19647/Tis the Season to Read

Tis the Season to Read
Date of Scene:	10 December 2024
Location:	Yorkville Library
Synopsis:	Lara, Mercy and Patience have a little holiday get together at the Yorkville Library.
Cast of Characters:	Lara Croft, Mercy Thompson, Patience Alperen

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Lara Croft has posed:
The library has had the center of its main hall turned in to a Christmas tree display. The tree is a good twenty feet tall, with warm yellow lights encircling it on every branch, and little dangling ornaments of a wide variety of antique styles from around the world. It is a breathtaking sight by design, and it is making the rest of the currently dimly lit main library hall that much brighter. The fireplace is also lit, on the east side of the room, its flickering flames casting long shadows from the furniture that sit before it. The tables and chairs of the library are rearranged to give the tall Tree the focus of the moment, with the bookshelves almost completely full of books and trinkets, the library having come together quite well in the past 5 months since Lara moved in.

Lara, expecting company tonight, had a number of food treats, and drinks on one table, while she sat in a sofa chair near the fire, her legs up and a book in her lap. The security system of the library was on, but all team members were keyed-in automatically by facial recognition, once they approach the main gate out front, and the main doors at the foyer.

Soft piano Christmas music plays in the background, its source hard to pinpoint.

Lara is wearing a dark grey form fit sweater, dark brown hiking pants, and leather boots on her feet, with a dark green scarf around her neck, as she reads her book, lit by the firelight from one angle, and the 20 foot tall lit-up tree from the other.

Mercy Thompson has posed:
    She may have to see about getting some kind of keypad code 'cat door' installed here. Mercy is debating that idea, having been gone for a bit near the end of November. She is wearing a big long single braid and rocking her jeans and dark top with a lightweight coat. The coat has the ACME logo on the back and she will open the door. Walking into the room and making sure she does a long slow stretch.
    "Hi Lara. Been a bit. How you been? Life doing good by you?" She keeps a relaxed motion on her pace, looking for a chair near Lara, then she spies the fireplace. "You know fireplaces like this beg just curling up and sleeping in front off. It's awesome to do on cool winter days."

Patience Alperen has posed:
Patience Alperen arrives shortly after Mercy. Wearing a red sweater, faded denim and hiking boots. A red and golden-yellow knit hat is pulled down over her hair, which has been left down and loose. She shrugs off a white puffy coat and smiles toward the others. "Ladies.."

After hanging up her coat, she approaches the other two with a smile.

"Mmm, yes. A crackling fire, a good history book and a mug of cocoa make for a perfect thing for winter days" she teases Mercy lightly.

"You've both been well?" she wonders.

Lara Croft has posed:
Lara took her legs off of the arm of her leather sofa chair, when both of the other ladies arrived. She stood up, and slipped the strand of silk between the pages of the book she was reading, as she stood up with her mug in her right hand, the book set aside. "Welcome back." She said to them both, a warm expression on her face, as her hair was tied back behind her head via a small dark red ribbon.

"I am doing ... well, not too bad. Enjoying the season, I suppose." She said, giving a glance to the rather enormous tree in the center of the grand hall that they all now occupied together.

Lara laughed softly at Patience, and nodded to the nearby table, where all manner of snacks and drinks were. "Hot Chocolate is in that pot there." Lara said, as she stepped toward the table, and motioned toward a silver metal pot. "Should be quite well heated still, or I paid a lot of money for something I should not have." She smirked, as she looked back to them. "Come in, come in, pick some food, if you'd like, and ... I don't know... Just unwind." She went to offer them both an embrace, a hug to express her happiness in seeing them.

"How are things?" She asked, looking from Mercy, to Patience again.

Mercy Thompson has posed:
    Mercy offers a wide smile to Patience and nods. "Yeah. We're past the bad holiday and heading to the fun ones. Though New Years is less fun for me. Being a non-drinker and all that." Mercy moves to stand by the fire and relax against heat on her legs and back. "Cocoa and fresh baked bread dusted with cinnamon sugar."

    THe type of metal of the cocoa pot is noted and she has to arch a brow, "Is that a test or just a case of you having posh service-ware. Of course hugs are returned, since she's with those she trusts, Mercy can give a big firmer hug then skinny her looks like she should. "Going great with Sprite, avoided the holiday as I said."

Patience Alperen has posed:
Patience Alperen grins a little at the forms of teasing going around between the three of them. "Thanksgiving is the poster child for a good holiday ideal tangled with one of the worst possible justifications to have a holiday. The idea, being thankful and spending time with family or friends, I like and prefer to omit the rest."

She pauses, "Then again.. Christmas isn't what it was supposed to be any more, either. The spirit of it all is what I prefer to focus on." She shrugs, "But that's just myself, obviously."

Returning the hugs as offered, with smiles. "I've been well. I was visiting Nova Scotia, seeing the Sisters who raised me in the orphanage. It was nice."

Lara Croft has posed:
Lara looked between the two of them, and held her soft smile for them both. "Just relax, and take a load off. Enjoy the fire. I'll get you some." She said to Mercy, before she set her own mug down, and approached the setup at the table near the sofa and chairs. As she gathered up a mug, she went to pour some hot chocolate in to it. "Oh, no no no..." Lara said, glancing to Patience. "We can't omit the past. We have to embrace it. We have to learn from it. We are not the people from the past, we are the contemporary versions of the legacies they left behind. We have to learn from the past, it is how we improve in to the future." She said, showing a sly grin, before she reached for a pastry, and with it on a napkin, she carried it over to Mercy.

"Of course, as a Brit, I shy away from all of the American holidays that celebrate beating my people's butts.... You will not likely find me around on the start of any given July, for example."

Mercy Thompson has posed:
    Mercy admits, "I don't do that holiday. I help out at shelters and stuff. Being half Native makes it hard to just enjoy it when I know my other family's half that I have no contact with use it as a day of mourning and remembrance." She admits however, "I do love Christmas, maybe I just like gifts. I am curious to see how it goes this year."
    Mercy will stay by the fireplace and shake her head, "I can touch silver, Lara. I was just amused. You are right about the past though, Lara. I bet most people can't even tell you the tribe that was with the pilgrims on that fateful event." She takes the offered pastry with a nod, "Thanks."

    "Wouldn't that only be the fourth of July really? A holiday I was not ready for when I went to college. All those fireworks, which I had NEVER seen or heard before." She touches her ears. "Sky full of flashing lights and bombs. What isn't to like?"

Patience Alperen has posed:
Making her way over to where the offered snacks reside, Patience scans the offerings before taking a plate and judiciously selecting some items to go on it.

"HOlidays aren't the same any more, that is certain. Given that I think we're all self employed, as it were. It's really up to us what holidays we want to celebrate." Pausing she adds, "We should invent our own Adventurer's holidays."

She pauses to pick up a mug so she can make some cocoa for herself.

Lara Croft has posed:
Lara delivered the cocoa and pastry to Mercy, showing her a small smile, as she took a step back, and took a seat on the arm of the leather sofa chair she had originally been lounging upon.

"The... Wampanoag, if I am not mistaken?" Lara asked Mercy, her hands pressed against the tops of her thighs, the warm orange lighting from the fire illuminating the left side of her form, as the Christmas tree in the center of the hall cast a softer, lighter hue across her right side, and the rest of the cavernous room mostly dark behind her. "I don't suppose you'd offer a bit of insight in to the day of mourning?" She asked Mercy, curiously, before she grinned. "And it depends on if you include the celebration in Boston on the 16th that celebrates the Boston Tea Party event... All that wonderful tea..." She shook her head gently from side to side.

Her eyes went to Patience, and she smiled at her. "Try the white chocolate covered pretzels. I can barely restrain myself." She told her in a warm tone of her husky voice. "And you're right, holidays are pick and choose. I ... mostly just uphold the ones that my parents enjoyed. Being that my birthday is on Valentine's Day, that one has become probably the most impactful, I guess. Not that my life is much of a romantic one."

Mercy Thompson has posed:
    "My 'holiday' is a discount on radiator check ups for regulars to get their cars ready for a New York Winter," jokes Mercy. She will sip the cocoa and leans her upper back against the back of the fireplace mantle. Looking content to stay there and anti-chill for a while.

    A finger touches the tip of her nose, "Got it in one, Lara. That is in fact the tribe." She nods her head and says, "I can do my best. My ties to the tribes is not as strong as others. I'm only half Native American. Which makes me just not white enough for many, and not brown enough for many natives. I don't know the language any. Though in recent years there has been a real resurgence."

    "Which is funny to talk about tea because for a long time England was a lot more into coffee than Americans were a good long while."

    Mercy is going to set her mug on the mantle after another drink and adjusts her position. "I totally am going to nap here on the tile before the fire soon. Singles awareness day sucks. That and Flag day is just dumb," trying to crack a joke.

Patience Alperen has posed:
Patience Alperen grins at Mercy. "Well, there's nothing wrong with that sort of holiday, I suppose. As long as it doesn't bankrupt your business."

Fixing her hot chocolate, she grabs a couple of the suggested pretzels and a few other goodies. Moving to take a seat near the fire, she listens to the banter between Lara and Mercy, still smiling.

Lara Croft has posed:
Lara showed a small smile at Mercy's joke, and shook her head from side to side. "My Jeep's heated seats are acting up, do you do any maintenance on those?" She asked, showing a slight grin. She drew in a soft breath, and stood up from the arm of the chair, and looked toward the large fireplace. She stepped over to it, crouched, and picked up another split log, that she deposited inside it, before putting one knee down on the stone to support herself. Reaching for the dark metal poker, Lara pushed the logs around inside the fireplace, creating a cacophony of crackling embers, fluttering around over the flickering flames like wild spirits set loose from their inferno slumber.

"You're welcome to gather up some of the blankets and pillows, and have a little rest here." She said, as she reached for the spark guard, and spread it across the front of the fire. "I've been spending most of my evenings here, myself." She said, showing a small grin, as she stepped back.

"I take it then, that both of you enjoy Halloween most?" She asked, glancing between them, as she stepped back toward the table on the other side of the sitting area, to collect her mug up once more, and another of those damn pretzels.... "I enjoy coffee now and then, but it is a rare moment for me."

Mercy Thompson has posed:
    "I'm good Patience, thanks for the worry thought." The holy woman gets a big wide grin. "That said I do think we should an Adventurer's Club Cookout or something." Going off an earlier suggestion.

    "I do German makes, sorry Laura. I wish I could and I can point you to someone maybe. You get a German car and I'm your girl. I'll hoook you right up."

    Shaking her head she points at the floor under her feet. "If I nap here it will be as a coyote and curled up here. Sleeping as a coyote can be really rewarding, especially near a fire." She looks thoughtful, "I may just do that. We can always talk after or just enjoy some quiet. It's important for my mindset to do these things to help... I don't know. Remind my nose who I trust if I ever get panicked."

Patience Alperen has posed:
Patience Alperen grins at Mercy, "Good! I have room for friends to crash when needed but I think you'd eat all my snacks..!" she jokes.

Nodding to Lara, she smiles. "Well, Halloween itself, I don't mind. The next day, All Saint's Day, I happen to be fond of. Given that it's my birthday as well as for my, mm, family heritage of course."

"Oh!" she says with a start. "I just remembered. There were a few old Germanic history books in the library here that I saw some time ago. What is the Club's policy on book lending?" she asks with a slightly hopeful grin.

Lara Croft has posed:
"If I switch to a Volkswagen, I will let you know." Lara said back to Mercy, as she turned around with her mug, and a pretzel placed just between her lips. At Mercy, she let out an affectionate reaction to the idea of her sleeping as a coyote by the fire, a soft little 'mmmh' of a laugh. "Please do." She said, with a bit of pretzel still in her mouth. She quickly chased it with a drink from her cocoa, before her eyes went to Patience.

"Come on, I'll show you several that I think you'll like. All you do is sign out what you have in the ledger by the front steps, and bring them back when you're done. If you fail to bring them back? I unleash the Library Officer to come shake you down..." She said to her friend, grinning to her as she lead her toward the shelves on the other side of the library from the blazing warm fireplace, and around the brightly lit Christmas tree.

Mercy Thompson has posed:
    "I absolutely would Patience. That and you'll have to open the door to my girlfriend." She waves farewell t the two women. "When you get back Lara feel free to poke me or something." She will get ready to shift and fold up her clothes some as she slowly curls up there before the fire as the most adorable coyote in the world.