7805/Paint Party

Paint Party
Date of Scene:	12 September 2021
Location:	Madison's Apartment -- Palm Tree Apartments
Synopsis:	No description
Cast of Characters:	Madison Evans, Irie West, Dyani Zitkala, Raven Darkholme

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Madison Evans has posed:
    Thia had seemed baffled by the notion of miniature painting, and the only solution to such bafflement? A paint party! Since fitting all three of them around her desk in a bedroom would be a squash, Madison has covered the dining table with a plastic cover from the dollar store, and has all her paints set out - including some homemade 'wet pallets' of set paper towels set into shallow tupperwares topped with parchment paper. She also has blue tack set onto wine corks for her friends to stick their minis to - and an assortment of snacks on the table. There's popcorn tossed with furikake, an assortment of veggies with dips, and some cheese sticks.
    "Look, Maddie, I still have to run some errands - but you girls be good, alright? You can reach me on my cell."
    "I knooooow mom," the teen answers, as she digs through her tubs of primed and unpainted minis. "I'll see you later!"

Irie West has posed:
More mini painting? Yay! Ever since Madison has gotten her into the hobby Irie has really enjoyed spending time with her friend to paint miniatures. To her this is more of a group activity that you do with your friends than it is something that you could do by yourself.

As always, Irie has shown up with more snacks than what Madison's mother has provided. With her high metabolism, she eats a lot and doesn't like eating her hosts out of house and home. Added to the mix are cookies, chips and salsa, and one of those big ol' tubs of licorice.

"Whatcha got in store for us?" She asks her friend. "Got any good new ones?"

Dyani Zitkala has posed:
Miniature painting? Da fruck was that?! Cynthia has no idea, but it sounded interesting enough. Something about paint and small things, which summed it up a lot more than she realized.

One thing her mother always said, over and over and over again, never go to someone's house empty handed, so she had Ritz drop her at the nearest store so she could fill a bag with candy, chips, and some ice cream. Hurrying over to Madison's house, she looks at her reflection for a moment in the shiny windows, gagged a little then headed up to the apartment.

Upon entering the bag is presented to Madison, "I come baring all thinks tasty." Cynthia is wearing a loose fitting t-shirt, the BDUs she seems to love, along with the boots always worn. The most stand out thing is that the once long hair is now buzzed cut on the sides and slightly longer on the top.

Madison Evans has posed:
    "Well. You girls just have fun. Try not to burn anything down," Gladys remarks - giving her daughter an amused look.
    "That was ONE. TIME!" Madison protests with a grin. "The fridge is right in there - if you have anything that needs to stay cold. Irie can show you. And then you can pick one of these minis!" she invites. "I just got some new ones. There's like these... rock monsters. They're calling them 'boulderkin' and these ones are like - straight up Nazguls though uh - maybe you don't start with a black mini, Cynthia. You'll want something more colorful, I think. And - oh," she giggles as she holds up one of the minis. "I got a jack-o-beholder. I mean, I just couldn't not." Yes, that's a real sentence.
    "You changed your hair!" Maddie adds towards Cynthia in bright tone. "It looks nice." Maddie's mom has taught her things, too. When someone changes their look? Safest thing to do is say something nice about it. Don't be a dick.

Irie West has posed:
"Yeah! It looks good on you!" Irie agrees. She starts poking through the different minis. When Mads pulls out the boulderkin, Irie's eyes light up. "Oh my goodness!" she all but squeals. "I /need/ to paint these." She takes one of the minis and sticks it on the bluetack on one of the corks and selects a paintbrush.

"So how're you finding school, Thia?" She asks casually.

Dyani Zitkala has posed:
Cynthia takes the ice cream to the freezer, two choices for later, strawberry with vanilla swirls or rocky road. The rest of the items from the bag are set out in a safe place to be seen and devoured later.

Reaching up she runs her hand across her head as she says, "Yeah, I... needed a change." That was under selling the reason, but not a lie either. "School's great, I actually really love school and learning. So far you two are the only friends I've really made," which /he's/ pretty sure will change soon.

"So what, exactly... is this?" She then asks, looking at all the things spread out on the table. That's when she spots it, a dragon sitting there looking at her.

"Can I paint that?" She immediately asks, pointing to the dragon and NOT immediately pocketing it.

Madison Evans has posed:
    "I'm glad you're liking it," Maddie replies brightly - and when Thia spots the dragon - she nods her head in response. "Oh, sure, if you like!" she agrees. "A dragon would be a good place to start, I think. The scales will give you good details! Just, umm, stay away from white, yellow, and black. The darker you go, and the lighter you go, the harder it is to get a good result - especially as a beginner," she explains. "Better to set people up for success on their first go - yeah?"
    For her part, Maddie chooses the 'Jack-o-beholder- because of COURSE she does, and sticks it into her blue-tack. "Bathroom's right there," she points. "You can help yourself to any of the snack. Drinks are in the fridge - the cupboard with the glasses, I left open so you can find it easy. Ummm... And yeah. That's about it."
    Looking at the pair of friends she asks, "Should we put a movie on in the background? Hey Irie - you wanna teach Thia how to paint?" she asks - giving her friend a broad grin. They always say you learn a lot when you teach. Right?
    Or maybe she's just trying to test her 'young apprentice.'

Irie West has posed:
Somehow, without anybody noticing, Irie has already managed to stockpile a bunch of snacks next to her. Noshing on some popcorn, she says, "You're cool, so I'm sure you'll make some more friends soon."

Irie looks a bit doubtful and shakes her head. "You're much better at explaining this than I am," she says. "I'm sure I'd forget something important."

Dyani Zitkala has posed:
Completely out of habit, Thia goes to the cupboard to get a cup and immediately asks, "Anyone else want something to drink while I'm getting?" This is from the year in the orphanage, you just shared, often with the smaller kids. "I got Cheetos, because well, Cheetos... come on. What kind of movie were you thinking? Most of what I've seen is old, like over twenty years old."

At Lydia's comment about making friends however, there is a moment where Thia's face looks like someone punched her in the gut, or maybe it's completely natural for someone with dark skin to go that pale. It only lasts for a minute, but the inside effect is longer. "Uh, sure..." she mutters a little. "I don't think too many people could handle being my friend though."

Madison Evans has posed:
    "Soul was pretty good," Madison remarks, "and there's a new Men in Black movie that came out not too long ago. But we could always put on - I dunno. Star Wars," because of course, "Or somethng from Pixar? Or... lots of stuff," she suggests. "Or there's always Doctor Who," which isn't a movie - but is always a solid choice.
    She slips into a seat, getting one of her brushes wet and brushing the tip of the brush against the back of her hand to train it into a fine point. "I'm good on drinks for now, but thanks!" she calls brightly - before she looks up at Thia with a puzzled look on her face.
    "You're nice. Why wouldn't people want to be your friend? I mean - did someone say something? Should me and Irie give 'em a piece of our minds?"

Irie West has posed:
"Why not?" asks Irie curiously, shoving another handful of popcorn into her mouth. "You made friends with us pretty easily. Oh! I'll take some soda if there's any in there." Sure. Get the speedster hopped up on caffeine. That's always a smart idea.

"I don't think I've ever watched Doctor Who," Irie comments. "That show has been on /forever/ so I wouldn't know where to start. Didn't they reboot it, like, three times?"

Dyani Zitkala has posed:
Thia pours some Mountain Dew into three glasses, then carries them over to the table and offers one to each of them.

"No, it's not that anyone said anything," is offered as she sits. "It's... well," she hmms quietly, chewing at her bottom lip trying to decide just how ready she really is.

Telling Clarice has been extremely liberating, even if her sister hadn't handled it all that well. It could have gone a lot worse, and that was enough encouragement. She knew that Clarice had also been asking around, talking, seeking information, but the choice to really say it, to really make it known still sat squarely on /his/ shoulders.

"What do you two know about transgender people?" That was a good place to start, right?

Madison Evans has posed:
    "Thanks!" Madison chirps brightly as she accepts the soda. She takes a sip - then sets it back down, as she starts opening some of the tiny bottles of paint, the squirt out some oranges and yellows into a tray - with a little green and brown as well.
    "Transgender?" Madison repeats. "Well. None of my friends in Califorrnia were trans - I don't think. But Cam's non-binary. They say," and here her voice shifts subtly, as if she's trying to immitate her friend - though not in a mocking way, "'Gender is a social construct forced on us by the patriarchy to enslave and disempower people born with vaginas.'" She lets out a little giggle. "I mean, you can set Cam off //really// easy when it comes to that stuff. Not that that's a bad thing - they're just really passionate about it, you know?"
    As she talks, she loads some orange onto the tip of her brush - and starts working on one of the little beholder 'eyes.' Which is actually - yes - a little jack-o-lantern at the end of a beholder's eyestalk.

Irie West has posed:
"Well, they're just people, you know?" Irie says after settling in to work on her mini. She turns the mini over in her hands wondering where to start, and decides doing a base of grey will be a good place as any. "I mean. They were assigned a sex a birth, but it turns out their gender doesn't match, so they change later in life to make everything line up. Why?"

Never let it be said that Irie is completely oblivious. One can almost see the puzzle pieces in her head just slamming into place. The masculine clothes. The short haircut. Leading with a question about transgender. Her head shoots up eyes wide. "Ohmygod! Are you...?"

Dyani Zitkala has posed:
Both of Thia's eyes go wide as Irie just calls her out, she wasn't expecting that at all, but what surprised her more was the answer. "Yes, I am."

Now he needs a minutes in his own head because Thia is the first person to just 'get it' from one question and looking at him. Deep breath, slow breath, stare at a little.

"I've been transgender, since... well... I was ten, right before my mutation kicked in."

Madison Evans has posed:
    "And that's why you think people won't like you?" Madison asks - looking towards Thia with an expression that's both puzzled, and concerned. "I mean - I guess some people might not. But they're //dumb// people. Don't listen to the haters, you know?" she asks.
    "All I care about is if you're kind, and generous - and if you think Star Wars is better than Star Trek." There's amusement in her eyes - she might be joking about that last part.
    Then again, she might not.
    "If you want some tips on painting - let me know. Make sure to keep your paint only on the tip of the brush - if it gets into the shank, the brushes get ruined and I have to buy new ones faster."

Irie West has posed:
"EEEEE!" Irie squeals in delight at Thia's admission. She puts her paints and minis down and moves over to give him a nice big hug! "Ohmygosh! Do you have a new name yet? Does your sister know?" She gasps, "Have you gone shopping for a binder yet? I bet I can help with that. I've never shopped for binders before but in my tim.... er... where I used to live they were all over the place."

"I know you have to be careful about getting a good one that fits," she prattles on, heedless of how embarrassed Thia might be. "If you get one too tight they could do permanent damage. Oh! We need to get your measurements!" There's a flash of red and yellow and suddenly a tailor's tape measure is on the table. "Okay. Got them," she says, scribbling some numbers down.

Dyani Zitkala has posed:
Thia shrugs a little, shifting uneasily in the chair before taking a drink of the Mt Dew to cover it. This was difficult to explain, and yet they both handled it like they heard it all the time.

"Star Wars /is/ better than Star Trek in a huge number of ways," he admits, not that that explained anything, but Madison said that was important so he had to admit that much. "I like that Star Trek is on TV and easier to see, and some of the special effects, but all the aliens are bipeds and that's just wrong."

Just as he was about to try and explain the whole thing, Irie is right there hugging him and he is forced to blink a few times and just... hugs back. "Theo," he manages to mutter. "Theodore, but just Theo." Where before he was looking between them hesitantly, over how they might react, now he was looking completely lost.

"I... just told Clare," he then admits sheepishly, not sure if he should let go of Irie yet or not, but deciding to just keep holding on. "She... wanted to take me dress shopping." He shudders. "I had to tell her, of my worst nightmare woulda happened. I haven't got a binder, but I found a style I like?" Why did that come out as a question?

Madison Evans has posed:
    "Theo is it!" Madison says brightly. "I mean. I guess, in here anyways. At school is it still Thia? I mean- that sort of thing, that's up to you, right?" she asks a bit uncertainly. She watches the pair a hug - and watches the blur that is Irie measuring Theo up, letting out a snort of amusement at all of it.
    "Where do you go buy binder? I mean - there //must// be somewhere in the city that sells them, yeah?" asks. "Binders, they're for," she sorta squashes down her own chest to illustrate her point.
    Then in a concerned voice she adds, "Your sister took it alright, didn't she? What about the rest of your family?"

Irie West has posed:
Irie gives Theo an enthusiastic nod. "Then Theo you shall be!" she declares, as if she was in charge of something. Which, let's be clear, she isn't. She nods at Maddie when she squooshes her boobs down. "Yeah! Just like that. Gives you that smooooth masculine look."

"I'm sure there's a store in the city that we can go to to find one, but Theo has one that he has in mind." She gets up to hover over him. "Let's see whatcha got? I've got your measurements so we can probably find a size that fits."

Dyani Zitkala has posed:
The speed measuring causes a lot of blinking... A LOT of blinking. Dang Irie was faster than Theo truly thought possible, and he didn't even feel violated by the measuring. It just happened.

Looking over to Madison as Irie takes notes, he huhs softly. He hadn't really gotten as far as thinking about school, but if he was in, he was all in. "At school too," he says quietly. "Cause... it's the right thing to do. I don't know if I have to tell Ms MacIntyre or anything, I mean really it's not much anyone's business."

At the squishing, Theo actually laughs and looks up at the ceiling, because even though Madison was playing with her own breasts they were /her/ breasts and not meant to be stared at. "Yeah," he says to the ceiling. "That's exactly it."

At the mention of family, another uncomfortable shift. "Uh... m...my parents were killed in Genosha, during the attack," he offers quietly, trying very hard to keep the calm, to just share the information without reliving the moment in his mind. "I...I was injured and in the hospital for a while, then... like a really lot of kids in Genosha, I ended up at the orphanage." He takes another sip of the Mt Dew. "Mystique found me about, what... a month ago, and that's when I found out Clare was still alive, and started living with her."

Even as he was explaining this, he gets his phone out of his pocket and swipes the screen, enters the code and start flipping through a large number of pictures. Most are men's clothing, then he finds the binder and shows it to Irie.

Madison Evans has posed:
    "Okay, at school too, Theo," Madison confirms brightly. "And if anyone gives you trouble about it - me and Irie'll talk to 'em. Right Irie?" She looks to her friend for confimation, before returning her attention to Theo again.
    "Oh. Gosh, I didn't realize. I mean, I know you said-" He said he was from Genosha. He said he was hurt. Why didn't she put it all together. "I- well, I'm glad you found your sister," she decides to say. Focus on the positive, right?
    "And she did take it alright? 'cuz we'll talk to her too if we gotta!" she offers - flashing Theo a smile. She has no idea if she's saying the right things, but she was earnestly trying her best.

Irie West has posed:
"Hmm. You'll probably need to give Ms. MacIntyre a heads up," Irie muses, taking note of what brand and model of binder Theo was looking at. "'Cause they gotta change your name in the system, and then the teachers have to be notified on what to call you now." She pulls out her phone and starts doing a search for the binder and where they can find them. "Not that you've been here for long, so it'll probably be easier for them to adjust, it's just that, you know. You want your report card to have your name on it."

Theo's distress causes her to look up. "Oh gosh!" she says. "I didn't know. Genosha. That's harsh. I'm sorry your parents didn't make it."

She nods at Maddie, "Yeah! We'll talk to /anybody/ who gives you guff about it. And maybe kick their butts, too! But not your sister. I don't think I want to kick your sister's butt."

Dyani Zitkala has posed:
Theo offers them both a soft smile, "It's alright guys, you didn't know about my parents." He sighs softly, chewing at his bottom lip a touch, "I grew up thinking my sister died in a surgery before I was even born, so finding out she was alive and then getting to live with her? That's like better than all the Christmases of my life put together. I wish our parents would have got to know, but... I also know they wouldn't want me living in grief over what happened."

He now offers a broad smile as he says, "Clare'll get through it," he says. "She's trying really hard, a few mistakes here and there, but... it's not an easy thing, she just found out she had a sister who's actually her brother. She gets some leeway. But thanks you two, that... really means a lot."

Now he looks over to Irie, "I suppose that's true about the paperwork. I wonder if I can get Clare to deal with it."

Madison Evans has posed:
    "Ms. MacIntyre always seemed pretty nice to me. I bet'll be easy to sort things out with her - no matter who handles it. But it's probably better coming from your sister. Grown-ups get all tetchy about legal guardians and stuff. Like we aren't capable of making our own decisions, or knowing who we really are." Madison rolls her eyes at this, and goes back to carefully painting one of her pumpkins.
    Her gaze is on her work as she asks, "How're you going to get Theo to the shop? Are we going to borrow the rickshaw again?" she asks. "Or I mean - I have a bike, but piling all three of us on there would be harder than the rickshaw I think."

Irie West has posed:
"If you ever need to talk about it, or anything, really, we're here," Irie says sincerely. Sure they've known Theo for all of, what, a week? But they don't call Irie the Fastest Girl Alive for nothing! She makes friends just as fast as she runs!

"Clare will probably have to be the one who deals with it, being the 'responsible person' and all." Irie says with an identical roll of the eyes as Maddie's. "Still. It'll be good to have your name on the books."

She turns her attention back to her phone. "Yeah, I'll probably have to borrow Bart's rickshaw again. If I can find a stupid store that has this binder in it." She flips through a few more listings before tossing the phone on the table with an "Ugggh."

"They've got all sorts of mtf places, but they're all drag shops, and T & Me doesn't even /open/ for another 12 years." Oops. She blinks and tries to recover. "Ooooor so I've been told." Good save!

Dyani Zitkala has posed:
Theo gets a huge shit eating grin on his face at the mention of needing to get some place.

"Well... I don't know if either of you have noticed or not, but uh... I don't live around here," he begins, the grins shifting to look like a cat that just caught a mouse. "I... teleport in to school every morning, which means if there's some place in the oh... the world... you want to go...." he looks between them, seeing if they get the idea. He knows Ritz will do it, and is pretty sure Clarice would too.

"At the orphanage, I made a really good friend, Pete... I hope you both get to meet him some time. Anyway, it took him time to warm up to me, and me to him... don't know why, but you two... well I consider you like good to best friends already, and I think that's cause you're both just... so nice."

Madison Evans has posed:
    "...Anywhere in the world?" Madison repeats, her gaze locked onto Theo now. "Back to California?" to visit her friends, and get In 'n Out? And Salt 'n Straw? "The rainforest? Thailand? Ooo! The northern lights?!" Her smile is growing broader with each suggestion as she looks from Theo, to Irie, and back again. "That would be soooooo cool!"
    Her painting looks utterly forgotten for the moment, at the thought of this new freedom.

Irie West has posed:
"Teleport?" Irie asks brightly, "That's /awsome/! I should see if I can get someplace faster than it does for you to get somebody to teleport you there." Down Irie. It doesn't all have to be about speed. (yes it does)

"Oh my gosh! We could go to Tokyo and see all the cool stuff there! It'd take me /five whole minutes/ to get there otherwise, I wouldn't be able to bring you two along with me!"

Dyani Zitkala has posed:
Theo nods to Maddison, still grinning. "Anywhere," he repeats. "Just need a picture of a location, and we can be there. We could plan entire weekends in other parts of the world, pop in for a day in another country, anything you guys wanted." He nods a few times then adds, "It's a... a little unsettling the first time, if it's Ritz. If it's Clare, hers are way easier, but Ritz is getting a /lot/ better now that she gets to practice more."

Now Theo looks at Irie, tilting his head with a confused look on his face, "How... there's water between here and Japan, how do you... do you swim fast too?"

Madison Evans has posed:
    "I don't know if my mom would let me go to another country for the weekend," Madison says uncertainly.
    Nevermind that her mother probably wouldn't like her going to another country at all...
    "But man that sounds like so much fun..." she muses in a thoughtful, and hopeful voice. "Still. We'll go somewhere! It'll be fun. I mean, I've only ever been to California, New York, New Jersey, Mexico, Italy - oh yeah! And Philidelphia!" She's silent a moment before asking, "You're from Genosha, yeah? ...I mean. It would be nice to see where you're from sometime. Right?" she asks, looking to Irie for confirmation of this idea.

Irie West has posed:
Irie hooks her thumbs into pretend lapels and straightens her back. "When you run as fast as I can, you don't have /time/ to sink into the water." She deflates, then, blushing, "I didn't know how to swim until this summer. I always just ran over it or phased through it before."

"I've been all over the place," Irie adds. "But mostly just the United States. Been to Mexico and Canada a couple of times and I've been to Paris and Rome and Russia that one time, but I'm not supposed to talk about that."

She glances back at Maddie when she mentions Genosha. "Um," she says uncertainly. In /her/ time Genosha had managed to finish rebuilding itself and was once again a thriving country. She knows that they're in the rebuilding stage, she just doesn't know /when/. "Um. Sure?"

Dyani Zitkala has posed:
Theo looks between then then says bluntly, "Your mother doesn't have to know everything you know." with a huge grin on his face.

"I've been to London, New York, Genosha and space," he then says quickly, only realizing after he said it that maybe he shouldn't have said the last thing. "But Genosha, it's... only Hammer Bay, with the port, is really rebuilt. It's looking good, but not... not exactly thriving yet. Close... lots of new jobs and new buildings, things are getting there. We could see Hammer Bay, but Carrion Cove only has the Royal Palace mostly finished and Dane Hills is still mostly a tent city."

Madison Evans has posed:
    "Well... she doesn't, but the more secrets I keep- I mean, I start to feel bad..." Madison says uncertainly. "My mom's not that bad a mom, you know? She cares. And she's trying."
    But then Theo continues - and Madison just stares, because some bells can't be unrung. "Space. You've been to //space//? Where in space? How? Can we go to space? What's it like in space? Were you floating everywhere? JEDI ARE SUPPOSED TO GO TO SPACE!"
    Ooops. She really lost her volume control there. She hastily scrunches down in her seat, and picks up her Mountain Dew. "Sorry," she mumbles, before taking a sip.

Irie West has posed:
"Space?!" Irie asks, eyes wide, "I can't even /run/ to space!" She, then, actually /thinks/ about what it takes to go into space. "I... um... I think I'll pass on that." If she thought being on an airplane was bad, going to space would be /so much worse/. She avoids meeting Maddie and Theo's eyes on this one.

Dyani Zitkala has posed:
A lot of blinks with wide eyes is the reaction Theo gives to Madison's bombardment of questions and then Theo is laughing softly. He knew he shouldn't have said it, but it's out there now and well, he trusted these two.

"It's alright Maddi, your excitement is kinda contagious, but can't tell anyone," he says first. "I live on Asteroid M, which is in geosynchronous orbit over Genosha. That's why I teleport to school every morning, can't exactly walk, then I teleport back after classes. I don't know if you can visit or not, but I'll ask. As for what it's like... you don't really /feel/ different until you're in the garden or the central nexus, when you can look up and all you see are stars or the Earth, then it's just... amazing."

He cants his head a little, noting Irie was excited at first then got funny, looking away, you just can't miss that. "You okay Irie?"

Madison Evans has posed:
    Madison also catches Irie's sudden hesitation, and she looks at her friend uncertainly, her enthusiasm draining away. "It's okay, Irie. We don't need to go," she assures the girl quietly, worry in her expression.
    I mean... she really, really wants to go. There's no way Theo or Irie could possibly believe otherwise - but she seems willing to give it up in her concern. "We're going to go to Japan instead. Right Theo?" she asks - flashing the boy a bright grin.
    Then, suddenly realizing she should probably say something to Theo, she adds, "I won't tell anyone. Promise."

Irie West has posed:
"No, it's okay," Irie says. "I mean, if it's an asteroid I should be okay. As long as it's a big asteroid. It's not one of those tiny ones is it?" She asks Theo hopefully. She shifts a bit uncomfortably as she admits, "I don't like enclosed spaces, especially ones that's in the air. I found this out during our trip to Paris. It's just... I need to be able to have something solid under my feet, and room to run if I have to."

Dyani Zitkala has posed:
Theo considers a moment, then gets a pad of paper to do some math, looking serious the whole time he's doing it. Finally he nods and looks to Irie as he says, "There are thousands of people on this small planet orbiting the earth. When you're there, you don't even realize your not in some city, or some places more like a building. It isn't small at all, and I don't think you'll have a problem... but if you do, Ritz can send you right back, no harm, no foul."

Setting the pad down, it's a doodle of the asteroid with a little sign sticking out of it reading, 'HUGE METAL ROCK!'.

Madison Evans has posed:
    Madison can't help but giggle at the sketch - even as she looks between her two friends. "So, umm... When do we go? I wanna float in zero-G! And look down at the earth and- O. M. G. - does it have like a super death laser or something, and could we fire it? ... I mean, harmlessly out into space. Obviously. I'm not a supervillain or nothing."
    Again she looks from Theo, to Irie, and back again. "Puh-leeeease pleasepleaseplease?"

Irie West has posed:
Irie nods as Theo explains "Well..." she says dubiously. But then Theo makes a diagram for her. "I guess that clinches it. We should go." She still seems uncertain, but she's not going to deny her best friend this. Not at all.

Dyani Zitkala has posed:
Theo blinks a few times, staring at Madison. "Um... there's gravity on the asteroid, but I think there's one room that can go zero-g for training. There's no super death laser that I know about, but then again... I'm not allow in all the areas of the asteroid. Some are restricted to Bro..." he skids to a stop right there before continuing with, "... Employees only."

Pulling out his phone she sends a text to Clarice, because she'll know: Can I have visitors on the Asteroid?

Madison Evans has posed:
    "I mean, that makes sense, they wouldn't want just anyone playing with the Super Death Lasers, or turning off the gravity, or suddenly piping 'Staying Alive' through all the sound systems while making the lights flash on and off like it's some sort of Disco rave." Which, surely, are not things Madison would ever dare attempt. ... right?
    She watches Theo pull out his cellphone, bouncing eagerly in her chair with uncontrollable excitement as she waits for the answer from whoever Theo is messaging. Thankfully, it's not that long a wait. 'Everyone can have guests, silly.'

Irie West has posed:
"Are we doing this?" Irie asks trying to hide her nervousness. "Right now?" Gulp. Maddie gets a giggle out of her. "Oh my gosh! Turning an entire asteroid into a disco! That would be so awesome. I wonder if they'll let us do that for April Fools next year."

Madison Evans has posed:
    "If they //let// us," Madison says in her most solemn voice, "it's not a very good April Fools prank."

Dyani Zitkala has posed:
Theo looks at his phone, then back to the two of them. He gets the thought that maybe no on the disco Asteroid, because there was no way he was asking Mystique if they could do that.

"Okay, I can have guests," he finally says. "Do we want to go now? I mean, we can, I just have to contact Ritz. Move all the snacks into bags and eat them in the garden?"

Madison Evans has posed:
    The answer 'yes now right now right NOW' is written all over Madison's face - but to the girl's credit, she looks to Irie, trying to judge if her friend is actually okay with this or not. "Wanna go see the garden?" she asks, trying to restrain her excitement, but it shows in the way she clenches, her hands together, her whole body stiff with barely contained energy. Pleasepleaseplasepleaseplease Irie...

Irie West has posed:
Irie just can't say no to Maddie when she's like this. She just can't. There's another whirl of red and yellow and all the snacks are packed, waiting to be carried up to the Asteroid, and all the minis and paints have been put away, and the brushes have been washed and stowed.

"Okay," she says. "Let's go."

Dyani Zitkala has posed:
Theo moves to gather up the munchies into the bags he brought them in, while doing that a text goes to Ritz. "She'll be outside in a few minutes," he says, shoving the last of the munchies into the bag. The ice cream he leaves in the freezer as a gift. "She don't like going into people houses."

Keeping all three bags to carry, he looks around, "Do we need to clean up first?"

Madison Evans has posed:
    "I can put everything away later," Madison replies, as she frowns thoughtfully at a piece of paper she's pulled out. After a little bit she writes down 'Theo (that's Cynthia, btw) wanted to show us this really cool garden! BBS!' There we go. Totally not a lie - right?
    "Okay! Let's go meet Ritz and see outerspace!" she enthuses - abruptly hugging first Irie, and then Theo. "This is going to be //awesome//!"

Irie West has posed:
"Got it covered," Irie tells Theo. When everything's put away and packed up she stands next to Maddie and poses pointing forward. "To the Asteroid!" she cheers out.

Dyani Zitkala has posed:
Keeping the bags, Theo heads down to the street outside the apartments where Ritz is standing. She looks like a 1980s Heavy Metal band exploded on her. Theo walks over to her, "Hey Ritz, this is Irie and this is Madi," he indicates correct people with correct names, then looks to the both of them. "Guys, this is Ritz. She's gotten her portals to the point you shouldn't be anything more than a little dizzy."

Ritz offers a nod to the two teens, not commenting that she feels like a school bus now, then with a gesture of her hand a white swirling portal appears. "Hold your breath, it helps," she offers.

Madison Evans has posed:
    "Hi Ritz. Thanks, umm, for the lift?" Madison remarks - it seems like the polite thing to say. She's practicely buzzing with excitement as she beams first at the unfamiliar mutant - and then at the weird portal. "Okay. Alright. Hold my breath - sure," she agrees - taking a deep breath before stepping through, emerging with a slight lurch on the other side. It's disorienting - emerging somewhere else entirely, and she blinks her eyes a few times as she tries to adjust. Still unconsciously holding her breath, she starts to turn in a circle before she finally lets it out with a quiet, "...wow." Wow oh wow oh wow.
    Madison has been stunned into silence. Is that even a thing?
    Apparently.

Irie West has posed:
Irie nods in agreement with Maddie. "Yeah, thank you, Ritz!" Then it's off through the portal! She's been teleported before, so she knows what to expect. Or at least she thinks she does, because when she steps through, the lurch catches her off guard and she stands there dizzy for a moment.

Shaking her head to regain her balance she finally takes a look around the place. "Woah," she says, staring out into the stars. "That's.... there's so many stars."

Raven Darkholme has posed:
Theo steps through just before Ritz does. He's gotten used to her portals, and still remembers when they made him want to retch... she's come a long way in a short time. Glancing around, making sure both Irie and Madison have all their parts, he offers Ritz a smile.

"Thanks Ritz," he says. "Let me know if there's something I can get you, or do for you."

Ritz chuckles, "Don't worry about it Theo, it's all part of the standard package that is a teleporters life. Besides, I like you." With that, she offers the other two a wave and heads out to leave them to their own devices in the garden.

Theo looks back to the two as they are enjoying the room and the view. Clarice was right, this is the perfect room to use to introduce people to the asteroid. "If you look right there," he points at the ceiling and the earth. "You can see Genosha."

Madison Evans has posed:
    "Gosh, that's your home?" Madison gapes, as she stares up - down? up? - at Genosha through the dome. "That's Genosha. And Africa. And... and //Earth.// That's planet Earth! O. M. G., Irie, we're in space!" Madison squeals, the stunned exprression quickly giving way to a huge grin. "This is //amazing//. I never- I mean, I really never thought- Emma wouldn't believe- but, gosh, I'm not supposed to tell anyone, am I?" she doesn't really keep secrets from Emma. Keeping //this// a secret is going to be hard.
    "...Wow. Theo, you're so lucky."

Irie West has posed:
Irie spins around in a slow circle taking everything in. "This is /awesome/," she agrees, looking at the earth. "That's.... Oh my gosh. Earth is.... I've never seen it like this." She looks back at Irie and says, "I've seen a /lot/ of things, too. But this takes the cake!"

Raven Darkholme has posed:
Theo walks over to where they are standing, looking up at the earth.

"It's pretty cool," he comments. "Except there's no sneaking out, and if you sneak into areas you're not supposed... have you ever seen Mystique in person?" He looks between them. "She's scary, okay. If she says no, you don't do it."

Madison Evans has posed:
    "Mystique?" Madison repeats. "Like - the lady who runs around with //Magneto//? No, I haven't seen her in person!" Madison stares at Theo for a moment. "Yeah she's scary! You've- you've seen Mystique?" She turns a full circle now, as if expecting the blue-skinned woman to appear from behind a tree. "Oh. Wait. She can like - look like anyone she wants, right?" Aaaaaanyone in the garden could be Mystique. "Dude."
    Let's try not to think about that... too much, she decides, and enjoy this instead. "I still can't believe I'm in space."

Irie West has posed:
"Mystique?" Irie asks, still staring at the Earth. "No, I haven't." She opens her mouth as if to say something but for the first time she catches herself before she can say something that's a spoiler. "Didn't she turn good guy for a while?" She's still kind of fuzzy on the timeline of The Brotherhood.

She finally tears her gaze away to look at Maddie. "Yeah. This is... wow."

Raven Darkholme has posed:
Theo looks between the two of them again. "For a while? Uh... she is good," he says with a look of confusion on his face. "I mean she didn't used to be, but you don't go under the lasso of Hestia and.." don't talk about that part, you're not even supposed to know. "... get arrested by Wonder Woman, just to 'pretend' you've turned over a new leaf."

He gestures toward the back of the garden, quite a walk but the waterfall is still visible. "She doesn't just run the place, she runs... like... all of it. The Asteroid, the Brotherhood, everything that happens here goes through her. She's not bad though, honest... she's just, scary."

Madison Evans has posed:
    "Yeah, okay. I mean - I saw that one the news. With the lasso. And Wonder Woman. And...everything on- yeah. On Asteroid M." Whoa. "Okay, sorry, mind-blown a little. I'm just gonna..." Madison does the only logical thing. She lies down on her back, beside the pond, her fingers trailing in the water as she stares up at the stars and the Earth. "This is a lot. This is //amazing//. This is a lot."

Irie West has posed:
"Oh right!" Irie says brightly. "The lasso thing! That happened!" Never stop being weird, Irie. She goes to sit with Madison and joins her in laying down and staring up into space. "Yeah," she says. "This beats everything that I've seen. And I've seen a /lot/ when I was was adventuring with my dad."

Raven Darkholme has posed:
Theo sits down in the grass, setting the bags of munchies down beside him. He had never thought of all of that at once. Mystique, the Brotherhood, the asteroid and his sister. The things had all come at different times, but when you looked at the big picture, holy hell that is a lot.

Watching Madison's finger, he thinks about warning her that One and Lord Scaley-Bottom like to kiss finger tips, but it will be way more fun when they do so and Madison isn't expecting it.

"Originally the Asteroid was home to everyone in Genosha," he says quietly. "After the attack, it was the only safe place for mutants from Genosha. Once things started getting settled, and rebuilt, most went back, but some stayed here. Now it's home to a lot of mutants, and the Brotherhood."

Madison Evans has posed:
    "And you. And your sister. And Mystique. And Maaaag- NEATO!" Magneto's name turns into a yelp as Madison sits up, snatching her fingers out of the water and spinning to stare at- ...fish?
    She starts to giggle.
    "There's fish living in outer space. There's //fish//. That's ridiculous!" she protests between her giggles, dipping her fingers back into the water. Heeeere fishie fishie fishie! "And they're nice!"

Irie West has posed:
Irie nods along as Theo speaks. "Yeah. Mutants have had it really rough," she admits. "It'll get better though. With time." She says that definitively like she knows what the future might bring. (She does.)

She jumps when Maddie lets out a yelp, and is up on her feet in a microsecond, ready to fight whatever might be hurting her friend. "Fish?" She asks, looking somewhat relieved, peering into the pool and seeing one of the koi play with Maddie's fingers. "Fish! They're /huge/."

Raven Darkholme has posed:
Theo starts giggling, watching Madison's reaction to the nibble. That was worth it.

"Those are Mystique's fish," he says still chuckling. "I got to name one. There's nine of them, though I only see six of them right now. They swim around and along the streams," he points to the stream leading off the lake, as if they aren't obvious.

"Their names are One, Lord Scaley-Bottom, Miss Bubbles, Four, Five, Herald Luke, Seven, Lady Squiggles, and Nine." He glances over to Irie now. "We hope it will get better some day, and that's what the Brotherhood is working toward now."

Madison Evans has posed:
    "Oh, well, this one's Fred, that one's George, this is Bob, and //that//-" Madison points at one particularly deep down in the pond, "is Darth Splish-Splash, Wiggle-Waggle, Flukes 'n Fins the Eighth, Lord of the Pond. Obviously." She watches the fish with a grin for a while longer - before holding a hand out for the bags of snacks. "Do you think they're hungry? I think they're hungry. Fish can eat like... popcorn, can't they?" she asks in an uncertain voice. I mean, sure, what else would koi eat?
    Someone clearly knows //nothing// about koi.

Irie West has posed:
Irie arches a critical eyebrow. "Somebody named the fish after /numbers/?" She shakes her head. "The shame. The disgrace." She giggles when Madison gives them alternative names, "Darth Splish-Splash."

She goes over to the snack bags and pulls out the bag that has the popcorn in it. "I don't know about that," she says. "I think you'd have to break up the pieces in smaller chunks in order for them to eat it, otherwise it'd be too big."

Raven Darkholme has posed:
Theo pulls the bags over to him, eyes going wide. "No, no, no... you don't feed those fish anything other than what's in the rock." He points to what looks like a solid, large rock. He then scoots over and triggers it open, revealing the fish food and treats. He grabs the bag of treats and offers them to Madison. "Only what's in the rock," is then repeated because the last thing he needs is the conversation with Mystique where he tries to explain how Madison killed Miss Bubbles by feeding her popcorn.

"Darth Splish-Splash," he laughs. "I'm telling Clarice that one.

Madison Evans has posed:
    "Darth Splish-Splash, Wiggle-Taggle, Flukes 'n Fins the Eighth, Lord of the Pond," Madison clarifies helpfully, as she accepts the food from inside the rock. "And no popcorn - got it." She sniffs at the fish food, makes a face, but then obligingly tosses a few pieces of food in - grinning as the fish all dive for it, tails churning the water up. "Man. They're not kidding about their food, are they!" she remarks.
    She tosses a few more pieces in a different part of the pond before offering the fish food to Irie. "Mystique would get real mad, you think, if we gave 'em the wrong food?"

Irie West has posed:
Judging from how firm Theo is about what to feed the fish she nods at Maddie. "Yeah. I think she'd get real mad. I... don't really wanna get her mad at me, to be honest, so lets stick to the fish food." She takes a pinch of the snacks and tosses them in after Madison. "I can't believe this," she says with a giggle. "We're feeding /fish/ in /space/."

Raven Darkholme has posed:
Theo nods quite a few times.

"Oh yeah, she'd care," he shudders a little, trying not to think of that conversation, especially right now. Lydia's been gone a day or so and Mystique's gotten all... well more scary. "Mystique really loves these fish. They have their own safety feature to ensure their safety. They can actually survive in it, in the vacuum of space, for an hour.... for fish. I got to study the designs, they're fantastic."

Taking a pitch of the treats, he tosses them into the lake as well. He got the speech, and just saved Irie and Madison the speech, he's a good friend. "The garden is tended to by Bruin, you'll never see him, he's way shy. I had to bring him a rare rose to get him to talk to me."

Madison Evans has posed:
    "Fiiiiish iiiiiin Spaaaaaaace!" Madison intones melodramatically, still watching the fish splash and churn the water in their pursuit of fish food. "Man. A whole life-support system for fish. That //is// nuts," she agrees at the thought of that. "I guess she does care about these fish. But I mean- well. I guess some people keep fish as pets. I wanted a bunny." But that obviously didn't happen.
    "...man. It would be bad if the gravity got turned off in here. The fish and the water would float away! And then when it turned back on - bam! Fish flopping all over he place."

Irie West has posed:
Irie studies the fish as they feast on the treats. "Well, they /look/ happy, so she must take good care of them." How does one tell if fish were happy? Irie's not really sure, but if she were to guess, they would look like these fish enjoying themselves.

"We tried to get our dad to get us a puppy, once," Irie says. "but he said that with our lives as they were it would be up to Mom to take care of it, and she didn't want to take all the responsibility."

"If Mystique loves her fish that much, I'm sure she's got, like, a backup gravity generator just for this pool or something."

Raven Darkholme has posed:
Theo hmms softly, he hadn't thought of that and now he wondered if Mystique had. Letting them each have one more pinch of the threats, he then seals the bag back up and replaces them in the rock there they go.

"There's a lot of safety back ups, on top of safety back ups around here," he says, noting that the other three fish were now in the lake eating treats. "There's also some space walking suits, and people go out and do things while tethered to the asteroid. I came in here once and someone floated by the dome acting like they were in trouble, but I could see the rope."

He starts looking around, "I think there's some squirrels in here some place, probably in the bigger trees or eating the tomatoes again."

Madison Evans has posed:
    Madison can't help but giggle as she throws the last of the treats. "There are //squirrels in space,//" she remarks. "O. M. G., Squirrel Girl is gonna //love// that." She beams broadly at the thought of telling her. "Any... birds? Insects? Dragonflies and the like?" she looks around curiously, searching for other signs of animal life. "This place is just nuts... Are the squirrels your pets too? Do you feed them? Are any of them tame? Tippy-Toe is pretty tame. She even sat on my shoulder once at White Castle."

Irie West has posed:
"Squirrels?" Irie asks disbelievingly. "Space squirrels? If you're in space, and can get any kind of squirrel from the world, which kind would you get?" She starts off on her own tangent, "I wouldn't go with those boring old squirrels that are /everywhere/. I would go for those red squirrels with the pointy ears, like the ones that they have in England."

She looks up from her musings, "Squirrel Girl? I think I've heard of her before. She can talk to squirrels, right? Would those English squirrels have an English accent if she were to talk to them?"

Raven Darkholme has posed:
There's a slight shrug of Theo's shoulders, "I think there's all that up here, cause they're needed for the plants. I don't know about the squirrels though, they might be nice to Bruin cause he feeds them... what's a Squirrel Girl, or a Tippy-Toe? For that matter, what's White Castle?" He looks over at Irie, confused but getting used to it. "These squirrels up here are /huge/, and grey, and I think there's some red ones... I see them running around when there's no one else around, but Bruin comes in, whistles and they're everywhere."

Madison Evans has posed:
    "Umm, Tippy Toe is Squirrel Girl's pet squirrel. Well - she says friend. She says she's not a pet. But anyways, Squirrel Girl is this girl - she's in college - with a big squirrel tail who talks to squirrels. She's friends with Spider-man, you see. We met in the park after they stopped a jewelery heist, and then we went to White Castle and got burgers. White Castle is a burger place, but only on the East Coast, it isn't as good as In 'n Out, though," Madison explains easily - she almost makes it sound like one really long sentence the way she rattles everything out. She's pulled out the poporn now - but none of it goes into the water. Nope - it all goes into her mouth instead.
    "You know. You could try breeding some endangered species up here, couldn't you? Without them having to worry about competition or predators or whatever. That could be pretty cool."

Irie West has posed:
Irie's head bobs along as Madison talks. "White Castle is good if you just want to /cram/ your face full of tiny little burgers," she says. "Sometimes I go there instead of Big Belly Burger if I /really/ work up a hunger, that way I can order a hundred pack and they won't look at me like I'm weird or something." She looks over at Madison, "I've been to an In 'n Out, but they're not as good as Big Belly." The way she says this sounds like this is an old argument between Madison and herself.

"Or or or!" Irie cuts in, "You could have a hive of bees up here with all the flowers that need them!" she says. "Space honey! Can you imagine it? /Space honey/. Rich people would pay a fortune for it."

Raven Darkholme has posed:
"I don't know," Theo says with a hmm. "They'd still have to be introduced back to Earth, in the wild, and the same problems would still exist for them."

Now his mind goes off trying to picture a girl with a squirrel tail, he of course will not expand on what his minds-eye sees, because that would embarrass both Irie and Madison, and probably Rahne and Miss October 2020, Missy... all at the same time. Then he would be embarrassed, but Missy did look good with a squirrel tail.

Clearing his throat he zones back into /this/ reality, then reaches for the Cheetos. "I've never been to White Castle, or Big Belly Burger. We don't have fast food in Genosha, so it looks like the two of you will have to introduce me to those places." He opens the back and eats a Cheeto. "Oh... there's also a waffle bar up here," after fish and squirrels, that's hardly impressive. "And a buffet."

Madison Evans has posed:
    "You know what waffles would go good with?" Madison asks - pausing for dramatic effect as she looks between her two friends.
    "SPACE HONEY." Yup. Because of //course// she's right there with Irie when it comes to that idea! "We'll get Dyani to fill a hive for you," she offers cheerfully. "And I mean - sure they would, but.... well. While we're sorting out things down there on Earth, you could support the endangered animals up here - and get to enjoy them! It'd be real fun. But we can definitely go to White Castle sometime. And Big Belly. And even In 'n Out and Salt 'n Straw if Ritz wants to give us a ride! You think she'd give us a ride? That would be soooo cool."
    While she's babbling cheerfully, she reaches for some of Theo's cheetos, shoving them into her mouth.

Irie West has posed:
Irie gasps! "Waffle bar? Buffet!?" You can /always/ get a speedster's attention with the 'B' word. "You must show me these things! A waffle bar! In space!" She shakes her head, "This place continues to be awesome."

She nods to Madison, "Yeah. Dyani would /love/ to get some of her bees up in space. Just in case... well... it doesn't matter right now." She says, quickly cutting herself off for yet another spoiler. "I think if we promised Ritz that she can have some ice cream with us if she takes us to Salt 'n Straw, she'll be more willing.

Oh, and you know that bag of popcorn she's been holding? It's empty now.

Raven Darkholme has posed:
Theo bought them to share, so he turns the bag toward Madison when she reaches for it.

"Dyani?" he says quizzically. "I've heard that name... where did I hear that... OH!" He suddenly sits up, looking excited. "She's the mutant Clare rescued! I'll bet Clare would bring her up to put a hive up here, that would probably be really helpful and then there would be bees in space, and space honey!" He seems to like that idea too.

"Okay, so you two want to see the space waffle bar and space buffet?" He looks between them. "I'll talk to Clarice about the endangered animals, maybe she can talk to Mystique... not making any promises though."

Madison Evans has posed:
    "I mean, not tigers or anything, obviously. But like... a couple endangered bird species, you know? Something small. Maybe some little flightless birds or something, I don't know." Madison gives a shrug of her shoulders, then glancing around at the garden for a moment, she returns her attention to her friends to add, "Well, I could pretty much stay here //forever//, but it'd be cool to see the rest of the place, too. I mean, waffle bars are nice. And seriously - if there's somewhere we could do zero G - I reeeeeeally wanna try zero G's. You know?"

Irie West has posed:
"Yes!" Irie says enthusiastically! "Waffle bar!" You can always win Irie over with food. "You can have, like, kiwis and stuff here. Are kiwis endangered? Probably not. They're cute as heck, though." She looks unsure at the prospect of zero G. "I... uh... will just watch you have fun. The whole feet on the ground thing."

Raven Darkholme has posed:
Theo bags the munchies back up. "Alright, come on. Elevator is... there, we can head to the cafeteria, oh wait..." he pauses, looking to Madison. "Maybe we should Zero-G first, just in case eating first leads to barfing." He then looks between the two of them, letting them decide that, but he does start walking toward the elevator.

Madison Evans has posed:
    "Zero G first, Zero G first!" Madison says eagerly - before belatedly giving her friend Irie a 'that's okay, yeah?' look. "I won't spend too long floating around," she promises. "This is gonna be the best - you're gonna have to take a video! And pictures! My hair's gonna be like," she gestures with her hands to show it floating all around her head.
    She is literally bouncing with each step as she follows Theo towards the elevator.

Irie West has posed:
"Yeah, that makes sense," She tells Theo. "Zero G puke," she says, shuddering. "No thank you." She follows Theo and Maddie onto the elevator, grinning at Maddie's enthusiasm. "Don't worry. I'm gonna be sure to film /all/ of it."

Raven Darkholme has posed:
Theo nonchalantly puts his back to the camera, because he knows it's there and they're always watching. Once Irie steps in, he enters the code for the floor with the training room and only once the elevator stars moving, does he step away from the console. When the doors open, there is a small room right before a set of double doors.

"I can make the doors there transparent so this room stays normal gravity, then the room beyond can be Zero-G for Madi and I, that sound good?" He asks as he steps off the elevator. The eyes already saw where the elevator stopped, so they had about ten minutes before someone would come by, but they'd already be in Zero-G... that is if anyone cared.

Madison Evans has posed:
    "That sounds good!" Madison agrees. She takes out her cellphone - unlocking it and handing off to Irie without any concern. After all - it's not like she really keeps secrets from her friends. Well, not many.
    She's bouncing in place now until the doors open - and the moment they are, she's through! Trying to push off with enough force so that, if the Zero G is already on, she'll so zipping across towards the far wall. If it's not, well, it'll just look like an enthusastic bound from a particularly excited Madison.

Irie West has posed:
Irie nods enthusiastically, taking Maddie's phone and holding it up, ready to start filming. "I'm ready when you are!" She doesn't even manage to finish the sentence when Maddie takes off! (possibly literally) She quickly presses record to capture her antics for all time.

Raven Darkholme has posed:
Theo opens the doors, but the Zero-G isn't on yet. Heading into the main training room after, which is massive in size, the first thing he does is set the doors transparent. When he learned they did that the first time, he had a giggle fit over it. Magneto made transparent steel, it was amazing really. Then he moves to the console, sets the safeties that lock those doors to ensure no one can enter the room, and then the room goes Zero-G. He's not supposed to know the room can even do this, but well, he's crafty.

"Take a minute to get used to it," he comments, even as the walls and ceiling go padded everywhere but one location, near the circles where the magic that is this room doesn't work. He hadn't figured that out yet, but he would. "And remember you'll float... really fast if you push off."

Madison Evans has posed:
    "Really fast in the plan!" Madison replies brightly. She doesn't bother to pay any attention to how Theo manages the controls - not quite sure when the zero g will kick in, she crouches down, and the moment she feels herself go weightless - she pushes off, propelling herself upwards with a squeal of delight. She starts twisting her body like a corkscrew - her arms held out in front of her to protect her from a wall that - well - she must be approaching at some point as she flies through the air, alternatingly squealing, and giggling in her delight. "SeriouslyIrieyoushouldgivethisatry!" Yeah. She sounds about like that right now.

Irie West has posed:
Irie giggles in delight as she watches Madison zoom around. "Maybe I'll give it a try," she concedes. "For you.." Of course she's catching /everything/ on camera. "You gonna go in too, Theo?"

Raven Darkholme has posed:
Theo is watching Madison for the most part, the other part is watching the screen of for the elevator. It hasn't moved, so clearly they weren't in any trouble yet.

"You want to see aerial gymnastics?" He asks Irie, then looks to her. "Or I could be a root for you, if you want to give it a try, can pull you back out quicker if you hate it."

Madison Evans has posed:
    "This is better'n any carinval ride!" Madison calls down to her friends. She keeps going up, up, up- how tall is this room?! "...Does the gravity come back on slowly?!" she asks.
    Probably better if she's close to the ground when it comes back on, anyways. Once she reaches the top, she'll push off again as hard as she can, this time, turning her momentum into forward summersaults - and then trying to mix up her corkscrews and summersaults, all with her hair flying wildly about her. Can she really not show this video to her mom?! But what would her mom say if she saw it...?

Irie West has posed:
"Maybe in a bit," Irie says to Theo. "I wanna catch this on camera." She keeps recording Maddie doing somersaults and twists. As if reading her mind Irie shouts out to her, "Your mom would totally freak out if she ever saw this. You'd be grounded for, like, a decade."

Raven Darkholme has posed:
Theo decides to just lean and watch Madison for now, but he does call in, "The gravity will come on all at once, but only when I enter the code. You're fine to bounce as much as you want in safety, even padded the ceiling and walls for you."

He's been in there doing all kinds of flips, working on a routine using the walls and ceiling, for no other reason then the exercise, and to show off to his sisters.

"I don't know if my sister even knows this room does it," he says to Irie, grinning ear to ear as he watches Madison. It was good to have friends, and watching her enjoy herself really made it even better in his mind... he was almost a real teenager.

Madison Evans has posed:
    Madison continues gleefully careening off the walls, flipping forwards, and backwards - twisting one way, and then the other. She's almost afraid to do anything other than push off for all she's worth - what if she runs out of momentum partway through, and ends up floating in space unable to get down?! This room is huuuuuuge.
    "Man. What else do they use this room for?! It's amazing!"

Irie West has posed:
"Yeah?" Irie asks Theo, eyes still glued to the screen as she pans and zooms around keeping Maddie in frame. "She's missing out. This looks like a lot of fun," she says. Watching Maddie having a grand old time is warming her to the idea of the whole zero G thing.

Once she's sure she's got enough footage she hands the phone over to Theo. "Okay." She says. "I'm gonna be brave." She walks up tentatively to the door and sticks her foot in. "Woah," she says, finding the feeling of being half weightless to be weird. She takes a deep calming breath. "Okay. Here I go." And then she steps in.

The motion of stepping in sends her off slowly rotating in space, which causes her to freeze in panic. Eyes wide, arms and legs are splayed out like the Vitruvian Man, and her coppery red hair is splayed out like a halo.

Raven Darkholme has posed:
Theo grins, then reaches down to enter a few commands into the console, and the walls move in... or at least it looks like they do. There's still more then enough room for flipping and twisting, but not Madison can really just let loose and realize that she won't get stuck. Taking the camera from Irie, he smiles and gets it set so he can keep Madison on the screen and Irie when she steps out there

"There's uh... all kinds of things this room can do, but I'm not really supposed to talk about them," he offers, stepping back over by Irie. "It can be a full sized gym, I can get gymnastic equipment, track and field, even shot put... uh, can put a swimming pool in here, pretty much, all kinds of things like that."

He was starting to realize there were a lot of things he's not supposed to talk about, and he's starting to hate it. Watching Madison some more, then looking to Irie he decides fuck it. "Listen, anything and everything about this place is one giant secret, not supposed to talk about anything, but I'm getting /real/ sick of that. I trust you two not to say anything, to anyone... this is the training room. Designed to challenge any mutant with any ability, even to challenge Mystique, so that they get better with their combat skills."

Noting that Irie is having what could be called a slow motion panic attack, he reaches out and grabs her foot to pull her back down to the ground, unless she says something to stop him... rescue instinct kicked in.

Madison Evans has posed:
    "How does it make a swimming pool?" Madison asks in puzzlement. "And how does it challenge mutants?" She tries to wrap her head around it - but she just doesn't understand the technology of it.
    As Irie steps out into the zero G, she lets out a large 'whoop!' calling cheerfully, "You got this, Irie! You can do it!" The next time she collides with the wall, she aims herself towards Irie with another strong push, grinning broadly at her friends.

Irie West has posed:
Irie unfreezes as soon as her feet touch the ground. "Okay. Phew. All right. I wasn't ready for that." She eyes the room warily. "I think I need, like, a rope to tie me down. Something to connect me to something solid and not movie." She shifts nervously in place giving Theo a wan smile. "That was, like, jumping into the deep end when you don't know how to swim." Believe her. That's happened to her once already.

At the whoop, Irie looks up and gives her a weak smile. "I think I need training wheels for this," she says. "I mean, you're a Jedi so this should be second nature to you. I bet you can use the force to make yourself go wherever you want."

Raven Darkholme has posed:
Theo walks back over to the console and programs in a harness with rope that just appears at the edge of the Zero-G, allowing Irie to be connected and yet float if she wants, and use the rope to pull herself back to the anchor point on the ground.

"There you go Irie, now you'll be tethered," he says, beaming a smile and not at all reacting her how nervous she got. It's alright, he's seen panic before and it's alright that she's nervous, so he's not going to make a big deal of it.

"Madi, do you mind if I set your phone up to record from the cameras in the room, so I can join in?" He asks, not wanting to do so without her permission.

Now that Madison as seen that things can just be 'added', he looks over to her with that same smile, "It's a room of pure technology, I think there's some alien tech in here too. I don't know how it all works yet, but I'm going to figure it out."

Madison Evans has posed:
    "Wait- what?" Madison careens to a halt next to Irie - staring at her friend - before abruptly hugging her. "You know - I think I can!" she squeals. And then she's off again, only this time, rather than physically pushing off, she thrusts with her hands without making any physical contact with anything - and goes flying away regardless. "Oh it works it works it works! Jedi for the win!"
    She has a look of concentration now, as she flips, and tumbles - and thrusts out with a hand to change her trajectory. "Can my phone even do that?" she asks with puzzlement. "I mean, sure! Hey, can it make a lightsaber? I would look sooooo cool doing this with a lightsaber!"

Irie West has posed:
Irie looks both relieved and impressed that the room more or less magically created a tether for her. She takes a step into the room onto the plate where there's still gravity, and gets herself into the harness. Just in time, too, since Maddie's hug sends her careening around the room. "AAAAAAAAAH!" She flails having bounced off one wall and sent off in another direction until she reaches the end of the tether with a "whoof" of air, knocked out of her.

Raven Darkholme has posed:
Theo gets a look on his face, then starts typing away at the console. First he hooks Madison's phone up to the cameras in the room, then he start adding a few things. Laying on the ground now are a couple of lightsaber hilts, that will come out purple when Madison turns one on. They don't so the same things, but Madison can swing them around, they'll make the same sounds, and later he'll figure out how to make them effective in the program for her, but not today.

"Two on the floor," he says, setting her phone on eht console. "Two different styles, pick one."

Watching Irie go flying into the wall, then bouncing off and going out to the end of the tether he winces slightly, "You alright Irie?" He steps away from the console and jumps into the air to head toward Irie, just in case she needs assistance. "Maybe I should make the walls less bouncy."

Madison Evans has posed:
    "Sooooooorry Irie!" Madison sounds genuinely contrite. It takes her a little concentration - but she manages to nudge herself a bit here, a bit there, using her telekinesis - until she's relatively still, and faced towards her friend. "You're okay?" she asks with concern.
    But as lightsabers appear on the floor, Madison holds an outstretched hand towads one, and it flies into her hand to be automatically activated with a snap-hiss. The momentum of it striking her hand, and the movement of her pulling her hands up into position send her slowly moving backwards, and rotating - but she's okay with that.
    "Okay, //now// how awesome do I look?" she asks her friends.

Irie West has posed:
Irie clings to the tether for dear life as she floats towards the anchor. She quickly gets the idea and starts reeling herself in, until she gets to that anchor, which allows her to get her breath, and everything else under control. "I'm okay!" she calls out to the other two, giving them a big ole' thumbs up.

She looks up from the 'floor' she's standing on to see Madison wielding an honest to goodness lightsaber. "You look /awesome/! Like a real Jedi!" Then, tentatively, a bit at a time, she gives slack to the lead and gently pushes off the floor to lazily float about in the air.

Raven Darkholme has posed:
Theo bounces against the wall, since Irie is safe and alright, and pauses to watch Madison for a moment.

"Totally Jedi Madi! You look great!" he calls out. He checks on Irie, to make sure she's doing alright still, then proceeds to do what all teenagers eventually do... show off.

Shoving off from the wall he begins a series of flips and maneuver's that carries him to the ceiling and lands there with his feet, to shove off again into another series of back flips and maneuver's and into the far wall where he shoves off with his hands to do the last set of moves that takes him to the far wall again. Everything was perfectly timed, fluid movements from surface to surface until he ends up back where he started, almost exact same spot.

Madison Evans has posed:
    "Man, how much have you been practicing this, Theo?!" Madison calls over.
    "How awesome would this be if I had someone to duel with?!" she asks, flinging her arm out to propel herself across space, swinging the lightsaber as if battling some imaginary foe, and trying to do some fancy twirls with the lightsaber. She fumbles it, unfortunately, and has to call it back towards her hand.
    "I mean, if I was fighting someone I could even-" she throws a hand out towards Theo, and pulls him intowards her, lightsaber held out like she intends to run him through!
    She deactivates it before he gets close enough, however. I mean, she's like 95% sure the lightsaber is completely harmless. But still.

Irie West has posed:
Irie has to figure out how to twist about in order to watch Theo show off. "Oh wow!" she breathes. "You're really good! You've been practicing that in here haven't you!" So far Irie seems to be just content in getting used to floating about in zero G and not doing any kind of fancy maneuvers.

She figures out how to twist around again to watch Maddie show off, too, and then giggles when she fumbles and recovers. "Keep practicing," she calls out to her. Eventually as she's floating she relaxes her death grip on the tether that's keeping her tied to earth. Or asteroid as case may be.

Raven Darkholme has posed:
Theo had no idea that Madison could do anything like that, a form of telekinesis perhaps? He doesn't fight being pulled over because he does distracted trying to figure out how she does it, but then there's a lightsaber. He knows it won't do anything, but there's still something kind of intimidating about it. He almost got worried then she turned it off, which means he can pulled over by her powers and hug her instead.

"About a week, maybe a little longer," he comments as he hugs Madison, then let's her go. He doesn't want her to think he's trying to make moves or anything. "I've always been a gymnast, the Zero-G is an added benefit and /really/ fun. I'm trying for two full rotations of the room before I show Clare, she's a gymnast too."

Once he let go of Madison he came to realize that he's floating in the middle of the room with nothing to push off and thus... stuck. "Um... Madi, think you could give me a little shove toward the wall or something?"

Madison Evans has posed:
    Theo didn't even need to ask - Madison flings out with her hands, propelling the other teen towards the wall - it also sends her towards the opposite well as she grins broadly at the result. She didn't seem at all put-off by the hug, either. "Man, Irie, you're a genius. How come you know how to use my powers better'n I do?" she asks. She pulls herself in towards one of the walls - and once she's perched against it, she sends the other lightsaber flying towards Theo with a gesture.
    "Come at me, Theo!" she challenges.

Irie West has posed:
"Ppfffthht." Irie's got a lot of hair and twisting this way and that has gotten it all in her face. She digs around in her pocket for a scrunchie, and somehow manages to pull her hair back into a ponytail without sending herself spinning around all over the place.

"I grew up around superheroes!" Irie calls back to her friend. "So I know a thing or two about creative uses of powers. Did you know I could do /this/?" She sticks an arm out pointing at Maddie and soon it's a blur. She's circling her arm so fast she's creating a wind vortex right there in the room! The wind is enough to send Irie sailing backwards and create turbulent currents throughout the room. "Maybe this wasn't a good idea!" She shouts, stopping before it gets too bad.

Raven Darkholme has posed:
Theo manages to catch the light saber right after connecting with the wall, then turns to stare at Madison. "Madi, I... I can't do anything more then push off and shoot across the room. I have no control out there like you do, once I'm out there I just float. On solid ground, sure I can flip around and give you a real challenge, but... I don't think I can do much more then push off and aim for you, while you control your movements. Besides, we owe Irie some waffles and the buffet soon, I wouldn't be able to do that all light saber sliced up, missing arms and such." He grins, trying to add a bit of a joke at the end there.

As Irie shows off her ability it was impressive for few moments, then she was shooting herself across the room unexpectedly and he can't help but laugh. "Didn't know you could do that, no," he managed to say with a grin.

Madison Evans has posed:
    "I know, but it'll look good on the video!" Madison counter-argues. No one likes a whiner - but there's a hint of a wheedling whine in her voice. Please, Theo, please please please?
    She launches herself at Theo, perhaps anticipating that he'll give in and do the same, as she holds her lightsaber at the ready! Only to be pulled off target by Irie antics.
    "I didn't kow either! Whoa!" She laughs at the unexpected air currents, and tries to use her telekinesis to get back on track towards Theo.

Irie West has posed:
Irie madly grabs the tether, and starts hauling herself to the ground, so she can get her feet underneath her. "You know," she says, "We should turn the gravity back on so you two /can/ do all that flippy Jedi fight stuff." And not because she got a little queasy from her last stunt. Not at all.

"And then.... WAFFLES."

Raven Darkholme has posed:
Theo decides to hug the wall in hopes that the wind doesn't blow him anywhere, other wise he'll probably end up in the center of the room stuck again. That's the problem with Zero-G, no momentum without something to push off. Then when he thinks its safe enough, he pushes off to go after Madison with enough force to also ensure he gets to the other wall in the end.... he also have troubles telling her no.

He'll try to take a few attacks as he goes by, and tries to avoid any she's throw out, and when he hits the other wall, pushes off toward the console.

"Waffle time!" he announces, grabbing the console to put his feet on the ground. "Get yourself to the ground please."

Madison Evans has posed:
    Madison has a huge grin on her features as she swings away, aiming for Theo's lightsaber, before they sail on pass each other. She deactivates her lightsaber then, and with a gesture of her hand, starts pulling herself back down towards the ground. This is the most telekinesis she's used at once - and it felt good, but it always felt tiring. She had to practice her powers more often. Once her feet touch down she calls towards Theo, "I'm down!"

Irie West has posed:
Irie has her feet underneath her and is holding on to the tether so she doesn't lift off. "Waffle time!" She says in acknowledgement that she's ready for the gravity to be turned back on.

Raven Darkholme has posed:
Theo enters a command into the console, and rather then a sudden smack down by gravity, it sort of eases back in. Thankfully there's no change in the air pressure or anything like that, just weightlessness easing into weight again. Disconnecting Madison's phone, he offers it over to her, "Should have all the angles on there, but your storage might be a little full. You can look through and save what you want, or put it on a thumb drive."

He gives it a few to ensure his body is back in control on the ground, then starts shutting down everything. The room returns back to what it normally looks like, a massive empty room. "Waffles," he repeats then, and heads to the elevator. "Oh! Apple fritters! They make em fresh, every day."

Madison Evans has posed:
    "...why does this place have to be so cool?" Madison asks. Her lighsabers are gone - that's fine. She has her FX one at home... She casually puts one arm over Irie's shoulder before she adds in a quieter voice, "You're okay, yeah? I'm glad you gave it a try!" She grins at the other girl as they allow Theo to lead the way towards the cafeteria. Asteroid M - it's a magical place.

Irie West has posed:
"Yuuuuuus!" Irie says, once her feet are solidly underneath her. "Apple fritters!" She goes to fiddle with the buckles of her harness, but then blinks in surprise when it disappears along with the rest of the room. "Oh, neat!"

Irie snakes an arm around Maddie's waist and gives her a lopsided hug. "I'm good," she says. "The tether really helped. I knew I was tied to solid ground and could reel myself back in if I felt like things were getting out of control."

She lets go of her friend, "But now it's waffle time. And fritter time. Waffritter time!"