15113/Summertime Milkshakes

Summertime Milkshakes
Date of Scene:	10 June 2023
Location:	Mootant Town Milkshakes
Synopsis:	Raven goes for her favorite milkshake at Mootant Milkshakes and runs into Evan, so they talk for a bit about his origins and girlfriend.
Cast of Characters:	Raven Darkholme, Evan Sabahnur

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Raven Darkholme has posed:
With the official start of summer only a short time away, the weather in New York was starting to heat up. Out came the tank tops and shorts, sandals and bathing suits. Some headed for the coast, others stayed inside with the AC on, and then there were those who braved the weather for a good old fashioned milkshake.

Sitting by the large picture window at the front of the establishment, Raven had already purchased herself a large chocolate, banana, and blackberry milkshake. She sat comfortably in a white tank top, white shorts and a pair of white sandals that wrapped up her legs to her knees.

Given the time of day and the location, there were already a lot of people in the place, but none of them seemed to bother the blue mutant in the corner watching people passing by. Either she had a reputation or they they were clueless enough not to care.

Evan Sabahnur has posed:
    Evan is on his own today as the girls have a photo shoot and has decided that he needs to go into New York City. There's a ton of stuff to see there, and he hasn't managed to get out and about until now. The Corvette makes the trip smooth, fast and comfortable and after about two hours he finds himself in the big city. Being from the Denver area, he's not unfamiliar with cities, but the Big Apple is fairly unique.

    After a short session with Google maps, he's decided to start his day in Mutant Town, both because there isn't any such concentration of mutants in Denver and he wants to check out what things are like there, and because a number of students rave about Mootant Town Milkshakes.

    The Corvette gets parked in a parking garage to keep it safe, and then he's on foot making his way along. Since he doesn't get tired very easily, the hike through the city just gives him a chance to experience the crowds. It's not too long until he crosses into Mutant Town. He's in luck, no protests going on today, and with his appearance the inhabitants don't have a problem with him, so the walk to the shake shop is an uneventful one.

    Once inside, he heads over to the counter and starts looking over the flavors. This is an occupation that will take several minutes, as the list is rather extensive.

Raven Darkholme has posed:
Yellow eyes follow the grey skinned young man as he approaches the shop, one flaming auburn brow lifting. Raven remembered Evan from Xavier's school, having met him there and spoken at least twice.

With it being summer she wasn't surprised to see him out an about, though she did wonder where his chaperone was, but only for a moment. Perhaps he had escaped into the real world all on his own, she much preferred thinking of it that way over the idea of every student always needing some adult to watch over them.

Canting her head slightly, she watches him reading the menu then takes a sip of her shake through the straw. "Feel free to join me, Evan" she calls, not screaming really just enough volume to be heard. "Once you've made up your mind."

Evan Sabahnur has posed:
    Hearing a female voice that wasn't the girls calling him is a surprise, to put it mildly. Who in the city would even know him? Still, the voice was familiar and when he turns to look it's easy to recognize Mystique, even if she is looking comfortable in a shake place rather than causing a stir at Xavier's. He waves to acknowledge her, then turns back to the board and makes up his mind. Vanilla shake, with bits of brownie and chocolate candy mixed in.

    Once he's paid for the shake, he carries it over to Mystique's table and sits down opposite her. He's also dressed for the weather, shorts, tee shirt and sneakers. "I didn't expect to run into anyone I knew here, guess it says something about how successful the place is. How have you been? I haven't seen you visiting the school lately."

Raven Darkholme has posed:
Another small sip is taken while Raven watches the people outside passing by again. Evan's order wouldn't take all that long, the staff were overly skilled making shakes fast and sure enough it's only a few moments and he is joining her.

Turning her attention back to the young mutant she offers a smile. "This is one of my favorite places in the world," she states as she crosses right leg over leg. "Proof that mutants can succeed if they are given the opportunity. As for visiting Xavier's... I am not all that welcome there, though I do come by to visit my daughter and son from time to time."

Setting her shake back on the table she continues with, "I have been quite well, though busy of course. And yourself? Did you pass your grade in school? Looking forward to the next one?"

Evan Sabahnur has posed:
    Taking a sip of the milkshake, then abandoning straw for a long spoon (it's hard to suck brownie bits through a straw), he nods and answers after swallowing. "Oh, that's good. Strong vanilla flavor and then the chocolate hits. Yeah, this may become one of my favorite places too. And was there any question that we can succeed? I'd think there are enough successful mutants that it wouldn't be in question."

    After a bit more of the milkshake, he nods and replies "Yeah, it wasn't a problem. I don't mean to sound arrogant, but I could probably teach any of the classes I took, so passing wasn't a problem at all. I'm going to talk to them about some advanced courses for the next semester, see if I can find something to challenge myself with."

Raven Darkholme has posed:
As Raven studied Evan all she could think was, 'Ah, the innocence of youth.' or perhaps it was merely that he had not seen or heard all the facts about being a mutant in the world.

"There are a number of successful mutant, that is true, but most have to conceal what they are," she says calmly, another small sip taken. "Did you hear about the protesters at Happy Harbor High School? All over a young mutant whose abilities manifested while hew as at another school, and he was accepted there? We are never truly safe Evan, we are never truly welcome or wanted. So we must each, in our own way, come to terms with that information and knowledge and decide what we will do about it, if anything."

Her eyes shift past him for a moment to a group who entered the shop, one seemed to recognize her and was pointing and whispering, but that was the extent of it. Whether it was her connection to the Brotherhood, or the work she'd done in Bushwick, it was difficult not to be recognized now and then.

"Is it part of your mutation?" she asks as she focuses her eyes on him again. "Your ability to learn quickly I mean, or have you always been a quick learner and had advanced classes?"

Evan Sabahnur has posed:
    "To be honest, I don't know. I've been this way since I woke up." Another spoonful of shake and brownie, then he continues "And that statement probably brings up more questions then it answers. "So to expand on that, my parents are geologists and enjoy spelunking. They found a fairly extensive cave system, and while exploring it, came across some kind of lab, really old and damaged, but the tube I was in was still functioning."

    "So to make a long story short, they figured out how to wake me, took me home and used some kind of contacts to get me the paperwork that said I existed. Heck, could have been something you or your group had set up to get undocumented mutants a way to become legal, sounds like the kind of thing you do. Apparently sometimes the phrase 'test tube baby' is more literal than others."

Raven Darkholme has posed:
This information causes both of Raven's manicured brows to raise high on her forehead. There were so many possible organization that could be responsible for growing a mutant in a test tube, and not one of them was a good one. She wasn't going to tell him that of course, at least not yet. She didn't need him freaking out over the possibility that someone might actually be out there looking for him.

"That... is a very interesting origin, Evan," she comments slowly, leaning forward slightly to look him over again, as if in a whole new light. "Have you ever attempted to research how you ended up in some deep, dark cave laboratory or did you and your parents settle on 'better left unknown'?"

In the back of her mind she was playing over the various contacts she would need to touch base with now, and of course a touch of research into whether or not it was the Brotherhood or one of their associates who arranged to make Evan all nice and legal.

Evan Sabahnur has posed:
    "Well, I was just an infant at the time, but they said they went through the place pretty carefully and didn't find much. Apparently there had been a rather extensive fire, so not much survived between that and the fact that parts of the cavern had collapsed. Fortunately my folks are mutants, so a gray skinned baby didn't freak them out or anything. Every once in a while I do kind of wonder what led to that whole situation, but I'm also not sure I'd like the answer. I mean, abandoned in a stasis tube in a destroyed underground lab kind of screams supervillain, and that's not really who I am, you know? Not once have I ever laughed evilly and tried to take over the world."

    More of the shake is consumed before he continues, "Yeah, so there we are. Mysterious past, fairly normal present. Heck, I've even got a girlfriend, so I'm feeling particularly normal these days. Well, normal as far as any mutant is normal, but I'm just kind of checking off the activities must teens go through around this age." He grins a little and adds, "But I think my girlfriend gives me the win over most of the others."

Raven Darkholme has posed:
One of Mystique's known skills was the ability to appear calm, even if she wasn't, while working out complex situations with a smile on her face. Right now she was making a laundry list of which organization or, as Evan said, supervillain might have grown themselves a new mutant... and the list was getting longer.

"There are numerous answers to the question of who, what and why Evan," she offers with a smile, voice smooth and calm. "Only a few of them lead to supervillain, and as I'm sure you are aware, most supervillains don't have girlfriends, so clearly... you are not one."

Taking another long sip of her shake, she finally sits back again in the chair then reaches into the satchel sitting on the chair beside her and pulls out a really expensive looking cell phone. Instead of typing anything on it or accessing it, she slide it across the table to him. "This is a Brotherhood cell phone, directly connected to Asteroid M, and myself," she explains, gesturing to the phone. "You should get to be a teenager and do all the things teenagers do. In fact, complete a long list of places to go, things to see, activities to partake in, but keep the phone with you should you ever need immediate assistance, and by that I mean a teleporter opening a portal for me and others to step through where you are."

Evan Sabahnur has posed:
    Evan blinks, a bit surprised by the cell phone and offer of help if needed. "Thanks, that's pretty cool. I promise not to use it for anything but the largest of emergencies, which hopefully means I won't need to use it." He takes the phone and slips it into his pocket. "And I think you might just be making up the no girlfriends rule for supervillains, but I'll let that slide and just be happy I'm not one. It's probably easier to not have to avoid every hero you see."

    More of the shake vanishes during a moment or two of quiet, then he asks "Should I even ask what prompted the gift of the phone? I'm guessing my story put up some red flags to you, was there anything specific that makes you concerned?"

Raven Darkholme has posed:
Adjusting herself a little in the chair, the last few sips of her shake are taken, leaving her to make that odd sucking sound to get the last little bit out of the bottom of the cup.

"So many red flags Evan, I can't even begin to list them all, and it wouldn't be the right thing to even try," she replies, setting the not empty cup down.

"There are a hundred or more possibilities, some good, most bad. There simply is not enough information at this time to offer a suggestion worth worrying over." She offers him a soft smile. "I've been doing this for an incredibly long time, it's part of my occupation to be paranoid about every little thing, but that most certainly should not be how you perceive things."

She glances to the group who had recognized her for a moment, having been watching them in her peripherals. She was always aware of her surroundings, always one step below paranoid to be ready for whatever might come. She didn't want that for any one else, not when there was nothing concrete. "As for the phone... feel free to use it if you'd like to visit the Asteroid," she then says as the smile broadens. "And you are partly correct about supervillains... some do have girlfriends, and/or boyfriends, but most are so busy trying to take over the world that they don't have time to maintain that kind of relationship."

Evan Sabahnur has posed:
    Evan has a slightly easier time of finishing his since he's using the spoon, though he'll probably resort to the straw once the various chocolate bits are gone. "That might be kind of cool, actually. Space may not be as inaccessible as it used to be, but it's still an unusual thing to actually get to leave the planet. I'll probably take you up on that offer at some point. But yeah, world domination probably doesn't leave a lot of time for a social life, you're right about that."

    Looking down at his watch he says, "Oh, sorry to run off, but the planetarium has got a show I wanted to attend, so I'm afraid I need to run. Oh, let me give you my cell number in case you ever want to get in touch." Putting action to words, he shares his number, then stands while saying "It was nice running into you, hope you have a good evening." before heading for the door.