7729/Visiting X-Factor

Visiting X-Factor
Date of Scene:	07 September 2021
Location:	X-Factor Investigations
Synopsis:	While Jamie and Rachel are attempting (and failing) to put together a cat-flap, Scott's timely visit helps put things right. Also, #ProudDad? Rachel's on cloud nine!
Cast of Characters:	Rachel Summers, Jamie Madrox, Scott Summers

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Rachel Summers has posed:
X-Factor Investigations. Currently, the door leading to the building is wide open, bits of sawdust idly drifting through the doorway. Inside the building, itself, is a fairly chaotic scene, though really - perhaps not really uncommon here.

You see, there was this stray cat which was told he couldn't bring friends and he'd get fed. Which turned into him bringing friends and they all got fed. That went well for a bit, until the stray cat (and friends) wanted to visit inside the X-Factor building. That was a case of, okay, sure, but only supervised visits and only when there aren't any clients.

Which is what leads to this moment in time, naturally.

One Rachel Summers is standing in front of the back door to the alley. Yes. The back door. The back door is currently off of its hinges and is sitting on two saw horses. The red-head is dressed pretty casually, for her. A pair of cut-off jeans, slip-on converse, and a plain white t-shirt that is covered in sawdust. The sawdust part comes from the power tool in her hand, and an exhasperated look on her features.

Drifting mid-air (most likely among a few Jamies..?) is the instructions for the cat-flap/cat-door that she (and Jamie) are attempting to install into the door.

"Wait. It doesn't need to go all the way to the ground...? A giant hole is cut into the bottom of the door, but it doesn't go all the way?"

For the record, the door in question has a slit at the bottom . . .

Jamie Madrox has posed:
Indeed there are a pair of Jamie Madroxes who are assisting with whatever type of remodeling is going on to the back door of the X-Factor Investigations office. A third jamie is ostensibly manning the office itself, although he's currently completely reclined in his desk chair, feet up on the desk itself as he snoozes away - leaving anyone who would come into the office on their own cognizance until the chaotic scene out the back door and alley may be noticed. Which likely wouldn't take long, given the thrum of power tools, the clatter of wood, plastic and metal, and of course the various volumes of two Jamie Madroxes and one psionic red-head as they attempt to decipher the not-very-helpful instructions that they're reading.

"No, it says to have the hole a few inches up off the ground," one Jamie answers. "That's so they can walk through it easier. Otherwise it'll be too low and they won't use it." The other Jamie crouches down a bit, holding his hand up off the ground to measure and then nods some. "Makes sense to me," he adds, before standing upright and turning back to Rachel. Both Jamies are also dressed for work, with full jeans and faded T-Shirts that both bear the logo of the Gotham Blades hockey team, along with various paint splotches. The Jamie that's looking at Rachel seems about ready to speak to her - perhaps to offer to take the power tool? - but the other duplicate makes a subtle gesture to nix the offer before it's made. "Too bad Dodger isn't around for us to measure properly..." he says instead.

Scott Summers has posed:
Walking towards X-Factor investigations, Scott knew it was a bit of a informal kind of organization, but...well, what he found still managed to surprise him. Dressed in simple, yet formal clothing, Scott's red-shaded eyes turn to find the door to X-Factor Investigations wide open and nothing but chaos happening inside.

A cat door. That's what they are trying to install for their feline friends. He looks to the multiple Jamie's covering multiple main aspects of the office, and slightly frowns as he investigates the slit at the bottom o the door, though his eyesturn to Rachel and Jamie a bit more properly.

"I see you two have been hard at work."

Scott's voice isn't chastizing, but it is a bit judgmental consider the chaos that is appearing before his eyes.

Rachel Summers has posed:
Narrowing her eyes at Jamie - at least before Scott showed up, Rachel's mouth curves downward at the mere THOUGHT of taking the power tool from her. Mine! It's MINE! (Though actually it isn't Rachel's, it's from Jamie's tools, but the red-head has possession of it right now.)

"I guess that makes sense." Rachel states, tightening her grip upon the power tool in question, though she doesn't pull the trigger, just yet. It's at this point that the red-head's gaze lifts upwards, eyes drawing towards the tall, imposing, and highly judgemental form of ..her dad.

Well, not really /her/ dad, but -sorta- her dad? Time travel gets so confusing! "Scott!" It's pretty much the first words Rachel can form WITHOUT stuttering like a four year old kid.

Handing the power tool over to Jamie, though it's still done with SOME reluctance, the instructions are placed gently onto the back door, and Rachel offers a wry expression to the very imposing figure of Scott Summers.

Her hand lifts upwards, running splayed fingers through her short locks of red, as her gaze flickers towards the Jamie that was SUPPOSED to be greeting people (and a forewarning) then back to Scott. "It's a slow day?" She gives with a question to her tone, before another slight grin speads itself over her features.

"See there's this cat.. and we've kind of adopted.. him. I think it's a him." Rachel, at this point, figures maybe she better kind of stop talking and just say. "It's good to see you! How have you been?"

Jamie Madrox has posed:
While the Jamie that's in the office proper continues to snooze away, completely unawares of any visitors, one of the pair in the back looks up at the arrival of one Scott Summers and responds with a tone that appears to take Scott's words at utter face value, missing any judgement or any other aspersions that might be underlying within. "For about two hours now," he informs, clearly a bit incredulous at the time already spent on the project. "The hinges on this door are *not* standard and even with Rachel's telekinesis we nearly broke the dang things getting the door off the frame. And then I had to send a duplicate out to get spare jigsaw blades because the ones we had were too short to saw through the door properly..." To which the second Jamie chimes in, "I told you we should have measured beforehand." The first Jamie gestures with a single hand, casting a quick look over to his twin. "Well, we didn't and if you say 'I told you so' one more time, I'm going to reasborsb you and bring out another of me." The second Jamie waits until the first has turned back away before he makes a face, pantomiming the first's words in a silent, sarcastic mimic.

At about this time, Jamie is handed the jigsaw from Rachel and with it in hand, he moves over towards where the door has already been cut into once. He eyes the bottom of the door, though doesn't yet do anything with the power tool, instead appearing to wait until either a lull in the conversation or perhaps when everyone else elects to move fully inside. The second Jamie, after getting out his somewhat childing mocking of his duplicate, then turns and makes a more proper greeting to Scott as well, smiling amiably. "Hi, by the way. Welcome to X-Factor Investigations! Glad you could finally stop on by." He shoves his hands into his jean pockets afterwards, waiting for Scott's answer to Rachel's inquiry of how he's been doing, and perhaps to find out what brings the leader of the X-Men to their humble workplace.

Scott Summers has posed:
Scott looks at Jamie first as he begins to explain to him what they are doing. The hinges on the doors not being stnadard and...genuinely, it seems as if they have little idea what they are doing, considering the mess everywhere and the doors with holes in them. The slit at the bottom of the door -looks- like it was the result of the first try(ies) as it were. Scott just seems to frown a moment, before he looks to Rachel.

Who seems infinitely more respectful. Being alternate timeline dad has it's perks.

When Scott finally opens his mouth, it's in the form of a sigh. "You could just hire someone do it for you, or just call me. It's not too difficult to install a pet door." Scott, engineer that he is, tells her then as he uncrosses his arms and approaches. "I'm fine, concerned that you're going to break all of your furniture and never replace it." Scott is in 'dad mode' as it were.

"Let me help you guys." Scott tells the pair, before his attention turns back to Jamie. "Rather than a circle, try and even it out. Make it easy for them, and not too wide or tall. Even some large animals can get into smaller spaces a bit easier."

Rachel Summers has posed:
And suddenly, Rachel's a four year old kid, gently being scolded by her dad - and she has to admit, to loving every moment of it. Yet, let us rewind just a moment, as Jamie is talking and admitting that they've been at this for TWO HOURS, Rachel's eyes widen, as she attempts her best to get his attention, a slight shake of her head. And then it's just too late, and he continues to talk and admit their failure in this! GAAAAH!! The death glare of Rachel Summers is now in effect in three ... two .. one ... GRRRR.

Rachel's eyes narrow downward, her mouth curls into a deeply rooted scowl, her nostrils flair, and it's just lucky that Scott is here, otherwise Jamie would be hearing about it, more than just feeling the doom that is centered upon him. It might be best to note to never anger a red-head, especially a red-head Summers-Grey.

With a deep breath and rolling of her eyes, Rachel turns towards Scott, then, idly still running splayed fingers through her hair. "Well.. " She begins. "We kind of.." She continues, before finally it's just time to laugh, as Rachel hands the cat-flap/cat-door over to Scott, as well as the instructions (what there are at least.) "Thanks Dad. You're the greatest."

And the words just spill out as easily as you please, without Rachel really realizing it.

Jamie Madrox has posed:


"Hey," Jamie responds to Scott with a small note of indignance, "I'll have you know that every single piece of future that's been broken since we moved in here has in fact been replaced with a new one." And yes, not only has he confessed that there has been broken furniture, but apparently that there has been more than one piece. Though at this point, one might wonder - is the duplicating mutant actually telling the truth on this or just embellishing to get the goat of 'Mr. Authority' Summers? Or, if not to get his goat, perhaps at least to play into the hand that Rachel is putting forth - that is, to get the person with clear experience and know-how to do the work instead. What better way than to profess complete incompetence, after all?

Giving Rachel a brief look of 'What??' at her rather perturbed glare, the two Jamies shrug at each other before the offer is made from Scott and Rachel quickly takes him up on it. Each of the duplicates is quick to jump on that bandwagon, handing over the jig-saw, some spare saw blades, a tape measure, a level, pencil and a handful of screws, heaping the entire pile into Scott's arms as one echoes Rachel's sentiments. "Thanks, you're the best! I bet you've had to install tons of these for Lockheed, you're probably a pro! We should have called you from the beginning." The second duplicate elbows the first slightly, a quick glance that might be read as, 'don't lay it on too thick', before both pull back with another smile. "Dodger's not *that* large though. At least not yet... We'll see how it goes with how much he's been eating..."

Scott Summers has posed:
Scott was a natural at scolding. Thankfully he's not, like, ripping her soul from her body verbally or anything, but he's definitely keeping a watchful eye out for her. It's instructional, not disciplinary....or at least that's what he tries to convey. Rachel's death glare at Jamie is not missed, abd actually Scott seems a little bit amused, putting a gentle hand on Rachel's shoulder as she does so, as if to gently ask her not to murder Jamie in his sleep or something.

He accepts the cst flap and he puts his hand on Rachel's head to ruffle her hair. "Anytime, Rachel. I know things have been complicated. But I love you, kid. I'm always going to be here for you." Scott has that moment of bonding with his temporally-displaced daughter.

Then there's Jamie.

A whole bunch of stuff ends up in his arms. "No, you're helping. You make the holes, you help me fix them." Scott seems to have a soft spot for Rachel, but definitely not Jamie it appears. "Make a copy if you're feeling lazy." Hd sets the tools on a table, puts a pencil in the crook of his ear, and gets to work on measuring a cat door properly.

MATH.

Rachel Summers has posed:
The initial patting of her shoulder gives Rachel that gentle warmth of someone who cares - really. And she maybe wouldn't kill him in his sleep, just maim him. A lot. Rachel's death glare melts into another grin, though it's Scott's next phrase that turns Rachel into a puddle on the floor.

It's just on instinct, really, that Rachel returns the turn of phrase, "I love you too, Dad!" And then, she's all smiles, she doesn't even flinch away when her hair is turned into a messed up version of its normal self by the ruffling.

As an after thought, Rachel gives a quick, "Oh, one moment." And is darting up the stairs towards the top floor of the building, then returning with a bag that reads 'Disneyland'.

Reaching into the bag, Rachel pulls out a black shirt that she hands over to Scott, "I'll help how I can, but I bought this a bit ago, and wanted you to have it."

The shirt, while black, when opened has the Mandalorian on the front holding 'The Child', with the words in green, 'Galaxy's Greatest Dad' on it. "It's silly, but.. well. True." There's an impish grin to Rachel's features then, as she moves to help Jamie and Scott, in whatever way a powerful telekinetic can do - even if its just helping to stabolize the door on the saw horses.

Jamie Madrox has posed:
Dusting his hands off after depositing the rather large and haphazard pile of tools and hardware into Scott's arms, Jamie seems just about ready to turn about with his duplicate and head back into the main building proper, content to leave the work to the elder Summers and find something else 'productive' to do. Like, play some more Franchise mode on NHL 21 maybe. But right at that moment that he's about to pivot away, Scott not only makes the directive that he's not going to get away so easily, aspersions are cast on his work ethic as well! The second Jamie - about a foot or two to the rear and side of what may appear to be Jamie 'prime', takes the most umbrage at the 'make a copy' remark, blanching and offering a retort, "Hey, what am I, chopped liver?" The first Jamie casts a backward glance and scowl, hushing up his duplicate before turning back to Scott. "Oh, sure, of course, I wouldn't dream of just leaving everything to you," he backpedals, "I mean, it is our door and all... Just tell me where you need me." Another quick glance is exchanged between duplicates afterwards, the second one rolling his eyes subtly and shaking his head.

Both duplicates are wise enough to clam up as Rachel re-appears with the t-shirt however, having been there when she bought the item and knowing what it means for her to hand it on over to Scott - as well as the rest of the words that are exchanged between the two. To his credit, he actually begins to sort out and organize the pile of things that he'd just foisted off on Scott and both duplicates make themselves pretty useful in measuring, marking, and however else they can be put to use in the door modifications, leaving Scott to direct them without any complaint or shenanigans.

Scott Summers has posed:
About face, Madrox!

As Jamie tries to convince Scott that he's totally going to help and wasn't about to leave to play video games against himself again for multiple hours, Scott seems largely unconvinced. With the Jamie's organizing the tools, Scott nods. "Okay. I need the saw to level everything out, then I'm going to need a hammer and nail to keep it steady." He informs, before his attention shifts back to Rachel.

Scott loved being a dad. He's told Jean a few times that he sees himself retiring with family. Sadly, the mission always gets in the way and not always in a good way. So Rachel is just being the apple of Scott's eye right about now. Though when she comes back with a shirt, Scott looks surprised.

"You went to Disneyland?"

Scott keeps tabs, but things fall into the cracks sometimes. He unfolds the shirt and seems to look at it intently. His eyes are difficult to see thanks to the ruby quartz shades, but he's probably a little misty.

Probably.

"Thanks, Rachel. I love it." He grins at her. #ProudDad.