11993/New Mutants: Making friends

New Mutants: Making friends
Date of Scene:	13 August 2020
Location:	Frontyard - Xavier's School
Synopsis:	The New Mutants talk about camping and get together for the first time.
Cast of Characters:	SpyderByte, Grizzly, Nightingale, Faraday, Ted Gammage

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SpyderByte has posed:
Having sent out a text message to the others, Jeremy is waiting outside on the front porch. He's dressed in his black bondage pants and a long sleeved black shirt. At least today he left his hoodie behind, though the scars on his arms can seen with the sleeves tugged up to his elbows.

Tapping a soccer ball between his feet, it seems that the young goth had found himself something to keep himself occupied that isn't a phone. He kicks the ball against the wall, then jogs after it as it bounces down the stairs. After catching it with his foot, he steadies it again, then kicks it back towards the porch.

Grizzly has posed:
Having received the text to join up with some of the other kids outside, Adam made his way his way to the front doors. He'd discovered a path that almost always brought him past the kitchen or the rec room where it was easy to grab a snack, so that as he strode down the steps he was in the midst of taking a large, loud crunch of an apple.

Seeing Jeremy and the *gasp* sports equipment, Adam offered a wave of hello and a mumbled, full of apple, "Hey!"

Nightingale has posed:
     When the text message reached Shannon, she was as usual in the kitchen. And, as usual, something was just simmering on the stove, so her reply was not immediate. How did Jeremy always know when she was cooking something? "Was he talking to LaToya again," she mutters softly, chuckling. Ah, well. At least she wouldn't be joining the gathering empty-handed. And who was that sneaking by the kitchen for a snack, anyways?

     "Hey, wait for me!" she called out, laughing as she is putting together a massive dish of tortilla chips, surrounding a bowl of what looks like a meatless chili dip. It's a bit of a task following the mysterious student outside, balancing the tray and trying not to bump into anything.

Faraday has posed:
The gang has been summoned? Count her in! Indira may be the last one to the party by a few minutes, but she makes up for the lost time by covering the distance from the entry hallway to the lawn in two long jogs and a jump that bypasses the stairs entirely.

"Hey!" She puffs out as her feet impact with the ground and she straightens herself up. "I miss anything? I was on the phone. Chat chat chat, mom was talking my ear off. Oh, who's got the snacks? I smell something good." She asks as her nose leads her towards what Shannon holds.

SpyderByte has posed:
Waving a hand back to Adam, Jeremy perks up quickly and gives him a smile. He kicks the soccerball over towards him. It's an awkward kick that goes off to one side a bit and very weak. "Hi Ah-a-Adam!" He gives a few tugs of his sleeves to pull them over his arms.

Smiling at the pair of girls that heads outside as well, he gives a wiggle of his fingers towards them. "Hi!" One word responses are the easiest. "I t-th-thought that mmm-mmmaaybe we c-c-c-ould get t-t-together and hang out. I wuh-w-was talking t-to Ssshh... shhh.. SHANNON." He blurts the name out loudly as he gives a visible twitch. "Ah-ah-and we t-think we c-c-ould do a c-c-camping trip."

Grizzly has posed:
Adam slowed a bit at the call from behind and turned to see a girl carrying a tray of nachos with a dip that caught his nose as smelling really good. After gulping down his bite he offered a sheepish half grin. "Oh, sorry. I didn't know you were part of the team call." Another girl shows up as well, going straight for the snacks. A girl after his own heart. Now he was regretting his snack choice, but, he just had to eat it fast enough to then get his paws on some of those chips.

Even distracted by girls and food, he catches the movement of the ball from the edge of his vision and hops over a couple of quick steps to stop it's roll with a foot. "A camping trip?" he asked, a glimmer of excitement to his voice. "What, tonight? Like, here on the grounds, or...?"

Nightingale has posed:
     Well, it didn't look as if the tray would be much of a burden for long for the angel-winged teen--not with the way her teammates were descending upon it like a horde of hungry vultures! Shannon giggled softly, finding a place on the steps to plop down her burden, giving her wings a light little flick before settling them onto her back. "Vegan chili, Indi," she replies. "Told you I had some recipes I wanted to try out."

     At the moment, she's in some light blue jeans that have honeysuckles machine-embroidered up to the knees, some old white sneakers, and a t-shirt tied up beneath her chest to leave a little of her midriff bare in deference to the heat. "Actually, I was talking to Jeremy about maybe all of us cooking out by the lake, maybe sleeping out under the stars if the weather was good for it. Not sure when, but soon, before classes start up again."

Faraday has posed:
"I have an iron stomach. Bring on the food challenges." Indira merges herself into the food line and gives Adam a jerk of her chin by way of greeting. "Hi, dude I haven't met. Name's Indi - like she said. Indira if you feel like using more syllables than necessary." She plucks up one of the chips and a generous scoop of chili, crunching down it with a satisfied groan. "A'ight... that's awesome. You're a keeper."

She listens in on talk of camping and her head is bobbing again as she finishes the chip. "Camping, eh? Sounds like a plan. Been ages since I did that. My parents sent me to summer camp when I was a kid. I spent most of it getting lost in the woods. Well... *I* knew where I was going. They just couldn't find me, which, you think camp counselors should be better at navigating their own forest."

SpyderByte has posed:
Taking his phone out of his pocket, Jeremy taps along the glass to launch his voice modulator. As he gives a smile to them, he holds the phone out so that it can speak for him.

<< This is Adam! The one I kept telling you about. He has a little brother and he can turn into a huge bear. He cannonballed into the pool as a bear. Was funny. >>

Beaming, he reaches out to pluck a chip off the plate, taking a crunch of it. He has an iron stomach as well from his life of hotpockets and cheese sticks.

<< There are a few places that have fire pits and benches that we could set up a tent at and camp. Ted texted me and said he'll be awhile. He's on a call with his family. But he'll hang out with us tonight too. So, this is the whole team. The New Mutants. Hand picked by the school to be the best of the best. >>

He puffs up a bit proudly, his smile wide and awkward upon his face. << I am so excited to have you as my friends. >>

Grizzly has posed:
"Indy it is," Adam agreed, and because mental connections were funny that, she would always be remembered by way of Indiana Jones and he might not ever call her by her full or true name. And now that she had eaten some of the dip and made that noise of yumminess, he had to try some too. Still keeping the fruit on one hand, he had his other free for chip dipping. He was far from vegan, however he was no food snob. If it was edible, he would try it.

Since Jeremy introduced him so succinctly, there was nothing else to really add, so it was okay that his mouth was full. He just gave a thumbs up after the other boy's words. "I think camping under the stars sounds awesome. Count me in."

He glanced to each of the others and smiled. "Yeah totally. Hello new friends. So...Shannon's got wings, that's an easy one, and I know Jer's mutant thing, but what's yers Indy?"

Nightingale has posed:
     "Healing, too. The wings actually came in second." With the tray now safely stowed on the steps, Shannon reaches out to shake Adam's hand, grinning. "Nice to meet you, finally. I heard about the cannonballing. Wish I'd have been there to see it." The part about ursine form didn't seem to faze her one bit. "Codename's 'Nightingale'."

     For a moment, the talk of camping is enough to silence her, despite having been the progenitor of the idea to begin with. "I haven't been camping since my mutations began to manifest," she says quietly. "Lost all my friends then. But maybe now there's some new ones. Some new memories to be made, yeah?"

Faraday has posed:
"Ooooh, you're the bear guy! That's super cool. I always wondered what it'd be like to be an animal." Indi says as she steals another chip and then takes several steps back while cramming it in her mouth. While chewing, she holds up a 'one second' finger before wiping her hands off on her pants and swallowing.

She flexes her fingers and holds her hands an arm's length apart. As her eyes alight with a soft silver-violet glow, a similarly hued arc of lightning cracks out from one of her palms and to the other in a hissing snap. A finger-twitch, and the lightning forms a sphere of crackling energy before she sends it to ground itself on the turf with a sizzle of grass and soil. "Energizer Bunny ain't got nothin on me."

SpyderByte has posed:
Taking a seat on the porch, Jeremy gives a long stretch of his body as he listens to the two girls get to know Adam. He leans back, propping himself up on his elbows, balancing his phone across the top of his knee.

<< I would want to be a bird. >>

He has a simplistic way of looking a life.

Grizzly has posed:
I've actually never been camping before," he admitted, "But, I can turn into a bear now, so I think I got this," he chuckled. He took Shannon's hand and grasped it for a moment, although gingerly. He didn't actually 'shake'. Did anybody actually do that? "Healing, and wings, nice. I know that "angel' name is taken, but probably would've been better for you." He said during this moment of proper greeting with a now full smile. "But I like Nightingale. Very cool. For the codename thing, I'm Grizzly. Yes, I know it's on-the-nose, but, here's to not being the brightest crayon in the box." He punctuated this statement by taking a 'cheers' like bite of his apple before Indy drew his attention.

"Whoa. Now that is seriously bad ass. And what's your code name then, "Zap?"

Faraday has posed:
"What, not smarter than the average bear?" Indira teases as shakes out her hands and then threads her thumbs through her belt loops. "Sorry. That was lame. I picked Faraday for myself. It sounds cool, and makes it sound like I paid more attention in science class than I really did."

She looks over towards Jeremy with a chuckle, "I dunno what I'd want to be. Probably something basic like a tiger. Paint my stripes to look like zig-zags and really hammer the elementary school folder cover home."

Nightingale has posed:
     "Nightingale was given to me by my family, for Florence Nightingale. Zap is taken, too, I gave that one to Noriko last year." Smiling warmly, Shannon does indeed shake Adam's hand, her own grip gentle but firm, with callouses on the tips of her fingers suggesting some practice with a stringed instrument. "On the nose, huh? Bad pun...." Though her mouth opens to say more, it closes just as quickly, her cheeks turning bright rose at the compliment. On impulse, her large, snowy white wings furl themselves around her in a feathery cocoon, the young woman giggling.

     Struck speechless. Who would've thought it?

SpyderByte has posed:
Tilting his head over, Jeremy continues to smile as he watches them. He just looks happy and giddy.

<< You'd make a cool tiger. I can see that. I'd probably be a seagull. >>

The flying rats of the world, right? He could be any bird and he picks a seagull.

As he glances over to Adam and Shannon, his brows lift upwards some, followed by a laugh. He picks his phone up and taps at the screen some.

<< Hey Adam, do you like football? >>

Grizzly has posed:
Adam smirks at Indi. "I've made that joke already about two dozen times since becoming a mutant. If you're lame, then I'm already lame. No worries." He sat down on the step, next to the tray of nachos and dip and just went between bites of apple and chips, which was probably a weird taste combo but he didn't seem to notice, or care.

He didn't participate further in the 'what animal I would be' game, since nature already decided that for him. At Jeremy's question, he shrugged. "It's alright. I prefer basketball though. That's my game. And the Knicks rule! You like football Jer?"

Ted Gammage has posed:
Fashionably late, Ted finally strides out the door, slowly approaching the gathered teens. He's in his usual beat up jeans, an actually clean t-shirt free of its usual holes, workboots and today, he's sporting an honest-to-god cowboy hat. It's not a huge "Ten Gallon" hat, but it looks very farmer-ish.

"Ah, sorry ah'm late, ma' can talk m' ear off and y' don't just hang up on her, s'rude." Ted gives a wide grin and looks around at the others briefly, "Ah, so what's goin' on? We're not havin' a suprise drill or somethin' are we?"

Nightingale has posed:
     Jeremy's question to Adam gets a tortilla chip flicked in his general direction by Shannon, her face becoming an artist's study in glowing rose. She just burst out giggling, shaking her head and making seagull noises at him. It's a pretty fair rendition, actually.

     Oh, yes! The 'what animal would I be' game! What a perfect distraction! Coughing lightly, but still smiling, Shannon considers the question for a few moments. "I'd be tempted to say an owl, for myself. Or maybe a hawk."

     Glancing over at Ted, she smiles and waves. "Ha, your mom does that too? No surprise drill, just chewin' the fat and noshing some snacks. Chips and vegan chili dip, freshly made."

Faraday has posed:
"Knicks? Well I commend you on your excellent taste." Indi says towards Adam before Ted arrives. The girl lets out a short, sharp laugh and says, "Wait, do we have the same mom? I just rushed mine off the phone before coming out here too. Unless mine called you to spy on me, which she'd totally do. She's asking me about homework I haven't even got yet."

"So yeah. Besides camping one of these nights, anyone else got any plans? I've been debating trying to find where they're hiding the jet skis around this place, because otherwise that's a big lake going to waste."

SpyderByte has posed:
<< I am not good at any sports, but I suppose if I was to really enjoy one, it would be basketball. No one gets hurt. Mostly. >>

Common ground! When the chip is flung at him, Jeremy picks it up and puts it in his mouth with a crunch. His lips give a faint flicker of a grin.

<< Go Knicks! >> The voice modular does it's best to sound perky, though it's still that calm, relaxing tone of his automated voice. << Who are the Knicks? >>

Freaking nerd. And, there's Ted! He lifts a hand upwards, giving him a wave. << Hi Ted! Do you like football? >>

This seems to be the question of the moment. He reaches out for another chip, dabbing it into some dip and then takes another bite. Crunch.

Grizzly has posed:
Adam waved a hand as Ted joined them. "Hey bud." Then he looks over at Jeremy with a look of abject dismay. "Who are the Knicks? What? Oh come on man, you're in New York!" He leans back, resting on one arm and nods to Indi. "Yeah, you get it." He was not going to dignify 'who are the Knicks' with an answer, and anyway, he was fairly certain that Jeremy could and possibly had already, googled it.

He went about his munching on snacks while others discussed the frequency of mom calls. This was not a subject where he had anything to interject and honestly preferred zoning out a bit and focusing on his stomach over mostly absent parents. After a moment though he looked upward to Ted. "What's your game, if you have one? Basketball, football...?"

Ted Gammage has posed:
At the question of if he likes football, Ted sort of wobbles his hand a bit, "Ehh, kinda. Ah mean, playin' it is sorta what got me into this whole thing anyways," he notes with a brief furrowing of his brow. "Dad would often make a weekend of takin' me to a Saints game though. Those were always fun. Ah mean, we didn' usually win but, whatever." He chuckles, "Ah don't really watch many other sports. We didn' have hockey, Baseball's kinda borin', never did really like basketball." He shrugs.

He greets each in turn, eyeing Adam a moment, before deciding this was probably the guy he met as a bear. To the girls, he chuckles, "Yeahhh, y'know, ah can't really just rush off th' phone with m'mom. She wants t' tell me the latest gossip from the church, or let em know how things are goin'. Apparently things are... better now," he notes. "Less... rioty now that ah'm not in town. So that's good."

Nightingale has posed:
     "Oh, it's not going to waste," Shannon says, grinning at Indi. "I love dive-bombing the water at seventy-five, waiting till the last possible second, then opening my wings right up and just skimming along the surface for the whole length of the lake."

     Everyone else seemed to have a sport they played. She frowns a little bit, listening, and running her fingers through her feathers. They look a tiny bit ragged, as if she were a bird preparing to molt. "I never really took up sports," she says. "Not sure which one I would if I did. But I've been loving the hand-to-hand training with Logan, and Mr. LeBeau's been teaching me quite a bit about working with the bo staff. Don't know if any of that counts at all...?"

Faraday has posed:
"See, I would totally do that." Indira says to Shannon. "But I don't have wings. So, yah... I'd just end up breaking my neck and skipping across the water like a rock. But I bet the freefall is *amazing*. I was never allowed to go skydiving. Of course, now that my parents aren't heeeere..." She briefly rolls her eyes up skyward. Hm.

"...hey guys, does base jumping count as a sport?"

SpyderByte has posed:
<< I'm from Metropolis. I just moved here. >>

That is Jeremy's excuse for not knowing who the Knicks are. He's going to stick to it. He probably has never turned ESPN on once his entire life.

<< According to the internet, base jumping is a sport. Not a competitive sport. It's a recreational sport. >>

He is most likely franctically Googling everything about the Knicks except for relevant information that would be interesting in a 'bro' conversation.

<< Oh. Ted. Adam. Do you think you can show me how to work out? You two are .. >> How do you say this? << .. buff .. >>

Grizzly has posed:
Adam snorted a laugh at the question, not because Jeremy asked it, but because Adam had never worked out a day in his life. Not on purpose. He was currently stuffing his face full of chips and dip. "I... I have no idea how to work out dude. Honest. I know how to eat, and sleep. And live in the city where you walk everywhere, all day when not eating or sleeping." He got up after a minute, holding the core of the apple he'd finished.

"Gunna run inside and toss this out and grab a drink. "Oh, guys, tell Ted about the camping!"

Ted Gammage has posed:
In all honest, Ted seems to be in the same boat. "Ah, me either," he admits "Ah think mine's a mixture of freaky strong mutant power an doin' regular farm chores. Ah could teach you farm chores... if we were on ah farm," he offers with an apologetic smile. "Sorry," he adds.

At the talk of alternative sports, he does mention "Ah think they have ah mixed Martial arts thing, maybe that's yer style, Shannon? An' base jumpin' is totally ah sport, ah'd imagine." And with Adam's exit, he quirks a brow, "Campin'?"

Nightingale has posed:
     Shannon grins at Indi and nods. "It's pretty epic. I pretty much turned myself into a drone this past Christmas so I could film what it was like for me to fly and show my folks. They love and support me but never could quite understand the world I'm in now. So I wanted to show them, with a flight over Central Park."

     Adam's talk about eating and sleeping, and many variants thereof, earn a giggle from the winged teen. "Ha. He's gonna be keeping me busy in the kitchen, that's for sure. And I was thinking of signing up for martial arts with miss Braddock."

     Munch. Munch. She's making her own inroads on the chips and dip, munching away happily on the snacks. "See, the idea was to cook out over a campfire by the lake one night, and if the weather was real good, sleep out under the stars. Just chillaxin', you know?"

Faraday has posed:
Indira Bhandari makes her way back in for more chips and chili dip as she says over to Ted while jerking a thumb towards Shannon as she addresses the question first, "Yah, they were talkin' about taking the team on a camping trip before classes start up. Sounds like fun to me. You in?"

She then redirects the hand to a point towards Jeremy, "And unlike those two lucky sonsof-, I had to work. I know some kick boxing. I can show you some basics. Workout, and self-defense. Just, uh, don't tell my mom."

SpyderByte has posed:
Deflating a bit as it seems that Jeremy won't have 'bro time' in the gym, he leans himself back against one of the porch poles. << Oh. It's okay. I am sure I can figure it out. I have instructional videos. >>

Obviously Ted doesn't have to work out. He's crazy strong and looks like it. Lucky him.

<< That sounds cool too. >> He says to Indi as he gives his phone a few spins about in his hands. He waves to Adam as he goes, offering up a bright smile.

<< Yes, camping! It will be so fun. I am watching videos right now on how to do that. >> To do what? Camp?

Ted Gammage has posed:
"Oh, m'sorry Jer. Ah wish ah could be more help, but honestly ah don't think most normal gyms are built with folk like me in mind, y'know?" Ted lets out a light breath, "Ah'm sure we can do other things though. Maybe...runnin' or something?" It's all he could think of.

"Oh, ah took a martial art classs or two for ah few months. Thought it might help, but y'know...didn't really." He shrugs, "Ah bet it'd be useful, maybe y'all three could do that," he suggests, figuring it might help the less super-strong feel better about going into the drills and maybe future missions. "Honestly it was kinda fun, ah just didn't think ah could keep from kickin' through th' bag." As the subject turns to camping, he says "Ah, yeh ah can do that. Didn' bring m'tent with me though."