8819/XAVIERS: Caroling pt 2

XAVIERS: Caroling pt 2
Date of Scene:	25 November 2021
Location:	Quiet Neighborhood: Salem Center
Synopsis:	It is that time of year again. The Xaviers School gang tries to go out and spread Christmas / Holiday cheer. It sorta goes pretty good this year! Everyone is surprised by this...
Cast of Characters:	Jean Grey, Monet St. Croix, Kitty Pryde, Scott Summers, Jubilation Lee, Noriko Ashida, Rogue, Jimmy Hudson, Betsy Braddock

---

Jean Grey has posed:
It's a yearly tradition: Wholesome caroling in suburban Westchester. A touch old fashioned, and perhaps not the sort of thing many students would eagerly rush to do, there are encouragements in the form of tasty bribes. When the group gathers in the foyer of the mansion, there is a table with fresh-baked chocolate chip cookies, and more importantly, pre-made thermoses filled with cider and hot chocolate to bring along and keep people fueled and warm.

Jean is there at the center of the madness, bundled up in a puffy parka, skirt over warm thermal tights, chunky boots and a Santa-like red cap with white fur trim. She directs folks to the table with the snacks, and then hands out laminated lyric sheets (why laminated? well, experience tells her that snowball fights are 300% likely) covering the various songs they will attempt. The list trends toward seasonal (Jingle Bells) and the humorous (Santa got Run over by a Reindeer) over the, well... more Jesus-y.

"Alright, everybody ready? Let's move it out!"

From there, it's a holly-jolly hike down the mansion drive and out onto the streets of the Salem Center suburbs. In the reasonably well-to-do neighborhood, the spirit of the season is strong: many houses boast impressive displays, with elaborate lights, blow-up Santas and snowmen, and reindeer on rooftops. Surely a neck or two was threatened as homeowners scrambled up ladders in the preceding week.

Monet St. Croix has posed:
Caroling. Tedious. But apparently a tradition at Xavier's. So that means that Monet St. Croix is going out of her comfort zone to engage in something that to her is so banal. Not taht one would be able to necessarily tell from her facial expressions, which maintained a solid look of passive interest and vague participation. Her outfit was a dark green jacket wtih some splashes of red upon it and a festive hat on with a long dark scarf curled around her neck.
    She's for now following along with the others and remembering those things such as 'smile' and 'look happy' and 'be appreciative'.

Kitty Pryde has posed:
Though she had said she was going, Kitty Pryde was nowhere to be found, until right before it was time to leave. Then a car speeds up the driveway, pulling into a spot, and Kitty jogs up to the mansion and in through the door, Lockheed gliding overhead.

"Whew, traffic was a pain. Nearly tried to phase my car through everyone else," she says with a laugh. "But, made it!"

Kitty is looking quite festive. In fact she's wearing a female Santa outfit. A warm one with a turtleneck beneath it, and tights beneath a long red skirt trimmed with white. The required hat of course. No beard though.

Lockheed. He has the beard on. Styling.

Scott Summers has posed:
It is undeniably true that Scott Summers is gifted with a great many skills in life. He is a rather excellent pilot for instance. A capable teacher. His instinctive gifts for geometry and tactics border on the preternatural. You know what one the skills he lacks however? Singing. As a general rule there is no way that Scott would allow anyone to catch him singing. That fierce determination is trumped by one thing however.

Ugh. Responsibility.

Dressed in some horribly gaudy Christmas sweater and a Santa hat that flashes with colorful lights while trilling out some tinny version of Christmas carols, Scott looks the very picture of the festive season. All except for his face. There is no smile there, for Scott Summers is not a merry man. He will get through this. This year, things will go according to plan. GRIM DETERMINATION will see them through.

"Alright, everyone keep together," he says, roaming about through the group, covering at least twice as much ground as everyone else as he plays shepard to this flock.

Someone should have probably spiked his hot chocolate before they headed out.

Jubilation Lee has posed:
    Perhaps her words are meant to be the proverbial tip of a finger poking at the wounds of anyone who might be made uncomfortable by her presence...

    "All this red. Such a tease."

    The voice is leaning heavily towards that stereotypical, west coast, valley girl twang that Jubilation Lee is known for. She seems to emerge from the shadows, gliding through the air as though her movement isn't being directed by the shuffle of her feet. She's taking normal steps but her body isn't bobbing up and down as she moves. Rumors have no doubt traveled and Jubilee's appearance is not squashing them whatsoever. Her skin is porcelain and flawless, free of any blemish, and even paler than usual. Her hair is long, smooth, and luxurious, done up in a girlish ponytail that hangs over the back of her neck and dangles halfway down her back. Jubilee's eyes are uncovered tonight, revealing those baby browns that are just oh-so-compelling these nights. It's almost like they hold all the answers to all the troubles...

    Jubilation is not dressed for the weather, even a little, and seems to be trying to put as much skin on display as one can in December. She is wearing a bright pink tank-top that hugs her form, a pair of black spandex shorts, white sneakers, and...a Santa hat. Tis the season, right?

    "You're not going to turn this into some kind of lesson, are you?" Jubilee asks, grinning up at Scott with a fangy smile. She really should've spiked Scott's hot chocolate before they headed out.

Noriko Ashida has posed:
Speaking of red and someone teasing, Noriko appears not long after Jubilation emerges, swathed in someone's grandparent's ugliest Christmas sweater.  It drapes down over her fingers.  On her head, she wear-well she pulls out and puts on a reindeer antlers hairband...and a red nose.  But the real kicker is, she's been forced to wear a skirt, which she is wearing her hi-tops with.

On anyone else, it'd be festive, but Noriko accompanies her outfit with an impressive lack of enthusiasm.

Rogue has posed:
Rogue had been running a little late as she'd been out and about doing some last minute things for some of the students.

She doesn't arrive until the group is already out at the neighborhood area. She'd been texting Jean and Kitty to let them know she was on her way though!

When she arrives, she just appears out of the night sky and lands on booted feet with her green hood up, a suede tan jacket on, that has a white fuzzy collar and cuffs to the sleeves. She smiles at everyone, as her hand goes up to push her hoodie back and run a gloved hand through her wild hair.

"Brought some stuff for us." She says the, pulling her backpack off and reaching inside to pull out a bunch of plastic thermoses. She goes down the line handing them to everyone.

"Hot chocolate. With Marshmallows." She says with a heavy and happy sigh.

She hands Scott his last and smiles big at him.

IT's spiked. Mmmm vodka chocolate!

Stepping over to Jean now, Rogue takes a music sheet, her eyes glancing over it before she looks to the others. She grins at Jubilee, thenlooks around. "We ready to do this right this year?" She asks everyone in attendance, as they start to walk to the first house. "Oh, this one is pretty. This is that old couple that stood in the window and listened to us last year... I think."

Rogue glances down at the sheet of music. "So.... Have Yourself first?" She asks, glancing to Jean.

Jean Grey has posed:
"Oh look at you, I love it! Going FULL Santa," Jean declares with open delight as Kitty JUST BARELY makes it to join the festivities. "Well, amost full," she adds, turning her grin toward the floating beard that is Lockheed. She holds out a hand toward him: "Here, I saved you one." COOKIE.

Events like this, for the teachers, always boil down to process of cat-herding above anything else. Forget joke lyrics, forget the occasional white missile sailing through the air or handful of snow tipped down the back of someone's neck. If Jean can simply get them from place A to place B without losing any students to the fearsome wilds of Westchester (which is neither of those things), then it will be a mission accomplished. So for every stretch of street they walk, Jean walks double, ranging back and forth up the column to help keep order. Scott is no doubt of great assistance in this, in all his typical lack of cheer. "Thanks for coming," she tells him, when her patrol takes her back to his position in the line. "You look great too. -Super- festive." Maybe she's rubbing it in JUST a little.

En route, she indeed pauses to check her phone here and there, until they arrive at a particular intersection and... aha! Rogue from above. "There you are. Ooh, and refills." There's so such thing as too much hot chocolate.

Then she turns around to look up and down the two intersecting streets. "Yeah this is the first block, I think. Alright people, best behavior!" Experience tells her they often only make it a few songs before things break down into total chaos, so you gotta make this first one count. So she does her best to gather people around on the sidewalk down from the house, before herself walking up to knock on the door. And when what is indeed a somewhat friendly looking older woman answers after a few moment, Jean turns back and begins gesticulating like a conductor with her hands. "Have yourselfffff a merry little Christmas..."

Monet St. Croix has posed:
Monet St. Croix would just shake her head over and go to keep up a faint, false smile that would have enough of a presence to it that she would be able to go along with the rest. Putting on a relaxed face as christmas hot chocolate would be passed around, she would smile, "Thank you." Ah, spiked chocolate. Things were looking better already. And there was nothing at all amiss in the evening. At least, not that would be amiss in an upper class area. She would hum along to the rest and move to just listen to Jean.
    Going to murmur under her breath, then starting to sing the same song over in French, her note softer to be a good backup to Jean. Her tone as good as she could make it (which was of course in her mind perfect)

Jimmy Hudson has posed:
    Even more fashionable than Kitty seems to be James Hudson, is caught well after the cadre has moved out. He's at first just a distant silhouette some ways back toward the mansion along the street. Slowly growing larger as he draws near, yet somehow never quite closing the distance. Much like Lancelot assaulting a wedding assembly, it takes him forever until.
    HAHA!
    He's suddenly in range to lift his voice, "You all walk fast!" He shouts, though he brings himself on up, smacking some of the snow off his black wool trench, then rollling on up to Rogue and gives a nod to the cocoa.
    "Got morea those?"

Betsy Braddock has posed:
Betsy Braddock - who may not be able to fully manifest without liquor - is with the group in an extremely on-point wool peacoat which is.. well, it's cold weather gear; you can only push this so far. She is also wearing a pair of very small hair barrettes which, if examined closely, are reindeer antlers.

She sips her cocoa, courtesy of Rogue. "Ahhh," she says. Having done this, she cranes her head. "What's on our set list tonight, then? Will we be crooning? I haven't crooned in QUITE some time."

Kitty Pryde has posed:
Lockheed takes the cookie, landing and happily devouring it. It leaves crumbs in his Lockheed-sized Santa beard, which Kitty brushes away for him. She loads up on thermoses of hot chocolate and grabs one of the lyrics sheets, for those pesky second verses that no one know the words to except actual singers.

As Rogue lands, Kitty grins over to her. "No Ororo tonight, so if it doesn't snow on its own, you have to fly up there and sprinkle flakes down. FLAKES, woman. Not boulders of snow," Kitty says. Because, she knows Rogue.

Kitty clasps Monet on the shoulder. "I love this time of year," she confides. Betsy and Jimmy are given waves of greeting as they catch up. "Then croon you shall," she replies to Betsy with a grin.

When they get to the first house, Kitty clears her throat and gets the words ready. "Half yourself, a merry little Christmas (or Hanukah as appropriate)..." she sings, ad-libbing slightly. She gives Noriko a little nudge with her elbow to help prompt her into song.

Scott Summers has posed:
Does his jaw tighten just a little? Do those eyes narrow just the slightest amounts? It is difficult to tell. Scott is not what one would normally call... expressive. Controlled. Yes, most definitely controlled. "Every day, every moment is full of lessons Jubilation. If you bother to open yourself up to them. They can make you better than you are," he points out quietly. He's not exactly counting on those words to land. He probably wouldn't be even if things were different.

As Rogue touches down with her gifts of Christmas cheer, Scott accepts it, gives it a once over and tucks it in the backpack that is draped over one shoulder. "Thanks," he says, just a muted dry note buried in his voice. He knows the score. If they wanted to put one over on him they probably should have chosen a better candidate than Rogue!. But no lectures are offered. It is Christmas afterall.

"Of course," is his simple answer to Jean as he begins to roam down one side of the pack again, that visored gaze sweeping over the assemblage. "It beats sitting back at the mansion and waiting for the inevitable call from the sherrif's department," he says. Is that a note of humor from the stodgiest of the X-Men? Surely not. Besides, this is a tradition. He might not be much for public displays, but tradition is important.

And maybe he entertains the foolish notion that by being present he can keep things from entirely going off the rails.

Jubilation Lee has posed:
    "Did you rehearse that little speech in the mirror before coming out?" Jubilee replies with an even larger smile. All the teeth, all the fangs, shining brightly up at Summers. "Because, it totally shows. One of these nights, you're going to nail it." A wink of one of her baby browns seals the sentiment before Jubilee spins on her heel towards the arriving speedster.

    "He's in a mood," she mutters for Noriko's benefit as she approaches, as though she's delivering a weather report.

    When the offer of hot chocolate is made, Jubilation shakes her head emphatically, as though she's turning down a big frosty goblet of pencil shavings. "Barf-o-rama," she announces, which is just about as polite as she can be turning down the totally-not-blood liquid, before shoving through the crowd to take her place at the front of the caroling pack.

Noriko Ashida has posed:
"So, cloudy with a chance of thunderstorms...as always," Noriko replies with a smirk that is interrupted by Kitty's nudge meant to get her with the program.  She starts humming randomly, sort of piggybacking on the notes as they come up.

The speedster whips over to smell Rogue's hot chocolate and pops back.  "They made it gross," she says to Jubilation when she weaves her way up behind the girl to find her settling at the front.  She reaches up to rub at her nose under the...nose.

Monet St. Croix has posed:
The poke by Kitty at her shoulder has Monet St. Croix swivel her head around and then offer, "Thank you?" Her just accepting it after a moment before mentally shrugging. They are out to enjoy themselves. She has hot chocolate that's warmed with some alcohol and sweeter thanks to the marshmellow. And having a fascinating time watching the interpersonal dynamics of the team that she's not gotten as much chance to do so before.
    Jubilee for some reason gets her attention in passing and a flicker of something goes through her eyes, before she would glance at Lockheed in fascination. He was something that never, ever ceased to amaze her - and it would show in her normally quite restrained facial expressions as her passive sneer would fade away. What girl didn't like dragons?

Rogue has posed:
The elderly couple inside the house both walk to the front door to listen. The old woman smiles bright and happily as the old man just looks on with a grumpy expression.

Rogue looks over at Jimmy and smiles at his arrival, offering him her cup. "I had one before comin' out here, so I'm all drinked out for now. I looked up how t'make Wassal, but yeah... we didn't have the stuff for it in the house." She smirks at him.

Another look is given to their group before the singing starts.

Rogue is a decent enough singer when she wants to! Her aunt was a music teacher, after all!

The old couple continues to listen to the song that they all belt out for them, but the old man eventually walks away and goes back to the tv to turn up his football game volume, and drop back in to his recliner.

The old woman offers the Carolers a smile and a wave.

"Next house!" Rogue calls out then as she leads the charge. The next house is dark and kinda gloomy. There is a Tree visibly lit inside but it looks like nobody is home. "Skip?" Rogue asks as she glances back to Jean. She already starts to walk on past this one, skipping, it for the much brighter and lively house that has a party going on inside it. Rogue points at this place. "Now we're talkin'>" She says back to the others with a big grin.

Inside this house, there is a bunch of people all holding cups and eating food, lots of cars in the drive way and lining the sidewalk too.

"A silly song, for these people, I say." Rogue notes as she holds up her lyrics sheet!

Jimmy Hudson has posed:
    "S'alright," James says as he leans forward and takes the cup. "Can share." And as he says that he takes a small sip, but hands it back to her. "No wassail though, my heart breaks." Yet he's still half-grinning.
    Settling in at the back of the pack, considering relative heights, Jimmy finds himself ostensibly near Scott, perhaps Betsy unless there's jostling going on. He'll join in if he's able to get one of the laminated cards in hand, lending his baritone to the music and for now just following along.
    As they move on to the next house, James asks, "Aren't they supposed to give us stuff or else we egg their house?"

Betsy Braddock has posed:
"Oh come now, Scott, how often does THAT happen? Do you really think they'd call the Sheriff only because there are some carolers out here?" says Betsy after draining about half of her spiked cocoa, all but beaming about it. (She's been hanging out a lot lately. Then again, tis the season...)

"You're thinking of Halloween," Betsy answers Jimmy, as they move along. "I do believe offering repast and refreshment is welcome, but you can't expect every old tradition to be observed to the hilt! I hope."

She sips her cocoa. "Now I half expect we'll find something awful about this. Some member of the fair folk or something who's - hm - well," Betsy continues, clearly feeling Rogue's doubtless well-chosen vodka, "if you THINK about it, then really I'm sure Santa Claus would come for us, were we to be entrapped."

Jean Grey has posed:
"Don't jinx it!" Jean had called back at Scott. Because the Sheriff's department getting called on them is a VERY real thing.

Every year, in fact, Jean endeavors for this all to go off without a hitch. And every year, it is always a failure of some degree. But she TRIES. And part of that whole plan is starting slow, giving them an easy win, a soft pitch, for that opening performance. The lady who lives here is a reliably kind audience, or at least a forgiving one, tolerant of the spectacle of the gaggle of kids on her lawn, even if they're a rather odd bunch and their singing leaves plenty to wish for. She somehow tolerates the the madness, including the fact that there's a young woman dressed for a jog in the middle of summer.

But soon they finish, and it's on to the next. Or the next next, as Rogue makes a call on the dark house they pass. En route, she catches that they've picked up a few stragglers. "Betsy!" She's always excited to have her counterpart in the realms psychic show up for these holiday outings, whether they devolve into drunken barhops or otherwise. And one more: "Jimmy! I bet you sing. You sing, right?" Because he's so NORMAL?

In any event, they soon reach the next (next) house, which does appear to have some festivies in progress. Jean repeats the pattern, moving on up to the front door while gesturing the gathering into their positions. Silly, huh? There's a couple choices, but ultimately she chooses against antagonizing the Dark Knight unecessarily. THUS:

"Grandma got run over by a reindeer, walking home from our house Christmas eve..."

Jimmy Hudson has posed:
    Chances are James was just being a bit silly, but he plays to the role by giving Betsy a nod and his lips parting with a silent 'oh', though his surface thoughts and emotions are warm and cheerful for the holidays. "Halloween, you're prolly right." Well, most definitely right.
    But he does say loud enough for Rogue to overhear. "Still, no wassail, evening's ruined." He pronounces 'ruined' with an exagerated 'roo-een-duh' tone that he likely picked up from some tidbit of pop culture somewhere.
    Yet Jean catches him out and he responds to the accusation of singing, "I do indeed, Miss Grey." And he backs up that music right proper.

Kitty Pryde has posed:
Between houses, Lockheed rejoins them, gliding down out of the sky to Kitty, who catches him and holds him in her arms. "Better conceal you better than just a beard," Kitty tells the space dragon, reaching into a pocket and withdrawing a collar. She puts it around his neck while the little dragon holds still, used to this. It goes on and she hits a button it, and Lockheed takes on the appearance of a cat. A cat with a white Santa beard.

The beard isn't a perfect fit with the hologram, but, "Eh, good enough in the dim light," Kitty says of it after checking it out.

She keeps him in her arms as they go up to the next house and begin singing.

Scott Summers has posed:
"It's not paranoia if they really are out to get you," Scott offers up to Betsy, the corners of his mouth twitching just slightly. It is not the end of the world. They have, afterall, scene the end of the world often enough to know the difference. But it would, admittedly, be nice to get through the holiday season just once -- ONCE -- without being called down to the Sherrif's office to bail someone out of jail, or to explain some strange happening.

Just once.

The dark haired X-Man does smile briefly at Jean. "I don't believe in jinxes. We just need a little bit of discipline. It will turn out differently this year," he asserts. It's not like he's all doom and gloom. Though he may have indeed doomed them with that.

So he falls in with the rest of them, at least making a show of singing along with the rest of them, though resorting to humming as often as he can get away with it. Every once in a while he might chime in on the chorus.

It's possible that he took to practicing alone in the car. Maybe. He'll never admit it though.

Betsy Braddock has posed:
Betsy looks thunderstruck for a moment at Rogue before realizing that it is a song. This takes her about six bars, suggesting that she has pre-gamed significantly.

She reaches for a lyric sheet and follows along, clearing her throat and singing in a crisp, precise, but marginally off-key note: "When we found her Christmas morning; at the scene of the attack. She had hoof-prints on her forehead. And..."

"Incriminating Claus marks on her back," Betsy continues, grimacing as she visibly 'gets' it only after she 'sang it'.

Monet St. Croix has posed:
Monet St. Croix holds up the sheet music in front of her with a look of passive distaste at the (to her) banal, over-commercialized and horrible easy listening elevator music. But, what the masses want for their crass entertainment.. Well, when in company, one must lower thyself.
    So, still singing along in french quietly in (to her divine self important supremacy) going along with the tunes quietly to provide an -acceptable- backdrop of it.
    They were here for the company, not the accompaniment.

Jubilation Lee has posed:
    Perhaps she can feel the eyes on her, perhaps it's a coincidence, or perhaps it's a glance of her own, but Jubilation turns her head and returns Monet's attention. Her expression starts out flat, perhaps unamused, but then... Jubilation brings her hand up and waves in an obvious, oafish manner, as though it's meant to be obviously uncouth to clash with the other girl's sensibilities.

    "This song is about a hit-and-run," Jubes leans in to mutter into Noriko's ear. She stands back at attention and tries to fall back in line with the singing.

Rogue has posed:
Rogue shoots a grin over at Jimmy and shakes her head softly. "Only ever doin' my best. Don't judge me." She tells him before looking back to the music that Jean picks. She glances down the street to make sure the old lady isn't still watching as they start to sing a song about grandma getting run over now...

That'd be awkward.

The sheet is held up so Rogue can see it with the light from the street lamp over her shoulder. She sings along with the others, smiling up at the brightly lit house.

The front door opens up and some of the people come out on the porch to listen. Some of them hold up their drinks to acknowledge the Xaviers crew, while one even holds up a lighter... yeah, he's clearly wasted. He even shouts. "Now sing some Zeplin!" Which earns him some elbows from some of his friends.

Once the song is complete, a couple of women come down the steps and approach the Xaviers group offering them all cookiees and drinks if they'd like it.

Rogue takes a cookie and happily noms on it while she looks back to the others. She says something to Monet in French about how the songs sound better that way, showing a grin to the other before she starts to lead with Jean toward the next home.

This house just had a car pull up in the driveway, and its a family of five all getting out after going to dinner together somewhere, so it seems as one of them is carrying some food bags in a hand.

Rogue waves to them before she looks back to their group. "Come on Hurry up!" She urges before motioning to Jean. "A pretty song this time. Before they get inside!"

Jimmy Hudson has posed:
    In the middle of a refrain, Jimmy shoots a crinkle-nosed look in Rogue's direction, as if to show that he will indeed judge, but he's a forgiving magistrate. But then it's to the music that focus must be given. He holds up his own laminated sheet and tries to catch up at the right points, lending his deep voice to the chorus.
    He does catch Betsy's hint of distaste at the subject and half-smiles sidelong. It's only when they're on the close of that song and the guy hollars for a Led Zep song that James leans over and murmurs. "It's a regional favorite." As to which region, well that's anyone's guess.
    But then there is some urgency needed so he rushes off at Rogue's behest to try and keep up. "Which one are we doing?"
    A quick glance is spared for Jean to see if she already had something at hand.

Noriko Ashida has posed:
Noriko looks a hair after Jubilation, dark eyes flicking toward Monet for a flash, but there is no wave.  Jubilation's lean captures Noriko's attention first, but the knowledge the young vampire imparts causes the speedster to flip through the lyrics.  Which lasts about a half a second.

The speedster starts in singing more boldly but only a few seconds into her contribution she's zoning out given the lack luster enthusiasm of their reception and...well, her singing just keeps speeding up.

Noriko grabs a few cookies, her cheeks flushing in the blink of an eye as she sneaks yet another helping.  WHAT DO THEY FEED THESE KIDS AT THAT SCHOOL?! (Lots...loads...moooooounds).  She shuffles along quickly (too quickly) to catch up and slips on a patch of ice before scrambling back up to her feet like..no that didn't happen.  Her eyes twitch over to Jubilation, then to Monet again.

Jean Grey has posed:
Jean will take vaguely good-humored and drunk over some of the alternatives. She exchanges some friendly chit chat wit hthe ladies who come down, even explaining that they're from the school. "Woah that creepy old mansion on the hill? I thought that place was haunted!" says one of the not-so-sober guys. The Xavier - and once Greymalkin - resisdence is a local historical landmark, on top of everything else, dating back to the revolution. But as run-ins with holiday drunks go, this is waaay on the mild side. To the next!

"You really DO have a lovely voice," she tells Jimmy, as she's making her way down the driveway and then down the sidewalk toward the next house on their route. Of course, as ever, Rogue has DEMANDS. A pretty one. Which is challenging because a lot of the more traditionally melodic are also the more inherently religious. She spends a moment quickly turning over the lyric sheet (they're printed on both sides, to cram in as much on that one laminated page!) looking for options, and then looks back. "Silver Bells? Or maybe-"

This time there's really no room for a fancy setup, since the people are arriving just as they get there. In a way, the lot from Xaviers is essentially launching a CHRISTMAS AMBUSH. "I'll Be Home for Christmas, you can plan on me-"

Even as Jean starts to sing, she's gesticulating with her arm not holding the lyric sheet, indicating with a little circular motion for people to turn it over. Of course, this confuses plenty of the students, so a few start singing different songs, all simultaneously!

Monet St. Croix has posed:
Monet St. Croix is going to look at Jubilation Lee, then at Noriko, and there's a look in her face of.. Confusion - at her own doing? Then a slow nod and a very, very faint smirk over is given in return of light appreciationt hat would vanish over. Then as the children are moving to flank them Monet would give a low, low nod over to Noriko if it was noticed or not and casually reach up a hand behind her. Hand moving to catch the snowball hurled bheind her, not paying attention to the sheet of Christmas musing..
    Hand would twist behind her then and go to launch the snowball back at the child that had thrown it.. After crushing it in her hand to pack the snow a -bit- more densely and throwing it back a little harder than the arch that the child had launched at her. "Catch."

Kitty Pryde has posed:
Kitty Pryde breaks out her hot chocolate during a break in the singing. She takes a few sips of the warm liquid, and then tips it up for Lockheed to get a sip. Hey, it's not like sharing a cup with a dog. Dragons are extremely hygienic. The fire sterilizes wonderfully.

The thermos is closed back up and Kitty scrambles with her song sheets to get to the right song. As Jean launches into I'll Be Home For Christmas, Kitty starts in on Jolly Old King Wenceslas. The two songs sound great together, if you like a cacophony of unrelated songs that don't go together at all.

Before Kitty has a chance to adjust the song, a snowball hits her in the side of the head, disintegrating into a spray of snow.

Phase that.

Jimmy Hudson has posed:
    It's as they're walking that Jean offers Jimmy that aside and it does serve to cause his thoughts to flitter through a quick rustle of chaos, caught unawares and actually causing his cheeks to darken slightly. Likely just from the chill. And the drink.
    "Don't you start," He says in reply to the redhead, choosing to take those kind words and cast them as perhaps her making fun. Even though there was no hint of such to it.
    But then the moment's past as they've hustled on and he takes that suggestion to follow up on 'I'll Be Home for Christmas.' He joins in a second or two behind, but he lends the deep timbre of his deep voice to provide a strong background as they sing. Only for poor Kitty to get /splat!/ hit with the snowball. To which he says.
    "Hey, you got somethin' on your face."

Jubilation Lee has posed:
    It happens in an instant. Jubilation goes from singing the wanton lyrics of Grandma Got Run Over By A Reindeer, a chill in the air, a twinkle in her eye, to a snarling monster that just got hit by a snowball. She doesn't transform -- that's not a thing -- but her expression immediately fills with hate, anger, and something that might suggest a lust for violence. Her forehead creases and the top edges of her mouth curl upwards. She hisses loudly and leans forward into a readied stance -- every part of her that could be repurposed for destruction fills with a quaking blood lust. It's like what happens when you touch a cat's belly.

    The hiss is unmistakably the warning horn of a predator, giving the world one last chance to take cover before she ruins everything. Maybe it /is/ a warning. From Jubilee -- the old one -- who's buried deep inside, drowned out by a squalling vampire id. Will this be another Xavier's School caroling tragedy?!

Scott Summers has posed:
Hey, they made it at least a couple of houses before things started to disintegrate into chaos. They can deal with birb empires from the stars and flaming death birds from space, but a simple holiday outting is their nemesis.

Not that Scott really can complain too much. It's not like he is able to follow the hasty directions any better than the students. Near the back, riding herd over the trailers who might just be trying to slip away and find their own sort of mischief, there is definitely a miscommunication and he quickly picks up the song too.

The wrong song. A half-hearted Deck The Halls is belted out by a handful in the back, all in different cadances and distinctly off-key.

Worst holiday medley ever. Hopefully their audience is in the grip of the festive spirit.

Or has a great deal of pity for the Try Hards.

Noriko Ashida has posed:
Once upon a time, Noriko played softball.  She can still be seen out on the field at the Mansion playing with herself, full games.  So she just angles her sheet music to let an incoming snowball slice as she bats another one out of the air before it hits Jubilation.  That's when she catches Monet's nod.  "What was that?" she quickly asks Jubilee...but, that's not really Jubilee and Noriko didn't block all of the incoming snowballs.

The speedster's eyes shoot open wide faster than anyone ought to be able to see and she steps to Jubilation's side, reaching to take the the vampire's hand, squeezing.  "Hey..." she leans to utter, a verbal nudge of a sort.

Rogue has posed:
The family that had gotten home from their food outing all stand at their porch steps and listen to the cacophony of songs being sang. It makes them all start to laugh, the little kids seem confused but laugh also. They all wave to the Xaviers crowd and the parents call out their thanks for the 'performance'.
The snowballers all hide behind cars and snow drifts on the opposite side of the street, but Jubilee's hissing draws their attention solely upon her. "That's a creature of the night!" One of the fat kids shouts as he starts to throw a big ball of snow at the Jubilation one, which gets his friends to follow-suit!

Rogue looks back at this and just sighs, shaking her head from side to side. "Here it goes..."

She looks to Jean then. "We made it more homes than last year though, right? We made it like only one last year...."

The Belle takes her phone out of her coat and starts to text someone. She walks on to the next house and looks up in to the sky. "We gotta make it back to the house before 9:30 too. The Professah is gonna do his readin' of the Night Before...."

She stops dead in her tracks when she looks up at the next house. "Woah." Rogue mutters....

On the roof of the house is a full lit-up sleigh with a man in a Santa Costume who is walking toward a chimeny on the roof.

Rogue glances back to the others and points up at him. "Come on. Lets give him some theme music!" She says in her deep southern voice.

Jean Grey has posed:
Even if 'how wills this go gloriously wrong?' is half the fun of the outing, Jean is indeed a try hard. It's always her goal to deliver the best door-to-door singing service that the school can manage! But even she can only do so much.

And when Kitty of all people bursts into the lyric tale of the 10th century Bohemian ruler (legit, that song is one of her favorites, it's why it's there!) while she's singing her modern mistletoe-laden ditty, even Jean can't help but falter a bit, breaking into a laugh mid-verse. And because she's laughing, focused on one half of the disaster-in-the-making, she misses the fact that they Xavier crew has met its own ambush in the form of a band of local hooligans. Well, she notices when Kitty gets hit, because Kitty's song already had her going.

"Ack, where'd that-"

Jean whirls around, as the band of hooligans are suddenly emerging all around them. She has to give them credit for the skill of the ambush! "Scott! Battle plans!" She's not ACTUALLY serious in the call out, laughing as another snowball explodes on the shoulder of her parka, except...

Right, there's Jubilee. And nothing about that situation helps. Not the hissing, nor her less than winter-appropriate dress, which makes her more fun to target and has the oldest among the boys seemingly -especially- primed to hit her, for -whatever- reason. "Haha, creature of the night? Don't be stupid, she's just some weird ska-"

This particularly foul-mouthed young fella doesn't get to finish the thought before he catches a return throw right in the face, filling his naughty mouth with just a bit of snow itself. Was that Jean? Is their TEACHER returning fire? It's hard to see, in all the chaos, and her hands are in her pockets. She couldn't have possibly done it without her hands, RIGHT?

Regardless, Jean has jogged over to Jubilee and Noriko, even as she motions for the other teachers to move their party along, de-escalating the running snow-battle as well as they can. "You OK? C'mon. It's just some kids. Though if you wanna take some shots back, be my guest. Someone got one of them good, it looks like." WINK.

And Rogue is STILL calling them along to the next one. "Yeah last year I think we only made it to the second house before things went sideways, we did a whole house better this time," she agrees, finding joy in that small victory. "Though I don't know if we can keep them together for this next one." But then she looks up to the next house. "Woah. It really IS Santa."

This, at least, catches the attention of some of the younger students in the group!

Jimmy Hudson has posed:
    For now the singing is forgotten, though Rogue's forceful personality is at the least keeping Jimmy moving along the route toward the Santa Claus fellow up on his roof. Yet he keeps a lingering eye on the assault of the children as they send snowballs their way with some decent aim.
    A few spatter the Canadian mutant as he seems to linger, and does stoop down quick enough to grab a handful of snow as he asks sidelong toward Cyclops.
    "Permission to engage, sir?" As if they were in a danger room scenario. Only for another snowball to /splat!/ on Jimmy's nice wool coat which causes him to draw bead and fire without that permission given.

Monet St. Croix has posed:
Monet St. Croix is moving along to put herself in the line of fire just in case the children go for another volley, her taking a moment to pick up a ball of snow. Then her fingers would -crunch- the ball, compressing it over to something bout as dense as coal in her hand, ready to spike the ice if necessary and throw it if there are further threats. She would glance over at Scott, and finally speak up..
    "Mister Summers, are we going to stop that man from breaking and entering into that person's home? We see him in broad daylight. Should we alert the authorities if we do not wish to get involved?" Asking with all the sincerity of someone that really -did- think they should go and stop him. Or at least really putting on a very good act thereof.
    As Jubilee would rise up in.. Anger? Rage? Monet would give a confused look at her, then look over to Jean Grey, her eyes casting at Jubilee in a 'query' mark that would be unspoken.

Scott Summers has posed:
It could be worse. So far there has been nothing that will go on anyone's criminal record. As a measure of success it doesn't really say very much, but it is the sort of victory that Scott is willing to accept under the circumstances.

Then again, how many people would like to claim some sort of victory out of a night of caroling? It is very much all relative. But sometimes one just has to find victories in the small things. He is certain that he's on the right side of that.

When the snowballs start flying he grimaces ever so slightly -- less at the snowballs, even as he gets pelted with one -- but more over concerned at the telltale hissing. His gaze snaps sharply towards Jubilee and Noriko, but seeing that Jean has already moved to address the potential problem he eases back, instead turning towards Jimmy and nodding. "Permission granted. Just... be nice. No fastballs to the face, please. I don't want to have a parade of angry parents at the gate anymore then I want to spend the rest of the evening arranging bail for anyone," he says drily before turning back to the students he has gathered up. "Come on, after Rogue. Looks like it's time to go screech at Santa. Lets see if we can all manage to sing the same song this time..."

Small victories.

Jubilation Lee has posed:
    It's supposed to be fun. A snowball fight. Just like last year! Last year, everyone involved in that snowball fight returned home. Tonight could go either way. It's a thin line. But there's Noriko Asida, constantly walking that thin line, always putting herself in harm's way for Jubilee's sake. Whatever struggle might be boiling under the surface, the one that teeters on the brink of a total frenzy, it seems to calm as Noriko comes to her side.

    Maybe there's a calming effect by their presence -- Nori, Jean -- but the speedster's hand entwined with her own is enough to give the strength needed for Jubilation to snap out of this. The snarling, the frowning, the lust for destruction fades towards a smile that is made of equal parts appreciation and panic about what could have happened.

    Finally, she breaks the silence. What would it be? Affection? A thank-you to Nori and Jean? Something heartfelt to acknowledge how they saved her from doing something awful? No.

    "Did that kid just call me a weird skank?" Jubes points, calling attention to the older boy giving her the eyes.

    Jubilation bends forward and makes a ball of snow in her bare hands. She tosses it up and down a couple of times before launching a fastball at the emboldened one, her arm blurring a little as she summons up some of that vampiric strength. The kid goes down in a sudden explosion of snow, causing the children to scatter, leaving each one of them a sitting duck!

Rogue has posed:
Rogue has somehow avoided snowballs. Could be since she's furthest along in the pack. She has her phone out still and is tapping away on it before everyone who manages to follow her shows up and they start the next song.

Jingle Bells.

How appropriate.

The Belle glances over to the snowball fight as it keeps going across the street, then glances down at her phone conversation through text.

With Storm.

A moment later and the dark skies begin to open up, with flurries of falling flakes, before it begins to grow thicker and thicker until its an utterly perfect falling snow. No wind, just snowflakes falling peacefully and calmly...

Even if there is a fair amount of chaos going on.

Rogue still looks up at the snow as it falls down upon her face, and she smiles. Her eyes go back to her phone then and she sends a <3 emoji to Storm, before her phone is stuffed back in to her pocket.

"Next house!" Rogue says to those of the student body who are still with her! "We got about twenty minutes before we gotta get back!" She says, walking through the snowfall that keeps coming down in a perfectly picture-esque fashion.

And of course the hooligans keep up their snowball fight, yet still targeting anyone who dares get too close to their territory!