4874/On the Court

On the Court
Date of Scene:	10 July 2018
Location:	Xavier's School, Westchester, New York
Synopsis:	Some students hang out at the basketball court.
Cast of Characters:	Elixir, Souvenir, Twitch, Rift

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Elixir has posed:
It is warm, but not muggy, and the sun will be up for a couple of hours yet. Most of the students are done dinner and are about their evenings. In the backyward at Xavier's School, beautifully kept as ever, people are spread out over the three acre expanse. Some are grouped together doing nothing more than hanging out. A pickup game of soccer is underway on the grass. Others are working on group projects together at the tables on the patio.

Josh is in the basketball court shooting hoops on his own. He is not dressed to play, being in his jeans, and seems to be just casually taking shots from around the three point line. Some he drains, some he puts off the backboard, and some he has to go jogging after as they catch the rim of the hoop and bounce out again.

Souvenir has posed:
Erika Kristasdottir wanders out in her usual jacket, gloves, and pants. The band shirt today is Jinjur. She stops the ball with her foot, picks it up, and tosses it to you. "Hey. How are you doing?" She smiles, though a little bit tired. Probably more insomnia and tears from the whole blood soaked floor thing.

Elixir has posed:
Josh smiles broadly when he sees Erika.

"Hey, doing alright," he says as he catches the ball. Josh bounces it a couple of times and shoots again, putting it in off the backboard. "How're you doing? You look kinda beat," he observes. He jogs after the ball, grabs and then passes it back to Erika.

Souvenir has posed:
Erika Kristasdottir catches, shoots, misses. Basketball was never her game. "Yeah, I was crying some last night and it was hard to sleep. I hate seeing people hurt. But you know - that's life." She sighs and pulls her bangs down a bit, then smiles stoically.

The ball bounces off the backboard and rolls slowly over to you.

Elixir has posed:
Josh chases down the ball and takes another shot, off the rim. It comes back his way so he catches it again, tucks it under one arm.

"Yeah, it was pretty intense," he agrees. "I'm really sorry, though. I should've come checked on you. It's kind of been a rough start for you here."

Souvenir has posed:
Erika Kristasdottir frowns a bit in thought. "Well... Yeah, it's pretty intense. I don't know, I mean, I cry at a lot of things." She looks at the ground a bit, eyes shrouded by her hair.

She scuffs at the ground a bit. "I feel like I am making things worse every time I touch it, kind of. I'm worried that I kind of creep people out."

Elixir has posed:
Josh comes over and sits down cross-legged in the court near Erika. "What do you mean when you touch it? Have people been saying something to you?"

He leans back on his hands, the basketball sitting beside him.

Souvenir has posed:
Erika Kristasdottir sits down too. "No, like.. I touch Andrea's pen and copy down something she didn't want anybody to see, I touched an apron and Laura freaked out, and I picked up the rock and I feel like Mason is going to hate me, and I touched Laura's sock and mangled myself. I don't feel like I am getting a good track record here." She squiggles in the dust aimlessly.

Elixir has posed:
"Oh," Josh says. "I see. Well, I dunno what happened with Laura and the apron, but I wouldn't worry about Mason. We needed to know what happened and he admitted it this morning, anyway."

Josh shrugs and smiles teasingly. "And c'mon, the sock thing was a little funny."

Twitch has posed:
After having dinner with his family and riding back to the school, Tyler wanders rather aimlessly around the campus. That's how he ends up by the basketball court, seeing a pair of his buddies chatting. He gives them a wave and comes walking over, "How's it going, guys? Sorry I wasn't around much today, Mondays are when I visit my family." As he gets closer a smile appears on his face, "They believed me when I said someone knocked over the bike when I wasn't around, so thanks for thinking of that, Erika."

Souvenir has posed:
Erika Kristasdottir smiles some, eyes still shrouded by her bangs. "Oh good. I mean, that's the sort of thing I would expect to happen. I'm okay. I guess. I'm just.. I don't know, stuff is intense lately and I deal with it face first. You know?"

She ehs at Josh, "She says I smell a little bit different when I am linking something. It freaked her out. I just kind of feel like I am stirring things up on accident a lot, kind of."

Elixir has posed:
Josh passes the basketball to Tyler from where he is sitting and grins sideways at Laura as she answers Tyler. "You just smiled... I saw it," he teases Erika with a playful grin. "C'mon, sounds like you just need to take it easier on yourself. I mean, this is Xavier's, people are used to dealing with stuff, you know?"

"Glad your parents didn't dump on you about the bike," Josh says to Tyler. He fishes the little Avengers communictor they were given by Spider-Woman out of his pocket "And you are not gonna believe; this thing went off this afternoon."

Twitch has posed:
"We can't really afford to get it fixed right now. I haven't been able to get to work like I usually do, either," Tyler says as he snags the ball out of the air smoothly and starts to dribble it a little bit. "I understand that things can be rough. If you need anything I'd like if you came to me for help," he says to Erika, giving her a friendly smile.

Looking at the hoop for a second, Tyler moves to stand at the three point line and tosses the ball through the hoop so that it bounces against the pole and heads back towards him where he can scoop it off of the ground.

Then he sees the thing in Josh's hand and grins, "Really? I wish I was around for that! What happened?"

Souvenir has posed:
Erika Kristasdottir mehs! "I'm good. Sorry you haven't been able to make any money, that sucks. Um.. Anyways, I don't know what to ask for help with yet. I mean, you're awesome with the workout practice and stuff, but like.. I dunno, there's some stuff I can't talk about." She watches you both.

Elixir has posed:
"That does suck," he agrees, sympathetic. "Maybe you could ask Logan for help? I heard he's always in the garage working on his bike."

Then he smiles again. "They asked me to go to the Avengers Mansion. Got to meet Stark. He was kinda banged up so I healed him, and I think he's gonna call if he needs me again. Said he was putting me on retainer, whatever that means," he says.

Unsure what to say to Erika, he gives her a sympathetic look.

Twitch has posed:
"If there's ever like a mutant league for sports I'll be a shoe in," Tyler says as he repeats the same shot as before. "I could make a mint playing street ball too, I bet." When the ball rolls back to him he scoops it up and dribbles towards the net, jumping in the air and sinking a perfect layup.

Tyler holds the ball in his hands and wanders back towards his friends, telling Erika with a grin, "I'll figure out some way to start making money again. Maybe start gambling on golf games with Mason at his country club." Then he grows more serious, "I get that you can't tell me everything. Everybody needs their secrets. I Just want you to know that I want to help you however I can, I think you're a cool person."

"Yeah, I keep meaning to talk to Logan anyway. That's a good idea," Tyler nods at Josh. "Dude! First Bruce Wayne, now Tony Stark? You're meeting all kinds of billionaires lately." He pauses for a second, "I think it means he's going to pay you to be available to patch him up, but I'm not sure. That's freakin' awesome!"

Souvenir has posed:
Erika Kristasdottir nods, "Yeah, I don't think I am going to be making money any time soon. I mean, I can manage it just fine, but nobody is hiring a fifteen year old as a manager or a bookkeeper. And - yeah." She was going to say something else and shut up at the last minute.

She stretches a bit, putting her arm in front of her for the back arch-y bits. "There's got to be something though."

Elixir has posed:
Josh Foley says, "It was pretty wicked," he says and passes Tyler his phone. His home page picture is of him beside Stark's '32 Ford Roaster. "That guy is off the hook."
He raises an eyebrow at Erika's unspoken words, his question implied."

Twitch has posed:
"We'll figure something out. It sucks being broke," Tyler declares to Erika. "We can see if there's anybody hiring out in West Chester. It's not like I'm married to cleaning the gym a couple nights a week." He stops to think for a second, "Maybe I will start trying to bet on my sports abilities. I mean, someone might try to beat me up when I beat them, but it's not like I'm too concerned about that."

Before Josh hands him the phone Tyler sets the ball down on the ground so that he can check out the picture, "That's so cool, man. You get a chance to meet anybody else while you were at the Mansion?"

Souvenir has posed:
Erika Kristasdottir hmms and looks over at the picture a bit, listening. Pretty much quieted down since these two are talking. She straightens her hair a bit with her fingers and watches.

Elixir has posed:
Josh looks Erika's way for a moment, giving her space to talk of she wants. Then he looks back to Tyler. "You'd be unstoppable on the court; do well until people were too scared to play against you!" he grins.

Twitch has posed:
Erika gets a little look, Tyler thoughtfully watching her play with her hair for a second or two before he turns back to Josh. Handing back the phone he says, "I'll have to practice before I try playing people for money, but I might as well give it a shot. I just don't want to do too well and have people figure out that I've got powers. It's hard to miss, you know? I've got to aim at the wrong spot intentionally and it's pretty counter intuitive, especially in a stressful situation like if I'm playing for money." He picks the ball up off of the court and throws it without looking. It goes through the hoop with a 'swish' before Tyler darts off to go retrieve it.

Souvenir has posed:
Erika Kristasdottir opens her mouth, then closes it, pursing her lips. "Yeah, then they'd start thinking of how you might be cheating. That might turn out bad." She hmmms a bit, "I dunno, Mom and Dad might give me an allowance again if she thought I was straightening up my act enough. I kind of got grounded super, super hard."

She frowns some. "But yeah. I got my bed in. Just, I have to keep my room kind of hot because I can't do a blanket." There, that should throw Tyler off the topic. Maybe.

Elixir has posed:
Josh frowns a bit, feeling like there is something else going on here that he is not aware of. He gives Tyler a questioning look, and gets up. He holds his hands out for the ball, and if Tyler passes it, takes a shot. Backboard, rim, out. He chases it down.

Twitch has posed:
Dribbling back towards his pals, Tyler looks at Erika and says, "What'd you get grounded for?" Apparently he's not the kind to be easily deterred by the mention of a bed. Though he does talk about that as well, "I'm glad you got the bed finally! Have you managed to sleep on it yet?" When Josh asks for the ball he hands it over, furrowing his brow at the other kid's look. Tyler may have just missed something.

Souvenir has posed:
Erika Kristasdottir ohs, "Yeah, last night. It worked fine, but I have to get used to it, because, you know... grass and stuff... and.. you know..." She looks at Josh with minor confusion, because she's not quite sure what kind of thing he was hoping would happen there. There was a hint, but she didn't catch exactly.. WHICH hint it was. She bites her lip a bit in thought.

Elixir has posed:
Josh takes another shot and drains it this time, but with none of the effortlessness of Tyler. "Hey, if you guys need to chat I can go," he offers, sincerely. "I don't mind."

Twitch has posed:
Tyler has definitely missed something. He can tell based on the look on people's faces, but what it is that he's not figuring out seems to be beyond him. "Well, I'm really happy that it worked out for you," the young man tells Erika, showing her a happy smile. Then he looks over at Josh, "Good shot, man." His offer to leave has Tyler puzzled yet again. He looks at Erika with a confused expression.

Souvenir has posed:
Erika Kristasdottir uhhhs.... "N.....oo? You're fine...?" She frowns and gets up onto her feet, following after Josh. Things have tilted out to the odd. "Seriously, you aren't just bailing on me here."

She sighs awkwardly and lowers her voice to direct at Josh. "Look, just, there's, you know. *stuff*. And his brother is a cop." She looks over her shoulder at Tyler and smiles. "And like, he's cool but you know..." She makes a brief nervous face.

Elixir has posed:
"Oh, sorry, I just thought..." he says and laughs at himself. "Yeah, I totally though it was cause I was here, sorry," he says. "Weird couple days, I'm not all here I guess." He passes the ball back to Tyler and sits back down where was in the court.

Twitch has posed:
As his friend Erika goes off and speaks quietly to Josh Tyler begins to frown, clearly wondering what's going on. When the ball comes his way he grabs it and starts dribbling, suddenly turning on a burst of speed towards the basket for another layup. As soon as the ball hits the ground after going through the net he's on it, pulling back his arm and chucking it across the court so that it sinks smoothly in the other basket. More speed gets put on so he can run after the ball, grabbing it and dribbling it back towards the other two. When he gets to them he holds it out and offers, "Either of you guys want to keep shooting? I can't have all the fun out here."

Souvenir has posed:
Erika Kristasdottir covers her face. "No! God. You're fine." Then to Tyler, a grin and "Sure! I mean, I suck at it but hey." She takes the ball, dribbles (badly) and throws it in the general direction of the closest hoop. It bounces off the side of the rim. Back at Josh, "Yeah, super super weird times. I'm sorry, I just don't know what to say to any of it yet, right? I'm figuring it out."

Elixir has posed:
Josh nods to Erika with a smile. "Right," he says and gets back onto his feet to join the game.

Rift has posed:
Kitora Alua jogs out of the school wearing a T-shirt and shorts. For once, she's actually just jogging, getting some 'natural' exercise without using her gravity powers - thus she looks relatively normal other than being an Asian girl with bright red hair and bright red eyes. She then stops outside the court and raises an eyebrow. "You guys having fun yet?" she asks.

Twitch has posed:
"You just gotta practice if you want to learn to do better," Tyler tells Erika as he runs off to grab the basketball. "When you shoot you're going to want to hold it like this..." he begins to demonstrate. "Then when you actually shoot it you let it roll off of your finger tips." He jumps in the air and tosses the ball straight up, only he does it in the way he just told Erika to try throwing the ball at the basket. He passes the ball over towards Josh moments before his head twitches so he can face the sound of the new arrival. The little reaction he just had gets a momentary frown from him, but it goes away when he replies, "We're just throwing the ball around a little bit. You want to get in on this?"

Souvenir has posed:
Erika Kristasdottir looks over and blinks, looking Kitora over toe to head and watching her approach. "..Hi! I don't think I've met you yet." She smiles, straightening her hair a little, and runs over to retrieve the ball and carry it over to the new girl. "I'm Erika. Um."

Rift has posed:
Kitora Alua smiles as she takes the ball. "I'm Kitora," she states. "You might've seen a glowing red glri flying around. That's me." She smiles as she dribbles the ball a bit and takes a shot - and sighs as it bounces off the rim. "My aim's lousy without my powers on," she mutters. "I should practice more."

Twitch has posed:
Kitora's missed shot is another excuse for Tyler to sprint off and grab the ball, dribbling it back towards the group with nearly as much speed as he just ran to get it with. He takes a moment to do some fancy moves with the ball, dribbling it between his legs and behind the back and such before holding it in his hands and looking to see who might like a chance to throw it next, ready to pass it off.

Souvenir has posed:
Erika Kristasdottir holds her gloved hands up for a pass! "I'm open!" She grins and bounds around to a spot to throw from. Because this can be fun.

Once she gets the ball, she throws it like Tyler told her to. It actually gets close for a change. Success!

She nods, "I would be all over the place, probably. I don't know who was playing. I'd have to steal somebody's sock or something."

Rift has posed:
Kitora Alua raises an eyebrow. "So, Erika, what are your abilities?" she asks softly. "I can control gravity. It's kinda cool. But I can't be subtle about it..." She intercepts the ball and tries again and manages to score a basket.

Twitch has posed:
After Kitora's next throw Tyler heads out to grab the ball again, clearly allowing the other kids to have fun shooting. He doesn't get a whole lot out of it. He waits to see who wants to take the next shot so he can make another pass. "Nice shooting," he says to Erika and Kitora with a smile. Then his attention narrows down to Erika, "We should see what would happen if we got you something autographed by an NBA player. You might even give me a run for my money on the court."

Souvenir has posed:
Erika Kristasdottir ohs.. "I'm a psychometrist. I remember things other people did with things. Like.. Yeah, like that. I can't do it forever though. I picked up Andrea Jackson's guitar and was busting out some awesome music. My fingers hurt a lot later though."

She nods at Tyler, "Yeah totally. But seriously so far socks seem like they work best. They stretch, they stay put. I just can't switch them out is all. That or gloves or a shirt, but I would probably be swimming in a basketball player's shirt."

Rift has posed:
Kitora Alua blinks. "So - since you are touching that basketball and can't dunk a shot, does that mean nobody who ever touched that ball is any good at this game?" she asks curiously. She then suddenly flares with light as she opens her powers - as her body and clothing glow a uniform dull red color with bright red lights visible inside chest, head, arms, and legs. "Check this out," she states as the ball fires up way up high, gesturing as it descends down and strikes the net so hard that it almost catches fire and stops quickly just before it hits the ground. All without moving.

Twitch has posed:
"Oh. That's why socks. I was wondering. Thought maybe you had a foot thing or something," Tyler nods and makes an embarrassed face. "Not that there's anything wrong with that." Then he perks up a bit, "I just had an idea. Why don't you get people who have skills you want to use to wear sweatbands on their wrists or those rubber bracelets people used to wear to raise awareness for causes so that you can swap them out more easily? You can carry a bunch, too."

When Kitora starts to glow Tyler looks to see what she's got going on. "Damn. That's really cool." A big grin appears, "Even your glow is pretty awesome."

Souvenir has posed:
Erika Kristasdottir blinks at the fireworks. "...Damn." She has a hard time deciding whether to watch the ball blasting through the air or the glowing girl. Definitely the glowing girl. Ninety percent. Stare. "...That is SO COOL."

She turns her head toward Tyler, but doesn't quite get her eyes off of the glowing girl because that is such an awesome effect. "Oh, yeah totally that would work great. We just have to get people to make cool souvenirs like that. And they have to practice or do stuff wearing them, too, remember."

Rift has posed:
Kitora Alua nods. "There is a catch. I have a speedster's appetite. Or something like that. I have to eat three times what a normal person does or I weaken and my powers do too." She smiles faintly. "So... have you ever wanted to fly?" she asks curiously as the ball is still hovering a foot off the ground.

Twitch has posed:
"If there's any skills you want to borrow from me just let me know. I'll see how much those wrist bands cost and if they're cheap we'll order a bunch for you to give out to people to wear," Tyler says with a smile, pleased at the potential to be helpful in this situation.

"I've got to eat a ton, too," Tyler says to Kitora, glancing between the girl and the ball. "It was where most of the money I earned went to before I started coming here." When she asks her question the young man looks at her, appraising things, and then nods, "I've always wanted to give it a try."

Souvenir has posed:
Erika Kristasdottir ehs, "Did it last week, actually. God that sounds pretentious." She grins and puts her hands on her hips. "But I am totally up for watching you do it."

She ohs, "And I need bare skin. That's what the gloves are for." She waggles a gloved hand in front of her, then puts her hands behind her.

Rift has posed:
Kitora Alua points at Tyler. The ball falls to the ground finally as a red aura limns Tyler's body. "How about instead of flying - space jumping. I cut your weight to a tenth of normal. Try jumping. You ever watch videos of astronauts on the moon? It's like that, but you can jump twice as high."

Twitch has posed:
"Hell yeah!" Tyler says to Kitora, looking down at himself as he begins to glow. He lets out a little chuckle, looks down at his feet, bends his knees deeply and leaps straight up into the air. He gets some serious height and starts to laugh for real as he comes down, "That's so cool!" He immediately does it again, this time throwing a couple of backflips in for good measure. "Oh man, this is wicked!" He looks at Kitora, grinning like a mad man, "Thank you so much! You let me know if I can do anything for you, okay?"

Souvenir has posed:
Erika Kristasdottir grins super wide, because she loves seeing Tyler happy like that. It's infectious! "That is so cool. Miss Ororo flew me up to a balloon. That was interesting. I'm glad I don't wear skirts.."

Rift has posed:
Kitora Alua smiles faintly. "I thought this would be better - I can hold you in midair... or pin you to the ground. But this is more fun." She smiles faintly. "I don't do skirts much either. Even though if I was wearing one, the skirt wouldn't fall if I turned upside odwn relative to the ground."

Twitch has posed:
"Yeah, Ms Munroe flew Erika up to a hot air balloon I was riding in. It was for history class, teach us about aviation or something," Tyler confirms. Then he goes back to Kitora, almost staring at the girl at this point, "That's so sweet! You've got bitchin' powers. We should definitely hang out more." Then he looks between the girls and asks, "Speaking of that, what else are you into? I'm big on fighting and riding my Harley and free running sometimes, but I need to find more stuff to do with people now that I'm here making new friends."

Rift has posed:
Kitora Alua grins. "I'm a pretty good cook," she states softly. "And love to move around. I have to eat a lot, so I like to cook things I'll enjoy eating..." She giggles softly. "Hey Erika. I'll get a headband and cook up some food and see if you can cook too? Or do you know how to already?" She pondres. " Or gymnastics stuff..."

Souvenir has posed:
Erika Kristasdottir uhs, and thinks. "Well, mom and dad made sure I knew a lot about accounting stuff, but that's not for fun.. I usually like dancing and my music. Just, suddenly I am hanging out with one of the musicians my MOM likes that's way too cheerful for me, so that's weird."

She thinks some. "Riding a bicycle, uh, D&D stuff sometimes.."

She shrugs, "I usually just grab an apron from one of the cooks in the kitchen. Oh, Jubilee was going to have gymnastics classes. I want to go to them for the stretching."

Twitch has posed:
"I really should learn to cook. I took a home ec class my freshman year and I really liked it," Tyler says with a grin.

Then he finds himself looking at Erika, "What kind of music and dancing are you into? I don't usually listen to stuff that's good to dance to. And I know what you mean, I really like Andrea, but her music isn't really for me." Lifting his chin he asks, "What's D&D?"

Souvenir has posed:
Erika Kristasdottir ohs, "Emo, emo-hardcore, some kinds of metal, some punk stuff. It's all kind of close together and it depends on my mood. I just flail around and have fun."

She hmms, "And the D&D bit is.. I don't know how to explain that part. I'm kind of a powergamer though. That's what happens when you make the accountant play."

Rift has posed:
Kitora Alua smiles faintly as she turns her focus away from Tyler as he rapidly assumes his normal weight. "Oh, I have to get going... there's a movie on that I want to go see." She grins widely as a portal tears open in front of her. She waves to the two, walks through it, and it winks out.

Twitch has posed:
"Nice, nice," Tyler tells Erika with a smile when she lists the kinds of music that she's into. "I like metal a lot. All kinds of rock, really. Never really tried dancing to it, though. Beyond a little head bobbing, you know?" He demonstrates for a second. "Powergamer, eh? I'll have to find out more about all of that stuff."

As he returns to normal Tyler waves back at Kitora, "It was great hanging out with you. I'll catch you later." Then she's gone through the portal. "Damn cool powers she's got."

Souvenir has posed:
Erika Kristasdottir nods, "Oh, totally. And that glow is so pretty! Anyway, I'll show you sometime. I like the miniatures and stuff. I had a boyfriend a couple years back who got me into it. Well, he wanted to be my boyfriend, it was easier to just go along with it than to argue really. I didn't really care about him much other than somebody to hang out with." She paces and thinks some. "You know how that goes though, right?"

Twitch has posed:
"Yeah it is," Tyler says of Kitora's glow. Then he nods his head, "There's miniatures?" he asks. "Cool. Cool. Maybe I'll watch some videos of people playing it on Youtube or something so I can get a better idea of what it is." When it gets to the subject of boyfriends and girlfriend Tyler becomes quieter and maybe almost starts to blush. Maybe. "I've never actually had a girlfriend. I've been on a couple of dates and stuff, but I didn't really have a lot of friends in school." His cell phone begins to ring then and he pulls it out of his pocket to see who's calling. "Damn it. It's my brother, I gotta take this." As he lifts his phone to his ear he gives Erika a wave and covers the microphone on the phone, "I'll see you later. Come find me tomorrow after I'm done cleaning and we'll try to track down Jubilee." Then he goes to the phone, "Hey bro, missed you at dinner."