11396/This Bird is Fire

This Bird is Fire
Date of Scene:	30 May 2022
Location:	X-Factor Investigations
Synopsis:	An unconventional method for wellness checking. There's a couch to craash on and pizza!
Cast of Characters:	Tabitha Smith, Rachel Summers

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Tabitha Smith has posed:
Mutant Town has many delightful plases to visit like any manhattan district. One of them is Moo-tant Town Milkshakes. Which has Tabby coming out of it waaaay past dark and supposedly on her way to get that long commute to Westchester.

There is a distraction though as Tabby sees some light on at the old X-Factor offices. This gets some hmmming and haaaaing as Tabby looks up and then looks around and then slurps on the straw to her double thick strawberry shake or whatever it's called on the menu.

"Uhh, though Jamie was back at the school?" she says to herself and shrugs. Black leather bolero bomber jacket containing the resulting bounce and making the BOOM onomatopeia and exlosion behind it shift about her back. Yellow jeans keeping her lower ahlf covered while red boots, spiky red leather belt and choker that's totally not a collar. Even her glasses comform to the coloring with red cateye frames and yellow lenses.

"Better double check he's fine." she mutters to herself as she males her way to the fire escape around the side alley to start heading up that way to knock on a window.

Why can't she use a door?

Weirdo!

Rachel Summers has posed:
The offices are indeed lit up, mostly because Rachel has taken to using them as a home away from the noisy school she might otherwise call home. Mutant Town is much better than Xavier's in terms of mutants, mostly because some of them are actually old enough to drink and aren't all parroting philosophy. She treasures Charles and his dream deeply, but there was oftentimes some doubt as to how committed she was it. Mostly from her.

So, there she sits on an over-stuffed sofa that used to host weeping clients. Her feet are up on the coffee table, piled higher by an old stack of magazines. The television (an old CRT, if you can believe it) is playing a flickering DVD of Jaws.

When Tabby approaches the window, before she can knock, Rachel points a finger at her without looking away from the television. She is sipping a can of soda, and her voice echoes within Tabby's head rather than coming out of the young telepath's mouth.

<<I pay for everything with card and my TV's not worth stealing, and believe me those better be the only things you're thinking about - oh, hey, you're not a criminal.>>"

It's only then that she turns to look at the blonde, rising up from the sofa and padding over to the window.

Tabitha Smith has posed:
The voice in the blonde's head is a little loud but it mostly just gets a small but audibe "Gah!" out of her as she doublechecks it's not brain freeze and is infact telepathy. She had some problems with that not long ago and she's not quiteb sure if the off switch on mind reading is set.

"Rachel? the crap? Why you holing up in here? You know the school's got a way bigger TV in the rec-room and X-Lounge. I got a fifty in my dorm" she states as she lifts open the window and climbs in very very awkwardsly to avoid spilling her drink.

"Oooh, you know a CRT that still works is actually worth a lot? Retro gamers gotta plug their shit in yo!" she states and hops back and tries to unsnag her shoe from the windowsil before falling flat on her backl on the floor with a thud and the sound of the window closing via gravity.

"So like you okay here? We haven't spent any major time together on missions or anything so I figure hiding isn't my fault but you don't have to be alone. Jamie's not in the bathroom taking a leak or anything is he?" she asks and loosk around from her spot laying on the ground.

Rachel Summers has posed:
"The schools also got a bunch of horny teenagers and a preoccupation with flatscan stuff," Rachel answers, speaking verbally now as she impassively watches Tabby climb through the window, "Plus, I can say 'flatscan' here without having to put a dollar in the swear jar."

She snorts at the TV being worth something: "Yeah? Well, they'll have to look elsewhere. It's my baby. If you think it's an antique now, imagine being from when I am?"

She looks over her shoulder to the bathroom.

"No, thank God. It's just me. And yeah, I'm okay. Just a ... I don't know what you'd call it? Chill out place? And what brings you out here besides peepin' in windows?"

Tabitha Smith has posed:
"It's not just the teenagers Rachel. What do you expect when you have a bunch a folks even as adults. They look like we do!" She states and grins as she sits upo finally. Then swivels on her backside so she can face the redhead.

"I was here in the Middle East Side, that which is also Bushwick so I can grab a bite after doing the whole eing in town thing. I make a better shake that Moo-Tant Town though but I'm not commuting home and back and then home again in the same day." she states.

"The human thing is always a thing. Or it's an alien thing and sometimes we get to hit them. Like really, really hard. You should try and come along next time. It's like mega cathartic. And god knows finding that feeling isn't easy when your powers can hurt someone if you aren't careful." she explains and takes another slurpy pull from the straw poking out the cup lid.

A few flashes of memory in her brain about all the times she had been told to be careful with her bombs despite being in full control.

Rachel Summers has posed:
"Yeah, I guess," Rachel answers, moving to the sofa and sitting back down again - only this time she pulls her knees up to her chest and wraps her arms around them, "Still, nice to get away sometimes. Doesn't help that I still don't have a room. Meanwhile Lorna's off playing queen and she gets the fanciest one in the place."

She stifles a bit of a grin: "I can want nice things, too."

Then she shrugs.

"Anyway, if you want to crash here, feel free. Don't think Madrox is going to be back."

Tabitha Smith has posed:
Tabby offers a sip of her shake with a big grin. "Trust me when I say I know exactly how important it can be to have a place or just a room of your own. Ex-Hobo and all!" Tabby states and tries not thinking of all those nights near freezing to death on the streets as a kid.

And the nights she might have been better off.

"Rach' you can tootally want all the nice things. And you can get them if you want." the blonde encourages and beams up a big bright smile.

"Well it'd beat taking the subway. And knocking on Yana's door while probably fine. Too much magical weird sometimes." she states and grins. "So sure. Couch looks big enough for two of us." she states and nods her head. "I can order us a pizza or something if you're hungry!"

Rachel Summers has posed:
"Might talk to Jean about it, then," Rachel muses, already thinking about getting comfortable in that big, fancy guest room.

"Sounds like a plan. And yeah, pizza would be great. Veggie for me, if that isn't a dealbreaker."

Tabitha Smith has posed:
Tabby nods her head and unzips her jacket to extract her phone. Luckily there's all kinds of apps for food delivery so she can make that pizza order.

"Vege is fine. You don't get to scoff when you eat garbage!" she states and giggles as she thumbs in the order. Luckily it's a place not too far so delivery is cheap and fast compared to the time making it.

Eventually there's a knock at the main door and yep. It's pizza!