8219/Summer Days and Rooftops

Summer Days and Rooftops
Date of Scene:	08 July 2019
Location:	Xavier's School
Synopsis:	Ororo hands out tea and scones to both Illyana and Lorna. A discussion about the complications of the world ensues.
Cast of Characters:	Magik, Polaris, Storm

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Magik has posed:
The attic is a random location to find anyone with the possible exception of Ororo who resides only a dozen steps away from where Illyana now finds herself. Kneeling down beside a laptop computer connected to a pair of speakers, her blonde hair is pulled back into a tight ponytail that flutters across her bare shoulder when her hands drift down to begin music to playing. Shoulders bare because, as anyone can tell you, it is imperative when dancing in the attic that one wears dancers attire. Black ballerina dress tickling her legs with the accent frills bellowing slightly when she moves.

The music: Suite Bergamasque, L 75: Clair de lune. It's not set to a volume meant to disrupt the daily affairs of those throughout the Mansion, how loud that must have to be, but it is plenty loud enough that should someone be on the top floors they might hear the softest introductive notes.

More to the point, they could certainly hear her feet as she slowly spun upon her toes away from the computer. Rising up on them at the appex of each and letting heel drop down as the tempo builds.

It doesn't sound nearly so beautiful when heard through an attics floor or a rooms ceiling, of that all would easily agree.

Polaris has posed:
Lorna was hanging out on the roof top. Why was the Princess of Genosha up there? Why not. It was quiet, and while there were plenty of people in the school that could fly, there were enough under aged kids and students that didn't regularly break the rules too. In the middle of high Summer, with the sun pitched at mid-afternoon, it was certainly hot. Which was hardly an issue for the green haired mutant. Magnetism did all manner of useful things, including being great at dispeling radiation. Which meant she stayed sun-screen free.

A pair of headphones, a towel, and a book with a few cans of whatever drinks she'd snagged from the kitchen left her with the ability to find some private time outside to herself. Of course, that's when the sounds of music drifted from the attic, and despite her headphones, could still be heard. Lorna floated down from her perch, landing on the balcony in a pair of cut off jean shorts, a bikini top, and pair of oversized sunglasses.

She looked ready to interrupt, but stopped at the sight of Illyana practicing and she instead, simply stood there and watched for a bit in silence.

Storm has posed:
Ororo eyes one of her decorative bonsai trees, clippers in hand. It's a modest sized bush, a gift from a friend, and older than she is by some decades. Fortunately she has an advantage over most; Ororo prefers not to clip and trim plants any more than is absolutely necessary for their health.

She pauses just as the scissors start to pinch together, and cocks her head to the side. Music? The clippers clatter against the table and she heads to the door.

Ororo gathers her dress in one hand, the thin grey fabric clinging to her legs as she steps sandalled feet into the larger attic space. Her shirt is deeply shadow black and flows around her, hanging from one shoulder with voluminous mid-length sleeves and an asymmetrical hem.

"Illyana?" Ororo asks, reflexively. She holds a hand to her mouth apologetically, realizing she's interrupted the girl's dancing. "I'm sorry. I didn't realize you were practicing," she says. Her hair's worn straight and flowing around her face, unconstrained, and she pushes it back behind her shoulder to get it out of the way. A warm smile's flashed at Lorna in greeting, and she tilts a shoulder to the door behind her questioningly-- is Lorna coming to see her?

Magik has posed:
There's only a few moments where Illyana can appropriately be drawn into the music, to move to the slow rhythm in tighter twirls upon her toes. Her right leg rises so that the plantar is level with her left knee, thigh up until the cressendo of the piece where she kicks her leg out from the spin and leaps from the rising toe into a graceful arc a few feet to her right. Switching the foot upon which she spins out of the hop with her arms out straight in line with her shoulders height.

It's then that Lorna enters and stands quietly by to watch and shortly before Ororo joins her, apologetically announcing her arrival. To the young blondes' credit, she only seems a little startled that the music has drawn them. "Forgive me.." She says unto them both, dropping to a knee to quiet the music in that same motion that she need not shout, soft as those notes might be, in greeting them. "I did not mean to interrupt.. I am very sorry. The acoustics." Motioning with curled fingers at the corners of the attic indicatively of why she chose this location, of all the possible locations, for her practicing.

"Hello, Lorna.. Ororo." Nodding with each name, smoothing her palms on her frilled skirt as if she might will it into something else simply through that motion.

Polaris has posed:
Lorna shook her head as Ororo mimed needing to visit her, making her own attempt at point to herself and then to the roof above. She raised her eyebrows as well, her sunglasses falling down the line of her nose briefly. Which helped her adjust to the slightly darker aspect of the attic's interior as she stepped further inside as Illyana started to apologize. She shook her head again, grinning. "Oh don't apologize, I was curious who was up here, I was on the roof. Didn't expect to see you dancing. That was very nice by the way." She pushed her hair back from her face, and tucked her sunglasses up to hold it there.

"I needed some space where I was guaranteed to not have awkward encounters with any of my Ex's now that Alex is back." She grumbled.

Storm has posed:
"It is a good place to hide, /and/ to listen to music," Ororo assures both women with a warm and reassuring smile. "I didn't know you could dance, Illyana," she praises the woman. "Ballet is so graceful. I'm envious."

She steps back into her room and tilts her head at Lorna, gesturing. "Lorna, if you want, you're welcome to hide in here for a while. I can't promise Alex won't show up with an emergency, but it seems safer here than the attic?" she offers.

"And Illyana, you're of course welcome to join me as well. I think it's about time for a hot cuppa, and some warm scones."

Magik has posed:
"I watch videos." Illyana indicates her laptop as the source of her research, "Someone tells me I should learn something new. A hobby, they said. Told me that I would find it rewarding and it would clear my mind when I felt the temptation to kill someone." Her expression furrows thoughtfully, hands yet smoothing at the skirt until it is almost all she can do to keep from tearing the frills off the garmet.

"I do not want to kill anyone, just now, but I would gladly maim whoever it was that made this dress." Brightening only at the mention of warm scones and perking in such a way that her interest is clear without being voiced at all. Though muted when looking to Lorna, head cant off toward her right shoulder, "You should not hide from ex's. Fight them. They will stop running into you or, more precisely, run in a different direction when seeing you."

Polaris has posed:
Lorna grinned at Ororo, and out stretched her hand behind her. A moment later her soda can came flying into her grip, which she promptly finished and made to chuck into the nearest trash bin that could be found. Or rather, the garbage bag in the corner that someone had used to start sweeping the attic and had promptly forgotten it existed. "Tea and scones sounds perfect right now, I'm rather hungry." She murmured and made to follow Ororo.. That is until Illyana spoke and the green haired woman paused to listen, her eyebrows shooting upward.

"See, it's awkward because I don't want to kill him, or fight him. Which really makes things all kinds of awkward." She drawled, and exhaled a heavy, very put upon breath. "Though, if I did want to, rest assured Illyana, I would have thrown a car at him."

Storm has posed:
"We do discourage fighting with other students and faculty," Ororo reminds them diplomatically-- but she smiles all the same, just to show she's being playful. Illyana's shoulder gets a gentle and reassuring touch as the slender blonde slips past, barely making contact but showing her sympathy for the younger woman's frustrations.

"You're always welcome to join me in the garden, Illyana. You, too, of course, Lorna," she adds hastily. Her rich voice fills the room even with the dense plants filling it. Ororo gestures at the corner, where a little seating nook filled with low chairs and beanbags and pillows is set up around a low central coffee table. Everything in her suite looks old and secondhand, but much of it lovingly cared for or refurnished. No IKEA dressers in here!

She shuffles to the little kitchenette and starts tea boiling on a hotplate and transfers scones to an old toaster oven. The door's left open so they don't burn and the scent of crisping flour soon fills the air.

"I have some jasmine tea that people generally like," Ororo offers, a hand resting on the cabinet handle. It's pulled open and she looks inside. "And some more exotic fare for people with particular tastes in tea. If you're feeling adventurous," she amends.

Magik has posed:
"I know." Illyana assures Ororo with a tight smile. Wheither she would attack another student is negociable, but she does not seem upset in this particular instance. If anything she is calm, a kind of forced calm, but it all evens out. Walking slowly towards Ororo's room with a nod to her as she passes on path to the room where tea and scones have been promised.

Once inside, and settled, Illy smooths her hands upon the frill of her skirt once again, but watching Lorna in a way that's not exactly staring but isn't NOT staring either. "If you throw car, maybe he will get message. Put it on little note.. hide note in glove compartment." She sage nods and smiles, "I try not to have ex's. It is easy, really, you just do not say yes when someone asks you to date them."

Polaris has posed:
Lorna followed along into the cozy room, and found a plush poof to settle on and a pillow to pet at her back as she watched Ororo from her position. She sighed as the warm smells started to drift through the air, and a smile crossed her features. "I'll have whatever tea you want me to have, Ororo. I'm cool with anything." She'd had some interesting tea in Genosha, one way or another. So she was feeling more adventurous at least on that front.

The green haired woman cracked an eye to glance back at Illyana, and a grin pulled at the corners of Lorna's lips. "He might be a bit too squished to read the note if I threw a big enough car you know." She drawled lightly, her voice dry and filled with amusement at the image. "And I suppose you're right, no one to date means no Ex's when you break up." She mused.

Storm has posed:
"And," Ororo says, uplifting a finger to contribute to the conversation. "No awkward discussions about toothbrushes, or missing items of clothing, or arguments about who was in the wrong. My plants make good company, and they never seem to complain of mine," she remarks. Fingers curl around a leafy vine and she lifts it a few inches so she can get a waft of the fresh growing plant life.

Water comes to a boil quite quickly and is transferred to a clay teapot. Mismatched cups are added to the tray and she brings over the tea service. Rich, vibrant scents of exotic spices assail the nostril. The teas are presented loose or in small silk bags, with a diffuser resting on the tray. Ororo takes her tea seriously.

"The scones will be ready soon," she assures them, and starts doling tea out for a serving size of 'one' for each lady, according to their preferences.

Magik has posed:
"With assurance that any arguments about matters of who is wrong is the preamble to confrontation. It makes simple very complicated things, abstanance." Illyana smiles in hearing Ororo's take on not dating as a form of making complicated situations less so. To Lorna she cranes her head to one side waiting for tea to be poured with her hands crossed upon her frilly lap. "If he is too soft to take a car hit, are you certain he would be an appropriate match for you? What is name of dating site..." Snapping quietly, motioning towards the door where her laptop rests upon the floor in the attic.

"Match dot com? Is not option for potential match: Able to withstand phsyical punishment in line with combat against superior foes?" Glancing between them as if she means this and actually wants to know, "If not, perhaps is time to add. Rise in super powered heroes, you think maybe is good ide ato have dating site for them." Her snapping fingers rub together, thumb along her index finger.

"Could be good money..." laughing quietly, less someone think she means it.

Polaris has posed:
Lorna flashed Ororo a smile as the woman brought out the tea and she wiggled forward on the poof she sat on, picking up a cup and picking out a silk sachet of tea to dip into it to let it steep. She twirled her fingers in a circle, and the little metal staple that held the tiny scrap of paper at the end of the string tugged the bag back and forth under her direction.

A glance was spared back toward Illyana, followed by something that started off as a twitch of her lips and a raised brow, and turned into full on snickering. "Yeah, no. I doubt Alex Summers could handle having a car thrown at him. He doesn't have healing abilities or protective barriers. He could likely blast the car away if he saw it coming though." She shrugged and waved away a hand.

"We broke up years ago, but it's the first time seeing him for over a year. It was... it was awkward. There are still... awkward feelings. For both of us. And no, I'm not looking to date anyone online or otherwise. I'm good." For now.

Storm has posed:
"I think that would complicate life in the school quite a bit," Ororo tells Illyana with a laugh. "And it would /definitely/ make it difficult to go anywhere in public. Imagine meeting someone for ... coffee or a drink and the conversation turns to 'the most efficient means of destroying Sentinels'. A bit of a red flag. Here, try this tea," Ororo tells Illyana, and helps steep some. "Don't oversteep it. It's a very delicate jade citrus."

She rocks to her feet and moves to the kitchenette. Ororo hums softly and starts to pull the scones from under the radiant heaters so they can be smothered with butter and served up properly. Well, properly-ish. They're finger foods. Napkins will suffice.

Magik has posed:
"That sounds like very good conversation and one that anyone dating me will ultimately have to have, though." Illayana reasons of Ororo, brow furrowing as if confused, "I will never understand dating. It is unnecessarily complicated for no apparent reason. Maybe it is unnecessary and that is why it is complicated?" She accepts the tea appreciatively, mouthing a silent blagodaryu vas, "Thank you."

She watches Lorna with her cup and then looks down at her own. "How long is long enough to no longer feel awkward, do you think? Do both parties have to agree that enough time has passed and then return to being normal? I do not understand how two people can be together, enjoy company of the other, laugh and make jokes, and then not be friends after." Limited experience, the poor girl.

"These smell wonderful." Both perking and brightening upon the arrival of scones.

Polaris has posed:
Lorna smiled faintly at Ororo as the woman brought over the scones and she sipped at her tea once it had properly steeped. Setting the tea bag aside, she grasped the cup with both hands carefully and blew on it. "It's a bit more complicated now that I am a public figure. The whole 'Princess of Genosha' and my face plastered all over the internet. People either love it or hate it. And if someone tried to date me now, it would involve the politics of that whole mess." She made a face, and glanced side long at Illyana.

"It would have to be considered, I think. How good their combat capabilities are. Their mutations, their genes.. It all would have to be discussed eventually.." She sighed heavily, and made a grateful noise as Ororo brought the scones out of the heating elements. The smelled //amazing//.

"Bobby and I are still friends and we dated. He's a massive goof though, and couldn't be anything else I think. It was a mutual break up there.. Alex and I are just.. well, it's always been complicated with Alex. And he //likes// my father. Enough to be an Acolyte apparently and go off to do 'good for Genosha' in Mutant Town.." She muttered, sour at having just heard that part.

Storm has posed:
"It's a complicated life we live," Ororo agrees, and settles back down on the floor near the coffee table with a tuck of dress behind her knees. "On the one hand, dating in the school inevitably leads to complications." She nods at Lorna, balancing a teacup on her fingers. "But, the pool of people willing to date a mutant is quite small. Let alone ones living in rural Westchester at a school. And..." she sighs. "Yes, at some point 'the talk' will happen and that, too, may be a breaking point."

Steam wafts past her refined features with a sip of the tea. "But there are many talks that might break a relationship," she adds. "Children. Careers. Family. Mutant powers. Queen of Limbo," she adds, giving Illyana a flashing, conspiratorial grin.

"The danger, I think, is that it is difficult to be romantic with someone and not remember that even when you are no longer attracted to them. It's a bitter pain," she explains, more for Illyana's benefit than Lorna's. "But ... it's worth it, too. Have you studied Shakespeare yet? 'Tis better to have loved and lost, than never to have loved at all?'" she quotes.

Magik has posed:
Illyana lifts her teacup and returns Ororo's conspiratory grin, with a bemused one of her own. "Your point is made clear. Complicated, as is almost everything in this world." Once satisfied with the steeping of her tea, she sets the bag in which the leaves arrived on the side of her saucer and sips from the cup after cooling it with a blow across the surface. All the while considering Lorna.

"I have never been most taken by a good sense of humor. I do not always understand the joke, but the fact that it is exist is rewarding? At least it should be, I think." Unsure, perhaps, exactly what she feels about jokes she does not know she's not the butt of. "It is fair to say I am not well versed in matters of mortal heart. There was little time for it in Limbo." Once more motioning to Ororo with her cup, as she brought up the matter originally.

"Wouldn't that be a matter of perspective, though? Love and loss and lack of love by which to gauge which is worse?" Brow knit, eyes dancing back and forth from Lorna to Ororo, "Could not ask a person who has never drank pepsi or coke which they prefer.. or in doing the questioning with said uninformed bystander, could not trust their opinion. A woman who has never loved cannot in good faith be trusted to say whether it is better to have done so and one who has, would hardly know what it felt to go without."

She's quiet a half beat, "That is a conundrum."

Polaris has posed:
Lorna flashed Ororo a brief smile as she reached for scone and slathered it in butter to nibble at between sips of her tea. She murmured a thank-you softly as she listened with care to both of them. "And this is why all of this is complicated." She waved her hand and turned her gaze back to the blonde beside her. Another pause taken as she considered what Illyana had to say, and she took another small sip of her tea.

"Would I erase everything I had with Alex? No, was it all good? Of course not. It's part of life I suppose." She hmmm'ed softly under her breath. "I don't know how long I might live, considering my mutation. My father is nearing a century and isn't looking it in the least. I don't know how long he'll live, much less me. Long term.. whoever I dated, or spent my life with.. it adds to it all." She murmured softly.

Storm has posed:
"There's a flaw in your logic, Illyana," Ororo says with a kind and teacherly tone. "If you've never loved, then yes, you're quite unable to say 'tis better to have not loved'. But until you've loved someone-- deeply and truly-- then you have never really /loved/ someone, have you? So there is no one better equipped to make that statement then someone who had no love, then loved, then lost it. They know better than anyone the weight of being loveless, and the pain of having lost love."

She sighs. "And, yet, we still rush into it at times," she admits, wryly. "Even me."

"This topic took a sad turn," she says, frowning and then laughing to usher away the bleak thoughts. "Come, tell me what you've been doing aside from your studies. Have either of you gone into the city lately?"

Magik has posed:
"Still perspective, though." Illyana's tone is conversation rather than argumentative, but the division is a subtle one no matter who it's coming from. "They are basing their opinion on having never loved with the revelation that they had done so deeply, where as someone who has never loved as deep or true would have a completely different experience. Their opinions on the matter are based entirely on what they have gone through." She pauses to sip a bit more of the tea, then set aside her cup and saucer in favor of spreading butter upon one of the scones while they are yet fresh and hot.

Her expression isn't dark, but neither is it particularly jovial. Neutral, considering, and enjoying the scone after a demure bite with a hand held beneath to catch any crumbs that might fall upon her frilly lap.

"I am sorry for my involvement in a sad conversation. I was only curious." She assures them both, sliding fingers back to push hair, come loose of ponytail, to a proper position behind her ear. "I have not been to the city in some time. I returned to Limbo." By way of explaining her disappearance, "Matters needed settling there.. they are dealt with." That tone of finality is quite suggestive as to how. "How is city? Still there are Sentinels?"

Polaris has posed:
Lorna shrugged easily as the conversation went back and forth, "Love is a complicated subject, and that saying by Shakespeare was from a time when it was considered bad form to love your wife. Never mind that he definitely wrote some love sounding sonnets to a young man, and a dark haired mistress. So, really, taking life advice from the man is hardly the end all be all." She offered dryly, her lips spread into a thin smile that warmed with another bite of the tasty scones.

"Right now, do I think I'll 'find love'? Eh, it's very low on my list of things to do. But I do know, if I do, I have to consider everything very logically and politically. What's best for Genosha? What's best for the future of the mutants that live there?" She shrugged and once more fell silent as Ororo attempts to change the topic to something 'less sad'. She quirked an eyebrow.

"Look I started that whole thing, I was already sulking." She drawled, and took another sip of her tea.

"The city? Well Scott and I went out not too long ago on a scouting mission. Things are kinda weird. We're going to have to do more follow up. It's not Sentinel related though..."

Storm has posed:
Ororo grins at Lorna over her teacup, and hoists it slightly in salute to the woman's clever observation. "Well put," she murmurs.

She listens to Lorna's explanation, then looks back at Illyana and nods. The motion jogs loose a tumbling cascade of white hair and she grimaces before pushing it back from her face again. "Never should have straightened this," she complains sourly.

"The Sentinel threat has not been cleared. I know the Avengers are looking into it. But we must be very careful," she advises both women. "They are strong and aggressive, and dangerous. And they target /us/. Do not go alone into the city, and if you see a Sentinel, run. They require a full team to tend to safely. If you are captured, you make only more work for the rest of us. And yes, Polaris, that advice goes for you too," Ororo says, anticipating Lorna's possible line of objection. It's not like the ferrokinetic is going to have much trouble with giant metal men...

Magik has posed:
The more the conversation shifts from metaphorical love to the very real threat of Sentinels, the more Illyana's expression darkens. Put a threat infront of the Queen of Limbo and watch her destroy everything in a clear path to chopping it off at the knees. Her jaw muscles become visible, teeth clinched and grinding as she struggles not to say something that would be no more useful to stopping the threat as would throwing rocks at it.

She would definitely be more dangerous than a rock, however.

"I will.. stay out of city without others." That was not easy for her to say, "Destruction of one mechanical man does not end a threat of more.. It makes worse the situation." Whether talking to the pair of them or trying to convince herself, saying it outloud sooths the savage beast raging up inside her like steam off a fresh cup of tea.

"Every time I come back to Earth, it seems like one more thing has happened that makes me wonder what the difference between Human and demon is. Eldrich horns and firey magic, obvious, but their capacity for unmeasurable evil is..." When she realizes she's squeezing the end of the cup containing her tea and that in so doing she might break it, it is set aside to keep from doing so. "I need hobby. I want to kill someone."

Polaris has posed:
Lorna considered as the conversation shifted to the Sentinels that it wasn't truly a happier subject at all, and as Ororo continued to speak of warning them to not get captured or go into the city alone, Lorna arched her eyebrows upward. "I've been in and out of several cities. I have trade deals and negotiations to work on.." She paused, and sighed. "..but I do have bodyguards, Ororo. Don't worry, my father hasn't neglected that part about my safety." She grumbled. Entirely unhappy.

"For all that if a Sentinel //did// attack me, it would mean an international incident. And Genosha has been recognized as part of the U.N. technically. And well, no one I think, actually wants my father to have an excuse to go to war.." She trailed off, glancing at Illyana as the blonde spoke of humans and demons.

A rough exhale escaped her and she nodded, "You and me both. How about we start a rock band? Then we can smash some guitars and punch some drums or something."

Storm has posed:
"I never stop worrying about any of you," Ororo tells Lorna with a gentle reassurance. "I will try to be less vocal about my mother-hen nature, though." She grins and reaches over to give Lorna's wrist a quick and apologetic squeeze.

"Illyana, do you know what bonsai trees are?" She gets to her feet and moves to a window, to collect a plant barely eighteen inches high and perhaps that wide. She brings the tiny tree over and kneels down on a pillow near Illyana, and sets the tree between them. "It's a custom from Japan. These trees take years to grow even an inch. But they must be pruned and handled very carefully. There is a certain beauty from helping something so delicate flourish-- and it means you must be very careful in how you treat it and trim it. Too many leaves, and you will kill it. But if you leave it wholly alone, it will grow too dense and die. This one has been carefully shaped over the years to give the trunk this shape," she explains. "Perhaps you might like to try gardening sometime. I find it very fulfilling. It's better to counter destructive urges with constructive ones-- though if you /do/ start a band," she says, grinning at Lorna, "I will happily play my little drum in it." She gestures at the small bucket drum in the corner, the leather looking old, well-loved and carefully hand made by an artisan.

Magik has posed:
Illayana cannot speak to having diplomacy stall her hand in any transgressions that might arise from pressing luck against Sentinels. Where she rules it would be expected and the demons beneath her would happily oblige if she set them loose like the Horde upon the gates of Rome. So it's just as well that she nods to Lorna, understanding what she says, if not the nature of where it comes from. "It puts you in a unique position to exhibit restraint." Said simply, watching then as Ororo crosses to, returns with, the bonsai tree.

"I see one of these on Karate Kid." Pointing excitedly as if it might well be that self same tree. She isn't being intentionally obtuse and listens with growing interest that is only stalled long enough to grin at Lorna when she suggests they start a Rock Band. "I cannot play instrument, but I learn very quickly. Perhaps I sing.. Russian is very beautiful for singing.. also sounds good while screaming?"

Only to then regard Ororo, nodding, "I worry perhaps that I lack patience for gardening. Maybe not though. I will try it." Her hand extends out towards the leaves of the tree, but comes short of actually touching them for fear it may wither beneath her fingers. "We need a band name." Distractedly, "Something... uhh.. ironic? This means something happens that was otherwise not expected?"

Polaris has posed:
Lorna smiled at Ororo, and she waved a hand in the other woman's direction. "It's fine, don't try to curb your nature. For all that I grumble.. it's nice to have someone that feels that way. I never knew my mother, so really, I guess I could use some mothering now and then." She finished off her tea and reached up to adjust her sunglasses as they slipped down the back of her head, tumbling to the poof behind her. She rolled her eyes at them, and promptly gave up trying to keep them from falling off as she tucked them into her cleavage instead.

"I wasn't completely serious about the whole band idea.. It was just the first thing that popped into my head. I suck at music." She grinned and stood up, "I'm gonna go clean up my stuff on the roof real quick before it blows off. Thank you for the tea and scones, Ororo. It was nice to see you around again Illyana."

Storm has posed:
"We can call ourselves the Peace Lilies?" Ororo ventures, and flashes a bright grin at Illyana. She rises to her feet when Lorna does, and offers the woman a squeeze of both hands and a tight, sisterly hug. "My door is always open, Lorna," she reminds the green-haired woman. "If you ever need a cuppa and someplace quiet to sit, make yourself at home," she invites. "Even if I'm asleep. I'd rather nap midday than have you moping in your suites by yourself."

She releases Lorna, then beckons for Illyana to come with her. "Let's take a walk around the gardens, Illyana," she invites the demon-child. "You can see what the students are growing for this season. And I can even find you a planting bed if you want to grow your own crops or flowers," she says, encouragingly.