8742/Just An Idea

Just An Idea
Date of Scene:	11 August 2019
Location:	Sanctum Santorum - Base Floor
Synopsis:	Felicia, true to her word, passes Loki's offer on to Doctor Strange.
Cast of Characters:	Black Cat, Doctor Strange

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Black Cat has posed:
A scattering of grains of pale sand outside of the Cat's Sanctum bedroom door are all that remains of proof of Felicia's recent visit to her family's beach house home. Arriving again in the brownstone meant a quick turn-about and change of clothing, to comfortable jeans (to the thief's standards, meaning they might as well be painted on) along with a stringy tanktop, this also fitted to pleasing personal standards.

"Copperfield?" She's not as loud as she might be downstairs in the foyer, but her voice still carries as she pads on bare feet towards the artifact collections section of the floor. Maybe he's in the library?

Doctor Strange has posed:
    Stephen peeks around the threshhold to the library and out towards the artifact collection that is the second landing of the Sanctum Sanctorum. The wizard wears a simple loose fitting gi, more of the chinese fashion with the looped holes holding the hooks of the opposite side of the garment closed over his chest. The man's goatee has begun to grow fuller and is nearing a beard with hair connecting to his grey temples.

    "Felicia? You using magic more than I have been lately." Stephen says sarcastically as she looks towards the sound of her voice.

Black Cat has posed:
"Me?" His statement does have the thief pausing about ten feet away and blinking in surprise. "I don't have magical abilities though. The door's just...part of the Sanctum...?" Her subtle questioning lilt of voice does carry a thread of concern. Granted, part of it too is for the Sorcerer's apparent change in grooming habits. Felicia covers the short distance in a quick spurt and her fingertips glance along his jawline.

"Going for mountain-man here, Copperfield? I can't decide whether or not I like you refined or rugged..." Her lips sport a mysterious little smile. "You're handsome either way, don't worry," she reassures him even as she automatically goes to straighten lapels. It doesn't quite work with the current mode of dress on Stephen, but old habits do die hard. Her jewel-like green eyes look between his. "You okay, Stephen...?"

Doctor Strange has posed:
    "Yes, I'm fine." Stephen answers Felicia's last question first as she steps up to him and he moves his hands to rest where her hips begin to swell out to her sides. "I have been quite busy with the problems of the multiverse. The faltinians have been moving to invade the realms of Mephisto and those of the fire heads that have been exhiled have seemingly been teaming up with the lord of lies himself. I'm trying to build a force to protect the dimensions against such a horrible incident."

    Stephen says with a sigh before he looks down into Felicia's eyes. "You seem to be busy, what is on your mind Felicia?"

Black Cat has posed:
"Oof." Felicia gives the Sorcerer an empathetic frown and thinning of her lips. Stepping into his space, she hugs him and holds him close. "I don't know half of what you just said, but I get the gist of it. It sounds like something that needs to stay out of our world." Her head fits beneath his chin and she lingers there, looking out at the middle distance beyond the curl of his bicep, defined beneath his shirt.

"It's kind of....probably another thing to add onto your already-heaping plate, hon, so it can wait until after you finish dealing with the craziness already at hand. Is that fair?" Pulling back, she looks up at him again and between his eyes, expression solemn.

Doctor Strange has posed:
    "Nope. Not fair. Neither of us should believe in fair Felicia." Stephen says as he returns the embrace and holds onto Felicia like she was a floatation device in the sea of insanity that his life has become. She's a rock for the wizard. "Go ahead and tell me what's the matter Felicia. I don't like surprises."

Black Cat has posed:
Her cheeks balloon out for a second and then she releases her sigh, her eyes sliding off to one side. "Sooooooooooo...I went to my beach house, right, because I wanted to see how it was doing. I don't like people wandering around on my family's property. When I showed up, somebody was there -- sooooooooo I went and talked to them because they kind of set up a lawn chair on the beach and were drinking wine -- and they had an offer."

Her fingers frill out off of Stephen's sides before returning to continue the hug. "We talked for a little bit and everything was fine, don't worry, I held my own." Against what? "Nothing funny happened." Oh dear. "Aaaannnnd...Loki said he'd give back the other two Orbs if you let him have access to the Sanctum again."

This last bit is said noticeably faster than casual conversation merits. Felicia gives Stephen an absolutely innocent, please-don't-shoot-the-messenger look now.

Doctor Strange has posed:
    "You know your innocent look does not work on me, especially with that perfume and those clothes." Stephens says as he pulls back from the embrace to hold Felicia at half an arms length.

    Taking in a deep breath, Stephen then takes his hands back and crosses them before his chest and ponders his next words carefully. "If you were in my shoes Felicia, what would you do?" He's curious about how she would handle this and also he's looking for ideas.

Black Cat has posed:
Felicia's own hands end up on her hips for a second before she brings them to interlace before her navel. Her fingers continually fiddle with the hem of her shirt as she frowns thoughtfully, still holding Stephen's gaze.

"Um...gosh. I think I'd have to think about how badly I wanted those two Orbs. He said he drained them of the excess energy, and the seasons are still not...imploding on themselves, so... Are the other two Orbs safe where they are -- or, like, relatively safe. If he's not on our side, he's on nobody's side, right? So it's not like he'd really let someone take the other two Orbs from him if only because I'd be able to make fun of him for it." She grins sharply for a second before becoming serious once more. Teasing the Trickster God -- this one has a hard time heeding warnings. "I mean, he didn't do anything funny to the Sanctum when he was Jeremy." Ouch, that still stings a little, remembering how she trusted the young lad and had that naive Bandaid ripped rudely away. "What if you allowed him to with proviso? Like, same rules as applied to Jeremy apply to him because it kept the peace?"

Doctor Strange has posed:
    Stephen uncrosses his arms and then mimics Felicia with his own hands on his hips as he repeats Felicia in a more direct manner. "You want to accept the deal with Loki and allow him exactly what he wants with caveats..." Stephen lifts a hand to stroke at the longer hairs of his goatee as he ponders the possibilities.

    "Though the two orbs being in our possession would make me feel absolutely safer than I do at the moment." Stephen frowns as he thinks of allowing Jeremy back into the Sanctum. "I'm sure I could restrict him from going into certain rooms and areas of the sanctum." Stephen muses aloud.

Black Cat has posed:
"You could," the buxom thief agrees with a shift of her weight. A vague agreement with her plans has her relaxing visibly, her hands sliding to rest on the rounds of her hips indeed. "I mean, it's not like I go wandering into any room I want around here and I'm a regular." Her grin twinkles towards Stephen.

"Look, it's not like I //like// the guy -- he's a jerk. I hate how he can't be a straight shooter unless it's in his favor, but...I also thanked him for giving me back the Orbs and nothing bad happened. I kind of wonder if he wants attention, but it's like...any kind of attention is good attention, even bad attention."

It's awkward and uncomfortable to consider this, given her subconscious is fully aware on some level of dramatic similarities in personality traits between the thief and the Trickster God.

Doctor Strange has posed:
    Stephen furrows his dark brows and gives a squint towards the thief. "How often do you invite people you don't like to live and learn in your house?" The sorcerer asks with a suspicious look as though he was trying to read Felicia's mind, but he's trying to make a point with the thief.

    "Or... he cheated several times. I think it's time we cheat to get what we want." The sorcerer says with a devious smile tugging and forcing the hairs of his chin to shift into a new pattern.

Black Cat has posed:
Her grin tries to appear again in social mimicry, given the privacy of their conversation at hand and his standing with her, but Felicia still appears wary if amused.

"I think you're the only person I know who stands a chance of cheating the Trickster God. Side note that I wouldn't want anybody in my house except for you because it's MY house and nobody's learning anything at my place other than how to not touch a thing I own because there will be consequences, but that's beside the point -- what's on your mind, you devious, devious man, you?" There's the full sly smile now on her red-red lips.

Doctor Strange has posed:
    Stephen's face is absolutely devious as he lifts his hands to grab Felicia's biceps and for a moment he's shocked by the steel beneath her skin and then pulls her to his lips forcing a quick and passionate kiss that he breaks almost as quickly. "You've given me a brilliant idea Kitten." The sorcerer says before he turns from Felicia.

    Strange quickly walks through the landing and past several artifacts with his eyes scanning over each as he passes. "We need someone who is me but /isn't/ me to make the deal. A false Strange who's words and bargains can be revoked."

Black Cat has posed:
Left reeling from the sudden and brain-melting smooch, Felicia blinks and sighs to herself, fretting at the corner of her lower lip briefly. Then, what he says catches up to her -- and she catches up to him, her bare-foot steps silent. The thief appears at his side in her usual golden waft of perfume and curiosity.

"Ah-hah. A doppelganger. Sooooo..." She peters off, head tilted. "Okay, sort of like reading between the lines. The fake Strange can say one thing, mean another, and it doesn't count against you because the fake Strange isn't you. I like it. Who's going to be the fake Strange?"

Doctor Strange has posed:
    At Felicia's final question Stephen stops in front of an artifact. A simple enough looking compact. Or that's what it looks like initially. A mystic clamshell maybe, but it looks just like a saucer of foundation. Stephen stands in front of the black disk and reaches out to it before turning to look at Felicia with a hint of devious smirkingness and at the same time, a look of pleading in his eyes. He's pleading for forgiveness.

    "Forgive me Felicia."

Black Cat has posed:
Felicia's smile grows uncertain.

Then, her brows gathered fly apart and up. Stephen gets an owlish look from the thief.

A finger points to herself, lingering over her breastbone, and she outright gapes at him for a second.

"...you want ME to pretend to be you? I -- I -- I mean, last time it was an accident because you sneezed in mid-spell or something, but -- ohmygod." She rolls her lips shut before combing loose hair back behind her ear. "I, uh...oh my god, what would I even say? I mean, what if I break character? What if he knows it's me and not you?"

Doctor Strange has posed:
    "What if you do well, imagine the f u face you'll be able to show to the trickster when his plans are foiled?" Stephen asks with a lift of his own eyebrows. "Or I could just ask Wong..." Stephen says, taking the compact and starting to slip it into the pocket built into the sleeve of Stephen's kung fu style shirt and begins to walk away.

Black Cat has posed:
"Hey! Hey, no, Wong couldn't -- "

Felicia's quick as a cat to dart around in front of the Sorcerer and plant herself, a finger now pointed at his chest. "Oooh, you. You know that I know you best, that's why you thought of me first," she explains, her pride stung and eyes glinting fiercely. "Wong doesn't know //half// the things about you that I know. Like, here."

She draws herself up tall and stoic, lifting her chin and managing to look down her nose at Stephen despite their relative height difference. "If you continue to try and pick the lock on that fridge, Felicia, you're going to end up regretting it. No, don't make me explain what's in it, you'll never look at cereal the same way ever again. Felicia, if you keep leaning on the glass display case like that, I'm not going to be able to finish this incantation, you're distracting me," and the thief waggles her eyebrows to break the haughty, cool mimicry she put on display.

Doctor Strange has posed:
    "I wasn't able to finish that incantation Felicia, and you know it." Stephen says, stopping when Felicia stops in front of him and then he moves to pull the compact out of his pocket and find it's missing. With a squint the sorcerer stares at the thief and holds his hand out, palm up flat. Waiting for Felicia to put it back into his hand. Then after a second or two, Stephen takes his hand back and sighs his defeat.

    "You're right Felicia, it's up to you to protect this house and the world."

Black Cat has posed:
With absolutely no compunction whatsoever, Felicia does put the compact back into Stephen's outstretched hand. She gives him a winning little smile -- gotcha, Copperfield -- before the grin melts away into solemnity. It brings gravitas to her features that takes none of their beauty away.

"I'll do my damndest, Stephen, because you're part of my world and this is your house. I'm lucky enough to live here and be a part of your world too. You know I'd try to end any fight I started with that guy, Trickster God or not, because I'm no push-over. So." A sigh and she outstretches her arms as if presenting herself. "Do what you need to do. I'm here for you."

Doctor Strange has posed:
    Stephen lifts his eyebrow when Felicia unfurls her arms before Stephen. Without thinking, Stephen closes the distance and barely bends over as he moves his hands to scoop the blonde up into his arms. "There's one thing I need to do Felicia." He says with as debonair as he can muster while carrying Felicia off the showroom floor.

Black Cat has posed:
A soft 'eeep!' is coaxed out as Felicia finds herself slung across his strong and capable arms. "I was not expecting this," she admits with a sparkling of delight in her voice to prove this stance to be truth. "Look, if I have one request about this whole me-looking-like-you business, I don't want to be all beardie. The goatee's your most charming look."

With her arms slung about his neck, she leans in to kiss at the angle of his jaw, right where it meets beneath the ear. "You're prickly enough. I like you as a smoothie too, mister," she giggles.