10/18 Instance: Santastrophe

[fourpawsonthefloor]

timeline for the 6th

Remy: He held the door open for them, and followed closely behind, eyes scanning over the mass of people. "It's pretty crazy in here...holiday shoppin' an' all. Y' sure about dis?"

Talia: "Of course! It's his first Christmas and we gotta do it right!" she said, pushing the stroller in. She looked around quickly then noticed a "To Santa's Village" sign. "

Talia: She headed the way it indicated. "This is going to be so cute!"

Remy: He shadowed her, giving a flat look to a couple that stopped to gawk. About half the people were so wrapped up in what they were doing that they didn't even glance there way, thankfully. Owing to the crowds though, that still left a good many to do double takes or stare outright. He was doubly glad that Johnny was wrapped up in the rattly stuffed dog in his lap.

Talia: "Oooo wow look at how cool that is!" she pointed to the set up, with animatronic reindeer heads bobbing up and down over the faux snow and evergreens. In the center of it all sat the man himself. "Johnny, look! Santa!!"

Talia: She turned to Remy. "And the line's not too long too! It's way good we came early!"

Remy: He raised a brow at the man, and shrugged. "Oui, well its good. I don' think we should be here very long anyways, neh? He asked as they stepped up to the back of a line. The mother in front of them cast a look back over her shoulder and then reached for her daughters hand, pulling the child infront of her.

Talia: "Well...since we're already here, why not do some shopping too? It's always good to get a start on it early, right??" she reached into the stroller and pulled Johnny out, so he could get a better view. He squealed a bit and kicked his feet. "Ooo he's so excited!!"

Remy: "I dunno." He left of scanning the crowd for a minute, and met her eye. "Maybe we should come back later without him. Or...dere's still online shoppin'..."

Talia: She shrugged, patting Johnny's back. "But we're here anyway...that's like, a waste of gas," she looked around at everyone then back at Remy. "Why are you so nervous??"

Remy: He put a hand on Johnny's back and waited for his focus to shift to his mother's shirt. "TJ...dere's jus' too many people here. An' y' nearly got shot dat other time." He sighed. "An' don' y' see people...well...lookin'?"

Talia: Talia looked around again, her brow furrowing angrily. "Yeah, but so? There's way too many people for anyone to do anything like that. And like, why can't we do normal things like anyone else? Since when're you so like..intimidated??"

Talia: "I thought you were all about making a difference..we can't just like, accept this if we wanna make a difference, right?"

Remy: "Oui, but I don' want him bearin' dat." He stopped to pick up the toy as Johnny dropped it. "I jus' want him t' feel loved. Not feared, or like people think he's ugly or somethin'."

Remy: "An' I wish dis was somewhere he'd get dat, but I don' think it is." They moved forward a space as a pair of twins took their spot on Santa's knee. "An' I want him an' y' t' be safe too. No ones doin' anything, I know."

Talia: "He's not ugly, he's beautiful and adorable," she gave Johnny a little kiss. "And honestly, if people don't see it then they're..whatever. I want to keep him safe, but I don't wanna have him hidden."

Remy: "I know y' don'...an' I know he is. But what d' we do when people yank dere kids away from him and stuff?" The woman in front of them tensed. So she was evesdropping. He rolled his eyes. "I don' want him gettin' a complex about how he looks."

Talia: TJ shrugged, looking down. "I dunno...we just gotta like...teach him and everything. There're plenty of people who are different and who like..can live normal lives, and he happy and fine. He can too."

Remy: He shrugged, and decided to let it rest. "What y' thinkin' of buyin' him anyways?"

Talia: She gave Remy a look. "I have some ideas, but hello! We'll figure out what to write to Santa about later."

Talia: "But I do have kind of an idea for something for my dad.." they moved forward again, only a few behind Johnny's chance to meet Santa. "I wanted to go look in Sears while we're here. If you want that can be the only thing we do other than this, then we go, ok??"

Remy: He chuckled. "He's only a baby. An' aren't we
gettin' him anythin'? Or is it jus' all Santa?"

Remy: He gave another long look around at the crowd. "Well. Suppose so. Y' know what y' want, so we can be quick, oui?"

Talia: "Yeah, it can be way quick," she said. "And of course we're getting him something! But jeez, I want him to be surprised and all when he gets it!"

Remy: "Ok, ok. Which order are we goin' t' see people in anyways? Papa's excited dat everyone's gonna be dere for dat long, but he wants t' start makin' plans."

Talia: "I dunno, I haven't thought of it. Does your Dad have plans yet? Which do you think would work better??" She shifted Johnny a bit, giving him his binky as he fussed slightly. She hoped he at least stayed awake to meet Santa.

Remy: "Well...when are we goin'? Before or after new years? An' if we're gone for new years...y' want t' do somethin' small an' family like or big an' fancy?"

Talia: "Big and fancy? Big and fancy like what??" she asked.

Remy: "Like a ball. Nice clothes. Lotsa food." He raised a brow with a wry smile. "Y' know what my family does. Dere's a certain responsibility, neh?"

Talia: She raised a brow. "You want me to like..go to a ball with you??"

Remy: "Oui." He frowned. "We ain't all gonna go an' leave y' at home. Why would we do dat?"

Talia: "I dunno," they stepped forward again. "Balls just seem like...like, romantic kinda.." she stammered a bit. "Just dunno.."

Remy: Oh. Merde. He'd not realized that he'd been making her feel uncomfortable again. "Oh. Non. Jus'...we can go as a group, neh?" He glanced away, feeling awkward. "It'd be d' whole family. If y' don' want t'...we can spend it wit' y're parents."

Talia: "No!" she answered quickly. "No, I didn't mean it like that," she thought a moment. "No, that'll work, that'll be fine. And after new years we can go to my parents for like, a week or something. Does that work??"
Remy: "Sure. Though really...we could probally spend more like 10 days easy wit' each family if y' want. May as well."

Talia: She nodded, giving him a smile. "That sounds good. Ok," they came up to the end of the line, Talia buncing Johnny in her arms a bit. "We're almost there Johnny!! Are you excited?!"

Remy: He watched the latest kid twist and cry and hold his arms out for his mother. "Oh, I'm sure he'll be thrilled. Who wouldn't want t' sit on some old fat strangers lap, neh?"

Talia: She swatted Remy. "Stop that! It's Santa! He knows if you've been bad or good, and calling him a fat old stranger isn't very good, is it?" She looked to Johnny. "I think your Papa's getting coal in his stocking this year!"

Remy: He snorted. "Be more dan d' basta..." He cut off at the warning scowl from TJ, and turned to Johnny, shaking his toy for him. "But of course Santa knows y're a good boy, non?"

Talia: "He's a very good boy," she gave Johnny another big kiss. "And Santa totally knows."

Elf: She nodded to the mall manager, then moved closer to the odd couple with the small blue child. "Um, excuse me? I've uh...been asked by management to ask you to please leave. You're disrupting our customers."

Remy: He turned to look at the worker, dressed in a truly godawful green costume. "Pardonez moi?" he glanced at TJ. "We're not doin' nothin'..."

Talia: She narrowed her eyes a bit at the elf. "We just wanna get his picture with Santa. We didn't do anything to anyone!"

Elf: "I'm sorry, but you're going to have to go. My hands are tied."

Remy: He folded his arms across his chest. "Why? What are we doin'?"

Elf: She turned to the gentleman. "Sir, please, I don't want to have to call security. Now, you're holding up the line. Please."

Talia: "NO! No way! We came all the way here so our son could see Santa and he's gonna! I don't care what you say!!"

Remy: He blinked as TJ bristled, and settled a hand on the small of her back to calm her. "Call security? Wait a minute...we're jus' standin' here." He continued reasonabally. "Y' haven't even told us what y' took exception too yet. I believe we're entitled t' dat at least, neh?" He thought grimly to himself that all that time with his Papa was starting to pay off. "May we speak wit' d' manager?"

Elf: She looked behind her at her coworkers, then back at the two. "I'm afraid that's not possible. The management asked me to ask you to leave."

Talia: "This is BULLSHIT!" Talia said, as Johnny began to fuss and cry a bit. "We're not going ANYWHERE until he gets to see Santa, like everyone else! I don;t even care what you do!"

Elf: She turned her eyes to the gentleman again. "And sir, please restrain your wife. We don't want trouble here."

Remy: He frowned at that. "She's right. We have as much right t' be here as anyone else. Y' can't come up wit' any reason for us t' leave, den we ain't."

Elf: She sighed. "You are disrupting patrons, and I have been asked by management to ask you to leave. If you don't want to cooperate, I'll have security here."
Talia: "What're we disrupting?! YOU are disrupting us!"

Remy: "Ma'am. Y' still haven't bothered tellin' us how we're disturbin' others." By now the whole line was staring. Maudit. "We're conductin' ourselves properly." He gave her a firmer look. "Of course, I'm sure y'll do us d' favor of explainin'. Y' wouldn't want t' be accused of treatin' y're patrons unfairly now. Dat'd look bad t' y're sales, non?"

Elf: "Just leave," she told them. "Please. I don't want to have to call security, but I will. I don't want to have you banned from this mall, but I will," she stopped. "We reserve the right to ask anyone we suspect to be a danger to our patrons to leave. So please do so peaceably."

Talia: "NO! NO NO NO!" Talia argued, placing Johnny back in his stroller. "NO! No, this isn't fair! We're not dangering anyone! We just want to take a fucking picture of our son with Santa!"

Remy: He knelt by Johnny, doing up the buckles, hating the wide eyed look his son was giving the whole scene. This was so wrong, and he'd had enough of it. Johnny shouldn't be seeing it. He stood back up, and reached for TJ's arm again. "Talia. Let's go. I'll talk t' d' lawyers when we get home." He added with a look to the lady and her name tag. "Miss Ranstead here I'm sure will be happy t' speak t' dem later."

Talia: She crossed her arms. "This isn't fair Remy. We shouldn't have to go!"

Remy: "I know it ain't. But us makin' a scene ain' gonna help him either. Dis is frightenin' him." He shook his head, and gave the manager huddled off studiously ignoring them a glare. "An' a fear of elves too. Dis was supposed t' be fun, oui? It ain't no more."

Talia: She looked to Johnny, then back to Remy. "Fine. But this is bullshit. It's complete BULLSHIT," she punctuated the last word hard, then walked off the line silently.

Remy: He pushed the stroller after her watching as she parted the crowd before her like the red sea. He wasn't sure how much of it was the glower on her face and how much of it was the blue. A small piping voice behind him caught his attention. "Mommy? What does bullshit mean?" Hah. Served them right. 'Disturbing them' his ass.

Talia: She went right out the mall doors and to the car, crossing her arms with an angry glare, watching Remy catch up. She didn't say anything, just waited for him and Johnny.

Remy: He took the keys out or his pocket and opened the doors, letting TJ scoop Johnny up to put him in his carseat as he put the stoller in the back. As frusterated and angry as he was, he couldn't help but feel a touch of relief. They could be home. Safe.

Talia: She buckled Johnny in gently, before getting into the passenger side seat, slamming the door. She fastened her own seatbelt, then crossed her arms again, staring out the windshield.

Remy: He got a new toy out of the diaper bag, and passed it to Johnny, getting in himself and starting the engine. "TJ..."

Talia: She turned her face away from him. "I don't wanna talk about it."

Remy: He sighed, and looked over his shoulder as he pulled out. They drove in silence for a long way, he glancing in the rearview periodically, watching as Johnny's eyelids slowly drooped and closed. He finally took a deep breath and laid his hand on her knee. "Look. I'm sorry it didn't work out like y' wanted."

Talia: She kept facing out the window, feeling hot tears begin to work their way down her cheeks. She tried her best to hold it in, but couldn't help it as he laid a hand on her knee. She sniffled, wiping her eyes with her sleeve.

Remy: He leaned forward, eye's still on the road and flipped open the glove box, fishing out a small plastic travel pack of tissues, and passing them to her wordlessly, hand returning to her knee, giving it a comforting squeeze.

Talia: She took the tissues and blew her nose, allowing herself to cry a bit. Shequietly snuffled a few times, before opeing her mouth. "It's so unfair."

Remy: "It is." He squeezed her knee again. "D' world ain't a very friendly place."

Talia: "That's such.." she choked back a sob. "What're we supposed to do anyway??"

Remy: "I dunno." He pulled onto the driveway. "I think we jus' got t' take it as it comes, an' try an' do d' best we can."

Talia: "I feel so stupid. Like, after everything we could be normal and do normal things," she sniffled again. "And now on top of it, I had to go and pass on all this to my son. It's all my fucking fault," she crumpled again, sobbing into the tissues.

Remy: "What?" He pulled into a parking space and turned to her. "What's y're fault? None of dis is anyone's fault other dan dem damn bigots."

Talia: "But they wouldn't even bug him if he weren't blue! It's all my fault. What the hell kind of life can he even have? I keep trying to be positive, but I'm not even like..being realistic!"

Remy: He reached across and rubbed her shoulder. "He'll have a good life wit' us. Maybe not normal, but good. An' even if he wasn't blue...he'd still have d' eyes, non? It wasn't only y'."

Talia: She rubbed her arms. "The blue's the big thing though," Talia let out a breath. "It's like..I feel like I failed him just cause I had him. That's so...so wrong. But it's what it feels like."

Remy: "Don' ever be sorry y' had him." he said firmly. "I know all dis is scary an' everythin'...but I ain' sad we had him. He's a wonderful chil'. He's gonna grow t' be a good man. We'll see dat he has a good life."

Talia: She turned to look at Remy. "I don't regret it. I don't. I love him more than anything. That's why...it hurts so much when this happens. So so much. I want him to have what every other child can have!"

Remy: "I know. But think about what y're sayin' dere too. 'What every other chil' has'."

Remy: "Not every chil' has got it as good as he does, even wit' all dis shit. An' oui it hurts. I want him t' be accepted, not pointed at like some sorta freak." He glanced again at the softly snoring bundle. "But, at least he's happy, fed, an' has people dat love him. It ain't a bad life."

Talia: She let out a shuddering breath. "Yeah. I still woulda liked to get a picture with him and Santa though..."

Remy: "I know." He pulled out another tissue for her. "Maybe we can get someone else t' wear a costume?"

Talia: TJ shrugged, taking the tissue and wiping her nose. "I dunno. Maybe."

Talia: "It's not the same though..."

Remy: He gave her a sad smile. "I know. But he won't. Not really anyways, if we jus' make it fun. We can make our own rules for dis, neh? Don' have t' live by everyone else's."

Talia: "Ok.." she sniffled sadly again, glancing back at Johnny. "It's so good he has like...no idea what's going on now. And he won't remember it either. But he's gonna start getting it eventually..."

Talia: She couldn't help the little smile as he shifted in his sleep, letting out this small sigh. Her precious boy. How could anyone hate him?

Remy: "Well...we'll cross dat bridge when we get dere. I know he's not gonna have it easy in ways, but we love each other, an' dat's all dat counts."

Talia: She quirked a brow, but ignored it. She knew what he meant. "We love him. That's true. I just hope it's enough."

Remy: "It will be. People've survived on less, neh?"

[Edited on 18/10/07 by NachtcGleiskette]

[wingyding]

bah humbug.

Great instance, y'all. Figured the bad human interaction would happen sooner or later, and TJ and Johnny are fairly obvious targets. Makes me want to like go stick up for them now, though.

[Starfish]

Wow, that's a great instance, guys. Well done. Poor Johnny didn't get to see Santa. Bigoted people make me sad and angry.

[steyn]

Awesome instance you gals. I was sooo waiting for this kind of direct interaction between mutants and humans.

[Slarti]

Awwww. Damn. Well done, chicas.

[tears~fall~like~glass]

awwwwwww. nice job!


Farouk could wear a Santa suit. He's fat enough...although the fat may engulf Johnny....

[Esynthia]

That was really well done. I even got pissed reading it! lol.

and I really love how calm Remy was. It WAS almost exactly like Jean-Luc. LOVED IT!

[Scumfish]

....Havin read this, I now can't get the vision of Vic in a Santa costume out of my head. He'd do it, too. ><

Awesome instance. And OMFG. Want to kill mall manager dude. Grrr.

*goes off to draw Santa!Vic*

[Starfish]

Originally posted by tears~fall~like~glass
Farouk could wear a Santa suit. He's fat enough...although the fat may engulf Johnny....

Farouk-Santa has already been discussed, and by mutual agreement we decided that no one is going to sit on Farouk's lap. Ever.

[Scumfish]

Originally posted by Starfish

Originally posted by tears~fall~like~glass
Farouk could wear a Santa suit. He's fat enough...although the fat may engulf Johnny....

Farouk-Santa has already been discussed, and by mutual agreement we decided that no one is going to sit on Farouk's lap. Ever.

Dude. One word for that.

Ew.