10089/Christmas Plans

Christmas Plans
Date of Scene:	18 November 2019
Location:	Gwendolyn's Room, Xavier's School
Synopsis:	Shannon and Gwen plan Christmas Events!
Cast of Characters:	Dragonfly (Armenteros), Nightingale

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Dragonfly (Armenteros) has posed:
     The Monday before Thanksgiving, oddly enough, is a kind of slow day for people. Classes are going on, but most teachers are allowing students to study or slack off a little because, once Thanksgiving hits, they know nothing is going to go on useful or worthwhile. Gwendolyn has taken that down time to invite Shannon to her newly-kitted out room to help plan out the X-mas feast that was only talked about in passing. Getting things down on paper would be much, much more helpful than just talking, and knowing which direction to go and what to have would be important.

Snacks have been acquired, along with hot chocolate, and a table has been set up in front of the fireplace with notepads and pens and two benches to sit on, for ease of wings not butting up against the back of the chair.

Nightingale has posed:
     There's a light tapping on Gwen's door, and a familiar voice calling out. "You decent in there, Gwen?" Hey, they may both be girls, but it was only polite to ask! Hot cocoa had been mentioned, so there were extra treats to be had--such as peppermint sticks to stir into the delectable, chocolatey treat! "Don't worry, molting season's over, you won't be having to clean up any feathers after me this time!"

Dragonfly (Armenteros) has posed:
     The door is opened and Gwendolyn is standing there in her usual outfit of pants and baggy shirt, but instead of the usual goggles, in her room she's decided to go without. Her feet are bare too. "As decent as I can be." She says with a smile, her nose wrinkling as she allows Shannon entry into the room, closing the heavy door behind with a muffled thud.

     It's darker in this room than out in the hall, which explains the lack of goggles, and the way that footfalls are muffled on the carpet means that, whoever set this room up for Gwen did it with the understanding that sound and light could be a problem for the insect girl. "It's fine. I don't mind a few feathers, here and there, anyway. Come in, come in."

Nightingale has posed:
Shannon holds up a box of candy canes, an early appearance at the grocery store. She grins wide, digging her fingers into the plastic film enveloping the box, giggling like... well, like a little kid at Christmas. "Beware angels bearing gifts! Oh... I ran into Mr. Rasputin last evening, got some updates on the feast and decorating for ya."

Dragonfly (Armenteros) has posed:
     Even today, Halloween is still the bullwark that keeps Christmas from advancing into October. Goth kids holding the line, as it were. Gwendolyn takes one of the offered candy canes and unwraps it, tossing the plastic into the little can near the door and moving to sit down in her bench by the fire. The room is rather cosy, and the fire crackling in the hearth on the wall makes it moreso. Filling Shannon's cup with cocoa from the thermos dedicated to such things and filling her own up, Gwendolyn dips the candy cane into the chocolate to soak for a second, pushing a pad and a pen across the table to where the other girl will sit. "What did Mr. Rasputin say? Hopefully good things?"

Nightingale has posed:
Shannon gratefully accepts the cup, likewise unwrapping a candy cane and dipping the end into the cup. She doesn't just let it soak, though, she twirls it around in the cup, giggling with delight at the prospect of one of her favorite holiday treats. "Well, a couple things. One, staff mostly has the feast planned, but they'd welcome a couple extra pairs of hands. The menu's looking to be fairly traditional. You know... turkey, stuffing, sweet potatoes, ham, the usual. Sounds like about eighty-five percent of that's kosher, so Kitty and others who might not celebrate the holiday won't be left out. I'd say if there's any ideas to add, run them by him. Trust me, he's real nice to talk to."

The feathery-winged girl gets a bit of a sheepish grin on her face, and she scratches the back of her neck. "Ummmm... I might sort of have gotten us roped into helping more extensively with the decorating, however. Involving a hike through the snow into the woods to gather pine and various evergreens for garlands and wreaths..."

Dragonfly (Armenteros) has posed:
     There are some notes in fairly neat handwriting that Gwen has been working on for a little while prior. Things that she thinks should be part of the traditional holiday meal. The fact that Staff has things in hand shouldn't be surprising - after all, they do this yearly - but she was hoping to do something special. "Well.." She taps her page. "I guess the best thing to do would be to make sure that whatever they don't do, we take care of. So no-one is left out, at all. Inclusivity is the name of the game, baby." She takes the peppermint stick out of the mug and sucks the chocolate off, dipping it back in, giving it a swirl, and doing it again.

     "What did we get volunteered to do?" Gwendolyn doesn't sound angry - in fact, she actually sounds pleased!

Nightingale has posed:
Shannon takes a look at the notes, and grins. "Well, it can't hurt to show these to staff, too, maybe add a little twist to the traditional feast. I'd run these by Mr. Rasputin to start with." The sheepish look doesn't quite go away. "I sort of volunteered us to help gathering greens for garlands and wreaths, and to create said garlands and wreaths. Also, don't know if you've ever made pomander balls for Christmas? They smell utterly /divine/ when they're done and hung up everywhere..."

Dragonfly (Armenteros) has posed:
     "I thought you said that, but wanted to hear it again, just to be sure." Gwendolyn takes back her notes and sits, cross-legged, on her bench, tapping the page with her pen. "I had the advantage of moving around a lot, growing up, so I got exposed to a lot of traditional Christmas things that other people might not have. I mean, just in Louisiana, we had bonfires on the levee, Reveillon dinner - which is kind of what this is - the Cajun night before Christmas, exchanging gifts, and other stuff. We get some of the other students to throw in their own traditions and voila, we've got our own X-mas going."

"No, I've never even heard of those. What's a Pomander ball?"

Nightingale has posed:
Shannon grins at Gwendolyn. "They're something my mom taught me to make at Christmas when I was little. You take a fresh orange, stick whole cloves into it all over, roll it in spices, tie ribbons around it, and let it hang up. You smell the citrus and the spices /everywhere/, and let me tell you the aroma is positively /heavenly/." She laughs, and shakes her head. "Bless her heart, the woman can't cook to save her soul, but that's one thing she knew to do with spices!"

Taking a sip of her cocoa, she lets out a little sigh of pure delight, her wings fluttering behind her; they are fully feathered again, despite being rendered flightless a few days prior. "Reveillon? Oh. Sounds kind of neat. What are the differences if any between that and a traditional Christmas around here?"

Dragonfly (Armenteros) has posed:
Gwendolyn takes notes as Shannon tells. Oranges, cloves, spices (CINNAMON?), ribbon... Her pencil scratches against the page as she works, glancing up to the now feathered Shannon, from time to time. "Everyone has their own strengths and weaknesses, you know." she says with a grin. "It's probably why your parents got together. whatever your dad wasn't good at, your mom probably was." It's how she'd like to think her family got together.

Reveillion though, that takes a little bit to explain. "Well..." She sits back, taking another sip of her cocoa and a crunch of the peppermint stick. "Reveillon was originally the meal served after midnight mass on Christmas Eve. You'd go home after church and eat the food that was left out. There was lots of stuff that kind of looked like breakfast, like quiches and breads, but you could get things like turtle soup, oysters, and veal and would usually last until dawn on Christmas morning. That kind of started fading out until it was only in traditional homes, but in the 90's all the restaurants in the French Quarter took up the mantel and started offering special holiday menus."

Gwendolyn leans over, resting her elbow on the table. "Just imagine, cool christmastime, walking the quarter with your family, stopping in at a restaurant, eating a small bite, going to another, and another, and another, gifts along the way. Lights on the buildings. It was magic." She sighs, smiling at the memory.

Nightingale has posed:
Shannon laughs softly, trying to picture New Orleans at Christmas--and fails. Miserably. "It must have been pure magic for you. Just like hearing different music played on every street corner in the French Quarter was for me when I visited as a child." She grins a little bit, thinking. "Quiches, huh? Nothing says we couldn't revive the tradition a little bit, and make some quiches and other things like that to have ready for breakfast Christmas morning. I'd suggest not using ham, though, to keep things kosher for Kitty and others who might have similar dietary needs."

One more thing does get her to grin a little bit. "One thing that Mr. Rasputin did mention is that the staff here's looking into getting some hot cocoa trolleys stationed all over the place so there's hot cocoa and snacks for everyone pretty much over the holidays. That. Sounds. EPIC."

Dragonfly (Armenteros) has posed:
"Oh, yeah, it was the best. It was like walking through a christmas movie, almost. You're hearing one song and then, as you walk, another one slowly fades in while the other fades out. And it does get cold down there. Not snowy, but chilly, y'know? Not like up here." Gwendolyn flips over a new page on her pad and starts writing, underlining 'Breakfast Quiche!' three times and grinning, probably at teh thought of subjecting the school to some lovely breakfast casseroles, but more than likely at the thought of cocoa being available like ALL THE TIME. She lifts her shirt and pats her bare belly, laughing. "I'd have to run for weeks to work all that sugar off, but I think it'd be worth it!"

Nightingale has posed:
Shannon nods and grins. "Staff might have the main meal covered, but people still need breakfast. Maybe we could lighten the load on them a little bit and pitch in there instead? Quiches, casseroles, traditional things like sausages, scrambled eggs, and French toast... oh yes. Run for weeks? Forget it, girl, any diet we might be on is DOOMED for the rest of the bloomin' year!"

Dragonfly (Armenteros) has posed:
"At least we've got flying to burn off some energy." Gwendolyn's wings flutter behind her in mock anticipation as she rocks a little in her seat. "So different breakfast things...Quiche, french toast, beignets, fresh fruit..." She writes as she speaks, looking up to Shannon after a second. "Probably be best to make it a buffet-style sort of thing. People can come and go as they please, get what they want. Omlettes would be super, but they'd need to be made on order, and I can't see people wanting to take that kind of time or the staff wanting to provide someone special just on omlette duty."

Nightingale has posed:
Shannon nods in agreement, sipping her cocoa. "Yeah, omelettes would be great but really a pain in the neck for staff, or even for us. I think you're right, keep it super simple--K. I. S. S.--and keep it buffet style. Other thing to consider is people may or may not be saving room for the big feast later, so it can't hurt to get input from staff, too. But most of that stuff sounds pretty basic, easy to make well and en masse for hordes of hungry students and teachers." She rolls her eyes and giggles, shaking her head. "I can imagine the morning runs with Bean after all this feasting. Oi."

Dragonfly (Armenteros) has posed:
"Food aside." Gwendolyn says. "I'd like to think about doing a gift exchange of some kind. Probably a white elephant sort of thing - useless gifts that make people giggle, like Mad Libs or something - with a smaller thing later for people who want to give gifts to others. Like, I'm making this..." She ducks down and pulls out a bowl with some balls of yarn, knitting needles, and a decently-long scarf. "For Brad. The new kid. Figured that he'd like something warm around his neck. You and Andrea are getting stuff from me, too, so I was thinking of just having a Friendsmas thing, too. Just the three or four of us get together, have a small meal, exchange gifts. Little things, y'know?"

Nightingale has posed:
Shannon lets out a short laugh and shakes her head. "Oh hon, Andrea does NOT do 'small'. Not that I've seen, anyways. Really hoping to hell she forgets about prom and Christmas dance things, though. But something tells me I won't be that lucky." The girl wrinkles her nose momentarily, but then peers over at the scarf in progress. "Nice. I could make him a small quilt, and use flannel for the backing for a bit of extra warmth. Plus he'd be able to feel the softer texture, even if he couldn't see the quilt itself." She sighs a little bit, hugging her knees to her chest for a moment, resting her mug atop them."

Dragonfly (Armenteros) has posed:
The scarf that she's working on is gray and white, with ridge ribs going along the width for texture and contrast. The bowl is placed on the table and Gwendolyn starts knitting as she talks - a rather quaint thing - the needles clicking as she slowly works on the next row on the scarf. "I heard that Dr. McCoy was working with him. He seems to think that Brad can see if he can get his telekinesis to turn off so..." She shrugs. "It'll be nice to see who I'm talking to, now and again."

Nightingale has posed:
Shannon has just gone very, very silent, simply listening to Gwen, folding her wings around her. "At least he can talk to you. Think I fucked up yesterday anyways. So yeah, it's just as well." Sipping the last of her cocoa, she pulls the candy cane, now dissolved down to a pointed nub on one end, from the mug and chomps down on it, getting up.

Dragonfly (Armenteros) has posed:
     The knitting slows, Gwen looking up. "He's really on edge a lot of the time. Andrea really freaked him out by shifting and not telling him he was doing it. Not being able to see really makes it difficult for him. So tell me how you think you messed up?" She says simply. Not demanding. Just stating the fact that she'd like for you to tell her. She takes a sip of her cocoa, now sweet with peppermint and sugar, licking her lips and setting it back down.

Nightingale has posed:
Shannon shrugs. "It doesn't matter. You have him well in hand." Her voice has gone a little bit short as she heads for the door. "He and I were out flying yesterday and he was carrying Andrea along for the ride. Figured he was probably not wanting to be treated special because of how his gifts affect him, and I didn't know the range of his gifts, so I flew up high enough to do a dive bomb for them both. Think he missed it and I probably fucked up besides. Just... gaah. There are days you can't seem to do anything right, ya know?"

Dragonfly (Armenteros) has posed:
     "Yeah, I know." Gwendolyn says quietly, the clicking of her needles providing a soothing counterpoint to her voice. "The best thing to do is to go and talk with him, though. Just you and him. Smooth it over so there's no confusion. I mean...Andrea apologized and you got them both flying, so he's got a good head on his shoulders." She giggles. "I think, at least. I haven't seen it yet."

     Slipping out of her seat, the bowl and the needles left alone, Gwendolyn walks over to give Shannon a quick, friendly hug, stepping back after a second. "You know I'm not going after him, right? I'm not ready for any kind of relationship with a guy. I wouldn't know what to even /do/ on a date. So I'm just treating him like a friend. Like I treat you or Andrea or Bean. Like I want to be treated. And I like giving gifts, so he's getting one with no strings attached, just like you are."

Nightingale has posed:
Shannon sighs a little and hugs back. "I've only ever /been/ on one date. It was with Mason. And it was a pretty big dance type of get together at the day spa in Greenwich. It was also my one and only kiss. EVER." She rolls her eyes a little bit, and sits back down. "It's since pretty well crashed and burned for lack of communication so... yeah. You can see why I'm a little gun-shy when it comes to dances and things. Afraid I might have insulted both him and Andrea on that, too, because when she mentioned the Christmas dance, I went inside to get my head on straight. Mason... is her ex."

Dragonfly (Armenteros) has posed:
     "You're one up on me." Gwendolyn says, taking a step back, still close to Shannon, taking her own seat once Shannon sits down herself. "I've never had a kiss before, like ever. There was this one boy at school who we were gonna kiss at the dance but all this..." She waves her hands to indicate the eyes, the antenna, the spines. "All this happened and it just never ended up being in the cards. I may look at some point, but right now I'm content being with myself."

     Gwendolyn pulls her knees to her chest, takes another sip of her cocoa, and thinks. "Want me to be a cyrano de bergerac for you? Get you set up with the Invisible Kid?"

Dragonfly (Armenteros) has posed:
"If he's interested, I mean." Gwendolyn adds, almost as an afterthought.

Nightingale has posed:
Shannon snorts, and shakes her head. "Funny you should mention Cyrano de Bergerac. That's what Kurt's drama club is working on. And I still haven't seen a cast list out, so I'm not even sure what lines to work on."

She drapes one arm over Gwen's shoulders and draws her in for a hug, offering the feathery cocoon of her wings as well. "That... had to suck. I'm so sorry that never happened for you. But it will, you're too kind and sweet and caring for it to /not/ happen."

Smiling a little bit, she does nod in agreement with one point. "You are right about one thing, though. I should probably talk to him and get that all sorted out. And I'm sorry if I came across as jealous or anything. It just stings a little, seeing everyone else pairing off."

"But... there is a cheerier thing. About the Guthries coming up in a couple weeks. Remember how Andrea asked us Glee Club folks to front for her? Well..." She drops her voice a few notches. "She's heard a bit of the song, but I want this kept under your hat. Some think I might be doing 'Fight Song' as a solo for the event. I'm changing that up... and doing one of my /own/ songs instead."

Dragonfly (Armenteros) has posed:
"Oh, this is nice." Gwendolyn smiles and sighs, that coccoon of warmth surrounding her, nice and soft. She sees why Andrea brags about Jay and her doing that often, in fact, and could forget about things for a while in the feathery embrace. She taps Shannon's face lightly, slipping out of the embrace of the other girl's wings to toss a log into the fire, the light playing over her features, glinting in her eyes as she stands, looking back as the rest is shared. "You don't come off as jealous. I could see why it would hurt. Seeing Jay and Andrea being so cute together kind of makes me jealous of what they have. Eventually I'll find a guy, I hope. One that can see past the stuff." She sighs and then comes back close, wiggling beneath Shannon's wings as she shares the secret.

     Giggling, Gwen nods. "My lips are sealed." she says, making the motion for zipping her lips. "One of your own songs, though? Are you going to need music or accompanyment or anything like that?"

Nightingale has posed:
Shannon shakes her head. "On short notice like this, I'll have to put it all together on my laptop and burn it off to an audio disc. Thought for sure there'd be a couple more weeks besides, but I'll really have to hustle to get it done. But it'll work, I'm sure of it." She's more than content to simply share the feathery hug, chuckling a little bit. "Got my feathers back quicker than usual. Had to heal Bean, Chris had to heal me, which all worked out because molting season was accelerated by stress anyways, so I wound up with my feathers back." She chuckles a little bit. "By the way, you might want to know, you're one of the ones that helped inspire this song. There have been others, but you're one of them."

While she's talking to Gwen, she's begin tapping out a rhythm on her own knee, drumming her fingertips so they're lightly audible. It seems to be almost a pop rock ballad sort of rhythm, and she starts singing an unfamiliar, but surprisingly uplifting melody.


"Maybe my story's not like some
Livin' my life under the gun
But it's mine
And that's just fine

I've seen sorrow, I've seen pain
I'm learning to dance in the rain
Look at me
Now I'm free..."


Shannon's silky alto voice takes on new strength with each word, each note sung, swelling in volume and sheer power as she comes to what seems to be the chorus of the song.


I'm going to touch the sky
Don't know how or why
But now I'm gonna fly
And you can't stop me
No, you can't stop me

I'm going to reach the sun
Hold my hand up, touch the stars
The sky is mine
And I'm just fine
I'm going to touch the sky..."

Dragonfly (Armenteros) has posed:
     The good thing about Gwen's room? It's soundproof. Andrea could be right outside and wouldn't hear a thing coming from inside. It's only Gwen, with her hearing, that could even pick up anything from out there. "Yeah, I was wondering about that." Gwen runs her fingers through Shannon's feathers gently. "One day you were looking ragged and now, you're not."

     She goes quiet as the song is sung, rocking along with the music, lifting her hands to clap twice, lightly, at the end of the chorus. "IF that doesn't bring the house down, I don't know what will."

Nightingale has posed:
Shannon cracks a shy little smile. "It's not quite done. I want to get at least another verse or two in there. But the meat of the accompaniment will be established with that right there, and from there, it's not hard to parlay it into the rest of the song." She ducks her head, and sighs a little. "Hope I didn't blast your hearing out just then," she offers, contrite. "It's easy to forget sometimes how sensitive your hearing is."

Dragonfly (Armenteros) has posed:
     "It's okay. I knew you were coming so..." GWendolyn reaches up and pulls out a little earplug, designed to cut down on the sound coming from others that enter her inner sanctum. "I prepared." She grins and taps Shannon's nose playfully, slipping out of the warm embrace of the other girl's wings, turning her back to the fire to warm up a little more. "Just keep working. If you need a practice space, come in here. It's soundproof, mostly, so you can't be overheard unless you want to be, and if you need someone to bounce lyrics off, I'm here, too."

Nightingale has posed:
Shannon nods a little bit, and smiles. "I might bring my laptop and little mini keyboard in here sometime, when I'm not stitching my fingers to the bone." She rolls her eyes and laughs a bit, folding her wings back behind her. "Gained a lot more family and friends than I thought to be ready for when I came here. So I may wind up missing some folks for gifts. Wish I could get everyone... but it's seriously short notice, so that's going to be close to impossible."

Dragonfly (Armenteros) has posed:
     "You tried. That's enough. My list is short, thankfully. Right now just you, Andrea, Brad, and Bean. Maybe a few more, but right now that's what I'm working on." Gwen re-takes her space on the stool opposite Shannon and smiles. "Okay, so...let's do some more planning.