11684/Weekend Relaxations

Weekend Relaxations
Date of Scene:	27 June 2020
Location:	Rec Room - Xavier's School
Synopsis:	A casual chat about powers over puzzles.
Cast of Characters:	Phoenix, Nightingale, Red

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Phoenix has posed:
While staff don't always chill in the rec room, sometimes they can be found loitering outside of the reclusive staff lounge in the bowels of the upstairs. The Headmistress herself is down here tonight, sitting at one of the tables and focused on an old fashion jigsaw puzzle of all things. What she is doing differently is manipulating the pieces with her telekinesis, shuffling the pieces or lifting them into place in faint halos of pink light. She's sipping on a mug of coffee as she does it, though judging by the lack of steam from the mug it's probably gone cold.

Nightingale has posed:
     Some days were good for coffee, some days were good for tea. This seemed like a day for tea. Shannon is indulging this with what smells like incredibly fresh chamomile-mint tea in a cup in front of her. She's in her red tartan sweatpants, baggy grey tank top, and floofy sheepdog slippers, sitting with that cup of fresh herbal goodness next to the Headmistress. She's also deposited a small plate of vanilla macarons nearby, and is watching with utter fascination as she works on the jigsaw puzzle. "Never ceases to amaze me, the range of gifts I've seen since coming here. Kind of nice to know Someone Up There isn't done being creative with us yet."

Red has posed:
Some people do jigsaw puzzles, others brew tea... Alice though hauls a box behnd her into the recroom, looking for a table as she spots Jean puzzling with Telekinesis and Shannon watching. "You have seen nothing unless you've been in a typical M-Town public school. If you ever met someone with a secondary mouth on the tummy or 4 eyes per eyesocket, you might have met some former classmates of me." Settling down she opens the box, taking out some parts which to her... are pretty much a variant of Jean's current time waster... just in 3D and without the pre-defined shape. Nope, there's just pictures for how it shall look like from different angles in combination with the plastic pieces.

Phoenix has posed:
Jean Grey glances up from the puzzle - a generic fall forest scene - and over towards Shannon and Alice as they speaks. "Well, they do say variety is the spice of life. Mutants just decided to make things extra spicy. Extra-extra spicy for the pyros." She picks up one of the macarons with the same psychic pluck and delivers it to her hand with an appreciative grin. "I actually do this for a few reasons. It helps me relax, but it's also practice for fine, detailed control. When I'm feeling like an extra challenge, I have huge three-dimensional puzzles programmed into the Danger Room that I try to assemble while also keeping myself in the air. I just was not feeling that ambitious tonight."

Nightingale has posed:
     "I've never been in public school, period. This was the first year I've been to a school that wasn't at home." Shannon chuckles, lifting her cup to miss Grey and Alice in salute, before taking a sip. "So, did the macarons pass muster?" They certainly don't /look/ purchased, and they taste just a little too fresh to have been bought at a store anywhere nearby. As Jean plucks one of the puzzle pieces from the prodigious pile, the winged teen pokes at it gingerly with one fingertip, giggling softly. "I can't imagine having a gift like that, or what the world must be like from the point of view of someone who does."

Red has posed:
"Last time I was in the Danger room there was literally nothing I could achieve... granted, I was thrown into a training session of others, but Holograms don't work at all with what I got." Alice remarks wth a little shrug. "And yea, if you want spicy... Mutations can be totally wierd. I mean, There was this guy who was said to have left the school some 2 years before I was a freshman who had the mutation that his tongue would taste of ghost pepper chili. No idea if that's true, but if it is, he'd be by definition the most spicy kisser on earth. Though what kinda gift you mean? Extra mouth or floating puzzles?" she asks as she eyes a pair of pieces, then puts one down to pick another up. A few moments she eyes them, then she presses the two together in what she seems to asume is the right position, molding the ABS together.

Phoenix has posed:
"Delicious as always, Shannon. If you don't at least pick up a part time career as a baker or chef, I'll think we failed you." Jean teases the winged young woman with a quiet laugh. "And gifts as in power. I've never heard of a mutation quite that specific, but I suppose anything is possible. I've been around long enough not to rule anything out until I see it for myself."

"Let's see... school. I was in mundane school for a little while when I was young. I came into my powers at ten." She says with her lips pressing together in a fine line. "Let's just say it was not a gentle transition. I've basically been here since. The hard part wasn't so much learning my powers as how to quiet them. There are still days I have to put effort into shutting out peoples thoughts and emotions around me, and it's never fully quiet. All of you, for example. It's generally just a dull roar like television static and I make sure to respect everyone's privacy as much as I possibly can, but it doesn't mean I miss when someone's emotions spike particularly high like when a new student is having a tough go of being away from home, or someone is panicking about a test, among other things." She says the last bit rather delicately.

Nightingale has posed:
     "Considering it's highly likely y'all are going to be stuck with me for a good long time to come, you won't have cause to think there's failure involved. I don't plan on going anywhere." The mention of emotions spiking seems to bring Shannon's to something of a rolling boil, though outwardly she does her best to keep her expression calm, peering into her tea cup. It's a mix of upset with flashes of killing rage, but she doesn't say anything about it for the moment.

     "Ooof. Ten years old? Makes me sound like a late bloomer at fourteen. I'm... not sure many transitions would be gentle, really, it's more a matter of degree." She glances over at Alice. "What about you? When did you manifest?"

Red has posed:
Alice stretches as she reaches for the next part, searching for the right position on the thing she works on. "Well, my Dad kinda can slightly sustain of sunlight, my mom is an empath, I grew up in M-Town... It was pretty much expected that I might have some or another talent. Must hve been 8 or such when I turned my lunchbox into a rough estimation of a toy I wanted from TV. Got a scolding and dad made sure to teach me how not to make myself stand out too much ad harness it. Still not have a hang on all facettes i might have."

Phoenix has posed:
Jean Grey faintly raises a brow as she looks to Shannon with a mark of tension coming to her forehead. She says nothing though as she looks back to her puzzle and slowly slides one of the pieces into place.

"I worked with the Professor for awhile until I was really ready to be here full time. There were some things I needed to work through. I guess in some respects, I was his first student. Suppose I wasn't a terrible one since he left me in charge. It's a long process to find out everything that you can do, which is like any talent really. It can be a lifetime of discovering and then refining, and refining some more. Then sometimes secondary mutations develop, though thankfully they're fairly uncommon."

Nightingale has posed:
     "Don't think I'd object to a secondary mutation that'd keep me the hell out of the medbay." A hint of Shannon's anger is leaking through in her growing lack of self-censoring. "Can't imagine you being a bad student, either." She simply watches the puzzle pieces floating about and clickin themselves into place

     Of course, Alice's approach to puzzle-solving is a novel one, for sure. "Well... that's one way of telling your folks what you want on your Christmas list. Though you were out a lunchbox out of the whole deal." She lets out a short huff of breath, sending wisps of steam from her teacup swirling away from her face. "I get what you mean about the Danger Room not being a great place to learn your abilities. Mine don't really affect anything, either. About all I can do in there with my powers is flight. DR is excellent for that. Got a few nice aerial ring courses set up." She shrugs, taking another sip, her brows furrowing as she considers what /else/ she could set up in there.

Red has posed:
Alice actually is buildign model, not a normal puzzle. "Oh no, I wasn't out of a lunchbox, I had t fix it. And I think the problem with the danger room is, that I work with materials. Like, everything in it is light and stuff..." She yawns a moment, then shrugs. "Your power at least is super useful, while I can make the best costumes but in a fight I am a liability at best."

Phoenix has posed:
"The Danger Room isn't just for combat." Jean tells them as she looks back up from her puzzle. "It's there for simulations. It's a good chance to test real world scenarios before they happen. How would you react if a riot broke out, or a fire, or there was a car crash in front of you. What about getting lost in the middle of nowhere, or similarly were caught alone with injuries and you have to do some field medic work on yourself? One of the best things to practice is situations where you may not be able to use your powers, to perfect some other skills so you're not caught off guard in the heat of the moment. Keeping your head on is the most important step in any scenario. Obviously, though, it can't work for everything."

Nightingale has posed:
     Shannon just stares at Alice for a moment, then lets out a bark of laughter. "Please. You haven't been here for a lot of it, but my power lands me in the medbay half the time. As for being on the front lines..." She sighs a little, and smiles tightly. "I didn't think I'd be at all suited for it, but that never stopped me from trying. Now I can't be any more sure of where I belong, but out there with everyone else, where it's needed the most. And yet even with that..." She sighs softly. "I don't know how to help some when they need it."

     Talk of Danger Room scenarios has her peering over at miss Grey, and she shrugs. "Or one that's meant to be a first-aid scenario on a sinking ship, and winds up turning into a successful full-blown rescue operation instead? I think we actually floored Warren but good on that one." There's a faint smile. "About as much as I surprised myself."

Red has posed:
"Havn' been in the Dangerrroom but for what I assume was supposed to be combat training. So yea, little to no experience there." Aice shrugs, putting down the subassembly she had been working on to pick up a few other parts to mold them together. "Got models to try fine control with. And you can ly Shannonl. That's smething you don't have to forget."

Phoenix has posed:
"You're never going to be ready for every scenario." Jean says quietly as she puts a few last pieces into place. "And yeah, you'll find yourself in situations where you may not be able to offer as much as others. But so long as you can think on your feet and understand what you can do, you'll find ways to help. Speaking of, Alice, have you spoken with Sam with?"

Nightingale has posed:
     Shannon just nods, finishing up her cup of tea and standing. "True that, Alice. I do run through my flight courses in there. As for your gift... you can work with polymers, right? So there's a chance you could make equipment, maybe even on the fly if you had some raw materials in your EDC. Not to mention you could work with Mr. McCoy, and see just how small you could work with your abilities, to the point of improving existing equipment..."

Red has posed:
Alice nods at Jean. "And Dr. McCoy about some summer classes." She sighs a moment as somethinginher pocket rubbles and she pulls free a phone, lifting a inder tp ask to hold the discussin a little hile she takes the call. Though after a few minutes she starts to gather her things, smiling at the two because she needs to do something else... "See you..." she whispers as she leaves the room...

Phoenix has posed:
Jean Grey nods her head once to Shannon as she begins boxing up the puzzle she was working on. "I'd spoken to Alice about similar." And as said plastic-worker moves to leave, Jean raises her hand to give her a wave and a wide parting smile.

"If there's enough student interest, I'll let Scott know and we can see about arranging some more open lessons. Speaking of, I do need to go track him down and talk to him anyway so I'm going to go see where he's gone." Though it's highly likely she's already perfectly aware of where he is. "I'll see you later, I'm sure. Thank you again for the cookies."

Nightingale has posed:
Shannon nods slowly, waiting till Alice is out of the room, and most others are out of earshot. "Maybe sometime soon we could talk a bit more." Now her emotions are definitely bubbling up to the surface, the killing rage and upset just held in check. "Just not sure this is the time or place." The mention of cookies gets a faint smile, and she dips her head. "You're welcome. Cooking challenge met."

Phoenix has posed:
"Always." Jean says to Shannon with a soft, understanding expression on her face. "If there's ever an emergency big or small, it doesn't matter what's going on or what time of day. If any of you ever need me, feel free to barge right in my room in the middle of the night."

She reaches out a hand to rest it on the winged girl's shoulder, "I'm here if anyone ever needs to talk. Just whatever is on your mind, don't let it fester, alright? Emotions like that are never good to dwell on."

Nightingale has posed:
Shannon nods, and glances towards the kitchen. "I just might do that. But I'll bring some hot cocoa. Deal?" She tries to smile a little bit. "'cause this is the kind of anger that is just... not good."

Phoenix has posed:
"Deal." Replies Jean with as reassuring a smile as she can offer. "Take it from an empath, sometimes our emotions can be more of an enemy than what's causing them. So when you're ready to talk, I'll be here. Shoot me a text or call me if I'm not in the building, I always have my phone on me. Go try and relax and get some rest, alright?"

Nightingale has posed:
Shannon nods. "I'll try to bleed some of it off in the gym. Thank god Logan got me in that habit, it's been a lifesaver." Giving Jean a quick hug, she grabs her cup, the plate with what's left of the macarons--if any at all--and skedaddles out of the room to clean up, and to vent in a more constructive way.