4/23 Instance: Pity Cake

[tears~fall~like~glass]

timeline: current


Sue: Sue sat on her bed, staring at her things scattered across the floor. She could not remember doing that. Heaving a sigh, she slowly slid down onto her knees to pick everything up again while her nameless gerbil stared at her accusingly. Maybe she'd call him Johnny. He sure was enough of a pain in the ass.

Rachel: Binging on chocolate cake and chocolate chip cookie dough with Paige over movies had seemed like a great idea at the time, however she wasn't so sure about it now. Well, the binging. No, she wasn't sure about Paige's taste in movies either. Regardless, Rachel wandered over to Mayday's room, small plate of cake in hand, and knocked on the door.

Sue: Sue ran a hand through her hair, glancing over to the door, "It's open..." She peered under the bed to look of pencils from the pot on her desk, groping around in the dark.

Rachel: Cringing at the sound of Sue as opposed to Mayday, Rachel tried the knob and stepped in anyway, blinking at disaster. She felt like she should be used to this sort of mess, given the state her room would be in without Paige... Though, she made more of an effort to keep things relatively straightened. Sort of. "Hey."

Sue: "Hi..." she looked under her arm at the shoes and then made her arm invisible so she could see whose head they belonged to. "It you're looking for Mayday I don't know where she is." She was fairly sure that'd be the only reason for any visits to this room right now even if she wasn't mostly staying in the hotel with her parents.

Rachel: "Well, I guess that makes both of us," she shrugged a bit, staring down at the beat up, black and white converses on her feet that had been doodled on with various ballpoint pens, as she shifted her weight slightly. "Well, um..." she started, feeling like she should say something. It felt like it should be an apology, but, holding out the plate in offering, she continued with, "Guess she misses out on cake..."

Sue: Sue backed out from under the bed, deciding the pens could wait for now and straightened up. "Sorry about the mess..." She tried to rake some of it together with a forcefield but couldn't concentrate long enough. "I obviously thought throwing stuff around would help...."

Rachel: "It's fine," Rachel shook her head, managing to edge around the various items littering the floor, making her way over to Mayday's desk to take a seat. "My room would look like this if Paige didn't clean. I have tendency to throw things down all the time."

Sue: Sue leaned against the corner of her desk and sighed, "I don't know what I'm doing."

Rachel: "Me neither because I'm really awful about this whole apologizing thing..." she admitted, setting the plate on the desk, "Which is why I'm trying to give you chocolate cake... Well, and I don't think I can look at it anymore without feeling sick."

Sue: "Even though the cake was probably meant for May?" she poked a finger into the icing anyway to try it.

Rachel: "Yep," Rachel nodded. "It should be pretty damn awesome because Paige is pretty damn awesome at... Well, everything, but especially baking."

Sue: She nodded appreciatively, the icing was good. "You don't have to stay - I can bring the plate back..." she cast her eyes around the room, "I'm fairly sure no one wants to be around me at the moment... I haven't exactly been nice lately."

Rachel: "Neither have I." It was time to just get this whole apologizing business over with. Pushing a hand through her pink and orange hair, she blew out a sigh, "Look, about the other week... I shouldn't have snapped or said any of that stuff, so I'm sorry."

Sue: "It's fine... you were right anyway..." she looked down at her lap. "I just didn't want to believe it."

Rachel: "That doesn't make it acceptable, and I didn't want to be right. It was... Unfortunately, it's just the logical conclusion to draw after the first few days," Rachel shook her head, looking away herself as she tried to find a spot to focus her attention on.

Sue: "Logical or not... no one wants to hear that... and I'm still angry... I can't help thinking we could have done more... should have... got there sooner..."

Rachel: "I know. I sure as hell didn't want to hear it when..." she trailed off, shaking her head a bit more. "You're not the only one. We all wish we could've gotten there sooner, done more, had a happy ending where everyone lived, no one went crazy, cops got the bad guy." Biting down on her lip, she took a deep breath before admitting, "I knew he was dead before we ever left."

Sue: "How?" Sue glanced at her.

Rachel: "Jean," Rachel answered, "Jamie told her, and she was having a spaz attack... Like, one worse than normal. Anyway, she's how I got the location."

Sue: "But... why? Why didn't Xavier do that? Just look for them? He's supposed to be some crazy telepath that finds mutants all over the world... what was he doing all this time? Sleeping on the job?"

Rachel: "Well, that is sorta what he has a tendency to do..." she replied, knowing it was likely terrible to joke about it. "Plus, they found Jean in his office, so who knows if she broke the machine that helps him do that or whatever."

Sue: "But he could have done it right at the start! Then no one would have had to suffer... what kind of a person could do that... have all that power and not use it to save someone when he can..." She put her head in her hands.

Rachel: The question caused her to pause and look back down to her sneakers. While it hadn't been Sue's intention and had nothing to do with this, it still stung, and she simply answered, "Me."

Sue: Sue blinked at her, "What?"

Rachel: "You can't tell me you missed the rampage I went on," Rachel said, shifting slightly in her chair, "While my husband was missing, I sat here and did nothing. I probably have the power to level a city with a thought, and I did nothing. Now, he's dead."

Sue: Sue bit her lip, "I'm sorry... I didn't mean you..."

Rachel: "No, I know, and it's fne..." she sighed, pulling her gaze up from her shoes, "It's taken a while to process that I can do all that, but I couldn't save him. It was just something that was out of my control."

Sue: "But not Xavier's... he has all this responsibility. He takes us in and he's supposed to keep us safe..."

Rachel: "Yeah, he has the responsibility, but he's still a person. Mistakes happen... Just more frequently around here, I guess," Rachel shook her head, "Anyway, there could be any number of reasons why he couldn't find them sooner."

Sue: "I don't know... this happens a lot... seems more than just bad luck..." She decided to have a bite of the cake. "Keep thinking it's probably better if I just pack everything and go home..."

Rachel: "Then, take a break. Go home and pull yourself together," she shrugged, "Nothing wrong with that. I did it when I was a student. Hell, I even left to avoid all this shit, but everyone knows how well that worked out."

Sue: "I don't know if I'll come back... this place attracts trouble... and now there's only me..."

Rachel: "I didn't know if I would either, but coming back was worth all the trouble."

Sue: "Well that's nice for you... not sure I'll have the same luck."

Rachel: "Well, no shit," Rachel rolled her eyes, "I'm not saying you will, but it's worth considering because when things are going well, it's pretty awesome here. And, when things go to shit, we're usually better at not biting each other's heads off."

Sue: "My girlfriend broke up with me for being upset that my brother was missing and everyone else is mad at me for the same reason. I can't stay somewhere like that... I don't know, maybe I'll feel differently after summer..."

Rachel: "That's not exactly why she broke up with you, but I don't want to get into that. As for everyone else... Well, being on about how they're doing nothing when you're actually busting your ass... It just doesn't go over well," Rachel shook her head, "And, while it's totally fine to be emotional and upset, it's just not cool to fly off the handle, especially in the middle of patrols and stuff..."

Rachel: With a slight smirk, she added, "Not that I should be one to talk about that either."

Sue: "That's why she told me she broke up with me... well not in so many words but she was mad at me for being stressed out that we were going so slowly... which, personally, I think is perfectly understandable.... and I'm not the only one telling people they're not doing anything when they are. Cecilia's the queen of selfish tactlessness. She had no right to say those things to me..." She sniffed and looked away. "She has no idea how hard I tried."

Rachel: "Yeah, I'm still not touching the subject of Mayday," Rachel shook her head as she stood, stretching. She pulled a face as her back popped, continuing, "And, she'll just have to share her throne because I totally rock at being selfish and tactless. ...Obviously."

Sue: "Yeah but you apologised.... so apology accepted...."

Rachel: "Well, thanks," she mumbled, pushing Mayday's chair back in before starting for the door, "Since I've done that and shared cake, I suppose I'll go... do something."

Sue: "Yeah... I guess... thanks for the cake... tell Paige thanks too..." she sighed.

Rachel: "It's no problem," Rachel shook her head, pulling the door open and giving a small wave as she backed out, commenting, "I'll... Well, maybe see you later."

Sue: "Yeah... maybe..." Sue returned the wave then went to sit down on her bed with the cake.