Time of day: 18:17
Place in the timeline: August 5th

---

The past week had sucked for the most part; Josh had spent the first three days after the attack on X-Corps in the infirmary. Between catching up with paperwork and checking up on patients, he'd had little time for much of anything else. Terry, Billy, Nori, and the rest of them had all been pretty much ignored – especially poor Laurie – while he'd been buried under mountains of work. On top of that, he'd been out on ground zero with a few of the others to help with cleanup while X-Corps set up camp at a temporary rental property. Roughly four days of removing glass, drywall, and all manner of other bits of the building from the trashed floors, the place still had quite a way to go before the group could move back in.

And it didn't help that they couldn't really use their powers all that much to aid in getting the work done. Not with the way things had been lately. Not after the night Josh had dubbed for himself 'Purifier Night'.

Not that the others weren't busy as well. They'd all been doing what they could to pitch in and try to get X-Corps back on its feet; it was an integral and necessary component to the mutant community – a good face for mutantkind. It needed to be out there doing its good work, and everyone at the school knew it.

I wonder if there should be a clinic at X-Corps. Maybe I should talk to Hartley about that? I dunno... Later though... tonight's not about that.

As with any horrible crisis, mutant and human alike needed to take some time off to enjoy the things that still made surviving worthwhile. Friends and loved ones? Movies and the smell of fresh cut grass? Maybe the discovery of a new 'favorite song', or a moist, intense kiss in the dark... Whatever it was, those things had to be clung to and held close, or the spirit behind Xavier's dream would wither.

With a small smile on his face, Josh rounded from his kitchen counter with a plate of pizza rolls in one hand, a plate of nachos in another, and a bowl of cheese popcorn balanced precariously on his forearm as he passed by the door to his apartment and briefly stuck his head out to take a quick look down the hall. He left it wide open as a sign for anyone who came by and smelled the food, heading into his living room where the others were... not to mention the rest of the food.

“Aight... here's the last of it. You guys didn't really give me an idea of what you were in the mood for, so there's a little of everything,” he said as he set the plates on the floor, retrieving a glass of Coca-cola from the floor and taking a large sip, noticing the slightly watery taste of ice that had just begun to melt in his drink.

The low thump of his stereo's bass faded as he picked up his remote and turned it down a little more, squatting in front of his TV to look at the three movies he had. “Damn... a week later and I still only have three movies. I think Avery lied when she said that they'd just magic their way to my shelves.” He fell back on the floor and looked back at Laurie with a puppy dog look, “I might have to go shopping.”

Shopping had become a massive feat that required control of one's temper and the ability to completely ignore all the horrible things that splashed the front pages of papers and magazines in checkout lines or scrolled across television screens. It was one thing to be faced with it when in the comfort of your own home surrounded by your friends.

There was never a dull moment in the life of a mutant.

Just when life at Xavier's had seemed to be settling down for a bit, the rug was pulled right back out from under them. The attack on X-Corps had been unexpected and scary, to say the least. If X-Corps was being attacked, who's to say Xavier's wasn't going to be? Laurie had always thought of Xavier's as such a safe place, but in times like these, anything was possible.

Everyone had been doing their fair share to help out after the attack, and thusly had been keeping very busy. Laurie had barely hung out with any of her friends all week, what with everyone's busy schedule and conflictions with her own. Times were hard, that much she knew long ago. She had learned though, that when times got hard, the answer was not to hole yourself up in your own life. Relationships like friends, family, even romantic relationships, were key factors in being able to stick a pin in the hard times and remember the good ones.

That was the whole reason she and her friends had decided that, for one night, they would take a breather from the drama and chaos and just enjoy each other. The blonde had shown up at her boyfriend's apartment a bit early and plopped herself down on the couch, already noticeably relaxing. Just being around him somehow managed to make her feel at ease. When Nori arrived and the food was brought out, she was ready for the night to begin. "Nice spread," chuckled Laurie, proceeding to pop a pizza roll into her mouth. "Lots of cheese. This is a good thing." Cheese made everything better.

Apparently they didn't have much selection in terms of movies. Laurie grinned and leaned forward, pouting back at her boyfriend who was clearly upset at the prospect of shopping for more movies. "Baby," she chuckled. "Whenever you wanna shop, I'll come with. We can buy some cheap movies from those random display bins they always have in department stores. Last time I went, I got a combo pack of Over the Hedge and Open Season for like 12 bucks." The blonde nodded sagely. "Good deal."

Leaning back into the couch, Laurie looked over at Nori. "Sooooo, looks like our movie choices are slim. Any ideas? I, for one, think we should play a board game at some point."

Noriko didn't have movies. She didn't have a DVD player either. She shied away from video games and television, her very presence around them being detrimental and problematic to both her and others' enjoyments, especially if she was stressed or tired, as, in recent days, was often times the case.

Riots in the city, her own escapade at the Museum with Rho and Siryn, an out-right trashing of Mutant Town, and now a broad daylight attack on an office building full of innocent people. The Mansion was everything but on lockdown; she'd still had a job, just like Laurie, at the same place, even, but she couldn't help but frown at the fact that now there had to be an Xavier's escort with them, to and from. A sign of the times, she guessed. A terrible one, but a sign nonetheless.

Still, with so much bad going on, Josh had come to them and reminded them of the importance of focusing on the good, and so, for one night, if only for one night, they were going to do what people their age did best; chill, eat, and, well, do what best friends did.

Nodding appreciatively to Josh, she shoved a nacho in her mouth, nodding at Laurie. "Board games are fun, yeah, but really, I dunno. I guess I'm in too weird of a headspace for it. And besides, I thought we were here to chill? Monopoly gets so damn stressful." Her tone was joking, even if humor was subpar. She'd never made claims at being a comedian, after all.

"Heck I dunno, what all movies do you have?" She asked, taking more of the provided food, hungrier now than she'd remembered being a few minutes ago. Pavlov was right.

She wanted to ask Josh what it had been like in Mutant Town, but at the same time she didn't want to bring the dark back in here. They were still shy a friend, and the other two seemed to be in a better mood than she was. Ever since the museum, she'd had thoughts growing and eating at the back of her head about all of this. About what it really entailed, the idea of mutant and human coexistence, whether it would ever be possible or if indeed it was some sort of impossible dream. Regardless, it was worth fighting for, and it always would be.

"Do you have old stuff or new stuff? I could jet back to the school and snag some movies off of someone, wouldn't take but a couple minutes."

Josh started to reply, suggesting an older classic like Ghostbusters or Teen Wolf, but the proposal died before it even left his lips and his shoulders slumped back against the floor as he lay there staring at the ceiling. What were they doing having fun and trying to enjoy enough junk food to feed ten people while others were out there dying or losing their entire livelihoods? Despite the fact that they had helped clear away a lot of the rubble in Mutant Town and were working with others to restore everything, Josh felt like a douche for even attempting to have a good time.

“What are we doing guys?” Voicing his own internal question to the two ladies, he cast a blue gaze to each of them in turn before sitting up, his head hanging, elbows resting on his knees. Do you feel as bad as I do for trying to have a good time while Jay's missing and everyone in mutant town is too scared to even go to the bathroom alone?”

He looked up, spinning around on his butt so he faced the girls, “What's happening out there?”

Genuine concern filled his eyes – it wasn't fear for his life or for his future... but the future of them all. These two wanted to be X-Men, but what would that entail in ten years? Or even five? Would they be forced to live in a cave, flying out through an opening under a waterfall? Would they be hunted by the government for not being registered or living on a reservation? Or for just simply being a mutant alive and not imprisoned?

Josh glanced toward the open door, nervous about what he was going to say next. He looked back, first at Nori, then Laurie. “What if we can't do this? Win this war, I mean? What if it's too big for us, y'know? I mean... I have the utmost respect for Scott and Warren and Jean and the rest, but guys... people are dying. Innocent people. What if Xavier's dream can't really happen? What if we're not taking all this as seriously as we should and do stuff like what Kevin suggested.”

Josh looked down, grabbing another pizza roll and popping it in his mouth. Sure... he felt bad, but at the same time, he was hungry.

“I dunno...”

He dared not say anymore without hearing something back from the ladies. Especially not the 'M' word or the 'B' word.

The mood in the room dampened, and brought hers down with it in conjunction. Laurie could tell that neither of them were in a particularly good mood to begin with - she knew her best friends well. But, she couldn't blame them. Sometimes it was difficult to try to have a good time when everyone else wasn't; sometimes it just doesn't seem fair. What kind of world is it when a couple of friends can't just sit around and cheer up for a few hours? A really shitty, depressing one.

There was a lot to worry about lately, especially with Jay's disappearance. The blonde considered Jay a really good friend, having saved her life more than once. No one knew where he was, and that was really nerve-wracking. Laurie hadn't been in the room when everyone had watched that television report, but news spread quickly and she caught wind of it later that day. As much as she wished she could be out there helping more, or trying to find Jay, she knew that there wasn't all that much she could do - not by herself, anyway.

Laurie absolutely hated that feeling; hopelessness. It was a feeling that was becoming all too familiar, and was also a reason that she wanted to become an X-Man. She wanted to make a difference, to be out in the field when bad things happened, fighting to try and make them better. Not sit around the mansion constantly worrying and feeling useless. Everyone just wanted to belong, to be a part of something bigger.

The blonde slumped on the couch as she considered what Josh was asking. To be honest, she didn't have a good answer for any of them. All she knew was that they couldn't just give up.

"Even if it is too big..." began Laurie, considering what to ay next. "We can't just do nothing. I mean, we can't give up. That's admitting defeat, and that's not what we're about here." She shook her head, and grabbed herself a handful of cheesy popcorn. Good thing I'm wearing PJ's, I'm gonna have a food baby with all of the emotional over-eating coming my way tonight. After she popped a few pieces of popcorn in her mouth, she let out a heavy sigh.

"All I know is we can't really do anything right now... might as well at least try to relax a bit. We're all so on edge all the time, it's not healthy. We're gonna go batshit crazy."

Noriko stayed silent for a bit when Josh piped up, mulling things over in her head as best she could. It hit hard near home, really. She'd spent the last year of her life, two years, really, learning exactly what Xavier's Dream was. She had, in the time she'd been here, gone from an homeless, drug-addled and uninhibited energy vampire coasting along in half-existence from one back alley to another and, with the help of Xavier's Institute et al, she had become someone with a family, someone with a home and responsibility. Josh's brash inquiry as to the validity of it all was like someone ringing a bell in her head, loud and brash and unwelcome but at the same time loud enough to the point where it could not and would not be ignored.

It was a damn bad situation, the lot of it. There was, ostensibly, nothing they could do, or at least, nothing they could have done. The attacks they knew about were blitzes , fast strikes with no warning, no provacation. This wasn't a sort of war they were used to fighting. She suddenly shuddered, a chill dancing down her spine like an army of tap-dancing spiders as she realized that there just may be a sort of war they were used to.

Laurie tried to dissuade Josh, to remind them all in her own cheerful way that giving up hope was a bad idea, to assert that there really was noting they themselves could do.

And perhaps that was what drove Surge crazy the most; there was nothing they could have done.

"Kevin will never be right. Outright wanton murder and open rebellion? Sure it may be taking things more seriously but it's also wrong. Really, really wrong. I mean, I'm not going to lie and say that the people doing this don't need retribution, and sure, maybe some of them really do deserve to die, but he's talking about doing exactly what these robe-toting idiots are. I'm all for nukeing a bigot pointing a gun at innocent people, Josh, but I will never hurt someone who's only weapon is a broken opinion." She coughed throat sort of dry. "It's not how we do it, and if it starts being how we do it than we have lost more of ourselves than I even care to think about."

She took a deep breath, let out a long sigh, she felt like she was preaching again, but really, who could you preach to if not your best friends.

"At the museum, I found myself wishing to just take these asses out, zappalappdoo. Gone, shock them out of their boots. And that whole day, that whole day, every human I saw, from the way home from New York and even just driving through Salem, I just looked at them and thought 'what am I that you aren't'. It made me sick, to think that way, to look at 'regular' people like cavemen. I was angry, and it was wrong. The second we start even considering what Kevin talks about we become part of the problem and none of the solution."

Josh shrugged a shoulder as he spun another pizza roll between his fingers in absentminded thought; of course couldn't go after humans like Magneto did. He was just starting to wonder if they should always be so reactive. What if the X-Men actually went out and started hunting the Purifiers down... or the Brotherhood for that matter. There were the Friends of Humanity as well as other militant groups that had plagued them for years. Why did they have to wait around for all of them to come to the school or to Mutant Town before they did anything to react?

“Of course we can't give up hope or start lashing out at humans who's only real crime is being too outspoken. I'm just wondering if we're going about it the right way is all. We just keep waiting for them to come to us... seems like we should get a little more proactive in taking them down is all.”

He sat up straight, this was hardly the kind of conversation they should be having on their night of fun; yes... Jay was out there and so were the Purifiers, but the three of them had done their part this past week and they needed some time to themselves. “You know... I think I'm gonna run for President one day and just clean up all this crap instead of wasting time like they're always doing in DC. How about it guys? You want to be on my cabinet. Laurie can be my First Lady,” Josh continued as he dug out some nachos, his mind already moving forward, not really considering what he'd just said to Laurie.

“Scott would be like the Secretary of Defense, and Logan will be head of my secret service. Nori... how about it? You up for Secretary of State?”

Speculating on who could fill what position was already brightening Josh's mood somewhat, the problems that surrounded them dissolving away moment by moment. Nori and Laurie were both good about that... knowing just the right things to say to soothe his overworked mind, and then provide distractions to prevent him from revisiting the problems that had been plaguing him. Nori's easygoing and disarming manner around those she trusted made it difficult to stay worked up about anything for wrong, and Laurie... Laurie was just a gem who always strove to make sure the best in every situation had been pointed out.

And she was a hell of a kisser.