He swallowed but his mouth had gone dry. "Finally."
With that word he felt his knees go weak under him and every breath was becoming a struggle.
I hope you rot in hell you bastard. I hope that the thugs in prison cause you a million times more pain than you made her feel.
"You ok, kid?"
No, no he wasn't, but there was no way he was going to let on about that fact. All he wanted right now was to get out of there and collapse somewhere where he wouldn't be bothered for a long, long time...
"Mr. Logan, Professor X wanted to ask you if-" The loud and nearly sickeningly cheery voice cut off abruptly in a manner as though it weren't used to doing so. Don't speak… "Oh, you must be-" You're talking… "-the new guy that Professor X was talking about. It's nice to meet you."
"Alright Jake, tell Charles I got the message."
"But I didn't-"
"I gotcha."
"Oh, ok, Mr. Logan!" Footsteps ran off down the hall. How can someone be so happy?
"Hey, bub, look here for a second."
Caim glanced over his shoulder at the man – Mr. Logan – and noticed that his eyes were staring intently at him.
"Good, now listen: I saw the way you hightailed your ass out of the med bay downstairs, so I'm assuming you didn't expect to wake up here. And now, you have two options: you can stay here and figure out what you're doing, considering that when we found you, you didn't look like you had any clue, or you can head back out into the world and try to forget that this ever happened."
Considering the way Mr. Logan put the cigar in his mouth once he was finished, Caim figured that the guy wasn't used to giving speeches. They both stared at each other again for a long time before Caim looked away to the door. Mr. Logan stepped aside a bit and gave him a look and Caim couldn't tell if it was with annoyance or daring.
Taking a step forward he waited a half second longer than usual to see if the other man would do anything, and when he didn't Caim continued until he was heading off at a good pace down the hall. That's when he bumped into someone's chest. Who the heck- Looking up Caim stopped. People always said that he looked ill, but if they saw this kid they'd say that Caim looked like a glowing model. This kid's cheek bones stood out against his skin and Caim could see the outline of his collar bones through his blue t-shirt. Then the skeleton broke into the biggest grin Caim had ever seen. "Hi!"
You have got to be kidding me.
Stepping back Caim looked the kid up and down – Jake. This guy's voice is hard to mistake. - which was a feat considering how tall the guy was. Guy's got to be at least 6'4... and looks like he's been waiting a hundred years for the gallows. He accidentally met the guy's eyes. Again he wondered how someone could be this happy.
"Were you on your way to see Professor X?" Jake asked. "He's waiting for you."
Caim just stared, hoping that he would get the message and move, but sure enough…
"This place is huge, I know, so I can take you there if you want? I mean once you stay you'll get used to it and the larger floors are just big squares but the hallways make it seem huge not to mention that once you really take a look at the grounds outside you wouldn't believe that a small house would look right and I don't mean that the Institute is a small place not at all I mean this place is a mansion but it can seem to be kinda small once everyone's walking around and doing stuff but you get used to it especially because the floors upstairs are mostly just bedrooms-" Grounds? Institute? Mansion? Everyone? Bedrooms? "-and I'm pretty sure you'll be sharing one with me because most of the others are full except for one empty one but that's a guest room in case we have people who visit and we actually have a lot of people that visit but don't worry I'm a clean person and don't have much stuff so I think that we'll be able to share a room just fine and I can help you around and introduce you to the others even though the professor already told everyone that you're here-" Sharing a room? Introduce me to the others? Everyone already knows I'm here?
"Who's Professor X?" Caim asked apruptly, cutting Jake off mid- sentence? Would something that run on be considered a sentence?
That seemed to shut up the boy for a second. "You mean you don't know who Professor Xavier is?"
Professor Xavier. Professor Charles Xavier. Of course he knew who Professor Charles Xavier was. What mutant didn't, whether they wanted to be a mutant or not?
"The Professor Xavier?" Caim pressed.
"Is there another Charles Xavier?" Jake tilted his head a bit and Caim was reminded of a puppy dog. He blinked and that didn't help with the puppy dog idea.
Caim shook his head. "Just… No. No. There isn't." If Malcolm could see where I am… Hell. He'd be telling me to grab the nearest letter opener and slit Charles Xavier's throat. I bet he wished he was in my place.
"Well then let's go talk to him!" With that Jake grabbed Caim's hand and pulled him down the hallway. Caim swore he was skipping, and he let him skip and pull him because Caim was worried that if he yanked away he'd dislocate Jake's shoulder.
You're too nice some days…