4541/Eat When It's Quiet

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Eat When It's Quiet
Date of Scene: 30 December 2020
Location: Dining Hall
Synopsis: Rogue and Drake have a chance to meet up and chat again. Compliments are shared. Spaghetti is talked about. The Danger Room is discussed!
Cast of Characters: Rogue, Drake Riley




Rogue has posed:
Christmas had been a busy affair with so many of the school students being without families to go home to. As such there'd been a lot of hanging out with kids, and it'd been more than a little exhausting, even if still rewarding. In this moment, Rogue had gotten used to waiting till it was after the 'main dinner rush' before she would dare indulge in a bit of dinner herself.

So here she is, the southern belle herself, seated at the corner of the dining table and staring at her phone with a dinner plate in front of her. Dressed in a baggy green sweater and a pair of blue jeans, she has a dark red scarf around her neck. Her hair is loose about her head, but she has a St Louis Cardinals hat on her head, turned backwards. She's sipping some tea from a glass and glancing down at her phone, watching something on it, some video of people jibber jabberin' playing on the device.

Drake Riley has posed:
Drake Riley had a much less involved Christmas; it was spent in something akin to self-isolation. The first Christmas away from his family. He wasn't upset about not being with them. After all, they'd turned on him. But it was the first Christmas wherein he didn't really have anywhere to go. In some odd way or another, everyone he'd met here seemed to fit in with a niche. Him, not so much. Short of a chance run-in with someone in the workout room, he'd simply tucked himself away in his room and studied.

That feeling of disconnection has continued to weigh on him, however. A very recent encounter didn't help. But it was either sit outside and continue to freeze, or finally go inside and risk an awkward moment. He opted for the latter. ...Well, by way of not entering through the main door.

Drake slinks into the dining room, finding it mostly unoccupied save for a familiar and extremely welcome sight. "Heeyy," he calls, his tone still erring on lackluster. His mood has some repairing to do. "Sorry, just moving through. Not gonna disturb." But it's a big table he has to make his way around. The awkward moment may not have been avoided fully. It's just of a different flavor!

Rogue has posed:
Rogue was well aware of Drake at the school, being a bit of a reclusive-type. It was fairly common for new Mutants to behave that way too. She was like it herself when she first got here a couple years ago.

When he speaks up as he slips in to the room, her eyes raise up from her phone and she sets her drink down. A grin appears on her lips as her right gloved hand moves up to stroke her white bangs out of her face. "Well hey there, Sugah Drop." She says in that overtly friendly way that she speaks, laced with a naturally husky voice and thick southern flavor. She watches him skirt around the table and start to retreat, which makes her grin.

"You bail out on me and you're gonna make think I did somethin t'desire youre cold ire." She motions to the seat across from her at the table. "Have a sit, tell me whats up with you."

Drake Riley has posed:
Drake Riley pauses in his maneuvering, focusing briefly on the brunette. After a beat, a natural smile edges his lips and he pulls a chair out. Not the one indicated across the table from her - the table's too damn big. But rather the one at the corner across from her. His elbow rests over the tabletop, the hand in turn propping his cheek. Those bright green eyes settle on her face, and he breathes a quiet, wistful sigh.

"You talk like a book. I like that about you."

The gaze flickers briefly to the tabletop, then back up to her face. "Don't worry about me. I'm just getting hung up in stuff that isn't really worth worrying about. Need to remember why I'm here. That's all."

Rogue has posed:
Rogue sets her fork down on to the edge of the plate and then sits up straighter as he sits down and joins her. His compliment garners a big grin from her as she raises her slim pointed chin up a bit to stare over at him. "I hope it's a good book. And not one'a them Twilight ones." She replies to said compliment.

At the rest of what he says, she settles forward again and folds her arms over one another on the edge of the table. She eyes him for a second or two before replying. "You happier here?" She asks. "Than ya know..." A hand gesture motions toward the front of the building. "Out there, livin' like ya were?" Since she brought him here, she's quite curious about it.

"I heard ya might've enrolled in some college courses. That true too?" She then asks as well.

Drake Riley has posed:
Drake Riley doesn't have much of a chance to bury her in complimentary talk about her dialect and word choices before things take a notably more serious lean. His lips thin, and he shakes his head. "No. No college courses. I dunno what I'd even do with'em. And I can't imagine just... going right back into schoolwork when I was stoked to finally have that behind me." The pressure is real, though. And to try to make up for it, he quickly adds, "Been studying on some mechanics and chemistry, though! I mean the chemistry is mostly brainless. Just do what the thing tells you and-" Drake cuts himself off. She's missing context. "Pool maintenance. I thought it's something I could do around here so I'm not such a-... a leech."

Drake's expression skews a little uncertainly. "I knew where I fit in out there. I don't fit in anywhere here. I thought just being around people like me, who also went through junk, would be enough. But..." He shakes his head. "I'm not a student, but faculty treats me like one. I'm not faculty, but students think of me as an outsider. It's.. I dunno. It doesn't matter. I came here for a reason."

Rogue has posed:
Throughout what he says, Rogue just gently nods her head here and there to some of the points he's laying out. It's pretty much on-point for what she'd thought he was likely feeling too. She'd been giving him his distance too, because it was likely quite a change of pace to go from the streets to the posh mansion lifestyle. It was for her at least.

"Ya know there's a list'a things in the Staff Meeting Hall for residents-- who aren't students, but still live here --t'do each day. Staff folks put up stuff that they need done around the mansion, or errands t'go run for them outside'a it. Like, if someone placed an order for groceries, ya can check out a set'a keys and a car, go drive inta town t'get it. Or go change the light bulbs that are burnt out in... any given damn room, cause those things always are burnin' out around here."

Rogue flashes him a slight grin then shakes her head once. "Plenty t'do, if you spread your wings and try t'get involved."

Drake Riley has posed:
A small smirk touches Drake's expression, and he raises a hand to draw a few of those hanging bangs back from his eyes. "Yeah, that. I dunno. It feels more like... I dunno." Redundancy is redundant, so he tries a different approach. "I want something that I can do that's mine. Something I can say I contribute. Not be an errand boy. Know what I mean? So I'm not just 'hey you, go do this thing'. More... 'Drake'. A person."

Rogue has posed:
Rogue gently nods her head to his words. "I can understand that, absolutely." She says. "You got a lotta life experience, for bein' so damn young still." She shows him a sly grin for a second then. "You should help out with some'a the other students that have similar abilities. We got other kids here with electrical ... inclined ... abilities. They might benefit from some'a your experiences with them. Helpin' others is the point'a this place, after all. It's also the gateway t'feelin' more included." Her grin returns to her lips then as she tilts her head ever so slightly. "As is showin' up for public gatherins. Like Christmas. I got you a few presents ya know, and they're still just sittin' under the tree."

Drake Riley has posed:
"Really? You think I'm qualified for that..?," Drake asks, genuinely surprised. He wasn't sure how it worked, this whole training thing. He's pretty sure there isn't a structured or standardized curriculum for learning how to deliver millions of volts of electricity from the fingertips. But he does know how he trained himself; how he honed personal control, the research he put into it. In retrospect, it almost feels like a martial art. Maybe he /could/ do something like that. "If you wanna, like, set something up, I mean, I don't have a roster or anything..."

Oh. She's poking at his reclusiveness. Drake's chin tucks, abashed. "Sorry," he offers in a smaller voice. "I- I dunno, it was awkward. Didn't know anyone, it was all students'n staff, and... odd one out..."

Rogue has posed:
Rogue dips her chin just a bit, lowering her head as a grin spreads slowly over her lips. "I mean... I'm not really in charge'a that stuff. But I don't see why you couldn't give pointers on it all. Noriko, for example, has electricity as a power supply. I think that's how it works. Hell, you'd be able t'feed her your electric energy and charge her up for her attacks. That's a heck of a duo, wouldn't ya say? If ya got the synergy down, and all. I believe one'a the younger students has a mutation that is pretty similar t'yours too, but they're still too afraid t'even try'n use it."

Sitting up straight again, Rogue clears her throat lightly as she moves her gloved fingertips to the edge of the table. "You're bein' the 'odd one out' is only so much as you wanna let it be that. In which... I mean, the more ya dive in, head first, the less you'll be /that/ and the more you'll become a known element around here. We're all in this crazy ready t'gether, Mistah Riley." She says his name with a bit of that sassy charm of hers, flirty and fun.

Drake Riley has posed:
"Ahhh, not quite," Drake says, pushing back on it a little. "I haven't outright avoided anyone. I know I'm the odd one out because of how things have gone. Not because I'm dodging people. People see me as weird because I'm not a student, and I'm not faculty. I'm just sort of this dude without an in-group." His left hand lifts, as if to pre-emptively halt the rebuts, "It's just a thing. And pushing my way into a group doesn't make it less weird, it just makes it more awkward. So I'm not gonna try to force anything. That's why I want to do something. To not just be that rando person leeching off the mansion."

Beat.

"Well, that's the second reason. It's still mostly that I don't wanna be a leech. Or some no-name suckerfish."

Drake leans back in the chair, frowning a little. "Can we change the subject?"

Rogue has posed:
What he says is heard and nodded to. There's not much she can say back to it that she hasn't already either so she just smiles across at him and then glances down at her phone before back up at him once more. "A'course." She replies. Her chin comes up and she up-nods once toward the doors behind his left shoulder that lead to the kitchen. "They made a buncha spaghetti t'night, and garlic bread. If'n you're feelin' a bit hungry. I was just finishin' up myself. It's good stuff. Home made sauce'n all, none'a that store bought stuff from 'New York Citah'." She flashes him a grin.

The Belle leans back in her chair then and drops her gloved hands down to her lap. "So you're a pool guy, huh? Every time I've seen ya, feels like it's been out by the pool. Is that cause'a bein' from California? Lovin' the water and all?'

Drake Riley has posed:
Spaghetti doesn't sound bad. Drake spares a glance over his shoulder towards the kitchen, then ahead again to the dame across from him. He isn't so sure about breaking to grab food right now, though. She might disappear. And he's been craving having someone to just talk to.

"Yeah. It is," Drake assumes. "I mean, I guess it is. I spent as much time at the beach as I could when I was by myself. The water, even just seeing it, it's like... zen. I dunno. Relaxing." He tilts his head faintly to the side. "You'd think it would have the opposite effect on me, given what happens if I use my powers underwater. That was a rough lesson to learn."

Rogue has posed:
Rogue's hands come up while he speaks, her right hand picking her hat up off of her head while her left sweeps underneath it and over her long hair, causing some of the white strands to be swept back with her gloved fingers as she does so. She grins at what he says as she sets her hat down on the table to the side of her phone. "Yeah, well, in my experience..." She starts, leaning forward to lower her voice down to a whisper. "That ain't how mutations work." She says to him in that whispery voice across the table. As she leans back she's smiling. "My mutation keeps me from puttin' hands on anyone, less I drop'em like a fly run inta a bug zappah, but it doesn't stop me from /wantin'/ t'touch folks. It's just part'a who we are, ya know? I mean, you can touch people just fine, so it ain't a big deal t'you. I can get inta the hot tub without fear'a turnin' the thing inta an electric death trap. We all... gotta cope, with the hands we're dealt, right?"

Drake Riley has posed:
"Hey, if we're comparing problems, I'm pretty sure you've got me beat." Drake offers a sympathetic smile. "Ready for some flattery? Brace yourself. Ready? Kay." He clears his throat and leans forward, setting both elbows over the tabletop. "You're a ridiculously pretty girl with a voice like honey, and a /good/ person on top of it. Good enough to give an urchin like me a chance when, like, the law says you should've turned me in. And you're nothing short of amazing, with those powers and how you use'em. But being unable to touch anyone, for someone to be able to.. y'know...," he pauses, eyes uplidding a moment, "...erh, you know what I'm saying. S'gotta be lonely. Like I figure being a bubbleboy would be."

His forearms lower across the tabletop.

"Me? I can touch water. I can swim. I can do everything but use my power in the water. Or it might kill me. And'll almost for sure kill everyone anywhere near me. But I can still touch the water."

Rogue has posed:
Rogue gives him a look before he dives in to his complimentary flattery tirade. It gets a smile to show up on her visage which has her raising her shoulders and straightening her back where she's seated upon the dining room chair across from his own at the big old table. She absorbs the kind words with a visible bloating of her ego, played up to pointedly showcase her pleasure from the other's words.

"You're too sweet." She says back with a big smile, a tilted posture of her head with her chin down toward her left shoulder, and her gloved hands down in her lap. A classical 'Oh you' pose.

But when he continues on to the totality of his response's ultimate meaning, she softens up again and places her hands back upon the table's edge. "I... can still be around people. I gotta remind myself... yeah, it sucks, but it could always be worse. Ya know? I can at least sit by people, like yourself, and have a good time like this. Who knows what tomorrow may bring too. If they can make big ol' creepy dopey collars that turn off mutations, maybe then can shrink it down some day t'like... a pretty little ring I can pop onta a finger. Technology is like that, right? Things get smaller and more compact over the years." She grins then.

"So we just make due, one day at a time, as they say." A short pause follows them. "Now lets go back to the flattery." She flashes a grin again, teasing, of course.

Drake Riley has posed:
Eyes widen. Drake hadn't considered that before. His previously sympathetic look takes a sudden turn to bright smiles. "That's true! Something like that could definitely work! You just pop on a suppressor or whatever the heck it is, and voila. Man, talk about a silver lining. That ain't even a stretch of the imagination!" With a laugh, he suddenly leans back in the chair. Even if she wasn't being completely serious about it, it's obviously good news to him. "What's the first thing you'll do when you get something like that? Hug someone? Armwrestle?," he teases.

Rogue has posed:
Rogue too leans back in her chair, but her arms go back to fold over her stomach causing the fabric of that wool-knit sweater she's wearing to bunch up some, it looks new, probably a Christmas present from someone. His words make her grin, but his last question makes her laugh. She glances away toward the patio doors he'd originally come in through and then looks back at him. She shrugs her shoulders inside of that same sweater. "Find the first suitably appropriate person and give'em a big damn smooch on the lips. That'd be my go-to. I mean... that's what I was doin' when my power 'woke up'. I feel like the universe owes me a mulligan on that, ya know?" She states back with a grin held upon her expression. "But!" She sighs there-after. "I won't get my hopes up on all'a that. Much as I might day dream about silly such things, here'n there, when I'm bored."

Drake Riley has posed:
"Totally owes a mulligan," confirms Drake with a nod as he watches her. A part of him suspects she has someone in mind. But that thought is soon abandoned as she continues, replaced instead with a blink.

"Wait, what? Why? People told me about the Danger Room somewhere in this mansion. You guys have a frigging holodeck. This is /so/ doable. So what's the problem?," he asks. Beneath the table, he lifts a foot to try to lightly nudge it against her shin. She may, in fact, be too far away to reach, and Dhalsim he ain't. But an effort is made to foot-nudge. "I think it'd give you hope. Something to think about when you almost touch someone and catch yourself. Or when you're on a date."

Rogue has posed:
Rogue continues to grin as he agrees with her on the 'do over' rights to giving someone a smooch, should she ever get the ability to do so. But at his talk of the Danger Room, she gives a glance backward, just looking off to her left as the doors out to the hallway that lead to the main foyer are just over her shoulders. "Ah, they... prefer ya don't use the Danger Room for anythin' outside'a trainin'. I mean, they let us do fun and silly stuff in there sometimes, but generally it has to be geared toward team buildin'. Like we ran a pirate ship game recently, that was a lotta fun. I got t'push Jean off a plank, and fight skeleton pirates." She grins over at him after his foot jab brushed the front of her knee. "I'd be happy t'show ya the place sometime if'n you're curious about it. You can really let go in there with your powers, bust up some simulated robots, or somethin'. It's a hellava way t'train your abilities."

Drake Riley has posed:
"Robots? Really?" Drake blinks owlishly. So many things in his life that he hasn't had experience with, and yet he seems, by conventional standards, a rather worldly teen. "Kitty suggested I work on the pool maintenance stuff in there. But that sounds rad. We should absolutely do some stuff like that. You've not even seen me go all out yet!"

Fairly animated now, Drake leans forward again. "I know I asked you before, but - do you prefer Marie? Or Rogue? Have ya settled on that? Because it's really hard to separate the shining superhero girl I met out on the street from the southern belle sittin' across from me." Blink. "Crap! I didn't get you anything for Christmas, and I'm an absolute punk for it. And I just realized I don't really know what you even like!"

Rogue has posed:
Rogue seems just as amused by the robots as he does, and she's evidently fought them and played around with them in the Danger Room! "It's a good time, and I bet you can fry quite a lot of'em if you really let yourself go. We got a 'hoarde mode' program for that, like in a video game? It's a good work out, and just plain ... relaxin' t'work off the steam, yeah?"

At his question about her name, there's a half-cocked grin given to him and she tilts her head left, then right. "It's situational. I'd say. Marie is fine, but I have come t'find Rogue t'be a bit more appropriate for who I am t'day. Marie kinda feels like... who I was, before my mutation changed everything. If that makes sense. I still like Marie, well enough. Some around here still call me that too, but yeah, I probably do prefer Rogue."

Drake Riley has posed:
Drake Riley nods slowly. "Rogue. You sound like a Rogue. You act like a Rogue. All charm and... coy?" He isn't sure that's the right word. "Did it take you long to come up with that?"

Reaching beneath the chair, he scooches closer to the table to give the belle his full attention. Anything regarding superheroics has him tuned in, and this absolutely qualifies.

Rogue has posed:
Rogue draws her right leg up on to her own chair and puts her hands around it to lace her fingers together on the front of her shin. She shakes her head at his question. "Nah, I didn't come up with it. My Aunt Carrie called me it once in fronta some friends, back down in Mississippi?" She nods softly twice. "She was mad at me cause I... oh god, I think it was the night I refuse t'go t'church with her anymore. She wanted me t'get t'bed so I could be up extra damn early t'get ready for Church and go... ya know, do Church stuff. I was never a fan'a that stuff. So I refused, ran off t'go hang out with friends and she shouted it at me as I left. As friends do, they made it stick, so I kept it." She grins then at him.

"Now there's a minivan named it, and a Star Wars movie. So really, I should be hirin' lawyers t'sue folks." She grins at him then. "What about you? You prefer Drake or somethin' else?"

Drake Riley has posed:
"Oh, you rogue, you," chides Drake, indulging in the story. The question being turned back on him, however, gets a more pensive pause. His lips twist in thought, brow knit. "Not.. really. Been thinking about it. I mean, in my spare time. I've not really had a chance to train a lot or anything outside of what I'd normally do. Maybe a little less, in fact. Not wantin' to cause a scene or anything."

Rogue has posed:
Another quick grin is flashed at him across the table. "Don't mock, I also ran with one'a the worst domestic terrorists and took down Carol Danvers along the way... not that I'm proud of any of that. It's just a far cry from 'skippin out on Church'." A flicker of a smile comes and goes before she listens to the other bits he says and offers a quick pair of nods. "Well we should work on that. Setup a Danger Room session, see what ya thinka the thing. It's pretty intense though, not gonna lie. I--" Her phone buzzes and she has to take a second to read it. "Ah, I gotta get ready t'go, someone's comin' t'pick me up. Come on." She says as she stands up and grabs her stuff. "I'll go dish ya a plate'a food." She offers him as she rises and starts to move around toward the kitchen doors.