7641/Memorial Weekend At The Beach

Memorial Weekend At The Beach
Date of Scene:	26 May 2019
Location:	A beach in New York
Synopsis:	A dozen people from Xavier's School plus some guests gather for a beach party on Memorial Day weekend.
Cast of Characters:	Shadowcat, Rogue, Red Hood, Storm, Professor X, Nightcrawler, Emma Frost, Polaris, Kid Omega, Sibilance, Wolfsbane

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Shadowcat has posed:
Memorial Day Weekend and Kitty has arranged a trip to the beach with some of those she loves most. Jason got the warning of, "Not that I think you'd get handsy with Anna-Marie, but remember that touching her kind of drains your brain and puts you in a coma. So we're kind of extra careful in beach situations. So just limit it to oggling her like all the other guys," Kitty says, reaching over to give Jason a goose on his behind.

They loaded up the car to meet Rogue out at the beach. Plenty of other people have the same idea, the beach is crowded but not so bad as to not be enjoyable. Kitty has brought beach chairs, towels, coolers of food including some that can be cooked on grills provided at the beach, just bring your own charcoal. Rogue was tasked with bringing the tunes. Because, Rogue.

Kitty and Jason pull up and climb out of the car and begin lugging their stuff out onto the sand. They stake out a spot by one of the grills and get set up.

Rogue has posed:
Rogue had brought the tunes. Her friends from the Music Center in Salem Center, they're all gathered up on the beach around a series of large sun blocking umbrellas that are stabbed into the sandy shore. Behind them is Rogue's black van with the side door pulled open and a bunch of wires streaming out of it to the amps, instruments and microphones used by the musicians... they're playing Country Roads, a John Denver classic.

Rogue is standing off to the front with a few others who're making up the audience and she's wearing a green and gold 'olympic volleyball' styled bikini, its skimpy and sporty. With her brown and white hair loose about her shoulders it blows in the winds off of the ocean, hands on her hips she's smiling as she listens to the group play that song.

When Kitty arrives, Rogue looks over to her friend and has a big smile spread across over her lips. She raises her hand and waves wildly at her, then starts to turn and walk in her (their?) direction.

Shadowcat has posed:
Kitty Pryde spots Rogue and changes course to go over to where she is at as well. "Do you have a grill over here? We've got charcoal and I brought some brats so I can show you how to make a real beer-boiled brat," says the girl originally from just outside the Windy City.

She will settles her stuff down amongst Anna-Marie's friends, and greet them as whatever introductions happen. "Great day out here," she says, smiling and then digging in her bag to get some suntan lotion out. She begins applying it as she looks over at Rogue and teases, "You know, if we had some tape you could probably do without the strings on there. Shame to cover you up too much." Her eyes twinkle gaily. Kitty doesn't have an old lady bathing suit on either, for that matter, though it's a little more covering than Rogue's. As expected.

Rogue has posed:
Once she's approached her friend, Rogue just softly laughs at her. "Hey, I thought this suit was more conservative than some others." She says down at herself, pointing then at her bustline. "Look, no cleavage! Its a muscle showin' suit!" And then she poses with her hands out at her sides and she does have a fit form to say the least, not an ounce of visible fat on Rogue's body!

Rogue then raises her right hand up and she points past the group of people that has gathered around the live music she'd brought. "Over there, yep." Her other hand goes to her flat toned stomach and she pats it lightly. "And now ya put the hungers in me, sugah." She states with a sly grin whilst her hand darts up to her face to lower her sunglasses again.

"Nice day out for this kinda thing." She the idly comments. "Gotta do a lotta this kinda thing this summe'ah, I do think..."

Shadowcat has posed:
Kitty grins and says, "Well we can get the food going. There's a bunch of other stuff, got some venison sausage that mom sent that some of the hunters made. And some ribs though they are precooked and just for warming as I didn't think we had time to do them right. Burgers and hot dogs. Got fruit, vegetable tray, potato salad. Jello cubes for dessert. I got these ones with less water so you can cut them into squares and pick them up by hand easy," she says. Look at Kitty, all domestic like.

She starts getting the food set up and says hello to Rogue's friends. "There might be some others from the school coming out," she says. "Got a few 'maybes', so we'll have to see if they show up."

Kitty glances around. "I wanted to bring Lockheed as a dog, but was worried there might be little kids that would try to come handle him and mess up his Image Inducer," she says.

Rogue has posed:
With her hands back on her hips, Rogue just grins big at her friend. "You're gonna be such a mom someday, Kitty." Rogue teases her as she exhales sharply and glances back to the live music being played, then bacck to Kitty. "We'll save a big plate'a food for Lockness, so he can get spoiled when ya bring it bacck to'im. Poor fella, missin' out on beach day."

There weren't any kids around, as it happened, none yet anyway, everyyne here is roughly their age in their early twenties, except for a couple of the band members who look to be somewhere in their mid 30s.

"I'll text some'a the people at the school, but if they're not here already then they've probably got some other stuff going on, sadly so. Buncha bums! I say."

Shadowcat has posed:
Kitty Pryde pour the charcoal into the grill and soaks it in lighter fluid. "Oh, I'm so going to be. I'm going to have to learn to cook by then. But I plan to have many babies. I will have a pot belly!" she says, quoting the Asian girl in Pulp Fiction as she rubs her belly. "That's one thing we're in agreement on, Jason and I," she says.

"I kind of thing having some kids would be a good thing for him. Help get him past some of what he's been through if he has someone else to focus on like that," she says. Kitty has one of those big long lighter things, and she stands way back and lights the charcoal at arm's length. A little fireball goes up from the lighter fluid as it ignites. "Success. Without Pyro even here," she comments with a grin.

Kitty walks back over to get a pot that she sets above the charcoal, not waiting for it to get hot since it can start heating up the liquid already. She starts pouring beer into the pot. It's cheap beer, bought just for boiling the brats in. "So anything exciting happening for you lately?" she asks.

Rogue has posed:
Rogue stands near to the side of the grill as Kitty prepares it all up, she watches and occassionally brushes some of her hair out of her face. She doesn't shy away from the fireball explosion when Kitty lights the thing up, because fire doesn't really frighten her that much. Smoke does! But thats only inside a burning building or some such.

A grin and a light shake of her head is given to Kitty. "Ya'll better not start poppin' out babies yet. You're barely even in your 20s, ya need t'live a little before ya let some whiney bratty kids take over your life for the next twenty years." But thats Rogue's take on it, she's... young and wild, not even close to settling down like her friend here might be.

A laugh then pours forth from the southern belle. "Me? Excitin' stuff goin' on?" She shakes her head back and forth. "Not even close. Other than waitin' for whatever Scott needs us t'do, ya know?"

Shadowcat has posed:
Kitty grins and says, "Oh, I'm not ready for it yet. But, sooner than most people would think. I'd love to have them off and done with college before I hit 45, you know?" She grins over to Rogue. "So I can start going back out and having fun again."

She opens up a vegetable tray and holds it out for Rogue to get something from. All sorts of veggies that are good for you, and then ranch and other sauces to dip them in, that aren't good for you. Kitty gets a carrot herself, scooping up a little ranch on it.

"Anything in particular Scott's been talking about? Or just the general, when he has something for us to go out on?" she asks. "By the way I don't know if you saw Doug's report. We tracked down the big chrome guy I set free. Better than I'd feared, but not as good as I'd hoped," she says.

Rogue has posed:
Rogue's right hand reaches up to adjusther sunglasses on her nose, and strike her hair back out of her face, she grins at the kids part and the 45 age rationale. "I guess there's some validity t'that. But... ah don't know. I mean, I can't even have any kids anyway, not that I know of it at least." She doesn't really go into the details on that, but anyone who knows her probably can guess as to why.

A pair of her friends from Salem Center approach the grill, man and a woman holding hands about the same age as Kitty and Rogue, they spend a few minutes there talking to the both of them about what they got cooking up before they pass on toward the waters to go stroll together. Rogue munches on some of that vegetable tray kitty's set aside and she exhales and shakes her head as she watches the pair wander off.

"And nah, I hadn't read about any'a that." Rogue admits. "Truthfully I'm just kinda waitin' t'be told what I needta punch. Not sure I'm any use anywhere else. Not like I'm one'a you smart people, or one'a the leaders or anythin' anyway. I'm just the fist. Right?" She sounds moderately bitter about that, but thats the truth as she perceives it.

Shadowcat has posed:
There is a brief moment where Kitty's eyes widen. She'd perhaps considered how difficult it would be for Rogue to conceive, but had never considered what might happen if she were actually pregnant. Her expression softens, and Kitty has to stymie her urge to reach out and give her friend's shoulder a squeeze. Damn drawbacks to mutant powers.

Kitty looks up as the couple arrive, smiling to them though it takes more effort to get to that smile that is usually so readily there. "Nice to meet you both,' she tells them, giving a wave as they move to walk together down the beach.

Kitty looks back over to Rogue, her eye forehead furrowing just a bit as she shakes her head. "I don't see it that way at all. You're as smart as anyone else. None of us is a master at every area. For every biology or computer engineering that a Hank or Doug might excel above you, there's all sorts of situations that you make the rest of us look like slack-jawed yokels. Remember when we went to get Doug? Who'd we trust first to go get info from the bartender? We had Emma there. But we sent /you/," Kitty reminds. "Don't feel excluded on the science stuff. If you do, you're just going to exclude yourself. Jump in there feet first with the others."

This is two days in a row now that Kitty has put on her Guidance Counselor hat. She really should ask for a raise.

Rogue has posed:
Welcome to an un-named beach on the eastern seaboard of the New York area!

There's a live band playing, all parked next to Rogue's black van, they're playing some classic rock tunes and they've got a small crowd of people lounging around them and enjoying the music.

Kitty and Rogue are standing by the large grill that Kitty is mastering while Rogue is sitting down on the big cooler beside it. Rogue's wearing a sporty volleyball bikini of green and yellow shades, she's got sunglasses on over her eyes and is holding a fruity drink that there is no label on because its definitely not alcoholic.

"Ah, don't worry about it, Kitty." Rogue says to her friend. "I don't mind my place. I get a lotta satisfaction outta smashin' people and things in the fast with a balled up fist." She flashes a grin up at Kitty then.

Shadowcat has posed:
Kitty has a big pot on the grill right now, with beer in it that is heating up. There are several packs of uncooked brats waiting for it to get boiling. She puts some hotdogs and hamburgs on the grill, and also pulls out some precooked ribs which are just going to get warmed up. There are also fruit and vegetable trays with sauces for dipping, potato salaid, and jello square that are firm enough you can pick them up without them falling apart.

Kitty has on a bikini as well, not quite as slim as Rogue's. She has gotten a little sun already this year, a bit of a tan started, and her skin glistening with suntan oil.

"Too bad, everyone else from the school, I really thought some of them might show up today," she says, giving a forlorn little sigh that is just tempting the universe to prove her wrong.

Red Hood has posed:
Jason was late. He didn't mean to be. It's just what happens in his line of work. Pulling up in an early 2000s model Mustang, Jason brings the vehicle to a halt. Turning off the engine, he moves to join the two other women as he's carrying a large cooler. "Hey!" he greets, as he joins the two, placing a kiss to Kitty's cheek. Dressed in a black A-frame shirt and a pair of board shorts.

"Apparently I missed out on the whole idea of putting lotion on you." he smirks to his girlfriend as he sets down the cooler. "I brought some Hebrew National and burger patties."

Storm has posed:
Ororo makes a discreet landing fifty yards away and starts walking towards Rogue and Kitty with a cooler in her hands. "There you are!" she declares, with relief and frustration in her voice. "Apparently the maps software is having some problems, we thought you were down the road." Ororo sends a text to everyone: BWIP! <We're furthur up the road>, along with her location.

The weather-controlling mutant walks over to the girls and catches the tail of Jason's approach. His affection to Kitty isn't missed. "You must be Jason," she tells the young man, and steps towards him with an offer of a gently feminine handshake. "I am pleased to meet you. Call me Ororo," she invites. She's wearing a long blue sarong and low-heeled sandals, and what looks like a black single-piece bikini under the loose garment. Her hair's fixed in thousands of tiny plaits, creating a cascade of white hair that exposes the close-shaved temples of her exotic mohawk.

Professor X has posed:
Charles sits in his wheelchair, happily ensconced under a beach umbrella. He is wear dark blue shorts and a blue and white striped golf shirt. He is having an animated discussion with Michael, one of the school's college students.

"...No, really, we didn't even have CRISPR, so you see..." Comes a snippet of his conversation.

Nightcrawler has posed:
    Drawing up in a cab, dressed casually, come Kurt and Sibilance. Fresh from M-Town, and intent on helping the young woman get to know some of the mutants in the area, and the mansion especially. Opening the cab door for her, like a gentleman, despite the sheer amount of self-consciousness he has welling up due to having ridden thus far, in a cab, as himself and without his inducer out of respect for Sibilance and her willingness to be in the open about what she is.
    He's in Hawai'ian print floral trunks, and a button down shirt that is soon over one arm with a towel as he looks out over the beach and all of those present. "I think you'll enjoy meeting my family, Ainsley. No need for fear. You're among friends."

Emma Frost has posed:
    Not far from the shore a yacht drops anchor with a deep toot from it's horn heralding the arrival of the multi-billionaire. Emma Frost stands at the end of her aft deck and lifts her hand to waves towards the beach far enough away that she can make out a few people on it, but not much else. She smirks as she orders the helmsman to park the boat here and make she has a simple enough ferry on the dingy to the shore. The woman clad in a white swimsuit with a silver toned saree around her hips that sway expertly as she climbs onto the inflatable side craft that will take the blonde to shore.

    She steps out onto the sand and smiles to everyone present as she approaches but heads right towards the cooler, lifting a finger to silence anyone trying to speak to her on her way to booze. Alcohol first before interaction.

Shadowcat has posed:
Kitty Pryde looks up and smiles as Jason Todd arrives. She flashes a grin to Rogue then moves over to meet him partway, sliding her arms about the man's waist as she gives him a kiss hello. "I'll need some more in a bit," she says of hte lotion. Kitty smiles and takes the food. "The charcoal just hit cooking temperature," she says. "Though if one of you remembers my cooking ability, or just doesn't like a lot of char on your food, you are free to take over anything but the brats," she tells them.

Kitty begins adding brats to the big pot of beer which has finally hit the boiling point. She gets herself a beer from a cooler, a better brand than what's in the pot for cooking. Kitty's face lights up as Ororo arrives and introduces herself to Jason. Kitty moves over to slip her arm about the African woman's waist. "Ororo was practically a second mother to me when I first came to New York," she tells Jason.

Polaris has posed:
Lorna came straight from the ocean, shivering with her arms wound tightly around her. It wasn't the tropical ocean of Genosha, and the cold New England water was a shock to her systems. But she'd been stubborn, and dove in entirely and swam about before venturing out again. The young woman wore a single piece swim suit, all black and with mesh cut outs that left a slashing like patterning going over her frame.

Her long green hair tumbled down her back in soaked waves, and half hopped out of the water toward her towel. She made her way to Kitty and Rogue, shaking and shivering as she ran up. "I forgot how cold the water is up this way.." She whined, making to go for the cooler with the beer to help herself and then to mosey over toward the grill.

Rogue has posed:
Rogue lowers her sunglasses down to the tip of her nose as Storm arrives and she grins at her. "Looks like ya might get your wish after all, Kitty. Speakin' too soon'n such." She looks up and smiles at her and Jason, giving him a little wave with her right hand before she moves to stand up. She snaps one of the water bottles off of the bundle and starts to pad on bare feet toward where the professor is. She offers him the bottle of cold water and a smile. "Stay hydrated, you." She tells the older man, always fussing about his health she-is, especially after the recent attack.

Rogue then turns and puts her hand onto her hip, she watches the others arrive and waves individually to them all.

The music is still being played as well, the band happy to have more people to perform for.

Kid Omega has posed:
Quentin Quire lays on a beach in a bright canary yellow slingshot Speedo and nothing else. Strangely, enough, he has a monkey on the pouch of the thing, one certain people might recognize as the popular children's character, Curious George. His skin shines with lotion, SPF 45 thank you very much, with his pink hair shaved on the sides an swept up into a fauxhawk pompadour. Rose-colored mirrorshades cover his eyes. He has a tattoo of an Omega symbol on his left breast. His body seems hairless beyond the shock of pink on his head, dolphin smooth. A pair of earbuds snake their way from his phone up into his ears. He seems content.

Red Hood has posed:
"Jason Todd." Jason greets. He doesn't use the Wayne monicker when he's meeting those that he trusts more - it took a little time for Kitty to get him to relax his guard. As others start to show up, he looks a little more out of his element - this isn't exactly his place. But he gives the pair a smile and then looks at Kitty. Chewing on the inside of his cheek, he mentions. "Can I speak to you for a moment?" he asks her curiously.

"I mean, if you can get someone else to mind the grill?"

Sibilance has posed:
    Ainsley, or Sibilance, is not what you would call a social butterfly. She is very hesitant to climb out of the cab after it shows up, and part of the reason for that is the very pronounced physical mutations. Also part of it is the fact that she's wearing a swimsuit under that white dress with the blue floral pattern, and she really hasn't ever been to a beach before. She carries a beach bag with her towel and her cold drinks and anything else she might need.
    "Your family?" she wonders aloud. She reaches out to cling to Kurt's arm, because she's already spotting the crowd... she isn't good with crowds, not in social settings like this.

Storm has posed:
Ororo smiles and exchanges a hug with Kitty, then turns and flashes a warm smile at the passing Anna-Marie as the southern belle saunters off to tend to Charles.

Her attention refocuses on Kitty and Jason. "Kitty's been a wonderful student and and even more dear friend," she explains to Jason. At his quiet request to Kitty, she uplifts a hand and offers to take the spatula from Kitty. "I'll finish them out," she offers to the brunette girl. "You two go do... whatever it is you're going to go do." Eyes dance with a shining amusement. She looks over her shoulder and waves, spotting multiple people on approach to the little gathering. "Food will be ready in a minute!" she promises the latecomers.

Wolfsbane has posed:
The beach back home in Ullapool was nothing compared to this, and back then Rahne wouldn't have been allowed to be with a party of any kind, either. Her swimwear section is practically non-existent, but she's let the leathers that make up her 'Ren Faire' costume stay back in the vehicle she rode in, exchanging it for a modest one-piece in a forest green. Of note: the wolfen features remain, with her looking mainly human overall. Right now, she's lounging on a beach chair, reading a book.

Shadowcat has posed:
Kitty Pryde lets go of Ororo's waist after the hug to move over to Jason. She passes the spatula to Ororo and says, "When the brats turn white and plump, then finish them on the grill but to the side of the direct heat so they don't split and lose the juices."

Yes, she's from near Chicago. Brats are /serious business/.

Kitty moves over to Jason, slipping her arm about him. "Oh, here's the woman who is incredible with metal," Kitty says as Lorna comes up. "Lorna, this is my boyfriend, Jason," she introduces them, leaving out the Genoshan royalty part for now.

A wave is given towards Kurt and his date that Kitty isn't familiar with yet, though she waits to go over and meet them for now as people are greeting one another. She turns back to Jason. "Glad you were able to make it," she tells him.

Emma Frost has posed:
    It's almost instinctual. Fresh meat. Emma lifts her nose as she pulls out a wine-cooler from the cooler and extends her hand out towards Ororo, "Mind helping a friend?" Emma asks, though her attention is elsewhere. Mostly her blue icy eyes are looking towards the cab that just dropped off a couple of visible mutants. One she knows, the other she's about to.

    The white queen doesn't even wait for Ororo to hand the bottle back, Emma has work to do as she walks straight towards Kurt and Sibilance. "Kurt, it's been some time since we last talked, the beard looks great." Frost says with a coy smile before she looks to the young mutant. "What's your friend's story?"

Polaris has posed:
Lorna was shivering, even as she waved her hand and the bottle cap of the beer popped off in a glow of green. She glanced side long at Jason as Kitty introduces him and she flashed the man a grin, "Nice to meet you Jason. I was wondering where this boy was that Kitty had the hots for. I was half convinced he was going to be just another 'I'm dating a boy from Canada' story." She teased, her green eyes twinkling with amusement. Her gaze swung toward Ororo and she offered a flap of her hand and glanced around once, letting go a loose whistle at the sight of how many people truly came out to the beach BBQ.

"We got some good numbers this year."

Nightcrawler has posed:
    "Ja, Ainsley..." he motions with thick fingers at the crowd of misfits on the beach. "Admittedly... I stand out among them. But they don't judge, and they accept with open arms." he starts walking towards the lot of them, waving his tail, as he nears the grouping. "Do not worry."
Kurt Wagnerurt returns the wave aimed for him, about to speak when Emma addresses him. Taking a moment, "Emma, good to see you... and thank you." giving a chagrinned smile at the comment of his beard before he motions to the woman clinging to him. "Emma, this is Ainsley Garcia... a gardener, and it seems a talent for acrobatics." talking up the young woman with him, eyes briefly falling on Rahne and giving the wolfen a friendly flick of his tail to wave to her.

Kid Omega has posed:
Quentin Quire levers himself up telekinetically, pushing up like someone flipped a switch until he settles on his feet. His phone trails behind him, floating in the air. Not exactly inconspicuous, but Kid Omega has never had a great deal of interest in subtlety. Plus, if he senses any alarm in the air from some errant passerby, he'll just...soothe it.

He jiggles his way over casually and heads to the cooler himself, reaching in and pulling out a cherry-pomegranate cooler of his own, "Miss Frost, peasants, nerds, Professor," he says in greeting, twisting off the top and taking a long swig.

Wolfsbane has posed:
Wolfsbane's gaze shifts from her reading material toward another arrival, namely Kurt and someone with him. Her head tilts as she sets the book down and reaches for a juice drink nearby, a plate waiting to fill with food for her to snack on. To the wave of his tail, she returns a more typical one with a hand, briefly smiling in his direction before Sibilance gets a second, curious look.

Storm has posed:
Ororo eyes the bottle Emma handed her, and then just... sets it aside, shaking her head with a long-suffering tolerance that's belied by a smile. Emma can't help it, any more than Quentin can. Speaking of: "Try to be nice, Quentin. There's no reason for you to try and hurt people," she says with a tone of gentle rebuke.

She looks over at Rahne, Ainsley and Kurt, smiling approval as the more visibly metahuman of the assembly show up to swim. It clearly does her heart good to see them enjoying the public beach, no matter how isolated it is.

The first brats are done and she transfers them to a hot rack on the grill to keep them warm. "Queue up, the food is ready," Ororo calls.

Rogue has posed:
Once Rogue had delivered the water to the Professor she took a moment to go stand off by the music and listen to her friends play, her arms crossing over her stomach and her bare hands hold into her elbows. She's trying to make sure to stand away from others, not wanting to accidentally drop anyone for brushing up against her after all.

She does eventually walk back to where the grill is, and she grins to Kurt and his friend, waving at them as Emma starts her interrogation. She ends up near to where Storm and Lorna are. "Glad ya both made it." She tells them, then smirks at Quentin. "Watch who you're callin' names, Quire." She warns him before sipping from her bottle of red drink.

Red Hood has posed:
"So, trying to outfamily me?" Jason asks Kitty as he meets Lorna. "Hi." he greets the green-haired woman with a tip of his head. "I couldn't get a hold of anyone from my side. So I guess I'm the lone Wayne of the Beachpocalypse?" he asks her with a slight smirk. There's a few muttered words to Kitty, and then his attention returns to the others.

Sibilance has posed:
    Ainsley stares at Emma like a frightened deer, hiding a bit behind Kurt's arm, but he introduces her, and she coughs and makes a little throat-clearing noise. "Y-yes. Ainsley Garcia, also known as Sibilance. Or Sibil. Call me whatever you like." She straightens some and fights her socializing fears.
    She makes eye contact with Emma, staring quite warily at the much more confident woman. Sibil clings to Kurt's arm like it's a safety blanket, but that gives her the courage to smile at this frightening stranger. "Just here to sunbathe," she admits, "Could use the relaxation."

Professor X has posed:
Charles smiles up at Rogue when she brings him some water. He talks with Michael a little longer before the young man decides to go catch up with some of his friends.

When Kurt and Ainsley arrive, the Professor waves to them both.

"What are you reading, Rahne?"

Emma Frost has posed:
    Emma seems almost entirely focused on the snake-woman, with her arms at her sides, as casual as can be, seemingly unaware or just ignoring the uncomfortableness from Ainsley. "Ainsley seems as good a name as any to me. As long as you answer to it, I'll use it." Emma says with a kind nod and then a squint on her eyes towards Kurt, but no words are expressed.

    Emma turns when she hears her name from a familiar student and she looks over at the young man. "Mister Quire, I don't think I ever envisioned you as any kind of beach bum, but now that I see it, it suits you." Emma notes flatly before she starts to walk back towards Ororo to get her cold drink from the African Queen.

Polaris has posed:
Lorna grinned at Jason and inclined her head, in return. Whether he knew who she was or not, the green haired mutant didn't bat an eye at the name drop of 'Wayne'. She did arch a brow though as she glanced between Kitty and back. "The important question is, are you gonna to run screaming at just how crazy we get?" She teased lightly, and took a sip of her beer before her gaze swung to Rogue as the southern belle arrived.

"Hey hon, you missed it. Ororo, Emma, Laura and I ended up shopping the other day. Ended up in Italy." She grinned and glanced toward the grill at the mention of food.

Shadowcat has posed:
Kitty Pryde slips her arm about Jason's waist as she leans against him, head resting against the side of his shoulder. "Oh, Jason's pretty used to being around some odd people," she tells Lorna. "And not all of them are family even," she says, looking to Jason to grin to him. "A lot of good people here," she tells him softly. She motions towards Lorna. "And see, Lorna didn't even threaten you," she points out to Jason, her eyes twinkling with amusement.

Kitty glances over towards Emma, a bit of the warmth sliding from her eyes though she keeps her smile on her face. "Woman from the charity dance. No bets this time," she says, patting Jason's arm and giving him one of those looks. Yes, that one.

"Are you hungry? Sounds like the brats are ready to go," she tells Jason. "Oh, and you should meet Professor Xavier. It's his school. He's the one that came recruiting me to it," she says. She'll slip her hand into that of her boyfriend, lacing hands, and if he's willing, grab them both brats before moving over to greet Charles. "Hello Professor. This is Jason. Jason this is Charles Xavier," she offers.

Rogue has posed:
Rogue will wait for the others to get food first, not wanting to stand in line for the same reason she's avoiding being too close to people. Her sunglasses covered eyes dart to Lorna then and she grins at her. "Oh, jeezus... really?" She says at her green haired friend. "I woulda liked that, I haven't been ta Italy. I bet its unbearably gorgeous." Another sip of her drink is had then before she speaks again to Lorna. "Bumped inta your sister yesterday. Talked to her for a bit, she said she was gonna hang around the school more t'get closer t'ya. I thought that was sweet as can be."

Kid Omega has posed:
Quentin Quire pouts, "What, I need a reason now? Pffffffffft. Lame. Don't you worry, Rogue, I'm not singling anyone out, I regard virtually all living things with an equal amount of disdain and amusement. Except Emma because she's terrifying, which is why I wore a yellow swimsuit," he says.

He peers at Ainsley, "Newbie, huh? "Quentin Quire, Kid Omega, resident prodigy, enfante terrible and bete noire. And probably some other french terms that mean 'awful but magnificent'. Maybe I should invent a word for that, but it would take so much effort to get into the popular consciousness. I'd have to get some Youtube loser to start using it and I don't even want to start delving into the septic tank that is the average influencer's mindscape. Probably nothing but Fortnite and marshmallow eating and dead bodies in forests. Unpleasant."

"Anyway, cheers, welcome to the freak zone, hope you don't startle easy. Kitty, count me in on those wieners!"

Nightcrawler has posed:
    Taken aback by the squint of the eyes and the movements of Ainsley to use him as a shield. He turns a bit, returning Rahne's smile and flicks his tail again in another wave, beckoning before he looks to the woman hiding behind him.
    The phrase by Quentin 'freak zone' stops whatever it was that he was about to say and a pained expression crosses his features and he snaps back towards Kid Omega, "He's absolutely mad for wieners, ja? Can't get enough of them." using the chance to sling some sort of jibe now. Freak... Just about anyone who casually monitors empathically can tell that Kurt's mind is racing between self-consciousness, anger, and not a small amount of sadness.

Wolfsbane has posed:
"This?" The book Wolfsbane is asked about is held up briefly. "Just some fantasy short stories from back home, Professor," she answers, and with a lot going on around the gathering she finds herself trying to keep up with multiple things she's picking up on. Just have to focus a little more. It's nothing compared to what goes on in big cities.

Getting up from the beach chair, she leaves a towel behind as she eyes whatever's going on with Kurt, Emma, and Sibilance, a brow raising at the apparent invitation by tail.

Polaris has posed:
Lorna arched a brow and snickered softly at the mention of a lack of a threat, shaking her head as the sun warmed her from the chill of the North East ocean. She sipped at her beer and at Rogue's comment about wanting to got to Italy, she grinned. "We can go anytime. I can ask Blink and we can rent a villa somewhere and make a weekend of it." She offered and as Rogue continued in regards to her sister, her lips pursed together briefly.

"Yeah she's been... on that. Not entirely sure why she wants to suddenly get to know me or get involved in Mutant affairs when she's been.. you know, distant. But whatever.." Lorna sighed, shaking her head as she admitted her hesitance at her half sister's sudden want to be closer.

The mention of food once more had Lorna waving her hand, as she stole one of the metal grilling skewers and waved it toward her with her powers.

Even in public, Lorna didn't care if people saw the casual use of her powers.

Professor X has posed:
"I was always a science fiction fan," Charles confides to Rahne with a smile.

Charles looks over when Kitty and Jason come over. He holds out a hand to shake Jason's.

"Pleased to meet you, I hope you won't mind our little group," he says brightly. "Beautiful weather today, hmm?"

Sibilance has posed:
Sibilance stares at Quentin, at first genuinely smiling, and the more he talks the more her stare goes from 'Uh huh, go on' to 'I have tuned out entirely from what you're saying.' You can almost hear the faint ringing sound as her head tilts and she nods dumbly at his words.

She doesn't get it.

Kurt's comment makes her look up at him and give him a wry, mildly disapproving look. Then she pats his bicep a couple times, sensing his unease, and smiles up at him. She turns to find an appropriate place in the sand to set up her towel, and set down her drink, and-- off goes her dress, and she's just got a bikini bottom on as there's nothing up top to cover. She waves off to Charles Xavier, seeming pleasantly surprised to see him, but then she settles onto her tummy on the towel and just lets the sunlight wash over her snake-like scales.

Yeah. This is clearly her favorite part about the beach.

Emma Frost has posed:
    Emma steps away from Kurt, Ainsley and Quentin towards the grill with a reach of her bare hand around Ororo's waist. Emma snags her cooler and lifts it up to her lips to take a sip before approaching Rogue and Lorna with a nod a few times. "It was a splendid trip, and I did expect to run into you to get to invite you, but it never happned, but none the less, I have a meeting with you and Inzo's team for whenever you like. Think of it as me trying to build relations, I know I'm not everyone's favorite blonde at the school." Emma says with a near look of remorse over the top of her bottle.

Storm has posed:
Ororo hands out brats to whomever wants one, and then starts serving up the burgers as well. She hums to herself with a pleasant happiness as the van starts playing a song she knows. Ororo pushes her hair back from her face, causing the cascade of white plaits to tinkle merrily as they shift behind her shoulder.

It looks like Rogue and Kitty set out a good spread, with plenty of food for everyone-- proteins, veggies, liquor for the adults.

Speculation on how they got it, however, earns Charles a fleeting sideeye.

Shadowcat has posed:
Kitty Pryde gets a hot dog over to Quentin, unless he indiates a brat when she's making them up. "I know you're kind of taking the sting out of the words by using them. But still, a few people have had to deal with that enough they may not like hearing it much," she tells Quentin gently after the use of the freakshow term.

Kitty glances over to Kurt and says, "Even from our own kind. I was a dumb kid when I first got here and some people had to deal with things from me they should have," she says. If Kurt's looking over and hears her, he'd see that seven years later she's still apologetic for having been afraid of him as a 13-year-old. Though he won her over quickly enough.

Kitty pats Quentin's shoulder and then rejoins Jason over with Professor Xavier. "Jason was a huge help in recovering the three kidnapped students," she tells Charles, referring to the recent rescue of them from a magic-using woman after they were abducted from the woods near the school.

Kid Omega has posed:
Quentin Quire takes a long bite of bratwurst and chews for a moment before speaking, "Oh yeah, I'm not exempting myself from that descriptor. Normal is garbage, no thanks, do not want, delete. I'd say conformity is for suckers, but I have nothing against the noble profession of sucking."

"Still, I recognize that I may have inadvertently belittled the experiences of my less-passing brethren, sistren and in-between-ren and I apologize for having done so. YOu may feel free to squirt me with something at your leisure."

Professor X has posed:
"Well then, we are in your debt, Jason," Charles says seriously. "We will not forget your help!"

The Professor slaps his hands on his thighs. "But enough serious talk, I smell burgers. Kitty, would you be so kind? Ketchup and lettuce is fine."

Rogue has posed:
Rogue grins to Quentin before she looks back to Lorna and nods softly. "Give her a chance, Green Peace." She softly tells her friend. "Wanda's tryin', so thats somethin', I say." Rogue starts to peace together a plate of food for Charles then as she watches and listens to Emma upon approach.

"I'll happily go back t'Italy with both've ya, any time. Blink is the best... she took me to that weird island with those big face shaped rocks a month ago. We wandered around it like adventurers, it was a good time and I don't dislike ya, Emma. Relax, dollface." She smirks at the platinum haired woman. "Nice yacht, by the way..."

She turns then and softly pads across the sand to the Professor to hand him a plate of food and some napkins. "Stay well fed, you." She says to him, as she had with the water earlier.

Nightcrawler has posed:
    There is a long breath from Kurt and he nods, looking to Kitty and Quinten, "But I tell you, do not resist an evil person. If anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to them the other cheek also. And if anyone wants to sue you and take your shirt, hand over your coat as well." he bows his head and looks to Wolfsbane as she approaches, "Hello Rahne uh-" he blinks when Sibilance moves off and de-dresses as she does, looking surprised and then back to Wolfsbane, and then back to the grill... "Ah... zwei bratwurst, please?" holding up two fingers... as if he could do more, getting his bearings before attempting to speak again. "You look lovely today, Rahne." giving a genteel bow.

Wolfsbane has posed:
Wolfsbane smiles politely to the Professor, but it seems there's a little awkwardness to her given some of the recent goings-on, the problems they've all faced, and various attacks. "Ye can get lost in a good story," she agrees, but with others looking after his well-being, she bows out and leaves them to it.

A frown lingers at what she picks up on with the conversation Quentin is involved in, leaving her to glance Kurt's way at some of what he says. But, why? A brow rises at the state Sibilance leaves herself in, whether there's anything 'up there' to cover or not, but..scaly snake-person and sun seems like a good combination for warmth, given what she knows of reptiles.

"Ah..thank ye, Kurt. I'm no' sure if I'm going tae have a swim, but I figured just in case.." she says of his compliment, giving him a look that's coy without intending to be. In a lower voice, she asks, "Whit's th' story wi'..her?" Eyes flick toward Sibilance.

Polaris has posed:
Uncivilized? Perhaps, but there was food and she was able to cut the line. The green haired woman nibbled on a piece of grilled meat as she shifted her grip on the beer in her other grip. "I know, I am giving her a chance. It's just strange.." She muttered and shrugged as Rogue mentioned the trip to Easter island. "Blink is great, though Emma's private jet is rather nice too." She murmured lightly, and watched as Rogue went off to get the Professor his food.

Lorna's gaze swung back to Emma then, "Well, I enjoyed the trip anyways, thank you again."

Storm has posed:
Just as Quentin says 'leisure', Ororo picks up one of the little plastic squirt guns from the table, aims back at him under her arm, and depresses the trigger a few times.

"You did say 'at my leisure'," Ororo reminds Quire, with an utterly unrepentant expression. Brats are then served up to anyone who asks, and she reaches into the cooler she brought with her to lay some kabobs out on the grill. They sizzle with the scent of unfamiliar spices-- looks like Ororo made these herself, because they smell authentic as hell.

She undoes her sarong and hangs it over the back of a chair. Ororo's wearing a one-piece black swimsuit, a golden ring over her belly holding the briefs and top together. It loops around her neck in a halter top design and she turns her face up to the sun as it brings out the deeper bronze undertones in her mocha skin. "It was a fun trip, Emma," Ororo agrees with Lorna. "I'd feel guilty doing it again in the near future, but... well, hopefully no one begrudes me a new outfit now and then."

Emma Frost has posed:
    Emma lowers the bottle with a nod to the royalty and then she looks back over to her yacht. "Ugh, business again." She says, with a shake of her head before extending her bottle to Rogue, "Here, you'll finish this." The white queen says before storming off towards her dingy and climbing back on board before going back out to the water and traversing the waves back to her large boat. Seems the life of a CEO is not all fun and games.

Sibilance has posed:
Sibilance has fallen asleep. Her head is resting on one cheek, her tonguetip is sticking out a little with each breath like a snake sleepily tasting the air, and her long tail is draped out lazily over the sand. She never gets to do this, and it's only in the company of other mutants that it's safe to do so.

Pure heaven, for her, all this sunlight to bask in.

Kid Omega has posed:
Quentin Quire staggers back at the shots from Storm, clutching at his barenaked frame as the squirt slides off of him. He's heavily greased with waterproof sunscreen, after all, so the impact is lessened to some degree. But he nonetheless sells it, a hand going to his forehead, "I hath been slain in the indignity of mine own foulness and cut by mine own tongue. I take your punishment as justice, sweet Storm!" he says, throwing his arms out a bit and basking in the spray before telekinetically lowering another brat to his mouth.

"Oh, damn, that spicy mustard's no joke."

Shadowcat has posed:
Kitty Pryde recovers her beer as food is passed out to people. She gets another baby carrot, and dips it in some ranch dressing before crunching on it hungrily. Kitty moves beside Rogue, pausing a moment to listen to the band. "They are pretty good. Local group then?" she asks the Southern belle who is hooked into the local Salem crowd like few others from the school.

Kitty glances back over towards Kurt and Sibilance. If Jason isn't talking to someone she'll encourage him to join her. "Hey Kurt. This is my boyfriend, Jason," she says, flashing Jason a smile. "Who've you got with you?" she asks, giving Sibilance a welcome smile. Kitty spots the squirting going on, laughing softly and moving aside to be out of the line of fire.

Rogue has posed:
Once she'd given the food to the Professor, Rogue had backed up again to avoid the crowd, her hands go then to the back of her hips as she scans everyone's faces, smiling lightly. When Emma makes her departure, Rogue accepts the drink from her and then glances down at it. "Thanks?" She asks, then sniffs at the bottle. Upon Kitty's approach, Rogue lets her gaze go back to the band. "Yeah, they own the shop in Salem Center. Mike on the drums. The others are his brothers and one'a their friends." She grins back at her, takes a sip of whatever it is Emma was drinking. "I'll introduce ya before the night is out."

Nightcrawler has posed:
    "She's like us, gifted." Kurt answers Wolfsbane before his tail loops around her shoulders go give a hug while tries to observe the area, so much going on, and he's doing his best to manage - like being back in the circus.
    When Kitty calls to him he looks to Jason as introduced, bowing at the waist. "Guten tag, Mein Herr. My name is Kurt, a pleasure I assure you." looking back again to Sibilance where she snoozes and then to Kitty once more. "Her name is Ainsley. She has been helping people, had involved in stopping some criminals while I was tracing through social media captures." Kurt looks to the sleeping snake-girl, "I thought she could use our family, as he seemed all alone."

Wolfsbane has posed:
Drawn a bit closer by the elf's tail, Wolfsbane lingers next to him, shoulders brushing. Now she's there for Kitty to make her own introductions, though Sibilance is the one they were speaking of. "An' I'm Rahne," she adds, hands meeting in front of her as she listens to Kurt's explanation of the snakey one. "Ahh. Well, tha' sounds like a good thing, in tha' case." She hasn't yet gone for that food, but will in due time. She's merely watching the group, staying aware, alert.

Polaris has posed:
Lorna waved as Emma departed and she finished off her skewer of grilled veggies and meat. She sighed softly, making to put the metal skewer back in the pile of grilling tools. "Well I gotta run to the powder room. I'll be back." Lorna offered to Ororo as the greenette made to step away from the gaggle for a time.

Shadowcat has posed:
Kitty Pryde grins to Rogue and says, "Excellent. Maybe we can have them come play a dance at the school sometime." Of course there are telepaths for making sure they don't remember the uniqueness of the student body. Kitty takes a sip of her beer and then she's gotten the introduction to Ainsley. "Anyone you think highly of, Kurt, that says a lot to me," Kitty says as if putting a lot of stock in the German mutant's judgments of characters.

Rahne is given a warm greeting by Kitty. An arm going about her waist and a side-hug offered, if Rahne is willing. "Hey, haven't talked to you in forever it feels like," Kitty tells her.

Kitty chuckles at Quentin and says, "I know, right? I got it at Katz's deli in the city. If you haven't been, just about the best Jewish deli in the city. I highly recommend it. Can bring you a bottle back if you want," says the girl who works in the city by day.

Kid Omega has posed:
Quentin Quire fingerguns at Kitty, "I'll take you up on that," he says. He gobbles down more than his share of sausage, then draws his legs up beneath him, floating a bit lotus-style across to plop at last back on his towel.

Storm has posed:
The last of the food's served up and Ororo hands off the spatula to whomever's nearby. "Do not eat too much before swimming!" she calls after a few mutants running for the water. "You'll get cramps!"

She shakes out her hair and sets aside her sunglasses. "I'm going to take a dip in the water," she announces to excuse herself, and starts down the path in the sand towards the ocean's edge so she can splash in the shallows. It's definitely a cold New England coastline-- thank goodness for the heat out!

Rogue has posed:
Rogue sets aside Emma's drink after a sip and then ties her hair back behind her head into a nice ponytail, leaving the whites of her bangs loose and free against either sides of her face. "Yep." She says with a soft grin then, but a second later and she's shot off into the sky!

With a long arching motion toward the ocean, she suddenly stops flying and starts on a downward spiking dive toward the darker waters further out... and then splash, and the southern belle in the green and gold volleykini is gone amongst the waters!

Nightcrawler has posed:
Kurt Wagner nods and finds himself standing with Rahne, near where Sibilance is sleeping while the others go about his business - he does take the brats he requesting, holding the plate for Wolfsbane to take one, motioning that he has no idea what to do now, and is happy to get direction.

Sibilance has posed:
After a brief nap, Sibil strrreeetches out, and then gets up to dig a bottle of water out of her bag and stand up to walk over to where everyone else is. She seems pretty comfortable in her beachwear now that she's had a moment to relax, and cracks open the bottle to look between Rahne, Kitty and Kurt, mostly up to Kurt.

"Hi," she says to the two other gals, doing a little fingerwave. "I'm Ainsley." She smiles shyly after that, but seems a little less terrified of the social gathering.

Shadowcat has posed:
Kitty Pryde smiles over to Sibilance and offers her a little wave. "Hi Ainsley. Nice to meet you. I'm Kitty," she offers. "Glad that you were able to make it out here today. "Really good crowd here," she says warmly.

Kitty glances over as Ororo and Rogue take off into the air and head over to the water. "Show offs!" she calls softly, though grinning as she does. She takes another sip of her beer and then looks back to those still on the beach. "So Ainsley, how did you and Kurt meet?" she asks the other young woman.

Wolfsbane has posed:
Wolfsbane ends up between Kurt and Kitty, getting a bit of attention from both of them. "Ahh, I guess we've just been in different places. I dinna get away from th' mansion as much as ye do," she answers, and she sort of half-leans against both of them with the close proximity there.

Once Sibilance has begun to come back around from her brief nap, a claw-tipped hand rises in a muted wave. "Hullo." She remains more or less quiet while other questions are asked. More time for her to sample some of the food.

Nightcrawler has posed:
Kurt Wagner looks to Wolfsbane, Kitty, and then back to Sibilance when she awakens. He doesn't answer the question that Miss Pryde forwarded, it's not his place to do so, but he does set to munching one of the brats he requested, still holding the plate for Rahne to be able to use if she sets hers down at any point. He's relaxing again and quiet as he watches his family at play, wiggling giant toes in the sand.

Sibilance has posed:
"How did we meet..." Sibil repeats aloud, putting one hand on her hip. "Well, he sought me out to talk to me, since I've not been, uh... secretive lately. After a dear friend convinced me to be more open about who and what I am, I moved somewhere nicer, and..." She shrugs. "I guess I'm cursed to run into situations where giants are throwing cars when I just want to get a cup of coffee." She smiles anxiously at the idea. She's not really a proactive superhero type, but clearly the kind that can't overlook an emergency.
"He offered to help me, and told me to check out Mutant Town... Then he met me there, we talked and, well, we're gonna go on a date. Does this count as a date, too?" she wonders, looking at Kurt quizzically. "I've never been on a date before..."

She rubs at her face, looking down at the sand thoughtfully. "... hmm."

Wolfsbane has posed:
A brow raises as Wolfsbane listens to Sibilance's story, leading to her peering toward Kurt by the end of it. "A date?" she asks him, voice on the quiet side, not exactly teasing, not exactly innocent, but rather..curious. This is in between bites of food, but no alcohol for her. She leaves any questioning that may come between Kitty and Sibilance.

Nightcrawler has posed:
    The fuzzy blue elf would likely blush a little if he could, looking to Rahne and giving her a grin and lightly bumping his hip against her. "Ja, the lovely lady asked a poor blue rogue to enjoy coffee for her. I would surely make the transition from rogue to cad were I to deny the request of a lady, would I not?" gesturing now to Sibilance, "Especially one who has been so polite and open to another who was far more shy about his appearance than she."

Wolfsbane has posed:
Wolfsbane steadies herself at the playful bump, then sniffs once at the elf. "Oh, tha's different then." Seemingly satisfied, she finishes her food then indicates she's going to break away for some soaking time in the shallow waters for a little while.