9158/One day vacay!

One day vacay!
Date of Scene:	18 December 2021
Location:	Clarice Ferguson's Quarters
Synopsis:	Clarice has a surprise for Mystique and Lydia. The Aurora Borealis!
Cast of Characters:	Clarice Ferguson, Lydia Dietrich, Raven Darkholme

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Clarice Ferguson has posed:
    'Dress warm.' That's the entire text that Clarice sends to both Mystique and Lydia - before she blinks into existance standinng in the hall just outside Mystique's door a scant minute or so later. She has a thick blanket with a waterproofed bottom, and an insulated container slung over one shoulder. She's dressed warmly in a puffy, down-stuffed and fur-lined coat, with the hood up to frame her features as she rings the chime for Mystique and Lydia's quarters. "Ready?"
    Hell, she's not giving them much time, is she? What if they had been ... involved in something?

Lydia Dietrich has posed:
It's a minute before Lydia opens the door, dressed in jeans and a black Mystic Falls Timberwolves t-shirt, but doesn't have any shoes or socks on. Her hair is a disheveled mess, just kind of poofing out all over the place, and there's a drop of blood on the corner of her lips.

"Uh. Hi," she says. "Mystique's in our room getting dressed. For the weather! Getting dressed for the weather." She chuckles in embarrassment and takes a step back. "C'mon in. I'll, uh, get my shoes and socks on when she's done."

Raven Darkholme has posed:
Interruptions, it was something Mystique was used to, but that didn't make them welcome. Given what had been happening, at text was missed at first, but when Clarice chimed the phone was checked and there it was. Wandering around the bedroom naked, she was now looking for something warm. She didn't own much in the line of clothing, but for colder locations she did require actual real clothing.

"How warm should I be dressing?" she calls out, not really annoyed but 'dress warm' wasn't entirely helpful. "Freezing temperatures?" She had found a pair of her warmer pants and was pulling them on already, but was going to wait for just a touch more information before finding a shirt and coat, or sweater and winter coat.

Clarice Ferguson has posed:
    "Definitely sub zero!" Clarice confirms brightly, stepping forward to wrap Lydia into a brief, one-armed hug. "I'm just glad the timing's finally worked out." Catching both of them awake - with the correct timing for this little outting - has proved more a challenge than she'd have anticipated. She waits for Mystique a little impatiently, shifting her weight onto her left foot. The longer it takes - the more she'll //roast// waiting for Mystique to get ready.

Lydia Dietrich has posed:
Lydia nods. "I better get on something warmer too. I know I don't feel the cold but I've never tried standing in sub zero temperatures." She chuckles and shakes her head, "I don't want to become a vampirecicle." With that, she retreats into the bedroom as well, and gives Mystique a quick peck in passing as she goes into the closet to dress warmly.

She finds her lamb skin jacket which was always really warm for her when she was living, her fuzzy lined boots, and one of her beanies for her head. She goes into the bathroom to see how bad her hair is and curses at the sight of it, and of the droplet of blood that had dried at the corner of her mouth. After quickly washing it off, she decides that her hair is a lost cause, and only brushes it just enough to just barely tame it and sticks her beanie on. She looks ridiculous but it'll have to do.

Coming back out into the main living room part of the quarters, she grins at Clarice. "Yes. The timing was /perfect./" Was that a hint of sarcasm in her voice?

Raven Darkholme has posed:
Sub zero. Opening one of the wardrobes, Mystique pulls out one of those thermal jumpsuits that people wore skiing, which was in fact why she had it. Slipping into it, she zips it up her entire body, then pins the velcro flap over the zipper. Next the insolated boots get zipped onto her feet, then a stocking cap on her head with wear muffs and last, but not least, gloves. She did not like cold.

Stepping out into the main room she looked much like a little kid whose parent put them in a snow suit, mostly because that is exactly what she was wearing. With a smirking grin on her face she says, "Oh yeah, great timing."

Clarice Ferguson has posed:
    "I interrupted something, huh?" Clarice asks with some amusement. "Well. You guys can do that later, I'm sure," she promises them. "But for now..." She steps closer to the pair, the energy from her gift surrounding them, before they appear in the arctic, with the moon below the horizon. It's dark, with no signs of civilzation in sight - so only the stars light the night.
    The stars, and green and purple lights dancing across the sky in breathtaking waves. Clarice starts laying out the insulated blanket for them to sit on rather than the frozen ground, before she settles into place on the blanket without a word - a satisfied smile on her features.
    This is why it pays to have a world-class teleporter as a friend.

Lydia Dietrich has posed:
Lydia blinks as she's suddenly in the arctic under the moon and sky, looking up at the Northern Lights. "Hunh," she says in wonder as she gazes up at the light show. "That's really quite something." Then she's reminded that she's out in the cold and really should be freezing with what she's wearing but... she's not. She can tell it's cold, sure, but it's not really bothering her.

"Hunh," she repeats looking at her fingers and flexing them. They should be turning blue but instead they remain their pale color. "I guess I can survive sub-zero temperatures."

Raven Darkholme has posed:
Mystique does not like the cold, everyone should know that or at least be aware of it on some level. When they blink into the arctic the first thing she does is suck in a sharp, cold breath and pulls up the face guard to protect it from the cold. How to Alaskan's deal with this?

Looking up into the moonless sky at the natural light show of the Aurora Borealis, that instantly makes the cold worth it. A hundred and forty years of life and she'd never seen them, other than in pictures or on TV.

"Holy shit," she breaths in awe. "That is way brighter than I thought it would be."

With her eyes locked on the dancing colors, she settles into the blanket next to Clarice and just stares.

Clarice Ferguson has posed:
    "I can always pop over to the Asteroid for more clothes, or blankets, or a gas powered space heater," Clarice offers in an amused tone. "If the cold becomes an issue. But I also brought us some hot cocoa, and some porridge, and a bottle of brandy," she remarks, patting her insulated bag. "To help us stay warm. I've been wanting to- well. To bring us here for a while. But it's hard coordinating both of you being awake, with the lights being spectacular, and moon being below the horizon. You have nooooo idea."

Lydia Dietrich has posed:
"Yeah, I bet," Lydia breathes, her attention having turned back up towards the sky. She sits gracefully down next to Mystique, a hand reaching out to take one of hers. "I would say this was worth being interrupted for." She looks over to her lover and grins, "It just means that we'll have to make up for lost time when we get back."

Raven Darkholme has posed:
Wrapping her gloved hand around Lydia's, Mystique nods with a broad grin. She looks to Lydia long enough to offer a view of that grin and the sparkle in her eyes as she says, "This was definitely worth being interrupted." And then her eyes are back on the lights, almost if they are hypnotizing.

"It's tough to arrange anything really," she continues. "But getting both of us awake, and matching the lights and the moon, that had to be a challenge."

After a moment she adds, as if an afterthought, "No need to get anything from the asteroid, might be cold but it's not that bad... cocoa and brandy huh?"

Clarice Ferguson has posed:
    "Cocoa and brandy," Clarice confirms with amusement. She unzips the insulated bag, pulling out three sealed thermoses, and passes them out. The brandy comes out next - and is set on the blanket in front of them. She cracks that open, before she'll open her cocoa, adding a healthy dose of the brandy before sealing it all up again. This is how you survive the cold.
    With her drink in hand, she leans in so her shoulder is pressing against Mystique's, as she finally lets herself just enjoy the light show in silence for a few moments. The last time she came to watch this - it was with Rahne. And it had been wonderful.

Lydia Dietrich has posed:
Lydia passes on the warm beverages for now, she's too enraptured by the sight. "Thank you for bringing us here," she says after a good while just watching. "I never would have thought to come myself."

Raven Darkholme has posed:
Mystique opens the cocoa to add a little brandy to it, then both get closed again. The cocoa thermos is turned upside down and righted a few times to mix the two together, then she opens it for a small sip.

"I was thirteen years old," she says calmly, still utterly captivated by the lights. "Two Germans, an astronomer and physicist and a geographer and meteorologist took the first pictures of the aurora borealis. They were in black and white of course, but the words that went with the photos painted a picture of what the colors were like."

Leaning lightly against Clarice, and taking Lydia's hand again she continues. "I have wanted to see this since then. Thank you Clarice, for making one of my very few childhood dreams come true."

Clarice Ferguson has posed:
    Clarice's smile broadens into one of those expressions that seems like it should be lighting up the space around them as she listens to Mystique. "Happy to oblige," she answers. "Though I had no idea. I just- well. When I was thinking of beautiful scenery we can enjoy at night... this was the most obvious. You know." There's a momentary pause before she adds enticingly, "But it isn't the only one..."

Lydia Dietrich has posed:
Lydia watches Mystique as she talks, wondering what it would have been like so long ago. Mystique was there before cars, before movies. She wonders what it was like growing up and watching the world's technology unfold around you. It's something she was always curious about with her lover, but she didn't like talking about her past so she never asked.

She gives Mystique's hand a squeeze and looks over at Clarice. "Oh? There's more?"

Raven Darkholme has posed:
For a moment Mystique looks at Clarice with a brow raised. "There's more?" She repeats what Lydia just said, perhaps more questioningly, but not really. "What else could there be?"

She glances over to Lydia as she gives her hand a squeeze in return. "Yes, I stole the magazine the picture and article were in, and no I didn't feel guilty," she winks, then leans over to rub her cold nose against Lydia's.

Clarice Ferguson has posed:
    "There's more," Clarice confirms with a grin. "Though not tonight. Other nights. I'll let you guys try to imagine things up - for now. Hell, maybe you'll think of some things I didn't," she says with amusement.
    "For tonight, there's just this. It's more than enough, after all."

Lydia Dietrich has posed:
"You tease!" Lydia accuses. "You can't just tell us 'there's more, but not tonight' like that!" She shakes her head, "You little imp!" She looks over to Mystique. "We're going to have to get back at her sometime, you know that, right?"

Still. The view /is/ gorgeous, and her gaze wanders back to it soon enough. "It would've surprised me to have learned that you felt guilty doing a little shoplifting at /any/ time of your life," she mutters to Mystique.

Raven Darkholme has posed:
Still leaned against Clarice, Mystique nudges her with her elbow. "That's just mean woman," she snorts with a grin. "Lydia's right, total tease. You know I'll be trying to figure it out now, wasting valuable time that you could spare me from by just telling."

Taking another sip of the cocoa, she finally takes her eyes off the lights to look toward Lydia. "I never felt bad about taking things I needed or wanted," she admits. "I never took things of great value mind you, just clothing, things to read, eventually guns and bullets, which is how I started earning money on my own so I didn't have to steal."

Clarice Ferguson has posed:
    "Honestly, I started off with probably the best of them," Cael admits in a wry tone. "But... well. It's hardly my fault if you //choose// to waste your own time." She smirks with amusement, taking another sip of her cocoa as she continues to study the sky.
    "I never really had to steal," she remarks. But she went from being a loved, pampered child, to a valuable slave, to a ward of the Brotherhood. "I'd be good at it, though."

Lydia Dietrich has posed:
Lydia laughs a little. "I never did anything wrong when I was a child," she says, never tearing her gaze away from the skies. "Well, I mean, to my mother I was never good enough, but that's not the same. I never stole, I never cheated, hardly ever lied. I had everything I wanted growing up." She shakes her head, tearing her gaze away from the stars to look at her companions, "Nothing like you two. My life was comparatively boring."

Raven Darkholme has posed:
Taking another sip of the cocoa, Raven's eyes return to the lights. There was something magical in the way it moved, when really it was just the Earth.

"Theo makes a better thief," she comments with a grin. "But you would also be really good at it Clarice, though there's no need for it. I think sometimes that a boring life might have been nice, perhaps I wouldn't hate so much if it had been boring, but then... I wouldn't be who I am if I'd had that kind of life."

Clarice Ferguson has posed:
    "I was a good girl when I was little," Clarice remarks quietly. "And I wish sometimes I could have had a boring life. If we'd stayed in Barbados... Theo and I could have grown up together. But I wouldn't be me, and I wouldn't be here. I wouldn't know either of you, or Rahne. I wouldn't be able to make a difference in this world for the people who need me."

Lydia Dietrich has posed:
Lydia nods sagely. "That's the thing, isn't it? Without the bad in our pasts, or the good, we wouldn't be here, right now, watching the Aurora Borealis together." She grins at the two of them. "And I like being here with you."