12300/Welcome home, Andrea

Welcome home, Andrea
Date of Scene:	07 October 2020
Location:	Main Foyer - Xavier's School
Synopsis:	Andrea visits the school to give a quick song and meet some new faces.
Cast of Characters:	Rage, Prismatic, Faraday, Ted Gammage, Nightingale, Siphon

---

Rage has posed:
After having dinner the other night with the Guthrie clan, Andrea accepted the invitation to return to the school so that she can meet some of the new faces. With her third album, Neon Dreams, currently in the top five, her new singles Electricity and Icarus has been lighting up the charts and the radio. The album is heavy with tracks that speak to mutant equality, suicide prevention, personal journies and of course, the track or two that are designed to be club bangers.

After parking her Tesla out front, she comes through the front doors in a pair of snug jeans with multiple slashes through the thighs, along with a hot pink shirt that says: "Mutie Cutie" upon the front in white cursive with a red X logo at the bottom of it and to the left. It's small and easy to miss, but her new designer line has a callback to her time at Xavier's.

At the sight of her, a number of students both familiar to her and new call out in excitement! She trades hugs with old friends and takes a few selfies with the new faces. "Hey guys! I got a ton of stuff for you out in the car." She says with a beaming smile as she takes a marker out of her back pocket to sign a girl's shirt with pink skin and her hair on fire.

Prismatic has posed:
    "Unannounced visits are always the best." comes a very British voice as the short Classical Music and Performance teacher makes her way down the stairs, rolling up the sleeves of her sweater as she goes, the collared shirt beneath sticking out. She gives a warm smile to Andrea, looking over over a moment and shaking her head at the shirt as she grins, and leans ack a moment.

Faraday has posed:
A lot of random things happened on 'school nights' around these parts, but celebrity visits? That was new and an excellent excuse to not be doing more important things like homework. Score!

The inevitable uproar draws Indira down from her room in black leggings and an angled neon blue and grey striped shirt. She follows behind several younger students that go tearing down the stairway like there was a fire and peeks towards the door before she hits ground level. "...huh, they weren't kidding."

Ted Gammage has posed:
Ted was doing some studying in his room when he heard students running down the hall. He stuck his head out in the hall to see a group of students going to see the celeb. Not quite sure what's going on, he steps out as well, clad in his usual beat up jeans, workboots, a t-shirt that's almost too tight and a button up flannel that doesn't look like its buttons have ever actually been used. "What's goin' on?" he asks Indira as he sees her in the pack of students.

Nightingale has posed:
     Celebrity visits were not uncommon around the mansion, and it seemed tonight was to be no exception. Not too far behind Indira was the resident winged healer-sometimes-trouble-magnet, in her two-piece pink PJ's and floofy Old English Sheepdog slippers. Finely arched golden brows loft as Shannon sees the source of the commotion, chuckling softly and shaking her head. "Andrea. Might've known." One wing is extended towards the popstar graduate by way of greeting, but she hangs back and waits her turn.

     A somewhat sheepish smile is offered to Alexis, the young mutant leaning over slightly to murmur a few words to the music teacher.

Siphon has posed:
    Chaos and general rumpus is the natural state of reality to Tabitha, having lived her life in a house with anywhere from 10-30 kids and only sporadic adult supervision. So the tiny newbie doesn't pay much attention until things start to get really... pink pepermint? "What in the name of nutballs? How am I hearing..." SHe slides down from the rec room chair and follows the sound of pink to the foyer.

    Seeing the commotion, but being too tiny to really get any kind of idea what it's happening around, she instead makes a line for the wings and fuzzy slippers. Because of course. When she gets to conversation distance she looks up at Shannon, "So... did you know that pink has a sound and tastes like pepermint? Also what's with the hoopla?"

Rage has posed:
"Hey, Alexis!" Andrea calls over to her as she lifts her hand upwards to wave. "Hey Shannon!" As she straightens up, she brushes some of her brown hair back behind her ear, giving a glowing smile to the student body. "I'll pop the trunk in a bit, but I brought a ton of swag from my label. Got autographed vinyls, bomber jackets for the dudes, windbreakers for the girls, and about fifty VIP passes for my upcoming concert at Madison Square with Dazzler opening up for me. We're going to crush it."

Returning a quick hug to a Freshman, she wraps her arms around the smaller girl, then eases in deeper through the Foyer. "So, Alexis wanted me to come over tonight and see everyone and talk about life outside of Xavier's and maybe do a song or two in the music hall. So, what's going on? Can I get names of some of you?" She asks as her brows lift upwards, glancing over as she looks towards Ted and Indi, then off towards Tabitha as well.

Prismatic has posed:
    "Oh, no, they weren't." Indira would get a smile from Alexis. "Andrea's a friend of mine; we in fact performed together at the club Sam helps to run, once. Interesting experience." Alexis recounts to Indi before she pauses, looking to Shannon and says, in a low voice "Perhaps that should be something addressed in private, with Scott rather than Sam, if you prefer a more impartial advisor." she states to the young woman, neither disapproving or disappointed, just quiet. She gives Shannon a kind smile, then as she hears her name called out she calls back. "OI! I want a bomber jacket!" she calls out jokingly, and she makes her way to the front and side of the crowd, the young teacher giving a grin.

    "Ah, yes, we have Tabitha, Ted -- not sure if you know Ted -- and then in the back there that is Indira, the blond haired lad is Thomas --" she states, going through and introducing people one by one as she remembers names.

Ted Gammage has posed:
Not a direct answer, but Ted seems to be catching on. A celeb, a mutant and a former student. Probably not his usual fare of music but he does offer a smile and a lift of his hand, "'lo" as he's introduced. He also gives a light nod to Shannon as she makes her way in as well. Otherwise, for the moment, he doesn't seem to have much to say.

Faraday has posed:
Indira Bhandari gives a quick two-finger-off-the-brow salute towards Andrea as she's introduced before she ambles her way down the rest of the stairs. "Can't make this month much better. Christmas and Halloween in one? There's no topping that." She yanks out her phone to toss a text out before pocketing it just as quick. "Sucks that your other concert got wrecked, heard about it on the news. I was hoping to get out there to see it but couldn't get away."

Nightingale has posed:
     Nodding to Alexis, she smiles and offers a brief, light hug, before moving to join Ted and Tabitha, somehow winding up right in between the two. A light chuckle escapes her, and she shrugs, grinning at Tabitha. "I guess pink could have a lot of different tastes and sounds, it's all in how we perceive things like that. In my case, E-flat has a light aquamarine color, and reminds me of saltwater taffy."

     She leans in to bump shoulders lightly with Ted, smiling. "Hey you. Been swamped with studies, too?" Her wings ruffle a bit behind her, but at least they do not form a cocoon to hide her this time.

     Indi gets a wave and a smile, and a bit of an up-nod. "Hey, how goes?" Glancing back at Tabitha, she chuckles. "Remember how I mentioned Dazzler was there the day we brought you here? Well... meet Andrea Jackson. Damn talented performer, wish I had half her gift."

Siphon has posed:
    Tabitha has lived what most would consider a criminally isolated life, but she wasn't so sheltered that she's never heard of Andrea. Looking up at the star she manages to shrink, dipping behind Shannon's wings after a reflexive finger wave when Alexis says her name. She nods up at her friend explains what's going on. "Yeah, okay. You know I'm going to bite your ankles if you keep talking about yourself that way." It's not a question.

    Now that she's closer she notes that it is Andrea that sounds like the flavor of pink to her. Because that's just plain weird she concentrates a moment, finds that mental toggle, and the copper glitter glow in her skin fades. Now she's just Edward Scissorhands pale in three layers of colorless hand-me-downs. "Good to meet you. Did I hear something about bomber jackets? Do you happen to have them in size: 'Barbie'?"

Rage has posed:
"Yeah, yeah, you can have a bomber jacket too." Andrea says with a smirk to Alexis as her eyes roll upwards and to the side. "The windbreakers and bombers are unisex and I got them in all sizes. So, anyone can have whatever. I got plenty. It's all unreleased stuff. I maaay even have an Easter egg hidden in them if you hold them up to UV lights in the dark."

As she is introduced, she lifts her hand up with a grin. "Oh, snap, it's the New-New Mutants. I've heard all about you guys from Sam and Alexis. I was an OG New Mutant when I came to the school almost three years ago. It's great to meet all of you! Holy cow you are /tall/." She says to Ted as her eyes lift upwards to him. "I hope your mutant gift is playing basketball because you could probably dunk on Terrell Jones of the Knicks."

Giving a grin to Indi, her shoulders shrug upwards. "Concert went okay. It's not every day that Magneto just swoops down and steals your thunder and then gets shot at during it. I hope you didn't read the TMZ article. They destroyed me on it. Like, it was /my/ fault he just showed up. But thanks to Miss Grey, it seems that all the video of it disappeared so my mutant powers are just word of mouth." She makes a pair of finger gun motions. Pew pew!

"Hey Tabitha. Size Barbie? Is that like .. a small or an extra small? I have Ex-S all the way up to triple El which is probably for the big guy here." She gives a motion of her thumb towards Ted.

"Classic Shannon, always thinking she's garbage when she knows she's the 'current' best singer in the school." She tips a wink to her winged friend. "Did you guys know that she sang backup vocals on one of my songs? It's called Enough, from my second album. She killed it in the studio."

Ted Gammage has posed:
Ted blinks as Shannon gives him a shoulderbump, grinning a bit at her and saying, "Yeh, ah' bit. Schools aren't th' best where ah came from," he explains with a roll of his shoulder. He glances to the others a moment, then to Andrea as she goes on about the New Mutant gig, "Er, yeh, ah guess that's us," he muses "Or...some of us. M'not sure where th'rest of the crew is," he notes. And as his height is commented on, he says "Ah can sit down if that'd help?" in a joking manner.

Nightingale has posed:
     "Hey now, I didn't say I was garbage. Just that Andrea's still the better of the two of us. She's also got more practice and training under her belt." Shannon smirks to both Tabitha and Andrea, very gently nudging the former with the edge of one wing. "Sure thing, Ankle-Biter."

     Her face turns bright red and now those wings do indeed furl around in front of her in that cocoon. "I was just one backup singer. And hey, it was a fun experience. If you ever need someone again... hey, what song are we going to hear?" Quick change of subject!

     The bit about the New Mutants gets a grin of pride from her, just barely visible over the top edge of her wings. "Don't know. We could do with some practice sometime, though. Heh... well, let me know if you want a hand studying, m'kay?"

Faraday has posed:
"UV secrets? Well I'll have to snag Xio one." Indira remarks, even if she'd probably guess her roommate would say the music needed more spice. She wrinkles her nose at mention of TMZ. "If I'm gonna read trash I just hit up Reddit."

"Yah, we keep Ted around to help get the tall stuff on the shelf." Indira teases him, "Because good luck getting Adam out of bed. For real, has anyone checked on Yogi lately? I like naps, but he turned them into an Olympic sport." And she turns then to her other teammate and flashes Shannon a lopsided grin, "Oh hell, I thought something sounded familiar. Nice work, girl."

Prismatic has posed:
    "I thought we weren't mentioning the New Mutants anymore -- not that there aren't some absolutely plausable members here." Alexis gives a soft murmur to Andrea, but she claps over the back of the girl's back. "So, I'm pretty sure I can play at least some of your songs by ear. Shall we?"

Siphon has posed:
    "Size: 'Barbie' is something like extra-extra-extra small with the seams taken in a bit more." Tabitha grins and holds her arms out to t-pose in her faded fourth-hand clothes that could still fit two more of her inside. Then she's caught off guard and psuses, "Wait... music? As in live? Do I have time to go wake The Twins?!"

    She doesn't comment on the New Mutants stuff. Music was mentioned, and that's all she cares about at this (or nearly any other) time of day. Without waiting for any yay or nay to her question she starts up the stairs to get The Twins.

Rage has posed:
"Psh. How can I not mention them? I still got the gang sign memorized and the secret handshake unless you all changed it up." Andrea says to Alexis with a grin. With a glance to the others, she gives a motion of her hand. "Come on guys, to the music room! Alexis and I have a treat for you today. It's a song that we collaborated on together and not released. It's called Wake Up. She'll be on the piano and I'm snagging a tamborine."

"And as far as the sizing goes, I'm sure I got something in the car for you, Tabitha. No worries. If anything, Shannon here is a wiz with the needle and she can fix the smallest jacket we got for you if it's not a good fit."

As she heads down the familiar halls that she walked for years, she practically bobs her head as she goes, fingers snapping at her side as she lightly hums before hipping the door open to the sound proofed music room. It's wall to wall of pure acoustics and filled with speakers that line the ceilings. It's designed to deliver a powerful sound through the entire room from all angles. "The piano awaits you Miss Carr." She calls over to Alexis as she heads to the microphone mount and plugs it in, then gives it a few taps. With a tamborine secured, she waits for everyone to be settled.

Prismatic has posed:
    "Lead the way, Andrea, I'm sure you recall. Come along, anyone who wants to join int he music room." Alexis smiles as she joins Andrea in walking down the hallway, giving a soft hum.

    And as they enter in, she gives a nod. "Miss Jackson." the slightly older mutant states with a smile, and she pulls out the piano bench, and warms up her fingers a moment.

    "So we're doing that one? How many bars do you want?" she runs her fingers up and down the ivories, purposefully (and very softly) playing Entrance of the Gladiators.

    Which everyone will know is 'generic circus song'

Nightingale has posed:
     Shannon joins the rest of her classmates in the music room, just smiling as she takes a seat near Ted and Tabitha. "You haven't lived till you've heard Andrea sing live. As good as the studios are, they just don't do justice to her voice. And let's just say that Alexis is nothing short of a virtuoso. This is going to be a treat." She's wiggling around almost as if she was a little kid at Christmas, all but dancing in her seat.

Ted Gammage has posed:
At Indira's banter, Ted smirks a bit, "Ah also open all the pickle jars." And as Adam is mentioned, "Maybe he's eatin' and gettin' ready to hibernate. NOw ah gotta know if he hibernates..." The last is said while walking to the room to join the others. Once settled into one of the chairs, he looks to Shannon and gives a brief nod, "Ah do like ah bit of live music."

Siphon has posed:
    Hop-jumping up the stairs to reach her room takes Tabitha a few minutes. She snags The Twins, her Gibson doubleneck guitar/bass. Wanting to take the fast way down she lets her aura out and sucks down some quick energy from the lights. Feeling safe inside the copper glitter glow she simply vaults the railing soon as she can and lets her aura soak the landing. She slips into the music room between people, taking full advantage of her height and sitting next to Shannon. While Alexis and Andresa get themselves setup, she tunes The Twins on complete auto pilot.

Rage has posed:
"Four bars, m'lady." Andrea says to Alexis with a grin, easing the microphone into proper placement. "So, three people worked on this song. Myself, Alexis and this really hot guy with red wings who goes by the name of Jay. When we wrote it, we were thinking about all of you in a way. It's rough out there for us mutant kids, yeah? So .. this song is about not giving up. This is Wake Up."

Giving a nod towards Alexis, she waits for the piano to start. It's an easy pacing, emotional, the type of piano that is designed to get under your skin and into your eyeducts. As she slides her hands along the microphone stand and wrap her fingers around it, she pours her voice through the lyrics, it starts out as if she was 'talking' to the group, her tone assuring, as if it belonged to a big sister.

"Here's one thing I want you to know
You got some place to go
Life's a test, yes, but you go toe-to-toe
You don't give up, no, you grow"

"And you use your pain
'Cause it makes you you
Though I wish I could hold you through it
I know it's not the same
You got living to do
And I just want you to do it"

"So get up, get out, relight that spark ...
You know the rest by heart!"

As the chorus hits, so does the piano as the keys soar 'stronger'.  Andrea's voice rises upwards, hitting the notes that has made her famous on a global scale.  She throws one fist upwards as her body sways side to side as she bobs from ankle to ankle, arching her back into the lyrics.

"Wake up, wake up if it's all you do!
Look out, look inside of you!
It's not what you lost ...
It's what you'll gain raising your voice in the rain!
Wake up your dream and make it true!
Look out, look inside of you!
It's not what you lost ...
Relight that spark, time to come out of the dark
Wake up, wake up!"

Prismatic has posed:
    Alexis rolls her eyes at Andi. but she begins to play. The gentle notes of the piano ringing through, the glistening sounds of the notes ringing through the room get richer before the chorus hits, and singing, supporting Andrea beneath her own notes to fill out the song, Alexis sings along with the pop singer, her strong voice just beneath, supportice.

Nightingale has posed:
     Forever in awe of Andrea and Alexis, Shannon just listens, enraptured. She begins swaying in tome with the music, her head canted slightly towards the two musicians to pick apart their music in her mind. As the second chorus rolls around, she hums softly beneath it, mostly to herself, as she improvises a harmony. Though, as she catches herself doing so, she stops, grinning a bit sheepishly. "Told you this was going to be a treat, Ankle-Biter."