Difference between revisions of "11500/Are we all Green, then"

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Latest revision as of 06:30, 21 May 2020

Are we all Green, then
Date of Scene: 18 May 2020
Location: Jean's Office - Xavier's School
Synopsis: Mentorship with Doctor Banner will have to wait, but there is hope for a more constructive shift in Shannon's healing gift. A baking challenge is issued by miss Grey! Bon appetit!
Cast of Characters: Nightingale, Phoenix




Nightingale has posed:
     It had not been all that long since the lockdown at Xavier's began. For what might once have happened a little more freely, it now seemed prudent to seek the wisdom of those older and wiser. So, bearing a gift of a plate full of fresh, warm bluebery scones, Shannon makes her way to the Headmistress' office--the only time she can recall doing so by her own request. She's in simple light blue jeans with ribbon embroidery up the outside of each leg, a cream-colored ruffled poet's blouse, modestly tucked in and laced up the front, and... what is it with her and those goofy, floofy Old English Sheepdog slippers? She knocks lightly on the door to miss Grey's office, and waits patiently outside.

Phoenix has posed:
Jean Grey has been working through her various duties such as research, paperwork, and training sessions. From before dawn to long after dusk, she's been going nonstop and the coffee supplies are starting to show it. Thankfully the mansion has no small stock of beans. The redheaded woman is sitting at her desk and typing away at a report. She looks like she's rather just set the whole thing on fire as opposed to proofread it, and the computer is saved by the knock on the door.

"Mm? Oh, Shannon, hello! Come on in." She calls out to the door after cheating just a little to 'see' who's on the other side. The chair opposing her desk slides out with a faint pink glow for the arriving baker before she's opened the door.

Nightingale has posed:
     A tentative smile is offered to the Headmistress as Shannon enters, nudging the door shut behind her with the big, goofy black nose of one of her slippers. "You've been working pretty hard," she begins, sliding the plate onto the desk as she plops her posterior down in the proffered chair. "Figured you could use that."

     She nibbles her lower lip, glancing over the piles of paperwork still scattered here and there atop miss Grey's desk, sighing a little bit and running her fingers through her hair. "I almost feel bad adding even a little bit to all that," she murmurs, motioning to that which had so nearly gone out in a blaze of glory. "But with tightened security, I wanted to run a couple things by you."

Phoenix has posed:
"If you're trying to bribe me to boost a grade..." Jean begins as she eyes the plate of scones. "I might consider it. I'm starving." She flashes a wide grin as she takes one, her tone fully joking. "Mini fridge over there has some water and soda, if you want anything. Keurig's also got coffee, tea, and hot chocolate pods."

"Oh, don't worry about all of this. Part of it is because I don't just put things away right away." Says Jean as she leans back in her seat, breaking off a piece of scone to coffee-dunk. "Besides, I took this job over for Xavier knowing what all was involved. I'd much rather be bothered than something important going unaddressed. What's on your mind?"

Nightingale has posed:
     Who was the winged one to refuse a little hospitality? Seeing that miss Grey has her own coffee well in hand, Shannon gets up and makes a beeline for the Keurig, rooting about amongst the coffee pods, plucking out a blueberry cobbler flavored one. "My major vice," she says, with a bit of a grin. "Could be worse than coffee." As she is going through the necessary motions of procuring a good, hot cup of liquid life, it seems as if she is gathering her thoughts together.

     "I'd hoped that prior messages reached you about Doctor Banner's willingness to mentor me, particularly in the areas of biology and medical science," she begins. "Mostly it's been long-distance, but just before the lockdown, he did stop by the school. I know that visits really do need to be cleared through you, though. Can't know when they'll happen, but first off, are you okay with the mentorship, and two, if he does find the opportunity, would visits be permitted?" There seemed to be more, but the cup of black liquid gold distracts Shannon for the moment, a smile appearing on her face as she takes a sip.

Phoenix has posed:
"I suppose one could argue caffeine is a drug like many addictive substances, but at least it's a bit hydrating. Also, it's the first step to world peace." Remarks Jean rather candidly. Maybe sugar is a crack in her armor. It does taper away as Shannon brings up her moonlighting mentor.

"Doctor... *Bruce* Banner?" Jean clarifies as she sets down her coffee. "I'd heard he stopped by to talk to someone, but I wasn't informed it was a student. Certainly he has other things to be doing, considering this is a school and he's not one of our faculty. Are our own teachers not providing the information you need? I know they can be a bit one size fits all, but if there's some topics you want to look into in greater detail we can see to that."

Nightingale has posed:
     Shannon nods. "The same. In his... other form... he brought Bean home safely once. Came back a while later when he'd calmed down, to make certain Bean was alright. I got to talking with him, and he mentioned some of his work on trying to understand and make the one he terms 'The Other Guy' a positive force." She sighs a little bit, her breath rippling the surface of the coffee in her cup. "It struck me as so much like what you and the teachers are trying to do here, to teach us to use our gifts and become a positive force that same way. My heart went out to him and I asked if there was anything I could do to help."

     She glances at Jean, and sighs a little. "I don't think he ever meant to slight anyone here, nor did I. But he's got a difficult gift to live with, and he's trying to turn it to positive ends. You know all too well how my gift works, and I'm trying to shift it to something more positive, something that will be less destructive to myself. And I'm /this/ close." One hand is held up briefly, with forefinger and thumb crooked, lowered after a few heartbeats.

     "I'm having a hard time finding the words to express things here. Anything that would help that shift in my gift, whether here or potentially from a mentor like that... I'd be hard-pressed to turn down. But at the same time, this is home and family. Could the two work in tandem?"

Phoenix has posed:
Jean sits there, giving Shannon the time to explain things and quite likely digesting it all as the winged girl speaks. When she finishes, the headmistress takes in a slow, deep breath before she begins to speak.

"Shannon, I get you. I do." Jean says as she absently reaches up a hand to rub at the back of her neck and her expressions tight with thought. "But you're missing something very important here. He is The Hulk and, like Voldemort, not saying his name isn't going to make him any less so. He has done incredible things for the world, *he has*, and he continues to do so. We all owe him and The Avengers our gratitude."

"However, good deeds alone does not alleviate my concerns. This is a school. A very real, accredited, exclusive yet publicly know, school. We have the teachers we have for a reason, and its their job to be here to teach. Very normal people out there can find that information, because schools need to have a public face. Even us. Doctor Banner is publicly known as the Hulk and as an Avenger. Step out of the mindset of a student, for a minute. Imagine you are a parent of one of the students here. You hear that Bruce Banner is visiting the school. Hero he is, but... is it safe? What happens if something goes wrong? Here is a man that may very well take the whole of the X-Men to stop, suddenly tearing around this mansion with vulnerable youngsters. Many of them younger and far less trained than you, unable to protect themselves. What then? And after, who is then responsible? What happens when the police and government would come investigate?"

Jean pauses only briefly before continuing, "My job is to protect all of you. While I am glad you want to learn more and I do hope you can find a way to ease your own burden, I cannot condone him being here at the school. Neither can I condone you going to him right now. As a student here, it is the responsibility of the staff here to ensure your safety both on and off campus. With what information I have right now, I can't guarantee that you are. I have no doubts he is a good, honest man, but he is a man with a terrible power that he hasn't had the best track record in controlling. Obviously, I cannot control what you choose to do after graduation, but without more assurances of safety it's not something I can approve."

Nightingale has posed:
     Well... this wasn't unforeseen. Shannon nods slowly. "I was trying to step out of that mindset," she says, letting out a long, slow sigh. "If I can't go to you with something like this, then who?" She shrugs a little bit, and takes a sip of her coffee. It was not a message she liked the idea of sending to Doctor Banner, but it would have to be done.

     There was more, though. After a few moments, she peers over the edge of her mug at miss Grey. "During his visit, I think he let slip a bit more of his situation than he originally intended. In trying to describe his situation to me, he spoke of it as more towards the mutant end of the scale. I didn't know what to say to that, except to encourage him to talk to you and Mr. Summers. That's way out of my wheelhouse for now."

     Student or no, at least she was learning to recognize her limits, and this was a hard one that there was just no way around.

Phoenix has posed:
"That's part of my concern." Jean says with a quiet sigh. "He can't just be here, none of them can. It'll draw entirely too much attention that's both mundane and otherwise. I'm not just talking about paparazzi or the stray government suit tracking what they're up to. People like him have enemies, enemies they may not realize are watching them and the places they go, the people they see."

Her expressions soften slightly as she looks to Shannon with concern. "Shannon, your life will ultimately be driven by two things - the things you do with it, and the people in it. The company you keep will be one of your most defining aspects. I'm not saying don't make connections or friends, but choose them wisely. Know that the enemies of your friends may become your enemies too, and you need to be ready if they come knocking."

She gives a slight wave of her hand to gesture to the room around them, "Its why we're so careful as X-Men in coming and going, and making sure that we aren't easily identified or tracked. We can't bring our enemies here. As for who you need to speak to, it's me. Please, don't go around me on this. I don't know what issues he may be dealing with, but if Doctor Banner wishes to speak to Scott and I, we can arrange a meeting off the school grounds. The Avengers know how to reach us. If there are certain lessons you need or equipment, we can find a way to provide those without risking the school."

Nightingale has posed:
     "We're actually thinking alike. I didn't want to go around you on this." Formality be damned for the moment. There's no hiding the disappointment on the winged teen's face, but there's a smile there as well. She slides out of the chair, makes her way around to the other side of the desk, and pulls miss Grey in for a massive hug--wings and all. "I get it. It's something I'd have to learn anyways, if I mean to stay on here after graduation."

     Well, if the offer was on the table, then she was going to strike while the iron was hot. "That's just it. As far as lessons or equipment, I'm not sure just /what/ is needed to push that shift in my gifts over the edge. I'm confident that it /can/ happen. Josh Foley... Elixir... he was able to teach me to hold it back enough to use it as a diagnostic tool rather than allow a full healing to happen. While Triage was here, both of us noticed marked similarities in our gifts. Mine just, for some reason, snaps back on me with rather wicked feedback and you know well what the result of that is." She pauses. "If one shift can happen, I'm certain the other can, but I don't know how to make the connection. It's very hard having this gift, seeing people who need it, but there is so much less I can do as things stand now. It's... incredibly frustrating, but I don't know what to do now. Plus, if I can somehow manage this, it'll help keep me out of the medbay from helping others."

Phoenix has posed:
Jean Grey doesn't object to the hug, and in fact returns it with all of that slightly bone-squishing concern one would expect of their own mother. "Then we'll just need to scour the mutant pool a little and pull in some contacts and favors as to who can help give you some insight. There is something else to consider, too. The greater your power, the heavier the price. Call it karma, I suppose, the universe's way of keeping the scales balanced. So many of us make it a life's work to push ourselves, to find one more skill, to remove one more weakness. Something always takes it place in one way or another. We absolutely want to see if there's a way we can better protect you, even if its more of a matter of redirecting that backblow as opposed to stopping it. Easier to reroute a river than stop it."

Nightingale has posed:
     Shannon nods, and smiles. "Like rerouting the river long enough so my gift could be used to diagnose a problem. But not yet enough to let me complete the job without the backlash." She pauses, pursing her lips a little. "Next time there's a healing and I'm called on, what are the odds either you or miss Braddock would be able to ride point, so you can see for yourselves what happens? Maybe that would give you an idea of just who to call on, if that's what you're going to do." She taps the side of her head for clarification. "It'd mean having to witness the result of the backlash and allowing it to happen, but that could be minimized by making sure it's a simpler injury, nothing that would result in a medbay stay. Just a bit of rest in my dorm."

Phoenix has posed:
"Well we don't want you intentionally hurting yourself for science if we can avoid it." Jean says with a grimace as she leans back to better look to Shannon. "I'm not the best person to speak to on the medical side of things, but I have a few ideas on the psychic side. Do you know if these side effects are psychosomatic? The mind is a powerful thing. If you truly believe that you heal them by physically taking the injuries, then it would stand to reason there is the underlying belief that those same physical things must go somewhere and don't just disappear. I don't mean all of that in a... cognizant sense, more reflexive. Like knowing you need to move your lungs to breathe, so you just do it without even thinking of it."

Nightingale has posed:
     "That's... a possibility that crossed my mind. I don't know how to deal with that though." She shrugs, and smiles a bit. "It's the way it's always been. That first day I manifested, it's how it happened. I was just putting a simple cool compress on my best friend's burn at camp when she'd scalded herself with hot water. When I accidentally touched the burn, I absorbed it. I had no pre-existing belief at that time, and I didn't know until it happened that I had a gift to begin with. So... I'm not quite sure what to think."

Phoenix has posed:
"Martyr isn't the right word, but that sense of wishing you could take someone's pain away." Jean says with a slight wobble of her hand as she tries to find the right phrasing. "Only in this case, that desire to help even if it hurts isn't a wish, it becomes real. Granted, that's all just a theory and may not be correct, but it provides us a place to start. I have an idea, I just need to work out the specifics. So once we sort out all of this fairies and goblins mayhem, we'll get to work with testing. Sound good?"

Nightingale has posed:
     Nodding, the winged girl smiles, though her face does flame at the word 'martyr'. "Sounds good. By the way, last question." Now there is a definite grin on the teen's face. "If you could pick just one favorite baked goodie, what would it be?"

     Bribery? Thanks? Who's to say?

Phoenix has posed:
Squint. Jean doesn't need to be psychic to know a mooch is on. She was a teenager once not too long ago, though some days it feels like another lifetime. Arguably, it was, if you count being dead and coming back as a new life.

Jean regards the girl for a long moment with narrowed eyes before cracking just a faint, tiny little smirk. "Macarons."

Is she challenging Shannon to a deceptively simple but notorious fiddly tiny treat, or does she actually like them? The Phoenix keeps her secrets.

Nightingale has posed:
     Shannon was not blind to the difference in pronunciation. It was 'macaron', not 'macaroon'. One finely arched pale gold brow lofts, and she crosses her arms. "Then let's hope you don't mind eating a lot of mistakes. You /would/ pick the one I haven't tried making yet. But... challenge accepted."

     Game on!