7766/Tan Lines or No

Tan Lines or No
Date of Scene:	06 June 2019
Location:	Swimming Pool - Xavier's School
Synopsis:	Summary needed
Cast of Characters:	Rogue, Nightcrawler, Emma Frost, Colt Cassidy, Storm, Cypher, Cyclops

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Rogue has posed:
Rogue is out by the pool. She'd come out here when she'd seen nobody was down here, hoping to get a bit of time by the pool without making people run away because she's showing skin and floating around in the pool like a killer Goomba in a Mario Bros. game.

So she'd put on her swimsuit and threw a beach top on over it, then hopped out her bedroom window and used her ability to defy gravity to silently glide through the air down to the swimming pool area where she touched down upon stone floor and then removed her top to drape it over a chair.

Within moments the 20 year old was then up off the ground again and sinking into the water, not jumping or using a ladder or the steps in the shallow end, no, she was just gently gliding down and into the water until her shoulders are submerged beneath the dark blue water in the pool. She goes further, disappearing beneath the water, and then coming up again, her hands up to stroke her wet white and brown hair back behind her head

Nightcrawler has posed:
    Roused by sounds of movement and water, Kurt was asleep, facedown on one of the beach chairs making a murrring sound as he lifts his head, blinking owlishly and turning to spot Anna in the pool.
    Tail liting to flick in a wave, he gives a bit of a grin, "Allo, Anna... didn't expect you to be out here..." lips smacking as he blinks the sleep away and rolls over onto his back

Emma Frost has posed:
    A blonde woman wearing, of course, white bikini with tied strings to hold the pieces together, steps out of the mansion towards the pool and has a towel draped over one shoulder. She steps towards the two adult mutants already at the pool and lifts her hands to her hair, speaking bluntly as she does so. "She's your sister Kurt. Gross." Though the woman moves onto a new subject quickly and asks. "I'm thinking of getting my hair cut like Carol's thoughts?" She asks as she lifts her long blonde locks up between her fingers and as she does so, her hair changes from the luxurious cut she's worn for a while to the wide mohawk style that Carol has used from time to time. "I'm not sure I could pull it off while still being pure business."

    Emma says this as she drops off her towel onto the chair beside Kurt and then unlike Rogue, she actually steps into the pool savoring the cool water by taking in a quick sharp breath as it nears her calves and swallows her legs whole eventually.

Colt Cassidy has posed:
Despite being a new arrival and also having found out the hard way that he quite literally sinks like a stone, Colt has been fascinated by the pool. Mostly because they never had anything like it where he grew up. Sure he'd seen pools in movies and TV and such but it's not like his family could afford one and nobody wants to build a public pool in some Podunk nowhere town in Texas.

He didn't realize the pool would be in use, though really he should have, considering it's the early part of summer, everybody should be wanting to hit the water. Having finally acquired some new clothes he's actually not wearing the ill-fitting hoodie and shredded pants he had on when they first brought him in, looking halfway decent, even if un-used to his own changed body and trying to not be awkward as he moves around. He pauses once he spots several faculty members using the pool. Must be adult swim time.

Rogue has posed:
Once Rogue is back up, head above the water, she is just bobbing there in the pool and no longer flying inside it, she's actually swimming like a normal person and as she hears Kurt's voice she turns around to face him, her hair is slicked back behind her head and her cheeks move up into a smile toward him. "i didn't see ya there, ya blended in with the chair." She comments. "I--"

But Emma's arrival cuts her off and Rogue starts swimming to the edge of the pool, her green eyed gaze looks at Emma. "Not biological." She corrects the woman when she claims that they're siblings.

"And don't, Carol's hairstyle is one step away from just given up and havin' an old lady doo. Its like tellin' the world ya've given up."

When Colt arrives, Rogue catches sight of him out of the corner of her eyes and she averts her gaze to him, her head and bare shoulders out of the water, she raises a hand up to wave her fingers at him, she doesn't know him. Must be a new kid.

Nightcrawler has posed:
Blinking at Emma's comment and then the towel dropped next to him... and then her walking away, Kurt sits up and tilts his head to the side. "Ja, Emma. Not biological." looking next to Colt upon his arrival, waving with his tail before he looks back to Emma,
    "If you're not wearing it long, either a bob or a reverse bob Emma..." he rolls over onto his back and lays his head over the edge of the seat, looking at her, "You have the cheekbones and jaw for it, frankly..." he grins, "Not that I've spent the time examining your features in the past." he winks
    "You could try a single long braid, keep everything visible, less of a shock when you flip it out of the way and cause heart attacks."

Emma Frost has posed:
    "Sounds like one of Scott's anime then." Emma says with a shrug of her shoulders and winks towards the two before she stops and lowers her hands to let her hair fall from the mohawk everyone sees into a swaying bob and she turns her head from side to side to show it off. "Maybe, but I'll never do the reverse bob... I'm not going to be asking for anyone's manager. I'm not a Karen." Emma states as she walks deeper into the pool, covering her bottom and working her way deeper and deeper, but keeping her arms above the water, for now.

    She looks over when the others do as well and smiles towards Colt. "He is new. Come closer new blood. Let us get to know you, tell us about yourself." Emma demands in that tone of voice that says she owns everything because no one wants to really argue with her.

Colt Cassidy has posed:
Well he's not gonna say no after being told to come over by Emma, so Colt moves closer, "Ah, hello." He responds to the waves from both Rogue and Kurt when they come, "Well, my name's Colt. I got brought in?A few days ago. Given the grand tour, set up with a room. Haven't really left the campus since I got here, though I think that's mostly 'cause I'm worried about folks seeing me like this is all."

Despite his size and appearance he's actually a bit on the shy side. Even before he changed he wasn't exactly an outgoing social butterfly, "Surprised there ain't more folks out at the pool, it's a nice day out after all." Meanwhile mentally he's trying to come up with small talk. He's never been good at talking to teachers and now there's three of them who want to get to know him.

Rogue has posed:
Rogue leans against the side of the pool and brings her bare arms up out of the water to lay them atop one another on the edge of it. She's facing where Kurt is and she's looking over to where Emma is with a smile on her face as she lays her head forward against her forearms, her feet just kicking idly in the water forward and back.

"Once the weather's nice, mosta the kids go down t'the lake to swim or horse around. They got a tire swing down there'n such." Rogue explains to Colt why there likely isn't as many of the kids who stay here over the summer are up here at the pool.

She looks to Emma then and just shakes her head. "You'd do nice with one'a them styles that is short in the back, but fades longer inta points on either sides of your face? I don't know what its called. But ya got that sharp stare Emma, a sharp hairstyle would accentuate it even more. Least in maaaaah opinion." The southern drawl on Rogue's husky voice is drawn out a bit more than usual there at the end of her response.

Nightcrawler has posed:
Kurt Wagner bobs his head, "Agreed." curling into a ball and rolling off the chair, walking on his hands and flicking his tail to wave to Colt. "Guten tag. Pleasure to meet you sir, my name is Kurt Wagner." continuing to toddle forward on his hands, spine bending almost in half as he lowers his rump to the stone and then dips his legs in, wriggling his toes.

Emma Frost has posed:
    "This isn't small talk, this is us having a simple conversation. Stop doubting yourself so much." Emma says turning away from Colt before she continues, "This is Kurt, like he said, he's a teleporter and can walk on walls. Plus he looks like the velvetine demon. But he owns it, so, sexy points to Kurt." Emma says, standing on the bottom of the shallow end and aiming both her hands towards Rogue.

    "This is Anna Marie technically, but everyone calls her Rogue. The Avenger even. She's not a teacher though, so don't worry about that, but do worry about touching her. She bites." Emma then motions to her blonde self before glancing something nasty back at Rogue. "I JUST said I don't want the Karen look. That's filthy and tacky and I have self respect and am not some trophy wife to sit at home getting sloshed on wine bought with my husbands money. Hell No."

Storm has posed:
"Or, they call her Anna-Marie," comes a cultured and exotically-accented voice. Ororo joins the Party! She's in a swimsuit as well, a halter top in black connected to relatively modest black briefs by a golden ring over her navel. She sets a towel across a beach chair and setttles comfortably onto it, stretching her legs out in front of her so she can kick off low-heeled poolside sandals. Dark sunglasses cover most of her face, and the tall weather-bending mutant settles onto a lounge chair with an appreciative sigh for the sun overhead.

Cypher has posed:
Doug has been busy. Sometimes, the rapture of discovering a pattern and following it is so spectacular that you just have to give in.

Today Doug has been practicing his bird-calls, seeing if he can mimic the 'language' of the birds and speak to them.

As a result, he's being followed by a posse of crows as he exits an opening in the rue hedge. "Beat it, guys," He says to the birds, "We'll talk more tomorrow."

He scribbles in a notebook, and underlines the phrase 'Crows have a Brooklyn mentality' before he looks up. "Oh, hm. Nobody was out here before..."

Nightcrawler has posed:
Kurt Wagner finishes the roll and plunks into the water, legs and tail directing him through the water, brushing past Emma's legs before surfacing and flicking his hair from his face, careful to try and not flip water at others.
    "Velvetine... really, I'm obviously satiny, silky even... Once I'm dry you can touch my arm... or my chest" waggling his brows, going into full Kurt Mack bravado, "and then feel some of those silky sheets I know you have." sticking his tongue out before floating on his back, drifting where the pool takes him.

Rogue has posed:
Rogue just shakes her head--as she lays it there on her arms--back and forth at Emma. "I don't have any idea who Karen is." She replies before she brings her bare legs up under the water to press her feet back against the side of the pool. "Thats right." She says. "I do bite." And she chomps her pearly white and perfect teeth together behind pink hued lips... Then the southern belle is pushing herself back off of the wall and swimming backward in the pool without using any hand or foot motions.

As Storm arrives, Rogue is moving backward like that in the water toward the deep end. "Heya, Stormah." She says to her friend with a little grin.

Once Rogue is beneath the diving board she raises up out of the water, grasps it with both of her hands and just hangs there, half-in-half-out of the water, dangling from the underside of the diving apparatus.

Emma Frost has posed:
    "Ororo, nice to have you join us." Emma says before her blue eyes turn towards Kurt and linger on his face half lidded, seemingly enjoying his words with a single eyebrow lifting up before he swims away. "Don't float away from me after you make such promises, Kurt." Emma says with a beyond coy wink before looking back at Ororo, "The Mystique Siblings are trying to get me in trouble." She says, showing off her bob cut hair style before she shakes her head a few times and suddenly has the long strands framing her face and the almost short hair against the back of her head. Or what she's called the 'Karen' or what some people call the "I need to speak to your manager." Emma says. "I hate it." Emma reports before looking to Colt. "She's Ororo, don't stare at her hips too long, we all know they go all the way up to heaven, but that's where her lightning comes from." Emma says with a cant of her head towards the new boy.

    Then there's Doug with birds following him. "Can you at least tell them to stop shitting on my home?" Emma asks of Doug.

Colt Cassidy has posed:
"Right, sorry." Colt says to Emma, straightening up a little bit. The introductions of Kurt and Rogue are taken in, though at the mention of Rogue being an Avenger his eyes widen a bit, "You're an Avenger? Is that how we're getting Captain America and Wasp to come visit the school? I've always wanted to meet Captain America. I saw one of the bikes being worked on in the garage that looks almost exactly like his, it's really cool."

More new arrivals. Storm he hasn't met but he recognizes her as a teacher. As for Doug, he actually gets a bit of an enthusiastic wave from Colt. Hey he always tends to respond enthusiastically to the folks who rescued him. But then back to the topic of the bikes in the garage, "Sam showed me all the bikes, told me to pick one out. There wasn't a lot left to pick from but uh, I kinda needed to Frankenstein a bunch of them together to make one that'll support me without breaking anyway."

Cyclops has posed:
Only a short bit behind Ororo, Scott Summers comes wandering out of the mansion, clad in a pair of teal-trimmed black swim trunks, a simple pair of black flip-flops, and a plain gray T-shirt with "Xavier's" written across the chest, though a lot of the lettering has faded due to age and wear. He's got a beach towel over his shoulder and is carrying a small glasses case in one hand. He casts a bit of a rueful half-smile at the group, and speaks, "Guess the pool does always get crowded once Summer Vacation is in full swing." He moves over to one of the unoccupied lounge chairs and drops his towel, glancing around and asking, "Anyone mind if I set up a lane line to swim a few laps?"

Cypher has posed:
Doug looks up, and says, "I'll see what I can do, but this raven in Boston put a hit out on your Bentley." He sets his notebook on a stone bench, and unlaces his sneakers, before he rolls his pantlegs up and moves to sit, dangling his feet into the pool.

"You wanted to speak to me, Ms. Frost?" Whether or not that official request was made, he asks anyway. He leans back on one hand, in a particularly dreamlike state today, it would seem. "Scott."

Nightcrawler has posed:
"Oh, I'm no cross-roads devil what comes when called, Emma. I thought you enjoyed the chase" Kurt corkscrews his tail, driving himself along "Ororo, Scott, Doug... good to see you all." eyes closed, hands folding behind his head and letting his eyes closed.

Emma Frost has posed:
    Emma considers waving to Scott but it's not the time or place. Plus he's ... God such a dork. "Yeah Scott, we'll clear you a lane." Emma lies, she knows Kurt will at least mess with him. She will have to some how herself. "Scott, this is Colt, our newest victim. Colt, this is Scott, the resident stick in the mud. But he means well. Mostly. Sometimes the stick is doing a great job that day and we all suffer." Emma smirks before she turns her gaze to Rogue and snaps a bit of pool water in the girl's direction. "See, this hair looks tacky." Before her hair changes once again back to it's normal shape that she's worn for the past few months.

    Emma's attention turns back towards Doug and she frowns. "Yeah. I don't have a Bently any more..." She says, realizing Rogue's Car is now the target, but eh, she shouldn't be in Boston anyways. Then she opens her eyes fully to Doug. "I do, but ... do you think this is what I had in mind? I don't even have pants on Doug." She says with a motion to the pool and the crystal clear water. "No one does but you."

Storm has posed:
"Emma, quit trying to flatter me. It won't work." Ororo settles back in her seat, though her lips curl up in a smile despite her admonishment at the blonde aristocrat. Goddess of the storm or not, she's as amenable to flattery as anyone.

She sits up a little at the sound of Scott's voice, lifting her glasses, and then exhales wearily and settles back into her seat. "Scott, just *try* swimming for fun," she prompts him, plaintively. "The point is to enjoy the weather and the lack of students hogging the area. Float, if you can," she suggests to him.

Rogue has posed:
Rogue continues to just hang from the end of the diving board, her body sheeting water back down into the rest of the pool around her hips. She starts to slowly lower... which makes the board bend down, then slooowly... raise back up again without any visible movement from her form at all, and she repeats this, seemingly testing the diving board's flexibility.

At Colt, Rogue looks across to where the young man is. She flashes him a soft grin. "Used t'be." She says in response to being an Avenger. "I quit back around the turn'a the New Year. Though... I still help'em now'n then if they ask me nicely." She grins a bit more broadly then, showing off that playful ego of hers. "I'll try'n make sure ya get t'meet Cap when he's here. Wasp is more fun though, if I were t'measure'em out." Her smiling stare sweeps over to Scott then.

"Have at it, Speedo. Just steer clear'a whatever lane I'm in. Less ya wanna get bit..." And she says that in as flirty a way a person possibly can. When the water splashes her, Rogue regards Emma, and sticks her tongue out at her. "I park it in the garage."

Cypher has posed:
"Life so seldom goes according to plan." Doug says, lightly kicking his feet in the water. "What matters is how we adapt to it. I'm still working on the adaptation part. Kurt. You're looking well" He says. Then he looks up to Scott, and he says, "...Scott likes swimming laps." Then he looks over to Rogue. "Do you know a car guy? The AC Cobra that's seen better days in there's mine, and I've almost got all the rotten old parts out of it so I can start fixing it up. I bought it using the money Kurt gave me for my cabin. So in a sense, Kurt bought me a car."

Nightcrawler has posed:
Kurt Wagner smiles, opening one eye to look at Doug, "Glad I was able to help... I'm going to be going to that cabin soon, for a little R&R too." hands folding on his stomach as he continues to float about. "How about the librarian bun, Emma? If you're going to alluring, I'm sure you could pull off the untouchable, hot, librarian, ja?" laughing to himself and letting the others chit-chat for now while he enjoys himself.

Rogue has posed:
Whilst hanging from the diving board, Rogue looks down at herself, but raises her eyes again when Doug speaks up to her. She stares right upon Doug and her head just slowly shakes back and forth. "I got no car person, no." She says in a slow voice and a slow shake of her head. Her left bare leg raises up then out of the water and she keeps it perfectly straight, whilst her bare toes point toward Emma, getting dangerously close. "She gave it t'me. Cause she made me mad and felt bad. She... -does- have feelings!"

Rogue then lowers her leg back into the water and releases from the diving board, she slips back under the water then with barely any motion from it outside of its already gently waving surface!

Cyclops has posed:
"Evening, Doug." Scott returns Doug's greeting, then nods to his assessment of lap-swimming, looking genuinely puzzled at Ororo's admonition, "Right. Swimming laps -is- fun. Especially if I beat my time hacks. Floating is for cool-down. Besides, I haven't gotten in any other evening workout today." Because of -course- he's always trying to get faster, and barring emergency or any other myriad of exceptional circumstances, one might find Scott engaged in some manner of exercise or another from precisely 6:00 AM to 7:30AM, and 5:30PM to 7:00PM Monday-through-Saturday. Pretty much like clockwork. But just in case anyone thinks he has NO sense of humor, he does reply to Rogue, "Duly noted. Wouldn't want to lose any limbs." He offers a touch of a wry smile Rogue's way at that, before moving towards the pool house to drag out said lane line. hooking the carabiner at one end to a small metal loop at one end of the pool, and walking along the side to extend the floating divider to the other side of the pool, making for a clearly-divided avenue for the great fun of swimming laps. Because swimming laps is fun. Totally.

Emma Frost has posed:
    "I'm a CEO Kurt. That's far and away sexier than ANY librarian." Emma says before she stops and watches Scott actively set up a true lane for him and only him to swim in. "Did he just requisition a fifth of the public pool?" Emma asks flabbergasted.

    She looks around and eyes Rogue, eyes Ororo and then eyes Kurt. Then with a look to Doug and Colt. "Don't mind these nay sayers and jealous types. I'm going to simply stay here in the pool Doug and talk if you wish, but I may-" She falls silent as she ends up under water and gets her hair fully submerged and wet with a look to Doug while still under and then she shrugs before making her way into Scott's lane on purpose.

Colt Cassidy has posed:
Looks like everybody is having fun in the water. Colt considers..If he gets in the very shallowest part of the pool, he could keep his head above water aand probably be okay. He maneuvers his way towards the shallow side of the pool and sits on the edge for a moment, contemplating it before he pushes forward into the water. He instantly sinks to the bottom but thankfully is tall enough to keep his head above water. It does feel nice, he just needs to not go any deeper.

Nightcrawler has posed:
    Tucking and bobbing under the water, disappearing in a swirl of brimstone, only to reappear in front of Emma, rising up out of the waters, grin alll pointed fangs. "The CEO look is only sexy if..." trailing off to see if she scans surface thoughts of her in suit jacket and vest but no dress shirt, pencil skirt and wedge heels, "There that's much easier to think than to describe, ja?" moving to fall backwards to float in the waters again.

Cypher has posed:
Doug remains quiet, seemingly lost in his own mental state. But to Emma, he thinks, simply, <<Would it be easier to have this conversation inside of my head, Ms. Frost?>> He drums his fingers against the side of the pool. "A dip sounds nice, but I don't have a bathing suit on."

Cyclops has posed:
Scott looks up at Emma's protest, blinking behind ruby-quartz lenses, "Oh...sorry, I thought..." A bit of a frown crosses his face, "Well, I guess I don't need the line to swim straight." But the line is comforting. A point of stability in an otherwise chaotic pool. A border between regular recreation and CONSTRUCTIVE recreation. A proper way of doing things. And without rules, and boundaries and guidelines what do we get? Chaos. Anarchy. Cats and Dogs living together. Warren baking things in the Kitchen. MADNESS.

In any case, before he hooks the other end into place he's winding the line back over his shoulder to remove it. "Fair's fair. You all were here first."

Storm has posed:
"Scott," Ororo voices, plaintively. She rolls onto her belly and shifts so she's facing the pool, resting her weight on her hips. "You need to live a little. It's not all about exercise. What sort of example are you setting the students?" she inquires, rhetorically. "Do you really want them to think that 'fun' is a factor solely of metrics and efficiency? When was the last time you just... floated?" she inquires, spreading her fingers, and settles her cheekbone onto her folded forearms.

"Rogue, when you've a moment, would you help me?" she inquires of the brunette southern Belle, and wiggles a bottle of sun lotion in Rogue's general direction.

Emma Frost has posed:
    "Kurt." Emma says loudly but then thinks to the mutant a thought for only him to know. Then she turns her head back to Scott. "Yes, anarchy in the pool. Think of it as an impromptu lesson, we all want the best for each other Summers. More than you realize." Emma smiles coyly towards the sunglasses and she lifts her chin to look at her reflection in them and smiles happily at herself in red.

    Emma swims towards the ladder and climbs herself out before she moves over towards the African Queen and she thinks about it, but decides this is not the time, so instead Emma takes a seat next to the ebony woman and smirks. "Have you had a chance to try your additions to your wardrobe Ororo?" Emma takes the bottle offered to Rogue and looks at it before squeezing a dollop onto Ororo's back. "You want Anna to knock you out or something? I didn't know you were a masochist. Interesting." while she responds mentally to Doug. <<Not today. No, we're not going to discuss while we're at the pool. Just jump in. No one cares Doug.>>

Rogue has posed:
On the other side of the pool, the shallow end, Rogue springs up out of the water like a dolphin. She brings with her a torrent of pool water that rises up.... then splashes down onto the pool's edge where her naked feet land to support her.

Anna-Marie then simply starts to walk toward where Ororo is, and she turns to seat herself down upon the lounge chair beside the teacher that she is the assistant-of. She hears the question and she smirks at her. "I'm prolly the last person you want helpin' ya with that, don't ya know?" She says back to her friend as she reaches for a towel to dab at her face to take the running water off of her there while the rest of her continues to glisten from the wetness.

Cyclops has posed:
Scott cants his head curiously at Emma's words, but doesn't articulate any particular question in thought or word before continuing to take up the line. He does hear Ororo speaking as he opens the pool house door and properly stows the line away.

In Scott's defense, there's -actually- a tiny bit of self-aware humor in his expression and tone when he responds to her, which is just after he closes pool house door behind him, "That physical fitness is important? Setting standards for yourself and self-discipline can provide valuable structure in your life? That not everyone has to be free-wheeling and spontaneous? Not that there's anything wrong with that, of course." It's just so...SO not his thing. Except, oddly enough, when it comes to planning on the fly in a crisis.

"I appreciate your advice Ororo, I really do. But..." He shrugs, looking a bit sheepish, "I guess I've never really found complete relaxation...relaxing."

Cypher has posed:
Doug considers that. He thinks, in contemplative silence, for a time. Then he gets up, and reaches down to take off his Shirt, which he tosses over the back of the stone bench next to his notebook. After a moment's hesitation, he loses his jeans, revealing to all present that Doug... wears Calvins. Well, he always was a *little* saucy. Then he turns on his heel, holds his arms out to his sides, and once he's not going to land on anybody, he falls backward into the deep end of the pool. "Actually, Scott, I was going to ask if you wanted to join D&D night. I mean, I suppose, given the lives we lead, D&D loses some of its mystique, but, you know. I'm not actually a sorcerer, I only KNOW a couple." *SPLASH*

Storm has posed:
"Yes dear," Ororo tells Rogue, with endless patience. "But it's the thought that counts. I don't want you to feel--" she 'mmmms' as Emma starts distributing the lotion to her shoulders. "Feel excluded."

She rolls her head to eye Emma, expression concealed by her glasses. "I've not had anywhere to wear the new outfits," Ororo admits to Emma. "We don't exactly get out much here."

She shifts her head back so he head's resting on her forearms, and she smirks at Scott's self-effacement. A gesture's given to him-- apologetic and agreeable, all at once. Scott's point is well-taken.

Colt Cassidy has posed:
Colt jumps out of the way when Rogue moves through the shallow end, because it's rude to stand in someone's way. He sticks to the edge of the pool for now, staying in the shallow end where his head is above water. He applauds Doug's..Well dive is probably the wrong word, but it still gets the point across.

Nightcrawler has posed:
    Giving a little gasp at the thought sent his way, hands folding over his heart and taking a deep intake of breath, Kurt lets himself fall backward in the water, pointing his toes up to the sky, tail keeping him balanced.
    "Emma! You wound me!" tsking few times but he still has the grin on his face, "Scott, Mein Friend... just take a breath, ja?" when Colt scrabbles out of Rogue's way, his brow furrows and he looks to Rogue immediately to see how she responds.

Rogue has posed:
Rogue kicks her feet up onto her lounge chair and leans back on it then. She glances over to Ororo and just softly grins at her. "Thanks." She says. "But feelin' excluded is pretty much my default feelin'." A slight smirk is shown for a moment or so before Rogue looks over to Colt.

"Almost bit ya down there." She warns the teenager. "Sorry about that, Mistah. I promise not t'hurt the new kids. Only the ones who've been here awhile and have earned it..." She places her arms on the sides of the chair and settles back into the comfy cushion then and there, not really worried about sun burn as her skin can't be so easily harmed.

Emma Frost has posed:
    Halfway through rubbing lotion onto Ororo's smooth back, Emma's head slowly looks up and she grows a deep frown. "Shit. Sorry bronze goddess..." Emma states before she tosses the bottle to Rogue to land at the girl's lap. Emma starts to stand and gives Ororo's backside a sharp smack as she does so. "I have work to do, Scott, come up here and attend the local Queen." She orders before working her way around and moving to walk inside leaving her towel and shoes outside. Seems she'll be back eventually.

Nightcrawler has posed:
Kurt Wagner's brows knit and he frowns deep, floating where he is for a moment before he dunks himslf, disappearing and reappearing with a BAMF by his own seat, grabbing his gloves and tugging them on.
    "would you like a hand, Anna?" lips pressed into a line, using his tail to point at the sunscreen tossed to her.

Cyclops has posed:
Scott laughs, a bit ruefully, putting up his hands in a gesture of surrender, or perhaps pacification, "Kurt, really...I'm OK. It's just...who I am, and I'm OK with it. I know it's hard to believe but I -do- have things that are relaxing to me. They just tend to be...active. Or Constructive. The Professor once called it moving meditation. Working out. Fixing bikes and cars. Repairing odds and ends around the Mansion. Even the odd bit of yardwork."

Scott shrugs, "It's calming. It's "quiet" for a lack of a better term. But when I just try to do...nothing....There's too much quiet, and I start worrying. You know me." A dark brow lifts over the top of his glasses at Emma's "command," though he spots the half-finished state Emma left her work in, and apparently feels comfortable enough with Ororo that he does indeed move over to finish getting her properly protected from evil UV rays, should she so acquiesce after his questioning but mildly amused glance and shrug when he steps up beside her.

In the meantime, he does respond to Doug, "Actually, I've played a few times before. Hank used to run it for us back in the old days. I'm sure it will be a complete shock to you that I was very good at the math and keeping track of all the rules and pretty terrible at having much character to my character." He considers, "But I might give it a try, if none of your other players mind."

Cypher has posed:
After a moment, Doug gets out of the pool, shedding water. He seems to have not been inclined to do more than take a dip -- he stands the in his skivvies, dripping. "Well, you know. Growth opportunities, Scott. We should all try to consistently grow as people, and strive for a simple complexity in our lives--I've been reading a lot of Taoist philosophy lately, and I'm grooving on it-"

Storm has posed:
Ororo emits a protesting noise when Emma swats her rear, and removes her sunglasses to scowl theatrically at the blonde sashaying off. She's calmed by Scott's arrival when the X-man settles in and starts applying the lotion to her bare arms and lower back, and sighs in relaxation at the feel of hands on her dark skin.

"Dee-and-dee?" she inquires, glancing from Scott to Doug. "Is that a board game, or something?" She wriggles fingers at Emma's departing back, and then tucks her elbows close under her chest to prop her up so she can more easily speak with the others. Glass beads woven into innumerable tiny plaits of her white hair tinkle with the motion, the braiding cascading forward over her shoulders.

Rogue has posed:
Rogue looks up from her spot on the lounger to Kurt then and she just grins at him as he magically has gloves now and is pulling them on. Her right hand reaches down to her lap and she picks up the lotion bottle off of her bikini bottoms and then just lifts it up to read the label. "Thatsa kind offer, Miste'ah Kurty... but this stuff don't do me any good." Rogue glances up to the sky for a moment, but then back down again, she folds her hands together over her flat toned belly. "Not close enough t'the sun to get burned up. Hopefully won't ever find out how close I need t'get t'end up there either."

Rogue watches Emma flee then and she just shakes her head. "That woman is more trouble than I am, I swear it."

Cyclops has posed:
"Sort of," Scott answers Ororo's question as he finishes up working that sunscreen across her back and arms, "Kind of hybrid of a board game and a...collaborative story." He nods at Doug, half-smiling, ""When I let go of what I am, I become what I might be?"" Scott does know...a disturbing amount of trivia, actually. Not as much as Hank, of course, but he does have a pretty good gift for memorization. "Admittedly I've always been more of a Sun Tzu fan, myself. But I might make the argument that accepting that I had a place and a family I belong to was "letting go of what I was." Which let me become what I am today."

Colt Cassidy has posed:
Colt offers a smile up at Rogue, "It's okay, I'll make sure to be careful." He puts his hands on the edge of the pool, and pushes himself back out of the water, pulling himself up in one single movement and setting on the side, "It's so weird, I feel like I can still move like normal but I know I weigh way more than I used to." He seems to be trying his best to adjust to everything. He's gonna need a towel though.

Cypher has posed:
"She has an incredible capacity for cruelty when she's angry," Doug admits. "I didn't see it before though... she really is only trying to help. It's just that she's the kind of caretaker who, when a kid says he's afraid of the monster under the bed, instead of convincing them monsters aren't real... Ms. Frost gives them a flashlight and a knife." Then he adds, "It's... a sort of collaborative storytelling game, within a framework of rules that give structure to the game. Everyone takes on a role, so everyone has something to contribute. The wizard, the warrior, the priest, the rogue -- those are the classic archetypes of the game. There's also a game master whose job is to sit as a rules judge and narrate the world in which the game takes place."

Storm has posed:
"Quite a statement, Anna-Marie," Ororo chivvies the brunette. She smiles at the girl reassuringly. "I can't imagine someone being *more* trouble than you."

She tilts her head to listen to Scott and Doug, and her brow furrows as the complexities of the game are explained. "Oh, it is... yes, I've heard of it. It's a storytelling thing," Ororo tells the two men. "From Western fantasy. All your monsters of myth and legend," she supplies. "How fascinating, I dind't know anyone played games like that still unless they were on computers."

Cyclops has posed:
"It's not a contest." Scott notes towards Rogue with a bit of a grin, moving over to pluck up his unused towel and stepping over to offer it to Colt, since it looks like he's not going to need it anytime soon (and there are spares in the poolhouse anyway). When he returns and settles into the chair next to Ororo's, he adds, "As Hank said, only with a lot more humor and a syllables, it's mostly about giving a group of friends an excuse to sit around a table and have fun while eating a bunch of junk food and making Monty Python jokes."

Nightcrawler has posed:
    Leaning away from Anna briefly, Kurt calls to Scott, Doug, and Storm. "Scott play a paladin! It will be in your comfort zone, ja? I love playing the bard!" and then he looks back to Colt and Anna.
    "As you wish, Anna." smiling to her and then looking to Colt. "Gloves for high fives, ja?" grinning to the man before offering his gloved hand to Anna.

Cypher has posed:
"...Actually, while there is a broad eurocentric bent to a lot of the game, my favorite game world, the Forgotten Realms, also has areas of the world as established by different writers directly pulled from Asian, South American, and African history and mythology. Including their own styles of wizardry and religious magic." Doug murmurs. "It's all about what you bring to the story." He rubs the back of his neck. "...My first choice is actually a Barbarian. It can be good to take a moment and step into a role that's sort of the opposite of the way you see yourself."

Rogue has posed:
Rogue shifts her eyes over to Storm responding to her in that sassy way and it just makes her grin and then stick her tongue out at the other woman in response. A moment later and she's laying her head back to close her eyes and just enjoy the sun. "Ya know its true, Ororo." She says. "Emma Frost is puuuuure trouble and she's likely just inside that door listenin' in on all our thoughts, wantin' t'know what we say about her after she leaves a room. I bet she's THAT kinda person too."

The talk of Dungeons and Dragons is listened to, Rogue knows a little bit about it because of some of the people she's absorbed in the past, but its hard to sort those memories out. Its hard to sort out the memories of anyone she doesn't 'use' that often, with Carol being the number one presence within her mind other than her own? Its like the rest are just shoved in a closet somewhere in her head, especially after the Professor has helped 'sort' all that noise out inside her mind.

Either way, she doesn't weigh in on that topic.

Colt Cassidy has posed:
Colt takes the offered towel, "Thank you." He says, as he tries to do what he can to dry himself off. It's not that easy to dry off rocks it seems. Good news is he can probably just sun himself like a proper lizard and get dry that way. He actually does that, going to one of the lounge chairs, and then nudges it a bit, "Do you think that this will support a lot of weight?" He wonders, not wanting to break the chair by throwing his butt onto it.

Nightcrawler has posed:
"If they can hold Pioter, or Hank... and I think Ben Grimm that one time - I'm sure you're fine, Herr Cassidy, ja?" Kurt lets his hand fall, resting both as he crouches as per his typical posture, "And if you're still too heavy we'll have Forge build something more sturdy, ja?"

Storm has posed:
"Don't think of it that way, Marie," Ororo chides the belle gently. "You shouldn't be so quick to assign guilt or blame, to yourself or others."

"You're /all/ troublemakers," she clarifies a beat later.

"And you two-- "she wiggles an index finger at Scott and Doug. "Are as bad as any others, so do not think I am letting you off the hook. You should spend less time in fantasy worlds, and more time in the gardens. Storytelling's best done after the day's labors are finished and it's the time for telling stories. Not just ... because there's nothing better to do," she says, nose wrinkling theatrically.

Cyclops has posed:
"What Kurt said." Scott offers towards Colt with a polite smile. After all, he's not the first "heavyweight" student to stride these halls. Scott does get up though, and with the pool empty, peels off his T-Shirt, and opens up the small case he brought with him to replace his usual ruby-quartz glasses with...ruby-quartz swim goggles. And then he grins a bit towards Ororo, "It's not really like that Ororo. You should give it a try sometime. You'd probably be better at it than I was." And with that, he rather gracefully dives into the pool and starts sliding through the water at a rapid clip. Looks like he's getting in his workout no matter what.

Cypher has posed:
"Actually," Doug says, "I'm finishing up my GED -- and I've decided that I'm going to start working on some college courses. I've been thinking about what I could do, and while I might pursue some InfoSec degrees and certs... I might actually work on a law degree. There's a lot up in the air right now." He watches the others, and runs his fingers through his hair. "Speaking of, maybe I should go -- be useful."

Rogue has posed:
Rogue softly laughs at Storm's response to her. She looks up and over at her friend. "I'll definitely agree with ya on that one, Stormah." She quips back before she looks to the others still around. "You're doin' a lotta thinkin' there, Douglas." She tells the young man. "Enjoy your summer, thats what I say any how. Live a little before ya worry about how you're gonna slave away at earnin' them dollah bills. There's plenty'a time for that later." The care-free nature of the southern belle stands out quite a lot in moments like this, living it up in her favorite season of the year.

Storm has posed:
"Well. Enjoyment while it lasts, anyway," Ororo says with a heavy sigh. She gets to her feet and steps into her flat sandals, gathering her towel and wrapping it low around her waist like a sarong. "I have lesson plans to draft and reports to file. You all continue to have fun," she prompts the X-ers in the pool. "Try not to drown, all right?"

She flashes a smile of warm affection at Rogue, bids the others farewell with a wriggle of her fingers, and rises into the air with no visible effort. She floats up to the open landing of her apartment on the roof and disappears inside.

Cypher has posed:
"Time enough for relaxation in the grave, Rogue." Doug says, wryly. "And having been there once, at least for the time being, it didn't suit me." He looks over to Colt, and then says, "You doing OK? You look like you're settling in."

Nightcrawler has posed:
Kurt Wagner mrmmms as people begin moving on, Kurt remains sitting next to Rogue's lounger, head tilting to the side, "I'm not a troublemaker. I'm just adorable and irrascaple..." nodding sagely before looking back to Doug.

Colt Cassidy has posed:
"Oh okay that's good then." Colt turns and carefully sits down, moving his tail out of the way so he can lay back on the chair and close his eyes. He'll probably be sound asleep after a few minutes

Rogue has posed:
Rogue moves to sit up and stand up after Ororo, she gathers her top she'd brought with her out of her room and she looks to Doug first. "Silly silly silly." She says back to him with a bit of a sigh as she pulls the loose fit jacket-like shirt on over her bare shoulders. She then reaches out to ruffle Kurt's head with her right hand, not touching skin, just light enough to only touch the hair atop his head. "You're the least trouble maker I know, Kurty." She says back at him before she starts to walk, her bare feet near silently impacting the stone floor as she steps around toward the backyard.

Cypher has posed:
Doug Ramsey glances back to Kurt. "Don't look at me, I'm the epitome of innocence. I'd never do anything untoward to anybody." He turns, to gather up his clothes, and walks off in his underpants.

Nightcrawler has posed:
Kurt Wagner shrugs a little at that, watching Rogue go, and then Doug, crawling back up onto the lounger he was settled on before, curling up in the sun again,