36/Violet's Web

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Violet's Web
Date of Scene: 13 April 2017
Location: Xavier's School, Westchester
Synopsis: Peter Parker pieces together some X-Secrets while speaking to Psylocke. Beast returns to the school.
Cast of Characters: Spider-Man, Psylocke, Beast




Spider-Man has posed:
For some people, Wednesday was hump day, and you could argue that it was hump day for Spider-Man too. This semester, he was being asked to teach a tenth grade science class. It had finished some time ago, but he was grading the pop quiz he had given out, and so he headed out of the classroom long after the students had cleared out, onto their next class, or free period. Though, at this time of the day, school was probably over.

Peter had a habit of losing track of time when he was doing a real job. It was strange, but he found it surpassingly rewarding. He wore his blue jeans, which were probably a bit old and could use replacing. He had a grey t-shirt on, it could be seen around his neck, but the burgundy red dress shirt covered it and made him look far more teacher-like. He had a backpack, which held his Spider-Man costume.

Once he got down to the Bronx, he could use his powers to get him far quicker than public transit. But it was a long ride to the Bronx from up here in Westchester County. And of course, these days he was living on the Upper East Side of Manhattan. Licking his lips, he was feeling a bit peckish, and began to look around, "now, where was the kitchen again..." He said that out loud, but under his breath. He figured it'd be embarrassing to ask a stray student for directions.


Psylocke has posed:
Ms. Braddock sits in the nook of the kitchen, drinking a cup of tea while she grades her own papers. She gets a momentary twitch of her lips as she reminds herself, yet again, that Americans can't spell words like honour properly and that it is a quirk of their colonial ways.

Sipping at her tea, Betsy frowns. It seems that her flavour palate is leaning more towards her asian half today. And after all the trouble she went to to make the perfect cup of Lady Grey. Setting the cup of tea aside, she continues to grade the paper, being far more lenient then she wants to be.

Spider-Man has posed:
Peter comes into the kitchen, and for a moment, he notes the woman in various shades of purple. His eyes may have lingered longer than he had intended. He understood that he was free to take as much food as he liked, within reason, while here. He tried not to overstay his welcome, but was quite happy to grab the occasional slice of pizza, make cheese on toast, have some leftovers, or really, whatever was available. Like right now, there was a pile of doughnuts under a plastic lid.

Instead of taking of those, he went right past it and took a red apple from a bowl. He placed it down on the island countertop, along with his bag, which he slung over the chair. He then went over to the tea pot, and began boiling some water as he flipped through the various types. "English Breakfast, Prince of Wales, Darjeeling, ooh, Earl Grey." He took the packet, opening it and placing it into a cup. Somebody was a fan of the Gotham Knights, as the hockey team's logo was plastered over the white mug. "How goes the grading today?" He offered to the only other person in the kitchen. "I don't believe we've met. My name's Peter, Peter Parker. I'm supposed to be a T.A., but they have me teaching tenth grade science this semester."


Psylocke has posed:
Betsy looks up from her work on the papers when someone speaks to her. After all, it is the polite thing to do. She has to smile when she recognizes Peter but he doesn't recognize her. It would seem her brother Jamie hasn't filled his room-mate in on the changes to his little sister. Should she fill him in? Well, once again, it would be the polite thing to do.

"Actually, Peter, you used to know me fairly well, just not in this body. It's me, Betsy. Jamie's sister." Okay, this woman looks *nothing* like Betsy. Well, there is a purpleness to her black hair, but that's pretty much where the similarities end.

Spider-Man has posed:
"Betsy... Betsy Braddock?" Peter looks at her with a positively quizzical look to him. He eyes her, up and down, and to be fair, probably does enjoy being given permission to openly check her out. She is a beautiful woman after all. She was beautiful before, but now it's a different type of beauty with her Asian features. "You're Betsy Braddock, the model, and Brian's twin sister?"

He pulls the chair closer to her and takes a seat. "Okay, how, why, when, who... you get the idea. I need more to go on than that." So far, he'd managed to keep his identity secret, and he hadn't learned anyone's, but this was some serious next level stuff if it weren't some kind of practical joke. "Okay, if you are who you say you are... what happened at the Christmas party?"


Psylocke has posed:
Betsy arches a single eyebrow, her features amusement-free. "Does Brian have any other sisters?" She lets his eyes wander. It's not like this is something new for her. Before the change, it was to check her out. She was a model, after all. Now? Well, for those that don't know about the change, it is usually because they are still checking her out. for those that are learning about the change, there is *always* this inspection, this tallying of her new body to see if she is lying.
"Yes, Elizabeth Braddock, twin sister to Brian Braddock. Model, pilot, X-Man." She puts her red pen down and tidies up the neatly stacked papers. "There was an - incident. My mind and soul were put in a new body. Long story, but that's the brunt of it." Her voice, though it has a Japanese accent, lilts in a manner of British upbringing, similar to many people who lived in Hong Kong 20 years ago.

Spider-Man has posed:
"X-Man?" He didn't know she was an X-Man. He didn't even know that the X-Men were associated with the school. As Spider-Man, he knew of the X-Men, but hadn't had much contact with them. He was a teaching assistant. He was basically school staff. He hadn't been invited into any of the secret meetings. He didn't even get a decoder ring.

She didn't answer his question, he notes. Nothing about what happened at the Christmas Party. "So, uh... was there memory loss during it, any side effects, besides the obvious. You look great. But it must be disconcerting to be in a different body."


Psylocke has posed:
Well, that's interesting. Peter doesn't seem to know about the other purpose of the school. Naturally, the vast majority of the students don't know, and the housekeeping staff, but someone on the teaching staff that isn't part of the team. Betsy's eyes squint suspiciously at Peter, her head tilting to one side. "You're room-mates with my brother and didn't know about that?" she asks. Closing her eyes, she pushes herself into Peter`s mind, seeing what he does or doesn't know about the alterior motive of the school.

"Not so much memory loss as too many memories. I now recall being in two places at one time when I think back to certain events. Like that Christmas party. One me was a little drunk and decided a game of spin the bottle would be both fun and a great way to embarrass Brian. Another me was in the middle of an assassination of an up and coming mafioso in Japan. So, it can be hard to answer questions about the past. And disconcerting would be an accurate, if perhaps a little mild, way of putting it."

Spider-Man has posed:
Peter's mind is rather well organised. He's very logical at his core, and highly intelligent; far too intelligent for his current position, and especially, financial status. His surface thoughts relate to the X-Men and Xavier's School. He's making connections based on that new knowledge, and thinking about old encounters, bits of information, and creating links that had eluded him before. He's also thinking about his tea, which he removes the bag from and savours the smell while looking at Betsy.

And there is Betsy. He likes her, that's obvious. He feels sorry for her predicament. But at the same time, he likes her new form. She was beautiful before, she is beautiful now, but different. And oh yes, he had wanted to ask her out before, but was worried about the 'bro code' of not asking out someone's sister.

"You... probably are in the right place. Professor Xavier has a keen mind and is an expert on mutants. I'm sure between him, the staff here, and their contacts, that they would be as equipped as anyone to handle your... new situation."


Psylocke has posed:
Okay, so Peter isn't in the know. This would mean that the school is hiring staff that isn't aware. This would have been good to know. Betsy realizes that she was probably told at some point but wasn't paying as much attention as she should have been. Bad Psylocke! Bad gestalt psychic ninja.

Noting that Peter wanted to ask her out, Betsy starts to smile and chuckle. She takes her cup of tea that she had pushed away earlier and sips at it. It's not what she wants to drink, but she feels the need to hide her smile.

"Yes, this is certainly the best place for me to be," she says cryptically.

Beast has posed:
Well well well, Look whose standing there in the open door to the kitchen... With lugage at his bare blue feet.. wearing khaki shorts and a hawaiian shirt patterned on one belonging to a certain mustachioed 80's detective who drove a ferrari around the islands. "No no, please. No Applause. Doctor Henry McCoy is, indeed, back 'in da house'... to use nineteem nities urban vernacular!" he says with a fangy grin, pulling his shades off.

"I tell you Betsy, Charles was right. That was the must fun I had at a science composium since.. well.. since ever." he tells her as he lopes into teh kitchen, sidestepping Peter whom he just takes to be a student. "Excuse me.." he says to him then starts rooting through teh cubpoards. "Two weeks of Sun, Surf and Science. And not always I that order. I had so much fun I almost feel bad for whomever Charles got on such short notice to cover my classes... Especially the Tenth Grade Science. Sex ed week is not my favourite time of year."

Spider-Man has posed:
That was quite the entrance. For the moment, Peter is distracted from Betsy, as Beast is even more colourful. "Hello, Dr. McCoy," Peter wonders if he'll ever stop thinking about Star Trek when he hears, reads, writes, or says that name. "My name is Peter Parker, and um... I've been covering your classes while you were away at the science symposium. I'm glad you had a great time. I've always wanted to go myself." He offered a hand. The young man was not put off by Beast's appearance one iota. But then, he was in this school. That was to be expected.

If Betsy is still reading his surface thoughts, she'll be bombarded with a wave of science questions, theories, everything he's ever read about or by Dr. Henry McCoy. Buried in those thoughts, however, is the one that he'd still like to ask Betsy out, and a curious one? If your roommate's sister changes bodies, is she still off limits?

Psylocke has posed:
When Betsy sees Hank, there is a wrinkling at the corners of her eyes, indicative of a smile. She is fond of big blue ape, perhaps in part because he has never made a big deal of her new body. She's still just Betsy, but with some added -- 'quirks'. It's when Hank talks about his replacement that she actually cracks a smile, hiding it behind her cup of British style tea. Deep purple eyes look to Peter, to see how he is going to respond, because -- well? Funny!

Betsy slips out of Peter's head, because people tend to get a little upset when they find out that you're being a Nosy Nelly. She refrains from asking Peter if he would like to be left alone with the good Doctor. Science geeks. They're all the same. She catches that last thought before she pulls out of his mind completely and simply closes her eyes, wondering why all men, well at least the heterosexual ones, are alike in that regard.

Beast has posed:
Beast has never made a big deal of Betsy's new body /because/ he is a big blue ape. Getting a new body is/was second nature to him so why houldn't he afford her the same consideration? He is still rooting through the cupboards, pulling back bags, pushing aside boxes.. searching and searching and searching... for something. And stops to look at Peter.

"Parker.. Parker... Oh Yes! The Teachers Assistant! The one who wrote that essay on The Potential Synthesis of Artificial Long-chain Pseudo-Biopolymers and their Possible Utilzations. Marvelous!" he states, turning around and reaching out to engulf peter's hand in is blue furry paw. "Yes yes, Charles told me you would be taking my classes while I was away.. uhm.. Sciencing?" he coughs, looking embarrased now because.. you know.. hawaiaan shirt. yeah, he was 'sciencing' all right.. "It is a /pleasure/ to meet you, Peter." He then looks at Betsy. "Have you seen my twinkies?"

Spider-Man has posed:
He may not have been asked, but Peter replies to Hank's search for the twinkies. "Have a look for the Oskars Surstromming Fileer. I overheard some of the students saying that they'd hid your twinkies in that." So, Peter's probably already made a friend for life here at Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters. Of course, in this school, they may have planted that memory in Peter's brain for some kind of practical joke.

Peter takes a sip of his own Earl Grey tea, with a little bit of milk, but no sugar. He then reaches for his apple, and begins to peel it in one spiral roll of skin. There are so many questions he would like to ask Betsy, but instead, he just decides to make small talk. "It's been really rewarding working here, helping out. The students are wonderful, and I'm kind of a little sad that I only found out an old friend was on the teaching staff... okay, more than a little. Betsy, how come you didn't come by and say hi?" And his time at Xavier's was coming to an end. He did hope that they might renew his contract. It was nice to have a reliable source of income.

Psylocke has posed:
As the Science teacher makes acquaintances with his teaching assistant, Betsy takes this oppurtunity to fix herself a proper cup of tea. No, not proper, just different. She still isn't used to this almost war in her own mind of the right or wrong way to do things. She watches Hank's struggle to find his favourite snack treat -- it doesn't take a psychic to know what he's looking for -- as she makes a small pot of green tea in a ritualistic fashion.

When she is asked outright about the snack cakes, she doesn't lie. She knows Hank can smell a lie so there is no logical reason to do so. "Bobby," she says simply, not taking her eyes off her tea. Apparently, it's not just the students who are hiding Hank's precious snackage.

Once her tea is made, Betsy heads back to the breakfast nook and her paperwork. "I didn't drop by because I realize that for most people, I am *not* who they knew, neither in appearance nor personality. Forcing people to deal with the change would be difficult for most people, and while it could be compared in similarity to coming out as transgender and expecting people to refer to me as my preferred gender, it -is- difficult for people to deal with a sudden and very significant change."

Beast has posed:
Beast's shaggt brow rises, his slightly leonine face getting a crafty expression. "Why those sneaky little devils. Hiding my precious snacks in an empty jar of fermented Baltic sea herring..." he then REALLY grins at Betsy. "Oh yes.. Of course I blame Robert for giving them the idea. I, myself, would never do anything so devious." he says with COMPLETE innocence that is only marred by a snaggletoothed smirk. "Thank you, Peter. And yes, teaching here can be extrememly reaffirming and rewarding. You're helping mold young minds into teh scientists of tomorrow." he says happily as he reaches up into the cupboatd and withdraws the murky jar that is labeled in swedish.

But he doesn't open it. Not yet. He is by no means telepathic, but Hank /is/ empathic.. in the classical sense, though, not the psychic one. The tone of Betsy's voice strikes a chord with him.. he can feel that pain. "Who you are, Betsy, is not what you are. There are many mutants who think we have the monopoly on dealin with painful change but the painful act is all people deal with it, in all walks of life. But what makes us who we are isn't what people see, it's what people /feel/. I see Betsy, a lovely young woman who despite some physicological.. tweaks.. is still the caring person I have known for a number of years."

Spider-Man has posed:
Looking from her, to Hank, and back to his cup of tea, Peter says, "Not all changes are on the outside. We've all changed, all gone through things. Everyone has, from the mailman, to Captain America. Just, some are more obvious than others. I'm glad you told me. And you know where I live. You're welcome to come by, anytime, to talk about it, or just to hang out, whatever. I'm a good listener. Open invitation. Though, call first because with my other job, and studies, I'm out of the apartment most of the time. Seriously, it's like my roommate has it all to himself 23 hours a day. Gee, I wonder if he's throwing sexy parties like Stewie from Family Guy. He is British."

As for the snacks, he leaves it to Beast. He seems to have located them, or where Peter understood them to be. "It's my first teaching job." He's always been a good student. "And I'm doing it between my work on my doctorate, and freelance photography work. That... takes me all over. Speaking of photography, if you ever want to get back into modelling Betsy, you certainly could. You are a beautiful person, and your body, your new one, is as beautiful on the outside as you are on the inside."

Psylocke has posed:
It's a well known X-Mansion tradition. When something goes wrong, blame Bobby Drake. If he didn't actually do the particular crime, chances are he was the one that gave the idea to someone else. Sipping at her now 'proper' cup of tea, Betsy sighs happily. Dragon pearls unfold in her cup, looking like fragile blossoms. "Now, if we could only mold those young minds into remembering the Oxford comma, we'll be ahead of the game."

Hank's works cause the young again psychic to look up at her friend and smile. Yes, smile. It is soft, subtle, almost Mona Lisa-esque in its gentleness, but it is there. "Thank you."

Peter gets an arch of a brow at referring to her twin as Brian. Well, the dog, Brian, since her brother is also named Brian. "You don't honestly think that Brian holds *parties* do you? This is Brian we're talking about. Mr. I'm so stuffy, give me a scone Braddock." She finishes off another graded paper. "And just when, between teaching, my daily work out routine and .... staff meetings, am I supposed to find time for modelling?" Staff meetings? Is that what we are calling X-Men missions now?

Beast has posed:
Beast 's beasial face is actually very expressive, able to be gentle and kind even if one fank pokes from between his lips. Snaggletooth, remember? "You're always welcome, Betsy." he says softly, then clears his throats. "And yes, that would be a DELIGHTFUL thing, yes it would. IN fact it is not /your/ job to be teaching them so 'Mz' Braddock?" he asks with a wink, then looks to Peter.

"And yes, you are correct, Peter. There are many changes that are not visible. But again, you can /feel/ them still. This has been proven again and again." he tells him, then leaps up, pearching on the counter with perfect ease. "Your first teaching job? Well, If your ability to teach, to emphathize, to /excite/ students with your love of chemistry is as great as I saw in yoru paper, /Mister/ Parker, this will /not/ be your last. I will have to go over my notes and see how you have done but if it is even half as god as I feel you have then maybe we can find something mor epermenant for you here and you wouldn't HAVE to be doing three jobs at once. You could merge teaching WITH your doctorate studies here at the very least... and that would give you time to take pictures of Betsy."

And yes he smried at that...and at Peter's perseverance with Betsy, chuckling a little under his breath as he unscrews the jar to reveal... "Oh... Oh No... Robert Drake, you foul FOUL fiend..." he says as he daintily uses the tips of his claws to grasp something in the jar. It looks like a fishing line. And as he pulls it free from the jar there is one twinky.. two twinkies.. THREE twinkies. On Fish hooks. Not in any packaging.. and the jar WASN'T empty of the fermented fish. "Oh you will rue the day, Mister Drake.. /RUE/ the day."

Spider-Man has posed:
"I think New York has mellowed him, or should I say thawed?" He's stuffy, but the guy is human. He has a life. He can't be as bad as Betsy makes the guy out to be. Peter smiles at Betsy as he watches her take another sip of the tea. He lives an active life himself. He has to help out with chores in Queens with his Aunt May. He may have moved out, but he still visits her several times a week, if not daily. He has school, he has his job up here in Westchester County, and he has his time as Spider-Man. After that, he tries to have some semblance of a social life. So far, that's been a wash. But he has hopes for the future. Someday, he might get a friend, hang out, socialise, and even date... as if that could ever happen.

Okay, Peter was very pleased to hear Beast's kind words. His cheeks had taken on a bit of a rosy hue as he was gushing. He felt embarrassed. But then, mercifully, Bobby Drake, or whomever actually did it, saved him. Because the sight of Beast withdrawing the twinkies, strung on fishing hooks, and soaked in fermented fish, was absolutely priceless... and best of all. Peter had the presence of mind to reach into his pocket, and take a photo. It was just his mobile, nothing to write home about. But Peter was an experienced photographer. He was able to frame it, catch the right lighting, and had his camera on manual settings to increase his chances. Oh yes, this was going to be a keeper. For fear of Hank yanking the phone from him and deleting it, he immediately uploaded it to the cloud, and then showed both Betsy and Hank a look of Hank, holding the string of twinkies, which still reached into the can. His face was absolutely priceless.

Psylocke has posed:
Betsy gives Beast a whithering glare, only the very subtle twitch of a smile in one corner of her lips indicating that she is not dead serious. "While it -is- my job to teach them about the Oxford comma, whether or not they seem to have grasped the concept -and- remember to utilize it when writing their essays is another matter entirely."

When Hank goes and adds fuel to the fire of her brother's room-mate flirting with her, she sends a flash of thought into his head. She is still getting used to having the body of a 22 year old again and the mind of a woman ten years older. She keeps having to remind herself that the dating pool is younger now.

But she is soon distracted from these thoughts at the string of fish enriched twinkies on hooks, which is saved for posterity by Peter's photography. "That will have to go into the yearbook."

Beast has posed:
Beast isn't sure whether to laugh or cry now that Peter has taken a picture of him and his grim grim discovery of fish-soiled cake product. So he just sighs insted, shaking his head ruefully and puts the twinkies back in the jar.. and twists the lid shut. "Beware, Mister Parker.. if that phote ends up anywwhere BUT the Xavier's Yearbook you will find my bark is definately much worse than my bite.. Not that I bark, mind you." he pipes up, setting the jar aside. "And just remember. Biology is just ONE of my PH.D.s. I'm sure I have squirreled away a few others concerning information technology and how to /erase/ you from public life." a wink there.

He leaps off the, flipping gracefully over both betsy and peter to land in frot of his favourite device in the kitchen. The Keurig. He grabs a large Cookie Monster coffee mug off a hook, sticks it under the spout, slams a Pod home, and lets the caffinated goodness fill his cup. "Well what do you expect from kids who've been taught that the last letter of the alphabet is Zee. It's 'Zed', just like the Queen says it." he twits her. YEah, he's american but he likes the british way, at least in language, a bit more. Still prefers coffee though.

He picks up grinning cookie monster mug and gives betsy a look.. like she said something to him. But she didn't. He does grin though and toast her with his mug.

Spider-Man has posed:
"As what I believe to be the only native New Yorker in the room, I was always taught that it's 'zee', we don't like the letter 'u' in colour, we use a 'z' in place of an 's' in 'realise', and a whole host of other things. But as a scientist, I understand, accept, and believe in the English language. It is the language of science. And most scientists prefer proper English. Plus, my roommate is from England. I think he's rubbing off on me. Either that, or I'm developing a rash."

It must be nice being able to let loose, to use your powers, to show off, to make them a part of your everyday life. Peter has to restrain himself. Even his dialogue is different as Peter. He's far quieter, more reserved, but the joker in him is always fighting to find a way out. Especially when he becomes comfortable with people, as he feels here at Xavier's. "

Psylocke has posed:
For Betsy, using her telepathy just comes natural. While she didn't develop it until very late in her teens, it was similar in many ways to how her twin and her always seemed to know what the other was thinking and so her telepathy in many ways just became an extension of that. Betsy nods to the salute of the cookie monster mug, keeping the private conversation just that; private.

"It wouldn't be the first time Brian has rubbed off on someone," says Psylocke, and then realizes the many different ways that could be interpretted. "Sometimes, I could listen to my other half and only speak when spoken to," she says as she shakes her head in embarrassment.

Beast has posed:
Beast almost spits out his coffee... Rubbing off on.. Rash.. Gah!... He quickly grabs for a napkion and wipes his whiskered snout as he gives Peter 'The Eye'.. Not the EVIL eye, but maybe the Not NOT evil eye. "And thank you for /that/ image, Mister Parker." he says.. but there is amusement in his velvety baritone. But also, lets be thruthful. The language of science is Latin. /Lingua Scientia/." he emphasizes. "English is the magpie of languages, stealing all the best and shiny bits to fill out it's linquistic nest."

He was JUST sipping his coffee again when Betsy speaks, and he sneezes his precious caffeine this time. And again he picks up the napkin and dabs at his nose. "I sweat, you're doing that on purpose.." he tells her, a picture forming in his head of a badly drawn chibi Psylocke with X's for eyes. Before he can say anything else, however, a muffled song starts playing.. from his rear pocket. //I Like.. Big.. BUTTSANDICANOTLIE! YOUOTHERBROTEHRSCAN'TDENY!//

Hank hangs his head "Oh my stars and garters.." he groans and pulls out the phone, flipping it open. "I swear, Bobby, when I find you I am going to... Oh... Uhm... Hello Mother..." he winces and creeps back, moithing 'Sorry, got to take this' and pads off like a wet cat.