OOC: Raptors and Relatives
X-Men: Movieverse 2 - Saturday, November 22, 2008, 11:37 AM
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=XS= Jean's Office - Lv 1 - Xavier's School
Just another step in the grand tradition of renovation that dogs all great and old houses, Jean's office has been snuck nearly seamlessly into the footprint of the mansion library. Despite the headmistress' taste for clean lines and light colours, rich oak panelling and footstep-muffling carpet in a venerable shade of forest green are the order of the day. Light is freely admitted by a large leaded glass window that looks out over the Victorian garden and its fountain, although hanging curtains in the same emerald as the carpeting can be drawn to turn the room dark enough for presentations to be shown. The central feature of the room is an imposing desk, stained dark to match the paneled walls. A modern ergonomic office chair is positioned behind it, with two uphoulstered chairs in front. A laptop rules the desk, two filing cabinets, several framed diplomas and a bookshelf hug the side wall behind it. One corner holds a thriving ficus plant, and the central piece of art in the office is a framed representation of DNArt, a small brass plaque informing observers that this is the genome of Dr. Jean Grey.
[This room is set watchable. Use alias XSJeanOffice to watch here.]
[Exits : [Li]brary]
It's early in the afternoon, and Leonardo is sure not to drop in on Xavier's unannounced, due to the various people likely gunning for him there. Instead, he calls Jean first, says he has something important to discuss, and carries a little brown bag in his hand as he's escorted down the hall. He wears a longer winter version of his blazer, and gets a few dirty looks from the people who recognize him from the wall. Finally, he arrives at Jeans office, not saying much to his escort except a few pleasantries, then he knocks on the door. "It's Leonardo Maxwell." announced pleasantly enough, as if he's expecting to be welcome.
The escort, one of the guards from the gate, has been giving the brown bag a look of displeasure all the way up to the house. Nevertheless, as the headmistress has not consented to frisking one Leonardo Maxwell before letting him in, displeased looks are about all he can do. From the office comes the invitation of "Come in, Mr. Maxwell." in a neutral tone with perhaps just a flicker of pre-emptive amusement. The door opens, revealing Jean at her desk, dressed in a neat little black dress with a necklace of some flat-linked squares of a metal too pale to be silver. There is also a tea cart present, and a cup of coffee already in front of her. "I have some time before the head vet from the Bronx Zoo turns up. What can I do for you?" (This is somewhat more polite than 'What do you want -now-?')
"I need to speak with you about two things, but I'll start with what's most immediate to your interests." Leonardo steps in, nodding to the escort, then closes the door behind him and walks to sit in front of her desk. "I read the news, about the dinosaurs, it answered a question that's been puzzling me for a few weeks, namely, 'Why would someone send me dog blood?'" He holds out the brown paper bag for her, and within is a vial of blood, and a test confirming it as dog DNA. It looks official, something from Stagram & Wolf.
Jean takes the vial between two fingers, rolling it experimentally and holding it to the light coming in through the window behind her. "The news about the dinosaurs told you why someone would send you dog blood," she echoes, turning back to set down the vial and Spock an eyebrow at him. "I think I see where you're going with this, but would you care to fill in the journey for me? Also, would you care for tea or coffee?"
"Of course, and coffee please." Leonardo rubs his temples inbetween his fingers, then looks the doctor in the eyes with a casual yet 'I'm flirting with you without actually doing anything' expression. "It starts with a patient of mine, a not so smart one who got his tongue ripped out. He's always trying to prove he has some purpose, and when I saw the news about the strange characteristics of the dinosaurs, I realized that he's the kind of person who would pick fights with those things. He also sent the blood at around the time when the sightings were first starting, and he knows I wouldn't tolerate him wasting my time with something as stupid as dog blood."
Jean catches the look in the eye, meets it, and returns it with another twitch of an eyebrow, and a small smile. The expression wipes away into concentration as she pours the coffee and hands it over, and transmutes into mild skepticism at the mention of 'tongue ripped out'. "If you're talking about a fellow named 'David'," she theorizes, "Have you considered that he may be delusional enough to convince himself it wasn't dog blood?"
"Possible, god, if anything involving the word delusional is possible, it's definitely with him." Leonardo states, somewhat ironically, then gently takes the coffee with a nod. "But, you have the sample, so if it could possibly be of any use to you then feel free to keep it."
"If the raptors are all from the same source," Jean muses, plucking up the vial of blood again, and tapping the cap gently against her chin. "Then I should be able to use this as a standard of comparison, assuming there are enough white blood cells in here for PCR." A pause for coffee later, and she offers a "Thank you, Mr. Maxwell," in a tone with just a hint of surprise that she's saying it. "Now, the second matter?"
Leonardo nods, sipping his coffee as his expression suddenly turns a bit more relaxed, taking in the aroma. "You're welcome. And well, my father has plans to virtually take over Salem Center plaza and some of the surrounding area, and I'm sure your children go there all the time, so I was wondering if I could possibly help prevent this. I assure you that I have nothing to do with this."
"Oh," says Jean. "That." With a sigh, she repairs to her own coffee as well, and lifts one hand to rub idly at her temple. "I've never met your father, Mr. Maxwell, but from what I've been hearing in the business news of him lately... is he entirely -well-?"
"I'm not so sure, I don't remember him being so anti-mutant, and he's been uncharacteristically high-strung lately. I've heard bad things about our stock lately, mostly rumors." Leonardo sighs, appearing a bit worried, but trying to hide it as he sips more coffee.
"How old is he?" Jean wonders next, fingertips tapping against the side of her coffee mug as she warms her hands with it. Her lips are slightly pursed, green eyes narrowed with thoughtfulness. "Sudden personality changes can indicate an underlying pathology, at times. To be frank, attempting to buy out the central business area of a small town is about as likely as his anti-Green announcements to do well, in this current environment."
"Well, he has been under pressure from the board to expand the company, to do things like buy out fast food chains and such, but he refuses and wants to prove that he can make the company survive traditionally. Perhaps he's taking bad advice out of desperation?" Leonardo asks while gently lowering his cup, looking back up at her with a hint of wariness. "He's fourty-eight, but he's not exactly an old man. I mean if you think I'm obnoxious, he's the type to slap you on the ass." he jokes, laughing slightly to try and lighten the mood.
"Perhaps. You'd know your father better than I would, obviously," Jean answers, eyebrows raising at the ass-slapping statement before she sips at more of her coffee, and leans back a little bit in her chair. "I intend to do a little talking to my neighbours, to make sure they know they needn't feel pressured to sell out to a corporate housing development, but in all honesty, Mr. Maxwell, I'm not really taking your father's plans all that seriously yet. Even if he -did- get his development, which would utterly destroy much of the town's small business in the process, passing ordinances would mean bending the town council to his side. Which... well, he'd be trying to do after basically gutting a small town they are all very proud of."
"Oh, I understand that very well, I've been around the business for my entire life, so it's a bit surprising that he's even trying something like this. But I have faith in you, Doctor Grey, and I'll do all I can from my end to prevent this." Leonardo says with a reassuring smile, holding a hand out for her's. "I know we don't always see eye to eye, but believe me, your children are my first concern."
"You really should see if you can get him in to a doctor," Jean suggests, still leaned back thoughtfully with her coffee. "Ruling out a brain tumour costs nothing but a little time and doctors' fees, but ignoring the potential of one..." With a soft clunk, the coffee cup is set down on the desk, and she rises to take Leonardo's hand across it, touch telepath-light. "Oddly enough," she says. "I do believe that, Mr. Maxwell."
"Well, Doctor Grey, it was nice speaking with you, but I have a lot of business to attend to." Leonardo smiles and gently releases her hand, rising from his seat and straightens his clothing. "I hope we can speak again soon, we've yet to meet when there's no doom or depression involved."
"When I have a break from dealing with doom or depression, I'm going to disappear into the Caribbean with my boyfriend and a large sailboat for a while," Jean says with a laugh, and one hand's wave to accompany the word picture she's sketched. "But duly noted, Mr. Maxwell. I'll have Glenn show you out again, and thank you for coming."
Why would they, indeed?