7871/Figuring out Pool

Figuring out Pool
Date of Scene:	18 September 2021
Location:	Recreation Room
Synopsis:	Dashenka meets many new people! She also might have made a friend. Yay! Also, pool was played.
Cast of Characters:	Dashenka Ivanov, Laxmi Mallick, Jubilation Lee, Noriko Ashida, Samuel Guthrie, Roxxi Smith

---

Dashenka Ivanov has posed:
Xavier's new student, Dashenka Ivanov, has been making her rounds across the Mansion. It's not a patrol, she tells herself, but she can't think of anything else she wants to do. So far she's managed to mark 34 potential points of entry, noted the location of every security camera and has marked every exit in her mind.

The end of her rounds ends here in the recreation room. This is where people go to have fun. She looks around and tries to figure out what, exactly, is 'fun' about this room.

Ah, there's a pool table. That looks obviously to be a game of some sort, so she walks over to it. She studies the table for a moment, assessing it's contents. Balls, pockets, and sticks. She picks up one of these sticks and twirls it around like a bo staff, hefting it's weight and feel. It could do as a weapon in a pinch.

Laxmi Mallick has posed:
    Laxmi was already present in the Recreation room, serving drinks to some of the students like she was 'bartender' - and looking in amusement at one of the student's requests. "Orange fanta and root beer? Alright," she confirms. Why question someone else's tastes, really? What's the point? She fills the drink request, offering it over - before getting her own drink, a glass of seltzer water with a squeeze of lemon juice. She's sipping on it as she turns to study Dashenka at the pool table, a curious expression altering into a warm, friendly smile should the girl look her way.

Jubilation Lee has posed:
    Jubilation Lee walks into the Recreation Room after giving the large, wooden doors a push. She moves with an unusual, unsettling grace, which makes it appear as though she's gliding through the air. Anyone looking at her feet would see they're walking as usual, though. As she slips through the room, Jubilee reaches up and pulls her hair back into a ponytail, courtesy of a hair tie that had just been worn on her wrist. Immediately, she moves towards the snack area and sidles up to the 'bar'

    As soon as she does, several students rearrange themselves to put at least a couple of feet between them and Jubilee. She glances around at the other kids who just cleared for her and pulls her Ray Bans out of her hair. She slips them over her eyes and tilts her head towards one of her shoulders.

    "Orange soda, please," she requests from the 'bartender' -- hey, when in Rome, right?

    'I thought she doesn't drink anything...' is the current status of the murmuring students near the bar.

    "New student?" Jubilee wonders aloud. She's not talking to anyone in particular over at that soda bar and, in fact, seems to be avoiding directly addressing anyone. "No one told me..." Jubilee furrows her brow. She IS the RA and would probably be told about someone new, though, recently things have been...complicated.

Noriko Ashida has posed:
Not a moment after Jubilation orders her drink does Noriko appear next to Jubilation at the bar, someone's homework breezing off a table in her wake to the tune of a complaint.  "Hey."  She makes eyebrows at the Jubilee.

"I'll have what she's having please?"  Yeah Nori just skipped some kids in line.  She's even facing them currently.  "Oh hi."  Nori finally turns around, noticing it is a member of the faculty there.

The speedster's eyes zip toward the pool table, taking their cue from Laxmi's gaze.  Her head tilts.  "I think she wants to spar," she says with a smirk.

"New girl!  Do you like soda?" Nori calls out, the words rush from her mouth but are clearly enunciated.

Dashenka Ivanov has posed:
The students that are giving Jubilation a wide berth has also given Dashenka a wide berth. The large girl just towers over them and radiates a kind of intensity that can be intimidating. So far nobody has come up to her to ask her what in the heck she's doing.

She's dressed like she's in the military. Grey BDUs and combat boots, with plain white tank tee up top that shows off her generous arm and back muscles. For those who have enhanced senses they can tell her scent isn't quite human. She smells musky, more animal like. Ursine if they're familiar with that scent.

Her nose twitches when Jubilation slides into the room, and her gaze raises from the pool table to stare intensely at the young woman. Piercing blue eyes study the vampiress, assessing her as if she could be a potential threat, but coming to the conclusion that she is not, her gaze softens a bit. Not much, but a bit.

"You are the vampir," she says, her voice at a normal volume but said across the room to Jubilee. Her ice blue eyes turn to regard Nori impassively and responds in her comically thick Russian accent, "I do not know. I have not tried soda."

Laxmi Mallick has posed:
    "Two orange sodas?" Laxmi asks for confirmation - not seeming to mind at all as she turns to fill the order for the girls - adding ice to the sodes, and sliding in reuseable straws. She sets them on the counter as she adds in a quiet voice, "Her name is Dashenka."
    Turning towards the towering girl she adds warmly, "What don't you come join us, dear? I'll make you a 'sampler' of the different sodas so you can see which you like." She gives her another smile, before turning to do just that - fishing out some smaller glasses so she can add a small amount to each one, and line them up in order for her to taste. She even adds a glass of plain seltzer water, and one of seltzer water with lemon. Perhaps she doesn't have a sweet tooth? She doesn't know what they fed her in that military camp.
    Other than 'stew.'

Jubilation Lee has posed:
    Jubilee says her thanks with a smile. "Deshenka, huh?" she repeats. "Well. We'll have to say hello."

    Jubes reaches out and uses the back of her hand to push her orange soda in front of Noriko, joining the one that had been prepared for her. She smiles at the speedster, life returning to her face briefly. "I guess I just knew you were coming," she says softly, smiling. The moment is cut short.

    Like any predator, Jubilation can feel those eyes on her, assessing her. When she meets the student's gaze, she does not flinch or turn away. While her eyes might be hidden behind those dark sunglasses, her face is pointed directly at Deshenka, staring back. "Do we have an ROTC program?" she wonders aloud, glancing at Noriko first. She sounds sincere, even good-natured about it. "I feel like I would know if we have a ROTC program."

    But then the v-word is used. It comes from across the room but Jubilation's major senses have been very acute since her return from death, so she hears it clearly. It's the word normally used to describe what she is, what she has become, but something about it just cuts to the core for Jubilee. She narrows her eyes and curls her lips, as though doing so might better hold back the aggression building inside her. Jubilation fights off a hiss that wants to cut into the air...

    One of her hands, the one closest to Noriko, curls into a tiny fist down by her side.

Noriko Ashida has posed:
"Yes please and thank you two for me, one for her which I will also drink," Nori slips in somehow as if this were what was meant all along and it is perfectly natural to have two orange sodas to oneself and another one.  She even smiles politely.

The smile is redirected and broadened when an orange soda ends up being shoved right underneath her chin.  She leans to give the newly minted vampire a kiss on the cheek.  Yes.  Let's all kiss deadly predators on the cheek, once, twice, three times close in a blur which is more felt than seen.

But it's a slight tenseness in that frame that the speedster feels which makes her stop in her own quick little world and take notice of the small fist, the direction of Jubilation's gaze.  The speedster didn't hear the word.  She leans against Jubilation and reaches to take her tiny fist hand.

"I don't think we dooo...?"  Jubes' donated orange soda has been disappearing at a steady rate.  That is quickly.

Dashenka Ivanov has posed:
Dashenka gives Laxmi a curt nod, and sets the pool cue away in it's rack and strides over to the counter where the long line of sodas are waiting for her. She leans down, her nostrils flaring as she takes in their scents. She hesitantly picks up the first glass and downs it like you would a shot. Her normally impassive face visibly winces as she comments. "It is very sweet. Are all sodas so sweet?"

Her eyes glance back up at Jubilee, noting her aggression. She doesn't seem too bothered by it. Indeed, she says, "Is okay. We are what we are. I am not afraid." It's an acceptance that borders on indifference, like stating 'you are a vampire' is on par with 'you are a teenager.' It is what it is.

Her attention is drawn back to the line of sodas, and her nose twitches again, taking in the scents of the different sodas until she gets to the seltzer with lemon. She picks this up and downs it, like she did the soda and nods. "This I like," she declares, in that same kind of impassive deadpan kind of way. "Is not sweet, and has bubbles. I like this."

Having determined that he turns to face Jubilee and Noriko fully, her body ramrod straight. "I am Dashenka Ivanov," she declares. "I have arrived two nights ago. I am new. To many things." Her demeanor isn't hostile at all, but is of the kind of military formality that one would find in a soldier.

Laxmi Mallick has posed:
    "Most of them are, yes, but these two won't be," Laxmi explains explains. "And this one," she indicates a pink lemonade, "will be sweet, but won't be bubbly." She gives the girl an encouraging smile, before turning her gaze back to Noriko and Jubilee, watching the demeanor of the pair.
    "Dashenka hasn't been at our school long," she remarks, trying to infuse something calming in her tone - drawing subtly on her mutant gift to alter emotions. "I'm sure it would be helpful to her if students who knew the school well would show her the ropes around here."
    She moves back to the soda fountain, getting a larger glass of the seltzer, and dosing it with lemon juice once more, which she sets in front of Dashenka. "You and I have similar tastes, it seems. It's seltzer water with lemon. I'm sure you'd enjoy it with lime as well - the taste is very similar."

Jubilation Lee has posed:
    Jubilation feels the touch against her hand and lowers her eyes to see the speedster's comfort. Her mouth curls into a smile, fangs just peeking out. She was able to retract them once, but she has since forgotten how she did it. For now, the aggression that had been building seems to melt away, pulling Jubilation back in control. Her fist relaxes. Noriko had caught the moment before it even happened.

    Jubilation's eyes shift to Laxmi, nodding her head a little. "Yeah, it's basically my calling," she replies, glancing at the teacher from over one shoulder. As Resident Advisor in the dorms, Jubilee had done so many tours of Xavier's that she could draw a Marauder's Map by heart. Lately, though, fewer and fewer students have taken her up on the standing offer.

    Jubilee tilts her head back and looks up at the new student. "Well, I'm Jubilation. This is Noriko," she says, nudging her shoulder against Nori's. "How do you like Xavier's, Dash?" So quick to the informality.

Noriko Ashida has posed:
The electric blue-haired Japanese girl lifts a gauntlet in greeting when she is introduced.  "I'll show you Jeepers' scratch spots," she offers, as if this were important information to know when coming to the school.  "And where the kitchen is.  Do you like to eat?  I like to eat."

Then Noriko quiets up so Jubilee can talk and ask her one question, having squeezed all her words in right after her introduction.  "What she said first maybe."  Nori points to Jubes beside her with her thumb with a little lean back into Jubes' shoulder.

Dashenka Ivanov has posed:
"It is confusing," Dashenka answers informatively. "There is so much new and I do not know what to do." She gratefully takes the offered soda from Laxmi and nods. "Spasiba."

When Jubilation introduces herself, Dashenka remembers the correct formality her foster parents taught her. "It is good to meet you," she says, though with the way she impassively speaks it's hard to tell if it really /is/ good to meet her.

"What is a 'Jeepers?'" she asks Noriko. Is that a hint of curiosity behind those steely eyes? "I know where kitchen is. I do not know if I like to eat. There have been..." she seems to be struggling with the language as she picks out the word, "interesting food. Some I like. Some I do not. I do not like stew."

Laxmi Mallick has posed:
    "I hope you've enjoyed the food here so far," Laxmi says in a warm tone - sipping her own seltzer - before moving to fill a soda for another of the students. "I thought the butternut ravoli was quite good, but we all have different tastes, I know." With the last of the drink orders filled, she finally moves around the bar to the other side of the counter - pulling herself up onto a stool next to Noriko.
    "It's certainly a blessing to have students willing to help the new arrivals to adjust. It can be so overwhelming, getting to know a new home."

Samuel Guthrie has posed:
Sam Guthrie comes walking into the Rec room, a brief case item in hand, though it is shallower and longer than your average briefcase. He is heading over towards the pool table, and sees the people here he offers a nod and wave in greeting "Hey ya'll" He greets them.

Jubilation Lee has posed:
    Jubilation shakes her head at the thought of that meal. "Well, Noriko here can tell you all the best places to get food if you find that a 'butternut ravioli' night is upon you," she explains. She leans forward and brings her hand up to project a whisper. "It's technically not poison but, you know, that FDA plays things fast and loose these days." Jubilation's gaze slides to Sam Guthrie and his briefcase. "What have you got there, Sam?" she asks, stirring a little on her stool.

Noriko Ashida has posed:
"Rogue's dog.  You've probably already seen him and don't even know it."  Noriko shrugs.  "Well that's why you have to try more things, to find the things you do."

Grumble rumble.  Speaking of hunger.  Noriko's stomach growls loudly.  "I forgot to eat...Seeya!"  She plants a little parting kiss on Jubilation's cheek.  And then with that, the speedster blurry walks off on out the door.  The effect might be unsettling to some, strolling with her hands in the pockets of her cargo pants.

Dashenka Ivanov has posed:
Dashenka gives Laxmi a questioning look. "I do not know what... But-teer-nut Squash Rav-ee-ol-ee is." She draws out the unfamiliar words, pronouncing them as well as she can. Her eyes turn back to Jubilation, and there's a desperate kind of helplessness that leaks through her impassive mask. "What is FDA? Why would it be poison? I do not understand."

Laxmi Mallick has posed:
    "She's just making a joke, Dashenka," Laxmi reassures the girl. "None of it is poison. The food here is very healthy, and it's good." And there is, thankfully, always something for the vegetarians. "Butternut squash ravioli is... Well, do you know pasta?" she asks. "Noodles? Ravioli is a noodle with something inside it. Like... a dumpling. And butternut squash is a vegetable. An orange vegetable - a little bit sweet. It's very good." She smiles uncertainly, wondering if her explination helps at all, as her gaze follows Sam to the pool table.
    "Do you bring your own cue?" she asks - wondering at the case herself.

Samuel Guthrie has posed:
Sam Guthrie looks over to Jubilee, and says "Oh just Mabel." He tells her and sets the case on the edge of a table opening it up and pulling out parts of a pool que starting to screw them back together. He looks over and says "I have played against Mr Summers enough need all the edge I can get." He jokes. He elooks over to Dashenka and says "She is just joshing with you." Seeing the confused look he thinks for a moment and in russian he will say <It is like a Pelmeni, but they have them stuffed with different things where you get them. The FDA makes sure packaged food is safe from the factory.> Then back to English "And Jubs thinks anything that can't be biggie sized is poison." He teases.

Jubilation Lee has posed:
    "Oh, no, nothing," Jubilee says to Dashenka, shaking her head. "I'm only---" making a joke. Laxmi got it. Jubilee nods her head at that and shrugs her shoulders.

    Jubilation briefly looks in Noriko's direction. "Make sure you brush after," she requests, smirking a little as she watches the speedster blur-walk on out of the Recreation Room. Why would she want to specifically request that? Perhaps the answer comes in the form of Jubilation's expression as Laxmi begins to describe butternut ravioli. Each additional descriptor seems to repulse Jubilee even more.

    "Gross..." she mutters, clearly affected by all the food talk. Human food has lost its luster.

    Sam Guthrie manages to bring in the one thing that can distract Jubilation from the foul feeling that comes with thinking about ravioli: a small briefcase containing several pieces of short, stubby cylinders of wood. Jubes stares, slowing standing up from her stool.

Dashenka Ivanov has posed:
"Is Joke," she repeats. This makes sense. She understands jokes, but sometimes it's hard to pick them out with a language one is struggling with. Sam gets a surprised look when he speaks to her in Russian. She gets a grateful expression and her stoic exterior just /melts/.

<Thank God there is somebody who speaks Russian,> she says. <It's so hard to communicate. Everything is so confusing and unfamiliar, and people keep using big words I don't know.>

She glances over to Jubilee and Laxmi, and realizes it's rude to just talk to Sam and not to them. Switching to English takes a bit of mental adjusting, "This is game, da?" she asks, gesturing at the pool table. "With balls and sticks. How does it work?"

She notices Jubilee's stare and her piercing blue eyes swing and notices the sticks. Something clicks in her head. "Ah," she says, turning back to the vampress. "Do not worry. Wood through heart kills most things. Is not vampir thing." She considers something for a bit before continuing, "I know. One mission was to kill vampir village. They told us how vampir work but do not worry," she says, her tone shifting to a firm, definitive tone. "I am done with killing."

Laxmi Mallick has posed:
    "It's called pool, but I'm not very good at it. You use the sticks - they're called 'the cue' - to bump the white ball. And the white ball has to hit the other balls, and knock them into the pockets. But you can't let the white ball go into the pockets. Sometimes there's rules on putting the balls into the pockets in order. They have numbers, you see. Or only putting colored balls in, or only putting striped balls in..."
    Towards Sam she adds, "I didn't realize you spoke any Russian. What a blessing, can I get you anything to drink?"
    Then towards Jubilee she adds, "Can you drink water? It feels strange - not being able to offer you anything."

Samuel Guthrie has posed:
Sam Guthrie looks over and notices the look from Jubilee, and the words of Vampire make him raise a brow. but he says "Ice Tea would be nice, normally Ah'm the one tending the bar." He smiles a bit and says "When I joined up the Professor mentally taught us a few languages of the fellow students, but when Illyana joined, even though she spoke English her and Pitor both broke into Russian now and again. So Ah worked on learning it in case Illy wanted to speak to someone besides her brother in her native language. My Russian aint perfect but passable." He admits. Then he says "The game is a lot about how you hit the balls, and how they move when hit. Since I his things and sometimes want them to bounce and not just go through them, have been working on improving my game." He realizes and says "Ah'm Sam by the way."

Jubilation Lee has posed:
    "Oh, no, thanks. I, uh, had that orange soda," Jubilation replies to Laxmi, pointing at one of the glasses that Noriko had emptied. It's an obvious lie meant to be recognized by the listener as something that wasn't said to deceive them. It's a convenient way to avoid the offer of water entirely.

    None of Dashenka's attempts to confort Jubilation about Sam's stick hit their target. She's right -- a stick through a heart kills most things, but although Jubilation has only been a vampire for a short while, her vampire instincts have started to form. She is unsettled by those sticks but doesn't understand, exactly, why. Dashenka's point about the wood-through-heart adds some clarity to Jubilation's sudden discomfort around a pool stick: she's afraid of it going through her heart all of a sudden.

    "Sam, are you going to the college now?" Jubilee wonders slowly, leaning forward so she can keep him in her sight unobstructed. There's nothing in this world that could pry her eyes off Sam and his possible implements of destruction. Nothing would distract her. Wait. Hold up.

    Jubilee turns towards Dashenka in a blur. "Wait, /what/ did you do?" she asks bluntly. Vampire village? Somewhere, deep down, she feels a connection to these other vampires and she's not sure why.

Dashenka Ivanov has posed:
Dashenka listens to Laxmi as she explains how pool works. "Hrm," she grumbles thoughtfully walking up to stand next to Sam. The large teen gives Sam a curt nod. "I am Dashenka," she says. "It is good to meet you. Please show me how to pool"

She turns back to impassively look at Jubilee. "Killed... no... murdered village of vampir." Dashenka decides to call it as it is. "Target was village in Siberia. It was one year ago. Six vampir in village of... maybe one hundred. Job was to murder all vampir and humans who were brain... er... " She points to her head and mimes a blank stare into the middle distance. "Ah! Controlled. Brain controlled."

She shakes her head and a dour look leaks out, "Was told whole village was brain controlled." A scowl pulls at her lips and she looks up at Jubilee. "I did not question. I /could/ not question. There were drugs and brain control to make me... agreeable." That isn't the right word, but it's close enough.

Laxmi Mallick has posed:
    "I'm Laxmi Mallick," Laxmi adds towards Sam, giving the man a smile. "Namaste." She presses her hands together in greeting, watching as Dashenka joins him at the pool table. "Dashenka has had a difficult life, but she's hear now to get an education, and learn how to live a free life, and make her own choices," she remarks, as she gets to her feet, moving towards the soda machine to get Sam the iced tea, which she's happy to carry over towards him. She moves with grace born from years of training in dancing.

Samuel Guthrie has posed:
Sam Guthrie will look to Jubes and starts to answer her, but gives it a moment, "Yes, criminal justice, and going to the police academy." He lets her know part of what he is up to. To Dashenka, he says "Sure, I will teach you if you want to know, and it would be how to play pool." He offers her gently trying to help with her English. To Laxmi, he will say "Nice to meet ya, I am about but splitting my time between here, and my girl and my place in the city." He admits. "We live above a comic shop, and her ballet studio."

Jubilation Lee has posed:
    Jubilation slowly nods her head up and down, looking past Dashenka at Sam and the pool cue. "Yeah..." is the word to reach her mouth first. "How did you know they were all mind controlled? What if..." Pool cue. "...What if they lied?" She offers up the question idly, still looking past the new student, as if she isn't too interested in the answer. Pool cue.

    "I'm going to split," she announces, standing from her stool. Her speech speeds up, as though she's suddenly in a hurry. "Dash, let me know once you get settled in and I can show you all the best places. I'd introduce you around, but, uh, lately being seen with me is like social suicide."

    Jubilation begins to move for the door, gliding through the air as though she's not really walking, even though every step she takes is on the ground. Eerie.

Dashenka Ivanov has posed:
"I do not know," Dashenka says. "When I think.... I think it was lie. But I do not know, and I do not want to go back to ask." She nods. "Da. Will call you when 'settled in.'"

She makes her way to the pool table to watch Sam as he explains to her the rules of the game.

Laxmi Mallick has posed:
    "Do take care Miss Lee!" Laxmi calls after Jubilee, before perching herself on one of the barstools once more, watching as Sam begins to teach Dashenka the rules of the game. She smiles quietly to see the girl settling in - and leaning new skills. Even showing curiosity in the game, it was making a choice, and that was good.
    She takes a sip of her seltzer before remarking, "It sounds like you keep very busy. It's a wonder you have any time for pool at all."

Roxxi Smith has posed:
     In place of the gliding Jubes bounces the irrepressible Roxxi. "Hi Jubilation, bye Jubilation!." She calls as she passes the 'v-word' at the door.
     The young woman with her blue hair tied up in twin buns, bounds into the rec room. A quick tick of green eyes to those gathered before she heads straight for the soda fountain. Muffins, for his part, hangs limply on one hip, through a belt loop.
    "Hi Miss Mallick!" Roxxi chirps brightly as she nears.

Samuel Guthrie has posed:
Sam Guthrie sets his cue on the table moving to rack the balls, explaining how to do it to Dash as he does "You alternate between stripes, and solids, eight ball goes into the center, for when your playing 8 ball." He explains and then looks over to Laxmi "Well like Ah said is good practice for working on the physics. Plus Ah like to make sure Ah spend some time out here, see friends, and be there is any of the kids need someone to talk to, Ah was in there spot just six years ago. Fresh here from Kentucky never knew a live like that here. Thanks for the tea." He tells her and then nods to the new arrival.

Laxmi Mallick has posed:
    "It's good, though, that they have each other to rely upon, and the teachers..." Laxmi remarks with a small smile. "Community makes us strong - gives us support, and acceptance. I'm the only one in my family who has mutant gifts, and the rest of the family doesn't always see it for the blessing it is," she says with some regret.
    "I love my family, but I wish I could have had something like this when I was younger, as well."
    She shifts her attention towards Roxxi as the girl enters, greeting her with a broad smile. "Hello Roxxi. Do you want to learn how to play pool? Sam's teaching."

Roxxi Smith has posed:
    Roxxi makes it around the bar to the Soda fountains. Grabbing a cup, and she starts to fill it with a little bot of all the flavors. Glancing up from her mixology, she waves happily at Sam. "Hi!"
     At Laxmi's voice, the teen glances at the pool table, her faced scrunched thoughtfully. "I think I know how to play..." She starts, though her voice isn't entirely certain. "The youth center had a table kinda like this, but it wasn't this fancy..."

Samuel Guthrie has posed:
Sam Guthrie nods a bit and once he has the table set, he will get his stick, and one of the house ones for Dash, showing her how to hold it, and about chalk for the stick, and powder for your hands. "I was really lucky on that part, my family accepted me pretty easily only one of my brothers and one of my sisters had any problem with it. Little brother got over it first, and sister did too, but her problem was more falling into a bad crowd than her own personally." He admits. Now, I have a few siblings who have been or are students here."

Laxmi Mallick has posed:
    "My parents wish I would keep my gifts to myself. They don't understand why I would want to be so public about it. They think I will see enough discrimination over my skin color - so they're speaking from concern, but... I don't think we make progress by hiding who was are," Laxmi explains, a smile playing across her features as she watches him with the much larger girl.
    "It's good to have your family's support, though. My family support my music, and my dancing..." So she has that at least.
    "Not your favorite game, then?" she asks Roxxi curiously. "I'm awful at pool, myself."

Roxxi Smith has posed:
     Roxxi leans against the opposite side of the bar from Laxmi. She sips on her syrupy concoction before offering. "Oh! My social worker told me to keep my gifts a secret too." She shrugged. "Not really sure if anyone else in my family is a mutant. " She watched Sam teaching ah for a bit before she focused on her dance teacher once more. "Hm? Oh. It's okay I guess. I kinda like more active games better. Like basketball!"

Samuel Guthrie has posed:
Sam Guthrie smiles and says "Well we have a decent amount of folks for most games at times around here." He says of the games. Ah could not really hide my powers when it kicked in, was somewhat dramatic, and from a small town. Ma, and the little ones got a little grief about it but luckily most folks in a small town either are ok with you no mater what, or you know which ones to avoid."

Laxmi Mallick has posed:
    "I prefer soccer, myself," Laxmi replies with amusement. "But I had little time for sports. When I wasn't studying - I was practicing." She sips her seltzer again before adding, "My ability to manipulate emotions manifested first, I think - but none of us noticed. Everyone thought- well. It just seemed as if my singing had somehow grown particularly moving - it was easy to mistake what was happening. It took me quite a long while to realize what I was doing."

Dashenka Ivanov has posed:
"Why is called eight ball when there is sixteen?" Dashenka asks, curiously. She passively lets Sam give her a cue and chalks it up once shown how and dusts her hands. "I do not have family," she says kind of out of the blue. "I do not remember when I was young. First memory is of chair, and drugs, and pain." She says this all impassively, like it doesn't really bother her. After all. This is all she knew.

She looks up from the pool table and nods at Roxxi. "Privyet, Roxxi," she says.

"My bear came soon after pain. Komandir was pleased." Again, she delivers this dead pan like this was true of everybody. "Soon there were..." she searches for the word. She looks over to Sam to ask, "Jeksperimenty?" When he gives her the translation she nods, "Da. Experiments."

Roxxi Smith has posed:
     "Soccer is good too." Roxxi beamed at Laxmi. "I had a Foster brother that loved to watch it on T.V. Gooooooaaalll!"
     As the subject seems to settle on mutant gifts, Roxxi stares expectantly at Sam. "Well, what is it?!" She asked with a laugh, "What's your gift?"
    "Hi Dashenka!" Roxxi gave a quick wave as the taller teen greeted her from the pool table. She made a sort of 'yuck' face, as much for Dashenka's recollections, as for some of the thing it brought to mind. "My foster Mom tried to cure me. It didn't work, that's why I got sent to the group home."

Samuel Guthrie has posed:
Sam Guthrie looks over to them, and says "I fly at high speeds, and have a blast shield around me that makes me and anyone Ah am carrying while blasting neigh invulnerable. " He looks over to Dash. "Your goal in it is to knock the eight ball in either on the break, thats the first shot of the game, when it scatters the balls. If you don't then your goal is to knock all your balls, solids or stripes in and then knock the 8 ball in. The white ball is used by everyone and then there are seven stripes, and seven solids. High numbers and low numbers around eight." Then to Laxmi "You and my brother Jos... er Jay should talk some part of his powers are vocal based. He is a musician also."

Laxmi Mallick has posed:
    "Oh, I've met Jay! Such a talent," Laxmi says with warmth in her voice. "And such an eager student." But of course - she's teaching music, which he loves. She would have no idea how he does at other subjects. "And his wings are beautiful. Such gifts, and obviously, such a loving family. He is fortunate."
    Especially as compared to poor Dashenka, who Laxmi regards with concern. "Well - your past is behind you, and your future is far brighter, my dear. There should be no pain for you here," she promises gently. "And we each have the opportunity to find out own families in this life. It isn't the same - but you will find people who care about you and support you here."
    After another sip of her seltzer she adds towards Roxxi in a quiet voice, "I've never really understood the point of //watching// people play sports..."

Dashenka Ivanov has posed:
Dashenka gives Roxxi a curt nod. "There is no cure," she agrees. Not that this is a disease to cure, but being able to express that in English is beyond her.

She nods to Sam when he explains the rules of the game. "So eight ball is center," she confirms. She nods to the table. "You go first. I will see how it works."

Laxmi gets another curt nod. "Da. Past is past. There will be pain," she says, though. "it is part of life. But not so much, da?"

Roxxi Smith has posed:
     Roxxi listened as Sam described his gift. "Oh neat! Wish I could fly." The blue-haired teen sighed wistfully.
     Her thoughts didn't stay long on daydreams of flight but returned to Laxmi with a shrug. "I don't know, but he seemed to like it. I just thought it was funny. You know, everyone is just so excited!"
     Roxxi nods at Dasha. "Well, my foster mom never found one, anyway. Oh, do you want a soda?" She glances at the pool table, to see if either of the players have a drink.

Samuel Guthrie has posed:
Sam Guthrie says, "The guy Ah consider my best friend taught me how to play soccer, right out that ways." He motions towards one of the schools fields. "Well hopfully you will find your time here as good as mine has been, Ah consider those Ah went to school with here as family, and would do most anything for them." He leans over and shows Dash how to hold the stick, and says "Now you don't want to hit it as hard as you can, depending on where your wanting it depends how hard you want to hit it on break, a nice firm hit is best." He does that and one of the stripes goes into the corner pocket "Ok since Ah got one in, Ah get to go again, and since it was a stripped ball my goal is the stripes yours the solids." He continues with the teaching. "Well, If you ever want to know what flying is like I am willing to give folks a ride now and again." He offers. to them. He looks to Lax and says "Your teaching music right? We have anyone teaching Dance?""

Laxmi Mallick has posed:
    "There will be some pain - but no, not as much. And more joy, I would hope," Laxmi encourages with a smile, before looking back towards Roxxi. "Dashenka is right, there's no cure, and no need for one. Our gifts are just that, even if it is harder to find the purpose of some of them than for others. I believe there's a rhyme and a reason to it."
    After sipping her drink once more, she smiles at Sam with some amusement, remarking, "I teach dance. Modern, contemporary, and Kathak dance."

Dashenka Ivanov has posed:
"Nyet," she tells Roxxi. "Soda is too sweet." She catches Laxmis attention by raising her now empty glass, walking back to the bar and setting the glass down. "I will have another." Then remembering some of the manners that her foster parents taught her she adds, "Please."

She watches Sam break the table like a hawk, icy blue eyes staring intently on him and at every move he makes. "Does it matter what number ball is?" she asks.

Turning back to Roxxi when she's satisfied she understands what it is that Sam is doing she says, "I have been told to dance. So I will dance."

Roxxi Smith has posed:
     At Sam's offer, Roxxi gasped. "Oh really?! I would love that! That's so nice of you!" She said truthfully before attention shifted to Laxmi. Roxxi shrugged absently. "I wasn't looking for a cure Miss Mallick." She smiles brightly. "I'm happy the way I am!" She continued to sip happily from her soda.
     As Dashenka mentions dancing, Roxxi beamed. "I'm taking dance with Miss Mallick too. I hope you like it. If not, we can find something you do like! Okay?" She grinned hopefully at the taller teen.

Samuel Guthrie has posed:
Sam Guthrie nods, a bit and says "Dancing may seem awkward at first, but it is a good skill to know, never know when it will be handy." To Laxmu he will add "Will have to introduce you to Allegra sometime." He smiles and to Dash. "Not in eight ball, another game nine ball, you do, it is only played with the first nine balls." He motions to a pocket makes a shot, and then misses his next one "In a friendly game like this, you don't have to call your shots, but as you get better at it some people play you have to. The only one your supposed to call here is the eight."

Laxmi Mallick has posed:
    "Another seltzer? Sure, Dashenka," Laxmi agrees, climbing to her feet. She takes the cup to the soda machine, refilling it as she begins humming quietly to herself, adding ice and a spritz of lemon to the drink before the returns it to the teen.
    "Dancing it a good way to calm your mind, and remain fit, as well as practice balance and coordination. I don't know what I could do without dance." She refills her own glass as well, now, before resuming her seat at the bar.
    "Allegra - she's the girlfriend you mentioned earlier?" she asks. "You said she teaches ballet? I'm not particularly good at ballet, but I'm always happy to meet other dancers."

Dashenka Ivanov has posed:
Dashenka nods to Roxxi. "Da. Okay." She watches as Sam makes his first shot, but then misses his second. <So this is just like calculating trajectories, yes?> she asks him, switching to Russian because she has no idea how to say 'calculating' and 'trajectory' in English.

She walks up to the table and stalks around it, piercing blue eyes studying the positions of all the balls before taking her cue and bending over to take a shot. Her first shot is hit much harder than is normal, and the ball just kind of ricochets off the back of the pocket and whips around the table. By sheer coincidence she manages to get one of her other balls in. "Hrm," she grunts. "Too hard. I got one in. I still go even it was not one I hit, yes?"

"Spasiba," she says walking back to the counter to take her drink, and sips it gingerly. She really /likes/ the bubbles and the lemon flavor, she decides. "This is what you said. Stay fit, balance and cord-in-achon?" She's not familiar with that last word.

Roxxi Smith has posed:
     Roxxi drains her soda and starts to deal with her cup. At Dashenka's 'da' the blue-haired teen looks up. Just that quickly, Roxxi deems it her solemn duty to find something that the Russian teen enjoys. With a smile that almost splits her face, she skips around Laxmi, to twirl around the pool table. "Great! We will find something you like Dashenka, I know it!"

Samuel Guthrie has posed:
Sam Guthrie nods, and says "Yes it is basically that, and as long as you knock one of yours and not one of mine. Also if you sink the cue ball, it ends your turn also." He tells her. "When I first came we had dance off campus in town, and though felt a bit awkward in the tights it was a good thing." He will also translate coordination into Russian for Dash. "There are lots of things for you to try as you figure out what is something you enjoy."

Laxmi Mallick has posed:
    "Coordination is being able to use different parts of your body at the same time - smoothly and effortlessly - to achieve your goal," Laxmi supplies - perhaps not realizing that Sam had provided her with the word. She sips her seltzer again - smiling as she watches the teen play the game. She was glad to see the girl enjoying herself - she deserved it. She wouldn't have such a hard time fitting in here, she decides.
    "I'm sure you both will. Dashenka is very fortunate to have such enthusiastic friends." She smiles at Roxxi, then adds towards Sam, "Truth be told, I was never terribly fond of the tights, either."

Dashenka Ivanov has posed:
Dashenka takes another lap around the table too look for a shot, and when she thinks she sees one she gives it another go, this time much gentler. This time the the correct ball gets sunk. However the ball position leaves little choices for her next shot. "Hrm," she grunts thoughtfully, and takes another shot. As expected nothing goes in.

She looks up and looks at Sam, puzzled. "Tights?" She asks. Then Laxmi gets the same puzzled look. "Friends?"

Roxxi Smith has posed:
     Roxxi scooted away from the pool table and continued for the door. "Friends, like me, hopefully!" She called to Dashenka. "Well, I better head back to my room." And just like that, he left about as abruptly as she'd joined them.

Samuel Guthrie has posed:
Sam Guthrie looks over to her, and says "Clothes that is very close to the body and tight, so your clothes don't get in the way when you practice some forms of dancing. Not all forms need it. " He hmms and says "Friends Comrades... People you care for and who care for you, often you share an interest with them or more, but you don't have to. It boils down to those you want good things for and who want good things for you. Somewhat like the people you went into battle with but not quite the same thing. Those were ordered, these choose to be there for you."

Laxmi Mallick has posed:
    "Well said, Sam," Laxmi agrees with a smile, lifting her glass of seltzer towards the man, and taking another sip. "You'll find plenty of friends here, Dashenka. People who would do anything to keep you safe, and help you find happiness. That's what a community does for one another."
    She remains where she is - perched on a bar stool, watching Sam give Dashenka little pointers, as the pair play out her first game of pool. The girl seems to be catching on quickly. And after that game is over, Laxmi will challenge Dashenka to a second game - until the trio are ready to go their own ways for the evening.