2013-01-22 - The Last Straw: No Common Sense

Jake drove to North Salem, getting lost a time or two as he tries to find Graymalkin Lane, and has to ask for directions. It isn't like he owns a GPS system, sadly, and his cell phone is basic and at most for texting. It isn't that he doesn't like technology, he loves it. It is just not the thing small town boys had back home. When he drives past Xavier's Institute - you can't miss it - he notices the protests already starting to gather. He really doesn't want to get into a conflict with them or risk his car getting messed up, so he keeps driving and soon pulls off to the side of the road. Jake just really hopes they don't have guard dogs, or he doesn't get blown up by one of their soldiers. He is worried protests have tried to sneak in, but...he really just wants to see Kenzie; he missed her at the bail hearing.

Jake starts to jog through the trees, until he comes to a high wall and sighs. "Can't be easy, can it?" He then starts to climb a tree. He isn't a bad climber really, he did grow up a country boy. But he gets up to one of the larger limbs, and swallows hard. He soon drops off the limb, holding onto it as he slides his hands over until he gets over the wall properly, and then drops. He almost has a heart attack!

Jake half falls off the wall, but catches himself and holds on tight. He lets out an uneven laugh. "Teenagers do this for fun? They have got to be crazy." He must be thinking of some of the high school stories and movies. He then slowly starts to push up from the wall to regain his feet. He glances about carefully, finding a likely tree and starts to walk toward it.

Perched on one of the lower limbs of the tree the intruder is heading for is a scrawny teenager all bundled up in faded jeans and a slightly tattered blanket. While she's cut back, severely, on how much she smokes, Lorelei is taking advantage of a little time to herself to indulge in a cigarette. She doesn't notice that there's anything amiss, her hands swathed in fingerless gloves and the cigarette held between her fingers while smoke curles from the freshly lit end. She takes a deep drag and slowly breathes it back out, her eyes closed and her head resting back against the trunk of the tree as she enjoys the stolen moment.

Kenzie had just stepped outside for a smoke her self. Poor girl wasnt used to all the comotion, and steping out the front door, was faced to look towards the gate and at its protestors. Tugging her hood up over her head, the girl ducked around to the side of the building, hoping to find a little privacy, not quite yet as far back as Lorelei and Jake.

Jake takes another deep breath, he then leans, accidentally slides off the branch he was reaching for, catches the next with an UMPFH! And yep, that's enough for Lore to look up and start dodging. Because his arms slide again in the jacket, and WHOMP! He half falls against Lorelei! Luckily his back is what hits the ground, and only his legs hit Lorelei, so Jake is the one to take the worse of the damage as he grunts in impact and air wooshes out of him from him. The wooded area by Xavier's goes quiet as the birds fall silent for a few moments.

Jake still needs about three heartbeats before he will be able to move stiffly, and then? "Oh...dear god...," and said as if a pray, "Are you...," he can't get the air out to ask if Lorelei is alright yet, he isn't even properly setting up or able to properly get his legs off her. That didn't go as well as planned, and his head is throbbing, but he isn't seeing double vision at least.

Suddenly, with very little warning, there's a boy falling out of the tree and, literally, into her lap, and Lore gives a startled cry, dropping her cigarette and starting to swear as she hunts for it, "Shit! Stupid mother-" She cuts off when she finds the smoke, looking at it forlornly when she finds that it's broken in half, "Damn..."

It's only then that Lorelei looks at the much larger guy that's still got his legs in her lap and registers that... Ow! She was just landed on! "Ow... Get offa me!" She frowns tearing the broken part of her cigarette the rest of the way off and digging in her pocket to find her lighter to light the shortened smoke, only really speaking again once it's lit, "I'm a'right." She sighs and takes a quick drag, letting the smoke leak out as she speaks, "Ya a'right?" She looks up, trying to shift out from under him and holding the blanket close around her shoulders, her wings making her look badly hunchbacked.

Kenzie hearing the crashing blinked, and begins rushing further around the side of the building. "What goin on?" she asked, getting closer to the pair, her bare feet darting along the damp grass. Something she had been unable to do in some time. Getting closer however, she see's some strange man tackeling Lorelei to the ground?!

Instinct kicks in for the girl as she tosses off her hoodie, and leaps towards the pair. Her plan was to 'skate' towards them and tackle the assailant, but with her powers gone she simply hits the ground and falls forward, her hands pushing against the ground as she grunts out "G..get off her!" she snapps, reaching forward to grab at Jakes wrist!

Jake frowns at the language, still working on breathing right, but he finally manages to get his legs off Lorelei, "I didn't mean...," but he stops talking, cause Lorelei started to speak. He is just...instictively respectful like that to girls; always was. He finally nods at her question. He is rolling over to pick himself up, "Sorry," he manages to get out as if trying to do a full blown apology, but then...Kenzie appears. He hears the umph and looks up from where he is pushing himself up off the ground and off Lorelei, and his eyes widen, "Kenzie!" His wrist is grabbed and...there is no sensation of flesh, but rather of a glove. He wears fingerless gloves on his hands and a jacket. He does not pull away from Kenzie in fear however, but his tone actually sounds emotional and joyful, "Kenzie...it's fine, it's alright," as if trying to assure the panicking Kenzie.

The young man looks different than he did in high school. He needs a shave, he only ever really buzzes these days, as it helps hide some of the faded scars. The fact he is wearing fingerless gloves is odd, and he seems...older. Though he can pass for someone in his late teens, he seems to favor a little older for some reason. Jake right now though is almost afraid to move as he is on his knees on the damp grass, and his hands still touching the grass as well. Not for free of Kenzie hurting her, but afraid of how he may act because he has missed her so badly. He looks like a moron he bets, a dark whisper in the back of his head. Well, least Lorelei gets a look at his rear, as it's sticking out. Yes, all fours is so dignified, so is falling on a girl when climbing over a wall.

"Who are you?" Lore frowns. She thought she'd at least seen all of the other students at school, but this guy is a complete stranger! She stands, eying the rump that's pointed in her direction when he recognizes Kenzie. Well... If a guy's going to fall on her, at least he's got a nice backside!

Wait a minute... He knows Kenzie? The blanket wrapped teenager looks over at her roommate with a curious look on her face, "Ya know this guy, Kenzie?" She waves a hand in the direction of the guy, stepping around him to try and help the other girl to her feet, her expression concerned and her voice low, "Ya okay?"

Kenzie's eyes go wide, her sunglasses falling to the grass, exposing her bright blue/purple eyes. The ones Jacob had fallen inlove with before they began to look like magnesium flares. She goes to speak, and nothing comes out.

Her hand suddenly lets go, "Y..y.y.y..y..yyou can't be here!" she whimpered, holding her hands to her chest. It wasn't hard to see it, the events of the past played out in her eyes as she actually winces and lets out a yelp as she remembers, as if it were only yesterday "YOU'RE DEAD," she cries!

She is scrambling to her feet, then she's off, darting toward the lake, her brain just unable to handle this right now. She was convinced this was some kind of trick. Jacob was dead, she must still be under Elias's mind control!

Jake appears mightly confused, and actually...crushed. He is frozen for a few moments as Kenzie is running away, but then he is finally scrambling to his feet. "What..I'm not dead!" But Kenzie isn't listening, and he looks about to run after her. His eyes are wide, hurt and confused, and he still isn't breathing steadily.

Kenzie's protest that the guy that fell on her is supposed to be dead has Lore looking very confused and wary, adjusting the blanket so that she can easily drop it and take flight if she needs to, "Who are you?" Seeing him about to chase after her friend, the scrawny girl impulsively drops the blanket and steps in front of him, spreading her wings wide to keep him from running after the other girl, "Whoa there, cowboy! You better answer my question, first: Who are ya, and where th' hell did ya come from? I know ya ain't a student!"

Jake halts so quick, his eyes getting huge. He forgets to breathe this time, and when he finally does, "An angel?" He seems the time to believe in them, but he finally shakes his head, gathering his wits. They have been totally scattered, "Jake," he then states. "Well, Jacob Philips, but I go by Jake these days," though he is talking fast. "I'm a student at NYU right now, mid-semester, special exception. Anyway, I'm Kenzie's boyfriend." Or was, he doesn't realize they were broken up. But it's starting to click, "Wait...she thinks I'm /dead/?!" Yep, there is horror on his face right now at the realization, and he actually pales. He has a slight Southern accent, sounding a bit like Kenzie though he sounds like he has placed more effort in academica speech. The poor guy looks as dazed and confused as Kenzie did, and perhaps just as upset though he isn't running away.

"I heard she killed her boyfriend when her powers manifested." It's just a rumor Lore heard sometime along, but it makes her frown as she looks the older teen over, "Ya look pretty good f'r a dead guy, if ya are who ya say ya are." She sure doesn't sound like an angel... Not unless angels come from small town, rural Texas, anyway. "Dude. Chill." She doesn't move out of the way, keeping her wings spread, though she does bring her cigarette up to take another drag from it, frowning when she finds that it's down to the filter. She snuffs the cherry out on the bottom of her sneaker and puts the butt in her pocket so as not to leave any proof that she's been out smoking again.

The cigg is actually frowned at, "Do you realize what that does to your lungs?" Yep, Jake is still Jacob. "It blackens them. You really should treat your body better, especially so it can match the beauty of your wings and soul." He states it so seriously, not flirtatiously at all. But then he gets back on the original topic, "What I mean, is I'm not dead, I was /never/ dead. I was...in a coma for a bit, it was just an accident. She didn't seriously hurt me or anything, just sent my body and brain in shock. I'm seriously fine," and he rolls his eyes, "I'm not even retarded. Perhaps God performed a miracle, perhaps it was just a way of Kenzie's gifts manifesting, but I'm /really/ fine. I always was," except when he was in a coma. "I only just found out where she was," he says with a very serious expression then, "I came right away when I found out. I...didn't know all this time, no one would tell me anything except she ran away. Not even her mom," a touch of bitterness there.

But then his expression hardens, "Please, step aside miss," the tone still perhaps surprisingly respectful. "I have to straighten things out with Kenzie. She has been through /enough/. It stops /now/. She is innocent, she wouldn't hurt anyone on purpose, especially not me." All this time, even going through a coma, Jake still believes in Kenzie whole-heartedly.

Lorelei didn't seriously think that her roommate had ever actually killed anyone, but that doesn't mean that the rumors weren't there. Then again, she's heard a rumor that she killed someone, too, and she's never even done more than a little bit of property damage! She scowls at the lecture about smoking, huffing and folding her arms over her chest, "Yeah, I know what it's doin' t' my lungs. I already cut back a lot." She Pauses for a couple of minutes when he asks her to step aside so he can follow Kenzie, studying him for a moment before she finally folds her wings, settling them close against her back, "Don't you hurt her none. She's my roommate and one of my best friends." And she'll do anything to keep her friends safe.

Jake's eyes soften at that, "Thanks," he says quietly, "For watching out for her. She means the world to me." He says that so sincerely rather than dramatically, and truly sounding thankful. But then he starts to run, and he's quick. While Kenzie is recovering from emergency surgery, power burnout, and other side-effects, Jake is still healthy and athletic and he goes full-out once Lorelei steps out of the way.

The sincere thanks catches Lore by surprise and her expression softens a little, "Uh... You're welcome. Kenzie's special." She watches in bemusement as he takes off after the recovering Kenzie, shaking her head and turning to start for the school building to dispose of the evidence that she was smoking and tell a teacher that there's a strange guy on school grounds who claims to be Kenzie's boyfriend and is chasing her down to talk to her.