12269/Mutant Metal Hair Band

Mutant Metal Hair Band
Date of Scene:	30 September 2020
Location:	Classroom - Xavier's School
Synopsis:	Random jam session at the Institute music classroom.
Cast of Characters:	Aerin Mifflin, Siphon, SpyderByte, Nightingale

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Aerin Mifflin has posed:
Aerin is standing in the music room during some off-period time. Holding a purple electric guitar that's plugged in, it has a black strap that hooks around her neck to help balance out the weight. The guitar is partially covered by absurdly long shiny metal purple hair, much like the rest of her. Flowing down her body most of her hair has been sweeped in back of her, pooling on the floor just behind her.

Playing the bassline of Shinedown's 'Atlas Falls' she hits the notes well and also softly sings along. The singing is more for pacing, though she hits the correct notes - it's soft and unpronounced. She hits the verse "For loo long we've taken placebos, but the unkown is awakening. Don't give up now, there's already so much at stake. If atlas falls, I'll rise up and carry us all the way."

Siphon has posed:
    Even in this strange place surrounded by strange strangers and dealing with her own greatly increased strangeness, Tabitha will still put in her daily hours of rehersal. She's come down from her room, The Twins slung over her back as she makes a beeline to the best classroom she was shown in her orientation this morning.
    She catches the sounds of someone already in the music room, so she enters quietly enough to not disturb what turns out to be a cloud of purple metal around a guitar. She picks up on the song quickly as she plugs in The Twins and gets them in perfect tune without reference. Then after Aerin finishes singing the first refrain she slides in with the lead guitar line and vocal harmony.

    "No we can never look back. Return to the salt and the sea. The quiet is only a trap. And I will not take the placebo. 'Cause the unknown is awakening."

Aerin Mifflin has posed:
Aerin notices the newcoming walk in, but blinks a bit when she decides to join in. She cedes the vocals as when Tabitha draws in, she stops however continues playing. She continues her pacing hitting spot on as if she was reading from a textbook - it's something she's practiced on her own so many times, though she hasn't played with someone else before.

She really is a glob of purple, hair, guitar, and even spectacle-clad eyes of purple stare over at Tabitha as she plays.

Siphon has posed:
    Tabitha's own hair, the waist-length parts that emerge from her knit wool fisherman's watch cap at least, is a cascade of copper with a band of black down the left side. It's not actual copper, but it has the look. She nods to Aerin with a smile as they jam together smoothly. Her pale fingers slide along the strings of her beat up Gibson doublenck while her left foot starts moving in a rough match to the drum line.

    She can't help the grin that comes when the lyrics reach the point of; "It won't pull me down, the weight of impossible days. I'll stand tall." The reason is clear since she's an easy foot shorter than her impromptu bandmate.
    

SpyderByte has posed:
Making his way through the hallway of classrooms is Jeremy. The senior technopath is wearing his black pants with chains hanging off them, along sleeved black shirt with a Nirvana logo on the front and a long leather trench coat. He has a spiked dog collar around his throat and his black and purple colored hair hanging in front of his face in the form of two long bangs, while the rest of his hair has been shaved along the sides and back in a small guard. He has a level three backpack over one shoulder as well.

As he hears the music and singing, he peeks into the classroom after nudging the door open, lingering as he looks from Aerin to Tabitha. He gives a quick smile, followed by a shy lift of his hand upwards to wiggle his fingers in a wave.

Aerin Mifflin has posed:
Aerin leans over to bump Tabitha's hip with her own just after her little smile. She soon after catches the wiggly-fingers and stares at Jeremy a moment. Well..that's a different look? She just stares.. and can't help but thinking - pffft, purple hair is overrated - she should know. So. Much. Purple. And the dog-collar is..new? Maybe it's a new yorker thing or something? She's a farmer's daughter, from a small Wisconsin town. You just don't see those there. Though..she'll have to give him a point - maybe it's for style, but noone's going to try to choke him with that thing on - like ever..

Dispite all the inner monologue, she keeps playing and keeps up, inclining her head a bit to the side to offer Jeremy a 'come on in' if she can manage, sending her hair swaying a bit in the process.

Siphon has posed:
    The hip bump catches Tabitha bit off guard, but she grins a bit wider and manages to not lose her place in the lyrics too badly. Jeremy's arrival gets a quick up-nod. Her black eyes are shining as she's very much in her element despite all the new strangeness of the last day. She definitely is more relaxed than the bundle of stress Jeremy helped to collect from Maine.

    When the song ends, Tabitha is all smiles as she swings The Twins to hang at her back and turns to Aerin. "That was fun! I'm Tabitha. They just dragged me in last night."

SpyderByte has posed:
As he inches his way in, Jeremy lets the door swing behind him. He reaches into the baggy pocket of his pants (JNCOs) and pulls out his phone. He hugs it against his chest as he slides into a chair.

<< Hello. >> His voice comes out of the speaker of his phone as he offers up a bright smile to the pair. << You figured out we are a mutant school? >>

That question is more for Tabitha than Aerin, obviously. << It's cool, huh? This place is really big. Our swimming pool is bigger than my last home. >>

Aerin Mifflin has posed:
Aerin keeps her guitar in front of her, a hand lightly holding it as it's something rather precious to her. "It was." she offers in reply to Tabitha. "I'm Aerin, I've been here since the beginning of the summester."

She peers over at Jeremy once more, shaking her head to get a little better view, pushing hair on both sides behind her where it pools at the floor. "A mutant school you say?" she offers cooly with a quirk of her left brow. "Well..I'd say that's a new look for you Jeremy. With the collar and the hair and the..well, and pretty much the.." she waves a hand over herself in front, from face to chest, then back up a couple times "Pretty much the whole everything."

Siphon has posed:
    The comment about it being a mutant school causes Tabitha to look down sheepishly. "Yeah. Shannon clued me in after I walked in on her and her wings in the kitchen last night." On skin as nearly chalk pale as hers a blush is very visible. "I honestly had no idea what I was." She doesn't say that she had to be convinced that this wasn't some kind of 'toss in and forget' reform school. The music has her in too good of a mood to go back down that mental road. She doesn't comment on Jeremy's look since it's the same way he was yesterday when they first met.

SpyderByte has posed:
<< It's the look that makes me happy. This is how I always wanted to dress and look. It's what makes me feel good. Until I came to Xavier's, I was afraid to be myself. I didn't want them to hit me anymore. It was better to hide and pretend I fit in. >>

Jeremy's phone chirps as he puts it on the desk. At this point, he's not even trying to pretend he's typing on it. His voice just speaks through the phone normally. He shifts some on the desk, propping his chin up in the palm of both hands.

<< Shannon has pretty wings. I thought I smelled her Mac and Cheese from my room. That and LaToya told me all about it in the morning. Oh. LaToya is our smart toaster. She is really chatty and likes to give all the gossip. >>

There is a moment of pause.

<< Oh. I am a technopath. I can communicate with any networked device or machine as long as it has a signal. I spend a lot of time talking to machines They're really nice and agreeable. I stole your file from the ophranage's computers while I was there. They didn't have much but I took what I did in case the teachers needed to know something about you, like allergies, or psychological evaluations. I didn't read it. >> Pause. << I didn't read it twice. It was very boring. I can send it to you if you want. >>

Siphon has posed:
    Tabitha looks away when Jeremy talks about why he wears the look he does. Rule #5 of the orphanage is never pry into someone else's closet. She figures it applies. Instead she nods at the comment about Shannon's wings. "Yeah, they are. And her mac 'n cheese was pretty great, too."
    Then he's talking about his ability and how he used it to snag her state file. This throws her off for a moment, but then he's asking if she wants a copy. "I've already got my copy of everything. I'd even bet that mine is more complete since Ms. Porter never puts her full files on the computer."
    She considers another thing briefly then asks, "So is that something folks do here? Talk about... what we do along with the handshakes?"

SpyderByte has posed:
<< I don't know. I am new here. I was a transfer student from Metropolis when Miss Grey and Miss Braddock tracked me down. I just figure it's easier if I just tell people what I can do, so they don't think maybe I shoot death lasers or I burp poison gas or something terrifying. I don't have a secret handshake, but we could come up with one. That would be fun. >>

Jeremy gives her another awkward smile on his face, blowing some long purple bangs away from his face with a huff of his lips upwards. << It's nice here. Very safe. It's like normal school, but we have a few classes to help train us to use our powers so that we're safe as well. We have a gym that I don't use, but Shannon wants me to. And .. we have a rec room with a lot of video games and TV's. We have lots of outside stuff .. huge garden .. horses .. >>

Nightingale has posed:
     The last class of the day for Shannon was nominally a study period. But she'd gotten the itch to go to the music room for a little bit of practice. So with a few music books and sheets in her arms, she makes her way downstairs, stocking feet barely making a whisper on the floor. Her black leggings, long black t-shirt with a giant pink sequin heart in the center, and black socks are in stark contrast to her sweeping white wings. Her hair is long and loose, but for the little blue braid on the left side of her face.

     However, when she comes to the door, and hears others already within the room, she holds back, staying just inside the doorway and not intruding. Not for the moment, anyways.

Siphon has posed:
The music classroom is getting some freelance action today. Tabitha came here for her 'daily, always, without fail' practice session and ended up jamming some Shinedown with Aerin and is now chatting with Jeremy. The Twins, her beat up Gibson doubleneck is hanging from her back (it's nearly as tall as she is). She's in the clothes she's got from the orphanage. Worn out nearly colorless jeans, leggings, and two t-shirts under a flannel hoodie. Her fisherman's watch cap is pulled down over her head with her copper and black hair hanging loose down her back.

    "I think it'll take me a while to get used to the whole... mutant thing. Gonna focus on the regular school part where I can, I think. As for what I 'do', if you see my skin glowing like glitter then you won't want to touch me. I suck the energy out of things."

    She pauses as a strange sensation crosses her senses. Cinnabar and sea salt, but she can... see it? She gives her head a shake and rubs at the bridge of her nose. "Do you smell that?"

SpyderByte has posed:
<< Yes. I can smell that. Your mutant power is to make things smell yummy as you suck the life out of things? >>

Jeremy gives a small giggle as he peeks up at her from behind a veil of purple. He glances upwards for a moment, as if staring into the great big nothing, then reaches up with his hand to give a poke at something in thin air. Jab. Poke. Shannon's phone gives a 'ding'.

<< Hi. >> A text message appears on her screen.

He's come to memorize her particular cell signal and now that it's so close, it's practically singing to him.

<<But this is normal school, really. Just some of us look weird. I'm so happy here. It's way better than the last one. The jocks here don't do mean things. Everyone helps each other here. >>

Nightingale has posed:
     Bzzt! Bzzt!

     Shannon's phone does its little buzzing dance in her brown leather bag, which somehow, some way always seems to be with her. She slips it out and taps the screen, chuckling lightly at the familiar appearance of the flickering green spider icon. Busted. Pushing away from the wall, she grins, mildly amused at having been caught out. "Hey, Jer. Hey, Tabitha! Settling in a little better now?" Too, she waves a wing to Aerin, dipping her head by way of greeting. "Hey there. Looks like I walked in on a jam session... I could scoot and come practice another time, maybe?"

Aerin Mifflin has posed:
Aerin peers over to Jeremy "Of all the colors you could've gone with, I don't know why you would pick purple. Uuuuugh. So much purple. It's so overrated. I'd love to have something like pink, or something. I've tried coloring, and it just falls right off."

A soft wave towards Shannon when she shows, the other hand holding her purple base guitar, a black strap holding it up around her neck. "Yes, yes, everyone gets taken aback by wings at first. I was, it's something you get used to."

Siphon has posed:
    "Get your feathers in here," is Tabitha's response to Shannon's question. "And I guess the rest of you can join them." Tabitha takes a few test sniffs of the air, but the thing she's not-smelling isn't an actual odor it's... a sound she can see? And then it's gone. She rubs the bridge of her nose again, blinking her black eyes to clear her ears (how does that make sense?) and rejoins the conversation. "I've always wanted to see if my hair will take dye, but the orphanage wouldn't allow it and I was putting all my stipend into fixing up The Twins and paying for lessons."

SpyderByte has posed:
<< I like purple. It's my favorite color. >>

Though Jeremy's phone can't emote emotion, he looks a bit sulky as his shoulders slump.

<< We could get some dye for you if you want, Tabitha. It could be fun. We could all experiment and do different colors. >>

<< I am not jamming, Shannon. I heard music too and peeked in. >>

Nightingale has posed:
     Shannon just shakes her head and smiles, the little ice blue braid swaying gently as she does. "Think I'll just stick with my braid. It's something I've kept since last year, when Andrea, Gwen and I all went to the mall and we got spoiled with an afternoon of salon and shopping. It's... a memento of a nice time I've just wanted to keep with me since."

     She slides onto the piano bench, setting her music up in front of her. But for now, she just begins running through some scales as a warm-up, her fingers dancing along the keys. "I felt pretty bad scaring you with my wings, Tabitha. I'm sorry for that." Glancing over at Aerin, she continues her scales, not even needing to look at her hands to know what she's doing. "Yeah, I guess you can get used to things like wings and stuff. But I hope I never entirely get used to it. I never want to lose that sense of wonder."

     Jeremy's expression of his favorite color only gets a smile from her, and a little flick of her eyebrows. What gears could possibly be turning in her head now...?

Aerin Mifflin has posed:
Aerin just shakes her head "I'm surrounded enitrely by too much purple in my life." Considering that her powers turn many things she touches into purple - there's a lot of purple.

She purses her lips once more as she looks to Shannon and considers her words. "Mutancy always has a randomality - my parents are refugees from Genosha. Even a place that is alive with mutant activity - my understanding is that it wasn't a good, nor safe place to be. Will we ever really be able to safely be on a stage at some point and play music together publically? Will there stop being the shame that having wings, or being different isn't shameful, dangerous, or having an intense hatred for? My parents ran from Genosha - if they stayed and tried to change things I have little doubt they feel like they would have died. Maybe they worked with the american government because that was their way to affect change."

Siphon has posed:
    Now that the probable biggest shock to her system has been encountered, Tabitha has started to just mentally file away things she's never heard of before to look up later rather than display her ignorance. She's very glad that the computers here lack the ultra-max content lockouts the school and library computers had in Bar Harbor. First item on the list: Genosha. She listens to Shannon and Aerin discussing the wonder and ramifications of mutants while hopping up onto a chair, then shrugs to Jeremy's suggestion. "I wouldn't be opposed to experimenting. I just can't afford things like that." She tugs at her oversized hoodie that could almost be a long dress on her. "Other priorities and such."

SpyderByte has posed:
<< Don't worry about money. I can get it. >>

Jeremy isn't going into any more detail than that. He just gives her an optimistic smile. He leans over a bit in his chair, looking to bump his shoulder against Shannon's, then reaches out to curl an arm around her for a half hug.

<< Maybe I can do a less offending color for my own hair, like blonde, or red. >>

Nightingale has posed:
     Shannon's hands go still on the keys, her brows furrowing as she just looks right at Aerin. "And that is precisely why I refuse to use that image inducer any more than necessary, because I will NOT be ashamed of my wings. I will NOT be ashamed of being a mutant. As for mutants being able to play music publically on stage? There's Andrea Jackson. There's Dazzler, who by the way teaches here." She grins at Tabitha, dipping her head. "She was one of the ones that was there to bring you here from Maine." Briefly, she leans into the hug from Jeremy, smiling, bumping her shoulder lightly against his.

     Looking back at Aerin, she just continues. "Everyone has their way to affect change. Your folks did what they had to do. Andrea does what she does, not just on stage but with all her outreach work. Mark my words. The day we will be able to live in peace with others IS coming. It's just a matter of when. And it's the work of those who have come before us like Andrea and Dazzler and others that helps pave the way."

     Her wings, meantime, have begun to spread out to nearly their full span behind her, markedly ruffled, catching Jeremy beneath one of them. Her fingers dance along the keys once more, taking up a very hopeful, very simple, but very powerful melody.

"Like a small boat
On the ocean
Sending big waves
Into motion
Like how a single word
Can make a heart open
I might only have one match
But I can make an explsion....

Aerin Mifflin has posed:
Aerin waves a hand at Jeremy "No no, chose whatever color you want. I'm just tired of purple." She leans towards Jeremy "Let's not rope the newbie into things like fraud and illegality hmm? Make sure any money you might give her comes from a proper legal source?"

She stands straight afterwards "Well..there's mutant town, thing things that have happened there..and the generality of - isn't Mutant town considered unsafe? There's systemic racisim in Wisconsin, but that's fairly easy to deal with. In New York, things are of a whole new level - probably because so many people are compressed into such small compressed space."

Siphon has posed:
    When Jeremy says not to worry about paying for hair dye stuff, Tabitha doesn't respond. She just gets an uncomfortable look and shrugs. "I can save up." A lifetime in the system has made her wary of handouts or anything that feels like one. Then she picks up on something that Shannon said in her and Aerin's discussion about mutant politics. She can't have heard that right, can she?

    "Wait wait wait WAIT! Did you just say that was DAZZLER yesterday?! Really and actually Dazzler?"

SpyderByte has posed:
<< It's fine. I don't mind paying. I am /well compensated/ by Miss Grey for my time. >>

Jeremy actually adds emphasis to the words through the speakers of his phone as he shoots a nasty look towards Aerin, his lips turning into a scowl.

<< Besides, it's what friends do for each other. I like buying my friends stuff. >>

He gives a bright smile to Shannon's singing, swaying a bit to the familiar song that he's heard her play before. He loves the piano it seems. One of those soothing instruments that can quell his worries away. << Yup, that was Dazzler. She is touring with Andrea now. Making her big come back. Do you want tickets? We always get free tickets. >>

Nightingale has posed:
     The song on the piano continues, though Shannon is less focused on singing the lyrics, and more on Tabitha's shock and surprise. This time, at least, it seems to have been a pleasant one, leaving her giggling softly. "That's an affirmative, Tabitha. By the way, she's also helping teach music here, so between her and Alexis, I think we've got some of the best of the best."

     Smiling at Jeremy, she gently shoulder-bumps him, not letting the gesture disrupt her fingers' dance on the ivories, the hopeful, familiar tune still filling the room. "You like buying your friends stuff. I like making them things. Like that quilt I made for Cap last Christmas. Everyone's got their thing, ya know?"

Aerin Mifflin has posed:
Aerin looks rather unimpressed about compensation. "Mmmnhmmn. Well, gathering of people's personnel records, destroying of such, doesn't exactly sound legal and above-board does it? So you'll pardon my skepticism I hope? Having friends in the CIA perhaps makes me somewhat paranoid naturally perhaps?"

She points over at Shannon "Now that Tabitha you should take her up on."

Siphon has posed:
    The idea of being taught by Dazzler has put a rather star struck expression on Tabitha's pale face. Then Jeremy mentions free tickets and a comeback tour and she's downright giddy. It's honestly all that's going through her head right now. Talk of CIA and the like doesn't even register to her. It isn't until Aerin talks to her that she blinks back to reality. "Take who up on what now?" She gets a sheepish look. "Sorry. I sort of blanked out for a few minutes."

SpyderByte has posed:
<< You don't have any friends here. >>

Jeremy is looking rather agitated now as he rises up from his seat and gathers up his laptop bag in one swoop.

<< Bye, Shannon, Tabitha. >>

With that, he heads out of the classroom, giving a few sporadic twitches as he squeezes the strap around his shoulder tightly.

Nightingale has posed:
     Shannon just giggles at the expression on Tabitha's face, her hands finally going still on the piano keys, the last notes fading into silence. "She's just like us. She puts her pants on one leg at a time, too. You didn't think anything of meeting her yesterday, she's still the same person today. Just try saying hi to her, it'll be okay. She's pretty chill."

     The figurative temperature in the room seems to drop several degrees as Jeremy makes his rather pointed exit, leaving the winged teen to sigh softly. "On that note, I should probably head back to my dorm to work on some composition, maybe study up for classes tomorrow. I might be making some cookies later if you like, Tabitha?" Getting up from the piano bench, she gathers up her music, tucking her wings in neatly behind her. Without fanfare, she slips out the door, and off to the rest of her day.

Aerin Mifflin has posed:
Aerin watches the whirlwind of people make what seems to her at least be sudden and abrupt departures. Afterwards she looks to Tabitha "You should avail yourself of free tickets to see Dazzler in concert - when she's playing here in New York at least.".

A soft sigh "Jeremy is..a bit morally flexible I've found. He can do amazing things with computers and electronics and things, thing's I don't fully understand. However, like with what he said he did with your file, he's also able to do questionable, or downright illegal things. I'm not so sure..he's able to fully tell the difference between legalities, or if it's something he particularly cares about. I don't think he's a bad person, but I'm not sure he considers the legal rammifications of his actions all the time. Just because you feel like you won't be caught, doesn't mean that you should do something - including if it's something you think you can get away with it. That's when we can lull ourselves into a sense of confidence, and we can be caught anyway. It's better to just keep things clean and legal when we can."

Siphon has posed:
    Quick departures catch Tabitha a bit off guard. She almost doesn't respond to Shannon's mention of cookies. "Uh.. yeah. I'll see you then." The comments about not fangirling over Dazzler get a half shrug. "I'll be okay. Probably. Maybe. Guess we'll find out in class."

    Aerin's comments about Jeremy and what he does gets a half shrug. "Things like that are so far outside my experience. But you mentioned the CIA? Espionage is also illegal, but governments do it under the cover of 'it's not wrong if we don't get caught'." She gives Aerin a shrug and a grin as she shifts The Twins back into playing position.

    "But anyway. I've still got a couple hours of practice to go. You wanna jam something else?"