2013.06.03 - A cajun style dinner at Harry's

Scott Summers dabs at his mouth with a napkin as he looks down at the rest of the meal. Chicken Caesar Salad with a side of fruit, of course. Though this was the scene of the crime from a few weeks ago where he and Alex went toe to toe over drinks, tonight he's only having sparkling water. He looks around the table at those assembled. "This was a good idea. I'm glad I thought about it. Everyone ready for the end of the school year?"
"No."
All right, so maybe Laura agrees that this is a good idea. After all, the food is good (she had a loaded baked potato with the works and a fresh lemonade). But being out, with the teachers? That does strike her as a little odd.
All though not as odd as her answer to Scotts question.
"Not ready yet."
Yeah. The girl who'd never been to school before isn't ready for the 'school year' to be over just yet for some odd reason.
Cessily got back to campus on the Illyana express just in time to catch the dinner trip with the teachers. And Laura. Woo! This'll go well. Indeed, Laura doesn't disappoint the silver girl. "What, no big summer plans?" Cessily polite inquires, while dipping a french fry in ketchup. "You could go on vacation, you know. I just can't believe I'm so close to graduation."
Having done what she could for Iceman, Jean has joined the others at Harry's for a bite to eat and a chance to unwind. She was a little late to the party, thanks to the tests she ran and the telepathic scan, but she made it nonetheless. She's fairly certain he'll be fine, long term, even if he's got a bit of a struggle in the short term.
The drink she nurses is nothing stronger than a simple glass of sweet iced tea with a slice of lemon, her plate empty and set aside. She chuckles dryly at Scott's question. "Yes, actually," she says. Or rather, she's ready for the year to be over. Whether or not she's caught up on marking? Well, that's something else again. Still, she'll have it done soon enough. With as much as she has on her plate, she can't afford to slack on that sort of thing.
"Mhm," is Ororo's noncommital response over her drink. Unlike the other teachers, she's actually indulging in something with alcohol. Albeit not /much/ alcohol, and she'll probably stop after one drink, because drunkenness and weather powers are a bad mix. For the moment, she stays quiet, listening to Laura and Cessily with a twinge of that psuedo-maternal concern she has for the students- Laura in particular, in this case.
"Laura, mon ami, what bring you down to a jive bar like dis'un?" The Creole brogue is unmistakeable, a mellifluous baritone that tugs at the ear appealingly. Gambit isn't precisely hiding, but there's a second nature about that man that makes him simply turn and appear as if out of nowhere, hands jammed in his Inverness jacket, and that maddeningly sly grin cracking his features. He gives her a roguish wink and casts an eye over the rest of the party gathered. "Recognize a few you from de othah day," he says to Scott. He flashes another wink, this one towards Cessily, and hooks a chair out with his ankle, spinning it around and seating himself at the table without being invited. "Y'all don have de chili heah? Best in de city, if you ask me," Gambit says, settling his arms across the back of the chair. He flags down a waitress with a raised finger. "Some of dem barbecue fries an' a shot of Maker's, straight," he requests of her. He produces a ten dollar bill from the air and holds it aloft in front of her, grinning broadly at the woman, then turns back to the crowd. "So dere occassion for de party, or y'all just get together like dis for fun?"
"Laura," Scott says with a twinge of pain in his expression. Most of the kids go home for the summer. What about those who don't have a home to be at? Scott was always one of those growing up. And although he recently had the exhilaration of meeting his father again, he's painfully aware of what life can be like on that side of the fence. "We'll have a ton of activities for kids that are staying at the Mansion, and a lot of the students come and go. We keep the same rooms, so it'll be a lot like normal, just a little bit more in flux."
Scott is momentarily smug at Remy who immediately picks the crew out. It's not hard. And it's not as if the man's being aggressive. Besides, a friend of Kwa's is a friend of Scott's. And he's also showing them his while they show him theirs.
"Just getting together for some dinner. Please, have a seat. And thank you for your help with our mutual friend's situation." He gives an upwards nod, "I'm a fan of the barbecue fries. Wise choice."
"...Vacation? Where?" Laura starts to say to Cessily as she shrugs and glances at her empty glass. And yet before she can make a comment regarding 'Weapon X', there's the thing that Scott says. Which if anything, leaves her on the verge of saying something else.
But what ever that is she almost says is lost as she hears yet another voice. heck, said voice /almost/ prompts her to smile instead of being her usual emotionless self.
"Remy." is said to the cajun with a nod, before she motions towards the adults at the table.
"Mr. Summers, Ms. Grey, and Ms. Munroe. My teachers and friends of Kwa."
Then she motions at the silver maiden.
"And Cessily a fellow student."
"Everyone, this is Remy. A... Friend from before the school. He saved me from people trying to bring me back to Weapon X once."
"Haven't figured it out yet," Cessily tells Laura. "Beach something, probably the weekend on the Jersey shore or something. Doubt we'll be jetting off to the Bahamas," Cessily says with a faint snort. "Unless they're...uh, super mutant-friendly," she adds. That'd totally be worth it. Cessily stirs her ketchup slowly with a couple fries, "I'd be happy to stay and help with summer school, Mister Summers," she says. The silver girl has to double-take when Remy arrives. She hadn't expected him at all, and she's not actually sure who knows about her little card playing trips. "Hello," she says, just smiling at Remy and letting the background slide.
Jean recognizes the cajun, certainly, from Shift's recent return -- partly because the quality of his mind is so unique. (Read: Almost impossible for her to differentiate from the usual background noise.) He attracted her attention, simply because she wasn't used to not get getting a 'read' on people. It's no different, now, though she's better prepared for it. His ability to sneak up on her, thus, however, is still a little off-putting. She nods her head to him, however, offering a small smile of greeting as Laura makes proper introductions.
"Then it's a pleasure to meet you, Remy," says Ororo, warmly. "Any friend of Laura's is more than welcome at our table," she adds, sliding her plate and glass a few inches down to make more room for his order when it arrives.
Remy narrows those shocking red eyes at Laura, his serious expression belied by a smile playing around the corner of his mouth, and with a tiny flourish, produces a pale, delicate flower from thin air. "Une jolie fleur pour une jolie fille," he says in smooth French, reaching across the table to waggle the flower at her enticingly. "A pretty flower for de pretty lady," he clarifies. His grin widens again over the playful flirtation, which seems to come as easily to the Cajun as breathing, and he folds his arms back across the back of his chair.
"Yah, me an' Laura, we be frien' lon' time now," he agrees, turning the charm onto the group as a whole. "An' Kwa, well, boy be in heap trouble witout ol' Remy heah to bail him out of de fire once in a while. Ask him 'bout de car chase if you wan' funny story. Ask me 'bout de car chase if you wanna hear de truth," he says to Cessily, sotto voce.
The drink shows up and disappears before it hits the table, the glass going neatly onto the waitress' platter along with another ten dollar bill. "Ok, some of de good stuff, now. House whiskey, bartender choice," he tells the woman. Gambit turns to Jean and flashes a tight grin at her. "Amazin' how green de sky is today, isn't it?" he says, with perfect confidence in the outrageous statement. Most psychics would find that ability to lie convincingly to be more than a little offputting. He returns Ororo's smile with a smile and nod of his own, lifting fingers in a wave. "Pleasure to meet you too, madmoiselle," he informs Storm. "Remy laBeau," he says, by way of introduction. "Pleasure to meet ya."
Gambit turns to Scott. "Was hopin' ah'd see Shift, but de man of de hour ain't runnin' roun' where I see him. Nothin' really to report- notin' solid, anyway," he says, with his first real grimace. "Hopin' he might have a lead or two for me to follow up on."
Scott chuckles, "I'm not sure about summer school to be honest. I'm thinking of leaving someone else in charge of organizing it this year. I'm thinking about taking a vacation myself."
Scott nods to Remy, "I'm not sure I'd trust either of you to tell the truth on any of your stories. But that's just a hunch." Scott chuckles a bit, "Yeah, Kwa has been around. I'm not sure if he's coming out tonight or not.
Speak of the devil, and he shall appear.
Kwabena comes walking through the doors, clad in his traditional biker-friendly gear. Those who know him well may have noticed the sound of his Harley Davidson Iron 883, 2013 model, roaring up outside. His worn out jeans, black t-shirt and black leather jacket are a staple, along with the shades he wears simply to keep the bugs out of his face. As he walks in, he slips the shades free and into a pocket, then glances about for a few moments.
It doesn't take long to notice the gathered friends, and begins walking toward them with the subtlest of grins that curl the corner of his lips in a manner that can only be his.
"You must learn nevah to doubt me, Scott Summers."
Yet again, there's almost a smile from Laura at Remy. /Almost/. It's as if her lips twitch for a fraction of an instant, and then return to their normal emotionless state. But she does accept the flower with a, "Thank you."
Then though, between Scott and Cessily, there is an odd tilt of her head from the mutant girl as she just sort of listens to the potential activities for the summer and who may be organizing them.
Cessily sits up a bit straighter, as Remy offers her inside information. "I will," she says with an amused, thin-lipped smile at Remy. "If you could pass it on then, I suppose?" Cessily asks of Scott, before actually, finally eating her fries that have been flirting with ketchup the past few minutes. "Do you need more classes?" she asks Laura, catching the shifting of the clone's head back and forth. "Oh. Hi S...Mr. Odame," Cessily says.
Green sky? Oh, god... He's one of those. Jean's smile twists wryly to one side at Remy's greeting. "Tornado must be coming," she responds to him dryly. Because, yes, skies do often turn green when a tornado's approaching. Of course, one could argue that Remy is that tornado. He's certainly unpredictably touch-and-go enough for it.
The telepath isn't really up for a lot of sharp fencing tonight, however. It's been a trying day. But, she's glad to take the opportunity to relax, now. Thus, the Cajun isn't going to be allowed to get her all riled up.
"Ororo Munroe," Storm introduces herself in kind to Remy.
"And Laura, if you find yourself in need of things to keep you busy over the summer, I can always use an extra pair of hands in the gardens. You might even find it relaxing." Ah, yes. It must be summer. Ororo's already trying to sucker students into helping her harvest zuchinni and battle the weeds. Tread carefully, Laura.
"You nose itchin', mon ami?" Remy says, casually slapping gloved hands with Kwabena as the mutant slips past. "How's tricks?" he adds, almost in passing.
Remy grins shamelessly at Laura- determined to get a reaction out of her someday, apparently- and accepts his fresh drink from the waitress once she makes her rounds, along with the aforementioned fries. Gambit sprinkles some ketchup lightly over the pile and gnoshes on the snacks, his red eyes flickering casually around the room with a relaxed alertness. He grins back at Jean's repartee and studiously sips his whiskey, thoroughly enjoying the drink.
"Kwa, you an' me gotta talk shop in a bit," he says, returning his attention to the form-shifting mutant. "But later. You gon' buy dis roun' o' drinks?" he says to the other man. "Ah tink dis time, you say you gon' pick up de tab for ol' Remy," he informs Shift, his red eyes twinkling merrily. His easy brogue and the light tone in his voice makes the statement difficult to deny, and Remy doesn't readily indicate whether or not it's a valid statement. At least, /he/ believes it to be true.
Scott grins at Kwabena, "Remember it was you who referred to yourself as the devil, not me." He gives a nod to his friend, "How you doin', man?" Once the mutant sits, Scott turns over towards Cess and Laura, "Well, Ororo can put you on weed duty. I'm not sure how much summer school might be needed. I think it'll mostly be enrichment stuff. I think most everyone did pretty well this semester. Ororo, how would you feel about organizing summer school this year?" Scott's done it 5 years in a row. He could use the break.
"I don't have allahgies." Oh, Kwabena has sass, to be sure, though he refrains not from slapping Gambit with his similarly gloved hand. The whiskey in Gambit's hand is given an approving look, and he adopts one of the few empty seats in order to settle in. The others are greeted in turn, some with visual cues alone.
"Oh, I know my place well, Scott," he answers. He offers the leader a earnest grin and tips his head in a nod. "It is good to be home," he answers. Indeed, he'd spent two months chasing a villain around the globe... a touch of relaxation was certainly in order.
But only a touch.
Firstly, he grants Cessily an approving smile. "You did well in de Bronx."
A brief departure is given when a waitress comes to serve him, and he simply gestures toward Gambit's drink with a nod of his head and a brief motion of his hand. Then, he returns his attention upon the Cajun. "You think I'm made of money?" he asks, though he does glance askance to the waitress before she departs, and nod his head. "I'll get dis round, because I'm a suckah." Then he turns back to Remy. "Yeah, meant to contact you earliah, but I had to make a pit stop in de Nethahlands." There's a glimmer of mirth when he says that, but nothing more.
And before Laura can even say anything to Cess about what classes she may or may not need, or so people have told her that she needs, 'Ro just has to make that offer. And well...
"I will consider it." is said in a neutral and hopefully non comital tone to the the african woman by the out of costume X-23. Or at least until Scott offers to put said teacher in charge of the summer stuff...
"I was actually considering deal with some Weapon X stuff this summer if the other Young X-Men want to help."
Yeap. No mention of the X-Men proper. Just her 'Young' team mates. And that was said without the faintest hint of emotion, thus she may not be joking. At all.
On the other hand, Jean and Remy, and more importantly how they're interacting causes the clawed clone girl to shake her head slightly. Before in turn she nods at Kwa in a bit of a belated greeting. All though that comment about 'The Netherlands' is noted. be careful what you say regarding that, otherwise Laura might want to find out what happened!
"Thank you. I....didn't do much, really. I just ran backup for everybody else," Cessily says with rather genuine modesty. She certainly doesn't think she contribued a ton, rightly or not. "You'd be good at it, Laura," Cessily says encouragingly. She got stuck doing it a couple years ago, and she has a feeling Laura deserves to go through the whole hazing that consists of weeding Storm's garden. "Wea....really?" she asks, staring. "Sounds serious," she says.
Jean leans back in her chair, now, as the boys get settled and start chattering at each other. She glances to the students, and notes Laura's intention to involve the younger team, rather than the more experienced one. That leads to a glance to Scott to see just what he thinks about it. She knows there are some of the senior X-Men that won't at all like the idea. And, god knows the Weapon-X program isn't something idly to mess with.
She smiles knowingly, however, as Ororo offers up the garden work. Funny how everyone appreciates the fresh produce, but no one (other than those scant few mutants with horticultural based abilities) wants to do the actual work.
"Of course, Scott," Ororo agrees without hesitation. She actually was going to volunteer for that.
When Shift offers to get the next round, well- maybe a second drink wouldn't be overdoing it /too/ much. Especially when Laura mentions wanting to take her young team mates on /that/ particular field trip. Storm gives Scott a faint frown and look of concern, as if to say, aren't we supposed to be keeping these children /safe?/ It's as if she learned nothing at all from Kitty's teenage years regarding the reality of keeping young mutants out of trouble. Maybe one day, she'll come to terms with the futility of it.
"Merci beacoup, mon ami, you are a gentleman and a scholar," Remy informs Shift with a smooth tone. He takes a long, slow sip of his whiskey, savoring it, then knocks back the entire shot glass. "Un boisson plus, one more," Remy calls to the waitress, making a gesture at the table as a whole. "Maybe make it a lemon drop, we got some lightweights heah," he adds, as an afterthought. He grins broadly at Kwabena, ribs Cessily, and takes another bite of fry. "Bu' ol Remy can' stay heah an teach you all how to drink tonight," he apologizes to the group. "Got tings to do out on de town. We go out an' do some serious drinkin' when der ain't minors in attendance," he promises the X-men, collectively.
Scott grows silent at Laura's discussion. It's clear what his answer will be, but it won't be done here. "We'll discuss that at another point, Laura." He doesn't say anything more regarding the topic, and his tone gives an air of finality. It'll definitely be something they need to talk about in private. He takes a few more bites from his dinner quietly. "Thank you, Ororo. I can go ahead and plan my trip then."
Did Kwabena notice that look in Laura's eye? You know, that look that says, 'I am going to find out what happened'? The Ghanaian X-Man may not be a telepath like Jean Grey, but he grew up in the streets and -knows- how to read people. Thus, his eyes just linger on Laura for a moment.
Noted.
"Yes, but backup is importahnt," Kwabena offers to Cessily. "Dere is strength in numbahs, especially when dealing with a wildcard like Highball."
The remark made by Laura is certainly heard, but Kwabena does nothing to otherwise acknowledge it. He reserved such matters for the senior members of the X-Men. He does, however, catch the look that Storm gives Scott, and remarks for her benefit, "I'll be willing to provide some help with de grounds where useful." After all, he'd spent the fall and winter months serving as the mansion's groundskepper while recovering from his ordeal in Latveria and getting accustomed to life as an X-Man. What's another summer?
Once his glass of whiskey has been delivered, Kwabena hesitantly tests it for flavor. He was half expecting it to be cheap crap, such as Old Dan Tucker, Old Grandad, or Old anything really. But then, he quickly recognizes that yes, Remy has taste, and drops the shot back in full. "I would say dat's a graduate class," he offers.
"I could out drink you any day Remy." is said in Lauras usual deadpan tone to the cajun.
Of course it's almost too bad that the clawed girl doesn't know what Jean or Ororo are thinking, otherwise she might add a bit more to her plan.
Instead there's a nod at Cess, as "Really." is said before she shakes her head at Kwa.
"Fine." is in turn said by the clone to Scott. "But it will happen."
Yeap. She's determined.
Cessily sucks in some air through her teeth. "Sounds like beef to settle," she says. "I don't want to stop you but...." she trails off. "We can talk about it later. "I'll keep that in mind, Mr. Odame," she says. "I guess it's what we're all about. But tonight, I think I'm about calculus finals," she says, rubbing her eyes briefly. "You staying, Laura?"
Scott's answer is enough to satisfy Jean for the moment. She's not any more keen than anyone else to see those kids tangle with The Big Guns, to to speak. But, she also knows she's got an early appointment in the morning, and it's been a bloody long day, what the dive into Iceman's psyche and everything. (Good news: He's no longer a walking ice cube, but flesh and blood once more.)
Thus, she twists to pick up her purse and fish out a few bills to cover her meal from her wallet. "Well, guys, this has been fun. But, I've got an early morning and it's been a long day. I'll leave all of you to close this place out, but me? I'm off. If anyone wants to catch the early bus home, it's leaving now."
She gives Remy a small smile. "Nice to formally meet you, Remy," she says. Then, to the rest, "I'll see the rest of you later."
With that, she slides out of her seat and, waiting just a moment or two for those that want the ride, heads for the door.
"I should be heading back as well," Ororo excuses herself. "It was a pleasure, Remy. Hopefully we'll meet again," she offers as she slips out of her seat, and puts some bills on the table to cover her order. "Goodnight, girls. Remember to be back by curfew."
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