2014.02.01 - New Kid

As the School gears up for a return to study, Scott takes the last of his spare time not spent on lesson plans to indulge in one of his hobbies. That is, the repeated deconstruction and optimized reconstruction of one of the many motorcycles he keeps in storage beneath the grounds. A ridiculously impeccable drop cloth with hardly a smudge on it has been laid out on the ground and the First X-Man sits amidst an array of engine parts. He carefully lifts each one to eye level, examining it critically.

Jean awaits patiently by the door, resting against the portal with her arms folded over her breasts, those green eyes peering at Scott carefully. The Phoenix awaits to make her move, and when the Fearless Leader goes for a very specific part that he knows to be just by his left, it's not there anymore. If he turns to look, it's nowhere at all... at least until he realizes the engine part is floating about over his head, lazily, that red-orange aura of Jean's around it, dangling it there like a kid. If he turns to face the redhead she greets him with a mischievous smile, waggling one eyebrow.

Scott cannot help but smile. It's the kind of self-marshalled half-smile that says he's amused despite himself. In short: the Scott Summers smile. He stands up slowly to reach for the part, telegraphing his movements and fully expecting the little shaped piece of metal to evade his grasp once again. He'd worried that asking Jean to marry him might've harmed their relationship – especially after she'd said no. But he'd understood why she'd said it and not pressed her on it since.

All this is thought, of course, but not said. All he says aloud is: “Busy?”

Jean bites her lower lip as the engine part flies away from Scott and around him, coming to rest right before him asa the redhead walks slowly towards Cyclops, every step she takes charged with energy and amusement.

"Yes. Messing with you takes a whole lot of my time~", she teases the male, coming to sit three feet away from the First X-Man, smiling at him and then at the engine parts, running a lock of scarlet hair behind her ear as she looks down.

"Boys and their toys... have you finished working on that project of yours, or is this totally new from scratch?"

Scott takes a couple half-hearted swipes at the part in the air as it flies around him. When it stops, he reaches out and takes it. He cannot help but smile a little wider as he watches her walk and listens to her teasing, turning to stand alongside her as she looks at the largely-disassembled engine.

"New. I heard a bit of a rattle when I was out yesterday so I took it apart ... "

As Jean looks down at the pieces she arches both brows and shakes her head, grinning as she ponders. "You really like those things... I wonder... if I could get a hobby. There's nothing I like to do... that I know of... and shopping does not count!", and keeping her arms folded, the redhead purses her lips, narrowing her vision.

"Have you ever wanted to throw yourself out of a plane? As in... have you ever felt like pointing to a place in the globe and just going there? Travelling without a plan? Do thinks for the heck of it?"

“Sometimes, I guess,” Scott admits, though the idea of going into things unprepared is uncomfortable for him, “But I think Shi'ar space is probably enough of a vacation – at least for now.”

“And if you want a hobby,” he adds, holding the part out for her to see, “I can show you how the bike goes together?” It mightn't be her thing, but he's trying.

Jean looks at the piece and she smiles some, and then turns her gaze at Scott, smirking some, before she pushes the man softly in a joking gesture. "As if you would ever let me get anywhere near your bykes with a monkey wrench!", teases the woman before she looks at the rest of the assembled engine.

"I am going to start surfing with Rachel.", she says simply, amused, even having some difficulty with picturing that in her head "I... I am guessing I'll be terrible. But... it feels nice to learn with someone for a change. Don't you have anything you wanted to learn you never did?", and she looks at him, curious.

“Huh,” Scott murmurs, as though the question is one he's never considered before, “I don't know.”

Maybe there is something, but even he doesn't know what it is. The suggestion of surfing prompts a raised eyebrow from him, however, and he half-smiles, “I suppose you'll have your pick of the waves. Not many other surfers are going to want to be out in this weather.”

Jean shoulder-bumps Scott as she grins "You are so negative, Scott! I read in the internet that surfers wear these suits to go into the water during bad weather. So... if we really want it, we can do it.". She does let her gaze linger at the leader of the X-Men before she murmurs ot him.

"There's always a thousand of reasons not to do something... and we have been taught to focus on those, instead of the reasons why we should. You and I... we have been stiffled for far too long... maybe it is time we spread our wings..."

Jean peers at Scott and sometimes she feels like just probing his mind and MAKE him understand things. Still, all she does is lean against the he stands up to mock-bite his shoulder, whispering once she is done "Remember. A thousand reasons not to do things...", her tone of voice serious, but low, so only he can hear.

There's a rippling in the air right before a rip opens and Cal doesn't quite fall through. The thud of his boots hitting the metal floor bounces off the walls and equipment and he rests a hand on a console as he half leans over. "God." he groans. "That's a whole lot easier with a teleporter. Not to mention more accurate." He covers his mouth as he burps softly and takes a deep breath as if he's trying not to throw up. His back is to the others, at least until he turns and then blinks once before smiling. "Jean. Scott. Hello there. I bet you're wondering who I am." At least he hopes so. They didn't miss an alternate version of him in their scan did they?

Scott smiles at the whispered words, nodding his head and opening his mouth to reply. The words don't come, however, as he looks over Jean's shoulder at the rip in the air and the man who steps through it. Not in costume, Scott nevertheless reaches a hand up to touch two fingers to the arm of his ruby quartz glasses. Aware though he may be that Jean's mutant abilities dwarf his own, he puts himself between her and the strange visitor.

“You'd win that bet.”

Scott and Jean know each other for quite some time now, and they have been through thick and thin together. This is, though, the very first time Scott feels annoyance oozing from Phoenix as he plays the knight, placing himself between her and danger, and brattishly, as if to make a point, Jean creates a monstrous-looking sphere of fire-like telekynesis around them both. The woman goes so far as to abuse her power further, reading into Scott's mind and assembling the engine as the parts whirl around them both.

Yeah, that just happened.

And Jean's face shows that too, if Scott cares to look at her. It takes just a few seconds, however, for their little quarrel take backstage to what's happening, and the redhead looks at the newcomer. Jean drops the shield, and gently hovers the engine down the floor, letting Scott do the talking, having already expressed her discontent at being the damsel in distress. She's so subtle.

Calvin Rankin's brows rise at Jean's show of power, a bit surprised at the blatant show combined with the obvious tension in the room. "Yeah, I'm sorry about that. I had intended on the front lawn and ringing the bell instead of barging into the hangar and probably setting off alarms." Good thing they were already here to prevent that. "I'm Cal. Calvin Rankin. I'm from an alternate reality and not at all drunk. Jean, please feel free to probe me enough to verify I"m telling the truth." Though in truth, he's expecting she's already doing so since he's an unknown quantity.

Scott apologises in his head, hoping that Jean will pick up on that. He's sorry, but intent on showing a united front against this sudden arrival. He listens to Calvin speak, his brow furrowing as he holds up the hand not resting on his temple.

"Hold on, Jean," he says, looking sidelong at her before turning back to Cal, "And why are you here? If you know who we are, I'd suggest you start talking //real// quick.

One of the things you learn when facing the likes of Sinister is to never just go about probing people's minds. As such, Jean relays to Scott the responsibility to get the info out of Cal in the old fashioned way, her green eyes peering at him, her mind ready to interject at any offense.

"There's nothing you need to worry about, Scott." Cal answers, his tone trying to convey reassurance. "I bring no dire warnings or threats of extradimensional invasion and as far as I know, nothing in this reality needs correcting any more. I can't return home since it would disrupt my reality so I came to this one. I was really hoping to see the Professor."

“The fact that you just dropped in behind a few million dollars worth of security measures means yes, I do have to worry.”

Scott exchanges thoughts with Jean, a flurry of ideas and concepts too broad and deep for speech. Mostly suggesting that stranger things have happened but they should still be on their guard.

“So you came here because you're a danger to your own reality? What's to say you aren't a danger to this one?”

"I didn't say I was a danger to my home reality." Cal points out. "I said I would disrupt it. I was unhinged from time and returning would cause problems there. Plus they believe I'm dead. I'd rather not cause more grief to those I care about. They've moved on." He considers Jean a moment then shrugs lightly with a small smile. "I must admit, the problems this reality seems to have so often did influence my choice. I thought I could help keep an eye on things and fix them if needed."

Should Jean read Scott's mind, the vibe she'd get is one of supreme distrust. He believes what he's being told but that doesn't make it any easier to accept.

“You were unhinged,” Scott repeats, slowly lowering his hand from his temple – not planning to attack any time soon, it seems, “And you're not now? Even if you were, I'm going to guess that thing you just stepped out of was a one way trip, right?”

"Aren't they always one-way trips?", says Jean as she relaxes fully aswell, looking at Scott and mimicking some of his worry, but not quite: she is jsut wary of this whole situation, not necessarily distrusting the boy. She doesn't get any suspicious signals from him, after all.

"Maybe we should take him to the Professor. He will want to talk to the boy, and... if there are any telepathic countermeasures, he will be able to navigate around them easily. What do you think?"

"And I'm not any more." Cal agrees and reaches up to run a hand through his hair. "It's a really long story and I'll be happy to tell it you all over beers. As to it being a one way trip..." He glances back to where the rip once was. "I hope so." Though he sounds ambivalent about it. "I'm retired. If they need me, it means something major has gone wrong." As meeting the Professor was his original intent, he just waits at ease for their decision.

“Well, I'm not going to turn him out onto the street,” Scott says, relaxing a little as well, “If you're lying, you're a danger. If you're not, well, we need to prove that.”

Scott keeps his eyes locked on Cal from behind the reflective ruby quartz of his glasses, “The Professor isn't in at the moment but I agree. He needs to see you. I want to keep you secured until then to be on the safe side. If you want to help then you're not going to have a problem with that, right?”

As Jean smirks at Scott's words, she peers at Cal, somewhat curious about his tirade on beers. She says nothing, but certainly walks forward with Scott, sending messages to the Professor so he knows what she does, preparing the man for his meeting with yet another dimension wanderer. By now Xavier should be getting better at that than he is at meeting with real students, after all!

"Throw in some chips and a six pack and I'm good." Cal agrees easily. "Is there anything good on tv in this reality? You wouldn't believe the crap they show in some of them."

Scott isn't the joking kind, so he merely shrugs his shoulders at the question of television. Of the pair of them, Jean is far and away the more personable of them. He gestures towards the door, indicating that Cal should go first.

“We'll set you up down here for now.” With many of the students already back at school in preparation for the next semester, having an unknown quantity upstairs doesn't sit well with Scott.

“The Professor'll be with you as soon as he can.”