ArchivedLogs:Smokin' in the Lounge

Smokin' in the Lounge
Dramatis Personae Alexandrine, Aloke	2013-05-18 '
Location <XS> Teachers' Lounge - B1
Running a school for mutant teenagers just taking control of their powers is not an easy job, and the teachers at Xavier's deserve a place to come and relax. This lounge is their place to come and de-stress, and it does not skimp for relaxation. The room is elegant and luxurious, plush couches making up the seating in the lounge and a glossy glassy bar wrapping around one wall, well-stocked with alcohol (and perpetually fresh-brewed coffee, for those so inclined. A large-screen high-def television hangs on one wall, stocked with about as many movies and games as the childrens' rec room upstairs. High bookshelves hold a wealth of books. The fridge here is always well stocked, and the cook is always willing to make deliveries down to this level. Far in the back, a hot tub is submerged into the floor, for still more unwinding. NOTE: Students are not allowed in the Teacher's Lounge at ANY time.** It's late, the kids are all in their dorms, and its been one long day after another since Aloke moved here. It's been nice to keep busy, but with all the stresses heaped on, Aloke has sought out the solace of the teacher's lounge. He's also hopped behind the little bar there since no one else is around and is rifling through his choices, trying to make a decision. Otherwise, the place is deserted. Sounds like he's figured out how to plug an iPod into the sound system in here too, and set it to his Frank Sinatra playlist. AND. He's singing along. God help us, Aloke is singing Frank. And suffice to say, Aloke will not be quitting his day job any time soon. He's not /horrific/, but he's certainly no Frank. Just let the crooner croon, Aloke! It is late, and Alex is still too awake to try and retire for the evening. She'd pushed herself to hard earlier while working out, and therefore has a towel thrown over her arm, as she heads into the lounge. Blue eyes settle on the new teacher that between her personal life and the madness that is Xavier's mansion, she hasn't met yet. "Good evening." she offers as she walks in, heading for the bar in an oversized gray t-shirt with the logo for the school, and some equally gray leggings. Red hair is loose, at least for the moment, an elastic around her wrist hints that the look may change. "S'what now?!" Aloke jerks upright suddenly, surprise by Alex's approach, nearly overturning half a dozen bottles which he someone manages to steady before any real tragedy occurs. He clears his throat and tries to smooth out his reaction. "Hi, yeah, good evening. I'm Aloke," he says, extending his hand across the bar. "Get you a drink?" Alexandrine offers a mild smile, pink warming her cheeks. "Alexandrine. And if you wouldn't mind, Ah'd love a bourbon, neat." She's certainly not a local, not with that drawl. She sets aside her towel, moving towards the bookcase. "You're into the Rat Pack, are you?" "They're classic, and classy. Hard to beat." Aloke is smiling, and now that he's not freaking out, its easy to see he's wearing chinos, his favorite Ramones t-shirt, and he's barefoot, but rumors about the barefoot art teacher have been circulating for a few days now. He pours himself a gin and tonic, Alex's bourbon, and walks the drinks over to her by the bookcase. "Here you go. What do you teach here, if you don't mind me asking?" "They're all right. Ah'm a more.. jazz and blues girl, myself. Billie, Nina, Louis... but then, that's in my blood, hmm?" She accepts the glass, a silly romance novel having been claimed from the bookcase. "Dancing and History. Yourself?" Aloke nods, apparently appreciative of her choice of music. "Hey, those are critical elements of American music. We wouldn't be able to have rock, or punk or anything after that without Jazz and the Blues. Its all good stuff." The only trace of accent in Aloke's voice is pure, native New Yorker. He offers his glass to clink against hers before taking a sip. "Ah /you're/ the dance teacher. Ok. I had mentioned to some students about my teaching Yoga as well as art and they were asking about dance as well, which I am /not/ well-versed in." Alexandrine arches a brow at the emphasis. "Yes, that would me me. Ah haven't been working here terribly long, so not everyone is really acquainted with me overly much. Add to that, Ah still maintain a place in the city, so Ah'm not always here after classes and all are over. And while Ah do know some basic yoga, you can point your kids to me for dance." Exhausted and lonely, Aloke's mental state is becoming more and more clear to someone with the talent of mind reading. He's been here only a week, but the amount he relishes having down-time contact with a grown up is palpable in his emotive make-up. Sharing a drink, away from the kids, he's finally starting to relax. It's too bad he's also a straight guy, and is experiencing unavoidable straight guy thoughts regarding the lovely woman in workout attire. Nothing /gross/ but guy-thoughts nonetheless. "Moving out here was a great choice for me. I've been living in the city all my life, and its great to finally be somewhere I don't have to hide what I am, you know?" In the relatively dim light of the lounge, the glow behind his eyes is more than a little noticeable. One can probably see why he'd have trouble hiding amonst the humans, at least for long periods. Alexandrine averts her gaze to look into her glass, her cheeks warming a little bit. A hand lifts and passes through her hair, rubbing at the back of her neck. "Ah do know. Ah get to pass easily enough, and Ah have non-mutant friends in the city and all. " She shrugs, taking a sip. "And a friend of mine who was discovered to be a mutant needed a place, so Ah let him crash in my second bedroom...can't just up and kick him out, even if Ah could break my lease." "Yeah, I know what you mean. I just knew if I didn't make a clean break, I wouldn't stick with it out here. And I wasn't that close with anyone at the university anyway. It was always such a competitive, adversarial environment." Aloke sighs and takes a big sip. A lot of his guy-mode train of thought is diffused by the mention of her male roommate, with the equivalent of a mental shrug. At least he's a gentleman, even if he doesn't have the right idea. "It's just nice to be here." There's also the question of him desperately wondering about the nature of her mutation, but apparently he's too polite to ask that one. "So what do you do in your spare time?" "Well, Ah'm hoping to help Zeke get things together. Maybe he'll take over the lease and get another roommate and Ah'll stay here all the time, Ah don't know. He's.. he's just a nice guy, had a good career, and got thrown for a loop. Didn't even know he was a mutant. His wife.. ex-wife.. Ah dunno. We don't talk about it. Truth is, Ah haven't seen him in a month of Sundays. Ah know he eats, Ah leave dishes in the fridge but.. " She shrugs, moving to curl up on one of the couches, leaving her ballet flats on the floor. "Spare time? Dance. Read. Make enough food for small armies. You?" Oh, the pendulums of the male brain. Aloke's brain finally settles on a middle ground, a 'time will tell' sort of status on whether he should make a pass at Professor Alexandrine. His primary emotive response at this point is pleasure at conversing with a colleague who is not trying to cheat him out of tenure or any other benefit. "Not so different, actually. My yoga is a daily practice. I adore books. I am in fact a decent cook as well, but only if you like Indian food. When I finally convinced my mother I wasn't going to let her set me up with someone, she insisted on teaching me, so 'I wouldn't starve'. Her words." Aloke laughs, lifts his glass in an imaginary salute to his mother, and takes another sip. Alexandrine nods, sipping at bourbon. "Used to dance every day, hours a day, back when Ah had dreams of being in a big ballet company. Not an easy habit to break." She smiles, eyes lifting. "Your mother and mine can never meet. She's always worried Ah'm gonna end up some old lady with twenty three cats and a game show addiction, or somethin'. Ah do mostly Southern dishes, out of habit, but Ah do a lot of basic stuff. "Well, we'll have to exchange dishes sometime," Aloke says, not even realizing he's basically asking her to have dinner with him. "I have to warn you though, I'm a vegetarian. So all my dishes are awesome." He seems to be feeling more comfortable as time goes on, and drinks settle in. He looks into his glass and swirls some lonely looking ice cubes around in empty space. "How did that happen," Aloke asks of his empty glass. "You need a refill too? Don't worry, I know we can't go nuts here at the school, but I doubt two drinks would put either us under." He grins. "Sure. Ah've only had Indian once or twice. But some of my neighbors were vegetarian and vegan in my old building, so Ah've learned how to adapt recipes." She tips back her glass, finishing off that bourbon and offering it over. "Take a lot more than two. It's one of the ways Ah use to blur the edges with my powers." "Is that right," Aloke asks, trying to be nonchalant about the mention of her ability. She opened the door, he thinks, it must be ok to ask. He says, "You've probably heard about what the new guy can do," he says, obviously meaning himself. He shrugs, and in a flash of light about as bright as a camera bulb, Aloke is suddenly behind the bar without having walked the distance. "Whats yours, if you don't mind me asking?" Alexandrine blinks, then squints for a second after he's no longer bright. "Ah wouldn't say it, if it wasn't true." She drawls, watching him. All of a sudden she'll exert her empathy, trying to make him feel nervous, unsure of himself. Then there's something akin to a mental knocking. << All kinds of fun parlor tricks. >> Everything Aloke's ever been unsure about gets jostled about as her power plays tricks with his mind. And then everything is settled again and her voice is crisp and clear in his head. He's incredibly disconcerted for a moment, and then his eyes go wide. There's a mix of emotion coming off of him, his own legitimate nervousness, now pretty well focused on the embarrassment of what he was thinking about earlier, but also mixed with how /cool/ he's thinking this all is. This could only be the mind of a man with no serious secrets. But all of this is sublimated, kept under the surface while he's forced to experience his nervousness acutely. "Uh, wow, ok, so you're in my head. Is that... on all the time, because if so, I mean, earlier, it was just.. I was." Aloke is completely out of sorts, and tries desperately to distract himself by trying to pour the drinks, which does not go particularly well. He gets both glasses full, but the counter is going to need some wiping up. He takes the counter in both hands and tries to steady himself with a deep breath. Alexandrine eases off the empathy, shaking her head as she leans her head back. "No, it's not on all the time. Ah've met some telepaths who either can't, or won't, shield, but Ah usually do. But it's been a long day, Ah have a little bit of a headache.. " There's a flash of a grin, pure wicked amusement. ".. and you asked. And you didn't think anything that Ah paid any mind to. Ah'm flattered. And no. Zeke is /just/ a roommate, since Ah think you wondered. Ah do, however, have a fella Ah'm seein' in the city." Aloke swallows hard and takes a moment for a couple deep breaths once his emotions are his own again. "Wow, that is a... bracing experience," he says. Smiling, he's finally on better footing again and grabs a bar towel to mop up real quick before returning with their second round. He hands her drink off, and then takes up residence in an over-stuffed chair across from Alex's couch. "It's funny, now I'm just sitting here trying to think back to everything that was on my mind the last little bit here." He laughs, "Glad there was no real damage." Alexandrine waves a hand. "Don't worry. A lot of the time, it's like background noise. And Ah have had so much /worse/ thought at me, and terribly vehement in those thoughts, that Ah can be hard to offend...unless Ah'm already pissy." Aloke grins, "Well, lucky for me. I must have caught you on a good day." He flashes from one chair, to the one next to his, twists around a bit, and apparently likes the first one better, because he flashes back there. He twists around sideways, puts his feet up on one arm of the chair, and his back to the other. "So, are you one of the 'X-Men' as well? Or just a teacher, like me? Or is that classified?" He grins, finding his own joke funny. "Despite the mythic properties of my hair color, Ah am not, usually, a harpy, or ready to be pissed." Alex sips at bourbon, stretching her legs out. "In fact, with my powers, Ah actively try to avoid being angry." There's a snicker. "Me? Just a teacher. Not that Ah wouldn't be volunteer, but Ah'm pretty sure you have to be asked. Or drafted." "I've gotten that impression too. Invite only." Aloke sips at his gin and adds, "But I did get to participate in a Danger Room activity the other day. /That/ was fun. Kurt took a bunch of students down for an exercise, and brought me as well. That place is truly impressive..." Aloke's head bobs just a touch. Its not boredom, for sure. That much can be read on the surface. This is among his top 5 conversations this week. He is just physically and emotionally drained. He blinks and looks around, trying to figure out if he needs to cover for having fallen asleep. Looks like no time passed. Off the hook. "You're about as done in as Ah am. We should both probably call it a night. Keeping up with a bunch of teenagers means we old folks should get our sleep as much as we can." Alex suggests softly, downing her bourbon again. "Maybe we can meet up later in the week for dinner dish swap?" Aloke sighs, smiling his mild embarrassment, and finally nods. "You read my mind," he says, and then grimaces at the figure of speech, and the unintended pun. And then he just laughs, because its funny. "Well either way you cut it, you're right. I should head upstairs." He stands and offers the other teacher a polite bow. "Goodnight, Alexandrine." Alexandrine waves politely, rising to gather her things. "Good night, Aloke. It was a pleasure to meet you. "