xp_logs | Friday morning, Monet and Ororo

Monet's curiosity about the X-Men finally comes out.

It was only the knowledge that she had an appointment with Ororo that had gotten Monet out of bed at such uncivilized hour of the morning. Elpis aside, she'd had little enough practice at being up before half past nine recently. Knocking at the door to Ororo's office, Monet opened it and wandered in. "I'm not late, am I?"

"Monet, no, please take a seat." Ororo shook her head, giving the girl a welcoming smile. "Thank you for coming to see me in the morning; the afternoons tend to get very busy."

Monet sat opposite Ororo. "That's okay. I"m aware that some people have to use mornings, no matter how unpleasant it might be for them." She drummed her fingers against one leg for a moment. "I know you got my email. I was wanting to talk to you about that fight we had with Nathan a while ago."

"Yes, of course." Though really, it was not much of a fight... at least, not as much as it could have been. Ororo was still incredibly relieved that the altercation had ended when it did; she had been ready to order a much more direct use of force against the older man if it had been necessary. "I can understand why you would want to discuss it further. It was certainly a... an unusual event."

"Is it always like that? What you lot do, when you're off in your bondage gear? Marius never really says much about it." Monet's eyes were locked on Ororo and she'd all but stopped fidgeting. "Is it always so..." don't say 'fun'. She'll take it the wrong way, "exciting?"

The silver-haired woman pursed her lips, surveying Monet thoughtfully. "The X-Men are called into many different types of situations;
sometimes our missions are quite low-key and uneventful." And sometimes we are called upon to wrest control of a space laser from a madman. She didn't say that. "Oftentimes, however, they are quite the opposite. We can never be sure exactly what will happen, or what we will have to do to resolve a situation. So yes. To answer your question, I would say it's rarely boring."

"Huh." Monet frowned for a moment, thinking. "I know we were beating up on my sort-of-boss and all of that, but I kind of enjoyed it. Uh, up until I thought he was going to kill me. It got a lot less fun after that. Kind of like when Garrison took us to Afghanistan, really.
It was sort of fun, even if I was worried about where Paige was." She tugged at one curl. "And it's always like that?"

"Not always," Ororo hastened to say. "There are certainly plenty of situations where a less-is-more approach is useful. Which is why it is incredibly important to listen to the team leader when they give orders," she added, narrowing her eyes just slightly at the younger
woman.

"How on earth was I supposed to know that he'd be all rah, I can grab you? You said, you said, that we had to get him away from people and it really seemed like it would work." Monet shrugged. "Besides, since I got my new manicure, I'm fine."

"Somehow I think you may want to let the matter of the manicure go. Which, I suppose, is another thing to keep in mind about team
activities - they are not especially forgiving on the hair and nails."

While Ororo didn't exactly want to discourage Monet's ponderings about the team, she also wanted the girl to realize the full import of what she was talking about. And if personal grooming was the best way to accomplish that, well. "And, more to the point, by
not listening to your leader's exact orders, you risk injuring yourself, your teammates, and your opponent. There is always room for
improvisation, but when you are going into a situation blind, it is best to defer to the people who have the most information."

"It's okay, Ororo," Monet said reassuringly. "The hair's invulnerable, so it won't get hurt. My nailpolish isn't, but I can deal with that. The day someone brings out an actualy chip-proof coral blue, tho'..."

Catching up with the rest of what Ororo had said, she nodded quietly. "I know. Nathan could have killed me and all I did was piss him off, leaving you lot with an angry, crazy telekinetic, rather than just a fucking crazy one. So, really, I should have listened when you said to stay with you."

"Yes, you should have. Luckily, everyone is relatively unharmed-" though the same couldn't be said of the classrooms, some of which were still undergoing repairs "-and we have learned from our mistakes. Which is sometimes all we can hope for in situations like that."

"You know, if I was an X-Man, I'd ..." Monet waved her hands expressively. "Know ... how to do stuff and things. I'd be better at listening to you, things like that." She hoped the hand gestures made up for the lack of eloquence.

Raising one white eyebrow, Ororo sat back in her chair, surveying Monet thoughtfully. "Training does give you a better idea of how to react to different situations," she allowed. "And you would work more closely with others to develop teamwork and listening skills. Is that something you would want to do?"

Monet frowned for a moment, thinking it through. On the one hand, she'd long ago discovered that most people were morons and not worth the time of day. On the other, the X-Men stuff looked exciting and interesting. Besides, as far as she could tell, most of the X-Men
didn't fall into the moron bracket. She nodded. "I reckon I can manage that."

"Well then." Briefly Ororo wondered if this was just the latest manifestation of a creeping insanity infecting her decision-making abilities, but shook off the feeling. If it really was, Scott would be bound to tell her later. In great detail, most likely. "There are of course many committments you must make - both to physical training and theoretical practice. It is a busy schedule to adapt to."

"I can do that. I've already come a really long way even with just my strength control since Marius uh... Since then. Besides, can't I just
decide to faff off to Fiji and get a sheep and cow farm and breed horses if it's all too much for me?" Monet doubted she'd quit. But
somehow, knowing she could was comforting.

"Yes, of course. The last thing we want is unwilling teammates," Ororo said, spreading her hands on the desk before her. "This is entirely your decision, and though I support it entirely, it is ultimately only yours to make. If you change your mind, then you are under no obligation to keep at it."

"Awesome!" Monet grinned widely. "Do I have to fill in a form before I can get started?"

Ororo smiled to see the girl's enthusiasm - it was always good to be reminded that there were new people just as excited to join the team as there were to be on it. "There will be a few hoops to jump through, but I think we can begin you on some simulation training before the week is out. The rest I will sort through with Scott as quickly as I can."