10403/And a partridge in a pear treeeeeeeee.

And a partridge in a pear treeeeeeeee.
Date of Scene:	12 December 2019
Location:	Mall - Salem Center
Synopsis:	Remy and Riana leave the mall, a little Christmas shopping done with more to do later.
Cast of Characters:	Wild Rose, Gambit

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Wild Rose has posed:
     Christmastime was fast approaching, with a dusting of snow floating from the sky like little motes of magic, holiday songs on many a street corner and radio, and shoppers bustling to and fro on their Yuletide errands. The past few weeks since moving to Bushwick from Danvers had been a whirlwind, beginning with that fateful meeting with Remy in the alleyway, to unpacking, a snowball fight in Central Park, and so much more.

     But the holidays were just getting started--and now it was time to gear up for battle of a different sort. This was the sort of battle that was best not fought alone. It was time to call in reinforcements, and who else would she call, but Remy? That crazy Cajun had brought nothing but smiles to her face since meeting him. Even as she waited in the food court by Panda Express, she couldn't help that upward turn of her lips. She's dressed in her jeans, black leather boots, forest green turtleneck, and open black parka, watching the crowds pass as she enjoyed a quick supper of orange chicken. A good cook, she was not.

Gambit has posed:
Remy LeBeau grins a bit as he slips up behind her, "Now tell me yah not actually puttin' dat stuff in yah body." He says playfully, intending to make her jump having slipped up silently behind her. He smirks a bit and looks around at the crowd even as he takes his seat. He's wearing his trademark duster, naturally enough.. jeans... and a T-Shirt depicting 4 reindeer, one apparently drunk off his ass. the caption reading "Comet, Cupid, Donner, and Blitzed."

Wild Rose has posed:
Riana Mackenzie does indeed jump, the chopsticks she's fumbling about with dropping to the plastic plate before her. "Aaah! Why you...!" She turns and grins over her shoulder, capturing his lips in a short, but very sweet kiss. "Mmm, would you rather I actually try to cook and put /that/ into my body instead? Trust me, this is the lesser of the evils!" Alas, there is no such humor emblazoned upon her shirt. However, when she reaches down to pull a small, nondescript white plastic bag from beneath her chair, she grins. She withdraws two headbands, both sporting a pair of brown felt antlers, with little bells on the end. One is offered to Remy, her sage green eyes twinkling with mischief.

Gambit has posed:
Remy LeBeau gives her a hard look for just a second, then a resigned sigh and he lowers his head to allow her to put the head band on him. He also slips his sunglasses on because with this many people around, someone stupid is bound to say /something/ stupid. And then Stupidity will ensue. "So How many yah got on yah list chere?" he asks, smirking playfully as he steals a shrimp.

Wild Rose has posed:
Riana Mackenzie raises her eyebrows, dipping her head forward to rest her forehead against his for a moment. "You don't -have- to wear the thing, you know," she offers. "I was just trying to have a little bit of fun." For her own part, however, she does not hesitate to slide the goofy-looking antlers onto her head, a soft chuckle escaping her. "Not too many. It's just my da, my baby sister, and my best friend back home. What about you?"

Gambit has posed:
Remy LeBeau shrugs a bit, "Mah Pappa an' brot'er. So folks dat Ah work wit', maybe some of de kids in mah classes." He shrugs a bit, "Maybe fif'y people total?" he says with a wicked grin on his lips...

Wild Rose has posed:
Riana Mackenzie makes a bold attempt at kissing that grin right off of his face, but very likely would only succeed in making it grow even more wicked. "Wow, that's nuts. But in a good way. Sounds like you really care about all of them." She grins a little bit herself, chuckling. "I wonder if da's going to keep up the tradition this year, with me being away for Christmas this time..."

Gambit has posed:
Remy LeBeau raises an eyebrow. "What tradition is dat?" he asks curiously, putting the antlers on his own head if she isn't going to do it for him. "Some of dem 'ave saved mah life. All of dem 'ave saved mah soul." He says with a firm nod and waits for her to finish her food before they get started.

Wild Rose has posed:
Riana Mackenzie smiles, her fingers twining briefly with his as they -both- put the antlers on his head, her eyes dancing with laughter. "Every Christmas, he always winds up getting me something with roses on it, because of my middle name," she offers. "Last year, it was a little enameled gold pendant." She reaches up to flick her fingers over one of the little bells on the end of his 'antlers', chuckling. "What's yours, though?"

Gambit has posed:
Remy LeBeau chuckles a bit. "Mah middle name? Etienne. It's de French version of Stephen if yah curious." He says a little bit amused. "An' if yah evah yell at me an' use it we gonna 'ave words. Big ones. Like 'Ippopotomus." he says with mild amusement. He looks at his list and looks around considering, "Some of dese are easy... Ah saw a yellow scarf dat Ah know Ro will like. Book foh Jean. Maybe a new stick foh Scott. One wit' a 'andle ta pull it out easier..."

Wild Rose has posed:
Riana Mackenzie grins wickedly enough to call into question the possibility of horns on her head. Oh, wait, there already were, and they had bells! Leaning in to whisper something, she chuckles and winks at him. "I think there's a bookstore pretty close to here," she says. "Sounds like this Jean and my baby sister would get along. She's a bookworm like you wouldn't believe." Her eyebrows raise at the comment about the stick. "Is he a fighter? Or... never mind."

Gambit has posed:
Remy LeBeau grins a little wickedly himself but nods standing and heading to the book store with her. "Jean one of dose women dat, at leas' de way Ah see it, she so serious. So focused... dat she appreciates de escape, yah know? She don' jus' read a book, she /lives/ it while it's 'appening." He chuckles a bit shaking his head and smirking. "He's de type who is awake, alert an' ready ta great de day at Zero-Five-'undred every day, an 'cpects yah ta be too. Foh me, Five Am a good time ta be crawlin' inta bed, not crawlin' outta one, non?" he says amused.

Wild Rose has posed:
Riana Mackenzie rolls her eyes and lets out a short, light bit of laughter. "Oh god. You're kidding me, right? Oh-five-hundred? What's the 'oh' stand for?" Her eyes twinkle as she ducks into the book store. "Oh-my-god, it's early!"

The bookstore is oddly quiet, given the hustle and bustle of the mall just outside, and the blaring of Christmas tunes in the air. Instead of the savory and sweet aromas of the food court, there is the delicate scent of bookstores everywhere, that indescribable combination of paper, leather, and the wood of the shelves holding each stack of volumes. "Lena's kind of a dreamer," she says, nosing through the sci-fi and fantasy section. "She's always borrowing my books. And I use the term loosely, because they never come back to me. I wonder if she and Jean like the same kind of reading material?"

As she herself is poking about amongst the shelves, she steals a glance over at Remy, taking note of the particular sections he seems to favor for himself....

Gambit has posed:
Remy LeBeau browses for a few moments, considering slowly, though he doesn't linger too much. He doesn't go to the best sellers, but seems to veer towards paperback series. From that mostly looks at covers, giving the most consideration to books with females, but not scantally clad ones, on the covers. "Not sure Jeanie 'as a particular genre she likes, so much as she likes good stories..." He picks up a paper back thicker then many phonebooks and reads the back cover for a moment... the front cover shows a woman in some sort of harness with a bow and arrow hanging off a bird's breast. He nods and picks up the two equally as thick sequels and heads to the counter.

Wild Rose has posed:
Hmm. Okay, so he was more a man of action, than one for recreational reading. That was perfectly fine by Riana. For her own part, she picks up a couple paperbacks from the sci-fi section, one with a woman riding on a huge golden dragon, against a backdrop of craggy mountains and oddly green-tinted skies. The other shows a small white dragon with its wings outspread, clinging to a rocky outcropping on an alien mountainside, a young man dressed in red and brown on his back. She chuckles as she brings her selections to the counter, stealing a quick kiss from Remy. "Might as well finish Lena's set of these," she quips. "She's already 'borrowed' the rest from me."

Gambit has posed:
Remy LeBeau grins a bit at that, giving the books a look over for a title... His are all titled "Something Gate", Traiter's Gate, Fools Gate, ect... and are thus naturally part of a series called...Crossroads. Naturally. "Ah always like ta get complete series when Ah can. Not'ing worse den getting into a series and findin' out de aut'or's next book was due out in t'ree mont's... twelve years ago."

Wild Rose has posed:
Riana Mackenzie bobs her head in agreement, little bells jingling and a wry smile appearing on her face. The two books she plops on the counter have titles with 'Dragon' in them... The White Dragon... Dragonflight... all perhaps part of a much broader story arc. The transaction is a quick one, no fuss about it, and she accepts the bag from the clerk with a smile, and a call of "Merry Christmas!". While she's waiting for Remy to finish up, she reaches over and squeezes his hand briefly; that restraint she'd shown on their first meeting had melted away somewhat where he was concerned, at least. "Kind of curious, you were talking about classes. What do you teach?"

Gambit has posed:
"Et'ics." the Cajun answers casually and manages for almost a full ten seconds to keep a straight face, as the idea of him teaching Ethics to anyone is such a crazy propoition that even he cannot keep a straight face for it. "Nah chere, Ah teach French mos'ly, an' Ah 'ost a weekend movie night every ot'er week dat's been pretty popular." He says with a grin. "Dat reminds me, shoul' see if dat MST3K Collection Ah ordered foh Shannon is in."

Wild Rose has posed:
     Straight face? As if such a thing was even possible, when juxtaposing the notion of 'Ethics' and 'Remy' in the same sentence. Though she fights valiantly to keep a smirk off of her face, Riana loses the battle, and instead winds up with a shit-eating grin. A grin that, sadly, turns to a perplexed sort of expression. "MST3K? And who's Shannon?" Her eyebrow twitches upwards briefly.

     Le gasp. Had someone that close to the crazy Cajun somehow not been initiated into the madcap delights of MST3K?

Gambit has posed:
Remy LeBeau slows his steps. Stops. He looks at the woman as if she's grown a second head. "Yah 'ave nevah seen Mystery Science T'eater T'ree T'ousand?" he asks in a tone of absolute disbelief. She may as well have said she's never tasted chocolate for how gobsmacked the man appears to be at the statement.

Wild Rose has posed:
     Riana shakes her head, and grins sheepishly. She shrugs, and replies, "Nope. But you could always educate me, Teach." Her eyes twinkle with mirth, and she steals a quick kiss, not really caring who sees. "It sounds like I'll need some remedial classes in MST3K. The sooner, the better."

Gambit has posed:
Remy LeBeau nods slightly and shakes his head. "Might even 'ave ta get out RiffTrax as well. Depends on jus' 'ow much study dat yah require." he says with a smirk, sliding his arm effortlessly around her waist gesturing towards a botique ahead. "Say de scarf foh Stormy up dare." he tells he amused. "Who else yah got aftah yah sister?"

Wild Rose has posed:
Riana Mackenzie gives Remy a completely blank look at the mention of RiffTrax. "Think you'll have to add that in, too. I'm a complete MST3K newbie." A laugh bubbles up from the befreckled woman as she leans into the embrace, threading her arm about his waist in turn. "My da, and I still send a small present to my old sensei. Usually I get him a nice assortment of incense he can use in the dojo. Da's a little harder to buy for, he's always telling us he has everything he wants already, with us."

Gambit has posed:
Remy LeBeau nods as he considers, "Well what are 'is 'obbies?" he asks curiously. "Ah always buy mah pappa Cigars." He says casually. "Coul' place a double order if de man inta somet'ing like dat per'aps?" he offers casually, simply enjoying the contact with the woman.

Wild Rose has posed:
Riana Mackenzie shakes her head. "Never seen him smoke at all. But he loves a caffeinated cup of courage in the morning. And afternoon. And evening. The one vice I picked up from him." Rolling her eyes, she laughs, resting her head briefly on Remy's shoulder. "So, a scarf for... Stormy? Kind of an interesting name. Who else is next on your list?" It only takes a little tilt of her head to nip gently on his ear, chuckling softly.

Gambit has posed:
Remy LeBeau nods slightly and considers. "How 'bout one of dose coffee makers dat makes a cup of coffee right inta yah cup?" he suggests as they walk into another shop. "Stormy is mah nickname foh her. She's a dear friend of mine..." his eyes sparkle with just a touch of mischeviousness. "Yah coul' say dat Ah've known 'er since she was a lil girl." there is a joke there obviously, but one she isn't supposed to get. "Her real name is Ororo. She 'ates it when Ah call 'er Stormy...so naturally Ah do it at every opertunity."

Wild Rose has posed:
Riana Mackenzie grins, the mischief in his eyes mirrored by her own. "I suppose 'Stormy' is better than some nicknames, like 'Wild Rose'. How'd you tag her with it, anyways?" Okay, so maybe she didn't get the joke yet. That was fine. But she loved that sparkle in those hellfire eyes, so naturally when he's not paying attention, her fingers dance lightly along his ribs. "Ooo, good idea on the coffee maker. Maybe some of those little pods to go with it. Make it a complete set."

Gambit has posed:
Remy LeBeau smirks a little bit, "An' 'ere yah were jus' keepin' me around foh mah beautiful body. Turns out Ah got brains as well." He says playfully, lightly kissing her behind her ear. He again moves with diliberation, selecting the silk scarf as well as another of light blue. "Ro one of dose people who is always calm. Always in control. An' yet yah c'n feel de storm just below de surface." He explains casually... He doesn't mention that she can also control the weather... no point in explaining /everything/.

Wild Rose has posed:
Riana Mackenzie shivers a little bit as he kisses her behind her ear, taking a slow, controlled breath and releasing it with a sigh. "Beauty and brains. Perfect men -do- exist." She smiles warmly, listening to his tale, and glances over the scarves as well. "Well, what about this one?" She shows him one particular scarf in warm earth tones, browns and golds shot through with hints of sage green. "The earth looks calm most of the time, but every once in a while, you feel Her power, too."

Gambit has posed:
Remy LeBeau smirks a bit, "We are rare, but Oui we do exist." he says playfully, taking the scarf the woman suggests as well and considering his list again. "Well lets see, Got ta get somet'ing foh Scott yet, an' Logan... Got Henri what very well might be de last box of Pumpkin Spice Twinkies on de East Coast." He makes a face, "What yah do when yah buy yah girlfriend 'er Christmas present in September, she break up wit' yah in October... an' de dan t'ing still sitting in yah closet?"

Wild Rose has posed:
Riana Mackenzie smirks, and hugs Remy fiercely. "Then I'd better hold on to you, cher." It was wonderful, hearing little hints, bits and pieces of his life, the people he knew and cared about. However, what wasn't so good, was the dilemma of the Christmas present without a recipient. "Well, depending on what it is, I'd return it, or if you can't, find somewhere to donate it to. There's no reason you should have to hold on to something that's just going to bring back a painful memory." She stops right there, raising herself up on her toes, and kissing him tenderly. "I just hope you like the present I got you."

Gambit has posed:
Remy LeBeau shrugs slightly, "S'not painful per say... jus' awkward yah know? Half tempted ta jus' give de damn t'ing ta 'er. We still trying ta be friendly yah know." he says with a sigh, smirking a little bit at her comment. He give her that playfully wicked grin, "Well tell me what it is, an Ah'll give yah mah expert opinion."

Wild Rose has posed:
Riana Mackenzie laughs, and smirks, fiddling with something in her pocket. "Oh, I don't know," she teases, her eyes alight with mischief. "Wonder if I should give it to you now, or hold till Christmas. Or..." She drops her voice to a whisper, chuckling.

Gambit has posed:
Remy LeBeau smirks slowly and nods then heads over to the counter and lays out the scarves... "Could yah wrap des up foh me Mon ami? Somet'ing dat needs mah urgent attention." he says with a smirk..