2013.07.06 - Breakstone Park, A New Reunion

With graduation over, and summer break about to begin for most people, most people were running around on vacation, or getting prepared for future endeavors.

However, there were some people at the Xavier Institute who needed remedial tutoring, and Doug was having a difficult time with one of these students.

"Come on, focus a bit here. Look, it's simple. When dealing with equations, remember, it's 'Please Excuse My Dear Aunt Sally... wait... wait, where are you going?"

Meggan pauses in the process of opening the window, saying as she does, looking over her shoulder, "I can't concentrate in here, it's so /stuffy/! I can't pretend to be a computer so easily. Come on, it's gorgeous out! Can't we get a bit of sun while we're going over this?" Her lower lip pooches out in a small pleading pout.

Glancing out the windows, Doug sighs as he gathers up the books, pencils, and papers. "All right. Let's do it. Where do you want to go... wait, wait, Meggan!"

And out the door Doug goes, chasing after Meggan.

Meggan did not wend her way very far, travelling just underneath the treetops towards Breakstone Lake. Her progress can easily be spotted by Doug or interested parties from the occasional startled bird, and she comes to light within the treeline before walking out into the sunshine, tilting her head up with her eyes shut as she steps towards the lake shore.

She heads for the rockier edges, stepping neatly over the heavy stones and finding one that lets her dip her feet in the water, turning her head then to look for the Doug who, hopefully, is in hot pursuit. She thinks aloud, "Perhaps I should have said... Hmmm..."

It was a good day for quiet reflection by the lake, that it was. Warm and cloudless as it was, the surface of the water took on rather captivating azure color - a truly beautiful sight when taken in with the lush greens of the whole well-maintained park scenery. The wind was soft today, barely below a whisper and gentler than the caress of an old friend...

The park as a whole was mildly populated, as it always was, today - both by the local wildlife that took refuge in the park and the Westchester locals. The ducks and geese of the park were especially visible today, if not floating on the surface of the lake then they were surely wandering amongst the rolling green plains nearby; and making attempts to avoid humans at all possible. Unless, they had food of course.

And today, that is exactly what one woman was doing. Seated on a park bench by the lake's ege, a well-dressed woman with rolling waves of violet curls and emerald green eyes was sitting with her legs crossed - tossing cracker crumbs at a very interested flock of geese pacing about in her area. She's dressed in rather plain dress today, a black miniskirt and frilly white blouse with long sleeves and a pair of heels; a pair of silver hooop earrrings dancing quietly in the air as she engages the flock...

Dressed up more like a -teacher-, with a white short-sleeved button-up shirt, a blue tie, tan slacks and dress shoes, Doug has papers and books tucked under his arms. He's still trying to catch up when Meggan turns towards him, thinking out loud.

"Meggan..." Doug begins, as he begins to hand her a book. "You should have said what?" he says, as he begins sorting out the rest of the papers he'd gathered up in a hurry. Looking for a place to sit, there's a brief pause as he catches sight of Ms. Braddock. Uh...

"Ah, Meggan, we probably shouldn't disturb anyone here," Doug says, as he turns back towards the young blonde shapeshifter. "What about... over there?" He motions over to a bench further down the lake.

Meggan's clothing is much more summery. A T-shirt with the art of a rock album, probably chosen purely at random -- in this case, Lola Versus Powerman by the Kinks -- and shorts. "Oh!" she tells Doug as he appears. "I'd worried I'd given you the slip. I'm dreadfully sorry for leaping out like that, I simply couldn't take -"

Her head pivots to look towards that woman sitting there, with violet curls and an excellent sense of fashion. "!" Meggan exclaims wordlessly, rising upwards and looking at Doug. "Excuse me just a moment, because if I'm not mistaken--"

And then she's hopping down more rocks to get towards where the ducks are being fed, approaching the other woman with a slowly dawning and radiant smile. Emotionally speaking it is like a sunrise, and it shows in her tone when she says, "/Betsy/! That's YOU, isn't it? Oh my goodness, this IS a shock, isn't it!" Towards Doug, she pre-emptively calls, "Come over here, let me introduce you!"

A rustling of cheap plastic paper comes, again, as Betsy reaches into an open packet of water biscuit crackers before plucking a few out and giving them a toss. She tries to land them not too close together, knowing well how aggressive Geese can be with each other over food. There is a papercover book, with a white iPhone resting upon it, sitting upon the bench directly next to her. The phone itself seems to presently be in the 'off' state, however.

Several moments pass, and more crackers ar thrown, before the British woman with unnatural hair color gingerly sets the cracker packet down in her lap. She then holds her hands out over the pavement, dusting cracker crumbs from them, before turning to reach for that phone with her left hand...

...and stopping once she hears a distantly familiar voice calling her name. Her eyes lift, searching for the source of the voice, and fall again upon the very familiar blonde from a time that seems to her not so very long ago. "Ah- Well, hello there luv. What a surprise to see you all the way out here in America." She casts her gaze about momentarily, as if to search for someone. "Is ... Brian not with you, dear?" What a surprise that is.

In her search for Brian, Betsy's eyes fall upon Doug instead... and she brow quirks slightly. He and Meggan were acquaintances...?

"It's not a problem, Meggan," Doug comments. After all, he'd been able to read -her- body language, and clearly the classroom was -not- a conductive learning environment. This might also explain her difficulties with classes, tests, and other things.

All thoughts of Meggan's remedial tutoring leaves, however, as Meggan flits towards Betsy. Huh. So she did know...

Slapping his head, Doug grimaces. Right. Meggan. British, and she'd been with Brian Braddock, who...

It was a small, small world after all.

Stepping forward, Doug smiles, albeit tentatively. "WE've met, Meggan. Uh, sorry to disturb you. I was tutoring Meggan and uh, we were looking for a place more conductive for her to learn. Um, how are you, Ms. Braddock?"

"He makes me sound like a spastic, doesn't he," Meggan says with obvious fondness in her tone, before answering Betsy with a thoughtful look. "No, he's, ah the last I /spoke/ with him he was working on a bit of physics back in the manor, have you spoken to him recently...?"

The wary moment passes, as she adds, brightly, "And I'm here to study mostly, though I've been recording some of those videos for metaphoric - no, excuse me, /metamorphic/ people too, though I have to say that that's a little hard. Have you been in town long?"

With my luck, Meggan thinks (with a momentary inward frown) she's been here a month and I just never noticed.

An amused smile winds its way into Betsy's features as Doug approaches, with the violet-haired woman bringing her right arm around to rest upon the bench as she turns slightly. "Oh, I'm quite fine darling. ... We keep running into each other, it seems. It really is a small world..."

Then, just as she says this, her attention is drawn back to Meggan and the Brit woman's amused smile melts back into something of a look of surprise. "Oh? I didn't know Brian was even here - I suppose I should make an effort to see him again." Knowing that cocky bastard, he'd probably say her psychic senses were beginning to dull! She looks askance, momentarily, at that thought and her painted lips curl.. before she returns her attentions to the other girl. "Well, that explains your developments dear." Last Betsy saw of Meggan her behavior was a bit more like these Geese than a normal person's, very wild. "Education is a wonderful thing, I am pleased to see yet more of the Institute's results firsthand."

Whilst she says this, a rather large fowl - probably male - wanders a bit close and gives her skirt a tug with his bill. It draws her focus, momentarily... and provokes an amused chuckle. She then slips the fingers of her left hand into the cracker packet again, giving some a toss, before continuing, "...I've been here about a month, I'd say or a little more. ... Have a seat dears. There's plenty of room."

"Well, yes, Ms. Braddock, but I'm just working on these things. Has it been a month? Ah... I could have sworn we'd only just met a few days ago, myself." Doug smiles, nodding towards Betsy, before stepping aside, motioning to Meggan to take a seat first. Ladies first. And then he'll just seat himself on the other side, pausing to motion away at the geese. No, he hadn't any food, don't you -think- about coming after him!

His blue eyes shift towards Meggan as she speaks wistfully about Brian. Right, so they would be... practically sisters, right? He had a fair idea why she'd come here, but it must've been hard on her. Not that he'd say anything out loud, of course...

Meggan's shoulders slump for no immediately apparent reason.

She does say parenthetically, "Oh, I meant the manor back /home/, not the /mansion/. Isn't it odd how no one's ever based out of a council flat, though?"

She crouches downwards then, abruptly, to get eye to eye with the duck, her bottom resting on her heels.

"We did, dear." She replies to Doug, "I haven't been the most social of persons, I have only really made time for Charles until recently. Also, I don't stop by the Mansion too often." In truth, she'd been actively avoiding engaging others around there until her meeting with Jocelyn. That seemed to open the proverbial flood gates in way she had scarcely imagined.

Though Doug waves the Geese off, they seem to patently ignore him. In fact the, presumably alpha male, Geese who'd been tugging at her skirt seems to give him a defiant stare. Or perhaps it's a blank, pointed, stare. Only perhaps Doug and Meggan would know. Despite being a telepath, Betsy wasn't well-versed in Geese.

She does chuckle at the spectacle of it, however, before tossing out yet more crackers idly and drawing the male's focus from Doug, "Yes, it is a peculiarity isn't it? Everyone important has a mansion." Betsy suspected that was just human nature however. She lifts her eyes to Doug, then, smiling at him in that probably by now familiar teasing way, "Well, have a seat dear. I don't bite..." Too hard.

The defiant -stare- was pretty much just confirmation. Having to listen to the various honking, Doug grimaces. No way could he get his voicebox to quack back in kind, even though geese had more than -twenty- distinct dialects. Hunters who didn't know that geese had different calls for different situations were going to find themselves empty-handed. He certainly wasn't going to -quack- in front of these women, that was for sure.

So he sighs, shifts his body language -just- enough to go for the 'ommmm, one with nature' posture, and turns his attention back towards Betsy. "Uh. It is."

Having not yet taken a seat because Meggan hadn't, Doug hesitates just -briefly- enough to know he'd thought about it, and then the young mutant sits down, glancing back towards Meggan. "You can talk to these geese?" Doug asks, curious. He hadn't quite gotten the full scope of Meggan's abilities, because, well, seeing was beliving.

"Well, I can't TALK to them," Meggan says, still looking the avian in the eyes, apparently fascinated or at least briefly entranced. "But I mean I can tell how they feel, more or less. Really, there's less of a difference with people than you might think, most of the time people are just feeling too."

She rests her elbows on her knees and puts her chin in her hands, the subtle menace of the geese insinuating itself in her awareness. Truly, though subtle and arcane, the soul of a goose found in upstate New York is...

... fowl.

Musing aloud, she says, "It is a bit funny, isn't it? I mean there's you, Betsy, there's Warren, Charles... those fancy people with the club in the city I'd heard about... Doug, d'you think maybe being," Betsy can probably see 'posh' in her mind even as Meggan says, "well off makes you more likely to be a mutant?"

She then looks up to Betsy, still crouched down. "And is it me or is this goose evil?"

Betsy shakes her head softly in amusement at Doug's obvious reluctance, violet ringlets dancing softly in the breeze that blows through. She says nothing about it, however, opting to resume watching the Geese and... Meggan. Even as he eventually takes a seat. "...I don't think so personally." Betsy adds, regardless of whatever Doug might reply with before or after, "I think it's mostly just an coincidence that there's an abundance of wealthy mutants, though... it is also probably because those with power seek to use it." Mutant powers and money especially.

She does pause for a bit though, reflecting privately on the mention of the 'club' in the city. The Hellfire Club? ... She visibly frowns at that thought. She most certainly hopes Meggan is never influenced by Emma Frost's way of doing things.

...And then the silence is broken by a fit of hearty laughter, silver earrings dancing about as it escapes her, "Evil? What makes you say that, dear?" And then she eyes the Goose in question, smiling knowingly, "...I think it's more a matter of attitude, really. Men... you know... they always have to prove themselves." She hand waves at that. Reminds her of Brian, actually... which is an amusing thought since Meggan...

"I don't know about manors, I always thought those were more for, well... royalty or ..."

Doug's voice trails off as he suddenly catches on to something - was it -Lord- Brian Braddock...? If so, that would mean...

Musings interrupted, Doug looks at the geese, and nods at Meggan. "Well, it is getting the time the baby geese are getting ready to fly, so they're probably trying to get a lot of food and energy so they can grow, but..."

Glowering back at the 'alpha' goose, Doug shakes his head. "This one seems like a bully."

"Well he just seems malicious," Meggan says, frowning at the goose, who may or may not honk in disapproval at such scrutiny. "It's hard to say really; you get a bit of it from cats I suppose, but only when they're chasing mice or bugs. Not some sort of, profound, dire, cosmic evil, just sort of this everyday kind of malice." 'Malice' may have been a recent vocabulary acquisition for her.

She reaches out to point an accusing finger. "You aren't Mystique, are you? I'm onto your game if you are, I'll have you know." When the goose is not revealed to be Mystique under this ruthless interrogation, Meggan raises herself upwards, exhaling.

"I suppose it could just be luck, too... if you're doing alright you're more likely to not feel like you've got to hide yourself," Meggan muses, turning around while loosely folding her arms. She glances at Doug for a moment, though she can't quite puzzle out the thought or its identity.

"Though, have either of you ever met Mystique? If she wasn't so wicked I think I'd rather like to, myself."

Betsy just continues to eye the Goose in question, as Doug segues into an explanation abnout the time of year for them, idly thinking to herself. She'd still hardly call it malice. Malign behavior was something inherently more complicated to her mind than what a base animal could enact. Malice is what those humans did to mutants who were different from them - burning them alive, bullying them, making their lives hell... it was often without valid reason and completely irrational. A Goose just had to defend his territory and assert his dominance as instinct demanded...

..."...I'd still just call it 'maleness'." The psion shrugs her right shoulder, tapping fingers against the back of the bench her right arm was still resting on, "...Geese, like cats, have survival instincts that dictate their behavior. Males have a role to play by nature."

And with regards ot not hiding, "...That's actually quite an insightful observation. And it -does- make sense. Indeed, the better of you are and the more secure you feel... the more likely you are to be bold about what you do."

She goes to pick up her phone idly, with her right hand, turning it on with a flood of light to check the time... and hrms, ... and then she answers Meggan's question, "...I am aware of her, but I do not believe we have ever met personally." Betsy was aware of a lot of pwoerful people due to her prior work with the British government. But she had hardly more than passing familiarity at all.

"I can't say I had the pleasure," Doug responds, wrinkling his nose at Meggan's query.

There's a blink as Betsy describes the condition as 'maleness', causing Doug to immediately protest, "Hey... I don't -think- males just basically go around demanding -things- happen. It's not a trait that's, well... -male- exclusive. It's just... being an alpha."

Pausing, as he regards Betsy's comment about not hiding, Doug frowns ever so slightly, starting to say something again, before meeting Betsy's gaze. There's a shake of his head. Oh, he wasn't -getting- into a discussion over this, much as he'd like to, and Doug ahems. "Meggan...?" An arched eyebrow, a glance at her schoolbooks and papers. Work, right?

Meggan answers Betsy with a rather subdued, "Mm," more at the latter part than at her commentary about /men/. That she may have to digest for later.

She does sigh again as she's reminded about Learning, and smiles at Betsy again. "Lovely to see you, and please do keep in touch! I did lose my phone but when I get a new one I'll be /quite/ sure to give you the number, if you like!" She then looks towards Doug once more, cheeks puffing out before she concludes, with deliberate braveness in her tone, "I suppose it's time, then, isn't it?"

The goose, meanwhile, returns to the water, intent on a career of evil. Later, it may befoul the hood of Iceman's car.

There's a sly smile as Betsy's heard turns in the direction of Doug, just a few moments after he protests, and she just stares at him quietly throughout. Even when he gives her that -look-, she doesn't say anything about it just... absorbs it. And the smile only grows slightly toward the end of her silence. Be careful, Doug, you might be making the evil woman stronger!

"...It's a distinctly male thing." She replies, finally, mildly defiant. "Not often in nature are women the killers, the warriors, ..." There were exceptions, of course, as with lionesses. Yet, more often than not, it was distinctly male. "...Not all men engage in it, surely, but it is more often than not distinctly of the male gender." Ironic, that she says this, considering... the dynamic between them thus far has been that /she/ is by far the more predatory of the two of them...

...And with Meggan's mention of phone numbers, Betsy turns and pops open her purse... scouring it for /something/... before producing a white, laminated, card and reaching over to set it -directly- in Doug's lap. She then closes her purse, again, and proceeds to stand, "There you are, dear." It's questionable what sort of game she's playing, giving it to Doug instead of giving it directly to Meggan. Or, perhaps it isn't... perhaps she's just being a predatory woman again! "You can call me anytime, Meggan dear. ... I am afraid, though, I must depart. It was a pleasure seeing you two." And with /that/, she walks off along a paved pathway next to the beach... heading in the direction of the parking lot and leaving the pair to their studies.