4008/Backyard Introductions

Backyard Introductions
Date of Scene:	03 November 2020
Location:	Back Yard
Synopsis:	A random meeting of James Hudson, Betsy Braddock, Gabby Kinney and Noriko Ashida. Insert
Cast of Characters:	Jimmy Hudson, Betsy Braddock, Gabby Kinney, Noriko Ashida

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Jimmy Hudson has posed:
    A few hours before midnight and the school is blissfully quiet. High up in the sky there's a glow of moonlight hidden behind the drift of those wispy clouds that come in off the coast and seem to hang so log that it lends the world a certain ethereal charm. Combine that with the hint of rain on the air, that faint tang of potential petrichor that hovers near the edge of the senses, and one gets a certain natural feeling of calm that might affect even the most grim or laconic individuals.
    Which might be why there in the back yard, James Hudson's found a spot for himself. A little out of the way, just some twenty feet off from the back deck and the sidewalk that wends its way around the mansion, a stone picnic table with its bench-seats and the closed umbrella embedded in the hole in the middle of it. He's there settled on the seat, a beer bottle open and sitting on he tablet, as well as an ash tray with a smouldering cigarette.
    From afar one might not notice him save for the occasional flare of an orange ember there in the dark, or the slight clink of glass on stone, or even the scent of tobacco on the air.
    For now, though, James seems content to take his ease and is at the least comfortable in repose.

Betsy Braddock has posed:
Moments like this are always a bit of a blessing. They are sadly few and far between. Between the school with an active (over?) student body along with the team of heroes in residence, it was a rarity to go outside and simply enjoy. Thus when the opportunity arose, Betsy took it.

She stepped out the doors into the night air, a bit crisp thanks to fall having a firm grip. She wore dark blue jeans with a pale lilac sweater. Boots covered her feet. Her pale hair was loose, falling around her shoulders. She walked out into the darkness, drawing in a deep breath then holding it for long seconds before releasing.

Tilting her head back, she closed her eyes then took a second deep breath. Only to pick up the wisp of tobacco. That brought her attention back to her surroundings as she opened her eyes and looked around as she reached out mentally to try to 'see' where the person was located. No deep peeks or digging into their mind, just a ping to find them.

"Good evening. I hope I'm not disturbing you," she offers by way of greeting.

Gabby Kinney has posed:
At this hour of the evening the students should be in bed. Or at least tucked away soundly inside the safe confines of the school itself as opposed to out on the grounds. That didn't always end up being the case though. Light footsteps approach the back with just a little crunch of gravel still imbeded in the tread of a shoe sole as a figure approaches taking care to stick to the shadows. A hoodie pulled up over her head really does help to hide Gabby from view, but it was still habit to stay out of the light where she could.

For once she wasn't being egged on by some older students to do some stupid stunt or another--This was solely her excursion which she was now returning from trying not to be noticed. At least for the most part. But there was a path she intended to follow to the back door and right now there were two adults there.

"Great," she mmumbles to herself before shrugging. Most she could do is get chewed out. So she lifts a hand to wave in greeting as she figured there was no sense in skulking any longer. "Hi! Cold out innit?"

Noriko Ashida has posed:
Sometimes Noriko misjudges how much she should juice.  She streaks through the night toward the school, the back way, because that's the first route one thinks of when they're a teenager.  She ends up right behind Gabby right before Gabby walks out, her mouth open, her eyes vaguely glowing blue.

"Sht," is just how fast the word comes out.

Jimmy Hudson has posed:
    The man on that bench is fairly tall, a couple inches over six foot and it shows in the way his lanky frame sprawls on that seat. His attention had been distant, lost on the acreage in front of it him that rolling back yard that reaches out to the tree-line. Enough that he hadn't noticed the approach of others as they came around. His head turned slightly and then quickly he starts to snuff the life out of the cigarette, an act of courtesy assuredly.
    "Hey," He says toward Psylocke, giving a nod. Then awareness of his... aunt? Cousin? Sister? Whatever. Awareness of Gabby caused him to give a nod, "Gabby." He continues to stifle that cigarette and then sets the butt in the ashtray, leaving it there for a time when Noriko whirs on up with that crackle and flash, "Noriko."
    "You guys are up late." At least he sort of knows them, Psylocke though. He takes another gander at, perhaps trying to place if she was at the recent party or not.

Betsy Braddock has posed:
The arrival of the pair of students has Betsy arching an eyebrow. "Indeed, quite late." With her accent, it can sound as though she's a bit upset with those two final words. She looks at Gabby and Noriko for a moment then gives a small smile. "Though not to the extreme." And simple as that, they have been given the green light. She won't be telling if they won't.

She moves toward the table, trying to get a better look at the stranger there. He obviously was welcome or he wouldn't be there. Security at Xavier's being what it was, she doubted it was otherwise. "Betsy Braddock," she offers by way of introduction. "A pleasure to meet you..." She drags out the last word with that lift of the voice, indicating it was a question with a blank waiting to be filled with his name.

Gabby Kinney has posed:
Gabby Kinney allows herself a broad grin when she realizes just who it is that was here. Though she hadn't really had a chance to talk to Jimmy past their first likely confusing meeting it was still good to see him. She's just about to hop forward a bit quicker when Noriko zooms up behind her startling her a good deal. Enough so that she at first stumbles one step forward, then crouches and spins toward the other teen as if about to either attack or defend--But it's Noriko so she relaxes quick enough with an exhaled breath. "Don't sneak up on me like that! I could've hurt you!"

Says the teeny tiny teen.

Still. Nothing bad had happened, and she clears her throat while glancing back toward Betsy and Jimmy. "Yeah, I was out visiting my sister. Just got back." By running through the woods to get back from the highway without being seen, but that was beside the point.

Noriko Ashida has posed:
Even super speed can't make Noriko on time, especially for curfew, but there's always a bit of an oopsies return.  Her hands raise up lightning fast at little Gabby's pivot into attack ready mode.  "I-can-dodge," she blurs out with a shrug and lowers her gauntleted hands to rest her knuckles against her hips like some hyperactive squirrel.

"Hahahaha, that'd-be-fun," she says a split second later about whatever she's thinking about.  The electric speedster seems to be thinking at her own speed.  "Thanks-thanks," she says with a quick half wave to Betsy that hangs in the air for a moment.

Jimmy Hudson has posed:
    Dusting his hands off, James rises up to his full height, one leg slipping out from the bench seat and he offers his hand towards Psylocke in way of greeting and then offering an introduction. "James Hudson." He spares a glance for Gabby and gets a small half-smirk that's barely there though he looks back to the telepath. "Came here by the way of Weehawken, small ruckus. Found out..." A glance is given to Gabby as he adds, "I apparently have family in these parts."
    But then his attention shifts to Gabby, "You have a sister now?" News to him.
    Yet it's Noriko that has him eyeballing her and asking, "You alright there, Noriko?" Not that he has a huge volume of experiences to draw on, but last few times he's seen her she's been a bit... rapid-fire perhaps one might say.

Betsy Braddock has posed:
There is a moment then Betsy slips her hand into his. A firm handshake. None of those lacking grip or wrist being straight. One of those little pet peeves of hers. "Nice to make your acquaintance, Mr. Hudson. Family, you say?"

The glance he gave to Gabby when he said it has her doing the same, confusion obvious as she tries to guess who his family might be. At his inquiry to Noriko, she shifts that gaze to the other teen, awaiting the response.

Gabby Kinney has posed:
Gabby Kinney tugs the straps of a backpack tighter over her shoulders from where it had begun to slip due to her sudden movements. She looks back at Noriko only to chuckle at the older girl. "Some other time. I'm a little tired tonight," she explains not seeming to mind the super-speedy hyperactive one. "Might want to tone down the energy there, Nori," she teases lightly as she strides closer to the adults. No sense in keeping her distance and having to speak louder to be heard.

Jimmy's question actually causes her grin to slip to a more serious one just a moment. Not dour, or scowling, just thoughtful. Then her head dips toward him in acknowledgement. "There were ten of us. I was the youngest. It's just me and Bellona now. And Laura but Laura was the first. She's around. Bellona..." Here she pauses to look over her shoulder off into the distant night. "She's not a mutant, and she's got a bad temper, so she sticks to herself most of the time." Looking back she grins again.

"Jimmy's my older brother, kinda. Genetically speaking. It's a long story," she explains to Betsy before adding, "I'm Gabby Kinney. Nice to meet you."

Noriko Ashida has posed:
"'k," Noriko offers with a tilt of her head and a grin.  "Feels-good," she shrugs to Gabby before her eyes flicker back to Jimmy.  "Jst-peaches-dude."  Her stomach growls but she zips back up behind Gabby again, though this time agonizingly slow for her.  It's still too fast.  At least no one got their head bit off.  The girl seems to have been remarkably well adjusted, if one can discount all of the delinquent behavior on the sly, since she returned from her abduction.

"Why-don't-I-seem-okay?"  The Japanese girl whips her backpack around and a banana appears in her hand.  CHOMP.

"Ohyeahfamilytreesogreat," Surge nods as Gabby spells it all out.

Jimmy Hudson has posed:
    Nodding to himself, James reaches forward to grab up his half-empty bottle of beer and take a sip, then tucks it under one arm as he folds them. He nods to Gabby and then tells Psylocke, "Think I'm the lost lamb of the flock. Or maybe the most recent."
    A glance back to Gabby is given, "Long story I imagine." Though he's picked up a fair amount of it bits and pieces here and there.
    Yet it's Noriko that has him puzzling as he looks toward Gabby and Psylocke as if for some support or perspective as he says, "I mean, I've only known you a bit, Noriko. But you weren't like this when you were helping Misha. If you were I don't think you woulda been able to get through to her like you did." Misha being the young mutant gal that had lost control of her powers at James' school.

Gabby Kinney has posed:
"Well to be fair I'm the youngest so..." Gabby shrugs a little. "At least that I know of." The topic of who was newest or last or whatever is forgotten as Noriko continues to spazz out. She watches with a calm sort of expression though she does manage a little grin. "Did you get hit by lightning again, Noriko? Or step on the third rail of the subway tracks? Those kinda hurt." Shaking her head a bit she looks back to Jimmy to offer a shrug.

"She's super energized right now. Though admitedly I've never seen her THIS juiced up before." There's a moment of thought, and she scuffs her feet against the ground a time or two before reaching out to gently poke Noriko's arm with a fingertip.

Noriko Ashida has posed:
"Depends-on-how-much-charge-I-have," though technically it's obvious that Noriko can control it to a degree as she tries to keep at a speed that people can understand her.  "I-can-let-it-out I-do-in-the-Danger-Room-or-a-field, but-then-the-mice, get-the-snakes-though."  At least her words aren't glitching out.  Her eyes have stopped that dull glow and she finish wolfing down a second banana as if it appeared in thin air.  It'd probably be disgusting to watch if she really showed too much of it.

There's a snippy snap point to Gabby at the last one.  "Felt-great-to-me. Got-here-"snap"now."  Noriko's saving grace is that her voice isn't any higher pitched when she's sped up.

BZZZT!  There's a bit of a shocker.  "Don't-sneak-up-on-me," she snickers, knowing full well what Gabby's powers are.  "I-could-zing-you."

Jimmy Hudson has posed:
    Another spare look is given to the others, then he nods toward Noriko and says simply, "A'right." As if accepting her at her word and then returning to his seat, lifting one leg and stepping over the bench before settling back down in it. He rests his arms on the tabletop and puts his beer bottle down on its surface. "Have a seat, if you want."
    As to who he says that to, could be anyone. But then he scrunches one eye up a bit as he looks a the two youngsters, "Though I imagine you two should probably be in bed? Not that I'm the voice of authority here." Though he does spare a look for Psylocke.
    Since maybe she is.

Betsy Braddock has posed:
That earns a bit of a head shake from Betsy. "Nor I," is her response to the implied question from his look. "Though I am not the only telepath in the building so one should be wary." That lets James know a bit more about her as well. Not that she minds. In these walls, such a thing wouldn't be a secret for long. It's the nature of a school. Sometimes what goes around is actually even true, when it isn't warped by the ultimate 'telephone game'.

"Perhaps you should schedule a session to release some energy?" she offers as a suggestion to Noriko. But now she is glancing from Gabby to James, knowing there is more to the story but opting to save prying for another time.

Gabby Kinney has posed:
That ZOTT from Noriko knocks Gabby back right onto her butt on the ground where she sits a moment before breaking out into a laugh. "Okay that was pretty cool." Nevermind her finger is a bit swollen and red at this point where she had gotten that electric surge. Pushing back to her feet she dusts herself off still chuckling. "Didn't expect that, but good to know what to expect." Wiggling her fingers she stares at them a moment before moving to join the others at the bench.

"Oh yeah lots of telepaths. There's Jean, and a few others."

Noriko Ashida has posed:
"Oh-I-can-just-do-some-more-laps.  Finish-my-homework."  Yep.  Noriko looks back at Gabby.  She grins and flashes an electrified peace sign back to Gabby.  Just the idea that she doesn't have to be /that/ careful around the younger girl seems to put the speedster at some kind of ease.

"Can telepaths read super fast thoughts," Noriko finally lets out with effort.  She reaches back for yet another banana, though still quicker than a normal human.

Jimmy Hudson has posed:
    At Gabby's zotting, he sort of quirks an eyebrow and looks at Psylocke as if she might have some insight into this, but then he turns his attention back toward Noriko. "Noriko. That seems dangerous. Maybe you should go to the medbay and talk to Dr. McCoy. This doesn't seem... normalish. For you." As he says that he gives a nod toward the mansion.
    He gives the electrically-inspired mutant girl a looking over and says, "If you don't, I'm going to have to tell Dr. Grey and if it becomes a thing, that's probably not going to be good. So would appreciate if you'd take my advice."
    There, a decent middle ground. He swings a leg over the back of the bench to look at them more directly.

Betsy Braddock has posed:
"Perhaps not in the same manner as a person who thinks at more normal speeds but certainly it is possible. The thoughts are absorbed into our memories then we can examine them more fully at our leisure. Speeding them up, slowing them down. For some it might take a trip to the astral plane, for those more powerful it's less complicated," Betsy explains. "I might need to take time to analyze something that was super fast but if the images are in here." She taps her temple. "After accessing the thoughts in the mind of someone else, I should be able to utilize that information with some work."

Then she smiles a bit. "Jean and the Professor are far more powerful than I so I'm sure it would be less difficult for them."

Gabby Kinney has posed:
Gabby Kinney stretches her arms out overhead with a big, wide yawn as the others talk of telepathy and speed thoughts. "Mmyeah. Should take care of that. That woulda knocked anyone else on their ass--I mean for reals, and longer. Still can't feel my finger." Another wiggle of said finger before she shrugs. A little scoot has her sliding off her seat again.

"I'm gonna go crash. I'm kinda pooped and should let myself finish healing up." There's a pause, and she glances down at herself a moment thoughtfully. "I don't have any other scorch marks or anything falling out do I?" she was pretty sure she didn't.. and thankfully she doesn't. So with another yawn she tosses a wave and heads for the back door. "G'night!"

Noriko Ashida has posed:
"It-was-a-joke," Noriko suddenly looks concerned at Jimmy, then Betsy, because she's an adult too.  "I-don't-usually-come-home-this-charged, I-go-straight-to-the-Danger-Room.  I-promise."  To be have her privileges stripped...well that's where the teen's mind goes.

Betsy's words only garner an open-mouthed stare from Noriko.  "Fantastic," but then a moment later, her brow furrows abruptly and she looks over to Gabby.  "I'm-not-always-like-that," which perhaps makes it all the worse.

"Yeah-I-should-go-lap-the-lake-a-little."  Noriko alone could maintain the little trail around it if she was the only one using it.  "Seeya."  She doesn't even want to stick around to find out if Jimmy will sympathize with her.  She zips off.

Jimmy Hudson has posed:
    Lifting a hand in the direction of Gabby, Jimmy gives a nod to her as she says her goodnight and replies likewise. But his attention shifts back toward Noriko and lifts his chin a little as he focuses fully on her, blue eyes narrowing slightly.
    And as quick as that she breaks into that run, zipping off into the distance. He frowns for a moment, rubbing the line of his jaw and fingers causing the stubble to scritch slightly against his touch. A small shake of his head is given as he murmurs, "M'probably gonna still tell Dr. Grey. Somethin' is not right there."
    Then he turns to look up at Psylocke, meeting her gaze and then opens his hands as if not entirely sure if he's in the right here. "Not sure if it's my place, but what the hey."

Betsy Braddock has posed:
"I don't know her well enough to say if that is normal for her. With the extra speed added to her system, that may be her normal but seems unsual to us as she might have drained off the excess before usually socializing? It wouldn't hurt to ask," Betsy agrees though, giving a little half shrug.

"If it is normal, it will be dismissed. But if it is unusual, perhaps they can help her."

Jimmy Hudson has posed:
    "Mmm," The tall dark haired man gives a nod, "So. Telepath." He says as he looks over his shoulder and then turns back around to face the table and rest his hands on it, curling fingers around the base of his beer bottle. His head tilts slightly, "Guess it's no use fibbing and saying that it doesn't bother me none. Little troubling. Though, I did have Dr. Grey telling me she did a scan."
    Not that he could tell too much about what she was doing.
    "So. There are a lot of telepaths? Like there are a lot of people like... myself, and Gabby, and this Logan guy?"

Betsy Braddock has posed:
"Telepath." A simple word that says so much. "And telekinetic." To add more fuel to the fire. After all, she figures she could wipe the info later if she wasn't supposed to share. However, for him to be on campus? Free to roam around? It would be pretty obvious in no time that the school caters to a certain type of student in particular.

"There are a few other telepaths. Many students and staff have some type of powers. Not everyone can read minds but some can do other things."

She moves to settle down on the bench opposite his side of the table, stepping over it to get settled down properly. "I have to ask what Gabby meant by being gentically related?" A tiny tilt of the head.

Jimmy Hudson has posed:
    "Hm," James says as he lifts his beer bottle, "Still working on that piece of information myself. But, I am told that I am related to this Logan fellow I keep hearing about." He lifts one hand and gestures slightly to the side as if giving that story he alley-oop as he looks back toward the mansion.
    "Haven't met him yet, or had a talk with him. I know I was adopted, and my parents did what they could to raise me as they could." He finishes the last of the beer and sets it aside. "Laid low for a while once I learned I was a mutant."
    Then he smiles a little as he looks back to her, "But. Recently came into the orbit of some of your schoolmates and got brought around."
    James looks over at the mansion, eyes distancing for a time before he adds, "So here I am."

Betsy Braddock has posed:
"Related to Logan?" Now that something interesting. Immediately the thought is he is like Laura. And by extension, Gabby and her sisters. A clone created to try to copy the X-Man's abilities and use them for personaly gain. However adopted doesn't sound like he was raised in a lab and turned into a weapon so that is where he strays from the equation.

A child? It had to be possible. Logan was older than he looked, though she wasn't aware of exactly who old. He certainly could hav a son James' age. And he had the romantic history behind him that /not/ have a child was more unlikely. There might be dozens of his kids out there.

"That's interesting. Hopefully you will get a chance to meet him, learn more information soon. Perhaps a sibling." She doesn't go to the other extreme for him.

Jimmy Hudson has posed:
    "And you?" James says, not bothering to answer towards his own story, knowing the various aspects of it as he's run it over and through his mind repeatedly lately. He perhaps realizes he'll either get more parts of the story soon, or otherwise it'll remain as it is. No need to hammer over it constantly in his head.
    "Seems like everyone has their story as to what brought them here. Usually to do with Professor Xavier though not always." He shifts his weight to the other hip, then pushes that ashtray out of the way with a small crinkle of his nose.
    "Guess I'm asking you what yours might be."

Betsy Braddock has posed:
"That would be quite a long story," Betsy says with a soft laugh. She shrugs slightly as she considers, looking at him while not really focusing as she shifts through her history to pick and choose.

"I am one of three children. I have one older brother, Jamie. My other brother Brian is my twin. Raised across the pond, as you likely have figured out on your own." The accent makes it pretty obvious.

"Worked as a pilot early on. Later as a model. Always liked adventures, extreme sports, things that got the adrenaline pumping. Eventually my path cossed with some of the people and I ended up here, for the most part. I'm more a hanger on these days. I prefer not to teach. It isn't really in my genetics, I don't think," she adds with another laugh.

She glances toward the mansion, mind continuing to touch on so many things she can't really get into. Not until she knows more about him. "Currently I've been back to modeling although I recently opened my own nightclub in New York City. That's going quite well thus far."

Jimmy Hudson has posed:
    "Wow," James says as he absorbs it all, taking it in and looking thoughtful. He takes up that bottle and clinks it faintly against the tabletop as he ponders what he's been told then tells her, "That's quite a list of irons you have or had in the fire."
    Sitting up slightly he opens a hand toward her as he offers some insight into his own situation. "My most recent job was working as a substitute teacher down at Horizons in Weehawken, it's this private school. I was teaching a class when Misha Patterson, she's a student here now, she manifested her mutant power. Gave me a blast of it. Your schoolmates showed up, brought me here."
    He looks up at the night sky, then back to her, "People have been making me feel very welcome though. You have a good set of them running around here."

Betsy Braddock has posed:
She grins at little at the irons in the fire. "It isn't all that impressive. Being independently wealthy tends to allow one to wander from adventure to adventure without having to worry about putting food on the table. Not meaning to sound snobbish. It isn't that at all. It just gave me opportunities many did not have."

She glances to the mansion again then focus back on her companion. "The Professor established this place long ago. Some of his original students are still here, helping run the place or teaching classes now. It started as a dream of his, having now become reality. He is a known activist for mutant rights so his work is far from done."

She listened to his story, his explanation of what happened. "I hope she is adjusting to it. You are fully recovered? You don't look any worse for wear so hopefuly it was only the edge of the blast or some minor burns?" She has no idea what kind of blast but it makes her think fiery explosion so her questions go that way.

Jimmy Hudson has posed:
    "Yeah," He offers and just that at first. "That was how I discovered I was a mutant. Not that incident, but back when I was a..." His lip twists up, "A wild child teenager, was racing cars and flipped mine, got in a wreck, got burned kinda bad. But. I healed."
    His eyebrows lift and his head tilts to the side in a form of a shrug but without his shoulders. "Which made me realize I was a mutant, and then my folks told me the story of it. How I was adopted and I needed to be careful, lie low, tell no one. Did a lot of that. Good job of it."
    James looks back toward the mansion and in his thoughts she might pick up a fleeting image of the medbay beneath the school. "Got here and found out all sorts of things about myself."

Betsy Braddock has posed:
Healing. From severe injuries from a car crash. Sounded very much like Logan. Child or clone or sibling. Any of them were possible. After all, with Logan's healing, he didn't really age. It might be the same for this man.

"Racing cars, huh? You'll fit right in here." After all, some of their group were car fanatics. Speed. Then there was her with her adrenaline junkie tendencies.

She tried not to peek into his mind. Just sometimes people thought loud, which meant it was like they were screaming the information out so even her shields could sometimes have things slip through. "May I ask what you learned? Outside you may have relatives. Or pseudo relatives."

Jimmy Hudson has posed:
    "You know most of it." He tells her, drawing his sneaker up onto the bench seat beside him and resting his arm on it, in turn using that arm's hand to push fingers through that mane of his hair, then rest with fingers curling along the curve of his neck, looking thoughtful as he watches her. "Got a clean bill of health from Dr. McCoy. Dr. Grey took a look into my mind and found out I was telling the truth."
    He looks away then back at her, "Learned I have... abnormal bone structures." Claws, of course. "That was not a pleasant experience." And she might catch a glimpse of that in the medbay. The device hooked up to his arms to trigger the shocks needed to pulse a spasm into those unused muscle groups which caused the claws to unsheath messily. No not a good image at all.
    "Right now, though?" He looks at the grounds that sweep across the way, distant to the forest and the lake. "Trying to figure out what I should end up doing."

Betsy Braddock has posed:
They are recent and strong memories. They come through like a voice though a megaphone right into her head. So she hears them. Sees them from his viewpoint as they are his memories. Feels them. Her hands resting on the table tighten slightly , curling into closed fists. Then she forces herself to relax, fingers unclenching.

"It isn't that difficult," Betsy offers reasonably. "What did you want to be when you grow up? Before finding out you were a mutant?"

She flares her hand slightly to the side. "It's all still there. The same chances, the same opportunities. You just have to go for them sa you had been planned to originally. If you don't know what you want to be, I'm certain there are some exercises you can do here to find a path. Like the students."

Jimmy Hudson has posed:
    "Always just figured..." James looks back at her and he smiles. They're rare when he gives them, and they only slightly crack that laconic manner of his, but at the least they're genuine when they're given. "I'd teach school. Meet a gal. Get married. Grow old and fat. Have kids of my own. Then die and get a little blurb in the local newspaper."
    James nods twice and lifts a hand to the side, "Right now though, think that's a lot more up in the air. And not sure which way I should lean." He chews on the inside of his cheek thoughtfully for a time, hand still squeezing the back of his neck as he ponders before he says, "I've just mainly been rolling with the punches of late."
    He looks back to her, "And trying to keep up."

Betsy Braddock has posed:
That gets a bright laugh from her as Betsy shakes her head. "That will not happen. Keeping up. You can try but it will always be one step ahead. However," and here she sobers a bit more.

"You could teach here. Meet a gal. Get married. Grow old an fat. Have kids of your own. There are a lot of former students and friends of the Professor that come through here. I'm sure there will be interested parties."

Jimmy Hudson has posed:
    "Yeah," James says as he shakes his head, "Right now I'm treading water. But I don't know. I could see how people could make this their lives. There are good people here. Positive people. And it's good work." The civilized feral finally lowers his arm from his neck and meets her gaze. "I could see doing this."
    Then he lifts his chin, "But, I think I'd need to talk to Dr. Grey before I go too far down that train of thought." He looks down underneath the table for a moment, one of those instinctive glances when you accidentally boot one of the table legs and want to make sure it wasn't the leg of the person you're sitting opposite of.
    "But yeah," He keeps that slight half-smile, "I've seen some hints of..." His head tilts a little, "The sort of possible soap opera things could be around here. But maybe that's just me viewing things through my own lens."

Betsy Braddock has posed:
"Oh? Outside normal high school drama?" Betsy shakes her head, not sure what he might be referring to. After all, she doesn't spend as much time at the school these days. Despite being a resident officially, she tended to spend her time in town more often now.

"Talk with Jean. Dr. Grey," she amends hastily. "She'll be able to give you great advice. Or if nothing else, she's a great listener."

She rises from the bench, stepping over it to escape the seating confines. "I think I need one of those beers. If you will excuse me? I look forward to seeing you in the future James."