2010-04-06: Boathouse Grumpiness

Players:

Kenta_icon.jpg Lucas_icon.jpg Rashmi_icon.jpg Tara_icon.jpg

Summary: Lucas gets a bit grumpy at the Boathouse.

Date: April 6, 2010

Boathouse Grumpiness

Rating: PG


Xavier Mansion - Boathouse on the Dock

A wooden dock stretches fifteen feet out into the water. Students can fish from the dock, or dive off if they like. A few rowboats, canoes, and paddle boats are tied to the docks for the students to use. A boat house where students can find paddles and life jackets sits at the edge of the water.


Lucas laughs, "Hey, you!" he says, smiling. "Stop worryin'. This is a lake. Ain't nothin' hard like the whitewater back home." He spits some water out of his mouth, splashing his oar and dunking his hands a bit to keep them wet and safe.

Rashmi shakes her head, blowing a lock of hair from her face. "You make it sound like I know anything about those boats!" comes her amused reply. "Normally flipping over is, y'know, kind of a bad thing!"

Still relatively new to the school, one of the things that Tara likes to do is go out and explore the school grounds. Today, her adventuring brings her to the lake, and when she hears the voices of her teammates, to the Boathouse. As always, the air pressure increases slightly when she's around, and if one is paying attention, the waves of the lake that are caught within this field ripple away from the shore. "Hey guys!" she says brightly. "I think I found the lake!"

Lucas rolls his eyes, "It's kayaking, Rash. Not boating," he says, explaining it all. He looks up at Tara, and he paddles a few times to stay in place. "Ya'll are fuckin' with my water, T-bag," he says, playfully.

"Oh, *kay*aking~!" Rashmi calls in reply. "So like instantly I now know everything I need to know, thanks! Better than books!" Laughing, she looks over at her shoulder at Tara, a brief scowl flickering over her face at Lucas' new name for the gymnast. "Yes, Tara, you found the water. And I'm *just* about where the dock ends, too, if you were wondering. It's nice out here, isn't it?"

"No you just found a really large river." Comes the voice of Kenta as he walks towards the water behind Tara. He's taking some slow drags off his cigarette as he walks over. He doesn't care around the school so the black markings up and down his arms and his solid black eyes are fully visible. He raises an eyebrow at the two teens in the water and shakes his head. "And T-Bag? Really, is that the best you could come up with or is that a really bad version of D-Bag that I'm too old to know?" Not that he looks all that old.

Lucas furrows his brow, "Obviously, ya'll are too old." He sighs, dipping his hands again in the water, and shrugs at Rashmi, "Guess Ah'm done." He begins to paddle closer to the dock.

Tara gives Lucas a dark scowl. T-Bag is one of those pet names that James likes to call her and she barely tolerates it from him. With a small flick of the wrist a surge of water rises up and drenches Lucas. Feeling immediately better she gives him a brilliant smile. "Hi there."

Rashmi raises an eyebrow, chuckling to herself. "Oh darn, Lucas, looks like you need to find a new name… I'm gonna go ahead and just vote for Tara, how's that sound? Hi, Mr. Gilpatrick," she says, turning her head to face Kenta, wrinkling her nose a bit at the smell of the cigarette. "How've you been?"

Kenta winces and shakes his head. "It's Kenta, not Mr. Gilpatrick. I hate the whole Mr. thing." He says waving his hand with the cigarette in it. "Wow, remind me not to piss this girl off." He says as Tara soaks Lucas, Kenta's such a great teacher, he doesn't say anything to chastise anyone. He just don't really care about the small things like that.

Lucas doesn't respond. He just rolls the kayak over, and then emerges beside it, walking the kayak the rest of the way to the pier. He sits the oar on the dock, rolling the kayak upright as he unbuckles and removes the life vest. "Whatever," he finally offers.

Tara gives Kenta a big grin. "You shoulda seen what I did with James." She walks over to the man and sticks a hand out in his general direction. "Hi! I'm Tara. The new blind girl at school."

Rashmi lets out a quiet sigh, the debacle with James still a bit of a sticking point in her mind. "At least it was just water this time," she says, leveling herself up and collecting Lucas' gloves. "Feel better?" she asks the blond.

"I don't think I should ask or then I might have to play teacher." Kenta say with a smile as he finishes off his cigarette. "Is he always like that?" He says asking of Lucas as one minute he seemed happy and now he seems a bit grumpy. "I'm Kenta, no Mr stuff, I'm the music teacher here."

Lucas rolls his eyes, "Music's for girls," he says as he lifts the heavy kayak out of the water and onto the dock with an ease that might indicate a greater than normal amount of strength. He then sits the life jacket next to it, standing shirtless in the water now with his hands just under the surface. "And Ah do," he offers to Rashmi.

Tara shrugs at the teacher. "Around me he is," she says. "Rashmi insists that underneath his hard, bitter exterior beats a heart filled with sweet creamy nougat, but I haven't seen it yet." She also waves a hand at the threat of punishment. "Don't worry about it. Jono had me clean out the koi pond the other weekend. It was fun. And slimy." She says it like the two naturally go hand in hand.

"Afraid so," she answers Kenta as she trots the gloves over to the blond. "He's a whole lot better with the sciences than being social. Right, Lucas?" she says with an impish grin, tipping him a wink and handing the gloves over. "Anyway… good news. It looks like I'm going to be working a whole lot harder once I graduate." Despite her choice of words, the redhead is practically beaming; whatever could be making her work hard, evidently better than a good thing.

"Oh yes, music is for women. More like for getting women." Kenta jokes with the teen forgetting that he's kind of being the 'creepy older guy'. "You should have seen what it was like back when I was a teenager..but…that was a long time ago." He nods at Rashmi's words and finds a place to sit on the dock. "Ah I see, more of a science nerd than the popular guy."

Lucas furrows his brow, and grumbles, "Ah'm popular."

Tara absentmindedly hops up on one of the pier's support struts, balancing on the wooden pole with one foot. "Well, to be fair, since will get you just as far as being popular." She nimbly hops over to the next strut, arms outstretched for balance. "That and you get the use all the really /nifty/ gadgets."

Rashmi bobs her head in agreement, holding up a towel and arching an eyebrow at Lucas, grinning. "So… wanna hear the good news, or should I call Guinness to measure how far you've got your lip stuck out?"

Kenta walks over to Lucas and looks up at the teen, yes Kenta is that short, he's even shorter than Rashmi. "What's up, you really not that comfortable around people or something? You seemed like you were having a good time now you're all grumpy." He says with a bit of fatherly concern to his voice, damn having a son. "And there's nothing wrong with Science."

Lucas pulls himself out of the water, standing next to Rashmi. He takes the towel and dries his eyes, and then begins putting the gloves she hands him on his fingers. As they dry, they are beginning to hiss and pop, but the gloves get on before they burst into energy. "You said you was gonna have to work. That's GOOD?" he asks her. He looks at Kenta, "Ah don't need your approval, Mr. Galapapalalas or whatever it was." Then back at Rashmi, "What is it, then?" He tosses the towel onto his life jacket, waiting for her to tell him her news.

Tara hops over to the next one, wobbles a little bit, and then hops on her foot to turn around. "Work is good," she says. "You're just bitter because it means less time away from Rashmi." She hops to the next bit of wood and then tests the wooden beam of the railing to see if it'll take her weight. "Well, that is, as long as you're not doing boring sucky work."

"More," Rashmi corrects gently, a light swat on the shoulder the blonde's rebuke for mouthing off to a teacher like that. "Well, I, um…. I might have an internship waiting for me after I graduate. A *really important* internship, actually…"

Kenta looks at Lucas. "I'm sorry Dorkus, it's just Kenta, no Mr. there." He says not correcting his last name. He takes out another cigarette and lights it up. "Oh wow, you have a job lined up out of here, I gotta say, that's great. It's sometimes tough once your out of here and trying to decide where to go next. I definitely floundered but then I was /convinced/ I was gonna be a rockstar."

Lucas smiles at Rashmi, "Really? You ain't even in Law school yet! That's fantastic!" He wraps his wet arms around her, holding her tight, and getting her very wet in the process. He laughs, "So, where at?"

Tara scowls disapprovingly as Kenta lights up. "Please," she says, putting her hands on her hips in a matronly manner. "No smoking around the blind girl. We gots sensitive noses."

"Uuum…. Well, Goodman, Lieber, Kutzberg & Holliway," Rashmi admits with a deep blush, squirming a bit at her suddenly-damp clothes. "You know…. the big superhero practice firm…? Um…. I guess… Ms. Walters *really wants* a good intern, and I kind of impressed her? I don't know… but she seemed really happy to pitch the offer… on her way out the door…. cause her client held up a Starbuck's…"

Kenta just takes a few steps back from Tara as he's not going to stop smoking, he has to get his nicotine breaks in when he can and he usually smokes two to three cigarettes in that time frame. "Goodman, Lieber…I've heard of that.." He says trying to figure out why it sounds familiar. "Isn't that…Ms. Walters..she's..okay! I know who she is now. Congratulations on your internship."

Lucas nods, "That's great, Rash. Ah'm right proud of you. Really!" He kisses her, and then begins to pick up the kayak. "Ah reckon we'd all like to do so well gettin' outta this place." He walks the boat back to the boathouse, depositing it inside, before walking back.

Tara starts to walk along the edge of the railing, arms out and keeping her balance. "That's cool!" she says enthusiastically. "I mean, law stuff isn't really my thing, but that sounds like a big firm and everything." She performs a nimble hop on the railing, turning around. "I don't know who Ms. Walters is though," she admits.

Rashmi bobs her head, beaming brightly. "It *is,* it's just amazing… I don't know *how* I'll ever get used to just the weird stuff they deal with every day… well… but I sort of said the same thing about here, so…" With a shrug, she leans against a much drier Lucas. "Ms. Walters is, um… Jennifer Walters, Tara. Like… She-Hulk."

"Trust me, you do eventually get used to and the weird stuff, seems normal after a while." Kenta says with shrug of his shoulders. "Well kids, I gotta go check on my son, he's sleeping upstairs. I'll see you in music class, if any of you decide to start taking classes." He says with a wave as he heads off back towards the mansion. Cigarette break acomplished.

Lucas sighs, and he hugs Rashmi again, remaining silent as he watches Kenta leave.

Tara leans over and headstands on the railing, doing this all in a kind of I'm-bored-so-I'm-amusing-myself kind of way. "Oh! /That/ Ms. Walters! That's totally awesome, Rashmi!" gushes the girl. "I'm so jealous. You get to hang out with an /Avenger/."

"Reserve Avenger," Rashmi corrects, reaching back to return the hug. "Mostly because she wants to concentrate more on her practice, you know? And, well, it's hard to be a lwayer if you had anything to do with the arrest… Anyway, it's not going to be a whole lot of hanging out, mostly getting coffee, doing research, and all that. Like I said… A *lot* of work."

Lucas sighs. Now that Kenta's gone, he mumbles to Rashmi, "So much for takin' up guitar again." He sighs, resting his chin on her shoulder. "Have Ah told you how much Ah hate it here?"

"Oh," says Tara, disappointed. Clearly the thought of hanging out with a bunch of lawyers doesn't hold the same appeal as hanging out with an Avenger. Her legs slowly dip down into a split as she talks. "Still. That's got to be awsome." To Lucas she says, "Then why don't you leave?" It wasn't intended to come out as snarky as it did. Really.

"You hate *everything,* Lucas," Rashmi says, shaking her head and smiling to herself. "Honestly… I can count the number of things that *don't* make you grumpy on one hand. Maybe it'd help if you tried to have a little bit of a better outlook on things, you know?"

Lucas gives Tara's snark a little glare, "Because if'n Ah left, there'd be noone left to keep Team Handi alive." He sighs, and answers Rashmi, "Ah ain't grumpy!" he snaps.

Tara snorts from her upside down position. She arches her back and slowly gets back to her feet. While still balancing on the railing. "Please," she says. "Me and Marshall can handle our own. You're just bitter because we're better at it than you are."

Rashmi blinks owlishly, turning in Lucas arms and giving him one of those blank, puzzled looks. "…Um… Lucas… did you just *yell* 'I'm not grumpy?' Honestly?"

Lucas huffs, and picks up his oar and life jacket. "Christ, everybody just… Fuckin' get off my back, alright?" He scowls, and then just begins walking back towards the mansion.

Tara pauses in her impromptu gymnastics routine to blink at Lucas, putting her hands on her hips. "Oh, please," she says. "I'm just teasing. C'mon. You can't go around and call me things like 'Special T' and not expect to get a little back."

Rashmi rubs the bridge of her nose, closing her eyes for a moment. "C'mon, Lucas… come back, all right? How d'you expect to stop hating it here if you take off whenever it's more people than just us, anyway, you know?"

Lucas gets about a dozen steps away before he turns around, "Ah called you T-bag, not Special T," he shouts at Tara, before looking at Rashmi. "Maybe Ah don't like no one but us? Maybe Ah just wanna go get outta my wet clothes. Maybe Ah LIKE bein' grumpy!" He shouts, and it's almost exasperated.

Tara hops down from the railing back onto the pier. "Oh, just let him go," she says, sounding more amused than anything else. During her routine her hair had gotten mussed up quite a bit, so she starts braiding her hair using her telekentics to get it back in order. "Or go after him. It's what he wants."

"How does that even work?!" Rashmi yells, clearly every inch as exasperated, if her flailing arms are any indicator. "How do you like being grumpy?! That like… like… having fum slamming your face into a wall!" With a huff, she turns, grumbling in Hindi under her breath. "I'm *not* going after him," she mutters, "or else he won't learn a thing."

Lucas rolls his eyes, waving them off, "Whatever." He turns, and marches back towards the school.

Tara walks down the pier to stand beside Rashmi, facing in the same direction to 'watch' Lucas storm off. "At least he's got a chance at learning," she says, implying that it is her esteemed opinion that a certain hyena does not. She lets the silence settle for a bit before turning to her training partner. "Hey! You know Hindi, right? Think you can teach me some?"

"*Everyone* has a chance at learning," is Rashmi's immediate reply, the Activist Switch toggled handily, "some are just more stubborn than others." Shaking her head, she rewinds the conversation in her head, blinking at the question. "Oh! Um, sure, I guess I could teach you some. I'm sort of first-generation, so, I grew up speaking it, you know?"

Tara nods at the redhead. "Yeah. I'm kind of a sucker for picking up languages. I'm pretty fluent in Spanish and Japanese, and I know enough German and French to get by." She chuckles, "And sign-language, which somebody dared me to learn."

Rashmi grins. "Oh, *that* must have been fun," she says, in the tone that identifies 'challenge' with 'entertainment'… At least as regards academics, apparently. "Tell you what; you teach me sign language, and I'll teach you Hindi, okay?"

Tara looks a little wistful as she thinks back. "Yeah, it was," she says with a heavy, dreamy sigh. She shakes her head, snapping out of it. "Guy ended up being a jerk anyway," she mutters to herself, but to Rashmi she says, "It's a deal!"

Rashmi scowls in sympathy, wrinkling her nose. "Well, good then," she says, frown smoothing away. "We'll start tomorrow, okay? …I'll make dinner. I mean, what better way to start learning the language than after having the food, right?"

Tara, who's almost absurdly easy to please, throws up her arms in victory. "Hooray! Food! I can help! Christ.. I mean Mr. Parker-Mayfair have been giving me private cooking lessons."

Rashmi chuckles. "Did you two figure out a way to measure things out? Because if he did, and you'd like, I can teach you how to make my Mami's masala over rice?"

"Well, dry measures are pretty easy, since everything has it's own cup or spoon," explains Tara. "We're still tackling liquids. If it's just me than I can do it the old fashioned way, by sticking my finger down in the cup at the right height and pouring slowly until it touches my finger. But I don't think people will want me sticking my fingers in their food."

Rashmi chews on her lower lip for a moment. "Well… I mean you have those other senses, so if we just found a way…" Trailing off, she blinks sharply. "….Okay I have a couple of kind of weird questions about your powers. But I might also have an idea."

Tara starts to speak as Rashmi trails of. "I can't read with i…" She stops as her teammate continues. Cocking her head curiously she gives her assent. "Go ahead."

Rashmi grins. "Oh no, I wasn't talking anything like that. So… can you make like shapes with your power? Like, say, if you wanted to make a flat sheet, could you tell when something's pushing against it?"

Tara bites her lower lip as she thinks about this. "I've never really tried making shapes out of it. I can make shapes out of /things/ with it but it's always been, I dunno, kind of like an extension of my hands." Which would explain the grand gestures she tends to perform when she uses her power.

Rashmi nods slowly. "Okay, well… can we try? Like, make with both hands like you're holding a cup, and then…. try to make it so nothing can get past your middle finger? Like, pretend there was this circle of glass that you're holding?"

Tara looks horribly confused. "I… don't think I understand." She holds out her hands to Rashmi and instructs, "Here, show me."

Rashmi blinks, chewing her lip. "…That probably didn't make any sense, did it… Okay." There's an audible rustle and tear of paper as Rashmi digs into her bookbag, ripping a blank sheet from a notebook and transferring it to her teeth. "Nkay, sho." Reaching out, she turns Tara's hands palm inwards, fingers curled slightly as though holding a cylinder of something. "Llke 'at, nww.." She separates Tara's first and middle fingers just a bit, before her hands move away, the paper taken from her mouth. "I want you to feel what this is like, first… Maybe it'll help to get the idea in your head…" The paper is inserted in the gap, fingers pressing down to hold it there. "Feel that? And what it's like when I poke it a little?"

The dawning of understanding lights up Tara's face as she figures out what Rashmi means. "Ah! I get it. Yes."

Rashmi smiles brightly, tugging the paper out of Tara's hands. "Now! Try to do that with your powers."

"Like, make the piece of paper?" asks Tara.

Rashmi bobs her head. "Or something like it, yeah."

Tara stands there, deep in thought as she works out how to accomplish this in her mind. Her hands slowly come together, and then draw apart, like one would do with cat's cradle. There's a shift in the air between her hands, and a shimmering like summer heat.

Rashmi's eyes light up at the sight, a wide grin on her face. "Perfect! Now… Hold it like that…" One hand dips pinky extended to poke up from beneath at the telekinetic plane.

Poking the telekenetic plane is like poking an invisible plate of glass, with very little give to it. Tara scowls in concentration as it gets poked, concentrating to maintain it's integrity.

Rashmi nods, smiling. "So you can tell… good! So, here's my idea," she says, stepping back a bit. "See if you can do that *inside* a cup or something. If we can make it raised on the outside, so you can feel where the measurements are, you could pour out whatever's left, and have exactly what you need!"

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