Post Halloween Cleanup

November 01, 2014:

Someone has to take the decorations down at Xavier's.

Xavier's

Characters

NPCs: None.

Mentions:

Mood Music: None.


Fade In…

Though the day after Halloween, all the decorations still remain up in the Institute. Some can remain - the carved pumpkins and various other fall ornaments - however, the scary spiders and cobwebs and witches brews should be stowed away for next year. The current teacher of Computer Science has started to carefully collect all those various items and stacking them on a nearby table. It may be the weekend, but Kitty doesn't mind helping out where she can. A steaming mug of mulled cider and a bowl with the left over candy also rests nearby, helping to motivate her.

Several of those decorations float into the air on their own and move over to where Kitty is putting them. At the same time, Cal walks over to the bowl of candy and starts searching through it. "Afternoon, Kitty. Bored enough to clean up instead of letting the students do it?"

Tall men are useful for taking down tall decorations. Piotr Rasputin steps back through the entrance way now decked out in a thin layer of fake cobwebs. A thin film of cobweb rests over his head and down his shoulders as well as in his hands. Evidently taking it down didn't exactly go as planned.

Piotr's arms flail and try to break through the gauze-y fabric as he murmurs, "Katya, I don't think this is my forte — "

As some of the decorations move toward where she's stacking them, Kitty turns. In this school it's either a student or a teacher helping out rather than a ghost. She's always thought that one day when the school might go public that they would make the best Haunted House in all of Westchester.

"Afternoon," she greets Calvin with a smile. "I figured it's good to get a head start on it. I always thought taking down decorations was a bit sad." The party is over and they have to wait again till next year. "I've always loved Halloween and—" while her sentiment is sad, she's interrupted by the entrance of Piotr. All form of melancholy is wiped away to see the large man covered in fake cobwebs. Hiding a laugh behind her hand (though that gesture is not fooling anyone) she moves forward to try and peel the decorations off of him. "It's a good thing those weren't real spiders or you'd have been a meal. Come here, let me help you."

Cal decides on a peanut butter cup; the bite size treat disappears quickly with no mutant powers needed. "The kids' enjoyment of it is always the best part." As he hunts for another piece of candy, the decorations continue to float down into a pile until Piotr shows up. Turning, Cal can't help but grin at the sight. "Hello Piotr. I'd heard you moved in. I'm glad you're here."

"Ha! The spiders wish I could be their meal. Aragog has nothing on me," Piotr counters as he inches closer to Kitty, but his movement towards her is slow and somewhat hesitant. Maybe he thinks she's a spider? Towards Calvin he issues a small smile, "I haven't moved in exactly. But I am spending time. I'm still staying with Yana and Jericho." His eyes tick towards Kitty and then back to Calvin, "It's just to keep things less… confusing." Clearly.

"Exactly," Kitty tells Calvin with a grin. "Did you see Lily's costume? She went as Iron Man. I was quite impressed with the costume construction." At the moment, she's facing Piotr to help him peel fake cobwebs off of the large man. Once she has a small bundle of whatever strange material the things are made of and Piotr is mostly web-free, she turns back around, eyes shifting between the two men.

"Have you two met before?" It's a bit of a double edged question - meaning did he know Piotr before or after his change. If not, she can introduce them. "I believe Piotr will be helping 'Ro wiht her class for the time being."

Cal considers Piotr a moment as he finishes a second peanut butter cup. "Confusing for who?" he asks eventually. "I think most people here never met this reality's Piotr. They're also aware that different realities exist and that people aren't the same in each." He's always been willing to discuss his own reality and some of those he's visited. Some. "I don't know what your reality was like but… It might be easier for both you and Illyana to live separately while you get to know each other. Candy?" he asks, extending the bowl. "We met a couple of days ago, Kitty. Briefly."

There's a tight-lipped smile at Calvin's question. "For me." It's a simple answer punctuated by a small, very dimpled, smile. "Whether or not it's wise to live so close to Yana, I think being here, seeing it after I'd seen it leveled… it's far more confusing than being in an apartment that I never knew."

With a grin, Kitty tosses the cobwebs at Calvin, flicking her wrist like a certain spider costumed hero. "Ah, I see. That's good, then." As for living or not living at the Institute, the young woman only offers, "It's true, but the people who did know the other Piotr did not seem to have a very good memory of him. At least, not in this building." Moving forward, she picks up her mug of warm mulled cider and plucks a small, wrapped Twix from the bowl. "Thanks," she offers.

After a moment, she moves to pluck another decoration off the wall and decides a change in subjects might be in order. "So, how'd you spend your Halloween, Calvin?"

Leveled. That tells Cal something unpleasant about the other man's reality. And given the one's he's witnessed, he can make some guesses. "I see. Well, whatever's easiest for you. We're all here to help if you need it." At Kitty's question, he smiles. "A Halloween party at a bar. It was a lot of fun."

Unfortunately, Kitty has heard some of what happened in Colossus' world and why it might be a bit strange for him to live at the Institute. It's also possibly why she changed the subject, as it's not a pleasant thing to dwell on. "That's great. What was your costume? You dressed up, right?" Glancing behind her at the taller man, she raises an eyebrow. Clearly, Kitty doesn't believe it's possible to do Halloween properly without dressing up.

Cal grins at the question. "Of course. It was a costume party. I went as Superman. A friend does body painting so I didn't need to go buy anything. There were a few Supermen actually. How about you? Party? Costume?"

Piotr slides back towards the entrance and grasps some more of the gauzy cobweb material. "If I dressed in this I bet I could've gone as a dead bride. Or Aragog's catch. Or something." His eyebrows tick upwards as he winds the material into a small ball of netting. His arms cross over his chest after the material is tossed precariously into a box.

"You're a little tall to be Frodo," Kitty teases Piotr with a laugh. "Though, that would be quite the amazing costume if you could find someone even taller to be Gandalf." Things to consider for next year. "Superman's a popular costume. I think it must be the cape. Cape's are fun to run about in." As for her own costume, she grins. "I went as the Grey Lady from Hogwarts. The ability to phase through walls certainly comes in handy when planning costumes." She wiggles her fingers and grins. "Met up with a few people in the city, grabbed a drink and then helped hand out candy to the kids. It was a nice evening."

Cal sets the bowl of candy back on the table and continues to remove decorations telekinetically. "Maybe next year. With a long enough robe, I can just float around and no one will know I'm not walking. But now we have Thanksgiving to look forward to. And Christmas. And New Years. And the kids going home for much of it which is the best holiday of them all."

"Are there people taller than me that could make me look like Frodo?" Piotr asks skeptically. A single eyebrow arches at the thought and he can't help but chuckle. "Strange to think about." There's a smirk at the notion of capes. "Capes get stuck in things," he speaks as if from experience. "But it's good you both had nice evenings. Capes or not." He twists back towards the door.

"I'm not sure if there are without some help, but if Calvin can do the floating thing, it may work out for the best." Kitty gives the two of them a grin. "If, of course, you decide you'd still like to be here next year." After all, there's a lot of bad memories associated to here. It's not out of the realm of possibility he decides to leave entirely.

"I do love Thanksgiving and New Year's. And I normally like the first few days of the kids not being here, but then it seems like there's just too much space for not enough people." There's a smile and a shrug. "Makes the whole place feel a bit lonely."

"You need to get out more then, Kitty." Cal suggests. "Instead of wandering the halls. Go into the city. Party. Stop criminals. Seems like the bad guys always get more active during holiday season. You could always come with the gold team. The more the merrier. You too, Piotr. When you're ready."

The notion of the holidays has Piotr rather bashfully staring down at his feet. His weight shifts from one foot to the other. And with the motion, he's twisting away from the pair, facing the very neutral, very emotionless wall. Thank goodness for jobs that help things function. "There's less kids here anyways. So I've been told," he inhales a sharp breath and takes a few steps towards the entrance way. "We should make the pumpkins into something useful lest they freeze. Frozen pumpkins are nearly weapons." He clears his throat and then twists back towards them, forcing a strained smile.

Kitty smirks. "I do get out. It's just coming back here that seems a bit sad when all the kids are gone. Though, I'm not really much of a partier." As for the Gold Team, she raises an eyebrow. "Maybe I will. I know 'Berto's been telling me I should help out on Red, too." And, yet, she has not really done either. It's about time that she fixes that.

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