9434/A Stone for a Key to the House

A Stone for a Key to the House
Date of Scene:	04 October 2019
Location:	Sanctum Sanctorum, Greenwich Village
Synopsis:	The bargain agreed upon in Asgard between Doctor Strange and Loki is fulfilled with as minimal fuss as could be managed -- which means it was chaotic.
Cast of Characters:	Black Cat, Doctor Strange, Loki
Tinyplot:	Asgard's Requiem
Tinyplot2:	Weather Spheres

---

Black Cat has posed:
So the visit to Asgard went well, relatively speaking, because everyone left alive and theoretically content.

Theoretically.

Back in the relative safety of the Sanctum Sanctorum of Greenwich Village, Felicia is no longer behaving herself. She's behaving precisely as she means to --

-- which is unimpressed with the bargain so recently bargained. Still in the fashionable outfit of smoked lavender hue with its deeply-cut vee neck and flattering fall of fabric from her hips, the Cat is currently pacing back past Stephen for the seventh time. Has she taken a breath since she started?

Maybe. The lyrical rise and fall of her voice can be heard easily enough, still shy of outright yelling.

" -- and furthermore -- god, I can't BELIEVE I just used that word, I'm turning into my MOTHER -- how in the HELL am I supposed to BE COMFORTABLE AROUND HERE knowing that SMARMY SON OF A BITCH could come //WALZTING IN AT ANY GODDAMN TIME//?!" With color in her cheeks and her eyes a-glitter, Felicia pauses before Stephen, her lips pursed. "If you think for ONE SECOND I'm going to let him just WALK AROUND HERE LIKE IT'S OKAY, you've got another thing coming, //buster//, BECAUSE IT'S NOT OKAY!"

Doctor Strange has posed:
    Stephen has smartly taken a seat nearby and is looking up at Felicia, fidgeting with his fingers, wanting to pick at a scab he has on his hand from the work but with his nerve damage it's just not happening. No, Stephen has decidedly not said anything since returning back to midgard. He knows she wont like anything he says and will drastically turn it around back at him. No. No words at this moment.

Black Cat has posed:
"I mean, REALLY, he can't just come BACK HERE!!! Not after what he did?! I spent a week in space -- IN SPACE -- ON THE MOON -- because nobody keeps a backpack leash on him! Can't his brother ground him or something?! Throw him into a dark pit where you have to frickin' STAND THERE and wait to hear him hit the bottom?!"

Felicia throws her arms wide in beseeching of the Sorcerer, her expression now bleeding out of annoyance and into resentment.

"Somebody's gotta do something! //SOMETHING!!!//." A beat. Hands are thrown up into the air -- "UGH!!!!" -- and she turns on a dime to stalk away towards a chaise lounge nearby. An appropriately dramatic flump upon it is followed by the dragging of a blanket over her entire body, nice outfit be damned. Now she's a blanket-lump.

Doctor Strange has posed:
    Stephen starts to stand up but he knows better. Her stomping away and frumping is a ruse. She's trying to get him to talk. Noooo, not this time. He's really stepped in it and he's not going to give her the satisfaction of an 'I'm sorry' Or anything of that admitting nature. No the Doctor has prescribed nothing but pure silence from his weary face.

    Once on his face though, Stephen does something incredibly brave and or stupid. He silently slinks over to Felicia and places his hand where he thought her shoulder should be based on how she flopped down under the comfortable and comforting fleece blanket.

Black Cat has posed:
There's a shoulder there, buried under blankets. It rises in falls in a deep and melodramatic sigh. From beneath the layering comes the grumble:

"He pisses me off and I can't stand him and whyyyyyyyyyyyy -- no, don't tell me 'why', I know WHY. That stone's important. I get it." Felicia emerges again and turns in place so she's bundled about her waist, leaving her top half visible. Her platinum-blond hair is myseriously unruffled. She gives Stephen a sad, frustrated little snort.

"I just don't have to like it. So there."

Doctor Strange has posed:
    Stephen was about to speak but no, it's still not time and he certainly knows better. He's been training for this moment for his whole life via his horrible bedside manner. He said what he had to say and hasn't said anything since.

    Stephen stands back up, taking his hand from Felicia's thigh where it dropped after she sat up, and he looks into her eyes before he finally speaks. "I don't like it either, but the devil you know and other such nonsense."

Black Cat has posed:
"Yeah, well..." The Cat sighs again, this time more naturally, and combs loosened hair back behind her ears as she looks up at Stephen again. "It's more than nonsense. It's bullshit. But fine...whatever." Reaching out, she attempts to give his hand a gentle squeeze with just the right amount of pressure to avoid twinging damaged nerves.

"Look, promise me something. I'll never ask for anything else." Felicia inhales and then laughs, rolling her eyes at herself. "Okay, I won't ask for something for a long time." Another moment of consideration. "...you know what, just promise me this."

Fluttering her eyelashes winsomely at the Sorcerer, the thief requests: "Just let at him if he gets uppity with you. He thinks he's all that and a side of fries. Wait until he REALLY deals with me." And hmph so there.

Loki has posed:
Down the stairs flumps the soft sound of little kitten paws.

Flump. Flump. Flump.

Shammy, the green and golden colored kitten, tumbled down the last of the steps, it seems. He then proceeds across the floor, and stops on the most expensive carpet in the room.

"Huurrk. Huuuurk. Hurk," says Shammy, feet set apart, head lowered, into heaving little hairball noises. Shammy pauses, stopping. Looking at them.

"Huuurk hurk hhhhhkkkrrkk," Shammy gags in low huffing breaths.

Doctor Strange has posed:
    "I-promise---" Stephen's eyes widen and the wizard slowly turns his head towards the sound of the wretching cat. The man's attention is levelled solely on the fake cat. His hand falls away from Felicia and he crosses his hands before his chest and looks at Felicia, more unhappy than she had be vocal.

Black Cat has posed:
Nothing like the sound of a hairball on its way to interrupt a conversation. Felicia makes a soft 'eeep!' even as she throws her covering of blankets off to one side. It's a mincing lope over to the kitten and she stoops near to him, wincing.

"Oh, Shammy, wittle baby...! It's okay, honey, get it out -- there's cleaner for this. I'll get more hairball gel tomorrow when I go shopping." On one knee, the thief waits for the young cat to finish out horking up whatever it is bothering him. Stephen gets a little shrug after she glances over her shoulder at him.

"Cats gonna do what cats do," she reminds him gently.

Loki has posed:
With a few wheezes, Shammy stops, seeming to recover as Felicia makes a big deal over him. He meows at her in a ragged way. He sits down on the carpet. And licks his hind leg.

Then he licks his butt. Slowly. And looks at them, pausing mid-lick.

Doctor Strange has posed:
    Stephen sighs and turns around to walk towards the door. This is not how a sorcerer should spend his friday night. Then he looks at Felicia and just sighs as he places his palm upon the door and shakes his head. "This. This is your problem."

Black Cat has posed:
"Damn straight he's my problem," Felicia replies before she gives Stephen a crooked half-smile. "Cutest wittle pwobwem ever! And you know it." She lingers kneeling by Shammy in recovery from his momentary discomfort. "Do you have an errand to run?"

She does take a moment to glance over at Shammy and his socially-questionable grooming. "I'm not kissing you, don't look at me," she tells the young cat.

Loki has posed:
Shammy starts to quiver in a weird way. He gets up, walks in a circle, makes some weird 'hurrrk' noises. He makes one long deep 'possessed by the devil' low "Murrrrrrrrrrrrrrrooooooooow".

He shakes, stumbling... and then explodes.

POW.

Pieces of Shammy go everywhere, like a tiny piñata was struck with a hammer. Pieces of gooey strange not-kitten guts and bone bits are all over the carpet, and anyone close in proximity. There's a lump in the center, though. That could be something.

It also comes with the appearance of a Loki, just after the explosion; he's relaxed: tall dark and lanky, out of the splash zone, in modern black suit, immaculate. He leans against the doorway, smile sly, hands in pockets.

Doctor Strange has posed:
    Stephen's voice can be heard from down the hallway calling back into the room. "Was that what I think it was Felicia?" Stephen demands and the frown is more than audible.

Black Cat has posed:
There's a soft whisper scream to follow the small explosion. It does not compute at first, the result before her eyes. The next forced exhale is a little louder yet. Felicia stares at the lump on the carpet before she swallows hard.

Stumbling to her feet, the thief puts her wrist against her mouth as if to ward off nausea. A blocked outline of a being //not// Stephen (give his exit through a different doorway) makes her glance up.

There's the sound of inhuman rage to follow rather than English to the Sorcerer's query -- and Felicia flings herself bodily at the Trickster standing in the doorway, leading with her nails like her thiefly namesake.

Loki has posed:
Loki's laughing. It's a silent, internal laughter. It has a mocking quality to it. She wants to send barbs at him, to his /face/, in Asgard? He'll explode her pet. Petty? Sure. Fun though.

As she flies towards him, Loki pulls the 'real' green kitten out of his sleeve, holding it by the scruff between them. Shammy mostly looks confused by everything, legs limp due to being held by the scruff.

"You're always fun," Loki says slyly.

Doctor Strange has posed:
    Back in the hall Stephen lowers his chin and presses at the bridge of his nose with his finger and thumb. "Oh... dear..." Stephen sighs defeatedly. Turning slowly on his heel to head back into the lounge room.

    "Loki, finish the deal, enough with the games and jokes." Stephen says rather abruptly as the wizard steps into the room and expects to find Felicia diving through the air and throttling him based on the sounds.

Black Cat has posed:
Shammy's reappearance saves the Prince from the risk of potentially incipient throttling. With metahuman skill does the thief abort her lunge in a shift of body-weight very nearly truly feline. Landing in a skidding slide, she quickly arcs up and snatches the young cat from Loki's hands. Shammy makes a concerned yowling cry even as she dances back, squishing him nearly to suffocation against her chest.

"GET OUT OF MY HOUSE!" comes the yell, ferociously protective in nature.

It's not Felicia's house by any means, but she's not thinking rationally in the moment.

Loki has posed:
"Contain your sidekick; I was getting to that," Loki suggests in amusement, tossing Shammy at Felicia's arms: easy, she's snatching him away anyway, and then Loki's twisting smoothly to go around her towards Stephen. They did a little agile spin together, as they both show metahuman skills. Loki's fast when he actually makes an effort; he's swift and agile, out of nowhere.

Strange's request doesn't come for nothing, he unfurls both hands up and out, revealing out of illusion the item he'd actually had: the container that holds the time stone. He waits there, with it held, waiting for Stephen to come take it.

"It's very 'quiet' here, for your claims of danger," Loki observes slyly. "Don't worry about it. I actually don't /care/."

A side look to Felicia. "You really aren't exhibiting proper respectful behavior for someone that doesn't WANT her pet to explode, by the way. It's not too late to add a stain to the carpet, if you can't be civil."

Doctor Strange has posed:
    Stephen watches Loki move, not at all surprised by the speed of the godling and he watches Felicia do her dance to save the ... fake cat. It still bothers him how much care she puts into that obvious surveillance drone. Stephen's grey eyes turn back to Loki and he watches the illusion fade, or appear, before him.

    Stephen nearly mimics Loki's movements, unfurling both his hands without the flourish Loki would use, but before Stephen, the amulet at his neck opens, like an eyelid in a necklace and the harsh yellow iris shines out an unyielding light across Loki and the 'stone'. Strange appears as if he's going to verify the artifact. "You do realize any harm or damage you cause while within these walls will void any contracts we have, Loki." Strange says as he begins to reach with his hand for the container.

Black Cat has posed:
With her Shammy safely confined in her arms and now able to breathe because of the thief realizing he needs to do so, Felicia remains far behind the settee she sprawled out across earlier in her dramatic disagreement with the bargain now playing out before her.

All she has to offer Loki, currently involved in showing off his skills while Stephen ascertains whether or not the stone is truly present: an icily elegant lift of her middle finger. She then goes back to murmuring into Shammy's soft fur behind his ears and smoothing down his lifted scruff.

Loki has posed:
"Of course. Then if I'm given incorrect information, that'll upend my end of things, wouldn't you say?" Loki asks, thoughtfully. The scan is endured without concern: it's real. And so is Loki, though he has a feast of other spells on him related to his defense.

"Oh, I'm going to leave the seasonal orbs here as well. The Supreme should be dealing with those," Loki comments, as if bored while Stephen is doing his scanning. "Do you want to scan those in front of me too, or can you wait until I leave?"

Doctor Strange has posed:
    "You're correct, I will be honest with any question, and I'll wait." Stephen says as he takes the stone's container and considers tossing it towards Felicia but thinks better of it. She wouldnt be able to resist the stone's call. At all. The wizard is certain of it.

    The eye closes and Stephen steps back and nods sharply. "Welcome back to Midgard." Stephen says with a defeated sigh as he assumes Loki is about to gloat and stick around for the chance to do such.

Loki has posed:
"Pales in comparison to Asgard, doesn't it," Loki scoffs. He does come out with two boxes, though: he conjures them out of nowhere to the side, like so much baggage. He watches Dr. Strange with the stone for a long moment, shrugs, and without any continued bragging, disappears.

It's almost like he didn't care. Which may speak volumes, in a way.

Black Cat has posed:
With Loki gone, the thief looks up from schmoozing on Shammy. By now, the kitten is purring again and appears to be no worse for wear. The illusion of gore is gone along with the Trickster God. Thank goodness: no soiled carpeting after all.

She eyes the two boxes and then Stephen in turn from behind the settee. "Are those...what I think they are?"

Doctor Strange has posed:
    Stephen has eyes only for the small box in his hand, like a box for an engagement ring and he holds it in his fingers gently. "Oh, those are yes." He says towards Felicia and then moves to sit down on the lounge she claimed earlier. He takes a moment to breath and sighs to himself. "I don't think we are through the fire yet." Stephen frowns.

Black Cat has posed:
The thief moves to join him on the lounge. She seats herself beside him after rounding the far side of the settee close enough that thighs touch from hip to knee. A sigh leaves her too before she leans in to rest her head on his shoulder. Her jade-green eyes fall to the small box and linger.

"...yeah, me neither," Felicia admits in a voice markedly more quiet than mere minutes earlier. Shammy makes a soft sound and clambers to settle on her shoulder, his tail swinging into J shapes along her shoulderblade. Her hand reaches to rub at the Sorcerer's arm soothingly. "We'll figure it out."

Doctor Strange has posed:
    "I hope we do." Stephen says taking the box out from between them and setting it on the end table near by and then looking into Felicia's verdant eyes with his own. "I hope we do." The wizard repeats as he starts to drift to sleep with the best woman he's known in his arm, feeling her heat and weight like the most comforting blanket ever.

Black Cat has posed:
Maybe it's the relief that comes of knowing peace is returned to the Sanctum for the time being.

Maybe it's her natural inclination to shake up this peace on her own terms.

Or maybe Felicia's just impetuous as always.

Regardless: that is suddenly an aggressive kiss landing square on Stephen's sleepy lips. The thief uses just enough force to push his head back into the couch to make her point before pulling away, grinning slyly. Shammy mrrts and dismounts to bounce down to the floor. He's got young kitten errands to run, apparently.

"No falling asleep here, Copperfield. I've got a better place anyways," she informs him in the usual pleased purr, a subtle arch of her back putting forth enticement in every line of her body. Rising to her feet, the Cat then turns and begins to swan off towards the living quarters of the Sanctum.

Rest assurred she pauses in the doorway and shoots a heated come-hither look in tandem with a curled finger. Someone's been summoned.

Doctor Strange has posed:
    Stephen's eyes snap open but then he quickly and gently closes them as he finds a sudden romantic or at least intimate gesture forced upon him by the white haired vixen.

    Stephen rolls slightly to keep his eyes on the lithe and inviting form of Felicia as she sneaks out and invites a following. Stephen rolls onto his feet and stands up straight, taking a moment to stretch his back out and rolls his chin to untense his neck a bit before he starts to not skip, but he moves with some purpose in Felicia's path.