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Summary: Xavier's holds a Barbeque for the students for the Fourth of July!
Date: July 4, 2012
Log Title: Fourth of July Lake Party
Rating: PG
Xavier Mansion - Spuyten Duyvil Cove
This little cove leads off to Breakstone Lake. Students can go fishing, boating, and swimming in the fresh water. There is a small beach off to the side of the dock where students can also go sunbathing.
It's Fourth of July and Xavier's hasn't ignored the holiday. There's been a barbecue going on down by the lake with grilled burgers and hot dogs with various cold salads and other classic picnic foods. Music plays on portable speakers to provide 'party atmosphere' to the picnic. Later tonight, once it's dark out, there's the plan of setting of fireworks over the lake for the students to enjoy.
Sitting in the sand by himself is Nicholas. He's dressed in a pair of black swim trunks with a plain white shirt, his hair and shirt are damp giving away that he was swimming in the lake earlier. He has a plate in his lap and is currently eating his way through a pile of potato salad as his burger has several bites out of it.
Taylor comes down towards the cove, sniffing the air lightly at the felinoid student walks. The teen is barefooted, wearing a black tanktop and a pair of white shorts. In Tay's hand is a plate with a few burgers and hot dogs, with only about one bun and no other salads. At spotting Nicholas, Taylor waves and says, "Hey."
Unlike Nick Lock is still in the water on his back just sort of lazily floating around, dressed in dark green swim trunks he fiddles with the penticle around his neck as the kicks his legs to keep floating. Hearing a growl from his stomach he considers heading back to dry land and seeing if theres burgers left, hmm actually a hot dog sounds a whole lot better.
July has decided to return to the school to participate in the festivities, and the girl is at the moment wearing a blue one-piece swimsuit, dry for the moment, as it's been a while since she left the water, the woman seated on the sand, on a small chair she brought for herself, wearing sunglasses (for some reason) and smiling, watching as Warlock still swims around. "So many new faces…" she chuckles softly, smiling.
Cale has decided to partake in the swimming today, appearing as his 'normal' self and not Kaylee, whom he's been more recently. As he comes splashing up out of the water, he begins the process of wringing out his back-length long hair, which gets quite heavy when wet, before plopping down next to Nick. "Heya," he greets the other boy.
"Hey Taylor…uh.." Nicholas says awkwardly to his friend. "About the last time we talked, I was just having a rough day so I might have took what you said the wrong way." He says in a form of an apology. "I think you eat more than I do." He says eyeing her plate. "I don't think I've ever seen a girl eat so much…not that I'm saying it like it's a bad thing. Oh…hey there Kaylee, how's it going?" He's finally getting used to calling Cale by his girl name.
"Oh, it's… alright, Nick. I am just not good at saying stuff. It's not really my, you know, strong point… Conversation and shit," says Taylor, looking down for a few moments, "Sorry for offending you. And… I mean, you have buns on your meat, I just have meat, mostly, except for the one bun, so I think it sorta evens out? I used to eat less, too…" The teen looks towards Cale and waves, "Hey, there."
From the path back to the mansion there arrives one blond-haired, blindfolded girl. Sophie guides herself along with her cane as always, moving more slowly in less familiar territory. In her free hand she carries a book, though the cover has no pictures and the title is announced only in braille, quite likely leaving the volume's nature a mystery to all except Sophie. As she arrives, she comes to a halt, and tilts her head to one side. "I hear voices," she murmurs. "Who is there?"
As his stomach growls again Lock decides that it's definatly time to go get something to eat, deciding to try his new trick out again he focuses and lifts himself out of the water, "Far, good", turning over he flies across the water towards the shore. About ten feet from the edge of the lake the flight gives out and he splashes back into the water, "Ack, should've walked".
July smiles as she looks around at all the students of Xavier's school, and wishes she could go back in time to her own time as a student here. Sure, she has good friends at her college, but she misses the excitement of studying at Xavier's. She watches as Warlock decides to float out of the water, and then she giggles softly as the guy apparently couldn't resist one last dive into the water. July then was about to say something when she hears Sophie's voice, and she turns her head to look at the blindfolded girl, "Oh, hey. I'm July." she says, smiling softly at the girl. "Welcome to the party." she giggles.
Cale just kinda smiles, even though he's not in girl-mode right now, and flops back on the sand. "Pretty good. It's been a while since I've been to a beach party… We should do this more often." Like, all the time! All of it! As Sophie approaches, he turns and waves out of habit, but then realizes a little late that she can't see him. "Hey Sophie!" he calls.
"Well I just have one hamburger, though I did have a hot dog earlier. And I'm weak for good potato salad. Though it's not as good as my Mom's." Nicholas says, shoving a forkful of the potatoy goodness into his mouth. "Hey Sophia, it's Nick. Good to see you again, glad to know you got home okay." After the splash from Warlock, he can't help but comment. "Good Jesus impression Lock. I'm fine with once in a while Cale, too many people around to just enjoy the food."
"I guess, yeah… but like, the bun is worth at least two patties… or something like that. If I eat too many things that aren't meat, though, I'll get pretty gross feeling and probably throw up, which isn't any good and not a compliment to the chef," says Taylor, headscratching lightly before saying to Sophie, "Uh, hey, I'm here too. Taylor."
Sophie bobs her head, "Good evening then, everyone," she murmurs. She opens her mouth to say something, but at the mention of a Jesus impersonation, she clamps her jaws shut and her cheeks color softly with a self-conscious blush. She lifts her hand to touch the rather impressive crucifix dangling from a chain around her neck, and coughs softly. "Err, it is good to be back also, si? Thank you, Nick. It was also good to find out that you weren't hurt, after that evening at the bus station, si? I was very worried about you and Robyn while I was gone." The blind girl sweeps her cane around her feet, and meanders forwards slowly, and sniffs the air. "I am told there is food… is it that way?" She gestures with her cane, in pretty close to the right direction.
Warlock chuckles getting out of the water, "Just gotta get the water into wine thing down and i'm golden", he stretches walking towards the group, "Gotta say this place does forth of July pretty darn good". Spotting Sophie reacting to the Christian referance Lock is sorta glad she can't see the penticle around his neck, a few Christians he's met has reacted judgy before, more to his gran than him.
July smiles at Warlock, "You should've seen me when I studied here. My powers erratic and hard to control. I had to keep a tight reign on them all the time. All. The time." she giggles softly at that, then she licks her lips, "Mmm… I could use some more food again." she says, grinning, "Because as much as my powers bothered me in the past, one thing about them I just love: I can eat anything I want, as much as I want, and not get a pound!" she giggles.
"Yeah, that must be pretty hard. I mean. Having powers you can't control," Cale nods, joining in on the conversation. "I mean, I guess mine tend to misbehave a lot but… it's really not that big of a deal."
"The bun worth two patties? The patty is like twice as filling as a bun, it squishes down and becomes tiny in your belly, like when you crush it all small in your fist." Nicholas says as he's just making stuff up. "But we don't want you throwing up, eat what you want. And yeah Sophie, there's a bunch of food over in that direction, there's a ton of teachers over there who can help you." He makes a face at Warlock. "Wine, how about beer, wine is gross…but not that I drink wine, or beer. Anyway Cale, I don't think that anyone has control over their powers at first, I didn't at all."
"No, bread totally expands in your stomach, it's super filling! I think I'll have to ask Dr. McCoy about the properties of eating bread, I bet I'm right…" says Taylor, looking down at the patties for a moment, picking one up and taking a bite. The feline blinks a few times and then says, "Oh, Sophie… you were with Evenlyn, Dashenka and Jill, right, when all that happened? I really am glad you're all okay, too."
"Can you imagine the grounding this place would dole out if someone turned the intire lake into beer?", Lock nods to July, "I'm getting better, the flying thing is just new is all, tends to cut out just as randomly as the stength did, though i tend to get more bruses from this one".
"Si, I was kidnapped by Count Dracula, along with the other girls you named," Sophie replies, nodding towards Taylor. "Rashmi and Kalindi, also." She smiles softly, and shifts her hold on her book. "It is good to have so many people welcoming us back. Only… if you will all please excuse me a moment, the food calls to me." She taps her cane in front of her as she follows her nose, and pauses on the way. "Wine is better than beer," she murmurs, and then continues on her way to go get a burger.
July smiles at Cale, "Well, it's not that I couldn't control my powers. I could. They were just hard to, sometimes." she then hmms softly, smiling, "I think this bears some explanation. My powers aren't like most powers where they can be 'activated' and 'deactivated', like flight, laser eye beams, etc. My powers are active all the time, twenty-four-seven." she chuckles softly, and looks at Warlock now. "I'm a shape-shifter. Of sorts. The reason I need to 'keep a reign' on my powers is because I lose my form if I lose focus." she chuckles.
"I don't know about that…" Cale blinks at Taylor, "I'm pretty sure that Nick's right! Bread is just full of air. How could it expand more?" He glances over at Lock for a moment, and then at July, "Oh! That's kinda like mine. Well, I mean, I don't have to focus 24/7, but they tend to…" he waves his hand over the sand, which goes from a pale white to a dark, grainy brown matching the sand after he wills it for a minute. "I have a tendency to just… blend in, even when I don't want to, though."
Nicholas makes a disgusted looking face at Warlock's suggestion. "Ugh that sounds gross. There are fish and weeds in that lake, so fish flavoured beer? Nasty. And swimming in beer sounds equally sticky and gross." He then looks back to Tay and shakes his head. "Oh so you gotta be little Ms. Smarty pants, don't you." He looks over at the blind girl with both eyebrows raised. "So how many times have you been drunk off of wine or beer?" He didn't think the proper looking girl had a bad girl streak. "That sounds like my girlfriend, she has to keep her focus to keep her shape."
Taylor nods at Sophie and says, "I guess I don't really know those two. Umm, I know Dashenka pretty well, though. She's really great." The felinoid headscratches and then says, "Well, I don't actually know what bread does in your stomach, but I find it really filling… Meat, I could just eat meat all day!"
Warlock holds up his hands, "Dude kidding, couldn't even do it if i wanted to cos as far as i know it isn't in my powerset", he frowns thinking about Taylor's theory, "Well breads a carb right? so like pasta it just makes you feel full for longer, but i dunno if it expands or anything".
July chuckles softly, "I still think a lake of beer would be awesome." she says, shaking her head softly at that, before looking at Cale. "Well, if you lose focus you change colors. If I lose focus, I become an amorphous blob on the ground." she chuckles. Then Nicholas gets her attention, "Really? Who's your girlfriend? I haven't heard of people with powers similar to mine around, so it would be nice to meet someone with similar abilities." she nods. "I may even have pointers for her."
"Well, I'm not, you know, religious. But don't they use wine for like… ceremony, and stuff?" Cale glances between Nicholas and Sophie for a moment. "I mean…" she trails off, "It does sound like Jill, actually. Wait. She does?" he glances at Nick for a moment, quirking an eyebrow.
Sophie soon returns, with her book left with a teacher for safekeeping and a burger in hand. "I had some trouble controlling my powers at first too," she murmurs, picking up on a conversation that hopefully hasn't gone too cold. "But when you can't control a power that heals people, it is not so big a deal, si? …It was when I accidentally burned someone with my neutron blast that I was upset." She pauses, and bobs her head towards Nick. "I have never been drunk, but I have tried both," she admits. "But only because I have wine with communion, and my sister once thought it would be funny to give me beer instead of lemonade. It was disgusting."
"Well her old powers, they changed a bit." Nicholas says not going into to much detail in regards to that. "Jill and I doubt you have pointers for her now." He says shrugging before grinning at Warlock. "Sure you were kidding." He teases. "Oh that's right Taylor, isn't Dashkena that girl..you're…uh…dating or something? And Cale, I'm religious, they used to use grape juice at my church back home. Haven't been to church since I left home though."
Taylor glances over towards Nicholas and then nods once, "Uhh, yeah, Dashenka's the girl I'm dating. Like I said, she's really great…" The feline seems a bit self-conscious for a moment and then shrugs, "I've tried beer before… I mean, back home, like… a couple of times. I think most people drink that stuff with friends, though."
"You're dating Jill? Oh, i didn't know", Lock hmms, "Well i've had beer a few times but cider tends to be nicer in my expirience, JD can be good but it's harder to get hold of without I.D".
July oh's softly and nods, she's disappointed, although she does her best to disguise it, "I see. Well, it's a pity, really." she says, nodding slowly again, before standing up and stretching a bit, "So how are things around the school now? I kind of lost touch with everything going on at college. I barely have time to sleep. Heh." she chuckles softly.
"They're good! Good…" Cale trails off, nodding and peering over at Nick. "Well, yeah, but, lots of places use real wine. I mean if it's adults. I mean, right? I dunno. I never really went to church or anything… Just read about it."
"In Spain, always it was real wine," Sophie confirms. "But of course the Mother Superior kept it under lock and key, it was only ever used for communion, si? …Well, sometimes the nuns had it with supper, I suppose." She shrugs her shoulders lightly. "Jill… it is hard not to worry about Jill, is it not? What she did was very brave… I wish there were something I could do to help her." The blind girl falls silent at that, before lifting her burger to her lips and having a bite out of it; something to chew to occupy her silence.
"Yeah, so do I." Nicholas says to Sophie sounding a bit disappointed. "Eh I used to drink back home, not much else to do in the nicer months but go to a field, one of the older kids get a keg and have a party." He stands up now that his plate is empty, potato salad vanquished. "Anyway it was cool to see you all, I've been out here most the day so I'm gonna go see how Orion's doing in the heat and stuff. Cale, Warlock, Tay, Sophia, Mystery Chick, see you all later and have fun." He says before wandering off.
Tay eats a few more bites of the meat on their plate and looks about towards the others who are present, waving a hand towards Nicholas as he leaves. "Seeya!" Taylor's ears flick lightly and the feline looks towards the plate for a few moments, it's put down on the sand and Taylor lays down on their back next to it.
July waves to Nicholas as he makes his exit, and chuckles, "He must've missed when I introduced myself to Sophie." she says, smiling softly, as she finishes eating her meat. "Mmm. Thanks for letting me in, guys." s he says, nodding, "I wasn't sure I'd be let in, despite being an ex-student." she says, nodding gently to everyone.
"Oh?" Cale perks an ear towards July, "I'm pretty sure they're pretty, well, I mean sure security is pretty tight around here but, if you're an ex-student, there's no reason why they wouldn't let you come back, I'd think… you know?"
Sophie lifts a hand to waves to Nickolas; of course, this means that she ends up waving a burger, but at least the patty doesn't fall out. "I can't imagine any reason why they wouldn't let you in," she observes. "I mean they let other ex-students in all the time. I've even heard that there's some other mutant girl who's never been a student here at all, and they let her in from time to time." The blind girl shrugs her shoulders lightly. "Actually, it's good to hear stories from older students from time to time."
"Umm, yeah, I mean… Dashenka has visited here from time to time, to come see me and stuff. I mean, since we're dating and all, and I don't like being in the city too often since last time I went I got shot and shit," says Taylor, headscratching, "I dunno." ….. "I dunno," repeats Taylor, staring up at the sky and then drifting off.
