xp_logs | Roxy and Julian - the West Coast Connection

Julian stops by Roxy's suite to introduce himself and the GenX program to her... which is strange because according to Roxy they already know each other.

Julian took one last look at the file on his tablet before knocking on the suite door noted on the file. He was wearing his 'welcome to Xavier's' outfit, slacks, shirt & tie, with a fashionable vest. He had only broken down once today over the memory of the old world- which he considered a victory. The general advice was to immerse oneself in the new world as much as possible- so here he was, welcoming a new member of the newly formed Generation X squad.

"Come it, it's open!" Roxy shouted. She was sitting at the electronic keyboard she'd just set up, playing the Finale Movement of Haydn's 'Sonata No. 59 in E Flat Major.'

Opening the door, Julian peaked inside and spotted her at the keyboard, letting himself in and leaving the door ajar. He stood to the side of it and listened to her play for a while, enjoying the skilled performance. The mellow melody reminded him of happier days gone by, before...he pushed the thought out of his head with a practiced force of will. "You're quite good."

"Keller!" Roxy jumped off her stool and went around the keyboard to say hi to him. "C'mon, did you really doubt how good I was?" she smirked at him before realizing that Julian Keller was at the mansion, in her suite. "What are you doing here?!" she asked excitedly. "Omigawd. You're a mutant?!"

Julian was taken aback by her familiarity, and tried to recover as quickly as he could. "Um, hey, yeah- I'm a mutant," he shrugged and chuckled nervously, still getting used to people not knowing he was what he was. "Surprise?" he tried to center himself, but it was honestly a bit much that yet another person- who he had no clue who they were- knew him. Clearing his throat he pressed on, "How are you settling in?"

Roxy laughed, recognizing the cover up all too well. It was something she'd seen countless times at parties. "You don't know who I am, do you?"

"I know who you are- Roxanne Washington, a sixteen year old mutant whose parents have sent her here for her own safety- I'm assuming despite her own objections," he shrugged. "I know something about that, but if we've met before, I'm afraid I don't recall." Julian paused for a moment, then grinned sheepishly.

"Seventeen last week," Roxy corrected. "And dude. Maybe it's time to start cutting back on the vino. You're too young for your memory to be this bad." They'd met several times. Even danced together occasionally. And she knew Julian Keller was a notorious partyer, but he'd never had trouble remembering her before. "Also, I had no objections to coming here. I just didn't know it existed until Whitey McWhitebread showed up at my house and told me about it," she told him with a snort of amusement. "This place is, like, super secret."

Julian chuckled too, assuming she was talking about Scott, "I'm glad you want to be here- it will make things so much easier." He motioned to a nearby lounger, "Do you mind...?" he let the question float there, trying to figure out how to draw out their shared past.

"No, by all means," Roxy answered, gesturing to the lounger. She went back to playing, this time toying with the aria of Bach's Goldberg Variations. "You kinda make it sound like I'm going to be set up to be tortured," she teased, in her best horror movie villain voice. "It will make things soooo much easier. You sounded a little like that when you were ordering that limo after my dad's '1947' album release party. Remember? You were insisting on driving it yourself."

"I...uh...," he paused and collected himself, noting the album name to look up later. "Well, no one here will torture you- I just meant that you'll actually be able to enjoy yourself and get the most out of what the Institute has to offer. They helped me get my powers under control, and I see that," he pulled up the newspaper article on her public manifestation on his tablet, "you may need some help with that."

Roxy looked at Julian quizzically. He seemed kind of... hesitant here. So different from the Keller she'd known outside of this place. But maybe that's what this place- or mutancy in general- did to people. Maybe it sobered everyone up. "Yeah," she answered. "That's kinda why I'm here. Every time I get scared- even a little bit, like that moment of surprise you get when you trip- I shoot diamonds. I gotta figure out how to stop doing that. So what is it this place helped you learn how to control?" she asked curiously.

Julian grinned wolfishly, he loved this part. His eyes began to glow green slightly as Roxy's keyboard began to do the same as it started to lift off the floor ever so slightly. "Telekinesis."

"Whaaaaaaaaaat?!" Her eyes were wide with excitement. "Ohmigawd! That's awesome! And no one knows you can do it except people here?"

The keyboard set back down gingerly, and he shrugged, "A few others too, close friends and family...but no one else." He set the tablet down as a thought popped into his head. Julian leaned forward, "A side effect is memory lapses, some sort of crossed wiring in the brain...so I'm sorry if I don't remember you or our adventures too well, Roxanne."

"Oh! Wow! Really? That's really sucky! Geez, Keller! Now I feel bad for thinking you were a drunk," Roxy said, sounding sheepish. "And you just made me happy I have the powers I have for the first time since I got them," she mused. "At least mine don't make crossed wires. Can anyone here do anything for you about it? Y'know, like will it ever get better? I mean, this place is supposed to help people with their powers, right?"

"I'm working with the med lab on it, the results have been promising," he lied, hopefully convincingly. "Don't worry about it, sometimes I am drunk...I own a night club in the city...did you know that?"

"Uhh, yeaaah!" Roxy laughed. "Dude, your family's company owns my dad's label. We had his 1947 release party at your club."

"Oh! Well of course we did," he shrugged, "again...sorry." He picked the tablet back up, trying to quickly change the subject. "So, did Jessica talk with you yet?"

"Uhh... no. Who's Jessica? Is she hot?" Roxy asked curiously, sounding hopeful.

Julian nearly snorted as he chuckled, "We are going to get along fine, Roxanne. She's quite attractive, but quite a few years older than you...plus she's supposed to be your advisor, so, no." He winked, "We'll have plenty of other students soon, not to mention your classes in town, plenty of opportunities for dating, or sexy-make-outs." He made a brief note to talk to Jessica about seeking Roxanne out. "So has anyone talked to you about Generation X?"

"Uhh... no." Roxy repeated, a little down about the fact that the picture Keller was painting about the dating situation at the school didn't seem very encouraging. "What's Generation X?"

"Powers training, for a start- also a sort of co-curricular awesomeness," he held out the tablet, a list of the electives was displayed on the screen. "Jessica will go over more of the specifics with you, but I wanted to mention this now since you'll hear about it- the program is also designed to train future X-Men."

"What's X-Men?" She asked curiously. "I'm hoping it's either some sort of dance troupe or an capella group, but I'm assuming it's going to be a secret society of future politicians and captains of industry like they have in those horror movies about boarding schools and frat houses?"

Suppressing the urge to laugh, Julian shook his head, "It's nothing like either of those things...more like a dead end really. They're a team of super-heroes who are head-quartered out of the basement of this school...also, a very highly classified secret that only people who live here know about. I wanted to tell you about it so you were in the know and not finding out when some asshole shows up at our doorstep with a beef against them."

Roxy's eyes went wide. "Oh... kay. Note to self. Avoid X-Men at all costs. I'd really rather not have beefs with anyone," she muttered wryly. "It's bad enough with the paparazzi determined to hound me wherever I go. How do you deal with them?"

"The paparazzi? I fed them until they puked...I'm old news and am trying to stay off the radar as long as I'm helping out here," he winced slightly as he recalled the way they had all but attacked her at the club. "The way they ambushed you was out of line...who you dance with is your business, and I'll do what I can to make sure it doesn't happen again."

"Wow." Roxy bit her lip, clearly moved. "Thanks, Keller. That really means a lot to me. Y'know, when you say stuff like 'there's a team of super-heroes that people have beefs with' I think I should just get the hell out of here as fast as I can, but then you say something like that and I think I'm exactly where I should be right now." She didn't come out and say she would never expect him to offer to try and protect her, but she couldn't hide the surprise in her voice that he had seemed concerned about her well-being.

"Just," he stood up to leave, "don't be too enamored with them, take a reasoned look before deciding anything. And if you ever need to talk, I'm just a call or text away if I'm not around."

"Don't worry," Roxy chuckled. "I'm just here to learn how to control my powers. I have no desire to stick around and be a super-hero. And does that offer to talk include, y'know, anything? Like, girls? Or just mutant stuff?" she smirked.

"Girls happen to be a specialty of mine," Julian chuckled- forcing down a momentary pang of guilt and anger that had the word Tandy attached to it. The door opened on its own, "Did you need anything now? Or shall I leave you to your music?"

"I think I'm good," she answered with a grin. "Thanks, Keller. It's so awesome you're here. Try not to forget me next time, huh?"