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xp_logs(slightly backdated) Summertime (mostly) freedom brings Nica and Alani together by the pool.
Summer was, Nica reflected as she lay on the pool lounge soaking up every wavelength in the EM field that sunshine contained, the best season ever. No school, no overcast days, no sun lamp... Instead she could bask in the sun as long as she wanted and get that delightful buzz that came from having her powers fully charged.
"Ooh, I see you've had the same idea." Alani laughed as she set down her bag, sliding her flip flops off before she finally fell into the chair beside Monica with all the grace of a doctorate student spending her limited free time, which, wait, she was that. "And not a cloud in the sky." Her voice lowered a touch with a sigh of adoration as she flashed the girl a smile, thick braid falling over her shoulder as she all but beamed. "Enjoying your free summer?"
"No more homework, no more books, no more teachers' dirty looks," Nica quoted lazily, looking over at Alani over her sunglasses. "Of course there's still HeliX meetings and monitor duty and Danger Room runs, but apart from that, you are looking at a free woman. Handed in my last project last week."
"Lucky duck, I love that for you." Another giggle as she stretched, cringing only a little as her bones clicked back into realignment. "Oof, which, gotta remember to make sure that eXcalibur's wormhole monitoring schedule and Danger Room slots work for everyone, buuut, luckily my first paper's not due quite yet, so I'll just make a note and take this nice moment to not stress about that." She clacked away at her phone for a moment, setting a reminder for future Alani to worry about, then set it back down. "There, future me can worry about that."
"I don't want to invoke Future You, but what's the paper you need to work on?" Nica's curiosity was piqued by the mention.
"That's the future Alani that's always present, so worry not." Alani grinned, though she'd relaxed back into the seat. "Comparing and contrasting psychology in the 1920s, '70s, and today. I've already figured out my focus, but I want to get out at least eight pages before the first half is due for feedback reviews. And, yes, I've always been that freak who finished their papers as soon as possible, even before starting a doctorate program."
"Huh, that really sounds interesting - there'd be of difference between each era... but then again, there'd be some similarities too, I guess? Are you looking at just the States or are you looking wider? Or narrower?"
"Well," she dragged out the word as she offered a slight shrug. "A bit of similarities, mostly 'growth,' depending on your location and the whole humanity conundrum, but because I don't want to get too far into that I'm just focusing on fear and what we can do to move past it. It's wider because I wanted to reference the experiments that used people's fears against them. Oddly enough the peer reviewed papers on fear and the mutant, and what it means, are really light, but I get it." Blowing some hair out of her face, Alani stuck her tongue out. "Ugh, and here I'm already getting serious. Any fun plans for you this lovely summer?"
Nica gave her shamefaced grin. "Sorry, didn't mean to make you think that much, but curiosity is my middle name, apparently." She leaned back and titled her face up towards the sun - already she had a low-level light aura shimmering around her as she soaked up all the EM wavelengths on offer. "I don't have a lot planned," she admitted. "But that's kind of a new thing I'm trying out. What's that saying about life happening while you're making plans? I've been told I need to loosen up, so that's what I'm doing."
Alani couldn't stop the grin that spread wide across her face as she looked back at Nica, eyes brightening in wonder as she noticed the little light show that had begun to play, before she remembered what she was about to say. "No, no, don't worry about me, I don't mind thinking about it, there's a reason it's something I'm planning to do for a job, eventually. It just tends to be a lot for other people, and, I mean, I'm already a motor mouth, all I need is to talk about things that I study and I can clear a room." With a hum, she nodded. "Don't know about the need to loosen up, but that's the way to live, for sure. Makes everything more fun, just going with the flow, and it leaves you more time to try out things. That's how I ended up finally seeing the Chittenango Falls, just decided to take a day to myself and drove out there. 10 outta 10, recommend it."
Nica chuckled. "Sounds like you've picked the right area to get into, then. And if you ever feel the need to talk about your research, hit me up. I love hearing about that sort of thing and it fits in with some of what I do too with the political science. Psychology, sociology, criminology, architecture, history it all ties together into ways of making things work." Her glow brightened with the eagerness of her words. "Of course, it's how it should work and not how it actually does work, but that's why I'm getting into it. I want to be able to push change, y'know?"
"Thank you," she smiled, obviously pleased with the statement, maybe a little too much but as Nica continued to talk she couldn't help it. "Yes, that, that! Sure, I'm not gonna do anything in any other field probably, but I can't help wanting to learn more. It's just fun and interesting, to know more about things that I might not have." Alani nodded eagerly. "Good. You have to make the changes for you first, then comes other things, right? And, I think if you have any stress problems, it can be really freeing."
"Thanks, yourself." Nica grinned back. "It's a work in progress, learning my limits and working within them. I... might be a bit of an overachiever." She stretched her arms above her head. "It's easier to do that in the summer, at least."
"But you’re starting, and it takes time to form habits and all that,” Alani agreed, already of the belief that summer was the perfect time for anything. "Nothing wrong with being an overachiever unless it's detrimental to you, like your social or mental health, then ya know that about yourself and can change the limits for you. Like I know I can't stop people from bickering so I've found just tuning it out and focusing on other people's expressions tells me when it's over. Adapt, overcome... that other third thing I always forget -- let's call it get a snack, because that's always good."
Nica laughed outright at that. "Snacks are always good," she agreed. She'd found that she didn't need to eat actual food so much any more if she had plenty of EM fields to draw on, but she still had tastebuds. "Which reminds me..." There was a small cooler next to her lounger and she leaned over to pull out a container of pineapple pieces. "Want some? There's a whole pineapple in here and I'd hate for it to go to waste."
"Now you're speaking my relaxation language." Alani cackled with glee. Sitting back up, she folded her legs criss-cross-applesauce and reached to pick up a piece. Eyeing Nica, she raised a brow with still obvious amusement on her face as she held the fruit. "Do you like pineapple? Okay, I know, silly question, but it's great grilled — grilled with sugar or just grilled by itself, it's delicious if you ever want to try it, I'm happy to start up the grill to test your tastebuds." She popped the pineapple into her mouth with a wink.
"Grilled? That sounds amazing. But..." and here her face lit up with sudden inspiration. "No need to get up! There's something I've been wanting to try and this would be perfect." Nica held out a hand, palm up, and focussed until it glowed with the same red glow of an electrical stove element. "Infra-red," she explained. "It's basically heat, right? So slip me some pineapple and see what happens."
Alani was always ecstatic to see other people's powers at play, she'd locked onto Nica's hand the moment it was raised, listening with interest. It seemed impossible that her eyes could get bigger, but as the girl's hand seemed to heat up, they did, mouth dropping open. "Shut up, if this works, you are my favorite younger person at the mansion, no competition." She did as instructed, eyes darting from the fruit to Nica's face, ready to intervene if this little thing turned sideways and might somehow hurt her.
There was a sizzle as the pineapple landed on Nica's hand, and a cloud of smoke. "Whoops, cranked up the heat too much," Nica noted and narrowed her eyes as she focussed on trying to bring the temperature down without switching it off entirely. It took a few moments, the glow of her hand growing duller and brighter, back and forth, until she seemed satisfied. "Watch this," she said with a grin and she flipped the piece of pineapple over with a jerk of her hand, much like someone would flip a pancake. The fruit landed uncooked-side down on her palm and she chuckled. "Gordon Ramsey, watch out! If, you know, I could actually cook."
"Favorite," the words dropped the moment the sound began, grin wide on her face still as she watched. "It's always so much fun to see how other people's powers work up close, mine don't e- Aw, come on! You're doin' fine, darling. Much better than me, I mean, you're actually cooking." She playfully swatted the younger girl's arm, before winking. "Good on you for practicing and learning new things about your powers, anyway. And if you ever need someone to eat pineapples with you, I'll gladly drop what I'm doing to help you."
Summer was, Nica reflected as she lay on the pool lounge soaking up every wavelength in the EM field that sunshine contained, the best season ever. No school, no overcast days, no sun lamp... Instead she could bask in the sun as long as she wanted and get that delightful buzz that came from having her powers fully charged.
"Ooh, I see you've had the same idea." Alani laughed as she set down her bag, sliding her flip flops off before she finally fell into the chair beside Monica with all the grace of a doctorate student spending her limited free time, which, wait, she was that. "And not a cloud in the sky." Her voice lowered a touch with a sigh of adoration as she flashed the girl a smile, thick braid falling over her shoulder as she all but beamed. "Enjoying your free summer?"
"No more homework, no more books, no more teachers' dirty looks," Nica quoted lazily, looking over at Alani over her sunglasses. "Of course there's still HeliX meetings and monitor duty and Danger Room runs, but apart from that, you are looking at a free woman. Handed in my last project last week."
"Lucky duck, I love that for you." Another giggle as she stretched, cringing only a little as her bones clicked back into realignment. "Oof, which, gotta remember to make sure that eXcalibur's wormhole monitoring schedule and Danger Room slots work for everyone, buuut, luckily my first paper's not due quite yet, so I'll just make a note and take this nice moment to not stress about that." She clacked away at her phone for a moment, setting a reminder for future Alani to worry about, then set it back down. "There, future me can worry about that."
"I don't want to invoke Future You, but what's the paper you need to work on?" Nica's curiosity was piqued by the mention.
"That's the future Alani that's always present, so worry not." Alani grinned, though she'd relaxed back into the seat. "Comparing and contrasting psychology in the 1920s, '70s, and today. I've already figured out my focus, but I want to get out at least eight pages before the first half is due for feedback reviews. And, yes, I've always been that freak who finished their papers as soon as possible, even before starting a doctorate program."
"Huh, that really sounds interesting - there'd be of difference between each era... but then again, there'd be some similarities too, I guess? Are you looking at just the States or are you looking wider? Or narrower?"
"Well," she dragged out the word as she offered a slight shrug. "A bit of similarities, mostly 'growth,' depending on your location and the whole humanity conundrum, but because I don't want to get too far into that I'm just focusing on fear and what we can do to move past it. It's wider because I wanted to reference the experiments that used people's fears against them. Oddly enough the peer reviewed papers on fear and the mutant, and what it means, are really light, but I get it." Blowing some hair out of her face, Alani stuck her tongue out. "Ugh, and here I'm already getting serious. Any fun plans for you this lovely summer?"
Nica gave her shamefaced grin. "Sorry, didn't mean to make you think that much, but curiosity is my middle name, apparently." She leaned back and titled her face up towards the sun - already she had a low-level light aura shimmering around her as she soaked up all the EM wavelengths on offer. "I don't have a lot planned," she admitted. "But that's kind of a new thing I'm trying out. What's that saying about life happening while you're making plans? I've been told I need to loosen up, so that's what I'm doing."
Alani couldn't stop the grin that spread wide across her face as she looked back at Nica, eyes brightening in wonder as she noticed the little light show that had begun to play, before she remembered what she was about to say. "No, no, don't worry about me, I don't mind thinking about it, there's a reason it's something I'm planning to do for a job, eventually. It just tends to be a lot for other people, and, I mean, I'm already a motor mouth, all I need is to talk about things that I study and I can clear a room." With a hum, she nodded. "Don't know about the need to loosen up, but that's the way to live, for sure. Makes everything more fun, just going with the flow, and it leaves you more time to try out things. That's how I ended up finally seeing the Chittenango Falls, just decided to take a day to myself and drove out there. 10 outta 10, recommend it."
Nica chuckled. "Sounds like you've picked the right area to get into, then. And if you ever feel the need to talk about your research, hit me up. I love hearing about that sort of thing and it fits in with some of what I do too with the political science. Psychology, sociology, criminology, architecture, history it all ties together into ways of making things work." Her glow brightened with the eagerness of her words. "Of course, it's how it should work and not how it actually does work, but that's why I'm getting into it. I want to be able to push change, y'know?"
"Thank you," she smiled, obviously pleased with the statement, maybe a little too much but as Nica continued to talk she couldn't help it. "Yes, that, that! Sure, I'm not gonna do anything in any other field probably, but I can't help wanting to learn more. It's just fun and interesting, to know more about things that I might not have." Alani nodded eagerly. "Good. You have to make the changes for you first, then comes other things, right? And, I think if you have any stress problems, it can be really freeing."
"Thanks, yourself." Nica grinned back. "It's a work in progress, learning my limits and working within them. I... might be a bit of an overachiever." She stretched her arms above her head. "It's easier to do that in the summer, at least."
"But you’re starting, and it takes time to form habits and all that,” Alani agreed, already of the belief that summer was the perfect time for anything. "Nothing wrong with being an overachiever unless it's detrimental to you, like your social or mental health, then ya know that about yourself and can change the limits for you. Like I know I can't stop people from bickering so I've found just tuning it out and focusing on other people's expressions tells me when it's over. Adapt, overcome... that other third thing I always forget -- let's call it get a snack, because that's always good."
Nica laughed outright at that. "Snacks are always good," she agreed. She'd found that she didn't need to eat actual food so much any more if she had plenty of EM fields to draw on, but she still had tastebuds. "Which reminds me..." There was a small cooler next to her lounger and she leaned over to pull out a container of pineapple pieces. "Want some? There's a whole pineapple in here and I'd hate for it to go to waste."
"Now you're speaking my relaxation language." Alani cackled with glee. Sitting back up, she folded her legs criss-cross-applesauce and reached to pick up a piece. Eyeing Nica, she raised a brow with still obvious amusement on her face as she held the fruit. "Do you like pineapple? Okay, I know, silly question, but it's great grilled — grilled with sugar or just grilled by itself, it's delicious if you ever want to try it, I'm happy to start up the grill to test your tastebuds." She popped the pineapple into her mouth with a wink.
"Grilled? That sounds amazing. But..." and here her face lit up with sudden inspiration. "No need to get up! There's something I've been wanting to try and this would be perfect." Nica held out a hand, palm up, and focussed until it glowed with the same red glow of an electrical stove element. "Infra-red," she explained. "It's basically heat, right? So slip me some pineapple and see what happens."
Alani was always ecstatic to see other people's powers at play, she'd locked onto Nica's hand the moment it was raised, listening with interest. It seemed impossible that her eyes could get bigger, but as the girl's hand seemed to heat up, they did, mouth dropping open. "Shut up, if this works, you are my favorite younger person at the mansion, no competition." She did as instructed, eyes darting from the fruit to Nica's face, ready to intervene if this little thing turned sideways and might somehow hurt her.
There was a sizzle as the pineapple landed on Nica's hand, and a cloud of smoke. "Whoops, cranked up the heat too much," Nica noted and narrowed her eyes as she focussed on trying to bring the temperature down without switching it off entirely. It took a few moments, the glow of her hand growing duller and brighter, back and forth, until she seemed satisfied. "Watch this," she said with a grin and she flipped the piece of pineapple over with a jerk of her hand, much like someone would flip a pancake. The fruit landed uncooked-side down on her palm and she chuckled. "Gordon Ramsey, watch out! If, you know, I could actually cook."
"Favorite," the words dropped the moment the sound began, grin wide on her face still as she watched. "It's always so much fun to see how other people's powers work up close, mine don't e- Aw, come on! You're doin' fine, darling. Much better than me, I mean, you're actually cooking." She playfully swatted the younger girl's arm, before winking. "Good on you for practicing and learning new things about your powers, anyway. And if you ever need someone to eat pineapples with you, I'll gladly drop what I'm doing to help you."
