4125/I'm being Oppressed!

I'm being Oppressed!
Date of Scene:	14 November 2020
Location:	Main Foyer
Synopsis:	Some of the Xavier's School group go on a forest hike and enjoy a beautiful autumn day! They find dead things, they litter the forest with ketchup packets, they tear up the ground and leave man-sized goffer trails in the ground, they steal a tree and fly it back toward their cult compound. A typical lovely day in the Xavier world!
Cast of Characters:	Rogue, Kitty Pryde, Piotr Rasputin, Jean Grey, Julio Richter

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Rogue has posed:
Rogue is standing in the main foyer up by the double doors that lead out to the main drive. She's got a leather jacket on, a black beanie over her head, a pair of jeans and a green sweater on beneath the jacket. She's holding a cup of something steamy in her black gloved hands and her eyes are staring out the window beside the door toward the driveway and the expansive front property of the school.

She's chuckling at something she's apparently watching outside.

"There's a deer outside, it's being chased by a stray dog."

Rogue's green eyes peer as she leans forward a little bit. "Two stray dogs. How did they even get in the front-- oh, the gate is open." Her eyes glance down at her coffee and she shakes her head side to side. "Security around here is /tight/ yo."

Kitty Pryde has posed:
A pair start coming down from upstairs together. Kitty Pryde is wearing her running shoes, tights, and a light sweatshirt as she slowly descends the stairs. She stops here and there because she has her phone out and taps away on it during those moments she stops. Only continuing once her attention is back on the stairs themselves.

The other person? A small purple dragon with yellow eyes. Lockheed is spiraling in the air near Kitty, waiting for her to reach the bottom. Which she does after a bit, glancing up and over to Rogue as she catches the last bit.

"Oh, someone leave it open?" she asks. "I can close it though someone will have to go get the dogs," she says, hefting her phone as if to suggest how she'd go about closing it.

Piotr Rasputin has posed:
Walking in from the next room over, Piotr glances from Kitty then to Rogue as he catches up quickly on what is going on, "Dogs? We have dogs?" he wonders as he heads over to the window and takes a look and just smiles a bit. "So we do." he muses a bit.

Jean Grey has posed:
Jean arrives from another direction, down the hallway toward the kitchen. Like Rogue, she's dressed for a walk, or at least dressed for the cool late fall weather, and also like Rogue, she has something steaming, although she's carrying it in a larger thermos. She also has a small backpack. Whether any of these coincidences are actual coincidences or if there's some actual plan afoot, is hard to say!

But she quickly catches up with Rogue, just as she and Kitty are talking about the scene out on the yard. A little bit of a frown about the gate. "No doubt some of the students had the idea to go out as well, and didn't close it behind them. And it gets this way, as it gets colder. We're lucky we haven't seen any coyotes." Is that a thing here?! Another reason for people to fear the school, as they're no doubt leaving children to be carried off by wild animals!

"Ready?" she wonders, when she's finally reached Rogue's side. "We can try and round them up on the way. You all are welcome to join in."

Rogue has posed:
It's generally easy to tell with Lockheed has entered a room, because his wings make pretty distinct noises. They make Rogue look back over her shoulder just in time to see Kitty bounding down the stairs in her fancy jogger-girl-gear. This garners a grin from the Belle who nods once to her, along with Piotr's timely arrival as well. "Nah, not our dogs. I think those are the people from the property over. Kitty knows their name. The uh... Ja... monagers?" Yeah, its definitely the Jamanoger family.

Rogue takes another sip from her drink and watches Jean arrive, who gets a big smile from the Belle. "I am ready!" Rogue declares, moving to open the left-hand door, pulling it open and letting the fall weather air breeze on inside.

She looks to Kitty and Piotr. "Jeanie and I are gonna go souctin' for potential trees. If we find one, I'mma rip it outta the ground and carry it back t'the garage to get it ready t'come inside. Ya'll wanna go with?"

Piotr Rasputin has posed:
"A Christmas Tree? Already?" Piotr chuckles a moment as he gives the two of them a look. "We haven't even had Thanksgiving yet." he protests a bit. Despite the protests he is pulling on some of his boots to join them for the walk. "So anxious to move on to the next big thing....but who am I to miss on an enjoyable moment with family and friends." he decides with a shrug of his shoulders.

His gaze shifts over to Kitty a moment, "Surely you will join...we can help round out the dogs on the way to a way too early Christmas tree that without the help of someone will never make it to Christmas without the needles all over the place." he chastises playfully.

Kitty Pryde has posed:
Lockheed flies over to land on Kitty's shoulder, thought lifting his head and peering outside at the mention of dogs. Kitty gives a laugh. "So close. Carsteads," she tells Rogue. "Ben and Marjorie. Speaking of, did you want to talk to them about borrowing their sled for rides?" she asks.

Kitty gives Jean and Piotr smiles by way of greeting. "Hey guys. Oh, Christmas tree scouting? I do like the trees even if it's not really my thing," she says. "I guess we can try to wrangle up the dogs." she asks.

She walks over to take a look outside. "I don't think they are going to have much luck catching the deer. It's already heading for the fence. I doubt it'll have problem clearing it."

Jean Grey has posed:
"Rogue was -really- eager," Jean explains to Piotr, her expression suggesting that she doesn't necessarily disagree with his assessment of the whole thing. "And we have a few students with plant powers. We'll have a schedule for looking after it, and I think it should be alright. And when we're done, maybe you and Logan can work on breaking it down and we'll donate the lumber." Probably, she just wants to give them a chance to do some manly ax-whacking, although it does sound like she's planned out the whole thing in a responsible manner.

Because Rogue definitely wouldn't!

"And we'll have a bit of a hike, too," she adds to Kitty, because it might well seem a little odd that they need four people with superpowers and a dragon to manage a couple of dogs, or a single tree. "Figure its a good chance before it gets too cold." And with a plan seemingly come together, she falls in after Rogue as she heads out the side of the mansion. "I've got hot cider, too." This explains the steaming goodness!

Rogue has posed:
With the way out opened, Rogue waits for the others and then starts on out into the beautiful fall weather afternoon! "I don't feel like roundin' up stray dogs right now, maybe later! They'll run off on their own, I bet." She looks back to Kitty and Piotr. "Or send Lockheed to flame at'em, that'll probably scare the fleas right off their bottoms. Run'em off toward the hills." Rogue has a bit of an evil villain laugh moment at this before she looks to Jean and smiles at her.

"We don't /have/ t'claim it t'day if its gonna ruffle a buncha feathers. But I say we at least pick one out so we know where it is. That way, its easier t'just grab it, before tehre's snow all over the place."

"BUT---" The Belle aims her finger at the redhead, then over at the Russian and the Deerfielder. "and this is a huge, HUGE but. If ya want me t'pull it outta the ground and bring it back t'night, I will. Cause I wanna decorate it and sit'n watch it glow all pretty-like in the dark."

It's true, the Christmas tree in the foyer is a big deal to the Belle. She never had a Christmas tree until she lived here the past two years. This being her third EVER!

They're guided down the eastern pathway where a small foot path gate leads in to the woods, quite ripe for the picking of appropriate tree possibilities!

Piotr Rasputin has posed:
"We never need much of an excuse for a walk in the brisk cool air...this time of year is my favorte for walks like this." Piotr admits with a shrug of his shoulders. His eyes glance over to Rogue and he can't help but smile a hint.

"I must admit...a bit of spiked cider or hot cocoa while we decorate the tree does sound like fun." he sighs, "Maybe I can be persuaded to start Christmas early, Yeah?" he muses a bit as he heads towards the door, "What do you think Kitty...early Christmas?"

Kitty Pryde has posed:
"I was planning on going for a jog anyway," Kitty says, and her attire certainly suggesting that was the case. "Been working on a training program for the Danger Room but not quite ready to go yet," she says.

She follows the others outside into the brisk mid-November day. "I've already heard Christmas songs on the radio, so I don't know it's too early. But then, hey, the Jewish girl is probably the wrong one to get a solid opinion on Christmas traditions," she teases.

As they head towards the expanse of woods on and around the school grounds, Kitty says, "Speaking of jogging. I went for a run the other day, and there was this guy running the trail who looked so familiar, yet I couldn't figure out where I knew him from. Well? Turns out... it's Scott's brother. I didn't even know he had a brother!" she says. "I guess he didn't either, until a couple of years back, if I caught what he said right."

Jean Grey has posed:
"Sure, let's call it a scouting mission," she agrees with Rogue. "See what we have to work with out there." There's a suspicion in the back of her mind that all that eagerness to 'rip it out of the ground' is gonna mean they're coming back with one regardless... but what can she do?

"Not everyone's used to those Russian winters like you are, big guy," Jean points out to Piotr, although clearly lighteartedly, especially as she essentially concedes his point a moment later: "I like them too. There's a certain feeling about the chill, and then bundling yourself up from it, that's different from just being warm to begin with? Though before long we're going to have to get pretty /seriously/ bundled up to enjoy them. Especially if we get a lot of snow this year. This is kind of the sweet spot, when it's just cold enough to be invigorating!"

To Kitty, at first she's just waving off any notion of the tree being especially denominational: "I'm hardly religious, but it's such a nice tradition, and great for the kids, I think." She carefully thumbs toward Rogue, in a way such that Kitty can see it but the target can't! Then she pauses, a little surprised, "Our Scott?" Because, for a moment, she DOES think they might be talking about the local farmers still. "He does. They were separated, growing up, as far as I know. But I'm hopeful he might consider spending some more time with us, getting to know his family, all that sort of thing."

Rogue has posed:
Once they get to the edge of the cultivated yard, Rogue looks off to the east in the direction of the Carsteads. She was reluctant to answer Kitty for a very specific reason... in that the past two Christmas' Rogue had not asked for permission to use their sleigh. She'd just pilfered it, then brought it back to their barn once she was done flying kids around in it.

Kitty had found out earlier this year that she hadn't been asking permission for it, and was now trying to /force Rogue to behave!/

"You think those old biddies will say no if we ask'em t'use the sleigh?" She asks Kitty when they're side by side. "Cause if they say no, then it... well, then I /can't/ take it for sure." Logic.

Rogue smiles up at Jean then. "A new Sumerseses has joined the chat session, huh?" She teases the Headmistress, for no real apaprent reason-- but then again she never really needs a reason.

A look is given over to Piotr then. "You wanna help me carry the tree back if we pick one out after all, Biggun?" She asks of the Russian with a smile.

Piotr Rasputin has posed:
"Yeah, I'll help carry it back." Piotr agrees, although he chuckles a tad, "Not that you need much help carrying the lumber." he admits with a shrug as they walk alone. A smile on his face as he allows himself to just enjoy the cool breeze for a bit. "I suppose more awkward than heavy...carrying the tree."

"A new Summers...its good to have family around." he points out. "Even if sometimes family can be a bit messy, we have what we have...even those that we choose as our family." he says of his fellow X-Men.

Kitty Pryde has posed:
Kitty Pryde gives Jean a little finger point to confirm she is indeed talking about 'our Scott'. "Yes, I had no idea, until we both stopped at the gates to the school," she says. "Once he told me, I could see it in his face. Seeing his eyes though I think really threw me off," she tells them.

As Rogue asks Kitty's opinion about the Carsteads, the latter tells Rogue, "Well, here's how I think it'll go. Marjorie will beam smiles at us and invite us inside. Make us some hot cocoa and force us to have a slice of pie. I recommend the blueberry, but her cherry pie is pretty killer too. And she'll probably love the thought of the sleigh getting use. Their horses are a bit old and they just keep them to keep them now, they wouldn't hitch them up to anything. She knows we have horses, will surely just assume. Though, it wouldn't be a bad idea to hitch up a couple and take the sleigh back for them to get a ride," Kitty suggests.

Jean Grey has posed:
"His, 'our,' family especially," Jean says of said 'messy' families, in a way that suggests she's still not entirely comfortable accepting the label, the fact that she, THEY, can have children FROM THE FUTURE in the first place. Nevermind whatever dissonance it seems to have with the actual present she's experiencing. But who's she to argue with the space-time continuum? "'Hey, have you met your time-traveling niece yet?'"

Don't even get started on the clone babies.

Still, she smiles at the way Kitty describes him, particularly the remark about actually getting to see his eyes. It's a little wistful! But maybe that's just the whole seasonal energy, the vibe that Rogue is encouraging with her tree-quest.

The hike takes them back up around toward the back of the property, a meandering thing. The leaves are all down by now, so the beautiful colors have been replaced by an image that is a little more winter like, of those stark, naked trees, reaching up like bony hands. Wait, it's past Halloween. Some other less spooky metaphor! They haven't had time to get totally soaked and rotten yet, though, so there's still quite a golden-brown blanket on the ground as they walk, while the air whistles just a little more swiftly without all that canopy cover.

Of course, they're looking for the trees that don't shed, and a stand is visible at some distance further along the trail, their dark forms visible through the thin cover of their bare brethren.

Rogue has posed:
A grin shows on Rogue's lips as she looks up at PIotr. "Well... see, last year I just flew the tree back t'the school. But about halfway there, a squirrel fell out and--" She clears her throat. "Yeah, I'd rather walk it back this year, and there-by havin' someone help me guide it through the woods helps keep it from getting broken limbs'n such, ya see."

Letting that lie there, Rogue is soon enraptured in Kitty's story about the 'old people' which gets various moments of Rogue showing visible disgust on her face. "I uh..." She starts, thinking about sitting in an old person's house and eating their pies. "I uh... we'll... see, yeah." She's definitely going to steal the sleigh again if Kitty Pryde doesn't stop her villainous ways.

As they walk, Rogue's eyes look around the woodland area. "I can't believe the leaves are completely off already." She comments, her booted feet carrying her along what barely counts as a trail. "I think I see some that'll work up there though."

The Belle pauses when she sees a small clearing with stones gathered up in arrangements within it. "Oh shit." She mutters. "This is the pet cemetery that the kids were talkin' about." Naturally, the southern girl is adjusting her course to walk toward the rings of stones now...

Kitty Pryde has posed:
Kitty Pryde watches Rogue's reaction to the talk of pie, and then just shakes her head as she grins. She moves over to Jean's side and says, "Mom said she was going to do some baking for Thanksgiving, so I'm expecting to see a care package before long." A great baker, her mother, and Kitty has always been generous about sharing the treats with others at the school.

As they near the clearing and Rogue comments on what it is, Kitty can't help but get another small grin. "I don't know which weirded you out more. Talk of the pie, or this," she teases her friend.

Kitty doesn't seem to mind the site, but lets Rogue lead them in a circle around it. "So speaking of the holidays, we should probably see if Piotr has any ideas for his art classes doing some decorations," she says.

Jean Grey has posed:
One could easily be quite baffled with the fact that anyone would ever turn down pie, except... Jean isn't. Because Rogue's inherent sneakiness has the ironic side effect (as it frequently does with people 'up to something') of making certain thoughts quite a bit louder.

"That's terrible rude, you know," she scolds, perfectly out loud so it's much more like Rogue's actually been 'caught' and outed. "They're really such nice people. You ought to at least say hello, if you're going to keep borrowing their things." The Overlord's reign is in full effect!!

"They come down quickly, once the weather turns and you get your first real cold snap," she says of the leaves, as they continue on a bit and spot the little gathering of stones ahead. Contrary to any rumor, she doesn't look too spooked out by them, although they're also not out here in the dead of night, when things would be at their creepiest! It tends to make for awkward hiking, when you're tripping over roots every few steps in the dark. But even then, she does call after Rogue as she alters course: "Are you planning on adding grave-robbing to the trip?"

Oh well.

She turns back to Kitty, who as usual seems far more normal and sane about everything. And also has pies on her mind! "I'm sure everyone will be eager to see what she's made this year. And yes, I think we can probably get all the students involved in decorating, whether it's paper turkeys for the kitchen or decorating the tree." That seems to be her final compromise, sectioning the Mansion into multiple holiday zones!

Rogue has posed:
Rogue is already laughing when she hears Jean's voice call out to chide her on her remarks (and probably her thoughts too) about the old Carsteads. "Old people don't wash their hands, Jeanie!" Rogue calls back to her, since the Belle has gotten about 20 feet away from she and Kitty. "It's a fact! Think about that when you're eatin' Marjorie's pie!"

Rogue looks back to both of them, her white and brown hair held down by her black wool beanie but the white bangs don't hide the Belle's big smile at her own terrible joke.

She then goes in to inspection mode as she starts to walk between the grave markers. "I ain't robbin' a pet cemetery neither!" She shouts out as she walks carefully between the markers, dainty light steps with her heeled leather boots.

One of the markers catches her eyes and she crouches down next to it. It actually has an engraved stone with it. "'Here lies Ketchup. Bestest kitty, you betcha.'" This makes the southern audibly 'Awwww' as the engraving melts her cold heart a bit.

"Here." She says to the grave as she dips a gloved hand inside of her leather jacekt and digs around a second or two, before she pulls out a Ketchup packet that she had in there since the trip to the Burger Joint last night.

Rogue's gloved hands nestles the ketchup back in nice and cozy in front of Ketchup's headstone before smiling and standing up again, starting to walk back toward Jean and Kitty, now with a bounce in her step!

Kitty Pryde has posed:
A pinecone bounces off of Rogue's back as she's turned away from the other two women. Kitty has such a straight face. Probably Jean who TK'd it at her then. Right!?

Kitty's chuckling and shaking her head. She has a crack in mind to make, but seeing Rogue's smile she decides to forego on her pet cemetery joke involving the Christmas Tree to be. She does shift her weight back and forth from one foot to another, moving to keep warm. She'd dressed for a run, but was figuring the running part would be keeping her warm so didn't really dress for the casual strolling.

"I won't be surprised if Hambone catches one of the dogs and tries to smuggle him back to his room," Kitty says. "Or... I don't know, can he talk to dogs? Or are they too large?"

Jean Grey has posed:
"I can only think of the baffled archeologist, a thousand years in the future, pondering how our society venerated its pets by placing matching foodstuffs at their graves as offerings," Jean remarks, shaking her head. "Or not, because a racoon is one hundred percent going to come along in a few hours and steal that." Racoons get into everything! They are unstoppable. But also really cute with those widdle hands. Moral of the story? Suck it, Ketchup the Kitty.

"Anyway, if we're quite done with that, young lady, shall we resume our mission?" She glances ahead to where there are definitely some darker green forms, perfectly reachable if only Rogue would stop getting distracted by amusing nonsense. To encourage team progress (and because Kitty looks cold!), she offers: "Either way, let's stop over there for a moment we can all have a nice warm drink before you decide whether you're ripping anything out of the ground." Thermos!

So Jean does in fact head just the short ways toward the grove of evergreens, where she pulls her backpack off one shoulder to get some extra cups and starts pouring. The container she has is fancy and well-insulated, so the dark brown cinnamon-enhanced juicy goodness comes out steaming hot! "Alright, Ms. Lumberjack. Thoughts?"

Rogue has posed:
The bouncing Belle ends up back at the trio (Piotr's still here?) and just grins at them. Her eyes go to Kitty, and on the subject of the infamous chubby helion student known as 'Hambone' Rogue just grins and shrugs her shoulders. "I found that boy talkin' to his reflection in the hallway mirror the other night. He was preparin' t'go ask Annabelle out for a walk in the backyard. Kinda cute, though I think her answer was 'eww gross, get away'." A smirk is quick to follow.

There-after, Rogue's gloved hands are stuffed inside of her jacket pockets and she grins at Jean, walking with the redhead to where she starts to stuff around inside her backpack. She'll accept a cup of cider when its offered, with two gloved grabby-gimme-gimme hands.

"It's the spiritual thought that counts anyhow. My gesture was a signal t'that kitty's spirit out there, t'let it know that we remembe'ah it, and that it's still got friends here. And hey, if it feeds a little lonesome forest creature? Then that's double-bonus points, yeah?" She holds a grin then before she sips the drink and closes her green eyes to savor the taste.

Cold weather doesn't effect her quite so much as Kitty or Jean, but a nice hot drink still warms her up good and plenty.

When Rogue's eyes open again she clears her throat and starts to walk toward the trees Jean had discovered. "Okay, serious business time. Line up, ya mugs." She says to the line of trees. "Okay, good. Now... which one'a you wants t'come back t'my place and let me put my hands all over ya?"

Is she flirting with trees now? Yes, yes she is.

She walks along the trees, trying to find the one with the perfect attributes for the main foyer...

Julio Richter has posed:
There's a subsonic rumble that starts at the edge of hearing, then ramps up into a tremor that can actually be felt in the ground, and finally peaks with the ground cantilevering up and then spitting a young Latino man into the clearing. He hits the dirt again with three staggered steps, but maintains his balance well enough.

"Did you know there are /skeletons/ buried around here?" he blurts out in his accented voice, looking perturbed. He acknowledges nothing odd about the manner of his arrival. "Is it the slasher's killing ground or did someone get carried away with the Halloween decorations? /Sugar/ skulls, people."

Kitty Pryde has posed:
Kitty Pryde bounces back and forth for warmth, doing so in tune to some song that only she can hear. It kind of looks like the twins from the old Peanuts cartoon, just with less head bobbing.

The warm cider is happily accepted when it is Kitty's turn. "Thanks Jean," she says, holding it in both hands to warm them. Which is when the ground starts rumbling. "Um, either the Rampao Faults are going off, Juggernaut's in the area, or Julio-" is all she gets out before the answer turns out to be c) as the latter person pops out of the ground suddenly.

"Ok," Kitty says, staring at him. "That was impressive. I don't think I knew you could do that. And yeah, pet cemetery in the clearing there. Or, were you talking about... ulp... other skeletons?" she asks worriedly.

Jean Grey has posed:
Kitty gets her cider FIRST, both because she is probably nearer by to start with, looks visibly cold, and also because Jean doesn't want to encourage Rogue's grabby-handed behavior! It's like training a puppy, with this one! But the thermos has an ample supply for all, just the kind of thing to warm them up. And while Jean does not actually spend her days off making the cider herself (that's pretty much 'brew your own beer' levels of work), it's all fresh and locally purchased (an advantage living in an area full of apple farms!) and kicked up with her own secret collection of spices.

Come the holidays, it's not just Kitty's mom who gets busy in the kitchen!

However, as she's pouring out the final cup (Rogue's!), there is a rumble, with the shaking ground enough to cause her to spill. Fear not, there's still more! And it seems that between Kitty's reaction and whatever sense she gets of things, she's not quite as surprised when the young man finally emerges. Although she does start to open her mouth in a follow-up to his strange greeting, only to close it as Kitty voices what she was thinking.

"We're out having a hike, and Rogue may be bringing back a tree, if she finds one of them suitably attractive," she explains. "Want some cider?"

Rogue has posed:
Rogue is floating up off of the ground, controlling the gravity around her body to allow her to 'fly' however she wishes. In-doing so she's up about 10 feet off the ground when Julio arrives, not feeling the tremors, but hearing his arrival she looks over and down to spy the man. "Well hey there, ya rascally rabbit." She tells the man with a grin. "Ya didn't disturb them bones, did ya?" She asks with concern stricken upon her tone.

Her attention is drawn back to the trees as she floats another 10 feet up until she's a good 20 off of the ground. She drop sher measuring-string then to make sure it's the perfect size for the school's main foyer. She watches the green ribbon drop down to the ground.

"Too short." She pats the pointed top of the tree. "Maybe next year, big fella." She tells the tree before floating over to the next potential candidate. "Ooh, look at you. You've got the height, the girth, the coverage looks nice too." She's talking to herself as she floats around behind the tree.

"What? Oh, my name's Rogue. Mmm? Yeah it is a cool name. You're so right!" There's a pause as the Belle lowers down to wrap her ribbon around the tree to get the width measurement "I'm gonna introduce ya t'my two hot lady friends over there if you're lucky. What's that? You like the ground hog guy more? I think he's spoken for..."

Rogue pipes up louder then. "This is the winner!" She announces, emerging back around from behind it and dropping down out of the sky to her feet!

Julio Richter has posed:
Julio nods over at Kitty with a smile. "Oh, si! it's not like swimming or flying or anything, but I can get a little wave of rock going and ride it around like a surfer. I'm basically just copying Bobby. Popping out of the ground is just about letting the wave get out of control and then making a crack in the ground so I don't hit my head."

He leans toward her and says in a lower voice, "I had to hit my head a couple of times to figure that one out."

To Jean, he offers a sheepish grin and says, "Lo siento, I didn't know you had drinks! I didn't mean to make you spill." He runs his hand back through his shaggy hair, shamefaced, but certainly doesn't refuse the offer of cider. "I was just surfing around and felt you walking around upstairs, thought I'd say hi."

He thinks over the question of skeletons, then purses his lips and stomps, once, canting his head to the side as though listening. "They are mostly pretty small, yeah, but I'm feeling eight of them. Are there supposed to be eight?" He looks up at Rogue and hollers in response, "I didn't feel them until I was close, and then I had to dodge around them, but it's not like I /wanted/ to hit a dead thing face first. No, I didn't disturb them."

Kitty Pryde has posed:
Kitty Pryde thanks Jean for the cider and finishes it off once the ground is stable again. "Ah, that hit the spot!" she declares. She moves over to Julio's side, saying in a light-hearted tone, "Just remember that Bobby's ice ramps melt, if you start doing that above ground." She grins at him as he shares the quiet aside about what it took for him to figure things out.

Kitty turns to look up at the tree that Rogue has picked out. "So that's how Rogue gets a tree to go home with her. Here I thought she just kind of muscled it," she says. "Instead she coaxes them home."

Kitty starts to emulate Rogue's accent. "Hey sugah. You'd look just marvelous back at my place. I've got some colorful blinking lights I can tie you up with," she says, flashing the Mississippian a warm grin and a wink.

Jean Grey has posed:
Rogue zips off and has a rather overly involved discussion with the trees. So Jean is free to be more normal and pour cider, smiliing quite understandingly at Julio. "Oh, it's quite alright. It's good that you're exercising your abilities, and exploring new ways to use them. And back here is as good of a place to practice as any." Certainly, the teacher in her is hard pressed to find fault with the situation. "It also gives you something to think about, a weakness with the tactic, not knowing exactly what sort of situation you'll pop up into." She can't help it!

Eventually, she looks back at the soaring young woman near the trees, grinning at Kitty's commentary. "Well of course. She's a good southern gir-" This doesn't really hold up, especially with the impression Kitty breaks into, which causes her to break into a bit of a giggle herself.

Only when she's gotten her composure back, does Jean call over: "So, what's the verdict? Has our Belle picked her beau? Wonderful! Ready to bring him home for the dance?"

Rogue has posed:
Rogue lands back on the soft earth, her knee-high heeled boots impacting softly on to the grassy forest floor. She grins over at Julio. "Most folks only worry about gettin' bugs in their teeth while they're travelin' around. Here you are, worried about gettin' bones yours." She says that with a big smile following it before her eyes go over to Kitty doing an impression of her. Rogue just stares at the Derfield native while she winds up that long green ribbon she'd used to measure the tree. "Keep it up, Joggin' Pants, and I'll make sure you walk home with even less on." She blows a kiss toward Kitty then glances at Jean, then at her gloved hands, then over to her left at the tree. "Uh, I mean, this one is perfect, but yeah. It'll need the base cut off if I drag it home right now."

She turns to face the tree and starts to walk over to it, bending over she just walks right underneath its branches, and up to its trunk. "Okay. Screw it. Come on, boy'o, you're comin' with me!"

The whole tree starts to shake then, its 20-something foot form starting to move, branches rustling and needles waving all around! Its not but a minute or so later that it starts to raise up out of the ground, shedding all kinds of earth and debris beneath it!

"Wooo, you're a big fella!" The Belle's voice calls out from beneath the tree.

Julio Richter has posed:
"It's still more game than I've got," Julio comments with a laugh, as Kitty offers her impersonation of Rogue enticing a well-built conifer. Even the /impression/ is smoother than Julio, if we're being honest, here. Fortunately he has so far made up for his total lack of technique with sheer beginner's luck.

"I try to keep in practice," he tells Jean with a shrug and a smile. Practice with his powers, obviously, not lumberjacking or (god knows) flirting. "I'll try to look out for drinks, next time, or pop up farther away. But in a fight, I guess popping up close would be good, right? Especially if they're carrying one of those super-hot McDonald's coffees."

As Rogue starts hauling her chosen Tenenbaum out of the Earth, he watches for a second, then draws in a breath and a bit of glowing green seismic energy. Momentarily, he sends a few vibes coursing through the dirt to disorganize the ground underneath the tree, making its roots a little easier to haul free without damaging them.

Kitty Pryde has posed:
Kitty Pryde grins over to Jean. "It's never a dull moment around here, is it?" she asks. "Rogue, did you clear it of squirrels this time?" she asks, grinning though Rogue probably has difficult seeing the smile with the tree branches in the way.

Kitty looks around and then says, "The woods really are beautiful, though nicer if the branches had snow on them. This time of year between the leaves falling but no snow is always a little dreary," she says.

She glances about. "Well, shall we head back. Rogue, you going to fly it or walk it? I suppose Jean could probably pull the other tree branches back out of the way for you?" she suggests, looking over to Jean for her input. "Julio and I can supervise. Lift, Rogue! Lift!"

Jean Grey has posed:
"Well, I don't think you'd be too worried about making your enemies spill their coffee," Jean notes, with a smirk. "But more- hmm. I'm not sure how much of an impression you get of the forms above- just vibrations, I assume? So weight, build, a bit like that?" she wonders. "Coming up and knocking enemies over would be a good move. But doing it and ending up surrounded, or too close to someone who it wasn't a good idea to be close to- that's what I meant. So a little scouting could help a great deal. I bet you and Kitty could work pretty well in tandem, for instance, since she could get a look and then you could make the hard breach."

Yes, give Jean a chance to nerd out on the X-Men stuff, and she will. She takes her job pretty seriously!

"They are beautiful with a little snow," she agrees with Kitty, and this tree-talk accompanies tree-wrestling, a process which Jean watches over with some care. Just in case. Rogue is strong, but physics is physics, and it would be easy to lose control of one end of the tree and smoosh them. Well, if they didn't have fancy powers. Hence, paying attention!

"I can help," she agrees regarding making the journey a little easier with some mind-jinx. "As much as its fun watching you try and handle that ridiculous thing by yourself." She resecures and stows the thermos (collecting any uneeded cups with a little mind-floaty as well), and turns to face back the way they've come. Onward!

Rogue has posed:
Rogue is just working the tree out of the ground, giving it soft sweet whispers of encouragement as she holds on to it. Kitty's question about the squirrel's gets an audible "Shit." that comes out from behind the branches and needles. "I'm sure they're vacatin' the premises by now... much shakin' as I'm doin' t'this thing."

Shake shake, shimmy shimmy. She notes the ground moving and it makes her grin. "Thanks, Jules!" She calls out then.

As the tree starts to rise up from the ground now, Rogue furthers speaks out. "You're not ridiculous, don't listen t'the mean redhaired one. Gingers are not well treated in this world, so she's got a lotta jaded feelin's about life in-general." These words are spoken softly to the tree, but still quite audible!

Eventually, the tree is up and out of the ground. "And we're good!" Rogue says, taking the thing a good ten feet up in the air now and moving over the heads of those that are out in the woods, blocking out the sun. "I'll stay lower t'the ground this time, just in-case there's any fuzzies inside the tree still. They'll hop onta one'a... the others, probably."

Visible beneath the tree now, with her arms wrapped around it, Rogue turns her head right, then left and spies the school off in the distance... "Lets go! Team Tannenbaum!"

Julio Richter has posed:
"Si, I'll... offer advice," Julio agrees with a quick nod to Kitty. "Use your superpowers, Rogue!" Gosh, if only she'd thought of that on her own. When she notices his more practical assistance with the ground's grip on her new paramarbor, though, he gives her a grin and a wave.

As Jean starts delving into the tactical implications of his powers, he gives her a smile. "Yeah, it's all vibrations, so not perfect, but I can tell who the heavy hitters are and where people are standing. It's fliers that really mess me up. That one time I dropped into a room and ended up surrounded, though, I just made a crater-bunker and let other people take the first few hits. These days I could do rock armor, too, as long as I'm not in Limbo where it'll try to take over my brain." That... sounds like a long story. "Anyway, I can be a turtle when I have to."

As Rogue starts back toward the mansion, he kicks a little more of his green aura of tectonic power into the ground to start up one of those rock-waves he was talking about earlier, riding along the crest with his battered green Converse sneakers. "Right below you," he says.

Jean Grey has posed:
Jean starts hiking back down the way they came, although given that Rogue is flying, Julio is dirt-surfing, and that Kitty can probably ignore the trees... What? Is she gonna be the only jerk doing it the hard way? No. Jean is no one's jerk! So up she goes, falling into pattern a little beyond the woman and her flying tree. Homeward!

...At some point, though, a stray pinecone hits Rogue in the back of the head. Kitty doesn't have to pretend this time around, as that one WAS Jean. Do not speak ill of the redheads!