Library Conversations (rp for cyke_out)

[a_sloane]

The library was quickly becoming a favorite place, which disconcerted Arvin Sloane to some degree. He hated being predictable. Still. It reminded him of Zurich, not of Los Angeles, which he found preferable, and yet had an atmosphere of its own. The mysterious Charles Xavier, who had come and gone before Sloane moved into the mansion, must have

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[cyke_out]

Scott wasn't hiding. He was in the library, getting ready for tomorrow's history class. At least, that was the plan. He had put together a unit on the popular image of crime and justice in the twentieth century. It was sometimes fun to shake things up, and it kept the boys interested, anyway; well, the boys and Laura. He had come in here looking for a copy of In Cold Blood, to refresh his memory on a few points, and had happened on a shelf of Tom Wolfe books. That figured, since the library had partly been replenished from Warren Worthington's personal collection. Pretentious rich-boy crap.

But then his hand stopped on the spine of The Right Stuff, and he was hit by a memory that he had lost hold of until that moment. He had found this book in the library at the orphanage, had carried around a paperback until the spine broke in half, and then he carried the halfs. He had learned, by then, not to talk about his father, the brave test pilot who almost got the chance to be an astronaut. But he could read this one, over and

[a_sloane]

It's still a bit jarring to be addressed as "Arvin" by a relatively new aquaintance and a young man - even Sark after three years hadn't gone there, and Weiss had, well, tried and withdrawn after one look - but it fits with the new life he tries to create here. This Arvin Sloane is not a leader. For his part, Sloane would have called Scott "Summers" if their positions had been reversed - much like Marcus Dixon had always been "Dixon" during ten years of working together, and had only become Marcus when telling Arvin, on Arvin's way to being executed, he had prayed for him, for that one exchange -, Vaughn was Vaughn and Weiss was Weiss, but Scott was the head of the school and had offered first names during their initial interview

[cyke_out]

Scott thought he detected a slight annoyance cross Sloane's face at the use of his first name.

Not that he had to yield to the man's wishes; no need to forget who was in charge here. On the other hand, Scott didn't want to be a jerk, needlessly -- he hadn't heard anything either way, but he suspected Logan might have that covered. Logan. One topic Scott really didn't want to think about right now.

He focused on Sloane instead, giving what he hoped was a friendly smile. "I'm sorry for the informality. The faculty here have all pretty much known each other since the beginning of time, if you hadn't noticed. It's all first names or else --" His mouth twitched. "I don't suppose, in your line of work, you ever had a battle name."

[a_sloane]

"Oh, I've been called names," Sloane replies wryly, returning the smile, and walks towards the window. "I'm sure your friend Mr. Logan could come up with some new ones."

He sounds more amused than anything else.

"I find it rejuvinating, in a way, being around students and faculty that are so much younger."

Well, except for Logan, but then again, they avoided each other after that first encounter, and besides, classified files or not, Sloane had no idea how old the man truly was, just guess work.

"But I admit it sometimes reminds me of, well, the past, in lack of a better term. That other country, to which we can't return."

Jack, he thinks, and experiences a moment of fierce loss he hadn't expected. This was supposed to be an attempt at socializing and putting Scott Summers at ease by admitting to little weaknesses. Not an access of genuine emotions

[cyke_out]

Scott seriously considered Sloane's statement. There are worse complications than having a friend who's in love with your wife. . .

"Probably," he conceded. "I'm not sure there are many more complicated complications, if you see my point. If you just love somebody, or just hate them -- well, it's easy to know where you stand with them. Sometimes it seems like those people can drift out of your life fairly easily, and the people you're left with are the ones you're still trying to figure out."

He shook his head. "God, I'm not usually this morose, believe it or not. My -- ahh -- you might have heard this already. My father passed away recently. I've been a little bit off. Even if you think you know how something is going to affect you --" He shook his head. "Enough about me. Did you have something you wanted to ask, or were you just trying to use the library." He pointed at the copy of The Right Stuff. "I can take my book somewhere else." Then he added, unnecessarily, "Dad was a pilot." Change a few sounds in that

[a_sloane]

Sloane, who isn't standing far from Scott, makes the additional step that allows him to put his hand on Scott's shoulder

[cyke_out]

Scott is mildly surprised to feel Sloane's touch, but it's not a bad surprise. All the relationships in his life seem so complicated, now, this show of pure sympathy from a near stranger moves him.

He doesn't deserve it, of course. He hadn't been thinking, until Sloane's reaction, of what Sloane had said about his own family.

"I'm glad -- " he says, turning back to Sloane. "That is to say, you're lucky if that's been your experience. Well, not -- not lucky, obviously. I'm sorry for your loss, but -- I grew up in an orphanage. I hardly had a relationship with my father. I have a son and a daughter myself and --" To oversimplify things, grossly. "-- I've abandoned him, at least twice -- no, three time. As for my daughter -- when I first knew who she was, I rejected her." He shakes his head. "Obviously, there were other things -- other people -- I was more attached to."

Responding at last to Sloane's final overture, he says, "If you want to go, don't let me keep you."

[a_sloane]

If I had known...Nadia says in Sloane's mind. He doesn't leave; it's fairly obvious that Scott Summers needs to talk to someone who isn't a family member or an old friend, and as he observed earlier, the rest of the staff here are all involved with each other since ages