capeandcowllogs | an x-person dinner party; OPEN

Entry tags:

an x-person dinner party; OPEN

WHO: Charles Xavier and anyone who is interested in being on his X-Men team! Even if he didn't speak to you about it previously you can totally have heard it through the grape vine and come in! [OPEN]
WHERE: Charles' house. Not apartment, thankfully.
WHEN: Evening.
WARNINGS: None!
SUMMARY: Charles is trying to get a feel for who is interested in joining his X-Men team and has invited everyone with an interest over for a casual dinner and dessert. For the purposes of this log, he's going to host more of a small party for everyone to see how well people do together and to mull over ideas in a casual environment. Think "small dinner party" versus "serious business meeting", though that's definitely to come. Everyone is free to mingle!
FORMAT: Anything and everything!

Charles has made a point to rearrange absolutely everything in his somewhat modestly-sized home for his anticipated guests. He'd sent out digital invitations over the network to each person who'd agreed to join his X-Men (though not without a bit of outside help), and with an idea of his headcount in mind, Charles had purchased and allotted himself the proper amount of food and drink. With his living room re-arranged to establish a seating circle of chairs and sofas and a table decorated with snacks, Charles considered himself nearly ready. It was coming upon the time that he was to expect his cavalcade of guests and hoped that Erik had managed to sufficiently cook and prepare enough food. If not, he'd ordered more, regardless.

Charles waits by the door to greet each one of his guests, thank them for coming, and show them into the appropriately rearranged living spaces. With a "help yourself to the snacks" and a "make yourself at home", Charles patiently invites each of his guests in.

There is a table covered in trays of various snack foods available for consumption on three tables that have been organized strategically around the room. There's more additional seating made in the living room than would be standard, and Charles has put on a playlist of faint music in the background -- with the help of Erik, and with more help from others who are not so anciently-minded. So now you are all subject to current day-and-age variety stations full of hip-hop, r&b, pop and other things that confuse and bewilder your hosts.

You're welcome to eat or drink anything -- coolers have been placed in the home with soda to drink, with beer in the fridge and wine in the kitchen -- and discussion is encouraged! Dinner is served on plates that you can bring anywhere with you in the home, with available trash receptacles placed also quite strategically in the house because Charles totally knows how to throw a dinner party; it's in his 60s blood.

[ Feel free to respond directly to this and Charles will come and greet and tag back! You're also encouraged to post your own open comments so everyone can mingle appropriately if they like! ]

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[ Charles is sort of on the move around his house, tending to guests and refilling cookies and trays of snack foods. He's probably also expressing his musical confusion with Erik on occasion, and making his way around the house to meet up with his guests.

You're welcome to come and say hello or let this guy know if you need anything! ]

[ Saying hello it is, then. He's already more or less discussed his opinions with Charles concerning the matter at hand, but it doesn't make him feel much more relaxed. It's silly, perhaps, but this makes him feel wary and tense, up to the fact that even his posture is stiff. ]

Guten Abend, Charles. If I can be of any help, let me know. Otherwise, I will just... We have talked. I will just lurk.

[ Charles is glad to see Kurt, and it's reflected in his smile when he's approached. ] Ah, hello!

[ Smiling still, Charles offers a nod to his words. He's glad to see him here and glad for his support, if even it is just lurking for now. He has no reason to be displeased that anyone would be so skeptical or concerned with his goals -- but sometimes, it becomes more and more difficult to be as optimistic as he once was about it in the face of these previous and otherworldly mistakes. ]

I appreciate your presence, here. More than I think you know.

Think nothing of it. Moral support is typically what I am there for.

[ No lie. Even through doubts and hardship, he always did try his best to provide that for any group he found himself in. Here, he could do no different. ]

Will you be speaking to everybody individually, or... Will there be group discussion on the matter?

I have found I am often in the very same boat. Ah, of moral support. [ He smiles, looks nearly delighted. Everything has been going as well as he's hoped and more, and there have not been any troubles -- he worried about just how deeply the divides in personal opinions regarding the X-Men truly ran. ]

I had meant to speak individually with everyone. There will be a group discussion, once ideas have been tossed about -- bounced off of one another, so to speak; ah, but at another time. A more proper meeting will be held, as it were, next month.

I have been outlining a list of subjects on which to speak. [ He seems quite pleased with this -- though mostly he's glad to weave together a little tapestry of what concerns everyone, and his own plans to alleviate those concerns -- though perhaps he is a little too idealistic at times. ]

[ Kurt can't help but let out a little laugh. For whatever reason, the level of bright-eyed enthusiasm is worth a giggle. It's something that's good to see. ]

Das ist gut. [ And there's not much more to say on the matter, really. ] Let me know if you should need anything.

[ Julian had heard about this over the Network, through watching videos and listening to people talk. He hadn't made any contact about it, not before now. The truth is, he's not even sure he wants to be here.

In the past, he'd have been all over it. But things had changed for him at home. Cyclops had taken him off the team, and then he'd taken himself out of the running for it when he joined Wolverine's school. He'd been tired of putting his life on the line. He'd already lost far too much. The next time, it might not just be his hands that bit the dirt.

Here, things were different. Cyclops wasn't in charge. Cyclops wasn't even here. And this wasn't Utopia against the world. Even so, he'd thrown himself into dangerous situations here, and his willingness to keep doing that had taken a serious dive.

Still, he won't know what's going on or what they're planning to do if he doesn't come and see. And regardless of anything else, he's always been with the X-Men, whether it's been at Utopia or at the school. He wants to see what the deal is, so he's here. He's mostly staying around the edges of the room and listening to what's going on, at least for now. ]

[ Charles approaches him soon enough, after keeping an eye on everyone around the room. He's doing his rounds, ensuring that nobody needs anything and that everyone is fairing nicely. When he makes his way up to Julian, he does so with a pleasant smile -- though it's genuinely obvious that he's glad the young man is here. ]

Thank you again for coming. I hope that you find yourself comfortable -- ah, most notably, I hope that you're not made uncomfortable with the -- idea.

[ Charles frowns, considers his next words. He wants to be a good host, and not immediately throw conversations into more serious strings of thought, but he knows as well as anyone that this whole event is just a veiled way to do... well, just that. In a more pleasant environment. ]

I take a great responsibility in this. I hope that your experiences will help me with my own, and that we can do things here much better than... I hear they've been done.

[ And now comes the part when Julian wonders exactly how much of what's gone on with him Charles knows, because the talk about being comfortable and wanting to do things better makes him suspicious.

Or maybe he's just paranoid, and Charles knows things were messed up at home because that's what everyone thinks. Beast is here, so he might've talked about it.

He shifts, and shrugs his shoulders. ]

It wouldn't be hard to do things better.

I want to know what you want to do, Professor. People don't like ImPorts here, that's obvious to anyone who's looking. It reminds me of home. That's why I'm here.

[ Yes, Charles has gathered a great deal from everyone here. Mostly the help of Beast, Kurt, and Rachel. He's glad for it, though, and his own genuine desire to help is reflected in his words -- at the very least, he hopes for it. Charles' sincerity is almost nauseating. ]

Would it not? [ He smiles. If it truly were not that hard, he'd have hoped that they didn't fuck up so badly that first time. After a few more seconds, he becomes serious again. Yes, explaining himself was the entire reason for this get-together, as it were. ]

I want to make an example of us. A good example. I want to show the people -- the citizens here -- that we are not to be feared. That we do not cause the problems that they face, and rather that we are just as affected; that we wish to use the skills we have come into this world with to better not only our lives, but theirs.

[ This sounds like the Professor all right. He's younger in this world, and it's easy to forget. But he could easily imagine this coming out of the mouth of the Professor he knows from home. It sounds like the same vision as the original Xavier school.

But that vision hadn't exactly worked out. ]

People have been doing that since the Porter started pulling them, Professor. They've helped people, fought for them. We've done that too, that's all we did with the Skrulls. And people hated us for it anyway.

So what do we do, how do we expect anyone to take our side when they're not doing it now?

[ That theme of being... being hated for their work regardless of what they did, that was one that was very new to this young Charles. He purses his lips as he considers Julian's words. There is a great deal at stake, and a great deal of work and personal... perseverance that goes into turning the other cheek in such a fashion.

He doesn't want to say that he doesn't know. He has theories, of course, but they haven't been put into play -- not yet. Then again, he wonders if running headfirst into danger on only theories will do nothing but harm those who have agreed to help him. He tries to open his mouth to reply -- hopes that Julian doesn't think he's gone and forgotten, or that he's rude as his mind parses all of this rapid information and all of these emotional considerings.

Was it not theories that had caused so much destruction and devastation to the X-Men in this alternative universe to his own? He could not know for sure. No, but he wanted to be so much more cautious here, more cautious than he must have been there; but he worried that in his cautiousness he would never take action. It was all very distressing, but so very important. These were big decisions to make. Nothing like he'd done before. ]

I am sorry. I -- lost in thought. There is a great deal of -- respect needed, to turn the other cheek, when we are so hated. It is perhaps the most monumental of our struggles.

We start small. Assist on a smaller scale -- in neighborhoods, communities; build an allegiance with few citizens at a time, help them to trust us. They will spread the word to others. As our reputation builds for the better on such a scale, we can expand -- they will see us in the large conflicts, but they will know our true allegiances. Even if it is just a small seed that we plant, for them, to grow into that trust that we expect.

We will have to show them that we deserve it.

[ Charles is quiet for a long time, but Julian doesn’t push him. He doesn’t react, either. He just waits. He’s referencing things that the Xavier from his world would’ve already known, but this Charles hasn’t lived through that. All he’s seen is what’s happened here already, and what is happening here now. Julian’s not
measuring with the same scale. He’s looking at this world and seeing the things happening now as the first steps along the way while it turns into just as hostile a world as his own.

Dealing with that life in his own world is something he hates, and something that he isn’t good at. When Charles finally talks, he takes it in and then his face hardens. ]

I don’t think I would’ve expected anything else, Professor. Prove ourselves to them, that’s always been the way. We show we’re better than them by being better than them. [ That’s what he used to believe. ]

But all that’s on us. What if it’s them who don’t deserve that? Cause we are better. We’re the future. It’s them who should prove themselves to us, and if they keep letting us down, why should we care about helping them?

[Rachel wasn't sure she belonged with this new version of the X-Men that was brewing. She'd had problems the last time she was in the City, and while a lot of time had passed since then she didn't particularly feel like revisiting them. Besides, there was the school and while she didn't feel the need to help run it in defiance of Utopia (and her father), she had responsibilities to it. And to the kids.

Especially the kids. Like Katie who didn't have a family here and a broken version of the Fantastic Four that she was used to. She felt responsible, partly because Katie and her siblings had been such a big part of her life when she was a kid, and partly because... she was a kid. Just a kid, hauled here for no reason.

Still, she wanted to be in the loop with the X-Men thing. She felt like she couldn't afford not to be.]

[ Charles made a point to greet her a second time while doing his hostly rounds. He's smiling as he approaches, his expression hopefully making his thanks evident enough as he does. ]

I appreciate that you are here. I understand that it must be hard -- from what I have heard, I mean to say. Ah, of past experiences. [ He stops himself before he can make himself seem foolish, he hopes, and shakes his head gently in response to his own words. ]

Regardless, yes, thank you -- thank you again.

Don't worry, Professor. I think this is a good idea, even if I don't join up. I'm glad that you've done this.

[ Those words make him smile quite a bit more. He is pleased by all of this. There's been enough of a turn out for him to be quite thrilled, and he's glad to get the chance to meet everyone -- especially those with whom he's only spoken over the network. ]

I am... happy to hear you say such a thing. I did not want to step on toes.

So. [ He's not the mind-reader, here. He's the guy who suddenly appears alongside folks, like just now. Hey, Rach. ] What do you think? You look so serious.

I don't know. The last time I was in the X-Men here, I got kicked out. [Luckily it's something she can smile at.] I don't think I'm going to join up, I want to focus on the school.

Mm. [ The sound is accompanied by a nod of acknowledgement, and he thinks for a moment, lips pressed in a line. ] I should do that, honestly, all things considered.

[ But it's also summer, and, really... ] I miss it, and I want to guard the idea closely.

[Rachel smiled and gave him a little nudge.] I think the team would be glad to have you. You can keep them on the straight and narrow.

[After all, how different would things be on Utopia right now if Kurt had lived? If Hank had stayed and the two of them had stood up. Maybe more voices in opposition and things could have been different. Or at the very least not ended as violently.]

[ He shrugs at that. ] I already spoke with Charles briefly, about things with the X-men as I know them. He seems to understand.

[ Not that this young Xavier would be the one he'd worry about, but still. ] I already agreed to be an X-men again, but said I would be careful about what it means. I do not know much else.

We keep our eyes open, make sure we remember who we are and what our dreams are. and I trust you to do that better than anyone, elf.

Oh? Do I? [ Har? ] If that is true, it is only because I think far too much.

Nothing wrong with that. You feel a lot, too and that's even better.

It is not-- [ A fairly common thought creeps its way back into his mind. ] It makes me obsolete, to a degree, back home. I cannot even properly imagine fitting into it, the world as I've heard it is now.

[Reaching out, Rachel takes his arm in her hand.] You are not, and never will be obsolete, Kurt Wagner, never. Not to me, not to anyone. We'd love to have you at the school.

I have little doubt of that. [ So, have a little smile. Thanks for the reassurance, at any rate. ] It is whether I could see myself as a fit.

I think you'd like the school. Assuming it hasn't been invaded by the Brood by the time I get back. Julian tells me it hasn't been.

He did mention that, yes. Never a dull moment in any setting, huh? [ He settles in, wherever they are. ] I shall simply have to look into it, if ever I should find myself back there.

[It's been a while since Vash has been to an honest to goodness dinner party; the last time was almost two years ago now, with Lina and her grandmother, and some relatives who had come to visit. And technically, that had been Ericks, not Vash the Stampede. So Vash is out of his element, and feeling uncharacteristically shy.

Not only that, but Vash is not normally one for teams. There are few people back home who can keep up with him combat-wise (most of those who could are dead now) and even so he just doesn't like putting other people at risk. But Charles and his proposal had impressed him enough that he had volunteered his help. So now he's here, nursing a beer and a stack of cookies. He's not talking to anyone quite yet, but he's got his customary smile on.]

Thank you for coming here once again. [ Charles is smiling as well, glad to see that he has helped himself to everything available here. He's also glad to see that Vash is smiling, as the feeling about this whole X-Men team idea had been... well, unusually met by those in the City, both good and bad. ]

I hope you're enjoying yourself! Rather, I hope this isn't as droll as a standard meeting would seem.

You'll pardon the intrusion, I hope... [Hank pulls up the seat next to Vash.] ...but I simply had to take the opportunity to size up our stranger.

(This hero thing was completely new to him, but nonetheless he was not going to pass up the chance to be part of a team for the greater good. Though it is rather odd for him to be very quiet, he sits in the back and observes all of this. It is not strange for people to just band together in Ivalice, but this level of organization reminds him of the resistance.

Without the insurgency, of course. But, he sits, fascinated.)

[ Charles makes a point to visit this man the minute he notices him; excited to see faces that he does not recognize, both from his experiences here and in his own world at home. Yes, new faces are certainly more than welcome, and he's glad to see him here. ]

Thank you very much for coming. I do not believe we've met!

(as soon as Charles comes near him, larsa offers him a bright smile and extends his hand in a friendly manner.)

We met briefly, my name is Larsa. It is a pleasure to meet your acquaintance, sir.

[ Charles takes his hand politely and shakes it, looks still quite thrilled in a way he hadn't when he was speaking to others that he knew more personally. ]

It is a pleasure to meet you as well, Larsa. I am glad to see you here. Do you mind if I ask what brings you?

[ After a moment, he clarifies. ] What I mean to say, is, I am glad to see faces I do not normally see. This is an idea much bigger than I think some realise -- it is thrilling to see it come to life.

(it was infectious, to say the least. feeding off of Charles' enthusiasm Larsa releases his hand to equally answer the question.)

... You spoke of an organization that would help our fellow citizen. I wanted to see what i was about.

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sorry this got bured in my inbox!!

aww noo that's okay! sorry i have been so slow. i am determined whilst hiatus'ing >:3

>:3!! I APPRECIATE THE EFFORT