13218/Sometimes Up, Sometimes Down

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Sometimes Up, Sometimes Down
Date of Scene: 06 May 2021
Location: Jean's Office - Xavier's School
Synopsis: A band for Prom night is found. The mystery of the snow leopard deepens. A search-and-rescue mission for Vitali is planned.
Cast of Characters: Nightingale, Phoenix, Rogue




Nightingale has posed:
     It was a clear, sunny, early afternoon, with the last of Shannon's classes just over for the day. Such a day would normally find her out in the backyard, winging her way skywards for some fresh air and exercise, flyer-style.

     But not today.

     Instead, she's gathered up a small assortment of tea bags, a few orange almond pillow cookies, and her wits--such as they were--heading for Miss Grey's office. She's in a pair of denim leggings, her long white t-shirt with 'Mutie Cutie' emblazoned on the front in hot pink with glittery gold and silver accents, and some new-ish white sneakers. Her hair is left long and loose, with the exception of her little ice blue braid on the left side of her face.

     There's a soft knock on the office door, and she calls out, "Miss Grey? Beware students bearing gifts!"

Phoenix has posed:
Work never ends, but that's why she gets paid the big bucks to help keep the school running from licenses and clearances to the supply of pencils and papers. Jean is at her desk as she often is at these times of day and working through her email list. There's the quiet swish as an email goes out and the creak of Jean's chair as she leans back to stretch out her back. As the presence approaching her door hits her perception, she glances over towards the door just before the cracked-open door opens wider.

"Hello, Shannon. Come on in." She asks as she closes her email window to leave her screen on the blank desktop. "What's going on?"

Nightingale has posed:
     The emotions lingering in the wake of Shannon's entrance are somewhat mixed in nature. There's bright, sparkling notes of positivity, but beneath that, there's an undercurrent of mild anxiety and uncertainty. Cookies and tea bags alike are deposited on Miss Grey's desk, and a light smile offered. "A couple of things, but nothing that won't go well over a hot cuppa if you like?"

     Scratching the back of her head, she smiles a little bit more. "On one hand, I might have some good news about music for Prom night, if you're amenable. On the other... well, there's something I've been keeping an eye on, and I'm not quite sure how to address, as it's a tiny bit odd. Possibly related to a past task that Mr. Summers set Herr Wagner and I to at the beginning of March. But even that much, might need a tiny bit of help figuring out."

Phoenix has posed:
"I'm good right now, thanks." Jean says as she gestures towards one of those big water bottles with a sideways glance of lookig like she'd rather not see it. "Trying to make sure I drink more and I kind of feel my own eyeballs swimming right now."

As Shannon starts to speak to why she's here, the redheaded woman gestures towards one of the chairs in front of her desk. "You'll have to fill me in. I'm lucky I remember what I had for lunch yesterday. If it wasn't for my copious amount of notes this place would cease to function. So what's odd enough that it'd made the odd meter here?"

Rogue has posed:
There's no knock when Rogue enters the room. She's got a tablet in one hand, and her free hand sort of opened the door while her hips bumped it open the rest of the way. She's not even really paying attention to anyone or anything, aside from the fact of wondering if Jean was back at the school or not. Her intentions, of course, are to likely lay another note on Jean's desk - to go with the million other ones - because Rogue is like that. It gives Jean something to be several emotions at once. Laughing, crying, angry...a nice little mixture.

So color the southern belle all sorts of surprised when she looks up a few steps in and sees not only Jean, but Shannon as well. She stops in her steps abruptly and assumes a sort of deer in headlights look. "Oh. Ah. Heya Jean. Shannon. I ah...was just gonna drop off some notes here... you know.. some of the weekly affairs that ya might wanna stick yer nose into... or have Summers do it for you. Or somethin'.."

Nightingale has posed:
     While Rogue might be surprised to see the mansion's resident healer in training in Miss Grey's office, the surprise doesn't go both ways. After all, if anything, Rogue probably had more reason and right to be here than Shannon did most of the time anyways! She offers a smile and a brief tick upwards of her chin by way of greeting to the Southern belle, tucking a stray wisp of pale gold away behind her ear before turning back to Miss Grey.

     "Well heck. The more points of view on this one, the better. But maybe I'll lead off with some more pleasant news. Had a nice visit with Andrea and Jay last night, and if you're amenable, and there's time to vet the rest of them before prom, Jay just might be interested in having his band play for Prom. Figured you'd have no problem with an alumni, it's just the rest of the band you'd have to go through the process with."

Phoenix has posed:
"Hey." Jean says towards Rogue as she comes through the door and gestures towards her desk. "You can toss them here, I'll go through them once Shannon and I are done talking. Any of them you need to talk with me directly about?" She begins to ask. As Shannon invites Rogue to give her opinion on matters, she ends up indicating the other spare chair. "Or hang here and we'll get to those next."

She looks back to Shannon at that point and gives a faint nod. "Given its Jay's band, I'm sure they'll be trustworthy, given that I believe they've played at Club Evolution before. I can contact him later to speak with him about it. So tell me about this project from March. Fill me in and what's going on now related to it."

Rogue has posed:
"Oh, just keeping you informed via official paperwork and notes and such about the thing you and Scott may have been alerted on last night." In other words, Rogue was going to drop off something official-like in triplicate of Juggernaut's visit. Since it involves the school as much as the mansion, Jean gets a copy. As does Scott. Cause it was a whole deal. "We can surely touch base on it a bit here in a moment cause, yes." She nods and then raises a brow when Shannon sort of pulls her in on wanting another opinion on something. So, she walks further in, sets the tablet down on Jean's desk in a clear spot (if she can find one :P) and then sits in the other empty chair.

"I really didn't mean to interrupt, but if it's somethin' I can help with, then I'm surely all for it." She offers this much more with a smile and crosses one denim covered leg over the other. She's going casual right now, but still long sleeves, jeans, boots, gloves, the works. Just more loose fitting so she doesn't have a heat stroke or something.

Nightingale has posed:
     "No interruption, but I'm not quite sure how to handle this one, miss Rogue." Shannon smiles to her, chuckling lightly. "By the way, I still owe you some pickles. Dill, sweet, or eggs?"

     Turning back to Miss Grey, she takes a deep breath, gathering her thoughts. "Back in the end of February to the beginning of March, I'd noticed a rough campsite very close to, but not directly on school grounds, while on one of my oh-dark-stupid morning runs. While the two gentlemen camping there were certainly friendly enough, I wasn't certain if it should be a point of concern that they were so close to school grounds. As it turned out, Herr Wagner had run into the same site, and we both approached Mr. Summers about the matter. He tasked us with the matter of encouraging them to move their site a bit farther away at that time."

     Shannon finally settles down in the one empty chair left near the desk, scratching the back of her head. "This may seem a bit of a tangent here, but I promise, is related. Have either of you been seeing the news about sightings of a snow leopard in the area? And it seems to be wandering a bit closer to oh, right around here?"

Phoenix has posed:
"You're good." Jean assures Rogue. "I do want to touch on his visit, so this is actually good."

She turns back to Shannon then as she begins the rundown of events. "Mm, I remember seeing a memo about that. Being as they didn't seem to be infringing on the grounds, it didn't seem like there was much to be concerned about and it sounded like it was resolved."

There's a tilt of her head at discussion of the errant leopard. "I heard about it on the radio. I figured it was someone's lost illegal pet, given that it didn't seem like any zoos or sanctuaries were claiming it. Are you saying that these individuals are still camping in the woods and this leopard may attack them?"

Rogue has posed:
Rogue nods to Jean first and then her attention turns to Shannon after a moment. "I've been tryin' ta keep an ear out for those alerts. That leopard sure does get around... I'm almost wonderin' if it ain't quite all leopard." She offers this much and settles back in her chair some.

"Actually what I thought about doin' is goin' for a fly over some of the places it's been spotted, see if I can find it, and maybe see if I can figure out what it really is." Rogue says further. "But then I've gotten caught up with school and X-Men stuff, which is fine... just... it's been on the back of my mind these last couple days."

Nightingale has posed:
     "Funny you should mention that, miss Rogue...." Shannon glances between Miss Grey and Rogue, leaning forward a little bit, giving a light flick of her wings and preening the ruffled feathers. "After a few further amicable encounters with the two gentlemen, one by the name of Xiang Zhao, and the other named Vitali, both seemed to have moved on of their own accord, with the former campsite returned to the wild as they found it."

     "However...." Here, she peers over at Rogue, biting her lower lip. "During one of those encounters, I came across a snow leopard at that campsite, with an injured paw. It approached me as if it knew me, and Vitali's animal companion, an eagle he called Soraya, did not seem at all spooked by it, which was just as odd as a snow leopard being there in the first place. But there was no sign of Vitali--or so I thought. Boy, was I ever wrong."

     After a brief pause to let this sink in, she adds, "Turns out Vitali -was- the snow leopard. A shapeshifter. I was left with the impression it was more of a shaman's gift, rather than a mutation, but that's one point I never did ask outright. At any rate, to make a long story short, I helped heal his foot since a healer's gift oftentimes doesn't work on themselves, he reciprocated so I wouldn't be left dealing with the aftermath, and that was the last I saw of the snow leopard."

     Shannon's brows furrow deeply now, and she steeples her fingers together, just in front of her chin. Letting out a soft sigh, she finally continues after several moments. "When I saw the video clips on the news of the snow leopard sightings, I recognized the creature as Vitali. But it's very odd he's maintained the form long enough to let his condition deteriorate as it has been over the past few days and reported sightings. I'm very concerned something's gone wrong and he may be in need of help. But if he's been in leopard form that long, I'm not so certain I'd want to approach him alone." She presses her lips together in a thin line, letting out another sigh. "And it looks like the leopard was heading back towards this area, somewhere that felt safe once, maybe could feel safe again. Possibly towards the old campsite, I don't know for sure."

Phoenix has posed:
"Mm, so, this isn't just an issue for animal control then." Jean murmurs as she reaches up to rub at her temple briefly as she seems to be mulling over this information. "The theory holds water. It's not uncommon for shapeshifters that I've talked to say there's a danger in staying too long as an animal and that humanity can be lost over time."

"I don't know if Dani is available, but she may have some insight in dealing with animals. it's a shame that Rahne isn't in town, she would be ideal to assist. Andrea may be another source of information. While I can't say this is an X-Men concern, I get your concernsi n general. If this isn't a natural animal, it also puts people like animal control at risk. Rogue, maybe you can team up with Logan or Jimmy since they have skills with tracking and can team up with you two in the air. So long as you stay out of range of getting mauled, Shannon, you can go along as you're the most familiar with this individual. I'm no expert when it comes to animal minds, but if needed I can try to get through to his human one."

Rogue has posed:
Rogue seems to think on this a moment as Shannon explains it. "A shapeshifter who's stuck in their animal form. Or maybe one of a few animal forms. Yeah...might be something we look into." She glances to Jean. "I can take the lead on this one if you'd like me to Jean. I'll talk to Logan, we'll team up with Shannon and get this figured out. That way we're not spending any resources except man power, and we can ensure the school's safety on a number of levels."

It's not often Rogue takes up the mantle, but when she does, she's good for it. Having been spending a lot of time recently getting her confidence back, she's now trying to prove once and for all that Charles made the right choice bringing her on as an X-Men, and further for Jean letting her be a part of school staffing. Sort of.

Nightingale has posed:
     Shannon breathes a sigh of relief, her wings even slumping a little bit behind her as if they and her shoulders had been holding up a bit of a weight that had been lifted away. "Thank you. The last thing I want is to see anyone in danger from this. I'm not quite sure what might have prompted Vitali to remain in snow leopard form for as long as he has." She glances up, looking between both Miss Grey and Rogue. "There's two more points. One, I did manage to build a light rapport with Vitali's animal companion, so if by some chance Soraya still remembers my whistle, that could be a possible way to shorten the search time. Two, Vitali mentioned Siberia as his motherland, plus I did mention just once--without mentioning the school, mind you--having a friend that spoke Russian. May I offer the suggestion that Mr. Rasputin possibly join in as well?"

Phoenix has posed:
"Alright, Rogue, go ahead and take lead." Jean says to the white-striped X-Man with an affirming nod of her head. "Megan may be another good choice. Her pixie dust can help settle him without having to shoot the poor man with tranqs, and she has knowledge of magic in the event this is shaman-based as opposed to a mutation. Peter can certainly help with language if you think it would be useful."

"Shannon, just make sure to stay out of the line of fire. I don't need to send your family a memo about you getting mauled by an lost snow leopard. That'd be awkward. You can certainly try to see if this familiar will be of use."

"Just keep to the usual rules. Keep it quiet, keep it clean, keep me in the loop. We can have Dani find Brightwind a temporary place to stay so we can secure Vitali in the stables until he's back to himself. Once you recover him, let me know if you need any psychic help."

Rogue has posed:
Rogue nods and then stands from her chair. "I'll file it away, and see what we can put together. I don't think it should involve too many hands, so we'll focus on keeping the hands that are best to take along." This much then as she looks between Jean and Shannon. Her attention goes back to Jean. "We can talk about the other thing later. Most of what happened is in my report. There's another small matter along with it, but we can talk about it at a later time." Then she offers a smile and tilts her head one way.

Nightingale has posed:
     "I do think it would be useful. In stressful situations, it's not uncommon for people to revert to speaking their first language--and I'm afraid not all of what I know is very, well... polite." She tries not to smile too much at that, but leaves it be. "I'm a touch hesitant about Megan, as she's sometimes a little quick to use the dust. But the teleportation might be handy in a bind."

     Listening to the rest of the layout for what has turned into an odd search-and-rescue, she simply nods slowly. "Will do, miss Grey. I have no plans on making any extra business for my dad on this one." A smile of gratitude is offered to the fiery-haired headmistress, the younger woman getting to her feet and crossing over to offer a hug. "Thank you."