xp_logs | Monet and Crystal - Gossip 'Til You Drop

Backdated to last Tuesday.

Monet and Crystal shop. Well, Monet shops and Crystal buys something to try to make her happy.

Monet eyed the blue one critically. "I think this would work for you. You have the right colouring to carry off a blue hand bag. And it has these little diamante things on the strap?"

"I believe that yellow is my best color, but yes, this blue one is rather nice," Crystal said. She'd never been one much for shopping, leaving that fascination to her older sister, but it was interesting to see how into it Monet was.

"But, sweetie, darling, you're a blonde." Monet stared at her in horror.

Crystal looked at Monet and blinked. "Well, yes, I am a blonde I was not aware of the fact that I am required to have a different hair color in order to look good in yellow. What color hair do you suggest, then? Red?"

"Red?" Monet looked even more horrified. "But then you'd look like a 'ranger. Nononono. You can't do that. Orange and yellow are a really iffy combination. You need cool colours or low key options if they're going to be warm tones."

Crystal blinked. "Ah. I see. Of course." Really, she had no clue what Monet was talking about. Many people, including her sister, had red hair, and they did not look like... rangers? What exactly did Monet mean by that, anyway?

Monet nodded happily. It was nice when people took her advice, even if they didn't really seem to understand it. Besides, the little green handbag with the spangles was almost perfect and that was what was important.

Crystal had to hide an inward sigh. Shopping. Joy. She knew Medusa loved it, but had never really seen the excitement. Of course, shopping when you had a store all to yourself was quite different from shopping when there were so many other people around. Crystal much preferred to have her clothes come to her rather than go out and look for clothes. So here she was, letting Monet take her around and chatter about colors and handbags. As long as the older girl didn't try to stick her in a snowsuit, they'd be ok.

Monet frowned, looking at Crystal. "Dude. You want to grab a coffee or something? Possibly not a coffee since you're not so big on those, are you? One of those juice things? Cos you're so not with me on the handbags, right now."

Juice things? Monet was so articulate sometimes. "You are right, it is a lovely handbag," Crystal replied with a smile. "I will purchase it and then, if you are done shopping, we can go out for juice."

"That sounds like a plan."

Crystal nodded and went to pay.

Later, our intrepid shoppers bond over the evils of gossip.

Monet grinned at Crystal, mango, pineapple and banana smoothie in one hand. "Did you have a good holiday?"

Crystal nodded. "Yes. It was rather unusual, though, since Medusa had her Spring Break last month and had to remain at the mansion during the past week so that she could attend classes."

"That's dreadful. The poor thing. It makes sense, though -I was stuck here all week, too. I did get to meet Marius, though. He was very, very drunk."

Meet Marius? Crystal had to keep herself from staring. "You did not meet Marius until this past week?"

Monet shook her head. "Not exactly, no. We were both busy?" She sighed. Crystal would probably want an explanation or something. "He's m'half brother. From Dad's French ex. I think she's his ex? Not that him and Mum get on so well any more, but anyway. We never met because, funnily enough, Mum cracked it when she found out about Laverne. And now, we're living at Xavier's together. And got to meet. He seems nice? Also, his girlfriend Jennie is cute."

"I see." She didn't, really. The fact that the siblings had never been before they had both been at Xavier's at the same time was hard enough to comprehend, but the idea that they had not met as soon as possible completely boggled her mind. "It is good that the two of you finally have the chance to get to know each other." She took a sip before continuing. "Have you read journal entries that were posted before your second arrival at Xavier's?"

Monet shook her head. "Not really, no. Should I have? Is there wonderful gossip or something fun like that on it?"

"I suppose," Crystal said thoughtfully, "that if you are into gossip, there is a lot to be found there. People sometimes seem to forget that the main journal system is public and can be read by all students, staff members, X-Men, and even the people who work for Snow Valley. They tend to act and write as if only one person or a select few can read what they are writing, so you can discover all types of things by reading the journals. Older journal entries can prove to be quite interesting reading material at times." Really, she'd wondered if Monet had read Marius's post about "marriage" to Jennie and if Monet knew about their "joke."

"Yeah. I've had people jump down my throat because of that whole 'it's publicer than you'd think' thing a few times. I mean, honestly. But I don't know. Gossip is a whole lot more fun when it comes from people rather than just from something someone wrote. Unless, of course, it's really good gossip." She grinned. "You know of any real good gossip? Anything about Marius and his girlfriend? I'm asking in the interests of the greater good here, of course."

As a rule, Crystal didn't like gossip. Lies and rumors were mixed in with truth, and that didn't sit well with her. But this... Crystal smiled at Monet. "Jennie is not Marius's girlfriend, Monet. She is his wife. You would know this if you had read Marius's journal."

Monet just stared at Crystal. "Fuck. Fucking hell. You're fucking shitting me, right? They're fucking married? That can't be legal. Don't you have to be 18 for that or something? Fuck..."

Briefly, Crystal wondered if Monet had just used up a year's quota of a certain impolite word. She was just glad that Monet hadn't snorted mango, pineapple, and banana smoothie all over them. "Without parental consent, yes, I believe that is the case in many parts of the world. They are both 18, Monet, although at the time they told the school about their marriage, both of them were 17."

"But. He's my little brother, even if I did just meet him. It's like, one of my sisters getting married only so much worse because he actually did and I can't imagine them doing it. Besides, they're only little, so. Do Dad and Laverne know?" Monet shook her head. She was having a little trouble getting her head around it all right now.

"I do not know what Marius has told his parents," Crystal said, looking sad when she continued. "Jennie did not even tell me before they made their announcement. I had to read the journal post along with everyone else to discover what they wanted to tell people about the events of the summer.

"Wow. So they just up and vanished for a few months and all you ever found out was what they had up on the journals? That really sucks."

Crystal wondered just what Monet did or didn't know about Marius and Jennie's eventful summer. "They are not really married," Crystal told Monet, smiling slightly. "That is just what they told people. They fueled rumors they heard, or so Jennie would have me believe."

"So now they're not married? That's something. That's good. Lemme see if I got this straight? They vanish, come back and say they're married and it's all some kind of giant in joke? And I just fell for it, too?" Monet pused her hair out of her face and took a deep breath. "Was this some kind of lesson about," she lifted her hands and spoke in a deep, scary voice, grinning the whole time, "The Dangers Of Gossip?"

Crystal gave Monet a grin of her own and laughed. "Something like that, yes." She knew Monet had to know something about the summer. After all, she had made a post about his going evil and vanishing for weeks, plus it had been clearly stated that she had helped save Marius afterwards. "Paying attention to gossip and taking it seriously can be more trouble than it is worth sometimes. This is why I do not go out of my way to hear gossip. I listen to what people say, but I do so with the knowledge that something stated as fact is not necessarily the truth. So yes," and with her last words, she mimicked Monet's scary voice, "heed my warning on 'The Dangers of Gossip' and realize that the rumor mill is not always correct."

Monet pouted. "But how else would I have discovered Anthony Callea was gay? Australian music guy. You probably don't know him. Or how fucked up Prince William is." She paused. "You met him at all? Or about all those drug scandels with footballers? I mean, when I didn't run into them when they were off their faces. This isn't helping my case, is it?"

"Did all of those" she was loathe to call them facts "pieces of information change your life, Monet? Did they truly help you out in a beneficial way? Is your life better for having heard about these things?"

Monet laughed. "My life is vastly more entertaining for knowing about them. Isn't that the important part?"

Crystal couldn't imagine someone's life being better because of the type of "knowledge" Monet seemed to seek. And of course, nothing she could say would change Monet's mind. "If that is what you find entertaining, please, carry on."