Players:
Summary: Love is in the air, and the Battle of Batroc is discussed.
Date: January 10, 2010
Log Title All's Fair…
Rating: PG
Xavier mansion — Pool
A large Olympic size pool sits outside at the edge of the property over looking Breakstone Lake. The pool, always heated to the right temperature, starts at a depth of 4 feet at the shallowest end, and gradually reaches a depth of 20ft. A diving board sits at the far end of the pool. Off to the side of the shallow end, a hot tub is built into the ground for those wanting to relax. Pool chairs and tables sit along the side of the pool for those just wanting to enjoy the sunshine.
Mid-afternoon, and the pool is, as usual for this time of year, all but abandoned. While the heated water may be a treat, the bitter chill of the Westchester winter makes for an excellent obstacle to most students' thoughts of a good swim. Swaddled in her normal winter wear, plus mittens and knit cap, Rashmi takes a place at the bench she has staked out as hers, if only by force of habit. A thick book rests open in her lap, and to all appearances the redhead seems to simply be enjoying the peace of the area.
Lucas drags his feet from the woods, his head hung a little low. He's wearing a pair of tattered khaki cargo pants, with a wife beater on covered in a dark brown plaid flannel. Over that is a wool long coat. His enormous gloves are on his hands. He just drags his feet, walking towards the mansion, and doesn't seem to notice Rashmi.
Rashmi blinks, looking up as movement registers from the trees. She starts to raise a hand to wave at the blond, but pauses as the details of his posture become more apparent. "…Lucas…?" is what finally leaves her mouth once he's in hearing range, the worried concern impossible to miss. "…My God, are you okay?"
Lucas just waves her off with his giant glove, "Ah'm fine." He keeps walking.
Rashmi frowns quietly, setting her book aside. "Lucas," she says again, her voice coaxing. "Come on. We both know you haven't been 'fine' for longer than you've been here."
Lucas pauses, and he snaps at her, "Fine. Ah don't want to talk about it!"
Rashmi rears back, eyes hurt at the tone of his voice. However, she simply nods, clearing her throat. "…All right, then… I promised."
Lucas stares at her, a little angry, a little surprised she actually isn't going to ask him more. He sighs, looking off at the mansion, then looks back at her. "Is there a girl named Scout here?"
Rashmi shrugs slightly, the hurt look fading into careful worry. "I… really wouldn't know. Maybe? There're a *lot* of students I don't know…"
Lucas nods once, then he looks off to the woods, nodding again to himself. "Ah fucked up," he says, and then shrugs. "So, um…" He swallows, and looks back at her. "What's… What's goin' on 'round here?"
Rashmi's shoulders twitch, another careless almost-shrug. "I wouldn't really know… I've been here since lunch." The brick of a book at her side is held up, the cover proclaiming it to be one of the Harry Potter series. "I hadn't read it in a while, so…"
Lucas looks at the book, and he nods. "Yeah…" He scratches the back of his head with his huge gloved hand. "Fuck. Ah need to get outta here tonight."
"Where would you go?" The redhead tilts her head, honest curiosity on her face. "I mean, I didn't see much of the town on the bus, so, what would you do there?"
Lucas huffs, and tosses his hands in the air. "Ah don't know." He paces, and then snaps, "Ah don't know! Okay! Ah just… Ah can't be here now!"
Rashmi's brow furrows, that clear, simple concern visible on her face. "…Lucas, I—" Bringing herself up short, she simply shakes her head, sets the book aside, and sits there, watching, waiting.
Lucas paces back and forth for about a minute, before finally stopping. He rubs his head with his huge glove.
Rashmi watches Lucas pace in silence, chewing on the inside of her lower lip. When the Tennesseean pauses, she pats the bench next to her, head tilted.
Lucas looks at her. "Ah don't wanna sit," he says, softly, and he sighs, the chilly air creating smoke in front of his face when he exhales. He shakes his head a little, and looks at the ground.
"All right. Well… I could go, if you like?" With a quiet sigh, Rashmi looks down at her book. "I mean… I *want* to know… I'm really worried now, Lucas, just so you know… but… I promised. And, honestly… That's more important than what I want."
Lucas makes an aggravated face, paces a few more steps, and then looks back at her, "Ah don't want you to go. Just… Christ, ya'll don't have to worry. Ah'm fine." He takes a step towards her, "Ah swear."
"I know I don't have to," comes the reply, an almost-successful attempt at a smile on Rashmi's face. "But, I do. That's what friends do, right? Worry, when their friends drag themselves back to school like they'd rather be on the gallows?"
Lucas sighs, and nods a little, kind of unhappy that she's right, but glad she is. "Ah'm okay. Really," he says, with a little more confidence. He walks over to the bench, and stands over her. "Worry about Aleksey. He needs it more'n me," he offers, with an egotistical smirk.
"I don't have nearly as much practice worrying about him," Rashmi replies with something very like a smirk. "But if you say so… I guess I'll just have to trust you."
Lucas looks at the pool, "Sittin' out here long?" He looks at her, "You look cold."
"Since lunch," the redhead repeats. "Same as yesterday… And no—well, not really. Just my face, but I hate thise ski masks."
Lucas smiles, and he reaches out, laying one glove on each side of her face. They are a little rough, but Rashmi would feel a lot of warmth emanating from them, and it would very quickly warm her face. He smiles as he does this.
Rashmi blinks quietly, but leans into the glove as the warmth penetrates her skin. There's a small sigh of relief, her breath a thick plume in the bitingly cold evening air. "*Thank* you, Lucas… That's much better."
Lucas smiles a little wider. He kneels in front of her, pulling his hands away. Slowly, he reaches out and removes the glove from his left hand. The air around them is immediately warmed as a bright, glowing, undulating ball of orange, yellow and white nuclear fusion is revealed. He holds it just to the side of them, so that its warmth is easily felt, but it's not too close. He grins a little, and looks at her for approval.
Rashmi blinks, tilting back slightly as the glove is removed, but stays in place. When the hand is held out, her face splits into a wide grin. "That's *perfect!* But… um… won't your arm get tired holding it out, like that?"
Lucas shrugs, looking her in the eyes. "Never…" He smiles. "Not for this."
Rashmi's mouth opens, snapping shut again as a deep flush heats her cheeks. "I… wow…" And the impossible has happened; the junior lawyer-wannabe, utterly lost for words. "That's… really sweet, Lucas…"
Lucas doesn't move for a moment. His smile slowly fades to a rather serious face, and he moves an inch closer to her, hesitantly, his eyes staying locked on hers. He swallows, a little lick of his lips, moving just a bit more in. And then finally, he blinks, and pulls back the distance, to where he started, glancing at the pool and then back to her. He offers a little nervous smiles. "Um… So… Anythin' goin' on… tonight?"
Rashmi clears her throat as Lucas pulls away, looking up to the horizon. "If there is," she says, half to herself, "it better happen soon… Curfew on Sunday…" Blinking, she looks back down, giving the blond a hesitant smile. "So… I don't know… Is there?"
Lucas shrugs, "Ah dunnow. Ah was out all day." He looks around, but they're alone. "Have you met the new guy? Ah saw on a roster this mornin' they've added some fella named Jack?"
Rashmi shakes her head. "I haven't, no…" Mild confusion is visible at the sudden change of topic, but, for the moment she seems content to let it go.
Lucas furrows his brow a little, "What?" he asks, noticing her confusion.
Rashmi shrugs faintly. "Nothing, really, just… um…" Her cheeks bloom bright red again, eyes falling toward the pool. "I just thought… you were planning on asking me out tonight… or, y'know… something like that…"
Lucas chuckles, a little nervously, "Oh…" He smiles, "Well, Ah just… Ah mean…" He shrugs, and gives a little laugh again. "You deserve better, Rash." He smiles at her, "Really, you do."
Rashmi blinks, leaning forward to look more closely at Lucas' eyes, brows drawing down. "…You really believe that, don't you," she murmurs to herself, just loud enough to be heard. "Now what got *that* idea into your head?"
Lucas watches her closely. "It's true. You're smart. You're gonna be an amazing lawyer one day. Ah know it. And you're prolly gonna change the world. Get mutant rights finally made the way they should be, hell, Rash, you might end up in politics." He smiles, "You aren't like me. It's okay. Ah'm… You deserve a guy what can live up to your coat tails. One what can keep up with you, ya know? A guy who won't hold you back because he screws up."
Rashmi takes this in, silent, eyes intent. At the last, her lips pinch together, braid pulled over her shoulder. "…Okay, fine. So I won't be dating any losers anytime soon. Funny enough, I never *planned* to. What's that have to do with you deciding you're not good enough for me?"
Lucas watches her for a moment, "Rash…" He sighs, and looks down, before looking back at her. "You know it's true. You deserve to date a hero."
Rashmi rests her hands on Lucas' cheek, tilting his head up. With a gentle, patient smile, the redhead rolls her eyes. "Why don't you let me decide what I deserve, hm? Not to mention… you're not exactly reliable when it comes to what you're good for. I thought we'd proven that, you know?"
Lucas swallows, tilting his head a little. He's kneeling on the concrete by the pool in front of Rashmi, who is sitting on the bench. The area around them is illuminated by his left hand, held out to their side, glowing in a bright, brilliant undulating sphere of orange, yellow and white. The warmth is melting the snow nearby. She has her hands resting on each side of his face, and their faces are about two inches apart. They both look rather serious, as Lucas says, "You deserve better. So Ah'm pretty lucky, Ah reckon…" And he leans the rest of the way, closing the distance, and kisses her on the mouth. It's a slightly passionate kiss, with a little bit of tongue dancing over her lips. She's not the first he's kissed, so he's okay at it, and as he repeats the motion a few times, the glow around his hand fluctuates a little brighter, and the warmth increases several degrees.
Rashmi, much less experienced in kissing than her attitude would have most think, makes a startled noise at the first touch of his lips on hers. The shock lasts only a moment, however, and she leans down, letting gravity do most of her work for her. Clearly, not something she's in any hurry to bring to an end.
Walking into the pool area is Dallas and Robyn, after last nights encounter they are finally getting a change to discuss it. Robyn was kept in the medbay overnight, just in case, as he now is sporting several cuts and a nice set of stitches on his upper right arm. "I know I shouldn't be swiming but I figure I'll just relax in the hot tub and not get my arm wet." This spells bad idea. As he walks with a towel slung over one shoulder, his usual hoodie over a black pair of jeans, he's just intime to see the kiss. He stops and looks at Dallas, whispering quietly.."Um, should we go somewhere else?"
Dallas also stops and blinks. His own Xavier's sweatshirt covers the bruising and minor burns on his chest from catching a small grenade, though if he were cold resistant, he'd probably be showing everybody his first battle wounds. He looks at Rashmi and Lucas, blushing faintly and then glances back to Robyn. "Ah, I'm not sure. On one hand … yes. On the other hand, it's like seeing Jason Voorhees dance. So weird you have to look at it."
Lucas finishes the kiss, slowly pulling away from her, a little nibble on her lower lip as he withdraws. He smiles, and glances away, then back at her. He smiles a little wider, it's actually a very charming, cute smile with dimples.
Rashmi's eyes open slowly, head lowering to rest her forehead against Lucas', letting out a long, slow breath. There's a long moment of silence, then the corner of her mouth twitches upward. "…There… I showed you, didn't I?"
Robyn covers his mouth to try to hide a snicker as he finds Dallas's comment quite funny. Who knew Lucas actually could show feelings other than of the jerk flavour. He just watches with amusement for a bit before looking back at Dallas. "Or we can hang around and see how long it takes for them to notice they have an audience?" He's more teasing on that as he's not really one to stick around and ruin people's 'private time'.
Dallas continues to watch the two. He gets a pensive look on his face and then says, "Ah, I'm not sure if we'd ever manage to get the stick out of him if he thought we spied on him." He clears his throat loudly and says, "So, yea, like I was saying: one punch! Wham! Down went Batroc." And then a pause an an entirely less subtle than he thinks, "I WONDER IF ANYBODY ELSE IS OUT HERE? WE SHOULD SEE!" Yes, he actually shouts it, trying to still sound conversational.
Lucas laughs a little, and nods. Then he hears folks coming, so he clears his throat, "Ahemrgh…" He leans back a bit, and looks around. He sees it's Dallas and Robyn, and looks at Rashmi. "There's… um… Dallas and Robyn." He looks over at the other two, his smile slipping away. "Hey," he offers.
Rashmi blinks sharply, pulling back the almost-curtain of hair to look for herself. There's a very small, *very* startled* sqeak, and she straightens up in the bench as though stabbed, her braid twisted in her hands. "…Oh! Um, hi guys…! Lots of, um… weather, huh?"
Robyn gives a wave and tries to act like he hasn't seen anything. "Hey guys, how's it going?" Casual as can be. He has a cut on his face but the rest can't be seen under his clothes. "I hope you don't mind us interupting, I was going to use the hot tub, after last night the relaxation will be nice."
Dallas nods at Rashmi. "Yep. Cold. Wet." He gives the two of them a look and then nods to Robyn, "The hot tub is a good idea. Better than swimming." Which may be the first time Dallas has turned down a chance to exercise.
As Robyn and Dallas arrive near the young couple, they enter an area that is almost comfortably warm from the nuclear reaction glowing around Lucas' left hand. He looks at Robyn, "What happened to your face?" he asks.
Rashmi blinks, glancing at Lucas, then back to Robyn, eyes narrowing. "What the…? …Wait, when do *you* stop moving long enough to stay in the hot tub, Dallas?"
Robyn shrugs as he's asked and smiles. "Oh, we ended up getting into a runin with Batroc the Leaper last night." He doesn't go into too much detail on it, but he'll let Dallas brag. "We were at the Empire State Building."
Dallas shrugs at Rashmi. "All the workouts in the world don't make you better at actually fighting." He glances sideways at Robyn and then grins. "We did okay. We lived. They got caught." His after-game analysis is probably a less happy than he'd like. He's still headed for the hot tub.
Lucas reaches out and picks up his glove. "Ah reckon we can leave you two alone, ifn' ya'll were hopin' for some one on one time." He smirks, and slips the glove over his exposed hand, the light and heat extinguishing as he covers it.
Rashmi's jaw sags open slightly. "You did *what?!* On the *Empire State Building?!* ….Wait who's Batroc the Leaper?" Shaking her head in disbelief, she climbs to her feet. "…Okay, so yeah… Note to self, don't go near any landmarks until I leave the school…"
Robyn nods and shrugs as he starts to strip down to his swim shorts, showing a few more cuts on his right arm and chest, there's a bandage on his upper right arm. "Nah, I think Jordan might be upset I didn't include him on any 'private' time." He looks at Dallas and smiles. "Hey, we lived with only three of us really having some training, Leigh and Zack are so new I'm not sure if they've had one Danger Room session. Zack was like a deer in headlights. And Batroc the Leaper…he's some french terrorist or something."
Dallas stops and looks back to Lucas for a moment. After that he just shrugs and says, faux-casually to Lucas, "We wouldn't be the first today." He looks back to Rashmi and says, ignoring Lucas, "French dude. Fights Captain America and Spider-Man once in a while. Cheesy. Ripped off Wolverine's mask look. Bad facial hair. And it was no big deal. They were just slightly dumber than we were. Nobody got seriously tagged." He strips off his own hoodie and reveals that his chest is covered with bruises with a small circle of welts and blisters in the middle, covered with ointment. It might look a little rough but it's all surface damage. He ignores the rest of the conversation about private time, rather stoically.
Lucas rolls his eyes, "Ah bet ya'll really handled it great." It doesn't sound quite like mockery, but it's not quite genuine either. He looks at Rashmi and shrugs, "Ah never been to New York." He stands, folding his arms over his chest. "Is there nothin' to do here in Westchester?"
"I wouldn't know, I've spent my entire life in the Ci—" Rashmi trails off as a thought strikes her, and it's almost indignantly that she rounds on the boys. "What does *France* need with a terrorist anyway?!"
Robyn can't help but laugh at Rashmi's outburst. "I don't know Rashmi, why do terrorists do anything. And in Westchester up here? Not really. There's a coffee shop?" He says as relaxes in the water, making sure to keep his bandaged arm out of the water. "Oh we handled it amazingly Lucas. Dallas here went in guns a'blazing and knocked out Batroc with one pretty crazy punch." He knows cause he felt it.
Dallas grins at Rashmi. "Somebody was talking about saving the snails or something, I guess." He winces at Robyn's words and says, "No, I almost got everybody killed a couple of times and was sloppy. Slow. Stupid. We got lucky." He scowls as takes off his shoes and jogging pants, shivering a little in the cold. "But live and learn, I guess."
Lucas watches Dallas, and inexplicably, doesn't make fun of his admittance of sorta failure. He looks at Rashmi, "There's a coffee shop. We should take the whole team. Ah'll buy." He looks at Robyn, "What do you do, anyway? Ah mean, power-wise?"
Rashmi frowns deeply, turning to lean her shoulder against Lucas' arm. "Well… Everyone got out okay, right…?" she asks Dallas, letting Robyn talk about his powers if he chooses. "I guess that's what's important… well… y'know, besides keeping people from pulling a stunt like that…"
Robyn kind of glares at Dallas and shakes his head. "No you didn't. A lot of us are just unexperienced. I should have posses someone else form the begining and let you know what I was doing so that why I didn't have feel that guy getting stabbed by Leighton. And her exploding bones…that's what caused most of this." He's not blaming Leigh, he's just trying to take the weight off of Dallas's shoulders. "None of us stepped up and took a lead, I should have done that." He did before. "And my powers? Oh, I'm a psychic vampire. I can absorb other people's mental energy." He smiles at that for a second, maybe trying to weird Lucas out. "And I can posses people, go into astral form and make psychic weapons, which I managed to do for the first time yesterday."
Dallas slides into the water, stiffening and then sighing as his muscles relax. He nods at Rashmi, "No civilians hurt. Some scared. We got tagged a little." He winces at the 'nobody stepped up' comment lets Robyn finish describing his powers before he grins at the artsy young man and then adds, "Which was pretty cool, by the way."
Lucas furrows his brow, "Sounds cool, but just… you know… Stay outta my head." He looks at Rashmi, at her shoulder touching his, and he smiles a little, looking at her face, and then back to Dallas. "Civilians are gonna get scared. That's a good tool. Ya'll can use that to clear a room."
Rashmi glances up at Lucas, frowning faintly. "Not *too* much," she says, nudging a bit. "All the lives saved in the world won't help if people are too scared to realize what was done, right?"
Robyn looks at Lucas and raises his eyebrows. "Like I'd want to dive into that mess anyway." He says in response to the head thing. "And yeah, clear the room on the 102nd floor observation deck of the Empire State Building, there's only one place to clear, down." He then looks at Rashmi and nods. "Well it was scary, hell, even having superpowers and fighting them, I was pretty freaked out. Just Adrenaline over ruled that."
Dallas shakes his head at Lucas. "Not when mutants in involved. We have to do better. Be seen /only/ as the guys saving you from the scary guys. It's pretty much all there in all the after-action reports that Cyclops filed over the years for the X-Men." Yes, he apparently is reading those. He glances at Robyn, knowing his friend can't actually read minds and grins faintly, "I think we all just jumped. Except new guy. Froze. Kind of funny, actually."
Lucas nods at Robyn, and then looks at Dallas. "We ARE the scary guys, too. Ah'm just sayin', if'n my hands scares the hell outta some fella and he runs away to safety, Ah'm gonna feel good about havin' that power over him." He looks at Rashmi. "Anyway, Ah've had a rough day. Ah'm gonna head to bed." He lingers then, for a moment, looking at her, then at Robyn and Dallas, and back at her. He's debating something, and then he just nods, "Yeah… Um… G'night." He turns to go back towards the mansion.
Rashmi smiles some, nodding. "It probably will be, yeah… Good night, Lucas." As the boy turns to head into the mansion, the oddest smile passes over Rashmi's face, as she just stands there, watching him walk back. Once he's out into the courts, she bounces on the toes of her shoes a couple times, grinning to herself.
Robyn smiles watching Lucas and Rashmi and shakes his head. "Take care Lucas! Have a good night." He says grining as he still can't help but find it amusing in regards to the kiss. Maybe it let him view Lucas as something more than a Jerk. "But seriously Dallas, we didn't do awesome but we didn't do horribly last night. And Zack, he's like the gentle giant or something.
Dallas shrugs at Lucas, not commenting on the scaring people comment. "Night." He glances at Rashmi and arches his eyebrows, nodding at her to Robyn and trying not to smirk. "Well, apparently, weirder and scarier stuff happens."
"Oh *shut up,* you," Rashmi says as she takes note of Dallas' less-than-subtle jibe. "…Besides, he's a *good* kisser."
Robyn can't help it and just starts chuckling. He is a teenager after all. "Sorry, sorry. I shouldn't laugh. Just you two are kinda cute and you look so giddy." He says knowning what that feeling of a crush is like. He leans back in the water and closes his eyes just relaxing. Even though they weren't organized during last evenings fight, he does feel a bit accomplished.