16933/Staff Attendance

Staff Attendance
Date of Scene:	16 January 2024
Location:	Radical Arcade
Synopsis:	Hellion faces trauma over his powers, and his feelins that his lack of control define them. Psylocke and Douglas try to talk to him. Or talk him down.
Cast of Characters:	Monet St. Croix, Betsy Braddock, Julian Keller, Douglas Ramsey

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Monet St. Croix has posed:
Currently Monet St. Croix is sitting over to the side of the recreation room. There's a large bubble around her in a metaphorical sort of way - despite how many people are in the room or what activities are going on, no one is approaching her. This is accomplished if anyone is atually taking note of it by the girl giving off a continuously telepathic 'nudge' to everyone within the perimeter of it to ensure distance is kept, and giving her her quiet little relaxation area. The equivalent of how a telepath might on a busy street have people move out of the way of them, or ignore them while they were talking in the school hallways.

Betsy Braddock has posed:
Of course, telepaths can definitely recognize the 'bubble' in question, and Betsy is no exception. She comes in, wearing (for her) a fairly casual outfit of black silk blouse, denim jeans, and purple sneakers. Her hair is tied back in a loose ponytail, and she flashes a friendly smile to Monet.

With that, she does move over towards one of the newer games. Not exactly sure when Tekken 6 made it to the arcade here at Xavier's, but Betsy apparently is feeling a need to go with a little street fighting. Or she's probably going to grade it based on how accurate it is to a real fight.

Julian Keller has posed:
Julian Keller is one of those who has been pushed, his latent physic powers haven't manifesting itself it so he's easy. I mean easily swayed by that sort of thing. He's dressed in a pair of loose black athletic shorts and a simple grey t-shirt and a baseball cap turned backwards. The team? L.A. Lakers.

He's at the Tekken 6 machine already and judging by things not doing well. In fact it's over quickly and his hands come up to the top of the cabinet and his eyes suddenly flash green and his hands glow. Before anything can happen though he stamps it out and no more green glow. "It's just a game," Julian mutters repeatedly under his breath.

Monet St. Croix has posed:
The direct application of video game combat technique to real life fighting technique might be variable, but with the possibility that Mojo could randomly dimensionally kidnap folks to be avatars in a video game death battle, one could never be underprepared. At Betsy's acknowledgement Monet goes to give a low nod back, and then glance over at Julian's direction and the flashing machine and go to her shifting, consistent look of irritation.

Betsy Braddock has posed:
Betsy grins and sidles up to the player 2 spot, and glances over at Julian. "It's only a game. Even if it's a very frustrating one at times." She chuckles, her British accent shining through as she tilts her head, "Care for a challenger, or did you want to go against the AI for a while?"

Julian Keller has posed:
Julian Keller turns his head to look to Betsy. There is a moment pause when he just looks and before the look turns into CREEPY territory, he shrugs his shoulders looking to the game. "Don't know why I even bother," Julian mutters before he gives a nod of his head to her. "Sure, I'll play. Hope you don't mind getting your ass whipped." He says flashing a cocky smile towards Betsy looking at her out of the corner of his eye.

Monet St. Croix has posed:
Monet St. Croix would glance over at Betsy, then to Julian, then to the machine before finally speaking. "Don't give him delusions only to completely crush his hopes." If Betsy was going to toy with Julian, at least be up front to his face about her schemes. Be nice that way.

Betsy Braddock has posed:
Betsy laughs softly, looking over at Monet, "Oh, I wasn't going to get his hopes up. He's quite capable of doing that all by himself apparently." She gives Julian a wry expression, "Remember those words."

With that, she hits the P2 Start button, and character selection is up. And she takes Nina. Not really a surprise at all, knowing Betsy.

Julian Keller has posed:
Julian Keller decides to go with Hwoarang after pressing P1. He glances over his shoulder to look at Monet. "Hush from the peanut gallery," he says before turning to look at the game and give it the focus it is needed.

"When you are as goo..." Julian stops in his tracks as the game gets underway. Hwoarang is a character that requires shit ton of button mashing. All the buttons. And while he is pressing them, there is a delay sometimes when one finger doesn't quite work right. Or he faulters with his joystick, his hand slipping just a bit. It's over quickly. It wasn't even close. "Fffff......" he growls his eyes glowing green suddenly.

Monet St. Croix has posed:
Monet St. Croix would go to angle her head, "Don't destroy the machine out of pique." Because there are far better reasons to destroy the machine in the end that someone else will probably take advantage of. She doesn't go further than that - she trusts Julian won't destroy something else int he room..

Also that Betsy's right there, and she can always keep him calmed down.

Betsy Braddock has posed:
Betsy grins slightly, "Well played, but..." She pauses, and looks over at Julian, noting the eyes glowing and, unlike most, she doesn't look intimidated. She does ask, her voice perfectly even, "Do you want to go over the game, or do you want to go across the hall to the Danger Room and do a quick spar to work some frustration out?" She sounds fine to do either, honestly, as she waits for Julian's response.

Julian Keller has posed:
There is no damage done, just a tightly gripped controller that should have caused his hand to turn color, but it doesn't. He stands there seething staring at the screen and one of the soda cans left on the counter glows green for a split second shaking a bit before he stamps it out. No random destruction today. "Nope," Julian says flashing a smile towards Betsy. "I'm good. Nothing to be angry about. Just a game. Just a game." He looks down at his hand gripping the joystick and there is a brief moment that the anger starts to well up in his eyes but the hand release and he takes a step back. "One day I'll get you!" He says waggling a finger towards Betsy a merry smile upon his face.

Douglas Ramsey has posed:
The door opens while the others are playing the game - there's a moment's pause as Doug assesses the situation. "Remember, when you're playing Hwoarang, there's always *something* you can do. Also, he's a combo machine. He rewards aggression." When Julian steps back from the machine, Doug looks over at him, and then clears his throat. "Sorry. I shouldn't have butted in like that. M." Doug glances at Betsy, and smiles. "Betsy. Long time."

Then he rubs the back of his neck. "I was always a Yoshimitsu guy."

Monet St. Croix has posed:
Monet St. Croix looks over at Julian with narrowed eyes. "If you add a 'next time' to that then.." Something something see if his hands can keep up when he's thrown into New Jersey, probably. Which likely gets her a glare from Betsy and is probably grounds for Julian to be something smarmy at her (justifiably so)

Betsy Braddock has posed:
Betsy grins at Julian, "The door is always open." She looks about to say something further, then that's when Doug shows up, and Betsy gives him a warm smile, "As I live and breathe, Douglas. It has been a while, but I know better than to play /you/ at a video game."

She does, however, give Monet the aforementioned dirty look, before giving Julian a smile, "Best bet with these games, is find a character who you like, who fits your style. Don't pick someone to try and counter your opponent. If you pick the right character that suits you, then you'll counter your opponent naturally."

Julian Keller has posed:
Julian Keller was totally fine. Until Doug made his quip. He spins around, his eyes glowing green. "You get your hands fucking cut off and see if you do any better," he snarls at him. Those soda cans start to shake harder as they glow green. The glasses as well. Even the poor Tekken 6 glows and shakes behind him. "I practice and practice!" He holds his hands up to demonstrate. His wiggles them... and they move.. but there is something odd about them. Unnatural about the movement. Either too fast. Or too slow. "And this is the best I can do!"

Soda pop bursts. The glass bursts. The Tekken machine shakes violently.

Douglas Ramsey has posed:
Doug looks down at Julian's hands, and then back up at Julian. He keeps a level head, despite the impending threat of telekinetic attack. If Hellion really wanted to hurt someone, he'd just stop their heart or give them a stroke. Or something like that.

"Do you know what your problem is, Julian? Do you REALLY want to know what's messing you up? You're good at so many things - so *talented* that you don't remember what it's like for something to be hard for you to master. I can see it written all over your face."

Doug clears his throat. "Genosha cost me an entire arm, so I do get it. I do. But maybe--" He says, "You're looking at this the wrong way. You've already got *so much* control over your replacement hands. People spend years of grinding work to get half as much control of their prosthetic limbs as you've already got." He looks down at his own hand, the flesh transforming into shiny black... stuff with gold filigree crawling over the fingers. "If I hadn't had experience understanding how Warlock controlled his body, I would've been *screwed*."

Monet St. Croix has posed:
Monet St. Croix would take a moment to let out a sigh over. "Children, class is not in session. Relax." That probably would get her another glare from Betsy. Perhpas a light shove over on the matter if she were in close range enough for Betsy to give it. She does not at least throw up her arms.

"And you could at least not smash up the room if you're.." SHe's definitely getting an elbow from the better telepath for that.

Betsy Braddock has posed:
There's a sudden blast of << NOT. HELPING. >> in Monet's head as the telltale butterfly aura forms around Betsy's face and eyes, her psychic powers manifesting as she says, simply, "Julian. We haven't talked much before this, but rest assured that you aren't the only one that had to get used to getting into a new body, or new limbs." She takes a deep breath.

"So, it seems like you could use a trainer, particularly in integrating your telekinesis with your hands and getting fine motor control." Her eyes meet Julian's, unwavering as the butterfly effect fades. "Among other training, I do t'ai chi every other morning, eight am. I would recommend that you attend, as that can help you with what you're going through."

Julian Keller has posed:
If that was expected to calm Julian down, it doesn't. Being called out like by Doug causes him to seethe even more. Instead of his eyes glowing suddenly his whole body does. The lights high above start to sway in that green flow as he release more and more of his TK energy. "4 years!" He snarls taking a threatening step towards Doug. "4 years I've been trying to Master this!"

The closer he draws, the more and more things start to shake. Game cabinets. Couches. Benches. They oddly do not glow green. It's almost as if he's controlling the very molecules inside the objects. Sadly, he's so far focused upon Doug that Betsy's words fall upon deaf ears.

Monet St. Croix has posed:
Monet St. Croix would narrow her eyes, "Julian, calm /down/. Elizabeth is offering ot help train you and Douglas is being direct." Rather than be passive aggressive and snitful, she takes a breath. "So please, for a few moments before you go to crush about the area.." She tries to nto say what her first impulse is, which is to mock him..

"And please, relax and listen." To Douglas and to Elizabeth. not to her.

Because that never helps. But Elizabeth knows the most of everyone short of the Headmistress on how telekinesis works, and DOuglas is as earnest as they come.

Betsy Braddock has posed:
Betsy doesn't hesitate at this point, given that Julian is ignoring her in favor of raging at Doug. And if there's one thing she really hates, is being ignored. Which brings the purple butterfly aura back around her face in earnest, as she says, "JULIAN!"

And just like that, she makes a telepathic connection, dragging him into a mindscape because if he's not going to listen to her physically, he /will/ listen to her mentally.

In the mindscape, Betsy actually looks noticeably different. Less muscular and more posh, wearing a pink uniform with bare shoulders and poofy light red sleeves. She also looks... physically different, though it's a bit hard to define, though her voice is the same. She crosses her arms and looks at Julian, "I dislike having our conversation like /this/, but it feels you weren't listening to me at all. And now you will. Whether or not you accept it is up to you."

Douglas Ramsey has posed:
Doug exhales, and then holds his hands up. "You know what -- this is my fault." He backs toward the door. "I'll come back later." He says, as he steps backward toward the door. "Assuming there's still a game room later. Or a house. This is my fault." He says, before he rubs the back of his neck. "You know it's funny for a guy whose mutant power is all about words?"

"I have an uncanny ability to say the wrong damn thing no matter what."

Monet St. Croix has posed:
Monet St. Croix would sigh over then and rub her temples. "You did nothing wrong Douglas." IF anything it's on her. She goes to look over at Julian and Betsy's state,t racking what the two are doing.. But not going to shoe her way in. Julian is hurting, but also legitimately. And she's not exactly done anything here to help relax the situation either.

So she just goes to take a seat back in her chair, simmering.

Julian Keller has posed:
A beat of the heart. Then another. It's in that span of time that everything stops. Julian's foot falters as he steps towards the retreating Doug. His eyes and body return to normal. All the shaking and rattling stops in less time then it took to start. Julian starts to blink as focus and clarity return to him. He looks sheepishly towards Betsy before his gaze turns back to Doug. "Sorry!" He says hastily. "Shit Doug. I didn't mean to lash out. Damnit man. Just, " he throws his hands up in the air and shrugs. "You are right. I'm just still a spoiled rich kid."

Such a drastic turn of events! Who knows what was said in that Mindscape of hers. But whatever it was it's caused Julian, at least for this particular moment to look ashamed for his actions. "Fuck.. I should have never come back," the cap he wears on his head is turned forward. "I'm going for a drive." He mutters stalking towards the exit.

Betsy Braddock has posed:
Betsy looks over after Julian, "Remember, tomorrow morning at eight. Don't drink any caffeine beforehand, it won't help. Despite how you might feel." She smiles a little, though it seems a little tempered by their discussion, as regardless of what was said... they definitely have a better understanding now.

Monet St. Croix has posed:
There's a sigh from Monet that's likely audible to Betsy (and maybe Doug, that can speak to the walls).. "Oh stop being so dramatic" aimed at Julian as he would depart. But, at the very least she's gotten the point of saying so quietly rather than directly.. And seems cognizant that Julian is just upset and frustrated over with things, and wanting to get better and aware there's work involved.

Douglas Ramsey has posed:
Doug stops in the doorway, and then he says, "You're WAY more than that, Julian. And you're so close to finding the one thing we all want in life - a purpose. You just have to change the way you look at your problems. That's harder than you'd think -- I'm still trying to do it, myself. Just... don't *quit*." He exhales, and says, under his breath, "If he'd actually wanted to hurt me, he would've just given me a stroke. Excuse me M, I'm going to go somewhere where nobody can see my knees shake."