[ network/log ] howlettes training session #1

[danzan]

i. actionspam

[ Because of the sheer number of people that ended up responding to Logan's apparent call for Mahjong team members, he ends up having to change the venue of their training from his office to the ante room next to Charles'. The first half-hour is spent explaining the rules of Mahjong (and snapping at anyone who tries to interrupt him; Logan's trying to get the damn explanation done as soon as possible), and after that he splits members into groups of four in the hopes of playing at least one game. He hovers throughout this first game in case anyone has anything they need clarified, and he's decidedly nicer than he was when he was busy trying to explain how the game works.

After all the first games are concluded, he leaves everyone to their devices to get to know each other, with the caveat that any mansion explorations are done with minimal destruction to the grounds. Some snacks have been laid out on the table -- mostly crisps, cookies, and other easy to eat fingerfoods (plus some Trix, courtesy of Spiderman) -- and there're bottles of juice and pop on the fireplace mantle, along with plastic cups if anyone wants to use them.

Logan also begrudgingly distributes a jacket to everyone at some point in the day. Having given the roster to Cyclops beforehand, the idiot went and got jackets made for them. All right, then.

He'll spend most of his free time seated in one of the chairs drinking pop and eating Trix, and saying yes to anyone who might want to play another Mahjong game with him. Mostly, he's just appalled that this thing's actually happening... and that so many people said yes.

Maybe he knows how to make friends after all. ]

ii. network/texting (after everyone's left the mansion)

Hey, good session today. Hope we all learned something from it. I think I learned more than I should have.

I'm sending all of you our teammates' contact details. You see a codename, that's all you're getting -- some of us want to keep our identities secret. If you're messaging anyone, let them know who you are first, OK?

Any questions or concerns, let me know.

P.S. This is what the Hyundai looks like: [ATTACHED IMG]. Print that out and stick it on the ceiling of your bedroom so you don't lose sight of your goals or whatever the hell it is people do.

L.

iii. open option

MAKE YOUR OWN STARTERS. Literally do it. Toplevel and stuff so I (and other people) can hit all of you, damn.

Comments

I. Ante room

[doblex]

[ Summer isn't a nosy girl but whatever is happening in the ante room, it makes her curious. She's still having trouble socializing, not only because of his natural awkwardness but the fact that this world was very different than her own, and hasn't talked to a lot of people.

After debating what to do for some long minutes, she finally pushes open the door and peers inside. Her hair is short and wavy, the blue and yellow uniform-clad figure much leaner than any of her male counterparts from other universes, but the ruby quartz visor on her face is pretty much a telling of who she is. ]

[danzan]

[ Summer fortunately arrives after the lecture, but the games are still going on, and so it's Logan who's the only one free enough to catch up with her. He lifts his hand in a greeting, then leaves the table he'd been hovering at to meet her at the door. ]

Yeah? [ He's talked to Summer a couple of times, but realises now that it hasn't been much at all. ] You need anything, kid?

II. Video

[no_fun_allowed]

Did they like the jackets?

[danzan]

You can ask them yourself.

[ Logan's wearing his jacket, though. He's secretly super pleased with himself, okay. ]

ii. text

[rehandle]

I hope you're a decent driving instructor. If we don't win this thing with our team of 300 I’ll eat my brand new Howlette™️ jacket.

[danzan]

Why do you keep saying "if".

We're going to win.

iii. open

[cybernetik]

a. ACTION/OTA

[ This isn’t the first time that Cable has visited the school, considering the couple of times he has visited Logan, but this is the first time that he has been here in this kind of setting. He’s not used to this, this kind of socializing, but to his credit he doesn’t turn around and head for the door.

There’s a car to win, after all. Cable couldn’t care less about the game itself, he just wants to help the kids. Logan had been smart to use that soft spot he has with kids, because now Cable will stop at nothing so their team can win.

And, okay, maybe he also doesn’t like losing.

After setting down the case of Sprite he had brought with him, he grabs a cup to get himself something to drink and offers one to the person next to him. ]

Need one?

b. WILDCARD/OPEN

Feel free to set them up doing something else if there’s anything you want to play, or send him a text message. I’m open to anything.

BOY!! BABY BOY!!!! also b

[danzan]

[ Logan's going to find Cable once everyone's been dismissed, reaching out to touch his shoulder briefly and catch his attention before that hand retreats into his (Howlette) jacket pocket like the other one has. ]

Hey. [ He manages a smile, albeit a small one. Logan's still working on this whole "smiling at a moment's notice" thing. ] Thanks for coming.

You were better than I thought you'd be.

a

[aphephobia]

[ Marie's focused on the game in front of her, the tiles. She almost doesn't realize she's been addressed, but she looks up with a smile. ]

Thanks. Yeah.

[ His face isn't familiar as one of the teachers. Just how many people did Logan contact about this anyway. ]

You know the Professor?

[ X, she means. That seems like a safe bet. ]

a.

[lethechained]

[ The young lady next to him appears to be rather absorbed in-- whatever it is she's doing with the singular mahjong tile face down in her palm. His offer gives her a small start, and when she looks up at him it's with wide blue eyes, every bit the picture of a deer in headlights. Her fingers curl guiltily around the tile, though they relax again as she recognizes his intent. ]

Um-- yes.

[ Naminé herself, however, gives the cup a look as though it might be ready to explode at any moment as she very carefully reaches to take it from him. She also doesn't make any move to actually get a drink, just sort of... stands there awkwardly for a second before she finally gets out of her own head long enough to add, with a touch of embarrassment at her own bemusement, ]

-- Thank you.

iii/only sort of a starter. open.

[rehandle]

[ for those of you still in or around the mansion after the gathering, a treat. starting that evening and over the next couple of days, a flier spreads. it’s a basic printout of a cropped screenshot of a text conversation, headed with a basic word doc rendition of the howlettes’ jacket logo and a little title: ]

/// Howlette Howlers

[ the screenshot itself is a conversation with someone called Chief, and all that’s shown is... ]

But you don't see me in a rush to play with X-Cubes or Gameboxes.



[ embarrassing. e m ba rr a s s ing. who did this? which old man is responsible for this embarrassing mess? who is Chief?

it’s Logan. we’re Logan-shaming.

feel free to catch Stephen trying to subtly distribute these things/discuss amongst yourselves/etc. he just had to spread the word. ]

yells

[aphephobia]

[ for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction, which is why rogue can be found ripping down the fliers where she finds them. logan is her friend, and being particularly sensitive to teasing herself, she doesn't appreciate the humor. this evening she has a wrinkled stack in one arm already by the time she catches the perpetrator in the act. possibly sticking one to the door on the danger room. ]

Aren't you supposed to be sorcering or something?

[ southern accent thick with annoyance on the arentcha, though there's a begrudging amusement buried in there somewhere. ]

omfg

[no_fun_allowed]

[ Scott had just dismissed his class and is going to the dinning Hall when he spots Dr. Strange. Hard not to with his attire, it's not totally out of place in the school but it brings attention.

Just as the fliers do. Scott raises an eyebrow with the practice of someone who has to deal with sassy, superpoweres teenagers, on a daily basis. ]

Should I be concerned?

ii. group text (sn: spiderman)

[webslinged]

Good job, everyone! If anyone wants to practice outside of the group sessions, let me know.

(sn: marie)

[aphephobia]

Don't tell me you're up for another round of Chinese tile torture already!

iii. open!

[aphephobia]

i

Looking good.

[ rogue gives a black-gloved thumbs up from where she's sequestered in one of the leather club chairs, picking at the tiles with her fingers. logan's put them into teams, and she wants to do well for her side. it's a little difficult to finesse without bare skin, but logan said something about getting her gloves with rubber grips for the actual game, so she's trying not to be a total mope about her powers. she has her own bright-yellow jacket on, a cup of sparkling cola and an untouched bowl of cheesy crisps next to the mound of mahjong tiles.

as usual, it makes her feel better just to be a part of something. even if the stakes are different from what they're used to. if they've never met before, she'll add: ]

I'm Marie.

ii

My granny was a rummy champion
Think that gets passed down through DNA too or is it just the fun stuff?

[ like mutations? ]

wildcard me!/ota

WILDCARDS YOU YAY

[danzan]

[ The day after their first practise session, Logan finds Rogue during lunch period. Whether she's alone or with Bobby and the rest doesn't matter, because he's plopping down beside her and holding out the gloves he promised.

They're black and yellow, of course. ]

Like I promised.

i. Ante room

[magneticfields]

[ Erik's latest stay at the mansion has managed to last an unusually long time, and almost without incident. Long enough that a person might think this time could be different. He might actually stick around.

He gives no sign of noticing the small gathering in the ante room as he storms past on his way to Charles' office, though he does close the door firmly behind him. The sound of raised voices can be heard not long after, though they're not arguing about the team so don't worry about that, kids. He emerges some time later and agains storms past without indicating any awareness of the now much larger gathering.

And returns about twenty minutes later with a bowl of spiced almonds. Warm, as if somebody just pulled them from the oven. He tosses the bowl on one of the tables, the clatter enough to draw attention. ]

Who here is actually serious about wanting to improve? I will play you. You will lose, but you will learn something in the process.

(or wildcard me!)

wildcards u i cant wait for these two to be begrudging buddies

[danzan]

[ Logan's keen hearing means he'd heard the entire argument, but he's not going to ask about it. Instead, once Erik's done being the most violently brutal Mahjong opponent in the room, he'll come up to him with a handful of the almonds he'd brought, popping them into his mouth with all the casual ease of popcorn. ]

You made these? [ Look, he's not the best conversation starter, okay. ] They're not half-bad.

iii ota

[aequitatis]

[ Steve isn’t the best at Mahjong - it has been years since the last time he played, in a very different setting than this, but he knows how important this is to Jimmy. He wouldn’t have gone through the trouble of putting all this together if it wasn’t, and he’s pretty damn proud of him for it.

Besides, it’s for a good cause. And Steve likes spending time with the kids, hence the gallons of ice cream he had brought with him to spoil them a little.

Before the session begins, he hangs out with Logan for a moment before he moves around to mingle for a bit. When he sees someone that seems a little hesitant to join in, he smiles as he approaches. ] Hi. I’m Steve.

[ wildcard option feel free to toss me anything you want to play! ]

wildcards u

[danzan]

You're getting rusty. [ Logan sits on the armrest of the chair Steve's in, handing him a cup of Sprite (his favourite, courtesy of Cable). Logan himself has two cups, one of them filled with Sprite and the other one filled with Trix. He could go to the kitchen and get milk, but he thinks he actually enjoys being in this room with all these people -- which is, you know, something new entirely.

He slips a mouthful of Trix into his mouth, chews, and swallows. ]

Think you gotta re-memorise all the tile designs they got, Cap.

i.

[fallenfor]

i.

[ Before practice actually begins, Mananan spends most of his time watching everyone else interact, happy that Logan got such a good turn out for the first session. He doesn't try to interrupt any mingling, generally quiet and out of the way, invisible to all but Logan anyway. The only mildly suspicious sight might be the way some things disappear from the snack table if anyone happens to be paying attention to it as he passes by to grab some cookies.

Once practice does begin, he claims an empty seat and it's then that anyone near him will hear a disembodied voice - courtesy of a Hank McCoy device that allows his voice to be heard on human frequencies - rather cheerfully state: ]

If anyone needs a practice partner, I'm free.


iii.

( Wildcard!

And as a note: Mananan is basically Logan's guardian angel (lol) who's visible to him because Logan's died a few times. So it stands to reason that others who have also died before might be able to see him, too. I leave it up to anybody who might want to play with him, though. I'll assume he's invisible by default. )

iii. osdilflshodigl;sjekljtk

[danzan]

[ Logan offers a handful of Erik's spiced almonds Mananan's way, but not without an amused look on his face. ]

"The Vanisher", huh. [ He's trying not to laugh. ] Man, if Porter ever finds out you stole his identity, he's gonna kick my ass for letting you do it.

[ But it's easier to call Mananan a vanishing mutant than his guardian angel, he supposes -- even if another part of him feels like he should probably come clean soon. ]

ii. text

[punctually]

im calling first dibs to drive it after we win

[ if u thought he forgot about this ur wrong. ]

[aphephobia]

Pretty sure I called it for road tripping purposes, goggles.

iii ota

[punctually]

i. ante room (post first round)
[ the thing is, peter doesn't actually care about the game itself and not even the prize, if he's being honest. he can just run wherever he wants and get there within a few moments, but there's something different about being able to do those things with other people instead of alone.

and maybe he's just that bored.

but there's free food and free jackets, and peter has traded in his trademark silver one for the yellow and black that clashes horribly with his hair. whatever. the game moves much too slow for his liking, and it shows in the restless way he twirls the mahjong tile between his fingers just to give himself something to do. he's on good behavior for the first round, but at the start of the second game he does end up using his ability to scope out the rest of the table's tiles, rearranging a few in the middle. it only lasts for a few seconds and he's back in his seat, chin resting in his hand like he'd never moved at all.

he just wants to see how much he can get away with this, okay. ]

ii.
[ wildcard, come @ me. feel free to catch him before the lecture starts, peter will probably be the first one there lounging around and picking at the snacks and soda. he won't cheat during the first round, but feel free to catch him doing so with his speed thing in the second or third, if you so desire. ]

I hope... this extra shit... is ok

[rehandle]

[ he lets it go for the first couple of times - it doesn’t hurt anyone. Logan wants the car for the kids, sure, but for one they’re not actually in competition now and for two Stephen can’t figure out whether or not Peter’s playing by the rules as he faffs his speedy way through whatever it is he’s doing. he barely moves, it’s almost impossible to tell, just an odd misplaced breeze here or a slight shift in the alignment of tiles or Peter’s hair there. in this environment though, so long as he’s learning, what’s the harm?

thing is, if Peter’s going to compete, there might well be some harm: if not through discovery then at least if one of their own number finds out afterwards that they didn’t win it fairly outright. some victories are best not hollowed out and this, he thinks, is one of them.

though Logan might decide otherwise. or Peter might have no intention of using his ability at the tournament. whatever the case, Stephen sees an opportunity and, ready to break up a somewhat slow afternoon, he takes it.

and literally stretches his own fucking time.

suddenly, mid-speedy, Peter might look up to find there’s someone else in the room who appears to be staring straight at him. and, given a “second” (millisecond? trillisecond?) or two— yeah, that’s Stephen cracking a smile as he calmly watches Peter peering over someone’s shoulder. it’s a normal-speed/super-speed/shared-speed smile, while everyone else around them exists just shy of frozen, moving in the way that spacetime intended.

another couple of seconds and he actually waves. ]

iii. open

[fourthwalled]

[Did Wade know how to play mahjong? No. Not at all! He knew how to play the mahjong solitaire off the computer a la Windows 1995. Did that count? Anyways it would have been nice to have been asked to join the team! Always the bridesmaid never the bride. Sigh... ah, who needs 'em! He'll form his own X-force mahjong team. With Domino and Peter. They'd be UNSTOPPABLE.

Except he's not doing that just yet. Instead he's sulking in the X-mansion kitchen and raiding their X-fridge and eating their X-food. That'll show 'em!]

Ooh! Cold pizza! [He hops up on the counter to flip open the box to start chowing down.]

[magneticfields]

[ Erik is more interested in the almonds he's toasting than whatever it is that Wade is sulking about.

His lip curls slightly at... everything regarding this pizza and what Wade is doing with it. ]

There are chairs.

iii. OTA

[lethechained]

i.

[ Naminé wins... entirely too many rounds. ]

[ It starts out slowly at first as she goes from decent (for a beginner) to above average to getting an uncanny number of good hands, all in the space of an hour or so. The funny thing is, she doesn't look particularly happy about it. In fact, as time progresses she seems to grow gradually more perplexed, and by the time she stops for a break she's quite bemused indeed. ]

[ Although she's not the most talkative player here, it's after another disconcertingly successful game that she finally edges over to one of her previous opponents with a sheepish look, fingers curling around the sleeves of her yellow jacket. It's an awfully loud color for a girl like her and it might not entirely suit the white dress she wears underneath, but that's the last thing on her mind when she says, almost too carefully, ]

I'm... sorry about that.

[ Naminé, are you seriously apologizing for winning? ]

I think I might have been doing something wrong.


ii.

[ She was definitely doing something wrong. ]

[ Which is probably why, now that she's sitting in a corner by herself, she keeps very quickly getting what would be wins if she were actually playing against anyone. ]

[ The weird part about it is that all the tiles are face down until the end, when she picks them up and-- sure enough, they're just what she thought they'd be. ]

[ Shoot. Does it count as cheating if you don't do it on purpose? ]


iii. wildcard!

ii. Child

[danzan]

[ That Namine's chosen to isolate herself isn't really surprising. Logan doesn't necessarily expect happy mingling from everyone, especially given he's pretty content just hanging back and watching, too.

But he worries about the kid more than he should, probably because he'd brought her here himself. It's hard not to feel somewhat responsible for her.

So he sits across from her, but not without holding out a cup full of juice her way. ]

Is it your powers?

[ There's no use beating around the bush. ]

iii. The Second Coming, ota.

[rehandle]

[ ah look... another offering, from Mystery Logan Shamer who is no longer that much of a mystery as he's been spotted multiple times but these things happen. flyers everywhere, featuring the second part of this ongoing saga. ]

/// Howlette Howlers



[ he's trying to be sneaky with this second round... you might catch a hand poking out of a fiery flickering circle in the air, which is about as subtle as Stephen himself walking around in full getup sticking these things to walls, but you know.

dragging Logan needs doing.

(ooc: definitely gonna tag everyone on the last one sorry friends I'm not at home right now) ]

Here I Am

[xmum]

[ Charles isn't so surprised by the circle that materialises in the middle of a card game with Hank, but he is pleased to see message bubbles on the flyer that ends up coming out of it. ]

Thank you! [ He calls it out before the circle disappears, picks up the perpetrator's brain waves, and then shows Hank the flyer around a clearly amused grin.

(There is pride there akin to aww, look at our old boy making friends.)

But most of all, there is enough elation for Charles to contact Stephen as Hank decides whether to draw a new card or set down the combinations he currently has down.

He knocks on his mind, as telepaths do. ]

Friend of Logan's, are you?
Sorry, are you all right with psychics?

ii. Text

[cassandra_firebreath]

This is the most competitive I've been in a while. If ever.

No joke.


iii. wildcard [ota]

i & iii

[baskinrobbing]

[Scott's not really the most social person especially since after the raft he had to make the right choice to be in Cassie's life and his feelings about that are somehow both simple and complex. On the one hand he'd like to be there for Cap, for Stark, for anybody

Ultimately though everybody takes a very real backseat to Cassie. It's just that Cassie keeps asking about them and hey, doing stuff for the kids.

Somehow socializing was somehow easier in jail. He can be found wandering around looking kind of lost.]

iii

[Scott's been pacing the hallways for awhile now, flagging down the first person he sees looking for Logan.]

Hey so- this place might be related to the House of Leaves cause I swear I'm totally lost.

YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS

[danzan]

[ Logan smells Scott before he sees him.

Or, more accurately, he smells the ants. There's a lot more of them around than normal.

And that's why he tells one of the kids -- a friendly boy with literal eyes all over his body -- to find Scott with his all-seeing powers, and then to direct him to the kitchen where Logan is.

Easy.

He has a big bowl of ice in one arm and is putting bottles of juice in it when Scott comes along, and without looking he says: ] You're here early.