Late Nite at The Mansion

Posted on Fri Jul 12th, 2024 @ 12:34pm by Hank McCoy & Mara Ricci
Edited on on Fri Jul 12th, 2024 @ 1:04pm

Mission: Episode 4: The Savage ConneXion
Location: X-Mansion | Kitchens
Timeline: September 19, 1990

The mansion at night was surprisingly quiet for the number of teenagers that were crawling all over the place. Most of them had gone to bed or were up late studying. Those few who still engaged in leisure were respectfully quiet or had taken their activities farther away where they would not disturb anyone.

The adults had mostly retired to their rooms, though did not sleep. One exception was Hank, who was puttering around in the lab. He wasn’t doing anything of importance- just studying the effects of fluorescent lighting on bacterial growth- but it was something to do that kept his mind off of everything.

And by everything, he meant Mara.

He had tried many times to tell her how he felt, but chickened out every time. He didn’t want to lose her as a friend and he was afraid that if she didn’t feel the same- or wasn’t willing to try- she wouldn’t want to even talk to him anymore and he didn’t think he could handle that. So here he was in the lab instead of knocking on her door.

Confound it, Hank! he thought to himself. You promised yourself you would tell her and here you are wasting time as usual. You should get off this stool and go talk to her!

But before he could do more than think about it, the Professor contacted him to let him know the team was returning within the hour and would he and Mara mind throwing some food together for them. ~I’m on my way,~ he sent back mentally. This time, he really did get off the stool and took off his lab coat, then headed to the kitchens where he found Mara already searching the fridge in her nightshirt and jeans with her hair in a Dutch braid.

“Good evening,” she said with a grin as she glanced up at him. “Did your book get interrupted, too?”

“An experiment, actually,” he replied, crossing to help her look. “Nothing important. Just something to pass the time. Have you found anything promising?”

“I found lasagne noodles in the cupboard and some ground beef. I was hoping to find some mozzarella cheese because somehow I doubt we’d have ricotta on hand.”

“I wouldn’t be surprised either way, to tell you the truth,” he replied, reaching to open the cheese drawer. He moved a package of sliced cheddar and found a block of mozzarella and a large package of ricotta. “There we are!” he finished, very aware of her close proximity.

“Brilliant!” she said, happily taking the offered cheese. “And there’s plenty of greens for salad. I can whip up garlic bread in about two minutes. I hope nobody’s a vegetarian,” she added, setting out the ingredients.

“If they are, there is always peanut butter and jelly,” he reminded her.

“True,” she allowed. “I just hate to cook a great meal and then toss an afterthought at anybody who can’t eat it.”

“Well, we’ll have the oven on,” he pointed out. “We could toss in a few potatoes, just in case.”

“Now that’s a good idea,” she agreed.

They worked together quickly, only talking about cooking for awhile, until the lasagne was assembled and in the oven with the potatoes. Then they chopped up greens for a salad and sat to wait for the team to arrive.

“I’ve never had a boring day at the mansion,” Mara commented. “Even the dullest day is full of surprises.”

“That’s what happens when you get a group of mutants all in one spot,” agreed Hank. “Especially when most of them are teenagers.”

She grinned, remembering what she was like once she’d discovered her abilities. “I imagine it can be pretty dangerous sometimes, too,” she commented.

“There are rules, but yes,” agreed Hank. “Before the kids learn to control their powers, it can get a bit dicy. But we have found ways to minimize the risks.”

“I suppose you’d have to,” she agreed. “Otherwise, you’d have accidents every day.”

“Some possibly fatal,” he agreed grimly.

She winced. “That’s… I hadn’t thought of that,” she admitted soberly. “Gosh, that makes things even more difficult. Was the Professor strict with you all?”

“Not really,” Hank replied. “He let us figure things out ourselves for the most part. But any rules he enforced were explained to us explicitly so we understood the gravity of them.” He grinned. “That didn’t stop us from being stupid teenagers from time to time.”

“I don’t believe you were ever stupid a day in your life,” she told him with a grin.

“Perhaps stupid is not the correct word,” he allowed. “Foolish is more like it. We were drunk on more than one occasion. And once we climbed onto the roof and got high.”

Mara giggled, nose wrinkling prettily. “I can’t imagine you drunk or high,” she said. “I know it’s been mentioned before, but I don’t think I’ve ever heard the stories.”

“There’s not much to tell,” replied Hank. “I was depressed about turning blue and furry, so Bobby pulled out a bottle of… something, I can’t remember what, and we got drunk. And then we tried to cook dinner.”

She giggled again. “I have so many questions,” she said. “I guess we’ll start with you and Bobby? Or everybody?”

“Me and Bobby,” replied Hank, “and Scott and Jean.”

“Scott?!” she exclaimed. “Oh come on!”

He chuckled. “Yes, Scott joined us, as hard as it is to believe,” he said.

“Okay, second question,” she continued, still shaking her head over the thought of Scott drunk. “Turned blue? I guess I assumed you were always like this.

His eyes darkened briefly before he reminded himself that Mara was a friend and had never once made him feel like less of a person because of his appearance. “Yes, turned blue,” he clarified. “I was attempting to create a serum that would hide the X-gene, but ended up activating a dormant gene instead.”

Mara blinked several times. “That raises more questions than it answers,” she said. “You said you got drunk as a teenager. Do you mean to tell me you managed to activate a dormant gene when you were a teenager?”

“Well, yes,” he admitted. “Perhaps if I’d been a little smarter, I’d have done more testing before trying the serum on myself. I could have been killed.”

“Still,” she said. “That’s impressive. The most impressive thing I did as a teenager is graduate from high school two years early. Well, and got into an international band when I was 15 and played saxophone in Germany for a month.”

“Did you learn any German?” he asked.

“Only ‘ich spreche kein Deutsch,’ and ‘sprechen sie Englisch oder Italienisch?’” she replied with a shrug. “And of course nein and ja.”

“Well, that’s a good deal more than I know,” he pointed out.

“Still,” she said, circling back to their original conversation. “That serum is amazing. Imagine if one day they discover that everybody has a dormant gene that makes us immune to cancer. Learn how to target a specific gene and bam! We’re all cancer free for the rest of eternity.”

“There are many problems with that,” he countered. “What if you activate all the dormant genes and you end up with a bunch of deformed or even dead people?”

“Well,” she replied, “that’s why you would test it extensively- and not on yourself! Anyway, that would be decades down the road. But think of the real world applications! All the good it could do. And you were a teenager when you did it. There could be a Nobel prize in there somewhere.”

Hank only chuckled at that thought. “A lot will have to change for that to happen,” he pointed out.

“True,” she agreed. “But as I said, in the future….”

“Perhaps,” he agreed. “I want to hear more about this international band.”

”Oh, that,” she replied, waving a hand dismissively. “It’s not really that big a deal. I found out about it when I went to the New England Music Camp. I auditioned and got in. The following summer, I got to go to Germany. We had all day to sight see and then we had to play a four hour concert three times a week. It was quite the experience.”

”It sounds fascinating,” he agreed. “What sort of things did you see while you were there?”

”So many museums,” she replied with a grin, remembering getting sick of them while there. “It seems like there’s one in every city. And of course the Brandenburg Gate. And we spent a day at Auschwitz. That was rough. But important, I think. Germans are pretty adamant that it’s remembered, so of course we had to go.”

”Of course,” he agreed. “I don’t believe I’ve ever heard you play your saxophone.”

”That is easily remedied,” she replied. “I brought it along. Remind me sometime.”

”I certainly will,” he said. They were silent for a moment, and then Hank asked, “any idea what you’re going to do now that your job in the city is gone?”

“I’m not sure,” she replied. “There are a lot of tech startups out in California. I hate to be so far away from my family and friends, but there doesn’t seem to be much else. And California tends to be more accepting of mutants. It might be my best bet.”

California? She was considering moving to the other side of the country? That wouldn’t do. It just wouldn’t do. Briefly, Hank considered going along with her, but realized that in order to do that, she would need to agree to it. And in order for her to agree, she needed to know how he felt about her.

But before he could open his mouth to say another word, voices drifted from down the hall. “They’re back,” she said, checking on the lasagne and quickly spreading the garlic butter she had mixed up onto the sliced bread. “We’ll have to start them with salads. The lasagne needs a few more minutes.”

Automatically, Hank moved to help her. “I’m sure they won’t be too disappointed,” he assured her. “Especially since they can smell it. And it smells delicious.”

She grinned at him as the first of the team made their way through the doors. She appreciated the compliment, even if it was offhanded. But there was no time to reply as they got the garlic bread into the oven and turned to serve the salad.