| Teacher Becomes the Student | |||||
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| What: Jocelyn explains her recent trip to Doug, who reveals a secret about his power to her. Jocelyn then acquires another pupil. | |||||
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It's late afternoon, and Jocelyn found herself sitting out on the back porch for a chance, instead of out doing something. She'd been keeping busy, which seemed to be the default state of things for people at the X-Mansion. She has her science textbook in her lap and is busying herself with reading it. Nobody has really been bothering her much, and she was pretty okay with that. Still, she was keeping an eye on who was around her, if out of habit if nothing else. Her bookbag had been deposited on the ground next to the chair she was sitting in.
She wasn't really trying to be avoidant, but she hadn't had the greatest of luck explaining things to people so far, so she had resorted to making herself as invisible as possible. Slouched posture, a softening of her voice, and remaining more in the background of conversations, so far, had served her pretty well in that regard. The usual forcefulness that she projected just wasn't there right now. Yeah, it got some of the more gossipy people talking, but it meant she was also, for the most part, left alone.
Body language as a communication tool was -great-, and going as far to will yourself invisible like that worked for getting people to avoid you. But true invisibility? That'd be the Invisible Woman, and when people -were- looking for you, body language didn't matter all that much.
Trust Cypher on that one.
Footsteps come to a stop behind Jocelyn, along with a soft voice. "There you are, Jocelyn. I've been meaning to have a talk with you," Doug Ramsey says quietly, as he steps around into Jocelyn's peripheral vision, and sitting down next to her. "Heard you had yourself quite a time."
There's an absolute, though extremely brief, stiffening of Jocelyn's body. She'd been dreading this conversations pretty hard, actually. It's probably one of the few times Doug may have seen something really resembling fear from the girl. She covers it quickly though, slipping into more formal speech. Yeah, she'd been told she didn't always have to defer so much, but it seemed like a good idea.
"Hello Mr. Ramsey," Jocelyn says, slipping her book into her bag. "I had a pretty eventful few days," she confirms to him. Doug was always so hard for her to read, which was a little frustrating for her. "Came back with a cleared name, a few burns, and some questions". She doesn't elaborate, though it isn't a matter of unwillingness. She's more waiting to find out what direction Doug wants to take the conversation.
Maybe because body language -was- something Doug would be aware of, and this time, at least, his posture is more relaxed than -scholarly-, looking for a straight-up conversation rather than between a mentor and a student.
"Call me Doug. I'm not that much older than you, you know," the young mutant says with a smile. "I'm only twenty-one, and 'Mr. Ramsey' is my father. So... want to tell me what actually happened? We both know the news don't always tell everything. More entertainment than actual -reporting-, these days." There's a small sigh as Doug reaches out to bump shoulders with Jocelyn. "What kind of questions did you come out of the experience with?"
"Ugh. Where to start...," Jocleyn says more as a statement than as an actual question. "I'll skip the questions part until the end, as they make no sense until then. Anyway, you saw the news report initially, I assume. It was both true and false. I was responsible for the deaths, but it wasn't murder. When I manifested initially, I Overloaded". She says the term with a verbalized capital letter.
"First time my powers showed up, and I went off like a bomb in the middle of a demonstration for some television executives. Of course, authorities don't exactly take into account mutant manifestations, and I was also out of it mentally anyway. My energy sight came into focus for the first time and I spent a lot of time in a complete daze".
She sighs. "Anyway, someone decided they needed to poke the authorities and get my name out there a bit dirty. There are about a dozen people I can think of who'd love to do that, and since my body was never found, it seemed like a good idea to them. I left to go clean my name, because I might be a lot of things, but a murderer I'm not". She shrugs a little at that. "Anyway, I talked to the right people in Detroit and got that fixed". So far, it was pretty cut and dry, with certain details left out.
"Though honestly, the trip into Detroit was a lot more eventful than the actual time there". The tone of her voice indicates that was probably more of a story than the actual time in Detroit.
Glancing up at the sky, Doug stretches. "I can't wait for spring to be here," he says, before his gaze shifts back to Jocelyn, now giving her his full attention as she tells her tale.
"Sounds about right," Doug says with a sympathetic nod. "From what little I was able to look up, anyway. Hard to sort through who's telling the truth without looking at them." A small smile. "So, if everything's sorted out, why do you look like you've lost your best friend?"
"It's supposed to be Spring now. It's late," Jocelyn remarks, glancing around their surroundings. "Hopefully it'll clear up soon. Makes my morning runs a lot easier to wake up for," the teenager comments, loosening up a little bit.
At the comment about the girl's looks, she shrugs. "Lot of people weren't too pleased with my taking off to do that. I figured once I heard about it, there was pretty much no chance of anyone letting me to take care of it. But I didn't want that stuff following me back to the manor, and if I hung around for too long, someone would eventually identify me. I may not be famous like a movie star, but enough people know of me that I didn't want to risk the authorities coming here". Which was something she hadn't really admitted to most people.
"Not to mention that if I'd been locked away here until it blew over, I'd go completely stir crazy," she adds. "I don't have the prettiest past. Made plenty of mistakes, and I spent a lot of time cleaning that stuff up, and not just covering it, but fixing it. I couldn't let that all be undone. So I went".
"I get it, but not leaving a note on -where- you went... till after the fact." Doug shakes his head. "I remember -not- wanting to just let the grown-ups know and keep me locked at home, though, so I know how you feel. And at least Laura went after you." There was a brief grin. "You must have grown on her."
"Couldn't leave a note. I found out while I was in the city. If I came back, I figured I wasn't going to get a chance to leave". That was Jocelyn's view of things, anyway. "I did try to reach Shift, but I didn't know he was out of the country at the time". A nod is given about Laura. "Laura and I...we sort of get each other, I guess. She's my room mate now, actually". It makes for literally the emptiest dorm room on campus. "I guess I just don't get so intimidated by rumors of her past or what her past is, you know?" A lot of kids did. "Domino did eventually catch up to me, in Port Jarvis".
"For a bounty, or as part of the X-Men?" Yeah, Doug was familiar enough with Domino's dossier, and so he just shakes his head at that. "Well, as long as you're back here, safe and sound. So... did you -fix- everything for good? Because it doesn't seem like you feel that way, from where I sit."
Wrinkling his nose at Jocelyn, Doug adds, "You have a team here. I'm sure we could have done something."
"I hope I got everything fixed. I think I got the guy who was responsible for it put away behind bars for some of his other work". Though you'd have a heck of a time finding a news report on that. Jocelyn shrugs a little. "Just a little overloaded on everything, I suppose," the girl says. "I mean, I found out my birth certificate had been faked and I'm actually nineteen, when I just had my seventeenth birthday last week. I've jumped three years in a matter of a week. It's a little disorienting". Yeah, that was one of those questions she alluded to.
"As part of the X-Men. Though it was luck, or should I say Domino's luck, that she found me there, right before the meteors started to fall". Pause. "Not that I'm blaming Domino's luck for that, but the fact we were there when it happened was odd".
A nod is given about the team. "I've run solo a long time. I've run in a group for quite a bit, too. I'm not used to the idea of being dropped as soon as I become problematic".
"You're not going to get -dropped-, at least not from my end," Doug frowns. "What -do- you think I was going to do? This ... well, this -group- is supposed to be a team, and teammates stick up for each other." A wry smile crosses his face. "Even if they're ... special. Isn't Laura proof of that?"
"I know. I'm not saying it was the most brilliant idea I've ever had," Jocelyn replies, with a small grin on her face, relaxing a little. "Still, things just still feel a bit awkward, I suppose. But, that will smooth itself out with time, with any luck," the girl tells him. "I guess I got spooked, you know? I don't like to drag people into my past if I can help it". A casual shrug is provided at that.
"Besides, I seem to have a very special talent of putting my foot in my mouth around you, or you seeing me at my worst or spooked. Don't really know why, but that's how it seems to go. Given that, I suppose I was a bit nervous about this conversation," Jocelyn adds.
"Odd, considering my talent is languages," Doug grins. "You might as well be speaking esperanto, and I'd still understand you. Of course, sometimes you're speaking -two- languages at once, and then I have to choose." Motioning to her mouth, then to her body, Doug waits for her to make the connection.
There's a pause as Jocelyn makes that connection, but the connection is made. She doesn't seem uncomfortable by the statement though. "That's impressive. I should have made that connection earlier, like when you diffused Cessily and Laura. You seemed to know just a little too much, you know?" She actually seems a bit impressed by that. "It must be a little confusing at times," she adds, thinking that over. "I mean, people always say one thing with their mouths, but with their body they something different. I know I've done that". Everyone does.
"Mmmmhmm. Although I admit, sometimes I think I'm saying one thing, and catch myself saying something else with my posture." There's a wry grin. "Subconscious mind and all." Doug reaches out, patting Jocelyn on the shoulder in a friendly manner. "Just don't worry too much about it. Ask me to translate if you're not sure what I'm actually saying."
"Fair enough," Jocelyn replies. "Honestly, I was pretty sure you weren't terribly high on me for awhile, what with all the missteps I seemed to take". Which part of her knew was silly. Maybe the part of her that was nineteen instead of sixteen.
"So, anyway. Yeah. That was my trip, pretty much. Flew onto a mountain, met the Avengers, and dealt with a mess in Detroit," she says by way of sort of wrapping that conversation up. "How was your weekend? Do anything interesting?"
"Nothing quite -that= exciting," laughs Doug. "Levelled up. Ran through teacher's notes. Tried to track down what happened to my missing student." There was a wry smile. "So, tell me, you spent some time -as- an MMA fighter? Think the student can be the teacher for a while?"
"Well, that student is pretty good at hiding when she wants to. You know how many false identities, makeup, and fake facial tattoos I went through?" Jocelyn comments with a smirk. Though Doug might actually have some idea, given what he did to try and hunt her down.
"I was in training to go pro, yeah. Had some unofficial fights, what with age restrictions and all, but yeah, I could hang with them". A nod is given when he asks for instruction. "I could do that. I've been helping a couple people out with that sort of thing. What sort of background do you have?" she asks as she looks the man over, now actually assessing him as a combatant and not just as a teacher. "I like to know what I'm working with from an athletics and fighting background first, so I have an idea where to start you".
"SHIELD agent training, the usual X-Men self-defense... dancing..." The last word is delivered with a sheepish grin and a shrug from Doug. "My parents made me," he says by way of explanation. "It's how I met Kitty."
"Dancing is perfectly good training for martial arts, actually. Keeps you light on your feet and in reasonable shape. Actually, Capoeira is called the Dance of War," Jocelyn points out to Doug. "I can see meeting Kitty that way," she adds with a little bit of a laugh. She didn't know Kitty terribly well, but she could see it.
The girl stands up. "Did you want to do an assessment now then?" she asks the man. "See where you are and such. What do they teach you in SHIELD? Any particular style?" She had some idea of the X-Men style, though a lot of that involved powers, to. That wouldn't be put into play as much here.
"Well they were working on using my body language skills as a combat tool," Doug admits. "It's just that reading someone's 'I'm gonna hit you' and actually -stopping- it are two totally different things." Rubbing his nose, Doug winces. "It -really- doesn't work with feints, either."
"It can. That sounds similar to my energy sight, actually," Jocelyn says. She takes his continued talk about it as a sign that he would like to do the assessment. She grabs her bag and steps off the porch, finding a nice bit of not-as-snowy land to stand on. "I can tell how much oomph someone is putting into a strike, or get an idea if they're shifting their weight to take a different angle on their attack".
And then she will spend a bit of time getting a basic idea of how Doug moves and his experience, putting him through some basic drills. It isn't anything too taxing, as she's just getting an idea of where he currently stands. Once that is done, she'll try and figure out the next time for them to meet to continue with the lessons.