12550/A Year in Passing

A Year in Passing
Date of Scene:	13 December 2020
Location:	Classroom - Xavier's School
Synopsis:	Alexis brings cookies from Italy and there is talk about signing up for decorations.
Cast of Characters:	Prismatic, Nightingale, Warpath, Colossus, Jax Miller, SpyderByte

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Prismatic has posed:
    There was sombre music creeping its way to the evening halls of Xavier's School.

    The music classroom was decorated for the myriad holidays celebrated by the students in the school. Snowmen and snowflakes, menorah and Christmas tree. Colorful depictions and artworks embracing all of the symbols of the Season of Lights.

    And at the piano in the room, a cup of tea steaming on a tray with gingerbread men, Alexis Carr was playing through something that sounded sombre and sad, her fingers knowing this song by rote. She mumbles words softly under her breath as she plays.

Nightingale has posed:
     Music was a draw any time of the year to a familiar winged resident of the mansion. Christmas, perhaps more so than most times of the year. When the sombre notes sounded, each like a little chime that quivered with sadness, Shannon peeks into the music room. In her wake, a delightful aroma like citrus and spices wafts through the air, its source apparent in the bowl full of handcrafted pomander balls she carries with her.

     Remaining near the door, she stays quiet, her brows furrowed lightly with concern. She's dressed for comfort in her two-piece pink satin PJ's, her footfall muffled by the floofy Old English Sheepdog slippers upon her feet.

Prismatic has posed:
    Alexis is dressed down. Ever since taking up Junior Deputy Headmisstress positions, she has dressed more the part, terribly professional looking, hair up -- make up! -- but here, in the quiet of the night she was more herself. A battered sweatshirt with a couple of tea stains against the ends of the sleeves. Jeans and a T-shirt promoting a particular softdrink in Italy. Her hair was down now, and she played as if lost in a memory.

Nightingale has posed:
     Memories could be a good thing. But the look on Alexis' face was one Shannon suspected was often on her own. She only hesitated a moment longer before moving quietly over to the piano, keeping her wings tucked in neatly behind her. Reaching into the bowl she carries, she deposits a dried orange pomander ball atop the piano, its heady, sweet and spicy aroma telling a tale of holiday delights yet to come. "Happy Holidays," she says softly, offering a light smile.

Prismatic has posed:
    The music teacher pauses a moment, her hands lifting off the keys as Shannon startles her, shoulders rising up before she turns to the girl offering the pomander, and her lips crack into a smile.

    "Happy Holidays to you as well, Pigeon." she states with a wry smile.

    "I apologize -- I didn't hear you come in. Bit lost this holiday."

Nightingale has posed:
     "I know what you mean," Shannon replies, a smile tugging her lips upwards at the use of the nickname. Setting the bowl down on top of the piano, she moves a chair over so she can sit down nearby.

     "Got two good ears to bend if you need." She says nothing further, only glancing between the keys and Alexis, extending one hand and wing to touch her shoulder gently in a gesture of support.

Prismatic has posed:
    Alexis gives a wry look to Shannon, and begins to play again. This was something less somber.

    "It's been a little over a year since I moved in here. Just thinking to m'self what a year it has been. Made peace with my mum, introduced Sam to my parents, to my grandparents. Went from busker to teacher to 'someone actually responsible for things'." she jokes. "It's been oddly stressful."

Nightingale has posed:
     Shannon just grins wide and bobs her head, chuckling softly. "Tell me about it. I went from scared out of my mind last summer, to having lived more in a year and some months than some ever do in a lifetime. I'm still fowling up, but... I try to learn from it. Yeah, it /is/ stressful. But you know what?"

     Smiling, she leans over to offer Alexis a one-armed, one-winged hug. "I wouldn't have it any other way. There's Sam, you, Mr. Proudstar, my teachers, my classmates, my teammates, all the people I've met, the friends I've made. It's the people who make it all worthwhile."

Prismatic has posed:
    "You're not fouling it up as much as you think you might, Shan." Alexis replis quietly, lifting her fingers from the keys again, and reaching over to offer a gingerbread man to Shannon.

    "IF you want fouled up, you should see me attempt simple car mechanics."

Nightingale has posed:
     Snickering softly, Shannon accepts the gingerbread man, and... bites its head off. "Gingerbread men are the only perfect ones out there. They're quiet, they're sweet, and if they give you grief, you can bite their heads off." As she munches on the sweet treat, she seems to think for a moment, peering down at the remains of the now-headless gingerbread man. "Maybe you're right on that. /Really/ fowling up would be not even so much as trying to learn from the mistake to begin with."

     With a sheepish grin, she shrugs. "You with car mechanics, me with... well, pretty much the same. And I could still stand to do better at those parkour courses in the DR."

Warpath has posed:
     From the hallway he follows voice and Jimmy walks into the classroom. He frowns thoughtfully and comments,"You two love this place so much you want to be here even during the breaks?" His gaze moves between the two of them,"I mean if you want to have a class I'm sure I can think of something to torture you with."

Prismatic has posed:
    "Mm... and you can dress them up anyway you want..." Alexis remarks quietly, considering the gingerbread man she was nibbling. "Not much for conversation, though. Especially if you bite the heads off first." she replies to Shannon with a smile, and then she turns, looking to James as he makes his entrance, and she purses her lips.

    "James, I /live/ here." she remarks with playful exasperation.

Nightingale has posed:
     Shannon giggles and wiggles a wing in Warpath's general direction. "Shik'isn, you know I spend Christmas here because I love it. Besides, my family's still setting up in their new place in the Poconos. We'll probably have something for New Year's again."

     Nibbling on the gingerbread man, she swings her feet idly back and forth, in her pink satin PJ's and floofy sheepdog slippers. A bowl of dried orange pomander balls rests on the top of the piano, giving off a delightful citrusy, spicy fragrance. "Had a good time having some of the younger students help with those," she says. "Wonder if I can talk Mr. Rasputin into letting the art class help with the rest of the decorations again this year?"

Colossus has posed:
Colossus pokes his head in at that very moment, "I thought I may have heard my name invoked," he says with a raised eyebrow. "I may not have my sister's supernatural senses, but I do still have ears, the last I checked."

He's wearing a dark green Christmas sweater featuring a giant Christmas tree complete with twinkle lights and the phrase, THE DAY IS PINE printed underneath.

"Ah, I see there are snacks. I should have known, if Shannon is around. The young lady is a perpetual baking machine."

Warpath has posed:
     Shaking his head, Jimmy smirks,"I remember as much as I loved the Academy I was always ready to get away for the breaks." He doesn't sound like he really 'loved it', but he enjoyed it. He considers and adds,"I could probably take a few days to help them move if you wanted me to shik'isn."

Prismatic has posed:
    "You still have ears, yes." Alexis remarks to Colossus with a smile, and she stretches her armss up over her head, cracking her fingers a moment.

    "And where would I go? I have so much paperwork to do, and pretty sure if I'm flying Air Cannonball there's significant upcharge for extra baggage." she jokes. "Sam and I will go visit the rest of the Guthrie clan closer to Christmas. For now, I'm just setting up for a couple of things, running finals, practices..."

Nightingale has posed:
     Shannon's eyebrows loft upwards as she turns towards the doorway, smiling lightly towards Mr. Rasputin. "Can't claim this batch of cookies. Think miss Carr made them this time. I just worked on the pomander balls with some of the younger students again, like last year."

     A smile of gratitude is offered to Warpath, and she dips her head. "Ahee-ih-yeh. I'll ask them when I call them next, and see if there's any help they still need. I'm just glad they're out of Connecticut. The area I grew up in was... very mutant-unfriendly. I was actually very frightened for them staying there."

     Turning back to Alexis, Shannon smiles. "Before you head down to visit the clan, I do have a present for you and Sam that's been in the making since last year...."

Jax Miller has posed:
    The sound comes up the corridor. A more succinct writer would consider it coming /down/ the corridor, but that would fly in the face of evidence. Making his way towards the classroom, during break, in the evening, when he has absolutely no reason to be anywhere near here, is Jax. Half dancing his way up to the classroom even, peculiarly shaped headphones with completely unnecessary fake cat ears on the headband providing him with a personal soundtrack. True to form, however, his inner monologue becomes external from time to time, as he attempts to sing along and this time only managing some of it. From the cat that's word perfect in all of Queen?

    "~Under the moonlight! And baila.... baila morena... sumthin sumthing luna sumtin... baila morena... yeah yeah yeah!~"

    He practically sashays into the room, twirls around, seemingly ignores everyone else, and somehow, miraculously, ends up near the plate of gingerbread men. His sense of smell...

Colossus has posed:
Colossus smiles, "My compliments to Alexis then," he says. He partakes of a gingerbread man carefully, taking an arm and chewing thoughtfully. "And yes, we should be getting the decorating into full swing now. I've spent a lot of the afternoon hanging lights and setting up the tree in the yard. Luckily, in my organic steel form, I don't feel the cold. Even if I did, I am a Russian farmer - I might as well be a polar bear.

Warpath has posed:
Nodding towards Colossus, Jimmy comments,"Peter." He's not much for greetings and most people know that too. Crossing his arms he glances towards the arrival of Jax as well and mutters,"So many students for school being closed." A smirk and he looks to Shannon again,"Let me know if they want me to or not. I should get back to teh farms over the break too, make sure everything is in order."

SpyderByte has posed:
Having been sitting in the computer lab for the last few hours, Jeremy has forgot what time it is. He's been plugged in to the world wide web, deep into the dark web and doing God knows what to some third world's country infrastructure. A small 'alarm' goes off on his phone, causing him to blink out of his blank eyed stare at the screen, causing him to lean back and rub at his face with his palms. Pushing himself up to his feet, he gathers up his laptop bag and heads out of the room, then hears voices.

As he peeks in through the door, he offers up a smile at the group, lifting up a hand and waves it energetically towards them. << Hi! >>

Prismatic has posed:
    "Oh no, I didn't make these, my nonna sent them along for me in a care package from Italy." Alexis replies, "I can only do poverty cooking. Ramen, reheated leftovers and Mighty Meals." she replies with a wry smile, rubbing the back of her head a moment before Jax comes storming in, dancing, ignoring everything else around him with his headphones on, and her head tilts a moment. She purses her lips, part in annoyance of the interruption for the conversation, and she reaches up to tap Jax on the shoulder.

    Jeremy's arrival into the room prompts a warm smile over to him as Alexis gives a wave,e and carefully goes to close the cover over the keys.

Nightingale has posed:
     Chuckling softly, Shannon's pale blue eyes twinkle as she looks back over at Alexis. "Welcome to my world," she says. "If you bake it, they will come. Now you know how I feel. Even if yours was a care package." There would be no hope for those cookies lasting past the night, not in the least. "Dang. From Italy? No wonder these are so good. Maybe your nonna and I will have to trade recipes."

     Waving over to Jeremy, she smiles, looking back at the plate of cookies. "Hey, Jer. Looks like you're just in time for some Christmas treats from Italy. Miss Carr's nonna's one helluva cook."

     What starts as a small smile to Warpath and Colossus becomes a wicked little grin. "A polar bear, huh? We'll just have to put that to the test then, with a students versus faculty snowball fight."

Jax Miller has posed:
    For a moment, there is only the smell of gingerbread. Some ancient and immutable instinct has brought him here, and then... there is a tapping on the shoulder. Jax blinks and freezes, tapping the side of his headphones to mute the music and taking them off to hang around his neck. Eyes and ears swivel around, taking in the scene. People. Conversation. Quick mental check, is he dressed? Yes, in a gloriously garish christmas sweater, tail-adjusted tartan lounge pants and thick socks. Nobody has ever made custom slippers for his unique feet. His tail swishes for a moment, and identifies this as reality, not a dream, through the sheer pendulum force it exerts. Right.

    His face brightens in the very essence of a friendly smile, as his ears perk up. "Hi! Sorry, I must have been sleep dancing again. Happens, didn't mean to interrupt, those gingerbread men smell really delicious, are they for sharing?"

    Oof. Saved it? Saved it!

    "Am... I interrupting?"

Colossus has posed:
Colossus shakes his head, "You can never be interrupting here, comrade. Always there is laughter and a gathering of souls underneath the Professor's roof. It's only a matter of finding where it pops up on any given night," he says.

Piotr reaches into his pocket and draws out a folded slip of paper, taking a moment to tack it to the wall with a nearby set of pins, "This is the sign-up sheet for interior decorations. There is another copy in the cafeteria and in the foyer. The foyer also has the sheet for outdoor decorations. If you sign up on that, please make sure you're comfortable being out in the cold for potentially hours at a time. We don't want any frostbitten digits in the name of Christmas cheer, da?"

Warpath has posed:
Glancing around the room, Jimmy notes the number of people still congregating in the school during Christmas break. There is a thoughtful smirk and he comments,"Maybe I should take you all back to the farms and put you to work for the break."

Colossus' sign up sheet gets a glance, but thus far not a signature from Jimmy. Glancing towards his phone he frowns thoughtfully at the screen and then puts it away.

SpyderByte has posed:
<< What's up? >>

Jeremy's voice comes through the phone strapped to his arm. He looks tired. His eyes are a bit red from staring at a screen all day. That and he's jacked up on four Jolts. He heads over to Jax and Shannon, reaching out to wraps his arms about both of them for a quick hug before he snaps up a cookie.

<< Yum. I like cookies. >>

Prismatic has posed:
    "We can only have a snowball fight if Jean and Ororo have to hang back from active participation, and if everyone signs release forms." the now horribly official Deputy Headmistress (Jr) states with a wry note in her voice, and she breathes out, rubbing the back of her head as Jax and Jeremy take gingerbread men.

    "I'd ask my nonna for the recipie, Shannon, but her method of cooking involves invoking our ancestors, and I'm pretty sure actual witchcraft." she jokes. "I'm just not Italian enough to have picked up the talent."

    Says the girl with the olive skin and the horribly British posh accent.

    "Her nose wrinkles at the idea of farmwork.

    "I've not worked on any farmwork since my last trip to Italy."

Nightingale has posed:
     Shannon's eyebrows go up, and she smiles at Alexis. "Still might be interesting. Whatever it is, works. Not about to argue with that." The mention of forms, releases, etc. just gets an eyeroll from the winged healer, and she pinches the bridge of her nose. "Oh please. I should take my own advice here, but don't forget how to have fun, among all the official stuff you do these days."

     As she gets up to head over to the sign-up sheets Colossus has pinned up, she pauses to hug Jax, Jeremy, and Warpath each in turn, smiling. "I'll have to see if I can get some of the recipes from that old cookie cookbook my folks have. The thing's from something like, 1963 or 1964, and it's nothing but cookies. Whole section devoted just to holiday recipes." Her signature is added right away to both sheets, the young woman determined to spread the holiday spirit, come hell or high water.

Jax Miller has posed:
    Italian? Witchcraft? Jax was about to take a large bite out of a gingerbread cookie, even as he employs one arm to hug Jeremy back, but then he moderates the chomp to a respectable nibble. Hmmm. Taste buds work overtime, until his eyes grow large and his ears seem to melt sideways along his head. "Oh wow... haven't had any like this since last year, when we were moored at Palermo." Ah, memories...

    The rest of the cookie gets the same respectful treatment, and Jax nods to Colossus. "I'll sign up for the outdoor decorating. Don't mind a bit of snow and cold." With fur like his, he might not even feel it. And he's probably very handy to have up on a roof. "But ehm, while I'm here... So.... I'm going to be spending Christmas eve and day at home, if everything goes okay. There's ehmm... there's space for a couple more people, if anyone wants to come?"

Colossus has posed:
Colossus puts his hands on his hips, more than pleased to see some of the kids signing up, "Totally voluntary, of course, but the help is always appreciated. It will get done no matter what, but it'll get done faster if we work together," he says.

"I am too big a target for snowball fights. I always get completely covered," he says with a wry grin.

Warpath has posed:
There is a scowl on Jimmy's face as the phone buzzes. He takes the annoying thing out to study it again. He returns the hug Shannon offers,"The farm's new foreman is starting to look like the shorest employed foreman too. I have to go deal with the farm." He offers a wave to everyone in general and starts towards the door, dialing the phone as he goes.

SpyderByte has posed:
Slinking his arm around Jax's waist, Jeremy leans into him as he munches on a cookie. He looks quite happy to be throwing something into his stomach after a long day of computering.

<< What are we signing up for? I'll sign up if I can hang out with my friends. >>

He looks over to Alexis curiously, lifting up and down a few times on his toes after getting a hug from Shannon.