533/Sparkles in Daylight

Sparkles in Daylight
Date of Scene:	21 May 2017
Location:	Xavier's School, Westchester, New York
Synopsis:	Magneto is introduced to the more casual life at Xavier's.
Cast of Characters:	Pixie, Magneto, Cable, Magik

---

Pixie has posed:
"...........aaaaaaaaaaaAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!"

This was the sound of someone screaming. High pitched, probably a bit painful on the earballs. Horror might be the first reaction to hearing this thing, before the sound of giggling follows. Holding a plastic bag full of bright candies to her chest, Megan was flying down the hallway, at high speed, towards the lobby itself. What the observant might notice is Megan didn't feel like she was in trouble - she tended to sparkle as she went, but if she really was feeling threatened, she'd dump her pixie dust, and just coat the place in that sparkly business.

And she wasn't doing that. What the giggling was coming from was a couple of mutant children - looking to be about the 13-15 range, one an obvious mutant, one not so much, chasing after Megan.

"They're mine!" Megan calls back, dipping as she careens through the open door and into the front yard proper - gaining a little bit of vertical height so as to avoid an easy snatching.

Magneto has posed:
It's been awhile since Magneto has heard the sound of children laughing. It's not that there are no kids on Genosha, but they usually clam up whenever they're in his presence. After all, he's kind of a Big Deal there.

As he walks quietly through one of the school's gardens, he finds himself unexpectedly smiling. It's nice to just be 'relatively' anonymous, and among his own kind. So nice, in fact, that he does something a bit unexpected: Here, in the same school that houses some of the world's most powerful telepaths, the notoriously paranoid Magneto removes his helmet and tucks it under his arm.

Stepping out of the garden, Magneto surveys the grounds. Mutant teenagers are all over the place, doing ordinary teenager things. Except for the lizard-looking kid who's doing tax returns. That's not ordinary.

But while he's busy surveying the grounds, he doesn't seem to be paying much attention to what's happening off to his left. And so the self-styled Master of Magnetism walks absent-mindedly right into the path of a High Speed Airborne Candy Chase.

Pixie has posed:
Although Charles /likely/ never quite spoke bad about Magneto in the presence of the children, and instead talked about his ideas in a sideways manner, it was likely most of the children here had no idea about Magneto's history - barring the idea that he was a guest from Genosha - and whatever whispered rumors they could get from the other mutant children.

Unfortunately (or fortunately), Megan was one of those teens not in the know. Twisting around to face the door, she holds her bounty aloft, as the two teens burst through the door and look up towards her, sounds of disappointment coming from them as she hovers there, way out of their easy reach. "It's mine! Like I said, I bought it, and I can share some, but this is that fancy candy from..."

The two teens had their eyes go from Megan to Magneto. Less because of who he was, and more the idea that they were undergoing much horseplay, and an obvious adult was in the area. And Megan - the red color in her eyes coming out in this bright sunlight, widens her eyes as she realizes that she was setting a terrible, terrible example.

Within a flash, she lights on the ground, clearing her throat - her voice still a bit on the high pitched side of the force. "Alright. One for you, Janey - and one for you, Mike, ah... I'll catch up with you guys later?" she says.

Clearing her throat, she approaches Erik. "Would you like some too, sir?" she says, offering a colorfully wrapped bit of chocolate towards Magneto. "It's from this fancy store up in the Westchester," says Megan, bringing up a hand to push a lock of her bubblegum hair back over her ear.

Magneto has posed:
Things like this NEVER happen to Magneto anywhere else in the world, and he can't help but smile at the novelty. However, between being kosher AND being a vegetarian, Magneto is on a pretty strict diet. It's not likely that milk chocolate adheres to the strict standards he's set for himself.

"Er... no. Thank you." Hey, at least he avoids being preachy about his diet... "I'm actually here to visit a few of the students. Perhaps you've met them? They're a bit more... serious than the other children."

It's a polite way of saying that they're from Genosha...

Cable has posed:
Cable doesn't know anything about relaxing, any more than Magneto does generally. The mission has been his life for as long as he cares to remember and he can remembers lots of things. Things that happened. Things that will now never happen, thanks to him. Things that he hopes to whatever shoddy semblance of a god oversees this universe that he can prevent.

He hadn't intend to alert the mansion to his presence - he was just coming and going, picking up a few files from Cerebro and darting out again. Then he finds himself coming across something he hadn't expected, as he turns a corner. Magneto and children.

He stares for a long moment, the lambent light of his left eye flaring a bit. Interesting. The massive mutant probably can't avoid being noticed for long, but he makes no outward noise or attempt to intervene. Just stares.

Magik has posed:
    You know what also is /not/ entirely ordinary? The blonde with the glowing sword stalking...shrubbery. She's not aware of whatever candy battle just happened or the possibly on again off again X-Nemesis that's now being offered candy. No, her attention seems to be on whatever greenery that's currently decorating the lawn. After thoroughly searching /this/ bush, Illyana turns and glances around, still not acknowledging whatever's currently going on, either out of willfullness or ignorance. A few seconds of a look this way and a look that way, she sets her sights on another target.

    And so, she begins stalking yet another bush, this one with floral accompaniment aplenty. Soulsword in hand, each step is carefully set as she approaches the bush. And then with a mightly lunge... she pounces, swinging! As the sword cant' affect physical things, it's her hand that ends up jostling the leaves and flowers, and her off hand is now pushing the bush this way and that. A stomp of her foot and she's then letting out a /vicious/ stream of swearing in Russian before she glances around again, apparently trying to find more bushes to assault.

Pixie has posed:
The increased attention - Cable stood /out/, so it was easy to notice him. Especially since he was staring. Megan glances from Erik, to Cable, and then back again, kinda sucking on the inside of her teeth a bit as she gives Magneto a smile. A flick of her dragonfly wings to the back, and she lowers them from the 'ready to fly' position to something more tucked against herself.

"Well, um... okay," she says, opening a candy for herself and popping it into her mouth, her eyes glancing up towards Magneto. It was summer here, you see, so there was a lot of motion - kids returning home - those that could, at least - summer classes starting, guest lecturers coming in, and out.

"Yeah, there's lots of serious kids here... I... um..." Megan screws up her face, staring at Erik. "I mean, like Illy over there," she says, jerking a thumb towards the bushes, and Illyana's hunt for who knows what. "But, ahhh... oh! You mean the transfer kids?" she says. Another beat. "...are you from that island too?" she asks. "And... um..." she leans forward. She was much shorter than Erik, but she was lowering her voice to a whisper. "...is that guy your friend?" she says, lifting her chin to the staring Cable.

Magneto has posed:
"Not so much 'transfer' as.... exchange." Magneto sounds sinister even when talking about something as seemingly innocuous as a student exchange program. But, of course, not many kids want to spend a semester on Genosha, even if they ARE rapidly rebuilding the infrastructure. It's still a bombed-out island, after all.

Looking over his shoulder, Magneto arches a gray eyebrow at the man who is staring at him. "A friend of mine? I'd assumed he was a security guard." It's true, Cable DOES kind of look like the kind of person Xavier would get to handle security at the school. Or at least he looks like the kind of person that Magneto would get to handle security if HE were running a school.

"Perhaps he's the gardener, here to scold that strange woman over there for assaulting the shrubbery." Magneto points at the blonde woman who is... not behaving the way most people do in a garden.

Cable has posed:
Cable shakes his head briefly, "I'm nobody's friend," he says simply, his voice a harsh rasp. Looking baleful rather comes with the territory, between his massive size, the scars, the cybernetics. He flexes his metal hand for a moment, realizing he'd balled it up into a fist.

"Can't say I have much interest in shrubbery. You're thinking of the Knights who say Nee," he says with the ghost of a smile crooking the corner of his mouth. "I suppose I have the advantage then. I certainly know who this gentleman is, for example. Which is why I wonder very much what he's doing here." Illyana gets a flicker of a glance - she belongs here, although he knows she's dangerous enough in her own right.

Magik has posed:
    Yet another bush has been pounced, punched and perused and she's off stalking another location. This initially brings her to pass the others, grumbling darkly under her breath, still in Russian. Then, /after/ she's passed, she stops, about-faces and walks /back/ towards Megan, and Magneto... and possibly this big, beefy not-gardener. The glowy sword dismissed, vanishing instantly and leaving behind pretty, white lights for a few heartbeats after. She knows Megan's got kind of the same condition she has, so it's out of consideration of that that she's not walking up armed. Definitely /not/ because of the men.

    "You haven't happened to have seen an independently mobile bouquet of flowers amble past, have you?" She asks openly by way of greeting. "It would be hard to miss. It's in a black vase and has about a few dozen eyeballs and maybe spiders. Amongst other...creatively....arranged features?"

Pixie has posed:
Megan nods her head once, widening her eyes up towards Magneto as she dips her hand back into the plastic bag, drawing out a second chocolate. Unwrapping it, she dips her head briefly to chomp on the second wrapped chocolate. "I dunno, I haven't seen him around before. Maybe he's one of the teachers coming in for the um... summer?"

'I'm nobody's friend' says Cable. Megan rolls her eyes rather deliberately. Now, she would devolve into a series of grumbles in rapid-fire Welsh. If anyone could speak the same, it was a little bit of a tantrum about how everyone here was grimdark and annoying. But she clears her throat, her cheeks pinkening at the end of her little storm. And she dips her hand into her bag of chocolate, bringing it up and waggling it at Cable.

Of course, even more dangerous than even the hellqueen was the nefarious Pixie - destroyer of worlds beyond.

Or maybe not. Ahem. It was Illyana that she turns her eyes towards last, offering her a chocolate from the little bag. It was still reasonably full. "Most of the flowers I've seen have stayed in place, unless you mean that new girl that came in - I think I saw her singing to the plants, all Snow White style."

Magneto has posed:
"Perhaps I've made a huge mistake coming here. This has become a... silly place."

Magneto looks around at the assembled mutants, his cold blue eyes set under unmoving, stern eyebrows. But he isn't able to hold the stern expression very long before it begins to melt.

It wasn't a good joke, but at least he made an attempt? "It's impressive how much the place has grown in the past few years. The last time I was here there were only a handful of students. Of course, when I left there were even less... I suppose I'm growing nostalgic in my old age."

Cable has posed:
Cable looks at the chocolate with a skeptical eye. But then reaches out and takes it, popping it into his mouth for a moment.

"If I had seen such a thing, Magik, you would have most likely heard the gunfire signalling its end," he says.

He isn't bothered by Pixie's grumbling about him. He often inspires grumbling, it's something of a common side effect. As for Magneto...

"The whole point, I think, is for there to always be more. Because when there are less, it means something has begun to go awry," he says. "We all, I think, have a vested interest in the continuing health and growth of mutantkind. Even if we don't always agree on best methods."

Magik has posed:
    "No...these aren't 'Disney Princess' flowers," Illyana responds to megan, resting her handa gainst her chin and frowning. "They'd more than likely swing GWAR back at her." She sighs. "I guess I will just have to wait until they reappear. And here I thought I'd be proactive." STupid demon flowers that don't want to get themselves banished.

    Illyana doesn't get the joke, instead focusing on the stern-looking man next to Megan. Something about him clicks as vaguely familiar, in a 'I saw his picture once' sort of way, but it doesn't stop her from throwing a hand on her hip and lifting a hand as if she was about to tell him where to go and what to do with himself. But just as she opens her mouth, joke or no, she realizes she probably /did/ look remarkably silly. Really, Really silly. So, she stops herself from looking even sillier standing there all sass with her hand up and mouth slightly open to speak, by taking the proffered candy and unwrapping it. She was doing this all along, really.

    And then her name gets mentioned by this other dude. Blue eyes narrow as she regards him, the sass easing out of her stance only to be replaced by the sort of tension that only comes with preparing to defend herself. She doesn't recall meeting this guy much less giving out her name! Cable isn't the only properly paranoid one here. "It needs to be /banished/, not blown up," she informs this man. To Megan. "You have weird friends." Obviously assuming at least Cable is Megan's. And she /so/ isn't including herself here.

Pixie has posed:
Of course, of course - Illyana was Megan's most normal friend evar.

Ahem-hem.

Reaching back into the bag of chocolates, Megan removes a third chocolate after handing them out amongst the others, leaving the wrapper in the bag as she pops it into her mouth. Magneto gets her attention first of all. "It's not my fault, I promise!" she enthuses. "At least... not entirely. I mean... this place /is/ filled with kids. Were kids less silly in... um... whenever this school first started?" she asks of Magneto.

Cable draws her attention next, Megan narrowing her eyes. <<"...do you speak Welsh?">> she says, in the shotgun language of constantants that was Welsh. Hmmmn. Leaning over towards Magik, then, Megan retrieves a fourth chocolate for herself, easily popping it into her mouth. "What kinda flowers are they then? Like... weird magical flowers?" she asks. A beat. "And I don't know him - he's not my friend, really...?" A beat, and she glances towards Cable. "I mean, we /could/ be friends, but you're kinda old and not... well... we haven't met before, right? I'm Megan. Megan Gwynn." Another beat, as she tries to cover that faux pas with a quick introduction to both men. "...from Wales!" Another beat. "It's overseas."

Magneto has posed:
As he watches the chaos unfold around him, Magneto is definitely glad he decided to remove his helmet. With it on, he's the most famous and feared mutant on the planet. Without it... he's an old man in a cape. Right now, he prefers being an old man in a cape.

Or so he thinks. But that doesn't stop him from introducing himself as... "Er... Magneto. I'm only in the habit of using my Mutant Name. It's something that myself and Charles debated back in the 80s when most of you weren't born yet."

"I 'almost' convinced him to call himself Mesmero. And of course, he waited too long and someone else snatched the name. So he's stuck being boring old Charles."

Cable has posed:
Cable nods in greeting as the introductions begin to abound, "Cable," he says. "I'm something of a...freedom fighter.'

"Charles probably refused because he tries to resist mesmerism. Ethical concerns. He has a great deal of those, as you know better than most," he says to Magneto.

"And I'm a terrible friend. But a good ally.'

Magik has posed:
    Everyone else probably prefers the old man in a cape too. "... yes, weird magical flowers. You could say that," Illyana answers Megan while holding her hand out expectantly towards her. Whether or not Megan gets the silent bid for another piece of candy, who knows. Illyana's certainly not vocalizing it, especially in polite request format.

    "Ah," she says as Magneto introduces himself. "I thought you looked vaguely familiar." Totally saw his picture once. Or twice. She does wrinkle her nose at the name 'mesmero'. Ugh, what horrible taste that would have been in! Nono, it's not an ethical thing, it's an appearance thing and that would've been a totally bad one. And there's Cable. Who's gets the stink eye again for somehow knowing her name.

    "As he said," The 'somehow' is very much so implied, "Magik. Or Illyana Rasputin." She doesn't care about her real name being known. She probably should, but she doesn't.

Pixie has posed:
Megan was busy eating another chocolate - only after a few moments, does she see the outstretched hand asking for... Megan blinks, her red-rimmed eyes popping open a bit. "Oh!" A chocolate was picked up, and placed upon Magik's hand. Wrapper and all. And Megan gives Illyana a cheery smile at that point.

Eyes return to Magneto. "Oh! /You're/ Magneto! Aren't you like... king of Genosha, then?" she asks. She was on her sixth chocolate now. And showing no signs of stopping, moving almost automagically as she gives her full attention to Magneto at first. "/Oh/, and Mutant names? I guess I'm Pixie. Not very original, right?" she says, smiling so wide her nose crinkles.

Cable gets her attention next. "What are you fighting for the freedom for?" she asks him.

Magneto has posed:
"Pixie. Magik. Cable. Delighted to meet you all."

The way he says it, it doesn't SOUND like he's particularly delighted. But he's trying to be polite, which is more than he usually does. Normally, he expects a much bigger reaction when he shows up, or groups of people running in terror.

We all need a change of pace every now and then.

"But I must excuse myself, as I'm late for a meeting with the Headmaster. Wish me luck... Charles has beaten me two out of the last three times we've played chess."

Did he really come all this way just to play board games with an old friend? Perhaps its better not knowing definitively. With a wave, Magneto heads toward the school, putting on his helmet as he gets closer to the door.

Suddenly, everyone he walks past stops laughing.

The lizard kid stops doing his tax returns.

Cable has posed:
Cable watches Magneto go. In the end, he knows, Magneto and Xavier have more in common than they have against one another, although it can be hard for them to remember that. He's glad to see they're at least talking - the less division among mutantkind, the better than can weather the storms to come.

"Everyone, in the end," he says in response to the question, "I want to keep us all free. But you shouldn't worry too much about that right now. Right now - you should enjoy the garden. Both of you," he says, looking back and forth between Megan and Illyana, "I don't know if there are roses here but, if there are, give them a sniff. You never get these days back again," he says.

Magik has posed:
    "I stopped sniffing roses a long time ago," Illyana says, here, perhaps trying to match Cable dourness for dour. Her attention though is on Magneto as he retreats as he says this. And then, idly, "I liked him better without the tincan on his head." So did aeveryone else considering how everything just /stops/ until he's gone. And then it slowly picks back up.

    A nod's given to Megan, though, when another piece of candy is deposited. "Thank you," she even says outloud! How aobut that. Her attention again turns to Cable as she unwraps her treat. "Are you here to speak with the headmaster as well?" she asks, popping the morsel into her mouth.

Pixie has posed:
Megan gives Cable a long, discerning look. Black eyes - with those pinky red circles in the middle, made obvious in this bright sunlight - narrow on him. And she pops another chocolate in her mouth. And apparently, eight chocolates were enough to feed her flight for another couple hours, because she starts crinkling the bag up, holding it just in one hand as she draws it down near her hip.

"I've heard a lot about him," responds Megan to Illyana. "Guess a lotta people are afraid of him, but he didn't... seem that bad?" she says. She sounded uncertain.

The thank you! Megan's smile springs eternal and bright again. "You're welcome!" she just about gushes. "And you know - if you need help hunting this flower - I can watch from the skies!"

Cable has posed:
Cable shakes his head, "No, I don't need the Professor's attention today." And he wasn't going to ask permission for the files he was going to take, but he didn't need to advertise that either.

"Magneto's intentions are good. Sometimes he's misguided. But, then, aren't we all on occasion? In the pursuit of the greater good, it's easy to lose sight of things like ethics and morality. That's what people like Professor Xavier are for. To remind us," he says.