Issue 1 Downtime

Wanda had decided to splurge a little. Okay, well maybe a lot. Hungry as always, she'd perused the menu of a local Chinese take-away and had ended up ordering some of most things on the menu. Once it was delivered, she decided it was too much food for even her to eat, so she'd set up the boxes on a coffee table in the common room, turning on the TV to a movie where some things exploded and the bad guys got their collective ass kicked, possibly by Jackie Chan. She wasn't really paying close attention. Sitting down on the floor, she fished around until she found some lo-mein to start with and dug in.

Trev, on his way to the dining hall anyway, got sidetracked by his nose to the common room. His eyes widened at the size of the feast laid out on the table, and then followed a course around the room to the start of something mindless and classic--perfect escapism from the last few days, in other words.

"Hey Wanda...mind some company for the movie?" he said, recognizing the girl from lunch his first day.

"Have a seat. Chopsticks are over there," she said, pointing. "You'll have to get your own soda. Otherwise, dig in."

"Sounds fair," he grinned, dashing down the hall to grab a bottle of pop and then settling down on the couch in front of the food and TV. "Can I toss you a few pounds for this?"

"If you insist, but it isn't necessary. Just started ordering off the menu and didn't stop." She shrugged, "Even I can't eat all this though, so I thought sharing would beat letting it spoil."

"Yeah...looks like most everything on the menu," he chuckled. "Well have no fear, my Amazonian acquaintance, the fat kid will help you eat this entire table." He dug out a few banknotes and tossed them onto the table before grabbing a takeout container that looked interesting and dug in.

"Thanks. This beats eating alone in the dining hall," he said after a bite with a cheerful smile.

"Yeah, the dining hall food isn't bad, but eating along is awful." She set aside the lo-mein and grabbed something else to dig into.

"I'm just happy to have the company of someone sane," he chuckled. "It...well it's been a long first week,"

"Classes start out rough?"

"Nah, I'm not taking any summer term classes this year. Just wanted to come here early to get acclimated to life abroad and get settled before stuff starts up in the fall. But this week...." he said, shaking his head, chuckling slightly before taking a bite of some kung pao chicken.

Let's not go into details and scare off the one sane girl you've met all week.

"Well. It's over. We'll leave it in the past and hope it doesn't come back and repeat itself. What about you?"

"It's been busy. I'm only taking a single class over the summer, so I'm working with maintenance for spending money and doing some martial arts training with the Danger Room."

Thinking back to how much cash he hemorrhaged over the weekend he definitely debated asking about what exactly she did for maintenance.

"That's cool. Pretty easy summer for you then too. What are you going to major in?"

"Not sure yet. Maybe History or Literature. Though I'm seriously considering freelancing for X-Corp after university."

"I'm a history major too," he smiled. "Wanted to be a teacher. Still might. Haven't really decided yet. Getting back into the X-Teams was sort of appealing, but we'll see. I figure if nothing else, I have a shot of teaching at XI or the Academy of Tomorrow in my hometown."

"I hadn't really considered teaching. I'm not sure I'd have the patience for it."

"I'm not even sure I do," he chuckled. "And I didn't really get the chance to find out in Illinois. You need to be in the actual teaching minor before you start doing anything out in classrooms with kids, and it's a two year program you apply to during your sophomore year. And the schools around there weren't all that keen on having a fairly well-outed mutant volunteering in their schools."

He set down his takeout box and started looking for a different one, "How was the lo mein?"

"Decent enough. Could have used a little more pork and a little less onion."

Trev shrugged and grabbed the box, taking a bite, and then nodding in agreement. "Yeah. Not much pork there. I'm an onion fiend though. No such thing as too much for me."

"Note to you then: Keep a supply of breath mints around or your girlfriend will suffer," she laughed.

"So *that's* why I can't keep a girlfriend..." he joked.

Yeah, let's not get into this past weekend and its likely effects on your chances with anyone normal...

"I suppose leaving your country of origin would also put a strain on the whole girlfriend thing."

"I've been single since high school. I was a pariah in my dorms and going out to bars alone with no one to buy me booze, and no ability to buy anyone else a drink once I turned 19 didn't catch me anyone," he chuckled

Tala had returned from the sauna and followed her nose to the food.

"Oooh Chinese! Oooh Wanada... OOH TREV!"

Tala was across the room and hugging him awkwardly but enthusiastically.

Trev very narrowly avoided dousing them both with the remainder of the lo mein, laughing and giving her a firm one-armed hug in return. "Hey Tala, good to see you too," he grinned.

"There's probably enough to share," he indicated the table full of food, "and even if there isn't, I could stand to eat less anyway," he chuckled.

"Bah, makes you good for hugs." She chuckled and pulled a couch cushion down and joined them. "Took a steam, my first sauna, so hungry now." She grabbed the nearest carton.

"You're a sweetheart," he smiled. "Haven't found a bad one yet, so dig in and enjoy. How's London treating you?"

"Good, haven't roamed off campus just yet. Had a date, took me to a really good curry place. You know me and food."

"My shifter lady friends can all out-eat me. We'll need to find an all-you-can-eat place some night and watch the manager's jaw drop as they see how much you can pack away." he chuckled.

"You run into many other XI alums yet? Seems quite a few are off on a mission right now."

"I could probably out-eat you, Trev."

"Ture, but you have your height to consider. People will know the moment you walk in the door. Me however, tiny and slim, then never see it coming." She smiled at Wanda and laid claim to a wanton before answering Trev.

"Just Steph Keitara, she's one of my roomates and Nick Varkan, he's the one who took me out, he didn't really hang out with the Geek crowd, but you might have met him once or twice.

"Yeah, I'm sure you could Wanda," he smiled, "but you're tall and can probably lift as much as 20 of me combined could lift."

"That's cool. I remember Nick--we had math and power training together pretty much every year."

"Depends on just how much you can lift," Wanda said, teasing.

"I'm about a buck fifteen, I could sit on your chest for ya." She hunted the table and nicked an eggroll and the duck sauce.

"I can lift a number that's probably too embarrassingly small to say out loud. So we can revise that number of me's that you could out-lift accordingly." he chuckled.

"I'd get concerned about you sitting on my chest Tala. Because then youd just be tempted to pin me down and start extracting demands via tickling or biting."

Yeah... Both of these girls can probably out-lift me. And kick my ass.

Wanda fished out another carton and kept eating, "Yes, I think I could lift more than 20 of you."

"Sounds like a party to me." She smiled and nicked another eggroll.

"I'm not sure I like your idea of partying, Tala. I'm ticklish as hell and you and your entire family could kick my ass, so I've got little in the way of defense," he chuckled.

"Unless I can manage to get my scream up to the range that only shifters and animals can hear."

"Chicken." She smiled. "You are and you can pass it, please." She pointed to the sweet and sour at his right.

Trev grabbed the chicken, but didn't pass it. "Maybe it's high time I stood up to you then. Oh man, this looks pretty good. Maybe I'll just keep it for myself," he grinned.

"Evil boy! I demand chicken meats. Rawrr!" She reached across after the carton nearly paying across his lap. "Gimme!"