Players:
Summary: Dances and squad training are today's topics of choice.
Date: January 13, 2011
Log Title: Convenient Proposal
Rating: PG
Xavier Mansion - Atrium
The Atrium is large room with four corridors leading off in diagonal directions to the classrooms and dorms. A large window looks over the front courtyard. The Atrium has also been turned into a social area for students and teachers, with chairs, tables and a television set. Since its a main area of passing, it is encouraged that people keep things to a respectful volume.
Sure there's kitchen and a cafeteria but Sam is eating his lunch in the Atrium. He flew home last night and came back this morning so he has some of his Mom's Southern cooking leftovers. He's eating some mac and cheese out of a tupperware container as he looks through student files on his laptop while trying to determine the next danger room session. He wants to try to get the most out of the students and figure out what they need to work on and the best ways to do that, while combining teamwork.
The preamble to Connor's presence is a bit of an odd one. Boxes. Boxes surrounded in a blue-green aura and held tightly as if they were picked up en-massed and then pushed along. Behind that pile of boxes, all marked with the words 'Craft Fair' along the side in neat script. Walking into the room, the young man moves the boxes to one side, and then settles them in a spot where they can maintain their obvious nature, and then exhales, wiping at his brow, "That… is a lot of Hardy Boys." Chuckling to himself afterwards.
Heather has disconnected.
Heather's entrance, by contrast, is not unusual. At least for her. The approaching of tapping feet down the hallway indicates that she is coming at quite a pace, arriving in the Atrium with a long slide across the smooth floor. For a moment, she seems confused and looks at the sole of her shoe. "Worn down already?" she comments from her tape recorder, before looking up. "Hello to both of you."
Sam looks up at Connor whose halling all the boxes and pauses from his work. "Ah'd ask if ya was movin' out but Ah see the craft fair written on the boxes. So whatcha donatin' tah the fair?" He asks even though he heard Connor say Hardy Boys. "Hello Heather, how are the both of ya today?" Sam asks saving and shutting down what he was working on.
Connor heads to a vending machine for the moment and gets himself a water to cool down before turning to face the others, replying, "Oh, Mom and Dad went with me to a Half-Price books and a couple other places, and we bought up a bunch of old science fiction and fantasy novels, some comic anthologies, and a bunch of childrens books to put into the Fair. Since I don't really 'make' anythingm I got to pick out what we were going to put up. Including a couple full sets of the Hardy Boys."
Heather glances up and over at all of the boxes and says, "Maybe I'll do some things for the craft sale, but I don't think I have the quality that some of the others have. We will see what I produce." She sits down across from Sam and notes, "I am doing well, sir. I am thinking of things lately."
"Ah think it's great that y'all are doin' this. Ah remember when we had a school dance between us and Emma's Academy up in Massachusettes….let's just say Ah hope this goes better." Sam says before perking his interest at the boxes. "Well Ah'll certinally be there Connor tah check out some of those old SciFi novels. Ah'd ask if Ah could get a special sneak preview but Ah'm gonna be fair and wait." He says before looking at Heather. "Anythin' ya make Ah'm sure would be appricated." Except her food.
Connor smiles at Heather and then gives her a nod in greeting before saying, "I think you should paint, Heather… it's not something people could really appreciate for what it really is, but they'll look at them and a lot of people will see art they could put in an office or a hallway. Maybe." And after that he gets a bit of a smirk, before leaning on his boxes, "Lemme see, Mister Guthrie…" Drawing it out just a little, almost sounding like Mister Smith from the Matrix, "I've got some Asimov, Harry Harrison, a bundle of Heinlein, some Ben Bova… tossed in a bunch of Mercedes Lackey, Anne McCaffrey, a healthy dose of one of my favorites… Simon R. Green. After that I tried to grab as many classics as I could."
"I think that I could paint," Heather agrees, nodding at that, "I have a few things that I want to paint yet." She raises her eyebrows slightly and then shrugs, "But I am also working with Kisha lately a little bit on a communication system. I was kind of thinking about it in application to our squad practices."
"Ah'll be there to check out which Heinlein ya got, see if there anything Ah don't have." Sam says with a smile as he's happy to purchase some books to support the students in their dance. "Why don't ya paint Heather. Just paint some stuff ya wouldn't mind partin' with. And as for squad practice, maybe Ah'll be cancellin' it on Saturday for the fair since y'all are gonna be busy with that."
"Oh… and for the military space nuts, I think about five sets of the Honor Harrington novels up to the next to current book.", Connor finalizes, chuckling to himself, "My dad has already joked about getting me a Nook or an iPad for Christmas next year, but I told him… I like how books feel. I like that they're not backlit, or that they don't auto-update or anything. If a book is old, it's old… otherwise, what's the point?" Shaking his head once, he walks over towards Heather, nodding to his instructor, before saying, "I don't mind doing a Danger Room run after the Faire, Mister Guthrie… but I'm a card-carrying workaholic… but, on the subject of this…" He stops in front of Heather, "So… wanna go to the dance with me? I promise I won't try to organize all the tables. Again."
"That's why I still keep my journals in paper books instead of on the computer," plays Heather to the first bit of what Connor says, "I feel like writing directly on to the paper is more intimate." To Sam, "I do not mind doing the squad session. I spend most of my time killing time anyways, may as well do it productively." She fiddles with her tape recorder again and listens to the last bit of what's on the tape, and looks up at Connor, answering very decisively, "Yes. I would like to go to the dance with you. And I wouldn't mind you organizing the tables if you would just let me help so it would go faster."
Sam smiles as Connor asks Heather. "Well, we'll see how things are on Saturday. If y'all are needed tah help break down and clean up after the fair, Ah think yer classmates would rather ya do that then go tah practice. After all who knows when yer gonna get a chance like this again." He says. "Ah might hold a session that is optional and just do somethin' light. Though Ah do want tah ask ya two somethin'."
Connor pushes his hands into his pockets, a gesture that hasn't been done in a long time as his fists ball up, "You will?!" He sputters a moment, and then says with a nervous laugh, "I was joking about organizing everything, really… but okay. I mean… I thought about it and I thought this is something you'd really want to go to, and when Rashmi asked me who I'd ask a couple nights ago, I immediately thought of you. Before anyone else." There's a gulp and he turns his head to hide a slight coloration in his cheeks, and gets distracted by what Sam says, and responds politely, "That is… unless time travellers, mutant terrorists, secret organizations, or a herd of stampeding pink rabbits lead by a reincarnated Che Gueverra decide to interrupt. I mean… no offense to the school… but we qualify as the world's second-greatest weirdness magnet."
Heather listens to the playback on her tape, and blushes slightly as well when she notices that Connor seems a little nervous, but at least she has the benefit of extended time to get the coloration to go down a little faster. She furrows her brows slightly in thought and nods. "Of course I will. When Chloe was asking me about it, I had hoped you would ask. I do want to go. And so long as the time travellers aren't me… I think we should be fine." She pulls her fingers through her hair lightly after the message completes.
"Only second-greated, what do ya consider the first greatest Mr. Blake?" Sam asks quite curious about it. "Ah hope you two have an excellent time at the dance together." He is amused by the reaction of the two and finds it quite refreshing to some of the angst around here. "Ah think there's gonna be plenty of security on this dance tah make sure that space monkeys ain't gonna crash yer time."
"Las Vegas of course." The smile almost confidently reassuring, "There's a rumor around the internet that my friend Dylan sent to me that says that most third and second tier villians knock over off-strip casinos to bankroll their operations… but still… it's Vegas." But with that Connor then replies with a bit of a sigh, "Mister Guthrie… neither of us are very social people by nature. My condition doesn't allow for me really feeling comfort in large groups, and Heather's abilities limit her ability to be well-understood by a lot of people. They'd see her responses with the recorder as rude. At least with the two of us going together, we can cope with each others problems and wring some fun out of it." Then the smile returns, "Besides… I can teleport, and she can run real quick. If we need some air, we can get it any place we like."
Heather looks at her tape recorder for a moment and then plays, "I think it might be rude, but I do not mind the rudeness very much. I suppose others might." She puts her fingers through her hair again lightly and notes, "I do get nervous in large social settings too, so I think this particular arrangement will be perfect, too." She smiles slightly and then says to Sam, "But speaking of the tape recorder, I just wanted to ask if, when my new communication system is ready, we can have do a wireless communication system that I can connect into with it. Basically, I want to simulate telepathy, since it has functional advantages in squad settings." There is the unspoken 'and we have to be the /best/ squad' that is probably easily picked up. "Kisha is helping me."
"That sounds plausable Heather. Ah don't see why now. Anything tah make it easier for ya to communicate." Sam says as he knows it must not be easy. "And Las Vegas can get all sorts of crazy. Ah'll give ya that one. So, Ah was wonderin' if ya think the New Mutants would be up for a trip down tah Kentucky for a few days. See the farm Ah got down there and do some trainin' outside of the danger room.
Connor immediately replies with a smirk, "I think that depends on whether or not the rest of the team is up for a ride on the Crazy Train…" Pausing, as he then clarifies, "Heather likes it… but my portals and teleportations don't work in the typical manner, Sir… I pass everyone briefly through a nexus of possible realities. So… everyone who goes through tends to see themselves as they could have been, sometimes on a world that might have been." There's a small grin sent at Heather as he adds, "I think your favorite was what… Timeslip, Queen of the Savaage Land… or was it when you said a big purple guy made you… it was called a Herald, right?"
"I looked very good in that Savage Land," notes Heather, "You should have seen me. But I liked the Herald one better. I was in /space/!" She pauses for a moment and says, "But neither is my favorite. There was that one time, I was fighting some guy in this funny outfit, and he had a wrinkly chin. It was very exciting, and I was very proud of how smart I was about it." She smiles widely at that, and starts up her machine again, "I must go now, though, I have lots of work to do. Especially if I'm going to paint." She nods to Sam and says, "I will update you on my designs." And then to Connor, "I am excited to go to the dance." Without much more in the way of farewells, she zips off.
Sam raises his eyebrow at Connor. "What says y'alls gonna be teleportin' there Connor. Ah understand yer power but ain't ya learnin' tah fly the Blackbird? There ain't gonna be any 'portin' down tah Kentucky. Ah figured ya could test your wings." He hasn't experienced Connor's teleporting ability first hand but he should to get a better understanding of his powers. "Take care Heather, and if ya have any requests for Danger Room trainin' ya know tah ask me." He says before turning back to Connor. "Which also goes for you to."
Connor shrugs as he smiles, "Sorry… gotten used to just using my power to get around… I mean, if I could say, Mister Guthrie… you fly. It must be effort some days to remember to walk." But after that he then takes a breath and nods, "The Blackbird's a sensitive beast to fly. My Dad would love getting in the cockpit. I don't think he's ever flown something this high-tech. When I told him I was taking flight lessons, he was thrilled." A wave to Heather is given as she departs in her usual fashion, and as the question is posed, he asks, "Sure… I do have one. I'd like to learn how your own power works, Sir? I know it sounds weird, but I figured out how to use my powers to see things differently thanks to Mister Falk's classes… now I want to see where else I can expand what I can do."
"Not as much as ya think Connor. Mah power can get kinda loud at times so it's just quieter tah walk." Sam say with a smile as he's also done this for a lot longer. "Most people ain't flown anything this high tech. It's the only machine Ah've ever piloted. Actually sometimes Ah find it more fun to pilot her than fly with my powers. There's a certain relaxing tranquility to it all."