2013-01-29 Popeye's Prank

Sunny day in Westchester. The sky is clear, and the sun has started it's travel downward in the west, but it won't be set for another few hours, at the very least. It is between lunch and dinner, so the cafeteria is almost empty, but for a couple of stragglers. Most are back in classes, and this is something of a 'break' for the teacher of the Dramatic Arts, Herr Kurt Wagner. No students until 'next period', and when that happens, they're back to Hamlet.

Ready to make this break as useful as possible, the fuzzy blue elf seems to have enlisted a 'partner in crime' as it were. Kurt is in the trees, just off the main deck area, perched, knees bent, yellow eyes set up to the skies. A smile creases his face, and he's ready, calling out, "Think of the song, mein freund," and he starts to whistle, 'The Man on the Flying Trapeze'. Even as he starts to take up the song in the second verse, rather than teleporting out, he pushes himself off the branch and launches himself into the air- a rather impressive jump, and his hands are outstretched, ready to take hold..

Warren was indeed 'enlisted' by Kurt to come help him with...something. He didn't realize what that 'something' was until they were outside and Kurt was already eyeing the trees. There was a roll of his eyes but he took to the skies to comply...for now. "You owe me for this...I'd rather not have my arms pulled out of their sockets, you know..." but he swoops in to try and grab Kurt's outstretched arms before gravity kicks in too much.

As he is still not officially registered for classes while testing is being done for equivilency and proper placement, Broo has the advantage of also not being confined to any specific schedule. An empty bandoleer is slung across his chest, with a metal basket connected by cords at the bottom. Inside the metal basket is two large boxes of chicken, the boxes blazen with the logo for Popeyes, and the wind carries the aroma of the hot, juicy chicken as the littlest Broodling flutters up toward the roof, looking for a perch to view the world, daydream, ponder life, and consume vast quantities of spicy breaded galliform.

Life continues to prove that no matter how bizarre and twisted things seem to be, the sky's never the limit. Domino's been touring the globe, bumping heads with some of the best, and worst, names in the business, partaking in more than one scorched earth campaign for any number of reasons, and now this. Once again she's fought the odds and won, though the prize in this situation isn't immediately known. She's become part of a team again, though it's a team with views that can often vary or downright contradict her own. Xavier's has its very own mercenary, straight from the underground.

Like a mobster rolling into town, Dom parks a pristine looking BMW M3 out front, as black as black can be right down to the light covers and window tint. The albino herself is fully dressed in black, the only splotch of color coming from deep purple tinted lenses which shield her eyes, but not all of the spot around her left eye. Cyclops had to have known what he was agreeing to with letting her sign on with this crew. Despite it being a school full of kids, she arrives on the grounds armed. Everything's safely hidden from view, but for a mutant that benefits from remote triggers for her powers they've become as much a part of her as her own battle-torn skin.

In a building full of mutants, one of them does not seem as though it belongs.

She also smells chicken.

Kurt grabs at Warren's outstretched hands, "I have you.." (or is it that Warren has him?) and a tug is given on them.. the only give-away perhaps that there's some weight that is on the end of them. It's fleeting, however, as he tucks, and flips.. ready to be launched to the next tree. "Who needs wings?" There is a grin, and he spies the next tree in which he's going to land. "Three o'clock.. or is it 2:45.. maybe a little more like 2:53.." Beat. "Now!" The blue mutant doesn't quite catch Domino's arrival; not from that height.. but is that.. on the roof?"

Warren turns some in the air to swing Kurt at the indicated tree, raising his arms to give the other some lift. "I do...because you wouldn't be doing this if I -didn't- have wings..." and he releases, letting his friend fly. He notes the new arrival as well as the figure on the roof, but he's not a regular here anymore so he doesn't know who does and does not belong.

Getting situated, Broo finds a nice spot to look at the clouds, pulling out several pieces of chicken and placing them in his mouth whole. His tongue wraps around the chicken and drags across them, the meat falling off the bones as if partly disolved. His eyes begin to trail over the treetops and then follow the professor and the alumnist doing... acrobatics, aerobatics... whatever you want to call it. Whatever it is, Broo tilts his head to observe it out of curiosity, his tongue playing with the bits of meat before he pulls the clean white bones out and places them in a little ziplock bag, as if he intends to save them.

Sure seems quiet around here for being a school... Domino wanders down the halls as she makes a straight path clear through the center of the building, finding her way onto the rear grounds. Following the scent of chicken helps, where there's cooked chicken there's going to be people. Or one extremely happy feline. Getting back into the open it's quite easy to spot Warren up there, and Kurt by proxy. She already knows both of these guys, go figure! It's refreshing to see that they both seem to be doing so ..alright. The last time she had seen them it had been under less than ideal circumstances, and a different one for each of them. "Got tired of teleporting, Blue?"

Kurt is in his glory, and it shows. He laughs and tucks into a ball, his tail tucking as well as he flies through the air (wingless!) and untucks at the last minute to grab on to a bough. Swinging around, very much like a gymnast on the uneven bars, he pulls himself up onto another, higher branch before he stops and perches. If he breaks a sweat, there's no obvious trace of it.. and he's not even breathing heavily. "Okay.. I will grant you that. So.. I only borrowed them.. und gave them back."

Now, from his vantage point, he can identify the Broo on the roof, and narrowing his eyes, catches the fact that the broodling has chicken. Okay.. no known allergies there.. or reactions. (That he's aware of, anyway.)

From atop his perch now, Kurt crouches and his smile grows. Standing up, he doesn't even bother using the trunk as a balance. "Guten abend, freulein.. und I am a man of many talents. Teleporting is but one way to quickly move around. But it hardly shows off talent, now does it?"

Warren hovers a little in the air vertically as he recognizes Domino, "Fancy seeing you here...I don't know if Cyclops is around, but I can try and find him..." since he figured that's who she's here to see, right? Not that he can really hide his identity all that well -- blonde guy with wings. There aren't too many of those flying about.

He looks over to Nightcrawler, "You know her too?" He then glances at the figure on the roof, "Is that supposed to be there?"

As Warren and Kurt both look his way, Broo waves politely. If it is wrong for him to sit on the roof, no one has told him yet, or he would not do it... or at least be far less conspicuous in his defiance of rules... though more likely the former, since he doesn't seek to be defiant against anyone except his own past. He opens the box and holds out a pair of drumsticks, "Would anyone care for seasoned and breaded galliform, the place with the eye popping has a special on Tuesdays, so I acquired mass quantities, so there is surplus for anyone who desires some."

Domino provides a showy sort of bow toward Kurt, arms spread out to the sides in a complete 'I'll give you that, good sir' sort of motion. Warren's offer, while thoughtful, turns out to be unnecessary. "Nah, don't worry about it. He's got enough to worry about without thinking that I'm busy spooking the locals." Err, what? Is what supposed to be where, now? She steps out further still, tucking sunglasses onto the top of her head while looking at the roofline. "That's a real good question, I'm not sure." Not sure what it is, not sure if it belongs there? Yes. It's a nicely timed distraction, though. The specifics of how she knows these two are probably best left unspoken. Oh--it speaks, in a way that everyone can understand! Mostly. "Think I'll pass, thanks."

Kurt treats Warren to that grin that is now settled upon his face, and one of those '//Of course I know her,// expressions. If he's not acquainted with a lady, it's never for long. Ever. "Ja.. I do." Just in case he needed to hear it.

Kurt doesn't bother with teleporting down out of the tree. Not only does he use his hands, his feet, but he does use his tail as a balancing 'arm', reaching out to take hold of the occasional branch as well. Flipping and dropping out of the tree, he lands on the ground lightly, and turns to look in the direction of the Broo on the roof. "Come down. You will encourage others to do likewise, und then we will have to use it as a lesson." He turns back around, and giving Domino his full attention, his brows rise, though his tones are still easy.. filled with good humour. "Spooking the locals? I don't think that would be possible. We are a brave sort."

"We aren't students, Kurt," Warren points out, but he does land easily, his leg having healed almost completely from its more recent injury. He looks at Domino for a long moment before he offers her a simple nod. At the offer of the chicken from the roof, he also shakes his head, "No, thank you."

And of course, his cell phone rings.

Pulling it out of a pocket, he looks at the caller before offering to anyone, "I have to take this. Sorry..." and he moves inside, where it's much warmer, to take the call.

Nodding, Broo ambles up to his feet, and then scurries down the roof and along the wall, pausing to check in one of the windows a moment, before continuing all the way to the ground, his little basket shifting to remain relatively upright so the food doesn't spill out. He then considers the comment, "Oh, I see, yes, others may not be resilient enough to prevent sustaining injuries were they to lose their balance or for some other reason fall from the elevation." he again holds out the chicken, "I have more inside in ovens and bins, so there is more then enough for the entire faculty and residents to partake of some in moderation."

"Let's hope so," Domino replies to Kurt without missing a beat. It's an answer which is meant to cover more than something as simple as her being around, bravery is a good thing to have. Warren's extended look preceeding the greeting is noticed, and met in kind. Curious. Did Scott fill him in on what happened in Murybet? "Good seein' ya again," she offers after he receives his call. As if filling in for the winged one's absence, she turns to give Broo a peculiar look. "Just how much chicken did you buy..?"

"I will see you later, Warren. I want to see how far we can get," and there's only so much room for flying in the Danger Room! Kurt turns back around, his attention falling on Broo for a long moment. His own words now also echos Domino's. "Ja.. exactly how much did you buy? Und how did you get it back?" That's not to ask.. how did he purchase such an amount? He exhales in a sigh, his entire body seeming to deflate for a moment, "You do remember that you are not to draw attention to yourself, ja? Und buying enough chicken to feed the Institute qualifies as 'drawing attention'." There.. lecture over. After a fashion, anyway.

There is a broad grin on Broo's face, "To cover the quantity, I used intermediaries to make purchases at 5 different locations, giving the intermediaries a bit of extra funds to add their own orders to the. Nine Intermediaries, each buying 2 boxes each, at each of the 5 locations, 20 pieces per box, so a total of 90 boxes at 20 pieces each, 1800 pieces of chicken. The intermediaries were compensated and helped me carry the chicken to a grove a few miles due west of the school. I then personally carried the chicken here once I was sure from the scents that no one was close by to follow me. And just in case, I deposited the pallete in a lake a little north of the grove." he seems somewhat proud of his ingenuity.

"That's..a helluva lot of chicken," Domino says with a vacant tone in her voice. On second thought, maybe she -will- have some, so long as she's here. And so long as it hasn't been touched by extraterrestrial hands, or whatever it is that Broo happens to be.

There's a quick shake of the albino's head, as though rebooting her brain after all of that. Her next comment is just for Kurt. "Yeah. So, I'm with you guys now. Blame Piotr, totally his fault."

It is a sunny afternoon; that time between lunch and dinner when most of the students have left the cafeteria and are back in their classrooms, in their various subjects. As the sun shines, it's a pleasant day- little wind. There's a small group that has gathered; Broo, Domino, Kurt.. and Warren, who has stepped back inside to take a phone call. Broo is bedecked with Popeye's Chicken, and part of the conversation between the three seems to be regarding that very thing.

"How could you tell.. smell anyone over the smell of the chicken?" It is pretty strong, after all. "Und you sank the food into the lake.." Hopefully with something around it. He exhales in a quiet sigh and manages to work most of that smile that slipped a little back into place. Particularly when faced with the lovely Domino. Brows rise and he straightens, "You are.. well, welkommen.." He sounds pleased. Reaching out to take her hand in order to kiss those knuckles (very continental!), he's got something of a half-bow. "I look forward to seeing you on the grounds more often.." But sadly.. "Alas, however.. I must depart. Class begins for me very soon. Some will think me crazy for teaching children Shakespeare, but I am but mad north-north-west: when the wind is southerly I know a hawk from a handsaw." He takes a step back, and with another look towards Broo, he tsks softly. "Stay off the roof.." He twists around to look at the Institute, and with a quick bow in Domino's direction again, disappears with a *bamf*.. leaving behind the acrid smell of sulfur..

Apparently, Broo has brought 1800 pounds of chicken to the rear grounds of the Institute. That's a /lot/ of chicken. Thus, the smell of chicken has permeated the windows and doors of the school and drawn Josh out to see what was out there. His eyes widen at the sight of all that chicken. And...Broo at the center of it all. "...Whoa...that's a lot of chicken, Broo. How'd you get uh, get so much chicken out here?"

Scott Summers heads outside to enjoy some of the nice weather but almost immediately grows an arched brow. "What's going on here?" he asks skeptically. Things smell like chicken. Broo is here. There are definitely some form of shenanigans.

The smell of chicken has drawn yet another to the rear grounds. Kwabena Odame, dressed in his typical civilian attire, is drawn from somewhere in the side yard. The black leather jacket and dark grey snow cap keep him warm, but the smell of such delicious chicken seems to be doing well to warm his soul as well. "Where on earth is dat -coming- from," he murmurs to himself.

For a moment there, Domino looks utterly blank. Is..Kurt really kissing her hand? What! You could have dropped a primed grenade at her feet and she wouldn't be half as surprised as she is over this. "We're all a little bit crazy," she absently replies as the fuzzy blue rascal simply disappears. A moment later, there's more people coming around to take his place. Some guy with golden skin (huh!) and the one-eyed leadery person that let her be here in the first place. To his inquiry, she simply holds up her hands. "Not getting involved." Nope, couldn't pay her to get in the middle of this mess. Ignore the drumstick in her hand.

It takes a moment, but Broo starts to snicker... he can't keep a straight face, "It worked... I bluffed... I did it." he takes a few moments to catch what passes for a breath, "No, it was a fabrication. I really just made a single trip to each location, concealed in heavy clothing, and bought 40 pieces at that location. I grabbed some dicarded boxes at each location, and folded they take up little extra room, keeping the extra boxes in a bag. That is the aroma, the extra boxes, and the 8 full boxes in the ovens in the kitchens. There is no pallette, and were no intermediaries. But the bluff is a skill I needed to develop. I was told that the best deceptions are those with partial truths." he smiles, holding the top box in his carrier basket open for Domino, "I went during the high traffic periods of opening and lunch, so they locations would be more used to larger orders and less likely to take notice of a small person buying a considerable amount."

Josh also picks up a drumstick and begins munching on it. "Hey, thanks for treating, Broo. Nice job on the bluff, I guess. By the way, when are we starting those xenobiology lessons?" he asks, then takes another bite of chicken. He nods at Shift and Cyclops. "Hey Kwabena. And Mr. Summers."

Scott looks to Josh with a nod, then looks to Domino and Shift as if wondering whether they can figure out what the heck is going on. After a long moment of arms folded across his chest, the man with the sunglasses and the black turtleneck focuses on Broo and finally asks, "Huh?"

A decidedly disenfranchised expression crosses Shift's face when he begins to overhear Broo's lengthy explanation behind how exactly he procured the chicken. However, it is short lived, for the smell of chicken is just too overpowering. "Hey! Broo!" he calls upward, then shoots a hand out in expectation of having some chicken tossed his way.

Once he has a fresh piece of chicken in hand, he finally notices the presence of others. A suddenly guarded expression seems to cross his face, if only for a flash, before he's approaching the others with a forced, pleasant smile on his face. "Josh. Scott." Then he looks toward the newest visitor. "Domino. Glad to see you could make it."

Is Dom going to have another piece? Why yes, yes she is. "Well good on you, I guess. Seen more than enough crazy that I was willing to buy it." So. Already, she's starting to wonder how Shift handles putting up with this sort of group on a daily basis. That's what he does with his days, right? When he's not busy being dragged across the country on a fool's errand. Oh, but that does remind her. "I like to follow-through when it's an option," she replies. "Got something for you in the trunk, too."

This still feels ever so awkward. New person syndrome, maybe.

"Ummm....I think Broo tricked us into thinking that he bought more chicken than he actually did?" Josh tentatively explains to Scott in response to his confusion on what exactly was going on.

With everyone enjoying, Broo looks to Scott, "Before he mfmped off, I bluffed Mr. Wagner into believing I purchased 1800 pieces of chicken by having nine intermediaries each purchase two boxes at each of five locations, then having them meet me at a grove several miles west of hear, then after waiting for the intermediaries to depart, I alledged I used a large pallette to transport the chicken to the school, before taking the empty pallette to a lake north of the grove as a cover for my supposed large purchases. It seems my bluff was neither too complicated, nor too simple, and therefore was believable." he snickers a bit more, "While my recent tutoring of students has been moderately profitable, I think a $972 dollar purchase is a moderate bit beyond my means to collect in such a short period. And even if I had attained that much, I would not be making such exhorbant purchases, as I do need to reimburse some loans I was given, and pay for some personal wants and needs."

Scott looks around slowly, with his arms still folded across his chest. Many of the new people in the mansion are a bit odd, but Broo is perhaps the leader in the clubhouse. Or nuthouse. "So, you fooled them into thinking you purchased $1800 worth of chicken." Pause. "Why? Just because you wanted to see if you could do it?"

Well, someone called ahead. Carol isn't just polite, she's a stickler for the rules when she's a guest. Especially for Xavier's school. She got so much help here back when she was freshly destroyed by Rogue. The rules say, don't just show up, call ahead... so she did. That was when she learned they were having a barbecue or something like it. So she decided that she would bring something. And that something was... her neighbor's homemade potato salad. It's not a ton of the stuff, but there are two large bowls. She helped make it of course...

Once again, she didn't fly here because she was transporting perishables and so with the salad, as well as a couple twelve packs of fruit hinted sparkling water, she pulled uot in her little Priuss. Fuel efficiency is important to her in a car... not so much in a motorcycle but that's her midlife crisis in advance. Anyhow, she pulls up in front of the school, and without further ado, she is walking around the back where she was told folks were gathering. She has one bowl (with a tupperware lid) on each hand, and a twelve pack balanced on top of each lidded bowl.

"Hey, um, someone wanna give me a hand here? Odds are I'm gonna drop these before I get to the table... just from balance issues." she calls out.

Okay, free food aside, that little guy's starting to make Dom's head hurt. "I think he was goin' for the extra credit," she sides to Scott. Man, this is a whole new level of strange. "Okay, I've got some business to deal with here. Call if you need anything blown up." Now if she can figure out where Shift managed to run off to... That seems to be a problem with people that can turn into smoke at will.

Then she nearly plows Carol over in her haste to get things done. "Whoa--hey, Danvers! Didn't know you were still in college," she teases with a silly grin.

Josh shrugs. "I guess someone told him bluffing is a good skill to have." And then someone else was arriving. He turns to see who it is and sighs. Oh, /great/. Not /her/. He avoids eye contact.

Looking a bit crestfallen, literally, since he has a crest that can rise and fall on the back of his head, Broo seems sad, "Was it bad to practice bluffing on the teacher of the drama? I thought if my performance was good enough to make him believe, that it would mean I did it correctly?" he didn't want to do something wrong, "I'm sorry, I will got to Mr. Wagner's class and apologise right now if I should?"

Scott chuckles, "No, you misunderstand, Broo. I was just wondering if there would have been more to the prank. Learning to spoof is a pretty good skill around this school. You gotta keep your head on a swivel." He looks around, nodding to Carol, "Well, carry on, everyone. Good to see you."

"Whoa.." remarks Carol as she narrowly dodges around Domino. The other woman's luck has apparently held, as nothing spilled yet, but it's precarious, "Whoa there.. hold up." she says, looking to the load in one hand before shifting her gaze to the other. "You, stay put." she says as if giving it an order will help. She slowly bends at the waist and sets the stuff on the ground before simply picking up the bowls and leaving the drinks there. "Okay, Potato salad has arrived!" she exclaims as she reaches the table and looks around to see who all is... hrm, not many folks out here. Maybe she brought too much. Well no... Broo is here, no amount is too much.