2013.04.01 - Mugwump? The kids get weirder every year

Having found one of the spare, unused classrooms, Jocelyn has set herself up for a little bit of practice. However, what this practice looks like to most people is Jocelyn sitting in front of a camera that is clicking along every five seconds while Jocelyn just looks at it. Yeah, it looks like she's just sitting there looking at a camera. Pretty boring stuff, really.

Some of her bookbags are on the floor next to the desk she's set herself up in. The door is open, perhaps having randomly slipped open from when she had it shut to avoid, well, people randomly coming by and asking her why she was being so vain, since it wasn't really something that was in her nature. Of course, she did finally pass the Xavier Social Media coursework, so she could have a Facebook account. Not that she had much of anything on it at this point.

Scott drops by to pick up some of his notes he left in the classroom from earlier in the day. He stands for a moment in the doorway and regards all that's going on. It's tough to gauge his emotions, given his glasses, so he comes off as just sort of standing their coolly. "Am I interrupting?" he asks eventually.

Jocelyn may have been aware of Scott, but didn't immediately stop what she was doing, which generally meant she was comfortable with him. "Not really Mr. Summers. I'm just testing some stuff out with my powers. A bit of experimentation, basically," Jocelyn replies as she turns over to look at him. "How have you been doing? I haven't seen much of you lately". Not really much at all since she got back from her little trip. But business had been taken care of, and she hoped that he wasn't too upset with her. But she figured that was a topic he could bring up with her, too, if he had an issue with it.

"I've been well, Jocelyn, thank you. And you?" Scott takes a few steps into the room before heading to the back to look for his things. "I've been a bit busy, I must admit. It happens a lot, I'm afraid."

"Been pretty busy myself," Jocelyn admits, though she suspects his reports keep him up to date. "I seem to have a bad habit of attracting random trouble every time I step foot out of the mansion". She shrugs a little at that. "Between that and figuring out how all my power stuff works, the last couple months have flown by". Which was weird to think of, her only being here two months. "Oh, I ran into Niah and Mugwump. She seems to be taking to the school well. Him, not so much". Yes, she's referring to her imaginary friend.

"Mugwump?" Scott asks with a raised eyebrow, clearly unfamiliar with whatever the hell Jocelyn is talking about. The older he gets, the weirder the kids get. THat much is for sure.

"She didn't tell you about her imaginary friend?" Jocelyn asks, raising her eyebrow a little bit in surprise. "Or, well, rather the eight foot kinetic energy creature that protects her and all that?" Because really, the girl talked about Mugwump all the time.

Scott shakes his head slowly. He makes a mental note to ask the Professor or Jean Grey about this Niah and her mental stability. "Afraid not. In fact, I haven't gotten the chance to meet Niah yet, to be honest. I look forward to her tales about imaginary friends."

"I could swear she told me you picked her up," Jocelyn says, scratching her head in confusion. "She herself seems to be a wandering ball of psionic energy," the teen adds with a shrug. "But the friend isn't imaginary. Just made up of pure kinetic energy. Picks her up to let her fly, punches and lifts things for her, and all that sort of stuff". Jocelyn wasn't entirely sure what to make of it herself, to be totally honest.

Jocelyn reaches over and actually clicks a couple buttons on the camera. "Didn't get it to work," she comments, glancing at it. "I'm trying to pull in infared energy and just sort of emit it. Just make myself a giant blind spot to cameras," she explains to Scott.

Both eyebrows come up now in surprise. "I see. Sounds pretty usefull. Tell me, how have you enjoyed things since you've come to the Mansion?" Though he met Jocelyn right away, he hasn't had the opportunity to touch base with her as of yet.

"It's been exciting and unpredictable," Jocelyn says with a little bit of a laugh. "I definitely don't get bored here, and I've met, well, a lot of people I'd never have imagined meeting. And I've been able to do some good with what I've learned here just when I've been out in New York City on the weekends during those freak events that seem to happen more and more regularly". Stupid, stupid dwarves and elves. "But I've enjoyed it. I won't say I enjoyed that mess in Detroit where my name got dragged through the mud, but it got cleared up, and it really wasn't something to do with the mansion itself or anyone here. Still weird to have managed to of aged three years in the span of two weeks, if only on paper, but still". Jocelyn shrugs. "I've met some pretty good friends. Cessily, Laura, Kwabena. Vic and Gloria". She smiles a bit. "That's probably more than I could say I had in Detroit, and I didn't even have to think hard about it".

"Well, that's great, Jocelyn. I can't begin to tell you how important it is to make friends here and get acclimated. When I came it was a godsend for me. I was very much alone, alone in the world, in fact. I met a lot of people who became my best friends. I'm glad it seems like you're doing the same." Scott tilts his head, "I know you've had some rough spots since you've been here. But you look to be pulling through it. Learning is really the important part of making mistakes."

"I've made some mistakes. Pissed off a few people when I did what I did in bolting for Detroit. Might not have been the smartest plan, but I think I get now a bit why people were upset with how I handled that. Won't handle things that way again". Jocelyn pauses as she thinks about that. "As for the rest of it? The fights and the injuries and stuff? Not stuff that's great, but I've always figured I've got this ability for some reason or another. I should do something with it that's useful, so I don't mind stepping in there. Maybe sometime the public won't be quite so nervous about us that we don't have to bolt immediately after helping out". That'd be nice.

"Speaking of that, I've got an odd question. I know I'm just a student still, but I can see energy. Do you think Mr. Drake would appreciate some help in his power control class? I can sort of 'see' how much and where people are directing their powers in a lot of cases. You know him better than I do, but it was a thought I had".

Scott nods as she speaks, but doesn't really respond to her point about helping the public out. Instead, he answers her final question about Bobby. "I think you'd better talk to Bobby himself. I don't want to speak for him. He's kind of protective over his domain, so to speak/

"Fair enough," Jocelyn says with a nod to Scott. It was a curiosity question, and an idle thought that she'd had.

"So, what has been keeping you busy, if I can ask, Mr. Summers?" Jocelyn asks. "I know you've kept busy on business. I hope you've found a little bit of time to relax somewhere in there," she says.

"All sorts of things," Scott says as he straightens. He usually keeps his personal life pretty close to the vest. "Training mostly. Grading. Preparing for classes. That sort of thing."

"Sounds weirdly like my schedule, if you switch out grading with homework," Jocelyn admits, maybe a little surprised by that. Since you could say getting ready for tests is like preparing for classes, and she was pretty notorious around the place for her training schedule. She kind of expected Scott's schedule to be filled with more exciting stuff, being the field commander and all. "I don't suppose sometime you'd mind helping me out with some training? I've been finding it useful to be familiar with other people's styles, especially with some of the work training the Young X-Men have been doing".

Scott nods, "I'd be happy to. It's my understanding that Doug and Illyana are heading up the Young X-men group, but I'd be happy to give you some extra training if your schedule allows it. It's what I'm here for, after all."

"I can always find some time somewhere. If you want to get better at something, you make time for it," Jocelyn responds. Besides, she'd run into him early enough in the morning that she figured it wasn't too hard. "Yeah, Doug and Illyana have been heading that up. Things have been going well, though the team does seem to lack for a little bit of a ranged option outside of myself and Jubilee. On the flip side, almost everyone seems to have some sort of regeneration or toughness thing for for them," she says. "Makes for some interesting strategies to get through scenarios at times".

Scott makes a pursed lip face as he considers. "Just remember that each fight is going to be something new. Sometimes initiates get into the habit of relying on old standbyes. Don't get me wrong, it's great to practice those to come up with tactics, but if you err and focus too much on the same thing, when that thing is taken away from you, often times there's a struggle to figure out what needs to come next."

"Yeah. We haven't run into too many scenarios where options are taken away from you in the training yet, though I suspect we will soon enough. I've run into a couple situations outside though where I couldn't use my energy blasts or bursts due to various reasons". Like a mass of civillians. "I've been trying to treat it a little bit like I do with my martial arts. I know a bunch of different abilities, and a few different ways to slot in different combinations, but each punch has four or five different perfectly valid follow-up manuevers that I can slot in depending on what happens".

Jocelyn shrugs a little at that. "I won't say I'm a great tactical mind or in any way the leader of the group, but I figure it's good to at least think about these things". To be honest, she's not sure who she'd consider the leader of the Young X-Men yet.

"You and me both, kid." Scott chuckles at her. "I'm glad to see you're putting some thought into this. I have sort of a reputation around here as being pretty hardcore. Once you get to know me you'll see why I appreciate you attitude."

"Well, there's a level of responsibility with it. I suppose I just have high expectations for myself, but that comes with what I was doing before I came here. When you're practicing for MMA, you have to firmly believe that you are always the better fighter, even if you're completely outclassed. People would be surprised what that can do for you," Jocelyn responds. "Mental preparation is just as important though. Knowing who you were fighting and what they tended towards gave you information you needed to get ready for them". It was like any sport, really.

"I'm glad your appreciate the attitude. Some people think I'm just a bit nuts, but actually a lot of the students seem okay with it". Which was a bit surprising. "Jubilee is also pretty good with this sort of thing. She figured out a couple ways to work with my blasts when those dwarves and elves showed up in Midtown earlier this week".

"Jubilee is not one to ever say that anyone is a bit nuts, just so we're clear. But yeah," Scott nods. "I'm glad to see you're fitting in nicely here."

That actually gets a laugh from Jocelyn. "Never said she would. Nor would she have much of a leg to stand on in some cases," the girl adds. "Some folks, however, just don't always get it". That was Jocelyn's experience. The girl grabs the camera and slips it away. "Anyway, I should probably get back to the dorms. Need to finish a bit of classwork. Good talk with you, Mr. Summers".

"You too, Jocelyn."