2013.08.22 - Post-Training Talk

It's mid-morning, after a danger room session that Jocelyn and Rachel had gone through together. They'd upped the difficulty a bit, and thus this last one took a bit out of them. So after the two girls changed and cleaned up, they'd decided to meet in the cafeteria for something to eat afterwards. Jocelyn has already arrived, and gathered her food from the tray. She's one of those big eaters, and has a tray piled high with, well, probably three-quarters of the offered food in the cafeteria. But that wasn't all that uncommon for her either.
She'd grabbed her general use backpack while she was up in her room (really her room since Laura went off wandering) and has it resting on the floor by her feet. She's paying some attention in the sparsely populated cafeteria for Rachel, but as Rachel may have learned from their sessions, the girl doesn't have to pay that close of attention to pick up on someone she was waiting for.
Particularly when that someone is usually leaking psionic energy? Rachel walks into the cafeteria a little after Jocelyn has gotten settled, having decided that the Danger Room session had been sufficiently intense to warrant a shower. She was quick, though, and she's idly messing with still-damp hair as she enters, giving the short red locks a spiky aspect that may or may not be intentional. Jocelyn's location is picked up immediately - Rachel's gotten used to the feel of her mind during the Danger Room sessions - and Rachel gives her a quick wave before grabbing something to eat for herself.
When she arrives at Jocelyn's table her own tray might not be piled quite so high, but it's still pretty full. Running her powers at high level clearly gives her an appetite. Pushing up the sleeves of her red hoodie to get them out of the way, Rachel's already nibbling at a danish as she says, "Didn't keep you waiting that long, did I?"
The notable thing about Jocelyn's mind is that without actually pushing her powers little bit past what Rachel would normally use for scanning minds, Jocelyn's mind just plain doesn't show up. It's kind of like an empty hole mentally unless you're looking for it. It's her natural absorption abilities that help mask that sort of thing. Of course, it does make Jocelyn fairly aware of what is going on, and the girl gives a nod to Rachel. "Nah, not especially long, and I wouldn't wait on eating until you got here anyway," Jocelyn points out with an easy grin.
The girl takes a drink of water before she speaks up again. "So, the first simulation we ran. That wasn't exactly a made-up situation, I take it," the redhead comments. Rachel had dropped enough clues to her that Jocelyn had picked up on it. "The tone kind of reminded me of one of the times I ended up a few decades into the future," she adds by way of explanation. Or some sort of explanation, though it might give Rachel a clue as to why Jocelyn was able to accept that Rachel was from the future so easily.
"Good." Is Rachel's cheerfully indistinct response to Jocelyn as she continues to demolish her danish. If she was worried about the etiquette of starting without your lunch companion... she probably wouldn't be talking with her mouth full. The danish having vanished, Rachel apparently feels less likely to die of starvation. Arranging her lunch as she wants it, Rachel looks up at Jocelyn's question, and her hands go still for a moment. She's been doing anything BUT hide her past from Jocelyn, but it's still a topic that really demands her full attention.
Reaching out, Rachel snags her can of fizzy drink and leans back in her seat, pulling up one of her legs to rest her heel on the chair, forearm resting on her drawn up knee. Pulling the tab of her drink with a hiss of escaping air, Rachel takes a quick drink before nodding to Jocelyn. "Not even slightly." Rachel confirms. "It was a bit rough around the edges, I had to pull in some bits that were already in the system..." The mutant linguist hadn't exactly been intentional, Rachel remembers, but she shrugs. "But it's pretty close." Her eyes remain on Jocelyn, possibly expecting a 'to what?'. Emphatically not expecting what Jocelyn says next.
Rachel's expression had closed a bit as she spoke, but the easy way Jocelyn drops her own time travelling into the conversation makes Rachel snort quietly in surprised, rueful amusement. "And here I thought time travel was a Summers thing." Rachel says, then her gaze sharpens with interest. "How close was it?" She asks, then shakes her head. "Sorry. Every time I convince myself this really isn't my own past, someone says something..." Rachel shakes her head again. "Sounds like you've got a good story?"
"Well, more in the somewhat bleak tone of it. Some of us, mostly the Young Allies and I, were pulled into future Detroit," Jocelyn explains. "Metaloks were taking over. Basically, think of metahumans that were dead, but reanimated and cyborgized. We had to deal with them to prevent that future from falling apart, according to the Space Phantom". Jocelyn wasn't sure if Rachel was familiar with who that was or not. "Not the only time I've had to deal with time travel, but it was one of the more memorable ones, if only because we had two power boosters in the group, and they both boosted my abilities at once".
Yeah. It was kind of intense.
"I don't know if it's your time or not, but I figured it might not be a bad idea to explain why I didn't seem all that bothered by your time travel explanation," Jocelyn offers to her. "You seemed kind of shocked when I wasn't surprised," she points out.
The look of intense curiosity in Rachel's eyes fades a little as Jocelyn launches into her story. Not because she isn't interested, far from it, but because with every word Rachel's reassured that it's not 'her' future that Jocelyn visited, which means that this really isn't her world's past. And that hopefully means she can help things turn out differently here. Although Metaloks weren't what she was hoping for! Rachel looks quizzical when the Space Phantom is mentioned, strongly suggesting she has no idea who Jocelyn's talking about.
Rachel takes a breath before she answers, not quite sure how she should phrase her answer. "Not my time." Rachel says with a certain amount of confidence. "Not that it sounds any more pleasant." That's said almost to herself, in a bit of a darker tone, before she firmly reminds herself that she's in the middle of a conversation. Despite herself, her lips curve in a faint smile. "Plenty of people either don't believe it, or if they believe it, really don't want to believe it." Rachel offers. "Not so much here, though. Maybe I need to stop being surprised." Her smile grows a bit. "Or just stop telling people." She's not really serious about that, though.
"No, it really wasn't. It was all part of some thing where we had to protect those futures, but then had to deal with an attack in Times Square to prevent those futures from befalling our world. The Space Phantom is some sort of person who exists outside of time or something like that. I haven't had any dealings with him since, but I can't say I'm sorry about that," Jocelyn offers. She's just glad that things turned out alright, at least so far.
The woman takes a bite of mashed potatoes befores continuing on. "So, were you a part of any group in your time?" Jocelyn asks. "You seem to be pretty good at the taking charge and tactics end of things, from our Danger Room sessions, and the whole making decisions that aren't easy aspect of things". The teenager had been making some notes of Rachel's skills during that time, and how much energy she was putting out in those sessions.
"As for not being surprised, well, there is a whole superhero group of time travelers from the 31st century around, so it isn't completely shocking anymore," Jocelyn says. "It takes a bit of work to validate, of course, but the concept as a whole has lost shock value for most people in the metahuman community". Jocelyn takes another drink. "Those without powers, well, it kind of depends on the individual".
Rachel listens to Jocelyn talk about what she's been through with such ease, despite acknowledging the unpleasantness of the experience, that she feels like giving the part of her that's been so self-absorbed a good kick. It's about time she realised she's not unique, others here have been through the same, if not worse, than she has. Rachel feels a bit chagrined by that, but with no animosity toward Jocelyn for being the vessel that prompted that self-kicking moment. "Sounds like you saved the world and I didn't realise. Looks like I owe you one." Rachel's words are light, but her eyes are serious for a moment.
Taking another drink from her can while Jocelyn eats, Rachel drops her foot to the floor and grabs a chocolate bar, slicing the wrapped open with a razor-thin telekinetic construct without really thinking about it. Her sandwich still lies untouched on the plate. As Rachel takes a bite, again Jocelyn asks a simple question that's not straightforward for Rachel to answer. She goes with the truth she knows first. "I was a New Mutant once." She says, polite enough not to speak around a mouthful of chocolate bar once the edge is taken off her hunger. "Maybe I was an X-Man, but I don't remember anyone making it official." She shrugs, goes to speak, then shrugs again, angry at herself. "Truth is, my time-jump messed up some of my memories. It's like... there's two sets, sometimes, and they can't both be true." Rachel takes another bite, chews in silent annoyance with herself. "Time to do something about that." She says quietly, then looks at Jocelyn again. "Anyway, what I do remember... A lot of running and hiding, fighting when you could, running again when you couldn't." She hesitates. "Sometimes one of you fighting so the others could do the running. I never liked that bit very much." But she's had to do it, that much is clear. She shrugs again. "I hope things won't go that far, where we're going. But I think it's why I was picked."
And if that was a little bit of darkness, Rachel's grin when Jocelyn talks about certain concepts losing their shock value provides the light. "Yeah. Jocelyn? Don't take this the wrong way. I like you, and sometimes I need a kick to remember I'm not back home, and there's more to life here than where I came from. I think you just volunteered." It is, of course, not as easy as that. But the Hound programming that's still in Rachel's mind? The predator lurking inside her head? That's a conversation to be had with Jean, not at the lunch table.
"Well, I was hardly the only one. It was a group effort," Jocelyn says with an easy smile and a bite of her food. Her eyes, too, are perfectly serious as she speaks. "Besides, I'm still a rookie at all this. I'm part of the Young X-Men. Only been doing this thing for six months or so". And by the way she says it, it's clear she means her powers and the school bit. "I'm still learning a lot as I go". She shrugs and takes another drink before she speaks again.
"I don't know if the New Mutants have happened here or not. I know of the X-Men and the Young X-Men, and that's it," Jocelyn explains to Rachel. "I take it that's some sort of sub-team from your time, if the name is any hint," the woman muses. "I've heard of time travel doing that to memories. If there's ever anything I can do, let me know, but I can just heal physical wounds on myself and others". Which hadn't been necessary so far, but might be useful information for Rachel to know, come to think of it. "I can't imagine you would. I got the sense you didn't like leaving me even in the simulation," Jocelyn comments. "I'm not entirely sure why I was picked, aside from Shift and I being pretty close. I met him the first night I was here, and we've gotten along since".
There's a small grin given at Rachel's statements about liking her and needing a kick. "Well, I'm good at giving a kick where needed. Just ask Doug. He asked me to help him with his combat training, and I think he's regretted it ever since," Jocelyn adds with a wink. Though it did mean the whole teacher/student thing was a little odd at times, but it wasn't that bad. "Anytime you need a bit of a reminder though, I'll drag you out shopping or something like that. Admittedly, that's something I had to learn to do more of when I came here. I didn't exatly have much growing up. Classic orphan story, with a forged birth certificate thrown in for good measure," Jocelyn adds. She'd come to terms with that awhile ago though.
"You don't fight like one." Rachel's not attempting flattery, it's just a statement of fact as she sees it. "And I haven't been treating you like one." That's said with equal conviction, but as Rachel finally reaches for her sandwich there's a bit of mischief about her expression, as she adds, "Take that for whatever it's worth."
Rachel nods an easy confirmation to Jocelyn's guess that the New Mutants were the X-Men's junior squad. Rachel's much more intrigued by Jocelyn's implication that the state of her head isn't a unique case either. That only gives her more incentive to stop avoiding the problem and do something about it. "Thanks." Rachel says honestly, though her mouth twists a bit wryly at what she says next. "I think I've got a good idea what I need to do. It's just... everyone's got things they don't want people to see, right? In my case, the person who's going to be looking inside my head looks just like my mom." Easy to talk to Jocelyn or not, that's clearly as much as Rachel's going to say on that topic.
"I didn't." Rachel admits, candidly. "It doesn't help that you're harder to keep track of than I'd like." She smirks as she says this, tapping her temple with a finger. "Looking for dead spots is a bit too much like, well, looking for dead spots, if you get what I mean." Not because Rachel thinks Jocelyn needs her hand held. The sight of her facing off against the first Sentinel put that idea to bed, straight away.
As for why Jocelyn was picked, Rachel figures she's already provided the answer. "Where we're going, trust is going to be the most important thing. We'll be a long way from backup. As for me, I was just in the wrong place at the wrong time. Or the right place, depending. So this..." Rachel gestures between the two of them with the sandwich, encompassing the training as well with a wave of the sandwich towards the door. "...is a good idea."
Rachel actually laughs when Doug is mentioned. "I can imagine, but I still wished I'd seen it!" Still grinning, Rachel's eyes gleam when shopping is mentioned. "Maybe Kitty should have warned you." She says, her tone very mild. "She had to introduce me to shopping, but I like it." And from the emphasis, it's clear Rachel likes it a great deal. "We probably need more stuff for Genosha." She adds, as if the thought had just occurred to her. Ignore the devilish smirk.
"That's something I need, though." Rachel adds, as an afterthought. "Telling everyone 'you don't need to see my identification' and making them believe it can be a pain." Yes. She knows Star Wars.
"I was training to be a professional fighter, as a sport, before I came here," Jocelyn explains to Rachel. "And I know that". Honestly, it was kind of refreshing, in some ways. Jocelyn also just nods to Rachel when she says she's got a plan to deal with her memory issue. She isn't going to press the issue. It doesn't help anyone, in her experience. She takes a bite of her chicken sandwich as she thinks things over. In a lot of ways, Rachel pushed her harder than most people, and Jocelyn appreciated that.
"Hmm. Well, I could think really loudly at you, but I don't know that you need me mentally shouting at you in a fight either," Jocelyn comments as she thinks it over, looking for ideas. "I know it's possible to find my mind, and of course read it. It's been done before. It just tends to require more work, from what I'm told". She pauses and then smiles a bit at some memory, though she doesn't comment on it immediately.
A nod is given about the training as well, but it isn't commented upon. "Oh, well, remind me to give you the schedule sometime and where we'll be, if you want to 'happen by' sometime," Jocelyn suggests to Rachel with an easy grin. "I've actually got a special order in for the Genosha trip, though it isn't something you can just buy off the streets". At Rachel's comment about identification, the woman nods. "I know just who to speak to about that, actually," Jocelyn offers. "I can take you sometime, or you can give me the relevant information and I can get it set up for you". Jocelyn had a lot of street contacts, from a combination of her past and her street-level work with the Young Allies.
Rachel offers a half-smile and a small nod. Good to know they're both on the same page while they're training together. Rachel had felt they'd fallen in well with one another, but it's good to have it confirmed. Jocelyn's history as a fighter fills in some blanks for Rachel as well. She'd been impressed by Jocelyn's willingness to take a blast from a Sentinel without flinching, even if her powers would protect her in the short term.
Rachel chews the last mouthful of her sandwich meditatively as she turns the problem of keeping tabs on Jocelyn over in her mind. "You're right." Rachel agrees, but doesn't look happy about it. "I'll give it some thought." She smirks a bit, narrows her eyes, concentrating hard, and Jocelyn will feel her power come to life. << If I really need to find you, I'll find you. >> It's not showing off, not really. Rachel wants both of them to be confident in her powers. Rachel's expression clears, and she adds, "Just... do me one favour? If you ever do bite off more than you can chew? That's when you can shout really loud."
Rachel doesn't put on a pretence of looking tempted, she simply nods vigorously. "Oh I will. Completely by accident." She promises, before quirking an eyebrow at Jocelyn's 'special order'. She's sure she'll find out sooner or later. "That would be... great." Rachel says, a bit more softly, an inward-looking expression on her features for a moment, before she shakes herself. "Be nice to have some proof of my existence." OK, she'll know it's fake, but it still matters.
Looking down at the wreckage of her lunch, Rachel just gives a mental shrug and leans her elbows on the table, propping her chin on her hands. "So, you said something about shopping?" She prods, with a smirk.
Not only will Jocelyn feel the power, but Jocelyn will see the power with her sight. She responds in her head. << Figured you could. >> Jocelyn doesn't seem that bothered by it. "Psionic energy is always interesting to look at. Pretty rare, all in all," Jocelyn offers. Which did make it stand out. "And yeah, I'll give you a loud mental shout if I ever get in a scrape I can't handle, or need a bail out". They hadn't really needed too many of those yet in the Danger Room, but that was training and not real life. Things could go wonky real quick.
Jocelyn nods to Rachel's agreement. "He's actually reasonably good, all in all, at it," Jocelyn offers casually. She smiles at the raised eyebrow. "When I get them, I'll show you," the woman assures Rachel. "And no problem. Not like you were carrying a driver's license around when you showed up here," Jocelyn suggests easily enough.
Finishing off her meal, Jocelyn nods. "Sounds good to me. Maybe you can point out some good materials for a costume, as I'm desperately lacking a good one outside my X-Suit".
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