Library, Sunday

[genesishero]

Evan was at least a little bit concerned about the machines that were popping up through the town, and the fact that nobody seemed to be doing anything about the fact that there was a machine selling guns in the lobby of the dorms. Who did he have to talk to about that? Even the Jean Grey School didn't condone weapons amongst the student body, after all.

But for now, he had a library shift to attend to, and he was going to spend it trying to be productive, pulling out books on things like self-defense and gun safety. If people were going to have easy, cheap access to weapons like those, he figured he could at least make certain they knew what they were doing so that they could keep them responsibly.

Some of the books were kind of powdery, though. There were some puffy balls of sugar that had decided that they wanted to help out. And if they wanted to be helpful, Evan was hardly going to turn them away.

[Open!]

Comments

Re: Talk to Evan!

[genesishero]

Evan chewed his lip for a moment, and then nodded.

"You can stay anyhow, free of charge," Evan offered. "I have two jobs... I think I could probably float enough for someone else. I'd rather that than someone staying in a warehouse in the wintertime here or something."

Los Angeles, Fandom Island was not.

"... Especially if people are running around out there with cheap guns."

Seriously.

"And... thank you," he added, a little more quietly. "I know I have no control over what I am, not really, but it's good to hear someone else say it too, sometimes."

Re: Talk to Evan!

[arsenicmauls]

Gert waved a hand. "Thanks, but I'm good," she said. "Save your money for yourself. I have a dinosaur bodyguard, anyway." She paused. "Besides, you probably shouldn't offer people large amounts of money for stuff like that. Some dick'll inevitably take advantage."

Re: Talk to Evan!

[genesishero]

"Well... there's kind of money sitting all around the island, too," Evan noted. "I don't know... I think maybe Fandom Island doesn't like this any more than the rest of us, but I haven't actually gone looking for the boxes with money in them, either."

He scuffed his toe against the floor.

"Anyway, you're a friend. I don't think you'd take advantage."

Sometimes, Evan was still pretty trusting, in spite of everything.

Re: Talk to Evan!

[arsenicmauls]

Boxes with money? Gert was out of the loop.

"I appreciate it," she said sincerely, "but there're plenty of people who can pull off a practically Oscar-worthy friendly act and then rip off the nice-guy mask and screw you over. Not necessarily in that order." Her hands were on her hips now. "If you're working two jobs and you're scared of being attacked, that's all the more reason not to give away chunks of cohabitation money to randos you've only known for six months, that's all I'm saying."

Re: Talk to Evan!

[genesishero]

Evan frowned a little, scuffing his toe against the floor even more. A sugary puffball squeaked and scurried away.

"Six months is a long time," he noted, "when you've really only been in the real world for about two years. Who can I trust, by that logic?"

Nobody? Evan didn't have it in him to cut himself off from people that thoroughly.

Re: Talk to Evan!

[arsenicmauls]

"Enough to give large sums of money to?" Gert said. "I don't know. It's your life. But if you ask me, it's probably not a good idea to have random other students who you've only spoken to a few times, mostly in this library, on the list. Just because I seem trustworthy and dependable when I talk through your life stuff with you doesn't mean I'm not secretly planning to screw you over. And you don't know a lot about me to disprove that, you know?"

She was, of course, speaking from experience here.

Re: Talk to Evan!

[genesishero]

"Well, yeah," Evan murmured, "but I figure if I've already trusted you with my... life stuff..."

He shrugged a little.

"You could make a lot more money just by turning me in to the highest bidder back in our world, you know? Hotel room money is kind of no big deal, after some of the things I've told people like you and Victor and Yeul."

Re: Talk to Evan!

[arsenicmauls]

"That's true," she admitted. "But that's part of it, too. I mean, don't get me wrong, I like helping you, but sometimes being as trusting as you are just gives people ammunition. Especially with what you went through."

Re: Talk to Evan!

[genesishero]

Evan swallowed, looking downward and quietly turning his attention toward neatly organizing the books at proper right angles on his desk.

"I want to keep thinking that people are good," he murmured. "That there's something out there worth believing in. I know how easy it is to get hurt now, believe me, but if I don't believe in something, what have I got left?"

Re: Talk to Evan!

[arsenicmauls]

Gert started to say something, then closed her mouth and started again, this time with a disclaimer. "Look, telling you how to live your life is unequivocally gross," she began, "so I don't want there to be any confusion that I'm giving you instructions here or anything. This is all just commentary on the state of the world by your friendly neighborhood cynic. But in my opinion, there's probably a way to trust people that doesn't involve instinctively regarding them as confidantes and potential recipients of funds you're not even sure you can afford to give away. Some middle ground, you know? Like, believing people are good, but not giving away your PIN numbers to them, just in case."

Re: Talk to Evan!

[genesishero]

Evan's frown deepened a little more at that.

"I'm not exactly handing out my banking information on cards printed out for their convenience," he noted. "I just meant... if I end up getting a hotel room anyway, it... probably can't hurt to let people sleep there too, if the idea of guns in the dorms makes them uncomfortable. I don't think any of us should have to even be considering this sort of thing in the first place, but here we are, with a vending machine spitting out automatic weapons in what's supposed to be a safe place for us..."

He sighed.

"You think I'm being ridiculous, don't you?"

Re: Talk to Evan!

[arsenicmauls]

"I think you're kind of... particularizing," Gert countered.

"I just brought this up since you said you didn't know if you could afford two people's shares at all, let alone a whole room," she clarified. "If you have big money to drop on a suite for the whole school, you know, go for it, but just know that that might not necessarily be any safer than staying in the dorms. I'd just be a little more critical in your place, that's all."

Re: Talk to Evan!

[genesishero]

"I'm not exactly rolling in cash," Evan allowed with a sigh. "It might not even be safer at all, either. I know that. All I might end up paying for in the end is the illusion of safety, and I know I can't keep paying for a room that way, suite or no. But the illusion might help someone - might let me - sleep easier for a few nights while I figure out a more permanent solution. That could be worth it, too."

He hoped that maybe that seemed a little less naive, at least.

Re: Talk to Evan!

[arsenicmauls]

"I'm just not really big on illusions, personally," Gert settled on, glancing at the ground. "Especially the kind that could get me and other people hurt. But that's just me."

Re: Talk to Evan!

[genesishero]

"I just don't understand what about getting away from a place where students can just freely buy guns is going to get anyone hurt." He was trying, at least? "Though... I suppose illusions haven't really done me any favors, either."

Maybe he could just leave the island entirely. Deadpool would probably put him up for a while. Which didn't get him any more distance from gratuitous weaponry, no, but he trusted Wade not to hurt him.

Re: Talk to Evan!

[arsenicmauls]

"It's like... finding a safe hideout and leaving the door open," Gert tried. That was barely even an analogy, but she was going with it. "Those are for you and for people you know really well and know for sure you can trust. Otherwise, for all you know, you're just moving the danger from the dorms even closer to you. And paying money for it. Forget a false sense of security, that would just put me on edge."

Re: Talk to Evan!

[genesishero]

Now there was a comparison that Evan could begin to wrap his head around. He frowned in thought, and then gave a slow, grudging sort of nod.

"I guess I can see what you mean," he sighed. "I can't really decide that I don't trust everyone in the dorms with guns, and then just invite them all to come stay with me somewhere else. I might still find another place to go, even if it's just for a few days, but I'll keep invitations to a minimum."

Re: Talk to Evan!

[arsenicmauls]

Gert exhaled -- not out of relief that the debate was over, because she always liked a good debate, but out of relief that Evan had come around. "I think that's a good idea," she said firmly. "Be safe, you know? Don't just convince yourself that you're safe. That never ends well."

Re: Talk to Evan!

[genesishero]

"It never has," Evan agreed, a little sadly, but he covered it up quickly with a smile as he reached to gather up the books that Gert had dumped onto his desk. "Live and learn, I guess. Thanks for explaining it to me that way, though. I still don't always think things all the way through."

Because really, he had no frame of reference in the real world for a lot of the things that other people took for granted so easily.

Re: Talk to Evan!

[arsenicmauls]

"Hey, no worries," Gert told Evan gently, even reaching over the desk to put a hand on top of his hand, if he let her. "That's what I'm here for. Well, that and snarky comments. I haven't been able to--" She stopped for a second, as though regretting starting this sentence, but she carried on wryly, "I haven't seen the last kid I thought of as kind of a little sibling in a while, so I'm just dumping all my wisdom on you instead."

Re: Talk to Evan!

[genesishero]

Evan took note of that hesitation, and then nodded a little, smiling down at her hand. It was a nice gesture. Comforting, really. Not many people were comfortable with that sort of thing.

It reminded him a little bit of home.

"I'll happily listen," he replied. "The number of people who offer me wisdom for my own sake is... kind of small."

Fantomex and Logan weren't great for that sort of thing, not helped along by the fact that Fantomex had been kind of brutally killed, and all. Yeul was good for it, though, and Wade, even if he was a little crazy. Evan would he happy to add Gert to that list, too.

Re: Talk to Evan!

[arsenicmauls]

Gert smiled faintly. "Good, because so's the list of people who'll put up with it from me," she said. Other people would tolerate it, but few people would really listen, instead of just tuning her out. "Deal."