9055/Shovelin' Time

Shovelin' Time
Date of Scene:	12 December 2021
Location:	Xavier's School Front Yard
Synopsis:	Jimmy Rogue Jean Hot Chocolate Risque Pics Snow Shovels Cold and Warm Stuff The end.
Cast of Characters:	Jimmy Hudson, Rogue, Jean Grey

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Jimmy Hudson has posed:
    In the Winter time the sound of a shovel over snow and cement is a unique thing. Nothing else quite matches that scrape of metal on stone and ice quite like someone pushing around entirely too much frozen water on a rough surface. In the morning's it's often heard. But if you hear it during the day then either a storm just passed or another was on the way and someone needed to get up as much snow before it became unwieldy.
    Which is what Jimmy was doing.
    Out there in the cold, wrapped in a heavy black jacket that was long enough to reach mid-thigh, he looked at least comfy with a grey beanie hat and some heavy blue jeans. Leather gloves protected his hands from the steady repetitive motion of pushing that shovel along the /many/ long walkways around the mansion. It was an undertaking.
    Though for a man who doesn't feel the burn of fatigue... not so bad.
    That doesn't mean it doesn't get dull and there isn't a moment worthy of just stopping and taking a deep breath. He was around the side of the house partially, a good bit behind the garage. Out of view perhaps of a good part of the driveway. But easily seen if one glanced out a window in the mansion. Right now he'd paused, hand on the grip of the shovel as he looked off to the distant grey promise of those storm clouds.
    Yeah, it looked like snowstorm weather. Screw that weather channel guy. He was wrong.

Rogue has posed:
The long driveway up from Greymalkin Lane is graced with the arrival of a red Ford Ranger. It rolls casually down the drive and circles around toward the garage area. The engine is killed just outside the garage, and the muffled music inside the cab shuts off a few moments later. The door pops open and Anna-Marie steps out. She's wearing a suede tan coat with white puffy lapels and cuffs, over a green sweater. Her hair is loose around her shoulders, with the white bangs framing her face as pure as the snow around the house. Blue jeans and knee-high boots make up the rest of her attire as she closes that driver side door with a gloved hand.

She stands beside her truck for a moment, her phone up as she reads something on it, but the presence of someone being nearby has her looking up and spotting the figure of Jimmy. She smiles and waves at him.

Jimmy Hudson has posed:
    "Miss Rogue," Jimmy says from afar, giving a lift of his chin at first, then a gloved hand lifts off of the grip of the shovel.
    He then clunks the shovel back down and tucks in his other hand on the haft. A good grip is made then he digs it into the chunk of snow that hadn't been cleared since last storm and leeeeans into it to start shoving the snow clear. He gets a good chunk of it rolling up and around the side of the shovel, then once it's filled he lifts and /tosses/ the snow to the side toward the clear area beside the path.
    It's not the quickest approach, nor the easiest, but it does lead him forward as he makes his way in her direction. When he draws near enough he'll lift his voice and call out loud enough to carry.
    "I see no presents in yer hands, all done with your shoppin' or just decided to heck with the holiday?" His lip twists up a little, amused. Though he does take another small break to straighten up and rest that shovel on its edge with his hand around the grip at the other end.

Rogue has posed:
Rogue spends another moment sending a message on her phone and then stuffs it away in to her coat. She hears him call out, and starts to walk toward him. Her gloved hands go in to the pockets of her coat, a smile appears on her lips as she gets close enough to make it a more casual conversation.

"The opposite. I guess." She starts. "Took a bunch of presents to the post office t'send out t'people's family. Student gifts t'send home, ya see." She says in her southern flavored voice.

Her eyes dance around him where he's been working. "Ya know it's gonna snow again t'night, most likely, yeah?" She asks him as she looks back at him and glimmers a grin at the man.

"All your work is gonna get covered over again." She adds as her right hand comes out to sweep her white hair out of her face after the wind swept it across her eyes and nose.

Jimmy Hudson has posed:
    "Ahh, see there's a lesson in that." Jimmy says as he thumps a gloved hand on the ring grip of the shovel, looking around at his workings then back to her when she mentions what she was up to, delivering presents. "There's always another possibility to what yer seein' that you might not be privy to. A lesson of humility."
    He doesn't always wax folksy wisdom when she's around, but she might've heard people in the past give him a little bit of a hard time about it. So he's leaned into it, enjoying the role it casts him in. His smirk, though, likely makes one suspect his sincerity.
    "Oh is it?" About the snow tonight. "Yeah, that's the thing." He then lowers that shovel again and /scrrrraaaape-splish/ he executes another shove and toss, then gives a nod to her. "You let snow pile up too much and it gets a lot harder to deal with. Let two snow falls pile on top of each other? Bottom gets all hard and nasty."
    He lets the shovel rest again, clearly not making much headway with her around, "Then again, I suppose we could let one of the students deal with all this. But..." He smiles as if that was all the rest of that sentence needed.

Rogue has posed:
Rogue puts her hand back in to her jacket pocket and just watches him. She grins again at that last part, then completes his sentence. "But mosta them are all fat and lazy." Which is said with a nod or two following her own words.

She takes a step toward him then and her right hand comes out to ask for the shovel.

She looks up at him as she holds the hand out. "Lemme take a try?" She asks then.

When he relents and relinquishes the shovel to her she just smiles happily at him, and with one hand she starts to push at the snow bank that he was working on. "Like this?" She asks then as she lifts up a full shovel of snow with just that one hand, her left still in her jacket pocket.

She drops the snow in to the yard with a turn of the handle.

"Hmm... lets see though..." She quietly says before her knee-high leather boots lift up off the ground a couple feet, and the southern belle is now floating in the air before Jimmy. "See if we can't speed this up a bit...." She says as she starts to just glide through the air and extends the shovel out to easily sweep the snow up and off in to the yard.

The young flying Belle looks back over her shoulder at him past her white bangs. "This ain't so hard, Sugah." She coyly relays.

Jimmy Hudson has posed:
    A short exhalation of breath that might be a laugh if he gave it some more energy, then he says about the state of the students, "I wasn't about to be quite that uncharitable." He says as he makes another slow languid push of snow and tosses the heap to the side.
    Of course that's the moment she extends her hand for the shovel, asks if she can have it. Another near laugh then he shakes his head slightly as his smile broadens before he pushes it into her hand and makes a point of stepping out of the way then gesturing behind him. As if to say, 'As you wish.'
    She gets that first shoveling out of the way. But then he answers, "Sorta like that, but you gotta make it look harder, so you get all the sympathy attention when you go inside. And the free cocoa."
    But then in the next moment she's floating in the air and /fwooosh/ is clearing out good long lines of the walk, making strafing runs at the snow and causing the poor solidified water suffer under her might.
    As she looks over her shoulder he calls out, "Well sure, if you wanted to cheat, that works fine."

Rogue has posed:
Another clean line is swept through the snow as the Belle makes her way back to him before she settles down on the ground again, her booted feet impacting on the wet pavement. She has a big smile on her face, as her wild white bangs are again crossing over her visage. She offers the shovel back.

"Here." She says with her hand holding the shovel horizontally like a offered sword from medieval times.

"I don't wanna steal your thundah." She says with that continued playful style of hers.

When he accepts it back she reaches back to tend to her wild waving locks again. Her eyes go out across the yard before she looks back at him. "Guess I'll make ya some hot cocoa then for all your non-cheatin' work out here."

Jimmy Hudson has posed:
    "No no, if you want to I'm all fine with it." He holds up his gloved hands reluctantly as if to let her keep on keepin' on, but then he grabs the shovel back and crinkles his nose a little, making a face at her. "Fine fine." He grouses.
    He lightly sets the end down to crunch in the ice as he leans against it a little. She suggests going on in to make the cocoa and he lifts his chin, "If you wanna, or you could stay out here and keep me company until I get this done."
    He starts to walk down the now clear path that Rogue had so easily set free of its burden of snow, boots crunching the gravel and ice underfoot. "I figure I get this over here..." He lifts a hand and points, then lifts his chin as well gesturing to the path around the back. "Get that curve and then link it up at the back. I'm not crazy, not gonna do all..." He waves a hand in the direction of the pool and the tennis court and that maze. He'll let that stuff sit.
    "Don't need to get all that, just wanted to make sure the kids could get back and forth."

Rogue has posed:
With her hands back in her jacket pockets, Rogue just smiles lightly at the man, before she looks at where he is indicating he's going to shovel to. She purses her lips and nods her head two small times before she looks back at him. "That's mighty sweet of ya t'think of the rugrats like that." She responds with another quick smile.

Her eyes glance back out toward the main gate then. "Couple years ago we had a big snow storm come through. Had t'be like a foot'a snow out here..." She says before looking back at him and walking alongside him as he keeps doing his thing.

"I flew out t'that scrap pile that the neighbors have, picked up a big ol' piece'a sheet metal they had from a barn roof. Flew it back and used it as a shovel down the whole drive... Worked real good t'get the main road clear. Was also pretty fun t'fly over the kids out back, and dump the snow on'em too." She ends that story with another little grin.

"I gotta go get the sleigh from the neighbors too... put on my Rudolph ears an' nose, offer some rides t'those who wanna fly around a bit."

Jimmy Hudson has posed:
    "A foot's nothin'." He says as he's walking down that pathway, boots crunching and stomping. She might imagine he's about to go on about his childhood in Canada and how they deal with twenty feet of snow every year. But she's heard that story before, so he just uses that moment to sort of give her a wry smile, perhaps sharing that same wavelength that she knows what he'd say. So he doesn't have to say it.
    Once he gets there at the end of the path, the snow swooped up in part by her aerial past, he digs in and crunches the shovel forward, shoving the snow and then hoisting it to toss to he side. Another shovel, then he pauses to look to her after she relates her tale, "I bet that was a sight."
    To see her carrying a roof and using it like a big shovel to handle the whole deal in one go.
    Though then she mentions a sleigh and he laughs this time, an actual one instead of one of his rumbly 'hehs'. "Who plays Santa usually when all this goes down?"
    For a moment he looks at her, biting his lower lip in though, one eye scrunched up contemplatively. Then he points the shovel at her and says, "Hank I bet. He strikes me as a Santa type."

Rogue has posed:
The Belle pauses when he does and she watches him make his guess about Santa. It makes her openly laugh and shake her head side to side. "Eeeeee." She makes a buzzer noise. "Hank can't stand the cold." She answers. "Close though. Only time I've had a Santa it was Kitty." She laughs again. How is that close?

"You up for the job?" She asks him then, looking him over. "You seem like a Jolly sorta fella. Might be able t'pull it off... Maybe put on a few pounds first though..." She smiles brightly at him after saying that last part.

Her eyes look to the east where the neighbors property starts way off in the distance past the trees. "Should probably do that here soon, especially with the snow bein' around. Makes it more fun... Course... we got Ororo... so snow is always an option."

She looks back at him then, "More cheatin'. That's how we get by 'round here..."

Jimmy Hudson has posed:
    A snorting 'chuff' of breath is heard from him, like a deriding half-laugh of a thing as she suggests he'd be up for being Santa. "Could always wear a pillow, but I don't really see myself as the jolly sort." His nose crinkles again when he looks at her.
    That said he keeps on working, keeps on pushing that snow. He actually does it fairly quickly, a steady chunk and slosh of digging into the snow and then tossing it aside, walking a few steps and moving on. She mentions they should do it soon and he says over his shoulder, "Next weekend might be good." He pauses and thumps the shovel down. "A few days of snow over the week, should be all bright and pretty."
    After that he looks over toward the back deck that's now in view and tells her, "Shouldn't be long now. Cheatin' or no. But I dunno..."
    He lifts a hand to he back of his neck, "Is there really any cheatin' to be had when you think about it? The whole Man versus Nature thing? Maybe I should be more open to his cheatin' idea."

Rogue has posed:
"Yeah... this is why we never get a Santa. Nobody wants t'be the ol' fat'n jolly fella." Rogue quietly grumbles in response to his words. She continues to walk along with him down the pathway as he gets it more and more cleared off. Her eyes dance around the yard, taking in the beauty of the place with snow covering it all like this, even with it already falling in clumps here and there off of the trees in the distance.

She looks back at him then and grins. "So you're changin' your mind about cheatin' huh? This means you're gonna use your ... whatever t'get things done better around here? And how d'you plan on achievin' this, huh?" She asks playfully again. "You got the what? Fancy healin' like Logan, yeah?"

Jimmy Hudson has posed:
    "I'm too tough and edgy ta be Santa, gotta maintain my image." Which, to be fair, isn't that edgy despite his lineage. But he keeps at it, shoveling with that scrrrape and push and toss, making a good trail toward the deck which won't need shoveling itself, heated by its elevation some.
    "My whatevers?" He responds to her mentioning his powers, then his lips twist. "Such as they are. Don't have too much that'll help me with shovelin' snow. Beyond the fact that..." He pushes the shovel again, "I don't get tired, so that's a thing."
    That said it only takes three more long shoves and then he clonks the blade of the shovel against one of the deck posts, tosses the last snow, then straightens up. "Alright, I reckon this is enough for now." He steps back and gestures with a nod for her to precede him should she want.
    "Now I heard someone mention something about cocoa?"

Rogue has posed:
Rogue steps around one of the flower planters in the yard's decorative design layout. She walks over to the stairs up to the patio area and stands beside the stone railing that goes upward behind her.

"Well... Not gettin' tired surely helps some. I'd imagine anyway. Course it also means ya don't sleep? That is kinda sad... sleepin' is pretty damn nice. Especially when ya wake up in the mornin' on a cold day, wrapped up in your warm blankets." She smiles big at him. "Pure heaven."

At the reminder of the hot drinks, Rogue smirks and nods her head once. "I figure ya've earned it." She says then as she turns toward the stairs and starts up them toward the patio above that will lead to the kitchen entry doors.

"So how have ya been likin' livin' here?" She asks, glancing over her shoulder at him again.

Jimmy Hudson has posed:
    "Nah, I sleep it's more..." A small half-smirk is seen as he climbs up those steps, then he sets the shovel down on the porch leaving it there for now in case someone or he himself might want to make another run at some of the pathways. "I don't get too fatigued, can keep goin'. Though I've never really had ta push myself, mebbe there's a limit to it. I like to sleep as much as anyone."
    Jimmy pauses at the door then pulls it open for her as he steps to the side and dusts himself off, trying to beat as much of the clingy snow off of his jacket and gloves and jeans before he heads on inside.
    "Livin' here's a trip." He says with a half-grin as he then steps in toward the kitchen with her, making sure to hold up long enough to close the door behind him. He takes a step to the side to stand near that door as he begins to pull of his gloves, tucking them into the pockets of his large coat.
    "Good people runnin' around, lots goin' on. Savin' a ton of money." He smirks at the last of that. "Feels like always somethin' to do. Though to be fair it's kicked the tar out of my social life to a degree. Not that I was always goin' out or anythin'. Just all the way out here..."
    He looks up and around, as if to emphasize they were out in the boonies. Kinda. "Though it makes it more of an event to go on into the city. Or Westchester."

Rogue has posed:
Rogue steps in through the opened door and quietly thanks him as she does so. Once inside she wipes her boots on the welcome mat that lays at the foot of the entrance from the double French doors. Her hands go up to her jacket and she pulls it off then as she walks over to the coat rack and drapes it over one of the metal hooks. "Well I'm glad t'hear ya get to enjoy some rest then." She says with a small smile as she sorts out her sweater around her waistline.

"And yeah... the Professah is pretty damn nice about not askin' for rent. Makes one feel kinda guilty though... if they have a conscience." She grins as she walks past him in to the kitchen that is quiet for once.

"Ya shoulda been with us when Emma breezed through here a week ago. Took a buncha us out drinkin' at her hotel. She's a party gal, that one. Though in a very high class kinda way..."

Rogue reaches the cabinet with the cocoa mix and swings the door open. A couple packets are grabbed and she then moves to the counter to get some mugs off the wooden tree hanger. Once they're set down she takes her gloves off and goes about preparing the mugs for the mix, and using a teapot to heat up some water.

"I'm still recoverin' from that night." She says over at him with a smirk.

Jimmy Hudson has posed:
    Jimmy takes his time getting clear of his Winter gear, setting that coat on a hook and then double-checking his black sweat shirt, brushing off some more bits of snow here or there. He then grins as he leans over and brushes a hand over the shoulder of her own jacket to push some snow off of it just before she hangs it up.
    Then he's stepping around and to the side, walking around the central table. One hand grabs the back of a chair as he turns it around with a twist, pulling it out and dropping into it with a small grunt of exertion. "I figure it's sort of.." James shakes his head a little, "Like bonus to the pay. Since technically there are a few places I could go out and get a job and make some more money. But..."
    He half-smiles and then confesses, "There ain't no other job like this, though."
    When she mentions Emma his gaze follows after her, "Emma? Don't think I've met her. Although..." His brow knits as his eyes distance a little, "I think I heard someone talkin' about her at some point?"
    Then she makes her confession that she's still recovering and he half-smiles, "Sounds like quite a night."

Rogue has posed:
Once the water is heating up, Rogue turns around to lean against the granite countertop edge. She folds her arms over her stomach and just faces him as he takes a seat. "Yeah. Emma used t'work here but took off right before you came on." She explains. "She's down in mutant town now, Bushwick. She runs a hotel for mutants in the area, offerin' them free board if they get their acts together and pitch in. It's a good deal, and she runs a tight ship. So win win. Kinda like this place, though a lot more ... New York?" She shakes her head at that comparison.

"IF ya ever do meet her, ya won't forget her. Less she wants ya to." Rogue says with a grin as she turns around to fuss with the tea pot. Once the water is ready she gets them both their mugs, and drops a couple tiny mixing spoons in before she walks one over to Jimmy.

"Here ya go, Lonesome Shoveler." She says with a bright smile for him. She takes her own over to one of the chairs at the table and drops down on to it, leans back and starts mixing her cup good and proper.

"So ya stay couped up in your room, huh?" She asks then, since he mentioned his social life.

Jimmy Hudson has posed:
    "I think..." Jimmy's brow knits together, "She's blonde, right. Sorta... upper class. Someone..." He shakes his head, "Can't remember who, but someone was mentioning her I think. But cool, it's good to hear that even though she left that she's still makin' a difference."
    That said he gives a nod as for a moment his own thoughts drift a little. When Rogue mentions he'd never forget her he sort of half-smirks and gives a look that says, 'mebbe.'
    "Hey, thanks, Marie." He does his own stint of mixing wih that spoon. Then his eyebrows raise when she asks after his social life. "Not so much, I try ta keep busy. Always something needs doing."
    A nod is given in the distance, likely towards town. "Like other day I went into Westchester, picked up that tree I put up in the student dorm. Ran into an acquaintance and sampled some of Harry's seasonal drinks. The cider's good."

Rogue has posed:
"I wondered where that tree came from." Rogue responds with a quick smile before she raises her mug up to blow on the hot chocolate with the marshmallows melting on the surface.

"I run my French Club in the college house cafe. Saw the tree there and ... yeah... ya picked a good one." She grins lightly then.

A testing sip is taken before she leans back in her chair again. "Emma's from Boston, originally, I think. I am always hopin' she'll say something like 'Wicked Awesome' or 'How do ya like them apples?' but so far... no luck." Her grin is held for a second before she tips her chin up in his direction.

"Ya wanna go drinkin' at Harry's some time, just let me know. I love that place. Harry is like a uncle... or grumpy old guy who you really like. That sorta thing." She smiles once more before sipping the drink again, since the hot doesn't really hurt her anyway.

Jimmy Hudson has posed:
    "Yeah, guilty," He offers in reply to the tree comment, nodding a little. "Just had that perfect spot there, thought it'd look good." And luckily, it does.
    When she explains a little about Emma's origins he laughs a little, looking away as he shakes his head, then he looks back to her and asks. "Oh is that so? And I suppose you hang around me with bated breath hopin' I say 'Aboot' or 'Eh', eh?" He lifts a finger and points at her, "Rude."
    But then he takes a sip of the cocoa and makes a soft, 'mm' sound. Hefting it up he gestures in her direction with it and says, "Thanks fer this." Then as she offers a trip to Harry's he gives a nod, "Sure, that could be fun. Harry's a decent guy. Doesn't take any guff either."

Rogue has posed:
Rogue sets her mug down on the table top and then reaches her right hand up to run through her thick mane of two toned hair. She pulls it all back out of her face as she laughs softly at his response. "Canada.... right." She says as she moves to stand up. "What part'a canada are you from again? I mean there's a big difference between someone from Vancouver and someone from Montreal.... Course, Montreal is my fave... even if I've never gotten t'go up there quite yet. Always mean to though... Think I'd fit in real good." She grins as she walks around the table and toward her jacket.

At her coat she fishes out her phone and makes her way back to her chair.

A second or so is spent pulling up some footage from the party night with Emma...

"Here..." Rogue says as she leans over toward him to show him the video. "This is Jean, Betsy, and Emma... all drinkin' at the bar. All in corsets." Rogue says in her naturally husky voice with a grin at him. "Crazy nights. The best kind." She says softly then.

Jimmy Hudson has posed:
    At the table seated there with his cocoa, Jimmy keeps his attention on Rogue as she asks him about where he's from, so he replies, "Oh from all over, all over Canada. So many places." Though it might help if she recalls his twitter handle having something about... the Maple Leafs in it? Something like that?
    But whatever dissembling he had been up to about that point of origin, it fades when she proceeds to present to him an image of some... curiousity. He furrows his brow as he looks at it, then at her, then back at it.
    A tilt of his head, "That's the Emma you were talkin' about?" Which is the first thing he says. Then he shakes his head and takes another sip of cocoa if only to buy him some time. Suddenly imagining he might be adrift in a small boat amidst a million mines.
    "It's a great image, looks like they're all... havin' fun." Then his smile shifts a little wry as he looks over as she leans close, his breath brushing her cheek for a moment as he murmurs, "I was prolly back here. Holdin' down the fort."

Jean Grey has posed:
As the pair chit-chats in the kitchen, there's a brief change in the light as someone passes the door that leads out to the foyer, one of the frequent comings-and-goings in the busy mansion. However, a moment later, the same shadow creeps its way backward as that passer-by stops... and reverses course. Someone's ears are burning.

Or, you know, whatever part of her does the MIND READING.

"Rooooooogue..." Yep! Turns out it was Jean, busy as ever flitting around the mansion to handle this and that. The headmistress' work is never done! Now, however, she has caught wind of a certain very close friend up to SOMETHING. Her fiery-framed face appears in the door, plastered with a big, broad, gleaming, and very much 'I'm going to kill you' smile. BUSTED!

Dressed in her usually snug nearly-winter turtleneck, skirt and tights, she saunters in through the door, continuing to beam brightly. "Hey Jimmy. Oh, that looks good," she adds, her death-stare finally breaking from Rogue to note the cups on the table between them. "Is there more or do I have to make some?"

Rogue has posed:
Rogue is taking her phone back when Jimmy speaks to her in return. "Holdin' down the fort." She agrees just before Jean appears in the doorway. She stops herself from replying about Emma, and then sets her phone down beside her mug. "Heya, Sugah." She says all sassily at the Headmistress. "I just threw together some'a the instant cocoa outta the cabinet. The packets are just there." She says, pointing at the center counter island.

Another sip of her drink is had as she leans back in her chair now, the windows of the kitchen behind her showing the winter wonderland outside.

"Found Jimmy here shovelin' the walkways, like a nice respectable worker bee. Imagine that, around here..." She says with a grin over the brim of her cup.

Another sip is taken then. "Ya'll wanna build some snow men and then throw some'a the kids at them later?" She asks, whether she's serious or not is hard to tell...

Jimmy Hudson has posed:
    "Hey Jean," Jimmy seems to be at his ease, taking a sip of cocoa and smiling across the way at that fiery redhead, perhaps feeling oh so safe and secure that the transgression likely isn't his. He just looked at the picture, it was Rogue who showed it to him.
    At that table he's looking comfy in his blue jeans and work boots, warm because of the grey hoodie that hangs loose on him. Though there are places where the snow has darkened his clothes. Along the cuffs of his jeans and the shoulders of that hoodie.
    "I was struck by a brief moment of madness that disguised itself as altruism." He replies to Rogue pointing out his shoveling efforts. But then Marie offers her idea of fun with the snowmen and hurtling of kidlings at them.
    "Now, Rogue. We both know that's behaviour that's not becoming of an X-Man." Since he'd been here for a good chunk of time he'd fallen into the habit of joking around now and again. With Rogue it was easy. Jean, not quite so for whatever reason.

Jean Grey has posed:
"Option B, then." Still, Jean is a famous cheater when it comes to kitchen tasks, so it's hardly a huge ask. And boy does she cheat! Rather than even bothering with going and putting a kettle on (she would normally, promise!), she just goes to the sink to fill a cup directly, while one of the packets Rogue indicates up and... well, floats over to her, all by its lonesome. After she's turned off the tap, she turns, snatches the already-torn packet out of the air and pours it in.

By the time she makes her way to the table, the cup is already steaming with heat.

"Didn't want to wait," she says, witha semi-sheepish smile, before apparently remembering she's supposed to be 'mad' at Rogue. "So, what are you two up to, hmm? Oh. You shoveled?" she wonders, turning to Jimmy. "Thanks for doing that. Definitely earned your hot chocolate, then." Which offers the opportunity, once more, to give Rogue a look. "And what have you been doing to earn your supper, hmm missy? Oh. I see. Planning snowball fights."

Technically a snowball fight would be LESS bad than what she was actually planning! "Becoming behavior isn't her forte, you'll discover," she notes with a quirked smile. "Though she's a great work horse. Next time you're planning to go out and be all responsible, drag her along. It'll be done in a fraction of the time. And she just LOVES the work." Hah.

Rogue has posed:
The southern gal just shoots Jimmy a grin on her right as Jean sorts out her drink situation. "All across Canada he roamed... but the dirty dirty Maple Leafs he called his own..." She says in a low and sultry sort of way, with a hard edged stare sent his way, but a hint of a flirty smile touching the edge of her features. Her hands wrapp around her mug as she lifts it up for another sip. When her cup lowers she speaks something in French before adding "Club Hockey" in a deep French accent. Anyone who knows their hockey knows that the 'CH on the Montreal Canadiens stands for that!

When Jean settles down at the table, and sasses Rogue in return, the Belle just hodls her cup in front of her and smiles bright and wide at the Headmistress. "Nobody works like Ah work..." She quietly responds before her cup is set down again and her right hand reaches for her phone.

"I booked a place for my 22nd birthday. That's what 'I' have been doin'."

A few swipes and taps, and Rogue turns her phone around to show it to both of them.

"Last year I wanted t'setup a Mud Wrestlin' thing for my 21st at Harry's, but he wouldn't let me cause'a the mess it'd make t'his new floors. So.... I found this place. IT's a full on water park bar. All indoors, and all mud'n'fun. Slides, waterfalls, hot tubs, all muddy and wild."

She waggles her phone side to side a little as a video plays showcasing the birthday to be locale.

Jimmy Hudson has posed:
    When Rogue seems to aptly share with him his proper sports affection and leanings, Jimmy's response is to scoff a little, pretending it doesn't change into a chortle of amusement as she goes on. Shaking his head he looks between the two women at the table with him.
    "To be fair," Jimmy says as he looks over at Rogue, as if grudgingly giving her her share of the kudos, "Rogue helped." If you consider the bulldozer of effort she put in with her super-strength as just 'helping'. But he doesn't elaborate too much further beyond that.
    He rests his arms on the table, cradling that mug of cocoa in his hands, "Though she did mention you and some of the others having a lot of fun." And then, oh so cruelly, he brings the matter back up. "Where was that picture taken at, Rogue? The one you showed me with everyone celebratin'?"
    Though he's distracted after a moment, trying to lean forward to get a better look at the waterpark that Rogue is proposing for her birthday. He can't help but laugh a little as he then hides his smile behind another sip of cocoa. "Never heard of a muddy waterpark. But... that should be a trip."

Jean Grey has posed:
"Oh, well, I stand corrected then. That's some important work!" Jean declares with a laugh. That said, she's clearly curious about these would-be birthday plans, and as Rogue not only explains in more detail, but shows off the place she's found, Jean's expression breaks down into something like flabbergasted amazement. She leans closer to get a look at the phone's screen. "I... wow, you actually DID find a place. I'd say I was surprised there was a place like that... I guess it doesn't actually surprise me at all. Better than you hauling a kidde pool into Harry's with a bag of dirt and a hose, at least."

She grabs a stool to sit on, pulling it out to perch across from her friend, while turning sidelong to face Jimmy, grinning at his description of Rogue the snow plow. "Oh, so SHE did most of the work and I thanked you unecessarily? My mistake!"

Taking a sip from her cup of extra-instant instant hot chocolate, the bit of about their night out causes her to roll her eyes a little, though she's clearly not actually THAT upset. "Yes, of course she's sharing all our pictures." Jean knows. JEAN ALWAYS KNOWS. "Though she's well aware if any of the students see them, she's going to wake up one morning mindswapped with Jeepers." Rogue gets a stern 'and I'll do it, too!' look, before she pauses to think. "I don't know which one she showed you, but we went to a bunch of different places. We'd had a little pre-Christmas decorating party, and did a bit of club-hopping after. Ended the night at Sion - that's Betsy's place - for the full VIP treatment, so maybe that's where they were from?"

Rogue has posed:
The phone is waggled a few more times before she takes it back and grins at what the two of them say of the place. "The main slide here... it whips around the whole mud baths area, goes outside and then back in again. So everyone will get a nice wintah blast before shoved back inside and down the rest'a the slide inta the main pool area." She is grinning from ear to ear as she turns the phone around again. "This here is the mud falls where the wrestlin' can happen at the top. Can toss each other down inta the main pool too, if ya wanna get real rough with each other..." She swipes her finger then and glances to make sure, then looks back at them. "And here is the steam falls with fresh water. Ya can stand undah it and get all steamy clean before ya go back t'the bar, or what not. Place seems totally awesome... Guess it was a passion project by the rich ass owner who wanted a place for adults without all the usual fat kids runin' everythin'."

Her phone is set down on the table then as she reaches for her mug once more. "And yeah, Emma is fun t'party with. T'say the least..." She smiles at them both now as another big sip of her drink is had.

Her head shakes side to side when she lowers her mug, her eyes going to Jean. "Fret not, I haven't shared the images, or video, with that many people. Sides... I got all your modelin' pics up on my Insta. So people seen way more'a ya than this party footage shows." And of course this is chased by another developing grin of slow knowing fun for the redhead of this kitchen trio.

Jimmy Hudson has posed:
    "Pretty much," Is Jimmy's answer to Jean's declaration about her righteous or unearned offer of thanks. He accedes that thanks to Rogue since /clearly/ it will weigh on her like a great boat anchor dragging her down with guilt!
    Or not.
    But as Jean speaks more to that storied picture now that Rogue showed him of the young women and their flattering corsets, well his smile shifts a little wry. And there might even be a hint of color touching his cheeks, "Well, I just know you guys looked like you were enjoyin' yourselves. And cut rather nice silhouettes. M'sure you were the talk of any club you visited." One might almost say they were 'handsome'.
    Then there is the telling revelation as Jimmy seems to perk up a little, "Oh there's a video is there?" As if that was such very interesting news. Yet he does not elaborate, instead he just nods knowingly, projecting a calm visage that might remind one of the blessed Buddha.
    Yet a glance from Jean's mind's eye might well see the silent internal laughter to the man's thoughts. Not so much as to the subject matter... and more pleased about the feeling of belonging and friendship being shared in the room. Heightened by that Christmas spirit feeling that had motivated him to wander out and shovel in the first place.

Jean Grey has posed:
If Jean was somewhat amazed at the audacity of this place before, Rogue's description is just piling on. "I was GOING to say something how it's more of a - I don't know, a summer-time theme for a party, but might be nice indoors as an escape from the cold? ... But it takes you OUTSIDE? In January? I think you've officially lost your mind." Never mind however many of them are basically immune to the ravages of the elements in one way or another. And the best thing? Rogue's not done yet. The 'royal challenge waterfall toss' earns a much more dubious: "I can't even imagine how that's legal."

Spoil-sport!

Beyond that, Jimmy's sudden enthusiasm along with Rogue's reminds of her 'other life' leave Jean heaving a much put-upon kind of sigh before she relents. "Go ahead and show him, if you want. It's really nothing all that scandalous. It's really only because of the kids that I'm, well, a little more cautious about things." She eyes Rogue. "Like my very much /set to private/ old insta, yes," she monotones at the other woman.

And since Jimmy isn't necessarily in on it, she explains: "Back after I graduated Xaviers - we only had high school classes then, heck, barely even those - but anyway, I moved to the city for college and my postgrad. Ended up doing a little modeling, since the city's pretty expensive to live in. I quit when Charles hired me back to help him expand the place." A small, dismissive roll of her shoulder. "I'm hardly embarassed by it, but there's something- I don't know. Most people doing this kind of job are decades older. It's weird when you have to be the adult in the room when you barely feel like one yourself." And evidently, nights out clubbing with her gal-pals fall in that latter category.

"Rogue here, on the other hand," she wags a finger at her friend, "wouldn't know a responsibility if it bit her on the ass - by the way where are YOUR pictures, hmm? - Also, no shame whatsoever."

Rogue has posed:
Rogue just smiles over her mug at Jean before glancing back to Jimmy to rest her pale green stare upon him. "I've shown him quite a lot already. I think he's had enough of my madness for the day." She says softly before looking back to Jean. She just grins at her friend after she talks of her own past and the modeling.

"Ya know why I do this stuff?" She asks them both as she looks from one to the other, her dark, well maintained, brows lifting up. She then continues a moment later. "Like... okay." She sets her mug down and pushes her hair back behind her shoulders as she leans forward on her forearms on the table's edge...

"Real talk here..." She says, another look shooting from one of them to the other. "All the people I've absorbed.... like, all of them... It's been a vast and varied lot, as ya both likely can imagine. Jean knows a bit more, obviously... but yeah. All of them... the one thing that they all had in common with each other that I have sorta mined outta their thoughts inside'a my head? It was regret. All of them are filled with a myriad of regrets. Regrets about life, loss, missed loved ones, failed opportunities to have fun, rather than bask in misery. They all wanted t'live their youths over again, the older ones anyway. So..." She shakes her head side to side softly.

"I am like this because I'm tryin' t'live a life with no regrets. I wanna ... like, take the advice that they unwittingly have bestowed upon me, and put it to heart. Or whatever... So... I Yeah."

She leans back again then and reaches for her mug.

"I need an apple, or some fruit or somethin'" She states now as she walks past the two of them toward the sink to set her empty mug within it.

Jimmy Hudson has posed:
    For a time Jimmy enjoys leaning back and watching the interactions between the two, his gaze drifting from one to the other, almost like watching a tennis-match but each wry comment gets him to smile a little more until he's forced to take another sip of cocoa as if to let him reestablish that straight and calm face.
    He does listen, however, to Jean as she offers her explanation of matters, his dark blue eyes following along with her gestures and the movement of her lips. Occasionally he gives a nod at a telling point, such as when she mentions the role of prominence when teaching since he clearly has felt that division at times as well.
    "I think I get what yer sayin', and yeah." He lifts a hand to rub at the back of his neck thoughtfully, "Sometimes hard to find that dividing line of authority figure and sense of self." But as Jean then gives Rogue a hard time he grins and falls silent.
    Though he does pipe up a little in support of Marie when she says he's probably had his fill of her, "Nah, I think I have at least a good thirty minutes before I'm all topped off on madness." But then it's real talk time so he leans forward on his arms a little more. It might almost look a twinge conspiratorial with them hunkered around the table.
    Rogue explains and he listens. She mentions the absorption of personalities, what it is she's drawn from them, how she perceives them. His eyes narrow faintly while he watches, then he nods slowly, a faint frown touching his features. "S'alright, Marie."
    For an instant Jimmy looks over at Jean and he says nothing, but she can almost feel the mental reach out of a hand, as if wanting her support as he meets her gaze, then he looks back and tries to convey some hint of the warmth of feeling that he presumes they both feel for her.
    "We may give you a hard time sometimes, one way and another. But I think it's because you are you, because you live life as you do, that you hold such a place of prominence in our esteem and emotions. I sometimes feel like I would like to live life as you do."
    A pause, then he half-smiles, "Sometimes I tell myself I should. But you being you lets us come along and feel that stuff too, while we keep our own point of views as well. So thanks for that."

Jean Grey has posed:
Where Jean may have bounced between various forms of teasing and faux-threats, all of that shifts as Rogue opens up a bit, and her expression softens. It's not new information for her - indeed, if there's anyone who knows something about the mess that lives in her head, it's the telepath who has spent the years Rogue has been at the school helping her deal with that mad chorus of past identities, many of them taken in the process of the work they do. Many of them from villains she's so effectively helped subdue. But even if she knows, BECAUSE she knows, really- that moment of vulnerability on Rogue's part is recognized for what it is.

"In a way you're wiser than all of us," she says, with genuine warmth and care.

"... and in other ways you're still a huge doofus." CAN'T LET IT GET TOO HEAVY IN HERE! "But I'd never change a thing."

Bouncing from that bit of levity, she looks toward Jimmy. "Compared to most of the people here, you are ... almost criminally normal and well-adjusted. You're practically boring. And I say that as a tremendous compliment," she adds, grinning. "We get so many- you might as well call this place a school for the troubled, the unloved, the abandonned, the lost, as much as it's for people with special gifts. So often, it feels like it goes part-and-parcel with them. But there's no getting away from it. All of us just have to take what we have in our pasts and make the most of it, and that applies to the bad, but also to the good. Taking those things, even where they feel small and inconsequential compared to the scope of the bullshit we sometimes have to deal with, and just be grateful for them, savor those little touchstones. The things that keep us human." A loaded phrase itself, when some might say they are something different entirely.

Rogue has posed:
Both of their responses has Rogue smiling at the sink as she rinses out her mug then puts it away in to the washer beside the sink. "Doofus is the pathway to no regrets. So thank you." She says to Jean specifically before turning around and reaching for the fresh fruit kept in the basket on the counter. She gathers up an apple and then rinses it off before walking back over to the two of them.

"The Abandoned." Rogue quietly says before biting in to the apple and chewing on it a few times.

"oubliee" She quietly says then in French as she takes her seat once more.