373/A Very Britsh Ninja

A Very Britsh Ninja
Date of Scene:	09 March 2020
Location:	Kitchen
Synopsis:	Alex Summers meets Betsy Braddock and get to know each other, including what it's like to deal with unexpected powers.
Cast of Characters:	Betsy Braddock, Alex Summers

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Betsy Braddock has posed:
There are warm, sweet smells drifting down the hallway from the kitchen of Xavier's on this Sunday in the evening past the dinner hour. Vanilla and something nutty, a touch of cinnamon are the culinary ghosts trying to lure the unwary to the kitchen to their doom!

Or at least, into seeing Betsy dancing at the counter, currently to the Clash's "Rock the Casbah". Purple hair is up in one of those seemingly casual and lazy buns atop her head, with some loose tendrils waving down here and there. Gray leggings and a purple tunic are protected from most of her mayhem by a gray and green apron she'd found hanging up somewhere.

The counters? Chaos. Bowls and implements everywhere, with ingredients here and there in a confusing array. Here's hoping she knows where everything is.

Alex Summers has posed:
    Alex is still getting used to to many things. His recently unleashed powers at the top of the list. While he's been given several meditation exercises to help him control how his power leaks out, he's still where he much prefers being...away. From everyone, when he works with it. Just in case.

    There's already a glassed crater on the mansion property that shows what happens when he fails, after all.

    He walks in, dressed in a black bodysuit and boots, with a faintly glowing circle on his chest, the cowl pulled back to reveal mussed blonde hair, pulling up short as he sees the...activity. "Uh...hey."

Betsy Braddock has posed:
"Sharif don't like it... rock the casbah, rock the casbah..." Comes the words, even as she's doing ...something with apple slices over the top of a tart. She'll wait until it's seated, before she turns to look at the newly arrived company. Violet eyes brighten as she flashes one of those model perfect smiles his way. "Hey. Sorry, I can clean up some space if you need to make yourself something. I always make such a mess when I bake."

Things will start lifting up off the counter, and shifting around to become more orderly, and the Clash will be turned down, even as she moves to rinse her hands in the sink and get a sponge to wipe down some counter.

Alex Summers has posed:
    Wow. It's another one. Alex swears every woman in this place looks like they model in their spare time or something. "Ah...nah, it's fine, I was just going to put together a sandwich or something." Alex say, walking over towards the fridge as he glances over to Betsy curiously. "I'm Alex, by the way. You a teacher here?" he wonders curiously.

Betsy Braddock has posed:
     If only he knew! This one actually /does/ model, after all. "Still need counter space to slap one together. At least a sandwich worth having." There is a lingering hint of a smile, as she dries that counter space. "Betsy." Then she laughs, shaking her head. "Me, a teacher? Heavens no. I haven't even finished college, yet. Life sort of.. got in the way." If by life she means being kidnapped and brainwashed, body-swapped back and forth and all sorts of craziness. "I'm hoping to go back, but work is hungry for me now, and in my occupation, you have to take as much work as you can when that happens."

Alex Summers has posed:
    "Ah. Yeah, lot of that going around. I'm trying to finish my degree but, gotta deal with this stuff first." Alex says wryly. "Which school?" He nods as Betsy cleans up a spot he can begin PRoject Sammich and starts raiding the fridge from some luncheon meat, cheese, lettuce and tomatoes and onions. Also mayo.

Betsy Braddock has posed:
"To be honest, I'm not sure. I haven't exactly decided on what I want to do..." The British accent lilts a little bit as she looks at him with that hint of a smile. "When I grow up." There's a hint of a laugh, as she dries her hands, looking back at her own project.

"I mean, I used to have so many ideas, but now.. who knows. Don't need a degree to be a model, so it's not a pressing matter just yet. Don't need one to take the pictures, either, which is something else I enjoy. But I guess I feel like I still need a degree or something to be considered a real adult."

Her hands reach into a bowl, pulling another apple slice out to start rolling it up. A glance over shows that she's making tiny apple slice roses to top a tart of some sort of maple custard.

Alex Summers has posed:
    "Wait, you really are a model?" Alex says before his brain catches up with his mouth. "Ah, I mean, I wondered. Really, about a lot of the women who seem to go to school or teach here." he stammers, shooting a sheepish smile Betsy's way. "So, you're considering fashion? I do geophysics.. Well...hopefully." He frowns. "I mean, I'm still not sure what the school is doing to do about my professor trying to kill me and stuff, so I'm kinda taking a break. But it's dissertation writing anyway and surveying work at this point, so not attending courses."

Betsy Braddock has posed:
There's a pause, as she turns her head to look at him, brows lifted slightly. "Yes. I have been for several years no." The accent has turned more crisp, a slight straightening of her posture as those violet eyes slide down and up over him. Her chin lifts, before she's laughing. "Yes, we do have an extremely high percentage of good looking people, don't we." That moment of almost possible offense is gone.

"Geophysics. Physics of the earth? Tetonic plates and things?" She asks, resuming her rose making. "You'd think I'd know more about science, doing what I do, but alas, that's not how getting our powers work, is it."

Alex Summers has posed:
    Alex hehs. "Not like mine have much to do with it, other than blowing rocks up." he says, with just a tiny hint of bitterness to go with the deadpan delivery. "But yeah. That and archeology, that was my bachelors." he confirms. "Guess I just like digging in the dirt, finding what's there, how it got there, that sorta thing."

    He walks over to the pantry to snag a sub sandwich bun, slicing it in two then starting to assemble a club sandwich. "I mean, that's my thing...cosmic energy absorption and processing it into plasma energy. You?"

Betsy Braddock has posed:
"Blowing rocks up? How, exactly?" It's polite interest, expressed so that if he doesn't want to talk about it, it's clear she won't press. "One of my favorite British musicians got a dino named after him on a dig... in Madagascar, I think? They were listening to a lot of his music on the dig, so he got it." There's a smile and a shrug. "I think I'd prefer persuing history in a cleaner environment. Like a library." The smile is a grin for a brief moment.

Poor Alex's sandwich starts to float, before she will let it lower back to the counter, perfectly assembled as he had it. "Telekinesis is a ... newer part of my powers. I'm a telepath, as well." One hand will be empty before she closes it, a brief moment of her eyes closing before they shine as she open them, and there's a glow like a lightsaber as her psi-katan forms. "And... these. I can make.. psionic energy into weapons. I'm still not super up on how it all works."

Alex Summers has posed:
    "Ah, like...Jean, right? In the mindreading department. Met her the other day." Alex says thoughfully, tilting his head as he's thoroughly distracted from sandwich making by the demonstration. "That's quite a power set. No, mine is...less...useful." he says after a moment, turning around to lean back against the counter as he folds his arms across his chest. "I'm told it's like Scott's...which makes sense, I guess. Brothers. But he got the more controllable eye beams, I got....plasma explosions." He shrugs his shoulders slightly. "Didn't even know I had a power, before a couple weeks ago, there was some sort of seal. Your professor...the bad guy, he's not sure why it was sealed, or how it got that way. I never knew I had any powers, all my life."

Betsy Braddock has posed:
"Jean and I have not compared notes." The starch is back in her accent, as she opens her hand and the purple glow disappears. "Though I find her company quite congenial. It's nice knowing I have someone around that understands the.. pitfalls of telepathy. Especially as a woman." She shrugs. "I didn't have the telekinesis, until other things happened. Hard to explain."

Violet eyes shift to him again, a softness there that betrays the stiffness of the British upper lip. "So someone basically sealed your powers in, so they didn't surface when you were younger, like they do usually?"

Alex Summers has posed:
    Alex sighs, then rubs his face. "Basically. So. Full power. No control. Well, feels like it." he mutters, closing his eyes as he rubs them for a moment. "Why I'm here, to figure out how to control it without hurting anyone. It's like...a full body workout whenever I try to channel. It's easy to just....explode, but focusing it..."

    He shakes his head a bit. "Kinda threw my life into chaos, you know? So not really sure what I'm doing next. Gonna finish my degree but....who knows what I'll do with it now. It's not something I can hide, having powers like this. Not forever. Not that I should have to, but...can't blame people for being a bit nervous around me, right?"

Betsy Braddock has posed:
There's a soft smile. "I know the feeling. Waking up with a new power is not fun." She moves to the oven, to take a tart out. Those roses are perfect on that one, as she sets it on the counter. She reaches to brush something from a bowl over the golden baked apple roses. "I know you've probably heard it too much and want to throw things when people tell you it will get better, so I won't tell you that."

The smile isn't some perfect curve meant for a magazine cover. "I don't see why you can't hide it. It's not something you can see outside yourself. If you don't want to use them, or show the world, I don't see why you have to."

Alex Summers has posed:
    "Because I can't fully control them. Sure, I'll probably learn to channel them better." Alex says frankly. "But my body doesn't stop metabolizing energy. At some point, it just gets full and starts emitting it, unless I deliberately fire off a blast to drain it. And that isn't something that can be hidden." He snorts. "Requiring a smoking break at work is one thing, requiring a plasma detonation is another."

    He lets out a sigh, then mms. "I dunno, honestly. I don't know if I can do what Scott does. Playing a hero. Fighting all these crazy things." He hehs, then gestures towards the tart. "Maybe you should be a chef."

Betsy Braddock has posed:
"I am sure you will learn to control them. You'll probably even get to the point you'll be able to small bursts - to the point you can sort of find a way to take a smoke break sort of thing and keep it hidden. If you do small ones every day, that sort of thing." Her words are even, as she works on her pastry.

She looks up from her task at hand, a tip of her head. "Who said you should do what Scott does? Your brother being a hero doesn't mean you should feel you have to be. That's something I can speak on with authority." She laughs. "No, no. I'm good with some things in the kitchen, but I don't think I have the temperment to be a chef. Except maybe a private one. But I may be... doing the hero thing. I'm not sure what else I am good for."

Alex Summers has posed:
    Alex furrows his brows. "I'd think you're good at plenty, if you made it to college can cool something like that, and have been a model and knows fashion." he says mildly. "You seem pretty competent to me. I don't know why you'd want to choose the hero path, mind, but nothing wrong with that either, I just don't...know." He sighs. "I mean, it's not like I'm not aware of what happend in Genosha, or the massacre in New York. I know people hate and fear people with powers like ours. Mutants."

    He wrinkles his nose. "Hate using that word. At least in this context."

Betsy Braddock has posed:
"If I can make up my mind on what I want to do, I'm sure I will be good at it. It's all about direction and determination, and that I have." She finishes glazing the one tart, before returning to finish the roses on the other.

She laughs. "I wasn't always competant, trust me. I was reckless with my powers and brash. But being kidnapped and mind controlled, among other things, has tempered that. So I guess maybe I feel like I should help others like some helped me get back to who I am." The story is told with her eyes and focus solely on the tart in front of her, but there is a hint of flush in her cheeks.

Alex Summers has posed:
    Alex raises a brow at that. Kidnapped and mind-controlled? "I see. You sound plenty determined, if you ask me." he notes, turning back to slice up some of the veggies, one from the onion and one from the tomato before putting them back in their containers, then spreading some spinach leaf across the top before adding some mayo via a knife to the top of the bun. "But I get that. Wanting to pay it forward, that sort of thing."

Betsy Braddock has posed:
"Well, that and I've aquired some skills that would not do much for me in regular life, so I may as well see what I can do with them in the heroing line." There's a slow, sly smile as she finishes the roses, and moves to put the tart in the oven. "There isn't much need for psionic weapons in modelling, after all."

She brushes her hands together, and she starts cleaning up her baking mess. " But we'll find a way for you to do what you really want."

Alex Summers has posed:
    "I dunno, I suppose it depends if you can only do weapons, right? Shiny glowing flare...that's a fashion thing, right?" Alex says, completing his sandwich, then cutting it in two picking up the plate and rummaging for a bottle water from the fridge. "Though you'd be a great chef with them, right? I bet your cooking knives would always be sharp." He smiles a bit at Betsy. "Mm. One step at a time, right? Figure out how not to blow up myself and others, then can figure out what I need from there."

Betsy Braddock has posed:
"It's all I have been really able to do so far. It's a side effect, I guess, of some of what happened." She rinses out bowls, and starts loading the dishwasher. "There's a lemon tart already in the fridge, if you want some dessert after your sandwich." She offers, giving him a smile. "We'll get there, Alex. Both of us. And I promise to never pressure you to be a hero."

Alex Summers has posed:
    Alex blinks a bit at that, then smiles a bit. "Mm. Well. All I can ask then." he says after a moment. "And sometimes it's...good to be reminded where you stand. Even if it's a bit of pressure." he allows., snagging his sandwich plage, then pausing by the fridge, popping it open to retrieve the offered tart as he balances both plates and the bottle. "Nice meet you, either way....sure we'll see each other around again." He gives a little two finger salute at his temple and heasd out the door, making for his guest room.

Betsy Braddock has posed:
She will smile as he heads out, and she will finish cleaning up the kitchen, humming and turning her music back on.