8112/The Widow and The Wasp

The Widow and The Wasp
Date of Scene:	30 June 2019
Location:	Unknown
Synopsis:	Summary needed
Cast of Characters:	Shadowcat, Rogue, Black Widow (Romanoff), Wasp (van Dyne), Hawkeye (Barton), Melinda May, Iron Man
Tinyplot:	Sentinels

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Shadowcat has posed:
Kitty needed to get away from Westchester and from Gotham both for a bit. So she grabbed her bestie and they took a short walk through a magic mirror to New York. Then a short subway ride over to Avenger's Mansion, where Kitty had phoned ahead to see if a certain fashionista might be free for carousing. And planning out Kitty's 21st birthday which was only 25 days away now.

Kitty's dressed simply, a pair of blue jeans with brown boots sticking out of the cuffs. A black blouse though it leaves her shoulders bare and has an oval cutout along her upper chest. Her boots click softly on the marble floors once the pair have been let in and told by Jarvis to make their way to the Den. No little robot scurrying ahead to guide them, as Jarvis knows that Rogue at least will know where the room is.

"... and so then she landed upside down, her skirt falling down and all of the students seeing she'd decided to wear something lacey that day," Kitty says, laughing as she recounts a story from their school days. "Oh, took her months before the nicknames stopped," Kitty says as they arrive at the Den.

Rogue has posed:
Rogue is wearing a black denim jacket over a dark green tank top with black lettering on her chest reading 'I Won Already', a pair of dark gray jeans and heeled black leather boots. She walks alongside Kitty with her gloved hands inside of the front pockets of her jeans.

The story from her friend just makes her grin. "Least she had something on at all. Otherwise there'd be some way better nicknames attached."

Rogue knows full well where they're headed, but she mostly just lets the robots in this whackadoo house do their thing. "They used t'keep alcohol in this room." She says as she walks over to the fridge in the counter area of the Den, moving to pop it open and peer inside, as though she was still a resident here.

Black Widow (Romanoff) has posed:
    "Used to?" Natasha says sounding more surprised than anything else. She sits at one of the many chairs and has her legs crossed, wearing a pencil skirt and a black and white dotted top that looks like something out of the fifties but with a modern twist, She has three large hoop bracelets that are just circles large enough to get her hands through on her wrists. "Then don't you tell me this isn't alcohol." The spy says as she turns her eyes to the tumbler in her hand and takes another sip of the brown liquid inside it.

Wasp (van Dyne) has posed:
"Hey, you're not old enough to drink for a few weeks yet," chimes a familiar voice. Janet grins in delight at Kitty and Rogue, crossing towards them with a quick step just shy of rushed. "Quick, someone call an Avenger and report some juvenile delinquents!"

Kitty's closest to the door so Janet extends two hands to the girl as a prelude to a hug, then embraces the slender X-er with warm affection. She's dressed for summer in a sundress of daisy yellow with vertical white stripes, perfectly fitted. Stiletto-heeled sandals with yellow leather and white soles complement the outfit, silver fasteners matching the bangle on her wrist and sapphire studs in her ears. A worn and much-adored gold necklace sits at the hollow of her throat with a glittering pendant inside the loop.

She moves from Kitty to Rogue and carefully evaluates the other woman for safe hugging points before throwing her arms around the part-time Avenger. "Sorry I'm late, Natasha paged me a bit ago and I couldn't find a /thing/ to wear," she tells the others. "JARVIS, be a dear and whip up a batch of pina coladas?" she requests. A modified DUM-E behind the bar starts pulling ingredients together. Janet finds a high-backed chair and drops into it with a smooth motion, legs crossing at the knee. She sits upright though, dainty as a southern socialite, and rests her hands on her thighs. "How was the trip down from Westchester?"

Shadowcat has posed:
Kitty laughs after Rogue's comment about if the girl hadn't been wearing anything beneath. "Well, that reminds me of... that story will have to wait," she says as Natasha makes her presence known. Kitty has just met the woman the once, when she came out to the school to speak with Jean or Scott. "Hello, nice to see you again," Kitty says with a friendly wave.

She is about to mention they were meeting Janet, when the woman walks in. Kitty turns and takes Janet's hands and returns the hug. It's not one of those greeting hugs because that's what you do. It's a big warm hug at not having seen for awhile someone that you care about. Kitty lets her go finally and says, "A sight for sore eyes. And not long now. Three weeks and a few days," she says with a grin. "The trip was good. We took the shortcut through the Sanctum, so cuts off 50 miles that way," Kitty says. She smiles over to Rogue. "Though Rogue didn't want to fly the rest of the way with me riding on her back," she adds. Ok, they had no such discussion, actually.

Rogue has posed:
With the fridge open, Rogue is reaching for a beer that looks like it probably belongs to Hawkeye or maybe one of the other gruff and grumble kinda men in the Avengers. She is grabbing it and turning around when Natasha speaks up and she shuts the door with an elbow. "Heya, Spooky-But-Pretty." Rogue affectionately labels the international super spy as she moves to easily twist off the cap from the dark bottled beer. "Guess I'm actin' like I've been gone for fifteen years or somethin', where its only been a matter'a months." She grins lightly toward Nat before Janet makes a very Janety appearance!

Rogue is eager to return the woman's hug and she's mostly all covered up aside from the top of her chest under her collar bone, her neck and face... needless to say she's probably burning up--or was outside at least, its nice and perfectly A/C'd inside! "You look amazin' as ever, Janet." Rogue tells the fashionista.

A glance is given to Kitty and she just grins. "I keep tellin' ya, people'll spot us up there and shoot at us. You'd get blasted off my back by some hill-billie."

Black Widow (Romanoff) has posed:
    Natasha takes another sip of her hard liquor and slowly her painted lips curl to a smirk, "I'm sure if you asked nicely, Janet would share her saddle." Natasha gives Janet a slow singular wink, beyond purposeful is the spy's motion.

    Looking back towards Rogue and Kitty, "I almost didn't page her, the thought of her rushing to get a /thing/ to wear at the last minute had me in stitches." -Good luck imagining Natasha cracking a full smile- "But I decided the hour long disciplinary discussion wasn't worth it." Natasha says as deadpanned as ever. The russian spy must have had a drink to two, she's usually not so chatty but then she's not usually around a bunch of women.

    Then a subtle nod is sent towards the southerner, "Glad to see you around again Anna, hope you stay around longer this time..." Followed by a lift of her drink and then another sip over her red lips.

Wasp (van Dyne) has posed:
Janet 'tsks' at Natasha, eyes narrowing over an irrepressible, fond smile. "Saddles are on my 'things I don't share' list," she tells her. "Along with toothbrushes and cell phones." Her eyes dance brightly at the playful banter though.

"Anyway. Glad the trip downtown was uneventful," she assures them. "Handy being able to pop into the Sanctum when you want to make a quick run downtown. I should ask Stephen if we can get something like that here in the Mansion. It'd be nice to head to Westchester to see friends without needing to plan a fifteen minute helicopter ride. Not that you can get Steve on a helicopter during bike weather." Her eyes roll eloquently.

The footstool-sized serving droid rumbles over with drinks on the tray and Janet plucks one of the tall flutes up. Fingers and tongue wrap carefully around the straw so it doens't smudge her pristine makeup. She's gone for a summertime palette, artfully applied in a natural, minimalistic way.

Shadowcat has posed:
Kitty Pryde gives Rogue a grin and counters, "The way you fly? They'd never get a clear shot at us." Kitty is in a good mood it seems, and the robotic drink server mixing up the beverages only adds to it. She picks up one of the drinks, singing to herself, "Yes I like pina coladas... and long walks in the rain." She takes a sip and lets out a happy sigh.

"Ooo, speaking of saddles, you know we have horses. We should meet up sometime for a ride if you like. Rogue has this black stallion that is a beauty she likes," Kitty says. "You'd be welcome to, Natasha. I don't know if you're much into horse riding or not?" she inquires.

Kitty really doesn't know too much about Natasha actually, beyond what is said in the papers. And she likely questions how much of what they write about the spy is correct, at that.

Rogue has posed:
"Anybody puts a saddle on me, they better have at least bought me dinner first." Rogue says as she sits down halfway onto the side of one of the sofa's arms, her left thigh up on it as she holds one drink in one hand and the other drink in the other hand after its delivered to her. She sips one, then sips the other... she likes them both and smiles to prove it.

"And anybody who's gonna ride me bareback? Better hold on tight." Rogue's smile shifts into a grin then. She's utterly shameless and most of the time Kitty seems to like to bring that side out of her too, always setting her up with easy spikes like a good game of beach volleyball!

Another sip from the beer and Rogue nods her head to the words of horses. "Always been my favorite part'a that school. Its what really made me wanna stay there, so I could play with the horses. Nevermind... ya know, get my brain fixed and all that stuff. Nah, it was primarily the horsies." She's still grinning, just lightly now.

"I bet Natasha knows how t'ride. I bet she's been on some major adventures where she fought a whole army'a evil doers in jeeps and cars, and all she had was a horse. Yet she still walked away the ultimate victor, while they were all dead and blown up." Its possible Rogue idolizes Natasha Romanova, even if she too doesn't know that much about the redhead.

Black Widow (Romanoff) has posed:
    The curl at the corner of her mouth appears for a brief moment before Natasha stands up and takes her empty glass and sets it down on the waiterbot and takes up a pina colada and wraps her lips around the straw while holding the end daintly with two fingers.

    Sip swallowed, then Natasha steps closer to the trio and joins the conversation physically though she doesn't add a whole lot. "That's classified, but I can share Janets saddler's information. He's based out of Tennessee and does exquisite stitching." Diverting the converstaion away from her as quickly as possible.

Wasp (van Dyne) has posed:
"Uh, excuse me--" Janet raises a finger in the air and taps on the invisible 'hol' up' box near her head. "The Van Dynes basically invented horseback riding in this country. I've done dressage my entire life. So, uh--" she snorts. "Yeah. I can ride."

She guides the straw to her back teeth and bites. Slurrrrrp. "Yeah I can ride juuuust fine."

"Though in fairness, I've never had to fight from horseback except whipping some prissy bitch in the head with a polo mallet once or twice," she concedes.

She gasps at Natasha's outing of her secret. "Damn you, Natasha," she says, expressing faux outrage. "Don't spread that around, if it gets back that I'm not buying my saddles from Hermes, I'll never hear the end of it." A theatrical wrist is pressed to her brow.

Shadowcat has posed:
There's a distinct joy in playing set up lady for others, and Kitty would have made an excellent setter in volleyball, at that. She grins over to Rogue before going over to find a comfortable looking leather chair. Kitty settles down into it and her expression is like someone who just felt heaven. More specifically someone who just felt heaven on her rear end and back. "Oh my god how did they get this so soft," she comments, sitting up in the chair and running her hand over the leather, and then poking at it, before sinking back in.

"Ok, I know what I'm getting for my room, next,' she says. "If it comes with a massage option you probably may not see me for a few weeks after, either," Kitty confirms.

She grins as she takes a sip of her drink. A finger is waggled Natasha's direction. "If you start telling people where my shoes come from I'm going to get cross. Well, not really, unless you all go buy the same ones." Though lately Kitty has had a boot thing going on, when not in shorts.

Rogue has posed:
Rogue continues to nurse on her beer bottle and sip from her other glass swapping from one to the other as the others talk she just looks between them and grins. "Hittin' people with mallets, sharin' each other's saddler secrets and Kitty, rubbin' herself all over a chair like a cat lookin' for affection."

A big sip from the pina colada is taken then and Rogue smiles all bright a beamy. "This is why I like comin' over here." She glances toward the door. "Well that, and a chance t'get a look at America's Ass." She flickers her eyes over to Janet then. "Where is that man meat'a yours anyhow, Miss Van Dyne?" She asks, saying Janet's formal name in a mocking 'hoity toity' kind of high society voice.

Black Widow (Romanoff) has posed:
    A straw is sipped again and Natasha finds a place to sit down, enjoying a good sit more than most things in life. The assassin rarely ever got to enjoy the smallest hint of comfort and even now she doesn't take the down time for granted.

    Trying to make small talk, "What did you two come all this way for?" Knowing it wasn't far for them really, but it is just a figure of speech.

Wasp (van Dyne) has posed:
"Mm, lookin's fine, but don't you dare touch," Janet tells Rogue with a flawless Savannah accent she must have plucked right from a formal cotillion. "He's off at the salt mines, I'm sure," Janet tells Rogue in her normal uptown accent. "I don't know why he insists on punching a clock at the SHIELD offices like some kind of white collar worker, but he says it makes him happy." Her eyes roll over a tolerant smile and she finally sits back in the high-backed chair. Fingers toy absentmindedly with the pendant around her neck.

She eyes Kitty in her chair. She's about to ask something of Kitty as the young Miss Pryde does her cat-marking-territory wriggling, but Natasha directs a more pointed query to the X-girls and she lifts her brows mildly at them with a pleasant smile. "These two reprobates? I'm sure they're just here to snake our booze and try to check out Steve's butt."

Rogue has posed:
Rogue is seated on the arm of one of the sofas, denim jacket on over tank top, jeans and black heeled boots. She's got a pina colada in one hand and a bottle of beer in the other, both drinks are held within gloved hands and she's made sure to park herself near to one of the vents on the wall to let the circulated A/C air strike her since she and Kitty had walked here from Greenwich Village.

A sip is takne from the pina colada and Rogue grins to Janet. "Thats precisely why we came here. That, and t'just get out and see the town a bit. Its possible we're lookin' for Sentinels t'smash too, maybe. Ya know, typical Sunday afternoon."

Hawkeye (Barton) has posed:
A formerly familiar face arrives at the Avengers mansion, Hawkeye, with Deputy Director May in tow. The Avenger lets them in with his ID and then with a quick check in with JARVIS finds the party is upstairs in the study.

"God I miss this place," Clint says to May over his shoulder as he leads the way up the stairs. He'd been gone nearly a year now, and well if he had his way he wasn't going to be gone that long again.

Coming up to the study door, Clint grins at the Pina Colada party and knocks on the doorframe. "Hey, this party have room for two more?" he asks, stepping into the room.

Melinda May has posed:
May follows Clint quietly, knowing that this he'd be more familiar to most people in this mansion that she would. She's okay with that. She hums noncommittally at his admission that he misses the mansion and can possibly intellectually understand why. The building itself, while ostentatious, seems nicely appointed. She suspects it has more to do with those that reside here and they are a less familiar quantity to her.

She steps into the room after him and merely steps to one side of the doorway, appearing content to just stay there and observe. For now.

Very likely one person or another already in the room will know how deceiving appearances can be.

Shadowcat has posed:
Kitty lets out a soft laugh at Janet's answer to the question. "Isn't that why everyone comes to the Mansion?" she asks. Kitty's smile slips just a tiny bit though as she shrugs. "Just needed to get out. And haven't had a chance to see Janet without several dozen teenaged students wandering about," Kitty says.

She takes a sip of her pina colada and then glances over as more people arrive. A look of recognition hits her face as she spots the male Avenger, but another one that she has never met. May draws Kitty's attention then, but the look of recognition is lacking this time. She stays quiet for the moment, letting the others react to the new arrivals.

Black Widow (Romanoff) has posed:
    "There's less star-spangled butts around their own mansion..." Natasha notes quite nonchalantly, not saying whose just saying they have their own butts worth eyeing. But it's human nature to want what you can't have. Another sip and Natasha's eyes look over towards the doorway and she stops mid drink as Clint appears in the doorway that hasn't welcomed his shadow in a very long time. A life time for this Avenger.

    Nat's brown eyes linger on Clint's face but her lips close after she pulls the straw away from her face and she finds no words to greet her friend. Not in this crowd.

Wasp (van Dyne) has posed:
"Aieeee Clint!" Janet's off the chair in a flash, and say what you will about stilettos but the fashionista can move in them like a dashing cat. She slams all featherweight hundred-some pounds of weight into his chest and wraps her arms around his neck, almost dangling. "Clint! You're back!" she declares, wholly redundantly. She breaks the hug and promptly slaps his chest indignantly. "You rotten jerk, you've been gone for -way- too long," she scolds him. But then she laughs, hugs Clint's arm with a beamingly fond smile, and steps back.

She looks at May and flashes a charming but very polite smile. "Agent May, so good to see you," she tells the older woman. "Nice of you to--"

She glances back and forth and backs up a step, eyes hooding. "This isn't a social call, is it?" she asks, rhetorically.

She glances over her shoulder and wiggles a hand at the tall rum drinks the ButlerBot is scuttlinga round with. "Pina coladas would be a bad idea then, huh."

Rogue has posed:
Rogue hadn't seen Clint since her earliest days in the Avengers, he'd left pretty much right after she'd gotten here, or thats how she recalls it anyway. So when he and May grace the doorway she remains where she is on the arm of the sofa holding two drinks, both about half-emptied at this point and she grins as Janet rushes over to greet them both. Rogue has NO IDEA who Melinda May is! She's had essentially no interaction with SHIELD beyond Cap and Nat.

"I think I'm drinkin' one'a your beers, Miste'ah." Rogue says when she makes eye contact with Hawkeye. I..." She cuts herself off and glances down at the bottle as she lifts it up and visually scans it labelings. "Do these things expire, how old is this any how?"

Hawkeye (Barton) has posed:
Kitty is a new face, but he's barely had time to do more than nod hello to her and Nat before *wham* he has a chest full of Janet.

"Heyyy" he greets laughing, returning the hug and smiling good naturedly after it's done even as she hits her chest. "No arguments here, crazy stuff over on the SHIELD side of things, all classified though, so can't say anything," he says with a smug smile. He's mostly joking, something Nat would know for sure with her clearance.

As to Jan's question about it being a social call or not, Clint says, "Sort of is and sort of isn't. On one hand, we have some Sentinels news, on the other, party invites. Oh, and for those of you who haven't met her yet, this is Deputy Director Melinda May."

The butlerbot and his load of pina coladas is grinned at, "This is the mansion, so Avengers rules I think, I mean that's what we do right? Save the world and day drink."

Rogue is met with a nod, and a smile. "God I hope they don't, glad someone's getting use out of them though. Got a spare?" he asks, though he quickly adds to May, "Want one too? Or should the bot mix you up one of those Pina Coladas?"

Melinda May has posed:
"Nothing for me, thanks." Well, unless there's hot tea to be had. But she bets not, so she'll pass. Her eyes seem to study each woman for an appraising moment, but she's like trying read the facial expressions on a Vulcan. If she's formed opinions, she's keeping them very much to herself.

"If possible, I would like to speak with Stark at his earliest opportunity." She doesn't specify if it has anything to do with the Sentinel news they've brought or if it's completely unrelated.

Shadowcat has posed:
Kitty Pryde remembers the last person that she saw Natasha with at Xavier's School was Logan. "If you're talking about Logan... I'm going to be a little sick in my mouth," the college-aged brunette says with a grimace for dramatic effect. Mainly. She takes another sip of her drink and then sets it aside so she can rise to her feet once Janet has made her greetings to her teammate.

Kitty will return the nod from Clint with a more formal greeting. "Kitty Pryde," she says, offering Clint her hand. "Current employee of Tony. Former and sometimes employee of Janet, when she fights Tony for my time," she says, flashing a grin over to Janet. If Clint is up on his Avenger's reading, he might remember Shadowcat of the X-men having revealed her identity to the team after helping crack the jammers that Sebastion was preventing scans with.

Kitty smiles over to May and says, "Oh, from SHIELD? Nice to meet you, Deputy Director May," she offers, along with her hand again.

Black Widow (Romanoff) has posed:
    "Logan has his uses, but I was considering your diverse cast. Commrade Rasputin is rather fetching." Nat says matter of factly, not like she's actually going to consider such trite but she does mention it. A look is given to Clint with a subtle nod as she totally understands the reference he's making, but she has nothing of value to add, not with this crowd so instead she leans against a chair and takes another sip of her liquor filled drink.

    "There's only two non avengers in this room Deputy May, and you're one of them, go ahead and consider this room vetted and cleared." Tell us the news. The spy is informing May that this is as safe a place as she'll get without hand picking each person for a meeting. "In case she forget, she works for Strange too. This girl gets around Clint."

Wasp (van Dyne) has posed:
"Oh, right-- Director May, this is Kitty Pryde," Janet says, gesturing at that notable. "And Anne-Marie..." She peers at Rogue. "You know, I don't know your last name? I don't even like calling you Anne Marie. No girl should be cursed with two first names." She makes a face.

"But Rogue's an Avenger, and I'll put my Avenger club card down and back Kitty, unequivocally," she tells May. "She's in the loop already so it's not much of a security risk."

She eyes Clint, then discreetly beckons over the ButlerBot and wiggles a pina colada at his peripheral vision.

"Anyway, not sure where Tony is-- JARVIS, please page Tony and let Steve know that his coworkers are here?" she asks, raising her voice to the AI.

JARVIS' voice echoes: 'Alerts have been sent, mum'.

"Wonderful, thank you dear," Janet murmurs, focusing back on May. "Meanwhile, let's talk Sentinels. What do you have for us?" In a second her voice goes from bubbling socialite to cool business professional, totally focused on the task at hand.

Well, mostly. She retrieves her pina colada and bites the straw for another sip.

Rogue has posed:
Rogue just points Clint toward the fridge. "There's more'a the beers in there, I think I saw four or so." She tells him before she nods once softly to May. "There's some sweet tea and lemonade in there too, thats from when I lived here." She then raises the pina colada up and takes a sip from it while her eyes sweep over to Natasha. After her drink she flashes the spy a grin.

"I can't even remember how t'do the light ball spell he took months t'get me t'figure out. Its not workin' anymore. I'm afraid t'go tell'im too, cause he gets madder'n a cat that just got its tail stepped on."

The beer is then drank as she continues to swap between the two of them and her eyes go to Janet. A happy smile is shown then. "Anna Marie Priscilla D'Ancanto Carlyle... Rogue." She rattles off her full name to the fashionista. "I take which eve'ah people wanna use."

Hawkeye (Barton) has posed:
"I'm sure they've got tea somewhere around here," Clint says to May. Though knowing this lot it probably has booze in it.

"/That/ must be fun," Clint smiles to Kitty about her two bosses. "And you hang around in your off time in places where they can find you?" he teases lightly. "Clint Barton by the way."

He totally didn't keep up with the latest Avengers events otherwise he would most definitely have realized who Kitty was. It was on his very long to-do list.

"And what's that about Logan?" Clint asks nosing into that conversation between Kitty and Nat with a grin.

There's another subtle but meaningful look to Nat though, a quiet 'we'll talk' and an acknowledgement that this was neither the time or the place.

When offered booze from two quarters, Clint ops for the pina colada on the way over to claim a beer from the fridge, might as well fully embrace being back. He takes a sip of the drink as he does. "Mmm not bad."

"So, while we wait to see if Tony makes an appearance, first order of business, a party. Namely for Skye, that's my girlfriend if you haven't met her yet, and Cap for their birthdays, which are pretty close together as it turns out so SHIELD is being as efficient and always and throwing one big bash. You are all welcome. We promise no mind control drugs in the beers, or trackers in the food, and if we're lucky, Deadpool might show up and sing Disney songs like last year. No joke, sung Fixer Upper, I think someone posted the video online. Anyhow, it's at my place with Skye in the Village, and you're all invited."

Melinda May has posed:
"Ms. Pryde." May shakes Kitty's hand firmly but not aggressively. "Ms. Carlyle." Her eyes land on Janet and Natasha briefly, wordlessly acknowledging and thanking them for reassuring her that the two less familiar women are trustworthy.

Letting Clint explain about the party, she doesn't seem interested in accepting Rogue's offer of iced tea or seeking out the tea that Barton mentioned has to be here somewhere. And, she waits for the next, possibly less pleasant news until after the women all react to the party invitation. It's just easier that way.

Shadowcat has posed:
Kitty Pryde returns May's greeting with a pleasing enough handshake. She gives a warm chuckle at Clint's comment. "Well, yes, honestly they have both been great to work for me. One interrupts business meetings with mimosas, and the other lets me track Sentinels with satellites. What else could a working girl ask for?" Kitty says, and perhaps the surprise will be that Tony wasn't the boss offering the alcohol to people.

Rogue gets a grin as she gives her full name. "I wonder what age you were before you memorized that whole thing?" she asks. "Though, you probably heard it said an awful lot in that, you're in trouble so I'm using your full name, way," Kitty adds.

The mention of the party gets a smile from Kitty. But she knows she's really part of the target crowd there, so sort of glances over to Janet to make sure she'd be ok with Kitty attending, seeing as Steve is the birthday person she knows.

Black Widow (Romanoff) has posed:
    Natasha looks to Clint with that kind of stare only close friends who aren't actually telepaths can muster, but she does convey her thought on the subject in that brief moment. She then turns to Rogue and Janet but finds words aren't needed there. No, Natasha stays silent for now until her beverage reaches its end and she slurps it for a moment from the straw, wanting more, but not indulging herself. Not this time.

Iron Man has posed:
"Ms. Van Dyne, Mr. Stark is on his way," JARVIS asserts from the general ambiance of the room.

There was barely any warning, but that isn't unusual: most of the time JARVIS isn't certain if Tony is actually going to a meeting or is just going to go somewhere else, until he's just about to the destination.

Tony appears from the main doorway, in a relaxed stroll. To those familiar with him, he's in 'work' mode and attire. He looks tired but upbeat, and is dressed very simply jeans with scorches on one leg, and a dark blue zipper hoodie clearly thrown on over a tank-top. There are marks on his wrists, from that he'd clearly been wearing protective gloves, but some soot has splashed onto his wrists and forearms. There's some on his cheeks as well, with the light outline of where he'd been wearing protective eyewear under alert brown eyes.

"Hey, got a whole gang here," Tony observes as he enters, in his usual grand way. His charisma is usually like an elephant entering the room.

Wasp (van Dyne) has posed:
"A party? That sounds like a triff idea!" Janet says, clapping her hands. "I can't speak for the Avengers, but I'll definitely drag Steve along. It can't be on the Fourth though," she adds, hastily. "The boys have this barbecue planned. Tony and Hank are secretly building arc reactor powered grills. And..." She glances around, then leans forward conspiratoirally. "We're planning a quiet little surprise party for Steve here-- just the," she gestures vaguely at herself, Rogue, and Natasha. "You know. The core team. Keeping it in the mansion, you /know/ how Steve is about big parties and fireworks and being the 'cause celebre'," she says with an eloqunet eyeroll.

"And, y'know. We've got some soldiers here," she says, quietly, and plucks at the hem of her dress. "Rhodey, and Steve. Carol. The building's got good noise insulation. Y'know." She waves a hand skywards. "Fireworks, and all."

She looks up at Tony and flashes a smile at him when he arrives. "Tony, you've got some--" she prompts him, and waves her fingers near her own face in a circle.

Rogue has posed:
Rogue looks up at the mention of 'party' but when she hears its for Cap she instantly assumes there's not gonna be any drinks there, or they'll be heavily IDing people. She doesn't know Skye though, but if Clint likes her she must be pretty great.

At Kitty's tease of her names, Rogue stands up off of the sofa's arm to let someone sit down without having her looming over them if they want to. "Why d'ya think she shortened it t'just shoutin' 'Rogue!' at me." The southern girl says as she saunters past Natasha and gives the woman the half-drank pina calada glass in her left hand, letting her have the rest as she moves to now sit on the arm of the chair in-which Kitty is seated on, choosing to LOOM OVER KITTY instead.

Rogue looks up to the doorway when that train car of charisma arrives in the form of Tony and she just grins to him, and to Janet but otherwise remains quiet for now since there's quite a few more people here now.

Hawkeye (Barton) has posed:
Clint grins at Kitty's reply, his brows lifting at that last part. "You definitely need to meet, Skye. I think you guys'd get along. Sounds like a dececent pair of gigs though," he says before asking May. "So can we have mimosas during briefings?"

There's a nod from Clint and a smile, he lifts his glass to Nat and takes a drink. 'Nuff said.

When Tony makes an entrance, Clint grins giving him a salute with his drink as well, "Hey, T, guess who's back?"

Clint nods about the party "Thinking the third, right between the two birthdays," before smiling. "And figured we could count on you, I assure you no fireworks planned, our neighbours hate us enough already," he says before nodding about the surprise party. "Count me in on that one as well." He assumes he still counts as part of the core team.

"Anyhow, everyone's invited, it should be fun, nice get together of spies and superheroes, nothing could possibly go wrong."

Melinda May has posed:
May watches Tony's entrance from where's she's standing to one side of the door, and just waits for him to realize she's there. She's mentally guessing over one minute. Though she might just ruin it here.

Clint's question about mimosas during briefings earns him an immediate but calm as ever "No." But, now that she's announced her presence to the most recent arrival, she continues. "We have some information about the Sentinels that have been appearing with increasing frequency of late, and felt your group needed to know as well." But, she's totally going to make Clint explain.

The price he pays for that drink in his hand.

And yes, she's driving. No, Clint can't argue.

Black Widow (Romanoff) has posed:
    Natasha ends up holding a half drunk pina colada and shrugs her shoulder once at it. Rogue survived drinking it, she'll be fine. So taking a bite of her straw, Natasha takes another sip before shifting her gaze to the Iron Man. "Glad you could finally make it to one of these meetings." She says in her dry sense of humor way. Though the super-spy doesn't draw any more attention to herself as she stays out of the center of attention, the way she was taught to for quite a while.

Shadowcat has posed:
Kitty moves over to the RoboBartender, passing her glass over to get another. The brunette smiles to Clint. "I'll look forward to meeting her," she tells him. And Rogue gets a warm laugh at the explanation of her nickname. "You know I don't think I ever did hear that as the origin of the name," she tells the Southern belle.

Kitty gives Tony an upnod of greeting and a wave hello. "Hey Tony, heard your birthday week was a blast. And thanks for coming by the cookout. Everyone loved having all of you out there," she tells him, and turns to include Janet in that statement.

Kitty returns to that chair with the super soft leather, wiggling a bit into it as she gets comfortable. Oh yes. This is the life. Somehow she will figure out how to score one of these chairs for herself. After everyone is gone she'll probably tip it over to see who the manufacturer is. Probably Italian leather and costs more than a trio of her paychecks.

Iron Man has posed:
Tony looks to Janet when she 'welcomes' him with the gesture around her face. He echoes with motion around his own face, with a cheeky smile. "All this? Try not to stare into the sun too long, or there's no going back," he teases Janet lightly, with more than a little bit of arrogance.

"If you say Ultron, tell him to come back later, we have enough crazy AI problems, and I'm booked solid," Tony answers Clint, but crosses to attempt to clap him on the shoulder and even come in for a one-armed bro-hug. "Missed havin' you around, hotshot," Tony adds, more quietly, in a rare show of an honest statement to his friend: one not covered in sarcasm. His attention is on Clint, at least at first, but moves across the others. His sharp, dark eyes clearly register that he took in what she's saying about Sentinels, and then cross to Natasha.

"I'm actually in the middle of Vision repairs, but happy to raise the bar of your opinion of me even higher," he teases Natasha. "How long do we have you for, before you go back?" Tony asks, in a somewhat coded way. He wouldn't expose her situation, of course. "Roughly. Days? Hours?"

Kitty gets a flash of smile and an 'I know' mouth of silent words to her, somewhat teasing. But also serious. Because Tony.

Rogue has posed:
Rogue is quiet for the time being, mostly at least, she just sits there on the arm of the chair that Kitty is in mad love with, her beer is now held between her thighs up near her knees and she places her elbows ontop of said thighs, just lounging there and looking from person to person.

"Tony." She speaks quietly to get his attention. "Did you hear about the spider-bots that our people ran inta in the subway tunnels? We don't have any idea what they are or where they came from, let alone where they went. They were after a mutant convoy too. All their bodies were self destructed, weren't able t'get a full corpse t'look at. Scott's pretty worried about it."

Thats all she adds to the conversation, not wanting to butt-in on any of the rest as there's important stuff going on now.

Wasp (van Dyne) has posed:
"Oh, my GOD, Tony," Janet says, rolling her eyes at him. "First, stop flirting with me so badly, or I'll sic Steve on you," she tells him. "Second, how are you not done with Vision's rebooting or whatever yet?"

She flutters lashes at Tony. "You know, Hank told me he could get it done inside of a week if you'd just get out of his way," she says, baiting the billionaire industrialist in his weak spot-- his professional pride!

Black Widow (Romanoff) has posed:
    Natasha waits for Tony to be close enough to her to whisper her secret to him, despite everyone else being on the team, he's the only one to openly ask about it. "I go back tonight. In fact, I should be on my way." The agent says as she stands fully and gives Tony the now twice hand-me-down drink before she thoughtlessly walks towards the door without giving anyone a farewell or any sort of parting before she's slipping out the door.

Hawkeye (Barton) has posed:
Punishment or no, that Clint was the one to share the intel came as a suprise to Clint. He gets up and leans over to May, "Which details? The one Quaid gave us?" he asks her, not expecting to be the one to brief his team.

"Drink?" he offers her with a grin, knowing he's going to be all sorts of trouble back at the office, so why not just roll with it? It's the Clint Barton way.

Then it's bro-hug time with Tony, Clint returns it with gusto, "Missed you too, Tony," he says, as he claps the man on the back before letting go. "And I plan to be around a lot more often."

"As to the Sentinel stuff there was a small glitch on who exactly had the info on that," he explains. "But," he produces a USB drive. "There is some handy code here, we might be able to twist to use against the Sentinels, we used it to take down Arnim Zola when he tried to go full Lawnmower Man, and might be useful against the Sentinels, I hear there's some guy infected by them or something?"

Yeah, Clint really had been focused on the Zola thing for too long.

Nat's departure is noted and he gives the spy a quick nod before she vanishes out the door.

Melinda May has posed:
If May hadn't long since taught herself to resist the urge to roll her eyes, they'd be on the floor and across the room at Clint's words. Of course he's forgotten. So, she'll offer what she has off the top of her head, and she's not going to let on that this is what happened.

"Perhaps it would be best to discuss the Sentinel situation with you separately, Stark. It's become ... involved. When will you have time to meet and talk?"

She is fully aware of Natasha's quiet departure, and as is normal for her, she's not mentioning it in any way.

Shadowcat has posed:
Though Kitty hadn't mentioned on the phone to Janet about a reason for the visit other than social, she slips a hand into a back pocket and pulls out a thumb drive as well. "While we're here, I wanted to hand deliver this," she says, glancing over to Tony to make sure he's included in it.

"There's a lot of information on the Sentinel factory in New Jersey here. Security procedures for their computers. Policies, inventory procedures. There are some good details in the inventory that suggest to me some improvements on attacking their tech. And defending against it. I have a short-term scrambler of their communications that I'm already upgrading because of it. Also, some specs on their beam weapons, some insight into their group coordination and tactics. Lots of Trask corporate information. Perhaps most importantly, some information on the Master Mold, which is located in a 20-story underground facility beneath the rest of the factory. The Mold is literally the factory inside of which the Sentinels are made. There are also some people on site underground in stasis, a half-dozen," Kitty says. "Their location is included. Don't know what their deal is though. I'll forward the entire data set to you Tony, but wanted to get this summary over first thing while we get the rest of it reconstituted," she tells him. Not mentioning it's still being downloaded out of a student's brain. If that doesn't break some New York education laws? It probably should.

Iron Man has posed:
"You know, it isn't as simple as switching on the kitchen light; perhaps you could have told him not to get himself blown up, Janet, so that his issues could steer clear of your meeting and party plans," Tony scoffs back to her. The extremely low blow, involving Pym, does have the desired effect: Tony immediately makes a face and rolls his eyes impressively far back into his head. The long-suffering groan is a typical Tony-show, that ends with a vague gesture of a hand.

"So, /Dr. Pym/," Tony begins to Janet, with a clear annoyance very obviously voiced at not calling Pym 'Hank', "lost his credit about me 'getting out of the way' with Ultron. Faster doesn't mean better; of the two of us, he's now caused TWO robots to be walking nightmares, so we're going with MY judgement calls, here, regarding AI."

Tony ignores the drink extended to him by Nat -- he hates when people hand him things -- so it'll end up on a surface near him or in say, Clint's possession, if she elects to leave it. "We're sort of a reverse lawnmower-man, Clint, with this area. A robot going towards cyborg. Pretty horrifying. Still, definitely can have a pow-wow."

He doesn't take either thumb drive now being extended, but points at the table: "Let's make a pile. Got a drive, donate it here; I'll collect and redistribute the wealth," Tony instructs, raising his voice to include the room as a whole. Other people may have them. He waggles a hand at one of the little robot drones that was peacefully nearby, and it comes over to pick up the USBs. "---And jokes aside, Vision paid for tangling with the rogue sentinel dearly, and it isn't funny. I've got a few more things to sort through, though, and I'm confident about restoring him."

Tony looks to May. "Yeah, or take Pym. He's not busy," Tony says, in a manner that suggests he hopes Pym IS busy and gets inconvenienced. "Stasis? More? All right. Pym was one of the people in stasis, Kitty. Definitely hit him up. He has a lab on our back lawn." No, there's no evil quality there to sending everyone and their brother to Pym's lab. /Not at all./

Wasp (van Dyne) has posed:
Janet wraps her mouth around her drink while Tony talks, eyes full of innocent insoucience; she returns Tony's eyeroll with one of her own. "Sounds like quitter talk~," she sings at him. Slurrrp.

Fingers are wiggled at Natasha's departing back. Janet shifts in her seat and gives May a flat look. "You can tell everyone," she prompts May. "Tony's just going to tell us anyway. The Avengers, we don't do things like 'clearances' and whatnot. If it's worth one of us knowing, all of us know it," she assures the SHIELD representative. "Tony's on point with the Sentinel issue-- but we're all still a /team/."

Hawkeye (Barton) has posed:
"Don't you just hate it when someone else gives the same gift as you?" Clint asks Kitty as she produces her own USB drive. Taking the drink off Nat, Clint delivers it and the USB drive to the surface Tony indicates. He'd almost forgotten that tick of Tony's.

"It's more that it's eyes glazing over technical, than trying to keep a secret Jan," Clint explains. "Though what I do know is, the NYPD has a Sentinel and one of those cyborgs in custody, they offered us a look at both. Not sure where you guys are at with the tech side, but, figured it couldn't hurt to open that invitation up a little."

The NYPD might have something to say about it, but Clint could burn that bridge when he gets to it.

Tony's explanation about what the Sentinels were doing is met with a nod, see, everything's easier to understand when framed in the context of movies. "So, you're saying besides killing mutants these things want to become real boys?" Clint shakes his head. "I say once we get Vision back on his feet, no more robots or computer people, none, I'm totally done with them."

Melinda May has posed:
May watches the USB exchange, either mentally noting Tony's 'don't hand me things' quirk or being reminded of it. She then adds to what Clint's just shared. "I have been in contact with NYPD Captain Frank Quaid about this as well, and I plan to schedule a meeting with him to speak about this Sebastion individual in his custody." This actually dovetails in well with the other reason she wanted to talk to Tony, and if Jan wants transparency, she'll get it here and now.

"The other discussion point, Stark, is that one of my top intel analysts has suffered an arm injury." Yes, she's being careful to NOT say who exactly this is. "I was wondering if we could borrow some non-tactile interface technology."

Shadowcat has posed:
Kitty Pryde laughs and grins over to Clint. "It is tough to decide what to get a man who has his own tower," she agrees with him. Kitty puts the drive over for Tony to pick up. She'd heard rumors about Tony not liking being handed things around the water cooler. But never really seen any sign of it before now.

The information provided, Kitty settles back into her chair again. She takes a sip of her pina colada, and the talk about getting Tony the same thing prods her memory. "Janet, what should I get Steve for his birthday?" she inquires, figuring Janet knows him as well as anyone. Or at least as well as anyone she knows. "And nothing edible," she says, pointing a finger at Janet to forestall that possible answer even as she grins.

Iron Man has posed:
Lots of people seem to be taking in Tony's pet peeve. As always, Tony's shameless about ... everything. He catches at least one of the eyebrow-raises, and comments, "I hate it when people hand me things," in a shrugging manner, while he picks up the abandoned drink that Natasha left. It's an automatic thing, he doesn't seem even aware of it. Alcohol nearby ends up in Tony's hand: that's just the way of the world.

"Hey, either way, I'm willing to grant some special one on one time," Tony teases May, lightening the mood of her more serious request, and hopefully also Janet's rebuttal. He shakes his head at Janet, as if to suggest she's cock-blocking.

"I don't tell them /everything/, I don't always kiss and tell," Tony teases May. There's no actual flirt behind it, he's playing. It might actually seem a little unusual, that there's no real flirt underneath: Pepper must have really 'gotten' to Tony somehow...

"NYPD? Can't confirm he's still with them, but I hoped so. I suspect he's slowly losing power, based on the scans we made before he fought Vision. If the police can contain him, he may be as scary as a toaster by now," Tony says, with a dry quality that isn't as optimistic as it could have been.

"Arm injury? Yeah, can they just come by, or send the diagnostics? I'll see what I've got, but if it's not urgent, it'll be behind Vision in line," Tony explains to May.

Wasp (van Dyne) has posed:
"Tony's idea of playing discreet 'kiss and tell' is -not- hiring a brass band to proclaim his conquests immediatley afterwards," Janet mumbles at Kitty, sotto voce.

"These sentinels... they're weird. It's not just mutant hunting," she explains to the room. "They're seeking intelligence. Awarness, maybe," she amends. "Life. Kitty was there when this Megatron character activated. I've talked to Sebastion myself."

She furrows her brow. "I'm not an AI expert. These Sentinels, though... there's something pushing them beyond just hunting mutants. They're evolving. If that's not a definition of life, I don't know what is."

She fidgets in her seat. "I'm not saying we don't smash 'em when we see them, just.... this might be turning into a deeper ethical problem than any of us realized at first."

Hawkeye (Barton) has posed:
When posed the question of what to get the guy with a tower, Clint answers: "A tanker full of windex?"

That answer is given with a smile.

As to the whole issue of non-tactile tech Clint adds to May's case. "Not sure what all that meant, but basically you know, that hologram interface you use in your lab, something like that."

In case there's any doubt about what he means he mimes the wavy hand motions, somehow managing not to spill his drink while doing it. Who said archery was his only talent?

Clint frowns at Jan's explanation of the Sentinels evolution, "Damn, I hate these dilemmas, but end of the day we've got to be the good guys, so, if they've crossed whatever line exists between big dumb killer robot and Vision, we got to give them a chance to surrender, and maybe a nice planet that's not Earth to live on."

Shadowcat has posed:
Kitty gives Janet a small grin at her comment. Clint gets another as well. "You're funny. I like you," she concludes to Clint. "Plus the whole arrow thing is pretty cool. And you were doing it before Hunger Games."

She finishes her drink and rises, returning the glass over to the robot bartender but waving off a refill. She turns back, looking a little more serious and nodding at what Janet has said about their evolution. "I tapped an information source from... well just call it a future time from a different Earth. Not our own, as there are distinct differences. But in it, the Sentinels took over all of North America. And it sounds like they continued to develop, and advance, in a direction of wanting to become more humanlike. Though there are definitely differences - like there was no Superman on that Earth - a lot of the Sentinel's origins are similar. Trask, etc," Kitty says.

"I don't really have any hard information there. Other than... I was hugely wary of Sebastion to start with, knowing where the creation of Sentinels took another timeline. And I'm still wary of him. If he is depleted, perhaps he might cooperate in helping us end the threat? But I'm very wary of anything that gives him a chance of going out there into our world again. And if he's going to be allowed to live, it needs to be somewhere away from Earth that he can't come back to us ever again. And I don't mean the future either. Last thing we want is to defeat the Sentinels here, and then make our descendants have to fight them," she says.

Kitty then gives them a smile. "And with that happy news, I should get back. Wong mentioned a lasagna recipe that I simply must try, he said." She gives everyone a wave. "I'll get the rest of the data to you soon as it's reassembled, Tony," she says, before heading off.

Iron Man has posed:
"If you're volunteering to help wash the windows of Stark Tower, I'd accept it for failing to come to MY birthday," Tony teases Clint in answer, accepting of the tank of windex, clearly. "Although my 'bots do a fine job, no streaks."

Tony picks up the various thumb drives in his free hand, and drinks half of whatever alcohol thing he'd ended up taking possession of. "I'll get this copied and spread out, then. More meetings, just ask JARVIS. We'll fit it in," Tony says, in a way that gives no real promise about 'when'. The man is notoriously difficult to schedule with.

"Have another round, on me," he teases, with a gesture to the robot bartender, and heads off with the drives.