2013.04.04 - Chats at Breakfast

It's breakfast time. Jocelyn has her traditional giant meal sitting in front of her consisting of just about everything the cafeteria has to offer. However, she's sitting alone, oddly enough, which was a little unusual. Her shoulders were slumped just a little bit as she ate, and lowered eyebrows and the light chewing of her lip are clear signs to anyone who cares to look that she's got something on her mind. While she's not intentionally giving off any signs to leave her alone, most people seem to be giving her a little bit of space, if only because the woman had that deep in thought look going.
A bite of her apple is taken as she looks up and around the cafeteria briefly. The redhead takes a breath and releases some of the tension she can feel in her shoulders. It wasn't good to be tense, even if she'd been rattled by what she saw in the future. They prevented that mess yesterday, right? She thought? She wasn't really sure how this time travel stuff worked. It was kind of confusing, and as those thoughts cross her mind, a little bit of that confusion creeps across her face before disappearing again.
Just another morning at Xavier's, right?
Stopping by to nab a breakfast sandwich (or at least the fixings for a good bacon / egg / cheese sandwich) and orange juice, Doug has the tray in hand, prepared to head to do a bit of a 'working breakfast' at the Danger Room when he notices a student sitting alone. A quick glance confirms it's Jocelyn. Without even considering whether she just wants privacy or not, Doug stops by for a minute, remaining standing. 
"Hi, Joce," the blonde mutant greets. "Everything okay? You seem like you've got a lot to think about, and I just wanted to see if you needed anything." There was an easy attitude about his body language, as if to say that it was her decision, he could stay, or he could leave her alone, depending on her answer. No pressure, just making sure.
"Hey Doug," Jocelyn responds casually enough. "Just decompressing a little bit". She gestures to the seat. "Have a seat, if you've got some time. I've got a story or two to tell you," the woman adds with what could be termed a very ironic smile.
"And you can pick which one you want to hear first, about my getting pulled forward in time by someone called the Space Phantom or the Tolkien rejects who showed up in the city while Jubilee and I were out shopping". She's done most of the decompressing at this point, to where she can actually talk about these things. Well, the time travel bit was still weird, but she'd gotten hardened to weirdness to where she just accepts it and deals with the situation when it occurs. Besides, Doug should probably know about the trouble his trainees are managing to get into without him around. Maybe they should wear monitors or something.
Smiling wryly as he takes a seat, Doug reaches for his orange juice, explaining his expression away with a "Go ahead, pick one. Sounds like you've gotten yourself quite a good time. You're certainly getting into the life."
He doesn't really seem too bothered by what the trainees are getting into without him around, though, mostly because they're old enough to handle their own lives, make their own decisions. And Jocelyn was more advanced than the rest, something that Doug recognizes with a grin and a slight grimace as he rubs his shoulder reminiscently, his eyes going briefly to the girl's hands before going to the ceiling briefly. Oh yes, lovely flip. But... right, story.
Cessily drags her sorry butt into the cafeteria, not looking perky at all. Her hair's mussed, she's yawning and stretching, her oversized t-shirt falling off her left shoulder. Cess pads along the line, grabbing a bowl of fruit, onto which she stacks a piece of toast and then a cup of coffee.
"I'd say the life is getting into me," Jocelyn says to Doug with a laugh. She does take note of the man rubbing his shoulder and the grin he gives. "Get a rice pad that you can put in a microwave," Jocelyn suggests. "Alternate it with a cold compress. It sounds strange, but works wonders for stiffness," she tells Doug before she starts in on the first story.
"Well, Jubes and I were out shopping. Then, for some reason I haven't found out yet, some weird looking elves and dwarves showed up. Twisted somehow. Thor and Sif arrived to fight them too. The elves were shooting arrows down at people. Jubilee did her fireworks thing, and I used some kinetic bursts to disrupt the arrows to buy enough time to knock them out," Jocelyn explains. "Then we had to deal with the ground forces and the troll that was stomping around. Sif got hurt pretty badly," the woman explains. She didn't really go into the details of each part of the fight, because really, who needed to relive that? Just the basics would suffice.
Then she spots Cessily and she waves the girl over. "Hey Cessily. Come have a seat," the redhead says to her friend.
Smiling just a bit at the remedy, Doug stretches his shoulders. "Yeah? That sounds different from the usual 'walk it off' advice. I'll have to try that." 
Tilting his head, the young blonde smiles. "Asgardian gods," nods Doug, as though this was an everyday experience. The smile widens a fair bit more. "Yeah, if you're getting into adventures like that, it's usually because you've been looking for them. So let's just say the life and you're getting into each other, eh?" A wicked half-grin forms on Doug's lips, one that eases just a bit as he notices someone else shuffling along. 
"Good morning, sleepyhead!" Doug calls out cheerfully to Cessily. Oh god, one of -those- morning people. 
Cessily - caught! She startles faintly at the call, which at least seems to wake her up. "Hey Joce," she says, padding towards the table. Her loose sweats flop around her bare feet and she takes a seat, before even registering that Doug is here too. That really gives her a start. "Doug," she says, hand jumping up to try, vainly, to fix her hair.
Having decided long ago that trying to convince Cessily that she'd be much more awake by breakfast time if she got up a bit earlier, Jocelyn just kind of smiles at the woman's startlement into wakefulness. "Morning Cessily. Not sleep well, or just not awake yet?" she asks easily.
Turning back to Doug, Jocelyn laughs a little. "Okay, probably a fair point, though I don't go looking for it. I was in the Danger Room for training yesterday, then I found myself pulled forward about 50 years in time and standing in a building in an alternate Detroit. The place was wasteland. Some guy named the 'Space Phantom' pull me and some other teens in for help. Mostly members of the Young Allies, and a few others who, far as I know, are unaffiliated with anyone".
"Now -that's- crazy," Doug grins at Jocelyn. "An alternate future? That's not like something we haven't been through at all," the blonde mutant sighs. "Sometimes I think we should start offering courses in temporal mechanics. Get... I don't know, a teacher who specializes in that sort of thing to do it." 
There's a brief glance as Cessily tries to get her hair straightened out. "I've always wanted to ask, Cess... if you can turn any part of you into liquid, why can't you just do that with your hair? At least then you don't need to worry about cows licking your hair."
Wrinkling his nose, Doug tilts his head as a thought strikes him. "For that matter, why isn't your hair chrome like you, anyway?" 
"I spent most of the night studying," Cess says. "I think I'll pass if I can stay awake." Cessily eyes Jocelyn as she tells her story, sipping on her coffee. "Sounds intense. Fun. Did you see yourself die?" she asks. "That always happens in time travel stories." Doug's question gets a face from Cessily, which starts as surprised but then narrows her eyes. "If I could stop looking like a freak don't you think I would?" she asks.
"Well, there were these things called Metaloks. Corpses of people with electronic parts keeping them moving. Some of them were tied to various metas, it seemed, so they had their powers. They asked us to help beat them back. We managed it, but it was pretty tight at times. Didn't see myself die, but I did pass out from...well, if you've ever met Axiom, he's got the ability to boost powers. There was another one there who could copy people's abilities. So he copied Axiom, and they both boosted me at once. Intense was a good word for it. But, yeah. I wasn't used to being able to harness that much power, so I think I passed out from that. Didn't explode though". Which was a good thing.
Cessily's question to Doug, however, pulls Jocelyn out of the story and a bit more into the present. She lets Doug field this question though, knowing the metal skin was a hot button for Cessily.
Quirking an eyebrow at Jocelyn, Doug shakes his head briefly. "Haven't met them, but..." Lifting a finger to indicate 'wait a minute', Doug shifts towards Cessily. "Easy there. It's just that you have hair. There's nothing freaky about you, I just wondered why you don't just... well, have silver hair too. I mean... have you tried making your hair do things for you too? Like... Tangled!"
"That sounds familiar...." Cessily mutters to Jocelyn as she tells the story. But most o her attention is, unsurprisingly, on Doug. "I don't know. Why am I a person?" she shoots back, testy, perhaps a mix of sensitive topic and the early hour. "I'm metal," she reaches up and spreads her right eye, "how do I see? No idea. I'm not about to let Doctor McCoy and Doctor Richards spend weeks prodding me to find out."
"And there isn't anything wrong with being metal," Jocelyn says. Her voice is calm and relaxed, as opposed to Cessily's voice. "Nothing wrong with you as a person, and there's nothing wrong with you on the outside either. It isn't like some disease. If someone is too blind to see that, then that's their problem, not your problem. It sucks that you have to deal with them on a more regular basis than I do, and it isn't fair. But no matter what anyone says, there is nothing wrong with you, Cessily".
And unlike Jocelyn, Cessily had more to deal with. Picking up his sandwich, Doug nods, chewing thoughtfully as he considers how to clarify this. "It's just... if you have red hair, you might subconsciously have control over some part of your power. Maybe it's something you can work with, maybe not. I don't know. That's something we could work with... see if you can think about just telling your hair to stop looking like a cow licked it. Nothing ventured, nothing gained, right?" Doug offers an encouraging smile. 
Cessily huffs. "Like I haven't heard that for the last two years?" she says. "You're awfully obsesed with my hair, Doug," she says. "Next you'll be on about my clothes, huh?" she asks.
There's a mental sigh from Jocelyn, but she lets Doug field this set of questions. Cessily was really focusing her anger on him right now, but of all people, she figured Doug could handle himself. He was the language expert. But she didn't think there was much she could do to actually improve this situation, so she kept quiet.
"You're right, I have a thing for hair," Doug notes dryly, as he looks over at Jocelyn, a wink done before he leans over the table towards the taller woman and coos, "Jocelyn, Jocelyn, I -love- your hair so. I want to stroke it, touch it, hug it, love it, call it George..." 
Cessily raises her eyebrows. "Alright, it's 'Doug's Creepy Fetish Day' at Xavier's, apparently," Cessily says, stabbing Doug's humor through the heart. "Do you know how old she is?" she asks Doug pointedly, but then focuses on Jocelyn again. "So, Young Allies? What's with that?"
Jocelyn is only two years younger than Doug, to be fair. She's not actually horribly offended, but gives Doug a raised eyebrow and a frown anyway. "You were doing alright until you called it George," Jocelyn responds. She takes up the change of topic easily enough though. "Yeah. They're a superhero team of younger kids who operate in New York. I've met a few of them at times. Axiom and Wiccan primarily. Scarlet Spider is with them, and there are a few others, though I've only heard of them or seen them in passing," she explains. "I've ended up on missions with Shift before and we've worked with them, as our interests were the same".
"Georgia, then," Doug laughs, before nudging Cessily. "You know, I read up on all of you... she's 19, of course. You're eighteen. And I'm twenty-one. Though I guess I've only been alive for... uh, eighteen of those years, I think. I get it, you've had it bad, but at least while you're alive, there's always hope." Dry wit, dry tone, and easy enough to pass off as a joke, but just sardonic enough to have the ring of truth about it. 
Glancing up at Jocelyn, Doug nods briefly, pondering. "You know, if you run into them a few more times, see if they'd like to visit, get some joint training sessions..."
"I'm pretty sure I've met them too," Cessily tells Jocelyn, starting to perk up notably. "The Wiccan kid....sort of yey high?" she asks, gesturing to a height, "Brown hair? Talks fast?" she prods. "This is starting to sound like a super-team," she says. Cessily bubbles and flexes away from Doug's nudges, rolling her eyes.
"Would that even be allowed? I mean, a lot of them aren't even mutants," Jocelyn points out to Doug. "I thought we had the whole secrecy thing going on?" Because, well, it was Xavier's. Inviting the Young Allies over would require a lot of other red tape, wouldn't it? A nod is given to Cessily. "Wiccan is their magic user, and yeah, he talks fast when he uses his powers I've noticed. And pretty much, yeah. They are a super-team that works together," she comments.
"Not here, you're right," Doug muses. "But off-campus, I don't see why not." 
Lifting his shoulders in a self-depricating shrug, the blonde mutant grins sheepishly. "It was a thought." Working on finishing off his sandwich, Doug glances at Cessily. "What's got you in a mood this morning anyway? Integration problems?" 
Cessily nods a few times at Doug. "And lack of sleep," she adds, rubbing her eyes. "We can't all be power-nerds like you, Doug," she says, teasing. Her mood does seem to be improving, if smiling while she says it is any indication.
"I've got contact information. I can get in touch with them if you want, see what they think," Jocelyn offers to Doug. With the number of times she'd run into them, it just made sense to exchange phone numbers. "If they hadn't figured out who I was with before, they know by now anyway. I was in full gear when I was pulled from the Danger Room. Great for keeping my identity hidden, but those suits are pretty distinctive," Jocelyn comments.
"Coffee helps fix that. And weekends," Jocelyn says. Not like she was much to talk about a lack of sleep, with the time she chose to get up in the mornings, really. "Can't believe it's only Wednesday. Got more tests this week. This time of year is making me think hard about just testing for my GED," she admits.
"Pretty interesting," notes Doug. "So they know? Might have to let Scott know what's up..." he sighs. 
Glancing at Cessily, Doug reaches out, pats her on the shoulder gently and assuringly. "I'll get the coffee, and... hey, you should at least appreciate the nerds for helping you with homework. Besides, you know, I actually -know- how to dance. Just ask Kitty." 
"You should design your own, like I did," Cessily tells Jocelyn. "I am /so/ ready for the weekend. I might even have a date," she says, although that comes with some skeptical, concerned eyeglancing, along with a firm bite of pineapple from her fruit bowl. Her coffee mug disappears into Doug's hand as he goes for coffee. "So are he and Kitty a thing?" she asks Jocelyn.
"Oh, who you heading out with?" Jocelyn asks Cessily. Now she was curious, because, well, dates! "I'm not a good enough designer to design a costume. I do have a cap that hides my hair with some scientific stuff I don't understand, but that's it". Jocleyn shrugs at that. "I know for a fact Axiom and Wiccan know about this place, but haven't told anyone. They figured it out prior to my ever meeting them. Apparently Wolverine has had a talk with them". Which Jocelyn can imagine was not the most enjoyable one. "How, I don't know". As to the Kitty comment, Jocelyn scratches her head. "No idea," she admits, glancing to Doug.
Coffee back in hand, Doug returns, sitting down next to Cessily as he slides her the hot bean juice, together with a bit of sugar package and a creamer. "Oh Wolverine. He's everywhere, that explains it," Doug grins, before catching the glance from Jocelyn. Having missed the question that prompted it, Doug glances back towards Cessily. "What? Is there a question you wanted to ask me?" 
"This guy named Julian? We met after that girl scout event I volunteered at. He was /totally/ hitting on Heather Danielson! But then he slipped me his number and we went out once. He's....very brash. Nobody's been brash at me in a while. He insisted on getting me this fabulous gold dress...I'll show it to you sometime," she says, but then trails off. "And I haven't heard from him since. So...." the silver girl shrugs. Then she snickers, and forms fake claws on her hand, making slashing motions. "Mmmmmmmno?" she says, sidestepping it. "Thanks," she adds.
"Well then, call him up," Jocelyn responds with an easy smile. "It's not like we're living in the 80's. Call the guy and tell him you want to go out. If he's brash with you, a bit of directness with him might go a long way," the teenager suggests. "The dress sounds lovely. You'll have to show it to me sometime," the woman adds with a smile.
A nod is given to Doug. "Yeah. That's why I'm not too terribly worried". Because, well, how many kids would want to cross Wolverine, with or without powers? She continues working on her pancakes. "How about you Doug? Any burning weekend plans?" she asks.
"Get some camping equipment," laughs Doug. "We're headed to Canada, as you know." Quirking an eyebrow at Cessily, the young blonde smiles a bit. "Oh, so that's what it is? Well then, excuse me and I'll leave you to girl talk. Just lemme..." The last bit of sandwich is finished and the orange juice drunk. "Finish up. Don't forget, bundle up. It -should- be in the 50s-60s, but in case Canada's weather decides to screw with us and it turns out to snow instead of being spring..." 
"Just like old times," Cess says with a mutter, frowning. And her mood's cratered again. "See you, Doug," she adds, waving. "Maybe I will, Joce. How about you? You getting any play, being the statuesque beauty you are?"
Waving to Doug, Jocelyn turns to face Cessily and shakes her head with a smile. "Statuesque beauty, huh?" Jocelyn comments. "Haven't had a single bite since I got here, actually," the woman points out to Cessily. "Actually, not so much as a nibble". A shrug is given to that. "I think part of it is that there seems to be a lot more women than men at the school, for some odd reason".
Cessily shrugs faintly. "Work with what you've got," Cess says. "You look totally normal, other than being super tall," she says. "which you know, does happen. So you won't get the WOAH MUTANT factor," she suggests. "I'm saying you could try dating outside the school, if you're really hard up."
"You would think that with all of the people I've run into outside the school there would be some interest," Jocelyn responds with a shrug. "I've had a string of bad luck though. They've either been seeing someone, been gay, or both". There's a pause. "Okay, there was the quarterback at the school when I went to some fundraiser with Kwabena and Vic, but he creeped me out in all the skeezy ways". Plus he wasn't the type, she's found out, who could handle himself under pressure.
"I should probably put myself out there a bit more though. Maybe actually get myself a dress or something a bit nicer than a tank top or jeans. I think I might have owned one or two dresses in my life, outside of a couple promotional trips I took a few years ago".
"I'm guessing they're also too busy heroing and jumping through time to be like 'Hey, girl over here,'," she says, nudging a finger towards Jocelyn. "Kwabena? Don't think I know him. But Vic's a totally good guy. Just not....your type," she says. "Welcome to life." She pauses, rapping her fingers on the table to create metallic thunks. "Mutantmatch.com?" she jokes.
"Kwabena is Shift's actual name," Jocelyn explains. There are a couple teachers she's actually on first name basis with, and Shift is certainly one of them. "No, Vic isn't my type," she agrees easily enough. A laugh at the statement of the website. "Oh, it's probably already registered. Maybe a metamatch.com website, since there are plenty of non-mutant options out there. Or maybe I need to get one of those horribly skimpy costumes for when we go out on missions, yet it somehow conceals my identity," she adds with a grin. "Though I do run into them when not off heroing, oddly enough. I've got a talent for it".
Cessily bwahs, and smacks the heel of her hand to her forehead. "Right, of course, duh. "She says. "Just don't wind up with Ant-man or something. He's ancient, and kind of cray-cray, if you believe the tabloids." Cessily's eyebrows raise. "So you don't want people looking at your face?" she asks with a chuckle.
Jocelyn snickers. "You've never been tabloid or newspaper fodder. The last thing I need is for the press hounds linking me to Channel. Those people can be relentless," the woman says with a shake of her head. "No, not Ant-Man. Though Deadpool would be far, far worse. I'd take Ant-Man over him any day of the week. I think I'd have to set up an age filter of some type," she says with a nod of her head. She then makes some air quotes with her fingers. "Wanted: Male, ages 18 to 25. Sane. Good sense of humor. Available for weekend and evening heroing and aerial makeout sessions".
Cessily actually laughs aloud at that. "You fly too?" she asks. "Damn girl, is there anything you don't do?" she asks. An arm stretches over to nudge Jocelyn.
"Didn't I bash my head on your ceiling once trying it out, or was that Jubilee's? I think it was Jubes. The memory is foggy, unsurprisingly," the teen comments with a grin. "And yeah, just recently figured out how to tweak my energy to let me do that. All the other energy users were bugging me about why I wasn't able to fly, so I just kind of worked at it". It was that simple in Jocelyn's mind. She grins. "And there are plenty of things I can't do," she points out with a grin. "For one, get a date. Two, teleport. Three...". She winks at the girl, obviously now just joking around.
"Probably from the head injury," Cessily suggests, smirking. "Worked at it. Haha. You're lucky it works. I mean I keep trying to turn myself normal but it just won't happen. Otherwise I could be all super-spy shapeshifter, but nope, stuck silver. I don't think I can disguise myself very well with that. Not without a boatload of pancake makeup," she says. Cessily finishes her toast. "Three, panic?" she suggests, and then straightens up. "I should change for class. Hey, how's chem treating you?" she adds.
"Panic, yeah. I try to avoid that," Jocelyn says. She finishes off her breakfast. "I should probably do that too," she says. "Well, if you want some help with it, I might be able to see where your energy is going and give you some help with it," the woman says as a suggestion. She couldn't do it for Cess, but she might be able to see things from an outside eye. "I'm passing chem so far, so I can't complain," she adds as she stands up.
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