9432/So About This Club...

So About This Club...
Date of Scene:	04 October 2019
Location:	Backyard - Xavier's School
Synopsis:	Lorna goes to Roberto for help regarding the HFC.
Cast of Characters:	Polaris, Sunspot

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Polaris has posed:
Lorna stepped outside, typing away on her cellphone briefly before tucking it away into her back pocket. She looked about the backyard. She'd been asking about where Roberto might've ended up, and was pointed to the backyard by a few different students that had seen him in passing. She smiled at one as she passed them on their way inside, holding the door open for them with a wave of her hand. She exhaled a breath, pushing her green hair back from her face as she shut the door and continued onward.

The green haired woman wore a pair of jeans and a band T-shirt. She looked utterly at ease with herself, even wearing a simple, dressed down outfit she carried herself with a simple confidence born of her natural mutation.

Sunspot has posed:
Roberto has been busy at the sport courts. Someone convinced him to try to teach some kids about soccer, or 'real football' as he calls it. This means he has traded his usual business suit for tracksuit bottoms and a t-shirt, muted his cell, and spent a couple hours chasing after a ball and trying (unsuccessfully) to teach the students to call soccer, football.

It was quite fun, all said.

But the fun is over and he was heading back, checking the missing calls, when Lorna shows up. A smile is offered, "good afternoon, were you looking for me?"

Polaris has posed:
Lorna eyed Roberto as he approached, heading in the direction the Mansion proper. She fell into step beside him, shoving her hands into the pockets of her jeans and she grinned with a nod his way. "I was actually," She glanced about, keeping an eye out on the various students that lingered outside in the cooling air of fall. The leaves were beginning to turn colors, and the threat of frost lingered in the air as the sun dipped low in the sky.

"If you don't mind and have a minute that is. And don't mind chatting somewhere somewhat private. I don't particularly want to explain things to Scott or Jean just yet."

Sunspot has posed:
Roberto looks a bit surprised at hearing that. "Well, then not the school grounds. Too many mutant abilities suitable for eavesdropping." He looks around briefly, then smirks. "Want to fly to the other side of the lake?" He offers, going dark and hovering a few inches over the ground.

Polaris has posed:
Lorna paused in her steps as she considered Roberto's very, very, good point regarding the privacy of the school and talking anywhere on school grounds. She smirked, her hands settling on her hips as she tilted her head back and eyed the area across the lake as he mentioned flying over there. She was so very used to others that couldn't fly, that it came as a bit of a surprise, the quick, natural offer to just fly off.

Still, she nodded once, and as soon as he lifted up into the air, she was pushing herself through the magnetic fields to mimic him. "Sounds good to me." She offered, before shooting off with a woop and flying over to the far side of the lake. Her green hair flying out behind her as she took off. The flight was over in far too short at time, and she touched down with barely a sound against the stick ladened ground.

Sunspot has posed:
It is a short flight, but flying is still new for Roberto and he enjoys it while it lasts, landing behind Lorna. Some distance should keep them out of nosy kids with enhanced senses and telepathics.

Should Jean or one of the major telepaths want to spy on them, well, there is not much they can do short of going to another continent. And in any case they would already know what Lorna wants to say. But Roberto trusts Xavier's rules will be respected by the adult telepaths.

"Just outside the security perimeter now," he notes. "A few weeks ago we Doug and I were attacked by an intruder here. But I doubt that particular idiot will be returning."

Polaris has posed:
Lorna shoved her hands back into her pockets as she idly started to kick at a few fallen leaves, the crunch satisfying to listen to as she stepped this way and that over fallen tree branches and the alike. She cast a glance back to Roberto and nodded once, thoughtfully. "I doubt as much. At least, I certainly hope so. That would be inconvenient." She drawled, and shook her head, scanning with her eyes and senses the area about them before her attention returned to Roberto.

"What do you know about the Hellfire Club?"

Sunspot has posed:
Roberto finds a rock outcropping to lean against and smiles as Lorna mention the 'inconvenience' of getting ambushed. Stay sharp. But he restrains himself, and then his expression goes dark when Lorna mentions the Club.

"I know quite a bit," he admits. "Maybe too much. My father was one of the club Lords. A Rook. He was a close friend of Sebastian Shaw. But I suspect he got the title because of me. And it might be the reason why he is now dead. The club is a place for the darker side of elites that believe they run the world."

Polaris has posed:
Lorna paused in her stepping about the woods, her powers branching out to sense life beyond what her eyes could see and returned up short of anything that didn't actually belong to the woods around them. Her focus returned to Roberto with a slow regard. "My father is tied to the club, and I recently found out he's.. well, shocker of shocker, he's a king. The White King." She pursed her lips together and she paced.

"And Emma Frost, well, she's pushing for me to join. I don't know why. And it's got me on edge."

Sunspot has posed:
"Yes, most of the club leadership are now mutants," confirms Roberto, folding his arms. "They used to be all businessmen, but the point is power, not just money. Magneto has plenty of that." He looks at Lorna for a few seconds. "Ah, they make you uncomfortable. Same to me, I am a member, but have not pushed my 'rights' within the club for my father's position because they are greedy, ruthless people. I wanted to find a better way. You know some of the X-Men are also members? Archangel, for instance."

Polaris has posed:
Lorna arched a brow looking surprised at just how easily Roberto put two and two together regarding how she felt with the whole invitation to the club. She blinked once, twice, and then nodded. "My father locked the door against me when I tried to walk out the other night." She pursed her lips, reaching up to comb her fingers through her hair. "I just wanted a way to help Genosha, I was sick of being ignored and rejected by other business opportunities.. Emma offered to help. But she didn't tell me what that would entail. What I would have to be aware of or careful about." She let her hands fall.

"I never felt so alone and so completely overwhelmed. Even with my father there. I didn't know what to do, if what I was doing was right or just another wrong move." She paced, looking agitated.

"I though you being rather.. morally upright and all, would understand and yet you've got a business so.." She gestured at Roberto's person entirely with a wave of her hands. As if that explained why she'd come to him. He have proven her assumptions correct after all.

"I didn't know about Warren."

Sunspot has posed:
Roberto chuckles, without humor. "No. I was not very morally upright when I got here. I was selfish, arrogant and I had a temper. I was also ruthless, like my father had taught me to be. Fortunately Xavier, Dani and Sam helped to steer me right. They taught me what real honor is."

He frowns, stepping away from the rock and pacing. "That club... is about power. Women are seen like objects to possess, or be conquered. Frost, of course, is another kind of... person," he stops, glancing to the school. "She plays the game and she is in another league than most of the businessmen because of her powers. But she uses her looks, her power and her wealth to make deals. I think it would be expected for you too. At least from most of the men. In the club modern rules of courtesy and civilization do not apply. You might need to flirt your way into their wallets, and you might need to electrocute a few assholes instead of just subtly poke into their brains."

Polaris has posed:
Lorna paused in her pacing as Roberto spoke of who he was and she rolled her eyes. "Obviously that is not who you are now, nor recently. Otherwise I wouldn't be coming to you about all of this. I'd go to Scott. Or Jean. But I don't want this to become an investigation by the X-men. There's too much going on. But the fact that Emma invited me into this thing, and my father is backing her enough to stop me from walking out is putting me on edge." She pursed her lips, crossing her arms as Roberto mentioned the sexism in the club.

"You're telling me. Emma put me in something that looked more fitting on a street corner. Meanwhile my father walked around in a complete tuxedo. Do you know how utterly embarrassing that is? To have my father see me in that, hear my complaints and tell me I need to suck it up and learn how to navigate the inroads there.. I have never been treated that way. And I felt my skin crawling from it. Emma wants me to join her as a Bishop and I don't know why she's suddenly taken an interest in me."

Sunspot has posed:
Roberto hrms. "I am not sure what Magneto is planning," he admits. "Perhaps he is giving you a lesson? I don't know. You -could- I suppose help Genosha economy by convincing old guys to make deals favorable to your island. But it won't be easy and I think it is the kind of activities that make your skin crawl right now just by thinking on them."

As for Emma, that one is also hard to guess. "Frost might just want another woman there. Someone to watch her back. Or maybe someone to mentor. Sometimes she seems to want to do the right thing, but does it in the most cynical, ruthless way."

Polaris has posed:
Lorna exhaled a rough breath, pursing her lips together. "Lovely, hardly sounds like something my father would do. He just named me heir to Genosha. Why would he want me to degrade myself by flirting with old rich guys? He commands enough power as it is, why set me up to lose it when the first grabby old guy makes a pass at me? Because that's what is going to happen. I'll be shoving metal spikes where the sun doesn't shine." She ground out, her hands curling into fists as she paced back and forth. Back and forth. Not unlike a caged tiger. She was frustrated, and angry. Emma hadn't told her what she should expect to make deals in the Hellfire Club.

Nor had her father.

"She claims she wants me to help her to change it, but how can I trust //that// after she kept so much about what the club was like from me?" She arched a brow, sweeping back around to face Roberto fully.

"Will you come with me the next time I have to go? I would feel better to have someone at my back that I know isn't trying to use me for their own ends."

Sunspot has posed:
Change the club? It has been a rich men club for centuries. Which all that entails in regards women. They even dress like if it was the eighteen century. Still, if Emma wants something...

But they made Lorna dress like a street walker. So the changes are not going to be slow or in some other direction. Likely to drain the wealth out of the human businessmen into mutant businessmen pockets. And Magneto's bank accounts. Or maybe Genosha's.

"Hmm... I would help," he replies when Lorna asks him to watch her back. "Although if Magneto or Frost don't want me there, there is going to be little I can do. At most I can punch one of the old boys if they slap your rear," he confirms with a smirk.

Polaris has posed:
Lorna exhaled a breath, folding her arms as the sun dipped lower and left them in the shade of the trees on the far side of the lake. The breeze chilly in the autumn air as she slowed her pacing to simply stand there and listen to Roberto. "My father certainly doesn't have a good view of you, but that's his issue. There are other powers there, right? It's not like he gets to entirely call the shots there." She pursed her lips together in thought.

"And I don't need help punching a grabby rich old man. Not killing him might be the harder part of all that." She drawled, and shook her head. "I want you to watch my back, see what whispers you can pick up going around. Give me a heads up on the who's who. I don't know most of the members there and I'm out of my depth."

Sunspot has posed:
Her father? He is Magneto. He calls the shots unless maybe if Thor is in the same room. "I have no idea if Sebastian Shaw is still around. I have not heard of him in years." Then there is Emma, and Selene. Who is like a hundred times worse than Emma.

"I can give you names, sure," he offers. "And make introductions. But I suspect even the nicer guys are going to behave like assholes because you are a woman," he warns. "It is a club where waitresses wear... well, you will see. Entertainment is not subtle. And they will know who you are and assume you are there to play their games. I suppose killing a member will make them leave you alone, but it might be a mess even Emma Frost will have problems covering up. Getting business done later will also be much harder."

Polaris has posed:
Lorna exhaled a breath, "Names and profiles would be helpful. It'll give me something to work with. Who to avoid at all costs--you know beside my father and Emma that is." She rolled her eyes, and combed her hands through her hair again. She made a frustrated sound at the back of her throat, and shook her head again.

"I don't know if I can do this. I want to know what they're plotting, and if I don't try to play ball, I'll never figure it out. But it's making my skin crawl.." She let her hands fall away and she shoved them back into her pockets.

"What would happen if I put on a suit and waltzed around like I didn't give a damn? Think that would make a splash?"

Sunspot has posed:
Roberto grunts. "You sure? I mean, I don't think -I- could figure out what people like Emma Frost and your father are plotting, and I have been educated to figure out those things since I was a child." He ponders, stopping the pacing. "Well, your father might spill it if we make him angry enough. Which is borderline suicidal, by the way. But Emma is made of ice, and a telepath that will read our minds and know what we want."

Polaris has posed:
Lorna waved a hand, "She already knows she made me uncomfortable. Knows that I was ready to storm out. She's going to make a move to try to convince me to stay I bet. I don't know why, really, she wants me there. Perhaps it has something to do with my father, my position in Genosha. I don't know. It doesn't make much sense to me when my father is already involved." She pursed her lips together and bit back a sigh.

"I can usually understand my father.. in this, I'm lost." She let her shoulders slump and she reached up to pinch her nose.

"It's not like I can exactly ask someone else for advice with this. Bobby would flip out. What do you think I should do?"

Sunspot has posed:
"I'd say don't go there ever again," replies Roberto. "It will be humiliating and you will feel dirty even if you manage to keep yourself out of the worst. You seem to have something of a temper, and there are many people there that will test it. Some will outright try to make you lose it, because that is part of the game."

Then he sighs. "If you absolutely need to do this, perhaps you could aim to separate yourself from the expectations. Don't follow Frost lead. Dress as you want. Force them to accept you as you decide to be. Play the unattainable princess or... some other role. There are plenty of archetypes you can pick to make yourself interesting and alluring. But don't let them see your true face. Don't let them see you are creeped out or scared. And... lady, start taking lessons on diplomacy, acting and business administration. The club is full of assholes, but most of them are also shrewd businessmen when not drunk, some are outright geniuses even when drunk."

Polaris has posed:
Lorna inclined her head, exhaling a breath. "You've got a fair point, how very badly this could go." She shifted her weight upon her feet, the boots creaking as she moved over the fallen leaves and sticks on the ground.

"Thank you, Roberto, for the advice and help. I'm going to lean on you for this.. if you have the time for me. Maybe this is a road best untraveled. I don't know. I'm frustrated and I lack other options right now."

Sunspot has posed:
Of course she is going back there. When is he going to find a woman that listens to his advice?

It takes a deep breath not to roll his eyes. "Alright. I would ask to have an exit strategy ready, too. But Miss Frost will know beforehand. Unless we recruit Jean for this," he chuckles. "Just let me know with enough time when you plan to go."