8141/Breakstone Lake July 4th Extravaganza

Breakstone Lake July 4th Extravaganza
Date of Scene:	02 July 2019
Location:	Breakstone Lake - Xavier's School
Synopsis:	Students, friends, and faculty of Xavier's School gather by the Lake to celebrate July 4th!
Cast of Characters:	Psylocke, Marvel Girl, Rogue, Polaris, Shadowcat, Smart Alek, Spider-Man, Kaydin LeGraize, Sunspot, Iceman, Elixir, Cypher, Cannonball

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Psylocke has posed:
The 4th of July Party has been set up to provide something for everyone. On the sandy shores of the lake a number of baskets with royal blue (sorry, freedom blue) beach towels (each monogrammed with the yellow X of the School) have been set aside for swimmer and sunbather alike. Likewise there are parasols and awnings providing spots of shade without blocking too much of the warm, late afternoon sun. Further down the shore a volleyball net has been set up, along with a few other beach games that require minimal equipment and minimal sobriety.

Over by the Boathouse, things take a more cultured bent. On the lower deck two barbeques have been set up, catering to the many and varied dietary requirements of Xavier's School. The Boathouse itself is open, the airconditioned inside providing a cool reprieve and champagne. All around red, white, and blue balloons strain towards the ceiling on silvery threads.

The sun nears setting, and already parts of the sky are growing dim and purple. Over on the opposite shore, the 'one-hundred percent qualified and trained' firework technicians set about performing the last checks on their light show.

Marvel Girl has posed:
Rachel recently had a conversation wherein it was pointed out to her that it wouldn't exactly kill her to make a couple of friends. So since there's a party, and since there's food, and since no one has told her this is some sort of public relations stunt, she's sucking it up and making an attempt at being...social.

Casual in joggers and a loose-fitting tank top over her swimsuit, she's already hitting the food. Because, well. That's part of the traditional celebration, right?

Rogue has posed:
Rogue had spent the better part of the day on the lake, on a floaty thing, laying on her bak with her sunglasses on and a modest bathing suit on. Eventually she'd floated over to where Iceman had been giving out snocones and she'd bothered him for a bit, but now with the sun on its way down, she's got some jean shorts on, a shirt tied over her bathing suit top and her sunglasses are up ontop her forehead. Since she's still baring legs and forearms, she's trying to keep her safe distance from folks, participating in a water balloon fight though had left her a bit damp, clothing still drying from that war with some of the students.

Now? She's finishing up some food and sipping from a glass bottle of tea not too far from the Lakehouse, standing on the docks beside it.

Polaris has posed:
Lorna was never one for being particularly subtle, which may or may not have been an inherited trait, and today was no true exception. She wore a black one-piece bathing suit with creatively placed mesh cut outs. But over that she wore a loose fitting throw over that on the back, in curling font, said 'Princess' with a crown on it. A pair of over sized sunglasses perched on her nose, and used every now and then to peer over the rims to eye the party participants at large.

As far as rules go, if the champagne was supposed to //stay// in the boathouse, that was no longer happening. As in her grip she held a bubbling glass and made her way over to the food, roughly where Rachel lingered.

The green haired woman popped a piece of bacon wrapped melon into her mouth, stealing it directly from the plate, and sipped at her drink. "So, this is a bit obvious, but you //really// look like Jean. Not saying it's a bad thing, but if you want to experiment with hair color, I could help you out." She drawled as she halted her amble next to the redhead.

Shadowcat has posed:
There's no sign of Kitty Pryde early on in during the party. Any texts sent to her phone get a "be there soon" reply, though the letters of the text are red, white and blue keeping in spirit with the festivities.

A little while after the party is in full swing, a small plane can be spotted flying way up overhead. Nothing particularly unusual about it, though it does head over in the direction of the Lake. While the plane is somewhere up nearly overhead, a figure appears in the doorway and jumps out of the plane.

Soon after, streamers of red and blue smoke begin billowing out from the sky-diver's feet. The person twirls about to make them curl around each other during free fall, before finally popping a parachute, the streams of patriotic smoke trailing behind instead of vertically.

The sky diver's chute gets lower and lower, showing someone in a helmet and goggles, painted like an Evil Knievel helmet for the 4th, and the person's jump suit is similarly red, white and blue. The chute comes in low over the lake as the parachutist aims for a nice open grassy area without anyone in the way.

They come in for a landing, and up close now the figure is distinctly feminine. Feet touch down on the ground, and the person quickly pulls their chute in to keep any wind from being able to carry it away. The parachute's shoulder straps just phase off of the person, and a moment later the jump suit falls away as well as Kitty pulls the helmet and goggles off, leaving her standing there in a pair of shorts and a bikini top for swimming. "Happy 4th of July!" she calls excitedly.

Ok, some people overdo holidays.

Smart Alek has posed:
Alek wanders down the pathway from the mansion to the lake.. he spots the plane and the incoming figure.. he pauses a moment as Kitty lands, he grins and makes his way over to the food which is a gathering spot for all students. He's currently a bit 'over dressed' for taking a dip in the lake so perhaps he is here only for the food and maybe conversation.

    His first stop is a simple burger with nothing apparently on it.

Spider-Man has posed:
Pete had spent most of the day with his Aunt, grilling up some hamburgers on her porch and chatting about everything from his job at the school to his grades over the summer semester. If it were literally any other party at any other place he definitely would have brought her along and introduced her around to students and coworkers alike. It is not any other place and it is not any other party.

So he shows up a little late, as per usual.

He has a big bowl of homemade potato salad and a pan of Chocolate delight with him though. One balanced in either palm as he pads up the drive, towards the lake and into the boathouse where the foods is being fooded out.

He's wearing a simple white T-Shirt, swim trunks, flip flops, and a backwards Mets baseball hat.

He's also wearing a shopping bag full of liqour in his right elbow.

With great party comes great inebriation.

"Bars open!"

Kaydin LeGraize has posed:
    Kaydin spent most of the day back home outside of Seattle. His dad had been grilling burgers and his mom made her famous shells and cheese with three seperate cheeses mixed into it. Kaydin arrives shortly with the large bowl of shells and cheese and a tray with burgers on it to give to various people. a mixture of whorchester and burger spice was mixed with the pork and beef burger meat. He walks, (which is still a blur to most.) and offers Rachel a burger. "Now from what I hear of the future, the country got hung up on making sentinels instead of grilling burgers so this should be a treat for you." He says with a grin to the telepath.

Psylocke has posed:
Betsy is not one to try and get a tan, which has prompted her to spend most of the day in the boathouse with an occasional trip outside beneath the auspices of a large and floppy-brimmed sunhat. She wears a ruffled dark violet top that leaves her shoulders and midriff bare, along with a loose-fitting skirt in lavender that trails down to her ankles with a cut up to her mid-thigh. The sound of the plane prompts her to emerge onto the balcony, lowering oversized square-frame sunglasses to better watch the arrival of daring and devilish Kitty Pryde.

She ducks back inside, heading down onto the lawn. As she does, she spots Peter approaching with his many party favours. She makes a gesture to the tables near the barbeque, still on her way to meet the now-landed Kitty: "There"s a bucket of ice over there by the table, Pete. If I catch you trying to play bartender and not enjoying yourself along with everyone else, I"ll melt your brain."

Marvel Girl has posed:
Rachel looks up as the plane starts to dip, one brow arching when someone starts to fall out of it. And by the time Kitty is on the ground? She's deep in the land between amusement and confusion, looking around (and feeling around) to see if anyone else found that...unusual.

"Hmm?" she says as Kaydin arrives with burgers, though she doesn't hesitate to take one, taking a bite with a smirk. "You know. I did have a //few// years of as normal a life as you get around here before everything went to hell," she points out. "And it mostly went to hell for mutants. 'Normal,'" she does the air quotes, "People still got to enjoy their twinkies."

Another bite, and she raises the burger in salute. "Really good, though. Does she do that every year?" she asks then, pointing to Kitty.

Rogue has posed:
Rogue's right hand goes to rest on her hip while her other holds her drink. Her eyes raise up to the sky to watch the skydiving act and when the revelation comes that its her friend and former room mate, one Katherine Pryde, Rogue just smirks and starts to make her way over there to greet her.

Once the others have already done so, Rogue has to work in a. "Such an over achiever." reminder to her friend, something she's been saying to her since they were both still in high school classes here.

A sip is taken and Rogue looks this way and that. "I was hopin' Jubilee'd make this time. I mean, this holiday ain't quite as right without Sparklefinger puttin' on a show. Guess she's busy though, her bday after all. As weird... luck would have it with mutations and calendar dates."

A sip of her tea is taken and Rogue eyes the alcohol that Peter Parker just brought... but she's told herself she's going to behave today...

Spider-Man has posed:
Pete tilts his head at Betsy for a half second longer than he needs to, then glances at the table where she indicates he can lay things out. "Don't be a bar tender or I'll get my brain melted. Got it." Big thumbs up for her, glancing side eye in her direction as she goes to meet up with the recently landed Kitty.

While depositing the bowl of potato salad and pan of desert, he's murmuring under his breath, "Planes landing have no business being this normal." But it's not that odd, not really. Besides, he's got booze to deal with. Several bottles and at least one mixer. There's a mixer and a measuring nozzle for each, what he's setting up on a mostly empty table with cups and ice on hand to fill it to order.

For himself, he mixes up a sprite and vodka and finds a place to lean where he can people watch while enjoying the one holiday a year he lets himself engage in libation. Red Solo cup held up to Rogue, grinning afore he takes a long drink.

Shadowcat has posed:
Kitty Pryde is all smiles for everyone, wishing them a happy fourth as she gets the parachute bundled up and put somewhere out of the way. She laughs and tells Rogue, "Hey, you get to fly every day pretty much. The rest of us have to rent a plane." She grins to her friend and then waves over to Rachel. "First time I've done that. Well, not the first time I jumped out of a plane on purpose, but using a parachute," she says.

Kitty looks up, the red and blue smoke trails just sort of haphazardly up there. "Next year I'll have to learn how to spell something with them," she says before turning back to everyone. "Alek, you should grab a suit so you can go swimming," she tells the new student. Betsy is given a warm side-hug. "The place looks great, you really did an outstanding job setting it up," she tells the Asian woman.

Kitty waves to Kaydin, "Glad you made it back in time," she says as she starts over for the beverages. "Peter, what do you suggest?" she asks as she takes in the sight of the alcohol. She picks up some whiskey and looks for something to mix it with. Kitty glances over to Lorna, giving the bottle a suggestive wiggle to see if the Genoshan would like a glass too.

Kaydin LeGraize has posed:
    Kaydin waves to Kitty and he moves the burgers and shells and cheese to the food table and he looks at the various people. He moves to the beverages. "You know I can drink a ton of alcohol and not be drunk. Side effect of my powers." He says as he gets a can of soda and sips it as he looks to the others. He moves back over to Rachel. "So how you doing? I assume you are fitting in well?" He asks curiously. The way he watched her it was clear he liked her but he did try and hide it, as terrible as it is to hide such things from telepaths.

Sunspot has posed:
Roberto has been enjoying his first day off work since he came to the US. Mostly off work. It was not a holiday in Brazil. Just in case he left the damn cellphone in his vehicle, currently parked at Salem Center.

And he is in time. At least in time to see Kitty's arrival. Flashy. And it makes him smile.

A brief glance around the area reveals a few known faces, but none of the New Mutants. They better not to have gone into some mission today (and without telling him)! But Kitty is here. Very much in the center stage, so he goes to meet her.

Polaris has posed:
Lorna muttered into her champagne glass as she sensed the approach of the plane, and the ensuing entertainment of Kitty jumping from it. She glanced up briefly, but by and large, seemed more interested in filling up her plate with snacks. A few more chocolate covered fruit, some cupcakes, another of those melon balls wrapped in bacon... She glanced toward Peter as the young man brought up a bag of booze and she eyed it with interest as he unloaded it. Idly, she made her way to Kitty, "If you wanted to fly, I could've arranged that you know." She offered and wiggled her fingers as if it explained everything.

As the sun dipped lower, she pushed her sunglasses back, using them to keep her hair out of her face as she did so. Even when Kitty wiggled the bottle in her direction, "Eh, sure I can handle something else beyond champagne. It's a bit dry for my tastes." She flashed Kitty a grin, and exhaled a breath.

Smart Alek has posed:
Alek is suddenly addressed.. he looks at his burger and then back to Kitty... he debates the order to get a bathing suit... he seems to be indecisive on if he should sit down and eat the burger or head back.

    After a moment, he simply takes the burger with him back to the mansion, when he returns he's wearing pretty bland blue bathing suit, probably a Walmart special. He wanders back to a table nearby the pond and puts his burger down, he samples it finally, the tastes of carbo-coated protein, ahh.

    He scans the rest of the faces for familiar ones, but none really register.. He does however squint a bit passing his gaze over some of them, their various abilities giving off a rainbow of colors to him, his gaze may land too long a few times which he forces to go back to look at his burger eventually, it's so plain considering the people present.

Psylocke has posed:
"Yes, well, a little Wikipedia and voila!" Betsy waves a hand around, as though conjuring the party out of thin air, "Sunshine, libations, and grilled meat. A recipe even /I/ can master. I did consider a red, white, and blue bathing suit but I thought you all might find that a little disingenuous." You can take the girl out of Britain, it would seem, but not vice versa.

"He's not to be a bartender," Betsy chides Kitty with a smile, glancing at Peter, "If you give him the option he'll be bending over backwards for everyone all day. It's his party as much as the rest of ours."

Almost as if to emphasize her point, the violet-haired telepath begins to pick up the bottles and peer at them critically. After making a choice, she pours several cups and begins sliding them across the table. Even to Rogue, whom she smiles at: "It may be America's birthday but you can be a little British as far as the drinking age is concerned, I'm sure."

Spider-Man has posed:
Pete rolls his shoulders against whatever he's leaning against to face Kitty with her whiskey bottle, "For you? Definitely a Malibu Sunset. I'll get you started and then go out and mingle so Betsy doesn't hurt me." The last said conspiratorially to Kitty, side eyeing said Ms. Braddock as he hoists his solo cup up for another drink and then he sets it aside to get to work. His hand, thumb down, grabs a cocanut rum and tosses it up end over end in the air.

Scooping up some ice cubes with a solo cup which he sets off to the side before catching the falling bottle upside down. His thumb presses the release so that alcohol drizzles into the mixer with more ice, spins in his palm and drops back down in the cooler with a crunch. Pineapple-orange juice poured in with the rum and he pushes the top of the mixer together so it can be shaken vigorously or spun in his palm intermittently.

"So, you come here often?" Because he's playing bartender. Also a huge nerd. Also grinning.

The mixer is opened over the top of the solo cup, pink drink pouring out over the ice. A small bit is sucked off his index finger while he's drizzling Grenadine over the top, collecting at the bottom. Finally, he tops it with a pair of cherries and pushes it with one extended finger across the table to Kitty reeeaaal delicately.

"Happy 4th, Ms. Kitty." Tipping his Mets hat like Marshal Dillon might have.

Rogue has posed:
Rogue spots Peter looking back at her and she just grins and then sticks her tongue out at the man in a childish tease, she's sooo mature. She then raises her tea bottle up to sip from it before she looks over to Lorna and Kitty. "Heck, I'll drop anyone outta the sky for free and have been doin' so for quite some time. Maybe I should start a airplane-free sky divin' school." She moves toward the food and picks up a brightly decorated cupcake. "Oooo, so pretty... so tasty..."

Its about then that the cup slides over toward her that Betsy had made for her. Rogue puts the cupcake down again and takes that cup inside, her tea bottle is set down also and she points a finger right at Betsy. "Enabler..." Rogue says then in a slow and somewhat sultry tone. "Fine by me though." And she raises the cup up to sip from it!

Marvel Girl has posed:
"Yeah? Sounds like a bummer," Rachel replies to Kaydin at the alcohol bit, though she's going to continue enjoying that burger. And the 'drinking age' comment from the drinks table pings on all fronts. "I, however, can absolutely get drunk," she says as she starts in that direction. "Though it's frowned upon. Less because of drinking ages and more because of, you know. Brains." That's a terrible explanation.

But she doesn't add anything to it, which makes it an even worse explanation. "Heya Kitty, Rogue. Miss Braddock." Because telepath fights are not fun. "Guy who is definitely not the bartender." And then it's back to Kaydin. "Settling in is a relative term," she admits. "But I'm doing okay. Trying to work on the 'normal' thing?"

Smart Alek has posed:
Alek decides however to go to where all the cool 'kids' are at and head to Pete's bartending station, he looks at the various liquors and liquids, "So... what do you recommend to someone who doesn't drink very often. And.. goes with a burger?" he adds, he fights to make eye contact with Peter and it's fleeting, his body language is also of a constant fidgit, his fingers interwoven and held in place.

Iceman has posed:
    "IT. IS. FINISHED!" Shouts a man made entirely of ice, standing on top of the mansion down towards the folk down towards the lake and the masses in between.

    There's a HUGE piece of ice attached to the top floor sitting area, or balcony as Emma told Bobby to call it, to which the younger blonde shrugged and did his plan anyways.

    Unveiling his contraption, or creation, it's a large chunk of ice that extends from the top floor and meanders down and even spirals underneath itself twice on the way from the roof to the lake.

    "The Bobbert Slide of Ice-E-Joy... Working Title" Bobby says the last two words quickly before he dives chest first onto the slide and makes his way to the lake screaming, "WEEEEEEEEEEEE!"

Shadowcat has posed:
Kitty Pryde grins over to Lorna and says, "Yes, but I figured sometimes it's fun to do it the old fashioned way. And, wow, I'm just realizing that practically everyone here can fly," she says, looking about the group.

Roberto gets a smile and a hug of greeting. "Happy Independence Day. Hopefully no aliens, but we might get Rogue to give the President's speech from the movie if we get her liquored up enough," Kitty says.

She misses that Alek takes her suggestion so seriously. Though on his return, Kitty motions to Rogue. "Alek, have you met Anna-Marie? Also known as Rogue. She's one of the Teaching Assistants to Ororo. Be careful you don't touch her skin though, it causes a serious reaction," she says, giving him the standard warning.

Kitty takes the drink from Peter but with a relenting look to Betsy. "Last one I take from him, I promise," she says, moving her hand over her heart as she makes the vow.

Polaris has posed:
Lorna glances toward Rogue as the southern Belle comes up to join her and Kitty, and she flashed the woman a grin. "Hey you, we need to have a chat later." She continued to sip at her champagne glass, and leaned toward Rogue as she spoke and dropped her voice low.

"About that perfume. Again. A follow up." She whispered in a rather dramatic manner that had everything to do with the amount of alcohol the green haired woman had already downed. And not simply to be dramatic.

To the telepaths, if any picked up the already buzzed magnokinetic's thoughts, it would revolve getting into an argument with her father over his flirting with Rogue. Cue hilarity.

To the rest, it was just Lorna being whispery, and she shot Peter a glance and then Kitty in turn. She looked about to make some kind of sassy comment before Bobby shouted from his perch about a giant... ice slide. She blinked, turning her focus to consider it, then glanced back at Kitty and Rogue, and then back to Bobby. She downed the rest of her champagne in one go.

Elixir has posed:
Josh strolls out from the mansion in a t-shirt, shorts and flip flops. He watches Bonny unveil his masterpiece and slide into the lake. He chuckles and wanders towards the others. He waves hello and goes to grab himself a beer. He watches the group for a second before walking over to join.

"Hey," Josh says to Kitty, Lorna and Rogue. He nods to Rachel.

Kaydin LeGraize has posed:
    "Yea I gave up on being normal a long time ago, before I got linked to the speedforce." Kaydin says as he smirks at rachel and he looks to the others. He sips his soda and looks to Kitty and rogue and company. "So whats the latest gossip?" He asks curiously as he looks to Josh and nods. "Hey. How you doing?" He asks curiously as he offers the teenager a burger.

Spider-Man has posed:
Pete's attention isn't hard to catch and he leans in towards Alek with a grin, "Alright, but if Betsy catches me serving you, my death is on your hands." He's teasing of course, "Honestly, though... the best drink for a burger is a good..." Glancing around at his extensive, but still relatively mix heavy, selection. "... a good red wine, but since we don't have any of that." A bottle of Captain Morgan is yanked out of the ice and poured over a cup of ice, coke poured on the top third.

This cup is held out to Alek.

"Rum and coke."

Once it's taken from him he'll grab his own drink and refresh it with more vodka and more sprite and a mint leaf because he's fancy and I dare you to say otherwise.

"Alright, I'mma get away from the alcohol before she comes in here and makes me think I'm a chicken.. or a duck? I could still swim as a duck, right?" A drink and he's out of the boathouse! Hands up defensively in Betsy's direction while making his way to a chair. Cup set aside, hat tossed down, and shirt yanked off in a single motion. The Chemistry Teacher clearly has a membership at Anytime Fitness that he's definitely using. "Water slide!" Headed that direction at a jog! "Bobby, you beautiful man, this thing is... it's... it's a masterpiece.. One thing? How the hell do I get up there?"

Marvel Girl has posed:
It's a party. There are lots of stray thoughts rolling around the place. But one of Rogue and Magneto flirting definitely stands out. Enough that Rachel pauses mid-bite and quirks a brow over in Lorna's direction. She was not expecting that one.

"I'm not the person to talk to about the gossip," she snorts softly to Kaydin, reaching over to take one of the random cups Betsy filled earlier. Never mind what she just picked up. She turns toward the sound of cheering as the waterslide is revealed, raising her cup to point it out. "But, uh. Waterslide?"

She pauses a moment, taking a drink. "I'd be willing to open a pool on how long it takes before someone sticks to the ice though."

Psylocke has posed:
"I am enabling a good time, as is my remit as party hostess and good friend," Betsy says to Rogue primly, mixing her own drink and lifting it up for a sip. Mixology appears to be one of the many skills she picked up somewhere along the line. She holds the cup up to her mouth as she watches Peter dart off in the direction of the Mansion proper and the fabulous new ice slide Bobby has constructed. She sighs for a moment and turns back to the others gathered around the drinks table.

"I do hope they got these fireworks right," she muses mostly to herself, looking out over the lake with a furrowed brow, "It would be a terrible shame if they set something on fire or weren't sufficiently spectacular."

A sidelong glance is given to Lorna, and Betsy deftly hides her wide grin behind the red cup.

Sunspot has posed:
Roberto laughs at hearing Kitty's greeting, responding to her hug right away. "Glad to see you too," he replies, glancing at Rogue with another smile. "Wait, can we get liquored up at all? Because I could use something more interesting than soda."

Alas, he is nineteen, and the US is not as generous as Brazil (and most of the world) about drinking ages.

Iceman's ice slide gets a long look. He is very definitely trying that thing soon. But it looks the kind of thing that demands at least a beer before.

Rogue has posed:
Rogue gives a grin back to Betsy before she glances over to Lorna, then hears the whispering and then her eyes go huge for a moment. "Oh god, is it the end of mah life already? But I never got t'see if the Alamo actually has a basement or not..." She draws in a heavy breath before she shows a slight smile to Lorna.

Its Bobby's arrival that makes Rogue laugh though, seeing him zip by on his slide. "And there goes all the kids... I hope it doesn't melt and drop people off the roof to their dooms below."

When she's introduced to Alek by Kitty, Rogue smiles to him. "Heya, and yeah, I'd offer t'shake your hand but... no gloves on today. So I'm tryin' t'avoid people contact for the present time."

A tip of her chin is given to Josh when she sees him arrive too, then she sips from the cup Betsy gave her.

Shadowcat has posed:
Kitty Pryde might not say anything about those under the age of 21 drinking. Which is good, because her 21st birthday is three weeks away still. Though she's going to be keeping an eye on the students to make sure no one overdoes it. And no one under eighteen unless they sneak it.

Kitty takes a sip of her drink and tells Kaydin, "Just everyone enjoying the party." She looks over at Bobby's slide. "Ok... I think that's gotta be put to use," she says. "Though I'm worried about freezing... ah...parts... off before making it to the bottom," she says, eyeing it speculatively. "Roberto, you've got the warmth to handle that thing. Want to go first?" she asks him.

Smart Alek has posed:
Alek wanders back to Kitty and Rogue with a Rum and Coke in hand.. he sniffs the drink and his eyes glow blue a bit brighter, "People drink this right?" he leans closer, "I've heard of Rum and Coke, never had it.. it feels complex though." as he dips a finger in it, his eyes glow, "Yeah, Alcohol, Sugar, lots of artificial dyes and flavorings. New York water too." he looks up at the slide as it's being looked over by others, "Work of art indeed yeah.."

Iceman has posed:
    "You know exactly how to get up!" Bobby says with a doppler effect as he goes sailing past and hits the ramp at the end to go sailing through the air. Arms and legs tumbling through the air as he is launched into the lake yelping the whole time before he is silenced by the mass of water engulphing the mutant.

    Bobby breaches the surface as his fleshier self and approaches the group of co-workers and more correct, friends. "You should all go give it a try. It's easily my opum magnus." The man in a black bikini bottom with a couple of red 'X's on the buttcheeks says with a huge grin as he waves to all the newer people he hasn't met yet. "Bobby Drake, pleasure to meet you. Bobbert, local funny man. Friend of Spider-man. Yeah, I met Wolverine once. Once." Bobby just spills out random words when he gets into a introduction roll. "Bob Vance. Vance Refigeration." He says with a wink to another younger person before stopping near the drinks and works on picking one while addressing Betsy, "Like that time in San Diego where they set off the whole show in eighteen seconds. HILIARIOUS!"

Polaris has posed:
Lorna straightened from her lean as she lingered by Kitty and Rogue, and promptly found a space bit of space on the table to set her empty glass down to pick up a solo cup containing, well whatever she found first that didn't look too dubious. She exchanged her grip with cupcakes, watermelon chunks, and the new drink in her grip before she glanced toward the massive ice slide again.

"Someone is gonna lick that and then we'll have to call Josh over to save someone's tongue from an early demise." She drawled, and glancing back to Rogue as the woman spoke of her own life ending, the greenette rolled her eyes.

"Nope, but uhh, I might've gotten myself into trouble. I got 'young lady'ed'." She glanced toward Alek briefly, arching a brow upward as she considered the young man and shook her head once.

"No one thinks it's a work of art..."

Sunspot has posed:
Roberto looks up at the slide again, "I want to try that thing," he confirms to Kitty. "And my butt is freeze-resistant, but I am quite sure I am not the only one. Say, let me secure a drink. Because it doesn't feel like the kind of invention one should try when completely sober. Then we can try together."

Bonus: alcohol might help prevent freezing too.

Spider-Man has posed:
Peter flails like a child when Bobby doesn't build a set of stairs specifically for him. "Fine!" He shouts at the passing be-speedo'd Xer and jumps up to grab the edge of the back porch, pulling as if he's having a great deal of trouble climbing this relatively short distance. He's grunting, he's groaning, it's hard work okay?

Once he's standing at the ledge where the slide starts, however, he takes a few jumping steps backwards and runs right at the slide, leaping out into a dive head first like he has no idea how slippery ice can be or how quickly someone can rocket down a slide made of it. At the up turn near the lake, Pete is sent careening like a majestic bird up into the air.

The whole flight, he's crowing like Peter Pan, and backflipping like he's done this once or twice in his life.

And then he comes down in the lake, not in a dive, but a flop on his back that sends up resounding CLAP of flesh on unrelenting water.

If you listen real closely, you can hear his screams in the popping bubbles workign their way up to the surface.

Iceman has posed:
    Bobby turns his head to Roberto and gives a lift of the red cup he just poured for himself and smiles, "You should totally ride with Kitty! SLIDE! I MEAN SLIDE!" Bobby turns SO RED that he has to turn and hide his cup so that people don't realize HOW red he is having said that outloud to one of his friends.

    Clearing his throat he puts his attention onto Rachel and Lorna and Rogue, "Lllllladies." Bobby tries to siddle up next to the femme fatales and acts like their the most normal people in the world. "Nah, if they get stuck I can help get the ice off. Or Rogue could, or you could, or ... Who's this that looks suspiciously like Jean..." Then he reaches out to cover her eyes with his hands, if she'll let him... "And Scott?" Obviously he's picturing her wearing a pair of ruby quartz glasses.

Marvel Girl has posed:
Rachel finishes off the last of the burger in record time, washing it down with another drink before she gives the ice slide a look. It may be a school full of people with powers and a healer on hand, but...

The trying to be nice thing. She's working on it.

So, when Bobby comes over, she smirks a bit. "Alternatively," she suggests, leaning over to where she can see the slide and the lake. "Just a little..." One of the nice things about being at a school is how much knowledge is readily available if you're not shy about skimming it from peoples' minds.

Spinning a finger in a lazy circle, she starts to build an Archimedes screw out of telekinetic force, drawing the water up and over to flow down the inside of the slide. "Ta da!" she announces, a more genuine grin flashing across her features.

"Rachel," she introduces herself to Bobby, raising her glass. "Grey, yes. It's complicated."

Psylocke has posed:
Betsy continues to sip on her drink as she makes her way purposefully across the yard to the place where the slide angles upwards to the balcony. She crosses one arm over her stomach, resting her elbow in its palm and looking at the ice with an extra critical eye. Even as other party goers are making straight for it, she cheats and jumps the queue. Her telekinesis activates, violet butterfly wings shaped from some unquantifiable psionic energy framing her face, and she shoots upwards to the top of the slide like a cork out of a bottle.

From the top of the slide, she calls back down to Kitty: "It seems fine!" Landing at the top, Betsy undoes the loose knot holding her skirt in place so only the swim suit remains. She settles herself down at the top of the slide and then, with a telekinetic nudge, begins to slide down it at the carefully engineered break neck pace.

She doesn't flip or tumble through the air when she is fired off the end and out over the lake, instead twisting horizontally and diving into the water like a torpedo with nary a splash.

Polaris has posed:
Lorna quirked an eyebrow upward as Peter made his way up the slide, and she chose to keep her position of sipping her drink and watching the antics of the various boys testing it out. As Bobby approached she flashed the red faced young man a wicked grin over her solo cup. Her fingernails tapping out a soft click-click against the side as she struggled to hold back the urge to snicker.

"If I helped I'd rip the poor soul's skin straight off. Not helpful, Bobby." She murmured and glanced side long at Rachel as the red head created a solution to the issue of ice + damp skin. She cheered softly, and toasted Rachel with her red solo cup in hand.

"Look at her, solving problems." And then off Betsy went down the slide.

Shadowcat has posed:
Kitty Pryde takes a sip from her drink and then points over at Bobby. "Watch yourself, Drake," she says in a voice dripping with so much suspicion as to be comical. She points at her eyes and then at him. That's right, got her eyes on you bud!

"But nice job with the slide. /I/ think it's a work of art even if someone else doesn't," Kitty says, moving over to give Lorna a little hip bump playfully. Kitty smiles to Alek. "Yes, just don't have too much of it, ok? The less someone has had, the stronger it hits them. Just a glass maybe?" she suggests, watching out for the student who is still experiencing so many things for the first time from what Kitty has seen.

She nudges Rogue in a clothing-covered spot. "You have the thick skin, should give it a go," she says. As Betsy slides down then, Kitty lets out a cheer! "Ok, if Betsy doesn't come out with frostbite, I'll give it a try," she says, smiling towards Roberto when he says he's going to give it a go too.

Spider-Man has posed:
Peter flops onto shore and crawls forward until his knees are beneath him, then his feet, and then he's stumbling towards his hat in the seat by his drink with a hand in his back because that was painful. So painful that he misses Betsy's splashless dive. Painful enough that he drops down into the chair and pulls the hat down over his face to groan in solitude. Obviously it's nothing alcohol can't fix and he's got a glass full of it ready to sooth the savage burn. What remains in his cup is guzzled down, one cube of ice then moving about behind his teeth.

Iceman has posed:
    "That's way better than what I had." Bobby says.

    At the top of the slide is a small trickle from the garden hose that was tied to one of the banisters up there.

    Bobby tugs at the shirt collar he's not wearing before he nods once and squints towards Rachel. "Like, some sort of time-baby. Cool. Gotcha." He says before looking to Lorna and tugging that collar again. "You'd obviously cut the ice near his tongue, not cut his tongue." Cause it would be a he. For sure. No girl's THAT dumb.

    "You watch YOURself. Yeah." Bobby, THE OLDER, says towards Kitty before he turns his attention fully onto Rogue, "Yeah, go for a spin. I'll even help you up there." Bobby smiles, his hand turning to ice as he holds it up to show that he'll help literally get Rogue up to the slide. NOT PETER. NEVER PETER.

    And Betsy of course would win if this was an Olympic diving contest, BUT IT AIN'T. :P

Rogue has posed:
Rogue just laughs softly at Lorna. "You're gonna be in the dog house with'im for awhile." She comments. "I'm sorry your dad wants t'date me, Lorna. I wish I could do something about this sexiness, but I just can't." She smirks to the one she calls Green Peace then. They talked about it quite awhile last time, and she assured her she wouldn't flirt with Magneto, even if he starts it! which he always does, in her opinion!

"People gonna be climbing up the walls t'get t'that slide now, this has medical emergency written all over it." And she says that right to Bobby after he'd approach, smiling at him anyway though. "Well done, Bobby Drake." She says to the prankster.

A smile is shown to Bobby and Kitty. "I think I'm good. I get my kicks outta flyin' all the time after all."

Marvel Girl has posed:
See? That's the nice thing about Xavier's. Nobody finds being in the wrong timeline or universe weird. Rachel raises her glass to Lorna with a faint smile before she takes another sip from her glass //just// in time to hear Rogue's comment.

And there's a spittake. A big, messy one.

Elixir has posed:
Josh just shakes his head at the shennanigans and takes a seat where he can people watch comfortably. Without needing to go far for the beer.

"I'm not unsticking any tongues from that," he calls over. "Except maybe Rachel's. Or Betsy's," he jokes with a wide grin.

Sunspot has posed:
Roberto returns a minute later, having secured his own glass of rum and coke. "Ready when you are, Kitty. I'll try to keep you unfrozen and not to melt the slide either," pause for him to try to figure how the hell do that. "Always learning new things at Xavier's," he offers with a chuckle.

Then the Brazilian young man offers Kitty's his hand, to climb up Bobby's ice-device-of-doom. He does not even have a swimsuit. But... whatever.

Polaris has posed:
Lorna rolled her eyes at Kitty, "Look, I'm trying to be vaguely responsible here! Scott's not here, so someone has to point out.. that if I'm ever put in charge of medical anyone... it'll only end up worse." She shook her head with a huff, grinning still as she watched Peter sulk his way out of the water and collapse into a chair. She didn't tease him though, as Bobby tried to explain how she wouldn't completely destroy someone that licked the ice slide.

"That's why I like you Bobby, always assuming I'd do the nice thing." She teased, and shook head head. Though as Rogue spoke she coughed into her drink and shot the woman a look.

"Could you possibly say that in any way that's even vaguely less ick inducing? He's in his nineties!" She shook her head and glanced at Rachel as the woman did a spit-take.

"Uhm... Uh.. so. Breathe? And don't die from inhaling?"

Marvel Girl has posed:
Rachel nods to Lorna, pressing a hand to her chest as she coughs a few times. "Yeah. Yeah, that was working, and then there was that comment, and...Yep, nope, that's a no-go. I mean, no offense, great...genes for you and all, but, uh. Yeah. No. Was not expecting that."

She manages to resume the regular breathing thing long enough to call back to Josh. "Pretty sure I'm not putting my tongue on it!"

Iceman has posed:
    A lone spotlight shines onto Bobby with his head hung way low as he watches his rose get ground into the mud.

    Bobby doesn't show the drama of his heart on his sleeve but he smiles as his hand changes back to skin and shrugs. "Yeah, that makes sense." But then he awkwardly turns around and walks by Peter's chair on his way back to the ice slide. "ce-iay, uy-gay es no bueno-ay." Still young a heart.

    Bobby quickly walks to the other side of the ice slide and kind of hides there...

Shadowcat has posed:
Kitty Pryde grins towards Peter as he comes out of the water after his run. "Nicely done Pete," she tells him. Kitty looks over to Sunspot. "Ah, going to make me do this. First I roast in the sun, now I'll freeze on the slide," she teases him. She finishes off her drink then, walking over towards the slide, but stopping to tell Rachel, "If I die of frostbite, I'd like a nice, simple memorial service. Maybe somewhere on a beach." She pats her friend with a smile and then lets Roberto lead up her the slide. "Ok, though I should really got put on a wetsuit or something," she says, eyeing the icy slide. At least the summer sun is slowly melting it so it's nice and wet and slick.

Kitty looks over to Roberto. "Ok, we ready?" she asks. When he's ready she hops on it with him!

Elixir has posed:
Josh sticks his tongue out at Rachel and takes a long pull from his beer.

"Don't choke, there," he snerks with a wink.

He tries to keep all the various things he could say about the idea of Rogue and Magneto together out of his head. Too many psychics around. Leather pants, leather pants, leather pants...

Rogue has posed:
Rogue just grins at Rachel's spit take. She then looks to Lorna. "At 90, your dad looks better than most people around. But that bein' said, I got no plans t'date him, or nothin' like it. So relax. I'm single now, and I'm enjoyin' it."

She moves to the food table to pick up that cupcake she'd had earlier and then walks after Bobby to join him. The little vanilla cupcake is offered to him with red/white/blue sprinkles on white icing. "Here." She tells him.

"Eat this and work on that dad bod some more." She teases the Iceman some, raising her drink up to sip from it again.

Spider-Man has posed:
There's a big thumbs up for Kitty, but Peter is still hiding beneath his hat where there's no searing pain on his flesh.

Then he's got his head craned to look from Bobby, from beneath his hat, to the boathouse where the booze are, "Well don't hide! You get back in the game and try again!" Said as he rolls off the chair and works a foot beneath him, then another, and walks on sour thighs towards the boathouse. Just in time to see Rachel spittake about something he didn't hear. He can't, he has not the spoons for whatever craziness a Grey brings. Trying to figure all the intricacies of that family tree would haunt his scientific mind for the rest of forever.

"Not my circus, not my monkeys." Hands waving, disappearifying himself in with the booze to make something a lot stronger. Hopefully there's a window upon which he can lean because stretching his back out somehow makes it hurt less. "It's like the Rhino gored me.. zero out of ten, would not backflop again." Stretching, shoulders back, spine curved way too much.

Psylocke has posed:
Betsy emerges from the lake shortly after - doing a Linda Barrett impersonation so apt that 'Moving in Stereo' might as well be playing - and shakes the water free from her violet hair casually. She gives Peter a look as she steps past him, smiling as though she had planned to say something and then had remembered something else. Rather than speak, she simply waves slightly and marches straight past and back towards the drinks table.

"You stay away from my tongue, Foley," Betsy says as she fetches another drink at the table. Her dress still somewhere on the balcony, she resorts to wrapping a towel about her waist and glancing over to the others.

"I can't admonish you for your taste," she says to Rogue, turning to Lorna with an apologetic smile, "Sorry."

Sunspot has posed:
"Good call, maybe later," replies Roberto about the swimsuit. He definitely will need one after the dive. "I am always ready," the famous last words as Kitty pulls him down into the slide. Not quite ready.

And they sliiiiiiide.

There is no graceful ending to that. But all things considered, he dive-bombs pretty well.

And gets out of the water spluttering and laughing. "Yes. I better find a more suitable attire," he comments to Kitty when the girl shows up. "I am going into the mansion, back in a few."

Polaris has posed:
Lorna shook her head once as Bobby sulked off in a broken hearted manner and she heaved a sigh as she took another long gulp of her drink. Her focus returned to Rachel as the red head started to breath regularly and was able to talk. An important sign she was not about to choke and die. "No offense taken, that was honestly my original uh.. reaction. Sort of. Plus a fair bit of a freak out." She mumbled and made a face as she looked down into the contents of her drink as if it were to blame for that awkward series of events.

Of course, then Rogue was off strutting to tend to Bobby with cupcakes and care, with another comment and the green haired woman shook her head again.

"Right, so //when// are the fireworks happening? I could use some nice //loud// streams of fire in the sky about now."

Marvel Girl has posed:
"And all is back to its normal state of relative sanity," Rachel sighs in relief as Rogue denies making any moves on nonegenarians. That's just being responsible. Osteoporosis is a real danger.

"Don't worry, someone'll do something crazy soon enough," she smiles ruefully over at Lorna. "Someone always d- Are those chocolate dipped potato chips?" Because Rachel has priorities.

Iceman has posed:
    Bobby is on the other side of the ice slide as he waits for Peter to come having gotten the super secret coded message from the Ice-man. He has his head down and is going through scenario after scenario of what to say to Peter or what to say to Rogue. He's acting like a kid and he knows it. Then he turns around while pacing and speaking, "It's stupid, I know it's stupid, I'm me and she's-"

    "AAAH!" He screams when seeing Rogue face to face.

    "Um... Th-Thanks." Bobby says, taking the cupcake and eating a bite of the icing only at frist. "-Wait, I don't have a dad bod. Do i?" He says, looking down and grabbing at the skin of his bare stomach with his fingers, thinking it's fat. The icing on his cheek gives the illiusion that he is indeed a dadbod.

Shadowcat has posed:
Kitty Pryde lets out a squeal at the cold of the slide as she and Roberto go shooshing down it, bouncing off one another. Half way down Kitty rolls over onto her stomach to try to spread out the cold apparently. She hits the ramp at the end and goes flying through the air, arms circling to try to control her body.

Where's that parachute when she needs it?

Kitty hits the water with a sploosh, managing to go in feet first and avoid a belly flop. She comes back up above the water, brushing her hair back from her face and grinning. "Ok, that was pretty fun. Just... a BIT cold," she says as she swims back to shore.

Spider-Man has posed:
Peter is mid bend when Betsy meanders in and waves. For her, there is only a pained expression, "It hurt, Betsy.. It hurt so bad." He murmurs and then just as quickly she's back outside with a fresh drink. There's a blown out sigh and his back arching in the other direction. "I hate this." He groans, to himself, and stands up looking around the boathouse with a furrowed brow.

"I hate this a lot."

The hat is lifted just enough that he can turn it around backwards and then he too is headed out of the boathouse, back over to where his shirt is. Once he's pulled it on to jog over to where Bobby is hiding beneath the slide. Poking his head in and under to where the Iceman and Rogue is speaking. Just in time to hear about Dad bods, "Sorry, I was in a lot of agony. That is the only reason I misse- hey." First rule of bro-code, you do not speak of bro-code. "Sup." Cool guy.

"Dad bods, amirite?"

Rogue has posed:
Rogue smirks at the shout from the Iceman upon seeing her. "Thats probably the reaction that Lorna wants her dad t'have when he sees me, rather than the one he actually has where he gets all flustered and red'n the face." Lorna's not around now, she can't hear her say this stuff! So the Belle is all grins as she rocks forward and back on her bare feet in the grass.

She looks down at Bobby's stomach and she shakes her head. "Not yet." She states before she looks over to the arriving Peter. She grins at him too whilst hearing the distinctive voice of Kitty Pryde go zooming by on the slide beside/above them. After she hears the splash of what would be her friend entering the lake, she laughs softly.

"You both will have them eventually though, I'm sure'a it. I can see you're all hot'n young right now, but eventually? You're gonna be married with children and Al Bundy is gonna be your physical resemblances." Her drink is raised up and through a grin she sips it.

Elixir has posed:
Josh finishes his beer and shakes his head. The school was always a strange place. A special place. And tonight was no different.

He gets up and heads back to the mansion, clapping Rachel on the shoulder as he passes by. He taps away on his phone as he goes.

Polaris has posed:
Lorna shrugged once as she was left standing as the sole hold out by the food and drinks beside Rachel now. She glanced at the otherwise abandoned, for now, food and tilted her head, considering. "I don't think anyone actually uses 'sanity' to describe this place. Not once now that I think about it." She murmured and as the red head took off for the chocolate covered chips, her eyebrows climbed upward.

"Uhh yes? There's a few things over there that maybe shouldn't be covered in chocolate?" She offered, and glanced at the drink she'd nearly completely downed again. A true problem indeed. The green haired woman reached for a few bottles and hurriedly mixed herself something else, pausing to sip at the balance now and then before adding more soda or ice.

"So. Rachel. I'm very curious, as you're from a possible future... and like, you're kind of related to people here. Genetically speaking." She paused, and eyed her drink, and added another splash of something.

"Uhh... I don't have any future offspring that might come to visit, right? I just kinda.. wanna check."

Spider-Man has posed:
"For your information, Al Bundy is my spirit animal." Peter holds up a hold your horses finger to Rogue, "And we should all be so lucky as to bag young Katey Sagel. So, you think you're insulting me, but you're not.. you basically just fulfilled a really weird fantasy I had about a woman who was kind of up there in age before I was even born." Z-snap, neck pop.

"I, for one, can't wait to for my thirties when I can stop pretending this-" waving both hands down at his rather impressive physique, "-is worthe exorbitant amount of time I put into keeping it and decide that cookie dough straight from the wrapper is better than three hundred crunches a day." Smug, so very smug.

Iceman has posed:
    "Dang it Peter. I'm not even a dad. I'm barely a teacher!" Bobby says with a flail of his arms, but he is very careful to not lose his cupcake, no sir-ee-bob.

    Bobby frowns at Parker and then furrows his eyebrows at Rogue, "Tha-hell Anna? You some soothsayer now? Because that was some boarderline creepy children of the corn type stuff Carlisle." Bobby says, lowering his head to get his eyebrows to hang low over his eyes.

    "Wait, you do three hundred crunches?" Bobby asks, his eyebrow raising up and then he just hands the icingless cupcake over to Peter. "Here man, you need this more than I do."

Spider-Man has posed:
"In the morning, yeah. Then again in the afternoon." Peter accepts the cupcake, "Then I do a six mile run and laps at the pool." Hopefully he wasn't teasing about the cupcake. It is gone in very quick bites. "I'll jot down my workout for you. My ab muscles have ab muscles."

Marvel Girl has posed:
"Potato chips should //for sure// be covered in chocolate," Rachel assures Lorna as she loads several up on her plate, along with a variety of foods both snack and not completely void of nutrition.

She casts a sidelong glance toward the other girl at the question of future offspring, crunching as she comes up with and subsequently discards several possible answers. Some of them serious, some of them not.

Not that are still alive. You already died. Yes, approximately fourteen. It sounds like a lot, but there were litters involved.

Finally, she sighs.

"Honestly? I wouldn't worry about it. The quantum mechanics of it all pretty much guarantee that where I'm from is an entirely different...timeline, or universe, or reality, however you want to call it."

Shadowcat has posed:
Kitty walks up on shore, grabbing a towel to dry herself off. She makes her way over to the drinks table to get another beverage, then joins the others. Kitty hears the conversation going on, and grabs a chocolate covered strawberry to pass to Rachel. Kitty grabs a handful of chex mix for herself.

She moves over to listen to Bobby and Peter. "What are we talking about? Dad bods?" she asks, looking from one to the other of them. "Oh. Sorry," she says, like she wasn't supposed to mention that around them, and looking sheepish. Though it's all just a joke and she breaks out grinning a few seconds later.

Kitty wanders over towards Betsy. "Great job with the party," she offers again.

Polaris has posed:
Lorna eyed the chocolate covered potato chips and shrugged once as Rachel loaded up on them. "Look, salt and chocolate are perfectly fine together. I just disagree with the idea of the potato chip getting soggy." She shook her head as she adjusted the wrap around her shoulders, and continued to sip at her drink. As Rachel gives her the side eye, Lorna made a point of poking around at the chocolate covered strawberries instead. She paused before she bit into one, to listen as the redhead waved away any concerns. She exhaled a breath and nodded once.

"Oh good. I do not need to explain any of that to my father or the press in Genosha if one turned up." She flashed the redhead a grin and shook her head.

"Anyways, I'm gonna go inside and put on some bug spray before the fireworks."

Rogue has posed:
Rogue just grins at both Peter and Bobby. To Peter though she softly shakes her head. "I never even seen that show before. But someone I touched did, so I just got some'a the names and images inside'a my head from it. It ain't nothin' personal, clearly ya work out to a scary degree. All that joggin' and so forth."

When Kitty shows up, Rogue just grins at her. "Ya know what ya shoulda done, was coordinate your parachutin' so that you landed ON Bobby's slide, then did the descent into the lake off'a that sweet ramp jump."

She sighs and shakes her head, raising her cup up to sip again. "Missed opportunities."

Iceman has posed:
    Bobby squints at Peter and motions quickly towards Betsy and then he chuckles. "No way you actually do all that. There's just not enough time in the day." The Ice Man sayeth.

    Then Kitty shows up and butts right in. "We're not talking about dad bods, we're talking about... uh... bad, mods! Yeah. All those geeks that broke fortnite with their mods. Yeah. ugh. the worst." Bobby says, looking down and away quickly before changing the subject as soon as he can.

    "Rogue can fly, just take Kitty into the air and drop her when you're high enough. That'll work right, right? For someone who's like, the strongest, you have like, zero energy sometimes Carlisle... what's up with that?"

Psylocke has posed:
Betsy continues to linger nearby to Rogue, Peter, and Bobby's conversation but hasn't gotten involved in it. Some of the references are sailing over her head, and she's taking her hostess duties seriously enough to be laying out some pre-made drinks for when the fireworks start. The sun is close to setting now, and it looks as though it won't be too much longer.

She glances up when Kitty arrives, dipping her head, "I'm glad to see you're all having fun. The parachute entrance was a nice touch, as was Bobby's slide. If anybody asks, I'm taking credit for planning it all and they were /not/ spur of the moment additions." She grins.

Spider-Man has posed:
Peter nods with Rogue, mouthing scary degree, "That or I was genetically altered by some crazy science experiment giving me the body of a Greek God and the metabolism of mitochondria. Since science doesn't work like that and genetic mutation on the cellular level is a matter of evolutionary shifts over the course of centuries rather than minutes?" he pantomimes push ups, "All about burning more calories than you bring in, bro." His bro-voice is very bad.

Peter Parker is not a bro.

"Yeah, well." To Bobby, swinging his knuckles out with a tight smile, "Plenty of time." Smack. "In." Smack smack, "The day.. now. If you could." SMACK, "Not remind me more than I'm already reminded by being here, that'd be just-" gib-slap fight style smacks in Bobby's direction, "-super."

Side eyeing Kitty, "Yeah, we were talking about Fortnite's brustling modding community."

Marvel Girl has posed:
Rachel takes her plate of snacks by the drink table long enough to grab something alcoholic before heading over to the beach chairs to make herself comfortable. Once she's settled in, she even lets down her shields just a bit - just enough to soak in the good feelings of students and faculty on vacation, enjoying a holiday. Not that she'll ever admit to it.

Kaydin LeGraize has posed:
    Kaydin looks at the group. He been stuffing his face this entire time and looks at the various people. He then looks to Peter. "Nerd." He says simply as he sips his drink and he looks to the others. He smiles to Betsy and he nods. "Better entrance then I did, all I did was runn in." He says as he moves over to sit by Rachel, offering her some mac and cheese that he brought.

Rogue has posed:
While Bobby and Peter are bro'ing it up, is setting her drink down onto a folding chair beside her. She's then just staring at them as she reaches into her pocket and pulls some things out of both of the jeans shorts pockets on either sides of her hips.

A moment later and there's a couple of little sizzling noises as she tosses two lit 'black cat' fireworks down between both of their feet where they land in the soft grass, shooting off little sparks, mere seconds from exploding beneath the two guys!

Shadowcat has posed:
Kitty Pryde grins over at Betsy. "All the credit," she agrees with the fashion model. "It's really nice when school is out and the kids have more time to... you know. Be kids," she says. Not that she's all that far removed from that age herself, just two years older, if several more years were spent in college already.

Kitty grins to Rogue and says, "Next year we'll definitely have to up it. Maybe a slide with a loop the loop in it?"

She probably hasn't seen the youtube videos of people who try that. Gravity is a harsh mistress. Kitty takes a sip of her drink, then moves over to grab a hamburger for herself. The sound of the fireworks makes Kitty jump, whirling around to see what is going on. When she sees who it is that the culprit, and the victims, she just sighs and chuckles, shaking her head.

Iceman has posed:
    "Dude, that doesn't happen ever." Bobby says to Peter before running his hand through his hair and it changes into the ice form but just his hair, and only for a moment before the X-men nearly pees himself as someone starts shooting at him.

    "RUN!" He yells at Peter and Rogue, turning fully into his ice form, Bobby is making a sprint towards the lake after picking up Rogue in his arms, trying to be some big damn hero not realizing she was the one pranking them.

Spider-Man has posed:
Peter's neck tingles, but it's not because he's in mortal danger. The black cat tossed down at his feet captures his attention immediately and his foot comes up to hacky sack it in the air and back hand it away from him as if he expects a stick of dinomite rather than a playful prank. It's a fluid, quick motion of concert effort between his senses, foot, and hand.

Bobby is long gone by then, running for the lake in full Ice form... and Peter's standing there looking between where he smacked the firework and where Bobby is running. "Uhhhh... We're all fine." Hands up reassuringly after the BANG, he flinches if that helps at all, "Everythings fine. This is fine." Hands waving, "Stop running! It... you.. she... ah well, he'll figure it out."

Peter swats at the air and ducks out from beneath the slide to go link up with Betsy and Kitty. "Bitchin' party Bets."

Marvel Girl has posed:
Rachel waves off the mac and cheese for the moment, focusing on her junk food. It's the most important food group. "Nice party, right?" she starts to say to Kaydin right as the explosives start. Luckily for her, no one can see the TK field she erects around herself.

She follows the trail of surprised minds right to the fireworks, then pauses, smirking. "Yep. Now it's a party."

Rogue has posed:
Getting reactions out of people is one of Rogue's favorite things in the whole wide world, whether it be through flirting or just teasing in general. Fireworks are a great way to do that too, especially when two guys have said 'bro' way too much around here... so here we are!

But when Bobby picks her up and starts to run off with her toward the lake in his slippery and cold ice form, Rogue drops her silver cigarette lighter and the rolled up strip of black cat fireworks onto the grass near the folding chair where her beer was resting.

Now she's just laughing and squirming, kicking her feet because that damn Iceman is cold like this! She could fly away if she wanted, of course, but she's having fun. "Save meeee!" She shouts over it all back to the others.

Psylocke has posed:
Betsy picks up on the telepathic beacon of Rogue-powered mischief and glances over in time to see the fireworks set off. She raises her eyebrows as Bobby runs off with Rogue in arm, looking back to Kitty and taking another sip of her drink: "I'm glad the children are enjoying themselves, yes." Whether she's talking about the students or the two faculty members is left up to debate.

"Rather!" Betsy says to Peter's compliment, nodding her head, "I think I've undone myself. If I'm not careful I'll get roped into organising all the events. I'm not even sure what Arbor Day is, let alone how to celebrate it." A pause, "It's good you were able to come." Despite all the ... unpleasantness. Which she doesn't bring up, but definitely underlines every word.

She swats at Kaydin in a jovial way if he is still for a second, feigning mock fury, "He's not the bloody bartender!"

Kaydin LeGraize has posed:
    "Excuse me." Kaydin says as he finishes his shells and cheese and blurs out. A blur with blue lightning zooms across the grass to the drinks and he looks to Peter, slowing down long enough to be seen. "So anything good you can recommend?" He asks curiously before zooming back out this time running along the water to rogue. He pulls out a black marker from a pocket and doodles glasses on rogue and iceman as well as a moustache on rogue. Then back to parker waiting for his response.

Iceman has posed:
    "I am saving you!" Bobby screams as he leaps into the water and suddenly his icy face is black AND blue as he splashes into the water with Rogue in hand.

    Breaching back up Bobby looks to Rogue and then to the discarded pranks on the lawn. "Did you..." He lifts a frozen finger to point at the southerner. "Hehehe, good one Carlisle... You got me good. Boy is my face red." He says, unaware of the impromptu art he wears.

Spider-Man has posed:
Peter side glances Kaydin between his trips to and from the running pair of Faculty, "We're getting close to shots, but maybe a.. did I already say rum and coke?" This is a quesiton for the general population, "I only knew the one mixed drink from my Aunt. She said it would be enough, clearly she underestimated how many people were going to ask me to make drinks." Frowning, thoughtfully, "Maybe a.. sprite and vodka? That's my favorite anyways. When I drink, which I don't often." Hands out in a helpless shrug.

Cutting back towards Betsy with a slow nod, "Yeah." He murmurs the one word quietly, rubbing at the back of his neck and looking down at the grass beneath his curling toes. Rather than bringing up already unspoken, but underlined, unpleasantnesses, he doubles down on Arbor day, "I thought that was a made up holliday so banks didn't have to open?"

Double pointing at Betsy reaffirmation of his not being the bartender, "You heard the lady. Pour stuff into a glass until it's suitably intoxicating and or flamable. Drink with caution. Leave your keys in the fishbowl."

Kaydin LeGraize has posed:
    Kaydin acks as he smacked jovially. "I know that! I am just asking for his broad bartending knowledge." Kaydin says teasingly as he nods to peter and gets a sprite and vodka and tries it. He nods. "Not bad." He says sincerely as he zooms off again, this time returning to his spot next to Rachel and smiles a little goofily. "So having fun?" He asks curiously to the red head.

Rogue has posed:
Rogue's scream is cut off abruptly as she's dropped down into the lake's water!

When she surfaces again she's tossing her head side to side to shake the water off of her face, then her hands are coming up to wipe over her skin and over her eyes. She blinks her eyelids several times before she looks over at Bobby.

A big smile is shown but she shakes her head side to side. "You're gonna pay for that." She tells him in a defiant sort've way. "You're lucky I don't feel like flyin' around t'day, or I woulda just shot straightup into the air and let you fall inta the water by your lonesome self, Iceguy."

She starts to swim toward the ladder on the dock near the boathouse. "They were black cats, ya dingus." She says back to him. "Ya acted like you're some kinda war vet back there."

Shadowcat has posed:
Kitty lets out a laugh as she watches Bobby carry Rogue down to the Lake and dump her in. "Well, you play with fire..." she starts to say. "Or... ice... and you're going to get... dumped in a lake? I really went off somewhere else on that one, didnt I?" Kitty asks Betsy bemusedly.

She adds some mustard, ketchup and pickles to her burger and then moves over to take a seat by Rachel down by the lake. "Having a good time?" she asks Rachel before taking a bite of her burger. "There should be some nice fireworks tonight too, the city normally has some that we can see from here. Nothing like the show down in New York, but still."

Iceman has posed:
    "I am an X-man..." Bobby says to Rogue with a grin as his body changes from ice to his skin and hair one with ease as the mutant swims behind Rogue. "I've seen more things than most people." He says with a shrug. "Plus we got them stupid robots wanting to off us and all." Like some mobster?

    Bobby then looks back to his slide and smirks before he climbs up the ladder. "I'll come bug you all laters. I'm gonna go make sure the whole slide is still safe." Bobby explains before he walks towards the inside of the mansion to get back to the top floor.

Spider-Man has posed:
"Seeya later Bobbo." Pete raises a hand up in Bobby's direction. "Nice banana hammock. Don't know if I said that earlier." These things must be addressed.

Cypher has posed:
'Journal Entry, July 4th:

Today I am reflecting on how much living I have packed into one very short life. Well. Technically two. It's interesting how sometimes when I think about the places I've been, and the things I've done, I feel so OLD. But more than that, I smell the scent of the grill coming in from off of the lake and I...

Want a hot dog. Really badly. Entry paused.'

A moment later Doug emerges, dressed in cargo shorts and boat-shoes and a loose tank-top with a bullseye on it that billows faintly in the warm evening wind. "Hey everybody! Somebody toss me a link!"

Psylocke has posed:
Betsy peers at Doug critically as he arrives, brow furrowed, "Were you going to spend the entire day indoors? Get over here and get sozzled right this minute."

As if to illustrate the point, Betsy begins to pour a drink for Doug with intense purpose. There are still a few hotdogs on the grill it would seem, but she can't leave the bar unattended lest Peter move in and start reenacting Cocktail. Which cannot be allowed, for whatever reason.

She glances back to Peter, "You make up holidays here? Well, I never ... "

Marvel Girl has posed:
"It's pretty nice," Rachel admits to Kitty with a small smile, continuing to nibble on her plate of junk food. "Everyone's having a good time. No one's worrying about other things. Plenty of food, plenty of drinks. And the only explosions have been from fireworks. I'd count that as a success."

Rogue has posed:
Rogue is up and out of the water just before Bobby is. She's shedding water as she moves toward the boathouse and vanishes inside. Its a few moments before she reappears with a big fluffy towel from the shelves inside and she's holding it to her torso and raising it up to dab at her face. For now she's hanging out over by the boathouse just relaxing and drying off now, watching the chaos of the party and all the others running around it who are likely all to go lay or sit in the grass once the fireworks begin.

Westchester county doesn't spare any expense when its comes to their fireworks shows. This is one of the richest counties in the United States after all.

Shadowcat has posed:
Kitty grins over to Rachel. "Good way to look at it," she agrees. As Doug comes down from the school, he'll see a giant ice slide run from the school down to the lake where it ends in a ramp to send people flying out into the water. When Kitty seems the familiar man approaching, she raises an arm to wave a greeting over to him. "You made it!" she says. "Grab a drink. Oh, better yet, make it two and bring one of them over," she adds, flashing a playful grin at him.

She turns to look back off in the direction that Rogue is, as it is starting to get dark. "So is there music it is synchronized to that we should tune into?" she asks.

Cypher has posed:
Doug positively beams. "Yes Betsy. Whatever you say, Betsy."

He accepts the drink, and says "Sam said you were back but we just seemed to keep missing each other. Did anyone tell you, I've decided I'm going to go to law school? Just blowing through a couple of accelerated undergrad programs right now and then I'm going to dominate the LSATs and be on my way."

He snags a purply-flavored wine cooler out of a tub of ice, and then obligingly dangles it to Kitty between two fingers. "Do you need a bottle opener, Miss Pryde?"

Spider-Man has posed:
"Everyone makes up holidays, Bets." Peter glances around for his discarded drink, but there are solo cups aplenty and he's not trying to drink anyones skittles. So it's to the boathouse with him to make himself another, sprite plus vodka plus mint leaf. "Spring bank?" He asks, "May Day?" Sipping his drink, lips smacking unnecessarily appreciatively. Once he's satisfied, he nods and continues, "Boxing day for crying out loud? Christmas wasn't good enough, we need second christmas.. and don't forget thirdsies.. two holidays in may because why not."

Pete shrugs and slinks back outside. He ends up at the seat where he left his solo cup... but rather than leave it, he tosses the contents out and stacks the two so as not to leave trash behind. His hat is pulled back around forward as he drops onto the seat with his legs stretched out and crossing at the ankles. One arm up so his hand is back behind his head.

Marvel Girl has posed:
"You look like you're enjoying yourself," Rachel adds to Kitty with a small smile. There's the unsaid note that she's glad to see Kitty feeling a little better. She raises her cup in salute to Doug as well when he comes over, just settling in comfortably. No spikes. No glares. Just...enjoying the holiday.

Psylocke has posed:
"Oh, it's that easy? Well, then next week is Elizabeth Braddock Week. No need to thank me."

That said, Betsy fetches up yet another drink to go and stand alongside Rogue, looking out over the lake: "The fireworks ought to be starting in a minute. Come watch them with us?"

She turns back around, busily arranging a row of chairs to sit down in. She even uses her regular old muscles to do it, as there's no real reason to end the evening on a sour note by exploding a deck chair with an injudicious display of telekinesis.

Shadowcat has posed:
There's nothing like alcohol to mend... well pretty much anything. Except for maybe a bad liver. Ok, there's probably a big list of things alcohol won't mend, but at least you can forget they aren't mended, right?

Kitty takes the cooler from Doug with a grateful smile. "Thanks," she says, flashing that smile to him. "Nope, I got it," she adds, taking hold of the cap and it just comes off in her hands like it was barely resting on there.

Kitty tells Rachel, "Yeah, well... life's got funny ways of throwing things at you," she says, shaking her head. Rachel and Betsy might pick up thoughts. A ruby ring and a dark cave. But they are fleeting, gone before one can make much out of them.

Rogue has posed:
Rogue is still holding that towel up against her self with both of her hands when Betsy approaches and she looks over at her. She flashes a grin and nods. "Okay, cool." She states then as she starts to pad across the dock toward the grass again. "Though me in the dark without a full cover'a clothin' is a terrible idea, Betsy-Boo." She has to comment on her way. "I'll try'n keep my toeses from brushin' across people's ankles'n such. Hard as it is t'keep myself from doin' that." And she releases a playful dramatic sigh. She finds a chair and settles into it though, laying the towel over her lap.

Spider-Man has posed:
"Isn't that the truth..." Peter says, immediately sitting back up and draining the contents of his drink. he's up from the lawn chair shortly and headed towards a trashcan, tossing it side arm as he passes on course to somewhere behind the boathouse. Maybe back out to where his car is parked. The cup rolls around the rim of the trashcan and swishes! Nothing but bag.

Somewhere along the way he pauses, glances back, and goes back in the boathouse to get a couple hotdogs and one hamburger... then he's back on course to wherever. "Mmm pig lips and assholes." Big bite as he goes.

Cypher has posed:
"...I could use a Doug Ramsey day," Doug says, as he takes a swig of his drink.

He turns, and studies Peter... and says, somewhat cryptically, "Oh. Hey."

Then he moves right along and rocks backward on his heels, before he glances over to Kitty and says, "Onward and upward, right, pal?"

Spider-Man has posed:
Pete raises a hand at Doug, "Sup Babel." Snap pointing beneath the plate he's carrying in a spin turn that points him right back in the escape route he was previously taking.

Marvel Girl has posed:
"At least they're made from actual pigs!" Rachel calls after Peter as he escapes, turning back to the others to clarify. "You don't wanna know what went into hot dogs where I'm from." That glimpse from Kitty is curious, but she can't chase it down just yet. Not in the middle of a happy party. That would defeat some purposes.

Shadowcat has posed:
Kitty smiles and tells Doug, "It's already Doug Ramsey's world, and we're just living in it." She salutes him with the cooler and then takes a sip of it as she turns back to look out over the water. "Rachel, you've seen the fireworks before, right? It's all just entertainment," she says. Just making sure, though she's noticed Rachel seems much more in control of late.

Kitty glances up as something buzzes around above her head. Buzzing in the sense of flying down near her, not making the noise. Lockheed swoops down to land in her lap, Kitty reaching over to secure him and give him a few scritches. "How're you doing boy? Come to watch the fireworks?" she asks the dragon.

Psylocke has posed:
"I'll keep my roving hands to myself, promise," Betsy tells Rogue, grinning as she does so. Somewhere near the drinks table, an unattended phone in a pink and purple case begins to chirp. Before she settles down, Betsy steps over to pick it up. In the dark, her face is briefly illuminated by the screen. Turning her attention to the rest of the party, she calls out at the top of her lungs so everyone can hear:

"Fireworks!"

As if on cue, across the lake, a neon pink spark of light flies skyward and hovers there for a moment before exploding into a butterfly shape. Betsy cannot help but grin to herself. Leave it to her to figure out how to sign her name on a party.

More follow, all colours and shapes. Some truly breathtaking airborne explosions that light up the night.

Marvel Girl has posed:
"Yeah, I've seen them," Rachel smiles faintly to Kitty, though she seems grateful for the warning all the same. "Setting one off on a normal day without a warning might be a little disturbing, but this part I'm good with."

She watches the show as the fireworks start to go off, the lights and colors reflecting across her features. "I...wasn't at my best when I first got here," she adds in a lower tone. "I think the whole transit thing sort of messed with my head. But I'm feeling a little more myself lately. Things seem to be settling back into place."

Cypher has posed:
Doug watches that giant lavender butterfly, and murmurs "Spectacular." He takes another swig of his drink -- which is one of those barely-flavored alcoholic seltzers, those are still popular right?

He looks up at a spectacular array of crackling blue and yellow fireworks, and says, "I wish Warlock was here. I bet he wouldn't hide under the chaise longue anymore."

Shadowcat has posed:
Everyone are out by the lake, watching the fireworks which are just starting up. There's a giant ice slide that probably will still be melting come tomorrow, which goes from the mansion up the hill, down into the water.

Kitty's in a lawn chair next to Rachel. She sips her drink and begins making all of the requisite "Oooos" and "Ahhhhhs" as the fireworks start up. "So much nicer when you're not in an airplane having them shot at you," she comments with faint grin.

She looks over to Rachel and says softly, "Well, you're with family. And none of us are going away," she adds in a reassuring tone, and a smile for the other young woman. Kitty looks back out at the fireworks, enjoying the moment.

Cannonball has posed:
Samuel Guthrie has found a spot right at the edge of the light, quiet and watching the fireworks. He looks down watching the people watching the fireworks for a bit.

Cypher has posed:
"Hold on." Doug says.

A moment later, he drops down next to Sam, and says, "Hey, you're being a Solitary Sammy, Sammy." He says, "Something on your mind? Check it out, I created an app where if you view fireworks through the phone it looks like they're blowing up the Beyonder's stupid head." He holds up the phone. "Blammo!"

Marvel Girl has posed:
"Thanks, Kate," Rachel says quietly, reaching over to set a hand on Kitty's for just a moment before she's looking back to the skies. She reaches for her drink then, washing down her plate full of junk food and setting a hand contentedly over her stomach. Things may not be perfect, but this is...the closest to happy she's been in a very long time.

Cannonball has posed:
Samuel Guthrie chuckles a bit to this and says "Well that is a fun little one aint it." He grins a bit and says "So how have things been going tonight?" He will ask his friend.

Shadowcat has posed:
Kitty Pryde smiles back to Rachel and then enjoys the fireworks as well. She sips her drink and glances over to Samuel and Doug. "Hey Sam, glad you could make it," she says. Kitty finishes her drink and checks to see if Rachel needs another. She gets up to go get them, stopping off to pass fresh drinks to Betsy and Rogue as well. "See, it's not Peter bartending," she tells Betsy with a white-toothed smile.

Kitty retakes her place, relaxing and sighing. Her thoughts start to wander to other things as she watches the explosions of fireworks up overhead, and it'll take a loud exclamation from the group at some big bursting firework to draw her attention back fully.

Cypher has posed:
Doug considers this, and then he says, "Today's a good day, Sam. The future is cloudy... but I have hope. We can win ourselves a tomorrow, buddy. Just like we always have."

Cannonball has posed:
Samuel Guthrie nods his head a bit to this and says "Good days are always good, guess thats why we call them that." He jokes a bit and says "so who set up the fire works, and they still have all their fingers?"

Psylocke has posed:
Over the lake, the fireworks continue. Some simple explosions of colour and light. Others something more ingenious, taking the form of animals, shapes, and in one case a golden X on a field of sparkling blue. Orchestrated with more than a little influence from Xavier's School, they're large and bright enough to be viewed from the nearby township. As they continue to squeal and burst in the air, some surreptitiously set up speakers begin to play patriotic music that drifts out over the glassy ripples of the lake.

Cypher has posed:
"I guess so." Doug says, before he adds, "I think Betsy footed part of the bill." Then he puts one hand behind his head, as he watches flashing, multicolored bursts of light, delighting in the pattern of it all. "Keen."