2468/When Life Gives You Melons

When Life Gives You Melons
Date of Scene:	14 September 2017
Location:	Unknown
Synopsis:	Summary needed
Cast of Characters:	Voodoo, Rainmaker, Moonstar

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Voodoo has posed:
One of the hardest things about Priscilla's latest situation is that it does not allow for the very sorts of activities that are her bread and butter: being amongst people. Shopping. Strolling. Clubbing. Visting parks. Working out in public gymnasiums. All of these are things that Priscilla loves and adores; they are part of the vitality of her being. But when her presence in public is deemed a lightning rod, attracting the dangerous, life-threatening attentions of those who are hunting her, those who will not hesitate to endanger innocents in her presence, Priss' core as a heroine demands she stop putting herself in those places.

So Priss is very, very bored.

Priscilla is not a cook. It is not a skill she has ever striven to be great at. She can prepare food, but little more than that. Yet trapped, Priss has a limited selection of options. And she has grown so very, very tired of spending more and more time suited up as Voodoo up on the station. So for tonight she is entertaining herself with a selection of groceries, ingredients gathered to try to bring ideas and recipes to life ... or at least into reality with a minimum of charring.

Rainmaker has posed:
    As you're in the midst of cooking, there's a knock knock knocking at your chamber door, before the handle turns and the door opens slightly, before Sarah peeks in. "Hey..." she says with a smile, as she slips inside, letting the door shut behind her. She's carrying a canvas grocery style bag currently.

Voodoo has posed:
Priscilla glances towards the door at the knock, sure in an instant that it is nothing and no one to be concerned about; advantage telepaths and empaths, to be sure. "Come on in." she calls, as she continues stirring something in a bowl. The apartment is rather fragrant right now, awash in scents that are not normal here. Priss herself also looks a bit of a mess; she's not exactly a parody of a 1980s kitchen comedy, but compared to Priss' usual look, it's noticeable. "Hi, Sarah. C'mon in. What'd you bring?" she offers, and then glances with annoyance at the stovetop, scooping the pan off of the burner as her sensitive nose picks up a hint of impending burning of her garlic cloves and oil. "Dangit."

Rainmaker has posed:
    "Well I remembered you said you were going to try and cook more healthy food instead of takeout..." Sarah suggests, as she slips over around the counter into the kitchen, wrinkling her nose. "And I was out and got a bunch of veggies at the produce market down wharfside, so I thought I'd bring you down something you can steam or use in whatever you might be...making?" She peers at the pan curiously.

    Now. All of this is completely honest. It is, however, hiding another purpose Sarah has in being here, something she's a bit nervous about, but determined to do.

Voodoo has posed:
"Well, OK. C'mon in. But I'll warn you, not a lot of room in this kitchen." There will be hip-bumping, and possibly more. Priscilla wiggles around, resettling things as she turns the heat on the burner way down, and then gets back to chopping up the other veggies that were supposed to go into the pan before it got too hot. She may be muttering a few imprecations as she goes.

"I don't know much about healthy. Less take-out, though, yes." Priss offers. "No need to bring civilian delivery personnel into my radius should things go wrong." She's not being subtle about what's going on with her; she doesn't go much for 'keeping secrets from the important people in her life'. It's bad emotional juju, and an empath would avoid that.

Rainmaker has posed:
    Sarah ahs. "That's why you're staying in here instead of going out?" she says with a faint frown. "Well, let me put these in the fridge then...I have some nice peppers, some snow peas and a couple onions. Good for stir fry if nothing else." She slides over to the fridge, brushing against your back slightly more than she has to as she does. "And I don't mind the hip bumping...or more..." she purrs playfully.

Voodoo has posed:
"Of course you don't." Priscilla teases the Amerindian princess, smiling at the exaggerated bumping. She gets the veggies chopped, and then dumps them into the pan, stirring as she settles it back on the heat. "I know I can't just live by teleporter alone. But I have to do what I can to minimize the danger to others, until I can figure this out."

Rainmaker has posed:
    "I'd suggest hunting down whoever is sending these weird exosuited creatures after you then..." Sarah says with a frown. "Otherwise they'll show up here next, if they're tracking you somehow. And you only just got your stuff mobved in and all." She opens the fridge, bending over to start putting the veggies in the crisper.

Moonstar has posed:
    And well, there's a knock on the door. Followed by Dani letting herself in. Either that or these are the most polite exosuited creatures you'd encountered to this point.

    But nope, it's just Dani, as she smiles, "Hey guys, finally managed to get off campus for the weekend. How's it going... and um, what's that smell?"

Voodoo has posed:
"Honey, I know who is behind it. Finding them, however, is a challenge." Priscilla offers, frowning as she stirs the veggies into the mixture over heat. She's doing the best she can at this.

A knock at the door brings Priss' eyes back up, a light flare in the purple before the door opens. "Hi, Dani. Come on in. I'm trying to cook. It's some kind of Itallian thing. I probably should have just gone for making gumbo." She doesn't make a huge deal of it, but Priscilla is a native of Louisianna and Cajun country.

There is actually a recipe on the counter somewhere. But Priss never goes well at reading, so she has abandoned that and is just shy of making it up as she goes along.

Rainmaker has posed:
    Sarah hmmmms, walking over to scoop up the recipe, the look it over. "That explains the garlic...do you want a hand?" she offers, gently. She doesn't want to steal away her cooking, but...she can at least translate the recipe for her.

    And this makes her nervousness grow a little bit, for some reason.

Moonstar has posed:
    Dani grins, "Italian gumbo? Well, that definitely sounds... different." She chuckles a bit, then grows serious, "Wait, who's this jerk that's sending mooks after you Priss?"

Voodoo has posed:
"Uhm. Sure?" Priss offers off-handedly towards Sarah. She's not sure where that odd spike of emotion came from, so she puts it aside and tries to do the cooking thing. Or at least the 'making less of a mess' thing.

"No. Not italian gumbo." Yes. Priss made a face at that. Yuck! "Well. I don't know who is making these things. But I'm pretty sure it's the Cabal behind it all. Which means Helspont and his lot. Flame-headed jackass." She doesn't know it's Gnome building these things, cultivating and preparing them for their attacks. Nor does she know how he is tracking her. Damned asshat and his psychic-jammer tech.

Rainmaker has posed:
Sarah hmmms. "OKay...you're...just after heating the oil?" She reads down the recipe for what's next. "Have you started the pasta yet?" she says distractedly, before looking back up at Priss. "...well. If you don't know...maybe we should try to set a trap for whoever it is."

Moonstar has posed:
    Dani blinks a bit at that, "Well, I don't know who that is, but I'll be glad to help with that. I'm a little experienced with fighting supervillains and the like, after all."

    Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters. Come for the top-flight education, stay to fight genocidal robots!

Voodoo has posed:
A mocha-skinned hand points towards a large towel covering a good half of her available counter space. Beneath it rests an entire counter full of laid-out drying handmade pasta.

yes. Priss has been at this for quite a while.

"The Cabal tends to hire out a lot. Which creates two problems: No idea who is building these freaking things. And even if we take them out, the Cabal just hires someone else." Priscilla vents with irritation.

Back to cooking! "I'm supposed to get out the 'sauce pan' next, right?" she questions.

"As soon as I find a damned target, believe me, I'll send out invitations. Kaldur wants in, too, and was campaigning to bring more of his Titan friends."

Rainmaker has posed:
    "Ah, Kaldur was nice..." Sarah says absently. "Yes, sauce pan now...." She checks the veggies, then hmms "Might want to turn down the heat a little so you don't overdo the veggies too?" She pauses a bit, biting her lip. "Mmm...well. He's a Titan? Sounds helpful.."

Moonstar has posed:
    Dani grins, "Oh, the Titans? I always wanted to meet them. They seemed pretty similar to my team, really. Would be fun to compare notes sometime. Need another hand with the cooking, Priss?"

Voodoo has posed:
Priscilla bends down, bumping hips with Sarah again as she opens a lower cabinet, fishing out the saucepan and plopping it down on a cold burner, then upending the skillet she's been working from into it, scraping it out with a spatula. "Well, space in here is tight, but I'm not shy. C'mon in if you like, or plop right there and chat if you don't." she answers Dani.

"The Titans are a big name. Kinda intimidating to me." Priss admits. She, of course, has always been secret undercover never seen never named hero lass. Big open teams with giant T-shaped towers and press credentials are way beyond her. "But I could put you two in touch. He's a good guy." This implies there are other supers she has met she would not put her friends in touch with; they were not good people in her opinion.

Rainmaker has posed:
    Sarah looks a bit ambivalent. "I've never really met any of them other than Kaldur." she says, shrugging as she grins at the little bump, wiggling past Priss again as she moves out of her way. "I met him during the first attack on you." She shrugs. "Other than that, they're off doing heroing things, I think.

Moonstar has posed:
    Dani shakes her head, "Never met them, but I've heard of them. They seem pretty cool, and I'd love to know them better." She grins, "Normally I like getting cozy with you two, and I do want to later... but for cooking, cozy isn't exactly the best thing. I'll stay here and chatter at you."

Voodoo has posed:
"I've never met any of the others, either. But Kaldur mentioned them.." Priscilla offers. She turns the heat on under the saucepan, and then starts with adding other ingredients. "So, we chat instead. Kaldur said I could come by and visit the tower. No civilians there. We could arrange a visit, for more than just me, if you would like." she offers to both women with a smile.

Rainmaker has posed:
    "Aren't I technically a civilian?" Sarah says absently, checking and occasionally pointing to ingredients or spices as needed to let Priss know what to do next. "I guess it would feel a little weird going on a tour there, but could be interesting." she says with a shrug. She still feels odd about people knowing what she can do...outside of immediate friends and family, anyway. "If you two want to go I'll tag along though."

Voodoo has posed:
Priss keeps chopping away, and then diverts everything into the sauce pan once it is up to the proper heat, stirring away as she does so. "Well, you are a civilian, after a fashion. But you're also not. I mean, you have powers, and you use them to help when you can. Kaldur knows you have, even if he hasn't seen you in your costume." The mulatto woman purposefully bumps the Amerindian princess - the one in the kitchen with her at the moment - hip to hip, and grins. "I'm glad you'd come with us. I wouldn't want to not share that with you."

Rainmaker has posed:
    Sarah hmmms. "Well, it would be neat to see. Just a little odd, I guess." she admits. Not like the Titans are likely to be the type of people she wants to avoid finding her, after all. Or finding out what she can do. " She waits until you've got the sauce cooking, and Priss can feel that nervousness returning. "Sweetie...I have something I'd like to do for me." she says slowly. "But I don't want to upset you with it."

Voodoo has posed:
Priss perks, turning her head to glance at Sarah. "Listen. Remember? Empath. I can feel that you're nervous and worried. Now, just give me a hug, take a deep breath, and tell me. You know I'll do anything I can to help you." She already has, after all.

Rainmaker has posed:
    Sarah gets a wry look, then walks over to give Priss a firm hug. "It doesn't have as much to do with me as it does with you." she says softly, takng the other woman's hands and tugging her over to the couch, motioning for her to sit down, before she heads back to the canvas bag she brought the veggies over in, then walks back over as she pulls out her phone? She walks over to the TV, turning it on and fiddling with it and her phone, back and forth, until the screen shows a simple test pattern that appears to be 'casted from her phone. " Okay...I want you to watch this please. Then I'm going to ask you a few questions, and I'd like you to answer them as best you can, okay?"

Voodoo has posed:
Priss eyes Sarah. "Honey. Cooking." she protests, when those hands try to drag her over to the sofa. She may be somewhat new to this whole cooking thing, but dangit, she's pretty sure step freaking one is being in the same room as the ingredients, stove and oven. Right?

Once things are rearranged so that she can be sure the food she's trying to cook won't be ruined while they do this, Priss lets herself be led over to the sofa with only mild protest. This all seems terribly weird to her, and she's not shy about making that clear; facial expressions and all. "You want me to watch test patterns on the television?" It's a wee little thing, nothing impressive. But she settles back and stares at it as requested. "OK. I'll try." Yes. That sounded petulant.

Rainmaker has posed:
    "Don't worry...Dani, actually, would you please watch the stove for us? This won't take too long." With the other Amerindian girl minding the pot, so to speak. Sarah sits down, then says. "No. I want you to do your best to read what's going to be on the screen. Because I've been reading up on some stuff. And I want to see if what I think is happening is happening."

    She presses a button on the phone, and the screen changes. Now it's showing two words, side by side. 'Cat' and 'Cot' "Are these the same word, or different?" Sarah says, reaching down with her other hand to take Priss's. Just holding it. -This- is apparently what she's nervous about. Not so much for herself, but that she knows this will likely cause her lover some distress. And she regrets that already, but at the same time, there's a definite determination, a bit like being resolved to rip off a bandage quickly rather than slowly, to just get through it.

Voodoo has posed:
Priss grrs. "You know how much I hate reading." which is not something Priscilla admits to lightly, but she and Sarah have been together long enough that it has come up. She's not happy about this. But ... she sighs, exasperated, and settles in to watch and try.

She did promise.

"Different words. Well. One of them isn't a word. C-T-A. But O-C-T, that's an abbreviation for October, right? And also the start of 'eight', I think."

Moonstar has posed:
Dani ums, "Wow, Italian isn't exactly my thing..." But she's pretty good at cooking, regardless, so she takes over the cooking duties while Sarah gives Priss the pop quiz. She does glance over curiously towards Sarah, tilting her head a bit as she spares a few glances while she busies herself with the task of getting dinner going.

Rainmaker has posed:
    Sarah nods. "Okay..." She smiles at Dani. "Instructions are on the counter there if you need help, it should just need to simmer for a while to cook properly. Don't worry, we won't be too long with this." She turns back, then starts to run Priss through a few other combinations...all words that are similar. Some are the same. Priss can feel that she's trying very hard not to react emotionally as she goes through the test, other than a great deal of patience and an odd sense of...vindication? Not exactly triumph or what you'd feel in a victory, but more confirmation.

    Eventually, the screen blanks, then shows a short printed page. "Okay hon...when you look at this...does it seem like the letters are moving around for you?" she says quietly. The next is the same page, but adjusted for dyslexic tendencies. Simple words, simple writing for both.

Voodoo has posed:
Priscilla stares at the first page, and nods. "Yeah. All flippy and slimy." Yes. That's how she describes what the letters do if she looks at them hard enough. But the second page, with its altered font gets a different reaction. "This one ... they're not moving around much." She reads the page aloud, slowly. "They wiggle a little. But all of the words are still words. How does that work?"

Moonstar has posed:
Dani overhears the conversation, but keeps her focus on making sure the dinner gets cooked properly. With the recipe in front of her, well, it isn't too hard for her as she hmmms to herself. While she does want to interject, she also knows it's Sarah's idea and doesn't want to interrupt.

Rainmaker has posed:
    Sarah leans back, pulling her feet up under her as she tilts her head. "Sweetie. I found this as part of a test. What drew my attention to it was the first part. Questions about the person who would be taking the test." She holds up a finger. "The first question was, is this person someone who appears bright, highly intelligent, and articulate but unable to read, write, or spell at grade level?" She holds up a second finger. "The second was, is this person someone who has been labeled in school as lazy, dumb, careless, immature, "not trying hard enough," or "a behavior problem."" She raises a third finger. "Finally, is this person someone who feel dumb; has poor self-esteem; hides or covers up weaknesses with ingenious compensatory strategies?"

    She lowers her hand, then says gently. "These remind me of you, Priss. These are signs of someone who has dyslexia. It has nothing to do with your intelligence, or ability to learn." She points at her eyes. "It's a combination of symptoms that make it hard for someone to follow symbols and writing. It's what causes the letters to seem to move around the page. That second sheet there, that's a special way of writing and arranging the page that counteracts dyslexia, and makes it more readable for someone who has it."

Voodoo has posed:
Priscilla wasn't happy with the test. But she gets downright testy and cranky when Sarah finally admits what is going on ... and tries to label her.

Priss hates labels.

"Great. So now you know why I'm stupid. That's just awesome. Congrats." Priscilla huffs, and launches herself up off the sofa, stomping back into the kitchen to check on Dani and her Italian-in-progress.

She apparently doesn't seem to want to discuss this any further. She's bristling, and the usual warmth, comfort, and attraction she projects is something very different right now. Priss is putting out vibes of 'leave me alone' pretty thoroughly. Which doesn't mean one cannot resist; but it'd be hard to miss the urge setting in.

Moonstar has posed:
Dani looks over at Priss, and well... blame Charles Xavier and Jean Grey for the young psychic's training as she says, "You're not stupid, and no one is saying you are, Priss." She doesn't pursue the matter further, instead just saying that as she looks over at Priscilla with concern, which is pretty apparent as she was following the conversation from her vantage in the kitchen.

Rainmaker has posed:
    Sarah blinks, a flash of hurt in her. "It's the -opposite- of that, Priss! That's my point. You're NOT these things. Well the bright, highly intelligent and articulate part, that's true....but the rest is what people get labeled, -wrongly-, as! That's what I'm trying to show you.. You're NOT dumb. You're not any of these things, and people were wrong to label you as such if they did!" She gets to her feet, frowning. "It -means- that this is something that interferes with learning, but it has nothing to do with your innate abilities. And that the people who labeled you like that fucked you over by ignoring that it could be this issue. There are entire teachers who are trained specifically to deal with this, to show people how to work around it!"

    The Apache girl folds her arms, then says more gently. "Priss, that's what I'm trying to prove to you. That you're not any of the horrible things people said. That you ARE smart. That you are bright, and intelligent, and wonderful. And I hate, -hate- that all the people who should have been able to realize it was this, that it was something that you -can- teach around, just ignored it and fucked off instead of doing their goddamn jobs and helping you when you needed it as a kid!" Her eyes are flashing with anger now, but it's not aimed at Priss. But she's absolutely furious at the people in question. "You could have learned perfectly well! It might have been tricker to teach you to read..." She waves at the screen, still showing the last page. "But that there -proves- that if someone had just given a damn, you could have learned perfectly fine!!

Voodoo has posed:
Priscilla lifts her gaze to look at Sarah; she's not quite 'looking daggers', but there's real points and edges there. It's not a pleasant gaze. "So what? I can't make the world print itself in your fancy new letters or something. Now we know why I'm dumb and can't read. Knowing doesn't change anything, Sarah. I am who I am."

Priscilla grits her teeth, shaking her head. "I get that you care about me. I get that you want me to think better of myself. But that doesn't change the facts: I've barely got a high school education. I'm pretty dumb. I just make due with what I have. Knowing why doesn't really help me. It just paints me with a label."

Moonstar has posed:
Dani then shakes her head, "I'm pretty sure that you wouldn't be in SWORD if you were dumb." She looks a little frustrated, "And they have ways to treat dyslexia, or at least help mitigate it, especially know that you know what it is." Her eyes narrow a bit, as her emotions are pretty clearly frustration at Priscilla's reaction, and sympathy for Sarah.

Rainmaker has posed:
    Sarah nods to Dani in agreement. "Yes!" She shakes her head. "That's what i'm -trying- to explain hon! Stop using that word. You're -not- dumb. There's nothing wrong with your brains, there's nothing wrong with your ability to learn. If you were dumb, that'd mean you couldn't understand the concepts, and that's not the case."

    "You just weren't allowed to learn them." she says, a bit heatedly now. "And that means you -can- learn. It isn't going to be perfect, and I'm not saying it's all happy princess land where everything is automatically better. But you can read. There are programs that can adjust writing to be like that page there, that can make it easier for you to read. I can -help- you learn. And once you do, yeah, maybe reading is always going to be a problem, but at least you'll be able to know all the things that they didn't teach you. And if you want that GED, I will fight fucking tooth and nail to help you get it, whatever you need. And if I'm not good enough, I'll find a teacher who's better at it than I am." She's breathing a bit heavily now. "...because you fucking deserve it, Priss. Even if I didn't love you, I'd want this for you."

    But despite that...she feels herself drifting towards the door as the empathic push keeps happening. "...I...I just want to help..." And really, this is what she was afraid of, tears of frustration in her eyes that make them shimmer. "...I'm sorry I upset you. I'll just...I'll go back to my place. You can enjoy your meal."

Voodoo has posed:
Sarah's not the only one who is upset, of course. That is the problem. "Fine. You want a better word? 'Uneducated'. That's the word, right? Guess what: look it up, one of those 'this word is like other words' things will be 'dumb'! OK?!" Priscilla eyes the food, and realizes that this is just not going to work out. Huffing in frsutration, she turns the heat off and pulls things off burners, apparently canceling her attempt at cooking.

While Priss is working on things in the kitchen, the push of her empathic 'distaste' field eases up. Her usual field of warmth, love and attraction does not return; she's not feeling those things, and thusly not projecting them. But she's also not as sad or angry as she was, either. Frustrated, yes, but not sad or angry.

Very softly, Priscilla finally says something that might be a clue to what else is going on inside her. "I just don't understand why who I am isn't good enough." After all, she has made something of herself, pretty well, without going for GED, or higher education, or more 'book learning'. She even had a pretty good life going - mostly - even when all she could do professionally was take her clothes off and shake her moneymaker at folks. "Aren't I already doing enough? Now you want me to go back to school, too?"

Moonstar has posed:
Dani can't help but smile a little at that, "Well, I'm in school..." She looks at Priss, and sighs, "It isn't that you aren't good enough. Obviously you are good enough, but it's just..." She shakes her head, grumbling under her breath, "A pair of empaths and we can't explain a damn thing..."

Rainmaker has posed:
    As Dani tries to explain, it's enough to help Sarah slow her retreat, then stop as the feeling recedes; she then takes a deep breath, before she lets it out, her expression understanding now, if a bit pleading. "No. You are good enough, love. You always have been. And it's because I see how much it hurts you that I want to change it. It's at the core of what makes you feel...feel bad. I can see it. How it bothers you. It makes you unhappy, and when you're unhappy, I want to change that." She shakes her head. "I don't want to change you, and I don't think you're somehow not 'good enough' because of this. But I want to...to help you take this weight away from your soul, Priss." She looks down. "That's all. Not because I think you need to be made more..more worthy or that you're not good enough. But because I want to heal that. You do so much to heal other people...you deserve that someone does the same for you."