See, told you that you'd figure it out just fine on your own.
( welcome to mario kart, hope you're ready to get your ass kicked.
by which he means, the playing nice and letting nate get used to the game is over now that he's adjusted to it alright. julian holds down the a button, drifting around a corner swiftly and quickly racing his way to the finish line. )
( Blink of those blue eyes, he laughs a little as Julian starts to ramp up the competitiveness and hurries his car along after the other mutant. He hops and drifts when need be, keeping close to the inside of the track and canāt help but lean forward some there on the couch, arms draped across his legs, focused on the screen. )
You take this pretty seriously, huh?
( He wonāt beat Julian, but he also wonāt come in last. Second or third is looking to be his spot. )
( but this isn't santo, quire, foley, or anyone else who julian would be immediately jumping into needing to win or death with. he just. you know. wants to win. they're approaching the finish line; it's not a difficult level at all, which is why he'd picked it. )
And this's pretty low stakes, in comparison to everything else.
( Julian will take the win for this but he's fine with it. Getting a feel for the game and how it's played was mainly what he'd been looking for and he'd gotten that, so. In the future? Julian better watch out.
A huff, he glances over to the other mutant for a moment. )
( Setting his own controller down, he pulls a leg up onto the couch ā drapes his arm over it as he looks to Julian there beside him before he drops his gaze down in thought. )
Yeah. I'm beginning to see that.
( Maybe they're not talking about the same thing, but. Close enough, really. )
Not really. ( He offers him a quiet smile ā a shrug of a shoulder to come after. ) What about you? What isn't so simple for you? Being around everyone like this?
( not really gets him a roll of julian's eyes, even if he tries to be subtle about it. tries. well - tries a little. )
There's a lot of crap that isn't simple. I'll make you a deal - you tell me, or show me something that's fucking you up, and I'll unload some of mine on you in exchange.
I don't like to ( a hand raises, metal fingers shoving through the black hair just above his temple. ) bitch about my personal crap when there's a lot of other things to worry over.
( the answer comes quick. there's no hesitance to it, because it's not something julian has ever needed to consider. )
I'm not an idiot. I know that sharing the weight makes it less heavy, and I do, but someone has to stand at the front of the pack. Someone has to keep their head together when everything else is falling apart. And I'm good at it. Always have been. Quire can't lead, Sophie doesn't want to. Foley's always been a follower. Laura's a kid. Summers barely knows who he is, let alone the rest of us. You think it should be on any of them?
Nothing. From what I've gathered from you all, having some alternate and younger version of your so-called father here with you is apparently normal for people like us.
( It's not for him. So much of everything is Not Normal. )
Honestly? I'd only consider it normal for your lot, not mine. I've never found alternate versions of my dad which. He's not a mutant, but you know.
( really, this feels like more of a summers-grey family issue than anything else. like this is normal for them, whereas it isn't for the rest of the world. )
Like, we had the OG team running around back home for a while when they were still young because Beast was stupid and thought time travel would solve all of his problems. It never does.
( Normal for him, he means, and he sighs as he leans back into the couch there. )
I donāt even know Scott Summers. Cyclops. Now heās here but heās younger than me and from some alternate Earth. ( Which is whatever because he is, too, technically, but. Scottās not the man heād gently seen in passing back on Earth before ending up here. Heās a kid. ) Real normal.
( Couple with that the plethora of everything else heās dealing with here and heās justā¦ tired. Itās not even as bad as it could be, but this is all a helluva lot different than dealing with people trying to manipulate you and use you for your powers. He might just prefer that. At least he knows how to more or less navigate that. )
Everythingās just complicated here in ways Iām not used to and donāt know if I want to be used to.
Not that you asked for it any, but, my advice? Even if it's crap you're not used to, just treat it like it is. Saves you a lot of trouble.
( slouching back against the couch, julian raises up both arms to throw them over the back of it. tips his head back, so the nap of his neck is pressing against the hard bit behind the cushioning. ) When I got here, I thought crap was fine back home. Like, fine as it hasn't been since I was fourteen fine. Since before Decimation. We'd carved out our own little bit of paradise, finally had a place where kids could feel safe again. No one was constantly looking over their shoulder waiting for the next time something would massacre us, we could just be. You know?
Then Sophie showed me how crap went down - later. And it's all gone. Everything's fucked, again, and if I stop to think about how this isn't something I should just be used to, it's going to break me. Again. And I can't afford that right now. So.
( Treat it like it is. Sure. He has a young alternate version of his father here, his mother who he also doesnāt know, Cable who, from the looks of it, also an alternate version, not to mention the fact that heād slept with Sophie who is also sleeping with Quentin but thatās to be on the downlow and oh yeah, his powers are killing him and he has about three years left to live, give or take andā¦ itās a lot. Itās. A lot. )
Iād rather deal with Sinister and his bullshit or people trying to use me. At least I have an idea how to navigate that.
( Better than he does allā¦ this.
Sigh on his lips, he drags fingers down his face before it drops away and he shakes his head. )
( because sometimes taking on crap is too hard for everyone else. because sometimes, people like nate don't know what the fuck to do with what's happening, but julian has a good idea of how to handle it. and even when he doesn't? he knows how to fake it well enough to pass.
julian drops his arm from the back of the couch. presses a metal hand against nate's shoulder instead, in something - close to comfort. )
I've got you, man. We're a team, and we'll get through this crap together.
( But he looks to the hand there on his shoulder and then to Julian himself, blue eyes soft in their gaze. Quiet, he sighs and runs fingers through his hair, pushing it back some before he looks ahead and decides he needs some air or something. Get out of his own head. )
( his hand drops away, and julian slides back into his own space rather than invading nate's. giving him plenty of space to get up and go get himself some air. )
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no subject
( welcome to mario kart, hope you're ready to get your ass kicked.
by which he means, the playing nice and letting nate get used to the game is over now that he's adjusted to it alright. julian holds down the a button, drifting around a corner swiftly and quickly racing his way to the finish line. )
no subject
You take this pretty seriously, huh?
( He wonāt beat Julian, but he also wonāt come in last. Second or third is looking to be his spot. )
no subject
( but this isn't santo, quire, foley, or anyone else who julian would be immediately jumping into needing to win or death with. he just. you know. wants to win. they're approaching the finish line; it's not a difficult level at all, which is why he'd picked it. )
And this's pretty low stakes, in comparison to everything else.
no subject
A huff, he glances over to the other mutant for a moment. )
You didn't think that camp was low stakes?
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( with a brow raised, as he puts down the controller for a moment. )
Nothing here really feels all that simple.
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Yeah. I'm beginning to see that.
( Maybe they're not talking about the same thing, but. Close enough, really. )
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You want to talk about it?
( well. he did agree nate is one of his now. )
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Not really. ( He offers him a quiet smile ā a shrug of a shoulder to come after. ) What about you? What isn't so simple for you? Being around everyone like this?
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There's a lot of crap that isn't simple. I'll make you a deal - you tell me, or show me something that's fucking you up, and I'll unload some of mine on you in exchange.
I don't like to ( a hand raises, metal fingers shoving through the black hair just above his temple. ) bitch about my personal crap when there's a lot of other things to worry over.
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Why do you do that?
( He tilts his head then. )
Shoulder everything yourself?
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( the answer comes quick. there's no hesitance to it, because it's not something julian has ever needed to consider. )
I'm not an idiot. I know that sharing the weight makes it less heavy, and I do, but someone has to stand at the front of the pack. Someone has to keep their head together when everything else is falling apart. And I'm good at it. Always have been. Quire can't lead, Sophie doesn't want to. Foley's always been a follower. Laura's a kid. Summers barely knows who he is, let alone the rest of us. You think it should be on any of them?
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But who keeps your head together when it falls apart?
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( it's not like the answer to that is a secret at all; it'd be easy to answer, but something's bothering nate, so. )
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( It's not for him. So much of everything is Not Normal. )
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( really, this feels like more of a summers-grey family issue than anything else. like this is normal for them, whereas it isn't for the rest of the world. )
Like, we had the OG team running around back home for a while when they were still young because Beast was stupid and thought time travel would solve all of his problems. It never does.
no subject
( Normal for him, he means, and he sighs as he leans back into the couch there. )
I donāt even know Scott Summers. Cyclops. Now heās here but heās younger than me and from some alternate Earth. ( Which is whatever because he is, too, technically, but. Scottās not the man heād gently seen in passing back on Earth before ending up here. Heās a kid. ) Real normal.
( Couple with that the plethora of everything else heās dealing with here and heās justā¦ tired. Itās not even as bad as it could be, but this is all a helluva lot different than dealing with people trying to manipulate you and use you for your powers. He might just prefer that. At least he knows how to more or less navigate that. )
Everythingās just complicated here in ways Iām not used to and donāt know if I want to be used to.
no subject
( slouching back against the couch, julian raises up both arms to throw them over the back of it. tips his head back, so the nap of his neck is pressing against the hard bit behind the cushioning. ) When I got here, I thought crap was fine back home. Like, fine as it hasn't been since I was fourteen fine. Since before Decimation. We'd carved out our own little bit of paradise, finally had a place where kids could feel safe again. No one was constantly looking over their shoulder waiting for the next time something would massacre us, we could just be. You know?
Then Sophie showed me how crap went down - later. And it's all gone. Everything's fucked, again, and if I stop to think about how this isn't something I should just be used to, it's going to break me. Again. And I can't afford that right now. So.
no subject
Iād rather deal with Sinister and his bullshit or people trying to use me. At least I have an idea how to navigate that.
( Better than he does allā¦ this.
Sigh on his lips, he drags fingers down his face before it drops away and he shakes his head. )
But sure. Iāll just accept it for what it is.
no subject
( because sometimes taking on crap is too hard for everyone else. because sometimes, people like nate don't know what the fuck to do with what's happening, but julian has a good idea of how to handle it. and even when he doesn't? he knows how to fake it well enough to pass.
julian drops his arm from the back of the couch. presses a metal hand against nate's shoulder instead, in something - close to comfort. )
I've got you, man. We're a team, and we'll get through this crap together.
no subject
( But he looks to the hand there on his shoulder and then to Julian himself, blue eyes soft in their gaze. Quiet, he sighs and runs fingers through his hair, pushing it back some before he looks ahead and decides he needs some air or something. Get out of his own head. )
I need some airā¦ thanks for this though.
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( his hand drops away, and julian slides back into his own space rather than invading nate's. giving him plenty of space to get up and go get himself some air. )
You know where to find me.