Players:
Summary: There's a small gathering in the gym, more socializing then exercise is done.
Date: March 21, 2010
Stress Level Status = Low!
Rating: PG
Xavier Mansion - Gymnasium
This big room with wooden floors is build with powered students in mind; the entire room is power proof. Blast the walls all you like, they are not breaking. The gym can either be one large room and it also has dividers to make it two smaller gyms. This large Gym has basketball nets, equipment to set up equipment badminton, volleyball, hockey, soccer, gymnastics, fencing, and everyone's favorite, dodge ball.
Since everybody seems to be recovering in the Medbay since the huge battle yesterday, or performing repairs on the mansion, Tara has found that she's got quite a bit of time to herself. Since she hasn't been introduced to the danger room, she goes to the next best thing: The gym. She's dressed in her Paragons uniform, comfortable in it's tight-fitting way since she's used to performing in those awful unitards. She's got the uneven bars set up and secured, and mats placed around the place to cushion her fall if she were to do so. Currently she's on the ground, chalking up her hands. Without her glasses on, it's easy to tell why she's blind. Her pupils are just as white as the white of her eyes.
Amazing what a nap can do for one. While he hasn't gotten a full nights sleep, Jonothon did get some rest. He's passing by now in order to talk care of some things. So in hearing someone in the gym, he pokes his head in to note Tara. «Hey, gel.» The greeting offered as he moves in fully. Still blocking the door though. «You alright after last night?» Wearing a long, black coat, black top, and slacks, this is his X-man uniform for all it might not look it. «Heard you and Mike made a mess.» Amused, not chiding.
In a far corner of the Gym, Rashmi sits, a blanket draped over her shoulders in addition to her typical winter clothing. While fit enough to leave Medical, she still has no small amount of blood to replenish, and has been feeling the chill more than usual. Thus, her concession to her condition; she stays seated as she practices with her powers, throwing a new wrinkle in her standard routine by watching Tara prep for her gymnastics as her spheres move in a complicated, almost hypnotic pattern some feet above her head. At Jono's entrance, she smiles, but remains silent for the moment.
Most of the afternoon Robyn's been having those woodedn dowel rods surgically removed. It probably isn't easy removing bits of wood that have been merged with flesh and organs. He /really/ shouldn't be out of the medbay but being surrounded by so many people and wanting to get out and get some quiet time in, he can't help but sneak out. He's in a pair of Xavier sweatpants and his left shoulder and right side is all bandaged up. He's going to need more work later but most of the wooden bits are out. Spotting Jono walking into the Gym, Robyn follows in after him. "Hey Jono." He says half fearing he's going to get kicked back into the medbay. Though Tara gets a bit of a curious look as she's setting out the gymnastics equipment. He hasn't noticed Rashmi at the moment.
Yesterday's events left Mike feeling rather vulnerable. He just finished talking with his father on their weekly webcall (even though he had already called on Wednesday when the repairs were completed) and Papa Kyrios had no answers for him, but he did have some questions for Mike to think about. He thinks better while doing something so he's wandered to the gym and is setting up a tumbling path to practice. (Someone else has the Danger Room reserved and besides he'd have to find a teacher and they're all cleaning up … and he feels guilty enough about that.)
And Jono's appearance triggers a big TWITCH when he hears that "made a mess."
Luckily for Chezlie, she had missed out on the huge battle, though deep down she does feel guilty for not being there. Her left shoulder is finally getting back to full health after her one sinister run in, so what good would a second have done? She's pretty sure most of those in the Med Bay would probably agree with her too. Dressed in a pair of black running shorts and a white tank top, the tattooed teen has had enough of arm and shoulder rehabilitation and decided a good run around the gym could just be what the doctor ordered, though this isn't true since shoulder exercises are specifically what was ordered. Upon entering the gym, she catches sight of Jono, Robyn, Mike and someone she hasn't yet met. "What's going on?" Rashmi has yet to be noticed.
Doesn't turn to look at Jono when he enters, or Mike or Robyn, for that matter. "Hi Jono!" she says cheerily enough, his unique psy field that surrounds him is clue enough to who just entered. When asked about last night she nearly gushes, "Are you kidding? Last night was /awesome/. Best first day of school ever. Ever!"
Tara doesn't turn to look at Jono when he enters, or Mike or Robyn, for that matter. "Hi Jono!" she says cheerily enough, his unique psy field that surrounds him is clue enough to who just entered. When asked about last night she nearly gushes, "Are you kidding? Last night was /awesome/. Best first day of school ever. Ever!"
There's a smile for Tara's exclamation. Jonothon so very much enjoys the fact he can do that again. It's part of why he's dealing so well. Experience in being controlled, and the fact he's his face back. «And speak of the devil.» That for Mike, but there's still no chiding. Not for yesterday. «Sounds like you both helped. I should be telling you off, but eh.» So not interested. Only then does he notice Rashmi. Eyeing her in the corner, lifts a hand in greeting, but then he's distracted by Robyn and Chezlie. «What are you doing out of the med bay?» Almost dismayed that.
Rashmi draws in breath to announce herself… but places a hand to her forehead as a minor dizzy spell hits. Thinking better of trying to call across the gym, she simply glances up, rotating the entire pattern above her head forward and down, in a sort of long-distance nod.
Robyn notices Rashmi the draw of breath and walks over to sit next to her, with a sharp intake of breath. "Hey Rashmi, how are you feeling?" He asks since the last he saw her, she was sleeping in a medbay not to far from his. "Uh…hey Jono…I uh…I couldn't stay in there anymore and I didn't like what they brought for dinner. Also, I'm sorry, for earlier."
Mike has the image inducer turned off, so he doesn't grin, but he does wave a greeting as more people filter in. He puts one more interlocking black rubber floor mat into place, and deliberately focuses. These are all friends and you want to greet them all and ask what happened to Robyn and tease Chezlie about not doing her shoulder thing and make Rashmi drink tea and stop goofing around, yes, but first show some discipline and focus on the task. Three perfect runs of that complicated sequence before you get to be Mr. Robo-Gregarious.
His interior monologue is certainly bossy today.
"Rehabilitation!" Chezlie says, accompanied by her well known and overbearing smile. "I've had several days of shoulder exercises, so I thought I'd reward myself with a run." Her eyes quickly looking from student to student to student - probably not going to happen. She beings to move her left shoulder in a circle pattern, as if in attempt to demonstrate it's recovery. It almost looks like she's about to sneeze, but her face does in fact contort into a short lived wince.
"Hi, mike!" Tara calls out when he starts setting things up. She takes a few steps toward the bars and lifts herself up with her TK to the bottom one. "Yeah. I'm sorry about the hole in the side of the building," she says. "But, really, you shouldn't let a blind girl drive." With that, she starts working on her routine. Anybody who's watching can tell that Tara's disability has done nothing to impair her gymnastic ability. She's actually, quite surprisingly good. Good enough to compete at a national level, even.
Jonothon shakes his head at the enthusiasm in the room. It's a good thing, but he's getting out of the way. Sure there's his errand, but it can wait. The man edges around Mike, and heads over to sit with the sickly people. «Don't worry about the building. Mostly I'm just glad people are still alive.» Including the attackers. Shrugging out of his coat, he offers it to Rashmi as he sinks to the ground. Costume material.. will keep her warmer than that blanket. «Don't worry about it, Robyn.» No need to apologize as long as the lesson was learned. «I should force you back, but as long as you rest, I'll pretend I didn't notice.»
"Better than you've been doing," Rashmi replies quietly, leaning over to nudge Robyn's arm with her good shoulder—more a brush, really, since that's a *lot* of bandages there. "And I'd probably be badgering you to get back to the hospital and lie down and stuff… but I'm tired. So… just go back when you start to get dizzy, okay…?" The offer of the coat has her flushing… sort of… in gratitude, and she drapes it around her shoulders almost immediately, and settles in to watch Tara and Mike do their thing.
"NO EXCUSES," Mike calls out to Tara as he prepares his first tumbling pass. "You were using my senses, you could see too." Except for that "common sense" thing, and it isn't QUITE sight.
He starts the tumbling. There's a lot more balance, and twisting, and transitions, than in the last time he did an impromptu session, but he's also been getting harder training in the Danger Room sessions. Not near the caliber of the olympians who have trained here, but Mike is solid, could compete at a state level if robots were allowed. Better than when he got here certainly.
Robyn nods to Rashmi and Jono and smiles. "Don't worry, I won't do to much. I just…needed to get out. It's so…sick feeling in there." He says not knowing if it makes much sense. He gives Mike a smile before watching Tara for a bit. "Wow, she's good. And Chezlie, can you help with with that shoulder stuff later?" He says thinking he might need it. Looking back at Rashmi and Jono, Robyn gives them a hopeful look. "Hey, can you two sneak me down some real food and cookies? Like if Cam makes anything, please bring me some."
Following the trail of the others, Chezlie makes her way towards the group sitting down and plops to the floor herself. She stretches her boney little legs forward, hooking the toes of her shoes together causing both knees to twist inward. Her sight jumps between Mike and the still unknown student, her mouth practically hanging open. "I didn't realize you could move that fast Mike!" She teasingly shouts out to him before turning to face Robyn. "I definitely can, Robyn."
Tara makes a couple of passes back and forth between the two bars, flipping and twisting expertly. The programs she does only takes a few minutes to complete before she dismounts, performing a rather spectacular series of flips in the air before landing on the mat. The landing isn't perfect, however, as she needed to take a step to retain her balance. "Damn!" she says afterwards, breathing hard. And that's when she notices Mike doing /his/ training. "Not bad, Astroboy," she says.
Prewarmed jacket! (That can protect against Antarctic level cold!) Kind of sprawling against the wall, Jonothon is glad for the breather. «Hey, Chezlie.» For her joining the 'slacker' group. It's just like high school gym class. Those who excel, and those who lurk on the bleachers. There's a nod for Robyn. «Sure.» He'll fetch something. Later. After he's had his rest. Eyes are on Mike though. Hasn't been able to talk to the robotboy in a long time now. Kind of misses helping Mike talk. No matter how he rolled his eyes at the chatter. Of course Tara's landing seems find to him, but what does he know? Sorry, doesn't say anything, if only because he doesn't know what to add.
Rashmi digs her hands out from beneath blanket and jacket, applauding Mike and Tara for their routines. Looking back at Robyn, she lifts her unwounded shoulder briefly in a shrug. "I'll try… but I'm not sure how much I can do. They're stuffing me full of meat and tea for my blood, and I'm not… *quite* up to doing much sneaking around…" Settling back against the wall, she looks to Jono, smiling. "I remembered you visiting this morning, Jono… Thanks."
"Thanks guys." Robyn says smiling a bit as he nods to Rashmi. "I don't think I lost that much blood but I don't know." He was bleeding a lot but he's no where near what Rashmi bled. "You feeling better at all Rash?" He says looking over at Jono and smiling at him. "Really, thank you, for earlier." He's feeling a lot better now. "Whose the new girl?" He asks as he hasn't had a chance to meet Tara yet. "Thanks Chezlie." He can't help but watch Mike for a bit. "What's he practicing?"
Mike pauses after his first run to call over to Chezlie, "Thaat's because you're alwaayz in front! You never see usz slowpokes."
It's a few breaths' wait to focus again, and he turns and repeats the same pass he just did, but this time a little more precisely. At the end of the pass, though, that increased precision has a cost: he over-rotates badly on the last flip, just as Tara says "Astroboy," and ends up having to catch himself in a forward somersault rather than landing on his face. "Not that good, yet, though," Mike admits. "Or you're contagious." Yeah, he was also paying attention to her while doing his routine. So much for focusing on that important question.
"No problem." She responds to Robyn before leaning forward and giving Jono a quick nod and smile combo before leaning back into the wall. "I somehow can't help but feeling gypped that you didn't come visit me this morning, Jono." What could have possibly made this abnormally cheery and nice teen such a smart ass today? Probably all the pent up time spent rehabilitating her shoulder. Both hands are lifted towards her lips in preparation to shout at the robot-kid again. "No reason to take pride it always getting second Mike! You know you're better than that!"
Poor Mike. There's that smile again as Jonothon watches. Doesn't tease, for Rashmi and Robyn are soon distracting him. The man shrugs, as though to say it was no big deal. «I got visits, why shouldn't you?» While he was locked up and crazy. «New girl is Tara. She's telekinesis. And enthusiastic.» Sarcasm there, but a warm one. More laughing than irked. Jono's expression says it too. So nice to have expression again! What's Mike practicing? «Falling on his face. Don't ask me why.» There's a little pause as he says quietly to the three nearest him, «Sure seems taken with her though, doesn't he?» Brows arch at Chezlie. «You were asleep. Should I wake you next time?» He's smiling though.
Rashmi chuckles quietly. "A little. Better than when, y'know… Still had the hole in me. And I'm not really needing painkillers… So that's good." Pausing to take a quick breather, she smiles at Jono's observation. "Well… She *did* get behind the wheel when he turned into a car… It was kind of an emergency and all, but… That's kind of a big deal with him, you know?"
"Maybe she'll be a nice addition here." Robyn says liking the idea of someone enthusiastic around. "Mike, Astroboy?" He calls out. "Does that mean you have rockets in your backside too?" He jokes before looking at Jono. "Oh Jono, I know you, and touching but…I haven't seen Addison today and or anyone else and I kinda need…you know." Robyn says as Jono would know what he's talking about. "And I think everything was an emergency last night Rashmi, and a big deal."
Mike stops before setting up for the next run to laugh at Robyn's quip, then he retorts, "No, do you think I should get some installed?"
He walks over to where the Slackers (walking wounded?) are sitting, and squats down to look at Robyn seriously. His eyelamps are yellow, rather than the blue they used to be.
"What happened to you guys? We had Evil Howl trying to get Scott, and … what did Brian's parasite call himself? Anyway he cut off July's arm and Chloe's hand."
"Yes! Always wake me, then I know you're not lying and just claiming I was asleep when you showed up." Chezlie answers, pulling her legs up towards her chest so she can rest her chin across the tops of two uncomfortable knees. She watches as Mike continues to go through his tumbling paces. "Aw, this better not mess with his performance in the squad." The words are spoken in a soft volume and with some obvious jest, though are quickly cut off once the boy in question arrives. "He nearly liquefied my shoulder last week." She says displaying a nervous smile.
"Just because I'm blind it doesn't mean I'm deaf, too," she calls out to the group of recuperating people sitting away from everybody else. She turns to face them and puts her hands on her hips. "I'm right here, you know." She shakes her head and turns back to the uneven bars to prepare for a second pass at her routine.
Jonothon's expression shifts to surprise and understanding. Oh! That's a tidbit he hadn't quite put together. Suddenly the attention makes sense. «Still hadn't heard much about the other side's fight.» An apology to Rashmi. Robyn meanwhile is merely offered a hand. The Brit sits himself up and stretches out for it. «It's mostly okay if I start it.» Touch and for everyone sitting the air grows a bit heavy. Jonothon's chest catches on fire as his hair begins to lift from his head. Robyn will feel a prickly sensation, but that's the worst of it. «Sorry about the show. Can't stop this bollocks yet.» The drain can go as per normal, even with the bit of power flailing Jono has to contain.
And as he's leaning to help Robyn, the Brit smiles at Chezlie, «I sit corrected, and shall do, m'lady.» Yes, Jono's feeling pretty good today. No one died, and the missing four were caught. «Skyler and Jordan attacked. Scott, Hank, and Robyn took out Jordan while Skyler was a complete idiot and took out himself.» Doesn't explain how. And to Tara, «Then join us.» Silly girl.
Rashmi's eyes track Jono's hand as he reaches out for Robyn, though the blossoming of the psy-fire doesn't quite seem to trouble her all that much. "You're really okay though, Mike? You and Tara?" This seems, for all that she'd very nearly died herself, to be the more important thing. As the girl in question protests, she looks up, waving her over. "I *hate* doing that to people," she murmurs to the general vicinity, but I'm not sure I wouldn't pass out if i tried to shout…"
Robyn grabs Jono's hand and his eyes flash purple. He gets his his 'fill' of psychic energy and relaxes. "Sorry, I just…needed it. Thanks a lot." He looks at Mike and nods. "Yeah, that's pretty much what happened. Jordan and I pretty much took each other out at the same time. Skyler copied Jono and exploded and that's all I remember. Wait…I remember Scott stuck in a tree." How could one forget seeing that. "What is it you hate doing to people?"
Mike turns to watch Tara, feeling a bit strange as that energy from Jono flickars around. He murmurs, "Yeah, we're fine. I didn't TASP her. I armored her up, and I didn't hit her with the happy fun thing. I was focused on trying to make the gardening utility truck into a fire suppression truck and armoring it up and imaging a full tank of the sticky foam. Which totally didn't work right. It was supposed to absorb some of EvilHowl's sonic attack. Muffled under a huge pile of bubbles."
He doesn't take his eyes off Tara's routine, but he adds, "She didn't really drive that well, but we didn't have time to teach her, and she was using my skill OK for a bit. Scott didn't get hurt bad? I saw him at the medBay but we were trying to save Chloe's hand."
Leaning forward again, Chezlie gives Jono a curt nod, as if to acknowledge that yes, he will wake her next time she should be stuck in the medbay while he visits. She simply sits silently and listens to the conversations as everyone begins to fill in the blanks about the two battles that went down without her last night. Her attention is then quickly stolen by the energy transfer between Jono and Robyin, her eyes lighting up as the usual smile and glow returns to her features. "Awesome." She mouths, before turning to face Mike with a rather shocked expression. Saving Chloe's hand? Wow.
To be fair, Tara had probably enough of her happy fun thing as it was, and didn't need Mike's help at all with that. She begins her routine again, the second time around a bit more precise than the first. "I'll come over," she says in the middle of a flip, "When I'm done here." Dismount. Twist, flip, and land. This time it's a good landing. "I don't want to get rusty, even though I can't compete anymore."
Jonothon shrugs as Robyn finishes, and he settles back against the wall. Free of physical contact, all the power effects fade. Leaves him with a nice head of heavily mussed hair. Not that this is unusual. «Scott's fine. James and I got everyone to the medical bay.» He is worried about both Scott and Hank though. They both took heavy damage. Not enough worry where he doesn't give Rashmi a questioning look. And since Tara is working out, she's left to it.
Rashmi guestures toward Tara, as she notices herself the target of a mass confused look. "Making people feel left out. I *hate* doing that." With a shrug, she settles in against the wall, her spheres reconfiguring themselves into a new, equally complicated pattern above her head. "You did really good, Mike… *I'd* have been happier if you took Tara in, though… but… you probably saved my life, you know…?"
Robyn waits for Tara to join them before finally introducing himself to her. It's hard when she's flipping. He leans against Rashmi and lets out a small yawn. "I don't know how Awesome it is, but I need it to get by." Psychic energy that is. ""I'm glad that you two were able to get us all down to the medbay, I gotta thank James later too. He tried to get me outta there. And Mike, you want to teach a blind girl how to drive?!" That just sounds sadistic to him.
Mike shrugs elaborately. "Tried to get her inside at the onset, but couldn't, so I did the nexzt beszt thing, I gave her armorr. That meant she had to drive. Didn't haave time to keep my voice though, so I couldn't tell her that Dai was a friend under all that evilness."
And he did indeed have some epic evilness there. Wow. That "squeeze play" was nasty.
Slowly and carefully, Chezlie begins ot pull herself up to her feet. With a little grimace, both arms are stretched outwards followed by an overly stretched yawn. "Yeeeeeah, it just looks cool. That's all." She smiles, and begins to rub at her stomach with her right hand, physically emphasizing the fact that she truly is hungry. "Boy, I'm getting hungry. I'll try and find you something good Robyn. If you're not here when I return, I'll be sure to sneak it into the medbay." She gives a quick wave to all those now seated at the corner before taking off. She stops just before passing the new student. "Hey, we didn't meet, but my name's Chezlie. I'll be back later for a better introduction." Then off she dash out of the gym to find something to eat.
Once done with the second set she walks over to a nearby bench where a duffel bag rests, and pulls a towel out of it to dab it on her forehead to wipe away the sweat. With the towel in tow, she wanders over to the corner where everybody is sitting down. "Hey, guys," she says, looking at everybody she doesn't recognize. "I'm Tara. I'm the new girl."
Not like Jonothon is telling everything. Making light of some of it is for the best. He wrinkles his nose at Rashmi, but doesn't reply. Instead he nods to Mike. «Considering the situation, you all did very well. Didn't listen to the headmaster's orders, but if he wants to punish you, that's for him to do. Not like you'd listen anyway." A roll of eyes and he throws up his hands to show he's giving up. «Cheers.» That to Chezlie, for she looks like she's leaving. Hand lowers and the man is pleased that Tara joins them. «Welcome. We'll be portraying your slacker friends in gym class this evening.» Never mind he's the only slacker here.
Rashmi smiles gently, bobbing her head. "I know… you were driving one of my best friends yesterday," she says with a chuckle for Robyn as the boy tries not to fall asleep against her. "Oh… and you're on my team, too, that's nice to know." A sidelong glance is given to Jono, shoulder hunching slightly. "Well… I hope he doesn't want to, but it's not like we were *looking* for trouble, you know…? But, I guess I could deal with detention if it means everyone's okay… more or less, at least."
Robyn offers a hand to Tara as he continues to lean against Rashmi. He just likes the close feeling of a friend. "Hi, I'm Robyn. The emo kid." He says joking around as he knows he's been miserable lately. That should be better now. Robyn, Tara, Jono, Rashmi and Mike are all sitting in a corner of the gym just kind of chatting. Robyn is wearing just a pair of Xavier's sweat pants with bandages all over his torso. "You going to yell me for not listening to you guys to run inside?" After all he was on the side of the fight with all the teachers. "Let's just be happy that everyone is okay Mike." He says nodding to him with a smile.
Mike nods. "Amen to that." Though he has a vague nagging thought that SOMETHING is missing. Something large but easily overlooked? Still.
He stands out of that crouch he's been in, "Speakinng of detention, after I finish my laazt pass, I think I haave to move that truck out of the szide of the mansion. Unlesz someone already did. Since it'sz kinda my fault it got there."
"I'll help!" Tara calls out to Mike. "Since, you know, it's kinda my fault too." But, really, it's not hard to tell that she just wants to drive again. Turning back to Robyn, she grasps his hand firmly (after wiping off the sweat and chalk from it). "Cheer up, emo kid
«We'll see, gel.» To Rashmi about Scott giving punishments. «Robyn, James, and Jade might get trouble, if anyone does. He gave a direct order, and they ignored it. Proved bloody useful during the fight though. That's why I'm not giving you shit about it. You're all paying for it already." Does wrinkle his nose at Tara. «He's already cheerful. You should see the rest of the time.» Jerking a thumb at Robyn as he jokes. «Don't worry about the truck, Mike. It was taken care of earlier.» Been a busy day for Jono.
"I'll help!" Tara calls out to Mike. "Since, you know, it's kinda my fault too." But, really, it's not hard to tell that she just wants to drive again. Turning back to Robyn, she grasps his hand firmly (after wiping off the sweat and chalk from it). "Cheer up, emo kid," Tara helpfully says to the teen. "I think, all things considered, everything went good last night." She, then start ticking off the points with her fingers. "One. Nobody died. That's always a bonus. Two. We stopped the brainwashed students from killing anybody. Double bonus. Three, we un-brainwashed them. All in all, I think things could have gone a lot, lot worse."
Rashmi bobs her head in agreement… and blinks, letting her head thump against the wall as a dizzy spell passes for a moment. "Mmmn… The only thing to keep worrying about, is Zack… but, if he's the only one left missing, I'm pretty sure everything will be well, very soon."
Robyn laughs at Tara and then at Jono as he speaks. "Yeah, I just need to learn how to manage with things better. Sorry for being a pain in the ass guys." Robyn says as he's on that climb back up to being himself and smiling more often. "Yeah….I hope Zack is okay. He's my roommate so I hope it's not too bad. And I can deal with detention as long as it's not building the boat house again."
Oh, right, THAT large and overlooked object. Zack!
Mike tilts his head. "I don't think you've been a pain in the ass, Robyn. This hasn't been easy on any of us. I think I should be more careful though. Praying for Lent to be productive. Not safe."
Tara scowls a bit when she hears that there were more that were kidnapped than just the four that were recovered last night. "Zack, hunh," she muses. "I take it the teachers have a plan to find him and bring him back?" To Robyn, she shrugs and says, "Well /I/ don't think you're a pain in the ass." Not that it means that much since she just met the guy.
«..Zach is missing?» News flash for Jono! His eyes are a bit wide with surprise as he asks. Not that he jumps up and runs off. Really, there's nothing he can do right now. «Did anyone tell the other staff about this?» Sometimes people forget that others may not know. As for Robyn, he shrugs, «You need to start thinking with your head is all.» Taps his own temple as he speaks. Tara gets a look. «Down, gel. Sit.» His expression says he's teasing more than being serious. «There's a plan in the works, but no way in bloody hell am I telling any of you.» You'd all try and go along!
Rashmi wrinkles her nose, nodding in agreement. "Yeah… probably we'd all try and drag ourselves out of bed to go… and probably pull out a stich or twenty before whoever was left to watch the school found us…" There's that half-shrug again, spheres reconfiguring into a two-layered orbit. "…Or at least that's what I'd end up doing." She looks at Jono, smiling wearily and tipping the Brit a wink. "Stupid things for smart reasons, right?"
Robyn actually admits to shaking his head at that. "I can't say that I'd go running off right now, it hurts to much to move too much." Robyn says though he is worried about Zack right now. After last time and not being able to run off after Jordan, he's learned a lesson. "As much as I'd love to go with you Rashmi, I think last night has left me worn out. I wonder though about Zack."
Mike walks back over to the course he laid for tumbling and focuses, again, keeping his further thoughts on the matter to himself. This time he doesn't over-rotate. It's a perfect routine. But he's not satisfied at the difficulty level. Not after watching Tara's routine earlier. He begins taking up the pads so the gym will be ready for other people.
Tara sits down as Jono commands, crossing her legs before her. "Well," she says matter-of-factly, "If we got four people back in one night, I have no doubt we can go and get just one."
Nose wrinkled at Rashmi too, he says wordlessly that he doesn't think much of the stupid things for smart reasons. Then again they had that conversation already, didn't they? «I don't think I get to go along either.» Said of the plan. «I'm still too risky.» Jonothon is technically still infected with Sinister's mark, for all his mind is his own. Wondering too of Zach, he none the less watches Mike begin clean up. Dark eyes flicker to Tara, and there's a little smirk. «We? No, you are staying here. There are even Avengers called in I think. I know Quicksilver has been around, and there's some other guy I didn't know of.»
Rashmi nods slightly. "Seriously, Tara…. we really don't want to do yesterday again. And…. honestly, maybe it's about time we got out of the way and let the adults do what they *do,* you know…? Besides…. right now I think I just want to curl up with a big thing of tea and a couple dozen books and just…. rest."
"That sounds great Rashmi. Hey, Rash, when I can officially get out of the medbay, we /have/ to have a movie night. Clash of the Titans or do a marathon of all three Lord of the Rings movies." Robyn says as he wants to just relax right now. "Jono…can you do me a favour? If Jordan needs someone, can you be there for him too. I mean, both of you went through that." Robyn says knowing he might not be able to sympathize like Jono would. "Tara…thanks, for your optimism, it's nice." He watches Mike for a bit as practices. "Where did you learn that stuff Mike?"
Mike walks over carrying the pads, managing not to overbalance. "My dad wanted me to be more than just an auto geek and weightlifting nerd," he says to Robyn. "No, Tara, we can't go after him. We don't know where Sinister is by now, and … those people we fought were our friends. Addison … with the Phoenix, which is a scary thing … was only able to free them because he's a more powerful telepath. Sinister crawled into their minds and …" his internal dialogue says 'shat out his hatred into their souls' but he amends that because he doesn't want to make it harder on Jono…. "he made them into his own twisted image. He got hold of my squadmate and he took a blender to his mind, and made him too dangerous to be around. I don't ever want to think about what could happen if he got you or me, or Robyn… Rashmi. I turned off my emotions when I was in medBay last week so I wouldn't think of it and have nightmares."
Tara giggles at Mike. "Yeah, my mom made me take gymnastics for pretty much the same reasons." She shakes her head and explains, "When I said 'we' I didn't mean us, here. I meant us as a school. Including the X-Men." A huge grin bubbles up from out of nowhere and she claps her hands together. "The X-Men! I can't believe I'm going to school with them! That's so awesome. My mom's gonna be pissed about it, though."
Eh? Jonothon looks to Robyn, having been thinking of who Keld is. Just can't recall the guy's name. There's a shrug for helping Jordan. «That's what I did this morning, remember?» By stopping Robyn. It's part of what he tries to do around here. Help the students. In between all the training he does for being an X-man, and helping with the teacher's work loads. After that he does indeed fall silent as Mike explains. Appreciates that the teen is doing it too. Pulls up a knee and wraps an arm around it as he watches the robotboy. Tara refuses to even be serious over Mike's explanation, and the Brit says only, «Thanks for trying, mate.»
"Movie night… definitely," Rashmi agrees, then falls silent to listen to Mike, nodding slowly to emphasize her thoughts on what he has to say. "I know it sounds all kinds of neat, Tara… and really? It's great that you see something good in everything. Just… seriously, it's a *really good idea* to think a lot more carefully… Because really, there's going to be more than enough of these times, without going begging for more, you know?"
"Sometimes I wish I could turn off my emotions, but next time Mike, you have friends, you can rely on us to help instead of having to shut down." Robyn knows that it's hard to deal, really hard to deal, but he doesn't thinking shutting yourself off is the answer. "But yeah Mike, I'm just happy this is all over." He looks at Jono and smiles at him. "Thanks, I know this morning but, I'm going to try to be patient." He says knowing he doesn't have a choice. He's about to say something else but suddenly winces and grabs his side. "Okay, painkillers wearing off. Time for me to head back to the medbay." Robyn says taking a deep breath. "Nice meeting you Tara." Robyn says as he pushes himself up and manages to make his way back to the medbay.
Mike would sigh if it worked at all. But Robyn's sort of right.
"I don't know if it would help to try to explain again to Robyn why I have my emotions off. Or rather, szome of them turned off. It'z not optimal, but it's safer when they try to take over my whole consciousnezs. But I do miss being able to get furiousz."
He stacks the rubber pads by the wall here, since it's where they were stored before.
Tara looks totally baffled at Rashmi. "So… you're saying that wanting to go out there, kick ass, and save the world is a decision you actually have to /think/ about?" She shakes her head again. "C'mon! We've got powers above and beyond that of mere mortal men, and you have to stop and /consider/ whether or not you want to use them for the betterment of all mankind? Well, not me. As soon as I figured out that I had this kind of power I /knew/ what I was going to do with my life."
Jonothon doesn't much find humor in the fact Rashmi is repeating his own advice. Doing much better at it, mind you, but he wishes it weren't necessary. «Good.» That to Robyn about being patient. And as the teen starts pushing himself up, Jonothon rises to his feet to lend a hand. It means the air shifts, and psy-fire shows, but the Brit doesn't care. Moves back to his spot and leans against the wall there afterwards. «Mike, I never make the offer lightly. If you need anything, I'm here.» Seems as though Mike is trying to deal on his own, and while Jono will respect that, he offers and alternative none the less. Pushing from the wall, Jono leans down to lightly try and touch Rashmi's head. It brings a TK tingle that doesn't linger. «I'll get the jacket later. I'm going to get some sleep.» There's no reply to Tara though. «Don't stay up late. Cheers.» Time for him to take his leave.
Rashmi smiles up at Jono, leaning into the touch and letting out a quiet sigh. "Good night, Jono…. and thanks, again…" Beckoning Mike over with her good arm, she turns her gaze back to Tara, the smile fading. "…Okay. Your first mistake is putting words in my mouth, Tara. I never said anything about hesitating if I can use my powers to do good things. Your *second* mistake, is assuming that people who aren't mutants are just mortals, and we're *better* than them. Because we're *not.* We're human beings too, Tara, not angels, and not God. So whatever we do for the benefit of mankind, we have a *responsibility* to try our hardest to keep to the laws laid down to govern mankind, not make up our own. And if we're ever going to be able to do that, we have to *know what we're doing* each and every minute." This rant, naturally, forces her to spend a few moments catching her breath, but once she does, she looks back up, fixing the blind girl with a fierce look. "You're a mutant, Tara, just like us. You have powers, just like us. So just like us, you can't expect your powers to just make you a hero. We have a Mutant Ethics course for a *reason,* you know."
Mike sits next to Rashmi. He doesn't bother turning on his image inducer, because, frankly, it's only useful here as a means of increasing his communication bandwidth.
"Afraid she's right, Tara. Although I won't look to the Mutant Ethics class for all the answers. Some of them aren't all that convincing to me. There are times and places where you will want to, or be forced to use your powers on others, without their consent, for instance. Here's the thing - if you were just a kid growing up 120 years ago in the west, you'd probably learn how to use a gun. But you wouldn't just go using it any time you felt like it, and that same thing goes for powers. I don't change every car I see… I don't even let other people drive me. You're the first in months, because it's dangerous."
"No," answers Tara to Mike. "But if, 120 years ago, in the west, I was a kid with a gun and I saw some psychopath going on a shooting spree, you can bet your butt that I wouldn't sit back and and try to figure out what the ethical ramifications of shooting a psychopath would be while he's out there killing people." She turns to Rashmi and says, "Look. I get your point that not everything is going to be black and white, but I'm not going to sit back and do nothing while people out there are getting hurt, kidnapped, brainwhashed, or what-have-you. All I'm saying is that we, and I did clarify that 'we' meant the school and the X-men, should, collectively, have a plan, and if we don't, I'll do what I can to make sure that we do."
A pained look crawls across Rashmi's face, before her head drops into the palm of her hand. "Okay…. well, on the bright side, you're not *nearly* as bad as some of them…" Drawing in a deep breath, she lifts her head. "…Okay. How about this, then… you know that you *can.* And unlike a lot of us, you're really happy to have powers at all. So… you've already got a head start, and that's really great…. Just… Try to remember that you've *just started* to learn *how* and *when,* okay…? That's part of what the teams are for… … …Does that make any sense, Tara…?"
Mike grins internally and remembers again to add facial expressions to Schematic 2.0. He looks over at Rashmi. "So all excessive seriousness aside, shall we add a new member to the conspiracy to make sure stuff really does get done around here?"
He winks at Tara, since at least that she should be able to see. And abstractly wonders if her telekinetic sense is sharper than his blurry pseudo-radar sense.
Tara folds her arms and juts her jaw out, grudgingly conceding to Rasmi's request. "I guess…" she says quietly, and then giggles at Mike after a moment of quiet reflection. "I'm sorry. It's just that this is still new to me, and I just think it's really really cool. I've spent all my life proving to people that just because I'm blind, it doesn't mean that I'm delicate, or inferior or incapable of doing… well… /anything/. It's just kind of a reflex to go out and do something when somebody tells me I can't." She giggles again. "Like Gymnastics. And sign language."
Rashmi turns that pained look to Mike. "…You know I'm really annoyed about that all the same, Mike… but… ng. I guess." As Tara explains a part of her motivation, however, it causes for Mike a rather visible switching of the tracks of her trains of thought. "Oh cool, d'you think you could teach me sign language, then? I mean, there's another new kid on our team, Marshall. And, well, he's deaf. …Usually. …. …I think usually. He was talking pretty normal after he got his headache… …anyway." Should Mike look up, her spheres are very evidently in 'idle' mode, turning lazily about their single orbital path. "It really is honestly great that you're so happy about it, Tara, I mean that. It's *nice* for a change to have teammates like you and Marshall being all upbeat. So… think about this; okay so you're blind, but your powers really seem to make up for it a lot. So, that pretty much puts you even with everyone else, you know?"
Mike chuckles. "I love that. Also, I would like to learn sign as well, but I don't know if it would really help since my face doesn't really move. I know I have the image inducer but I don't know how well it works for lipreading. Also also? I haven't met Marshall yet."
"More or less, I guess," she says to Rashmi. "I mean, I still can't do things like read or watch a movie or anything like that, and I can only really 'see' out to about twenty feet or so. It's good for moving around and making sure I don't run into anything, though, so there's that." She looks thoughtful at the prospect of teaching her class-mates sign language. "I guess. I've never taught anybody anything before, but I'm willing to give it a try." She turns to face Mike (or at least Mike's direction) "You keep saying image inducer… what does it do?"
"It's like a hologram thingy," Rashmi supplies, helpfully using the most technical terminology she knows. "Since in real life he looks like a robot made out of a car, it makes this hologram that looks like a normal teenage kid. And it does all kinds of neat things like expressions and stuff… And there's a voice box in his so he can talk, since before if Jono wasn't around all he could do was sample stuff he heard off the radio. … …Sorry, Mike," she says, realizing she'd just bounced all over Mike's opportunity to explain for himself.
Mike waits a second then plays a sample back, Stevie Wonder, "donchu worry about a thing…" and laughs. "Speech is better. The image inducer is a separate circuit though. Hank made a soft circuit that learned how to tweak the inducer so I could use my car-bender power to change the expressions and stuff, the same way it does my voice box. Some of it's linked to the emotional tone. It had a hard time telling anger from fear though. Imagine."
Tara laughs, agreeing with Mike. "Imagine that. Honestly, though. I can't tell the difference, since it all feels like what I'd imagine Astroboy to feel like." She gives the mecha-teen a playful punch in the arm. "Besides. You're /much/ cooler than Astroboy."
Rashmi nods slightly. "Oh, definitely. I mean he's *real,* for one. And he's got a lot of good sense. ….Also no machineguns in the butt. That's a bonus."
Mike, already kneeling next to Rashmi, takes the punch from Tara and falls over, because it's comedy. From the sideways position he grumbles, "I think I have to see that movie. Or did I already? I don't remember. If I did I archived it and didn't bother to index it. I liked the original cartoon, I remember that."
Tara chuckles and gets to her feet, dusting off her knees. "Well, that'll give you an excuse to watch it again," she says to Mike. To Rashmi: "I don't know. That'd be one hell of a surprise weapon, there. Anyway, I'm beginning to stink. I'm going to go take a shower. Later!" With that she goes and collects her bag, waves at her new classmates, and exits for the shower.
