ArchivedLogs:Futures

Futures
Dramatis Personae Lia, Jack, Rasa	9 April 2015 '
Location <XS> Back Porch
The back patio is a restful place to sit and relax, in most weather. Ample seating comes in the form of umbrella'd deck chairs and a cushioned porch swing, and the neighboring gardens attract butterflies and hummingbirds to make the viewing pleasant. The hot tub is usually open for use, though in snowy weather the transition in and out is a shivery one! April has not failed to deliver by way of showers this year. The steady drops falling outside are pleasant to listen to, but the ground has started to get a bit on the mucky-muddy side from the constant onslaught of precipitation. As such, Lia has found her way about as outside as she wants to be just after dinnertime, wrapped in a fluffy purple robe with penguins sliding about on it playfully and a pair of honest-to-goodness bunny slippers. Her long, dark hair is wrapped and pinned up atop her head semi-haphazardly by a collection of tiny, glittery butterfly clips. She moves toward the hot tub, depositing the little thermos and much larger towel in her hands on one of the small tables beside it before shedding her fluffier layers down to a swimteam-issue suit. "Oh, chilly! Still chilly. Winter left some behind," she reports to...no one, really, as she hurries to get to the warmer water. It may be chilly but it isn't keeping Jack indoors. In jeans, a bright red t-shirt, and a zip-up hoodie, the invisible teen is just on his way outside for a walk during a homework break when he spots Lia. Hood up and hoodie zipped to ward off the cold, he blinks a few times at Lia's attire but when she sheds fluffy layers to reveal the swimsuit, he smiles invisibly. Stretching a little, he heads over towards the hot tub too. "Hey, Lia," he greets. A figure is coming in from the mess of the weather, fuzzy and wet and perhaps a little muddy. Ze is drawn to the steam rising off the surface of the hot tub, slowly stripping off a jacket that seems damper than the rest of hir, the underneath layers pretty damp as well. Ze is recognizable as Rasa as ze draws near, kicking off hir sandals as ze steps up onto the deck. "That looks so good right now." Ze starts stripping in earnest, leaving hir clothes in a pile of mess, settling into a pair of boxers with bandeau across hir chest. Ze heads over to a small pipe near the building and turns it on so ze can rinse the last of the mud from hir limbs. As ze cleans hirself off, hir fuzziness shrinks away, leaving hir smooth and pink skinned with only a curly tuft of white hair on the top of hir head. "I am sooo chilled," ze admits as ze slips quickly into the water as well, hir skin turning a magenta color at the temperature change. Lia slips into the tub, the stark spiderweb scarring of her exposed skin less apparent once slipped beneath the water. Settling onto a side bench, she sinks down to the level of her neck. Greetings do earn a (brief!) lifting of an arm in a wave. "Hello! It is very good. So warm! I wanted to be in the warm water. If I am going to be a robot later, I should enjoy it while I still can, I figure." Her hands glide around under the water's surface, just feeling the soft resistance of the fluid. Jack leans against the hot tub when he gets closer, considering the warm water for a few moments. Some of the steam hitting him gives an almost ghostly outside of his unseen face. "Wait, what do you mean you're going to be a robot?" he asks, glancing around as if expecting to see a robot doll sitting around. Rasa's muddy approach gets Jack lifting an empty sleeve to wave, steam making for a spooky spectral hand-shape. "Hey," he greets. He starts to say something else but stops when Rasa starts stripping, looking away to be polite. "What brings you out into the chilly weather today?" Rasa raises an eyebrow when ze starts to maybe make out some features in the steam, then watches that face turn away. Ze sighs as ze sinks further into the water, slowly developing a tolerance to the heat. "Oh, I don't know, it wasn't that cold out and I felt like it would be a good day to stretch my legs. Kind of getting tired of being cooped up inside." Ze stretches hir arms over hir head and rolls hir shoulders. "Really? A robot? One of B's?" "That is what I am going to be when I graduate. I suppose that means there is a fair bit of time, first, but... Well, not just a robot. Quite a lot of them, actually. They are going to put them everywhere." Lia watches her own hand moving under the water. "Usually I will go out even when it is raining, but the ground is squelchy now. And this seemed better." The butterfly-decorated head gives a little nod. "Well, many of B's. I am going to live with her after we graduate and she is going to make me robots." Jack glances back over when it sounds like everyone's nice and settled into the water and smiles a bit. "Cabin fever, huh. Was feeling a little cooped up too so I decided to take a break from homework and come outside a bit," he says, dipping a few fingers into the warm water. "You're going to be a lot of robots? How won't you get to enjoy stuff like this," he gestures at the hot tub. "after you graduate though?" "You afraid to get in the water, Jack? Would you be more comfortable if I was a guy?" Rasa reaches behind hir back and unclasps hir bandeau and straightens hir shoulder, hir features and figure shifting to that of an older teen, a little scruff on his chin to match. He lifts a hand and flings the article of clothing toward the previously assembled pile of damp clothing. He then shifts his attention back over to Lia. "Trust me, don't worry about what happens after graduation. We've... you've got time. Enjoy it while you can -- and who knows. Maybe we'll be android light in the future." "Outside is good, too," Lia agrees with Jack. She giggles at Rasa's question. "Why would that make the water more comfortable? I am not a boy, either." Another giggle comes at the shape change. "Oh, you have a baby beard! Tiny face-furrs." Her hand lifts from under the water to make a vaguely petting motion at the air. "Because I am going to be robots then. It is not a good plan to put robots under water, usually. Also, I think the school gets exploded. Faelan said." "Huh?" Jack looks confused, the steam making his features at least a little visible. "Why would I be afraid of the water?" he glances down at it and then back up at Rasa. The shapechange has him watching curiously and he blinks a few times when the change is complete. When it registers he's staring, Jack reaches up to pull his hood back. "Just hadn't decided if I wanted to take a dip yet. Think I will though," he says, taking a step back to pull off his hoodie and shirt. He pauses midway through unbuttoning his jeans, looking up quickly at Lia. "What?" "Yeah... well, it's been months since I've shaved," Rasa's voice is deeper too, but he doesn't lean into her fingers. He just hangs back out of reach. "I could do a full beard, you know, Santa Claus white and all that." His smile doesn't really grow as the conversation keeps returning to the serious future. He wets his lips and looks over to Jack as he disappears more and more as he removes clothing. He starts to scowl after a moment, his head turned downward. “It is not very deep.” Lia's legs kick a little in the water, not enough to splash anyone. “All safe.” Her hand moves to her own chin, regarding Rasa thoughtfully. “No...I think that would not suit this face so much. The tiny-fuzz works.” She glances up at Jack's confusion. “I had the future visions twice now. The first time I thought it was maybe a dream, but not so much after the second. They told me about the robots and all.” Jack's frown goes unseen as he makes the connection to what Lia's talking about. It'd had been awhile since he thought of those future dreams and even longer since the one he'd had. "Oh...those dreams," he murmurs, letting out a breath and looking down. He's quiet a moment before crouching down to untie his sneakers. Once they and the socks are gone, he finishes stripping down to his boxers. "Shaving can be a pain. Knicked myself this morning," he remarks as he carefully climbs into the water. "Yeah, those dreams. If I believe those dreams, I'm going to be stuck in a really shitty situation as soon as I graduate -- and that's in a couple months. I... I just can't. I honestly don't want to --" Ze trails off, shaking hir head, skin growing dark while hir eyes stay a light crystal blue. "I apologize. This is just... kind of stressful. I've got some college applications out and some campus visits coming up, but these dreams, they're telling me all that is going to fail." “The things that happened in mine did not seem so soon, at least. I do not graduate for awhile yet.” Lia continues watching her hands move under the water. “I do not know much about college things.” "I don't think any of it's set in stone," Jack says quietly, settling back into the water. He may be invisible but the steam and water show the faint outline of him. "At least I really hope it isn't from what I saw," he adds. "I mean...if we're getting these sneak peeks, we should be able to change how things turn out," he says. "I don't know about college stuff either." "College... well, it's what comes next, for most American teens. It's a way to specialize what you learn here and learn more. What kind of stuff do you like studying here? What kind of job do you want in the future? That sort of helps you decide what you want to do in college. I guess," Rasa scratches at his chin as he glances between the two, sticking with the new topic for now, "if you don't know what you want to do, you can always do community college or just focus on general education courses at a local state university. It's cheaper." “Oh. I do not know. All I know is that I am robots, with B, and Faelan said that the school exploded. That is not much to do anything from.” Lia switches from moving her hands under the water to letting them rest just at its surface, feeling the transition between water and air. “I do not know. I like dancing and climbing and tumbling and things. Maybe I can join a circus instead of being robots. It looks like fun.” "Cheaper sounds like a good idea to me," Jack replies with a little laugh. Shaking his head, he looks up. "Better option since I don't know what I'll want to do when that time comes too," he adds. "What kind of job are you looking to get?" he asks Rasa after a moment. "I am looking into computer engineering, but I'm not completely decided yet. I feel like it's too soon to narrow things down until I've tried a class or two in everything. Computer engineering seems a safe bet though." Rasa gives a little shrug and eyes Jack's hole in the water. He then looks over at Lia and nods solemnly. "Yeah, I could see you working in a circus, but I could also see you dancing well enough to get a scholarship at Juilliard. What do you like to do, Jack?" “Cheaper is good. I do not know about college processes. I think they make you register. I do not want to let Prometheus know where I live. They kept me most of my /life/. I should not have to tell them where I live.” The fingers of one of Lia's hands traces along the scars of the opposite forearm. “Probably I could join a circus without registering.” Jack lets out a breath at that question. "I like reading, playing football, playing a couple video games, nothing I really think I could make a job out of," he says. "I am still sort of thinking of looking into figuring out how to be a detective," he admits sheepishly. "Or looking into how to do programming stuff," the invisible teen adds. Lia mentioning registering makes Jack frown again. "Yeah, registering is a whole extra thing to worry about when college time comes." "I don't know how things will go. They asked about registration on my application, but I was too young to register, so it was easy enough to avoid. I don't know if it will be coming up in the future." Rasa scrubs his hands over his face and pushes down a rising green color in his skin. "Maybe some won't care. I don't know. Right now, I'm hoping Columbia does not mind." He inhales and exhales before continuing. "You can start with the programming classes here at Xavier's, Jack. Then maybe you can make your own video games. Indy games are pretty big right now and will probably pay your bills if you do a good job." “It is going to come up sooner for me. I started school very late. I am turning eighteen in July.” Lia's lips scrunch together, gaze drawn downward. “It is getting dark. Probably I should get some homework finished before bed.” Lifting herself out of the water, she quickly wraps into the oversized towel she brought along for the purpose, towelling herself dry before wrapping back into robe and slippers. “Have a good night.” Jack nods a bit, humming in agreement about the classes. He then pauses a moment and makes a thoughtful noise. "I never actually thought about making a game...that sounds pretty cool," he replies. The mention of Lia's upcoming birthday has Jack making a quick mental note to figure out a gift to give her. "You too, Lia. Have a good night." "I guess I should probably go too." Rasa starts to step out of the tub, careful not to brush up against anyone as he does. He takes a moment to squeeze the water out of his shorts before heading back over to his pile of clothes and picks them up. As he heads toward the entrance, his fur returns, the shaggy coat displacing the water that previously clung to his skin, turning him into only slightly damp rather than full on dripping. "I'll see you guys later."