7928/Wong Makes Lasagna

Wong Makes Lasagna
Date of Scene:	17 June 2019
Location:	Sanctum Santorum - NYC
Synopsis:	Wong makes lasagna. Wanda and Lara eat while Doctor Strange eats what looks like a urinal mint. Felicia brings lime pie. But who wants that after urinal mint?
Cast of Characters:	Doctor Strange, Scarlet Witch, Lara Croft, Black Cat
Tinyplot:	Weather Spheres

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Doctor Strange has posed:
    Mondays tend to be the worlds most dispised day. Lately, Stephen has found a certain sort of calmness washing over him as he basks in the collective groan of New York at another Monday coming and going. The traffic, the mumbling rage, the existential terror that each new week brings and then the cacophonous groan at the end of every day. It's all a form of magic Stephen has been calling upon to enchant a facimile.

    Up stairs at the Sanctum Sanctorum, Strange is busy working away at his newest creation while down stairs in the kitchen, Wong stands with oven mits on both hands, one a hulk and the other blue, with a big black and white four on it in front of a large circle. The assistant/teacher, Wong is preparing a bountiful dinner for himself and several of Stephen's students as well as some guests he is expecting.

Scarlet Witch has posed:
Wanda is out for a walk across Manhattan. She's lost in her thoughts for most of the way, not really paying much attention to where she is going, or where she has been. But it only gives her a mild surprise to glance up and find herself on Bleecker street, and outside of a particular building that few notice. "Must be needed," she comments to herself.

Rather than going over to the door yet, she pauses and turns and looks about her. Smiles here and there, and people waking with an upbeat, chipper mood. Wanda's head tilts as she watches, and then she turns to regard the Sanctum. She walks over to knock on the door, calling out, "Stephen, are you sapping New York of it's Monday angst for personal gain?"

Lara Croft has posed:
Lara hadn't heard back from the Avengers yet, which was always nice. She was still being pressured by the power that be to recover the stolen magical spheres and return them to SHIELD, or anywhere but in the hands of a thief...

So she's coming back to the Sanctum, her vehicle pulling up outside as it had before... though there's fewer spaces available today, as it turns out there's a popular author having a book signing across the street, so Lara's had to park down the way and walk to the Sanctum, not a big deal for her of course...

As she approaches, Lara raises her right hand to put her sunglasses up onto her hairline, she spies Wanda and reocgnizes her from the Avengers home and base to the northeast of here.

"Hello." Lara says to Wanda, now at the foot of the steps to the Sanctum. "Miss Maximoff, yes?" The British voice calls up to the woman, putting only one booted foot up onto the base step, dressed in dark jeans, a white teeshirt and a leather satchel draped over her shoulder to hang on her hip.

Doctor Strange has posed:
    The door opens quickly for Wanda after she knocks and then an Asian man wearing a dark green gi and a pair of mismatched pot holders smiles happily and bows, "Wanda, and Lara. You're both right on time." the wizard says as he steps aside and invites the two women into the sanctum. He motions towards the kitchen and walks quickly. "Come, come, I have made a grandmothers popular lasagna, I need you both to try and enjoy it." He smiles happily as he walks towards the kitchen and points to the table with two plates and a steaming dish of home made lasagna with a small square already cut out and a spatula on the side, waiting to cut and serve out pieces.

    Stephen, upstairs is aware of the social meeting down stairs and frowns as he has to halt his work for another pause. With a step through the door, the house moves Stephen throughout it's interior from one room to the immediate room he was looking for, appearing from behind the frame Stephen is in the kitchen with a blue gi and nothing else, bare feer, exposed hands, a waft of his hair in the air conditioning. "Wanda, Lara."

Scarlet Witch has posed:
Wanda turns towards Lara as she approaches. "Miss Croft. Very nice to see you again. I apologize for not getting back to you yet. Matters have been rather crazy of late as I'm sure you are aware," Wanda says. "Which is bad, to pull attention away from other things," the woman adds in her soft accent.

She turns as the door is opened, and a soft, warm smile grows across her face. "Wong, hello. So good to see you again," she says. Wanda passes inside, waiting for Lara before then following Wong over to the table. She pauses beside it, looking the food over and giving a nod which starts slowly and grows more emphatic as the smells of the lasagna reach her. "It smells delicious. Thank you," she tells him, reaching over to touch the Chinese monk's shoulder.

She glances up as Stephen arrives. "This is a good way to draw people over. There is a saying about the right bait. Or if not, there probably should be," she says.

Lara Croft has posed:
One thing is certain, Lara hadn't expected to be having dinner at the Sanctum Santorum. Half the time she thinks Strange wants her out of the house five minutes prior to her ever entering it...

A nod is given to Wanda, then to Wong as she steps up. "Its fine, there's more going on than most can keep up with." She softly responds to the other woman before she offers a faint smile to Wong then. "'A grandmother'?" Lara questions him on their way into the home and to where he'd prepared the food. "And you want us to... try and like it?" Lara offers then a little smirk. "You're not instilling much but questions, you know." She's trying to be charming, in her own sort've way at least.

"I'm sure its wonderful though, Wong." She further states before her eyes trace over to Wand, then up to where she's staring to look at Stephen. She nods once to him as well.

Doctor Strange has posed:
    Wong smiles and then waits for the women to cut their own slices but they seem busy, so he reaches over, picks up the utensil and cuts them both a square before cutting himself one and wanders out of the room. "Let me know what you two think." Wong waves to Wanda before replying to Lara, "She was an old widower in the Bronx, wanted to pass on her heritage, so I bribed it out of her." Wong winks before he runs off to another room to allow the sorcerer and company to talk.

    "Hopefully this is the right bait." Stephen says, looking at the pasta and curling his nose up as even the smell doesn't smell appealing to him any more. Then with a glance to Lara he nods in return to the adventurer. "I've made some progress on the copy, but it wouldn't convince a toddler yet, it needs more time, but it's hard to focus with all these other issues poping up and people expecting me to deal with them." The wizard sighs, almost exasperatedly.

Scarlet Witch has posed:
Picks up the plate and a fork, and gets a bite. She tastes it and then tells Wong before he departs. "It is delicious. You did well, helping her to pass it on," Wanda tells him. She continues to eat slowly, though focus her attention mostly on the conversation.

"Well, perhaps I might be able to assist?" Wanda asks Strange. She glances over to Lara to ask, "No one was injured in the theft, I hope? It does raise the question of what to do with them once they have been recovered. Though I do not wish to... put the cart before the horse,"she says slowly.

Wanda gets another bite of the lasagna. Oh how she loves feta cheese!

Lara Croft has posed:
A more proper smile is shown to Wong and Lara finds a place to seat herself and to try the meal. After a bite she looks after him to watch im go. "You're a treasure, Wong. If you ever part ways with Stephen, you've got a instant job with me." She says to him, giving the Doctor a look as she offers to poach his friend and colleague!

She nods then to what Stephen says and looks down to the meal before her, nodding her head to what he told both of them, clearing her palette then she looks back up and draws in a breath. "I haven't heard back from the Avengers." She motions to Wanda then. "I just met her on the steps coming in, as happenstance would have it."

A light smile is shown then to Wanda. She shakes her head to the question posed onto her. "I've heard of no injuries. So I'm hoping that means there were indeed none sustained. I've also heard of no activity from either of the Spheres, suggesting that they haven't been used... yet."

Her eyes glance back to Strange. "Which is a good thing. I would say... or hope."

Doctor Strange has posed:
    "Lack of news could be good, but it also means we are at the mercy of whoever possesses the spheres." Stephen says, knowing no mystical means of tracking the spheres down. He looks to Lara, and then to Wanda. "You're welcome to help, I'm charging a look-a-like with sufficient mystal energies to fool someone that it may be the Spring orb, but it will lack any of the powers of an orb. Also I'm trying to plant a trap spell upon the decoy to bind the person who tries to use it." The wizard explains as he looks towards the lasagna and frowns.

    He steps towards the fridge and undoes the master lock on the front and reaches in quickly to pull out a greenish blueish ... thing which he takes a single bite of and chews on it slowly for a time before replacing the lock.

Scarlet Witch has posed:
Wanda takes a seat at the table to eat properly. "Does SHIELD have decent dental?" she asks Lara in a light-hearted tone. She takes another bite of lasagna as she listens. "And where do you plan to place this to lure the thief out? It needs to be somewhere that seems secure, but that they can actually manage to steal from." Wanda glances around the Sanctum. "This might be too tough of a location, no?" she asks. Apparently giving Stephen credit that an orb couldn't be stolen from here.

She looks thoughtful. "Concealing the binding spell could be tricky work," she says. Her eyes swing over to the SHIELD agent. "So you spend an amount of time dealing with such matters. Have you ever taken up the study yourself, Miss Croft?"

Lara Croft has posed:
Lara takes another two bites from the food, eating proper and very primly. She's not a real big eater, she looks at food a necessity to maintain physical health and conditioning, not ever as something to please the taste buds... at least unless a situation like this arises where someone she respects will benefit from her enjoying their cooking.

"I'm glad to hear that the facsimile is coming along, Doctor." Lara says to him. "This is, I think, our best chance to catch this thief... or rather the only chance." She sort've mutters that last part because as best to her knowledge there's just nothing else on the table to choose from.

After another bite, Lara looks to Wanda and she takes a second before smiling. "I haven't looked into the dental benefits. I believe they have dentists on-site in the Triskelion. Its very much like its own self contained city in many ways."

Lara then shakes her head and glances away. "If you mean magic, no, it is nothing I've never looked into. Even though it closely relates to my current profession, I consider magic to be like a religion and I try to stay impartial when it comes to religious beliefs. As it helps me maintain an objective approach to what it is that I do. Or so I hope at least."

Lara looks up and over to Stephen as he bites into that thing and she softly tilts her head. "What on Earth, is that?" She asks of whatever it is he just bit into.

Doctor Strange has posed:
    "It's not from Earth." Stephen says as he takes a second and then a third and final bite. He chews slowly, his cheeks slightly puffed out at the thing he's holding in his mouth takes up much space and he doesn't want them inquiring more about the alien food.

    With his food gone, Stephen looks to Wanda, "I was considering making the spell in the interior of the device, but it would be trickier to activate remotely then too." Stephen pauses to rub his fingers against his goatee in thought. "She's activated incantations, but nothing much more than an alert spell to summon yours truly." Stephen says with a glance to Lara, as she did summon him to the Himalayas once.

Black Cat has posed:
"Oh. I didn't know there was company."

This comes from Felicia, paused and somewhat wide-eyed in the doorway to the kitchen. With her platinum-blonde hair free and tumbling, she's in a svelte midnight-blue sundress, strapless and kept from slipping by a flattering ruffling of elastic about her chest. It follows the nip of her waist and then free-falls to cover all but her toes. She's in flat sandals and sporting a matching French pedicure to her manicure. In her hands, a small bakery box containing a key lime pie.

"I'm glad I brought enough for everyone!" Gliding over, she places a hand on Stephen's shoulder and gives it a gentle squeeze. Her jade-green eyes slip from Wanda and crinkle in recognition, though they harden a little on Lara -- like recognizing like and equal parts challenge and respect for the artifact-chaser. "So we're discussing...the Orbs?" the cat-burglar hazards as she ghosts over to set the pie on the kitchen countertop, turning to glance between everyone again.

Scarlet Witch has posed:
Wanda Maximoff gazes over at Stephen's gobbling of the unusual food. She slowly shakes her head as if to suggest eating things from alien worlds, let alone going to them, is something she would prefer to stay away from. She gets another bite of Wong's lasagna. "It really is good lasagna, you should have had some," she tells Stephen.

Wanda considers Lara's words. "Something of a religion I suppose. Certainly to some," the Transian woman agrees quietly. If she has more to say, it is held back as someone else arrives. Wanda gives Felicia a nod of greeting in return. She decides to stay silent then, not really knowing what Felicia's relationship to the matter is, and perhaps not wishing to say things she should not.

Lara Croft has posed:
Lara sits up a little straighter and places her hands on the edge of the table, she stares at Stephen as he speaks of his 'food' and it just makes her wrinkle her nose just a little for a moment before she agrees with Wanda as to him having should've indulged in the food Wong made. But she doens't comment on it, she knows full well that Strange is going to do as he decides.

"Well yes, I have used the Sphere's incantations to save myself a pair of times now. I'll certainly use a magical outlet I have available to me if the end results is to avoid death." She flashes a light grin just before Felicia arrives and the two share that same reaction to seeing one another. They're not BFFs, but they're not exactly enemies? Frenemies? Lara thinks she's heard that word before.

"Its good to see you again." Lara says to Felicia. "Jonah keeps asking about you." She idly comments, having seen her friend last night at his restaurant. She often goes there after 'work' to relax and see Jonah at his own work, his pride and joy that eatery is.

Doctor Strange has posed:
    Stephen smiles as Felicia enters the room with that sort of confidence that only the thief can muster but he nods softly at her question, "Yes Felicia, this is a meeting in regards to what our next move with the spheres will be." Stephen says, crossing his arms and shaking his head at Wanda.

    "I can't eat that stuff, not any more. Doesn't sit well with me, plus this is how I pay for the cost of my magics. Sometimes." He says idly with a motion towards the fridge and a shrug of his shoulders. "I'm open to any and all ideas at this point." Stephen says, trying to bring the subject back to the matter at hand, not about the food or the past between the parties present.

Black Cat has posed:
"Aw, Jonah." Felicia clasps her hands before her chest, smiling a knowing little red-lipped smile. "Send him my love when you see him," she replies to Lara, comfortable with the woman wording this greeting however she so chooses. Stephen answers her question in the affirmative and her suspicions are confirmed. Her face grows more solemn now as she looks at each person once more.

"Yeah, I heard the Orbs went missing," she offers with more gravity than her usual inclination. Time spent with the Sorcerer has impressed upon her that missing magic is uncomfortable business. "Well..." She runs her nails along the counter top in a tickity-tickity run, one through four and back, looking off to one side. "How do you catch a thief. You put out good bait and you wait, and you hope you don't have any mouseholes for them to slip out once you close the door behind them." Her bare shoulders rise and fall in a little shrug, knowing they've likely already gone over this.

"Hey Wong," she whispers to one side, twiddling fingers at him and flashing him a bright and unrepentent grin.

Scarlet Witch has posed:
Wanda is slowly making her way through the lasagna. Her walk today covered quite a stretch of Manhattan, so the food is definitely appealing to her. She is more troubled the last few days than she had been before even, and while the others talk, Wanda's thoughts drift off in other directions than the orbs. She sits poised with her fork above the lasagna, not moving for a dozen seconds at one point, before she snaps out of wherever her thoughts went, and she cuts off another bite of the Italian dinner.

Wanda glances back up and over to them, and realizes her thoughts have wandered. "Sorry, I was distracted a moment. So, Stephen, I heard you speculated as to the thief. In addition to hoping to snare him, any other thoughts of locating him?"

Lara Croft has posed:
Lara doesn't know really anything about Felicia, she'd done a light search on the woman but hadn't come up with much. She'd thought about pressing some people at SHIELD for more information about the woman, but... Lara Croft is pretty darn busy! Its a wonder she ever gets anything done, or close to done. One second she's wondering who this thiefy woman is, the next she's being bombarded with information about lost cities and magical manifestations from recovered relics!

"You should stop by his place to have dinner some time." Lara says, her eyes glancing to Stephen. "Take him too. So he'll stop eating whatever it is he just found in the back of his freezer that he's proclaiming is alien food." She doesn't seem convinced by this? Or she's just teasing. She's British, its hard to tell!

"We'd also love any and all feedback that you might have on how we could possibly catch this person... or at least, how to--or where to place this faux Spring Sphere once the Doctor has it ready."

Doctor Strange has posed:
    Stephen addresses Wanda first when he leans against the counter top and looks towards the pie with a slight frown. It looks delicious but it's forbidden fruit for the wizard. Likely taste like ash. "I have a theory that the actual thief is Loki Odinson, Thor's deviant brother." The wizard says with a stern look to Wanda, "Mayhaps it would be a good idea for you to inquire with the Thunderer if you find the chance, find out if he knows where Loki MIGHT be, I'd like to have words with the trickster myself if given the chance." Stephen explains before looking to Lara and Felicia.

    Wong gives Felicia a huge wave and then a motion towards the table Wanda is at, inviting Felicia to grab herself a cut of lasagna that he made before he keeps walking down the hall and puts on his bluetooth speaker with a beat repeating itself rapidly, playing Blue Monday again for himself.

    Stephen asks Lara, "Why not back at SHIELD where the others were, you're supposed to have amazing surveillance capabilities and all that nonsense, right?"

Black Cat has posed:
Felicia silently nods to Wong, acknowledging the invite to grab a piece of lasagna, and watches him leave with half an ear on the conversation. She ends up drawing a design on the countertop with her pointer fingernail, eyes shifting between people as they speak.

"I wouldn't put the Orb back at SHIELD," the cat-burglar says to the group. "One bitten, twice shy, and even if this...Loki guy managed to get past their defenses the first time, he won't be getting past again in the same way. They'll probably make sure everything's tighter than a...milk...jug lid." Something less polite was certainly shuffled to one side there conversationally.

"It should be someplace with some defenses still, maybe something he could get past with some effort, but...rig the Orb itself." Her jade-green eyes flick between Wanda and Stephen, knowing them to be the magical folks here. "Make it so when he touches it and he's stuck to it. Maybe it teleports him somewhere where he's contained until you can show up and bluster at him, Copperfield." She wrinkles her nose as she smiles; Sorcerous bluster, oh my.

"Let Jonah know we'll stop by soon," she adds specifically to Lara.

Scarlet Witch has posed:
Wanda eats quietly while she listens, looking thoughtful. Though also distracted, as she has been for a few days now. "I will talk to Thor. It is extra troubling if this is Loki. It was bad enough when he caused trouble on Earth when he was from Asgard. Now that Asgard is here...?" Wanda says. The thought of Loki somehow wresting control from Thor has remained a concern for some.

She sets down her fork, though not yet done with the slice of lasagna, she has managed a fair amount of it. "Stephen, I will talk to you later, see what we can come up with?" she suggests to him. "As long as you don't offer me the blue thing for my next visit," she says with a soft smile.

Lara Croft has posed:
Lara cracks a grin at what Stephen says to her about SHIELD's security capabilities. She shakes her head lightly side to side once though. "I'm not prepared to debate science versus magic, Doctor. On either sides of that argument. What I do is simply do my very best to work with both sides, to hopefully benefit mankind as a whole. I rely on people such as yourself, Wong, Miss Maximoff..." She glances over to Wanda to her right at the table and then back to Stephen. "As well as all of the science and technically savvy individuals at the Triskelion to achieve my goals there-in."

Her brown eyed gaze sweeps to Felicia then and she nods once to her. "Just as so... the items that I recover for SHIELD? I only store them at SHIELD's facility because they've offered me the best possible location to place such a thing. Be it these dangerous weather spheres, or something far far more powerful... such as the... Ark of the Covenant, if you want to go for something overly dramatic in this instance." Another time, Lara shakes her head as she sits back in her chair, apparently done eating for now.

"Should anyone provide me a better place to put the potentially dangerous items that I am lucky enough to come across in my travels... I would be more than happy to shift my storing of them to such a location."

There's a brief pause then and Lara shows the hints of a smirk. "Of course, I get the sense that SHIELD partially wants these items to have them as potential... outlets toward their own endeavors, should a need that warrants any of them ever arise. And in the world we occupy? That seems like a good possibility."

Doctor Strange has posed:
    Stephen gives Felicia a lifted eyebrow in response as she does seem to have a solid idea, "That's pretty much what we were all thinking ourselves, in fact, up stairs, I'm generating a forged orb. A false one to lure the culprit out of hiding and into our grasp." Stephen then gives a look to Wanda as she addresses him directly. "OF course Wanda, anytime you need, I'll be sure to free up the time." He says, a kind of familiar smile is given towards the avenger before he looks back at Lara lastly and simply nods, he has a very good idea as to what is housed in SHIELD hands, and yet he still doesn't turst them, and chooses to not voice his opinion this time as there's no benefit to airing such grievances.

Black Cat has posed:
The more that the cat-burglar hears of this Loki guy, the less she likes of him. Wanda's concern is enough to make Felicia wrinkle her nose again in plain dislike. This guy's nothing but trouble...and not even her brand of trouble!

She nods to Lara in agreement even as she starts fussing with the pie box. In her mind, at least, it's high time for pie time. "It's a good idea to keep those magical things there, but you know what I've heard? That Captain America guy, who moonlights there as an agent? You stick some cleavage in his face and he gets so stuttery, he might let somebody waltz in and take things." She clicks her tongue in a tsk. "So have somebody else guard stuff than him. I'm all for helping find the last one. I mean..."

Her sigh is pronounced, accompanied by lift and fall of her chest. "We all know about how crazy getting the last one was." Lara's given a wry little red quirk of lips. "Those things have to be gotten back and under control."

Scarlet Witch has posed:
Wanda smiles towards Felicia as she gets out the pie. "That looks delicious, but I filled up on lasagna already," she says. "But thank you. Stephen, I'll be back in touch," she tells him. Wanda looks over to Lara. "It was nice to see you again, Agent Croft. And my apologies again for the delay in responding. I do hope to speak with you about this matter again soon as well," she says.

Wanda tilts her head to them all then goes over to where she can get some paper and a pen to write a note. "Wong, the lasagna was fabulous. Please tell your grandmother friend I am jealous for the recipe. - Wanda." She folds the note and writes Wong's name on it and leaves it out for him. "Good evening, all of you," she offers before heading out.

Lara Croft has posed:
Lara has to look between Felicia and Stephen, feeling as though she's never communicated this well. "I assure both of you I am only a SHIELD employee for lack of better options. My father set me down this pathway of retrieving items such as the spheres, but we live in a world where I alone am not capable of protecting them from the would-be villains in this world who would use them for ill-intent. This is why the offer that SHIELD gave to me was one that I had to take, for the betterment... of everyone who would otherwise suffer if such items did indeed fall into the wrong hands." She sighs them and moves to stand up.

"Tell Wong the food was wonderful, I can't stay though, I'm afraid. The pie looks delicious as well, Felicia." She says then before she glances to Wanda. "Did you walk here? I'd be happy to give you a ride wherever you need to go." Truth be told, Lara wanted to talk to Wanda about additional protections at the SHIELD storage facility, magically inclined ones that COULD keep someone like Loki out. If it reallyw as Loki who took the Winter and Summer orbs.