Mutants & Masterminds: The Indigo Children - Merry Mutant Christmas!

[Cole Mulvaney]

-Date December 23rd

(This Fiction is open to all participants in TMNT)

Cole was in rare form. He'd cajoled Raphael into letting him decorate the lair for the season, even finding away to get a Christmas tree down there. He and Ramani had done all the decorating, and Connor's mother had done all the shopping for food and such.

They had everything setup, Cold drinks for those who wanted them, and of course Raph had his beer. All the little fingerffods normally found at parties including the sandwiches were onhand. Cookies, and just about every kind of baked sweet one could ask for too, all covered to preserve the freshness. He'd ordered Pizza and knew it would be another ten minutes before he needed to go and pick it up.

Ramani was there next to him, and he held her right paw in his left. If anything they'd grown even closer since meeting the others, something they were both mutually happy about. "Thanks for helping Ramani, I couldn't have done it all without you."

They'd just returned from getting cleaned up after setting up, and felt much cleaner now. He stood there with her waiting for the others, Including Raphael, as he'd gone out when they'd started that morning.

"This is going to be alot of fun."

[Rodney]

Rodney wasn't sure he was in the festive mood. He was here because he had nohwere else to go and not really anywhere else to be. He was missing his father this time of year more than any other. He should have snuck out with him and done some 3am window shopping. This year he had tried it alone ... and it sucked. All he had gotten was cold.

Bats hibernated and Rodney knew why. It was freaking cold this far north. Insects, the staple for his kind, would burrow away for the spring. Bat's didn't migrate like some damn bird, they stayed close to home ... huddled together for warmth ... and Rodney felt the stinging loneliness again. Not only was he of a species that lived in huge colonies, but he was without his father and the only one of his kind. He was going to cease to be once he died. No little Rodney's would come after him.

He envied Cole and Ramani. They had each other and they had the hope of others like them - to not be the only face like you in the glass. Rodney shook of the melancholy and waited for the sun to set.

He still owned the night skies.

Rodney got up and walked over to Rapheal.

"Tell me about your Dad and I'll tell you about mine. Christmas is a time for family, even if they can't be here to share it with us this year."

He wanted to talk about his dad, and this was the only way he could come up with to do it.

[z-Penny Mann]

Penny knocked the snow off her boots and wished again she could tell Mike about her strange friends. It would have been nice to spend some time with him. They hadn't done enough of that lately; she'd been busy with 'work' and school and now, her mom. Penny knew something was wrong; her mother wasn't acting like herself, and Megan was clearly stressed about something. She hadn't been sure they were going to let her leave tonight.

Behind her, Randy waited for her to finish so he could use the clear space to de-snow his own boots. "Isn't this a bit weird?" he asked as she made room for him. "Even for us?"

"It's Christmas," Penny said. "They're our friends. C'mon."

"I just hate parties without beer."

"Or loose cheerleaders?" Penny laughed, then entered the area of the subway that Raphael called home. "We're here!"

[Cole Mulvaney]

Cole smiled as Rodney, Randy, and Penny showed up. "Welcome to the party." Christmas music was playing in the background and The Male Tiger moved forward to greet the others.

"I know most of us have our own families, but I figured as a group we could do something too, even if it was just get together and eat some good food."

He gestures to the tables set with food. "Help yourselves. There's plenty of food."

[z-Penny Mann]

Penny and Randy both dug in, though Randy with far more enthuasism. He'd never met food he really couldn't eat, though he had his preferences. Penny was more picky, focusing on veggies and fruit. "Yeah," she smiled at the tiger. "This was a good idea, Cole. Things always get crazy around the holidays. It's nice to get away from the craziness and chill for a bit."

"Yeah, my mom's driving me crazy having me run errands," Randy sighed. "Dad's pulling overtime, so he can't help, and I can drive, so I get suckered into it. Notice my sister has a license and they don't ask her to drive..."

[Rodney]

Rodney waits to see if he can get Raphael in a talkative mood. Moreso than Rodney, the Turtle seems lonely and abandoned by fate. It is more pain than the Bat has had to bear, but still they are similar.

[jameson (ST)]

Though Raphael was present he maintained the stoic silence that the others had grown used to in the past few weeks. If he noticed that Rodney was purposely staying close, as though waiting for any opening to start conversation, he made no sign of it.

[Ramani]

Ramani almost pounced Penny as she saw the young girl enter the place. She had really grown fond of the redhead and her boyfriend. The large tigress purred loudly and rubbed her head against Penny’s side almost shoving her off balance. When she realized that she was putting to much strength into her show of affection she backed off and looked a bit self-consciously to the floor. Not knowing what to do she quickly resumed her place next to Cole. Her tail was still lashing out from side to side showing how excited she was but she was trying to keep it in check.

She had little experience with these kinds of things but she liked the colors and smells around her. It made her feel happy and at peace – something she never really knew before she met Cole.

[Rodney]

Rodney sat like a grump hunched next to Raphael, either locked in a test of wills, or simply not getting into the Christmas cheer this year.

[Cole Mulvaney]

Cole knew he had to chance both of their wrath if it was going to stop.

He walked over there, and laid a hand on both of them. "Rodney, join the party. Your dad wouldn't want you to sit here miserable. Don't forget your Grief, but put it in it's place and share in the joy of being with others at this time of year."

He looked to Raphael. "You've haven't spoken of your brothers much, but I'd wager you celebrated Christmas with them. Didn't you have fun at this time of year with them? We cannot replace your brothers Raphael-sensei, but we can welcome you as a memeber of this family."

His eyes told the truth, he was serious in both his little speeches. He was also preparing to get scratched or at the very least punched very hard or thrown across the room.

[Rodney]

"Maybe Dad will be home when I get back tonight. You never know."

Rodney silently hoped and prayed that would be true, despite the lenght of time that had already passed.

"Raphael, tell us about your first Christmas here in the Turtle Cave? I mean, it must have been exciting to have such a home. Give us a story of how it was done right in the good old days and how much work us newcomers have to do to be half as good as they were."

[z-Penny Mann]

Penny giggled at Ramini's eager greeting, while Randy looked less sure of it. She still wasn't sure how to touch the tigress in appreciation; it seemed degrading to scratch her ears, and asking, "How can I pet you?" seemed rude. She wasn't sure what to do; next time, she told herself, she'd give her a hug - and hope that the tigress understood that was affection, not an attack.

Cole and Rodney's attempts to draw out Raphael caught her ear, and Penny turned to see if their mysterious mentor would divulge anything.

[jameson (ST)]

Raphael shook his head, "I do not wish to speak of it."

Randy scowled, "Sensei, what happened that was so bad that you never want to speak of your family? We know that they all died but can't you at least try and remember the good times?"

Raphael looked at Randy, his eyes narrow, "I never said they all died. And I would ask that you honor my request at this time. My story is not appropriate for this festive time."

[Cole Mulvaney]

Cole nodded. "Fair enough." He made his way back to the table of food and fixed a small plate balanced on one of his pawlike hands and ate, not wanting to let the food go to waste.

[z-Penny Mann]

"Ok," Penny said, nodding at Raphael. She took her own plate and sat down. "I've been out of the loop, with family stuff for the last few days. What's up with everyone?"

[Cole Mulvaney]

"Nothing too much, just enjoying life in Winter up here. It's the only time of year We can really be comfortable outside y'know." He gestures to his broad chest.

"This much fur is hot as hell most of the year."

[Rodney]

Shrugging off the talk of families, Rodney changes the subject.

"Hey now, people like Cats - even Big Cats. They are cute. When was the last time someone said What a cute bat? Seriously, you cats have it easy in the location aspect," he grins.

"Isn't that a cute tiger out playing in the backwoods over there? Tiger? Sure. Maybe someone should call animal control? Awww ... but they are so cute."

"With me, its AAAAAAAAhhhhh!! A mutant Bat. Somebody shoot it!"

"Merry Christmas, but give me dark skies and a deep, dark place to hide during the day ... with cable of course."

[Cole Mulvaney]

Cole laughs. "Hey still react poorly to tigers OH GOD IT"S A MANEATING TIGER AND IT TALKS! RUN FOR YOUR LIVES!"

He smiles. "Still Rodney even if they don't react positively, you can fly. I gotta say that's really cool. You're the only one in the city I bet who can fly without an airplane."

[Ramani]

Ramani did her best to play the Oh, look! It's a cute cat part while she purred loud enough to sound like a room full of kitten. She never strayed beyond armslength away from Penny and Randy and smiled at them expressing how much she liked them. As Cole made his funny remark about Rodney she giggled which was an odd sound of itself sounding a bit like a purr and a gurgle - as if someone was choked to death.

"I like you, Rodney.", she said, "You are funny."

Ramani tried very hard to sound as humanly possible and chose to speak in simple yet good understandable sentences a lot of what she said was underlined by how she looked and how her bodylanguage worked. Her voice didn't provide enough modulation except for sounding hoarse and pressed. She was still practicing using her vocal chords for something else than roaring.

[z-Penny Mann]

"You guys are cute," Penny remarked, kneeling next to Ramani and beginning to rub her hands through her fur. It wasn't petting; a human would have called it a massage. The fur confused the issue a bit, maybe, but it still felt good to the big mutant. "And I'm including you in that, Rodney. Bats are really cute, when they're not flying at your head."

Randy seemed to be considering what he could say, but elected to instead shove food into his face. His phone ringing made him jump, and he pulled it out with a frown. "It's Mike," he told Penny, then answer. "Yo." He listened then said, "I, uh, can't. I'm at a Christmas party. Penny? She's... uh, she's here. Wanna talk to her? Uh, oooh-kay, sure. I'll tell her. Sure, see ya later. Yeah... uh-huh. Yeah, yeah... I hear Lethal Crash sucks, and you only have two controllers for it. Let's play Dead Rising. I get to play Hawkins. You're on, loser. Bye."

Penny just looked at him. "We're going to play Mike's new zombie game after we leave here," Randy told her.

"We are?" Penny asked, her eyebrows rising.

"Come on, Pen, he's your boyfriend, and you haven't been in... what, almost a week now?" Randy said, he voice almost chiding. "You're lucky he's so trusting. I'd be throwing a fit if you were going to a Christmas party with my best friend instead of me, never mind spending so much time with him."

"It's the holidays, and I have two families worth of quality time to get in." Randy gave her a look that brooked no argument. "Alright," Penny laughed, holding her hands up in surrender. "I'll go hang with you two. I'll even play video games with you."

"Awesome. You can play Violet," he said, grinning.

"She doesn't do anything," Penny grumbled.

"Sure she does," Randy said, his grin widening. "She can shoot a shotgun, and she's got huge tits."

[Cole Mulvaney]

Cole looks to Penny and Randy. "And I thought that you two were a couple, you do so well together."

[Rodney]

"Hehe ... at least they don't scream RABIES and try to swat you with a broom!" he laughs. "I don't get no respect, I tell ya."

Rodney waits to see if anyone catches the impression, but when Penny's revelation comes around, the Bat raises an eyebrow and looks at Randy,

"You aren't gay are you? I mean, it's okay if you are, but I'm just saying."

His eye go meaningfully between the two humans.

[Ramani]

Ramani suddenly froze as if she just understood what was going on. She looked questioningly, almost sadly at the young teenagers and asked confused, "You are not mates?"

She couldn't imagine they weren't - it had never crossed her mind they were "only" friends.

[z-Penny Mann]

"We're just friends," Penny said to Cole, her fingers finding a particularly tense muscle in Ramani's back. "Mike's uh..." She looked to Randy for an explanation of why he was here and Mike wasn't.

"Mike's grounding in sanity is stronger than mine," he said with a grin. "He'd snap or somethin' to learn about you guys. So I'm Penny's right hand man."

Rodney's query knocked him out of his smug banter. "What? No! Come on, I can be friends with my best friend's girl without being gay. I mean, come on... what gay guy wears a non-designer t-shirt? And combat boots?"

"No, Ramani," Penny said softly, her voice gentle. "We're not... um, mates. Technically, neither are Mike and I... but that's not important." She smiled at the tigress. "It works a little differently for humans, hon."

[Ramani]

Ramani’s expression remained unchanged and her confusion changed into worry. The purring suddenly ceased and Penny felt the muscles tensing under her fingers – the Tigress was about to stand up. Whatever Penny said it seemed to upset Ramani and she moved sadly to a different corner of the room and searched for a place to settle down. She looked up to the teenagers with a sad expression in her intensive blue eyes and sighed. The world was a much nicer place for her a few minutes ago.

[Cole Mulvaney]

Cole sees Ramani's mood drop dramatically and goes over to her nuzzling her neck softly. "What's wrong?" His voice was a faint whisper.

[Rodney]

"Hum ... you two aren't even in college yet. Then you have to get a job and put your lives in order before you really find someone and get down to mating for mating's sake. It's not like you have a somewhat limited future that mating-mating can only mess up."

Rodney hops around and looks at Penny.

"So what about this Mike fellow? How come you have never brought him around?"