6762/Paying Her HOW MUCH

Paying Her HOW MUCH
Date of Scene:	04 March 2019
Location:	Unknown
Synopsis:	Summary needed
Cast of Characters:	Black Cat, Doctor Strange

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Black Cat has posed:
Now that Lara and Jonah have left and the long-winded discussion of the morality of keeping magical artifacts out of the hands of the ne'er-do-well, the Sanctum is quiet.

For the most part.

"Look, //buster// -- if you didn't owe me a removal of this curse, I'd be in your ear like mites about what you promised that gun-wielding lunatic. Double what SHIELD pays?! Do you even //know// what they pay?!" Felicia wrinkles her pert nose and, as habit dictates, has her arms tightly crossed beneath her chest. It's more obvious than usual given the catsuit still gracing her lithe frame. Still zipped to her neck, she's proper as can be given the circumstances...at least, in her own circumstances. Behind her knees, the pale-furred cat tail lashes once.

Doctor Strange has posed:
    "Did you call me buster?" Stephen asks as he turns around, the cloak leaving his shoulders as he does to so stand beside and behind Stephen though it doesn't pose as much of a figure as the wizard himself does. Stephen seems to have Felicia's words break upon him like water splashing off a boulder, he isn't phased in the slightest. "I told you Felicia, you would be compensated." The man says, taking a step closer for the cloak to float around and kind of float to the side, equidistant from both parties, watching like a tennis match. "But know she has seen you, she will be going after the last orb as soon as possible." Stephen frowns to himself.

Black Cat has posed:
"Yes, I called you 'buster'." A 'hmph' is tacked onto the end of the affirmation. The reminder of compensation has the cat-burglar's hackles falling despite the small roll of her eyes. Her gaze lingers off to one side until he mentions Lara again.

"That woman? She got lucky." Felicia flicks her fingers dismissively before her person as if removing water from them. "We'll see how lucky she is next time."

Still, she sighs and then rubs at the outside of one of her arms. "I mean...I got lucky too. If you hadn't gotten all tangled up with her before and she didn't know those weird words, then..." The platinum-blonde shrugs and gives Stephen an uncertain look, as if uncomfortable to have her own moral schema challenged. "I don't wanna owe her a damn thing," the thief then mutters, unable to hold Stephen's eyes. "You want me to get that other Orb though? What's it to yah?" Some Bronx accent slips in as she tries for a charming little smile towards the Sorcerer. "I'm still cursed."

As if the reminder's needed when her ears and tail are visible.

Doctor Strange has posed:
    "I haven't forgotten Felicia, I will cure you as soon as I'm certain I can do so without harming you." The man says, reaching up to slowly and carefully peel the domino mask off Felicia's face and lower it into her hands. "You will also be well paid for your efforts, I know that's important to you thiefs." Stephen says casually, not judging her trade and skills in the slightest. "To me, it's saving the world from terrors I wish it to avoid while I can't actively get involved. That's why I had you sent to me." Stephen says, revealing a bit of information to the blonde.

Black Cat has posed:
Felicia looks down at the mask in her palms and then up to the Doctor again, the uncertainty back on her features again. The delicate black domino is then held against her chest and requires both hands, apparently. It's an odd little show of weakness on her part and lingers no longer after his observation about forms of payment. The cat-burglar then smirks, dimpling to one side up at him.

"You're not wrong, Copperfield," she murmurs in confirmation to monetary gains, not intending to interrupt the man. His further explanation has her visibly intrigued. "So...you have all this magic -- all of these old artifacts and stuff -- " The cloak is included in her sweep of hand. " -- but you can't...just walk out there and interfere? You need other people? Me? Wait a second... You need pawns." Her tone drops into something more defensive at the end. Stephen is subject to an eyebrowing.

Doctor Strange has posed:
    "Pawns is the worst word Felicia. I need friends." Stephen says wanting to look away but he instead doubles down on his intent and lifts his hand back to her face to brush his thumb against her cheek. "I am a man bound by powers greater than most would ever know exist. To go against their will and to break my contract would be disasterous." Stephen says, brushing her soft skin once more before pulling his hand away. "I need your help, and I would never consider anyone a pawn."

Black Cat has posed:
Those gloriously off-green eyes widen at the gentle touch to her face. Immediately, her cheeks pink as proof that she's taken off-guard by the sincerity of the gesture. Felicia is struck to silence at least until she swallows and licks at her lips, as if they'd gone dry.

"Well, gosh, Copperfield, when you put it like that..." Another quick rubrub of her outer arm and the blonde chimes a fetching if (dare it be said) shy giggle. "I don't think I envy you anymore. Still, a promise is a promise. You said you'd help me get rid of this...ridiculous stuff." Her tail swishes once and she glances back flatly at it. "I guess I can run other errands while you figure out the nitty-gritty of how to remove it, since it's complicated."

She then reaches up and bips a fingertip off the man's nose in a show of total lack of propriety. "Whatcha got next for me, Copperfield?" On goes the mask of coquettish charm yet again.

Doctor Strange has posed:
    Stephen smiles softly as he pulls his hand away and uses it to point at the box Felicia put the sphere in moments ago. "I see we have two options." The wizard begins, and he moves over to his desk where underneath the box is a large old unfinished map. It has part of the new world on it, but the coast is all wrong and it fades into nothingness. America had not been explored much when it was drawn. "We- You go get the last Orb before Lara. You go steal the two orbs at SHIELD while Lara gets the third, or we wait, risk a lot and let Lara get the fourth back to SHIELD where you steal all three." Stephen says as he fans out the map, looking at it briefly before he turns his grey eyes to Felicia, "Your pick kitten."

Black Cat has posed:
Following along beside him, Felicia then considers the map spread out upon the desk. She frowns down at it as she realizes it's heavily dated. Idly, she pulls down the zipper of her catsuit to reveal her collarbone and to release excess heat trapped beneath the insulating material. It frames her skin in a vee of white-fur lining.

"So...my pick. Hmm." A fingernail is tap-tapped on her bottom teeth again as she thinks, her eyes darting about and not actively looking at anything in particular. "It might be best to have miss Goodie-Two-Shoes distracted with that fourth Orb. Less for me to juggle, given I'll have my hands full of two Orbs as is." She glances over at Stephen blithely. Mind the tiniest dimpling of her lips, as if she's trying not to smile.

Doctor Strange has posed:
    "You are that confident." Stephen either asks or notes aloud but he smirks as he stands back up and then points at the map, where New York should roughly be. "Then your target will be the storage facility of SHIELD. I assume you'll be easily distracted by all the goodies and gadgets, I don't care for any of that. I only am concerned with the orbs. You're smart, you can do what you need or must. I'm not going to give you any of that Aladdin nonsense, touch whatever you want, take what you will, but the orbs are primary. Understood?"

Black Cat has posed:
"Oooooooh!!!" Felicia claps her hands together before her chest, the domino still held in them, and lifts onto her toes of her boots in twinkling delight. "You're the best, Copperfield! Carte blanche! I'll try to be thoughtful," she adds as she flashes the Sorcerer a megawatt smile. The thief makes it sound as if she won a free shopping spree at one of the high-end haute-couture shops in the Upper side of the city.

She then adds a crisp little two-fingered salute alongside a deliberate contrapposto pose with other fist resting on her hip, as jaunty as the Rockettes of WWII could ever manage. "Aye-aye, boss. The Orbs are primary." Swish-swish goes that platinum-furred tail.

Doctor Strange has posed:
    "You do know if you're caught, we'll both be put on SHIELD's list. So are you sure you will want to go breaking into their headquarters, twice." Stephen asks, double checking that Felicia has completely thought this through. Then Stephen blushes deeply as he can't help but look down at her tail and then up to the mutated eyes. "You sure you want the cure fixed, you're stunning Felicia." The wizard says maybe not smoothly, but calmly, as if that was her goal with the showy salute.

Black Cat has posed:
Stephen's very logical suggestion about the exponential increase in risk of capture does semi-deflate Felicia. It makes her turn her lifted hand to tap at her teeth again as she grimaces. "That's...a good point," she mutters, though she looks up at him again quickly as he asks her a question. A surprised blink is his first answer. However, the cat-burglar recovers quickly enough. The fingernail almost bitten is fisted at her other hip and she keeps up that pose with effortless confidence.

"Copperfield...you charmer." It's a warm purr. "You're quite the lady's man. However, yes, I'm just as stunning without a tail and ears, cross my little heart." She slowly draws an X overtop the gloss of the catsuit above it, giving him a coy smile. "I do want the curse removed."

Doctor Strange has posed:
    "Don't blame you." Stephen notes as he turns back towards the map and moves the box off of it and cants his head, "I tend to have great points." The man says, the ego says, the wizard says. He smirks at himself and then to Felicia, "Reconsidering your plan already?" He asks, wondering if the thief has changed her own mind or if the situation is unchanged in her head. He just wants her to be as successful as possible.

Black Cat has posed:
"You have useful feedback, yes," the cat-burglar allows with a smirk of her own. She looks down at the worn and faded incomplete map and sighs, a short sound of mild frustration. "You're also right, yes. SHIELD's not stupid. They also have great technology as well as that A-list of superheroes on their roster. If I'm not distracted trying to disarm something, I'll have to be watching my back to make sure no one's got a red laser dot on it." Her white teeth worry at the corner of her bottom lip for a second.

"Maybe Lara oughta get that fourth Orb first, yeah." Felicia then tilts her head up towards Stephen. "Let them think they've got all three safe and then catch them with their pants down?" she suggests, lifting a hand in a delicate out-stretching of fingers towards the Sorcerer, as if to court his own thoughts again.

Doctor Strange has posed:
    "Maybe, but Lara already knows your involved, though she might not know who you are, Black Cat." Stephen says her code name as emphasis. "We could hope that's the case, but I think we should plan on the fact that she does know and prepares SHIELD with warning that someone will be coming for the orbs." Stephen muses aloud as he crosses his arms and stands in front of his desk. Stephen falls silent as he considers, allowing Felicia to take the lead in this conversation as she is the one going out there, being risky and dangerous and putting her skin and blood on the line.

Black Cat has posed:
Felicia's lips slowly split into another coy grin. "Aw. You're making me think you're concerned about me, Copperfield." She reaches up and dares a soft pat-pat on the man's chest. Her gloved hands then fuss at the lapels of his blue tunic-top as if she had every right to do so - how assumptive of her! She talks as she does so.

"So why can't you give me some fun little magical doodad to help me? Lara knew about that weird magical hole spell. Maybe I have a button I can push on something, or a word I can say, and then poof! I'm out of there as quick as flash. Oh! Oh! I have an idea!" She claps her hands together before her chest again and grins at him.

"Gimme another one of those black boxes. Make it, like, a two-way hole again. I can stick the three Orbs into it and then close it and presto!" A quick snap of her fingers. "Even if I have to drop the box on the run, those SHIELD bozos open it and nothing's inside of it!"

Doctor Strange has posed:
    Stephen picks up the black box the spring orb was supposed to be in and looks it over before he turns to Felicia. "You're observant." He hums to himself, impressed by Felicia and he hands the box without care towards the thief as soon as she's done fixing his lapel. Though he smirks to himself "Double standard Felicia." He teases coyly with a glance down to her hands at his clothes. "But, you've an excellent point. Maybe I should give you something, or teach you a spell, but... there is a cost for every spell. Every incantation, every trick has a price." Stephen begins to warn.

Black Cat has posed:
"My lapels are better than yours are, pfft," she parries his remark with the same level of tease and a flutter of those dark lashes at him. "And magic can't be all that fuss..."

As she flicks the hasp and opens the lid to the black box, if simply to appreciate what she's stolen for the Sorcerer, her mouth falls open. She looks back at Stephen owlishly. "But the...I put the thing in...!!!" Inverting the box, she then shakes it once just to make sure it's as empty as it appears. Not even dust falls out of it. "Wooooow." It's pure admiration as she closes the box and looks up at Stephen again.

"You know what, Copperfield? Sometimes, the way you're one step ahead of things is kind of creepy. But also pretty cool. I like you," the cat-burglar then apparently decides with a smirk. "Teach me magic though! Ooh. What if I could go invisible? Wait, no, that would be hard if I had to see my hands do something. Oh! Completely quiet! No...not that." She hums to herself before stepping up very close into his personal space, hands clasped before her sternum, and asks breathlessly, "Can you teach me magic that would let me be unseen by electronics?!"

Doctor Strange has posed:
    Stephen doesn't pull away from Felicia's proximity, in fact he challenges it with a lean of his own, though he places his fingers upon his chin and raps them in succession, left to right and then back again. "I have to consider it, harnessed electricity is still a young technology, so such a spell would be quite new and incredibly advanced and tricky. I would have to develop it first." Stephen says and then tilts his head.

    "You have the box, and a deal of talent Felicia, I could do what you ask, but doing so would take time from studying your curse..." Strange warns, lifting a hand to take the domino mask out of Felicia's grip and dangles it on a finger as he points at Felicia, "I am willing to do so, are you?"

Black Cat has posed:
Felicia dares to pout her bottom lip at him. "I thought you could do //everything//, Copperfield." She loops a finger through her domino mask and pulls it back off his pointed digit, never dropping his gaze. "But...yeah, fine. If you have to flip some pages in some moldy old books and figure it out, okay. I guess. I can wear the tail like a belt...or something," she grumbles as her eyes slide off to one side.

A sigh. "Can't be free to get un-cursed if I get caught in the first place." A little shrug accents the pragmatic stance on things as the cat-burglar meets his eyes again. "I'd appreciate it," she sure to add in light social grace.

Doctor Strange has posed:
    "Calm down Felicia. I'm still just a man. A great man yes, but still a man." Strange says with a smirk as he hooks his finger around the mask, not letting her have it so easily though he does let go after a moment of tug of war. He turns away from the thief and starts to walk away from his desk towards the doorway. "Maybe I could teach you a spell for patience. I already gave you time-armor to keep the curse at bay." The sorcerer says as he nears the doorway and opens up to enter the hall.

Black Cat has posed:
"I can deal with just-men just fine," quips the cat-burglar as she spins her domino on her finger once. Away it then goes, tucked out of sight into the vee of her catsuit's opened and fur-stitched neckline. "Magic sounds fancy...and messy. Hmm." The soft click-click of her boots following along lazily behind him can be heard on the wooden flooring.

"I can also be patient. You have nooooo idea how patient I can be. I think you underestimate me, Copperfield." A teasing sniff of airs put on. She does take a moment to twiddle fingers at the cloak nearby and even blow it a kiss in passing. "I'm happy to take you up on any magical help you offer. Otherwise, I'm a big girl. I can tie my own boots and everything. I'll get along as I always do," she says with utmost self-assurance as she travels alongside him.

Doctor Strange has posed:
    At the kiss the cloak swoons, almost falling to the floor before it swoops forwards as Felicia follows Stephen and it casually rests upon the woman's shoulders, rolling its own hem up a bit so that she can't step on it, but it does seem to enjoy the woman's company, so it lends her its own company.

    Stephen glances back and rolls his eyes at the sight as he turns to the next door over and opens it up, revealing a large gymn sized room that easily would be encroaching upon the office they were just in, but it isn't somehow. Stephen finds the circle set up in the middle and he sits down, cross legged before he begins to float in the air, meditating, ignoring Felicia suddenly as he works on learning and spell crafting once again.

Black Cat has posed:
"Oh!" A little sound of surprise as she feels the weight of the garment, but then Felicia appears to accept it. "You're in a good mood," she murmurs to the cloak as she walks along yet. Her steps slow after she enters the next room, large as it is, and her eyes lift to travel around it. A silent 'o' of awe keeps her from commenting until she realizes that Stephen's now gone into a display of instrospective mysticism.

"So...now you're...an uber-monk," the cat-burglar hazards, half-joking if only because this is totally trippy for her to observe. The man is literally floating. No response means she grins and bites her nail in passing. "Alright, I get it, you have to focus. So sorry, guru-Copperfield, I'll let you be. You should probably shoo," she asides to one of the cloak's pointed collars.

"Text me if you need to." The singsong variant of a 'goodbye' is left in her wake as Felicia then excuses herself from the room to let the Sorcerer concentrate. A brief little sneak-back to get her parka and the black box and then off she departs.