9961/Speak No Evil....

Speak No Evil....
Date of Scene:	08 November 2019
Location:	Roof Tower - Xavier's School
Synopsis:	Chris and Shannon discuss the encounter with Loki. Cannonball is brought into their confidence, and the pendant is spirited away from school grounds for safekeeping.
Cast of Characters:	Nightingale, Triage, Cannonball

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Nightingale has posed:
     It had been more of an eventful evening than she could have anticipated. But sometimes it was impossible to do the right thing. Set one thing to rights, and a cascade of others could go very, very wrong, very quickly. When Shannon had seen the familiar, very dear faces of her friends in the kitchen, for once it had been too much, and she beat a hasty retreat to sort out some very mixed feelings in the relative quiet of the roof tower.

Triage has posed:
If Shannon hoped to hide, she failed. A trail of feathers fell while she fled, possibly due to the stress that she felt, as had happened twice in the recent past. Chris followed them like bread-crumbs from the kitchen, through the mansion, to the tower. Driven by worry, he climbed the stairs to reach her. When he reaches the landing, he takes a deep breath and exhales. His eyes dart around the large open space.

Nightingale has posed:
     It's chilly on the rooftop, but the trail of feathers leads to the small storage room, and the door is slightly ajar. If Chris were to go inside, the chair is not unoccupied, the guitar case laid out on the desk and open. There is a slightly out-of-tune plucking of the strings, but the sound stops. "No, that's not right..." The voice is shaky, as if the speaker is on the edge and trying to shift focus to something more constructive. After a few moments more, the lowest string is plucked, the tone bending as it's adjusted, and finally reaches the correct pitch. "Better... why can't life be this simple..."

Triage has posed:
Chris follows the last feathers and the twang of the guitar. He stops outside the door when he hears Shannon's question. He sighs. "I don't know," he admits. "I do know that it's often easier to bear with someone who cares about you." He steps into the dark storeroom. "I told them that you had an unsettling experience at the mall," he explains. "That's no lie. I'm sure that what happened would have rattled anyone."

Nightingale has posed:
     "That's not even the unsettling part." Shannon's tone is biting, and laced with more upset than she would normally let on. "The unsettling part is that now I have to hide all this from people I care about the most. I hate lying, with a passion. And I hate it just as much that everything that happened about that pendant was very likely taken as an insult. And in trying to set that right, I now either have to lie to the ones I love, or take a dump on a gift that really was given in good faith. I'm not sure there's much in between on this one."

Triage has posed:
Chris finds another chair and moves it to sit near Shannon. "When you first got the pendant, what happened? Why did they say that they needed to ... disarm it? Both of us heard what he said, what the pendant is supposed to do."

Nightingale has posed:
Shannon sighs softly, running her fingers through her hair. "This was one of the things I was supposed to keep quiet if you weren't there. It kind of got dropped in your lap now. See, the pendant was originally enchanted as a more open-ended means of communication with Loki, which could be used by holding it and saying his name. Rahne relayed it to me and was pretty horrified by the whole thing. I brought it to Jean and Scott, they sent Cannonball and I over to Doctor Strange... and he crunched the pendant under his heel in the street. I was NOT happy about it. It had been a gift given in good faith, and heck, when the pieces I salvaged were checked out later, it turns out that for once, there had been no spying involved. Last I heard from Scott before the pendant was restored to me was that the only way I would get it back is if it was disenchanted. It was better than not having it at all... hell, it was still a gift, and those do mean something to me. So now I'm having to figure out, do I tell even Cannonball and have this get back to the higher-ups? Do I keep it to myself and feel like a liar to everyone? On one hand, yes I am glad it was set to rights, and it's not something that can be touched off accidentally. On the other... I hate feeling like I have to keep the ones I love out of the loop." She takes a deep breath, letting it out with a shuddering sigh. "And on top of that... we both saw something incredible. Something that told us everything we went through, healing Loki... it wasn't for nothing. And I can never share that with the ones I love."

Cannonball has posed:
Samuel Guthrie comes looking up to the roof to see if Shannon might be up here, but instead of flying up he has taken the stairs coming in much quieter than the other option.

Triage has posed:
Chris remains silent, listening to the whole story about that pendant, which ends with Shannon's allusion to something that both of them saw and likely will not forget for the rest of their lives. He reaches to touch her arm. "I know that this will be a hard thing to do," he answers. "But if you really see Sam as a brother, talk to him. Take him into your confidence. If it will help, I'll be there with you to confirm what I've learned tonight."

Nightingale has posed:
     "Do I really want to risk putting him in a bad spot like that, though?" There's the twanging of guitar strings as Shannon tests out her new instrument, and at least they're in tune this time. Gradually, bit by bit, the one and only guitar 'lesson' she had lets her form familiar minor chords played in a triplet pattern. To those who recognize it, it sounds a bit like "House of the Rising Sun".

     "You're right, I probably should... but I don't want this shaking things up here again. And in a lot of the old stories... when one has a second chance from fouling up a gift given, when entertaining an angel unawares... it's a rare thing. I don't want to see this destroyed again, but I don't want to be dishonest about it, either."

Cannonball has posed:
Samuel Guthrie looks over to the two as he comes walking over towards them, and says "Am Ah interrupting? Ah was a bit worried about you and thought ya might be up here. If your not wanting me around I can jump off the roof or something." He says offering a joke.

Triage has posed:
"Shannon, trying to bury this won't help. If you want Sam to trust you, you need to trust him," Chris urges. Then, as if summoned, Sam speaks from outside. Chris squeezes Shannon's arm. "I'm here for you," he murmurs.

Nightingale has posed:
Shannon looks for a moment as if she's been caught red-handed at sometihing. But, Chris was right. She had to say something about it now. "Big brother... you may or may not like this one, but well... can we keep this under our hat here?"

Cannonball has posed:
Samuel Guthrie 's brow raises a bit at this and says "Keep what under my hat?" He makes no promises but does seem curious what they are talking about." He will walk a bit closer to find a decent place to stand out of the wind.

Triage has posed:
Chris looks over to the doorway where Sam is standing. Then he beckons with his free hand. "Come inside, Sam," he invites. "Pull up a chair. We might be here for a while. It's a long and rather complicated story. I learned about it tonight so it shouldn't keep you too long."

Nightingale has posed:
Shannon sighs softly. "Sam was there for quite a bit of the original sequence of events to begin with... but I want to be damn sure before I say another word that this isn't going beyond this room. Seriously. Please."

Cannonball has posed:
Samuel Guthrie looks to her, and says "You do realize the more you stress that the more Ah am concerned if it should be right?" He looks to her, and says "Have Ah done anything that makes you doubt my judgement on how things should be handles Shannon?"

Triage has posed:
"You've trusted him so far, Shannon," Chris adds. "If he knows about much of it, that should speak for itself. In the end, you need to decide which is worse - trusting Sam now, or worrying about hiding things from him or anyone else?"

Nightingale has posed:
     "I just don't want to go through the whole thing all over again." She sighs a little. "You remember the pendant, right, big brother? Well, Scott managed to find someone who put the pieces back together and it was restored to me. But it doesn't end there." Biting her lower lip, she frets for a moment more. "You're not going to believe who turned up when Chris and I were out..."

Cannonball has posed:
Samuel Guthrie hmms and says "Loki, I would take it?" He crosses his arms frowning a bit but listening still letting her fill in the details.

Triage has posed:
Chris sigs, "In the flesh, if that's a good way to put it," he confirms. "He stopped us to talk. I'm sure that he wanted to check on the pendant. He also provided some insights into what happened when we met him previously." He looks to Shannon to see what more she wants to reveal.

Nightingale has posed:
     "I'm not even going to try and speculate on how he knew where we were. My brain's just about ready to pound itself right out of my skull as it is." She plucks at the strings of the guitar a bit more, trying to find some strength and refuge in the music. "It does go a bit further, and this is where it gets tricky... "

Cannonball has posed:
Samuel Guthrie nods his head waiting a bit and says "So far, I don't see why you would hide it, but I do see a possible issue coming up, but Ah want you to finish your story first.

Nightingale has posed:
     "Long story short, he might have said he didn't care about what happened to the pendant, but in his shoes I'd have been pretty pissed even if I said otherwise. When the offer was made to enchant it again..." Shannon sighs. "Having this as a purely mundane thing sure didn't seem to help any, so help me, I went for it. But made damn sure it wasn't an open-ended thing like it was before. It'd take putting it in fire to set it off now and it better be pretty dire to even consider it." She frowns deeply. "I don't want to repeat the whole sequence of events that even got this whole thing started, but I don't exactly care to insult him a second time, either. So no, I am not going to let this pendant be destroyed again. But if he could find it even /without/ any enchantments on it, I'm not too thrilled about having it on school grounds, either."

Triage has posed:
Chris nods along with Shannon when she mentions the new conditions and loki's apparent cautious about the need to be sure that the situation is dire. "I know that he's a trickster, but in this case, he seemed genuine and that's all that we can use to judge his motives," he adds. "Now you see some of the problem that we face." He looks to Shannon and then nods. "I said we because I feel a certain responsibility in this. I took her to the mall."

Cannonball has posed:
Samuel Guthrie says, "Well first off, your saying You believe the god of tricks and lies about Oh, Ah can't see through it or fill it unless you do this or that?" He raises a brow "If you want to keep it here is my suggestion "You put it a safty deposit box in Bushwick. That way if he can see around it, he aint getting anything from here, and does not give him a magic into here."

Nightingale has posed:
     "That's just it, I'm not sure just how far to trust him. He's been pretty tricksy up to this point, but I don't exactly care to go pissing him off by insulting him a second time." Shannon slips the pendant off from around her neck and holds it out to Sam. "Please don't let that be destroyed again. You're right, I don't want it on school grounds now that it's got a spell on it again. But I don't want to repeat history, either. And let's hope it's never needed."

Triage has posed:
"This might not help, but it's the best suggestion that I have," Chris offers. "Shannon, you might have another way to get a message to him. Do you think that he would accept this if you assured him that you need to keep it in a safe place so that it will be available when you need it and will not fall into the wrong hands?"

Cannonball has posed:
Samuel Guthrie looks to her and says "Ah say we fly in now, Ah will pay for the deposit box for a year, and you put it in there. We have enough teleporters, and flyers should be able to get to it easily, if we want we can move it to the bank in salem center. I want you to hold onto it till in the box."

Nightingale has posed:
Shannon shakes her head. "I'm not sure if I have any other way to get a message to him, but... if... IF it even ever comes up... you're right, it's better this not fall into the wrong hands. And with the school having been attacked recently... yeah, probably better to get it out of here to somewhere safe." She nods in agreement to Sam. "Thank you... I'll owe you some of my chores stipend for a while." She smiles wryly, putting the guitar back in its case and snapping the latches shut. "Sort of blew my Christmas budget on that. So... might wind up singing at the club sooner than I thought to get that back up to snuff again." She hugs Sam fiercely, and Chris as well. "At least we did manage to find out what all that was for... he was hurt trying to restore Asgard. And, apparently, he succeeded. So at least all that wasn't for nothing. And... it /is/ incredibly beautiful."

Triage has posed:
Chris returns Shannon's hug when she comes to him, and whispers something to her in the process. When he releases her, he nods to Sam. "Now you see why she needed your promise to keep this between us. It's ... not something that others need to know, and some wouldn't believe it even if we told them." He looks to Shannon for a moment and then back to Sam. "Please bring her back safely," he asks. "I'm sure that you will, but ... it's important to me to ask."

Cannonball has posed:
Samuel Guthrie hugs her back, and says "It would take quite a bit to hurt her while Ah am with her, as for telling people we will talk more about that but for now, getting it away from the school is a good start, and we will see about maybe I can loan you some of the price for the guitar you can pay me back after christmas.

Nightingale has posed:
Shannon frowns slightly. "I'm... not quite sure how much to relay and to who, particularly as for some reason, he mentioned Jean. It sounded like they've well, encountered each other before. I don't want to know, like... /really/ don't want to know. But I don't want to go stirring up that hornet's nest, either. She and Scott and everyone here have been very good to me, and they don't deserve to have to deal with this." She sighs a bit, and shrugs. "I've seen a lot of examples of honor and kindness. So how to best treat this, then?"

Triage has posed:
Chris nods simply, confirming Shannon's words. "Before you came, Sam, I told her that she should trust you. Some others might need to know. I think that your judgement on that should be part of this, too. We're in this together now. Some things can't be unseen."

Cannonball has posed:
Samuel Guthrie smirks a bit and says "My judgement, man we must be in trouble, he jokes, and will scoop Shannon up carrying her cradled in his arms, and says "Hold tight." And they are blasting, man Sam is fast.

Nightingale has posed:
Shannon sighs softly. "Please, the fewer the better. We were just getting back to some semblance of things being normal around here. A gift may mean something to me but I sure don't want to put anyone in danger for it, or ruffle any more feathers than need to be. My own got ruffled enough as it is," she muses, peering at her wings. "Frak... was I molting again?"

But, just like that, she is scooped up and blasting away. She does allow herself to enjoy the flight; it was a nice moment with her adopted big brother, and a rare treat.

Triage has posed:
Chris follows Sam outside and then watches until he and Shannon are invisible. "Please be safe, both of you," he whispers. He sighs and trudges down the stairs, into the mansion, weary from the day's events but willing to wait inside for his friends to return.