8044/Xavier's: Friends Like No Others

Xavier's: Friends Like No Others
Date of Scene:	24 June 2019
Location:	Breakstone Lake - Xavier's School
Synopsis:	A cookout at Breakstone Lake has surprise guests: therapy dogs brought by a mutant family.
Cast of Characters:	Shadowcat, Rogue, Cannonball, Polaris, Wolfsbane, Emma Frost, Marvel Girl, Cypher, Blinkdog

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Shadowcat has posed:
Kitty had sent word around the school of something special down at Breakstone Lake today. Bathing suits are fine but not required. Whatever it is, the weather is fine for it. Mid-eighties, perfect for a swim or just being outside in the warm sun. When people get down there they find a few tables set up with food and drinks. There are chairs and blankets where people can lounge about, either in the grass or down in the sand along the lake's edge. A few floating chairs and other aquatic extras are there to be had should anyone want to take a dip. There are also two large cardboard boxes set near the tables which have remained closed.

Kitty is there helping orchestrate matters. The young brunette woman is handing out some drinks to students. One of them asks her, "So what's going on, Kitty? Just a day at the lake?" Kitty shakes her head to the student. "Nope, something special. We have some extra special guests who should be arriving..." Kitty says, pausing to glance at the time on her phone, "Oh, could be here any minute now, really," she says.

Rogue has posed:
Rogue is out and about this evening as well, staying off to the sides and out of the way since its summer and she's got skin exposing clothing on. Seated on a stone wall, she's got her feet dangling off of the edge of it, a pair of cowgirl boots on her feet, short denim shorts on and a nice new looking button-up flannel shirt over a tank top, with the sleeves rolled up to her elbows, gloves poking out of her hip pocket.

Periodically she drops her eyes down to her cell phone to glance at a conversation she's having with someone on her social media account. Its an amusing back and forth with a man who's trying to convince her she'd be the perfect help to his mountain climbing crew based on what he saw of her in the public eye during her time with the Avengers group.

Biting her bottom lip, Rogue is tapping away at the screen talking to the person, no intentions of signing up for it, but its a fun conversation all the same.

Cannonball has posed:
Samuel Guthrie heard there was a beach party and decided to come in hot. Blasting over the tree line and then straight up to around high dive height above the middle of the lake, and cuts his power with a "CANNONBALL!!" and down the young man comes hitting the middle of the lake with a big splash, going deep under water before coming back up, and starting to swim towards the shore.

Polaris has posed:
Lorna had been in Genosha for the majority of the past week. Rarely had the green haired Princess been about the Mansion, and as a result, she'd missed a great deal of the recent chaos that had been happening in the States. Even now, Lorna's attention was else where, she'd stopped by and per Kitty's request, made her way to the lake side. The greenette had a tablet in hand, and she leaned against the stone wall nearest to Rogue.

A glance was spared at the little gathering, but otherwise Lorna seemed content to type away on her tablet, her focus else where. At least with the sun, and warmth she'd donned more summery clothes, a pair of cut off black jean shorts, high waisted and a loose fitted white button up tank-top. A mass of bracelets and rings covered her hands and a thick pair of sunglasses sat perched on the edge of her nose.

Wolfsbane has posed:
With it a little more muggy today, Wolfsbane has gone with a bit less fur than normal and even dressed down to a plain shirt and shorts, though she remains barefoot. Swimming may or may not be on her agenda, but she's come to linger at the edges of the get-together. While she's no feline type, there is some curiosity in her, hands stufed into the pockets of those shorts. When Cannonball zooms in and makes a splashy show, her eyes track his path before she shakes her head for a moment.

Shadowcat has posed:
Kitty is wearing a one-piece bathing suit, with a pair of shorts on overtop but no shirt so she is getting a bit of sun. She greets people as they arrive. "Lorna, you made it back!" Kitty says with a bright smile. She ducks instinctinvely as Cannonball... er... cannonballs, to great effect out in the lake, then laughs as he swims towards shore. Kitty grabs a bottle of water for herself and starts walking over towards Rogue when she feels her phone buzz. She looks at it and grins. "Ok everyone, our special guests are arriving now!" Kitty calls out loud enough everyone can hear.

A group of people emerge on the path from the school. Not just people. People and DOGS. There are a pair of golden retrievers, a squat bulldog, a rottweiler, a terrier, a greyhound, and a big standard poodle with soft, curly hair. They are being walked on leashes by three adults and a child. One of the adults and the child are obviously mutants. And one of the adults has a pair of golden retriever puppies in hand.

"We have a few well-trained dogs to play with for the day. Courtesy of Janice and Ed Meyers and their family," Kitty announces. The Meyers let most of the dogs go and they run over to investigate all the students and staff, sniffing and tail-wagging to their hearts content. Kitty opens up one of the cardboard boxes. There are all manner of dog toys in there, and plenty to go around. Frisbees, and tug of war, simple tennis balls, just about anything a dog could hope for. "Everyone have fun," Kitty says with a grin.

Kitty keeps walking then, over to Rogue. She flashes Rogue a grin then shakes her head. "Sorry Anna-Marie. You don't get to play with those dogs," she says, her tone turning sad. "You have to play with that one," she adds then, pointing back up the path. A mutant girl is leading another dog on a leash. Aces. She unleashes him, and it doesn't take him long to make a beeline right towards Rogue.

Rogue has posed:
Rogue leans over to bump her covered shoulder against Lorna, and then motions to her phone. "This guy wants t'pay me six figures t'come make sure his people don't get hurt takin' rich folks up'n'down mountains." She says with a grin. "Should I abandon this glorious lifestyle we've built ourselves here?" She then asks with a sassy little tone to her voice.

She's quick to look up to Sam in the water and just after his splashdown. "I give ya a eight! Gotta do better!" She shouts over at him.

As Kitty announces the arrival of the guests, Rogue peers past the others at the caravan of canines arriving and it just makes her smile. "Oh jeeze." She says. "Therapy dogs, Kitty?" She has to ask over to her friend. But when Aces arrives, Rogue drops down off the wall and crouches down to welcome him. Her own dog, she'd let a family in Salem Center adopt him. "Heeeey! I know this one!" When he arrives at her and starts a happy dog bouncing dance of slobbers and tail wags, she is quick to laugh and ruffle his furry head. "I was gonna come see ya this weekend, Miste'ah Wags!"

Cannonball has posed:
Samuel Guthrie will climb out of the water, and heads over to the group. His brow raises a bit and says "Hey, how is?" he looks in the box, and picks up a frisbee. He smirks and looks over to Rahne, and says "Catch ?" He tosses it towards the girl. He will throw it where she can catch it normally or in other ways if she wishes

Polaris has posed:
Lorna glanced to Rogue with a raised eyebrow, "I mean, you could. But given how bad things are getting out there, who knows how long that whole job offer thing might stand.." she drawled and turned her focus back to the tablet. She only glanced up again as Kitty greeted her, and a distracted smile crossed her features. Her eyebrows pinched at something she'd been reading. "For a little while." She offered, a sigh pulled from her as she clicked the tablet off.

The the dogs came up she arched a brow, tilting her head as a reflexive smile pulled at her lips.

"Not a bad plan I guess.."

Wolfsbane has posed:
When the surprise is revealed, Wolfsbane turns in the direction of those arriving with the variety of dogs, both brows going upward. It's far from the first time dogs have been around her, but this is still unexpected. "Oh," she says quietly, a hand going to the back of her head. Of course, the dogs have a variety of reactions to her, some more interested in checking her out, some acting like they'd rather be near someone else instead. "Well, hullo," she says to a particularly friendly one, making sure to position herself so he can't sniff places she doesn't want to be sniffed as a hand is nuzzled and licked at.

Sam's calling of her name gets her attention, leading to her reaching up to catch the frisbee and send it off in another direction. "Nice try, Sam."

Shadowcat has posed:
Kitty Pryde smiles over to Lorna as she spots the dogs bringing out a smile from the Genoshan mutant. Kitty turns back to watch Aces reach Rogue. "Yep, therapy dogs," Kitty confirms to Rogue with a big grin. She crouches down to give Aces a few scritches and a firm pat on his back.

Kitty straightens and walks over to the box, not even making it there before the large poodle comes over to stick a wet nose into her palm. Kitty lets out a laugh and stops to give the white poodle some affection. "Hey girl, what's your name?" she asks. "That's Maribelle," Ed Meyer tells Kitty.

Meanwhile the sight of the frisbee has one of the golden retriever's eyes nearly bugging out with excitement. Kitty gets to the box and pulls out a few toys, finally pulling out a squeaky ball that poodle shows a particular interest in. She tosses it across the grass and the poodle runs over, not so much retrieving it as batting it around and then plopping down to chew on it while Kitty chuckles.

Janice Meyers brings the two adorable retriever puppies over to Lorna. "These are Pogo, and Jennie," she says, and will offer one of the pups to Lorna if she shows interest.

Rogue has posed:
There's no awkward 'who is this person' with Rogue and Aces though, she'd raised the German Shepherd and he is quite fond of her. So they pal around for a bit before Rogue stands up and walks over to grab a tennis ball out of the box of toys. It instantly makes the dog's form go rigid and alert. She waggles it left, then waggles it right, and the poor boy starts to suffer from an internal dogquake with excitement before she throws it!

The ball rockets across the yard and the dog goes bounding after it at high speed!

Rogue just grins, sighs and puts her hands on her hips. She looks over to Lorna and the retrievers. "You ever had a dog before, Green Peace?" She has to ask the mangetic woman.

Polaris has posed:
Lorna bent down, tucking the tablet away fully as she turned her focus toward the two puppies that Janice brought over to her. The Princess smiled, and couldn't help but coo over them both and she sighed softly as she reached out with both hands to accept one of them. "Which one is this?" She asked gently, taking one of the puppies in her arms and holding it close to her as it wiggled and covered her cheeks in slobbery kisses.

Rogue's question earned a small shake of her head, "No. I was never allowed to. My adoptive parents didn't think it was a good idea.." She mumbled softly.

Cannonball has posed:
Samuel Guthrie will grab a towel and starts drying off some. He is wearing a pair of long swim trunks, and walks over towards Rahne and the dog she is petting "You can't blame a guy for trying." He grins at her, and will whistle softly to see if the Retriever will being him back the frisbee.

Emma Frost has posed:
    From behind Lorna, the woman hears a whisper tickle at he little hairs on the back of her neck. "Pongo, isn't that one of those dastardly dalmations that I can't wait to fix my wardrobe with?" The telepath teases as Emma steps up and beside Lorna with a look to the woman, a hint at the amazing powers the blonde possesses. <<No new news on Sebastian or Trask from my side of the operation.>> Emma thinks towards Lorna before she looks out to the crowd at the lake.

    Wearing a white one piece with a bare back that hooks onto her neck to keep itself up and modest, Emma looks as regal as ever as she steps past Lorna towards the lake and says loudly, "I think someone's dragon is going to get super jelly." Hint hint.

Marvel Girl has posed:
Even Rachel can't resist the siren call of puppies. Though she's not going to do the whole swimsuit thing. Or one hundred percent admit what she's there for. It's just for the cookout. Totally.

Hands in the pockets of her ripped jeans, Rachel makes her way toward the group of people at the lake and the crowd of canines sharing the space. "Man. A whole litter of new recruits," she drawls as she approaches, a faint smile tugging at one corner of her lips.

Shadowcat has posed:
The woman tells Lorna, "That one is Jennie." The adorable puppy is, well, adorable. Go figure. He eats up the affection and gives little puppy kisses to Lorna's face as Janice offers, "Ed's aunt retired to Genosha. If you'd like Jennie, she's old to be adopted."

Kitty grins as Rachel comes out. "Hey Rache!" she says warmly. The poodle seems content with the squeaky toy, and Kitty looks to find the squat bulldog just sitting there watching. She walks over to him, reaching down to pet him as she looks back up to Rachel. "And better looking than Logan," she contends towards the bulldog with the face only a mother could love. Ok, dog lovers could too. Kitty waves Rachel over to meet him.

She looks towards Sam, grinning as he has the dog's interest with the frisbee. Kitty tells Emma, "I wasn't quite sure how they'd do with Lockheed, so he's up sunning on the roof right now." Kitty's eyes go back to Rogue and Aces. It gives her a big grin to see her old roomie reunited with her German Shepherd.

Wolfsbane has posed:
Wolfsbane ends up wrapping her arms around herself after nodding to Sam. "Nae, an' I guess this is nice for a little while, all this." An arm unfolds to gesture at the dogs and toys and people with smiles on their faces. That mood hasn't quite reached her yet, for while her expression is neutral to somewhat good, there is a cautious look of some kind to her eyes, as if she's unwilling or unable to completely let her guard down even around the mansion. Her focus is not all here. "They're cute," she adds.

Polaris has posed:
Lorna smiled showered the puppy with all the affection she could, a sigh pulled from her lips at the offer of being able to adopt the puppy and she slowly shook her head. "I don't know if I can... I'm always going all over the place and it is my father's ..uh ... house." Palace. House. Same deal. "I'd have to check in with him if the staff there could take care of a puppy in between everything." She grimaced faintly, her gaze clearly angled at the puppy in her arms. She decidedly //wanted// to keep the puppy, but realistically wasn't sure how well she'd be at keeping something small alive and well.

As Emma came up behind her, Lorna sat up, her eyebrows lurching upward until Emma spoke into her mind directly. A twist of her lips followed, and a sharp thought followed about sneaking up on people and being vaguely creepy.

Rogue has posed:
Aces returns with the ball, via leaping over a shrubbery and racing back toward everyone else where he stops a few feet ahead of Rogue and seems reluctant to drop the ball back to her. "Sounds like your adopted parents were a buncha dumb-dumbs then, if ya ask me, Lorna Lady." The southerner responds to her before Rogue glances back over to Emma and smirks at the white queen. "Hey there, Ice Cold." She says to Emma before her hands go to her thighs and she pats them several times quickly. "Come on, Ace, drop the ball." The German Shepherd walks left, then right a few steps before finally he just spits it out onto the ground and as Rogue leans over to grab it he lunges at her hand to get it before her!

"Stop that!" Rogue responds to her former pooch! She snatches the ball before he can and he jumps up to try to grab it out of her hand, but she holds it too too high! "Go get it!" She throws it again, sending it up toward the School where it bounces off one of the stone balcony foundations and rolls around in the yard with the dog chasing it all around!

Cannonball has posed:
Samuel Guthrie will take the frisbee, and tosses it for the Golden." He will smile and looks over to Rahne, and says "Seems you made a friend here too, they seem to be good dogs, and probably a bit more used to the oddness that is around us more than most." He adds "Your coming on the trip I got planned right?" He asks about the mission.

Emma Frost has posed:
    The thought from Lorna is seemingly ignored by Emma as she approaches the lake still and turns around as she nears the wooden dock and smiles to Lorna, "If you can't adopt a puppy, are you truly a princess, or even an adult?" The white queen says with a kindness that lashes to the point of the words she left unspoken. "Hello there Red Neck." Emma says with that kindly smile she affords everyone before shrugging to Kitty and holding her arms above her head as she nears the end of the pier, "That's only where you think he is." She says before falling backwards and diving into the lake.

Marvel Girl has posed:
"Less hairy," Rachel winks at Kitty, crouching down next to the bulldog to ruffle its jowls. Because that's how you say hi, right? "Seriously though, did we start running a rescue on top of everything else?" asks with a quirk of her brow and a wry smile.

Notably, she is not actually complaining about that possibility.

Shadowcat has posed:
The little girl of about eight who led Aces out comes over to join Kitty and Rachel. "This is Max. He's my favorite," she tells the two women. "And I'm Laura. I'm going to be a mutant like my brother and father when I get older," she says. There's no visible signs of mutants with her, though her brother has skin with a texture something like an iguana, but flesh colored.

Kitty grins to the girl, "Why is he your favorite?" she asks, as Sam sends the retriever chasing after the frisbee excitedly. Laura says, "Because he likes to roll over on his back and let you rub his belly. Watch. Max, roll over!" she says. The bulldog shows the most life yet, flopping over dramatically to get belly rubs as Kitty laughs.

She looks over to Rachel and says, "They raise dogs to help people working out problems. Kids who are going through things. Sometimes having a dog can allow someone to open up in ways they aren't ready to with a person yet. They are called therapy dogs. And I just figured a day with some of them would be good for spirits," she says. Kitty rubs Max's belly. "Isn't that right," she says in a typical cutesy talking-to-dog voice.

Wolfsbane has posed:
"I suppose. I dinna think most animals really care tha' much who's a mutant an' who's no'," Wolfsbane says to Sam, shifting to stick her hands back in her pockets as Sam and the frisbee get more attention for the moment. "I know mankind is supposed tae be more evolved than animals, but sometimes we could learn a bit from an animal. They usually know who's good an' who's no' as well."

The visitors, with their own mutations and a younger girl who believes she's going to be a mutant..they get the wolfen woman to watch them for a time, a briefly sad expression forming. "Aye, Sam. I'll be there."

Polaris has posed:
Lorna cuddled the puppy that licked her hands and face, cooing softly over the squirming mass of fur and joy. Rogue's words gained a small shrug, "I was a rather rebellious little kid and already had issues to say the least. They didn't think I was responsible enough for a puppy." She grinned down at the puppy in her arms, letting him down to grab a toy and toss a ball to the little retriever.

Emma's comment of course, earned a grimace and a sharp look. "I have multiple responsibilities, many of which include hopping countries. It's not the ideal life for a small puppy."

Marvel Girl has posed:
Rachel should have known it was a feelings trap! Tricksy faculty. But it's an effective feelings trap, because she can't exactly //not// rub the dog's belly. That would just be cruel. So she crouches down, joining in on the belly rubs.

"Dogs have a nice habit of not talking back," she agrees, though she still has some complicated feelings about the matter. These guys certainly look happy enough though. The little girl's plan to be a mutant, on the other hand, causes some //very// confusing feelings. Best to just continue with belly rubs rather than address that one.

Cannonball has posed:
Samuel Guthrie smiles and says "Well some folks could learn a bit from animals yea, but I was more meaning these dogs might not freak out as much with the whole odd explosion or such." He looks over at Rachel, Kitty, and the little girl, a bit of a concern showing on his face over hearing the girls mutant comment also.

Rogue has posed:
Rogue waits for the dog to return the ball, and when he eventually spits it out on the lawn again she just smirks at him before she shakes her head. "Someday you're gonna learn t'hand it over, but then again, as slobbery as it is, maybe its best ya just spit it out." Rogue steps over to the table then and sits down at one of the chairs, she reaches for a hotdog off of one of the plates and then tosses it to Aces who'd followed her to the table. He scarfs it down without even chewing it really and then just waits for more, because thats how they are, insatiable for moar food.

This gets a smirk. "Nope. You'll puke it all up if ya over eat, and I know that all too well." The dog turns its head to the side and makes its ears flicker around, like he's trying to figure out what the hooman just said.

Emma Frost has posed:
    Deep under the lake waves, Emma can't hear any replies as the world goes mostly quiet for the telepath. She does enjoy swimming so much so for that fact that all she can hear are the thoughts of those near by and that's it. It's her quiet time. Or the quietest time she has found thus far.

    Sensory deprivation tanks don't do nearly as much when you're a mind reader. <<Is your current life the ideal life for a gifted woman like yourself? Do yourself a favor and get the damn dog. I'm going to.>> Emma projects to Lorna before she breaches the water for a breath of air and she floats near the dogs.

"That's interesting..." Emma says to herself before she lifts her arm out of the water to get attention, "KItty, ... Not-Jean, come this way!" Emma calls out, she wants to explore that thought/emotion that she got from Rachel.

Shadowcat has posed:
The big Rottweiler is engaged in a game of tug-of-war with Hambone. The sometimes loud and exuberant student is tugging hard, but so is the dog. Hambone starts losing ground, his feet sliding in the grass as the dog pulls him backwards. "We're about to lose James. I think he might get turned into a snack if he loses," Kitty calls towards Rogue with a laugh.

She smiles to the little girl then and says, "I'm sure if you do end up a mutant, you're in the perfect family for it," she says, glancing to the rest of the family from Salem Center.

Kitty looks back to Samuel to say, "Ah, I have no idea if /that/ is part of their training." She looks towards the owners, shrugging. And then Emma calls over to Kitty and Rachel. Kitty rises after giving Max the bulldog one last belly scritch before she straightens, seeing if Rachel wants to go over to Emma, and accompanying her if so.

Polaris has posed:
Lorna knelt down as she brushed her hands over the wiggling puppy, her green eyed gaze swung toward Emma's form as the woman spoke to her mentally again. It was something that irritated the young woman to no end, to have Emma speaking directly to her mind. Whatever else she'd meant to think in Emma's direction was broken off with the sight of the puppy returning to her with a slobbery toy in its grip. She sighed softly, shaking her head as she fell silent, lost to her thoughts for the moment.

Marvel Girl has posed:
Rachel quirks a brow at the 'not-Jean,' staying where she is by the dog. The dog doesn't want to poke at her brain. Nice doggy. But she also knows there's no avoiding Emma, and doing so will only make it less likely to be pleasant in the end, so she straightens up with a sigh to follow Kitty over toward the lake.

"Rachel," she notes, dry, as she gets close enough to speak normally. "It's Rachel." Oddly enough, there's something of the earlier odd feeling mixed in with that.

Wolfsbane has posed:
Overhearing something, Wolfsbane turns attention in the direction of the water, calling back, "Her name is--" But at that moment Rachel takes care of it, and she seems content to leave it at that after muttering to Sam, "Tha' was rude." And she's thinking it, too.

"I dinna think any animal is conditioned tae handle explosions an' things, but some other things..maybe so," she adds with both Sam and now Kitty closer, if only for a moment.

Cannonball has posed:
Samuel Guthrie hmms and says "Thought police dogs, and military dogs would be trained for it, but with us often they are less stress filled, not all the time but still." He does nod to Rahne's word watching Rachel, and seems concerned but keeps quiet for a moment "Think I am going to grab food, you want some carrot top?" He asks Rahne.

Cypher has posed:
There is a foam of bubbles from the lake, and then a *blorp* of something rising to the surface. A wet mop of blond hair emerges from the water, followed by the rest of Doug. He's using a rebreather, and he's got on his speedos. He's carrying a dripping, waterproof bag. He looks... surprised, at the crowd, and reaches up to take the Rebreather off. "...Hi."

Rogue has posed:
Rogue's eyes lift up from her hungry companion when she hears Kitty speak of the ill-fated Hambonicus. She smirks softly as she sees the portly student get pulled around by that much stronger doggie. "At least he's outside, and not face-glued t'a damn video game." Rogue responds to Kitty then before she sits back in the chair she's in and just reaches for a cup of tea on the table.

When Aces drops a tennis ball in her lap she looks down at it and just grins. "Oh, now you give it t'me, huh?" She says to her former canine friend before she leans forward, picks the ball up and tosses it again, this time over at Hambone's direction, look out! Here comes a big German Shepherd now!

Emma Frost has posed:
    "Oh, Rachel, that is a lovely name." Emma says as she bobs on the waters surface with a look to Kitty as well before she starts to swim back towards the pier. and starts to pull herself up back onto the dry wood. She looks over at the sudden Doug and squints before recovering and looking at Rachel and Kitty,

    "I'm not too familiar with you and your story..." Emma begins before looking at Rachel fully and only. "What's so bad about being a mutant from where your from?" Emma asks rather brazenly.

Shadowcat has posed:
Kitty Pryde nods in agreement with Wolfsbane at the training of the dogs. The poodle is finally back on her feet, bringing over the squeaky toy. She comes over to Wolfsbane and then rubs against her legs unless fended off, and tries to push the squeaky toy into her hand. Squeak!

Kitty grins to Rogue and watches as Aces shoots after it, darting between Hambone and the Rottweiler, ducking under their tug-of-war rope. Hambone starts and loses his footing and the Rottie starts dragging him across the grass playfully. Hambone doesn't let go, he's going to have grass stains something fierce.

Kitty turns back as Emma comes out of the water. She can't help but wince at the question from Emma. In other circumstances Kitty might try to think the answer to Emma so she can be more diplomatic. But then Rachel is going to probably hear those thoughts anyway so she might as well speak. "Emma. She's from a time when there are laws against mutants," she says softly. Kitty reaches a hand over, offering the reassuring touch to Rachel's shoulder if allowed.

Wolfsbane has posed:
Still on the distracted side, Wolfsbane is now caught up with the poodle that decides she wants her attention, brushing against fuzzy legs and getting insistent with the squeak toy. "Ahh, sure, Sam," she says, fingers closing around the toy before giving it a couple testing squeezes, to the delight of the dog. She holds it up so the animal will have to jump for it, which she's more than willing to do before the mutant's hand is drawn back, along with a couple steps taken away, then she tosses it a few feet into the air for the poodle to snag in her mouth.

Marvel Girl has posed:
Rachel sidesteps away from Kitty's hand, crouching at the edge of the water. "It's all right," she says, though with a calmness that suggests it's probably not really 'all right.'

She looks to the sky, gauging the position of the sun, then back to Emma, quirking a brow. "How much time do you have?" she drawls. "Short version is nothing that isn't wrong with being a mutant here and now, just...to an accelerated degree. You know. Extermination. Good times."

Polaris has posed:
Lorna rose from playing with the puppy, her expression pinched as the conversation shifted to darker topics. She passed the adorable puppy off to a student, making to approach the group at large. Her green eyed gaze swung about, settling on Emma and she crossed her arms over her chest. "It's everything my father has spoken of and fears coming to pass." She sighed, and her tablet dinged. A shift and the green haired woman drew it out, tapping away a response.

Emma Frost has posed:
    "Is that something you can even stomach? Because you seemed shocked a little girl might want to be like us. Isn't that something to fight for? A reason we should be going out and fighting these bigot controlled robots? Instead of touching furry things?" Emma says, all rhetorically as she turns to walk away from the pier, inviting Rachel to follow her. "You know what happens yes. I want to hear the log version. I have nothing but time for the future." Emma retorts with a sidelong glance to everyone else gathered here. Did she come out to this lake, while everyone else was gathered just to pull Rachel away from the group. Does Emma plan that far ahead in even the most mundane of situations?

Cannonball has posed:
Samuel Guthrie will get himself, and Rahne some food, before Nodding over to Doug. He does look over at the Rachel and Emma talking and closes his eyes a moment taking a slow breath before walking back to give Rahne her food.

Shadowcat has posed:
Kitty has had a protective air about Rachel ever since learning something of their history together. Future history? Future... whatever. Anyway, she's kind of protective. But Kitty just gives a little nod as Rachel shrugs off the touch, letting her and Emma converse. Though she's keeping an ear on it.

Kitty looks over at Doug's emergence. "Hey, I wondered why I couldn't get ahold of you," she says. "Come get soda, a hot dog, and a... dog. Dog," she says, getting a goofy grin at how the sentence ended. She picks up a towel and will toss it to Doug once he's far enough out of the water for it to not drag in and get wet.

Marvel Girl has posed:
"Not shocked," Rachel shrugs, straightening. "Just...conflicted. Sure, I want it to be that easy. I just know that we don't exactly always get what we want." And other things, more related to the dogs. But she has her shields up now, barricaded against those thoughts.

"It's a different world here," she says to Lorna, brows furrowing slightly as she tries to place things from one world to another. "Who's your father?"

Polaris has posed:
It wasn't every day people didn't know who Lorna was, much less her relations. It was far too common that people either loved or hated her for her family, even before they had met her. The green haired woman let her hands fall to her sides as she glanced at the others about and back toward Rachel as she'd more or less injected herself into the conversation. A soft exhale followed, her hands shoved into her pockets. "My father is Magneto." She offered softly, "He's always speaking of a mutant genocide happening, about being prepared for it.."

Cypher has posed:
Doug tilts his head, and then says, "I've been in the lake for the past six hours. It was the perfect day to look for something I hid out here four years ago." He holds up the waterproof bag, and jostles it. "Took me all day. But I found it." He sheds water, and grabs the towel, before he dries himself briskly. "Dog, huh?"

He kneels down a bit, tilts his head at one of the dogs, and makes a low noise in the back of his throat.

He looks up. "Magneto is right. There are sadistic people who see Mutants as an acceptable people for their bloodlust, and they must be continually opposed." The dog he gets is a keen-looking Doberman, and Doug pets him behind the ears, which eventually gets a happy pant.

"But he's also wrong, because he can't accept that he may not be the one dictating Mutantkind's future. That paternalistic view will cause people to turn on him, eventually. Unless he can accept being one seat at the table among equals, he'll fail."

Marvel Girl has posed:
"Oh." Rachel pauses, choosing her words carefully. "I knew him in my world," she nods to Lorna. "He fought bravely to the end." Meaning there was an end. But at least she doesn't seem to feel a need to elaborate on that.

Instead, she leans down to go back to playing with the dogs, tossing a ball for one. "I'm pretty sure we all came down here to feel //better// about things, though."

Blinkdog has posed:
Bobby McFadden got the email message pretty late. He just isn't... computer literate having not actually ever owned one before coming to this school. So he isn't yet in the habit of checking it regularly. Infact he didn't till he noticed a few faces weren't around and someone suggested he do so.

Rushing down stairs and outside he makes his way towards the lake. Finally he arrives, a little too out of breath to look anywhere like he is fassionably late or to put on 'cool teenage airs' in any way. Walking up from a distance he waves as he approaches and looks at the dogs that have been brought in. There are some puzzled expressions and others he cannot read as people walk past him leaving. "Am I too late?" he asks.

Polaris has posed:
Lorna shifted her weight upon her feet, glancing toward Doug as he came up and joined the conversation too. She hesitated, considering his words and raising an eyebrow upward. "Paternalistic view... huh.. I'd say my father is a deeply flawed man, as any can be. But never really considered describing him that way.." She drawled. But her focus returned to Rachel as the other woman seemed to take time and pause to consider her what she said.

News that her father, even in an alternative world died... well it made her stomach twist, and her lips pursed into a thin line. "It's okay, another world, another time, yeah?" She didn't want to ask about herself, didn't want to know if she existed at all or not.

Shadowcat has posed:
Kitty grins towards Doug. "So what's the big secret stash?" she asks, glancing at his bag. Then she frowns a bit. "Unless... it's a big secret stash," she repeats, hoping it really isn't that. None of the dogs are drug sniffing ones, are they?

Kitty has a smile though, reaching over to pet the Doberman with Doug. "Glad you stumbled on us even if you didn't hear about it," she says. Kitty turns towards Bobby as he arrives. "Not too late. Just in time," she says. She picks up a frisbee and waves it about, getting one of the golden retrievers excited about it. She tosses it over to Bobby though, the dog tracking over and sitting in front of him. His tail thumps excitedly, obviously wanting him to throw the frisbee.

Cannonball has posed:
Samuel Guthrie walks over to Doug, and looks down at the bag, and at the other man "You know Warlock was the last thing I drug out of that lake right?" He asks the other young man." I am lucky I didn't hit you when I joined the party.

Marvel Girl has posed:
"Another world, another time," Rachel nods to Lorna, offering a faint, tight smile. "Trust me, no one wants to know what happened to them in my future," she shakes her head to Doug. "Generally speaking, the answer is you died. The question is mostly just when. So. The good news is, you're not dead here!"

She's trying so hard to be cheerful about it. It's really not her greatest skill.

Cypher has posed:
    "I'm not going to hide ganja out in the lake. I'll put it in sealed tupperware under my bed, like any sane person." Doug might be teasing. He's probably teasing.

"I don't suppose you know what happened to me in your future. I expect I was long-dead." He seems to accept this, as he goes on petting the dog.

"Yes, well, a lot of weird things happened that night." Doug says, before he looks up at Kitty. "It's a key to a safe deposit box. Actually. I may have--" He thinks, "...Cashed in some bitcoin not long before I died. Among other things. And if I'm going to go to college..."

Polaris has posed:
Lorna nodded once, her arms crossing again as she glanced around the gathering that seemed to be simmering down as students and staff played with dogs and pups. She felt her heart constrict at the sight and she shook her head. "We're alive for now, so that's something." She offered softly, before she nodded to Rachel politely, and made to retreat from the gathering.

"I'll be around to check in tomorrow, for now I've got other business to attend to. Thanks Kitty for putting all of this together."

Blinkdog has posed:
Bobby McFadden is suddenly beset on by a dog wanting the frisby as he clumsily catches it nearly dropping the thing. Well "beset" is too strong a word. He never really had his own dog. You get to meet a lot of them though in NYC, and a lot of them are quite friendly.

He tosses the frizby for the expecting dog giving it what it wants most in the world. Sending the disk sailing smoothly away in the direction clear of people or obsticles. Bobby has absolutely no idea what the conversation betwen Doug or the others means but he listens in anyway as he plays with the dog.

Shadowcat has posed:
But Rachel has dogs to help her stay cheerful. That standard poodle has such soft, curly hair, and she's a sweet thing. She comes over to Rachel now that Wolfsbane is gone, rubbing against her and wanting some attention. Ed Meyers, the owner, looks over, smiling as the dog, Lacey, was always the best at finding someone who needed some attention.

Kitty grins as she watches Bobby throw the frisbee for the retriever. The fit canine runs it down, jumping up to snatch it out of the air and then trot back to Bobby. He drops the frisbee and Bobby's feet, and then takes a moment to lick himself. Sorry. Dogs will be dogs.

Kitty flashes Lorna a smile. "You're welcome, I'm glad you were able to make it," Kitty says, reaching over to touch Lorna's shoulder warmly. "Good luck with everything," Kitty says more seriously.

Kitty looks back to Doug, an eyebrow going up. "I should have known you'd know when to cash those in," she tells him. "So... what are we buying?" she asks, rubbing her hands together.

Cypher has posed:
"If it helps, my feelings on the man are decidedly mixed, and summed up by 'I should've listened to him.'" Doug mutters, before he looks up at Kitty and says, disingenuously, "...A law degree?"

Then he raises an eyebrow. "Did I ever tell you the story of how I became a New Mutant, Kitty? Someone must've told you. Illyana *has* to have told you."

Marvel Girl has posed:
Rachel settles down on the ground, contentedly playing with the poodle. Toss a ball, fake out the throw. Solid ear scritches. At least her gifts give her a little bit of an edge at figuring out what feels best.

It seems she's had enough talking for a little bit. Time to enjoy the real gifts these dogs bring to the school.

Blinkdog has posed:
Bobby McFadden picks up the frisbee and snerks at the dog as it occupies itself with... dogginess. Then after it reacts to his retrieving the plastic disk and starts to look at him expectantly he repeats the proccess. Though on his third go, he grabs the frisbee before the dog drops it and has a little game of tug-o-war with him over the toy. Again, dogs will be dogs.

Then at one point some of the words he's been hearing come together in a conclusion he pauses stopping figuratively in his tracks as a notion distracts him. "Wait... what?" he looks at Doug, "You were dead? Like what they declared you while you were still breathing or what?"

Cannonball has posed:
Samuel Guthrie looks over and says "Hey I am wearing swim trunks and a towel today." He teases a bit towards Doug. He looks over to Bobby and lets Doug fill this one in moving to make food for folks but still close enough to listen

Shadowcat has posed:
Kitty Pryde grins to Doug. "Law. So do you want to actually practice it, like a lawyer? Or law enforcement? Something else?" she asks him. "You know I'm going to steal all of your books to read. Once you're done with the classes," says the omnivore when it comes to learning. Kitty glances over to Rachel, smiling as she sees the effect the poodle is having with her. This guidance counselor gig seems to be catching on, even if it is sort of an evening job for the young woman who still works in the city by day. Unless working from home remotely.

"Doug, even if she had told me, I'd want to hear you tell the story," Kitty tells the blonde-haired mutant. She goes over to grab herself a hamburger and a soda and then pulls a chair near. She sits down in it, crossing a leg over the other as she motions for Doug to proceed with the tale. The Rottweiler comes over. Apparently he didn't eat Hambone, or else he's just still hungry. Kitty tears off a bit of the hamburger and lets him have it.

Cypher has posed:
"Oh no, I'm going to be a lawyer." Doug says. "What I do after that point, I don't know."

He puts his hands on his hips, and then looks up and to the side, and quirks his mouth. "Well, I don't know if I can do that insanity *justice*."

He's sidetracked by Bobby, and he sucks on a tooth for a moment, before he says, "...That's complicated. How familiar are you with Kurzweilian transhumanism? Because I proved a lot of his beliefs right."

Blinkdog has posed:
Bobby McFadden blinks at that, "Um, I think I'm in the smile and nod category with whatever it is you just said. Or even "gesundheit" but it didn't sound enough like a sneeze. Hey, I saw the newspaper. If Superman can do it why not someone else?" he says and shrugs going back to playing with the dog.

Cannonball has posed:
Samuel Guthrie nods a bit to this and takes a moment to send someone over to both Bobby and Rachel with food, and then takes a moment, taking the elder don of the dog fostering family aside to talk to him in private for a moment

Marvel Girl has posed:
Rachel takes the food, though there's a little bit of juggling between it and the dog to keep it to herself. Although she laughs as she switches hands, trying to keep the dog from eating the hot dog. "Not for you," she assures it, taking a bite for herself. "For me," she says with a mouthful.

She's half paying attention to Doug's story as she eats, just letting things happen around her."

Cypher has posed:
"Preservation of consciousness via a technological mechanism-- it's complicated. Suffice it to say I was dead and buried for two years." Doug strokes his chin. "I'm still working it out myself."

"Anyway. There I was, sound asleep, when someone starts throwing pebbles at my window at one in the morning. Turns out it's Sam, in nothing but a towel--not a very big one, either."

Shadowcat has posed:
Kitty is eating her hamburger while listening. She licks some mustard from the corner of her mouth and then tells Bobby, "With mutant powers, a lot of things can happen. There are a few people who have recovered from things no one else could." She doesn't point anyone like that out, even if some of them are here at the cookout.

The Rottweiler gets a good scritching. For all of his size, he's just a big baby. He gets that happy look as his ears are being rubbed, just kind of zoning out of reality during it.

Blinkdog has posed:
Bobby McFadden just feeds his food to the dog, enjoying the animal's joy at being fed bit by bit by hand. There is a kind of... surreptitious cathartic joy for him in feeding the animal.

Bobby nods, "Yeah, weird universe we live in. They tell me a hundred years ago noone heard of any of this stuff cept for rare legends. Now its like all over the place. Then you get people like us... the meant-to-be's that got something else. Sometimes better, sometimes not so much. But hey, coming back to life. I put that in the win corner if you ask me. Maybe it wasn't fun or anything to go through. Hell someone carved me up for steak when I was tied up, but I survived it. So... alive... not dead... it can only get better I guess." he shrugs.

Cannonball has posed:
Samuel Guthrie chats with the other older brother for a bit offering some advice, before walking back over to them, and says "Hey you know that towel gets smaller every time you tell this story.

Cypher has posed:
Doug snorts. "Well then YOU tell the story," Doug says to Sam. "I'm gonna go get a hamburger." He snaps his fingers at the Doberman. "Come on Buggles, let's get you a hamburger." ...How did he know the dog's name?

Cannonball has posed:
Samuel Guthrie looks over and says "Well that was the night Rahne, Dani, and Illyana were having a slumber party with some of the girls from on town, and Berto, and I were the only boys in attendance then so we were pretty much told get out and stay out. We found what we thought was a strange rock in this lake. Brought it back to check it out and it turned out to be Warlock. An alien mutant who did not speak english at the time. Well he was starting and he eats energy mostly electricity or life glow as he calls it. Starving not speaking the languages he loojs for food, finds Illyana and Lockheed, Well you cna guess how well that went for warlock.

Cypher has posed:
Doug adds, "See, that's how it started, I don't come in 'till later." He gives the Doberman a hamburger, then puts one in his own mouth as he pours himself a drink.

Blinkdog has posed:
Bobby McFadden continues to play with the retriever and feed it alternately making the dog's day in more ways than one.

Cannonball has posed:
Samuel Guthrie says, "Well we realized after a bit he was trying to communicate with us, and knew needed to get help fast, so maybe I should have stopped for jeans, but still had my towel from where we fished him out of the lake, and I went to get Doug, as he was the only one knew who might be able to talk to him. you know I still wonder if lockheed knew what Warlock was."

Cypher has posed:
"No, he did." Doug said. "He was trying to kill him fast." He says this matter-of-factly. "He told me so when he apologized later." He looks up, "So anyway, as I was saying, I hear someone throwing pebbles at my window at one in the morning and open it and here's Sam in nothing but a towel. And he says he needs to fly away with me. At this point I was pretty sure I was having somebody else's dream, and I wasn't thrilled about it."

Blinkdog has posed:
Bobby McFadden continues to enjoy the dog's company as he listens in on the story. Soon he switches up from a frisbee to a tenis ball and he ends up getting more than one dog going after it. He doesn't want to get greedy though and makes sure that he shares throwing the ball for the dogs to race eachother to get it.

Cannonball has posed:
Samuel Guthrie chuckles and says "Hey your lucky i could carry ya still, done been beat up twice that night

Cypher has posed:
Doug crosses his arms. "Oh, *yeah*. That was also the moment he told me I was a mutant." Doug does a slow pan to Kitty, and lifts one eyebrow.