9167/Rogue's Birthday

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Rogue's Birthday
Date of Scene: 19 December 2021
Location: The Mud Flats - Bar and Park
Synopsis: Rogue's Birthday! Everyone is great!
Cast of Characters: Jamie Madrox, Rogue, Carol Danvers, Emma Frost, Kitty Pryde, Jessica Drew, Jubilation Lee, Michael Erickson, Scott Summers, Jean Grey, Noriko Ashida




Jamie Madrox has posed:
It is Jamie Prime or just a dupe? Hard to tell. (Impossible, really; no one really knows the _details_ of how his powers work except for maybe Hank and the Professor, after all.) In any case, Jamie Madrox swerves near the party, lifting his arms. "FOR SHE'S A HOTTIE WITH SKUNK HAIR, for she's a hottie with skunk haaaaaaaiiiirr..." He flashes Rogue a grin.

Rogue has posed:
The party was in an unusual place, to say the least. The wealthy business owner used to own a water park in New Jersey, but decided to tone it back, and invest his time and money in to something smaller. Thus this place was purchased, and retrofitted to be a wild bar, for adults... unlike wild bars for kids!

Tonight is one of the first venues being held at the place, though its been open to the general public for a few weeks now.

There is music chiming through the whole place, with two bartenders working behind the well lit bar, and people in bathing suits already gathered around it. Other folks from Rogue's social circle have been invited, such as her friends from Salem Center, some of them look great in swimsuits! Some of them.. don't! Who cares!? No judgement here!

The main mud pools and slides are already going, with people screaming their way down the slide, and others already up on the mud falls wrassling, and tossing each other over the falls, with a referree up there blowing on a whistle, doing her darndest to oversee some sort of rules for the mud wrestling level above the mud pool!

Where is Rogue? She's up there, of course. Though its hard to tell because she's completely covered in the light-tan hued mud that fills the pools and slides. She's locked arms with another young woman, also drenched in mud, and already swinging her around to shove her over the falls! The girl screams and goes flailing down in to the muddy pool with a splash and a tidal wave of MUD going EVERYWHERE!

The place is already pure madness.

And its still early!

Carol Danvers has posed:
Carol touches down lightly in one of the darker areas of the water park away from the main attraction. It feels odd not being in uniform, and she unconsciously tugs at the flared lapels of the leather bomber jacket she wears for comfort. Beneath it she wears a fitted white t-shirt and a pair of faded jeans tucked into high and clunky boots. A layer of familiarity over memories of a civilian life she's all but abandoned at this point.

She takes a breath and moves towards the bar entrance, raising a hand to run fingers through her cropped blonde hair. She removes the reflective pair of aviators she wears, angling them up so they rest against her forehead, and ducks through the waterfall. She glows a little from within once she's through, hair and clothes suddenly dry again.

She steps over the mud, though it nevertheless sloshes against her boots and prompts her to click her tongue against her teeth.

"It gets more and more bizarre every year."

Emma Frost has posed:
Emma Frost is entering along through the waterfall and glancing about. Emma's wearing something that definitely fits in the 'only Emma would do it' routine. Consisting of some strategically applied swathes of white fabric that would make an 'X' over her body with concealing and revealing flesh, somehow seeming in defiance of physics for how it would remain on. She would casually smile at the others.

Glancing at Carol, "Ms. Danvers. Will there be any sorts of feeling stonight between explorations?"

Kitty Pryde has posed:
Kitty Pryde is sitting over at a bar near the mud pit that Rogue is in. A fake ID has netted her a drink. It's in a big schooner and is blue. "Way to go Rogue!" Kitty yells, adding a few whoops of support at her apparent victory.

The Jewish girl is relaxing in her bar seat, rocking a bikini and a flower in her hair. She takes a big drink from her glass and then rubs her temples. "Brain freeze," she murmurs, wincing until it passes.

Jessica Drew has posed:
It's balmy weather for once, one of those freaky 70 F days after a week of snow that can bless the east coast. When Jess saw Michael come out of the bedroom in chucks and board shorts, she wasn't sure if she was facing another moment of Shi'ar weirdness or he had gone off the rails.

So after a couple of questions, she went for a closet dive and joined him in torn jeans, purple chucks with paint spatter, and an old t-shirt, under a road-rashed leather jacket. With her dark hair pulled back into a pony tail, a backpack and a scarf complete the look

Just before they go out the door, she slides two books wrapped in bright paper into her pack.

A broad grin breaks across Jessica's face as they duck in. Letting go of Mike's hand, she fishes out a towel from her pack to wipe her face and heads for the bar, saying over her shoulder, "Yep, bizarre...cool, too."

Jubilation Lee has posed:
    At some point, Jubilation Lee has slipped in and made herself at home. As far as wardrobe goes, she's in one of her fairly standard 'might cause a car accident' outfits -- a black bikini top, a pair of daisy duke shorts, and a pair of flip-flops. Instead of further spectacle, though, Jubilee's face is...well, obscured. Her long, thick hair has been brushed forward to obscure almost one entire half of her face. The parts that are exposed look like they might be covered in /a lot/ of concealer.

    While Kitty Pryde might have her fake ID -- Consuela De Leon -- Jubilee has a plan of her own. Strangely, she has set up shop at the bar next to a bean pole of a guy and seems to be doing everything she can to get him drunk. He has a series of empty glasses laid out in front of him. Jubilee slaps another ten dollar bill onto the bar. Concerning and suspicious.

Jamie Madrox has posed:
Jamie Madrox says, "Carol! Emma!" Jamie is more than friendly with people who can fry his brain or his bones in equal measure. These are ladies one respects as a matter of course, after all. He spots Kitty and heads that-a-way as Rogue takes her mud dive, snickering a little. "Heya." he's in a pair of boardshorts and a blue tank-top with a yellow X on it. Represent."

Emma Frost has posed:
Emma Frost would glance about for the birthday girl, even as she would look amused over and dip her head, "Jamie. Are we dealing iwth the original one of you tonight or have you sent another in your stead?" Looking amused and then picking up the position of Jubilee. Emma not particularly minding or caring what was going on. The group was here to enjoy themselves..

And see if Carol and Rogue went at it.

Carol Danvers has posed:
"I was in the Air Force," Carol tells Emma as an aside, tucking her thumbs into the open front of jacket and looking sideways at the telepath, "They beat the feelings out of you. And if you're talking about mud wrestling? I think the birthday girl has us all covered on that score."

Almost subconsciously, Carol draws the zip on her jacket up to throat level. Her gaze drifts to follow Jessica towards the bar, puffing her cheeks out and marching in the same direction. A twenty dollar bill is tapped sidelong on the counter as she catches the Bartender's eye.

"Double shot of whatever."

Michael Erickson has posed:
    "It gets more and more bizarre every year." -- Carol Danvers, 2022.

    Driving up here, the being who calls himself Michael Erickson damned near did his best to listen to the whole discography of Deep Purple all the way up 7 to the place where Rogue is having her party; he's rented a car this time, black, low and fast, in which he drove as fast as he possibly could without Jessica murdering him or getting them arrested for reckless driving. Why? Well, a.) it's a birthday celebration for one of his favorite Xavier's people, and b.) he just really, really wanted to drive fast.

    He's old, man, let him have this.

    Blandly handsome like Scott is, double dime-a-dozen-underwear-model handsome, he is shrunken beneath the ridiculous beauty of the genetic ice sculptures that are mutant women from Xavier's - you'd think they grew them in clone cylinders if you didn't know the truth. But here he is, Mr. Erickson from Astronomy, dressed in the aforementioned board shorts and tropical shirt, unbuttoned to show ridiculous washboard abs and all that other nonsense what comes from being a space alien who does five hundred crunches a day.

    "I wanna find Marie and give her this early," he says to Jessica as they enter, a black beret in his hand. "C'mon, let's go...oh, she's decided to be a mud-beast early. Maybe we can wait or a bit."

    

Scott Summers has posed:
For his part Scott Summers has called Westchester County home for a solid decade. In all those years however he has never got around to setting foot in The Mud Flats. Imagine that. Suffice to say that it is probably not the locale that he would choose for a birthday party -- his or anyone elses. But it is not his birthday, not his choice. Still, as he enters the establishment he pauses in the doorway, letting his gaze sweep over the myriad of distractions the place offers through those ruby red sunglasses that he always wears -- when not in costume at least. His brow arches, a smirk slides across his expression and he gives a small shake of his head before trotting down the steps into the main area, walking over to where he sees that others have already gathered.

Rogue has posed:
Rogue is atop the mud falls over the mud pool. she's caked in so much mud she's hard to even identify. She's been throwing people off the falls since everyone started to arrive, though, so she's caked in mud. She's probably wearing a bikini? It's hard to tell. She basically looks like a nude mud person though.

After throwing the last person off, she flexes her muscles, and shouts. "I'll get ya for that one, Jamie Prime!" Apparently having heard his birthday song for her!

To get up to her one has to take some steps around the mud pool to get up to the top of the mud falls!

Emma Frost has posed:
Emma Frost would smile, "Well of course. She's allowed her predilections. I've heard quite the story of last year's. I do wonder if she's going to try and top it this time. So will you be joining in the festivities there in the ring or just sitting apart and enjoying familiar company?" She would give a nod at Jessica while surveying th erest of the bar.. And attempting to mentally gauge the mood of the bartender.

Jean Grey has posed:
Jean was fortunately at least warned in advance about this mad scheme. Perhaps some small, logical part of her had to hope that Rogue was kidding, or that no such institution could actually exist...

But c'mon, this is Rogue. If there's insanity that can happen, she'll make it happen.

All of this means that at least she's well-prepared for the birthday shenanigans. Fortunately, given the nature of the place, there are changing rooms, and she's vanished off to one of those while the party is just getting started up, only to return to find things already in full swing, or at least, Rogue already in the full throes of combat with some... poor, poor woman. She's dressed in her typical green bikini, same as when they braved the icy chills for some hot tubbing a few weeks back. She doesn't have OCCASION swimsuits, like Emma!

More inclined to watch than leap in and join battle, she soon joins Kitty at her well-chosen 'ring side' seat, appearing with a similarly giant, colorful drink of some kind, with a little paper umbrella and a big straw.

"Well... this is about how I expected it would turn out."

Emma Frost has posed:
Emma Frost would look over her shoulder, then smile at Rogue, "It's wonderful that she's enjoying herself and has made some sort of tradition of it." This mused to no one specifically unless one were to be looking ove rat her. For the teammate that she doesn't know particularly well, there's some level of approval in her voice.

That someone had made family and friends. Always something to celebrate. One could always choose their own friends.. Family was somewhat more difficult. As of acknowledging her own Emma's expression would flatten for a moment before stretching out. "So where shal we be putting gifts?"

Noriko Ashida has posed:
It'd be difficult for anyone to get a look at that side of Jubilation's face when she's got a speedster watching out for her and making sure her hair averts any unwanted disasters.  Well, she will be.  Currently though, she's spinning rapidly in a circle and swirl of Febreze trying to get the pot smell out of her hair and clothing.  Which is why she is technically late for her kind at least.  She shrugs and decides to run the rest of it out on the way catching back up to find a perch somewhere she can casually amuse herself by watching Jubes work her charm.  Never mind the little stash on her.  That's never found on her way in.

Noriko chuckles to herself.  It's not funny, but everything is now marginally funnier now that she's not the only one sober at the party.

Jamie Madrox has posed:
"We're all the original one, Emma," Jamie calls back to the blonde. "I'm Jamie Madrox -- the MFT." Don't ask. (Someone ask.) He shoots finger-guns at Scott, Jubilee, Noriko, Michael, and then there's Jean and he gives her two shots, pew-pew, because they've been on a recent Wendigo adventure together in which he was _eaten_ and she was close enough to get some psychic feedback from that, no doubt. That forges some kind of bond, right? Right? Eh, let him believe it.

Rogue's warning gets a glance up at the skunk-haired beauty and he makes a ring over his mouth with his fingers and raspberries up at her. Thbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbt.

Rogue has posed:
Two of Rogue's male friends from Salem Center both appear at the top of the Mud Falls, both of them fat. They clap their hands and taunt the Belle as they rush in to the pool to try and take her together!

They both wait for the Refs whistle, then rush her on either side, and Rogue just ducks!

She wraps arms around their big chubby bellies and flings them back over her shoulders, sending them both flailing and screaming down to the mud pools where they splash down and vanish under the dirty dirty waters!

Rogue turns around then as the Ref shouts out. "Another win!"

Rogue flexes again!

Another party goer comes screaming down the water slide, as it hits the final ramp and launches them in to the sky where they too flip around, only to splash down on the pool below.

"Who'se next?!" Rogue shouts from above!

Jessica Drew has posed:
"Is Maria already in the mud?" Jess poses her backpack on the stool next to Carol. "Double tequila and some lime and salt, please. For my friend, here, too. Hey Danvers, ready for a mud dive?"

She leans sideways to watch the mud pool fun. "Whew, I wonder if she can take me?"

Emma Frost has posed:
Emma Frost would mm and look into the pile, "I don't think I'll be joining the spectacle." She would gesture at the mud wrestling, "Though I could be convinced to sing." Emma would smile over like a Cheshire Cat while she would look for a place to put up gifts.. If only to make sure where to leave her things later then as she would turn over to watch at Rogue, "And I presume that she'll be increasing her record from last year or trying to overcome it?" SHe would watch in amusement with one hand sliding down to her lap.

Scott Summers has posed:
On second thought he's not quite ready to face this without something a little extra. He does lift a hand in Jamie's direction, that faint smirk still resting on his features. At lease some people are diving right in and embracing the spirit of things. But instead of heading right over to join the crowd watching the birthday girl amuse herself -- and get fully, entirely filthy in the process -- he diverts straight to the bar. He can't possibly face this evening without something to drink. That's right, they're driving him to drink. And surely alcohol will only serve as a gateway drug at that. So by the time he does finally head over to join the crowd it is with a bottle of beer in hand -- so daring! -- seeing things he never thought -- and never wanted -- to see. "This seems to have escalated quickly," he says drily as he sidles up to the other spectators.

Jubilation Lee has posed:
    Bean Pole, the man currently in the running for possibly the lankiest in all of Westchester, sways back and forth on his stool, smiling widely at anyone who happens to fall within his eye line. "Daaaamn, my friends are never gonna believe itttt," he slurs loudly. "Cousin Itt from the Addams Family! Here in the mud thing in the place! Let me get you a drink my friend!"

    Jubilee, rocking that Cousin Itt hair style, keeps her head bowed. "No, no, I'll get /you/ another one," she insists, wiggling the ten dollar bill to get the bartender's attention. Before the bartender can come collect it, Bean Pole slides off of his stool and onto the floor, yelling something about how he thought Cousin Itt didn't speak English.

    "I guess he's ready," Jubilee says, grinning at Noriko before tucking the money back into her pocket. Jubes bends down and moves to try and bring the guy to his feet. As strong as she might be, it's a little like transporting a big bundle of pool noodles.

    Sniff sniff.

    "Nori... Scott's here," she warns, eyebrows hiked, apparently catching the smell of DRUGS(tm) coming from the speedster.

Carol Danvers has posed:
Carol slyly glances sidelong at Jess, peering back over her shoulder towards the mud pool and Rogue's latest victory. She turns back to the bar, finishing her own drink in one swallow before gladly taking the offered Patron and sprinkling the salt onto the base of her thumb like an old pro. She looks around to make sure Jess is the only one looking before she tugs the neckline of her shirt down far enough to reveal the modest one-piece swimsuit underneath.

"Just in case, yeah. You brought him, huh? Is he settling?"

She doesn't wait for a reply. Licking the salt off her thumb, downing the tequila, and then biting into the slice of lime with a wince. She smacks her lips a few times, kicking the toe of her boot noisily against the base of the bar.

"Phooo. I can feel that one."

Michael Erickson has posed:
    "Does a seraat eat corpses?" Michael, itching the line of alien glyphs tattooed down his bare forearm, says this as Jess talks to him - and then pauses as he sees Carol sitting there at the bar. Last time he saw that woman she was in the middle of fighting his people, on the day he became a traitor to them himself. "Colonel Danvers," he offers to the woman, back stiff, going from happy partygoer to military man in miliseconds. "Good evening." He tucks the beret under his arm, the other forming a fist that is clasped to his chest. Then Michael remembers himself and instead offers it to her to shake. Because, you know. He assumes that he is 'him'.

    "Actually, Colonel, I brought her. I teach at the school. Marie is my friend."

Jamie Madrox has posed:
Speaking of diving right in and the spirit of things, Jamie has a drink in his hand now and he's smiling, looking at Rogue. He lifts his hand, points at his eyes, and then points at her. Like, _I'm watching you_. It's probably enough to distract her...

...from the ten or dupes that have snuck around --using some very advanced stealth and sneaking techniques that he has learned; Jamie is the true Renaissance Mutant-- and are now bum-rushing the super-powered X-Woman in an attempt to take her down.

Their battle cry? "SURPRIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIISE!" Of course.

Jean Grey has posed:
While there is some history of Jean and Rogue competing at various sporting events - ice skating, sledding, even pool (the stick and balls kind, not the 'of mud' kind) - she's not kidding herself when it comes to wrestling, extra-slippery or otherwise! The chance of her conquering Rogue Mountain is zero. However, she is happy to be an instigator, and catching a bit of a certain conversation at the bar, she turns toward Jessica and her ever-growing SHIELD cohort and shouts:

"I bet Carol can take you!"

There is a certain logic there! If anyone is any kind of possible match for Rogue, well, it would be Rogue's most famous frenemy and counterpart of sorts.

While she is busy trying to initiate this other rivalry, and even in the process of raising her drink back in a salute to the finger-gunning version of Jamie, a whole gaggle of them have been busy planning their own assault. "Oooh. There's not a lot of people that could beat her by themselves, I don't think, but, well..." It's not cheating if it's your power! "Good luck," she tells the one DOWN HERE while the ones UP THERE launch their effort! She's definitely rooting against Rogue in every match!

Jessica Drew has posed:
Yeah, what he said," Jess snorts. "Why do you think I'd fit in with these misfits? Danvers, you wound my heart deeply." She licks the knife of her hand then salts it, knocks back a shot and chases it with face scrunching lime.

"Ahhhh, nope, he is settling in fine when he is not scaring the hell out of the brass."

Rogue has posed:
Rogue hears the shouting behind her, and sees the onslaught of 10 Jamies coming right at her. Her eyes go wide before she gets in to a combat stance!

One of them is immediately dispatched, sent flying over the muddy falls to flail his way down in to the pool below, while another one is lifted up over her shoulder, and she spins around to toss him while the others are trying to grab her!

But she is so muddy, so so muddy!

The Belle launches the second one in to the air, throwing the Jamie Dupe toward the onlookers, and causing a splash of mud to go right at Scott, Jean, and Kitty!

But then she's mobbed and the combat ensues!

"Think I had a dream like this before!" She can be heard shouting amongst the eight Dupes remaining!

Emma Frost has posed:
Emma Frost would just sit and glance at Jean, "Why, Ms. Grey, I might almost think that you were intent on having more of a good time here than she would. I do approve. I've made a great many misunderestimations of you throughout the years. It's ever so lovely to add to the list." She would offer in amusement and seemingly approval to Jean.

"And Mister Madrox is extremely creative. I don't give him enough credit. Another mistake I've made to add to my long list of them. I feel like I've spent too much of my life being so sure on things and my own thoughts on the world that it's come crashing down to my own ego."

Carol Danvers has posed:
"Mmm," Carol offers Michael in response, raising an eyebrow at him before turning to speak to Jessica.

"Yeah? Well, that's good news. Want to see if they've got any craft brews on tap? Can't be buying shots all night. I need all my back-pay to afford that ludicrous apartment in Midtown."

She says that, but she's also kept the lease and paid the rent even while spending the majority of her time off the planet. She may have thrown herself into her superhero lifestyle, but she can still remember and appreciate a good status symbol.

Finally, she turns back to Michael and sucks her teeth thoughtfully.

"Well, I'll give you this. It's a genius place to hide you. But then, I guess hiding out is second nature, right?"

When she hears her name, she looks first to Jean and then to Rogue, calling out:

"Well, 'Sugah'? What'll it be? Done pissing around in the minor leagues yet?"

Noriko Ashida has posed:
"I'll keep lookout," Noriko offers before getting tipped off.  She tries to air out her black flowy robe like top that, when left open how she wears it, doesn't do anything to cover up the parts her bikini exposes.  She's already abandoned her flip flops somewhere.  They are green and blue if anyone sees them!  Her hair is a bit of a whirl right now and she reaches up with her gauntlet to pull it closer to her nose and sniff.  "Shit.  Is it my hair?  I should just light some in the corner somewhere so everyone smells like it."

Nori's eyes dart here and there faster than most would care to spot even with their powers.  When she sees Michael her eyes widen.  "Oh my god there he is oh shit, wait, Jubes!  Do I still smell?"  She spurts up alongside Jubes like a gnat as she's trying to cart off the pool of noodles.  Blur-blur!  Hopeful look.  Then suddenly she leans and helps haul him up to his feet.  "It's totally this guy right?  We're just helping him to the bathroom after he got cross-faded," Nori establishes rapidly.

Michael Erickson has posed:
    "We should talk," Michael offers to Carol as he relaxes and leans against the bar, watching as it's Rogue Vs. The World Of Madrox at the moment. "Much has happened since you saw me last. And I'd hate you to think me some bug under your boot, Colonel." He steps back, then, and shakes his head at Jessica. "It's fine. I don't want anything to drink." His lips have set into a line, now, and he leans against the bar on Jess's /other/ side, murmuring into her ear as he does.

Jamie Madrox has posed:
Here's the thing about Jamie: given enough time and patience, he can really rack up an impressive number of dupes. Rogue is dealing with eight of them, each trying to tip her over so they'll all fall down into the mud -- when another gaggle of five Jamies comes rushing out. Few people can challenge Rogue one-on-one, and with Carol down there having a drink, Jamie has taken up the mantle.

Yes, it still counts as one. She's probably about as strong as fifty Jamies!

Meanwhile, the Jamie near the bar with a drink is wincing every time a dupe is tossed off. Only the first two manage to hit the mud. The next few that fall somehow disintegrate in mid-air, saved from experiencing the harsh wet _thud_ of landing by whichever Jamie is the Prime one reabsorbing them from a distance.

Neat trick.

Jubilation Lee has posed:
    When Noriko insists that she sees Scott Summers, Jubilee follows the speedster's attention to see... Michael Erickson. Jubilee squints a little at that but otherwise doesn't challenge it. There will be time for that later. "Yeah, yeah, this is the guy..." Jubilation answers, almost with a bit of annoyance in her tone. "...The guy I've been buying drinks for all night, passed out... over my shoulder... Is the guy. C'mon..." Jubilation slooowly makes her way from the bar, awkwardly trying to make sense of Bean Pole's long, limp arms and legs.

    "This is like getting tackled by a skeleton..." Jubilee mutters, throwing the unconscious man's arm away from her face with no shortage of annoyance. Eventually, Jubilee would just give up and let the guy just fall to the ground, limp. She starts dragging him along by one of his feet on a slow path to the bathrooms. Everyone is apparently too focused on the mud wrestling to notice or care.

    "And, yeah, I can still smell it on you," Jubilee answers Noriko before tossing Bean Pole's body into the bathroom and following it on inside...

Rogue has posed:
Three more Dupes go flying off the muddy falls before Rogue is mobbed again by another ten of them! She's shouting, laughing, and pushing! One by one, sending the Jamies soaring through the air!

Down to the last four, she rises back up out of the mud, letting it drip off her body as she wipes some of it out of her eyes, then smiles at the five of them remaining.

She just charges at them, and sends them all flying over the edge, clearing the muddy plateau of any others left!

"Winner!" The Referree shouts!

And Rogue puts her two fingers up to her eyes, then points them...

AT CAROL!

Jean Grey has posed:
Extra dupes are so convenient. Sometimes, you can use them for monster bait! Other times, they make handy projectiles!

A Jamie comes flying into the pool beside them, and from him, a huge splash of mud. Jean makes an appropriate shriek of surprise and horror, and does what is only sensible to defend herself: she puts her hand over her drink! In fact, there's maybe even the tiniest little flicker to reveal a flash of telekinetics, shimmering to seal off the top of the cup and guard its precious, precious contents. Otherwise, though, the woman takes the full muddy gift like a sport, and it spatters her in an appropriately, well, muddy fashion. She's left grimmacing and reaches up to wipe a daub of it from her eyebrow, and then from her cheek below. "Yeah, I'm really getting into the spirit of things," she mutters in answer Emma... before flicking those same fingers she just used to clean herself off in the other woman's direction!

Take that!

And now, it seems, is time for the main event! She cheers! Cheers THE OPPONENT. "Get her, Danvers!"

Jessica Drew has posed:
"Sure, two shots and I'm thirsty. It's takes a whole lot of medicine to make me think that I'm somebody else. Craft brew it is otherwise," Jess shrugs, "you pick. I'm not choosy when there is this much mud in the air."

She glances between Michael and Carol and purses her lips without comment. They are both grown ups. Back against the bar, elbows posed on the edge, she leans to watch the mudpit battle royale.

Noriko Ashida has posed:
"I know.  I'm just.  You know I don't know if pot really counts.  Does it count?  This isn't a school function.  Crap I did too much," or not enough.  Nori is too distracted to really be of much help with Jubilation's quarry beyond a belated hand here and there, because when Jubilation just drops the guy on the floor, Noriko's brain goes into overdrive like a fennec fox that has seen its shadow.  She glances around and then leans back against the bathroom door, secure in the knowledge that Scott wouldn't be looking to get into the women's bathroom.  That's where Jubes took him right?

Noriko finally starts watching the crazy spectacle of mud wrestling.  "Wow.  That's been happening all this time?"

Carol Danvers has posed:
"We can talk," Carol tells Michael flatly, "But not tonight. I'm off the clock."

She doesn't spare anymore conversation there, instead downing the rest of her drink and hissing through her teeth as it burns all the way down. She shrugs out of her leather jacket, hanging it neatly over the back of the chair. The rest of her clothes simply burn away as an aura of searing golden light surrounds her for a moment. Left behind is a one-piece swimsuit in navy blue that leaves legs and arms bare but rides up high to the throat.

Carol rolls her shoulders, taking a step into the mud and running both hands through her short, white-blonde hair.

"Didn't you ever learn it's rude to point?"

And with that she leaps forward, practically flying (okay, actually flying but she masks it as a jump) through the air to try and tackle Rogue around the middle.

Emma Frost has posed:
Emma Frost would just settle in to watch, finally going over to Jean, "Ten dollars on the air force colonel." This done to prime the pump over to see if Jean would rise to it given she had been the one that had gone to initiate this particular spectacle. Emma has some of the mud over on her frin Jean's flick and doesn't seem to mind.

"Unless you have no particular faith in her and want to see her upstaged, which I can fully get.."

Jubilation Lee has posed:
    Jubilee remains in the men's room for a decent amount of time. Long enough to complete her sinful task. Eventually, though, the door swings open and Jubilee emerges, looking like she just had a wonderful time in there, clutching a shriveled up plastic pouch connected to some plastic tubing. It gets thrown into the garbage can that stands vigil outside the bathroom.

    Jubilation leans her back against the door frame and brings both hands to rest at her hips. She drags her fingertips up her sides and then over her head and tap-tap-taps against the door frame as a long sound of contentment escapes her mouth.

    Jubilation wipes the edge of her mouth with her finger and stumbles forward towards Noriko, both hands extended. "Alright!" she slurs. "Let's figure out...the pot thingamajig...." Somehow, against all odds, Jubilee is drunk. "...We gotta...like, get you...A..." Jubilee blinks. "DISGUISE!" That word is shouted as Jubilation starts stumble-running for the mud.

Michael Erickson has posed:
    "No such thing," he murmurs to himself as he watches Carol go off like the Kool-Aid Man. Then he looks over at Jess, pushing the moment away.

    "Well, anyway," he murmurs now to Jessica, "Who else is here? There's Emma Frost over there, the pale woman with the white hair - brilliant, deadly, elite. Telepath. dunno the guy who can split into copies, I think he must have already graduated. The redhead in the bikini is the headmistress, Jean Grey. I'm sure you remember her." A pause. He squints across the way. "Guy in the odd shades is Scott Summers. Faculty. Loves to give detention. And..." He squints, looking about not yet seeing the Trouble Twins. "I thought for sure Lee and Ashida would be here..."

Rogue has posed:
Rogue, with her hands on her hips, just stands up on the Muddy Falls, a cocky look on her mud covered face. At least until Carol lunges up through the sky toward her! That's when Rogue drops her hands from her side, her eyes go wide, and she takes a step or two backward before she is summarily tackled down in to the pool at the top of the falls!

SPLASH! MUD EVERY WHERE!

The Ref blocks her eyes with her hand, and blows on her whistle! "New Challenger!" She shouts at the two wrasslers now!

Rogue rolls out of the tackle from Carol, and leaps to her feet again, her hands out to her sides as she grins at her friend, and old enemy! "Nice t'see ya, Sugah Momma." She says to the blonde. "I've heard ya've learned some new tricks... Guess it's time ya put'em t'use, mmm?"

And Rogue attacks! RAH!

Scott Summers has posed:
If anyone were likely to notice that two of the more wayward members of the Xavier Institute were up to no good it would almost certainly be Scott Summers. He does seem to have a sense about those sorts of things. Perhaps the whole situational awareness thing he lectures on constantly in regard to combat situations also applies when it comes to maintaining some tiny semblance of discipline at what has to be just about the most unique sort of school.

But in this particular instance there are plenty of other things to keep an eye on. Rogue's birthdays usually seem to end up spectacles, but this one is deifnitely in line to take the cake. It's hard to imagine just how she will top it next year. Unfortunately Scott is pretty certain that she will find away. If only those powers could be channelled for good!

Which is to say that Jubilation and Noriko just might have gotten away with it. At least until one of them comes charging out like a madwoman, making a beeline for the waiting mud.

Thatm ight be hard to miss.

Jean Grey has posed:
"Sure, why not!" Jean agrees to Emma's wager, with a merry laugh, before locating the straw of her oh-so importantly rescued drink to bring to her lips for a long, long sip. It's only interrupted as Carol makes her dramatic costume change and then leaps into the fray. "Oooh, there she goes! Get her! Toss her in! She's got a high center of gravity, use that against her!"

Jean's obviously having a blast with this!

However, she's distracted to look back over at the bar chit-chat, hearing her name and listening a moment before she realizes what's being discussed. "Ugh! She's right, you know! Off the clock! Stop briefing people and enjoy yourself! Take a break!" And added with a faux-menacing tone: "Don't make me make it an order!" Can Jean order him around? She's his boss at school, but she just said they're off the clock! DONT THINK ABOUT IT.

Beside that bit of chiding, though, her attention quickly snaps back to the match, which she is following with great interest and enthusiam, her emotions shifting with the ebb and flow of the match, dramatic 'oohs' and 'ahs' and 'oh no!' a-plenty.

Carol Danvers has posed:
Carol thinks she has the better grip, arms wrapped around Rogue's middle and cheek pressed against her side, but as soon as her feet hit the ground she realises her footing is for the birds. She grapples with the Southern Belle, although she can't put as much of her strength into it as she would like.

"I've learned plenty, little thief," she chuckles, using the epithet with all the good-nature she can muster and a little alcohol-fuelled swagger, "But energy blasts are probably grounds for disqualification. This is just going to be good, old-fashioned brute force."

She continues to grapple, though she inevitably loses ground to Rogue.

"God, how much mud do you have layered on here? Are you even still under there?"

Noriko Ashida has posed:
Noriko gets to watch a little bit of the Carol/Rogue matchup before she feels Jubes making her way out.  She takes two blurry steps away to give Jubilation some runway and observe how stumble-drunk she is, but first enjoys the view with a little smile, turning more fully to slip her arms around Jubes, low key steadying Jubilation over her center of gravity.

"Wait," Nori utters as she realizes Jubes' trajectory toward the mud.  "How is this going to help?-oh I can just say it was someone else.  Ha!  You're genius!"  Flit, flit alongside the stumble-drunk vampire.  She plants a little peck on the side of the girl's cheeks as she's in mid-transit.  She's really not helping with their conspicuousness, fluttering around Jubes like she's Navi.

Rogue has posed:
Carol is obviously stronger, and can only do so much to utilize it here without making a mess of the poor fancy bar in its maiden month of being open!

But Rogue has some of the same combat technique that Carol used to have, after all! Not that she was well trained in this kind of fighting!

"It's not about how much.... mud!" Rogue grunts back before laughing as they inch closer to the edge of the falls!

"It's how ya USE IT!" She shouts, as she steps on one of Carol's feet and nearly gets her off-balance! The Belle shoves the Captain toward the edge, as they separate again, and she drips more muddy mud back in to the pool.

"AHHHHH!" Rogue shouts as she charges at the blonde, not that either of them can really be ID'd by their hair color anymore!

Emma Frost has posed:
Emma Frost would go tp take her money up to pass Jean Grey along a ten collar bill. Then glance over at Scott nad add, "And she can make you relax if she feels like the situation requires it. I"m very sure that with things going on she'll be mor ethan happy to take the opportunity to." She would glance over at Jean and then quirk her lips upwards and put up another bill to the bartender.

"And please get Ms. Grey two mudslides. She seems like she needs to get in on the action. And an extra shot of hard liquer in each of them if you don't mind. Do you have any preference on them, Ms. Grey?" She would wince amusedly at the exchange in the mud.

Jubilation Lee has posed:
    "Yeah, baby, I know it!" Jubilee slurs at Noriko when she calls her a genius. She even snaps her fingers and swings her hand around like she's playing a power chord on an invisible guitar. With that important note played, however silent it might be, Jubilee bends forward and swipes her hand through the pool of mud. She wipes the mud against the part of her face that has been covered by her hair. Now it's covered up by mud.

    Jubilation smiles widely. "Ta-da!" she beams. "A disguise!"

    "Oh, if you need to exhale into my lungs, you let me know, Ashida..." Jubilee adds with a big grin. "I'm not using them for anything."

Jessica Drew has posed:
Jessica whistles appreciatively and hooks a thumb at Danvers. "Nice move," she remarks to Michael, removing her jacket and stuffing it into the backpack, chucks follow, then jeans. The t-shirt just covers the bottoms of her high-cut one piece.

"We are /off/ the clock, halan. Ready to mud dive while Danvers and Maria go for it?" She plucks the t-shirt off and pushes it into the full pack. A quick double-check to her pony tail and Jess launches into the fray like an Olympic long-jumper, feet first, sliding past Rogue and Danvers as they dance on the edge of the falls.

"Wheeee," she yells slaloming over the edge. Quicker than the eye, spider-fast, she shoots out a hand to grab one of Danvers's ankles as she barrels past.

Carol Danvers has posed:
Carol lets out an 'oof' as Rogue tackles her, sending her sprawling onto her back in the mud. She kicks her legs upward, but still can't shift the weight of the super-strong mutant. She's covered in mud now, only really identifiable by her slightly different built. Pinned in the mud, she looks up at Rogue with furrowed brows.

"You really have a compulsion to mud wrestle people and win, don't you? You didn't get that from ME!"

She pushes up with her arms, trying to flying the Southern Belle away.

Scott Summers has posed:
For his part Scott only arches a brow towards the two telepaths, that smirk that somehow manages to convey amused disbelief and sardonic disapproval at the same time resting curled on his features. "It's not really relaxation if you make someone do it," he counters drily, reasonably confident that it is a somewhat hollow threat. At least from Jean. It is an entire matter entirely if he would put such a thing past Emma. "And I am relaxed, see?" he adds, holding up that beer, even taking a swig from it.

Like the others he watches the display in the center mudpit, at least until the new show presents itself and Jubilation vies for her share of the attention. "Besidesm even the best party needs at least one adult in the room," he says wryly. What is left deliberately vague is exactly what that entails in this particular situation.

Rogue has posed:
Rogue lands on top of Carol in the mud and presses the Captain down in to it! She laughs at the question, her hair in muddy strings that dribble the pale oozy stuff down on to the blonde in the pool. She glances up as Jes goes flying by, but then looks back down at Carol.

"My daddy always said, if you ain't first, you're last, Carol Bobby." Rogue says in a flirty, saucy, voice before she rolls off the woman and tries to shove her toward the edge of the falls with her very strong feet and legs!

Meanwhile, people down in the pool are hooting and hollaring at the fight, while others are playing with a big muddy beach ball! Two more people come spraying down the water slide and slam in to the muddy pool too!

Noriko Ashida has posed:
Jubes' jubilation is infectious and seems to soothe some of Noriko's paranoia.  "Excellent.  No one could guess it was you.  Can you do mine?"  She wiggles her gauntleted fingers in front of the disguised vampire to remind her.  Of course Noriko thought of just dunking her face in the mud.  That would solve all of her problems, and she's used to solving her own problems.  But then she wouldn't get the joy of Jubes giving her a face painting.

At Jubes' offer she gets a starry-eyed look back at her.  "You're the best and I love every word that just came out of your mouth.  This is good weed.  We just need a spot....quick, where are the Scotts?"  Why did she say plural?  She wonders it to herself before doing a double-take and getting a confused look on her face.

Carol Danvers has posed:
Carol, finding a reserve of strength within herself or simply being able to get a grip on the mud a little better, extricates herself from beneath Rogue with ease. Back on her feet again, she assumes a grappling pose remembered from basic training a lifetime ago and gets ready for the next assault.

"You watch too many movies! You could at least come up with your OWN southern-fried wisdom!"

For all the smack talk, Carol is laughing now. Maybe the tequila shots are kicking in? She deftly sweeps her foot out of the way of Jessica's grasping hand as she passes, giving her a stern mud-caked look.

"Hey! Same team, Drew!"

Then she's aiming to push Rogue right back out.

Jean Grey has posed:
"I think they're still going, giving up on your girl so fast?" The action atop mud falls is fast and intense, with no clear superior among them, so Jean seems surprised Emma's already handing her money. But then again, Emma has all the money, ever, so does it really matter? "Uh, wait, two?" she then asks over with a dubious look as the woman is ordering her lots of booze. "I hope you're drinking one of those!"

Still, as far as the HOT AND WET action goes, she's (literally!) on the edge of her seat, leaning forward to watch the whole thing play out, and continuing to narrate along with all kinds of sound-effects, wincing at bad moments, cheering at others, and indeed, sometimes whistling and hooting like some of the other spectators, who clearly have, erm, different 'stakes' in this particular clash of titans.

"Oh, I can tell you're enjoying yourself," she also offers back at Scott. "Considering you're not even yelling at any of the kids." Yes, Jean knows what antics are happening in the background, the EYE OF SAURON always knows. "But Michael may be worse than you are! It's those spy types, I think. Always so mission-focused." And she's talking to Mr. Mission!

Emma Frost has posed:
Emma Frost would pass it over to Jean to let her have both, "Oh, I'm sure that one of us will hve to be the designated mindwiper, Jean. I wouldn't want to take away the chance from you to ensure that you have as good a time as your friend is doing." She would go to let out a hoot and holler as well to take part in the festivities. "So if you find a third party we can have handle erasing the memories as necessary to ensure that the lot of us aren't arrested for violations of the Geneva Convention, then by all means I can indulge myself. Or were there not so many fuzzy recollections of things from last year?"

Emma is having quite a good time; even if just the chance to needle some of the others in a more relaxed amtosphere than she might in her normal stays at the Mansion. "Smashing."

Rogue has posed:
Rogue's amazing foot plan didn't work! Dagnabbit!

She puts her hands up behind her head, then jumps up with her fingers, landing on her feet in the mud, her ankles sinking down in to it before she grins at Carol.

"I save my original quips, for worthy opponents." She taunts back before the two are grappling again, this time, Carol spins Rogue right around, and the Belle is horizontal in the air, but Rogue manages to hang on to the woman's forearm, keeping herself from flying off toward the pool below!

Instead. Rogue is once more planting her feet in the mud and trying to use her shoulders to leverage Carol's body away from the middle of the pool, toward the tumbling muddy falls edge!

Michael Erickson has posed:
    "I am never off the clock," Michael replies, and is about to say more but then....oh. Well, off she goes. Jess has gone off to be a mud dauber. Well, he can't just sit around doing nothing - so, he heads out into the lobby, checks in his clothes (and Jessica's shirt) and them returns, dressed in naught but a black speedo and alien military tattoos on shoulder and inside of wrist. Lean, fit, every muscle standing out. Slender but weirdly cut, giving hints to his alien nature. Man has ten-pack abs. "I'm just thinking about space combat, Headmistress, don't worry about me." This is a lie. There are muddy, half-naked women everywhere, one of whom he's dating. This is a /lie/. Space combat is clearly a close second.

    He gives the barfolk a wave as he passes, then it's through the waterfall and the wall of wawrmth that it presents, wiping the mud from his eyes as he goes to find Jessica.

    This is somewhat difficult, of course, what with all the mud being rained down from above thanks to the Clash of the Titans up there.

Jubilation Lee has posed:
    "I don't know, but... those Scotts need to step their game up. I mean, this is kind of ridiculous, even for us..."

    In vino veritas, even when the vino came from some veri-drunk guy in the bathroom.

    Jubilee bends down and scoops up a bunch of the mud. "Hold still, hold still... You're...you're like vibrating everywhere..." Jubes slurs her words a little, apparently losing whatever innate ability she once had for her drastic out-of-syncness with Noriko's speed. Jubilee reaches out with muddy hands and begins massaging it into Noriko's face. "I seriously can't believe they're falling for this..." One of them drunk, one stoned, and totally obvious and easy-to-catch.

    "I can't wait for that fight to end. I'm feeling a need to dominate something." She flexes one of her hands into and out of a fist, mud dripping out between her closed fingers.

Carol Danvers has posed:
And just like that, Carol loses her footing and steps out of the ring and has lost. She looks down for a second, frowning at her mud-covered self. She grunts in frustration before the mud is sloughed away by another burst of internal energy, leaving her in the swimsuit before she wanders over to pick her bomber jacket up and put it on over the top. Back to the bar for her!

Rogue has posed:
The Ref blows on her whistle and signals the match over, before pointing to Rogue.

"Winner!" She says loudly.

This of course, has Rogue smiling to Carol and blowing her a kiss, before she turns to the people down i nthe mud pools who are cheering. She strikes a saucy pose with one hand on her hip, the other at her side, and her back turned toward the crowd, with her eye slooking back over her shoulder!

Sexy pose!

Then, Rogue does a backflip off the falls, and dives down in to the pool below!

Splash!

Emma Frost has posed:
Emma Frost would let out a sigh.. Then pass along the ten dollar bill to Jean, the second mudslide sent in the direction of Carol.. And a deep chug of her own drink. Followed by her setting Rogue's present to the side.

Namely a series of controlling shares in several of the distilleries nearest where Emma could determine the majority of the moonshine she had seen Rogue drinking regularly were brewed.

Jessica Drew has posed:
Feet first, Jess shoots out into space with the speed of a ski jumper. Damn Danvers and her quick feet, she thinks as she descends the parabola of the arc. The mud isn't as cold as she expected it to be as she sploshes into the pool at the bottom of the falls and goes under. She bobs to the surface like a dirty cork, wiping the mud out of her eyes then heads back to the side of the pool.

Up on the side of the pool she watches Rogue land with a flourish. Then, skating on the slippery mud splattered floor, she heads to a brief duck into the falls before joining the others at the bar.

Jean Grey has posed:
"Yeah, for Jamie alone..." Even with all the mud, its a little hard to explain away a dozen copies of one guy, especially with some of them popping out of existence mid-air! "I don't usually WIPE anyone's memory. I just do some little edits, you know, trick of the mind, 'it was really a weather balloon' style stuff. Just so we don't have the government on our ass for daring to relax in public." There is a certain weary annoyance at HAVING to do such a thing. Nevermind the terrifying implications of the admission! She could be making people remember all kinds of crazy things! What is reality?! Life is an illusion, the truth is lies!

...

But then Carol goes tumbling and the ref calls the match. "Damnit!" she shouts, although her annoyance at Rogue's win doesn't seem to preclude her whistling at the pose she strikes. Or was that at Michael, as he (clearly very purposefully!) struts his bird-ass by? Maybe both! She's got her second drink now, and Jean is getting loosey-goosey. "Wait I thought the bet was the other way around..."

Emma Frost has posed:
Emma Frost would shrug at Jean, "Does it particularly matter? I have to pay for a round of your drinks iether way. But if you insist you can pay me back." Rogue gets a round of applayse over and settle back over to watch with another round of applause, "Exactly. Worth the price of admission. And I do believe that Mister Summers could stand to loosen his belt once in awhile, if only for the appreciation of some of the studetn body." She would watch rleaxedly.

Rogue has posed:
Rogue appears at the edge of the pool of mud, walking up the stairs as she bypasses Jessica coming out of the waterfall of clean water where one can rinse off. Instead of doing the same, the muddy southern gal just walks right over to Emma, coming up from behind, she wraps her arms around the woman's shoulders, giving her a big, mudding hug from behind.

"Thanks for the gift, Missy." She says, caking the woman in mud before turning her head to smooch her cheek with muddy lips too!

With that done, Rogue moves on toward Jean, with her arms wide open now. "Hug time!" She tells the Headmistress, with a big smile on her caked face!

Michael Erickson has posed:
    Strutting bird-ass! Yes. He has no plumage but his ridiculous musculature, but Michael cannot see where Jess has gone, and now there's a ridiculous sexy meteor descending from the sky and coating him in hot, sticky mud and converting him into a magical mud statue. Well. That's something. But it is not unwelcome, because for three whole months now he's been freezing off his nonexistent tailfeathers. The heat is...nice. Very nice. And so he just...soaks it up a moment whilst the ladies do the hug dance. Yeah. He'll just...soak this up. And then he'll go find out where Jess went.

    In a minute.

Emma Frost has posed:
Emma Frost would take the hug in fro Rogue, "OF course, thank you darling." The hug would be returned with a warp of the arm around Rogue's shoulders. "I am glad that you apprecaite it. It's hard to know how to get someone something useful. I do hope that you enjoy them the way they properly should be.

Noriko Ashida has posed:
"I am holding still.  You're just drunk."  Jubes definitely is, but Nori definitely isn't holding still.  Even pinning herself to one place, she bounces her knee.  "Why are you waiting?  Just jump in!  I can always run to the bathroom and blow it out the back window," on each exhale.  There's no way she could miss Jubes having fun in the mud.

Noriko points when she spots Rogue starting to do driveby mudhugs.  "Look.  I think Rogue is going to need help with that, and tell her if she touches me she's going to regret it."

Jubilation Lee has posed:
    "I... have had exactly no alcohol," Jubilation slowly confesses. Or... is it rehearsing? Technically, she hasn't had any alcohol. Directly, anyway. She's drunk, it's true, but only after fencing the alcohol through a human host in the bathroom. "Not one drop." But then, Noriko's warning that Rogue must not touch her pulls some seriousness out of Jubilee's mud-covered face.

    "Yeah. If she comes near you she's getting her A kicked!" Jubes declares, self-censoring. "Oh, yeah, she'll be getting her A kicked. She'll have some trouble, right here in A City!" She starts jerking her body forward and backward, an almost-but-not-quite approximation of The Robot. "...That starts with A, that rhymes with J, that stands for Jubileeeeee!"

    After delivering the most misguided drunken parody of The Music Man, Jubes starts shadow boxing the imaginary Rogue of her drunken rant.

Jean Grey has posed:
Jean gets Muddy Hug #2, which... at least, by definition, is some portion less muddy than #1? She doesn't flee this affection, but she does SQUIRM, wiggling uncomfortably in Rogue's goopy-embrace.

"Ewwww...." Yeah, maybe it's nice and warm when it's fresh from the mud pit, but after a splash, and a bit of time walking around... and the fact that she's getting muddy sloppy seconds? Yeah, it's starting to cool, and the whole thing is rappidly turning kind of gross and gloopy, which is no doubt part of the plot. Yet, in the end, she surrenders to the mud, wrapping her arms around Rogue's back in turn and giving her a close squeeze. "Happy birthday, you."

One, two...

"Now lemme go! Its getting cooooooold!" She goes full wriggle! So slippery!

Rogue has posed:
Rogue gives Jean a nice big mudd hug, and a smooch to the cheek too before she leans back, then boops her on the nose. Smearing mud across Jean's nose tip, and down to her upper lip. "Herr Grey." Rogue says in an off-color joke about the muddy mustache she just gave Jean, before flashing a grin and turning then. "Now. Where's Scott?" She says, slapping her hands against her muddy thighs.

"Oh... ScooooOOOoooooOOott!" Rogue calls out while walking down the pathway around the mud pools.

She spies Jubes and Nori though, and waves at them. "Did ya'll see my fights?" Rogue calls out to them next too!

"Oh, hey, Bird!" She says to Michael, "Nice butt! I see why that pretty girl ya got likes ya!"

Noriko Ashida has posed:
"True," Noriko backs Jubilation up immediately, plus it is totally true.  "Alright there firecracker," she says with a grin as Jubilation shoots off and starts shadow boxing.  The Japanese girl did not grow up on a staple of musicals, so she does not get the reference, not one bit, but she does know Jubilation is having fun and that keeps her smiling.  "Okay, okay, okay," she half whispers when she thinks the moment feels clandestine enough to get away with something.  She zaps the end of her joint and waves it out immediately after her hit.

Then she coughs a little when she sees Rogue waving at her after yelling out for Scott.  "Lungs!" she peeps to Jubes, a tiny wisp of smoke curling out as she tugs at Jubes' arm.  She nod-nod-nods to Rogue in a blur. Bad timing.

Michael Erickson has posed:
    Very silly. Michael smirks, covered in butt-enhancing mud, and gestures to Rogue as he starts to head for the showers. "Marie," he calls over his shoulder, "Come out here once you're done being terrible. Jessica and I have gifts for you." Terrible, terrible. But not as terrible as him having to step through the hot shower of the waterfall and out into the colder air beyond.

    Now, to get his clothes.

Emma Frost has posed:
Drink in hand, dignity in the other, Emma would go to press another mudslide (the drink, not the mud) towards Jean for her to take. The.. Third or Fourth that the blonde had tried to bait the redhead into taking. "Come dear, enjoy yourself. I'm sure that Charles will decide he really doesn't want to know how the evening went and the insurance premium has already been paid in full and emergency services are on standby."

Jessica Drew has posed:
Two drinks don't touch Jessica's sense of balance, it takes a lot to get past her blood chemistry. Still, she chortles, watching Rogue hug Jean Grey and Emma then grins like a banshee at Rogue's comment. A perfect excuse for her to give said muscled butt a wet smack as she comes up behind Michael, wet from the waterfalls.

Skittering out of the way of a reprisal, she grabs her backpack and towel.

Jubilation Lee has posed:
    "What are youuu looking at!" Jubilee shouts in Rogue's direction, a means to taunt the poor birthday girl. Evidently, Jubilation has confused the real Rogue with the one she's shadow boxing. The imaginary Rogue is the one who has already laid hands on Nori and is, in fact, getting her butt kicked for it. Too many Rogues. Too many Scotts. Agh!

    Jubilation stumbles forward a little, index finger held high in the air, as though she's about to make some kind of fantastic point. "Let me just set the record straight, here...." Jubes announces, her words loose, eyelids half-open. And then Noriko calls out for her lungs!

    Jubilation awkwardly stumbles sideways towards Nori as the speedster yanks at her. She plants her lips onto the speedster's so she can fill the vampiress' pointless lungs with the stinky exhale from her joint. Jubes stands up as straight as she can... and then... without any further opening of her mouth, walks as 'normally' as she can, smuggling out the proof of Noriko's DRUGS(tm) inside her chest. Nothing to see here. Nothing to smell here. Not drunk. Totally normal. It's all good in the hood.

    In reality, she's walking in the most erratic, awkward, and lead-footed manner. She looks like Hunter S. Thompson trying to check in to a hotel. It's the awkward shambling of a vampire trying to walk normally without supernatural grace...but also drunk and trying to walk as graceful as possible. It's a nighmare.

Rogue has posed:
"Your derpy face!" Rogue shouts back to Jubilee. "Tell Nori not t'get ya too blazed up there either!" She adds with her hands on her hips before she looks back over her shoulder to where Michael and Jessica went.

On bare feet, Rogue pads toward the steamy clean water fall to pass under it, and let it rinse her mostly completely clean, then she ends up on the other side with them, hands still on her hips. "Heya, glad you two made it." She tells them with a big smile, some actual skin tone and Rogue features visible now! She's wearing a green, yellow, and black olympic vollyball bikini that she was doing battle with up there on the falls.

"Ya'll gonna go on the slide? It's super awesome." She says with a nerdy exhaling laugh following her words.

Jean Grey has posed:
Again, Jean has to wipe her face clean, as Rogue leaves her mud-marked in an assortment of ways, cute and politically-incorrect alike!

Rogue sets off on mischief thereafter, and she's left in Emma's 'care,' another drink pressed on her almost immediately. "I've still got this one!" she objects, sipping on her prior cocktail as if to prove she's not... cheating? Or something? "But you can't slam these like they're shots." Don't give her ideas! "And I am enjoying myself. I can do both!" If she's editting people's memories in real time, WHILE drinking, that actually makes the whole thing that much more hilarious and / or even more terrifyingly bizarre. No, you didn't really see a man clone himself or a lady do an anime magical girl tranformation. It was actually a surprise flash mob dressed as the cast of High School Musical and a lady in an extremely show-accurate anime magical girl COSPLAY, y'see? Ignore the pink elephants, everyone!

Noriko Ashida has posed:
Due to her own basking at Jubilation's smuggling expertise, it takes Noriko a moment to realize she probably ought to escort her girlfriend, who seems to be shambling out like a drunken spider in rollerskates on a runway. She hooks her arm in Jubilation's as if scooping her up, giving Jubes something to lean against and a point of reference for what 'steady' is. "SHHH!" Noriko practically hisses back at Rogue when she yells out about getting Jubes blazed. The speedster follows up her shushing almost immediately with a bright, "Happy birthday!" and lifts her gauntlet in a sparky wave on their way out. "I think it's this way," she says softly to Jubes as she guides them back on course.

Emma Frost has posed:
Emma Frost would settle back over and give a salute to those that were being indicated, chuckling over while sitting with Jean. "Of course dear." She would muse wihle taking a sip of her drink. "So what little bits do you like to leave in there for your amusement? I'm sure that you have bits that you put in for your own personal jokes and to keep a trail going on. So what bits do you leave in at the end?" Emma taking a rink of her own while being A Bad Influence on Jean. Why was she on the team again?

Michael Erickson has posed:
    "Alai, alai!" Michael jumps with a hand landing sharply on his ass - the right hand, as it is, so he doesn't say more than that, though he gives Jessica a 'I'm watching you' gesture, fingers from his eyes to pointing in her direction. And while she goes to get her stuff together, Michael goes into the lobby, gets his stuff. Comes back with the black beret in hand.

    "All right," he says to Rogue, coming over to her. "All right. Marie. This is for you, from us. Jessica and myself." Grinning faintly, he holds it out to her. "Make sure you look inside before you put it on."

    Nori and Jubilee get a squint, but as he's fairly certain they can make it back to the ski lodge he doesn't go off and be all Space Dad on them. Instead he looks back to Rogue, brow quirked. Expectant.

Jessica Drew has posed:
Jessica returns to Michael's side in time to watch Jubilation and her friend stumble out of the party.

"Are they both your students?" she asks in an aside to the man before fishing out from the backpack two rectangular packages, wrapped in bright paper. She clutches them, her eyes bright as Michael hands Rogue his present.

Rogue has posed:
Rogue accepts the beret with a big grin from the man, before she listens to what Michael says, then peaks inside it. She gets a look at what inside it, which makes her eyes go wider before she starts to grin larger. She speaks soemthing in French then, questioning what she'd just seen, before she looks to Jessica with that grin still there.

The packages that Jessica has, causes Rogue to smile warmly. "Ya'll are the sweetest... I really didn't even expect packages, or, ya know, gifts, or anything. I just like people t'come outta their normal routines, and do something stupid, something a bit unique." She grins again then before she tries to peal back the wrappings on the packages to see what is inside them.

Michael Erickson has posed:
    "They aren't mine, specifically," Michael says, flicking a glance back at the Trouble Girls as they make their exit. "But they're students. They'll be all right." And then...

    Hey, look, the sun came out in Mississippi. Michael smiles, winking at Jessica. They have done well. "I cannot dream," he tells Rogue. "But through Jessica, I believe that I know what the idea of 'following your dreams' means to people. And I'm rather certain that we would like you to follow yours."

Rogue has posed:
With the books revealed, the Belle runs her eyes over their titles, then pulls them out of the packaging and grins big as she reads the spines, running a finger over each. "This is... wild." She says then, hearing Michael's words, she looks up to Jessica first, and leans in to air hug, and air kiss at her cheeks, before doing the same to Michael in-turn.

"Truly, thank you. I'll... I dunno! Come to whatever party ya'll throw and try'n reciprocate!" She says with a laugh as she holds the books and beret up close against her stomach now. She's all grins as she darts her eyes back and forth between them. "Ya'll staryin' awhile longer? There's more fightin' matches t'come! All my lame friends from Salem are gonna throw down."

There's already two dudes up there tossing each other around in the mud pit already in fact! Not quite as impressive as Carol vs Rogue, but still!

One starts to scream as he's tossed off the falls, in fact, which makes Rogue's green eyes look skyward.

Jessica Drew has posed:
It doesn't require telepathy to see feel Rogue's pleasure at the gifts. She takes Michael's hand and squeezes it telegraphing her joy.

"He is too modest. But, we hope that you can follow yours."

Michael Erickson has posed:
    And with that, Michael smiles, and bows to the lady. "Well. Happy birthday, Marie," he says to her, and nods to Jessica. "Come, halan. Let's get a drink, shall we?"

Rogue has posed:
At some point during the night, Rogue finds Scott.

And tackles him in to the mud pool!