7514/Sentinels: Celebrity Endorsement

Sentinels: Celebrity Endorsement
Date of Scene:	17 May 2019
Location:	Den and Study - Avengers Mansion
Synopsis:	Charles asks Janet for help dealing with the Sentinels. Janet promises a media blitz to remember.
Cast of Characters:	Professor X, Wasp (van Dyne)
Tinyplot:	Sentinels

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Professor X has posed:
Charles follows after the assistant who met him at the front desk of the Avengers Mansion after he went through security. The young man chatted amiably to the Professor, tellling him about the mansion.

"Here you go, sir. Ms. van Dyne will be in shortly."

Charles thanks the assistant and wheels in to wait. He glances around the room, considering what it says about its users.

Wasp (van Dyne) has posed:
Janet's there in just a few moments, blowing through the doors. "Charles Xavier," she says with an accusatory tone. "I swear to God, the rest of us keep getting older and you age like a statue." The socialite wears a black skirt and yellow, demisleeved top; yellow stilettos click as she crosses the room to offer Charles a gently feminine handshake, then she leans down to airkiss near his cheeks. "It's so good to see you, Charles. I wish you'd called ahead of dropping in, though!" she scolds him, with a swat to the shoulder. "I would have gone up to Westchester if you'd asked. Do you want to talk in the parlor or should we enjoy the nice weather on the veranda?"

Professor X has posed:
Charles turns his chair to face Janet when she comes in and smiles broadly. He smooths his yellow paisley tie with one hand.

"I wanted to see if I could catch you looking less than wonderful, but I failed again," he jokes. "The veranda sounds lovely. Wouldn't want this weather to go to waste."

Wasp (van Dyne) has posed:
"Wasted effort, Charles," Janet scolds the man-- but laughs merrily and moves to the veranda. She's got that knack for deft social graces that so few people ever master, walking with one hand on Charle's shoulder so he knows what pace to keep, and staying where he can hear her without having to awkwardly twist to look at her face.

She opens the verandah doors and taps the bracleet on her left wrist, twice. Something glows and a drone flickers past them, red eye scanning Janet.

"<Yess, Miss van Dyne?> JARVIS' inquiry is polite, and Janet beams at the AI. "Could you do us... two mojitos, JARVIS dear? Oh, and a cheese board, please. Thank you."

She waves the drone off and moves to sit in a low chair facing Charles' position, crossing her legs at the knee and smoothing out her skirt. "So, Charles-- what prompts the visit to New York? You were terribly vague over the phone."

Professor X has posed:
Charles smiles and enjoys the simple ease that comes from being in the company of someone with Janet's social talents. He settles in near Janet.

"A bad habit, I admit," Charles says. "Maybe I'm getting too careful in my old age. I do appreciate you taking the time to see me. I'm sure everyone wants to be on your schedule."

Charles leans back a bit as the drinks and cheese board are delivered. He raises his glass to Janet. "To much too infrequent meetings," he toasts Janet.

He takes a sip of his drink and then holds it in both hands. "I've come to ask you for a favour actually. Have you heard about the Council for Global Relations suit against Trask and the federal government?"

Wasp (van Dyne) has posed:
"Mm." Janet sips her drink, thinking, and then slowly shakes her head. "No. I mean," she amends, sitting a little more upright. "Yes, of course I know who that asshole Trask is," she amends. "The CGR's been doing a lot of good work in Europe lately, with the pro-meta stuff. Pro mutant," she amends, in deference to Charles' more exacting line of social justice. "Didn't Ukraine recently vote to include mutants in their equal rights acts?" she asks, and sips her drink again.

Professor X has posed:
"I was very happy about the Ukrainian vote," Charles says with a nod. "I hope it will be the start of a wider and broader extension of rights."

Charles sips from his drink. "That is very good," he says. "CGR is suing to stop Trask and the government from using Sentinels against civilians. After the recent deaths, these weapons are just too dangerous to have loose. And the idea that military weapons are being used against Americans is abhorrent. Dangerous."

Charles twirls his glass lightly. "I'm afraid of what will happen for all of us if the government pushes mutants into the arms of extremists and sets this kind of precedent for dealing with anyone it thinks is a threat."

Wasp (van Dyne) has posed:
"Good! Trask's a rotten bully and I can't believe anyone ever hired him," Janet says with disgust. "And with what we've been through here-- infiltrators, Sentiel combat units," she glances around, then puts the back of her fingers near her mouth to utter: "ugly robot clones of yours truly,"

And then Janet shakes her head. "Sentinels are absolutely atrocious abuses of government power. They never should have come online. I hope the lawsuit's successful," she says with sincere sympathy.

Professor X has posed:
"Many have tried to imitate you, but no one has succeeded yet," Charles says lightly but he cannot hide his concern. "I did hear you've been dealing with Sentinels directly... Thank you. For all you do, but especially this. I hate to ask you to do more, but this lawsuit will not succeed on its own. We need to drive a wedge between Trask and the government. Turn the public against these weapons, at least outside of extreme emegencies."

"I am hoping you would be willing to speak out publically on your feelings about this. You have such a unique platform as an Avenger and a celebrity in your own right. Voices like yours could turn the tide for this suit and everyone affected."

Wasp (van Dyne) has posed:
"Oh honey, you're thinking so *small*," Janet says, gives Charles a look of crestfallen disappointment. "It's okay. You're one of those 'big picture' fellahs, don't mind me. I'll handle everything," she says, with a gleam in her eyes that suggests this entire enterprise could get wildly out of have very quickly.

"See, I'm seeing a social media blitzkrieg. I'll blow up Twitter, Snapchat, Facebook, all of it. Get all my Instagrammers to start #sentinelsnomore or something. We'll have Sentinel repeal trending as the number one topic on Twitter tomorrow morning, and if it's not in full swing by then, I'll call up some friends I've got in Hollywood and get the kettle cookin'," she promises Charles. "I'm talking the full court press, celebrity endorsements, charity events, Charlize Theron *setting a model Sentinel on fire on the Today Show* oh, you don't even /know," she says, nose wrinkling, and makes a dismissive gesture at Charles.

Professor X has posed:
Charles' eyebrows raise and he looks faintly amused as Janet begins, and he is smiling warmly by the time she finishes.

"You are impressive as always. Sadly, I'm out of touch with how these things work," he admits with a chuckle.

"I knew I could count on you, though. This is /exactly/ what we need. It would mean so much for you to set this in motion. I can't thank you enough for doing this."

Wasp (van Dyne) has posed:
"Well, there are good odds that I'm going to abduct Kitty from her job at Tony's place, and hire her for myself," Janet explains. "So, you know, if you get a distress call from her or something, just..." She wrinkles her nose, bats the concern out of the air. "Just ignore that, okay? We'll call it all even after that."

"Though, Kitty did ask a while back if me'n Steve could come up to the school. Steve really wants to talk to the kids, you know--" she rolls her eyes, making a little pennant-waving gesture, "give them the 'stay in school' talk, and I thought you might want someone to lecture economics or something. I will *not* share an art class with Steve, I've seen his portfolio and he just... has *no* sense of color composition," she says with an air of finality.

Professor X has posed:
Charles laughs. "I promise, Janet, I can only imagine. It would be wonderful to have you both come to the school. The kids would be thrilled," he says brightly.

"Keep your hands off Kitty though," Charles says with mock gravity and a grin. "She is one of my very best!"