10094/Cocoa Cures All--Right

Cocoa Cures All--Right
Date of Scene:	19 November 2019
Location:	Shannon's Room (East Halls), Xavier's School
Synopsis:	Cocoa and talking things out may not cure all, but they can work wonders towards finding a solution to persistent problems!
Cast of Characters:	Nightingale, Shadowcat

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Nightingale has posed:
     It had been a few days since those messages had been fired off through the aether to Kitty, but this close to the holiday season, it wasn't too surprising when there wasn't an answer. What would be, would be--it was just a matter of patience, and praying the shadows that had finally broken free within her would let her alone long enough to find a little bit of help in chasing them away.

     So it was that Shannon had chosen to turn her focus to her music, with her headset on, a book of blank sheet music paper with what looks like a song well in progress written upon the first few pages, and her electric piano turned on. She's in her baggy grey tank top, red tartan sweatpants, and goofy sheepdog slippers. A few notes only she can hear in her headset are played, a few lyrics softly sung, and notes scribbled upon the page. Her phone is next to her on the piano bench for now, well within reach.

Shadowcat has posed:
The phone chimes with a return text from Kitty. "Hey, sorry for the slow answer. Been a busy day or two. On my way up in a minute. Let me know if now is bad."

Assuming that there isn't a text back that now is bad, after about 10 minutes, enough time to heat up the milk and make the hot chocolate, there's a knock on the door. Kitty is outside of it, holding a tray with two mugs. On her shoulder, Lockheed is perched. She's wearing the same thing she had on in the Wellness Office earlier. A sweater, jeans, and boots, with her hair pulled back into a pony tail, but with wisps of hair that have slipped free to give her a bit of a tousled look.

Nightingale has posed:
Shannon slips her headphones free of her head, and switches her piano off for now, the little blue LCD screen top and center above the keys going dark for now. She turns with a slightly weary smile to Kitty; there are faint circles under her eyes that the dim lighting in the wellness office hid well from view. "Hey... don't worry about a delay, kind of figured the holiday season got a pretty good hold of you there." She gets up to help Kitty with the tray, relieving her of the burden if allowed to do so.

Shadowcat has posed:
"Yeah, had to work the weekend," Kitty says. She's gone from the school more than she isn't. Even with getting to work from home, and home being the school, there's still a lot she needs to be at Stark Tower to do.

"You're looking a bit run down. Is that from the kerfluffle in the back yard?" Kitty says, of the fight and lightning storm that had most of the school hunkering down during it. "Wish I could have been there for it. But doing what I can to investigate the radio thing," she says.

Kitty passes one of the cups over to Shannon once they have the tray set down. "So, what's going on?" she asks gently.

Nightingale has posed:
Shannon lets out a small laugh. "Kerfluffle. I'll have to borrow that one. It was a little more than a 'kerfluffle'. But that was only the latest thing." The cup is accepted with a smile of gratitude, the precious brew within warming her hands through the ceramic. She takes a slow sip, gathering her composure and her thoughts before continuing.

"The thing with the radio was what tipped the scales, but it's been building up longer than I realized. I thought I was doing okay, that I was tough, for all those things that have happened over the past few months not scaring the crap out of me. I was proud of those little victories, basically giving the one-finger salute to all the misery out there the only way I could. It felt as if nothing could touch me in here, and that was just fine, it let me do what I had to do when it needed to be done. And there was always more to be done."

The cocoa's become a bit of a lifeline, as she lays it all out on the table to perhaps the one person who could help her. "You were right to be worried. It hit me harder than I thought. What tipped things over was that bloodshot eye, the night in the computer lab. The nightmares started, and they haven't let up since." Her gaze turns steely, despite the shadows beneath her eyes. "I'm not going to let any of this stop me from going out there and continuing to help. But if I'm going to... then I need to know how to cope with the aftermath better than this. And that is something I never prepared for."

Shadowcat has posed:
Kitty takes her seat and leans back in it, quietly listening. She holds her cup of hot chocolate in both hands as well. There's plenty of hot chocolate mix in it, but unsweetened since she made it with condensed milk. "Yes, the stuff we run into... it can do that to your dreams," she agrees in a tone that suggests she's been there before. Kitty doesn't give any details that might just add to Shannon's nightmares. The dreams already haunted by the Brood Queen are already more than enough.

Kitty takes a sip of her cocoa. "And how are you going about coping with it?" she asks quietly, her tone patient and understanding with the younger student, who is where Kitty has been many times before.

Nightingale has posed:
Shannon shakes her head and shrugs, sipping the cocoa. "Trying to talk to my friends about it. It hasn't stopped the nightmares, and it hasn't felt much better. Cannonball suggested a shift of focus. Bean's pretty adamant on the idea of therapy, and I'm wondering if it's necessary at this point. He mentioned nightmares like mine being the same kind he has." She still hasn't gone into too great detail, leaving one to wonder just what similarities there could be. "Mr. Rasputin suggested that I continue to confide in my friends, and even brought up the idea of Jean, or even the Professor. Though I'd hate to bother the last two, they've got their hands full as it is." She smiles somewhat, canting her head. "He spoke very well of you, which confirmed my looking for you to begin with."

Shadowcat has posed:
Kitty gives a soft smile at the mention of Piotr Rasputin. "We go way back," Kitty says. "Matter of fact when the Professor came to recruit me, the first I saw of the school was the Professor and Piotr talking to my parents downstairs," Kitty says, just to give Shannon a moment of something to distract her.

But then she turns back to the important topic at hand. "I don't know what would be right for you, Shannon. Therapy would probably be a good start, even if just to help you find what will help you handle it." Kitty takes a sip of her cocoa. "There's nothing wrong with realizing, maybe you need some time to focus on your training before dealing with things like this, too," she offers. "I know... there's always been some debate about what's too much versus what helps someone grow, at any age. With what we deal with here, it's an even bigger deal. But we have people trained to deal with these matters. You have a very useful gift, but you also don't need to be there on the front lines to use it."

Nightingale has posed:
     "But I have zero intent of stopping, either. Unfortunately, my gift has to be used in order to train it. So as much as there are days I might want to stay behind, I don't see it as much of an option, as worrying about what /might/ be happening to my friends out there is far worse than dealing with it firsthand." Shannon purses her lips, taking a moment to simply inhale the aroma of her cocoa and enjoy it for a moment. "So it comes down to dealing with the aftermath. And that, thankfully, doesn't have to be done on the front lines. The question would be, who to talk to?"

Shadowcat has posed:
Kitty hrms quietly as she sits back in her chair. "Well, yes, the question is probably, do you need to be in harm's way yourself, or just there to help others when they need it. Even the army, the actual doctors aren't out there with the troops, they are back behind them where they won't get hit and then there's no medical help," Kitty says quietly.

She motions to Shannon with a hand. "It really comes down to you. Do you feel like a therapist would help the most? Or is talking to your friends being enough? Or... something else. There are plenty who could teach you to meditate. And as you mentioned, we have a few telepaths who could possibly help," she says.

Nightingale has posed:
     "Except you forget that healing isn't my only gift," Shannon points out, extending her wings as if to make a point. "I'd prefer to be out there preventing the need for that gift to begin with. Which reminds me..." She nods towards the far corner of the room, where a simple yew wood staff is propped up. No ornamentation visible, nothing to indicate it's anything special. "That came to me from the kerfluffle in the backyard. I'm reasonably sure it was from miss Maximoff, though is there any way to ask her to be sure? I've asked Cannonball if I'd be allowed to train in its proper use, but would prefer it be checked to make sure there's no magic on it first if that's okay."

     She lets that sink in for a minute, a minor distraction for Kitty, as she furrows her brows in thought. "Sometimes, venting to one's friends is enough. Sometimes, a little more may be needed. I'm sure you've had your share of the nightmares, you've been out there much longer than I have. But it's not stopping you." She smiles a little bit. "Not all of the dreams are of things in the field. Many of them are of things that have happened right here. All the times I've stayed behind, helped deal with the aftermath instead of being on the front lines. Friends and... I'll say allies... that I've helped heal, dying because of my lack of ability or action, in those nightmares. Those I love and cherish, turned bitter enemies. Every single success, turned into a failure. Then there's that bloodshot eye that triggered it all." A particularly deep sigh escapes her, and she glances at the staff. "That thing over there saved my backside in the backyard. It was against three very unfriendly bamf's. I died a little when I had to crack their heads, though. It reminded me so much of Kurt, and he's one of the ones I've come to really respect and get along with quite well, perhaps as much of a friend as a teacher."

     She looks Kitty right in the eye, caught in that odd borderland between calm and stark terror. "So you see, the nightmares can and will come, whether I serve here or out there. So frankly, I might as well be out there hopefully preventing the need for a healer to start with, and save that power for a port of last resort. Train to fight, to protect myself out there, so I'm not the one calling for a medic. The nightmares will come whether I like it or not, so the only thing left to do is learn how to deal with them. But I can't do it alone. Who would you suggest to help? I'm... willing to try therapy, at least once. If it does prove helpful... well, we can go from there at that point."

Shadowcat has posed:
"The school has a few friends who can conduct therapy. So can the Professor," Kitty says. "I don't know that Jean has that kind of training but of course she has her own ways. The Professor is really busy though, so we'd probably want to send you to someone. Why don't we do that if you're comfortable with it? I'll set it up for you if so," Kitty offers.

She takes another sip of her hot chocolate. Outside, the winds are blowing, rattling the windows as if to make sure everyone knows it is cold out. The weather has been nice since the summoned storms. They likely took a bit of energy out of the location weather systems. "As for the staff, Illyana is probably your best bet to take a look at it," she suggests.

Nightingale has posed:
Shannon nods slowly. "I was reluctant to approach Jean for that very reason, because she's also incredibly busy... despite her being a total and complete sweetheart. Same for the Professor, despite you and Cannonball having spoken very well of him. Wouldn't mind meeting him one day but... wow, that would be a lousy way to do it." She shrugs a bit, knocking back a bit more cocoa. "Failing him, though, who would you set me up with? Bean did give me a card, to see the same one he goes to. But I don't know who you'd consider, as everyone's situation is unique."

She smiles a little bit, thinking a bit more. "I will say this. While everyone I've talked to has added their own perspective so far--and yours has been incredibly helpful--I'd call talking with Mr. Rasputin last evening perhaps a close second." A light laugh escapes her. "It resulted in a more pleasant focus. I seem to have gotten Gwendolyn and I roped into creating wreaths and garlands out of local greenery for decorations this season. As well as lending an extra hand with the feast. He seems to think I might actually make a decent teacher one day. You sure he's not the telepath around here? Because I was thinking of doing that."

Glancing back at the staff, she nods. "I'll see if I can get a message to Illyana, then, and let her check that over before I begin any sort of training with it."

Shadowcat has posed:
Kitty finishes off her mug and rises to her feet. "Piotr is a very gentle soul. Who, can be very ungentle when someone he cares about is threatened. But yes, he has a way with people," she says, smiling, and a hand goes to just below her throat, fingers playing with a Star of David which dangles from her necklace.

"Bean might be seeing someone from SHIELD, I'm not really sure actually. But I'll set you up with someone. Doctor Sidney Freedman probably," she says. "Illyana should probably be back soon. Has been in Limbo a lot of late I know. I miss her," Kitty says with a sigh. She sets the mug down on the tray and gathers up Shannon's tempty. "In the meantime, a good workout before bed and then some meditation can help clear the mind," Kitty says. She starts to suggest a Danger Room program. But, nah. She won't subject her to that.

Not yet.

Kitty smiles and then heads back downstairs with the mugs.

Nightingale has posed:
Shannon manages to catch Kitty for a hug, wings, mugs, and all, and smiles. "I'll read up a little on meditation, maybe find some light music to play while I sleep. And the workout can only help me stay healthy overall. Maybe chamomile tea." She pauses and smiles a little bit. "Guess there's a little research and shopping to do." Stepping back, she has to let her go, nodding. "I'll watch for messages from this Dr. Freedman, then. Thank you... and you're definitely right about Mr. Rasputin. Though I think I may have to give him a good talking-to. He seems to think he hasn't got the voice for holiday carols." Perhaps things would finally start to look up after all, slowly but surely.