16547/Snowshoe Bun

Snowshoe Bun
Date of Scene:	11 December 2023
Location:	Snowy Mountain
Synopsis:	Mark and Bunny head out to Skylight Mountain in order to see the Milky Way.
Cast of Characters:	Bunny Macleod, Mark Grayson

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Bunny Macleod has posed:
    Oh the weather outside is frightful, but the fire is so delightful, and since we've no place to go o/`

    Bunny had commented one night that you can't really see the stars in New York City. There's too much pollution -- light or otherwise -- and the buildings block out the cold breath of the distant suns of far-off worlds.

    So one night, after washing dishes with Mark, she'd been asked to be taken to a snow-capped mountain, to see the stars.

    With her blue eyes all wide and her fingers folded just so under her chin, acting especially cutesy.

Mark Grayson has posed:
Bunny has always been one to know exactly how to get Mark to do what she wanted. And being adorably cute is just the way to get to him. So when she said she wanted to see the stars? Mark's response was, "I'll just have to find a way to bring them to you."

He took a little time to fill a thermos with hot chocolate, gather a blanket. They don't have a telescope, which is a disappointment, but there's enough there for the pair. He has her, after all. "Make sure you're dressed warmly!" he calls out to her from the back as he pulls on a heavy coat and stocking hat. Slipping them on along with some gloves and thick pants, he came to greet Bunny with an affectionate kiss to the cheek before handing her the backpack with their stuff in it. "You hold this, I'll carry you." A bright smile, always, always happy to have an excuse to hold Bunny in his arms.

Bunny Macleod has posed:
    They didn't have a telescope. And Bunny had actually been a little afraid that Mark was going to literally bring her a star from out in Space.

    Weiird things happen.

    So she put on two pairs of pants, two pairs of socks, undershirt, T-shirt, sweatshirt, and jacket with the bunny ears hood, and a thick pair of mittens, already a bit red in the face from tottling about in all the clothing.

    "Holding, and preparing to board Invincible Airlines!"

Mark Grayson has posed:
Don't put it past Mark to do something like that.

As she comes toddling out, he chuckles, making a note for the idea for a Christmas gift for her. "Bunny, you in there?" he asks teasingly, pulling back the hood to make sure she's actually in there and a grin when he finds her. "Hi."

And he slips the pack on himself. He'll carry it, Bunny's gonna be a handful. Down the stairs they go, into the alley next to the apartments. Normally, Mark would just use his balcony, but he doesn't want to leave the window open on accident. Once they're out of sight, he lifts her up in his arms into a princess carry, cradling one arm beneath her knees, the other beneath her arms and across her back.

"Here we go!" A jump and up into the air they launch, into the night sky. Through the city lights they go as Mark reaches a safe cruising altitude - and then he's heading west by northwest!

Bunny Macleod has posed:
    Please do not move celestial bodies from space closer to Earth, that would be bad for gravity!

    The blonde gives a huff as Mark pulls back her hood, and she attempts to stick out her tongue but gets a mouth full of scarf instead.

    "I'll get you next time for this indignity!" she jokes, and laughing she tottles down the stairs after Mark, only to be lifted into his arms as she settles against him, looking up to the sky as they leave the city behind.

    "Wheee!" Bunny jokes, feeling the scarf flit a bit behind her as she adjusts her goggles (because flying without them means watery dry eyes!)

Mark Grayson has posed:
Fine. He also will not go down to the bottom of the ocean to retreive jewelry for Bunny either.

It takes about thirty minutes for them to reach their destination, Mark running GPS on his phone to make sure that he leads them to where he had decided to go. He has to rise in the air, going higher than he thought -- eventually, they end up in the Adirondack Mountain range just after midnight as the stars start to shine their brightest.

A glance around and his destination is found as he drifts towards the ground and lands in the thick snow that caps the top of Mount Skylight (nice name) at nearly five thousand feet.

Once he's settled into the snow, he moves to set Bunny down near a small canopy of trees where the snow does not seem to be so thick.

Up above? The view is spectacular. The sprawl of the Milky Way is on full display, the stars clearly too numerous to count. They sparkle and shine, clearly defined constellations and the various glows beckoning and inspiring any that view them. "Nice, right?" he asks as he takes off the backpack.

Bunny Macleod has posed:
    Bunny would also share that door dangit.

    She's set down in the shallower snow, and she pokes her head out from underneath the boughs of pine, and she takes a deep breath, seeing the brilliantly clear night sky, the blue-white of distant stars and a pale sliver of moon lighting the mountaintop as she hitches her breath.

    "I feel like I should start singing 'let it go' or something--" she trails off quietly, looking back to Mark with a bright smile.

    "This is wonderful... I don't... I don't think I've ever seen the milky way."

Mark Grayson has posed:
Opening the backpack, he takes out a blanket and lays it out on the ground for them to sit on and takes out a thermos, and with a small container of sandwiches, they are set out for a picnic under the stars.

"It really is beautiful." he admits. "Before we met? I would come out here to think and realize the enormity of the universe. And what we could do to make a difference in it. Like my father, when he came here. I was considering following in his footsteps, maybe. But then I met you. Whole view changed."

He shrugs and then turns to look at Bunny and laughs. "You're way too bundled up there, Elsa." he teases her as he opens the thermos, pouring out a cup of hot cooca and bringing it to Bunny. He reaches into a pocket and pulls out a small baggie of marshmallows. The Lucky Charms type.

Bunny Macleod has posed:
    "If I said the cold never bothered me anyway I would be *lying*. It's hard to play piano with frostbite." Bunny protests as she's addressed by a Queen's name.

    (And don't you forget it Disney)

    Bunny rejoins Mark under the shelter of the trees, plopping down a moment as she gives a low mutter of "I want all the moons, just in case you decide you need to go get that too!" she gently teases, and leans her head lightly against Mark's shoulder.

    "... what changed about your view? You still can be like your dad. Be the hero he can't be right now." she states quietly with a smile. "Save the world a half dozen times before breakfast."

Mark Grayson has posed:
After handing off the cocoa and marshmallows to Bunny, Mark makes his own cup. And then he chuckles softly. "Sure, you want a couple of galaxies while I'm at it?" he comments with amusement as she settles down and scoots closer when she leans into him. "Honestly? I see like... Superman. And the other Kryptonians, and how far I am behind them. There was a time when I considered just being a cosmic adventurer. Dashing adventures in space, through the universe, battling space pirates and all that." The admission is made with a smile that suggests he has long since realized it was a flight of fancy.

"Then there was this whole battle at the Statue of Liberty. And this girl, who just... despite what she thinks she was, was fighting as hard as any of us. And quipping about hot dogs. Made me think about sticking around for a while." A wink at her.

"I've gotten to visit the stars a couple of times. Not all they're made out to be."

Bunny Macleod has posed:
    "You mean they're not giant balls of gas, way out there in the cold of space? Shocker." Bunny remarks playfully, and she smiles, leaning against Mark as she considers his story.

    "I'd think the same thing. I'd see Hawkeye -- who doesn't even have powers, she's just Freakishly GOod at stuff. Or watch Gabby and hear about her adventures, and think to myself -- I'm such a small potato. What could I possibly do to help anyone?"

    She looks up to Mark, seeing his profile in the darkness.

    "You would have made a terrifying space-opera hero. I'd watch that movie." she jokes.

Mark Grayson has posed:
"We both found our own way with our power levels. More importantly, we found each other." Mark comments and smirks. "And we have had so many adventures together. And I want so many more with you, Bun." A sip from his cup as he looks out from the canopy and up to the stars that stretch across the night sky.

"Oh god, it'd been terrible." he agrees with a laugh as he grins widely. "Good thing that I got distracted from that and came crashing back to Earth."

"And there's no small potatos about you, Bun. Your heart can carry any team. I believe that, fully. You have helped the Young Avengers so much. You've carried me." A shrug. "I feel intertwined with you."

Bunny Macleod has posed:
    Bunny is quiet for a good moment.

    "Well. I mean. We were kinda intertwined this morning." She states. And she just gives the brightest smile at that, knowing Mark's cheeks were gonna turn red.

    "We found each other. Curtesy of the Lizard League. Weird." she states, and she sips her cocoa, and she smiles a little.

    "You make it easy to beleive." she replies. "You see every part of me. And you still have faith in me."

Mark Grayson has posed:
They're already red because it's cold, neener! Okay, so they may be a bit brighter. "We're usually intertwined every morning, Bunny." he points back out to her.

"I am not sure that was the Lizard League. None of their heavy hitters were there. More like snakes. And really, we met over weiners." he points out. "That was the first time I got to really talk to you."

There's no need for confessions of love. They know they are. And they can just stay with affirmations. "I have faith and believe in you, because of all that self-confidence and optimism. I know when you are near, I will always have a chance, Bunny Marie." Oooh, middle name usage.

"So, we've seen the stars..." he stands up, setting his cup down, and he lifts off the ground, flying on and lands in the virgin snow with a 'whoompf!' on his back and starts moving his arms and legs.

Snow angel!

Bunny Macleod has posed:
    "Are we really going to use full names now Markus Sebastian? Because yours is WAY worse than mi--EE"! Bunny laughs as snow flies up and Mark starts in on making a snow angel.

    She laughs, drawing a bit backwards with a bright grin as she watches him flail about in the snow.

    "As long as you're near, I know we'll come out on top. Any situation. We have each other's backs."

Mark Grayson has posed:
Sitting up in the snow, Mark looks at Bunny. "Both of our names are terrible, /Bernice/." he responds to her. "We need to make a promise that our kids won't have terrible names." comes the tease to the young woman.

And then she is trying to retreat from the snow flying around and he rolls up a snowball. "Mmmhmm." he agrees. "As long as we have each other. Though I think I like it better more when you're on top." And then he sidearms the snowball at Bunny. Nowhere near full power. Just you know. A flick of the wrist!

Bunny Macleod has posed:
    "Our kids aren't going to have terrible names. Your mom's also not allowed to have input though. She agreed to *Sebastian* as a middle name. THough I can't really argue, Bettie's middle name is also Marie."

Mark Grayson has posed:
Apparently the snowball misses Bunny completely as he gets up to come back over to Bunny. "Markus Marie?" comes the amused comment as he settles in back next to Bunny. "That sounds so terribly wrong."

But he does have an idea. "Hey." he stands up and gestures. Leading her over to one of the trees, he considers and uses his finger to dig into the bark. There's a few motions, and when he's done...

M <3 B
2023

"We'll come back here next year and add to it. And every year we're together."

Bunny Macleod has posed:
    No, Bunny got hit by it, but she's choosing to ignore it.

    Because her player's hubs was yattering at the dog and she's easily distracted.

    But bunny was indeed on waiting for the right time to strike, and she looks at their initials carved into the tree, and she blushes a bit.

    "Well I mean, what if we run out of tree to put years onto?" she questions brightly.

    And lobs a snowball at Mark's back.

Mark Grayson has posed:
"We find another treeeeeee!" Sneak attack!

The ineviatble betrayl of Bernice Marie Macleod will not go unpunished as he turns on his girlfriend.

And by the time they are done roughhousing in the snow, there's snowballs all over the place of various sizes and both of them are wearing almost much snow as clothes.

Bunny Macleod has posed:
    Breathless, and with snow down the back of her neck and up her left sleeve to her elbow, next to a snowball that was the side of a basketball before she knocked Mark over (Read: Mark let her knock him over), Bunny's breathless laughter echoes out over the mountain, and she begins to shiver a little bit.

    "I... I think... maybe I've gotten too much snow in my jacket." she gives a soft 'brr' sound.

    "Should we pack it in?"

Mark Grayson has posed:
Mark laughs, his breath coming out in little white puffs as he sits next to Bunny, totally sharing body heat with her. As she mentions going home, he glances at his phone. It /is/ really late.

"We should. And get home. And share a very hot shower." he responds to her as he pushes to his feet to start to gather up what they brought up the mountain.

Bunny Macleod has posed:
    "THAT sounds like a plan." Bunny agrees with a nod, and shakes as much snow as she can out of her jacket as she gives a laugh, and tries to help gather the items they brought up to the mountain together.

Mark Grayson has posed:
Once they have everything together? Mark sweeps Bunny up in his arms. And while they are close together, he leans in, brushing across her nose and fully kisses her. It's an open, longing and wet kiss before he pulls back and smiles down at her. "Love you." he whispers.

And with her in the Princess carry, he lifts off the ground to head back home.

Bunny Macleod has posed:
    Bunny is left equally breathless from the kiss as she is by the cold.

    And she gives a squeak of a gasp, and giving a bright smile, she turns to lean her head against Mark's shoulder.

    "Love you too." she breathes out, now qarm from the inside out.