401/Lazy Library Loitering

Lazy Library Loitering
Date of Scene:	10 March 2020
Location:	Library
Synopsis:	Alison and Bobby talk in Xavier's library, about musician's block and Bobby's future in teaching.
Cast of Characters:	Bobby Drake, Alison Blaire

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Bobby Drake has posed:
Every so often, Bobby comes down and spends some quiet time in the library, either researching something for his own school work or just reading a book. Today, however, he just seems to be loitering somewhere quiet, curled up in a chair with his arms around his knees, looking out the window at the side yard and occasionally watching birds and/or students fly by as they are sometimes wont to do. He seems to be mostly lost in his own thoughts.

Alison Blaire has posed:
Flying is not what Alison is doing, but Bobby probably can see her outside before she shoes up inside. It's a fair bit of time between the two, since she's not a teleporter or a speedster, she has to walk.

When she steps into the library she pauses, her head tilting to the side before she starts to head in Bobby's direction, "Penny for your thought?"

Bobby Drake has posed:
Bobby Drake glances up at the sound of a familiar voice and sees Alison approaching. He shrugs his shoulders and says, "I think I really pissed off one of the new girls, and I'm not really sure what to say, or if I should say anything, or if I should just cut my losses and let it go." He glances over toward her. "What about you? What are you up to?"

Alison Blaire has posed:
"Taking a break from working on my new album." Alison replies with a faint smile before she moves to find herself a place to sit near him, tucking herself in before she tilts her head at him. "What happened with one of the new girls?"

Bobby Drake has posed:
"Yeah? How's it going? You have a lot recorded yet?" He tilts his head to look over at her and study her as he asks, grinning a little bit as she tucks herself into the chair nearby. Then he groans and lets his head fall back with a sigh. "I dunno, Rachel and Hope were talking about their alternate futures and stuff and Rachel was saying that she'd been like, in prison and stuff in her future. And I said "I can imagine that this is a very different environment from that.." and she got super pissed off, saying no she did /NOT/ think I could /UNDERSTAND/ which.. isn't what I said. I didn't mean that I understood what she'd been through. I was just saying I could conceptualize how going from living imprisoned to being at a school where she could come and go .. would be a /different environment/ but there was /nothing/ I could say that wasn't going to come out sounding very #notallmen or like I wasn't the poster boy for white male privilege.. so I just.. shut up. But like.. that's genuinely NOT what I meant.. I never said I understood her situation or what it was like to be her." He lets his shoulders rise and fall. "Anyway, it's been bugging me for a while." Then he lets out a breath and says, "Tell me about your album."

Alison Blaire has posed:
There is a very slight frown when he goes about recounting the experience, and the misunderstanding. After a moment she smiles just a little, the expression meant to be reassuring. Even if it might not be all that reassuring.

"I would suggest perhaps finding her alone one day and asking if she could provide you a moment in which to talk about it. I would say that it could be fixed...but I don't know who Rachel is, and I can't //really// judge how she'll react." As for the album, there is a shake of her head, "It's not going that well."

Bobby Drake has posed:
"I don't know, shortly after I left she screamed and lit on fire and shot off into the sky, so.. I'm guessing that not well is a pretty good summarization for how she might react. I'm thinking I may just give her some space, and if she wants to talk about it sometime, I'll try and talk, or I'll just let it go," Bobby says with a shake of his head, but then he lets that go for now and asks, "Why is it not going well?"

Alison Blaire has posed:
"But what if she never asks to talk, and just assumes that you're this rude guy forever?" Alison counters, her eyes widening just a fraction further at the mention of screaming and lighting on fire. "But, maybe she won't."

But music! There is another frown that passes over her face, "I've been working on this one song, and I just can't seem to get this one part right."

Bobby Drake has posed:
"Maybe, maybe not," Bobby agrees. "If I see her, maybe I'll ask to talk t her." Maybe not. Either way, he seems more than grateful to move on to some topic other than his social faux pas with the Summers'. "What part? Music or lyrics?" He grins a little, more interested in that topic.

Alison Blaire has posed:
"Music." Alison replies after a moment, then she pauses, "And lyrics. Maybe the lyrics need to be worked, and then the music itself will be better." She shrugs her shoulders easily, "It'll eventually work itself out."

The song, or his social faux pas?

Bobby Drake has posed:
Bobby Drake grins a little bit and says, "You got another song you could work on while you let that one percolate until you figure out what's wrong with it?" He rests his chin on his knees as he regards her thoughtfully. "Or how does that work? Can you only work on one at a time? Do you have a method to putting a whole album together?"

Alison Blaire has posed:
"I do not just work on one song at a time...usually they come in bits and pieces at first. I get a hook, or a verse...I write it down, then eventually circle back and focus on the one first. Or I get a little note, playing over and over in my head until it just blossoms." Alison then smiles faintly, "So the real question is...what stage of creation am I in. Because sometimes, yes. Only one at a time."

Bobby Drake has posed:
Bobby Drake nods as he listens, seeming interested in what her creative process is like, studying her features as she speaks and smiling a little bit as she describes the lyrics and the notes and how they come to her. So at the end he asks, "So what do you do when you get stuck? It's probably not the first time you've gotten stuck before while writing something new. What helps get you unstuck?"

Alison Blaire has posed:
"First time? Oh...not at all." Alison replies with a laugh, shaking her head, "Sometimes I find just being around others inspires me, pulls down that block as it were. Other times a quiet trip to the lake, or the woods. Somewhere just me and the sounds of nature...Mostly it's just not obsessing over it."

Bobby Drake has posed:
Bobby Drake nods as she explains, looking thoughtful, and then glancing out the window toward the side yard and the trees and such out there. "Was that what you were doing outside? Just hanging out someplace quiet?" He then looks back over to her and says, "Well, I hope the block comes down for you soon so you can keep on working on things. I look forward to hearing it when it comes out." He shifts, settling his legs cross-legged instead of knees drawn up to his chest, and leans forward a bit, studying the library thoughtfully. "I like it in here. Quiet. Moreso than usual because the way the room's set up. It's a good place to read and do homework but it's also a pretty good place to just think."

Alison Blaire has posed:
"I was actually on the phone outside." Alison confesses with a laugh, shaking her head, "It's also a nice place to go and think, yes. But I wasn't out there doing anything very productive." She glances around the library, then nods, "I can see how this place would be good for studying."

Bobby Drake has posed:
"Oh," Bobby chuckles. "Nothing wrong with that, either. Talking on the phone you're probably not thinking about the block, either." He gives a small shrug once more and then looks around and nods. "Few more months and I'll be done with my own classes. Then I'll be teaching here more full time instead of going back and forth all the time." He asks her "What about you? You planning on hanging around for a while?"

Alison Blaire has posed:
"What are you majoring in?" Alison doesn't seem to have any idea what it is that he's majoring in. It doesn't appear to be a question asked just for the sake of asking questions. "I was planning to stay around for a while...New York is home, after all."

Bobby Drake has posed:
Bobby Drake says, "Mathematics. I was going to become a CPA and I was studying accounting, but then I decided that I'm enjoying teaching and I think I want to teach in general, instead. So I'm focusing on Mathematics, then I'm going to get my certification, though I'm going to teach here, mostly," Bobby says as he glances out the windows. "So, still sticking with numbers, but teaching them instead of doing accounting work.""

Alison Blaire has posed:
"So what I'm hearing is that if I ever need someone to look over my finances, I should just come to you." Alison comments with an amused little smile crossing over her face, "But that sounds wonderful, staying here and becoming a teacher."

Bobby Drake has posed:
Bobby Drake laughs a little at that and says "Can take the boy out of finance but can't take the finance out of the boy, I guess. Yeah, I mean, I could look over books and stuff like that and make sure that everything's in order. I just won't be a CPA." He looks toward the shelves and says "This place gave me a home when I was out of control and young and scared and didn't really know what I was doing. It's giving others a home now, too, and that's important."