7637/Rec Room Without Hockey=No Logan

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Rec Room Without Hockey=No Logan
Date of Scene: 26 May 2019
Location: Rec Room - Xavier's School
Synopsis: Nate, Ororo and Kitty enjoy cheddar popcorn and a showing of the original Mad Max.
Cast of Characters: Shadowcat, Storm, X-Man




Shadowcat has posed:
Kitty is down in the rec room. Mad Max is on television. The original one. Kitty is sitting with a bowl of popcorn that is so heavily dusted with cheese powder that it could be called a cheddar avalanche. A cheddarlanche. Beside her on the couch is Hambone, a chubby student who is good spirited despite being the butt of many jokes.

"There's no way this is as good as the new one. I mean look at the resolution!" he complains to Kitty. Kitty just stares at him and picks up a handful of popcorn to throw at the student. "Clearer pictures don't equate to better movies!" she says. Hambone throws up his hands in defeat and storms off, heading back to play Call of Duty: Black Ops 15 no doubt.

Kitty looks back to the TV, then glances to Lockheed where he's curled up on the back of the couch. "I know, right? Though granted this would have been better with Charlize Theron."

Storm has posed:
"I didn't care for the first Mad Max," Ororo remarks as she sweeps into the room. She's wearing white denim pants, chunky white-soled sandal heels, and a flowing grey top with a pair of split half-capes worked into the fabric. The weather mutant does have a knack for going from functional to fashioanble when she feels like it, and she's applied straightener to her hair to let it flow with remarkable length down to her shoulders. A black headback holds it back from her forehead.

"But Thunderdome? With Tina Turner?" she asks, rhetorically, and moves to sit on the sofaback near Kitty with a foot scraping the ground for purchase. She tosses a grape in her mouth. "I think she coined the phrase 'strong independent woman who don't need no man'," she says, imitating a Harlem accent flawlessly. "The sort of supervillain all girls should aspire to be." Her hand rests against the sofa near her hip, elbow locked out to brace herself upright.

X-Man has posed:
    Around that time, Nate Grey comes walking in. Apparently fresh from the shower. Or maybe still dripping with sweat. Judging from the scent of "Ocean Breeze", though, it seems to be the former. His hair looks black, save for the silvery bangs, matted down and glossy with moisture. Crystaline rivulets of water still cling to his bare chest and abdominals, and he has a towel draped across his broad shoulders. He looks like he might very well be the opposite of Ororo, perhaps. At least in terms of fashion. No shirt, no shoes, no problems. All he needs is a pair of gray sweatpants that hang low on his hips.

    "Road Warrior is the best. Lord Humungus might as well have been right out of the flesh pits run by McCoy in my time," He remarks as he steps in quietly. "Auntie Entity was great and all, but Thunderdome was all about Master Blaster. He ran Barter Town."

    The telekinetic prodigy's left eye flares as he seems to leap, but then telekinesis carries him in a lazy hovering trajectory over the back of the sofa, and then settles him down next to Kitty where Hambone had been just moments prior. He does give a wayward glance to the kid as he settles in for gaming, and shrugs. "It's amazing to me how people can be so picky, though. Television and movies were a thing of the past. Luxuries that only the most fortunate could indulge. Prelate level privileges."

    Turning his attention to Kitty, he points to her popcorn with uplifted brows, silently asking the question of if he might be able to partake.

Shadowcat has posed:
Kitty Pryde looks up and smiles at Storm as she settles in behind Kitty. Lockheed rises and moves over to reposition himself in the African woman's warm lap, if allowed. "Road Warrior was the best of the three, I agree," Kitty says. "But the original was a classic. I mean they didn't have the special effects and everything back then. They had to tell the story without the car chases and fancy vehicles and... well those are cool, but you get me?" she asks.

Kitty offers the cheesy popcorn over to Nate. "You know, I kind of have some idea what it was like where Rachel came from. Though not nearly enough. I really do need to talk to her more on that actually. But I don't know nearly as much of your time, Nate," Kitty says.

She turns back to the TV for a bit more before checking back and see Lockheed has found a warm lap to move into. "So how did the painting turn out? Happy with it?" she asks Storm. "All of the plants back up and prospering beneath their faux sky?"

Storm has posed:
Ororo coos happily and immediately starts loving on Lockheed, getting behind the scaly fins guarding his earholes. The little dragon chips and chitters and then flops on his back so Ororo can get in there and rub his belly plates, which she does obligingly, until he's almost comatose and sprawling across her thigh.

"Nate," Ororo says, to get the young man's attention. She nods at the sofa behind him. "Please dry off, or at least put a towel down. We'll get mildew in here," she says with a note of gentle reminder in her voice.

"The painting's done. That rainstorm slowed curing down a little," she admits. "But it's mostly dried. I am still thinking it might need a layer of sealant just to make it last. What do you think?"

X-Man has posed:
    "Oh no. I still think the first is amazing. It's also the most unique, too. It's more pre-Apocalypse than post-Apocalypse, set right in the middle of societal and economic catastrophe. It's a smaller tale, a more personal one. And Toecutter has a wicked charisma as a bad guy," Nate offers up, as he reaches in to the cheesy popcorn and takes a handful. "You know that the nuclear war didn't even happen until after the second movie, and before the third? Most people just think that the entire series is after a nuclear holocaust."

    When Ororo mentions putting down a towel, Nate just looks at her, and leans his body forward while shifting his shoulders back. It's just enough so that the towel that he had draped across them spills down his back like a cape before he settles back in. Giving a sidelong quirk of his lips, he looks back to the screen, and shakes his head, muttering, "I'm neither a student, nor a child, Ororo. You don't need to mother hen me. Besides, the couches are meant for students and children. They're spill resistant. My wet back isn't going to hurt anything."

    Popping some popcorn into his mouth, and munching, he gives Kitty a momentary look over, as if trying to size up something in his mind. His face sombers and he shrugs, as he lays his head back against the sofa, and turns his eyes back to the television screen. "I can tell you about it sometime, I guess. It's... not really worth talking about, though."

Shadowcat has posed:
Kitty gets some more of the popcorn in hand and lets it spill into her mouth a few kernels at a time. It's impossible to handle without getting the orange cheddar dust on ones fingers. She glances up at Ororo and says, "I'm not really sure. Piotr if he's about would be the one to ask. Though probably not a bad idea. If you need more help with it just let me know the night," Kitty says.

She glances to Nate and says, "Thanks. Not that I want to bring up too many memories that might be unpleasant. But... we are dealing with a Sentinel from the future. So knowing what other directions things have gone, might just give us some insight," Kitty says.

She gets a bit more popcorn. "I haven't finished my mission report yet, but we tracked down Megatron today, Ororo. Doesn't seem like he's intending harm to humanity. And he's unhappy the Sentinels were apparently built in part with technology gleamed from studying him. I think he may strike against them, actually. But... I don't know that he's someone we want to trust fully long term. Doug is great at reading between the lines with people. Part of his mutant power. And he's concerned, that Megatron is expecting a fight to come to him, here."

Storm has posed:
Ororo just smiles tolerantly at Nate, taking no umbrage at his insistence that he needs no coddling or cajoling. Her palm rests on the back of the sofa and flexes, summoning up a gust of wind from under Nate's seat. It blows like a whirring air compressor for three seconds and lifts away crystalline drops of water from the fabric, which are then flickered away into the ambient moisture of the room's circulating automated climate system.

"I heard about Megatron," Ororo confirms for Kitty. She's often fast on the draw when it comes to reading communiques for the senior staff. "I am unsure I would trust this Megatron, either," Ororo agrees with Kitty. She keeps petting Lockheed like the indolent kitty he's pretending to be. "If he had approached us sincerely with his need and his concerns, then perhaps htere would be more room for trust. But the way he mislead you, the covert actions, the Sentinel involvement... no part of this gives me comfort," she says in that richly accented voice. "Doug is, it seems, our only and best source of intelligence in this matter."

X-Man has posed:
    "It's cool," Nate says, trying to play it off, even if his face reads otherwise. His gaze looks distant a he stares at the television, popping kernels of corn into his mouth one by one. "I'm not really sure about what I can offer in terms of Sentinels. For obvious reasons, they weren't much of a thing where I was from. I remember hearing the Europe had a bunch of them, basically creating a walled off line to protect them from the shore, or something. Nothing I ever saw."

    Storm does her thing, and Nate freezes in place. Slowly, he turns his face so that he can look at her. His jaw tenses, and there's tension in his brow, without being a full on scowl. His voice quiets, and he says, "Storm. That was not your place. I did as you asked by putting the towel down. I gave you respect, and simply asked that you give me mine, in turn. It wasn't your place to force your will on me and rob me of my agency by using your powers. Just as it was not Lorna's to just do whatever she wanted to the TV while I was watching it."

    He takes in a deep, deep, breath, and holds it for a few seconds before letting it out. "Please do not do that again, yeah? That's just not cool."

    Any talk of Megatrons and stuff is outside of Nate's purview. He's never heard the name before. He's not exactly up to date on mission briefings or anything like that. Mostly because people seem to like picking at him rather than talking to him, these days. So, rather than trying to offer some sort of meaningful commentary about it, he just says, "Listen, if you all want the Sentinels dealt with, just... ask."

Shadowcat has posed:
Kitty Pryde gives a soft chuckle as the air stirs and blows her hair about a bit. She covers up the popcorn with her hand so the light popped kernels don't go flying. "He indicated Norton was part of him, but he'd basically had to make him to some extent, to be able to go out and do what was needed to free him. And that then he'd been merged back in. So not like the AI was him, but was part of him? It sort of made sense to me at least," Kitty says. "As long as it is true, and Doug believed him, it's a good sign at least. He seems to be in favor of free determination and freedom to live one's life as they wish," Kitty shares.

She glances over at Nate shares his thoughts with Ororo. "Nate... we're pretty light-hearted here. I know your from another place and time where things were different. But it's not really something most of us would find offense at. People's powers are an extension of them. There are definitely things that are uncool, don't get me wrong. But... well, I was going to say it's the kind of thing I would laugh at. But note, I actually /did/ laugh at it. The practical jokes alone that go on here," she says, reaching over to pat Nate's shoulder in a gentle, reassuring way.

Storm has posed:
Ororo's brows lift at his angry, quiet objection from Nate. It's not hard to miss the bristling anger he's swallowing, and she responds to it with an expression as impassive as his is tense. She holds that angry glare of his for a long second. Not one to be intimidated. When Kitty speaks up, Ororo lifts a hand. "No, Nate is correct," she says, coolly. "We're accustomed to a certain degree of familiarity here. I should not have extended that to him. It won't happen again," she informs Nate with a diplomatic nod of her head.

Those sky-blue eyes move back to Kitty, and she furrows her brown pensively. "I ... suppose I will defer to your judgement here," she says, finally. "And Doug's. I cannot fathom reading the intent of a machine intelligence. I have noticed though, that there is a high correlation between those who proclaim they wish to be left to their own devices, and those who insist on using those devices to the detriment of others. So, we return to the wholly useless position we already hold: by polite, but do not trust." Fingers flex, a gesture of a shrug.

X-Man has posed:
    Nate's lips are a thin, bloodless line in his face, as he considers what Kitty and Ororo say in response. He remains silent for a long time, but he does draw in another deep breath, his chest expanding visibly before he breathes out a sigh from his nostrils.

    "It's fine," he says sullenly. He feels like a heel, but he's also assured that he's not entirely wrong, either. "It's just nerves. The thing with Lorna the other day bothers me. And I don't like feeling condescended to. Like I said... I'm not a child. I'm not a student here. I just don't want to be treated like one, and I don't want people looking down on me. I know that I might seem young to you, but... I've been through a lot. I had to grow up fast. I had to do a lot of things, and make a lot of hard decisions."

    He's not really sure where he's going with that,so he just sort of trails off, frowning deeply. His arms fold across his chest, still cupping the last few kernels of his cheesy popcorn in the palm of his hand. His mouth opens and he sucks in a breath as if to speak, then just snaps it shut again.

    "..."

    Finally, he just says, "Sorry."

Storm has posed:
There is motion near Nate's shoulder, just at the edge of his personal bubble, and Ororo flexes the paler flesh of her hand at the ceiling. "/I/ am sorry," Ororo tells Nate, with an abundance of sincerity. "You are neither a child nor an invalid. And you are correct, and it is a reminder we should all have from time to time-- we should no more put our powers to one another than our hands on another, uninvited."

Fingers curl, offering a reassuring squeeze. Ororo smiles at Nate, showing no hard feelings. "And you should not feel as if I am targeting you specifically. I condescend to everyone," Ororo says, with a self-deprecating grin. "Including Charles. But if it makes you feel the better, I always have good tea in the attic, and hot soup when people are feeling sick. Even if it's just sick in their spirits. An upside to putting up with me," she suggests with an easy levity.

Shadowcat has posed:
Kitty Pryde smiles as she watches what transpires next. "Ororo is good people," she says, turning the smile up towards the African woman. Kitty picks out a piece of cheese popcorn, motions with it towards Nate and then hefts it into the air for him to catch if he likes. If not? Right on the noggin.

After, Kitty says, "Nate, you may run into times that there's some culture clash. If I could recommend something though? Try to to just weather it for the moment if something is a bother. I'd make a joke, give a smile. And then bring up what was bothering me. People here will respond much better. It's kind of like what you said. You don't like feeling condescended towards. Going into that kind of situation with a frown and signs of displeasure tends to put other people's backs up as well," Kitty says.

"Coming at a problem with a smile and a friendly demeanor gets people to view things as 'we' and leaves them much more open to an issue. 'We' is usually so much better than 'you'. Unless it's the Borg you're talking to, anyway," Kitty says. "And let it be noted at... 9:15pm, that Kitty officially donned her Guidance Counselor hat. Lest anyone say I don't actually counsel. Or guide." She flashes both people a smile and says, "But, I need to get to bed. Have a lot to do tomorrow. Enjoy the rest of the movie," she says as she departs.

X-Man has posed:
    "Yeah..." Nate says after a few moments. He still can't seem to bring himself to look at Ororo. The consternation in his features, at least, has softened, though. A calm neutrality has settled in. "It's okay. You're sorry. I'm sorry. We're both sorry. Everything's good. But... Let's try to keep that condescending thing off of me. I hear that Scott-- My father... love it, though."

    He lifts his hand, shoving the last of the popcorn into his mouth, and licks and sucks on his fingers, before holding his hand out in front of him. Small golden sparkles crackle across the surface of his palm, and whatever gooey remnants of sucked on cheese powder remained break down and disappear, leaving his hand clean.

    "Tea's good. Soup I'm less of a fan of. And trust me, there are far worse people to put up with. So..."

    Nate doesn't need to catch that tossed popcorn, but he does so, anyway, with a snap of his teeth and a smile to Kitty. Still, though, he gives a rueful smirk to what she has to offer for advice, and says, "I... don't think you know me well, Miss Pryde. I do try to be cool with people. All the time. I tried being chill with Lorna the other day. That didn't work. All I got for my effort was unbridled anger and treated like I was a subject to be abused at her whim. And I was trying to be friendly here, too, which is why I put the towel down. I just wanted to make sure it was clear that I didn't appreciate feeling like I was being treated like a child."

    But, when Kitty excuses herself, Nate just offers another smile and lifts a hand to wave bye to her as she exits.

    And turning back to Storm, he says, "So. What's the deal with this Megatron and these Sentinels, anyway? Also... How do you feel about pizza and Thunderdome?"

Storm has posed:
Ororo hugs Kitty before the other woman leaves, and moves to take her spot on the sofa. She crosses her legs smoothly at the knee and drapes her shirt out so it won't wrinkle. "There is an adjustment period for everyone at first, especially in tight quarters," Ororo points out. "People accustomed to a certain proximity or space." She grins, suddenly, pushing her tumbling white hair back from her face. "It could be worse. I'm not having to discuss deodorant with you," she remarks, wryly. "A perennial problem."

She uplifts her chin at the TV. "As for a movie, Thunderdome yes, but pizza... conditionally. Depending on how you feel about... pineapple," she says, trying to provoke a smile from the fellow by pretending to take seriously a topic as whimsical as fruit toppings.

X-Man has posed:
    The question of pineapple on pizza does, in fact, bring about a grin and a gleam in his eyes. Sure, pineapple on pizza is a contentious subject, and many feel that it's the very devil. Nate, on the other hand, never even knew what a pineapple was in his timeline. And pizza was sort of an urban legend, for that matter. "I'm a fan of it, personally. Hashtag AllPizzasMatter right here."

    The smile softens, the gleam in his eyes dulling a bit as he looks down into the space between the pair of them on the sofa. He nods his head, his smile taking on a more somber note.

    "It's a big adjustment. It's hard. Everything is so... alien. Like Scott Summers. In my world, he was one of the Prelates. They were like... Like Apocalypse's Super Cops or something. He worked for Sinister. The guy who... was kind of my real father. Or not. It's weird and messy and..."

    He lifts his hands, gesturing around them, as he thinks. "All of this. This place where people take the train to work in the morning. Sip coffee. Have pineapple on pizza and watch television. It's... nothing like a world I could have imagined. And I got really heavy on that, so I apologize."

    He puts on a smile and winks. "But yeah, no deodorant problems here. I like smelling good here."

Storm has posed:
Ororo listens with a careful sympathy to Nate's words, turning to half face him with a calf pulled up on the sofa cushion and her elbow resting on the sofaback. Fingertips splay and support her temple, weaving into her white hair.

The report on his home origin was one thing; disturbing and unsettling at a minimum. But there's no comparison to hearing it from him directly, and her brows furrow in consternation at his words. It doesn't take an empath to sense the turmoil in Nate's spirit.

"You smell all right. For a boy," Ororo amends, a beat later and with a cautiously upticked finger. "We will see how you do after hanging out with Logan. I respect your personal proximity, but I *will* make it shower on you nonstop if you go long enough showering. I have my limits," she says, with a haughty sniffle that lacks any real arrogance.

"Order the pizza, and while it's coming, I will try to summarize Megatron."

She waits until Nate can direct his attention to her, then starts again. "We've had a number of peculiar contacts with machine intelligences," she explains. "I understand they attempted to clone one of the Avengers. Sentinels have been spotted in multiple areas, moving more aggrssively. Now a stranger emerges and convinces Kitty to deliver cargo to a sleeping titan of steel? It does not bode well for us, and I cannot help but feel we have been made into pawns."

X-Man has posed:
    There's a momentary darkness in his eyes when she says that word "boy" and he raises his eyebrows. His head turns just faintly to one side, and he wears that expression of "didn't we just talk about this like five seconds ago?" on his ruggedly handsome face. But, he brushes it off, and smiles, giving a faint roll of his eyes. "Yeah, that's not a thing you'll have to worry about. I shower every single day. I've literally gotten to the point where I pretty much have to do it first thing in the morning, otherwise my entire day is off. Like roll out of bed, shower. Work out. Shower. Just feel like I haven't showered in too long? Shower."

    He shrugs helplessly, doing that white people lip thing where they kind of suck them in on themselves as a semblance of a smile, but it isn't really and would look totally awkward if everyone else didn't do the exact same thing so it's become some sort of shorthand for a variety of unspoken expressions.

    He listensto her speak about the events leading up to now. His smile fades, his entire demeanor becoming more serious. "And this stranger was the Sebastian person? Is that Megatron?"

    She might notice that he's not ordered the pizza.

    "You want Hawaiian Deluxe? It has pineapple, ham, onions and bacon. I want it in and around my mouth parts and then I want to cuddle it in my stomach."

Storm has posed:
"The deluxe sounds sublime," Ororo agrees, and nods her head regally.

She presses her palms together as if taking the clay of her thoughts and rolling it into something more coherent. "From what Kitty has told me, it seems there was an artificial intelligence that Megatron created-- projected-- to contact her. I do not know if Megatron is a human, was a human, or never was at all. He may be a... Hank used a term." She frowns, looking at the coffe table with an unfocused gaze. "'Emerging consciousness'. It's possible it's some castoff of Trask's work, or a byproduct. Or just a random occurance. What do /you/ think of the situation thus far?"