3626/Beauties and The Beast

Beauties and The Beast
Date of Scene:	30 September 2020
Location:	Hank's Lab
Synopsis:	Storm and Kitty check on Beast, who is turning progressively more feral with time.
Cast of Characters:	Henry McCoy, Kitty Pryde, Ororo Munroe

---

Henry McCoy has posed:
He'd tried sorting it out. Sent out a lifeline to Carrie - she had good ideas for trying to vent out the anger. Still, there had to be more - there had to be some scientifc answer. Still, his ability to focus and work logically was fogged up. Frustration eventually overcame the man, resulting in the flipping over of his workbench, tools scattered everywhere.

Beast perched on a stool, eyeing the mess with a look of disbelief on his face. Was he doomed to degenerate? To lose his mind?

Kitty Pryde has posed:
Kitty Pryde had flown the Blackbird when the X-men rushed out to stop Vulture and Green Goblin. She'd hovered out over the river a short distance away, monitoring the resulting fight and providing what assistance she could delaying police response to it until it was done.

So it was that she'd been able to see some of what happened. Had zoomed in the Blackbird's surveillance suite in time to see Beast's behavior during the fight. Figuring that it would be something to approach him about quietly, but maybe thinking having another soothing presence on hand would help, Kitty had gone to talk to Storm.

Relating things in a straight forward way. Hank had seemed to lose a bit of control during the fight, taken some time to come down from it, though she didn't know if anyone else had noticed. And Kitty wanted to just go and make sure he was ok.

So it is that Kitty knocks softly on the frame of the open doorway. "Hey Hank. Told you I was going to come steal more coffee," she says with a grin. "Is now a bad time?"

Ororo Munroe has posed:
With her own concerns for Henry, Ororo more than happily descended from on high. She said, and this is a quote: "I spend far too much time up here as it is. Time to do something with my time." It may have been odd, but she's always been a touch on the odd side. Especially when gardening.

Standing close by, she lends a smile to the attempt. He'll let us in, she'd whispered on the way. Of course he will. And then we'll speak, and there will be a moment when we understand. Or we'll be there to help him in other fashions.

That fashion, her eyes drifting over the broken table and tools, might come earlier than expected. "Henry, again?" She seems to wish all of the things for him, standing behind and above the lovely Catherine. But it may not be enough.

Time will tell.

Henry McCoy has posed:
Yellow eyes turn towards the voices, clouded with lack of recognition for a moment. Henry closes his eyes, tight. A shake of his head and he growls out a sigh. "I can't... stop feeling like I am slipping." A glance then to the smashed desk "None of these things was making sense..." His hand motions to the myriad of tools littering the floor. "All it did was mock me... remind me of when I was smarter."

He turns to look back towards Kitty and Storm again. "I am ... degenerating. Becoming my namesake." He says, his voice hollow.

Kitty Pryde has posed:
As Kitty spots the flipped over desk across the room, her grin that had meant to be a positive influence on Hank's mood slips away to a look of concern. She steps further into the room, moving over to Hank. "How long has this been going on?" Kitty asks him quietly. "Just recently or has it been happening for awhile."

She glances about the lab, often so well organized if not necessarily tidy. Seeing it in that state is its own shock to her, a familiar space turned on its head. The lab reflecting its owner.

Kitty moves over to the fridge, getting a water and bringing it back for Hank, opening it and setting it on the counter nearby. "And have you talked to anyone about it? Moira?" she asks.

Ororo Munroe has posed:
There is no question that they will enter. The lair of someone who self-proclaims himself as a beast, one who is currently a danger to himself and others, and neither of the ladies so much as pauses before walking in. They will never, not unless given no choice, call him anything but friend.

"I've not sensed anything in the air," she offers, "Though that is likely not a great deal of assistance. You're not well, not happy, and we will be here for you. Henry, have you considered that you might simply be changing?" She calls out something she's considered, that she isn't happy with, but must be addressed.

"That this might be a change that your mutation needs to attend to. I suppose it's too early to tell, no tests being done yet.." She seems..uncertain. Not her norm, by far.

Henry McCoy has posed:
His shoulders sag, Henry sighing. "I need to speak to Moira, yes. She will... have a better grasp of this. I have records, notes... from my time at Brand." Another frown. "This... since Essex." The man growls, hackles raised at the mention of the name - eyes narrowing. "He caused this." He hisses. Another shake of his head, trying to clear his mind.

"I'm sorry... I... the anger flashes up." He frowns. "I wasn't always blue and furry. I was... bigger, yes. I had gripping feet, yes. But I was a handsome man. After the serum... after they wanted to take it and use it for evil." A shake of his head. "I had to take it, to keep it out of their hands. It turned me... to what I was. Sinister caused this." His hand gestures to his feline form.

Kitty Pryde has posed:
Kitty reaches out to her old friend, who she's known since she was thirteen. Someone she's looked up to, trusted, learned from. Her hand rests gently on his back, caressing softly over the fur. Though touching him as a man, a friend needing contact with someone, not petting like one might do his namesake.

"What do you mean 'was' handsome?" she asks as if taking issue with the statement. She gives him a smile, meant to be warm and reassuring. "We'll figure out what happened. And how to control it, or undo it if needed," she tells him.

Kitty looks over to Storm and says, "We can call in Moira, and anyone else we need. What can we do for you beyond that?" she asks him. "Is there anything else that would help you? Play some of your favorite classical music? Maybe a meditation session?" she asks.

Ororo Munroe has posed:
Ororo, perhaps a touch more distant than Kitty, still walks to the gentleman. She hunches down, letting him be the taller, and perhaps quells a touch of the beast within with that gesture. Never let it be said that the queen of air does not know nature.

"There are options," she says, agreeing with Kitty. Of course, as a united front is the right choice. Three against none would be best, but Henry is seeming to be of a divided mind. Of sorts. "I'd considered taking the children on a camping trip, as well. It might be a good time to let a little bit of your current self out. See how it interacts when you're not resisting it, when it's in its home. And the children could use the experience. Especially off season..."

She grumbles lightly; an old argument. Camping in the best weather has never been her choice. It causes too much socializing, too little 'being forced to learn'. But fun has its own merits.

Henry McCoy has posed:
Henry doesn't flinch from the contact, taking a deep breath and nodding. "Moira, yes. She can sort this out. She... had been helping me with Gabby's issues. She had a lot of good ideas for that, too. That's... where I really started noticing the inability to grasp concepts that were so close to me before." A wry grin. "Carrie would likely take your side about the handsome bit, too."

"Camping... would be nice. Music... does help. I just feel I need to contribute." A look to both. "I almost killed that man in the alley, Ororo. I would have, if you weren't there."

Kitty Pryde has posed:
Kitty nods and says, "Carrie's got a good head on her shoulders." She moves and gives Hank a quick hug from behind if allowed before letting him go. She moves over to queue up some classical music for him on one of the computers in the room.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TPB15Ma2o48

Kitty glances at the desk as if considering whether to do something with it, but decided to leave it as it is for now. She comes back over to him and says, "We can also pull up some of your old medical readings, start comparing them to new ones, see if we can't have something for Moira," Kitty suggests quietly. She moves over and pulls a stool over beside Hank's and takes a seat on it. Glancing to Storm as Kitty isn't familiar with this part about an alley.

Ororo Munroe has posed:
Ororo's eyes turn grey for a moment. She seems to be in another world, her heart beating slower as she listens to things around her, and a softness in her breath...her breath looks visible, as if she's breathing in a cold, cold world outside. It vanishes as quickly, and she says, "You are not wrong, friend Henry. Your body is cascading with change. It speaks with the Green, and you would not be wrong to be out of doors."

The eyes change, the breath returns to normal, but her world does not grow less deep. This is Ororo, the lady of the skies. And she hears the world. "Henry. It is partly that you are confined indoors, but that is all that I can ascertain. We do need to get you out. But not in combat, that is dangerous to others now. I will speak to Scott about limiting your missions, for a short while. For your own peace of mind."

She pauses, recognizing her own arrogance, then adds, "If you wish me to."

She closes her eyes, the music passing through her, and rises to her feet as proper. Then, with Kitty there, she turns. "We were required to assist a man against...I would call them gangsters?" She lets Hank speak on it if wished, but also ends her thought. "Henry is not incorrect. This could be quite serious, and a man was harmed worse than he perhaps should have been."