4998/The Rec Is The Place

The Rec Is The Place
Date of Scene:	03 February 2021
Location:	Recreation Room
Synopsis:	Ellie meets Drake, electricity manipulator that CAN charge phones!
Cast of Characters:	Negasonic, Drake Riley

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Negasonic has posed:
The ski resort field trip was quite an experience for Ellie, she's never been on anything like it before, and at the moment she was sunk into a bean bag, furiously tapping on her phone as she was selecting which pictures to upload, which to delete, and what clever captions she might place on them.

Drake Riley has posed:
A worthy use of her time, by any teenager's standards!

Drake, however, is a teenager who isn't engaged in anything fun whatsoever. But in an effort to make himself useful around the mansion and sort of 'earn' his place, he's been studying intently. In fact, much of his time has been spent buried nose-deep in books on the repair, maintenance, and mechanical workings of pool equipment. Best to do it now, while it's cold out and before the season kicks in.

Everyone needs a break, though. So Drake has made his way into the rec room, not entirely sure what he'll find, but certain a gaming console would be sufficient for blowing off steam. However, he spots someone he hasn't met before! And man, does she cut an image. In fact, very reminiscent of the sort he used to hang out with back in California.

He hesitates a moment, unsure. But eventually, his nature wins out and he strays closer. "Hey. Hi. What's up?," he greets as he takes a seat on an adjacent couch. "Don't think I've met you yet. Pretty sure I'd remember if I did." The remark is delivered with a modest enough smile, followed by, "Drake."

Negasonic has posed:
Ellie keeps at the furious pace of thumbing and sliding along her phone's screen, before realizing Drake is approaching her. Still, she ignores him and maintains full attention on the phone, until he makes his presence impossible to ignore by talking to her.

Ellie pauses her actions, a thumb hovering over her phone, as she veers her eyes upwards, studying Drake for a moment or two.

"I get that a lot, just not as nicely, Negasonic Teenage Warhead," she introduces herself after Drake gives his name. It rather fits the image she projects. "You're new to the school?"

Drake Riley has posed:
Eyes widen at the name she gives, followed by an owlish blink. "Holy crap. That's a rad name. Do you get that a lot, too?" Leaning back into the couch, he tosses an arm over the backrest, achieving maximum level of chill. "Name like that, your powers have to be crazy awesome."

His free hand raises vaguely in what might've started to be a shrug, but gave up halfway. The corner of his lips uptick in a faint grin, though. "I get asked /that/ a lot. I think it's 'cuz I've mostly kept to myself. I'm not a student, I'm not faculty, I'm just this guy. But no, I've been here, like.. uh.." Those vivid emerald eyes raise in thought. "..a month and a half? Something like that?"

Negasonic has posed:
"Hell yeah, picked it myself," Negasonic brags, smiling quite genuinely for once, it's not often she gets this response to announcing her codename. "Only from cool peeps," she answers about whether she gets that one a lot as well. "They are," she agrees without detailling much about her powers. Not that the name leaves much to the imagination.

"So you're not a student...not a teacher? What do you do around here, just this guy?"

Drake Riley has posed:
"Uh.. this. Pretty much." Drake's eyes shift aside briefly in flicker, then back to "Negasonic". At least she seemed pleased by his reaction. "I was brought here to work on my own powers, and work towards using'em in a positive way." Translation: superheroing. "But that's been some slow work. I get it, not hatin', there's a whole school here that takes priority. So in the meantime? You're lookin' at the aspiring poolboy."

He waits a beat, then flashes a self-aware, playful smile. "Please, please, hold your applause," he jokes.

Negasonic has posed:
"Riiiight," Ellie mutters, looking oddly at Drake, clearly, she never heard of this being an option in this place. Then again, her arrival was most unusual in and of itself. "Yeah...those weren't coming, not really," she notes, before snorting, "you don't really wanna be a poolboy, do you?"

Drake Riley has posed:
Drake Riley's smile falters. "Sure. Why not? I'm not gonna look like the coolest person here, but I love pools. And someone's gotta do it. May as well be me. Otherwise, kind'a hard to not feel like a leech. 'Sides, it gives me something to concentrate on while everything else gets straightened out."

Negasonic has posed:
"I don't mind pools," Ellie mutters, though in truth, she honestly doesn't have much experience with pools at all. "Mmmm..." Ellie muses, before asking, "so what's broken inside you that's need straightening out?"

Drake Riley has posed:
Drake Riley laughs at that question; a short, sardonic little peal. "Nothin'! Or something. Hard to say, right? I don't think there's anything broken about me. It's more about where I'm wanting to go, and being able to get there. Having that direction, those opportunities, contacts."

Drake leans forward, resting his forearms over his knees. "But from what I understand, everyone around here is kind'a damaged in some way or another. From stuff that's happened with their family, maybe their friends, maybe the way their powers showed up... I dunno. So I guess in that way, there's a thing. Same for you?," he asks, canting his head towards her.

Negasonic has posed:
"Nah...not really," Ellie groans, shaking her head and her eyes sink back to her phone. "They'll definitely claim as much though...you're right about that one, Drake." As an after thought she adds, "what about you though? Any cool name?" She doesn't seem to have heard that last question, as her full attention is beset on her phone.

Drake Riley has posed:
Drake Riley glances to the phone, but isn't offended by her split attention. They're both teens. If they weren't wed to their cellphones, they might be suspicious. And a lack of engagement on the question doesn't bother him, either. It's a personal matter, the notion of 'damage' and all. Not something he wants to push.

"Uh, okay, so here's the thing. I looked into this. And everyone and their grandma already took all the good names," he asserts, lips twisting slightly. "So I'm leaning towards... Volt. Simple. Honest. Straight to the point. Marketable, too, maybe."

Negasonic has posed:
"You think...?" Ellie snorts, "I bet you didn't think hard enough...whatever, what is your 'gift'?" Ellie quips, clearly not fully into the 'gift' phrasing for powers. "Fuck marketable, you're not looking to be a dancing monkey for anyone, are you?" Ellie stares daggers into Drake, "because that's weak sauce."

Drake Riley has posed:
"No. I'm looking to use it for something bigger than that. Being more than just," Drake lifts a hand to gesture about himself mildly, "this. And to do that well, y'gotta be something people can rely on. So they need to be able to remember you."

His head tilts slightly to the side, an amused smirk touching the corner of his lips. An eyebrow perks in her direction. "You really can't tell what my power is based on that?," he chides.

Negasonic has posed:
"Mmmm...one day they'll remember me alright," Ellie mutters quietly to herself, barely audible at all. She laughs at Drake's doubt, before shrugging, "I don't know, you shoot electricity or something? Charge up phones by touch? Am I close?"

Drake Riley has posed:
"Both and more," laughs Drake. "Supply power, take it away, shoot lightning, shape lightning, kind'a, spread it around, all that good stuff." His left hand raises, palm upturned. Narrow tendrils of brilliant blue electricity begins arcing between fingertips and converging in his palm, creating a small pocket of condensed ionic energy. "I feel like there's more I can do with it. That's part of why I'm here. I wanna push my limits even more. And it's safe to do that here."

Negasonic has posed:
"Can you charge my phone without making it explode...?" Ellie asks while looking cautiously at Drake, it's obvious what she has on her mind. "That's pretty neat...Jubilee can make more spectacular lights though."

Drake Riley has posed:
"Oh, this is nothing. But if I go bigger than this, I risk lighting things on fire or exploding'em. Lightning's strong."

The hand closes in a fist, and in an instant, the brilliant blue lightshow ends. That hand then reaches out to her, palm open. "Gimme the phone. I'll top it off." The smile Drake offers her is a confident one; in fact, he takes a fair bit of pride in his fine, granular control of his power.

Negasonic has posed:
"Yeah...probably keep to what you're doing then, also, if you ever make stuff explode, they'll like be super mad at you." Cautiously, she hands Drake her phone, and her eyes are locked on him. She's scared for her phone, and is ready to kill if anything happens to it. Or at least that's the impression she gives. But when nothing happens, she becomes more chill, "nice. That's a useful power..."

Drake Riley has posed:
Drake Riley takes the phone and shoots her a wink to assuage that obvious concern she's rockin'.

His gaze turns to the device, and it would likely appear that nothing is happening. But he's looking at the battery power readout on it, keeping an eye as he slowly, carefully feeds the small item power. The trick is to stop just shy of 100. Phone batteries have failsafes, but those failsafes weren't built with mutant powers in mind. He doesn't want to risk it.

From an outside perspective, he'll have just stares at the phone for a few moments before abruptly offering it back to her. "Good to go. And yeah. Imagine how many batteries I popped learnin' how to pace the energy flow. Not pretty."

Negasonic has posed:
Ellie takes her phone back and lights up at the full battery, "that's awesome, Drake, you're very useful!" She laughs at his anecdote, before quipping, "at least my phone wasn't the trial run, I appreciate it, see you around?" She asks and leaves without waiting for a reply.