Tensor

Two days after Julian was taken to LA, the first pictures began to surface. Soon, all the tabloids were carrying them.

Julian, looking pale and weak. Julian, surrounded by a flock of useless, worried, lower-classification healers. Julian, the way he would have hated to be seen--helpless, his mother fretting uselessly by his side, his brother standing in the background with his arms crossed, brow deeply furrowed.

He didn't like showing his vulnerabilities, but for the tune of several million dollars a shot, the whole world could watch him be vulnerable now.

His mother gave interviews, clearly confused and possibly back on pills, pleading with desperate honesty, asking whoever was leaking the photos to stop, but legal action was never taken.

Julian's father, always a ruthless businessman, bought a new jet and didn't show up in a single shot. He'd emotionally cashed out of his family a long time ago.

Three days after the explosion, two things happened in the life of Julian Keller, both of which could be classified as a tragedy:

1) He still hadn't woken from his massive injuries.

2) His parents arrived to be with him.

Though most of the week had been rainy, Saturday was shaping up to be a nice, sunny day. The change in weather had brought tourists and locals alike out of hiding, and the mall was buzzing with activity. The students and chaperons of the Xavier Academy were spread throughout the mall and museum buildings, having agreed upon times to meet up and check in before being sent off to see as much as possible in the time they had. By about an hour after lunchtime, a lot of them had breezed through at least one of the museums and were headed on to their scheduled tours or to their next destination.

Few, if any, really noticed the young man crossing the grass in front of the castle, wearing nothing that identified him as a member of any of the numerous school groups on the grounds that day. He was obviously disoriented, sweating profusely and staggering as he made his way out of the castle and across the mall. He stumbled once and nearly fell to his knees before he recovered, which prompted a girl nearby to stop and take notice of him. She asked him if he needed help, laid a hand on his shoulder as he turned wide, pain-filled eyes on her...and then they both disappeared in a blast of heat and light that ripped across the mall like a tiny nuclear explosion.

The people nearest the blast were incinerated almost instantly, though the heat dissipated away quickly as a concussive blast rolled across the lawn, tossing people in front of it like rag dolls thrown by a giant's hand. The west wing of the castle simply buckled at the impact, stone toppling down to crush the dozens of unsuspecting tourists in and around it before they even had time to register the explosion. The east wing buckled and groaned dangerously as well, its collapse simply slower and less complete as the shock wave continued on, buckling walls and foundations, blowing out windows and bringing down sections of roof in the buildings beyond.

But even as the initial explosion finally reached its limit, a domino effect magnified the chaos as hundreds of powered tourists, adults and children alike, reflexively powered up in response to the catastrophe, some of them losing control entirely. There were smaller explosions and tongues of flame here and there among the ruins as dust swirled in the air, and it was only a matter of moments before the first sirens began to wail in the distance. At the scene of the disaster, though, the sound of them was lost almost completely in the sound of panicked voices crying out in fear and pain.


(OOC: Please create sub-threads below for the events and immediate aftermath. Feel free to actually play out the actual explosion and how your character responds or to simply do a narrative of what happened to them and move to the aftermath if you're more comfortable with that. Remember, there's about a ten minute window of opportunity for heroism before local emergency responders and SHIELD will be on site and beginning to take over, though the cadets will definitely be co-opted into the rescue effort. The worst injured will, initially, be taken to area hospitals once rescued, but the Academy students will, once stable, be transported back to the school's med center for continuing treatment there. Parents are, of course, welcome to take their children home for treatment if they desire, but between the school and the SHIELD facility attached to it, they have access to pretty much the best healers in the country. This does, however, still mean a relatively slow recovery for anyone with severe injuries given the general caliber of even exceptionally talented healers does not begin to compare to the very very few omega healers scattered across the globe.)

ETA: GUYS, WE KINDA SUCK AND FORGOT TO TELL YOU THAT THEY GOT BUSED UP TO DC FRIDAY AFTER SCHOOL so they could have all of Saturday at the Smithsonian, and thus why they already got to see cool stuff Saturday before boom rather than spending it all on a bus. Also, for sleeping arrangements, if your roomie went you got matched up with them plus the 2 others you share a suite with (so 4 to a room, and if you have no PC/NPC roomies then NPCs will have taken the spots), other than the chaperons who got spread around in singles for supervisory purposes. Sorry!

Who: Kevin and Julian
When: some random day later in robobaby week
Where: somewhere on campus
What: failing to get along

( We’ll never be friends again, but it’s better for all of us if we’re not enemies. I’ve never been accused of playing fair when all bets are off. )

Who: Kevin and Julian
When: Monday of robobaby week
Where: somewhere on campus
What: scheduling


( I'm fairly sure infant death would guarantee a failing score )

Who: Josh, Kevin and Julian
When: Wednesday 4/27
Where: Josh and Mark’s room
What: Try to work it out.

( How should we do this? )

There was nothing quite like being home, even after everything. There was nothing quite like having the excuse of training to miss classes either. He'd been offered assistance, they'd offered to deliver his bags to his room, but after over a week in the beautiful open spaces of rural Nepal, all he wanted to do was walk. Walking back to his dorm would help him get back into the flow of school. Help him drift back down to his life. There was a lot left to work through. He still had to talk to Julian, though he felt perhaps things with Kevin were slowly reverting to normal. Or what was normal for them.

Julian was another matter entirely. Other than a few minutes on his birthday before Josh had to leave for the airfield, they hadn't had any real contact. No talks, no touches, and always that kiss. Josh could still feel the passion of it when he closed his eyes. Sometimes, he didn't even have to go that far. Julian couldn't possibly ignore him forever. There was only so much running his best friend could do before he backed himself into a corner and people started ducking for cover.

He smiled slightly at the thought. Julian wasn't anywhere near as grouchy and uncaring as he liked to put on. Knowing that, knowing he was still privileged enough to see that, warmed him.

He began to wonder if maybe he should have taken the agents up on that offer though, after a while. He'd come back with considerably more than he'd left with. Lifting and balancing aside, there were still other objects and doors and the like to contend with. It struck him as odd that this being a ritual, had gotten so difficult when it was as it always had been. Then he remembered. He usually came home with Julian. And Julian's tk could compensate for anything.

Sighing, and missing him for far more than his lifting capabilities, Josh trudged along. Determined to get back before there was no one around to ask to hold open the door.

Josh closed his laptop and leaned back in his chair, sighing heavily. He was tired. So tired. He was tired of fighting. He was tired of ignoring each other. He was tired of pushing things away so he wouldn't have to face them. They festered like infections, feeding in the dark. The worse type of illness. Something his powers couldn't touch.

His half of the room had never been so empty. Instruments gone forever. All their bases, stands and accompanying pieces moved into the closet. Along with every last scrap of sheet music, book and cd he owned. His external hard drive, filled to the last byte with mp3s was under his bed. He still couldn't bring himself to wipe it.

Every knick knack and photograph had likewise been shoved under the bed until he decided what to do with them. The only personal items still out and about was his fish, his laptop and his schoolwork. His tree...his tree was safe with a chlorokinetic he trusted. She'd take good care of it until he could have it near him again.

Looking up at the ceiling, Josh wondered how the hell they'd gotten to this point. And more over, whether or not when Julian walked out the door tonight, if it would be for the last time.

Who: Julian and Kevin
When: Saturday, 3/12
Where: Kevin's room
What: heading towards an understanding

( We could try an icebreaker to get rid of the tension, but I think we already exhausted sports and the weather, )

Mark had his headphones on and his iPod turned up loud. He moved with the driving beat, trim hips shaking, limbs arcing through the air, hair falling into his closed eyes. It should have looked graceless, ridiculous, but instead he managed to look completely natural, completely given over to the music.

He hummed low in his throat and spun wildly, utterly primal, nearly careening into Santo. Mark's eyes popped open in surprise and he laughed, jumping up to fling one arm around Santo's shoulders, small body dangling from his neck. "Hello!" he called, reaching up to tug down the headphones. The otherworldly trance music, driven by one hell of a beat, blared out around them. "Ready to adventure?"

Mark pressed a friendly kiss to Santo's chin and dropped down, spinning on his heel and sashaying back three steps, grinning. "Hey, do you dance?"

The far end of the lake was distant enough from the dorms that they could be as loud as they wanted, within reason. It was hidden enough by trees that carefully placed lanterns wouldn't give them away, though the vast majority of the light came from the moon.

Clint had taken the time to hang up ropes to swing into the deeper waters. There were a few pool toys borrowed from the shed and plenty of towels. Music played, switching genres almost schizophrenically as each song ended, and some food and drinks sat in hastily gathered coolers. There was even alcohol held in a cooler that proclaimed, probably not for you.

A throng of later high school and college students were there, roughly a quarter skinnydipping thanks to one of the high schooler's abilility to keep the water warm and comfortable. Everyone seemed to be having one hell of a time.

Julian was more than persuasive when he really put his mind to it. It helped that he could turn on and off charisma effortlessly, though what got him escorted into the building had more to do with logic than charm.

He was (usually) a good influence on Josh. He was (mostly) a calming presence, when he wanted to be. He knew how to handle Josh better than anyone--even Kevin Ford, damn it. Maybe especially Kevin Ford.

Pushing that dark thought away, Julian followed his guide impatiently to where Josh was being kept under observation. He glanced over his shoulder as the door was opened, then around the room quickly, taking stock of the place before his dark eyes zeroed in on Josh.

He stepped in, stripped off his jacket, balled it up and threw it onto the bed. "You have five seconds," he said, holding out an arm to Josh. "And you'd better believe I'm counting."

Emma had seated herself outside her door, stretching while she waited for Julian. Just from the few words she'd gotten online she knew they'd want privacy and dorm rooms just didn't cut it. They'd find a stairwell or something. A supply closet if they had to.

She adjusted her earbuds and spread her legs out into a split, leaning down low to the floor before sitting up and looking down the hall for Julian. If he didn't show in the next two minutes she was going to send him a little mental demand to know why.

( OOC warning for references to parental drug abuse, overdose, and suspected self-harm )

Mark was out for the day and Kevin had come by to see what Evan had sent over. They'd discussed it for a while (and tested the material by making out) before setting it aside for a better time. Spontaneous intimacy was kind of difficult when you had to plan out how to go about touching. The suit had gotten them talking though (as if they ever needed much excuse) and it had lead to nostalgia. Which had ended in Josh showing him the collection Kevin had created and Josh had compiled over the years.

"This one's my favorite," he said, picking up a small gold cast humanoid with outstretched limbs. He rocked his leg, which in turn rocked Kevin's. "I can't believe I actually turned gold." He looked at him from the corner of his eye, beneath gold lashes. "Or that you liked it." He laughed softly.