2013.04.29 - Summers never die, they multiply

So Nate called Scott. This is odd because Nate has a love-hate relationship with cellphones. With lot more hate than love. Usually his phone is out of battery and abandoned in his room. Plus, he is a telepath, and that is how he usually talks at long distances. But this morning he called Scott and asked to meet him outside Xavier's.
The second odd thing is that he arrives on a motorcycle driven by a white-haired girl, instead of flying. He looks, well, scruffy as always, but also has a bandaged head and cuts in his face. On the other hand, the typical looks of many X-Men after a fight they come close to losing.
Scott frowns as he sees Nate arrive on the motorcycle. No, it has nothing to do with the white haired girl or the scruffy look. It has more to do with the bandaged head. Perhaps this meeting was more serious than he thought. Perhaps he should have known given Nate's feelings about cellphones.
Rose is clueless at this point, simply plugging in the location to her cell phones GPS, snapping it onto a stand on her bike and driving. Coming to a halt, both legs lower to keep the bike aloft as it idles out there - a lingering that states her indecision on remaining here, her ice blue gaze wandering showing her lack of knowledge on her surroundings. One side of her face bears a stitched gash, any other signs hidden beneath the leather jacket covered down the sleeves in maille, cinched by buckles and belts along the sides.
"I still think you shouldn't be pushing it..." Rose mutters as she finally shuts down the bike and lowers the stand.
"I am not pushing, I let you drive, right?" Replies Nate. Him 'driving' would have meant flying, definitely not a great idea with his concussion. "Yeah, this is the place, really good chili. C'mon." He spots Scott as soon as he gets into Harry's, but spends a few extra seconds making sure no one else is around, friends or not-so-friends. "There he is," he tells Rose. "My not-quite-father, and the guy that needs to know about Hope as soon as possible." Then he reaches with his mind to Scott, |"Rose is my partner-in-crime/fellow warrior - but I don't think she is a mutant. How openly can I talk about the X-Men?"|
|Not at all, really. It's not about what I think, but about what the others would...and their safety. What's this about?| Scott nods to the pair as they approach and motions to the seats in front of him. "Nice to see you, guys. You're looking, swell, Nate. What happened?"
Rose pauses inside the place, the prospect of a hot meal that is not a burger or fried something in debate, but once the bottles were seen lining along behind the bar, her eyes lingered there until Nate spoke up again. Now she looks at Scott, a sweep of her gaze an assessment that shows her trying to even fit likenesses once it snaps back and forth between them. No, no alcohol this visit, she resigns silently as she slides into a seat and offers Scott a nod.
"Got to close to an exploding van," replies Nate, flopping down on a seat and wincing. "Nothing serious, I'll be fine in a few days. But I think you need to hear this right now. Ah, this is Rose. Rose, this is Scott. I can tell you much about him, but he is one of the good guys." Who said no alcohol? They have good beer here. And Nate will definitely try to eat something with chili before leaving.
Scott returns Rose's nod. "Nice to meet you." If he notices her eyeballing the booze, he doesn't say anything.
"Exploding vans? No big deal? You must have some pretty big information for me, Nate, because where I come from exploding vans are kind of a big deal." He leans back in his chair and folds his arms. "Spill."
Rose is trying to behave, she has had her fill of hearing her flaws of occurances when under the influence. "And you, Scott." She relies to the man across from her and Nate, waiting for a menu, or the server that comes attached, because that chili is sounding better and better as the time ticks on.
Curious about the meeting though she keeps her own words tied down.. Okay, lies. One leg draws up to rest a booted sole upon the seat, shifting to find more comfort in the lean that will not press the backrest into her back. Once some semblance of comfort is gained she leers at Nate and snorts derisively. "Don't let him downplay /anything/." She says as finally a waiter approaches!
"The exploding van was part of a hit on a teenaged redhead by the name of Hope, Hope Summers," explains Nate. Pause for a mock glare to Rose, 'cause he has had it far worse. "Hope is a mutant power mimic, and a time traveler. Sounds familiar? That is not even the most interesting part." After all by now Scott might be jaded to have time-traveling relatives dropping by. The waiter provides the interruption for a dramatic pause. Yes, chili and beer for him thankyou. "So, the guys chasing her believed she was some kind of mutant anti-Christ character. I am not good with Christian mythology, but it was some kind of big deal for them. They got killed before I could take a good look into their heads, though. So... we all ended up somewhat battered, but took Hope to safety and heard her story. Her father is a guy called Nathan Summers that looks... uh, like me, but about 30 years older. Domino knows him as Cable." He goes on telepathically: |"And the most worrisome part. Hope and Cable had been time hopping for years, chased by someone that Hope claims was, or is, an X-Men. Which is one of the reasons she is staying away from the school."|
"Hope Summers." Scott said, obviously annoyed. Nate. Rachel. Hope. Three descendants who, with the description of having the red hair, he assumes the latter is also one of 'his' with Jean Grey, his ex-girlfriend, but from some alternate time hopping, confusing scientific-fiction explanation that is beginning to hurt his head. "That puts the number up to what? Three?" Pretty impressive for a guy who can't buy a date recently. "She doesn't have any idea why there seem to be so many of my family members passing through the slipstream, does she? Because I'd love to know."
Rose places her order, at first simply chili and water, but when Nate orders beer, her resolve cracks and she orders a 'lemon drop'. Lemon vodka, red bull, on a sugar rimmed glass. Keeping it girly, keeping it classy, keeping her tired ass awake. The glare from Nate is not-so-subtly dodged by a wandering gaze, one that still keeps it's place on Scott, trying to pinpoint likenesses, reactions outside of those which were obvious if any were to be had.
"You're as lost as I am, but while lost have been mutliplying amongst the galaxies. At least you weren't bored." Rose states in jest, though it likely is not a very -fitting- one unless Scott and Nate were going to have a sense of humor despite the conversation.
Rose clears her throat and goes back to speaking-no-evil... For now.
Technically Nate is not a time traveler, he came from an alternate 1995! "Four, don't forget this Cable guy. Unless he is future me, in which case I just out-weirded you." Yes, Nate seems to take it with some sense of humor. But he never had anything resembling a normal, logical life, and he burned out much of his omg-wtf factor when he switched universes. "Cable was the one with the time-traveling gear, so he must be the one with the answers. Hope is reluctant to talk much because she is afraid of... interfering with her own past, or something like that. I think it is way too late to worry about that, if you ask me."
"Yeah, I got off the crazy train at the bit where I have children with my ex in about all alternate time periods and realities, save this one." And there was a time he had kind of wished it was this one. So much for that. He nods to Rose, agreeing with her bit about being lost and shakes his head at Nate, "To be honest, I think we need a flow chart to keep it all straight. Can you set up a meeting with this Hope person?"
"I'm still riding it in carousel circles.." Rose mutters in regards to the crazy train, flashing a grin at Nate as he goes on about this weird time line, and who is who and what, where in whatever world or slip-stream, somewhat finding her 'complicated' life being far more simplistic in comparison. But let's not think of her dad...
Instead when Scott speaks of getting to meet with Hope, Rose glances sidelong from him to Nate. "Easier said then done, though if any time is good, very soon is it before she Houdini's us again, considering right now... She's with us."
Nate nods, "I will ask her, definitely. But she is skittish and at the same time, more stubborn than a mule." He nods when Rose mentions Hope might pull a disappearing at any time. It made talking to Scott also more urgent. "I think Rachel has been looking for her too, and in the case Hope decides to leave and hide again, this is what she looks like." He concentrates, sending into Scott's mind a few mental pictures of Hope. And then, as an afterthought, one far less detailed from Cable himself, this one picked from Domino's mind months ago.
Scott nods, "Well hopefully she'll want to meet me. I mean, I imagine she's got some questions. Did she let on which X-man she thought was working to hurt her? Or how or why she came here?"
Dinner is served! Rose uses that as a a good enough reason to stay out of the conversation ebtween the two men, or rather, father and son. At the mention of X-Men Rose doesn't even stop smashing the crackers while they are still in their little plastic wrapping. For now it is more intriguing to listen and piece things together Hope has already spoken of, biding her time to add two cents worth of a nugget. Taking a sip of her drink, the sugar is left lingering on her lips, flavoring for the follow up of downing it in one fell swoop. Yeah...Glutton.
"No. The identity of the other time-traveler out to kill her is one of those things she is not talking about," replies Nate with a frown. Hey, maybe she will tell Scott. "As for why she came, I got the impression it was some kind of accident. She got separated from Cable and she thinks she is in the wrong time period. That is why she is so worried about changing the past. I will try to convince her to talk with you, though." Or with Xavier.
Scott nods solemnly, "Well I'd appreciate it. Whatever is causing all of these distant relatives to come through to our place and time is concerning me. There must be a reason for it, and whatever that reason is, we need to fix it." He looks to Rose, "Or soon we'll have enough to field our own baseball team."
"Hope spoke of X-Men, she sounded rather terrified. I would not mention that in her presence. Ever. At least not until you manage to gain her trust or have me rope her like cattle again and hold her down." Rose states this rather casually, as if it is business as usual while she eats her chili. The first bite had been taken slow, but then she remembered what -real- food tasted like, as well as hot food and was making it vanish like her own personal magic trick, much like the lemon drop. "I'll help, considering now I have a small running past with Hope."
Category:Log