9317/Late and early

Late and early
Date of Scene:	28 December 2021
Location:	Avengers Mansion - Study
Synopsis:	A moment at the tree at the Avengers Mansion with T'Challa, Janet and Pepper. :)
Cast of Characters:	Pepper Potts, Janet van Dyne, T'Challa

---

Pepper Potts has posed:
'Tis the season, which is rapidly passing.

Things have been busy over at Stark Tower. Decorations that had never existed now do, thanks to someone who now actually //lives// there (The Dakota apartment has been given to Pepper's best friend and former roommate Amanda), making the glass and steel behemoth a great deal more festive looking. It does give the nearby Empire State Building a run for its money!

As a result, the usual several bags of presents are sadly late, but certainly not forgotten. Pepper is within the mansion, having been granted access by JARVIS, and 'escorted' to the study. She wears a pants-suit, comfortable boots, and a scarf draped fashionably around her neck. Her strawberry blonde hair is down, giving her that more 'casual' look without being sloppy. She and the AI have been talking as she works, very much as if catching up with an old friend. He keeps her company as she settles the wrapped packages under the tree, each marked with a name in fancy script, all marked from Tony and Pepper.

And each and every one of them is different.

"You know you shouldn't do that, right JARVIS?"

"I don't know what you mean, Ms Potts. It was certainly deserved as a consequence to action.

"Yes, but it's still not nice.."

Janet van Dyne has posed:
One of the privileges of real wealth is being able to wear impractical clothing in the winter. Heated SUVs, climate control, and even someone tasked with keeping a spare blanket in Janet's car warmed in case she needs it. This lets her pull off her current look in comfort; black thigh-high suede boots, a black bowler with a large, floppy rim, and a camel-hide suede coat with a fur ruff around her neck and a hemline that stops just a few inches above the tops of her boots.

"Pepper!" Janet says with a delighted tone. "JARVIS said you were sneaking in here." She walks over to the redhead to give her a warmly familiar hug and a kiss on the cheek. "Merry Christmas. What's all this?" she asks, gesturing at the presents. "Did Tony put us all on the Stark Industries Christmas List again?"

T'Challa has posed:
"I can get the door myself, but thank you..."

One of the Dora Milaje, Aneka, is in the process of doing just that as T'Challa balances the carrying of a few large bags against trying to, as he said, get the door himself, but she is not swayed by his insistence. He gives her a look, which she returns, and his eyes shift toward the ceiling with a breath he lets out. "Very well. I will allow it," he tells her, a way of saving face. She returns the faintest smile in response. A game, it seems, they are playing.

"Salutations," the King of Wakanda says after stepping inside the rest of the way, finding Janet and Pepper already in the midst of greeting each other. Upon his head is a red and white Santa hat to go along with a more fashionable leather jacket and slacks, both black. His attention slides toward the tree, then back to them. "I have been out in one of the neighborhoods, spreading cheer, as they say."

Pepper Potts has posed:
Pepper laughs and gives her friend a warm hug once she manages to gain her feet from crouching at the base of the tree. "Janet!" Once the double kiss in greeting is also given, she takes a half step back and ducks her head a little, her smile warm and happy. Her tones are wry with bemusement, "Then it's hardly 'sneaking' if he announced it."

Pepper turns away, green eyes searching the walls, "Tattletale."

"I simply believed that Ms Van Dyne would enjoy knowing you were planning on visiting."

Pepper looks back at Janet, the humor reaching her eyes easily, her lips pressed together in that fine lined smile. "Uh huh."

The door opens, revealing a laden King of Wakanda, If anyone would have told a younger Virginia Potts that she'd be doing this, here and now, she'd never believe it. But now?

"T'Challa," Pepper greets warmly before she moves things around so his progress into the study is unimpeded. "You look very festive, yes."

As for Janet's question? "Every year. You're on Tony's list. Not the company list."

Janet van Dyne has posed:
Janet turns and beams a smile at T'challa once he arrives. "You got my gift right?" she inquires of Pepper, giving her fingers a double squeeze. "The saree? Just make sure you are -really- careful about washing it. Chemicals and mulberry silk are a bad mix."

Once T'challa's arms are free she moves to the King of Wakanda with arms extended. He gets the same, a warm hug and a kiss to the cheek. "Merry Christmas," she bids him. "Or, uh, wait. Is Happy Kwanza? I don't know. I'm a terrible friend," she reminds T'challa and Pepper both.

T'Challa has posed:
T'Challa sets those bags down in a corner. Within are various gifts for the Avengers themselves. "Festive? Is that what you call it? It was suggested by /someone/ that I wear this." Okoye follows him into the mansion, and he gives her a suspicious look she merely ignores and says, "You needed some color to fit in."

Shaking his head to that and Janet's question, he goes through the ritual of greetings, accepting and returning the polite kiss, before he removes the hat and tosses it behind him, right into one of the bags. "Kwanzaa has a basis in harvest festival traditions in parts of Africa, but it is primarily an American holiday that was begun in 1966 by Maulana Karenga after the Watts riots. In Wakanda, we do not celebrate it, nor do we particularly celebrate Christmas itself. We do have some ties to Bast, including beliefs that good little boys and girls will receive the blessings of Bast, which typically come in the form of gifts from the parents. So, perhaps not that different from other traditions around the world."

There seems to be no particular reason to doubt what he says, so chances are it is true. Or, a credible story. "Are we expecting others soon? Have I arrived early, or am I late?" he wonders.

Pepper Potts has posed:
"I did," Pepper assures Janet. "The colors are gorgeous, which reminds me. Tony made a new fabric, and he wants you to take a look at it. Maybe base a line off of it." She looks back at the tree, at T'Challa before finishing, "It doesn't have any amazing properties. Not really. I'm not sure what he was trying to do, honestly."

Still!

As Janet searches for the proper holiday 'title', Pepper keeps that smile on her face. She's comfortable, safe, and with friends. Nodding as T'Challa fills the pair in on 'holiday', the redhead adds, "What ever it's called, whatever it's basis, it's a lovely feeling and tradition. We shouldn't have an excuse to be nice to people, but I'm glad it's such a big reminder, at least once a year."

The smile melds into a happy grin, and she does nod, upping the ante a little as she does so. "Very festive. I don't think I can remember the last time I've seen you dressed in such finery." She's teasing, of course. Black suit.. with that touch of color in the form of the santa hat! "Tony gives you his best, by the way. I think he's back down in the labs." Holidays wait for no man!

"I'm sure he'll be out by New Year's Eve."

Janet van Dyne has posed:
"God, you're as bad as Steve," Janet informs T'challa. "He is no fun to play against on Trivia Night. I don't know where you guys keep all those little details stored away, but I'm one hundred percent certain it's not healthy."

As she says this Janet decants some eggnog into a glass and pours a liberal amount of brandy on top of it. The little serviette is lifted and brought over to the coffee table and she silently inquires of the others in the room if they'd care for a cup as well.

Janet sits on the sofa with a comfortable ease and crosses her legs at the knee, one boot toe waving in the air. "Mmm, but I'll give you this-- you've got a much better fashion sense than Steve does," Janet tells T'challa. "Purples and blacks are a solid look for you. Could also get away with like... gold alligator hide. Just throw a dead animal on ya," she says, and grins again before taking another healthy swig of her drink.

What time is it, anyway?

T'Challa has posed:
T'Challa taps the side of his head. "Oxford education," is his simple answer to Janet's remarks about all those little bits of knowledge tucked away. "At least in my case." Who knows, with Steve.

Spreading his hands for a moment, he says, "Whatever the reasons, people do not need much of an excuse to spoil their children when they are able to. I understand most every holiday has become commercialized by now, but there are things people can pick out to focus on and ignore the rest if they choose to."

The Dora Milaje move off to acquire some food and drink of their own, though they keep the King in sight one way or another. "Finery? This is what I call 'American casual,'" he explains to Pepper, then he considers both along with Janet. "Black, purple, silver, they are good combinations, yes. Alligator hide? Dead animal skins? I am not so sure. There was a time the Black Panther wore a panther skin, but I am told that ended not long after Bast threatened to declaw the next one to do it."

After a moment, he notes, "By New Year's Eve? With Tony, I am afraid that might be optimistic."

Pepper Potts has posed:
Pepper looks between the two; Trivia night hasn't really been well attended by her and Tony in the last year. Something's always come up for the busy CEO. Meetings, out of state conferences, out of country conferences,,

Perhaps it'll be a Resolution for the coming year?

With Janet getting some eggnog and making herself comfortable, Pepper is more than happy to pour herself a glass of wine and settle into one of the chairs nearby, her own legs crossed at the ankle.

Her face scrunches up, the freckles show themselves in full force at the suggestion of a dead animal.. and she shakes her head. "I know you're the fashion house, but a dead animal skin? Oh, Janet.. no." With T'Challa's input there, she nods her head in full agreement. "I'm glad. The fur trade is slowly going away, the fashion of fur is moving to faux.. and we can keep it that way."

Janet van Dyne has posed:
"Hey you can -have- ethical, sustainable fur," Janet protests with a wave of her drink. "I get my furs from this little fishing village in Alaska. White fox half the year, mink and otter the rest of the time. JVD Fashion single-handedly accounts for like, fifty percent of the GDP of that entire hamlet. I told them if they cut corners with Alaska Fish and Game or start over-harvesting, I'd cut ties and go elsewhere."

She takes a sip of her eggnog, smacks her lips. "It works out great for everyone. I think there some kid from Anchorage doing a thesis study of the project. Maybe. I can't remember."

She shrugs, without any sign of shame on her face. "But as far as my people tell me the animal population in their area is holding right where it oughta be for, uh, ecological, homeo-whatsit," she adds.

T'Challa has posed:
T'Challa moves to fix himself a cup of tea, clearly not above doing the simple things for himself. There is no sense of him being the sort to expect servants or others to do everything for him. "That is not something I have a particular opinion on one way or the other. Many tribes and people consider wearing the skins of the animals they do as a way to establish a tie or kinship to them. Some believed it granted them the power of the animal in question. In other examples, it is simply a form of clothing. Leggings, vests, furs for warmth."

Eyeing the tree, he looks it up and down before returning for the bags of gifts, beginning to set them out beneath the branches. Most are small, but are wrapped in paper that displays Wakandan colors and motifs, along with a few Black Panther insignias.

Pepper Potts has posed:
Pepper is a little less of a fashion diva than her friend, even if she wears JVD for over half of her work days and over 75% for official functions. No fur, however.

"I'm glad you take such interest in your sourcing, though. Good for you." And she genuinely means it. "I look forward to seeing that paper, when they're done. Maybe you can offer them a job? Or I can?"

A laugh exits the redhead, and she shakes her head ever so slightly. "New Years is one of his favorite holidays. He's usually invited to at least 10 parties. We spend a half hour or so at each to make it home by midnight." There's a shift in that smile, from a happy, to a fond expression. "Then, the balcony to watch the ball drop from there." Little bit of dancing, some champagne..

"I'm sorry I haven't asked earlier, but how is your sister, T'Challa?"

T'Challa has posed:
"Ah, the price of popularity," T'Challa states, regarding all the parties Tony and Pepper find themselves at. As if he does not have a variety of obligations of his own, people calling for a moment of attention.

"Shuri? She keeps herself busy with her projects, though if I listen carefully, I do believe I can still hear her laughing back at the embassy as we speak." This is said in a deadpan manner, as he adds, "She saw the calendar she helped put me up to being in."

It should be noted, however, he does not look ashamed nor embarrassed about it. And after all, why should he? "Panthers will, in fact, play with balls of yarn if given the chance."