Log: Sean Patrick and Victor Viveros Who: Senator Sean Patrick and Governor Victor Vivieros When: April 5, 2008 Where: Washington, D.C. What: Sean Patrick and Victor Vivieros have a mini-conversation. Poor Sean is completely worn out, but Victor’s all bouncy and excited. And comes bearing Chinese food.
Senator Sean Patrick didn't intend to be involved in all of this, but he really didn't have any choice. Most of the people in Congress were dead, except for him. He knew the way the old system worked, knew the right people to contact, and with Governor Vivieros and Commander Blake, along with Professor Xavier and the others, they were getting something accomplished...
It just didn't feel like it.
There were a lot of people in the country who were coming down hard on Sean. They didn't want a mutant president after the last debacle, even if he supported registration. The mutants didn't like him because of that and the humans didn't like him because he was openly a mutant these days. And that was good. He didn't want to be president. He just wanted to help. However, he didn't think that Vivieros was a good choice, either. He didn't know anything about the man, and that made him wary. And, as a telepath, he couldn't get a good read on him. Everything seemed fine, and he ... didn't know if he could trust that. Xavier was a much, much more powerful telepath than he was, and he seemed to like him. He wasn't sure what it was that put him on edge. Hn.
He was alone in the conference room after a long meeting, putting notes together, gathering papers up. He was exhausted, the future was uncertain, and more than anything else, he could really have used coffee and a sandwich.
Victor Vivieros really had seemingly come out of nowhere. He’d always had a platform that consisted of trying to bring mutants and non-mutants together, but, before Magneto’s takeover, that just wasn’t big news. Not when there were mutant Senators who supported registration and mutant schools being outed in the media. But, now, frankly, he expected people to be wary of his emergence.
Of course, it was likely that people would be wary of anyone who stepped forward at this point, considering everything that had happened. It wasn’t strange, that countrywide wariness actually benefited him, considering, and he didn’t seem put off by it in the slightest. In fact, Victor seemed to enjoy the projects he was undertaking to help put the country back together. And unlike some other people aiding those efforts, he actually wanted the presidency.
Most importantly, he was one of the few people who didn’t act flustered or sleep deprived or stressed from all the work they were doing. Which was why he had taken the time out after their meeting to go out and bring lunch back into the conference room --- almost like he knew Senator Patrick wouldn’t do it for himself. “You look like you haven’t slept in days,” he said, pushing a Styrofoam cup of coffee across the table to the other man.
Sean felt a little embarrassed, looking up and adjusting his glasses. "I'm sorry," he said, taking the cup. Compared to the others, he was young, only in his early thirties. "I haven't. I don't know how you do it, Victor." He took a sip of the coffee and, finding it too hot, he flinched and set the cup back down. "S'good. Just hot. I don't know how you manage to go through all this looking well-rested and carefree." What the hell. Seriously.
“There’s nothing to apologize for,” Victor said, taking a seat and a sip of his own coffee before unloading the Chinese food he’d gotten, handing a paper plate and fork to Sean. “These are stressful times for everyone. But running yourself into the ground won’t help anyone.”
"You're deliberately avoiding my comment," Sean said with a little bit of a smile as he took a fork. "They're stressful times for everyone----except, it seems, for you. What, have you been through a national crisis like this before?" He laughed helplessly, adjusting his glasses and taking a bit of food onto his plate. "I swear, when all this is over, if you don't have the presidency, I don't know who will."
“When are we ever going to be in a situation like this again?” Victor said as he plated his own food. “Tragic as this all is, it’s also exciting. No one since the Founding Fathers has had a chance to build this country up the way we’re going to.”
He really did seem invigorated by the thought of the whole thing and, while Victor’s actions oozed of sympathy, he was also more than ready to tackle the challenge head-on with a certain amount of vigor that his associates, in their sleep-deprived states, seemed to be lacking.
Sean smiled faintly, perking up. "You're right, aren't you," he said. "But I bet you that John Adams and Ben Franklin looked about as well as I do right now." He laughed a little, picking at the Chinese on his plate. "I .... but you're right. Inspiring. We'll go down in history." He wasn't really doing it for the fame and glory. He was doing it because he felt he had to. He was involved in the whole disaster with that Wicked mutant and it just seemed his lot in life to be involved like this.
"Do you take yourself to lead the country into a new era, then?" Sean raised an eyebrow. "I'd hate to think you were being self-serving in all this."
“I’d take it upon myself to lead the country into a new era if that’s what the country decides it wants,” Victor said with a brief, benevolent smile before taking a bite of lo mein and chewing thoughtfully. “Of course, I’m sure there are plenty of people too frightened to know what they want. And that’s why we’re so important in all of this.”
"And what is it you think the people want?" Sean asked, taking a sip of his coffee, which was now a little bit cooler. "I'd think that almost everyone wants something different, Victor. You can't please everyone."
Swallowing his food, Victor gave that comment a moment of thought, as though he was weighing Sean’s comment and his own answer to it very carefully. “You can if they all believe they’re getting what they want,” he settled on finally before gesturing to Sean’s coffee with his elbow. “Drink your coffee before it gets cold. There’s another meeting scheduled for later this afternoon. You’re going to need all the caffeine you can get.”