Log Post.
=XS= Treehouse - Ancient Oak Tree - Xavier's School
Cradled safely amidst the abundant branches of this aged tree, a cheerful little treehouse has been built by a skilled hand. The boards hold together quite sturdily, and through the doorless entryway, the structure is revealed to be quite roomy on the inside. Time and weather have warped the planks a bit, creating small slats of space that doesn't quite make it convenient to sleep out here when it's raining, but in good conditions it's the perfect little retreat for adults and teenagers alike. There's even a little table in here, with a checkerboard and a deck of cards housed underneath it. For those particularly agile, it looks as though you could clamber through the window and onto the roof from here, although there may be a slight problem with getting back.
With her plans for escape no longer required the schools telekinetic troublemaker has gone into hiding. With stacks of books on a variety of extracurricular topics Cassy has well any truely taken over the treehouse. Currantly she's busy reading a scanned SWAT training manual on a little laptop, which is also serving as a music system - blasting out sugar sweet pop punk.
It is only once he pokes his head into the treehouse that Jackson, somewhat lost in his own thoughts, notices the music. And then the girl playing it. He hesitates on the ladder up, biting his lip uncertainly before deciding to offer a greeting -- "Hey, Cassy." His one eye flits from book to book, curious. "What's all this?"
"Oh this?" Cassy wonders innocently. "Nothing special, just a little... light reading I guess." Moving a couple of books out of the way with her foot she motions for Jackson to climb inside. "I was kinda trying to work out ways to make my cunning plans more uhm cunning."
"Oh." Jackson looks rather bemused as he pulls himself up into the treehouse with his good arm. An array of colours enter with him, a haze of light surrounding the young man. He settles down in a corner, still eying the books uncertainly. "More cunning plans? There ain't anyone else that needs rescuing, is there?"
"Not that I know of," Cassy says cheerfully, turning the volume down. "But it's better to be ready incase something bad /does/ happen. Besides it's way more interesting than watching the same old cartoons over and over."
"Yeah," Jackson agrees with a weak smile, "m'sure it is." He pulls his knees to his chest, arms wrapping around them -- the jacket he wears is quite oversized for him, and its sleeves hang well down past his hands. "Kinda hoping we're done with somethingbads for a while, though," he adds with a wince. The light around him shifts and changes in time with the music playing from the computer.
Cassy nods in agreement. "So do I," she replies. "But things never seem to work out like that, the school has like the worst luck." She sits up, shifting the laptop onto a pile of books. "You doing okay?"
"No," Jackson answers after a moment's hesitation, quietly honest. "But it's soon, still. They tell me these things take time. -- I heard you tried t'come find us," he adds, with a brief widening of his (admittedly tired) smile.
Cassy beams. "And got caught by Doctor Grey," she admits. "But I'd have done it again, even if it meant getting expelled. I mean what kind of a friend wouldn't go looking for people when they're in trouble?"
"You're a good one," Jackson replies. "Gosh. I hope you ain't in too much trouble over it? Tim said something about a dinosaur?"
"We got sent down to the danger room to 'test out' my plan," Cassy informs solemnly. "Anyway, we were doing pretty well walking around this fake dock area when all of a sudden some kinda velociraptor thing charged us." She sighs sullenly. "I was trying to get an aim for its eyes when Walter picked me up and ran away, Mira just stood like a lemon and Tobias was getting ready to bop it with a sock filled with batteries."
Jackson's brow creases in confusion. "How did velociraptors come into it?" He leans his head back against the wall, and shudders slightly. "There certainly weren't no dinosaurs down where we was, at least."
Cassy frowns. "Who knows, I bet it was meant to scare us into being good!"
"Somehow, I don't quite see that working for you," Jackson says with a twitch of a smile, his one eye flitting back towards Cassy.
"Whatever gives you that idea?" Cassy wonders with an impish grin. "But they /are/ making me do some kind of extra lessons with Professor Summers."
"Well, to start with, I /have/ met you," Jackson answers on the edge of a laugh. "What sorta lessons?" He is sliding, slowly but surely, down the wall; with one arm he pushes himself back upright. "That ain't so bad. Professor Summers is a really good teacher."
"I'm shocked that you'd imply such a thing!" Cassy exclaims with mock horror. "It's all a bit mysterious at the minute, I'm not really sure what I'll be learning."
"Imply? M'sorry, I wasn't trying to be /subtle/," Jackson says teasingly. And then, somewhat more seriously, "Y'just don't hardly seem like the easily discouraged type." His smile falters, and then fades; his head drops to rest his chin on his knees. "He gave me extra training with my powers last time I lived here," he muses. "Can't imagine what they're planning for you, though."
"I bet they're planning on hitching me up to a plow and making me plant crops or something!" Cassy declares, flicking past a few songs she dislikes. "Say have you met my newest pet rat yet? Mira got me him for my birthday, we called him Mischief."
"No." Jackson perks up slightly at this; his smile makes a brief reappearance and the lights around him brighten. "I've only met Pest. What's Mischief like?"
"Pretty much like his name implies," Cassy admits, opening up a file filled with pictures and turning the laptop so Jackson can see. "He makes Pest seem like an angel."
Jackson scoots slightly closer to peer at the pictures, smile returning and staying this time as he looks at pictures of the rat. "I'll hafta meet him, even if he is trouble. -- I got to see my cat again," he informs Cassy, happily. "I thought that she'd -- I mean, while I was --" His nose wrinkles, and his head shakes abruptly. "But Aly took care of her for me."
"Of course she did," Cassy says re-assuringly. "It's what friends are for, right?"
Jackson nods, sliding back to sit against the wall again. "S'what friends are for," he agrees in a quiet echo. "Feeding cats and -- braving velociraptors."
"I'm /still/ annoyed that Walter picked me up," Cassy informs sullenly. "I could have /so/ taken one." She waves her fists around. "A quick punch in the snout and it'd drop."
"I've never tried punching one," Jackson says. "Movies make me think they're sorta hard to -- drop, though."
"It upset me when I first found out, but movies don't /always/ tell you the truth!" Cassy advises earnestly, bring up a selection of pictures of students with rats on their heads. "Dinosaurs didn't evolve, we did so naturally we'd have to win."
"I can't believe everything I see in movies?" Jackson says with feigned shock. He smiles again at the pictures, some of the tiredness fading from his features. "I think you should just show the dinosaurs pictures of Pest and Mischief. Distract them with cute."
Cassy beams. "As if I'm not cute enough to distact things unaided," she says without a hint of modesty. "Want me to text Aly and have her bring you some proper clothes? There's just not enough glitter on those for you."
"Oh, of course," Jackson agrees easily. "I got no doubts about the power of your cute. Still never hurts to have a backup plan in case you get busy." Her question makes him frown slightly, and look down at his outfit -- oversized winter coat, oversized t-shirt, green scrub pants. Definitely, an appalling lack of glitter. "Oh, uh, that'd be --" he begins, and then his nose wrinkles sadly. "I think I gotta go home t'morrow anyhow, so. Prob'ly she don't need to bother."
"Well once you're back I'll come visit and we'll bake something," Cassy promises with a smile. "Something terribly unhealthy and coated in sprinkles."
Jackson laughs, but the sound this time is hollow and rather forced. "Sprinkles are good," he says. "I'd like that." Slowly he pushes himself to his feet, the lights around him shifting to move with him. "M'getting kinda cold," he says apologetically. "Good luck with your -- cunning plans."
"Luck is for people who aren't as cunning as me," Cassy replies with a giggle. "You should go and have some soup or something, it'll warm you up."
"Maybe I'll go see what the kitchen's got," Jackson agrees, and disappears down the ladder.
=XS= Rec Room - Lv 1 - Xavier's School
This, my friends, is a place for people to come and relax. A wide screen television in one area of the room has collected mismatched and aging sofas and chairs around, from the 1940s by their solid design. Pale green wallpaper embossed with gold leaf patterns lightens the rich, dark grandeur of the rest of the main floor. Card tables have claimed space along the windows, but an air hockey table and fooseball table hold place of pride in the center. A storage cupboard by a small corner fireplace promises board games, puzzles and other delights, and a cushioned window seat offer an excellent spot for a nap.
With the weather too cold for treehouse plotting, Cassy has instead made herself a tempory base of operations in the Rec Room. The teenage red head flicks through a large bundle of papers. The subject? Chemistry... well providing you class smoke bomb production as chemistry that is.
A young teenager pokes his head into the rec room for a brief moment before starting to leave, but he pauses, seeing another student in the room. He enters completely, approaching her somewhat quietly, but not for the purpose of stealth. He gets close enough for conversation, but doesn't say a word. He waits to be noticed. On his back is a backpack, white in color.
"Uhm, can I help you with something?" Cassy wonders, using telekinesis to flick the TV on.
Matin glances to the television as it turns itself on, but returns his attention to Cassy. "I was looking for Dr. Grey. I have paperwork to turn into her." He hesitates, then continues. "She's not in the library, and I still don't know my way around the school very well." I turns a light shade of red and adds, "I can't remember where her office is."
"Ahh you've come to the right person then!" Cassy declares cheerfully. "I've been sent to Doctor Grey's office like a million times now. I could find my way there blindfolded and asleep."
"You've been sent there?" The young teenager asks uncertainly. He looks her over for a moment, then asks, "You haven't, by any chance, attempted to raise any zombie armies recently, have you?"
"Not /recently/ no," Cassy replies with a frown. "Why do you have any insider tips on the alignment of the planets which imply the chance of succeeding has gone up?" The TV channel changes, seemingly by itself.
"No, sorry." Matin replies, trying desperately to hide the wry humour in his voice. "Last I heard they wouldn't be properly alligned for a couple of hundred years." He eyes the TV for a moment though, then scans the room for someone with a remote control.
Cassy shrugs. "That's what they all say," she says with a sigh. "Either that or something about respecting the rights of the dead." The channel flicks again, settling on a cartoon channel. While no-one seems to be using the remote the button on the TV does move, as if pushed by an invisible finger.
Matin watches the TV, not the screen, but the television itself. "It's a matter of, would you want to be raised as a zombie?" His question is a bit distracted, though, as he's still trying to understand the magical television.
"Of course not, but as I'm not dead it's kinda not an issue!" Cassy points out with an impish grin. "So you're a new student huh?"
Matin offers his hand to Cassy. "Yeah, Matin Parks."
Cassy leans forward to shake Matins hand. "Cassy's the name," she informs. "You'll need warning about the dragon then oh and the rumour about the ghost? Probably not true, most likely it's someones idea of a prank." She frowns. "And not mine before you ask."
"Dragon?" Matin asks, skeptically. "What dragon? And what about these ghosts?" He eyes the TV again for a moment, but as it hasn't changed again, he disregards it completely, until it does something again.
"Ghost singular," Cassy corrects. "There isn't one, it's almost certianly a prank." She giggles. "Lockheed however is real, he's about so big and can breath fire." She motions a roughly Lockheed sized shape out with her hands.
Matin watches Cassy silently. When he's clear she's done gesturing, he asks, "And where is Lockhead?" The skepticism is out of his voice, but there's no evidence on whether or not he believes her.
"Probably with Kitty, she's the girls RA," Cassy explains earnestly. "So what's your stick?"
"My stick" Matin asks, confused. "I'm not sure I understand what you mean."
"Mutant power?" Cassy asks, changing the TV channel with another telekinetic poke.
Matin eyes the tv again. "Oh, right. I..." He hesitates, then looks at Cassy and says, "I control water."
"Can you make it appear out of thin air?" Cassy wonders hopefully. "Because if you can I have the best idea /ever/."
Matin shakes his head, "No, sorry. I can't." He narrows his eyes at Cassy. ANOTHER idea? "What did you have in mind?"
"Oh, nothing special. Besides I never reveal my plans to potential rivals," Cassy says solemnly. "Bleh, why is there never anything good on TV?" The channel changes speed up, flicking through until finally stopping on a music channel.
"Oh, so you're changing the channel!" Matin says, "So, that's what you do, huh?" He gives her a teasing smirk and adds, "And I thought your mutant power was to cause trouble."
Cassy blinks a few times. "Actually not quite. My mutant power is to move stuff with my mind, causing trouble is a skill I've worked hard to obtain."
"And well worth being proud of," Matin replies, tone remaining neutral. "Telekenesis, huh?" He glances to the television in thought. "I never thought of this before, but I guess my powers are a form of telekenesis as well. Only, restricted. Aquakinetic, perhaps?"
"Uhm probably? Or Hydrokinesis?" Cassy suggests, shrugging. "It's something you should ask a teacher about I guess."
Matin nods, "I will probably do that." He grabs the nearest seat, setting his backpack on the ground and sitting. "I asked this once, and never got a straight answer, but what are the teachers like here. I've met Dr. Grey and Dr. McCoy, but those are the only ones I know of."
Cassy frowns thoughtfully. "Depends on which lessons you have and how you act towards them really," she replies. "Professor Wagner is cool, he teachers fencing. Professor Logan's lessons are kind of tough, but fun if you like physical activity."
"Fencing?" Matin asks, confused, "Why would anyone need to build a fence around here?"
Cassy bites her lip, fighting the urge to giggle. "Fencing as in sword fighting!"
Matin turns a deep shade of red, "Oh, right." He looks away from Cassy in an attempt to hide his embarrasment. "I didn't know that."
"It's pretty cool, even if you don't use /real/ swords," Cassy explains, beaming. "What subjects are you interested in?"
"I like math, I guess," Matin explains. "Not a big fan of english. I speak the language, isn't that enough?" He sub-conciously taps the side of his leg while he thinks. "Not a fan of history, though science is pretty cool. Nothing really else." He thinks, "What school really needs is a class that works on cars. I'd be content then."
"You mean like the automechanic class Professor Summers teaches?" Cassy asks curiously. "That's all about cars, but not about hotwiring them. You get in trouble for asking that by the way, just so you know in advance!"
"You mean they teach that here?" Matin asks, excited. At the revalation that Cassy offers, he laughs, "Don't worry, I don't want to, or need to, know how to hotwire a car." He smirks at Cassy, "Why, did you ask?"
Cassy shrugs. "Because there's no such thing as useless knowledge!"
"True, I guess," Matin says, "But couldn't you just telekenisis the starter?" He shakes his head, "It's a device in the engine, you could completely bypass the ignition and start it up that way."
"Erm not without taking the whole thing apart I couldn't," Cassy explains. "I have to be able to see what I'm moving."
Matin hums to himself a moment. "Oh." He thinks it through, and says, "I guess you'd also have to know how it works, too, or you could break it."
"Probably," Cassy agrees. "Plus you'd set a whole bunch of alarms off."
"Unless you disabled the alarm first." Matin replies, then blinks, "Why am I teaching you how to steal cars?" He sounds surprised, and a little appalled, but humoured at the same time.
"You're not," Cassy points out with a shrug. "You're just outlining the basic principle, which I already knew. Not that I approve of stealing, unless it's for something vital like saving the world."
"That's a bit dramatic," Matin replies, "I don't know just how much saving the world needs right now." He thinks, "I guess if the world did need saving, and stealing a car would do that, I would be for it. Except I'd probably try to return it after I was done."
"Well, it was a figure of speech more than anything," Cassy admits, adjusting the bundle of computer print outs. "But there's a whole lot more saving of stuff goes on here than you'd expect."
Matin nods, "I keep hearing that interesting things go on around here, but no one ever elaborates."
"Because it's all secretive and sneaky like," Cassy replies in an exagerated whisper. "Like the plane hidden under the basketball court."
This has successfully gained Matin's full and undevided attention. "There's a plane? What kind of plane?"
Cassy blinks a few times. "A black one, stealth probably and it can fly directly up."
Matin becomes inexplicably giddy. "It's a VTOL. Sounds more like a jet than a plane," He starts rattling of things, "Black jet, VTOL, stealth capabilities. That limits the possibilities, but I'd need to see it to be able to say exactly what it is." He looks at Cassy, a mischevious gleam in his eye. "It's under the basketball court, you say?"
Cassy shrugs. "Jet, plane it's all the same to me."
"How would we go about getting down there to see it?" Matin asks directly.
"By being about this thin," Cassy replies, holding up a piece of paper. "Because that's the only way in anyone has found, there must be some kind of tunnel access in one of the basements but it's locked up tighter than most banks are."
Matin nods, a little depressed, "Oh, right." He is about to drop it, when suddenly, he gets another idea. "Tobias!" He blurts out, then winces, lowering his voice. "I bet Tobias could get down there. If he could get a camera, he might be able to get a picture or two for me."
"You'll have to suggest that to him," Cassy points out. "I've been inside it, planes aren't all that exciting."
"Forgive me for finding anything with an engine exciting." Matin teases. "And I think I will. I don't know if he'll be up for it, but I can try and sell the idea to him."
Cassy blinks a few times, then nods. "Okay, I'll forgive you this time. But next time you suggest something which could get people in trouble it'll have to be interesting."
"Like, what?" Matin asks, not being entirely serious, "Like turning the hallway into a slip-n-slide?"
"I'm fairly sure that ones been done," Cassy says, frowning. "I'll have to check the records."
Matin chuckles, "Yeah, but did they have a wall of water at the end to plow through?" He shakes his head, "That'll have to wait for summer anyway, it's too cold right now for a slip-n-slide."
Cassy shakes her head. "Nah it was probably done with ice," she admits. "Although Wesley might have been able to do the water wall, he had a similar kind of mutation to you."
"Who's Wesley?" Matin asks, a bit curious. A similar mutation? Might be good information.
"A former student, he graduated a while back," Cassy explains. "He was a prank master, almost as good as Jubilee."
Matin blinks a few times. "Woah, name overload. Jubilee?"
"She's the ultimate prank queen," Cassy says with an impish grin. "She's another graduate, but she's hanging around the school at the minute. I'll probably never beat her legacy, which kinda sucks in a way."
"Why care about a legacy?" Matin asks, "Why not just have fun and see what happens?"
Cassy giggles. "Because this is still a high school," she points out. "It's all about image and reputation."
"Right." Matin replies, faking enthusiasm sarcastically. "High school with cliques and cool kids and reptuation. Forget about mutant powers." He smiles at Cassy after his sarcasm ends. "I have never been big on maintaining a reptutation. Let people think what they will."
"This place is just a normal school," Cassy explains, casually flicking the tv onto another music channel with her TK. "The only difference is we have more mutants than most, just like how some places might have a lot of people with blue eyes or red hair."
"Yeah, true." Matin remains silent at that, for a moment, thinking on it a bit. "Classes are classes, taught the same way, with homework and essays and tests as well."
Cassy shifts around on the couch, moving piles of paper and generally taking up even more room than before. "It's one of the first lessons you'll get drilled into you, mutants are just like everyone else."
"That's convenient," Matin replies, "I want to be just like everyone else." He glances down at his backpack. "I should give the paperwork to Dr. Grey. If I'm not home before my uncle gets home, he might try to cook dinner." He stands, slipping the backpack onto his back. "I'd like to keep the apartment from burning down at least while I'm still living there."
"Doctor Grey's office is in the library," Cassy says helpfully. "You can't miss it."
"Thanks." Matin makes his way to the door of the rec room. He is about to leave, but he stops, glances to Cassy, and says, "Oh, zombie raising usually works best on the night of the full moon. At midnight." He then steps out of the rec room, lingering outside the door just long enough to hear a reply, if there will be one.
"/Everyone/ knows that," Cassy says, rolling her eyes. "It's detailed in the necromancy for beginners book."