Xaviers!

Five o'clock in the morning -- a time when good boys and girls were asleep, presumably, and before most people were allowed out by the strict letter of the curfew.


A lone figure, in a sweatshirt and sweatpants, ran along the spit of land connecting the campus to the lighthouse, back and forth, the sound of jangling metal breaking through the still of the early morning.

((open))

Diego had been awake since three. He didn't know why but vague half-formed worries were preventing him from going back to sleep. So he sneaked out to go for a walk off his worry.

Hearing the figure a mile away, he went to investigate. Coming across the figure, he said in a dreadful English constable voice, "Well, well, well, wot do we 'ave here?"

*Clink clink clink clink*

"Morning," Will said, a little...out of breath? Can he do that?

"We have a jogger here, I believe you'll find."

He kept on with his routine as he passed Diego.

Deciding to jog after him, he asked, "And you sound like a bag of pennies... why, exactly?"

"Part of the training," he said, as if that explained everything.

He drew the hood of his hoodie a little tighter around his face.

"Ohhh... this one of those anime training with a weighed suit things?"

"Something kinda like that, yeah," Will said. "Pushing past those limits, you know?"

"Wish I could get stronger by eating loose change. Alas, I am not coin operated. Or particularly fond of exercise."

"Wait, wh? No, I didn't just eat a bunch of loose change, what, are you nuts?"

Will shook his head. "And if you're not a fan of exercise, what on Earth are you doing out here?"

"Can't sleep. Hoping it's just a jaguar thing and not a cop family thing or, even worse, a fortune teller grandma thing."

"Alright, you're going to need to explain those to me."

"Jaguars are nocturnal. Cop thing is a heightened sense that a family member is in trouble. The last is kinda like the cop thing, but darker and harder to put into words."

"Well, maybe it is just a jaguar thing then," Will said, awkwardly, not really knowing how to respond to Diego's World of Family Issues. "Hope that gets better for you soon."

"It wouldn't be the first time it's kept me up. But I'm still gonna call home later. Because the spooky thing is sorta connected to the jaguar thing. Stupid Thundercatness."

"Where do you live, then? Where's 'home' for you?"

"Vegas baby," he grinned.

"Well, okay, Enterprise, but it's literally across the street from Vegas."

"It's early enough here that it's probably not too late there, if'n you wanted to call. You wait too long, though, and they'll all be asleep. Even in Vegas, I'd guess."

"Shit. You're right. Damn time zones," he answered, smacking his forehead. "I better do that now."

"Best of luck -- I hope everyone's OK back home!"

"Thanks," he answered, letting Will jog on as he took out his phone and walked back towards campus proper.