8892/Keeping Grounded

Keeping Grounded
Date of Scene:	20 August 2019
Location:	Study Hall - Xavier's School
Synopsis:	Elixir checks in on Nightingale and gets to hear some of her music.
Cast of Characters:	Nightingale, Elixir

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Nightingale has posed:
     Around mid-afternoon that day, with the sun shining and most with any good sense outdoors enjoying the relatively balmy weather, one student has remained inside, taking refuge in the study hall. Shannon's curled up in a chair with a desk in front of her, by one of the windows facing out to the vast, manicured expanse of the front yard. She has a slightly older but still very nice laptop on the desk in front of her, and she's chosen her location well to take advantage of the power outlet close by. She's got a pair of headphones plugged into the laptop, and also what looks like a small keyboard with keys like a piano, instead of letters. She seems lost in the task, though more like a cat than any avian, she also seems to be enjoying the warmth of the sunlight pouring in.

Elixir has posed:
Josh has been looking for Shannon and thankfully, one of the psychics pointed him in the right direction. Sure enough, young mutant was in the study hall. He walks in, hands in his pockets and makes his way down the center aisle of the room until he would be in Shannon's line of sight if she looked up.

He smiles, sits his butt against one of the desks and waits for Shannon's concentration to break and her to notice another person in the room. It is an opportunity, too. Josh had /felt/ Shannon's wings and the structure of them in healing her during their training exercises. But he had never really just looked at Shannon and considered them.

Nightingale has posed:
     Shannon's wings flutter in time with the soft beat she's tapping on the edge of the desk, which is then echoed in the notes she enters with the small keyboard hooked up to her laptop. It's not a side of her many have seen yet, perhaps only one or two in any real depth. Her brows furrow as wings and fingers go still, the young mutant stymied by some creative roadblock. It's then that she looks up, azure eyes widening slightly as she realizes she's not alone. She smiles, though not quite the bright, wide ray of sunshine some might have come to expect from her, and she slides the headphones down to rest around the back of her neck. "Hi, Josh! Wow, when did you get here? I didn't even hear you come in!"

Elixir has posed:
"Couple of minutes ago," Josh replies with a grin. "You were really into whatever you were doing so I didn't, like, want to interrupt, you know?"

Josh gets up and walks over to take a seat at a desk beside Shannon's. "Whatca working on?"

Nightingale has posed:
Shannon blushes a little bit, and turns her laptop to face him. On the bottom of the program interface is what looks like a piano keyboard, with an area up top filled with colorful bars and what appear to be soundwave patterns. On the right-hand side is what is very likely a collection of various instrument sounds, music loops, and other tools to let her craft new pieces. "Just messing around a little. It's hothing really good, not yet. The percussion parts are always the worst for me... melody and harmony, not so bad."

Elixir has posed:
"Cool!" Josh says with a grin when Shannon explains. "So you're like, a music producer kind of? Or more like a composer? I know, like, nothing about music. Does it show?"

"I won't ask you to hear if you don't want, but it'd be cool to hear something sometime, you know?" Josh says.

Nightingale has posed:
Shannon nods and blushes a bit. "Don't know about producer, I usually wind up writing most of my own stuff. I mean, if I find some drum loops I like or some sound effects, sure, I love working those into a piece, but mostly I just want it to come from in here, you know?" She taps her heart, smiling faintly.

Upon Josh's request to hear something of hers, she nods, pulling her earphones off from around her neck and passing them over to him. She saves the project she's working on, and opens up an older one, already complete, within her music program. Waiting until the headset is on him, she hits the 'play' button and waits, quiet while he listens.

Elixir has posed:
Josh takes the headphones and slips them on. He waits expectantly for the music to start. The young man looks thoughtful at first, then a half-smile creeps up on him. Josh hands the headphones back to Shannon after the song finishes.

"That's really beautiful, Shannon," Josh says. "Man, you've got a few hidden talents, don't you."

Nightingale has posed:
Shannon turns flame red, ducking her head. "They need some work. I don't ever expect to make anything of my music... not after my change. So you work on what you can still do, know what I mean?" There's a hint of raw pain in her voice, as if a limb was lost in the process of shelving her music. "Like I told Mason... dreams change. But there's still plenty that can be done."

Elixir has posed:
"What? I don't get it? Why would your change stop you from making anything of your music?" Josh asks with a softening expression. "I mean, if it's important to you..."

Nightingale has posed:
Shannon shrugs. "Not everyone's all that understanding. Something you find out the hard way. When you get slammed for being a mutant... it can take the heart out of you sometimes for things you loved before." She shrugs, and smiles some. "So I just keep it to myself. Maybe I'll never join the Boston Symphony or anything, but there's still plenty of good these hands can do anyways."

Elixir has posed:
"Hmm," Josh says a little sadly. "Dazzler and Andrea Jackson made it, there's lots of mutants who do, but I hear you. I do. Making it in anything is hard enough, even harder when you've got a strike against you from the start. I mean, I never thought I'd be allowed to heal in hospitals, but now I can. Dunno. Sorry, just seems shitty."

Josh is quiet a moment.

"So, like, I wanted to check on you. I mean like, a lot's happened, you know? The bus and that chain guy, and the school is just kind of crazy sometimes, you know? How're you doing?"

Nightingale has posed:
     "I'm no Dazzler, or Andrea Jackson, or Mason, though. Nowhere near their caliber... and I've heard Mason here, so yeah. Maybe someday. Maybe it'll just take one person hearing this music that doesn't give a hoot where it came from. But even if it only touches one heart and makes someone smile, then it's worth it." Shannon smiles a little bit, saving her work and closing the laptop, gathering all her electronic music gadgetry together in a neat little stack.

     The mention of the bus and the recent incidents have her actually -smiling- a bit more. "When it comes to all that crazy stuff... better than even I would have thought. You'd think that bus incident would've scared the pants off me but no. Oddly enough it didn't. Neither did Spawn. And neither did the Sentinels yesterday." Indeed, there are a few very well-healed scrapes on her arms, and a couple on her face, with bruises that, while ugly the day before, look as if they'd had a week or more to heal. Too, there are a good handful of feathers missing from the tips of her wings, as if they had been torn out. "It's weird, but those did the exact opposite."

Elixir has posed:
Josh tilts his head curiously. "Who's Spawn?" he asks.

"Different people react differently to the fights, glad it's not messing with you," Josh says and runs a hand through his hair. "Sounds like you're fitting in pretty good then?"

Nightingale has posed:
     "Spawn's the chain guy. I didn't actually fight him, they had me flying lookout outside, remember?" Now it's Shannon's turn to tilt her head, running her fingers through her hair. "Are we on the same page here?"

     She shrugs lightly, leaning back in her chair, looking over at Josh. "I'm trying. Right now, I'm just happy to get along and stay in one piece. If that's fitting in, then yeah." She smiles somewhat lopsidedly.

Elixir has posed:
"I didn't know the guy's name is all, when'd we find that out? Would've been easier than calling him creepy chain guy all the time," Josh says lightly.

"Well, one piece should be like, a given," Josh says. "You're here to go to school somewhere safe and have a future. That's the most important part. Make friends, do well in school, you know?"

Nightingale has posed:
Shannon blinks, a little confused. "I thought I heard him called that by the time we had that training scenario in the danger room. Wonder if I heard it wrong?" She shrugs and smiles somewhat. "Still figuring out just what that future is, but I've got a feeling it's going to be around here. I guess everyone's trying to piece together their future no matter if they're in school or not, if you think about it."

Elixir has posed:
Josh shrugs. "Wasn't from me, nobody told me his name. I thought he was some random person we tracked down and attacked for no reason," Josh says dryly.

"Anyway, yeah, that's all anyone's doing," Josh says with a smile. "Glad everything's cool though. I won't like, keep you from your music, so I'll see you around," he adds and gets up.

Nightingale has posed:
Shannon nods and smiles some. "Hey... it's nice catching up with you. I sure hope your girlfriend wasn't taking it the wrong way when I mentioned studying with you at the party, though. I'd feel pretty rotten if that made trouble for you."

Elixir has posed:
Josh looks amused. "Wanda? Wouldn't bother her in a million years," Josh assures Shannon with a smile.

"She wouldn't be with me if she thought I was a creep going after high school girls, you know? Dudes like that belong in jail. You're cool. She was just happy to put a face to a name."

Nightingale has posed:
Shannon nods, and smiles. "Whew, well that's good. That party was more intimidating than any of the fights recently, to be honest. Guess the only way to get used to those is to go if the chance ever comes up again." She shakes her head and laughs a bit. "You, a creep? Yeah, right. Well... at least that Darren kid hasn't tried to track me down...."

Elixir has posed:
Josh laughs. "Yeah, he was your age at least," Josh says and runs a hand through his hair.

"If you wanna get used to those you can totally go for me next time, or hang out with Roberto. Felt so out of place," Josh jokes. "Anyway, gonna run. Have a good one!"

Josh smiles and waves and makes his way back out of the room.

Nightingale has posed:
Shannon waves and laughs. "I won't go -for- you, but if you need someone to tag along, look me up. And hang out with Roberto? Don't see much of him, that's kind of difficult." She shakes her head, chuckling, putting her headset back on and opening up her laptop, going right back to honing her lesser-known craft.