9578/Unnatural History

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Unnatural History
Date of Scene: 14 October 2019
Location: American Museum Nat. His.
Synopsis: Jamie Madrox and Monet St. Croix meet up in the Natural History Museum. Jamie gets some unexpected assistance.
Cast of Characters: Multiple Man, M




Multiple Man has posed:
After that little ambush meeting at Four Freedoms, Jamie Madrox told the socialite St. Croix that he would be in contact. Usually people see that as more of a threat than anything else. Strange. So mere days later, getting a text on a number she didn't give out is one thing. A selfie of Jamie holding two tickets to the museum. Big smile on his face. That M still there. Same clothes. 'Still want to school me, Professor?' was al it asked.

At the museum itself, Jamie left the ticket for Monet with security. He wasn't going to stand outside like a schlub all day, waiting to be quite possibly blown off. No. He had to go see some dinosaur bones first... before firmly settling down in the darkened Hall of South American Peoples. Low light. Restrained and drab decour to draw attention toward pieces of history in gold and silver. Wood and bone. Jamie Madrox? He's on a bench. Staring at a rather large metallic llama.

M has posed:
When Monet gets that text, she's getting a massage in a serenely lit spa -- her dark eyes narrowing on her phone as the nondescript masseuse works out her tense back muscles, "The balls on this one," mutters M, texting back 'When?' and then laying her head down. She'd not blown him off after finding the ticket -- approaching, wearing a sleek longsleeved black turtleneck, a pair of fitting skinny jeans, and a pair of black red-soled heels.

She comes into this hall of South American peoples, wandering by the gold and silver. "Wonder how much of this was looted," she wonders darkly, coming to stand near the metallic llama. "I want that," Monet protests, eyebrow furrowed at the longnecked creature.

Multiple Man has posed:
What's better than a lunchtime stroll through the bloody remains of a crushed empire or three? He's regretting not waiting outside. He'd kill for a smoke right now. Quitting is hard when half of your Dupes keep smoking despite the protests. Monday, this hour, this exhibit? The place is near empty and Madrox planned it accordingly. Standing for her arrival, he regards the large, silver figurine with a rather uncomfortable glare. "All of it. All of it was looted. Just thought that while I was sitting here. Kind of irked me."

He huffs out a sigh. Still the same overcoat. Same snug shirt, green with that yellow geometric design. Slacks. Everything. "One of the few pieces that escaped the Spanish. Melted down almost all of it for easy transport. And, you know, to be dicks. But I don't have to tell you that." A brow arches curiously as he slips a side-eye to M. "You're ahead of your time. Gifted like whoa. Smart enough to sass Reed Richards without him even noticing. Slick... Now, that brother on the other hand..."

M has posed:
She's having a real hard time not poking around in his surface thoughts, and ignores the urge -- looking at the llama. "Sometimes I want to buy all of it and give it back." She walks around the llama -- slinking more than anything before her attention turns to several headdresses made of vivid, unbelievable bird feathers. "I'm glad it irks you," she says with a shrug, finding the greed of the human race to be a little senseless.

"You noticed the sass?" She asks him with a broad, toothy grin that's more dazzling than anything else -- she does stiffen a little when he mentions her brother. She sighs, too. "Oh yes, him. He's awful, I wouldn't put it past him to do those things. Vampire things."

Multiple Man has posed:
"Yeah, but give it back to who? It would just sit in another museum. Or some guys bedroom. Den, maybe. A lot of people still see it. Read about it. Plot out elaborate thefts of it. You know, keep up with tradition." Madrox rambles all too casually. Keep a Psychic listening and they won't have time to -listen-. So he says to himself. His gaze leaves the llama, watching Monet circle the display then wander. He follows, hands in pockets. "It irks me still. But what can you do, right? Here it is. Here we are."

"I noticed the sass. C'mon. Professional investigator. I'm practically Batman. Just without the car and... is it weird with the sidekicks? It's weird, right?" He asks half jokingly. Her reaction from brilliant smile to brooding dismissal is noted with an obvious 'hmm'. "Vampire things. But the question is... would he work with... shapeshifters?"

Jamie pinches the bridge of his nose. Eyes squeezed shut. "I'm trying really hard to not use the words 'vampire' and 'werewolf' here."

M has posed:
"Usually the tradition is to return them to national museums where ever they may be from so that they can be enjoyed. You would just probably sell them on the black market," She says to him with a sly look, "In any case," She trails off, wandering the wall of war masks with a subdued measure of swagger in her step. "First, you're talking to a girl who can fly and throw cars and read your mind and you're sitting here aching over the existence of Vampires and Werewolves?" She snaps her finger in his face, snap snap. "Earth to Jamie, guy who has multiple versions of him self wandering the world, they do exist. Second, my brother would do whatever he can to feed himself."

Multiple Man has posed:
"I'd call it a grey market at best." Jamie replies a little too quickly, even offering a hand wobble. He almost lays that hand on the glass surface of a display case when a little cautionary sticker catches his eye. M sauntering away catches it next. "Yes, but there are scientific reasons for that. Genetic markers. Actual hard facts and real math to back up the fact that-" The snaps in his face brings Jamie to a halt. A flinch? Not so much but he does duck back a step. Kinetic Duplication and a.... wait a damn second. "I didn't tell you what I could do. Somebody has been asking questions." Eyes narrow ever so slightly and he taps two fingers against his temple. "Or you've just been listening past the noise."

A cluck of his tongue, Jamie looks Monet up and down. Sizing her up before -he- can swagger away. "You look around behind closed doors, don't get mad you see something you didn't want to." Pausing at the barely preserved shards of farming tools, Jamie steers it all back. "But he feeds primarily from one source and doesn't deviate. Shit. This complicates things."

M has posed:
"If you could read minds, you'd have done it too if some strange man asking about your horror show of a brother came poking around.. asking questions." Monet does not even blink when Madrox figures out that she'd been poking around his brain. She sweeps her hand through her hair, left in wild curls that frame her terribly pretty face -- reaching her waistline. She looks down at her shoes, peeking back over at him as he comes to realizations that she'd been blunt about. M wanted him to know she could read his mind -- she purposefully presented that information.

"What am I going to see that I don't want to?" She wonders, watching him as he tries to steer it back. She doesn't go that way because she's stubborn and she likes this track, damn it. She grins at him, knowing she's being difficult. "What if I look now? Is it fun stuff or is it gory? I hate gory," M sighs.

Multiple Man has posed:
"... Yeah but-" Jamie furrows his brows. Come on quick wits, do your thing. "I wou-" Jaw sets, he tugs both hands from his pockets to point in half-hearted accusation. "That's not the-" Silence lingers for a longer than comfortable for Jamie three seconds. Someone coughs across the room. "Okay, I get your point."

A glance back over shoulder, Jamie watches the only other person in the exhibit until he feels confident in their indifference. Looking back to Monet and she's already staring -right- at him. "Oh, god. Like a tirade of weird and ugly. Halloween is coming up. Costume options. Cases I'm on. Wondering what my other selves are doing and at the same time realizing that's probably why I wanted to pass the Bar in the first place. Then there's the -weird- and degenerate stuff but that's besides the point." Jame lifts his chin imperiously. Thinking he's pretty damned clever. "You think the V word and W word are real, don't you?"

M has posed:
Monet's sleek arms fold as he starts to point -- and then he's silent, and then he gets her point. "You're not a hopeless moron and you can see reason, I am impressed." She really is. People are hopeless, largely. She keeps her arms crossed, watching Jamie before she cuts her eyes back to him. "You can be all of the Village People or all of whatever other group we can think of. Group costumes sound a-maz-ing," she sighs. "Untapped potential."

"I know they're real. Magic is science and if you think we know everything about biology or what's out there, you need to send some more clones out into the world and get more of a clue. Do you want to meet a Vampire? I know one, she's older than both of our bloodlines and deals in volunteer blood supplies. Would that put this to rest? Also she'd be very offended at you calling /Marius/ a Vampire. He's a parasite, you realize."

Multiple Man has posed:
"You give me too much credit. It's still early in the day yet." Jamie retorts easily. God, he wants a smoke. Somewhere out there, one of his Dupes is on his third in a row... bastard. Taken aback by Monet's sudden costume enthusiasm, Madrox balks. "What? Vilage People? No, god no." Shaking his head rapidly, he tries to come up witb an alternative. Frowns. "I was... I dressed up as... " He shrugs then, just shaking his head. "I don't think I've ever dressed up for the holiday." Wow, he thinks to himself. Just wow, Jamie.

Dropping his head back, Jamie groans loudly at the ceiling in very reluctant acceptance. "Fiiiiiiiine. I get it. Science is just old magic. Magic is iust new science. She was really a vampire. That dude was a wizard and I am tracking murderous werewolves through Gotham." A heavy, huff of a sigh and his shoulders sag. "Ohhhhh, that's the weirdest relief ever. And yes, Marius has different feeding patterns and I ruled him out but I did get to use my second ticket to the museum so... sort of a win there."

M has posed:
"I'm going to dress up. Maybe you can be the Seven Dwarves and I can be snow white. I'm not white and you're no dwarf, but imagine how fun it'd be. Don't waste your potential, Jamie Madrox. I'll see to it that you don't. If you even so much as attempt to lame this Halloween, I will track you down and drag you bodily from your home and dress you up." She says to him matter of factly; glancing over at him with a grin on her face.

"Do you need help? I can smell Vampires.. dead things. Blood. I love investigating things and looking into them and.. it's a good feeling, slaying the murderous undead." She says slyly, before she walks toward the section with the botany stuff -- rare orchids and a large, stinking rafflezia plant. She gags a little bit, her eyes watering as she power walks out of the room so fast that her legs are a blur. He can catch up in the hall leading to new rooms.

Multiple Man has posed:
It's one thing to be told that you're going to be festive for a holiday. It's an entirely other thing to be told so by a beautiful young woman who can throw a city bus while solving complex algebra problems and do it in -your- head. A look of apprehension, muted by confusion and startling curiousity is her reward. "That sounds... that sounds so fun." He says cautiously with a smile. Bright and sunny.

"Do I need help?" Again caught off guard, he lifts a finger to protest his -need- of help when it all clicks into place. "Yes." He admits it. Finally. It doesn't count when you're panicking and yelling at a roomful of yourself. "Monet, I could use some help. The fact that I don't have to bullshit with Summers for a solid assist is also a boon."

Hands back in his pockets, Jamie shuffles along beside Monet as they approach a rather pungent plant. "You'll absolutely regret it. I can't wait. Gotham is absolutely horrible this time of year. And, of course, the murders... are giant dog-men who can be literally anybody. And Vampires are involved. You know, if you just turn off my brain instead, this will all be so much... faster....?" Turning to look where Monet stood, he's instead looking at where she's going. "Hey! Wait up! You haven't even heard the worst part yet!"