17902/Moonwalk Eat your Heart Out

Moonwalk Eat your Heart Out
Date of Scene:	11 May 2024
Location:	Swimming Pool / Patio Deck
Synopsis:	A meeting of minds beside the pool, where Allen-James' powers and condition are discussed. Bouncey castles are promised too, and pizza is eventually enjoyed.
Cast of Characters:	Allen-James, Rogue, Bishop

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Allen-James has posed:
    Another day, another resounding splash. At least it's warming up some. AJ is out at the pool, practicing. It hasn't been a productive practice yet, but for the past couple weeks, it's been a regular evening sithgt. Orange footsteps hang in the air at various points over the pool, and at various angles, some fo which couldn't have been left by anyone approaching vertical. AJ swims back to the edge of the pool, and heaves himself out, drying himself off briefly, as he glares at the single footstep over the latest section of track, then he steps sideways a little to try again. Judging from the number of floating footprints in the air near the pool, this is definitely a 'stubborn day'. This time, when he takes a step off into the air, he pushes himself forward firmly, and shoots forward, lifting his left foot up, and getting a second step... then a third... then his fourth step is a bad angle, and he ends up hurtling face first down into the pool, perhaps a quarter of the way across it. The longest sequence of the night. Of the week, really.

Rogue has posed:
The pool had posted times for various levels of the school to use, and enjoy it. Students were certainly permitted to use it, but generally under supervision and with a fair amount of advanced notice. Usually, most of the students used the lake for water time shenanigans, as it was larger in scope, and provided more room for antics. The swimming pool was generally known as a 'teacher thing' or a controlled place for younger students to learn how to swim more safely.

Currently, it's open swim for high schoolers and college students, teachers, and so forth.

As such, Rogue is arriving via the east wing double doors. Held in her hand is a leash with a yellow lab dog at the opposite end. The southern Poetry teacher is dressed in a pair of denim shorts, and a baggy tshirt, flip flops, with her shades pushed up on her hairline. She steps outside just as AJ takes a tumble, and winces at the sight of it.

Her dog just wags his tail happily at the funny person doing funny stuff.

Bishop has posed:
Bishop's arrival is, appaerntly, right on time. On time to witness the epic tumble into the pool. He says nothing, either simply enjoying the show caused by AJ's less then angelic descent into the pool...or polite and stern enough in his demeanor to not guffaw loudly at what certainly was no doubt a comical flailing of the limbs before the water greeted the unfortunate young mutant. In the end, he simply takes a deep breath and, against his better judgement, does end up letting off a slightly restrained laugh which he keeps under his breath as much as possible.

But laughing at other peoples expense and leaving them to flounder isn't his way and he stifles his humor and begins to approach the pool just as he notes the arrival of Rogue....and her pooch. Like her, he's dressed casually. A dark green tank top that somehow manages to hang loosely on his prodigious torso, simple jeans and gym shoes. He doesn't look as if he came out for a swt at least he's dresed down for taking it easy. For once.

Allen-James has posed:
At the very least, AJ has gotten better at directing his falls. He's gotten much better at not hitting other students, or teachers, or anyone during the 'free swim' times that he's been taking advantage of for training his air walk into an 'air run'. He breaches the water and flips over onto his back, enjoying the warmth of the day as he backstrokes his way towards the edge of the pool. Again.
    He spots the teacher, and her dog, as he emerges from the water, and Bishop too. He gives them both a smile. "Bishop. Rogue. Hey." He greets, as he pushes his skinny body out of the water. In his swim trunks, it's even more obvious than usual that he's malnourished, but at the same time, he's starting to look somewhat less like a stick figure, after a couple weeks of good eating.

Rogue has posed:
By the time that Bishop strides in, and AJ is coming up out of the water, Rogue-- and her faithful friend-- are now standing at the edge of the pool near the shallow-end steps that descend in to the water. The dog wags his tail even faster at Bishop's arrival, as the Lab is just ever happy to see another new face. As AJ comes up out of the water, Rogue smirks softly toward him. "Practicin' your moves?" She asks in a naturally husky toned voice.

She shoots an upnod Bishop's way, along with a soft smile. "You don't look like you're the type who really enjoy pool time, Bish." She chides him in a friendly fashion, before her eyes return to Allen-James.

"Ya probably should get supervision for when you're doin' that, just incase you hit your head somehow..." She states, showing him a small smirk. "Hows it goin' though? Made it all the way across yet?"

Bishop has posed:
"I tend to prefer the lake and during times that are less active." confirms Bishop as he comes to a stop and then crouches his towering frame down as he looks towards Rogue's new furred friend and reaches a hand out for the customary sniffing and exploration such critters are wont to do.

"But I've been known to switch things up from time to time. Right now, I was actually looking for AJ..."

He looks to the skinny young man, studying his physique and measuring whatever progress that's been made on filling the mans frame out with a few quick glances.

"Doctor McCoy mentioned he came across you practicing out here before. I thought I'd take a chance and see if you were continuing this." He glances at Rogue and then back to AJ, "You were discussed." he adds, continuing to study the young man. "Yes. How's your progress been?"

Allen-James has posed:
    "My progress... Well, I'm not across the pool yet. Not even close, really." AJ answers with a chuckle, as he shifts around to sit on the edge of the pool. He waves at the line of orange footprints. "Most of the time, I don't even get a solid second step. Getting three is pretty good. And the fact that they stick around means I can see what I did wrong. Third one there was a little too forward, so the fourth was almost lateral." he points out, motioning to his latest line of footprints.

    "I'm actually afraid that I might make it across and crash, if I don't figure out how to keep it under control by the time I start getting that far. Right now, I'm just going down over the water. Soon... Soon it might get dangerous." he admits to himself, as much as anyone else.

    "But, I can't figure out a better way to practice. Other than maybe renta bounce house?" He chuckles to himself at that.

Rogue has posed:
Rogue glances down to her dog, who is actively shaking from tail to nose with excitement at Bishop getting down on his level to engage with him. The sniffings, and slobberings are sure to come next, for as long as Bishop permits. Rogue tugs on his leash lightly. "Go easy on him, Jeepers. You know how you are with first impressions..." She chides the 3 year old dog.

With her free hand reaching up to adjust her sunglasses up in the whites of her bangs, Rogue's green eyes fall again upon AJ. "Just don't want ya crackin' your head on the edge'a the pool, or if ya went over the shallow end too far..." She explains her teacherly concerns for the younger man's well-being.

With a slight breath taken, and her free hand falling down to her hip, the southern girl eyes the remainders of what AJ was using to trek across the water. "I figure doin' this over the pool helps build some confidence against anxiety... rather than just doin' it out over the grass, huh?" She asks him, glancing toward AJ, then to Bishop. "Should we make him a mud pit somewhere out by the lake?" She asks the soldier, showing him a big grin.

Bishop has posed:
"Falling into a mud pit and being forced to walk back to the mansion for a hose down might encourage him to work harder and provide enough adrenaline to perfect his powers quicker to avoid that sort of humiliation." considers Bishop, in a voice so deadpan it probably hurts to hear it.

But his smile afterwards might indicate he was joking.

Or he could just be smiling at playing with Rogue's new friend and was serious after all.

He ends up standing back up, lest he steal Rog'es dog away from her, and turns to look them both over.

"Rogue is right, AJ, you need to be careful. We talked about tempering your ambition, remember? You need to walk before you can fly. But..."

He looks back to the southern belle, "His mutation reminds me of Sue Storm's abilities. If there's any available data on her methods of training or the scope of her abilities...even limited....it might provide some options for making some programs for him to use. Under supervision of course..."

Allen-James has posed:
    The suggestion of a mudpit draws a groan, and a horrified look at Bishop appearing to go along with it. But he relaxes some when it looks like Bishop is joking with Rogue.

    AJ nods, seriously, "I'm trying to be careful. The lake has even more unpredictable depth than the pool, and I can't really do this over anything that might be solid." he says, "I mean.. I can already walk though." He points out, as he takes a confident step up into the air. Then another.

    His eyes glow, as do his feet, and he forms shields under the slow, almost glacial steps. He moves calmly, steadily, like a parody of walking in slow motion. Shifting his weight without bouncing his pressure, a smooth, steady walk where he takes small steps so that he's never out of balance. It takes him nearly a minute to take three slow steps into the air, and another minute for him to take another three back down.
    "Not very helpful though, is it? Walking in midair seems likea neat skill, until you realize, No one is going to wait for me to move so carefully." AJ points out with a groan.

    For all his complaints, his constant effort of throwing himself into the pool over the last couple weeks has left his air walking smoother and more controlled, even if still slow to avoid triggering the reflective force of the shields he's standing on. "Pretty sure a mud pool would be as bad or worse. I do want to find a better way to practice, but I don't know what it would be."

Rogue has posed:
When Bishop stands up once more, Jeepers does the dog thing of quickly forgetting the interaction, and moving on to jumping down in to the pool's top-most step. With his ankles in the water now, he splishes around at the end of his leash, Rogue not letting him go any more steps further in than that.

With a glance between the two of them, and her hand on her hip, the Belle gently nods her head two small times. "We actually have another student with a similar power set t'this one that AJ has." Rogue explains to Bishop. "One'a the graduatin' seniors. Lauren. She ... creates disc shields, similar to AJ's here, but his seem more varied in shape?" She asks, glancing to AJ for confirmation of that.

"I dunno what her trainin' regiment is like, but I don't think it'd be a bad idea t'ask the Fantastic Four for some tips, now that ya mention it. They might have somethin' we could run in the Danger Room."

A glance is sent down to her dog, before Rogue observes AJ a few more seconds. "You been introduced t'that room yet? The name is a bit intimidatin', but it's the best place for complicated mutation trainin'."

Bishop has posed:
"He has." notes Bishop, folding his arms as he considers options, "But before we do anything else extremely intense I wanted him to focus on getting his physical condition improved. Henry agrees and had concerns as well. But it's nothing saying we can't use the room to provide a safe space to practice but he needs an option for when the room isn't available and ...honestly the swimming pool seems the best bet in the end unless we want to have Forge come up with a specialized Bounce House..."

Bishop turns back to AJ, "I understand you've met Doctor McCoy. Big furry blue guy. Friendly. Big vocabulary? He requested I ask you if you're willing to give him a blood sample. With it he can get a close look at your X-Gene and from there get a better understanding of your present limits and potential. With that information we can better direct you."

Allen-James has posed:
    Indeed, instead of disks, AJ has left six footprints, a little larger than his actual foot, but not by much, and he looks down at them and shrugs, "I can do disks, but it's pretty much any shape I 'paint' in the air." AJ confirms. "The big problem is they reflect energy exerted on them." he points out, "So if I try to run, they shove me off. If I try to run and I'm not centered against the way they shove..." He makes a plane noise, then an explodey sign with his hands. "Sploosh."

    "The Fantastic Four? Really? That's awesome." For all his attempts to stay serious, that is just too cool to stay silent about. When asked about the Danger Room, he nods. "Bishop did a class on shooting and survival in the danger room. We snuck across a city. But I don't really know what all it can do besides be a holodeck." he jokes with a smile.

    He frowns slightly, looking down at his skinny limbs. He doesn't want to not practice until he gets in shape. He knows he's a stick figure, short and more 'boney' than 'wiry'. He frowns even more as he's asked for a blood sample. He doesn't know how he feels about that. "I've met him.. I just... a blood sample? I... guess so? Feels weird. I ran away from home to keep from becoming a lab rat, you know." he points out, a little nervous. "It's just to evaluate me?" he wonders quietly, arms crossing over his chest, practically hugging himself as he considers it.

Rogue has posed:
Rogue tugs on the leash, drawing Jeepers to jump out of the pool water, leaving a trail of wet paw prints, and streaks, across the stonework of the patio around it. She smirks again at some of what Bishop says, glancing between the two once again. "Well, we do have a bouncey castle comin' for graduation day. Since you're both mentioning it, I figure I may as well spoil the surprise... We had them a couple years ago too, the younger kids can't get enough of'em. damn death traps more than the Danger Room, if ya ask me." The Belle lets out a slight dramatic sigh to accentuate her spoken words, before she begins moving over toward the tables and chairs that are parked around the barbecue pit.

"We gotta fatten ya up, AJ." Rogue says to him, as she pulls out a chair, and sits down upon its edge, her knees coming together, her sneakred feet apart, and Jeepers moving over to get pets from the Belle's right hand, as her left draws out her phone. "Anybody want a pizza delivered?" She asks the two of them. "Get ta'work on puttin' some meat on them bones." She states with a grin.

Her phone screen is checked, before she shoots another look to AJ at the talk of blood. "Yeah, Hank is a genius. he ain't gonna do anything uncool with a blood sample. He's like... one hundred percent pure peach, even if he looks more like a blueberry...."

Bishop has posed:
Rogue's description of Hank draws a slight smile from Bishop. That was a good one.

"Right.." he says simply and then he looks back to AJ, "I was raised in a mutant internment camp. This tattoo on my face came from a result of the type of people you speak of gaining the upper hand and controlling us.." he poins to the M on his face.

"I know how you feel and I can tell you that the X-Men would never see you or treat you like an experiment or a lab rat. You can trust Henry. He's only asking because our powers are genetic and his ability to look at our genetic code and understand what it's telling us is unmatched. All of us have data files and it is immensely helpful in helping us determine our limits - safely."

He shakes his head, "But you don't -have- to do it. IF you feel uncomfortamble ther'es no pressure but we're -all- in agreement that as long as you're recovering from malnourishment and building your physique up - we'll be taking it step by step. The survival course was meant to put you into a situation that might very well happen at any time and at any placewith only the tools you presntly have - but we're talking about now is your future." .

Allen-James has posed:
    AJ forces himself to look up, studying Bishop's face, and Rogue's. He trusts them. Both fo them. And he trusts Hank too. But still, it's a little frightening. But he is going to be doing frightening things a lot now, right?

    "I'll do it." he says softly, "And I'll help you eat your pizza too." he chuckles. "I know I'm too skinny. A few years eating... leftovers will do that to you." he chuckles wryly, with very little humor in him, as he pulls out of the pool area, and moves to dry off himself.