| Talk of Home | |||||
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| What: Jocelyn and Victor talk about home and the summer. Vic is reminded that sometime he has to let his parents in on his secret. | |||||
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Jocelyn is in the lounge, flipping through her science textbook. Yes, Jocelyn was studying. She was seated in one of the chairs and is dressed in her usual t-shirt and jeans outfit. She has a digital camera angled up at her from the footstool and it is happily taking pictures every five or ten seconds of the girl. It was a somewhat weird setup, but usually Jocelyn had a reason for these sorts of ideas. Usually. It was late afternoon, post-classes, and on a Friday to boot. The lounge was oddly empty though, for some reason or another, not that Jocelyn was going to complain too much about that. A lot of people had probably already bailed for the city or to do something other than hang around the mansion tonight.
Vic, however, had opted to stay at the mansion for the evening. No 'hot date' or other something to do in NYC- he just stepped into the largely empty lounge and gave a nod. "Nice. How's it, Joss?" he calls out to Channel as he takes a look at her odd camera setup. "What's with the pix?" he asks, as he nods his green head towards the camera setup. "Trying to prove you study, or something?"
Jocelyn reaches out to take the camera and flick it off easily. "Hey Vic. No, nothing like that. Working on an idea, but it hasn't panned out yet," the woman explains to him. "I can manipulate energy, right? So, if I can manipulate infrared energy around me and just make it flare out, I could hide from cameras. I'd just be this big ball of light to them," the teenager explains. "Just haven't managed to do it yet, and it means burning through a lot of the Institute's digital film, so to speak".
She gestures over to the chair across from her. "So, you're not heading out tonight either, huh? No date or anything like that?" she asks with a little bit of a grin. "Oh, and as for proving I study? Eh. No amount of pictures would prove that to some people," she points out with an easy smile.
"Naw, no date tonight. I'm on call, just in case something hits off." Vic said, with a bit of a grin- he takes a seat near his fellow student. "Well, that might work. But if you look like a ball of light, its not exactly undetectable." OF course, Vic has /none/ of these issues when it comes from hiding from a camera. He's one to talk. "Well, good luck." he offers, as he leans back in the chair. "It work for things that taped us, though." he offers, as an after thought, "AS opposed to like... security cameras."
"Conceals the identity at least," Jocelyn says with a shrug. "That's enough for me as an option, short of trying to fry the camera. But that usually gets security down to visit you," the woman points out. A nod is given about being on-call. "I'm just taking a break. I've been feeling a bit worn down. If I head out tonight, I suspect we'll have an alien invasion or something". She grins a little. "Oh, yeah. I don't think I told you, but, umm...". Pause. "I kind of got yanked forward in time a couple times while training in the danger room". Just another day, right? "Something is coming, Vic. Just not sure what".
Anole huhs. "That's weird." he says, "Time jumping in the danger room? I mean, shit. I didn't think it could travel through time." A green ridge of 'brow' raises a touch. "Did it hurt? You okay now?" he wonders of his fellow 'Young' X-men. "I mean, I know I've been crazy busy between school and hanging out so, I haven't been spending a lot of social time here, you know?"
"No, it wasn't the room that did it. It was someone else, yanking me forward. A Space Phantom. Happened to me two days in a row," Jocelyn explains. "Me, along with a bunch of others from this time. Eddie was there both times, and a bunch from his team. Nate was there the second time. Everyone was fine afterwards, but we were there to apparently prevent some of problems in the alternate timelines. The second was keeping the mutant race from going extinct". Yeah. No pressure for the young ones. "I was just glad I was in my suit, or everyone would have my name and Channel linked". Only a few actually had that information outside the school.
"Yeah, I know how things get. I've been crazy busy too. Not a ton of social time, just a lot of studying. I'm thinking about getting my GED. I mean, I'm nineteen now. It's still weird to think that," she admits. Stupid random information she found out. But hey, it meant no chaperones!
"A 'Space Phantom?'" Vic asks, nodding slowly as its all explained. "Eddie made it out okay, yeah?" he wonders, a touch of worry there. "We don't talk about our heroing, so much. I figured it just worry him." he says, with a little smile. "Well, maybe you can be my chaperone, or something. We can go to a rave." he grins at that, figuring that Joss as a 'chaperone' would mean good times. "How's it feel being all legal?" he wonders, "Smoking cigarettes, buying ammunition, porn mags, the works?"
"Eddie made it out fine," Jocelyn assures Vic. "Nobody, far as I know, was too badly injured. Though one of the others there was a mimic, and they mimicked Eddie. Then they both boosted me. It was...". Jocelyn shakes her head. "It was almost a little bit frightening, to be honest, but absolutely exhilarating at the same time. Could very easily become addictive". Eddie boosting was one thing. Getting double boosted was, well, yeah. "And his heroing might worry you," Jocelyn adds with a little bit of a smile. "I've actually ended up crossing paths with him a few times. He's been doing pretty well on that side of things," she assures Vic.
A laugh is given to that. "Well, most of that I could have done beforehand. It wouldn't exactly have been hard for me to pass for an adult you know," she points out. "And if I actually shot a gun, the ammunition would be useful. But as guns aren't really my style...". She shrugs. "It has it's uses though. And sure, I can 'chaperone' you sometime". She'd find them a few good spots to hang out. "But it has been nice to be able to head out into the city without convincing someone to drag me out there, you know?"
"Or sneaking out." Vic says with a grin. "Though, I do enjoy it when I managed to sneak by all the defenses." Now that he knows about them, its made all the easier. "Still, yeah. I'm glad Eddie's okay." he says with a little look of relief. "Well. Other than jumping through time, worrying about a GED and getting legal, how have you been?" he wonders of his friend, with an easy smile. "We've got to catch up."
"Well, I left out the whole story about my heading to Detroit to clear my name when someone decided they'd take my disappearance as an opportunity to make me look bad," Jocelyn says. "But that's been cleared up now. It's how I found out I'm 19". She doesn't really feel like relating all of that information right now though. She'd tell that tale another day. "I've been holding up pretty well. My definition of weird, over the last two months, has been completely changed, but that's alright," she adds. "Oh, I don't know if you heard, but we caught those kids who were animating drawings that attacked the fundraiser". Vic had been in on some of that, she recalled.
A shake of her head is given. "So, yeah. Busy, if you can't tell," she adds with a smile. "Kind of looking forward to summer and things calming down a little bit. Won't have classes, at the very least, to worry about taking up time".
Anole chuckles, "Yeah, there is that at least. I'm hoping to go back to Fairbury and maybe even bring a few kids back with me to stay a week or something. My father loves to feed people, so.. He'd be all about getting the kielbasa's cooking. I could show some of my friends here around my town, no one cares that I'm a mutant there- and I really doubt they'd care if I brought some of my friends with me to visit home. If anything, they'd be happy to see me making friends. Its a /really/ good, close community in Fairbury." he gives a bit of a sigh, "Life was /so/ much easier there."
"Shoot me a text when you have an idea when it'll be," Jocelyn responds easily. "I've got an offer from Gloria to crash at her place here in Westchester, so that's likely what I'll be doing". Jocelyn didn't really have a home to go back to in the summer, after all. "I'd be glad to visit. Not sure I could stay more than a week or so myself. I'm a bit of a city girl at heart. Even staying here in Westchester feels a touch crowded," she admits with a shrug. "Nothing wrong with it, just not something I'm used to yet". She pauses, and smiles a bit. "Seems like the smaller towns have less of a problem with mutants, honestly. I do know a couple places out of state where people tend to not care about that sort of thing".
She gives Vic a quiet smile at his sigh. "Yeah. Easier, maybe. But give us a bit of time, and we can make a difference here. Worth a bit of the discomfort, in my opinion. Though taking a break and relaxing somewhere that it's easier? I bet most of the big name heroes do something like that. No reason we shouldn't be able to do that, too".
"Its different when everyone comes together when something happens, or knows who's kid you are. My mother and father are always cooking meals for people when someone's sick, or if a family member died, or whatever. Just one less thing for those folks to worry about when things are going weird. People really rallied around me and my folks when I hit thirteen and went all green." Vic just shrugs, "I guess I'm just a little homesick." He says with a quiet sigh. Grinning, though he nods. "Gloria is a nice lady!" he says, "And yeah, I wonder how like Superman and Batman handle time off. Maybe we should ask them, if we ever meet them."
"Well, I met Superman, but he wasn't really in much of a position to talk," Jocelyn comments. Things had been a little busy at that time. "Nothing wrong with being a touch homesick, especially with the end of the school year so close," the teenager points out with a little grin. "That does sound like a good place to head home to," she agrees. "Sounds like Fairbury is a pretty tight-knit community. Why'd you leave it, if you don't mind my asking?" Because it seemed like Vic had a lot of support back home, and his powers didn't seem inherently dangerous like her's, she was curious about that.
"Well, Ma and Pa got it in their heads that it might be dangerous for me to just be at home, with the news stories about various Mutant hating groups out there. They heard about this school, somehow, and here I am." Vic just gave a little shrug, "I think they just wanted me to meet other mutants, and to be well informed on how to deal with people who might dislike me. I /know/ they have no clue about my extra curriculars." He grins, "Can't have Mom and Dad Borkowski worrying about their lil Victor, can we?"
"Yeah, though a lot of that has died down now. Still there, but some of that is going away," Jocelyn points out. Which wasn't a bad thing at all, in her opinion. "No idea how they'd hear about the school. Maybe the Professor arranged for it? Wouldn't put it out of the realm of possiblity". Because, well, he was a strong telepath. "Good to know how to deal with them though, yeah". Jocelyn mostly just avoided them, because really, she figured if they hated her, she had nothing to say to them. "Probably best to not let them know about the "extra-curriculars" that we get into". She pauses. "By the way, back when you all were keeping me in the dark? That term didn't really hide it very well," she points out to Vic with a small smile on her face.
"You say that /now/ but, if you didn't know any better- or know me. And it was just an email home? I tell my parents I play basketball. And, if you saw me on the court, you'd be pretty well sure that's what I was doing or wanting to do." Vic looks down at his arm. "I guess this will be a little harder to explain, I guess I just have to say its a secondary mutation. Dad will think its cool, but I think Mom might be a little freaked out."
"Yeah. Unless your other arm grows to match it. You'll just have to admit to only doing bicep curls with one of your arms, and this was the result". Jocelyn knows there isn't much to do about it and Vic isn't a fan of it, so a little bit of levity can help. "Mothers tend to get freaked out more than fathers about things. Fathers tend to keep it all hidden away if they're worried. They'll be alright with it though, from what you've already said," the woman points out. "Also, have you told them about Eddie yet?" she asks.
"No. They don't know about Eddie. Or that I like guys, at all." Victor just sighs, "I mean, the mutant thing I couldn't help- and I know I can't help who I like. But.. I'm not sure they'll see it that way. Why'd you have to remind me of /that/ Joss?" Vic wonders as he rolls his eyes a bit, before letting his thick-forehead thud against the table. *Thud* "Man. Now I'm going to have to figure out how to tell them /that/."
"You'd have to figure out a way to tell them anyway," Jocelyn points out. "Because I can't imagine you'd go three months without seeing Eddie, and I wouldn't want to accidentally blurt out something about your boyfriend in front of them if you hadn't told them yet". She gives the guy a reassuring smile. "Well, how conservative are they? I mean, everyone is okay with mutants in the town, right? That's way weirder than being gay, for starters, so people are pretty acclimated to stuff that doesn't fit society's rules of what is normal. Why do you think they'll react badly to this?"
"I don't know, it just seems a lot bigger than being a mutant, somehow." Victor says, "I just know it'll be a bigger deal, or harder for them to deal with. Its not like they're disappointed in me, but, I just." Victor gives a sigh, and thuds his head against the table again. *Thud* "Its not that they're conservative, its that they want grand-kids. And I don't see myself giving them any of /those/."
"Well, with the jobs that you and Eddie have, raising a kid would be tricky, even if you adopted". Jocelyn could see that. "I don't know the best way to tell them, Vic. You need to bounce ideas or talk it through or anything though, you know where to find me," the woman offers. She stands up and goes to give the guy a hug, if he'll let her. "And hitting your head against the table won't help either. I know you regenerate, but think about the poor table's feelings," she adds with a small grin.
Anole just chuckles quietly, hugging Jocelyn with that big ole arm. Carefully, of course. "Thanks, Joss." he says, as he stands up. "I should probably let you study, unless you want a tutor in some subjects. I could probably help you get that GED, if you wanted me to." he says, with a friendly smile.
"I'll let you know when I need a hand with it," Jocelyn says. "I should get my evening workout in pretty quick here though," Jocelyn responds. Yeah, it's a Friday night, so? She grabs her stuff. "I'll walk with you until one of us gets to where we're going". She pats the guy on the shoulder and smiles. "Shall we?"