12464/Andrea checks on Jade

Andrea checks on Jade
Date of Scene:	18 November 2020
Location:	Rec Room - Xavier's School
Synopsis:	Andrea goes to Xavier's to check in on Jade and also meets David.
Cast of Characters:	Gecko, Rattlesnake (Reese), Rage

---

Gecko has posed:
     It's Tuesday night at Xavier's School. The fact that there will be classes and possibly tests tomorrow hasn't dissuaded two from hanging out in the rec-room to play video games.

     Two boxes of pizza sit on the coffee table; the heavenly aroma permeates the room and the outside hallway even through the closed lids. Fierce sounds and action music fill the rec room, though it is at a low volume.

     On the couch, Jade sits in a lotus style with David next to her. Hands with a death-grip on her controller and eyebrows furrowed. She's currently wearing her black sleeveless 'BAD BOY' hoodie and some white shorts.

     "That's such bullshit," she says with a huff.

Rattlesnake (Reese) has posed:
    David's been stifling a laugh every minute or so.

    It isn't his fault. He's just good at reading people, and he's -especially- good at reading people in a few fairly specific contexts. Like fighting. And as it turns out, his intuition bleeds over into fighting games too. He's kind of sprawled out on the couch, a shoulder resting against its arm, and he's holding the controler negligently.

    "You're getting better!" he says, in an encouraging tone of voice. "Some of these rounds are hella close, you'll be whippin my ass in no time flat, it's all good."

    Then he pins her character against the wall and wall-combos her once, again when she gets up. Then comes the stun-lock, opening up a third wall combo.

    "KO! YOU WIN!"

    "You'll get the next one. I can feel it."

Rage has posed:
Heading into the rec room is 'the' Andrea Jackson. Disney Star. Triple platinum album popstar. Activist. Out and proud mutant. Perhaps they've seen her picture here and there in the hallways for alumni students, or her name murmured. She is a favorite amongst the student body with her music played quite often.

Today, the celebrity teen is wearing a pair of skinny jeans, sneakers, and a simple white tank top that is tied into a knot at the bottom. The shirt has the words: 'Mutie Cutie' across the chest in hot pink cursive with a heart at the bottom. As usual, she is looking upbeat and happy as she gives a glance about.

Her nose gives a 'sniff' at the scent of pizza, then turns her eyes over towards the pair playing video games. She lifts a hand upwards, waving in their direction. "Hey guys. Who's winning?"

Gecko has posed:
     Jade tosses her controller to the cushion next to her as she exhales out. Her dark hair blows up from her face before it drops back against it. The tomboy tucks it behind her ear. "You mean who's cheating!"

     A long tongue sticks out of her mouth at David before she leans forward and opens the box on the left, which appears to be pepperoni. The right one is labeled supreme. She lifts the slice to her mouth and takes a bite out of it, cooling down her head as she chews.

     Finally, Jade looks over to the new arrival and does a double-take. Her brows furrow in confusion, and she has to clear her throat as her pizza almost goes down the wrong pipe.

     "Wait, holy shit. You're Andrea Jackson," says Jade. Her eyes go a little wide for a brief moment, and her bright green eyes turn into reptilian slits before returning to normal. Suddenly, Jade corrects her posture, and her free hand fixes her outfit. The tomboy is doing her best not to act starstruck. Everyone knows celebrities hate it.

Rattlesnake (Reese) has posed:
    "Eh?"

    David cocks an eyebrow at Jade, then he looks over at Andrea, kind of squinting at her a moment. He's not much of a pop culture consumer, but you don't have to be one to recognize a superstar. It just takes a second for it to register.

    When it does, his eyebrows climb. "O shit what's up?"

Rage has posed:
"I'm Andrea Jackson." The popstar confirms with a nod of her head, followed by a grin. "And you're Jade. You reached out to Starlight for support and my team got you in contact with Xavier's. I figured I'd stop by and see how you were doing and how you were settling in. That, and I'm alumni so I like to steal free food from the kitchen once in awhile."

"And use the gym. Have you seen the gym yet? It's insane. It's way better than the one I have available to me."

Heading over, she sprawls out into a beanbag chair, folding one leg over the other. "So, what's up? How are things going? Everything is cool?"

Her dark eyes glance over towards David as well, giving him a slight glancing over curiously, then flashes him a pearly white smile.

Gecko has posed:
     Jade nods her head as she wets her lips. "Actually, someone else called. It might have been my mom."

     One of her clawed hands reaches up and scratches through her hair that's an artful mess. A lopsided grin spreads across Jade's face, revealing some of her teeth are sharper than one might expect.

     "Yeah, I've been using the gym. It's pretty awesome compared to the one I was using the last year."

     The further questions make her cheeks turn a little rosy, and her gaze falls to the floor as she thinks. Her head bobs up and down a few times.

     "I mean, it's surreal. I had gotten used to everything. And now, I have a door I can lock, my own shower, air conditioning. Living with people that don't treat me like a freak. I can't even begin to list it all," she says.

     Jade looks over at Andrea curiously. Her hand reaches up and tucks her air behind her ear again as it falls over her eyes. "So like, that was you? Your team's how they found me and brought me here?"

Rattlesnake (Reese) has posed:
    David returns Andrea's smile. "Well shit, nice to meet you. I'm meeting superstars every day, hah."

     Then he too chucks his controller and leans over to get a piece of pizza. He goes for the supreme, and while it isn't as hot and gooey as it was when it was delivered -- they've been gaming for a while -- it's still damn good.

    He listens to Jade gush about life in the house, and it makes him grin and reach over to rap her hip with his knuckles playfully. "This wild dragon lady ain't used to the good life yet. Shit neither am I!"

Rage has posed:
"Yeah, that's my team. I built Starlight a few years ago when I was younger than you. I wanted a system in place for young mutants who were in a bad situation to reach out and seek guidance. Whether that is over the phone counseling, temporary shelters, food .. a ride. I then was fortunate enough to have Starlight merge with X-Corp, which was founded by faculty members of Xavier's. Now, I have almost unlimited resources to utilize to expand. Such as for example, I just finished building and launching a free health clinic in mutant town. Mutants don't get good medical treatment and are easily turned away by human hospitals. Now, they have a place to be seen by not only professionals, but seen by mutants who have healing abilities."

Andrea says proudly as she tucks her arms back behind her head, stretching herself out. "I am very fortunate to be in this position in life. I'm sure I'm a bad day from losing all of this, but until that happens, I'm going to give back to the people who believe in me. Graduating from Xavier's gave me a great perspective as well and it has helped turn me into who I am today. Charity is important. Community is important."

"But I'm glad you're safe now and out of the tents. If you need anything else, you can reach out to me. My number is public here. Just don't blow it up or stick it on the Internet. I've had to change it a few times already."

As she blows some brown hair away from her eyes, she grins over to David. "Live it up while you can. Just don't let it make you soft. It's easy to forget about the real world when you leave this place behind."

Gecko has posed:
     Jade's grin returns as David's fist bumps her. She shrugs her a little with one hand massaging the back of her neck. "Nah, I'm not used to it."

     The tomboy's gaze returns to Andrea, listening to her explain all of her philanthropic ends. For a few moments, she simply nods along. However, when Andrea says 'safe,' something seems to wash over Jade's face as her lips purse together.

     Wordlessly, she slides off the couch, kneels next to the bean bag chair, and hugs Andrea. Jade hides her face in the hug and does not say a word. A sniffle seems to break the moment as she pulls away. A knuckle rubs at her misty eyes until they clear up a bit. Her gaze is aimed away as if no one will notice her emotions if she doesn't make eye contact.

     "Sorry. Thank you," she says.

     Then Jade returns to her seat; however, she's sitting a bit closer to David than before. Once again, it's a lotus position, and she ends up with a knee propped on David's leg.

Rattlesnake (Reese) has posed:
    David's eyes shift to Jade's knee for a sec. It makes him grin, and glance at her face. Then he reclines a bit more, and takes another bite of his pizza. Yup. The good life.

    He turns that grin on Andrea while he's chewing, listening to her talk about her achievements.

     He chuckles a bit. "Shit, all I've done by 18 is knock some dudes out. I got paid pretty good for it though."

Rage has posed:
Returning the hug, Andrea doesn't even seem surprised. She gives a big smile, squeezing her back tightly. "It's totally cool. Don't even stress it. I love hugs. I also like seeing people happy."

Her head tilts over towards David and gives him a grin. "You're a fighter, huh? Miss Grey was telling me over the phone a little bit about you. I know you know me as a popstar, but I'm also a trained kick boxer. My mother is a Marine and she got me into it when I was a kid, and then I picked it up here at Xavier's. The combat training is next level here. It's great cardio. It definitely helps though when you're out there and you get into a situation. It's saved my life a few times."

Gecko has posed:
     Jade lets out a laugh. The girl's voice is a strange mix of raspy and soft. She offers David a shrug. "I haven't done anything except get paid for some drawings and be homeless."

     "Yo! Yeah, this guy was doing actual professional MMA stuff," says Jade with a slap to David's arm. Then she does a little flex stretch with her arms behind her head. Her sleeveless hoodie puts her modest guns on display.

     "I should learn to fight, I guess. I don't need it as much now, but I might. I've been stabbed, but I just flailed around until they got hurt."

Rattlesnake (Reese) has posed:
    David gives Andrea a thumbs-up with the hand that isn't holding half a slice of pizza, and a nod/grin combo. "Right on!"

    Her talk of fighting takes him back to a few days ago, when she met the X-Men in living color. It makes his grin widen a bit. "Some of the guys came down to see my fight. This one too --" he pats Jade's knee. "After that I went a couple rounds with Cyclops. Dude's legit."

    He grins at Jade appreciatively when she flexes, in a way that might suggest that girls with muscles might be his type.

    But her comment about training seems to pique his interest in a different way. He arches an eyebrow, gives her a sidelong, speculative kind of look. "You should learn wrestling and jits," he says. "You're strong as fuck, and with that sticky hands thing you do you'd be a nightmare to roll with," he chuckles.

Rage has posed:
"I've been shot in the head, stabbed in the chest and I've had my stomach gored out by a monster made of adamantium. I broke it's jaws." Andrea says, using a wrenching motion with her hands.

Peeling her shirt up and over her head, it appears that she is fairly body positive and doesn't care that she's in a sports bra. Over her chest and shoulder is a rather nasty twisted scar, and her stomach has deep gouges that wrap around towards her back. She's also sporting a popstarlet body of hard work.

"I've been the target of the Friend's of Humanity for a few years. They wanted to make an example out of me. They're augmented humans with cyborg parts with a hardon for killing mutants in the name of Jesus. This is the result of some of their attempts."

She pokes the scar over her shoulder. "Sword went in and out of me. Through my heart. I died right there in the middle of a Starbucks and my teammate Josh who's an omega level healer brought me back. Got very lucky. A few more seconds longer and I'd be a goner."

Gecko has posed:
     Jade turns to David; both eyebrows raised modestly. "Really? I'd be a nightmare?"

     It seems to preoccupy her for a few moments, considering the idea. She subtly nods her head a few times, seeming to come to the same conclusion. "Shit yeah, I would, wouldn't I?"

     The tomboy's attention snaps back to Andrea when the popstar mentions getting shot in the head. Her eyes widen when the girl pulls her shirt up. She initially sputters for a second, then hesitantly relaxes when the sports bra comes into view.

     "Geez. I thought I had it rough. Well, you wear them well at least," she offers about the scars.

     "Well, I'm glad you're okay."

Rattlesnake (Reese) has posed:
    David nods very slowly at Jade, a look on his face like 'duh!'

    "Hell yeah. Think about it. Half the reason it's hard to lock in a submission on a guy with training is he knows the gates, he knows how to get out of the position you put him in and get -you- in a counter. But with what you do? Nah. I'm stuck to you like gorilla glue. You aint going anywhere homie haha, time to tap," he grins wide, shrugs. "Or get choked out."

    Then Andrea peels her shirt off, and his eyes bug out.

    "What the fuck? How'd you end up in a fight with a guy with a sword?!"

    He blinks for a second, thinking about it. Oh right. This is where the X-Men live. They do that shit.

Rage has posed:
"Well, the sword came out of his arm, as did an automatic assault rifle from the other." Andrea says as she gives a crooked grin. "Like I said, they're augmented. One guy's legs turned into a tank treads and rolled over the tables. It was like a warzone in a Starbucks."

As she tugs her shirt back on, she smooths it down. "Once you guys get Danger Room access, there is a mode in there in which you can go up against them. It's hard. I helped design it so that we can learn to defend ourselves. I believe the X-Men resolved that issue awhile ago since. I haven't heard from them in a year and some change."

Gecko has posed:
    Jade climbs backward and then rolls over the spine of the couch, landing upright behind it. She leans over the back of it and lifts herself, so her feet hover off the ground a bit.

     Andrea's comments make the tomboy blink in confusion once again. Her head cocks to the side like a dog. "What's a danger room? Is that like the dangah zone?" asks Jade with a singsong emphasis on the last two words. Her dumb reference puts a goofy grin on her face.

Rattlesnake (Reese) has posed:
    David air-guitars some Kenny Loggins for a sec, using the last inch of his pizza crust like a pick.

    "Hi-way-to-thuu danguh zone, dur dur durdurrdurr."

    Then he pops the crust in his mouth and begins to chew it, glancing at Jade with a little smirk on account of her present posture. "I heard it's like a training simlator machine," he says, through the mouthful of food.

Rage has posed:
"It's a hard-light holographic room. Think .. the Holodeck on Star Trek. It is fully immersive and realistic. If you want to be in Alaska, bam ... San Fran? Bam. Paris? Bam. You can design a million different simulations. It's designed though for training. So they have simulations for city running, combat, working out, obstacle courses, bad guys. They can set it so that you don't get hurt, or upwards to being /really/ hurt. They keep the safety locks on for all students. If you get invited into the New Mutant program, then it gets a bit more intense."

Andrea says seriously, though she has a smile on her face. "I love working out in it. You two will get in there at some point after some experience and with staffers to moderate. I think Sam is in charge of bringing the newbies along for that experience."

Gecko has posed:
     Jade giggles a bit watching David's air-guitar act. Then she shifts and drops herself. Her rear lands on the back of the couch with her feet planted on the cushions.

     In a swift motion, her hands fold against her mouth; index fingers extended up to the tip of her nose. There's a deeply thoughtful look on her face. A teenager's that's just been told that holodecks are real. All the implications seem to wash over her as her eyes widen slightly.

     However, the mention of moderators makes her exhale up, popping her bangs, revealing perhaps the nature of what was on her mind. Her eyelids sink a bit with disappointment. "That should be cool. Fight dragons and stuff, I guess."

Rattlesnake (Reese) has posed:
    David's eyebrows rise, and his mouth turns down in a frown at the same time. Slow nod.

    "Dayum. That's some like, real super science Fantastic Four type-a shit huh. Nice."

    When you say the word 'fighting' to David Reese, his first thought will be of a cage. With a crowd, and a ref, a cornerman and a cutman. Judges. Ambulance on standby in the back of the house. This Danger Room thing, and the scars Andrea showed off, kind of click something into his head. He's a mutant, and there are people out there who'd be happy to do the same to him, with a sword or a machine gun or whatever other gnarly shit they have at their disposal. Mental note.

    "Hey uh," he nods at Andrea. "So what happened with those guys? Did they come after -you- or were you out rollin with the X-Men?"