ax_main | Vax and Jeanne-Marie, October 1

JM approaches the new boy, and shadow meets light!

Remedial education his ass, Vax thought as he sulked out of the testing room. Okay, so he'd been out of the school system a while, and he'd never been that good at it to begin with, but 'remedial'? He took his phone out and looked down at it, scowling. He wanted to call Vex, but he did the math in his head (he could do that much at least, thanks) but lunchtime here meant it was dinnertime there, and he didn't want to get her in trouble with their father. He'd have to wait a few more hours before he knew she'd be alone.

Jeanne-Marie spotted one of the new boys up ahead--she wasn't sure which one until she caught up with him, clutching her history book to her chest. "Hello! Are you Vax? I'm Jeanne-Marie. It's so nice to meet you."

Vax's head came up, his frown transforming into something a little more confused as he tried to transition from brooding to faced down with a cheerful girl. "Jeanne-Marie. French?"

"Quebecois," she said, more an elaboration than a correction, from her tone. She had obviously interrupted some deep thoughts, here, and so decided to go easy on him. "I'm the one from the journals who suggested your sister would be a speedster. They come in pairs, it seems, so far."

Vax wasn't really sure what she was talking about with the whole kay-beck thing but she kept on talking, so he didn't actually have to wonder about it. "Yeah? God help us if she is, then." he paused. "Uh, don't tell her I said, though."

Jeanne-Marie shook her head and made a very sad face. "I'm so sorry, Vax, but as a girl who also has a twin brother, I am bound to side with her when I meet her. Which I'm sure will be soon." Then she grinned.

"That's sexist and twinist, I'll have you know," Vax told her, but managed a soft smile. "So you're a speedster then, I take it?"

Jeanne-Marie laughed out loud, but covered her mouth with one had as if she had some deep instinct to tamp down on the merriment. "Mmm, a little bit, yes. My brother is moreso. Our powers sort of overlap and augment each other. I'm better with light, him with speed." She held up one hand, tucking the book under her other arm, and let it glow.

Vax took a step back without thinking, though inwardly he knew, of course, that the light couldn't really hurt him. "You're light to my darkness," he observed.

Jeanne-Marie cocked her head curiously and let the light die. She hoped he wasn't another "demon"... but then, if he was, she was jus the person to understand. "How do you mean?"

"Shadows. Though I don't create them - manipulate only," Vax told her. Which was why he felt just a little more powerless around all that light.

"Oh that's right!" Jeanne-Marie shook her head and laughed a little in relief. "You said something like that on the blogs. I thought you were being metaphorical and was concerned."

"Oh that too, dark and brooding," he assured her. "Total nutter. I worship snakes and keep knives under my pillow when I sleep."

She smiled brightly. "How very charming! Do you also drink blood? That's very popular with the ladies, I hear." A slight pause before she added, sincerely, "and the gentlemen!"

"Please. I'm dark and brooding - not undead," Vax insisted, giving a little wink.

"That is a relief," Jeanne-Mare said, not bothering to attempt a serious face. His wink was too cute! "Since I admit I find the idea of cold and dead far less interesting than dark and brooding. Which I find sooo interesting. It must be that opposites phenomenon..."

"I hear that they reportedly attract. I never figured that a school could have this many attractive people inside of it, including yourself and your taunting light-up hand," Vax told her, smiling a little.

She giggled, pleased as could be with the banter. Just her sort of thing! She held up her hand but didn't light it up. "Well, I promise to keep something between us next time I light it up. Then you'll have a nice, long shadow to work with."

"You're learning the key to my heart," Vax hummed.

Jeanne-Marie laughed even more. Oh, she was going to be friends with this one! "It's not very secret, but that's the way to be. Even if you're broody and dark, you still need the occasional happiness. It's all right. I won't tell anyone."

"And what's the key to yours?" Vax asked curiously. "I deserve to know, after all, if we're trading not-secrets."

Jeanne-Marie pretended to think for a moment before declaring it was, "Chocolate. Chocolate unlocks my heart."

"Yeah?" he asked. "Should be a candy shop in town, right?"

She winked. "Now, see, if I tell you that it's WAY too easy. You'll have to discover for yourself."

"Or," Vax hummed. "I could pick some up when I visit my sister in London. It's got to be better than the shitty stuff here."

She clicked her tongue. "From London! You'll put all the other school flirts to shame, Vax. Including me."

"Well, I try," he smiled. "Were you headed somewhere?"

"Not really," she admitted. "I just had an urge to ambush a new student. I'm so glad I picked you. Are you hungry though? I'm hungry."

"I'm perpetually hungry," Vax admitted, and fell in beside her to head toward the cafeteria. "Even before I came here. I tried not to let the others see it, really, because honestly, we all needed it - Grog more than most."

"Many of us are like that, here. You should see me after a flight. I could eat an entire cow." Then she cocked an eyebrow. "Grog? It's a drink, isn't it?"

"Also the name of a friend," Vax waved off. "A behemoth of a guy. He could eat my weight in chicken, I'd warrant."

Jeanne-Marie laughed at the description, now hugging her book to her chest again. "He sounds charming! And you say there were others?"

"Ah, yeah," he rubbed the back of his neck before grabbing a tray from the lunch lady. "Seven of us. Like the seven dwarves, only a lot more fucked up."

"All kids, you mean?" Jeanne-Marie was enraptured. "You--went to school together in London?"

Vax side-eyed her. He could lie to her, say sure, they were one of those groups in grade school that romped around together when they weren't stuck in classes or books. But something about her face - her eyes. It reminded him of Pike and Keyleth, all earnest curiosity and compassion. He just couldn't bullshit to that kind of face. He smiled sideways as he found them a table. "Not exactly. I haven't been to school in a few years."

"Oh! So they're friends you spent all your time with," she said easily. She'd heard stranger--she'd lived stranger, in someways--though she had no doubt that was just the beginning of the strangeness with Vax Vessar.

She left her book on the table and started for the food. "It must be hard to be so far from them."

"We've all kind of gone different directions," Vax told her, shrugging gently. "But yeah, it's not easy. I miss 'em."

"I can imagine. This is the first time in a long time I've had close friends, so now I can almost understand." She smiled softly. "If you ever feel bored or lonely, find me. I promise not to light you up.

"Have you met many people?"

"A few," Vax admitted, though he didn't call them out by name. "Seems like the place is buzzing with kids right now. Everyone looks a bit lost, to tell you the truth."

"It was a sudden large influx," Jeanne-Marie said by way of explanation. "We're all upside down trying to meet everyone and find our places. It'll settle soon, I hope, and everyone can be comfortable."

"How many of you were here before the influx?" Vax asked curiously.

"Probably..." Jeanne-Marie considered, eying her options. She was in a mac and cheese mood today, really. "I'd say we've grown by a third? Some of us have been here since June, but it makes sense we'd get a larger influx for school."

Vax just started throwing things onto his tray, mostly of the protein and carb variety. Lots of mac and cheese, especially. "School. Right." And he didn't sound particularly pleased about that.

"I know." She sighed. "Things were so much nicer when we could just do whatever we wanted all day. Of course, if you haven't been to school in a while it must be even worse.

"This place is paradise compared to my last school. So strict!"

He frowned deeply. "Your school was worse than this?"

Deadpan, she replied, "It was run by nuns."

Vax blinked, waiting for the punchline. When it didn't come, he blinked again. "Oh, you're serious."

"What is the expression? 'As a heart attack?' That serious." She made a face, finally. "This place is paradise. No pun intended."

"Well, fuck," he breathed, then reached out to gently squeeze her hand. "I guess so. I'm glad it is for you, anyway."

She squeezed back and smiled gratefully. "Thank you. Sadly, that doesn't make it any less restrictive for you."

"Well," he told her, leading her back to the table, "It'd be a hell of a lot easier if they had things like alarm disabling and lockpicking on the lesson plan. Even just dagger throwing. But I'll just keep my head down and deal with the book learning shit for now."

Jeanne-Marie's eyes lit up with something slightly wicked. "Dagger throwing? Really? How did you learn that?" She settled her tray of mac and cheese next to his.

He laughed softly. "I would get bored when my sister went out into the woods as kids to practice shooting her bow. So I started playing with knives. We never told our mother, of course."

"What a pair! It's probably for the best she didn't know. I'm sure you gave her enough to worry about..."

His smile faded as he thought about her. He didn't even remember what she looked like anymore, though he remembered thinking she was beautiful when he was little. "Yeah. Probably."

Jeanne-Marie understood just like that. "I'm sorry. She's gone, yes? Conversations in this place sometimes go a little bleak. I didn't mean to make you sad."

"Not sad, really. Just trying to remember," he admitted. "She's been gone for years. I've dealt with it."

Jeanne-Marie nodded. "It's hard not to trip over a wistful memory in this school. I'm glad I haven't made you sad, though. And I'm glad you're here--and hope your sister will be soon, so you can be glad too."

"Well, you'll just have to do until she does, yeah?" he grinned.

"I'll hope and pray as hard as I can," she promised. Then she grinned back. "But I won't involve any nuns. Promise."