Past / Present / Future of XU
Current Timeline.
Connors: In his new blue and black v-neck tee shirt, new plaid shorts, new sunglasses, new flip-flops, and his freshly shaven head, Cut strolled by Jess in the recroom.
Jessica: Jess did a double take as Curt wandered by then openly stared, "What the hell happened to your hair?"
Connors: He smiled. "Paige, happened. You like? I haven't had a chance to show it to Laura yet."
Jessica: "Why would you do that?!" She was still staring.
Connors: "... I needed a change? Why, what's wrong with it? It's just hair, it grows back."
Jessica: She put her face in her hands and turned away, "Danny shaved off all his hair at the start of summer..."
Curt: "Oh..." he instantly felt terrible. How the hell am I supposed to know that?! "I-... I'm sorry. I obviously didn't mean to to make you think of that... I'll put a hat on if it helps..."
Jessica: She shook her head, "It won't help... I just... it's my problem, I'm sorry... but... what in the hell made you decide to do that?"
Curt: He shrugged. "You want me to show you?" he said, pointing to the hallway.
Jessica: She raised an eyebrow, "Uh... okay?"
Curt: He led her to the hall with the pictures on the wall. They went almost from one end to the other. "Pretty soon he's gonna have to start putting them on the other wall..." he said thoughtfully, thumbing the wall behind him. "You see the last 3 years? Find me."
Jessica: She wasn't sure what the point of the exercise was but she did as requested, pointing him out.
Curt: "Right. And it's the same all three, see? Jess... I've gone all three years standing there with Johnny putting bunny-ears on the back of my head. No girlfriend, no one hugging me, just me. My pens in my pocket there," he pointed to his front pocket, "and my dorky tie because I'm apparently the only one who dresses up for this."
Curt: "I just... wanted to do something different. I have Laura now, I just wanna try different things." He made a half-smile.
Jessica: "And you think shaving your head will magically make Johnny not an ass?"
Curt: He snorted. "No, I think... for once, it'll make my picture different. Students later will see it and say 'Hey! That dude lost his hair!, cool!' and they'll say I was cool." He suddenly realized it also meant he might be receiving treatment for cancer, but he figured he'd ignore that bit for now.
Jessica: "You know, for a smart guy you say some really daft things sometimes..." she smirked a little.
Curt: He laughed. "I'm fine with it. I needed a chance, this was an easy one to make and it's not a permenant one... though. To be honest, I'm mulling over a tattoo."
Jessica: "You should think very long and hard before you do that... that'll be there for forever."
Curt: "I'm actually thinking of it as an experiment." he replied, looking at some of the older pictures. "The idea being that Lizard will heal it. And if not... I'll make sure it's a cool tattoo." He smiled at some of the people in the pictures, recognizing a few but not many.
Jessica: "Well I suppose it's your choice..." she ran a hand through her hair.
Curt: "Look at some of these pictures!" He said laughing. "Is that the Drakes? They're so... young. Wow. And look, a few years later, there's Teagan's hand on his shirt! He looks like he's just noticing it, ha!"
Jessica: She smiled a little, "Oh that must have been so awful..."
Curt: "Whoa! It's Paige! Who's that dude she's hanging all over? He looks like... well he looks smug." He was about to say he resembled Danny, at least posture wise, but he kept his mouth shut.
Jessica: Jess had heard a name mentioned but she wasn't going to say anything because, despite that she couldn't help it, she considered it eavesdropping and it was rude. "Yeah..." she agreed.
Curt: "And there's that blue teleporting zombie chick Teagan had attack the school... I had no idea she was here for so long. And I think that's Rachel Grey-Foley's husband, the gold dude."
Jessica: "Josh..." she tossed in, "They all look happy..."
Curt: "Oh, hey, the names are down here. Hmm... Alex? Meggan? Victor, Rahne, Elizabeth?" he noticed the class numbers dwindled then grew, and sometimes the students were gone one year and back another.
Curt: "This is weird... I've never bothered to look at this thing. And is that Scott? Oh my God he was in the first class?"
Jessica: "You sound so surprised..." she patted him, her own expression nowhere near the happy smiley ones in the pictures. People always smiled for pictures...
Curt: "You know, as you get later on... like this class here..." he pointed to the picture of his freshmen year. "Max? Michael? Illyana... Oh man, I keep forgetting we were came in at the same time. Her and Pietro really took off like bullet, huh?" He noticed Pietro eyeing Illyana, even in the picture, and smiled. "Anyways, you'll notice... the class gets smaller. Look at us last year..."
Curt: "The class has shrunk so much. It's pretty much just Illyana, Max, Michael, Adam, and I... and Scott Wright too, wehre's he? OH! There he is. Wee little thing right there..."
Jessica: "Yeah I see that..." she nodded, looking away across the hall instead of at the pictures.
Curt: In the picture, Danny had his arms around Jessica. Curt realized this was bad, and he diverted quickly to Wade. "... Does Wade have TNT in his belt? How does no one notice that? Why does he have that in there?"
Jessica: "The same reason he's still a teacher? I don't know..."
Curt: "So... you gonna try doing something different for this year?" He asked, with a coy grin.
Jessica: She looked over at him again, "What do you mean?"
Curt: "You going to do something different, for the class picture? I shaved my head. You should do something different too. It's not a bad thing to do something different, just to say you tried it. Highlight your hair? Cut it? Wear a different kind of shirt? I dunno, just try something new."
Jessica: "Oh... I don't know... I don't even know if I'll feel like being in it..."
Curt: "What? No! You have to be in it, this is my last year! Jess, you're my friend! I can't have my last year picture not have any of my friends in it!"
Jessica: "I'll think about it..."
Curt: He frowned. "I hope you decide you'll do it. I'd be really disappointed if you didn't, honestly." He pointed to the empty spot, reserved for their current year. "The next group photo you're going to see of me in XU, after this one that is, is a Faculty Picture." He smirked and put a finger over his lips. "Don't tell anyone my plan, only a couple professors know."
Jessica: She smiled at him, "I hope that works out for you, Curt."
Curt: "I hope so too. Biology, Jess. Get ready. I'm not gonna make it easy. Animal Plants & Sciences, too. Hopefully."
Jessica: "Entomology?" she asked, actually interested for real.
Curt: "Eehhh... maybe. I might feature it as a section in Animal Plants & Sciences, sure, but no I'm thinking if anything I might do Mutant Physiology."
Jessica: "That's a helluva broad spectrum you're picking there...."
Curt: "Well... It's just going over mutant physiology." He looked around, embarrassed. "It's... not that big a deal."
Jessica: "Of course it is... even just in the building the range is huge..."
Curt: "Not really... It's biology, in the end. Just... in different forms. With different focuses... I'm good with animals, but I'm really good with mutant physiology too. I mean..." He pointed to where his arm wasn't. "Lizard?"
Jessica: She laughed a little, "Well yours is obvious."
Curt: "And that's what I'm going to work with. Besides, I'm really hopeful I can do this, these courses are the ones I'm most interested in. The other options, stuff where they need new teachers --... it's kinda pathetic. I have no interest."
Jessica: "So if you couldn't get those posts you'd go somewhere else?"
Curt: "Well..." He shrugged. "I'm not teaching archaeology or law, Jess. If anything, I'd go do more schooling, somewhere close by. So I can still be there for Laura, and the school even if they need me."
Jessica: "And more work in your labs?"
Curt: "Maybe. I'm taking a lot of time from school to work in the labs, but that's only so I can have my job experience if being here doesn't work out. If I move up, I can stay in the same place I work in now, same city, and I won't have to leave." He shrugged. "So far as I see it? I'm getting American Citizenship after I graduate. I'm done being Australian, this is where I want to stay. I don't even think I want to leave New York City." He thought of Laura's awkward smile at him before she kissed him.
Curt: "And more importantly, I don't see the point of leaving her behind."
Jessica: She smiled at him a little before looking away again. "That's good to hear..."
Curt: "If things work out well enough, I'll even take time out of work to go on a Holiday vacation with her. Hey, you alright? You seem bothered..."
Jessica: "I'm fine..." she ran a hand through her hair and rubbed the back of her neck a little. "Think I might make some tea..."
Curt: "Oh, ... kay. Hey, how've you been doing since the uh... break...up. Thing."
Jessica: "Fine..." she replied, dodging the question, "Do you want some tea?"
Curt: "Sure." She sounded uncommitted to her response, but he wasn't going to press it. "You have any dates lately?"
Jessica: She blinked, wondering if that was a normal question to ask. "I, um... actually I have one this weekend..."
Curt: "Nice! It makes sense." he said, following her into the kitchen.
Jessica: She raised an eyebrow, "Makes sense? What do you mean?"
Curt: "Well, like... You're good looking? You're nice? Guys are probaly falling down at your feet, y'know?" He looked into the cookie jar and began to sift through them. Never any macadamian.... "Not that you're what I'm specifically into, but you got it -- whatever it is-- going on."
Jessica: "Maybe.... but most of the time I'm fairly sure it's just the pheromones talking... never can be a hundred percent certain that it's really me they're interested in."Curt: "Well, trust me, there's ways to find out." He said, still trying to find his cookies. "Aha! Got one!"
Jessica: "I've yet to figure that one out so please, enlighten me..."
Curt: "Find someone who isn't effected by pheromones and hit on them, obviously?" He said with a snort, pushing his glasses up. "I mean... that's a no-brainer." He put his cookie in his mouth as he fixed the buttons on his shirt, one had become undone near the neck.
Curt: "Anyways, I'm off. Gotta get some papers sorted out. Thanks for talking Jess. If you need any help with homework this year, remember -- my door's open. Johnny's not the only friend who gets that privilege."
Jessica: "I only know two people that fit the description, one is married and the other is female so I think I'd rather not thanks..." she sighed, "And I'll think about it if I need help... see you later, Curt..." she picked up her mug and headed for the patio.