2012-12-14 Institutionalized Brooding

The school is a fascinating place, especially when you spent most of the life you knew in a cage being asked questions and fed odd things to discover your reactions. Broo enjoys this world far more then the rest of his life together. He practically is bouncing as he awaits Jubilee to finish getting 'ready'. He waits just outside her room, hidden in a pot plant and watching the students headed here and there. His eyes track everyone cautiously. A few students who in the past few days have encountered him sneak quick waves up at him, but most are too busy to notice for now. Broo still doesn't understand why Terrans wear such diverse coverings, nor why some take so long to pick theirs out and put them on, but he hopefully will learn soon enough.
Jubilee could certainly explain it... if Broo wanted an answer that left him with more questions than he started with! It's Friday, and the pace is more relaxed than usual, so she's going with flared jeans, a bright yellow tanktop, and cropped denim jacket spangled with hot pink and white patches and pins. Her hot pink-trimmed tennies make little sound on the carpet as she steps out and locks the door to her room, tucking her iPod and its buds into her pocket.
She pretends to fiddle with the device, waiting until the hall is empty, then quickly kneels to give Broo a hug, if he'll let her. "Sorry for the wait! I totally need to do laundry this afternoon... nothing to wear!"
Logan has spent maybe a handful of hours in the Institute proper since the end of November, and barely more than that in the complex hidden beneath it; when he /has/ been present, he's been even more stand-offish than usual, shuffling through the hallways like a small, silent, perpetually angry ghost with his more-tangled-than-usual black hair and rumpled clothes. Most of the students have gotten into the habit of sticking to the walls, or just turning and briskly walking the other way at the sight of him.
All in all, it's been pretty great, extenuating circumstances aside; if he could just bottle the aura that his close friend being trapped in a hostile country imparts, this whole teaching gig would be a hell of a lot easier.
Logan's scarcity does, however, mean that when he returns home to find traces of--something--that he can't remember smelling anywhere, ever wafting through the halls, he doesn't quite know whether he's dealing with a security breach or a lab experiment gone awry. Once hints of Jubilee's scent begin to mingle with the foreign one, though, his curiosity is piqued enough to narrow his investigation down to the girls' dorms; what are the chances of the mall-dweller spending her days in the lab, after all?
So as Jubilee kneels to give the diminutive alien a hug, Logan is quietly rounding the corner, having slowed his pace considerably so as not to alert the ostensible intruder.
"Yeah," he lowly drawls from few feet away as his arms fold over his chest, "I'm thinkin' that ain't the /only/ thing you forgot, kiddo."
There is no resistance to the hug, it is a Terran custom Broo likes greatly... he isn't sure why, but it is one of the best things he knows. He smiles, "I am patient, Jubilee-friend. What is laundry, and how do you do it? Perhaps I can help. With your classes I have not had much time to discuss the new thing I have learned this week. I learned about a game that has no hooks, but is played by some people in this school. And I have learned about the odd Terran barter system of universalized exchange for seemingly otherwise valueless slips of refined pulpous plant matter with pigmentations to depict images of deceased beings and structural edifices." he looks around, "And I have even acquired some in exchange for my aid in intellectual notations of various matters, solving of simple equations, basic chemical reaction data, and linguistic translations. I would not require any compensation if you have such assistance needed." smiling proudly about his accomplishments, his right clawed hand slipping into his suit of rags knotted together to locate his little stash of cash. He then looks up at the man and tilts his head, then raises his left hand and give a huge smile, emulating an alien from a show he'd seen some students watching, "Hiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii." his eyes half lidding to try and emulate the same odd widemouthed look from the show.
Jubilation blinks at the little alien's description of his recent learning experiences. And she thought she'd be /answering/ questions when she found this guy! If this keeps up, she might be /asking/ more than she's answering! "Um, mostly it's a way of making dirty clothes clean again. I'll show you sometime. And... wow, sounds like you've been busy!"
She's about to say more when the hairs on the back of her neck decide they've lain down long enough and spring immediately to attention, making her spine tingle warningly. It's not something she can define, really, just a change in the atmosphere. Something like when...
Yes. When HE enters the room. Rather like ice water poured down her back, really.
Jubilation looks up slowly, blinking at the short Canadian. Instantly, she mirrors Broo's expression and intonation, chorusing the one-word greeting with him. "Hiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii!"
And, once that's done, sighs. "Okay, what did I forget? Besides introductions, I mean. Wolvie, this is Broo. Broo, Wolverine. He teaches gym." She could get a lot more descriptive, really, but not in front of Wolverine!
"How long has it been here?" is maybe not the response that Broo /or/ Jubilee were hoping for, but it's what they get; Logan doesn't even look at the little alien, as glowering at Jubilee seems to be eating up all of his attention just now.
"You even know what it is? If it's carryin' anything?" The 'gym teachers eyes narrow as he leans just a little bit closer, looming in a way that his small stature normally precludes.
"Since when d'you not know how t' work a phone, kid?"
Looking down at himself, "I am carrying... um... the moola I was given... and a turkey sandwich with dijonaise in a little plastic bag." speaking matter of factly, "I am Broo. I am a Mutant. That is why the machine detected me and lead Kitty Pryde-Friend to me. Okay, yes I am a Mutant Broodling, but I am a Mutant... and being a Mutant is not bad. I am nice. And I am cute. And I am not scary. I have been told so." he seems proud of thoe last few statements, standing a teensy bit taller." he smiles, "I have been here for just under five of the local days, since the end of the solar designated day." Broo then ponders, and pulls out the sandwich, "If it is bad for me to be carrying this, you may have it." holding the sandwich out to Wolverine as if trying to assuage the anger and perhaps protect Jubilee.
"Five days, a Broodling mutant who totally needed help when Kitters and I ran into him, MedBay said no, and yes, I know how to work a phone," Jubilation replies, ticking the answers off on her fingers. "But nobody answered the three times I called, so I stopped calling. Nobody's gotten sick, 'cept maybe me from worrying, and we haven't seen any more Brood." She pauses. "We were just going to breakfast. Want to come?"
The sandwich gets the same squint-eyed glower as Jubilee, along with a low voiced growl, and from there, his attention moves to Broo.
And /stays/, for what very well might seem like forever, given the visibly and audibly held anger; it only actually takes him a few seconds to break the silence, though:
"Put it away," he rumbles. And then, his eyes flick back up to Jubilee.
"Extra 'gym' sessions, two weeks; Epsilon-class," he informs her; it's the best he can do to communicate 'extra Danger Room sessions, anti-extra terrestrial scenarios only' in front of their visitor. "Figure you could use the practice. Enjoy your breakfast; I got other arrangements."
His eyes flick back to Broo, then, and with a small nod, he offers a more neutral, "Pleasure meetin' you, Broo," before pocketing his hands and walking off to avail himself of the can of beer
waiting in his neglected mini-fridge.
Since he wat told to put it away, Broo puts the sandwich back into his rags, and nods, "Nice you meet you as well, sir." then waves as the 'Gym Teacher' heads off for some fermented yeast drink. Looking to Jubilee, Broo shrugs, "He was an interesting smelling being. Does he always have that strong aroma?" he then pulls a rolled up paper from out of his rags and slips it into the planter, tucking it down, as if that is a totally normal thing to do."
"Two /weeks/? Because somebody couldn't answer the phone?" Jubilation protests. Of course, this isn't a democracy or fair. "Fine... /not/. Later." Hopefully /much/ later.
She sighs and turns back to Broo, trying to rein in the anger. "Yup. Usually." She follows the paper with her eyes. "What's that?"
Looks back, "Oh, this, basic schematics for a small cold fusion power generator to assist Eddie Izzard in his lab work." he ponders, "Eddie seems to be a very common name on this planet, so many of the beings here have it as part of their name." then considering the conversation before, What is Gym, and what are Epsilon-Class sessions?" adjusting the paper so it would require someone to know to look there to find it. "There, just as all the members of special detention study group said is the proper manner to place the documents to maintain proper access clearance levels. Detention is an odd word, it usually means some form of holding, supression, or incarceration."
"Cold fusion power generator? Detention? Proper access clearance levels?" Jubilation repeats, blinking. "Wait... this is for the detention study group?"
She might have Dyscalculia, but the kid can do the math on this just fine. "Broo, you're doing other people's /homework/ for them?"
Nodding and standing proud, Broo smiles, "They are compensating me with food, currancy, and one has said that I will get really expensive and rare designer garments that take special connections to acquire. I am helping them with their research, similar to how nurses and technicians helped the doctors and scientists aboard the ship. I am not sure if the work is for home or for some labs, but I have helped with sciences, mathematical equations, and lingustic translations. I am supposed to get a dozen more basic projects to free them up for more important duties this evening."
Jubilation's mouth does that 'o' thing as she processes this. "Oh, fudgesicles... I gotta tell Logan." She takes /one/ step after him, then stops in her tracks. "No, he'd want to know how I knew, and he'd assume I was doing it, too, and I'd get a /month/ of those stupid sessions. They can get caught like everybody else. No student around here can design a cold fusion power generator. Not even Kitty!"
She kneels again, looking seriously at Broo. "Broo, I know you're just trying to help, but in this case you're /not/ helping. They're supposed to be doing stuff like that themselves to learn it. It's part of their schooling." She rolls her eyes heavenward. "I can't believe /I'm/ the one saying this..."
At the comments that he isn't helping, Broo suddenly looks very saddened, "But they said it was helping them, and it allowed them to be free to do far more important things, like dealing with the Borderlands issues, clearing the Mists of Pandaria, Warfighting for the Medal of Honor, tapping some fine hizziney, and recording images of the babes of the promised land." he frowns, "Why would they tell me this was helpful and reward me for my assistance if it was not helpful?" seeming confused, "Does this mean I should not help you with your laundry?"
"As cool as Borderlands is, I don't think it's more important than homework... and here I go amazing myself again," Jubes replies, shaking her head. "Broo, I don't mind if you help me with my laundry. That's not educational. Plus, I did offer to help teach you how to do laundry. But the detention study group is /in/ detention because they're not doing their own work properly, and they're supposed to be doing it to learn." She leans down and hugs him again. "They took advantage of you, little guy. Sure, it was helpful, but it was the wrong kind of help. It's not the kind they really need."
Hugs are so nice that Broo momentarily forgets what he was thinking, but then he asks, "So if Eddie Vedder, Eddie Van Halen, Eddie Munster, Eddie Murphy, Eddie Money, Eddie Valiant, Eddie Albert, Eddie Wilson, Eddie Steeples, Eddie Griffin, Eddie Izzard, Eddie Fisher, Eddie McClintock, Eddie Cahill, Eddie Haskell, Eddie Deezen, Eddie Guerrero, or Eddie Bracken asks me for help again, I should turn them down? Even if they are giving me $25 a page, or equal value in personal property?" he tilts his head, "I could teach them by intentionally doing it wrong once, that way they get caught in their deceptions? Wouldn't that be a good idea?"
"You should /totally/ turn them down," Jubilation replies firmly. "No more homework for pay. Not even if it's done wrong on purpose." She rubs her temples gingerly, feeling a headache coming on. "Let's just go get breakfast. If we wait much longer, we'll miss it."
Food seems to be sufficient motivator to cause Broo to nod, and start heading toward the Cafateria, "So, can we try something new to eat? So many things to try on this world, I want to taste every delicious possibility, as well as find the ones that are not appetizing." smiling, "What are your favorite things for the break fast meal?"
Jubilee rises, catching up and shortening her steps so as not to overtake her small friend. She reaches down to hold his hand, if he allows it. "That's a lot to try! But I'll show you as much as I can." She grins at the question. "My fave is French Toast with major amounts of syrup. But today they're having buttermilk pancakes, which are almost as good."
Allowing the hand hold, Broo smiles as Jubilee takes him to get Pancakes. Perhaps later Broo will remember the paper with the schematics, but for now, it is safely tucked away... and worst comes to worst, he gets a super rare set of 'Fruit of the Loom' designer sweat pants and almsot as rare hooded sweatshirt, which could still be pretty cool. He just will have to remember to be more particular on who he helps and how...
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