X-Men Evolution: Rogue Evolution

Family 10.7

Anna never considered listening to a podcast while working out till Kitty mentioned it while they were waiting for the bus one morning.

"It makes the time go by faster," Kitty said while sucking down an iced coffee. "And anything to make icky-sweaty time go by faster, I'm all for."

She recommended a podcast about 'living science.' "The latest episode is about the lion mating rituals." Her straw was then audibly sucking like a broken vacuum cleaner as it struggled to find any liquid to hoover up. "It's actually quite interesting. Did you know that do it every 20 minutes for up to five days straight without taking a break to eat?"

As awesome as that sounded, Anna decided ultimately to go with a podcast a little more up her alley. She soon found a podcast called 'The Facts and More,' a comedic history podcast where two comedians research and present wild stories from history. After just a few episodes, she would never look at an Atari gaming system or women's hairpins ever the same again.

Despite the advice coming from a girl sucking down an iced coffee on one of the coldest days to date, the podcast did help Anna's weight training session go by that much faster. After an episode, she had finished her whole routine, cooled down, and was on the elevator to get back to ground level. In the opening banter for the next episode, The History of Women on Bicycles, Anna heard a soft piano song that she had yet to hear in the show's intro.

When the elevator doors split at the end of her ride, she popped out one of her earbuds and the soft licks of piano got louder. Wiping off her forehead with the towel around her neck, she walked toward the open library doors and poked her head inside. She spotted Jean sitting with perfect posture before the standing piano on the opposite wall. She didn't realize she was staring until Jean paused and turned.

"Oh, hey Anna!" Jean waved her hand. "You can come in if you want."

"Are you sure? I didn't mean to disturb you."

"You're not disturbing me. I'm just noodling anyway. I just wanted to be on the opposite side of the house from our... guest." Jean resumed playing the haunting melody.

Anna walked in and leaned against one of the couches to better face the piano. After a breath, she snapped her fingers. "Moonlight Sonata."

"Beethoven fan?"

"Not really. When I was a kid, my Mah, not Mystique my other mom, signed me up for violin lessons. The teacher was all about the classics and wouldn't let me learn anything else."

"That doesn't sound like a very good instructor."

"She was apparently super talented. I think she did some Broadway show or something."

"Remember which one?"

"Nah, sorry."

"That's alright," Jean's fingers continued to dance to the tune of the ivory keys with expert precision. "I've always wanted to see a Broadway show."

"Why haven't you? The city isn't that far, right?"

"I don't know... guess the opportunity never presented itself."

"Doesn't help you're busy all the time, right?"

Jean didn't answer, instead, she seemed to be having some sort of silent conversation with the piano through each keystroke. Listening, Anna could feel the sound of the music begin to resonate though her chest and sore limbs. It was then she realized the conversation Jean was having with the piano wasn't so slilent after all.

"You're really good."

"I've always loved piano. I find it soothing." She looked back at Anna. "Want to join?"