Gobble Gobble! 2017 Edition

[taintedcrimson]

Happy Thanksgiving

It's that time of year! Whether you're from the United States or have just seen it in movies, everyone knows that Americans take Thanksgiving very seriously. We consume copious amounts of food, watch a lot of football, and kick off the insane shopping season with Black Friday. It's also a time of family and togetherness, which is better for some than others. What sort of holiday will your muse have?

Directions
1. Comment with your character, series, preferences, etc.
2. Roll a number between 1-12 for a prompt.
3. Reply to others and play out the scenario!


Prompts
1. Not Home for the Holidays – You’re stuck on the other side of the world, or on a different world altogether. Do you mope about it or make the best of the occasion?

2. Road Trip – The snacks are packed and you’re ready to go to grandma’s house. But what happens when you lose GPS signal and get lost in the middle of nowhere or the car breaks down?

3. Stuck in the Airport – You’re snowed in and the hotels are full of fellow delayed passengers. Why don’t they make these chairs more comfortable for sleeping in?

4. Meeting the Family – It’s your first time meeting your significant other’s family, be they biological or chosen, and you’re nervous as hell about it.

5. Avoiding the Family – You’re obligated to go home for the holiday, but there’s only so much you can take of your family. Go for a walk, stop by the bar, whatever it takes for a little peace and quiet.

6. Friendsgiving – You’re spending the holiday with your chosen family. Are you hosting the event, or just bringing an extra bottle of wine?

7. The Dinner – What’s on the table? Is it set for two or twelve? Can you make it through the meal without someone causing drama?

8. Slaving Over a Hot Stove – Do you have to make the entire meal yourself or have you enlisted someone’s help with the mashed potatoes?

9. Burned the Turkey – Well, the main course is a little blackened. Time for Chinese food, or is it pizza this year?

10. Game Time - Football is a Thanksgiving tradition. Are you watching the game on TV, or out playing one of your own?

11. Thanksgiving Day Parade - Who doesn't love a good parade? Are you in it or just watching from the sideline?

12. Black Friday – Are you out fighting the crowds for the best deals? Or are you behind one of the counters, stuck in the annual retail holiday hell?

13. Write-in Option – Is there something we missed? Is there another scenario you want to play out, or would you like to roll the dice again? Go for it!

Comments

[loveslola]

((how about a number six? Marie and the team settling in for a feast?))

[theycalledmeacurse]

[ Thanksgiving. How long has it been since she last celebrated this holiday, or any holiday for that matter? Between the war and her imprisonment, the better part of a decade has passed since the last time she sat around the table with friends who felt more like family, giving thanks for all they had and hoping that their sacrifices were leading to a better future for others. It had been just a few weeks later that the war had started, the resolution passing just after Christmas, and every holiday after that was just another day on the calendar.

Until now. The sounds of raucous laughter drift in from the other room and she can't help the smile that grows in response. It means so much to her to have been invited to the celebration, and she's even made an effort in dressing up a bit, a stylish rusty red sweater paired with dark blue jeans, striped hair pulled back to stay out of her way. Because of course she's been helping with the cooking, and the baking, and the setting of the table. It's what she does.

Dinner's almost ready, the dishes being moved from kitchen to table, and that means time to check on dessert. Rogue pulls one of her pies out of the oven, peeling off the aluminum foil to reveal the intricate latticework over the caramel apple filling. Perfect. She pops it back in the oven and deftly sidesteps the tall man with the very large bird, though that sends her bumping right into someone else. ]

Sorry, sugar!

[loveslola]

[The holidays are always a bit of happy chaos around the SHIELD base and honestly Phil wouldn't have it any other way. Agents, friends and found family all surrounding a ridiculously large table heavily laden with food. Mac's famous turkey, May's noodles, Fitz and Simmons arguing happily over whether potatoes or stuffing was better with the turkey while Daisy mans the bar.

His family. His friends.

While he's not exactly a slouch in the kitchen, he knows when to defer to the professionals and he hangs back while Marie and the others take over the kitchen and begin to fill the entire base with the homey smells of cooking.

Still. He isn't cooking but he's not coming empty handed (ha-ha). A bottle of wine in one hand and a bag filled with ice cream for the post-dinner pies balanced in the other, he smiles when Marie bumps into him. There's no shying away from the contact, only a warm smile.] So you're the one making the kitchen smell this good. The pies look incredible.

[theycalledmeacurse]

[ It's only been a few months that she's been with the team, but it's moments like this that have done real wonders for her self-worth and confidence. To have someone get that close to her and not flinch away, to not even chide her for that carelessness - it's such a huge difference from what she experienced at the mansion, where everyone knew how dangerous her powers were and yet seemed to think that she didn't, when she was the one most newly aware of that fact. That's why she's covered almost head to toe, despite the cool bracelets nestled beneath her sleeves.

There's no way she'll ever be able to repay Fitz and Simmons for spending all their free time trying to find both temporary and permanent ways for her to control her mutation. She hasn't told them yet just how grateful she is that a collar was never even considered, or how comforting it is that they didn't just give her some sort of dampener to shut off her power completely. Her power is her security blanket, keeping her safe as she tries to get her bearings in this new way of life, especially out in the field.

Glancing back at Phil, she offers a slightly embarrassed smile and gives half a shrug before nodding to the row of pies already cooling on a small foldout table they'd commandeered for all the desserts. ]

Hopefully they taste good too, it's been a while since I baked pies. [ Other things have been more recent, from cookies to cupcakes and tarts. Cooking was always more her forte, but baking has given her a new skill to focus on while adjusting to living alone in her small apartment. Anything that isn't an utter disaster usually ends up in the base kitchen for everyone to enjoy. ]

[loveslola]

[Fitz and Simmons worked long hours trying to come up with a way to help Marie control her abilities and Coulson had expected no less. People with powers were still human beings (despite the whole "inhuman" moniker) and they deserved to be treated as such. Sure the team had stumbled along the way as they learned about inhumans, but every stumble made them stronger, made them care all the more about the world around them and the impact they had on it.

It was that care that made Marie bloom. She still kept herself covered but after a few months she stopped holding herself so stiffly, she started to relax into her training and even started joining the others in the common room for video games or movie nights. He also started to notice the new baked goods popping up in the kitchen now and then, another positive sign.

Okay, so sneaking a cookie with his morning coffee meant extra miles on his run but it was worth it.

Phil gets the ice cream stuffed into the freezer and opens the wine as he takes in the table loaded with desserts.] If they're anything like the goodies you leave in the kitchen I'm sure they'll be wonderful. [He offers her a glass.] So, what do you think of our chaotic version of Thanksgiving so far?

[theycalledmeacurse]

[ The compliment leaves her blushing a little. Rogue can flirt until the cows come home, but give her a genuine compliment and she just doesn't know what to do with it. Accepting the glass with a smile, she breathes in the scent of the wine before taking a generous sip. It's lovely - Phil has pretty good taste. ] It reminds me of home, honestly. Holidays at the school were always like this, just with more superpowered teenagers trying to start food fights with the leftovers.

[ Those days before the war seem so far away now. Another lifetime entirely, where she'd spent the better part of the week prepping for the big dinner that often saw dozens of people flocking to the mansion. Former students, friends, even a few families who were wonderfully supportive of their mutant children. It had been her favorite time of year...

Her throat tightens a little and her eyes sting at the memory of all those people lying dead on the battlefield that had once been their home. A world destroyed by hate and mistrust, a world she'd tried to save until the very end. But the moment passes and though her smile wavers, she presses on, shaking off those shadows with more ease than she could have ever managed before joining this little team.

Where would she be now without them? Her life would still be full of hiding, always looking over her shoulder expecting someone to come to take her away. Instead, now she has something like a family, a feeling she's trying hard to accept at face value. The way they care about each other and about her has helped more than she could ever explain. The daily routine of mission briefings, working with Fitz and Simmons, training with May... All of it has done her a world of good. The days she feels like her old self are finally starting to outnumber the ones where she doesn't. ]

[loveslola]

[His hand reaches out to gently rub her upper arm. Touch without thought, without even the slightest concern for her abilities. Phil knows what it's like, memories of home that start to slide into how things went wrong. In Marie's case - how they went from happy and domestic to a war zone. So he tries to make her smile instead and tug her back into the present.] Now let's not go and give Mac or Daisy any ideas when it comes to food fights.

[Because they were agents of SHIELD, they were brilliant scientists, fighters, powered and non, but they were also overgrown children when they were content and happy. Not that he ever minded.]

I've always liked the holidays at the base. Sure a lot of people go home if they have families but here we found a family in each other. It helps, I think. It reminds us that while we might be fighting for something bigger than all of us, we aren't doing it alone.