8511/Saved: Lunch Questions

Saved: Lunch Questions
Date of Scene:	25 July 2019
Location:	Which, Tribecca, New York City
Synopsis:	Polaris and Elixir have lunch and talk family, being public mutants and saving lives.
Thanks to:	Polaris
Cast of Characters:	Elixir, Polaris
Tinyplot:	Saved

---

Elixir has posed:
Josh did not exactly think it through. It just ocurred to him that he ought to get to know Lorna better, so he texted and asked if he could buy her lunch. Details like where princesses actually eat, asking Wanda first and what you even wear did not really occur to him until he was already sitting at Which, in Tribecca. The place was, true to the online reviews, one of those ridiculously trendy places right now. They made a huge deal out of producing a range of odd takes on sandwich favourites and other lunch food. But apparently they did it well.

By no small miracle Josh managed to snag a table inside and sat waiting for Lorna. Grey shorts, flip flops and and a green t-shirt made him look like what he was. Yet another college student out for lunch.

Polaris has posed:
Lorna was well known by appearances to those that cared to know. The general population by and large didn't equate green hair with royalty, and by and large, outside of Mutant Town the general populace just didn't recognize her. Still, she wore a pair of oversized sunglasses, and a pair of skinny jeans and a loose fitting band T-shirt. Her green hair tumbled down around her shoulders in a messy tangle of curls. She entered with a swung of the door bell's chime and a click of her heels. She flashed Josh a smile as she approached him, sliding into the booth with all the confidence of a woman that rarely met a problem she couldn't beat into submission one way or another.

"Hey Josh, I dunno if I ever got to thank you for the save back on the bus, but thanks." She paused, and pushed her sunglasses up on top of her head.

Elixir has posed:
Josh beams a big smile at Lorna when she arrives. He stands up until she sits and then sits as well.

"Hey, seriously, don't worry about it. Glad to help!" he says with a grin.

"Thanks for coming. Was it hard to find? Hope you don't mind the food. It's supposed to /really/ good, you know? Please don't tell me you hate artisan sandwiches!"

Polaris has posed:
Lorna grinned and shrugged lightly as she settled her purse on the edge of her seat. "Hey, I like sandwiches as much as the next person. You really can't mess them up that much." She leaned back, crossing her legs as she glanced around the little restaurant and she hmm'ed partly to herself as her focus returned to Josh across from her.

"How did you meet my sister anyways? I didn't get the whole 'how' from her last we talked about you. Mostly, I think, 'cause Pietro was there and practically vibrating into a million pieces as he usually does." She glanced at the menu then, plucking up the folded bit of stylized paper on the table.

Elixir has posed:
"I saw her across the street going into the church in Bushwick, you know? And I figured, like, when was I ever gonna get a chance to see Scarlet Witch again? So I went in, too," Josh says with a chuckle. "Honest, I was gonna sneak a look and leave, but there were people coming in and I was in the way so I sat down..... And then realized I was an idiot and sat next to her."

Josh colours a bit while he looks over the menu.

"I don't usually hit on people at church, but in my defense, she started talking to me!" he says with a grin. "And then we went for a drink. Kinda weird story, you know?"

Polaris has posed:
Lorna laughed softly, a gentle smile on her lips at the story. "That's oddly normal for the both of you. I'm happy to hear it. I was mildly worried there was some horrible fight and she'd been injured and you had to rush in to save her or something." She shrugged lightly, and eyed the menu curiously, flipping it over once or twice as she read over the various sandwiches on offer.

"..Josh, have you ever met my father? What are your thoughts on him, by the way.. I've known people that run the gambit when it comes to him in general..." She trailed off, green eyes lifting to study him as she spoke. It was a sudden flip of the conversation, one that she'd obviously planned to try to throw him off.

Elixir has posed:
Josh looks up over the top of the menu and sets it down. He runs a hand through his hair and makes a bit of a face.

"Yeah... Your dad. I dunno, I mean, he was one of The Evil Mutants, you know? And I've been trying not to think about him too much," Josh admits. "I'm worried about what he's gonna think about me. I don't wanna step foot in Genoshan and end up in jail."

"Hi! My name is Laura, I'll be your server today," a young man with short dark hair says to the two. Her eyes light on Lorna and she brightens, and tries to hide it. "What can I get you?"

Josh looks to Lorna for her to order first, before he orders a maple apple reuben and a drink.

"Alright, I'll be right back with your drinks," Laura says. She lingers a moment and then beams at Lorna.

"I love your hair. I've always loved your hair, it's gorgeous," she gushes, just short of squeeing. She looks like she might ask something but then clears out.

"Going for lunch with you is like going anywhere with Wanda," Josh comments. His phone buzzes. He checks the text message out of habit and stuffs the phone back in his pocket. "Sorry, just making sure it's not the team."

Polaris has posed:
Lorna arched a brow at Josh, eyeing him from over the top of the folded paper menu, it hid the lower part of her face. "I dislike the tagline of 'evil'. Evil is an easy way to ignore the problems and flaws of something. Messed up, deeply obsessed, and many, many issues.. yes. Evil no." She murmured, lowering the menu finally as it revealed a dry looking smile to the curve of her lips.

"My father won't throw you in jail. You're a mutant, and you make Wanda happy. That'll be enough for him. Trust me." She murmured, and anything further broke off as Laura came over with a chirp and Lorna rattled off her order with a gracious expression on her features. She hadn't expected anyone to recognize her, but it happened often enough that she managed easily.

"Thank you, Laura." She offered and glanced back to Josh with a tilt of her head.

"Don't worry about it. And seriously, this is nothing. You should be prepared for what would happen if you and Wanda get serious and you both visit Genosha. People there... are extremely proud of being mutants and most feel strongly about our family."

Elixir has posed:
"Well, I guess we'll see. I was worried I'd be like a terrorist or war criminal in Genosha," Josh says and rubs the back of his neck.

"I mean don't get me wrong. I hear what your father is saying /now/. But I grew up in the Church of Human Potential, so all I heard about him was... Well, what they wanted to tell us," Josh says with a shrug.

"Now? I dunno. Mutants need somewhere safe, because people like the Reavers? They will never, ever, ever stop. They'll kill us all if they can."

Polaris has posed:
Lorna shrugged lightly, folding her hands on the table top before her. "I'm never going to say my father is perfect, or infallible. He's a man however, no matter how much he wants to claim that mutants are superior or whatever. He makes mistakes. He's flawed. He struggles from extreme to extreme. He's a flawed man. Just the same as anyone else.. He just happens to have power and position now." She rolled her eyes slightly at that.

"He's not that protective over my sister or me. He has no right to be. He didn't raise us, and it's frankly insulting to think we need protection from whoever we choose to date." She reached for her glass of water and sipped at it.

"Don't get me wrong, there are threats against us and Genosha is absolutely needed. But I wouldn't worry too badly about my father."

Elixir has posed:
"Thanks for that," Josh says with a smile.

"How do you work through it all? I mean, people assume things because of who you are, but then there's also the team, public duties..." Josh shakes his head with a smile. "That's a lot to juggle. I mean..."

"Oh my god!" Laura says. She looks concerned and horrified.

"Just get me a towel..." one of her young male co-workers says. He is standing behind the counter and bleeding quite a bit from his hand. "Ahh..."

Laura scrambles around to find something. Her co-worker has obviously gashed himself very badly.

Josh is about to get up but he stops and looks uncertain, frozen between moving and not.

Polaris has posed:
Lorna arched a brow, "How do I deal with it? I just have to. It's not like I have a choice to avoid who and what I am. I will always //be// Polaris. Always be 'Daughter of Magneto'. One way or another, that's what people will assume about me, that I'm just like him. How I present myself, how I act, and what I do with all that? That's really who I am." She shrugged lightly, and pushed her hair back from her face.

"It took me //years// to figure out that anything else doesn't really matter. People will hate or love me, they'll scream and try to kill me. Or not. Balancing the team and Genosha is something I'm still trying to figure out though.." She exhaled a breath, and looked as if she'd say more until there was the gasp and cry from the server behind her.

Immediately, Lorna shot Josh a look. "You gonna try to help him, or should we just sit here like you can't do something about it?"

Elixir has posed:
Josh makes a face. "I should help him, right?" Josh asks, acutely aware he had done the very same thing for a smaller cut for his lunch companion.

"But? Wanda and I got cornered by people who wanted like, their cancer healed," Josh says in a hurried whisper. "Do we risk it? I don't wanna get mobbed but I dunno I could eat if I sit here."

Laura's co-worker is wrapping a bar towel of something around his. The two argue about what to do for it." Two guys in their late 20's get from their table offer a hand.

Polaris has posed:
Lorna shrugged once and glanced over her shoulder again and back. "I can't do anything for him. It's not my gift. If he needed I dunno, his heart jump started from an electromagnetic burst. Sure. I could do something, but that's it. Or maybe if he was crushed under a steel beam, or a car. I could do something." She reached for her glass of water, completely unruffled looking as she sipped at it again. Even as Josh leaned forward and whispered.

"Then don't do anything, if you're worried about what people will do. Or heal him part way so he doesn't need an emergency room visit. He'll live, I'm sure either way. But you need to decide what you want to do. It's your life. Your powers. No one can make that choice for you." She took another slow sip of her drink.

Elixir has posed:
"Would you? That's a stupid question. You do it all the time, right out in public," Josh says and makes a face. "I'll be right back."

He gets up and goes over to the four behind the counter. He says a few things quickly and disappears into the back with the young server. About five minutes later, Josh walks back out. He has plates for each of them with their orders and carefully sets Lorna's in front of her.

"Well, it got our orders done first," he says and casts a glance back toward the kitchen.

"I wish I was where you are with this stuff," Josh says and shakes his head. "It's like, either I have to hide all the time or be right out there. Though I guess hiding's not a thing anymore. There's always people around the Avengers Mansion. I had to walk through like a crowd of tourists just to get out of there."

Polaris has posed:
Lorna arched a green eyebrow in challenge as Josh asked 'would you', and immediately answered his own question. Of course she would. Lorna didn't have the ability to hide who she was without effort on her part. She simply sat there, her magnetic senses alight as she used them to sense what was going on in the backrooms as much as possible. It was a mixed bag, but the lack of knives flying their way was a good sign.

The green haired woman simply sat there and sipped her water until Josh returned with plates in hand. She smiled, and reached for her food with a one armed shrug. "I didn't have a choice. Once my powers manifested people started judging me. Before I even knew who my father was, people at the school made assumptions about me. When it got out who he was to me? Well, people talked. Once word got out there was no stopping it. My options are to own it, or run away from everyone and everything and be scared. I made my choice, it wasn't easy. It took //years// to get where I am Josh."

Elixir has posed:
Josh sighs a bit and nods. "If you've got any extra of that wisdom kicking around in your purse or something, hook me up," he says with a wry grin. "You're just so... Settled about it."

He picks up his sandwich, waits for Lorna to take a bite of hers and then does so himself.

"Huh, this is pretty good, how's yours?" he asks, covering his mouth. One of the line cooks pokes his head out of the kitchen, looks in the direction of their table then disappears.

"I guess we don't pick the cards we're dealt," he adds with some resignation. "Anyway, you were gonna say about balancing Genosha and the team?"

Polaris has posed:
Lorna chewed in a thoughtful silence, tilting her head slightly as she ate and considered what Josh had to say. She smiled faintly as he asked about little crumbs of wisdom she might have kicking about. She paused, swallowing as she took a sip of her drink. "Settled is one way to put it, I guess. Trust me, I was a wreck for a long while after the truth of things came out. I couldn't use my powers, I hated everyone and everything. I tried to run and hide from the team.. everything." She sighed and with a glance at the food she nodded.

"It's pretty good. I mean, hard to mess up a sandwich in my opinion." She shrugged again, and as Josh prodded her to talk about balancing the team and Genosha she pursed her lips.

"People know where my loyalties lie. I've made no secret of it. Will I support the team? Of course. However if it came to fighting to protect people here or people in Genosha, my people will always hold my heart. Most of them can't protect themselves, and I have a duty to protect them. I'm their Princess, and with that fluff and wealth and everything else... I owe them what I can give." She swallowed hard, and glanced down at the glass in her grip.

"It's something I still struggle with. My father isn't someone most want to make alliances with. Even for the good of Genosha's people. And I have to think long and hard about my life and committing it to Genosha. Wanda and Pietro...? It's obvious to everyone that their loyalties aren't to the island. I can't blame them for that. Our father really did a number on their trust."

Elixir has posed:
"Yeah, well they're lucky they've got you to help balance things out in Genosha then," Josh says soberly and then grins. "And raise hell if it's gotta be done. I mean seriously, just with you and your father it'd be insane to attack the island."

"Speaking of which, I hope you don't mind me asking but.... How are things going? Have they figured out what's been happening yet?"

Polaris has posed:
Lorna finished off her sandwich and seemed content to just sip at her water still. She swirled it around with the straw, the ice slushing back and forth as she considered what Josh had to say regarding someone wanting to attack the island. "It's a fear I have. All those mutants in one place. My father can probably stop nuclear bombs. Maybe. I dunno. Really don't want to test that. People want to send mutants away, Genosha is currently, an easy way for countries to do so. But it makes a target." She exhaled a breath, "And with things like Sebastian out there.. I don't know." She shook her head and grimaced faintly.

At the question regarding 'things' she shrugged again and heaved a sigh.

"I don't know, there's been nothing. My father's past has always haunted him. He doesn't talk about it. Ever. Him having to confront it like this.. I don't know."

Elixir has posed:
"Yeah, I guess," Josh thinks about it for a moment and shakes his head. "You need to be a PhD in political science, military strategy, communications and who knows what else for all this. Geez. No wonder Genosha needs so much of your time. I'm probably the last person with a right to say this? But thanks. For what you're doing," Josh says, and sincerely so.

When he finishes his sandwich Josh wipes his hands on a napkin. "I'm glad there hasn't been anything else. I don't know what I could do that your entire country can't, but if you ever need anything let me know. And not just cause of Wanda," he adds with a grin. Josh looks over as Laura comes back.

"How was everything? Looks like you're finished. My manager wanted to let you know that everything's on us today," she says with a bright smile and looks a bit sheepish. "Could I... get a picture with both of you?" she asks, pulling her phone out of her waist pouch.

Polaris has posed:
Lorna flashed Josh a faint twist of a smile on her lips, "I have a master's in geophysics, I had been working on my PhD before. And since then I've had a bit of a crash course in everything else. It's definitely kept me on my toes." She murmured, and shrugged once as she downed the rest of her water. "It's why I say that coming back here is more of a vacation than anything on Genosha." She exhaled a breath, and as Josh murmured a thank-you, she smiled again faintly.

"It's fine, and I appreciate it.. No one ever actually says that." She nodded as he offered to help out where he could. Anything else broke off as Laura came over and spoke. Lorna smiled, and rose as she pushed away from the table.

"It was amazing, thank you so much. And of course you can take a picture with me. I'd be honored." She murmured smoothly, that veneer of 'royalty' sliding over her expression and her tone of voice. It was a completely different Lorna, for her jeans and T-shirt, she was suddenly more poised, more confident and graceful. It was a mask, one that Josh likely hadn't seen her present before him previously.

Elixir has posed:
"Geez, you and Wanda are legit intimidating," Josh says with a wondering smile and shake of his head.

Josh tilts his head and suppresses a grin when her royal highness emerges. He leans back to get out of the way but Laura apparently meant both when she said it and waves him over. He shrugs to Lorna and comes around the table for the selfie.

"Thank you so much!" Laura says with a big grin. Josh just chuckles and takes his seat again. Laura passes him the folded bill, for a meal covered by the house, and a meaningful look. Then she smiles and walks off.

"Okay, that doesn't happen very often," he says dryly to Lorna as they get up. He waves to Laura and her co-worker, who is back behind the counter. He waves back with the hand he hurt and grins.

"I guess that royal charm of yours rubs..." Josh starts to say with a smirk. He stops talking when he flips the bill over to look at what Laura wrote. Her number is there but no hearts or smiley faces. Josh hands the bill to Lorna to have a look.

<My mom's really sick, can you help?>

"Once you're out, that's it. The demands never stop, do they?" he asks Lorna.

Polaris has posed:
Lorna smiled for the camera, and once that was done, she waved to Laura and her co-worker in the back. She dug into her purse as she swung it up over her shoulder. A healthy chunk of change ended up tucked onto her table, a tip, and one that was more than twice the amount the meal had cost. She reached up, adjusting her sunglasses on her head to slide down the bridge of her nose as she made to head to the door. As Josh flipped the paper back around and showed her, her lips pursed together.

"Genosha has more advanced health care than here in the US. Free too. We have mutants that can help. You don't have to carry the burden entirely by yourself." She reached out a hand toward Josh's arm, leading him out of the shop.

"You can't save everyone. Just do what you can."