11383/A new day at Xavier's

A new day at Xavier's
Date of Scene:	25 April 2020
Location:	Teacher's Lounge, Second Floor, Xavier's School
Synopsis:	Scott and Jean go over incoming students and speak with friends.
Cast of Characters:	Cyclops, Phoenix, Cannonball, Prismatic, Psylocke

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Cyclops has posed:
The days at Xavier always seem to be the longest the closer it gets to summer break and the events that go along with it. Proms. Graduations. Final Projects due. New students being introduced while saying farewell to those who depart. How many years has Scott Summers and Jean Grey done this? Quite a few since they were young students themselves. Settled in the teacher's lounge, the leader of the X-Men is currently going through several files, dressed in a pair of slacks and a button down shirt. His black jacket is hung over the back of his chair. Though he is not a teacher here, he does handle some of the paperwork in regards to potential students.

It's important that the school gets this right. Every potential candidate has to be critically looked over. How much work will they need? What is their home life like? What type of powers do they have? Will they be a harm to the student body? Not so much a distraction, but an actual threat? Every line must be read, five times, before moving on to the next.

A steaming mug of coffee sits in front of him, his third since classes ended for the day. Outside, the sun has gone down and the moon has risen, and the hours have ticked by without his notice. "Everett Thomas. Born and raised in St. Louis. Can duplicate powers within a certain vicinity. Straight A student. Football player. No juvenile record despite growing up in an improvished neighborhood. Family is intact."

There is a slow shift of his jaw as he goes back to the top again, reading once more, fingers lightly drumming on the top of the table. "Hm."

Phoenix has posed:
No, Scott may not be a teacher, but he's someone Jean can always cajole into helping with the endless masses of paperwork. Besides, there's very few people she trusts implicitly to help look over the potential students. She hated saying no, and they only ever did so in the most severe cases, and only after she'd poured over every single alternative. So she likes the extra opinions.

The Headmistress is sitting opposite Scott, in crisp-pressed hunter green slacks and an ivory shirt, with a matching green blazer overtop. Her hair is pulled back in a neat bun, looking every bit the professional, save strands of hair are escaping after another long day of work. There's a half-eaten salad cobbled together from the kitchens, and a glass of iced tea that's no longer iced and gone tepid.

"Definitely a kid who'll need to learn to control those powers, if only for his own safety." She says thoughtfully. "There's some abilities you don't want to pick up in the middle of a supermarket. Do we know anything about his family, any other mutants we're aware of?"

Cannonball has posed:
Samuel Guthrie comes walking into the lounge, and streatches a bit. He has been helping out as well, and he had a flight class today. He looks over his shoulder "You know this might actually be good for me, trying to fly slower is an odd practice.

Prismatic has posed:
    Makes you sort of wonder how Alexis got here.

    "Tea, tea, tea, /tea/--" she whispers to herself as she runs from a final exam in French she was proctoring since the regular French teacher was ill.

    But never, had she ever, gotten answers responded in Cajun French, which threw her for a loop, and the sleep-deprived Brit suddenly needed a jolt of caffeine after replying to a question in Italian, and not French.

    At least it wasnt her smattering of Dutch. That would have been embarrassing --

    So she slips into the lounge, her fingers having already turned red and was half-way to another round of 'need a cuppa--' when she bumps into Sam's back.

    "OOF! H'lo, Sam... God, I hope that's Sam."

Cyclops has posed:
"Mother is the bread winner. Grocery store clerk. Father did a few years in lockup for boosting cars and is not currently employed. Single child. One bedroom apartment in one of the worst neighborhoods of St. Louis. Currently still the highest murder per capita in the nation." Scott says as he thumbs the next page over again, reading his current curriculum. "So the question is.. do we take a really good kid who is a role model in his community out of it to live in our mansion in New York, or do we pass him up and watch from afar to see what type of man he will be? Does his community need him more, or will he become a casualty by way of a stray bullet?"

There is a low sigh from Cyclops as he leans back, rubbing a hand over his face as he squeezes his eyes shut so not to shoot off a round of lasers as his fingers inch under his glasses for a moment. "Obviously he would fit in here at Xavier's. Who is our current highest scoring Sophmore? Jessica Webster? Girl with the fly wings? He'd give her a run for her money academically. Just.."

"I am overthinking this again." As he picks up the file again, he moves it to the 'approved' stack, then hesitates again, then picks it up again.

His head tilts upwards at the sound of Sam and Alexis's voices, his shades gleaming beneath the florescent lights of the lounge. "Good evening. How did classes go?"

Phoenix has posed:
"You *are* overthinking it." Jean says across the table as she props her increasingly heavy chin in the palm of an upturned hand. Her eyes are tired, but her smile is a fond one. "Of course we'll take him. Maybe some day he can return home and help improve his community. Maybe we can even find him some part time work or a summer job, even around here, to help send some money home. If he brings it up as a concern about leaving, that is. I wouldn't want to assume."

As new voices come into the otherwise silent atmosphere of the lounge, she sits herself up straighter and gives the familiar faces a wide, welcoming grin. "Long day too, from the looks of it. There's still some coffee cake over there from this morning. It's probably a bit stale now, but at this hour, sugar is sugar."

Cannonball has posed:
Samuel Guthrie looks over and smiles as he sees who has bumped into him "Yea it is me hon." He leans in and kisses her cheek, and then heads over to the get himself a glass of iced sweet tea, giving Alexis a smirk holding it up towards her knowing the answer.

Prismatic has posed:
    "It'll be a cold day in Hell." Alexis states, fetching herself the electric kettle she stashed, and she sets it up.

    "I think one of the students may have been under a bad influence and returned his essay not in Standard French, but in Creole. I can't possibly figure out who would influence someone to use a Creole language." Alexis gives a small smile, "Though admittedly the answer caught me off-guard, and I replied in Italian which complicated such things immensely." she gives a wan smile to the two administrators, leaning against the counter.

    "Passed my own tests for my teaching course, though."

Cyclops has posed:
As the file is once more moved back to the approved side, Scott picks up the next file and opens it up. He lets out a soft sigh under his breath as he stares down at the name. Another challenging decision to make.

"I suppose congratulations are in order, Miss Carr. For passing your teaching courses, not so much the French to Italian kerfuffle. Does this mean you are looking to come on full time as a faculty member?"

His eyes glance down once more at the paperwork in front of him, drawing his finger along the lines, slowly. "Mister Guthrie, how is everything going for you?" He asks as he tilts his chin up again, staring straight at him, as if he was quietly measuring him. "Your students are continuing to break the school's records in hours logged in the medical bay."

He passes a small smile over towards Jean. One of those brief moments of affection before he glances back down to his work. << This student's code name is Bubble Girl. Her mutant power is to blow bubbles out her nose. >> He passes along to Jean through their quiet mental link. His fingers jostle the file in his hand. << She is bullied quite a bit at school as well. Seventh grader. >>

Phoenix has posed:
"I always had a bit of a fondness for the accent, even if I don't speak it or even understand it well." Jean says as she turns away from the quest for 'proper' tea and back to the stack of applicants. "There's a lot of history in languages, even down to regional variants. It's a shame so many have been lost over time."

There's a flick of her eyes up towards Scott before flipping forward a few pages, one corner of her mouth hiking up in a tiny grin. << Poor girl, I can imagine. Middle school's such a hard time to be without a good group of friends. I'm sure she'd find them here. >>

She does look up them towards Sam with a gently sympathetic look. "I remember Our days," Lookin at you, Red-Eyes. "When we occasionally bit off more than we could chew. School's tough. You just want so much to be an adult. Then one day you get there, and paper cuts are the worst dangers you usually face." Is that a faint sigh of mourning? Maybe. "Still, we'll need to make sure the students are where they're supposed to be, and have the means to get help from us when they need it. Kids will be kids, after all, no matter how many rules we wave at them."

Cannonball has posed:
Samuel Guthrie looks over and says "Seems, this group has more magical problems than we had, but Ah think if you don't count Shannon's time in the office we are still pretty close to normal. She can't count on those hours." He smiles at Alexis reaction to the tea and opens it and sips it "Speaking of Alexis being full time, was wondering if we might be able to get a room in the teachers side but where the kids can still come to us."

Prismatic has posed:
    "It may be so, Jean, but getting an answer in Louisiana Creole French, especially for the phrasing that was given and the question that was posed really did throw me off, ' Laissez les bon temps rouler' is not what you should say to a person when you need directions." she gives a grin, attempting to imitate a certain Cajun cadence, but she's not quite as good as with her Parisian French and proper accent.

    "It is my intention, in fact." Alexis replies, looking to Jean and to Scott before crossing her arms a moment. "I would like to come on full-time to teach and help otherwise where I am able." she gives a small grin -- which turns to a flushed cough when Sam mentions rooming together -- and she turns to hurry herself with making a cup of tea.

Psylocke has posed:
The door opens to admit another teacher. Psylocke is still dressed in her school-clothes. Which for her consists of a pair of sweatpants and a tank top. She has on a pair of slip on shoes, since she generally trains while barefoot. She immediately heads for the kettle she knows is in the lounge then freezes when she sees it already brewing. It causes her to stop in her tracks and blink owlishly before looking to the gathered group. Nope. Nope. He only likes iced. Ah, must be Alexis.

"Hopefully there will be enough for two cups," she says hopefully in the direction of the young woman. Then she moves to settle at a table. "Hope I'm not interrupting."

Cyclops has posed:
"Of course not, Betsy. It's good to see you. Your day go well?" Scott asks as he takes a sip of his coffee, still mulling over Bubble Girl in front of him. Though it appears Jean has already made her decision with the not so subtle hint passed to him mentally. He puts the file on the approved side. So far there is fifteen approved, one deny. Every so often, his eyes will move towards it. The two telepaths in the room can probably feel him suffocating on the decision. To turn someone away. Guilt? Frustration? Lack of confidence?

"I do not see a problem with that, Alexis. You have worked very hard and your students love you, even if a few of them may be sabotaged by Gambit when seeking out a tutor for their homework. Don't let him corrupt their education." There is only a faint twitch of his lips at the tiny bit of humor he slips in.

"Those were the days, weren't they, Jean? The five of us driving Charles to baldness." He takes another sip of his coffee, then places it between his palms to warm them as he weighs what Sam is requesting. "We have classrooms and dedicated offices for students to engage with faculty if they need support with their coursework. Personal living quarters are not appropriate for students to visit us at." He says rather bluntly as he puts the mug down. "While we may have romantic entaglements time to time as adults, we are a school." There is only a slight glance to Jean. "If you want to move in together, understand that you live in a fishbowl. You have the eyes of the students upon you and they look up to us as mentors and teachers. I am fine if you two wish to live together, but you won't have students visit you there. We can assign an office for each of you and you can set your visiting hours."

Phoenix has posed:
"Oh of course, of course. It's not the right answer, I was just being wistful." Jean says with a quiet chuckle towards Alexis. "It's been too long a day with too many stories, it makes me a sentimental fool." She reflexively stacks the papers in her hands and thumps the ends on the tabletop to straighten the pile. "And I may need to call it a night soon on these, my eyes are going crossed. There's just so many new kids to look through. We've been at this for hours and it feels like we've barely made a dent. Which is *good* there's so many, but..."

She trails off as she rubs the edge of her palm against one eye, refocusing on another familiar face coming in. "Oh you're fine! You're never an interruption." She assures Psylocke with a brief interlude after at a small little grin at Scott's mention of the 'glory days', the gesture silent but heavy with varied emotions.

At the question from Sam and that cough from Alexis that certainly no one heard, Jean adds, "Scott's right, the kids find distractions aplenty without adding to the gossip. As for offices, there's rooms aplenty here so there's no problem at all sparing some. I swear, they reproduce behind our backs. There's always some corner I swear I've never discovered before. If there's any specific equipment or supplies you need, just let me know."

Cannonball has posed:
Samuel Guthrie hmms and says "Well, Ah appreciate the offices, and as for the rom, give Alexis and me a couple days to talk about it and see what we want to do for sure?" He looks over to Alexis trying to get a judge on what she thinks. He does not bring up the teacher who shared a room with his girl when he was a student here.

Psylocke has posed:
"My day was good. Mostly. Other than the new student who wants to become a ninja," Betsy says with amusement. "I had to explain to him there is no such thing as ninjas. That they are the creation of movies and books." There is amusement in her eyes as she says it. Thankfully, they are all in on the joke.

"Going through potential new students?" she asks, motioning to the files as she rises. She goes to the kettle and pours two cups then leaves Alexis to make her own tea. After Betsy has hers doctored up just right, with her favorite blend, she goes back to the seat she had occupied a moment before.

Cyclops has posed:
"Mm. Another student wanting to be a ninja. Shocking." Scott says with a soft sigh in his throat as he picks up the last file in front of him, giving it a few taps before he opens it. The denied folder gets another glance, just for a moment. More guilty thoughts. "Yes, for the incoming twenty-twenty eight classes. We have a whole range of promising young minds to shape and mold. I am excited for a couple of them myself. Lots of potential."

Nodding his head in agreement to Jean, he glances back to Sam. "Eitherway, congratulations on your successful relationship. Moving in with one another is a big step. Just make sure you two are not rushing things too much."

He finishes off his cup of coffee, then rises up from his chair, stiff backed as he makes his way to the pot to fill it up, even it's stale and a bit colder. "Betsy, perhaps you'd like to join me on a few of these trips to visit these families and speak with the parents? We have a young girl in the list who speaks fluent Japanese and very little English. Her parents have only lived in the states for a few years so I would not mind a translator."

Phoenix has posed:
"If you had a dollar for each one, eh?" Jean manages to mostly stifle a grin, but her eyes gleam with it. "And yeah, students. One semester ends and another begins, with another class of young mutants to guide and watch over and who will hopefully see a world of peace in their lifetime." Her tone is bittersweet as the smile fades, fully aware that the silent promise for each new face has a long way to go before fruition.

There's another attempt to stack the unwieldy folders and stacks of papers as she begins bundling them into a box. A hopeful look is passed to Psylocke, "Oh please go with him. I don't want him to have to rely on some mechanical translator, not for things this important. It's a tough time, and choppy translations never help ease anyone."

She then hoists up the box once she's secured all of the papers, even Scott's. Breaktime for him too. "I'm going to go lock these up then turn in for the night. I know I don't need to say it, but buzz me if you need anything. Sam, Alexis; we'll talk more this weekend or next week on arrangements once you two have talked, okay?"

Cannonball has posed:
Samuel Guthrie looks over and a brow raises a bit and says "The Prof didn't do the language thing with you guys? Hmm, must have just been cause of the different folks in our class, and us not having a telepath. I have learned a few on my own, but Prof got us through a few real quick

Psylocke has posed:
"We try not to use that method. Always better to learn the old fashioned way." Not that Betsy really has a right to talk. Her method of learning was even more strange than using telepathy to fast-learn. "When one can, of course."

She smiles to Jean and Scott, giving a nod. "Of course. It would be my pleasure to help with the new recruits. Also always good to have a telepath along. I'm certain Jean has her hands full here anyway."

She sips her tea, letting out a sigh of happiness after doing so. "Perfect for after a long day."

Cyclops has posed:
"I do not speak Japanese, but I do speak a few basic ones, crudely. Enough to find the bathroom and to order a drink." Scott says as he takes the stacks of approved and puts them to the side. All save that lonely denied file. He shifts his jaw again, then nudges it towards Psylocke. "Be our tie breaker." An interesting statement from him. He and Jean not coming to a decision for once? It's rare, but it does happen time to time. Push meets shove.

"It is getting late and I suppose we have an early start in the morning, even if it will be a weekend. Sam, make sure to check on your kids in the medical bay as soon as possible. I would like a full documented report of what happened."

As he rises, he gives a glance to Jean, giving a slight nod of his head. "Jean." Polite and courteous.

Phoenix has posed:
An unstoppable force meeting an immovable object. Between is not an enviable space. "The extra insight is always useful. We may just be missing something after looking at these all." Jean says regarding the lowly one in limbo, her expressions somewhere between sadness and a lingering hope. "We can give it another look in the morning too with fresher eyes."

There's another barely perceptible sigh from the Headmistress as she shifts the heavy box of future potential students. "Alright, if I start thinking on these again I'll never get any rest. Good night Betsy, Sam, Alexis. Scott." The last said with that tiny inflection in returned acknowledgement. And with that, Jean takes her leave.

Cannonball has posed:
Samuel Guthrie nods, a bit and says "I will look into it, I believe it is with some grimlins that have been popping up chasing farries, I believe it has something to do with Pixies training from Dr. Strange.

Psylocke has posed:
"I'll take a look." Betsy draws the file over to herself but doesn't open it. She'll review it when she gets home. "I'll let you both know tomorrow my thoughts on it."

It might be a weekend, but she would be able to send them a text or an email at least. Or just pop in for a chat. Teleportation is a wonderful power for making those commutes shorter.

"Good evening to you all."