1692/Good Idea

Good Idea
Date of Scene:	28 July 2017
Location:	Unknown
Synopsis:	Summary needed
Cast of Characters:	Cypher, Magik

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Cypher has posed:
So. Doug promised Illyana a date, didn't he. And the thing about dates is that you have to deliver.

He looks like such a dapper dweeb, in his blazer and his slacks and his red bow-tie, with his hair tamed into that classic New Mutants gold swoop that he had when he was a lad. He even got flowers. He wasn't sure what kind she'd prefer -- but then he found this place that had created, no joke, black roses.

So he got a dozen long-stemmed thorny black roses.

And now he's standing in the foyer, wondering if he's in way, way over his head.

Cypher has posed:
So. Doug promised Illyana a date, didn't he. And the thing about dates is that you have to deliver.

He looks like such a dapper dweeb, in his blazer and his slacks and his red bow-tie, with his hair tamed into that classic New Mutants gold swoop that he had when he was a lad. He even got flowers. He wasn't sure what kind she'd prefer -- but then he found this place that had created, no joke, black roses.

So he got a dozen long-stemmed thorny black roses.

And now he's standing in the foyer, wondering if he's in way, way over his head.

Magik has posed:
     Nice thing about dates is about the most work you have to do for them is tell them what kind of food you don't like. Up until you have to figure out what to wear. Thankfully, Illyana's never really had that problem. And if she did, she technically has wait staff to help her with that. Which, for tonight, she's foregone because it would like dressing up for Judas Priest and finding out you're going to a Conway Twitty concert if she did that. AS for the actual outfit, one cant go wrong with the classic LBD, pumps and minimalistic jewelry and make up. Thank you Ms. Audrey for being an inspiration.

    "You don't have to look like you're wondering if you just invited yourself to be a dragon's dinner," Illyana jokes as she comes down the staircase.

Cypher has posed:
Doug sure seems impressed by it. "...Wowie-*Zowie*." He says. The Mutant master of language then says "...Guh!" And holds out the roses.

Then he tugs on his bowtie, and says, "Oh. These are for you. Also!" He reaches into the pocket of his blazer and takes out a little chip - the kind you slot into a computer - in a little plastic case. "I made you a mixtape!"

It's like he died back in the 1980s or something.

Magik has posed:
    Expecteldy, the flowers get more of ar eaction than the little chip. "Oh thesea re lovely!" She takes the roses and inspects them, probably eyeballing how the coloring was done, but it's not critical, it's curious. "I'll have to know where they came from so the next time I get a teacher flowers, they won't try to strangle the nearby students." Just ignore the wicked grin that appears on her face at that. Oh, yes, she was insanely apologetic about the doom bouquet, but she can't help the fact that the thought of it going all monster-movie on people makes her giddy.

    The 'mixtape' as it were is taken and she gives a route 'tank you' and slips it into the clutch purse she has. "So," she says here as she cradles her thornyf lowers in the crook of one arm and moves to slip her hand against the crook of one of Doug's elbow with the other, "You had plans, I assume?"

Cypher has posed:
Well, they're really a very, very very dark red, nobody's ever figured out how to get authentically pure black roses. "Oh." Doug tugs his tie again, and says, "Yeah, I found a place in New York. Our chariot awaits --" He offers his arm to Illyana.

"Well actually it's just a Lyft. But the car's really nice!"

And off they go. The driver's a hippie college student who might be a little bit baked but not so much that he can't drive. He talks to them about what they do, and if Illyana says something flip like 'Infernal Sorceress' he just says "I dig it, follow your bliss!"

Doug... is not sure what to say, as they're driven into the city, so he settles for "...You look really nice."

Magik has posed:
    Actually, what Illyana /actually/ says is 'Demonic Queen', but she probably gets the same response. Which means she probably spends the rest of the drive looking like she wants to put scary ideas in a stoned driver's head just by telling him what she does for a living.

    "I had no clue what to wear," she admits, though if one can see through the darkened cab, she might have blushed at the compliment. "But simple tends to be better unless it's specifically on the docket to dress up like you're going to carnivale." To that she tosses him a half-smirk. "You clean up well, as well." Save for the hair, but that's kind of said with a glance. And if he doesn't move she will snake a hand over to fuzzle it and then 'recomb' it into sometihng more 'modern' but still acceptable for a nice date.

Cypher has posed:
That actually makes him close one eye and blush a bit, but he lets her fuss. He learned his lesson a long time ago that when a woman fusses with your hair, you let her! "Sorry, I just always used to comb my hair that way--" He grins, and laughs, a little bit.

As they drive, he looks out the window at the New York skyline and says, "Takes my breath away every time."

And then they reach the address Doug gave, and he steps out, offering Illyana his hand. "It's..." He points to an alley, "In there."

There's strains of balalaika music wafting out of the alley.

Inside, it's dimly lit... but it's a Russian dining club. The kind where nothing, nothing is in English. And it's smoky, and a bunch of guys in dark suits walk by who look for all the world like they're on the way to kill someone. "Ah, the guy I talked to said this place has the best, freshest caviar in the city--should we go someplace else?"

Magik has posed:
    That question seems to be expertly timed. Because the moment that they were dropped off and Illyana has had a chance to take in the atmsophere, she's stopped. And it /has/ to be a trick of the light or something because Illyana does not get misty-eyed. Not anymore. Only a little girl did that, and that little girl is gone. Isn't she? But she can't help it. When she begins moving, it 's in the direction of the music and so that should hopefully be an indicator that it's not /all/ bad.

    "It... it's been a while," she manages to finally say. Ten years since she had something of home other than her brother and whatever she could get via drone delivery. But this...t his was real. Authentic. Perhaps a little more western than what she grew up with, but it's more than enough to get nostalgia to come up and club her on the head.

    "Ah," She blinks. "Sorry, um. Yes, it's fine. Lead the way."

Cypher has posed:
Which is when somebody makes fun of Doug, in Russian. And he understands it perfectly of course, and he closes his mouth with a snap, and then he turns, and speaks to the waiter. His Russian is, of course, impeccable, as if he's been speaking it all his life. He tends to adopt the accents of whoever he's speaking to... an odd trick of his power.

Then he moves to pull Illyana's chair out and seat himself, and he clears his throat, before the waiter smirks, and fills two glasses from an unlabled bottle. Doug says, "We'll start with the caviar, please." Then he says, "It's not my usual spot but it's charming..." Then he takes a big drink from his glass, and swallows it--before he turns beet red, and lets out a soft wheeze.

"That's not water...!"

Magik has posed:
    What's that? The nerdy guy's getting poked fun at? Illyana actually puts herself in Doug's personal space as they walk to the table and she shoots the guy a look. Who needs language to poke fun at someone. Nothing like making a point that the cute little number is over /here/ thank you. And it probably /doens't/ help that she laughs at Doug's retort.

    Seated and everything. And of course, when the drinks are poured, Illyana doesn't blink, but she does glance up when the waiter walks off and there's /no/ carding. She's reacing for her own but she has to try. "Doug, Si--" .... "Sip it, don't down it." A shake of her head and she totally doesn't follow her own advice. "OF course it's water. It's Russian water, don't you know? It's not for little weak people." She winks here.

Cypher has posed:
Doug takes another raspy breath. "You know when people talked about rivers of vodka I always thought they were joking." He sets his glass down, and clears his throat, before he says, "Sip it. Okay. Okay." Then a dish of glistening caviar arrives, black as midnight and served in a heaping dish with a mother of pearl spoon.

"Okay." Doug says, "I've never actually had this before. How does this work? Do we just eat it?" He clears his throat, and then takes another, tiny, tiny sip of his vodka.

Magik has posed:
    "Would you like real water?" Illyana says with a grin. Before she can answer she does look at the water and gives him a withering glare. The kind she'd give a misbehaving demon. "Water, please," she does have the courtesy to ask. Back to Doug, "Wahtever youd o though, do /not/ put the real water in the vodka. You will /seirously/ have your face rearranged. Even the cheap stuff is treated like the Grail." She takes another drink and it's likely really obvious that she's used to the potato juice.

    "Ah. Um. Like this." And she'll demonstrate the approrpiate method. "Though, with that guys' service, I'd say be an uneducated American is a nice payback." She then moves to look at the menu to see waht she'd like. And she'll even suggest a couple of dinner ideas.

Cypher has posed:
Doug gets a big glass of water with a cut of lemon in it, and he looks sheepish, because he borrowed money from Marvel Girl to pay for dinner. Fortunately she was generous. Doug pauses, and then he winds up with a mouthful of Caviar, and he blinks, once. "I like it." He says, before he tilts his head, and goes with the lady's suggestions.

A couple of sips of water later, and he's telling stories about the old days. "Anyway," He says to Illyana, still in Russian, "I woke up to someone throwing pebbles at my window, and he was standing out there in nothing but a towel. And he looks up at me and says, 'Doug! Ah need yer help! A space alien's gone an' invaded the school an' we need you ta use yer mutant power ta try an' talk to it!'"

Then he says, after offering Illyana a mouthful of caviar, "So I'm staring down at him, and I think to myself, 'Okay, so a football jock from Kentucky just threw rocks at my window to wake me up because only I can save the day, and he forgot to put on pants. This is the weirdest dream I've ever had.' Then he says, "So I looked down at him and I said 'Dude! I am not going ANYWHERE with you like that?' And he looks up at me and says, no kidding, 'Why not?' And I say 'Because if I climb on your back you are one stray breeze away from me getting to know you WAY better than I want to' and he didn't just turn red, he turned PURPLE. It started with his ears."

Then he says, "Then he just kind of looked up at me and said 'Gosh. Doug, ah need ta borrow a pair of yer briefs.' Now, mind you, this guy always had about a quarter foot in height and 30 pounds on me!"

Magik has posed:
    A few more glares and she might get the checkf or free. But she'll be good. These epople need to eat as much as the next person, so as long as they keep the service decent she won't have to show them that 'Demon Queen' isn't just a carefree nickname.

    She has no problem drinking the house wine as it were but she gets amusement out of watching Doug process through his tipsyness. AS he speaks about this encounter, she can't help but just crack a grin here. "I am pretty sure the 'Jock from Kentucky' is all the explanation you need for that," she says with a chuckle, pausing only to order something nice and braised. Comfort food. meat and... more potatoes? Because she's nto drinking enough starch apparently. Oh and a bowl of borscht. MM. Root veggies. "It also explains the warning, I"m sure. He couldn't afford to ahve any more blood routes to get cut off."

    She pauses in the moment to take a bite of the crackered caviar. "And are you saying you're a briefs man, Doug?" She raises brows here.

Cypher has posed:
"Yeah, apparently he was skinny-dipping that night cause the girls threw him out of the house. And his best friend's from Brazil. I once suggested his codename be Banana Hammock Lad and he was mad at me for a WEEK." Doug orders the Ukha, actually, which is a Russian fish soup - he also rather tersely requests that a samovar be brought out, because he'd like some tea -- he takes it very sweet, apparently, as he loads it up with honey, and then offers Illyana a cup as well.

He has his teacup against his mouth when Illyana teases him with that one and then he lowers it, before he stammers, "Ah, um. Um." He says. "I don't know, I just... yes? Is there a right answer to that question?" Then he takes another sip of tea, "I mean, yeah, today's are... pink and black CKs. And I have had WAY too much of this vodka."

Magik has posed:
     A hand is held up for the tea, apparently something she's not in the mood for right now. She'll be fine with her water. Both of them.

    "I wouldn't talk to you either," she says of that horrid name. Not that he said he wouldn't be talked to but hey. Again, that nostalgia flickers across her features as she pokes through her meal once it arrives. Every so often she just seems to stop in whatever she's speaking and seems to space out for a few moments before she picks back up again.

    "Brazil, that explains it," Illyana pauses, "Though I think its actually illegal. At least topless. Or was at one point." She rolls her shoulder. "Current events aren't exactly my strong suit." Obviously.

    "Of course there's a right answer. What sort are you?" But still, she can't help laughing lightly at his uncomfortable answer. "Pink and black... now I know what colors to look for for your birthday." At the mention of too much vodka, she takes his glass and pours whatever's left over into her own. "We'll just blame your constitution on your suburban mormanism."

Cypher has posed:
"Yeah, I'm a briefs man." Doug admits. He looks down at his soup, long since vanished down to the dregs, and he smiles, before he says, "So. ...Dessert?" He says. "I'm, ah, not an experienced dater. Is there anything you'd like to do? Go for a walk? Go dancing...? I can just call for another Lyft to take us home."

He looks up, at a couple of burly Russian dudes who are pointing at him and snickering, before he says to them, in Russian, "Hey! You're bothering the lady! Didn't your mothers teach you any manners?"

Magik has posed:
    "Or..." Illyana says as she leans back and crosses her legs, sipping her vodka. "You can act like a Russian and get into a brawl." She makes a 'flexing' motion. "YOu should try to puff up more, though... everyone knows that the bigger your biceps are," She quirks that grinb ack to the burly men, "/Other/ things shrink." She pauses. "Like brains." She should probably finish her food.

Cypher has posed:
...Which is when two of those guys get up and walk over. "Hey." One of them says, "We don't appreciate being talked to that way. I think you should apologize. You hurt my feelings."

Doug is well into his cups and feeling his courage... he gets to his feet. "I think you should get out of my face."

Then that big Russian kid puts his hand on Doug's chest to push him... and Doug puts his hands on the guy's arm and neatly dislocates his elbow. It LOOKS excruciating... because it is. Then the other guy takes a swing--

Magik has posed:
    "Nyet."

    IT's just the single word because that next swing is caught neatly in Illyana's small, but surprisingly solid, hand. "YOu don't want to hurt Papa's feelings. This is family, yes?" commenting about whether or not the restaurant is more of a family, as in real family not 'mob family' business. "Just think of /those/ hurt feelings if a ruckus was caused and all this was busted up." She makes a sad face. "There would be tears." And possibly blood.

    And you just /know/ that there's some stupid tourist people here trying to get an 'authentic experience' probably gabbing and eating popcorn or whatever. Pictures might be hazy because Illyana's free hand does move a bit and a few words get whispered in a language that Doug's linguistics might still kind of be rusty to make sure that visuals are obscured.

Cypher has posed:
It's that greasy demon speech again. But now everyone's looking at them, and Doug frowns at the guy on the ground in agony and he says to Illyana, "We should probably go." He reaches into his wallet and takes out money - a couple hundred dollars - and he tosses it on the table, before he offers his hand to her and then holding it as they walk out into the alley. He shakes his head, and says, "Automatic response. Statement, and answer. I shouldn't have hurt him like that, but he was going to take a swing at me."

Then he lets out a sigh, and says, "Sorry if I ruined dinner." Then he pauses, and sighs. "But I... have had a really great time. So thank you."

Magik has posed:
    Another bill is added to the pile and she walks over to the bar and grabs a bottle and moves to catchup to Doug, slipping an arm around his elbow again. She's even throwing some sashay into her hips now that the fight's a non issue but adrenaline is still roaring. She even waves fingers as they exit the establishment.

    "OH yes, you completely ruined dinner," she tells Doug, her voice stern. "YOu should have totally not listened to me and /whacked/ that man in the nose. It's been broke a few times, you might have straightned it!"

Cypher has posed:
Doug looks sheepish, and admits, "Out of all my friends, I was never the macho one." He grins, and says, "But I'll remember that. If it makes you happy, I will TOTALLY beat someone up." He walks out of the alley with Illyana on his arm, and then checks the time.

"So what're we doing now? I don't know anywhere where we could go dancing. We could just walk around for awhile."

Magik has posed:
    "Well, what makes me happy is a little different than what makes others happy," says she of the two-fifths demonic soul. She'd goad Doug into outright murder if she didn't watch herself. But this was a nice date and she didn't want it ruined by /too much/ bloodshed. So it was a dislocated elbow and that was that. The man probably isn't even going to see a doctor. Pop right back in the kitchen. Next to the braised beef.

    "Walking is nice," she says. "I'm not much of a dancer." She admits. "And I don't think we have curfew?"

Cypher has posed:
Doug offers his arm to Illyana, and goes walking along. "We're adults." He says. "Sort of." New York always has people around at all hours of the night, and the sky is purple. He sighs, and says, "You know... I think this is the first date I've ever been on? I never really had a chance." He looks at Illyana sidelong, "No one ever said playing catch-up would be so weird--but I'm glad I did."

He looks around, and then says, "Mutant Town is that way." He points, "Let's walk. Are you going to be all right in those heels?"

Magik has posed:
    She tilt sher head here. "Are we? My eighteenth birthday is still a couple weeks aweay," she points out. "Well, I think technically I'm turning eight." She lets out a laugh here. For someone that's been dead, he could probably appreciate the weird time issues. There's a nod as he directs them towards Mutant town, and she says quietly, "The pain doesn't bother me much. And I've spent longer in higher. these are maybe two inches? And well worn. A blister is... kind of a drop in the bucket to what I'd grown accustomed to." It's said conversationally even if the content is sort of a downer.

    "And it is nice," she says of the date. "It's..." She pauses. "It reminds me of what I'm fighting for." A bit vague there, but hey. "Do you have a bucket list.... I think that's the term? Is it called a bucket list because you're supposed to complete it before 'kicking the bucket'?" Ah, there's that Yana Insensitivity.

Cypher has posed:
"Well I've already kicked the bucket," Doug says, "So I think mine's all Red Xs. Mission *failed*." Then Doug says, as they stroll, "I don't know. I've been to other dimensions. Become an X-Man. Go on adventures. Hang out with my friends." He says, before he adds, "Leave the world a better place than it was when I found it. Do the right thing. But I dunno. When you get caught up in this life, things like 'go to college, get married, raise a family, have a career' - they don't really have context anymore."

"I'm gonna start studying Journalism along with some other stuff. Mutants need a voice that people can understand. Maybe that can be me."

Magik has posed:
    "There's other things like... 'Visit the bottom of Death Valley' or something, right?" Illyana says. "Only for us we can add weird places to the list, I reckon. I wonder if Asgard has tourist attractions. I wouldn't recommend limbo. All bad Yelp reviews," she tries to make a joke here. "At least the school offers college courses... I think. I really haven't thought much past getting a diploma by this country's standards and... yes, I think then I will be done with typical education. Enough to place me in my age's group, but I have no interest in really studying something 'more'." At least in a mundane sense.

    A nod is given here. "That would be good, more should do that. And I think with your abilities you could also parse all the... mess that journalism speaks with." Blegh. Subtext. But she kind of speaks that she's only half interested in mutant stuff as well.

Cypher has posed:
"But really..." Doug says, "I've already died, and I'll die again someday. So I just want to LIVE." He says. "I want to -- want to be a superhero, and date a pretty girl, and catch up on the years I missed with the people I love. I want to laugh when they laugh, cry when they cry--" He looks up at the purple New York sky.

"You know. Just *exist*. How about you? What is it you want? What're you going to do?" He watches a group of hipsters out in front of an old brownstone, and says, "I mean... you already rule another dimension. That's a pretty big, uh... duty."

Magik has posed:
    "Living would be nice," she agrees, but the questiona bout what she wants really does throw her off. though she does point out, "I rule because it was necessary to my surivival. If I hadn't ...vanquished," Let's use a nice word, "The previous Lord I would be dead. Or worse. Doing that gave me my life and... a good measure of my freedom back." She's still not free, of course. The chains still bind her to that dimension and likely always will. "Sometimes I think about someone else taking over, but then I can't be assured that Limbo won't be a problem." She laughs here, though it lacks any real humor. "Not that I can't assure that as it is. Demons will do as demons will do. But right now, I have control. Enough of it that no one has to worry baout some mad demonic sorcerer coming here and making a mess of things."

    She falls quiet now, thinking. THe hipsters might've gotten a few words of what she said, but it's such nonsense to a mundane ear it'll probably be chalked up to her being drunk or something. But what is she going to do? What does she /want/ to do?

    "Live... is a good answer," she says after giving it some thought. "These last years have been only focused on learning how to survive, and becoming powerful enough that once I achieved my goal of defeating my captor, others would have a difficult time doing the same to me. I don't know how to be anything else. Every moment I'm listening to a soundtrack of chaos. I sit in class and I think of all the ways the information I'm gathering could be used to hurt people. And it's so /easy/ for me to do so. Every day I have to make the conscious effort to tell myself that what I am isn't my nature. That I am still, somewhere, the same little girl that was kidnapped months ago." She gives him a little smile. "So, I guess 'Live' and 'not go insane' are kind of a priority."

Cypher has posed:
"Yeah," Doug says, "But the one thing I'm picking up off of you throughout all of this is that nobody tells you what to do. Nobody." Doug says. "Whatever it is you're doing, it's because you're on board. So really... what you want is the only thing that matters. If people expect you to be a hero, or if they expect you to be the evil demon queen of Hell then that's THEIR problem, right?"

"I am the master of my fate. I am the captain of my soul. That's from a poem I read, once." He turns to Illyana, and grins. "I like you, Illyana. You're smart, and you have a really far-out sense of humor. And so what if you're not all good all the time. *Nobody* is."

Magik has posed:
    She has to blinka t that. Enough that she stops walking and just stares. It might lead to staring at the shoulder fo r amoment but hey. "You... get all that?" She glances down for a moment. "And you think it's successful?" She still looks kind of shocked and lost before she actually smiles here. A real smile, one void of any of the creepy possible sadism that her smiles tend to bring about. "I... thank you. I wonder, sometimes." This is said in a mutter.

    Clasping her clutch in both hands before she she nods a little. "Everything...is a choice. AT least, that's how I've come to see it. Even if something is your nature, you... you can make the choice to go against it. Sometimes it's easy... other times..." She gestures to herself. "I am not a good person, Doug. The things I delight in... And what I have become... they're not good things."

    That smile returns again, even if for a fleeting moment. "It's so easy to listen to it. But I choose not to. I choose to do good. Even if it's no longer my nature." A pause. "And... I'm glad I've apparently been doing a decent job of keeping the reins of my own existance in my own hands. Thank you."

Cypher has posed:
"In the end," Doug says, "What you choose to do with the time you have and the gifts you've been given are all that matters." Then Doug quirks his mouth, and he says, "Hey, Yana? I dug up some of my old paperbacks, I'm gonna give you a couple. I think they'll give you some perspective on what it means to do good, and your instincts versus your obligations and what you KNOW is right--" He says, "Also they're really funny."

...Of course, they're Terry Pratchett fantasy novels, but Illyana might see a lot of familiar themes in Granny Weatherwax. And 'Lords and Ladies' is just a really great book. Elves ARE bad.

"You can do whatever you want to do with your life. Good, bad, love, hate. Those are all in your hands, I think. Nature is a part of it but only a part, and NOBODY is simple. That meathead Kentucky jock I told you about? Reads like a thirsty man craves water. Loves, LOVES Robert Heinlein and Larry Niven. CRAZY smart."