2012-07-24 Beachy Keen

Breakstone Lake had seen some better days. It wasn't often that it was pelted by debris from out space, after all. A little bit of cleaning up was definitely on the agenda, though at least the Institute itself seemed to have escaped the brunt of it. That would make it much easier to get a handle on things before classes were back in session in the fall.
Charles Xavier was not the sort to ask his X-Men to do this sort of thing out of hand. He could afford to hire people to do this sort of thing. But, in light of recent events, he thought that perhaps giving them an excuse to do something productive together *without* the threat of imminent violence might not be such a bad idea... and besides. It's a nice day.
One of the saddest moments of Kurt's recent past (other than the horrible 'Jean's in space' thing, and the fact that a girl he's interested in is potentially EVIL) is the destruction of Warren's sailboat that has been kept on the lake. Kurt's tail is sagging a little as he picks up detritus from the the shore to put in a little pile, and as that finishes, he's *bamfing* into the water, grabbing little bits.. and re-appearing on shore's edge, placing the piece in the pile. It is, after all, a nice day.
Jean Grey is still on leave from official Institute duties, but she is here to help with cleanup at the lake. She's in denim shorts and an institute t-shirt with keds on her feet to avoid stepping on anything sharp. She's the cause of a lot of the debris on the beach, so she feels obligated to help clean up. Her big splashy return washed up tons of yuck that had been at the lake bottom for years. Who knows what treasures they will fi- ew, is that an old tube sock? Gross! She makes her way down from the house to the lake and waves to those gathered there.
Having already spent a little time doing a bit of clean up at the lake with Warren, Bobby's fine with heading down there again. In his swim trunks and a hawaiian shirt again, he's using a sharp ice-stick to pick up some of the yuck and stuffing it into a trash bag. "We're going to need to get new fish for this lake," he remarks as he steps over a few fish skeletons.
Sam's just happy to get to work. Besides, it's a good chance for him to slip back into the swing of things without too much fuss. He's got his work boots on and his sleeves rolled up. "I can back the truck down," he offers as he arrives with a wheelbarrow and several shovels. He stops and puts on work gloves. "We could load up her bed. She's used to bein' dirty."
"I imagine there are still a few fish in there that managed to escape harm, Bobby. Life can be very stubborn," Charles muses thoughtfully, watching the proceedings from a relatively flat spot of grass a short ways away. With a smile, he nodded towards Sam. "If you're sure she's recovered from the drive out, that would be excellent. I know you mentioned that she needed a bit of a tune-up."
"Warren said he'd get a new boat.. so I think fish might be a good thing, Bobby," is given in response as Kurt comes up with yet another piece of engine. "If we give it a year or so with a good sto-" and he pauses, yellow eyes looking towards the Mansion, he's gone in the blink of an eye again, and reappears almost immediately right next to Jean to give her a big, wet, fuzzy hug. "My turn! I keep missing you."
Jean grimaces as she catches Bobby's words upon approach. "Oh, I didn't even think about that. The heat from the meteor must have cooked most everything in the lake." Her brow knits in concern. "Maybe we can have new plants and fish and such brought in to restock if the chemical makeup of the lake is safe for them? Hank might need to do some tests on the water." She moves over to Kurt and leans in to give him a gentle hug, murmuring, "I know it was you who left me the gifts, thank you." Then she pulls on a pair of gardening gloves, takes up a trash bag, and starts loading up the yuck.
Bobby starts to reply but Jean beats him to it. He smiles when he sees her, startig towards her. "Yeah, we can put that big brain of Hank's to work. He likes projects," Bobby agrees. "Maybe we can put something cool in the lake. Like sharks or giant squid," he suggests with a joking grin.
Sam gets to work dragging what looks like a tree branch that spend a long time at the bottom of the lake. He's watching the way the others are greeting Jean--he really does need to catch up once he's back on all the systems. He breaks the branch with a grunt and tosses both pieces into the wheelbarrow.
"You're very welcome," is answered, "Talia and I lit a candle for you ever day at Mass, and one in your window, lighting the way home. We never gave up hope." Now, however, Kurt has the urge to scratch as he *bamfs* back to water's edge, and there's that itch on the back of his neck now! Chemical? He turns a concerned expression back at the others, "My hair won't fall out, ja?"
Kurt's hand doesn't fall from the back of his neck, scritching idly before checking to be sure no blue has come off. A smile rises to his face, and he nods his head in full agreement. "A white whale. I've always wanted to hunt a white whale."
Jean chuckles at Bobby. "I'd rather not have the school infirmary filled up with shark bites, thank you very much. Plus the other side of the lake is public access," she reminds them. "If you want a pet squid, it will have to live in the pool." She's joking, right? She glares down at a particularly nasty looking pile of what might have once been drug paraphernalia. She flicks her hand at it and uses her telekinesis to lift and deposit it into the trash bag instead.
Bobby gives Jean a comical pout. "Oh fine, I'll just put the squid in the pool," he pauses. "Or an even better idea," he grins. Pointing a hand out at the lake, he fires off one of those icy beams of his. A few moments later and there's a rather large ice-whale floating in the water. Bobby turns a grin to Kurt. "Got get 'em, Ahab."
Sam laughs at Bobby's ice whale. That kind of thing he really has missed. He grabs a shovel and scoops some dead fish and frogs into the wheelbarrow. The place really is... a disaster area. "Man. It looks like I was training out here," he says dryly.
Ah. *This* was what had been missing. Charles seems quite content to watch the interplay between his X-Men over steepled fingers with a warm, contented smile on his face.
"Fewer craters," Charles calls towards Sam, a twinkle in his eye. "But it does bear some resemblance."
Kurt *bamfs* on top of the ice-whale, and has to dig in and really try to ride it as it bobs in the lake. He fails, however, and ends up sliding off the back, and it looks as if he's about it hit the water, but he saves himself. Reappearing on the shore, he shakes his fist at the whale theatrically before he takes a deep breath and turns to get back to clearing the debris. A chuckle sounds from the blue elf, and he calls out, "Only I don't recall us having to clean up after him?"
Something in Jean twitches at the mundanity and waste of time this work is. Something stirs there. "Why are we doing this the hard way?" she asks, her eyes going from green, to a blank white. Cosmic flames lick up from her feet and rise, forming a firebird around her. She floats a few feet off the ground and stretches out her arms up and down the beach. With a rush of wind, but no real heat, a wave emits from her, and all the unpleasant debris on the beach is telekinetically drawn into a single pile at her feet. She transforms it all at the molecular level, into bricks of matter, solid, but light, and easy to carry. All that is left behind strewn about from the dredged up matter are interesting or useful items. A pocket watch, a pair of glasses, etc.
Bobby laughs as Kurt falls off the whale, making a mental note to make his next project ridable. He makes his way over to Sam and pats his shoulder. "Less face-prints in the craters too," he says, tossing his garbage bag into the wheel barrow and going to get a new one. He starts to answer Jean but then she goes all cosmic. Bobby just stares, pushing his sunglasses up to rest on his head. "Huh..."
Sam says a couple words that'd get him in trouble with Ma. "Wow. Jean. You've... changed. Guess folks do that." He gives himself a shake and heads over to start moving the new materials. "Good idea, though."
Charles' brow furrows slightly and his gaze shifts from Sam to Jean shortly before she voices her question, feeling the change coming. He makes no move to intervene, however -- simply sits up straighter and more attentively in his chair, one hand lightly resting against his temple as he observes her in action in more ways than one. Sam was right. She had changed.
Once Charles is relatively sure the rather impressive display has wound down, he lowers his hand back to its place on his lap. "Jean?" he asks lightly, concern in his voice. "Are you alright?"
Kurt's attention is drawn fully to Jean's.. demonstration, and his mouth drops open without anything truly coming out, other than a soft 'Zum teufel..' as he teleports out of the immediate vicinity. "Jean?" He stares for a long moment, and when he finally actually finds the ability to say a little more than the one word, he offers, "What just happened?"
Xavier's words and mental touch pull Jean back to herself. The Phoenix flames around her flicker out as she sets foot back on terra firma again. She closes her eyes and, when she opens them, they are green again. "Whoa," she notes. "I guess that really does prove I've been boosted." She blinks at the pile of bricks in front of her. "I could never have managed that before," she admits, looking over towards the Professor and Kurt with a mix of surprise and worry. Her fingers slide over the top brick in the pile, the molecules of the matter rearranged into this form. She could change her outfit before but nothing on this scale. And the range of her telekinesis has been greatly enlarged. She could feel all the debris, sense the shapes and makeups, leave behind what could still have use and alter what was just garbage or dangerous to the clean up crew.
Bobby stays quiet, joining Sam with picking up the bricks. He's not sure what to think of Jean's new abilities or the display of power. He's worried about her though, watching her, Kurt, and Professor with a concerned expression.
"Everything okay?" Sam bumps up against Bobby briefly to talk to him in a low voice, picking up bricks from the same spot where Bobby's cleaning up. He wasn't thinking much of Jean's fancy new skills but everyone else's expression is making him worry now.
At least Jean still seemed to be herself -- or back to it, as the case may be. That gave Charles some comfort. "That degree of power and control... well. I wish I could take credit," he says with a wry smile, hoping to ease the tension somewhat. Not that he isn't taking the situation completely seriously, there's just only so much fretting one can do before it becomes impractical. "As long as you're not feeling any side effects, I suspect we needn't worry too much, though we should perhaps err on the side of caution and let Henry know." And the two of them should spend some time together to try and better ascertain the nature of the Phoenix. That might be prudent. Yes.
"I guess.." Kurt looks a little sceptical, and he shakes his head, "..that is one way to describe it." He nods his head and approaches Jean, his hand outstretched. "No, you couldn't. Though now, the cleanup is done.. and perhaps we can find our way to something to eat?"
Looking back at Bobby, and Sam, Kurt nods; as far as he's concerned, this is still Jean. Their Jean. "I agree, Professor. I think it shouldn't be too much of a concern." Beat. "Sandwiches, perhaps?"
"I feel fine," Jean insists. Actually she feels fantastic, way beyond fine. "But I'm going to go check in with Hank and see if he can run some more tests." She's a little shaken at her own ability, and she carefully walks back to the mansion to find Beast.
Bobby gives a Sam a quick bump back, whisper as well. "I'm just a bit worried about Jean, man," he says, looking back up at the group. He nods back to Kurt when it looks like Professor has things under control. "Food sounds good to me, guys."
"I never say no to food," Sam calls, straightening so that his voice carries. He drops what he's holding into the wheelbarrow and then turns back to Bobby. "We should go out sometime so you can fill me in on what-all I missed. Feel like I walked into the middle of a movie, an' I have a hard enough time following the plot around here."
Charles offered Jean a warm and hopefully reassuring smile as she moved past him on her way back to the mansion. He had to admit, he was somewhat relieved that she'd chosen to go and see Hank sooner rather than later -- he didn't want to press too much. Not with everything still so raw and off-kilter.
"That's not a bad idea. Why don't you all head inside and get yourselves some sandwiches?" Charles suggests, steering his chair carefully towards the stacked bricks and wheelbarrow. Now that things are so neatly arranged in one spot, he can actually be of some use. "Sam did miss a few things while he was away, and helping him catch up might not be something we should put off for too long."
Doesn't mean Kurt doesn't watch after Jean as she departs. Turning about, he exhales softly and looks to the Professor, his brows rising. "She's still our Jean," is finally spoken, convincing himself as much as saying it out loud. He nods his head, however, and food is always a good idea. Particularly when working outside. "And I think there is some fresh lemonade, too." He looks to Bobby and Sam and grins, "I'll meet you in there!" In the next heartbeat, he's gone.. leaving behind a *bamf* and that telltale smell of brimstone.
Bobby nods, flashing a grin Sam's way. "Sure thing, man. It'll be cool," yes, he had to say it. "Better than checking wikipedia after all," he jokes about Sam's movie analogy. He gives the Professor a curious look when he sees him going for the wheelbarrow but doesn't comment. He's been surprised by what the Professor can do in his chair before over the years. "Seeya, Kurt!" he calls after his fuzzy friend, tossing a friendly arm around Sam's shoulders as he starts to lead him inside too.
Sam slings an arm around Bobby's waist and lets himself be led. "Man, I missed you guys. Water drops and burn practice are fun but y'all bring the action. Also, I might get to eat a whole sandwich without someone bugging me for a bite or backwashing in my glass of soda."
Charles may be stuck in the chair, but he is certainly in good enough shape to load a wheelbarrow. He wouldn't be pushing it around anywhere, but he did occasionally miss getting his hands dirty with actual *work* like he used to. He watches as the group heads back to the mansion, a small smile tugging at his lips before he turns his attention to the wheelbarrow, and the bricks formed by Jean and her interstellar passenger's power. He plucks one from the stack and turns it over in his hands, his smile fading into a thoughtful, pensive frown.
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