Jeb's Arrival

[Chatsy]

His shoulder hurt, but he tried to pretend it didn’t. Jeb didn’t want Jay to notice, after all, and he’d be meeting him at the school. If Jay noticed, he’d ask questions, and Jeb simply couldn’t give him answers, not with what the answers were. He could always spin it so it was the Cabots’ fault, which it was, but Jay might be a bit upset since his girlfriend had been a part of that family, and was killed by the feud. It wouldn’t do any good to let him know that those troubles were still going on. However, there was no way he was going to admit any of his own fault in the incident. That would only direct Jay’s anger at him.

No, it was best that he didn’t know. There was no reason to upset his brother.

Walking up to the gates, Jeb pressed a button that looked like it was probably a doorbell of some sort and waited. Before long, there was a voice that crackled over a speaker.

“Welcome to the Xavier’s Institute, who is this?”

“Jebediah Guthrie,” he said, feeling like he should use his full first name considering the formality of the greeting, “Ah’m supposed to be meeting my brother here.”

“Hold on one moment please.”

And so he did, sitting on one of his bags. He only had a couple, but when he could only take them out of the taxi one at a time without hurting his left arm, it was certainly a hindrance. He didn’t know what he’d do when Jay came down. Well, in a big fancy place like this, maybe they had a butler or something that would carry his bags for him, though it would feel funny having someone else doing that like they were his servant. Jay would wonder about it, though, if Jeb was only using one arm when he brought little enough that he could go up in one trip if he was in full health.

Maybe he should try despite the pain. It would really hurt, though, and be obvious, but he didn’t want to explain to Jay what happened. Well, he’d do his best to cover it up, and if he had to he had to. Of course, he’d make it clear that it was entirely the Cabots’ fault. If Jay absolutely had to be upset by something, at least he could not be upset at Jeb.

Then, seeing a familiar form coming out of the mansion and walking toward the gate, Jeb temporarily forgot his thoughts, jumping up off of his bag and hurrying over to the gate.

“Jay!”

[Lee]

Jay had received the call earlier that week that his brother, Jeb, would be coming to the mansion. His mother had called him saying she was sending Jeb there because it seemed to be helping Jay as well. Jay figured that his mother was lying and just telling him that so that he wouldn't worry about the feud with the Cabot's, which was probably still going strong. It didn't matter, he could get the entire story from Jeb. Jay was wearing his jeans and a tank top, his usual attire for the day. He had his hair as styled as he could get it without it looking horrendous.

He received a call from Ms. Orbach, saying that his brother had arrived and she had just opened the gate for him. Jay immediately jumped from his bed where he had been waiting and flew down stairs, landing at the front door. He pushed it open, and closed it behind him when he heard his name called.

"Jeb!"

The word rang through the air as Jay took off, flying towards his brother, landing in front of him and hugging his brother under his arms tightly.

"Oh man, I haven't seen you in forever kid!" he said, letting go of his brother and ruffling Jeb's hair. "And red hair? Is that a compliment to me or you just tryin' to bug me is all?" he joked, picking up one of his brothers bag (the one which looked the heaviest. Worse came to worse, Jay could just fly it to the room.) In truth, Jay had been getting better, his depression nearly gone from his memory. Jay being there was just the thing he needed to pick himself up. Not to mention that Jay was more like himself around Jeb, not the quiet wallflower like how he was in class.

[Chatsy]

When his brother flew over, Jeb happily hugged him, excited to see that he was doing so well. The depression that drove the two apart seemed to be wiped away without the faintest trace left over, and in its place stood the old Jay. He grinned as Jay spoke, and he was certainly glad he came. Not only would he get the chance to use his powers in a way that wouldn’t get him into trouble, he could get to know his brother all over again. After pulling away, Jay roughed up Jeb’s hair, asking about the color.

“Neither. Ya left a bottle of the stuff at home, and Ah got bored and had Melody do mah hair.”

Jay then picked up the heavier bag. Well, that solved that problem, Jeb thought, picking up the remainder of the load with his good arm. With Jay carrying one of the bags for him, without needing to ask which would have been an unusual thing for Jeb to do, he wouldn’t wonder why Jeb had trouble lifting it. Following his brother, he felt a rush of excitement. Sure, he’d miss his family, but in this place he could learn to use his powers. Granted, he could already control them pretty well, though not perfectly, but it would still be fun to be able to practice and test how good his practice had been going without getting into trouble.

“So they teach mutant how ta use their powers here?” he asked, “How does that work, are their lahke, classes or somethin’? Ah can’t wait! Ah practiced some at home, but it got ugly when…”

Then h e caught himself. Maybe he shouldn’t have given so much information, but in his excitement he forgot that he wasn’t going to tell Jay about the incident with the Cabots.

“Nevermind,” he muttered.

He knew full well that the nevermind wouldn’t make a difference. Jay was going to want to know now, and he likely wouldn’t let this go without some kind of explanation. How was he supposed to explain, though? When anything he said might upset his brother? Well, while there may be telepaths around this place, Jay wasn’t one, and he wasn’t going to get an answer.

In an attempt to avoid an awkward moment, however, Jeb tried to change the subject, “So what have ya been doing around here lately?”

[Lee]

“So they teach mutant how ta use their powers here? How does that work, are their lahke, classes or somethin’? Ah can’t wait! Ah practiced some at home, but it got ugly when…nevermind."

"Hey, what were you going to say?" Jay flat out asked, expecting him to say something about their hometown getting angry about the Guthrie's having another mutant in the family. Then again, it could just be the Cabot's heckling them again. Jay hoped it hadn't gotten bad, but with his brother being the attention getter, it probably was. It seemed best to not pry too much, Jeb was in a new place and needed to be adjusted to his surroundings and the people. "Whatever it was, we can always talk later." Jay said, ruffling his brothers hair again. "I swear, red haired brothers, peoples are gonna stare, and for once it won't be my wings." he joked.

“So what have ya been doing around here lately?”

"Mostly training and stuff, and they give you schooling too, so you don't fall behind other kids our age. There are a bunch of kids here too." Jay said with a smile as he opened the front door, an eclectic mix of students and teachers running around. "The teachers are nice too." Jay said. motioning to Professor Orbach. "See, that lady there is Terry Orbach. She does this weird thing that like...whatever she says to you, you see, like she tells a story and it comes to life. She is the school psychiatrist, counselor and teaches music." with that, a certain ice powered mutant whizzed by them on a skateboard. Should Jeb's eyes follow him, the skateboard boy then whizzed by a girl, who to evade him, jumped into a wall, going through it. To get his attention back, Jay looked around, trying to find another teacher.

His eyes caught that of Professor Danemburg. "And that lady there is Ms. Roxanne Danemburg." he said, leaning to his brother and motioning with his head. "You best pray to God you not get into her training class. Her and Mr. Logan gots this rivalry goin'. They are both really hard, but at least Mr. Logan doesn't go through 'that time of the month'" Jay did his best to rush his brother past the woman, and up the main staircase. "I'm not sure if you are bunking with me, or someone else, but either way it's in the boys side of the building so we can put your stuff in my room for now." Jay continued lugging the heavy bag, setting down in his doorway and pointing to his bed for Jeb to put his bag there.

"Different teachers teach different things, one 'special class' and one or more academic class. Ms. Orbach teaches music, psychology and a special class for telepaths which she helps Prof. Xavier in. Ms. Danemburg teaches a special flight class as well as being a training instructor for the danger room and history class. There are other teachers, but you will meet them along the ways." Jay said smiling as he faced his brother. He wasn't quite sure how to help Jeb adjust and if he should give him a tour or if that was the teachers job. For now, he waited for all the new information to sink into his brother.

[Chatsy]

“Nothin’,” he said stubbornly.

He knew there was nothing he could say, no way he could deny it, that would keep Jay from wanting to know what had happened now. However, he refused to give up. He couldn’t give up. He didn’t want to make things with his brother miserable so soon after they’d been reunited, particularly when Josh was so happy. Fortunately, it seemed Jay was willing to wait until later for an explanation. That would at least give Jeb some time to figure out what he was going to say.

As his brother joked about their matching red hair, Jeb grinned. People would probably figure it just ran in the family, and in a way, it did. Hand me down hair dye. Well, it went with the hand me down t-shirt and jeans he was wearing.

He couldn’t wait to meet the other kids, though. It was going to be fun. The schooling wouldn’t be, so much, but Jeb figured he’d still have to go to class. After all, everyone had to go to school, and his ma didn’t allow skipping, much less a permanent absence from any school. Still, using his powers and meeting people who weren’t from Cumberland would be worth it. As Josh spoke, he began to explain who people were, and what they could do.

“Cool!” he exclaimed when the teacher’s powers were described.

That power would have been really fun when telling his youngest sibling bedtime stories. Of course, she probably wouldn’t have gone to sleep any time soon if images were appearing before her as Jeb spoke, and she’d have never let him go to bed himself, always wanting story after story. No, it was just as well he didn’t have that ability. Then some guy skated by, making a girl jump through a wall to get out of the way. This place was certainly cool, people using incredible powers all over the place. Although, there weren’t really as many practical uses for shooting electricity out of one’s eyes as walking through walls, but he was sure he’d find some use for them. If nothing else, the electricity generated heat and could be used to cook things, maybe.

Jay pulled Jeb’s attention away from the girl who walked through walls, however, by pointing out a new teacher. She sounded kind of scary, but Jeb wondered if she was really as bad as described. Well, he’d just hope for Logan as an instructor, then, and if he got her…he’d just deal with it. When Jay suggested they put the bags in his room, Jeb nodded.

“That sounds good.”

The handle of the suitcase was starting to dig into Jeb’s hand, and since he couldn’t switch hands, it would certainly be a relief to put it down. Besides, he couldn’t enjoy a tour very much while lugging this thing around, even if it was the lighter bag. Although, part of him hoped he’d get a room alone. It wasn’t that he wouldn’t enjoy being with Josh all the time, but there were sometimes when Jeb really wanted privacy, and his brother might object to randomly being locked out of his own room during the times that Jeb needed the privacy.

“Okay,” he said, plopping the bag on his bed before turning back to his brother.

His brother went on to explain what the different teachers taught, as well as some more specified power training classes, neither of which applied to Jeb.

“So Ah guess there aren’t any teachers with electric based powers?”

If there were, Jeb would think Jay would have mentioned it. Then again…did Jay know what Jeb could do? Jeb knew that their ma called and let Jay know he was coming, but he didn’t know what all she told him. If that was the case, it simply might not have occurred to him that a mutant with electricity powers would be of interest to the boy. Or there just might not be any teachers with that ability.

[Lee]

“So Ah guess there aren’t any teachers with electric based powers?”

"So yours are electrical? I think Ma mention something about stuff comin' out your eyes, right? I kinda tried to block her out after she began askin' me unnecessary questions. Anyway...no, I don't think there are teachers. But there is another student named Scott, he has to wear these special glasses 'cause he can't turn off his eyes, they shoot lasers outta 'em. He might be able to help you if it's something shootin' from your eyes." Jay replied, motioning with his arm that they should leave the room.

He wasn't sure if he was continuing a tour or what. but they shouldn't stay in Jay's room, he spent enough time in there as was, this was probably the most social interaction he had since arriving at the mansion, and it was with his little brother. "There is a free sign up for Mr. Logan's meditation class too, which is for like, focus or relaxin' or somethin'." Jay added. He also noticed that rather quickly, his accent was starting to thicken up to one like his brother's. He had never had quite as thick an accent as when he left his family.

As they walked down the hallway, Jay was beginning to think that the teachers wouldn't be giving Jeb tours; Jay didn't get a tour when he showed up, why would they treat Jeb differently? "Anyway, there are a few places I can show you. The Rec rooms, the gardens, the pool...uh...electricity doesn't mix with that...Danger room floor, though I can only show you the locker room and stuff for it, there has to be a professor to actually let us in the big room." Jay thought for a moment of all the places he could take his brother.

The rec room was probably of most interest to him, with all the games and other students, it was the most busy rooms, next to the kitchen. "Or I could fly you up to the roof...or just walk there to the kitchen." he finished, pointing at a room with a refrigerator close to the entry way.

[Chatsy]

Jeb could relate to not wanting to hear their mother’s questions. Frequently what she wanted to know most was what he wanted to share least, like when she was asking him about what happened with the Cabots. Generally, he’d dodge a question like that when it came up, or lied outright to avoid saying what she really didn’t want to hear anyway.

“Yeah, Ah shoot electricity outta mah eyes, but Ah can control it just fine. Ah can even do it so I shock a person without really hurtin’ ‘em too bad!”

He was rather proud of the control he already had. Apparently he was already ahead of some of the students here, and he wasn’t quite sure how someone who couldn’t turn his powers off could help him, really. After all, it sounded like they didn’t even shoot the same stuff out of their eyes if the other guy had lasers. Aim was the only think the guy might be able to help him with, though thinking about5 it, Jeb could most certainly use help with his aim. He did just fine from two feet away, but whenever he was further from his target than that, he tended to miss.

The meditation class seemed kind of interesting, he supposed. Jeb did have a bit of a temper, after all, but since those on the receiving end generally deserved it, so he wasn’t sure there was a need to spare them it. Following his brother after leaving his bag, he listened to the list of things he could be shown. The rec room sounded like it would be good, but the other places didn’t really interest him. Especially not the pool. Jeb was never a big swimmer, but since the emergence of his powers and a few mistakes when he was near water, his desire to go in it was now completely limited to showers. He didn’t know what the Danger Room was, but figured if he could only see the locker room for it, it wouldn’t be that interesting. He’d seen plenty of locker rooms before gym class, after all, and they weren’t particularly fun.

Jeb was about to say he wanted to see the rec room when Jay suggested something else that made him decide that that could wait until later. The kitchen sounded interesting as well, of course, as Jeb did rather like food, but the idea of being flown up to the roof trumped that.

“Ah’d like to go up to the roof!”

[Lee]

(Chatsy gave permission for slight god modding)

Jay smiled as he made his way down the main stairs with Jeb. "Okay then, to the roof!" he said opening the door and closing it behind his brother. Jay stretched out his wings and slowly began flapping them, debri flying around him and his brother. After a few quick flaps his body lifted off and he sored a good 50 feet above his brother. "READY?!" he called out, diving downward and picking up his brother by his waist then begining the fast vertical climb up the side of the mansion. Before even 10 seconds had passed, the Guthrie brothers were high above the roof of the mansion. Jay took a deep breath, enjoying the cool air around them. Flying was always a good way to relax.

Jay began the slow decent and landing onto the mansion rooftop, gently placing his brother down before landing his own feet. "C'mon, there is more to see from up here." he said, motioning with his hands and walking towards the back side of the mansion. "See, there is the courtyard and pool. Just a bit further out is the hedgemaze." Jay paused, scratching his head in confusion. "Ya know, for the life-a me, I'm not quite sure why they have a hedgemaze..." Jay shrugged it off and walked a bit more to the right of the building. "Anyway, over here we have....Ms. Danemburg? But class ain't till..." Jay looked down to his wrist watch, seeing that is was 3:05, five minutes past flight class beginning. That would explain why Jean and Bobby, EVEN Bobby drake was on time today.

"Oh god, I'm late!" he said, grabbing his brother right hand "C'mon, we gotta go!" he added, making a run for the back side of the building. In one swift movement, he pulled his brother ahead of him, tossing him to the edge of the building and over. Jay jumped, stretching is wings quickly and diving after his brother, catching him before he could even fall 10 feet. Jay raced towards the group, realizing he needed to slow down, and fast before he hit them. Before a rather disasterous collision could occur, Jay flapped his wings backwards, causing a huge gust of wind to fall over the class. He landed, letting go of his brothers waist and folding his wings behind himself. "Sorry Ah'm late Ms. Danemburg, got a bit caught up with family." he said, sligtly out of breathe. "He can stay and watch, right?"

(Continued in flight class thread, after jean and bobby post)

[Chatsy]

As the debris flew around from the flapping of Jay’s enormous, powerful wings, Jeb threw his arms up over his face to protect it. They dropped down only when he felt the wind fade, and looking up, he saw his brother high in the sky. It was most certainly impressive, though Jeb, not knowing much about flying, wondered if his brother had forgotten him. Of course, it was a rather foolish thought, as Jeb’s desire to see the school from the roof was the sole reason for him going up there to begin with, and soon Jay called down to see if Jeb was ready.

“Yeah!” he yelled back with a huge grin on his face.

Soon, Jay swooped down and lifted Jeb into the air, and Jeb, wrapping his arms around his flying sibling, smiled as he looked down at the expansive lands below. It was incredible to be carried like this, not on a catwalk or balcony or anything, just by his flying brother. They soon reached their destination, where Jeb could stand on his own feet, looking for landmarks and places that would be recognizable for what they were.

“This is incredible!”

Jay then began to point out the various things that they could see from up there. Even though the courtyard would have been easy enough to find from up there and the pool was not of any interest, it was still fun to look down at them from this angle. Then there was the hedge maze, which Jeb supposed was probably just there for the fun of having a giant maze. Of course, there was the risk of people getting lost in it, but if you kept going for long enough, surely you’d find your way out. Besides, with people who could fly and read minds and all that, many of the students would have a way to get out even if they were totally lost.

“Ah don’t know what it’s there for, but it sure would be easier to find your way through after starin’ at it from up here for a while.”

Then his brother noticed the teacher, and after a moment, confusion gave way to panic as Jay realized he was late for class. Jeb’s eyes widened in surprise and concern as he hurried as fast as he could, not wanting to slow his brother down. Besides, he couldn’t have slowed down as he tried, with his brother’s grip on his hand he would have simply shifted from running to being dragged along, which would have hardly been pleasant. Then, much to his shock and horror, Jay through Jeb forward and over the edge.

Jeb screamed, eyes sparking a bit in his panic as the ground rushed up to meet him. Then, just as suddenly as he was thrown over the edge, he was in his brother’s arms again.

“Jay!” he cried, sparks fading from his eyes, “Ya…ya jerk!”

Despite his words, as his voice betrayed, the boy was not truly angry, but merely shocked and relieved. Of course, if he’d thought about it before, he’d have realized he was never in any danger, as Jay wouldn’t do a thing like that without knowing he could catch his brother, but who had time to think when they were falling from so high?

Soon they joined the group, and Jeb was set down as Jay tried to explain his tardiness.