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Summary: Cale and Taylor go to get some coffee, the Skyler shows up out of nowhere while Cyril watches.
Date: April 18, 2012
Log Title:An Unexpected Visitor From Strange Places
Rating: PG-13
Westchester - Grind Stone
The Grind Stone is a quaint little coffee shop with tables surrounded by various shape chares and even a few couches with coffee tables. Baristas in yellow aprons are ready to take anyone's order from a latte to a hot chocolate to one of their many specialty drinks.
Today, Taylor is wearing an image inducer, dressed in a fine black suit with a red tie, and thus looks like a long haired blonde teen of indeterminable gender. Some of the teen's motions are still a little bit felinoid, and their walk is somehow both awkward by seeming inhuman, yet somehow quite graceful. "This is the Grind Stone, lots of us come here for coffee or whatever, sometimes. I need coffee to stay up during the day."
It must be 'teen of indeterminate gender' day at the Grindstone today! Because following after Taylor like a little pet puppy is Cale. "Oh," is all Cale replies, peering shyly into the store. After it's apparent it's pretty much like any other coffee shop he's ever been to, he relaxes somewhat - this time, actively trying to get a hold on his emotions. It's quite difficult and his skin still fades a little, but not as bad as it did when Taylor and him first met. He's not dressed as snazzily as Taylor at all, wearing a typical pair of slim jeans, sandals, and a black hoody. "It's a bit far from the school to do that though."
There's a rumbling that's coming from the center of the building. At first it's easily mistaken for some homeboy's car whose bass is turned up way too loud as it's more felt than heard. But quickly, the annoying rumble is strong enough to rattle the dishes and silverware. However, since the time between annoyance to rattle to when a rift in space/time opens up to spit out a willowy, feral girl is only a matter of seconds, nobody mistakes it for an earthquake. Patrons and employees alike scream and scatter in fear, as the dusky-skinned girl picks herself up off the floor. She's clearly inhuman as her skin is on the darker shade of ash grey, her hair is bone white and pupiless red eyes survey the area and a matching diamond tattoo is on her forehead. She has her long, needle sharp claws out and her mouth widens further than any mouth has any right to widen, showing rows of sharp shark like teeth as she prepares for the worst. Then, she blinks as if she recognizes the place and says, "Hey. A coffee shop. Cool."
"Well, it is a little bit far, I guess, but sometimes it's nice to get away…" And then there is this sound of rumbling. Taylor, seemingly instinctively, takes on a feral crouch at the appearance of the girl, seemingly quite suddenly ready to scrap it out if it comes to that, teeth bared and back arched to seem bigger, which looks a bit silly in that lovely suit that the teen is wearing, a feline growl sounding from the teen's throat.
Cale backs slightly behind and to the side of Taylor, his skin rapidly taking on the properties of whatever is behind him; in this case, tables and coffee cups. It looks a bit silly though, with his hair and skin turning brown but his clothes staying the same color. He doesn't hide very well like that! "What is THAT?" he squeaks, slack jawed and wide eyed at the seemingly alien being. He bites at his tongue nervously, as if to keep it in place. Stay put, you!
"Wait…." says the girl, seemingly oblivious to the panic around her. She checks her wrist as if looking for a watch. "It's gone…." she pats her clothes (which look more like rags at this point) especially over one section that looks like it had been burnt, "I'm okay…" Then, suddenly (and again without regards to the panicking people around her (almost all of whom that own cel phones are calling 911)) her arms lift up in victory. "I'M ALIVE!!!" she shouts.
Cyril seems a bit perturbed and is crouching amongst the other patrons of the coffee shop, hidden within the fear being displayed. Today, Cyril wear a modest jumper with a pair of black casual dress trousers. Not that it matters, as the man still sticks out with his stark white hair.
Taylor rights back up when the girl doesn't seem to be a threat, seeming a little bit self conscious about it, and the student approaches her to ask, "Yeah, you look, uh, alive. You okay there, lady?" The feline student glances towards Cale, shrugging with a look of confusion.
Cale remains 'camouflaged,' clearly not convinced that this incident is over with yet! Though he peers at Skyler curiously, his eyes also travel around to the rest of the crowd. "Well, she seems happy to BE alive… So I guess she's pretty okay?" He's not going to venture to talk to her, though. Not yet!
Skyler's words come out staccato with excitement. "English. Good. Coffee house. Even better." She takes a rapid look around, "Not Starbucks. No big loss." She scowls. "Right! Police. Need to get changed quick." That's when Tyler gets her attention. "Right! Perfect!" she says, grinning madly as she walks over to the mutant and holds out a hand. "I'm Skyler. Good to meet you. So sorry about this."
Cyril peeks above the crowd, not particularly interested in the standard affairs of the average people around him. Those standard affairs would include dialing 911, which is one thing that Cyril is not doing. Oddly enough, Cyril knows one of these unusual explodey people! Glances are thrown towards Taylor.
"Oh, um, um," says Taylor, at the offered hand, eventually reaching out to take it with a bit of a resigned expression. It seems unlikely that this girl will freak out about grasping the mutant's fuzzy hand. "I'm Taylor, uh, nice to meet you. What the hell happened, though?" The teen looks a bit lost for a moment, eyes then shifting towards Cyril, detecting the gaze. A hand is raised in greeting, but little else.
Cale relaxes a little and returns to normal upon Taylor seeming to think that whatever it is that's going on is mostly okay; he too stands up straight, being a little taller than Taylor but not really as imposing. "Skyler?" he asks quizically. He scuffs one foot quietly against the floor of the coffee shop, and busies himself with looking awkward. As usual. "You know, we might want to… you know… abscond from the premises," the boy offers softly, green eyes watching for the inevitable signs of police cars. Sirens can probably be heard in the distance.
Skyler holds the hand firmly and within a few seconds an exact replica of Taylor stands before themselves. Except this one is in all thier fuzzy glory. Skyler looks down at themselves with a fair amount of surprise. "Well. I didn't expect that." Looking over their shoulder at the sound of the sirens. Skyler's transformation only adds to the confusion, as people are trying to exit hurriedly from the scene. "Right! Abscond! To the back door!" And just like that, Skyler makes way to said door.
Cyril slips away from the crowds of people to abscond along the other three weirdos. The man is without his cat today, as Taylor would note, "Good idea. Let's run."
Taylor seems rather shocked at the replica of themselves standing there. "Oh, oh shit, did you steal my body?!" There's a few moments as Taylor takes stock, feeling themselves up, before deciding that their body is still intact. Taylor seems rather surprised at Cyril's input, but then says, "Yeah, maybe it's best to… get the hell outta here…" Skyler is followed, anyone with such good looks must be a natural born leader.
Oh god. Oh god now there are two kitties. Cale follows after the one that does not look like a kitty, which also happens to be the real one! Ironic, that. "I… um… ah…" he stammers as he scrambles after the other three out the back door. He's totally not used to this sort of thing at all. Technically, he guesses, they didn't do anything wrong. But he would rather not be explaining things to the polioce for the second time in as many weeks…
"No," answers Skyler, their voice calm now that the excitement is almost over as they slip out the back door. "I just copied it." Once there, the cat like mutant sniffs the air. "Good. Okay. I think we're safe." Skyler nearly pirouettes in place to face the other three. "So. What year is it?"
"It's 2012," says Cyril, "In specific detail, it's about April. The president is Al Gore. He was just revived and voted president through a congressional pyramid scheme." The man keeps running alongside the other three, perhaps slightly amused at the situation.
"Hey, the poor, uh, gi- gu- uh, the poor person's confused, no need to fuck with their head," chastises Taylor to Cyril, then saying to Skyler, "The president's Obama. He's black. It's a big deal. What year are you from, you sound like some sort of a time capsule person or like a time traveller, or some shit like that."
"He is, and Al Gore is still alive out there somewhere…" Cale blinks, frowning at Cyril. Now is not the time for jokes! This is serious business time. Scowl. "That's stupid. You're stupid!" Okay. Cale's scowl isn't that good. "Anyway you MAY know, but we're in Westchester, New York, also," he adds helpfully. "So… ARE you a time traveller?" he asks, after the three seem to have made it a good distance away from the impending police brutality on mutants. He then looks to Tay, rather bewildered about everything that's going on.
Skyler is suddenly inches away from Cyril's face, the seemingly jubilant person gone and now replaced by a very dangerous and unrepentant jungle cat. "Do not mess with me." With a dismissive flick of an ear Skyler turns to the two more helpful people in their party. "Something like that. Think sideways in time." The cat muses thoughtfully "2012. It's only been two years then if I'm right." Skyler turns to Taylor. "That's an image inducer you're wearing. You go to Xavier's then. Who's the headmaster?"
Cyril stares back, unamused, "Look at you." The whole situation is a tad bit unamusing, "Well, time is a bit of a timey wimey ball type thing. Not that I know much at all about the travel of time."
"Emma Frost," says Taylor, eyeing Skyler a bit suspiciously, "How do you know about that? And yeah, I am wearing an image inducer, but you're kind of blowing my low profile here by being me." The student sighs, looking back towards the coffee shop and says, "Daytime makes me feel so sleepy… I wanted coffee…"
"Well we could always go to the mall… I mean, there is one around here, right? But, maybe it'd be better if we went home," Cale says somewhat hesitantly, "This seems like kind of a big deal, I mean, isn't it?"
Skyler actually looks apologetic when they say, "Sorry. I didn't mean to interrupt your coffee." The underlying excitement doesn't go away as they mutter, "Emma Frost and The Doctor." Skyler rubs thier face quickly in his hands, "Could I finally be home? The time isn't right, but it always was a little funny…" Taylor's doppelganger shakes thier head. "Sorry. Your cover is fine. If anybody was watching us they'd see two different people." After a bit more thought, there's a nod to Cale. "Yes. It is. You better take me to Emma. She'll know what to do with me."
Cyril chuckles, "Well, I am a doctor. Speaking of which, are you okay after your little warp, Skyler? That was your name, yes? Skyler? If you have any wounds, I can heal them if you don't make a copy of me."
"I guess so," says Taylor, seeming a little bit unconvinced, "And I'll call and make sure you're an okay person. I don't want to bring like, a known crazy asshole to the school to like lay ruin and shit all over the place." The teen grimaces slightly at that and then looks towards Cyril for a moment and then at Skyler, "Do you just copy whoever you touch? I'd rather you not share anything you, uh, learn about me while stealing my body."
Cale blinks back and forth between Skyler and Taylor. "Maybe…" he rubs the back of his neck, "If there anything I can do?" he pesters Taylor.
"Only when I want to," replies Skyler. "And it's only stealing if you don't get to have it, too." To Cyril the living xerox machine shakes thier head. "I'm fine. Surprisingly so since I was dead ten minutes ago." With a wave of a hand Skyler says, "Go ahead and call. I only go on murdurous rampages when I get brainwashed by Sinister."
"Getting brainwashed is against my opinion for the greater benefit of your personal health," comments Cyril idly while staying with the other three. "Who is Emma Frost and what is Xaviers?"
Skyler's answer to Cyril is about as truthful as they come. "Xavier's is an S&M bar and orphanage in the middle of Mutant Town. Emma owns it. It's one of the few points of references that remain fairly consistent amongst the timelines."
"Uhh, I… I am not into the S&M scene!" says Taylor, blushing furiously at that. The felinoid student puts two hands up and says, "Honest!"
Fade! Fade! Abort! Cale leans on one of the brick walls of the alleyway that they seem to be in, taking on the colors of it. "I don't… um…" he rubs the back of his neck nervously. He's smart enough to know what Skyler is attempting there, and tries to play along. "Actually, it's not really an orphanage at all." His blush would be showing bright red if it weren't for his power trying to make him invisible. Oh man.
Cyril looks between Skyler, Cale, and Taylor, then back to Skyler. There's a faint shrug, and Cyril is still apparently unamused, "Yep. Taylor, I had no idea you were into bondage at such a young age. Do you prefer the dominant or submissive position. I imagine your feline traits make you primarily dominant."
Skyler gives Cyril a measuring look before deciding, "Right. Change of plan. you two go and get your coffee, I'm going to go find something more appropriate to wear."
"I… I… I'm /not/ into any of that! I'm a fucking virgin!" Taylor seems rather embarrassed at the idea of an S&M school. The felinoid student sighs and then nods at Skyler, "Yeah, I think… yeah, we should probably just go back to the school and get some coffee…"
Cale looks disappointed that their little ruse didn't really work out, sighing as he slumps his shoulders. He is, in fact, alreading heading back from where they came, not feeling like this is a particularly awesome situation. "Sorry Taylor," he apologizes in a low voice as he starts to head off.
"Don't even consider touching me." says Cyril to Skyler. From there, Cyril looks to Taylor, "I know you're not attending an S & M school, Taylor. If you can't tell me, I'd appreciate just hearing that. However, you know my position. If you require support, I am here."
"Wouldn't dream of it," Skyler says to the older gentlemen. "I'll catch you two later. I've got a bit of catching up to do." with that the copier turns and, despite the physical mutation, actually manages to disappear into the street.
Taylor frowns for a few moments as Skyler heads off and then looks towards Cyril, nodding, "Yeah, it's a secret. I'd rather not share the details, you know, secret and all that." The feline students then looks at Cale and then says, "Oh, I'll… come with."
Cale looks back at Taylor, smiling as his skin starts to fade back to normal. He brushes that continually annoying bit of hair out of his eyes again, asking finally, "Is it always like this?" Back and forth between Cyril and Taylor for a moment, before turning back to his friend. "You know that guy?"
Cyril offers a hand towards Cale in greeting, "Doctor Cyril Ozyrel. I'm right here, but I'm used to this. Secret social circles and all of that. I run a small clinic in Hell's Kitchen. It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance." Obviously, from these previous statements, it's apparent that Cyril is tagging along.
Taylor glances at Cale and then shrugs, "I dunno, I don't think it goes this way all the time…" The felinoid student considers that for a few moments, head tilting back and forth, "Yeah, we've met. I acted too catlike one time, blew my cover…"
…
