2013.08.10 - XMN: Chilled out Party

It may have been a hot and humid day but stepping outside to the rear of the X-mansion, one might feel a slight chill. Or a big chill. Mostly because of all the snow coating the ground. It looks a lot more like December out here than August. Nice, fluffy snow perfect for building snowmen or rolling into snowballs coats the grounds. A few tables have been set up and the pool and hot tub are warm and ready for anyone trying to escape the temporary cold. Some music is playing as well, a radio set up by a pair of grills and ice-coolers. The mutant behind this winter wonderland is one Bobby Drake and he's currently at one of the grills, grilling some hot dogs for some of the students already out enjoying the party.

It seemed to make much more sense for those who wished to escape the summer heat to simply remain indoors and away from said heat. Some nice little place where central air conditioning reigned supreme. Like the inside of the dorm rooms! But not even the reclusive odd-girl-out like Ruth Aldine could stay cooped up forever. And the idea of going out during an artificially-created cold front held a certain appeal. She just hoped she wouldn't be one of the ones responsible for bringing the grass back to life if this killed it.

Astro turf. That's what they needed.

Blindfold comes into the courtyard with a light pink sweater and a pair of bluejeans over her bathing suit. Most people might look around here, see who else was there, but the girl without eyes just keeps her arms loosely folded and walks with her head down, still managing to navigate the patio and avoid obstacles and people alike.

But when she hits the snow, her foot catches and stumbles, prompting her to pitch forward and hit her knees with a mild squeak of surprise, catching herself with her hands. Well hey, being a potent precog didn't stop one from being taken by surprise from time to time when snow hid a tree root or rock or dead body!

The girl labors back to her feet, dusting snow and moisture off the legs of her jeans. Aaaaaaand this is why she wasn't an outdoorsman.

Meggan, noted remedial student and connosieur of fun times, is seated in the snow, legs folded and periodically pushing it up into balls, which she sets aside, like heaping plum stones underneath a Shire tree. "Bobby," she asks aloud, "Are you making new or will it simply stay cold? I can't quite tell -" She doesn't seem bothered, at least, by the cold, although when someone slips, she straightens up with a fluff of powder. "Oh! Are you alright??" she calls to Blindfold, lip pooching in concern.

Josie, on the other hand, has been one of the ones out every day, enjoying the summer weather on the athletic field or in the pool. Still, she's a bit late coming out today, having gotten a phone call from her father. As she steps out now, though, moments after Blindfold has already picked herself up, she pauses and grins at the snowy environment. "This is awesome."

Oh, it wasn't a -bad- thing- to break up the monotony of a heat-wave in the summer with -snow-... travelling to, say, Canada or Alaska being one fun way to do it.

But having both a grill -and- a bit of snow-play?

That required a bit of thinking. And so dressed for both heat and cold conditions meant... jeans, thick sneakers, a thick sweater with a t-shirt underneath, and a parka. Gloves and a woolen cap completed Doug's ensemble, and at least he could go from his room to the rear yard quickly enough.

Checking his gloves, Doug stops by the kitchen, grabs his share of the cookout food he was supplying, and then heads on out.

"Hey Bobby, Meggan" Doug greets as he approaches, bags of corn and grillables in hand, pausing by Blindfold. "Ruth, you okay?" No need to ask if she needed a hand, not with her independence.

Looking up from the grill, Bobby grins Meggan's way. "Both," he replies. "The snow won't melt while I'm out here and I'll put down a new coat in a little bit," he says. When Ruth goes down, Bobby gives her a concerned look. "You alright over there?" he asks, glancing at the snow to make sure it's not getting too slushy. "Hey Doug," Bobby replies. The icy mutant's dressed more for the beach than the snow, board shorts and a Hawaiian shirt along with a pair of sunglasses complete his look today. He is the Iceman afterall.

"Yes. No. Maybe." Blindfold 'looks' in Meggan's direction as she wipes the rest of the snow from her knees. Then a response to Doug and Bobby as the first one makes his way out with his armfuls of food. "Wet. Pardon? I am not injured. Thank you." Should have worn gloves, now her fingers were cold! She tries to fix that by stuffing her hands into her armpits while folding her arms again.

Choosing her steps a bit more carefully, in order to avoid any more unpleasant surprises waiting under the soft blanket of snow, the blind brunette begins to pick her way towards the food. After all, it was hunger that had driven her out here as much as anything. Her genuine desire to help got her a lot fewer dirty looks from the other students these days, but friends to play in the snow with were in short supply for a girl who had a habit of bringing bad news every time she opened her mouth.

"Is any of it ready? Yes. The food." She asks once she's close enough to be socially acceptable to speak without shouting. Which meant close enough to the grill for warmth. Sure, she already knew the answer, but it was still polite to ask.

Meggan is in T-shirt and jeans, as is typical for her, and as snow falls back from her hair she looks worriedly at Ruth for long moments. Then she settles back down, resuming her mass production of snowballs as she says to Bobby, "It's really quite a relief... D'you do it for the air conditioner as well?"

"Oh!!" she says finally, before waving Doug over, abruptly, urgently! Maybe this is a snowball related trap.

A snow party in August. Just how awesome it is to be an X-Man. One Katherine (Kitty) Pryde is a bit late, okay. But she has been debating on what she wants to -wear-. T-Shirt? Jeans? How cold will Drake make it? Hmm. Parka? Hoodie? The choices where quite vast, but in the end - as Kitty phases down and through the mansion - emerging through the nearest wall (closest to the grills), she's decided on simple. Jeans. Boots (with thick souls). A sweater and light summer jacket. Oh yes. And gloves. As well, fingers don't work so well making snow-balls. Gloves do so much better.

On Kitty's shoulders is a purple dragon - who is happy circled around Kitty's neck, phasing in with her as Kitty appears through the wall itself, and takes a couple steps forward, casting her gaze about those that are present (so far).

Once Kitty's phased completely through the wall, well, Lockheed will lift upwards, and tentatively land upon the icy ground, before finding that sooo not to his liking, and instead flies over to give Doug a very close once over. "Coooooooooooooooooooooo." As though simply saying without saying, "FOOOOOOOOOOOOOOD!"

Nodding to Ruth when she says she's fine, Bobby tends to the food. "Only when the AC breaks," Bobby replies, winking Meggan's way. "Sure, what do you want. We've got hot dogs and burgers, plain and tofu versions," he replies to Ruth. He's about to say something else when Kitty appears. Bobby jumps, the air chilling a little. "Hey, Kitty. Glad you could make it."

Josie stops by one of the snowbanks to run her fingers through the snow, perhaps testing it's fluffyness. She doesn't start whatever she was thinking of right away, though, standing up quickly and heading over towards the grill as well as she hears that food's available already. "Smells great."

Nodding at Ruth, Doug approaches Bobby, dropping the bag on the table nearby the grill, and starting to pull out the food to be grilled. First came pre-shucked corn, with just enough pre-soaked leaves to keep the kernels from being too dry when cooked, then the sausages, of different sorts. "I've got the corn and sausages. Chicken, apple, italian, hot... hey Kitty! Look what I got... back up, Lockheed, back!" One ear of corn is brought up, and used to 'fence' with the dragon. "Back, back! No sausages for you!"

Snowballs. Dangerous little things, with the ability to cause discomforting impacts to the face and wetness in the clothes. Hypothermia, freezing, body heat, isolation, fright. No, that was something else. Not today. The blind woman puts the disturbing images out of her mind. Being around so many people, so many fates, it was exhausting sometimes. Like a picture book someone refused to quit reading to her.

The sudden incoming of the chill causes Ruth to hug herself a little tighter in preemptively. Yeah, she hugs up before it even happens. "Please... don't." But she doesn't get the words out in time to ward off a couple of degrees dropping off the thermostat. A couple of degrees readily apparent to a girl who much, MUCH preferred a pleasantly mild temperature.

"Burger? No. Hotdog, please. Yes. Thank you." Picking up one of those little paper plates that are oh-so-bad for the environment, or so people say, the dark-haired girl begins to untie one of the plastic packs of hotdog buns, removing one to set center stage on her flat piece of cheap dinnerware. Then she holds it out with both hands expectantly. "Kitty!" Meggan squeals aloud, leaping upwards and surging forwards, past Bobby. Kitty is /dangerously close/ to being hugged, even if perhaps reasonably Meggan may have seen her mere days again. "Did you hear the news??"

"Awesome idea." Offers Kitty to Bobby, as she darts swiftly over to save Doug from a hungry and ever so curious dragon. /Just/ before Kitty can grab the purple dragon from his impending doom with the corn, Meggan is there, and heck - what's so wrong with a hug. Kitty's bright chipper. "Meggan!" Will echo outwards as Kitty grabs Meggan right into that embrace. "No.. I didn't - what is it?" Kitty inquires, Lockheed now forgotten. (Poor Doug).

Kitty's taking only a step back from Meggan after the embrace, offering a bright smile to an old friend. As for Lockheed - well, the dragon having escaped his Kitty snatch, now proceeds to duck under the corn, and try to snag one of Doug's sausages.

"Nice selection, Dougie. Any sign of you know who yet?" Bobby asks, meaning Betsy. He starts to get some of what Doug brought out to get it on one of the grills. He tries to shoo Lockheed away from the food too. "Hey, wait your turn. I'll cook you up one," he says. "Thanks," he chimes to Kitty before getting Ruth the hotdog she wanted. "Here you are. Drinks for students are in the cooler on the right."

As Lockheed slips in past Doug's guard, the blond was somewhat distracted by the inquiry. "What... uh, no, I haven't heard from her today yet. She's probably arriving late." Let the poor dragon get ahold of the hot sausages, at least, as Doug waves the ear of corn to keep him back from the rest of the food. "Hey Lockheed, at least wait for the food to be cooked!" he shouts. "Kiiiittttttyyyyyyy!" he calls out, in that way when someone has to call out for the misbehaving child's parent.

"Oh gosh oh golly this is really astonishing LOCKHEED COME OVER HERE," Meggan says, waggling a finger to the dragon. "I know you'll want to hear this too but I don't want to just shout it aloud because I've been TOLD about spoilers!" To Kitty she says with another thoughtful look, "D'you think that's what that person in Gotham does?"

"Doug, come on, please! This is /important news/," she declaims, waving Doug over just as urgently as she did Lockheed. "And I know Kitty will want to know but I think you will be very happy about it as well!"

Waiting... waiting... waiting... food. There's a teeeeeensy bit of a smile on Ruth's lips as the hot dog hits the bun. Hey, the girl wasn't a robot. "Thank you." Cradling the plate to her like an infant that needed to be cared for, Ruth Aldine turns away and begins to make her way through the snow once more towards where the drinks are. Hot dog buns were dry, and choking to death on dry buns at a social gathering would be an inglorious way to become deceased. Before she even got a chance to make a difference in mutant-kind's fight for equal treatment!

"HEY RUTH, HEADS UP!" A snowball from a green-skinned boy a few years younger than the brunette herself comes flying in from out of left field, aimed right for the precog's head! ...Only to impact an unseen barrier seconds before slamming into her cheek. She starts to turn her head, to say something, when a second ball from the boy's tail-hand thing catches her square in the mouth.

She stumbles backwards, nearly loses her balance, and definitely drops her hotdog while the boy laughs and laughs and laaaaaughs. And Ruth just frowns down at her dog in the snow. And then she faces the boys direction, right about the time a hand-sized ball of snow flies up from the ground and smacks him in the chin. As he backpedals with an 'Ack!' of surprise, the hood of his jacket gets pulled down over his face, and something causes his feet to be knocked out from under him. And down in the snow he goes.

Blindfold spits out a mouthful of ice, stalks back to the grill, and silently holds out her plate again.

Snagging the hot sausage with practiced ease - as well, Lockheed prefers things stolen to just being given to him, the dragon lets out a 'meh' to Bobby, followed by a 'heh' 'heh' 'heh' to Doug. The small, purple dragon takes off at great speed with his stolen bit of food, moving to circle Kitty's neck and munch away at the spicy treat. His eyes alight upon Meggan, and between bites Meggan will receive Lockheed's highest compliment of greeting. "Coooooooooooo." Munchmunchmunch.

Turning ever so slightly distracted towards Doug, Kitty's fingers tap upon the dragon's snout as soon as Lockheed arrives, but really. Kitty just can't possibly scold such a cute little purple dragon. Turning back to Meggan, Kitty offers a quiet laugh, anticipating the news and getting pulled in to Meggan's excitement. "I'm all ears!" Kitty offers brightly.

"Hey! You guys know the rules! The area around the grill is a no-fire zone!" Bobby calls when he sees Ruth get pegged, putting another hotdog on her plate. Lockheed gets a look. "Don't think I won't make you frosty the snow-dragon," he warns the little purple space lizard before nodding to Doug. "I'll let you know if I see her."

Josie starts to ask Bobby, "Can I have a burger please? Regular, not tofu," she adds quickly. Then when Ruth gets hit by the snowball she blinks, but then bursts into giggles as Ruth gets back at him. Quickly she steps back to let Ruth get fresh food first.

She was late. An unexpected turn of events had distracted her from her intended goal, and a momentary chat became an extended stay. Now she was climbing out of the car at the curbside, closing the door behind herself and giving a brief glance to the smallish watch suspended by a silver chain about her wrist. The woman is dressed in a white semi-transparent T-shirt with wintery forests depicted upon it, layered beneath which is a barely visible green and orange bikini top, and a pair of form-fitting black jeans with 4'' pumps. Her long, violet, tresses hang to about her mid-back, swaying subtly as she makes her way onto the grounds.

...And a few moments later, she emerges from the building again and arrives at the rear grounds. Immediately, she takes stock of the chilly air and the snow all around the area with her emerald green eyes in silence. Then, she sighs, pinching the bridge of her nose. "Bobby..."

"Take another sausage, and I swear, I'll turn you into roast dragon. I've got an apple somewhere," Doug threatens Lockheed again, as he starts putting food on the grill, putting the corn towards the cooler edges and the sausages on the side. Reaching out to ruffle Josie, Doug grins at Meggan. "Sure, what's the news?" he asks, just before he tosses Kitty an ear of corn for -her- comment. Lockheed gets a brief rub on his head from Meggan, who is momentarily distracted by the cutest of cute widdle dragons. She then takes a deep breath as Doug comes nearer.

"This," she says, "is an important moment in my life and I am very honored and touched to share it with you both." She places one hand over her heart as she leans forwards slightly. "I know this is something that may seem a bit silly and I don't blame you if you don't have the same sort of reaction I do. But, I think you'll both know how important this is, and in time you'll come to realize that this sort of thing is like a milestone in everyone's life."

Meggan closes her eyes and takes a deep breath. She leans in slightly nearer.

She tells Doug, Kitty, and by extension Lockheed as well, "Peter Capaldi is going to be the twelfth Doctor."

"Comin' right up, Aquagirl," Bobby says to Josie, taking one of the cooked ones off the grill to place on the plate. Meggan's news gets a curious look from the cryokinetic and he waits quietly while Meggan goes on her speech. "Uh huh..." he trails off when the news is revealed. Shaking his head, Bobby looks around. Spotting Betsy by the door, he grins and waves the spatula. "Heya! Glad you could make it!" Lockheed is /so/ not intimidated by Doug, and just sticks his tongue out at both Doug, and Bobby, and - well, who ever else happens to be standing in that general vicinity through accident, or by purpose. As the last of the spicy meat is downed, Lockheed nestles a bit more around Kitty's shoulders, turning his complete attention onto Meggan.

With a swipe of her hands, Kitty snags the ear of corn with practiced ease, and then tosses it back towards Doug in one, smooth motion. Just an easy, under handed toss in Doug's direction. Food fight? No.. no.

Turning her attention fully and completely upon Meggan, Kitty's listening with rapt attention, her head bobbing up and down with growing anticipation over what Meggan might say. When the statement is made, Kitty's eyes alight with only the kind of brightness that a true nerd might have. "I KNOW! RIGHT!" Kitty's voice is shrill and filled with as much enthusiasm as Meggan offered. "He's so PERFECT!" Kitty announces her own hands clasping together in gleeful joy. "I just.. wow. Just -wow-! You know? /wow/."

"Thank you. ...He will try again. Pardon? At the food fight. Yes." And with that, and her new hotdog, Ruth takes a step back, puts her head down, and makes her move for the cooler again. THIS time actively scanning for threats, which means reading people's minds without permission. Again. But when getting grub became a battlefield, all things were fair game! ...Right?

But at least she manages to make it and grab a soda without being molested with shredded ice this time. Cold drink in hand, making her fingers even colder than they were before, the blind girl makes her way to the nearest unoccupied table and seats herself, placing the food in front of her, facing the pool. The can makes a vehement hiss of protest as the tab is popped open.

Everything would be fine once she managed to actually EAT today, and then get in the warm waters. She wasn't even planning on waiting the requisite thirty minutes in between! Scandalous.

Meh. Lockheed knew him too well, apparently, to be threatened by his puny threats, and Doug rolls his eyes at the dragon, before laughing. "I know! I thought that guy would be like, the Master, but I guess maybe they'll pull out Benedict Cumberbatch for that role down the road! If they can even get him anymore..." the blond grins at Meggan, before Bobby's greeting causes him to look up and towards... "Hey Betsy!"

He pursues his lips, noticing her summer dress, before moving quickly over, already moving to remove his parka, and offer it to her. "Um, here... you might want to stick closer to the hot tub or something." He glances down at her feet and those pumps. "Uh..." "Oh is Betsy here?? She needs to know this too," Meggan says, straightening up and urgently semaphoring with one arm. "Betsy this is importanttttt!!"

She then crouches back down slightly as she keeps talking with Kitty on this urgent matter. "I /know/ it's /amazing/! And it's so funny since he was in that Italian one too, I wonder if they'll work that in, what do you call that again, a convention? Now I am going to miss dear Matt, and it is a bit of a shame that they move on so quickly now..."

She purses her lips. "Now I'm sounding /old/, eugh! Anyway," this back to Doug, "I think Benedict would be splendid for the Master now that you think of it, wouldn't he? But it might be a bit too pointed, perhaps they should make him some sort of an alien." Her nose wrinkles - quite literally too, forming a momentary ridge worthy of Star Trek - as she says, "Otherwise people would be wondering, mummy why is the Doctor fighting Sherlock Holmes?"

Meggan starts walking towards the grill then, in an elliptical path meant to also obtain drinks, and therefore putting her on a course towards Ruth, even as she continues this urgent outpouring of verbiage. "But yes it's so /wonderful,/ I think he's going to be a bit like Christopher and honestly that makes sense, doesn't it? He's been through so, so much after all."

Betsy recovers from her unintended fashion faux pas rather quickly, raising her eyes to look in Bobby's direction as he calls to her. She slowly turns loose of the bridge of her nose and offers a slow wave in reply. She decides she'll have to talk to him about omitting the 'Oh, by the way, there's snow' bit.

It doesn't take her long to get moving somewhere, in this case to walk over by the nearest table and set her purse in an empty chair. Then she turns right back around and heads back into the building, to walk out to the car and get some of the provisions she had brought.

...And returns about five to ten minutes later with several containers of food. Potato salad, slaw, corn, hot dogs, and hamburgers in one rather hefty white paper bag, and in the other a variety of sea food choices as well as a mixed assortment of fruits and vegetables. She immediately proceeds to make her way across the snowy lawn, cursing the fact that she chose to wear heels, and stops by the grill to drop off the bags. "...Interesting idea, adding snow to a summer party..." she says, eyeing Bobby as she bends over to lower the bags.

She then grins, slightly amused, at Doug as he approaches her with a parka. "I know." is literally all she says, before accepting the coat. "...Thank you, dear, but I won't be staying out here too long obviously."

"Hey, since when do I not have snow at my parties?" Bobby grins. "It's part of why my parties are always -the coolest-," he quips, starting to unload food for cookiking. "Drinks for anyone over 21 are in the cooler on the left," he adds for the adults. "These days, Cumberbatch'd be a guest star on a TV show that he's not the star of. I doubt he'd be too recurring," he says. Bobby may not know Who but he's seen a similar pattern with actors in 'big summer movies' before.

Ruth chomps down on the hotdog in her possession with the same mild-mannered gusto she does with everything in her life: by taking tiny little nibbles out of it until it's half-way gone, and then setting it back down on her plate. The snow-pool party goes on all around her for the most part as if she wasn't even there, just like life. Which only reminded her that she hadn't called her aunt in far too long, almost a whole week.

The dark-haired girl pushes the plate away from herself and sips at her drink. Most people would also be looking around at the others, but then most people had eyes. Blindfold faces down at the table, though she certainly 'looks' at the various people gathered around via their collective minds.

Crowds were generally exhausting, but they were also when she could see the best. Otherwise it was a mixture of guesswork and clairvoyance. More pictures, more flashes of people's lives she didn't ask for, their pasts, their futures. She idly wonders if she should tell that girl over there not to marry her boyfriend in a few years. But it was none of her business, and neither of them would appreciate the 'help'.

Few people ever did.

So Jamie heard about the party, and well he figured good way to get to know the other teachers and students at the school. Sure he hasn't taught his first class or anything yet but hey he still doesn't know many people so here he is. But Jamie enters the party the way that only the Multiple Man can. He has formed a conga line out of a bunch of dupes and is congaing into the party, singing, "Party, Party Party!" Over and over again. But he he came dressed for the cold at least, he's wearing his nice trenchcoat! Well okay he always wears the trenchcoat, it's a PI thing. Part of the job you know. But once he gets close enough to the others at the party, he reabsorbs his dupes, cause there is no need to crowd everyone out.

Pausing to nod at Meggan and grinning, Doug moves to help Betsy bring back her food. Rolling his eyes at the pun Bobby made, Doug grabs a handfull of snow with gloved hands, balls it up, and then chucks it at the icy X-Man.

Shaking his head, the young man glances at Betsy's feet. "Uh... you want a piggy back ride, or..." His eyes goes towards the hot tub. "... You could warm up in there."

Bobby glances up when he hears the chant of party and just ends up staring at the Jamie-conga. "Uhh..." and then...PAFF. Snowball to the head. Boboby blinks slowly, wiping the snow away. He looks at it and then at Doug. "Oh, you did not just start a snowball fight with me, Dougie..." he trails off with a smirk, forming up a snowball in his hand.

Betsy just shakes her head, subtly, at Bobby before turning her attention to the gathering itself. Green eyes quietly survey the small gathering, and there's a hint of surprise to her expression. It would seem Bobby was not joking when he said there would be less people here than usual.

It's not long before Betsy catches the psychic probings of the blind telepath nearby, however, and looks in her direction. Not a difficult thing for her, noticing the presence of other telepaths when they're actively probing. "Perhaps in a moment, luv..." she asides to Doug and then turns away momentarily and walks over to where Ruth was sitting.

"...How's it going, dear, do you require anything?", Betsy voices with a warm tone. She may or may not be able to tell the girl is blind right at the moment, but the manner of her probing seemed to suggest something sort of problem. It was oftly odd pinging everyone all around her regularly otherwise. "...If not, mind if I sit?" And she eyes the table quietly. Meggan beams at Betsy, and takes a moment to tell her with great and cryptic energy, "The /12th doctor/ can you /believe/ it?" After this she ends up slipping to the grill, glancing afterwards towards the Multiple Conga, asking Bobby afterwards, "If you've a moment I'd like a couple of hot dogs, please -" She pauses to raise her voice towards Doug, "Truce! Let me get my food without a shaved ice topping!"

Betsy's eyes flit to Meggan momentarily, and a small smile touches her lips. "The saga of Doctor who is always an exciting one, isn't it dear?"

Some kind of... Snow... Beach... Pool... Party? ...How different. Serene is, while not opposed to 'different', more comfortable with 'familiar'. But she's also a bit of a social being, and a lot here at the academy is not what she would term familiar based on her life before coming here, so in order to hang out with others she's willing to experience something new. Here's the problem: Serene couldn't find any swimsuits in her size when she checked around. She's now over seven feet tall and still growing. Thankfully someone or other at the academy helpfully fabricated something and thus Serene is NOT showing up in something indecently small. No, she has a full, black one-piece swimsuit with a pattern of stars in the nightsky on it, and a beach towel draping about her waist.

The towering teenager looks around for awhile, shielding her eyes to protect against the gleam on sunlight off the snow. Wow, this wasn't a very good idea at all. Ruth is at an advantage around here without being able to see.--Speaking of which, there's Ruth! And some lady is talking to her! Does Serene know her? She makes her way over to Ruth and suddenly there's a giantess standing behind Ruth and waving to Betsy with large friendly smile. "Hey, Ruth! Sorry I'm late. Or I think I'm late." She crouches down to bring herself more to eye level with everyone else and squints. "My name's Serene. Nice to meet you. Are you a teacher here or a student?" she asks of Elizabeth.

"Pardon?" Ruth 'looks' up at the sound of a voice. Hey, it helped her feel more normal to face people who were speaking to her, even if she did wear her namesake over her eyes at all times. "No. ...Yes. Warmth." Resting her elbows on the table, the teenaged precog begins blowing hot air onto her fingers, which now felt like thin little icicles after touching her soda. Suddenly the pool and hot tub were looking more and more inviting every second.

Blindfold probes at Psylocke's mind, possibly without even realizing she's doing it. It's how she manages to always answer questions even before they're asked! People tended to assume she just saw the future of everything, the truth really wasn't that simple, and the girl's own mind is fractured and hard-to-read mess.

"Hello, Serene." The blind telepath greets without turning around. "You are underdressed. Yes. Sorry. Aren't you cold? Yes. I am. Under my clothes." She gestures at her thick pink sweater and jeans.

Being among the youngest present has a side-effect. As she eats, Josie's pretty much by herself. Still, now she's close enough to hear what Meggan's been talking about, she says, "My dad talked about that. We used to watch that together, before I moved here. But dunno who the new guy is."

"I -can- believe it, though... you know, there's -that- thirteenth doctor," Doug calls out after Meggan as she joins the Madrox conga line. Not really his thing, though, and so he nods at Betsy, glancing back at Ruth. "She's complicated," he notes as a warning, before grinning at Bobby, holding his hands up. "Whoa, whoa... now..." he notes, before taking a few steps backwards, retreating towards safety and... oh there had to be a convenient... well, Aquagirl! Even if she was all of thirteen... Bobby wouldn't dare, would he?

"A couple, huh?" Bobby asks Meggan, still watching Doug and idly tossing the snowball up and down. Eventually he tosses the ball away. "How many do you want?" he asks, tending to other things on the grill and giving Meggan his attention. No he wouldn't dare open fire with Josie in the way...but he is planning and plotting now. "Umm-m you know, let's say three," Meggan tells Bobby after some thought, before beaming at Betsy and looking towards Josie more directly. Her eyes stay wide. "Really! Which one was your favorite? Anyway he wassss in Torchwood if you were let to see that, and in the episode in Pompeii, he was the Roman man who was examining the Tardis. A little funny, don't you think, but I suppose it's just a coincidence /really/..."

Once his conga is over, Jamie decides to get the food, so he heads over towards the grill, "Ooooo food! I'll take some of that. And make it a lot cause you know I eat for like 50 people!" Well okay he doesn't really but he does want to see Bobby's reaction to that one. Though he does look around at the others, and just kicks himself, cause with all his knowledge from the dupes...he has no idea what the other party goers are talking about.

Most would find it hard to penetrate the veil of the experienced and talented telepath that stood near Ruth at that very moment. But, feeling the girl probing again more directly, Betsy allows the girl into the sanctum of her mind with a soft smile.

She might also hear Betsy's voice inside her mind well before she actually spoke, if she were receptive to it.  "Do you want a hand getting to the pool? I am about to go myself." And the violet-maned woman extends her hand toward Ruth, and attempts to use the telepathic connection to let her know exactly where it is. "It's a heated pool, I am sure it will help."

Besty casts a sidelong glance at Doug and Bobby momentarily, an amused expression touching her features, "...Careful, don't hit the ladies gentlemen." And then she turns her eyes back toward Ruth and then -up- at the giantess in the fashionable bikini. "...Oh my..." She says with some surprise. "Hello there, that's very nice swim wear you have there." But, Betsy wonders, -where- did you find it..?

Josie is clueless about being a snowball shield, but grins to Meggan and says at the mention of Pompeii, "Oh yeah! I remember him. I wasn't allowed to watch Torchwood, though." Then she answers, "The eleventh is my favourite, he's funny. But I like when the last one said water always wins." Then to the coincidence she says, "Dad told me in the old show, I never saw any of it 'cept a few on Netflix, but Dad said in the old show Time Lords could change into people they'd seen before. So, maybe that's what he'll do."

"Three hot dogs on the way, babe," Bobby winks to Meggan. He's got a few things set up and ready for people to take when they want. Jamie gets an arched brow. "50, huh? Well what do you want then. Burgers, dogs, sausage, corn, cabobs on the way when we get 'em on the sticks," he lists the menu. "Also got sodas, juice, and water in the right fridge, beer in the left for 21 and overs on the left," he says, flashing Betsy a quick innocent grin.

Finding himself safe enough, Doug moves away from Undine, pausing to nod at Meggan. "That -same- episode also had a future -Companion-!" By which, he meant the Girl Who Waited.

Wrinkling his nose at Betsy, Doug replies, "Wouldn't dream of it, you're, well... underdressed for it." So was Serene, and Meggan just didn't seem like the person to aim for. Which left, well... Madrox, but who -wanted- to hit Madrox with a snowball?

Serene huffs a bit indignantly at Ruth. "Well, I thought it was a pool party. I didn't realize there was going to be all... This." She gestures around even though it can't be seen by Ruth (due to both the blindness and being behind her). "...And yes, it is slightly cold." She then smiles a bit bashfully at Elizabeth. "Thank you! The student who made it did an excellent job. I just provided the necessary information, and she wove it with her... 'Gift'." She didn't get an answer as to if Betsy is a student or a teacher (given how some of the students look, both agewise and otherwise, she could go either way), so she assumes that's a subject best not prodded at. The lack of a name, however, can not be passed up! "I didn't catch your name. I take it you and Ruth already know each other?"

The brown-skinned young filipino woman puts her arms around herself, having been utterly unprepared for the cold. "Brr. Maybe I should hug you for body warmth, Ruth."

Serene also takes the time to look at Elizabeth's outfit and say, "That's a very pretty ensemble as well. You have good fashion sense."

"Well it's really quite good!" Meggan tells Josie, even as she goes without hesitation to collect one of the mysterious and legendary 'beers'. She then says to Doug, with wide eyes, "Do you think that means Pompeii was some sort of a time nexus or something?? It writes itself, just about!"

"No. Sorry." Ruth replies almost instantly to the offer of help. She can 'see' the hand readily enough, but doesn't take it, instead pushing her plate away and the soda along with it. "I can get there. It is not personal." She's just fiercly independent! Because of the blindfold people tended to think (quite rightly) that Ruth was blind. But it also came with the impression that she was disabled and/or nearly helpless, something which she did her level best to dispel the illusion of.

"You are bigger than me." The blind girl says simple, reaching down to her waist to grab the hem of her sweater. "You have more warmth than I do." Size equals body heat, right? Once the sweater comes off, the teen begins to wiggle hurriedly out of her jeans. The bikini she wore underneath was simple yellow fabric, conservative. Teeth already chattering, because she was a weenie when it came to the cold, the brunette toes off her shoes and hugs herself tightly, bouncing in place.

"Cold. Cold. Sorry, pool now." And then she's high-stepping her bare feet across the snow the six feet or so to the heated pool, because YOWZA snow doesn't feel great on bare feet. There isn't even any preamble, she simple steps into the water and sinks. All the way up to her nose, crouching down in the water slightly to keep as much of her body submerged as possible with just enough above the surface to breathe.

And she's still hugging herself, black hair spreading out into the water around her like something out of the Grudge, if the Grudge wore a blindfold.

"Food's up, Meggan," Bobby chimes from the grill. He's setting the freshly grilled hotdogs into buns on a plate near all the condiments. "I think your corn's done too, Dougie," he adds, checking the food on the grill. He's in a pretty good mood right now by all appearances. Apparently he's getting just about everything he wanted out of this party.

Betsy gives Bobby a momentary glance as he mentions the alchohol again. Her left eyebrow arches slightly and Ruth might catch her thinking to herself if she were actively listening, <...Is he suggesting he'd like to see me drunk?>, before she regards Doug again. "...Yes, well, be careful anyway. And I am not the one to blame for being underdressed, but I suspect I'll be rectifying that soon anyway."

...And then her attention is back on Serene, and she smiles warmly again. "I am sorry dear, how rude of me. My name is Elizabeth Braddock, but you may call me Betsy. Everyone else does. And yes, I am faculty." Or she's apparently considered as such. When the refusal for help comes, Betsy simply nods... and retracts the hand. She then allows Ruth to make her own way. Betsy clearly isn't interested in babying anyone, or making them feel uncomfortable. "...Don't fall down though." She adds, as the blind woman wanders past her to the pool. "That would be uncomfortable." Not as if it weren't already.

Deciding to follow suit, Betsy grips the bottom of the T and quickly pulls it up over her head - exposing the bikini top with tropical color scheme beneath. Shaking her hair loose from the shirt, she balls it up and sticks it in her purse nearby. Replying to Serene again, in the midst of taking off her heels and wriggling out of those tight pants, she says, "Thank you dear. I try. You have very good taste yourself." And soon the pants follow the shirt...

...And a few moments later, Betsy is toeing the water and testing the temperature. "...Thank gods for hot water."

"I... I don't know, Meggan. Gods, I hope they don't get cute and try and reference -that- episode," Doug shakes his head. "Oh, corn's ready? Great!" And that usually meant the sausages were done too.

Grabbing a plate, Doug starts loading up the plate with food, before something draws his attention, as Betsy heads into the pond

... and yeah, the sausages -were- done.

Jamie things for a moment, "I'll take a hamburger and a hot dog." Hey gotta have the BBQ food, cause well that stuff is totally awesome. Now Jamie decides to totally socialize with everyone. He stamps his feet a few times and makes a couple of dupes. One of them decides to go talk to Meggan and the other girl. That one walks up and offers his hand to both of them, "High, Jamie Madrox, soon to be teacher here." The other dupe well he heads over to Betsy, Serene and the poor blind girl, that one well he goes to the pool and takes off his shoes and rolls his pants up, putting his feet in, "Hi." "Thank you!" Meggan tells Bobby, slathering a bunch of French mustard and some wadded-over lettuce onto her hot dogs before she commences to crunching them up. (And that may be the answer to the lettuce.) She looks up when a Madrox approaches, and she seems to be nonplussed for a moment. Several munches later, she extends her hand, now hot-dog free. The as yet unopened beer is set down. "Lovely to meet you! What subject are you teaching?" Josie grins, nodding to Doug quickly, "I bet they won't say, but it's fun to think about it." She looks up to the Jamie that approaches them, shaking the offered hand with a friendly smile, "Hi, I'm Josie. Or Undine. What are you gonna teach?" Then she giggles as she realizes she's practically echoing Meggan.

"I have already fallen. My legs were cold and wet." Blindfold raises her head up enough out of the water to talk. "Yes. Pardon? Several people here wish you to get drunk. Sorry. Mostly boys." Elizabeth might not be into prying into minds without permission, but the now-mostly-submerged brunette had no such issues with personal mental space. Almost as if she couldn't even comprehend the concept of privacy. Not that people hadn't tried to explain it to her. Repeatedly.

She keeps the cloth over her eyes notably out of the water, after all it slipping off wouldn't be very conducive to a social atmosphere. People tended to be unsettled with her exposed visage. "Some of them are planning to steal some. No. Now." And sure enough, there's that little green-goblin boy standing near the beer cooler all nonchalantly while his hand-tail tries to snake one out without anyone noticing.

The sudden multiplication of the same mind throws her for a loop, though, and quite obviously so as she starts at the sudden greeting from Jamie's clone. So many minds, all one mind, like a hive mind, but made of individuals. Confusing, unnerving. "...You aren't normal. Your mind. Yes. It's in many places."

Bobby's momentarily distracted by Betsy as well. But then he sees an opening. Flashing a quick grin, he reaches over as subtly as he can and tries to poke a finger down the back of Doug's shirt. If he's able, Doug's getting a bunch of surprise snow down the back.

Jamie Prime just watches Bobby, but he says nothing to warn Doug, cause hey Jamie is all for a good prank. Oh that reminds him, he walks over to the condiment table, and swaps a jar of mustard with one he brought from home. The unopenable jar of Mustard, muhahahahahaha!

Now for Jamie A, he shakes the hands of the ladies, and looks at Meggan, "You have a little bit of mustard on your face." He glances between both the girl and the blonde lady, "Well I was asked to teach Math and Science to start. But well if needed I can teach a lot more than that. I'm a man of many talents."

As for Jamie B, he just stares at Blindfold, "What exactly is normal? Are we normal? I don't think so, you have strange talents just like I do. Who defines normal? And what if the person who has defined what is normal wasn't exactly normal themselves? That would make the definition of normal flawed, would it not? What if I am actually normal and no one else is?"

"Hello." Betsy replies softly to Jamie as he approaches. Her head turns slowly in his direction, her violet ringlets subtly swaying as her emerald eyes get a lock on the source of the voice.

She sinks a foot and the heated water rises to about her mid-thigh as it touches down on a stair. She very slowly begins to walk forward, grasping the stair rail lightly with her left hand as she wades deeper and deeper still. The chlorinated, crystalline blue, water rises to just beneath her breast level before Betsy -stops- descending the stairs and gives Ruth a curious glance. <...Quite honest aren't you...?> There may be a touch of amusement tinged with concern in her thoughts the girl might readily pick up on. She also seems to be actively wondering if anyone has yet taught the girl anything about social conventions and restraint. But if they had, it certainly didn't stick.

She then eyes Doug and Bobby and their antics quietly, but opts to say nothing of it. Surely Doug knew he didn't /need/ to get her drunk. Turning in the water slowly, she casts her eyes about again wordlessly before finally dipping beneath the water completely for a moment and submerging herself. Placing a hand on the pool edge again, within the space of a few moments, she resurfaces and gives her hair another toss as a gasp of air escapes her lips. "...Isn't that a logical fallacy?" She asks of Jamie after she surfaces. "What's 'normal' is fairly well defined. The problem doesn't lie with the definition of normal, it lies with people's perceptions of it."

Given how 'underdressed' she is and how cold it is outside of the hot tub, Serene decides to join Elizabeth and Ruth. She nods and 'ahhh's as it is revealed Elizabeth is a faculty member. She kind of suspected, but there's no age limit on learning, and maybe she's a mutant who was only 'rescued' recently as an adult! ...But that's not the case, so that 'possibly other scenario' is a moot point. At about the time that Ruth and Elizabeth are chatting it up in the water, Serene is removing her beach towel that serves as a mere improvised skirt on someone of her size, and placing it down with the small selection of items she brought with her (mainly suntan lotion, and a book incase it wound up being boring).

Then she is getting into the water, and the water level noticeably rises as the towerign teenager displaces it with her greater mass. Not enough that it's sloshing over the sides, hopefully, but still enough that it looks like it might. She can't even sink all the way into the water. :( :( :( Still, she sits, and she gets warmer than she would be outside the heated pool. Also apparently there's like 97 of a single guy here, and Serene is only just now noticing as one (or more!?) come over to talk. "Um." She offers. Meggan gathers up her bit of stray mustard and sucks it off her fingertip while looking at Jamie with wide eyes. Well, Jamie A, at any rate. "Really? Can you teach magic tricks?" she asks, eyes wide. From her tone, she seems to mean it.

As a result, his sweater gets pulled back and snow dumped down the back. With a -yelp-, food goes flying into the air as his hands automatically goes to his back, and then Doug spins around, looking towards Bobby. And knowing that it was a losing battle, because Bobby would -always- come up with more snow, Doug re-considers what he could do, before going over to the edge of the snow. Peeling off his sweater, jeans, and sneakers, Doug strips down to the swim trunks he'd had ready. This is all too obvious now, to Bobby, isn't it...? Because as soon as Doug readies a snowball...

Oh, Doug -knew- Betsy didn't need to be drunk, which is quite likely why his mind wandered somewhere else while Bobby was sneaking up on him.

As a result, his sweater gets pulled back and snow dumped down the back. With a -yelp-, food goes flying into the air as his hands automatically goes to his back, and then Doug spins around, looking towards Bobby. And knowing that it was a losing battle, because Bobby would -always- come up with more snow, Doug re-considers what he could do, before going over to the edge of the snow. Peeling off his sweater, jeans, and sneakers, Doug strips down to the swim trunks he'd had ready. This is all too obvious now, to Bobby, isn't it...? Because as soon as Doug readies a snowball...

Bobby laughs at the reaction he gets from Doug. Sure, the food flying was not exactly what he had planned but he made sure they had extra just incase there are food fights or mishaps. He flashes Doug a grin and flows fictional smoke away from his finger-tip. He watches Doug strip down idly, checking him out as much as he had Betsy. Playing for both teams doubled the eye-candy. It is obvious to him indeed when he sees what Doug is up to. Smirking, he tosses another snowball as soon as Doug creates his.

Josie nods to Jamie with a smile, "I like science. I'm not very good at the math or reading parts of it, but I like experiments and stuff like that." Blinking, she looks towards Doug at the yelp, then starts to laugh again as she sees what's going on.

Well! What did Ruth have to say in reply to Jamie's little rejoinder about normality? Nothing! Nothing at all. No, she wasn't normal, but most of the minds she touched were. Some were more powerful than others, particularly some of the instructors here who had mental talents, like Psylocke right there! But coming across the same mind in three different places was definitely not normal for the abnormal student, even if she had an abnormal way of viewing the world.

"Yes. Sorry." She says to the purple-haired woman, even though Elizabeth hadn't said anything. And she doesn't sound sorry at all. Her body bobs a little bit as Serene entering the tub makes the water shift around. Because that is one large lady. At least she hadn't cannonballed, or entered as abruptly as Ruth herself had, as that would have been the end of the warm water for them all. Or, more likely, would have drowned them.

But either way, Ruth is starting to get the feeling that she's making social mistakes again, not exactly a rare event in her life. She stands up, gathering up her mass of dark, wet hair and ringing it out. "I will go now. Pardon." Then, to her dorm mate, "Yes. I will be in our room."

And then she begins to climb out of the pool and go for her clothes. BRRRR! Cold again!

Jamie A smiles when Megan asks that one, "I can actually! I spent six months working with Penn & Teller in Las Vegas. But I can only teach some of the small stuff, if I teach the big stuff the Magician Mafia will be after me. We can't have that one, can we?" He says the last line with a wink at her, "Science is indeed fun. But part of me likes Math as well, worked at the NSA for a year as a cryptographer."

As for Jamie B, he listens to Betsy for a minute, "Well normal is defined as following the Norm. The problem is what is the norm will varry by culture. What is normal for a tribe living on the plains of Africa will not be normal for a person living in the heart of New York city. Which is why even saying someone isn't normal is flawed, it's because normal will change so easily."

Storm has been gone from the school for a while, having returned to her home in Africa to visit family and friends there. She's back, though, and after dealing with the commercial flight back she took the time to shower at a very leisurely pace. Thus, she didn't realize until just a moment ago that there were others gathering, and hopefully they'll pardon her tardiness.

Dressed in a flowing floral-print caftan and light sandals, she all but ghosts into the area and crosses toward where the food is set out.

Startled at Ruth's sudden departure, Serene stands up as well from where she was hanging out at the stairs. "W-well, I guess I'll go with her. It was a pleasure meeting you!" she says as she waves to Elizabeth quickly and then turns to go up the stairs and get her stuff and walk back with her friend. It's no big deal, and she has made it abundantly clear to others in the past that if it's a choice between being popular and being there to support her friends, she'll choose her friends any day of the week.

Betsy looks down as the water level noticeably rises, and then turns slowly to see Serene has joined them. She chuckles softly at the girl. "You might be more comfortable in the deeper end, darling." And then she glances at Jamie, "Well, that's one definition of normal yes. As for the variation, that's why I said 'people's perceptions'. ..." She watches as Ruth begins to depart, while still speaking, "... People have a tendency to assume that which is not like them is not 'normal'. But that is a logical fallacy on their part. What may be strange to them is not for someone else." And there's a mix of guilt and general empathy for Ruth as the girl departs. She also files her away as a person to try to engage more when she gets the time. "...Take care girls."

ASPLUT!

And Doug curses, as the snowball hits him. Well fine! And then Doug throws the snowball. And another one. And... and this really wasn't going to turn out well, was it?

Ahh hell with it!

Ducking and covering from the incoming barrage, Doug cannonballs into the deep end of the pool, splashing the hell out of everyone else int he process.

Josie's eyes widen a little when Jamie says he used to work at the NSA. "Wow. I couldn't ever do a job like that. Letters and numbers and stuff always get mixed up in my head." She continues to giggle as she watches the snowball fight. If the splash reaches her, she doesn't seem to mind, and in fact she's dry again in moments.

Bobby laughs, forming up quick ice barriers to protect the food even as he has his snowball fight with Doug. Even when he gets pegged a few times, he still laughs. "That's right, run for it!" he jokes, tossing one last snowball after Doug. It'll melt in the pool.

Jamie A does give Josie a chuckle, "Well the part of me that worked there was the rather boring guy. He didn't mind seeing all of that, in fact he found his job rather relaxing. That dupe was always just a tad bit strange if you ask me."

Now we have Jamie B, "Well that brings us to the problem with the definition of Normal doesn't it? It depends on a person's perception or their own culture. So there really is no normal." And that is when Doug cannonballs in the pool and Jamie is drenched thanks to him.

Storm watches the antics of the boys for a moment, then a warm summer breeze starts to drift gently through, probably her attempt at melting all of the ice and snow the young men have tossed about everywhere. "Mr. Drake," she says conversationally while stepping gingerly around a few fallen snowballs. "Did you attempt to turn your talents toward making snow cones?"

Betsy's eyes wrench closed and an arm goes up to further shield her face as Doug leaps into the water recklessly. She then laughs, softly, and lowers her arm before swimming out and trying to find out where he went. "...Doug?" After locating him, she turns her attention back to Jamie again for a scant few moments, "I disagree, I suppose. I think it can certainly be applied at a localized level culturally, as long you bear in mind that the norm is often defined as possessing certain agreed upon qualities and it is not something anyone adheres to perfectly no matter how it is defined."

At the breeze, Bobby frowns. He's got the majority of the rear grounds covered in light and fluffy snow and he chills the air at the feeling of the breeze. "Hey Ororo," Bobby greets. "I didn't try to make any snowcones. If I did that, there'd be snow cones for everyone," he chuckles.

Jamie B thinks about that for a moment, "I can be. However these days we do have a lot of people that move across culturals which does cause problems." He stands up, and looks down at his wet clothes, "This just will not do, exscuse me." He heads over to Jamie Prime, and just gets reabsorbed, quickest way to get dried off you know!

Surfacing, and shaking his hair wildly, Doug backpaddles just a bit to avoid being hit by further snowballs, before turning to the approaching Betsy. A wicked grin crosses his face as he starts a quick splash, listening before looking at Madrox. "The norm is whatever is most common in your area, that's what."

Betsy swims toward Doug, smiling softly, with her violet mane glued to her face and head by water. Removing another displaced strand of hair from her face before attempting to wrap her arms about his shoulders, pull him in close to her breast, and kiss his cheek. "It's getting late, luv... and I best be going. Enjoy your party with your friends, hm?" This is said with smiling eyes and a touch of amusement. And she gives him enough time to respond to her however he chooses to before beginning to swim back toward the pool stairs.

Once Jamie B gets reabsorbs, Jamie Prime suddenly remembers he has a case to work on. One that he actually wanted to do himself! Once that remembers, he walks over to Jamie A, and just reabsorbs him, "Uhm sorry to take him away like this, but we have things to do. And well you don't want that guy getting a beer in him, bad things would happen." And once that's done he walks away, cause hey gotta pay the bills.

The hug from Betsy is returned, with a similar kiss in return, and Doug nods. "Ok. Thanks for coming. Good luck with your assignment. I'll call y ou later, ok?" he smiles, watching her go, before turning his attention to Bobby and calling out, "Hey Bobby! Just try and make the snow cones! I've got a bunch of italian syrups in the pantry from when I was experimenting with that carbonated water!"

Everyone heading off gets another little frown out of Bobby. Just reminding him of things that have been bothering him lately. Doug calling to him gets that smile back though. "Alright. Hey," he grabs one of the students and sets them the task of manning the grills while he gets out some plastic cups to start making snow cones in.

Storm nods to Bobby and gives Doug a small nod when snow cones actually get started. The warm breeze disappears again as she gets a small plate of fruit for herself then moves to claim one of the lounge chairs. Okay, this she can handle. A peaceful evening, if a bit chilly from all of the ice about.

Ascending the pool stairs again, Betsy gives the snow another slight frown as the discomfort of the cold begins to set in. "I'll be going now, thanks for the party Bobby. It was lovely.", and the psion offers him a brief wave before darting across the snow toward the building in a hurry and grabbing her purse. Getting indoors and getting dried off now sounds like an excellent idea.

As the party begins getting quieter and people spread out to do their own things, Bobby starts to relax. Still in his board shorts, he's tossed the hawaiian shirt for now. Satisfied with the party, Bobby nods and moves to take a seat near Storm. "Hey. Glad you came to the party."

"I'm glad I didn't miss it. I only just returned from visiting family a few hours ago." Storm eats a small cube of watermelon primly. "Has everything been going well here?"

Swimming up to the edge of the pool, resting his chin on his arms, Doug shakes his head. "Well, Shift left."

The question gets Bobby frowning a little. "Shift, Wolverine, Kurt..." he trails off. No, he's not happy about this. "We're losing people left and right," he mutters. "Going to be more soon...at least for a little while."

Storm looks at Doug then Bobby, a couple of quick blinks her only apparent reaction to the news of people leaving the school. "Have they given reasons for choosing to depart?" She thinks she might have to start tracking these people down to talk to them.

"Well, lots of speculation, but no, no real reasons, not to us, anyway," Doug replies, looking towards Bobby.

"Wolverine's Wolverine, no idea about Shift, and...you'd have to ask Kurt," Bobby answers. Not his place to explain that. "Domino and Amanda left too."

Storm's eyebrows draw together. "I will have to, won't I? I have not yet seen Scott or the Professor. Where are they, if I may ask?"

"Scott was still recuperating from his injuries. As for the Professor..." Doug shrugs, looking towards Bobby.

Bobby scowls slightly at the mention of Scott but he lets it go. "I think the Professor went on some trip. Haven't seen Hank since he went off to Africa...no idea where Piotr went...Warren's left the school too. And I haven't seen Sam in ages either," the icy mutant sighs.

Storm nods slowly at Bobby. "Then I will start contacting everyone. Tomorrow." After all, there's really nothing that can be done about any of it tonight.

"I know how to reach Warren...and that's about it," Bobby remarks to Storm. "Haven't heard from the others. I hope you have better luck than me."

"If you want to try finding Piotr, ask Illyana. She sometimes shows up, so..." Doug speaks up, as he dives back in the water.

Storm nods to Bobby. "I will do what I can. And perhaps Warren will have contact information on Logan and the others." She looks over at Doug and nods. "I will do that as well."

That mildly annnoyed look comes back at the mention of Illyana but he nods a little. "You really don't want to lead with that if you go talk to Warren," he warns Ororo. "He's...in a mood. Asking him for something probably won't go well."

Storm gives Bobby her very mild version of an 'oh, please' look, including a small smile. "Do not worry about me."

Bobby runs a hand through his hair. "It's not that. It's just...Warren thinks no one wants him here anymore and that the only reason people ever visit or talk to him anymore is because they want something. So..."

Storm says, "Well, that is clearly untrue. I will go speak with him as soon as possible. Other than this mass exodus, has everything been well? I heard of the news from Genosha, hence why I cut my vacation short.""

"Yeah, told him that a couple hundred times," Bobby sighs. His hopes are not high. "Things are alright. Not much has happened out here but apparently Dark Elves and demons are attacking NYC at random. And the other day I wrecked some Nazis and two Sentinels went berserk in Times Square."

Storm quirks an eyebrow briefly. "Well. New York is certainly seeing its share of interesting days."

"When doesn't it?" Bobby asks with a little smirk. "The city really never sleeps. Because if it does, something comes along and blows their bed sky high to wake them up."

Storm nods, adding a faint smile of her own. "Very true. Yet another reason why I have never cared for living in major cities."

"I dunno," Bobby smiles. "I think the action could do us some good," he says. "Really get a positive mutant message out there rather than the Genosha stuff by saving the day."

Storm considers. "I think you have a valid point. That, then, is a goal we need to start working toward. Speaking of action... why are the weather patterns around New York City so ... outside of their normal?

Bobby's actually surprised by Storm agreeing with him. He's too used to people shooting down that idea. When the weather patterns are asked about, Bobby chuckles. "According to the news and a few of our studrnts, it's Thor: God of Thunder fighting things."

Thor? Seriously? Storm's eyebrows quirk again. "And here I thought I was the only weather diety in the eastern time zone. I should probably speak with him as well. His ... disruptions are having more widespread effects than he likely realizes."

Bobby shrugs at that, leaning back. "Word is he's got a kid out there some of our students have been hanging out with. If you can't find MC Hammer you can go through him probably," he says. "If you mean the freaky rainbow lightning and tornado, that's apparently because of monsters though."

Storm looks out at the night sky. "That certainly didn't help. But I meant more the smaller, more frequent disuptions over a longer period of time. I cannot predict the ramifications."

Bobby frowns again. "Think you can fix it though?" he asks, curious. "Maybe working with him? You two can't undo whatever got messed up?"

Storm nods slowly. "I can certainly try. Though I am not sure that his ... assistance would be a help or a hindrance."

Bobby Drake quirks a brow. "What? Two weather-masters aren't better than one?"

"Not necessarily." Storm doesn't mention that she suspects the Asgardian prince of being completely unaware of how his storms are affecting outlying areas. "But I will at least give him the chance to try."

Bobby Drake nods and leans back again. He's quiet for a few moments before letting out a little sigh. "I think I'm going to take some time away from here," he says eventually.

Storm stares at Bobby for a long moment before nodding. "I understand. Do you think you will be back in time for the start of the school year?"

Bobby Drake looks up at the sky and takes a deep breath. "I honestly don't know," he answers, running a hand through his hair. "I'll try to be but I just...need some time to think."

Storm says, "Then by all means, take as much time as you feel you need. Though, I might have to recruit instructors to cover so many vacancies." Oh, how Storm WISHES she'd told Scott and the Professor NO when they asked her to help administrate the school. But then again, she wouldn't have trusted anyone else. "Do keep in touch, yes?""

Bobby Drake snorts a bit. "Don't worry. Scott already hired someone to do my job while I was still doing it," he mutters, nodding towards one of the many Jamie-dupes around the party. He's a little annoyed by that. "Yeah, I'll definitely be in touch. And ya know I'll come save the day if there's trouble."

Storm glances at the young man... identical young men all over the winding down party. Fascinating. (just kidding.) "It seems I need to have a word with Scott as well, then." Because, really. She goes on vacation and everything falls to pieces? That's not only wrong, that's DANGEROUS. "Do take care of yourself, and let me know when you're leaving, all right? I don't want to wake up and find yet another empty room." She might hide it REALLY well, but she doesn't take kindly to losing people she cares about, even if only temporarily and for completely innocent reasons.

"Good luck," Bobby shakes his head. "Might be easier to go talk to Warren about getting a loan and some of his feathers," trying to joke. "I'm thinking I'll leave Sunday. I won't be going far. Just into the city," he says. Part of what has Bobby so out of it is losing so many people he cares about too...Kurt, Shift, Dom, Warren, Hank, Piotr, Sam, Amanda, and even Scott in a way...it's a bit much for him.

"That may as well be on another continent, the way some people seem to simply... vanish." Storm reaches to put her hand on Bobby's arm, the gesture one of a close friend. "You will stay in touch, yes?"

Bobby Drake smiles, lifting a hand to place it on Storm's. "I will," he says. "You've got my cellphone and e-mail."

Storm nods. "I do." She offers the younger man a smile. "Now, did I see you making some snow cones a bit ago?"

Bobby Drake nods. "Made a bunch. What flavor can I get you?"

Storm considers. "Coconut, please."

Bobby Drake pushes himself out of his chair and stretches. "Alright. I'll be right back with it," he says, heading off towards where the snow cones and syrups are waiting.