani as a friend. Potentially as more than that.
He was surprised when Alani swore at him, she rarely cursed. At least from what he’d noticed. Apparently he didn’t know as much as he’d thought he did. “You don’t get me? Why do you even care? I thought you didn’t want to get me! I’m sorry that I don’t like talking about that stuff. It’s not exactly my idea of a good time,” he said, trembling at this point with all of the emotion and tension in the room. “What? I’m supposed to be supportive? You mean like a boyfriend would be? Make up your mind! You only want me to do whatever you want whenever you want it, Alani. And I’m not doing it anymore. I never said getting the cure was the worst thing in the world. I just didn’t think you would do this. Apparently I was wrong.”
[ alani ] Alani was at rapid fire to stop him before he kept talking. “Of course I care! I care because..” She stopped herself, not even sure why. She couldn’t finish that sentence. There were other more pressing matters -- this whole boyfriend/friend confusion thing. Her jaw tightened as he said it. She wasn’t being confusing! He was! It was definitely him! She had been perfectly clear about how they were supposed to act, and if he had a problem with it then he should have said something. Now was not the time for him to backpedalling and making her feel awful.
“That’s not true!” Alani said, feeling her own hands tighten into his bed sheets. He was so infuriating; she wanted to slap him. “You’re the same way! You wanted it whenever I came to you. If it was a problem for you, the way that I acted, you sure didn’t say anything about it. Everything seemed okay as long as you were making out and not getting too deep about anything.” Once again Alani was being hypocritical. She had kind of hinted, after the first time she pried, that she wouldn’t ask that stuff again. But she wanted to know. She wanted to get to know Josh so badly, and she used the making out as an excuse to pull down whatever little wall he had from sharing this stuff with her. She had done it subconsciously of course, because Alani Ryan never admitted she wanted to get to know someone the way she wanted to get to know Josh.
“Yeah, you were wrong. You don’t know anything about me, obviously.” And just like that, Alani was back to pushing past this relationship thing with Josh. The cure, this had all started because she wanted the cure. Well if he was going to assume she wasn’t going to get it, he needed to see why she was. “I have a family. A family that I care about. That me being here is literally killing them, and killing me. I need to do this, and whether you are supportive or not, whether you are my friend or not, this is what I need to do. Because I have a family that actually wants me around!” Alani’s voice rose an octave, realizing she had turned to screaming at Josh. She had been just dumping all of this on him, because he needed to understand that she did care about something. Even if he didn’t think it was him, she wasn’t a cold heartless person. Unfortunately, the second the last sentence left her mouth, she wanted to grab the words and put them back in. Oh shit.
[ josh ] “Fine. Maybe I was the same way. Then consider this me telling you I have a problem with it,” Josh said. It was true, but at the same time he didn’t want to just stop seeing her. To stop being friends or whatever hell they were. But he didn’t want things to be like this either. If he really sat and thought about it he would have realized that he had been cold towards her in the past as well, especially whenever he got “weird” as Alex and Bobby referred to it. At any rate, it was obvious that their “solution” to not complicate things by not communicating had seriously backfired.
"I don’t know anything about you? I know that you love pineapples and you have a weird obsession with the word 'shucking'. You'd never seen snow until last month. You like photography. Your favorite color is orange. I know that you were born in Maui. That you call your grandfather Kupu and he's your favorite person in the world. He taught you to surf. I know you've been stealing my t-shirts and keeping them, and not just the one you're wearing. I know that you are ticklish on your sides and on the backs of your knees. And I know that I considered you my friend. Or I did at least. You wanna go get the cure? Fine whatever, it doesn’t even fucking matter anymore. But no, I’m not gonna with you and hold your hand while some crazy scientist makes you not a mutant anymore,," Josh got the words out as quickly as he could for fear of changing his mind or Alani interrupting him. And it was good thing he’d said all that when he had, because Alani’s next slew of words probably would have prevented a lot of it.
For the second time that morning he was stricken momentarily speechless, her words hitting him like a ton of bricks. “Get out,” he told her when he found his voice again, turning away from her for the first time during the entire argument. He didn’t want her to see his expression after that one, tears welling in his eyes. “GET OUT OF MY ROOM!” he yelled when she didn’t immediately react. Regardless of what else she wanted to say, the conversation was over in his eyes.
[ alani ] “Josh, I..” Anything Alani was going to say, which was most likely an apology, died on her lips. An ‘I’m sorry’ wasn’t going to fix this. She felt that sick twist in her stomach when she new she messed up so bad. When Josh started pouring out all those things to her, Alani thought she was going to cry. But she couldn’t, not now. Not when he was making her feel so awful because he knew more about her than she knew about him. That he listened. Maybe she was the one who hadn’t? She didn’t know, because after her horrible word vomit, Alani, threw a hand over her mouth to keep her from saying anything else. She was in shock, at herself, and she knew when Josh went quiet and turned away, she had just ruined everything.
Alani sucked back a deep breath. For the first time this morning, and probably the first time in a long time, Alani felt that prickling sensation in her eyes. The one thing that she told herself not to do, never to do. There wasn’t any reason to cry over a boy or cry because of a boy. But Josh. Good old Josh, who was her friend, and sometimes more than her friend, had found a good way of making that whole no crying thing a joke. Alani jumped when Josh told her to get out, especially when he yelled it. She had never heard him so angry, or so hurt. She had done that. She had done that.
Alani scrambled to her feet, forgetting the robe, forgetting the fact that she didn’t have any bottoms on. She had intended for this to have been a much better morning. Not this. Definitely not this feeling of despair and anger and frustration and hurt and guilt. Oh the guilt. But she that stupid bit of pride of hers made Alani wipe at her face as she stalk toward the door, intent on getting out of there as fast she she could. And she wasn’t going to look sad in front of Josh. Alani threw the door open, and with a slam she closed it behind her. Of course it didn’t close. It actually bounced back open-- seeing as Alani, unintentionally, emotionally, phased her hand through the doorknob, shattering a nice splintered hole in the door. Someone would yell at her about it later.
Alani mumbled an apology to someone -- Laurie, actually -- as she shoved past her in the hall way. Alani just needed to get away from where everyone could see her so vulnerable, so upset.