6985/To Save A Soul: Purim

To Save A Soul: Purim
Date of Scene:	21 March 2019
Location:	A Jewish Temple in New York City
Synopsis:	Magneto responds to an invite from his daughter, to find Lorna, Kitty, and Kitty's mother taking him to celebrate the holiday of Purim at a Jewish temple. Part of their attempt to help Erik renew his faith.
Cast of Characters:	Polaris, Shadowcat, Magneto

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Polaris has posed:
The last few weeks had been chaos to say the least. Sentinels and threats all about. Genosha and the rest of mutant-kind waited with baited breath on what the world might do--trip one way toward Genocide or the other, away, toward hope. It was fitting then, that Lorna Dane, the youngest of Magneto's children and Princess of Genosha had decided with Kitty's help to reach out and do something for her father. Something she knew that he hadn't participated in, or been involved with for a long time

His faith.

And small wonder, given his tragedies and the horrors he'd gone through as a young man. The loss he'd experienced time and again. Lorna couldn't fault her father for that, even if at the same time, she wished it could be different.

As the sun started to get lower in the sky, Lorna paced the sidewalk outside the temple in New York they'd picked to visit. One that Kitty's mother knew well and felt comfortable with. That part had been Kitty's doing... Now was the tricky part. Would her father actually show? The way she'd phrased the request for a visit had been round about, asking if he could get a portal over to where she was and if they could spend time together. Maybe visit some places in New York together as father and daughter, rather than Princess and King of Genosha. A simple request, hopefully meant to get her father to //not// arrive in armor with helmet in hand.

The green haired woman paced the parking lot, dressed in head to toe glitter with fairy wings and extra color sprayed into her hair. In her grip she held several colorful gift bags, tissue paper peaking through from the tops.

Shadowcat has posed:
A Toyota Avalon pulls up into the parking lot and Kitty steps out of the driver's seat. She spots Lorna across the way and waves as she moves to open the backseat door and dig inside. Kitty is just wearing dark clothing it looks like. Where is her costume?

As Kitty attends to something in the car, Kitty's mother Theresa emerges from the car. One does not have to look very hard to see the resemblance between mother and daughter. She flew in from Deerfield the morning before, but had lived for a time in New York and knows the temple here well.

Kitty's mother is dressed up as a bottle of hot sauce, complete with a hat like a lid and the tabasco logo on the front. She affixes her hat and then retrieves some bags from the back of the car. Kitty finishes grabbing the rest of her costume, sliding a picture frame down about herself so she is part of the picture from about her stomach up. The backdrop is that of the Mona Lisa, and Kitty's clothing and hair are done in the same style as the famous painting.





The pair make their way over to Lorna, carrying gift bags. Kitty flashes Lorna a brilliant smile. "Lorna, this is my mother, Theresa," she offers. Theresa moves over and will give Lorna a warm hug and kisses on the cheeks. "Kitty's told me so much about you. Thank you for inviting us today," she says.

Magneto has posed:
     The portal which Lorna has requested was opened, through it one could see the backdrop of the Genoshan coast, and through it steps Magneto, not dressed in kingly regalia, nor battle armor, nor his trademark helmet. But a burgundy button-down, and black slacks, boots of black leather had been polished to a spit shine, a practice he had done since he was a boy, learned from his father.

  No costume as of yet it seems, of course this was because of the cheeky rouse Lorna played on her father.

  He looks to either side as he steps through, seeing everyone dressed so festive, the man looked quite confused. "Is this a parade or some sort?" He asks his daughter, dressed as la fee verte. Then looking to Kitty in her costume, the Mona Lisa, among with Theresa, as the worlds largest Tabasco bottle. "Lorna, what have you wrangled me into?" He asks, silver-white hair glistening in the light.

Polaris has posed:
Lorna flashed Kitty and her mother a grin as she stood waiting by their car when the doors opened up and Kitty got out. She stepped over lightly, her high heels of silver color coated thickly in glitter clopped against the pavement as she moved. The young woman looked down right fae in her costume, the make up and sheer amount of glitter was silly, but it suited for her lithe build as well as the holiday.

"Kitty! Hey!" As Kitty made introductions Lorna held her hand out, surprised when the other woman made to embrace her instead, getting glitter everywhere. Still Lorna hugged Kitty's mother back, grinning as she held out one of the colorful gift bags toward the pair. "Thank you so much for doing this and coming. It'll help I think, to get him to come with." She stepped back, glancing over her shoulder as a portal opened up and her father stepped out and through, Genosha fading from view as it shut behind him.

At least, her father dressing nicely would at least fit in with the older crowd. He wouldn't be completely out of place.

"Dad," She grinned, making her way over to her father and making to loop her arm through his. "Happy Purim." She offered, floating up a few inches from the ground to press a kiss on his cheek, before she held out a gift bag to him.

Shadowcat has posed:
Kitty let out a warm laugh of delight as her mother greets Lorna in more Midwestern fashion than with how one treats royalty. "For you," Kitty says to Lorna, offering over the gift bag which includes some of her mother's home cooking. The two Pryde women give big smiles as Lorna gives them a gift as well.

Speaking of her mother, Theresa Pryde gives the tiniest of gasps as the portal opens. Knowing that such things happen frequently in her daughter's life is much different than actually seeing them happen. Kitty reaches over and gives her mother's arm a reassuring squeeze. "This is her father, Erik," Kitty says softly.

The pair move over, letting father and daughter greet one another. When it is an appropriate moment, Kitty says softly, "Erik, glad that you made it." It's a change, her calling him Erik instead of Magneto. "This is my mother, Theresa Pryde," she says.

Kitty's mother offers Erik a friendly smile. "Kitty's told me a lot about what you've done for mutants, and she speaks very well of your daughter. Chag Purim Sameach," Theresa tells him, including the traditional Purim greeting at the end. "Please accept these from both of us," she says, offering a bag that contains, amongst other things, hamantaschen pastries with various fillings. Especially chocolate!

Magneto has posed:
     Once the initial shock of the revelation fades, Erik feels Lorna's kiss upon his cheek. And the gift she had for him. "Purim? But that's not..." Then he realized the date, even for as old as he was, he had a sharp memory, the holidays though...are a little more hazy when you haven't practiced in around eighty years.

  His lips pout ever so slightly, thinking to himself in moments what to do. "Happy Purim, Lorna." He says gently, that pocket watch she gave him, tucked into his pocket, fobchain dangled from his belt.

  Then his attention is turned to Kitty and her mother. "Kitty, it's good to see you." He says, softening, or at least starting to soften. Then the gift from the Prydes. "Thank you very much, my dear." He says, the first cracks of a smile appearing on his face. Hearing the greeting takes him back, before the painful memories, to celebrations before the Reich, the merriment. Almost all of these mental pictures start to flood him, and despite his attempts to look stoic or even slightly happy, his eyes start to well with a tear. "Your daughter, madam, once inadvertently reminded me why I started my endeavors...saved me from..." A pause, then a softening again. "Becoming my own antithesis." He'll leave it at that, no sense in expounding further, especially in this joyous time.

Polaris has posed:
Lorn dug into the gift bag for the tell tale feel of the triangle shaped cookies that were so custom for the holiday, grinning and oo'ing over the chocolate filling that puffed up in the middle. She flashed Kitty a grin, biting into the cookie shuffling the armful of gift bags from one hand to the other as she did so. "These are delicious Mrs. Pryde." She offered, glancing back to her father, watching and waiting to see his reactions. To see how he handled the revelations of why she'd asked him to come out. How he'd handle the idea as the traditions for the holiday slowly progressed.

Purim at least was a happy holiday. A holiday where their people won, escaped destruction...

As her father's voice grew taut and she caught the sound of the slight hitch in his voice she finished off the cookie and reached out her hand toward her father, leaving a smear of glitter and chocolate against her glossy, shiny, skirts before she reached for his hand. Her touch at once gentle and patient, as she tried to give his hand a squeeze and wrap her magnetic powers around her father's in a strengthening of their magnetic bonds.

"I think service is about to start, if you feel up for it, Dad?"

Shadowcat has posed:
Hearing Erik's comment about the past interaction Erik had with her daughter, Theresa Pryde looks over to Kitty. "I don't think she shared that part with me," Theresa says, though her eyes shine for Kitty with the emotion that is their family namesake. "I'm glad that she could be there for you. It's nice to know she hasn't forgotten everything her father and I taught her," Theresa says.

Kitty gives the exasperated sigh that daughters everywhere have for their mothers at the comment, but smiles as she slides her arm around her mother's waist to side-hug her. "We all have to look out for each other," Kitty says, eyes going back to Erik as the man's memories stir emotions. She smiles over to Erik with a soft warmth that needs no words to tell him that she's happy he's there.

"My mother used to attend this temple," Kitty shares, while her mother is basking in Lorna's enjoyment of the sweet treats. "It would mean a lot if you'll join us," Kitty tells Erik. If chooses to them, she'll offer to hook an arm through his, the other going to hold her mother's hand so they can go in together as a group.

Magneto has posed:
     Erik Indeed feels that intertwining of magnetic fields from Lorna, it was something they could do so well, an invisible way of letting the other know they are there, or at the worst of times, repelling. He grasped at the hand that clasped his, and looked to his daughter. He knew what she was doing, and much like the gesture she gave him in December, it made the hardened old man give just a little more.

  "I haven't been to temple in...well, it was a very long time ago." The two young ladies knew when it was, years before January 27th, 1945. Erik wasn't allowed to stay at the camp with the infirm and elderly. He was forced to march to Wodzislaw with the healthy Jews at the end of an SS rifle. "Let us then, before we lose good seats." He says, gently, no but the bravado he had been well known for.

Polaris has posed:
The ceremony went on as it usually did, with laughter and noise makers. Booing and hissing appropriately. Cheering and noises for the kids. All of whom were dressed up in over the top costumes. Some home made, some themed to match the tale told, and some just bought off the internet. There were several small kids running around as various superheroes. The group fit in like any other group. Erik, wasn't the only one not in costume. A few other older people here or there wore their Shabbat clothes instead. The group was welcomed with open arms and friendly smiles and greetings, and promptly invited to the congregation's large hall in the back for the after party.

There, one main room was set up for the adults to drink and eat and party away. The kids meanwhile were ushered to the more quieter, tamer part of the Temple, toward where classrooms sat with decorations and child friendly activities.

The hall was decked out in streamers and balloons, someone was playing party music though not too loudly at least.

And food was stacked high on tables all along the edges of the room, the rest filled in with tables that were quickly being filled in by people in costumes and plates of food.

Shadowcat has posed:
The longer that Lorna and her father spend with the two Pryde women, the easier it is to see how much daughter takes after mother. Theresa has the same kind of generally positive outlook as her daughter. But like Kitty, the elder Pryde is not afraid to show some spunk, joining in the hooting and horse-sounds when Haman is mentioned, and cheering for Mordechai and Esther. Kitty joins right in as well, casting occasional encouraging grins over to Eric and Lorna as she does.

The small group moves into the area of the adult festivities, Theresa Pryde removing the faux hot sauce cap that is her hat, and straightening her hair. She barely has time to get it set aside when someone comes by distributing glasses of wine. "Kitty used to get so upset she couldn't join the adults on Purim," Theresa comments.

Kitty laughs and picks up a slice of cheese to nibble on as she holds her wine glass. "I just know I'm going to be feeling this in the morning," she comments. "Speaking of, my boyfriend got a set of rooms at the hotel next door that we can use tonight," Kitty shares.

Magneto has posed:
     Erik had kept to himself mostly, though by the end of the ceremony, he had been brazen enough to give some hollers.

  "To be honest, we were allowed but one glass of wine when I was a child on Purim. It was a celebration after all." It was also the early forties.

  A glass is taken as offered to him, and the merriment begins. Of course Erik starts off easy. He drank, but drank mostly in certain situations. This was one of them.

Polaris has posed:
Lorna was in high spirits. Her father had sat through the whole of the ceremony, all ..thirty some odd minutes of it. It was short, but it was meant to be. It was a time of celebrations, not long and drawn out ceremonies. Still, she was grinning from ear to ear through most of it, particularly as the end came and they went to the back rooms for the festivities. She hadn't grown up in a particularly religious house, her aunt and uncle, though no actual relation didn't care one way or the other. Though she had found Yiddish poems and lullabies her mother had scribbled in books as she'd grown up, left behind in boxes and covered in dust to be forgotten.

It was the first time she'd celebrated with her father, with anyone in her family, and she couldn't help but soak it all in with utter delight.

The still glitter covered woman took care to not take out people with the fairy wings on her back as she accepted a glass of wine with a murmured thank you and her gaze swinging toward Kitty. "Really? I didn't even think about that. I just assumed I might end up portaling home or something." She shrugged, and realized that most people didn't plan on designated portalers to get them from place to place when drunk.

"The hotel might be a good idea though." She grinned and glanced back to her father, her expression sobering slightly as she sipped at the wine and watched him with rapt attention as he spoke. It was so rare to see her father like this, the only other time had been when she'd given him the pocket watch. It felt like she was peeling back layers upon layers of hardened steel to peek in at something precious.

"The drinking age in Europe is still lower than here..?" She offered lightly.

Shadowcat has posed:
Kitty's mother takes the other seat beside Eric, smiling over to the older man as she takes a sip of her wine. "My father was a strict believer in Rabbi Rava," she says of the rabbi who said in the Talmud that they should drink tonight until they cannot tell the difference between the words 'cursed is Haman' and 'blessed is Mordecai'. Mrs. Pryde continues with a warm laugh, "Though my mother always said it had more to do with his love of wine."

Kitty grins and holds up her glass in a toast, clinking it against everyone else's and then taking a long sip from it. On top of Lorna's question about Europe, Kitty says, "I can only imagine how tremendous the wine was there as well. Though I guess California is not bad, I guess it has nothing on French grapes?"

She takes another sip of her wine after asking the inadvertent questions that might continue bringing back memories of those times for Erik.

Magneto has posed:
     Erik continues to speak with Mrs. Pryde, looking to the lady and raising her glass. "We lived in Dusseldorf, before we were forced to flee." He admits, before taking a sip of the wine. "Beer was the drink of pride there." He says, mixed feelings about the country and time he was born in.

  "Yes, Lorna, I should dare say that we may need to take Kitty up on the offer. Allow Clarice some respite." The one kingly thing he says at the moment, setting the glass down and tracing its rim with his finger. "I learned early on that the drink cannot heal the pain there." He lifts the glass and drinks. "Zu meine Familie. L'chaim." He says, looking to Lorna as he declares.

Polaris has posed:
Lorna watched the interactions between her father and Kitty's mother with rapt focus, listening as the two went back and forth over old memories and times long past. Though her father's were significantly more tainted with misery, there was some camaraderie there. Her father was more relaxed than she'd seen him in a long while and as she sipped her wine, she grabbed at some cookies she'd snagged from a plate on the table and nibbled away at them. These were filled with apricots. Not as good as chocolate ones, but still pretty good.

She glanced briefly toward Kitty as her friend mentioned the different quality of wines. "Genosha is technically a volcanic island. I wonder if we could grow grapes..." She mused, thoughtful. Genosha made wine could be something interesting for sure. It was certainly warm enough, possibly too warm?

Her focus returned to her father as he mentioned giving Clarice the night off and she nodded, glancing down at her glitter covered costume. She was going to leave smears of glitter //everywhere//. The poor hotel staff. Her thoughts drifted back to her father as he toasted her and she offered a faint smile ringed with no small amount of concern for her father's mood.

"I'll shoot her a text and let her know then. I'll make sure she gets some cookies tomorrow though. I think she'll like some."

Shadowcat has posed:
Kitty Pryde is enjoying her wine from the looks of it, though keeping her pace to one that should allow her to last the evening. Well. Most of it.

Kitty's mother reaches over to touch Erik on the arm saying, "My people, and Kitty's father, were all from Gdansk," she tells him. "Oh, the beer, the sausage, the wurst, that they would all make," Theresa Pryde says with a smile. "My father didn't make it out in time though. Not until after," she says. She really doesn't have to be more explicit what events she's speaking of, but at least it seems he survived them, as did Erik.

"L'chaim," Theresa Pryde agrees before taking a long drink of her wine. "I'm glad that we had the time we did to be a family together in Illinois," she says. Theresa looks over to Lorna to smile to her. "We are blessed with our children, are we not?" she asks Erik, raising her glass in a toast to both of the daughters present.

Kitty raises her glass to to drink. She looks back over to Lorna to say, "I'm going to have go there to visit. My father is living there, incidentally."

Magneto has posed:
     The revelation of Kitty's grandfather's internment has Erik's brow raise. "Indeed, a shame, all of it. I had hoped to never see the like again."

  His glass raised again as he joins the toast to their daughters. "Yes, very much so. All three of mine, and yours as well."

  The man once known as Max lowered his glass again, spinning the glass from the stem. Looking back on the events today, he was pleased his daughter cared so much for him and his history.