10542/Season's Greetings

Season's Greetings
Date of Scene:	26 December 2019
Location:	Apartment, Music Center
Synopsis:	Carol visits Rogue for Christmas.
Cast of Characters:	Captain Marvel (Danvers), Rogue

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Captain Marvel (Danvers) has posed:
Carol hears about things from time to time. Sometimes it's attributed to having a 'cosmic sense' for important events, and other times it's more to do with her just being nosy. Either way, a visit to the Xavier School for Christmas was enough to inform her that Rogue had moved out. After getting the new address out of someone on the faculty, she'd made straight for the place after dropping off a few gifts to to Ororo and Jean.

Now, she stands at the doorway to Rogue's new apartment. She's dressed warmly for winter - a leather bomber jacket, a scarf, jeans, and knee-high leather boots. Under one arm is a long, white box - like a dress box - with a large green ribbon and bow wrapped about it. She knocks on the door with one gloved hand before tucking it back into her pocket to wait patiently.

Rogue has posed:
As soon as Carol knocks on the door a dog inside the apartment starts to bark. Big woofs. Carol has seen Rogue's dog before, a year ago about this same time that Rogue quit the Avengers and was going off on her own to find her parents. A year later? Same thing? But in this past year, her father had returned... so progress had been made!

A few moments pass before the door latch clicks and then it pulls inward and Rogue is standing on the other side with her small one bedroom apartment behind her. Wearing yellow socks, some Snow-man patterned pajama pants, and a baggy blue and white NYU hoodie, Rogue sees the visitor and her eyes get wider.

"Carol!" Rogue says, then smiling. "Hey. Surprise visit!" Her smile shifts into a grin and she steps back to let Carol enter. In her left hand is a German Shepherd that she's holding by the collar. Aces, the dog!

"Come in, welcome t'my new plaaaace!" Rogue states then, backing up into the kitchen with Aces who's tail is just wagging a mile a minute as he stares at the good Captain.

Captain Marvel (Danvers) has posed:
"Hey," Carol says with a smile, glancing down and reaching out to pet Aces between the ears, "Hello, Woof. You having a good Christmas?"

Stepping into the apartment, the blonde takes a look around curiously. She's critical about the whole thing, clearly, but in the end seems satisfied with her friend's choice of home. She places the gift box down on the sofa, and with her hands finally freed moves towards the kitchen and Rogue.

She's careful about touching skin, instead reaching out to grip her by both forearms and give them an affectionate squeeze. She draws her in close and plants a gloved hand atop the young woman's head before kissing the back of her own hand with a noisy 'mwah'.

"Look at you, living the high life."

Rogue has posed:
Aces is all happy dog smiling face with lulling tongue and heavy panting as his tail whips this way and that, slapping Rogue's leg and the kitchen counters, so his answer is a big yes to Carol. Rogue, fishes for a dog treat in a drawer in the kitchen then tosses it into the living room and the young Shepherd chases after it, a good distraction technique for when company comes in.

When Carol sets the gift down, Rogue surely notes it but she doesn't comment on it yet. When Carol approaches and greets her Rogue just grins at the other. "Well heya yourself and Oh Yeah, the High Life." Rogue glances around the apartment. Its fully decked out, even if its a smallish affair. "Wakin' up in the mornin' t'the sounda instruments bein' slammed on by kids downstairs in the store."

She looks back at Carol, gives her a return squeeze with her gloved hands and then nods toward the counter where some groceries have been recently laid out. "Want a wine cooler or somethin? Just stocked up, got a buncha stuff in the fridge too. All -kindsa- drinks."

Captain Marvel (Danvers) has posed:
"Not for me, thanks, sweetheart," Carol politely declines the wine cooler, waving a hand and shaking her head, "Maybe just a glass of water, huh?"

That said, Carol loses her connection with gravity and hovers for a moment before landing easily in a seated position on one of the stools at the kitchen counter. She leans forward on her elbows, hands clutched together, and watches the young mutant quietly for a moment.

"How are things with you? Besides the noisy neighbors?" A pause, and then she gestures behind her at the gift, "That's for you."

Rogue has posed:
"Oh right." Rogue says when the alcoholic beverage is turned down, she'd forgotten. She spends so much time around crazy youth her age that she's not used to the actual negative side effects of alcohol abuse. She's certainly known some people who abused alcohol though!

When Carol sits down, Rogue moves to retrieve the water for her, a bottle of it from the fridge. She steps over to offer it and stand on the other side of the counter from her friend. She smiles at her question. "I left Xavier's, yeah, I know... ya probably heard, huh?" She grins for just a second then exhales sharply.

Her head shakes side to side. "I wanna do more than that place is allowin' me. I mean, I've not gone far, if they need me I'm here. I doubt they'll need me though, they got a lotta power houses there. They'll be fine. I just... I think I can do more than I'm able to in a school filled with kids. I started t'realize just how much I'm able t'do, but wasn't... aimin' it right. I don't know, I'm waftin' I suppose. I just, I wanna help more people than the X-Men are capable of, what with their hidin' and protocols. They do good stuff, but its all... restricted."

A breath is taken in between the Belle's lips and her hands move to the counter to press palms flat, her gloved fingertips tap on the counter's marble surface in a smooth wave once. "I'm gonna do my own stuff, be there for anyone and everyone who needs my kinda help, ya know?"

Captain Marvel (Danvers) has posed:
"I did hear, yeah," Carol admits with a nod of her head, "But I'm not here to guilt you back. You need to do what's right for you, and nobody else knows what's better for you than you do. I'm sure they want you to move back in, but you need to do what you need to do, kiddo."

As though to emphasize her point, she reaches across the counter to give Rogue's gloved hand a squeeze with her own. That done, she pops the top off the water bottle and takes a few hefty mouthfuls of it. A satisfied sigh later, she puts it back down on the counter and looks back at the young woman.

"I'll back you coming back to the Avengers, if you're interested in that."

Then, unable to wait any longer, she points a finger back at the gift, "Speaking of, why don't you open that for me?"

Rogue has posed:
A light smile is shown to Carol's words and her hand offering the comforting squeeze. "Its why you're the best." Rogue says quietly back before she grins at the Avenger thing. "I dunno... I think my abrupt departure there probably made them not really think I'm reliable, and thats fine if they feel that way... I mean, is what it is. I'm happy t'help them too if they need it, or ever wanted it. I just... I helped a number'a people recently and its startin' t'make me have that itch again. Bein' out there... make'n sure people get treated right, no more bullshit."

The present draws Rogue's attention then and she drifts her stare over to it. She grins lightly at it. She's not great with gifts, they make her uncomfortable. She didn't get many gifts growing up, as her parents had left before she was old enough to really remember what they did on Christmas, just some nice meals and music is all she recalls from how they celebrated it... of course they didn't have much money either.

It got much more complicated after that.

Rogue steps over to pick the gift up then and move to set it down on the corner of the counter. "This is quite a thing. I didn't know this was comin, I uh..." She glances to Carol. "I didn't get ya anything... I'm sorry. You're kinda hard t'shop for ya know?" She grins at the all-powerful space ace and fighter female before her.

Rogue goes about opening the gift though!

Captain Marvel (Danvers) has posed:
"I don't want anything," Carol says quietly, reassuringly, "Just promise you'll let me speak to the Avengers on your behalf. If they say no, that's no skin off your back ... but I think it'd be a good place for you, sweetheart. I promise."

That said, she sits back and watches Rogue open the gift. Inside the box, laid out on some green and yellow tissue paper, is what looks like a length of red fabric. It isn't instantly identifiable, but lifting it out of the box will reveal a photograph of Carol at the very start of her career with a red sash tied loose and trailing about her hips. It's the same sash.

"After I got my powers back," she explains, "I learned how to make my uniform out of ambient molecules ... didn't need to keep it in storage anymore. But I kept it. Not sure why, guess I felt I might need it someday. Or that I might pass it on to someone who deserved it."

There's a pause, and then she carries on, "I feel like if anybody deserves it - if anybody lives up to that standard I'm always trying to live up to - it's you. Somebody who wants to do the right thing."

Rogue has posed:
It takes Rogue only a few moments to unwrap it all, the picture is looked at first and then the sash. She sets the picture down with a smile already across her lips and then starts to take her gloves off so she can feel the sash on her fingertips and laying over her palms.

When she looks up to Carol next - after more than enough time to soak it all in - she's smiling but that kinda smile that hints at an abundance of emotions. This all helps validate that their fight on the Golden Gate Bridge was a mistake, Rogue had been manipulated into hurting someone she didn't really want to hurt, and Carol was now giving her a gift that showed it was all forgiven.

She's emotional over it, though she's trying not to be because... well she's Rogue. Trying to stay tough all the time!

So she looks down, to hide the moisture in her eyelids as her white bangs fall around her face to help conceal it. "Its amazin'." She says softly in her heavily accented southern English. "I don't think I can wear it in a fight, I'd be afraid'a ruinin' it even if it is weird space magic fabric." She laughs again and looks up to Carol, still all weepy.

"I'll try t'honor it, and you, as always." Which is true, she always does try to, even if its hard for her because she's her own person and pretty different in a lot of ways. "Got ya up here still tellin' me every day what I'm doin' right and wrong." She motions at her head with a finger point and then a soft laugh.

Captain Marvel (Danvers) has posed:
"It's up to you whether you wear it or not," Carol offers, "But I'd love it if you did. If it gets damaged then we'll just get you a new one. It's not the thing itself that's important, Rogue - it's what it represents. I think you're the right person to wear that. Hell, if anything ever happened to me ... I'd like to think you were the right person to pick up wherever I leave off."

That heavy sentence is left to hang in the air for a moment, and she lets Rogue feel those strong emotions in peace. She doesn't try to push them, embarass her into concealing them or even into being more open about them. She just lets her be herself.

"I know you will. You're the right person to wear it. I feel that. Strongly. I might be up there telling you what I think's right and wrong but, at the end of the day, you're the one who makes the choice - the right choice."

Rogue has posed:
Those words from Carol sink in a little more and Rogue glances down to the red cloth in her hand. "I'll always try t'do that. I got... baggage, ya know... people who want me t'help'em do bad stuff and still feelins' for some'a them. But, I think I can help them too, ya know?" She looks back up from the cloth to Carol. "Like I can help guide them t'change too and be better, do their stuff... better. Like, like Mystique. I think I could help her, if I can find her and I don't mean help her on her terms, I mean help her on my terms. Ya know?"

Rogue says those words with a somber tone, a serious tone, but its a bit sabotaged by a German Shepherd making a fair amount of noise behind her as he moves forward and back on that little hardwood floor pathway from the front door, pushing a plastic dog treat ball around on the floor trying to get it to spill another dog treat out. It makes a little robot voice noise too say 'Ow, ow, ow,' every time it collides into something while the dog pushes it around with his nose.

Rogue shows a faint smirk to Carol then. "I'll try, and yeah, I'm happy t'be with the Avengers if they want me too. But, I dunno, I get the sense I'm destined t'be in more places than just one, ya know?"

Captain Marvel (Danvers) has posed:
"Just like me," Carol laughs when Rogue speaks about being more than one place, "Avengers, Alpha Flight ... I know the feeling. You be where you want to be - just promise you'll keep talking to me. We're connected now, in a way a lot of people just don't understand. You know how I feel."

She leans against the counter for a little longer, watching Aces chase the little robot around. She says nothing while she watches, remaining silent with a half-smile on her features. When she does glance back up from the German Shepherd to Rogue, though, she speaks.

"If you can help those people, then I think you should do it. There's more to all this than flying around and looking fancy. If that's where you feel like you've got to be, then you ought to trust that instinct."

Rogue has posed:
The robot ball rolls back into the living room and onto the rug so it makes less noise as it dumps a couple more treats out for the dog to distract it and then it rolls into its recharging station and house while Aces snuffs up the treats and then woofs at the robot's house where its gone hiding. 2027 animal toys are weird!

"Lookin' fancy is just a nice side perk, if ya call pull it off." Rogue says back to Carol then with a sassy tone to her voice and a half grin to go with it. Her eyes drop back down to the things Carol had given her. She picks the picture up once more and walks around behind the barstools to set it on the shelf there, finding a good spot for it.

"I don't even have t'pay any rent for this place." She says then as she glances back over to Carol. "My friends own this buildin' and they said I could stay here so long as I protect them all from 'killer robots' and 'space monsters'." She grins as she steps back and sits down on the edge of her sofa. "But yeah, I don't -really- wanna move away from Westchester if I don't have to, even New York is a bit much... but I would if I had'ta. Ya know, if there was a need for me there."

Captain Marvel (Danvers) has posed:
Carol nods her her head, watching as Rogue puts the photograph on display and listenign to her story quietly, "I've got an apartment in the City that I never use, if you do end up moving that way. But for my two cents, I think this is a nice place - cozy, and close by to all your friends."

The blonde stretches her arms out before her, unable to help but laugh as Aces woofs at the retreating treat robot.

"And, unlike most times, I don't have anywhere to be. I'm here for the whole evening if you don't mind having me. I thought we could watch some of those Christmas claymation movies I used to watch when I was a kid."

Rogue has posed:
Eventually Aces gives up on the Robot Doggie Treat Ball coming back out of its house and he just lays down in front of it... ready just in case it changes it robotic mind... His head lowers down onto his forepaws and he stares at the humans out of the corner of his eyes with his pointy ears twitching every now and then while they talk, clearly listening to them even if he doesn't understand what the two ladies are saying.

Rogue, meanwhile, grins as she glances over at the tv mounted on the wall. "I was gonna do that same thing, basically. Though I generally start with the the Die Hard movies and then work my way t'more traditional stuff as the night gets later."

She stands up and gathers up the two TV remotes, then hands them to Carol. "I'll grab a drink and some snacks, get us a bowl'a goodies, then we can sit here and marvel at how they used t'make way better Christmas entertainment than they do t'day."

Captain Marvel (Danvers) has posed:
"Die Hard!" Carol immediately lights up, the movie obviously more her speed, "You have the best taste, Trouble. The absolute best."

She gratefully accepts the remotes, heading over to the sofa and falling back onto it bodily. The way she falls, it looks like she might even break it except for gravity letting go and she lands like a feather. She turns the television on, flicking through the channels in search of the Christmas entertainment.

And, to emphasize her getting comfortable, she kicks off her boots to reveal a pair of blue and red Captain Marvel socks. Merchandising is wonderful.