I Believe You Owe Me A Cupcake

[Jason Campbell]

Jason nodded when she awkwardly pointed out she was conceived here. Not born here, not raised here. Conceived. She then tried to justify this by the whole explanation of how it happened. And even if Jason was not always good at reading people, the discomfort she seemed to have was clear enough, if only because she couldn’t stop talking. He was ready to save her from that. “I understand,” he assured her. Besides, considering how the man had been a good mentor and certainly a good friend also, imagining him sleeping with some older woman when he was something like fifteen or so was clearly not something he wanted to do. “I suppose you can say the same about me. At least, as far as I know.” He smiled, having said that solely to appease some of the embarrassment she must now feel at that revelation that, if you thought about it, made total sense but still remained too much information.

He had a soft chuckle when she pointed out they must have been here at the same time. The mention she must have been way too young for him however was a blow to his ego. Luckily, his ego could take it without too much problem. Well, none that would show too much on his face. “Maybe. I went to this school around the age of fifteen which is... almost twenty years ago. I haven’t thought about that. Now I’m starting to feel old,” he said with another laugh. He didn't really feel old just because of that but he did suddenly realise how long it had been. Time, sometimes, could really fly away. He looked at her, a little smile on, still not bothered about the years since he walked those halls as a student. “I don’t really know how old you are so it would be hard to tell exactly if we were here at the same time. But I left before college so I take it we mustn’t have seen each other much. Besides, I was not exactly the kind of kid you noticed around. Still the case actually. I like it like that.” She, on the other hand, was the kind of woman you simply noticed.

[Charity Croft]

Charity actually let out a slight sigh of relief as Jason once again came to the rescue. She didn't quite understand why he was so willing to put up with her, but hey: she wasn't going to go around questioning her good fortune. Maybe she was more charming than she thought. Hey, he was even going along with it, insisting that his story was probably close enough to hers. She smiled at that, wanting to show her thanks in the facial expression and hopefully succeeding at least to some degree.

The chuckle that followed probably helped too. It most likely had more to do with what she'd said next, and where the conversation was (thankfully) heading now. He'd been there twenty years ago, or at least, he'd gotten there. Charity was already laughing and nodding. "Nineteen," she said, pointing at herself. "I actually blossomed at eleven though, aaaand you can do the math," she flushed slightly at that. She supposed that she shouldn't consider thirty to be all that old, particularly around someone older. Didn't stop her mind from going to precisely that conclusion.

"So, we were probably around at roughly the same time, unless you graduated, like, way early," she let out another little laugh. "I had, like, really big hair at the time," she extended her hands out to indicate, "and an obsession with a few boy bands, so you probably would have avoided me if you had any sense at all."

And again: what was different from now?

[Jason Campbell]

Maybe it was because Jason found himself so boring that he went after...unique people, such as Charity. He lived adventures through them since it was so unlike him to do anything of the like. Sure, this one tended to have a mouth that spoke before she took the time to really think of the words that came out, but that was a nice difference from Jason who tended to over-think everything he was about to say, making him say very little in the end of everything he wanted to tell people.

He did the math indeed, and pretty quickly. So she was not all that much younger than she was. Well, a few years and that would have appeared huge by then but now, it really didn’t matter. “Then we probably attended school about at the same time,” he pointed out, as if what they said had not proven that already. But the age must have made them ignore each other. Well, that and many other things.

He laughed again as she pointed out he would have graduated first. “Yes, and I did not stay for college,” he repeated. That didn't help for them to have known each other then. “Actually, I think I was probably too quiet and in my corner for you to even notice I was around,” he corrected her, certain that, even if they had been of the same age, it would have been his behaviour that would have made them impossible to know each other. “But that’s nothing we cannot correct now.”

[Charity Croft]

Yeah, they probably did. It was weird to think about, but chances were high that Charity and Jason had been roaming the halls as young people. "Wonder if we ran into each other and just don't remember it," she said aloud, musing and even tilting her head slightly to the side. If Jason was as dull and quiet as he insisted... but Charity wasn't sure she actually believed all that.

"You know, you are really hard on yourself," she insisted, looking at him. "You do know that you can't possibly be that boring, right? I mean, c'mon," Charity nudged him on the shoulder a little as if giving an attaboy hit, "you're a healing mutant who works as a doctor close to a school were people can, like, light themselves on fire or pick up other people's powers or turn into shadow wolves. I've dealt with all those before, so I know," Charity nodded and then gave another little nudge. "So I'm betting you're a lot less boring than you think. I mean," she added a little laugh/snort, "most of my hobbies involve arts and crafts or muffins and I'm not boring."

Weird, probably... though Charity would've gone with "quirky," if only because it sounded cuter. She pointed for them to take another turn before heading that way. Wouldn't be long till they hit the teacher's lounge now.

[Jason Campbell]

“That is possible. Age at that time makes such a difference,” he replied. The thought of them running into each other as teenagers however was weird. That they did not remember made sense but that did not change how weird it was to think they could have known each other for longer than they first imagined. Still, as he told her, age at that time made a big difference. The simple fact you were one year under can be enough for the person not to know you. In fact, he was pretty sure many of those who were in the same classes as him could not remember he was there, so he could hardly blame her for not remembering him. Especially since he could not remember her. “To be fair though, I’ve never been really good at recognizing people so even if we did run into each other, I don’t know how well I would manage to remember it.”

He was a bit surprised when she said he was hard on himself. Was he? He didn’t think so. But he apparently made himself appear even more boring with his words than people believed him to be. He chuckled as she argued with his accomplishments around here and the people there was around. “Shadow wolves... I’ve dealt with her too,” he said, though more to himself. He looked back at Charity with an indulgent smile. “Maybe I am not as boring as I made it sound but I know I am no funball either. It’s fine, really. We need serious people as well. I leave comedy to those who are really funny.” He really was fine with that. He had confidence in his abilities and knew what he lacked. That did not mean he was a walking and talking sleeping pill. But he could understand he was not the one you first thought of when you wanted to go out and go wild. He laughed again when she said what her hobbies were. “And mine involve research, reading and jazz music.” Not that he found that boring. Some might of course. But he was happy with those hobbies so why should he change? “Hobbies are personal. As long as you love it, it should not matter what people think. I might like making muffins too if I were a better cook. But I’ll probably forget them in the oven and let them burn.”

[Charity Croft]

Charity nodded. The age would've essentially put them in totally different social circles irregardless of anything else. With no common hobbies, well, the chances of them running into one another was slim. Apparently it wasn't quite as slim as Jason's chances at remembering them. "Ah, but I'm like an elephant. Meaning I'm afraid of mice, enjoy peanuts too much, and almost never forget," she gave him another wink.

And yes, Charity would have insisted that was also part of his being hard on himself. But she figured that Jason could already figure that would be coming for himself. She didn't see the reason to linger on something like that unless they had to. Plus, it was more interesting to let out a little noise of excitement as Jason admitted to knowing Devyn. "Really? that's neat. She's one of mine. was one of my dad's, and I got a lot of his," Charity shrugged. It had been something the school had just done, and Charity figured it was part of things. She saw the smile and realized that Jason was at least willing to loosen up on himself. She chuckled again, but nodded along anyway.

Research, reading, and jazz music... really? Well, Charity supposed that someone had to like jazz. "Yeah," Charity agreed, nodding, "but I gotta admit, you are the first person I've met to actually admit to liking jazz. Besides jazz musicians," she laughed and then stopped in front of a door. "hey, we actually made it!" she opened the door then, letting it swing inward. She waved at it before stepping aside for Jason to enter. "Welcome to the teacher's lounge!"

And accurate too!

[Jason Campbell]

He laughed at her comparison to an elephant. “The comparison stops there however because you have lovingly small ears,” he added, figuring this was all a joke. Again, he was not really sure how his comment made the joke funnier. He believed it was more the opposite. At least he was not insulting her. But Jason was not stupid to the point of talking about the elephant’s grey color or weight. He was more likely to ask her if she could jump since an elephant could not. And that would have been even less funny than the ear reference.

He nodded as she explained Devyn was not one of her student. In a way, he could totally understand why Guy ended up with Devyn and even wondered if they had not talked of her in the past. It was hard for him to remember, he talked so easily of work and would bring out any patient that happened to be from the school to Guy in order to have his opinion on them. He kept to himself the medical reason why they came to him though. He was bound to after all. But he could still ask Guy his opinion on their character. “I treated more her girlfriend though. Or, at least, the one she dated at the time.” He was not sure if they were still seeing each other and really didn’t think he was the best placed to talk or understand a teenage girl’s romantic life.

Jason knew his taste made him probably appear even older than he was but it was not done on purpose. Was it really his fault if people didn’t bring out their love for jazz music? He laughed softly as she confessed her surprise. “I also enjoy classic rock, if that’s more normal,” he said on a lighter tone. “I suspect people love jazz, they just deny it.”

They arrived at a door and Charity actually seemed surprised they made it there. “Should I worry you’re amazed you made it here?” He stepped in as she let him. He looked at the teacher’s lounge. He remembered how this place seemed so interesting as a child. It was as if every student, or so, wanted to know what it looked like and what the teachers were saying in there. “Doesn’t look that impressive now.”

[Charity Croft]

Charity laughed at the elephant comment. "If you say so," she said, tempted to try and wiggle them or something. That was something her friends and her had tried to do back when they'd been way younger, all those years ago. She smiled at the thought of it, glad that the lovely memory had come back up.

And she listened as Jason explained how he sort of knew Devyn. Apparently he'd treated her... girlfriend? Oh, wait, just the one she was dating at the time. Charity didn't really want to delve into a student's love life, let alone one like Devyn, who had no qualms about flirting with a teacher if she felt like it. So she silently agreed with Jason's silent assertion: no talking about that.

The insistence on rock had her chuckling again. "Well, I always say that you should like whatever you like and just go with it. That's how I managed to make my way through life," Charity added a shrug. She knew that made her decidedly... she liked to go with quirky. "But you're so wrong about jazz."

And then it was the teacher's lounge, and Charity was letting out another nervous laugh as he mentioned the whole being surprised thing. "Hey, you're the one who called me down there thinking it was an emergency," she pointed out, before following inside. "There's still that monstrosity of a coffee pot," she said, pointing at it and walking toward it. The thing had been specifically designed for the teachers using technology that probably wasn't standard yet. I brewed fast, and often good when, like, it actually worked. That or it attempted to transform into a killer robot and hurt you.

It was about seventy/thirty, give or take.

[Jason Campbell]

Jason didn’t really know if Devyn and Zoe were still seeing each other. The girl had come to him, hoping to repay what he did for her, something he told her was unnecessary since it was his job. Still, the relationship between teenage girls was not of his concern and he doubted Charity made it her concern so it was best not to poke around that topic. Either way, he did not see Devyn in a long time, he could not even remember her name right and he actually believed it was a good thing. It was when you saw a doctor a lot, while said doctor worked of course, that you should start worrying.

“That is a nice way to get through life,” he agreed with her. If he added the rock, other than because it was the truth, it was because it seemed more natural. All those old bands kept doing new tours, since they wasted all of their money. He laughed as she teased him again with jazz. “If you say so. I’ll take your work for it. I suppose you hear more than me the music kids love these days,” he replied. Sometimes, he wondered if he had ever been a kid. But he then remembered that he loved a lot of the popular bands as a kid. He just didn’t much anymore, or played them only for nostalgia’s sake.

He laughed back as she recalled the mistake that got her to him in the first place. “I only asked for them to call you, I never thought they’d make it sound so urgent. Letting me talk to you on the phone could have been enough too.” But if she wanted to put the blame on him, he wouldn’t mind. “Monstrosity?” he asked as he walked in and looked at said ‘monstrosity’. “What did it do to you?”

[Charity Croft]

Charity bobbed her head as Jason said her way of living sounded pretty nice. She was tempted to add a "yup" and only just barely managed to stop herself from doing so. She had to let out another nervous laugh as he talked about her knowledge of what kids these days were listening to. "Oh yeah, I'm totally hip to the trends," she said, adding another slight laugh. Jason had only to ask pretty well any student to learn how very much that wasn't true.

Now he was reiterating that he certainly hadn't told them that it was some kind of emergency. He even went so far as to insist that just letting him talk on the phone would've been enough. Charity wasn't sure if she wanted to give him a break or watch him squirm a bit more, but fortunately or unfortunately, the option was taken from her as he indicated the coffee pot.

"Ah, it, ah, killed my father," Charity said. "I mean, that was a joke: a really tasteless one. though I have heard that it and my dad did not get on well," Charity looked at it for a moment. "Sorry, uh, just, it's... hard to work," Charity walked over, poking it a bit, trying to see if it was set closer to "explode" or "produce coffee at a touch." It seemed to burble happily, so maybe they caught it on a good day.

[Jason Campbell]

Luckily for Charity, Jason would never think to ask the students what they thought of their trainer and just how cool and aware of the latest trend she might be. Mostly because he probably was even further behind than she happened to be regarding this. He didn’t care much. Sure, he listened to the radio but also tended to change to another station the moment the music was not to his taste. That just meant he didn’t listen a lot to the most commercial ones.

He did arch an eyebrow at her joke that she admitted might not be as good as it should, considering the current situation. A joke about the man’s death? Yeah, it might be a bit tasteless. He understood what she meant once she explained. The demon that was the coffee machine might have been something they mentioned once before but definitely not something Jason would have remembered had it been the case.

“I’ll take your word about it but that’s hard to believe it is that devilish,” he confessed as he looked at the thing. Looked like a regular coffee machine to him. Acted like one too, even producing the sound it would make while filtering the coffee and everything. He focused on the place instead of the coffee, figuring Charity would be able to handle things. “You ever wondered, as a kid, what this place looked like, what the teachers said and did in there?” he asked her. Now, it seemed like a very plain room for the staff to relax between two classes or training sessions. Nothing fancy to it. Jason saw rooms like this one in hospitals for the staff to eat and take their breaks in. He turned to look at her. “I sort of always wished I could get in, see for myself. Not necessarily talked to them or play with their papers or anything. I guess I just sort of wanted to see how adults acted around each other.”

[Charity Croft]

"Well, it's so advanced that it really should be attacking us," Charity replied. She gave it another poke and it let out a gurgle that did sound vaguely weaponized. Charity gave Jason a look that was very nearly "I told you so" before moving over to start making sure they had cups. The thing had started making the coffee noises after its traditional war cry, and if there was one thing it could do fast, it was make coffee.

The question had her laughing slightly. "You mean you didn't sneak in?" she asked. Charity found a pair of mugs and stared into their contents, trying to check just how long they'd been up there and what happened to be living inside. "It's actually a little sparse right now," Charity admitted, looking around. "I think there might have been some pranking? I don't really try to think too much about that. But yes," she nodded, moving over to start up the sink and start rinsing out cups, "I did wonder, and, um, I actually sneaked in once."

Charity laughed and set a clean cup to the side of the counter, pushing it slightly with her fingers. "My friends and I were just so determined that we simply had to sneak in here. There were even a few staff around. We didn't get caught: My friend had a cloaking power," Charity finished up with the other cup, before grabbing both and walking back to the pot (which had started vibrating slightly). "I ended up turning myself in afterward in a fit of guilt. Truly the hardened criminal." She held the cup up, quirking a brow questioningly as she smiled.

[Jason Campbell]

Usually, when someone complained about a coffee machine, it was because the sludge you got from it was impossible to drink. However, this one seemed to have another way of killing people judging by the way Charity talked of it. He noticed by now that the woman had a sense for the dramatic so it may very well just be this side of her taking over and making this poor thing eviler than it really was. And the sound it made, after her suggestion, only served to prove her point and give it the dramatic flair it needed.

He shook his head at her question. “I believe I came in once, because the teacher told me he’d be here when I’d need to return a paper for him, but there was nothing to it. Just two or three of them, drinking coffee and grading papers.” Not exactly what a student would have wished this place to be like, really. But since when did things teenagers imagined were close to reality? It was not like they were doing parties in there with tequila shots and hula hoops or threw darts at the faces of the most troublesome students of the school while imagining new ways to torture everyone.

“Yes, I figure some would love to prank this place,” he admitted as she brought it up. He didn’t think he needed to point out it was not his thing, he believed he proved it enough already. “Oh?” he said, waiting for her to add more after she confessed sneaking in. Somehow, he doubted the teachers did so much as kick them out of here if they found students trying to get in here. Unless they played a prank to checked papers that might have been left. But he doubted papers were left unattended here. It was not exactly the place you’d expect the files to be. That was more in the principal’s office.

He nodded at the cloaking power as he listened to her tale. He chuckled even when she admitted to turning herself in. “I doubt they were hard on you for that, right? Did you sing to yourself ‘I fought the law but the law won’ while doing detention?”

[Charity Croft]

Jason's story of returning made perfect sense to Charity. She nodded along with it. She'd always gone to the teachers' offices instead of heading in here, but it at least made sense to her that someone would be doing that. It was at least one of the reasons that definitely made sense.

So did pranking, in its own way. Charity looked around, actually seeing the bits and pieces where she knew there had been some particularly interesting pranks. "Yeah, there's a few students who seem to really specialize in it. I think at least one of them goes out of their way to make sure that people don't get all that hurt, but, well," Charity gestured at the coffee pot, "we've got that for that."

And Charity now managed to coax the coffee out and get her drink (or had done that; point was she now had a hot cup of coffee and was digging around for the creamer and sugar). "Oh yeah, I totally was all like 'nobody knows the troubles I've seen,'" she actually sang that last bit, demonstrating that she could actually sing and dig down in her vocal range a bit. She was soon letting out another laugh before finding the creamer and sugar, holding them both in a hand.

"You got to be careful with these," she said, shaking them. "Sometimes students put things in--" and the sugar exploded, not, well, literally, but what looked like a snake shot out of it, leaving Charity to fling everything in her hands at the counter which, thankfully, didn't include the cup of coffee.

[Jason Campbell]

Jason looked at the coffee machine as Charity pointed it out. “It sure looks like a terrible prank if it has as much chance to kill you as it has to give you the drink you asked for,” he told her. Jason could see why this place would be an interesting spot for pranks. Any area that was restricted sounded too tempting for people not to try and get in. There was nothing to it, really, when you look at the place. “I bet some even tried to spy on the teachers there, no? Sounds like something a lot would like to try, see if teachers are talking about them while they’re not around.” Because teachers had nothing better to do than discuss the difficulties they had with one particular student. It was not like they had lives of their own they might want to talk about instead.

He chuckled as she sang, having a more melodious voice than he did. Not that he personally sang the bit he told her she should have. “I never had detention. Well, that’s not true, I did once but everyone got it. I think some of us pushed the teacher a little too far...” he admitted. It seemed pretty normal that Jason wouldn’t have gone through any detention. He liked to believe there might be something a little mischievous inside of him but that probably didn’t extend to rule-breaking.

Charity was about to explain why Jason might have to be careful when the proof was given to him why he should be. He startled and quickly came to her. “Are you alright?” he asked, even though he supposed nothing too bad happened to her, other than being startled as well. “You know, I think I should take you someplace where nothing risks exploding in your face.”