12123/Hanging On To Summer

Hanging On To Summer
Date of Scene:	04 September 2020
Location:	Rec Room - Xavier's School
Synopsis:	Chilling out in the rec room on one of the last few days before the start of the new school term
Cast of Characters:	Nightingale, Ted Gammage

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Nightingale has posed:
     Summer classes were over, and the last few days before the beginning of the new school term were winding down. New students were settling in to their dorms and making new friends. There was the general hustle and bustle, and a buzz of excitement around campus about the new term soon to begin.

     Not everyone was taking part in the whole thing, though. One was hiding out in the rec room, sprawled out on a bean bag in a boneless heap of arms, legs, and wings, eyes closed as she listened to some music on her phone. Shannon was in her red tartan sweatpants, baggy grey tank top, and floofy sheepdog slippers as she indulged in the luxury of simply doing nothing, with a huge bowl of popcorn nearby for snacking. Days like this would soon be few and far between.

Ted Gammage has posed:
Definitely not everyone was taking part. Ted is also sneaking in. New people who don't know him might get too close, and though he's better, he's still a little worried. He's dressed for comfort too, Xavier's School for Gifted Students t-shirt, sweatpants, and sneakers. The clothing at least doesn't have any holes in it, he apparently has gone shopping lately.

He then spies Shannon sprawled out, and pauses, watching for just a few moments, then chuckles, "Thought ah'd be the only one duckin' out," he muses wryly.

Nightingale has posed:
     Without even opening her eyes, Shannon chuckles, lazily tugging her earbuds from her ears; for a moment, a faint hint of New Orleans jazz might be heard, if one listened closely. "Far from it," she replies. "Believe me, you learn to appreciate quiet." Cracking open one eye, she peers over at Ted, smiling. "Got plenty of popcorn, if you want to take a load off?"

Ted Gammage has posed:
"Ah, fergive me if ah'm buggin' ya," Ted replies, "Don't mean t'ruin the silence." He hears the music and chuckles a moment, briefly speaking something in creole then saying "Didn't expect you t'be into Jazz, of all things." He does sit down beside her, meeting her gaze, even if it is via one slightly opened eye. "How y'been?"

Nightingale has posed:
     "Got into it when I was little. Took a trip with my folks down to New Orleans when I was about nine. Loved it. Music everywhere. Jazz on every street corner. It was a little slice of heaven!" She nudges the popcorn bowl over Ted's way and smiles, though one brow flicks upwards in query, as she meets his gaze in kind. "What was that you said? And no, you're not bugging me." She shrugs, and smiles a bit. "It's been a week. I'll be glad to get back to studying. But what about you, how've you been?"

Ted Gammage has posed:
Ted does after a moment take a handfull of popcorn, giving it a thoughtful chew a moment, listening to her talk about New Orleans. He swallows the food and says "Oh, it's definitely ah cool place. Can be ah bit dangerous if y'go wrong though," he frowns a little, "But it has culture." He chuckles at her question "Ah, just that you surprise me. I'm not native to that, but I have enough cousins that are, um, Cajun." He calls them other more flavorful things, but he's obviously not sharing that. "Well, it's not been too bad a week, right? Any week you've not accidentally pulled the doors off a bank is a good one."

Nightingale has posed:
     "Yeah, you probably don't want to be on the wrong end of Bourbon St. But on the other hand, you can't go wrong hanging out at the Cafe DuMonde." There's a silly grin on Shannon's face at the memory of the place. "Well, hopefully the surprise is a good one. Cajun cousins? Ha, just wait'll you get a chance to meet Mr. LeBeau. Definitely very... colorful... but really nice, and you'd be hard-pressed to find someone more likely to back you up when the chips are down."

     Grinning, she holds up a kernel of popcorn as if to flick it at Ted. "Bet you can't catch it in your mouth," she challenges. "Heck, I have a hard time with that."

Ted Gammage has posed:
"There's a few streets y'probably don't wanna go down," Ted admits, "But eh.. is worth it. And yeah, a good Beignet and some coffee is great." He tilts his head back a bit, "Mm, I think someone mentioned him at one point, but ah haven't run across him yet. Prolly buys," he notes, lots of the teachers seem to get that way. As she aims the popcorn at him, he chuckles and opens wide, and says "Ok go for it," though it comes out more like "Ahkah gah fah ihh."

Nightingale has posed:
     Laughing, Shannon sends the popcorn sailing through the air at Ted's face, her pale azure eyes taking on a rare twinkle of mirth. Shadows that seemed to linger there a bit more than they ought were, for the moment, chased away. "Beignets are something I've got to learn to make. Think that may be my next cooking project. Of course, I'd need a taste tester..."

Ted Gammage has posed:
To his credit, Ted does try to catch it, leaning back a bit. However, the popcorn bounces off his nose and he loses balance and falls backwards, chuckling a bit. "Bested by corn," he muses. "Probably not my proudest moment." He smiles a bit, laying on the floor and putting his arms behind his head. "Had an aunt that could make the heck outta some of them. An' y'know ah'll always be down for tryin' food experiments."

Nightingale has posed:
     There's a soft giggle from Shannon as the popcorn misses its mark, followed by her own attempt to catch a piece of the buttery, crunchy treat in her mouth. She meets with just about as much success, flopping backwards. As her wings spread out, she accidentally knocks over the popcorn bowl, sending kernels scattering about in one heck of a mess. "Whoops!"

Ted Gammage has posed:
"Oh man," he chuckles, "Now th' monsters have escaped," he notes, indicating the popcorn. "Ah think we're in trouble." He also nabs a couple pieces and eats them, mumbling something about the three-second-rule with a wry grin on his face. He slowly sits, up, watching her a few long moments, looking quite amused now. "Th' popcorn will be runnin' the school by tomorrow."

Nightingale has posed:
     Quick to sweep up as much of the popcorn into the bowl as she can, Shannon smiles a little sheepishly. "Three second rule? Thought it was five?" Thankfully, the rec room floor is fairly clean, leaving the popcorn without extra debris mixed in. "Don't know, do you think I should make some fresh anyways?"

Ted Gammage has posed:
"It can be bumped up t' ten if th' floor is clean enough, an' the food is worth it," Ted notes with a quick nod. He gives a long stretch of his shoulders and slowly rises up to help clean, but she seems to have gotten most of it. Instead, he just offers his hand to help her up off the floor if she wants. "If y'want, though ah'm probably about to haveta sack out anyways."

Nightingale has posed:
     Shannon smiles and accepts the hand up, nodding. "Thanks! Maybe another time on the popcorn. I oughta try making some popcorn balls, get some practice in on those for the holidays." Talk of heading to sleep has her looking at the clock, and some of the 'finer points' of German find themselves in use. "Yeesh, where'd the time go?? At least it was a nice, quiet night spent in good company. Who could ask for anything more?